Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the role of an antioxidant gene in NSC-34 motor neuron-like cells as a model of a motor neuron disease.

BACKGROUND Spinal muscular atrophy is a rare genetic disease, which primarily affects motor neurons and predominantly occurs in children. To date, alternatives for the treatment of the disease have been controversial. Spinal muscular atrophy has a multi-factorial etiology, with mitochondrial oxidative stress considered as the crucial pathogenic mechanism. To determine the mechanisms underlying the loss of motor neurons, NSC-34 motor neuron-like cells are often used as an in vitro model of spinal muscular atrophy. As Plastin 3 (PLS3) has been demonstrated as a modifier of spinal muscular atrophy, the aim of the current study was to evaluate the neuroprotective effect of plastin 3 in NSC-34 cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plastin 3 was overexpressed in human embryonic kidney 293T cells and NSC-34 cells via lentiviral transduction. NSC-34 cells transduced with a lentiviral vector carrying the gene for LacZ β-galactosidase served as a control. Oxidative stress was then induced by depriving cells of serum, and the protective effect of plastin 3 was assessed using a cellular reactive oxygen species detection assay. RESULTS While plastin 3 was successfully overexpressed in human embryonic kidney 293T cells and NSC-34 cells, upregulation of this protein did not significantly decrease oxidative stress in serum-deprived NSC-34 cells relative to controls. CONCLUSIONS Plastin 3 overexpression in NSC-34 cells did not elicit an antioxidative effect following serum deprivation.
A  ${Ka}$ -Band Dual-Mode Power Amplifier in 65-nm CMOS Technology

In this letter, a Ka-band dual-mode power amplifier with a new topology is fabricated in 65-nm standard CMOS. The PA with the switched capacitor to modulate the output impedance to match the optimal load impedance of the operation mode provides efficiency enhancement in low-output power region and costs smaller chip size. The PA demonstrates 19.9 dBm (17 dBm) <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P_{\mathrm {sat}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, 25.8% (22.8%) PAE<sub>max</sub>, 17 dBm (14 dBm) OP<sub>1dB</sub>, and 14.5% (17.4%) PAE<sub>1dB</sub> at 34 GHz in the high-power (low-power) mode. The total chip size of the dual-mode PA is only 0.365 mm<sup>2</sup>, including pads.
A 5-bit, 0.25 dB Step Variable Attenuator at E-Band

A variable attenuator operating over 71 GHz to 76 GHz is presented. The circuit design, based on a differential ∏ attenuator, allows for precise control over the attenuation due to a feedback control circuit. When manufactured using the CMOS portion of a 55 nm BiCMOS technology, the attenuator demonstrated the ability to obtain approximately 0.25 dB attenuation steps with an RMS phase error of 0.9° using a 5-bit digital control signal. The total DC power consumption of the attenuator (including control circuitry) is 1 mW and the circuit occupies 410 µm×130 urn of chip area (1080 µm×600 µm in-cludina test baluns and pads).
Submerged Macrophytes Exhibit Different Phosphorus Stoichiometric Homeostasis

Phosphorus (P) is a limiting element in many aquatic ecosystems. Excessive P input often leads to cyanobacterial bloom, thus triggering ecological imbalances and a series of environmental problems. Submerged macrophytes have a strong ability to absorb P and play important roles in maintaining aquatic ecosystem functions. However, the degree to which submerged macrophytes maintain their tissue P contents in various nutrient levels and the corresponding influencing factors are still not very clear. In this study, the stoichiometric characteristics and stoichiometric homeostasis of P in the aboveground and belowground parts of three submerged macrophytes, Vallisneria natans (Lour.) Hara, Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle, and Ceratophyllum demersum (L.), with great differences in growth forms, were studied under different growth times and nutrient levels via laboratory experiments. The results showed that the water conductivity, turbidity, and chlorophyll content increased significantly with the increasing nutrient levels. The variation of species, organ, growth time, and nutrient level could significantly affect the P contents of submerged macrophytes. Among these factors, the variance contribution rates caused by the differences of nutrient levels in water column were the highest at more than 50%. The P stoichiometric homeostasis index (HP) in the belowground parts of the three submerged macrophytes was higher than that of the aboveground parts. The HP decreased by the growth time; the HP of V. natans was significantly higher than those of H. verticillata and C. demersum. In summary, the P stoichiometric homeostasis in submerged macrophytes could reflect their responses to environmental changes, and the P content of submerged macrophytes was an indicator of the bioavailability of external P. H. verticillata exhibited a high growth rate and a high accumulation of P content, making it the most suitable species in this study for removing large amounts of P from water in a short term.
Coherent Mid-infrared Supercontinuum Generation using Rib Waveguide Pumped with Femtosecond Laser

