Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Decoding Binary Linear Block Codes Using Local Search

This paper presents a novel iterative hard decision decoding algorithm for binary linear block codes over a binary symmetric channel (BSC). The problem is formulated as a 0-1 integer programming problem which is known to be NP-hard. When the crossover probability c of the channel is known, the solution space of the decoding problem can be decreased to a sphere whose radius is related to c. Using the penalty function method, the problem is reformulated on this reduced solution space. Then an iterative multi-flip local search algorithm is designed to find the global solution of this decoding problem. For a code with minimum distance d, when the radius of the sphere is not greater than d-1/2, this algorithm has the maximum likelihood (ML) certificate property, i.e., if the decoder outputs a codeword, it is guaranteed to be the ML codeword. Compared to the probabilistic suboptimal iterative belief propagation (BP) decoder, this approach has lower complexity and better performance. Numerical results show that in terms of speed and performance the proposed decoding method outperforms BP decoding in the error floor region.
Formal analysis of timed continuous Petri nets

In this paper, we develop an automated framework for formal verification of timed continuous Petri nets (contPN). Specifically, we consider two problems: (1) given an initial set of markings, construct a set of unreachable markings, i.e., such that all trajectories starting in the initial set avoid the latter one; (2) given a linear temporal logic (LTL) formula over a set of linear predicates in the state, construct a set of initial states such that all trajectories originating there satisfy the specification. The starting point for our approach is the observation that a contPN system can be written as a piecewise affine (PWA) system with a polyhedral partition. We propose an iterative method for analysis of PWA systems from specifications given as LTL formulas over linear predicates. The computation consists of polyhedral operations and searches on graphs only. We present two illustrative numerical examples.
Characteristics of Logo Instruction Promoting Transfer of Learning: A Research Review.

AbstractResearchers are focusing their attention beyond identifying the outcomes of learning Logo to examining the process of teaching Logo. This review of the research seeks to identify those aspects of a Logo environment that promote transfer of learned skills into other cognitive domains. Several studies suggest a need to structure the Logo environment by such means as explicit instruction, group discussions, study guides, or assessment objectives. Teachers’ questioning techniques are a key to helping students reflect on their Logo work, as is providing the opportunity for peer interaction. Mediated teaching strategies, which emphasize the thinking processes involved in Logo, hold promise for promoting transfer of learning.
CT perfusion in acute stroke calls: A pictorial review and differential diagnoses

CT perfusion is increasingly utilised in hyperacute stroke to facilitate diagnosis and patient selection for reperfusion therapies. This review article demonstrates eight examples of how CT perfusion can be used to diagnose stroke mimics and small volume infarcts, which can be easily missed on non‐contrast CT, and to suggest the presence of an ischaemic penumbra. Radiologists involved in stroke management must understand the importance of rapid imaging acquisition and be confident in the prospective interpretation of this powerful diagnostic tool as we move into a new era of hyperacute stroke care.
IdentiDroid: Android can finally Wear its Anonymous Suit

Because privacy today is a major concern for mobile applications, network anonymizers are widely available on smartphones, such as Android. However despite the use of such anonymizers, in many cases applications are still able to identify the user and the device by different means than the IP address. The reason is that very often applications require device services and information that go beyond the capabilities of anonymous networks in protecting users’ identity and privacy. In this paper, we propose two solutions that address this problem. The ﬁrst solution is based on an approach that shadows user and application data, device information, and resources that can reveal the user identity. Data shadowing is executed when the smartphone switches to the “anonymous modality”. Once the smartphone returns to work in the normal (i.e. non-anonymous) modality, application data, device information and resources are returned back to the state they had before the anonymous connection. The second solution is based on run-time modiﬁcations of Android application permissions. Permissions associated with sensitive information are dynamically revoked at run-time from applications when the smartphone is used under the anonymous modality. They are re-instated back when the smartphone returns to work in the normal modality. In addition, both solutions offer protection from applications that identify their users through traces left in the application’s data storage or through exchanging identifying data messages. We developed IdentiDroid, a customized Android operating system, to deploy these solutions and built IdentiDroid Proﬁle Manager, a proﬁle-based conﬁguration tool that allows one to set different conﬁgurations for each installed Android application. With this tool, applications running within the same device are conﬁgured to be given different identiﬁcations and privileges to limit the uniqueness of device and user information. We analyzed 250 Android applications to determine what information, services, and permissions can identify users and devices. Our experiments show that when IdentiDroid is deployed and properly conﬁgured on Android devices, users’ anonymity is better guaranteed by either of the proposed solutions with no signiﬁcant impact on most device applications.
Reliable computation of nomographic functions over Gaussian multiple-access channels

