Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
From single link MIMO to multi-user MIMO

For any given single link strategy for transmission over a MIMO channel with channel knowledge at both transmitter and receiver, we propose a general approach to reduce the interference when the strategy is used in an interference limited system. This solution has several interesting interpretations. The structure of the solution is shown to include the global optimum, even though it may be difficult to determine all parameters. However, a suboptimal choice is presented that can be implemented in practical systems using only local information. A numerical example illustrates the performance when trying to minimize the summed mutual information.
Meta-Analysis of Transcriptional Responses to Mastitis-Causing Escherichia coli

Bovine mastitis is a widespread disease in dairy cows, and is often caused by bacterial mammary gland infection. Mastitis causes reduced milk production and leads to excessive use of antibiotics. We present meta-analysis of transcriptional profiles of bovine mastitis from 10 studies and 307 microarrays, allowing identification of much larger sets of affected genes than any individual study. Combining multiple studies provides insight into the molecular effects of Escherichia coli infection in vivo and uncovers differences between the consequences of E. coli vs. Staphylococcus aureus infection of primary mammary epithelial cells (PMECs). In udders, live E. coli elicits inflammatory and immune defenses through numerous cytokines and chemokines. Importantly, E. coli infection causes downregulation of genes encoding lipid biosynthesis enzymes that are involved in milk production. Additionally, host metabolism is generally suppressed. Finally, defensins and bacteria-recognition genes are upregulated, while the expression of the extracellular matrix protein transcripts is silenced. In PMECs, heat-inactivated E. coli elicits expression of ribosomal, cytoskeletal and angiogenic signaling genes, and causes suppression of the cell cycle and energy production genes. We hypothesize that heat-inactivated E. coli may have prophylactic effects against mastitis. Heat-inactivated S. aureus promotes stronger inflammatory and immune defenses than E. coli. Lipopolysaccharide by itself induces MHC antigen presentation components, an effect not seen in response to E. coli bacteria. These results provide the basis for strategies to prevent and treat mastitis and may lead to the reduction in the use of antibiotics.
Regulation of gap junctions by protein phosphorylation.

Gap junctions are constituted by intercellular channels and provide a pathway for transfer of ions and small molecules between adjacent cells of most tissues. The degree of intercellular coupling mediated by gap junctions depends on the number of gap junction channels and their activity may be a function of the state of phosphorylation of connexins, the structural subunit of gap junction channels. Protein phosphorylation has been proposed to control intercellular gap junctional communication at several steps from gene expression to protein degradation, including translational and post-translational modification of connexins (i.e., phosphorylation of the assembled channel acting as a gating mechanism) and assembly into and removal from the plasma membrane. Several connexins contain sites for phosphorylation for more than one protein kinase. These consensus sites vary between connexins and have been preferentially identified in the C-terminus. Changes in intercellular communication mediated by protein phosphorylation are believed to control various physiological tissue and cell functions as well as to be altered under pathological conditions.
The interrelationship between student learning experience and study behaviour

This study examined the interrelationship between student learning experiences and study behaviour in explaining academic achievement. The participants were 541 final year students from a university in Hong Kong. Students' learning experiences and study behaviour were measured using the Course Experience Questionnaire and the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory. Structural equation modelling demonstrated that different learning experience factors have differential influences on student study behaviour. Students' perception of teaching quality and generic skills development were found to be most influential in terms of motivation and attitude towards study, which were most predictive of academic performance. The implications for curriculum design and instructional practice on university student learning are discussed.
The Effect of Estradiol and Progesterone on Toll Like Receptor Gene Expression in A Human Fallopian Tube Epithelial Cell Line

