Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Robot Task Planner that Merges Symbolic and Geometric Reasoning

We have developed an original planner, aSyMov, that has been specially designed to address intricate robot planning problems where geometric constraints cannot be simply "abstracted" in a way that has no influence on the symbolic plan. This paper presents the ingredients that allowed us to establish an effective link between the representations used by a symbolic task planner and the representations used by a realistic motion and manipulation planning library. The architecture and the main plan search strategies are presented together with an illustrative example solved by a prototype implementation of aSyMov. At each step of the planning process both symbolic and geometric constraints are considered. Besides, the planning process tries to arbitrate between finding a plan with the level of knowledge it has already acquired, or "investing" more in a deeper knowledge of the topology of the different configuration spaces it manipulates.
Ontogeny of kainate-induced gamma oscillations in the rat CA3 hippocampus in vitro

GABAergic inhibition, which is instrumental in the generation of hippocampal gamma oscillations, undergoes significant changes during development. However, the development of hippocampal gamma oscillations remains largely unknown. Here, we explored the developmental features of kainate-induced oscillations (KA-Os) in CA3 region of rat hippocampal slices. Up to postnatal day P5, the bath application of kainate failed to evoke any detectable oscillations. KA-Os emerged by the end of the first postnatal week; these were initially weak, slow (20–25 Hz, beta range) and were poorly synchronized with CA3 units and synaptic currents. Local field potential (LFP) power, synchronization of units and frequency of KA-Os increased during the second postnatal week to attain gamma (30–40 Hz) frequency by P15–21. Both beta and gamma KA-Os are characterized by alternating sinks and sources in the pyramidal cell layer, likely generated by summation of the action potential—associated currents and GABAergic synaptic currents, respectively. Blockade of GABA(A) receptors with gabazine completely suppressed KA-Os at all ages indicating that GABAergic mechanisms are instrumental in their generation. Bumetanide, a NKCC1 chloride co-transporter antagonist which renders GABAergic responses inhibitory in the immature hippocampal neurons, failed to induce KA-Os at P2–4 indicating that the absence of KA-Os in neonates is not due to depolarizing actions of GABA. The linear developmental profile, electrographic features and pharmacological properties indicate that CA3 hippocampal beta and gamma KA-Os are fundamentally similar in their generative mechanisms and their delayed onset and developmental changes likely reflect the development of perisomatic GABAergic inhibition.
Nash Bargaining and Proportional Fairness for Wireless Systems

Nash bargaining and proportional fairness are popular strategies for distributing resources among competing users. Under the conventional assumption of a convex compact utility set, both techniques yield the same unique solution. In this paper, we show that uniqueness is preserved for a broader class of logarithmically convex sets. Then, we study a scenario where the performance of each user is measured by its signal-to-interference ratio (SIR). The SIR is modeled by an axiomatic framework of log-convex interference functions. No power constraints are assumed. It is shown how existence and uniqueness of a proportionally fair optimizer depends on the interference coupling among the users. Finally, we analyze the feasible SIR set. Conditions are derived under which the Nash bargaining strategy has a single-valued solution.
Colchicine Acutely Suppresses Local Cardiac Production of Inflammatory Cytokines in Patients With an Acute Coronary Syndrome

