Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Noise Uncertainty and SNR Wall on the Performance of Hybrid Sensing Method

The paper discusses the hybrid sensing method and presents the hybrid detector (HD) which improves the sensing performance. The proposed HD takes advantage of the energy detection (ED) and a method based on the Covariance Absolute Value (CAV) or Cyclic Autocorrelation Function (CAF). The paper characterizes the limitations of the use of ED resulting from the uncertainty of spectral density of noise power estimation known as ‘SNR Wall’. The paper describes the system model and presents the simulation results for OFDM signal (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) of WiMAX system. The simulation results refer to the ideal case of an environment with well-known parameters and for an environment with the uncertainty of spectral density of noise power estimation, as it has been considered in the literature so far. Corresponding author. Email: m.kustra@wil.waw. pl
The search for a solution to senile cataracts. Proctor lecture.

The mature lens is unique in that except for a peripheral ring of active metabolizing tissue, damaged macromolecules can not be replaced and metabolic cycles are inoperative. " This situation is a result of a remarkable process. New fibers arising from the epithelial cells in the equatorial region gradually lose their nuclei and their DNA and RNA (Fig. 1). Thus the inner region of the lens is dependent on the outer tissue to maintain homeostatic control and to metabolize toxic compounds. This arrangement makes a substantial portion of the lens tissue particularly vulnerable to damage since no apparent mechanism is available for repair. The lens can be considered to be in a metastable state. It has a remarkably high protein content, for the human lens, approximately 35% on a wet weight basis. In the inner region, the nucleus, of the rat lens, the protein concentration may be as high as 65-70%! Of course, in spite or because of this unique protein concentration, the tissue is transparent, not translucent but dramatically transparent in the wave length region beyond the range of protein absorption. Such observation suggests a uniformity of refractive index throughout the lens indicative of short range spatial order as recently reported by Delaye and Tardieu. With aging there is deterioration of this remarkable architecture which is not sufficient to cause blindness but leads to a definitive loss of transparency. Changes in protein structure can be linked to this alteration in optical properties. First with aging there is an increased abundance of water insoluble protein—indeed our measurements suggest that after the first few years of life, the water soluble protein fraction appears to remain relatively constant in abundance while there is an increasing accumulation of water insoluble protein (Fig. 2). There is more insoluble protein found in the inner
Second malignant neoplasms following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is being successfully used to treat a variety of malignant and nonmalignant disorders. This therapy has resulted in an increasing number of survivors who are at risk for adverse long-term outcomes, including the development of second and subsequent malignant neoplasms.We review the incidence and spectrum of posttransplantation malignancies and discuss risk factors and future directions for research.
The U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) 70K protein is transported independently of U1 snRNP particles via a nuclear localization signal in the RNA-binding domain

Expression of the recombinant human U1-70K protein in COS cells resulted in its rapid transport to the nucleus, even when binding to U1 RNA was debilitated. Deletion analysis of the U1-70K protein revealed the existence of two segments of the protein which were independently capable of nuclear localization. One nuclear localization signal (NLS) was mapped within the U1 RNA-binding domain and consists of two typically separated but interdependent elements. The major element of this NLS resides in structural loop 5 between the beta 4 strand and the alpha 2 helix of the folded RNA recognition motif. The C-terminal half of the U1-70K protein which was capable of nuclear entry contains two arginine-rich regions, which suggests the existence of a second NLS. Site-directed mutagenesis of the RNA recognition motif NLS demonstrated that the U1-70K protein can be transported independently of U1 RNA and that its association with the U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle can occur in the nucleus.
Understanding and Assessing Financial Risk Tolerance: A Biological Perspective