Coherent mid-infrared supercontinuum spectrum spanning 1.2 to 7.2 μm has been reported using an As<inf>2</inf>Se<inf>3</inf>-chalcogenide rib waveguide pumped with 200 fs laser pulses of a moderately low peak power of 2.5 kW at 2.8 μm.
Comparison and evaluation of retrospective intermodality image registration techniques

All retrospective image registration methods have attached to them some intrinsic estimate of registration error. However, this estimate of accuracy may not always be a good indicator of the distance between actual and estimated positions of targets within the cranial cavity. This paper describes a project whose principal goal is to use a prospective method based on fiducial markers as a 'gold standard' to perform an objective, blinded evaluation of the accuracy of several retrospective image-to-image registration techniques. Image volumes of three modalities -- CT, MR, and PET -- were taken of patients undergoing neurosurgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. These volumes had all traces of the fiducial markers removed, and were provided to project collaborators outside Vanderbilt, who then performed retrospective registrations on the volumes, calculating transformations from CT to MR and/or from PET to MR, and communicated their transformations to Vanderbilt where the accuracy of each registration was evaluated. In this evaluation the accuracy is measured at multiple 'regions of interest,' i.e. areas in the brain which would commonly be areas of neurological interest. A region is defined in the MR image and its centroid C is determined. Then the prospective registration is used to obtain the corresponding point C' in CT or PET. To this point the retrospective registration is then applied, producing C' in MR. Statistics are gathered on the target registration error (TRE), which is the disparity between the original point C and its corresponding point C'. A second goal of the project is to evaluate the importance of correcting geometrical distortion in MR images, by comparing the retrospective TRE in the rectified images, i.e., those which have had the distortion correction applied, with that of the same images before rectification. This paper presents preliminary results of this study along with a brief description of each registration technique and an estimate of both preparation and execution time needed to perform the registration .
WOME: Theory-Based Working Memory Training — A Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Evaluation in Older Adults

Background: Scientifically evaluated cognitive intervention programs are essential to meet the demands of our increasingly aging society. Currently, one of the “hottest” topics in the field is the improvement of working memory function and its potential impact on overall cognition. The present study evaluated the efficacy of WOME (WOrking MEmory), a theory-based working memory training program, in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, and randomized controlled trial (www.drks.de, DRKS00013162). Methods: N = 60 healthy older adults were allocated to (1) the WOME intervention, (2) an active low-level intervention, or (3) a passive control group. Overall, the intervention groups practiced twelve sessions of 45 min within 4 weeks of their respective training. Transfer effects were measured via an extensive battery of neuropsychological tests and questionnaires both pre-/post-training and at a 3-month follow-up. Results: WOME led to a significant improvement in working memory function, demonstrated on a non-trained near transfer task and on two different composite scores with moderate to large effect sizes. In addition, we found some indication of relevant impact on everyday life. The effects were short-term rather than stable, being substantially diminished at follow-up with only little evidence suggesting long-term maintenance. No transfer effects on other cognitive functions were observed. Conclusion: WOME is an appropriate and efficient intervention specifically targeting the working memory system in healthy older adults. Trial Registration: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS), Identifier: DRKS00013162.
Towards Utilization of Covert Channels as a Green Networking Technique

Network covert channels are currently typically seen as a security threat which can result in e.g. confidential data leakage or in a hidden data exchange between malicious parties. However, in this paper we want to investigate network covert channels from a less obvious angle i.e. we want to verify whether it is possible to use them as a green networking technique. Our observation is that usually covert channels utilize various redundant "resources" in network protocols e.g. unused/reserved fields that would have been transmitted anyway. Therefore, using such "resources" for legitimate transmissions can increase the total available bandwidth without sending more packets and thus offering potential energy savings. However, it must be noted that embedding and extracting processes related to data hiding consumes energy, too. That is why, in this paper we try to establish whether the potentially saved energy due to covert channels utilization exceeds the effort needed to establish and maintain covert data transmission. For this purpose, a proof-of-concept implementation has been created to experimentally measure the impact of network covert channels on resulting energy consumption. The obtained results show that the approach can be useful mostly under specific circumstances, i.e., when the total energy consumption of the network devices is already relatively high. Furthermore, the impact of different types of network covert channels on the energy consumption is examined to assess their usefulness from the green networking perspective.
Formation Control and Obstacle Avoidance for Multi-Agent Systems Using Barrier Lyapunov Functions

