Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phase-modulated waveform design for the target detection in the presence of signal-dependent clutter

The problem to be considered is a phase-modulated waveform design for detection of extended targets contaminated by signal-dependent clutter returns and additive channel noise in practical radar systems. We first introduce an optimal waveform design algorithm for extended target detection in a band-limited radar system by maximizing the signal-to-clutter-and-noise ratio (SCNR) at the output of the receiver, and give the analytical solution of the optimal signal energy spectral density (ESD). In order to make full use of the transmission power, a phase iterative algorithm to design the phase-modulated waveform with constant envelop is proposed, which is proven to be able to achieve a small SCNR loss by minimizing the mean-square spectral distance between the optimal waveform and the designed one. The results of extensive simulations illustrate that our approach provides less than 1 dB SCNR loss when the signal duration is greater than 1 μs.
Face Recognition by Radial Basis Function Network (RBFN)

Face recognition technology using Radial Basis Function Network (RBFN) is an attractive solution for the researchers who are working on the field of machine recognition, pattern recognition and computer vision. The key challenge in the face recognition technology is to provide high recognition rate. In this paper, an efficient method has been presented for face recognition using principal component analysis and radial basis function. More specifically, principal component analysis has been used for feature extraction and radial basis function network has been used as a classifier to classify data as well as for recognition process.
Contextualized extraversion and its change in cross-cultural adjustment

Contextualized Extraversion and Its Change in Cross-cultural Adjustment By Mengqiao Liu August 2014 Advisor: Dr. Jason L. Huang Major: Psychology (Industrial-Organizational) Degree: Master of Arts Bridging recent developments in personality changes and contextualized personality, the current research focuses on changes in contextualized personality and their impact on cross-cultural adjustment. Findings revealed that contextualized Extraversion provided incremental validity in predicting context-related outcomes (i.e., cross-cultural adjustment) above and beyond global Extraversion. Although no significant changes were revealed regarding contextualized Extraversion, individual characteristics (i.e., cultural flexibility and cross-cultural motivation) negatively predicted individual differences in the rate of contextualized Extraversion changes. Implications and limitations were discussed.
The neprilysin pathway in heart failure: a review and guide on the use of sacubitril/valsartan

Inhibition of neurohumoural pathways such as the renin angiotensin aldosterone and sympathetic nervous systems is central to the understanding and treatment of heart failure (HF). Conversely, until recently, potentially beneficial augmentation of neurohumoural systems such as the natriuretic peptides has had limited therapeutic success. Administration of synthetic natriuretic peptides has not improved outcomes in acute HF but modulation of the natriuretic system through inhibition of the enzyme that degrades natriuretic (and other vasoactive) peptides, neprilysin, has proven to be successful. After initial failures with neprilysin inhibition alone or dual neprilysin-angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition, the Prospective comparison of angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI) with ACEI to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and morbidity in Heart Failure trial (PARADIGM-HF) trial demonstrated that morbidity and mortality can be improved with the angiotensin receptor blocker neprilysin inhibitor sacubitril/valsartan (formerly LCZ696). In comparison to the ACE inhibitor enalapril, sacubitril/valsartan reduced the occurrence of the primary end point (cardiovascular death or hospitalisation for HF) by 20% with a 16% reduction in all-cause mortality. These findings suggest that sacubitril/valsartan should replace an ACE inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker as the foundation of treatment of symptomatic patients (NYHA II–IV) with HF and a reduced ejection fraction. This review will explore the background to neprilysin inhibition in HF, the results of the PARADIGM-HF trial and offer guidance on how to use sacubitril/valsartan in clinical practice.
Multipath Network Flows: Bounded Buffers and Jitter

