Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multilevel LDPC codes design for semi-BICM

In this letter, we joined the multilevel coding (MLC) and bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) together by using Gray mapping, which is called semi-BICM. To perform well at signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) close to the capacity of the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel, regular low density parity check (LDPC) codes are discussed with parallel independent decoding (PID). The numerical results show that the proposed structure could achieve both power and bandwidth efficiency.
A docking control method in narrow space for intelligent wheelchair

A docking control method which is based on vision feedback and applied in narrow space is proposed in this paper. By it the intelligent wheelchair can be docked into a U-shaped bed automatically and reconfigured to a flat stationary bed. First, The U-shaped bed is identified and its relative pose to the wheelchair is localized according to some features of specific symbol set on the bed. Second, the improved line trajectory tracking algorithm is performed to make the wheelchair to dock into the bed by using vision feedback and dead reckoning. Experiment results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Glucose Deprivation Induces ATF4-Mediated Apoptosis through TRAIL Death Receptors

ABSTRACT Metabolic stress occurs frequently in tumors and in normal tissues undergoing transient ischemia. Nutrient deprivation triggers, among many potential cell death-inducing pathways, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response with the induction of the integrated stress response transcription factor ATF4. However, how this results in cell death remains unknown. Here we show that glucose deprivation triggered ER stress and induced the unfolded protein response transcription factors ATF4 and CHOP. This was associated with the nontranscriptional accumulation of TRAIL receptor 1 (TRAIL-R1) (DR4) and with the ATF4-mediated, CHOP-independent induction of TRAIL-R2 (DR5), suggesting that cell death in this context may involve death receptor signaling. Consistent with this, the ablation of TRAIL-R1, TRAIL-R2, FADD, Bid, and caspase-8 attenuated cell death, although the downregulation of TRAIL did not, suggesting ligand-independent activation of TRAIL receptors. These data indicate that stress triggered by glucose deprivation promotes the ATF4-dependent upregulation of TRAIL-R2/DR5 and TRAIL receptor-mediated cell death.
Area Sensitivity of Grassland Sparrows Overwintering in a South Carolina Forested Landscape

Abstract We assessed area sensitivity of overwintering Peucaea aestivalis (Bachman's Sparrow), Ammodramus savannarum (Grasshopper Sparrow), and A. henslowii (Henslow's Sparrow) within utility rights-of-way (ROWs) at the US Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. We compared sparrow abundance among 4 ROW-width classes (25–44.9 m, 45–64.9 m, 65–84.9 m, and >85 m) and used landform index (LFI; a measure of topography and environmental exposure) as a covariate in our analyses to assess potential effects of abiotic characteristics. Total number of sparrows flushed/ha. Grasshopper Sparrows flushed/ha, and Henslow's Sparrows flushed/ha were positively related to ROW-width class. Total number of sparrows flushed/ha and Bachman's Sparrows flushed/ha were negatively related to LFI, indicating a positive relationship with site exposure. Utility ROWs in the Southeast provide wintering habitat for grassland sparrows, especially on exposed elevated plateaus within wide ROWs.
L-theanine, unique amino acid of tea, and its metabolism, health effects, and safety

ABSTRACT Tea has been a very popular beverage around the world for centuries. The reason that it is delicious, enabling hydration, showing warming and relaxing effect can be mentioned why it is consumed so much in addition to its prominent health effects. Although the catechins and caffeine are the primary bioactive components that are related with the health effects of the tea, the health effects of theanine amino acid, which is a nonproteinic amino acid special to tea, has become prominent in recent years. It has been known that the theanine amino acid in tea has positive effects especially on relaxing, cognitive performance, emotional status, sleep quality, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and common cold. The results of acute and chronic toxicity tests conducted on the safety of theanine express that L-theanine is reliable in general even if it is consumed too much with diet. However, it has not revealed a clear evidence-based result yet regarding theanine metabolism, health effects, and its safety. Within this frame, chemical structure of theanine, its biosynthesis, dietary sources, metabolism, health effects, and safety are discussed in present study.
Programming a hematopoietic stem cell donor: the evolution of a project over time.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a treatment largely employed for a number of hereditary and/or hematologic conditions, both malignant and non-malignant. 1 Nearly 40 years have elapsed since the first successful bone marrow transplantation; 2,3 since then, significant improvements have been reported , also in connection with the use of cord blood as a source of stem cells. The availability of an HLA-compatible family donor still remains of such paramount importance in terms of the possibility of success of HSCT 4 that, sometimes, the parents of an affected child resort to programming the birth of a child with the aim of taking advantage of his/her cord blood as a source of stem cells capable of saving the life of a sibling in danger. In 1987, for the first time, we reported on a bone marrow transplant performed from a donor conceived with the hope that he would be HLA-compatible with his sister. 5 The patient was 7 years old and had Philadelphia-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia in first chronic phase, a disease that was invariably fatal within a few years at that period. In January 1985, the girl's parents had decided to initiate another pregnancy, with the hope, based on a 25% statistical probability, that the newborn might be HLA-identical with the patient, so that he could become a donor of bone marrow-derived stem cells capable of saving his sister's life. Prenatal testing of HLA compatibility between the fetus and his sister was not performed. Following an uneventful pregnancy , the child was born and found to be HLA-compatible , thus allowing him to act as a bone marrow donor, 20 months after his birth. The most relevant ethical issue raised by this particular case was the decision to conceive a child also with the hope that he/she would be suitable as a donor of hematopoietic stem cells. 5 The issue was further addressed in both the medical and ethical literature, 6-8 as well as commented upon in newspapers and periodicals of various European countries. Today, almost 18 years after the bone marrow transplant , the patient remains in remission with full donor chimerism, without chronic graft-versus-host disease and has graduated from a prestigious Fine Arts Academy in Milan. Her 20-year old brother has recently started stable employment, following completion of high school. They are both in perfect physical, mental and socio-relational health. Eighteen years have elapsed since this …
Non-negative matrix factorization in bioinformatics: Towards understanding biological processes

