Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Error probability analysis of Joint Signal Detection with Base Station sleeping and cooperation

In this paper, we consider the application scenario where multiple Base Stations (BSs) cooperate to transmit signals to a mobile terminal in the same frequency and any of the cooperative BSs is allowed to enter into sleeping mode to save energy. The mobile terminal employs the Joint Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation (JMLSE) based Joint Signal Detection (JSD) to simultaneously detect multiple co-channel signals and judge whether a cooperative BS is active or not. The detection error probability of JSD is analyzed in this paper. For the case of BS sleeping, the error probability is computed based on a tentative modulation scheme which incorporates the M constellation points of conventional M-QAM and the additional constellation point 0. For the case of BS cooperation, the error probability bounds are derived based on a genie-aided receiver, and a new Tighter Lower Bound (TLB) is derived by replacing the genie with a less generous one. Simulation results have verified that the computed error probability can provide a rapid and accurate estimation of the Symbol Error Rate (SER) performance.
Funduscopic versus HRT III Confocal Scanner Vertical Cup-Disc Ratio Assessment in Normal Tension and Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (The Leuven Eye Study)

Purpose: To compare funduscopic and confocal scanning vertical cup-disc ratio (VCDR) assessments and their respective predictive value for estimating functional glaucomatous damage. Methods: Data from a single eye of open angle glaucoma patients from the Leuven Eye Study were included: age, gender, intra-ocular pressure, visual acuity, refractive error, visual field mean deviation and pattern standard deviation, funduscopic and HRT III VCDRs as well as mean retinal nerve fibre layer thickness. Non-parametric tests to compare differences within and between diagnostic groups were used, and receiver-operating characteristic curves as well as Bland-Altman plots constructed. Results: Three hundred and one eyes of 301 subjects with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and normal tension glaucoma (NTG) were included. The average VCDR assessed with HRT III was significantly smaller than the funduscopic measurement (0.69 ± 0.16 vs. 0.81 ± 0.14, respectively; p < 0.001). The predictive value of both measurement techniques did not differ in NTG patients, but the funduscopic estimate yielded a significantly larger predictive power in patients with severe POAG. Conclusion: Funduscopic and confocal scanner estimates of VCDR differ significantly and should not be used interchangeably. In POAG patients with severe glaucoma, a subjective VCDR predicts functional glaucomatous damage significantly better.
Perceived career prospects and their influence on the sector of employment of recent PhD graduates

The perception of career prospects in their own sector and elsewhere of recent PhD graduates in academia, non-academic research and outside research was studied. Data are from a survey of 1,133 respondents who obtained a PhD from one of five Dutch universities between early 2008 and mid-2012. Career prospects within academia are seen as slimmer than those outside. This is associated with the current sector of employment: outside academia the negative image of academic careers is still stronger than inside. This association remains when other factors, such as the appeal of certain job attributes and several personal characteristics are controlled for. The chance that PhDs seek employment outside academia because of career prospects depends on how they value positive job aspects, such as intellectual challenge. This leads to selection being biased against certain types of PhD graduates in academia, such as those with a taste for societal impact.
Somatostatin varicosities contain the vesicular GABA transporter and contact orexin neurons in the hypothalamus

Somatostatin (SST) is a neuropeptide with known inhibitory actions in the hypothalamus, where it inhibits release of growth hormone‐releasing hormone (GHRH), while also influencing the sleep–wake cycle. Here we investigated in the rat whether SST neurons might additionally release GABA (gamma‐aminobutyric acid) or glutamate in different regions and whether they might contact orexin neurons that play an important role in the maintenance of wakefulness. In dual‐immunostained sections viewed by epifluorescence microscopy, we examined if SST varicosities were immunopositive for the vesicular transporter for GABA (VGAT) or glutamate (VGLUT2) in the posterolateral hypothalamus and neighboring arcuate nucleus and median eminence. Of the SST varicosities in the posterolateral hypothalamus, 18% were immunopositive for VGAT, whereas ≤ 1% were immunopositive for VGLUT2. In the arcuate and median eminence, 26 and 64% were VGAT+ and < 3% VGLUT2 + , respectively. In triple‐immunostained sections viewed by epifluorescence and confocal microscopy, SST varicosities were seen in contact with orexin somata, and of these varicosities, a significant proportion (23%) contained VGAT along with synaptophysin, the presynaptic marker for small synaptic vesicles, and a similar proportion (25%) abutted puncta that were immunostained for gephyrin, the postsynaptic marker for GABAergic synapses. Our results indicate that a significant proportion of SST varicosities in the hypothalamus have the capacity to release GABA, to form inhibitory synapses upon orexin neurons, and accordingly through their peptide and/or amino acid, to inhibit orexin neurons, as well as GHRH neurons. Thus while regulating GHRH release, SST neurons could serve to attenuate arousal and permit progression through the sleep cycle.
Pursuit and optokinetic deficits following chemical lesions of cortical areas MT and MST.

