Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-organization of Dynamic Object Features Based on Bidirectional Training

This paper presents a method to self-organize object features that describe object dynamics using bidirectional training. The model is composed of a dynamics learning module and a feature extraction module. Recurrent Neural Network with Parametric Bias (RNNPB) is utilized for the dynamics learning module, learning and self-organizing the sequences of robot and object motions. A hierarchical neural network is linked to the input of RNNPB as the feature extraction module for self-organizing object features that describe the object motions. The two modules are simultaneously trained through bidirectional training using image and motion sequences acquired from the robot's active sensing with objects. Experiments are performed with the robot's pushing motion with a variety of objects to generate sliding, falling over, bouncing and rolling motions. The results have shown that the model is capable of self-organizing object dynamics based on the self-organized features.
Acute Effects of Elastic Bands During the Free-weight Barbell Back Squat Exercise on Velocity, Power, and Force Production

Stevenson, MW, Warpeha, JM, Dietz, CC, Giveans, RM, and Erdman, AG. Acute effects of elastic bands during the free-weight barbell back squat exercise on velocity, power, and force production. J Strength Cond Res 24(11): 2944-2954, 2010-The use of elastic bands in resistance training has been reported to be effective in increasing performance-related parameters such as power, rate of force development (RFD), and velocity. The purpose of this study was to assess the following measures during the free-weight back squat exercise with and without elastic bands: peak and mean velocity in the eccentric and concentric phases (PV-E, PV-C, MV-E, MV-C), peak force (PF), peak power in the concentric phase, and RFD immediately before and after the zero-velocity point and in the concentric phase (RFDC). Twenty trained male volunteers (age = 26.0 ± 4.4 years) performed 3 sets of 3 repetitions of squats (at 55% one repetition maximum [1RM]) on 2 separate days: 1 day without bands and the other with bands in a randomized order. The added band force equaled 20% of the subjects' 55% 1RM. Two independent force platforms collected ground reaction force data, and a 9-camera motion capture system was used for displacement measurements. The results showed that PV-E and RFDC were significantly (p < 0.05) greater with the use of bands, whereas PV-C and MV-C were greater without bands. There were no differences in any other variables. These results indicate that there may be benefits to performing squats with elastic bands in terms of RFD. Practitioners concerned with improving RFD may want to consider incorporating this easily implemented training variation.
Australasian money demand stability: application of structural break tests

Estimates of the demand for money provide important foundations for monetary policy setting but if the estimation technique does not explicitly account for structural changes then such estimates will be biased. This article presents an investigation into the level and stability of money demand (M1) for Australia and New Zealand over the period 1960–2009 and demonstrates that both countries experienced regime shifts; Australia also experienced an intercept shift. Application of four time series methods provide consistent results with 1984 and 1998 break dates. Cumulative Sum (CUSUM) and CUSUMSQ stability tests reveal that M1 demand functions were unstable over the period 1984–1998 for both countries although tests for stability are not rejected thereafter.
Helminth Fauna Associated with Three Neotropical Bat Species (Chiroptera: Mormoopidae) in Veracruz, México

