Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Geometry for robot path planning

SUMMARY There have been many interesting recent results in the area of geometrical methods for path planning in robotics. So it seems very timely to attempt a description of mathematical developments surrounding very elementary engineering tasks. Even with such limited scope, there is too much to cover in detail. Inevitably, our knowledge and personal preferences have a lot to do with what is emphasised, included, or left out. Part I is introductory, elementary in tone, and important for understanding the need for geometrical methods in path planning. Part II describes the results on geometrical constructions that imitate well-known constructions from classical approximation theory. Part III reviews a class of methods where classical criteria are extended to curves in Riemannian manifolds, including several recent mathematical results that have not yet found their way into the literature.
Subunit Structure of a Mammalian ER/Golgi SNARE Complex*

SNAP receptor (SNARE) complexes bridge opposing membranes to promote membrane fusion within the secretory and endosomal pathways. Because only the exocytic SNARE complexes have been characterized in detail, the structural features shared by SNARE complexes from different fusion steps are not known. We now describe the subunit structure, assembly, and regulation of a quaternary SNARE complex, which appears to mediate an early step in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to Golgi transport. Purified recombinant syntaxin 5, membrin, and rbet1, three Q-SNAREs, assemble cooperatively to create a high affinity binding site for sec22b, an R-SNARE. The syntaxin 5 amino-terminal domain potently inhibits SNARE complex assembly. The ER/Golgi quaternary complex is remarkably similar to the synaptic complex, suggesting that a common pattern is followed at all transport steps, where three Q-helices assemble to form a high affinity binding site for a fourth R-helix on an opposing membrane. Interestingly, although sec22b binds to the combination of syntaxin 5, membrin, and rbet1, it can only bind if it is present while the others assemble; sec22b cannot bind to a pre-assembled ternary complex of syntaxin 5, membrin, and rbet1. Finally, we demonstrate that the quaternary complex containing sec22b is not an in vitroentity only, but is a bona fide species in living cells.
Association between Increases in Urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase–associated Lipocalin and Acute Renal Dysfunction after Adult Cardiac Surgery

Background:Acute renal dysfunction (ARD) and subsequent acute renal failure after cardiac surgery are associated with high mortality and morbidity. Early therapeutic or preventive intervention is hampered by the lack of an early biomarker for acute renal injury. Recent studies showed that urinary neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin (NGAL or lipocalin 2) is up-regulated early (within 1–3 h) after murine renal injury and in pediatric ARD after cardiac surgery. The authors hypothesized that postoperative urinary NGAL concentrations are increased in adult patients developing ARD after cardiac surgery compared with patients without ARD. Methods:After institutional review board approval, 81 cardiac surgical patients were prospectively studied. Urine samples were collected immediately before incision and at various time intervals after surgery for NGAL analysis by quantitative immunoblotting. ARD was defined as peak postoperative serum creatinine increase by 50% or greater compared with preoperative serum creatinine. Results:Sixteen of 81 patients (20%) developed postoperative ARD, and the mean urinary NGAL concentrations in patients who developed ARD were significantly higher early after surgery (after 1 h: 4,195 ± 6,520 [mean ± SD] vs. 1,068 ± 2,129 ng/ml; P < 0.01) compared with patients who did not develop ARD. Mean urinary NGAL concentrations continued to increase and remained significantly higher at 3 and 18 h after cardiac surgery in patients with ARD. In contrast, urinary NGAL in patients without ARD decreased rapidly after cardiac surgery. Conclusions:Patients developing postoperative ARD had significantly higher urinary NGAL concentrations early after cardiac surgery. Urinary NGAL may therefore be a useful early biomarker of ARD after cardiac surgery. These findings may facilitate the early detection of acute renal injury and potentially prevent progression to acute renal failure.
Recql5 and Blm RecQ DNA Helicases Have Nonredundant Roles in Suppressing Crossovers

