Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis and experiments with an elephant's trunk robot

The area of trunk/tentacle-type biological manipulation is not new, but there has been little progress in the development and application of a physical device to simulate these types of manipulation. Our research in this area is based on using an 'elephant trunk' robot. In this paper, we review the construction of the robot and how it compares to biological manipulators. We apply our previously designed kinematic model to describe the kinematics of the robot. We finish by providing some examples of motion planning and intelligent manipulation using the robot.
MYC, Cell Competition, and Cell Death in Cancer: The Inseparable Triad

Deregulation of MYC family proteins in cancer is associated with a global reprogramming of gene expression, ultimately promoting glycolytic pathways, cell growth, and proliferation. It is well known that MYC upregulation triggers cell-autonomous apoptosis in normal tissues, while frankly malignant cells develop resistance to apoptotic stimuli, partly resulting from MYC addiction. As well as inducing cell-autonomous apoptosis, MYC upregulation is able to trigger non cell-autonomous apoptotic death through an evolutionarily conserved mechanism known as “cell competition”. With regard to this intimate and dual relationship between MYC and cell death, recent evidence obtained in Drosophila models of cancer has revealed that, in early tumourigenesis, MYC upregulation guides the clonal expansion of mutant cells, while the surrounding tissue undergoes non-cell autonomous death. Apoptosis inhibition in this context was shown to restrain tumour growth and to restore a wild-type phenotype. This suggests that cell-autonomous and non cell-autonomous apoptosis dependent on MYC upregulation may shape tumour growth in different ways, soliciting the need to reconsider the role of cell death in cancer in the light of this new level of complexity. Here we review recent literature about MYC and cell competition obtained in Drosophila, with a particular emphasis on the relevance of cell death to cell competition and, more generally, to cancer. Possible implications of these findings for the understanding of mammalian cancers are also discussed.
Design and analysis of nonbinary LDPC codes for arbitrary discrete-memoryless channels

We present an analysis under the iterative decoding of coset low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes over GF(q), designed for use over arbitrary discrete-memoryless channels (particularly nonbinary and asymmetric channels). We use a random- coset analysis to produce an effect that is similar to output symmetry with binary channels. We show that the random selection of the nonzero elements of the GF(q) parity-check matrix induces a permutation-invariance property on the densities of the decoder messages, which simplifies their analysis and approximation. We generalize several properties, including symmetry and stability from the analysis of binary LDPC codes. We show that under a Gaussian approximation, the entire q-1-dimensional distribution of the vector messages is described by a single scalar parameter (like the distributions of binary LDPC messages). We apply this property to develop extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) charts for our codes. We use appropriately designed signal constellations to obtain substantial shaping gains. Simulation results indicate that our codes outperform multilevel codes at short block lengths. We also present simulation results for the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel, including results within 0.56 dB of the unrestricted Shannon limit (i.e., not restricted to any signal constellation) at a spectral efficiency of 6 bits/s/Hz.
Effects of hormonal contraception on systemic metabolism: cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence

Background: Hormonal contraception is commonly used worldwide, but its systemic effects across lipoprotein subclasses, fatty acids, circulating metabolites and cytokines remain poorly understood. Methods: A comprehensive molecular profile (75 metabolic measures and 37 cytokines) was measured for up to 5841 women (age range 24–49 years) from three population-based cohorts. Women using combined oral contraceptive pills (COCPs) or progestin-only contraceptives (POCs) were compared with those who did not use hormonal contraception. Metabolomics profiles were reassessed for 869 women after 6 years to uncover the metabolic effects of starting, stopping and persistently using hormonal contraception. Results: The comprehensive molecular profiling allowed multiple new findings on the metabolic associations with the use of COCPs. They were positively associated with lipoprotein subclasses, including all high-density lipoprotein (HDL) subclasses. The associations with fatty acids and amino acids were strong and variable in direction. COCP use was negatively associated with albumin and positively associated with creatinine and inflammatory markers, including glycoprotein acetyls and several growth factors and interleukins. Our findings also confirmed previous results e.g. for increased circulating triglycerides and HDL cholesterol. Starting COCPs caused similar metabolic changes to those observed cross-sectionally: the changes were maintained in consistent users and normalized in those who stopped using. In contrast, POCs were only weakly associated with metabolic and inflammatory markers. Results were consistent across all cohorts and for different COCP preparations and different types of POC delivery. Conclusions: Use of COCPs causes widespread metabolic and inflammatory effects. However, persistent use does not appear to accumulate the effects over time and the metabolic perturbations are reversed upon discontinuation. POCs have little effect on systemic metabolism and inflammation.
FRP-confined short concrete columns under compressive loading: experimental and modeling investigation

