Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Discrete Deformation Models for Real-Time Computation of Compliant Mechanisms in Two- and Three-Dimensional Space

Motivated by the need to develop a real-time computation method for simultaneous real-time visualization and force/torque feedback for manipulating of compliant mechanisms, this paper presents a general formulation of a reduced-order discrete state space model and its solution as a function of path lengths for a three-dimensional (3-D) curvature-based beam model (CBM). Unlike a compliant beam model where the boundary value problem is solved using a shooting method, the state-space representation decouples the 13th order CBM into two sets of reduced-order ordinary differential equations; the first solves for the orientation and moment whereas the second describes the deformed beam shape. Thus, it enables parallel computation of the deformed shape from the solutions to the orientation and moments. As illustrative examples, the state-space formulation and real-time computation method have been applied to analyze two flexure-based mobile-sensing node (FMN) designs. The new design, which overcomes several kinematic limitations and practical implementation problems commonly encountered in FMN navigation in tight 3-D space, permits bending and twisting of the compliant beam in 3-D space. The discrete linear CBM for the two FMN designs has been validated experimentally as well as verified by comparing computed results against published data and simulations using multishooting method and finite-element analysis.
Spatial segregation of the regulated and constitutive secretory pathways

Recent experiments using DNA transfection have shown that secretory proteins in AtT-20 cells are sorted into two biochemically distinct secretory pathways. These two pathways differ in the temporal regulation of exocytosis. Proteins secreted by the regulated pathway are stored in dense-core granules until release is stimulated by secretagogues. In contrast, proteins secreted by the constitutive pathway are exported continuously, without storage. It is not known whether there are mechanisms to segregate regulated and constitutive secretory vesicles spatially. In this study, we examined the site of insertion of constitutive vesicles and compared it with that of regulated secretory granules. Regulated granules accumulate at tips of processes in these cells. To determine whether constitutively externalized membrane proteins are inserted into plasma membrane at the cell body or at process tips, AtT-20 cells were infected with ts-O45, a temperature-sensitive mutant of vesicular stomatitis virus in which transport of the surface glycoprotein G is conditionally blocked in the ER. After switching to the permissive temperature, insertion of G protein was detected at the cell body, not at process tips. Targeting of constitutive and regulated secretory vesicles to distinct areas of the plasma membrane appears to be mediated by microtubules. We found that while disruption of microtubules by colchicine had no effect on constitutive secretion, it completely blocked the accumulation of regulated granules at special release sites. Colchicine also affected the proper packaging of regulated secretory proteins. We conclude that regulated and constitutive secretory vesicles are targeted to different areas of the plasma membrane, most probably by differential interactions with microtubules. These results imply that regulated secretory granules may have unique membrane receptors for selective attachment to microtubules.
A low noise amplifier employing noise canceling technique for ultrasound system applications

In this paper, the noise canceling technique is proposed to enhance the performance of ultrasound low noise amplifier (LNA). This not only diminishes effectively noise figure (NF) but also increases voltage gain. Besides, by utilizing this methodology, the proposed LNA can have lower power consumption than the conventional one does. An ultrasound LNA example designed in TSMC 0.18-μm CMOS process shows 4.9 dB NFmin, 20 dB voltage gain and close to 100 MHz - 3-dB bandwidth with 20.3 mW power consumption.
Listening to Young Children

Getting Started -- The Introductory Guide Promoting Listening to Young Children -- The Reader Listening and Looking -- The Practitioner Handbook CD-ROM -- audiovisual material to illustrate the shared experiences Eleven shared experiences -- individual case study booklets: * Capturing children's experiences * Children's stories * Creative design and problem-solving * Exploring feelings * Likes and dislikes * Music and dance * Musical conversations * Painting * The wish catcher * Tuning in * Visual walks
Oscillatory plus transient signal decomposition using overcomplete rational-dilation wavelet transforms

