Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling and Deployment of an Autonomous Cart Pickup and Delivery System

Our research provides a novel hardware/software autonomous car model that can be effectively deployed to carry out intelligent pickup and delivery missions. We develop a model of a Cooperative Autonomous Reactive Taxi System (CARTS) that contributes to solving the unsustainable urban traffic gridlock in large cities. Our model formulation is inspired by general the pickup/delivery problem (GPDP). Given dynamic stochastic variables that include a set of cars, a set of customers, a set of stations (e.g., bus stop), and a set of transport missions, devise autonomous intelligent carts capable of effectively carrying out these missions to satisfy the quality of service requirements and any associated constraints. Our model integrates novel capabilities, such as decentralized architecture, cooperative decision-making, autonomy, and intelligent navigation, as well as a transport requests logistics model. Our deployment prototype is a laboratory experimental set-up using autonomous robots and relevant infrastructure that demonstrate the feasibility of our pickup and delivery model. Analysis of collected data from the simulation and the physical implementation demonstrates the effectiveness of our model.
Binding of a novel host factor to the pT181 plasmid replication enhancer

Replication enhancers are cis-acting genetic elements that stimulate the activity of origins of DNA replication. The enhancer found in plasmid pT181 of Staphylococcus aureus, called cmp, functions at a distance of 1 kb from the origin of DNA replication to stimulate the interaction between the replication initiation protein and the origin. DNA encoding cmp-binding activity was isolated by screening an expression library of S. aureus DNA in Escherichia coli, and a novel gene, designated cbf1, was identified. The cbf1 locus codes for a polypeptide of 313 amino acid residues (cmp-binding factor 1 [CBF1]; Mr = 35,778). In its COOH-terminal region, the protein sequence contains the helix-turn-helix motif common to many DNA binding proteins that usually bend DNA. The specificity of CBF1 binding for cmp was demonstrated by affinity chromatography using cmp DNA and by competition binding studies. DNase I footprinting analysis of the CBF1-cmp complexes revealed DNase I-hypersensitive sites in phase with the helical periodicity of DNA, implying that CBF1 increases distortion of the intrinsically bent cmp DNA.
A New Distributed Learning Automata Based Algorithm For Solving Stochastic Shortest Path Problem

A new distributed learning automata (DLA) based algorithm for solving stochastic shortest path problem is presented. The objective is to use DLA to nd a policy that determines a path from a source node to a destination node with minimal expected cost. It has been shown that the proposed algorithm nds the shortest path in a stochastic graph with probability as close as to unity.
Changes in microbial communities in coastal sediments along natural CO2 gradients at a volcanic vent in Papua New Guinea.

Natural CO2 venting systems can mimic conditions that resemble intermediate to high pCO2 levels as predicted for our future oceans. They represent ideal sites to investigate potential long-term effects of ocean acidification on marine life. To test whether microbes are affected by prolonged exposure to pCO2 levels, we examined the composition and diversity of microbial communities in oxic sandy sediments along a natural CO2 gradient. Increasing pCO2 was accompanied by higher bacterial richness and by a strong increase in rare members in both bacterial and archaeal communities. Microbial communities from sites with CO2 concentrations close to today's conditions had different structures than those of sites with elevated CO2 levels. We also observed increasing sequence abundance of several organic matter degrading types of Flavobacteriaceae and Rhodobacteraceae, which paralleled concurrent shifts in benthic cover and enhanced primary productivity. With increasing pCO2 , sequences related to bacterial nitrifying organisms such as Nitrosococcus and Nitrospirales decreased, and sequences affiliated to the archaeal ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota Nitrosopumilus maritimus increased. Our study suggests that microbial community structure and diversity, and likely key ecosystem functions, may be altered in coastal sediments by long-term CO2 exposure to levels predicted for the end of the century.
Body Motion Patterns During a Novel Repetitive Wheel‐Rotation Task: A Comparative Study of Healthy Subjects and Patients With Low Back Pain

