Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimating zero moment point and floor reaction force using visual markers

Validation of locomotive functions in elderly individuals is important in aging society. An algorithm to estimate the floor reaction forces on both feet were previously developed to evaluate the locomotive functions. This study improved this algorithm so that the floor reaction forces of both the feet and the force of something in his/her hand such as a stick can be estimated. To estimate a zero moment point (ZMP) and floor reaction forces of the both feet and a stick, the position and pose of entire body and stick were measured using by a single camera and visual markers. Verification experiments were performed using a motion capture system and force plates. The results of the verification experiments indicated that the ZMP and floor reaction forces could be estimated with a high degree of accuracy. The findings also showed that the timing of an increase and decrease in the ZMP and floor reaction forces of the “stepping motion” coincided.
Control of chaos in multimode solid state lasers by the use of small periodic perturbations.

We present a numerical study of control of chaos in a model of a multimode neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser using periodic perturbations of accessible control parameters. We show that a small modulation of either the losses or the pump can eliminate chaos or make the system even more chaotic. Depending on the parameters of the perturbation, two qualitatively different periodic outputs can be achieved.
Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 Gene and Hypertension: From the Quantitative Trait Locus to Positional Analysis

Background— The distal portion of the long arm of chromosome 5 is linked to hypertension and contains functional candidate blood pressure–regulating genes. Methods and Results— Tightening the grid of microsatellite markers under this quantitative trait locus in the Silesian Hypertension Study (629 individuals from 207 Polish hypertensive families) provided enhanced support for linkage of this region to blood pressure (maximal Z=3.51, P=0.0002). The fine mapping, comparative genomics, and functional prioritization identified fibroblast growth factor 1 gene (FGF1) as the positional candidate. Linkage disequilibrium mapping based on 51 single nucleotide polymorphisms spanning the locus showed no overlap between 3 independent haploblocks of FGF1 and the adjacent extragenic chromosomal regions. Single and multilocus family-based analysis revealed that genetic variation within FGF1 haploblock 1 was associated with hypertension and identified a common intronic single nucleotide polymorphism, rs152524, as the major driver of this association (P=0.0026). Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting analysis of renal tissue obtained from subjects undergoing unilateral nephrectomy showed an increase in both mRNA and protein FGF1 expression in hypertensive patients compared with normotensive controls. Renal immunohistochemistry revealed that FGF1 was expressed exclusively within the glomerular endothelial and mesangial cells. Conclusions— Our data demonstrate that genetic variation within FGF1 cosegregates with elevated blood pressure in hypertensive families and that this association is likely to be mediated by upregulation of renal FGF1 expression. The results of our study will need to be replicated in other cohorts.
Seamless indoor-outdoor navigation for unmanned multi-sensor aerial platforms

This paper discusses the development of navigation algorithms to enable seamless operation of a small-size multi-copter in an indoor-outdoor environment. In urban and indoor environments a GPS position capability may be unavailable not only due to shadowing, significant signal attenuation or multipath, but also due to intentional denial or deception. The proposed navigation algorithm uses data from a GPS receiver, multiple 2D laser scanners, and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). This paper addresses the proposed multi-mode fusion algorithm and provides initial results using flight test data. This paper furthermore describes the 3DR hexacopter platform that has been used to collect data in an operational environment, starting in an open environment, transitioning to an indoor environment, traversing a building, and, finally, transitioning back to the outdoor environment. Implementation issues will be discussed.
Key Issues in Special Educational Needs and Inclusion

Understanding and engaging critically with the field of special educational needs and disability (SEND) is a difficult task. However, the new edition of this bestselling book continues to help students contextualize SEND in relation to historical, ideological and political developments as well as support them in developing a critical understanding of the complexities associated with inclusion. Completely up to date with recent legislation such as the SEND Code of Practice (2014) there are case studies, reflections and activities which will help students question practice they have seen and experienced. Covering the 0-25 age range this book is suitable for all those working with children and young people across education, health and social work.
Single Feed Circularly Polarized Poly Fractal Antenna for Wireless Applications

