Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interference Modeling and Performance Evaluation of Heterogeneous Cellular Networks

This work considers the development of a realistic statistical model to represent the interference in heterogeneous wireless networks. The considered networks are comprised of one or more femtocells deployed in buildings with unknown internal structures and a preplanned cellular network. The proposed interference model is based on a novel random floor plan generator, which is used to construct a statistical rather than site-specific floor plans. The developed model is augmented with Nakagami fading to represent the femtocell interference signal in the outdoor environment. The model is then utilized to evaluate the performance of the macrocell users where closed-form formulae for the outage probability and signal-to-interference ratio at the receiver front-end are derived. The obtained results reveal that a femtocell signal propagating from an indoor transmitter to an outdoor receiver will experience a composite shadowing/fading process where the Nakagami distribution is adopted for the fading part while the shadowing is modeled by lognormal mixture distribution. Analytical and simulation results show that placing the femtocell base-station (FBS) close to the center of the house can significantly reduce the impact of the interference on the outdoor macrocell users as compared to a randomly placed FBS.
Calculation of complex singular solutions to the 3 D incompressible

This paper presents numerical computations of complex singular solutions to the 3D incompressible Euler equations. The Euler solutions found here consist of a complex valued velocity field u+ that contains all positive wavenumbers; u+ satisfies the usual Euler equations but with complex initial data. The real valued velocity u = u++u− (where u− = u+) is an approximate singular solution to the Euler equations under Moore’s approximation. The method for computing singular solutions is an extension of that in Caflisch (1993) [25] for axisymmetric flow with swirl, but with several improvements that prevent the extreme magnification of round-off error which affected previous computations. This enables the first clean analysis of the singular surface in three-dimensional complex space. We find singularities in the velocity field of the form u+ ∼ ξα−1 for α near 3/2 and u+ ∼ log ξ , where ξ = 0 denotes the singularity surface. The logarithmic singular surface is related to the double exponential growth of vorticity observed in recent numerical simulations. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
NH125 kills methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus persisters by lipid bilayer disruption.

BACKGROUND NH125, a known WalK inhibitor kills MRSA persisters. However, its precise mode of action is still unknown. METHODS & RESULTS The mode of action of NH125 was investigated by comparing its spectrum of antimicrobial activity and its effects on membrane permeability and giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) with walrycin B, a WalR inhibitor and benzyldimethylhexadecylammonium chloride (16-BAC), a cationic surfactant. NH125 killed persister cells of a variety of Staphylococcus aureus strains. Similar to 16-BAC, NH125 killed MRSA persisters by inducing rapid membrane permeabilization and caused the rupture of GUVs, whereas walrycin B did not kill MRSA persisters or induce membrane permeabilization and did not affect GUVs. CONCLUSION NH125 kills MRSA persisters by interacting with and disrupting membranes in a detergent-like manner.
Correlation between CH2DS2-VASc Score and Serum Leptin Levels in Cardioembolic Stroke Patients: The Impact of Metabolic Syndrome

Objective To determine adipokines levels in patients with different etiologic subtypes of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) status. Methods Serum adiponectin, leptin, and resistin levels were determined by ELISA in 99 AIS patients and 59 stroke-free control group subjects. Stroke patients were grouped based on MetS, modified TOAST classification, and CHA2DS2-VASc scale in case of cardioembolic stroke following atrial fibrillation. Results No differences were found in all adipokine serum levels between AIS patients and appropriately matched control group. MetS-AIS patients had significantly higher leptin levels (22.71 ± 19.01 ng/ml versus 8.95 ± 9.22 ng/ml, p < 0.001) and lower adiponectin levels (10.71 ± 8.59 ng/ml versus 14.93 ± 10.95 ng/ml, p < 0.05) than non-MetS-AIS patients. In patients with cardioembolic stroke, leptin levels were significantly higher than in remaining stroke cases (19.57 ± 20.53 ng/ml versus 13.17 ± 12.36 ng/ml, p < 0.05) and CHA2DS2-VASc score positively correlated with leptin levels only (p < 0.001). Analysis of individual components of CHA2DS2-VASc score showed that hypertension, female gender, and diabetes had greatest impact on elevated serum leptin level. Conclusion This pilot study revealed that leptin could be a potential biomarker for risk stratification of cardioembolic stroke in MetS patients and that heterogeneity of stroke subtypes should be considered for more refined and precise clinical stroke studies.
[Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome].

