Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Forgotten Technology: Phase Adaptation in Arrays with Digital Beamforming

This paper considers the adaptive Antenna Arrays (AA) with Digital Beamforming (DBF) and phase-only adjustment of the base-band channel signals. Although the DBF arrays allow to use the complex-valued weights and the traditional adaptive signal processing, the phase adaptation is still attractive in this sort of AA due to the elimination of weights’ scaling in case, when the AA and the adaptive algorithm are implemented in a finite bits arithmetic. That is an important feature for the adaptive AA which usually operates with signals of a priory unknown dynamic range. In this paper, an algorithm for the calculation of the phases of the weights of the adaptive AA with DBF, which is based on the stochastics gradient search, is presented. According to the simulation, in the steady-state, the algorithm ensures up to 80 dB of the interference suppression and less than 1 dB of the desired signal degradation. The results are obtained for the simulation experiments with one to three interferences with –30 dB signal-to-interference ratio each and 0 … 20 dB signal-to-noise ratio in AA channels. The AA, which uses the algorithm, demonstrates the properties, similar to those of an AA with other known phase adaptation algorithms, namely a) the number of interference sources, which can be suppressed, is twice less than that of the AA with complex-valued weights, b) the interference sources cannot be located symmetrically relative to the AA beam direction and 3) the phases of the steady-state weights have an odd symmetry over the AA aperture. These results validate the proposed adaptive filtering algorithm and confirm its correct behavior. The radiation patterns, phase distribution over the AA aperture, received and processed data signal constellations are demonstrated.
AMMDAS: Multi-Modular Generative Masks Processing Architecture With Adaptive Wide Field-of-View Modeling Strategy

The usage of transportation systems is inevitable; any assistance module which can catalyze the flow involved in transportation systems, parallelly improving the reliability of processes involved is a boon for day-to-day human lives. This paper introduces a novel, cost-effective, and highly responsive Post-active Driving Assistance System, which is ”Adaptive-Mask-Modelling Driving Assistance System” with intuitive wide field-of-view modeling architecture. The proposed system is a vision-based approach, which processes a panoramic-front view (stitched from temporal synchronous left, right stereo camera feed) & simple monocular-rear view to generate robust & reliable proximity triggers along with co-relative navigation suggestions. The proposed system generates robust objects, adaptive field-of-view masks using FRCNN+Resnet-101_FPN, DSED neural-networks, and are later processed and mutually analyzed at respective stages to trigger proximity alerts and frame reliable navigation suggestions. The proposed DSED network is an Encoder-Decoder-Convolutional-Neural-Network to estimate lane-offset parameters which are responsible for adaptive modeling of field-of-view range (1570-2100) during live inference. Proposed stages, deep-neural-networks, and implemented algorithms, modules are state-of-the-art and achieved outstanding performance with minimal loss(L{p, t}, ${\text{L}}_{\delta }$ , ${\text{L}}_{Total}$ ) values during benchmarking analysis on our custom-built, KITTI, MS-COCO, Pascal-VOC, Make-3D datasets. The proposed assistance-system is tested on our custom-built, multiple public datasets to generalize its reliability and robustness under multiple wild conditions, input traffic scenarios & locations.
Centrosomes control kinetochore-fiber plus-end dynamics via HURP to ensure symmetric divisions

During mitosis centrosomes can affect the length of kinetochore-fibers (k-fibers) and the stability of kinetochore-microtubule attachments, implying that they regulate k-fiber dynamics. The exact cellular and molecular mechanisms by which centrosomes regulate k-fibers remain, however, unknown. Here, we created human non-cancerous cells with only one centrosome to investigate these mechanisms. Such cells formed highly asymmetric bipolar spindles that resulted in asymmetric cell divisions. K-fibers in acentrosomal spindles were shorter, more stable, had a reduced poleward microtubule flux at minus-ends, and more frequent pausing events at their plus-ends. This indicates that centrosomes regulate k-fiber dynamics both locally at minus-ends and far away at plus-ends. At the molecular level we find that the microtubule-stabilizing protein HURP is enriched on the k-fiber plus-ends in the acentrosomal spindles of cells with only one centrosome. HURP depletion rebalance k-fiber stability and dynamics in such cells, and improved spindle and cell division symmetry. Our data further indicate that HURP accumulates on k-fibers inversely proportionally to half-spindle length. We propose that centrosomes regulate k-fiber plus-ends indirectly via length-dependent accumulation of HURP. Thus by ensuring equal k-fiber length, centrosomes promote HURP symmetry, reinforcing the symmetry of the mitotic spindle and of cell division.
Development of New Hemodialysis Catheter Using Numerical Analysis and Experiments

