Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Opportunistic cooperative diversity with feedback and cheap radios

Practical cooperative diversity protocols often rely on low-cost radios that treat multiple in-band signals as noise and thus require strictly orthogonal transmissions. We analyze the performance of a class of opportunistic relaying protocols that employ simple packet level feedback and strictly orthogonal transmissions. It is shown that the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff of the proposed protocols either matches or outperforms the multi-input-single-output (MISO), zero-feedback performance. These gains indicate that low complexity radios and feedback could be an appealing architecture for future user cooperation protocols.
Mutual Boosting for Contextual Inference

Mutual Boosting is a method aimed at incorporating contextual information to augment object detection. When multiple detectors of objects and parts are trained in parallel using AdaBoost [1], object detectors might use the remaining intermediate detectors to enrich the weak learner set. This method generalizes the efficient features suggested by Viola and Jones [2] thus enabling information inference between parts and objects in a compositional hierarchy. In our experiments eye-, nose-, mouth- and face detectors are trained using the Mutual Boosting framework. Results show that the method outperforms applications overlooking contextual information. We suggest that achieving contextual integration is a step toward human-like detection capabilities.
Inactivation of calcium channels in mammalian heart cells: joint dependence on membrane potential and intracellular calcium.

Ca channel currents were recorded in Cs‐loaded calf cardiac Purkinje fibres and Cs‐dialysed myocytes from guinea‐pig ventricle to evaluate the dependence of Ca channel inactivation on membrane depolarization and intracellular free Ca concentration ([Ca]i). The decay of Ca channel current during a maintained depolarization was slowed when external Ca was replaced by Sr or Ba. The decay reflected a genuine inactivation of Ca channel conductance, as assessed by the decreased amplitude of inward tail currents following progressively longer depolarizing pulses in ventricular cells. Increasing depolarization slowed inward current inactivation in the presence of extracellular Ca concentration ([Ca]o), but speeded inactivation in the presence of extracellular Ba concentration ([Ba]o), suggesting the participation of fundamentally different mechanisms. Ca channel currents were recorded in Ca‐free external solutions to study 'voltage‐dependent inactivation'. Inactivation of outward Ca channel current due to Cs efflux was seen with external Ba or in the absence of any permeant divalent cation. With Ca as the charge carrier, increasing [Ca]o speeded the rate of inactivation as expected for [Ca]i‐dependent inactivation. The relationship between inactivation and the intracellular Ca transient was assessed by double‐pulse experiments. Conditioning pulses that produced maximal inward Ca current and contractile tension left behind more inactivation than either stronger or weaker depolarizations. The agreement between maximal inward current and maximal inactivation remained close when their voltage dependence was shifted along the voltage axis by elevation of [Ca]o. We conclude that inactivation of cardiac Ca channels is both [Ca]i dependent and voltage dependent. The [Ca]i‐dependent process may serve as a negative feed‐back mechanism for regulating Ca entry into heart cells; the voltage‐dependent mechanism may prevent a secondary rise in Ca channel current when intracellular Ca falls during maintained depolarization of cardiac cells.
A Comparison of the Social-Adaptive Perspective and Functionalist Perspective on Guilt and Shame

Within the field of guilt and shame two competing perspectives have been advanced. The first, the social-adaptive perspective, proposes that guilt is an inherently adaptive emotion and shame is an inherently maladaptive emotion. Thus, those interested in moral character development and psychopathology should work to increase an individual’s guilt-proneness and decrease an individual’s shame-proneness. The functionalist perspective, in contrast, argues that both guilt and shame can serve a person adaptively or maladaptively—depending on the situational appropriateness, duration, intensity, and so forth. This paper reviews the research conducted supporting both positions; critiques some issues with the most widely used guilt- and shame-proneness measure in the social-adaptive research (the TOSCA) and discusses the differences in results found when assessing guilt and shame at the state versus trait level. The conclusion drawn is that although there is broad support for the functionalist perspective across a wide variety of state and trait guilt/shame studies, the functionalist perspective does not yet have the wealth of data supporting it that has been generated by the social-adaptive perspective using the TOSCA. Thus, before a dominant perspective can be identified, researchers need to (1) do more research assessing how the social-adaptive perspective compares to the functionalist perspective at the state level and (2) do more trait research within the functionalist perspective to compare functionalist guilt- and shame-proneness measures with the TOSCA.
Effect of Flake Distribution on Elastic Properties of Flake Composites

Single-flake and multi-flake models of oriented flake reinforced composites have been constructed to evaluate the elastic properties of the composites. A “bundled matrix” concept was assumed to examine the effect of the flake distribution in the matrix on the longitudinal elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio of the flake composites. The equations derived from the single-flake and multi-flake models anticipate that the longitudinal elastic properties of the oriented flake composites vary with the flake distribution in the matrix, as well as indirectly with the geometry of the flake. The longitudinal elastic modulus of the composite is predicted to be lower than that defined by the average rule of mixture for awide range of flake volume fraction exceptwhen the flake volume fraction is large enough to bundle all matrix with flake.
Working principle of bio-inspired shape memory alloy composite actuators

