Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reduction of Computational Complexity and Sufficient Stack Size of the MLSDA by Early Elimination

In this work, we revisited the priority-first sequential-search decoding algorithm proposed in Han et al. (2002). By adopting a new metric other than the conventional Fano one, the sequential-search decoding in Han et al. guarantees the maximum- likelihood (ML) performance, and hence, was named the maximum-likelihood sequential decoding algorithm (MLSDA). In comparison with the other maximum-likelihood decoders, it was shown in Han et al. that the software computational complexity of the MLSDA is in general markedly smaller than that of the Viterbi algorithm. A common problem on sequential-type decoding is that at the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) below the one corresponding to the cutoff rate, the average decoding complexity per information bit and the required stack size grow rapidly with the information length. This problem somehow prohibits the practical use of sequential-type decoding on convolutional codes with long information sequence at low SNRs. In order to alleviate the problem in the MLSDA, we propose in this work to directly eliminate the top path whose end node is Delta-trellis-level prior to the farthest one among all nodes that have been expanded thus far by the sequential search, which we termed the early elimination. Simulations show that a level threshold Delta around three times of the code constraint length is sufficient to secure a near-ML performance. As a consequence of the small early-elimination threshold required, the proposed early-elimination modification not only can considerably reduce the needed stack size but also makes the average decoding computations per information bit irrelevant to the information length.
The fundamental plane of radio galaxies

We collected photometrical and dynamical data for 73 low red-shift ( z< 0:2) Radio Galaxies (LzRG) in order to study their Fundamental Plane (FP). For 22 sources we also present new velocity dispersion data that complement the photometric data given in our previous study of LzRG (Govoni et al. 2000a). It is found that the FP of LzRG is similar to the one dened by non-active elliptical galaxies, with LzRG representing the brightest end of the population of early type galaxies. Since the FP mainly reflects the virial equilibrium condition, our result implies that the global properties of early{type galaxies (dening the FP) are not influenced by the presence of gas accretion in the central black hole. This is fully in agreement with the recent results in black hole demography, showing that virtually all luminous spheroidal galaxies host a massive black hole and therefore may potentially become active. We conrm and extend to giant ellipticals the systematic increase of the mass-to-light ratio with galaxy luminosity.
Oral Cancer Awareness and Knowledge in the City of Valongo, Portugal

We conducted a questionnaire survey among 602 subjects in order to analyze the awareness and knowledge on oral cancer among residents of the city of Valongo in Portugal. The cancer that most subjects were aware of was breast cancer (99%). Oral cancer was the least mentioned cancer (68.6%). There was awareness of the relationship between oral cancer and smoking among 89.5% subjects, but less of the association with alcohol misuse (63.3%). Nonhealing mouth ulcers were identified as a sign or symptom of oral cancer by 90.0% and red or white patch by only 52.8% subjects. Whereas 94.5% agreed that early detection could improve the treatment outcome, a disheartening 28.1% believed that whether a person developed an oral cancer or not is a matter of luck and therefore is unavoidable. Surprisingly only 1.7% were ever submitted to or had knowledge of receiving a consultation regarding oral cancer. In conclusion, this survey demonstrates a general lack of awareness and knowledge on oral cancer in a population of Valongo. An oral health promotion strategy should involve elements of basic education on oral cancer for this population, and regular oral cancer screenings should be implemented in Valongo.
Terms of use : Click here REAL HYPERELLIPTIC SURFACES AND THE ORBIFOLD FUNDAMENTAL GROUP

In this paper we finish the topological classification of real algebraic surfaces of Kodaira dimension zero and we make a step towards the Enriques classification of real algebraic surfaces, by describing in detail the structure of the moduli space of real hyperelliptic surfaces. Moreover, we point out the relevance in real geometry of the notion of the orbifold fundamental group of a real variety, and we discuss related questions on real varieties (X, σ) whose underlying complex manifold X is a K(π, 1). Our first result is that if (S, σ) is a real hyperelliptic surface, then the differentiable type of the pair (S, σ) is completely determined by the orbifold fundamental group exact sequence. This result allows us to determine all the possible topological types of (S, σ), and to prove that they are exactly 78. It follows also as a corollary that there are exactly eleven cases for the topological type of the real part of S. Finally, we show that once we fix the topological type of (S, σ) corresponding to a real hyperelliptic surface, the corresponding moduli space is irreducible (and connected). We also give, through a series of tables, explicit analytic representations of the 78 components of the moduli space.
A survey of self-oscillating lumped-element models of the vocal folds

