Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Persistence and mean reversion: analyzing sector indices for Brazil

Este artigo contribui para a literatura de testes da hipotese de passeio aleatorio examinando um novo conjunto de dados setoriais de acoes para o mercado Brasileiro e empregando um teste de razao de variâncias com percentis customizados. A rejeicao da hipotese de passeio aleatorio tem implicacoes para ambos os profissionais de mercado e academicos, pois a maioria dos modelos de aprecamento de ativos assume esta hipotese e os profissionais buscam padroes na historia de precos de ativos (implicitamente refutando a hipotese de passeio aleatorio). O artigo sugere que se pode usar a hipotese de passeio aleatorio para aprecar ativos no mercado acionario brasileiro.
Implementation of an Efficient Lossless EEG Compression Design for Wireless Body Area Network

Data transmission of electroencephalography (EEG) signals over Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) is currently a widely used system that comes together with challenges in terms of efficiency and effectivity. In this study, an effective Very-Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) circuit design of lossless EEG compression circuit is proposed to increase both efficiency and effectivity of EEG signal transmission over WBAN. The proposed design was realized based on a novel lossless compression algorithm which consists of an adaptive fuzzy predictor, a voting-based scheme and a tri-stage entropy encoder. The tri-stage entropy encoder is composed of a two-stage Huffman and Golomb-Rice encoders with static coding table using basic comparator and multiplexer components. A pipelining technique was incorporated to enhance the performance of the proposed design. The proposed design was fabricated using a 0.18 μm CMOS technology containing 8405 gates with 2.58 mW simulated power consumption under an operating condition of 100 MHz clock speed. The CHB-MIT Scalp EEG Database was used to test the performance of the proposed technique in terms of compression rate which yielded an average value of 2.35 for 23 channels. Compared with previously proposed hardware-oriented lossless EEG compression designs, this work provided a 14.6% increase in compression rate with a 37.3% reduction in hardware cost while maintaining a low system complexity.
Mutant ubiquitin found in neurodegenerative disorders is a ubiquitin fusion degradation substrate that blocks proteasomal degradation

Loss of neurons in neurodegenerative diseases is usually preceded by the accumulation of protein deposits that contain components of the ubiquitin/proteasome system. Affected neurons in Alzheimer's disease often accumulate UBB+1, a mutant ubiquitin carrying a 19–amino acid C-terminal extension generated by a transcriptional dinucleotide deletion. Here we show that UBB+1 is a potent inhibitor of ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis in neuronal cells, and that this inhibitory activity correlates with induction of cell cycle arrest. Surprisingly, UBB+1 is recognized as a ubiquitin fusion degradation (UFD) proteasome substrate and ubiquitinated at Lys29 and Lys48. Full blockade of proteolysis requires both ubiquitination sites. Moreover, the inhibitory effect was enhanced by the introduction of multiple UFD signals. Our findings suggest that the inhibitory activity of UBB+1 may be an important determinant of neurotoxicity and contribute to an environment that favors the accumulation of misfolded proteins.
Information Retrieval from MDS Coded Data in Distributed Storage Systems

The problem of providing privacy, in the private information retrieval (PIR) sense, to users requesting data from a distributed storage system (DSS), is considered. The DSS is coded by an (n, k, d) Maximum Distance Separable (MDS) code to store the data reliably on unreliable storage nodes. Some of these nodes can be spies which report to a third party, such as an oppressive regime, which data is being requested by the user. An information theoretic PIR scheme ensures that a user can satisfy its request while revealing no information on which data is being requested to the nodes. A user can trivially achieve PIR by downloading all the data in the DSS. However, this is not a feasible solution due to its high communication cost. We construct PIR schemes with low download communication cost. When there is b = 1 spy node in the DSS, in other words, no collusion between the nodes, we construct PIR schemes with download cost 1 1−R per unit of requested data (R = k/n is the code rate), achieving the information theoretic limit for linear schemes. The proposed schemes are universal since they depend on the code rate, but not on the generator matrix of the code. Also, if b ≤ n− δk nodes collude, with δ = bn−b k c, we construct linear PIR schemes with download cost b+δk δ .
Skew product groups for monolithic groups

