Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combined pattern and frequency reconfiguration of single-element ultra-wideband monopole antenna for Cognitive Radio devices

A novel and simple frequency and pattern reconfigurable single element ultra-wideband monopole antenna realised in a compact design is presented. The antenna occupies overall dimensions of 34×31×0.88 mm3. The antenna can switch from ultra-wideband operation to narrowband operation with three different radiation pattern configurations. Three p-i-n diodes are used as switches and their package and biasing effects are included in the simulations. The simulated reflection coefficient, radiation patterns, surface current, gain and total efficiency of the ultra-wideband mode and the pattern-reconfiguration modes are presented. The compactness, simplicity and flexibility of the proposed multimode antenna meet the growing demand of Cognitive Radio devices for more intelligent and multi-functional antennas.
Millimeter-Wave Signal Generation Using Two Cascaded Optical Modulators and FWM Effect in Semiconductor Optical Amplifier

A novel method of optical generation millimeter-wave (mm-wave) signals employing two cascaded optical modulators and four-wave-mixing effect in semiconductor optical amplifiers is proposed. This approach is capable of generating signals of four times, eight times, and 12 times microwave source frequency with high spectral purity and stability. A mm-wave of 42 GHz (12times fundamental) with a 3-dB linewidth less than 30 Hz and a phase noise less than 83 dBc/Hz at 10-kHz offset is obtained.
Normalized lmQCM: An Algorithm for Detecting Weak Quasi-Cliques in Weighted Graph with Applications in Gene Co-Expression Module Discovery in Cancers

In this paper, we present a new approach for mining weighted networks to identify densely connected modules such as quasi-cliques. Quasi-cliques are densely connected subnetworks in a network. Detecting quasi-cliques is an important topic in data mining, with applications such as social network study and biomedicine. Our approach has two major improvements upon previous work. The first is the use of local maximum edges to initialize the search in order to avoid excessive overlaps among the modules, thereby greatly reducing the computing time. The second is the inclusion of a weight normalization procedure to enable discovery of “subtle” modules with more balanced sizes. We carried out careful tests on multiple parameters and settings using two large cancer datasets. This approach allowed us to identify a large number of gene modules enriched in both biological functions and chromosomal bands in cancer data, suggesting potential roles of copy number variations (CNVs) involved in the cancer development. We then tested the genes in selected modules with enriched chromosomal bands using The Cancer Genome Atlas data, and the results strongly support our hypothesis that the coexpression in these modules are associated with CN Vs. While gene coexpression network analyses have been widely adopted in disease studies, most of them focus on the functional relationships of coexpressed genes. The relationship between coexpression gene modules and CNVs are much less investigated despite the potential advantage that we can infer from such relationship without genotyping data. Our new approach thus provides a means to carry out deep mining of the gene coexpression network to obtain both functional and genetic information from the expression data.
LONG-TERM VARIABILITY OF RADIO-BRIGHT BL LACERTAE OBJECTS

Radio-bright BL Lacertae objects (BLOs) are typically very variable and exhibit prominent flaring. We use a sample of 24 BLOs, regularly monitored at Metsähovi Radio Observatory, to get a clear idea of their flaring behavior in the radio domain and to find possible commonalities in their variability patterns. Our goal was to compare the results given by computational timescales and the observed variability parameters determined directly from the flux curves. Also, we wanted to find out if the BLO flares adhere to the generalized shock model, which gives a schematic explanation for the physical process giving rise to the variability. We use long-term monitoring data from 4.8, 8, 14.5, 22, 37, 90, and 230 GHz, obtained mainly from the University of Michigan and Metsähovi Radio Observatories. The structure function, discrete correlation function, and Lomb–Scargle periodogram timescales, calculated in a previous study, are analyzed in more detail. Also, we determine flare durations, rise and decay times, and absolute and relative peak fluxes from the monitoring data. We find that radio-bright BLOs demonstrate a wide range of variability behavior, and few common denominators can be found. BLOs include sources with fast and strong variability, such as OJ 287, PKS 1749+096, and BL Lac, but also sources with more rolling fluctuations such as PKS 0735+178. The most extreme flares can last for up to 13 years or have peak fluxes of approximately 12 Jy in the observer's frame. When the Doppler boosting effect is taken into account, the peak flux of a flare does not depend on the duration of the flare. A rough analysis of the time lags and peak flux evolution indicates that, typically, BLO flares in the mm–cm wavelengths are high peaking, i.e., are in the adiabatic stage. Thus, the results concur with the generalized shock model, which assigns shocks traveling in the jet as the main cause for active galactic nucleus variability. Comparing the computational timescales and the parameters obtained from the flux curve analysis (i.e., rise and decay times and intervals of the flares) reveals that they do have a significant correlation, albeit with large scatter.
Heterologous Expression and Structural Characterisation of a Pyrazinone Natural Product Assembly Line