At some level, all asset allocation techniques require a consideration of variables involving both capital market expectations and an individual's tolerance for risk. Although the latter information is as important as the former, an evaluation of investor-specific risk aversion is typically done in an ad hoc fashion. Our understanding of financial risk tolerance can be extended by investigating the role of certain biological and psychological traits in the formation of economic preferences. Specifically, a series of economic, psychological and biochemical tests were designed to establish individual-specific profiles. Risk-aversion estimates were obtained experimentally from observations of bidding behavior in computerized auctions using newly developed theoretical models. These measures were then compared with a psychometric assessment of "sensation-seeking" personality traits and with measures of neurochemical activity that have previously been found to be significantly related to human behavior. Individuals with neurochemical activity characterized by lower levels of the enzyme monoamine oxidase and with a higher degree of sensation-seeking are more willing to accept economic risk. These results offer a theoretical link between risk tolerance and behavioral traits that is consistent with intuitions regarding economic preferences. They also provide quantitative support for some of the assessment practices currently in use. More importantly, a behavioral foundation for an individual's tolerance for financial risk offers hope that future risk-assessment procedures can be extended in a way that broadens the set of tools available to the portfolio manager.
Characterization of Kalman filter residuals in the presence of mismodeling

The mean and covariance of a Kalman filter residual are computed for specific cases in which the Kalman filter model differs from a linear model that accurately represents the true system (the truth model). Multiple model adaptive estimation (MMAE) uses a bank of Kalman filters, each with a different internal model, and a hypothesis testing algorithm that uses the residuals from this bank of Kalman filters to estimate the true system model. At most, only one Kalman filter's model will exactly match the truth model and will produce a residual whose mean and standard deviation have already been analyzed. All of the other filters use internal models that mismodel the true system. We compute the effects of a mismodeled input matrix, output matrix, and state transition matrix on these residuals. The computed mean and covariance are compared to simulation results of flight control failures that correspond to mismodeled input matrices and output matrices.
Mortality (1950–1999) and Cancer Incidence (1969–1999) in the Cohort of Eldorado Uranium Workers

Abstract This study assessed the relationship between radon decay product (RDP) exposure and mortality and cancer incidence in a cohort of 17,660 Eldorado uranium workers first employed in 1932–1980 and followed up through 1999. The analysis was based on substantially revised identifying information and dosimetry for workers from the Beaverlodge and Port Radium uranium mines and for the first time includes workers from a radium and uranium refinery and processing facility in Port Hope, Canada. Overall, male workers had lower mortality rates of all causes and all cancers and lower incidence rates of all cancers compared with the general Canadian male population, a likely healthy worker effect. Individual cancer rates were also reduced except for lung cancer mortality (SMR = 1.31, P < 0.001) and incidence (SIR = 1.23, P < 0.001). The excess relative risk per 100 WLM (ERR/100 WLM) of lung cancer mortality (N = 618, ERR/100 WLM = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.37, 0.78, P < 0.01) and incidence (N = 626, ERR/100 WLM = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.37, 0.81, P < 0.001) increased linearly with increasing RDP exposure. Adjustment for effect modification by time since exposure, exposure rate and age at risk resulted in comparable estimates of risk of lung cancer for all three uranium worksites. RDP exposures and γ-ray doses were not associated with any other cancer site or other cause of death. The risk estimates are in agreement with the results of the pooled analysis of 11 miner cohorts and more recent studies of uranium workers. The current analysis provides more precise risk estimates and compares the findings from the mortality study with the incidence study. Future follow-up of the cohort and joint analysis with other uranium miners' studies should shed more light on the effects of low RDP exposures as experienced by current workers as well as help to understand and address the health risks associated with residential radon.
Spontaneous bronchopneumonia in laboratory dogs infected with untyped Mycoplasma spp.

