Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extended nicosia-tomei observer-based tracking control of robot manipulators

This paper presents an observer-based control of robot manipulators for velocity estimation and trajectory tracking. The proposed scheme does not require the velocity feedback because velocity measurements may not be available due to cost and weight. We introduce parameters involving the tracking and estimation errors and their derivatives into the observer-controller. Exploiting the structural properties, we propose the new combined form of observer-controller to ensure the closed loop stability of the tracking and estimation. Moreover, we show that the proposed controller-observer scheme achieves semi-globally exponential stability results for tracking errors and estimation errors. The proposed observer-controller facilitates the stability analysis and explicitly extends Nicosia-Tomei observer-based tracking control. To validate the proposed scheme, we conduct numerical simulation of a two-link robot. The simulation results clearly indicate that the proposed scheme improves the error convergence for both trajectory tracking and velocity estimation.
The application of image mosaic in information collecting for an amphibious spherical robot system

Amphibious spherical robots that achieve the correct navigation need to collect surround information and clear perception. In addition to equip various sensors, the robot collecting information can also rely on the video images, which include rich texture and information of color. In this paper, we present a video image mosaic method to collect surrounding information of the amphibious spherical robot. We extract key frame from video image based on K-means clustering, and control the number of key frame by changing threshold. Meanwhile, pre-processing key frame and extracting the image key points based on SIFT (Scale-invariant Feature Transform). Then, use RANSAC (Random Sample Consensus) to eliminate the mismatch, and choose suitable value of scaling parameter of SIFT to improve match accuracy. Finally, stitching these key frames up, we got a complete image. Experimental results indicated that image mosaic not only conclude key points of video but also reduce fuzzy phenomenon, enhance the perception of direction. Compared with the direct splicing of video frames, the computation is greatly reduced and still retains important information.
Repeated otilonium bromide administration prevents neurotransmitter changes in colon of rats underwent to wrap restraint stress

Otilonium bromide (OB) is a spasmolytic drug successfully used for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Its efficacy has been attributed to the block of L‐ and T‐type Ca2+ channels and muscarinic and tachykinin receptors in the smooth muscle. Furthermore, in healthy rats, repeated OB administration modified neurotransmitter expression and function suggesting other mechanisms of action. On this basis, we investigated whether repeated OB treatment prevented the functional and neurochemical changes observed in the colon of rats underwent to wrap restrain stress (WRS) a psychosocial stressor considered suitable to reproduce the main IBS signs and symptoms. In control, WRS and OB/WRS rats functional parameters were measured in vivo and morphological investigations were done ex vivo in the colon. The results showed that OB counteracts most of the neurotransmitters changes caused by WRS. In particular, the drug prevents the decrease in SP‐, NK1r‐, nNOS‐, VIP‐, and S100β‐immunoreactivity (IR) and the increase in CGRP‐, and CRF1r‐IR. On the contrary, OB does not affect the increase in CRF2r‐IR neurons observed in WRS rats and does not interfere with the mild mucosal inflammation due to WRS. Finally, OB per se increases the Mr2 expression in the muscle wall and decreases the number of the myenteric ChAT‐IR neurons. Functional findings show a significantly reduction in the number of spontaneous abdominal contraction in OB treated rats. The ability of OB to block L‐type Ca2+ channels, also expressed by enteric neurons, might represent a possible mechanism through which OB exerts its actions.
Virus-Infection or 5′ppp-RNA Activates Antiviral Signal through Redistribution of IPS-1 Mediated by MFN1

