Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Agile and Wideband All-Digital SDR Receiver for 5G Wireless Communications

In this paper an original agile and wideband all-digital Software Defined Radio (SDR) receiver is presented. The analog-to-digital conversion is based on Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) and it is performed directly at the Radio Frequency (RF) stage. The system is implemented using the high speed differential input buffers of a medium range Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) as comparators to quantize the analog signal and generate the PWM representation. Simulation and measured results will be presented and evaluated in terms of Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), Error Vector Magnitude (EVM), bandwidth and power efficiency. Briefly, this architecture allows an input bandwidth of almost 3GHz maintaining an EVM below 2,5% for a 4MHz signal.
Arabidopsis AtMYC2 (bHLH) and AtMYB2 (MYB) Function as Transcriptional Activators in Abscisic Acid Signaling Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.006130.

In Arabidopsis, the induction of a dehydration-responsive gene, rd22, is mediated by abscisic acid (ABA). We reported previously that MYC and MYB recognition sites in the rd22 promoter region function as cis-acting elements in the drought- and ABA-induced gene expression of rd22. bHLH- and MYB-related transcription factors, rd22BP1 (renamed AtMYC2) and AtMYB2, interact specifically with the MYC and MYB recognition sites, respectively, in vitro and activate the transcription of the β-glucuronidase reporter gene driven by the MYC and MYB recognition sites in Arabidopsis leaf protoplasts. Here, we show that transgenic plants overexpressing AtMYC2 and/or AtMYB2 cDNAs have higher sensitivity to ABA. The ABA-induced gene expression of rd22 and AtADH1 was enhanced in these transgenic plants. Microarray analysis of the transgenic plants overexpressing both AtMYC2 and AtMYB2 cDNAs revealed that several ABA-inducible genes also are upregulated in the transgenic plants. By contrast, a Ds insertion mutant of the AtMYC2 gene was less sensitive to ABA and showed significantly decreased ABA-induced gene expression of rd22 and AtADH1. These results indicate that both AtMYC2 and AtMYB2 proteins function as transcriptional activators in ABA-inducible gene expression under drought stress in plants.
Investigation on shear induced isothermal crystallization of poly (lactic acid) nanocomposite based on graphene

ABSTRACT In this study, the isothermal crystallization of poly (lactic acid) (PLA) and its graphene-based nanocomposites (containing 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 wt% of graphene nanoplatelets – GNp) was studied at 135°C under quiescent and different presheared conditions (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1.1, and 1.8 s for 60s). Induction time of crystallization was determined from the plot of storage modulus versus time in time sweep test. Results showed that increase in GNp content decreased the induction time significantly. The preshear flow did not significantly affect the induction time of PLA containing 0.5 wt% of GNp and neat PLA. However, an increase in the intensity of preshear for graphene-based nanocomposites containing 1, 2, and 3 wt% of GNp first decreased the induction time and then increased it. The induction time also decreased with increase in the duration of shear flow.
Scene Flow Estimation using Intelligent Cost Functions

Motion estimation algorithms are typically based upon the assumption of brightness constancy or related assumptions such as gradient constancy. This manuscript evaluates several common cost functions from the motion estimation literature, which embody these assumptions. We demonstrate that such assumptions break for real world data, and the functions are therefore unsuitable. We propose a simple solution, which significantly increases the discriminatory ability of the metric, by learning a nonlinear relationship using techniques from machine learning. Furthermore, we demonstrate how context and a nonlinear combination of metrics, can provide additional gains, and demonstrating a 44% improvement in the performance of a state of the art scene flow estimation technique. In addition, smaller gains of 20% are demonstrated in optical flow estimation tasks.
Prescription of hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women with renal failure.

