Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatial and temporal changes in Aniene river basin (Latium,Italy) using landscape metrics and moving window technique

Landscape ecology is largely founded on the notion that environmental patterns strongly influence ecological processes anthropogenic activities can disrupt the structural integrity of landscapes and change ecological flows across the landscape. For these and other reasons have been developed methods to quantify landscape patterns. �his study focused �his study focused on Aniene river basin changes both at spatial and temporal scale. �he results highlights a good stability of the woodland patches closer to the mountain chains ridges and in the middle of the river basin and losses of the forest patches closer to the valleys areas and in the periphery of Rome.
Asymptotic analysis of error probability and outage behavior of equal-gain combining

In this paper, we investigate the error probability, diversity analysis and outage capacity of a general multiple-antenna equal-gain receive combining (EGC) scheme with an arbitrary number of antennas at high signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio. As will be shown, the proposed approach which is based on Taylor expansion provides a powerful tool for analysis of EGC schemes in terms of diversity and outage capacity. The approximations used in this approach lead to low complexity solutions that are very close to exact values, as shown by the simulation results.
Analysis of a Clonal Lineage of HIV-1 Envelope V2/V3 Conformational Epitope-Specific Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies and Their Inferred Unmutated Common Ancestors

ABSTRACT V2/V3 conformational epitope antibodies that broadly neutralize HIV-1 (PG9 and PG16) have been recently described. Since an elicitation of previously known broadly neutralizing antibodies has proven elusive, the induction of antibodies with such specificity is an important goal for HIV-1 vaccine development. A critical question is which immunogens and vaccine formulations might be used to trigger and drive the development of memory B cell precursors with V2/V3 conformational epitope specificity. In this paper we identified a clonal lineage of four V2/V3 conformational epitope broadly neutralizing antibodies (CH01 to CH04) from an African HIV-1-infected broad neutralizer and inferred their common reverted unmutated ancestor (RUA) antibodies. While conformational epitope antibodies rarely bind recombinant Env monomers, a screen of 32 recombinant envelopes for binding to the CH01 to CH04 antibodies showed monoclonal antibody (MAb) binding to the E.A244 gp120 Env and to chronic Env AE.CM243; MAbs CH01 and CH02 also bound to transmitted/founder Env B.9021. CH01 to CH04 neutralized 38% to 49% of a panel of 91 HIV-1 tier 2 pseudoviruses, while the RUAs neutralized only 16% of HIV-1 isolates. Although the reverted unmutated ancestors showed restricted neutralizing activity, they retained the ability to bind to the E.A244 gp120 HIV-1 envelope with an affinity predicted to trigger B cell development. Thus, E.A244, B.9021, and AE.CM243 Envs are three potential immunogen candidates for studies aimed at defining strategies to induce V2/V3 conformational epitope-specific antibodies.
First Case Report of Bloodstream Infection Due to a Candida Species Closely Related to the Novel Species Candida pseudorugosa

ABSTRACT Candida pseudorugosa is a novel species closely related to Candida rugosa for which only one case has been reported. We report the first case of a bloodstream infection in humans caused by a Candida sp. closely related to C. pseudorugosa. We contribute evidence to show this organism as a potential human pathogen that may be misidentified by conventional methods, also pointing out its lower sensitivity to azoles and other antifungal agents.
Plenary talk: Ericcson's initiatives on 4G technologies

Evolution of 4G technology : Mobile Broadband is doing to internet what mobile phone did to telephony — bringing it anywhere, anytime. Driven by personalization and always-on internet demand, Mobile broadband is becoming a natural part of daily life and we believe that broadband will become a necessity. This section will cover how the mobile networks need to evolve from primarily voice centric networks to the next generation high performance data networks. Glimpse of LTE : LTE has the potential to completely reshape the wireless mobile landscape. LTE is the enabler for future services that have not been dreamed up yet! This section will be giving an overview about the technology behind the LTE. Ericsson's initiatives to bring 4G technology to the mass market : Ericsson envisions a networked society where everything that can benefit from a connection will have one. LTE is a key enabling technology for making that shift. Hence, relevant and continuous investments in R&D within LTE continue to be essential for Ericsson. The section will cover Ericsson's contribution towards the development of the 4G technology.
Level identification of brain MR images using histogram of a LBP variant

