Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gossip consensus and averaging algorithms with quantization

We study distributed consensus problems of multi-agent systems on directed networks and subject to quantized information flow. For the communication among component agents, particular attention is given to the gossip type, which models their asynchronous behaviors; for quantization effects, each agent's state is abstracted to be an integer. The central question investigated is how to design distributed algorithms and what connectivity of networks that together lead to consensus. This investigation is carried out for both general consensus and average consensus; for each case, a class of algorithms is proposed, under which a necessary and sufficient graphical condition is derived to guarantee the corresponding consensus. In particular, the obtained graphical condition ensuring average consensus is weaker than those in the literature for either real-valued or quantized states, in the sense that it does not require symmetric (or balanced) network topologies.
Re-examining the Nicosia-Tomei robot observer-controller from a backstepping perspective

Many robot controllers require not only link position measurements but also link velocity measurements; however, most robotic systems are only equipped with link position measurement devices. To address this problem, the authors present an observer-based controller for the link position tracking, output feedback control of robot manipulators. The approach is based on an observed integrator backstepping procedure which allows the authors to obtain a semi-global exponential stability result for the link position-velocity tracking error. Implementation of the proposed controller on a two-link direct-drive manipulator produces results which indicate good link position tracking performance and robustness against payload variations.
Grid-based GA path planning with improved cost function for an over-actuated hover-capable AUV

For an AUV to perform a long-range mission with its maximum endurance, its energy consumption during transit must be kept to a minimum. This paper presents an improved cost function for a grid-based genetic algorithm (GA) path planning in 2D static environments. The proposed function consists of energy consumption terms that are estimated according to dynamics of a hover-capable AUV - notably Delphin2 AUV. It seeks for a path that requires least effort for the vehicle to move along. A simulation was written in Matlab and the outcomes of the GA with the improved cost function are compared with the ones of a GA with an optimal distance approach as well as an A* approach. It is found that outcomes of an improved cost function require less energy compared with the other techniques.
A Potential Perylene Diimide Dimer‐Based Acceptor Material for Highly Efficient Solution‐Processed Non‐Fullerene Organic Solar Cells with 4.03% Efficiency

A highly efficient acceptor material for organic solar cells (OSCs)--based on perylene diimide (PDI) dimers--shows significantly reduced aggregation compared to monomeric PDI. The dimeric PDI shows a best power conversion efficiency (PCE) approximately 300 times that of the monomeric PDI when blended with a conjugate polymer (BDTTTT-C-T) and with 1,8-diiodooctane as co-solvent (5%). This shows that non-fullerene materials also hold promise for efficient OSCs.
Outcomes of Antepartum and Postpartum Obstetric Admissions to the Intensive Care Unit of A Tertiary University Hospital: An 8-Year Review.

Objective Although their rates are decreasing, pregnancy-related mortality and morbidity are problems worldwide. In this study, we aimed to review the characteristics, diagnoses, required interventions and outcomes of obstetric patients admitted between 2006 and 2014 to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a tertiary university hospital to provide an indicator for improving the management of critically ill obstetric patients. Methods A retrospective study of hospital records of obstetric admissions to the ICU was conducted. Results The pregnancy-related ICU admission rate was 0.21% among all deliveries during the study period. Nine antepartum (mean gestational age: 23 weeks) and 48 postpartum (mean gestational age: 34 weeks) obstetric ICU admissions were included. Most obstetric patients admitted antepartum were primiparous (88.8%), whereas those admitted postpartum were multiparous (64.6%). The mean ICU stay was 7 days among the patients admitted antepartum and 6 days among those admitted postpartum. Common medical reasons for ICU admission were respiratory failure and HELLP syndrome in both groups; DIC and eclampsia were also medical reasons causing ICU admission among the postpartum patients. Mechanical ventilation and blood derivative transfusion were the most common interventions required during the ICU stay of the obstetric patients. Maternal death was unique to the patients admitted postpartum (6 patients, 12.5%). Conclusion We reviewed obstetric admissions to our institution over an 8-year period. We believe that a nationwide study in Turkey that provides an indicator of the frequency, reasons of ICU admission and outcome of obstetric patients is required to improve the quality of intensive care.
A Physical Relationship between Electron-Proton Temperature Equilibration and Mach Number in Fast Collisionless Shocks

