Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Agile and Medium-Transparent MAC Protocol for 60 GHz Radio-Over-Fiber Local Access Networks

We present an agile and medium-transparent Medium Access Control (MT-MAC) protocol for seamless and dynamic capacity allocation over both optical and wireless transmission media in 60 GHz broadband Radio-Over-Fiber (RoF) networks. Medium transparency is achieved by means of parallelism between two simultaneously running contention periods and through nesting of wireless user-specific dataframes within Remote Antenna Unit (RAU)-specific optical Superframes. The first contention period reports on the traffic requesting RAUs and decides about the wavelength assignments, whereas the second contention period arbitrates traffic between wireless clients served by the same RAU. Seamless service delivery is completed by RAU-dedicated optical Superframes, each one incorporating multiple user-specific and time-division multiplexed dataframes that are opto-electronically converted at the RAU site and get transmitted wirelessly down to each end-user. The proposed MAC protocol is demonstrated to operate successfully both in RoF-over-bus as well as in RoF-over-Passive Optical Network (PON) architectures requiring only minor variations for getting adapted to the network topology. Its performance for both network topologies is evaluated through simulations for different number of end-users, different loads and network node densities and for bit-rates up to 3 Gb/s, both for a Poisson and for a burst-mode traffic model. Successful operation is demonstrated for all different cases, confirming its agility and showing that extended range 60 GHz LAN areas between wireless users even without line of sight conditions can be obtained. Moreover, the high throughput and low latency values for non-saturated network conditions reveal its potential for transforming broadband 60 GHz picocellular networks into highly effective RoF-enabled 60 GHz Wireless LANs even for high-bandwidth and time-sensitive applications like High-Definition video streaming.
Computational Modeling of Signaling Pathways Mediating Cell Cycle Checkpoint Control and Apoptotic Responses to Ionizing Radiation-Induced DNA Damage

The shape of dose response of ionizing radiation (IR) induced cancer at low dose region, either linear non-threshold or J-shaped, has been a debate for a long time. This dose response relationship can be influenced by built-in capabilities of cells that minimize the fixation of IR-mediated DNA damage as pro-carcinogenic mutations. Key capabilities include sensing of damage, activation of cell cycle checkpoint arrests that provide time needed for repair of the damage as well as apoptosis. Here we describe computational modeling of the signaling pathways that link sensing of DNA damage and checkpoint arrest activation/apoptosis to investigate how these molecular-level interactions influence the dose response relationship for IR induced cancer. The model provides qualitatively accurate descriptions of the IR-mediated activation of cell cycle checkpoints and the apoptotic pathway, and of time-course activities and dose response of relevant regulatory proteins (e.g. p53 and p21). Linking to a two-stage clonal growth cancer model, the model described here successfully captured a monotonically increasing to a J-shaped dose response curve and identified one potential mechanism leading to the J-shape: the cell cycle checkpoint arrest time saturates with the increase of the dose.
Isolation of a variant of Candida albicans

During the course of Candida albicans antigen production, a variant of this organism was encountered which did not produce hyphae at 37 degrees C. Presented here are some of the characteristics of this variant. It produces hyphae at 25 degrees C on cornmeal agar and synthetic medium plus N-acetylglucosamine and Tween 80. At 37 degrees C, it does not produce hyphae on these media, although C. albicans normally does produce hyphae under these circumstances. In liquid synthetic medium, this variant does not produce hyphae at 37 degrees C. The variant strain was analyzed for DNA, RNA, protein content, and particle size. After 50 to 70 h in balanced exponential-phase growth, particle size distribution was narrow, and there were no differences in the DNA, RNA, or protein content per particle in the two strains. When balanced exponential-phase cultures were brought into stationary phase, both strains contained the same amount of DNA per cell.
The Glycoprotein B Cytoplasmic Domain Lysine Cluster Is Critical for Varicella-Zoster Virus Cell-Cell Fusion Regulation and Infection