In this paper, a wireless sensor network is considered in which the objective is not to communicate individual sensor readings over a Gaussian multiple-access channel to a fusion center but rather to reliably compute some nomographic function thereof. Nomographic functions are exactly those multivariate functions that can be represented as a post-processed sum of pre-processed sensor readings. This special structure permits the utilization of the interference property of the Gaussian multiple-access channel for computing some nomographic functions at significantly higher rates than those achievable with traditional schemes. In this paper, a corresponding coding scheme is presented that protects the sum of pre-processed sensor readings against the channel noise by letting each node use the same nested lattice code.
Epigenetic alteration of Wnt pathway antagonists in progressive glandular neoplasia of the lung.

BACKGROUND Atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) is now recognized as a precursor lesion from which lung adenocarcinomas arise and thus represents an ideal target for studying the early genetic and epigenetic alterations associated with lung tumorigenesis such as alterations of the Wnt pathway. METHODS We assessed the level of Wnt signaling activity in lung cancer cell lines by determining the level of active beta-catenin and determined the level of expression of Wnt antagonists APC, DKK1, DKK3, LKB1, SFRP1, 2, 4, 5, WIF1 and RUNX3 using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Using multiplex nested methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction, we analyzed promoter region methylation of these genes in resected lung tissue in the histopathologic sequence of glandular neoplasia (normal lung parenchyma, low-grade and high-grade AAH, adenocarcinoma). RESULTS The majority of non-small cell lung cancer cell lines (11 of 16, 69%) have evidence of active Wnt signaling and silencing of Wnt antagonists correlated with promoter hypermethylation. Promoter region methylation of Wnt antagonists was common in primary lung adenocarcinoma and there was a significant increase in the frequency of methylation for Wnt antagonist genes and the number of genes methylated with each stage of tumorigenesis (test for rend P <or= 0.01). Additionally, odds ratios for promoter hypermethylation of individual or multiple Wnt antagonist genes and adenocarcinomas were statistically significantly elevated and ranged between 3.64 and 48.17. CONCLUSION These results show that gene silencing of Wnt antagonists by promoter hypermethylation occurs during the earliest stages of glandular neoplasia of the lung and accumulates with progression toward malignancy.
Literary Reading : Empirical & Theoretical Studies

This is the first major book in English on literary reading to be based on empirical methods. Moving the focus away from interpretation to the experience of literary texts, these studies demonstrate the role played by feeling in readers' responses, showing how feeling performs important functions during reading that cannot be accounted for by cognitive understanding. These studies not only reinvigorate the concept of literariness, they are also thoroughly inter-disciplinary, offering a coherent approach to literary reading that draws on literary theory, psychology, neuropsychology, and evolutionary psychology. Several chapters help to introduce the empirical approach for students.
MicroRNAs Control the Maintenance of Thymic Epithelia and Their Competence for T Lineage Commitment and Thymocyte Selection