UNLABELLED Prescription of hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women with renal failure. BACKGROUND Although patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are at increased risk for early menopause, osteoporosis, cognitive dysfunction, and cardiovascular disease, few postmenopausal women are prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The reasons for the low prescription rate are not known. This study uses data from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) to assess the prevalence and predictors of HRT use in postmenopausal women with ESRD. METHODS Data were obtained from the USRDS Dialysis Morbidity and Mortality Study Wave 2. All women who were at least 45 years of age were considered postmenopausal and were selected for our analysis. Demographics, behavior and medical characteristics were abstracted from the database. Logistic regression was used to estimate the independent contribution of population characteristics in predicting the use of HRT. Linear regression models were used to estimate the relationship between HRT use and both triglycerides and total cholesterol. RESULTS The overall prevalence of HRT prescription was 10.8%. Important predictors of HRT use included age (aOR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.88, P < 0.001), black ethnicity (aOR = 0.50, 95% CI, 0.31 to 0.78, P < 0.002), college education (aOR = 3. 00, 95% CI, 1.70 to 5.24, P < 0.001), and the ability to ambulate (aOR = 1.99, 95% CI, 1.01 to 3.91, P = 0.05). Serum triglyceride and total cholesterol levels were higher among women treated with HRT than among those not treated with HRT (264 +/- 155 vs. 217 +/- 159 mg/dl, P = 0.001 and 220 +/- 62 vs. 209 +/- 55 mg/dl, P = 0.02, respectively). CONCLUSIONS HRT is prescribed less frequently in postmenopausal ESRD patients than in the general population. Younger age, higher education levels, white race, and the ability to ambulate were important predictors of HRT use. Targeting populations of patients who are likely to benefit from but less likely to be prescribed HRT may increase the prescription of HRT.
Efficacy of perioperative dexmedetomidine in postoperative neurocognitive function: a meta‐analysis

Neuroprotective effects of dexmedetomidine are reported in preclinical and clinical studies but evidence regarding the postoperative neurocognitive function is not as clear. This study performed a meta‐analysis on outcomes of studies which examined neurocognitive performance by using valid assessment tools before and after perioperative dexmedetomidine treatment. Literature was searched in several electronic databases and studies were selected by following précised inclusion criteria. Meta‐analyses of mean differences in percent changes from baseline in neurocognitive assessment scores were carried out and subgroup analyses were performed. Eighteen studies were included. Initial dose of dexmedetomidine (mean ± SD) was 1.28 ± 0.97 μg/kg and maintenance dose was 0.41 ± 0.11 μg/kg per hour. In healthy volunteers, there was no significant difference in the neurocognitive performance between dexmedetomidine and controls/comparators (mean difference (95% confidence interval (CI)): −12.72 (−50.25, 24.80) %; P = 0.51). Perioperative dexmedetomidine treatment was associated with significantly better neurocognitive performance in comparison with saline (mean difference (95% CI): 9.10 (3.03, 15.16) %; P = 0.003) as well as with comparator anaesthetics (mean difference: 5.50 (0.15, 10.86) %; P = 0.04) treated patients. In the submeta‐analyses of studies which utilized neurocognitive assessment tools other than Mini‐Mental State Examination (mean difference: 6.66 (–3.42, 16.74); P = 0.20) or studies with patients under 60 years of age (mean difference: 7.48 (−3.00, 17.96); P = 0.16), the differences were not significant between dexmedetomidine‐ and saline‐/comparator‐treated patients. Perioperative dexmedetomidine treatment is associated with significantly better neurocognitive function postoperatively in comparison with both saline controls and comparator anaesthetics (predominantly midazolam).
Extracting benefit from harm: using malware pollution to analyze the impact of political and geophysical events on the internet

Unsolicited one-way Internet traffic, also called Internet background radiation (IBR), has been used for years to study malicious activity on the Internet, including worms, DoS attacks, and scanning address space looking for vulnerabilities to exploit. We show how such traffic can also be used to analyze macroscopic Internet events that are unrelated to malware. We examine two phenomena: country-level censorship of Internet communications described in recent work, and natural disasters (two recent earthquakes). We introduce a new metric of local IBR activity based on the number of unique IP addresses per hour contributing to IBR. The advantage of this metric is that it is not affected by bursts of traffic from a few hosts. Although we have only scratched the surface, we are convinced that IBR traffic is an important building block for comprehensive monitoring, analysis, and possibly even detection of events unrelated to the IBR itself. In particular, IBR offers the opportunity to monitor the impact of events such as natural disasters on network infrastructure, and in particular reveals a view of events that is complementary to many existing measurement platforms based on (BGP) control-plane views or targeted active ICMP probing.
Parameter Estimation By Genetic Algorithms For Nonlinear Regression

