Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effective Adaptive Iteration Algorithm for Frequency Tracking and Channel Estimation in OFDM Systems

For joint maximum-likelihood (ML) frequency tracking and channel estimation using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) training blocks in OFDM communications over mobile wireless channels, a major difficulty is the local extrema or multiple-solution complication arising from the multidimensional log-likelihood function. To overcome this, we first obtain crude ML frequency-offset estimators using single-time-slot samples from the received time-domain OFDM block. These crude frequency estimators are shown to have unique closed-form solutions. We then optimally combine these crude frequency estimators in the linear-minimum-mean-square-error (LMMSE) sense for a more accurate solution. Finally, by alternatively updating the LMMSE frequency estimator and the ML channel estimator through adaptive iterations, we successfully avoid the use of a multidimensional log-likelihood function, hence obviating the complex task of global solution search and, meanwhile, achieve good estimation performance. Our estimators have mean square errors (MSEs) tightly close to Cramer-Rao bounds (CRBs) with a wide tracking range.
Gene Expression Patterns during Light and Dark Infection of Prochlorococcus by Cyanophage

Cyanophage infecting the marine cyanobacteria Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus require light and host photosystem activity for optimal reproduction. Many cyanophages encode multiple photosynthetic electron transport (PET) proteins, which are presumed to maintain electron flow and produce ATP and NADPH for nucleotide biosynthesis and phage genome replication. However, evidence suggests phage augment NADPH production via the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), thus calling into question the need for NADPH production by PET. Genes implicated in cyclic PET have since been identified in cyanophage genomes. It remains an open question which mode of PET, cyclic or linear, predominates in infected cyanobacteria, and thus whether the balance is towards producing ATP or NADPH. We sequenced transcriptomes of a cyanophage (P-HM2) and its host (Prochlorococcus MED4) throughout infection in the light or in the dark, and analyzed these data in the context of phage replication and metabolite measurements. Infection was robust in the light, but phage were not produced in the dark. Host gene transcripts encoding high-light inducible proteins and two terminal oxidases (plastoquinol terminal oxidase and cytochrome c oxidase)—implicated in protecting the photosynthetic membrane from light stress—were the most enriched in light but not dark infection. Among the most diminished transcripts in both light and dark infection was ferredoxin–NADP+ reductase (FNR), which uses the electron acceptor NADP+ to generate NADPH in linear photosynthesis. The phage gene for CP12, which putatively inhibits the Calvin cycle enzyme that receives NADPH from FNR, was highly expressed in light infection. Therefore, both PET production of NADPH and its consumption by carbon fixation are putatively repressed during phage infection in light. Transcriptomic evidence is thus consistent with cyclic photophosphorylation using oxygen as the terminal electron acceptor as the dominant mode of PET under infection, with ATP from PET and NADPH from the PPP producing the energy and reducing equivalents for phage nucleotide biosynthesis and replication.
Temperature dependent fluorescence of A2-E, the main fluorescent lipofuscin component in the RPE

Purpose. A2-E is the dominant fluorophore of lipofuscin in the retinal pigment epithelium. In an in-vitro setup, we determined the temperature-dependent changes of the A2-E fluorescence with the aim of also assessing the potential value of such measurements for determining retinal temperature by autofluorescence measurements during laser treatment. Methods. A2-E was biosynthesized and diluted in Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) to 1 µM. Fluorescence measurements were performed with a photospectrometer under various temperatures ranging from 20°C to 75°C. Autofluorescence was excited at 467 nm, and emission was detected around 632 nm. Results. A2-E fluorescence intensity showed a linear decrease concomitant with temperature increment. At 75°C, the fluorescence intensity decreased by 43% compared to at 20°C. Fluorescence intensity was completely reversible dependent on the temperature, which cannot be explained by thermal A2-E alteration. Conclusions. If the A2-E temperature-dependent fluorescence in-vitro is transferable to human fundus auto-fluorescence, then it may be possible to apply an autofluorescence-based online detection device for noninvasive determination of fundus temperature during in vivo laser treatment. This is of clinical relevance, especially for the application of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and transpupillary thermotherpy (TTT).
Water-soluble fluorescent carbon quantum dots and photocatalyst design.

