Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teamwork in Self-Organized Robot Colonies

Swarm robotics draws inspiration from decentralized self-organizing biological systems in general and from the collective behavior of social insects in particular. In social insect colonies, many tasks are performed by higher order group or team entities, whose task-solving capacities transcend those of the individual participants. In this paper, we investigate the emergence of such higher order entities. We report on an experimental study in which a team of physical robots performs a foraging task. The robots are "identical" in hardware and control. They make little use of memory and take actions purely on the basis of local information. Our study advances the current state of the art in swarm robotics with respect to the number of real-world robots engaging in teamwork (up to 12 robots in the most challenging experiment). To the best of our knowledge, in this paper we present the first self-organized system of robots that displays a dynamical hierarchy of teamwork (with cooperation also occurring among higher order entities). Our study shows that teamwork requires neither individual recognition nor differences between individuals. This result might also contribute to the ongoing debate on the role of these characteristics in the division of labor in social insects.
Capture and retransmission control in mobile radio

We consider the slotted ALOHA protocol with capture, in a mobile communication environment, in the presence of Rayleigh fading and log-normal shadowing. The capture probabilities and their asymptotic value, as the number of colliding packets tends to infinity, are computed. A sufficient condition, under which this limit is positive, is identified and expressed in terms of the spatial distribution of the users. Also, various models for this latter distribution are discussed. These results help identify the region in which the system may achieve a positive stable throughput. Finally, a retransmission control scheme, that enhances the throughput, is considered, and the stability of the system is rigorously proven. We also show that the use of retransmission control is unavoidable if the network performance predicted in some recent literature is to be achieved. >
Understanding major depressive disorder among middle-aged African American men.

AIM This paper is a report of a study of how a cohort of African American men recognized and expressed symptoms of depression, and how depression affected their lives. BACKGROUND Major depressive disorder has had global financial consequences in the form of healthcare visits, lost work hours, and disruption of family lives. Early recognition of depression and engagement of depressed individuals to promote management and treatment of this disorder is crucial in controlling its impact. African American men are often not included in research exploring factors that limit their engagement in mental health care. METHOD A descriptive qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted in 2008 with ten African American men between the ages of 40 and 59 years. All participants self-reported a history of depression. FINDINGS Three central themes were identified: life events, the funk, and the breakdown. Life events were identified as stressors which led the men to experience what they described as the funk, which was later identified as depression. Due to lack of resolution of the funk, a breakdown was experienced. Over time study participants became informed about their condition, and their responses to managing depression varied depending on individual and contextual factors. CONCLUSION It is important to approach depression diagnoses from a broad perspective rather than as a limited list of symptoms. Healthcare providers would benefit from taking into account cultural factors, gender and age, examining them carefully in relation to the development of depressive symptoms.
Human PrimPol mutation associated with high myopia has a DNA replication defect

PrimPol is a primase-polymerase found in humans, and other eukaryotes, involved in bypassing lesions encountered during DNA replication. PrimPol employs both translesion synthesis and repriming mechanisms to facilitate lesion bypass by the replisome. PrimPol has been reported to be a potential susceptibility gene associated with the development of myopia. Mutation of tyrosine 89 to aspartic acid (PrimPolY89D) has been identified in a number of cases of high myopia, implicating it in the aetiology of this disorder. Here, we examined whether this mutation resulted in any changes in the molecular and cellular activities associated with human PrimPol. We show that PrimPolY89D has a striking decrease in primase and polymerase activities. The hydrophobic ring of tyrosine is important for retaining wild-type extension activity. We also demonstrate that the decreased activity of PrimPolY89D is associated with reduced affinities for DNA and nucleotides, resulting in diminished catalytic efficiency. Although the structure and stability of PrimPolY89D is altered, its fidelity remains unchanged. This mutation also reduces cell viability after DNA damage and significantly slows replication fork rates in vivo. Together, these findings establish that the major DNA replication defect associated with this PrimPol mutant is likely to contribute to the onset of high myopia.
N′-(5-Bromo-2-methoxybenzylidene)-2-hydroxybenzohydrazide

The title Schiff base compound, C15H13BrN2O3, is derived from the condensation of 5-bromo-2-methoxybenzaldehyde with 2-hydroxybenzohydrazide in an ethanol solution. The dihedral angle between the two aromatic rings is 6.9 (9)°. The methoxy group is coplanar with the attached ring [C—O—C—C = 3.1 (12)°]. An intramolecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bond is observed. In the crystal structure, the molecules are linked into chains along the [001] direction by intermolecular O—H⋯N, O—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds.
Automated unit test generation for classes with environment dependencies