Axial brain slices containing similar anatomical structures are retrieved using features derived from the histogram of Local binary pattern (LBP). A rotation invariant description of texture in terms of texture patterns and their strength is obtained with the incorporation of local variance to the LBP, called Modified LBP (MOD-LBP). In this paper, we compare Histogram based Features of LBP (HF/LBP), against Histogram based Features of MOD-LBP (HF/MOD-LBP) in retrieving similar axial brain images. We show that replacing local histogram with a local distance transform based similarity metric further improves the performance of MOD-LBP based image retrieval.
Approximation of Gaussian by Scaling Functions and Biorthogonal Scaling Polynomials

The derivatives of the Gaussian function, G(x) = 1 √ 2π e−x 2/2, produce the Hermite polynomials by the relation, (−1)mG(m)(x) = Hm(x)G(x), m = 0, 1, . , where Hm(x) are Hermite polynomials of degree m. The orthonormal property of the Hermite polynomials, 1 m! R ∞ −∞ Hm(x)Hn(x)G(x)dx = δmn, can be considered as a biorthogonal relation between the derivatives of the Gaussian, {(−1)nG(n) : n = 0, 1, . }, and the Hermite polynomials, {m m! : m = 0, 1, . }. These relationships between the Gaussian and the Hermite polynomials are useful in linear scale-space analysis and applications to human and machine vision and image processing. The main objective of this paper is to extend these properties to a family of scaling functions that approximate the Gaussian function and to construct a family of Appell sequences of “scaling biorthogonal polynomials” that approximate the Hermite polynomials. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 41A15, 41A30, 42C05, 42C15
Small target detection in infrared clutter using dark channel prior and improved local entropy

In this article, we propose an infrared background clutter suppression technique using a similar method with the haze removal algorithm based on dark channel prior. The proposed method introduce some modifications to make the original haze removal algorithm can work in gray-scale infrared image in real-time. In addition, after the background suppression, we address a efficient algorithm for small target detection, which incorporate Box-Filtering technique into traditional small infrared target detecting based on LEA. This improved method reduces a large number of redundant calculations in traditional Local Entropy algorithm by applying the iterative operations instead of using traditional approach. We provide detailed analysis for time complexity and the results of simulation experiments with real world infrared images in the final of this work.
On distributed computation of Pareto solutions for two decision makers

The problem of computing Pareto optimal solutions with distributed methods is considered in games with two decision makers (DMs). Distributed computation schemes do not require the DMs to know each others' objective functions. Such procedures are especially relevant in real life situations where the DMs are unwilling or unable to disclose their goals. Problems of this kind include negotiations as well as hierarchical optimization of large-scale systems.
The effect of second-line antiestrogen therapy on breast tumor growth after first-line treatment with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole: long-term studies using the intratumoral aromatase postmenopausal breast cancer model.