Recently, bio-inspired shape memory alloy composite (BISMAC) actuators have been shown to mimic the deformation characteristics of natural jellyfish medusa. In this study, a constant cross-section BISMAC actuator was characterized in terms of bending deflection and force in conjunction with microscopy to understand its deformation mechanism. The actuator showed bending deflection of 111% with respect to the active length along with a blocking force of 0.061 N. The resulting energy density of the composite actuator was 4929 J m − 3 at an input voltage and current level of 12 V and 0.7 A, respectively. For a dry-state actuator, this performance is extremely high and represents an optimum combination of force and deflection. Experiments reveal that BISMAC’s performance is related to the moment induced from tip attachment of the shape memory alloy (SMA) rather than to friction within the composite structure. A physics-based model of BISMAC structure is presented which shows that the actuator is highly sensitive to the distance between the SMA wire and the incompressible component. While SMA has both stress and strain limitations, the limiting factor in BISMAC actuators is dependent on separation distance. The limiting factor in BISMAC’s suitability for mimicking the performance of medusa was experimentally found to be related to the maximum 4% strain of the SMA and not its force generation.
Effects of initial surface wettability on biofilm formation and subsequent settlement of Hydroides elegans

Hydroides elegans is a major fouling organism in tropical waters around the world, including Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. To determine the importance of initial surface characteristics on biofilm community composition and subsequent colonization by larvae of H. elegans, the settlement and recruitment of larvae to biofilmed surfaces with six different initial surface wettabilities were tested in Pearl Harbor. Biofilm community composition, as determined by a combined approach of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and fluorescence in situ hybridization, was similar across all surfaces, regardless of initial wettability, and all surfaces had distinct temporal shifts in community structure over a 10 day period. Larvae settled and recruited in higher numbers to surfaces with medium to low wettability in both May and August, and also to slides with high wettability in August. Pearl Harbor biofilm communities developed similarly on a range of surface wettabilities, and after 10 days in Pearl Harbor all surfaces were equally attractive to larvae of Hydroides elegans, regardless of initial surface properties.
Concrete Mixtures Made with Ternary Blended Cements Containing Fly Ash and Rice-Husk Ash

Blending fly ash with normal portland cement enhances the durability and service life of concrete structures. Fly ash-based blended portland cements containing 15-30% fly ash by mass are being increasingly used worldwide. These cements have been used in high-performance concrete for modern structures such as Petronas Towers, Euro-Tunnel, and Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge. High volume fly ash concrete is another recent development according to which, large volumes of fly ash, 50-60% by mass of the total cementitious material, can be used in combination with a superplasticizer to overcome the slow rate of strength development in blended portland cements. The chloride permeability of unsuperplasticized, high-volume fly ash concrete at early ages is rather high, but it can be greatly reduced by the incorporation of either silica fume or a highly pozzolanic rice-husk ash. Rice-husk ash is a siliceous material produced by furnaces that use rice-husks as fuel. The rice-husk ash containing amorphous silica in cellular microstructure is a superpozzolan, and has proven to be a valuable material for making highly durable concrete. It also contributes to concrete strength at early ages. This paper describes a preliminary research study on the role of rice-husk ash in enhancing the properties of high-volume fly ash concrete, particularly the early-age strength and chloride impermeability.
Mining Relaxed Graph Properties in Internet

Many real world datasets are represented in the form of graphs. The classical graph properties found in the data, like cliques or independent sets, can reveal new interesting information in the data. However, such properties can be either too rare or too trivial in the given context. By relaxing the criteria of the classical properties, we can find more and totally new patterns in the data. In this paper, we define relaxed graph properties and study their use in analyzing and processing graph-based data. Especially, we consider the problem of finding self-referring groups in WWW, and give a general algorithm for mining all such patterns from a collection of WWW pages. We suggest that such self-referring groups can reveal web communities or other clustering in WWW and also facilitate in compression of graph-formed data.
Photokinetic, Biochemical and Structural Features of Chimeric Photoactive Yellow Protein Constructs

