Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimization of Stable Periodic Attractors for Nonlinear Dynamic Systems

Abstract In this paper we discuss numerical strategies to find periodic orbits of nonlinear dynamic system. These orbits shall be open-loop stable and robust with respect to bounded disturbances. For this aim, we review and extend existing techniques from the field of reachability analysis and ellipsoidal calculus to compute robust positive invariant tubes for nonlinear dynamic systems. We suggest a conservative approximation strategy for robust stability optimization providing guarantees on the region of attraction. The technique is tested by applying it to an inverted spring pendulum for which robust and open-loop stable orbits exist.
Plasma F2 isoprostanes: direct evidence of increased free radical damage during acute hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVES Acute hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes increases the generation of plasma 8-epi-prostaglandin F2 (8-epi-PGF2alpha) isoprostane, a sensitive direct marker of in vivo free radical oxidative damage to membrane phospholipids. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 21 patients with type 2 diabetes underwent an oral 75-g glucose tolerance test. Plasma 8-epi-PGF2alpha isoprostane concentrations (by gas chromatography [GC]/mass spectrometry [MS]), intralymphocyte reduced-to-oxidized glutathione ratios, and plasma total antioxidant capacity were measured at baseline and 90 min after glucose loading. RESULTS Plasma 8-epi-PGF2alpha isoprostane concentrations rose significantly (P=0. 010) from 0.241 +/- 0.1 to 0.326 +/- 0.17 ng/l after 90 min. Intracellular oxidative balance and plasma antioxidant capacity did not change in either group. CONCLUSIONS Plasma concentrations of 8-epi-PGF2alpha isoprostane increase during acute hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes, providing direct evidence of free radical-mediated oxidative damage and demonstrating a pathway for an association between acute rather than fasting hyperglycemia and macrovascular risk in type 2 diabetes.
APOBEC 3 A can activate the DNA damage response and cause cell-cycle arrest

Human apolipoprotein-B mRNA-editing catalytic polypeptidelike 3 (APOBEC3) proteins constitute a family of cytidine deaminases that mediate restriction of retroviruses, endogenous retro-elements and DNA viruses. It is well established that these enzymes are potent mutators of viral DNA, but it is unclear whether their editing activity is a threat to the integrity of the cellular genome. We show that expression of APOBEC3A can lead to induction of DNA breaks and activation of damage responses in a deaminase-dependent manner. Consistent with these observations, APOBEC3A expression induces cell-cycle arrest. These results indicate that cellular DNA is vulnerable to APOBEC3 activity and deregulated expression of APOBEC3A could threaten genomic integrity.
Direction based Graphical Model for Face Sketch Synthesis

Face sketch synthesis has important practical applications. Although existing face sketch synthesis methods have made great progress, these approaches ignore the direction of sketch textures. Particularly, they simply apply Euclidean distance of intensities to measure the similarity of image patches. This will result in the inconsistency of texture directions between neighboring image patches. In this paper, we propose a direction based graphical model (DGM) to improve this problem. Firstly, Gabor function is employed to extract the directions of image patches. Secondly, Markov network which combines image directions with image intensities is built to infer the synthesized sketch. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves superior performance compared with state-of-the-art methods.
Movement Coordination during Conversation

Behavioral coordination and synchrony contribute to a common biological mechanism that maintains communication, cooperation and bonding within many social species, such as primates and birds. Similarly, human language and social systems may also be attuned to coordination to facilitate communication and the formation of relationships. Gross similarities in movement patterns and convergence in the acoustic properties of speech have already been demonstrated between interacting individuals. In the present studies, we investigated how coordinated movements contribute to observers’ perception of affiliation (friends vs. strangers) between two conversing individuals. We used novel computational methods to quantify motor coordination and demonstrated that individuals familiar with each other coordinated their movements more frequently. Observers used coordination to judge affiliation between conversing pairs but only when the perceptual stimuli were restricted to head and face regions. These results suggest that observed movement coordination in humans might contribute to perceptual decisions based on availability of information to perceivers.
Upper airway expansion after rapid maxillary expansion evaluated with cone beam computed tomography.

