Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Semidefinite Relaxation and Approximation Analysis of a Beamformed Alamouti Scheme for Relay Beamforming Networks

In this paper, we study amplify-and-forward (AF) schemes in two-hop one-way relay networks. In particular, we consider multigroup multicast transmission between long-distance users. Assuming that perfect channel state information is perceived, our goal is to design the AF process so that the max-min-fair signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) is optimized while generalized power constraints are satisfied. We propose a beamformed Alamouti (BFA) AF scheme and formulate the corresponding AF design problem as a two-block fractional quadratically constrained quadratic program (QCQP). We then tackle the two-block fractional QCQP using the semidefinite relaxation (SDR) technique and analyze the approximation accuracy of the proposed SDR. From a theoretical perspective, our results are fundamentally new and reveal that the proposed BFA AF scheme can outperform the traditional BF AF scheme, especially when there are many users in the system or many generalized power constraints in the problem formulation. From a practical perspective, our proposed BFA AF scheme improves the receivers’ SINR by offering two degrees of freedom (DoFs) in beamformer design, as opposed to only one DoF offered by the BF AF scheme. In the latter part of this paper, we demonstrate how this extra DoF leads to provable performance gain by considering two special relay scenarios, in which the AF process is shown to possess a special structure. Numerical simulations further confirm that the proposed BFA AF scheme outperforms the BF AF scheme and works well for large-scale relay systems.
The Value of Noninvasive Measurement of the Compensatory Reserve Index in Monitoring and Triage of Patients Experiencing Minimal Blood Loss

ABSTRACT Currently available triage and monitoring tools are often late to detect life-threatening clinically significant physiological aberrations and provide limited data in prioritizing bleeding patients for treatment and evacuation. The Compensatory Reserve Index (CRI) is a novel means of assessing physiologic reserve, shown to correlate with central blood volume loss under laboratory conditions. The purpose of this study was to compare the noninvasive CRI device with currently available vital signs in detecting blood loss. Study subjects were soldiers volunteering for blood donation (n = 230), and the control group was composed of soldiers who did not donate blood (n = 34). Data collected before and after blood donation were compared, receiver operator characteristic curves were generated after either donation or the appropriate time interval, and areas under the curves (AUCs) were compared. Compared with pre–blood loss, blood donation resulted in a mean reduction of systolic blood pressure by 3% (before, 123 mmHg; after, 119 mmHg; P < 0.01). The CRI demonstrated a 16% reduction (before, 0.74; after, 0.62; P < 0.01). Heart rate, diastolic blood pressure, and oxygen saturation remained unchanged. The AUC for change in CRI was 0.81, 0.56 for change in heart rate, 0.53 for change in systolic blood pressure, 0.55 and 0.58 for pulse pressure and shock index, respectively. The AUCs for detecting mild blood loss at a single measurement were 0.73 for heart rate, 0.60 for systolic blood pressure, 0.62 for diastolic blood pressure, 0.45 for pulse oximetry, and 0.84 for CRI. The CRI was better than standard indices in detecting mild blood loss. Single measurement of CRI may enable a more accurate triage, and CRI monitoring may allow for earlier detection of casualty deterioration.
Effects of Feeding Colostrum and a Formula with Nutrient Contents as Colostrum on Metabolic and Endocrine Traits in Neonatal Calves

Colostrum provides high amounts of nutrients and non-nutrient substances to neonates. To study differences between effects of nutritional and non-nutritional components on growth, health status and metabolic and endocrine traits, a formula was created based on bovine milk components which contained similar amounts of nutrients as bovine colostrum during the first 3 days of lactation, but only trace amounts of growth factors (such as insulin-like growth factor I) or hormones (such as insulin) in whey. Calves were fed either pooled colostrum of milkings 1 to 6, obtained during the first 3 days of lactation (GrC, n = 7) or a formula in the same amounts as colostrum (GrF, n = 7) for the first 3 days, followed by a milk replacer up to day 7. Pre- and postprandial blood samples were taken on days 1, 2, 3 and 7 for the determination of metabolic and endocrine traits and on day 5 we measured intestinal absorptive capacity by testing xylose absorption. Plasma concentrations of total protein and immunoglobulin G and γ-glutamyltransferase activity were lower (p < 0.05), whereas albumin and urea concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) in GrF than GrC during the first week of life. Plasma glucose concentrations were variably affected. Plasma triglyceride, phospholipid and cholesterol concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) in GrC than GrF on days 3 and 7. Insulin and growth hormone concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) in GrC than GrF on days 2 and 3 and on days 1 and 2, respectively, and glucagon concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) in GrC than GrF on day 1 and higher (p < 0.05) in GrF than GrC on day 3. Cortisol concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) on days 2 and 3 in GrF than GrC. Plasma xylose concentrations rose more markedly (p < 0.05) in GrC than GrF. In conclusion, feeding only trace amounts of bioactive substances appears to impair intestinal absorptive capacity and protein and fat metabolism and exert effects on endocrine systems in neonatal calves.
Enhancement of speech by adaptive filtering