ABSTRACT The conserved glycoproteins gB and gH-gL are essential for herpesvirus entry and cell-cell fusion induced syncytium formation, a characteristic of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) pathology in skin and sensory ganglia. VZV syncytium formation, which has been implicated in the painful condition of postherpetic neuralgia, is regulated by the cytoplasmic domains of gB (gBcyt) via an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motif (ITIM) and gH (gHcyt). A lysine cluster (K894, K897, K898, and K900) in the VZV gBcyt was identified by sequence alignment to be conserved among alphaherpesviruses, suggesting a functional role. Alanine and arginine substitutions were used to determine if the positive charge and susceptibility to posttranslational modifications of these lysines contributed to gB/gH-gL cell-cell fusion. Critically, the positive charge of the lysine residues was necessary for fusion regulation, as alanine substitutions induced a 440% increase in fusion compared to that of the wild-type gBcyt while arginine substitutions had wild-type-like fusion levels in an in vitro gB/gH-gL cell fusion assay. Consistent with these results, the alanine substitutions in the viral genome caused exaggerated syncytium formation, reduced VZV titers (−1.5 log10), and smaller plaques than with the parental Oka (pOka) strain. In contrast, arginine substitutions resulted in syncytia with only 2-fold more nuclei, a −0.5-log10 reduction in titers, and pOka-like plaques. VZV mutants with both an ITIM mutation and either alanine or arginine substitutions had reduced titers and small plaques but differed in syncytium morphology. Thus, effective VZV propagation is dependent on cell-cell fusion regulation by the conserved gBcyt lysine cluster, in addition to the gBcyt ITIM and the gHcyt. IMPORTANCE Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a ubiquitous pathogen that causes chickenpox and shingles. Individuals afflicted with shingles risk developing the painful condition of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), which has been difficult to treat because the underlying cause is not well understood. Additional therapies are needed, as the current vaccine is not recommended for immunocompromised individuals and its efficacy decreases with the age of the recipient. VZV is known to induce the formation of multinuclear cells in neuronal tissue, which has been proposed to be a factor contributing to PHN. This study examines the role of a lysine cluster in the cytoplasmic domain of the VZV fusion protein, gB, in the formation of VZV induced multinuclear cells and in virus replication kinetics and spread. The findings further elucidate how VZV self-regulates multinuclear cell formation and may provide insight into the development of new PHN therapies.
Cks 1 Enhances Transcription Efficiency at the GAL 1 Locus by Linking the Paf 1 Complex to the 19 S Proteasome

Cks1 was originally identified based on genetic interactions with CDC28, the gene that encodes Cdk1 in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Subsequent work has shown that Cks1 binds Cdc28 and modulates its activity against certain substrates. However, the Cks1/Cdc28 complex also has a role in transcriptional chromatin remodeling not related to kinase activity. In order to elucidate protein networks associated with Cks1 transcriptional functions, proteomic analysis was performed on immunoaffinity-purified Cks1, identifying a physical interaction with the Paf1 complex. Specifically, we found that the Paf1 complex component Rtf1 interacts directly with Cks1 and that this interaction is essential for efficient recruitment of Cks1 to chromatin in the context of GAL1 gene induction. We further found that Cks1 in this capacity serves as an adaptor allowing Rtf1 to recruit 19S proteasome particles, shown to be required for efficient RNA production from some rapidly inducible genes such as GAL1.
Predictive and potentially predictive factors in early arthritis: a multidisciplinary approach.