In virus-infected cells, RIG-I-like receptor (RLR) recognizes cytoplasmic viral RNA and triggers innate immune responses including production of type I and III interferon (IFN) and the subsequent expression of IFN-inducible genes. Interferon-β promoter stimulator 1 (IPS-1, also known as MAVS, VISA and Cardif) is a downstream molecule of RLR and is expressed on the outer membrane of mitochondria. While it is known that the location of IPS-1 is essential to its function, its underlying mechanism is unknown. Our aim in this study was to delineate the function of mitochondria so as to identify more precisely its role in innate immunity. In doing so we discovered that viral infection as well as transfection with 5′ppp-RNA resulted in the redistribution of IPS-1 to form speckle-like aggregates in cells. We further found that Mitofusin 1 (MFN1), a key regulator of mitochondrial fusion and a protein associated with IPS-1 on the outer membrane of mitochondria, positively regulates RLR-mediated innate antiviral responses. Conversely, specific knockdown of MFN1 abrogates both the virus-induced redistribution of IPS-1 and IFN production. Our study suggests that mitochondria participate in the segregation of IPS-1 through their fusion processes.
WePS3 Evaluation Campaign: Overview of the On-line Reputation Management Task

This paper summarizes the definition, resources, evaluation methodology and metrics, participation and comparative results for the second task of the WEPS-3 evaluation campaign. The so-called OnlineReputation Management task consists of filtering Twitter posts containing a given company name depending of whether the post is actually related with the company or not. Five research groups submitted results for the task.
A One-Model Approach for Computation of Congestion with Productions Trade-Offs and Weight Restrictions

This paper focuses on the determine congestion with production trade-offs or, alternatively, through weights restrictions in data envelopment analysis (DEA). For this purpose, the researchers review a one-model approach to evaluate congestion Cooper et al., (1), and then briefly review the calculation of efficient targets with production trade-offs in Podinovski's procedure (2). Therefore, the method used in this study is a hybrid of the two above-said procedures: calculation of the congestion via weight restrictions, which is then supported by an experimental example by Podinovski (3).
U.S. Competitiveness in Science and Technology

Abstract : The purpose of this report is to present and consider information related to whether the United States is losing its edge in science and technology (S&T). Claims have been made about insufficient expenditures on research and development (R&D) (particularly on basic research), problems with U.S. education in science and engineering (S&E), a shortage of S&E workers in the United States, increasing reliance on foreigners in the workforce, and decreasing attractiveness of S&E careers to U.S. citizens. A loss of leadership in S&T could diminish U.S. economic growth, standard of living, and national security. Our assessment of the measures we have examined indicates that the U.S. S&T enterprise is performing well. We find that the United States leads the world in S&T and has kept pace or grown faster than the rest of the world in many measures of S&T. Although developing nations such as China, India, and South Korea showed rapid growth in S&T, these nations still account for a small share of world innovation and scientific output. Furthermore, we find that the consequences of the globalization of S&T and the rise of S&T capability in other nations are more likely to be economically beneficial to the United States than harmful. We also find that the United States has continued to invest in its S&T infrastructure and that the S&E workforce has managed to keep up with the demand for highly skilled S&E workers through immigration. However, there are potential weaknesses in the persistent underperformance of older K-12 students in math and science, in the limited attractiveness of S&E careers to U.S. students, and in the heavy focus of federal research funding on the life sciences, and we do not yet fully understand the consequences of an increasing reliance on foreign-born workers in S&E.
Can repulsion be induced by attraction: a role of ephrin-B1 in retinotectal mapping?

We study a role of EphB receptors and their ligand ephrin-B1 in dorsal-ventral retinotopic mapping. Earlier studies suggested that ephrin-B1 acts as an attractant for EphB expressing axons. We address the results of the recent experiment in chick tectum (McLaughlin et al., 2003b) in which axons of retinal ganglion cells were shown to be repelled by high ephrin-B1 density. Thus it was proposed that ephrin-B1 might act as both attractant and repellent. We show that the same axonal behavior may follow from attraction to ephrin-B1 density and axonal competition for space. Therefore, we show how apparent repulsive interaction can be induced by a combination of attraction to the target and competitive interactions between axons. We suggest an experimental test that may distinguish repulsive interaction with the target from repulsion induced by attraction and competition.
Philip Leder in the Werner Syndrome Helicase Tumorigenic Effect of Nonfunctional p 53 or p 21 in Mice Mutant