A hemodialysis (HD) catheter, especially one with a symmetric tip design, plays an important role in the long-term treatment of patients with renal failure. It is well known that the design of the HD catheter has a considerable effect on blood recirculation and thrombus formation around it, which may cause inefficiencies or malfunctions during HD. However, hemodynamic analyses through parametric studies of its designs have been rarely performed; moreover, only comparisons between the existing models have been reported. In this study, we numerically analyzed the design of the HD catheter’s side hole and distal tip for evaluating their effects on hemodynamic factors such as recirculation rate (RR), shear stress, and blood damage index (BDI). The results indicated that a larger side hole and a nozzle-shaped distal tip can significantly reduce the RR and shear stress around the HD catheter. Furthermore, based on these hemodynamic insights, we proposed three new HD catheter designs and compared their performances with existing catheters using numerical and in vitro methods. These new designs exhibited lower RRs and BDI values, thus providing better performance than the existing models. These results can help toward commercialization of more efficient HD catheters.
Port Recommendation System for Alternative Container Port Destinations Using a Novel Neural Language-Based Algorithm

Shipping containers are tokens of multimodal international transportation and rapid logistics. Container deliveries are scheduled to satisfy rapidly changing requirements. Unpredictable increases in costs and unforeseeable events such as pandemics compel ship owners and managers to adopt risk minimization measures. This study addresses one issue: how to determine an alternative port of call from massive data to offer a realistic destination change recommendation for a container vessel. Recommendation algorithms have become ubiquitous and are used effectively in other fields, but there is no such model for the port of call selection or recommendation. Large scale automatic identification system (AIS) data are readily available. We developed a computational framework based on a novel natural language programming algorithm that was tailored to support port recommendation rather than use a conventional adjacency matrix method. We mined large scale AIS data to construct sequential berth records for container vessels and mapped each port onto a vector in an embedded space. The natural language neural programming algorithm can suggest ports similar to the scheduled ports of call that were unable to offer service. The recommendations were validated with geo-analysis of sailing distance and could offer viable alternative ports to shipping managers.
The Function of Oncogene B-Cell Lymphoma 6 in the Regulation of the Migration and Invasion of Trophoblastic Cells

Human placentation is a highly invasive process. Deficiency in the invasiveness of trophoblasts is associated with a spectrum of gestational diseases, such as preeclampsia (PE). The oncogene B-cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6) is involved in the migration and invasion of various malignant cells. Intriguingly, its expression is deregulated in preeclamptic placentas. We have reported that BCL6 is required for the proliferation, survival, fusion, and syncytialization of trophoblasts. In the present work, we show that the inhibition of BCL6, either by its gene silencing or by using specific small molecule inhibitors, impairs the migration and invasion of trophoblastic cells, by reducing cell adhesion and compromising the dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton. Moreover, the suppression of BCL6 weakens the signals of the phosphorylated focal adhesion kinase, Akt/protein kinase B, and extracellular regulated kinase 1/2, accompanied by more stationary, but less migratory, cells. Interestingly, transcriptomic analyses reveal that a small interfering RNA-induced reduction of BCL6 decreases the levels of numerous genes, such as p21 activated kinase 1, myosin light chain kinase, and gamma actin related to cell adhesion, actin dynamics, and cell migration. These data suggest BCL6 as a crucial player in the migration and invasion of trophoblasts in the early stages of placental development through the regulation of various genes associated with the migratory machinery.
Drug repurposing: new strategies for addressing COVID-19 outbreak

