Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the sparsity for random access in machine type communications under frequency-selective fading

In this paper, we study random access for machine type communications (MTC). In particular, we consider a preamble detection method that can exploit the sparsity of active devices over frequency-selective fading channels to detect multiple preambles in random access. In order to understand the impact of various design parameters and channels, we analyze the performance in terms of the average number of successful preambles when a compressive sensing (CS) based approach is used for the preamble detection. For example, through the analysis, we can see that the performance of the CS-based estimation for the preamble detection can be limited by the length of the channel impulse response (CIR).
Curve-fitting of Raman spectra of silicate glasses

A procedure for deconvolution of complex Raman spectra of amorphous materials (e.g., silicate glass and melt) is described. The line shapes and quality of the fits are determined statistically after correction for the temperature- and frequency-dependence ofthe Raman intensities. In the fitting routine, intensity, half-width and position (frequency) of all bands are treated simultaneously as unconstrained variables. The number of lines fitted to a spectrum is also treated statistically by numerical minimization of the squares of the deviations between the observed and the calculated Raman envelopes and by maximizing the randomness of the residuals. It is assumed, however, that all bands are svmmetric.
Conjunctions are easier than disjunctions: A study of logical reasoning problems in the GRE

We report three experiments corroborating a prediction of the theory of mental models about reasoning. In realistic problems deriving from those used in the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), logically untrained individuals are able to cope better with conditional assertions, which have only a single explicit mental model, than with disjunctive assertions, which have multiple explicit mental models. The experiments showed that a manipulation of a sentence in the text of the problems had only a marginal effect, whereas a manipulation of the response options – whether they were both conditionals or both disjunctions – had robust effects both on the accuracy of performance and the latency of response.
SUPPLEMENTATION OF VITAMIN E IMPROVES COGNITIVE STATUS AND OXIDATIVE STRESS IN TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS

Oxidative stress has been s uggested as a major contributing factor for initiation and progression of cognitive impairment along with various other compl ications in type 2 diabetes mellitus. The present study was, therefore, designed to assess the effect of vitamin E supplemention along w ith oral hypoglycaemic agents on cognitive functions and oxidative stress in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A total of 74 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients were enrolled in this randomized open label controlled study from out patient department of secondary care Government headquarters hospital, Oot y , India. Patients were randomised into two groups viz., control (n=36) and intervention (n=38). Control group received OHA’s i.e, Glibanclamide and/or Metformin . P atients in intervention group received OHA’s along with vitamin E supplementation (600mg/day) for a period of three months. Cognition functions were assessed for control and intervention group by using Mini Mental State Exami nation. Blood samples were analysed for the level of thiobarb ituric ac id reactive substances , superoxide dismutase , catalase , reduced glutathione and HbA1C by using specific assay methods at the baseline and by end of three months. Intervention group patients showed significant improvement in the orientation (9.22±0.27), p ≤ 0.001 and in total MMSE score (28.00±0.43), p ≤ 0.001 after three months of vitamin E supplementation. There was a significant decreased in lipid peroxidation and HbA1C level. Significant increase in enzymatic and non enzymatic antioxidant levels was observ ed in intervention group when compared to control group. Vitamin E supplementation is found to be effective in improving orie ntation, total MMSE score and oxidative stress in type 2 diabetes mellitus .
Plataforma interativa de aprendizagem de programação voltada a disseminação do pensamento computacional utilizando robótica remota