In this paper we address the issue of designing multi-path routing algorithms. Multi-path routing has the potential of improving the throughput but requires buffers at the destination. Our model assumes a network with capacitated edges and a delay function associated with the network links (edges). We consider the problem of establishing a specified throughput from source to destination in the network, given bounds on the buffer size available at the destination and a bound on the maximum delay paths are allowed to have. A related problem which we consider is to establish bounds on the delay variance (which we call jitter) amongst the paths chosen for the multi-path routing scheme. We show that the problems are NP-complete and present pseudo-polynomial algorithms based on linear programming. We also propose practical heuristics and present the experimental results on an existing network topology. The results are promising.
Elevated Activating Transcription Factor 4 and Glucose-Regulated 78 Kda Protein Levels Correlate with Inflammatory Cytokines in the Aqueous Humor and Vitreous of Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

ABSTRACT Purpose: To determine concentrations of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-related factors activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) and glucose-regulated 78 kDa protein (GRP78) in vitreous and aqueous humor (AqH) of patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and the correlation of ATF4, GRP78 and inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6(IL-6) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1). Materials and Methods: AqH and vitreous samples were collected from eyes of patients with PDR and idiopathic macular hole (IMH) which needed vitrectomy. Protein Levels of ATF4, GRP78, and IL-6, MCP-1 in samples were evaluated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: ELISA analysis revealed significantly increased levels in both AqH and vitreous of ATF4 and GRP78 in eyes affected with PDR compared to the controls (all p < 0.001). The mean concentrations of IL-6, MCP-1 were also higher in both AqH and vitreous samples from patients with PDR compared to those of IMH (all p < 0.001). (Independent Student t-test, normality test followed with Skewness–Kurtosis Test). In addition, correlations of ATF4 and GRP78 with inflammatory factors IL-6 and MCP-1 in subjects of patients were analyzed. No significant correlation between the AqH concentrations of ATF4/IL-6 and ATF4/MCP-1 was detected in eyes of PDR patients (r = 0.346, p = 0.072 and r = 0.275, p = 0.157). Significant correlations were observed between AqH concentrations of GRP78/IL-6 (r = 0.724, p < 0.001), GRP78/MCP-1 (r = 0.654, p < 0.001) in PDR patients. Significant correlations were observed between vitreous concentrations of ATF4/IL-6 (r = 0.918, p < 0.001), ATF4/MCP-1 (r = 0.921, p < 0.001), GRP78/IL-6 (r = 0.978, p < 0.001), GRP78/MCP-1 (r = 0.979, p < 0.001) in PDR patients. No significant correlations was observed between AqH concentrations of ATF4/IL-6 (r = 0.187, p = 474), ATF4/MCP-1 (r = 0.240, p = 0.353), GRP78/IL-6 (r = 0.321, p = 0.209) and GRP78/MCP-1 (r = 0.169, p = 0.516) in eyes of IMH patients. And also no significant correlation was observed between vitreous concentrations of ATF4/IL-6 (r = 0.130, p = 0.563), ATF4/MCP-1(r = 0.029, p = 0.897), GRP78/IL-6 (r = 0.078, p = 0.717), GRP78/MCP-1 (r = 0.005, p = 0.982) in IMH patients. (Pearson correlation coefficient (two-tailed)). Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that ATF4 and GRP78 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of PDR and work in concert with inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and MCP-1 in pathological process. ATF4 and GRP78 may be good diagnostic biomarkers and new therapeutic targets for PDR. Abbreviations: ER stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress; ATF4, activating transcription factor 4; GRP78, glucose-regulated 78 kDa protein; AqH, aqueous humor; PDR, proliferative diabetic retinopathy; IL-6, interleukin-6; MCP-1, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1; IMH, idiopathic macular hole.
Biotransformation and Volatilization of Arsenic by Three Photosynthetic Cyanobacteria1