Abstract Bats are recognized as potential hosts of pathogens exploiting the food chain to reach them as definitive hosts. However, very little is known about their endoparasites, especially for Neotropical bats. In this study, we assessed the helminth fauna associated with 3 insectivorous bat species roosting in the same single hot cave in central Veracruz, México: Mormoops megalophylla, Pteronotus davyi, and Pteronotus personatus. During a period of 1 yr (April 2007–2008), 135 mormoopid bats in total were collected and examined for helminths. Six parasite species representing 3 types of intestinal helminths were found: 1 cestode Vampirolepis elongatus; 2 trematodes Maxbraunium tubiporum and Ochoterenatrema labda; and 3 nematodes Linustrongylus pteronoti, Molineidae gen. sp. , and Capillaria sp. Overall, trematodes were the most abundant parasite group (72.4%), followed by nematodes (20.7%) and cestodes (6.9%). Species-accumulation curves suggest that the worms collected (n = 1,331) from these 6 parasite species comprise the helminth fauna associated with the 3 bat populations studied. The only species shared by the 3 bat species was Capillaria sp. Most (5/6) of the helminth species recorded use Lepidoptera and Diptera as intermediate hosts; therefore, diet is likely the main source of infection. Although insectivorous bats are considered dietary generalist species, the differences found in helminth diversity in these sympatric populations of closely related bat species, suggest that diet partitioning occurs in mormoopid bat communities. Helminths tend to exploit the food chain to reach their final hosts; therefore, studying these parasites can provide useful information to further understand the biology of bats.
Studies on hypoglycemic activity of Mexican medicinal plants.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a serious health problem with high rates of incidence and mortality. DM is charac-terized by elevated plasma glucose concentrations result-ing from insufficient insulin, insulin resistance, or both, leading to metabolic abnormalities in carbohydrates, lipids and proteins [1]. Various symptoms and characteristic signs such as polyuria, polydipsia, glucosuria, and ke-tonemia are caused by these abnormalities. These can lead to acute and chronic complications, such as ketoacidosis, hyperosmolar coma, macro- and microangiopathy, neph-ropathy, neuropathy and recurrent infections. These com-plications are the principal causes of illness and mortality in DM patients [2-3]. DM treatment is based on four fundamental factors: patient education concerning the disease; physical exer-cise; diet; and hypoglycemic agents. The currently used agents DM control are sulphonylurea drugs, biguanides, thiazolidinedione derivatives, and insulin (given by injec-tion). Although these drugs have been extensively used because of their beneficial effects in the control of hyper-glycemia, these agents have not been able to establish adequate control of DM, being unable to suppress the as-sociated chronic and acute complications. In addition to specific adverse effects for each one of these medicines, administration and dosage problems are also found [4-6]. This, in addition to the lack of convenient economic re-sources, has forced much of the population of Mexico to empirically use resources derived from traditional medi-cine. According to the World Health Organization, more than 70% of the world’s population must use traditional medicine to satisfy their principal health needs [7]. A great number of medicinal plants used in the control of the DM have been reported [8-9]. However, although these plants may represent alternatives to developing new oral hypoglycemic agents, appropriate ethnobotanical informa-tion about them is scarce, obscure and ambiguous. There is much information about the utility and study of Mexican "anti-diabetic plants" [10-11]. However, the analysis and discussion of the results obtained are often confused, scattered, and complicated. No publication suitably compiles the ethnobotanical and pharmacological information that allows that experimental and clinical studies with the Mexican "anti-diabetic plants" be started and continued. The objective of the present work was to make an analysis of the ethnobotanical information on the medici-nal plants used in Mexico for DM control, and of the re-sults obtained in the investigation of the hypoglycemic activity of such plants.
ω‐Agatoxin IVA, a P‐Type Calcium Channel Antagonist, Reduces Nociceptive Processing in Spinal Cord Neurons with Input From the Inflamed But Not From the Normal Knee Joint — An Electrophysiological Study in the Rat In Vivo

High threshold voltage‐dependent P‐ and Q‐type calcium channels are involved in neurotransmitter release. In order to investigate the role of P‐ and Q‐type calcium channels in the mechanosensory (nociceptive) processing in the spinal cord, their participation in the responses of spinal wide‐dynamic‐range neurons to innocuous and noxious mechanical stimulation of the knee and ankle joints was studied in 30 anaesthetized rats. The knee was either normal or acutely inflamed by kaolin/carrageenan. During the topical application of ω‐agatoxin IVA (P‐type channel antagonist, 0.1 μM) onto the dorsal surface of the spinal cord, the responses to innocuous and noxious pressure applied to the normal knee were increased to respectively 124 ± 42% and 114 ± 23% of predrug values (mean ± SD, P < 0.05, 14 neurons). By contrast, in rats with an inflamed knee, the responses to innocuous and noxious pressure applied to the knee were reduced to respectively 72 ± 19 and 73 ± 22% of baseline (mean ± SD, P < 0.01, 13 neurons). In the same neurons, ω‐agatoxin IVA slightly increased the responses to pressure on the non‐inflamed ankle whether the knee was normal or inflamed. Thus P‐type calcium channels seem to acquire a predominant importance in the excitation of spinal cord neurons by mechanosensory input from inflamed tissue and hence in the generation of inflammatory pain. By contrast, the Q‐type channel antagonist, ω‐conotoxin MVllC (1 or 100 μM), had no significant effect upon responses to innocuous or noxious pressure applied to either normal or inflamed knees (25 neurons).
Changing transplant recipient education and inpatient transplant pharmacy practices: a single-center perspective.

