Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Palmap: designing the future of maps

This paper introduces Palmap, which was designed and prototyped for the OZCHI 2009 24 Hour Design Challenge. It presents a design concept how navigation systems and maps could be used in the future. Background research and semi-structured interviews have been conducted to assess current status and to identify problems of maps and navigation. Palmap is an augmented reality (AR) based concept that focuses on gesture-based interaction. This concept is built on the assumption that, in the future, it will be possible to project rich virtual visual information directly into the eye of the user. Interactions would be possible with a virtual assistant and information projected on their palm. Three distinct interactions are described, namely selecting an option, displaying the 'next' and 'previous' options and a 'Total Immersion' function. The evaluation of the concept showed that participants were excited about the possibilities of this concept.
Position control of concentric-tube continuum robots using a modified Jacobian-based approach

Concentric-tube robots can offer dexterous positioning even in a small constrained environment. This technology turns out to be beneficial in many classes of minimally invasive procedures. However, one of the barriers to the practical use of a concentric-tube robot is the design of a real-time control scheme. In previous work by the authors, a computationally efficient torsionally compliant kinematic model of a concentric-tube robot was developed. Using this computationally fast technique and deriving the robot's Jacobian, a new position control approach is proposed in this paper. This mechanism provides computational efficiency as well as good tracking accuracy. To evaluate the performance, experiments were conducted, and the results obtained demonstrate the feasibility of enabling the robot's tip to perform trajectory tracking in real time.
Recurrent fuzzy system design using mutation-aided elite continuous ant colony optimization

This paper proposes a new metaheuristic population-based evolutionary optimization algorithm, mutation-aided elite continuous ant colony optimization (MECACO), for the design of TSK-type recurrent fuzzy neural network (TRFN). The basic principle of MECACO is a stochastic search algorithm which combines a new designed elites-based continuous ACO with the mutation technique employing the dynamic mutation probability to exploit and explore the solutions globally at the same time. The MECACO was applied to the reinforcement learning of the TRFN for the tracking control of the nonlinear dynamic plants to demonstrate its effectiveness. The MECACO performance is compared with different continuous ACO-based algorithms through simulations.
A fixed-point algorithm to minimax learning with neural networks

In some real applications, such as medical diagnosis or remote sensing, available training data do not often reflect the true a priori probabilities of the underlying data distribution. The classifier designed from these data may be suboptimal. Building classifiers that are robust against changes in prior probabilities is possible by applying a minimax learning strategy. In this paper, we propose a simple fixed-point algorithm that is able to train a neural minimax classifier [i.e., a classifier minimizing the worst (maximum) possible risk]. Moreover, we present a new parametric family of loss functions that is able to provide the most accurate estimates for the posterior class probabilities near the decision regions, and we also discuss the application of these functions together with a minimax learning strategy. The results of the experiments carried out on different real databases point out the ability of the proposed algorithm to find the minimax solution and produce a robust classifier when the real a priori probabilities differ from the estimated ones.
Recapitulating maladaptive, multiscale remodeling of failing myocardium on a chip

The lack of a robust pipeline of medical therapeutic agents for the treatment of heart disease may be partially attributed to the lack of in vitro models that recapitulate the essential structure–function relationships of healthy and diseased myocardium. We designed and built a system to mimic mechanical overload in vitro by applying cyclic stretch to engineered laminar ventricular tissue on a stretchable chip. To test our model, we quantified changes in gene expression, myocyte architecture, calcium handling, and contractile function and compared our results vs. several decades of animal studies and clinical observations. Cyclic stretch activated gene expression profiles characteristic of pathological remodeling, including decreased α- to β-myosin heavy chain ratios, and induced maladaptive changes to myocyte shape and sarcomere alignment. In stretched tissues, calcium transients resembled those reported in failing myocytes and peak systolic stress was significantly reduced. Our results suggest that failing myocardium, as defined genetically, structurally, and functionally, can be replicated in an in vitro microsystem by faithfully recapitulating the structural and mechanical microenvironment of the diseased heart.
Gifts of the Immigrants, Woes of the Natives: Lessons from the Age of Mass Migration - Online Appendix A to E

In this article, I jointly investigate the political and the economic effects of immigration, and study the causes of anti-immigrant sentiments. I exploit exogenous variation in European immigration to U.S. cities between 1910 and 1930 induced by World War I and the Immigration Acts of the 1920s, and instrument immigrants’ location decision relying on pre-existing settlement patterns. I find that immigration triggered hostile political reactions, such as the election of more conservative legislators, higher support for anti-immigration legislation, and lower redistribution. Exploring the causes of natives’ backlash, I document that immigration increased natives’ employment, spurred industrial production, and did not generate losses even among natives working in highly exposed sectors. These findings suggest that opposition to immigration was unlikely to have economic roots. Instead, I provide evidence that natives’ political discontent was increasing in the cultural differences between immigrants and natives. Results in this article indicate that, even when diversity is economically beneficial, it may nonetheless be socially hard to manage.
Discrete enhancer elements mediate selective responsiveness of enhancer of split complex genes to common transcriptional activators.