Objective Toll like receptors (TLRs) are one of the main components of the innate im- mune system. It has been reported that expression of these receptors are altered in the female reproductive tract (FRT) during menstrual cycle. Here we used a fallopian tube epithelial cell line (OE-E6/E7) to evaluate the effect of two sex hormones in modulating TLR expression. Materials and Methods In this experimental study, initially TLR gene expression in OE- E6/E7 cells was evaluated and compared with that of fallopian tube tissue using quanti- tative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunostaining. Thereafter, OE-E6/E7 cells were cultured with different concentrations of estradiol and progesterone, and combination of both. qRT-PCR was performed to reveal any changes in expression of TLR genes as a result of hormonal treatment. Results TLR1-10 genes were expressed in human fallopian tube tissue. TLR1-6 genes and their respective proteins were expressed in the OE-E6/E7 cell line. Although estradiol and progesterone separately had no significant effect on TLR expression, their combined treatment altered the expression of TLRs in this cell line. Also, the pattern of TLR expres- sion in preovulation (P), mensturation (M) and window of implantation (W) were the same for all TLRs with no significant differences between P, M and W groups. Conclusion These data show the significant involvement of the combination of es- tradiol and progesterone in modulation of TLR gene expression in this human fal- lopian tube cell line. Further experiments may reveal the regulatory mechanism and signalling pathway behind the effect of sex hormones in modulating TLRs in the hu- man FRT.
Molecular characterization of a unique retrovirus associated with a fish tumor

The walleye dermal sarcoma is a mesenchymal tumor which seasonally affects up to 27% of adult walleye fish (Stizostedion vitreum). It arises multicentrically in the dermis, in which its development remains restricted. We report the molecular cloning of a type C retrovirus from this tumor. The genome of this virus (13.2 kb) is larger than that of all retroviruses and in that respect is approximated only by the recently characterized spumaviruses. In tumors, the predominantly unintegrated linear viral DNA has a single-stranded gap region which is similar to the structure found in some lentiviruses and all spumaviruses. The presence of at least four viral transcripts suggests that this virus has the capacity to encode accessory functions and is reminiscent of the transcriptional complexity of lentiviruses and spumaviruses.
Attachment Individual Identifier (AII) Types for Aggregation", RFC 5003

The signaling protocols used to establish point-to-point pseudowires include type-length-value (TLV) fields that identify pseudowire endpoints called attachment individual identifiers (AIIs). This document defines AII structures in the form of new AII TLV fields that support AII aggregation for improved scalability and Virtual Private Network (VPN) auto-discovery. It is envisioned that this would be useful in large inter-domain virtual private wire service networks where pseudowires are established between selected local and remote provider edge (PE) nodes based on customer need.
Terahertz quantum cascade lasers operating up to ∼ 200 K with optimized oscillator strength and improved injection tunneling.

A new temperature performance record of 199.5 K for terahertz quantum cascade lasers is achieved by optimizing the lasing transition oscillator strength of the resonant phonon based three-well design. The optimum oscillator strength of 0.58 was found to be larger than that of the previous record (0.41) by Kumar et al. [Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, 131105 (2009)]. The choice of tunneling barrier thicknesses was determined with a simplified density matrix model, which converged towards higher tunneling coupling strengths than previously explored and nearly perfect alignment of the states across the injection and extraction barriers at the design electric field. At 8 K, the device showed a threshold current density of 1 kA/cm2, with a peak output power of ∼ 38 mW, and lasing frequency blue-shifting from 2.6 THz to 2.85 THz with increasing bias. The wavelength blue-shifted to 3.22 THz closer to the maximum operating temperature of 199.5 K, which corresponds to ∼ 1. 28ħω/κB. The voltage dependence of laser frequency is related to the Stark effect of two intersubband transitions and is compared with the simulated gain spectra obtained by a Monte Carlo approach.
T Cells Engaging the Conserved MHC Class Ib Molecule Qa-1b with TAP-Independent Peptides Are Semi-Invariant Lymphocytes

