Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal Workloop Energetics of Muscle-Actuated Systems: An Impedance Matching View

Integrative approaches to studying the coupled dynamics of skeletal muscles with their loads while under neural control have focused largely on questions pertaining to the postural and dynamical stability of animals and humans. Prior studies have focused on how the central nervous system actively modulates muscle mechanical impedance to generate and stabilize motion and posture. However, the question of whether muscle impedance properties can be neurally modulated to create favorable mechanical energetics, particularly in the context of periodic tasks, remains open. Through muscle stiffness tuning, we hypothesize that a pair of antagonist muscles acting against a common load may produce significantly more power synergistically than individually when impedance matching conditions are met between muscle and load. Since neurally modulated muscle stiffness contributes to the coupled muscle-load stiffness, we further anticipate that power-optimal oscillation frequencies will occur at frequencies greater than the natural frequency of the load. These hypotheses were evaluated computationally by applying optimal control methods to a bilinear muscle model, and also evaluated through in vitro measurements on frog Plantaris longus muscles acting individually and in pairs upon a mass-spring-damper load. We find a 7-fold increase in mechanical power when antagonist muscles act synergistically compared to individually at a frequency higher than the load natural frequency. These observed behaviors are interpreted in the context of resonance tuning and the engineering notion of impedance matching. These findings suggest that the central nervous system can adopt strategies to harness inherent muscle impedance in relation to external loads to attain favorable mechanical energetics.
Masculinity and HIV disclosure among heterosexual South African men: implications for HIV/AIDS intervention

Relationships and constructions of masculinity are central to understanding the process of male HIV disclosure, which is an important step towards accessing HIV-related services. Data from in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions with 23 HIV-positive, self-identified heterosexual, Black South African men were used to explore the disclosure process and how this process was negotiated in the context of constructions of masculinity. Of these men, 20 had disclosed to one or more persons, with partners and siblings being the preferred confidants. Disclosure was dependent on the acceptance of HIV status, perceived support and healthy relationships with others, HIV counselling and participation in educational and training activities. Non-disclosure was explained as a result of stigma, fear of rejection, discrimination, a lack of healthy relationships with others and lack of access to suitable disclosure strategies. Negative perceptions of HIV and hegemonic conceptions of masculinity hindered men from disclosing and seeking health services. Many men, however, managed to renegotiate their masculine identities to become responsible, knowledgeable HIV-positive individuals, protecting their families and becoming community educators. Findings suggest the need to consider gendered, contextual, skills-building/income-generating and guided interventions to promote male HIV disclosure and service uptake.
Asynchronous view maintenance for VLSD databases

The query models of the recent generation of very large scale distributed (VLSD) shared-nothing data storage systems, including our own PNUTS and others (e.g. BigTable, Dynamo, Cassandra, etc.) are intentionally simple, focusing on simple lookups and scans and trading query expressiveness for massive scale. Indexes and views can expand the query expressiveness of such systems by materializing more complex access paths and query results. In this paper, we examine mechanisms to implement indexes and views in a massive scale distributed database. For web applications, minimizing update latencies is critical, so we advocate deferring the work of maintaining views and indexes as much as possible. We examine the design space, and conclude that two types of view implementations, called remote view tables (RVTs) and local view tables (LVTs), provide good tradeoff between system throughput and minimizing view staleness. We describe how to construct and maintain such view tables, and how they can be used to implement indexes, group-by-aggregate views, equijoin views and selection views. We also introduce and analyze a consistency model that makes it easier for application developers to cope with the impact of deferred view maintenance. An empirical evaluation quantifies the maintenance costs of our views, and shows that they can significantly improve the cost of evaluating complex queries.
Target Detection Algorithm Based on the Movement of Codebook Model

Movement target detection is the researchful emphasis and aporia in the fields of computer vision, model recognition and video coding. In order to extract moving targets from the complex background scenes, this paper puts forward to calculate the color distortion degree by means of getting every pixel or a group of pixels of time series model, and converting pixels from RGB space to HSV space. Based on the background Codebook model of the target motion detection algorithm, the experiment shows that the method can achieve better target detection quality.
Induced cancer stem-like cells as a model for biological screening and discovery of agents targeting phenotypic traits of cancer stem cell