Most of the existing parameter estimation methods require much auxiliary information and is not easy to handle for practical applications. In this paper , we use genetic algorithms, which are becoming an important tool for optimization problems, to estimate parameters in nonlinear regression models. The computational experiments indicate that this genetic based method is useful, eeective and adaptive for nonlinear parameter estimation.
Cadherin-11 Expression Patterns in Heart Valves Associate with Key Functions during Embryonic Cushion Formation, Valve Maturation and Calcification

Proper fibroblast cell migration and differentiation are critical for valve formation and homeostasis, but uncontrolled myofibroblastic activation may precede osteogenic differentiation and calcification. Cadherin-11 (cad-11) is a cell-cell adhesion protein classically expressed at mesenchymal-osteoblast interfaces that participates in mesenchymal differentiation to osteochondral lineages. This suggests cad-11 may have an important role in heart valve development and pathogenesis, but its expression patterns in valves are largely unknown. In this study, we profiled the spatial and temporal expression patterns of cad-11 in embryonic chick and mouse heart development. We determined that cad-11 is expressed in both endocardial and mesenchymal cells of the atrioventricular and outflow tract cushions (pre-HH30/E14), but becomes restricted to the valve endocardial/endothelial cells during late fetal remodeling and throughout postnatal life. We then investigated changes in cad-11 expression in a murine aortic valve disease model (the ApoE-/-). Unlike wild-type mice, cad-11 becomes dramatically re-expressed in the interstitium. Similarly, in calcified human aortic valve leaflets, cad-11 loses endothelial confinement and becomes significantly re-expressed in the valve interstitium. Double labeling identified that 91% of myofibroblastic and 96% of osteoblastic cells in calcified aortic valves were also cad-11 positive. Collectively, our results suggest that cad-11 is important for proper embryonic cushion formation and remodeling, but may also participate in aortic valve pathogenesis if re-expressed in adulthood.
PREPARED FOR : U . S . Environmental Protection Agency Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water Standards and Risk Management Division

v 1.0 Introduction . 1 2.0 Buried Infrastructure Challenges Facing the Water Industry . 2 3.0 AWWA and AwwaRF Studies and Surveys . 3 3.1 AWWA and AwwaRF Studies. 3 3.2 AWWA’s Water://Stats Database . 7 4.0 EPA Surveys and Other Federal Government Analyses . 13 4.1 EPA Community Water System Survey (EPA, 2002a). 14 4.2 EPA Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey (EPA, 2005) . 15 4.3 EPA White Papers on Distribution Systems . 16 5.0 Condition Assessment of Water Distribution Pipes . 17 6.0 Conclusions . 20 7.0 References . 21
Clinical and epidemiological research

