Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Carrier phase and frequency estimation for pilot-symbol assisted transmission: bounds and algorithms

In this paper we consider the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRB) for the joint estimation of the carrier phase and the frequency offset from a noisy linearly modulated burst signal containing random data symbols (DSs) as well as known pilot symbols (PSs). We point out that the CRB depends on the location of the PSs in the burst, the number of PSs, the number of DSs, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and the data modulation scheme. Distributing the PSs symmetrically about the center of the burst and estimating the carrier phase in the center of the burst interval decouples the frequency and phase estimation, making the CRB for phase estimation independent of the specific location of the PSs. At low and moderate SNR, the CRBs for both phase and frequency estimation decrease as the fraction of the PSs in the burst increases. In addition, the CRB for frequency estimation decreases as the PSs are separated with more DSs. Numerical evaluation of the CRB indicates that the carrier phase and frequency of a "hybrid" burst (i.e., containing PSs and DSs) can be estimated more accurately when exploiting both the presence of the DSs and the a priori knowledge about the PSs, instead of using only the knowledge about the PSs (and ignoring the DSs), or considering all the received symbols (PSs and DSs) as unknown (and ignoring the knowledge about the PSs). Comparison of the CRB with the performance of existing carrier synchronizers shows that the iterative soft-decision-directed (sDD) estimator with data-aided (DA) initialization performs very closely to the CRB and provides a large improvement over the classical non-data-aided (NDA) estimator at lower SNR.
Phosphate incorporation into alkaline phosphatase of E. coli.

(a) Kuby, S. A. , L. Noda, and H. A. Lardy, J. Biol. Chem., 210, 65 (1954). (b) Noda, L. , S. A. Kuby, and H. A. Lardy, J. Biol. Chem., 210, 83 (1954). 4 Samuels, A. , (a) Archives Biophys. Biochem. , 92, 497 (1961); (b) Fed. Proceedings, 16, 1759 (1957); The Physiologist, 1, 24 (1957). (a) Noda, L. , T. Nihei, and M. Morales, J. Biol. Chem., 235, 2830 (1960). (b) Nihei, T. , L. Noda, and M. Morales, J. Biol. Chem., in press. 6 Jirgensons, B. , Arch. Biochem. Biophys. , 78, 227 (1958). 7 Boyer, P. D. , and A. Schulz, in Sulfur in' Proteins, eds. Benesch et al. (New York: Academic Press, 1958). 8 Elodi, P., and G. Szabolcsi, Nature, 184, 56 (1959). 9 Kuby, S. A. , and L. Mahowald, Fed. Proc., 18, 267 (1959) and confirmed (personal communication) 1961. 10 Blout, E. R. , and L. Stryer, these PROCEEDINGS, 45, 1591 (1959) (a) Samuels, A. , unpublished results. (b) Nihei, T. , and L. Noda, unpublished results. 12 Boyer, P. D. , Ann. Rev. Biochem. , 29, 15 (1960). 13 Szabolcsi, G. , and E. Biszku, Biochem. Biophys. Acta, 48, 335 (1961).
GT‐rich promoters can drive RNA pol II transcription and deposition of H2A.Z in African trypanosomes

Genome‐wide transcription studies are revealing an increasing number of “dispersed promoters” that, unlike “focused promoters”, lack well‐conserved sequence motifs and tight regulation. Dispersed promoters are nevertheless marked by well‐defined chromatin structures, suggesting that specific sequence elements must exist in these unregulated promoters. Here, we have analyzed regions of transcription initiation in the eukaryotic parasite Trypanosoma brucei, in which RNA polymerase II transcription initiation occurs over broad regions without distinct promoter motifs and lacks regulation. Using a combination of site‐specific and genome‐wide assays, we identified GT‐rich promoters that can drive transcription and promote the targeted deposition of the histone variant H2A.Z in a genomic context‐dependent manner. In addition, upon mapping nucleosome occupancy at high resolution, we find nucleosome positioning to correlate with RNA pol II enrichment and gene expression, pointing to a role in RNA maturation. Nucleosome positioning may thus represent a previously unrecognized layer of gene regulation in trypanosomes. Our findings show that even highly dispersed, unregulated promoters contain specific DNA elements that are able to induce transcription and changes in chromatin structure.
Pigeons trade efficiency for stability in response to level of challenge during confined flight

