Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design of a UMTS/GPRS Assisted Mesh Network (UAMN)

Wireless Mesh or multi-hop networks (WMNs) are well known thanks to its simplicity on deployment and the lack of infrastructure. These two advantages come with some drawbacks. WMNs have limitations with the support of Quality of Service (QoS), they do not assure coverage or even connectivity, and security, management and monitoring are not considered key requirements. In order to benefit of mesh networks and use them as an operator graded network, it is necessary to either improve mesh networks to fulfill all these requirements or use an alternative network that offers full availability, connectivity and security to assist the mesh network. Considering the two options, the second is the one selected making use of GPRS/UMTS as an assistant network. The document describes a set of requirements and the design of the functionalities needed to build an operator graded network using the cellular GPRS/UMTS. The aspects covered in the design are: security, quality of service, mobility, self configuration and optimization. The last point, optimization, is not directly involved with mesh networking, but it is an improvement easy to achieve when using a gateway node to access the Internet through a GPRS/UMTS connection. The design of the solution not only considers functionality, but also feasibility employing of the shelve elements. The mesh nodes and gateways are built on top of Linux operating system with the aim to reuse previous results and open source software. The final objective of the project is to build a usable system to be used as a proof of concept.
Fatty acid metabolism in the heart during Escherichia coli sepsis in the rat.

Fatty acid metabolism was studied in fasted control, fasted Escherichia coli-treated, fed control, and fed E. coli-treated rats to find out whether the reduction in myocardial carnitine was associated with changes in oxidation and esterification of long chain fatty acids. Rats were made septic by injecting i.v. 8 X 10(7) live colonies of E. coli per 100 g body weight. Fed rats were infused intragastrically with a nutritionally adequate diet containing glucose plus fat for five days before inducing sepsis. Food was removed from the fasted rats after E. coli injection. Twenty-four hours later, the production of CO2 from [1-14C]palmitate was not altered in heart homogenates from fasted or fed E. coli-treated rats. In comparison to control rats, heart homogenates from fasted E. coli-treated rats incorporated 32% more [1-14C]palmitate into triglycerides. The heart content of triglycerides was also increased threefold during sepsis. Rates of esterification and lipid composition were not altered in the hearts from fed E. coli-treated rats. The increased rate of triglyceride synthesis in the hearts from fasted E. coli-treated rats appears to be due to a 40% higher content of glycerol 3-phosphate and 55% more activity of glycerol 3-phosphate acyltransferase. These results also suggest that the reduced content of myocardial carnitine that occurs during E. coli sepsis does not limit the availability of fatty acids for oxidation.
THE EFFECT OF THE INTRODUCTION OF AMINO ACIDS INTO CHICKS INFECTED WITH SALMONELLA PULLORUM

In a previous publication (Ross et al., 1955), it was noted that during the course of infection with Salmonell pullorum, some of the free and bound amino acids of the blood and liver of chicks were reduced. The levels of arginine, methionine, glycine, and tryptophan were markedly decreased as compared to normal controls, or to chicks inoculated with an avirulent strain of the test organism. According to Almquist (1947), arginine, methionine, glycine, and tryptophan are esential to the nutrition of the chick, which is incapable of synthesizing them. Hence, they must be supplied in the diet. Since these four amino acids are depleted during the course of infection of the chick with S. pullorum, it became of interest to us to determine whether their introduction into the infected host could alter the course of the disease as well as affect survival time.
Capabilities and Identity in a Wide-Area File System

This paper describes the design, implementation, and performance of Neo, a wide-area file system whose security architecture is based on the chit. Chits are instantiations of capabilities that capitalize on the strengths of traditional capabilities (flexible granularity, rights tied to naming, non-traditional identities) while mitigating the drawbacks (revocation, accountability, lack of confinement). Neo allows flexible, fine-grained sharing with differing, chit-defined notions of identity. User-defined policies allow anonymous access, fully authenticated access, and levels in between. We describe the implementation of Neo, and show that the required mechanisms add little overhead to the underlying system.
Perceptual evaluation of violin radiation characteristics in a wave field synthesis system

A method to synthesize the sound radiation characteristics of musical instruments in a wave field synthesis (WFS) system is proposed and tested. Radiation patterns of a violin are measured with a circular microphone array which consists of 128 pressure receivers. For each critical frequency band one exemplary radiation pattern is decomposed to circular harmonics of order 0 to 64. So the radiation characteristic of the violin is represented by 25 complex radiation patterns. On the reproduction side, these circular harmonics are approximated by 128 densely spaced monopoles by means of 128 broadband impulses. An anechoic violin recording is convolved with these impulses, yielding 128 filtered versions of the recording. These are then synthesized as 128 monopole sources in a WFS system and compared to a virtual monopole playing the unfiltered recording. The study participants perceive the tone color of the recreated virtual violin as being dependent on the listening position and report that the two source typ.
Hantaan Virus Nucleocapsid Protein Binds to Importin α Proteins and Inhibits Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha-Induced Activation of Nuclear Factor Kappa B