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) retain the capacity to propagate themselves through self-renewal and to produce heterogeneous lineages of cancer cells constituting the tumor. Novel drugs that target CSCs can potentially eliminate the tumor initiating cell population therefore resulting in complete cure of the cancer. We recently established a CSC-like model using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to reprogram and partially differentiate human mammary epithelial MCF-10A cells. Using the induced CSC-like (iCSCL) model, we developed a phenotypic drug assay system to identify agents that inhibit the stemness and self-renewal properties of CSCs. The selectivity of the agents was assessed using three distinct assays characterized by cell viability, cellular stemness and tumor sphere formation. Using this approach, we found that withaferin A (WA), an Ayurvedic medicine constituent, was a potent inhibitor of CSC stemness leading to cellular senescence primarily via the induction of p21Cip1 expression. Moreover, WA exhibited strong anti-tumorigenic activity against the iCSCL. These results indicate that our iCSCL model provides an innovative high throughput platform for a simple, easy, and cost-effective method to search for novel CSC-targeting drugs. Furthermore, our current study identified WA as a putative drug candidate for abrogating the stemness and tumor initiating ability of CSCs.
New Admissible Heuristics for Domain-Independent Planning

Admissible heuristics are critical for effective domain-independent planning when optimal solutions must be guaranteed. Two useful heuristics are the hm heuristics, which generalize the reachability heuristic underlying the planning graph, and pattern database heuristics. These heuristics, however, have serious limitations: reachability heuristics capture only the cost of critical paths in a relaxed problem, ignoring the cost of other relevant paths, while PDB heuristics, additive or not, cannot accommodate too many variables in patterns, and methods for automatically selecting patterns that produce good estimates are not known. We introduce two refinements of these heuristics: First, the additive hm heuristic which yields an admissible sum of hm heuristics using a partitioning of the set of actions. Second, the constrained PDB heuristic which uses constraints from the original problem to strengthen the lower bounds obtained from abstractions. The new heuristics depend on the way the actions or problem variables are partitioned. We advance methods for automatically deriving additive hm and PDB heuristics from STRIPS encodings. Evaluation shows improvement over existing heuristics in several domains, although, not surprisingly, no heuristic dominates all the others over all domains.
Neuronal gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptors undergo cognate ligand chaperoning in the endoplasmic reticulum by endogenous GABA

GABAA receptors mediate fast inhibitory neurotransmission in the brain. Dysfunction of these receptors is associated with various psychiatric/neurological disorders and drugs targeting this receptor are widely used therapeutic agents. Both the efficacy and plasticity of GABAA receptor-mediated neurotransmission depends on the number of surface GABAA receptors. An understudied aspect of receptor cell surface expression is the post-translational regulation of receptor biogenesis within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). We have previously shown that exogenous GABA can act as a ligand chaperone of recombinant GABAA receptors in the early secretory pathway leading us to now investigate whether endogenous GABA facilitates the biogenesis of GABAA receptors in primary cerebral cortical cultures. In immunofluorescence labeling experiments, we have determined that neurons expressing surface GABAA receptors contain both GABA and its degradative enzyme GABA transaminase (GABA-T). Treatment of neurons with GABA-T inhibitors, a treatment known to increase intracellular GABA levels, decreases the interaction of the receptor with the ER quality control protein calnexin, concomittantly increasing receptor forward-trafficking and plasma membrane insertion. The effect of GABA-T inhibition on the receptor/calnexin interaction is not due to the activation of surface GABAA or GABAB receptors. Consistent with our hypothesis that GABA acts as a cognate ligand chaperone in the ER, immunogold-labeling of rodent brain slices reveals the presence of GABA within the rough ER. The density of this labeling is similar to that present in mitochondria, the organelle in which GABA is degraded. Lastly, the effect of GABA-T inhibition on the receptor/calnexin interaction was prevented by pretreatment with a GABA transporter inhibitor. Together, these data indicate that endogenous GABA acts in the rough ER as a cognate ligand chaperone to facilitate the biogenesis of neuronal GABAA receptors.
The importance of visceral fat mass in obese pregnant women and relation with pregnancy outcomes

Background Maternal obesity is a well established risk factor for gestational diabetes but it is not known if the pattern of maternal fat distribution predicts adverse pregnancy outcomes. Methods Body composition was assessed by bioimpedance using Inbody 720® in 302 consecutive obese pregnant women attending a weight management clinic. The relation of visceral fat mass and total percentage body fat with the development of gestational diabetes and perinatal outcomes was evaluated. Results Women developing gestational diabetes (Group 1; n = 72) were older, had higher body mass indices and greater central obesity (waist:hip ratio, visceral fat mass) compared with those remaining normoglycaemic. Visceral fat mass, but not percentage body fat, correlated with fasting glucose in all patients (r = 0.2, p < 0.001) and particularly those in Group 1 (r = 0.35, p = 0.002). Visceral fat mass, but not percentage body fat, also correlated strongly with glycaemia, particularly in Group 1 (r = 0.47, p < 0.0001). Visceral fat mass also showed a weak but significant correlation with baby weight (r = 0.17, p = 0.01). Discussion Central obesity, as assessed by early pregnancy waist:hip ratio and particularly by visceral fat mass, is a predictor of gestational diabetes in addition to classical risk factors and may help identify those obese patients at increased risk of complications.
Formalising the L4 microkernel API

