Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fundamental limits of random access communication with retransmissions

We consider a single cell wireless uplink in which randomly arriving devices transmit their payload to a receiver. Given SNR per user, payload size per device, a fixed latency constraint T, total available bandwidth W, i.e., total symbol resources is given by N = TW. The total bandwidth W is evenly partitioned into B bins. Each time slot of duration T is split into a maximum number of retransmission attempts M. Hence, the N resources are partitioned into N/MB resources each bin per retransmission. We characterize the maximum average rate or number of Poisson arrivals that can successfully complete the random access procedure such that the probability of outage is sufficiently small. We analyze the proposed setting for i) noise-limited regime and ii) interference-limited regime. We show that in the noise-limited regime the devices share the resources, and in the interference-limited regime, the resources split such that devices do not experience any interference. We then incorporate Rayleigh fading to model the channel power gain distribution. Although the variability of the channel causes a drop in the number of arrivals that can successfully complete the random access phase, similar scaling results extend to the Rayleigh fading case.
Towards reliable low cost distributed storage in multi-clouds

We address the construction of a distributed cloud-based storage based on residual number system with modules of a special kind {2<sup>n</sup> − 3, 2<sup>n</sup> − 1, 2<sup>n</sup> + 1, 2<sup>n</sup> + 3} to provide reliability and safety of stored data. We show that the proposed scheme allows obtaining an improvement of the coding and decoding rates, and the speed of data loading and data access comparing with the fastest cloud service. The costs associated with data encoding and decoding are minimal.
Long term follow up study of survival associated with cleft lip and palate at birth

Abstract Objective To assess the overall and cause specific mortality of people from birth to 55 years with cleft lip and palate. Design Long term follow up study. Setting Danish register of deaths. Participants People born with cleft lip and palate between 1943 and 1987, followed to 1998. Main outcome measures Observed and expected numbers of deaths, summarised as overall and cause specific standardised mortality ratios. Results 5331 people with cleft lip and palate were followed for 170 421 person years. The expected number of deaths was 259, but 402 occurred, corresponding to a standardised mortality ratio of 1.4 (95% confidence interval 1.3 to 1.6) for males and 1.8 (1.5 to 2.1) for females. The increased risk of mortality was nearly constant for the three intervals at follow up: first year of life, 1-17 years, and 18-55 years. The participants had an increased risk of all major causes of death. Conclusions People with cleft lip and palate have increased mortality up to age 55. Children born with cleft lip and palate and possibly other congenital malformations may benefit from specific preventive health measures into and throughout adulthood.
How are gamers better at drawing teapots than non-gamers?

This paper reports on a study of gamers (defined as those who play 2D or 3D games for more than 1hr a week) and non-gamers (defined as those who play 2D or 3D games for less than 1hr a week per month) and their ability to draw what they see. A series of spatial cognition tests were conducted as well as a drawing task. Gamers tended to perform better than non-gamers in both the spatial ability tests and the drawing task. Statistical analyses showed common processes were involved in both types of tasks. Gamers tended to be better at both tasks. Similar faculties seem to be invoked by gamers' approach to the tasks when compared to non-gamers.
Xpert Carba-R to identify people carrying carbapenemase-producing organisms

Xpert Carba-R is a qualitative in vitro diagnostic test that detects organisms that have carbapenemase genes and differentiates between the 5 most prevalent carbapenemase gene families. Three diagnostic accuracy studies were identified involving a total of 990 clinical bacterial isolates and faecal samples. One study reported an overall test sensitivity of 94%. Reported test results for individual carbapenemase genes ranged from 71% to 100% for sensitivity, 77% to 99% for specificity and 81% to 93% for positive predictive values. Negative predictive values were only reported in 2 studies, but both reported a value of 100%. The Xpert Carba-R test must be run on the GeneXpert molecular diagnostic system, which costs between £18,077 and £121,308 depending on the module configuration, excluding VAT. Each single-test Xpert Carba-R cartridge costs £30, excluding VAT.
Prospects for Increased Energy Recovery from Horse Manure : A Case Study of Management Practices, Environmental Impact and Costs