In Drosophila, genes of the Enhancer of split Complex [E(spl)-C] are important components of the Notch (N) cell-cell signaling pathway, which is utilized in imaginal discs to effect a series of cell fate decisions during adult peripheral nervous system development. Seven genes in the complex encode basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcriptional repressors, while 4 others encode members of the Bearded family of small proteins. A striking diversity is observed in the imaginal disc expression patterns of the various E(spl)-C genes, suggestive of a diversity of function, but the mechanistic basis of this variety has not been elucidated. Here we present strong evidence from promoter-reporter transgene experiments that regulation at the transcriptional level is primarily responsible. Certain E(spl)-C genes were known previously to be direct targets of transcriptional activation both by the N-signal-dependent activator Suppressor of Hairless [Su(H)] and by the proneural bHLH proteins achaete and scute. Our extensive sequence analysis of the promoter-proximal upstream regions of 12 transcription units in the E(spl)-C reveals that such dual transcriptional activation is likely to be the rule for at least 10 of the 12 genes. We next show that the very different wing imaginal disc expression patterns of E(spl)m4 and E(spl)mgamma are a property of small (200-300 bp), evolutionarily conserved transcriptional enhancer elements, which can confer these distinct patterns on a heterologous promoter despite their considerable structural similarity [each having three Su(H) and two proneural protein binding sites]. We also demonstrate that the characteristic inactivity of the E(spl)mgamma enhancer in the notum and margin territories of the wing disc can be overcome by elevated activity of the N receptor. We conclude that the distinctive expression patterns of E(spl)-C genes in imaginal tissues depend to a significant degree on the capacity of their transcriptional cis-regulatory apparatus to respond selectively to direct proneural- and Su(H)-mediated activation, often in only a subset of the territories and cells in which these modes of regulation are operative.
Biosynthesis of the Diterpene Phytoalexin Casbene: Partial Purification and Characterization of Casbene Synthetase from Ricinis communis.

Casbene synthetase from 67-hour seedlings of Ricinis communis L. which had been treated with Rhizopus stolonifer spores was purified 700-fold by a combination of ammonium sulfate fractionation, QAE A-50 Sephadex chromatography, and G-100 Sephadex chromatography. Polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis revealed that the purified fraction was heterogeneous. No casbene synthetase was detected in extracts of seedlings which had not been exposed to the fungal spores; maximum activity was obtained from seedlings 14 hours after exposure to spores.The partially purified enzyme exhibited a broad pH optimum from pH 7.5 to 9.0 with half-maximal activity at pH 6.0 and 9.8. Chromatography on a calibrated Sephadex G-100 column indicated a molecular weight of 53,000 +/- 3,000 for casbene synthetase. Concentrations of Mg(2+) above 5 mm gave maximal stimulation of the activity. Mn(2+) was much less effective and was inhibitory at concentrations above 0.2 mm. The K(m) for geranyl-geranyl pyrophosphate was estimated as 1.9 mum. The activity was inhibited 50% by 2.5 mm N-ethylmaleimide; 10 mm iodoacetamide was not inhibitory. N,N-Dimethylaminoethyl-2,2-diphenylpentanoate (SKF-525A) and the growth retardant 2'isopropyl-4'-(trimethylammonium chloride)-5'-methylphenyl piperidine-1-carboxylate (Amo-1618) were ineffective inhibitors of casbene synthetase, but the growth retardant tributyl-2, 4-dichlorobenzyl-phosphonium chloride (Phosphon D) at a concentration of 5 mum inhibited the activity by 55%.
Scaling Up Clustered Network Appliances with ScaleBricks

This paper presents ScaleBricks, a new design for building scalable, clustered network appliances that must "pin" flow state to a specific handling node without being able to choose which node that should be. ScaleBricks applies a new, compact lookup structure to route packets directly to the appropriate handling node, without incurring the cost of multiple hops across the internal interconnect. Its lookup structure is many times smaller than the alternative approach of fully replicating a forwarding table onto all nodes. As a result, ScaleBricks is able to improve throughput and latency while simultaneously increasing the total number of flows that can be handled by such a cluster. This architecture is effective in practice: Used to optimize packet forwarding in an existing commercial LTE-to-Internet gateway, it increases the throughput of a four-node cluster by 23%, reduces latency by up to 10%, saves memory, and stores up to 5.7x more entries in the forwarding table.
Chapter 9: Understanding our changing public values, resource uses, and engagement processes and practices

