Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimum Policies for an Energy Harvesting Transmitter Under Energy Storage Losses

We consider an energy harvesting network where the transmitter harvests energy from nature, and the harvested energy can be saved in an imperfect battery which suffers from charging/ discharging inefficiency. In particular, when E units of energy is to be stored in the battery, only ηE units is saved and (1 - η)E is lost due to charging/discharging inefficiency, where 0 ≤ η ≤ 1 represents the storing efficiency. We determine the optimum offline transmit power schedule for such a system for single-user and broadcast channel models, for static and fading channels, with and without a finite battery size. We show that the optimum policy is a double-threshold policy: specifically, we store energy in the battery only when the harvested energy is above an upper threshold, and retrieve energy from the battery only when the harvested energy is below a lower threshold; when the harvested energy is in between these two thresholds, we use it in its entirety in the current slot. We show that the two thresholds remain constant unless the battery is depleted or full. We provide an algorithm to determine the sequence of optimum thresholds. For the case with fading, we develop a directional water-filling algorithm which has a double-threshold structure. Finally, we formulate the online problem using dynamic programming, and numerically observe that the online policy exhibits a double-threshold structure as well.
ANALYSIS OF BER DEGRADATION FOR TRANSMITTED DOWNLINK DSCDMA SIGNALS

A predistorter-high power amplifier (PDHPA) pair has become a common practice in wireless communication to compensate for nonlinear distortion due to HPA. However, the PD-HPA pair still produces severe signal distortion when the input signal exceeds the PD-HPA’s saturation level. The effects of such distortion on bit error rate (BER) degradation in downlink direct sequencecode division multiple access signals (DSCDMA) are analyzed. We establish which signal characteristics at the HPA input and the factors contributing to BER. Assuming that the baseband CDMA signal is characterized as a complex Gaussian process, we develop analytic expressions for the BER and the contributing factors to BER.
Structured Sparsity in Structured Prediction

Linear models have enjoyed great success in structured prediction in NLP. While a lot of progress has been made on efficient training with several loss functions, the problem of endowing learners with a mechanism for feature selection is still unsolved. Common approaches employ ad hoc filtering or L1-regularization; both ignore the structure of the feature space, preventing practicioners from encoding structural prior knowledge. We fill this gap by adopting regularizers that promote structured sparsity, along with efficient algorithms to handle them. Experiments on three tasks (chunking, entity recognition, and dependency parsing) show gains in performance, compactness, and model interpretability.
Multisensory Versus Unisensory Integration : Contrasting Modes in the Superior Colliculus

Multisensory integration of cross-modal stimulus combinations yielded responses that were significantly greater than those evoked by the best component stimulus. J Neurophysiol 97: 3193–3205, 2007. doi:10.1152/jn.00018. 2007. Multisensory Versus Unisensory Integration: Contrasting Modes in the Superior Colliculus, Juan Carlos Alvarado, J. William Vaughan, Terrence R. Stanford, and Barry E. Stein Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Does domain highlighting help people identify phishing sites?

Phishers are fraudsters that mimic legitimate websites to steal user's credenfitial information and exploit that information for identity theft and other criminal activities. Various anti-phishing techniques attempt to mitigate such attacks. Domain highlighting is one such approach recently incorporated by several popular web browsers. The idea is simple: the domain name of an address is highlighted in the address bar, so that users can inspect it to determine a web site's legitimacy. Our research asks a basic question: how well does domain highlighting work? To answer this, we showed 22 participants 16 web pages typical of those targeted for phishing attacks, where participants had to determine the page's legitimacy. In the first round, they judged the page's legitimacy by whatever means they chose. In the second round, they were directed specifically to look at the address bar. We found that participants fell into 3 types in terms of how they determined the legitimacy of a web page; while domain highlighting was somewhat effective for one user type, it was much less effective for others. We conclude that domain highlighting, while providing some benefit, cannot be relied upon as the sole method to prevent phishing attacks.
Expression and Function of the C5a Receptor in Rat Alveolar Epithelial Cells1

Although alveolar epithelial cells (AEC) form an important barrier for host defenses in the lung, there is limited information about ways in which AEC can directly participate in the lung inflammatory response. In the current studies, primary cultures of rat AEC (RAEC) have been shown to specifically bind recombinant rat C5a at high affinity and in a saturable manner. This binding was enhanced in a time-dependent manner by pre-exposure of RAEC to LPS, IL-6, or TNF-α, the increased binding of C5a being associated with increased levels of mRNA for the C5a receptor (C5aR). Exposure of RAEC to C5a also caused increased expression of mRNA for C5aR. As compared with exposure of RAEC to LPS or to C5a alone, exposure to the combination caused enhanced production of TNF-α, macrophage inflammatory protein-2, and cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-1, as well as increased intracellular levels of IL-1β. These data indicate that RAEC, when activated, have enhanced binding of C5a in association with increased mRNA for C5aR. The functional outcome is enhanced release of proinflammatory mediators. These data underscore the phlogistic potential of RAEC and the ability of C5a to enhance the phlogistic responses of RAEC.
Material properties affect evolutions ability to exploit morphological computation in growing soft-bodied creatures

