Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards multi-frequency imaging and analysis of sub-surface targets using SAS

The problem of detecting and imaging buried targets with side-scan sonars is of considerable practical interest to the defense as well as the remote sensing and archeological communities. Side-scan sonars usually insonify the seafloor at close to glancing angles, i.e., well beyond the critical angles specified by Snells law of refraction. Consequently there is often little penetration into the seafloor sediments by the incident sound and targets covered by only a few centimeters of sand or mud are often invisible. We report here some results from a recent sea trial and then some extensive simulations of our dual frequency band, Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Sonar (InSAS) in an attempt to understand if sediment properties affect the image
SINR Analysis Of Mimo Systems With Widely Linear MMSE Receivers For The Reception Of Real-Valued Constellations

Although the widely linear minimum mean-square error (WLMMSE) receiver has been widely applied in multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems, there has been no theoretical analysis to quantify its distribution of signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) in arbitrary fading environments. In this paper, the closed-from expression of SINR at the output of the WLMMSE detection is presented, which, in its essence, can be interpreted as the sum of a series of gamma distributed random variables. The general probability density function of SINR is derived for the first time, which is explicitly expressed in terms of the confluent Lauricella hypergeometric function. Simulations on MIMO transmission systems over Rayleigh fading channels support the analytic results.
Factored Radix-8 Systolic Array for Tensor Processing

Systolic arrays are re-gaining the attention as the heart to accelerate machine learning workloads. This paper shows that a large design space exists at the logic level despite the simple structure of systolic arrays and proposes a novel systolic array based on factoring and radix-8 multipliers. The factored systolic array (FSA) extracts out the booth encoding and the hard-multiple generation which is common across all processing elements, reducing the delay and the area of the whole systolic array. This factoring is done at the cost of an increased number of registers, however, the reduced pipeline register requirement in radix-8 offsets this effect. The proposed factored 16-bit multiplier achieves up to 15%, 13%, and 23% better delay, area, and power, respectively, compared with the radix-4 multipliers even if the register overhead is included. The proposed FSA architecture improves delay, area, and power up to 11%, 20% and 31%, respectively, for different bitwidths when compared with the conventional radix-4 systolic array.
Thalidomide-induced anti-angiogenic action is mediated by ceramide through depletion of VEGF receptors , and antagonized by sphingosine-1-phosphate

Department of Hematology/Oncology and Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Syogoin-Kawahara-cyo, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan. Department of Biomembrane and Biofunctional Chemistry, Graduate School of Pharmaceutics, Hokkaido University, Kita 12-Nishi 6, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan 060-0812, Department of Hematology/Clinical Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Tottori University, 36-1 Nishimachi, Yonago City, Tottori, Japan 683-8504
Recruitment of the Mammalian Histone-modifying EMSY Complex to Target Genes Is Regulated by ZNF131*

Recent work from others and us revealed interactions between the Sin3/HDAC complex, the H3K4me3 demethylase KDM5A, GATAD1, and EMSY. Here, we characterize the EMSY/KDM5A/SIN3B complex in detail by quantitative interaction proteomics and ChIP-sequencing. We identify a novel substoichiometric interactor of the complex, transcription factor ZNF131, which recruits EMSY to a large number of active, H3K4me3 marked promoters. Interestingly, using an EMSY knock-out line and subsequent rescue experiments, we show that EMSY is in most cases positively correlated with transcriptional activity of its target genes and stimulates cell proliferation. Finally, by immunohistochemical staining of primary breast tissue microarrays we find that EMSY/KDM5A/SIN3B complex subunits are frequently overexpressed in primary breast cancer cases in a correlative manner. Taken together, these data open venues for exploring the possibility that sporadic breast cancer patients with EMSY amplification might benefit from epigenetic combination therapy targeting both the KDM5A demethylase and histone deacetylases.
Rhetoric as a Means for Sustainable Development Policy

