Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recent Advances in Neural Recording Microsystems

The accelerating pace of research in neuroscience has created a considerable demand for neural interfacing microsystems capable of monitoring the activity of large groups of neurons. These emerging tools have revealed a tremendous potential for the advancement of knowledge in brain research and for the development of useful clinical applications. They can extract the relevant control signals directly from the brain enabling individuals with severe disabilities to communicate their intentions to other devices, like computers or various prostheses. Such microsystems are self-contained devices composed of a neural probe attached with an integrated circuit for extracting neural signals from multiple channels, and transferring the data outside the body. The greatest challenge facing development of such emerging devices into viable clinical systems involves addressing their small form factor and low-power consumption constraints, while providing superior resolution. In this paper, we survey the recent progress in the design and the implementation of multi-channel neural recording Microsystems, with particular emphasis on the design of recording and telemetry electronics. An overview of the numerous neural signal modalities is given and the existing microsystem topologies are covered. We present energy-efficient sensory circuits to retrieve weak signals from neural probes and we compare them. We cover data management and smart power scheduling approaches, and we review advances in low-power telemetry. Finally, we conclude by summarizing the remaining challenges and by highlighting the emerging trends in the field.
Cartesian stiffness evaluation of a novel 2 DoF parallel wrist under redundant and antagonistic actuation

In this paper, we present an experimental evaluation of the Cartesian stiffness of a novel parallel wrist under redundant and antagonistic actuation. The mechanism in consideration is Omni-Wrist V (OW5), a two degrees-of-freedom (DoF) parallel mechanism redundantly actuated by three subchains. We first give a brief review of its kineto-statics and derive its reduced Cartesian stiffness model. To illustrate the stiffness enhancement of OW5 under redundant and antagonistic actuation, its Cartesian stiffness is measured and evaluated under four control schemes: the non-redundant control, the minimum 2-norm torque control without or with redundant encoder, and the antagonistic actuation control. Measurement data are represented using stiffness matrices and stiffness ellipses. Our study offers a quick quantitative evaluation of stiffness enhancement of OW5 under redundant and antagonistic actuation.
Combining short-term cepstral and long-term pitch features for automatic recognition of speaker age

The most successful systems in previous comparative studies on speaker age recognition used short-term cepstral features modeled with Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs) or applied multiple phone recognizers trained with the data of speakers of the respective class. Acoustic analyses, however, indicate that certain features such as pitch extracted from a longer span of speech correlate clearly with the speaker age although the systems based on those features have been inferior to the before mentioned approaches. In this paper, three novel systems combining short-term cepstral features and long-term features for speaker age recognition are compared to each other. A system combining GMMs using frame-based MFCCs and SupportVector-Machines using long-term pitch performs best. The results indicate that the combination of the two feature types is a promising approach, which corresponds to findings in related fields like speaker recognition.
Aggregation-mediated collective perception and action in a group of miniature robots

We introduce a novel case study in which a group of miniaturized robots screen an environment for undesirable agents, and destroy them. Because miniaturized robots are usually endowed with reactive controllers and minimalist sensing and actuation capabilities, they must collaborate in order to achieve their task efficiently. In this paper, we show how aggregation can mediate both collective perception and action while maintaining the scalability of the algorithm. First, we demonstrate the feasibility of our approach by implementing it on a real group of Alice mobile robots, which are only two centimeters in size. Then, we use a combination of both realistic simulations and macroscopic models in order to find optimal parameters that maximize the number of undesirable cells destroyed while minimizing the impact on the healthy population. Finally, we discuss the limitations of these models, both in terms of accuracy, computational cost, and scalability, and we outline the importance of an appropriate multi-level modeling methodology to ensure the relevance and the faithfulness of such models.
Home care for child health promotion in Brazil : an integrative review

Aim: To identify the care provided at home aimed at the promotion of child health in Brazil. Method: Integrative review of articles published in Portuguese, English and Spanish in MEDLINE, CINAHL and LILACS, using the descriptors infant, infant care, health promotion, family, child health and child welfare. A total of 11 items were selected. The results were presented according to the domain of Self-Efficacy in Infant Care Scale SICS. Results: The care evidenced in the studies falls in the fields of general health care, development promotion, safety and diet. Discussion: The association of popular features and allopathic therapy, in addition to difficulties in relation to food, raise the need to address care actions that promote child health in health education activities. Conclusion: The care evidenced in most of the studies aims to meet health needs in general and children’s nutrition. Descriptors: Infant Care; Child Health; Health Promotion.
Signal Recognition Particle-Dependent Inner Membrane Targeting of the PulG Pseudopilin Component of a Type II Secretion System

