Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Indoor Office Propagation Measurements and Path Loss Models at 5.25 GHz

Based on 5.25 GHz wideband channel measurements performed in indoor office environment, empirical path loss models in in-room line-of-sight (LoS), room-corridor, and room-room non-line-of-sight (NLoS) propagation conditions are developed for future wireless radio systems. One-slope and dual-slope log-distance models are adopted in in-room LoS and room-corridor conditions, respectively. In room-room NLoS condition, we propose the enhanced attenuation factor models: AF-extended and AF-linear models to further explore the effect of medium walls, heavy walls and doors. This work offers valuable propagation measurements in a frequency range that is being considered allocating to IMT-advanced systems.
Noise injection for feedback cancellation with linear prediction

Feedback oscillation is one of the major issues with hearing aids. An efficient way of feedback suppression is feedback cancellation, which uses an adaptive filter to estimate the feedback path. However, the feedback canceller suffers from the bias problem in the feedback path estimate. The recent progress suggests a feedback canceller with linear prediction of the desired signal in order to eliminate the bias when certain conditions are met. However, the bias still remains in many situations, for example when the input signal is voiced speech. Noise injection is investigated in this paper to help reduce the bias further and improve the system performance. Two nearly inaudible noises are proposed: a masking noise, which is tailored to the hearing-aid application, and a linear prediction based noise, which is especially efficient for feedback cancellation with linear prediction. Simulation results show that noise injection can further reduce the feedback estimation error by 1-4 dB and/or increase the stable gain by 3-4 dB, depending on the characteristics of the input signal.
Biaxial biomechanical properties of self-assembly tissue-engineered blood vessels

Along with insights into the potential for graft success, knowledge of biomechanical properties of small diameter tissue-engineered blood vessel (TEBV) will enable designers to tailor the vessels' mechanical response to closer resemble that of native tissue. Composed of two layers that closely mimic the native media and adventitia, a tissue-engineered vascular adventitia (TEVA) is wrapped around a tissue-engineered vascular media (TEVM) to produce a self-assembled tissue-engineered media/adventia (TEVMA). The current study was undertaken to characterize the biaxial biomechanical properties of TEVM, TEVA and TEVMA under physiological pressures as well as characterize the stress-free reference configuration. It was shown that the TEVA had the greatest compliance over the physiological loading range while the TEVM had the lowest compliance. As expected, compliance of the SA-TEBV fell in between with an average compliance of 2.73 MPa−1. Data were used to identify material parameters for a microstructurally motivated constitutive model. Identified material parameters for the TEVA and TEVM provided a good fit to experimental data with an average coefficient of determination of 0.918 and 0.868, respectively. These material parameters were used to develop a two-layer predictive model for the response of a TEVMA which fit well with experimental data.
Feedback-tracking microrheology in living cells

Feedback-tracking microrheology, developed to study nonequilibrium mechanics of active materials, revealed glassy cell dynamics. Living cells are composed of active materials, in which forces are generated by the energy derived from metabolism. Forces and structures self-organize to shape the cell and drive its dynamic functions. Understanding the out-of-equilibrium mechanics is challenging because constituent materials, the cytoskeleton and the cytosol, are extraordinarily heterogeneous, and their physical properties are strongly affected by the internally generated forces. We have analyzed dynamics inside two types of eukaryotic cells, fibroblasts and epithelial-like HeLa cells, with simultaneous active and passive microrheology using laser interferometry and optical trapping technology. We developed a method to track microscopic probes stably in cells in the presence of vigorous cytoplasmic fluctuations, by using smooth three-dimensional (3D) feedback of a piezo-actuated sample stage. To interpret the data, we present a theory that adapts the fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT) to out-of-equilibrium systems that are subjected to positional feedback, which introduces an additional nonequilibrium effect. We discuss the interplay between material properties and nonthermal force fluctuations in the living cells that we quantify through the violations of the FDT. In adherent fibroblasts, we observed a well-known polymer network viscoelastic response where the complex shear modulus scales as G* ∝ (−iω)3/4. In the more 3D confluent epithelial cells, we found glassy mechanics with G* ∝ (−iω)1/2 that we attribute to glassy dynamics in the cytosol. The glassy state in living cells shows characteristics that appear distinct from classical glasses and unique to nonequilibrium materials that are activated by molecular motors.
Threonine Affects Intestinal Function, Protein Synthesis and Gene Expression of TOR in Jian Carp (Cyprinus carpio var. Jian)