— A circularly polarized fractal boundary microstrip antenna is presented. The sides of a square patch along x- axis, y-axis are replaced with Minkowski and Koch curves correspondingly. By using the fractal curves as edges, asymmetry in the structure is created to excite two orthogonal modes for circular polarization (CP) operation. The indentation factors of the fractal curves are optimized for pure CP. The simulated results of the novel polyfractal are demonstrated.
Validation of lower body negative pressure as an experimental model of hemorrhage (859.5)

Lower body negative pressure (LBNP), a model of hemorrhage (Hem), shifts blood volume to the legs and elicits central hypovolemia. This study compared the effects of LBNP to actual Hem. Baboons (n=14) were instrumented to measure pulse pressure (PP), central venous pressure (CVP), and stroke volume (SV). Blood was removed in four steps: 6.25%,12.5%, 18.75%, and 25% of total blood volume. Four weeks after Hem, the same animals were subjected to four levels of LBNP which changed PP and CVP as seen during Hem. Blood sampled at baseline and maximum Hem or LBNP measured blood gases, hematocrit, hemoglobin, plasma renin activity (PRA), vasopressin (AVP), epinephrine (EPI) and norepinephrine (NE). Hemodynamic responses to Hem and LBNP were identical. Hem decreased hematocrit, hemoglobin, and central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2). In contrast, LBNP increased hematocrit, and hemoglobin, while ScvO2 remained unchanged. Hem caused greater (p蠄0.01) elevations in AVP and NE than LBNP, while PRA and EPI did not differ between studies. Thus, stepwise Hem elicited hemodynamic changes which could be mimicked with distinct levels of LBNP, but loss of red blood cells during Hem may result in greater neurohumoral activation. We conclude that while LBNP does not elicit the same effect on blood cell loss as Hem, LBNP mimics the integrative cardiovascular response to Hem, and validates the use of LBNP as an experimental model of Hem.
Re-matching , Experimentation , and Cross-subsidization ∗

We study mediated many-to-many matching in dynamic two-sided markets in which agents’ private valuations for potential partners evolve stochastically over time, either as the result of exogenous shocks, or as the result of experimentation. In many environments, the platform’s profit-maximizing matching rule is either myopic or takes the form of a "virtual index rule" capturing the current and future profitability of each link between agents, accounting for the endogenous changes in the partners’matching values. We show how the optimal matching rules can be implemented via a sequence of scoring auctions. We contrast matching dynamics under profit maximization with their counterparts under welfare maximization. When all agents benefit from interacting with all other agents from the opposite side, profit maximization involves fewer and shorter interactions. This conclusion, however, need not hold when certain agents dislike certain interactions. JEL Classification Numbers: D82, C73, L1.
Signal Transduction Underlying Carbachol-Induced Contraction of Human Urinary Bladder

