Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On projected stochastic gradient descent algorithm with weighted averaging for least squares regression

The problem of least squares regression of a d-dimensional unknown parameter is considered. A stochastic gradient descent based algorithm with weighted iterate-averaging that uses a single pass over the data is studied and its convergence rate is analyzed. We first consider a bounded constraint set of the unknown parameter. Under some standard regularity assumptions, we provide an explicit O(1/k) upper bound on the convergence rate, depending on the variance (due to the additive noise in the measurements) and the size of the constraint set. We show that the variance term dominates the error and decreases with rate 1 /k, while the constraint set term decreases with rate log k/k2. We then compare the asymptotic ratio ρ between the convergence rate of the proposed scheme and the empirical risk minimizer (ERM) as the number of iterations approaches infinity. We show that ρ ≤ 4 under some mild conditions for all d ≥ 1. We further improve the upper bound by showing that ρ ≤ 4/3 for the case of d =1 and unbounded parameter set. Simulation results demonstrate strong performance of the algorithm as compared to existing methods, and coincide with ρ ≤ 4/3 even for large d in practice.
Evaluation of Spasticity in Children With Cerebral Palsy Using Ashworth and Tardieu Scales Compared With Laboratory Measures

The content validity of the Tardieu Scale and the Ashworth Scale was assessed in 27 independently ambulant children with cerebral palsy (gender: 17 males, 10 females; age: 5—9 years; Gross Motor Function Classification: level I and II). Ashworth and Tardieu Scale scores and laboratory measures of spasticity and contracture were collected from the plantarflexor muscles by 2 examiners who were blinded to the results. The Tardieu Scale was more effective than the Ashworth Scale in identifying the presence of spasticity (88.9%, kappa = 0.73; P = .000), the presence of contracture (77.8%, kappa = 0.503; P = .008) and the severity of contracture (r = 0.49; P = .009). However, neither scale was able to identify the severity of spasticity. The Tardieu Scale can provide useful information in children with cerebral palsy because it differentiates spasticity from contracture. However, a more comprehensive clinical method of testing neural and non-neural contributions to impairments and function is needed.
H5N1 Vaccine-Specific B Cell Responses in Ferrets Primed with Live Attenuated Seasonal Influenza Vaccines

Background Live attenuated influenza H5N1 vaccines have been produced and evaluated in mice and ferrets that were never exposed to influenza A virus infection (Suguitan et al., Plos Medicine, e360:1541, 2006). However, the preexisting influenza heterosubtypic immunity on live attenuated H5N1 vaccine induced immune response has not been evaluated. Methodology and Principal Findings Primary and recall B cell responses to live attenuated H5N1 vaccine viruses were examined using a sensitive antigen-specific B cell ELISpot assay to investigate the effect of preexisting heterosubtypic influenza immunity on the development of H5N1-specific B cell immune responses in ferrets. Live attenuated H5N1 A/Hong Kong/213/03 and A/Vietnam/1203/04 vaccine viruses induced measurable H5-specific IgM and IgG secreting B cells after intranasal vaccination. However, H5-specific IgG secreting cells were detected significantly earlier and at a greater frequency after H5N1 inoculation in ferrets previously primed with trivalent live attenuated influenza (H1N1, H3N2 and B) vaccine. Priming studies further revealed that the more rapid B cell responses to H5 resulted from cross-reactive B cell immunity to the hemagglutinin H1 protein. Moreover, vaccination with the H1N1 vaccine virus was able to induce protective responses capable of limiting replication of the H5N1 vaccine virus to a level comparable with prior vaccination with the H5N1 vaccine virus without affecting H5N1 vaccine virus induced antibody response. Conclusion The findings indicate that previous vaccination with seasonal influenza vaccine may accelerate onset of immunity by an H5N1 ca vaccine and the heterosubtypic immunity may be beneficial for pandemic preparedness.
Long-term proton pump inhibitor therapy and risk of hip fracture.