Of the 10 photoactive yellow protein (PYPs) that have been characterized, the two from Rhodobacter species are the only ones that have an additional intermediate spectral form in the resting state (λmax = 375 nm), compared to the prototypical Halorhodospira halophila PYP. We have constructed three chimeric PYP proteins by replacing the first 21 residues from the N‐terminus (Hyb1PYP), 10 from the β4–β5 loop (Hyb2PYP) and both (Hyb3PYP) in Hhal PYP with those from Rb. capsulatus PYP. The N‐terminal chimera behaves both spectrally and kinetically like Hhal PYP, indicating that the Rcaps N‐terminus folds against the core of Hhal PYP. A small fraction shows dimerization and slower recovery, possibly due to interaction at the N‐termini. The loop chimera has a small amount of the intermediate spectral form and a photocycle that is 20 000 times slower than Hhal PYP. The third chimera, with both regions exchanged, resembles Rcaps PYP with a significant amount of intermediate spectral form (λmax = 380 nm), but has even slower kinetics. The effects are not strictly additive in the double chimera, suggesting that what perturbs one site, affects the other as well. These chimeras suggest that the intermediate spectral form has its origins in overall protein stability and solvent exposure.
Balanced bandpass filter with intrinsic common mode suppression using slot coupled lines and microstrip loading lines

In this paper, a novel balanced filter based on slot coupled lines with microstrip loading lines are proposed. The filter can intrinsically suppress the common mode noise without specially designed. Besides, this kind of filter can achieve much smaller bandwidth than other slot-line-based filter, which is more popular in the practical application. On the other hand, due to the loading lines near the slot coupled line, the length of the slot line can be reduced compared to the previous design, which can further reduce the area. The demonstration filter with central at 2.73 GHz and 36 % bandwidth are shown in this paper. The size of the filter is 0.25 (λg∗λg). The minimum insertion loss is 1.7 dB and the common mode suppression is more than 50 dB in the pass band and more than 32 dB below 10 GHz, which is quite strong compared to the published balanced filter.
Indeterminism and indeterminacy

1. E. J. Lowe claims that quantum physics provides examples of ontic indeterminacy, of vagueness in the world. Any such claim must confront the Evans-Salmon argument to the effect that the notion of ontic indeterminacy is simply incoherent (Evans 1978, Salmon 1981: 243-46). Lowe argues that a standard version of the Evans-Salmon argument fails quite generally (Lowe 1994). Harold Noonan (1995) has outlined a non-standard version of the argument, but Lowe argues that this non-standard version fails for specifically quantum mechanical reasons (Lowe 1997). He claims that it is perfectly coherent to suppose that his quantum case is an example of ontic indeterminacy. I will not discuss Lowe's objection to the standard Evans-Salmon argument. Instead, I will argue that Lowe's quantum-mechanical objection to the non-standard Evans-Salmon argument fails. Whilst he posits quantum indeterminacy, Lowe fails to take seriously the implications of any such indeterminacy. I will argue that it is, after all, incoherent to claim ontic indeterminacy in the situation he describes.
Renoprotective Effect of Pravastatin in Salt-Loaded Dahl Salt-Sensitive Rats

The pathophysiological features of nephrosclerosis may be analogous to those of atherosclerosis, which is intimately related to lipid metabolism. Thus, we examined whether a lipid-lowering agent, pravastatin, would ameliorate renal damage in hypertensive model animals. Salt-loaded Dahl salt-sensitive (S) rats were given pravastatin (2 mg/ml in drinking water) for 5 weeks. Pravastatin decreased systolic blood pressure. Although pravastatin did not influence the serum total, high-density, or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, serum triglycerides were decreased. Pravastatin decreased urinary protein excretion and ameliorated histopathological damage in salt-loaded Dahl S rats. Increased urinary excretion of 8-iso-prostagaldin F2α and 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine and renal superoxide overproduction and decreased reduced glutathione in the renal parenchyma were ameliorated with pravastatin in Dahl S rats fed a high salt diet. Therefore, pravastatin inhibited the progression of renal injury in salt-loaded Dahl S rats, through its antioxidant as well as its depressor effects.
Prevalence of visual impairment, blindness, and cataract surgery in the Hong Kong elderly

Background: The prevalence of vision impairment, unilateral/bilateral blindness, and cataract surgery were estimated in a population based survey among the elderly in a suburban area of Hong Kong. Methods: 15 public, private, and home ownership scheme housing estates in the Shatin area of Hong Kong were subjected to cluster sampling to randomly select a cross section of people 60 years of age or older. Visual acuity measurements and ocular examinations were conducted at a community site within each estate. The principal cause of reduced vision was identified for eyes with presenting visual acuity worse than 6/18. Results: A total of 3441 subjects from an enumerated population of 4487 (76.7%) completed an eye examination. The prevalence of presenting visual acuity less than 6/18 in at least one eye was 41.3%; and 73.1% in those 80 years of age or older. Unilateral blindness (acuity <6/60) was found in 7.9% of subjects and bilateral blindness in 1.8%. Refractive error and cataract were, respectively, the main causes of vision impairment and blindness. Visual impairment with either eye <6/18 increased with advancing age and was more prevalent in males, the less educated, and those living in public housing estates. The prevalence of cataract surgery was 9.1% and was associated with advancing age and less education. Conclusions: Blindness and visual disability were common in this socioeconomically advanced population, with most of it easily remedied. Because of a rapidly ageing population, healthcare planners in Hong Kong must prepare for an increasing burden of visual disability and blindness.
The Discrete Geodesic Problem

