Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Techniques for the Design of High Speed and Low Power MAC Unit: A Sate-of-the-art Review

The multiplication operation is used in many parts of a digital system or digital computer, usually in signal processing, video/graphics and scientific computation. With advances in technology, various techniques have been developed to design multipliers, which offer high speed, low power consumption and lesser area. Thus making them suitable for various high speeds, low power compact VLSI implementations. These three parameters i.e. power, area and speed are always traded off. In this paper, different techniques used for efficient operations resulting in high speed and low power consumption are discussed. Such as parallelism, pipelining, modified booth algorithm (MBA), spurious power suppression technique (SPST), block enabling technique.
Transcranial direct current stimulation of the primary motor cortex improves word-retrieval in older adults

Language facilitation by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in healthy individuals has generated hope that tDCS may also allow improving language impairment after stroke (aphasia). However, current stimulation protocols have yielded variable results and may require identification of residual language cortex using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which complicates incorporation into clinical practice. Based on previous behavioral studies that demonstrated improved language processing by motor system pre-activation, the present study assessed whether tDCS administered to the primary motor cortex (M1) can enhance language functions. This proof-of-concept study employed a sham-tDCS controlled, cross-over, within-subject design and assessed the impact of unilateral excitatory (anodal) and bihemispheric (dual) tDCS in 18 healthy older adults during semantic word-retrieval and motor speech tasks. Simultaneous fMRI scrutinized the neural mechanisms underlying tDCS effects. Both active tDCS conditions significantly improved word-retrieval compared to sham-tDCS. The direct comparison of activity elicited by word-retrieval vs. motor-speech trials revealed bilateral frontal activity increases during both anodal- and dual-tDCS compared to sham-tDCS. This effect was driven by more pronounced deactivation of frontal regions during the motor-speech task, while activity during word-retrieval trials was unaffected by the stimulation. No effects were found in M1 and secondary motor regions. Our results show that tDCS administered to M1 can improve word-retrieval in healthy individuals, thereby providing a rationale to explore whether M1-tDCS may offer a novel approach to improve language functions in aphasia. Functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed neural facilitation specifically during motor speech trials, which may have reduced switching costs between the overlapping neural systems for lexical retrieval and speech processing, thereby resulting in improved performance.
Advances in Brief Human Mesothelioma Samples Overexpress Both Cyclooxygenase-2 ( COX-2 ) and Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase ( NOS 2 ) : In Vitro Antiproliferative Effects of a COX-2 Inhibitor

Accumulating data demonstrate overexpression of both inducible NO synthase (NOS2) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) in many epithelial neoplasias. In addition, cyclooxygenase inhibitors have been shown to have antineoplastic and prophylactic efficacy against human colon cancer and in mouse models of this disease. Mesothelioma arises in a context of asbestos exposure and chronic inflammation, which would be expected to enhance the expression of these inducible enzymes. This study demonstrates that both inducible enzymes were expressed in 30 human mesothelioma tissues but were not detectable in nonreactive mesothelial tissues from the same individuals. In contrast, areas of reactive mesothelial cells stained positively for these enzymes. In vitro exposure of human mesothelioma cell lines to the COX2 inhibitor, NS398, revealed doseand timedependent antiproliferative activity, whereas the NOS2 inhibitor, 1400W, had no detectable inhibitory effect. Surprisingly, nonmalignant human mesothelial isolates expressed both NOS2 and COX2 in vitro at the same level as mesothelioma cell lines but were less sensitive to NS398 inhibition. This finding indicates that these nonmalignant isolates may retain properties of reactive mesothelial cells and suggests that targets in addition to COX2 may be involved in the antiproliferative response of mesothelioma cell lines. These results have clinical significance because of the selective activity of the drug coupled with the therapeutic resistance and poor prognosis of mesothelioma. The findings presented here suggest that further preclinical studies of these inhibitors in animal models of mesothelioma would be of great interest.
Beyond the Biomedical: Community Resources for Mental Health Care in Rural Ethiopia