The analysis of Balmer-dominated optical spectra from nonradiative (adiabatic) SNRs has shown that the ratio of the electron to proton temperature at the blast wave is close to unity at vS ≲ 400 km s-1 but declines sharply down to the minimum value of me/mp dictated by the jump conditions at shock speeds exceeding 2000 km s-1. We propose a physical model for the heating of electrons and ions in non-cosmic-ray-dominated, strong shocks (vS > 400 km s-1) wherein the electrons are heated by lower hybrid waves immediately ahead of the shock front. These waves arise naturally from the cosmic ray pressure gradient upstream from the shock. Our model predicts a nearly constant level of electron heating over a wide range of shock speeds, producing a relationship (Te/Tp)0 ∝ v (∝M-2) that is fully consistent with the observations.
Glutamate acts at NMDA receptors on fresh bovine and on cultured human retinal pigment epithelial cells to trigger release of ATP

The photoreceptors lie between the inner retina and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The release of glutamate by the phototoreceptors can signal changes in light levels to inner retinal neurons, but the role of glutamate in communicating with the RPE is unknown. Since RPE cells are known to release ATP, we asked whether glutamate could trigger ATP release from RPE cells and whether this altered cell signalling. Stimulation of the apical face of fresh bovine RPE eyecups with 100 μm NMDA increased ATP levels more than threefold, indicating that both receptors for NMDA and release of ATP occurred across the apical membrane of fresh RPE cells. NMDA increased ATP levels bathing cultured human ARPE‐19 cells more than twofold, with NMDA receptor inhibitors MK‐801 and d‐AP5 preventing this release. Blocking the glycine site of the NMDA receptor with 5,7‐dichlorokynurenic acid prevented ATP release from ARPE‐19 cells. Release was also blocked by channel blocker NPPB and Ca2+ chelator BAPTA, but not by cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) blocker glibenclamide or vesicular release inhibitor brefeldin A. Glutamate produced a dose‐dependent release of ATP from ARPE‐19 cells that was substantially inhibited by MK‐801. NMDA triggered a rise in cell Ca2+ that was blocked by MK‐801, by the ATPase apyrase, by the P2Y1 receptor antagonist MRS2179 and by depletion of intracellular Ca2+ stores with thapsigargin. These results suggest that glutamate stimulates NMDA receptors on the apical membrane of RPE cells to release ATP. This secondary release can amplify the glutaminergic signal by increasing Ca2+ inside RPE cells, and might activate Ca2+‐dependent conductances. The interplay between glutaminergic and purinergic systems may thus be important for light‐dependent interactions between photoreceptors and the RPE.
Rapamycin Eye Drops Suppress Lacrimal Gland Inflammation In a Murine Model of Sjögren's Syndrome

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of topical rapamycin in treating autoimmune dacryoadenitis in a mouse model of Sjögren's syndrome. Methods We developed rapamycin in a poly(ethylene glycol)-distearoyl phosphatidylethanolamine (PEG-DSPE) micelle formulation to maintain solubility. Rapamycin or PEG-DSPE eye drops (vehicle) were administered in a well-established Sjögren's syndrome disease model, the male nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice, twice daily for 12 weeks starting at 8 weeks of age. Mouse tear fluid was collected and tear Cathepsin S, a putative tear biomarker for Sjögren's syndrome, was measured. Lacrimal glands were retrieved for histological evaluation, and quantitative real-time PCR of genes associated with Sjögren's syndrome pathogenesis. Tear secretion was measured using phenol red threads, and corneal fluorescein staining was used to assess corneal integrity. Results Lymphocytic infiltration of lacrimal glands from rapamycin-treated mice was significantly (P = 0.0001) reduced by 3.8-fold relative to vehicle-treated mice after 12 weeks of treatment. Rapamycin, but not vehicle, treatment increased tear secretion and decreased corneal fluorescein staining after 12 weeks. In rapamycin-treated mice, Cathepsin S activity was significantly reduced by 3.75-fold in tears (P < 0.0001) and 1.68-fold in lacrimal gland lysates (P = 0.003) relative to vehicle-treated mice. Rapamycin significantly altered the expression of several genes linked to Sjögren's syndrome pathogenesis, including major histocompatibility complex II, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL-12a, as well as Akt3, an effector of autophagy. Conclusions Our findings suggest that topical rapamycin reduces autoimmune-mediated lacrimal gland inflammation while improving ocular surface integrity and tear secretion, and thus has potential for treating Sjögren's syndrome–associated dry eye.
the Seashore : Implicit Egotism and Major Life Decisions