Arsenic (As) is a pervasive and ubiquitous environmental toxin that has created worldwide human health problems. However, there are few studies about how organisms detoxify As. Cyanobacteria are capable of both photolithotrophic growth in the light and heterotrophic growth in the dark and are ubiquitous in soils, aquatic systems, and wetlands. In this study, we investigated As biotransformation in three cyanobacterial species (Microcystis sp. PCC7806, Nostoc sp. PCC7120, and Synechocystis sp. PCC6803). Each accumulated large amounts of As, up to 0.39 g kg−1 dry weight, 0.45 g kg−1 dry weight, and 0.38 g kg−1 dry weight when treated with 100 μm sodium arsenite for 14 d, respectively. Inorganic arsenate and arsenite were the predominant species, with arsenate making up >80% of total As; methylated arsenicals were detected following exposure to higher As concentrations. When treated with arsenate for 6 weeks, cells of each cyanobacterium produced volatile arsenicals. The genes encoding the As(III) S-adenosylmethionine methyltransferase (ArsM) were cloned from these three cyanobacteria. When expressed in an As-hypersensitive strain of Escherichia coli, each conferred resistance to arsenite. Two of the ArsM homologs (SsArsM from Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 and NsArsM from Nostoc sp. PCC7120) were purified and were shown to methylate arsenite in vitro with trimethylarsine as the end product. Given that ArsM homologs are widespread in cyanobacteria, we propose that they play an important role in As biogeochemistry.
Bayesian Dependence Tests for Continuous, Binary and Mixed Continuous-Binary Variables

Tests for dependence of continuous, discrete and mixed continuous-discrete variables are ubiquitous in science. The goal of this paper is to derive Bayesian alternatives to frequentist null hypothesis significance tests for dependence. In particular, we will present three Bayesian tests for dependence of binary, continuous and mixed variables. These tests are nonparametric and based on the Dirichlet Process, which allows us to use the same prior model for all of them. Therefore, the tests are “consistent” among each other, in the sense that the probabilities that variables are dependent computed with these tests are commensurable across the different types of variables being tested. By means of simulations with artificial data, we show the effectiveness of the new tests.
Optimization and Parameter Search of Ion Channel Characteristics

Optimization and Parameter Search of Ion Channel Characteristics Synchronous activity is an integral part of brain activity often associated with solving of challenging cognitive tasks and memory function amongst others. Hyper synchronous activity is seen in pathological states such as epilepsy. It is therefore conceivable that there is an optimum with regard to synchronicity of brain activity. In this project using quantative modeling we have studied the possibility of controlling neurons bias to respond to synchronous synaptic stimuli by adding a novel potassium current. By changing steady state activation or time constant curves we have searched for cases that either reduce the response to synchronous input while sparing responses to desynchronized input, or elevate responses to desynchronized input while leaving responses to synchronized input unchanged. We have shown that with our novel potassium channel we can indeed alter a cell’s response to synchronized stimuli while not affecting desynchronized as much. We have also been able to show that it is possible to find parameter sets that promote desynchronized input while not affecting synchronized input. Sammanfattning Optimering och parametersökning av jonkanalskarakteristik Synkron aktivitet är en grundläggande hjärnfunktion ofta associerad med utförandet av kognitiva utmaningar och minnesfunktioner. Hypersynkron aktivitet kan däremot ses vid patologiska fall som exempelvis epilepsi. Det är därför troligt att det finns ett optimum med avseende på synkronicitet av hjärnaktivitet. Med hjälp av kvantitativ modellering har vi studerat möjligheten att kontrollera neuroners benägenhet till att svara på synkron synaptisk stimuli genom att lägga till en ny kaliumström. Genom att ändra stationärtillstånden på aktiverings-, inaktiveringsoch tidskonstantkurvorna har vi sökt efter fall som antingen minskar svaret på synkrona stimuli medan svaren på asynkrona stimuli inte påverkas, eller fall där svaren på asynkrona stimuli förstärks medan svaret på synkrona stimuli ej påverkas. Vi har visat att vår nya kaliumkanal kan, med rätt parameteruppsättning, minska ett neurons svar på synkrona stimuli samtidigt som svaret på asynkrona stimuli inte påverkas i lika stor utsträckning. Vi har också visat att det går att hitta parameteruppsättningar där svaret på asynkrona stimuli ökar medan svaret på synkrona stimuli förblir opåverkat.
Investigating Connectivity and Consistency Criteria for Phrase Pair Extraction in Statistical Machine Translation