Background Interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-18, and downstream IL-6 are key inflammatory cytokines in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease. Colchicine is believed to block the NLRP3 inflammasome, a cytosolic complex responsible for the production of IL-1β and IL-18. In vivo effects of colchicine on cardiac cytokine release have not been previously studied. This study aimed to (1) assess the local cardiac production of inflammatory cytokines in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), stable coronary artery disease and in controls; and (2) determine whether acute administration of colchicine inhibits their production. Methods and Results Forty ACS patients, 33 with stable coronary artery disease, and 10 controls, were included. ACS and stable coronary artery disease patients were randomized to oral colchicine treatment (1 mg followed by 0.5 mg 1 hour later) or no colchicine, 6 to 24 hours prior to cardiac catheterization. Blood samples from the coronary sinus, aortic root (arterial), and lower right atrium (venous) were collected and tested for IL-1β, IL-18, and IL-6 using ELISA. In ACS patients, coronary sinus levels of IL-1β, IL-18, and IL-6 were significantly higher than arterial and venous levels (P=0.017, <0.001 and <0.001, respectively). Transcoronary (coronary sinus-arterial) gradients for IL-1β, IL-18, and IL-6 were highest in ACS patients and lowest in controls (P=0.077, 0.033, and 0.014, respectively). Colchicine administration significantly reduced transcoronary gradients of all 3 cytokines in ACS patients by 40% to 88% (P=0.028, 0.032, and 0.032, for IL-1β, IL-18, and IL-6, respectively). Conclusions ACS patients exhibit increased local cardiac production of inflammatory cytokines. Short-term colchicine administration rapidly and significantly reduces levels of these cytokines.
Using Measurement Models to Understand Eyewitness Identification

Much research effort has been expended improving police lineup procedures used in collecting eyewitness identification evidence. Sequential presentation of lineup members, in contrast to simultaneous presentation, has been posited to increase witness accuracy, though analyses based in Signal Detection Theory (SDT) have challenged these claims. A possible way to clarify the effect of presentation format on witness accuracy is to develop SDT-based measurement models, which characterise decision performance in terms of psychologically-relevant parameters, particularly discriminability and response bias. A model of the sequential lineup task was developed with a “first-above-criterion” decision rule, alongside a simultaneous model with a “maximum familiarity” decision rule. These models were fit to a corpus of data comparing simultaneous and sequential lineup performance. Results showed no difference in discriminability between the procedures and more conservative responding for the sequential lineup. Future work will examine criterion setting in the sequential lineup and model alternative decision rules.
Demonstration and quantitation of activation of the first complement in human serum

Activation of the first component of human complement (C1) in human sera can be readily detected in double immunodiffusion studies with anti-C1q, anti- C1r, and anti-C1s as it produces a characteristic pattern quite different from that of precursor C1. Native macromolecular C1 gives a continuous line of precipitation with antisera to C1q, C1r, and C1s in double diffusion studies. After activation of C1 by incubation of serum with complement activators, three major changes occurred in the Ouchterlony pattern. First, spurring of the C1s precipitin line over that of macromolecular C1, indicating release of C1s from C1, was observed with low doses of activator. Release of C1s was quantitated by single radial diffusion and shown to be complete with the highest activator dose examined. Second, C1q was released with larger activator doses as shown also by spurring of the precipitin line due to this component over the remaining macromolecular C1. Third, and most surprising, C1r antigenicity was progressively lost as the activator dose was increased and no C1r line remained with the highest dose of activator tested. This was not true with C1s as there was no change in the total C1s concentration in serum incubated with various activator doses. These observations provide two approaches to the quantitation of C1 activation in human serum. First, C1r and C1s can be quantitated by single radial diffusion. A decrease in the C1r:C1s ratio correlates with activation. Second, C1s released by the activation can be quantitated by single radial diffusion if the agarose contains high concentrations of anti-C1q to confine C1, also containing C1s, to the area near the application well, and lesser concentrations of anti-C1s to permit free C1s to produce a measurable ring. The extent of release of C1s also correlates with activation. These immunochemical techniques to quantitate C1 activation directly inserum do not require specialized reagents. It is hoped that they will be useful in screening pathological sera and in monitoring the status of the complement system in patients.
Anti-TNF treatment blocks the induction of T cell-dependent humoral responses