OBJECTIVES Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by variable degrees of joint inflammation, joint destruction, progressive disability and premature death. Destruction of joint cartilage and bone may occur early during disease, as was shown in longitudinal studies of RA, and there is increasing consent among rheumatologists that early diagnosis and early initiation of therapy with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) can limit the severity of RA. Unfortunately, the currently used diagnostic and predictive indicators (clinical, laboratory and radiological) are of limited value for making an early diagnosis and prognosis of the disease course at the individual level, thus reducing optimal benefit from present and emerging therapies. Therefore, this review focuses on the multidisciplinary aspects of neuroendocrine-immune changes in RA. METHODS A Medline search was performed using the search terms 'androgens', 'estrogens', 'sympathetic nervous system', 'sensory nervous system', 'prognosis', 'early rheumatoid arthritis', 'arthritis' and 'studies' in various combinations. For the tabular overview, we only listed clinical studies focusing on endocrine and neuronal aspects. RESULTS In addition to the currently used predictive indicators, there is an abundant body of literature describing changes of the neuronal, endocrine and immune parameters during inflammatory diseases. Unfortunately, no longitudinal studies concerning neuroendocrine aspects have been done up to now. CONCLUSION Parameters of the neuroendocrine system should be included in anticipated longitudinal clinical studies to find their true predictive value in early RA.
HPA Axis Reactivity and Lymphocyte Glucocorticoid Sensitivity in Fibromyalgia Syndrome and Chronic Pelvic Pain

Objective: Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) have been associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis alterations, i.e., mild hypocortisolism and enhanced feedback sensitivity. We tested the hypothesis of reduced cortisol release in response to a psychosocial stressor and pharmacological stimulation. Furthermore, glucocorticoid (GC) sensitivity was evaluated. Methods: Plasma total and salivary-free cortisol concentrations were measured in response to a standardized social laboratory stressor, the Trier Social Stress Test, and to adrenocorticotropin (ACTH)1–24 stimulation. In the Trier Social Stress Test, we additionally measured ACTH. GC sensitivity was measured by dexamethasone inhibition of lipopolysaccharide-induced interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha production in whole blood. Results: There were no HPA axis alterations in women with CPP (N = 18) in these tests. Patients with FMS (N = 17) showed lower total cortisol release in response to the social stressor and exogenous ACTH, but normal free cortisol and ACTH levels compared with controls (N = 24). GC sensitivity was similar in all groups. Conclusions: Our results suggest normal HPA responses to stress and ACTH stimulation in patients with CPP but reduced adrenal reactivity in patients with FMS, namely in total cortisol release. Free cortisol on the other hand was unaltered, possibly reflecting an adaptation to reduced circulating total cortisol. FMS = fibromyalgia syndrome; CPP = chronic pelvic pain; HPA = hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal; TSST = Trier Social Stress Test; ACTH = adrenocorticotropin; GC = glucocorticoid; GR = glucocorticoid receptor; BMI = body mass index; LPS = lipopolysaccharide; IL-6 = interleukin-6; TNF-&agr; = tumor necrosis factor-alpha.
Patterns of accelerometer-derived estimates of inactivity in middle-age women.

PURPOSE The study's purpose was to characterize accelerometer-derived estimates of physical inactivity collected during five consecutive weeks in middle-age women. METHODS Data were obtained from 63 participants (95.5%) enrolled in the Evaluation of Physical Activity Measures in Middle-Age Women Study. Inactive time (min · d(-1)) was estimated as the sum of activity counts <100, and inactive-to-active transitions were defined as an interruption in which a period of inactivity was immediately followed by a minute or more above 100 counts. A repeated-measures ANOVA using PROC MIXED (SAS/STAT software, v. 9.2) was used to describe hourly, daily, and weekly variation in estimates of physical inactivity. RESULTS Participants were 52.7 ± 5.5 yr, 85.7% non-Hispanic white, and 63.5% postmenopausal, with a body mass index of 26.7 ± 5.1 kg · m(-2). Inactive time gradually increased as the day continued, particularly on weekend days. When compared with weekdays, average inactive time was lower on Saturday and Sunday (all P < 0.01 except for Saturday vs Monday, P < 0.10); Saturdays were not significantly different from Sundays. Breaks in inactive time were significantly lower on Sunday when compared with weekdays and Saturday (all P < 0.05), and fewer breaks were noted on Saturday when compared with Wednesday and Friday (both P < 0.01). After adjustment for total wear time or inactive time, most day-to-day differences were attenuated. Week-by-week differences in physical inactivity estimates were also not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggest that inactive time increases as the day continues and that daily physical inactivity estimates are more stable after 1) adjustment for wear time or 2) when averaged over the week. Researchers should carefully consider the intended application of physical inactivity estimates before data collection and processing, analysis, and final data reporting.
Tailoring the AMC and EBG characteristics of periodic metallic arrays printed on grounded dielectric substrate

The artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) and electromagnetic band gap (EBG) characteristics of planar periodic metallic arrays printed on grounded dielectric substrate are investigated. The currents induced on the arrays are presented for the first time and their study reveals two distinct resonance phenomena associated with these surfaces. A new technique is presented to tailor the spectral position of the AMC operation and the EBG. Square patch arrays with fixed element size and variable periodicities are employed as working examples to demonstrate the dependence of the spectral AMC and EBG characteristics on array parameters. It is revealed that as the array periodicity is increased, the AMC frequency is increased, while the EBG frequency is reduced. This is shown to occur due to the different nature of the resonance phenomena and the associated underlying physical mechanisms that produce the two effects. The effect of substrate thickness is also investigated. Full wave method of moments (MoM) has been employed for the derivation of the reflection characteristics, the currents and the dispersion relations. A uniplanar array with simultaneous AMC and EBG operation is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally.
Adherence to Enhanced Recovery after Surgery Protocols across a High-Volume Gastrointestinal Surgical Service

Background and Aims: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) has been shown to improve outcomes for patients following gastrointestinal surgery. Data on protocol adherence and how this impacts on outcome are limited. This study examines how protocol adherence changes over time and determines how this impacts on outcome across a large-volume gastrointestinal surgical service. Materials and Methods: A prospective review of patients eligible for colorectal, liver and oesophagogastric ERAS over two 3-month periods in 2010 and 2011 was performed. End points included: length of stay (LOS), overall protocol adherence, individual modality adherence, reason for pathway deviation and patient outcomes. Results: 172 patients (110 colorectal, 31 liver and 31 oesophagogastric) were evaluated. For each sub-speciality, the introduction of ERAS led to significant reductions in LOS that were sustained for the duration of the study. Adherence was achieved across 60% (colorectal), 75% (liver) and 88% (oesophagogastric) of individual pathway modalities. The major causes of pathway deviation were: post-operative nausea and vomiting (colorectal), pain (liver) and pulmonary complications (oesophagogastric). Conclusions: Large-scale implementation of ERAS at a high-volume centre is feasible and offers many of the benefits demonstrated in controlled trials, but adherence may diminish over time.
Derivation and validation of the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE The Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) group revised and validated the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) classification criteria in order to improve clinical relevance, meet stringent methodology requirements, and incorporate new knowledge regarding the immunology of SLE. METHODS The classification criteria were derived from a set of 702 expert-rated patient scenarios. Recursive partitioning was used to derive an initial rule that was simplified and refined based on SLICC physician consensus. The SLICC group validated the classification criteria in a new validation sample of 690 new expert-rated patient scenarios. RESULTS Seventeen criteria were identified. In the derivation set, the SLICC classification criteria resulted in fewer misclassifications compared with the current ACR classification criteria (49 versus 70; P = 0.0082) and had greater sensitivity (94% versus 86%; P < 0.0001) and equal specificity (92% versus 93%; P = 0.39). In the validation set, the SLICC classification criteria resulted in fewer misclassifications compared with the current ACR classification criteria (62 versus 74; P = 0.24) and had greater sensitivity (97% versus 83%; P < 0.0001) but lower specificity (84% versus 96%; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION The new SLICC classification criteria performed well in a large set of patient scenarios rated by experts. According to the SLICC rule for the classification of SLE, the patient must satisfy at least 4 criteria, including at least one clinical criterion and one immunologic criterion OR the patient must have biopsy-proven lupus nephritis in the presence of antinuclear antibodies or anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies.
Sport club participation of adolescents with asthma: Maternal factors and adolescent cognitions

Sport participation is especially important for patients with asthma in that it decreases psychosocial and physiological problems associated with inactivity. However, adolescents with asthma seem to participate less in sports compared to their non‐asthmatic peers. The current study tested the direct associations between maternal sport‐specific factors and sport club participation of early adolescents with asthma and the indirect effect through adolescent's sport‐specific cognitions.
Exact-diagonalization method for correlated-electron models.