ABSTRACT In eukaryotes, crossovers in mitotic cells can have deleterious consequences and therefore must be suppressed. Mutations in BLM give rise to Bloom syndrome, a disease that is characterized by an elevated rate of crossovers and increased cancer susceptibility. However, simple eukaryotes such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae have multiple pathways for suppressing crossovers, suggesting that mammals also have multiple pathways for controlling crossovers in their mitotic cells. We show here that in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, mutations in either the Bloom syndrome homologue (Blm) or the Recql5 genes result in a significant increase in the frequency of sister chromatid exchange (SCE), whereas deleting both Blm and Recql5 lead to an even higher frequency of SCE. These data indicate that Blm and Recql5 have nonredundant roles in suppressing crossovers in mouse ES cells. Furthermore, we show that mouse embryonic fibroblasts derived from Recql5 knockout mice also exhibit a significantly increased frequency of SCE compared with the corresponding wild-type control. Thus, this study identifies a previously unknown Recql5-dependent, Blm-independent pathway for suppressing crossovers during mitosis in mice.
Pathogen-Specific T Cell Polyfunctionality Is a Correlate of T Cell Efficacy and Immune Protection

Introduction Understanding the factors that delineate the efficacy of T cell responses towards pathogens is crucial for our ability to develop potent therapies against infectious diseases. Multidimensional evaluation of T cell functionality at the single-cell level enables exhaustive analysis of combinatorial functional properties, hence polyfunctionality. We have recently invented an algorithm that quantifies polyfunctionality, the Polyfunctionality Index (Larsen et al. PLoS One 2012). Here we demonstrate that quantitative assessment of T cell polyfunctionality correlates with T cell efficacy measured as the capacity to kill target cells in vitro and control infection in vivo. Methods We employed the polyfunctionality index on two datasets selected for their unique ability to evaluate the polyfunctional imprint on T cell efficacy. 1) HIV-specific CD8+ T cells and 2) Leishmania major-specific CD4+ T cells were analysed for their capacity to secrete multiple effector molecules, kill target cells and control infection. Briefly, employing the Polyfunctionality Index algorithm we determined the parameter estimates resulting in optimal correlation between T cell polyfunctionality and T cell efficacy. Results T cell polyfunctionality is correlated with T cell efficacy measured as 1) target killing (r=0.807, P<0.0001) and 2) lesion size upon challenge with Leishmania major (r=-0.50, P=0.004). Contrary to an approach relying on the Polyfunctionality Index algorithm, quantitative evaluation of T cell polyfunctionality traditionally ignores the gradual contribution of more or less polyfunctional T cells. Indeed, comparing both approaches we show that optimal description of T cell efficacy is obtained when gradually integrating all levels of polyfunctionality in accordance with the Polyfunctionality Index. Conclusions Our study presents a generalizable methodology to objectively evaluate the impact of polyfunctionality on T cell efficacy. We show that T cell polyfunctionality is a superior correlate of T cell efficacy both in vitro and in vivo as compared with response size. Therefore, future immunotherapies should aim to increase T cell polyfunctionality.
Reducing Identified Parameters of Measurement-Based Composite Load Model

A load model is one of the most important elements in power system simulation and control. Recently, the constant impedance, constant current, and constant power load in combination with the induction motor load have been widely used as the composite load model, whose parameters are all identified from the field measurements in measurement-based load modeling practices so far. However, there is virtually no research conducted on whether all these parameters could really be identified. This paper investigates the possibility on reducing the number of composite load model parameters to be identified from field measurements. This paper first shows that direct application of the IEEE load motor parameters in the composite load model may be inadequate on describing the load dynamics over different operating status. Then the perturbation method is used to derive the trajectory sensitivities of the equivalent motor parameters, based on which the reduction on the identified parameters of the composite load model is presented. Two cases of measurement-based load modeling in North China and Northeast China are studied to illustrate the validity of the reduction method. It is shown that the reduction does not lose the model's capability on describing the load dynamics. The reduction on the number of identified parameters not only provides a possible way to solve the multi-valued load model problem based on the current practices on measurement-based load modeling, but it also facilitates building of the load model with more components included in it. Meanwhile, reducing the identified parameters reduces the identification time; thus, the proposed strategy significantly enhances the efficiency of the load modeling work.
Massive MIMO for decentralized estimation over coherent multiple access channels