Significance The real world is a cluttered environment and animals traversing it are faced with innumerable obstacles in their normal locomotion. During normal flight, birds have to avoid hitting trees, lampposts, and other members of flocks. To investigate flight strategies used in these circumstances, we presented pigeons with a simplified challenge, a series of vertical gaps with variable spacings. The pigeons used two discrete postures. One posture granted them greater flight efficiency but was more disrupted when they collided with obstacles, and was used for traversing larger gaps. An alternate flight posture was less efficient but more stable when slight collisions occurred, and was used for traversing smaller gaps. To our knowledge, this is the first time we have seen flight strategies tuned during use in cluttered environments. Individuals traversing challenging obstacles are faced with a decision: they can adopt traversal strategies that minimally disrupt their normal locomotion patterns or they can adopt strategies that substantially alter their gait, conferring new advantages and disadvantages. We flew pigeons (Columba livia) through an array of vertical obstacles in a flight arena, presenting them with this choice. The pigeons selected either a strategy involving only a slight pause in the normal wing beat cycle, or a wings-folded posture granting reduced efficiency but greater stability should a misjudgment lead to collision. The more stable but less efficient flight strategy was not used to traverse easy obstacles with wide gaps for passage but came to dominate the postures used as obstacle challenge increased with narrower gaps and there was a greater chance of a collision. These results indicate that birds weigh potential obstacle negotiation strategies and estimate task difficulty during locomotor pattern selection.
Spatiotemporal Analysis of Sensor Logs using Growth Ring Maps

Spatiotemporal analysis of sensor logs is a challenging research field due to three facts: a) traditional two-dimensional maps do not support multiple events to occur at the same spatial location, b) three-dimensional solutions introduce ambiguity and are hard to navigate, and c) map distortions to solve the overlap problem are unfamiliar to most users. This paper introduces a novel approach to represent spatial data changing over time by plotting a number of non-overlapping pixels, close to the sensor positions in a map. Thereby, we encode the amount of time that a subject spent at a particular sensor to the number of plotted pixels. Color is used in a twofold manner; while distinct colors distinguish between sensor nodes in different regions, the colors' intensity is used as an indicator to the temporal property of the subjects' activity. The resulting visualization technique, called growth ring maps, enables users to find similarities and extract patterns of interest in spatiotemporal data by using humans' perceptual abilities. We demonstrate the newly introduced technique on a dataset that shows the behavior of healthy and Alzheimer transgenic, male and female mice. We motivate the new technique by showing that the temporal analysis based on hierarchical clustering and the spatial analysis based on transition matrices only reveal limited results. Results and findings are cross-validated using multidimensional scaling. While the focus of this paper is to apply our visualization for monitoring animal behavior, the technique is also applicable for analyzing data, such as packet tracing, geographic monitoring of sales development, or mobile phone capacity planning.
Numerical Method for the Analysis of Thermal Radiation on Heat Transfer in Nanofluid

Wang and Choi, [1] studied the thermal condutivity of nanoparticle fluid mixture containing Al2O3 and CuO nanoparticles and showed that the thermal conductivity of nanofluids increased with increasing volume fraction of the nanoparticles. Steve (2006) found out that a small size radiator filled with well prepared nanofluid containing monosized nanoparticles with 2nm nominal diameter will be okay for heavy vehicle instead of a very big radiator and this will save cost and space. And he also discovered that fuel efficiency will be reduced by 5% in these Heavy Trucks when nanofluids are introduced into their cooling system. John and Baldev, [2] carried out experiment and they concluded that by controlling the linear aggregation length from nanoto macron scales, the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid can be tuned from a low to very high value and that under repeated magnetic cycling, the thermal conductivity is reversible.
FIRE: FInding Rogue nEtworks

