Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two-hop communication with energy harvesting

Communication nodes with the ability to harvest energy from the environment have the potential to operate beyond the timeframe limited by the finite capacity of their batteries; and accordingly, to extend the overall network lifetime. However, the optimization of the communication system in the presence of energy harvesting devices requires a new paradigm in terms of power allocation since the energy becomes available over time. In this paper, we consider the problem of two-hop relaying in the presence of energy harvesting nodes. We identify the optimal offline transmission scheme for energy harvesting source and relay when the relay operates in the full-duplex mode. In the case of a half-duplex relay, we provide the optimal transmission scheme when the source has a single energy packet.
Supporting Highly Mobile Users in Cost-Effective Decentralized Mobile Operator Networks

Due to the tremendous increase in mobile data traffic, there is a general trend toward the decentralization of mobile operator networks, at least to a certain extent. This shall be further facilitated with the virtualization of mobile network functions and the enabling of mobile cloud networking, whereby mobile networks are created on demand and in a flexible manner. Mobile network decentralization will not be efficient without rethinking mobility management schemes, particularly for users moving for a long distance and/or at a high speed (e.g., vehicles and bullet trains). To support such highly mobile users, this paper introduces: 1) a data anchor gateway (GW) relocation method based on user mobility, history information, and user activity patterns, and 2) a handover management policy that selects a target base station or evolved Node B (eNB) in a way to minimize mobility anchor GW relocation. The performance of the proposed schemes is evaluated via Markov model-based analysis and through simulations. Encouraging results are obtained, validating the design objectives of the scheme.
The Spectral Gap of Random Graphs with Given Expected Degrees

We investigate the Laplacian eigenvalues of a random graph $G(n,\vec d)$ with a given expected degree distribution $\vec d$. The main result is that w.h. p. $G(n,\vec d)$ has a large subgraph core$(G(n,\vec d))$ such that the spectral gap of the normalized Laplacian of core$(G(n,\vec d))$ is $\geq1-c_0\bar d_{\min}^{-1/2}$ with high probability; here $c_0>0$ is a constant, and $\bar d_{\min}$ signifies the minimum expected degree. The result in particular applies to sparse graphs with $\bar d_{\min}=O(1)$ as $n\rightarrow\infty$. The present paper complements the work of Chung, Lu, and Vu [Internet Mathematics 1 , 2003].
Effect of acute static stretch on maximal muscle performance: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION The benefits of preexercise muscle stretching have been recently questioned after reports of significant poststretch reductions in force and power production. However, methodological issues and equivocal findings have prevented a clear consensus being reached. As no detailed systematic review exists, the literature describing responses to acute static muscle stretch was comprehensively examined. METHODS MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, SPORTDiscus, and Zetoc were searched with recursive reference checking. Selection criteria included randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials and intervention-based trials published in peer-reviewed scientific journals examining the effect of an acute static stretch intervention on maximal muscular performance. RESULTS Searches revealed 4559 possible articles; 106 met the inclusion criteria. Study design was often poor because 30% of studies failed to provide appropriate reliability statistics. Clear evidence exists indicating that short-duration acute static stretch (<30 s) has no detrimental effect (pooled estimate = -1.1%), with overwhelming evidence that stretch durations of 30-45 s also imparted no significant effect (pooled estimate = -1.9%). A sigmoidal dose-response effect was evident between stretch duration and both the likelihood and magnitude of significant decrements, with a significant reduction likely to occur with stretches ≥ 60 s. This strong evidence for a dose-response effect was independent of performance task, contraction mode, or muscle group. Studies have only examined changes in eccentric strength when the stretch durations were >60 s, with limited evidence for an effect on eccentric strength. CONCLUSIONS The detrimental effects of static stretch are mainly limited to longer durations (≥ 60 s), which may not be typically used during preexercise routines in clinical, healthy, or athletic populations. Shorter durations of stretch (<60 s) can be performed in a preexercise routine without compromising maximal muscle performance.
Modern Human's Expansion in Eurasia: One Flew East…