PURPOSE Pharmacists' contributions to improved inpatient medication practices and educational services for kidney transplant recipients at a community hospital were evaluated. SUMMARY A retrospective observational analysis was conducted using demographic and case data collected during the year before (2007) and three years after (2011) the inclusion of pharmacists on the hospital's interdisciplinary kidney transplant team. Qualitative variables assessed included changes in prescribing practices, inpatient and outpatient transplant personnel, discharge planning processes, medication reconciliation, educational practices, and transplant program workflow; quantitative variables included average hospital length of stay (LOS), Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients data, readmission rates, and reimbursement data. A comparison of data on kidney transplant procedures performed at the hospital in 2007 (n = 60) and 2011 (n = 54) indicated that the implementation of specialized transplant pharmacy services was particularly beneficial in the areas of inpatient medication management, medication reconciliation, discharge planning, and patient education. Program outcomes related to the inclusion of pharmacists on the kidney transplant team included a decrease in the mean LOS among transplant recipients (from 7.8 days in 2007 to 3.4 days in 2011, p < 0.001), with no adverse effect on all-cause 30-, 90-, and >90-day readmission rates (all p > 0.09). Annual cost savings attributable to the reduction in LOS were estimated at $279,180. CONCLUSION The participation of pharmacists on the kidney transplant team enhanced a hospital's medication management, discharge planning, and patient education services for transplant recipients, helping to reduce their average LOS and yielding substantial cost savings.
Role of opioid neurons in the regulation of intestinal peristalsis.

The participation of opioid neurons in the regulation of peristalsis was examined in a rat colonic segment that permits separate characterization of the components of the peristaltic reflex (ascending contraction and descending relaxation). Naloxone increased descending relaxation and decreased ascending contraction; opioid peptides [methionine-enkephalin (Met-Enk), dynorphin-13, and morphiceptin] had opposite effects. Naloxone increased, and Met-Enk decreased, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) release during each component of the reflex. The changes in VIP release reinforced the direct effects of naloxone and opioid peptides on circular muscle tone, providing an explanation for the effects of these agents on the two components of the peristaltic reflex. Dynorphin release decreased during descending relaxation and increased during ascending contraction, reflecting corresponding changes in opioid neural activity. Based on these results a model is proposed, according to which a decrease in opioid neural activity during the initial phase (i.e., descending relaxation) results in direct and VIP-mediated decrease in circular muscle tone. Restoration of opioid neural activity during the subsequent phase (i.e., ascending contraction) increases circular muscle tone and reinforces the action of tachykinin and cholinergic motor neurons, which are the direct mediators of ascending contraction.
Inverse parabolic step sequence ultra wideband antenna

A novel ultra wideband (UWB) monopole antenna is proposed in this paper with 3–16 GHz bandwidth and a voltage standing wave ratio VSWR of £ 1.83. It is designed on a planar Duroid substrate of relative permittivity er = 2.2 and area of 27 × 29mm2. Fed by a rectangular Coplanar Waveguide (CPW), it has a non-rectangular sequence of steps formed by an alternate combination of inverse parabolic functions. The antenna is simulated using Ansoft HFSSTM and the results show that it has good performance with respect to bandwidth and radiation pattern.
Intracellular cholesterol transport proteins enhance hydrolysis of HDL-CEs and facilitate elimination of cholesterol into bile

