Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
State-Space Analysis of Power Complementary Analog Filters

This paper presents a new analysis of power complementary analog filters using the state-space representation. Our analysis is based on the bounded-real Riccati equations that were developed in the field of control theory. We show that the sum of the controllability/observability Gramians of a pair of power complementary filters is represented by a constant matrix, which is given as a solution to the bounded-real Riccati equations. This result means that power complementary filters possess complementary properties with respect to the Gramians, as well as the magnitude responses of systems. Furthermore, we derive new theorems on a specific family of power complementary filters that are generated by a pair of invertible solutions to the bounded-real Riccati equations. These theorems show some interesting relationships of this family with respect to the Gramians, zeros, and coefficients of systems.
Co-amoxiclav induces proliferation and cytotoxin production of Clostridium difficile ribotype 027 in a human gut model.

OBJECTIVES Co-amoxiclav is widely prescribed in hospitals. Although reports have suggested it may be linked to onset of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), data on the risk of CDI associated with specific antibiotics is difficult to obtain, due to confounding clinical factors. We have examined the propensity of co-amoxiclav to induce CDI using a human gut model. METHODS We used a triple-stage chemostat human gut model to study the effects of co-amoxiclav on indigenous gut microorganisms and C. difficile PCR ribotype 027. C. difficile viable counts and spores were evaluated, and cytotoxin titres were assayed. Co-amoxiclav concentrations were measured using a large plate bioassay. RESULTS Co-amoxiclav induced rapid C. difficile germination and high toxin production in the gut model, from 5 days after commencement of instillation. Cell proliferation and toxin production were prolonged and continued throughout the duration of the experiment. Only very low levels of co-amoxiclav antimicrobial activity could be detected within the gut model, despite having a marked effect on gut flora microorganisms. CONCLUSIONS Co-amoxiclav induced CDI within the gut model, supporting clinical observations linking co-amoxiclav treatment with CDI onset. This reinforces the value of the gut model as a clinically relevant means of studying CDI. Caution should be exercised in the prescription of co-amoxiclav to patients in high CDI risk settings.
Determination of flonicamid and its metabolites in bell pepper using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (Orbitrap)

ABSTRACT The development and validation of a method to determine flonicamid and its metabolites as TFNA (4-trifluoromethylnicotinic acid), TFNG (N-(4-trifluoromethylnicotinoyl) glycine) and TFNA-AM (4-trifluoromethylnicotinamide) in bell pepper samples by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Orbitrap-MS) was performed. A fast and simple extraction procedure with acidified acetonitrile and salts (magnesium sulfate and sodium chloride) was used. The methodology was validated, checking for specificity, recovery, precision, limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs). The recoveries ranged from 84% to 98%, and precisions were lower than 17%. Finally, LODs ranged from 1 µg kg–1 (flonicamid) to 6 µg kg–1 (TFNA-AM), while LOQs ranged from 10 µg kg–1 (flonicamid) to 30 µg kg–1 (TFNA-AM). Bell pepper samples were analysed and concentrations up to 98 µg kg–1 (flonicamid) were detected, although the sum of flonicamid and metabolites did not exceed the maximum residue limit (MRL) set by the European Union. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Targeted next-generation sequencing panel (GlioSeq) provides comprehensive genetic profiling of central nervous system tumors.

BACKGROUND Identification of genetic changes in CNS tumors is important for the appropriate clinical management of patients. Our objective was to develop a next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay for simultaneously detecting the various types of genetic alterations characteristic for adult and pediatric CNS tumors that can be applied to small brain biopsies. METHODS We report an amplification-based targeted NGS assay (GlioSeq) that analyzes 30 genes for single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and indels, 24 genes for copy number variations (CNVs), and 14 types of structural alterations in BRAF, EGFR, and FGFR3 genes in a single workflow. GlioSeq performance was evaluated in 54 adult and pediatric CNS tumors, and the results were compared with fluorescence in-situ hybridization, Sanger sequencing, and reverse transcription PCR. RESULTS GlioSeq correctly identified 71/71 (100%) genetic alterations known to be present by conventional techniques, including 56 SNVs/indels, 9 CNVs, 3 EGFRvIII, and 3 KIAA1549-BRAF fusions. Only 20 ng of DNA and 10 ng of RNA were required for successful sequencing of 100% frozen and 96% formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue specimens. The assay sensitivity was 3%-5% of mutant alleles for SNVs and 1%-5% for gene fusions. The most commonly detected alterations were IDH1, TP53, TERT, ATRX. CDKN2A, and PTEN in high-grade gliomas, followed by BRAF fusions in low-grade gliomas and H3F3A mutations in pediatric gliomas. CONCLUSIONS GlioSeq NGS assay offers accurate and sensitive detection of a wide range of genetic alterations in a single workflow. It allows rapid and cost-effective profiling of brain tumor specimens and thus provides valuable information for patient management.
Interleukin-18 Regulates Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease by Enhancing Fas-mediated Donor T Cell Apoptosis