ABSTRACT The pseudopilin PulG is an essential component of the pullulanase-specific type II secretion system from Klebsiella oxytoca. PulG is the major subunit of a short, thin-filament pseudopilus, which presumably elongates and retracts in the periplasm, acting as a dynamic piston to promote pullulanase secretion. It has a signal sequence-like N-terminal segment that, according to studies with green and red fluorescent protein chimeras, anchors unassembled PulG in the inner membrane. We analyzed the early steps of PulG inner membrane targeting and insertion in Escherichia coli derivatives defective in different protein targeting and export factors. The β-galactosidase activity in strains producing a PulG-LacZ hybrid protein increased substantially when the dsbA, dsbB, or all sec genes tested except secB were compromised by mutations. To facilitate analysis of native PulG membrane insertion, a leader peptidase cleavage site was engineered downstream from the N-terminal transmembrane segment (PrePulG*). Unprocessed PrePulG* was detected in strains carrying mutations in secA, secY, secE, and secD genes, including some novel alleles of secY and secD. Furthermore, depletion of the Ffh component of the signal recognition particle (SRP) completely abolished PrePulG* processing, without affecting the Sec-dependent export of periplasmic MalE and RbsB proteins. Thus, PulG is cotranslationally targeted to the inner membrane Sec translocase by SRP.
The relation of body mass index to depressive symptoms.

OBJECTIVE Data from the 1995 Nova Scotia Health Survey were analyzed to determine the relation between body mass index (BMI) and the risk of depression as measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). METHODS Clinical measures for height and weight and CES-D scores were available for 2,482 subjects from an initial sample of 5,578 Nova Scotians stratified probabilistically to be representative of age, gender and area of residence. BMIs were categorized according to the international standards (BMI 18.5-24.9 acceptable weight; 25-29.9 overweight; > or = 30 obese). RESULTS More men than women were classified as overweight (43.2% vs. 28.3%) but slightly more women than men were obese (25.6% vs. 23.4%). Based on the summary score of the CES-D, 14.2% were categorized as at risk for depression (> or = 16). Logistic regression indicated that lower education (p < 0.001) and income (p < 0.001), and BMI category (p < 0.05) were all significantly related to an increased risk of depression. The odds ratio for the association between obesity and depression, after controlling for education and income, was 1.41 [95% CI = 1.07-1.86]. DISCUSSION More studies are needed to ascertain the mechanism by which obesity and depression could be related and the significance of this relation for the prevention and treatment of both obesity and depression. Given the effects of depression, we suggest that health professionals should assess their obese patients for risk of depression before embarking on a weight management protocol.
Comparison of Hill-Climbing and Artificial Neural Network Maximum Power Point Tracking Techniques for Photovoltaic Modules

In this paper, two maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms in a photovoltaic electrical energy generation system are analyzed and compared. The Matlab/Simulink is used to establish the model of a photovoltaic system with MPPT function. This system is developed by combining the models of established solar module and DC-DC boost converter with the algorithms of hill climbing (HC) and artificial neural network (ANC), respectively. The system is simulated under different atmospheric conditions and MPPT algorithms. According to the comparisons among the simulation results, it can be concluded that the photovoltaic system with ANN MPPT algorithm is simpler: it does not require knowledge of internal system parameters, needs less calculation, is faster and provides a compact solution for multi-variable problems.
Nuclear translocation of the phosphoprotein Hop ( Hsp 70 / Hsp 90 organizing protein ) occurs under heat shock , and its proposed nuclear localization signal is involved in Hsp 90 binding

RO OF Nuclear translocation of the phosphoprotein Hop (Hsp70/Hsp90 organizing protein) occurs under heat shock, and its proposed nuclear localization signal is involved in Hsp90 binding Sheril Daniel , Graeme Bradley , Victoria M. Longshaw , Csaba Söti , Peter Csermely , Gregory L. Blatch a,⁎ a Chaperone Research Group, Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa b Department of Medical Chemistry, Semmelweis University, Puskin street 9, H-1088, Budapest, Hungary
Ascochlorin inhibits growth factor‐induced HIF‐1α activation and tumor‐angiogenesis through the suppression of EGFR/ERK/p70S6K signaling pathway in human cervical carcinoma cells