Thymic epithelial cells provide unique cues for the lifelong selection and differentiation of a repertoire of functionally diverse T cells. Rendered microRNA (miRNA) deficient, these stromal cells in the mouse lose their capacity to instruct the commitment of hematopoietic precursors to a T cell fate, to effect thymocyte positive selection, and to achieve promiscuous gene expression required for central tolerance induction. Over time, the microenvironment created by miRNA-deficient thymic epithelia assumes the cellular composition and structure of peripheral lymphoid tissue, where thympoiesis fails to be supported. These findings emphasize a global role for miRNA in the maintenance and function of the thymic epithelial cell scaffold and establish a novel mechanism how these cells control peripheral tissue Ag expression to prompt central immunological tolerance.
Noise Figure Formulas of RF MOSFETs in the Presence of Digital Substrate Noise

Noise figure (NF) formulas are presented for RF MOSFETs in the presence of digital substrate noise. When the digital substrate noise is much higher than the intrinsic MOSFET noise, simplified NF formulas can be obtained. For the case of which the digital substrate noise is comparable to the MOSFET thermal noise in magnitude, general NF expressions of RF MOSFETs with digital substrate noise are derived. Comparisons of the derived NF formulas and the experimental results are done showing good agreement between them for RF MOSFETs with digital substrate noise.
Support Vector Novelty Detection Applied to Jet Engine Vibration Spectra

A system has been developed to extract diagnostic information from jet engine carcass vibration data. Support Vector Machines applied to novelty detection provide a measure of how unusual the shape of a vibration signature is, by learning a representation of normality. We describe a novel method for Support Vector Machines of including information from a second class for novelty detection and give results from the application to Jet Engine vibration analysis.
Glutamate Receptor Expression in Multiple Sclerosis Lesions

Blockade of receptors for the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate ameliorates neurological clinical signs in models of the CNS inflammatory demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis (MS). To investigate whether glutamate excitoxicity may play a role in MS pathogenesis, the cellular localization of glutamate and its receptors, transporters and enzymes was examined. Expression of glutamate receptor (GluR) 1, a Ca++‐permeable ionotropic AMPA receptor subunit, was up‐regulated on oligodendrocytes in active MS lesion borders, but Ca++‐impermeable AMPA GluR2 subunit levels were not increased. Reactive astrocytes in active plaques expressed AMPA GluR3 and metabotropic mGluR1, 2/3 and 5 receptors and the GLT‐1 transporter, and a subpopulation was immunostained with glutamate antibodies. Activated microglia and macrophages were immunopositive for GluR2, GluR4 and NMDA receptor subunit 1. Kainate receptor GluR5–7 immunostaining showed endothelial cells and dystrophic axons. Astrocyte and macrophage populations expressed glutamate metabolizing enzymes and unexpectedly the EAAC1 transporter, which may play a role in glutamate uptake in lesions. Thus, reactive astrocytes in MS white matter lesions are equipped for a protective role in sequestering and metabolizing extracellular glutamate. However, they may be unable to maintain glutamate at levels low enough to protect oligodendrocytes rendered vulnerable to excitotoxic damage because of GluR1 up‐regulation.
Early Maternal Alcohol Consumption Alters Hippocampal DNA Methylation, Gene Expression and Volume in a Mouse Model

