Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Planning expected-time optimal paths for target search by robot

In this paper, a path planning approach for finding an optimal path is proposed to reduce the expected-time in target search by robot. This approach employs a heuristic algorithm to generate a basic path and minimize the expected-time. Considering different direction may lead to different expected-time in a same loop, a direction choosing method is presented to improve the performance of this heuristic algorithm. Then, based on the improved algorithm, a two-level path planning approach is investigated. At the top level, the improved heuristic algorithm is used to generate a sequence of observation points. At the lower level, the Artificial Potential Field (APF) is employed to plan paths among observation points. Simulations and experiments demonstrated that this approach can reduce the expected time for target search.
Quality of life in multiple sclerosis

“Far better an approximate answer to the right question, which is often vague, than an exact answer to the wrong question, which can always be made precise. ” Tukey JW. Ann Math Statistics 1962: 33 ;13–14 There has been an upsurge in interest in health related quality of life (HRQoL) in the medical literature over the past few years. MEDLINE (1966–98) contains over 24 000 papers identified by the search term quality of life , the vast majority of which were published within the past five years. Of the 100 or so papers linking quality of life and multiple sclerosis , 80% were published since 1991. Despite this level of interest in HRQoL, many clinicians still mistrust such social science type research. Data are perceived to be vague and to lack validity when compared to hard laboratory derived information. We would rather put our faith in our own measurements, or those of …
Dynamically scoped functions as the essence of AOP

The aspect-oriented programming community devotes lots of energy into the provision of complex static language constructs to reason about eventual dynamic properties of a program. Only the focus on a strongly dynamically-natured language construct reveals a very simple mechanism behind the notions of AOP. This paper shows that dynamically scoped functions, together with a simple additive to access previous function definitions, form the essence of aspect-oriented programming. We present a complete executable one page implementation of this idea.
Teaching Proper Technique in the Squat Exercise Through Psychological Modeling

The purpose of this article is to present a multifaceted understanding of the processes underlying psychological modeling and their relationships to learning the free weight squat exercise. In order to benefit from the favorable training adaptations afforded by the barbell squat, performing the exercise with proper technique is absolutely crucial. Proper visual demonstration or modeling is vital for learning a complex motor skill such as the squat. Visual demonstration conveys a vast array of informational cues that are far more relevant to facilitate an observer's motor skill acquisition than information conveyed through verbal instruction. Successful performance of the squat exercise depends on the ability to hold visual symbols in memory for a short interval of time and maintain internal descriptions of the relevant biomechanical factors necessary to execute the motor task efficiently. There are, of course, many factors that influence motor skill acquisition. However, the focus of this article is on those factors directly related to the nature of the modeling process and the effect that process has on learning to perform the squat exercise.
I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional: The Recovery Movement And Other Self-help Fashions

Bound to provoke controversy, a scathing and witty look at America's obsession with self-help. In the name of individualism, Kaminer concludes, the self-help movement has created a cult of victimization in which everyone is labeled abused. But instead of offering a cure, Kaminer offers a perspective that will change the way readers think about recovery.
Electron transport through a quantum dot assisted by cavity photons

We investigate transient transport of electrons through a single quantum dot controlled by a plunger gate. The dot is embedded in a finite wire with length Lx assumed to lie along the x-direction with a parabolic confinement in the y-direction. The quantum wire, originally with hard-wall confinement at its ends, ±Lx/2, is weakly coupled at t = 0 to left and right leads acting as external electron reservoirs. The central system, the dot and the finite wire, is strongly coupled to a single cavity photon mode. A non-Markovian density-matrix formalism is employed to take into account the full electron–photon interaction in the transient regime. In the absence of a photon cavity, a resonant current peak can be found by tuning the plunger-gate voltage to lift a many-body state of the system into the source–drain bias window. In the presence of an x-polarized photon field, additional side peaks can be found due to photon-assisted transport. By appropriately tuning the plunger-gate voltage, the electrons in the left lead are allowed to undergo coherent inelastic scattering to a two-photon state above the bias window if initially one photon was present in the cavity. However, this photon-assisted feature is suppressed in the case of a y-polarized photon field due to the anisotropy of our system caused by its geometry.
PTSD as a mediator between lifetime sexual abuse and substance use among jail diversion participants.