Through a number of strategies nonribosomal peptide assembly lines give rise to a metabolic diversity not possible by ribosomal synthesis. One distinction within nonribosomal assembly is that products are elaborated on an enzyme‐tethered substrate, and their release is enzyme catalysed. Reductive release by NAD(P)H‐dependent catalysts is one observed nonribosomal termination and release strategy. Here we probed the selectivity of a terminal reductase domain by using a full‐length heterologously expressed nonribosomal peptide synthetase for the dipeptide aureusimine and were able to generate 17 new analogues. Further, we generated an X‐ray structure of aureusimine terminal reductase to gain insight into the structural details associated with this enzymatic domain.
High-Speed Voltage-Programmed Pixel Circuit for AMOLED Displays Employing Threshold Voltage One-Time Detection Method

This letter presents a high-speed, voltage-programmed pixel circuit for active-matrix organic light-emitting diode displays employing threshold voltage one-time detection method. The proposed pixel circuit that consists of one driving thin-film transistor (TFT), four switching TFTs, two capacitors, and four control signal lines can effectively compensate for the threshold voltage shift of the driving TFT and the OLED degradation. The threshold voltage of one-time detection method is realized by an ingenious application of capacitor coupling effect, and it is well-verified by comparing it with the conventional driving scheme. In this method, data is directly renewed without the periods of initialization and threshold voltage detection from the second-frame beginning. Moreover, this method can also be applied to other compensation pixel circuits.
AnyClimb: A New Wall-Climbing Robotic Platform for Various Curvatures

Climbing robots are being developed to clean, paint, or inspect high areas that are hard to reach for human beings. To widen their application area, robotic platforms have been suggested using bio-inspired attachment methods, such as dry and wet adhesion for smooth and rough surfaces. Generally, robots can climb either walls or poles, but there has been no single robotic platform that can climb both. We developed a new robotic platform to vertically climb a surface with various curvatures in the horizontal direction. Flat dry adhesive was used to make eight footpads. Walking locomotion of the footpads was achieved by a four-bar mechanism with a single motor. To adapt to curved walls, a compliant mechanism is suggested with an asymmetric four-bar mechanism. The kinematics and compliance design parameters were determined by analysis, and experiments were performed on walls with different curvatures. We plan to apply the platform to clean the surfaces of solar panels with different curvatures after modifying the design for commercialization.
Colorectal polyps and cancers in asymptomatic average-risk patients: evaluation with CT colonography.

