Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Probabilistic cooperative localization and mapping in practice

In this paper we present a probabilistic framework for the reduction in the uncertainty of a moving robot pose during exploration by using a second robot to assist. A Monte Carlo Simulation technique (specifically, a Particle Filter) is employed in order to model and reduce the accumulated odometric error. Furthermore, we study the requirements to obtain an accurate yet timely pose estimate. A team of two robots is employed to explore an indoor environment in this paper, although several aspects of the approach have been extended to larger groups. The concept behind our exploration strategy has been presented previously and is based on having one robot carry a sensor that acts as a "robot tracker" to estimate the position of the other robot. By suitable use of the tracker as an appropriate motion-control mechanism we can sweep areas of free space between the stationary and the moving robot and generate an accurate graph-based description of the environment. This graph is used to guide the exploration process. Complete exploration without any overlaps is guaranteed as a result of the guidance provided by the dual graph of the spatial decomposition (triangulation) of the environment. We present experimental results from indoor experiments in our laboratory and from more complex simulated experiments.
Viewpoint selection - a classifier independent learning approach

This paper deals with an aspect of active object recognition for improving the classification and localization results by choosing optimal next views at an object. The knowledge of "good" next views at an object is learned automatically and unsupervised from the results of the used classifier. For that purpose methods of reinforcement learning are used in combination with numerical optimization. The major advantages of the presented approach are its classifier-independence and that the approach does not require a priori assumptions about the objects. The presented results for synthetically generated images show that our approach is well suited for choosing optimal views at objects.
Real-time trajectory tracking for externally loaded concentric-tube robots

Concentric-tube robots can offer a suitable compromise between force and curvature control. In a previous study by the authors, a real-time trajectory tracking scheme for an unloaded concentric-tube robot was developed. One of the practical barriers to the use of a concentric-tube robot in medical applications is compensation for the impact of environmental forces which can cause drastic deterioration in tracking performance. In this paper, by modifying the robot's forward kinematics and Jacobian, a new method is developed to facilitate tip tracking in real-time while accounting for an external load at the robot's tip. By considering the tip deflection resulting from the external load, a novel dual-layer control architecture is proposed to compensate for this deflection during trajectory tracking. In order to measure the force exerted on the tip position of the robot, a new technique is proposed that can move the sensing system from the distal tip to the proximal base. Experimental results are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
The relationship between sources of sport confidence and athletic performance in young Iranian elite wrestlers

Self-confidence can be defined as the belief in one‟s abilities to achieve success, and it often has been identified as a most important mental skill for success in sport by individuals engaging in competitive sports, including athletes and coaches. This study examined the relationship between sources of sport confidence and athletic performance in young Iranian elite wrestlers. The participants were 148 elite wrestlers of 17 to 20 year olds (M=18.60, SD=0.98) participating the country championship in 2009, who completed the Sources of Sport Confidence Questionnaire (SSCQ). Athletic performance of young wrestlers, which acquired their rank in the championship, was taken into account. The results showed a significant positive relationship between coaches‟ leadership, mastery, environmental comfort, demonstration of ability, physical/mental preparation, physical self-presentation and athletic performance. The results of a stepwise regression analysis showed that coaches‟ leadership was the strongest predictor of athletic performance. Our findings suggest that coaches‟ behaviors may greatly influence athletes‟ self-confidence and can be an important social factor that influences athletes‟ cognition and behavior.
A Linguistically Informed Convolutional Neural Network

Sentiment lexicons and other linguistic knowledge proved to be beneficial in polarity classification. This paper introduces a linguistically informed Convolutional Neural Network (lingCNN), which incorporates this valuable kind of information into the model. We present two intuitive and simple methods: The first one integrates word-level features, the second sentence-level features. By combining both types of features our model achieves results that are comparable to state-of-the- art systems.
Role of fimbriae expressed by nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae in pathogenesis of and protection against otitis media and relatedness of the fimbrin subunit to outer membrane protein A