Carbon nanostructures are attracting intense interest because of their many unique and novel properties. The strong and tunable luminescence of carbon materials further enhances their versatile properties; in particular, the quantum effect in carbon is extremely important both fundamentally and technologically. Recently, photoluminescent carbonbased nanoparticles have received much attention. They are usually prepared by laser ablation of graphite, electrochemical oxidation of graphite, electrochemical soaking of carbon nanotubes, thermal oxidation of suitable molecular precursors, vapor deposition of soot, proton-beam irradiation of nanodiamonds, microwave synthesis, and bottom-up methods. Although small (ca. 2 nm) graphite nanoparticles show strong blue photoluminescence (PL), definitive experimental evidence for luminescence of carbon structure arising from quantum-confinement effects and size-dependent optical properties of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) remains scarce. Herein, we report the facile one-step alkali-assisted electrochemical fabrication of CQDs with sizes of 1.2– 3.8 nm which possess size-dependent photoluminescence (PL) and excellent upconversion luminescence properties. Significantly, we demonstrate the design of photocatalysts (TiO2/CQDs and SiO2/CQDs complex system) to harness the use of the full spectrum of sunlight (based on the upconversion luminescence properties of CQDs). It can be imagined that judicious cutting of a graphite honeycomb layer into ultrasmall particles can lead to tiny fragments of graphite, yielding CQDs, which may offer a straightforward and facile strategy to prepare high-quality CQDs. Using graphite rods as both anode and cathode, and NaOH/EtOH as electrolyte, we synthesized CQDs with a current intensity of 10–200 mAcm . As a reference, a series of control experiments using acids (e.g. H2SO4/EtOH) as electrolyte yielded no formation of CQDs. This result indicates that alkaline environment is the key factor, and OH group is essential for the formation of CQDs by the electrochemical oxidation process. Figure 1a shows a trans-
IS THE J-CURVE EFFECT OBSERVABLE IN TURKISH AGRICULTURAL SECTOR?

This paper investigates whether or not the J-curve hypothesis holds in Turkish agricultural sector. The analysis is conducted using the model the most commonly employed in j-curve literature. Based on the data covering the period from 1986: I to 1998: III, our results indicate that, following devaluation, agricultural trade balance initially improves, then worsens, and then improves again. This pattern shows that J-curve effect does not exist in Turkish agricultural sector. Another important fi nding is that devaluation worsens the trade balance of the sector in the long run, a result contradicting with the earlier fi ndings for the Turkish economy as a whole.
The Treewidth of Proofs MoritzMüller and

So-called ordered variants of the classical notions of pathwidth and treewidth are introduced and proposed as proof theoretically meaningful complexity measures for the directed acyclic graphs underlying proofs. Ordered pathwidth is roughly the same as proof space and the ordered treewidth of a proof is meant to serve as a measure of how far it is from being treelike. Length-space lower bounds for k-DNF refutations are generalized to arbitrary infinity axioms and strengthened in that the space measure is relaxed to ordered treewidth.
Open-Minded Midwifes, Literate Butchers, and Greedy Hooligans—The Independent Contributions of Stereotype Valence and Consistency on Evaluative Judgments