A transition to renewable energy sources and a circular economy has increased interest in renewable resources not usually considered as energy sources or plant nutrient resources. Horse manure exemplifies this, as it is sometimes recycled but not often used for energy purposes. The purpose of this study was to explore horse manure management in a Swedish municipality and prospects for energy recovery. The case study includes a survey of horse manure practices, environmental assessment of horse manure treatment in a biogas plant, including associated transport, compared to on-site unmanaged composting, and finally a simplified economic analysis. It was found that horse manure management was characterized by indoor collection of manure most of the year and storage on concrete slabs or in containers, followed by direct application on arable land. Softwood was predominantly used as bedding, and bedding accounted for a relatively small proportion (13%) of the total mix. Anaerobic digestion was indicated to reduce potential environmental impact in comparison to unmanaged composting, mainly due to biogas substituting use of fossil fuels. The relative environmental impact from transport of manure from horse facilities to anaerobic digestion plant was small. Results also indicate a relatively high cost for horse keepers to change from composting on site to anaerobic digestion in a centralized plant.
Microglia and prion disease

Gliosis is one of the hallmarks of the prion diseases. Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative conditions of low incidence made famous by both the hypothesis that a protein acts as the infectious agent without involvement of nucleic acid and the speculative idea that a disease of cattle, BSE, has spread to humans from the ingestion of prion‐infected beef. Despite these unproved hypotheses, the aetiology of the prion diseases remains unsolved. The rapid degenerative course of the disease is preceded by a long incubation period with little or no symptoms. The rapid neurodegeneration in the disease follows from increased deposition of an abnormal isoform of a normal neuronal protein. Co‐incident with the appearance of this abnormal protein is the activation of large numbers of microglia. Studies in cell culture with both the abnormal prion protein and a peptide‐mimic suggest that neuronal degeneration occurs because of two concurrent effects. First, there is a reduction in neuronal resistance to toxic insults and, second, there is an increase in the production of toxic substances such as reactive oxygen species by microglia and a decrease in glutamate clearance by astrocytes. Microglia activated by the abnormal form of the prion protein also release cytokines, which stimulate changes in astrocytes such as proliferation. The implication of this is that microglia may play a major role in initiating the pathological changes in prion disease. This review discusses the role of microglia in these changes. Microsc. Res. Tech. 54:71–80, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Empfindlichkeit von Mauszünslerlarven gegenüber B.t. -176 Maispollen

Untersuchungen zur Empfindlichkeit von Maiszunslerlarven (2. Larvalstadium) gegenuber Maispollen der Linie B.t. -176 wurden im Rahmen des F+E-Vorhabens "Auswirkungen des Pollens von transgenem Bt-Mais auf ausgewahlte Schmetterlingslarven" (BMBF/UBA) durchgefuhrt. Im Rahmen von Futterungsversuchen ohne Auswahlmoglichkeit wurden definierte Pollenmengen der transgenen Linie B.t. -176 (Sorte: PACTOL CB), die das Cry1Ab 8 Endotoxin exprimiert, sowie der konventionellen, isogenen Linie (Sorte: PACTOL) an die Raupen verfuttert. Am Ende des einwochigen Biotests wurden Gewichtszunahme und Mortalitatsrate erfasst. Die Sterblichkeit der getesteten Maiszunslerlaryen erhohte sich mit zunehmender Anzahl der applizierten Pollenkorner von B.t. -176 Mais, so dass sich eine Dosis-Wirkungs beziehung eindeutig nachweisen lies. Bereits bei der Verfutterung von 10 Pollenkornern pro Larve war die Mortalitatsrate mit 28 ± 10,2 % deutlich hoher als in der unbehandelten Kontrolle (10,31 ± 2,41 %). Ab einer Zahl von 20 B.t. -176 Maispollen (Mortalitatsrate = 59,56 ± 12,07 %) war der Unterschied zur unbehandelten Kontrolle signifikant. Bei der hochsten getesteten Pollendosis (160 Pollenkorner) lag die Sterblichkeit nach einer Woche bei 80 ± 8,37 %. Die Gewichtszunahme der Larven, die mit B.t. -176 Maispollen gefuttert worden waren, war stets geringer als in der unbehandelten Kontrolle. Allerdings waren die Unterschiede nicht signifikant. Bei Verfutterung von Pollen der konventionellen Sorte Pactollies sich fur keine einzige Variante weder hinsichtlich der Mortalitatsrate, noch bezuglich der Gewichtszunahme ein signifikanter Unterschied zur unbehandelten Kontrolle nachweisen. Der LCso-Wert konnte mit 32,43 B.t. -176 Maispollen pro Larve ermittelt werden. Der 95%ige Vertrauensbereich lag zwischen 19,38 und 48,8 Pollenkornern. Damit zeigten sich Maiszunslerraupen des zweiten Larvalstadiums gegenuber B.t. -176 Maispollen ahnlich empfindlich wie die Larven weiterer mitteleuropaischer bzw. nordamerikanischer Schmetterlingsarten, die unter anderem auch in der Agrarlandschaft verbreitet sind. Im Gegensatz zu vielen Nicht-Ziel-Lepidopteren, die im Labor nicht gezuchtet werden konnen, ist der Maiszunsler unter Laborbedingungen problemlos zu vermehren. Ostrinia nubilalis konnte somit anstelle dieser Nicht-Ziel-Schmetterlinge als Testorganismus verwendet werden, um im Rahmen der Sicherheitsprufung (environmental risk assessment) im Vorfeld der Marktzulassung mogliche Auswirkungen des Pollens neu entwickelter B.t. -Pflanzen, die das CrylAb-Toxin exprimieren, auf die Larven verschiedener Lepidopteren (mit Ausnahme der Noctuidae) zu uberprufen. Stichworter: B.t. -176 Mais, Ostrinia nubilalis , Maiszunsler, Nicht-Ziel-Schmetterlinge, transgener Mais, biologische Sicherheitsforschung
Uncommon Flexural Presentation of Darier Disease