This paper examines the hypothesis that all public policies are based, at least in part, on rhetorical strategies. By analysing public policies implemented in the context of sustainable development, this article emphasises the need for and the challenges of providing legitimate foundations for the rhetorical means used to encourage change; it is these foundations that determine a given policy's efficacy. To do so, historical analyses are used, as well as socio-economic perspectives examined through textual analysis. The text concludes by showing the importance of a common framework for action based on shared values at the regional level for legitimising the political use of rhetoric to change behaviours and attitudes.
Causes of death among HIV-infected patients in France in 2010 (national survey): trends since 2000

Objective:The Mortalité 2010 survey aimed at describing the causes of death among HIV-infected patients in France in 2010 and their evolution since 2000. Design and methods:A national sample of clinical sites, providing HIV care and treatment, notified and documented deaths using a standardized questionnaire. Results:The 90 participating wards notified 728 deaths. Median age at death was 50 years (interquartile range 45–58) and 75% were men. The main underlying causes of death were AIDS-related (25% in 2010 vs. 36% in 2005 and 47% in 2000), non-AIDS non-viral hepatitis-related malignancy (22 vs. 17 and 11%), liver-related (11 vs. 15 and 13%), cardiovascular diseases (10 vs. 8 and 7%) and non-AIDS-related infections (9 vs. 4 and 7%). Malignancies (AIDS and non-AIDS-related) accounted for a third of all causes of death. AIDS accounted for 33% of all causes of death among patients mono-infected with HIV vs. only 13% among those co-infected with hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus. Conclusion:In 2010, 25% of the causes of death among HIV-infected patients remained AIDS-related. Improved screening and earlier HIV treatment should lead to a smaller proportion of deaths due to AIDS. The majority of patients died of various causes, whereas their HIV infection was well controlled under treatment. Improving case management of HIV-infected patients should include a multidisciplinary approach (prevention, screening, treatment), especially in oncology. Smoking cessation should be a priority goal.
Structural changes in actin-tropomyosin during muscle regulation: computer modelling of low-angle X-ray diffraction data.

The crystal structure of G-actin monomer has been used together with tropomyosin in a filament model to explain the low-angle X-ray diffraction data from relaxed and activated actin filaments. The four-subdomain actin monomer can be approximated quite well by a four-sphere unit. Orienting this unit and tropomyosin into a filament by searching for the best fit between the computed Fourier transform and the observed vertebrate skeletal muscle low-angle actin layer-lines from muscles at non-overlap sarcomere lengths produced models for the structural changes within the thin filaments (actin plus tropomyosin) between the resting state and the active states, which occur as a result of calcium-activation and independent of myosin interaction with actin. The models are very sensitive to changes in the positions of the centres of mass of the subdomains, but not to the exact shape of the objects used to represent them (e.g. spheres, ellipsoids etc.), as long as the volume is fixed, at the resolution here considered. It is concluded that, even with a four-subdomain structure for the actin molecules, the observed low-angle X-ray diffraction patterns cannot be explained without a substantial azimuthal swing of the tropomyosin strands when resting filaments are calcium-activated. The direction of this swing upon calcium-activation is away from a position close to the proposed major binding site of the myosin head on actin; a result consistent with the original "steric blocking model" of thin filament-based regulation in which the tropomyosin position on actin is crucial for regulation of the myosin crossbridge cycle on actin. Tropomyosin sterically hindering myosin attachment in the "off" state remains a possibility. However, even in the "on" state, the tropomyosin position is close enough to the myosin-binding site to have an effect, where it could regulate the transition of the head from a weak to a strong state. In addition to this tropomyosin movement there are small, but plausible, actin subdomain movements. A tropomyosin shift on its own will not explain the data. Allowance for possible movement of actin subdomain 2 along with the tropomyosin shift still does not explain the data. An additional small movement of subdomain 1; the main myosin-binding subdomain, is postulated.
Condorcet and Borda in 1784. Misfits and documents.