Interleukin (IL)-18 is a recently discovered cytokine that modulates both T helper type 1 (Th1) and Th2 responses. IL-18 is elevated during acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). We investigated the role of IL-18 in this disorder using a well characterized murine bone marrow transplantation (BMT) model (B6 → B6D2F1). Surprisingly, blockade of IL-18 accelerated acute GVHD-related mortality. In contrast, administration of IL-18 reduced serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels, decreased intestinal histopathology, and resulted in significantly improved survival (75 vs. 15%, P < 0.001). Administration of IL-18 attenuated early donor T cell expansion and was associated with increased Fas expression and greater apoptosis of donor T cells. The administration of IL-18 no longer protected BMT recipients from GVHD when Fas deficient (lpr) mice were used as donors. IL-18 also lost its ability to protect against acute GVHD when interferon (IFN)-γ knockout mice were used as donors. Together, these results demonstrate that IL-18 regulates acute GVHD by inducing enhanced Fas-mediated apoptosis of donor T cells early after BMT, and donor IFN-γ is critical for this protective effect.
Interest Rates Term Structure under Ambiguity

After financial crisis, the role of uncertainty in decision making processes has largely been recognized as the new variable that contributes to shaping interest rates and bond prices. Our aim is to discuss the impact of ambiguity on bonds interest rates (yields). Starting from the realistic assumption that investors ask for an ambiguity premium depending on the efficacy of government interventions (if any), we lead to an exponential multi-factor affine model which includes ambiguity as well as an ambiguous version of the Heath-Jarrow-Morton (HJM)model. As an example, we propose the realistic economic framework given by Ulrich (2008, 2011), and we recover the corresponding ambiguous HJM framework, thus offering a large set of interest rate models enriched with ambiguity. We also give a concrete view of how different simulated scenarios of ambiguity can influence the economic cycle (through rates and bond prices).
Hardware-impairment compensation for enabling distributed large-scale MIMO

Distributed large-scale MIMO is a promising option for coping with the projected explosion in mobile traffic. It involves multiple Access Points (APs) that are connected to a central server via wired backhaul and act as a distributed MIMO transmitter, serving multiple users via spatial precoding. As is well known, large downlink (DL) spectral efficiencies can be achieved with TDD operation, pilots sent in the uplink (UL), and DL-UL channel reciprocity. With APs made of inexpensive hardware and connected via, e.g., Ethernet, synchronization and reciprocity calibration are the main hurdle for implementing a truly distributed MU-MIMO system. This work studies mechanisms for RF calibration that can enable distributed high-performing large-scale MIMO operation. We propose methods for relative calibration of the APs in order to ensure TDD reciprocity while not relying on an explicitly self-calibrating RF design. As our analysis and simulations suggest, the proposed methods significantly outperform existing self calibration methods without requiring additional signaling overhead and can enable TDD reciprocity for calibration of non-colocated networks.
THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON FOAM GYPSUM DRYING PROCESS

Nowadays in the world the technical progress in the construction of buildings is aimed at the use of materials with desirable properties where in multilayer constructions each layer carries out the functions it is assigned to. Gypsum binders are widely used in manufacturing gypsum paperboard, sound insulation material, in building monolithic one-to-two storey houses, etc. In all these fields foam gypsum is an appropriate material. The drying of gypsum products is an obligatory requirement for the technological process, that essentially influences both its physical (density, heat conductivity coefficient) and mechanical (strength indicators in dried gypsum are several times higher than in a wet sample) properties. However, according to the requirements of the manufacturing technology of foam gypsum, the initial moisture content in the material should be very high. Therefore the research on foam gypsum drying is of particular importance. It is possible to theoretically describe the drying process in foam gypsum by means of two mathematically connected models. It has been demonstrated that experimentally the drying of foam can be researched wih electrical methods, which do not destroy the material during the process of research.
Colorectal cancer pathology reporting: a regional audit.