Three Mycoplasma spp. were isolated from five colony bred laboratory dogs (Canis familiaris) obtained from a single vendor. Four of these animals were Beagles and one was a mongrel. Three displayed clinical signs of respiratory disease including dyspnea, chronic coughing and moist rales, while the other two dogs were observed during thoracic surgery to have macroscopic lesions suggestive of pneumonia. All five dogs were submitted for diagnostic necropsy during which they were cultured for bacteria and mycoplasma. Mycoplasma spp. having three distinct colonial forms were isolated from the lungs of each of the animals. These three isolates were sent to the National Cancer Institute Diagnostic Microbiology Laboratory and to the National Institutes of Health, NIAID, Mycoplasmology Laboratory. Neither laboratory could serotype these isolates against antisera to 73 Mycoplasma spp. , including the common canine mycoplasmas, and nine Acholeplasma spp. Histologically, the bronchopneumonia was characterized by bronchiectasis, purulent bronchiolitis, bronchial and bronchiolar epithelial hyperplasia, chronic non-suppurative peribronchiolitis and perivasculitis, bronchiolitis obliterans, and acute to subacute purulent pneumonia. The similarity between the pathologic findings in these animals and those observed in respiratory mycoplasmosis of other species, e.g. the rat, suggests a causal relationship between the isolated mycoplasmas and the pulmonary disease observed in these dogs.
Reporting medical errors to improve patient safety: a survey of physicians in teaching hospitals.

BACKGROUND Collecting data on medical errors is essential for improving patient safety, but factors affecting error reporting by physicians are poorly understood. METHODS Survey of faculty and resident physicians in the midwest, mid-Atlantic, and northeast regions of the United States to investigate reporting of actual errors, likelihood of reporting hypothetical errors, attitudes toward reporting errors, and demographic factors. RESULTS Responses were received from 338 participants (response rate, 74.0%). Most respondents agreed that reporting errors improves the quality of care for future patients (84.3%) and would likely report a hypothetical error resulting in minor (73%) or major (92%) harm to a patient. However, only 17.8% of respondents had reported an actual minor error (resulting in prolonged treatment or discomfort), and only 3.8% had reported an actual major error (resulting in disability or death). Moreover, 16.9% acknowledged not reporting an actual minor error, and 3.8% acknowledged not reporting an actual major error. Only 54.8% of respondents knew how to report errors, and only 39.5% knew what kind of errors to report. Multivariate analyses of answers to hypothetical vignettes showed that willingness to report was positively associated with believing that reporting improves the quality of care, knowing how to report errors, believing in forgiveness, and being a faculty physician (vs a resident). CONCLUSION Most faculty and resident physicians are inclined to report harm-causing hypothetical errors, but only a minority have actually reported an error.
Leisure and Work in Library and Community Programs for Very Young Children

This article presents findings from an observational study of library and community programs for babies and toddlers with their caregivers. The analysis is based on field notes from observations made during fifty visits to eight program sites in two Canadian provinces and is underpinned by two related beliefs: first that leisure experiences are produced through ongoing interactions among participants and program leaders, and second, that observing social interactions in program sites can provide clues to understanding the work involved and the processes of production. Our findings indicate that leisure activities in all program sites functioned as contexts for institutional work associated with Canadian policy goals for early childhood education and care (ECEC): promoting early childhood literacy, positive caregiver-child relationships, and social support. Library programs foreground literacy work. We contend that a rigid commitment to program rules could undermine educational and social support outcomes. Our findings support flexible and improvisational approaches to program delivery and leaders' active involvement in the informal components of programs.
Tone production of Mandarin disyllabic words by Korean learners

This study investigated the production of Mandarin disyllabic tones by Korean speakers. We focused on disyllabic tones since it is disyllabic words that dominate the vocabulary in modern Mandarin. In particular, we examined the tonal production in Mandarin by Korean speakers, which is somewhat understudied in the previous literature. In our study, there were 25 Korean learners of Mandarin, who were requested to produce 80 Mandarin disyllabic words with all tonal combinations (except for the neutral tone). The overall results showed a level of difficulty: Tone 2 = Tone 3 > Tone 1 = Tone 4. Most errors in the first syllable were found for Tone 2 and Tone 3 when followed by Tone 1 or Tone 4 (both start with a high pitch). In the second syllable, error patterns among those tones were not significantly different. Other errors for specific tones were also analyzed. The findings are discussed from the perspectives of phonetic representations of lexical tones as well as effects of native phonology in the first language.
Antimicrobial resistance, presence of integrons and biofilm formation of Salmonella Pullorum isolates from eastern China (1962–2010)

