Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NISC-Based Soft-Input–Soft-Output Demapper

Applications in wireless digital communication field are becoming increasingly complex and diverse. Circuits and systems adopted in this application domain must not only consider performance and implementation constraints but also the requirement of flexibility. The combination of flexibility and the ever increasing performance requirements demands design approach that provides better ways of controlling and managing hardware resources. An application-specific instruction-set processor (ASIP) design approach is a key trend in designing flexible architectures. The ASIP concept implies dynamic scheduling of a set of instructions that generally leads to an overhead related to instruction decoding. The no-instruction-set-computer (NISC) concept has been introduced to reduce this overhead through the adoption of static scheduling. In this brief, the NISC approach is explored through a case-study design of universal demapper for multiple wireless standards. The proposed design has common main architectural choices as a state-of-the-art ASIP for comparison purpose. The obtained results illustrate a significant improvement in execution time and implementation area while using identical computational resources and supporting same flexibility parameters.
The nature of the dwarf population in Abell 868

We present the results of a study of the morphology of the dwarf galaxy population in Abell 868, a rich, intermediate-redshift cluster which has a galaxy luminosity function (LF) with a steep faint-end slope . A statistical background subtraction method is employed to study the colour distribution of the cluster galaxies. This distribution suggests that the galaxies contributing to the faint-end of the measured cluster LF can be split into three populations: dwarf irregular galaxies (dIrrs) with dwarf elliptical galaxies (dEs) with and contaminating background giant ellipticals (gEs) with . The removal of the contribution of the background gEs from the counts only marginally lessens the faint-end slope . However, the removal of the contribution of the dIrrs from the counts produces a flat LF . The dEs and the dIrrs have similar spatial distributions within the cluster, except that the dIrrs appear to be totally absent within a central projected radius of about 0.2 Mpc . The number densities of both dEs and dIrrs appear to fall off beyond a projected radius of ≃ 0.35 Mpc. We suggest that the dE and dIrr populations of A868 have been associated with the cluster for similar time-scales, but evolutionary processes such as ‘galaxy harassment’ tend to fade the dIrr galaxies while having a much smaller effect on the dE galaxies. The harassment would be expected to have the greatest effect on dwarfs residing in the central parts of the cluster.
Dust seed production and dispersal in Swedish Pyroleae species

There are generally two contrasting alternatives to what limits recruitment in plants, namely the availability of seeds (seed limitation) or the quality or quantity of suitable sites (microsite limitation). Dust seeds, the smallest existing seeds, lack or have minimal nutrient reserves. During germination and initial development they consequently parasitize on mycorrhizal fungi. This is called mycoheterotrophy, and can vary in degree of fungal dependency in adult plants from full, partial or initial mycoheterotrophy.The aim of this thesis was to investigate the recruitment ecology of mycoheterotrophic Ericaceae (tribe Pyroleae) species with dust seeds, and to determine what limits their recruitment. The investigated species were: Chimaphila umbellata, Moneses uniflora, Orthilia secunda, Pyrola chlorantha, P. minor and P. rotundifolia. This aim was achieved by combining field experiments (seed sowing) with isotope analysis and fungal host pyrosequencing.Results provide evidence that the species in Pyroleae are heterogeneous, not only with regard to their degree of mycoheterotrophy, but also concerning germination and early seedling development. A combination of microsite and seed limitation is thus likely to be of importance for all studied species, but the relative importance of these limitations varies among species. Despite having adaptations for wind dispersal the majority of the seeds were deposited in close vicinity of the seed source. But with high seed production at least some seeds should be able to disperse long-distance. Seedlings of all studied species were found to associate with a wide range of ectomycorrhizal fungi, at least during their initial developmental stages. There seems to be a tendency for host narrowing in some Pyroleae species, but not as strict as the host specialization seen in fully mycoheterotrophic Monotropa hypopitys, supporting the hypothesis of geographical and developmental host shifts.
Targeted Deletion of the Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinase 4 Gene in the Nervous System Causes Severe Brain Developmental Defects and Premature Death

