Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimized Reconfigurable Fast Convolution-Based Transmultiplexers for Flexible Radio Access

Multirate fast-convolution (FC) processing can be used for realizing low-complexity filter banks (FBs) and transmultiplexers (TMUXs). The main advantage of the FC-based realizations when compared with the polyphase FBs is the increased configurability, that is, the number of subchannels, their bandwidths, and the center frequencies can be adjusted independently. In general, FC-based FBs are linear periodically shift-variant systems. In this brief, novel matrix representations for the FC synthesis and analysis FBs are first derived. These representations give all the shift-variant impulse responses of the FC-based FBs. Then the TMUX optimization criteria are expressed using these representations. Two examples are included to demonstrate the performance of the optimized designs as well as to illustrate the flexibility of the resulting FC-based TMUXs.
Rapid Small‐Scale Preparation Method of Cell Surface Polysaccharides

A rapid small‐scale method of extraction of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and capsular polysaccharides was developed for the purpose of identification of chemotypes of LPS and serotypes of capsular antigens. Cell surface polysaccharides were prepared within less than 2 hr from 1.5 ml of broth or suspension of colonies cultured overnight. The preparations were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for LPS, and by double diffusiori gel precipitation (Ouchterlony) test and blotting to nitrocellulose membrane for capsular polysaccharide. The analyses with the preparations obtained by the method could provide adequate results capable of identifying chemotypes of LPS and serotypes of capsular antigens.
Modelling message-passing programs for static mapping

An efficient mapping of a parallel program in the processors is vital for achieving a high performance on a parallel computer. When the structure of the parallel program in terms of its task execution times, task dependencies, and amount communication data, is known a priori, mapping can be accomplished statically at compile time. Mapping algorithms start from a parallel application model and map automatically tasks to processors in order to minimise the execution time of the program. In this paper we discuss the current models used in mapping parallel programs: Task Precedence Graph (TPG), Task Interaction Graph (TIG) and we define a new model called Temporal Task Interaction Graph (TTIG). The contribution of the TTIG is that it enhances these two previous models with the ability to explicitly capture the potential degree of parallel execution between adjacent tasks allowing the development of efficient mapping algorithms. Experimentation had been performed in order to show the effectiveness of TTIG model for a set of graphs. The results are compared with the optimal assignment and the obtained using TIG model and they confirm that using the TTIG model, better assignments can be obtained.
Advancing from offline to online activity recognition with wearable sensors

Activity recognition with wearable sensors could motivate people to perform a variety of different sports and other physical exercises. We have earlier developed algorithms for offline analysis of activity data collected with wearable sensors. In this paper, we present our current progress in advancing the platform for the existing algorithms to an online version, onto a PDA. Acceleration data are obtained from wireless motion bands which send the 3D raw acceleration signals via a Bluetooth link to the PDA which then performs the data collection, feature extraction and activity classification. As a proof-of-concept, the online activity system was tested with three subjects. All of them performed at least 5 minutes of each of the following activities: lying, sitting, standing, walking, running and cycling with an exercise bike. The average second-by-second classification accuracies for the subjects were 99%, 97%, and 82 %. These results suggest that earlier developed offline analysis methods for the acceleration data obtained from wearable sensors can be successfully implemented in an online activity recognition application.
STAR-ATPG: a high speed test pattern generator for large scan designs

Star test is a novel test pattern generation technique in which a few test vectors serve as centers of clusters for other test vectors which are derived by complementing at random their coordinates. By properly selecting the deterministic patterns as centers, the star tests have very high probability to detect most of the faults in a circuit. This paper presents an efficient algorithm to combine the star test approach with a traditional test pattern generator yielding a significant speed up of the ATPG process. With the new STAR-ATPG methodology, the major effort of the test generation is transferred from an computationally more complex test pattern generation process into simpler fault simulation. Experimental results on several large industrial designs demonstrate that a factor of 1.5-2.5 average speed up is achieved by the new method with the same abort limit. Also, STAR-ATPG achieves higher fault coverage than traditional ATPG under the same abort limit. To achieve the same fault coverage as STAR-ATPG, it requires the traditional method to increase the abort limit significantly and result in 5 times slower.
Acute definitive internal fixation of pelvic ring fractures in polytrauma patients: a feasible option.

