Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A QoS-Based Wireless Multimedia Sensor Cluster Protocol

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) provide a wireless network infrastructure for sensed data transport in environments where wired or satellite technologies cannot be used. Because the embedded hardware of the sensor nodes has been improved very much in the last years and the number of real deployments is increasing considerably, they have become a reliable option for the transmission of any type of sensed data, from few sensed measures to multimedia data. This paper proposes a new protocol that uses an ad hoc cluster based architecture which is able to adapt the logical sensor network topology to the delivered multimedia stream features, guaranteeing the quality of the communications. The proposed protocol uses the quality of service (QoS) parameters, such as bandwidth, delay, jitter, and packet loss, of each type of multimedia stream as a basis for the sensor clusters creation and organization inside the WSN, providing end-to-end QoS for each multimedia stream. We present real experiments that show the performance of the protocol for several video and audio cases when it is running.
Problem-Independent Handling of Constraints by Use of Metric Penalty Functions

Unlike scienti c test functions, real world problems are in general constrained optimization problems. Furthermore, due to undetermined rst and second order derivatives only direct optimization methods can be used to attack these problems. Then, in most cases, constraints are dealt with by use of so-called penalty functions. An alternate approach as used by Rechenberg [1] and Schwefel [2] simply discards infeasible test points while generating a new one. This paper presents a synthesis of both approaches avoiding the design of problemdependent surrogate functions in the former case as well as the excessive waste of computational resources and implicit information contained in infeasible test points in the latter case. It is applicable to any direct optimization method with just minor modi cations. Its feasibility is demonstrated by its integration into an Evolution Strategy (ES), a special kind of Evolutionary Algorithm (EA), which | due to its internal model of the problem (internal strategy parameters) | has the capacity to pro t from the implicit information provided by infeasible test points.
Discovery and application of protein biomarkers for ovarian cancer

Purpose of review To review the protein biomarker research field in ovarian cancer, including the discovered new biomarkers, biomarker panels, their potential clinical applications, and suggested strategies for biomarker discovery and development. Recent findings Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of death from cancer among North American women. Unfortunately, there is currently no reliable circulating biomarker that can detect ovarian cancer in its early stages. The CA125 biomarker is extremely valuable for treatment response monitoring, but its sensitivity is very low for early detection. There is an urgent need to identify new circulating biomarkers/panels of biomarkers that could diagnose ovarian cancer before it becomes clinically detectable and advanced. In the past decade, efforts have accelerated to identify such novel biomarkers/panels of serum and urine biomarkers. A couple of individual biomarkers and biomarker panels have been reported with adaptable sensitivity and specificity range, which might hold great potential to be further validated and developed for diagnosis and prognosis applications and to control ovarian cancer mortality. Summary The present review summarizes the main advances in the past year, with the lists of biomarkers/panels, their potential applications, and new strategies/lessons we learned based on the most important work published during this period.
Heart disease, aspirin, and fish oil.

T he antithrombotic action of aspirin depends on inhibition of cyclooxygenase activity' in platelets, thereby reducing thromboxane A2 formation and consequently, their aggregability. In 1978, two important concepts on eicosanoid formation were presented. The first2 was that the vascular wall could utilize endoperoxides released by adhering platelets for the formation of prostacyclin. The second3 proposed that eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) from oily fish or fish oil could, through the formation of the active analogue of prostacyclin, prostaglandin 13 but inactive thromboxane A3, produce an antithrombotic state that protects against cardiovascular disease. Over the last decade, both
Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Virus among Adults at High Risk for HIV Transmission Two Decades after Implementation of Nationwide Hepatitis B Virus Vaccination Program in Taiwan

