Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Baryogenesis with Higher Dimension Operators

We propose a simple model of baryogenesis comprised of the standard model coupled to a singlet X via higher dimension operators O. In the early universe, X is thermalized by O mediated scattering processes before it decouples relativistically and evolves into a sizable fraction of the total energy density. Eventually, X decays via O in an out of equilibrium, baryon number and CP violating process that releases entropy and achieves baryogenesis for a broad range of parameters. The decay can also produce a primordial abundance of dark matter. Because X may be as light as a TeV, viable regions of parameter space lie within reach of experimental probes of n-n oscillation, flavor physics, and proton decay.
Decode and forward based cooperative system for MANETs

In this paper, we propose a decode and forward (DF) based cooperative system with 2 relays for mobile ad-hoc network (MANET). The proposed system includes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) based physical layer design. Maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) based MIMO detection is performed at relays as well at destination. The diversity order is analysed with closed-form expressions for the pairwise error probability (PEP) and validated with MATLAB simulations. The proposed system with code rate R achieves 2nd order diversity at a transmission rate of 2R/3.
Oxygen bubbles to predict sensitivity to IMiDs.

In this issue of Blood, Sebastian et al provide evidence that the immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) inhibit intracellular decomposition of H2O2 resulting in oxidative stress and that the individual cellular antioxidative capacity of multiple myeloma (MM) cells predicts response to this widely used class of drugs.1
Depressed pollination in habitat fragments causes low fruit set

In central New South Wales, Australia, flowers of Acacia brachybotrya and Eremophila glabra plants growing in linear vegetation remnants received less pollen than conspecifics in nearby reserves. Pollen supplementation increased fruit production by both species, indicating pollen limitation of fruit set. Together these observations explain why fruit production by these species was depressed in linear–strip populations relative to nearby reserves. This study confirms that habitat fragmentation can lead to decline in pollination and subsequent fruit set in wild plant populations. Disrupted pollination interactions of the kind documented in this study may offer a substantial challenge to the conservation of biodiversity in fragmented landscapes.
The CareRabbit

The CareRabbit (ZorgKonijn) is an e-health device that can be used to play messages (e.g. text, MP3) sent through the Internet. It is used in children's departments in hospitals. Its aim is to make children feel comfortable and make their stay more pleasant. Research approach -- During the study, we will conduct a pilot study in five hospital paediatrics departments. We will administer questionnaires about quality of life to admitted children and their parents with a CareRabbit and a control group without a CareRabbit (N = 200). Also, we will develop a business case to gain insight in the organization and funding of the CareRabbit. This business case will be based on a practice oriented design research with literature research, interviews, and the STOF-model. Findings/Design -- The research is currently in its first phase and this paper presents preliminary results. Our experiences are that the stakeholders are enthusiastic. Moreover, children with the CareRabbit feel more at ease and connected to home and experience their hospital stay as more pleasant. In turn, this could lead to shorter hospital stays. Research limitations/Implications -- The average stay of children in a hospital in the Netherlands is four to five days. Therefore two different groups are compared, instead of measuring the effect of the CareRabbit per child. Because the pilots will only last two to three months, long-term results cannot be elicited from the research findings. Motivation -- Our goal is to investigate the added value of the CareRabbit for children and other stakeholders (e.g. relatives of the child, hospitals, insurance companies) and give advice on how to further develop and implement the CareRabbit (e.g. functionalities, support, organization and distribution).
Role of endogenous peptide in human alloreactive cytotoxic T cell responses.