BACKGROUND Staged surgery is recommended for the management of multiple injuries-associated high-energy pelvic ring fractures (acute temporary skeletal stabilization is followed by definitive internal fixation [ORIF]). Acute definitive internal fixation is a controversial topic. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficiency of acute pelvic ORIF by comparing its short-term outcomes with those who had staged surgery. METHODS A 43-month retrospective review of the prospective pelvic fracture database of a level-1 trauma center was performed. Consecutive high-energy trauma patients who sustained a fracture that was suitable for minimally invasive internal fixation (iliosacral screw fixation and symphyseal plating) were included. Patients were categorized as acute ORIF (<24 hours) or staged late ORIF (>24 hours). Demographics, Injury Severity Score, pelvic Abbreviated Injury Score, first 24-hour transfusions, physiologic parameters, time to operating room (OR), angiography requirement, length of stay (LOS), and mortality were recorded. Data are presented as mean +/- SD or percentages. Statistical significance was determined at p < 0.05 based on univariate analysis. RESULTS Forty-five patients met inclusion criteria, 18 patients had acute definitive ORIF (5.5 hours to OR) and 27 had late definitive ORIF (5 days to OR). Acute and late ORIF patients had comparable demographics (age: 48 +/- 22 years vs. 40 +/- 14 years, gender: 82% vs. 79% men) and injury severity (Injury Severity Score: 30 +/- 18 vs. 24.5 +/- 13, pelvic Abbreviated Injury Score: 3.7 +/- 1 vs. 3.4 +/- 1.1). Initial shock parameters were significantly worse in the acute ORIF group (systolic blood pressure, 69.7 +/- 17 mm Hg vs. 108 +/- 21 mm Hg; BD, -7.4 +/- 4 vs. -4.9 +/- 2 mEq/L, lactate 6.67 +/- 7 mmol/L vs. 2.51 +/- 1.3 mmol/L). Angiography was used in 18% (3/18) vs. 21% (6 of 27) of the cases. All early ORIF patients survived and one (3%) of the late ORIF patients died. There was a trend to shorter hospital LOS (25 +/- 24 days vs. 37 +/- 32 days) and a decreased 24-hour red cell transfusion rate (4.7 +/- 5 U vs. 6.6 +/- 4 U) in the early ORIF group. The intensive care unit admission rate (12 of 18 vs. 15 of 27) and LOS was comparable (2.9 +/- 2.5 days vs. 3.7 +/- 3.6 days). CONCLUSION Acute ORIF of unstable pelvic ring fractures within 6 hours could be safely performed even in severely shocked patients with multiple injuries. The procedure did not lead to increased rates of transfusion, mortality, intensive care unit LOS, or overall LOS. Furthermore, all these parameters showed a trend toward benefit compared with a staged approach.
PKN Associates and Phosphorylates the Head-Rod Domain of Neurofilament Protein (*)

PKN is a fatty acid-activated serine/threonine kinase that has a catalytic domain highly homologous to that of protein kinase C in the carboxyl terminus and a unique regulatory region in the amino terminus. Recently, we reported that the small GTP-binding protein Rho binds to the amino-terminal region of PKN and activates PKN in a GTP-dependent manner, and we suggested that PKN is located on the downstream of Rho in the signal transduction pathway (Amano, M., Mukai, H., Ono, Y., Chihara, K., Matsui, T., Hamajima, Y., Okawa, K., Iwamatsu, A., and Kaibuchi, K.(1996) Science 271, 648-650; Watanabe, G. , Saito, Y. , Madaule, P., Ishizaki, T. , Fujisawa, K. , Morii, N. , Mukai, H. , Ono, Y. Kakizuka, A. , and Narumiya, S. (1996) Science 271, 645-648). To identify other components of the PKN pathway such as substrates and regulatory proteins of PKN, the yeast two-hybrid strategy was employed. By this screening, a clone encoding the neurofilament L protein, a subunit of neuron-specific intermediate filament, was isolated. The amino-terminal regulatory region of PKN was shown to associate with the head-rod domains of other subunits of neurofilament (neurofilament proteins M and H) as well as neurofilament L protein in yeast cells. The direct binding between PKN and each subunit of neurofilament was confirmed by using the in vitro translated amino-terminal region of PKN and glutathione S-transferase fusion protein containing the head-rod domain of each subunit of neurofilament. PKN purified from rat testis phosphorylated each subunit of the native neurofilament purified from bovine spinal cord and the bacterially synthesized head-rod domain of each subunit of neurofilament. Polymerization of neurofilament L protein in vitro was inhibited by phosphorylation of neurofilament L protein by PKN. The identification and characterization of the novel interaction with PKN may contribute toward the elucidation of mechanisms regulating the function of neurofilament.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging retrieval for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis

Content-Based Visual Information Retrieval (CBVIR) methods applieds to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are penetrating the universe of IT tools for clinical decision support. A clinician can take profit from retrieving subjects' scans with similar patterns. The CBVIR approach has been used since recently for Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis. The most explored imaging modality in this context is the structural MRI. The Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is a relatively recent technique and CBVIR approaches have not yet been developed on it. The combination of several MRI modalities improves the performances of CBVIR methods, but first of all it is necessary to explore the ability of DTI modality to give a correct answer alone. The present work is amongst the earliest attempts to use visual features as in a generic CBVIR, on this modality for AD research. The proposed approach is based on the comparison of visual features extracted from the hippocampal area. We use the Circular Harmonic Functions (CHFs) to describe the content of the Diffusion Tensor-derived map: Mean Diffusivity (MD). This study was first accomplished with a subset of participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) dataset and then with the DTI scans of a French epidemiological study: “Bordeaux-3City”. The obtained results are encouraging and open interesting perspectives.
Different genetic pathways in the development of periocular sebaceous gland carcinomas in presumptive Muir‐Torre syndrome patients

Periocular sebaceous gland carcinomas (SGCs) occur in the eyelids either sporadically or as a phenotypic feature of Muir‐Torre syndrome (MTS). In knockout mice mismatch‐repair (MMR) defects or inactivation of the fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene are associated with MTS‐like signs, including SGC. To dissect the genetic alterations associated with microsatellite instability (MSI) and inactivation of the FHIT gene, we studied nine periocular SGC specimens from MTS patients. Immunohistochemistry was performed for FHIT, MSH2, MLH1, and MSH6. We assessed MSI as well as loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the FHIT locus with polymorphic markers and genomic multiplex PCR. Epigenetic silencing was detected by methylation‐specific PCR (MSP) and combined bisulfite restriction analysis (COBRA). Our analyses identified two SGCs with FHIT positivity and high‐grade MSI, and seven cases with loss of FHIT and microsatellite stability (MSS). MSI correlated with loss of MSH2 and MLH1 immunostaining. Loss‐of‐function mechanisms affecting the FHIT gene were identified as intragenic deletions eliminating the coding exons 5 and 6 on one hand, and complete biallelic methylation of the FHIT transcription regulatory region on the other hand. Germinal FHIT mutations as a predisposing factor for MTS were excluded in two index patients with cancer in three generations, including an FHIT‐negative SGC. Our data suggest that either somatic inactivation of the FHIT gene associated with MSS or inactivation of the MMR system resulting in MSI contribute to the development of periocular SGCs in presumptive MTS. Hum Mutat 27(2), 155–162, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The adenovirus L3 23-kilodalton proteinase cleaves the amino-terminal head domain from cytokeratin 18 and disrupts the cytokeratin network of HeLa cells

Immunofluorescence studies revealed that adenovirus induces a reorganization of the cytokeratin system in lytically infected HeLa cells. At 24 h postinfection, the cytokeratin network began to disassemble into prominent spheroid globules. By 36 h postinfection, host cell lysis occurred, accompanied by the formation of perinuclear cytokeratin clumps and additional spheroid globules. Immunoblots detected 41- and 44-kDa fragments of cytokeratin 18 and reduced levels of cytokeratin 7 at 24 and 36 h postinfection. Cytokeratin proteins isolated from HeLa cells at 36 h postinfection were deficient in filament polymerization. The 41-kDa proteolytic cytokeratin 18-specific fragment was purified, and its amino-terminal sequence was determined to be GGIQNEKETM. These residues correspond to amino acids 74 through 83 of cytokeratin 18, identifying a cleavage site at the junction of the globular head domain and the alpha-helical rod domain. Moreover, this truncation event occurs at a consensus cleavage site for the adenovirus L3 23-kDa proteinase. The temperature-sensitive mutant H2-ts1, which contains a mutation in the proteinase, neither induced cleavage of cytokeratin 18 nor precipitated the formation of spheroid globules during lytic infection at the nonpermissive temperature. The active proteinase is therefore required for cleavage of cytokeratin 18 and morphological rearrangement of the cytokeratins. We suggest that disruptions in the cytokeratin system weaken the mechanical integrity of the cell, thus promoting host cell lysis and release of progeny virions.
Store-Carry-Cooperative Forward Routing With Information Epidemics Control for Data Delivery in Opportunistic Networks