Objective Experimental and human data suggest that tumour necrosis factor (TNF) blockade may affect B cell responses, in particular the induction of T cell-dependent (TD) humoral immunity. This study aimed to assess this hypothesis directly in patients with arthritis by analysing longitudinally the effect of TNF blockade on B cell activation and the maturation of humoral responses against TD and T cell-independent vaccines. Materials and methods Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 56 spondyloarthritis patients before and after treatment with either non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) alone or TNF blockers and analysed for B cell activation, plasma cell differentiation, germinal centre versus extra-follicular B cell maturation, and somatic hypermutation. Vaccine responses to hepatitis B and Streptococcus pneumoniae were measured by ELISA. Results TNF blockade augmented B cell activation as reflected by the expression of early activation markers, CD40, and costimulatory molecules, without affecting differentiation towards plasmablasts. This was associated with a specific increase of the unswitched fraction of circulating memory B cells and a decreased level of somatic hypermutation in anti-TNF treated patients, indicating an impairment of the germinal centre-dependent B cell maturation. In agreement with these findings, TNF blockade profoundly suppressed the response to the TD vaccination against hepatitis B, whereas the T cell-independent response against pneumococcal polysaccharides was only modestly affected. Conclusions These data indicate that TNF blockade severely impedes the induction of primary TD humoral responses, probably by interfering with the germinal centre reaction.
Upward Topological Book Embeddings of DAGs

Let G be a directed acyclic graph (DAG). An upward (k,h)-topological book embedding of G is an upward book embedding on k pages of a subdivision of G where every edge is replaced by a path having at most h+2 vertices. In this paper it is proved that every DAG with n vertices admits an upward (d+1, 2⌈logdn⌉-1)-topological book embedding, where d is any integer such that d≥2. The result extends to the upward case well-known theorems for topological book embeddings of undirected graphs [H. Enomoto and M. S. Miyauchi, SIAM J. Discrete Math., 12 (1999), pp. 337–341], [M. S. Miyauchi, IEICE Transactions, 88-A (2005), pp. 1136–1139].
Cross-Layer Error Control Optimization in 3G LTE

3G long-term evolution (LTE) is a recent effort taken by cellular industries to step into wireless broadband market. The key enhancements target an introduction of new all- IP architecture, enhanced link layer and radio access with OFDM modulation and multiple antenna techniques. In this study, we focus on the overhead deriving from the multilayer ARQ employed at the link and transport layers. To the aim of reducing unnecessary burden on the wireless link, we propose a cross-layer ARQ approach, called ARQ Proxy, which substitutes the transmission of TCP ACK packet with a short MAC layer request on the radio link. Packet identification is achieved through association of a hash function to the raw packet data. Performance of the ARQ Proxy is evaluated using EURAE extensions for ns2 simulator. Results demonstrate significant improvements in terms of system capacity, TCP throughput performance, and higher tolerance to transmission errors.
Effect of magnetic resonance imaging on microleakage of amalgam restorations: an in vitro study.

