Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A motion planner for nonholonomic mobile robots

This paper considers the problem of motion planning for a car-like robot (i.e., a mobile robot with a nonholonomic constraint whose turning radius is lower-bounded). We present a fast and exact planner for our mobile robot model, based upon recursive subdivision of a collision-free path generated by a lower-level geometric planner that ignores the motion constraints. The resultant trajectory is optimized to give a path that is of near-minimal length in its homotopy class. Our claims of high speed are supported by experimental results for implementations that assume a robot moving amid polygonal obstacles. The completeness and the complexity of the algorithm are proven using an appropriate metric in the configuration space R/sup 2//spl times/S/sup 1/ of the robot. This metric is defined by using the length of the shortest paths in the absence of obstacles as the distance between two configurations. We prove that the new induced topology and the classical one are the same. Although we concentrate upon the car-like robot, the generalization of these techniques leads to new theoretical issues involving sub-Riemannian geometry and to practical results for nonholonomic motion planning. >
The Natural History of Radiographic Instability of the Lumbar Spine

The natural history of radiographic instability of the lumbar spine was determined by reexamination of 50 patients who had been diagnosed with this condition at least 10 years previously and correlation of these findings with changes in the clinical condition. The initial diagnosis and follow-up examination was performed by dynamic radiography, and the following observations were made: 1) radiographic instability resolved spontaneously in 20% of cases; 2) radiographic instability due to isolated posterior opening (asymmetric anterior collapse of the intervertebral disc in flexion) usually was self-limited; and 3) combined posterior opening and forward translation in flexion was associated with chronic instability and debilitating symptoms. The functional prognosis, whether or not symptoms are improved, in patients with radiographic lumbar instability depends primarily on developmental narrowing of the spinal canal, rather than on the existence or type of radiographic instability.
Longitudinal association between plaque and gingival bleeding in smokers and non-smokers.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Whereas accumulation of dentogingival plaque inevitably leads to inflammatory reactions in the adjacent gingival tissue, there is limited information with regard to factors influencing naturally occurring fluctuation between gingival health and disease. The major aims of the present study were to investigate site-specific associations between plaque and gingivitis as well as transition dynamics of naturally occurring gingivitis in smoking and non-smoking young adults. METHODS 65 systemically healthy young adults, 19 to 30 years old, participated. 33 volunteers smoked at least 20 cigarettes per day, whereas 32 subjects were non-smokers. Clinical periodontal conditions were assessed four times within a time period of 6 months. An ecological approach in data analysis as well as site-specific analyses considering the correlated structure of data were performed. RESULTS At the outset and after 6 months, smokers had significantly more supragingival plaque than non-smokers. At the final examination, bleeding upon probing as well as calculus were more prevalent in smokers. A site-by-site analysis revealed that smokers tended to have a weaker association between supragingival plaque and bleeding on probing than non-smokers (median Mantel-Haenszel's common odds ratio 1.91 vs. 2.89, p=0.07). Multiple logistic regression analyses adjusted for periodontal probing depth, plaque and calculus identified smoking status to significantly increase the risk for the first transition of non-bleeding to bleeding upon probing by 86% (p<0.01). In contrast, recovery of bleeding sites was positively influenced by female gender, but not smoking. CONCLUSIONS In multivariate analyses adjusted for probing depth, plaque and calculus, smokers appeared to be at higher risk for the transition from non-bleeding to bleeding on probing. Weaker associations between plaque and naturally occurring gingivitis in smokers may have important consequences for preventive strategies for gingivitis.
An Interline DC Power-Flow Controller (IDCPFC) for Multiterminal HVDC System

This paper proposes a novel dc power-flow controller for a multiterminal HVDC system, which can be inserted in series on transmission lines to manage the dc power flow. Its key features include: 1) simpler circuit topology; 2) fewer components; and 3) the elimination of an external power supply and low-frequency high-voltage-insulation isolated transformer. A three-terminal HVDC system, including the dc power-flow controller, is studied and its operation principle and characteristics are analyzed. A simulation mode is built to test the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed dc power-flow controller with cases of power injection step down, power loss of one terminal, and power-flow reversal. A three-terminal dc system is built in the lab to validate the dc power-flow controller. The results show that the proposed dc power-flow controller can enhance the performance and controllability of a multiterminal HVDC system.
Abnormalities in saccade dynamics in first-episode treatment-naive hyperthyreosis patients with no pre-existing eye damage: a primary exploratory study

