Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Jitter Analysis and Cross-Track Correlation Length Extraction Through Nonlinear Noise Scaling With Reader Width

Understanding and further reduction of transition jitter are extremely critical to future areal density increase in a magnetic recording system. From the μ-track model, jitter power σ<sub>j</sub><sup>2</sup> is directly proportional to the inverse of reader width W<sub>r</sub> as long as W<sub>r</sub> is much greater than the cross-track correlation length sc. A narrower reader may exhibit a nonlinear behavior in the σ<sub>j</sub><sup>2</sup> versus 1/W<sub>r</sub> plot, and this nonlinearity reveals the essential information needed for developing a novel s<sub>c</sub> extraction scheme. The concept is first verified with the μ-magnetics model and then validated with experimental data. Recording measurement of jitter dependence on W<sub>r</sub> is greatly simplified by performing subtraction of two off-track waveforms using a nominal width reader. This analysis has been applied to media series with different grain exchange couplings and grain sizes (GSs) to understand the jitter impact from s<sub>c</sub>, GS, switching field distribution, and head field gradient. Fundamental media parametrics can be experimentally characterized and related to transition jitter through the revised μ-track model.
Visual Target Segmentation and Identification

Locating, isolating and tracking the objects of interest are a key step in visual scene analysis in surveillance. Reflection, variations in appearance, clutter, and occlusion create challenges in identifying the object of interest robustly. Cues (or features) such as color, motion, size and dynamics must be used in tandem, to effectively decide what is relevant and discard the unnecessary information based on the goal at hand. In this work, we look at the target identification and tracking problem from the point of view of building surveillance applications and address the aforementioned issues by using multiple layers of segmentation. The approach involves intelligent feature selection and robust combination of these features to locate and track these objects. We demonstrate the results of our implementation on videos and images taken both in controlled and uncontrolled environments.
Plasticity in the Stress‐Regulating Circuit: Decreased Input from the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis to the Hypothalamic Paraventricular Nucleus in Wistar Rats following Adrenalectomy

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis is involved in the stress‐regulating circuit by funnelling limbic information to the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus. Since adrenalectomy influences both limbic structures (by inducing cell death in the hippocampus) and the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (by increased corticotrophin‐releasing hormone synthesis), we investigated whether the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis is also influenced by adrenalectomy. For this purpose, we analysed and compared the projections from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis to the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus in normal and adrenalectomized rats by anterograde tracer injections in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Quantitative analysis of the fibre pattern in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus of normal rats revealed a homogeneous distribution of fibres of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis over the different subdivisions of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus. In adrenalectomized rats, the absolute fibre density was significantly lower in the whole hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (1.17 ± 0.27 10−3μm/μm3 in adrenalectomized rats versus 2.59 ± 0.24 10−3μm/μm3 in normal rats; P < 0.01) and all its subdivisions. The largest decrease of fibre density was found in the corticotrophin‐releasing hormone‐rich part of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (relative fibre density; adrenalectomized rats: 0.602 ± 0.106, versus 1.095 ± 0.019 in normal rats, P < 0.01). These results show a loss of input from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis to the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, and particularly to the corticotrophin‐releasing hormone neurons, following adrenalectomy. The data suggest that this pathway within the stress‐regulating circuit is functionally affected by corticosteroids in adult rats and may imply that human disorders associated with corticosteroid imbalance are allied to a changed circuitry in the brain.
MRI and PET Compatible Bed for Direct Co-Registration in Small Animals

