Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel 3-D Massive MIMO Channel Model for Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication Environments

This paper presents 3-D vehicle massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna array model for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication environments. A spherical wavefront is assumed in the proposed model instead of the plane wavefront assumption used in the conventional MIMO channel model. Using the proposed V2V channel model, we first derive the closed-form expressions for the joint and marginal probability density functions of the angle of departure at the transmitter and angle of arrival at the receiver in the azimuth and elevation planes. We additionally analyze the time and frequency cross-correlation functions for different propagation paths. In the proposed model, we derive the expression of the Doppler spectrum due to the relative motion between the mobile transmitter and mobile receiver. The results show that the proposed 3-D channel model is in close agreement with previously reported results, thereby validating the generalization of the proposed model.
Major Cancer Surgery in the Elderly: Results From the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program

Objective:To examine the association between older age and short-term outcomes after major oncologic resections. Summary Background Data:The effect of older age on outcomes from major cancer surgery remains conflicting because of limitations in measuring coexisting comorbidities. Given the critical role of surgery, older patients and their surgeons often question decisions regarding major cancer surgery. Methods:We identified 8781 patients who underwent elective or emergent major thoracic, abdominal, or pelvic resections for neoplasms in the 2005 to 2007 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. Pre, intra-, and postoperative characteristics were compared by age groups. Multivariable techniques were used to predict adjusted short-term operative outcomes. Results:Older patients were more likely to have preoperative comorbidities and to receive intraoperative blood transfusions, but at the same time have shorter operative times. Increased age was also associated with higher operative mortality (4.83% for ≥75 years vs. 1.09% for ages 40–55 years), a greater frequency of major complications, and more prolonged hospital stays—all of which persisted after multivariable adjustments. Despite its strong association with 30-day operative mortality, the impact of older age was comparable to other preoperative risk-factors predictive of short-term operative outcomes. Conclusions:The present study, which is one of the largest multihospital studies, showed that older age is independently associated with worse short-term outcomes after major oncologic resections. However, the effect of age was not prohibitively worse, and is comparable to the effects of other preoperative risk factors. These findings support the use of risk-based treatment decision-making in older patients.
Design of a multilink-articulated wheeled pipeline inspection robot using only passive elastic joints

Abstract This paper presents a multilink-articulated robot with omni and hemispherical wheels (AIRo-2.1) for inspecting and exploring pipelines. To quickly adapt to winding pipes, holonomic rolling movement without moving forward and backward is useful. However, this requires the rolling actuators to replace the driving actuators at the expense of the driving force. Furthermore, so far the number of driving wheels and torsion springs, magnitude of driving forces, stiffness and natural angle of the spring that are required to adapt to various pipelines have not been clarified. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of high maneuverability of multilink-articulated robots in winding pipes with as few driving actuators as possible and only elastic joints (torsion springs) for body bending. We further validate its effectiveness by experimental verification. Graphical Abstract
B ose-E instein condensates

The dynam ics of m ultiple dom ain form ation caused by the m odulation instability of two-com ponent Bose-Einstein condensates in an axially sym m etric trap are studied by num erically integrating the coupled G ross-Pitaevskii equations. The m odulation instability induced by the intercom ponentm ean-(cid:12)eld coupling occursin theout-of-phase (cid:13)uctuation ofthewave function and leads to the form ation ofm ultiple dom ains that alternate from one dom ain to another,where the phase ofone com ponentjum ps across the density dipswhere the dom ains ofthe other exist. This behavior is analogous to a soliton train,which explains the origin ofthe long lifetim e ofthe spin dom ainsobserved by M iesner etal. [Phys.Rev.Lett. 82 ,2228 (1999)].
Structure, activity and evolution of the group I thiolactone peptide quorum‐sensing system of Staphylococcus aureus

In Staphylococcus aureus, the agr locus is responsible for controlling virulence gene expression via quorum sensing. As the blockade of quorum sensing offers a novel strategy for attenuating infection, we sought to gain novel insights into the structure, activity and turnover of the secreted staphylococcal autoinducing peptide (AIP) signal molecules. A series of analogues (including the l‐alanine and d‐amino acid scanned peptides) was synthesized to determine the functionally critical residues within the S. aureus group I AIP. As a consequence, we established that (i) the group I AIP is inactivated in culture supernatants by the formation of the corresponding methionyl sulphoxide; and (ii) the group I AIP lactam analogue retains the capacity to activate agr, suggesting that covalent modification of the AgrC receptor is not a necessary prerequisite for agr activation. Although each of the d‐amino acid scanned AIP analogues retained activity, replacement of the endocyclic amino acid residue (aspartate) located C‐terminally to the central cysteine with alanine converted the group I AIP from an activator to a potent inhibitor. The screening of clinical S. aureus isolates for novel AIP groups revealed a variant that differed from the group I AIP by a single amino acid residue (aspartate to tyrosine) in the same position defined as critical by alanine scanning. Although this AIP inhibits group I S. aureus strains, the producer strains possess a functional agr locus dependent on the endogenous peptide and, as such, constitute a fourth S. aureus AIP pheromone group (group IV). The addition of exogenous synthetic AIPs to S. aureus inhibited the production of toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST‐1) and enterotoxin C3, confirming the potential of quorum‐sensing blockade as a therapeutic strategy.
Knowledge licensing in a model of R&D-driven endogenous growth

