Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal Power Control and Link Selection Policy for Buffer-Aided Two-Hop Secure Communications

In this paper, secure communication over a buffer-aided two-hop communication link, in which a source sends data to a destination with the aid of a trusted half-duplex relay node in the presence of a passive eavesdropper, is studied. It is assumed that there is no direct link between the source and the destination, and the buffer-aided relay forwards the information to the destination by employing the decode-and-forward (DF) scheme. Both the source and the relay transmissions are assumed to be vulnerable to the eavesdropper. The perfect channel side information (CSI) of the network is assumed to be available at the source and the relay. Initially, conventional relaying protocols where equal partition of the time for the reception and transmission of the relay is considered. Then, the optimal time fraction with the optimal power control policy that maximizes the secrecy throughput is identified. Subsequently, the optimal joint link selection and power control policy that maximizes the secrecy throughput is derived. Numerical results demonstrate that the joint link selection and power control scheme can significantly improve the achievable secrecy throughput of the buffer-aided two-hop communication system.
Post-Receptor Inhibitors of the GHR-JAK2-STAT Pathway in the Growth Hormone Signal Transduction

The growth hormone (GH) plays a key role in the regulation of metabolic processes in an organism. Determination of the correct structure and functioning of the growth hormone receptor (GHR) allowed for a more detailed research of its post-receptor regulators, which substantially influences its signal transduction. This review is focused on the description of the post-receptor inhibitors of the GHR-JAK2-STAT pathway, which is one of the most important pathways in the transduction of the somatotropic axis signal. The aim of this review is the short characterization of the main post-receptor inhibitors, such as: cytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein (CIS), Suppressors of Cytokine Signaling (SOCS) 1, 2 and 3, sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), protein inhibitors of activated STAT (PIAS) 1, 3 and PIAS4, protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTP) 1B and H1, Src homology 2 (SH2) domain containing protein tyrosine phosphatase (SHP) 1, 2 and signal regulatory protein (SIRP) α1. The equilibrium between these regulators activity and inhibition is of special concern because, as many studies showed, even slight imbalance may disrupt the GH activity causing serious diseases. The regulation of the described inhibitors expression and activity may be a point of interest for pharmaceutical industry.
Naked chancelloriids from the lower Cambrian of China show evidence for sponge-type growth

Chancelloriids are an extinct group of spiny Cambrian animals of uncertain phylogenetic position. Despite their sponge-like body plan, their spines are unlike modern sponge spicules, but share several features with the sclerites of certain Cambrian bilaterians, notably halkieriids. However, a proposed homology of these ‘coelosclerites' implies complex transitions in body plan evolution. A new species of chancelloriid, Allonnia nuda, from the lower Cambrian (Stage 3) Chengjiang Lagerstätte is distinguished by its large size and sparse spination, with modified apical sclerites surrounding an opening into the body cavity. The sclerite arrangement in A. nuda and certain other chancelloriids indicates that growth involved sclerite addition in a subapical region, thus maintaining distinct zones of body sclerites and apical sclerites. This pattern is not seen in halkieriids, but occurs in some modern calcarean sponges. With scleritome assembly consistent with a sponge affinity, and in the absence of cnidarian- or bilaterian-grade features, it is possible to interpret chancelloriids as sponges with an unusually robust outer epithelium, strict developmental control of body axis formation, distinctive spicule-like structures and, by implication, minute ostia too small to be resolved in fossils. In this light, chancelloriids may contribute to the emerging picture of high disparity among early sponges.
Strong Secrecy for Interference Channels Based on Channel Resolvability