Self-oscillating biomechanical models of the vocal folds are indispensable tools for articulatory speech synthesis, speech coding, and speech analysis. A successful compromise between simplicity and completeness are the lowdimensional vocal fold models with lumped elements. This paper provides a survey of this class of models and compares them in terms of their mechanical design, aerodynamic simulation, and with respect to their application and evaluation. Future studies to improve the performance of these models in the context of articulatory speech synthesis will be proposed.
Towards a Decent Recognition Rate for the Automatic Classification of a Multidimensional Dialogue Act Tagset

In this paper, we present some thoughts and examinations on statistical dialogue act annotation using multidimensional dialogue act labels, based on the ICSI meeting corpus and the associated MRDA tag set. We show some statistics of this corpus, and preliminary results of a statistical tagger for the dialogue act labels, together with a proposal for a more realistic interpretation of these results.
G E O M a T I C a Spatio-temporalmapping

There are many problems involved in trying to model space dynamically in a computer. Since it is impractical to preserve the states of all possible locations in space and time, the preservation of changes of state is a feasible alternative. A (wy preliminary) taxonomy of possible types of maps is given, along with the state-change conditions that should be preserved. Traditional static maps are limited in this regard, and the dynamic Voronoi diagram is discussed as a mechanism for managing changes of state, both over time while holding spatial location constant, and while moving through space while holding time constant.
Role of hsCRP Measurements in HIV Patients

As we herald into the 21st century, the quality of life and the repertoire of HAART (Highly active anti retro viral therapy) has considerably improved. However considerable work is still needed to educate the population about primary and secondary prevention modalities. Moreover regular monitoring of immune response with patients on HAART with conventional biomarkers is still a problem in low resource settings which needs to be addressed. We aim to review hsCRP as a potential biomarker in this regard
Social Reward Questionnaire (SRQ): development and validation

Human beings seek out social interactions as a source of reward. To date, there have been limited attempts to identify different forms of social reward, and little is known about how the value of social rewards might vary between individuals. This study aimed to address both these issues by developing the Social Reward Questionnaire (SRQ), a measure of individual differences in the value of different social rewards. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was run on an initial set of 75 items (N = 305). Based on this analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was then conducted on a second sample (N = 505) with a refined 23-item scale. This analysis was used to test a six-factor structure, which resulted in good model fit (CFI = 0.96, RSMEA = 0.07). The factors represent six subscales of social reward defined as follows: Admiration; Negative Social Potency; Passivity; Prosocial Interactions; Sexual Reward; and Sociability. All subscales demonstrated good test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Each subscale also showed a distinct pattern of associations with external correlates measuring personality traits, attitudes, and goals, thus demonstrating construct validity. Taken together, the findings suggest that the SRQ is a reliable, valid measure that can be used to assess individual differences in the value experienced from different social rewards.
Postoperative Mortality in Cancer Patients With Preexisting Diabetes

OBJECTIVE Diabetes appears to increase risk for some cancers, but the association between preexisting diabetes and postoperative mortality in cancer patients is less clear. Our objective was to systematically review postoperative mortality in cancer patients with and without preexisting diabetes and summarize results using meta-analysis. RSEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We searched the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE) and Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE) for articles published on or before 1 July 2009, including references of qualifying articles. We included English language investigations of short-term postoperative mortality after initial cancer treatment. Titles, abstracts, and articles were reviewed by at least two independent readers. Study population and design, results, and quality components were abstracted with standard protocols by one reviewer and checked for accuracy by additional reviewers. RESULTS Of 8,828 titles identified in our original search, 20 articles met inclusion criteria for qualitative systematic review. Of these, 15 reported sufficient information to be combined in meta-analysis. Preexisting diabetes was associated with increased odds of postoperative mortality across all cancer types (OR = 1.85 [95% CI 1.40–2.45]). The risk associated with preexisting diabetes was attenuated but remained significant when we restricted the meta-analysis to models that controlled for confounders (1.51 [1.13–2.02]) or when we accounted for publication bias using the trim and fill method (1.52 [1.13–2.04]). CONCLUSIONS Compared with their nondiabetic counterparts, cancer patients with preexisting diabetes are ∼50% more likely to die after surgery. Future research should investigate physiologic pathways to mortality risk and determine whether improvements in perioperative diabetes care can reduce postoperative mortality.
Neural Mechanisms of Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity: Observations From Functional Neuroimaging Studies

Working memory capacity (WMC) indicates an individual’s capability of executive attentional control, which is thought to be critical for general fluid intelligence. Individual variability in WMC has been attributed to the function of the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC); however, it is still less clear how the lPFC contributes to individual differences in WMC. Referring to functional neuroimaging studies, we consider three possible neural mechanisms. First, greater task-related activity of the lPFC predicts higher WMC across tasks. Second, a specific task-related functional connectivity also predicts higher WMC. The lPFC consistently forms a part of the connectivity while the coupled region varies depending on tasks. Thus, WMC is reflected by not a fixed but flexible connectivity regulated by the lPFC. Third, distinctive intrinsic connectivity even during resting state is also responsible for individual differences in WMC, with the lPFC seated at a critical hub within the network. These three neural mechanisms differentially contribute to WMC, and therefore, complementarily explain individual differences in WMC.
Taste-Specific Neuronal Ensembles in the Gustatory Cortex of Awake Rats