The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP, or Plan) signified a movement away from intensive focus on timber management that was common through the 1980s and toward an ecosystem management approach, which aims to conserve ecological conditions and restore natural resources while meeting the social, cultural, and economic needs of present and future generations (Brussard et al. 1998). The NWFP emerged in response to expanded scientific knowledge about forests and shifting public values about resources and their management. An important goal of the NWFP was to protect forest values of late-successional, old-growth, and aquatic ecosystems. These may include amenity values (scenery, quality of life), environmental quality (clean air, soil, and water), ecological values (biodiversity), public-use values (outdoor recreation, education, subsistence use), and spiritual values (cultural ties, tribal histories) (Donoghue and Sutton 2006). This synthesis looks at the latest research on many of these forest values and adds to our thinking about how the NWFP has contributed to their protection.
Writing Style Recognition and Sentence Extraction

This paper examines whether feature sets which have been developed for authorship attribution can also be used for the sentence extraction task. Experiments show that the feature sets distinguish significantly better between extract and non-extract sentences than a random baseline classifier, but that a careful combination with other features is necessary in order to outperform a positional baseline classifier. Furthermore, it is vital that the training material reflects the intended task.
Research review paper Cellulases and related enzymes in biotechnology

Basic and applied research on microbial cellulases, hemicellulases and pectinases has not only generated significant scientific knowledge but has also revealed their enormous potential in biotechnology. At present, cellulases and related enzymes are used in food, brewery and wine, animal feed, textile and laundry, pulp and paper industries, as well as in agriculture and for research purposes. Indeed, the demand for these enzymes is growing more rapidly than ever before, and this demand has become the driving force for research on cellulases and related enzymes. The present article is an overview of the biotechnological state-of-the-art for cellulases and related enzymes. © 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
Serum Proteomic Profiling of Lung Cancer in High-Risk Groups and Determination of Clinical Outcomes

Hypothesis: Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Currently known serum markers do not efficiently diagnose lung cancer at early stage. Methods: In the present study, we developed a serum proteomic fingerprinting approach coupled with a three-step classification method to address two important clinical questions: (i) to determine whether or not proteomic profiling differs between lung cancer and benign lung diseases in a population of smokers and (ii) to assess the prognostic impact of this profiling in lung cancer. Proteomic spectra were obtained from 170 pathologically confirmed lung cancer or smoking patients with benign chronic lung disease serum samples. Results: Among the 228 protein peaks differentially expressed in the whole population, 88 differed significantly between lung cancer patients and benign lung disease, with area under the curve diagnostic values ranging from 0.63 to 0.84. Multiprotein classifiers based on differentially expressed peaks allowed the classification of lung cancer and benign disease with an area under the curve ranging from 0.991 to 0.994. Using a cross-validation methodology, diagnostic accuracy was 93.1% (sensitivity 94.3%, specificity 85.9%), and more than 90% of the stage I/II lung cancers were correctly classified. Finally, in the prognosis part of the study, a 4628 Da protein was found to be significantly and independently associated with prognosis in advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer patients (p = 0.0005). Conclusions: The potential markers that we identified through proteomic fingerprinting could accurately classify lung cancers in a high-risk population and predict survival in a non-small cell lung cancer population.
Cerebrovascular Reactivity to Acetazolamide and Outcome in Patients With Symptomatic Internal Carotid or Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion: A Xenon-133 Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography Study

Background and Purpose— The present study prospectively evaluated relationships among baseline characteristics, cerebral hemodynamics, and outcome of patients with symptomatic major cerebral artery occlusion, by quantitative measurement of cerebral blood flow using xenon-133 (133Xe) inhalation and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Methods— Regional cerebrovascular reactivity (rCVR) to acetazolamide was calculated at entry to the study using 133Xe SPECT. Seventy consecutive patients aged less than 70 years with unilateral internal carotid artery (ICA) or middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion were divided into 2 groups: normal or reduced rCVR, and prospectively followed up for a period of 24 months. Results— During the follow-up period, recurrent strokes occurred in 8 of the 23 patients with reduced rCVR at entry and in 3 of 47 patients with normal rCVR. Cumulative recurrence-free survival rates in all patients, and in each subgroup of patients with ICA or MCA occlusion and reduced rCVR on entry, were significantly lower than in those with normal rCVR (P =0.0030, P =0.0404, and P =0.0310, respectively; Kaplan-Meier analysis). Among the factors considered, only lower rCVR and resting regional cerebral blood flow values were significantly associated with the risk of stroke recurrence (P =0.0019 and P =0.0080, respectively; Cox regression multivariate analysis). Conclusions— The present study demonstrated that reduced rCVR to acetazolamide as determined by 133Xe SPECT is significantly associated with an increased risk of stroke recurrence in patients with symptomatic MCA or ICA occlusion.
A Visual Approach for Monitoring Logs

