Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Constraining Polymers into β-Turns: Miscibility and Phase Segregation Effects in Lipid Monolayers

Investigation of model biomembranes and their interactions with natural or synthetic macromolecules are of great interest to design membrane systems with specific properties such as drug-delivery. Here we study the behavior of amphiphilic β-turn mimetic polymer conjugates at the air–water interface and their interactions with lipid model membranes. For this endeavor we synthesized two different types of conjugates containing either hydrophobic polyisobutylene (PIB, Mn = 5000 g·mol−1) or helical poly(n-hexyl isocyanate) (PHIC, Mn = 4000 g·mol−1), both polymers being immiscible, whereas polyisobutylene as a hydrophobic polymer can incorporate into lipid membranes. The conjugates were investigated using Langmuir-film techniques coupled with epifluorescence microscopy and AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy), in addition to their phase behavior in mixed lipid/polymer membranes composed of DPPC (dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine). It was found that the DPPC monolayers are strongly disturbed by the presence of the polymer conjugates and that domain formation of the polymer conjugates occurs at high surface pressures (π > 30 mN·m−1).
Learning Depth-First Search: A Unified Approach to Heuristic Search in Deterministic and Non-Deterministic Settings, and Its Application to MDPs

Dynamic Programming provides a convenient and unified framework for studying many state models used in AI but no algorithms for handling large spaces. Heuristic-search methods, on the other hand, can handle large spaces but lack a common foundation. In this work, we combine the benefits of a general dynamic programming formulation with the power of heuristic-search techniques for developing an algorithmic framework, that we call Learning Depth-First Search, that aims to be both general and effective. LDFS is a simple piece of code that performs iterated depth-first searches enhanced with learning. For deterministic actions and monotone value functions, LDFS reduces to IDA* with transposition tables, while for Game Trees, to the state-of-the-art iterated Alpha-Beta search algorithm with Null Windows known as MTD. For other models, like AND/OR graphs and MDPs, LDFS yields new, simple, and competitive algorithms. We show this here for MDPs.
Obtaining Narrow Transition Region in STFT Domain Processing Using Subband Filters

The short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and the inverse short-time Fourier transform are often used in signal analysis, modification, and synthesis. In this work, we focus on the effect of overlapping STFT subbands in relation to signal modification and synthesis. We illustrate that the subband overlapping can impose a negative mixing effect on STFT domain signal processing such as bandlimited frequency shifting. We propose a subband filtering method, by using subband low-pass and high-pass filters in the affected frequency region, to reduce the mixing effect locally without changing the general STFT processing. We show in simulation experiments that our subband filtering method is efficient; the bandwidth of the affected frequency region is typically reduced by a factor of 2-3, and there is significantly less signal distortion in the affected frequency region.
Chapter 12. Leadership 1 What Is Leadership?

One of the dominant themes in the management literature today involves the role of leadership in assuring organizational effectiveness. While less significant in the sociological literature on organizations, the literature on organizational psychology, management, and particularly the popular literature, has elevated the leader/manager into one of the prime determinants of organizational success. This is no less true in the world of public science than in the world of commercial business. Given the pace of change in science these days, creating and maintaining effective organizational and management systems, motivated and creative staff, and strategically focused research is particularly important. Leadership in scientific organizations requires a challenging combination of technical, organizational, and political knowledge, managerial competence, political savvy, organizational vision, and communication and human relations skills. The organizational literature can help public science managers structure their thinking about the attributes of effective leadership in public science organizations, learn from the experiences of others who have held positions of leadership, and understand the strategies organizations have used to develop and capitalize on effective leaders.
p38 MAP kinase mediates platelet‐derived growth factor‐stimulated migration of hepatic myofibroblasts