In a variety of situations the problem of enhancing speech degraded by the presence of a competing speaker or background noise arises. A possible key to such enhancement lies in the quasi—periodic nature of the speech waveform which corresponds to narrow harmonically spaced bands of energy in the frequency domain. One approach to speech enhancement has been to utilize a time— variant digital comb filter for which the frequency spacing of the filter passbands varies with the fundamental frequency of the speech signal that is to be enhanced1. When the fundamental frequency varies sufficiently slowly, the use of a comb filter leads to significant enhancement of the desired speaker, but it degrades when the fundamental frequency varies rapidly. The procedure discussed here involves the use of an adaptive filter. When the fundamental frequency is constant, this adaptive filter reduces to a comb filter but more generally takes into account the variation of fundamental fre-
Galectin-1 Augments Ras Activation and Diverts Ras Signals to Raf-1 at the Expense of Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase*

Ras proteins activate diverse effector molecules. Depending on the cellular context, Ras activation may have different biological consequences: induction of cell proliferation, senescence, survival, or death. Augmentation and selective activation of particular effector molecules may underlie various Ras actions. In fact, Ras effector-loop mutants interacting with distinctive effectors provide evidence for such selectivity. Interactions of active Ras with escort proteins, such as galectin-1, could also direct Ras selectivity. Here we show that in comparison with Ras transfectants, H-Ras/galectin-1 or K-Ras4B/galectin-1 co-transfectants exhibit enhanced and prolonged epidermal growth factor (EGF)-stimulated increases in Ras-GTP, Raf-1 activity, and active extracellular signal-regulated kinase. Galectin-1 antisense RNA inhibited these EGF responses. Conversely, Ras and galectin-1 co-transfection inhibited the EGF-stimulated increase in phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) activity. Galectin-1 transfection also inhibited Ras(G12V)-induced PI3K but not Raf-1 activity. Galectin-1 co-immunoprecipitated with Ras(G12V) or with Ras(G12V/T35S) that activate Raf-1 but not with Ras(G12V/Y40C) that activates PI3K. Thus, galectin-1 binds active Ras and diverts its signal to Raf-1 at the expense of PI3K. This demonstrates a novel mechanism controlling the duration and selectivity of the Ras signal. Ras gains selectivity when it is associated with galectin-1, mimicking the selectivity of Ras(T35S), which activates Raf-1 but not PI3K.
Multi-response optimisation of ultrasound-assisted extraction for recovery of flavonoids from red grape skins using response surface methodology.

INTRODUCTION For the characterisation of grape cultivars, the profile and content of flavonoids are important because these compounds impact grape and wine quality. To determine the correct profile and content of flavonoids, the use of robust, sensitive and reliable methods is necessary. OBJECTIVE The object of this research is to develop a new ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) method for the recovery of flavonoids from grape skins using response surface methodology. METHOD Optimisation of UAE was performed using a complementary study combining a Box-Behnken experimental design with qualitative analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS Optimal extraction conditions were obtained using the extraction solvent composed of acetonitrile:water:formic acid (26:73:1, v/v/v) at an extraction temperature of 50 °C, an extraction time of 15 min in a single-extraction step and with a solid-to-solvent ratio of 1:80 g/mL. The calculated relative standard deviations for the optimal extraction method were very low, measuring less than 5%. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that numerous factors have strong effects on the extraction efficiency, including the type of organic modifier and its percentage in the extraction solvent, the number of extraction steps, the solid-to-solvent ratio, the extraction time and temperature and, finally, the particular nature of analyte and their position within the grape skin cell.
[Analysis of solitary pulmonary nodules found in chest radiograms].

INTRODUCTION The detection of solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) has increased due to widespread use of computed tomography; nevertheless, chest radiographs still remain the basic routine examination. The aim of the study was to estimate the detection of SPNs in routine chest X-rays in hospitalized patients and to assess the incidence of malignancy in newly diagnosed SPNs. MATERIAL AND METHODS We analyzed 5,726 routine chest radiographs of patients admitted to the Department of Internal Diseases, Pneumology and Allergology in 2004 and 2005. Most of the patients were admitted to hospital due to emergency reasons. The malignant nature of the nodules was confirmed by pathological examination. The nature of benign nodules was confirmed either by pathological examination or based on radiological criteria: no growth within 2 years of radiological follow up, regression in control radiograms or CT scans, benign pattern of calcification. RESULTS Among the 5,726 radiograms we found 116 newly diagnosed SPNs (2.2%). Twenty-four nodules (21%) were malignant: NSCLC in 21 cases and metastases in 3 cases. Fifty-one nodules (44%) were benign. In 19 patients (16%) SPNs proved to be artefacts or erroneously interpreted extrathoracic lesions. In 22 cases (19%) there was no final diagnosis (lack of data, diagnostic procedure renunciation). CONCLUSION The incidence of newly detected SPNs in chest X-rays was 2.2%. Most SPNs were benign. About 21% of SPNs were diagnosed as malignant.
Bayesian Visual Inference and Attention