Skew morphisms, which generalise automorphisms for groups, provide a fundamental tool for the study of regular Cayley maps and, more generally, for finite groups with a complementary factorisation $G=BY$, where $Y$ is cyclic and core-free in $G$. In this paper, we classify all examples in which $B$ is monolithic (meaning that it has a unique minimal normal subgroup, and that subgroup is not abelian) and core-free in $G$. As a consequence, we obtain a classification of all proper skew morphisms of finite non-abelian simple groups.
Continuous Nonsingular Terminal Sliding-Mode Control of Shape Memory Alloy Actuators Using Time Delay Estimation

We have developed a continuous nonsingular terminal sliding-mode control with time-delay estimation (TDE) for shape memory alloys (SMA) actuators. The proposed method does not need to describe a mathematical model of a hysteresis effect and other nonlinearities; thus, it is simple and model free. The proposed control consists of three elements that have clear meaning: a TDE element that cancels nonlinearities in the SMA dynamics, an injection element that specifies desired terminal sliding-mode (TSM) dynamics, and a reaching element using a fast terminal sliding manifold that is activated accordingly when the system trajectory is not confined in the TSM. The proposed control has been successfully implemented in an SMA actuated system and experimental results show the proposed control is easily implementable and highly accurate. Once the TSM and the reaching condition are suitably specified, the tracking performance of the proposed control is improved compared with a conventional time delay control with a linear error dynamics.
Downward Price-Based Brand Line Extensions Effects on Luxury Brands

This study tries to examine the brand concept consistency, the self-concept congruence and the resulting loyalty status of the consumers in order to evaluate whether a downward price-based line extensions in the luxury goods market has any negative or positive effect on them. By conducting focus group and in-depth interviews it was tried to filter out how brand concepts of luxury brands are perceived before and after a line extension. Results revealed that a crucial aspect for the evaluation of downward price-based line extensions is the exclusivity variable. Additionally, the research showed different modification to the brand concept consistency after an extension depending whether the brand is bought for pure hedonic or emotional reasons or actually for functional reasons. As practical implications brands appealing to hedonic/emotional motivations need to be crucially differentiated to those brands appealing to functional/rational motivations. In the case of a mixed concept an in-depth segmentation of the target markets is needed in order to successfully reach the consumers’ needs.
Effects of Different Intraset Rest Durations on Lifting Performance and Self-perceived Exertion During Bench Press Exercise

Abstract Ho, IMK, Luk, JTC, Ngo, JK, and Wong, DP. Effects of different intraset rest durations on lifting performance and self-perceived exertion during bench press exercise. J Strength Cond Res 35(8): 2114–2120, 2021—This study compared the number of successful repetitions, failure rates, and ratings of perceived exertion (RPEs) among intraset rest (ISR) protocols (0-, 20-, or 40-second rest between third and fourth repetitions) during bench press exercise with total 3 sets and 6 repetitions per set at 6 repetition maximum (6RM) load. Thirty-four college-aged men performed 6RM loads with ISR 0, 20, and 40 on 3 separate visits in a counterbalanced order while the total rest time and duration of each protocol was equated. Results showed failure rates of 32.4% for ISR0 (11 subjects with failed repetition), 14.7% for ISR20, and 2.9% for ISR40. The ISR had a small positive effect on increasing successful repetitions in: second set, ISR40 vs. ISR0 and ISR20 vs. ISR0 (both +0.2 rep, d = 0.28); third set, ISR40 vs. ISR0 (+0.5 rep, d = 0.55) and ISR20 vs. ISR0 (+0.4 rep, d = 0.39); and total number of repetition: ISR40 vs. ISR0 (+0.7 rep, d = 0.46) and ISR20 vs. ISR0 (+0.5 rep, d = 0.36). The ISR also had small effect on decreasing RPE in: second set, ISR40 vs. ISR0 (−0.6, d = −0.21); third set, ISR40 vs. ISR0 (−0.7, d = −0.26); and average RPE of the 3 sets, ISR40 vs. ISR0 (−0.6, d = −0.24). The longer ISR could further decrease RPE only in the third set (ISR40 vs. ISR20: −0.6, d = −0.23, small effect). Strength coaches may use the ISR40 rest redistribution to reduce RPE and enhance repetition sustainability.
Classification of Natural Language Interfaces to Databases based on the Architectures