Background Seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) after implementation of universal neonatal HBV vaccination and catch-up vaccination programs remains rarely investigated among the adults who were born in the vaccination era (in or after 1986) and engaged in high-risk sexual behaviors. Materials and Methods Between 2006 and 2012, we determined HBV surface antigen ([HBsAg), anti-HBs, and HBV core antibody (anti-HBc), hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) and rapid plasma reagin titers among HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) born during 1984–1985 (Group I: 244 persons) and those born in or after 1986 (Group II: 523), and HIV-uninfected MSM (Group III: 377) and heterosexuals (Group IV: 217) born in or after 1986. Prevalence and incidence of HBV infection were estimated and multivariate analysis was performed to identify factors associated with HBsAg positivity. Results Compared with Group I, Groups II-IV had a significantly lower prevalence of HBsAg positivity (7.8% vs 3.7%, 2.4%, and 3.2%, respectively); and the prevalence of anti-HBc positivity was also lower for Groups III and IV (30.3% vs. 19.6%, and 18.0%, respectively), but no difference was observed between Groups I and II (30.3% vs. 26.3%). In multivariate analysis, HBsAg positivity was significantly associated with syphilis (adjusted odds ratio, 2.990; 95% confidence interval, 1.502–5.953) and anti-HCV positivity (adjusted odds ratio, 3.402; 95% confidence interval, 1.091–10.614). In subjects of Group II with all-negative HBV markers at baseline, the incidence rate of HBsAg seroconversion was 0.486 episodes per 100 person-years; and for those who received combination antiretroviral therapy containing lamivudine and/or tenofovir, none developed HBsAg seroconversion during the follow-up. Conclusions Among the adults who were born in or after 1986 and engaged in high-risk sexual behaviors in Taiwan, neonatal HBV vaccination and catch-up vaccination programs conferred long-term protection against HBsAg seroconversion and HBsAg positivity was associated with syphilis and anti-HCV positivity.
Emergence of and takeover by hepatitis B virus (HBV) with rearrangements in the pre-S/S and pre-C/C genes during chronic HBV infection

We have shown, by analyzing serial serum samples from a chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) carrier, the emergence of HBV DNA molecules with nucleotide rearrangements in the pre-S/S and pre-C/C genes. Serum samples were obtained at four different times (1983, 1985, 1988, and 1989) from an HBsAg- and HBeAg-positive carrier with chronic hepatitis. The polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify the pre-S/S and pre-C/C genes. The amplified products were cloned, and 8 to 10 independent clones were sequenced. In 1983 and 1985 only one type of HBV DNA molecule was observed. Nucleotide divergence relative to the adw2 subtype was 4.7, 7.2, and 1.6%, for the pre-S1, pre-S2, and S regions, respectively, and 2.2 and 3.9% for the pre-C and C regions, respectively. In 1988 and 1989, HBV DNA forms with marked rearrangements of both the pre-S/S and pre-C/C regions were evidenced. In the pre-S/S region, they comprised two distinct HBV DNA molecules. The first showed nucleotide divergence of 20.4, 14.8, and 3.3% for the pre-S1, pre-S2, and S regions when compared with the adw2 sequence. In addition, nucleotide deletions in the pre-S1 region led to the appearance of a stop codon. The second was created by recombination between the original and mutated HBV DNA. In the pre-C/C region, the mutated viral DNA showed 11.7% divergence when compared with the adw2 sequence. A point mutation led to the creation of a stop codon in the pre-C region, together with an insertion of 36 nucleic acids in the core gene. Most of this DNA insertion was identical to that reported in an independent HBV isolate but showed no significant homology with known sequences. Semiquantitative estimation of the proportion of wild-type and mutated HBV DNA molecules showed a marked increase in the mutated forms during the period of follow-up. Sucrose gradient analysis indicated that the defective HBV DNA molecules were present in circulating virions. Western immunoblot analysis showed the appearance of modified translation products. Our findings thus indicate the emergence of and gradual takeover by mutated HBV DNA forms during the HBV chronic carrier state. The rearrangements we observed in the pre-S/S and pre-C/C genes might lead to changes in the immunogenicity of the viral particles and thus affect the clearance of the virus by the immune system.
Effect of Candesartan on Cause-Specific Mortality in Heart Failure Patients: The Candesartan in Heart failure Assessment of Reduction in Mortality and morbidity (CHARM) Program

