Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards personalized human AI interaction - adapting the behavior of AI agents using neural signatures of subjective interest

Reinforcement Learning AI commonly uses reward/penalty signals that are objective and explicit in an environment -- e.g. game score, completion time, etc. -- in order to learn the optimal strategy for task performance. However, Human-AI interaction for such AI agents should include additional reinforcement that is implicit and subjective -- e.g. human preferences for certain AI behavior -- in order to adapt the AI behavior to idiosyncratic human preferences. Such adaptations would mirror naturally occurring processes that increase trust and comfort during social interactions. Here, we show how a hybrid brain-computer-interface (hBCI), which detects an individual's level of interest in objects/events in a virtual environment, can be used to adapt the behavior of a Deep Reinforcement Learning AI agent that is controlling a virtual autonomous vehicle. Specifically, we show that the AI learns a driving strategy that maintains a safe distance from a lead vehicle, and most novelly, preferentially slows the vehicle when the human passengers of the vehicle encounter objects of interest. This adaptation affords an additional 20\% viewing time for subjectively interesting objects. This is the first demonstration of how an hBCI can be used to provide implicit reinforcement to an AI agent in a way that incorporates user preferences into the control system.
Volatile constituents of aerial parts of Centaurea sibthorpii (Sect. Carduiformes, Asteraceae) from Greece and their biological activity

The volatile constituents of the aerial parts of Centaurea sibthorpii [Sect. Carduiformes, Asteraceae] collected in Greece were extracted by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC and GC–MS. Altogether 63 components were identified. Fatty acids and sesquiterpenoidic compounds were the most abundant components in the oil. A study on the biological activity of the oil showed no action against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
Affinity Purification Strategy to Capture Human Endogenous Proteasome Complexes Diversity and to Identify Proteasome-interacting Proteins*S

An affinity purification strategy was developed to characterize human proteasome complexes diversity as well as endogenous proteasome-interacting proteins (PIPs). This single step procedure, initially used for 20 S proteasome purification, was adapted to purify all existing physiological proteasome complexes associated to their various regulatory complexes and to their interacting partners. The method was applied to the purification of proteasome complexes and their PIPs from human erythrocytes but can be used to purify proteasomes from any human sample as starting material. The benefit of in vivo formaldehyde cross-linking as a stabilizer of protein-protein interactions was studied by comparing the status of purified proteasomes and the identified proteins in both protocols (with or without formaldehyde cross-linking). Subsequent proteomics analyses identified all proteasomal subunits, known regulators, and recently assigned partners. Moreover other proteins implicated at different levels of the ubiquitin-proteasome system were also identified for the first time as PIPs. One of them, the ubiquitin-specific protease USP7, also known as HAUSP, is an important player in the p53-HDM2 pathway. The specificity of the interaction was further confirmed using a complementary approach that consisted of the reverse immunoprecipitation with HAUSP as a bait. Altogether we provide a valuable tool that should contribute, through the identification of partners likely to affect proteasomal function, to a better understanding of this complex proteolytic machinery in any living human cell and/or organ/tissue and in different cell physiological states.
Acute respiratory symptoms and general illness during the first year of life: A population‐based birth cohort study

Respiratory symptoms are common in infancy. Most illnesses occurring among children are dealt with by parents and do not require medical attention. Nevertheless, few studies have prospectively and on a community‐basis assessed the amount of respiratory symptoms and general illness in normal infants. In this population‐based birth cohort study, 228 healthy infants from Copenhagen, Denmark were followed from birth to 1 year of age during 2004–2006. Symptoms were registered using daily diaries and monthly home visits. Interviews were performed at inclusion and every second month. Risk factor analysis was carried out by multiple logistic regression analysis. On average, children had general symptoms for 3.5 months during their first year of life, nasal discharge being most frequent followed by cough. Frequency of all symptoms increased steeply after 6 months of age. Each child had on average 6.3 episodes (median: 5.1, inter‐quartile range (IQR): 3.3–7.8) of acute respiratory tract illness (ARTI) (nasal discharge and ≥1 of the following symptoms: cough, fever, wheezing, tachypnea, malaise, or lost appetite) and 5.6 episodes (median: 4.3, IQR: 2.1–7.3) of simple rhinitis per 365 days at risk. Determinants for respiratory symptoms were increasing age, winter season, household size, size of residence, day‐care attendance, and having siblings aged 1–3 years attending a day nursery. In conclusion, the present study provides detailed data on the occurrence of disease symptoms during the first year of life in a general population cohort and emphasizes the impact of increasing age, seasonality, and living conditions on the occurrence of ARTI. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2008; 43:584–593. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Electric Field Sensing Scheme Based on Matched $ \hbox{LiNbO}_{3}$ Electro-Optic Retarders