OBJECTIVE Many of the individuals with serious mental illness involved in the criminal justice system have experienced interpersonal victimization, such as sexual abuse, and have high rates of alcohol and drug use disorders. Little attention has been paid to the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its potential role in the substance misuse of offenders with mental illness. METHODS The study used a path analytic framework to test the hypothesis that PTSD mediates the relationship between sexual abuse and level of alcohol and drug use among individuals (N=386) with mental illness enrolled in a multisite (N=7) jail diversion project. RESULTS Sexual abuse was strongly associated with PTSD, which was in turn associated with both heavy drug use and heavy drinking. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that PTSD may be an important target for jail diversion programs.
Roles of c-FLIP in Apoptosis, Necroptosis, and Autophagy

Cellular FLICE (FADD-like IL-1β-converting enzyme)-inhibitory protein (c-FLIP) is a major antiapoptotic protein and an important cytokine and chemotherapy resistance factor that suppresses cytokine- and chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. c-FLIP is expressed as long (c-FLIPL), short (c-FLIPS), and c-FLIPR splice variants in human cells. c-FLIP binds to FADD and/or caspase-8 or -10 and TRAIL receptor 5 (DR5). This interaction in turn prevents Death-Inducing Signaling Complex (DISC) formation and subsequent activation of the caspase cascade. c-FLIPL and c-FLIPS are also known to have multifunctional roles in various signaling pathways, as well as activating and/or upregulating several cytoprotective and pro-survival signaling proteins including Akt, ERK, and NF-κB. In addition to its role in apoptosis, c-FLIP is involved in programmed necroptosis (necrosis) and autophagy. Necroptosis is regulated by the Ripoptosome, which is a signaling intracellular cell death platform complex. The Ripoptosome contains receptor-interacting protein-1/Receptor-Interacting Protein-3 (RIP1), caspase-8, caspase-10, FADD, and c-FLIP isoforms involved in switching apoptotic and necroptotic cell death. c-FLIP regulates the Ripoptosome; in addition to its role in apoptosis, it is therefore also involved in necrosis. c-FLIPL attenuates autophagy by direct acting on the autophagy machinery by competing with Atg3 binding to LC3, thereby decreasing LC3 processing and inhibiting autophagosome formation. Upregulation of c-FLIP has been found in various tumor types, and its silencing has been shown to restore apoptosis triggered by cytokines and various chemotherapeutic agents. Hence, c-FLIP is an important target for cancer therapy. This review focuses on (1) the anti-apoptotic role of c-FLIP splice variants in preventing apoptosis and inducing cytokine and chemotherapy drug resistance, as well as its roles in necrosis and autophagy, and (2) modulation of c-FLIP expression as a means to enhance apoptosis and modulate necrosis and autophagy in cancer cells.
Abnormal functional connectivity of the amygdala is associated with depression in Parkinson's disease