Werner syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by genomic instability and by the premature onset of a number of age-related diseases, including malignancy. To assess a potential collaboration between p21 or p53 cell cycle regulators and Wrn proteins, Wrn mutant mice were created and mated withp21 or p53 null mice to generate double mutants. The p21 null/Wrn mutant mice did not show an acceleration of tumorigenesis during the first year of life, suggesting that the p53-dependent G1-S cell cycle checkpoint (which operates via p21) is not involved in Wrn-abetted tumor suppression. In contrast, thep53 null/Wrn mutant mice were particularly remarkable with respect to the rapidity with which they developed tumors. These mice were also distinguished by the variety of tumors they developed compared to those that developed in p53 null mice. Such data suggest a genetic interaction between p53 and Wrn in which loss of Wrn provokes a more variable p53 response unrelated to its role in the G1-S cell cycle checkpoint.
Transcript- and tissue-specific imprinting of a tumour suppressor gene

The Bladder Cancer-Associated Protein gene (BLCAP; previously BC10) is a tumour suppressor that limits cell proliferation and stimulates apoptosis. BLCAP protein or message are downregulated or absent in a variety of human cancers. In mouse and human, the first intron of Blcap/BLCAP contains the distinct Neuronatin (Nnat/NNAT) gene. Nnat is an imprinted gene that is exclusively expressed from the paternally inherited allele. Previous studies found no evidence for imprinting of Blcap in mouse or human. Here we show that Blcap is imprinted in mouse and human brain, but not in other mouse tissues. Moreover, Blcap produces multiple distinct transcripts that exhibit reciprocal allele-specific expression in both mouse and human. We propose that the tissue-specific imprinting of Blcap is due to the particularly high transcriptional activity of Nnat in brain, as has been suggested previously for the similarly organized and imprinted murine Commd1/U2af1-rs1 locus. For Commd1/U2af1-rs1, we show that it too produces distinct transcript variants with reciprocal allele-specific expression. The imprinted expression of BLCAP and its interplay with NNAT at the transcriptional level may be relevant to human carcinogenesis.
Incremental Satisfiability and Implication for UTVPI Constraints

Unit two-variable-per-inequality (UTVPI) constraints form one of the largest class of integer constraints that are polynomial time solvable (unless P = NP). There is considerable interest in their use for constraint solving, abstract interpretation, spatial database algorithms, and theorem proving. In this paper we develop new incremental algorithms for UTVPI constraint satisfaction and implication checking that require ℴ(m + n log n + p) time and ℴ(n + m + p) space to incrementally check satisfiability of m UTVPI constraints on n variables, and we check the implication of p UTVPI constraints. The algorithms can be straightforwardly extended to create nonincremental implication checking and generation of all (nonredundant) implied constraints, as well as generate minimal unsatisfiable subsets and minimal implicants.
Social norms as communicative phenomena: A communication perspective on the theory of normative social behavior

