Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bit Mapping Design for LDPC Coded BICM Schemes with Binary Physical-Layer Network Coding

We propose a new low-density parity-check (LDPC) coded binary physical-layer network coding (PNC) scheme for Gaussian two-way relay channels. In this scheme, we introduce a bit mapper between the LDPC encoder and the modulator, which considers the unequal error protections brought by the high order PSK modulations. We add a new bipartite sub-channel graph consisting of sub-channels and variable nodes (VNs) to the Tanner graph and propose a progressive edge growth (PEG) algorithm to design the bit mapper. The design paradigm is to search for the bit mapping distribution with the lowest decoding threshold by using the extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart, and then establish the edges progressively between VNs and sub-channels according to the distribution. The proposed PEG algorithm is employed to design the bit mappers of the schemes with 8-PSK, 16-PSK, 64-PSK and 256-PSK. Simulation results show that the proposed schemes can considerably improve the bit error performance of the PNC XOR messages, compared to the schemes without bit mappers.
A multiple hormone approach to the homeostatic control of conflicting behaviours in an autonomous mobile robot

This work proposes a biologically inspired system for the coordination of multiple and possible conflicting behaviours in an autonomous mobile robot, devoted to explore novel scenarios while ensuring its internal variables dynamics. The proposed Evolutionary Artificial Homeostatic System, derived from the study of how an organism would self-regulate in order to keep its essential variables within a limited range (homeostasis), is composed of an artificial endocrine system, including two hormones and two hormone receptors, and also three previously evolved NSGasNet artificial neural networks. It is shown that the integration of receptors enhance the system robustness without incorporating to the three evolved NSGasNets more a priori knowledge. The experiments conducted also show that the proposed multi-hormone evolutionary artificial homeostatic system is able to successfully coordinate a multiple and conflicting behaviours task, being also robust enough to cope with internal and external disruptions.
Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis and Noncirrhotic Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Fertile Soil

Abstract Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is easily the most common cause of chronic liver disease in the United States (U.S.) as the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome. Although only 5 to 20% of patients with NAFLD are generally considered to meet criteria for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), with its inherent risk for progression to cirrhosis, this still represents an alarmingly large number of individuals. The exponentially growing rates of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the U.S. may be partially attributable to increased numbers of NASH cirrhotics, although recent evidence has suggested that NAFLD may directly promote hepatic carcinogenesis independent of cirrhosis. This review focuses on HCC in noncirrhotic NASH with an emphasis on clinical presentation, pathogenesis, and implications for screening.
Pre- and postdiagnosis physical activity, television viewing, and mortality among patients with colorectal cancer in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study.

PURPOSE Physical inactivity has been associated with higher mortality risk among survivors of colorectal cancer (CRC), but the independent effects of pre- versus postdiagnosis activity are unclear, and the association between watching television (TV) and mortality in survivors of CRC is previously undefined. METHODS We analyzed the associations between prediagnosis (n = 3,797) and postdiagnosis (n = 1,759) leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and TV watching and overall and disease-specific mortality among patients with CRC. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs, adjusting for known mortality risk factors. RESULTS Comparing survivors of CRC reporting more than 7 hours per week (h/wk) of prediagnosis LTPA with those reporting no LTPA, we found a 20% lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.68 to 0.95; P for trend = .021). Postdiagnosis LTPA of ≥ 7 h/wk, compared with none, was associated with a 31% lower all-cause mortality risk (HR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.49 to 0.98; P for trend = .006), independent of prediagnosis activity. Compared with 0 to 2 TV hours per day (h/d) before diagnosis, those reporting ≥ 5 h/d of TV before diagnosis had a 22% increased all-cause mortality risk (HR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.41; P trend = .002), and more postdiagnosis TV watching was associated with a nonsignificant 25% increase in all-cause mortality risk (HR, 1.25; 95% CI, 0.93 to 1.67; P for trend = .126). CONCLUSION LTPA was inversely associated with all-cause mortality, whereas more TV watching was associated with increased mortality risk. For both LTPA and TV watching, postdiagnosis measures independently explained the association with mortality. Clinicians should promote both minimizing TV time and increasing physical activity for longevity among survivors of CRC, regardless of previous behaviors.
Consuming High-Protein Soy Snacks Affects Appetite Control, Satiety, and Diet Quality in Young People and Influences Select Aspects of Mood and Cognition.