This paper describes an approach for decomposing a signal into the sum of an oscillatory component and a transient component. The method uses a newly developed rational-dilation wavelet transform (WT), a self-inverting constant-Q transform with an adjustable Q-factor (quality-factor). We propose that the oscillatory component be modeled as signal that can be sparsely represented using a high Q-factor WT; likewise, we propose that the transient component be modeled as a piecewise smooth signal that can be sparsely represented using a low Q-factor WT. Because the low and high Q-factor wavelet transforms are highly distinct (having low coherence), morphological component analysis (MCA) successfully yields the desired decomposition of a signal into an oscillatory and non-oscillatory component. The method, being non-linear, is not constrained by the limits of conventional LTI filtering.
Bilateral Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy: Comparison of Visual Outcome in the Two Eyes

Background: In patients with bilateral sequential nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NA-AION), previous studies have reported conflicting results on whether or not the visual outcome is similar in the 2 eyes. The authors investigated this issue in 174 consecutive patients with bilateral NA-AION. Methods: At the first visit, all patients had a detailed ophthalmic and medical history and comprehensive ophthalmic evaluation. Visual evaluation was performed by recording Snellen visual acuity and visual fields with kinetic perimetry. The same ophthalmic evaluation was performed at each follow-up visit. The data on the difference in visual acuity, which was converted to logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) form, and visual field defects between the first eye and the second eye of each patient at the initial visit and at the final follow-up were analyzed. A similar subgroup analysis was performed on patients treated with systemic corticosteroids. Results: At presentation, both initial visual acuity and visual field defects were significantly better in the second eye than in the first eye (P < 0.0001). As a predictor of initial visual acuity in the second eye, the initial logMAR of the first eye only explained 7.0% (R2) of the total variation in the initial logMAR of the second eye. Intraclass correlation (ICC) between the paired eyes was 0.19 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.04–0.33), indicating poor agreement. The absolute difference in initial visual field grade between the 2 eyes was 0.5 or greater in 78%. The weighted kappa statistic for agreement between visual field defects of the 2 eyes was 0.27 (95% CI, 0.19–0.36), indicating poor agreement. At the final follow-up, a difference in logMAR of at least 0.3 between the paired eyes was found in 38% of the steroid-treated group and 45% of the untreated group. For visual field grade, there was a difference of at least 0.5 in 70% of those who were treated with steroid and in 76% of those not treated. The ICC for logMAR and weighted kappa for visual field grade for the paired eyes was below 0.60 for both the groups. The findings indicated poor agreement between the 2 eyes. Conclusion: The results show that in patients with bilateral sequential NA-AION, there are large differences between the visual acuity and visual field findings of paired eyes at initial and final visit, whether or not treated with steroids. It is not possible to predict the visual acuity and visual field grade in the second eye based solely on the first eye.
Supersensitive Viral Load Assay in Predicting CD4-Guided Treatment Failure

In HIV patients who discontinue highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), the degree of HIV RNA suppression at the time of treatment interruption may predict success of re-treatment after the interruption (STI). A case-control substudy of the Staccato trial in Thailand included CD4-guided STI subjects with HIV RNA > 50 copies /ml (virological failure cases, n=11) and HIV RNA < 50 copies/ml (controls, n=22) after 12-24 weeks of HAART re-treatment following a median of 2 STI cycles. Controls were matched for age, gender and pre-ART CD4 count. HIV RNA with 5 copies/ml detection limit was determined on pre-virological failure samples. HIV RNA increased in cases compared to controls with each successive STI cycle (p-trend across time-points 0.004). The last HIV RNA below 50 copies/ml was significantly higher among cases compared to controls (p=.004). Measuring HIV RNA below 50 copies/ml may be useful in predicting virological failure to STI.
Sources of Discomfort in Persons with Dementia: Scale and Initial Results

The Sources of Discomfort Scale (SODS) assesses discomfort manifestations based on source of discomfort, thus making it both distinct from and complementary to pain assessments for persons with dementia. Sources were categorized as pertaining to physical discomfort, to body position, and to environmental sources. Body position sources of discomfort were related to poor functional status and to pain. The SODS scores were not related to cognitive functioning, and sources of discomfort other than those pertaining to body position were not correlated with pain. This paper demonstrates a direct and enhanced method to detect the manifestations of discomfort separately from pain indicators in a population with advanced dementia. The determination of the source of discomfort has direct implications for intervention.
Topic Modeling for Short Texts with Co-occurrence Frequency-Based Expansion