Experimental techniques in biology such as DNA microarrays, serial analysis of gene expression and mass spectrometry proteomics, among others, are generating large amounts of data related to genes and proteins at different levels. One of the major challenges in the analysis of such datasets is to discover local structures composed by sets of genes or proteins that show coherent behavior patterns across subsets of experimental conditions. These patterns may provide clues about the main biological processes associated to different physiological states. In addition, as in any other experimental approach, it is necessary to analyze these data in the context of previously known information about the biological entities under study. Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) technique has become very popular in this context due to the interpretability of the factors it generates. In this paper we will review two different applications of this methodology in this field and will provide some motivations for the application of similar techniques in the context of data analysis in biology.
Combining Instruction and Loop Level Parallelism for FPGAs

The conventional method of compiling perfect loops of uniform dependence programs to FPGA based co-processors yields PE arrays where a processor (PE) executes one instance of the loop body per clock cycle. We develop a transformation framework in which the derived PE can be systematically and automatically pipelined through retiming. We use well known transformations, namely skewing and serialization, which enable us to place an arbitrary number of registers at the PE outputs, which are then moved in to the PE's data-path using circuit retimers provided by commercial CAD tools. Our experimental measurements (based on performance estimates after place-and-route) have been very encouraging. For a number of examples we have seen dramatic performance improvements, speed increases of an order of magnitude with relatively little (always less than 50%) area overhead.
Rapid Summarisation and Browsing of Video Sequences

This paper presents a strategy for rapid summarisation and browsing of video sequences. The input video is first transformed into a sequence of representative feature vectors. Using this representation a utility function is designed that assigns high reward to subsequences of keyframes that are maximally distinct and individually carry the most information. For a specified level of detail and endpoints the keyframe sequence that maximises this utility function can be obtained by a non-iterative Dynamic Programming procedure, thus allowing the user to efficiently zoom in on any part or all of the video sequence. For the sake of compactness and clarity the working of the algorithm is illustrated on a television commercial.
Apoptosis induced by tumor necrosis factor in cells chronically infected with feline immunodeficiency virus

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) induced morphologic changes such as chromatin condensation and cell shrinkage in a feline fibroblastic cell line (CRFK) chronically infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) but not in uninfected CRFK cells. DNA extracted from TNF-alpha-treated CRFK cells infected with FIV showed a ladder of nucleosomal DNA, indicating that this cytocidal effect by TNF-alpha was due to programmed cell death, or apoptosis. These findings may have implications for understanding the pathogenesis of FIV infection and for the design of specific therapeutic strategies for AIDS in humans as well as cats.
Flight dynamics and nonlinear control design for variable-pitch quadrotors

This paper introduces the mathematical model for quadrotor with variable-pitch propellers that facilitates generation of negative thrust, thereby augmenting the rate of change of thrust generation suitable for aggressive maneuvering. Blade element theory along with momentum theory is used to estimate aerodynamic loads essential for formulating rigid body dynamics model of the vehicle. Further, the paper develops a nonlinear controller using dynamic inversion technique to stabilize and/or to track a reference trajectory. The controller uses three loops. The outer loop solves the translation dynamics to generate the thrust, pitch angle, and roll angle commands required to achieve a given state or trajectory. Using the commands generated in the outer loop, the inner loop simplifies the rotational dynamics to provide the desired angular velocities. The control allocation loop is added to address the nonlinear relation between control input and rotor thrust and torque. This is done by introducing the derivative of thrust coefficient as a virtual control to the system. These virtual inputs control the derivatives of thrust and body moments, which in turn generates the required thrust and body moments. The performance of the proposed design is shown through simulated results for attitude stabilization and trajectory following.
Effect of pH and temperature on the stability of UV-induced repairable pyrimidine hydrates in DNA.

