Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HARQ Systems: Resource Allocation, Feedback Error Protection, and Bits-to-Symbol Mappings

Reliability of data transmission is a fundamental problem in wireless communications. Fading in wireless channels causes the signal strength to vary at the receiver and this results in loss of data packets. To improve the reliability, automatic repeat request (ARQ) schemes were introduced. However these ARQ schemes suffer from a reduction in the throughput. To address the throughput reduction, conventional ARQ schemes were combined with forward error correction (FEC) schemes to develop hybrid-ARQ (HARQ) schemes. For improving the reliability of data transmission, HARQ schemes are included in the present wireless standards like LTE, LTE-Advanced and WiMAX. Conventional HARQ systems use the same transmission power and the same number of channel uses in different ARQ rounds. However this is not optimal in terms of minimizing the average transmit power or the average energy spent for successful transmission of a data packet. We address this issue in the first part of the dissertation, where we consider optimal resource allocation in HARQ systems with a limit on the maximum number of allowed transmissions for a data packet. Specifically, we consider the problem of minimizing the packet drop probability (PDP) under an average transmit power constraint or equivalently minimizing the average transmit power under a fixed PDP constraint. We consider both incremental redundancy (IR)-based and Chase combining (CC)-based HARQ systems in our work. For an IR-HARQ system, for the special case of two allowed transmissions for each packet, we provide a solution for the optimal number of channel uses and the optimal power to be used in each ARQ round. For a CC-HARQ system, we solve the problem of optimal power allocation in i.i. d. Rayleigh fading channels as well as correlated Rayleigh fading channels. For the CC-HARQ case, we also provide a low complexity geometric programming (GP) solution using an approximation of the outage probability expression. HARQ systems conventionally use one bit acknowledgement (ACK)/negative ACK (NACK) feedback from the receiver to the transmitter. In the 3GPP-LTE systems, one method for sending these HARQ acknowledgement bits is to jointly code them with the other control signaling information using a specified Reed-Muller code consisting of 20 coded bits. Even though the resources used for sending this control signaling information can inherently provide a diversity gain, the Reed-Muller code
Hard Real-Time Networking on Firewire

This paper investigates the possibility of using standard, low-cost, widely used FireWire as a new generation fieldbus medium for real-time distributed control applications. A real-time software subsystem, RT-FireWire was designed that can, in combination with Linux-based real-time operating system, provide hard real-time communication over FireWire. In addition, a high-level module that can emulate Ethernet over RT-FireWire was implemented. This additional module enables existing IP-based real-time communication frameworks to work on top of FireWire. The real-time behavior of RT-FireWire was demonstrated with a simple control setup. Furthermore, an outlook of the future development on RT-FireWire is given.
Various Acylglycerols from Common Oils Exert Different Antitumor Activities on Colorectal Cancer Cells

ABSTRACT Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Western countries; therefore, the implementation of healthy dietary habits in order to prevent its occurrence is a desirable action. We show here that both free fatty acids (FFAs) and some acylglycerols induce antitumoral actions in the colorectal cancer cell line HT-29. We tested several C18 polyunsaturated fatty acid-enriched oils (e.g., sunflower and Echium) as well as other oils, such as arachidonic acid-enriched (Arasco®) and docosahexaenoic acid-enriched (Marinol® and cod liver oil), in addition to coconut and olive oils. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide test indicated inhibitory effects on HT-29 cells viability for FFAs, and monoacylglycerol and diacylglycerol (DAG) species, while the lactate dehydrogenase test proved that FFAs were the more effective species to induce membrane injury. Conversely, all species did not exhibit actions on CCD-18 normal human colon cells viability. Furthermore, transmission electron microscopy showed the presence of necrosis and apoptosis, while the monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) inhibition test demonstrated high activity for 2-monoacylglycerols derived from Arasco and sunflower oils. However, different monoacylglycerols and DAGs have also the potential for MAGL inhibition. Therefore, checking for activity on colon cancer cells of specifically designed acylglycerol-derivative species would be a suitable way to design functional foods destined to avoid colorectal cancer initiation.
Adaptive Sample Size Calculations in Group Sequential Trials