In gustatory cortex, single-neuron activity reflects the multimodal processing of taste stimuli. Little is known, however, about the interactions between gustatory cortical (GC) neurons during tastant processing. Here, these interactions were characterized. It was found that 36% (85 of 237) of neuron pairs, including many (61%) in which one or both single units were not taste specific, produced significant cross-correlations (CCs) to a subset of tastants across a hundreds of milliseconds timescale. Significant CCs arose from the coupling between the firing rates of neurons as those rates changed through time. Such coupling significantly increased the amount of tastant-specific information contained in ensembles. These data suggest that taste-specific GC assemblies may transiently form and coevolve on a behaviorally appropriate timescale, contributing to rats' ability to discriminate tastants.
Predicting Flu Incidence from Portuguese Tweets

Social media platforms encourage people to share diverse as- pects of their daily life. Among these, shared health related information might be used to infer health status and incidence rates for specic condi- tions or symptoms. In this work, we evaluate the use of Twitter messages and search engine query logs to estimate the incidence rate of inuenza like illness in Portugal. Based on a classied dataset of 2704 tweets from Portugal, we obtained a precision of 0.78 and an F-measure of 0.83 for a Naive Bayes classier with 650 textual features. We obtained a Pearson's correlation ratio of 0.89 (p < 0:001) between health-monitoring data from the Inuenzanet project and the prediction by a multiple linear regression model, using as predictors the relative frequencies estimated from the classier output and from query logs. Although the Portuguese community in Twitter is small, our results are comparable to previous approaches in other languages, and indicate that this approach could be used in the future to complement other measures of disease incidence rates.
Opportunistic channel allocation algorithms for WLANs based on IEEE802.11

The deployment of highly dense wireless local area networks (WLAN) can cause an excessive level of interference in the commonly used 2.4 GHz ISM band, which leads to network performance degradation. This paper analyses the possibility to reduce congestion in the crowded ISM band by allowing some access points (APs) to opportunistically operate in a primary band. Although the problem of opportunistic channel allocation considering both ISM and primary bands can be formulated mathematically as a Binary Linear Programming (BLP) problem, existing algorithms (e.g., branch and bound) capable to provide optimal solutions for BLP problems are quite inefficient for large deployments. Therefore, we propose three different heuristic algorithms to solve this opportunistic channel allocation problem by properly extending graph coloring algorithms: First Fit (FF), Saturation Degree Ordering (SDO) and Minimum Spanning Tree (MST). A performance analysis of the three algorithms is carried out under different conditions of primary band availability and AP density.
Robo2 determines subtype-specific axonal projections of trigeminal sensory neurons

How neurons connect to form functional circuits is central to the understanding of the development and function of the nervous system. In the somatosensory system, perception of sensory stimuli to the head requires specific connections between trigeminal sensory neurons and their many target areas in the central nervous system. Different trigeminal subtypes have specialized functions and downstream circuits, but it has remained unclear how subtype-specific axonal projection patterns are formed. Using zebrafish as a model system, we followed the development of two trigeminal sensory neuron subtypes: one that expresses trpa1b, a nociceptive channel important for sensing environmental chemicals; and a distinct subtype labeled by an islet1 reporter (Isl1SS). We found that Trpa1b and Isl1SS neurons have overall similar axon trajectories but different branching morphologies and distributions of presynaptic sites. Compared with Trpa1b neurons, Isl1SS neurons display reduced branch growth and synaptogenesis at the hindbrain-spinal cord junction. The subtype-specific morphogenesis of Isl1SS neurons depends on the guidance receptor Robo2. robo2 is preferentially expressed in the Isl1SS subset and inhibits branch growth and synaptogenesis. In the absence of Robo2, Isl1SS afferents acquire many of the characteristics of Trpa1b afferents. These results reveal that subtype-specific activity of Robo2 regulates subcircuit morphogenesis in the trigeminal sensory system.
An efficient anycasting scheme in ad-hoc wireless networks

When searching for resources on networks, the system often depends on the broadcast or multicast mechanism to acquire the information, which usually results in large overhead. It is a serious problem in ad-hoc wireless networks, where the bandwidth is limited and each node moves arbitrarily and acts not only as a host but also as a router. This work proposes an efficient anycasting scheme in ad-hoc wireless networks. The scheme can be used to reduce the request messages, decrease the overhead of response received from duplicate packets, and balance the load of ad-hoc wireless networks. Furthermore, our scheme can support any K services and attain the backup or fault tolerance purpose.
Detection of Japanese Encephalitis Virus Genotype V in Culex orientalis and Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) in Korea