To obtain an accurate co-registration with stand-alone PET and MRI scanners, we developed a compatible bed system for mice and rats that enables both images to be acquired without repositioning the animals. MRI acquisitions were performed on a preclinical 7T scanner (Pharmascan, Bruker), whereas PET scans were acquired on a YAP-(S)PET (ISE s.r.l.). The bed performance was tested both on a phantom (NEMA Image Quality phantom) and in vivo (healthy rats and mice brain). Fiducial markers filled up with a drop of 18 F were visible in both modalities. Co-registration process was performed using the point-based registration technique. The reproducibility and accuracy of the co-registration were assessed using the phantom. The reproducibility of the translation distances was 0.2 mm along the z axis. On the other hand, the accuracy depended on the physical size of the phantom structures under investigation but was always lower than 4%. Regions of Interest (ROIs) drawn on the fused images were used for quantification purposes. PET and MRI intensity profiles on small structures of the phantom showed that the underestimation in activity concentration reached 90% in regions that were smaller than the PET spatial resolution, while the MRI allowed a good visualization of the 1 mm 0 rod. PET/MRI images of healthy mice and rats highlighted the expected superior capability of MRI to define brain structures. The simplicity of our developed MRI/PET compatible bed and the quality of the fused images obtained offers a promising opportunity for a future preclinical translation, particularly for neuroimaging studies.
Alfentanil‐Induced Miosis Clearance as a Liver CYP3A4 and 3A5 Activity Measure in Healthy Volunteers: Improvement of Experimental Conditions

The aims of this study were to demonstrate the correlation between alfentanil‐induced miosis evaluation and alfentanil pharmacokinetics (PK) as a CYP3A4 and 3A5 activity probe in volunteers and to explain the variability in pupilar response and in alfentanil PK. In ambient light, the miosis kinetic parameters were significantly correlated with PK (CLs: r = 0.9, P = .00; AUCs: r = 0.8, P = .01). In dark, a similar correlation was observed between miosis and alfentanil clearances (r = 0.85, P = .03). In 6 volunteers, the sigmoid Emax model was applicable (average Emax = 2.5 ± 0.7 mm, γ = 2.5 ± 1.6 and EC50 = 76.8 ± 22.3 ng/mL), and in 3, the simple Emax model was applicable (average Emax = 2.8 ± 0.3 mm and EC50 = 19.9 ± 8.5 ng/mL). There was a large interindividual variability in PK parameters (coefficient of variation = 19.7%–31.2%). Free drug fraction concentrations were negatively correlated with plasma α1‐AGP (r = ‐0.9, P = .04) and albumin levels (r = ‐0.94, P = .02). Alfentanil‐induced miosis clearance as a noninvasive CYP3A4 and 3A5 activity measure can be done in both ambient and dark conditions. Drug free fraction may be responsible for large intersubject variability in alfentanil PK.
The proteolytic control of restriction activity in Escherichia coli K‐12

The endonuclease activity of EcoKI is regulated by the ClpXP‐dependent degradation of the subunit that is essential for restriction, but not modification. We monitored proteolysis in mutants blocked at different steps in the restriction pathway. Mutations that prevent DNA translocation render EcoKI refractory to proteolysis, whereas those that permit DNA translocation, but block endonuclease activity, do not. Although proteolysis alleviates restriction in a mutant that lacks modification activity, some restriction activity remains; our evidence indicates residual EcoKI associated with the membrane fraction. ClpXP protects the bacterial chromosome, but little effect was detected on unmodified foreign DNA within the cytoplasm of a restriction‐proficient cell. The molecular basis for the distinction between unmodified resident and foreign DNA remains to be determined.
Jointly Optimized Downlink Multiuser MIMO OFDM Precoding System

In this paper, we extend a jointly optimized linear prefilter and nonlinear vector perturbation approach to the MIMO multiuser (MU) precoder system where each user has multiple antennas. As a prefilter design, we use the weighted MMSE criterion. Based on the best weighting condition, we propose a recursive MMSE prefilter.
Are purified or expanded cord blood-derived CD133+ cells better at improving cardiac function?