Automated test generation for object-oriented software typically consists of producing sequences of calls aiming at high code coverage. In practice, the success of this process may be inhibited when classes interact with their environment, such as the file system, network, user-interactions, etc. This leads to two major problems: First, code that depends on the environment can sometimes not be fully covered simply by generating sequences of calls to a class under test, for example when execution of a branch depends on the contents of a file. Second, even if code that is environment-dependent can be covered, the resulting tests may be unstable, i.e., they would pass when first generated, but then may fail when executed in a different environment. For example, tests on classes that make use of the system time may have failing assertions if the tests are executed at a different time than when they were generated. In this paper, we apply bytecode instrumentation to automatically separate code from its environmental dependencies, and extend the EvoSuite Java test generation tool such that it can explicitly set the state of the environment as part of the sequences of calls it generates. Using a prototype implementation, which handles a wide range of environmental interactions such as the file system, console inputs and many non-deterministic functions of the Java virtual machine (JVM), we performed experiments on 100 Java projects randomly selected from SourceForge (the SF100 corpus). The results show significantly improved code coverage - in some cases even in the order of +80%/+90%. Furthermore, our techniques reduce the number of unstable tests by more than 50%.
Properties of Alkaline Phosphatase of the Human Dental Pulp

Enzymatic and immunological properties of alkaline phosphatase [ALP; orthophosphoric monoester phosphohydrolase, alkaline optimum, EC 3.1. 3.1. ] in the human dental pulp were investigated. In inhibition and thermal inactivation studies, dental pulp ALP showed properties of universal-type ALP (kidney/bone/liver type). Dental pulp ALP cross-reacted with polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies against purified swine-kidney ALP, and with monoclonal antibody against ALP of human osteoblast-like cells in the same manner as ALPs of human bone and kidney. The sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoretic pattern showed a 140, 000-Mr native protein band. These data suggest that dental pulp ALP can be classified as a universal-type ALP having antigenic determinants common to ALP of the kidney and bone.
Flatness based speed control of drive systems with resonant loads

The design and analysis of a flatness based speed control method for drive systems with elastically coupled loads is presented. Drive systems with elastically coupled loads tend to mechanical vibrations due to a finite stiffness of the drive shafts material. These unwanted vibrations stress the system and can reduce its lifetime. The way out and aim of this analysis is a high performance speed control of drive systems with resonant loads with damping of mechanical oscillations. Conventional control methods like proportional-integral based controllers are not able to damp these oscillations effectively. Model based control methods are more appropriate to handle this problem. Therefore, the rather new model based control concept based on differential flatness is applied to the considered system. High dynamic and suppression of mechanical oscillations can be achieved with flatness based control without the reduction of the disturbance reaction. Furthermore, only measurement of the motor speed is required. Simulation and measurement results confirm these statements. The results are compared to conventional PI-control.
Unsupervised Word Segmentation and Lexicon Discovery Using Acoustic Word Embeddings

In settings where only unlabeled speech data is available, speech technology needs to be developed without transcriptions, pronunciation dictionaries, or language modelling text. A similar problem is faced when modeling infant language acquisition. In these cases, categorical linguistic structure needs to be discovered directly from speech audio. We present a novel unsupervised Bayesian model that segments unlabeled speech and clusters the segments into hypothesized word groupings. The result is a complete unsupervised tokenization of the input speech in terms of discovered word types. In our approach, a potential word segment (of arbitrary length) is embedded in a fixed-dimensional acoustic vector space. The model, implemented as a Gibbs sampler, then builds a whole-word acoustic model in this space while jointly performing segmentation. We report word error rates in a small-vocabulary connected digit recognition task by mapping the unsupervised decoded output to ground truth transcriptions. The model achieves around 20% error rate, outperforming a previous HMM-based system by about 10% absolute. Moreover, in contrast to the baseline, our model does not require a pre-specified vocabulary size.
The Operative Note as Billing Documentation: A Preliminary Report

Certified professional coders from a multispecialty academic surgical practice used operative notes to identify 10 of the most common deficiencies for reimbursement of services. These 10 deficiencies were then used as evaluation criteria to audit the operative notes used as billing documentation. Twenty-four per cent of operative notes contained no deficiencies, whereas the remaining 76 per cent contained one or more audit criteria deficiencies. The three most common deficiencies identified included an incomplete description of all surgical procedures performed (56%), an inadequate description of the indications for procedures (49%), and only 45 per cent of the operative notes were dictated within 24 hours of the procedure. Thirty-nine per cent were dictated by faculty surgeons, whereas 61 per cent were dictated by surgical residents. Twenty-nine per cent of the operative notes that were dictated by faculty surgeons contained no deficiencies as compared with 20 per cent of the operative notes that were dictated by surgical residents. For a multispecialty academic surgical practice, the operative note is the document of justification for 75 per cent of revenue generated. We conclude that 1) the operative note represents the most important document for justification of reimbursement for surgical services, 2) surgeons should reassess the operative note as a billing document and provide the information necessary to expedite reimbursement, 3) surgical residents should be instructed in the details of an operative report as a billing document, and 4) most of the information needed in the operative note for billing purposes is simple and straightforward data that is important not only for reimbursement but also from a medico-legal and medical records standpoint.
Functional Domain Analysis of the Remorin Protein LjSYMREM1 in Lotus japonicus