ABSTRACT Hantaviruses such as Hantaan virus (HTNV) and Andes virus cause two human diseases, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, respectively. For both, disease pathogenesis is thought to be immunologically mediated and there have been numerous reports of patients with elevated levels of proinflammatory and inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), in their sera. Multiple viruses have developed evasion strategies to circumvent the host cell inflammatory process, with one of the most prevalent being the disruption of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation. We hypothesized that hantaviruses might also moderate host inflammation by interfering with this pathway. We report here that the nucleocapsid (N) protein of HTNV was able to inhibit TNF-α-induced activation of NF-κB, as measured by a reporter assay, and the activation of endogenous p65, an NF-κB subunit. Surprisingly, there was no defect in the degradation of the inhibitor of NF-κB (IκB) protein, nor was there any alteration in the level of p65 expression in HTNV N-expressing cells. However, immunofluorescence antibody staining demonstrated that cells expressing HTNV N protein and a green fluorescent protein-p65 fusion had limited p65 nuclear translocation. Furthermore, we were able to detect an interaction between HTNV N protein and importin α, a nuclear import molecule responsible for shuttling NF-κB to the nucleus. Collectively, our data suggest that HTNV N protein can sequester NF-κB in the cytoplasm, thus inhibiting NF-κB activity. These findings, which were obtained using cells transfected with cDNA representing the HTNV N gene, were confirmed using HTNV-infected cells.
Hardware in loop implementation and analysis of a neural augmented fault tolerant flight controller for a high performance dynamic fighter aircraft model on a target digital signal processor

The high performance fighter aircraft achieves a high angle of attack (up to 90°) and superb maneuverability because of the presence of leading edge flaps. In this paper we make an attempt to achieve reconfigurable control of this high performance fighter aircraft during auto-landing[1], using Extended Minimal Resource Allocating Network (EMRAN) augmented controller [2] with additional faults and validate the same through software simulation using MATLAB® Simulink® and also hardware implementation of the controller on a target Digital Signal Processor (DSP) using Hardware-in-the-loop simulation technique. A high fidelity aircraft model [1] with seven control surfaces, including leading edge flaps (LEF) in comparison to the low fidelity model that employs only five control surfaces is employed in the simulation as well as hardware implementation. Also while reconfiguring the aircraft model will be made dynamic where in multiple faults can occur at different instances.
A Comparative Review of the Lipoglycopeptides: Oritavancin, Dalbavancin, and Telavancin

Resistance to antibiotics among gram‐positive bacteria, especially enterococci and staphylococci, has led to the need to develop new antibiotics. Vancomycin, a glycopeptide antibiotic, has been used for over 3 decades to treat serious methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections. The increased frequency of multidrug‐resistant bacteria, especially vancomycin‐resistant strains, has focused interest on three new lipoglycopeptides for the treatment of infections caused by gram‐positive bacteria: oritavancin, dalbavancin, and telavancin. Although oritavancin and dalbavancin are still in development, telavancin received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration in September 2009 for treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections. Structurally different from vancomycin and teicoplanin, all three lipoglycopeptides have greater potency and less potential for development of resistant organisms. Of particular importance is the activity of oritavancin, dalbavancin, and telavancin against vancomycin‐resistant organisms. In addition, the pharmacokinetic properties of these new antimicrobials substantially differ from those of vancomycin. Both oritavancin and dalbavancin have long terminal half‐lives, which may allow for infrequent dosing. In addition, oritavancin is primarily cleared through hepatic pathways, which makes it potentially useful in patients with renal compromise. In animal models, these new lipoglycopeptides were effective in treating serious gram‐positive infections, including complicated skin and skin structure infections, endocarditis, bacteremia, and pneumonia; in clinical studies, however, efficacy was shown only in complicated skin and skin structure infections for all three agents. According to preliminary data, the adverse‐effect profile of these lipoglycopeptides is generally similar to that of drugs currently used to treat severe gram‐positive infections. However, further evaluation and monitoring is necessary as more patients are exposed to these agents. As antimicrobial resistance continues to increase worldwide, the lipoglycopeptides may provide clinicians with a useful antimicrobial in the continued fight against multidrug‐resistant gram‐positive bacteria.
Modeling and simulation technique of two quadrant chopper and PWM inverter-fed IPMSM drive system and its application to Hybrid Vehicles

This paper presents a state space model of a two quadrant chopper and a PWM inverter Fed Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (IPMSM) Drive System and its application to Hybrid Vehicles. Using the step-up chopper, a capacity of the battery can become smaller, and regenerate power under braking. The drive system based on optimal control theory for variable multi-output objects is controlled by variable control strategy such as Maximum Torque/Ampere control. The validity of this model and usefulness for control strategy is confirmed from simulation results.
Text Block Detection and Segmentation for Mobile Robot Vision System Applications

