Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Achieving Secure Transmission with Equivalent Multiplicative Noise in MISO Wiretap Channels

In this letter, we verify that equivalent multiplicative noise, which is generally introduced by random beamforming security scheme, can also guarantee available secrecy rate in MISO wiretap channels. The multiplicative noise is transformed into additive one via a logarithmic operation which is further demonstrated to be information preserving. Then the achievable secrecy rate is quantitatively characterized when the amplitude and phase of the multiplicative noise are independently generated and follow lognormal and uniform distributions, respectively. Finally, power allocation between the multiplicative noise and the desired signal is optimized and discussed by numerical simulation when the eavesdropping channel is known.
Thrombospondin‐2 plays a protective role in multistep carcinogenesis: a novel host anti‐tumor defense mechanism

The angiogenic switch during tumorigenesis is thought to be induced by a change in the balance of pro‐ angiogenic and anti‐angiogenic factors. To elucidate the biological role of the endogenous angiogenesis inhibitor thrombospondin‐2 (TSP‐2) during multistep carcinogenesis, we subjected TSP‐2‐deficient and wild‐type mice to a chemical skin carcinogenesis regimen. Surprisingly, TSP‐2 expression was strongly upregulated in the mesenchymal stroma of wild‐type mice throughout the consecutive stages of tumorigenesis whereas the angiogenesis factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, was induced predominantly in tumor cells. TSP‐2 deficiency dramatically enhanced susceptibility to skin carcinogenesis and resulted in accelerated and increased tumor formation. The angiogenic switch occurred in early stages of pre‐malignant tumor formation, and tumor angiogenesis was significantly enhanced in TSP‐2‐deficient mice. While TSP‐2 deficiency did not affect tumor differentiation or proliferation, tumor cell apoptosis was signific antly reduced. These results reveal upregulation of an endogenous angiogenesis inhibitor during multi step tumorigenesis and identify enhanced stromal TSP‐2 expression as a novel host anti‐tumor defense mechanism.
Universals of Narrative and Their Cognitivist Fortunes (II)

We now return to the three narrative universals from another viewpoint, that of false cognitivist pretenders to the title. The chief pretenders, as in Brewer et al., appear at times under the guise and the very name of the genuine article, yet essentially align with their naked disciplinary equivalents. You may therefore want to refresh your memory of the original definitions cited in section  of the first part of this article (Sternberg : –). All the issues to be reviewed next intersect in the following (mis)translation of the generic universals into hard and fast rules, with thumbnail examples to suit:
Leaky wave phenomenon from double periodic left handed waveguide

We have proposed a periodically loaded leaky wave antenna based on the characteristic of left handed wave guide of TM mode. Radiation efficiency of the antenna was analyzed with a help of singular perturbation procedure, and it was numerically estimated as a function of antenna length. Experiment was performed using a left handed TEM microstrip line with double periodic structure of inductance loading. Radiation pattern was measured for the analyzed antenna, and it displayed the expected left handed leaky antenna behavior.
Age Differences in Attention toward Decision-Relevant Information: Education Matters

Previous studies suggested that older adults are more likely to engage in heuristic decision-making than young adults. This study used eye tracking technique to examine young adults' and highly educated older adults' attention toward two types of decision-relevant information: heuristic cue vs. factual cues. Surprisingly, highly educated older adults showed the reversed age pattern—they looked more toward factual cues than did young adults. This age difference disappeared after controlling for educational level. Additionally, education correlated with attentional pattern to decision-relevant information. We interpret this finding as an indication of the power of education: education may modify what are thought to be “typical” age differences in decision-making, and education may influence young and older people's decision-making via different paths.
Basics of semiotics