Short texts are everywhere on the Web, including messages in social media, status messages, etc, and extracting semantically meaningful topics from these collections is an important and difficult task. Topic modeling methods, such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation, were designed for this purpose. However, discovering high quality topics in short text collections is a challenging task. This is because most topic modeling methods rely on information coming from the word co-occurrence distribution in the collection to extract topics. As in short text this information is scarce, topic modeling methods have difficulties in this scenario, and different strategies to tackle this problem have been proposed in the literature. In this direction, this paper introduces a method for topic modeling of short texts that creates pseudo-documents representations from the original documents. The method is simple, effective, and considers word co-occurrence to expand documents, which can be given as input to any topic modeling algorithm. Experiments were run in four datasets and compared against state-of-the-art methods for extracting topics from short text. Results of coherence, NPMI and clustering metrics showed to be statistically significantly better than the baselines in the majority of cases.
A 3D Hand-drawn Gesture Input Device Using Fuzzy ARTMAP-based Recognizer

In this paper, a novel input device based on 3D dynamic handdrawn gestures is presented. It makes use of inertial sensor and pattern recognition technique. Fuzzy ARTMAP based recognizer is adopted to realize gesture recognition by using 3axis acceleration signals directly instead of reproduced trajectories of gestures. The proposed method may relax motion constraints during inputting a gesture, which is more convenient for user. This prototype of input device has been implemented on a remote controller to manipulate TVs. The recognition rate of 20 gestures is higher than 97%. It clearly shows the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed input device. As a result, it is a powerful, flexible interface for modern electronic products.
Information allocation and prosodic expressiveness in continuous speech: A Mandarin cross-genre analysis

In addition to discourse association and assuming that allocation of key information is an important feature of prosodic expressiveness of continuous speech, the common accentuation patterns across 3 Mandarin speech genres through 4 degrees of perceived emphases are derived. Using frequency count as another control, it is found that only 6 types of emphasis patterns are needed account for 70% of the speech data regardless of genre. The 6 emphasis types are further compared for the distribution of (1) discourse units and emphasis tokens by speech genre, (2) emphasis pattern by phrase and (3) with respect to discourse positions to see if genre-specific features could be found. Results reveal that genre-dependent features can also be accounted for. In addition, individual genre properties are found to also be correlated with phrase length and specific emphasis patterns.
The Colletotrichum gloeosporioides species complex

The limit of the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides species complex is defined genetically, based on a strongly supported clade within the Colletotrichum ITS gene tree. All taxa accepted within this clade are morphologically more or less typical of the broadly defined C. gloeosporioides, as it has been applied in the literature for the past 50 years. We accept 22 species plus one subspecies within the C. gloeosporioides complex. These include C. asianum, C. cordylinicola, C. fructicola, C. gloeosporioides, C. horii, C. kahawae subsp. kahawae, C. musae, C. nupharicola, C. psidii, C. siamense, C. theobromicola, C. tropicale, and C. xanthorrhoeae, along with the taxa described here as new, C. aenigma, C. aeschynomenes, C. alatae, C. alienum, C. aotearoa, C. clidemiae, C. kahawae subsp. ciggaro, C. salsolae, and C. ti, plus the nom. nov. C. queenslandicum (for C. gloeosporioides var. minus). All of the taxa are defined genetically on the basis of multi-gene phylogenies. Brief morphological descriptions are provided for species where no modern description is available. Many of the species are unable to be reliably distinguished using ITS, the official barcoding gene for fungi. Particularly problematic are a set of species genetically close to C. musae and another set of species genetically close to C. kahawae, referred to here as the Musae clade and the Kahawae clade, respectively. Each clade contains several species that are phylogenetically well supported in multi-gene analyses, but within the clades branch lengths are short because of the small number of phylogenetically informative characters, and in a few cases individual gene trees are incongruent. Some single genes or combinations of genes, such as glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and glutamine synthetase, can be used to reliably distinguish most taxa and will need to be developed as secondary barcodes for species level identification, which is important because many of these fungi are of biosecurity significance. In addition to the accepted species, notes are provided for names where a possible close relationship with C. gloeosporioides sensu lato has been suggested in the recent literature, along with all subspecific taxa and formae speciales within C. gloeosporioides and its putative teleomorph Glomerella cingulata. Taxonomic novelties: Name replacement - C. queenslandicum B. Weir & P.R. Johnst. New species - C. aenigma B. Weir & P.R. Johnst. , C. aeschynomenes B. Weir & P.R. Johnst. , C. alatae B. Weir & P.R. Johnst. , C. alienum B. Weir & P.R. Johnst, C. aotearoa B. Weir & P.R. Johnst. , C. clidemiae B. Weir & P.R. Johnst. , C. salsolae B. Weir & P.R. Johnst. , C. ti B. Weir & P.R. Johnst. New subspecies - C. kahawae subsp. ciggaro B. Weir & P.R. Johnst. Typification: Epitypification - C. queenslandicum B. Weir & P.R. Johnst.
The Effect of Plantarflexor Strength Training on Gait Biomechanics in Healthy Old Adults