The adverse effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy are known, but the molecular events that lead to the phenotypic characteristics are unclear. To unravel the molecular mechanisms, we have used a mouse model of gestational ethanol exposure, which is based on maternal ad libitum ingestion of 10% (v/v) ethanol for the first 8 days of gestation (GD 0.5-8.5). Early neurulation takes place by the end of this period, which is equivalent to the developmental stage early in the fourth week post-fertilization in human. During this exposure period, dynamic epigenetic reprogramming takes place and the embryo is vulnerable to the effects of environmental factors. Thus, we hypothesize that early ethanol exposure disrupts the epigenetic reprogramming of the embryo, which leads to alterations in gene regulation and life-long changes in brain structure and function. Genome-wide analysis of gene expression in the mouse hippocampus revealed altered expression of 23 genes and three miRNAs in ethanol-exposed, adolescent offspring at postnatal day (P) 28. We confirmed this result by using two other tissues, where three candidate genes are known to express actively. Interestingly, we found a similar trend of upregulated gene expression in bone marrow and main olfactory epithelium. In addition, we observed altered DNA methylation in the CpG islands upstream of the candidate genes in the hippocampus. Our MRI study revealed asymmetry of brain structures in ethanol-exposed adult offspring (P60): we detected ethanol-induced enlargement of the left hippocampus and decreased volume of the left olfactory bulb. Our study indicates that ethanol exposure in early gestation can cause changes in DNA methylation, gene expression, and brain structure of offspring. Furthermore, the results support our hypothesis of early epigenetic origin of alcohol-induced disorders: changes in gene regulation may have already taken place in embryonic stem cells and therefore can be seen in different tissue types later in life.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus and testosterone: a meta-analysis study.

Several studies suggest that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is often associated with male hypogonadism. Despite the well-known link, the role of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in T2DM has not been completely clarified. The aim of the present study was to analyse systematically the relationship between androgen levels and T2DM by reviewing and meta-analysing available prospective and cross-sectional studies. In addition, a specific meta-analysis on the metabolic effects of TRT in available randomized clinical trials (RCTs) was performed. An extensive Medline search was performed including the following words: 'testosterone', 'type 2 diabetes mellitus' and 'males'. Of 742 retrieved articles, 37 were included in the study. In particular 28, 5 and 3 were cross-sectional, longitudinal and interventional studies, respectively. A further unpublished RCT was retrieved from http://www.clinicaltrials. gov. T2DM patients showed significantly lower testosterone plasma levels in comparison with non-diabetic individuals. Similar results were obtained when T2DM subjects with and without erectile dysfunction were analysed separately. Meta-regression analysis demonstrated that ageing reduced, while obesity increased, these differences. However, in a multiple regression model, after adjusting for age and body mass index (BMI), T2DM was still associated with lower total testosterone (TT) levels (adjusted r = -0.568; p < 0.0001). Analysis of longitudinal studies demonstrated that baseline TT was significantly lower among patients with incident diabetes in comparison with controls (HR = -2.08[-3.57;-0.59]; p < 0.001). Combining the results of RCTs, TRT was associated with a significant reduction in fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, fat mass and triglycerides. Conversely, no significant difference was observed for total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, blood pressure and BMI. The meta-analysis of the available cross-sectional data suggests that T2DM can be considered independently associated with male hypogonadism. Although only few RCTs have been reported, TRT seems to improve glycometabolic control as well as fat mass in T2DM subjects.
Resource-Efficient Byzantine Fault Tolerance

One of the main reasons why Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) systems are currently not widely used lies in their high resource consumption: <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$3f+1$</tex-math><alternatives> <inline-graphic xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="distler-ieq1-2495213.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> replicas are required to tolerate only <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f$</tex-math><alternatives> <inline-graphic xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="distler-ieq2-2495213.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> faults. Recent works have been able to reduce the minimum number of replicas to <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2f+1$</tex-math> <alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="distler-ieq3-2495213.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> by relying on trusted subsystems that prevent a faulty replica from making conflicting statements to other replicas without being detected. Nevertheless, having been designed with the focus on fault handling, during normal-case operation these systems still use more resources than actually necessary to make progress in the absence of faults. This paper presents <italic>Resource-efficient Byzantine Fault Tolerance</italic> (<sc>ReBFT</sc>), an approach that minimizes the resource usage of a BFT system during normal-case operation by keeping <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f$</tex-math><alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="distler-ieq4-2495213.gif"/> </alternatives></inline-formula> replicas in a passive mode. In contrast to active replicas, passive replicas neither participate in the agreement protocol nor execute client requests; instead, they are brought up to speed by verified state updates provided by active replicas. In case of suspected or detected faults, passive replicas are activated in a consistent manner. To underline the flexibility of our approach, we apply <sc>ReBFT</sc> to two existing BFT systems: PBFT and MinBFT.
Effect of Distal Embolization on Myocardial Perfusion Reserve After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Perfusion Study