PURPOSE To compare thin-section multi-detector row computed tomographic (CT) colonography with conventional colonoscopy in the evaluation of colorectal polyps and cancer in asymptomatic average-risk patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty-eight asymptomatic men (age > 50 years) scheduled to undergo screening colonoscopy were enrolled in this study. CT colonography was followed by conventional colonoscopy, performed on the same day. Supine and prone CT colonography were performed after colonic insufflation with room air. A gastroenterologist measured all polyps, which were categorized as 1-5, 6-9, or over 10 mm. Biopsy and histologic evaluation were performed of all polyps. CT colonography and colonoscopy results were compared for location, size, and morphology of detected lesions. Point estimates and 95% CIs were provided for specificity and sensitivity of CT by using results at conventional colonoscopy as the reference standard. RESULTS At colonoscopy, 98 polyps were identified in 39 patients; 21 (21.4%) of 98 were detected at CT colonography. Sensitivity was 11.5% (nine of 78) for polyps 1-5 mm, 52.9% (nine of 17) for polyps 6-9 mm, and 100% (three of three) for polyps over 10 mm. Results at colonoscopy were normal in 29 (42.6%) of 68 patients; at CT colonography, results were correctly identified as normal in 26 of these 29 patients. In one of these patients, a lesion larger than 10 mm was detected at CT colonography. The per-patient specificity of CT was 89.7% (26 of 29; 95% CI: 72.7%, 97.8%). The mean time for CT image interpretation was 9 minutes. CONCLUSION In patients at average risk for colorectal cancer, CT colonography is a sensitive and specific screening test for detecting polyps 10 mm or larger; the sensitivity for detecting smaller polyps is decreased. Examination findings can be interpreted in a clinically feasible amount of time.
A Secure Steganographic Technique for Blind Steganalysis Resistance

A simple yet effective tactic for secure steganography is proposed in this paper that can resist the blind steganalysis. In this method author derives a matrix based on the image content and thus providing the security. This matrix is used by Quantization Index Modulation (QIM) based encoder and decoder. The embedding location of data is also randomized so as to immobilize the self calibration process. It is shown that detection rate of steganalysis scheme to proposed method is close to arbitrary speculation.
Monoclonal antibody recognizing gp80, a membrane glycoprotein implicated in intercellular adhesion of Dictyostelium discoideum

WE have raised a monoclonal antibody, designated E28D8, which reacts with an 80,000-dalton membrane glycoprotein (gp80) of Dictyostelium discoideum. gp80 has been implicated in the formation of the EDTA-resistant adhesions ("contact sites A") which appear during development. The monoclonal antibody reacted with other developmentally regulated proteins of D. discoideum, confirming previous results indicating the presence of common antigenic determinants recognized by polyclonal rabbit antibodies directed to gp80. Periodate sensitivity of the determinants suggests that carbohydrate may be necessary for reactivity. Thus, the determinant recognized by E28D8 may result from a posttranslational modification common to a number of proteins. Some of the proteins that carry the determinant were preferentially localized to posterior cells in slugs. Monoclonal antibody E28D8 did not inhibit contact-sites-A-mediated intercellular adhesion. However, gp80 affinity purified on immobilized monoclonal antibody was able to neutralize the adhesion-blocking effect of rabbit antiserum to gp80. Although gp80 itself may not be essential for cell-cell adhesion, it appears to carry the determinants associated with adhesion.
Generalized ( ,α, ρ, θ)–d–V–univex functions and non-smooth alternative theorems

Under a new kind of generalized convexity and non-smooth generalized ( , α, ρ, θ)–d–V–univexity, some basic alternative theorems are established and proved. These results extend some other generalized convex alternative theorems. To illustrate their applications, we present characterizations of saddle-point type necessary optimality conditions for properly efficient solutions of vector optimization problems. To conclude, the alternative theorems are applied to yield a canonical convex alternative theorem as a corollary.
Air Pollution, Ultrafine and Nanoparticle Toxicology: Cellular and Molecular Interactions