Study Design This study evaluated performance differences between patients with chronic low back pain and control group during their performance of a novel functional capacity taks. Objective To 1] evaluate strength and endurance differences between patients and control subjects, 2] test for movement pattern differences between these groups, and 3] evaluate how these patterns changed with repetitive performance of the wheel-turning task. Summary of background Data Despite increased emphasis on quantifying functional capatities, few well-controlled studies comparing the performences of patients with low back pain with those of control subjects have appeared in the literature, particularly for movement patterns. Methods Forty patients with low back pain and 40 control subjects performed a sustained isodynamic wheel turning task. This task was selected because it simultaneously combined several common pain-related movements. A set of kinematic measures to characterize the basic movement patterns during this task were developed. Results Control subjects produced significantly higher levels of static torque and completed significantly more wheel-turning repetitions. Patients with low back pain exhibited significantly less upper torso and pelvic motion, upper torso rotation, and lateral trunk flexion than those in the control group. Conclusion The dissimilar movement strategies found between the patient and control groups suggests that factors beyond more global physical explanations (e.g., deconditioning) may be important in accounting for the large discrepancy between these groups regarding the amount of work performed. These findings, along with the basic kinematic patterns developed in this study, may have important implications for determining the efficacy of instruction in body mechanics and treatment outcome for patients with chronic low back pain.
An Integrated Biofuel Supply Chain to Cope with Feedstock Seasonality and Uncertainty

A biofuel supply chain consists of various interdependent components from feedstock resources all the way to energy demand sites. This study focuses on the design of an efficient biofuel supply chain system against seasonal variations and uncertainties of feedstock supply in an integrative manner. By integrating planning and operational decisions in a stochastic programming framework, we aim at finding an effective design strategy for biofuel supply chain that is economically viable and hedges well against a wide range of future uncertainties. A solution algorithm based on scenario decomposition is designed to overcome computational challenges involved in large-scale applications. A California case study is implemented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methods in evaluating the economic potential, the infrastructure needs, and the risk of waste-based bioethanol production.
Spread-spectrum clock generator for serial ATA using fractional PLL controlled by /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator with level shifter

Implemented in a 0.15/spl mu/m CMOS process, the spread-spectrum clock generator uses the fractional PLL controlled by a /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator An adaptive level shifter is adopted for expanding the input range of the /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator. The 1.5GHz prototype achieves the peak spurious reduction level of 20.3dB and the random jitter of 8.1 ps in a 250-cycle averaging period.
Sumoylation activates the transcriptional activity of Pax-6, an important transcription factor for eye and brain development

Pax-6 is an evolutionarily conserved transcription factor regulating brain and eye development. Four Pax-6 isoforms have been reported previously. Although the longer Pax-6 isoforms (p46 and p48) bear two DNA-binding domains, the paired domain (PD) and the homeodomain (HD), the shorter Pax-6 isoform p32 contains only the HD for DNA binding. Although a third domain, the proline-, serine- and threonine-enriched activation (PST) domain, in the C termini of all Pax-6 isoforms mediates their transcriptional modulation via phosphorylation, how p32 Pax-6 could regulate target genes remains to be elucidated. In the present study, we show that sumoylation at K91 is required for p32 Pax-6 to bind to a HD-specific site and regulate expression of target genes. First, in vitro-synthesized p32 Pax-6 alone cannot bind the P3 sequence, which contains the HD recognition site, unless it is preincubated with nuclear extracts precleared by anti–Pax-6 but not by anti-small ubiquitin-related modifier 1 (anti-SUMO1) antibody. Second, in vitro-synthesized p32 Pax-6 can be sumoylated by SUMO1, and the sumoylated p32 Pax-6 then can bind to the P3 sequence. Third, Pax-6 and SUMO1 are colocalized in the embryonic optic and lens vesicles and can be coimmunoprecipitated. Finally, SUMO1-conjugated p32 Pax-6 exists in both the nucleus and cytoplasm, and sumoylation significantly enhances the DNA-binding ability of p32 Pax-6 and positively regulates gene expression. Together, our results demonstrate that sumoylation activates p32 Pax-6 in both DNA-binding and transcriptional activities. In addition, our studies demonstrate that p32 and p46 Pax-6 possess differential DNA-binding and regulatory activities.
Unravelling Glycobiology by NMR Spectroscopy