Background: Darier disease is an autosomal dominant skin disorder characterized by keratotic papules, focal loss of adhesion, and abnormal keratinization. Several clinical variants of Darier disease have been described. Predominant flexural distribution of lesions in Darier disease is uncommon. Objective: We report a sporadic case of Darier disease in which the lesions were strictly localized to the flexures. We also briefly review the differential diagnoses of such atypical localization. Methods and Results: A 26-year-old female presented with erythematous and hyperpigmented papular lesions localized to flexures for 4 months. The skin of the other areas, hairs, nails, and mucosa was normal. Histopathologic examination revealed suprabasal acantholysis along with dyskeratotic keratinocytes, consistent with Darier disease. Conclusion: Physicians should be aware of such atypical localizations and should consider the diagnosis of flexural Darier disease along with more common clinical conditions with flexural localization, such as Hailey-Hailey disease and occasionally Grover disease.
Strategies for Development of Universal Vaccines Against Meningococcal Serogroup B Disease

A vaccine inducing protection against most of the circulating variants of serogroup B meningococcal strains is not yet available. A number of plausible options are currently under investigation. A conjugate vaccine based on a modified capsular polysaccharide might well work, but has safety concerns from molecular mimicry between group B sialic acid and human tissue. Recently, however, the group B capsule has been shown to contain de-N-acetyl sialic acid residues that do not cross-react with normal host tissues and can then be the target of bactericidal antibodies. Potentially, this polysaccharide structure could form the basis of a safe and protective group B vaccine. Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) from Neisseria lactamica avoid the immunodominant and highly strain specific immune response against the PorA protein, and are reported to elicit cross-reactive protection in mice against lethality from challenge with meningococcal group B bacteria. However, the serum antibody responses lack bactericidal activity, and the mechanisms of protection are unknown. A number of universal, cross-reactive antigens have been identified through “genomic mining” and successfully tested as recombinant protein vaccines. Promising results have also been demonstrated using OMV vaccines prepared from strains engineered for up-regulation of conserved, cross-reactive antigens. This approach takes advantage of experience gained with conventional wild-type OMV vaccines and the large number of new antigens identified through sequencing the genome of N. meningitidis. Initial studies show that the traditional use of detergents to decrease toxicity by extraction of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) should, if possible, be omitted in order to avoid extraction of important lipoproteins. In the absence of detergent extraction, clinical OMV formulations with acceptable toxicity may still be achieved by constructing vaccine production strains with genetically detoxified LPS. Thus, a MenB vaccine might be designed based on non-cross-reactive capsular antigens, OMV vaccines from genetically modified strains, recombinant proteins, or a combination of these approaches. Given all of the recent data available and experience gained, the possibility for development of a universal vaccine for prevention of group B meningococcal disease looks promising. For evaluation of vaccine formulations that relay on cross-reactive proteins, selection of strains for representation of the global epidemiological situation will be of outmost importance. Defining criteria for establishing and revising such strain collections is currently ongoing and will be a key element in developing and evaluating new protein based vaccines in the time to come.
A Review of 40 Years in Cognitive Architecture Research Core Cognitive Abilities and Practical Applications