Abstract I model knowledge (patent) licensing and evaluate intellectual property regulation in an endogenous growth framework where the engine of growth is in-house R&D performed by high-tech firms. I show that high-tech firms innovate more and economic growth is higher when there is knowledge licensing, and when intellectual property regulation facilitates excludability of knowledge, than when knowledge is not excludable and there are knowledge spillovers among high-tech firms. However, the number of high-tech firms is lower, and welfare is not necessarily higher when there is knowledge licensing than when there are knowledge spillovers.
Overcoming cancer cell resistance to Smac mimetic induced apoptosis by modulating cIAP-2 expression

Smac mimetics target cancer cells in a TNFα-dependent manner, partly via proteasome degradation of cellular inhibitor of apoptosis 1 (cIAP1) and cIAP2. Degradation of cIAPs triggers the release of receptor interacting protein kinase (RIPK1) from TNF receptor I (TNFR1) to form a caspase-8 activating complex together with the adaptor protein Fas-associated death domain (FADD). We report here a means through which cancer cells mediate resistance to Smac mimetic/TNFα-induced apoptosis and corresponding strategies to overcome such resistance. These human cancer cell lines evades Smac mimetic-induced apoptosis by up-regulation of cIAP2, which although initially degraded, rebounds and is refractory to subsequent degradation. cIAP2 is induced by TNFα via NF-κB and modulation of the NF-κB signal renders otherwise resistant cells sensitive to Smac mimetics. In addition, other signaling pathways, including phosphatidyl inositol-3 kinase (PI3K), have the potential to concurrently regulate cIAP2. Using the PI3K inhibitor, LY294002, cIAP2 up-regulation was suppressed and resistance to Smac mimetics-induced apoptosis was also overcome.
MIC1 and IL1RN Genetic Variation and Advanced Prostate Cancer Risk

Recently, polymorphisms in macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 ( MIC1 ) and interleukin 1 receptor antagonist ( IL1RN ) were identified to be associated with prostate cancer risk ([1][1]-[3][2]). MIC-1 is a divergent member of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily of cytokines. In the Cancer
The SACE Review panel's final report: Significant flaws in the analysis of statistical data

The South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) is a credential and formal qualification within the Australian Qualifications Framework. A recent review of the SACE outlined a number of recommendations for significant changes to this certificate. These recommendations were the result of a process that began with the review panel “scrutinizing carefully [existing SACE structures for] continuing validity and effectiveness”. This paper critiques the “careful examination” of statistical trends and patterns used to build the case for reform. Central to these trends and patterns are measures of retention, socio-economic status and student achievement, all of which are problematic. This paper also challenges the appropriateness of the statistical techniques used in the review. The paper concludes by arguing that making significant policy changes based upon such limited and flawed analyses is problematic.
Conversion of epidural labour analgesia to anaesthesia for Caesarean section: a prospective study of the incidence and determinants of failure.

BACKGROUND The incidence of general anaesthesia (GA) has been used as a marker for the quality of obstetric anaesthesia care. Recent guidelines suggest the rate of GA for Caesarean section in parturients with pre-existing epidural analgesia for labour should be <3%. The primary purpose of this study is to determine whether or not this is an achievable standard in a university teaching hospital. We also wished to determine the factors influencing the incidence of inadequate anaesthesia. METHODS We studied a consecutive cohort of 501 patients who had a Caesarean section after epidural labour analgesia. The incidence of GA, the total incidence of failure, and the factors previously associated with failure were recorded. Factors shown to be significant with univariate analysis were used in a binary logistic regression to determine the independent risk factors for failure. RESULTS Twenty-one of 501 parturients required GA (4.1%, 95% confidence interval 2.6-6.3%), not significantly different from 3% (P=0.1). Fifteen of 21 (71%) of these occurred intraoperatively. The total rate of failure was 30/501 (5.9%, 95% confidence interval 4.0-8.4%). Maternal height and the number of clinician top-ups in labour were the significant independent risk factors for failure. CONCLUSIONS Intraoperative conversion to GA may increase both maternal and fetal risks. Strategies to reduce the incidence may include early recognition of inadequate labour analgesia and reliable assessment of adequacy of surgical anaesthesia.
Self-Efficacy Perspective On Achievement Behavior