The T x B hybrid 174 x CEM.T2 (T2) has been shown to be defective in the processing of proteins for presentation by MHC class I molecules. It continues, however, to express significant quantities of HLA-A2.1, suggesting that this class I molecule is expressed either in a largely peptide-free form or in association with a small subset of peptides. In this paper T2 was used in conjunction with limiting dilution analysis to provide a direct estimate of the fraction of alloreactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) that were dependent upon the presence of peptides for their recognition of HLA-A2.1. Alloreactive cytotoxic T cell lines generated by stimulation with HLA-A2.1 expressing peripheral blood lymphocytes recognized T2 poorly. Split-well analysis of 240 clonal limiting dilution cultures demonstrated that this reflected the existence of two subpopulations. An average 85% of HLA-A2.1 specific CTLs recognized HLA-A2.1 on normal cells but not on T2. The remainder recognized HLA-A2.1 on both T2 and normal targets. CTL lines with the latter specificity could be generated by using T2 as a stimulator cell. Using target cells that either expressed a lower density of HLA-A2.1 or that expressed HLA-A2 molecules that had been mutated to affect CD8 binding, no significant differences in avidity between T2-reactive and T2-unreactive CTLs were seen. Thus the failure of the majority of alloreactive CTLs to recognize T2 is not a consequence of the lower level of HLA-A2.1 surface expression on this cell, but is instead due to the absence of appropriate epitopes. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A new criterion for DOA estimation of coherent sources based on weighted spatial smoothing

In order to decorrelate the coherent sources perfectly, i.e. recover the smoothed source covariance matrix to a diagonal matrix, Wang et al. (2002) proposed a weighted spatial smoothing (WSS) preprocessing scheme. Based on the idea underlying WSS, a new criterion was proposed in this paper for the direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation of coherent sources. Compared with the WSS the cost function constructed from the new criterion can achieve favorable DOA estimation of coherent sources without the prior knowledge of source direction and the de-noising preprocessing. In essence, the proposed criterion is no longer a preprocessing scheme since no following subspace-based algorithm are needed.
Biological substrates of schizophrenia

ABSTRACT – Schizophrenia is increasingly believed to represent a group of organic disorders which primarily, although not exclusively, affect the central nervous system. Our purpose is to review a representative sample of twentieth‐century literature which speaks to the biological substrates of the syndrome. Subjects reviewed include genetic and environmental contributions to the onset of illness, early and recent findings of gross structural anomalies, and apparent histopathological alterations in cerebral cortex, cerebellar vermis, limbic system, and brain stem, as well as problems of cerebral asymmetry. Data from a diverse group of electrophysiological studies reveal several promising correlates of these areas of investigation. Despite the inconsistent nature of the findings to date, several themes have begun to emerge, including patterns of hypofrontal/hyperparietal regional cerebral flow and glucose utilization, left hemispheric dysfunction, and deficits of interhemispheric information processing. The interpretation and significance of these emerging patterns remains unclear and must await more profound insights into the nature of normal and abnormal cerebral function.
Vitivirus, a new genus of plant viruses.

Vitivirus is a novel genus of plant viruses with filamentous flexuous particles showing distinct cross banding, which comprises five virus species formerly included in the Trichovirus genus. The morphological and physicochemical properties of vitiviruses and trichoviruses are similar. However, there are differences in biological behaviour, tissue tropism, epidemiology, genome structure and composition that justify the separation of the two genera. As compared with apple chlorotic leafspot (ACLSV) and potato T (PVT) trichoviruses, the genome of grapevine viruses A (GVA) and B (GVB), the two vitiviruses sequenced to date, contains two extra cistrons encoding polypeptides that are not represented among the expression products of ACLSV and PVT genome. Moreover, GVA and GVB constitute a phylogenetically more coherent cluster than ACLSV and PVT.
Characterization of a Virtually Full-Length Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Genome of a Prevalent Intersubtype (C/B′) Recombinant Strain in China