The present study was designed to reexamine the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtype mediating carbachol-induced contraction of human urinary bladder and to investigate the underlying signal transduction. Based upon the nonselective tolterodine, the highly M2-selective (R)-4-{2-[3-(4-methoxy-benzoylamino)-benzyl]-piperidin-1-ylmethyl}piperidine-1-carboxylic acid amide (Ro-320-6206), and the highly M3-selective darifenacin and 3-(1-carbamoyl-1,1-diphenylmethyl)-1-(4-methoxyphenylethyl)pyrrolidine (APP), contraction occurs via M3 receptors. The phospholipase C inhibitor 1-(6-[([17β]-3-methoxyestra-1,3,5[10]-trien-17-yl)amino]hexyl)-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione (U 73,122) (1-10 μM) did not significantly affect carbachol-stimulated bladder contraction. The phospholipase D inhibitor butan-1-ol relative to its negative control butan-2-ol (0.3% each) caused small but detectable inhibition of carbachol-induced bladder contraction. The Ca2+ entry blocker nifedipine (10-100 nM) strongly inhibited carbachol-induced bladder contraction. In contrast, 1-[β-[3-(4-methoxyphenyl)propoxy]-4-methoxyphenethyl]-1H-imidazole HCl (SK&F 96,365) (1-10 μM), an inhibitor of store-operated Ca2+ channels, caused little inhibition. The protein kinase C inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide I (1-10 μM) did not significantly affected carbachol-induced bladder contraction. In contrast, trans-4-[(1R)-1-aminoethyl]-N-4-pyridinylcyclohexanecarboxamide (Y 27,632) (1-10 μM), an inhibitor of rho-associated kinases, concentration dependently and effectively attenuated the carbachol responses. We conclude that carbachol-induced contraction of human urinary bladder via M3 receptors largely depends on Ca2+ entry through nifedipine-sensitive channels and activation of a rho kinase, whereas phospholipase D and store-operated Ca2+ channels contribute only in a minor way. Surprisingly, phospholipase C or protein kinase C do not seem to be involved to a relevant extent.
VarMeR - A Variability Mechanisms Recommender for Software Artifacts

Software is typically not developed from scratch and reuse of existing artifacts is a common practice. Consequently, variants of artifacts exist, challenging maintenance and future development. In this paper, we present a tool for identifying variants in object-oriented code artifacts (in Java) and guiding their systematic reuse. The tool, called VarMeR – a Variability Mechanisms Recommender, utilizes known variability mechanisms, which are techniques applied to adapt generic (reusable) artifacts to the context of particular products, for both identification of variants and recommendation on systematic reuse. Building on ontological foundations for representing variability of software behaviors, VarMeR visually presents the commonality and variability of the classes in different products and recommendations on suitable polymorphism variability mechanisms to increase systematic reuse.
Metric Learning for Graph-Based Domain Adaptation

In many domain adaption formulations, it is assumed to have large amount of unlabeled data from the domain of interest (target domain), some portion of it may be labeled, and large amount of labeled data from other domains, also known as source domain(s). Motivated by the fact that labeled data is hard to obtain in any domain, we design algorithms for the settings in which there exists large amount of unlabeled data from all domains, small portion of which may be labeled. We build on recent advances in graph-based semi-supervised learning and supervised metric learning. Given all instances, labeled and unlabeled, from all domains, we build a large similarity graph between them, where an edge exists between two instances if they are close according to some metric. Instead of using predefined metric, as commonly performed, we feed the labeled instances into metric-learning algorithms and (re)construct a data-dependent metric, which is used to construct the graph. We employ different types of edges depending on the domain-identity of the two vertices touching it, and learn the weights of each edge. Experimental results show that our approach leads to significant reduction in classification error across domains, and performs better than two state-of-the-art models on the task of sentiment classification.
Standardization and characterization of antigens for the diagnosis of aspergillosis.

The aim of this study was to develop and characterize antigens for the diagnosis of aspergillosis. Nine strains of Aspergillus species Aspergillus fumigatus , Aspergillus flavus , and Aspergillus niger were grown in Sabouraud and Smith broth to produce exoantigens. The antigens were tested by immunodiffusion against sera from patients with aspergillosis and other systemic mycoses. The protein fraction of the antigens was detected by SDS-PAGE; Western blot and representative bands were assessed by mass spectrometry coupled to a nano Acquity UltraPerformance LC and analyzed by the Mascot search engine. Concurrently, all sera were tested with Platelia Aspergillus EIA. The most reactive antigens to sera from patients infected by A. fumigatus were produced by A. fumigatus MG2 Sabouraud and pooled A. fumigatus Sabouraud samples, both with a sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 100% and 97%, respectively. Aspergillus niger and A. flavus antigens were reactive against A. niger and A. flavus sera, each one with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%. Two proteins, probably responsible for antigenic activity, β-glucosidase in A. fumigatus and α-amylase in A. niger were attained. The commercial kit had a specificity of 22%, sensitivity of 100%, positive predictive value of 48%, and negative predictive value of 100%. The antigens produced showed high sensitivity and specificity and can be exploited for diagnostics of aspergilloma.
Psychological Distress and Revictimization Risk in Youth Victims of Sexual Abuse