Preface Thematic Epigraphs 1. Literary Semiotics and the Doctrine of Signs 2. Semiotics: Method or Point of View? 3. Semiosis: The Subject Matter of Semiotic Inquiry 4. Signs: The Medium of Semiosis 5. Zoosemiotics and Anthroposemiotics A. The Content of Experience B. Species-Specific Objective Worlds C. Species-Specifically Human Semiosis D. The Conventionality of Signs in Anthroposemiosis E. Criticism as the Exploration of Textuality F. A Matrix for All the Sciences G. A Model for Discourse as Semiosis H. Summation 6. Physiosemiosis and Phytosemiosis 7. Retrospect: History and Theory in Semiotics A. Theory of Semiotics B. History of Semiotics 1. The Ancient World and Augustine 2. The Latin World 3. The Iberian Connection 4. The Place of John Locke 5. Saussure, Peirce, and Poinsot 6. Jakob von Uexkull References Index
Preventing Catheter‐Related Bloodstream Infections: A Pediatric Case Study

Description The inception of home infusion therapy has had a tremendous impact on patient outcomes. For many patients discharged with a central venous access device, the infusion of chemotherapy, blood products, or long-term antibiotics outside the acute care setting can add a degree of normalcy to patients and their families. To children with short bowel syndrome (SBS), the long-term central venous catheter (CVC) becomes a lifeline, often providing the sole source of nutrition over prolonged periods. Preventing CVC complications, especially catheter-related bloodstream infections (CR-BSI), is an essential patient goal for all home healthcare providers.
Exploring crowdsourcing information to predict traffic-related impacts

Due to the increased public awareness on global climate change and other environmental problems, advanced strategies and tools are being developed and used to reduce the environmental impact of transport. The main objective of this paper is to explore the potential of using crowdsourcing information as an alternative or complementary source data to predict traffic-related impacts. Three main road connections to two important commercial areas in the city of Aveiro in Portugal, are examined. Driving patterns over different periods were collected using a probe vehicle equipped with a GNSS data logger and traffic volumes were counted during different days. The emissions estimation was based on the concept of Vehicle Specific Power (VSP), which has the capability to predict emissions during a trip through second-by-second vehicle dynamics data. Various tests were conducted in order to explore the potential correlations between these data sets and the information of the peak periods of a certain place that are provided by Google Maps. The findings of the study prove the potential of crowdsourcing information and shows that ICT technologies can be used to estimate emissions and traffic-related impacts.
Singularity-consistent dynamic path tracking under torque limits

We develop further our singularity-consistent approach to arrive at a parameterized form of the dynamics of a nonredundant robotic mechanism tracking a desired path in Cartesian space. It is shown that this form is suitable for incorporating joint torque limits, which is an important issue for practical applications. We propose a closed-loop controller which behaves as a "conventional" resolved-acceleration type controller at regular points of the kinematic function. Around any singularity and at so-called instantaneous self-motion singularities the controller is able to truck the direction of the specified path exactly. The limit on the torque norm results in some position error, without deteriorating, however, the direction tracking ability. It is shown also that motion through the bifurcation type singularity can be easily controlled in practice as well.
Redistribution and Fiscal Uncertainty Shocks

This paper studies the macroeconomic impact of an uncertainty shock about fiscal policy in a dynamic general equilibrium framework. Motivated by the observation that many fiscal policies are redistributive and that a sizable fraction of U.S. households do not own capital, I introduce household heterogeneity in the form of limited capital market participation. I show that household heterogeneity significantly magnifies the aggregate effect and induces co-movement of macroeconomic variables in a contraction that is generated by a fiscal uncertainty shock. This is because the limited capital market participation model captures individual uncertainty about redistribution that is absent in representative agent models. When agents are ambiguity averse, this uncertainty about redistribution has first-order effects because it shows up as heterogeneous worst-case scenarios. As a result, the model matches the empirical responses of macro variables to fiscal uncertainty shocks better than the representative agent counterpart.
Contribution à l'intégration 3D de composants passifs pour l'électronique de puissance