This issue on the history of social mathematics is a fine occasion for promoting the digital library accumulated by the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (www.gallica.fr) and for displaying beyond the circles of Condorcetian erudition the Condorcet-Borda file related to the mathematics of elections. The two names are well known. Their works, associated with the years 1781 (Borda) and 1784 (Condorcet), are often mentioned, but are less well known. (See Iain McLean’s and Arnold Urken’s articles in this issue for the latest commentaries on this matter.) Some fables also run through the collective memory of science. Some authors have commented upon the near-coincidence of the two dates of publication and the physical proximity of the two academicians who were both at the Paris Academy of Sciences. Some have imagined a dialogue, if not a controversy. Studies published during the two last decades provide some insight into this seeming connection.
Constrained Filtering Method for MAV Attitude Determination

In this paper we introduce a novel attitude measurement algorithm that gives the Euler angles based on MEMS sensors including three rate gyros, three magnetometers and one accelerometer. Six elements of the direction cosine matrix are selected to compose a state vector. Only four elements are independent, because there exists two nonlinear constraints. They are introduced as virtual measurements in the Kalman filter. The filter can be improved by introducing heading differential speed signal. Bias of simulation results indicates that the Euler angles can be determined with standard deviations at 1-3 degree even during high dynamic maneuvers and long turns. Flight tests have been carried out in a miniature UAV, the Euler angles' in which the method is proved to be valid in high dynamic maneuver
Receive Beamforming for Ultrareliable Random Access based SWIPT

Ultrareliable uplink communication based on random access poses novel research challenges for the receiver design. Here, the uncertainty imposed by the random access and a large amount of interfering transmissions is the limiting factor for the system performance. Recently, this type of communication has been addressed in context of simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT). The need to adapt the power splitting to the signal states according to the underlying random access has been tackled by introducing a predictor, which determines the valid states of the received signal based on the long-term observation. Hence, the power splitting factor is scaled accordingly in order to guarantee ultrareliable communication and maximized harvested energy.In this work, we extend the considered SWIPT scenario by introducing multiple antennas at the receiver side. Through this, the received energy can be substantially increased, if the energy harvesting parameters and the spatial filter coefficients are jointly optimized. Hence, we propose an optimization procedure, which aims at maximizing the harvested energy under the ultrareliability constraint. The mentioned prediction method is then combined with the optimization solution and the resulting system performance is numerically evaluated.
cAMP Activation of CAAT Enhancer-binding Protein-β Gene Expression and Promoter I of Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase (*)

The acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) gene contains two distinct promoters, denoted PI and PII. PI is responsible for the generation of class I ACC mRNAs which are induced in a tissue-specific manner under lipogenic conditions. PII generates class II ACC mRNAs which are expressed constitutively. During 30A5 preadipocyte differentiation, both promoters are activated; the preadipocytes must be pretreated with cAMP for this activation to occur. In this report, we present evidence that CAAT enhancer-binding protein-β (C/EBP-β) is induced and involved in the PI activation by cAMP. Expression of the reporter gene under the control of the PI promoter is activated within 3 h after treatment of 30A5 cells with a cyclic AMP analogue, 8-(4-chlorophenylthio)-adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate, and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, in association with the accumulation of C/EBP-β mRNA and protein. These accumulations were inhibited in the presence of H8, a protein kinase inhibitor; H8 also inhibited activation of PI by cAMP. However, the induction of reporter gene expression and the increase of C/EBP-β mRNA by cAMP were not affected by treatment with tumor necrosis factor α, which completely inhibited the accumulation of C/EBP-α mRNA. Overexpression of C/EBP-β by transfection with the C/EBP-β gene led to increased binding of C/EBP-β to DNA and partial PI activation. cAMP did not affect the amount of C/EBP-β binding to the DNA but did promote phosphorylation of C/EBP-β and PI activation. As in the case of C/EBP-α, C/EBP-β bound to the CCAAT box of the PI promoter. These results indicate that cAMP not only induces, but also activates, bound C/EBP-β through phosphorylation for PI activation. Our studies also indicate that cAMP induces C/EBP-α. C/EBP-β induction, however, precedes that of C/EBP-α.
The therapeutic value of cannabinoids in MS: real or imaginary?

