Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An experimental study on the capture effect in 802.11a networks

In wireless networks, a frame collision does not necessarily result in all the simultaneously transmitted frames being lost. Depending on the relative signal power and the arrival timing of the involved frames, one frame can survive the collision and be successfully received by the receiver. Using our IEEE 802.11a wireless network testbed, we carry out a measurement study that shows the terms and conditions (timing, power difference, bit rate) under which this capture effect takes place. Recent measurement work on the capture effect in 802.11 networks [10] argues that the stronger frame can be successfully decoded only in two cases: (1) The stronger frame arrives earlier than the weaker frame, or (2) the stronger frame arrives later than the weaker frame but within the preamble time of the weaker frame. However, our measurement shows that the stronger frame can be decoded correctly regardless of the timing relation with the weaker frame. In addition, when the stronger frame arrives later than the weaker frame's arrival, the physical layer capture exhibits two very distinct patterns based on whether the receiver has been successfully synchronized to the previous weak frame or not. In explaining the distinct cases we observe that the successful capture of a frame involved in a collision is determined through two stages: preamble detection and the frame body FCS check.
Proximal Tubule Dysfunction Is Associated with Podocyte Damage Biomarkers Nephrin and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background There is an ongoing debate as to whether early diabetic nephropathy in Type 2 diabetes mellitus may be attributed to the glomerulus or to the proximal tubule. Urinary excretion of nephrin and vascular endothelial growth factor may increase even in the normoalbuminuria stage. In the course of diabetic nephropathy, the proximal tubule may be involved in the uptake of urinary nephrin and vascular endothelial growth factor. Materials and Methods Two groups of consecutive Type 2 diabetes mellitus outpatients (38 normo-, 32 microalbuminuric) and 21 healthy subjects were enrolled in a cross-sectional study and evaluated concerning the relation of proximal tubule dysfunction with the podocyte biomarkers excretion, assessed by ELISA methods. The impact of advanced glycation end-products on this relation was also queried. Results Urinary alpha1-microglobulin and kidney injury molecule-1 correlated with urinary albumin:creatinine ratio (R2 = 0.269; p<0.001; R2 = 0.125; p<0.001), nephrinuria (R2 = 0.529; p<0.001; R2 = 0.203; p<0.001), urinary vascular endothelial growth factor (R2 = 0.709; p<0.001; R2 = 0.360; p<0.001), urinary advanced glycation end-products (R2 = 0.578; p<0.001; R2 = 0.405; p<0.001), serum cystatin C (R2 = 0.130; p<0.001; R2 = 0.128; p<0.001), and glomerular filtration rate (R2 = 0.167; p<0.001; R2 = 0.166; p<0.001); nephrinuria and urinary vascular endothelial growth factor correlated with urinary albumin:creatinine ratio (R2 = 0.498; p<0.001; R2 = 0.227; p<0.001), urinary advanced glycation end-products (R2 = 0.251; p<0.001; R2 = 0.308; p<0.001), serum cystatin C (R2 = 0.157; p<0.001; R2 = 0.226; p<0.001), and glomerular filtration rate (R2 = 0.087; p = 0.007; R2 = 0.218; p<0.001). Conclusions In Type 2 diabetes mellitus there is an association of proximal tubule dysfunction with podocyte damage biomarkers, even in the normoalbuminuria stage. This observation suggests a potential role of the proximal tubule in urinary nephrin and urinary vascular endothelial growth factor processing in early diabetic nephropathy, a fact which could be related to advanced glycation end-products intervention. Podocyte damage and proximal tubule dysfunction biomarkers could be validated as a practical approach to the diagnosis of early diabetic nephropathy by further studies on larger cohorts.
Strings near a Rindler or black hole horizon.