Natural Language Interface to Database (NLITDB) system is an interface to a database where an user submits his/her request to retrieve some information from a database in natural language like English. A NLITDB system accepts questions in natural language and generates results. Generally, users have to learn a Query Language such as Structured Query Language (SQL) to formulate a query and to retrieve information from a database. Learning a Query Language such as Structured Query Language (SQL) is difficult for many non-technical database users. A solution for this problem is to make use of NLITDB to retrieve information from database. Nowadays, the importance of NLITDB system is gained because of the increasing interaction of non-technical users with databases. Many NLITDB systems were developed since 1960’s. Each NLITDB system used an architecture to process the natural language question submitted by the user. In this paper, We classify and review the existing NLITDB systems based on the architectures adopted by them. However, the outcomes of this classification are dedicated to the researchers in NILITDB systems to know which architectures were used more in the development of NLITDB systems. KeywordsDatabases, Natural Language Interface to Database (NLITDB), Architecture, Structured Query language (SQL). S.AQUTER BABU Asst. Professor Dept. of Computer Science Dravidian University Kuppam, India s_a_babu1@yahoo.co.in D. MABUNI Asst. Professor Dept. of Computer Science Dravidian University Kuppam, India mabuni.d@gmail.com Prof. C. LOKANATHA REDDY Professor Dept. of Computer Science Dravidian University Kuppam, India S.AQUTER BABU, D. MABUNI, Prof. C. LOKANATHA REDDY, The International Journal of Computer Science & Applications (TIJCSA) ISSN – 2278-1080, Vol. 1 No. 11 January 2013 © 2012, http://www.journalofcomputerscience. com TIJCSA All Rights Reserved 52
Orthogonal Negation for Document Re-ranking

In this work, we propose a method for document re-ranking, which exploits negative feedback represented by non-relevant documents. The concept of non-relevance is modelled through the quantum negation operator. The evaluation carried out on a standard collection shows the eectiveness of the proposed method in both the classical Vector Space Model and a Semantic Document Space.
Response to coincident inputs in electrically coupled primary afferents is heterogeneous and is enhanced by H-current (IH) modulation.

Electrical synapses represent a widespread modality of interneuronal communication in the mammalian brain. These contacts, by lowering the effectiveness of random or temporally uncorrelated inputs,endow circuits of coupled neurons with the ability to selectively respond to simultaneous depolarizations. This mechanism may support coincidence detection, a property involved in sensory perception, organization of motor outputs and improvement of signal to noise ratio. While the role of electrical coupling is well established, little is known about the contribution of the cellular excitability and its modulations to the susceptibility of groups of neurons to coincident inputs. Here, we obtained dual whole cell patch-clamp recordings of pairs of mesencephalic trigeminal (MesV) neurons in brainstem slices from rats, to evaluate coincidence detection and its determinants. MesV neurons are primary afferents involved in the organization of orofacial behaviors whose cell bodies are electrically coupled mainly in pairs through soma-somatic gap junctions. We found that coincidence detection is highly heterogeneous across the population of coupled neurons. Further, combined electrophysiological and modeling approaches reveal that this heterogeneity arises from the diversity of MesV neurons' intrinsic excitability. Consistently, increasing these cells' excitability by upregulating the hyperpolarization-activated cationic current (IH) triggered by cGMP, results in a dramatic enhancement of the susceptibility of coupled neurons to coincident inputs. In conclusion, the ability of coupled neurons to detect coincident inputs is critically shaped by their intrinsic electrophysiological properties, emphasizing the relevance of neuronal excitability for the many functional operations supported by electrical transmission in mammals.
Viability of Mouse Retinal Explant Cultures Assessed by Preservation of Functionality and Morphology.