The initial expansion of anatomically modern humans (AMH) occurred during a hyperarid event in Africa that occurred 135-75 ka. Large-scale AMH spread in northern Eurasia started during the Middle Weichselian glacial maximum, and proceeded during the subsequent mild interstadial (60-40 ka ago). This expansion which encom- passed the polar regions and southern Siberia proceeded at a remarkably rapid pace, suggesting the entire area being taken up by uniform 'periglacial' landscape, equally suitable for AMH habitation. The 'transitional' industries (Chatelperronian, Szeletian, Streletsian etc) have seen archaeological manifestations of early AMH expansion.
Empirical Analysis on Effectiveness of Source Code Metrics for Predicting Change-Proneness

Change-prone classes or modules are defined as software components in the source code which are likely to change in the future. Change-proneness prediction are useful to the maintenance team as they can optimize and focus their testing resources on the modules which have a higher likelihood of change. The quality of change-proneness prediction model can be best assessed by the use of software metrics that are considered to design the prediction model. In this work, 62 software metrics with four metrics dimensions, including 7 size metrics, 18 cohesion metrics, 20 coupling metrics, and 17 inheritance metrics are considered to develop a model for predicting change-proneness modules. Since the performance of the change-proneness model depends on the source code metrics, they are used as input of the change-proneness model. We also considered five different types of feature selection techniques to remove irrelevant feature and select best set of features. The effectiveness of these set of source code metrics are evaluated using eight different machine learning algorithms and two ensemble techniques. Experimental results demonstrates that the model developed by considering selected set of source code metrics by feature selection technique as input achieves better results as compared to considering all source code metrics. The experimental results also ravel that the change-proneness model developed by using coupling metrics achieved better performance as compared other dimension metrics such as size metrics, cohesion metrics, and inheritance metrics.
Gametogenesis in Malaria Parasites Is Mediated by the cGMP-Dependent Protein Kinase

Malaria parasite transmission requires differentiation of male and female gametocytes into gametes within a mosquito following a blood meal. A mosquito-derived molecule, xanthurenic acid (XA), can trigger gametogenesis, but the signalling events controlling this process in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum remain unknown. A role for cGMP was revealed by our observation that zaprinast (an inhibitor of phosphodiesterases that hydrolyse cGMP) stimulates gametogenesis in the absence of XA. Using cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) inhibitors in conjunction with transgenic parasites expressing an inhibitor-insensitive mutant PKG enzyme, we demonstrate that PKG is essential for XA- and zaprinast-induced gametogenesis. Furthermore, we show that intracellular calcium (Ca2+) is required for differentiation and acts downstream of or in parallel with PKG activation. This work defines a key role for PKG in gametogenesis, elucidates the hierarchy of signalling events governing this process in P. falciparum, and demonstrates the feasibility of selective inhibition of a crucial regulator of the malaria parasite life cycle.
Treatment of gastric marginal zone lymphoma of MALT type

Importance of the field: Gastric marginal zone lymphomas of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT type) represent approximately half of all cases of lymphomas arising in the stomach. They have been strongly associated with chronic Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) gastritis. Treatment aimed at eradicating this infection results in lymphoma remissions in the majority of patients (approximately 80%) and this represents a unique case of anticancer treatment based on the eradication of the causing factor. Areas covered in this review: The effects of H. pylori eradication in suppressing the growth of this lymphoma with particular emphasis on the long-term disease control results are presented in this review. Trials of different treatment modalities for patients not responding to antibiotics are also covered. What the reader will gain: Understanding of the effects of H. pylori eradication on suppressing the growth of gastric MALT lymphoma. Readers will learn how to distinguish between clinical, histological and molecular remission of the lymphoma and will learn alternative treatments for patients with H. pylori-negative disease and for cases not responding to eradication. Take home message: Gastic MALT lymphoma has an indolent course and most patients can achieve durable disease control after only anti-H. pylori therapy. For patients not responding to antibiotics, randomized trials are needed to define the best treatment modality.
Visual Queries for Finding Patterns in Time Series Data (2002)