The HLA-E homolog in the mouse (Qa-1b) is a conserved MHC class Ib molecule presenting monomorphic peptides to germline-encoded natural killer receptor CD94/NKG2A. Previously, we demonstrated the replacement of this canonical peptide by a diverse peptidome upon deficiency of the TAP peptide transporter. Analysis of this Qa-1b-restricted T cell repertoire against these non-mutated neoantigens revealed characteristics of conventional hypervariable CD8+ T cells, but also of invariant T cell receptor (TCR)αβ T cells. A shared TCR Vα chain was used by this subset in combination with a variety of Vβ chains. The TCRs target peptide ligands that are conserved between mouse and man, like the identified peptide derived from the transcriptional cofactor Med15. The thymus selection was studied in a TCR-transgenic mouse and emerging naïve CD8+ T cells displayed a slightly activated phenotype, as witnessed by higher CD122 and Ly6C expression. Moreover, the Qa-1b protein was dispensable for thymus selection. Importantly, no self-reactivity was observed as reported for other MHC class Ib-restricted subsets. Naïve Qa-1b restricted T cells expanded, contracted, and formed memory cells in vivo upon peptide vaccination in a similar manner as conventional CD8+ T cells. Based on these data, the Qa-1b restricted T cell subset might be positioned closest to conventional CD8+ T cells of all MHC class Ib populations.
Unifying latitudinal gradients in range size and richness across marine and terrestrial systems

Many marine and terrestrial clades show similar latitudinal gradients in species richness, but opposite gradients in range size—on land, ranges are the smallest in the tropics, whereas in the sea, ranges are the largest in the tropics. Therefore, richness gradients in marine and terrestrial systems do not arise from a shared latitudinal arrangement of species range sizes. Comparing terrestrial birds and marine bivalves, we find that gradients in range size are concordant at the level of genera. Here, both groups show a nested pattern in which narrow-ranging genera are confined to the tropics and broad-ranging genera extend across much of the gradient. We find that (i) genus range size and its variation with latitude is closely associated with per-genus species richness and (ii) broad-ranging genera contain more species both within and outside of the tropics when compared with tropical- or temperate-only genera. Within-genus species diversification thus promotes genus expansion to novel latitudes. Despite underlying differences in the species range-size gradients, species-rich genera are more likely to produce a descendant that extends its range relative to the ancestor's range. These results unify species richness gradients with those of genera, implying that birds and bivalves share similar latitudinal dynamics in net species diversification.
Resilient Design of Networked Control Systems Under Time Delay Switch Attacks, Application in Smart Grid

Industrial control systems are distributed hierarchical networks that share information via an assortment of communication protocols. Such systems are vulnerable to attacks that can cause disastrous consequences. This article focuses on time delay switch (TDS) attacks and shows that cryptographic solutions are ineffective in recovering from the denial of service component of TDS attacks. Therefore, a cryptography-free TDS recovery (CF-TDSR) communication protocol enhancement is developed that leverages adaptive channel redundancy techniques and a novel state estimator, to detect and recover from the destabilizing effects of TDS attacks. Simulation results are conducted to prove that CF-TDSR ensures the control stability of linear time invariant systems and to show the efficacy of CF-TDSR against attacks deployed on multi-area load frequency control components of a distributed power grid.
Paraoxonase (PON1 and PON3) Polymorphisms: Impact on Liver Expression and Atorvastatin-Lactone Hydrolysis

Atorvastatin δ-lactone, a major, pharmacologically inactive metabolite, has been associated with toxicity. In a previous study we showed that polymorphisms of UGT1A3 influence atorvastatin δ-lactone formation. Here we investigated the reverse reaction, atorvastatin δ-lactone hydrolysis, in a human liver bank. Screening of microarray data revealed paraoxonases PON1 and PON3 among 17 candidate esterases. Microsomal δ-lactone hydrolysis was significantly correlated to PON1 and PON3 protein (rs = 0.60; rs = 0.62, respectively; P < 0.0001). PON1 and PON3 were strongly correlated to each other (rs = 0.60) but PON1 was shown to be more extensively glycosylated than PON3. In addition a novel splice-variant of PON3 was identified. Genotyping of 40 polymorphisms within the PON-locus identified PON1 promoter polymorphisms (−108T > C, −832G > A, −1741G > A) and a tightly linked group of PON3 polymorphisms (−4984A > G, −4105G > A, −1091A > G, −746C > T, and F21F) to be associated with changes in atorvastatin δ-lactone hydrolysis and expression of PON1 but not PON3. However, carriers of the common PON1 polymorphisms L55M or Q192R showed no difference in δ-lactone hydrolysis or PON expression. Haplotype analysis revealed decreased δ-lactone hydrolysis in carriers of the most common haplotype *1 compared to carriers of haplotypes *2, *3, *4, and *7. Analysis of non-genetic factors showed association of hepatocellular and cholangiocellular carcinoma with decreased PON1 and PON3 expression, respectively. Increased C-reactive protein and γ-glutamyl transferase levels were associated with decreased protein expression of both enzymes, and increased bilirubin levels, cholestasis, and presurgical exposure to omeprazole or pantoprazole were related to decreased PON3 protein. In conclusion, PON-locus polymorphisms affect PON1 expression whereas non-genetic factors have an effect on PON1 and PON3 expression. This may influence response to therapy or adverse events in statin treatment.
Cell adhesion molecules take you home