For many years, online criminals have been able to conduct their illicit activities by masquerading behind disreputable Internet Service Providers (ISPs). For example, organizations such as the Russian Business Network (RBN), Atrivo (a.k.a., Intercage), McColo, and most recently, the Triple Fiber Network (3FN) operated with impunity, providing a safe haven for Internet criminals for their own financial gain. What primarily sets these ISPs apart from others is the significant longevity of the malicious activities on their networks and the apparent lack of action taken in response to abuse reports. Interestingly, even though the Internet provides a certain degree of anonymity, such ISPs fear public attention. Once exposed, rogue networks often cease their malicious activities quickly, or are de-peered (disconnected) by their upstream providers. As a result, the Internet criminals are forced to relocate their operations. In this paper, we present FIRE, a novel system to identify and expose organizations and ISPs that demonstrate persistent, malicious behavior. The goal is to isolate the networks that are consistently implicated in malicious activity from those that are victims of compromise. To this end, FIRE actively monitors botnet communication channels, drive-by-download servers, and phishing web sites. This data is refined and correlated to quantify the degree of malicious activity for individual organizations. We present our results in real-time via the website maliciousnetworks.org. These results can be used to pinpoint and to track the activity of rogue organizations, preventing criminals from establishing strongholds on the Internet. Also, the information can be compiled into a null-routing blacklist to immediately halt traffic from malicious networks.
Determination of crack tip opening displacement of concrete by embedded fiber optic sensor

Crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) is an important parameter that is often employed in characterization of fracture in engineering materials. Due to inherent difficulties in direct determination of CTOD, the crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) has been measured during fracture tests of concrete beams and then related to CTOD. Analytical schemes are used for the determination of CTOD from the measured crack mouth opening displacements, which leads to the determination of other fracture parameters of importance. The research presented here describes development of an experimental technique for direct determination of CTOD based on embedded fiber optic sensors. The measured displacements, CTOD, and CMOD, are compared and the validity of analytical schemes in estimation of CTOD is evaluated.
Generic messages: capability-based shared memory parallelism for event-loop systems

Systems based on event-loops have been popularized by Node.JS, and are becoming a key technology in the domain of cloud computing. Despite their popularity, such systems support only share-nothing parallelism via message passing between parallel entities usually called workers. In this paper, we introduce a novel parallel programming abstraction called Generic Messages (GEMs), which enables shared-memory parallelism for share-nothing event-based systems. A key characteristic of GEMs is that they enable workers to share state by specifying how the state can be accessed once it is shared. We call this aspect of the GEMs model capability-based parallelism.
Interleukin 1 of the central nervous system is produced by ameboid microglia

By screening specific populations of rat brain cells, we found that ameboid microglia secrete an 18 kD peptide with IL-1 biological activity. The IL-1 activity released by microglia was found to be identical to rat macrophage IL-1 on fractionation by gel filtration and high pressure liquid anion-exchange chromatography, and it was neutralized by an antiserum specific for murine IL-1. When added to astroglia grown in culture, microglial IL-1 increased the cell number of five- to sevenfold, and increased astroglial incorporation of [3H]thymidine by three- to fivefold. We propose that the proliferation of astroglia in specific brain regions may be regulated by the signaled release of IL-1 from activated microglial cells.
Constraining OCT with Knowledge of Device Design Enables High Accuracy Hemodynamic Assessment of Endovascular Implants