Objective: To explore the potential difference of eye saccade dynamics between first-episode treatmentnaïve hyperthyreosis patients without pre-existing eye damage and healthy controls by using basic visually guided saccade (VGS). Methods: 15 hyperthyroidism outpatients and 15 healthy controls participated in VGS analysis. Multiple indicators, including amplitude, duration, latency, main sequence analysis was performed to evaluate the differences of peak velocity (PV) and duration between the groups and general linear model was used to find the differences on latency, peak acceleration and peak deceleration between the groups. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in Vmax values between hyperthyreosis patients and healthy controls (438.47 ± 55.46°/s in control group and 486.10 ± 51.49°/s in hyperthyroidism group, Mann-Whitney U test, Z = -2.053, P = 0.040). GLM-based analysis showed that when amplitude = 10.819°, PV = 311.587°/s, duration = 61.94 ms, the saccade latency showed significant differences between hyperthyreosis patients (223.364 ms, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [219.245, 227.482]) and healthy controls (234.601 ms, 95% CI = [230.497, 238.705]); the peak acceleration showed significant differences between hyperthyreosis patients 14127.205°/s2 (95% CI = [14061.606, 14192.804]) and healthy controls (13959.973°/s2, 95% CI = [13894.610, 14025.337]); the peak deceleration showed no significant differences between hyperthyreosis patients (-10160.784°/s2, 95% CI = [-10263.189, -10058.378]) and healthy controls (-10194.008°/s2, 95% CI = [-10296.046, -10091.970]). Conclusion: Compared to healthy controls, hyperthyreosis patients displayed different dynamics in eye movement during VGS. Saccade tracking examination has a potential value for early detection of thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy.
Neurologic status in hyperactive, enuretic, encopretic, and normal boys.

Abstract The neurological status of 30 hyperactive, 40 enuretic, and 22 normal boys was investigated using the physical and neurological examination for soft signs (PANESS), a structured 44-item neurological exam with a 4-point scale for each item. There was a strong negative correlation between age and the PANESS score, indicating that the examination is also a kind of developmental scale. Age-adjusted mean PANESS score of hyperactive children was significantly higher than both the normal and enuretic groups, but there was no significant difference between the latter two groups in PANESS scores adjusted for age. PANESS scores correlated significantly with other measures of higher central nervous system function such as IQ, number of errors on the Bender test, and abnormal electroencephalograms (available in the hyperactive boys). Reliability of the examination as a whole by two independent raters was significant. Use of the PANESS in this study demonstrated a lag in neurodevelopmental maturity not necessarily specific to diagnostic category.
Incorporating local and global information using a novel distance function for scene recognition

In the field of scene recognition using only one type of visual feature is not powerful enough to discriminate scene categories. In this paper we propose an innovative method to integrate global and local feature space into a map function based on a novel distance function. A subset of train images denoted as exemplar-set are selected. The local and global distances are defined according to the images in the exemplar-set. Distances are defined such that they indicate the contribution of different semantic aspects and global information in each scene category. An empirical study has been performed on the 15-Scene dataset in order to demonstrate the impact of appropriately incorporating both local and global information for the purpose of scene recognition. The experiments show, our model achieved state-of-the-art accuracy of 87.47.
Verbalism in the Narrative Language of Children who are Blind and Sighted

This study examined the use of verbalisms by 62 children aged 7–14 who were totally blind from birth and 64 sighted children. It found that a child's degree of sight and gender did not affect the frequency with which verbalisms were used; only age had a significant positive effect. The study shows that language is a flexible structure that is used correctly by children who are congenitally blind as they adapt to the language used by those around them.
Markowitz optimization : correcting past out-of-sample errors 1

Portfolio optimization inputs differ widely from their subsequent out-of-sample (OOS) values. As a result, optimized portfolios have 2 to 28 times more risk OOS than their ex-ante estimates suggest. I propose a simple solution to this problem: let the data speak for itself and pick, in real time, the correction that most reduces past OOS errors. The resulting optimized portfolios consistently outperform OOS the 1/N benchmark. More significantly, the corrected covariance matrix captures very well the OOS risk of those portfolios, including the hit rates at extreme quantiles. JEL classification: G11; G12; G17.
Striatonigral control of movement velocity in mice

The basal ganglia have long been implicated in action initiation. Using three‐dimensional motion capture, we quantified the effects of optogenetic stimulation of the striatonigral (direct) pathway on movement kinematics. We generated transgenic mice with channelrhodopsin‐2 expression in striatal neurons that express the D1‐like dopamine receptor. With optic fibres placed in the sensorimotor striatum, an area known to contain movement velocity‐related single units, photo‐stimulation reliably produced movements that could be precisely quantified with our motion capture programme. A single light pulse was sufficient to elicit movements with short latencies (<30 ms). Increasing stimulation frequency increased movement speed, with a highly linear relationship. These findings support the hypothesis that the sensorimotor striatum is part of a velocity controller that controls rate of change in body configurations.
MULTIPLICATION OPERATORS ON WEIGHTED SPACES OF CONTINUOUS FUNCTIONS