This study introduces the results of an experimental investigation on the behavior of the circular columns of concrete under a load of axial compression, confined by an envelope of composite materials (carbon fiber and glass fiber). The composite used is a FRP glued in surface with epoxy resin. The specific objectives of this study are: verifying the applicability of this method of reinforcement of the columns to improve the behavior of concrete from the point of view strength and ductility, seeing the influence of composite materials type used, and confronting the experimental results acquired with different models developed on one hand and on the other hand with empirical formulas developed by other researches. Two models were developed to represent the structural behavior of the tested samples based on the calibration of the experimental results and criterion of Mohr—Coulomb failure. The validity of the results acquired numerically is based on a comparison with experimental results as well as with empirical formulas developed.
Storage of Natural Language Sentences in a Hopfield Network

This paper look at how the Hopfield neural network can be used to store and recall patterns constructed from natural language sentences. As a pattern recognition and storage tool, the Hopfield neural network has received much attention. This attention however has been mainly in the field of statistical physics due to the model's simple abstraction of spin glass systems. A discussion is made of the differences, shown as bias and correlation, between natural language sentence patterns and the randomly generated ones used in previous experiments. Results are given for numerical simulations which show the auto-associative competence of the network when trained with natural language patterns.
Effect of fiber surface treatments on the properties of short sisal fiber/poly(lactic acid) biocomposites

Sisal fiber (SF)-reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) biocomposites were prepared from biodegradable PLA and surface-untreated or -treated short SF by melt mixing and subsequent compression molding. It is found that the surface treatments facilitate good adhesion between SFs and PLA matrix, which is consistent with the higher mechanical properties of the treated-SF/PLA biocomposites. Moreover, the surface treatments have similar effects on the biodegradability and water absorption of the biocomposites with the order as following: neat PLA < acetylated SF (A-SF)/PLA biocomposite ≈ silane-treated SF (S-SF)/PLA biocomposite < permanganate-treated SF (P-SF)/PLA biocomposite < mercerized SF (M-SF)/PLA biocomposite < untreated fiber (U-SF)/PLA biocomposite. In terms of overall consideration of the properties, acetylation treatment seems to be the most desirable surface method owing to the maximum tensile strength and water resistance, medium impact strength, and minimum degradability of the A-SF/PLA biocomposite. POLYM. COMPOS. , 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers
Pervasive Service Architecture for a Digital Business Ecosystem

In this paper we present ideas and architectural principles upon which we are basing the development of a distributed, open-source infrastructure that, in turn, will support the expression of business models, the dynamic composition of software services, and the optimisation of service chains through automatic self-organising and evolutionary algorithms derived from biology. The target users are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We call the collection of the infrastructure, the software services, and the SMEs a Digital Business Ecosystem (DBE).
Tree-gram Parsing: Lexical Dependencies and Structural Relations

This paper explores the kinds of probabilistic relations that are important in syntactic disambiguation. It proposes that two widely used kinds of relations, lexical dependencies and structural relations, have complementary disambiguation capabilities. It presents a new model based on structural relations, the Tree-gram model, and reports experiments showing that structural relations should benefit from enrichment by lexical dependencies.
Effect of the ethylene-acrylic acid melt index on the structural characteristics and properties of high-density polyethylene/layered double hydroxide nanocomposites prepared via the master-batch method

High-density polyethylene/Mg2Al-layered double hydroxide nanocomposites with different ethylene-acrylic acid random copolymer/Mg2Al-layered double hydroxide master batches were prepared by melt-mixing. The effect of the ethylene-acrylic acid random copolymer melt index on the exfoliated/intercalated nanocomposite structures was investigated by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The crystallization behavior and thermal property of the nanocomposites were determined via differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis and cone calorimetry. The Mg2Al-layered double hydroxide layers were well-dispersed at the nanometer level, providing direct evidence of the formation of intercalated/exfoliated nanocomposites, as well as the important effect of ethylene-acrylic acid random copolymer melt index on these structures and their properties. Lower ethylene-acrylic acid random copolymer melt index resulted in higher exfoliation and better dispersion of layered double hydroxide in the high-density polyethylene matrix. Reductions in the heat release rate, total heat release and the carbonic oxide and carbon dioxide production of the nanocomposites were also observed. These phenomena led to higher thermal stability and changes in the storage modulus, tanδ and loss modulus of the nanocomposites, as well as improvement in the heterogeneous nucleation effect of layered double hydroxide on high-density polyethylene.
Influence of Dimensionality on Thermoelectric Device Performance