BACKGROUND Data concerning the effects of afternoon snacking on ingestive behavior, mood, and cognition are limited. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to compare 1088 kJ of high-protein (HP) or high-fat (HF) afternoon snacks vs. no snacking on appetite, food intake, mood, and cognition in adolescents. METHODS Thirty-one healthy adolescents (age: 17 ± 1 y) consumed the following afternoon snacks (in randomized order) for 3 d: HP snack (26 g of protein/6 g of fat per 27 g of carbohydrates), HF snack (4 g of protein/12 g of fat per 32 g of carbohydrates), and no snack (NoS). On day 4 of each treatment, the participants completed an 8-h testing day containing pre- and postsnack appetite questionnaires, food cue-stimulated functional MRI brain scans, mood, cognitive function, and eating initiation. Ad libitum dinner and evening snacks were provided and assessed. RESULTS HP, but not HF, delayed eating initiation vs. NoS (P < 0.05). Both snacks reduced appetite vs. NoS (P < 0.001) with HP eliciting greater reductions than HF (P < 0.05). Only HF led to reductions in corticolimbic activation in brain regions controlling food motivation/reward vs. NoS (P < 0.01). Although no treatment differences in daily energy intake were detected, HP led to greater protein consumption than NoS (P < 0.05) and greater protein and lower fat consumption than HF (both, P < 0.05). HP led to fewer HF/high-sugar evening snacks than NoS (P < 0.01) and HF (P = 0.09). Although no treatment effects were detected for mood and cognition, HP tended to reduce confusion-bewilderment (P = 0.07) and increase cognitive flexibility (P = 0.09), whereas NoS reduced tension-anxiety (P < 0.05) and vigor-activity (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Afternoon snacking, particularly on HP soy foods, improves appetite, satiety, and diet quality in adolescents, while beneficially influencing aspects of mood and cognition. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01781286.
Automatic titling of Articles Using Position and Statistical Information

This paper describes a system facilitating information retrieval in a set of textual documents by tackling the automatic titling and subtitling issue. Automatic titling here consists in extracting relevant noun phrases from texts as candidate titles. An original approach combining statistical criteria and noun phrases positions in the text helps collecting relevant titles and subtitles. So, the user may benefit from an outline of all the subjects evoked in a mass of documents, and easily find the information he/she is looking for. An evaluation on real data shows that the solutions given by this automatic titling approach are relevant.
Phytochemical screening, total phenolic content and phytotoxic activity of corn (Zea mays) extracts against some indicator species

Abstract Allelopathic effects of corn (Zea mays) extracts was studied, against seed germination and seedling growth of Phalaris minor, Helianthus annuus, Triticumaestivum, Sorghum halepense, Z. mays. Bioassay results showed that aqueous extracts of corn root and shoot, markedly affected seed germination, and other parameters compared with related controls. Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of various phytochemicals such as tannins, phlobatannins, flavonoids, terpenoids and alkaloids in both roots and shoot aqueous extracts. However, saponins were only present in the shoot aqueous extract, while in shoot ethanol extracts, only terpenoids and alkaloids were detected. Additionally, total polyphenolic (TPC) content in aqueous extracts of corn root and shoot, plus ethanol extracts of corn shoot were determined using an Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. Results revealed TPC content of the corn shoot aqueous extract showed the highest yield, compared to other extracts. These findings suggest that phytochemicals present in Z. mays extracts may contribute to allelopathy effect.
Selecting Video Key Frames Based on Relative Entropy and the Extreme Studentized Deviate Test

This paper studies the relative entropy and its square root as distance measures of neighboring video frames for video key frame extraction. We develop a novel approach handling both common and wavelet video sequences, in which the extreme Studentized deviate test is exploited to identify shot boundaries for segmenting a video sequence into shots. Then, video shots can be divided into different sub-shots, according to whether the video content change is large or not, and key frames are extracted from sub-shots. The proposed technique is general, effective and efficient to deal with video sequences of any kind. Our new approach can offer optional additional multiscale summarizations of video data, achieving a balance between having more details and maintaining less redundancy. Extensive experimental results show that the new scheme obtains very encouraging results in video key frame extraction, in terms of both objective evaluation metrics and subjective visual perception.
A Fast Segmentation Algorithm Revisited

Image and, more recently, video segmentation form an important part of image understanding. Several algorithms presuppose that this step is efficiently and correctly completed by an oracle. A recent bottom up image segmentation algorithm incorporates both local and global information in an image and runs fast in practice. This algorithm is loosely based on Kruskal’s algorithm on minimum spanning trees. We build on this work and use the classical Prim’s algorithm which is a theoretically superior algorithm. Our experimental result indicates that the quality of our segmentation does not suffer, yet the speed does improve. We also prove our algorithm is good in the same sense as the original work.
Relative efficiency of chlamydia screening in non-clinical settings in two California counties