AIMS: To audit the information content of pathology reports of colorectal cancer specimens in one National Health Service region. METHODS: All reports of colorectal cancer resection specimens from the 17 NHS histopathology laboratories in Wales during 1993 were evaluated against: (a) standards previously agreed as desirable by pathologists in Wales; and (b) standards considered to be the minimum required for informed patient management. RESULTS: 1242 reports were audited. There was notable variation in the performance of different laboratories and in the completeness of reporting of individual items of information. While many items were generally well reported, only 51.5% (640/ 1242) of rectal cancer reports contained a statement on the completeness of excision at the circumferential resection margin and only 30% (373/1242) of all reports stated the number of involved lymph nodes. All of the previously agreed items were contained in only 11.3% (140/1242) of reports on colonic tumours and 4.0% (40/1242) of reports on rectal tumours. Seventy eight per cent (969/1242) of colonic carcinoma reports and 46.6% (579/ 1242) of rectal carcinoma reports met the minimum standards. CONCLUSIONS: The informational content of many routine pathology reports on colorectal cancer resection specimens is inadequate for quality patient management, for ensuring a clinically effective cancer service through audit, and for cancer registration. Template proforma reporting using nationally agreed standards is recommended as a remedy for this, along with improved education, review of laboratory practices in the light of current knowledge, and further motivation of pathologists through their involvement in multidisciplinary cancer management teams.
Scheduling Parallel Tasks onto Opportunistically Available Cloud Resources

We consider the problem of opportunistically scheduling low-priority tasks onto underutilized computation resources in the cloud left by high-priority tasks. To avoid conflicts with high-priority tasks, the scheduler must suspend the low-priority tasks (causing waiting), or move them to other underutilized servers (causing migration), if the high-priority tasks resume. The goal of opportunistic scheduling is to schedule the low-priority tasks onto intermittently available server resources while minimizing the combined cost of waiting and migration. Moreover, we aim to support multiple parallel low-priority tasks with synchronization constraints. Under the assumption that servers' availability to low-priority tasks can be modeled as ON/OFF Markov chains, we have shown that the optimal solution requires solving a Markov Decision Process (MDP) that has exponential complexity, and efficient solutions are known only in the case of homogeneously behaving servers. In this paper, we propose an efficient heuristic scheduling policy by formulating the problem as restless Multi-Armed Bandits (MAB) under relaxed synchronization. We prove the index ability of the problem and provide closed-form formulas to compute the indices. Our evaluation using real data center traces shows that the performance result closely matches the prediction by the Markov chain model, and the proposed index policy achieves consistently good performance under various server dynamics compared with the existing policies.
Acute effects of triiodothyronine on endothelial function in human subjects.

CONTEXT Thyroid hormone regulates several cardiovascular functions, and low T(3) levels are frequently associated with cardiovascular diseases. Whether T(3) exerts any acute and direct effect on endothelial function in humans is unknown. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to clarify whether acute changes in serum T3 concentration affect endothelial function. DESIGN, SETTING, AND SUBJECTS Ten healthy subjects (age, 24 +/- 1 yr) participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial at a university hospital. INTERVENTIONS T3 (or placebo) was infused for 7 h into the brachial artery to raise local T3 to levels observed in moderate hyperthyroidism. Vascular reactivity was tested by intraarterial infusion of vasoactive agents. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES We assessed changes in forearm blood flow (FBF) measured by plethysmography. RESULTS FBF response to the endothelium-dependent vasodilator acetylcholine was enhanced by T3 (P = 0.002 for the interaction between T3 and acetylcholine). The slopes of the dose-response curves were 0.41 +/- 0.06 and 0.23 +/- 0.04 ml/dl x min/microg in the T3 and placebo study, respectively (P = 0.03). T3 infusion had no effect on the FBF response to sodium nitroprusside. T3 potentiated the vasoconstrictor response to norepinephrine (P = 0.006 for the interaction). Also, the slopes of the dose-response curves were affected by T3 (1.95 +/- 0.77 and 3.83 +/- 0.35 ml/dl x min/mg in the placebo and T3 study, respectively; P < 0.05). The increase in basal FBF induced by T3 was inhibited by NG-monomethyl-L-arginine. CONCLUSIONS T3 exerts direct and acute effects on the resistance vessels by enhancing endothelial function and norepinephrine-induced vasoconstriction. The data may help clarify the vascular impact of the low T3 syndrome and point to potential therapeutic strategies.
Identifying depression severity risk factors in persons with traumatic spinal cord injury.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE Examine the relationship between demographic characteristics, health-, and injury-related characteristics, and substance misuse across multiple levels of depression severity. RESEARCH METHOD/DESIGN 204 persons with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) volunteered as part of screening efforts for a randomized controlled trial of venlafaxine extended release for major depressive disorder (MDD). Instruments included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) depression scale, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and the Substance Abuse in Vocational Rehabilitation-Screener (SAVR-S), which contains 3 subscales: drug misuse, alcohol misuse, and a subtle items scale. Each of the SAVR-S subscales contributes to an overall substance use disorder (SUD) outcome. Three proportional odds models were specified, varying the substance misuse measure included in each model. RESULTS 44% individuals had no depression symptoms, 31% had mild symptoms, 16% had moderate symptoms, 6% had moderately severe symptoms, and 3% had severe depression symptoms. Alcohol misuse, as indicated by the AUDIT and the SAVR-S drug misuse subscale scores were significant predictors of depression symptom severity. The SAVR-S substance use disorder (SUD) screening outcome was the most predictive variable. Level of education was only significantly predictive of depression severity in the model using the AUDIT alcohol misuse indicator. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS Likely SUD as measured by the SAVR-S was most predictive of depression symptom severity in this sample of persons with traumatic SCI. Drug and alcohol screening are important for identifying individuals at risk for depression, but screening for both may be optimal. Further research is needed on risk and protective factors for depression, including psychosocial characteristics.
Online Weighted Matching