CONTEXT Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may interfere with calcium absorption through induction of hypochlorhydria but they also may reduce bone resorption through inhibition of osteoclastic vacuolar proton pumps. OBJECTIVE To determine the association between PPI therapy and risk of hip fracture. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS A nested case-control study was conducted using the General Practice Research Database (1987-2003), which contains information on patients in the United Kingdom. The study cohort consisted of users of PPI therapy and nonusers of acid suppression drugs who were older than 50 years. Cases included all patients with an incident hip fracture. Controls were selected using incidence density sampling, matched for sex, index date, year of birth, and both calendar period and duration of up-to-standard follow-up before the index date. For comparison purposes, a similar nested case-control analysis for histamine 2 receptor antagonists was performed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The risk of hip fractures associated with PPI use. RESULTS There were 13,556 hip fracture cases and 135,386 controls. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for hip fracture associated with more than 1 year of PPI therapy was 1.44 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.30-1.59). The risk of hip fracture was significantly increased among patients prescribed long-term high-dose PPIs (AOR, 2.65; 95% CI, 1.80-3.90; P<.001). The strength of the association increased with increasing duration of PPI therapy (AOR for 1 year, 1.22 [95% CI, 1.15-1.30]; 2 years, 1.41 [95% CI, 1.28-1.56]; 3 years, 1.54 [95% CI, 1.37-1.73]; and 4 years, 1.59 [95% CI, 1.39-1.80]; P<.001 for all comparisons). CONCLUSION Long-term PPI therapy, particularly at high doses, is associated with an increased risk of hip fracture.
Peptide Nanovesicles Formed by the Self-Assembly of Branched Amphiphilic Peptides

Peptide-based packaging systems show great potential as safer drug delivery systems. They overcome problems associated with lipid-based or viral delivery systems, vis-a-vis stability, specificity, inflammation, antigenicity, and tune-ability. Here, we describe a set of 15 & 23-residue branched, amphiphilic peptides that mimic phosphoglycerides in molecular architecture. These peptides undergo supramolecular self-assembly and form solvent-filled, bilayer delimited spheres with 50–200 nm diameters as confirmed by TEM, STEM and DLS. Whereas weak hydrophobic forces drive and sustain lipid bilayer assemblies, these all-peptide structures are stabilized potentially by both hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonds and remain intact at low micromolar concentrations and higher temperatures. A linear peptide lacking the branch point showed no self-assembly properties. We have observed that these peptide vesicles can trap fluorescent dye molecules within their interior and are taken up by N/N 1003A rabbit lens epithelial cells grown in culture. These assemblies are thus potential drug delivery systems that can overcome some of the key limitations of the current packaging systems.
Timing-resilient Network-on-Chip architectures

Networks-on-Chip (NoC) have been established as the de facto standard for on-chip communication in multi-/many-core systems, due to their innate scalability properties pertaining to performance and physical implementation. Spanning the entire chip, the NoC suffers from both inter-die and intra-die variations. In addition to static variability, the NoC is also afflected by dynamic variations, such as fast VDD droops, temperature, and aging effects. Such variations cause unpredictable behavior in the timing characteristics of the NoC components, which need significant timing margins to ensure always-correct operation. Consequently, the potential for high-frequency operation is impeded. In this paper, we propose a timing-error-resilient mechanism called TRNoC, which allows the NoC to operate at higher frequencies, at the expense of sporadically experiencing run-time timing errors, which are handled by an error recovery strategy. TRNoC includes a lightweight timing-error detection mechanism, together with a distributed error recovery mechanism, which allow for lossless operation, while leaving the error-free parts of the network unaffected. Hardware implementation results demonstrate the efficiency of TRNoC and its potential as a scalable timing-error-resilient NoC architecture.
Unusually severe heterozygous beta-thalassemia: evidence for an interacting gene affecting globin translation.

