Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multi-modal smart bio-sensing SoC platform with >80dB SNR 35µA PPG RX chain

A multi-modal analog front end (AFE) and ultra-low energy bio-sensing CMOS SoC is presented. System/ circuit techniques enable signal path duty cycles as low as sub-1% and result in a 35μA Photo Plethysmography (PPG) RX Chain - 5X lower than published state of the art - while maintaining overall SNR > 80dBFS. The signal chain is adaptively synchronized by an ultra-low power FSM and includes a 1. 3μW 14b 1kSPS SAR A/D. Input signal-aware, real-time data path adaptation is achieved by leveraging on-the-fly algorithms running on an external microcontroller (μC) to further reduce system energy. A programmable, asynchronous capacitive reset amplifier (PARCA) with NEF of 4.8 and dx/dt analog feature extractor demonstrate energy efficient ECG capture. A battery-powered, Bluetooth low energy (BLE) based, wearable platform with simultaneous ECG and PPG acquisition using this AFE has been demonstrated.
Compact quad-band slot antenna for GPS L1, WiMAX, and WLAN applications

In this paper, a compact four-band slot antenna in a small ground plane is proposed for global positioning system (GPS L1), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), and wireless area network (WLAN) applications. The proposed antenna is comprised of a slotted ground plane on the top and an asymmetric cross parasitic strip on the bottom. By properly designing the slots on the ground plane, four resonant frequency bands are achieved in the small area. The proposed antenna attains multiband characteristic with compact size. In addition, the proposed antenna has a gain greater than 2.5 dBi in free space.
Maternal malnutrition during lactation alters gonadotropin-releasing hormone expression in the hypothalamus of weaned male rat pups

Abstract Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is the key hormone regulating reproduction. Its feedback regulation is exercised by estradiol. The early postnatal period is critical for sexual differentiation. Despite the fact that malnutrition-related reproductive suppression in rats is a well-documented phenomenon, we had no knowledge, until now, on how maternal malnutrition affects GnRH expression and estradiol serum concentrations of weaned pups. Six pregnant Wistar rats were separated into three groups at delivery with 6 pups each: control group (C) with free access to a standard diet containing 23% protein; protein energy restricted group (PER) with free access to an isoenergy and 8% protein diet; and an energy-restricted (ER) group receiving a standard diet in restricted quantities, which were calculated according to the mean ingestion of the PER group. At 21 days post partum, the animals were killed and the serum estradiol was evaluated by radioimmunoassay. Immunohistochemistry for GNRH was performed. The serum estradiol concentration was decreased in PER and ER groups compared with C (PER, 34%; ER, 19%;P < 0.01) and the staining of GNRH was restricted to arcuate nucleus and median eminence in the control group while in PER and ER stained processes aligned with the third ventricle wall (periventricular nucleus) were present. In conclusion, our data reinforce the concept that the maternal nutritional state during lactation is critical for sexual maturation since maternal malnutrition resulted in a neuron migration delay evidenced by an altered GnRH expression profile, probably a consequence of low estradiol serum levels.
Sensorless predictive control method of three-phase AFE rectifier with MRAS observer for robust control

This paper presents a novel, simple and robust AC voltage sensorless predictive control method for the active front end (AFE) rectifiers. The proposed sensorless control is based on computing the input AC voltage from the instantaneous active and reactive powers using the input AC currents, DC link voltage, and the switching state. The proposed sensorless predictive control has suitable results even with the imprecise value of the input inductance. However, the precise estimation of the input inductance improves the robustness of the method. Therefore, a novel inductance estimation method is proposed based on model reference adaptive system (MRAS) observers for parameter estimation. The proposed MRAS observer is based on input AC current. The feasibility and the robustness of the method has been confirmed through the computer simulations.
The Role of Stress and Glucocorticoids in Pathogeny of Age-Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders

An overview and commentary are presented on the role of stress and glucocorticoids in the pathogeny of age-related psychiatric and neurologic disorders, first of all depressive illness and Alzheimer’s disease. The connections of these disorders with senescence-induced changes in bioregulation of hypothamo-pituitary-adrenal axis activity are discussed, focusing attention on biphasic glucocorticoid effects, gender differences, adverse effects of exogenous corticosteroids and the importance of stress and glucocorticoid effects on developing brain, as related to programming/imprinting and embedding phenomena. In addition, the interactions of neuropsychiatric disorders with diabetes mellitus and other chronic diseases, as well as of glucocorticoids with proinflammatory cytokines are briefly considered in relation to postnatal ontogeny and aging.
ACCUMULATING MONOCYTES IN THE VASCULATURE OF RAT RENAL ALLOGRAFTS: PHENOTYPE, CYTOKINE, INDUCIBLE NO SYNTHASE, AND TISSUE FACTOR mRNA EXPRESSION1