Because most people possess positive associations about themselves, most people prefer things that are connected to the self (e.g., the letters in one’s name). The authors refer to such preferences as implicit egotism. Ten studies assessed the role of implicit egotism in 2 major life decisions: where people choose to live and what people choose to do for a living. Studies 1–5 showed that people are disproportionately likely to live in places whose names resemble their own first or last names (e.g., people named Louis are disproportionately likely to live in St. Louis). Study 6 extended this finding to birthday number preferences. People were disproportionately likely to live in cities whose names began with their birthday numbers (e.g., Two Harbors, MN). Studies 7–10 suggested that people disproportionately choose careers whose labels resemble their names (e.g., people named Dennis or Denise are overrepresented among dentists). Implicit egotism appears to influence major life decisions. This idea stands in sharp contrast to many models of rational choice and attests to the importance of understanding implicit beliefs.
Phase Locking Asymmetries at Flexor-Extensor Transitions during Fictive Locomotion

The motor output for walking is produced by a network of neurons termed the spinal central pattern generator (CPG) for locomotion. The basic building block of this CPG is a half-center oscillator composed of two mutually inhibitory sets of interneurons, each controlling one of the two dominant phases of locomotion: flexion and extension. To investigate symmetry between the two components of this oscillator, we analyzed the statistics of natural variation in timing during fictive locomotion induced by stimulation of the midbrain locomotor region in the cat. As a complement to previously published analysis of these data focused on burst and cycle durations, we present a new analysis examining the strength of phase locking at the transitions between flexion and extension. Across our sample of nerve pairs, phase locking at the transition from extension to flexion (E to F) is stronger than at the transition from flexion to extension (F to E). This pattern did not reverse when considering bouts of fictive locomotion that were flexor vs. extensor dominated, demonstrating that asymmetric locking at the transitions between phases is dissociable from which phase dominates cycle duration. We also find that the strength of phase locking is correlated with the mean latency between burst offset and burst onset. These results are interpreted in the context of a hypothesis where network inhibition and intrinsic oscillatory mechanisms make distinct contributions to flexor-extensor alternation in half-center networks.
The Natural Measure of Nonattracting Chaotic Sets and its Representation by Unstable Periodic orbits

The natural measure of a chaotic set in a phase-space region can be related to the dynamical properties of all unstable periodic orbits embedded in the chaotic set contained in that region. This result has been shown to be valid for hyperbolic chaotic invariant sets. The aim of this paper is to examine whether this result applies to nonhyperbolic, nonattracting chaotic saddles which lead to transient chaos in physical systems. In particular, we examine, quantitatively, the closeness of the natural measure obtained from a long trajectory on the chaotic saddle to that evaluated from unstable periodic orbits embedded in the set. We also analyze the difference between the long-time average values of physical quantities evaluated with respect to a dense trajectory and those computed from unstable periodic orbits. Results with both the Henon map and the Ikeda–Hammel–Jones–Moloney map for which periodic orbits can be enumerated lend credence to the conjecture that the unstable periodic-orbit theory of the natural measure is applicable to nonhyperbolic chaotic saddles.
A Survey on Compressed Sensing in Vehicular Infotainment Systems