This paper gives an overview of a pilot project on the specification and verification of the L4 high-performance microkernel. Of the three aspects examined in the project, we describe one in more detail: the formalisation of the kernel's Application Programming Interface using the B Method. We conclude that machine-supported formal verification of software is at a turning point; that it is now feasible, and desirable, to formally verify production-quality operating systems.
Quasimaps, straightening laws, and quantum cohomology for the Lagrangian Grassmannian

The Drinfel’d Lagrangian Grassmannian compactifies the space of algebraic maps of fixed degree from the projective line into the Lagrangian Grassmannian. It has a natural projective embedding arising from the canonical embedding of the Lagrangian Grassmannian. We show that the defining ideal of any Schubert subvariety of the Drinfel’d Lagrangian Grassmannian is generated by polynomials which give a straightening law on an ordered set. Consequentially, any such subvariety is Cohen-Macaulay and Koszul. The Hilbert function is computed from the straightening law, leading to a new derivation of certain intersection numbers in the quantum cohomology ring of the Lagrangian Grassmannian.
Minimizing broadcast latency and redundancy in ad hoc networks

Network wide broadcasting is a fundamental operation in ad hoc networks. In broadcasting, a source node end a message to all the other nodes in the network. In this paper, we consider the problem of collision-free broadcasting in ad hoc wireless networks. Our objective is to minimize the latency and the number of retransmission in the broadcast. We show that minimum latency broadcasting i NP-hard for ad hoc wireless networks. We also present a simple and distributed collision-free broadcasting algorithm for broadcasting a message. For networks with bounded node transmission ranges, our algorithm simultaneously guarantees that the latency and the number of retransmission are within O(1)times their respective optimal values. Our algorithm and analysis extends to the case when multiple messages are broadcast from multiple sources. Experimental studies indicate that our algorithm perform much better in practice than the analytical guarantee provided for the worst case.
Enhancing the Network Sum-Rate without Sharing Channel State Information between Base Stations

We consider the downlink of a cellular wireless network where the base stations are equipped with multiple transmit antennas and operate in the same frequency band. Each base station serves one user per orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) sub-carrier by means of spatial precoding. Due to temporal scheduling, the active users change rapidly in time and consequently, intercell interference becomes non-stationary limiting the achievable network sum-rate. Under the assumption of perfect channel knowledge at each base station, we optimize both precoding and scheduling in order to maximize the achievable network sum-rate. The solution, however, unveils that both precoding and scheduling can be performed locally at each base station without the need for CSI to be exchanged between base stations if they are solely based on average channel measurements.
IL‐10 Contributes to the Suppressive Function of Tumour‐Associated Myeloid Cells and Enhances Myeloid Cell Accumulation in Tumours

Studies have revealed that tumour‐associated myeloid cells (TAMC) are one of the major sources of IL‐10 in tumour‐bearing mice. However, the significance of TAMC‐derived IL‐10 in tumour immunity is poorly understood. Here, we show that IL‐10 blockade or IL‐10 deficiency reduces the capacity of TAMC in suppressing the proliferation of P1A‐specific CD8 T cells. In the spleen, IL‐10‐deficient and wild‐type (WT) mice bearing large tumour burdens have similar TAMC populations. The tumours from IL‐10‐deficient mice, however, have reduced numbers of TAMC compared with tumours from their WT counterparts. IL‐10−/−RAG‐2−/− mice also had reduced numbers of TAMC compared with tumours from IL‐10+/+RAG‐2−/− mice; therefore, the reduction in TAMC in IL‐10‐deficient tumours was not because of adaptive immune response in tumours. Adoptively transferred tumour antigen–specific CD8 T cells expanded more efficiently within tumours in IL‐10−/−RAG‐2−/− mice than in tumours from IL‐10+/+RAG‐2−/− mice. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte adoptive transfer therapy prevented tumour evasion in IL‐10−/−RAG‐2−/− mice more efficiently than in IL‐10+/+RAG‐2−/− mice. Thus, IL‐10 enhances the accumulation of myeloid cells in tumours, and TAMC‐derived IL‐10 suppresses the activation and expansion of tumour antigen–specific T cells.
Perceptual Metrics for Static and Dynamic Triangle Meshes