This issue of Multiple Sclerosis contains three interesting papers that claim beneficial effects of cannabinoids on symptoms in MS patients. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study by Vaney et al. aims at determining tolerability, safety and efficacy on spasm frequency of an oral cannabis extract (standardized capsules containing 2.5 mg tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and 0.9 mg cannabidiol (CBD), dose-escalating up to a maximum of 30 mg THC per day) in MS patients with refractory spastiCity.7 Fifty-seven patients were enrolled, 50 of whom were included in the intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis and 37 of whom (65%) completed the trial perprotocol (28 days, of which 14 days of active treatment). The ITT analysis showed no statistically significant differences between active treatment and placebo. How-
Illusory conjunctions in the perception of Chinese characters.

A Chinese compound character consists of a radical component and a stem component. When compound characters were presented briefly, Ss often reported seeing illusory recombinations of radicals and stems. A series of 5 experiments suggested that the probability of seeing illusory characters is not under the direct influence of lexicality, pronounceability, or character frequency, but depends on 2 factors: (1) familiarity defined in terms of unit frequency, i.e., the frequency of occurrence of a unit either by itself or as part of a larger unit, and (2) the context-dependent perceptual distinctiveness of the components of a given character. It is suggested that the seemingly unreliable lexicality effect obtained in English studies may be reduced to a familiarity effect, and that what McClelland and Mozer (1986) referred to as the surround-similarity effect may be better characterized as an effect of perceptual distinctiveness.
Serological Diagnosis of Scrub Typhus by Indirect Immunofluorescence

Summary The indirect fluorescent antibody test, in which dilutions of sera from patients with scrub typhus were tested on smears of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi, gave results which were serologically diagnostic of the disease in each instance. Non-specific reactions did not occur when the scrub typhus sera were exposed to antigens of other species of Rickettsia. Likewise, there was no reaction between R. tsutsugamushi smears and sera from other rickettsial infections, or with sera from patients with Proteus OXK agglutinins of non-rickettsial origin with one exception, i.e., a case of leptospirosis from Puerto Rico.
Timing of recanalization and outcome in ischemic-stroke patients treated with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator

Background Intravenous administration of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) is approved treatment for acute ischemic stroke <3 h of symptom onset. Purpose To determine the impact of the timing and degree of recanalization on clinical outcome after rtPA infusion in patients. Material and Methods Seventy-five patients with ischemic stroke in the middle cerebral artery territory treated with intravenous rtPA within 3 h were studied consecutively. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), before, 6 h, and 24 h after thrombolytic therapy was undertaken. Depending on the MRA results acquired 6 h after rtPA infusion, recanalization was graded as: early recanalization (ER), delayed recanalization (DR), and no recanalization (NR). Clinical outcome was assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and modified Rankin Scale (mRS). Results Of patients in the ER, DR and NR groups, 71.4% (15/21), 13.3% (2/15), and 30.7% (12/39), respectively, showed dramatic improvement in NIHSS score 7 days after rtPA administration compared with those scores upon hospital admission. The 6-h and 24-h NIHSS scores and 3-month mRS scores of ER patients were significantly lower than those of the other two groups (P < 0.05). The 24-h, 7-d NHISS and mRS scores of DR patients were significantly higher than NR patients (P = 0.001, 0.002, 0.049, respectively). Three patients in the DR group died during follow-up. Conclusion These data suggest that DR is associated with clinical deterioration. Patients treated with rtPA thrombolysis should be under close observation for 6–24 h. Corresponding treatment should be considered once DR appears.
Sterilization regret among U.S. couples.