This paper focuses on formation control of multiagent systems with obstacle avoidance. A control protocol with bounded constraints is proposed to achieve the prescribed formation, where an exponential decay term is introduced. The convergence of the proposed algorithm is presented based on the barrier Lyapunov function method. In addition, the proposed control protocol can keep agents remaining in communication area with neighbour agents while avoiding obstacles settled in their moving area. Simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control law.
Using syntagmatic relations to examine semantic communities in user generated book reviews

While several studies have suggested that implicit semantic communities can be identified within user generated content, the majority have focused on identifying these communities via networks of “tags” within folksonomies. This method can be problematic due to the lack of linguistic context inherent in tags as collections of discrete terms. This study attempted a different approach to this problem by analyzing a corpus of user generated reviews for popular science books taken from Amazon. It searched the reviews for patterns of shared core semantic meanings as constituted by syntagmatic relations between “topic” and “comment. ” Preliminary results showed that (1) core semantic meanings expressed via “topic” and “comment” relations were salient across reviews for a given book and across books within the genre and (2) specific patterns of core semantic meanings suggested the presence of different user communities constituted through similar manners of commenting on the books. The results provide insight into the social ways that readers accumulate shared meaning around books through repetition, interpretation, annotation.
Automatically Designing CNN Architectures Using the Genetic Algorithm for Image Classification

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have gained remarkable success on many image classification tasks in recent years. However, the performance of CNNs highly relies upon their architectures. For the most state-of-the-art CNNs, their architectures are often manually designed with expertise in both CNNs and the investigated problems. Therefore, it is difficult for users, who have no extended expertise in CNNs, to design optimal CNN architectures for their own image classification problems of interest. In this article, we propose an automatic CNN architecture design method by using genetic algorithms, to effectively address the image classification tasks. The most merit of the proposed algorithm remains in its “automatic” characteristic that users do not need domain knowledge of CNNs when using the proposed algorithm, while they can still obtain a promising CNN architecture for the given images. The proposed algorithm is validated on widely used benchmark image classification datasets, compared to the state-of-the-art peer competitors covering eight manually designed CNNs, seven automatic + manually tuning, and five automatic CNN architecture design algorithms. The experimental results indicate the proposed algorithm outperforms the existing automatic CNN architecture design algorithms in terms of classification accuracy, parameter numbers, and consumed computational resources. The proposed algorithm also shows the very comparable classification accuracy to the best one from manually designed and automatic + manually tuning CNNs, while consuming fewer computational resources.
Application for outdoor dust monitoring using RF wireless power transmission

For effective dust monitoring, both indoor and outdoor measurements are essential. Power consumption in indoor measurement is not a big problem, but outdoor measurement requires continuous power supply and low power operation. To solve this problem, we investigate the possibility of combining radio frequency wireless power transmission (RF WPT) method using TX91501 made by Powercast co. with outdoor dust monitoring system. Also, Bluetooth communication is activated only when there is a request signal for low power operation.
Going (Reo)Viral: Factors Promoting Successful Reoviral Oncolytic Infection

Oncolytic viruses show intriguing potential as cancer therapeutic agents. These viruses are capable of selectively targeting and killing cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells largely unaffected. The use of oncolytic viruses for cancer treatments in selected circumstances has recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the US and work is progressing on engineering viral vectors for enhanced selectivity, efficacy and safety. However, a better fundamental understanding of tumour and viral biology is essential for the continued advancement of the oncolytic field. This knowledge will not only help to engineer more potent and effective viruses but may also contribute to the identification of biomarkers that can determine which patients will benefit most from this treatment. A mechanistic understanding of the overlapping activity of viral and standard chemotherapeutics will enable the development of better combinational approaches to improve patient outcomes. In this review, we will examine each of the factors that contribute to productive viral infections in cancerous cells versus healthy cells. Special attention will be paid to reovirus as it is a well-studied virus and the only wild-type virus to have received orphan drug designation by the FDA. Although considerable insight into reoviral biology exists, there remain numerous deficiencies in our understanding of the factors regulating its successful oncolytic infection. Here we will discuss what is known to regulate infection as well as speculate about potential new mechanisms that may enhance successful replication. A joint appreciation of both tumour and viral biology will drive innovation for the next generation of reoviral mediated oncolytic therapy.
Evolutionary ecology of chemosensation and its role in sensory drive