Vehicular infotainment systems have attracted great interests from both academia and industry. A vehicular infotainment system includes two parts: 1) the information part and 2) the entertainment part, which are integrated together to provide a unified platform to drivers and passengers. Although some excellent works have been done on vehicular infotainment systems, there are still some significant challenges that need to be addressed. Recently, compressed sensing (CS) has emerged as a new technique, which could be used to tackle the challenges in vehicular infotainment systems. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey and research challenges on the applications of CS in vehicular infotainment systems, including object tracking for driving safety, privacy protection and security, vehicular crowdsensing, vehicular communications, road traffic estimation, video streaming, and object recognition. In addition, we compare the traditional methods and CS methods in solving the main problems in vehicular infotainment systems. Moreover, research challenges of applying CS in vehicular infotainment systems are discussed.
mGluR5 stimulates gliotransmission in the nucleus accumbens

Although metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) is essential for cocaine self-administration and drug-seeking behavior, there is limited knowledge of the cellular actions of this receptor in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Although mGluR5 has the potential to regulate neurons directly, recent studies have shown the importance of mGluR5 in regulating Ca2+ signaling in astrocytes and, as a consequence, the Ca2+-dependent release of excitatory transmitters from these glia. In this study, we demonstrate that activation of mGluR5 induces Ca2+ oscillations in NAc astrocytes with the correlated appearance of NMDA receptor-dependent slow inward currents detected in medium spiny neurons (MSNs). Photolysis of caged Ca2+ loaded specifically into astrocytes evoked slow inward currents demonstrating that Ca2+ elevations in astrocytes are responsible for these excitatory events. Pharmacological evaluation of these glial-evoked NMDA currents shows that they are mediated by NR2B-containing NMDA receptors, whereas synaptic NMDA receptors rely on NR2A-containing receptors. Stimulation of glutamatergic afferents activates mGluR5-dependent astrocytic Ca2+ oscillations and gliotransmission that is sustained for minutes beyond the initial stimulus. Because gliotransmission is mediated by NMDA receptors, depolarized membrane potentials exhibited during up-states augment excitation provided by gliotransmission, which drives bursts of MSN action potentials. Because the predominant mGluR5-dependent action of glutamatergic afferents is to cause the sustained activation of astrocytes, which in turn excite MSNs through extrasynaptic NMDA receptors, our results raise the potential for gliotransmission being involved in prolonged mGluR5-dependent adaptation in the NAc.
Happiness Is Assortative in Online Social Networks

Online social networking communities may exhibit highly complex and adaptive collective behaviors. Since emotions play such an important role in human decision making, how online networks modulate human collective mood states has become a matter of considerable interest. In spite of the increasing societal importance of online social networks, it is unknown whether assortative mixing of psychological states takes place in situations where social ties are mediated solely by online networking services in the absence of physical contact. Here, we show that the general happiness, or subjective well-being (SWB), of Twitter users, as measured from a 6-month record of their individual tweets, is indeed assortative across the Twitter social network. Our results imply that online social networks may be equally subject to the social mechanisms that cause assortative mixing in real social networks and that such assortative mixing takes place at the level of SWB. Given the increasing prevalence of online social networks, their propensity to connect users with similar levels of SWB may be an important factor in how positive and negative sentiments are maintained and spread through human society. Future research may focus on how event-specific mood states can propagate and influence user behavior in “real life. ”
Evaluation of Femtosecond Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Analysis of Animal Tissues