Background— Studies have shown that a subset of patients demonstrate persistent impairment in microcirculatory function after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Distal embolization of plaque contents has been postulated as the main mechanism for this. We sought to investigate this further by evaluating PCI-induced changes in myocardial perfusion reserve index (MPRI) over time in segments with “distal-type” procedure-related myonecrosis using high-resolution quantitative cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging. Methods and Results— Forty patients undergoing PCI were studied with pre-PCI and 24-hour post-PCI delayed-enhancement magnetic resonance imaging and first-pass perfusion magnetic resonance imaging at rest and stress. Twenty patients underwent a third magnetic resonance imaging scan at 6 months. For perfusion imaging, 3 short-axis images were acquired during every heartbeat with a T1-weighted turboFLASH sequence. MPRI was calculated as the ratio of hyperemic to resting myocardial blood flow and subdivided according to the presence and location of new delayed hyperenhancement. Twenty-one patients demonstrated new distal hyperenhancement after PCI. Mean MPRI in revascularized myocardial segments not demonstrating new HE was significantly increased after the procedure (2.06 [95% CI, 1.99 to 2.13] before PCI and 2.52 [95% CI, 2.42 to 2.62] after PCI; P<0.001). In contrast, MPRI in segments with distal hyperenhancement was reduced after PCI (2.16 [95% CI, 1.95 to 2.37] before PCI; 2.00 [95% CI, 1.82 to 2.19] after PCI; mixed-model z=−4.82; P<0.001). Changes in mean MPRI 24 hours after PCI in segments upstream to new injury were not significantly different compared with perfusion changes in remote myocardium (z=−0.68; P=0.50). At 6 months after the procedure, mean MPRI in segments with new injury improved significantly compared with MPRI measured in these segments at 24 hours after PCI. Conclusions— MPRI is reduced in myocardial segments that demonstrate new distal irreversible injury at 24 hours after PCI. These reductions are confined to the segments with injury and do not affect the entire supply territory of the culprit vessel.
A Fixed-Point Operator for Inference in Variational Bayesian Latent Gaussian Models

Latent Gaussian Models (LGM) provide a rich modeling framework with general inference procedures. The variational approximation offers an effective solution for such models and has attracted a significant amount of interest. Recent work proposed a fixedpoint (FP) update procedure to optimize the covariance matrix in the variational solution and demonstrated its efficacy in specific models. The paper makes three contributions. First, it shows that the same approach can be used more generally in extensions of LGM. Second, it provides an analysis identifying conditions for the convergence of the FP method. Third, it provides an extensive experimental evaluation in Gaussian processes, sparse Gaussian processes, and generalized linear models, with several non-conjugate observation likelihoods, showing wide applicability of the FP method and a significant advantage over gradient-based optimization.
A Motion Constraint Dynamic Path Planning Algorithm for Multi-Agent Simulations

In this paper, we present a novel motion-orientated path planning algorithm fo r real-time navigation of mobile agents. The algorithm works well in dynamical and un-configured environments, and is able to produce a collision-free, time -optimal motion trajectory in order to find a navigation path. In additi on to the motion constraint path planning, our approach can deal with the unknown obstacle-space terrains to moving agents. It therefore solves the drawbacks of traditional obstacle-space configuration methods. Multi-agent behaviour has been explored based on the algorithm. In the simulation a simple physically-based aircraft model has been developed, which is addressing the manoeuvring capabilities of the moving agents, while the moving agents' accelerations and velocities are always continuous and bounded. The generated motion path is constituted smoothly and has continuous curvature on the whole state space of the motion, thus satisfying the major requirement for the implementation of such strategies in real-time animation or in simulation applications in VR environments.