Interference channels with confidential messages are studied under strong secrecy constraints, based on the framework of channel resolvability theory. It is shown that if the random binning rate for securing a confidential message is above the resolution of its corresponding wiretapped channel, strong secrecy can be guaranteed. The information-spectrum method introduced by Han and Verdú is generalized to an arbitrary interference channel to obtain a direct channel resolvability result as a first step. For stationary and memoryless channels with discrete output alphabets, the results show that the achievable rates under weak and strong secrecy constraints are the same. This result is then generalized to channels with continuous output alphabets by deriving a reverse direction of Pinsker’s inequality to bound the secrecy measure from above by a function of the variational distance of relevant distributions. As an application, Gaussian interference channels are studied in which the agreement between the best known weak and strong secrecy rate regions also appear. Following the footsteps of Csiszár, Hayashi and of Bloch and Laneman, these results provide further evidence that channel resolvability is a powerful and general framework for strong secrecy analysis in multiuser networks.
Acetyl-11-Keto-&bgr;-Boswellic Acid Promotes Osteoblast Differentiation by Inhibiting Tumor Necrosis Factor-&agr; and Nuclear Factor-&kgr;B Activity

Abstract Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) -&agr; plays a crucial role in rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related bone loss disease. The main mechanism of action of RA induced bone loss is the significant inhibitory effect of TNF-&agr; on osteoblast differentiation. TNF-&agr; inhibits osteoblast differentiation mainly by activating nuclear factor (NF) -&kgr;B signaling pathway. Owing to the crucial role of TNF-&agr; and NF-&kgr;B in the inhibition of osteoblast differentiation, they are considered as targets for the development of therapeutic drugs. In the present study, we evaluated the NF-&kgr;B inhibitor Boswellic acid (BA) and its derivatives in the regulation of osteoblast differentiation and the molecular mechanism. Based on the cell model of TNF-&agr; induced inhibition of osteoblast differentiation of MC3T3-E1, the regulatory role of BAs was studied. The result of MTT assay indicated that bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) -2, TNF-&agr;, or acetyl-11-keto-&bgr;-BA (AKBA) impact no significant effect for cell viability of MC3T3-E1. The results of alkaline phosphatase (ALP activity assay and real-time polymerase chain reaction indicated that AKBA blocked TNF-&agr;-induced inhibition of the expression of osteoblast markers, suggesting that AKBA rescued osteoblast differentiation from TNF-&agr;-induced inhibition. Additionally, AKBA stimulated the BMP-2-induced expression of osteoblast markers, suggesting that AKBA promotes osteoblast differentiation directly. The results of western blotting and luciferase assay indicated that N-&kgr;B signaling was activated by TNF-&agr;. The overexpression of NF-&kgr;B component p65 in MC3T3-E1 was found to attenuate the positive effect of AKBA in osteoblast differentiation, suggesting that AKBA potentiates osteoblast differentiation by inhibiting NF-&kgr;B signaling. Collectively, AKBA promotes osteoblast differentiation by inhibiting TNF-&agr; and NF-&kgr;B. Our study revealed a new discovery of AKBA in regulating osteoblast differentiation, and demonstrated that AKBA may be a potential anabolic agent in the treatment of RA-derived bone loss disease.
The role of neutrophils in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease

Crohn's disease (CD) is caused by a trigger, almost certainly enteric infection by one of a multitude of organisms that allows faeces access to the tissues, at which stage the response of individuals predisposed to CD is abnormal. In CD the failure of acute inflammation results in the failure to recruit neutrophils to the inflammatory site, as a consequence of which the clearance of bacteria from the tissues is defective. The retained faecal products result in the characteristic chronic granulomatous inflammation and adaptive immune response. Impaired of digestion of bacteria and fungi by CGD neutrophils can result in a similar pathological and clinical picture. The neutrophils in CD are normal and their inadequate accumulation at sites of inflammation generally results from diminished secretion of proinflammatory cytokines by macrophages consequent upon disordered vesicle trafficking.
Mature Students Speak Up: Career Exploration and the Working Alliance

