Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impaired acquisition of novel grapheme-color correspondences in synesthesia

Grapheme-color synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which letters and numbers (graphemes) consistently evoke particular colors (e.g., A may be experienced as red). These sensations are thought to arise through the cross-activation of grapheme processing regions in the fusiform gyrus and color area V4, supported by anatomical and functional imaging. However, the developmental onset of grapheme-color synesthesia remains elusive as research in this area has largely relied on self-report of these experiences in children. One possible account suggests that synesthesia is present at or near birth and initially binds basic shapes and forms to colors, which are later refined to grapheme-color associations through experience. Consistent with this view, studies show that similarly shaped letters and numbers tend to elicit similar colors in synesthesia and that some synesthetes consciously associate basic shapes with colors; research additionally suggests that synesthetic colors can emerge for newly learned characters with repeated presentation. This model further predicts that the initial shape-color correspondences in synesthesia may persist as implicit associations, driving the acquisition of colors for novel characters. To examine the presence of latent color associations for novel characters, synesthetes and controls were trained on pre-defined associations between colors and complex shapes, on the assumption that the prescribed shape-color correspondences would on average differ from implicit synesthetic associations. Results revealed synesthetes were less accurate than controls to learn novel shape-color associations, consistent with our suggestion that implicit form-color associations conflicted with the learned pairings.
DSP Implementation of Time Delay Estimation Based on Bufferable Average Square Difference Matrix

Time delay estimation is a fundamental subject in the field of source localization. Although many accurate approaches were proposed to estimate time delay, only some of them are implementable. We propose two approaches based on average square difference to estimate time delay in adverse conditions. In this way we estimate time delay between two sensors signals. In these approaches a bufferable matrix is constructed that could be used in many source localization issues. Using this matrix we provide a feasible hardware structure with low order of computation for implementation of the proposed approaches on digital signal processors based embedded systems.
Numerical methods with controlled dissipation for small-scale dependent shocks*

We provide a ‘user guide’ to the literature of the past twenty years concerning the modelling and approximation of discontinuous solutions to nonlinear hyperbolic systems that admit small-scale dependent shock waves. We cover several classes of problems and solutions: nonclassical undercompressive shocks, hyperbolic systems in nonconservative form, and boundary layer problems. We review the relevant models arising in continuum physics and describe the numerical methods that have been proposed to capture small-scale dependent solutions. In agreement with general well-posedness theory, small-scale dependent solutions are characterized by a kinetic relation, a family of paths, or an admissible boundary set. We provide a review of numerical methods (front-tracking schemes, finite difference schemes, finite volume schemes), which, at the discrete level, reproduce the effect of the physically meaningful dissipation mechanisms of interest in the applications. An essential role is played by the equivalent equation associated with discrete schemes, which is found to be relevant even for solutions containing shock waves.
An Application of Multi-Person Decision-Making Model for Negotiating and Prioritizing Requirements in Agent-Oriented Paradigm

Agent-oriented software development is a recent paradigm of analyzing, designing and developing software systems that aims to develop a system as a collection of autonomous interacting agents. Agent-oriented requirement engineering models requirements of a system in terms of goals and tasks that various software agents would achieve to accomplish the goals of that system. In an agent based project, various stakeholders may have different concerns and priorities over implementation of various agents due to time and budget constraints. Also, the requirements of stakeholders are often subjective and are accompanied with vagueness and uncertainty. This paper therefore utilizes fuzzy decision model named as Multi-Person Decision-Making Model to negotiate and integrate the requirements of various stakeholders. This integrated set of requirements facilitates the developers in prioritizing and deciding which agents are viable to achieve in the limited constraints.
Robot arm control exploiting natural dynamics