Background. Necrotic patches and hemorrhagic lesions develop in the renal tissue between day 4 and day 5 after transplantation of fully allogeneic DA rat kidneys to LEW recipients.These lesions are at least in part due to destruction and obstruction of blood vessels. Damage of graft endothelial cells and blood coagulation are likely to be mediated by intravascular graft leukocytes. However, this cell population has not been thoroughly characterized before. Methods. We perfused untreated control kidneys, renal isografts, and allografts on day 4 after transplantation with phosphate-buffered saline/ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid to harvest leukocytes from both the blood stream as well as from the marginal intravascular pool. The mRNA expression of typical products of activated monocytes was analyzed in reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction experiments. Graft monocytes were purified and their immunophenotype was investigated by flow cytometry. Results. Allograft rejection led to a 10-fold increase in the number of intravascular graft leukocytes compared to isografts. A mean number of about 100×106 leukocytes was harvested from a single allogeneic kidney, about 73% of these cells were monocytes and most of them displayed an activated phenotype. Compared to isografts, intravascular allograft leukocytes displayed an increased expression of tumor necrosis factor-&agr;, inducible NO synthase and tissue factor. Conclusions. Our study shows that large numbers of activated monocytes accumulate inside allograft vessels. As they express genes the products of which might damage the allograft by inducing cell death or thrombosis, we speculate that they directly participate in allograft destruction.
Latent Ranked Bandits

We study the problem of learning personalized ranked lists of diverse items for multiple users, from sequential observations of user preferences. The user-item preference matrix is non-negative and low-rank. Existing methods for solving similar problems are based on reconstructing the preference matrix from its noisy observations using matrix factorization techniques, and typically require strong assumptions on the reconstructed matrix. We depart from this standard approach and consider a family of low-rank matrices, where the set of most preferred items of all users is small and can be learned efficiently. Moreover, in contrast to previous approaches, we assume that the preference matrix is non-stochastic, and so our approach is more general. Then we learn to present this set to each user in a personalized manner, in the order of the descending preferences of the user. We propose a computationally efficient algorithm that implements this procedure, which we call latent ranker (LRA). We evaluate the algorithm empirically on several synthetic and real-world datasets. In all experiments, we outperform existing state-of-the-art algorithms.
Current perspectives of the roles of the central norepinephrine system in anxiety and depression

Norepinephrine (NE) is a major monoamine neurotransmitter that has widespread effects across multiple brain areas to regulate arousal and stress responses. The underlying function of the NE cortical system is to balance vigilance/scanning behavior with focused attention on novel environmental stimuli and the state of arousal. The central NE system is involved intrinsically with the stress response system, and dysregulation within the NE system has been implicated in the pathogenesis of anxiety and depressive disorders. Central NE activity paradoxically has either anxiogenic or anxiolytic effects, depending on whether the time course of the stress is acute or chronic, whether the stress is predictable or unpredictable, and which underlying brain regions are affected. Under conditions of chronic stress, NE system activity dysregulation of the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal system may turn a homeostatic stress response into a pathological stress response. Data suggest that the NE interplay with the serotonin system may exert neurobiological normalization of the pathophysiological state of anxious depression. Accordingly, pharmacological interventions targeting the NE system can result in anxiolytic, rather than anxiogenic, outcomes when used to treat patients with anxiety and depression. Depression and Anxiety, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The difference of gait pattern according to the state of the corticospinal tract in chronic hemiparetic stroke patients.

OBJECTIVES The lateral corticospinal tract (CST) is one of the most important neuronal pathways that mediate voluntary movements in the human brain. However, little is known about the role of the lateral CST on the gait. We attempted to investigate differences in gait pattern using a motion analysis system according to the integrity of the contralateral CST, which was classified using diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) in chronic hemiparetic stroke patients. METHODS We recruited 16 chronic hemiparetic stroke patients and 12 normal subjects for this study. DTT findings of the CST for patients were classified into two groups: group A (eight patients); the integrity of the CST was preserved, group B (eight patients) - the CST was discontinued at or below the stroke lesion. We compared variables of gait between group A, group B, and normal controls using the motion analysis system. RESULTS Group A and the control group showed a significantly higher peak angle for ankle dorsiflexion, knee internal rotation, and hip flexion, compared with group B (p < 0.05). On the other hand, the peak angle for ankle plantarflexion/external rotation, knee flexion/abduction, and hip extension of group A and group B were significantly lower than those of the control group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION We found that severe injury of the contralateral CST caused decreased movement of ankle dorsiflexion, knee internal rotation, and hip flexion in chronic hemiparetic stroke patients. As a result, the circumduction and abduction gait pattern in stroke patients is closely associated with severe injury of the contralateral CST.
FUSING BLOCK-LEVEL FEATURES FOR MUSIC SIMILARITY ESTIMATION