In this paper we present a broad overview of the last 40 years of research on cognitive architectures. Although the number of existing architectures is nearing several hundred, most of the existing surveys do not reflect this growth and focus on a handful of well-established architectures. Thus, in this survey we wanted to shift the focus towards a more inclusive and high-level overview of the research on cognitive architectures. Our final set of 84 architectures includes 49 that are still actively developed, and borrow from a diverse set of disciplines, spanning areas from psychoanalysis to neuroscience. To keep the length of this paper within reasonable limits we discuss only the core cognitive abilities, such as perception, attention mechanisms, action selection, memory, learning and reasoning. In order to assess the breadth of practical applications of cognitive architectures we gathered information on over 900 practical projects implemented using the cognitive architectures in our list. We use various visualization techniques to highlight overall trends in the development of the field. In addition to summarizing the current state-of-the-art in the cognitive architecture research, this survey describes a variety of methods and ideas that have been tried and their relative success in modeling human cognitive abilities, as well as which aspects of cognitive behavior need more research with respect to their mechanistic counterparts and thus can further inform how cognitive science might progress.
Clinicopathological significance of Y416Src and Y527Src expression in breast cancer

Aims To elucidate the clinicopathological significance of Y416Src and Y527Src expression in breast cancer, and to evaluate their usefulness as potential predictive markers for Src inhibitors. Background c-Src is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase; the active form of c-Src can catalyse tyrosine phosphorylation. The expression and activity of c-Src correlates with cell adhesion, survival, angiogenesis, migration, invasion and osteoclast function. There are limited clinicopathological data on Src expression and breast cancer characteristics. Methods An immunohistochemical study was performed to determine the expression of c-Src, Y416Src, and Y527Src in 215 consecutive breast cancer cases. The correlation of their expression with various clinicopathological factors was analysed statistically. Results c-Src was expressed in all 215 cases (100%). Y416Src was expressed in 174 cases (80.9%) and was highly expressed in 30 cases (14.0%). Y527Src was expressed in 138 cases (64.2%) and was highly expressed in 11 cases (5.1%). High expression of Y416Src was significantly associated with metastatic disease (p=0.0327), whereas high expression of Y527Src was significantly associated with metastatic disease (p=0.0004), clinical stage (p=0.0062), as well as HER2 status (p=0.0149). High expression of either Y416Src or Y527Src was significantly correlated with poor overall survival (p=0.0049 and p<0.0001, respectively). In the 192 curatively operated cases, Y416Src expression was significantly associated with poor disease-free survival (p=0.0088). Conclusion Although further studies to assess Src activity are necessary, investigation of Src inhibitors for breast cancer including in-vivo models should be encouraged more.
A Framework for Knowledge Management Architecture

Many organizations began to reexamine and rearrange their business strategies, processes, information technologies, and organizational structures from a knowledge perspective. Adoption and assimilation of the knowledge management paradigm requires the design and establishment of structures, processes, and technologies along with organizational knowledge resources. The knowledge differs from the data and information by origin. Many experiences about preexisting methods for information system planning are still usable for knowledge management planning. One of the well known of them is enterprise architecture and specially Zachman framework. This paper is about customization of Zachman framework for defining knowledge management architecture in an enterprise.
Query assurance verification for outsourced multi-dimensional databases