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) causes significant viral encephalitis and is distributed throughout the Asian countries. The virus is known to be transmitted by Culex tritaeniorhynchus, which mainly breeds in rice paddies in Korea. In this study, we investigated the presence of other mosquito species that can transmit JEV as a second or regional vector. We selected five cities where patients have experienced JE in the last 5 years as mosquito-collecting locations and subdivided them into four collection sites according to the mosquito habitats (cowshed, downtown area, forest, and swamp). Mosquitoes were caught using the BG-Sentinel trap, CDC black-light trap, Fay-Prince trap, and Gravid trap. A total of 993 pools from 22,774 mosquitoes were prepared according to their species, collection date, and site. We performed a SYBR Green 1-based real-time RT-PCR assay to detect JEV from the mosquito pools. A total of six JEV-positive pools were detected from Culex orientalis and Culex pipiens caught in the Gangwon-do and Gyeonngi-do provinces. All the detected JEVs were revealed as genotype V by phylogenetic analysis of the envelope gene. Our findings confirm that a new genotype of JEV was introduced in Korea and suggest that two mosquito species may play a role in JEV transmission.
Human Activity Recognition: From Controlled Lab Experiments to Competitive Live Evaluation

Human activity recognition is a basic building block in numerous healthcare systems, mainly because the ability to understand the user's situation and context. This paper presents a solution to the general problem with evaluation of human activity recognition systems, i.e., an activity recognition system may perform perfectly in controlled lab experiments, but significantly worse once applied to more realistic conditions. The solution is presented through the practical experience gained with the creation of our RAReFall activity recognition system. Although the system was awarded the first place at the EvAAL-AR live competition, the recognition accuracy at the competition was significantly lower compared to the controlled lab experiments performed just before the competition. To overcome the encountered problem we developed an automatic calibration method, which solves the encountered problem by adapting and re-calibrating the accelerometer data in real-time while the user is performing everyday activities. The method increased the overall accuracy for 8 percentage points and for 51 percentage points for the sitting activity.
CD13 promotes mesenchymal stem cell-mediated regeneration of ischemic muscle

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent, tissue-resident cells that can facilitate tissue regeneration and thus, show great promise as potential therapeutic agents. Functional MSCs have been isolated and characterized from a wide array of adult tissues and are universally identified by the shared expression of a core panel of MSCs markers. One of these markers is the multifunctional cell surface peptidase CD13 that has been shown to be expressed on human and murine MSCs from many tissues. To investigate whether this universal expression indicates a functional role for CD13 in MSC biology we isolated, expanded and characterized MSCs from bone marrow of wild type (WT) and CD13KO mice. Characterization of these cells demonstrated that both WT and CD13KO MSCs expressed the full complement of MSC markers (CD29, CD44, CD49e, CD105, Sca1), showed comparable proliferation rates and were capable of differentiating toward the adipogenic and osteogenic lineages. However, MSCs lacking CD13 were unable to differentiate into vascular cells, consistent with our previous characterization of CD13 as an angiogenic regulator. Compared to WT MSCs, adhesion and migration on various extracellular matrices of CD13KO MSCs were significantly impaired, which correlated with decreased phospho-FAK levels and cytoskeletal alterations. Crosslinking human MSCs with activating CD13 antibodies increased cell adhesion to endothelial monolayers and induced FAK activation in a time dependent manner. In agreement with these in vitro data, intramuscular injection of CD13KO MSCs in a model of severe ischemic limb injury resulted in significantly poorer perfusion, decreased ambulation, increased necrosis and impaired vascularization compared to those receiving WT MSCs. This study suggests that CD13 regulates FAK activation to promote MSC adhesion and migration, thus, contributing to MSC-mediated tissue repair. CD13 may present a viable target to enhance the efficacy of mesenchymal stem cell therapies.
A Profile of High-Stakes Assessment Practices in Music Teacher Education

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe high-stakes assessment practices in the field of music teacher education. Furthermore, I sought to compare institutional capstone assessment practices with state licensure requirements. Research questions involved the status of high-stakes assessments of general, content, and pedagogical knowledge, as well as high-stakes teacher performance assessments (e.g., edTPA). Participants in this study included faculty representatives (N = 274) from National Association of Schools of Music–accredited music teacher education programs across all 50 states. The majority of participants indicated that preservice candidates were required to pass a test of general knowledge as a gatekeeper to acceptance into the music teacher licensure program, as well as a variety of other examinations prior to graduation. More than one half of participants reported that their institution required music teacher candidates to complete a teacher performance assessment (e.g., edTPA). Alignment between state and institution requirements was varied.