Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extreme Speed Power-DAC: Leveraging InP DHBT for Ultimate Capacity Single-Carrier Optical Transmissions

Power-digital-to-analog converters (DAC) circuits for high capacity and high spectral efficiency optical transmitters are presented in this paper. They are based on a 0.7-μm InP DHBT semiconductor process, of which main differentiating characteristics are highlighted. We introduce the Power-DAC circuit concept, its usual architectures, and we provide design details of its latest generation. Named SPDAC, it integrates multiplexing front-end blocks composed of three 2:1-selectors. With this architecture, the input interface operates at half rate. 107-GBd operation for PAM-4 and 64-GBd for PAM-8 were demonstrated with quality suitable for direct detection and datacenter applications. 90-GBd operation in a PDM-64QAM transmitter with coherent detection was also enabled by SPDAC modules. With 3.7 to 4 V differential output voltage swing, Power-DAC circuits can be directly connected to different types of E/O modulators (Mach–Zehnder, EAM). We show in particular how the SPDAC circuit enables single-carrier transmission at 100-GBd in PAM-4 IM/DD modulation for datacenters. In this experiment, the feed-forward equalizer combined with stacking a <3-symbol memory sequence estimator demonstrated signal recovery for 107-GBd PAM-4 in back-to-back configuration, after 500 m and 1 km of transmission over standard single-mode fiber for 100- and 84-GBd PAM-4 configuration, respectively.
BioCaster: detecting public health rumors with a Web-based text mining system

Summary: BioCaster is an ontology-based text mining system for detecting and tracking the distribution of infectious disease outbreaks from linguistic signals on the Web. The system continuously analyzes documents reported from over 1700 RSS feeds, classifies them for topical relevance and plots them onto a Google map using geocoded information. The background knowledge for bridging the gap between Layman's terms and formal-coding systems is contained in the freely available BioCaster ontology which includes information in eight languages focused on the epidemiological role of pathogens as well as geographical locations with their latitudes/longitudes. The system consists of four main stages: topic classification, named entity recognition (NER), disease/location detection and event recognition. Higher order event analysis is used to detect more precisely specified warning signals that can then be notified to registered users via email alerts. Evaluation of the system for topic recognition and entity identification is conducted on a gold standard corpus of annotated news articles. Availability: The BioCaster map and ontology are freely available via a web portal at http://www.biocaster. org. Contact: collier@nii.ac. jp
Ab Initio Calculation of Cobalt Interlayer Size Influence on Tensile Strength in WC-Co Hard Alloy

Quantum-mechanical calculations were performed for investigation of tensile strength for WC/Co/WC systems with the thickness of the cobalt interlayer of 3 and 7 atomic layers. It has been shown that the cobalt interlayer increasing leads to decreasing of the tensile strength from 17 GPa to 14 GPa. In addition, vacancy-type defect formation reduces the tensile strength of about 2 times.
Effect of Urotensin II on PC12 Rat Pheochromocytoma Cells

Urotensin II (U‐II), initially identified as a cyclic peptide from fish urophysis, acts both as a strong vasoconstrictor and vasodilator in the vasculature via its receptor, G‐protein coupled receptor 14. In addition, U‐II and its receptor are co‐expressed in the adrenal medulla, as well as in human pheochromocytomas, suggesting that this peptide may have some function in chromaffin cells. However, the precise role of U‐II in these cells is unknown. In the present study, we initially demonstrate that U‐II and its receptors mRNA are co‐expressed in the rat pheochromocytoma cell line PC12. Moreover, U‐II has not effect on tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate‐limiting enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of catecholamine, in terms of enzyme activity or at the mRNA level. However, U‐II does induce an increase in the phosphorylation of TH specifically at Ser31 without affecting phosphorylation at the two other sites (Ser19 and Ser40). U‐II also markedly activates extracellular signal‐regulated kinases (ERKs) and p38, but not Jun N‐terminal kinase. Blockade of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor by AG1478 significantly reduces activation of ERK, suggesting that EGF receptor transactivation could act upstream of the ERK pathway in PC12 cells. Furthermore, U‐II significantly increases dopamine secretion from PC12 cells. Finally, we show that U‐II induced significant DNA synthesis in a ERKs and P38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase‐dependent manner. The results obtained indicate that U‐II may exert its effects as a neuromodulator in chromaffin cells.
A new method of direct data-driven predictive controller design