Analyzing and monitoring logs that portray system, user, and network activity is essential to meet the requirements of high security and optimal resource availability. While most systems now possess satisfactory logging facilities, the tools to monitor and interpret such event logs are still in their infancy. This paper describes an approach to relieve system and network administrators from manually scanning sequences of log entries. An experimental system based on unsupervised neural networks and spring layouts to automatically classify events contained in logs is explained, and the use of complementary information visualization techniques to visually present and interactively analyze the results is then discussed. The system we present can be used to analyze past activity as well as to monitor real-time events. We illustrate the system’s use for event logs generated by a firewall, however it can be easily coupled to any source of sequential and structured event logs.
Surface Fire to Crown Fire: Fire History in the Taos Valley Watersheds, New Mexico, USA

Tree-ring fire scars, tree ages, historical photographs, and historical surveys indicate that, for centuries, fire played different ecological roles across gradients of elevation, forest, and fire regimes in the Taos Valley Watersheds. Historical fire regimes collapsed across the three watersheds by 1899, leaving all sites without fire for at least 119 years. Historical photographs and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) ages indicate that a high-severity fire historically burned at multiple high-elevation subalpine plots in today’s Village of Taos Ski Valley, with large high-severity patches (>640 ha). Low-severity, frequent (9–29-year median interval) surface fires burned on the south aspects in nearby lower elevation dry conifer forests in all watersheds. Fires were associated with drought during the fire year. Widespread fires commonly burned synchronously in multiple watersheds during more severe drought years, preceded by wet years, including fire in all three watersheds in 1664, 1715, and 1842. In contrast, recent local “large” wildfires have only burned within single watersheds and may not be considered large in a historical context. Management to promote repeated low-severity fires and the associated open stand structures is within the historical range of variability in the dry conifer forests of these watersheds. In the high-elevation, subalpine forests, different management approaches are needed, which balance ecological and socioeconomic values while providing public safety.
Piaget, Probability, Causality, and Contradiction

The goal of the Tourmen [this issue] paper is to provide a systematic review of the Piagetian literature, with the objective of more fully understanding the links between Piaget and modern probabilistic models of learning. This is a worthy aim, and the paper is quite interesting. Piaget was one of the foundational thinkers in the field, upon whose ideas the edifice of modern developmental psychology is built. Probabilistic models of learning are a recent but highly successful approach to understanding human cognition. Although probabilistic models did not emerge directly from Piaget’s thinking, it can be useful and enlightening to trace the historical commonalities and divergences between the two. More profoundly, it is especially useful for current theorists to occasionally look back from whence we came, to ensure that the valuable insights and ideas of yesteryear are not lost in the hubbub and excitement of engaging with the new approaches and tools of the present. My goal in this commentary is to synthesize and build on some of the key points of the Tourmen paper. The overall aim is to contextualize and elaborate on what probabilistic models are and what they offer, as well as to highlight some Piagetian insights that our theories nowadays would do well to grapple more with. To that end, the first part of this paper focuses on making some important distinctions between core principles of the probabilistic approach, theoretical implications that (sometimes, but not always) follow from those principles, and empirical findings that are relevant to researchers who adopt the approach, but that themselves incorporate no special reliance on it. The second part turns to Piaget’s insights, focusing on those that are
Texture Based Pattern Classification

Texture can be observed in many natural and synthetic images from multispectral satellite images to the microscopic images of cell or tissue samples. Texture is an innate property of virtually all surfaces, the grain of wood, the weave of fabric, the pattern of crop in fields etc It contains important information about the structural arrangement of surfaces and their relationship to the surrounding environment. Since the textural properties of images appear to carry useful information, for discriminating purpose features have always been calculated for textures. The paper deals with the pattern classification using texture features. The features used in the project are standard deviation and entropy of all parts obtained after 3 rd level decomposition using DWT. A mean feature vector is calculated and is used for classification. For classification distance similarity is used. The different distances used are Euclidean distance, Manhattan distance, Bray Curtis distance and Canberra distance. The efficiency of classification is calculated for each distance and is compared. The time required for each retrieval, in every distance method used, is also calculated.