The massive amount of visual inputs could easily go beyond the system’s computational limit. Visual attention provides an efficient way to discard the trivial inputs and achieve good performance. In this paper we develop a unified and consistent theoretical framework for the visual attention and inference with Bayesian decision theory. A visual attention scheme is simulated with an artificial retina mimicking biological ones. We test our model on a real world video clip. The experimental results indicate the promise of this visual attention model in complicated vision applications.
VALIDACIÓN DE UNA ESCALA PARA VALORAR EL DOLOR EN PACIENTES ODONTOLÓGICOS. (Validation of a Scale to assess pain in odontological patients)

El objetivo del estudio fue validar la Pain Catastrophizing Scale en poblacion adulta de la ciudad de Medellin, en pacientes en tratamiento odontologico. La muestra fue de 343 personas. Se realizaron estadisticas descriptivas y analisis bivariado con la escala y las dimensiones que la componen (magnificacion, rumiacion y desesperanza) segun sexo, edad y especialidad. Ademas, se establecieron coeficientes de correlacion con la Escala Visual Analoga. No se encontraron diferencias estadisticamente significativas entre los niveles de catastrofizacion, segun edad, sexo y especialidad clinica por la que fue atendido el paciente; lo mismo ocurrio con las tres dimensiones. Se encontro una correlacion moderada estadisticamente significativa entre ambas escalas. El nivel de consistencia interna de la prueba fue alto (0.88). Palabras clave: Validacion – Dolor - Pain Catastrophizing Scale - Escala Visual Analoga . ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to validate the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) in adult population from the city of Medellin, in patients under a dental treatment. The sample was 343 people. Descriptive statistics and bivariated analysis were calculated for the involved scale and the subscales (magnification, rumination and hopelessness) according to sex, age and specialty. Also, correlation coefficients with visual analogue scale (VAS) were calculated. No statistical significant differences were found in the levels of catastrophizing, according to age, sex and clinical specialty for which the patient was treated. The same happened with the three subscales. There was a statistically significant moderate correlation between both scales. The internal consistency level for the scale was high (0.88). Key words: Validity – Pain - Pain Catastrophizing Scale – Visual - Analogue Scale.
Students' and Staff Members' Understanding of the Features, Forms, and Functions Of Bullying in a High School Setting

Researchers who study bullying acknowledge that the field struggles because of a lack of a universally accepted definition of bullying. Additionally, there are concerns that research subjects may conceptualize bullying differently from the definitions offered in studies of bullying. This study seeks to assess how students and staff members understand the features, forms, and functions of bullying in a high school setting. The study involves an exploratory grounded theory preliminary study, followed by a mixed methods dissertation study. Both studies were conducted in an affluent suburban high school in the northeastern United States and included students and staff members. Findings from the preliminary study suggested that bullying was challenging for subjects to define and that traditional and stereotypical conceptualizations were inadequate in this context. The dissertation study involves survey questions, interview and focus group transcripts, and interview and focus group data that were quantified. Five vignettes (survey items) were developed based on the findings of the preliminary study. Participants were asked if the vignettes matched their understanding of the construct of bullying. Additionally, subjects participated in semi-structured interviews or focus groups during which they described or defined bullying. Lastly, interview and focus group data were coded for the number and features of bullying that subjects mentioned. Statistical analysis of the survey items suggests that subjects consider the vulnerability of the victim to be a highly salient feature of situations understood to be bullying. The grounded theory analysis suggests that elitism, a complicated and nuanced social environment, developmental change, and ‘norms, status, and hierarchy’ were emergent themes. These themes coalesced around a core category identified as ‘negotiating identity. ’ Quantified
Can the Crowd be Controlled?: A Case Study on Crowd Sourcing and Automatic Validation of Completed Tasks based on User Modeling

Annotation is an essential step in the development cycle of many Natural Language Processing (NLP) systems. Lately, crowd-sourcing has been employed to facilitate large scale annotation at a reduced cost. Unfortunately, verifying the quality of the submitted annotations is a daunting task. Existing approaches address this problem either through sampling or redundancy. However, these approaches do have a cost associated with it. Based on the observation that a crowd-sourcing worker returns to do a task that he has done previously, a novel framework for automatic validation of crowd-sourced task is proposed in this paper. A case study based on sentiment analysis is presented to elucidate the framework and its feasibility. The result suggests that validation of the crowd-sourced task can be automated to a certain extent.
Patterns of Positive Selection in Six Mammalian Genomes