— We proposed a technique to detect and segment text block from natural scene based on stereo disparity map. The literature survey reveals that the techniques developed for scene text extraction are using an image of a scene of interest which is captured by monocular camera. In order to make robot to take decisions based on semantic information like text in an image, monocular camera based text extraction techniques cannot be employed because robot is fitted with two identical stereo cameras. Therefore, we proposed a technique to detect and extract scene text blocks using stereo images. The main application of the proposed technique is to make robot to detect and segment text blocks in a scene using stereo images of the scene, which will further enable robot to recognize the text written on the boards. The proposed technique comprises three major phases such as estimation of Disparity map using stereo images, detection of candidate planar surfaces from the disparity space using gradient derivative; finally segmentation of candidate text block by mapping connected component analysis of homograph image with detected candidate planes. The experiments are carried out using our dataset, which consists of stereo images captured in outdoor environment. The experimental results are evaluated for text detection using recall, precision and f-measure. The results indicate outstanding improvement in areas with complex background where conventional method fails.
Integrating novel therapeutic monoclonal antibodies into the management of head and neck cancer

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is an immunosuppressive malignancy. Interest in developing novel immunotherapies in HNSCC has been reawakened by the success of cetuximab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody (mAb) against the epidermal growth factor receptor, which likely relies on immune as well as antisignaling mechanisms. This review focuses on novel therapeutic mAbs in current clinical development against established mechanisms of immune evasion in HNSCC, targeting: 1) tumor antigens, with resultant potential to induce antibody‐dependent cell‐mediated cytotoxicity and T cell activation; 2) immunosuppressive cytokines; 3) costimulatory tumor necrosis factor–family receptors; and 4) coinhibitory immune checkpoint receptors. Clinical trials of immunotherapeutic mAbs as monotherapy, in combination with cytolytic standard therapies exposing tumor antigens or in combination with other immunomodulatory mAbs, are urgently needed in HNSCC. Cancer 2014;120:624–632. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Building cross-scale models of epigenetic mechanisms

Epigenetic changes correspond to heritable modifications of the chromosome structure, which do not involve alteration of the DNA sequence but do affect gene expression. These mechanisms play an important role in normal cell differentiation, but aberration is associated also with several diseases, including cancer and neural disorders. In consequence, despite intensive studies in recent years, the contribution of modifications remains largely unquantified due to overall system complexity and insufficient data. Computational models can provide powerful auxiliary tools to experimentation, not least as scales from the sub-cellular through cell populations (or to networks of genes) can be spanned. In this paper, the challenges to development, of realistic cross-scale models, are discussed and illustrated with respect to current work.
Lorentz Violating Julia-Toulouse Mechanism

Instituto de F´isica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil(Dated: February 2, 2008)We propose a new Lorentz invariant violating extension for the pure photonic sector of the Stan-dard Model due to the condensation of topological defects in the context of the Julia-Toulousemechanism. Possible physical consequences leading to direct measurable eﬀects over the conﬁningproperties of the elementary particles are explored.
Reduced exposure to PM10 and attenuated age-related decline in lung function.

BACKGROUND Air pollution has been associated with impaired health, including reduced lung function in adults. Moving to cleaner areas has been shown to attenuate adverse effects of air pollution on lung function in children but not in adults. METHODS We conducted a prospective study of 9651 adults (18 to 60 years of age) randomly selected from population registries in 1990 and assessed in 1991, with 8047 participants reassessed in 2002. There was complete information on lung volumes and flows (e.g., forced vital capacity [FVC], forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1], FEV1 as a percentage of FVC, and forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75% of the FVC [FEF25-75]), smoking habits, and spatially resolved concentrations of particulate matter that was less than 10 microm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10) from a validated dispersion model assigned to residential addresses for 4742 participants at both the 1991 and the 2002 assessments and in the intervening years. RESULTS Overall exposure to individual home outdoor PM10 declined over the 11-year follow-up period (median, -5.3 mug per cubic meter; interquartile range, -7.5 to -4.2). In mixed-model regression analyses, with adjustment for confounders, PM10 concentrations at baseline, and clustering within areas, there were significant negative associations between the decrease in PM10 and the rate of decline in FEV1 (P=0.045), FEV1 as a percentage of FVC (P=0.02), and FEF25-75 (P=0.001). The net effect of a decline of 10 microg of PM10 per cubic meter over an 11-year period was to reduce the annual rate of decline in FEV1 by 9% and of FEF25-75 by 16%. Cumulative exposure in the interval between the two examinations showed similar associations. CONCLUSIONS Decreasing exposure to airborne particulates appears to attenuate the decline in lung function related to exposure to PM10. The effects are greater in tests reflecting small-airway function.
Energy Performance Ratings and House Prices in Wales: An Empirical Study

