Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low-Complexity Decoding Algorithms for Distributed Space-Time Coded Regenerative Relay Systems

We examine decoding structure for distributed space-time coded regenerative relay networks. Given the possible demodulation error at the regenerative relays, we provide a general framework of error aware decoder, where the receiver exploits the demodulation error probability of relays to improve the system performance. Considering the high computational complexity of optimal Maximum Likelihood (ML) decoder, we also propose two low-complexity decoders, Max-Log decoder and Max-Log-Sphere decoder. Computational complexities of these three decoders are also analyzed. Simulation results show that error aware decoders can improve system performance greatly without high system overload and Max-Log decoder and Max-Log-Sphere decoder can drastically reduce the decoding complexity with negligible performance degradation.
DSM-IV-defined anxiety disorder symptoms in South African children.

OBJECTIVE To examine -defined anxiety disorder symptoms in a large sample of normal South African schoolchildren. METHOD Children completed two self-report questionnaires: the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS) and the 41-item version of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED). RESULTS Psychometric properties of the SCAS and the SCARED were moderate (convergent validity) to sufficient (reliability). Factor analyses yielded evidence for the presence of a number of hypothesized anxiety categories (i.e., social phobia, panic disorder, fears, and generalized anxiety disorder). Furthermore, anxiety levels of South African children were higher than those of Western (i.e., Dutch) children. Differences were found with regard to the content of prevalent anxiety symptoms among South African and Western children. CONCLUSION Although psychometric properties of the SCAS and the SCARED in South African children somewhat deviated from those obtained in Western countries, both scales seem to be useful for assessing childhood anxiety symptoms in this country.
Mammalian cell genetics. I. Selection and characterization of mutations auxotrophic for L-glutamine or resistant to 8-azaguanine in Chinese hamster cells in vitro.

IOCHEMICAL mutants in somatic cell cultures have been obtained either by establishing cell cultures from mutants known in the whole organism that are also expressed at the cellular level or by means of various techniques to isolate clones of cells that have developed phenotypes different from those of the parental culture. The present report describes the isolation and cytogenetic characterization of two genetic variants, viz., L-glutamine (gln) auxotrophy and 8-aza-guanine (azg) resistance that had arisen spontaneously in the population of an established cell line of Chinese hamster. By the use of cell fusion technique, we showed that both mutations were recessive. Preliminary results of this work have been previously summarized (CHU, MERRIAM, and BRIMER 1967; CHU and BRIMER 1968). Cells: An aneuploid cell line (V79-122D1) derived originally from the lung of a male Chinese hamster (Cricetulus griseus, 2n=22) was used (FORD and YERGANIAN 1958). The stem-line cell consists of 23 chromosomes with several notable changes from the normal karyotype (Yu and SINCLAIR Over 95% of the p3pulation remain at the diploid level, and the stem line karyotype was maintained by repeated cloning. Cloning was done by plating of single cells and picking of developing colonies with a capillary pipette which was cleansed and sterilized between colony-pickings in boiling distilled water. The cells in minimal essential medium containing fetal calf The experimental for testing nutritional contained, fetal calf dialyzed 24 hrs running tap water
A full complement of transfer RNA genes in the Candida albicans genome

The functions of non-coding genes, such as transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, in Candida albicans have been largely overlooked, though it is widely realized that they play important roles in regulating gene expression. As an initial effort to study small RNA genes from C. albicans, we have identified a total of 132 tRNA genes from the nuclear genome using tRNAscan-SE. These tRNA genes represent 43 unique tRNA gene species decoding all of the 20 amino acids. Together with the previously annotated 30 tRNA genes, of which 24 are unique, from the mitochondrial genome of C. albicans, a total of 162 tRNA genes were used in this study. Since the "universal" leucine codon CTG specially encodes for serine in C. albicans, this non-standard translational event may add some special features to the tRNA genes. Phylogenetic relationships of tRNA genes from the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes were compared to demonstrate some recent gene duplications and interorganellar gene transfer. The correlation of codon usage with copy numbers of the tRNA genes was also discussed.
NVT: a fast and simple tool for the assessment of RNA-seq normalization strategies