This thesis presents an approach to robot arm control exploiting natural dynamics. The approach consists of using a compliant arm whose joints are controlled with simple non-linear oscillators. The arm has special actuators which makes it robust to collisions and gives it a smooth compliant motion. The oscillators produce rhythmic commands of the joints of the arm, and feedback of the joint motions is used to modify the oscillator behavior. The oscillators enable the resonant properties of the arm to be exploited to perform a variety of rhythmic and discrete tasks. These tasks include tuning into the resonant frequencies of the arm itself, juggling, turning cranks, playing with a Slinky toy, sawing wood, throwing balls, hammering nails and drumming. For most of these tasks, the controllers at each joint are completely independent, being coupled by mechanical coupling through the physical arm of the robot. The thesis shows that this mechanical coupling allows the oscillators to automatically adjust their commands to be appropriate for the arm dynamics and the task. This coordination is robust to large changes in the oscillator parameters, and large changes in the dynamic properties of the arm. As well as providing a wealth of experimental data to support this approach, the thesis also provides a range of analysis tools, both approximate and exact. These can be used to understand and predict the behavior of current implementations, and design new ones. These analysis techniques improve the value of oscillator solutions. The results in the thesis suggest that the general approach of exploiting natural dynamics is a powerful method for obtaining coordinated dynamic behavior of robot arms. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
DC-SIGN–mediated Infectious Synapse Formation Enhances X4 HIV-1 Transmission from Dendritic Cells to T Cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) are essential for the early events of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Model systems of HIV sexual transmission have shown that DCs expressing the DC-specific C-type lectin DC-SIGN capture and internalize HIV at mucosal surfaces and efficiently transfer HIV to CD4+ T cells in lymph nodes, where viral replication occurs. Upon DC–T cell clustering, internalized HIV accumulates on the DC side at the contact zone (infectious synapse), between DCs and T cells, whereas HIV receptors and coreceptors are enriched on the T cell side. Viral concentration at the infectious synapse may explain, at least in part, why DC transmission of HIV to T cells is so efficient. Here, we have investigated the role of DC-SIGN on primary DCs in X4 HIV-1 capture and transmission using small interfering RNA–expressing lentiviral vectors to specifically knockdown DC-SIGN. We demonstrate that DC-SIGN− DCs internalize X4 HIV-1 as well as DC-SIGN+ DCs, although binding of virions is reduced. Strikingly, DC-SIGN knockdown in DCs selectively impairs infectious synapse formation between DCs and resting CD4+ T cells, but does not prevent the formation of DC–T cells conjugates. Our results demonstrate that DC-SIGN is required downstream from viral capture for the formation of the infectious synapse between DCs and T cells. These findings provide a novel explanation for the role of DC-SIGN in the transfer and enhancement of HIV infection from DCs to T cells, a crucial step for HIV transmission and pathogenesis.
Testing laboratory parameters of compost tea

During the industrial production of broiler chicken, a large amount of manure is produced, of which easily contained nitrogen content (without pre-treatment) is released into the atmosphere as an air pollutant. In our experiments, we aimed to prepare compost tea, also known as water extract of compost, from pre-treated poultry manure in order to create a product can be utilized as liquid nutrient supply. The poultry manure source was the Baromfi-Coop Ltd. located in Nyírjákó, Hungary, where it was treated by composting. As a result of this pre-treatment of the poultry manure, its nutrient parameters improve and nitrogen is present in a form that is better utilized for plants. Furthermore, this product is suitable for further utilization and also can be the base material for a brand-new product. For this reason the effects of compost/water ratio, incubation time, low oxygen level, and extraction time on the parameters of the resulted product were studied in the frame of developing new soil-life enhancing microbial product, so-called compost tea. Chemical parameters of the compost used as base material strongly determined the properties of the resulted compost tea, especially the ratio of the various nitrogen forms, their concentration and the salt content. It was found that adding water at a higher rate that means 1/40 and 1/50 mixing ratios results in more cost-effective production. In the experiment the compost tea were held under oxygen-poor conditions, therefore pH of the extractions decreased, which influenced the quality and quantity of their nutrient content.
Correction: Optimized Strategy for the Control and Prevention of Newly Emerging Influenza Revealed by the Spread Dynamics Model

No matching vaccine is immediately available when a novel influenza strain breaks out. Several nonvaccine-related strategies must be employed to control an influenza epidemic, including antiviral treatment, patient isolation, and immigration detection. This paper presents the development and application of two regional dynamic models of influenza with Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle to determine the optimal control strategies for an epidemic and the corresponding minimum antiviral stockpiles. Antiviral treatment was found to be the most effective measure to control new influenza outbreaks. In the case of inadequate antiviral resources, the preferred approach was the centralized use of antiviral resources in the early stage of the epidemic. Immigration detection was the least cost-effective; however, when used in combination with the other measures, it may play a larger role. The reasonable mix of the three control measures could reduce the number of clinical cases substantially, to achieve the optimal control of new influenza. Citation: Zhang W-D, Zu Z-H, Xu Q, Xu Z-J, Liu J-J, et al. (2014) Optimized Strategy for the Control and Prevention of Newly Emerging Influenza Revealed by the Spread Dynamics Model. PLoS ONE 9(1): e84694. doi:10.1371/journal.pone. 0084694 Editor: Christopher V. Rao, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States of America Received August 27, 2013; Accepted November 26, 2013; Published January 2, 2014 Copyright: 2014 Zhang et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: Funding was provided by Mega-Project on Infectious Disease Prevention of China (No. 2013ZX10004-605, No. 2012ZX10004-402 (http://www.moh. gov.cn/qjjys/crbfz/list.shtml), National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (No. 2012AA022007), Medical Science and Technology Research Projects of Chinese Army (No. AWS11L009, No. 13QNP156), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No. 90924019) (http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/Portal0/default152.htm). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: zt19721@hotmail.com
Disruption of Hydrogen Bonds between Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II and the Peptide N-Terminus Is Not Sufficient to Form a Human Leukocyte Antigen-DM Receptive State of Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II