PURPOSE The aromatase inhibitors letrozole and anastrozole have been approvedrecently as first-line treatment options for hormone-dependent advanced breast cancer. Although it is established that a proportion of patients who relapse on first-line tamoxifen therapy show additional responses to aromatase inhibitors, it has not been determined whether tumors that acquire resistance to aromatase inhibitors in the first line remain sensitive to second-line therapy with antiestrogens. The aim of this study was to determine whether aromatase-transfected and hormone-dependent MCF-7Ca human breast cancer cells remain sensitive to antiestrogens after: (a) long-term growth in steroid-depleted medium in vitro; and (b) long-term treatment with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole in vivo. METHODS In the first approach, a variant of the MCF-7Ca human breast cancer cell line was selected that had acquired the ability to grow in estrogen-depleted medium after 6-8 months of culture. Steroid-deprived UMB-1Ca cells were analyzed for aromatase activity levels, hormone receptor levels, and sensitivity to estrogens and antiestrogens in vitro and in vivo. In the second approach, established MCF-7Ca breast tumor xenografts were treated with letrozole 10 microg/day for 12 weeks followed by 100 microg/day for 25 weeks until tumors acquired the ability to proliferate in the presence of the drug. Long-term letrozole-treated tumors were then transplanted into new mice, and the effects of antiestrogens and aromatase inhibitors on tumor growth were determined. RESULTS Steroid-deprived UMB-1Ca breast cancer cells continued to express aromatase activity at levels comparable with the parental cell line. However, compared with MCF-7Ca cells, UMB-1Ca cells expressed elevated levels of functionally active estrogen receptor. The growth of UMB-1Ca cells in vitro was inhibited by the antiestrogens tamoxifen and faslodex and tumor growth in vivo was inhibited by tamoxifen. In the second approach, the time for MCF-7Ca tumor xenografts to approximately double in volume after being treated sequentially with the increasing doses of letrozole was thirty-seven weeks. Long-term letrozole-treated tumors continued to express functionally active aromatase. When transplanted into new mice, growth of the long-term letrozole-treated tumors was slowed by tamoxifen and inhibited more effectively by faslodex. Tumor growth was refractory to the aromatase inhibitors anastrozole and formestane but, surprisingly, showed sensitivity to letrozole. CONCLUSIONS Steroid-deprived UMB-1Ca human breast cancer cells selected in vitro and long-term letrozole-treated MCF-7Ca breast tumor xenografts remain sensitive to second-line therapy with antiestrogens and, in particular, to faslodex. This finding is associated with increased expression of functionally active estrogen receptor after steroid-deprivation of MCF-7Ca human breast cancer cells in vitro.
EVIDENCIA ADICIONAL DEL EFECTO SOBRE-REACCIÓN EN EL MERCADO ESPAÑOL DE CAPITALES

In a previous work, Forner and Marhuenda (2001) find that the contrarian strategy, thatis, the forming of a zero-investment portfolio that buys the stocks that have performed poorly inthe past (losers) and sells those that have performed well (winners), does not yield abnormallypositive returns in the future when three-years periods are analysed, so there does not seem to beany over-reaction phenomenon in the Spanish Stock Market. In this work, additional empiricalevidence is presented with regard to the behaviour of the contrarian strategy, and someimprovements have been made to certain issues. On one hand, the number of contrarianstrategies analysed is increased to four, depending on how the winners and losers are selected:Either three- or five-year formation periods and cumulative returns obtained from an additive ora buy-and-hold procedure. On the other hand, two methodological issues are enhanced: (i) thelong-run returns of the portfolios are calculated with both the additive and the buy-and-holdprocedures, and (ii) the methodologies used allow us to work with overlapping test-periods.Finally, a seasonal analysis of the behaviour of the contrarian strategy is made with a cleardistinction being made between January and the rest of the year. This more exhaustive studyshows that, in principle, we can not discard the existence of an over-reaction effect in theSpanish Stock market when we observe five-year time horizons. En un trabajo previo, Forner y Marhuenda (2001) obtienen que la estrategia contraria, consistente en construir una cartera de coste cero que compra los titulos que peor se han comportado en el pasado (perdedores) y vende los que mejor lo han hecho (ganadores), no proporciona rentabilidades anormalmente positivas en el futuro cuando se analizan periodos de tres anos, rechazandose por tanto la existencia de un efecto sobre-reaccion en el mercado espanol y contradiciendo la evidencia previa obtenida en este mercado por Alonso y Rubio (1990). En este trabajo se aporta evidencia adicional sobre el comportamiento de la estrategia contraria mejorando varios aspectos. Por una parte se amplia a cuatro el numero de estrategias contrarias analizadas dependiendo de como seleccionen los titulos ganadores y perdedores: periodos de formacion de tres o cinco anos y rentabilidad acumulada de forma aditiva o compuesta. Por otra parte se mejoran varios aspectos metodologicos: (i) las rentabilidades a largo plazo de las carteras son calculadas ademas de con el procedimiento aditivo con el de comprar-y-mantener, y (ii) se emplean metodologias que permiten trabajar con periodos de prueba solapados. Finalmente, se realiza un analisis estacional del comportamiento de la estrategia contraria diferenciando entre el mes de enero y el resto del ano. Este estudio mas exhaustivo de la estrategia contraria pone de manifiesto que la existencia de un efecto sobre-reaccion en el mercado espanol no puede ser rechazada en principio para horizontes temporales de cinco anos.
A critical review of marine sedimentaryδ13Corg‐pCO2 estimates: New palaeorecords from the South China Sea and a revisit of other low‐latitude δ13Corg‐pCO2 records