Let V be a Nachbin family on the Hausdorff completely regular space X, E a locally convex space, B(E) the algebra of all continuous operators on E and ψ : X → B(E) a map. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the induced linear mapping Mψ : f 7→ ψ( ) (f( )) to be a multiplication operator on a subspace of the weighted space of E-valued continuous functions CV (X,E). Next, we characterize the bounded multiplication operators and show that, at least whenever X is a VR-space, such an operator is precompact if and only if it is trivial.
Spectral Features of Higher-Order Side-Channel Countermeasures

This brief deals with the problem of mathematically formalizing hardware circuits’ vulnerability to side-channel attacks. We investigate whether spectral analysis is a useful analytical tool for this purpose by building a mathematically sound theory of the vulnerability phenomenon. This research was originally motivated by the need for deeper, more formal knowledge around vulnerable nonlinear circuits. However, while building this new theoretical framework, we discovered that it can consistently integrate known results about linear ones as well. Eventually, we found it adequate to formally model side-channel leakage in several significant scenarios. In particular, we have been able to find the vulnerability perimeter of a known cryptographic primitive (i.e., Keccak [1] ) and thus tackle the analysis of vulnerability when signal glitches are present. We believe the conceptual framework we propose will be useful for researchers and practitioners in the field of applied cryptography and side-channel attacks.
The effect of exogenous substrate concentrations on true and apparent metabolism of hyperpolarized pyruvate in the isolated perfused lung

Although relatively metabolically inactive, the lung has an important role in maintaining systemic glycolytic intermediate and cytosolic redox balance. Failure to perform this function appropriately may lead to lung disease progression, including systemic aspects of these disorders. In this study, we experimentally probe the response of the isolated, perfused organ to varying glycolytic intermediate (pyruvate and lactate) concentrations, and the effect on the apparent metabolism of hyperpolarized 1‐13C pyruvate. Twenty‐four separate conditions were studied, from sub‐physiological to super‐physiological concentrations of each metabolite. A three‐compartment model is developed, which accurately matches the full range of experiments and includes a full account of evolution of agent concentration and polarization. The model is then refined using a series of approximations which are shown to be applicable to cases of physiological relevance, and which facilitate an intuitive understanding of the saturation and scaling behavior. Perturbations of the model assumptions are used to determine the sensitivity to input parameter estimates, and finally the model is used to examine the relationship between measurements accessible by NMR and the underlying physiological parameters of interest. Based on the observed scaling of lactate labeling with lactate and pyruvate concentrations, we conclude that the level of hyperpolarized lactate signal in the lung is primarily determined by the rate at which NAD+ is reduced to NADH. Further, although weak dependences on other factors are predicted, the modeled NAD+ reduction rate is largely governed by the intracellular lactate pool size. Conditions affecting the lactate pool can therefore be expected to display the highest contrast in hyperpolarized 13C‐pyruvate imaging. The work is intended to serve as a basis both to interpret the signal dynamics of hyperpolarized measurements in the normal lung and to understand the cause of alterations seen in a variety of disease and exposure models. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
FOXO Forkhead Transcription Factors Induce G2-M Checkpoint in Response to Oxidative Stress*

Members of the FOXO family of mammalian forkhead transcription factors, including AFX, FKHRL1, and FKHR, are homologs of DAF-16, which regulates genes that contribute both to longevity and to resistance to various stresses (including oxidative stress) in Caenorhabditis elegans. We have generated mouse myoblastic C2C12 cell lines in which expression of a constitutively active form of AFX (AFX-TM) is inducible by Cre-mediated recombination at loxP sites. Here we show that forced expression of AFX-TM blocked cell cycle progression at the G1 and G2 phases and that FOXO family members regulated the expression of stress-inducible genes such as GADD45. AFX and FKHRL1 each directly activated the GADD45 promoter through interaction with FOXO binding motifs. Oxidative stress activated the GADD45 promoter in a FOXO-dependent manner, resulting in an increased abundance of GADD45 mRNA and protein as well as G2 arrest. These responses were evident in cells in which the tumor suppressor protein p53 was inactivated. Our results suggest that the FOXO family of transcription factors plays an important role in the regulation of GADD45 in response to oxidative stress and thereby contributes to G2-M checkpoint.
The Broadbent Lecture at the XVth Congress of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology, Marseilles, France, 2007

The neural theory of visual attention (NTVA) introduced by Bundesen, Habekost, and Kyllingsbæk (2005) is presented. NTVA is a neural interpretation of Bundesen's (1990) formal theory of visual attention (TVA). In NTVA, filtering (selection of objects) changes the number of cortical neurons in which an object is represented so that this number increases with the behavioural importance of the object (reallocation of processing resources by dynamic remapping of receptive fields). Another fundamental mechanism, pigeonholing (selection of features), scales the level of activation in individual neurons coding for a particular feature. The theory accounts both for a wide range of attentional effects in human performance (reaction times and error rates) and for a wide range of effects observed in firing rates of single cells in the primate visual system. NTVA provides a mathematical framework to unify the two fields of research—formulas bridging cognition and neurophysiology.
Human endogenous retroviral sequences: possible roles in reproductive physiopathology.