The consistency method has been established as the standard strategy for extracting high quality translation rules in statistical machine translation (SMT). However, no attention has been drawn to why this method is successful, other than empirical evidence. Using concepts from graph theory, we identify the relation between consistency and components of graphs that represent word-aligned sentence pairs. It can be shown that phrase pairs of interest to SMT form a sigma-algebra generated by components of such graphs. This construction is generalized by allowing segmented sentence pairs, which in turn gives rise to a phrase-based generative model. A by-product of this model is a derivation of probability mass functions for random partitions. These are realized as cases of constrained, biased sampling without replacement and we provide an exact formula for the probability of a segmentation of a sentence.
Latino families in therapy: A guide to multicultural practice.

Overview. Introduction. A Meeting Place for Culture and Therapy. The Latino Experience: Movement and Change Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans: An Overview. Journeys of Migration: Opportunity and Continuity. Journeys of Adaption: Options for Change. The Crossroads of Inner and Outer Worlds: Ecological Contexts. The Impact of Racism and Discrimination. The Challenge of School and Work. Beleif Systems: Religion and Health. Latino Family Bonds. Family Organization: The Safety Net of Close and Extended Kin. The World of Couples: Reality and Myth. The Latino Family Life Cycle Childhood and Adolescence. Adulthood Across the Lifespan. Conclusion. Current Trends in Future Directions in Multiculturalism.
Geometrically consistent stereo seam carving

Image retargeting algorithms attempt to adapt the image content to the screen without distorting the important objects in the scene. Existing methods address retargeting of a single image. In this paper we propose a novel method for retargeting a pair of stereo images. Naively retargeting each image independently will distort the geometric structure and make it impossible to perceive the 3D structure of the scene. We show how to extend a single image seam carving to work on a pair of images. Our method minimizes the visual distortion in each of the images as well as the depth distortion. A key property of the proposed method is that it takes into account the visibility relations between pixels in the image pair (occluded and occluding pixels). As a result, our method guarantees, as we formally prove, that the retargeted pair is geometrically consistent with a feasible 3D scene, similar to the original one. Hence, the retargeted stereo pair can be viewed on a stereoscopic display or processed by any computer vision algorithm. We demonstrate our method on a number of challenging indoor and outdoor stereo images.
The Challenge of Education and Learning in the Developing World

Across many different contexts, randomized evaluations find that school participation is sensitive to costs: Reducing out-of-pocket costs, merit scholarships, and conditional cash transfers all increase schooling. Addressing child health and providing information on how earnings rise with education can increase schooling even more cost-effectively. However, among those in school, test scores are remarkably low and unresponsive to more-of-the-same inputs, such as hiring additional teachers, buying more textbooks, or providing flexible grants. In contrast, pedagogical reforms that match teaching to students’ learning levels are highly cost effective at increasing learning, as are reforms that improve accountability and incentives, such as local hiring of teachers on short-term contracts. Technology could potentially improve pedagogy and accountability. Improving pre- and postprimary education are major future challenges.
Genomic Analysis of emm59 Group A Streptococcus Invasive Strains, United States

Genomic analysis of type emm59 group A Streptococcus invasive strains isolated in the United States discovered higher than anticipated genetic heterogeneity among strains and identified a heretofore unrecognized monoclonal cluster of invasive infections in the San Francisco Bay area. Heightened monitoring for a potential shift in the epidemic behavior of emm59 group A Streptococcus is warranted.
Space Classes, Intersection of Languages and Bounded Erasing Homomorphisms

— We characterize space complexity classes in terms of bounded erasing homomorphisms applied to threefoid intersections of one-counter languages, and also we characterize the classes which are given by bounded erasing homomorphisms applied to mixed intersections of one-counter languages and context-free languages or one-counter languages and checking stack languages. A generalization to erasing bounded transducers is made.
Recombinant Human and Rat Ciliary Neurotrophic Factors

