Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rendering of directional sources through loudspeaker arrays based on plane wave decomposition

In this paper we present a technique for the rendering of directional sources by means of loudspeaker arrays. The proposed methodology is based on a decomposition of the sound field in terms of plane waves. Within this framework the directivity of the source is naturally included in the rendering problem, therefore accommodating the directivity into the picture becomes much simpler. For this purpose, the loudspeaker array is subdivided into overlapping sub-arrays, each generating a plane wave component. The individual plane waves are then weighed by the desired directivity pattern. Simulations and experimental results show that the proposed technique is able to reproduce the sound field of directional sources with an improved accuracy with respect to existing techniques.
Predictive sentence comprehension during story-listening in autism spectrum disorder

ABSTRACT Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show a range of language production deficits, however, language comprehension in ASD remains under-studied in part because co-morbid social deficits affect behavioural compliance. This challenge can be overcome by engaging participants in a naturalistic task while passively collecting neural signals. To test predictive processing with naturalistic language, we collect MEG data while 16 8–12-year-old high-functioning participants with a clinical diagnosis of ASD and 16 age- and gender-matched typically developing peers listen to an audiobook story. The neuromagnetic signals are correlated with word-by-word states from a computational model that quantifies incremental sentence predictions in terms of surprisal. Consistent with prior eye-tracking work, our results are compatible with predictive parsing that is equivalent between high-functioning individuals with ASD and TD peers.
Low Profile Wide Band Balanced Antenna Design for Mobile Applications

In this paper, wide band balanced antenna with enhanced bandwidth performance that covers the 850 to 3000 MHZ of Band, covering the GSM, UMTS, Bluetooth, GPS, & Wi-Fi applications is investigated[1-4]. This antenna was designed in HFSS which have low profile, linear phase and constant radiation pattern with proper return loss and resonant on multiple frequencies. This proposed antenna was then fabricated on substrate FR-4 Epoxy with dimensions 30 x 7 x 1.6 mm, and fed with planer wide band balun to calculate and measure the results.
Cyclic directed formations of multi-agent systems

Formations of multi-agent systems, such as satellites, aircrafts and mobile robots require that individual agents satisfy their kinematic equations while constantly maintaining inter-agent constraints. In previous work we introduced the concept of undirected formation graphs and directed formation graphs to model such formations and presented conditions to determine formation feasibility. However the directed formations were only analyzed in the absence of cycles in the formation graph. In this paper we extend our previous results to accommodate also the presence of cycles in directed formations. Differential geometric and algebraic conditions are presented to determine feasibility of directed formations with possible cycles.
On Measuring Household Food Vulnerability: Case Evidence from Northern Mali

This study illustrates a methodology to measure empirically household food vulnerability. Food vulnerability is defined in terms of the probability now of being undernourished in the future. The empirical analysis is based on panel data from northern Mali, collected in 1997-98. Our empirical results clearly show that even though the groups of currently undernourished and food vulnerable households overlap, they are far from identical. Female-headed households appear less vulnerable to drought shocks, partly due to community solidarity. Households with good harvests are also less vulnerable, though greater dependence on agriculture attenuates this effect. Official food aid and family food gifts are important insurance mechanisms. Simulations indicate that food vulnerability can be significantly reduced through off-farm employment generation in the area and greater access to irrigation infrastructure.
Which transformational leadership behaviors relate to organizational learning processes?

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between behaviors associated with transformational leadership (TL) and the sub-processes of organizational learning (OL) and to explain these relationships based on the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) framework. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaires assessing leadership behaviors and unit learning processes were filled in by 520 employees from 30 units within 9 organizations. Findings Each sub-process of OL was found to be related to different leadership behaviors. For example, distribution was related to TL components directed toward developing followers’ ability (i.e. vision and intellectual stimulation) and created the opportunity to share knowledge (i.e. supportive leadership). On the other hand, the TL components found to be related to interpretation were those that enhance followers’ motivation to work well in a group (i.e. inspirational communication and personal recognition). Research limitations/implications Showing that specific TL behaviors are related to different OL sub-processes emphasizes the importance of each OL sub-process as a distinct outcome. In addition, this study begins to address the possible mechanisms that may explain why specific factors enhance some OL sub-processes, but not others. Practical implications The study’s findings will assist managers and HR practitioners in recognizing which leadership behaviors are to be enhanced to help address particular sub-processes of OL that need improvement. Originality/value This paper is the first to examine the fine-tuned relationships between TL and OL and thus adds another explanation regarding why organizations differ in their learning processes and in their eventual outcomes, such as performance and innovation.
On Power Allocation for Parallel Gaussian Broadcast Channels with Common Information