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are chromosomal elements showing a genomic organization basically analogous to exogenous retroviruses; they possibly originated from ancient germ-cell infections by exogenous retroviruses through mechanisms involving reverse transcription, or from ancestral retroelements by transposition and recombination [1]. ERVs are stably integrated in the genome of vertebrates and consequently inherited as Mendelian traits. Several ERV sequences are present in the human genome, with a highly variable number of copies (from 1 to more than 1000 per haploid genome) representing up to 1% of the total DNA [1, 2]; thus, human ERVs (HERVs) have to be considered a substantial component of our genome. HERVs may be implicated in the pathogenesis of several neoplastic and autoimmune diseases; some general review papers have recently been published on the biology of ERVs [1–4]. The present article reviews and summarizes the available evidence about the possible role of HERVs in the physiology and diseases of human reproduction and development, including modulation of HERV expression by potential reproductive toxicants.
A Survey on C-RAN Security

While 4G is speeding up its steps toward global markets, 5G has initiated its full development to satisfy an increasing demand on mobile data traffic and big data bandwidth. Centralized data processing, collaborative radio, real-time cloud infrastructure, and cloud radio access network (C-RAN), along with their excellent advantages are being sought by more and more operators to meet end-user requirements. As a promising mobile wireless network architecture, compared with traditional RAN, C-RAN has incomparable advantages in terms of low power consumption, reduced base station (BS) numbers, and economic capital and operating expenditure. It can also improve network capacity and BS utilization rate. Recently, C-RAN security has aroused special attention and concern. However, the literature still lacks an overall review on it in order to guide current and future research. In this paper, we first overview the architecture, deployment scenarios, and special characteristics of C-RAN. We then provide a thorough review on the existing security studies in the field of C-RAN based on its three logic layers and corresponding security threats and attacks. Particularly, we discuss whether the current literature can satisfy the expected security requirements in C-RAN. Based on this, we indicate open research issues and propose future research trends.
Absence of growth of Listeria monocytogenes in naturally contaminated Cheddar cheese

Each cheese producer is responsible by the legislation for the number of Listeria monocytogenes in cheese and is required to prove that numbers will not exceed 100 cfu/g throughout the shelf-life of the cheese. Even in the case of hard-cheese such as Cheddar cheese, the absence of growth of List. monocytogenes during ripening has to be demonstrated to comply with EU legislation. Studies dedicated to assessing List. monocytogenes growth throughout cheese shelf-life are generally based on artificially contaminated cheeses. Contrary to the majority of works, the current study focused on the growth of List. monocytogenes in naturally contaminated raw milk farmhouse Cheddar cheeses during a five-month ripening period. List. monocytogenes growth was assessed by direct count and its presence was detected by enrichment in two naturally contaminated cheese batches. In order to track routes of contamination, 199 processing environment samples from inside and outside the processing facility were taken, and their analysis for the presence of List. monocytogenes was performed on four occasions over a 9-month period. List. monocytogenes isolates were differentiated using PFGE and serotyping. List. monocytogenes never exceeded 20 cfu/g in the cheeses and could not be detected after five months of ripening. Eleven pulsotypes were identified. One pulsotype was found in the yard outside the processing facility, in a vat, on the processing area floor and in a cheese. This indicated that the outside environment constitutes a potential source of contamination of the processing environment and of the cheese. These results demonstrate that this farmhouse Cheddar cheese does not support List. monocytogenes growth and suggests that the efforts to reduce processing environment contamination are worthwhile.
Is there an Optimal Point to Limit Product quantity? A Survey Evidence

Some merchants limit products’ supply to activate consumers’ desirability for products and get satisfactory sales volume. This phenomenon has attracted the attention of practitioners as well as academics. In this research, we studied how consumers’ purchase intention would change when the product’s supply quantity limit was different based on arousal-based explanation and consumer information processing perspective. We argued that product information would affect consumers’ purchase intention distinctly under different levels of quantity limit. A survey was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. The result showed that quantity limit moderated the relationship between product cost performance and consumers’ purchase intention with an inverted-U shape. Within some extent of quantity limit, consumers’ purchase intention would be strengthened when less products were supplied. Both an extremely high and a slightly low level of quantity limit would make consumers less likely to purchase products even with good cost performance. Our research has both practical and academic implications.