Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immersion of nonlinear systems into linear systems modulo output injection

This paper deals with the problem of the immersion of a SISO system into a linear up to an output injection one. For this class of systems Luenberger-like observers can be designed: the dynamics of the error between the states of the observer and the immersed controlled system is linear. Necessary and sufficient conditions are first stated within a very-general framework. Effective computations and examples are then provided for uncontrolled and control-affine systems. In particular the control-affine case is completely (with a very slight restriction) solved.
Modeling Larval Growth of Various Cricket Species (Insecta, Orthoptera)

ain objective of the contribution is the introduction of a simplified mathematical approach that describes the progression of larval growth in hemimetabolous insects. The model is founded on a distinction between hormonal growth rate (Wh) and intrinsic growth rate (Wi), the latter of which includes the increase of larval size due to food consumption. In addition, any dependence of these growth rates on environmental temperature is considered. Evaluation of model validity was conducted by using experimental growth data that were determined for larvae of the two cricket species Teleogryllus commodus Walker 1869 and Acheta domesticus (L., 1758). Correspondence between theoretical and practical results varied according to the species and temperature regarded, with Pearson’s correlation coefficients adopting values between 0.97 and 0.99. Insect growth models may help to obtain a better understanding of the life cycles of such organisms, which is of high essence for targeted pest control and effective rearing of food animals.
BMP4 Polymorphism is Associated with Nonsyndromic Oral Cleft in a Brazilian Population

Objective To evaluate the association of the polymorphisms in the TGFB3 gene (rs2268626) and the BMP4 gene (rs17563) with nonsyndromic oral clefts. Design A hospital-based case-control study was conducted with nonsyndromic oral clefts cases and unaffected controls. Cleft type and tooth agenesis data were collected by clinical examination and confirmed through medical records. Risk factors were obtained through a questionnaire. Genotyping of the selected polymorphisms for TGFB3 and BMP4 were carried out by real-time polymerase chain reaction using the Taqman assay method from a genomic DNA isolated from buccal epithelial cells of all individuals. Setting The case group was ascertained through a public reference hospital of oral cleft rehabilitation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The noncleft group consisted of unrelated subjects, with no history of oral cleft in the family, recruited at the Dental Clinic at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Participants A total of 833 unrelated individuals (450 control individuals and 383 cases with nonsyndromic oral clefts) Results No significant association in relation to genotype or allele distributions for TGFB3 polymorphism was found between oral cleft subgroups and the control group. For BMP4, there were significant differences in the genotype frequencies between the oral cleft and control groups (P = .0007). Regarding cleft type, there were statistically significant differences between the cleft lip and control groups (P = .00009). Conclusion Our findings provide preliminary evidence suggesting that the risk of nonsyndromic oral clefts may be influenced by variation in the BMP4 gene.
The effect of various conditions on the ultrafiltration process of bisphenol A using nanocomposite membranes modified with carbon nanotubes

This study presents effect of various conditions on BPA retention during ultrafiltration process. Polyethersulphone was selected as material for membrane preparation, while membranes were prepared with inverse phase method. Single-walled carbon nanotubes functionalized with carboxyl groups were employed for membrane modification. Tests were carried out for one substance – BPA, with use of three differently types of membranes. Presence of carbon nanotubes influences on membrane properties, like porosity, or contact angle of membranes. It was also found that retention of BPA was depended on its concentration, and also pH of the solution.
Multiple Features But Few Labels?: A Symbiotic Solution Exemplified for Video Analysis

Video analysis has been attracting increasing research due to the proliferation of internet videos. In this paper, we investigate how to improve the performance on internet quality video analysis. Particularly, we work on the scenario of few labeled training videos being provided, which is less focused in multimedia. To being with, we consider how to more effectively harness the evidences from the low-level features. Researchers have developed several promising features to represent videos to capture the semantic information. However, as videos usually characterize rich semantic contents, the analysis performance by using one single feature is potentially limited. Simply combining multiple features through early fusion or late fusion to incorporate more informative cues is doable but not optimal due to the heterogeneity and different predicting capability of these features. For better exploitation of multiple features, we propose to mine the importance of different features and cast it into the learning of the classification model. Our method is based on multiple graphs from different features and uses the Riemannian metric to evaluate the feature importance. On the other hand, to be able to use limited labeled training videos for a respectable accuracy we formulate our method in a semi-supervised way. The main contribution of this paper is a novel scheme of evaluating the feature importance that is further casted into a unified framework of harnessing multiple weighted features with limited labeled training videos. We perform extensive experiments on video action recognition and multimedia event recognition and the comparison to other state-of-the-art multi-feature learning algorithms has validated the efficacy of our framework.
Nonparametric entropy estimation. An overview

We assume that H(f) is well-defined and is finite. The concept of differential entropy was introduced in Shannon’s original paper ([55]). Since then, entropy has been of great theoretical and applied interest. The basic properties ∗This research was supported by the Scientific Exchange Program between the Belgian Academy of Sciences and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in the field of Mathematical Information Theory, and NATO Research Grant No. CRG 931030.
Magnetic resonance imaging predictors of conversion to multiple sclerosis in the BENEFIT study.