In data outsourcing model, data owners engage third-party data servers (called publishers) to manage their data and process queries on their behalf. As these publishers may be untrusted or susceptible to attacks, it could produce incorrect query results to users. In this paper, we introduce an authentication scheme for outsourced multi-dimensional databases. With the proposed scheme, users can verify that their query answers from a publisher are complete (i.e., no qualifying tuples are omitted) and authentic (i.e., all the result values are legitimate). In addition, our scheme guarantees minimality (i.e., no non-answer points are returned in the plain). Our scheme supports window, range, kNN and RNN queries on multi-dimensional databases. We have implemented the proposed scheme, and our experimental results on kNN queries show that our approach is a practical scheme with low overhead.
The Coronary Vasodilatory Effects of 2-Aminoethyl- Nitrate p-Toluenesulfonate

Bovet and Bovet’ reported that 2-aminoethylnitrate administered intravenously in doses of 0.01 mg to 0.1 mg per kg produced hypotensive effects in anesthetized dogs. They also found that the hypotensive effects of 2-aminoethylnitrate and glyceryl trinitrate were approximately equivalent; however, the effects of 2-aminoethylnitrate were more prolonged. The data presented by these investigators suggested that 2-aminoethylnitrate dilated the arterial vessels through a direct action on vascular smooth musculature since the compounds did not alter the autonomic activity and the cardiovascular response to epinephrine and acetylcholine. Organic nitrites and nitrates capable of lowering blood pressure through general vasodilatation have been reported to increase coronary blood flow by decreasing the resistance of the coronary bed through direct vasodilatation.2. The purpose of this study was
Phospho-Akt overexpression in non-small cell lung cancer confers significant stage-independent survival disadvantage.

PURPOSE Akt is a signal transduction protein that plays a central role in inhibiting apoptosis in a variety of cell types including human cancer cells. In cell lines derived from human non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs), Akt has been shown to confer chemoresistance by inhibition of apoptosis in response to different chemotherapeutic agents including platinum-based agents, which are often the first-line therapy for NSCLCs. Only 20% to 30% of patients with NSCLC treated with chemotherapy have clinical evidence of response. The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not overexpression of activated Akt [i.e., phosphorylated Akt (pAkt)] is correlated with survival. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We studied tumors from 61 patients with NSCLC in three tissue microarrays. All patients were followed for a period of 10 years or until death. The arrays were studied immunohistochemically with antibodies against pAkt, p53, and Ki-67. RESULTS There was a statistically significant difference in survival between the 14 patients with strong pAkt staining and the 47 patients with weak to absent pAkt staining both by log-rank (P = 0.0416) and Breslow analysis (P = 0.0446). Difference in survival time with respect to pAkt status was also statistically significant even after accounting for stage at diagnosis (P = 0.004). Neither p53 nor Ki-67 was a statistically significant prognostic factor. CONCLUSIONS Overexpression of pAkt is an independent prognostic factor. Additional studies of human NSCLCs are warranted to drive the development of targeted tumor-specific antineoplastic therapies.
A Robust Fuzzy Tracking Control Scheme for Robotic Manipulators with Experimental Verification

The performance of any fuzzy logic controller (FLC) is greatly dependent on its inference rules. In most cases, the closed-loop control performance and stability are enhanced if more rules are added to the rule base of the FLC. However, a large set of rules requires more on-line computational time and more parameters need to be adjusted. In this paper, a robust PD-type FLC is driven for a class of MIMO second order nonlin- ear systems with application to robotic manipulators. The rule base consists of only four rules per each de- gree of freedom (DOF). The approach implements fuzzy partition to the state variables based on Lyapunov synthesis. The resulting control law is stable and able to exploit the dynamic variables of the system in a lin- guistic manner. The presented methodology enables the designer to systematically derive the rule base of the control. Furthermore, the controller is decoupled and the procedure is simplified leading to a computationally efficient FLC. The methodology is model free approach and does not require any information about the sys- tem nonlinearities, uncertainties, time varying parameters, etc. Here, we present experimental results for the following controllers: the conventional PD controller, computed torque controller (CTC), sliding mode con- troller (SMC) and the proposed FLC. The four controllers are tested and compared with respect to ease of design, implementation, and performance of the closed-loop system. Results show that the proposed FLC has outperformed the other controllers.