Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-linear state estimation using imprecise samples

In state estimation theory, the general formulation is often done under assumptions of stochastic noise processes obeying well known probability distributions such as the Gaussian family. However, in many practical applications, due to the presence of high non-linearities and unknown noise probability distributions, other methods are required. Methods such as imprecise probabilities and set-membership approaches offer robust alternative solutions to the lack of statistical information. In these frameworks, the solution to the estimation problem is no longer a posterior distribution but either a set of densities or a solution set in the state space. The main objective in this work is to take advantage of both Monte Carlo approaches and set membership methods. A novel approach to non-linear non-Gaussian state estimation problems is presented based on mixtures of imprecise samples which can be seen as unknown probability density functions with known supports. The derivation of a sequential Bayesian procedure and convergence properties of such a representation are provided.
Linear phase cosine modulated maximally decimated filter banks with perfect reconstruction

In this paper a new type of maximally decimated FIR cosine modulated filter bank is proposed. Each analysis and synthesis filter in this filter bank has linear phase. We can design the system to have approximate reconstruction property (pseudo-QMF system) or perfect reconstruction property (PR system). The filter bank is paraunitary in the PR case. Although there are 2M channels in the new system, the cost (in terms of design and implementation complexity) is comparable to that of an M channel system. Correspondingly, the coding gain of the new system is also comparable to that of a traditional M channel system (rather than a 2M channel system). Examples will be given to demonstrate that very good attenuation characteristics can be obtained with the new system. <<ETX>>
Tyrosine Modification Is Not Required for Myeloperoxidase-induced Loss of Apolipoprotein A-I Functional Activities*

Apolipoprotein A-I (apoAI), the major protein of high density lipoprotein, plays an important role in reverse cholesterol transport via its activity as an ABCA1-dependent acceptor of cellular cholesterol. We reported recently that myeloperoxidase (MPO) modification of apoAI inhibits its ABCA1-dependent cholesterol acceptor activity (Zheng, L., Nukuna, B., Brennan, M. L., Sun, M., Goormastic, M., Settle, M., Schmitt, D., Fu, X., Thomson, L., Fox, P. L., Ischiropoulos, H., Smith, J. D., Kinter, M., and Hazen, S. L. (2004) J. Clin. Invest. 114, 529–541). We also reported that MPO-mediated chlorination preferentially modifies two of the seven tyrosines in apoAI, and loss of parent peptides containing these residues dose-dependently correlates with loss in ABCA1-mediated cholesterol acceptor activity (Zheng, L., Settle, M., Brubaker, G., Schmitt, D., Hazen, S. L., Smith, J. D., and Kinter, M. (2005) J. Biol. Chem. 280, 38–47). To determine whether oxidative modification of apoA-I tyrosine residues was responsible for the MPO-mediated inactivation of cholesterol acceptor activity, we made recombinant apoAI with site-specific substitutions of all seven tyrosine residues to phenylalanine. ApoAI and the tyrosine-free apoAI were equally susceptible to dose-dependent MPO-mediated loss of ABCA1-dependent cholesterol acceptor activity, as well as lipid binding activity. MPO modification altered the migration of apoAI on SDS gels and decreased its α-helix content. MPO-induced modification also targeted apoAI tryptophan and lysine residues. Specifically, we detected apoAI tryptophan oxidation to mono- and dihydroxytryptophan and apoAI lysine modification to chlorolysine and 2-aminoadipic acid. Thus, tyrosine modification of apoAI is not required for its MPO-mediated inhibition of cholesterol acceptor activity.
Functional capacity, physical activity, and quality of life in hypoxemic patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Background: The risk of hypoxemia increases with the progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the deterioration of pulmonary function. The aim of this study was to compare functional capacity, physical activity, and quality of life in hypoxemic and non-hypoxemic patients with COPD. Methods: Thirty-nine COPD patients (mean age: 62.0 ± 7.03 years) were included in this study. Arterial blood gas tensions were measured, and patients were divided into two groups according to oxygen partial pressure (PaO 2 ), the hypoxemic COPD (PaO 2  60 mmHg) (n = 18), and the control (PaO 2  60 mmHg) (n = 21) groups. Functional exercise capacity was evaluated using the 6-minute walk test (6MWT). Oxygen saturation, dyspnea, and fatigue perception were measured before and after the 6MWT. Physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and an accelerometer. Quality of life was assessed using the St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). Results: The number of emergency visits and hospitalizations were higher in hypoxemic patients ( P  0.05). Lung function parameters, 6MWT distance, exercise oxygen saturation, IPAQ total score, and energy expenditure during daily life were significantly lower, but percentage of maximum heart rate reached during the 6MWT was significantly higher, in hypoxemic COPD patients than in controls ( P  0.05). Conclusion: Hypoxemia has a profound effect on functional capacity and physical activity
Primary Carcinoma of the Fallopian Tube