MOTIVATION Measuring differential gene expression is a common task in the analysis of RNA-Seq data. To identify differentially expressed genes between two samples, it is crucial to normalize the datasets. While multiple normalization methods are available, all of them are based on certain assumptions that may or may not be suitable for the type of data they are applied on. Researchers therefore need to select an adequate normalization strategy for each RNA-Seq experiment. This selection includes exploration of different normalization methods as well as their comparison. Methods that agree with each other most likely represent realistic assumptions under the particular experimental conditions. RESULTS We developed the NVT package, which provides a fast and simple way to analyze and evaluate multiple normalization methods via visualization and representation of correlation values, based on a user-defined set of uniformly expressed genes. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION The R package is freely available under https://github.com/Edert/NVT CONTACT: thomas.rattei@univie.ac. atSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Genetic analysis of the role of cAMP in yeast

Introduction Isolation and characterization of mutants altered in cAMP metabolism Cyclic AMP-requiring mutants Suppressors of CAMP-requiring mutations Abnormal regulation of adenylate cyclase in rasl ras2 mutants Gene-enzyme relationship in yeast cAMP metabolism Roles of CAMP in cellular functions Involvement of cAMP in the G1 phase of the mitotic cell cycle Tnvolvement of cAMP in the control of conjugation Cyclic AMP as a negative regulator in the initiation of meiosis Involvement of CAMP in sporulation events Conclusions
Effects of fibre concentration of diets consisting of hay and slowly degradable concentrate on ruminal fermentation and digesta particle size in mid-lactation dairy cows

Abstract Four multiparous ruminally cannulated Holstein cows (mean bodyweight [BW] 615 kg) in mid-lactation (103 days in milk and 32 kg milk · d−1 at start of the experiment) were used in an one-factorial experiment to evaluate the effects of fibre level (19, 24, 28, 32 and 39% physically effective NDF [peNDF] in dry matter [DM]) in diets consisting of hay and slowly degradable concentrate on rumen fermentation patterns and digesta particle size, under a constant intake level (146 g DM · kg−0.75). The different fibre concentrations in the diet were achieved by adjusting the hay to concentrate ratio. The above-mentioned levels of peNDF corresponded to 70, 60, 50, 40 and 25% concentrate in diet DM, respectively, and followed the lactation curve of the cows. The ruminal pH was positively and linearly correlated to the percentage of fibre (peNDF, NDF or CF) in ration DM with R2 of 0.76 – 0.88 (p < 0.001) for solid digesta (particle-associated rumen fluid, PARL), and R2 of 0.26 – 0.29 (p ≤ 0.05) for fluid digesta (free rumen liquid, FRL). The lowest fibre level in the diet (19% peNDF) or the highest level of concentrate (70% on DM basis) caused pH values lower than 6.0 at almost all sampling times only in PARL but not in FRL, and significantly increased the proportion of large particles in rumen digesta, which in turn was reflected by a depression of fibre digestibility. A level of 24% peNDF or 60% concentrate in the diet maintained the ruminal pH higher than 6.0 and 5.8 in FRL and PARL, respectively. Therefore, the inclusion of more than 60% slowly degradable concentrate in dairy cows diets fed approximately 18 kg DM · d−1 is discouraged. Based on the response of ruminal solid digesta to dietary fibre, it can be concluded that the recommendations of feeding a structural value ≥ 1 per kg DM (De Brabander et al. 1999) underestimated, and 400 g CF per 100 kg BW (Hoffmann 1990) overestimated the evaluation of structural effectiveness of the present diet.
Effect of proteasome inhibition on cellular oxidative damage, antioxidant defences and nitric oxide production