This study aimed to investigate the effects of threonine (Thr) on the digestive and absorptive ability, proliferation and differentiation of enterocytes, and gene expression of juvenile Jian carp (Cyprinus carpio var. Jian). First, seven isonitrogenous diets containing graded levels of Thr (7.4–25.2 g/kg diet) were fed to the fishes for 60 days. Second, enterocyte proliferation and differentiation were assayed by culturing enterocytes with graded levels of Thr (0–275 mg/l) in vitro. Finally, enterocytes were cultured with 0 and 205 mg/l Thr to determine protein synthesis. The percent weight gain (PWG), specific growth rate, feed intake, feed efficiency, protein retention value, activities of trypsin, lipase and amylase, weights and protein contents of hepatopancreas and intestine, folds heights, activities of alkaline phosphatase (AKP), γ- glutamyl transpeptidase and Na+/K+-ATPase in all intestinal segments, glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) and glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (GPT) activities in hepatopancreas, and 4E-BP2 gene expression in muscle, hepatopancreas and intestinal segments were significantly enhanced by Thr (p<0.05). However, the plasma ammonia concentration and TOR gene expression decreased (p<0.05). In vitro, Thr supplement significantly increased cell numbers, protein content, the activities of GOT, GPT, AKP and Na+/K+-ATPase, and protein synthesis rate of enterocytes, and decreased LDH activity and ammonia content in cell medium (p<0.05). In conclusion, Thr improved growth, digestive and absorptive capacity, enterocyte proliferation and differentiation, and protein synthesis and regulated TOR and 4E-BP2 gene expression in juvenile Jian carp. The dietary Thr requirement of juvenile Jian carp was 16.25 g/kg diet (51.3 g/kg protein) based on quadratic regression analysis of PWG.
The Translational Repressor 4E-BP1 Contributes to Diabetes-Induced Visual Dysfunction

Purpose The translational repressor 4E-BP1 interacts with the mRNA cap-binding protein eIF4E and thereby promotes cap-independent translation of mRNAs encoding proteins that contribute to diabetic retinopathy. Interaction of 4E-BP1 with eIF4E is enhanced in the retina of diabetic rodents, at least in part, as a result of elevated 4E-BP1 protein expression. In the present study, we examined the role of 4E-BP1 in diabetes-induced visual dysfunction, as well as the mechanism whereby hyperglycemia promotes 4E-BP1 expression. Methods Nondiabetic and diabetic wild-type and 4E-BP1/2 knockout mice were evaluated for visual function using a virtual optomotor test (Optomotry). Retinas were harvested from nondiabetic and type 1 diabetic mice and analyzed for protein abundance and posttranslational modifications. Similar analyses were performed on cells in culture exposed to hyperglycemic conditions or an O-GlcNAcase inhibitor (Thiamet G [TMG]). Results Diabetes-induced visual dysfunction was delayed in mice deficient of 4E-BP1/2 as compared to controls. 4E-BP1 protein expression was enhanced by hyperglycemia in the retina of diabetic rodents and by hyperglycemic conditions in retinal cells in culture. A similar elevation in 4E-BP1 expression was observed with TMG. The rate of 4E-BP1 degradation was significantly prolonged by either hyperglycemic conditions or TMG. A PEST motif in the C-terminus of 4E-BP1 regulated polyubiquitination, turnover, and binding of an E3 ubiquitin ligase complex containing CUL3. Conclusions The findings support a model whereby elevated 4E-BP1 expression observed in the retina of diabetic rodents is the result of O-GlcNAcylation of 4E-BP1 within its PEST motif.
Coding brain neurons via electrical network models for neuro-signal synthesis in computational neuroscience