In this paper, a wideband-electric-field-sensing scheme that uses optically matched integrated optics electrooptic devices and coherence modulation of light is described. In a coherence modulation scheme, the integrated optics sensor detects the electric field and imprints it around an optical delay. The optical delay is generated by a birefringent optical waveguide in a lithium niobate (LiNbO3) integrated optics two-wave interferometer. The modulated optical delay, acting as an information carrier, is transmitted through an optical fiber channel. At the receiver, light is demodulated by a second integrated optics two-wave interferometer, which also introduces a second optical delay. The optical delays on the sensor and demodulator are matched at the same value. The integrated optics demodulator measures the autocorrelation of light around the optical delay value, and the imprinted electric field is recuperated as a linear variation of the received optical power. The matching of the sensor and demodulator allows a direct detection of the electric field, giving a unique feature to this fiber-integrated optics scheme. The experimental setup described here uses two pigtailed LiNbO3 electrooptic crystals: one acting as the electric field sensor and the other acting as the optical demodulator. The wideband sensing range on the experimental setup corresponds to frequencies between 0 and 20 kHz.
High-performance self-aligned gate AlGaAs/GaAs MODFET voltage comparator

A very high-performance voltage comparator circuit has been demonstrated using self-aligned gate AlGaAs/GaAs modulation-doped FET's (MODFET's)and laser-trimmable CrSi-based thin-film resistors. The MODFET master/slave comparator circuits demonstrated analog input resolutions of < 1 and 2.5 mV at sampling rates of 0.5 and 1 GHz, respectively, at Nyquist analog input rates at room temperature. The MODFET comparators operated to sampling rates greater than 2.5 GHz at Nyquist analog input rates. Static hysteresis of less than 1 mV was observed for some comparators at room temperature. The self-aligned gate MODFET's demonstrated average threshold-voltage offsets for closely spaced FET pairs of 2.53 ± 1.15 mV, and typical static hysteresis levels of < 1 to 3 mV. These MODFET comparators demonstrated the highest analog input resolution at gigahertz sampling frequencies ever reported, including comparators fabricated using AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's).
Ancillary services performance control in deregulated power systems

In the nowadays power systems deregulation context and with the opening access to the electricity market event, new power producers demand the connection to the transmission grid. They also intend to participate to ancillary services. In order to quantify each connection impact on the grid security, it is imperative that the producers respect the performances fixed by the system operator in terms of ancillary services. Economic and technical constraints could tempt the producers to cross the connection contract limits and the entire grid security could be dangerously affected. Considering this circumstances, the system operators have to control the generating installations performances. The nowadays monitoring techniques are based on power plant outputs measurements; they might establish a posteriori the responsibilities of each actor. In order to prevent an undesired incident, these techniques are no more efficient and accurate. Their inaccuracy and inefficiency open a new research field concerning online incident prior performance control. Present paper proposes a performance control method and its application for the frequency control.
Protein self‐association in crowded protein solutions: A time‐resolved fluorescence polarization study

The self‐association equilibrium of a tracer protein, apomyoglobin (apoMb), in highly concentrated crowded solutions of ribonuclease A (RNase A) and human serum albumin (HSA), has been studied as a model system of protein interactions that occur in crowded macromolecular environments. The rotational diffusion of the tracer protein labeled with two different fluorescent dyes, 8‐anilinonaphthalene‐1‐sulfonate and fluorescein isothiocyanate, was successfully recorded as a function of the two crowder concentrations in the 50–200 mg/mL range, using picosecond‐resolved fluorescence anisotropy methods. It was found that apoMb molecules self‐associate at high RNase A concentration to yield a flexible dimer. The apparent dimerization constant, which increases with RNase A concentration, could also be estimated from the fractional contribution of monomeric and dimeric species to the total fluorescence anisotropy of the samples. In contrast, an equivalent mass concentration of HSA does not result in tracer dimerization. This different effect of RNase A and HSA is much larger than that predicted from simple models based only on the free volume available to apoMb, indicating that additional, nonspecific interactions between tracer and crowder should come into play. The time‐resolved fluorescence polarization methods described here are expected to be of general applicability to the detection and quantification of crowding effects in a variety of macromolecules of biological relevance.
Influence of Mustard Group Structure on Pathways of in Vitro Metabolism of Anticancer N-(2-Hydroxyethyl)-3,5-dinitrobenzamide 2-Mustard Prodrugss⃞