IN HEALTHY OLD ADULTS by Rachel L. Tatarski July, 2013 Director of Thesis: Dr. Paul DeVita Major Department: Kinesiology Locomotion is an important and inherent part of daily life and is integral in maintaining an independent lifestyle, especially in older adults whose functional capacity has declined. Physiological changes with aging, including loss of muscle mass, strength and power are manifested in walking, notably at the ankle joint. Old adults exhibit decreased power of the plantarflexors and increased power of the hip extensors. This distal to proximal shift in function could be due to plantarflexor weakness, so strengthening the plantarflexors may help reverse the negative physiological effects of aging and help preserve functional capacity in old adults. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of plantarflexor strength training on gait biomechanics during level walking at a self-selected, a safe maximum and a standard speed of 1.5 m/s in healthy old adults.
Change detection for earthquake damage assessment in built-up areas using very high resolution optical and SAR imagery

Information on the impact of catastrophic events (e.g. earthquakes) can be derived from suitable satellite imagery by comparing data from a chosen reference before the event (pre-event) to imagery acquired shortly after the event (post-event). In this paper, we propose a novel method that detects buildings destroyed in an earthquake using pre-event very high resolution (VHR) multispectral and post-event detected VHR synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. The core concept of the proposed method is the evaluation of the presence of the predicted undamaged building SAR signature in the post-event SAR scene. The decision if a building belongs to the damaged or undamaged building class is performed with a Bayesian classifier, trained either in a supervised or unsupervised manner. We show the results of the proposed method using VHR TerraSAR-X and COSMO-SkyMed, as well as VHR optical data for a subset of the town of Yingxiu, China, which was heavily damaged in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
Commercially available trabecular metal ankle interpositional spacer for tibiotalocalcaneal arthrodesis secondary to severe bone loss of the ankle.

Retrograde tibiotalocalcaneal nailing arthrodesis has proved to be a viable salvage procedure; however, extended bone loss around the ankle has been associated with high rates of nonunion and considerable shortening of the hindfoot. We present the surgical technique and the first 2 cases in which a trabecular metal™ interpositional spacer, specifically designed for tibiotalocalcaneal nailing arthrodesis, was used. The spacer can be implanted using either an anterior or a lateral approach. An integrated hole in the spacer allows a retrograde nail to be inserted, which provides excellent primary stability of the construct. Trabecular metal™ is a well-established and well-described material used to supplement deficient bone stock in surgery of the spine, hip, and knee. It has shown excellent incorporation and reduces the need for auto- and allografts. The trabecular metal™ interpositional ankle spacer is the first trabecular metal spacer designed specifically for ankle surgery. Its shape and variable size will make it a valuable tool for reconstructing bone loss in tibiotalocalcaneal nailing arthrodesis.
Interactive Fundamental Frequency Estimation with Applications to Ethnomusicological Research