Peptide presentation by MHC class II is of critical importance to the function of CD4+ T cells. HLA-DM resides in the endosomal pathway and edits the peptide repertoire of newly synthesized MHC class II molecules before they are exported to the cell surface. HLA-DM ensures MHC class II molecules bind high affinity peptides by targeting unstable MHC class II:peptide complexes for peptide exchange. Research over the past decade has implicated the peptide N-terminus in modulating the ability of HLA-DM to target a given MHC class II:peptide combination. In particular, attention has been focused on both the hydrogen bonds between MHC class II and peptide, and the occupancy of the P1 anchor pocket. We sought to solve the crystal structure of a HLA-DR1 molecule containing a truncated hemagglutinin peptide missing three N-terminal residues compared to the full-length sequence (residues 306–318) to determine the nature of the MHC class II:peptide species that binds HLA-DM. Here we present structural evidence that HLA-DR1 that is loaded with a peptide truncated to the P1 anchor residue such that it cannot make select hydrogen bonds with the peptide N-terminus, adopts the same conformation as molecules loaded with full-length peptide. HLA-DR1:peptide combinations that were unable to engage up to four key hydrogen bonds were also unable to bind HLA-DM, while those truncated to the P2 residue bound well. These results indicate that the conformational changes in MHC class II molecules that are recognized by HLA-DM occur after disengagement of the P1 anchor residue.
Bactericidal Activity of Human Eosinophilic Granulocytes against Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT Eosinophils participate in allergic inflammation and may have roles in the body's defense against helminthic infestation. Even under noninflammatory conditions, eosinophils are present in the mucosa of the large intestine, where large numbers of gram-negative bacteria reside. Therefore, roles for eosinophils in host defenses against bacterial invasion are possible. In a system for bacterial viable counts, the bactericidal activity of eosinophils and the contribution of different cellular antibacterial systems against Escherichia coli were investigated. Eosinophils showed a rapid and efficient killing of E. coli under aerobic conditions, whereas under anaerobic conditions bacterial killing decreased dramatically. In addition, diphenylene iodonium chloride (DPI), an inhibitor of the NADPH oxidase and thereby of superoxide production, also significantly inhibited bacterial killing. The inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) productionl-N5-(1-iminoethyl)-ornithine dihydrochloride did not affect the killing efficiency, suggesting that NO or derivatives thereof are of minor importance under the experimental conditions used. To investigate the involvement of superoxide and eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) in bacterial killing, EPO was blocked by azide. The rate of E. coli killing decreased significantly in the presence of azide, whereas addition of DPI did not further decrease the killing, suggesting that superoxide acts in conjunction with EPO. Bactericidal activity was seen in eosinophil extracts containing granule proteins, indicating that oxygen-independent killing may be of importance as well. The findings suggest that eosinophils can participate in host defense against gram-negative bacterial invasion and that oxygen-dependent killing, i.e., superoxide acting in conjunction with EPO, may be the most important bactericidal effector function of these cells.
NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES THE CONSEQUENCES OF RIGID WAGES IN SEARCH MODELS

The standard theory of equilibrium unemployment, the Mortensen-Pissarides search and matching model, cannot explain the magnitude of the business cycle fluctuations in two of its central elements, unemployment and vacancies. Modifying the model to make the present value of wages unresponsive to current labor market conditions amplifies fluctuations in unemployment and vacancies by an order of magnitude, significantly improving the performance of the model. Despite this, the welfare consequences of such rigid wages is negligible. Robert Shimer University of Chicago Department of Economics 1126 East 59 Street Chicago, IL 60637 and NBER shimer@uchicago.edu
A Novel Test-Bed for Immersive and Interactive Broadcasting Production Using Augmented Reality and Haptics