Background—Patients with heart failure are at increased risk of sudden death and death attributed to progressive pump failure. We assessed the effect of candesartan on cause-specific mortality in patients enrolled in the Candesartan in Heart failure Assessment of Reduction in Mortality and morbidity (CHARM) program. Methods and Results—The CHARM program consisted of 3 component trials that enrolled patients with symptomatic heart failure: CHARM-Alternative (n=2028; LVEF=40% and ACE intolerant), CHARM-Added (n=2548; LVEF=40%, already on ACE inhibitors), and CHARM-Preserved (n=3023; LVEF >40%). Patients were randomized to candesartan, titrated to 32 mg QD, or placebo and were followed up for a median of 37.7 months. All deaths were reviewed by a blinded adjudication committee and categorized according to prespecified definitions on the basis of a narrative and source documentation. The number and rate of deaths by cause were calculated for each of the component trials and the overall program. Of all the patients, 8.5% died suddenly, and 6.2% died of progressive heart failure. Candesartan reduced both sudden death (HR 0.85 [0.73 to 0.99], P=0.036) and death from worsening heart failure (HR 0.78 [0.65 to 0.94], P=0.008). These reductions were most apparent in the patients with LVEF=40%. Conclusions—Candesartan reduced sudden death and death from worsening heart failure in patients with symptomatic heart failure, although this reduction was most apparent in patients with systolic dysfunction.
Evolution lab: the flexible user friendly robot research tool

Evolution Lab is a software engineering MEng. project that allows complex robot designs to be simulated in a real world environment. Evolution Lab was created as a research tool. The system is extendible and embeddable so that it can be customized for use in a wide area of robotic problem domains. It has also been engineered to be user friendly so that its standard features are quickly available to the user without the need of extensive documentation. Included with Evolution Lab is an evolutionary computing library, this allows the system to be used in the evolutionary robotics domain.
Methods to Determine Node Centrality and Clustering in Graphs with Uncertain Structure

Much of the past work in network analysis has focused on analyzing discrete graphs, where binary edges represent the “presence” or “absence” of a relationship. Since traditional network measures (e.g., betweenness centrality) assume a discrete link structure, data about complex systems must be transformed to this representation before calculating network properties. In many domains where there may be uncertainty about the relationship structure, this transformation to a discrete representation will result in a lose of information. In order to represent and reason with network uncertainty, we move beyond the discrete graph framework and develop social network measures based on a probabilistic graph representation. More specifically, we develop measures of path length, betweenness centrality, and clustering coefficient— one set based on sampling and one based on probabilistic paths. We evaluate our methods on two real-world networks, Enron and Facebook, showing that our proposed methods more accurately capture salient effects without being susceptible to local noise.
Real-time tracking and imitation of facial expression

We present a system for tracking facial expression and head pose with one camera and no special markers, and generating a face animation to imitate these expressions simultaneously. The tracking is based on Gabor wavelet coefficients (jets) of the facial feature points, a saccadic searching strategy, and a model-based adjustment. Using Principal Components Analysis (PCA), we established an expression model and use it to drive the imitation animation. The system runs in real-time and the tracking shows robustness against illumination/background variation, accumulative error and partial occlusion. The imitation animation captures both the expression and the head pose without 3D information.
Sample-wise differential detection of Impulse-Radio Ultra-Wideband Pulse Position modulated symbols

The paper describes technique for differential detection of Impulse Radio Ultra-Wideband (IR-UWB) Pulse Position Modulated (PPM) symbols. An expression for probability of error in noise is derived. The numerical results show the method's performance enhancement compared to the energy detection in noise and considerable performance enhancement in multiuser interference. The method is applicable to the mandatory mode of the IEEE 802.15. 6 Body Area Network (BAN) IR-UWB standard.
Hierarchical Organization of Auditory and Motor Representations in Speech Perception: Evidence from Searchlight Similarity Analysis