We consider a decentralized multisensor estimation problem where L sensor nodes observe noisy versions of a possibly correlated random source. The sensors amplify and forward their observations over a fading coherent multiple access channel (MAC) to a fusion center (FC). The FC is equipped with a large array of N antennas, and adopts a minimum mean square error (MMSE) approach for estimating the source. We optimize the amplification factor (or equivalently transmission power) at each sensor node in two different scenarios: 1) with the objective of total power minimization subject to mean square error (MSE) of source estimation constraint, and 2) with the objective of minimizing MSE subject to total power constraint. For this purpose, we apply an asymptotic approximation based on the massive multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) favorable propagation condition (when L ≪ N). We use convex optimization techniques to solve for the optimal sensor power allocation in 1) and 2). In 1), we show that the total power consumption at the sensors decays as 1/N, replicating the power savings obtained in Massive MIMO mobile communications literature. Through numerical studies, we also illustrate the superiority of the proposed optimal power allocation methods over uniform power allocation.
Statistical analyses of deformation twinning in magnesium

To extract quantitative and meaningful relationships between material microstructure and deformation twinning in magnesium, we conduct a statistical analysis on large data sets generated by electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD). The analyses show that not all grains of similar orientation and grain size form twins, and twinning does not occur exclusively in grains with high twin Schmid factors or in the relatively large grains of the sample. The number of twins per twinned grain increases with grain area, but twin thickness and the fraction of grains with at least one visible twin are independent of grain area. On the other hand, an analysis of twin pairs joined at a boundary indicates that grain boundary misorientation angle strongly influences twin nucleation and growth. These results question the use of deterministic rules for twin nucleation and Hall–Petch laws for size effects on twinning. Instead, they encourage an examination of the defect structures of grain boundaries and their role in twin nucleation and growth.
Regulation of Cell Signaling Pathways PDGF induces SphK 1 expression via Egr-1 to promote pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell proliferation

Justin R. Sysol, Viswanathan Natarajan, and Roberto F. Machado Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; Department of Pharmacology, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; and Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
A Convex Relaxation Approach to Space Time Multi-view 3D Reconstruction

We propose a convex relaxation approach to space-time 3D reconstruction from multiple videos. Generalizing the works Unger et al. [16], Kolev et al. [8] to the 4D setting, we cast the problem of reconstruction over time as a binary labeling problem in a 4D space. We propose a variational formulation which combines a photo consistency based data term with a spatio-temporal total variation regularization. In particular, we propose a novel data term that is both faster to compute and better suited for wide-baseline camera setups when photo consistency measures are unreliable or missing. The proposed functional can be globally minimized using convex relaxation techniques. Numerous experiments on a variety of public ally available data sets demonstrate that we can compute detailed and temporally consistent reconstructions. In particular, the temporal regularization allows to reduce jittering of voxels over time.
Core-stable bidding rings

We propose a semi-cooperative game theoretic approach to check whether a given coalition is stable in a Bayesian game with independent private values. The ex ante expected utilities of coalitions, which are achieved at an incentive compatible (noncooperative) coalitional equilibrium, describe a (cooperative) partition form game. A coalition is core-stable if the core of a speci…c characteristic function, derived from the partition form game, is not empty. As an application, we study collusion in auctions in which the bidders’…nal utility possibly depends on the winner’s identity. We show that such direct external
A Machine Learning Approach for Non-blind Image Deconvolution

Image deconvolution is the ill-posed problem of recovering a sharp image, given a blurry one generated by a convolution. In this work, we deal with space-invariant non-blind deconvolution. Currently, the most successful methods involve a regularized inversion of the blur in Fourier domain as a first step. This step amplifies and colors the noise, and corrupts the image information. In a second (and arguably more difficult) step, one then needs to remove the colored noise, typically using a cleverly engineered algorithm. However, the methods based on this two-step approach do not properly address the fact that the image information has been corrupted. In this work, we also rely on a two-step procedure, but learn the second step on a large dataset of natural images, using a neural network. We will show that this approach outperforms the current state-of-the-art on a large dataset of artificially blurred images. We demonstrate the practical applicability of our method in a real-world example with photographic out-of-focus blur.
Accuracy of self-reported weight in patients with binge eating disorder.