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae is a primary pathogen in both acute otitis media (OM) and chronic OM, yet the pathogenesis of this disease is not fully understood. Although fimbriae have been observed on all clinical OM isolates examined to date, their role in pathogenesis remains unclear. Therefore, the gene which codes for the fimbrial subunit protein (fimbrin) in nontypeable H. influenzae 1128 was isolated, cloned, and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence of the fimbrin gene was found to contain an open reading frame of 1,077 bp which would encode a mature fimbrin protein consisting of 338 amino acid with a calculated molecular mass of 36.4 kDa. The translated amino acid sequence was found to be homologous with various OmpA proteins of other gram-negative bacteria, and algorithmic analysis predicted that this protein is organized as a coiled coil. To directly test whether fimbriae are involved in pathogenesis, the fimbrin gene was disrupted, and the biological consequences of disruption were absence of both expression of the fimbrial appendage and the specific immunogold labeling thereof with antisera directed against isolated fimbrial protein, reduced adherence to human oropharyngeal cells in vitro, augmented clearance from the tympanum post-transbullar inoculation, and significantly reduced induction of OM post-intranasal inoculation in a chinchilla model compared with the fimbriated parent strain. We additionally find that either passive immunization or active immunization against isolated fimbrial protein confers partial protection against transbullar challenge. A Western blot (immunoblot) indicated a degree of serological relatedness among fimbrin proteins of 15 nontypeable and type b isolates. These data suggest that fimbrin could be useful as a component of a vaccine to protect against OM.
Politeness strategies in decision-making between GPs and patients

Policy, training and research reflect the importance of patient involvement in decisions about their care. Adoption demands certain skills though, may result in conflict, or be too threatening for patients. Using an iterative process, politeness theory was used to analyse the linguistic management of these threats and challenges in videos of GP consultations. The collaborative nature of GPs’ positive politeness had persuasive effects, whilst their negative strategies gave rise to examples of ambiguity causing confusion. Patients’ negative politeness demonstrated discomfort when presenting potentially contentious decisions whilst their use of positive politeness acted as a means of promoting cooperation. GPs used positive politeness when supporting patients’ decisions, offering reassurance and redressing damage to face, conversely disagreement was conveyed by the absence of such strategies and lack of reparative work. Difficulties were identified in the way in which space for patient participation was created and managed, and the strategies used to convey information. The contrast in GP responses to patients’ decisions highlighted how subtle barriers to participation can be. These findings demonstrate the complexity of language and meaning and the need for a more sophisticated understanding of language use in communication skills and related training, as well as associated research.
A A Subunits Induce Functional Haploinsufficiency and

The introduction of SV40 small t antigen or the suppression of PP2A B56; subunit expression contributes to the experimental transformation of human cells. To investigate the role of cancer-associated PP2A AA subunit mutants in transformation, we introduced several PP2A AA mutants into immortalized but nontumorigenic human cells. These PP2A AA mutants exhibited defects in binding to other PP2A subunits and impaired phosphatase activity. Although overexpression of these mutants failed to render immortalized cells tumorigenic, partial suppression of endogenous PP2A AA expression activated the AKT pathway and permitted cells to form tumors in immunodeficient mice. These findings suggest that cancerassociated AA mutations contribute to cancer development by inducing functional haploinsufficiency, disturbing PP2A holoenzyme composition, and altering the enzymatic activity of PP2A. (Cancer Res 2005; 65(18): 8183-92)
Hardness of Virtual Network Embedding with Replica Selection

Efficient embedding virtual clusters in physical network is a challenging problem. In this paper we consider a scenario where physical network has a structure of a balanced tree. This assumption is justified by many real- world implementations of datacenters. We consider an extension to virtual cluster embedding by introducing replication among data chunks. In many real-world applications, data is stored in distributed and redundant way. This assumption introduces additional hardness in deciding what replica to process. By reduction from classical NP-complete problem of Boolean Satisfia- bility, we show limits of optimality of embedding. Our result holds even in trees of edge height bounded by three. Also, we show that limiting repli- cation factor to two replicas per chunk type does not make the problem simpler.
The COOH-Terminal Peptide of Platelet Factor-4 Variant (CXCL4L1/PF-4var47-70) Strongly Inhibits Angiogenesis and Suppresses B16 Melanoma Growth In vivo