How humans extract the identity of speech sounds from highly variable acoustic signals remains unclear. Here, we use searchlight representational similarity analysis (RSA) to localize and characterize neural representations of syllables at different levels of the hierarchically organized temporo-frontal pathways for speech perception. We asked participants to listen to spoken syllables that differed considerably in their surface acoustic form by changing speaker and degrading surface acoustics using noise-vocoding and sine wave synthesis while we recorded neural responses with functional magnetic resonance imaging. We found evidence for a graded hierarchy of abstraction across the brain. At the peak of the hierarchy, neural representations in somatomotor cortex encoded syllable identity but not surface acoustic form, at the base of the hierarchy, primary auditory cortex showed the reverse. In contrast, bilateral temporal cortex exhibited an intermediate response, encoding both syllable identity and the surface acoustic form of speech. Regions of somatomotor cortex associated with encoding syllable identity in perception were also engaged when producing the same syllables in a separate session. These findings are consistent with a hierarchical account of how variable acoustic signals are transformed into abstract representations of the identity of speech sounds.
WireDraw: 3D Wire Sculpturing Guided with Mixed Reality

The availability of commodity 3D extruder pen allows direct drawing of 3D wire sculptures for novice users, enabling many novel applications such as intuitive spatial intelligence development for school students. However, the lack of spatial and structural cues among individual pen strokes makes the 3D drawing process challenging, which often leads to highly distorted and even incomplete wire sculptures. We present a mixed reality system, called `WireDraw', to immersively guide the 3D drawing for easy wire sculpturing. The system design is based on novel 3D drawing principles and the subsequent optimization, making the stroke sequence of the wire model drawable and easy to draw. On-the-fly edits on unsatisfactory strokes are also allowed for creative design. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our system by testing on a variety of wire models and a user study. The results show that the visual guidance provided by our system is extremely helpful for drawing high-quality wire sculptures.
Self-biased high-bandwidth low-jitter 1-to-4096 multiplier clock generator PLL

A self-biased PLL uses a sample feed-forward filter network and a multistage inverse-linear programmable current mirror for constant loop dynamics that scale with reference frequency and are independent of multiplication factor, output frequency, and PVT. The PLL achieves a multiplication range of 1 to 4096 with less than 1.7% output jitter. Fabricated in 0.13/spl mu/m CMOS, the area is 0.182mm/sup 2/ and the supply is 1.5V.
Applying the CDHS to Improve the MAP-Based Algorithm in Super Resolution Reconstruction from Sequences

Based on the Huber-Markov random field (HMRF), this paper adopts the cross-diamond-hexagonal search (CDHS) blocking-matching algorithm to promote the speed of motion estimation in the maximum a posteriori (MAP)-based super resolution (SR) reconstruction. A block-wised motion vector selection (MVS) strategy is proposed to eliminate the unqualified motion vectors due to occlusion occurred in motion estimation so as to strengthen the reliability of the suboptimal solutions and get a better reconstruction. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can save about 2/3 computation time while provides the same reconstruction quality compared to that adopting the full search (FS) blocking-matching algorithm.
New concepts in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease

Alcoholic liver disease still represents an important cause for death and disability in most well-developed countries and is becoming a leading cause of disease in developing countries. It is now increasingly clear that, besides the formation of acetaldehyde, alcohol effects on the liver include oxidative stress, disturbances in methionine metabolism, endoplasmic reticulum stress, inflammatory/immune responses and adipokine imbalances. This article will discuss the most recent findings on the mechanisms by which alcohol abuse causes hepatic steatosis and steatohepatitis, and now it contributes to the progression of fibrosis. Although still incomplete, these data shed new light on the multifactorial pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease and open new possibilities in the understanding of how gender and genetic factors can influence disease progression.
Cognition : The Cultural Intelligence Hypothesis Humans Have Evolved Specialized Skills of Social

www.sciencemag. org (this information is current as of January 4, 2008 ): The following resources related to this article are available online at http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/content/full/317/5843/1360 version of this article at: including high-resolution figures, can be found in the online Updated information and services, http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/content/full/317/5843/1360/DC1 can be found at: Supporting Online Material http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/content/full/317/5843/1360#otherarticles , 4 of which can be accessed for free: cites 22 articles This article http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/collection/psychology Psychology : subject collections This article appears in the following http://www.sciencemag. org/about/permissions.dtl in whole or in part can be found at: this article permission to reproduce of this article or about obtaining reprints Information about obtaining
Oestrogen-induced hyperprolactinaemia in the rat: reduced concentrations of hypothalamic dopamine and the effects of bromocriptine.