A common beta-thalassemia mutation in Asian populations is the C --> T substitution at position 654 of intron 2, which leads to the activation of two cryptic splicing sites and the incorporation of 73 extra nucleotides into the mutant mRNA. Like most beta-thalassemia mutations, it normally exhibits recessive inheritance. We investigated the unusually severe phenotype in two heterozygotes for this mutation, father and son, who had thalassemia intermedia and an apparent dominant mode of inheritance. An increased level of aberrantly spliced transcript in the reticulocytes of the probands compared with asymptomatic beta654 heterozygotes led us to investigate the production and processing of beta654 RNA. We showed that large amounts of the aberrant beta654 transcript were detectable in erythroblasts from one of the asymptomatic cases. The translation product of this mRNA was not detectable in vivo, and we were unable to demonstrate the translation of the mutant mRNA in a cell-free translation system. Although the reticulocyte alpha:beta mRNA ratios in the two probands were within the range observed in the asymptomatic heterozygotes, globin chain biosynthesis studies showed that the probands had considerably greater alpha:beta chain imbalance. These results imply that the more severe phenotype may be due to a second defect, possibly unlinked to the beta-globin cluster, that acts at the translational or posttranslational level.
Epstein-Barr virus encoded latent membrane protein 1 induces TRAF1 expression to promote anti-apoptosis activity via NF-kappaB signaling pathway in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES To identify whether Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) can induce tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 1 (TRAF1) expression and promote its anti-apoptosis activity via the NF-kappaB signaling pathway, and assess that LMP1 suppresses apoptosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). METHODS A stable transfected cell line HNE2-LMP1 was established by introducing LMP1 cDNA into HNE2 cells. Transactivation of TRAF1 was determined by luciferase reporter assay, while expression of TRAF1 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR and expression of TRAF1 protein and caspase 3 by Western blot analysis. Apoptosis activity was observed through fluorescence staining. RESULTS LMP1 induced TRAF1 expression in NPC cells and caused a decrease in apoptosis. This induction could be blocked by antisense LMP1. Moreover, LMP1-mediated induction of a TRAF1 promoter-driven reporter gene was significantly impaired when the kappaB site kappaB1 or kappaB5 was disrupted, whereas mutation of kappaB3 had only a minor effect on LMP1 dependent up-regulation of the reporter gene. CONCLUSION LMP1 induces TRAF1 expression and promotes its anti-apoptosis activity via the NF-kappaB signaling pathway, which may be one of the mechanisms that LMP1 uses to suppress apoptosis in NPC cells.
On the necessary density for spectrum-blind nonuniform sampling subject to quantization

It is known that in the absence of distortion, the necessary sampling density for a multiband signal is given by its spectral occupancy. However, in general, the samples have to be acquired nonuniformly. There exist sampling patterns such that reconstruction is feasible even if the actual spectral support of the multiband signal is not known. If the samples are distorted, an increased sampling density may lead to a superior performance. In this paper, we consider the case of small distortion due to fine quantization of the samples, and we derive a necessary condition on the optimal sampling density.
An experimental analysis of opportunity and communication response form in a child with autism and hearing impairments

An alternating treatment design was used to systematically evaluate the communication response forms, picture exchange communication system (PECS) or sign language, selection for a child with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified, profound hearing loss, and cochlear implants. The child had a limited pool of high preference items and very few functional skills. Key factors for this child included a structured environment that created a verbal community and contingent access to high preference items. No preference in communication response form was observed. The child successfully used four response forms to communicate: gestures, PECS, sign language, and vocalization. The results are discussed in terms of decision making factors in the selection of response forms.
A Binary phase-Shift Keying Receiver for the Detection of Attention to Human speech

Synthetic sounds, tone-beeps, vowels or syllables are typically used in the assessment of attention to auditory stimuli because they evoke a set of well-known event-related potentials, whose characteristics can be statistically contrasted. Such approach rules out the use of stimuli with non-predictable response, such as human speech. In this study we present a procedure based on the robust binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) receiver that permits the real-time detection of selective attention to human speeches in dichotic listening tasks. The goal was achieved by tagging the speeches with two barely-audible tags whose joined EEG response constitutes a reliable BPSK constellation, which can be detected by means of a BPSK receiver. The results confirmed the expected generation of the BPSK constellation by the human auditory system. Also, the bit-error rate and the information transmission rate achieved in the detection of attention fairly followed the expected curves and equations of the standard BPSK receiver. Actually, it was possible to detect attention as well as the estimation a priori of its accuracy based on the signal-to-noise ratio of the BPSK signals. This procedure, which permits the detection of the attention to human speeches, can be of interest for new potential applications, such as brain-computer interfaces, clinical assessment of the attention in real time or for entertainment.
A Reuse-Based Approach to Determining Secur ity Requirements