Ascochlorin, a non‐toxic prenylphenol compound derived from the fungus Ascochyta viciae, has been shown recently to have anti‐cancer effects on various human cancer cells. However, the precise molecular mechanism of this anti‐cancer activity remains to be elucidated. Here, we investigated the effects of ascochlorin on hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in human epidermoid cervical carcinoma CaSki cells. Ascochlorin inhibited epidermal growth factor (EGF)‐induced HIF‐1α and VEGF expression through multiple potential mechanisms. First, ascochlorin selectively inhibited HIF‐1α expression in response to EGF stimulation, but not in response to hypoxia (1% O2) or treatment with a transition metal (CoCl2). Second, ascochlorin inhibited EGF‐induced ERK‐1/2 activation but not AKT activation, both of which play essential roles in EGF‐induced HIF‐1α protein synthesis. Targeted inhibition of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression using an EGFR‐specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) diminished HIF‐1α expression, which suggested that ascochlorin inhibits HIF‐1α expression through suppression of EGFR activation. Finally, we showed that ascochlorin functionally abrogates in vivo tumor angiogenesis induced by EGF in a Matrigel plug assay. Our data suggest that ascochlorin inhibits EGF‐mediated induction of HIF‐1α expression in CaSki cells, providing a potentially new avenue of development of anti‐cancer drugs that target tumor angiogenesis. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 1302–1313, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Prediction, observation and estimation in planning and control

The central role of reasoning about change in planning and control is studied. Some of the basic insights of control theory regarding the connection between observability and controllability are reviewed, and how these insights should inform research in planning is considered. A decision-theoretic approach to planning that subscribes to a basic cycle of prediction, observation, estimation and action selection is proposed. Some of the practical issues relating to this approach and alternatives in the form of offline compilation of decision models and learning systems to circumvent the need for accurate predictive models are examined. Problems in mobile robotics that require integrating obstacle avoidance, position estimation, and path planning are used to illustrate the approach. <<ETX>>
CodeOR: Opportunistic routing in wireless mesh networks with segmented network coding

Opportunistic routing significantly increases unicast throughput in wireless mesh networks by effectively utilizing the wireless broadcast medium. With network coding, opportunistic routing can be implemented in a simple and practical way without resorting to a complicated scheduling protocol. Due to constraints of computational complexity, a protocol utilizing network coding needs to perform segmented network coding, which partitions the data into multiple segments and encode only packets in the same segment. However, existing designs transmit only one segment at any given time while waiting for its acknowledgment, which degrades performance as the size of the network scales up. In this paper, we propose CodeOR, a new protocol that uses network coding in opportunistic routing to improve throughput. By transmitting a window of multiple segments concurrently, it improves the performance of existing work by a factor of two on average (and a factor of four in some cases). CodeOR is especially appropriate for real-time multimedia applications through the use of a small segment size to decrease decoding delay, and is able to further increase network throughput with a smaller packet size and a larger window size.
Deep Learning from Web-Scale Corpora for Better Dictionary Interfaces

This paper explores advanced learning mechanisms ‐ neural networks trained by the Word2Vec method ‐ for predicting word associations. We discuss how the approach can be built into dictionary interfaces to help tip-of-the-tongue searches. We also describe our contribution to the CogALex 2014 shared task. We argue that the reverse response-stimulus word associations chosen for the shared task are only mildly related to the motivation idea of the lexical access support system. The methods employed in our contribution are briefly introduced. We present results of experiments with various parameter settings and show what improvement can be expected if more than one answer is allowed. The paper concludes with a proposal for a new collective effort to assemble real tip-of-the-tongue situation records for future, more-realistic evaluations.
Subject Positioning in the BOD POD® Only Marginally Affects Measurement of Body Volume and Estimation of Percent Body Fat in Young Adult Men

Introduction The aim of the study was to evaluate whether subject positioning would affect the measurement of raw body volume, thoracic gas volume, corrected body volume and the resulting percent body fat as assessed by air displacement plethysmography (ADP). Methods Twenty-five young adult men (20.7±1.1y, BMI = 22.5±1.4 kg/m2) were measured using the BOD POD® system using a measured thoracic gas volume sitting in a ‘forward bent’ position and sitting up in a straight position in random order. Results Raw body volume was 58±124 ml (p<0.05) higher in the ‘straight’ position compared to the ‘bent’ position. The mean difference in measured thoracic gas volume (bent-straight = −71±211 ml) was not statistically significant. Corrected body volume and percent body fat in the bent position consequently were on average 86±122 ml (p<0.05) and 0.5±0.7% (p<0.05) lower than in the straight position respectively. Conclusion Although the differences reached statistical significance, absolute differences are rather small. Subject positioning should be viewed as a factor that may contribute to between-test variability and hence contribute to (in)precision in detecting small individual changes in body composition, rather than a potential source of systematic bias. It therefore may be advisable to pay attention to standardizing subject positioning when tracking small changes in PF are of interest.The cause of the differences is shown not to be related to changes in the volume of isothermal air in the lungs. It is hypothesized and calculated that the observed direction and magnitude of these differences may arise from the surface area artifact which does not take into account that a subject in the bent position exposes more skin to the air in the device therefore potentially creating a larger underestimation of the actual body volume due to the isothermal effect of air close to the skin.
FGF receptors 1 and 2 are key regulators of keratinocyte migration in vitro and in wounded skin