Abstract We introduce and study online versions of weighted matching problems in metric spaces. We present a simple 2 k − 1 competitive algorithm for online minimum weighted bipartite matching where 2 k is the number of nodes. We show that this competitiveness is optimal. For online maximum matching, we prove that the greedy algorithm achieves an optimal competitive factor of 3. In contrast, we prove that the greedy algorithm performs exponentially poorly for online minimum matching.
Compressed Sensing in Astronomy

Recent advances in signal processing have focused on the use of sparse representations in various applications. A new field of interest based on sparsity has recently emerged: compressed sensing. This theory is a new sampling framework that provides an alternative to the well-known Shannon sampling theory. In this paper, we investigate how compressed sensing (CS) can provide new insights into astronomical data compression. We first give a brief overview of the compressed sensing theory which provides very simple coding process with low computational cost, thus favoring its use for real-time applications often found onboard space mission. In practical situations, owing to particular observation strategies (for instance, raster scans) astronomical data are often redundant; in that context, we point out that a CS-based compression scheme is flexible enough to account for particular observational strategies. Indeed, we show also that CS provides a new fantastic way to handle multiple observations of the same field view, allowing us to recover low level details, which is impossible with standard compression methods. This kind of CS data fusion concept could lead to an elegant and effective way to solve the problem ESA is faced with, for the transmission to the earth of the data collected by PACS, one of the instruments onboard the Herschel spacecraft which will launched in late 2008/early 2009. We show that CS enables to recover data with a spatial resolution enhanced up to 30% with similar sensitivity compared to the averaging technique proposed by ESA.
Cdc45 Limits Replicon Usage from a Low Density of preRCs in Mammalian Cells

Little is known about mammalian preRC stoichiometry, the number of preRCs on chromosomes, and how this relates to replicon size and usage. We show here that, on average, each 100-kb of the mammalian genome contains a preRC composed of approximately one ORC hexamer, 4–5 MCM hexamers, and 2 Cdc6. Relative to these subunits, ∼0.35 total molecules of the pre-Initiation Complex factor Cdc45 are present. Thus, based on ORC availability, somatic cells contain ∼70,000 preRCs of this average total stoichiometry, although subunits may not be juxtaposed with each other. Except for ORC, the chromatin-bound complement of preRC subunits is even lower. Cdc45 is present at very low levels relative to the preRC subunits, but is highly stable, and the same limited number of stable Cdc45 molecules are present from the beginning of S-phase to its completion. Efforts to artificially increase Cdc45 levels through ectopic expression block cell growth. However, microinjection of excess purified Cdc45 into S-phase nuclei activates additional replication foci by three-fold, indicating that Cdc45 functions to activate dormant preRCs and is rate-limiting for somatic replicon usage. Paradoxically, although Cdc45 colocalizes in vivo with some MCM sites and is rate-limiting for DNA replication to occur, neither Cdc45 nor MCMs colocalize with active replication sites. Embryonic metazoan chromatin consists of small replicons that are used efficiently via an excess of preRC subunits. In contrast, somatic mammalian cells contain a low density of preRCs, each containing only a few MCMs that compete for limiting amounts of Cdc45. This provides a molecular explanation why, relative to embryonic replicon dynamics, somatic replicons are, on average, larger and origin efficiency tends to be lower. The stable, continuous, and rate-limiting nature of Cdc45 suggests that Cdc45 contributes to the staggering of replicon usage throughout S-phase, and that replicon activation requires reutilization of existing Cdc45 during S-phase.
Transfer learning decision forests for gesture recognition

Decision forests are an increasingly popular tool in computer vision problems. Their advantages include high computational efficiency, state-of-the-art accuracy and multi-class support. In this paper, we present a novel method for transfer learning which uses decision forests, and we apply it to recognize gestures and characters. We introduce two mechanisms into the decision forest framework in order to transfer knowledge from the source tasks to a given target task. The first one is mixed information gain, which is a databased regularizer. The second one is label propagation, which infers the manifold structure of the feature space. We show that both of them are important to achieve higher accuracy. Our experiments demonstrate improvements over traditional decision forests in the ChaLearn Gesture Challenge and MNIST data set. They also compare favorably against other state-of-the-art classifiers.