1. Previous experiments have shown that punctate chemical lesions within the middle temporal area (MT) of the superior temporal sulcus (STS) produce deficits in the initiation and maintenance of pursuit eye movements (10, 34). The present experiments were designed to test the effect of such chemical lesions in an area within the STS to which MT projects, the medial superior temporal area (MST). 2. We injected ibotenic acid into localized regions of MST, and we observed two deficits in pursuit eye movements, a retinotopic deficit and a directional deficit. 3. The retinotopic deficit in pursuit initiation was characterized by the monkey's inability to match eye speed to target speed or to adjust the amplitude of the saccade made to acquire the target to compensate for target motion. This deficit was related to the initiation of pursuit to targets moving in any direction in the visual field contralateral to the side of the brain with the lesion. This deficit was similar to the deficit we found following damage to extrafoveal MT except that the affected area of the visual field frequently extended throughout the entire contralateral visual field tested. 4. The directional deficit in pursuit maintenance was characterized by a failure to match eye speed to target speed once the fovea had been brought near the moving target. This deficit occurred only when the target was moving toward the side of the lesion, regardless of whether the target began to move in the ipsilateral or contralateral visual field. There was no deficit in the amplitude of saccades made to acquire the target, or in the amplitude of the catch-up saccades made to compensate for the slowed pursuit. The directional deficit is similar to the one we described previously following chemical lesions of the foveal representation in the STS. 5. Retinotopic deficits resulted from any of our injections in MST. Directional deficits resulted from lesions limited to subregions within MST, particularly lesions that invaded the floor of the STS and the posterior bank of the STS just lateral to MT. Extensive damage to the densely myelinated area of the anterior bank or to the posterior parietal area on the dorsal lip of the anterior bank produced minimal directional deficits. 6. We conclude that damage to visual motion processing in MST underlies the retinotopic pursuit deficit just as it does in MT. MST appears to be a sequential step in visual motion processing that occurs before all of the visual motion information is transmitted to the brainstem areas related to pursuit. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Infectivity study of Streptococcus phocae to seven fish and mammalian cell lines by confocal microscopy.

Streptococcus phocae is a beta-haemolytic bacterium that causes systemic infections in Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L. , cultured in southern Chile and also in seals. In this study, the host-pathogen interaction between S. phocae and seven types of cell lines (fish and mammalian) was examined using an indirect fluorescent antibody and confocal microscopy (CM). Chinook salmon embryo (CHSE-214), epithelioma papulosum cyprini (EPC), salmon head kidney (SHK-1) and Atlantic salmon kidney were used as the fish cell lines, while human cervix epithelial adenocarcinoma (HeLa), African green monkey kidney fibroblast (Cos-7) and mouse leukaemic monocyte macrophage (Raw 264.7) were included as mammalian cell lines. Streptococcus phocae type strain ATCC 51973(T) and isolates LM-08-Sp and P23 were selected as representatives from the salmon and seal host, respectively. For the CM examination, monolayers seeded on round coverslips were studied at 2- and 20-h post-inoculation (pi). The results showed that there is no common infectivity pattern between the three S. phocae strains at 2-h pi and the cell lines tested, regardless of the source of isolation (seal or salmon). All S. phocae strains could internalize and were found inside the fish and mammalian cell cytoplasm after 20-h pi. Regardless of the cells studied (fish or mammal) and incubation (2 and 20 h), S. phocae was never observed inside the nuclei. Seal and salmon isolates showed the highest number of bacteria entering into the primate cell lines (HeLa and Cos-7) from 2-h pi, while ATCC 51973(T) was not found outside or inside the HeLa and Cos-7 cells.
Complementary Adhesion Molecules Promote Neutrophil- Kupffer Cell Interaction and the Elimination of Bacteria Taken Up by the Liver1