The ubiquitin/proteasome pathway plays an essential role in protein turnover in vivo, and contributes to removal of oxidatively damaged proteins. We examined the effects of proteasome inhibition on viability, oxidative damage and antioxidant defences in NT‐2 and SK‐N‐MC cell lines. The selective proteasome inhibitor, lactacystin (1 µm) caused little loss of viability, but led to significant increases in levels of oxidative protein damage (measured as protein carbonyls), ubiquitinated proteins, lipid peroxidation and 3‐nitrotyrosine, a biomarker of the attack of reactive nitrogen species (such as peroxynitrite, ONOO−) upon proteins. Higher levels (25 µm) of lactacystin did not further increase the levels of carbonyls, lipid peroxidation, 3‐nitrotyrosine, or ubiquitinated proteins, but produced increases in the levels of 8‐hydroxyguanine (a biomarker of oxidative DNA damage) and falls in levels of GSH. Lactacystin (25 µm) caused loss of viability, apparently by apoptosis, and also increased production of nitric oxide (NO·) (measured as levels of NO2− plus NO3−) by the cells; this was inhibited by N‐nitro‐l‐arginine methyl ester (l‐NAME), which also decreased cell death induced by 25 µm lactacystin and decreased levels of 3‐nitrotyrosine. The NO· production appeared to involve nNOS; iNOS or eNOS were not detectable in either cell type. Another proteasome inhibitor, epoxomicin, had similar effects.
Dual-mode noninvasive brain stimulation over the bilateral primary motor cortices in stroke patients.

BACKGROUND Noninvasive brain stimulation (NBS) using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) or transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has recently been adopted for modulating motor function in stroke patients. OBJECTIVE We investigated the effect of simultaneous dual-mode stimulation using rTMS and tDCS over the bilateral primary motor cortices (M1) to assess its efficacy as compared to single stimulation using rTMS for the recovery of motor function in subacute stroke patients. METHODS Thirty subacute stroke patients were recruited in this study. In the dual-mode stimulation group, 10 Hz rTMS (90% of resting motor threshold, 1,000 pulses) was applied over the ipsilesional M1 for 20 minutes with the simultaneous application of cathodal tDCS (2 mA) on the contralesional M1. The single stimulation group underwent 10 Hz rTMS without tDCS. Ten daily sessions were conducted for two consecutive weeks. The total Fugl-Meyer (FMA-T), upper limb (FMA-UL), and lower limb (FMA-LL) scores were measured before, after, and two months later. RESULTS The FMA-T and FMA- UL were significantly improved over time in both the dual and single stimulation group (p < 0.05). However, there were significant group and time interaction effects in both the FMA-T and FMA-UL (p < 0.05). Post-hoc analysis showed that the mean changes in the FMA-T and FMA-UL were significantly better in the dual-mode stimulation group. CONCLUSION Dual-mode NBS with the simultaneous application of 10 Hz rTMS and cathodal tDCS over the bilateral M1s was safe and superior to 10 Hz rTMS alone for improving motor function in subacute stroke patients.
Comparison between biodentine and formocresol for pulpotomy of primary teeth: A randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE To assess and compare the clinical and radiographic success rates of biodentine and formocresol for pulpotomy in human primary teeth. METHOD AND MATERIALS A randomized, split-mouth, double-blind, controlled clinical trial was carried out in 37 healthy 4- to 8-year-old children with 56 pairs (112 teeth) of contralateral primary molars indicated for pulpotomy. Matched teeth in each pair were randomized to undergo either biodentine (n = 56 teeth) or formocresol (n = 56 teeth) pulpotomy. In both groups, the teeth were restored with stainless steel crowns. The teeth were evaluated clinically and radiographically at 3 and 6 months by two blinded, standardized, and calibrated examiners. The data were analyzed using chi-square and McNemar tests with a P value of < . 05 considered significant. RESULTS At both the 3- and 6-month follow-ups, all the 37 children with 112 treated teeth were evaluated. Clinical and radiographic success was similar for biodentine (100%) and formocresol (100%), without any statistically significant difference (P = 1). Pulp canal obliteration was radiographically observed in 10/56 (17.9%) and 7/56 (12.5%) cases in the biodentine and formocresol groups, respectively. CONCLUSION Both pulpotomy techniques showed favorable clinical and radiographic outcomes at 3 and 6 months posttreatment without any significant difference. Hence, biodentine has the potential to become a substitute for formocresol in primary molar pulpotomies.
Enabling D2D communications in LTE networks