Depressive symptoms are common in Parkinson's disease (PD), but the pathophysiology and neural basis underlying depression in PD is not well understood. Abnormal functional connectivity of the amygdala with various cortical and subcortical areas has been observed in major depressive disorder, indicating that dysfunction of the corticolimbic network may be involved in the pathogenesis of major depressive disorder. However, little is known about alterations of amygdala functional connectivity in depressed PD patients. In the present study, 20 depressed PD patients, 40 nondepressed PD patients, and 43 matched healthy controls underwent neuropsychological tests and resting‐state functional MRI scanning. Between‐group differences in amygdala functional connectivity network were examined using t tests. Compared to the nondepressed PD patients, depressed PD patients showed increased left amygdala functional connectivity with the bilateral mediodorsal thalamus, right amygdala functional connectivity with the left superior temporal gyrus, and left calcarine gyrus. Compared to the healthy controls, the depressed PD group also showed increased left amygdala functional connectivity with the bilateral mediodorsal thalamus, but decreased left amygdala functional connectivity with the left putamen, left inferior frontal gyrus, and the right cerebellum, as well as decreased right amygdala functional connectivity with the left inferior orbitofrontal gyrus, the left gyrus rectus, and the right putamen. The increased connectivity between limbic regions and decreased connectivity between the corticolimbic networks may reflect impaired high‐order cortical regulatory effects on the emotion‐related limbic areas, which may lead to mood dysregulation. Our study should advance the understanding of neural mechanisms underlying depression in PD. © 2014 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
Management of patients with polycythaemia vera: results of a survey among Swedish haematologists

Abstract: The prevailing attitudes regarding diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in patients with polycythaemia vera (PV) among Swedish haematologists were surveyed by way of a mailed questionnaire in August 2002. Among diagnostic procedures frequent use is reported for arterial O2 saturation, spleen size determination, bone marrow histology, serum erythropoietin, serum cobalamins and leukocyte alkaline phosphatase score, while direct determination of the red blood cell mass is used infrequently (seldom or never by 82%). Among therapeutic modalities hydroxyurea and phlebotomy alone were most frequently used. The 32P therapy was used at least sometimes by 57% of the physicians, and more widely in the university clinics. Anagrelide and alfa‐interferon was used in a minority of patients only. The use of prophylactic acetylsalicylic acid was very variable. The majority of the physicians had an aim for their phlebotomy treatment at a level of 0.45 or less, but 21% used a level of 0.46–0.49 and 8% a level of 0.55–0.60 (in younger patients). The platelet level, at which myelosuppressive therapy was initiated, also varied, from 400 × 109/L to >1500 × 109/L. It can be concluded that in practical clinical work in Sweden the diagnosis of PV is established by frequent use of serum erythropoietin, bone marrow examination and spleen size determination. The use of different therapeutic modalities is very variable. Many physicians carry out their phlebotomy treatment with less intensity compared with national and international recommendations.
The Greatest Generation Meets Its Greatest Challenge: Vision Loss and Depression in Older Adults

Having lived through the Great Depression and World War II, older adults now face the challenge of vision loss in record numbers. Depression is closely associated with functional loss and social isolation in late-life vision loss. The principles of assisting those who are aging will also benefit those who are aging with a visual impairment. They include recognizing depression, addressing multiple health concerns, promoting well-being, using a client-centered approach, and working collaboratively with the medical community and aging network.
PRDA: polynomial regression-based privacy-preserving data aggregation for wireless sensor networks

In wireless sensor networks, data aggregation protocols are used to prolong the network lifetime. However, the problem of how to perform data aggregation while preserving data privacy is challenging. This paper presents a polynomial regression-based data aggregation protocol that preserves the privacy of sensor data. In the proposed protocol, sensor nodes represent their data as polynomial functions to reduce the amount of data transmission. In order to protect data privacy, sensor nodes secretly send coefficients of the polynomial functions to data aggregators instead of their original data. Data aggregation is performed on the basis of the concealed polynomial coefficients, and the base station is able to extract a good approximation of the network data from the aggregation result. The security analysis and simulation results show that the proposed scheme is able to reduce the amount of data transmission in the network while preserving data privacy. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line (C666‐1) consistently harbouring Epstein‐Barr virus