Three hundred and thirty-seven isolates of Salmonella Pullorum from eastern China between 1962 and 2010 were characterized for antimicrobial susceptibility (disk diffusion method), the presence of integrons (polymerase chain reaction followed by sequencing) and the ability to form biofilms (semi-quantitative adherence assay). Two hundred and fifty-eight isolates (76.6%) exhibited multiple drug resistance (MDR; resistant to at least three different classes of antimicrobials), and the level of drug resistance is increasing with time. There were three isolates (9.4%) exhibiting MDR from 1962 to 1968. MDR rates began to increase for isolates between 1970 to 1979 and 1980 to 1987 (64.6 to 78.7%). The MDR rates reached 96.6% for isolates between 1990 and 2010. Polymerase chain reaction screening for integrons showed that 75 isolates (22.3%) were positive for class 1 integrons while none were positive for class 2 integrons. All of the class 1 integron-positive isolates exhibited MDR and were more frequently resistant than the negative isolates. Two hundred and twenty isolates (65.3%) had the ability to form biofilms, and bacterial resistance levels to cefamandole, trimethoprim and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole were significantly higher for biofilm-positive groups than the biofilm-negative groups. Our data show that multidrug resistance is common among S. Pullorum isolated from eastern China, being more frequent after 1990 than before 1990, and the presence of class 1 integrons is associated with multidrug resistance.
Evolving focus on diastolic dysfunction in patients with coronary artery disease

Purpose of review The purpose of this review is to summarize recent studies of coronary artery disease (CAD) and diastolic dysfunction. Recent findings Myocardial ischemia slows ventricular relaxation and can impair ventricular distensibility resulting in diastolic dysfunction apparent as abnormal left ventricular (LV) filling dynamics that can be recognized noninvasively. As such, the development of diastolic dysfunction during stress testing may improve the recognition of CAD. The noninvasive recognition of diastolic dysfunction indicates a poor prognosis in patients with an acute coronary syndrome and chronic CAD. Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) frequently have CAD, and it may contribute to the heart failure. Summary Myocardial ischemia produces diastolic dysfunction. The evaluation of diastolic dysfunction has diagnostic and prognostic roles in the management of CAD. CAD is a frequent and important comorbidity of HFpEF.
Sources of variability in nicotine and cotinine levels with use of nicotine nasal spray, transdermal nicotine, and cigarette smoking.

AIMS Nicotine nasal spray and transdermal nicotine are effective aids to smoking cessation, and are being evaluated for treatment of other medical diseases. Wide variation in levels of nicotine and its metabolite, cotinine, have been observed with such therapies. This study aimed primarily to assess sources of individual variability in nicotine and metabolite plasma levels from these dosing systems and from cigarette smoking. METHODS Twelve cigarette smokers, studied on a clinical research ward, received four treatments of 5 days duration each, including (1) cigarette smoking, 16 cigarettes/day; (2) transdermal nicotine, 15 mg/day; (3) nicotine nasal spray, 24-1 mg doses/day; (4) placebo nicotine nasal spray, 24 doses/day. On a different occasion, the disposition kinetics of nicotine and cotinine were determined via infusion of deuterium-labeled nicotine and continine. Plasma levels of nicotine, cotinine, and 3'-hydroxycotinine and daily intake of nicotine during various treatments were examined, as well as pharmacokinetic factors that determined plasma nicotine and continine levels. RESULTS There was considerable individual variation in plasma nicotine and cotinine levels and in the daily of nicotine absorbed from various delivery systems, with most variability with nicotine nasal spray (fivefold) and least for transdermal nicotine (two-to threefold). Plasma nicotine levels were determined most strongly by nicotine clearance. Continine levels were determined most strongly by dose of nicotine and, to a lesser extent, the clearance of cotinine and fractional conversion of nicotine to continine. CONCLUSIONS Plasma levels of nicotine and cotinine produced by nicotine therapies are highly variable, due to both wide variability in individual pharmacokinetics and in dose delivery from the products. To compensate for individual differences in clearance, individualization of nicotine dosing based on therapeutic drug monitoring with comparison to nicotine or continine levels during cigarette smoking prior to treatment may be necessary to optimize nicotine therapy. This study also validates a recently proposed method for estimating absolute bioavailability of a drug using drug and metabolite pharmacokinetic data, and presents novel data on plasma levels of the metabolite trans-3'-hydroxycotinine in people.
Forgetting democratization? Recasting power and authority in a plural Muslim world