O pensamento computacional no mundo contemporâneo e uma habilidade fundamental para qualquer um, nao apenas para cientistas da computacao. Juntamente com a leitura, a escrita e a aritmetica, sugere-se adicionar o pensamento computacional na habilidade analitica de cada crianca. A Robotica Pedagogica, que e caracterizada por ambientes de aprendizagem onde o aluno pode montar e programar um robo , podera ser um caminho para disseminacao do Pensamento Computacional. Acredita-se que este trabalho oportunizara a jovens estudantes o contato com tecnologias digitais e atuais, favorecendo o desenvolvimento do pensamento computacional entre eles. O objetivo desse trabalho e construir uma plataforma que permita a programacao remota de um braco robotico atraves da internet afim de que possa ser utilizada por alunos do ensino fundamental e medio, como meio para disseminacao do pensamento computacional. Nessa pesquisa sao apresentadas tecnologias e ferramentas que viabilizam o desenvolvimento de uma plataforma de programacao remota de um braco robotico. A plataforma esta dividida em quatro modulos: a parte fisica compreendendo arena e braco robotico, modulo de imagem responsavel pela geracao dos videos, modulo de interface com o usuario que permite a programacao do robo em qualquer computador conectado a internet e o modulo de integracao responsavel por gerenciar toda a plataforma. Na realizacao de testes com voluntarios, a plataforma se mostra como desafiadora, provocando nos mesmos um sentimento de competicao, diversao e motivacao para a realizacao dos desafios propostos. Esse ambiente permite que alunos aprendam conceitos de robotica e interajam de forma interativa com um robo, programando-o e compreendendo-o, sem ter a necessidade de possuir um dispositivo robotico.
Modeling and Evaluation of Database Concurrency Control Algorithms

In database management systems, transactions are provided for constructing programs which appear to execute atomically. If more than one transaction is allowed to run at once, a concurrency control algorithm must be employed to properly synchronize their execution. Many concurrency control algorithms have been proposed, and this thesis examines the costs and performance characteristics associated with a number of these algorithms. Two models of concurrency control algorithms are described. The first is an abstract model which is used to evaluate and compare the relative storage and CPU costs of concurrency control algorithms. Three algorithms, two-phase locking, basic timestamp ordering, and serial validation, are evaluated using this model. It is found that the costs associated with two-phase locking are at least as low as those for the other two algorithms. The second model is a simulation model which is used to investigate the performance characteristics of concurrency control algorithms. Results are presented for seven different algorithms, including four locking algorithms, two timestamp algorithms, and serial validation. All performed about equally well in situations where conflicts between transactions were rare. When conflicts were more frequent, the algorithms which minimized the number of transaction restarts were generally found to be superior. In situations where several algorithms each restarted the same number of transactions, those which restarted transactions which had done less work tended to perform the best. Two previously proposed schemes for improving the performance of concurrency control algorithms, multiple versions and granularity hierarchies, are also examined. A new multiple version algorithm based on serial validation is presented, and performance results are given for this algorithm, the CCA version pool algorithm, and multiversion timestamp ordering. Unlike their single version counterparts, all three algorithms performed comparably under the workloads considered. Three new hierarchical concurrency control algorithms, based on serial validation, basic timestamp ordering, and multiversion timestamp ordering, are presented. Performance results are given for these algorithms and a hierarchical locking algorithm. All were found to improve performance in situations where the cost of concurrency control was high, but were of little use otherwise.
The robust adaptive dynamic surface controller design for BTT missile

A RBF network based adaptive dynamic surface controller was developed for a class of uncertain MIMO pure-feedback systems. Because of the uncertainty of the i-th subsystem is depends on the state of the previous i+1 subsystems, RBF network was introduced to compensate the uncertainty on-line in order to reduce the controlling conservation, A second order sliding mode filter was introduced to produced the derivate of virtual control signal in design proceed, this resolved the `term explode' that existed in conventional backstepping design, and made the controller more natty and easier to implement. At last, an adaptive dynamic surface controller was designed for a nonlinear BTT missile dynamic and simulation result was demonstrated the control system has good performance.
Processo de desenvolvimento de software ágil com adição de práticas para melhoria da qualidade dos produtos finais.