This exploratory study was undertaken to learn more about how mature students perceive the career counselling process in a post-secondary institution. Through the use of critical incident technique this study examined how three mature students interpret their relationship between themselves and their counsellors. Significant factors identified as contributing to a positive interpersonal connective bond were considering the whole of the clients’ experience, integrating career and personal concerns, introducing assessment tools appropriately, and utilizing counsellor self-disclosure appropriately. This study highlights the importance of utilizing critical incident technique in career counselling, the importance of the working alliance for mature students, and identifies possible counselling applications to consider when working with this population.
Robust moment estimation and improved clustering via sum of squares

We develop efficient algorithms for estimating low-degree moments of unknown distributions in the presence of adversarial outliers and design a new family of convex relaxations for k-means clustering based on sum-of-squares method. As an immediate corollary, for any γ > 0, we obtain an efficient algorithm for learning the means of a mixture of k arbitrary distributions in d in time dO(1/γ) so long as the means have separation Ω(kγ). This in particular yields an algorithm for learning Gaussian mixtures with separation Ω(kγ), thus partially resolving an open problem of Regev and Vijayaraghavan regev2017learning. The guarantees of our robust estimation algorithms improve in many cases significantly over the best previous ones, obtained in the recent works. We also show that the guarantees of our algorithms match information-theoretic lower-bounds for the class of distributions we consider. These improved guarantees allow us to give improved algorithms for independent component analysis and learning mixtures of Gaussians in the presence of outliers. We also show a sharp upper bound on the sum-of-squares norms for moment tensors of any distribution that satisfies the Poincare inequality. The Poincare inequality is a central inequality in probability theory, and a large class of distributions satisfy it including Gaussians, product distributions, strongly log-concave distributions, and any sum or uniformly continuous transformation of such distributions. As a consequence, this yields that all of the above algorithmic improvements hold for distributions satisfying the Poincare inequality.
The Seasonal Linear Response of the Tropical Atlantic Òcean

Abstract The linear response of the tropical Atlantic ocean to climatological winds is calculated in a continuously stratified model and compared with observations. All the characteristic features of the dynamic topography are reproduced at the proper 1ocations including the series of zonally oriented ridges and troughs, the equatorial “pivot” zone and the seasonal variations of slope along the equator. Linear theory fails to explain seasonal variations of the South Equatorial Current and of the Equatorial Undercurrent, but it compares favorably for the major zonal currents off the equator (the North Equatorial Countercurrent, the Guinea Current and Undercurrent).
Within‐brood size differences, sex and parasites determine blood stress protein levels in Eurasian Kestrel nestlings

Summary 1Brood hierarchies established through hatching asynchrony are supposed to be costly for small chicks because of impaired growth and survival. An additional cost that has remained unexplored is the stress imposed by competition for resources in the nest. 2In the present study of broods of Eurasian kestrels, we have used the level of heat shock proteins such as Hsp60 and Hsp70 in peripheral blood as well as the heterophile/lymphocyte ratio to detect stress in nestlings. The sex of nestlings and their Caryospora sp. oocyst excretion were included in analyses. 3Nestlings showing a large size difference with respect to their largest sibling had higher levels of both stress proteins, and this effect was stronger for female chicks as indicated by a significant interaction sex × size difference, presumably because of their higher food requirements for growth. Nestlings for which the largest sibling was a female had higher levels of Hsp60 than when it was a male. The heterophile/lymphocyte index was a much poorer predictor of competitive stress. 4Stress proteins are effective estimators of competitive, nutritional and parasite-mediated stress of nestlings in the wild. The cost of sustained stress has to be included in future analyses of the fitness repercussions of dominance hierarchies in avian broods.
Design of Broadband SubWavelength Grating Couplers with Low Back Reflection

We present a methodology to design broadband grating couplers using one dimensional sub-wavelength gratings. Using the presented method, we design subwavelength grating couplers (SWGCs) with 1-dB bandwidths ranging from 50 nm to 90 nm. Our designed SWGCs have competitive coupling efficiency, as high as -3.8 dB for the fundamental TE mode, and state-ofthe-art back reflections, as low as -23 dB.
Effect of Depression on Stroke Specific Quality of Life: ASurvey in Urban Settings of Lahore City