Summary. A method for group sequential trials that is based on the inverse normal method for combining the results of the separate stages is proposed. Without exaggerating the Type I error rate, this method enables data‐driven sample size reassessments during the course of the study. It uses the stopping boundaries of the classical group sequential tests. Furthermore, exact test procedures may be derived for a wide range of applications. The procedure is compared with the classical designs in terms of power and expected sample size.
Cardiac Stem Cells Possess Growth Factor-Receptor Systems That After Activation Regenerate the Infarcted Myocardium, Improving Ventricular Function and Long-Term Survival

Cardiac stem cells and early committed cells (CSCs-ECCs) express c-Met and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) receptors and synthesize and secrete the corresponding ligands, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and IGF-1. HGF mobilizes CSCs-ECCs and IGF-1 promotes their survival and proliferation. Therefore, HGF and IGF-1 were injected in the hearts of infarcted mice to favor, respectively, the translocation of CSCs-ECCs from the surrounding myocardium to the dead tissue and the viability and growth of these cells within the damaged area. To facilitate migration and homing of CSCs-ECCs to the infarct, a growth factor gradient was introduced between the site of storage of primitive cells in the atria and the region bordering the infarct. The newly-formed myocardium contained arterioles, capillaries, and functionally competent myocytes that with time increased in size, improving ventricular performance at healing and long thereafter. The volume of regenerated myocytes was 2200 &mgr;m3 at 16 days after treatment and reached 5100 &mgr;m3 at 4 months. In this interval, nearly 20% of myocytes reached the adult phenotype, varying in size from 10 000 to 20 000 &mgr;m3. Moreover, there were 43±13 arterioles and 155±48 capillaries/mm2 myocardium at 16 days, and 31±6 arterioles and 390±56 capillaries at 4 months. Myocardial regeneration induced increased survival and rescued animals with infarcts that were up to 86% of the ventricle, which are commonly fatal. In conclusion, the heart has an endogenous reserve of CSCs-ECCs that can be activated to reconstitute dead myocardium and recover cardiac function.
An Absolute Flux Density Measurement of the Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A at 32 GHz

We report 32 GHz absolute flux density measurements of the supernova remnant Cas A, with an accuracy of 2.5%. The measurements were made with the 1.5 m telescope at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory. The antenna gain had been measured by NIST in May 1990 to be 0.505 ± 0.007 mK Jy-1. Our observations of Cas A in May 1998 yield Scas,1998 = 194 ± 5 Jy. We also report absolute flux density measurements of 3C 48, 3C 147, 3C 286, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars.
Identification and characterization of plasma kallikrein–kinin system inhibitors from salivary glands of the blood‐sucking insect Triatoma infestans

Two plasma kallikrein–kinin system inhibitors in the salivary glands of the kissing bug Triatoma infestans, designated triafestin‐1 and triafestin‐2, have been identified and characterized. Reconstitution experiments showed that triafestin‐1 and triafestin‐2 inhibit the activation of the kallikrein–kinin system by inhibiting the reciprocal activation of factor XII and prekallikrein, and subsequent release of bradykinin. Binding analyses showed that triafestin‐1 and triafestin‐2 specifically interact with factor XII and high molecular weight kininogen in a Zn2+‐dependent manner, suggesting that they specifically recognize Zn2+‐induced conformational changes in factor XII and high molecular weight kininogen. Triafestin‐1 and triafestin‐2 also inhibit factor XII and high molecular weight kininogen binding to negatively charged surfaces. Furthermore, they interact with both the N‐terminus of factor XII and domain D5 of high molecular weight kininogen, which are the binding domains for biological activating surfaces. These results suggest that triafestin‐1 and triafestin‐2 inhibit activation of the kallikrein–kinin system by interfering with the association of factor XII and high molecular weight kininogen with biological activating surfaces, resulting in the inhibition of bradykinin release in an animal host during insect blood‐feeding.
Joint DOA and multi-pitch estimation via block sparse dictionary learning