ABSTRACT Introduction: COVID-19 outbreak has infected 34.20 million people with 1019 thousand deaths in more than 125 countries till 30 September 2020. Due to the unavailability of vaccine or targeted novel drug therapy against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), screening of existential medical treatments facilitates identification of promising drugs for the treatment and management of COVID-19. Areas covered: The review article highlights repurposing of antiviral, antimalarial, antineoplastic, antidiabetic, analgesic, and immunomodulatory drugs. Furthermore, clinical trials, in-vitro studies, benefits, adverse effects, toxicities, mechanisms of action, and regulatory status of drugs are covered in this article. Expert opinion: Lack of conclusive results from randomized clinical trials indicates absence of specific drugs for treatment of COVID-19. Unavailability of complete data regarding safety, efficacy, and adverse reactions of drugs restricts the recommendation of clinical advice on dose and duration of the drug therapy. Remdesivir and favipiravir show promising outcomes but more clinical evidence is required for use in large populations. Experimental and repurposed drug therapies targeting spike and envelope proteins, Mpro, 3CLpro and PLpro enzymes, and RdRp and TMPRSS2 genes show capability to produce effective anti-SARS-CoV-2 action. Development of vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 will offer long-term solution to terminate spread of this global pandemic.
Whole-Genome Transcriptome Analyses of Native Symbionts Reveal Host Coral Genomic Novelties for Establishing Coral–Algae Symbioses

Abstract Reef-building corals and photosynthetic, endosymbiotic algae of the family Symbiodiniaceae establish mutualistic relationships that are fundamental to coral biology, enabling coral reefs to support a vast diversity of marine species. Although numerous types of Symbiodiniaceae occur in coral reef environments, Acropora corals select specific types in early life stages. In order to study molecular mechanisms of coral–algal symbioses occurring in nature, we performed whole-genome transcriptomic analyses of Acropora tenuis larvae inoculated with Symbiodinium microadriaticum strains isolated from an Acropora recruit. In order to identify genes specifically involved in symbioses with native symbionts in early life stages, we also investigated transcriptomic responses of Acropora larvae exposed to closely related, nonsymbiotic, and occasionally symbiotic Symbiodinium strains. We found that the number of differentially expressed genes was largest when larvae acquired native symbionts. Repertoires of differentially expressed genes indicated that corals reduced amino acid, sugar, and lipid metabolism, such that metabolic enzymes performing these functions were derived primarily from S. microadriaticum rather than from A. tenuis. Upregulated gene expression of transporters for those metabolites occurred only when coral larvae acquired their natural symbionts, suggesting active utilization of native symbionts by host corals. We also discovered that in Acropora, genes for sugar and amino acid transporters, prosaposin-like, and Notch ligand-like, were upregulated only in response to native symbionts, and included tandemly duplicated genes. Gene duplications in coral genomes may have been essential to establish genomic novelties for coral–algae symbiosis.
Larch Bark as a Formaldehyde Scavenger in Thermal Insulation Panels

The aim of this study is to investigate the formaldehyde content and emissions of bark-based insulation panels bonded with three types of adhesives: urea formaldehyde, melamine urea-formaldehyde, and tannin-based adhesives. These panels were produced at two levels of density—300 and 500 kg/m3—and a thickness of 20 mm, and the influence of the adhesive amount and type on the formaldehyde emissions and content was measured. Other mechanical and physical properties such as modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, internal bond, and dimensional stability were also scrutinized. With one exception, all the panels belonged to the super E0 classification for free formaldehyde content (perforator value ≤1.5 mg/100 g oven dry mass of panels). The measurements using the desiccator method for formaldehyde emissions assigned all the testing specimens in the F **** category for low-emission panels according to the Japanese International Standards.
Dietary carotenoids related to risk of incident Alzheimer dementia (AD) and brain AD neuropathology: a community-based cohort of older adults.