The analysis of recorded audio sources has become increasingly important in ethnomusicological research. Such audio material may contain important cues on performance practice, information that is often lost in manually generated symbolic music transcriptions. As an application scenario, we consider in this paper a musically relevant audio collection that consists of three-voice polyphonic Georgian chants. As one main contribution, we introduce an interactive graphical user interface that provides various visual and acoustic control mechanisms for estimating fundamental frequency (F0) trajectories from complex sound mixtures. We then apply this interface for determining F0 trajectories of sung pitches from the Georgian chant recordings and indicate how such F0 annotations can be used as basis for addressing important questions in Georgian music research.
A G protein‐coupled α7 nicotinic receptor regulates signaling and TNF‐α release in microglia

Acetylcholine activation of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7 nAChRs) in microglia attenuates neuroinflammation and regulates TNF‐α release. We used lipopolysaccharide to model inflammation in the microglial cell line EOC20 and examined signaling by the α7 nAChR. Co‐immunoprecipitation experiments confirm that α7 nAChRs bind heterotrimeric G proteins in EOC20 cells. Interaction with Gαi mediates α7 nAChR signaling via enhanced intracellular calcium release and a decrease in cAMP, p38 phosphorylation, and TNF‐α release. These α7 nAChR effects were blocked by the inhibition of Gαi signaling via pertussis toxin, PLC activity with U73122, and α7 nAChR channel activity with the selective antagonist α‐bungarotoxin. Moreover, α7 nAChR signaling in EOC20 cells was significantly diminished by the expression of a dominant‐negative α7 nAChR, α7345‐8A, shown to be impaired in G protein binding. These findings indicate an essential role for G protein coupling in α7 nAChR function in microglia leading to the regulation of inflammation in the nervous system.
The routines of decision making

Contents: Preface. Part I: Understanding and Modeling the Routines of Decision Making. J.G. Johnson, J.R. Busemeyer, Rule-Based Decision Field Theory: A Dynamic Computational Model of Transitions Among Decision Making Strategies. R.P. Bagozzi, U.M. Dholakia, Three Role of Past Experience in Goal Setting and Goal Striving. T. Betsch, Preference Theory: An Affect-Based Approach to Recurrent Decision Making. R.M. Hogarth, Deciding Analytically or Trusting Your Intuition? The Advantages and Disadvantages of Analytic and Intuitive Thought. P. Sedlmeier, From Associations to Intuitive Judgment and Decision Making: Implicitly Learning From Experience. D.M. Sanbonmatsu, K.C. Prince, S. Vanous, S.S. Posavac, The Multiple Roles of Attitudes in Decision Making. Part II: The Routines of Decision Making: Basic Research. N. Harvey, I. Fischer, Development of Experience-Based Judgment and Decision Making: The Role of Outcome Feedback. F.R. Kardes, A.V. Muthukrishnan, V. Pashkevich, On the Conditions Under Which Experience and Motivation Accentuate Bias in Intuitive Judgement. H. Jungermann, K. Fischer, Using Expertise and Experience for Giving and Taking Advice. T. Reimer, A-L. Bornstein, K. Opwis, Positive and Negative Transfer Effects in Groups. H. Bless, E.R. Igou, Mood and the Use of General Knowledge Structures in Judgment and Decision Making. S. Haberstroh, T. Betsch, A. Gl"ckner, T. Haar, A. Stiller, The Impact of Routines on Deliberate Decisions: The Microworld-Simulation COMMERCE. B. Verplanken, V. Myrbakk, E. Rudi, The Measurement of Habit. Part III: The Routines of Decision Making: Applied Research. J. Shanteau, B.M. Friel, R.R. Thomas, J. Raacke, Development of Expertise in a Dynamic Decision Making Environment. M.M. Omodei, J. McLennan, A.J. Wearing, How Expertise Is Applied in Real-World Dynamic Environments: Head-Mounted Video and Cued Recall as a Methodology for Studying Routines of Decision Making. M. W"nke, M. Friese, The Role of Experience in Consumer Decisions: The Case of Brand Loyalty. H. Plessner, Positive and Negative Effects of Prior Knowledge on Referee Decisions in Sports. Part IV: Educating the Routines of Decision Making. K.G. Ross, J.W. Lussier, G. Klein, From the Recognition Primed Decision Model to Training. D.W. Glasspool, J. Fox, Knowledge, Argument, and Meta-Cognition in Routine Decision Making. T. Betsch, S. Haberstroh, Current Research on Routine Decision Making: Advances and Prospects.