The role of dimensionality on the electronic performance of thermoelectric devices is clarified using the Landauer formalism, which shows that the thermoelectric coefficients are related to the transmission, T(E), and how the conducting channels, M(E), are distributed in energy. The Landauer formalism applies from the ballistic to diffusive limits and provides a clear way to compare performance in different dimensions. It also provides a physical interpretation of the “transport distribution,” a quantity that arises in the Boltzmann transport equation approach. Quantitative comparison of thermoelectric coefficients in one, two, and three dimensions shows that the channels are utilized more effectively in lower dimensions. To realize the advantage of lower dimensionality, however, the packing density must be very high, so the thicknesses of the quantum wells or wires must be small. The potential benefits of engineering M(E) into a delta function are also investigated. When compared with a bulk semiconducto.
TLR3 Ligand Poly(I:C) Exerts Distinct Actions in Synovial Fibroblasts When Delivered by Extracellular Vesicles

Extracellular vesicles (EV) can modulate the responses of cells to toll-like receptor (TLR) ligation; conversely, TLR ligands such as double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) can enhance the release of EV and influence of the composition and functions of EV cargos. Inflamed synovial joints in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are rich in EV and extracellular RNA; besides, RNA released from necrotic synovial fluid cells can activate the TLR3 signaling in synovial fibroblasts (SFs) from patients with RA. Since EV occur prominently in synovial joints in RA and may contribute to the pathogenesis, we questioned whether EV can interact with dsRNA, a TLR3 ligand, and modify its actions in arthritis. We have used as model the effects on RA SFs, of EV released from monocyte U937 cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells upon stimulation with Poly(I:C), a synthetic analog of dsRNA. We show that EV released from unstimulated cells and Poly(I:C)-stimulated U937 cells [Poly(I:C) EV] differ in size but bind similar amounts of Annexin V and express comparable levels of MAC-1, the receptor for dsRNA, on the vesicular membranes. Specifically, Poly(I:C) EV contain or associate with Poly(I:C) and at least partially protect Poly(I:C) from RNAse III degradation. Poly(I:C) EV shuttle Poly(I:C) to SFs and reproduce the proinflammatory and antiviral gene responses of SFs to direct stimulation with Poly(I:C). Poly(I:C) EV, however, halt the death receptor-induced apoptosis in SFs, thereby inverting the proapoptotic nature of Poly(I:C). These prosurvival effects sharply contrast with the high toxicity of cationic liposome-delivered Poly(I:C) and may reflect the route of Poly(I:C) delivery via EV or the fine-tuning of Poly(I:C) actions by molecular cargo in EV. The demonstration that EV may safeguard extracellular dsRNA and allow dsRNA to exert antiapoptotic effects on SFs highlights the potential of EV to amplify the pathogenicity of dsRNA in arthritis beyond inflammation (by concurrently enhancing the expansion of the invasive synovial stroma).
An Empirical Approach to Temporal Reference Resolution (journal version)

Scheduling dialogs, during which people negotiate the times of appointments, are common in everyday life. This paper reports the results of an in-depth empirical investigation of resolving explicit temporal references in scheduling dialogs. There are four phases of this work: data annotation and evaluation, model development, system implementation and evaluation, and model evaluation and analysis. The system and model were developed primarily on one set of data, and then applied later to a much more complex data set, to assess the generalizability of the model for the task being performed. Many different types of empirical methods are applied to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of the approach. Detailed annotation instructions were developed and an intercoder reliability study was performed, showing that naive annotators can reliably perform the targeted annotations. A fully automatic system has been developed and evaluated on unseen test data, with good results on both data sets. We adopt a pure realization of a recency-based focus model to identify precisely when it is and is not adequate for the task being addressed. In addition to system results, an in-depth evaluation of the model itself is presented, based on detailed manual annotations. The results are that few errors occur specifically due to the model of focus being used, and the set of anaphoric relations defined in the model are low in ambiguity for both data sets.
Floral homeotic proteins modulate the genetic program for leaf development to suppress trichome formation in flowers

ABSTRACT As originally proposed by Goethe in 1790, floral organs are derived from leaf-like structures. The conversion of leaves into different types of floral organ is mediated by floral homeotic proteins, which, as described by the ABCE model of flower development, act in a combinatorial manner. However, how these transcription factors bring about this transformation process is not well understood. We have previously shown that floral homeotic proteins are involved in suppressing the formation of branched trichomes, a hallmark of leaf development, on reproductive floral organs of Arabidopsis. Here, we present evidence that the activities of the C function gene AGAMOUS (AG) and the related SHATTERPROOF1/2 genes are superimposed onto the regulatory network that controls the distribution of trichome formation in an age-dependent manner. We show that AG regulates cytokinin responses and genetically interacts with the organ polarity gene KANADI1 to suppress trichome initiation on gynoecia. Thus, our results show that parts of the genetic program for leaf development remain active during flower formation but have been partially rewired through the activities of the floral homeotic proteins. Summary: The formation of trichomes on the reproductive floral organs of Arabidopsis is suppressed by an interplay of floral organ identity factors and components of the genetic program for leaf development.
An Empirical Comparison of Probability Models for Dependency Grammar