Data delivery in opportunistic networks requires robustness and resiliency due to the mobility and probabilistic propagation channels caused by fading. Besides the 100% data delivery, delivery with minimum delay, overhead, buffer consumption, and controlling unnecessary transmissions/replications are equally important. In this paper, we propose a data delivery solution for opportunistic networks. The solution comprises two main algorithms: store-carry-cooperative forward routing and information epidemic control. In the data forwarding, nodes proactively monitor and exploit the direct/two-hop cooperative forwarding opportunities and adaptively switch between the cooperative forwarding and reactive store-carry-forward routing. An information epidemics control algorithm, which provides earlier control signal distribution time and faster recovery rate, is also proposed. The susceptible-infected-recovered model is used to study the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism. Extensive network performance evaluation is conducted under a wide range of scenarios, which include fading environments, obstacle-constrained environments, and mobile social network environments. We show that: 1) the information epidemics control mechanism provides higher vaccination rate and recovery rate; 2) proactive replication incurs a number of unnecessary transmissions; 3) monitoring the vicinity and exploiting the opportunity shorten the data delivery delay; and 4) with the integrated solution, a robust data delivery is achieved and a substantial amount of unnecessary transmissions are well deterred.
The Ras / Rac 1 / Cdc 42 / SEK / JNK / c-Jun Cascade Is a Key Pathway by Which Agonists Stimulate DNA Synthesis in Primary Cultures of Rat Hepatocytes

Departments of *Radiation Oncology and #Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23298-0058; ¶National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland; †Institute of Biochemistry, University of Fribourg, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland; §Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Richmond, California; ‡Dana Farber Cancer Research Institute, Boston, Massachusetts; and University of Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachusetts
Long-Term Functional Stability of Human HepaRG Hepatocytes and Use for Chronic Toxicity and Genotoxicity Studies

The human hepatoma HepaRG cells are able to differentiate in vitro into hepatocyte-like cells and to express various liver-specific functions, including the major cytochromes P450. This study was aimed to determine whether differentiated HepaRG cells retained their specific functional capacities for a long time period at confluence. We show that expression of transcripts encoding CYP1A2, 2B6, 3A4, and 2E1, several phase II and antioxidant enzymes, membrane transporters, including organic cation transporter 1 and bile salt export pump, the nuclear receptors constitutive androstane receptor and pregnane X receptor, and aldolase B remained relatively stable for at least the 4-week confluence period tested. Similarly, activities of CYP3A4 and CYP1A2 and their responsiveness to prototypical inducers were well preserved. Aflatoxin B1, a potent hepatotoxicant and carcinogen, induced a dose-dependent and cumulative cytotoxicity. Furthermore, at a concentration as low as 0.1 μM, this mycotoxin caused a decrease in both CYP3A4 activity and intracellular ATP associated with morphological alterations, after 14 days following every 2-day exposure. Moreover, using the comet assay, a dose-dependent DNA damage was observed after a 3-h treatment of differentiated HepaRG cells with 1 to 5 μM aflatoxin B1 in the absence of any cell damage, and this DNA damaging effect was strongly reduced in the presence of ketoconazole, a CYP3A4 inhibitor. These results bring the first demonstration of long-term stable expression of liver-specific markers in HepaRG hepatocyte cultures maintained at confluence and show that these cells represent a suitable in vitro liver cell model for analysis of acute and chronic toxicity as well as genotoxicity of chemicals in human liver.
Power quality control strategy for grid-connected renewable energy sources using PV array and supercapacitor

The output power from renewable energy sources fluctuates because of weather variations. This paper proposes an effective power quality control strategy of renewable energy sources connected to power system using photovoltaic (PV) array and supercapacitor. A supercapacitor is connected to the DC bus of PV power generation system for power quality control of the grid-connected renewable energy sources. The results of a power-hardware-in-the-loop simulation demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control method. The system not only enhances the reliability of renewable energy systems, but also improves the availability of PV systems.
Treatment of dyslipidaemia in HIV-infected persons

Accumulating evidence suggests that HIV-infected individuals have an increased risk of cardiovascular events. This risk seems to be at least partially mediated by dyslipidaemia, which is related to the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). As HIV-infected individuals live longer due to HAART, their cardiovascular risk will invariably increase. Because HAART is likely to be used indefinitely, HAART-related dyslipidaemia has emerged as a major cardiovascular concern. This article summarises the evaluation of dyslipidaemia and cardiovascular risk in HIV-infected individuals, the potential pathophysiological and genetic mechanisms involved in HAART-related dyslipidaemia and the current treatment approaches. In general, dyslipidaemia is evaluated and treated as in HIV-negative persons. The first step is cardiovascular risk assessment and the determination of target lipid levels. A healthier lifestyle and, in particular, smoking cessation should be promoted. Lowering levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (or, in the setting of significant hypertriglyceridaemia, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) is the primary target of intervention. Switching HAART to a more lipid-favourable regimen should be considered if this does not jeopardise virological control. Many patients will need lipid-lowering drug therapy. Appropriate low-density lipoprotein cholesterol target levels may be more difficult to reach than in the HIV-negative population, and the potential for drug interactions when using lipid-lowering agents together with HAART needs to be considered. The identification of HAART strategies with no or minimal metabolic toxicity, and the identification of the safest and most efficacious lipid-lowering therapies for HIV-infected individuals with dyslipidaemia are important research goals.