Ann Rheum Dis 2012;71:687–693. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2011-200395 687 ABSTRACT Background Treatment with tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNF-i) plus methotrexate (MTX), but not MTX monotherapy alone, inhibits joint damage progression even at higher levels of disease activity. Such disassociation of disease activity and structural damage has not been shown for biological agents other than TNF-i. Objectives To evaluate whether interleukin 6 (IL-6) inhibition with tocilizumab (TCZ) interferes with joint destruction beyond its effects on disease activity. Methods A random 90% sample of data from the (The Tocilizumab Safety and the Prevention of Structural Joint Damage Study) LITHE trial on active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) despite MTX was used, which compared addition of placebo (n=117) with addition of TCZ (n=414) every 4 weeks. Baseline and 1-year values of clinical and serological variables were correlated with changes to 1 year of the total Genant-modifi ed Sharp score (TGSS) using a Spearman test, and the progression of TGSS, erosion and joint space narrowing (JSN) scores in groups with low and high disease activity were compared for placebo and TCZ (Kruskal–Wallis). Results Baseline variables were similar among the groups. Change of TGSS was lower in patients receiving TCZ than placebo (TCZ: 0.29±0.96; placebo: 0.90±1.92; p=0.0007). In patients receiving placebo, the correlation with TGSS change was signifi cant for baseline scores of the simplifi ed disease activity index (SDAI; r=0.18, p=0.047) and swollen joint count 28 (r=0.22, p=0.019), with similar trends for C-reactive protein. Similar correlations were seen for SDAI, clinical disease activity index, disease activity score 28 at 1 year with x-ray change during that year (r=0.26–0.28, p=0.002–0.006). In contrast, none of the baseline or 1-year variables showed signifi cant correlation with x-ray changes in patients receiving TCZ+MTX, suggesting a disassociation of the link between disease activity and damage by TCZ. Finally, for patients in remission or with low disease activity, progression of TGSS, erosion and JSN was similar among treatment groups (TGSS: placebo, 0.4±1.1; TCZ, 0.2±0.7; p=NS), while for patients with moderate or high disease activity placebo-treated patients progression was signifi cantly greater (TGSS: 1.2±2.2 vs 0.4±1.2; p=0.0009). Conclusions IL-6 inhibition with TCZ plus MTX retards joint damage progression independently of its impact on disease activity. Similar effects have hitherto been reported only for TNF-i. This indicates that the effects of IL-6 inhibition on progression of joint damage in RA are among the most profound currently attainable.
An Immunity-Based Anomaly Detection System with Sensor Agents

This paper proposes an immunity-based anomaly detection system with sensor agents based on the specificity and diversity of the immune system. Each agent is specialized to react to the behavior of a specific user. Multiple diverse agents decide whether the behavior is normal or abnormal. Conventional systems have used only a single sensor to detect anomalies, while the immunity-based system makes use of multiple sensors, which leads to improvements in detection accuracy. In addition, we propose an evaluation framework for the anomaly detection system, which is capable of evaluating the differences in detection accuracy between internal and external anomalies. This paper focuses on anomaly detection in user's command sequences on UNIX-like systems. In experiments, the immunity-based system outperformed some of the best conventional systems.
Understanding the use of web technologies for applications in open display networks

Open display networks represent a new paradigm for large scale networks of public displays that are open to applications and content from third party sources. Web technologies may be particularly interesting as a technological framework for third-party application development in open display networks because of their portability and widespread use. However, there are also significant challenges involved that result from the specificities of this particular usage domain. In this work, we identify and characterize some of those specificities and analyze their implications for the use of web technologies. This contribution builds on our own experience with the development of multiple web-based applications for public displays and will inform the design of new models for this type of applications.
An Empirical and Analytical View of New Inheritance Metric for Object-Oriented Design

Object-Oriented (OO) design is becoming more popular in software development environment and OO design metrics are essential parts of software environment. Inheritance is one of the main features of OO programming paradigm. The inheritance metrics gives information about the inheritance tree of the system. This mechanism supports the class hierarchy design and captures the IS-A relationship between a super class and its subclass. This paper presents a new approach for inheritance metrics CIT (Class Inheritance Tree) for measuring the inheritance tree. The proposed metric is evaluated against Weyuker’s properties (established criteria for validity) and present empirical data from academic projects (developed by experienced PG students) to illustrates the usefulness of new metric. In this paper we also consider the Chidamber and Kemerer (CK) and Li’s inheritance metrics for study and presents a comparative study between existing and propose metrics and the focus is on, how propose metric is correlated with the existing ones.
The Secreted Form of Respiratory Syncytial Virus G Glycoprotein Helps the Virus Evade Antibody-Mediated Restriction of Replication by Acting as an Antigen Decoy and through Effects on Fc Receptor-Bearing Leukocytes