Background Stacking cross-sectional intravascular images permits three-dimensional rendering of endovascular implants, yet introduces between-frame uncertainties that limit characterization of device placement and the hemodynamic microenvironment. In a porcine coronary stent model, we demonstrate enhanced OCT reconstruction with preservation of between-frame features through fusion with angiography and a priori knowledge of stent design. Methods and Results Strut positions were extracted from sequential OCT frames. Reconstruction with standard interpolation generated discontinuous stent structures. By computationally constraining interpolation to known stent skeletons fitted to 3D ‘clouds’ of OCT-Angio-derived struts, implant anatomy was resolved, accurately rendering features from implant diameter and curvature (n = 1 vessels, r2 = 0.91, 0.90, respectively) to individual strut-wall configurations (average displacement error ~15 μm). This framework facilitated hemodynamic simulation (n = 1 vessel), showing the critical importance of accurate anatomic rendering in characterizing both quantitative and basic qualitative flow patterns. Discontinuities with standard approaches systematically introduced noise and bias, poorly capturing regional flow effects. In contrast, the enhanced method preserved multi-scale (local strut to regional stent) flow interactions, demonstrating the impact of regional contexts in defining the hemodynamic consequence of local deployment errors. Conclusion Fusion of planar angiography and knowledge of device design permits enhanced OCT image analysis of in situ tissue-device interactions. Given emerging interests in simulation-derived hemodynamic assessment as surrogate measures of biological risk, such fused modalities offer a new window into patient-specific implant environments.
SEASONALLY VARYING DIET QUALITY AND THE QUANTITATIVE GENETICS OF DEVELOPMENT TIME AND BODY SIZE IN BIRCH FEEDING INSECTS

Abstract Genetic variance-covariance structures (G), describing genetic constraints on microevolutionary changes of populations, have a central role in the current theories of life-history evolution. However, the evolution of Gs in natural environments has been poorly documented. Resource quality and quantity for many animals and plants vary seasonally, which may shape genetic architectures of their life histories. In the mountain birch-insect herbivore community, leaf quality of birch for insect herbivores declines profoundly during both leaf growth and senescence, but remains stable during midsummer. Using six sawfly species specialized on the mountain birch foliage, we tested the ways in which the seasonal variation in foliage quality of birch is related to the genetic architectures of larval development time and body size. In the species consuming mature birch leaves of stable quality, that is, without diet-imposed time constraints for development time, long development led to high body mass. This was revealed by the strongly positive phenotypic and genetic correlations between the traits. In the species consuming growing or senescing leaves, on the other hand, the rapidly deteriorating leaf quality prevented the larvae from gaining high body mass after long development. In these species, the phenotypic and genetic correlations between development time and final mass were negative or zero. In the early-summer species with strong selection for rapid development, genetic variation in development time was low. These results show that the intuitively obvious positive genetic relationship between development time and final body mass is a probable outcome only when the constraints for long development are relaxed. Our study provides the first example of a modification in guild-wide patterns in the genetic architectures brought about by seasonal variation in resource quality. Corresponding Editor: D. Roff
Consumer voltage regulation using coordinated control of distributed static synchronous compensators - μSTATCOMs

Interconnection of photovoltaic power generation systems (PVs) and electric vehicles (EVs) to distribution lines is increasing. This will cause voltage rises due to surplus power injected by PVs during daytime and voltage drops due to simultaneous charging of EVs at nighttime. To cope with this problem, CRIEPI has been developing a distributed static synchronous compensator named μSTATCOM. μSTATCOM is a power-electronics-based reactive-power supply, which is supposed to be installed at a consumer end. This paper proposes a coordinated control algorithm for μSTATCOMs installed at consumer ends under a common pole-mounted transformer, and power-flow simulation results taking μSTATCOMs into account are presented. The simulation results show that the proposed coordinated control algorithm is able to regulate consumer voltages within the range restricted by law for cases where the consumer voltages deviate from the restricted range, without μSTATCOMs, due to PVs or EVs.
Lock-free linked lists using compare-and-swap

Lock-free data structures implement concurrent objects without the use of mutual exclusion. This approach can avoid performance problems due to unpredictable delays while processes are within critical sections. Although universal methods are known that give lock-free data structures for any abstract data type, the overhead of these methods makes them inefficient when compared to conventional techniques using mutual exclusion, such as spin locks. We give lock-free data structures and algorithms for implementing a shared singly-linked list, allowing concurrent traversal, insertion, and deletion by any number of processes. We also show how the basic data structure can be used as a building block for other lock-free data structures. Our algorithms use the single word Compare-and-Swap synchronization primitive to implement the linked list directly, avoiding the overhead of universal methods, and are thus a practical alternative to using spin locks.
Molecularly imprinted fluorescent probe based on hydrophobic CdSe/ZnS quantum dots for the detection of methamidophos in fruit and vegetables