As atividades realizadas ha mais de 10 anos no LSD (Laboratorio de Sistemas Distribuidos) apontam para uma consolidacao de resultados na area de Sistemas Distribuidos, principalmente, nas pesquisas em Grades Computacionais, Computacao nas nuvens, Sistemas Peer-toPeer (P2P), Tolerância a Falhas, Desenvolvimento de Software Distribuido e Concorrente e, mais recentemente, Aplicacoes Industriais e Qualificacao de Software. Um dos principais projetos do laboratorio e o OurGrid, uma grade aberta, free-to-join, que agrega servicos computacionais e da suporte a uma gama de aplicacoes chamadas de bag-of-tasks. O OurGrid e um software livre e existe um numero expressivo de instituicoes, dentro e fora do pais, que usaram ou estao usando essa tecnologia. Dentro do escopo do laboratorio tambem desenvolveram-se outros produtos como o OurBackup [Oliveira, 2007], um sistema de backup P2P baseado em redes sociais, o JIC, protocolo de comunicacao do OurGrid, entre outros. Em todos os casos, o LSD buscou problemas reais no contexto do desenvolvimento e utilizacao desses produtos de software por clientes externos ao laboratorio para desenvolver sua pesquisa. Pela importância desses projetos e por ser uma das iniciativas em grades computacionais de grande sucesso no Brasil, o LSD tem tido a preocupacao em oferecer produtos de qualidade para a comunidade de usuarios de grades. Em funcao do cenario do LSD, isto e, equipe composta, em sua maioria, por alunos de graduacao em Ciencia da Computacao; historico da universidade no desenvolvimento de software; experiencia em elaboracao de processo de desenvolvimento como XP1 [XP1, 2002] e OurProcess [OurProcess] e o tipo de software desenvolvido, optou-se por solucionar o problema de qualidade baixa nos produtos iniciando pela elaboracao de um novo processo de desenvolvimento, isso porque a qualidade dos produtos desenvolvidos nao estava nos niveis idealizados. Essa preocupacao com a qualidade resultou no OurQualityProcess (OQP) um processo baseado na metodologia agil XP [Beck, 2001], com a incorporacao de praticas da metodologia nao agil e evitando a intrusividade excessiva no trabalho dos desenvolvedores. Os resultados obtidos com o OQP mostraram fortes indicios de melhoria na qualidade dos produtos desenvolvidos atraves de comparacoes estatisticas utilizando a metodologia cientifica no estudo de alguns casos.
Making Global Health Rotations a Two-Way Street

As US residency programs are increasingly offering global health electives for their trainees, there is a growing call for these opportunities to include bidirectional exchanges—where residents from both the US and international partner institutions rotate at the other’s site. Curricular, logistical, and funding challenges of hosting residents from an international site may be barriers to developing these programs. In this report, the authors describe an 8-year experience of a US institution hosting residents from a resource-limited international partner and provide a framework for others institutions to develop bidirectional exchanges. They also report the visiting international residents’ perceptions of the impact of the exchange on their clinical practice, teaching, career paths, and their home institution.
Practice Effects on Motor Control in Healthy Seniors and Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease

ABSTRACT This research was designed to test the hypothesis that motor practice can enhance the capabilities of motor control in healthy controls (NC) and patients with a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and consequently results in better motor performance. Approximately half of the subjects in the NC (n = 31), AD (n = 28), and MCI (n = 29) either received or did not receive practice on a task of fast and accurate arm movement with a digitizer. Changes in movement time (MT), movement smoothness (jerk), and percentage of primary submovement (PPS) were recorded and compared among the three groups across six blocks of trials (baseline and five training sessions). For all subjects, practice improved motor functions as reflected by faster and smoother motor execution, as well as a greater proportion of programming control. Compared to unaffected matched controls, AD and MCI subjects exhibited a greater reduction in movement jerk due to practice. Movement time and PPS data revealed that motor practice appeared to reduce the use of “on-line” correction adopted by the AD or MCI patients while performing the aiming movements. Evidently, their arm movements were quicker, smoother, and temporally more consistent than their untrained peers. The findings of this study shed light on how MCI and AD may affect motor control mechanisms, and suggest possible therapeutic interventions aimed at improving motor functioning in these impaired individuals.
Structure and Function of Hainantoxin-III, a Selective Antagonist of Neuronal Tetrodotoxin-sensitive Voltage-gated Sodium Channels Isolated from the Chinese Bird Spider Ornithoctonus hainana*