In this paper, we introduce a novel sparse method for joint estimation of the direction of arrivals (DOAs) and pitches of a set of multi-pitch signals impinging on a sensor array. Extending on earlier approaches, we formulate a novel dictionary learning framework from which an estimate is formed without making assumptions on the model orders. The proposed method alternatively uses a block sparse approach to estimate the pitches, using an alternating direction method of multipliers framework, and alternatively a nonlinear least squares approach to estimate the DOAs. The preferable performance of the proposed algorithm, as compared to earlier methods, is shown using numerical examples.
Directional loudness perception. The effect of sound incidence angle on loudness and the underlying binaural summation

The effect of sound incidence angle on loudness was investigated using individual binaural synthesis. In the synthesis, individual head-related transfer functions and headphone equalization were used. Acoustical measurements were carried out in order to verify the binaural synthesis. In a listening test, narrow-band noises at various center frequencies synthesized from different directions were presented to the listeners. Their task was to match the loudness of these stimuli in an adaptive procedure to a reference noise synthesized with frontal incidence angle. Considerable variation in the directional loudness matches between center frequencies and listeners was obtained. The results were compared to an earlier study using the same experimental design, but stimuli being played back over loudspeakers. The comparison shows that the patterns of directional loudness are well retained in the binaural synthesis, the difference between playback over loudspeakers and the binaural synthesis in terms of directional loudness perception being insignificant.
Steerable ultra-thin directive antenna from a metamaterial-based subwavelength cavity

We report the design of a steerable directive antenna using a resonant metamaterial-based subwavelength cavity. The cavity is made of a conventional ground plane and a composite metamaterial acting us a partially reflective surface. The antenna is a rectangular microstrip patch designed to operate near 10 GHz. The composite metamaterial is made of a variable capacitive grid and a constant inductive grid. Simulation and measurements show a deflection of the antenna beam of about plusmn20deg for a cavity of thickness about lambda/30.
Behavior Participation in Virtual Worlds: A Triandis Model Perspective

Emerging virtual technology suggests that we are moving into a new age of technology, Web 3.0, in which social networks and 3D virtual environments are prominent. Many new business opportunities present themselves in this context. However, business success in the new virtual world requires an understanding of how people behave in virtual worlds so that they can be effectively and efficiently managed. This paper examines how people behave in virtual worlds by using a Triandis interpersonal behavior model. The data were collected in Cyworld, and the results were tested by Lisrel 8.70. We examined two types of behaviors, giving information and obtaining information. We show that although behavioral intention plays a role in shaping virtual world behavior, habit plays a major role in determining whether people will give information and obtain information. What is more interesting is that behavior related to obtaining information is a strong antecedent of behavior related to giving information in virtual worlds. The conclusion provides several implications for both researchers and virtual world developers.
The Farnesyltransferase Inhibitor LB42708 Suppresses Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-Induced Angiogenesis by Inhibiting Ras-dependent Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase and Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/Akt Signal Pathways