In this study, a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-fluorescent probe based on hydrophobic CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (CdSe/ZnS@MIP) was designed and synthesized by bulk polymerization for detecting methamidophos (MAP). The CdSe/ZnS@MIP was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, thermo-gravimetric analysis and adsorption properties, and it exhibited good adsorption capacity and fluorescent stability, and excellent selectivity. Under optimal conditions, the fluorescence showed a good linear decrease in the range of 3.50 × 10−7–0.71 × 10−3 mol/L with a correlation coefficient of 0.995. The limit of detection of the fluorescent probe was 9.16 × 10−8 mol/L, and the relative standard deviation of the method for nine replicate analyses of 4.0 × 10−6 mol/L MAP was 4.1%. Apple and pear samples spiked with MAP at three levels were extracted and determined by the presented method with good recoveries (89.7%–94.9%). The accuracy of the method was verified by gas chromatography for the detection of kidney beans, leek and cucumber samples, and no significant difference was observed for the results of two methods.
Context-aware advertisement recommendation for high-speed social news feeding

Social media advertising is a multi-billion dollar market and has become the major revenue source for Facebook and Twitter. To deliver ads to potentially interested users, these social network platforms learn a prediction model for each user based on their personal interests. However, as user interests often evolve slowly, the user may end up receiving repetitive ads. In this paper, we propose a context-aware advertising framework that takes into account the relatively static personal interests as well as the dynamic news feed from friends to drive growth in the ad click-through rate. To meet the real-time requirement, we first propose an online retrieval strategy that finds k most relevant ads matching the dynamic context when a read operation is triggered. To avoid frequent retrieval when the context varies little, we propose a safe region method to quickly determine whether the top-k ads of a user are changed. Finally, we propose a hybrid model to combine the merits of both methods by analyzing the dynamism of news feed to determine an appropriate retrieval strategy. Extensive experiments conducted on multiple real social networks and ad datasets verified the efficiency and robustness of our hybrid model.
Bacterial Lipopolysaccharide Activates NF-κB through Toll-like Receptor 4 (TLR-4) in Cultured Human Dermal Endothelial Cells

A missense mutation in the cytoplasmic domain of the Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR-4) has been identified as the defect responsible for lipopolysaccharide (LPS) hyporesponsiveness in C3H/HeJ mice. TLR-4 and TLR-2 have recently been implicated in LPS signaling in studies where these receptors were overexpressed in LPS non-responsive 293 human embryonic kidney cells. However, the signaling role of TLR-4 or TLR-2 in human cells with natural LPS response remains largely undefined. Here we show that human dermal microvessel endothelial cells (HMEC) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells express predominantly TLR-4 but very weak TLR-2 and respond vigorously to LPS but not toMycobacterium tuberculosis 19-kDa lipoprotein. Transient transfection of non-signaling mutant forms of TLR-4 and anti-TLR-4 monoclonal antibody inhibited LPS-induced NF-κB activation in HMEC, while a monoclonal antibody against TLR-2 was ineffective. In contrast to LPS responsiveness, the ability of HMEC to respond to 19-kDa lipoprotein correlated with the expression of TLR-2. Transfection of TLR-2 into HMEC conferred responsiveness to 19-kDa lipoprotein. These data indicate that TLR-4 is the LPS signaling receptor in HMEC and that human endothelial cells (EC) express predominantly TLR-4 and weak TLR-2, which may explain why they do not respond to 19-kDa lipoprotein. The differential expression of TLRs on human EC may have important implications in the participation of vascular EC in innate immune defense mechanisms against various infectious pathogens, which may use different TLRs to signal.