Background The focus of discussion in addressing the treatment gap is often on biomedical services. However, community resources can benefit health service scale-up in resource-constrained settings. These assets can be captured systematically through resource mapping, a method used in social action research. Resource mapping can be informative in developing complex mental health interventions, particularly in settings with limited formal mental health resources. Method We employed resource mapping within the Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME), to systematically gather information on community assets that can support integration of mental healthcare into primary care in rural Ethiopia. A semi-structured instrument was administered to key informants. Community resources were identified for all 58 sub-districts of the study district. The potential utility of these resources for the provision of mental healthcare in the district was considered. Results The district is rich in community resources: There are over 150 traditional healers, 164 churches and mosques, and 401 religious groups. There were on average 5 eddir groups (traditional funeral associations) per sub-district. Social associations and 51 micro-finance institutions were also identified. On average, two traditional bars were found in each sub-district. The eight health centres and 58 satellite clinics staffed by Health Extension Workers (HEWs) represented all the biomedical health services in the district. In addition the Health Development Army (HDA) are community volunteers who support health promotion and prevention activities. Discussion The plan for mental healthcare integration in this district was informed by the resource mapping. Community and religious leaders, HEWs, and HDA may have roles in awareness-raising, detection and referral of people with mental illness, improving access to medical care, supporting treatment adherence, and protecting human rights. The diversity of community structures will be used to support rehabilitation and social reintegration. Alcohol use was identified as a target disorder for community-level intervention.
HOGG1 C1245G Gene Polymorphism Associated with Prostate Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

Background Prostate cancer (Pca) is one of the most frequently encountered multifactorial malignant diseases worldwide. The human oxoguanine glycosylase 1 (hOGG1) C1245G polymorphism (rs1052133) has been found to be associated with Pca. However, the conclusions have been controversial. Methods Based on the PubMed, Embase, HuGENet and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases, this meta-analysis was conducted with 4 models. Eleven qualified studies were included. Results Although no positive relation was discovered in the pooled analysis, significant associations between rs1052133 and Pca were found in the Asian population (recessive: odds ratio [OR] = 1.580, 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.189-2.098; GG vs. GC: OR = 1.504, 95% CI, 1.114-2.030; GG vs. CC: OR = 1.677, 95% CI, 1.201-2.342; allele analysis: OR = 1.249, 95% CI, 1.077-1.449), whites (dominant: OR = 2.138, 95% CI, 1.483-3.083; recessive: OR = 3.143, 95% CI, 1.171-8.437; GG vs. CC: OR = 3.992, 95% CI, 1.891-8.431; allele analysis: OR = 1.947, 95% CI, 1.467-2.586) and mixed populations (recessive: OR = 0.636, 95% CI, 0.484-0.834; GG vs. GC: OR = 0.654, 95% CI, 0.492-0.871; GG vs. CC: OR = 0.624, 95% CI, 0.473-0.823; allele analysis: OR = 0.857, 95% CI, 0.771-0.954). After excluding studies deviating from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, a significant association was also found in the same ethnic groups. In addition, a new positive relation was identified in the “other country” subgroup (with China, South Korea and Australia included) (dominant: OR = 1.622, 95% CI, 1.163-2.261; recessive: OR = 1.773, 95% CI, 1.308-2.404; GG vs. GC: OR = 1.614, 95% CI, 1.169-2.230; GG vs. CC: OR = 2.108, 95% CI, 1.456-3.051; allele analysis: OR = 1.494, 95% CI, 1.235-1.808) and among the Chinese-Korean population. Conclusions In conclusion, we suggest that the hOGG1 C1245G polymorphism might be potentially associated with Pca risk in different ethnicities and countries, especially among Asians. Further studies are needed to confirm these relations.
Simultaneous state of charge and parameter estimation of lithium-ion battery using log-normalized unscented Kalman Filter

