Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Autonomous Battery Recharging for Indoor Mobile Robots

This paper describes a method for automatically recharging the batteries on a mobile robot. The robot used in this project is the Nomadic Technologies? Nomad XR4000 mobile robot. The battery recharging system was implemented using the robot’s built-in sensors to control docking with a simple recharging station. The recharging station has an AC power plug, an infra-red beacon and a target designed for detection by the Sick Laser Range Finder. The robot’s IR sensors perform the beacon detection. The robot moves towards the beacon until the laser target pattern is visible to the Sick laser. The system is currently under development and undergoing its performance testing.
Key drivers of RFID adoption in Malaysian retail industry, a theoretical model

Information is the key element of supply chain management. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been used by organizations in the supply chain because of its unique capability of real-time access to information as well as identifying, tracking, and back tracing objects. However, it has yet to see high rates of adoption in Malaysia's retail supply chain. Thus, effort should be made to identify determinants affecting RFID adoption in the supply chain industry. The purpose of this study was to develop and to empirically test a theoretical model of RFID adoption in the context of retail chains in Malaysia; using the Technology- Organization-Environment (TOE) framework and diffusion of innovation (DOI) model. A questionnaire survey was conducted to study the adoption of RFID by 77 firms in Malaysia's retail chains. The survey data then was transferred into statistical software (SPSS 18.0) for further analysis. The findings indicate that the technology, organization and environment characteristics have significant influence on the adoption intention for RFID technology. The results of the study and related implications add to existing knowledge and ideas on the determinants of RFID adoption in the retail industry, with a specific focus on Malaysia.
Three-dimensional flow and lift characteristics of a hovering ruby-throated hummingbird

A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation is performed for a ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) in hovering flight. Realistic wing kinematics are adopted in the numerical model by reconstructing the wing motion from high-speed imaging data of the bird. Lift history and the three-dimensional flow pattern around the wing in full stroke cycles are captured in the simulation. Significant asymmetry is observed for lift production within a stroke cycle. In particular, the downstroke generates about 2.5 times as much vertical force as the upstroke, a result that confirms the estimate based on the measurement of the circulation in a previous experimental study. Associated with lift production is the similar power imbalance between the two half strokes. Further analysis shows that in addition to the angle of attack, wing velocity and surface area, drag-based force and wing–wake interaction also contribute significantly to the lift asymmetry. Though the wing–wake interaction could be beneficial for lift enhancement, the isolated stroke simulation shows that this benefit is buried by other opposing effects, e.g. presence of downwash. The leading-edge vortex is stable during the downstroke but may shed during the upstroke. Finally, the full-body simulation result shows that the effects of wing–wing interaction and wing–body interaction are small.
Towards Flexible Coexistence Regulations for GM crops in the EU

The European Union (EU) is currently facing a challenge that might unnecessarily hamper the adoption of GM crops: regulating the coexistence of genetically modified (GM) and non-GM crops. Member states are currently implementing or developing both "ex ante" coexistence regulations and "ex post" liability schemes to ensure that both GM and non-GM crops can be cultivated in the EU. In this article, we explore in detail how national and/or regional policymakers can build in a certain degree of flexibility in "ex ante" coexistence regulations in order to reduce the regulatory burden on certain agricultural options and avoid jeopardising the economic incentives for coexistence. We use the example of GM maize as a case study, being the only GM crop planted over a significant area in the EU. We conclude that flexibility could be integrated into regulations at different levels: (i) at the regulatory level by relaxing some of the regulatory rigidity in "ex ante" regulations; (ii) at the farm level by allowing the substitution of isolation distances by pollen barriers; and (iii) at the national/regional level through plural coexistence measures, consistent with heterogeneity of farming in the EU. Copyright (c) 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation (c) The Agricultural Ecomomics Society and the European Association of Agricultural Economists 2010.
Long-Term Contracts and Moral Hazard

This article extends the economic theory of agency to a simple class of multiperiod situations. In this context we study the role of long-term contracts in controlling moral hazard problems. We characterize the optimal long-term contract, and show that even when the "environment" is separable over time, the agent's compensation in one period will depend on his performance in that period and his performance in the prior periods.
Dynamic, Compressive Gammachirp Auditory Filterbank for Perceptual Signal Processing

A gammachirp auditory filter was developed 1) to extend the domain of the gammatone auditory filter, 2) to simulate the changes in filter shape that occur with changes in stimulus level, 3) to explain a large body of simultaneous masking data, 4) to explain the compressive characteristics of the auditory filter system, and 5) to facilitate the development of a nonlinear, analysis/synthesis framework. What remains is to specify the dynamics of how the stimulus level controls the filter parameters. In this paper, we use psychophysical data involving compression to derive the details of the level control circuit for the dynamic version of the cGC (dcGC) filter and filterbank. The dcGC filterbank enhances spectral contrasts and reduces the dynamic range. This property with the analysis/synthesis framework should be useful in various forms of perceptual signal processing
Development of a Femtomolar-Acting Humanin Derivative Named Colivelin by Attaching Activity-Dependent Neurotrophic Factor to Its N Terminus: Characterization of Colivelin-Mediated Neuroprotection against Alzheimer's Disease-Relevant Insults In Vitro and In Vivo