(MPGN) Hemolytic Uremic syndrome (HUS) is characterized by the triad of anemia, thrombocytopenia and renal dysfunction. Approximately 10% of cases of HUS are atypical. Typical HUS is preceded by diarrhea and is associated with E. Coli infections, whereas in atypical HUS (aHUS) diarrhea is absent and a relapsing of familial presentation is seen. MPGN is a kidney disease characterized by dense deposits within the glomerular capillary wall, associated with impaired glomerular function to filter plasma and generate a protein-free ultrafiltrate. MPGN typically presents with a hematuria and/or proteinuria, acute nephritic syndrome or nephritic syndrome. It most frequently affects children between the ages of five and 15. Both aHUS and MPGN are associated with dysfunction of the alternative complement pathway (AP) involved in innate immunity, frequently progressing to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis or kidney transplantation. aHUS and MPGN are part of a spectrum of disease defined by the underlying molecular defect. COMPLEMENT BASED RENAL DISEASE Includes Atypical Hemolytic Uremic syndrome and Membranoproliferative Glomerulonephritis
Quantification of Housekeeping Transcript Levels During the Development of Bovine Preimplantation Embryos1

Abstract In mammals, the study of gene expression in the preimplantation embryo has been difficult because the standard procedures used to quantify mRNA generally require large amounts of starting material. The development of protocols using different quantitative strategies generally involving the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has provided new tools for exploration of gene expression in preimplantation embryos. However, the use of an internal standard, often referred as a housekeeping gene, is essential to normalize the mRNA levels. RNA levels of eight housekeeping genes were quantified using real time PCR throughout the preimplantation period of the bovine embryo to find the most suitable gene to be used as standard. Histone H2a was the best internal standard because the transcript levels were constant across the preimplantation period. Linear amplification of antisense RNA using the T7 promotor for in vitro transcription of the entire RNA pool was evaluated as a suitable way to preamplify the starting material prior to quantification and was effective in providing accurate RNA abundance profiles throughout the preimplantation period. However, the amplification appears to be template dependent because the amplification factors were higher for some genes.
C-Band Polarimetric Backscattering Signatures of Newly Formed Sea Ice During Fall Freeze-Up

A study of the polarimetric backscattering response of newly formed sea ice types under a large assortment of surface coverage was conducted using a ship-based C-band polarimetric radar system. Polarimetric backscattering results and physical data for 40 stations during the fall freeze-up of 2003, 2006, and 2007 are presented. Analysis of the copolarized correlation coefficient showed its sensitivity to both sea ice thickness and surface coverage and resulted in a statistically significant separation of ice thickness into two regimes: ice less than 6 cm thick and ice greater than 8 cm thick. A case study quantified the backscatter of a layer of snow infiltrated frost flowers on new sea ice, showing that the presence of the old frost flowers can enhance the backscatter by more than 6 dB. Finally, a statistical analysis of a series of temporal-spatial measurements over a visually homogeneous frost-flower-covered ice floe identified temperature as a significant, but not exclusive, factor in the backscattering measurements.
A middleware framework for urban data management

The domain of inquiry of this research is the collection, organization, integration, distribution and consumption of knowledge derived from urban open data, and how it can be best offered to application cities' stakeholders through a software middleware. We argue that the extensive investigation proposed in this research will contribute to a growing body of knowledge about data integration and application in smart cities, and offer opportunities to re-think an integrated urban infrastructure.
Airavat: Security and Privacy for MapReduce

We present Airavat, a MapReduce-based system which provides strong security and privacy guarantees for distributed computations on sensitive data. Airavat is a novel integration of mandatory access control and differential privacy. Data providers control the security policy for their sensitive data, including a mathematical bound on potential privacy violations. Users without security expertise can perform computations on the data, but Airavat confines these computations, preventing information leakage beyond the data provider's policy. Our prototype implementation demonstrates the flexibility of Airavat on several case studies. The prototype is efficient, with run times on Amazon's cloud computing infrastructure within 32% of a MapReduce system with no security.
On the design of multifiber WDM networks

In this paper, we address multifiber optical networks with Wavelength Division Multiplexing (\wdm). Assuming that the lightpaths use the same wavelength from source to destination, we extend the definition of the well-known Wavelength Assignment Problem (\wap) to the case where there are $k$ fibers per link, and $w$ wavelengths per fiber are available. This generalization is called the $(k,w)$-\wap. We develop a new model for the $(k,w)$-\wap based on \emph{ conflict hypergraphs}. Conflict hypergraphs accurately capture the lightpath interdependencies, generalizing the conflict graphs used for single-fiber networks. By relating the $(k,w)$-\wap with the hypergraph coloring problem, we prove that the former is \npc, and present further results with respect to the complexity of that problem. We consider the two natural optimization problems that arise from the $(k,w)$-\wap : the problem of minimizing $k$ given $w$, and that of minimizing $w$ given $k$. We develop and analyze the practical performances of two methodologies based on hypergraph coloring, one for each of the two optimization problems, on existing backbone networks in Europe and in the USA. The first methodology relies on an integer programming formulation, and the second consists of a heuristic based on a randomized algorithm.
Summary health statistics for the U.S. population: National Health Interview Survey, 2010.