This paper discusses the simultaneous state of charge (SOC) and parameter estimation of the battery for electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Although it is important to know the SOC and parameters of the battery to maximize its longevity, performance and reliability, there are still some difficulties in estimating them. The estimation often suffers from the battery model complexity, the poor numerical stability, and the constraints of the physical parameters of the battery. To address such issues, this paper proposes a simultaneous SOC and parameter estimation method using log-normalized UKF (LnUKF) cooperated with the battery model considering diffusion phenomena. This approach is verified by performing a series of simulations using experimental data with an EV.
Ergodic sum rate analysis of K fading MIMO channels with linear MMSE receiver

In this paper, we investigate the ergodic sum rate of K fading MIMO channels with linear MMSE receiver, which is an analytically friendly fading model to describe both the small scale fading and shadowing. The exact closed-form expression of the ergodic sum rate was derived, which is applicable for arbitrary number of transmit and receive antennas and any signal to noise ratio (SNR) range. Moreover, simple expressions were derived for the ergodic sum rate in the high and low SNR regimes. The analytical results enable us to gain insights on how the key system parameters affect the ergodic sum rate of the system. Numerical results are presented and verified via Monte Carlo simulations.
Continuous Tuning of Organic Transistor Operation from Enhancement to Depletion Mode

Thelightweight,simple processability,andmechanical ﬂexibilityofconjugatedorganicsemiconductorshasrecentlyledtoremark-able research efforts towards realizing new (opto) electronicdevices, their manifold known as organic electronics. Amongstthese devices, organic ﬁeld-effect transistors (OFETs) arerecognized as key tools/building blocks for the implementationof electronic logic circuits
Comet assay analysis of single–stranded DNA breaks in circulating leukocytes of glaucoma patients

Purpose To investigate the amount of single-stranded DNA breaks in circulating leukocytes of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients. Methods A comparative quantification of DNA breaks was performed in circulating leukocytes of POAG patients and healthy controls. The following groups of subjects were compared: (1) POAG patients having primary vascular dysregulation (PVD), (2) POAG patients without PVD, (3) healthy controls with PVD, and (4) healthy controls without PVD. The damage to DNA resulting in single-stranded breaks was assessed by means of the alkaline comet assay in which the damaged DNA migrates out of the nucleus forming a tail, which can be quantified using image analysis. Damage was quantified as the comet tail moment, which represents the extent of DNA damage in individual cells. Results Leukocytes of POAG patients exerted a significantly higher amount of comet tails, which are indicative of DNA damage, in comparison to control leukocytes (p<0.001). DNA breaks occurred particularly in the subgroup of POAG patients with PVD in comparison to glaucoma patients without PVD (p=0.002). In the control group, there was no significant difference between controls with PVD and controls without PVD (p=0.86). Conclusions POAG patients with PVD have a significantly higher rate of DNA breaks than both POAG patients without PVD and healthy controls with and without PVD.
Investigation of the profile of phenolic compounds in the leaves and stems of Pandiaka heudelotii using gas chromatography coupled with flame ionization detector

Abstract The profile of phenolic compounds in the leaves and stems of Pandiaka heudelotii was investigated using gas chromatography coupled with flame ionization detector. The leaves and stems had high flavonoids and benzoic acid derivatives content, and moderate levels of lignans and hydroxycinnamates. Twenty‐eight known flavonoids were detected, which consisted mainly of kaempferol (41.93% in leaves and 47.97% in stems), (+)‐catechin (17.12% in leaves and 16.11% in stems), quercetin (13.83% in leaves and 9.39% in stems), luteolin (7.34% in leaves and 7.71% in stems), and artemetin (6.53% in leaves and 4.83% in stems). Of the six known hydroxycinnamates detected, chlorogenic acid (80.79% in leaves and 87.56% in stems) and caffeic acid (18.98% in leaves and 12.30% in stems) were the most abundant, while arctigenin (77.81% in leaves and 83.40% in stems) and retusin (13.82% in leaves and 10.59% in stems) were the most abundant of the nine known lignans detected. Twelve known benzoic acid derivatives were detected, consisting mainly of ellagic acid (65.44% in leaves and 72.89% in stems), p‐hydroxybenzoic acid (25.10% in leaves and 18.95% in stems), and vanillic acid (8.80% in leaves and 7.30% in stems). The rich phytochemical profile of the leaves and stems is an indication of their ability to serve as sources of nutraceuticals.
Stability of different feature selection methods for selecting protein sequence descriptors in protein solubility classification problem