Generally speaking, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy seems the most powerful technique in current use for structural analysis of biomolecules. Four Nobel prizes have been awarded so far due to discoveries related to NMR: 1952 (Physics) to Felix Bloch and Edward Mills Purcell for explanations of the physical properties of nuclei under magnetization; 1991 (Chemistry) to Richard Ernest for the development of the principles for the multidimensionality in NMR spectroscopy; 2002 (Chemistry) to Kurt Wuthrich for applying NMR in structural determination of biomolecules, mainly proteins; and 2003 (Medicine) for Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield to the discoveries concerning the use of magnetic resonance imaging in medical diagnostics. The significant boom of NMR spectroscopy in structural biology however dates from the beginning of 80 s, mainly due to the implementation of two-dimensional techniques associated with advances in instrumentation and in vivo or in vitro methods for making suitable samples for NMR analysis (especially labeling procedures of NMR-active nuclei) [1].
Salience analysis for glottal cycle detection in disordered speech

The presentation concerns the evaluation of a temporal method for tracking cycle lengths in voiced speech. The speech cycles are detected via the saliences of the speech signal samples. The method does not request that the signal is locally periodic and the average period length known a priori. The cycle length extraction is applied to the analysis of dysphonic speakers affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Results suggest that salience analysis is able to track reliably glottal cycles in the speech signal. SLA speakers are characterized by higher vocal tremor depths and tremor frequencies than normophonic speakers.
The significance of circulating levels of both cardiac troponin I and high-sensitivity C reactive protein for the prediction of intravenous thrombolysis outcome in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction

Objectives: To evaluate, using continuous 12-lead ECG ST-segment monitoring, the role of circulating levels of both cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP), on presentation, in the prediction of intravenous thrombolysis outcome in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Design and setting: Prospective observational study in a tertiary referral centre. Patients: 786 consecutive patients with STEMI, who received intravenous thrombolysis in the first 6 h from index pain. Main outcome measures: The incidence of failed thrombolysis and of cardiac death by 30 days. Failed thrombolysis was defined as the absence of abrupt and sustained ⩾50% ST-segment recovery in the first 90 min after the initiation of intravenous thrombolysis. Results: The incidence of failed thrombolysis and 30-day cardiac death was 57.4% and 11.8%, respectively. By multivariate logistic regression analysis according to tertiles of both cTnI (RR, 1.5; 95% CI 1.1 to 1.8, p = 0.004 for highest vs middle third; 2.2, 1.9 to 3.5, p<0.001 for highest vs lowest third; 1.5, 1.2 to 1.8, p = 0.001 for middle vs lowest third) and hs-CRP (RR, 2.0, 95% CI, 1.6 to 2.2; p<0.001 for highest vs middle third; 2.6, 2.1 to 3.5, p<0.001 for highest vs lowest third; 1.3, 1.2 to 1.7, p = 0.02 for middle vs lowest third), were independently associated with failed thrombolysis. Moreover, by multivariate Cox regression analysis according to tertiles of both cTnI (HR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.8, p = 0.03 for highest vs middle third; 1.5, 1.2 to 2.2, p = 0.004 for highest vs lowest third; 1.1, 0.6 to 1.4, p = 0.6 for middle vs lowest third) and hs-CRP (HR1.2, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.6, p = 0.04 for highest vs middle third; 1.7, 1.3 to 2.6, p = 0.001 for highest vs lowest third; 1.1, 0.9 to 2.1, p = 0.1 for middle vs lowest third), were independently related with an increased risk of 30-day cardiac death. Conclusions: High circulating levels of both cTnI and hs-CRP are related with an independent increased risk of intravenous thrombolysis failure and 30-day cardiac death in patients who received intravenous thrombolysis in the first 6 h of STEMI.
Failure analysis of adhesive joining in electronics

The article focuses on formulation of appropriate risk estimation methods and procedures that enable involving to production process in electronics area. Two methods for risk assessment have been chosen with regard to the specifics of conductive joining based on electrically conductive adhesives. Typical features and failures of the process were identified. Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) method was implemented to adhesive joints. Actions for optimization of adhesive joining process are proposed.
A Quantitative Assay for a Clara Cell-Specific Protein and Its Application in the Study of Development of Pulmonary Airways in the Rat