Do people evaluate an open-minded midwife less positively than a caring midwife? Both open-minded and caring are generally seen as positive attributes. However, consistency varies—the attribute caring is consistent with the midwife stereotype while open-minded is not. In general, both stimulus valence and consistency can influence evaluations. Six experiments investigated the respective influence of valence and consistency on evaluative judgments in the domain of stereotyping. In an impression formation paradigm, valence and consistency of stereotypic information about target persons were manipulated orthogonally and spontaneous evaluations of these target persons were measured. Valence reliably influenced evaluations. However, for strongly valenced stereotypes, no effect of consistency was observed. Parameters possibly preventing the occurrence of consistency effects were ruled out, specifically, valence of inconsistent attributes, processing priority of category information, and impression formation instructions. However, consistency had subtle effects on evaluative judgments if the information about a target person was not strongly valenced and experimental conditions were optimal. Concluding, in principle, both stereotype valence and consistency can play a role in evaluative judgments of stereotypic target persons. However, the more subtle influence of consistency does not seem to substantially influence evaluations of stereotyped target persons. Implications for fluency research and stereotype disconfirmation are discussed.
Evaluation of the correlation between self-report and electronic monitoring of adherence to hypertension therapy

Abstract Blood pressure (BP) control remains sub-optimal all over the world. Medication adherence is an important determinant of BP control. None of the available methods for measuring medication adherence is currently regarded as a universal consensus gold standard. In this study, we evaluated the correlation between self-report (Morisky's Medication Adherence Self-assessment Scale) and electronic (eCap) methods of medication adherence assessment. The self-report measure was administered at study entry while electronic compliance data was collected prospectively. Almost all (97.4%) of enrolled patients completed the study. Medication adherence scores ranged from 0 to 100% (69.33, ± 27.57) and 6.6–100% (66.92 ± 22.59) for Morisky's scale and eCap, respectively (Wilcoxon rank sum test, p = 0.253). Modal class interval for adherence scores were 61–80% (n = 28, 37.3%) and 81–100% (n = 23, 30.7%) for the eCap and Morisky's scale respectively. Overall, a weak correlation was found between the two methods (r = 0.056). The weak correlation was also maintained in subgroup analysis defined by attainment of BP control (r = 0.109 vs 0.0009), age (range r = −0.53 to 0.067), sex (0.009 to 0.151), level of education (−0.217 to 0.276), and Mini Mental State Examination score (−0.107 to 0.258). Our findings suggest that these methods are not equivalent in the evaluation of medication adherence.
Patient reported outcomes in randomized controlled cancer trials in advanced disease: a structured literature review

ABSTRACT Introduction: In advanced cancer quality of life (QoL) is the most important goal of care. It is measured by patient-reported-outcomes (PRO). This structured review evaluated how randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on anti-cancer therapy in advanced cancer reported PRO. Methods: Search was performed in MEDLINE via PubMed for RCTs with median patient survival of ≤2 years. Reporting was rated with the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) PRO extension. Results: Of 370 retrieved publications, 117 were eligible, but only 30/117 (26%) reported PRO. QoL was most frequently measured (29/30). On average, 4.4 (SD 2.5) of the 14 CONSORT items were met. Conclusion: PRO are insufficiently reported in advanced cancer trials. Yet, this is paramount to enable an informed and patient-oriented decision making process.
Approaches to the stabilization of bioactive epitopes by grafting and peptide cyclization

Peptides are attracting increasing interest from the pharmaceutical industry because of their specificity and ability to address novel targets, including protein–protein interactions. However, typically they require stabilization for therapeutic applications owing to their susceptibility to degradation by proteases. Advances in the ability to chemically synthesize peptides and the development of new side‐chain and backbone ligation strategies provide new tools to stabilize bioactive peptide epitopes. Two such epitopes are LyP1, a nine residue peptide that localizes to tumor cells and has potential as an anticancer therapeutic, and RGDS, a tetrapeptide shown to bind to survivin and induce apoptosis. Here we applied a variety of strategies for the stabilization of LyP1 and RGDS, including side‐chain cyclization using “click” chemistry and “grafting” the epitopes into two naturally occurring cyclic peptide scaffolds, i.e., θ‐defensins and cyclotides. NMR data showed that the three‐disulfide θ‐defensin and cyclotide scaffolds accommodated the LyP1 and RGDS epitopes but that scaffolds with fewer disulfide bonds were structurally compromised by inclusion of the LyP1 epitope. LyP1, LyP1‐, and RGDS‐grafted peptides that were largely unstructured also had reduced resistance to degradation in human serum, showing that grafting into a stable cyclic scaffold is an effective strategy for increasing the stability of a bioactive peptide epitope. Overall, the study demonstrates several methods for stabilizing peptide epitopes using side‐chain or backbone cyclization and illustrates their potential in peptide drug design. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Pept Sci) 106: 89–100, 2016.
On repair of erroneous images for faulty circuits