In this paper we present a novel approach to computing music similarity based on block-level features. We first introduce three novel block-level features — the Variance Delta Spectral Pattern (VDSP), the Correlation Pattern (CP) and the Spectral Contrast Pattern (SCP). Then we describe how to combine the extracted features into a single similarity function. A comprehensive evaluation based on genre classification experiments shows that the combined block-level similarity measure (BLS) is comparable, in terms of quality, to the best current method from the literature. But BLS has the important advantage of being based on a vector space representation, which directly facilitates a number of useful operations, such as PCA analysis, k-means clustering, visualization etc. We also show that there is still potential for further improve of music similarity measures by combining BLS with another stateof-the-art algorithm; the combined algorithm then outperforms all other algorithms in our evaluation. Additionally, we discuss the problem of album and artist effects in the context of similaritybased recommendation and show that one can detect the presence of such effects in a given dataset by analyzing the nearest neighbor classification results.
Additional Oscillation Can Facilitate Visually Induced Self-Motion Perception: The Effects of its Coherence and Amplitude Gradient

It has been suggested that the addition of oscillating motion components can facilitate visually induced self-motion perception (vection), even though they generate substantial conflicts between visual and vestibular information about self-motion. In the psychophysical experiments reported here, attributes of sinusoidal oscillation, such as consistency in phases or amplitudes, were varied in order to investigate the perceptual mechanism underlying the facilitative effects of additional oscillation. The results show that coherent oscillation in the orthogonal direction of the main visual motion can facilitate vection strength, whereas variation in the phases or nonuniform amplitude impairs it. Furthermore, the strength of self-motion perception and the perceived rigidity of the visual pattern covaried as a function of stimulus attributes. These results suggest that uniform oscillation first enhances the perceived rigidity of the visual pattern, and then the visual pattern that is perceived as being more rigid induces more compelling self-motion perception.
Patent Rights Protection, Multinational Companies Investment in China

This paper evaluates the way that patents influence FDI in China. The theory suggests that a strong property right in terms of patents may benefit the inflows of FDI. An empirical study is conducted based on 31 provinces in China (not including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macaw) during the period 1995-2007. The panel data method is chosen for the analysis in the study, with preliminary unit root test. The long run co-integration test and panel estimation show mixed results due to the different patent types. But overall, in China, the strengthening of IPRs in terms of increased absolute number of patents will surprisingly lead to less FDI.
Typology and Linguistic Reconstruction

Linguistic reconstruction is a matter of a ‘multitude of decisions, not of their singularity’ 1 . Any single decision a linguist makes can influence the whole system of decisions and hence crucially change the reconstruction of a proto-language. It is therefore of great importance for the linguist to take into consideration any kind of additional evidence he can get. Language typology, i.e. assumed restrictions on language systems recovered by cross-linguistic comparison, can provide this additional evidence. It is nowadays widely accepted to be one of the key guidelines of reasoning when applying the comparative method 2 . The concept behind this is best represented by the well-known statement of Roman Jakobson, criticizing the consonant and the vowel system reconstructed for Indo-European: ‘A conflict between the reconstructed state of a language and the general laws which typology discovers makes the reconstruction questionable’ 3 . Since Jakobson has made this statement, typology apparently became an important tool for linguistic reconstruction. Saussure’s abstract phonological forms are now adorned with distinctive features and concrete values; the Indo-European laryngeals are described phonetically; the Glottalic Theory claims to solve the Indo-European consonant problem, and some linguists even try to connect Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan, relying on “typological and comparative” evidence 4 . When proposals for proto-languages are criticized, it is mostly because of their “lack of naturalness”, and one can hardly find a linguistic reconstruction whose author would not claim that it is “based on the general laws of typology”. However, despite the broad acceptance and application of typology, the role it plays in historical linguistics is rather dubious. It is more a surface phenomenon than an integrative part of linguistic reconstruction, often mentioned but seldom applied. This is due to the fact that the term “typology” is used in a very broad sense, referring to a somehow “general behaviour of languages”. What linguists refer to when they justify their decisions “by means of typology” varies widely. The use of implicational universals is rather rare; in most of the
A Parallel MultiView Rendering Architecture

Multiple view rendering is a common problem for applications where multiple users visualize a common dataset, as in multi-player games and collaborative engineering tools. For a system to be able to render a large number of views at interactive rates efficiently, parallel processing is an attractive technique. In this work we present the implementation of a pipelined multiview light field renderer using a cluster with GPUs and MPI. We discuss the parallelization model and the problem of partitioning the tasks of the pipeline among the cluster machines based on the pipeline model and the costs of the stages. Our solution achieves 83% efficiency with ten machines, against only 11% efficiency of a naive parallelization.
Fusion of Complementary Online and Offline Strategies for Recognition of Handwritten Kannada Characters