Background: Stroke has significant effect on physical and mental functioning of the patients. The impact on functionality and activities of daily living can further have profound effect on post stroke depression and quality of life of the patients. Objective of this study was to determine the effect of depression on stroke specific quality of life. Method and findings: A sample of 195 post stroke patients was selected using convenient sampling. Male or female Post stroke patients, Age 30 to 55 years, 1 to 6 months after their first stroke and with a level of disability of 2 to 4 on Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) were included in the study. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders-IV (DSM IV) criterion for the diagnosis of depression was used in the form of questionnaire to determine the frequency of depression among stroke patients. The quality of life of both depressed and non-depressed stroke patients was assessed using Stroke Specific Quality of life Scale. Most of the respondents were diagnosed as depressed (n=135, 69.2%). Most of the respondents had a poor quality of life (n=133, 68.2%) as measured on the stroke specific quality of life scale. A moderate negative correlation was found between depression and quality of life (r=-0.677, p-value<0.05). Conclusion: Depression and a poor quality of life are frequent post-stroke. Depression negatively affects the stroke specific quality of life of the patients and the more strongly effected domains of the quality of life are social roles, family roles, thinking and energy.
Vector competence of Aedes aegypti, Culex tarsalis, and Culex quinquefasciatus from California for Zika virus

Zika virus (ZIKV) has emerged since 2013 as a significant global human health threat following outbreaks in the Pacific Islands and rapid spread throughout South and Central America. Severe congenital and neurological sequelae have been linked to ZIKV infections. Assessing the ability of common mosquito species to transmit ZIKV and characterizing variation in mosquito transmission of different ZIKV strains is important for estimating regional outbreak potential and for prioritizing local mosquito control strategies for Aedes and Culex species. In this study, we evaluated the laboratory vector competence of Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Culex tarsalis that originated in areas of California where ZIKV cases in travelers since 2015 were frequent. We compared infection, dissemination, and transmission rates by measuring ZIKV RNA levels in cohorts of mosquitoes that ingested blood meals from type I interferon-deficient mice infected with either a Puerto Rican ZIKV strain from 2015 (PR15), a Brazilian ZIKV strain from 2015 (BR15), or an ancestral Asian-lineage Malaysian ZIKV strain from 1966 (MA66). With PR15, Cx. quinquefasciatus was refractory to infection (0%, N = 42) and Cx. tarsalis was infected at 4% (N = 46). No ZIKV RNA was detected in saliva from either Culex species 14 or 21 days post feeding (dpf). In contrast, Ae. aegypti developed infection rates of 85% (PR15; N = 46), 90% (BR15; N = 20), and 81% (MA66; N = 85) 14 or 15 dpf. Although MA66-infected Ae. aegypti showed higher levels of ZIKV RNA in mosquito bodies and legs, transmission rates were not significantly different across virus strains (P = 0.13, Fisher’s exact test). To confirm infectivity and measure the transmitted ZIKV dose, we enumerated infectious ZIKV in Ae. aegypti saliva using Vero cell plaque assays. The expectorated plaque forming units PFU varied by viral strain: MA66-infected expectorated 13±4 PFU (mean±SE, N = 13) compared to 29±6 PFU for PR15-infected (N = 13) and 35±8 PFU for BR15-infected (N = 6; ANOVA, df = 2, F = 3.8, P = 0.035). These laboratory vector competence results support an emerging consensus that Cx. tarsalis and Cx. quinquefasciatus are not vectors of ZIKV. These results also indicate that Ae. aegypti from California are efficient laboratory vectors of ancestral and contemporary Asian lineage ZIKV.
Human gait recognition based on frontal view using kinect features and orthogonal least square selection