Although the migration of hepatic myofibroblasts (HMFs) contributes to the development of fibrosis, the signals regulating migration of these cells are poorly understood. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that HMF migration is stimulated by platelet‐derived growth factor‐BB (PDGF‐BB) through p38 mitogen‐activated protein (MAP) kinase and extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathways. This hypothesis was addressed by directly visualizing the migration of cultured human HMFs into a wound. PDGF‐BB stimulated membrane ruffling, migration, and proliferation. PDGF‐BB also induced activation of p38 MAP kinase, its downstream effector, heat shock protein (HSP) 27, ERK 1 and ERK 2, and p125 focal adhesion kinase (FAK). Selective antagonism of p38 MAP kinase blocked PDGF‐BB‐stimulated HSP 27 phosphorylation, membrane ruffling, and migration, but did not alter PDGF‐BB‐induced proliferation. Selective antagonism of ERK kinase inhibited PDGF‐BB‐induced ERK phosphorylation and proliferation, but did not affect PDGF‐BB‐stimulated migration. Concentrations of PDGF‐BB that stimulated migration and proliferation did not influence myosin‐dependent contractility. Neither selective inhibition of p38 MAP kinase nor ERKs altered PDGF‐BB‐induced activation of FAK. In conclusion, these results provide novel evidence indicating that (1) HMF migration is stimulated by PDGF‐BB through the regulation of membrane ruffling by a p38 MAP kinase signaling pathway, (2) whereas p38 MAP kinase mediates PDGF‐BB‐stimulated migration, but not proliferation, ERKs mediate PDGF‐induced proliferation, but not migration, and (3) increases in myosin‐dependent contractility are not required for PDGF‐BB‐stimulated migration. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Smart DSP for a Smarter Power Grid: Teaching Power System Analysis through Signal Processing

The future Smart Grid represents an extraordinary opportunity to transform the ways we currently approach energy into a new era of low-carbon, renewable, and efficient solutions which will ultimately have a significant impact on both the environment and economy. This effort requires close collaboration of experts from the Power, Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and Machine Learning (ML) communities, with the common language between these diverse disciplines an important first step in this endeavour. To promote seamless transition of ideas, we here establish a duality between the Clarke transform, a workhorse in Power Grid analysis, and principal component analysis (PCA), a staple subspace method in DSP/ML. Upon highlighting the limitations of the Clarke transform in off-nominal unbalanced power system conditions, we illuminate a DSP-enabled class of self-balancing solutions, referred to as the Smart Transforms, based on adaptive complex widely linear modelling. Examples on system frequency estimation support the approach.
Biogas production from Pongamia biomass wastes and a model to estimate biodegradability from their composition

In this study, I investigated the chemical characteristics, biochemical methane potential, conversion kinetics and biodegradability of untreated and NaOH-treated Pongamia plant parts, and pod husk and press cake from the biodiesel industry to evaluate their suitability as an alternative feedstock for biogas production. The untreated Pongamia seeds exhibited the maximum CH4 yield of 473 ml g −1 volatile solid (VS) added. Yellow, withered leaves gave a yield as low as 122 ml CH4 g −1 VS added. There were significant variations in the CH4 production rate constants, which ranged from 0.02 to 0.15 d −1, and biodegradability, which ranged from 0.25 to 0.98. NaOH treatment of leaf and pod husk, which were highly rich in fibers, increased the yields by 15–22% and CH4 production rate constants by 20–75%. Utilization of Pongamia wastes in biogas digesters not only influences the economics of biodiesel production but also yields CH4 fuel and protects the environment. The experimental data from this study were used to develop a multiple regression model, which could estimate biodegradability based on biochemical characteristics. The model predicted the biodegradability of previously published biomass wastes (r2 = 0.88) from their biochemical composition. The theoretical CH4 yields estimated as 350 ml g−1 chemical oxygen demand destroyed are much higher than the experimental yields as 100% biodegradability is assumed for each substrate. Upon correcting the theoretical CH4 yields with biodegradability data obtained from chemical analyses of substrates, their ultimate CH4 yields could be predicted rapidly.
A STRUCTURE-BASED APPROACH FOR MATCHING ROAD JUNCTIONS WITH DIFFERENT COORDINATE SYSTEMS