The aim of this research was to investigate the price effect of EPC ratings on the residential dwelling prices in Wales. It examined the capitalisation of energy efficiency ratings into house prices using two approaches. The first adopted a cross-sectional framework to investigate the effect of EPC band (and EPC rating) on a large sample of dwelling transactions. The second approach was based on a repeat-sales methodology to examine the impact of EPC band and rating on house price appreciation. A concern with hedonic price models is potential omitted variable bias. In the context of this study, dwellings in higher EPC bands may have been subject to unobserved improvements that enhance their quality as well as their energy performance. With this in mind, a series of robustness checks were undertaken, the main purpose of which was to restrict the sample to dwellings built relatively recently, and to exclude dwellings that are more likely to have been improved or that may be unusual in some way A dwellings that have been re-sold within a short period of time for example.
Renal Rehabilitation: Present and Future Perspectives

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health problem. In patients with CKD, exercise endurance is decreased, especially as renal dysfunction advances. This is due to the combined effects of protein-energy wasting, uremic acidosis, and inflammatory cachexia, which lead to sarcopenia and are aggravated by a sedentary lifestyle, resulting in a progressive downward spiral of deconditioning. Renal rehabilitation (RR) is a coordinated, multifaceted intervention designed to optimize a patient’s physical, psychological, and social functioning, as well as to stabilize, slow, or even reverse the progression of renal deterioration, improving exercise tolerance and preventing the onset and worsening of heart failure, thereby reducing morbidity and mortality. This review focused on the history and benefits of RR in patients with CKD. Based on current evidence, RR is an effective, feasible, and safe secondary prevention strategy in CKD. RR is a promising model for a new field of rehabilitation. Therefore, efforts to increase RR implementation rates are urgently needed.
Dietary patterns and their association with food and nutrient intake in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)–Potsdam study

Dietary pattern analysis has recently received growing attention, as it might be more appropriate in studies of diet–disease associations than the single food or nutrient approach that has dominated past epidemiological research. Factor analysis is a technique which is commonly used to identify dietary patterns within study populations. However, the ability of factor solutions to account for variance of food and nutrient intake has so far remained unclear. The present study therefore explored the statistical properties of dietary patterns with regard to the explained variance. Food intake of 8975 men and 13 379 women, assessed by a food-frequency questionnaire, was aggregated into forty-seven separate food groups. Dietary patterns were identified by principal component analysis and subsequent varimax rotation. Seven factors were retained for both men and women, which accounted for about 31 % of the total variance. The explained variance was relatively high (>40 %) for cooked vegetables, sauce, meat, dessert, cake, bread other than wholemeal, raw vegetables, processed meat, high-fat cheese, butter and margarine. Factor scores were used to investigate associations between the factors and nutrient intake. The patterns accounted for relatively large proportions of variance of energy and macronutrient intake, but for less variance of alcohol and micronutrient intake, especially of retinol, β-carotene, vitamin E, Ca and ascorbic acid. In addition, factors were related to age, BMI, physical activity, education, smoking and vitamin and mineral supplement use.
Sodium reduction is a public health priority: reflections on the Institute of Medicine's report, sodium intake in populations: assessment of evidence.

sodium interventions. The IOM committee determined that sodium intake impacts health outcomes through pathways in addition to the blood pressure pathway. The report included recommendations to strengthen research to understand the extent of the effect of sodium on blood pressure and then to events and mortality and for more studies addressing mechanisms. The committee limited its evaluation, and therefore conclusions, to studies published from 2003 to 2012—that is, the period since the 2005 Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate (DRI) were developed. Based on available scientific literature at the time, the 2005 DRI report established adequate intakes for sodium across all life stages and sex groups and specifically determined that the highest level of sodium intake not likely to pose a risk of adverse health effects for almost all individuals in the general population (tolerable upper intake level) is 2,300 mg/day for persons aged ≥14 years. 5 (Based on the food supply, the AI for sodium (including sweat loss) was established to ensure the minimum level needed for sodium and to provide an adequate intake of other essential nutrients. ) In the 2013 report, the committee concluded that there is a positive relationship between higher levels of sodium intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease (e.g., heart disease and stroke). 12 This is consistent with prior knowledge of the adverse effects of sodium intake on blood pressure. The IOM committee also concluded that there is substantial population benefit to be gained—and no evidence of harm— from reducing sodium intake to a level of 2,300 mg/day. (As a result of how this report and its findings were misinterpreted in some media outlets, IOM President Dr Harvey Fineberg wrote a letter to the Honorable Secretary Sebelius to restate the conclusions. Additionally, 3 IOM committee members