Farnesyltransferase (FTase) inhibitors induce growth arrest and apoptosis in various human cancer cells by inhibiting the post-translational activation of Ras. FTase inhibitors also function to suppress the release of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) from tumor cells by inhibiting Ras activation; however, the effects of FTase inhibitors on VEGF-induced angiogenesis in endothelial cells have not been studied. We have investigated the antiangiogenic effect and molecular mechanism of 4-((1-((1-((4-bromophenyl)methyl)-1H-imidazol-5-yl)methyl)-4-(1-napthalenyl)-1H-pyrrol-3-yl)carbonyl)-(9C1)-morpholine (LB42708), a selective nonpeptidic FTase inhibitor, using in vitro and in vivo assay systems. LB42708 inhibited VEGF-induced Ras activation and subsequently suppressed angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo by blocking the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase/p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/endothelial nitric-oxide synthase pathways in endothelial cells without altering FAK/Src activation. In addition, this inhibitor suppressed VEGF-induced endothelial cell cycle progression at the G1 phase by suppressing cyclin D1 expression and retinoblastoma phosphorylation as well as up-regulating the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p21 and p27. Knockdown of Ras by short interfering RNA revealed similar inhibitory effects on VEGF-induced angiogenic signal events compared with LB42708. Moreover, the inhibitory effects of LB42708 were significantly higher than those of 4-(2-(4-(8-chloro-3,10-dibromo-6,11-dihydro-5H-benzo-(5,6)-cyclohepta(1,2-b)-pyridin-11(R)-yl)-1-piperidinyl)-2-oxo-ethyl)-1-piperidinecarboxamide (SCH66336), a well known FTase inhibitor. LB42708 suppressed tumor growth and tumor angiogenesis in both xenograft tumor models of Ras-mutated HCT116 cells and its wild-type Caco-2 cells, indicating its potential application in the treatment of both Ras-mutated and wild type tumors. These data indicate that the antitumor effect of LB42708 can be associated with direct inhibition of VEGF-induced tumor angiogenesis by blocking Ras-dependent MAPK and PI3K/Akt signal pathways in tumor-associated endothelial cells.
Wide-band, proportional-bandwidth Wigner-Ville analysis

The Wigner-Ville (W-V) distribution is a time-frequency representation that yields a highly accurate estimate of instantaneous frequency. It is related to the narrow-band ambiguity function by an internal transform, and it can be used in a variety of detection and estimation problems. A spectrogram constructed with constant bandwidth filters can be obtained by convolving two W-V distributions or by forming a magnitude-squared narrow-band cross-ambiguity function. The wide-band ambiguity function represents the Doppler effect with dilation or compression rather than with frequency shift as in the narrow-band approximation. The Q distributions, a modified W-V representation that is related to the wide-band ambiguity function by an integral transform, is defined. A spectrogram constructed with proportional-bandwidth or constant-Q filters can be obtained by a convolution-like operation involving two Q distributions or by forming a magnitude-squared wide-band cross-ambiguity function. The Q distribution is thus a wide-band version of the W-V distribution. Properties of the Q distribution indicate that it may prove useful for detection and parameter estimation as well as for tomographic measurement of wideband scattering functions with relatively few transmitted waveforms. >
Sequence‐independent processing site of the C‐terminal domain (CTD) influences maturation of the RgpB protease from Porphyromonas gingivalis

The Gram‐negative periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis produces a family of outer membrane‐anchored proteases, the gingipains, shown to play an essential role in virulence of the organism. The C‐terminal domain (CTD) of gingipains and other secreted proteins is known to be the targeting signal for maturation and translocation of the protein through the outer membrane. The CTD is subsequently cleaved during the secretion process. Multiple alignment of various CTDs failed to define a consensus sequence at the putative CTD processing site. Using mutagenesis, we were able to show that cleavage at the site is not dependent on a specific residue and that recognition of the site is independent of local sequence. Interestingly, length of the junction between the CTD and adjacent Ig‐like subdomain has a critical influence on post‐translational glycan modification of the protein, whereby insertion of additional residues immediately N‐terminal to the cleavage site results in failure of glycan modification and release of soluble protease into the culture medium. Various hypotheses are presented to explain these phenomena. Knowledge of the role CTDs play in maturation of gingipains has broader application for understanding maturation of CTD homologues expressed by bacteria of the Bacteriodetes phylum.
Competing Effects of Pain and Fear of Pain on Postural Control in Low Back Pain?