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. Humanin (HN) is a short bioactive peptide abolishing neuronal cell death induced by various familial AD (FAD)-causative genes and amyloid-β (Aβ) in vitro. It has been shown that HN suppresses memory impairment of mice induced by intracerebroventricular administration of Aβ. To potentiate the neuroprotective effect of HN, we synthesized a hybrid peptide named Colivelin composed of activity-dependent neurotrophic factor (ADNF) C-terminally fused to AGA-(C8R)HNG17, a potent HN derivative. Colivelin completely suppresses death induced by overexpressed FAD-causative genes and Aβ1-43 at a concentration of 100 fm, whereas AGA-(C8R)HNG17 does so at a concentration of 10 pm. Colivelin-induced neuroprotection has been confirmed to occur via two neuroprotective pathways: one mediated by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV, triggered by ADNF, and one mediated by signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, triggered by HN. In vivo animal studies have further indicated that intracerebroventricular administration of Colivelin not only completely suppresses impairment in spatial working memory induced by repetitive intracerebroventricular injection of Aβ25-35 or Aβ1-42, but also it antagonizes neuronal loss in the CA1 region of hippocampus induced by hippocampal injection of Aβ1-42. In addition, intraperitoneally administered Colivelin suppresses memory impairment caused by a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist, 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, indicating that a substantial portion of intraperitoneally administered Colivelin passes through the blood-brain barrier and suppresses functional memory deficit. Thus, Colivelin might serve as a novel drug candidate for treatment of AD.
Use of a Continuous Local Anesthetic Infusion for Pain Management after Median Sternotomy

Background The use of large doses of opioid analgesics to treat pain after cardiac surgery can prolong the time to tracheal extubation and interfere with recovery of bowel and bladder function in the postoperative period. Therefore, the authors investigated the efficacy of a continuous infusion of bupivacaine 0.25% or 0.5%, at the median sternotomy site, for 48 h after cardiac surgery in reducing the opioid analgesic requirement and improving the recovery process. Methods In this prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial, 36 consenting patients undergoing open-heart surgery with a standardized general anesthetic technique had two indwelling infusion catheters placed at the median sternotomy incision site at the end of surgery. The patients were randomly assigned to receive normal saline (control), bupivacaine 0.25% or bupivacaine 0.5%via an elastomeric infusion pump at a constant rate of 4 ml/h for 48 h. Patients evaluated their chest pain using an 11-point verbal rating scale, with 0 = no pain to 10 = worst pain imaginable. In addition, the postoperative opioid analgesic requirements and opioid-related adverse effects were recorded. Patient satisfaction with their pain management was assessed at specific intervals during the postoperative period using a 100-point verbal rating scale, with 1 = highly dissatisfied to 100 = highly satisfied. Finally, serum bupivacaine concentrations were measured 24 and 48 h after surgery. Results Compared with the control group, there was a statistically significant reduction in verbal rating scale pain scores and patient-controlled analgesia morphine use in the bupivacaine-0.5% group. Patient satisfaction with their pain management was also improved in the bupivacaine-0.5% (vs. control) group. However, there were no significant differences in patient-controlled analgesia morphine use between the bupivacaine-0.25% and control groups. Although the duration of the intensive care unit stay (30 vs. 34 h, respectively) was not significantly decreased, the time to ambulation (1 ± 0.5 vs. 2 ± 1 days, respectively) and the duration of hospital stay (4.2 vs. 5.7 days, respectively) were lower in the bupivacaine-0.5% group than in the control group. Mean ± SD serum bupivacaine concentrations at 48 h in the bupivacaine-0.25% and bupivacaine-0.5% groups were 0.5 ± 0.5 and 1.3 ± 0.7 &mgr;g/ml, respectively. Conclusion A continuous infusion of bupivacaine 0.5% at 4 ml/h is effective for decreasing pain and the need for opioid analgesic medication as well as for improving patient satisfaction with their pain management after cardiac surgery. Patients in the bupivacaine-0.5% group were able to ambulate earlier, leading to a reduced length of hospital stay.
The Mathematical Theory of Frontogenesis