Psychological distress, including depression and anxiety, has been associated with increased risk for sexual revictimization in youth who have experienced child sexual abuse. The present study utilized assessment information from treatment seeking youth with histories of sexual abuse to explore specific risk indicators for revictimization—risk taking, social problems, maladaptive cognitions, and posttraumatic stress—that may be indicated by self-reported distress. The relationship between initial levels of distress and change in symptoms over a 12-week course of treatment was also explored. Participants were 101 youth referred to a child-focused therapeutic group for victims of sexual abuse, 65 youth referred to an adolescent-focused group, and their non-offending caregivers. Results revealed that when combined into a distress score, depression and anxiety were associated with delinquent behaviors, interpersonal difficulties, maladaptive cognitions, and posttraumatic stress symptoms for child and adolescent group participants at presentation to treatment. Children exhibited improvement on measures of interpersonal difficulties, maladaptive cognitions, and self-reported posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Adolescents exhibited less change over time, with significant improvement on self-reported social problems and PTSD only. Higher psychological distress was associated with less improvement in regard to negative expectations of abuse impact for child group participants. The findings suggest that distress indicates the presence of specific revictimization risk indicators, helping to identify targetable symptoms for intervention. Therefore, screening for psychological distress after discovery of sexual abuse may help detect youth at higher risk for revictimization and guide treatment.
Enhancing the Supply Chain Performance by Integrating Simulated and Physical Agents into Organizational Information Systems

As the business environment gets more complicated, organizations must be able to respond to the business changes and adjust themselves quickly to gain their competitive advantages. This study proposes an integrated agent system, called SPA, which coordinates simulated and physical agents to provide an efficient way for organizations to meet the challenges in managing supply chains. In the integrated framework, physical agents coordinate with inter-organizations' physical agents to form workable business processes and detect the variations occurring in the outside world, whereas simulated agents model and analyze the what-if scenarios to support physical agents in making decisions. This study uses a supply chain that produces digital still cameras as an example to demonstrate how the SPA works. In this example, individual information systems of the involved companies equip with the SPA and the entire supply chain is modeled as a hierarchical object oriented Petri nets. The SPA here applies the modified AGNES data clustering technique and the moving average approach to help each firm generalize customers' past demand patterns and forecast their future demands. The amplitude of forecasting errors caused by bullwhip effects is used as a metric to evaluate the degree that the SPA affects the supply chain performance. The experimental results show that the SPA benefits the entire supply chain by reducing the bullwhip effects and forecasting errors in a dynamic environment.
Non-constructive proofs in Combinatorics

One of the main reasons for the fast development of Combinatorics during the recent years is certainly the widely used application of combinatorial methods in the study and the development of efficient algorithms. It is therefore somewhat surprising that many results proved by applying some of the modern combinatorial techniques, including Topological methods, Algebraic methods, and Probabilistic methods, merely supply existence proofs and do not yield efficient (deterministic or randomized) algorithms for the corresponding problems. We describe some representing non-constructive proofs of this type, demonstrating the applications of Topological, Algebraic and Probabilistic methods in Combinatorics, and discuss the related algorithmic problems.
Investigations of photoreceptor synaptic transmission and light adaptation in the zebrafish visual mutant nrc.