This paper discussed the recognition of human gait for both frontal and oblique view based on orthogonal least square (OLS) as feature selection and Multi-Layer perceptron (MLP) as classifier. Firstly, kinect sensor was used to acquire several frames of human gait in both oblique and frontal view. Next, feature extraction is conducted via skeleton joint point in the 3D space known as direct-gait (D-G) feature. Further, feature selection is performed in identifying the significant D-G features using OLS labeled as OLS-G features. Then, the effectiveness of the OLS-G features in recognition of human based on their gait is evaluated using neural network classifier. Result attained proven that OLS-G feature in frontal view is indeed apt for recognition of human based on their gait with recognition accuracy of 90.6%.
Morphometric assessment of the lumbar pedicle isthmus by reformatted CT: variations according to age and gender.

This work aims to determine the morphometric characteristics of the lumbar pedicle isthmus with surgical relevance to transpedicular procedures using reformatted computed tomography (CT) and to determine the possible variations in the diameters between genders and age groups. Observational, cross-sectional, descriptive and comparative anatomical studies were carried out. We analyzed 200 CT studies of Mexican patients of known age and gender. The images were analyzed using specialized software for reformatting that could determine cortical and endosteal diameters and cortical thickness at the level of the pedicle isthmus. The mean and standard deviation for each measurement parameter were determined, and a parametric correlation test was performed to compare the variations between the age groups of the same gender. Significant differences in the pedicle diameters between men and women were evident for most of the age groups (p <0.05). The cortical and endosteal pedicle width showed an increase from L1 to L5; the reverse was observed for cortical and endosteal pedicle height. No significant differences were evident with respect to age in the horizontal and vertical diameters for most of the generated study groups. The lateral cortical bone had the lowest scores of the study. The mean values of the morphometric characteristics of the pedicle isthmus obtained in this study will be helpful to conclusively define the pedicle dimensions and to improve the transpedicular approach to the lumbar spine.
Costs and consequences of plastic responses to the sperm competition environment in Drosophila melanogaster

Sperm Competition (SC) has been one dominant focus of evolution and behavioural ecology since its conception. Plastic SC responses evolved in response to rapid changes in SC risk. In the model organism Drosophila melanogaster it is known that males reared with rivals mate longer, alter seminal fluid production and transfer an ejaculate containing more seminal fluid proteins, resulting in higher fertilization success and paternity share. Here I investigate potential longevity costs for males expressing plastic SC responses, as well as any longevity cost to females mating to these males. I also explore whether males vary sperm production in response to SC risk. I demonstrate that virgin males reared in high SC environments live significantly longer than males from low SC environments; mating negates this longevity benefit. I expected males to pay a longevity cost for their plastic SC responses: the counterintuitive finding suggests that males may trade-off this cost by reducing other expensive functions. In contrast, females showed no instantaneous longevity cost or benefit to mating with males from a high SC background. In addition to the plastic behavioural and physiological responses to SC risk already reported, I demonstrate here that male D. melanogaster also respond by increasing both sperm quantity and quality. Despite the longstanding use of D. melanogaster as a model species in SC research, this result has never previously been described. The work reported here reveals two major findings: male D. melanogaster adjust sperm quality in response to risk of SC, and that longevity of these males increases above that of males raised alone. This research raises new questions about plasticity in response to SC in this species, in particular, if the costs of the response are so small, why do males not constantly show the elevated response? The answer is likely to lie in the precise balance of trade-offs between different life history variables.
Improving outcomes in gestational diabetes: does gestational weight gain matter?

Excessive gestational weight gain increases risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) but it remains unclear whether weight control after GDM diagnosis improves outcomes. We assessed whether: (1) total gestational weight gain during pregnancy (0–36 weeks); (2) early gestational weight gain (0–28 weeks, before GDM diagnosis); or (3) late gestational weight gain (28–36 weeks, after diagnosis) are associated with maternal–fetal outcomes.