Background: This study aimed to elucidate the structure and function of HNTX-III. Results: HNTX-III adopts the inhibitor cystine knot motif and inhibits Nav1.7 activation through binding to site 4 in the closed state. Conclusion: HNTX-III is distinct from other β-toxins in its action mechanism, specificity, and affinity. Significance: HNTX-III is a useful tool for studying toxin-VGSC interaction and a potential prototype analgesic. In the present study, we investigated the structure and function of hainantoxin-III (HNTX-III), a 33-residue polypeptide from the venom of the spider Ornithoctonus hainana. It is a selective antagonist of neuronal tetrodotoxin-sensitive voltage-gated sodium channels. HNTX-III suppressed Nav1.7 current amplitude without significantly altering the activation, inactivation, and repriming kinetics. Short extreme depolarizations partially activated the toxin-bound channel, indicating voltage-dependent inhibition of HNTX-III. HNTX-III increased the deactivation of the Nav1.7 current after extreme depolarizations. The HNTX-III·Nav1.7 complex was gradually dissociated upon prolonged strong depolarizations in a voltage-dependent manner, and the unbound toxin rebound to Nav1.7 after a long repolarization. Moreover, analysis of chimeric channels showed that the DIIS3-S4 linker was critical for HNTX-III binding to Nav1.7. These data are consistent with HNTX-III interacting with Nav1.7 site 4 and trapping the domain II voltage sensor in the closed state. The solution structure of HNTX-III was determined by two-dimensional NMR and shown to possess an inhibitor cystine knot motif. Structural analysis indicated that certain basic, hydrophobic, and aromatic residues mainly localized in the C terminus may constitute an amphiphilic surface potentially involved in HNTX-III binding to Nav1.7. Taken together, our results show that HNTX-III is distinct from β-scorpion toxins and other β-spider toxins in its mechanism of action and binding specificity and affinity. The present findings contribute to our understanding of the mechanism of toxin-sodium channel interaction and provide a useful tool for the investigation of the structure and function of sodium channel isoforms and for the development of analgesics.
Feasibility of 4 patient-reported outcome measures in a registry setting

Background and purpose Feasibility is an important parameter when choosing which patient-reported outcomes (PRO) to use in a study. We assessed the feasibility of PROs in a hip registry setting. Methods Primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) patients (n = 5,747) who had been operated on 1–2, 5–6, or 10–11 years previously were randomly selected from the Danish Hip Arthroplasty Register and sent 2 PRO questionnaires: 1 generic (EuroQoL-5D or SF-12 health survey) and 1 disease-specific (hip dysfunction and osteoarthritis outcome score (HOOS) or Oxford 12-item hip score). We compared response rates, floor and ceiling effects, missing items, and the need for manual validation of forms. Results 4,784 patients (mean age 71 years, 57% females) were included (83%). The response rates ranged from 82–84%. Statistically significantly different floor and ceiling effects ranged from 0% to 0.5% and from 6.1% to 46%, respectively. Missing items ranged from 1.2% to 3.4%, and 0.8–4.3% required manual validation (p < 0.009). A hypothetical repeat study found that group sizes from 51 to 1,566 are needed for subgroup analysis, depending on descriptive factor and choice of PRO. Interpretation All 4 PROs fulfilled a priori set criteria, with the exception of ceiling effects. The high ceiling effects were attributed to postoperative administration and good outcome for THA. We conclude that all 4 PROs are appropriate for administration in a hip registry.
The H2A.Z/H2B dimer is unstable compared to the dimer containing the major H2A isoform