Primary cancer of the fallopian tube is a rare disease. During the years from 1922 to 1945, only sixteen such cases were admitted to the Radium­ hemmet, thus less than one case per year. Since the Radiumhemmet has a larger series of cases than any hitherto reported and since the postoperative radiation therapy has been given according to, practically unchanged methods, the publication of this material can be justified even if nothing especially new can be ex­ pected regarding the pathology and clinical course of cancer of the tube. According to obtainable information in the literature, 379 cases have been reported since RENAUD in 1847 first described primary cancer of the fallopian tube. In 1932 NÜRNBERGER in his handbook tabulated the 301 cases which had been published up to that time. In 30 % of those cases, the carcinoma was stated to be bilateral. In most of the cases it was impossible to determine whether it was a primary or a secondary growth. The incidence is greatest in the age group 45—50 but cases have been reported at such an early age as 18 and as late in life as at 73.
The Design and Implementation of a Verification Technique for GPU Kernels

We present a technique for the formal verification of GPU kernels, addressing two classes of correctness properties: data races and barrier divergence. Our approach is founded on a novel formal operational semantics for GPU kernels termed <i>synchronous, delayed visibility (SDV)</i> semantics, which captures the execution of a GPU kernel by multiple groups of threads. The SDV semantics provides operational definitions for barrier divergence and for both inter- and intra-group data races. We build on the semantics to develop a method for reducing the task of verifying a massively parallel GPU kernel to that of verifying a sequential program. This completely avoids the need to reason about thread interleavings, and allows existing techniques for sequential program verification to be leveraged. We describe an efficient encoding of data race detection and propose a method for automatically inferring the loop invariants that are required for verification. We have implemented these techniques as a practical verification tool, GPUVerify, that can be applied directly to OpenCL and CUDA source code. We evaluate GPUVerify with respect to a set of 162 kernels drawn from public and commercial sources. Our evaluation demonstrates that GPUVerify is capable of efficient, automatic verification of a large number of real-world kernels.
User Grouping for Massive MIMO in FDD Systems: New Design Methods and Analysis

The massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system has drawn increasing attention recently as it is expected to boost the system throughput and result in lower costs. Previous studies mainly focus on time division duplexing (TDD) systems, which are more amenable to practical implementations due to channel reciprocity. However, there are many frequency division duplexing (FDD) systems deployed worldwide. Consequently, it is of great importance to investigate the design and performance of FDD massive MIMO systems. To reduce the overhead of channel estimation in FDD systems, a two-stage precoding scheme was recently proposed to decompose the precoding procedure into intergroup precoding and intragroup precoding. The problem of user grouping and scheduling thus arises. In this paper, we first propose three novel similarity measures for user grouping based on weighted likelihood, subspace projection, and Fubini-Study, respectively, as well as two novel clustering methods, including hierarchical and K-medoids clustering. We then propose a dynamic user scheduling scheme to further enhance the system throughput once the user groups are formed. The load balancing problem is considered when few users are active and solved with an effective algorithm. The efficacy of the proposed schemes are validated with theoretical analysis and simulations.
Likeability of Garden Birds: Importance of Species Knowledge & Richness in Connecting People to Nature

Interacting with nature is widely recognised as providing many health and well-being benefits. As people live increasingly urbanised lifestyles, the provision of food for garden birds may create a vital link for connecting people to nature and enabling them to access these benefits. However, it is not clear which factors determine the pleasure that people receive from watching birds at their feeders. These may be dependent on the species that are present, the abundance of individuals and the species richness of birds around the feeders. We quantitatively surveyed urban households from towns in southern England to determine the factors that influence the likeability of 14 common garden bird species, and to assess whether people prefer to see a greater abundance of individuals or increased species richness at their feeders. There was substantial variation in likeability across species, with songbirds being preferred over non-songbirds. Species likeability increased for people who fed birds regularly and who could name the species. We found a strong correlation between the number of species that a person could correctly identify and how connected to nature they felt when they watched garden birds. Species richness was preferred over a greater number of individuals of the same species. Although we do not show causation this study suggests that it is possible to increase the well-being benefits that people gain from watching birds at their feeders. This could be done first through a human to bird approach by encouraging regular interactions between people and their garden birds, such as through learning the species names and providing food. Second, it could be achieved through a bird to human approach by increasing garden songbird diversity because the pleasure that a person receives from watching an individual bird at a feeder is dependent not only on its species but also on the diversity of birds at the feeder.
On the Length of a Random Minimum Spanning Tree