UV irradiation of cytosine yields 6-hydroxy-5,6-dihydrocytosine (cytosine hydrate) whether the cytosine is in solution as base, nucleoside, or nucleotide or on the DNA backbone. Cytosine hydrate decomposes by elimination of water, yielding cytosine, or by irreversible deamination, yielding uracil hydrate, which, in turn, decomposes by dehydration yielding uracil. To determine how pH and temperature affect these decomposition reactions, alternating poly(dG-[3H]dC) copolymer was irradiated at 254 nm and incubated under different conditions of pH and temperature. The cytosine hydrate and uracil hydrate content of the DNA was determined by the use of Escherichia coli endonuclease III, which releases pyrimidine hydrates from DNA by virtue of its DNA glycosylase activity. Uracil content was determined by using uracil-DNA glycosylase. The rate of decomposition of cytosine hydrate to cytosine was determined at 4 temperatures at pH 3.1, 5.4, and 7.4. The Ea was determined from the rates by using the Arrhenius equation and proved to be the same at pH 5.4 and 7.4, although the decomposition rate at pH 5.4 was faster at all temperatures. At pH 3.1, the Ea was reduced. These results suggest that the dehydration reaction is affected by two discrete protonations, most probably of the N-3 and the OH group of C-6 of cytosine hydrate. The deamination of cytosine hydrate to uracil hydrate was maximal at pH 3.1 at all temperatures. The doubly protonated cytosine hydrate probably is the common intermediate for both competing decomposition reactions, explaining why cytosine hydrate is prone to deamination at acid pH. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Equilibrium Predictability And Other Return Characteristics

This paper presents a structural model of aggregate return characteristics based on a one-channel Bansal and Yaron (2004) economy under recursive preferences. The predictability result rests on an endogenously determined price-dividend ratio that is not exponentially affine which implies time variation and predictability in equity premia. This result is new within the context of a one-channel Bansal and Yaron (2004) economy. Furthermore, the predictability coefficient is stochastic which provides theoretical foundations for recent works in predictability like Dangl and Halling (2011). In longer horizon, the predictability relationship is highly volatile making it difficult to make inference about long-horizon predictability.
Generalization, discrimination, and multiple categorization using adaptive resonance theory

The internal competition between categories in the adaptive resonance theory (ART) neural model can be biased by replacing the original choice function by one that contains an attentional tuning parameter under external control. For the same input but different values of the attentional tuning parameter, the network can learn and recall different categories with different degrees of generality, thus permitting the coexistence of both general and specific categorizations of the same set of data. Any number of these categorizations can be learned within one and the same network by virtue of generalization and discrimination properties. A simple model in which the attentional tuning parameter and the vigilance parameter of ART are linked together is described. The self-stabilization property is shown to be preserved for an arbitrary sequence of analog inputs, and for arbitrary orderings of arbitrarily chosen vigilance levels.
The Hydrophobic Core of the Sec61 Translocon Defines the Hydrophobicity Threshold for Membrane Integration

Mutation of the apolar constriction of the yeast Sec61 translocon to polar or charged residues, while retaining functionality, affected the integration of potential transmembrane segments into the lipid bilayer. This indicates that the translocon plays an active role in setting the hydrophobicity threshold for membrane integration.
Zinc-induced Alzheimer’s Aβ1–40 Aggregation Is Mediated by Conformational Factors*

The heterogeneous precipitates of Aβ that accumulate in the brain cortex in Alzheimer’s disease possess varying degrees of resistance to resolubilization. We previously found that Aβ1–40 is rapidly precipitated in vitro by physiological concentrations of zinc, a neurochemical that is highly abundant in brain compartments where Aβ is most likely to precipitate. We now present evidence that the zinc-induced precipitation of Aβ is mediated by a peptide dimer and favored by conditions that promote α-helical and diminish β-sheet conformations. The manner in which the synthetic peptide is solubilized was critical to its behaviorin vitro. Zinc-induced Aβ aggregation was dependent upon the presence of NaCl, was enhanced by α-helical-promoting solvents, but was abolished when the peptide stock solution was stored frozen. The Aβ aggregates induced by zinc were reversible by chelation, but could then be reprecipitated by zinc for several cycles, indicating that the peptide’s conformation is probably preserved in the zinc-mediated assembly. In contrast, Aβ aggregates induced by low pH (5.5) were not resolubilized by returning the pH milieu to 7.4. The zinc-Aβ interaction exhibits features resembling the gelation process of zinc-mediated fibrin assembly, suggesting that, in events such as clot formation or injury, reversible Aβ assembly could be physiologically purposive. Such a mechanism is contemplated in the early evolution of diffuse plaques in Alzheimer’s disease and suggests a possible therapeutic strategy for the resolubilization of some forms of Aβ deposit in the disease.
Linear Time Algorithms for Hamiltonian Problems on (Claw, Net)-Free Graphs