We present a method to compute eigenstates and eigenvalues of strongly correlated models on clusters. The calculation is performed applying the SU(2) symmetry, which allows a considerable reduction of the dimension of Hilbert space of the system. We illustrate the method classifying the states of the four-sites Hubbard model on a chain. This classification has been made using also the translational symmetry and the {tilde S}{tilde U}(2) pseudospin symmetry. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society. }
Exploring Tweets Normalization and Query Time Sensitivity for Twitter Search

Abstract This paper presents our work for the Realtime Adhoc Task of TREC 2011 Microblog Track. Microblog texts like tweets are generally characterized by the inclusion of a large proportion of irregular expressions, such as ill-formed words, which can lead to significant mismatch between query terms and tweets. In addition, Twitter queries are distinguished from Web queries with many unique characteristics, one of which reflects the clearly distinct temporal aspects of Twitter search behavior. In this study, we deal with the first problem by normalizing tweet texts and the second by capturing the temporal characteristics of topic. We divided topics into two categories: time-sensitive and time-insensitive. For the time-sensitive ones, we introduce a decay factor to adjust the relevance score of results according to the expected date of the topical event to happen, and then re-rank the search results. Experiments demonstrate that our methods are significantly better than baseline and outperform the medium of all runs.
Selection of Aberrant Class II Restricted CD8+ T Cells in NOD Mice Expressing a Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase (GAD)65-specific T Cell Receptor Transgene

We previously described the generation of non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice expressing a transgenic T cell receptor (TCR) specific for peptide epitope 286–300 of the diabetes related self antigen, glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD)65 in the context of I-Ag7 class II MHC, that are paradoxically protected from diabetes. In this report, we examine the atypical CD8+ cells in these mice. Unlike typical class II restricted TCR transgenic mice, GAD286 mice have normal numbers of CD8+ cells, half of which express high levels of the transgenic TCR. These MHC mismatched CD8+ cells persist in the periphery and proliferate to GAD286–300 peptide in vitro and in vivo in a class II restricted fashion. Interestingly, the CD8+ tetramer− T cells that are expressing endogenous TCR can delay diabetes induction in a transfer model, as we previously showed for CD4+ tetramer+ T cells in these mice. The MHC mismatched CD8+ cells appear to be positively selected in an atypical fashion, in that they do not upregulate CD69 or reexpress CD44, and they escape negative selection. We find that production of these CD8+ cells is not dependent on NOD thymus or high affinity of the TCR, but is dependent on the atypical TCR transgenic thymic environment.
Power Quality and Active Filters as web-controlled experiment in the frame of PEMC WebLab

PEMC WebLab features online experiments sponsored by the EU. Several real-world experiments aim at students and engineers of electrical engineering and mechatronics who want to extend or refresh knowledge. The Power Quality and Shunt Active Filters experiment is presented. The paper gives the theoretical background concerning Power Quality, describes the compensation method and the active filter, the example loads which are compensated and the learning objectives for the students and engineers. Based on understanding Power Quality and its implications the possibilities, limitations and side effects of a shunt active filter, featuring extended static compensator (STATCOM) functionality, are discussed. The experiment can be found via http://pemcweblab.com.
Optical studies of electric field domains in GaAs-AlxGa1-xAs superlattices.

La charge d'espace aux joints de domaines sont des electrons. Etude de la distribution du champ electrique par mesures des caracteristiques photoconductivite-tension et par photoluminescence. Aux hautes densites d'excitations, le champ electrique se casse en deux regions de domaines de champ electriques, de forces de champ differentes. Ces forces de champ sont directement liees aux espacements des sous-bandes de conduction dans le superreseau