ABSTRACT The c-Jun NH2-terminal protein kinase (JNK) is a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) involved in the regulation of various physiological processes. Its activity is increased upon phosphorylation by the MAPK kinases MKK4 and MKK7. The early embryonic death of mice lacking an mkk4 or mkk7 gene has provided genetic evidence that MKK4 and MKK7 have nonredundant functions in vivo. To elucidate the physiological role of MKK4, we generated a novel mouse model in which the mkk4 gene could be specifically deleted in the brain. At birth, the mutant mice were indistinguishable from their control littermates, but they stopped growing a few days later and died prematurely, displaying severe neurological defects. Decreased JNK activity in the absence of MKK4 correlated with impaired phosphorylation of a subset of physiologically relevant JNK substrates and with altered gene expression. These defects resulted in the misalignment of the Purkinje cells in the cerebellum and delayed radial migration in the cerebral cortex. Together, our data demonstrate for the first time that MKK4 is an essential activator of JNK required for the normal development of the brain.
H∞ norm computation for descriptor symmetric systems

This paper deals with the problem of H∞ norm computation for general symmetric systems and descriptor symmetric systems. The computation of H∞ norm for state-space symmetric systems is extended to descriptor symmetric systems. An explicit expression is given based on the Bound Real Lemma (BRL), and the Generalized Bound Real Lemma (GBRL). The results have obvious computational advantages, especially for large scale descriptor symmetric systems. Additionally, two numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the results.
Mass spectrometry for genotyping hepatitis C virus: a promising new approach.

Hepatits C virus (HCV) infection is a growing health problem worldwide, with more than 170 million individuals currently infected(1). Because no vaccine is currently available, the mainstay of control is treatment of infected individuals. Although the first attempts at treatment with interferon-α produced sustained responses in only ∼25% of patients, more recent combination treatment regimens consisting of pegylated interferon-α plus ribavirin have led to sustained response rates approaching 60%(2)(3). In spite of intense study, the specific HCV gene(s) controlling the response to combination therapy have not been identified. Instead, the best predictor is the HCV genotype of the strain present in the patient(4). HCV is an extremely diverse virus, with 6 major genotypes and more than 60 subtypes identified(5)(6). Genotype 1 is the most common genotype in the United States and Europe, and genotypes 2 and 3 are also common in these areas. Frequently, the virus within a given infected individual diverges during the course of chronic infection into multiple viral lineages with related sequences (known as quasispecies). Less frequently, an individual may become infected with a mixture of 2 or more genotypes. In spite of the wide sequence variation present in HCV, multiple studies have clearly shown a lower response rate to combination therapy with pegylated interferon-α plus ribavirin for patients who are infected with genotype 1 compared with the other genotypes(7). Thus, 2 therapeutic schemes are used: a 48-week course of therapy for patients infected with genotype-1 HCV and a 24-week course for those infected with other genotypes of the virus(8). The dramatically different response rates place …
Multilingual document clusters discovery

Cross Language Information Retrieval community has brought up search engines over multilingual corpora, and multilingual text categorization systems. In this paper, we focus on the multilingual clusters discovery problem, which aim is to extract topic-related multilingual document clusters from a multilingual document collection in an unsupervised way. Our approach is based on a linguistic analysis of the documents that allows to identify relevant features for a vector representation of the documents, each language being associated with a different vector space. We propose a cross-lingual similarity measure for the documents, using bilingual dictionaries. A Shared Nearest Neighbor clustering algorithm is then used to build the clusters We present an evaluation framework for this task, analyze and discuss the results we obtained and propose directions for future works.
An essential role for Dicer in adipocyte differentiation