The concept of morphological computation holds that the body of an agent can, under certain circumstances, exploit the interaction with the environment to achieve useful behavior, potentially reducing the computational burden of the brain/controller. The conditions under which such phenomenon arises are, however, unclear. We hypothesize that morphological computation will be facilitated by body plans with appropriate geometric, material, and growth properties, while it will be hindered by other body plans in which one or more of these three properties is not well suited to the task. We test this by evolving the geometries and growth processes of soft robots, with either manually-set softer or stiffer material properties. Results support our hypothesis: we find that for the task investigated, evolved softer robots achieve better performances with simpler growth processes than evolved stiffer ones. We hold that the softer robots succeed because they are better able to exploit morphological computation. This four-way interaction among geometry, growth, material properties and morphological computation is but one example phenomenon that can be investigated using the system here introduced, that could enable future studies on the evolution and development of generic soft-bodied creatures.
Foxp1 Regulates Cortical Radial Migration and Neuronal Morphogenesis in Developing Cerebral Cortex

FOXP1 is a member of FOXP subfamily transcription factors. Mutations in FOXP1 gene have been found in various development-related cognitive disorders. However, little is known about the etiology of these symptoms, and specifically the function of FOXP1 in neuronal development. Here, we report that suppression of Foxp1 expression in mouse cerebral cortex led to a neuronal migration defect, which was rescued by overexpression of Foxp1. Mice with Foxp1 knockdown exhibited ectopic neurons in deep layers of the cortex postnatally. The neuronal differentiation of Foxp1-downregulated cells was normal. However, morphological analysis showed that the neurons with Foxp1 deficiency had an inhibited axonal growth in vitro and a weakened transition from multipolar to bipolar in vivo. Moreover, we found that the expression of Foxp1 modulated the dendritic maturation of neurons at a late postnatal date. Our results demonstrate critical roles of Foxp1 in the radial migration and morphogenesis of cortical neurons during development. This study may shed light on the complex relationship between neuronal development and the related cognitive disorders.
Frequent promoter methylation and gene silencing of CDH13 in pancreatic cancer

It has recently been reported that CDH13 expression is silenced by aberrant methylation of the promoter region in several cancers. We examined the methylation status of the CDH13 gene in pancreatic cancer using methylation‐specific PCR (MSP), and detected aberrant methylation of CDH13 in all 6 pancreatic cancer cell lines examined. To confirm the status of the CDH13 gene in relation to the methylation pattern, we next examined CDH13 expression in these cell lines using reverse transcription (RT)‐PCR. As expected, no CDH13 expression was detected in any of the 6 pancreatic cancer cell lines. Moreover, 5‐aza‐2′‐deoxycytidine (5‐aza‐dC) treatment of CDH13‐methylated cell lines led to restoration of CDH13 expression. Among primary pancreatic cancers, 19 of 33 (58%) cases exhibited CDH13 methylation, while no cases exhibited it in corresponding normal pancreatic tissues. CDH13 methylation was detected even in relatively early pancreatic cancers, such as stage II cancers and cancers less than 2 cm in diameter. Our results suggest that the aberrant methylation of CDH13 occurs frequently in pancreatic cancer, even at a relatively early stage.
Caffeine prevents antihyperalgesic effect of gabapentin in an animal model of CRPS‐I: evidence for the involvement of spinal adenosine A1 receptor

This study was designed to determine whether 3 weeks of gabapentin treatment is effective in alleviating neuropathic pain‐like behavior in animal models of complex regional pain syndrome type‐I and partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSNL). We investigated the contribution of adenosine subtypes to the antihyperalgesic effect of gabapentin by examining the effect of caffeine, a non‐selective adenosine A1 and A2 receptor antagonist or 1,3‐dipropyl‐8‐cyclopentylxanthine (DPCPX), a selective adenosine A1 subtype receptor antagonist on this effect. Neuropathic pain was produced by unilateral prolonged hind paw ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) or PSNL procedures which resulted in stimulus‐evoked mechanical hyperalgesia. After procedures, animals received gabapentin (10, 30, or 100 mg/kg intraperitoneal, respectively), caffeine (10 mg/kg intraperitoneal or 150 nmol intrathecally) or DPCPX (3 µg intrathecally) alone or in combination. Mice were tested for tactile mechanical hyperalgesia at 1, 2, and 3 weeks following procedures. Gabapentin produced dose‐related inhibition of mechanical hyperalgesia over a 3‐week period, and this effect was blocked by concomitant caffeine or DPCPX administration 1 week after injuries. The results of this study demonstrated that the mechanism through which gabapentin produces its effect may involve the activation of adenosine A1 subtype receptor.
Effective image database search via dimensionality reduction