This paper considers a broadcast system in which a single transmitter sends a common message and (independent) particular messages to receivers over unmatched parallel scalar Gaussian subchannels. For this system the set of all rate tuples that can be achieved via superposition coding and Gaussian signalling (SPCGS) can be parameterized by a set of power loads and partitions, and the boundary of this set can be expressed as the solution of an optimization problem. Although that problem is not convex in the general case, it will be shown that it can be used to obtain tight and efficiently computable inner and outer bounds on the SPCGS rate region. The development of these bounds relies on approximating the original optimization problem by a (convex) Geometric Program (GP), and in addition to generating the bounds, the GP also generates the corresponding power loads and partitions. There are special cases of the general problem that can be precisely formulated in a convex form. In this paper, explicit convex formulations are given for three such cases, namely, the case of 2 users, the case in which only particular messages are transmitted (in both of which the SPCGS rate region is the capacity region), and the case in which only the SPCGS sum rate is to be maximized.
Matrix-Variate Dirichlet Process Mixture Models

We are concerned with a multivariate response regression problem where the interest is in considering correlations both across response variates and across response samples. In this paper we develop a new Bayesian nonparametric model for such a setting based on Dirichlet process priors. Building on an additive kernel model, we allow each sample to have its own regression matrix. Although this overcomplete representation could in principle sufier from severe overfltting problems, we are able to provide efiective control over the model via a matrix-variate Dirichlet process prior on the regression matrices. Our model is able to share statistical strength among regression matrices due to the clustering property of the Dirichlet process. We make use of a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm for inference and prediction. Compared with other Bayesian kernel models, our model has advantages in both computational and statistical e‐ciency.
Experiences with mouse control in multi-display environments

It is now increasingly common to extend private workstations with large public displays into a shared multi-display environment (MDE). Mouse-based interaction across multiple displays provides a convenient way to quickly shift between private work on the personal monitor and tightly coupled collaboration on shared display spaces (Figure 1). However, mouse pointer navigation can be negatively influenced by display factors in the environment and thereby limit fluid interaction across displays. We report findings from an experiment comparing four mouse pointer navigation techniques in a heterogeneous MDE.
ARITHMETIC STRUCTURES ON NONCOMMUTATIVE TORI WITH REAL MULTIPLICATION

We study the homogeneous coordinate rings of real multiplication noncommutative tori as defined in (23). Our aim is to understand how these rings give rise to an arithmetic structure on the noncommutative torus. We start by giving an explicit presentation of these rings in terms of their natural generators. This presentation gives us information about the rationality of the rings and is the starting point for the analysis of the corresponding geometric data. Linear bases for these rings are also discussed. The basic role played by theta functions in these computations gives relations with elliptic curves at the level of modular curves. We use the modularity of these coordinate rings to obtain algebras which do no depend on the choice of a complex structure on the noncommutative torus. These algebras are obtained by an averaging process over (limiting) modular symbols.
Design and Validation of a Single-SOI-Wafer 4-DOF Crawling Microgripper

This paper deals with the manipulation of micro-objects operated by a new concept multi-hinge multi-DoF (degree of freedom) microsystem. The system is composed of a planar 3-DoF microstage and of a set of one-DoF microgrippers, and it is arranged is such a way as to allow any microgripper to crawl over the stage. As a result, the optimal configuration to grasp the micro-object can be reached. Classical algorithms of kinematic analysis have been used to study the rigid-body model of the mobile platform. Then, the rigid-body replacement method has been implemented to design the corresponding compliant mechanism, whose geometry can be transferred onto the etch mask. Deep-reactive ion etching (DRIE) is suggested to fabricate the whole system. The main contributions of this investigation consist of (i) the achievement of a relative motion between the supporting platform and the microgrippers, and of (ii) the design of a process flow for the simultaneous fabrication of the stage and the microgrippers, starting from a single silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer. Functionality is validated via theoretical simulation and finite element analysis, whereas fabrication feasibility is granted by preliminary tests performed on some parts of the microsystem.
Berberine Improves Glucose Metabolism in Diabetic Rats by Inhibition of Hepatic Gluconeogenesis