Orbifold techniques are used to study bosonic, type II, and heterotic strings in Rindler space at integer multiples [ital N] of the Rindler temperature, and near a black hole horizon at integer multiples of the Hawking temperature, extending earlier results of Dabholkar. It is argued that a Hagedorn transition occurs near the horizon for all [ital N][gt]1.
AFLP PHYLOGENY OF MIMULUS SECTION ERYTHRANTHE AND THE EVOLUTION OF HUMMINGBIRD POLLINATION

Abstract Species in Mimulus section Erythranthe (monkeyflowers) have become model systems for the study of the genetic basis of ecological adaptations. In this study, we pursued two goals. First, we reconstructed the phylogeny of species in Erythranthe using both DNA sequences from the ribosomal DNA ITS and ETS and AFLPs. Data from rDNA sequences support the monophyly of the section, including M. parishii, but provide little support for relationships within it. Analyses using AFLP data resulted in a well-supported hypothesis of relationships among all Erythranthe species. Our second goal was to reconstruct ancestral pollination syndromes and ancestral states of individual characters associated with hummingbird-pollinated flowers. Both parsimony and likelihood approaches indicate that hummingbird pollination evolved twice in Erythranthe from insect-pollinated ancestors. Our reconstruction of individual characters indicates that corolla color and some aspects of corolla shape change states at the same point on the phylogenetic tree as the switch to hummingbird pollination; however, a switch to secretion of high amounts of nectar does not. Floral trait transformation may have been more punctuational than gradual.
Thematic Research on Therapeutic Manipulating Process of 4 Systemic Family Therapists

Object:To describe Chinese systemic family therapy process through analysis on the therapeutic experience of 4 Chinese systemic family therapists.Method:Four well-certificated systemic family therapists in China were selected as research sample.A semi-structure interview under the guidance of a self-compiled interview outline was made with every therapist.Transferred raw data was analyzed with deductive thematic analysis following 5 steps:coding,themes searching,themes reviewing,themes defining and naming,themes merging and revision.Results:(1) Respectively 102,93,97,and 95 codes were got from each piece of interview raw data, which generated 57,52,50,and 33 primary themes.Five main themes emerged from the merging of the primary themes. (2) Themes and sub-themes constructed the theoretical hypothesis on the change process of Chinese systemic family therapy.Conclusion:There is an experiential manipulating model in Chinese systemic family therapy process under the guidance of systemic therapeutic philosophy,which is integrated with some therapeutic technique from other psychotherapy models.This model can be studied with deductive thematic analysis.
Perturbative invariants of 3–manifolds with the first Betti number 1

It is known that perturbative invariants of rational homology 3‐spheres can be constructed by using arithmetic perturbative expansion of quantum invariants of them. However, we could not make arithmetic perturbative expansion of quantum invariants for 3‐manifolds with positive Betti numbers by the same method. In this paper, we explain how to make arithmetic perturbative expansion of quantum SO.3/ invariants of 3‐manifolds with the first Betti number 1. Further, motivated by this expansion, we construct perturbative invariants of such 3‐manifolds. We show some properties of the perturbative invariants, which imply that their coefficients are independent invariants. 57M27 In the late 1980s, Witten [44] proposed topological invariants of a closed 3‐manifold M for a simple compact Lie group G , what we call quantum G invariant, which is formally presented by a path integral whose Lagrangian is the Chern‐Simons functional of G connections on M . There are two approaches to obtain mathematically rigorous information from a path integral: the operator formalism and the perturbative expansion. Motivated by the operator formalism of the Chern‐Simons path integral, Reshetikhin and Turaev [34] gave the first rigorous mathematical construction of quantum invariants, as linear sums of quantum invariants of framed links. After that, rigorous constructions of quantum invariants were obtained by various approaches; in particular, Kirby and Melvin [14] constructed the quantum SO.3/ invariant, which we denote by SO.3/ r . M/;
Relating Function to Branching Geometry: A Micro-CT Study of the Hepatic Artery, Portal Vein, and Biliary Tree