The human ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) gene was identified and cloned, based on homology with the recently cloned rat cDNA. The gene encodes a protein of 200 amino acids, which shares about 80% sequence identity with rat and rabbit CNTF and, like these homologues, lacks an apparent secretion signal sequence. The human CNTF gene, like the rat gene, appears to contain a single intron separating two protein coding exons. An intronless human CNTF gene was constructed by the use of polymerase chain reactions and introduced into vectors designed for expression of foreign proteins in E. coli. The rat CNTF gene was also introduced into similar vectors. Both the human and rat proteins were expressed at exceptionally high levels, at 20–40% and 60–70% of total protein, respectively. Extraction of the recombinant proteins from inclusion bodies by guanidinium chloride, followed by two column chromatography steps, produced high yields of pure CNTF that supported survival and neurite outgrowth from embryonic chick ciliary neurons in culture. The biological activity of both recombinant proteins was comparable to that of native rat CNTF.
Chado Controller: advanced annotation management with a community annotation system

Summary: We developed a controller that is compliant with the Chado database schema, GBrowse and genome annotation-editing tools such as Artemis and Apollo. It enables the management of public and private data, monitors manual annotation (with controlled vocabularies, structural and functional annotation controls) and stores versions of annotation for all modified features. The Chado controller uses PostgreSQL and Perl. Availability: The Chado Controller package is available for download at http://www.gnpannot. org/content/chado-controller and runs on any Unix-like operating system, and documentation is available at http://www.gnpannot. org/content/chado-controller-doc The system can be tested using the GNPAnnot Sandbox at http://www.gnpannot. org/content/gnpannot-sandbox-form Contact: valentin.guignon@cirad.fr; stephanie.sidibe-bocs@cirad.fr Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Functional Anatomy of the Human Cochlear Nerve and Its Role in Microvascular Decompressions for Tinnitus

OBJECTIVEThe functional anatomy (i.e., tonotopy) of the human cochlear nerve is unknown. A better understanding of the tonotopy of the central nervous system segment of the cochlear nerve and of the pathophysiology of tinnitus might help to ameliorate the disappointing results obtained with microvascular decompressions in patients with tinnitus. METHODSWe assume that vascular compression of the cochlear nerve can induce a frequency-specific form of hearing loss and that when the nerve is successfully decompressed, this hearing loss can recuperate. Thirty-one patients underwent a microvascular decompression of the vestibulocochlear nerve for vertigo or tinnitus. Preoperative audiograms were subtracted from postoperative audiograms, regardless of the surgical result with regard to the tinnitus and vertigo, because the hearing improvement could be the only sign of the vascular compression. The frequency of maximal improvement was then correlated to the site of vascular compression. A tonotopy of the cochlear nerve was thus obtained. RESULTSA total of 18 correlations can be made between the site of compression and postoperative maximal hearing improvement frequency when 5-dB hearing improvement is used as threshold, 13 when 10-dB improvement is used as threshold. A clear distribution can be seen, with clustering of low frequencies at the posterior and inferior side of the cochlear nerve, close to the brainstem, and close to the root exit zone of the facial nerve. High frequencies are distributed closer to the internal acoustic meatus and more superiorly along the posterior aspect of the cochlear nerve. CONCLUSIONThe tonotopic organization of the cisternal segment of the cochlear nerve has an oblique rotatory structure as a result of the rotatory course of the cochlear nerve in the posterior fossa. Knowledge of this tonotopic organization of the auditory nerve in its cisternal course might benefit surgeons who perform microvascular decompression operations for the vestibulocochlear compression syndrome, especially in the treatment of unilateral severe tinnitus.
Exclusive Consolidated Memory Phases in Drosophila

Two types of consolidated memory have been described in Drosophila, anesthesia-resistant memory (ARM), a shorter-lived form, and stabilized long-term memory (LTM). Until now, it has been thought that ARM and LTM coexist. On the contrary, we show that LTM formation leads to the extinction of ARM. Flies devoid of mushroom body vertical lobes cannot form LTM, but spaced conditioning can still erase their ARM, resulting in a remarkable situation: The more these flies are trained, the less they remember. We propose that ARM acts as a gating mechanism that ensures that LTM is formed only after repetitive and spaced training.