L'integration des composants a semi-conducteur, qui s'est developpee depuis de nombreuses annees, a conduit a une augmentation des performances des systemes electroniques. L'integration d'un module compact, regroupant le composant actif et son circuit de commande, permet d'atteindre une reduction du volume de la partie liee a la commutation de puissance. Cependant, les interconnexions et les composants passifs tels que les inductances, les condensateurs ou les transformateurs constituent encore une limite tant pour les performances que pour l'integration (3D ou non) des systemes de puissance. La tendance actuelle est a la reduction substantielle du volume occupe par les composants passifs associes aux composants actifs, ceci afin d'augmenter la miniaturisation, les performances, la fiabilite tout en reduisant les couts. La conception de modules integrant des composants actifs et des composants passifs qui soient de plus integres en 3D peut maintenant etre envisagee en raison des progres technologiques realises dans le domaine de l'integration et par l'utilisation de materiaux presentant de fortes permittivites. Notre these s'inscrit dans cette demarche en se focalisant plus particulierement sur les condensateurs, tres largement utilises et consommateurs de volume importants dans le convertisseur. Les materiaux ferroelectriques sont choisis en raison de leurs fortes permittivites, leur compatibilite avec la technique de serigraphie, procede relativement simple et economique permettant de realiser des composants planaires. En placant les semi-conducteurs et leurs circuits de commande directement sur les condensateurs multicouches serigraphies, il en resulte une reduction des boucles d'interconnexions, une diminution du volume et une augmentation de la fiabilite et des performances. Des fonctions de decouplage et de stockage ont ete experimentalement verifiees dans deux topologies de convertisseurs continu-continu (DC-DC). Une etude a egalement ete menee afin de statuer sur l'impact du pressage isostatique a froid (CIP) sur les proprietes dielectriques des couches ferroelectriques. Outre la reduction de l'epaisseur des couches dielectriques, et ainsi, une augmentation de la valeur du condensateur, la comparaison entre des condensateurs ayant subis ou non le CIP montre que c'est une methode efficace pour augmenter la valeur de leur capacite. L'interet de cette methode est substantiel pour des applications necessitant de fortes valeurs de capacites en vue d'un meilleur decouplage et filtrage.
Markov Perfect Equilibrium Advertising Strategies of Lanchester Duopoly Model: A Technical Note

We propose a numerical approach to compute stationary Markov perfect Nash equilibrium advertising strategies of the Lanchester model. The algorithm can be implemented using a standard mathematical package, and, importantly, it does not require that the players discount their future earnings at a zero rate, an assumption that has been made in the literature.
Tolerance and safety of nifurtimox in patients with chronic chagas disease.

BACKGROUND Nifurtimox has been used to treat Chagas disease for 40 years, but tolerance and safety data in adults are scarce. We aimed to evaluate nifurtimox tolerance and safety in a cohort of Trypanosoma cruzi-infected adult patients in a country of nonendemicity. METHODS This observational study included all consecutive adults patients who were given a diagnosis of T. cruzi infection from June through December 2008. Eligible patients received nifurtimox at 10 mg/kg/day for 60 days, with regular medical and biological follow-up. Adverse events (AEs) were recorded according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 3.0. RESULTS Eighty-one patients received nifurtimox. Eight were lost to follow-up during treatment, and 41 (56.2%) completed the 60-day course. All premature treatment terminations were caused by AEs; 97.5% of patients suffered from AEs, mostly expected (90.5%) and not severe. Gastrointestinal symptoms predominated. Six (7.4%) patients presented with a suspected unexpected serious adverse reaction: drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (n = 3), Quincke edema (n = 1), acute myocarditis (n = 1), and anaphylaxis (n = 1). Patients with 3 or more AEs had an increased risk of premature treatment termination (hazard ratio, 8.42; 95% confidence interval, 1.6-45.5). CONCLUSION Nifurtimox is poorly tolerated among adults with chronic Chagas disease, resulting in a low treatment completion rate. Considering the significant risk of serious AEs, close monitoring is required, which may be difficult to implement in poor rural areas of countries of endemicity. The safety and efficacy of nifurtimox and benznidazole should be compared to improve current therapeutic recommendations, and pharmacovigilance systems should be enhanced.
Carotid replacement with Dacron graft in 292 patients