Abstract. Effective matching algorithm of multi-source road networks is of vital importance for integration, updating and maintenance. In traditional matching methods, buffering and geometrical distances are basic strategies for potential matches searching, and the coordinate systems need to be similar. These methods may be invalid if the coordinate systems are unknown. Therefore, a novel approach of comparing the structures of urban road networks based on skeleton extraction is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the similarity measurement between junctions is described by a cluster comparison consisted with its neighbour junctions. And then the hierarchical strokes are recognized as a global structure to match, which eliminates the effect of the different coordinate systems. Finally, graphs converted from hierarchical skeletons of road network in different coordinate systems are compared and the most probable junction correspondences are established with maximum common subgraph algorithm. Based on the corresponding junctions, an affine transformation is able to be established between two unknown coordinate systems, and the remaining junctions matching will be conducted by traditional geometric methods. An experiment of matching road networks is carried out without any other geographic positional information. The result shows that no matter how significant the difference of coordinate systems are, it is still able to find the correct matches, which is impossible by traditional methods.
Investigating automatic & human filled pause insertion for speech synthesis

Filled pauses are pervasive in conversational speech and have been shown to serve several psychological and structural purposes. Despite this, they are seldom modelled overtly by stateof-the-art speech synthesis systems. This paper seeks to motivate the incorporation of filled pauses into speech synthesis systems by exploring their use in conversational speech, and by comparing the performance of several automatic systems inserting filled pauses into fluent text. Two initial experiments are described which seek to determine whether people’s predicted insertion points are consistent with actual practice and/or with each other. The experiments also investigate whether there are ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ places to insert filled pauses. The results show good consistency between people’s predictions of usage and their actual practice, as well as a perceptual preference for the ‘right’ placement. The third experiment contrasts the performance of several automatic systems that insert filled pauses into fluent sentences. The best performance (determined by F-score) was achieved through the by-word interpolation of probabilities predicted by Recurrent Neural Network and 4gram Language Models. The results offer insights into the use and perception of filled pauses by humans, and how automatic systems can be used to predict their locations. Index Terms: filled pause, HMM TTS, SVM, RNN
Zero-delay joint source-channel coding

In zero-delay joint source-channel coding each source sample is mapped to a channel input, and the samples are directly estimated at the receiver based on the corresponding channel output. Despite its simplicity, uncoded transmission achieves the optimal end-to-end distortion performance in some communication scenarios, significantly simplifying the encoding and decoding operations, and reducing the coding delay. Three different communication scenarios are considered here, for which uncoded transmission is shown to achieve either optimal or near-optimal performance. First, the problem of transmitting a Gaussian source over a block-fading channel with block-fading side information is considered. In this problem, uncoded linear transmission is shown to achieve the optimal performance for certain side information distributions, while separate source and channel coding fails to achieve the optimal performance. Then, uncoded transmission is shown to be optimal for transmitting correlated multivariate Gaussian sources over a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel in the low signal to noise ratio (SNR) regime. Finally, motivated by practical systems a peak-power constraint (PPC) is imposed on the transmitter's channel input. Since linear transmission is not possible in this case, nonlinear transmission schemes are proposed and shown to perform very close to the lower bound.
Site-specific chemical labeling of mitochondrial respiratory complex I through ligand-directed tosylate chemistry.