The dinitrobenzamide mustards are a class of bioreductive nitro-aromatic anticancer prodrugs, of which a phosphorylated analog (PR-104) is currently in clinical development. They are bioactivated by tumor reductases to form DNA cross-linking cytotoxins. However, their biotransformation in normal tissues has not been examined. Here we report the aerobic in vitro metabolism of three N-(2 hydroxyethyl)-3,5-dinitrobenzamide 2-mustards and the corresponding nonmustard analog in human, mouse, rat, and dog hepatic S9 preparations. These compounds have a range of mustard structures (–N(CH2CH2X)2 where X = H, Cl, Br, or OSO2Me). Four metabolic routes were identified: reduction of either nitro group, N-dealkylation of the mustard, plus O-acetylation, and O-glucuronidation of the hydroxyethyl side chain. Reduction of the nitro group ortho to the mustard resulted in intramolecular alkylation and is considered to be an inactivation pathway, whereas reduction of the nitro group para to the mustard generated potential DNA cross-linking cytotoxins. N-Dealkylation inactivated the mustard moiety but may result in the formation of toxic acetaldehyde derivatives. Increasing the size of the nitrogen mustard leaving group abrogated the ortho-nitroreduction and N-dealkylation routes and thereby improved overall metabolic stability but had little effect on aerobic para-nitroreduction. All four compounds underwent O-glucuronidation of the hydroxyethyl side chain and further studies to elucidate the relative importance of this pathway in vivo are in progress.
Kir2.4 and Kir2.1 K+ channel subunits co‐assemble: a potential new contributor to inward rectifier current heterogeneity

Heteromeric channel assembly is a potential source of physiological variability. The potential significance of Kir2 subunit heterotetramerization has been controversial, but recent findings suggest that heteromultimerization of Kir2.1‐3 may be significant. This study was designed to investigate whether the recently described Kir2.4 subunit can form heterotetramers with the important subunit Kir2.1, and if so, to investigate whether the resulting heterotetrameric channels are functional. Co‐expression of either dominant negative Kir2.1 or Kir2.4 subunits in Xenopus oocytes with either wild‐type Kir2.1 or 2.4 strongly decreased resulting current amplitude. To examine physical association between Kir2.1 and Kir2.4, Cos‐7 cells were co‐transfected with a His6‐tagged Kir2.1 subunit (Kir2.1‐His6) and a FLAG‐tagged Kir2.4 subunit (Kir2.4‐FLAG). After pulldown with a His6‐binding resin, Kir2.4‐FLAG could be detected in the eluted cell lysate by Western blotting, indicating co‐assembly of Kir2.1‐His6 and Kir2.4‐FLAG. Expression of a tandem construct containing covalently linked Kir2.1 and 2.4 subunits led to robust current expression. Kir2.1‐Kir2.4 tandem subunit expression, as well as co‐injection of Kir2.1 and Kir2.4 cRNA into Xenopus oocytes, produced currents with barium sensitivity greater than that of Kir2.1 or Kir2.4 subunit expression alone. These results show that Kir2.4 subunits can co‐assemble with Kir2.1 subunits, and that co‐assembled channels are functional, with properties different from those of Kir2.4 or Kir2.1 alone. Since Kir2.1 and Kir2.4 mRNAs have been shown to co‐localize in the CNS, Kir2.1 and Kir2.4 heteromultimers might play a role in the heterogeneity of native inward rectifier currents.
Varying degrees of Apis mellifera ligustica introgression in protected populations of the black honeybee, Apis mellifera mellifera, in northwest Europe

The natural distribution of honeybee subspecies in Europe has been significantly affected by human activities during the last century. Non‐native subspecies of honeybees have been introduced and propagated, so that native black honeybee (Apis mellifera mellifera) populations lost their identity by gene‐flow or went extinct. After previous studies investigated the remaining gene‐pools of native honeybees in France and Spain, we here assess the genetic composition of eight northwest European populations of the black honeybee, using both mitochondrial (restriction fragment length polymorphisms of the intergenic transfer RNAleu‐COII region) and nuclear (11 microsatellite loci) markers. Both data sets show that A. m. mellifera populations still exist in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, England, Scotland and Ireland, but that they are threatened by gene flow from commercial honeybees. Both Bayesian admixture analysis of the microsatellite data and DraI‐RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) analysis of the intergenic region indicated that gene‐flow had hardly occurred in some populations, whereas almost 10% introgression was observed in other populations. The most introgressed population was found on the Danish Island of Læsø, which is the last remaining native Danish population of A. m. mellifera and the only one of the eight investigated populations that is protected by law. We discuss how individual admixture analysis can be used to monitor the restoration of honeybee populations that suffer from unwanted hybridization with non‐native subspecies.
Concurrent Data Structures for Near-Memory Computing