This paper develops a methodology for modeling and analysis of neural excitability that forms one of the most extensively studied mathematical frameworks in computational neuroscience. This framework is described by a set of differential equations known as Hodgkin-Huxley model and it synthesizes the influence of ionic currents on the cell voltage. The electrical equivalent circuit and the derivation of the conductance-based model of a neuron is based on a mathematical model that utilizes Hodgkin-Huxley equations which are considered as the single most influential finding in the biophysical description of excitable membranes to implement the current research in neurosciences. The neuron response with varying currents is demonstrated through analytical results and numerical simulations. The investigations in this paper lay the foundation for further deeper study and higher-order network models that can help eventually, through simulation and prediction, in the therapeutic treatment of brain diseases such as Alzheimer and Parkinson.
A Joint-Diffused Inpainting Model for Underexposure Image Preserving the Linear Geometric Structure

To restore the underexposure image, an illumination compensation inpainting model which employs the joint-diffused partial differential equations (PDEs) is proposed. Firstly, the novel model compensates the illumination effect in multi-scaled underexposure images respectively. Secondly, the information in the fused compensated image is restored by PDEs which diffuse the geometric property and gray information into the target region simultaneously. Experimental results demonstrate that the novel model can properly restore scratches while compensating the illumination effect in underexposure image, and the joint-diffused PDEs which are employed in it lead to a better performance than the conventional PDE inpainting models.
Early Hippocampal Synaptic Loss Precedes Neuronal Loss and Associates with Early Behavioural Deficits in Three Distinct Strains of Prion Disease

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative diseases of the CNS that are associated with the accumulation of misfolded cellular prion protein. There are several different strains of prion disease defined by different patterns of tissue vacuolation in the brain and disease time course, but features of neurodegeneration in these strains have not been extensively studied. Our previous studies using the prion strains ME7, 79A and 22L showed that infected mice developed behavioural deficits in the same sequence and temporal pattern despite divergent end-stage neuropathology. Here the objective was to address the hypothesis that synaptic loss would occur early in the disease in all three strains, would precede neuronal death and would be associated with the early behavioural deficits. C57BL/6 mice inoculated with ME7, 79A, or 22L-infected brain homogenates were behaviourally assessed on species typical behaviours previously shown to change during progression and euthanised when all three strains showed statistically significant impairment on these tasks. A decrease in labelling with the presynaptic marker synaptophysin was observed in the stratum radiatum of the hippocampus in all three strains, when compared to control animals. Negligible cell death was seen by TUNEL at this time point. Astrocyte and microglial activation and protease resistant prion protein (PrPSc) deposition were assessed in multiple brain regions and showed some strain specificity but also strongly overlapping patterns. This study shows that despite distinct pathology, multiple strains lead to early synaptic degeneration in the hippocampus, associated with similar behavioural deficits and supports the idea that the initiation of synaptic loss is a primary target of the misfolded prion agent.
40Ar-39Ar age studies on igneous rocks dredged from the central part of the Japan Sea.

40Ar-39Ar analyses were performed on five igneous rocks dredged from the continental shelves and slopes around the Yamato Basin in the central part of the Japan Sea during the GH78-2 Cruise of the Geological Survey of Japan. Three igneous rocks dredged from the slopes of the Japanese Islands show 40Ar-39Ar plateau ages of 23-24 Ma. One andesite from the Yamato Bank gives a total 40Ar-39Ar age of about 26 Ma, whereas one basalt from a height of the northern part of the Yamato Basin shows a scattered age spectrum, indicating the existence of excess 40Ar. Except for this sample, the other four rocks seem to be related to volcanic activity which occurred before or during the formation of the Yamato Basin. Based on the present data together with radiometric ages previously reported for the rocks from the Yamato Basin area, the Yamato Basin is estimated to have formed during a period prior to 17 Ma and probably later than about 25 Ma.
Approximability of cycle covers and smoothed analysis of binary search trees