Device-to-Device (D2D) communications provide the means to users of cellular networks for spatially reusing licensed spectrum by establishing direct connections. Considering the benefits for operators and consumers, a plethora of resource and interference management approaches in the literature deal with parallel cellular and D2D transmissions. However, this feature is not yet supported by modern cellular systems, such as the Long Term Evolution (LTE). The current paper targets at filling this gap by enabling D2D transmissions in LTE networks. Standardized LTE capabilities are utilized to provide a comprehensive framework on which existing or future resource and interference management schemes for D2D communications may be applied. The proposed framework is assessed under a moderate scenario where the cellular resource management policy is not affected. Results show that multiple D2D connections can be established in parallel to cellular uplink transmissions, while a satisfactory percentage of the cell region is available for spatial spectrum reuse.
Brief Communication: DAT1 VNTR Allele Frequencies in the Omani Population

To determine the genetic variability at the human DAT1 VNTR locus, we screened 110 healthy Omani blood donors using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and agarose gel electrophoresis. Two common alleles (DAT1*9 and DAT1*10) were observed with a frequency of 0.332 and 0.609, respectively. There were also five rare alleles (*3, *6, *7, *8, and *11). The frequency of the observed genotypes was not significantly different from the expected Hardy-Weinberg distribution. We compared the Omani DAT1 alleles with similar data from other populations.
Closing the Border on a New Frontier: the Problem With Salivary Nerve Growth Factor.

In 2013, a study appeared in Psychosomatic Medicine showing that salivary levels of nerve growth factor (sNGF) rapidly increase (to +45% of baseline levels) in response to an acute psychosocial stress task that involved discussing an unresolved conflict with a romantic partner (1). NGF, also referred to as mature NGF-β, is a neurotrophic factor that, among other functions, mediates neuronal growth and differentiation, although it may also drive cell death (2). The study presented a genuinely novel finding, which was emphasized by the authors' branding of sNGF as a “new frontier for stress research” that could “represent a resilience factor protecting individuals from adverse effects of stress” (1,3). Secondary analyses of these seminal data were in line with these speculations, showing, for example, that greater sNGF reactivity to conflict was related to stronger appraisals of coping ability and agency, lower anticipatory stress appraisals, and higher well-being (1,3). However, there is one problem, which is substantial: saliva appears to contain little, if any, NGF. Therefore, on grounds that the findings are biologically implausible, we think that the validity of these data (and related data published in other journals) need to be reconsidered.
Interactive Digital e-Health Game for Heart Failure Self-Management: A Feasibility Study.

OBJECTIVE To develop and test the prototype of a serious digital game for improving community-dwelling older adults' heart failure (HF) knowledge and self-management behaviors. The serious game innovatively incorporates evidence-based HF guidelines with contemporary game technology. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study included three phases: development of the game prototype, its usability assessment, and evaluation of the game's functionality. Usability testing included researchers' usability assessment, followed by research personnel's observations of participants playing the game, and participants' completion of a usability survey. Next, in a pretest-post-test design, validated instruments-the Atlanta Heart Failure Knowledge Test and the Self Care for Heart Failure Index-were used to measure improvement in HF self-management knowledge and behaviors related to HF self-maintenance, self-management, and self-efficacy, respectively. A postgame survey assessed participants' perceptions of the game. RESULTS During usability testing, with seven participants, 100%, 100%, and 86% found the game easy to play, enjoyable, and helpful for learning about HF, respectively. In the subsequent functionality testing, with 19 participants, 89% found the game interesting, enjoyable, and easy to play. Playing the game resulted in a significant improvement in HF self-management knowledge, a nonsignificant improvement in self-reported behaviors related to HF self-maintenance, and no difference in HF self-efficacy scores. Participants with lower education level and age preferred games to any other medium for receiving information. CONCLUSION It is feasible to develop a serious digital game that community-dwelling older adults with HF find both satisfying and acceptable and that can improve their self-management knowledge.
A brief survey on different multilevel inverter topologies for grid-tied solar photo voltaic system