We examined the relative efficiency of non-clinical sites to screen for chlamydia in youth and young adults. Chlamydia screening targeting youth (under 30 years of age) was performed at non-clinical sites in high-morbidity neighbourhoods of two California counties. Venues were subdivided into community outreach, schools, parenting centres and drug treatment/correctional facilities. Relative efficiency was estimated with multivariate Poisson regression using incidence of chlamydia per person-hours labour adjusting for strategy and county. Among the 1514 youths screened, the overall prevalence of chlamydia was 5.5%. By venue, the highest prevalence was in drug treatment/correction facilities at 11.1% followed by parenting centres at 6.3%, community outreach at 4.9% and schools at 4.6%. Drug treatment/correctional facilities were the most labour time efficient at 9.9 person-hours per chlamydia case. Schools and parenting centres had the lowest cost per screen at 0.9 person-hours per screen. Adjusted relative labour time efficiency (chlamydia cases per paid person-hour) was significantly higher in schools, 2.0 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0–4.2), parenting centres, 3.2 (95% CI 1.6–6.6) and drug treatment/correctional facilities, 2.9 (95% CI 1.0–7.8), compared with community outreach. In conclusion, parenting centres and drug treatment centres and correctional facilities are the most efficient venues for chlamydia screening.
Context in Categorization

We investigate contextual categorizations, i.e., categorizations holding only with respect to a specific context, from a formal semantics perspective. Contexts are modeled as sets of description logic models for different languages, and operations on contexts are defined which provide a new formal characterization of context interplay and especially of a form of context abstraction which we call focus. The framework is compared with relevant related work and discussed from the viewpoint of context theory issues. Finally, a simple scenario is formalized.
In Vitro Combination of Anti-Cytomegalovirus Compounds Acting through Different Targets: Role of the Slope Parameter and Insights into Mechanisms of Action

ABSTRACT Conventional therapy for human cytomegalovirus (CMV) relies on inhibition of the viral DNA polymerase. Ganciclovir (GCV) is the first-line therapy, but when GCV-resistant strains emerge, alternative therapies are extremely limited and are associated with significant toxicities. Combination of anti-CMV agents that act on different targets or stages of virus replication has not been well studied, mostly because of the limited number of anti-CMV agents. We report our investigation of combinations of agents that inhibit CMV by targeting the viral DNA polymerase, cellular kinases, or other cell/virus mechanisms yet to be discovered. The selected compounds differed by the slopes of their dose-response curve: compounds with a slope of 1 (GCV) representing one target or noncooperativity and compounds with high slopes indicating positive cooperativity. Analysis of anti-CMV drug combinations using the Bliss model (which accounts for the slope parameter) distinguished between combinations with synergistic, antagonistic, and additive activities. The combination of GCV and foscarnet was slightly synergistic; strong synergism was found when GCV was used with artemisinin-derived monomers or dimers or the MEK inhibitor U0126. The combination of GCV and cardiac glycosides (digoxin, digitoxin, and ouabain) was additive. The monomeric artemisinin artesunate was synergistic when combined with U0126 or the multikinase inhibitor sunitinib. However, the combination of artemisinin-derived dimers (molecular weights, 606 and 838) and U0126 or sunitinib was antagonistic. These results demonstrate that members of a specific drug class show similar patterns of combination with GCV and that the slope parameter plays an important role in the evaluation of drug combinations. Lastly, antagonism between different classes of CMV inhibitors may assist in target identification and improve the understanding of CMV inhibition by novel compounds.
Designing tactile patterns with programmable friction

Recent advances on programmable friction technologies make it possible to change the friction perception of an interactive surface such as a touchpad or a touchscreen. However, regardless of the technology used, these effects cannot reproduce the fine grain sensation of physical surfaces. Moreover the effect is applied to the whole surface, so each finger exploring the surface feels the same sensation. Little is known about the impact of these limitations on the perception of patterns rendered on these devices. We present a study which compares the perception of tactile textures with a programmable friction device (squeeze film effect) and with a physical support (printed coated paper cards). We show that despite the limitations of programmable friction, participants interpret textures in a similar way. Differences occur at the limit of the input resolution.
Multiscale registration of medical images based on edge preserving scale space with application in image-guided radiation therapy