In an attempt to understand better the local biogeochemistry of the South China Sea (SCS) and to unravel the contribution of this marginal low‐latitude basin to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, we analyzed the carbon isotopic composition of organic matter (δ13Corg) in four sediment cores from throughout the SCS covering the last 220 kyr. Higher values (around −19.5 to −20.5‰) mark glacial stages, while lower values (around −21 to −22.5‰) are characteristic of interglacials. Following well established procedures, the δ13Corg records are converted to local pCO2 estimates. On the basis of these and other low‐latitude δ13Corg−pCO2 estimates from the literature, we present a critical evaluation of the use of δ13C of bulk sedimentary organic matter to hindcast past changes in local CO2(aq). Three crucial pitfalls are identified. (1) Given the present inability to quantify precisely the time‐varying amount of terrigenous Corg input to marine sediments, absolute values of pCO2 estimates based on bulk sedimentary Corg are questionable. (2) None of the low‐latitude sedimentary δ13Corg−pCO2 records shows the expected correlation between temporal changes in upwelling intensity and CO2 estimates, most likely due to the antagonistic influences of CO2(aq) and phytoplankton growth rate on δ13Corg. (3) A detailed comparison of marine δ13Corg−pCO2 records with the Vostok CO2 record reveals significant differences in phasing, specifically at the end of the last deglaciation and during the oxygen isotope stage 5/4 transition. However, in areas where equilibrium between oceanic and atmospheric CO2 occurs, for example the SCS and the Mediterranean, the timing of changes in δ13Corg should agree with the CO2 record from ice cores if δ13Corg is a reliable proxy for changes in CO2(aq). Taken together, the compilation of records presented here cautions the use of δ13Corg as an unambiguous tracer of dissolved molecular CO2 in the surface ocean and calls for a re‐evaluation of the role of the low‐latitude ocean on temporal changes in atmospheric CO2.
Xenobiotic metabolism induction and bulky DNA adducts generated by particulate matter pollution in BEAS‐2B cell line: geographical and seasonal influence

Airborne particulate matter (PM) toxicity is of growing interest as diesel exhaust particles have been classified as carcinogenic to humans. However, PM is a mixture of chemicals, and respective contribution of organic and inorganic fractions to PM toxicity remains unclear. Thus, we analysed the link between chemical composition of PM samples and bulky DNA adduct formation supported by CYP1A1 and 1B1 genes induction and catalytic activities. We used six native PM samples, collected in industrial, rural or urban areas, either during the summer or winter, and carried out our experiments on the human bronchial epithelial cell line BEAS‐2B. Cell exposure to PM resulted in CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 genes induction. This was followed by an increase in EROD activity, leading to bulky DNA adduct formation in exposed cells. Bulky DNA adduct intensity was associated to global EROD activity, but this activity was poorly correlated with CYPs mRNA levels. However, EROD activity was correlated with both metal and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) content. Finally, principal components analysis revealed three clusters for PM chemicals, and suggested synergistic effects of metals and PAHs on bulky DNA adduct levels. This study showed the ability of PM samples from various origins to generate bulky DNA adducts in BEAS‐2B cells. This formation was promoted by increased expression and activity of CYPs involved in PAHs activation into reactive metabolites. However, our data highlight that bulky DNA adduct formation is only partly explained by PM content in PAHs, and suggest that inorganic compounds, such as iron, may promote bulky DNA adduct formation by supporting CYP activity. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Secure End-to-End Communication with Optimal Throughput in Unreliable Networks

