Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Output synchronization of multi-agent port-Hamiltonian systems with link dynamics

In this paper, the output synchronization control is considered for multi-agent port-Hamiltonian systems with link dynamics. By using Hamiltonian energy function and Casimir function comprehensively, the design method is proposed to overcome the difficulties taken by link dynamics. The Hamiltonian function is used to handle the dynamic of agent, while the Casimir function is constructed to deal with the dynamic of link. Thus the Lyapunov function is generated by modifying the Hamiltonian function of forced Hamiltonian systems. Then, the proposed approach is applied in multi-machine power systems, which are interconnected in microgrid with power frequencies as link dynamics. Finally, the simulation result demonstrates the effectiveness of the gotten method.
A novel triazolic naphthofuranquinone induces autophagy in reservosomes and impairment of mitosis in Trypanosoma cruzi

SUMMARY Chagas' disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, represents a serious health problem in Latin America, and the available chemotherapy, which is based on 2 nitro-derivatives, is not satisfactory. In folk medicine, natural products including naphthoquinones have been employed for the treatment of different parasitic diseases. In the pursuit of alternative drugs for Chagas' disease, we investigated the mechanism of action of the triazolic naphthoquinone (TN; 2,2-dimethyl-3-(4-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-2,3-dihydronaphtho[1,2-b]furan-4,5-dione), which is the most active compound against T. cruzi trypomastigotes among a series of naphthofuranquinones. TN was active against the 3 parasite forms producing a dose-dependent inhibitory effect. In epimastigotes, TN induced reservosome disruption, flagellar blebbing, Golgi disorganization, the presence of cytosolic concentric membrane structures and abnormal multiflagellar parasites. The treatment also led to the appearance of well-developed endoplasmic reticulum profiles surrounding organelles that associated with an increase in monodansylcadaverine labelling, suggesting autophagy as part of the TN mechanism of action. Interestingly, no ultrastructural damage was detected in the mitochondria of naphthoquinone-treated epimastigotes. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated an impairment of mitosis, an increase in ROS production and the maintenance of mitochondrial membrane potential. TN could be a good starting point in the investigation of a chemotherapeutic approach for the treatment of Chagas' disease.
What Is the Business of Organized Crime

It is becoming widely accepted that the business of organized crime is to provide the public with illicit goods and services like bets, narcotics, sex out of wedlock and unregulated loans. Federal law even defines organized crime as those unlawful activities in which a highly organized, disciplined association supplies illegal goods and services. The appendix on organized crime in the Staff Report to the Commission on Violence states, "It is well known that organized crime exists and thrives because it provides services the public demands," and "Organized crime depends not on victims, but on customers. "*
Does Welding Affect Visual Acuities or Color Sensitivity?

A group of 41 welders of varying ages and experience in the welding trade were examined for color discrimination, vernier, pattern, and stereoacuities. Results indicated usual binocular correlations and deterioration over age but no significant deviation from the population at large-even when individuals had experienced a series of "flashes" and other phenomena associated with welding. These results are to be contrasted with the equivalent auditory conditions, where hearing loss is known to occur.
On the impact of the primary network activity on the achievable capacity of spectrum sharing over fading channels

When utilizing spectrum sharing in wireless channels, a secondary service may access the spectrum allocated to the primary service while this frequency band is under-utilized. The availability of the frequency band to the secondary user is a function of the activity of the users in the primary network. In this paper, we analyze the achievable capacity of the secondary service which employs opportunistic spectrum access (OSA) over a fading environment based on the primary network activity. We categorized OSA methods into Access Limited OSA (AL-OSA), and interference limited OSA (IL-OSA) schemes. In AL-OSA the spectrum is shared with the secondary service in circumstances in which the primary service is totally inactive however, in IL-OSA access to the spectrum is allowed subject to an interference threshold. For both cases we develop analytical frameworks to analyze the impact of the primary network activity on the achievable capacity of the secondary service. Simulation results confirm our analysis and also show that in cases where higher activity is in the primary network, IL-OSA is the more appropriate OSA method. For a less active primary network, AL-OSA is shown to performs better with respect to the achievable capacity.
Blind channel approximation: effective channel order determination

Information theoretic criteria have been widely suggested for the determination of the order of an unknown channel. Unfortunately, when used for the estimation of the order of measured microwave radio channels they are very sensitive to the SNR and the number of data sample variations. In order to develop an efficient criterion for the estimation of the order of the significant part of the channel, called the effective channel order, we use an approach based on numerical analysis arguments. The derived criterion provides a "maximally stable" decomposition of the range space of an "over-modeled" data covariance matrix into signal and noise subspaces. It is shown to be robust to the SNR and number of data sample variations. It provides useful estimates, leading to sufficiently good blind approximation/equalization of measured real-world microwave radio channels.
Combining RGB and depth features for action recognition based on sparse representation