BACKGROUND Studies have reported a protective relation to cognitive decline with long-term intake of total and individual dietary carotenoids. However, the underlying mechanisms have not yet been clearly established in humans. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the prospective association between intakes of total and individual carotenoids and risk of incident Alzheimer dementia (AD) and explore the underlying neuropathological basis. METHODS Among 927 participants from the Rush Memory and Aging Project who were free from AD at baseline and were followed up for a mean of 7 y, we estimated HRs for AD using Cox proportional hazards models by intakes of energy-adjusted carotenoids. Brain AD neuropathology was assessed in postmortem brain autopsies among 508 deceased participants. We used linear regression to assess the association of carotenoid intake with AD-related neuropathology. RESULTS Higher intake of total carotenoids was associated with substantially lower hazard of AD after controlling for age, sex, education, ApoE-ε4, participation in cognitively stimulating activities, and physical activity level. Comparing the top and bottom quintiles (median intake: 24.8 compared with 6.7 mg/d) of total carotenoids, the multivariate HR (95% CI) was 0.52 (0.33, 0.81), P-trend < 0.01. A similar association was observed for lutein-zeaxanthin, a weaker linear inverse association was observed for β-carotene, and a marginally significant linear inverse association was found for β-cryptoxanthin. Among the deceased participants, consumers of higher total carotenoids (top compared with bottom tertile, 18.2 compared with 8.2 mg/d) had less global AD pathology (b: -0.10; SE = 0.04; P-trend = 0.01). For individual carotenoids, lutein-zeaxanthin and lycopene were inversely associated with brain global pathology, whereas lutein-zeaxanthin showed additional inverse associations with AD diagnostic score, neuritic plaque severity, and neurofibrillary tangle density and severity. CONCLUSIONS Our findings support a beneficial role of total carotenoid consumption, in particular lutein/zeaxanthin, on AD incidence that may be related to the inhibition of brain β-amyloid deposition and fibril formation.
Topoisomerase activity is linked to altered nucleosome positioning and transcriptional regulation in the fission yeast fbp1 gene

Chromatin structure, including nucleosome positioning, has a fundamental role in transcriptional regulation through influencing protein-DNA interactions. DNA topology is known to influence chromatin structure, and in doing so, can also alter transcription. However, detailed mechanism(s) linking transcriptional regulation events to chromatin structure that is regulated by changes in DNA topology remain to be well defined. Here we demonstrate that nucleosome positioning and transcriptional output from the fission yeast fbp1 and prp3 genes are altered by excess topoisomerase activity. Given that lncRNAs (long noncoding RNAs) are transcribed from the fbp1 upstream region and are important for fbp1 gene expression, we hypothesized that local changes in DNA topological state caused by topoisomerase activity could alter lncRNA and fbp1 transcription. In support of this, we found that topoisomerase overexpression caused destabilization of positioned nucleosomes within the fbp1 promoter region, which was accompanied by aberrant fbp1 transcription. Similarly, the direct recruitment of topoisomerase, but not a catalytically inactive form, to the promoter region of fbp1 caused local changes in nucleosome positioning that was also accompanied by altered fbp1 transcription. These data indicate that changes in DNA topological state induced by topoisomerase activity could lead to altered fbp1 transcription through modulating nucleosome positioning.
Structural and Functional Basis for Understanding the Biological Significance of P2X7 Receptor