Introduction In case of highly atherosclerotic carotid process, carotid graft replacement might be a potential solution for successful procedure. Many studies evaluated the results of vein and polytetrafluorethilen (PTFE) graft usage at the carotid bifurcation, while the experience on the Dacron graft due to extensive atherosclerotic process is missing. The aim of our study was to evaluate 30-day and long-term results of the Dacron graft on carotid artery used in patients with extensive atherosclerotic disease. Material and methods This retrospective study analysed early and long-term neurological outcome as well as Dacron graft patency in patients operated with carotid reconstruction. Early results were confirmed by follow-up clinical examination, whereas late results were assessed by follow-up clinical examination as well as duplex sonographic examination at least 1 year after the surgery. As for statistical methods we used descriptive analysis tests, Chi-square test, and logistic regression. Results Carotid graft replacement was performed in 292 patients, before endarterectomy in 155 (53.09%), or after already attempted unsuccessful eversion endarterectomy in 137 (46.91%). Nineteen (6.5%) patients had a stroke due to ipsilateral and contralateral ischaemia or haemorrhagic in 17 (5.8%), 1 (0.3%) and 1 (0.3%) patients, respectively. Significantly higher rate of strokes occurred when the graft reconstruction was used after the failure of endarterectomy (8.5% vs. 3.5%, p = 0.029). Stroke and death rate was 7.19%. Factors that increased risk of early stroke were the length of plaque in the internal carotid artery measured intraoperatively (p = 0.025) and the surgical tactic to perform graft reconstruction after attempted extensive endarterectomy (p = 0.029). Conclusion Low number of patients with carotid stenosis has extensive atherosclerotic process longer than 4 cm that might jeopardise eversion endarterectomy. Carotid graft replacement with Dacron graft provide early results that are comparable with other conduits; however, in such patients reconstruction should be selected individually based on surgical experience and anatomical distribution of stenotic disease. Due to high risk of stroke, only symptomatic patients with such extensive atherosclerotic disease should be operated.
Étude théorique et numérique du problème de la gestion de la diversité

Le sujet de cette these est la resolution exacte du probleme de la gestion de la diversite. Ce probleme d'origine industrielle s'apparente a de nombreux problemes d'optimisation combinatoire tels que les problemes de localisation sans capacite et ceux du k-median. Notre probleme est defini sur un ensemble partiellement ordonne. L'objectif est de produire un sous-ensemble optimal de k elements references, avec k donne. Chaque element non produit doit etre remplace par une reference qui lui est superieure dans l'ordre partiel, ce qui implique un sur-cout. Les demandes et les couts unitaires de production sont connus. Apres une etude theorique sur la complexite de ce probleme, nous decrivons et justifions la modelisation que nous avons choisie. Cette modelisation est proche de celle du probleme du k-median, et consiste en un programme lineaire en nombres entiers. Pour les instances de grande taille, la relaxation lineaire de ce programme est, en pratique, difficile a resoudre. Nous utilisons, comme preprocesseur de notre algorithme exact, une procedure de fixation de variables basee sur les relaxations lagrangiennes. Pour optimiser cette procedure lagrangienne, nous discutons de l'utilite de combiner les principales methodes connues pour mettre a jour les multiplicateurs lagrangiens. Nous focalisons ensuite notre etude sur differents criteres de fixation de variables, puis nous presentons quelques heuristiques permettant de construire des solutions realisables de bonne qualite. Certaines de ces heuristiques sont facilement generalisables a d'autres problemes. L'algorithme de resolution exacte que nous proposons etant de type Separation et Coupes, nous menons une etude polyedrale de l'enveloppe convexe des solutions. Nous presentons notamment un type de coupes permettant d'eliminer des solutions fractionnaires, ainsi qu'une heuristique pour les generer. Nous concluons par des tests numeriques effectues sur des instances reelles
Rabies virus receptors