Human action recognition in videos has attracted many research interest in the past decade. As the RGB-D camera, the Kinect, has been invented, action recognition from depth videos has attracted lots of research interest in recent years. Many feature extraction methods have been proposed, including skeleton features and point cloud features. These rich features have their advantages and are complementary. In this work, we propose to combine three kinds of RGB-D features, including a local spatial-temporal feature (RGB), a skeleton joint feature and a point cloud feature, based on sparse coding to improve the action recognition performance. We adopt three schemes to combine features and to classify test samples by sparse coding. We carry out experiments to testify how much does each feature contribute to action recognition. In addition, the results show that the fusion of RGB-D features improves the performance, and outperforms the-state-of-the-art methods.
Universal Screening May Not Be for Everyone: Using a Threshold Model as a Smarter Way to Determine Risk

Abstract. Universal academic screening is an endeavor that many systems implement with inefficiency and error. School personnel do not consider how the data will be used and therefore fail to collect the data needed to reach the most accurate and efficient decisions. Accurate and efficient decision making requires consideration of screening accuracy in the base rate context in which the screening will be used. Decision makers can use post-test probability data to reach decisions about whether assessment is needed or instead intervention should begin without assessment. A model for determining when assessment should be conducted and when it is smarter to begin intervention without assessment is provided, and screening data in mathematics and reading are used to illustrate the decision model.
On Computability of Equilibria in Markets with Production

Even though production is an integral part of the Arrow-Debreu market model, most of the work in theoretical computer science has so far concentrated on markets without production, i.e., the exchange economy. This paper takes a significant step towards understanding computational aspects of markets with production. For markets with separable, piecewise-linear concave (SPLC) utilities and SPLC production, we obtain a linear complementarity problem (LCP) formulation that captures exactly the set of equilibria, and we further give a complementary pivot algorithm for finding an equilibrium. This settles a question asked by Eaves in 1975 [14]. Since this is a path-following algorithm, we obtain a proof of membership of this problem in PPAD, using Todd, 1976. We also obtain an elementary proof of existence of equilibrium (i.e., without using a fixed point theorem), rationality, and odd-ness of the number of equilibria. We further give a proof of PPAD-hardness for this problem and also for its restriction to markets with linear utilities and SPLC production. Experiments show that our algorithm is practical. Also, it is strongly polynomial when the number of goods or the number of agents and firms is constant. This extends the result of Devanur and Kannan (2008) to markets with production. Finally, we show that an LCP-based approach cannot be extended to PLC (non-separable) production, by constructing an example which has only irrational equilibria.
Learning trajectories in longitudinal rural medical school placements

Background: Rural longitudinal placements are now a key part of clinical medical education, and are part of workforce strategies to enhance the rural medical workforce. Learning trajectories (a map to guide student learning) have been recommended as a means of maximising student learning on placements, and have the potential to assist long‐term rural students and supervisors in adapting to a longitudinal clerkship.
Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder by Developmental-Behavioral Pediatricians in Academic Centers: A DBPNet Study

OBJECTIVES: To describe the clinical practices of physicians in the Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Network (DBPNet) to (1) diagnose autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), identify comorbidities, and evaluate etiology and (2) compare actual practice to established guidelines. METHODS: A total of 56 developmental-behavioral pediatricians completed encounter forms, including demographic/clinical information, for up to 10 consecutive new-patient visits given a diagnosis of ASD. Data were summarized by using descriptive statistics. Analysis of the statistical significance of differences between sites (n = 10) used general estimating equations and mixed-effects logistic regression to adjust for clustering by clinician within site. RESULTS: A total of 284 ASD forms were submitted. Most assessments (56%) were completed in 1 visit (27.5% in 2 visits, 8.6% in 3 visits). Use of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, or Screening Tool for Autism in Toddlers and Young Children varied across sites from 28.6% to 100% of encounters (P < .001). A developmental assessment was reviewed/completed at 87.7% of encounters (range: 77.8%–100%; P = .061), parent behavior rating scales were reviewed/completed at 65.9% (range: 35.7%–91.4%; P = .19), and teacher behavior rating scales were reviewed/completed at 38.4% (range: 15%–69.2%; P = .19). Only 17.3% (95% confidence interval: 12.8%–21.7%) of evaluations were completed by an interdisciplinary team. A majority (71%) of patients had at least 1 comorbid diagnosis (31% had at least 2 and 12% at had least 3). Etiologic evaluations were primarily genetic (karyotype: 49%; microarray: 69.7%; fragile X: 71.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Despite site variability, the majority of diagnostic evaluations for ASD within DBPNet were completed by developmental-behavioral pediatricians without an interdisciplinary team and included a developmental assessment, ASD-specific assessment tools, and parent behavior rating scales. These findings document the multiple components of assessment used by DBPNet physicians and where they align with existing guidelines.
A Novel Zinc Finger Protein TReP-132 Interacts with CBP/p300 to Regulate Human CYP11A1 Gene Expression*