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which express the CD133 marker, can differentiate into mature endothelial cells (ECs) and create new blood vessels. Normal angiogenesis is unable to repair the injured tissues that result from myocardial infarction (MI). Patients who have high cardiovascular risks have fewer EPCs and their EPCs exhibit greater in vitro senescence. Human umbilical cord blood (HUCB)-derived EPCs could be an alternative to rescue impaired stem cell function in the sick and elderly. The aim of this study was to purify HUCB-derived CD133+ cells, expand them in vitro and evaluate the efficacy of the purified and expanded cells in treating MI in rats. CD133+ cells were selected for using CD133-coupled magnetic microbeads. Purified cells stained positive for EPC markers. The cells were expanded and differentiated in media supplemented with fetal calf serum and basic fibroblast growth factor, insulin-like growth factor-I and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Differentiation was confirmed by lack of staining for EPC markers. These expanded cells exhibited increased expression of mature EC markers and formed tubule-like structures in vitro. Only the expanded cells expressed VEGF mRNA. Cells were expanded up to 70-fold during 60 days of culture, and they retained their functional activity. Finally, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of purified and expanded CD133+ cells in treating MI by intramyocardially injecting them into a rat model of MI. Rats were divided into three groups: A (purified CD133+ cells-injected); B (expanded CD133+ cells-injected) and C (saline buffer-injected). We observed a significant improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction for groups A and B. In summary, CD133+ cells can be purified from HUCB, expanded in vitro without loosing their biological activity, and both purified and expanded cells show promising results for use in cellular cardiomyoplasty. However, further pre-clinical testing should be performed to determine whether expanded CD133+ cells have any clinical advantages over purified CD133+ cells.
Professores de Ensino Superior da área da Saúde e sua prática pedagógica

A pesquisa ouviu professores do ensino superior da area de Saude sobre sua pratica pedagogica cotidiana, visando encontrar eventuais marcas distintivas de sua docencia. Usando a metodologia da historia oral tematica, foram entrevistados onze professores/coordenadores/diretores. As entrevistas foram gravadas e posteriormente transcritas, conferidas, textualizadas e transcriadas. Os resultados foram divididos em tres blocos: sobre tornar-se professor e sobre professores marcantes; sobre tecnicas de ensino; e sobre a funcao de coordenador/diretor. As conclusoes, tambem agrupadas nos tres blocos de categorias dos quais foram inferidas algumas consideracoes finais, revelaram-se promissoras para que se pense a formacao inicial e continuada dos profissionais da area da Saude com relacao a docencia universitaria.
Presenting an Optimal Method for Constructing an English-Persian Comparable Corpus

Multilingual corpora are the main sources in language information retrieval fields. The quality of many researches such as machine translation strongly depends on the quality of these corpora. One of these corpora's is comparable corpus. Considering their quality, these corpora contain broad range of information but constructing them has its special problems which lead to a few numbers of pairs in comparable corpus unlike its large dataset. In this paper we present a new method for increasing the quality and quantity of comparable corpus. We built a Persian-English comparable corpus from two independent news collections: BBC news in English and Hamshahri news in Persian.
HIERARQUIA URBANA E SITUAÇÃO FISCAL DOS MUNICÍPIOS BRASILEIROS

O perfil da Receita Orcamentaria de um municipio brasileiro esta intimamente relacionado ao seu papel na rede urbana, isso porque as principais fontes de receitas proprias dos municipios, como o Imposto sobre Servicos, o Imposto Territorial Urbano, alem das transferencias recebidas dos estado e da Uniao, relacionam-se diretamente com o porte da economia urbana local. Nesse contexto, quanto maior for o papel de polo regional de um municipio, menor sera sua dependencia dos repasses da Uniao e maior a sua capacidade de gerar recursos proprios. Este artigo apresenta uma classificacao da situacao fiscal dos municipios brasileiros em relacao a sua oferta de servicos, a partir de tecnicas da Estatistica Multivariada - Analise de Componentes Principais e Analise de Agrupamentos (Cluster).
Cognition in type 2 diabetes: Association with vascular risk factors, complications of diabetes and depression