Berberine (BBR) is a compound originally identified in a Chinese herbal medicine Huanglian (Coptis chinensis French). It improves glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetic patients. The mechanisms involve in activation of adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase (AMPK) and improvement of insulin sensitivity. However, it is not clear if BBR reduces blood glucose through other mechanism. In this study, we addressed this issue by examining liver response to BBR in diabetic rats, in which hyperglycemia was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by high fat diet. We observed that BBR decreased fasting glucose significantly. Gluconeogenic genes, Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and Glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), were decreased in liver by BBR. Hepatic steatosis was also reduced by BBR and expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) was inhibited in liver. Activities of transcription factors including Forkhead transcription factor O1 (FoxO1), sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP1) and carbohydrate responsive element-binding protein (ChREBP) were decreased. Insulin signaling pathway was not altered in the liver. In cultured hepatocytes, BBR inhibited oxygen consumption and reduced intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level. The data suggest that BBR improves fasting blood glucose by direct inhibition of gluconeogenesis in liver. This activity is not dependent on insulin action. The gluconeogenic inhibition is likely a result of mitochondria inhibition by BBR. The observation supports that BBR improves glucose metabolism through an insulin-independent pathway.
A District Energy Management Based on Thermal Comfort Satisfaction and Real-Time Power Balancing

This paper presents a district energy management strategy devoted to monitor and control the district power consumption in a twofold human-centered perspective: the respect of user's comfort preferences and the minimization of the power consumption and costs. The presented district energy management system forwards the power profile determined the day ahead to each building energy management system that, in turn, minimizes its real-time power consumption and costs (based on rewards and penalties), respecting the comfort preferences. Successively, the power is redistributed among the district buildings in order to minimize the penalties by applying two approaches: a centralized approach for public buildings and a distributed methodology for private buildings. Such optimization problems are formalized by defining some linear programming problems: two case studies are solved to show the applicability of the proposed management strategies.
Intracellular Signaling in Rat Cultured Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells: Roles of Nuclear Factor-κB and p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase on Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Production.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is responsible for initiating host re- sponses leading to septic shock, and tumor necrosis factor- a (TNF a ) is thought to be its primary mediator. In addition, TNF a is one of the major components of the pathogenesis of insulin resistance in various conditions. It has been shown that LPS induced TNF a production in rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). However, little is known about the signaling pathway by which VSMC in culture produce TNF a . We investigated the possible signaling components involved in this pathway. LPS elicited phosphorylation of p42/44 mitogen- activated protein kinase (MAPK) and p38 MAPK, degradation of inhibitor of k B (I k B), and an increase in nuclear binding activity of activating protein-1 and nuclear factor- k B (NF- k B). Different types of NF- k B inhibitors, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate and MG132, which specifically abolished I k B degradation and subsequent NF- k B activation by LPS, suppressed TNF a secretion from VSMC. Although PD98059, a specific MAPK kinase inhibitor and SB203580, a specific p38 MAPK inhibitor, had no effect on NF- k B activity, SB203580 suppressed TNF a secretion; however, PD98059 did not. A cotrans-fection assay showed that transfection of dominant negative I k B or pretreatment with SB203580 suppressed the TNF a gene promotor-dependent transcription. TNF a messenger RNA expression induced by LPS was inhibited by pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, MG132, and SB203580, but not by PD98059. These observations indicate that TNF a productioninVSMCisstimulatedbyLPS,anditstranscription and translation are dependent on NF- k B activation through protea- some-mediated I k B degradation. It is likely that p38 MAPK may play a critical role in regulating transcription of the TNF a gene in VSMC, unlike in other cell lines. ( Endocrinology 140: 3562–3573, 1999) pro- tein tyrosine phosphorylation in human macrophages is mediated by CD14.
The Jacobi MIMO Channel