ABSTRACT: Rat lung lavage contains a 10 kDa protein that has been shown by immunocytochemistry to be specific for Clara cells. An inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was established for this protein using rabbit antibody to the 10 kDa Clara cell protein. The assay has a sensitivity of about 3.0 ng/ml and a working range of about 5 to 50 ng/ml. Quantitation of the 10 kDa protein in amniotic fluid revealed an increase of about 4-fold at day 20 of gestation. The 10 kDa protein content of lung homogenate increased steadily from day 18 of gestation to 1 wk after birth, after which a decline was observed. Nearly 60-fold increase in the concentration of the 10 kDa Clara cell protein in lungs was noted from day 18 of gestation to birth and a further about 7-fold increase was noted from the day of birth to 1 wk of age. A progressive increase in the 10 kDa protein, with increasing age, was also noted on immunoblot analysis of lung homogenates. As judged from the immunoblots of lung homogenates, stained with rabbit antirat 10 kDa protein antiserum, the content of an antigenically similar 200 kDa Clara cell protein was negligible. The quantitative results for 10 kDa Clara cell protein parallel the results of immunocytochemistry and quantitation of the volume density of Clara cell granules indicating that quantitation for the 10 kDa protein could be used to monitor the development of Clara cells and that of the pulmonary airways.
Phase II Drug-Metabolizing Polymorphisms and Smoking Predict Recurrence of Non–Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: A Gene–Smoking Interaction

Cigarette smoking is the most important known risk factor for urinary bladder cancer. Selected arylamines in cigarette smoke are recognized human bladder carcinogens and undergo biotransformation through several detoxification pathways, such as the glutathione S-transferases (GST), and uridine-diphospho-glucuronosyltransferases (UGT) pathways. GSTM1 deletion status and UGT1A1*28 rs8175347 genotypes were assessed in 189 non–muscle-invasive bladder cancers (NMIBC) patients with pTa (77.2%) and pT1 (22.8%) tumors and a mean follow-up of 5.6 years, to investigate whether two common functional polymorphisms in GSTM1 and UGT1A1 genes and smoking history are associated with recurrence-free survival of patients with NMIBC. Most patients were current (48.7%) or previous (35.4%) cigarette smokers and 15.9% never smoked. Tumor recurrence occurred in 65.1% of patients, at a median time of 12.9 months. Upon multivariate analysis, previous and current smokers approximately tripled their risk of recurrences [HR = 2.76; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03–7.40 and HR = 2.93; 95% CI, 1.08–7.94, respectively]. When adjusted for age, smoking status, stage, grade, gender, and presence of carcinoma in situ, carriers of GSTM1 (+/− and −/−) and UGT1A1*28/*28 alleles were significantly at risk of NMIBC recurrence (HR = 10.05; 95% CI, 1.35–75.1 and HR = 1.91; 95% CI, 1.01–3.62, respectively). Compared with nonsmokers with UGT1A1*1/*1 and *1/*28 genotypes, previous and current smokers homozygous for the UGT1A1*28 allele demonstrated a risk of recurrence of 4.95 (95% CI, 1.02–24.0) and 5.32 (95% CI, 2.07–13.7), respectively. This study establishes a connection between GSTM1, UGT1A1, and tobacco exposure as prognostic markers of NMIBC recurrence in bladder cancer patients. These findings warrant validation in larger cohorts. Cancer Prev Res; 9(2); 189–95. ©2015 AACR.
Semi-supervised text classification from unlabeled documents using class associated words