OBJECTIVE This report presents both age-adjusted and unadjusted health statistics from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States. Estimates are disaggregated by sex, age, race, Hispanic origin, education, family income, poverty status, health insurance coverage (where appropriate), place of residence, and region of residence. The topics covered are respondent-assessed health status, limitations in activities, special education or early intervention services, injury and poisoning episodes, health care access and utilization, and health insurance coverage. DATA SOURCE NHIS is a household, multistage probability sample survey conducted annually by interviewers of the U.S. Census Bureau for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. In 2010, household interviews were completed for 89,976 persons living in 34,329 households, reflecting a household response rate of 79.5%. SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS Nearly 7 in 10 persons were in excellent or very good health in 2010. About 38 million persons (12%) were limited in their usual activities due to one or more chronic health conditions. About 5 million persons (2%) required the help of another person with activities of daily living, and about 9 million persons (4%) required the help of another person with instrumental activities of daily living. About 7% of children received special education or early intervention services. Among persons under age 65 years, about 48 million (19%) did not have any health insurance coverage. The most common reason for lacking health insurance was cost, followed by a change in employment.
Does Mobility Matter? An Evaluation Methodology for Opportunistic Apps

This paper presents a methodology to guide the evaluation of social distributed applications in mobile environments. Even when applications are already designed, they exhibit a number of tuning parameters upon which network operators can act in order to improve performance. Accordingly, evaluation can be a valuable tool to determine for a particular mobile application which is the most suitable parameters setup from a performance point of view. Our methodology can be of great interest in this tuning process, thus saving both time and money. The main novelty of this methodology is the use of diversification to recreate mobile environments using both synthetic and real mobility traces. Our work focuses on how micro-mobility may impact social distributed applications. The feasibility of the paper is showed through a realistic microblogging case study.
Simulation study on the template release mechanism and damage estimation for various release methods in nanoimprint lithography

Template release during nanoimprint lithography was simulated and the detailed steps of this process were described. Template release was shown to start with the separation of the residual layer, which propagated along the sidewall of the template. After template separation, the template lifted up and release was completed. The maximum template releases force related to the stretching of the resist before separation of the template from the residual resist layer. The results of the simulation were supported by experimental analysis. Moreover, induced inner strain in the resist during release was estimated to investigate the factors responsible for the formation of resist defects for various release methods, such as lift-off, peeling, and roll-to-roll release.
Minimization of Interprocessor Communication for Parallel Computation

This paper is concerned with minimizing the delay due to data communication during the execution of a parallel algorithm on an SIMD computer with a two-way circular unit-shift interconnection network. Algorithms are developed which determine, for a given parallel procedure, the order of computation within that procedure, for every parallel arithmetic expression, the alignment of operands for every binary operation, and the mapping and remapping of data into physical memories so that the communication cost is minimized. The proposed algorithms are applicable to array variables with special types of index functions.
Immunohistochemistry Applied to the Differential Diagnosis Between Ductal and Lobular Carcinoma of the Breast

The distinction between classic lobular and ductal carcinoma, both in situ and invasive, has important therapeutic and management implications. Most ductal and lobular carcinomas are distinguished readily on hematoxylin-eosin–stained sections because of distinct histomorphologic features. In cases with ambiguous morphologic features, however, categorization in one or another type can be a challenge. Several immunohistochemical markers, including epithelial cadherin, p120, &bgr;-catenin, and low–molecular-weight and high–molecular-weight cytokeratins among others, have been introduced to help better discriminate between lobular neoplasia and ductal carcinoma. In this critical review of the literature, we comment about the usefulness and the limitations of these markers to improve the accuracy in the differential diagnosis of breast pathology.
Optimization Architecture of a Modular Architecture for Robotic Control: MARC Control Structure Applied to a VTOL UAV

This paper presents a Modular Architecture for Robotic Control (MARC) for unconventional Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). MARC was developed for a Double-Ducted Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) vehicle, capable of maneuvering within densely obstructed environments. The focus of this paper is to present the characteristics of the MARC architecture for the use of a twin-duct VTOL as an optimal platform for indoor flight used for surveillance and reconnaissance missions. This paper describes how MARC utilizes dynamic weighting, from potential functions, to impact the influence of multiple independent task and action based control systems. MARC optimizes the influence of multiple control modules to enable complex behaviors based on user defined operational goals. The test vehicle possesses flight characteristics that incorporate optimal control in 6 DOF for rapid "aggressive" maneuvers for navigation. The results showcase the potential for the MARC control system to optimize the performance of mobile robotics, specifically unconventional vehicles.
Patient reported outcomes in a trial of combination therapy with etanercept and methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis: the TEMPO trial