PURPOSE To characterize the retinal physiology of the zebrafish visual mutant no optokinetic response c (nrc) and to identify the genetic map position of the nrc mutation. METHODS Electroretinograms were recorded from wild-type and nrc zebrafish larvae between 5 to 6 days postfertilization. Responses to flash stimuli, On and Off responses to prolonged light stimuli, and responses to flash stimuli with constant background illumination were characterized. The glutamate agonist, 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (APB) was used to examine the photoreceptor specific a-wave component of the electroretinogram. Amplified fragment length polymorphism methodology was used to place the nrc mutation on the zebrafish genomic map. RESULTS nrc and wild-type zebrafish larvae 5 to 6 days postfertilization have similar threshold responses to light, but the b-wave of the nrc electroretinogram is significantly delayed and reduced in amplitude. On and Off responses of nrc larvae to prolonged light have multiple oscillations that do not occur in normal zebrafish larvae after 5 days postfertilization. Analysis of the b-wave demonstrated a light adaptation defect in nrc that causes saturation at background light levels approximately 1 order of magnitude less than those with wild-type larvae. Application of the glutamate analog, APB, uncovered the photoreceptor component of the electroretinogram and revealed a light adaptation defect in nrc photoreceptors. The nrc mutation was placed approximately 0.2 cM from sequence length polymorphism marker Z7504 on linkage group 10. CONCLUSIONS The zebrafish mutant nrc is a possible model for human retinal disease. nrc has defects in photoreceptor synaptic transmission and light adaptation. The nrc mutant phenotype shows striking similarities with phenotypes of dystrophin glycoprotein complex mutants, including patients with Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy. Localization of the nrc mutation now makes it possible to evaluate candidate genes and clone the nrc gene.
Some Useful Properties of the Permutohedral Lattice for Gaussian Filtering

The rest of the paper is organized as follows: in Section 1, we give preliminary definitions of relevant terms and notation; in Section2, we formally define the permutohedral lattice in several ways and prove useful structural properties stemming from the definition; in Section 3, we suggest criteria for picking the ideal lattice with which to perform Gaussian filtering, and present an argument that the permutohedral lattice is the most appropriate choice within a lar ge family of lattices; in Section4, we discuss how to perform each step of the Gaussian filter using the permutohedral lattice. Finally, in Section5, we analyze the overall algorithm and compare it to the implementation on Z in [PD09].
Sampling Techniques for Boolean Satisfiability

Boolean satisfiability ({\SAT}) has played a key role in diverse areas spanning testing, formal verification, planning, optimization, inferencing and the like. Apart from the classical problem of checking boolean satisfiability, the problems of generating satisfying uniformly at random, and of counting the total number of satisfying assignments have also attracted significant theoretical and practical interest over the years. Prior work offered heuristic approaches with very weak or no guarantee of performance, and theoretical approaches with proven guarantees, but poor performance in practice. We propose a novel approach based on limited-independence hashing that allows us to design algorithms for both problems, with strong theoretical guarantees and scalability extending to thousands of variables. Based on this approach, we present two practical algorithms, {\UniformWitness}: a near uniform generator and {\approxMC}: the first scalable approximate model counter, along with reference implementations. Our algorithms work by issuing polynomial calls to {\SAT} solver. We demonstrate scalability of our algorithms over a large set of benchmarks arising from different application domains.
Energy Aware Distributed Clustering in Two-Tiered Sensor Networks

Two-tiered sensor networks, where higher-powered relay nodes are used as cluster heads, have been proposed recently for designing sensor networks. Assigning sensor nodes to clusters, in an energy efficient way, is known to improve the lifetime of such networks. In this paper we have proposed an efficient distributed algorithm for assigning sensor nodes to clusters in two-tiered networks, using both single-hop and multi- hop routing schemes. Our distributed clustering strategy allocates sensor nodes to clusters, based on limited local information only. However, the solutions generated are shown to be comparable to optimal solutions obtained using an ILP formulation. We have also compared our approach to a number of existing heuristics recently proposed in the literature and have shown, through simulations, that our approach consistently outperforms current heuristics. In summary, the quality of the solutions obtained using our approach is comparable to those obtained using an ILP formulation, but the solutions can be generated very quickly, making it suitable for practical-sized networks with hundreds of sensor nodes.