In this paper, we demonstrate an immersive and interactive broadcasting production system with a new haptically enhanced multimedia broadcasting chain. The system adapts Augmented Reality (AR) techniques, which merges captured videos and virtual 3D media seamlessly through multimedia streaming technology, and haptic interaction technology in near real-time. In this system, viewers at the haptic multimedia client can interact with AR broadcasting production transmitted via communication network. We demonstrate two test applications, which show that the addition of AR- and haptic-interaction to the conventional audio-visual contents can improve immersiveness and interactivity of viewers with rich contents service.
Imaging findings in recurrent extramedullary leukaemias

Abstract Acute leukaemias are relatively common malignancies. Treatment has advanced significantly in the recent past and there has been improved patient survival. This improved initial response is leading to an increasing number of cases of relapse. Extramedullary relapse occurs in a wide variety of locations with varying presentations, imaging findings and differentials. The pathophysiology and clinical course of recurrent extramedullary myeloid and lymphocytic leukaemias are reviewed in this article. The wide variety of imaging findings associated with many important sites of recurrence and the associated differential diagnosis are discussed and illustrated.
An Improved PID Switching Control Strategy for Type 1 Diabetes

In order for an "artificial pancreas" to become a reality for ambulatory use, a practical closed-loop control strategy must be developed and validated. In this paper, an improved PID control strategy for blood glucose control is proposed and critically evaluated in silico using a physiologic model of Hovorka et al. The key features of the proposed control strategy are: 1) a switching strategy for initiating PID control after a meal and insulin bolus; 2) a novel time-varying setpoint trajectory; 3) noise and derivative filters to reduce sensitivity to sensor noise; and 4) a practical controller tuning strategy. Simulation results demonstrate that proposed control strategy compares favorably to alternatives for realistic conditions that include meal challenges, incorrect carbohydrate meal estimates, changes in insulin sensitivity, and measurement noise.
Socio-PLT: principles for programming language adoption

Why do some programming languages fail and others succeed? What does the answer tell us about programming language design, implementation, and principles? To help answer these and other questions, we argue for examining the sociological groundings of programming language theory: socio-PLT. Researchers in the social sciences have studied adoption in many contexts. We show how their findings are applicable to programming language design. For example, many programming language features provide benefits that programmers cannot directly or immediately observe and therefore may not find compelling. From clean water to safe sex, the health community has repeatedly identified and surmounted similar observability barriers. We use such results from outside of programming language theory to frame a research agenda that should help us understand the social foundations of languages. Finally, we examine implications of our approach, such as for the design space of language features and the assessment of scientific research into programming languages.
Multi-user interface and interactions on direct-touch horizontal surfaces: collaborative tabletop research at MERL

While "displays" have the connotation of affording visual output, "surfaces" invite the users to interact. What happens then when the surfaces are also displays, when a direct input interface space and output visual space are superimposed onto the same touch interactive surfaces? In the past three years at MERL, we have systematically examined, studied and evaluated, holistically, user interface and interaction techniques on one particular type of direct touch computational surfaces - multitouch multiuser tabletops. We have created and prototyped a set of novel interface systems ranging from a photo story sharing table called PDH (personal digital historian) to the DiamondSpin tabletop tool kit, and UbiTable, to interaction concepts including CoRDs, Modal Spaces, Glimpse multilevel input model, ExpressiveTouch bimanual gestures and bifocal tabletop display interactions. We have also obtained preliminary findings on nonspeech audio feedback on multi-user interactive tabletops, and some of the effects of the size of tables and size of groups on different aspects of multiuser collaboration. Our future research investigates interaction and visualization across table centric interactive spaces with multiple surfaces of tabletops and walls in a new project called DiamondSpace.
SPORL Pretreatment of Douglas-fir Forest Residue for Precommercial Scale Productions of Sugar/ Biofuel

Zhu, J.Y. , Gleisner, R. , Gilles, W. , Leu, S. , Lou, H. , Zhang, C. , Lan, T. … & Yang, M. (2016). SPORL pretreatment of Douglas-fir forest residue for precommercial scale productions of sugar/ biofuel. NARA Final reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA)
Weighted scale-free network with widely weighted dynamics

This brief paper formulates and studies a simple yet general weighted evolving network model. In contrast with the well-known Barrat-Barthélemy-Vespignani (BBV) locally weighted evolving model, this model can allow the flows to be widely updated. We provide both analysis and simulation of the network characteristics for such weighted model, and all the theoretical predictions are successfully contrasted with numerical simulations. It is shown that this model recovers three power-law distributions for the node degrees, connection weights and node strengths, respectively. Also, the droop-head and heavy-tail properties of these distributions, which are observed in many real-world networks, can be reflected by the present model. Furthermore, it turns out that the strength highly correlates with the degree and displays a scale-free behavior as confirmed by empirical evidence.