Study Design. A cross-sectional, observational study. Objective. To determine whether pain and fear of pain have competing effects on postural sway in patients with low back pain (LBP). Summary of Background Data. Competing effects of pain and pain-related fear on postural control can be proposed as the likely explanation for inconsistent results regarding postural sway in the LBP literature. We hypothesized that although pain might increase postural sway, fear of pain might reduce sway through an increased cognitive effort or increased cocontraction to restrict body movement. The cognitive strategy would be less effective under dual-task conditions and the cocontraction strategy was expected to be less effective when standing on a narrow base of support surface. Methods. Postural sway was measured in combined conditions of base of support (full and narrow) and cognitive loading (single and dual tasks) in 3 experimental groups with current LBP, recent LBP, and no LBP. Sway amplitude, path length, mean power frequency, and sample entropy were extracted from center-of-pressure data. Results. The current-LBP group and recent-LBP group reported significantly different levels of pain, but similar levels of pain catastrophizing and kinesiophobia. The current-LBP group tended to display larger sway amplitudes in the anteroposterior direction compared with the other 2 groups. Mean power frequency values in mediolateral direction were lower in patients with the current LBP compared with recent LBP. Smaller sample entropy was found in the current-LBP group than the other groups in most experimental conditions, particularly when standing on a narrow base of support. Conclusion. Alterations of postural sway are mostly mediated by pain but not pain-related fear. LBP tends to increase sway amplitude, which seems to be counteracted by increased effort invested in postural control leading to decreased frequency and increased regularity of sway particularly under increased task demands. Level of Evidence: Cross-sectional study
Deriving Verb Predicates By Clustering Verbs with Arguments

Hand-built verb clusters such as the widely used Levin classes (Levin, 1993) have proved useful, but have limited coverage. Verb classes automatically induced from corpus data such as those from VerbKB (Wijaya, 2016), on the other hand, can give clusters with much larger coverage, and can be adapted to specific corpora such as Twitter. We present a method for clustering the outputs of VerbKB: verbs with their multiple argument types, e.g. "marry(person, person)", "feel(person, emotion). " We make use of a novel low-dimensional embedding of verbs and their arguments to produce high quality clusters in which the same verb can be in different clusters depending on its argument type. The resulting verb clusters do a better job than hand-built clusters of predicting sarcasm, sentiment, and locus of control in tweets.
Natural Cardiogenesis-Based Template Predicts Cardiogenic Potential of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines

Background—Cardiac development is a complex process resulting in an integrated, multilineage tissue with developmental corruption in early embryogenesis leading to congenital heart disease. Interrogation of individual genes has provided the backbone for cardiac developmental biology, yet a comprehensive transcriptome derived from natural cardiogenesis is required to gauge innate developmental milestones. Methods and Results—Stage-specific cardiac structures were dissected from 8 distinctive mouse embryonic time points to produce genome-wide expressome analysis across cardiogenesis. With reference to this native cardiogenic expression roadmap, divergent induced pluripotent stem cell–derived cardiac expression profiles were mapped from procardiogenic 3-factor (SOX2, OCT4, KLF4) and less-cardiogenic 4-factor (plus c-MYC) reprogrammed cells. Expression of cardiac-related genes from 3-factor–induced pluripotent stem cell differentiated in vitro at days 5 and 11 and recapitulated expression profiles of natural embryos at days E7.5-E8.5 and E14.5-E18.5, respectively. By contrast, 4-factor–induced pluripotent stem cells demonstrated incomplete cardiogenic gene expression profiles beginning at day 5 of differentiation. Differential gene expression within the pluripotent state revealed 23 distinguishing candidate genes among pluripotent cell lines with divergent cardiogenic potentials. A confirmed panel of 12 genes, differentially expressed between high and low cardiogenic lines, was transformed into a predictive score sufficient to discriminate individual induced pluripotent stem cell lines according to relative cardiogenic potential. Conclusions—Transcriptome analysis attuned to natural embryonic cardiogenesis provides a robust platform to probe coordinated cardiac specification and maturation from bioengineered stem cell–based model systems. A panel of developmental-related genes allowed differential prognosis of cardiogenic competency, thus prioritizing cell lines according to natural blueprint to streamline functional applications.
Discriminative Online Algorithms for Sequence Labeling -a Comparative Study

We describe a natural alternative for training sequence labeling models, based on MIRA (Margin In-fused Relaxed Algorithm). In addition, we describe a novel method for performing Viterbi-like decoding. We test MIRA and contrast it with other training algorithms and contrast our decoding algorithm with the vanilla Viterbi algorithm.