To the Editor With great interest, we have read the article by Shahidi et al entitled “Effect of magnetic resonance imaging on microleakage of amalgam restorations: an in vitro study” that is published in Dentomaxillofacial Radiology. The first report on the role of exposure to MRI or microwave radiation emitted by mobile phones in enhancing the release of mercury from dental amalgam restoration was published in 2008. Furthermore, Mortazavi et al have recently studied the effects of stronger magnetic fields and provided further support for the adverse effect of MRI in increasing the release of mercury from dental amalgam fillings. It is worth mentioning that results obtained in studies performed on the role of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in MRI on the microleakage of amalgam, including the study conducted by Shahidi et al are strongly in line with these findings. Shahidi et al in their article evaluated the effects of magnetic fields of MRI on microleakage of amalgam restorations. They found higher microleakage scores in amalgam restorated teeth which were exposed to MRI procedures. Interestingly, these authors clearly stated that the increase in microleakage following MRI might be attributed to the thermoelectromagnetic convection induced by exposure to EMFs that was supposed to be responsible for the enhancement of the diffusion process, grain boundary migration and vacancy formation resulting in microleakage. However, some researchers believe that no conclusive evidence exists to prove such temperature changes following common MRIs. Görgülü et al evaluated the heating and magnetic field interactions of fixed orthodontic appliances with different wires and ligaments in a MRI environment. The temperature changes of the specimens were considered to be within acceptable ranges. None of the groups exhibited excessive heating (the highest temperature change was 3.04 °C). Similarly, Ayyıldız et al evaluated the heating and magnetic field interactions of fixed partial dentures in a 3.0-T MRI environment. The study findings indicated that patients with fixed partial dentures (single crown or bridge) fabricated from Co–Cr, Ni–Cr and zirconia substructures may safely undergo MRI at up to 3.0-T magnetic field strengths. In their study, none of the groups exhibited excessive heating (mean temperature change of ,1.4 °C). Regier et al stated that the radiofrequency-induced heating of orthodontic brackets for all orthodontic appliances during high-field MRI at 3.0 T can be categorized as negligibly low and temperature elevations ranged from20.3 °C to 0.2 °C. Therefore, it seems that the magnitude of temperature increase was not high enough to justify this theory. Hence, finding alternative mechanisms such as accelerated corrosion due to galvanic effect for explaining the increased microleakage of amalgam will be critical for better understanding of phenomena such as microleakage and increased mercury release from dental amalgam fillings after exposure to EMFs.
Sleep Enhances Recognition Memory for Conspecifics as Bound into Spatial Context

Social memory refers to the fundamental ability of social species to recognize their conspecifics in quite different contexts. Sleep has been shown to benefit consolidation, especially of hippocampus-dependent episodic memory whereas effects of sleep on social memory are less well studied. Here, we examined the effect of sleep on memory for conspecifics in rats. To discriminate interactions between the consolidation of social memory and of spatial context during sleep, adult Long Evans rats performed on a social discrimination task in a radial arm maze. The Learning phase comprised three 10-min sampling sessions in which the rats explored a juvenile rat presented at a different arm of the maze in each session. Then the rats were allowed to sleep (n = 18) or stayed awake (n = 18) for 120 min. During the following 10-min Test phase, the familiar juvenile rat (of the Learning phase) was presented along with a novel juvenile rat, each rat at an opposite arm of the maze. Significant social recognition memory, as indicated by preferential exploration of the novel over the familiar conspecific, occurred only after post-learning sleep, but not after wakefulness. Sleep, compared with wakefulness, significantly enhanced social recognition during the first minute of the Test phase. However, memory expression depended on the spatial configuration: Significant social recognition memory emerged only after sleep when the rat encountered the novel conspecific at a place different from that of the familiar juvenile in the last sampling session before sleep. Though unspecific retrieval-related effects cannot entirely be excluded, our findings suggest that sleep, rather than independently enhancing social and spatial aspects of memory, consolidates social memory by acting on an episodic representation that binds the memory of the conspecific together with the spatial context in which it was recently encountered.
The Relationship of Personality Traits to the Employment Status of Persons who are Blind

Two levels of education (high school or less and training beyond high school) and nine content scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) were used to predict employment-related outcomes among a sample of 109 blind adults. It was found that education, anger, cynicism, obsessiveness, and family problems were significant predictors of employability. Furthermore, 80 percent of the employed subjects and 71.4 percent of the unemployed subjects were classified by low self-esteem, education, and cynicism and the underemployed had higher mean scores than the nonunderemployed on cynicism and Type A behavior.
Numerical Activities and Information Learned at Home Link to the Exact Numeracy Skills in 5–6 Years-Old Children