The human CYP11A1 gene is expressed specifically in steroidogenic tissues and encodes cytochrome P450scc, which catalyzes the first step in steroid synthesis. A region of the 5′-flanking DNA of the gene from nucleotides −155 to −131 (−155/−131) is shown to activate transcription in steroidogenic human placental JEG-3 (1) and adrenal NCI-H295 cells. Using this region of the gene as probe, a cDNA clone of 4.4 kilobase pairs was isolated by screening JEG-3 cell and human placental cDNA expression libraries. The open reading frame encodes three zinc fingers of the C2H2 subtype, and separate regions rich in glutamate, proline, and glutamine, which are indicative of a DNA-binding protein involved in gene transcription. Expression of the cDNA in vitro and in HeLa cells yields a protein of 132 kDa, which concurs with the predicted size. Northern blot analysis demonstrate expression of two TReP-132 transcripts of 4.4 and 7.5 kilobase pairs in the thymus, adrenal cortex, and testis; and expression is also found in the steroidogenic JEG-3, NCI-H295, and MCF-7 cell lines. Immunocytochemistry analysis demonstrates localization of the HA-tagged TReP-132 protein in the nucleus. The expression of exogenous TReP-132 in HeLa cells was demonstrated to interact with the −155/−131 region in bandshift analysis. Transfection of the cDNA in placental JEG-3 and adrenal NCI-H295 cells increases expression of a reporter construct controlled by the P450scc gene 5′-flanking region from nucleotides −1676 to +49. Moreover, a chimeric protein generated by fusion of TReP-132 with the Gal4 DNA-binding domain was able to significantly increase promoter activity of a reporter construct via Gal4-binding sites upstream of the E1b minimal promoter. Coexpression of CREB-binding protein (CBP)/p300 with TReP-132 has an additive effect on promoter activity, and the proteins were demonstrated to interact physically. Thus, these results together indicate the isolation of a novel zinc-finger transcriptional regulating protein of 132 kDa (TReP-132) involved in the regulation of P450scc gene expression.
Map approach to learning sparse Gaussian Markov networks

Recently proposed l1-regularized maximum-likelihood optimization methods for learning sparse Markov networks result into convex problems that can be solved optimally and efficiently. However, the accuracy of such methods can be very sensitive to the choice of regularization parameter, and optimal selection of this parameter remains an open problem. Herein, we propose a maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) approach that investigates different priors on the regularization parameter and yields promising empirical results on both synthetic data and real-life application such as brain imaging data (fMRI).
Protocol Invariance and the Timing of Decisions in Dynamic Games

We characterize a class of dynamic stochastic games that we call separable dynamic games with noisy transitions and establish that these widely used models are protocol invariant provided that periods are sufficiently short. Protocol invariance means that the set of Markov perfect equilibria is nearly the same irrespective of the order in which players are assumed to move within a period. Protocol invariance can facilitate applied work, and renders the implications and predictions of a model more robust. Our class of dynamic stochastic games includes investment games, research and development races, models of industry dynamics, dynamic public contribution games, asynchronously repeated games, and many other models from the extant literature.
High-frequency noise measurements on MOSFETs with channel-lengths in sub-100 nm regime

High-Frequency signal and noise measurements on 40 nm, 80 nm, and 110 nm, gate-length MOS transistors are performed. On-wafer measurements of S-parameters up to 18 GHz yield an accurate small-signal RF device model with g2 in excess of 1000 mS/mm. Noise contributions due to gate resistance, substrate resistance, source and drain resistances, substrate current and induced-gate noise are found to be small in comparison with total observed noise. The noise parameter γ is bias dependent and increases as channel-length decreases. The observed values are well above the ideal value of 2/3 consistent with previously published results.
The Psychological and Physiological Part of Emotions: Multimodal Approximation for Valence Classification

In order to develop more precise and functional affective applications, it is necessary to achieve a balance between the psychology and the engineering applied to emotions. Signals from the central and peripheral nervous systems have been used for emotion recognition purposes, however, their operation and the relationship between them remains unknown. In this context, in the present work we have tried to approach the study of the psychobiology of both systems in order to generate a computational model for the recognition of emotions in the dimension of valence. To this end, the electroencephalography (EEG) signal, electrocardiography (ECG) signal and skin temperature of 24 subjects have been studied. Each methodology has been evaluated individually, finding characteristic patterns of positive and negative emotions in each of them. After feature selection of each methodology, the results of the classification showed that, although the classification of emotions is possible at both central and peripheral levels, the multimodal approach did not improve the results obtained through the EEG alone. In addition, differences have been observed between cerebral and physiological responses in the processing emotions by separating the sample by sex; though, the differences between men and women were only notable at the physiological level.
Behaviour of human heterochromatic regions during the synapsis of homologous chromosomes.