In this paper, we try to find a direct path between data and predictive controller. A straightforward data-driven predictive controller for the linear multivariable systems is proposed, without identifying any representation of the system in an intermediate step. The minimal image representation is used to describe the controlled linear multivariable system instead of model or dynamical description matrix. Data-based prediction can be estimated directly from an input/output trajectory of the system and thus the computation of dynamic optimization. For the unconstrained condition, control laws can be analytically determined directly from the data Hankel matrices without model or any intermediate step to meet the given performance specifications. The proposed predictive controller is demonstrated on a multivariable system.
Fusing shape and motion matrices for view invariant action recognition using 3D skeletons

Action recognition under arbitrary views remains a challenge, since view variations bring severe motion and appearance changes which increase the ambiguities among same types of actions. To solve this problem, we propose a new method to effectively capture view invariant shape and motion cues. This method contains three main stages. First, we compute distances among pairwise skeleton joints to form a distance matrix for each skeleton. Second, shape matrices (SMs) and motion matrices (MMs) are formulated to describe shape and motion cues between pairwise distance matrices, respectively. Third, Fisher Vector and Linear Discriminant Analysis (L-DA) are adopted to encode SMs and MMs as low dimension and high discriminative representations, which are further fused to generate final action representation. Experimental results on benchmark UTKinect-Action dataset show that our method achieves better results than methods designed for view invariant action recognition task. Additionally, we collect a SmartHome dataset, on which the robustness of our method to noisy skeleton data is verified.
Enhancing the versatility of wireless biopotential acquisition for myoelectric prosthetic control

Objective. A significant challenge in rehabilitating upper-limb amputees with sophisticated, electric-powered prostheses is sourcing reliable and independent channels of motor control information sufficient to precisely direct multiple degrees of freedom simultaneously. Approach. In response to the expressed needs of clinicians, we have developed a miniature, batteryless recording device that utilizes emerging integrated circuit technology and optimal impedance matching for magnetic resonantly coupled (MRC) wireless power transfer to improve the performance and versatility of wireless electrode interfaces with muscle. Main results. In this work we describe the fabrication and performance of a fully wireless and batteryless EMG recording system and use of this system to direct virtual and electric-powered limbs in real-time. The advantage of using MRC to optimize power transfer to a network of wireless devices is exhibited by EMG collected from an array of eight devices placed circumferentially around a human subject’s forearm. Significance. This is a comprehensive, low-cost, and non-proprietary solution that provides unprecedented versatility of configuration to direct myoelectric prostheses without wired connections to the body. The amenability of MRC to varied coil geometries and arrangements has the potential to improve the efficiency and robustness of wireless power transfer links at all levels of upper-limb amputation. Additionally, the wireless recording device’s programmable flash memory and selectable features will grant clinicians the unique ability to adapt and personalize the recording system’s functional protocol for patient- or algorithm-specific needs.
Cross Talk in HEK293 Cells Between Nrf2, HIF, and NF-κB Activities upon Challenges with Redox Therapeutics Characterized with Single-Cell Resolution.

AIM Many transcription factors with importance in health and disease are redox regulated. However, how their activities may be intertwined in responses to redox-perturbing stimuli is poorly understood. To enable in-depth characterization of this aspect, we here developed a methodology for simultaneous determination of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cell (NF-κB) activation at single-cell resolution, using a new tool named pTRAF (plasmid for transcription factor reporter activation based upon fluorescence). The pTRAF allowed determination of Nrf2, HIF, and NF-κB activities in a high-resolution and high-throughput manner, and we here assessed how redox therapeutics affected the activities of these transcription factors in human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293). RESULTS Cross talk was detected between the three signaling pathways upon some types of redox therapeutics, also by using inducers typically considered specific for Nrf2, such as sulforaphane or auranofin, hypoxia for HIF activation, or tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) for NF-κB stimulation. Doxorubicin, at low nontoxic doses, potentiated TNFα-induced activation of NF-κB and HIF, without effects in stand-alone treatment. Stochastic activation patterns in cell cultures were also considerable upon challenges with several redox stimuli. INNOVATION A novel strategy was here used to study simultaneous activation of Nrf2, HIF, and NF-κB in single cells. The method can also be adapted for studies of other transcription factors. CONCLUSION The pTRAF provides new opportunities for in-depth studies of transcription factor activities. In this study, we found that upon challenges of cells with several redox-perturbing conditions, Nrf2, HIF, and NF-κB are uniquely responsive to separate stimuli, but can also display marked cross talk to each other within single cells. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 26, 229-246.
A Mobility-Aware Optimal Resource Allocation Architecture for Big Data Task Execution on Mobile Cloud in Smart Cities