Image search using the bag-of-words image representation is investigated further in this paper. This approach has shown promising results for large scale image collections making it relevant for Internet applications. The steps involved in the bag-of-words approach are feature extraction, vocabulary building, and searching with a query image. It is important to keep the computational cost low through all steps. In this paper we focus on the efficiency of the technique. To do that we substantially reduce the dimensionality of the features by the use of PCA and addition of color. Building of the visual vocabulary is typically done using k-means. We investigate a clustering algorithm based on the leader follower principle (LF-clustering), in which the number of clusters is not fixed. The adaptive nature of LF-clustering is shown to improve the quality of the visual vocabulary using this. In the query step, features from the query image are assigned to the visual vocabulary. The dimensionality reduction enables us to do exact feature labeling using kD-tree, instead of approximate approaches normally used. Despite the dimensionality reduction to between 6 and 15 dimensions we obtain improved results compared to the traditional bag-of-words approach based on 128 dimensional SIFT feature and k-means clustering.
Does frequency count? Parental input and the acquisition of vocabulary

ABSTRACT Studies examining factors that influence when words are learned typically investigate one lexical category or a small set of words. We provide the first evaluation of the relation between input frequency and age of acquisition for a large sample of words. The MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory provides norming data on age of acquisition for 562 individual words collected from the parents of children aged 0 ; 8 to 2 ; 6. The CHILDES database provides estimates of frequency with which parents use these words with their children (age: 0 ; 7–7 ; 5; mean age: 36 months). For production, across all words higher parental frequency is associated with later acquisition. Within lexical categories, however, higher frequency is related to earlier acquisition. For comprehension, parental frequency correlates significantly with the age of acquisition only for common nouns. Frequency effects change with development. Thus, frequency impacts vocabulary acquisition in a complex interaction with category, modality and developmental stage.
Long-term outcomes in half-dose verteporfin photodynamic therapy for chronic central serous retinopathy

Objective To evaluate the short- and long-term outcomes of half-dose verteporfin with photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of chronic central serous retinopathy (CSR). Design Retrospective case series. Participants 45 eyes in 39 patients with chronic CSR were included. Diagnosis of chronic CSR was confirmed by fluorescein angiography and persistence of subretinal fluid by optical coherence tomography for a minimum of 3 months duration. Methods Each patient underwent treatment with half-dose verteporfin with full-fluence PDT; initial follow-up was defined as a 6–8 week visit following the treatment, and final follow-up ranged from 5 to 70 months. Results The average follow-up period for treatment was 19.3 months. Best-corrected visual acuity increased from logMAR means of 0.52 to 0.42 (p<0.05). Central retinal thickness and choroidal thickness also significantly decreased at last follow-up (p<0.05). Eight of 45 eyes (18%) demonstrated a recurrence of CSR following treatment within the follow-up period. At the final follow-up, 41 out of the 45 eyes (91%) had complete resolution of subretinal fluid accumulation. Conclusion Half-dose PDT is an effective treatment option for chronic CSR in a Canadian population, and it is both safe and durable. The positive treatment effect is realized rapidly, with the initial 6-week result highly correlated with the final follow-up result.
PM, propositional model, a computational psycholinguistic model of language comprehension based on a relational analysis of written English

A computational psycholinguistic model of written language comprehension called PM (Propositional Model) is described. This research focuses on the cognitive processes and memory structures involved in the determination of the propositional content of written English text and is primarily concerned with the development of an adequate system of representation and processing mechanisms for that purpose. In addition, two experiments aimed at testing two basic predictions of PM are presented. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of PM's contributions to the study of language processing.
Role of photoreactions in the formation of biologically labile compounds from dissolved organic matter