Purpose Retinal explant cultures provide simplified systems where the functions of the retina and the effects of ocular therapies can be studied in an isolated environment. The purpose of this study was to provide insight into long-term preservation of retinal tissue in culture conditions, enable a deeper understanding of the interdependence of retinal morphology and function, and ensure the reliability of the explant technique for prolonged experiments. Methods Retinal explants from adult mice were cultured as organotypic culture at the air-medium interface for 14 days in vitro (DIV). Retinal functionality was assessed by multielectrode array technique and morphology by immunohistochemical methods at several time points during culture. Results Retinal explants retained viability for 14 DIV, although with diminishing neuronal activity, progressing neuronal loss, and increasing reactive gliosis. We recorded spontaneous retinal ganglion cell (RGC) activity up to 14 DIV with temporally changing distribution of RGC firing rates. Light responsiveness was measurable from RGCs for 7 DIV and from photoreceptors for 2 DIV. Apoptotic cells were detected beginning at 3 DIV with their density peaking at 7 DIV. The number of RGCs gradually decreased by 70% during 14 DIV. The change was accompanied by the loss of RGC functionality, resulting in 84% loss of electrically active RGCs. Conclusions Retinal explants provide a valuable tool for studies of retinal functions and development of ocular therapies. However, critical for long-term use, retinal functionality was lost before structural loss, emphasizing a need for both functional and morphologic readouts to determine the overall state of the cultured retina.
Family of neural wiring receptors in bilaterians defined by phylogenetic, biochemical, and structural evidence

Significance Cell surface receptors assign and display unique identities to neurons and direct proper and robust wiring of neurons to create functional neural circuits. Recent work has identified two new classes of receptors in fruit flies, called the Dpr and DIP families with 32 members, which interact in 38 pairwise combinations. These proteins are implicated in neural identity, wiring, and survival in many parts of the fly nervous system. Here, using evolutionary, biochemical, and structural analyses, we show that Dprs and DIPs are members of an ancient bilaterian family of receptors. Members of this family share functional roles relevant to wiring across species, and their expansion may have been crucial in the emergence of the bilaterian nervous systems. The evolution of complex nervous systems was accompanied by the expansion of numerous protein families, including cell-adhesion molecules, surface receptors, and their ligands. These proteins mediate axonal guidance, synapse targeting, and other neuronal wiring-related functions. Recently, 32 interacting cell surface proteins belonging to two newly defined families of the Ig superfamily (IgSF) in fruit flies were discovered to label different subsets of neurons in the brain and ventral nerve cord. They have been shown to be involved in synaptic targeting and morphogenesis, retrograde signaling, and neuronal survival. Here, we show that these proteins, Dprs and DIPs, are members of a widely distributed family of two- and three-Ig domain molecules with neuronal wiring functions, which we refer to as Wirins. Beginning from a single ancestral Wirin gene in the last common ancestor of Bilateria, numerous gene duplications produced the heterophilic Dprs and DIPs in protostomes, along with two other subfamilies that diversified independently across protostome phyla. In deuterostomes, the ancestral Wirin evolved into the IgLON subfamily of neuronal receptors. We show that IgLONs interact with each other and that their complexes can be broken by mutations designed using homology models based on Dpr and DIP structures. The nematode orthologs ZIG-8 and RIG-5 also form heterophilic and homophilic complexes, and crystal structures reveal numerous apparently ancestral features shared with Dpr-DIP complexes. The evolutionary, biochemical, and structural relationships we demonstrate here provide insights into neural development and the rise of the metazoan nervous system.
Org-a repository for marine genomics data

Over the last decade, technological advancements have substantially decreased the cost and time of obtaining large amounts of sequencing data. Paired with the exponentially increased computing power, individual labs are now able to sequence genomes or transcriptomes to investigate biological questions of interest. This has led to a significant increase in available sequence data. Although the bulk of data published in articles are stored in public sequence databases, very often, only raw sequencing data are available; miscellaneous data such as assembled transcriptomes, genome annotations etc. are not easily obtainable through the same means. Here, we introduce our website (http://reefge nomics.org) that aims to centralize genomic and transcriptomic data from marine organisms. Besides providing convenient means to download sequences, we provide (where applicable) a genome browser to explore available genomic features, and a BLAST interface to search through the hosted sequences. Through the interface, multiple datasets can be queried simultaneously, allowing for the retrieval of matching sequences from organisms of interest. The minimalistic, no-frills interface reduces visual clutter, making it convenient for end-users to search and explore processed sequence data. Database URL: http://reefgenomics.org
Incremental Sampling-based Algorithms for Optimal Motion Planning