Objective: To compare patient reported measures of function, health related quality of life (QoL), and satisfaction with medication among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with methotrexate (MTX), etanercept, or both for up to 1 year. Methods: In a 52 week, double blind, clinical trial, patients with active RA were randomised to receive etanercept 25 mg twice weekly, methotrexate up to 20 mg weekly, or combination therapy. The Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) disability index, EuroQoL health status visual analogue scale (EQ-5D VAS), patient global assessment, and patient general health VAS were administered at baseline and weeks 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 32, 40, 48, and 52. Satisfaction with the medication was compared at 52 weeks. Results: Of 682 enrolled patients, 522 completed 52 weeks of treatment. Mean improvement from baseline in HAQ score was 0.65, 0.70, and 1.0 for MTX, etanercept, and the combination, respectively. The mean percentage and absolute improvement in the HAQ was significantly higher (p<0.01) for combination therapy than for either of the monotherapies. Combination therapy produced significantly more rapid achievement of HAQ ⩽0.5 sustained for 6 months than either of the monotherapies (p<0.01). Compared with patients receiving monotherapy, those receiving combination therapy achieved a significantly better (p<0.05) health state as measured by the EQ-5D VAS (mean (SD) 63.7 (3.2), 66.8 (3.2), 72.7 (3.1) for MTX, etanercept, and the combination, respectively). Results were similar for other assessments (p<0.01). Patients in combination and etanercept groups were significantly more likely (p<0.0001, p = 0.0009, respectively) to report satisfaction with the medication. Conclusions: Combination therapy with etanercept and methotrexate improved function, QoL, and satisfaction with the medication significantly more than monotherapy.
Net loss of CaCO 3 from coral reef communities due to human induced seawater acidification

Net loss of CaCO3 from coral reef communities due to human induced seawater acidification A. J. Andersson, I. B. Kuffner, F. T. Mackenzie, P. L. Jokiel, K. S. Rodgers, and A. Tan Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, St. George’s, Bermuda US Geological Survey, Florida Integrated Science Center, St. Petersburg, FL, USA Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, Kaneohe, HI, USA Received: 31 December 2008 – Accepted: 8 January 2009 – Published: Correspondence to: A. J. Andersson (andreas.andersson@bios.edu) Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union.
Nonparametric discriminant HMM and application to facial expression recognition

This paper presents a nonparametric discriminant HMM and applies it to facial expression recognition. In the proposed HMM, we introduce an effective nonparametric output probability estimation method to increase the discrimination ability at both hidden state level and class level. The proposed method uses a nonparametric adaptive kernel to utilize information from all classes and improve the discrimination at class level. The discrimination between hidden states is increased by defining membership coefficients which associate each reference vector with hidden states. The adaption of such coefficients is obtained by the expectation maximization (EM) method. Furthermore, we present a general formula for the estimation of output probability, which provides a way to develop new HMMs. Finally, we evaluate the performance of the proposed method on the CMU expression database and compare it with other nonparametric HMMs.
Ezetimibe in Combination With a Statin Does Not Reduce All-Cause Mortality

Background Although the ezetimibe-statin combination has been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol by 12% compared to a statin alone, its effect on hard clinical endpoints such as mortality is less certain. Prior trials evaluated this combination in highly select population groups, but impact on all- cause mortality in the general population has not been reported. Methods A total of 3,827 subjects who were prescribed either a statin (group 1) or the combination of statin with ezetimibe (group 2) between January 1st, 2005 and January 1st, 2008 were studied. Socio-demographic and clinical variables and mortality records were analyzed. Univariate and stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the impact of ezetimibe on all-cause mortality, controlling for patient characteristics, selected cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, and medications. Results Group 1 (n = 2,909), and group 2 (n = 918) were similar in regards to most demographic variables, 152 patients died from any cause during the study period. There was no difference in all cause mortality between the groups. Hypertension, higher HDL-C and omega-3 fatty acid use were associated with ezetimibe use in this cohort of patients and were considered as covariates in the analysis. Patients on the drug combination did not experience lower mortality after controlling for covariates and other significant risk factors. Conclusions No significant mortality benefit was found with the use of ezetimibe in combination with a statin over use of a statin alone. Omega-3 fatty acid use and higher HDL-C demonstrated a substantial survival benefit.