ABSTRACT A molecular epidemiology study was conducted among more than 100 human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype C seropositive intravenous drug users (IDUs) from China. Genotyping based on the envelope C2V3 coding region revealed the highest homology of the most prevalent virus strains circulating throughout China to subtype C sequences of Indian origin. Based on these results, a virtually full-length genome representing the most prevalent class of clade C strains circulating throughout China was directly amplified from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a selected HIV-infected IDU and subcloned. Sequence analysis identified a mosaic structure, suggesting extensive intersubtype recombination events between genomes of the prevalent clade C and (B′)-subtype Thai virus strains of that geographic region. Recombinant Identification Program analysis and phylogenetic bootstrapping suggested that there were 10 breakpoints (i) in the gag-pol coding region, (ii) in vpr and at the 3′ end of the vpu gene, and (iii) in thenef open reading frame. (B′)-sequences therefore include (i) several insertions in the gag-pol coding region; (ii) 3′-vpr, the complete vpu gene, and the first exons of tat and rev; and (iii) the 5′ half of the nef gene. Breakpoints located in thevpr/vpu coding region as well as in the nefgene of 97cn54 were found at almost identical positions of all subtype C strains isolated from IDUs living in different areas of China, suggesting a common ancestor for the C/B′ recombinant strains. More than 50% of well-defined subtype B-derived cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes within Gag and Pol and 10% of the known epitopes in Env were found to exactly match sequences within in this clade C/B′ chimeric reference strain. These results may substantially facilitate a biological comparison of clade C-derived reference strains as well as the generation of useful reagents supporting vaccine-related efforts in China.
Folic acid alone prevents neural tube defects: evidence from the China study.

To the Editor:In a recent commentary, the call by Turner et al. for a new randomized clinical trial of folic acid (FA) alone to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs) 1 is based in part on the argument that the reduced risk for NTDs with FA in our China cohort study may have reflected between-group diff
Racialized Genetics and the Study of Complex Diseases: The Thrifty Genotype Revisited

Current debate on the use of population genetic data for complex disease research is driven by the laudable goals of disease prevention and harm reduction for all, especially dispossessed, formerly enslaved, or colonized populations. This article examines one of the oldest gene-based theories of complex disease causation: the thrifty genotype hypothesis (THG). This hypothesis is emblematic of the way in which genetic research into complex disease attracts a high investment of scientific resources while contributing little to our capacity to understand these diseases and perpetuating problematic conceptions of human variation. Although there are compelling reasons to regard the high prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus as a by-product of our biological incapacity to cope with modern affluent and sedentary lifestyles, there is at present no consistent evidence to suggest that minority populations are especially genetically susceptible. Nor is it clear why such genetic differences would be expected, given the original pan-species orientation of the TGH. The limitations inherent in current applications of the TGH demonstrate that genetic research into complex disease demands careful attention to key environmental, social, and genetic risk factors operating within and between groups, not the simplistic attribution of between-group differences to racialized genetics. A robust interdisciplinary approach to genetic epidemiological research is proposed.
A visually-guided microphone array for automatic speech transcription

An integrated, modular real-time microphone array system has been implemented to detect, track and extract speech from a person in a realistic office environment. Multimodal integration, whereby audio and visual information are used together to detect and track the speaker, is examined to determine comparative advantages over unimodal processing. An extensive quantitative comparison is also performed on a number of system variables (linear/compound arrays, interpolation, audio/visual tracking, etc) to determine the system configuration that represents the best compromise between performance, robustness, and complexity. Given a fixed number of microphone elements the compound array, with a broader frequency response but a coarser spatial resolution, has been determined to have a slight performance advantage in the currently implemented system over the linear array. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
Design and implementation of a wireless remote data acquisition system for mobile applications

In this work, a network based on wireless sensing modules has been developed to measure strains, temperature and accelerations in multiple points of the vehicle. The obtained data of each sensor is prepared, processed, stored and transmitted in time intervals towards a receiver. The receiver in turn sends the information to an Internet server through GSM cellular technology using the GPRS protocol. In the server, the data is stored and analyzed as it is received so it can be visualized as close as real time as possible by anyone with access to the Internet.
Active hepatic capacitance responses to neural and humoral stimuli in dogs.