Dicer is a cellular enzyme required for the processing of pre‐miRNA molecules into mature miRNA, and Dicer and miRNA biogenesis have been found to play important roles in a variety of physiologic processes. Recently, reports of alterations in miRNA expression levels in cultured pre‐adipogenic cell lines during differentiation and findings of differences between the miRNA expression signatures of white and brown adipose have suggested that miRNA molecules might regulate adipocyte differentiation and the formation of adipose tissue. However, direct evidence that miRNAs regulate adipogenesis is lacking. To determine if Dicer and mature miRNA govern adipocyte differentiation, we utilized primary cells isolated from mice bearing Dicer‐conditional alleles to study adipogenesis in the presence or absence of miRNA biogenesis. Our results reveal that Dicer is required for adipogenic differentiation of mouse embryonic fibroblasts and primary cultures of pre‐adipocytes. Furthermore, the requirement for Dicer in adipocyte differentiation is not due to miRNA‐mediated alterations in cell proliferation, as deletion of the Ink4a locus and the prevention of premature cellular senescence normally induced in primary cells upon Dicer ablation fails to rescue adipogenic differentiation in fibroblasts and pre‐adipocytes. J. Cell. Biochem. 110: 812–816, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Reducing QT liability and proarrhythmic risk in drug discovery and development

Drug‐induced torsades de pointes (TdP), a rare, life‐threatening, polymorphic, ventricular tachycardia associated with prolongation of the QT interval, has been the main safety reason for the withdrawal of medicines from clinical use over the last decade. Most often, drugs that prolong the action potential and delay ventricular repolarization do so through blockade of outward (repolarizing) currents, predominantly the rapid delayed rectifying potassium current, IKr. While QT interval prolongation is not a safety concern per se, in a small percentage of people, it has been associated with TdP, which either spontaneously terminates or degenerates into ventricular fibrillation. Furthermore, recent data suggest that shortening of the QT interval may also be a new safety issue waiting to surface. This review article summarizes the presentations given at a symposium entitled ‘Reducing QT liability and proarrhythmic risk in drug discovery and development’, which was part of the Federation of the European Pharmacological Societies congress, Manchester, UK, 13–17 July 2008. The objective of this symposium was to assess the effects of implementing the latest regulatory guidance documents (International Conference on Harmonization S7A/B and E14), as well as new scientific and technical trends on the ability of the pharmaceutical industry to reduce and manage the QT liability and associated potential proarrhythmic risk, and contribute to the discovery and development of safer medicines. This review outlines the key messages from communications presented at this symposium and attempts to highlight some of the key challenges that remain to be addressed.
Mechanical Behavior of Articular Cartilage

Articular Cartilage (AC) is a poro-elastic biological material that allows the distribution of mechanical loads and joint movements. As a biphasic material, in the presence of load, the articular cartilage deforms its solid matrix and modifies the fluid hydrostatic pressure within. The aim of this chapter is to present a mathematical model that predicts the mechanical behavior of articular cartilage, taking into account the duality between the solid matrix and articular liquid, and its poro-elastic characteristics. Using a finite element method approach, the response of a piece of articular cartilage in one and two dimensions has been simulated, with tensile, compressive and oscillatory mechanical loads. The analysis of the results allows a qualitative validation of the poro-elastic behavior of the model due to the solid matrix deformation and the fluid outflow that causes variations of pressures inside the articular cartilage in accordance with reported trials. The mathematical model allows for prediction of articular cartilage’s biomechanical behavior. These results contribute to the research processes in fields of study such as biomechanics and tissue engineering.
Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate monotherapy for nucleos(t)ide-naïve chronic hepatitis B patients in Korea: data from the clinical practice setting in a single-center cohort