: Much of human behavior is influenced by social norms. Although communication represents one important mechanism through which norms are formed and disseminated, the role of communication has not yet received sufficient attention in social norms research. The present paper develops a communication perspective on normative social influences by applying the theory of normative social behavior (TNSB) as a guiding framework. Taking into account recent and significant changes in our media environment, propositions on the role of communication with referent others (online and offline) a) in the building of norms and b) for the moderation of normative social influences on behaviors are stated. We discuss the benefits and limitations of our communication perspective and raise questions that should be considered in future research. Ein Großteil menschlichen Verhaltens wird durch Normen beeinflusst. Obwohl Kommunikation ein wichtiger Mechanismus ist, über den Normen geformt und verbreitet werden, wurde der Rolle der Kommunikation bisher nicht ausreichend Aufmerksamkeit in der Normenforschung geschenkt. Der vorliegende Beitrag entwickelt auf Basis der Theory of Normative Social Behavior (TNSB) eine kommunikationswissenschaftliche Perspektive auf sozial-normative Einflüsse. Unter Berücksichtigung aktueller Medienentwicklungen werden Annahmen zur Rolle von Online- und Offline-Kommunikation mit relevanten Anderen bei a) der Bildung von Normen und b) der Moderation normativer Einflüsse auf Verhalten formuliert. Wir diskutieren Leistungen und Limitationen unserer kommunikationswissenschaftlichen Perspektive und verweisen auf offene Fragen, die in Abstract: Much of human behavior is influenced by social norms. Although communication represents one important mechanism through which norms are formed and disseminated, the role of communication has not yet received sufficient attention in social norms research. The present paper develops a communication perspective on normative social influences by applying the theory of normative social behavior (TNSB) as a guiding framework. Taking into account recent and significant changes in our media environment, propositions on the role of communication with referent others (online and offline) a) in the building of norms and b) for the moderation of normative social influences on behaviors are stated. We discuss the benefits and limitations of our communication perspective and raise questions that should be considered in future research.
Querying the database using Schema-free SQL

To fetch desired results from RDBMS with the help of SQL it is necessary to know the schema of the database and the foreign key references i.e. join path between diﬀerent tables present in the database. Keeping in mind that databases can have complex structures, it becomes challenging for the user to remember the exact names of the database entities, constraints and references that might be present between the tables in the database. Therefore, there comes the need of a system which will not restrict the user from writing queries even if the user is not aware of the exact database schema, so as to reduce user burden[3].
Intermediate Trends in Math and Science Partnership-Related Changes in Student Achievement with Management Information System Data.

This substudy in the evaluation design of the Math and Science Partnership (MSP) Program Evaluation examines student proficiency in mathematics and science for the MSPs’ schools in terms of changes across three years (2003/04, 2004/05, and 2005/06) and relationships with MSP-related variables using Management Information System data with the Annual K-12 District Survey. First, changes in percentages of students at or above proficient on state assessments in math and science were investigated by gender, ethnicity, special education, and students with limited English proficiency across the targeted three-year period (2003/04 – 2005/06). The classification of MSP schools with and without focus on math or science during this time period was also taken into account. The results indicated that the MSP-related schools demonstrate sustained increase in percent of students at or above proficient in both math and science at the elementary and middle school levels, but not quite so at the high school level. Second, schools were examined by frequency and effect size of increase, decrease, or no change in student math and science proficiency. The schools with positive changes were in much higher numbers and higher mean effect size of change compared to schools with negative (or no) changes in student math and science proficiency. Third, the relationship between the schools’ targeted teacher participation in MSP-related activities over the entire period of three years and the student math and science proficiency at the “end” year of this period (2005-06) was also investigated. This relationship was positive, yet small, at all school levels for mathematics, and also positive, yet much better pronounced, at the high school level for science. Forth, longitudinal growth trajectories in math and science proficiency across the three years were also investigated. The results showed that the schools with MSP focus on math (or science) increase at higher rate in math (or science) proficiency compared to those without MSP focus on math (or science) at the middle school level.
Rate Maximizing with Adaptive Bit Partition in Cooperative Distributed Antenna System

In multi-user cooperative distributed antenna system (DAS) with limited feedback, multi- user interference (MUI) within the service cell and inter-cell interference (ICI) from adjacent cells are inevitable because of the quantization error. Considering this, we propose an adaptive bit partition scheme,which allocates more bits to quantize the stronger interference channels and changes with channel conditions. Based on our derived upper-bound of average data rate loss, the simulation results show that the proposed scheme has at least 0.5~1dB rate improvement than other average-bit partition schemes, especially in high signal to noise ratio (SNR) region.
Rendering drawings for interactive haptic perception