The paper proposes a reuse-based approach to determining security requirements. Development for reuse involves identifying security threats and associated security requirements during application development and abstracting them into a repository of generic threats and requirements. Development with reuse involves identifying security assets, setting security goals for each asset, identifying threats to each goal, analysing risks and determining security requirements, based on reuse of generic threats and requirements from the repository. Advantages of the proposed approach include building and managing security knowledge through the shared repository, assuring the quality of security work by reuse, avoiding over-specification and premature design decisions by reuse at the generic level and focussing on security early in the requirements stage of development.
Search-Tree Based Uplink Channel Aware Packet Scheduling for UTRAN LTE

UTRAN long term evolution is currently under standardization within 3GPP with the aim of providing a spectral efficiency 2 to 4 times higher than its predecessor HSUPA/HSDPA release 6. Single carrier FDMA has been selected as multiple access for the uplink. This technology requires the subcarriers allocated to a single user to be adjacent. The consequence is a reduced allocation flexibility which makes it challenging to design effective packet scheduling algorithms. This paper provides a search-tree based channel aware packet scheduling algorithm and evaluates its performance in terms of throughput and noise rise distributions. It is shown that, despite measurement errors and high inter-cell interference variability, the proposed algorithm can increase the uplink capacity by 24% for the macro 1 scenario and 19% for the macro 3 scenario.
Species-Specific Differences in Expression of G-Protein-Coupled Receptor Kinase (GRK) 7 and GRK1 in Mammalian Cone Photoreceptor Cells: Implications for Cone Cell Phototransduction

Desensitization plays an important role in the rapid termination of G-protein signaling pathways. This process, which involves phosphorylation by a G-protein-coupled receptor kinase (GRK) followed by arrestin binding, has been studied extensively in the rod photoreceptor cell of the mammalian retina. In contrast, less is known regarding desensitization in cone photoreceptor cells, which occurs more rapidly than in rod cells. Recently, our laboratory has cloned a novel GRK family member, GRK7, from the retina of a cone-dominant mammal, the 13-lined ground squirrel. Here we report the cloning of GRK7 from rod-dominant pig and human retinas, suggesting that this kinase plays a role in human visual signaling. Because GRK1 (rhodopsin kinase), the GRK that mediates rhodopsin desensitization in the rod cell, is reportedly expressed in both rods and cones, a detailed comparison of the localization of the two kinases is a necessary step toward determining their potential roles in cone visual signaling. Immunocytochemical analysis using antibodies selective for these two GRKs unexpectedly demonstrated species-specific differences in GRK7 and GRK1 expression in cones. In pigs and dogs, cones express only GRK7, whereas in mice and rats, we detected only GRK1 in cones. These results suggest that either GRK7 or GRK1 may participate in cone opsin desensitization, depending on the expression pattern of the kinases in different species. In contrast, GRK7 and GRK1 are coexpressed in monkey and human cones, suggesting that coordinate regulation of desensitization by both kinases may occur in primates.
Design metaphors for procedural content generation in games

Procedural content generation (PCG), the algorithmic creation of game content with limited or indirect user input, has much to offer to game design. In recent years, it has become a mainstay of game AI, with significant research being put towards the investigation of new PCG systems, algorithms, and techniques. But for PCG to be absorbed into the practice of game design, it must be contextualised within design-centric as opposed to AI or engineering perspectives. We therefore provide a set of design metaphors for understanding potential relationships between a designer and PCG. These metaphors are: tool, material, designer, and domain expert. By examining PCG through these metaphors, we gain the ability to articulate qualities, consequences, affordances, and limitations of existing PCG approaches in relation to design. These metaphors are intended both to aid designers in understanding and appropriating PCG for their own contexts, and to advance PCG research by highlighting the assumptions implicit in existing systems and discourse.
Local grid scheduling techniques using performance prediction