Chemokines influence tumor growth directly or indirectly via both angiogenesis and tumor-leukocyte interactions. Platelet factor-4 (CXCL4/PF-4), which is released from α-granules of activated platelets, is the first described angiostatic chemokine. Recently, it was found that the variant of CXCL4/PF-4 (CXCL4L1/PF-4var) could exert a more pronounced angiostatic and antitumoral effect than CXCL4/PF-4. However, the molecular mechanisms of the angiostatic activities of the PF-4 forms remain partially elusive. Here, we studied the biological properties of the chemically synthesized COOH-terminal peptides of CXCL4/PF-4 (CXCL4/PF-447-70) and CXCL4L1/PF-4var (CXCL4L1/PF-4var47-70). Both PF-4 peptides lacked monocyte and lymphocyte chemotactic activity but equally well inhibited (25 nmol/L) endothelial cell motility and proliferation in the presence of a single stimulus (i.e., exogenous recombinant fibroblast growth factor-2). In contrast, when assayed in more complex angiogenesis test systems characterized by the presence of multiple mediators, including in vitro wound-healing (2.5 nmol/L versus 12.5 nmol/L), Matrigel (60 nmol/L versus 300 nmol/L), and chorioallantoic membrane assays, CXCL4L1/PF-4var47-70 was found to be significantly (5-fold) more angiostatic than CXCL4/PF-447-70. In addition, low (7 μg total) doses of intratumoral CXCL4L1/PF-4var47-70 inhibited B16 melanoma growth in mice more extensively than CXCL4/PF-447-70. This antitumoral activity was predominantly mediated through inhibition of angiogenesis (without affecting blood vessel stability) and induction of apoptosis, as evidenced by immunohistochemical and fluorescent staining of B16 tumor tissue. In conclusion, CXCL4L1/PF-4var47-70 is a potent antitumoral and antiangiogenic peptide. These results may represent the basis for the design of CXCL4L1/PF-4var COOH-terminal–derived peptidomimetic anticancer drugs. Mol Cancer Res; 8(3); 322–34
Climate and landscape drivers of tree decline in a Mediterranean ecoregion

Climate change and anthropogenic land use are increasingly affecting the resilience of natural ecosystems. In Mediterranean ecoregions, forests and woodlands have shown progressive declines in health. This study focuses on the decline of an endemic woodland tree species, Eucalyptus wandoo (wandoo), occurring in the biodiversity hotspot of southwest Western Australia. We determined the change in health of wandoo stands between 2002 and 2008 across its geographic and climatic range, and associated this change in health with non-biotic variables focusing on: (1) fragment metrics; (2) topography; (3) soil characteristics; and (4) climate. Only fragment metrics and climate variables were found to be significantly related to the observed change in health. Stands that were small with high perimeter/area ratios were found to be most sensitive to health declines. Recent increases in autumn temperatures and decreases in annual rainfall were negatively affecting health of wandoo most prominently in the low rainfall zone of its climatic range. Together, these results suggest the onset of range contraction for this ecologically important species, which is likely to be exacerbated by projected future changes in climate. Our results emphasize the importance of establishing monitoring programs to identify changes in health and decline trends early to inform management strategies, particularly in the sensitive Mediterranean ecoregions.
Multiplex assessment of the positions of odorant receptor-specific glomeruli in the mouse olfactory bulb by serial two-photon tomography

Significance In the mouse, olfactory sensory neurons choose one of ∼1,100 odorant receptor genes for expression. The receptor determines not only to what odorants the neuron responds but also in which glomerulus of the olfactory bulb its axon terminates. The positions of the ∼3,600 glomeruli are traditionally described as stereotyped. Using an automated method that cuts sections off brain samples and fluorescently images the block face, we quantitatively assess the positions for six types of glomeruli. The level of variability is more substantial than typically acknowledged, and some types of glomeruli are more variable in their position than others. Our results quantify the level of precision that is delivered by the mechanisms of axon wiring in the mouse olfactory system. In the mouse, axons of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) that express the same odorant receptor (OR) gene coalesce into one or a few glomeruli in the olfactory bulb. The positions of OR-specific glomeruli are traditionally described as stereotyped. Here, we have assessed quantitatively the positions of OR-specific glomeruli using serial two-photon tomography, an automated method for whole-organ fluorescence imaging that integrates two-photon microscopy with serial microtome sectioning. Our strategy is multiplexed. By repeated crossing, we generated two strains of mice with gene-targeted mutations at four or five OR loci for a total of six ORs: MOR23 (Olfr16), mOR37A (Olfr155), M72 (Olfr160), P2 (Olfr17), MOR256-17 (Olfr15), and MOR28 (Olfr1507). Glomerular imaging relied on intrinsic fluorescence of GFP or DsRed, or on whole-mount immunofluorescence with antibodies against GFP, DsRed, or β-gal using the method of immunolabeling-enabled three-dimensional imaging of solvent-cleared organs (iDISCO). The high-resolution 3D-reconstructed datasets were segmented to identify the labeled glomeruli and to assess glomerular positional variability between the bulbs of one mouse (intraindividual) and among the bulbs of different mice (interindividual). In 26 mice aged 21 or 50 d or 10 wk, we made measurements of the positions of 352 glomeruli. We find that positional variability of glomeruli correlates with the OR: For instance, the medial MOR28 glomerular domain occupies a surface area that is an order of magnitude larger than the surface area of the medial MOR23 glomerular domain. Our results quantify the level of precision that is delivered by the mechanisms of OSN axon wiring, differentially for the various OSN populations expressing distinct OR genes.
Verbal and Nonverbal Micropolitical Communication of Female School Principals.