This article examines the idea that perceived self‐efficacy is an important variable in understanding achievement behavior. Self‐efficacy refers to personal judgments of one's capability to organize and implement behaviors in specific situations. Students gain information about their level of self‐efficacy from self‐performances, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and physiological indices. In forming efficacy judgments, people take into account factors such as perceived ability, task difficulty, effort expenditure, performance aids, and outcome patterns. Even when students acquire efficacy information from self‐performances, efficacy judgments are not mere reflections of those performances because educational practices differ in the type of information they convey about students’ capabilities. Some experimental tests of these ideas are summarized along with their educational implications. The self‐efficacy framework is compared with locus of control, attribution, and self‐worth theories of achieve.
INFECTIOUS ENDOPHTHALMITIS AFTER INTRAVITREAL INJECTION OF ANTIANGIOGENIC AGENTS

Purpose: To evaluate the rate of infectious endophthalmitis associated with intravitreal injection of bevacizumab, ranibizumab, and pegaptanib sodium. Methods: A retrospective review of patients who received intravitreal injections of bevacizumab, ranibizumab, and pegaptanib sodium was undertaken. Cases of clinical diagnoses of endophthalmitis or suspected endophthalmitis resulting from intravitreal injection were identified and reviewed. From these data, the risk per injection was estimated. Results: Three patients developed endophthalmitis after the intravitreal injection. The risk per injection was 0.00077 (0.077%). The rate of endophthalmitis was 1 per 1,291 injections. Conclusion: A similar risk of endophthalmitis per injection compared with some trials was obtained in this study. Although no definite risk factors could be identified, intravitreal injections performed by nonretina specialist physicians may be a risk factor for the development of endophthalmitis.
CAS-Complications Rate and Relation to Risk Factors

Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate the risk factors for CAS with cerebral protection and the incidence of complication in patients with severe carotid stenosis. Materials and Methods: Overall, 95 consecutive patients with an average age of 64.67 years (28 - 83) (16 women (17%) and 79 men (83%)) were enrolled in the prospective monocentric study. Indication for CAS was symptomatic carotid stenosis ≥70% (n = 60 (63.16%)) or asymptomatic stenosis ≥80% (n = 35 (36.84%)) according to the NASCET criteria on DSA, which were not suitable for surgery. Results: From the selected risk factors, the most frequently found were arterial hypertension in 87 patients (91.6%), ischemic heart disease in 70 (73.7%), hyperlipidemia in 61 (64.2%), history of stroke in 43 (45.3%), diabetes mellitus in 35 (36.8%), smoking in 13 (13.7%), and age more than 75 years in 9 (9.5%). Significantly more frequent complications in elderly patients (more than the age of 75 years) were experienced: TIA (p = 0.049), early death (p = 0.049), restenosis (p = 0.04), and overall mortality (p = 0.04). Conclusion: Among the studied risk factors, only patients more than the age of 75 years were affected by the incidence of serious complications.
SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF SODIUM AND POTASSIUM IN SMALL VOLUMES OF FLUID BY FLAME PHOTOMETRY

1. A method of flame photometry is described, by which the amount of sodium and potassium in biological fluids can be determined simultaneously, using samples of the order of 10 -3 cu.mm. 2. When the method is tested with quantities near the lower limits of detection (of the order 4 x 10 -8 mg. sodium, 6 x 10 -8 mg. potassium) the reproducibility, measured as standard deviation, is ±7 x 10 -9 mg. sodium and ± 17 x 10 -9 mg. potassium. 3. When larger quantities (up to certain limits) are used, the standard deviation is approximately ± 3 % of the quantity in the sample, both for sodium and for potassium. 4. As is usual in flame photometry serious errors can be caused by the presence of other substances in the sample. In the case studied for purposes of illustration it is shown that these interference errors can be reduced to the order of ± 6 % by the addition of excess ammonium phosphate.
Modifying the 5'-Cap for Click Reactions of Eukaryotic mRNA and To Tune Translation Efficiency in Living Cells.

The 5'-cap is a hallmark of eukaryotic mRNAs and plays fundamental roles in RNA metabolism, ranging from quality control to export and translation. Modifying the 5'-cap may thus enable modulation of the underlying processes and investigation or tuning of several biological functions. A straightforward approach is presented for the efficient production of a range of N7-modified caps based on the highly promiscuous methyltransferase Ecm1. We show that these, as well as N(2) -modified 5'-caps, can be used to tune translation of the respective mRNAs both in vitro and in cells. Appropriate modifications allow subsequent bioorthogonal chemistry, as demonstrated by intracellular live-cell labeling of a target mRNA. The efficient and versatile N7 manipulation of the mRNA cap makes mRNAs amenable to both modulation of their biological function and intracellular labeling, and represents a valuable addition to the chemical biology toolbox.
Women's Ischemic Syndrome Evaluation: current status and future research directions: report of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute workshop: October 2-4, 2002: Section 5: gender-related risk factors for ischemic heart disease.