ABSTRACT Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) readily infects and reinfects during infancy and throughout life, despite maternal antibodies and immunity from prior infection and without the need for significant antigenic change. RSV has two neutralization antigens, the F and G virion glycoproteins. G is expressed in both membrane-bound (mG) and secreted (sG) forms. We investigated whether sG might act as a decoy for neutralizing antibodies by comparing the in vitro neutralization of wild-type (wt) RSV versus recombinant mG RSV expressing only mG. wt RSV indeed was less susceptible than mG RSV to monovalent G-specific and polyvalent RSV-specific antibodies, whereas susceptibility to F-specific antibodies was equivalent. This difference disappeared when the virus preparations were purified to remove sG. Thus, sG appears to function as a neutralization decoy. We evaluated this effect in vivo in mice by comparing the effects of passively transferred antibodies on the pulmonary replication of wt RSV versus mG RSV. Again, wt RSV was less sensitive than mG RSV to G-specific and RSV-specific antibodies; however, a similar difference was also observed with F-specific antibodies. This confirmed that sG helps wt RSV evade the antibody-dependent restriction of replication but indicated that in mice, it is not acting primarily as a decoy for G-specific antibodies, perhaps because sG is produced in insufficient quantities in this poorly permissive animal. Rather, we found that the greater sensitivity of mG versus wt RSV to the antiviral effect of passively transferred RSV antibodies required the presence of inflammatory cells in the lung and was Fcγ receptor dependent. Thus, sG helps RSV escape the antibody-dependent restriction of replication via effects as an antigen decoy and as a modulator of leukocytes bearing Fcγ receptors.
Length and Amino Acid Sequence of Peptides Substituted for the 5-HT3A Receptor M3M4 Loop May Affect Channel Expression and Desensitization

5-HT3A receptors are pentameric neurotransmitter-gated ion channels in the Cys-loop receptor family. Each subunit contains an extracellular domain, four transmembrane segments (M1, M2, M3, M4) and a 115 residue intracellular loop between M3 and M4. In contrast, the M3M4 loop in prokaryotic homologues is <15 residues. To investigate the limits of M3M4 loop length and composition on channel function we replaced the 5-HT3A M3M4 loop with two to seven alanine residues (5-HT3A-An = 2–7). Mutants were expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes and characterized using two electrode voltage clamp recording. All mutants were functional. The 5-HT EC50's were at most 5-fold greater than wild-type (WT). The desensitization rate differed significantly among the mutants. Desensitization rates for 5-HT3A-A2, 5-HT3A-A4, 5-HT3A-A6, and 5-HT3A-A7 were similar to WT. In contrast, 5-HT3A-A3 and 5-HT3A-A5 had desensitization rates at least an order of magnitude faster than WT. The one Ala loop construct, 5-HT3A-A1, entered a non-functional state from which it did not recover after the first 5-HT application. These results suggest that the large M3M4 loop of eukaryotic Cys-loop channels is not required for receptor assembly or function. However, loop length and amino acid composition can effect channel expression and desensitization. We infer that the cytoplasmic ends of the M3 and M4 segments may undergo conformational changes during channel gating and desensitization and/or the loop may influence the position and mobility of these segments as they undergo gating-induced conformational changes. Altering structure or conformational mobility of the cytoplasmic ends of M3 and M4 may be the basis by which phosphorylation or protein binding to the cytoplasmic loop alters channel function.
Stabilization of Nonlinear Systems Using Sampled-Data Output-Feedback Fuzzy Controller Based on Polynomial-Fuzzy-Model-Based Control Approach

This paper investigates the stability of sampled-data output-feedback (SDOF) polynomial-fuzzy-model-based control systems. Representing the nonlinear plant using a polynomial fuzzy model, an SDOF fuzzy controller is proposed to perform the control process using the system output information. As only the system output is available for feedback compensation, it is more challenging for the controller design and system analysis compared to the full-state-feedback case. Furthermore, because of the sampling activity, the control signal is kept constant by the zero-order hold during the sampling period, which complicates the system dynamics and makes the stability analysis more difficult. In this paper, two cases of SDOF fuzzy controllers, which either share the same number of fuzzy rules or not, are considered. The system stability is investigated based on the Lyapunov stability theory using the sum-of-squares (SOS) approach. SOS-based stability conditions are obtained to guarantee the system stability and synthesize the SDOF fuzzy controller. Simulation examples are given to demonstrate the merits of the proposed SDOF fuzzy control approach.