While HDL-associated unesterified or free cholesterol (FC) is thought to be rapidly secreted into the bile, the fate of HDL-associated cholesteryl esters (HDL-CEs) that represent >80% of HDL-cholesterol, is only beginning to be understood. In the present study, we examined the hypothesis that intracellular cholesterol transport proteins [sterol carrier protein 2 (SCP2) and fatty acid binding protein-1 (FABP1)] not only facilitate CE hydrolase-mediated hydrolysis of HDL-CEs, but also enhance elimination of cholesterol into bile. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of FABP1 or SCP2 in primary hepatocytes significantly increased hydrolysis of HDL-[3H]CE, reduced resecretion of HDL-CE-derived FC as nascent HDL, and increased its secretion as bile acids. Consistently, the flux of [3H]cholesterol from HDL-[3H]CE to biliary bile acids was increased by overexpression of SCP2 or FABP1 in vivo and reduced in SCP2−/− mice. Increased flux of HDL-[3H]CE to biliary FC was noted with FABP1 overexpression and in SCP2−/− mice that have increased FABP1 expression. Lack of a significant decrease in the flux of HDL-[3H]CE to biliary FC or bile acids in FABP1−/− mice indicates the likely compensation of its function by an as yet unidentified mechanism. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that FABP1 and SCP2 facilitate the preferential movement of HDL-CEs to bile for final elimination.
Tourniquet Obliteration of Exercise-Induced Sensory Nerve Conduction Augmentation

Chiou-Tan FY, Robinson LR, Castro J, Tran T, Moss F: Tourniquet obliteration of exercise-induced sensory nerve conduction augmentation. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2002;81:2–7. ObjectiveWe previously discovered that minimally suprathreshold sensory nerve action potential amplitudes increased during isometric muscle contraction. In this study, the hypothesis was that the exercise-induced response could be blocked with a tourniquet. MethodsA total of 21 healthy male and female subjects were recruited from the medical center. Baseline and postevent serial sural nerve recordings were made in the leg of 16 healthy subjects under the following conditions: (1) blood pressure cuff inflation at the arm, (2) isometric muscle contraction in the hand, and (3) conditions 1 and 2 combined. ResultsResults showed there was a 2.9 &mgr;V increase in the sural nerve response 5 min after muscle contraction compared to baseline at rest. The exercise-induced sensory response was largely obliterated by the blood pressure cuff with exception of the 1-min postexercise recording. ConclusionIn conclusion, the results show a tourniquet placed on the proximal arm blocks the effect of the muscle contraction of the hand on the minimally suprathreshold sensory sural nerve conduction recording in the ankle. The likely reason for this is the interruption of a thus far unidentified circulating factor. The clinical implication is the discovery of a sensory regulatory mechanism controlled by the motor system.
The Summer Thermal Behaviour of "Skin" Materials in Greek Cities as a Decisive Parameter for Their Selection

The materials, which are used for the pavements of urban spaces and the external renderings of vertical (facades) and horizontal (flat roofs) surfaces of buildings, constitute, the "skin" of a city. In Greece, the selection of these materials is most of the times, based on economic and aesthetic criteria. While the importance of these selection parameters is clear and irrefutable, it should be noted that paving and facade materials play a decisive role on the heat transfer processes, which take place between the city and the climatic environment.
Socrates, Skinner, and Aristotle: Three Ways of Thinking About Culture in Action1

The cultural turn has been one of the major shifts in sociology over the last two decades. Though nearly everyone now agrees that culture matters, how it matters is not terribly clear. What, exactly, is culture supposed to do? In this essay, I articulate two ideal-typical—though often implicit—ways most sociologists have thought about culture’s role in action. Although no single sociologist or piece of research fully embodies either ideal type, I believe they are real tendencies in the field that have real consequences for how research is designed, undertaken, and understood. After outlining these approaches, I subject them to an engagement with cognitive science. This is not out a desire for reductionism but, as I will show, because a crucial difference between these perspectives is their implicit model of how human beings perceive, acquire, store, retrieve, and act on the symbolic information that surrounds them every day. This exercise will lead to the conclusion that both perspectives are incomplete and will point toward a synthetic approach that can shed new light on how culture matters for action.
Good encodings for DNA-based solutions to combinatorial problems