Few tools exist for data exploration and pattern identification in time series data sets. Timeboxes are rectangular, direct-manipulation queries for studying time-series datasets. Timeboxes are the primary query tool in our TimeSearcher application, which supports interactive exploration via dynamic queries, along with overviews of query results and drag-and-drop support for query-by-example. This paper describes the TimeSearcher application and possible extensions to the timebox query model, along with a discussion of the use of TimeSearcher for exploring a time series data set involving gene expression profiles.
Principles and Requisites of Computer-Assisted Interactive Video Instruction: A Sign Language Lesson

Computer-assisted instructional television has been shown to be a compelling educational medium for use in the education of deaf persons. A variety of demonstration lessons using microcomputer-controlled videodisc and videotape has been presented in previous symposia. The DAVID System is now used instructionally for speechreading and sign language training. This paper reviews the principles and requisites for interactive instructional television production. A discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the hardware and software necessary to implement computer-assisted interactive instructional television is discussed. This paper and the workshop provide a discussion and demonstration of an application of the DAVID system to receptive sign language practice. The lesson provides practice of the individual sign, the sentence, and the paragraph comprehension levels.
MULTIINFORMATION AND THE PROBLEM OF CHARACTERIZATION OF CONDITIONAL INDEPENDENCE RELATIONS

Certain algebraic relation between multiinformation and conditional mutual information is established. It is shown to be applicable to the problem of characterization of conditional independence relations arising in connection with probabilistic expert systems. More concretely, a new axiom of these relations is derived. Some auxiliary results have their own significance: the characterization ofmarginally continuous measures in Proposition I and the information theoretical significance of the conditional product of measures mentioned in Consequence 3.
Mutational analysis of the nor gene cluster which encodes nitric-oxide reductase from Paracoccus denitrificans.

The genes that encode the hc-type nitric-oxide reductase from Paracoccus denitrificans have been identified. They are part of a cluster of six genes (norCBQDEF) and are found near the gene cluster that encodes the cd1-type nitrite reductase, which was identified earlier [de Boer, A. P. N. , Reijnders, W. N. M. , Kuenen, J. G. , Stouthamer, A. H. & van Spanning, R. J. M. (1994) Isolation, sequencing and mutational analysis of a gene cluster involved in nitrite reduction in Paracoccus denitrificans, Antonie Leeu wenhoek 66, 111-127]. norC and norB encode the cytochrome-c-containing subunit II and cytochrome b-containing subunit I of nitric-oxide reductase (NO reductase), respectively. norQ encodes a protein with an ATP-binding motif and has high similarity to NirQ from Pseudomonas stutzeri and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and CbbQ from Pseudomonas hydrogenothermophila. norE encodes a protein with five putative transmembrane alpha-helices and has similarity to CoxIII, the third subunit of the aa3-type cytochrome-c oxidases. norF encodes a small protein with two putative transmembrane alpha-helices. Mutagenesis of norC, norB, norQ and norD resulted in cells unable to grow anaerobically. Nitrite reductase and NO reductase (with succinate or ascorbate as substrates) and nitrous oxide reductase (with succinate as substrate) activities were not detected in these mutant strains. Nitrite extrusion was detected in the medium, indicating that nitrate reductase was active. The norQ and norD mutant strains retained about 16% and 23% of the wild-type level of NorC, respectively. The norE and norF mutant strains had specific growth rates and NorC contents similar to those of the wild-type strain, but had reduced NOR and NIR activities, indicating that their gene products are involved in regulation of enzyme activity. Mutant strains containing the norCBQDEF region on the broad-host-range vector pEG400 were able to grow anaerobically, although at a lower specific growth rate and with lower NOR activity compared with the wild-type strain.
Genetic Markers as Instrumental Variables:An Application to Child Fat Mass and Academic Achievement