BACKGROUND Several studies have confirmed the predictive value of baseline and follow-up magnetic resonance (MR) imaging variables for conversion to clinically definite multiple sclerosis (CDMS), depending on the population, follow-up duration, and treatment intervention. However, the timing of follow-up imaging and the effect of treatment intervention on the predictive value of baseline MR imaging variables require further elucidation. OBJECTIVES To assess the prognostic value of baseline MR imaging variables for conversion to CDMS over 3 years and whether this was affected by treatment intervention and (2) to assess the increased risk for conversion posed by dissemination in time on follow-up MR imaging. DESIGN Cohort study. SETTING Multicenter randomized clinical trial. PATIENTS Four hundred sixty-eight patients with a clinically isolated syndrome who had an initial clinical demyelinating event within the past 60 days who received early treatment (3 years of interferon beta-1b) or delayed treatment (placebo first, followed by > or =1 year of interferon beta-1b). Intervention Magnetic resonance imaging. Main Outcome Measure Time to CDMS. RESULTS The overall conversion rate to CDMS was 42%. Barkhof criteria with the strongest prognostic value were the presence at baseline of at least 9 T2-weighted lesions (hazard ratio [HR], 1.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-2.33; P = .006) and at least 3 periventricular lesions (1.66; 1.14-2.41; P = .009). No specific advantage was noted in using a fixed cutoff of at least 3 Barkhof criteria (HR, 1.31; 95% CI, 0.95-1.79; P = .10). The prognostic value of all MR imaging criteria was unaffected by treatment intervention (P > or = .20 for all). Dissemination in time resulted in increased risk for CDMS only in patients without dissemination in space at baseline and was most informative at the 9-month MR imaging (HR, 2.72; 95% CI, 1.26-5.87; P = .01). CONCLUSIONS The modified Barkhof criteria showed moderate predictive value for conversion to CDMS, although all patients had received interferon beta-1b therapy for at least 1 year. The predictive value was unaffected by treatment intervention. Follow-up MR imaging was most informative after 9 months in patients without dissemination in space at baseline.
Triangular meshes: A solution to resist to geometric distortions based watermark-removal softwares

We present in this paper a compensation technique allowing to retrieve a watermark in an image attacked by random local geometric distortions, with the help of the original image, or its edges. For this purpose, we use a flexible triangular 2-D mesh, in order to compensate parts of geometric distortions that could be introduced by softwares such as Stirmark [12, 11]. In order to illustrate the usefulness of the compensation on attacked images, we use two watermarking techniques: a classical spread spectrum algorithm proposed by Cox et al. [3] (the watermark is embedded into a selected set of DCT coefficients) and a wavelet-based watermarking technique [4].
Low-Cost Satellite Infrared Imager Study

Abstract : During the period of this study, the Surrey Space Centre, University of Surrey has conducted a theoretical and laboratory experiment investigation into low-cost thermal infrared imager concepts suitable for flight on very small satellite platforms. The investigation and resulting design concept(s) has emphasized the use of low-cost commercially available components while, at the same time, maximizing performance. The foundation of this research has been based on a commercially available uncooled resistive microbolometer detector array.
A Real-Time Electroencephalogram (EEG) Based Individual Identification Interface for Mobile Security in Ubiquitous Environment

With the booms of mobile communication, especially mobile smart phone, technologies to identify individuals for mobile security calls for some more strict requirements in user-friendly, real-time and ubiquitous aspects. In addition to traditional approaches (for example, password check), some advanced biometric methodologies have been applied in practice, such as fingerprint and iris based solutions, however, these solutions generally lack a true ubiquitous nature for mobile security. In this paper, we present a real time EEG based individual identification interface to support ubiquitous applications. The EEG signals are collected through a mono-polar single channel in real time via a mobile EEG device. An experiment involving about 20 subjects has been conducted to evaluate the interface. The experiment comprises three types of tests: accuracy test, time dimension test and capacity dimension test. The results of these experiments demonstrate that our approach is highly suitable to the demands of mobile security in ubiquitous environment. In addition, we integrate this interface into scenarios of ubiquitous application - Online Predictive Tools for Intervention in Mental Illness (OPTIMI).
Improved Potency and Selectivity of an Oncolytic E1ACR2 and E1B19K Deleted Adenoviral Mutant in Prostate and Pancreatic Cancers