This paper describes a rendering method for generating tangible drawings of spatial real world objects based on a theory of haptic image perception and understanding. The method is based on an analysis of the process of drawing used by blind people and on cognitive considerations. A haptic rendering pipeline has been implemented which uses methods such as folding out or flattening to create 2D images from 3D models. The evaluation currently being carried out is described and the results are discussed in a broader application context.
The protective role of amla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) against fructose-induced metabolic syndrome in a rat model

We investigated the effects of amla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) on fructose-induced metabolic syndrome using a rat model. Male Wistar rats were fed a high-fructose (65 %) diet or standard chow for 1 week, and treated with an ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extract of amla, a polyphenol-rich fraction, at 10 or 20 mg/kg body weight per d, or vehicle, for 2 weeks. Serum glucose, TAG, total cholesterol and blood pressure levels of the high-fructose diet-fed rats were increased compared with those of the normal rats (P < 0·001). However, the EtOAc extract of amla ameliorated the high fructose-induced metabolic syndrome, including hypertriacylglycerolaemia and hypercholesterolaemia. Also, the elevated levels of hepatic TAG and total cholesterol in rats given the high-fructose diet were significantly reduced by 33·8 and 24·6 %, respectively (P < 0·001), on the administration of the EtOAc extract of amla at the dose of 20 mg/kg with the regulation of sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP)-1 expression. The protein levels of PPARα and SREBP-2 were not affected by the feeding of the high-fructose diet or EtOAc extract of amla. In addition, oral administration of the amla extract at the dose of 20 mg/kg significantly inhibited the increased serum and hepatic mitochondrial thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance levels (21·1 and 43·1 %, respectively; P < 0·001). Furthermore, the amla extract inhibited the increase of cyclo-oxygenase-2 with the regulation of NF-κB and bcl-2 proteins in the liver, while the elevated expression level of bax was significantly decreased by 8·5 and 10·2 % at the doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg body weight per d, respectively. These findings suggest that fructose-induced metabolic syndrome is attenuated by the polyphenol-rich fraction of amla.
Disabilities and Poor Problem-Solving Skills Selective Spatial Working Memory Impairment in a Group of Children With Mathematics Learning

This study examines visual and spatial working memory skills in 35 third to fifth graders with both mathematics learning disabilities (MLD) and poor problem-solving skills and 35 of their peers with typical development (TD) on tasks involving both low and high attentional control. Results revealed that children with MLD, relative to TD children, failed spatial working memory tasks that had either low or high attentional demands but did not fail the visual tasks. In addition, children with MLD made more intrusion errors in the spatial working memory tasks requiring high attentional control than did their TD peers. Finally, as a post hoc analysis the sample of MLD was divided in two: children with severe MLD and children with low mathematical achievement. Results showed that only children with severe MLD failed in spatial working memory (WM) tasks if compared with children with low mathematical achievement and TD. The findings are discussed on the basis of their theoretical and clinical implications, in particular considering that children with MLD can benefit from spatial WM processes to solve arithmetic word problems, which involves the ability to both maintain and manipulate relevant information.
WYSIWYG development of data driven web applications

An emerging trend in Social Networking sites and Web portals is the opening up of their APIs to external application developers. For example, the Facebook Platform, Google Gadgets and Yahoo! Widgets allow developers to design their own applications, which can then can be integrated with the platform and shared with other users. However, current APIs are targeted towards developers with programming expertise and database knowledge; they are not accessible to a large class of users who do not have a programming/database background, but would nevertheless like to create new applications. To address this need, we have developed the AppForge system, which provides a WYSIWYG application development platform. Users can graphically specify the components of webpages inside a Web browser, and the corresponding database schema and application logic will be automatically generated on the fly by the system. The WYSIWYG interface gives instantaneous feedback on what users have created and allows them to run, test and continuously refine their applications. AppForge has been used to create prototype versions of a variety of applications such as an event planning system, a recruiting system, an item trading system and an online course management system. We have also conducted a small and preliminary user study to identify and fix some of the usability aspects of AppForge.