Utilizing micro-computed tomography images, the hierarchical structure, interbranch segment lengths and diameters of a hepatic artery, a portal vein, and two biliary trees from intact rat liver lobes were characterized. The data were investigated by analyzing the geometric properties of the vascular structures, such as how interbranch segment diameters change at bifurcation points. In the case of the hepatic artery and portal vein trees (in which the flow rate is high by comparison with that in the biliary tree), the vascular geometry is consistent with a fluid transport system which aims to simultaneously minimize both the power loss of laminar flow, and a cost function proportional to the total volume of material needed to maintain the system (lumenal contents). In comparison, the biliary tree (which has a low flow rate and an opposite flow direction to that of the hepatic artery and portal vein) was found to have a geometry in which the lumen cross-sectional area is maintained at bifurcations. These findings imply that the histological makeup and therefore the pathophysiology of biliary tree vasculature are likely very different from that of the vasculature within the systemic arterial tree. The extent to which the characteristic variability/scatter in the data may have resulted from imaging and/or measurement errors was examined by simulating such errors in a theoretical tree model and comparing the results with the measured data.
Effect of High Water Fluoride Concentration on the Intellectual Development of Children in Makoo/Iran

Objective: Prolonged excessive intake of fluoride during child’s growth and development stages has been associated with mental and physical problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of excessive fluoride intake on the intelligence quotient (IQ) of children living in five rural areas in Makoo/Iran. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 293 children aged 6–11 years were selected from five villages in Makoo with normal fluoride (0.8±0.3 ppm), medium fluoride (3.1±0.9 ppm) and high fluoride (5.2±1.1 ppm) in their water supplies. The IQ of each child was measured by the Raven’s test. Educational and residential information and the medical history of each child was recorded by a questionnaire completed by the parents. Data were analyzed by ANOVA test with a significance level of 0.05. Results: The mean IQ scores decreased from 97.77±18.91 for the normal fluoride group to 89.03±12.99 for the medium fluoride group and to 88.58±16.01 for the high fluoride group (P=0.001). Conclusion: Children residing in areas with higher than normal water fluoride levels demonstrated more impaired development of intelligence. Thus, children’s intelligence may be affected by high water fluoride levels.
Once upon a polymorphic type

We present a sound type-based 'usage analysis' for a realistic lazy functional language. Accurate information on the usage of program subexpressions in a lazy functional language permits a compiler to perform a number of useful optimisations. However, existing analyses are either ad-hoc and approximate, or defined over restricted languages.Our work extends the Once Upon A Type system of Turner, Mossin, and Wadler (FPCA'95). Firstly, we add type polymorphism, an essential feature of typed functional programming languages. Secondly, we include general Hsskell-style user-defined algebraic data types. Thirdly, we explain and solve the 'poisoning problem', which causes the earlier analysis to yield poor results. Interesting design choices turn up in each of these areas.Our analysis is sound with respect to a Launchbury-style operational semantics, and it is straightforward to implement. Good results have been obtained from a prototype implementation, and we are currently integrating the system into the Glasgow Haskell Compiler.
Recombinant Human Erythropoietin Augments Neovascularization Responses in a Neonatal Rat Model of Premature Brain Damage by Phosphatidylinositol 3 Kinase/Akt Pathway

Background: Recombinant human-erythropoietin (rh-EPO) has therapeutic efficacy for premature infants with brain damage during the active rehabilitation and anti-inflammation. In the present study, we found that the rh-EPO was related to the promotion of neovascularization. Our aim was to investigate whether rh-EPO augments neovascularization in the neonatal rat model of premature brain damage through the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway. Methods: Postnatal day 5 (PD5), rats underwent permanent ligation of the right common carotid artery and were exposed to hypoxia for 2 h. All the rat pups were randomized into five groups as follows: (1) control group; (2) hypoxia-ischemic (HI) group; (3) HI + LY294002 group; (4) HI + rh-EPO group; and (5) HI + rh-EPO + LY294002 group. The phospho-Akt protein was tested 90 min after the whole operation, and CD34, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were also tested 2 days after the whole operation. Results: In the hypoxic and ischemic zone of the premature rat brain, the rh-EPO induced CD34+ cells to immigrate to the HI brain zone (P < 0.05) and also upregulated the VEGFR2 protein expression (P < 0.05) and VEGF mRNA level (P < 0.05) through the PI3K/Akt (P < 0.05) signaling pathway when compared with other groups. Conclusions: The rh-EPO treatment augments neovascularization responses in the neonatal rat model of premature brain damage through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Besides, the endogenous EPO may exist in the HI zone of rat brain and also has neovascularization function through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.
Control of Bacterial Motility by Environmental Factors in Polarly Flagellated and Peritrichous Bacteria Isolated from Lake Baikal