OBJECTIVE Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is a reliable method of assessing the oral cavity and upper airways. We conducted this study to examine the changes introduced by rapid maxillary expansion in the nasal cavity, nasopharynx, and oropharynx as seen with images obtained by CBCT. MATERIALS AND METHODS We evaluated 15 patients with maxillary width deficiency treated with RME. Patients were subjected to CBCT at the beginning of RME and after the retention period of 4 months. RESULTS The nasal cavity presented a significant transverse increase in the lower third, in the anterior (1.08 mm ± 0.15), medium (1.28 mm ± 0.15), and posterior regions (0.77 mm ± 0.12). No significant change occurred in the nasopharynx in volume (P = .11), median sagittal area (P = .33), or lower axial area (P = .29) resulting from the RME. A significant change was noted in the oropharynx in volume (P = .05), median sagittal area (P = .01), and lower axial area (P = .04) before and immediately after the RME. CONCLUSIONS RME is able to increase the transverse width of the nasal cavity, but it does not have the same effect in the nasopharynx. Changes noted in the oropharynx may be due to the lack of a standardized position of the head and tongue at the time of image acquisition.
A neural network method for adaptive noise cancellation

In this paper, we present an adaptive FIR filter for noise cancellation whose coefficients are adjusted by an analog neural network instead of numerical adaptive algorithms. Due to its real time processing capabilities, the neural network can optimize the coefficients of the adaptive FIR filter at each new received sample, which is especially useful in non-stationary environments. Due to the parallel and analog nature of the processing, the time needed by the neural network for computation of those coefficients is short. Compared to the traditional LMS and RLS adaptive algorithms, the proposed adaptive method is characterized by inherent stability and fast convergence, while eliminating the need to choose learning rates. Simulation results are given which demonstrate satisfactory performance.
Evaluation of a Large Scale Lookup Algorithm in ASP Based Grids

The Internet development and the availability of reliable networks led to the emergence of grid architectures. The aim of these architectures is to take benefit of widely distributed resources to improve execution possibilities. Depending on their properties, these architectures are usually classified into desktop grids, resources grids and application based grids. Application based grids provide an easy access to applications deployed on the grid on the ASP (application service provider) mode. When these grids grow of orders of magnitude, application lookup will become a costly activity of the grid. In this article, we study how a lookup algorithm scales when the size of the grid grows up. We exhibit a "lookup throughput" which characterizes the grid interconnections graph and the lookup algorithm
Poster: Lightweight Content-based Phishing Detection

I. INTRODUCTION Increasing use of Internet banking and shopping by a broad spectrum of users results in greater potential profits from phishing attacks. Phish are fake websites that masquerade as legitimate sites, to trick unsuspecting users into sharing sensitive information: credentials, passwords, financial information, or other personal information that can enable fraud. This threat is especially dire for financial services and sites involving on-line payment: an attacker can use stolen credentials to steal money or make fraudulent transactions. Most browsers today detect potential phishing with URL blacklists such as the Google Safe Browsing API, Phish-Tank [1], Is It Phishing [2] service, and the Netcraft toolbar [3]. The browser checks each website a web user visits against a list of known bad sites that is typically cached locally and refreshed regularly. While effective at stopping previously known threats, blacklists must react to new threats as they are discovered, leaving an inevitable period of vulnerability where users are vulnerable. Attackers exploit this gap by changing URLs for phishing sites frequently. Alternatively, whitelists can identify predetermined web-sites as " known-good ". Whitelists thus avoid the race to identify and add new phishing sites, but have their own delays in approving new sites, and by definition prohibits (or strongly discourages) use of sites off the list. This delay makes them too limited for many users. Our goal is proactive detection of phishing websites with neither the delay of blacklist identification nor the strict constraints of whitelists. Our approach is to list known phishing targets, index the content at their correct sites, then look for this content to appear at incorrect sites to signal a phishing site. While prior work has visually compared good website layouts with potential phishing sites [4], we focus on the content itself. Our insight is that cryptographic hashing of page contents allows efficient bulk identification of content reuse at phishing sites. Our contribution is to build a system to detect phish by comparing hashes of visited websites to the hashes of the original, known good, legitimate website. We implement our approach in the form of a browser extension in Google Chrome, and show that our algorithms detect a majority of phish, even with minimal countermeasures to page obfuscation. A small number of alpha users have been using the browser extension without issues, and we have released our extension and source code at
Saliva‐Based Diagnostics Using 16S rRNA Microarrays and Microfluidics

Abstract: The development of a diagnostic system based on DNA microarrays for rapid identification and enumeration of microbial species in the oral cavity is described. This system uses gel‐based microarrays with immobilized probes designed within a phylogenetic framework that provides for comprehensive microbial monitoring. Understanding the community structure in the oral cavity is a necessary foundation on which to understand the breadth and depth of different microbial communities in the oral cavity and their role in acute and systemic disease. Our ultimate goal is to develop a diagnostic device to identify individuals at high risk for oral disease, and thereby reduce its prevalence and therefore the economic burden associated with treatment. This article discusses recent improvements of our system in reducing diffusional constraints in order to provide more rapid and accurate measurements of the microbial composition of saliva.
Massive MIMO for Drone Communications: Applications, Case Studies and Future Directions