Image processing will play an important role for IoT (Internet of Things) applications. Nevertheless, noisy or erroneous images may invalidate image processing circuits. In the literature, there have been several image repair methods developed. However, most of them target noises. Erroneous images due to faulty circuits are seldom addressed. Although some previous work deals with this issue, single-bit errors are assumed. In this work we consider multiple-bit errors in the images produced by faulty circuits. Such erroneous images are first analyzed. Accordingly challenges for the previous image repair methods to deal with multiple-bit errors are discussed. Then the proposed image repair method that can overcome these challenges is presented. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a large number of benchmark images that contain various significances of multi-bit errors are employed. The experimental results show that by using the proposed method, the image quality can be enhanced more effectively than the previous work.
Ethnic minority women's experience of maternity services in England

Objectives. Provision for ethnic minority groups has been acknowledged as integral to good maternity care in England and ethnicity has been highlighted as an indicator of both poorer clinical outcomes and poorer experiences. Improving outcomes and services is dependent on understanding women's interaction with both service delivery and provision. The aim of this study was to explore Black and minority ethnic (BME) women's experiences of contemporary maternity care in England. Design. A UK-wide survey which investigated core aspects of maternity care sought the views of BME women about their experiences. A random sample of women were selected by the Office for National Statistics from birth registration in England and invited to complete a questionnaire three months after the birth. In a secondary analysis, text responses to open-ended questions about their maternity care were analysed using thematic analysis. Results. Sixty per cent of the 368 women who self-identified as BME responded with open text. Themes that emerged related to ‘feeling cared for,’ with subthemes of ‘expectations of care’ and ‘policies, rules and organisational pressures’; ‘staff attitudes and communication’ with sub-themes of ‘please believe me,’ ‘hospital as a safe place,’ ‘choices denied’ and ‘being sensitive and supportive would help,’ and ‘ethnicity and culture’ with sub-themes of ‘stereotyping’ and ‘improving the quality of care. ’ Conclusion. The findings highlight issues affecting the quality of maternity care that BME women in England receive. Many issues are not unique to BME women; however, the findings reflect some seemingly enduring issues and coherence with other wider international findings, particularly in relation to post-natal care and staff attitudes. Actually being cared for and supported across their child-bearing experience are needs that women themselves identified as critical for care providers to recognise and respond to. The failures of care provision described should inform the development of services.
Weapon Systems and Assemblage Variability during the Northern Archaic Period in Northern Alaska

The Rosaliya (49-KIR-196) site is a small, single component microblade production and weapon repair location in the central Brooks Range of northern Alaska dated to 5200 years B.P. Although surrounded both geographically and chronologically by sites ascribed to the Northern Archaic tradition (NAT), the Rosaliya assemblage differs from them. It lacks the side-notched projectile points that are considered a hallmark of the tradition, and is instead dominated by the products of microblade technology, which is not, however, widely accepted as a NAT trait. We propose that regional scale NAT assemblage variability results in part from the use of multiple weapon systems with lanceolate-shaped bifaces functioning as spear heads, side-notched bifaces as dart tips, and microblades as components of arrowheads. The Rosaliya site assemblage, because it represents a short occupation involving specialized activities, reflects only a narrow range of this broader Northern Archaic period technology.
The life prediction of lead-free solder joint with type-I interval censored data

By collecting the data from thermal cycling test of an lead-free BGA interconnection structure, using type-I interval censored data processing method and modified Emgelmaier fatigue life model, the cycles to failure of lead-free solder joint are predicted. The comparison between the results obtained by proposed methods and the life calculated by Matlab verifies the practicability and effectiveness of the two methods.
Scalable machine‐learning algorithms for big data analytics: a comprehensive review