During the last decade, incremental sampling-based motion planning algorithms, such as the Rapidly-exploring Random Trees (RRTs), have been shown to work well in practice and to possess theoretical guarantees such as probabilistic completeness. However, no theoretical bounds on the quality of the solution obtained by these algorithms, e.g., in terms of a given cost function, have been established so far. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap, by designing efficient incremental samplingbased algorithms with provable optimality properties. The first contribution of this paper is a negative result: it is proven that, under mild technical conditions, the cost of the best path returned by RRT converges almost surely to a non-optimal value, as the number of samples increases. Second, a new algorithm is considered, called the Rapidly-exploring Random Graph (RRG), and it is shown that the cost of the best path returned by RRG converges to the optimum almost surely. Third, a tree version of RRG is introduced, called RRT∗, which preserves the asymptotic optimality of RRG while maintaining a tree structure like RRT. The analysis of the new algorithms hinges on novel connections between sampling-based motion planning algorithms and the theory of random geometric graphs. In terms of computational complexity, it is shown that the number of simple operations required by both the RRG and RRT∗ algorithms is asymptotically within a constant factor of that required by RRT.
Enhancing Aircrew Protection against Noise Induced Hearing Loss

Modern day high performance aircrafts are more powerful, more efficient, and unfortunately, frequently produce high noise levels resulting in Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) in the Military aircrew. Military pilots are required to perform many flight duties correctly in the midst of many challenges that may affect mission completion as well as aircraft and aircrew safety. Acoustic environment of an aircrew is characterized by several distinctive types of audio signals, speech signals, radio-mediated speech, and aerodynamic and mechanical low frequency noise originating from aircraft and machinery in the vicinity. Perception and localization of relevant sounds and signals, amongst constant background noise, forms a critical part of situational awareness and successful mission completion. NIHL can interfere with the achievement of these objectives. NIHL may also require aircrew to be downgraded from flying duties with the incumbent re-training costs for downgraded personnel and training costs for new/replacement aircrew. As it is not possible to control the source of noise without compromising the efficiency of the engine and aircraft, protecting the aircrew from hazards of excessive noise, and treating NIHL is of extreme importance. In this article we discuss various Personal Hearing Protection Devices and their efficacy, and pharmacological agents for prevention and management of NIHL. IJASM 2012; 56(1): 39-49
Canonical TGF-β Signaling Is Required for the Balance of Excitatory/Inhibitory Transmission within the Hippocampus and Prepulse Inhibition of Acoustic Startle

Smad4 is a unique nuclear transducer for all TGF-β signaling pathways and regulates gene transcription during development and tissue homeostasis. To elucidate the postnatal role of TGF-β signaling in the mammalian brain, we generated forebrain-specific Smad4 knock-out mice. Surprisingly, the mutants showed no alteration in long-term potentiation and water maze, suggesting that Smad4 is not required for spatial learning and memory. However, these mutant mice did show enhancement of paired-pulse facilitation in excitatory synaptic transmission and stronger paired-pulse depression of GABAA currents in the hippocampus. The alteration of hippocampal electrophysiology correlated with mouse hyperactivity in homecage and open field tests. Mutant mice also showed overgrooming as well as deficits of prepulse inhibition, a widely used endophenotype of schizophrenia. With a specific real-time PCR array focused on TGF-β signaling pathway, we identified a novel regulation mechanism of the pathway in the hippocampal neurons, in which Smad4-mediated signaling suppresses the level of extracellular antagonism of TGF-β ligands through transcriptional regulation of follistatin, a selective inhibitor to activin/TGF-β signaling in the hippocampus. In summary, we suggest that the canonical TGF-β signaling pathway is critical for use-dependent modulation of GABAA synaptic transmission and dendritic homeostasis; furthermore, a disruption in the balance of the excitatory and inhibitory hippocampal network can result in psychiatric-like behavior.