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, are proliferating. Several applications, such as surveillance, disaster management, and drone racing, place high requirements on the communication with the drones - in terms of throughout, reliability, 3D connectivity, and latency. Existing wireless technologies, notably WiFi, that are currently used for drone communications are limited to short ranges and low-mobility situations. A new, scalable technology is needed to meet future demands. Massive MIMO, a promising technology component of emerging 5G cellular networks, has the potential to meet these requirements. Specifically, Massive MIMO offers significant range extensions, support for fast-moving drones, and the possibility to spatially multiplex entire swarms of drones communicating simultaneously.
Image Guided Decision Support System for PathologyDorin Comaniciu

We present a content-based image retrieval system that supports decision making in clinical pathology. The Image Guided Decision Support (IGDS) system locates, retrieves, and displays cases which exhibit morphological pro les consistent to the case in question. It uses an image database containing 261 digitized specimens which belong to three classes of lymphoproliferative disorders and a class of healthy leukocytes. The reliability of the central module, the fast color segmenter, makes possible unsupervised on-line analysis of the query image and extraction of the features of interest: shape, area, and texture of the nucleus. The nuclear shape is characterized through similarity invariant Fourier descriptors while the texture analysis is based on a multiresolution simultaneous autoregressive model. The system performance was assessed through ten-fold cross-validated classi cation and compared with that of a human expert. To facilitate a natural man-machine interface, speech recognition and voice feedback are integrated. Client-server communication is multithreaded, Internet based, and provides access to supporting clinical records and video databases.
Dimerization of the Human E3 Ligase CHIP via a Coiled-coil Domain Is Essential for Its Activity*

The Hsp70-interacting E3-ubiquitin ligase CHIP has been implicated in the decision as to whether a target protein enters the refolding or the degradation pathway. To further characterize the activity of CHIP we purified untagged Homo sapiens and Drosophila melanogaster CHIP (hCHIP, dCHIP). In contrast to other E3-ubiquitin ligases, both hCHIP and dCHIP proteins formed homodimers at physiological concentrations. We identified a predicted coiled-coil region in a mixed charge segment of the hCHIP and dCHIP sequence and found it to be necessary and sufficient for dimer formation. A mutant of hCHIP lacking this segment (hCHIPΔ-(128–229)) was incapable of dimer formation, but the segment by itself (hCHIP-(128–229)) readily dimerized. Furthermore, we demonstrated that dimerization is a prerequisite for activity of hCHIP in the reconstituted ubiquitination assay. Control of dimerization may thus provide a mechanism for regulation of CHIP activity.
A di erential geometrical model for contour-based stereo correspondence

Standard approaches to the computation of stereo correspondence have difficulty when scene structure does not lie in or near the frontal-parallel plane, in part because an orientation disparity as well as a positional disparity is introduced. We propose a correspondence algorithm based on differential and projective geometry, and inspired by neurobiology, that takes explicit advantage of both disparities. Based on curves, the algorithm relates the (2D Frenet) differential structures (position, tangent, and curvature) in the left and right images with the Frenet geometry of the (3D) space curve. A compatibility function is defined via transport of the Frenet descriptors, and they are matched by relaxing this compatibility function on overlapping neighborhoods along the curve. False correspondences are concurrently eliminated by a model of ”near” and ”far” neurons derived from neurobiology. Examples of our algorithm and standard approaches are compared.
A Methodology to Migrate the Gene Ontology to a Description Logic Environment Using DAML+OIL

The Gene Ontology Next Generation Project (GONG) is developing a staged methodology to evolve the current representation of the Gene Ontology into DAML+OIL in order to take advantage of the richer formal expressiveness and the reasoning capabilities of the underlying description logic. Each stage provides a step level increase in formal explicit semantic content with a view to supporting validation, extension and multiple classification of the Gene Ontology. The paper introduces DAML+OIL and demonstrates the activity within each stage of the methodology and the functionality gained.
Brassinosteroid-regulated GSK3 kinases phosphorylate MAPKK

From the ‡ Institute Biotechnology of Horticultural Crops, Center for Life and Food Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, D-85354 Freising, Germany, the § Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, A-1030 Vienna, Austria, the ¶ URGV Plant Genomics 2, rue Gaston Cremieux, 91057 Evry, France, the Laboratoire Analyse et Modélisation pour la Biologie et l’Environnement, CNRSUniversity of Evry, Boulevard F. Mitterrand, 91025 Evry, France, the ** Department for Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, A-1190 Vienna, Austria, ¶¶ Department of Molecular Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria, the ‡‡ Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, A-1030 Vienna, Austria, and the §§ College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
Maintenance of viability and comparison of identification methods for influenza and other respiratory viruses of humans