Purpose: Replication-selective oncolytic adenoviruses are a promising class of tumor-targeting agents with proven safety in hundreds of patients. However, clinical responses have been limited and viral mutants with higher potency are needed. Here, we report on the generation of a novel set of mutants with improved efficacy in prostate and pancreatic carcinoma models. Currently, no curative treatments are available for late-stage metastatic prostate or rapidly progressing pancreatic cancers. Experimental Design: Adenovirus type 5 mutants were created with deletions in the E1ACR2 region for tumor selectivity and/or the E1B19K gene for attenuated replication in vivo; all constructs retain the E3 genes intact. Cell-killing efficacy, replication, and cytotoxicity in combination with chemotherapeutics were investigated in normal cells (PrEC and NHBE), seven carcinoma cell lines, and human (PC3 and DU145) and murine (TRAMPC, CMT-64, and CMT-93) tumor models in vivo. Results: The double-deleted AdΔΔ (ΔE1ACR2 and ΔE1B19K) mutant had high cell-killing activity in prostate, pancreatic, and lung carcinomas. Replication was similar to wild-type in all tumor cells and was attenuated in normal cells to levels less than the single-deleted AdΔCR2 mutant. AdΔΔ combined with the chemotherapeutics docetaxel and mitoxantrone resulted in synergistically enhanced cell killing and greatly improved antitumor efficacy in prostate xenografts in vivo. In murine immunocompetent in vivo models efficacy was greater for mutants with the E3B genes intact even in the absence of viral replication, indicating attenuated macrophage-dependent clearance. Conclusions: These data suggest that the novel oncolytic mutant AdΔΔ is a promising candidate for targeting of solid tumors specifically in combination with chemotherapeutics. Clin Cancer Res; 16(2); 541–53
Evaluating Neural Machine Translation in English-Japanese Task

In this paper, we evaluate Neural Machine Translation (NMT) models in English-Japanese translation task. Various network architectures with different recurrent units are tested. Additionally, we examine the effect of us-ing pre-reordered data for the training. Our experiments show that even simple NMT models can produce better translations compared with all SMT baselines. For NMT models, recovering unknown words is another key to obtaining good translations. We describe a simple workaround to find missing translations with a back-off sys-tem. To our surprise, performing pre-reordering on the training data hurts the model performance. Finally, we provide a qualitative analysis demonstrates a specific error pattern in NMT translations which omits some information and thus fail to preserve the complete meaning.
Automatic extraction of micro-architectural models of communication fabrics from register transfer level designs

Multi-core processors and Systems-on-Chips are composed of a large number of processing and memory elements interconnected by complex communication fabrics. These fabrics are large systems made of many queues and distributed control logic. Recent studies have demonstrated that high levels models of these networks are either tractable for verification or can provide key invariants to improve hardware model checkers. Formally verifying Register Transfer Level (RTL) designs of these networks is an important challenge, yet still open. This paper bridges the gap between high level models and RTL designs. We propose an algorithm that from a Verilog description automatically produces its corresponding micro-architectural model. We prove that the extracted model is transfer equivalent to the original RTL circuit. We illustrate our approach on a typical example of communication fabrics: a scoreboard with credit-flow control.
Bacterial modification of LPS and resistance to antimicrobial peptides

Antimicrobial peptides (APs) are ubiquitous in nature and are thought to kill micro-organisms by affecting membrane integrity. These positively charged peptides interact with negative charges in the LPS of Gram-negative bacteria. A common mechanism of resistance to AP killing is LPS modification. These modifications include fatty acid additions, phosphoethanolamine (PEtN) addition to the core and lipid A regions, 4-amino-4-deoxy-L-arabinose (Ara4N) addition to the core and lipid A regions, acetylation of the O-antigen, and possibly hydroxylation of fatty acids. In Salmonella typhimurium, LPS modifications are induced within host tissues by the two-component regulatory systems PhoPQ and PmrAB. PmrAB activation results in AP resistance by Ara4N addition to lipid A through the activation of at least 8 genes, 7 of which are transcribed as an operon. Loss of this operon and, therefore, Ara4N LPS modification, affects S. typhimurium virulence when administered orally. Transposon mutagenesis of Proteus mirabilis also suggests that LPS modifications affect AP resistance and virulence phenotypes. Therefore, LPS modification in Gram-negative bacteria plays a significant role during infection in resistance to host antimicrobial factors, avoidance of immune system recognition, and maintenance of virulence phenotypes.
Evidence-based practice: how to perform and use systematic reviews for clinical decision-making