Predicting protein solubility has gained lots of intention in the recent years and several descriptors have been defined to describe proteins in these works. Therefore, different feature selection methods have been used for selecting the most important attributes. An empirical study, that aims to explain the relationship between the number of samples and stability of seven different feature selection techniques for protein datasets, is presented.
Analysis of bursty workload-aware self-adaptive systems

Software is often embedded in dynamic contexts where it is subjected to high variable, non-stable, and usually bursty workloads. A key requirement for a software system is to be able to self-react to workload changes by adapting its behavior dynamically, to ensure both the correct functionalities and the required performance. Research on fitting variable workload traces into formal models has been carried out using Markovian Modulated Poisson Processes (MMPP). These works concentrate on modeling stable workload states, but accurate modeling of transient times still deserves attention since they are critical moments for the self-adaptation. In this work, we build on research in the area of MMPP trace fitting and we propose a Petri net fine-grained model for highly variable workloads that also accounts for transient times. We analyze differences between models of adaptive software that accurately represent workload state changes and models that do not. We evaluate their performance and availability and compare the results.
Digital Compensation of Amplifier Nonlinearities in the Receiver of a Wireless System

In order to enable efficient implementation of wireless systems with high signal dynamics, this paper proposes an approach to estimate and correct for the amplitude and phase distortion caused by nonlinear power amplifiers. The approach comprises a preamble design, an estimation method and a digital compensation algorithm. Correction for the nonlinearities is applied in the receiver, which requires no additional hardware. Performance evaluation of a 60 GHz OFDM-based system shows that the proposed approach can successfully be applied with minimal performance degradation compared to non-impaired systems.
Comparative Analysis of mRNA Targets for Human PUF-Family Proteins Suggests Extensive Interaction with the miRNA Regulatory System

Genome-wide identification of mRNAs regulated by RNA-binding proteins is crucial to uncover post-transcriptional gene regulatory systems. The conserved PUF family RNA-binding proteins repress gene expression post-transcriptionally by binding to sequence elements in 3′-UTRs of mRNAs. Despite their well-studied implications for development and neurogenesis in metazoa, the mammalian PUF family members are only poorly characterized and mRNA targets are largely unknown. We have systematically identified the mRNAs associated with the two human PUF proteins, PUM1 and PUM2, by the recovery of endogenously formed ribonucleoprotein complexes and the analysis of associated RNAs with DNA microarrays. A largely overlapping set comprised of hundreds of mRNAs were reproducibly associated with the paralogous PUM proteins, many of them encoding functionally related proteins. A characteristic PUF-binding motif was highly enriched among PUM bound messages and validated with RNA pull-down experiments. Moreover, PUF motifs as well as surrounding sequences exhibit higher conservation in PUM bound messages as opposed to transcripts that were not found to be associated, suggesting that PUM function may be modulated by other factors that bind conserved elements. Strikingly, we found that PUF motifs are enriched around predicted miRNA binding sites and that high-confidence miRNA binding sites are significantly enriched in the 3′-UTRs of experimentally determined PUM1 and PUM2 targets, strongly suggesting an interaction of human PUM proteins with the miRNA regulatory system. Our work suggests extensive connections between the RBP and miRNA post-transcriptional regulatory systems and provides a framework for deciphering the molecular mechanism by which PUF proteins regulate their target mRNAs.
Comparison of external udder measurements of the sheep breeds Improved Valachian, Tsigai, Lacaune and their crosses