ABSTRACT Despite numerous studies on bacterial motility, little is known about the regulation of this process by environmental factors in natural isolates. In this study we investigated the control of bacterial motility in response to environmental parameters in two strains isolated from the natural habitat of Lake Baikal. Morphological characterization, carbon source utilization, fermentation analysis, and sequence comparison of 16S rRNA genes showed that these strains belong to two distinct genera, i.e., Enterobacter andPseudomonas; they were named strains 22 and Y1000, respectively. Both strains swarmed at 25°C and remained motile at low temperatures (4°C), especially the Pseudomonasstrain, which further supports the psychrotrophic characteristics of this strain. In contrast, a strong inhibition of motility was observed at above 30°C and with a high NaCl concentration. The existence of flagellar regulatory proteins FlhDC and FleQ was demonstrated inEnterobacter strain 22 and Pseudomonasstrain Y1000, respectively, and environmental conditions reduced the expression of the structural genes potentially located at the first level in the flagellar cascade in both organisms. Finally, as inEnterobacter strain 22, a strong reduction in the transcription of the master regulatory gene fleQ was observed in Pseudomonas strain Y1000 in the presence of novobiocin, a DNA gyrase inhibitor, suggesting a link between DNA supercoiling and motility control by environmental factors. Thus, striking similarities observed in the two organisms suggest that these processes have evolved toward a similar regulatory mechanism in polarly flagellated and laterally flagellated (peritrichous) bacteria.
Myoepithelioma of the Parotid Gland: CT Imaging Findings

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Myoepitheliomas (MEs) are rare tumors of the parotid gland. Only a few case reports describing CT imaging features of ME have been published. The aim of this study was to describe and characterize the CT findings of MEs of the parotid gland. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed CT images of ME with pathologic correlation in 10 cases (4 men and 6 women; age range, 30–70 years) collected between August 2003 and October 2007 from our pathologic database. All of the CT images were retrospectively evaluated with respect to the location, size, marginal morphology, enhancement, and enhancement pattern by 2 experienced radiologists. RESULTS: Nine tumors were located in the superficial lobe of the parotid gland, and 1 was located in the tail of parotid gland. All of the tumors abut on the capsule of the gland. Nine tumors had well-defined margins with lobulations in 5 patients. Two cases showed homogenous enhancement. In the other 8 cases, the enhancement was inhomogeneous because of enhancing nodules and nonenhancing areas of linear bands, slitlike-shaped or of cystic configuration. CONCLUSION: CT imaging findings of MEs were well circumscribed, enhancing the mass lesion with smooth or lobulated margins, located chiefly in the superficial lobe and abutted on the capsule of the gland. They may contain enhancing nodules and nonenhancing areas of linear bands, slitlike-shaped or of cystic configuration. Although MEs are a rarity, they should be suspected when a tumor shows all of the characteristics noted here.
Analysis of Weighted fi-minimization for Model Based Compressed Sensing . by Sidhant