We have established a cell line (C666‐1) from undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This cell line consistently carries the Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) in long‐term cultures. C666‐1 is a subclone of its parental cell line, C666, derived from an NPC xenograft of southern Chinese origin. It grows as an adherent culture and lacks contact inhibition. In addition, it is tumorigenic in athymic nude mice. The cells consistently express EBV‐encoded RNAs and are positively stained for cytokeratin, an epithelial marker. In addition, they express EBNA1 protein, LMP1 and LMP2 transcripts and thus resemble the EBV latency II pattern. The virus genotype is EBV‐1 with the latent membrane protein 1 gene showing a 30‐bp deletion at the carboxyl terminus, both consistent with findings in southern Chinese NPC tumours. Cytogenetic analysis revealed a sub‐diploid status with a chromosomal modal number of 45. C666‐1 is unique among NPC cell lines in that it carries EBV. These cells may serve as a good investigative tool as the viral latency pattern and genotype are observed in the majority of primary NPC biopsies from Chinese patients. Int. J. Cancer 83:121–126, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Indices of Kidney Damage and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in a Semiurban Community of Iloye, South-West Nigeria

Health screening exercises are important, as they enable early detection of diseases in individual subjects and also enable data collection, useful in estimating disease burden in the community. This paper describes the findings of a health screening exercise conducted in a semiurban population of Iloye, by the Rotary Club of Ota, Ogun State, Western Nigeria, as a part of its community-oriented services and projects. Three hundred and twenty six community members were screened during the exercise. There were 189 (57.97%) females and 137 (42.03%) males, with a mean age of 43.5 ± 14.88 yrs. Urinary abnormality and/or creatinine clearance less than 90 mls/min was detected in 147 (45.09%) participants. 99 (30.37%) participants had proteinuria, 16 (4.91%) had haematuria, and 5 (1.53%) participants had both haematuria and proteinuria. Eight (2.45%) participants had GFR less than 60 mls/min. Elevated blood pressure was found in 152 (46.63%), while 3 (0.9%) participants had diabetes, 71 (21.8%) were obese, 16 (4.9%) had hypercholesterolaemia, and 3 (0.9%) had hypertriglyceridaemia. Prevalence of both smoking and alcohol consumption was 6 (1.84%). It was concluded that the prevalence of indices of kidney damage and cardiovascular risk factors is high in Iloye community.
Effects of black liquor shocks on activated sludge treatment of bleached kraft pulp mill wastewater

Kraft pulp mills use activated sludge systems to remove organic matter from effluents. Process streams may appear as toxic spills in treatment plant effluents, such as black liquor, which is toxic to microorganisms of the activated sludge. The present study evaluates the effects of black liquor shocks in activated sludge systems. Four black liquor shocks from 883 to 3,225 mg chemical oxygen demand−COD L−1 were applied during 24 hours in a continuously operating lab−scale activated sludge system. Removal efficiencies of COD, color and specific compounds were determined. Moreover, specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR), sludge volumetric index (SVI) and indicator microorganisms were evaluated. Results show that the addition of black liquor caused an increase in COD removal (76−67%) immediately post shock; followed two days later by a decrease (−19−50%). On the other hand, SOUR ranged between 0.152 and 0.336 mgO2 g−1 volatile suspended solids−VSS• min−1 during shocks, but the initial value was reestablished at hour 24. When the COD concentration of the shock was higher than 1,014 mg/L, the abundance of stalked ciliates and rotifers dropped. Finally, no changes in SVI were observed, with values remaining in the range 65.8−40.2 mL g−1 total suspended solids−TSS during the entire operating process. Based on the results, the principal conclusion is that the activated sludge system with the biomass adapted to the kraft pulp effluent could resist a black liquor shock with 3,225 mgCOD L−1 of concentration during 24 h, under this study's conditions.
Alpha 1‐antichymotrypsin is strongly immunolocalized at normal human and rat neuromuscular junctions