Nanotechnology is involved with the creation and/or manipulation of materials at the nanometer (nm) scale, and has arisen as a consequence of the novel properties that materials exhibit within the "nano" size range. The attraction of producing, and exploiting nanoparticles (NPs; one dimension less than 100 nm) is a consequence of the fact that the properties are often strikingly different from bulk forms composed from the same material. As a consequence, the field of nanotechnology has generated substantial interest resulting in incorporation of NPs into a wide variety of products including electronics, food, clothing, medicines, cosmetics and sporting equipment. While there is general recognition that nanotechnology has the potential to advance science, quality of life and to generate substantial financial gains, a number of reports suggest that potential toxicity should be considered in order to allow the safe and sustainable development of such products. For example, substances which are ordinarily innocuous can elicit toxicity due to the altered chemical and physical properties that become evident within nano dimensions leading to potentially detrimental consequences for the producer, consumer or environment. Research into respirable air pollution particles (PM10) has focused on the role of ultra fine particle (diameter less than 100 nm) in inducing oxidative stress leading to inflammation and resulting in exacerbation of preexisting respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Epidemiological studies have repeatedly found a positive correlation between the level of particulate air pollution and increased morbidity and mortality rates in both adults and children. Such studies have also identified a link between respiratory ill health and the number of ambient ultrafine particles. In vivo and in vitro toxicology studies confirm that for low solubility, low toxicity materials such as TiO2, carbon black and polystyrene beads, ultrafine particles are more toxic and inflammogenic than fine particles. In many of these studies the term "ultrafine particle" can be directly exchanged for nanoparticle, as these particles are manufactured industrially. In such studies the NPs generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) to a greater extent than larger particles leading to increased transcription of pro-inflammatory mediators via intracellular signaling pathways including calcium and oxidative stress. To date, only limited NP compositions and structures have been tested, including materials such as carbon, polystyrene beads and TiO2 as surrogate particles that aimed to represent particulate air pollution. All of these materials are generally low toxicity and low solubility. Much work is required to identify whether the conclusions made for such materials can be extrapolated to engineered nanoparticles varying not only in size but also, shape, composition, structure, surface area, surface coating, and aggregation state. Therefore, it is necessary to reveal if the diversity of NPs available will confer to a varied extent and mechanisms of toxicity.
Visualization of the diaphragm muscle with ultrasound improves diagnostic accuracy of phrenic nerve conduction studies

Introduction: Evaluation of phrenic neuropathy (PN) with phrenic nerve conduction studies (PNCS) is associated with false negatives. Visualization of diaphragmatic muscle twitch with diaphragm ultrasound (DUS) when performing PNCS may help to solve this problem. Methods: We performed bilateral, simultaneous DUS–PNCS in 10 healthy adults and 12 patients with PN. The amplitude of the diaphragm compound muscle action potential (CMAP) (on PNCS) and twitch (on DUS) was calculated. Results: Control subjects had <38% side‐to‐side asymmetry in twitch amplitude (on DUS) and 53% asymmetry in phrenic CMAP (on PCNS). In the 12 patients with PN, 12 phrenic neuropathies were detected. Three of these patients had either significant side‐to‐side asymmetry or absolute reduction in diaphragm movement that was not detected with PNCS. There were no cases in which the PNCS showed an abnormality but the DUS did not. Conclusions: The addition of DUS to PNCS enhances diagnostic accuracy in PN. Muscle Nerve 49: 669–675, 2014
Performance analysis of a PDEVS simulator supporting multiple synchronization protocols

With the ever increasing complexity of simulation models, parallel simulation becomes necessary to perform the simulation within reasonable time bounds. The built-in parallelism of Parallel DEVS is often insufficient to tackle this problem on its own. Several synchronization protocols have been proposed, each with their distinct advantages and disadvantages. Due to the significantly different implementation of these protocols, most Parallel DEVS simulation tools are limited to only one such protocol. In this paper, we present a Parallel DEVS simulator, grafted on C++11, but based on PythonPDEVS, which supports both conservative and optimistic synchronization. We evaluate the performance gain obtained by choosing the most appropriate synchronization protocol. Performance results are compared to adevs, in terms of CPU time and memory usage.
Human metapneumovirus in lung transplant recipients and comparison to respiratory syncytial virus.