Automatically classifying text documents is an important field in machine learning. Unsupervised text classification does not need training data but is often criticized to cluster blindly. Supervised text classification needs large quantities of labeled training data to achieve high accuracy. However, in practice, labeled samples are often difficult, expensive or time consuming to obtain. In the meanwhile, unlabeled documents can be collected easily owing to the rapid developing Internet. Class associated words are the words which represent the subject of classes and provide prior knowledge of classification for training a classifier. A learning algorithm, based on the combination of Expectation-Maximization (EM) and a Naïve Bayes classifier, is introduced to classify documents from fully unlabeled documents using class associated words. Experimental results show that it has good classification capability with high accuracy, especially for those categories with small quantities of samples. In the algorithm, class associated words are used to set classification constraints during learning process to restrict to classify documents into corresponding class labels and improve the classification accuracy.
Effects of Cadmium Exposure on Lipid Peroxidation and the Antioxidant System in Fourth-Instar Larvae of Propsilocerus akamusi (Diptera: Chironomidae) Under Laboratory Conditions

ABSTRACT Enzymatic antioxidants such as selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione transferase (GST), glutathione reductase (GR), and superoxide dismutases (SOD), as well as the concentration of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA, an indicator of lipid peroxidation) were determined to identify which antioxidant enzymes participate in the efficient scavenging of ROS generated upon exposure to high doses of Cd2+ in fourth-instar Propsilocerus akamusi (Tokuna) (Diptera: Chironomidae) larvae after 72-h exposure. A significant increase in MDA levels and a change in GR and GPx activities in the Cd2+-treated P. akamusi were observed. The MDA in 25.0 and 50.0 mmol/ liter treatments was significantly higher than that of the control dose after 72 h exposure. GPx activity was significantly induced by Cd2+ exposure only in the 50.0-mmol/ liter treatment with a 0.59-fold increase in the control. All doses of Cd2+ significantly suppressed GR activity compared with the findings for the control dose, with an inhibited rate up to 0.55-fold in the 25.0 mmol/liter Cd2+ treatment. SOD and GST activities were not altered. The results indicate that Cd2+ can induce oxidative stress as indicated by the changes in lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status. For P. akamusi, an increase in the dose that the threshold needed for defense (namely, MDA level and GPx activity) activation was achieved. From this, organisms can be hypothesized to enable cells to avoid oxidant stress up to a certain extent where damage is again measurable (higher Cd2+ concentration).
Automatic Control Loop Tuning for Permanent-Magnet AC Servo Motor Drives

Servo motor drives generally consist of current, velocity, and position control loops. Tuning these controllers to achieve satisfactory and consistent dynamic responses is crucial. In this paper, a parameter identification and autotuning scheme for permanent-magnet ac servo motor drives is presented. Motor electrical parameters such as resistance and inductances were identified first for current control loop tuning. The torque constant and mechanical parameters were then identified for velocity and position loop tuning. The experimental results verified that the proposed scheme can estimate parameters accurately and within a short time. In addition, the system tuned by the proposed scheme was consistent with the desired dynamic performance.
PRODUCTION OF TNFa AND INTERLEUKIN 6 BY DIFFERENTIATED U 937 CELLS INFECTED

Several cytokines play a cruciai role in thè defense of thè host against protozoa belonging to thè genus Leishtnania. However, thè role of tumor necrosis factor alpha {TNFa) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in human leishmaniasis is stili controversial. The aim of this work was to study, in an "in vitro" model, thè interactions of human phagocytes with L. rnajor. The U937 human monocytic celi line, differentiated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or a combination of la,25 dihydroxyvitamin O? (VD) and retinole acid (RA), was used in ali thè experiments. The rate of infection, as well as thè production of TNFa and IL-6 by cells upon infection with promastigotes, were studied. It was found that, depending on thè agent used for differentiation, U937 cells produced different patterns of cytokines. PMA differentiated cells produced significantly more TNFa. bui less IL-6 than cells differentiated with VD-RA. No direct relationship was found between thè ability of differentiated U937 cells to release TNFa or IL-6 and their leishmanicidal activity.
The research and realization of SVD algorithm in OFDM system

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a rectangular multi-carrier modulation scheme. It can resist intersymbol interference and interchannel interference effectively. And for adopting channel estimation its' performance is improved greatly. The algorithm of singular value decomposition (SVD) has been used to estimate the channels in OFDM. The OFDM system module has been constructed in MATLAB Simulink platform. It is proved that the bit error ratio of the system is decreased and the performance of the system is improved using the algorithm of SVD.