For over one hundred years it has been known that atmospheric depressions have cold frontal regions in which typically the temperature falls rapidly, the wind changes, and precipitation occurs. Sixty years ago Norwegian meteorologists shaped their polar front model in which depressions were considered to grow on a preexisting sloping thermal discontinuity; as the depressions grew it was considered that they distorted the discontinuity into a cold front and also a warm front. The dynamical view changed thirty years ago with the discovery by Charney (1947) and Eady (1949) that realistic depression structures may be obtained as the normal modes of the baroclinic instability of a smooth rather than discontinuous thermal contrast. Fronts then had to be viewed as being formed in a growing nonlinear baroclinic wave, though this secondary role in no way diminished their importance in practical meteorology. The theoretical interest shifted towards the mechanism for generating fronts, namely frontogenesis. When upper air data became available in the 1950s it was apparent that strong frontal regions occurred in the upper troposphere as well as near the surface. Many studies (e.g. Reed & Danielsen 1959) suggested strongly that these upper air fronts are associated with the descent of a tongue of stratospheric air into the troposphere. The existence of fronts in the ocean has been known for many years and when vertical sections were obtained (e.g. Voorhis & Hersey 1964 and Katz 1969) they suggested many structural similarities with atmospheric fronts. Further, the experimental work of Fultz (1952) and Faller ( 1956) has shown that fronts can be reproduced in laboratory experiments using differentially heated rotating water. Thus we conclude that details of latent·heat release and other diabatic heating, and of the boundary layer
Sleep patterns and the risk for unipolar depression: a review

Psychological disorders, particularly mood disorders, such as unipolar depression, are often accompanied by comorbid sleep disturbances, such as insomnia, restless sleep, and restricted sleep duration. The nature of the relationship between unipolar depression and these sleep disturbances remains unclear, as sleep disturbance may be a risk factor for development, an initial manifestation of the disorder, or a comorbid condition affected by similar mechanisms. Various studies have examined the impact of sleep deprivation on the presence of (or exacerbation of) depressive symptoms, and have examined longitudinal and concurrent associations between different sleep disturbances and unipolar depression. This review examines the evidence for sleep disturbances as a risk factor for the development and presence of depression, as well as examining common underlying mechanisms. Clinical implications pertaining to the comorbid nature of various sleep patterns and depression are considered.
Gq/5-HT2c receptor signals activate a local GABAergic inhibitory feedback circuit to modulate serotonergic firing and anxiety in mice

Significance Serotonin is an important modulator of anxious states. Serotonergic neurotransmission in the dorsal raphe nuclei is known to be regulated by different presynaptic and postsynaptic feedback mechanisms involving G protein-coupled receptor signals, but the influence of such feedback mechanisms on anxiety-related behavior has not been investigated until now. We found that optogenetic activation of the Gq-coupled receptor signals in 5-HT2c receptor locations in GABAergic neurons in dorsal raphe nuclei decreases the activity of 5-HT neurons and relieves anxiety in mice. 5-HT2c receptors are drug targets for mental disorders. Our results demonstrate a previously unidentified negative feedback mechanism by 5-HT2c/Gq signals for the fine-tuning of anxiety behavior, and point to a promising therapeutic strategy for treating anxiety-related disorders. Serotonin 2c receptors (5-HT2c-Rs) are drug targets for certain mental disorders, including schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety. 5-HT2c-Rs are expressed throughout the brain, making it difficult to link behavioral changes to circuit specific receptor expression. Various 5-HT-Rs, including 5-HT2c-Rs, are found in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN); however, the function of 5-HT2c-Rs and their influence on the serotonergic signals mediating mood disorders remain unclear. To investigate the role of 5-HT2c-Rs in the DRN in mice, we developed a melanopsin-based optogenetic probe for activation of Gq signals in cellular domains, where 5-HT2c-Rs are localized. Our results demonstrate that precise temporal control of Gq signals in 5-HT2c-R domains in GABAergic neurons upstream of 5-HT neurons provides negative feedback regulation of serotonergic firing to modulate anxiety-like behavior in mice.
Lots of target variance: An update of SRM using the HEXACO personality inventory

According to previous studies based on the Social Relations Model (SRM), most of the variance in observer reports of personality is perceiver and relationship variance, and not much is target variance. However, most SRM studies have employed short adjective scales instead of personality questionnaires. Results based on the HEXACO-PI-R in family and work groups showed high levels of consensus (target variance) and self-other agreement for all traits and, except for Honesty–Humility and Openness to Experience, low levels of generalized rater bias (perceiver variance) and of assumed similarity. Additionally, intraclass correlations suggested a ’group personality’ for some traits. The findings suggest that the use of personality questionnaires in Social Relations Analyses may promote higher estimates of consensus in personality judgments. Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
How Persistent is Armed Conflict