Background The role of variables like duration of diabetes, diabetic control and microvascular complications in the causation of cognitive decline in patients with type 2 diabetes is not well studied. The contribution of hypertension to the cognitive decline in nondemented diabetic patients is unclear. Aims: We wanted to see if cognition in patients with type 2 diabetes is associated with the duration of diabetes, control of diabetes, complications of diabetes, vascular risk factors, or depression. We also looked at association of noncompliance with cognition, and depression. Settings and Design: We recruited ambulant patients with type 2 diabetes who are 55 years or more in age from the weekly diabetic clinic. We excluded patients with past history of stroke. Methods and Material: We selected the time taken for the Trial A test, delayed recall on ten-word list from Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD), Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) and Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D) screening instrument to assess these patients. Statistical Analysis Used: We utilized mean, standard deviation, Chi-square test and Pearson's correlation for statistical analysis. We considered P < 0.05 to be significant. Results: RUDAS scores inversely correlated (r = −0.360) with CES-D scores (P = 0.002). Scores of the screening instrument for depression, the CES-D was associated with the duration of diabetes mellitus (P = 0.018), fasting blood glucose (P = 0.029) as well as with 2-hour post prandial blood glucose (P = 0.017). Conclusions: There is correlation between depression and global cognitive score. Depression seems to be associated with duration of diabetes and control of diabetes.
Synthesis and Characterization of ZnO Nanoparticles Using Sol-gel Process

In the Present work structural, morphological and compositional properties of ZnO nanopowders synthesized using Zinc nitrate and NaOH using sol-gel process were reported. The synthesized nanopowders were further analyzed using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic characterizations. Crystalline size and Lattice strain determined from XRD spectra. Morphology of Nanopowders viewed from SEM images observed at different magnifications. The presence of Functional groups analyzed from FTIR spectra. From the results it was very clear that particles synthesized using Zinc nitrate and NaOH plays a vital role on crystalline size, surface morphology of Nanopowders. Synthesized nanopowders can be utilized as building materials in fabrication of various optoelectronic devices including solar cells, LED’s etc. due to its significant structural, morphological and optical properties. Copyright © 2016 IFSA Publishing, S. L.
Relation of oxidant-antioxidant imbalance with disease progression in patients with asthma

CONTEXT: Asthma is a chronic airway disorder which is associated to the inflammatory cells. Inflammatory and immune cells generate more reactive oxygen species in patients suffering from asthma which leads to tissue injury. AIMS: To investigate the role of oxidant-antioxidant imbalance in disease progression of asthmatic patients. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: In this study, 130 asthmatic patients and 70 healthy controls were documented. METHODS: For this malondialdehyde level, total protein carbonyls, sulfhydryls, activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), total blood glutathione, and total antioxidant capacity (FRAP) were measured. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Analysis of the data was done using unpaired student t test and one-way ANOVA analysis. P < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The present work showed that the systemic levels of MDA (4.19 ± 0.10 nmol/ml, P < 0.001) and protein carbonyls (1.13 ± 0.02 nmol/mg, P < 0.001) were found to be remarkably higher in asthmatic patients while protein sulfhydryls (0.55 ± 0.01 mmol/l, P < 0.05) decreased as compared to controls (2.84 ± 0.12 nmol/ml, 0.79 ± 0.02 nmol/mg and 0.60 ± 0.02 mmol/l, respectively). We also observed decrease in activities of SOD (2047 ± 50.34 U/g Hb, P < 0.05), catalase (4374 ± 67.98 U/g Hb, P < 0.01), and GPx (40.97 ± 1.05 U/g Hb, P < 0.01) in erythrocytes compared to control (2217 ± 60.11 U/g Hb, 4746 ± 89.94 U/g Hb, and 48.37 ± 2.47 U/g Hb, respectively). FRAP level (750.90 ± 21.22 μmol/l, P < 0.05) in plasma was decreased, whereas total blood glutathione increased (0.94 ± 0.02 mmol/l, P < 0.05) as seen in control (840.40 ± 28.39 μmol/l and 0.84 ± 0.04 mmol/l). CONCLUSIONS: This work supports and describes the hypothesis that an imbalance between oxidant-antioxidant is associated to the oxidative stress which plays a significant role in severity of the disease.
Stereo Augmented Reality in the Surgical Microscope