The use of genetic markers as instrumental variables (IV) is receiving increasing attention from economists. This paper examines the conditions that need to be met for genetic variants to be used as instruments. We combine the IV literature with that from genetic epidemiology, with an application to child adiposity (fat mass, determined by a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan) and academic performance. OLS results indicate that leaner children perform slightly better in school tests compared to their more adipose counterparts, but the IV findings show no evidence that fat mass affects academic outcomes.
Drug-induced mitochondrial toxicity

Mitochondria play a critical role in generating most of the cell’s energy as ATP. They are also involved in other metabolic processes such as urea generation, haem synthesis and fatty acid β-oxidation. Disruption of mitochondrial function by drugs can result in cell death by necrosis or can signal cell death by apoptosis (e.g., following cytochrome c release). Drugs that injure mitochondria usually do so by inhibiting respiratory complexes of the electron chain; inhibiting or uncoupling oxidative phosphorylation; inducing mitochondrial oxidative stress; or inhibiting DNA replication, transcription or translation. It is important to test for mitochondrial toxicity early in drug development as impairment of mitochondrial function can induce various pathological conditions that are life threatening or can increase the progression of existing mitochondrial diseases.
“NOT TAINTED BY THE PAST”: RE-CONSTRUCTIONS AND NEGOTIATIONS OF COLOURED IDENTITIES AMONG UNIVERSITY COLOURED STUDENTS IN POST- APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA

The South African coloured identity is a profoundly complex construction that, on the one hand, is interpreted as an ambiguous and ‘in-between’ identity and, on the other hand, its own ambiguity and complexity provides multiple means and strategies of production and articulation within various contexts. This dissertation seeks to examine a production of multiple discourses by post-apartheid coloured youth in order to re-construct and negotiate their identities moving through various social contexts of everyday experiences within diverse university settings. Similarly to other minority and marginalized youth, coloured students produce various discourses and practices as the medium of counter-hegemonic formation and negotiation of their minoritized and marginalized identities. In this sense, coloured students implement produced discourses and practices as instrumental agency to create resistance and challenge the dominant discourses on their marginalized and minoritized identities, simultaneously determining alternate characteristics for the same identities. Turning to the current conceptualizations of coloured identities as heterogeneous, non-static and highly contextual, I analyze two dominant discourses produced by the coloured students: coloured as an ethnic/hybrid cultural identity and an adoption of an inclusive South African national identity, simultaneously rejecting coloured identity as a product of the apartheid social engineering. Additionally, integrating an ecological approach and ecology model of identity development, created and utilized by Renn (1998, 2004) in her work that explores how multiracial students construct their identities in the context of higher education, I develop an ecology model of coloured students’ identity development and present the data to determine what factors and opportunities, provided by microsystems, mesosystem, exosystems and macrosystem of identity development, are significant and how they influence coloured students’ identities production, development and negotiation in and out of the university environments. The dissertation analysis on coloured identities builds on nine months of ethnographic fieldwork in the Western Cape, South Africa, including limited participant observation and semi-structured interviews with the undergraduate and graduate coloured students of the University of the Western Cape and University of Stellenbosch, the Western Cape, South Africa.
Spacecraft maneuvers and slosh control

Slosh is a problem in spacecrafts, which often carry considerable amounts of fuel for trajectory maneuvers and momentum dumping. As fuel is consumed, the tank becomes increasingly empty, and the remaining fuel is excited by the motion of the spacecraft. Since the reaction forces and moments caused by fuel slosh can degrade the pointing accuracy of the system, it is important to predict the effect of slosh on the spacecraft attitude control system. This paper presents the development of Sloshsat (Facility for Liquid Experimentation and Validation in Orbit) FLEVO used to study the dynamics of slosh and its impact on spacecraft attitude control. The primary objective of the Sloshat FLEVO mission is to perform a variety of maneuvers while collecting detailed measurements on the resulting slosh. For validation, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations must result in highly similar behavior. CFD predictions can then serve as a truth model for assessing the performance of simpler models for developing control algorithms.
Young Adult Bone Marrow–Derived Endothelial Precursor Cells Restore Aging-Impaired Cardiac Angiogenic Function