This work describes an online handwritten character recognition system working in combination with an offline recognition system. The online input data is also converted into an offline image, and parallely recognized by both online and offline strategies. Features are proposed for offline recognition and a disambiguation step is employed in the offline system for the samples for which the confidence level of the classifier is low. The outputs are then combined probabilistically resulting in a classifier out-performing both individual systems. Experiments are performed for Kannada, a South Indian Language, over a database of 295 classes. The accuracy of the online recognizer improves by 11% when the combination with offline system is used.
Osteoarthritis chondrocytes die by apoptosis. A possible pathway for osteoarthritis pathology.

OBJECTIVE To determine which kind of cell death occurs in cartilage from patients with osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS Seven normal and 16 OA cartilage samples were collected at autopsy or during joint replacement surgery, respectively. A piece of cartilage was cryopreserved until histologic studies were done. The rest of the cartilage was used to isolate chondrocytes. Apoptotic chondrocytes were analyzed by light and fluorescence microscopy using nuclear 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride stain. Apoptotic chondrocytes were quantified by fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis. The TUNEL technique was used to study histologic apoptosis in situ. Superficial cartilage was processed for ultrastructural study by electron microscopy. RESULTS OA chondrocytes displayed nuclear and cytoplasmic changes consistent with apoptotic cell death. FACS analysis showed that the OA cartilage had a higher proportion of apoptotic chondrocytes than did normal tissue (51% versus 11%; P < 0.01). In situ study of DNA fragmentation in the cartilage showed that apoptotic cells were located in the superficial and middle zones. Ultrastructural analysis of the superficial OA cartilage revealed some empty lacunae, lysosomal-like structures, matrix vesicle-like structures, fragmented chondrocytes, and nuclear condensation. CONCLUSION Chondrocytes in OA cartilage demonstrated morphologic changes that are characteristic features of apoptosis. This mechanism of cell death plays an important role in the pathogenesis of OA and could be targeted for new treatment strategies.
Induced hyperammonemia may compromise the ability to generate restful sleep in patients with cirrhosis

In patients with cirrhosis, hyperammonemia and hepatic encephalopathy are common after gastrointestinal bleeding and can be simulated by an amino acid challenge (AAC), or the administration of a mixture of amino acids mimicking the composition of hemoglobin. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical, psychometric, and wake‐/sleep‐electroencephalogram (EEG) correlates of induced hyperammonemia. Ten patients with cirrhosis and 10 matched healthy volunteers underwent: (1) 8‐day sleep quality/timing monitoring; (2) neuropsychiatric assessment at baseline/after AAC; (3) hourly ammonia/subjective sleepiness assessment for 8 hours after AAC; (4) sleep EEG recordings (nap opportunity: 17:00‐19:00) at baseline/after AAC. Neuropsychiatric performance was scored according to age‐/education‐adjusted Italian norms. Sleep stages were scored visually for 20‐second epochs; power density spectra were calculated for consecutive 20‐second epochs and average spectra determined for consolidated episodes of non‐rapid eye movement (non‐REM) sleep of minimal common length. The AAC resulted in: (i) an increase in ammonia concentrations/subjective sleepiness in both patients and healthy volunteers; (ii) a worsening of neuropsychiatric performance (wake EEG slowing) in two (20%) patients and none of the healthy volunteers; (iii) an increase in the length of non‐REM sleep in healthy volunteers [49.3 (26.6) versus 30.4 (15.6) min; P = 0.08]; (iv) a decrease in the sleep EEG beta power (fast activity) in the healthy volunteers; (v) a decrease in the sleep EEG delta power in patients. Conclusion: AAC led to a significant increase in daytime subjective sleepiness and changes in the EEG architecture of a subsequent sleep episode in patients with cirrhosis, pointing to a reduced ability to produce restorative sleep. (HEPATOLOGY 2012)
Building Global Competence : A New Pedagogy for a New Millennium

This paper examines common methods used to teach and develop global competencies in managers and assesses their relative strengths and weaknesses. It then describes a field-tested teaching pedagogy aimed at developing global competencies that confronts the weaknesses of previous methods. The new pedagogy derives from a variety of social science models, such as anthropology, sociology, and economics. Graduate level managers move in and out of increasingly sophisticated field exercises that result in an individualized framework for future cultural entry, and incorporates the newly developed competencies. Participants extrapolate their experience from the current culture to different countrybased and organization-based cultures.