One approach to clinical decision-making requires the integration of the best available research evidence with individual clinical expertise and patient values, and is known as evidence-based medicine (EBM). In clinical decision-making with the current best evidence, systematic reviews have an important role. This review article covers the basic principles of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and their role in the process of evidence-based decision-making. The problems associated with traditional narrative reviews are discussed, as well as the way systematic reviews limit bias associated with the assembly, critical appraisal and synthesis of studies addressing specific clinical questions. The relevant steps in writing a systematic review from the formulation of an initial research question to sensitivity analyses in conjunction with the combined analysis of the pooled data are described. Important issues that need to be considered when appraising a systematic review or meta-analysis are outlined. Some of the terms that are used in the reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, such as relative risk, confidence interval, Forest plot or L'Abbé plot, will be introduced and explained.
Allergy medication in Japanese volunteers: treatment effect of single doses on nocturnal sleep architecture and next day residual effects

ABSTRACT Objectives: To evaluate the acute effects of two histamine H1-receptor antagonists on nocturnal sleep architecture and on next day cognitive function and psychomotor performance. Methods: This was a single-site, randomized, double-blind, 3-way crossover study, comparing the effects of a single dose of chlorpheniramine (6 mg), fexofenadine (120 mg) and placebo in 18 healthy (male and female) Japanese volunteers aged 20–55 years. Volunteers were resident for 3 days and each period was separated by a minimum 5‐day washout period. The three treatments were administered at 23.00 h. Overnight sleep was measured from 23.00 h to 07.00 h using polysomnography. Residual effects were studied at 07.00 h and 9.00 h the next morning, with the latency to sleep (sleep latency test) measured at 09.30 h. Results: Compared with placebo, chlorpheniramine increased the latencies to sleep onset and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep ( p ≤ 0.05 for both), and reduced the duration of REM sleep ( p ≤ 0.01), but this was not observed with fexofenadine. As far as residual effects the next morning were concerned there were decrements in performance with chlorpheniramine, but not with fexofenadine. Chlorpheniramine 6 mg impaired divided attention ( p < 0.001), vigilance ( p < 0.05), working memory ( p < 0.0001) and sensori-motor performance ( p < 0.01), and the latency to daytime sleep was reduced ( p < 0.0001). Six adverse events possibly related to study medication were reported during the study, three of which were related to placebo, two to fexofenadine and one to chlorpheniramine. Conclusion: These findings suggest that a single nocturnal dose of fexofenadine has advantages over the first-generation antihistamine chlorpheniramine, being free of disruption of night-time sleep and detrimental effects on cognitive performance the next day. It is likely that this advantage will remain with chronic ingestion, but this would need to be confirmed.
Further results on selective multiuser diversity

In this paper we study the performance of a recently proposed scheduling technique, known as selective multiuser diversity scheme, when the users in the system have unequal average signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Numerical examples confirm that selective multiuser diversity reduces dramatically the feedback load but maintains a good portion of multiuser diversity gain.
Cellular Automata and Fractal Urban Form: A Cellular Modelling Approach to the Evolution of Urban Land-Use Patterns

Cellular automata belong to a family of discrete, connectionist techniques being used to investigate fundamental principles of dynamics, evolution, and self-organization. In this paper, a cellular automaton is developed to model the spatial structure of urban land use over time. For realistic parameter values, the model produces fractal or bifractal land-use structures for the urbanized area and for each individual land-use type. Data for a set of US cities show that they have very similar fractal dimensions. The cellular approach makes it possible to achieve a high level of spatial detail and realism and to link the results directly to general theories of structural evolution.
PSI to turbulence during internal wave beam refraction through the upper ocean pycnocline

A numerical study based on large eddy simulation (LES) is performed to investigate the nonlinear interaction of a semidiurnal (M2) internal wave beam with an upper ocean pycnocline. During refraction through the pycnocline, the wave beam undergoes parametric subharmonic instability (PSI) with formation of waves with (1/2)M2 frequency. The three‐dimensional LES enables new results that quantify the route to turbulence through PSI. The subharmonic waves generated from PSI have an order of magnitude smaller vertical scale and are susceptible to wave breaking. Convective instability initiates transition to turbulence, while shear production maintains it. Turbulence at points in the subharmonic wave paths is modulated at (1/2)M2 frequency. The beam suffers substantial degradation owing to PSI, reflected harmonics and ducted waves so that only about 30% of the incoming energy is transported by the main reflected beam.