The behavior of an individual is determined in large part by the wiring patterns in the nervous system. These patterns are generated by developmental programs that give rise to the right type and number of neurons, the locations of the cell bodies, morphologies of the axonal and dendritic processes, and the synaptic connections that interconnect neurons into neural circuits. The formation of neural circuits occurs in a series of steps during development. In the first step, a single axon extends from the cell body of the neuron, led by a structure called the growth cone. The growth cone is loaded with cell adhesion molecules that detect guidance cues from the environment to determine the path of migration; both cell–cell interactions and gradients of diffused ligands in the cellular milieu direct the axon to project to the correct target region. Once in the target region, the axon recognizes the right synaptic partner among many candidates to make synaptic connections. At the same time, neurons also elaborate dendrites to cover the appropriate receptive fields. Interactions between neurites control the spacing and overlap between neurons, which altogether generates the precise yet complex patterns of a neural circuit. One of the major challenges remained is to fully understand the molecular mechanisms that give rise to the formation of neural circuits in the central and peripheral nervous system. Cell adhesion molecules and their downstream signaling events play a key role in each step of neural development. The discovery of these molecules, their receptor and ligand pairs, subsequent downstream signaling, and phenotypic outcomes, was aided by combined biochemical and genetic efforts from multiple model organisms. Several notable families of neural cell adhesion molecules include: Immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) cell adhesion molecules, leucine-rich repeat (LRR) containing protein family, semaphorins, neurexins/neuroligins, integrins, and laminins. The largest group among these is IgSF cell adhesion molecules, which contain many important molecules that can be further subdivided into IgCAM (e.g., NCAM, DSCAM, cadherins, DCC, Robos), receptor protein tyrosine kinases (e.g., Eph/Ephrins, FGFR), and receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (e.g., DLAR). The interactions of these proteins are further translated into downstream signaling events, which direct the motility of neurites to be repelled from one another or to form adhesive connections through cytoskeletal remodeling. Cell adhesion molecules take you home Cell adhesion in axon guidance and neural circuit assembly
Expression and Localization of the Contractile Prostaglandin F Receptor in Pregnant Rat Myometrium in Late Gestation, Labor, and Postpartum1

Abstract A polyclonal antibody was raised against amino acids 7–18 in the first extracellular loop of rat prostaglandin F (FP) receptor to monitor expression and localization in pregnant rat myometrium at Gestational Days 16, 18, 20, 21, 21.5, 22 (delivery), and 23 (1-day postpartum; n = 5 per group). The antibody recognized a protein of approximately 43 kDa on Western blot analysis in both membrane (soluble and nonsoluble) and cytosolic fractions of myometrium on each day of gestation. Expression of FP protein increased significantly (P < 0.05) during late gestation in both soluble membrane and cytosolic fractions, being significantly greater at Day 21.5 than at Day 20 of gestation in the soluble membrane fraction and in the cytosolic fraction of tissues collected during labor compared with those obtained before labor. The total concentration of FP receptor in the membrane (soluble plus nonsoluble) remained high throughout late gestation and fell significantly (P < 0.05) in the postpartum period. The FP receptor in the soluble membrane fraction (compared to the total membrane FP receptor) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in late gestation than earlier, whereas the ratio of FP protein in cytosolic to that in the total membrane was significantly (P < 0.05) higher on Day 23 than earlier in gestation, suggesting a dynamic movement of FP with advancing gestational age. Immunoreactive FP receptor localized to circular and longitudinal smooth muscle at all gestational ages, but changes in intracellular localization were observed in late gestation with a staining pattern similar to α-actin, suggesting an association with myofibrils. Our study suggests an increase in FP-receptor protein in myometrium with advancing gestation and a marked elevation at term. This supports a role for uterine FP receptors in mediation of uterine contractility at term.
The MPEG-7 colour structure descriptor: image description using colour and local spatial information