The nucleosome, the basic fundamental repeating unit of chromatin, contains two H2A/H2B dimers and an H3/H4 tetramer. Modulation of the structure and dynamics of the nucleosome is an important regulation mechanism of DNA‐based chemistries in the eukaryotic cell, such as transcription and replication. One means of altering the properties of the nucleosome is by incorporation of histone variants. To provide insights into how histone variants may impact the thermodynamics of the nucleosome, the stability of the heterodimer between the H2A.Z variant and H2B was determined by urea‐induced denaturation, monitored by far‐UV circular dichroism, intrinsic Tyr fluorescence intensity, and anisotropy. In the absence of stabilizing agents, the H2A.Z/H2B dimer is only partially folded. The stabilizing cosolute, trimethylamine‐N‐oxide (TMAO) was used to promote folding of the unstable heterodimer. The equilibrium stability of the H2A.Z/H2B dimer is compared to that of the H2A/H2B dimer. The equilibrium folding of both histone dimers is highly reversible and best described by a two‐state model, with no detectable equilibrium intermediates populated. The free energies of unfolding, in the absence of denaturant, of H2A.Z/H2B and H2A/H2B are 7.3 kcal mol−1 and 15.5 kcal mol−1, respectively, in 1 M TMAO. The H2A.Z/H2B dimer is the least stable histone fold characterized to date, while H2A/H2B appears to be the most stable. It is speculated that this difference in stability may contribute to the different biophysical properties of nucleosomes containing the major H2A and the H2A.Z variant.
Stop talking about fake news!

ABSTRACT Since 2016, there has been an explosion of academic work that fixes its subject matter using the terms ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’. In this paper, I argue that this terminology is not up to scratch, and that academics and journalists ought to completely stop using the terms ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’. I set out three arguments for abandonment. First, that ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’ do not have stable public meanings, entailing that they are either nonsense, context-sensitive, or contested. Secondly, that these terms are unnecessary, because we already have a rich vocabulary for thinking about epistemic dysfunction. Thirdly, I observe that ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’ have propagandistic uses, meaning that using these terms legitimates anti-democratic propaganda, and risks smuggling bad ideology into conversations.
Cell cycle-dependent regulation of the nuclease activity of Mus81–Eme1/Mms4

The conserved heterodimeric endonuclease Mus81–Eme1/Mms4 plays an important role in the maintenance of genomic integrity in eukaryotic cells. Here, we show that budding yeast Mus81–Mms4 is strictly regulated during the mitotic cell cycle by Cdc28 (CDK)- and Cdc5 (Polo-like kinase)-dependent phosphorylation of the non-catalytic subunit Mms4. The phosphorylation of this protein occurs only after bulk DNA synthesis and before chromosome segregation, and is absolutely necessary for the function of the Mus81–Mms4 complex. Consistently, a phosphorylation-defective mms4 mutant shows highly reduced nuclease activity and increases the sensitivity of cells lacking the RecQ-helicase Sgs1 to various agents that cause DNA damage or replicative stress. The mode of regulation of Mus81–Mms4 restricts its activity to a short period of the cell cycle, thus preventing its function during chromosome replication and the negative consequences for genome stability derived from its nucleolytic action. Yet, the controlled Mus81–Mms4 activity provides a safeguard mechanism to resolve DNA intermediates that may remain after replication and require processing before mitosis.
New composite right/left handed transmission lines based on electrically small open resonators

In this work, composite right/left handed (CRLH) transmission lines implemented by combining open split ring resonators (OSRRs) and open complementary split ring resonators (OCSRRs) are presented for the first time. Both the OSRR and the OCSRR are open particles which can be considered dual counterparts. The OSRR behaves as an open series resonator, whereas the OCSRR can be modeled as an open parallel resonant tank. By connecting the OSRR and the OCSRR in series and shunt configuration, respectively, in a host transmission line, backward and forward wave transmission at low and high frequencies, respectively, is achieved. As compared to split ring resonators (SRRs) and complementary split ring resonators (CSRRs), the open resonators used in this paper are electrically smaller. Thus, compact CRLH transmission lines can be obtained. To illustrate the new approach for the synthesis of metamaterial transmission lines, a CPW-based CRLH transmission line has been fabricated, modeled and characterized. Advantages and drawbacks of the reported approach, as well as potential applications, are also pointed out.