Over the last few years, the international community has focused much of its attention on political developments in the Muslim world. In particular, the issue of the absence of democracy in much of the area has been at the centre of both academic and policyorientated debate. After the end of the Cold War, many believed that authoritarian regimes worldwide would quickly disappear to be replaced by western-style liberal democracies and, indeed, this trend seemed to hold true for some time. The successful processes of democratization in Eastern Europe and Latin America justified this early enthusiasm and contrary to popular belief, the Muslim world itself has not been immune from this greater push for democratization. Regimes across the Muslim world have had to contend with liberalizing and democratizing pressures coming both from within and from without. This is confirmed by the fact that even before Eastern European countries decisively moved towards greater democratization, Tunisia and Algeria were already experimenting with democratic reforms. In spite of these encouraging early trends, results in terms of actually successful democratic transitions have been largely disappointing and very few countries in the
Usefulness of P300 in Subjective Memory Complaints: A Prospective Study

The existing studies about the utility of P300 latency for diagnostically classifying patients in preclinical stages of dementia are cross-sectional rather than longitudinal in design, and their results are inconclusive. The authors investigated the P300 value in a series of patients with subjective memory complaints using a prospective design. The study was performed in a consecutive series of 116 outpatients with subjective memory complaints as the predominant symptom. P300 (auditory oddball task) was performed immediately after the first clinical evaluation, and at 12 and 24 months. Final cognitive syndrome diagnosis (mean follow-up period, 27.7 months) was then made by a neurologist who was blinded to the neurophysiologic results. Diagnosis at the end of follow-up was 30 cases of normal cognition, 30 cases of mild cognitive impairment, 28 cases of dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT), five cases of vascular dementia, and one case of frontotemporal dementia; 22 patients were lost to follow-up. P300 latency was significantly higher for the DAT group (analysis of variance: P = 0.023) throughout the study. The diagnostic value of P300 latency at baseline examination for DAT had a sensitivity of 52.9% and a specificity of 76.9%; the odds ratio was 3.75 (95% confidence interval, 1.23–11.41). Findings from the present study suggest that assessment of evoked related potentials may contribute to the early detection of DAT.
EARLY CRUSTAL EVOLUTION OF MARS 1

▪ Abstract The bulk of the ∼50-km-thick Martian crust formed at ∼4.5 Gyr B.P., perhaps from a magma ocean. This crust is probably a basaltic andesite or andesite and is enriched in incompatible and heat-producing elements. Later additions of denser basalt to the crust were volumetrically minor, but resurfaced significant portions of the Northern hemisphere. A significant fraction of the total thickness of the crust was magnetized prior to 4 Gyr B.P., with the magnetization later selectively removed by large impacts. Early large impacts also modified the hemispheric contrast in crustal thickness (the dichotomy), which was possibly caused by long-wavelength mantle convection. Subsequent Noachian modification of the crust included further impacts, significant fluvial erosion, and volcanism associated with the formation of the Tharsis rise. Remaining outstanding questions include the origin of the dichotomy and the nature of the magnetic anomalies.