Among the chief applications of the MPEG-7 visual descriptors is image indexing and retrieval. And among the colour image descriptors in the standard having the best retrieval performance is the colour structure (CS) descriptor, a descriptor that uses no more storage than an ordinary colour histogram but that substantially out-performs it. The basis of the CS descriptor is the CS histogram, a generalisation of the colour histogram. The CS histogram encodes information about the spatial structure of the colours in an image as well as their frequency of occurrence. Performance is further enhanced by extracting the CS histogram in the novel nonlinear HMMD colour space and by non-uniformly quantising histogram amplitudes to reflect the bin amplitude statistics derived from consumer oriented image databases. The CS descriptor is scalable in the sense that smaller, more compact, CS descriptors can be easily derived from the largest, highest performance descriptor without re-extraction from the image.
Decentralized multi-robot cooperative localization using covariance intersection

In this paper, we present a Covariance Intersection (CI)-based algorithm for reducing the processing and communication complexity of multi-robot Cooperative Localization (CL). Specifically, for a team of N robots, our proposed approximate CI-based CL approach has processing and communication complexity only linear, O(N), in the number of robots. Moreover, and in contrast to alternative approximate methods, our approach is provably consistent, can handle asynchronous communication, and does not place any restriction on the robots' motion. We test the performance of our proposed approach in both simulations and experimentally, and show that it outperforms the existing linear-complexity split CI-based CL method.
Biological therapy for the inner ear

Biological therapy for the inner ear has the potential to revolutionise the treatment of sensorineural hearing loss, the most common form of deafness. Progress in the molecular understanding of hearing and hearing loss, combined with advances in the fields of both gene and cellular therapy for the inner ear, is providing a robust foundation from which clinical translation is plausible. Potential areas of interest in gene therapy and its preclinical application to deafness are reviewed, and experimental progress that has occurred in cellular therapy for the inner ear is examined.
Definable and Contractible Contracts

This paper analyzes Bayesian normal form games in which players write contracts that condition their actions on the contracts of the other players. These contracts are required to be representable in a formal language. This is accomplished by constructing contracts which are definable functions of the Godel code of every other player's contract. We provide a complete characterization of the set of allocations supportable as pure strategy Bayesian equilibrium of this contracting game. When information is complete, this characterization provides a folk theorem. In general, the set of supportable allocations is smaller than the set supportable by a centralized mechanism designer.
Streptococcus pneumoniae in children in Spain: 1990–1999

This study analyses the serogroups/types (SGTs) and resistance to penicillin and erythromycin of 3921 strains isolated from 1990 to 1999 in children aged 0–14 y in Spanish hospitals of all the autonomous communities. Based on the age of the children, strains have been divided into five groups: 0–6 mo, <6–1 y, <1–2y, <2–5 y and 5 y. While only eight SGTs were responsible for 80% of the infections in children from 6 mo to 2 y of age, this number increased to 11 and 16 for the groups 2–5 y and <5–14 y, respectively. SGTs 6, 14 and 19 were prevalent in blood and otic exudates. SGTs 1, 4, 5, 12 and 18 were more frequent in invasive disease but serotype 3 was clearly associated with otitis. Serotypes 1 and 5 were quite significant in children of over 2 y of age, and this should be taken into account in future vaccine formulations.