In recent years, the smart city concept, which involves multiple disciplines, for example, smart healthcare, smart transportation, and smart community, has become popular because of its ability to improve urban citizens' quality of life. However, most services in these areas of smart cities have become data-driven, thus generating big data that require seamless real-time access, sharing, storing, processing, and analysis anywhere at any time for intelligent decision making to improve living standards. In this scenario, MCC can play a vital role by allowing a mobile device to access and offload big-data-related tasks to powerful cloudlet servers attached to many wireless APs, thus ensuring that the QoS demands of end users are met. However, the connectivity of mobile devices with a given AP is not continuous, but rather sporadic with varying signal strengths. Furthermore, the heterogeneity of the cloudlet resources and the big data application requests place additional challenges in making optimal code execution decision. To cope with this problem, this article proposes a mobility- aware optimal resource allocation architecture, namely Mobi-Het, for remote big data task execution in MCC that offers higher efficiency in timeliness and reliability. The system architecture and key components of the proposed resource allocation service are presented and evaluated. The results of experiments and simulations have demonstrated the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed Mobi-Het architecture for mobile big data applications.
Noise-Sensing Using Smartphones: Determining the Right Time to Sample

In this paper, we propose to use smartphones as an environmental sensor to measure noise pollution. We focused our study on determining the precise context for the capture of environmental noise through smartphones, and performed an analysis of the impact that the sensing task collection will have on energy consumption. To this purpose, we define different contexts to determine whether adequate environment sampling conditions are met, and we then apply classification algorithms to generate the most accurate decisions trees automatically. An analysis of resource consumption requirements associated with the different trees obtained shows that, despite their high accuracy, the resource consumption levels were prohibitive for this kind of applications. Thus, we propose an alternative decision tree that maintains the accuracy levels of automatically generated trees while significantly reducing the resource consumption introduced by the latter. Experimental results show that our proposed decision tree can reduce the energetic impact of our target application by about 60% when compared to the optimum theoretical tree generated through automatic classification procedures.
Does supplementation with carnosine improve cardiometabolic health and cognitive function in patients with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes? study protocol for a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Introduction Carnosine, an over-the-counter food supplement, has a promising potential for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2DM), cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases through its anti-inflammatory, antiglycation, antioxidative and chelating effects. We have previously shown that supplementation with carnosine preserves insulin sensitivity and secretion in non-diabetic overweight and obese individuals. The effect of carnosine on cardiometabolic risk and related cognitive outcomes in patients with pre-diabetes and T2DM has thus far not been studied. We therefore aim to investigate whether supplementation with carnosine improves cardiometabolic health and cognitive function in patients with pre-diabetes and T2DM. Methods and analysis We will employ a parallel design randomised controlled trial. Fifty participants with pre-diabetes (impaired fasting glycaemia and impaired glucose tolerance) and T2DM (with HbA1c level < 8%) aged between 18 to 70 years will be randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. At baseline, participants will undergo a medical review and series of tests including anthropometric measurements (body mass index, a dual X-ray absorptiometry and peripheral quantitative computed tomography scan), an oral glucose tolerance test, cardiovascular measurements (central blood pressure, endothelial function and arterial stiffness), cognitive function, physical activity measurement, heart rate variability and liver fibroscan as well as questionnaires to assess dietary habits, sleep quality, depression and quality of life. The intervention group will receive 2 g of carnosine daily in two divided doses while the control group will receive identical placebo capsules for 14 weeks. All baseline measurements will be repeated at the end of the intervention. The change in glycaemic, cardiovascular and cognitive parameters as well as other measures will be compared between the groups. Ethics and dissemination This study is approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of Monash Health and Monash University, Australia. The findings will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. Trial registration NCT02917928; Pre-results.
Precision Aliphatic Polyesters via Segmer Assembly Polymerization

Precise structure-property relation of a biodegradable polymer (e.g., aliphatic polyester) is anticipated only if monomer units and chiral centers are arranged in a defined primary sequence as a biomacromolecule. An emerging synthetic methodology, namely segmer assembly polymerization (SAP), is introduced in this paper to reveal the latest progress in polyester synthesis. Almost any periodic polyester envisioned can be synthesized via SAP using a programed linear or cyclic monomer. In this context, the macroscopic properties of a biodegradable polymer are fundamentally determined by microstructural information through a bottom-up approach. It can be highlighted that SAP ideally combines the precision of organic synthesis and the high efficiency of a polymerization reaction. Previously reported strategies including nucleophilic displacement, polyesterification, cross-metathesis polymerization (CMP), ring-opening polymerization (ROP), ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and entropy-driven ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ED-ROMP) are critically reviewed in this paper to shed light on precision synthesis of aliphatic polyesters via SAP. Emerging yet challenging, SAP is a paradigm which reflects the convergence of organic and polymer chemistries and is also an efficient pathway to microstructural control. The current status, future challenges and promising trends in this realm are analyzed and discussed in this overview of the state-of-the-art.
Multi-Objective Mixed-Integer Dynamic Optimization Method Applied to Optimal Allocation of Dynamic Var Sources of Power Systems