Der Beitrag entheine Zusammenfassung der Dissertation " Approxima- bility of Cycle Covers and Smoothed Analysis of Binary Search Trees". Eine Zykleneines Graphen ist ein Teilgraph, der nur aus Zyklen be- steht, so dass jeder Knoten Teil genau eines Zyklus ist. Bei einerL-Zyklen¨ muss zus¨ atzlich die Ljedes Zyklus in der Menge L liegen. Im ersten Teil der Dis- sertation wurde die Komplexitund Approximierbarkeit des Problems untersucht, L- Zyklen¨ uberdeckungen maximalen Gewichts zu berechnen. Es wurden einerseits effi- ziente Approximationsalgorithmen zur Berechnung von L-Zyklen¨ uberdeckungen ent- wickelt. Andererseits wurde bewiesen, dass L-Zyklen¨ uberdeckungsprobleme f¨ ur fast alle Mengen L nicht beliebig gut approximiert werden k¨ onnen. Im zweiten Teil der Dissertation wurde eine Smoothed Analysis der H¨ ohe bin¨ arer Suchb¨ aume durchgef¨ uhrt. Die Smoothed Analysis interpoliert zwischen der Worst- Case-Komplexit¨ at, die oft zu pessimistisch ist und durch " pathologische" Instanzen dominiert wird, und der Average-Case-Komplexit¨ at, die oft zu optimistisch ist.
CD34+ cell selection of peripheral blood progenitor cells using the CliniMACS device for allogeneic transplantation: clinical results in 102 patients

The present study investigated the effects of CD34+ cell selection in 102 patients using the CliniMACS device. Patients were at high risk for the development of graft versus host disease (GvHD) because of age, or the use of a haploidentical, mismatched or unrelated donor (UD). The median age of the patients was 44 years. The CliniMACS procedure yielded 8·0 × 106 CD34+ cells/kg and the number of residual T cells was 1·3 × 104/kg (median). The median follow up was 20·6 months. The probability of graft failure was 7%. The rate of acute GvHD was low (compatible family donors 10%, UDs 17%, and haploidentical donors 26%) with no patient enduring more than grade II disease. The cumulative incidence of chronic GvHD at the median follow up after transplant was 15% for the compatible family donor group, 40% for the UD group and 78% in the group transplanted from a haploidentical donor Treatment failure was mainly because of transplant‐related mortality, especially aspergillus infection, and not due to relapse. The probability of disease‐free survival, stratified for the risk of treatment failure, was 27% for the high risk, 46% for the intermediate risk and 83% for the low risk group.
Studies of ambient organic and inorganic aerosol in Southern California

The negative impacts of ambient aerosol particles, or particulate matter (PM), on human health and climate are well recognized. However, owing to the complexity of aerosol particle formation and chemical evolution, emissions control strategies remain difficult to develop in a cost effective manner. In this work, three studies are presented to address several key issues currently stymieing California's efforts to continue improving its air quality. Gas-phase organic mass (GPOM) and CO emission factors are used in conjunction with measured enhancements in oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA) relative to CO to quantify the significant lack of closure between expected and observed organic aerosol concentrations attributable to fossil-fuel emissions. Two possible conclusions emerge from the analysis to yield consistency with the ambient organic data: (1) vehicular emissions are not a dominant source of anthropogenic fossil SOA in the Los Angeles Basin, or (2) the ambient SOA mass yields used to determine the SOA formation potential of vehicular emissions are substantially higher than those derived from laboratory chamber studies. Additional laboratory chamber studies confirm that, owing to vapor-phase wall loss, the SOA mass yields currently used in virtually all 3D chemical transport models are biased low by as much as a factor of 4. Furthermore, predictions from the Statistical Oxidation Model suggest that this bias could be as high as a factor of 8 if the influence of the chamber walls could be removed entirely. Once vapor-phase wall loss has been accounted for in a new suite of laboratory chamber experiments, the SOA parameterizations within atmospheric chemical transport models should also be updated. To address the numerical challenges of implementing the next generation of SOA models in atmospheric chemical transport models, a novel mathematical framework, termed the Moment Method, is designed and presented. Assessment of the Moment Method strengths and weaknesses provide valuable insight that can guide future development of SOA modules for atmospheric CTMs. Finally, regional inorganic aerosol formation and evolution is investigated via detailed comparison of predictions from the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ version 4.7.1) model against a suite of airborne and ground-based meteorological measurements, gas- and aerosol-phase inorganic measurements, and black carbon (BC) measurements over Southern California during the CalNex field campaign in May/June 2010. Results suggests that continuing to target sulfur emissions with the hopes of reducing ambient PM concentrations may not the most effective strategy for Southern California. Instead, targeting dairy emissions is likely to be an effective strategy for substantially reducing ammonium nitrate concentrations in the eastern part of the Los Angeles Basin.
Efficient coding modulation and seamless rate adaptation for visible light communications