The use of computational grids to provide an integrated computer platform, composed of differentiated and distributed systems, presents fundamental resource and workload management questions. Key services such as resource discovery, monitoring and scheduling are inherently more complicated in a grid environment where the resource pool is large, dynamic and architecturally diverse. The authors approach the problem of grid workload management through the development of a multi-tiered scheduling architecture (TITAN) that employs a performance prediction system (PACE) and task distribution brokers to meet user-defined deadlines and improve resource usage efficiency. Attention is focused on the lowest tier which is responsible for local scheduling. By coupling application performance data with scheduling heuristics, the architecture is able to balance the processes of minimising run-to-completion time and processor idle time, whilst adhering to service deadlines on a per-task basis.
Lung protective mechanical ventilation and two year survival in patients with acute lung injury: prospective cohort study

Objective To evaluate the association of volume limited and pressure limited (lung protective) mechanical ventilation with two year survival in patients with acute lung injury. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting 13 intensive care units at four hospitals in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Participants 485 consecutive mechanically ventilated patients with acute lung injury. Main outcome measure Two year survival after onset of acute lung injury. Results 485 patients contributed data for 6240 eligible ventilator settings, as measured twice daily (median of eight eligible ventilator settings per patient; 41% of which adhered to lung protective ventilation). Of these patients, 311 (64%) died within two years. After adjusting for the total duration of ventilation and other relevant covariates, each additional ventilator setting adherent to lung protective ventilation was associated with a 3% decrease in the risk of mortality over two years (hazard ratio 0.97, 95% confidence interval 0.95 to 0.99, P=0.002). Compared with no adherence, the estimated absolute risk reduction in two year mortality for a prototypical patient with 50% adherence to lung protective ventilation was 4.0% (0.8% to 7.2%, P=0.012) and with 100% adherence was 7.8% (1.6% to 14.0%, P=0.011). Conclusions Lung protective mechanical ventilation was associated with a substantial long term survival benefit for patients with acute lung injury. Greater use of lung protective ventilation in routine clinical practice could reduce long term mortality in patients with acute lung injury. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00300248.
Ultra low voltage, wide tuning range voltage controlled ring oscillator

An ultra low voltage, wide tuning range voltage controlled ring oscillator is presented in this paper. The threshold voltage of PMOS and NMOS transistors is reduced by forward biasing the bulk junction of the transistors for ultra low power supply voltage operation. The linearity of four different PMOS loading architectures is compared and the PMOS load with best linearity is used in the proposed delay cell. The frequency of the VCO is tuned by changing the resistance of the loading transistors. A tree stage voltage controlled ring oscillator VCO is designed in 0.18 µm RF CMOS process. The frequency of the proposed VCO is changed from 82 MHz to 370 MHz when the control voltage is from 0.5 V to 0 V. The phase noise of the VCO is −82dBc/Hz at 1MHz offset frequency when it oscillates at 370MHz
Design challenges in application-aware Wireless Sensor Networks

The deployment of Wireless Sensor Networks at sea provides on-site, distributed sensing of specific events. They can be complementary to existing satellite and airborne radar monitoring, providing continuous and real-time data feed. Of particular interest is chemical spill, such as oil slick. As unexpected occurrences, it is not possible to predict the location, size or weather conditions affecting the region. We present a simulation framework for a large-scale sensor network deployment at sea. Our main objective is to develop communication algorithms for localized maritime monitoring using realistic channel and weather models. The design choices are based on the application scenario description, through a bottom-up approach. Wireless channel and physical layer are fundamental for trustworthiness of results, thus particular focus is given to their model selection. The network architecture is based on a cluster protocol with application-specific decisions. The aim is to provide the best compromise between energy consumption, message delivery and network connectivity under dynamic environments.