Adleman has solved the Hamiltonian path problem by encoding the vertices and edges of the Hamiltonian graph in oligonucleotides of DNA, hybridizing the oligonucleotides to produce potential answers, and extracting the DNA which corresponds to the Hamiltonian path. Depending on the conditions under which the DNA reactions occur, the possibility of false positives, or wrong solutions to the Hamiltonian path problem which appear correct, are possible. This possibility was veri ed by experiment. The primary mechanism for the production of false positives is hybridization stringency that depends on the reaction conditions, of which the most important is temperature. Depending on the temperature, two oligonucleotides can hybridize without exact matching between their base pairs. For DNA-based solutions to combinatorial problems to become a viable and practical technology, the possibility of false positives must be eliminated. This can be accomplished by encoding the vertices and edges of the Hamiltonian graph in DNA oligonucleotides, or codewords, that are a minimum distance, which depends on temperature, from each other. This reliable encoding eliminated the risk of a false positive, which was supported by an experimental trial. The encoding was produced by a genetic algorithm search of the space of possible codewords. The Hamming bound was shown to be an upper bound on the number of vertices that could be encoded in DNA without introducing the possibility of false Hamiltonian paths.
Vegetation Composition in a Post-Fire Successional Gradient of Pinus halepensis Forests in Attica, Greece*

The vegetation composition of a post-fire succession in Aleppo pine forests of Attica, Greece, was studied by a synchronic method. The sites form a post-fire chronosequence and have typical Mediterranean climate. Data on the flora of the burned sites, growth and life forms of the various plant taxa, as well as on vegetation structure are provided. The burned ecosystems recovered quite rapidly. During the first four years of the post-fire succession, herbaceous taxa dominate the flora of the forests, peaking at the second year. After 15 years little change in the vegetation was observed. The richest family in terms of the number of taxa was the Leguminosae, especially in the two first years of succession. Most of these taxa were herbaceous. The relative contribution of legumes to the flora after two years is gradually restricted.
Structure and Evolution of Internally Heated Hot Jupiters

Hot Jupiters receive strong stellar irradiation, producing equilibrium temperatures of . Incoming irradiation directly heats just their thin outer layer, down to pressures of ∼0.1 bars. In standard irradiated evolution models of hot Jupiters, predicted transit radii are too small. Previous studies have shown that deeper heating—at a small fraction of the heating rate from irradiation—can explain observed radii. Here we present a suite of evolution models for HD 209458b, where we systematically vary both the depth and intensity of internal heating, without specifying the uncertain heating mechanism(s). Our models start with a hot, high-entropy planet whose radius decreases as the convective interior cools. The applied heating suppresses this cooling. We find that very shallow heating—at pressures of —does not significantly suppress cooling, unless the total heating rate is of the incident stellar power. Deeper heating, at 100 bars, requires heating at only 1% of the stellar irradiation to explain the observed transit radius of after 5 Gyr of cooling. In general, more intense and deeper heating results in larger hot-Jupiter radii. Surprisingly, we find that heat deposited at —which is exterior to of the planet’s mass—suppresses planetary cooling as effectively as heating at the center. In summary, we find that relatively shallow heating is required to explain the radii of most hot Jupiters, provided that this heat is applied early and persists throughout their evolution.
Experiments at the University of Minnesota ( draft 2 ) September 17 , 2001 Studies of migration and lift and of the orientation of particles in shear flows

Experiments to determine positions of spherical and long particles and the orientation of long particles can be carried out in a stationary frame by fluidizing particle in a balance of the buoyant weight of the heavier than liquid particle with (1) drag, which will be realized in a vertical tube apparatus (2) hydrodynamic lift (perpendicular to flow, as in a lifting aircraft) which will be realized in the rotating cylinder apparatus described in the sequel.