The 1982 US National Survey of Family Growth included questions aimed at measuring sterilization regret. Of the 8583 couples in the survey who were protected from pregnancy by vasectomy or tubal ligation, 26% indicated they would like to have more children and 10% desire sterilization reversal. The proportion of women who want more children despite sterilization is highest (42%) among those aged 20-29 years, then declines with rising age to a low of 13% among women 40-44 years of age. Of all women who assert they want a reversal, 62% are aged 25-34 years. Blacks comprise 11% of contraceptively sterilized couples in the US but 18% of those who want the procedure reversed; similarly, Hispanics make up 6% of contraceptively sterilized couples but 17% of those expressing a desire for reversal. Significantly higher percentages of Medicaid recipients desire sterilization reversal, although this may reflect the fact that poor women are generally younger. Women who were not currently married were significantly more likely than married women to desire reversal (21% versus 8%). Finally, women who were sterilized before the age of 30 years were significantly more likely than those who were older at the time of the procedure to want another child (33% versus 17%) and to desire reversal (14% versus 6%). It is recognized that the responses to this question are not a good indication of the strength of sterilization regret, and they do not provide an accurate measure of need or potential demand for sterilization reversal. However, these findings do reflect a substantial level of dissatisfaction with sterilization as a means of fertility control. Providers of sterilization services should be aware that 10% or more of their patients may later regret their decision. It is possible that if more acceptable methods of reversible contraception were available, fewer women would resort to sterilization at young ages and the level of regret would be reduced.
Daily activity prediction based on spatial-temporal matrix for ongoing videos

Predicting human activities is an emerging area in computer vision to help computational systems to forecast ongoing human activities. This paper recognizes the challenging activities of daily living that all contain similar manipulations. A spatial-temporal matrix (STM) feature descriptor is used to involve the shape and motion information. Then, a temporal bag-of-words algorithm is proposed to interpret the local feature vectors on the diagonal of the STM and support vector machine (SVM) is performed to train the classifier. Experimental results show that the proposed approach outperforms the state-of-the-art activity prediction algorithms. It also proves this framework can intuitively represent the image sequences of ongoing human activities. This can be a benefit to the applications on human-machine interaction (HMI).
Infection of Human Dendritic Cells by Dengue Virus Causes Cell Maturation and Cytokine Production1

Dengue virus (DV) infection is a major problem in public health. It can cause fatal diseases such as Dengue hemorrhagic fever and Dengue shock syndrome. Dendritic cells (DC) are professional APCs required for establishing a primary immune response. Here, we investigated the role of human PBMC-derived DC in DV infection. Using different techniques, including plaque assay, flow cytometry analysis, nested RT-PCR, and confocal microscope and electron microscope examinations, we show that DV can enter cultured human DC and produce virus particles. After entrance, DV could be visualized in cystic vesicles, vacuoles, and the endoplasmic reticulum. The DV-infected DC also showed proliferation and hypertrophy of the endoplasmic reticulum as well as the swollen mitochondria. In addition, the DV-stimulated DC could express maturation markers such as B7-1, B7-2, HLA-DR, CD11b, and CD83. Furthermore, the infection of DC by DV induced production of TNF-α and IFN-α, but not IL-6 and IL-12. Although DC underwent spontaneous apoptosis in the absence of feeding cytokines, this process appeared to be delayed after DV infection. Our observations provide important information in understanding the pathogenesis of DV infection.
Multi-objective particle swarm optimization for the realization of a low profile bandpass frequency selective surface

This paper presents a new application of evolutionary optimization algorithm to design an extremely low profile bandpass frequency selective surface (FSS). A particle swarm optimization algorithm is interfaced with a commercial time-domain solver to design and optimize a second-order bandpass FSS at 10 GHz with 20% fractional bandwidth. Four structure variables are defined in the algorithm to be optimized for realization of a grid of capacitive patches and inductive strips, which constitute the bandpass FSS. Optimization led to a FSS with a total thickness of λo/65.