Background/Aims This study assessed the antiviral efficacy and safety of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) for up to 12 months in Korean treatment-naïve chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. Methods A total of 411 treatment-naïve CHB patients who had been treated with TDF for at least 3 months (median 5.6) were consecutively enrolled. Clinical, biochemical, virological parameters and treatment adherence were routinely assessed every 3 months. Results The median age was 51.3 years, 63.0% of the patients were male, 49.6% were HBeAg (+), and 210 patients had liver cirrhosis. The median baseline HBV DNA was 5.98 (SD 1.68) log10 IU/mL. Among the patients completing week 48, 83.3% had a complete virologic response (CVR, <12 IU/mL by HBV PCR assay), and 88.2% had normalized levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT). The cumulative probabilities of CVR at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months were 22.8%, 53.1%, 69.3% and 85.0%. During the follow-up period, 9.8% patients achieved HBeAg loss and 7.8% patients achieved HBeAg seroconversion. There was no virological breakthrough after initiating TDF. The most common TDF-related adverse event was gastrointestinal upset, and three patients discontinued TDF therapy. However, no serious life-threatening side effect was noted. Conclusions In a clinical practice setting, TDF was safe and highly effective when administered for 12 months to Korean treatment-naïve CHB patients.
Dopaminergic correlates of motivated behavior: importance of drive

In vivo brain microdialysis was used to monitor changes in dopamine (DA) release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) during anticipatory and consummatory components of feeding behavior. During 10 daily training sessions, rats were first confined to one compartment of a testing chamber for 10 minutes. During this period (anticipatory phase) they were prevented from gaining access to a highly palatable liquid meal by a wire mesh screen. The screen was then removed and the animals were permitted to consume the meal for 20 min (consummatory phase). On removal of the screen, the latency to begin drinking decreased and the amount consumed increased as a function of days of training, both measures reaching asymptotic levels by day 7. Trained animals were implanted with dialysis probes in the NAc on day 10, and on day 12 DA release was monitored during the feeding session. Compared to controls, trained animals failed to show significantly greater increases in accumbal DA release during the anticipatory phase, all groups showing small (approximately 10%) increases on being placed in the test chamber. In contrast, compared to controls, DA release increased significantly in the NAc during consumption of the palatable meal. The magnitude of this increase was significantly enhanced (30% vs 71% peak increase) in animals that were 20 hr food deprived at the time of testing. The latter animals also showed a statistically significant increase (24%) in DA release during the anticipatory phase. A subsequent experiment in which consumption of the palatable liquid was limited to 5 ml in deprived and nondeprived animals indicated that only part of the deprivation-induced potentiation of accumbal DA release could be attributed to the larger volume consumed by the deprived animals. That is, the same volume and rate of consumption of a small amount of the liquid diet produced a significantly greater increase in accumbal DA release in deprived than in nondeprived animals (42% vs 23% peak increase). Feeding-induced increases in accumbal DA release were not due to postingestional factors as direct injections of the liquid diet into the stomach by gavage failed to produce this effect. The results of these experiments indicate (1) that consummatory rather than anticipatory aspects of feeding are robustly associated with increases in DA release in the NAc, and (2) that motivational state can influence the magnitude of the neurochemical events that are associated with goal- directed behaviors.
OntoSem Methods for Processing Semantic Ellipsis

This paper describes various types of semantic ellipsis and underspecification in natural language, and the ways in which the meaning of semantically elided elements is reconstructed in the Ontological Semantics (OntoSem) text processing environment. The description covers phenomena whose treatment in OntoSem has reached various levels of advancement: fully implemented, partially implemented, and described algorithmically outside of implementation. We present these research results at this point -- prior to full implementation and extensive evaluation -- for two reasons: first, new descriptive material is being reported; second, some subclasses of the phenomena in question will require a truly long-term effort whose results are best reported in installments.
Clonal Evolution of Resistance to Imatinib in Patients with Metastatic Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors

Purpose: Resistance to imatinib mesylate is emerging as a clinical challenge in patients with metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Novel patterns of progression have been noted in a number of these patients. The objective of this study was to correlate molecular and radiologic patterns of imitinib-refractory disease with existing conventional criteria for disease progression. Experimental Design: Patients with metastatic GIST treated with imatinib were followed with serial computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging and [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography. Where feasible, biopsies were done to document disease progression. Results: A total of 89 patients were followed for a median of 43 months. Forty-eight patients developed progressive disease. A unique “resistant clonal nodule” pattern (defined as a new enhancing nodular focus enclosed within a preexisting tumor mass) was seen in 23 of 48 patients and was thought to represent emergence of clones resistant to imatinib. Nodules were demonstrable a median of 5 months (range, 0-13 months) before objective progression defined by tumor size criteria and were the first sign of progression in 18 of 23 patients. Median survival among patients whose first progression was nodular was 35.1 months, compared with 44.6 months for patients whose first progression met Southwest Oncology Group criteria (P = 0.31). Comparative tumor biopsies were done in 10 patients at baseline and from progressing nodules. Genotypic analyses of KIT and PDGFRA kinases were done, revealing new activating kinase mutations in 80% (8 of 10) of these patients. Conclusion: The resistant clonal nodule is a unique pattern of disease progression seen in patients with GISTs after an initial response to imatinib and reflects the emergence of imatinib-resistant clones. Conventional tumor measurements (Southwest Oncology Group/Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors) do not detect this subtle finding. A new enhancing nodule growing within a preexisting tumor mass should be classified as a new lesion and be regarded, at least, as partial progression of GIST.
Abdominal muscle activity during a standing long jump.

STUDY DESIGN Experimental laboratory study. OBJECTIVES To measure the activation patterns (onset and magnitude) of the abdominal muscles during a standing long jump using wire and surface electromyography. BACKGROUND Activation patterns of the abdominal muscles, especially the deep muscles such as the transversus abdominis (TrA), have yet to be examined during full-body movements such as jumping. METHODS Thirteen healthy men participated. Wire electrodes were inserted into the TrA with the guidance of ultrasonography, and surface electrodes were attached to the skin overlying the rectus abdominis (RA) and external oblique (EO). Electromyographic signals and video images were recorded while each subject performed a standing long jump. The jump task was divided into 3 phases: preparation, push-off, and float. For each muscle, activation onset relative to the onset of the RA and normalized muscle activation levels (percent maximum voluntary contraction) were analyzed during each phase. Comparisons between muscles and phases were assessed using 2-way analyses of variance. RESULTS The onset times of the TrA and EO relative to the onset of the RA were -0.13 ? 0.17 seconds and -0.02 ? 0.07 seconds, respectively. Onset of TrA activation was earlier than that of the EO. The activation levels of all 3 muscles were significantly greater during the push-off phase than during the preparation and float phases. CONCLUSION Consistent with previously published trunk-perturbation studies in healthy persons, the TrA was activated prior to the RA and EO. Additionally, the highest muscle activation levels were observed during the push-off phase.
Design and Performance of a 200-kHz All-SiC JFET Current DC-Link Back-to-Back Converter

Silicon carbide (SiC) switching devices have been widely discussed in power electronics due to their desirable properties and are believed to set new standards in efficiency, switching behavior, and power density for state-of-the-art converter systems. In this paper, the design, construction, and performance of a 3-kVA All-SiC current-source converter (CSC), also known as current dc-link back-to-back converter (CLBBC), is presented. CSC topologies have been successfully used for many years for high-power applications. However, for low-power-range converter systems, they could not compete with voltage-source-converter topologies with capacitors in the dc-link, since the link inductor has always been a physically large and heavy component due to the comparatively low switching frequencies of conventional high-blocking-voltage silicon devices. New SiC switches such as the JFET, which are providing simultaneously high-voltage blocking, low switching losses, and low on-state resistance (three times lower compared with Si MOSFET with similar V- I rating), offer new possibilities and enable the implementation of a high switching frequency CLBBC and, thus, reducing size and weight of the dc-link inductor. The prototype CLBBC has been designed specifically for the latest generation 1200-V 6-A SiC JFETs and a target switching frequency of 200 kHz.