Mutual information (MI) is a well-accepted similarity measure for image registration in medical systems. However, MI-based registration faces the challenges of high computational complexity and a high likelihood of being trapped into local optima due to an absence of spatial information. In order to solve these problems, multi-scale frameworks can be used to accelerate registration and improve robustness. Traditional Gaussian pyramid representation is one such technique but it suffers from contour diffusion at coarse levels which may lead to unsatisfactory registration results. In this work, a new multi-scale registration framework called edge preserving multiscale registration (EPMR) was proposed based upon an edge preserving total variation L1 norm (TV-L1) scale space representation. TV-L1 scale space is constructed by selecting edges and contours of images according to their size rather than the intensity values of the image features. This ensures more meaningful spatial information with an EPMR framework for MI-based registration. Furthermore, we design an optimal estimation of the TV-L1 parameter in the EPMR framework by training and minimizing the transformation offset between the registered pairs for automated registration in medical systems. We validated our EPMR method on both simulated mono- and multi-modal medical datasets with ground truth and clinical studies from a combined positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanner. We compared our registration framework with other traditional registration approaches. Our experimental results demonstrated that our method outperformed other methods in terms of the accuracy and robustness for medical images. EPMR can always achieve a small offset value, which is closer to the ground truth both for mono-modality and multi-modality, and the speed can be increased 5–8% for mono-modality and 10–14% for multi-modality registration under the same condition. Furthermore, clinical application by adaptive gross tumor volume re-contouring for clinical PET/CT image-guided radiation therapy throughout the course of radiotherapy is also studied, and the overlap between the automatically generated contours for CT image and the contours delineated by the oncologist used for the planning system are on average 90%.
Fast vector matching methods and their applications to handwriting recognition

A common practice in pattern recognition is to classify an unknown object by matching its feature vector with all the feature vectors stored in a database. When the number of class types and the set of stored entities are both large, it is essential to speed up the matching process. This can be achieved more effectively by eliminating unlikely candidates, rather than impossible candidates, from the process. We propose two methods for this purpose: one employs multiple trees, while the other employs a sub-vector matching technique. Both approaches use a learning procedure to estimate the optimal value of certain parameters. An online matching is then performed with a combination of the two methods, which matches candidates rapidly without sacrificing accuracy rates. The process is demonstrated by experiments in which we apply the proposed methods to handwriting recognition.
Induction of Rapid Cell Death by an Environmental Isolate of Legionella pneumophila in Mouse Macrophages

ABSTRACT Legionella pneumophila, the etiological agent for Legionnaires' disease, is ubiquitous in the aqueous environment, where it replicates as an intracellular parasite of free-living protozoa. Our understanding of L. pneumophila pathogenicity is obtained mostly from study of derivatives of several clinical isolates, which employ almost identical virulent determinants to exploit host functions. To determine whether environmental L. pneumophila isolates interact similarly with the model host systems, we analyzed intracellular replication of several recently isolated such strains and found that these strains cannot productively grow in bone marrow-derived macrophages of A/J mice, which are permissive for all examined laboratory strains. By focusing on one strain called LPE509, we found that its deficiency in intracellular replication in primary A/J macrophages is not caused by the lack of important pathogenic determinants because this strain replicates proficiently in two protozoan hosts and the human macrophage U937 cell. We also found that in the early phase of infection, the trafficking of this strain in A/J macrophages is similar to that of JR32, a derivative of strain Philadelphia 1. Furthermore, infection of these cells by LPE509 caused extensive cell death in a process that requires the Dot/Icm type IV secretion system. Finally, we showed that the cell death is caused neither by the activation of the NAIP5/NLRC4 inflammasome nor by the recently described caspase 11-dependent pathway. Our results revealed that some environmental L. pneumophila strains are unable to overcome the defense conferred by primary macrophages from mice known to be permissive for laboratory L. pneumophila strains. These results also suggest the existence of a host immune surveillance mechanism differing from those currently known in responding to L. pneumophila infection.
Redd1 Is a Novel Marker of Testis Development but Is Not Required for Normal Male Reproduction

In an effort to identify novel candidate genes involved in testis determination, we previously used suppression subtraction hybridisation PCR on male and female whole embryonic (12.0–12.5 days post coitum) mouse gonads. One gene to emerge from our screen was Redd1. In the current study, we demonstrate by whole-mount in situ hybridisation that Redd1 is differentially expressed in the developing mouse gonad at the time of sex determination, with higher expression in testis than ovary. Furthermore, Redd1 expression was first detected as Sry expression peaks, immediately prior to morphological sex determination, suggesting a potential role for Redd1 during testis development. To determine the functional importance of this gene during testis development, we generated Redd1-deficient mice. Morphologically, Redd1-deficient mice were indistinguishable from control littermates and showed normal fertility. Our results show that Redd1 alone is not required for testis development or fertility in mice. The lack of a male reproductive phenotype in Redd1 mice may be due to functional compensation by the related gene Redd2.