We study the expected value of the length Ln of the minimum spanning tree of the complete graph Kn when each edge e is given an independent uniform [0, 1] edge weight. We sharpen the result of Frieze [6] that limn→∞$\mathbb{E}$(Ln) = ζ(3) and show that $$ \mathbb{E}(L_n)=\zeta(3)+\frac{c_1}{n}+\frac{c_2+o(1)}{n^{4/3}}, $$ where c1, c2 are explicitly defined constants.
XID: Don't care identification of test patterns for combinational circuits

Given a test set for stuck-at faults of a combinational circuit or a full-scan sequential circuit, some of the primary input values may be changed to the opposite logic values without losing fault coverage. We can regard such input values as don't care (X). In this paper, we propose a method for identifying the X inputs of test vectors in a given test set. While there are many combinations of X inputs in the test set generally, the proposed method finds one including as many X inputs as possible, by using fault simulation and procedures similar to implication and justification of automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) algorithms. Experimental results for ISCAS benchmark circuits show that approximately 69% of the inputs of uncompacted test sets could be X on the average. Even for highly compacted test sets, the method found that approximately 48% of inputs are X.
The Robots for Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear energy becomes a major energy source worldwide even though the debating environmental and safety dispute. In order to cope with the issues related to the nuclear power plant, the uncertain human factors need to be minimized by automating the inspection and maintenance work done by human workers. The demands of robotic system in nuclear industry have been growing to ensure the safety of nuclear facilities, to detect early unusual condition of it through an inspection, to protect the human workers from irradiation, and to maintain it efficiently. NRL (Nuclear Robotics Laboratory) in KAERI has been developing robotic systems to inspect and maintain nuclear power plants in stead of human workers for over thirteen years. In order to carry out useful tasks, a nuclear robot generally requires the followings. First, the robot should be protected against radiation. Second, a mobile system is required to access to the work place. Third, a kind of manipulator is required to complete the tasks such as handling radioactive wastes and other contaminated objects, etc. Fourth, a sensing system such as cameras, ultrasonic sensors, temperature sensors, dosimetry equipments etc., are required for operators to observe the work place. Lastly, a control system to help the operators control the robots. The control system generally consists of a supervisory control part and remote control part. The supervisory control part consists of a man-machine interface such as 3D graphics and a joystick. The remote control part manages the robot so that it follow the operator's command.
Efficacy of Low Interatrial Septum and Right Atrial Appendage Pacing for Prevention of Permanent Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With Sinus Node Disease: Results From the Electrophysiology-Guided Pacing Site Selection (EPASS) Study

Background— The role of pacing sites and atrial electrophysiology on the progression of atrial fibrillation (AF) to the permanent form in patients with sinus node dysfunction (SND) has never been investigated. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between atrial electrophysiology and the efficacy of atrial pacing at the low interatrial septum (IAS) or at the right atrial appendage (RAA) to prevent persistent/permanent AF in patients with SND. Methods and Results— The Electrophysiology-Guided Pacing Site Selection (EPASS) Study was a prospective, controlled, randomized study. Atrial refractoriness, basal and incremental conduction times from the RAA to the coronary sinus ostium were measured before implantation, and the difference (&Dgr;CTos) was calculated. Patients with &Dgr;CTos ≥50 ms (study group) and those with &Dgr;CTos <50 ms (control group) were randomly assigned to RAA or IAS with algorithms for continuous atrial stimulation “on. ” The primary end point was time to development of permanent or persistent AF within a 2-year follow-up in the study group, IAS versus RAA. Data were analyzed by intention to treat. One hundred two patients (77±7 years, 44 mol/L) were enrolled, 69 (68%) in the study group and 33 (32%) in the control group. Of these, 97 ended the study, respectively, randomly assigned: 29 IAS versus 36 RAA and 18 IAS versus 14 RAA. After a mean follow-up of 15±7 (median, 17) months, 11 (16.6%) patients in the study group met the primary end point: 2 IAS versus 9 RAA (log rank=3.93, P=0.047). Conclusions— In patients with SND and intra-atrial conduction delay, low IAS pacing was superior to RAA pacing in preventing progression to persistent or permanent AF. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://www.clinicaltrials. gov. Unique identifier: NCT00239226.
Effect of different planting methods and nutrient levels on growth, yield and economy of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) cv. MRB 2210