Morphological udder traits have recently become of greater interest from farmers to researchers. In dairy ewes, the udder is very important due to its physiological and conformational characteristics. External udder traits were measured in ewes ( Ovis aries L.) of nine genotypes (355 ewes) created of the basis of Improved Valachian (IV), Tsigai (T), and Lacaune (LC) breeds (six traits; 1185 data for each trait) during the milking period 2002-2008. Udder measurements were assessed for: udder length (UL), udder width (UW), rear udder depth (RUD), cistern depth (CDE), teat length (TL), and teat angle (TA). Data were processed by restricted maximum likelihood (REML) methodology using a MIXED procedure from the SAS statistical package. All studied parameters were influenced by the genotype (P < 0.001), many of them also by the effect of parity and lactation stage. The exactly detected UL, UW and RUD during the lactation and with the age of ewes expand gradually (P < 0.001). Teat length was greater in older ewes (expanding, with the parity). Indicator TA during lactation worsened. Crosses with 25 to 75% share of genetic dairy breeds (in particular with LC, to a lesser extent ‘East Friesian’ - EF) were in most cases larger than the udder cisterns of purebred ewes T and IV. Purebred LC had the largest udders, with the largest cisterns. In conclusion, crosses with specialized dairy breeds have more suitable udders for machine milking than purebred default breeds (T, IV, LC) and are suitable for machine milking.
Simple versus optimal mechanisms

The monopolist's theory of optimal single-item auctions for agents with independent private values can be summarized by two statements. The first is from Myerson [8]: the optimal auction is Vickrey with a reserve price. The second is from Bulow and Klemperer [1]: it is better to recruit one more bidder and run the Vickrey auction than to run the optimal auction. These results hold for single-item auctions under the assumption that the agents' valuations are independently and identically drawn from a distribution that satisfies a natural (and prevalent) regularity condition. These fundamental guarantees for the Vickrey auction fail to hold in general single-parameter agent mechanism design problems. We give precise (and weak) conditions under which approximate analogs of these two results hold, thereby demonstrating that simple mechanisms remain almost optimal in quite general single-parameter agent settings.
Reproductive Deficits in Male Freshwater Turtle Chrysemys picta from Cape Cod, Massachusetts1

Abstract Contaminated groundwater plumes have formed on the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR), a Superfund site on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, as a result of chemical waste disposal. The plumes are of concern to the local people who rely on groundwater as a drinking water source. We used the freshwater turtle as a sentinel species to monitor the reproductive effects of exposure and, by inference, the potential for impact on human health. Our observations of male Chrysemys picta field-trapped from Moody Pond (an impacted site) and Washburn Pond (a reference site) on Cape Cod extended and supported prior observations of reproductive deficits. Morphometric comparison of precloacal length (PCL), which is a sexually dimorphic trait in the turtle, showed that Moody Pond males had a significantly longer PCL than Washburn Pond males. Moody Pond turtles showed reduced testicular weight, which was associated with significantly smaller seminiferous tubule diameter. Epididymal sperm counts were also markedly reduced in Moody Pond animals compared to Washburn Pond animals. Testicular histology and gonial proliferation, as determined by PCNA, were similar in both male populations, while the Moody Pond males had significantly higher germ cell apoptosis than the animals in Washburn Pond. These results suggest that a low-level mixture of xenobiotic contaminants impairs the reproductive functions of turtles exposed to the impacted site but not to the reference site environment.
Polarization analysis system for very rough surfaces

A polarimeter system has been developed to investigate the reflected light of very rough non-specular surfaces. One special application is the polarimetric analysis of road surfaces to find features for the classifications relating to type and surface condition. The reflected light of such a surface varies very much depending on the inhomogeneous surface structures. The aim was to build a measurement system which is relatively insensitive to the positioning of the surface sample, is easy to calibrate and offers a high scanning rate. These demands lead us to a polarimeter setup using a combination of a four-detector-polarimeter and a retarder-polarimeter with liquid-crystal cells as retarding elements. With the help of this laboratory system it is possible to find all polarization depended features. In a further step the setup will be simplified to measure only selected values but with higher speed. The software of the system allows the complete control of the polarization generator and of both polarimeters including the calibration,the operation in different modes, the evaluation and graphical visualization of the measuring data.