Summary Efficient wound repair is essential for the maintenance of the integrity of the skin. The repair process is controlled by a variety of growth factors and cytokines, and their abnormal expression or activity can cause healing disorders. Here, we show that wound repair is severely delayed in mice lacking fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR) 1 and 2 in keratinocytes. As the underlying mechanism, we identified impaired wound contraction and a delay in re-epithelialization that resulted from impaired keratinocyte migration at the wound edge. Scratch wounding and transwell assays demonstrated that FGFR1/2-deficient keratinocytes had a reduced migration velocity and impaired directional persistence owing to inefficient formation and turnover of focal adhesions. Underlying this defect, we identified a significant reduction in the expression of major focal adhesion components in the absence of FGFR signaling, resulting in a general migratory deficiency. These results identify FGFs as key regulators of keratinocyte migration in wounded skin.
An Evaluation of a Spoken Document Retrieval Baseline System by Indexing Confusion Networks

This paper presents a investigate methods for improving the performance of morph-based spoken document retrieval in Finnish by extracting relevant index terms from confusion networks and a baseline spoken document retrieval system in Finnish. Due to its agglutinative structure, Finnish speech cannot be adequately transcribed using the standard large vocabulary continuous speech recognition approaches. The effect of pruning in recognition is analyzed, showing that when recognition speed is increased, the reduction in retrieval performance due to the increase in the 1-best error In this work we apply a recently developed unlimited vocabulary speech recognition system that allows the use of n-gram language models based on morpheme-like sub word units discovered in an unsupervised manner. In addition to word-based indexing, we also propose an indexing based on the sub-word units provided directly by our speech recognizer.
ReabsNet: Detecting and Revising Adversarial Examples

Though deep neural network has hit a huge success in recent studies and applica- tions, it still remains vulnerable to adversarial perturbations which are imperceptible to humans. To address this problem, we propose a novel network called ReabsNet to achieve high classification accuracy in the face of various attacks. The approach is to augment an existing classification network with a guardian network to detect if a sample is natural or has been adversarially perturbed. Critically, instead of simply rejecting adversarial examples, we revise them to get their true labels. We exploit the observation that a sample containing adversarial perturbations has a possibility of returning to its true class after revision. We demonstrate that our ReabsNet outperforms the state-of-the-art defense method under various adversarial attacks.
Assessing Professional Vision in Teacher Candidates

In this study, we present an approach to validating the video-based Observer Extended Research Tool, which empirically captures prospective teachers’ professional vision in a standardized yet contextualized way. We extended the original Observer tool with the aim of providing a reliable, efficient measure for subpopulations in different consecutive phases of teacher education (university and induction phase). Therefore, we expand the measure to include a broader spectrum of knowledge about effective teaching by drawing on a cognitive process-oriented teaching and learning model while at the same time the number of test items is shortened to ensure a economically manageable assessment tool. In the validation study, we tested the extent to which the extension meets the criteria of context validity, reliability, and sensitiveness for different subpopulations. The participants were 317 preservice teachers and teacher candidates who worked with the Observer Extended Research Tool. Measurement quality was inves.
Therapeutic Effects of Anti-CD115 Monoclonal Antibody in Mouse Cancer Models through Dual Inhibition of Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Osteoclasts

Tumor progression is promoted by Tumor-Associated Macrophages (TAMs) and metastasis-induced bone destruction by osteoclasts. Both myeloid cell types depend on the CD115-CSF-1 pathway for their differentiation and function. We used 3 different mouse cancer models to study the effects of targeting cancer host myeloid cells with a monoclonal antibody (mAb) capable of blocking CSF-1 binding to murine CD115. In mice bearing sub-cutaneous EL4 tumors, which are CD115-negative, the anti-CD115 mAb depleted F4/80+ CD163+ M2-type TAMs and reduced tumor growth, resulting in prolonged survival. In the MMTV-PyMT mouse model, the spontaneous appearance of palpable mammary tumors was delayed when the anti-CD115 mAb was administered before malignant transition and tumors became palpable only after termination of the immunotherapy. When administered to mice already bearing established PyMT tumors, anti-CD115 treatment prolonged their survival and potentiated the effect of chemotherapy with Paclitaxel. As shown by immunohistochemistry, this therapeutic effect correlated with the depletion of F4/80+CD163+ M2-polarized TAMs. In a breast cancer model of bone metastasis, the anti-CD115 mAb potently blocked the differentiation of osteoclasts and their bone destruction activity. This resulted in the inhibition of cancer-induced weight loss. CD115 thus represents a promising target for cancer immunotherapy, since a specific blocking antibody may not only inhibit the growth of a primary tumor through TAM depletion, but also metastasis-induced bone destruction through osteoclast inhibition.