The past decade has witnessed a rapid development of VLC technologies. However, the spectral efficiency has to be improved and the robustness enhanced, especially in dynamic lighting conditions. This article proposes an analog rateless code (ARC) modulation scheme for VLC in a hybrid VLC-RF system. The ARC uses a variable-length low-density random projection matrix to map a block of bits into a virtually unlimited number of modulation symbols. The sender progressively transmits the symbols, which are jointly decoded at the receiver, until an acknowledgment of successful decoding is received. Both the protocol design and coding matrix generation are discussed. Simulations validate that our proposed scheme not only achieves the desired seamless rate adaptation, but significantly outperforms a traditional OFDM VLC system in spectrum efficiency. Furthermore, experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed ARC scheme in a VLC system.
Object Detection with AGiNG

In this paper we present a modiﬁcation to the Growing Neural Gas (GNG) algorithm called Aging Growing Neural Gas (AGiNG) speciﬁcally tuned for object detection and tracking. We propose that this GNG can be used as a replacement for methods that rely on edge detection or single-color heuristics. The normal GNG algorithm uses a space-ﬁlling graph to categorize a domain. Each edge has an age that is reset based on how accurately the graph is categorizing the space. Our implementation adds a host of image-speciﬁc features to optimize the GNG for our purposes. Once we have correctly categorized a scene we can identify objects and track them as they move through the scene using eﬃcient graph traversal algorithms. We have tested our implementation on static and moving images, both computer-generated and real-world. Additionally, we have had some success with identifying and tracking images with a webcam and have interfaced with a Sony AIBO to have it move appropriately to given input.
Evaluation of Strength and Irradiated Movement Pattern Resulting from Trunk Motions of the Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation

Introduction. The proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) is a physiotherapeutic concept based on muscle and joint proprioceptive stimulation. Among its principles, the irradiation is the reaction of the distinct regional muscle contractions to the position of the application of the motions. Objective. To investigate the presence of irradiated dorsiflexion and plantar flexion and the existing strength generated by them during application of PNF trunk motions. Methods. The study was conducted with 30 sedentary and female volunteers, the PNF motions of trunk flexion, and extension with the foot (right and left) positioned in a developed equipment coupled to the load cell, which measured the strength irradiated in Newton. Results. Most of the volunteers irradiated dorsal flexion in the performance of the flexion and plantar flexion during the extension motion, both presenting an average force of 8.942 N and 10.193 N, respectively. Conclusion. The distal irradiation in lower limbs became evident, reinforcing the therapeutic actions to the PNF indirect muscular activation.
Detecting malicious groups of agents

In this paper, we study coordinated attacks launched by multiple malicious agents and the problem of detecting malicious groups of attackers. The paper proposes a formal method and an algorithm for detecting action interference between users. It has to be pointed out that some members of a malicious group may not necessarily perform illegal actions, for example, they can prepare and organize an attack without taking active part in the actual attack execution. In addition, members of a malicious group may not necessarily know each other. The method we propose tries to solve these problems by building a coordination graph which includes all users who, in some way or another, cooperate with each other, i.e., the maximal malicious group of cooperating users including not only the executers of the attack but also their assistants. The paper also proposes formal metrics on coordination graphs that help differentiate central from peripheral attackers.