BACKGROUND Alterations of synapsis can disturb or arrest meiosis and result in infertility. Synaptic abnormalities are frequently observed in infertile patients but also in fertile men. METHODS The subtelomere-specific multiplex fluorescence in-situ hybridization (stM-FISH) has been applied in combination with immunofluorescence to identify all synaptonemal complexes (SCs) and to analyse those presenting synaptic anomalies in fertile and infertile men. RESULTS SCs with heterochromatin blocks other than centromere (noncentromeric heterochromatin) presented a higher frequency of gaps (SC discontinuities) and splits (unsynapsed SC regions) at pachytene, the incidences for 9qh, 1qh, 15p and 21p being the highest ones. Inter-individual variability in the incidence of synaptic anomalies in these regions has been observed. In addition, synaptic anomalies in other SC regions are more frequent in infertile cases than in controls. Clear association of the SC15 and SC21 to the XY pair has been seen. CONCLUSION Noncentromeric heterochromatic regions are the last to synapse. The inter-individual variation observed in the incidence of gaps and splits in these regions may be explained by the heteromorphism of these regions in the general population. The presence of synaptic anomalies in other SC regions may indicate nuclei with a severely affected synapsis. Noncentromeric heterochromatic regions might play a role in the association of autosomal SC15 and SC21 with the XY pair.
Cloning and characterization of srfB, a regulatory gene involved in surfactin production and competence in Bacillus subtilis

A Tn917 insertion mutation srfB impairs the production of the lipopeptide antibiotic surfactin in Bacillus subtilis. srfB is located between aroG and ald in the B. subtilis genome, as determined by phage PBS1 transduction mapping, and is not linked to the previously described surfactin loci sfp or srfA. A srfB mutant was found to be also deficient in the establishment of competence. SP beta phage-mediated complementation analysis showed that both competence and surfactin production were restored in the srfB mutant by a single DNA fragment of 1.5 kilobase pairs. The sequence of the complementing DNA revealed that the srfB gene is comA, an early competence gene which codes for a product similar to that of the activator class of bacterial two-component regulatory systems. The srfB mutation impaired the expression of a srfA-lacZ fusion, suggesting that surfactin production is positively regulated at the transcriptional level by the srfB (comA) gene product.
Intensive voice treatment (LSVT LOUD) for children with spastic cerebral palsy and dysarthria.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an intensive voice treatment (Lee Silverman Voice Treatment, commonly known as LSVT LOUD) for children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) and dysarthria. METHOD A nonconcurrent multiple baseline single-subject design with replication across 5 children with spastic CP was used. Auditory-perceptual analysis of speech, acoustic measures of vocal functioning, and perceptual ratings by parents of participants were obtained at baseline, posttreatment, and 6-week follow-up recording sessions. RESULTS Listeners consistently preferred the speech samples taken immediately posttreatment over those taken during the baseline phase for most perceptual characteristics rated in this study. Changes in acoustic measures of vocal functioning were not consistent across participants and occurred more frequently for maximum performance tasks as opposed to speech. Although parents of the treated participants reported an improved perception of vocal loudness immediately following treatment, maintenance of changes at 6-week follow-up varied across the participants. No changes were observed in the 5th participant, who did not receive treatment. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide some preliminary observations that the children with spastic CP in this study not only tolerated intensive voice treatment but also showed improvement on select aspects of vocal functioning. These outcomes warrant further research through Phase 2 treatment studies.
A Comparative Analysis of Polyfunctional T Cells and Secreted Cytokines Induced by Bacille Calmette-Guérin Immunisation in Children and Adults

BCG vaccine is one of the most commonly-administered vaccines worldwide. Studies suggest the protective efficacy of BCG against TB is better for children than for adults. One potential explanation is that BCG induces a better protective immune response in children. Twenty six children and adults were immunised with BCG. The proportion of Th1-cytokine-producing mycobacterial-specific T cells, and the concentrations of secreted cytokines, were measured before and 10 weeks after BCG immunisation. A significant increase in the proportion of mycobacterial-specific cytokine-producing T cells was observed in both age groups. After BCG immunisation, children and adults had comparable proportions of mycobacterial-specific polyfunctional CD4 T cells when measured relative to the total number of CD4 T cells. However, relative to the subset of Th-1-cytokine-producing CD4 T cells, the proportion of polyfunctional cells was greater in children. Concentrations of secreted cytokines were comparable in children and adults. These findings suggest that the mycobacterial-specific cell-mediated immune response induced by BCG immunisation in children and adults is similar. The implication of a shift to a more polyfunctional immune response within the Th1-cytokine-producing CD4 T cells in children is uncertain as this aspect of the immune response has not been assessed as a potential correlate of protection against TB.