This paper describes the MAGI (microscope-assisted guided interventions) augmented-reality system, which allows surgeons to view virtual features segmented from preoperative radiological images accurately overlaid in stereo in the optical path of a surgical microscope. The aim of the system is to enable the surgeon to see in the correct 3-D position the structures that are beneath the physical surface. The technical challenges involved are calibration, segmentation, registration, tracking, and visualization. This paper details our solutions to these problems. As it is difficult to make reliable quantitative assessments of the accuracy of augmented-reality systems, results are presented from a numerical simulation, and these show that the system has a theoretical overlay accuracy of better than 1 mm at the focal plane of the microscope. Implementations of the system have been tested on volunteers, phantoms, and seven patients in the operating room. Observations are consistent with this accuracy prediction.
Regulated Recruitment of MHC Class II and Costimulatory Molecules to Lipid Rafts in Dendritic Cells1

T cell activation has long been associated with the partitioning of Ag receptors and associated molecules to lipid microdomains. We now show that dendritic cells (DCs) also accomplish the selective recruitment to lipid rafts of molecules critical for Ag presentation. Using mouse bone marrow-derived DCs, we demonstrate that MHC class II molecules become substantially localized to rafts upon DC maturation. Even more striking is the fact that CD86 is recruited to rafts upon T cell-DC interaction. Recruitment is Ag dependent and requires CD28 on T cells. Despite the regulated recruitment of MHC class II and CD86 to rafts, unlike the counter-receptors in T cells, DCs do not polarize these molecules to sites of DC-T cell contact. This difference may reflect the necessity for DCs to interact with multiple T cells simultaneously and emphasizes that the biochemical and morphological correlates of lipid rafts are not necessarily equivalent.
The impact of storage time on HCV RNA quantitative detection in serum samples by TaqMan real-time PCR

Information on the concentration of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA is useful for patient management, including assessing treatment initiation and treatment response, and monitoring follow-up. Previous studies have reported that poor sample processing and storage conditions might influence the stability of HCV RNA, and hence its detectability. We analyzed 30 patients known to be positive with high/intermediate/low HCV RNA load, and kept their serum samples in storage at 4°C for 0, 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. Quantitative detection of HCV RNA was performed by TaqMan real-time PCR. The results showed that no decrease in the concentration of HCV RNA was detected over the 14 days period at 4°C (P > 0.05) for the high and intermediate HCV RNA load groups. However, after 21 and 28 days of storage, the mean viral loads in both groups differed significantly from those at Day 0 (P > 0.005). For the low HCV RNA load group, an important loss of HCV RNA concentration was observed when the serums were stored at 4°C after 14 days, 21 days and 28 days (P < 0.001). These data demonstrated that serum samples with HCV RNA levels up to 104 IU/ml can be stored at 4°C for 14 days, and that lower than 104 IU/ml can be performed for up to only 7 days when the samples are stored at 4°C.
Hierarchical Pattern Matching for Knowledge Based News Categorization

In this paper we describe how we have combined the use of pattern matching with the exploitation of relation links between objects of a knowledge base, in order to perform a first-level broad categorization ("shallow categorization") of natural language texts (agency news). This work has been done in the context of the COBALT system, a text categorization shell which we are developing in the framework of the CEC funded COBALT project (LRE, Linguistic Research and Engineering project n° 61-011). In the COBALT system, concepts are defined as frame like objects organized in a hierarchy for which properties, relations and patterns may be defined. The patterns associated to the concepts' definitions are aimed at identifying the concepts within the text through pattern matching whilst the properties and relations may be used in order to perform categorization according to their specific values in the knowledge base. An inheritance mechanism has been implemented for concept matching inheritance and a rule language has been defined which allows to exploit this inheritance mechanism besides allowing to navigate within the knowledge base structure.
Fairness for extend DCCP congestion control in Wireless Sensor Networks

This TCP is primarily designed for wired networks and became very efficient and robust with years of enhancements. However, experiments and research showed that TCP's congestion control algorithm performs very poorly over Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) with severe unfairness among flows. Because the deployment of a sensor network causes unpredictable patterns of connectivity and varied node density, resulting in uneven bandwidth provisioning on the forwarding paths. This paper studies TCP's fairness issues in WSNs, and designs an Extended congestion control algorithm based on the characteristics of the WSNs. The protocol is designed as extension to DCCP (Datagram Congestion Control Protocol) with a new congestion control component. We also implemented this congestion control algorithm in NS2. Simulation results show improvements on fairness achieved by using Extend congestion control algorithm.