A field experiment was conducted during kharif season 2012 at Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Allahabad School of Agriculture, Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad (U.P.). The soil was sandy loam, pH of soil was 7.4 with 0.39% organic C, having available N, P, K, 185.5, 36 and 98 kg ha respectively. The experiment involving hybrid ‘MRB 2210’ was laid out in factorial randomized block design with nine treatments replicated thrice, comprising 3 planting patterns viz., uniform row system (URS) at 50 cm; paired row system (PRS) at 30/70 cm; and ridge and furrow (R&F) system at 50 cm) and 3 nutrients levels [F1= Without fertilizer; F2 (N = 120kg ha, P = 80kg ha, K = 60kg ha) and F3 (N = 100kg ha, P = 60kg ha, K = 40kg ha)]. Paired Row System of planting with nutrient levels of F2 (N = 120 kg, P = 80 kg and K = 60 kg) were significantly increased the grain yield (3 t ha), stover yield (171.18 t ha), test weight (8.83 gm), net return (21590.48 ha) and benefit cost ratio (1.98) as compared with Ridge & Furrow (R&F) and Uniform Row System (URS) of planting.
Model-Based FPGA Implementation of a 6-DoF Dynamical Model Accelerator

The mathematical model of 6-DoF dynamics is used in different applications. In general, software-based solutions are utilized to implement the 6-DoF dynamic model. This paper introduces the FPGA-based implementation of the 6-DoF dynamics accelerator. The proposed hardware-based approach ensures the accuracy of the nonlinear model without compromising computational speed. The model-based approach and high-level synthesis have been employed in the design and implementation stages. Regarding design strategy, standard processor architecture, and resource-sharing methods have been applied to achieve FPGA resource efficiency. Seven datapath and finite state machines have been designed for seven different subsystems. The design resulted in hardware blocks that can execute all non-linear model equations 396 times in 1 ms using fixed/floating-point hybrid case and 434 times using pure fixed-point case. The model equations, which took an average of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathbf {0.4986}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> s to simulate in the Simulink environment, have been run on an FPGA in <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathbf {7.1924}~\mu \text{s}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. For seven design cases, numerical errors, resource utilization, and timing metrics are tabulated and presented to the reader.
Structural and Functional Characterization of a Multifunctional Alanine-Rich Peptide Analogue from Pleuronectes americanus

Recently, defense peptides that are able to act against several targets have been characterized. The present work focuses on structural and functional evaluation of the peptide analogue Pa-MAP, previously isolated as an antifreeze peptide from Pleuronectes americanus. Pa-MAP showed activities against different targets such as tumoral cells in culture (CACO-2, MCF-7 and HCT-116), bacteria (Escherichia coli ATCC 8739 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923), viruses (HSV-1 and HSV-2) and fungi (Candida parapsilosis ATCC 22019, Trichophyton mentagrophytes (28d&E) and T. rubrum (327)). This peptide did not show toxicity against mammalian cells such as erythrocytes, Vero and RAW 264.7 cells. Molecular mechanism of action was related to hydrophobic residues, since only the terminal amino group is charged at pH 7 as confirmed by potentiometric titration. In order to shed some light on its structure-function relations, in vitro and in silico assays were carried out using circular dichroism and molecular dynamics. Furthermore, Pa-MAP showed partial unfolding of the peptide changes in a wide pH (3 to 11) and temperature (25 to 95°C) ranges, although it might not reach complete unfolding at 95°C, suggesting a high conformational stability. This peptide also showed a conformational transition with a partial α-helical fold in water and a full α-helical core in SDS and TFE environments. These results were corroborated by spectral data measured at 222 nm and by 50 ns dynamic simulation. In conclusion, data reported here show that Pa-MAP is a potential candidate for drug design against pathogenic microorganisms due to its structural stability and wide activity against a range of targets.
Research on the Application of Littlefs and FATFS File Systems in Smart IoT Electricity Meters

This paper aims to analyze the requirements of a file system for IoT electric meters, specifically focusing on the smart IoT electricity meters used by State Grid Corporation of China. Firstly, the characteristics of IoT electric meters and their file system requirements are analyzed. Secondly, a file system framework and interface are designed for the operating system of IoT electric meters. Next, popular file system types and their features are researched, and a comparison is made between littlefs and FATFS for porting onto the system. The experimental results show that the littlefs can achieve higher reliability and faster read-write speed, being more suitable for the application scenarios. Finally, this paper looks forward to the future trends of file systems for IoT electric meters.
An Experimental Evaluation of Data Flow and Mutation Testing

Two experimental comparisons of data flow and mutation testing are presented. These techniques are widely considered to be effective for unit‐level software testing, but can only be analytically compared to a limited extent. We compare the techniques by evaluating the effectiveness of test data developed for each. We develop ten independent sets of test data for a number of programs: five to satisfy the mutation criterion and five to satisfy the all‐uses data‐flow criterion. These test sets are developed using automated tools, in a manner consistent with the way a test engineer might be expected to generate test data in practice. We use these test sets in two separate experiments. First we measure the effectiveness of the test data that was developed for one technique in terms of the other. Second, we investigate the ability of the test sets to find faults. We place a number of faults into each of our subject programs, and measure the number of faults that are detected by the test sets. Our results indicate that while both techniques are effective, mutation‐adequate test sets are closer to satisfying the data flow criterion, and detect more faults.