Active changes in hepatic capacitance were studied in pump-perfused dog livers during hepatic nerve stimulation or during intrahepatic arterial infusion of histamine (0.01-1 mg/l) or epinephrine (0.05 mg/l). Hepatic nerve stimulation at 5 pulses/s (pps) reduced hepatic blood volume by 76 +/- 39 (SD) ml/kg tissue and decreased the apparent hepatic compliance 36% from a control value of 25.6 +/- 9.3 ml.kg-1.mmHg-1, with constant flow perfusion. With a constant hepatic arterial pressure, 5 pps stimulation decreased hepatic arterial flow to 16% of control; the volume expelled was 91 +/- 33 ml/kg. Epinephrine caused hepatic artery constriction, the active expulsion of 71 ml/kg of blood, and a decrease of about 30% in hepatic compliance. Histamine dramatically reduced the hepatic vascular compliance, decreased the portal venous conductance, increased hepatic arterial conductance, and caused the apparent hepatic blood volume to double. Increased hepatic venous pressure, hepatic nerve stimulation, epinephrine, and, especially, histamine caused a significant filtration of fluid from the hepatic vasculature. We conclude that significant active capacitance changes and transsinusoidal fluid filtration can be induced in the canine liver by neural and hormonal stimuli.
Impaired but undiagnosed.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence and outcomes of individuals with psychosocial impairment not meeting DSM-III-R criteria for any of 29 well-defined disorders and to suggest operational definitions for not otherwise specified (NOS) diagnoses and V codes. METHODS Two-stage general population sampling resulted in 1,015 youths aged 9, 11, and 13 years being interviewed in the first wave of the Great Smoky Mountains Study. They were reinterviewed 1 year later using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment. RESULTS The weighted prevalence of sibling relational problems was found to be 1.4%. That of parent-child relational problems was 3.6% and that of relational problems NOS was 0.6%. The overall rate of symptomatic impairment was 9.4%. Across a variety of "caseness measures," those with symptomatic impairment proved to be more disturbed than those without either a diagnosis or impairment, and as disturbed as those with a diagnosis but without impairment. CONCLUSION Children and adolescents who do not meet DSM-III-R criteria for any well-defined disorder but who have symptoms associated with psychosocial impairment should be regarded as suffering from a psychiatric disorder. It is suggested that researchers adopt this definition for the many NOS diagnoses included in the DSM nosology and implement it in their research diagnostic algorithms.
A tabu search procedure for coordinating production, inventory and distribution routing problems

This paper addresses the problem of optimally coordinating a production-distribution system over a multi-period finite horizon, where a facility production produces several items that are distributed to a set of customers by a fleet of homogeneous vehicles. The demand for each item at each customer is known over the horizon. The production planning determines how much to produce of each item in every period, while the distribution planning defines when customers should be visited, the amount of each item that should be delivered to customers and the vehicle routes. The objective is to minimize the sum of production and inventory costs at the facility, inventory costs at the customers and distribution costs. We also consider a related problem of inventory routing, where a supplier receives or produces known quantities of items in each period and has to solve the distribution problem. We propose a tabu search procedure for solving such problems, and this approach is compared with vendor managed policies proposed in the literature, in which the facility knows the inventory levels of the customers and determines the replenishment policies.
Investigation of an Electromagnetic Wearable Resonance Kinetic Energy Harvester With Ferrofluid