There is convincing in vitro evidence that the muscular form of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), the neuronal cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), and the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) bind rabies virus and/or facilitate rabies virus entry into cells. Other components of the cell membrane, such as gangliosides, may also participate in the entry of rabies virus. However, little is known of the role of these molecules in vivo. This review proposes a speculative model that accounts for the role of these different molecules in entry and trafficking of rabies virus into the nervous system.
Genetic diversity of hepatitis B virus strains isolated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genomes have been classified into six groups, A–F, group F being the most divergent. South America has provided the smallest number of strains studied at the genome level. The only HBV strain from this region sequenced completely has been classified in group F, and contains the most divergent of the HBV genomes presently known [Naumann et al. (1983): Journal of General Virology 74:1627–1632]. To evaluate genetic relatedness between strains isolated in South America and in the rest of the world, a restriction endonuclease analysis was carried out on 14 HBV strains (4 adw2, 3 adw4, 3 ayw2, and 4 ayw3) isolated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. C, pre‐S, and X genes along with the 5′ part of the P gene from these strains were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction. The DNA fragments were digested by BamHI, BstEII, EcoRI, Hhal, and Taql endonucleases. The restriction patterns obtained were compared with those deduced from the nucleotide sequence of 26 HBV strains isolated in other continents. The results showed a large genetic variability of Brazilian strains. Taking into account that all the samples examined possessed the w antigenic subdeterminant, the number of different restriction patterns of strains isolated in Rio de Janeiro was at least as large as that of the reference strains isolated in the rest of the world. Some original restriction patterns were found in adw4 and ayw2 HBV strains.
Specific Determination and Identification of Cross-Linked Fibrin Degradation Products in Patients Under Thrombolytic Therapy for Myocardial Infarction

We have demonstrated that the specific determination and identification of plasma FbDP alone is not sufficient to follow the effectiveness of thrombolytic therapy. Some patients who received an intravenous infusion of rt-PA for myocardial infarction had very high plasma FbDP levels, although no recanalization was observed angiographically. Since in many cases the FbDP levels increased after recanalization, it is assumed that rethrombosis may occur during and after t-PA treatment.
An efficient statistical multiplexing scheme for ATM real-time multimedia services

For VoD (video on demand) and the multimedia services in ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) networks, guaranteeing QoS (quality of service) for real-time traffic is emerging as an important issue. We present a novel multiplexing scheme to reduce the CDV (cell delay variation) and jitter in ATM multimedia traffic. We propose a two-stage statistical multiplexing scheme using a FIRO (first in random out) window and a state queue. The simulation results show that the CDV is significantly reduced due to reduced clumping and dispersing among VCs (virtual channels) in VPs (virtual paths).
How to Measure Sessions of Mobile Device Use? Quantification, Evaluation, and Applications

Research on mobile phone use often starts with a question of "How much time users spend on using their phones? ". The question involves an equal-length measure that captures the duration of mobile phone use but does not tackle the other temporal characteristics of user behavior, such as frequency, timing, and sequence. In the study, we proposed a variable-length measure called "session" to uncover the unmeasured temporal characteristics. We use an open source data to demonstrate how to quantify sessions, aggregate the sessions to higher units of analysis within and across users, evaluate the results, and apply the measure for theoretical or practical purposes.
A dual channel /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ ADC with 40MHz aggregate signal bandwidth

A dual-channel /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ ADC has been integrated in 0.13/spl mu/m CMOS technology with an oversampling ratio of 4. The ADC employs a cascade of low-pass and band-pass modulators and achieves an aggregate quadrature signal bandwidth of 40MHz at a sampling frequency of 160MS/s and 54dB dynamic range while dissipating 175mW from a 2.5V supply.
Coherent modification of entanglement: benefits due to extended Hilbert space

A quantum computing system is typically represented by a set of non-interacting (local) two-state systems - qubits. Many physical systems can naturally have more accessible states, both local and non-local. We show that the resulting non-local network of states connecting qubits can be efficiently addressed via continuous time quantum random walks, leading to substantial speed-up of multiqubit entanglement manipulations. We discuss a three-qubit Toffoli gate and a system of superconducting qubits as an illustration.