Most bacteria that enter the bloodstream are taken up by the liver. Previously, we reported that such organisms are initially bound extracellularly and subsequently killed by immigrating neutrophils, not Kupffer cells as widely presumed in the literature. Rather, the principal functions of Kupffer cells demonstrated herein are to clear bacteria from the peripheral blood and to promote accumulation of bactericidal neutrophils at the principal site of microbial deposition in the liver, i.e., the Kupffer cell surface. In a mouse model of listeriosis, uptake of bacteria by the liver at 10 min postinfection i.v. was reduced from approximately 60% of the inoculum in normal mice to ∼15% in mice rendered Kupffer cell deficient. Immunocytochemical analysis of liver sections derived from normal animals at 2 h postinfection revealed the massive immigration of neutrophils and their colocalization with Kupffer cells. Photomicrographs of the purified nonparenchymal liver cell population derived from these infected mice demonstrated listeriae inside neutrophils and neutrophils within Kupffer cells. Complementary adhesion molecules promoted the interaction between these two cell populations. Pretreatment of mice with mAbs specific for CD11b/CD18 (type 3 complement receptor) or its counter-receptor, CD54, inhibited the accumulation of neutrophils in the liver and the elimination of listeriae. Complement was not a factor; complement depletion affected neither the clearance of listeriae by Kupffer cells nor the antimicrobial activity expressed by infiltrating neutrophils.
Optimum Transmitter Current Distribution for Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer With Segmented Array

The misalignment problem is a major challenge in dynamic wireless power transfer systems with a segmented transmitter (Tx) array. Tx coils farther away from receiver (Rx) experience higher currents as compared to Tx coils nearer to Rx coil leading to higher losses and lower performances. This paper reports theoretical optimum current distribution among Tx coils for any Rx position. A current amplitude modulation scheme is analyzed with the analogy of N-Cartesian coordinate equivalent of spherical coordinates. Efficiency and transferred power are evaluated for the proposed current distribution, and further optimization is performed with respect to load resistance, operating frequency, and the number of simultaneously powered Tx coils. The maximum performances that can be obtained with the optimized design conditions have been derived as well. The analysis is validated using numerical and experimental results.
Bee Food: The Chemistry and Nutritional Value of Nectar, Pollen and Mixtures of the Two

Bees are herbivorous insects, consuming nectar and pollen throughout their life cycles. This paper is a brief review of the chemistry of these two floral resources and the implications for bee nutrition. Nectar is primarily an energy source, but in addition to sugars contains various minor constituents that may, directly or indirectly, have nutritional significance. Pollen provides bees with the protein, lipids, vitamins and minerals that are essential for larval rearing. Chemical analyses of pollen have tended to focus on the protein component of bee-collected pollens as an index of nutritional quality. However, the substantial nectar content of such samples (∼ 50% dry mass) should not be ignored, especially in view of current interest in measuring the nutritional quality of floral resources for bees.
The citation culture

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Functional near-infrared spectroscopy based discrimination of mental counting and no-control state for development of a brain-computer interface

In this paper we propose to apply functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure the brain activity during mental counting and discriminate it from the no-control (rest) state, which could potentially lead to a two-choice brain-computer interface (BCI) application. fNIRS is a relatively new optical brain imaging modality that can be used for BCI. The major advantages using fNIRS are its relatively low cost, safety, portability, wearability and overall ease of use. In the present research, five healthy subjects are asked to perform mental counting during the activity period. Signals from the prefrontal cortex are acquired using a continuous-wave imaging system. The mental counting and no-control states are classified, using linear discriminant analysis (LDA), with an average accuracy of 80.6%. These classified signals can be translated into control commands for a two-choice BCI. These results show fNIRS to be a potential candidate for BCI.
Risk Factors for Restriction in Activity Associated With Fear of Falling Among Seniors Within the Community