This technical report is an appendix to Eisner (1996): it gives superior experimental results that were reported only in the talk version of that paper, with details of how the results were obtained. Eisner (1996) trained three probability models on a small set of about 4,000 conjunction-free, dependencygrammar parses derived from the Wall Street Journal section of the Penn Treebank, and then evaluated the models on a held-out test set, using a novel O(n 3 ) parsing algorithm. The present paper describes some details of the experiments and repeats them with a larger training set of 25,000 sentences. As reported at the talk, the more extensive training yields greatly improved performance, cutting in half the error rate of Eisner (1996). Nearly half the sentences are parsed with no misattachments; two-thirds of sentences are parsed with at most one misattachment. Of the models described in the original paper, the best score is obtained with the generative “model C,” which attaches 87–88% of all words to the correct parent. However, better models are also explored, in particular, two simple variants on the comprehension “model B. ” The better of these has an attachment accuracy of 90%, and (unlike model C) tags words more accurately than the comparable trigram tagger. If tags are roughly known in advance, search error is all but eliminated and the new model attains an attachment accuracy of 93%. We find that the parser of Collins (1996), when combined with a highlytrained tagger, also achieves 93% when trained and tested on the same sentences. We briefly discuss the similarities and differences between Collins’s model and ours, pointing out the strengths of each and noting that these strengths could be combined for either dependency parsing or phrase-structure parsing.
The Stellar Content of NGC 6789, A Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxy in the Local Void

We find that NGC 6789 is the most nearby example of a blue compact dwarf galaxy known to date. With the help of the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope, we resolve NGC 6789 into over 15,000 point sources in the V and I bands. The young stars of NGC 6789 are found exclusively near the center of the galaxy. The red giant population identified at large galactocentric radii yields a distance of about 3.6 Mpc, a stellar metallicity [Fe/H] of about -2, and a minimum age of about 1 Gyr. Despite its isolated location in the Local Void, its low metallicity, and its active star formation, the properties of NGC 6789 are clearly not those of a galaxy in formation.
Forbidden information

There appears to be a gap between usual interpretations of Godel Theorem and what is actually proven. Closing this gap does not seem obvious and involves complexity theory. (This is unrelated to, well studied before, complexity quantifications of the usual Godel effects.) Similar problems and answers apply to other unsolvability results for tasks where required solutions are not unique, such as, e.g., non-recursive tilings.
Analysis of Tribological Performance of Cu Hybrid Composites Reinforced with Graphite and TiC Using Factorial Techniques

In this study, a copper hybrid metal matrix composite reinforced with graphite (5, 10, and 15 vol%) and TiC (5, 10, and 15 vol%) was processed by a powder metallurgy route. Optical micrographs confirm the uniform distribution of reinforcements in the copper matrix. The hardness of the composites decreased with the addition of graphite. However, the addition of TiC into the copper matrix increased the hardness of the composites due to its high hardness. The influence of graphite percentages, load, sliding speed, and sliding distance on the wear of the as-sintered hybrid composites was studied based on the design of experiments. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to study the effect of the parameters on the wear weight loss of the hybrid composites. The weight loss due to wear of the hybrid composites decreases from 0.1345 to 0.0830 g as the volume percentage of graphite increases from 5 to 15%. Results indicated that the normal load has greater static influence of 43.85%, sliding distance has an influence of 29.84%, percentage of graphite has an influence of 15.17%, and sliding speed has an influence of 1.83% on the weight loss of copper hybrid composites due to sliding wear. The worn-out surfaces were analyzed using electron microscopy, which reveals that the addition of both hard ceramic reinforcement TiC and soft solid lubricant graphite significantly improves the tribological performance of the copper composites.
Bootstrapping a Tagged Corpus through Combination of Existing Heterogeneous Taggers

This paper describes a new method, COMBI-BOOTSTRAP, to exploit existing taggers and lexical resources for the annotation of corpora with new tagsets. COMBI-BOOTSTRAP uses existing resources as features for a second level machine learning module, that is trained to make the mapping to the new tagset on a very small sample of annotated corpus material. Experiments show that COMBI-BOOTSTRAP: i) can integrate a wide variety of existing resources, and ii) achieves much higher accuracy (up to 44.7 % error reduction) than both the best single tagger and an ensemble tagger constructed out of the same small training sample.