For large power systems with huge proportions of industrial loads, dynamic var sources (DVSs) such as STATCOMs and generators provide significant protection against short-term voltage instability. Simultaneously optimizing the locations and capacities of STATCOMs and the settings for adjustment coefficients of generator excitation systems is a goal of this paper; thus, we formulate a multi-objective, mixed-integer dynamic optimization (MOMIDO) model subject to short-term voltage security and rotor-angle stability under multiple contingencies. We also present a reduced convex relaxation (RCR) method to handle STATCOM locations (which are integer variables) and to avoid their combinatorial explosion, and convert the MOMIDO model into a multi-objective nonlinear programming problem via Radau collocation. To obtain complete Pareto optimal solutions for the MOMIDO model, we propose a reduced wide normalized normal constraint (RWNNC) method by enlarging the Utopia plane so that the Pareto optimal solutions are covered completely by its vertical projection, while pruning redundant sections on the Utopia plane to reduce the amount of calculations. Moreover, the simulation results on an IEEE standard 39-bus system and a real provincial power system demonstrate that the proposed method can handle integer variables effectively and obtain complete Pareto optimal solutions.
AS relationships, customer cones, and validation

Business relationships between ASes in the Internet are typically confidential, yet knowledge of them is essential to understand many aspects of Internet structure, performance, dynamics, and evolution. We present a new algorithm to infer these relationships using BGP paths. Unlike previous approaches, our algorithm does not assume the presence (or seek to maximize the number) of valley-free paths, instead relying on three assumptions about the Internet's inter-domain structure: (1) an AS enters into a provider relationship to become globally reachable; and (2) there exists a peering clique of ASes at the top of the hierarchy, and (3) there is no cycle of p2c links. We assemble the largest source of validation data for AS-relationship inferences to date, validating 34.6% of our 126,082 c2p and p2p inferences to be 99.6% and 98.7% accurate, respectively. Using these inferred relationships, we evaluate three algorithms for inferring each AS's customer cone, defined as the set of ASes an AS can reach using customer links. We demonstrate the utility of our algorithms for studying the rise and fall of large transit providers over the last fifteen years, including recent claims about the flattening of the AS-level topology and the decreasing influence of tier-1 ASes on the global Internet.
Tau Oligomers Associate with Inflammation in the Brain and Retina of Tauopathy Mice and in Neurodegenerative Diseases

It is well-established that inflammation plays an important role in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and frontotemporal lobar dementia (FTLD). Inflammation and synapse loss occur in disease prior to the formation of larger aggregates, but the contribution of tau to inflammation has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Tau pathologically aggregates to form large fibrillar structures known as tangles. However, evidence suggests that smaller soluble aggregates, called oligomers, are the most toxic species and form prior to tangles. Furthermore, tau oligomers can spread to neighboring cells and between anatomically connected brain regions. In addition, recent evidence suggests that inspecting the retina may be a window to brain pathology. We hypothesized that there is a relationship between tau oligomers and inflammation, which are hallmarks of early disease. We conducted immunofluorescence and biochemical analyses on tauopathy mice, FTLD, and AD subjects. We showed that oligomers co-localize with astrocytes, microglia, and HMGB1, a pro-inflammatory cytokine. Additionally, we show that tau oligomers are present in the retina and are associated with inflammatory cells suggesting that the retina may be a valid non-invasive biomarker for brain pathology. These results suggest that there may be a toxic relationship between tau oligomers and inflammation. Therefore, the ability of tau oligomers to spread may initiate a feed-forward cycle in which tau oligomers induce inflammation, leading to neuronal damage, and thus more inflammation. Further mechanistic studies are warranted in order to understand this relationship, which may have critical implications for improving the treatment of tauopathies.
Fracture Studies of PBX Simulant Materials

Fracture studies have been performed on three inert PBX simulants; PBS 9501 which consists of sugar bound in Estane and is a PBX 9501 simulant. EDC1037 and EDC1032 which consist of barium sulphate and melamine bound in NC/K10 and Viton‐A respectively, and are simulants for EDC37 and EDC32. The effect of microstructure, geometry and testing rate are investigated, and through the application of elastic‐plastic fracture mechanics, energy release rates have been calculated. Such data are required for the development and validation of accurate failure models.