The central problem of Compressed Sensing is to recover a sparse signal from fewer measurements than its ambient dimension. Recent results by Donoho, and Candes and Tao giving theoretical guarantees that ( 1-minimization succeeds in recovering the signal in a large number of cases have stirred up much interest in this topic. Subsequent results followed, where prior information was imposed on the sparse signal and algorithms were proposed and analyzed to incorporate this prior information. In[13] Xu suggested the use of weighted fl-minimization in the case where the additional prior information is probabilistic in nature for a relatively simple probabilistic model. In this thesis, we exploit the techniques developed in [13] to extend the analysis to a more general class of probabilistic models, where the probabilities are evaluations of a continuous function at uniformly spaced points in a given interval. For this case, we use weights which have a similar characterization . We demonstrate our techniques through numerical computations for a certain class of weights and compare some of our results with empirical data obtained through simulations. Thesis Supervisor: Pablo A. Parrilo Title: Professor
THE EVOLUTION OF FEMALE MATING PREFERENCES: DIFFERENTIATION FROM SPECIES WITH PROMISCUOUS MALES CAN PROMOTE SPECIATION

Abstract Females of many species are frequently courted by promiscuous males of their own and other closely related species. Such mating interactions may impose strong selection on female mating preferences to favor trait values in conspecific males that allow females to discriminate them from their heterospecific rivals. We explore the consequences of such selection in models of the evolution of female mating preferences when females must interact with heterospecific males from which they are completely postreproductively isolated. Specifically, we allow the values of both the most preferred male trait and the tolerance of females for males that deviate from this most preferred trait to evolve. Also, we consider situations in which females base their mating decisions on multiple male traits and must interact with males of multiple species. Females will rapidly differentiate in preference when they sometimes mistake heterospecific males for suitable mates, and the differentiation of female preference will select for conspecific male traits to differentiate as well. In most circumstances, this differentiation continues indefinitely, but slows substantially once females are differentiated enough to make mistakes rare. Populations of females with broader preference functions (i.e., broader tolerance for males with trait values that deviate from females' most preferred values) will evolve further to differentiate if the shape of the function cannot evolve. Also, the magnitude of separation that evolves is larger and achieved faster when conspecific males have lower relative abundance. The direction of differentiation is also very sensitive to initial conditions if females base their mate choices on multiple male traits. We discuss how these selection pressures on female mate choice may lead to speciation by generating differentiation among populations of a progenitor species that experiences different assemblages of heterospecifics. Opportunities for differentiation increase as the number of traits involved in mate choice increase and as the number of species involved increases. We suggest that this mode of speciation may have been particularly prevalent in response to the cycles of climatic change throughout the Quaternary that forced the assembly and disassembly of entire communities on a continentwide basis.
Munroa argentina, a Grass of the South American Transition Zone, Survived the Andean Uplift, Aridification and Glaciations of the Quaternary

The South American Transition Zone (SATZ) is a biogeographic area in which not only orogeny (Andes uplift) and climate events (aridification) since the mid-Miocene, but also Quaternary glaciation cycles had an important impact on the evolutionary history of the local flora. To study this effect, we selected Munroa argentina, an annual grass distributed in the biogeographic provinces of Puna, Prepuna and Monte. We collected 152 individuals from 20 localities throughout the species’ range, ran genetic and demographic analyses, and applied ecological niche modeling. Phylogenetic and population genetic analyses based on cpDNA and AFLP data identified three phylogroups that correspond to the previously identified subregions within the SATZ. Molecular dating suggests that M. argentina has inhabited the SATZ since approximately 3.4 (4.2–1.2) Ma and paleomodels predict suitable climate in these areas during the Interglacial period and the Last Glacial Maximum. We conclude that the current distribution of M. argentina resulted from the fragmentation of its once continuous range and that climate oscillations promoted ecological differences that favored isolation by creating habitat discontinuity.
Performance of multi-user chaos-based DS-CDMA system over multipath channel

In this paper, we propose a new approach to compute the exact bit error rate expression for asynchronous chaos-based DS-CDMA system over multipath channel. Perfect estimation of the channel coefficients with the associated delays and chaos synchronization are assumed. A simple RAKE receiver structure is considered. A stationary multipath channel with constant gain is assumed. An asynchronous multi-user chaos-based DS-CDMA system is then defined and the BER is derived in terms of the energy distribution, the number of paths, the noise variances, and the number of users.