The P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) possesses a unique structure associated to an as yet not fully understood mechanism of action that facilitates cell permeability to large ionic molecules through the receptor itself and/or nearby membrane proteins. High extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels—inexistent in physiological conditions—are required for the receptor to be triggered and contribute to its role in cell damage signaling. The inconsistent data on its activation pathways and the few studies performed in natively expressed human P2X7R have led us to review the structure, activation pathways, and specific cellular location of P2X7R in order to analyze its biological relevance. The ATP-gated P2X7R is a homo-trimeric receptor channel that is occasionally hetero-trimeric and highly polymorphic, with at least nine human splice variants. It is localized predominantly in the cellular membrane and has a characteristic plasticity due to an extended C-termini, which confers it the capacity of interacting with membrane structural compounds and/or intracellular signaling messengers to mediate flexible transduction pathways. Diverse drugs and a few endogenous molecules have been highlighted as extracellular allosteric modulators of P2X7R. Therefore, studies in human cells that constitutively express P2X7R need to investigate the precise endogenous mediator located nearby the activation/modulation domains of the receptor. Such research could help us understand the possible physiological ATP-mediated P2X7R homeostasis signaling.
Fertility-sparing treatment in women with endometrial cancer

Endometrial cancer (EC) in young women tends to be early-stage and low-grade; therefore, such cases have good prognoses. Fertility-sparing treatment with progestin is a potential alternative to definitive treatment (i.e., total hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, pelvic washing, and/or lymphadenectomy) for selected patients. However, no evidence-based consensus or guidelines yet exist, and this topic is subject to much debate. Generally, the ideal candidates for fertility-sparing treatment have been suggested to be young women with grade 1 endometrioid adenocarcinoma confined to the endometrium. Magnetic resonance imaging should be performed to rule out myometrial invasion and extrauterine disease before initiating fertility-sparing treatment. Although various fertility-sparing treatment methods exist, including the levonorgestrel-intrauterine system, metformin, gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists, photodynamic therapy, and hysteroscopic resection, the most common method is high-dose oral progestin (medroxyprogesterone acetate at 500–600 mg daily or megestrol acetate at 160 mg daily). During treatment, re-evaluation of the endometrium with dilation and curettage at 3 months is recommended. Although no consensus exists regarding the ideal duration of maintenance treatment after achieving regression, it is reasonable to consider maintaining the progestin therapy until pregnancy with individualization. According to the literature, the ovarian stimulation drugs used for fertility treatments appear safe. Hysterectomy should be performed after childbearing, and hysterectomy without oophorectomy can also be considered for young women. The available evidence suggests that fertility-sparing treatment is effective and does not appear to worsen the prognosis. If an eligible patient strongly desires fertility despite the risk of recurrence, the clinician should consider fertility-sparing treatment with close follow-up.
Tools for characterizing biomembranes : final LDRD report.

A suite of experimental nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy tools were developed to investigate lipid structure and dynamics in model membrane systems. By utilizing both multinuclear and multidimensional NMR experiments a range of different intra- and inter-molecular contacts were probed within the membranes. Examples on pure single component lipid membranes and on the canonical raft forming mixture of DOPC/SM/Chol are presented. A unique gel phase pretransition in SM was also identified and characterized using these NMR techniques. In addition molecular dynamics into the hydrogen bonding network unique to sphingomyelin containing membranes were evaluated as a function of temperature, and are discussed.
Lightweight Deep Learning Model for Automatic Modulation Classification in Cognitive Radio Networks

Automatic modulation classification (AMC) used in cognitive radio networks is an important class of methods apt to utilize spectrum resources efficiently. However, conventional likelihood-based approaches have high computational complexity. Thus, this paper proposes a novel convolutional neural network architecture for AMC. A bottleneck and asymmetric convolution structure are employed in the proposed model, which can reduce the computational complexity. The skip connection technique is used to solve the vanishing gradient problem and improve the classification accuracy. The dataset DeepSig:RadioML, which is composed of 24 modulation classes, is used for the performance analysis. Simulation results show that the classification accuracy performance of the proposed model is outstanding in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) range from <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$- 4\,\,dB$ </tex-math></inline-formula> to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$20~dB$ </tex-math></inline-formula> compared with MCNet that is the best model in the conventional models, where the proposed model achieves 5.52% and 5.92% improvement regarding classification accuracy at the SNRs of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0~dB$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$10~dB$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, respectively. In terms of the computational complexity, the proposed model not only saves the trainable parameters by more than 67% but also reduces the prediction time for a signal by more than 54.4% compared with those of MCNet.