In legumes rhizobial infection during root nodule symbiosis (RNS) is controlled by a conserved set of receptor proteins and downstream components. MtSYMREM1, a protein of the Remorin family in Medicago truncatula, was shown to interact with at least three receptor-like kinases (RLKs) that are essential for RNS. Remorins are comprised of a conserved C-terminal domain and a variable N-terminal region that defines the six different Remorin groups. While both N- and C-terminal regions of Remorins belonging to the same phylogenetic group are similar to each other throughout the plant kingdom, the N-terminal domains of legume-specific group 2 Remorins show exceptional high degrees of sequence divergence suggesting evolutionary specialization of this protein within this clade. We therefore identified and characterized the MtSYMREM1 ortholog from Lotus japonicus (LjSYMREM1), a model legume that forms determinate root nodules. Here, we resolved its spatio-temporal regulation and showed that over-expression of LjSYMREM1 increases nodulation on transgenic roots. Using a structure-function approach we show that protein interactions including Remorin oligomerization are mainly mediated and stabilized by the Remorin C-terminal region with its coiled-coil domain while the RLK kinase domains transiently interact in vivo and phosphorylate a residue in the N-terminal region of the LjSYMREM1 protein in vitro. These data provide novel insights into the mechanism of this putative molecular scaffold protein and underline its importance during rhizobial infection.
Interactive fingerprinting codes and the hardness of preventing false discovery

We show an essentially tight bound on the number of adaptively chosen statistical queries that a computationally efficient algorithm can answer accurately given n samples from an unknown distribution. A statistical query asks for the expectation of a predicate over the underlying distribution, and an answer to a statistical query is accurate if it is “close” to the correct expectation over the distribution. This question was recently studied by Dwork et al. [DFH+ 15], who showed how to answer Ω(n2) queries efficiently, and also by Hardt and Ullman [HU14], who showed that answering Õ(n3) queries is hard. We close the gap between the two bounds and show that, under a standard hardness assumption, there is no computationally efficient algorithm that, given n samples from an unknown distribution, can give valid answers to O(n2) adaptively chosen statistical queries. An implication of our results is that computationally efficient algorithms for answering arbitrary, adaptively chosen statistical queries may as well be differentially private. We obtain our results using a new connection between the problem of answering adaptively chosen statistical queries and a combinatorial object called an interactive fingerprinting code [FT01]. In order to optimize our hardness result, we give a new Fourier-analytic approach to analyzing fingerprinting codes that is simpler, more flexible, and yields better parameters than previous constructions.
Antigen-induced co-capping of IgM and IgD-like receptors on murine B cells

Double fluorescence studies indicated that most mature lymphocytes of 11-52-wk-old mice possess both IgM and IgD-like surface immunoglobulins, while spleen cells from neonatal mice possess surface IgM only. These molecules cap independently with class-specific antisera, but co-cap when capping is induced by antigen. It is proposed that the two heavy chains on individual lymphocytes possess similar or identical antigen-combining sites.
Computing bounds for fault tolerance using formal techniques

Continuously shrinking feature sizes result in an increasing susceptibility of circuits to transient faults, e.g. due to environmental radiation. Approaches to implement fault tolerance are known. But assessing the fault tolerance of a given circuit is a tough problem. Here, we propose the use of formal methods to assess the robustness of a digital circuit with respect to transient faults. Our formal model uses a fixed bound in time to cope with the complexity of the underlying sequential equivalence check. The result is a lower and an upper bound on the robustness. The underlying algorithm and techniques to improve the efficiency are presented. In experiments the method is evaluated on circuits with different fault detection mechanisms.
If not When, then Where? Ignoring Temporal Information Eliminates Reflexive but not Volitional Spatial Orienting