The concomitant effects of aging, traditional risk factors, and a lack of endogenous estrogen promote the sequelae of arterial dysfunction, inflammation, and atheromatous plaque deposition in women. The challenges for improved diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) in women include the more complex and multifactorial nature of the disease process; small artery size; and vascular and metabolic abnormalities that have yet to be thoroughly elucidated with existing imaging technology. Conditional risk markers, such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), may provide greater insight into the arterial insult and underlying risk burden. Conventional ischemia testing, aimed primarily at detection of obstructive lesions, has provided disappointing results in women. Perhaps as a result of vascular remodeling, symptomatic women more often have nonobstructive atherosclerotic disease and, in some cases, evidence of metabolic or vascular dysfunction. Imaging accuracy in women is also hampered by technical problems and differences in body habitus. In addition, studies assessing diagnostic accuracy of imaging methods have often included small numbers of women subjects. In larger female samples, stress echocardiography and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) have yielded positive results in terms of estimating clinical outcomes. Newer technology, such as magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and perfusion imaging (MRI), has revealed intriguing findings indicating reductions in both subendocardial flow and high-energy phosphates that are suggestive of myocardial ischemia during stress testing in symptomatic women without obstructive CAD. This section reviews the evidence for gender differences in traditional and novel risk factors and explores the use of conventional and innovative myocardial methods to detect myocardial ischemia. ### Traditional Risk Factors The Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities (ARIC) study assessed traditional risks (age, cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes) for CAD events in 15 792 middle-aged, black and white women and men. These traditional risk factors can be integrated into a global risk score to predict 10-year risk …
Chronically ill midlife and older lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals and their informal caregivers: The impact of the social context

With the exception of HIV care, informal caregiving of chronically ill lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults has received very limited attention in the extensive caregiving literature. This article reports on research that considered the social context of care and a dyadic caregiving approach for 36 chronically ill LGB adults ages 50 and older and their informal caregivers. In this study both discrimination and relationship quality were associated with depression among chronically ill LGB adults and their caregivers. Furthermore, preliminary findings suggested that relationship quality moderates the impact of discrimination as a risk factor for depression in chronically ill LGB adults. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for social policy and future research. Given the changing demographics in the United States with the aging of the baby boomers, as well as an increase in chronic illness, fostering better understanding of caregiving across diverse sexualities and families is critical.
Antioxidant activity and phenolic composition of brazilian honeys and their extracts

The antioxidant activities and total polyphenolic content of five multifloral and four orange blossom Brazilian honey samples and their phenolic extracts were investigated. Identification and quantification of phenolic compounds were carried out by HPLC-DAD (high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection). The radical scavenging activities, determined with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•) and expressed as EC50, ranged from 10.81 to 52.64 mg mL-1 for honey and 6.17 to 52.87 mg mL-1 for the extracts. The extract antioxidant activities were also determined by 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays, and the results varied from 46.53 to 383.49 mmol TE 100 g-1 and 34.99 to 408.14 mol Fe(II) 100 g-1, respectively. It was also evaluated the total phenolic and flavonoid contents by the Folin-Denis and aluminum chloride methods, respectively. Antioxidant activities and total phenolic contents were found to be highly correlated.
Coamplification of Leucocytozoon by PCR Diagnostic Tests for Avian Malaria: A Cautionary Note

A number of PCR assays have now been described for detecting species of the avian malaria parasites Plasmodium and Haemoproteus from blood samples. The published protocols amplify both genera simultaneously, owing to the high degree of sequence similarity between them in target genes. However, the potential for coamplification in these assays of a third, closely related hematozoan parasite, Leucocytozoon spp. has been largely overlooked. In this paper, we highlight the importance of this issue, showing that coamplification of Leucocytozoon spp. occurs in several of the protocols designed to amplify avian malaria parasites. This leads not only to scoring of false positives but, in cases of mixed Leucocytozoon/malaria infections, may also lead to scoring of false negatives. We, therefore, advocate the use of a post-PCR diagnostic step, such as RFLP analysis or sequencing, to assess the contribution of Leucocytozoon spp. to overall prevalence.
Organization of the facial nerve nucleus in the cat

The location of efferent neurons in the brain stem of newborn kittens supplying the facial muscles was studied by means of horseradish perox‐idase (HRP) used as a tracer of retrograde protein transport. Three to 15 microliters containing 0.3 to 1.5 mg of HRP was injected into the orbicu‐laris oris and orbicularis oculi muscles of six kittens and in the seventh kitten, the ventral ramus of the facial nerve was transected and HRP was instilled on the cut end of the nerve.