OBJECTIVE This study was designed to evaluate the accuracy of self-reported weight in patients with binge eating disorder. METHOD Subjects were 108 adults who were consecutively evaluated for outpatient clinical trials and met DSM-IV criteria for binge eating disorder. Self-reported and measured weights were taken and participants were administered a battery of measures to examine correlates of reporting error. In addition, accurate reporters of weight (i.e., individuals who reported their weight within 5 lb of their measured weight) were compared to underreporters (i.e., individuals who underreported their weight by more than 5 lb) on eating disorder psychopathology and conceptually related measures. RESULTS Overall, most binge eating disorder subjects were accurate in reporting weight: 73% were accurate within 5 lb and 82% were accurate within 10 lb. Self-reported and measured body mass index were highly correlated and the magnitude of the difference was nonsignificant. Body mass index was not significantly associated with the degree of accuracy, that is, accurate reporters weighed about the same as underreporters. Accurate reporters and underreporters did not differ on measures of overeating behaviors, eating disorder psychopathology, and conceptually related measures. DISCUSSION These findings suggest that most patients with binge eating disorder were accurate in self-reporting weight. Unlike findings in healthy samples, heavier patients with binge eating disorder were not more likely to underreport weight. Similar to findings in patients with bulimia nervosa, eating disorder psychopathology was not related to reporting error.
Pharmacokinetics and Tolerability of Inhaled Umeclidinium and Vilanterol Alone and in Combination in Healthy Chinese Subjects: A Randomized, Open-Label, Crossover Trial

Inhaled umeclidinium (UMEC) and the combination of inhaled UMEC with vilanterol (UMEC/VI) are approved maintenance treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the US and EU. This was a randomized, open-label, three-period crossover, single- and repeat-dose study to assess the pharmacokinetics (PK), safety, and tolerability of inhaled UMEC/VI 62.5/25 μg (delivering 55/22 μg) and UMEC/VI 125/25 μg (delivering 113/22 μg) compared with their monotherapy components (UMEC 62.5 μg, UMEC 125 μg and, VI 25 μg [delivering 55, 113, and 22 μg, respectively]) in healthy Chinese subjects (n=20). UMEC and VI were rapidly absorbed following single and repeat dosing (time to maximum plasma concentration [tmax]: UMEC = 5 min; VI = 5 min). The median tlast was 2–4 h for UMEC and 1–2 h for VI following single doses of UMEC/VI and UMEC monotherapy (both doses). UMEC reached steady-state prior to Day 10; steady-state for VI could not be assessed. UMEC accumulation following repeat dosing was 11–34% based on Cmax and 19–59% based on area under the concentration-time curve from time zero to 2 h (AUC(0-2)). VI accumulation following repeat dosing was 25–66% based on Cmax and 17–43% based on AUC(0-2). The evidence was not sufficient to suggest that systemic exposure was substantially different between UMEC/VI combination therapy and the constituent monotherapies following single or repeat dosing. Following both single- and repeat-dose administration, the inter-subject coefficient of variation for all UMEC PK parameter estimates ranged from 12% to 165% for all treatments, indicating a wide range of variability in inhaled PK parameters. Twelve subjects experienced ≥1 adverse event (AE). Six subjects experienced ≥1 treatment-related AE; the most commonly reported treatment-related AE was chest discomfort (n=3 [15%]). No clinically important changes in vital signs or electrocardiogram parameters were reported. These data suggest that single- and repeat-dose administration of UMEC/VI combination therapy in healthy Chinese subjects did not result in substantial differences in systemic exposure compared with UMEC and VI as monotherapies. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01899638 NCT01899638
An eight-week yoga intervention is associated with improvements in pain, psychological functioning and mindfulness, and changes in cortisol levels in women with fibromyalgia