Genome-wide scans for positively selected genes (PSGs) in mammals have provided insight into the dynamics of genome evolution, the genetic basis of differences between species, and the functions of individual genes. However, previous scans have been limited in power and accuracy owing to small numbers of available genomes. Here we present the most comprehensive examination of mammalian PSGs to date, using the six high-coverage genome assemblies now available for eutherian mammals. The increased phylogenetic depth of this dataset results in substantially improved statistical power, and permits several new lineage- and clade-specific tests to be applied. Of ∼16,500 human genes with high-confidence orthologs in at least two other species, 400 genes showed significant evidence of positive selection (FDR<0.05), according to a standard likelihood ratio test. An additional 144 genes showed evidence of positive selection on particular lineages or clades. As in previous studies, the identified PSGs were enriched for roles in defense/immunity, chemosensory perception, and reproduction, but enrichments were also evident for more specific functions, such as complement-mediated immunity and taste perception. Several pathways were strongly enriched for PSGs, suggesting possible co-evolution of interacting genes. A novel Bayesian analysis of the possible “selection histories” of each gene indicated that most PSGs have switched multiple times between positive selection and nonselection, suggesting that positive selection is often episodic. A detailed analysis of Affymetrix exon array data indicated that PSGs are expressed at significantly lower levels, and in a more tissue-specific manner, than non-PSGs. Genes that are specifically expressed in the spleen, testes, liver, and breast are significantly enriched for PSGs, but no evidence was found for an enrichment for PSGs among brain-specific genes. This study provides additional evidence for widespread positive selection in mammalian evolution and new genome-wide insights into the functional implications of positive selection.
Increasing the Predictive Validity of Personality Tests: Private Self-Consciousness and Priming of Trait-Relevant Knowledge.

This paper discusses two techniques for improving the predictive validity of personality measures: (1) measuring dispositional levels of private self-consciousness, that is, one's tendency to habitually reflect on covert aspects of the self such as thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and motives; and (2) priming trait-relevant knowledge (temporarily induced self-awareness) prior to test administration. Approximately 450 subjects filled out the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS), the Self-Consciousness Scale, and several other questionnaires. For the priming task, half of the subjects answered three progressively more specific questions about their food preferences and food selection habits immediately prior to completing the FNS. The validation group was made up of 272 persons from the iarger group, eaoh of whom was assigned.to groups high (N=127) and low (N.145) in private self-consciousness (PriSC) based on a median split of their scores. For the laboratory validation study, participants performed four different tasks, four months after completing the questionnaires, which assessed both past and present willingness to try novel foods. Subjects high in private self-consciousness had higher validity coefficients than did subjects low in private self-consciousness. Results show that the best behavior prediction was achieved when both private self-consciousness and priming were considered together. Contains 22 references. (RJM) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * **********************************************************************
Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor expression and function on nonneuronal cells

Of the thousands of proven carcinogens and toxic agents contained within a cigarette, nicotine, while being the addictive agent, is often viewed as the least harmful of these compounds. Nicotine is a lipophilic molecule whose effects on neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) have been primarily focused on its physiologic impact within the confines of the brain and peripheral nervous system. However, recently, many studies have found neuronal nAChRs to be expressed on many different nonneuronal cell types throughout the body, where increasing evidence suggests they have important roles in determining the consequences of nicotine use on multiple organs systems and diseases as diverse as ulcerative colitis, chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, and diabetes, as well as the neurologic disorders of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. This review highlights current evidence for the expression of peripheral nAChRs in cells other than neurons and how they participate in fundamental processes, such as inflammation. Understanding these processes may offer novel therapeutic strategies to approach inflammatory diseases, as well as precautions in the design of interventional drugs.
Sustaining Sovereignty through Law at the Cape Colony, 1795–1803

The first British occupation of the Cape, 1795–1803, involved a military invasion that overthrew the erstwhile Dutch East India Company and set about erecting a new colonial political order. Reflecting the socio-political upheaval that ensued, unique archival documents suggest how colonial law provided procedures, an argot, and punishment practices that generated and sustained lasting images of sovereignty in context. In efforts to grasp the complex symbiotic alliances that enabled Cape colonial sovereignty and law to surface, this paper examines several texts that highlight the interactions through which colonial law declared, enforced, and summoned a colonial politics of sovereign power. In turn, this sovereignty politics yielded ethical images of justice and justifications for punishment that persist, even if in altered form, through postcolonial horizons. Understanding that colonial legacy could, therefore, be deeply consequential for continuing ethical debates about the justice of sovereigns, laws and punishments through which governance is nowadays calculated.