We prove that claw-free graphs, containing an induced dominating path, have a Hamiltonian path, and that two-connected claw-free graphs, containing an induced doubly dominating cycle or a pair of vertices such that there exist two internally disjoint induced dominating paths connecting them, have a Hamiltonian cycle. As a consequence, we obtain linear time algorithms for both problems if the input is restricted to (claw,net)-free graphs. These graphs enjoy those interesting structural properties.
Spontaneous Hemoperitoneum Because of a Ruptured GIST without Abdominal Pain

We experienced a rare case of spontaneous hemoperitoneum because of a ruptured malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), with only abdominal bloating and no abdominal pain. GIST is a common mesenchymal tumor of the gastrointestinal tract. Because of the high vascularity of the tumor, GISTs are frequently associated with gastrointestinal bleeding. Most patients present with abdominal pain at the onset of rupture, and the absence of abdominal pain complicated the management of this patient. To confirm or exclude a diagnosis of hemoperitoneum combined with a gastric submucosal tumor and intra-abdominal fluid, careful observation is required.
Modeling and simulation of D-STATCOM for voltage regulations

This paper gives the State Space modeling of Distribution Static Synchronous Compensator (D-STATCOM). It is important to keep the voltage constant in the distribution system, hence voltage regulation is required in the distribution network. Voltage Source Converter (VSC) based D-STATCOM achieves voltage regulation in the connected bus by absorbing/supplying the required reactive power. The capability of the DSTATCOM is demonstrated by simulation using MATLAB.
Convergence in mycorrhizal fungal communities due to drought, plant competition, parasitism, and susceptibility to herbivory: consequences for fungi and host plants

Plants and mycorrhizal fungi influence each other’s abundance, diversity, and distribution. How other biotic interactions affect the mycorrhizal symbiosis is less well understood. Likewise, we know little about the effects of climate change on the fungal component of the symbiosis or its function. We synthesized our long-term studies on the influence of plant parasites, insect herbivores, competing trees, and drought on the ectomycorrhizal fungal communities associated with a foundation tree species of the southwestern United States, pinyon pine (Pinus edulis), and described how these changes feed back to affect host plant performance. We found that drought and all three of the biotic interactions studied resulted in similar shifts in ectomycorrhizal fungal community composition, demonstrating a convergence of the community towards dominance by a few closely related fungal taxa. Ectomycorrhizal fungi responded similarly to each of these stressors resulting in a predictable trajectory of community disassembly, consistent with ecological theory. Although we predicted that the fungal communities associated with trees stressed by drought, herbivory, competition, and parasitism would be poor mutualists, we found the opposite pattern in field studies. Our results suggest that climate change and the increased importance of herbivores, competitors, and parasites that can be associated with it, may ultimately lead to reductions in ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity, but that the remaining fungal community may be beneficial to host trees under the current climate and the warmer, drier climate predicted for the future.
Reachable set for open single spin system

In this article we study the reachable set of open single spin systems in Markovian environment by using coherent control. Given the initial state, we compute all the possible states to which the spin can be driven to at a given time. Such characterization of reachable set gives the physical limits of controlled evolution of quantum systems and provide optimal control strategies achieving these limits.
3D Skeletons: A State‐of‐the‐Art Report

Given a shape, a skeleton is a thin centered structure which jointly describes the topology and the geometry of the shape. Skeletons provide an alternative to classical boundary or volumetric representations, which is especially effective for applications where one needs to reason about, and manipulate, the structure of a shape. These skeleton properties make them powerful tools for many types of shape analysis and processing tasks. For a given shape, several skeleton types can be defined, each having its own properties, advantages, and drawbacks. Similarly, a large number of methods exist to compute a given skeleton type, each having its own requirements, advantages, and limitations. While using skeletons for two‐dimensional (2D) shapes is a relatively well covered area, developments in the skeletonization of three‐dimensional (3D) shapes make these tasks challenging for both researchers and practitioners. This survey presents an overview of 3D shape skeletonization. We start by presenting the definition and properties of various types of 3D skeletons. We propose a taxonomy of 3D skeletons which allows us to further analyze and compare them with respect to their properties. We next overview methods and techniques used to compute all described 3D skeleton types, and discuss their assumptions, advantages, and limitations. Finally, we describe several applications of 3D skeletons, which illustrate their added value for different shape analysis and processing tasks.