Objectives: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic condition characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, depression, and hypocortisolism. To date, published studies have not investigated the effects of yoga on cortisol in FM. This pilot study used a time series design to evaluate pain, psychological variables, mindfulness, and cortisol in women with FM before and after a yoga intervention. Methods: Participants (n = 22) were recruited from the community to participate in a 75 minute yoga class twice weekly for 8 weeks. Questionnaires concerning pain (intensity, unpleasantness, quality, sum of local areas of pain, catastrophizing, acceptance, disability), anxiety, depression, and mindfulness were administered pre-, mid- and post-intervention. Salivary cortisol samples were collected three times a day for each of two days, pre- and post-intervention. Results: Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that mean ± standard deviation (SD) scores improved significantly (p < 0.05) from pre- to post-intervention for continuous pain (pre: 5.18 ± 1.72; post: 4.44 ± 2.03), pain catastrophizing (pre: 25.33 ± 14.77; post: 20.40 ± 17.01), pain acceptance (pre: 60.47 ± 23.43; post: 65.50 ± 22.93), and mindfulness (pre: 120.21 ± 21.80; post: 130.63 ± 20.82). Intention-to-treat analysis showed that median AUC for post-intervention cortisol (263.69) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than median AUC for pre-intervention levels (189.46). Mediation analysis revealed that mid-intervention mindfulness scores significantly (p < 0.05) mediated the relationship between pre- and post-intervention pain catastrophizing scores. Discussion: The results suggest that a yoga intervention may reduce pain and catastrophizing, increase acceptance and mindfulness, and alter total cortisol levels in women with FM. The changes in mindfulness and cortisol levels may provide preliminary evidence for mechanisms of a yoga program for women with FM. Future studies should use an RCT design with a larger sample size.
1/sup st/ order class separability using EEG-based features for classification of wrist movements with direction selectivity

28 channel EEG data were recorded while a subject performed wrist movements in four directions. Four feature types were extracted for each channel following optimized filtering of the signals. The potential performance of each feature and channel for use in the classification of the EEG signals was analyzed by estimating the relative class overlap using a first order histogram approach. The best feature/channel configurations contained channels both that were close and far from motor areas. While the scope and depth of the study was very limited, the results do suggest more attention should be paid to non-motor areas when investigating movement related EEG.
Constraints on Moho depth and crustal thickness in the Liguro-Provençal basin from a 3D gravity inversion: geodynamic implications

Abstract 3D gravity modelling is combined with seismic refraction and reflection data to constrain a new Moho depth map in the Liguro-Provençal basin (Western Mediterranean Sea). At seismically controlled points, the misfit between the gravimetric solution and the seismic data is about 2 km for a range of Moho depths between 12 km (deep basin) and 30 km (mainland). The oceanic crust thickness in the deep basin (5 km) is smaller than the average oceanic crust thickness reported in open oceans (7 km), pointing to a potential mantle temperature 30–50°C below normal and/or very slow oceanic spreading rate. Oceanic crust thickness is decreasing towards the Ligurian Sea and towards the continent-ocean boundary to values as small as 2 km. Poor magma supply is a result of low potential mantle temperature at depth, lateral thermal conduction towards an unextended continental margin, and decrease of the oceanic spreading rate close to the pole of opening in the Ligurian Sea. Re-examination of magnetic data (palaeomagnetic data and magnetic lineations) indicates that opening of the Liguro-Provençal Basin may have ceased as late as Late Burdigalian time (16.5 Ma) or even later. The absence of a significant time gap between cessation of opening in the Liguro-Provençal Basin and rifting of the Tyrrhenian domain favours a continuous extension mechanism since late Oligocene time driven by the African trench retreat.