We demonstrate the feasibility of end-to-end communication in highly unreliable networks. Modeling a network as a graph with vertices representing nodes and edges representing the links between them, we consider two forms of unreliability: unpredictable edge-failures, and deliberate deviation from protocol specifications by corrupt nodes. We present a robust routing protocol for end-to-end communication that is simultaneously resilient to both forms of unreliability. In particular, we prove rigorously that our protocol is SECURE against the actions of the corrupt nodes, achieves correctness (Receiver gets ALL of the messages from Sender, in order and without modification), and enjoys provably optimal throughput performance, as measured using competitive analysis. Furthermore, our protocol does not incur any asymptotic memory overhead as compared to other protocols that are unable to handle malicious interference of corrupt nodes. In particular, our protocol requires O(n^2) memory per processor, where n is the size of the network. This represents an O(n^2) improvement over all existing protocols that have been designed for this network model.
Diagnostic utility of MRI and MR arthrography for detection of ligamentum teres tears: a retrospective analysis of 187 patients with hip pain.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic utility of MRI and MR arthrography for ligamentum teres tears in patients with hip pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a retrospective study involving 187 patients who underwent MRI or MR arthrography for hip pain. This study included 103 male and 84 female patients with average age of 39 years. Three experienced musculoskeletal radiologists reviewed the MRI and MR arthrography studies to assess the ligamentum teres tears. The criteria for diagnosing normal or abnormal (i.e., ligament), partial or degenerative or complete tear of ligamentum teres were defined on the basis of several imaging characteristics. The MRI and MR arthrography results were correlated with arthroscopy, which served as the reference standard. Statistical analysis was performed to calculate the diagnostic yield, diagnostic accuracy, and diagnostic performance of MRI and MR arthrography in detecting partial or degenerative and complete ligamentum teres tears. Overall comparative performance of MRI and MR arthrography was assessed using Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS For partial ligamentum teres tears, MRI showed lower sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value (0.41, 0.75, and 0.32, respectively) as compared to MR arthrography (0.83, 0.93, and 0.76, respectively), whereas the negative predictive value of MRI (0.82) was comparable to that of MR arthrography (0.95). No statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) could be identified between MRI and MR arthrography for diagnosing complete ligamentum teres tears. CONCLUSION Hip MRI is equally suited for diagnosis of complete ligamentum teres tears when compared with MR arthrography. By contrast, for partial or degenerative ligamentum teres tears, MR arthrography offers the advantage of better arthroscopic correlation.
Translational Landscape of Photomorphogenic Arabidopsis[W]

This work describes translational activity at single-nucleotide resolution in deetiolating Arabidopsis. Light selectively triggers the increase or decrease of ribosome density of specific transcripts. This work also reports the global effects of upstream open reading frames and microRNAs in negatively regulating the translation of annotated open reading frames in deetiolating Arabidopsis. Translational control plays a vital role in regulating gene expression. To decipher the molecular basis of translational regulation in photomorphogenic Arabidopsis thaliana, we adopted a ribosome profiling method to map the genome-wide positions of translating ribosomes in Arabidopsis etiolated seedlings in the dark and after light exposure. We found that, in Arabidopsis, a translating ribosome protects an ∼30-nucleotide region and moves in three-nucleotide periodicity, characteristics also observed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and mammals. Light enhanced the translation of genes involved in the organization and function of chloroplasts. Upstream open reading frames initiated by ATG but not CTG mediated translational repression of the downstream main open reading frame. Also, we observed widespread translational repression of microRNA target genes in both light- and dark-grown Arabidopsis seedlings. This genome-wide characterization of transcripts undergoing translation at the nucleotide-resolution level reveals that a combination of multiple translational mechanisms orchestrates and fine-tunes the translation of diverse transcripts in plants with environmental responsiveness.