The performance gap between memory and CPU has grown exponentially. To bridge this gap, hardware architects have proposed near-memory computing (also called processing-in-memory, or PIM), where a lightweight processor (called a PIM core) is located close to memory. Due to its proximity to memory, a memory access from a PIM core is much faster than that from a CPU core. New advances in 3D integration and die-stacked memory make PIM viable in the near future. Prior work has shown significant performance improvements by using PIM for embarrassingly parallel and data-intensive applications, as well as for pointer-chasing traversals in sequential data structures. However, current server machines have hundreds of cores, and algorithms for concurrent data structures exploit these cores to achieve high throughput and scalability, with significant benefits over sequential data structures. Thus, it is important to examine how PIM performs with respect to modern concurrent data structures and understand how concurrent data structures can be developed to take advantage of PIM. This paper is the first to examine the design of concurrent data structures for PIM. We show two main results: (1) naive PIM data structures cannot outperform state-of-the-art concurrent data structures, such as pointer-chasing data structures and FIFO queues, (2) novel designs for PIM data structures, using techniques such as combining, partitioning and pipelining, can outperform traditional concurrent data structures, with a significantly simpler design.
RNA-seq–based mapping and candidate identification of mutations from forward genetic screens

Forward genetic screens have elucidated molecular pathways required for innumerable aspects of life; however, identifying the causal mutations from such screens has long been the bottleneck in the process, particularly in vertebrates. We have developed an RNA-seq–based approach that identifies both the region of the genome linked to a mutation and candidate lesions that may be causal for the phenotype of interest. We show that our method successfully identifies zebrafish mutations that cause nonsense or missense changes to codons, alter transcript splicing, or alter gene expression levels. Furthermore, we develop an easily accessible bioinformatics pipeline allowing for implementation of all steps of the method. Overall, we show that RNA-seq is a fast, reliable, and cost-effective method to map and identify mutations that will greatly facilitate the power of forward genetics in vertebrate models.
A k-nearest neighbor text classification algorithm based on fuzzy integral

This paper presents a k -nearest neighbor text classification algorithm based on fuzzy integral. It regards the k nearest training samples as k evidences, and fuses it using fuzzy integral, which avoids independence demand of D-S theory and improves performance of text classification. Experiment compares the new method with improved kNN algorithms and other text classification algorithms, which result shows that performance of the new method is priori to other methods and the combination of it with SVM can provide a practical resolution for cosmic text classification.
Possible role of adiponectin and insulin sensitivity in mediating the favorable effects of lower body fat mass on blood lipids.

AIMS The objective of this study was to investigate the role of insulin sensitivity and serum adiponectin concentration as determinants, in middle-aged men, of the relationship between lower body fat and blood lipids after truncal fat has been accounted for. METHODS Men (443) aged 39-65 yr, body mass index 18-43 kg/m(2), participated in the study. The following variables were measured: regional body fat distribution as assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, maximal oxygen uptake, physical activity, fasting levels of serum adiponectin, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein- and total cholesterol. Plasma glucose and serum insulin were measured in the fasting state and after an oral glucose load. RESULTS Lower body fat mass was inversely associated with serum triglycerides and total cholesterol and positively with serum high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol after adjustment for age, lean tissue mass, truncal fat mass, weight history, maximal oxygen uptake, and the level of physical activity (P < 0.0005). Serum adiponectin level and Matsudas insulin sensitivity index were positively intercorrelated, and both were positively correlated to lower body fat mass. When including adiponectin and insulin sensitivity in the analyses, the relationships between lower body fat mass and serum lipids were partly explained. CONCLUSION For a given level of truncal fat mass, a large lower body fat mass is associated with an advantageous blood lipid profile, which may be partially mediated by the relationships to both insulin sensitivity and serum adiponectin level.
2004 ASM Conference on the New Phage Biology: the ‘Phage Summit’

In August, more than 350 conferees from 24 countries attended the ASM Conference on the New Phage Biology, in Key Biscayne, Florida. This meeting, also called the Phage Summit, was the first major international gathering in decades devoted exclusively to phage biology. What emerged from the 5 days of the Summit was a clear perspective on the explosive resurgence of interest in all aspects of bacteriophage biology. The classic phage systems like λ and T4, reinvigorated by structural biology, bioinformatics and new molecular and cell biology tools, remain model systems of unequalled power and facility for studying fundamental biological issues. In addition, the New Phage Biology is also populated by basic and applied scientists focused on ecology, evolution, nanotechnology, bacterial pathogenesis and phage‐based immunologics, therapeutics and diagnostics, resulting in a heightened interest in bacteriophages per se, rather than as a model system. Besides constituting another landmark in the long history of a field begun by d’Herelle and Twort during the early 20th century, the Summit provided a unique venue for establishment of new interactive networks for collaborative efforts between scientists of many different backgrounds, interests and expertise.