We present an algorithm for determining the shortest path between a source and a destination on an arbitrary (possibly nonconvex) polyhedral surface. The path is constrained to lie on the surface, and distances are measured according to the Euclidean metric. Our algorithm runs in time O(n log n) and requires O(n2) space, where n is the number ofedges ofthe surface. Afterwe run our algorithm, the distance from the source to any other destination may be determined using standard techniques in time O(log n) by locating the destination in the subdivision created by the algorithm. The actual shortest path from the source to a destination can be reported in time O(k+ log n), where k is the number of faces crossed by the path. The algorithm generalizes to the case of multiple source points to build the Voronoi diagram on the surface, where n is now the maximum of the number of vertices and the number of sources.
Investigations on Degradable and Figuline Calcium Alkaline Phosphate Cements with Multimodal Particle Size Distribution

The paper presented here deals with rheological and hardening properties during the setting reaction, and density and compressive strength after the final setting of a figuline composite consisting of Ca2KNa(PO4)2 and 2wt% medium gel strength gelatin. Compared to the composite with monomodal particle size distribution (d50=7.18µm; span=3.9) and its properties during and after setting reaction, the goal of this work is to increase the resulting product compressive strength by mixing different particle sizes in order to obtain bi- and trimodal distributions. For the bimodal powder mixtures the ratio in diameter (dcourse/dsmall) was chosen with 7/1 and volume ratio dcourse/dsmall was 70/30%. For the trimodal powder mixtures the ratio in diameter (dcourse/dmedium/dsmall) was chosen with 70/7/1 and volume ratio dcourse/dmedium/dsmall was set to 44/28/28%. After establishing an adequate crushing and sieving process the tap density and powder density of each fraction was determined. Subsequently, the different particle sizes were mixed and the densities and the Hausner ratio were determined again. The mixtures show an increase in both densities especially the tap density increased significantly. Rheological investigations show that the graphs of storage and loss moduli of the multimodal powder mixtures respectively are similar. The characteristic setting times show a slight decrease compared with the monomodal composite but not significantly different data. When comparing the resulting compressive strength of cylindrical samples, which were stored direct after reaching the initial setting time under physiological conditions, the studies illustrated in all cases for the multimodal mixtures a significant increase in compressive strength and a higher density.
Linezolid Use in Hospitalized Children

We used the Pediatric Health Information System to evaluate linezolid use among hospitalized children. From 2003 to 2007, use increased 5-fold, including wide interhospital variation, then stabilized through 2011. Linezolid was responsible for 3% of total antibiotic expenditures. Children with respiratory, oncologic or transplant conditions were the most frequently treated with linezolid.
Topic-Sensitive Multi-document Summarization Algorithm

Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), has been recently used to automatically generate text corpora topics, and applied to sentences extraction based multi-document summarization algorithms. However, not all the estimated topics are of equal importance or correspond to genuine themes of the domain. Some of the topics can be a collection of irrelevant or background words, or represent insignificant themes. This paper proposed a topic-sensitive algorithm for multi-document summarization. Our approach is distinguished from existing approaches in that we use LDA model to identify and distinguish significance topic which is used in sentence weight calculation. Moreover, beside topic characteristics, this approach also considered some statistics characteristics, such as term frequency, sentence position, sentence length, etc. This approach not only highlights the advantages of statistics characteristics, but also cooperated with LDA topic model. The experiments showed that the proposed algorithm achieved better performance compared the other state-of-the-art algorithms on DUC2002 corpus.
Comprehensive Phylogenetic Reconstructions of African Swine Fever Virus: Proposal for a New Classification and Molecular Dating of the Virus

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly lethal disease of domestic pigs caused by the only known DNA arbovirus. It was first described in Kenya in 1921 and since then many isolates have been collected worldwide. However, although several phylogenetic studies have been carried out to understand the relationships between the isolates, no molecular dating analyses have been achieved so far. In this paper, comprehensive phylogenetic reconstructions were made using newly generated, publicly available sequences of hundreds of ASFV isolates from the past 70 years. Analyses focused on B646L, CP204L, and E183L genes from 356, 251, and 123 isolates, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses were achieved using maximum likelihood and Bayesian coalescence methods. A new lineage-based nomenclature is proposed to designate 35 different clusters. In addition, dating of ASFV origin was carried out from the molecular data sets. To avoid bias, diversity due to positive selection or recombination events was neutralized. The molecular clock analyses revealed that ASFV strains currently circulating have evolved over 300 years, with a time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) in the early 18th century.