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) can be degraded by sunlight into a variety of photoproducts that stimulate the growth and activity of microorganisms in aquatic environments. All biologically labile photoproducts identified to date fall into one of four categories: (1) low‐molecular‐weight (MW) organic compounds (carbonyl compounds with MW of <200); (2) carbon gases (primarily CO); (3) unidentified bleached organic matter; and (4) nitrogen‐ and phosphorus‐rich compounds (including NH4+ and PO43−). A number of laboratory studies using bacterial bioassay approaches have shown that the photochemical breakdown of DOM can stimulate biomass production or activity by 1.5‐ to 6‐fold. Results of photochemical studies, extrapolated to estimate formation rates of biologically available photoproducts from DOM in surface waters, also predict important biological roles for these compounds. In a continental shelf system, for example, full exposure of surface seawater to sunlight for one summer day can produce DOM photodegradation products equivalent to >20% of the bacterial carbon demand. Likewise, 30% of the bacterial nitrogen demand can be met by photodegradation of the nitrogen components of DOM, a process likely to be of particular importance in nitrogen‐limited systems. When considered on a depth‐integrated basis around the globe, at least 1.0 × 1015 g C and 0.15 × 1015 g N are estimated to be available annually for utilization by planktonic microorganisms through the conversion of light‐absorbing fractions of DOM to more biologically labile compounds. By comparison, direct photochemical mineralization of DOM is estimated to convert 12−16 × 1015 g C to CO2 annually.
On the P+ guard ring sizing strategy to shield against substrate noise

Substrate noise coupling remains a major problem for a system on a chip (SoC) design. Coupling between various parts of the system through the substrate may cause malfunctioning of the system. Guard rings are frequently used to shield the analog circuitry from the noisy digital circuits. In this paper measurements show that the isolation does not increase linearly with the guard ring width. These experimental results reveal that starting from a guard ring width above 16 mum, the isolation saturates with the guard ring width. It also shows that the effectiveness of the guard ring strongly depends on its ground connection. The effectiveness of the proposed guard rings against substrate noise is demonstrated on a 5-7 GHz LC voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), designed in a CMOS 130 nm technology.
A Neural Marker of Costly Punishment Behavior

Human readiness to incur personal costs to punish norm violators is a key force in the maintenance of social norms. The willingness to punish is, however, characterized by vast individual heterogeneity that is poorly understood. In fact, this heterogeneity has so far defied explanations in terms of individual-level demographic or psychological variables. Here, we use resting electroencephalography, a stable measure of individual differences in cortical activity, to show that a highly specific neural marker—baseline cortical activity in the right prefrontal cortex—predicts individuals’ punishment behavior. The analysis of task-independent individual variation in cortical baseline activity provides a new window into the neurobiology of decision making by bringing dispositional neural markers to the forefront of the analysis.
Restructuring multi-level networks by using function approximations

This paper presents a technique for multi-level minimization using implicit don’t cares. One of the major problems in minimization is the calculation of the don’t care set. Conventional approaches project the global don’t cares onto the local support of each node to keep minimization cost low. This prevents restructuring multi-level networks. The approach presented in this paper enables the extension of the support for the projection of the don’t care set, while keeping a low computational complexity. The extension of the support is based on the idea of function approximations. The approach has shown to produce tangible improvements in multi-level networks when compared with existing techniques.
A divided-screenwise hierarchical compositing for sort-last parallel volume rendering

In this work, to render at least 512/sup 3/ voxel volumes in real-time, we have developed a sort-last parallel volume rendering method for distributed memory multiprocessors. Our sort-last method consists of two methods, Hsu's (1993) segmented ray casting and our divided-screenwise hierarchical (DSH) compositing, in which each processor produces a subimage and merges all the produced subimages into the final image. This paper describes the DSH method, which aims at achieving high performance compositing on a large number of processors. Our implementation on a 64-node PC cluster can composite a 512/sup 2/ pixel image about twice as fast as an existing method, the binary-swap method, so that can render a 512/spl times/512/spl times/224 voxel volume at approximately eight frames per second (fps).
Free-Viewpoint Video from Depth Cameras

Depth cameras, which provide color and depth information per pixel at video rates, offer exciting new opportunities in computer graphics. We address the challenge of supporting free-viewpoint video of dynamic 3D scenes using live data captured and streamed from widely-spaced viewpoints by a handful of synchronized depth cameras. We introduce the concept of the depth hull, which is a generalization of the well-known visual hull. The depth hull reflects all the dense depth information as observed from several centers of projection around the scene. It is the best approximation of the scene geometry that can be obtained from a given set of depth camera recordings. We first present a general improvement to the best existing visual hull rendering algorithm, which is of independent interest. We then use this to contribute a hardware-accelerated method for rendering novel views from depth hulls in real-time. This method is based on a combination of techniques from projective shadow mapping and constructive solid geometry (CSG). Our rendering method achieves high-quality results even when only a modest number of depth cameras are deployed. They are applicable to any set of images with accompanying dense depth maps that correspond to arbitrary viewing positions around the scene. We provide experimental results using a system incorporating two depth cameras recording a dynamic scene. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first results on free-viewpoint image synthesis using commercially-available depth cameras.