The induction of hyperprolactinaemia in the male rat following chronic oestrogen administration over 3 months was shown to result in a highly significant reduction in hypothalamic dopamine (DA) concentration as well as significant reductions in hypothalamic noradrenaline (NA) and serotonin (5-HT). Significant increases in hypothalamic DA synthesis were found 4 days after a single dose of oestrogen but not after 3 months' chronic treatment. However, after the latter treatment there was a reduction in the ratio of the level of DA to its acidic metabolites in the hypothalami of the rats.
Multicasting with Localized Control in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

This paper investigates how to support multicasting in wireless ad hoc networks without throttling the dominant unicast flows. Unicast flows are usually congestion-controlled with protocols like TCP. However, there are no such protocols for multicast flows in wireless ad hoc networks and multicast flows can therefore cause severe congestion and throttle TCP-like flows in these environments. Based on a cross-layer approach, this paper proposes a completely-localized scheme to prevent multicast flows from causing severe congestion and the associated deleterious effects on other flows in wireless ad hoc networks. The proposed scheme combines the layered multicast concept with the routing-based congestion avoidance idea to reduce the aggregated rate of multicast flows when they use excessive bandwidth on a wireless link. Our analysis and extensive simulations show that the fully-localized scheme proposed in this paper is effective in ensuring the fairness of bandwidth sharing between multicast and unicast flows in wireless ad hoc networks.
Release of ATP from human erythrocytes in response to a brief period of hypoxia and hypercapnia.

OBJECTIVE The aims were, first, to detect and quantify the release of ATP from human erythrocytes in response to a brief exposure to a hypoxic/hypercapnic environment, similar to that found in vigorously exercising skeletal or cardiac muscle; and second, to explore the mechanism of ATP release in response to hypoxia. METHODS Washed human erythrocytes suspended in Krebs-Henseleit solution were exposed for 50 s to an atmosphere of approximately 8.0 kPa PCO2 and 2.7 kPa PO2; ATP released into the suspension was assayed using the firefly luminescence technique. Samples of human blood were obtained by venepuncture of the median cubital vein from male and female volunteers ranging in age from 21 to 74 years. Anticoagulation was with EDTA. RESULTS A background of 0.49 x 10(6) (SEM 0.037 x 10(6)) ATP molecules.cell-1 was attributed to spontaneous haemolysis of 1% of the cell population, as estimated by levels of haemoglobin measured in the suspension fluid. When the erythrocytes were exposed to the hypoxic/hypercapnic gas mixture at 37 degrees C the ATP concentration in the suspension fluid rose to 2.67 x 10(6) (0.27 x 10(6)) molecules.cell-1. An efflux rate of 276(37) molecules.mu-2.s-1 was calculated. The hypoxia induced ATP release was blocked in three different ways: first, by application of 50 microM of the specific band 3 anion channel blocking agents niflumic acid (a translocation inhibitor), DIDS (a transport site inhibitor), or dipyridamole (a channel blocker); secondly, by replacement of extracellular chloride and bicarbonate with the impermeant anion methanesulphonate; and thirdly, by application of 5 nM of the nucleoside transport blocker nitrobenzylthioinosine. None of these blocking techniques affected the background levels of ATP attributed to haemolysis. CONCLUSIONS A situation of hypoxia/hypercapnia, such as would be found in exercising muscle, induces release of ATP from the erythrocyte via the plasma membrane protein moiety known as band 4.5 (a nucleoside transporter) and electrical balance across the erythrocyte membrane is maintained by the simultaneous influx of extracellular chloride and/or bicarbonate via the plasma membrane protein known as band 3 (anion channel). The circulation of erythrocytes into a region of hypoxia in vivo could promote an increase in local blood flow through release of endothelium dependent relaxing factor in response to released ATP.