The site-specific chemical modification of NADH-quinone oxidoreductase (complex I) by various functional probes such as fluorophores and microbeads, without affecting the enzyme activity, may allow single-molecule analyses of putative dynamic conformational changes in the enzyme. In an attempt to address this challenge, we performed site-specific alkynylation of complex I in bovine heart submitochondrial particles by means of a ligand-directed tosylate (LDT) chemistry strategy with synthetic acetogenin ligand 1, which has an alkynylated tosylate in the tail moiety, as a high-affinity ligand against the enzyme. The terminal alkyne was chosen as the tag to be incorporated into the enzyme because this functional group can serve as a "footing" for subsequent diverse chemical modifications via so-called click chemistry (i.e., azide-alkyne [3+2] cycloaddition in water). To identify the position alkynylated by ligand 1, fluorescent tetramethylrhodamine was covalently attached to the incorporated alkyne by click chemistry after the solubilization of complex I. Detailed proteomic analyses revealed that alkynylation occurred at Asp160 in the 49 kDa subunit, which may be located in the inner part of the putative quinone-binding cavity. The alkynylation was completely suppressed in the presence of an excess of other inhibitors such as bullatacin and quinazoline. While the reaction yield of the alkynylation step via LDT chemistry was estimated to be ~50%, the alkynylation unfortunately resulted in the almost complete inhibition of enzyme activity. Nevertheless, the results of this study demonstrate that complex I can be site-specifically alkynylated through LDT chemistry, providing a clue about the diverse chemical modifications of the enzyme in combination with click chemistry.
An efficient concurrency control algorithm for high-dimensional index structures

In this paper we propose an efficient concurrency control algorithm based on the link technique of R/sup Link/-Tree for high-dimensional index structures. Unlike the R/sup Link/-Tree concurrency control algorithm, it does not employ lock-coupling while ascending the index trees to process node splits and MBR (minimum bounding region) updates. Additionally, the algorithm provides the concurrency control mechanisms for forced reinsertion operations that are used to improve search performance in multi-dimensional index trees. We show through experiments that our proposed method outperforms the existing R/sup Link/-Tree algorithm.
Balance control and anti‐gravity muscle activity during the experience of fear at heights

Fear of heights occurs when a visual stimulus causes the apprehension of losing balance and falling. A moderate form of visual height intolerance (vHI) affects about one third of the general population and has relevant consequences for the quality of life. A quantitative evaluation of balance mechanisms in persons susceptible to vHI during height exposure is missing. VHI‐related changes in postural control were assessed by center‐of‐pressure displacements and electromyographic recordings of selected leg, arm, and neck muscles in 16 subjects with vHI while standing at heights on an emergency balcony versus standing in the laboratory at ground level. Characteristics of open‐ and closed‐loop postural control were analyzed. Body sway and muscle activity parameters were correlated with the subjective estimates of fear at heights. During height exposure, (1) open‐loop control was disturbed by a higher diffusion activity (P < 0.001) and (2) the sensory feedback threshold for closed‐loop control was lowered (P < 0.010). Altered postural control was predominantly associated with increased co‐contraction of leg muscles. Body sway and leg and neck muscle co‐contraction correlated with the severity of subjective anxiety (P < 0.050). Alterations in postural control diminished if there were nearby stationary contrasts in the visual surrounding or if subjects stood with eyes closed. The performance of a cognitive dual task also improved impaired balance. Visual heights have two behavioral effects in vHI subjects: A change occurs in (1) open‐ and closed‐loop postural control strategy and (2) co‐contraction of anti‐gravity leg and neck muscles, both of which depend on the severity of evoked fear at heights.
Specific ablation of the transcription factor CREB in sympathetic neurons surprisingly protects against developmentally regulated apoptosis

The cyclic-AMP response element-binding (CREB) protein family of transcription factors plays a crucial role in supporting the survival of neurons. However, a cell-autonomous role has not been addressed in vivo. To investigate the cell-specific role of CREB, we used as a model developing sympathetic neurons, whose survival in vitro is dependent on CREB activity. We generated mice lacking CREB in noradrenergic (NA) and adrenergic neurons and compared them with the phenotype of the germline CREB mutant. Whereas the germline CREB mutant revealed increased apoptosis of NA neurons and misplacement of sympathetic precursors, the NA neuron-specific mutation unexpectedly led to reduced levels of caspase-3-dependent apoptosis in sympathetic ganglia during the period of naturally occurring neuronal death. A reduced level of p75 neurotrophin receptor expression in the absence of CREB was shown to be responsible. Thus, our analysis indicates that the activity of cell-autonomous pro-survival signalling is operative in developing sympathetic neurons in the absence of CREB.
The genus Aphidura (Hemiptera, Aphididae) in the collection of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle of Paris, with six new species