It is currently accepted that certain activities within the family environment contribute to develop early numerical skills before schooling. However, it is unknown whether this early experience influences both the exact and the approximate representation of numbers, and if so, which is more important for numerical tasks. In the present study the mathematical performance of 110 children (mean age 5 years 11 months) was evaluated using a battery that included tests of approximate and exact numerical abilities, as well as everyday numerical problems. Moreover, children were assessed on their knowledge of number information learned at home. The parents of the participants provided information regarding daily activities of the children and socio-demographic characteristics of the family. The results showed that the amount of numerical information learned at home was a significant predictor of participants' performance on everyday numerical problems and exact number representations, even after taking account of age, memory span and socio-economic and educational status of the family. We also found that particular activities, such as board games, correlate with the children's counting skills, which are foundational for arithmetic. Crucially, tests relying on approximate representations were not predicted by the numerical knowledge acquired at home. The present research supports claims about the importance and nature of home experiences in the child's acquisition of mathematics.
Bacterial community composition in low-flowing river water with different sources of pollutants.

Pollution of water resources is a major risk to human health and water quality throughout the world. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of pollutant sources from agricultural activities, urban runoffs, and runoffs from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) on bacterial communities in a low-flowing river. Bacterial community structure was monitored using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and 16S rRNA gene clone library. The results were analyzed using nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and UniFrac, coupled with principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) to compare diversity, abundance, community structure, and specific functional groups of bacteria in surface water affected by nonpoint sources. From all the sampling points, Bacteria were numerically dominated by three phyla – the Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Cyanobacteria – accounting for the majority of taxa detected. Overall results, using the b diversity measures UniFrac, coupled with PCoA, showed that bacterial contamination of the low-flowing river was not significantly different between agricultural activities and urban runoff.
Fundus autofluorescence in exudative age-related macular degeneration

Aim: To evaluate the distribution of fundus autofluorescence in patients with age-related macular degeneration and choroidal neovascularisation (CNV). Methods: Colour fundus photographs, fundus fluorescein angiograms (FFA) and fundus autofluorescence images were obtained from a group of 40 patients (43 eyes) with age-related macular degeneration and purely classic or occult CNV. Only patients with newly diagnosed CNV and in whom autofluorescence images were obtained within 2 weeks from FFA were included. The distribution of autofluorescence was qualitatively evaluated, and the findings compared with those from colour fundus photographs and FFA. Results: 29 (67%) eyes had classic CNV and 14 (33%) had occult CNV. In 26 (90%) eyes with classic CNV, a low autofluorescence signal was detected at the site of the CNV; in 7 (50%) eyes with occult CNV, multiple foci of low autofluorescence signal were detected. Outside the area affected by the lesion, homogeneous autofluorescence was observed in most of the cases (n = 33, 77%). Similarly, homogeneous autofluorescence was commonly observed in fellow eyes (62%). A pattern of focal increased autofluorescence was rarely seen in eyes with CNV (n = 4, 9%) or in fellow eyes (n = 4, 15%). In 11 of 43 (25%) eyes, areas of increased autofluorescence, other than a pattern of focal increased autofluorescence, were detected. In four patients, autofluorescence images had been obtained before the development of CNV; in none was any increased autofluorescence detected before the formation of CNV. Conclusions: Distinct patterns of autofluorescence were observed in eyes with pure classic and occult CNV. Increased autofluorescence was rarely seen in eyes with CNV and in fellow eyes, suggesting that increased autofluorescence, and thus, retinal pigment epithelium lipofuscin, may not play an essential part in the formation of CNV.
Nanoparticle delivery of anticancer drugs overcomes multidrug resistance in breast cancer

Abstract Breast cancer is a serious threat to women's health, because multidrug resistance (MDR) has hampered treatment and prognosis. Nanodelivery of anticancer agents is a new technology to be exploited in the treatment of patients, because it bypasses multispecific drug efflux transporters such as P-glycoprotein (ABCB1), multidrug resistance protein-1 (MRP1, ABCC1) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP, ABCG2). Drugs can be delivered to tumor tissue by passive and active tumor targeting strategies, which may reduce or reverse drug resistance. This review will mainly focus on MDR-associated proteins, as well as various nanoparticle formulations developed to overcome MDR in breast cancer.