The aim of this work was to evaluate the performance of femtosecond laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (fs-LIBS) for the determination of elements in animal tissues. Sample pellets were prepared from certified reference materials, such as liver, kidney, muscle, hepatopancreas, and oyster, after cryogenic grinding assisted homogenization. Individual samples were placed in a two-axis computer-controlled translation stage that moved in the plane orthogonal to a beam originating from a Ti:Sapphire chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) laser system operating at 800 nm and producing a train of 840 μJ and 40 fs pulses at 90 Hz. The plasma emission was coupled into the optical fiber of a high-resolution intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD)–echelle spectrometer. Time-resolved characteristics of the laser-produced plasmas showed that the best results were obtained with delay times between 80 and 120 ns. Data obtained indicate both that it is a matrix-independent sampling process and that fs-LIBS can be used for the determination of Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Na, and P, but efforts must be made to obtain more appropriate detection limits for Al, Sr, and Zn.
Sharp utilization thresholds for some realtime scheduling problems

Scheduling policies for real-time systems exhibit threshold behavior that is related to the utilization of the task set they schedule, and in some cases this threshold is sharp. A task set is considered schedulable if it can be scheduled to meet all associated deadlines. A schedulability test for a chosen policy is a test of feasibility: given a task set, can all deadlines be met? For the rate monotonic scheduling policy, we show that periodic workload with utilization less than a threshold URM can be scheduled almost surely and that all workload with utilization greater than URM is almost surely not schedulable. We study such sharp threshold behavior in the context of processor scheduling using static task priorities, not only for periodic real-time tasks but for aperiodic real-time tasks as well. The notion of a utilization threshold provides a simple schedulability test for most real-time applications. These results improve our understanding of scheduling policies and provide an interesting characterization of the typical behavior of policies. The threshold is sharp (small deviations around the threshold cause schedulability, as a property, to appear or disappear) for most policies; this is a happy consequence that can be used to address the limitations of existing utilization-based tests for schedulability. We demonstrate the use of such an approach for balancing power consumption with the need to meet deadlines in web servers.
NITROGENOUS COMPOUNDS IMMOBILIZED IN AN AGED RAT

A pregnant rat received 8 mc of tritiated tyrosine at the time of giving birth (from seven days before, to six days after). No radioisotopes were ever given directly to the litter born. A male from this litter died from pneumonia at age 809 days. After removal of water and acetone solubles and of phospholipids, hydrolysis of the residue released the following radioactive amino acids, parts of molecules fixed until death and containing tritium present at birth: lysine, arginine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, listed in order of decreasing radioactivity, with lysine carrying 29 per cent of the total tritium present.
Research on Three-Dimension Sedimentary Facies Model Building of the Reservoir Chang2 Member, Yanchang Formation in Zhifang Area, Erdos Basin

Through the Ordos basin sample with Triassic Yanchang formation Chang 2 member sedimentary facies research and analysis, the use of deterministic modeling and the theory of stochastic modeling, using PETREL software, the establishment of a three-dimensional visualization of the study area Chang 2 member geological reservoir facies model, the model and geological interpretation in the whole match, a true reflection of the sedimentary characteristics of the study area, the numerical simulation for the latter part of remaining oil and provide a geological basis. Sand distribution model based on a clear understanding of sand microfacies characteristics distribution in the plane and space, the combination of relations, proved in the study area is mainly sand flat on the NE - SW band distribution, the distributary channel facies under control the trend of the sand body, in the same succession of small rivers within the good level, migration is not swinging, with micro-facies stability.Chang2 member channel development , is the favorable oil and gas accumulation zones.
Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells: Neglected Regulators of the Immune Response to Staphylococcus aureus

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) are a rare subset of leukocytes equipped with Fcγ and Fcε receptors, which exert contrary effects on sensing of microbial nucleic acids by endosomal Toll-like receptors. In this article, we explain how pDC contribute to the immune response to Staphylococcus aureus. Under normal circumstances the pDC participates in the memory response to the pathogen: pDC activation is initiated by uptake of staphylococcal immune complexes with IgG or IgE. However, protein A-expressing S. aureus strains additionally trigger pDC activation in the absence of immunoglobulin. In this context, staphylococci exploit the pDC to induce antigen-independent differentiation of IL-10 producing plasmablasts, an elegant means to propagate immune evasion. We further discuss the role of type I interferons in infection with S. aureus and the implications of these findings for the development of immune based therapies and vaccination.