Abstract Specimens were studied of 65 samples of the genus Aphidura (Aphididae, Aphidinae, Macrosiphini) from the collection of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris). The possible synonymies of three pairs of species are discussed. New aphid host plant relationships are reported for Aphidura bozhkoae, Aphidura delmasi, Aphidura ornata, Aphidura pannonica and Aphidura picta; this last species is recorded for first time from Afghanistan. The record of Aphidura pujoli from Pakistan is refuted. The fundatrices, oviparous females and males of Aphidura delmasi are described. Six new species are established: Aphidura gallica sp. n. and Aphidura amphorosiphon sp. n. from specimens caught on species of Silene (Caryophyllaceae) from France and Iran, respectively, Aphidura pakistanensis sp. n. , Aphidura graeca sp. n. and Aphidura urmiensis sp. n. from specimens caught on species of Dianthus, Gypsophila and Spergula (Caryophyllaceae) from Pakistan, Greece and Iran, respectively, and Aphidura iranensis sp. n. from specimens caught on Prunus sp. from Iran. Modifications are made to the keys by Blackman and Eastop to aphids living on Dianthus, Gypsophyla, Silene, Spergula and Prinsepia and Prunus (Rosaceae). An identification key to apterous viviparous females of species of Aphidura is also provided.
CYP98A3 from Arabidopsis thaliana Is a 3′-Hydroxylase of Phenolic Esters, a Missing Link in the Phenylpropanoid Pathway*

The 4- and 5-hydroxylations of phenolic compounds in plants are catalyzed by cytochrome P450 enzymes. The 3-hydroxylation step leading to the formation of caffeic acid fromp-coumaric acid remained elusive, however, alternatively described as a phenol oxidase, a dioxygenase, or a P450 enzyme, with no decisive evidence for the involvement of any in the reaction in planta. In this study, we show that the gene encoding CYP98A3, which was the best possible P450 candidate for a 3-hydroxylase in the Arabidopsis genome, is highly expressed in inflorescence stems and wounded tissues. Recombinant CYP98A3 expressed in yeast did not metabolize freep-coumaric acid or its glucose or CoA esters,p-coumaraldehyde, or p-coumaryl alcohol, but very actively converted the 5-O-shikimate and 5-O-d-quinate esters oftrans-p-coumaric acid into the corresponding caffeic acid conjugates. The shikimate ester was converted four times faster than the quinate derivative. Antibodies directed against recombinant CYP98A3 specifically revealed differentiating vascular tissues in stem and root. Taken together, these data show that CYP98A3 catalyzes the synthesis of chlorogenic acid and very likely also the 3-hydroxylation of lignin monomers. This hydroxylation occurs on depsides, the function of which was so far not understood, revealing an additional and unexpected level of networking in lignin biosynthesis.
Maturity model for mapping crime in law enforcement

The diffusion of computerised crime mapping in policing has been studied extensively. However, there is a lack of research concerned with the extent to which such systems are used after adoption. This paper develops a maturity model for geographic information systems in crime mapping. The model consists of eight maturity levels covering visualisation, communication, simulation, optimisation, organisation, and strategy. The purpose of such a model is to help practitioners and researchers study organisational evolution and determine future direction in police organisations' use of electronic systems when mapping crime.
EyeK: an efficient dwell-free eye gaze-based text entry system

Over the last three decades, eye gaze has become an important modality of text entry in large and small display digital devices covering people with disabilities beside the able-bodied. Despite of many tools being developed, issues like minimizing dwell time, visual search time and interface area, eye-controlled mouse movement stability etc. are still points of concern in making any gaze typing interface more user friendly, accurate and robust. In this paper, we propose EyeK, a gaze-based text entry system which diminishes dwell time and favors to mitigate visual search time. Performance evaluation shows that proposed interface achieves on an average 15% higher text entry rate over the existing interfaces. As designed, the proposed interface can effortlessly be suited in medium-sized display devices like Tablet PC, PDA etc. Also, the developed system can be used by the people with motor disabilities.