A comparison of Hanks balanced salt solution, veal infusion broth (VIB), and charcoal viral transport medium for maintaining viability of type A influenza virus indicated approximately equal survival of virus on all three media at -70 and 4 degrees C, whereas at 25 degrees C virus survived best in VIB. VIB supplemented with bovine serum albumin was used as transport medium in a community-wide surveillance of febrile respiratory disease for influenza viruses. Unfrozen throat swab specimens were placed in VIB and stored at 4 degrees C for up to 5 days without effect on isolation frequencies of either type A or type B influenza virus or type 1 or type 3 parainfluenza virus. Comparison of indirect immunofluorescence with hemadsorption for detection of type A influenza virus in rhesus monkey kidney cultures revealed a requirement for at least five fluorescing cells to eliminate false positive indirect immunofluorescence tests and at least 3 days of incubation to eliminate false negative tests when compared with hemadsorption at later times. Detection frequencies for the two methods after 2 and 3 days of incubation were not significantly different.
Operationalising the simulation theory for intent prediction in a multi-agent adversal environment

Anticipation of an opposing team’s actions and the ability to generate advantageous responses is an important feature when advising or controlling a team in an adversarial multi-agent system. Such systems include: complex video games, multi-robot systems, and military scenarios. The first step towards doing this is to observe the opposing team and predict their future actions, so that the system has a chance of selecting or advising the appropriate moves for the observing team to perform. Theories from psychology and neuroscience provide insights into how the human mind performs such predictions, however, there is a large discontinuity between the theories and an actual implementation in a multi-agent AI system. This thesis bridges the gap between a biologically-inspired cognitive architecture based on the simulation theory of mind, and the implementation in a realistic multi-agent synthetic environment. The basic simulation-theoretic architecture predicts actions by concurrently executing multiple hypotheses and then by finding the hypothesis that best matches the ongoing observed behaviour. This thesis presents work into operationalising this architecture: firstly by applying it to a custom-made real-time-strategy-style game and overcoming the challenges of this domain, which include, for example, the potentially constantly-changing and concurrently-executing goals, and the adaptation of behaviours to both the synthetic environment and the internal models that perform the simulations; secondly by reducing the computational burden of such a wide action-space through filtering and combining potential hypotheses; and finally by defining an attention mechanism to focus observation resources on the most beneficial areas. The system is shown to be able to predict multiple manoeuvres, formations and targets involving the opponent’s agents, from observations in large-scale adversarial environments. Considering the combination of the scalability of the architecture and the techniques for reduced usage of computational resources, it becomes more feasible to use such a principled approach on the current generation of hardware, moving away from ad-hoc approaches that rely on arbitrary measures of the opponent’s intentions.
An efficient information retrieval technique for e-health systems

In the health domain, the adoption of computer systems introduces better services, reduces human errors, and provides reliable services with nearly zero down time. In general, data in computer systems is stored in coded format; however, certain data, like user comments, cannot be coded. Hence, it is stored in the form of free text. Based on the results of the performed literature review, it was identified that the free text contains invaluable information; however, extracting such information is a challenging task due to the complexity of the stored data. In this paper, a Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) algorithm is developed and applied on The Health Improvement Network (THIN). The algorithm utilizes the computational power provided by the multi-processor/multi-core system in performing the IR process. Further to that, the paper investigates the representation of the patient's data in the Term Document Matrix (TDM) to enhance the accuracy of the retrieved information.
Exploration of Parental Smokers' Experience, Perceptions, and Family's Influences on Their Smoking in the Presence of Children

The purpose of this study was to explore parents' experience and perceptions of smoking in the presence of children. Findings regarding patterns of parents' smoking in the presence of children were situation specific. When thinking of smoking with children around, parents engaged in a process of weighing the importance of the need to smoke and adverse effects from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, a consideration based mostly on their experience. A pattern of correspondence was identified between family's level of concern and promoting change among smokers. Many strategies participants used to prevent children's environmental tobacco smoke exposure were relatively ineffective and needed to be addressed.
CA3 Synaptic Silencing Attenuates Kainic Acid-Induced Seizures and Hippocampal Network Oscillations123

Abstract Epilepsy is a neurological disorder defined by the presence of seizure activity, manifest both behaviorally and as abnormal activity in neuronal networks. An established model to study the disorder in rodents is the systemic injection of kainic acid, an excitatory neurotoxin that at low doses quickly induces behavioral and electrophysiological seizures. Although the CA3 region of the hippocampus has been suggested to be crucial for kainic acid-induced seizure, because of its strong expression of kainate glutamate receptors and its high degree of recurrent connectivity, the precise role of excitatory transmission in CA3 in the generation of seizure and the accompanying increase in neuronal oscillations remains largely untested. Here we use transgenic mice in which CA3 pyramidal cell synaptic transmission can be inducibly silenced in the adult to demonstrate CA3 excitatory output is required for both the generation of epileptiform oscillatory activity and the progression of behavioral seizures.