Delivery of young bone marrow–derived stem cells offers a novel approach for restoring the impaired senescent cardiac angiogenic function that may underlie the increased morbidity and mortality associated with ischemic heart disease in older individuals. Recently, we reported that alterations in endothelial cells of the aging heart lead to a dysregulation in the cardiac myocyte platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-B–induced paracrine pathway, which contributes to impaired cardiac angiogenic function. Based on these results, we hypothesized that cellular restoration of the PDGF pathway by bone marrow–derived endothelial precursor cells (EPCs) could reverse the aging-associated decline in angiogenic activity. In vitro studies revealed that young murine (3-month-old) bone marrow–derived EPCs recapitulated the cardiac myocyte–induced expression of PDGF-B, whereas EPCs from the bone marrow of aging mice (18-month-old) did not express PDGF-B when cultured in the presence of cardiac myocytes. Transplantation of young, but not old, genetically marked syngeneic bone marrow cells into intact, unirradiated aging mice that populated the endogenous senescent murine bone marrow incorporated into the neovasculature of subsequently transplanted syngeneic neonatal myocardium. Moreover, the young bone marrow–derived EPCs restored the senescent host angiogenic PDGF-B induction pathway and cardiac angiogenesis, with graft survival and myocardial activity in the aging murine host (cardiac allograft viability: 3-month-old controls, 8/8; 18-month-old controls, 1/8; 18-month-old donors receiving bone marrow from 3-month-old mice, 15/16; or 18-month-old mice, 0/6;P <0.05). These results may offer a foundation for the development of novel therapies for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease associated with aging. The full text of this article is available at http://www.circresaha. org.
Wheezing during the first year of life in infants from low-income population: a descriptive study.

BACKGROUND Recurrent wheezing (RW) plays an important role in the morbidity and mortality of children during the first year of life in developing regions and its actual incidence in those areas is virtually unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS This study describes the occurrence of wheezing during the first year of life in a birth cohort of 188 infants followed monthly and living in a poor urban area in Santiago de Chile. This study showed that 80.3 % of the infants in the cohort had one or more wheezing episode during the first year of life, 43.1 % had RW (3 or more wheezing episodes), 44.1 % had their first wheezing within the first three months of life and 13.3 % had pneumonia (PN). Having one or more episode of wheezing in the first three months of life was the main risk factor for suffering from RW during the first year and RW was a significant risk factor for having PN. CONCLUSIONS This study found a high prevalence of RW in infants from a low-income population during the first year of life with the disease starting very early in their lives, progressing with more frequent episodes and being significantly associated to PN, particularly in the first 6 months of life.
Surface properties of dental polymers: measurements of contact angles, roughness and fluoride release

Received: January 28, 2007; Revised: August 11, 2008Objective: Earlier studies on some dental materials measured roughness and/or contact angles or fluoride release separately. In the present study, five dental polymers were investigated to ascertain their contact angles, wettability, roughness, and fluoride release in dry or wet conditions. Methods: Samples for 5 materials were prepared and stored dry or wet in deionized water pH 6.8. Samples were submitted to finishing/polishing procedures, and the measurements in Goniometer, roughness (µm) and fluoride analysis Results and conclusions: Except for the Ariston pHc, all the materials displayed high contact angles when measured with water, showing hydrophobic characteristics. Roughness changed the contact angles, especially those of Ariston (α < 0.05). Fluoride did not modify the contact angles, but increased the roughness of the finished material.