Abstract All behaviors of an organism are rooted in sensory processing of signals from its environment, and natural selection shapes sensory adaptations to ensure successful detection of cues that maximize fitness. Sensory drive, or divergent selection for efficient signal transmission among heterogeneous environments, has been a useful hypothesis for describing sensory adaptations, but its current scope has primarily focused on visual and acoustic sensory modalities. Chemosensation, the most widespread sensory modality in animals that includes the senses of smell and taste, is characterized by rapid evolution and has been linked to sensory adaptations to new environments in numerous lineages. Yet, olfaction and gustation have been largely underappreciated in light of the sensory drive hypothesis. Here, we examine why chemosensory systems have been overlooked and discuss the potential of chemosensation to shed new insight on the sensory drive hypothesis and vice versa. We provide suggestions for developing a framework to better incorporate studies of chemosensory adaptation that have the potential to shape a more complete, coherent, and holistic interpretation of the sensory drive.
3D facial geometry analysis and estimation using embedded optical sensors on smart eyewear

Facial performance capture is used for animation production that projects a performer's facial expression to a computer graphics model. Retro-reflective markers and cameras are widely used for the performance capture. To capture expressions, we need to place markers on the performer's face and calibrate the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of cameras in advance. However, the measurable space is limited to the calibrated area. In this study, we propose a system to capture facial performance using a smart eyewear with photo-reflective sensors and machine learning technique. Also, we show a result of principal components analysis of facial geometry to determine a good estimation parameter set.
Ranking of the most reliable beat morphology and heart rate variability features for the detection of atrial fibrillation in short single-lead ECG

Objective: This study participated in the 2017 PhysioNet/CinC Challenge dedicated to the classification of atrial fibrillation (AF), normal sinus rhythm (Normal), other arrhythmia (Other) and strong noise, using single-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings with a duration <60 s. The aim is to apply a linear threshold-based strategy for arrhythmia classification, ranking the most powerful time domain ECG features that could be easily reproduced on any platform. Approach: An algorithm for time domain ECG analysis was designed to extract 44 features with focus on the following: noise detection; heart rate variability (HRV) analysis; beat morphology analysis and delineation of P-, QRS-, and T-waves in the robust average beat; detection of atrial activity by the presence of P-waves in the average beat and atrial fibrillatory waves (f-waves) during TQ intervals. A linear discriminant analysis (LDA) classifier was optimized on the Challenge training set (8528 ECGs) by stepwise selection of a nonredundant feature set until maximization of the Challenge F1 score. Heart rate (HR) was an independent factor for the LDA classifier design, particular to bradycardia (HR ⩽ 50 bpm), normal rhythm (HR = 50–100 bpm), tachycardia (HR ⩾ 100 bpm). Main results: The algorithm obtained official Challenge F1 scores of 0.80 (Overall), 0.90 (Normal), 0.81 (AF), 0.70 (Other), and 0.54 (Noise) on the hidden Challenge test set (3658 ECGs). This is equivalent to a true positive rate (TPR) = 90.1% (Normal), 81.5% (AF), 67.7% (Other), and 69.5% (Noise), and a false positive rate (FPR) = 13.6% (Normal), 2.3% (AF), 7.7% (Other), and 1.5% (Noise). Significance: The top five features, which together contributed to about 94% of the maximal F1 score were ranked: (1) proportion of RR intervals differing by >50 ms from the preceding RR interval; (2) Poincaré plot geometry estimated by the ratio of the minor-to-major semi-axes of the fitted ellipse; (3) P-wave presence in the average beat; (4) mean percentage of the RR interval first differences; and (5) mean correlation of all beats against the average beat. The global rank of feature extraction methods highlighted that HRV alone was able to provide 92.5% of the maximal F1 score (0.74 versus 0.8). The added value of more complex ECG morphology analysis was less significant for Normal, AF, and Other rhythms (+0.02 to 0.08 points) than for Noise (+0.19 points); however, these were indispensable for wearable ECG recording devices with frequent artefact disturbance.
Half-Duplex or Full-Duplex Communications: A Capacity Analysis under Self-Interference

In-band full-duplex (FD) communication provides a promising alternative to half-duplex (HD) for wireless systems, due to increased spectral efficiency and capacity. In this paper, HD and FD radio implementations of two way, two hop and two way two hop communication are compared in terms of degrees of freedom (DoF) and achievable rate, under a realistic residual self-interference (SI) model. DoF analysis is carried out for each communication scenario, and achievable rates are computed at finite SNR levels for HD, antenna conserved (AC) and RF chain conserved (RC) FD radio implementations. The DoF analysis indicates that for the two way channel, AC FD performs strictly below HD with imperfect SI cancellation, and RC FD DoF trade-off is superior, when the SI can be sufficiently cancelled. For the two hop channel, FD is better when the relay has large number of antennas and enough SI cancellation. For the two way two hop channel, when both nodes require similar throughput, HD is generally better than FD; for asymmetric traffic, FD can achieve better rate pairs than HD, provided the relay has sufficient number of antennas and SI suppression. Computed achievable rates for each scenario indicate that DoF results also extend to finite SNR.