α1‐Antichymotrypsin (α1‐ACT) is an early‐stage acute‐phase plasma protein and a serpin that preferentially inactivates chymotrypsin, cathepsin G, and chymase. Using immunofluorescence with four rabbit polyclonal and two monoclonal specific antibodies against human α1‐ACT, we have localized α1‐ACT at human and rat neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). Strong α1‐ACT immunoreactivity (IR) was present at all NMJs identified by bound α‐bungarotoxin (α‐BT). α1‐ACT immunoreactivity typically extended slightly deeper into the muscle fiber than α‐BT, and it closely co‐localized with immunoreactivities of post‐synaptic desmin, beta‐amyloid precursor protein, and dystrophin at the same double‐ or triple‐labeled NMJs. Topography of α1‐ACT‐IR was the same at human and rat NMJs. The muscle non junctional sarcolemma was either not immunoreactive or was only very slightly so. When the primary antibody was omitted, absorbed, or replaced by a non‐immune serum, there was no immunostaining. Thus, αl‐ACT is a novel component of the NMJ. Although its role in the postsynaptic domain of the NMJ is unknown, it might be involved in the interaction between the presynaptic and postsynaptic components and/or inhibit excessive or unwanted serine proteases that may exist in the region of the NMJ. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Exploring the Structural and Functional Organization of the Dorsal Zone of Auditory Cortex in Hearing and Deafness

ii Statement of Co-Authorship . iv Acknowledgements . v Table of contents. vi List of Figures . xi List of Abbreviations and Symbols . xiv Chapter 1: General Introduction . 1 1.1 Overview . 1 1.2 The auditory system . 2 1.2.1 Acquisition of auditory information by the nervous system . 2 1.2.2 Interpretation of auditory information by the nervous system . 3 1.3 Sensory loss and the cerebral cortex . 5 1.3. 1 Short-term removal of sensory input . 6 1.3. 2 Blindness and visual deprivation . 7 1.3. 3 Deafness and auditory deprivation . 10 1.3. 4 General principles of cross-modal plasticity . 13 1.3. 5 Developmental considerations . 14 1.4 Thesis overview. 15 1.5 References . 17 Chapter 2: Cross-modal reorganization of cortical afferents to dorsal auditory cortex following earlyand late-onset deafness . 27 2.1 Abstract. 27 2.2 Introduction . 28 2.3 Materials and Methods . 30 2.3. 1 Deafening Procedures . 33 2.3. 2 Tracer injections. 35
Flexible Developable Surfaces

We introduce a discrete paradigm for developable surface modeling. Unlike previous attempts at interactive developable surface modeling, our system is able to enforce exact developability at every step, ensuring that users do not inadvertently suggest configurations that leave the manifold of admissible folds of a flat two‐dimensional sheet. With methods for navigation of this highly nonlinear constraint space in place, we show how to formulate a discrete mean curvature bending energy measuring how far a given discrete developable surface is from being flat. This energy enables relaxation of user‐generated configurations and suggests a straightforward subdivision scheme that produces admissible smoothed versions of bent regions of our discrete developable surfaces.
Modeling the consistency of hypoglycemic symptoms: high variability in diabetes.

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to examine symptoms of hypoglycemia, to develop a method to quantify individual differences in the consistency of symptom reporting, and to investigate which factors affect these differences. METHODS Participants recorded their symptoms with every episode of hypoglycemia over a 9-12-month period. A novel logistic-type latent variable model was developed to quantify the consistency of each individual's symptom complex and was used to analyze data from 59 subjects (median age, 57.5 years [range, 22-74 years], 65% male, 77% type 1 diabetes) who had experienced 19 or more hypoglycemic episodes. The association between the calculated consistency parameter and age, sex, type and duration of diabetes, and C-peptide and serum angiotensin converting enzyme concentration was examined using a generalized linear model. Analyses were performed under a Bayesian framework, using Markov chain Monte-Carlo methodology. RESULTS Individuals exhibited substantial differences in between-episode consistency of their symptom reports, with only a small number of individuals exhibiting high levels of consistency. Men were more consistent than women. No other factors affected consistency in patients with normal hypoglycemia awareness. CONCLUSIONS By using a novel stochastic model as a quantitative tool to compare the consistency of hypoglycemic symptom reporting, much greater intra-individual variability in symptom reporting was identified than has been recognized previously. This is relevant when instructing patients on identification of hypoglycemic symptoms and in interpreting symptomatic responses during experimentally induced hypoglycemia.