Almost all mesh processing procedures cause some more or less visible changes in the appearance of objects represented by polygonal meshes. In many cases, such as mesh watermarking, simplification or lossy compression, the objective is to make the change in appearance negligible, or as small as possible, given some other constraints. Measuring the amount of distortion requires taking into account the final purpose of the data. In many applications, the final consumer of the data is a human observer, and therefore the perceptibility of the introduced appearance change by a human observer should be the criterion that is taken into account when designing and configuring the processing algorithms. In this review, we discuss the existing comparison metrics for static and dynamic (animated) triangle meshes. We describe the concepts used in perception‐oriented metrics used for 2D image comparison, and we show how these concepts are employed in existing 3D mesh metrics. We describe the character of subjective data used for evaluation of mesh metrics and provide comparison results identifying the advantages and drawbacks of each method. Finally, we also discuss employing the perception‐correlated metrics in perception‐oriented mesh processing algorithms.
Rapid and Acute Effects of Estrogen on Time Perception in Male and Female Rats

Sex differences in the rapid and acute effects of estradiol on time perception were investigated in adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Because estradiol has been shown to increase striatal dopamine release, it may be able to modify time perception and timed performance by increasing the speed of an internal clock in a manner similar to indirect dopamine agonists such as amphetamine and cocaine. Two groups of females (neonatally estradiol-treated/adult ovariectomized and neonatally oil-treated/adult ovariectomized) and two groups of males (neonatally castrated and adult castrated) were trained in a 2 vs. 8-s duration bisection procedure and tested using intermediate signal durations. After obtaining oil-injected baseline psychometric functions over several days, rats were administered 5 μg of estradiol for 4 days and behaviorally evaluated 30 min following each injection. This oil–estradiol administration cycle was subsequently repeated three times following the re-establishment of baseline training. Results revealed significant sex differences in the initial baseline functions that were not modifiable by organizational hormones, with males’ duration bisection functions shifted horizontally to the left of females’. Upon the first administration of estradiol, females, but not males, showed a significant, transient leftward shift in their bisection functions, indicative of an increase in clock speed. After extensive retraining in the duration bisection procedure, rats that were exposed to gonadal hormones during the first week of life showed a significant rightward shift in their bisection functions on the fourth day of estradiol administration during each cycle, suggesting a decrease in clock speed. Taken together, our results support the view that there are multiple mechanisms of estrogens’ action in the striatum that modulate dopaminergic activity and are differentially organized by gonadal steroids during early brain development.
Use of polyclonal immunoglobulins as adjunctive therapy for sepsis or septic shock *

Objective: There is ongoing debate about the efficacy of polyvalent immunoglobulins as adjunctive therapy for sepsis or septic shock. Two meta‐analyses by the Cochrane collaboration calculated a significant reduction in mortality. However, data of the largest study were missing in one, and a subset of four high‐quality studies failed to show an effect in the other. To broaden the database, we performed a meta‐analysis of all randomized controlled studies published so far. Data Source: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library of randomized trials, and personal files. Study Selection: Meta‐analysis of all published randomized controlled studies published on polyvalent immunoglobulins (Ig) for treatment of sepsis or septic shock in adults, children, or neonates. Data Extraction: Twenty‐seven trials with a total of 2,202 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Data Synthesis: As the immunologic state of neonates is different than that of adults or older children, data were evaluated separately for each group. Fifteen trials on 1,492 adults could be included. The pooled effect on mortality was a relative risk of death (RR) of 0.79 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69–0.90, p <= .0003). There was a strong trend in favor of an immunoglobulin preparation enriched with IgA and IgM (IgGAM) (RR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.51–0.84, p <= .0009) compared with preparations containing only IgG (RR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.73–0.99, p <= .04). In 12 trials on 710 neonates, the pooled effect on mortality was 0.56 (95% CI 0.42–0.74, p <= .0001). There was also a positive although less pronounced trend favoring the effect of IgGAM (RR = 0.50, 95% CI 0.34–0.73, p <= .0003) compared with IgG (RR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.42–0.96, p <= .03). A sensitivity analysis selecting eight trials in adults and ten in neonates of highest methodological quality confirmed these results. Conclusions: Polyvalent immunoglobulins exert a significant effect on mortality in sepsis and septic shock, with a trend in favor of IgGAM.
Grasp detection for assistive robotic manipulation

In this paper, we present a novel grasp detection algorithm targeted towards assistive robotic manipulation systems. We consider the problem of detecting robotic grasps using only the raw point cloud depth data of a scene containing unknown objects, and apply a geometric approach that categorizes objects into geometric shape primitives based on an analysis of local surface properties. Grasps are detected without a priori models, and the approach can generalize to any number of novel objects that fall within the shape primitive categories. Our approach generates multiple candidate object grasps, which moreover are semantically meaningful and similar to what a human would generate when teleoperating the robot-and thus should be suitable manipulation goals for assistive robotic systems. An evaluation of our algorithm on 30 household objects includes a pilot user study, confirms the robustness of the detected grasps and was conducted in real-world experiments using an assistive robotic arm.