We assess the degree of persistence in armed conflict in particular places over the last two centuries, asking in addition if conflict-ridden places have durable features â€“ social, demographic or geographical â€“ that explain persistence, or whether armed conflict at one time has a causal effect on propensity for armed conflict at later times. For all types of war in the Correlates of War data, we code the territories on which the armed conflict occurred. The data reveal significant levels of persistence in territories that experienced extra-state (imperial and colonial) and non-state wars in an earlier era. Exogenous features such as geography and pre-1800 demography are important in explaining where conflicts persist. However there remains significant persistence controlling for geographic and demographic features. In particular, extra-state wars before 1945 are strongly related to civil war after 1945. This persistence does not appear to arise from the long-run enmity of particular groups that fight repeatedly over centuries. We conjecture that imperial and colonial wars may have been more likely in territories where there were more and/or more developed pre-colonial state structures, and that either the persistence of these structures or changes in them brought about by the violent encounters raised civil war risks after 1945.
Making Images/Making Bodies: Visibilizing and Disciplining through Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

This article analyzes how the medical gaze made possible by MRI operates in radiological laboratories. It argues that although computer-assisted medical imaging technologies such as MRI shift radiological analysis to the realm of cyborg visuality, radiological analysis continues to depend on visualization produced by other technologies and diagnostic inputs. In the radiological laboratory, MRI is used to produce diverse sets of images of the internal parts of the body to zero in and visually extract the pathology (or prove its nonexistence). Visual extraction of pathology becomes possible, however, because of the visual training of the radiologists in understanding and interpreting anatomic details of the whole body. These two levels of viewing constitute the bifocal vision of the radiologists. To make these levels of viewing work complementarily, the body, as it is presented in the body atlases, is made notational (i.e., converted into a set of isolable, disjoint, and differentiable parts).
Parameter Expanded Algorithms for Bayesian Latent Variable Modeling of Genetic Pleiotropy Data

Motivated by genetic association studies of pleiotropy, we propose a Bayesian latent variable approach to jointly study multiple outcomes. The models studied here can incorporate both continuous and binary responses, and can account for serial and cluster correlations. We consider Bayesian estimation for the model parameters, and we develop a novel MCMC algorithm that builds upon hierarchical centering and parameter expansion techniques to efficiently sample from the posterior distribution. We evaluate the proposed method via extensive simulations and demonstrate its utility with an application to an association study of various complication outcomes related to Type 1 diabetes. This article has supplementary material online.
Metrizable shape and strong shape equivalences

In this paper we construct a functor ˆ : proTop ! proANR which extends Mardeysic correspondence that assigns to every metrizable space its canonical ANR-resolution. Such a functor allows one to deÞne the strong shape category of prospaces and, moreover, to deÞne a class of spaces, called strongly Þbered, that play for strong shape equivalences the role that ANR- spaces play for ordinary shape equivalences. In the last sec- tion we characterize SSDR-promaps, as deÞned by Dydak and Nowak, in terms of the strong homotopy extension property considered by the author.
Hip preservation surgery: surgical care for femoroacetabular impingement and the possibility of preventing hip osteoarthritis

Despite its widespread usage, the hip preservation surgery can be most accurately described as a hypothesis that surgery can preserve a hip and prevent the need for arthroplasty. This premise has not been fully investigated to date, and there exist few summaries of the underlying evidence in regard to the basis of this terminology. This study seeks to define the hip preservation surgery, and then examines this premise critically in the context of treatment for its most commonly treated condition—femoroacetabular impingement. Finally, we report the current level of preservation of the hip that can be expected with current techniques.
Soil Organic Carbon in Particle Size and Density Fractionations under Four Forest Vegetation-Land Use Types in Subtropical China

Data on the effect of vegetation and land use type on soil organic carbon (SOC) distribution in particle-size and density fractions in the subtropical forest region in China will improve our understanding of the C sequestration potential of those different vegetation-land use types. We quantified SOC in particle size (coarse, medium and fine) and density fractions (light and heavy) under four types of common forest vegetation-land uses: an evergreen broad-leaf forest, a pine forest, a managed chestnut forest and an intensively managed bamboo forest in subtropical China. The SOC in the 0–20 and 20–40 cm soil layers was the highest in the bamboo forest (31.6–34.8 g·C·kg−1), followed by the evergreen broad-leaf forest (10.2–19.9 g·C·kg−1), the pine forest (8.5–13.6 g·C·kg−1) and the chestnut forest (6.3–12.2 g·C·kg−1). The SOC was largely in the coarse fraction under the evergreen broad-leaf, pine and bamboo forests, while it was largely in the fine fraction in the chestnut forest, suggesting that SOC in the chestnut forest was likely more stable than that in the other forest vegetation-land use types. The SOC in the light fraction under the four forest vegetation-land use types ranged from 1.4 to 13.1 g·C·kg−1 soil, representing 21%–37% of the total organic C; this suggests that the majority of the SOC was in the better protected, heavy fraction. We conclude that forest vegetation-land use type (and the associated management practices) influenced SOC distribution in particle size and density fractions in the studied subtropical forests in southeastern China.