A tremendous amount of research has been devoted to understanding how attention can be committed to space or time. Until recently, relatively little research has examined how attention to these two domains combine. The present study addressed this issue. We examined how implicitly manipulating whether participants used a cue to orient attention in time impacts reflexive or volitional shifts in spatial attention. Specifically, participants made speeded manual responses to the detection of a peripherally presented target that appeared either 100, 500, or 1000 ms after the onset of a central cue. Cues were either spatially non-predictive arrows (p = 0.50) or spatially-predictive (p = 0.80) letter cues. Whereas arrow cues can reflexively orient spatial attention even when non-predictive of a target’s spatial location, letters only orient spatial attention when they reliably predict a target location, i.e., the shift is volitional. Further, in one task, a target was presented on every trial, thereby encouraging participants to use the temporal information conveyed by the cue to prepare for the appearance of the target. In another task, 25% of trials contained no target, implicitly discouraging participants from using the cue to direct attention in time. Results indicate that when temporal information is reliable and therefore volitionally processed, then spatial cuing effects emerge regardless of whether attention is oriented reflexively or volitionally. However, when temporal information is unreliable, spatial cuing effects only emerge when spatial cue information is reliable, i.e., when spatial attention is volitionally shifted. Reflexive cues do not elicit spatial orienting when their temporal utility is reduced. These results converge on the notion that reflexive shifts of spatial attention are sensitive to implicit changes in a non-spatial domain, whereas explicit volitional shifts in spatial attention are not.
Motion planning for kinematic stratified systems with application to quasi-static legged locomotion and finger gaiting

We present a general motion planning algorithm for robotic systems with a "stratified" configuration space. Such systems include quasi-static legged robots and kinematic models of object manipulation by finger repositioning. Our method is an extension of a nonlinear motion planning algorithm for smooth systems to the stratified case, where the relevant dynamics are not smooth. The method does not depend upon the number of legs or fingers; furthermore, it is not based on foot placement or finger placement concepts. Examples demonstrate the method.
Ultrafast interfacial proton-coupled electron transfer.

Interfaces between metallic or semiconducting solids and protic solvent adsorbates or liquids represent one of the most important, and yet hardly explored material environments for proton coupled electron transfer (PCET) processes. PCET mediated dynamical phenomena driven by light, electron, and chemical potentials are central in energy transduction processes of vast economic and environmental importance including the photocatalytic splitting of H₂O, the photo and electrochemical reduction of CO₂, and the conversion of chemical to electrical energy in fuel cells. Experimental and theoretical investigations of the dynamical aspects of PCET at solid surfaces are particularly challenging because relatively localized charges within a solvent couple in the presence of strong interfacial potentials to delocalized states of electronic continua of semiconductor or metal electrodes. Moreover, the localized charges are never the bare protons and electrons that balance chemical equations, but rather are dressed particles with associated polarization clouds inhomogeneously distributed and comprised variously of free electrons, lattice ions, and solvent molecules. The polarization clouds screen the Coulomb potential on the medium specific time scales and impose energetic costs associated with transport through the inhomogeneous region of interfaces between the solid and molecular environments. We introduce some recent theoretical studies aimed at providing an atomisticmore » description on metal-protic solvent interface and modeling of simple processes such as the discharge of H⁺ at a metal interface. Because of the paucity of experimental research and embryonic stage of theory, our goal is to present some key theoretical concepts and early experimental efforts based primarily on a surface science approach to ultrafast electron induced dynamics. In order to introduce some key features of interfacial PCET in the strong and intermediate coupling regimes, we discuss specific examples of photoinduced dissociation of alkanes on metals and photoinduced PCET dynamics of methanol covered TiO₂ surfaces. « less
The Effect of Hand Acupuncture Therapy and Hand Moxibustion Therapy on Premenstrual Syndrome Among Korean Women

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms can reduce quality of life and impair daily functioning. This study examined the effects of Korean hand acupuncture therapy (HAT) and hand moxibustion therapy (HMT) on symptom severity in Korean women with PMS. This quasi-experimental pilot study based on the khi, yin, yang, and the five elements theory used a nonequivalent control group pretest—posttest design. Experimental groups received 10 sessions of either HAT or HMT treatment. Outcome measures included menstrual symptom severity as measured with the Menstrual Symptom Severity List and skin temperature change measured with Digital Infrared Thermographic Imaging. Both experimental groups had significantly reduced overall PMS symptom severity scores following therapy as compared to women in the control group. The HMT but not the HAT group showed improved flow of khi and balanced skin temperature in symmetric body areas. HAT and HMT may be effective strategies for women to reduce PMS symptoms.
Sparse plus low-rank autoregressive identification in neuroimaging time series

This paper considers the problem of identifying multivariate autoregressive (AR) sparse plus low-rank graphical models. Based on a recent problem formulation, we use the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) to solve it efficiently as a convex program for sizes encountered in neuroimaging applications. We apply this algorithm on synthetic and real neuroimaging datasets with a specific focus on the information encoded in the low-rank structure of our model. In particular, we illustrate that this information captures the spatio-temporal structure of the original data, generalizing classical component analysis approaches.