Human motion energy harvester can offer clean and continuous power, and therefore plays an important role in powering mobile devices, which suffer from short standby time because of the limited capability of the battery. In this paper, we investigate an electromagnetic resonance wearable kinetic energy harvester, which is comprised of an oscillator and a carbon fiber tube with two coils wound on its surface. The oscillator is comprised of a columnar PM connected to the two end covers with two elastic strings. The designed resonant frequency is 8–10 Hz, which is higher than the major frequency range of human motion (2–4 Hz), but it can absorb high frequency energy of impulse, such as footfall. Thus, the harvester can wear on legs to absorb the kinetic energy of footfall by resonance. The ferrofluid is adopted to decrease friction, which is one of the main challenges for improving efficiency of this type of energy harvester. The ferrofluid prevents the PM from touching the wall of the tube resulting in significant friction reduction. The FEM simulation results indicate that the ferrofluid can keep the vibrator (a permanent magnet) contactless even subjecting to ten times gravity acceleration. The maximum average output power of 9.5 mW is obtained with a total weight of 80.5 g when running at a speed of 10 km/h. A energy harvest circuit is carried out and an average power of 0.28 s can be stored.
[Human infertility: meiotic genes as potential candidates].

Up to now, the identification of gene mutations causing infertility in humans remains poorly investigated. Temporal progression through meiosis and meiosis specific genes had been extensively characterized in yeast. Recently some mammalian homologous were found. The molecular mechanisms regulating entry into and progression through meiosis in mammals are still unknown. However, disruption of some meiotic genes in mouse showed an essential role of them in meiotic chromosome synapsis and gametogenesis. Moreover, the phenotype of gonads in null mutant mice for some meiotic genes (failure to initiate or blockage in meiosis, lack of gametes or small size of gonads.) could be strikingly similar to clinical observations found in human infertility. The aim of this study was to identify putative mutations in 5 meiotic genes of several clinically well-characterized patients who present unexplained infertility (normal karyotype, women with premature ovarian failure, men with azospermia and without Y micro-deletion). For this purpose, the exons of these 5 genes (DMC1, SPO11, MSH4, MSH5, CCNA1) were all amplified by PCR with specific primers and each amplified-exon was sequenced. Sequences were aligned in comparison to the human corresponding gene available in Genbank. Many heterozygous mutations were found in different genes. Two homozygous mutations were found in MSH4 and DMC1 genes in a young man presenting a testis vanishing syndrome and a woman presenting a premature ovarian failure, respectively. Consequences of such mutations will be examined and verified in model organisms (yeast, mouse) to check the relevance of the mutations in clinical setting.
Notice of RetractionThe China's state enterprise and private-owned enterprises: Which performance is better?

With China taking its reform and opening policy, the private economy has been developed rapidly now, especially going public. It is discovered that there are two ways of entering China's stock market: one is direct listing, the other is in-direct listing. Private enterprise studies in this paper exclude state-owner economy. Since 1996 in China, the number of private listing corporations have been going increased year by year, and in-direct listing has become the main form of private enterprises' access to stock market. In the paper, the author made a substantial evidence analysis on the 53 private corporations which have entered China's stock market by the end of 1998. By means of the SHAZAM regression test analysis, the author draws a surprising conclusion: as far as private listing companies are concerned, state-ownership enterprise's efficiency is more satisfied than private ones. This indicates that improving the management of private enterprise has already been on the agenda.
Overexpression of 5-hydroxytryptamine 2B receptor gene in pulmonary hypertension: still a long way to understand its transcriptional regulation.

To the Editor: I have read with great interest the recent report by Liu1 concerning putative interactions between peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPARγ) and 5-hydroxytryptamine 2B (5-HT2B) receptor in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Previous studies, including ours, demonstrated that 5-HT participates in PAH. A pathophysiological role of 5-HT2B receptors was supported by the increased 5-HT2B receptor expression in rodent lungs of hypoxia- or monocrotaline-induced PAH and corroborated by the genetic or pharmacological inactivation of 5-HT2B receptors that prevented PAH development.2 Other evidence already showed that the PPARγ agonist rosiglitazone was beneficial in preventing PAH, and PAH developed spontaneously in mice with smooth muscle cell- or endothelial cell-specific deletion of PPARγ. 3 Previous studies showed that the rat fundus contraction was mediated via the 5-HT2B receptor …