Background: Despite the significance of falling, fear of falling may represent a greater pervasive concern to the health of seniors. Activity restriction, resulting from fear of falling, which may or may not develop after a fall, may lead to balance deterioration, functional decline, anxiety or reductions in social/leisure/physical activity opportunities, and, consequently, compromised quality of life and health. Methods: The purpose of this research was to determine the risk factors for activity restriction resulting from fear of falling among community-based seniors using an early version of the interRAI Community Health Assessment (interRAI CHA). All participants (n = 560) were enrolled in 1 of 5 different fall intervention programs in Ontario funded through the Falls Prevention Initiative sponsored by Health Canada and Veterans Affairs Canada. All participants (or a predetermined number of seniors if the subject pool was extensive) were assessed both before and after intervention. Subjects were assessed using the interRAI CHA. Results: Thirty-five percent of seniors reported restricting their activity as a result of fear of falling. Risk factors predictive of activity restriction included previous history of falling, compromised instrumental activities of daily living, compromised cognitive performance, presence of pain, female sex, and impaired gait. Conclusions: Fear of falling is a prevalent issue among seniors, which has the potential to alter their quality of life and morbidity, and as such, including fear of falling in public health programs, health policies, and screening efforts seems imperative. The present findings add to the present research on risk factors for activity restriction because of fear of falling. These findings do not advocate for restriction of activity to prevent falls because restriction is not a good solution to fall prevention. Using a standardized and comprehensive tool such as the interRAI CHA would assist researchers in making comparisons between different research groups as well as assessing fear of falling from a multidisciplinary perspective.
Salivary Concentrations of Interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-17A, and IL-23 Vary in Relation to Periodontal Status.

BACKGROUND Interleukin (IL)-23-induced T helper (Th) 17 pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease. This study's aim is to determine levels of IL-1β, IL-17A, IL-23, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in saliva, and to examine whether their salivary concentrations are associated with periodontal health status. METHODS Saliva samples originated from 220 participants; 76 had generalized periodontitis (GP) and 65 had localized periodontitis (LP), whereas 79 without periodontitis were used as controls. Cytokine analyses were performed by a flow cytometry-based technique and LPS analyses from pellet by commercially optimized assay coupled with chromogenic substrate. RESULTS Salivary concentrations of IL-17A and IL-23 were elevated significantly in patients with LP compared with controls and patients with GP. Salivary IL-1β concentrations were significantly higher in patients with GP than in patients with LP, whereas no difference was found between LP and control groups. Significant correlation was found between concentrations of IL-17A and IL-23 or IL-1β. LPS concentrations did not have significant associations with any of the tested ILs. CONCLUSION Elevated salivary IL-1β concentrations are related to GP, whereas distinct elevation and reduction profiles of IL-17A and IL-23 are detected in saliva of patients with LP and GP.
Comparative study of buck and hybrid buck “switched-inductor” DC-DC converters

Hybrid structures of buck DC-DC converters, using commutated capacitors or inductors, in order to obtain a higher step-down ratio, were presented in the literature. The paper is focused on a comparative study of classical buck converter (BDC) and a hybrid buck “switched inductor” DC-DC converter (HBDC), in continuous conduction mode (CCM), and at the boundary (BCM) between CCM and discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). Analytical aspects and digital simulations, validated by experimental results, obtained using a laboratory prototype, are presented for this purpose.
Automated brain tumor segmentation from mri data based on exploration of histogram characteristics of the cancerous hemisphere

Accurate detection of a brain tumor from 3D MRI images is very important for the physicians to provide proper treatment to the patients diagnosed with fatal diseases. If the detection of the tumor region is done manually, it is a very prolonged task to analyze a single case. Often it is erroneous as well. This can create adverse effect on planning the treatment of the patient. Therefore, in this work, a completely automated method of detection of the brain tumor has been proposed. Human brain size being huge, and often the characteristics of tumor tissues and non-tumor tissues having similarity, it is very difficult and time consuming for a classifier to work with the entire brain data. This paper deals with detecting the brain tissue so accurately that the classifier will require only a very small volume to work on. This method takes out 2D slices of images from the 3D data and then detects the tumor by investigation of the features derived from the histograms of the slices. At first, 2D slices have been taken along the XY plane and the tumorous hemisphere is detected from the intensity histogram of the two hemispheres. A threshold intensity is determined by analyzing the histogram of the detected hemisphere. After applying the threshold, median filtering is performed and a second threshold value is applied if needed. After that, a connectivity checking is performed on the image and the biggest cluster is selected as pixels representing the tumor. Finally, the 2D slices containing the detected tumor are stacked upon and unified together. The proposed method, with Dice Similarity Coefficient Metric of 0.8056, has surpassed many other algorithms.