As days go, renewable energy resources getting lot of consideration due to the growing demand of energy. In view of all the renewable energy resources, solar energy is very prominent because sunlight is obtainable all over the year. This research work concentrates on performance and reliability enhancement of grid-connected Solar Photo Voltaic (SPV) power conversion system with a prominent implementation of progressive power electronics technology in the view of catering the major requirements of the grid-tied SPV inverter such as reliability, improved efficiency and cost of the system. As of now some types of inverter has been used for grid connected PV system that each of them containing some good results and drawbacks. In PV power conversion applications, some parameters such as switching frequency, Total Harmonic Distortion, leakage current and common mode voltage and current overflow are dominant. These parameters affect the major objectives of PV system that are reliability, efficiency and cost. This proposed work is to achieve the high reliability and improved efficiency of grid-tied multilevel inverter for the PV system using proposed Cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter with less complexity.
Distributed Control for Autonomous Operation of a Three-Port AC/DC/DS Hybrid Microgrid

This paper presents a distributed control scheme for reliable autonomous operation of a hybrid three-port ac/dc/distributed storage (ds) microgrid by means of power sharing in individual network, power exchange between ac and dc networks, and power management among three networks. The proposed distributed control scheme includes: 1) a fully decentralized control, which is achieved by local power sharing (LPS) in individual ac or dc network, global power sharing (GPS) throughout ac/dc networks, and storage power sharing (SPS) among distributed storages. Upon fully decentralized control, each power module can operate independently without communication links. This would benefit for riding through communication malfunction in multilayer supervision control system; 2) a multilevel power exchange control for scheduling LPS, GPS, and SPS has been developed to reduce unnecessary power exchange between ac/dc networks and operations of DS units with the benefit of reducing power exchange losses and prolonging storage lifetime. The proposed distributed control strategy has been verified by the simulation and experimental results.
Ramp-up Journey of New Hires: Do strategic practices of software companies influence productivity?

Software companies regularly recruit skilled and talented employees to meet evolving business requirements. Although companies expect early contributions, new hires often take several weeks to reach the same productivity level as existing employees. We refer to this transition of new hires from novices to experts as ramp-up journey. There can be various factors such as lack of technical skills or lack of familiarity with the process that influence the ramp-up journey of new hires. The goal of our work is to identify those factors and study their influence on the ramp-up journey. We expect the results from this study to help identify the need of various types of assistance to new hires to ramp-up faster. As a first step towards our goal, this paper explores the impact of two strategic practices, namely distributed development and internship on the ramp-up journey of new hires. Our results show that new hires in proximity to the core development team and new hires with prior internship experience perform better than others in the beginning. In the overall ramp-up journey, the effect of the two factors attenuates, yet nevertheless better compared to their counterparts. Product teams can use this information to pay special attention to non-interns and use better tools for distributed, cooperative work to help new hires ramp-up faster.
Social Media and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election

This report is an analysis of social media in the 2008 U.S. presidential election from 30,000 feet. We evaluate conventional wisdom about social media and its applicability to political campaigns in particular and to public relations more generally. We contrast that conventional wisdom with empirical findings taken from the 2008 presidential campaign season, using data collected with Radian6. We place those findings in the context of existing research on political communication, political engagement, and the role of social media in communication campaigns. We conclude with predictions about future developments concerning social media, American politics, and reputation management using social media tools.
Edge-based IVD segmentation system

Computer-aided diagnosing (CAD) and computer-assisted surgery (CAS) systems for spine and intervertebral disc (IVD) necessitate highly speed, minimal memory usage and accurate segmentation system because such system has a direct impact on spinal disease diagnosis and surgical planning. An unsupervised edge-based IVD segmentation system is proposed and validated on eight different lower back pain patients with MR sagittal and axial plane images. It achieves 0.98275, 0.9924 mean dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and 0.9733, 0.9735 mean area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for sagittal and axial planes respectively. It requires averages of 26.017s and 431MB of memory usage for axial plane.