Big data analytics is one of the emerging technologies as it promises to provide better insights from huge and heterogeneous data. Big data analytics involves selecting the suitable big data storage and computational framework augmented by scalable machine‐learning algorithms. Despite the tremendous buzz around big data analytics and its advantages, an extensive literature survey focused on parallel data‐intensive machine‐learning algorithms for big data has not been conducted so far. The present paper provides a comprehensive overview of various machine‐learning algorithms used in big data analytics. The present work is an attempt to identify the gaps in the work already performed by researchers, thus paving the way for further quality research in parallel scalable algorithms for big data. WIREs Data Mining Knowl Discov 2016, 6:194–214. doi: 10.1002/widm.1194
Non-Sentential Utterances in Dialogue: A: Corpus-Based Study

Dialogue is full of intuitively complete utterances that are not sentential in their outward form, most prototypically the "short answers" used to respond to queries. As is well known, processing such non-sentential utterances (NSUs) is a difficult problem on both theoretical and computational grounds. In this paper we present a corpus-based study of NSUs. We propose a comprehensive, theoretically grounded classification of NSUs in dialogue based on a sub-portion of the British National Corpus (BNC). The study suggests that the interpretation of NSUs is amenable to resolution using a relatively intricate grammar combined with an utterance dynamics approach. That is, a strategy that keeps track of a highly structured dialogue record of entities that get introduced into context as a result of utterances. Complex, domain-based reasoning is not, on the whole, very much in evidence.
Tagged BDDs: Combining reduction rules from different decision diagram types

Binary decision diagrams are fundamental data structures in discrete mathematics, electrical engineering and computer science. Many different variations of binary decision diagrams exist, in particular variations that employ different reduction rules. For some applications, such as on-the-fly state space exploration, multiple reduction rules are beneficial to minimize the size of the involved graphs. We propose tagged binary decision diagrams, an edge-based approach that allows to use two reduction rules simultaneously. Experimental evaluations demonstrate that on-the-fly state space exploration is an order of magnitude faster using tagged binary decision diagrams compared to traditional binary decision diagrams.
Ventricular Tachycardia Ablation in Severe Heart Failure: An International Ventricular Tachycardia Ablation Center Collaboration Analysis

Background— Ventricular tachycardia (VT) radiofrequency ablation has been associated with reduced VT recurrence and mortality, although it is typically not considered among New York Heart Association class IV (NYHA IV) heart failure patients. We compared characteristics and VT radiofrequency ablation outcomes of those with and without NYHA IV in the International VT Ablation Center Collaboration. Methods and Results— NYHA II–IV patients undergoing VT radiofrequency ablation at 12 international centers were included. Clinical variables, VT recurrence, and mortality were analyzed by NYHA IV status using Kaplan–Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazard models. There were significant differences between NYHA IV (n=111) and NYHA II and III (n=1254) patients: NYHA IV had lower left ventricular ejection fraction; more had diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, cardiac resynchronization implantable cardioverter–defibrillator, and VT storm despite greater antiarrhythmic drug use (P<0.01). NYHA IV subjects required more hemodynamic support, were inducible for more and slower VTs, and were less likely to undergo final programmed stimulation. There was no significant difference in acute complications. In-hospital deaths, recurrent VT, and 1-year mortality were higher in the NYHA IV group, in the context of greater baseline comorbidities. Importantly, NYHA IV patients without recurrent VT had similar survival compared with NYHA II and III patients with recurrent VT (68% versus 73%). Early VT recurrence (⩽30 days) was significantly associated with mortality, especially in NYHA IV patients. Conclusions— Despite greater baseline comorbidities, VT radiofrequency ablation can be safely performed among NYHA IV patients. Early VT recurrence is significantly associated with subsequent mortality regardless of NYHA status. Elimination of recurrent VT in NYHA IV patients may reduce mortality to a level comparable to NYHA II and III with arrhythmia recurrence.