Verbal and nonverbal communication as an expression of political influence and power plays a major part in constructing and transmitting an androcentric bias in educational administration. This paper describes findings of a study that examined the form, meaning, and function of three female principals' verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors, and analyzes the salience of derived micropolitical strategies in work-related contexts for acquiring or using power. The case study was conducted in a public school district in a large southwestern city. Data were derived from observation of and interviews with three female principals--one from an elementary school, one from a middle school, and one from a high school. Findings indicate that the principals' verbal and nonverbal micropolitical communication behaviors differed from stereotypical "female" or "male" behaviors. The principals' communication styles were characterized by strong interpersonal relationships rather than interpersonal dominance; the use of environmental framing and ceremony as micropolitical strategies to mobilize support; promotion of the welfare of others; involvement with mentors; and use of language that reflects goals of persuasion, collaboration, consensus, and affiliation. Contains 66 references. (LMI) Reproductions supplied by ERRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** ti 0 Verbal and Nonverbal Micropolitical Communication of Female School Principals
Comparison of the AcrySof SA60 spherical intraocular lens and the AcrySof Toric SN60T3 intraocular lens outcomes in patients with low amounts of corneal astigmatism

Background: Toric intraocular lenses (IOLs) have been reported to be an effective method of reducing postoperative refractive astigmatism and spectacle dependence following cataract surgery. This study compares a series of patients with low corneal astigmatism implanted with either the AcrySof SA60 spherical IOL or the AcrySof Toric SN60T3 IOL in a quantitative fashion to establish the merit of toric IOLs in these cases.
Eurographics/ Acm Siggraph Symposium on Computer Animation (2007) Deformation Styles for Spline-based Skeletal Animation

Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this wor k for per sonal or classr oom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for commer cial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this wor k owned by other s than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with cr edit is permitted. To copy other wise, to republish, to post on ser ver s, or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from Permissions Dept, ACM Abstract We present a novel skinned skeletal animation system based on spline-aligned deformations for providing high quality and fully designable deformations in real-time. Our ambition is to allow artists the easy creation of abstract , pose-dependent deformation behaviors that might directly be assigned to a large variety of target objects simultaneously. To achieve this goal, we introduce the usage of deformation styles and demonstrate their applicability by our animation system. We therefore enhance spline-skinned skeletal animation with two sweep-based free-form-deformation (FFD) variants. The two FFD variants are pose-dependent, driven by three textures and three curves, which can be designed by the artist. As the three textures are similar to height-maps, their creation is very intuitive. Once designed, the deformation styles can be directly applied to any number of targets for imitating material behaviors of cloth, metal or even muscles. Our GPU based implementation shows promising results for real-time usage, as about 30 Million vertices per second can be animated. The basic spline-skinning even reaches more than twice the speed and gets close to the performance of skeletal subspace deformation (SSD). Furthermore, our method can easily be combined along with other existing deformation techniques as pose space deformation or SSD.
Measuring the physical properties of the lymphoma cells using atomic force microscopy

Illuminating the underlying mechanism of drug action at single-cell and single-molecule levels is of great significance for the personalized treatment of diseases. In this paper, with the use of the atomic force microscopy (AFM), the mechanical property of the lymphoma cells was quantitatively measured and the CD20-Rituximab binding force was measured on the surface of the lymphoma cells by linking the Rituximab molecules onto the AFM tip. The results lay the foundation for the further study of the molecular mechanism of Rituximab anti-cancer effect.
Defense Technical Information Center Compilation Part Notice ADPO 11646 TITLE : Anisotropic Electromagnetic Properties of RF Sputtered

Experimental data of the permittivity of RF sputtered Ni-A120 3 thin films were studied in the wavelength region from 300 to 2500 nanometers [1]. The data were analyzed in the framework of the Bergman-Milton theory and it was shown that they lie inside the HashinShtrikman bounds, but outside the Bergman-Milton bounds. The latter indicates a strong electromagnetic anisotropy of the composite thin film. For a more detailed theoretical study, we performed calculations using the Maxwell Garnett, Bruggeman and Incremental Maxwell Garnett homogenization formalisms for uniaxial dielectric composites [2-4]. A comparison between the calculated and measured permittivities was made on the basis of a least-square fit. In this paper, we interpret the results and suggest models for the microstructures of the Ni-Al203 thin films.