This paper presents a new fading model for multi-input multi-output channels: the Jacobi fading model. It asserts that <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">${\bf H}$</tex></formula>, the transfer matrix which couples the <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$m_{t}$</tex></formula> inputs into <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$m_{r}$</tex> </formula> outputs, is a submatrix of an <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$m\times m$</tex></formula> random (Haar-distributed) unitary matrix. The (squared) singular values of <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">${\bf H}$</tex></formula> follow the law of the classical Jacobi ensemble of random matrices, hence the name of the channel. One motivation to define such a channel comes from multimode/multicore optical fiber communication. It turns out that this model can be qualitatively different from the Rayleigh model, leading to interesting practical and theoretical results. This paper first evaluates the ergodic capacity of the channel. Then, it considers the nonergodic case, where it analyzes the outage probability and the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff. In the case where <formula formulatype="inline"> <tex Notation="TeX">$k=m_{t}+m_{r}-m>0$</tex></formula>, it is shown that at least <formula formulatype="inline"> <tex Notation="TeX">$k$</tex></formula> degrees of freedom are guaranteed not to fade for any channel realization, enabling a zero-outage probability or infinite diversity order at the corresponding rates. A simple scheme utilizing (a possibly outdated) channel state feedback is provided, attaining the no-outage guarantee. Finally, noting that as <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$m$</tex></formula> increases, the Jacobi model approaches the Rayleigh model, the paper discusses the applicability of the model in other communication scenarios.
Congestion Control for Packet Switched Networks: A Survey

Congestion has been considered as one of the basic important issue in packet switched network [1][9]. Congestion control refers to the mechanisms and techniques to control the congestion and keep the load below the capacity. This paper provides an overview of category provided by congestion control . It also includes how TCP uses congestion control to avoid congestion or alleviate congestion in network. Computer networks have experienced an explosive growth over the past few years and with that growth have come severe congestion problems. This paper also concentrates on avoidance of congestion. This scheme allows a network to operate in the region of low delay and high throughput. In this paper, a survey on various mechanisms of congestion control and avoidance has been done.
Adaptive gravity and joint stiffness compensation methods for force-controlled arm supports

People with muscular weakness can benefit from arm supports that compensate the weight of their arms. Due to the disuse of the arms, passive joint stiffness increases and providing only gravity compensation becomes insufficient to support the arm function. Hence, joint stiffness compensation is also required, for which the use of active arm supports is essential. Force-based control interfaces are a solution for the operation of arm supports. A critical aspect of force-based interfaces, to properly detect the movement intention of the user, is the ability to distinguish the voluntary forces from any other force, such as gravity or joint stiffness forces. Model- and calibration-based strategies for the estimation of gravity and joint stiffness forces lack adaptability and are time consuming since they are measurement dependent. We propose two simple, effective and adaptive methods for the compensation of forces resulting from gravity and joint stiffness. The compensation methods are based on the estimation of the compensation force using a low-pass filter, and switching of control parameters using a finite state machine. The compensation methods were evaluated with an adult man suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy with very limited arm function. The results show that when gravity and joint stiffness forces were adaptively compensated the reachable workspace of the user was increased more than 50% compared to the workspace reached when only constant gravity compensation was provided.
Cyclophosphamide-facilitated adoptive immunotherapy of an established tumor depends on elimination of tumor-induced suppressor T cells

On the basis of preceding studies showing that tumor-induced, T cell- mediated immunosuppression serves as an obstacle to adoptive immunotherapy of the Meth A fibrosarcoma, it was predicted that cyclophosphamide treatment of tumor bearers would remove this obstacle and allow passively transferred immune T cells to cause tumor regression. It was found that infusion of immune spleen cells alone had no effect on tumor growth, and cyclophosphamide alone caused a temporary halt in tumor progression. In contrast, combination therapy consisting of intravenous injection of 100 mg/kg of cyclophosphamide followed 1 h later by intravenous infusion of tumor-immune spleen cells caused small, as well as large tumors, to completely and permanently regress. Tumor regression caused by combination therapy was completely inhibited by intravenous infusion of splenic T cells from donors with established tumors, but not by spleen cells from normal donors. These suppressor T cells were eliminated from the spleen by treating the tumor-bearing donors with 100 mg/kg of cyclophosphamide. Immune T cells, in contrast, were resistant to this dose of cyclophosphamide. These results show that failure of intravenously-infused, tumor- sensitized T cells to cause regression of the Meth A fibrosarcoma growing in its syngeneic or semi-syngeneic host is caused by the presence of a tumor-induced population of cyclophosphamide-sensitive suppressor T cells.
An EM algorithm for SCFG in formal syntax-based translation

In this paper, we investigate the use of bilingual parsing on parallel corpora to better estimate the rule parameters in a formal syntax-based machine translation system, which are normally estimated from the inaccurate heuristics. We use an Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm to re-estimate the parameters of synchronous context-free grammar (SCFG) rules according to the derivation knowledge from parallel corpora based on maximum likelihood principle, rather than using only the heuristic information. The proposed algorithm produces significantly better BLEU scores than a state-of-the-art formal syntax-based machine translation system on the IWSLT 2006 Chinese to English task.