RATIONALE Human metapneumovirus is a newly described virus isolated in 2001 from children with acute respiratory viral infection. It has subsequently been reported globally, although there are limited data in lung transplant recipients. OBJECTIVES To prospectively analyze whether human metapneumovirus was circulating in our adult lung transplant community and assess the morbidity of this infection and to compare the clinical presentation and outcome after intravenous ribavirin of human metapneumovirus with that of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). METHODS Lung transplant patients with clinical features of respiratory viral infection underwent nasopharyngeal aspirates. Patients with a positive specimen for RSV or human metapneumovirus by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis and graft dysfunction received intravenous ribavirin and pulse steroid therapy. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Eighty-nine patients had 199 visits for aspirate studies. A viral cause was determined for 62 visits in 47 patients (19 human metapneumovirus, 18 RSV, 13 parainfluenza, 9 influenza A, 2 adenovirus, and 1 influenza B). A significant percentage of patients with metapneumovirus (63%) and RSV (72%) developed graft dysfunction, with average declines in FEV(1) of 30 +/- 12.4% and 25.9 +/- 11.2%, respectively. In these patients, bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome onset or progression occurred in no patients with human metapneumovirus compared with 5 of 13 (38%) patients with RSV at 6 months. CONCLUSIONS Human metapneumovirus is a leading cause of acute respiratory tract illness in lung transplant recipients. The incidence and clinical spectrum at presentation are similar to RSV, although the latter seems to be associated with a higher risk of chronic rejection. We recommend testing of nasopharyngeal aspirates for human metapneumovirus with polymerase chain reaction to assess local epidemiologic patterns.
Antiviral treatments over cell-to-cell infection: is it just a matter of dose?

Pathogens can reach and infect new target cells as free particles (cell-free infection, CFI) or can usurp cellular machineries to be transferred from cell-to-cell (CTC). To disseminate, CTC is widely used by bacteria (e.g. Listeria, Shigella), parasites (e.g. plasmodium), but also viruses including HIV. Growing evidence suggests that CTC offers clear advantages over CFI in terms of viral spread efficiency. However, whether CTC protects invading viruses from humoral immune responses and antiviral treatments remains to be firmly established. This has important implication for HIV clearance, as CTC might allow residual replication to persist and thus the establishment and maintenance of viral reservoirs.
A novel genetic variant in the transcription factor Islet‐1 exerts gain of function on myocyte enhancer factor 2C promoter activity

The transcription factor Islet‐1 (ISL1) is a marker of cardiovascular progenitors and is essential for mammalian cardiogenesis. An ISL1 haplotype has recently been associated with congenital heart disease. In this study we evaluated whether ISL1 variants are associated with hypertrophic (HCM), dilated (DCM), arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), or with Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD).
A Molecular Profile of the Endothelial Cell Response to Ionizing Radiation

Ionizing radiation exposure can cause acute radiation sickness (ARS) by damaging the hematopoietic compartment. Radiation damages quiescent hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and proliferating hematopoietic cells, resulting in neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and increased risk for long-term hematopoietic dysfunction and myelodysplasia. While some aspects of the hematopoietic response to radiation injury are intrinsic to hematopoietic cells, the recovery of the HSC pool and overall hematopoiesis is also dependent on signals from bone marrow endothelial cells (BM ECs) within the HSC vascular niche. The precise mechanisms through which BM ECs regulate HSC regeneration remain unclear. Characterization of the altered EC gene expression that occurs in response to radiation could provide a roadmap to the discovery of EC-derived mechanisms that regulate hematopoietic regeneration. Here, we show that 5 Gy total-body irradiation substantially alters the expression of numerous genes in BM ECs within 24 h and this molecular response largely resolves by day 14 postirradiation. Several unique and nonannotated genes, which encode secreted proteins were upregulated and downregulated in ECs in response to radiation. These results highlight the complexity of the molecular response of BM ECs to ionizing radiation and identify several candidate mechanisms that should be prioritized for functional analysis in models of hematopoietic injury and regeneration.