Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HermiT : A Highly-Efficient Reasoner for Description Logics

HermiT is a reasoner for the Description Logic SHOIQ +. The system is based on a novel “hypertableau” calculus and includes a number of new optimizations. HermiT demonstrates significantly faster performance when classifying large and complex ontologies than other state-of-the-art reasoners. HermiT is also the first reasoner able to classify a number of important knowledge bases, including the original version of the GALEN ontology.
A framework for dynamic changes in workflow management systems

Current workflow management systems (WFMSs) are only applicable in a reliable and secure manner if the business process (BP) to be supported is well structured. As ad hoc deviations from preplanned BPs are rather the norm and form a key part of process flexibility, this limits the applicability of today's workflow (WF) technology significantly. We present a framework for the support of ad hoc structural changes of WFs. Basic to our approach is a conceptual, graph based WF model which has a formal foundation in its syntax and operational semantics. Based upon this model, we have developed a complete and minimal set of change operations which support users in modifying the structure of WFs at runtime, while preserving their correctness and consistency.
Child passenger fatalities and restraint use in Auckland.

AIMS To determine the proportion of children killed as passengers in car crashes who were unrestrained and to estimate the reduction in mortality that might result from increasing child restraint utilisation. METHODS All children killed as passengers in car crashes, over the period 1980-90, were identified from the Auckland coroners records. Data were recorded on sex, age, use and type of restraint, position within the motor vehicle, pattern of injuries and place of death. RESULTS There were 49 children (25 male, 24 female) killed as passengers in car crashes over the study period (2.14/100,000/year). The median age was eight years (range 0-14 years). Of the 38 children for whom restraint use could be determined, 31 (81.6%) were unrestrained and seven (18.4%) were restrained. None of the children aged 0-2 years were restrained. Thirty-five children (71.4%) died at the scene of the crash, three (6.2%) died during transport to hospital, and 11 (22.4%) died in hospital. CONCLUSIONS Based on overseas reports of the efficacy of child restraints, close to half (49%) of all child passenger deaths in Auckland could have been prevented with appropriate child restraint use.
The KidsRoom: A Perceptually-Based Interactive and Immersive Story Environment

The KidsRoom is a perceptually-based, interactive, narrative playspace for children. Images, music, narration, light, and sound effects are used to transform a normal child's bedroom into a fantasy land where children are guided through a reactive adventure story. The fully automated system was designed with the following goals: (1) to keep the focus of user action and interaction in the physical and not virtual space; (2) to permit multiple, collaborating people to simultaneously engage in an interactive experience combining both real and virtual objects; (3) to use computer-vision algorithms to identify activity in the space without requiring the participants to wear any special clothing or devices; (4) to use narrative to constrain the perceptual recognition, and to use perceptual recognition to allow participants to drive the narrative; and (5) to create a truly immersive and interactive room environment. We believe the KidsRoom is the first multi-person, fully-automated, interactive, narrative environment ever constructed using non-encumbering sensors. This paper describes the KidsRoom, the technology that makes it work, and the issues that were raised during the system's development.1 A demonstration of the project, which complements the material presented here and includes videos, images, and sounds from each part of the story is available at .
Amino Group Bearing Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Materials for Joining Aluminum Alloys and Thermoplastic Fiber‐Reinforced Parts

The production of metal‐based hybrid laminates, such as aluminum combined with thermoplastics like polyamide 6, requires a precise and purposeful design of the interface between the two components. The utilization of twin polymerization has been successfully examined and an improved adhesion behavior is shown. By utilizing the monomers 2,2′‐spirobi[4H‐1,3,2‐benzodioxasiline] and 2‐(3‐amino‐n‐propyl)‐2‐methyl‐4H‐1,3,2‐benzodioxasiline in a molar ratio of 15:85, medial tensile shear strength values of 12.9 ± 3.9 MPa are achieved in tests according to DIN EN 1465. Electron microscopic and atomic force microscopic investigations give further structural details of the hybrid material. Additionally, the results of nanoindentation and microscratch tests clearly demonstrate that the choice of an adhesion promoter depends on its chemical as well as its mechanical characteristics.
Efficient sampling of dynamical systems with spatial uncertainty

We present two methods for efficiently sampling the response (trajectory space) of dynamical systems operating under spatial uncertainty assumed to be representable with Gaussian processes. The dynamics of such systems depends on spatially indexed uncertain parameters that span infinite dimensional spaces. This places a heavy computational burden on the implementation of existing methodologies, a challenge addressed with two new conditional sampling approaches. When a single instance of the uncertainty is needed in the entire domain, we use a fast Fourier transform technique. When the Gaussian process has a compactly supported kernel, we use an incremental sampling approach, which not only is fast but also has a very small memory footprint. We prove that both methods produce the same distributions as the widely used Cholesky-based approaches while having much less complexity. We illustrate this convergence at a far smaller computational effort and memory cost for a simple vehicle model. Copyright c © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Inflammatory Bone Loss in Experimental Periodontitis Induced by Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans in Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist Knockout Mice

ABSTRACT The interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) binds to IL-1 receptors and inhibits IL-1 activity. However, it is not clear whether IL-1Ra plays a protective role in periodontal disease. This study was undertaken to compare experimental periodontitis induced by Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans in IL-1Ra knockout (KO) mice and wild-type (WT) mice. Computed tomography (CT) analysis and hematoxylin-and-eosin (H&E) and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining were performed. In addition, osteoblasts were isolated; the mRNA expression of relevant genes was assessed by real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR); and calcification was detected by Alizarin Red staining. Infected IL-1Ra KO mice exhibited elevated (P, <0.05) levels of antibody against A. actinomycetemcomitans, bone loss in furcation areas, and alveolar fenestrations. Moreover, protein for tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and IL-6, mRNA for macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), and receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) in IL-1Ra KO mouse osteoblasts stimulated with A. actinomycetemcomitans were increased (P, <0.05) compared to in WT mice. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bone sialoprotein (BSP), osteocalcin (OCN)/bone gla protein (BGP), and runt-related gene 2 (Runx2) mRNA levels were decreased (P, <0.05). IL-1α mRNA expression was increased, and calcification was not observed, in IL-1 Ra KO mouse osteoblasts. In brief, IL-1Ra deficiency promoted the expression of inflammatory cytokines beyond IL-1 and altered the expression of genes involved in bone resorption in A. actinomycetemcomitans-infected osteoblasts. Alterations consistent with rapid bone loss in infected IL-Ra KO mice were also observed for genes expressed in bone formation and calcification. In short, these data suggest that IL-1Ra may serve as a potential therapeutic drug for periodontal disease.
Stealth Carbon Nanotubes: Strategies to Coat Carbon Nanotubes to Prevent Opsonization and Improve Biodistribution

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have recently been in the limelight for its potential role in disease diagnostics and therapeutics. Even before these medical applications can be realized, there is a need to address issues like opsonization, phagocytosis by macrophages and sequestration to liver and spleen for eventual elimination from the body. We believe coating CNT with biocompatible and opsonin resistant moieties will not only help CNT in traversing the blood stream to reach the target organ, but also improve biodistribution tremendously. We set out to achieve this by firstly identifying a new compound, mAmp, which is a fluorescent derivative of the antibiotic, Ampicillin. Besides possessing a varied plethora of properties that complements CNTs already superlative traits, mAmp also affords opsonin resistance to CNT. We wanted to test and compare the four categories of opsonin repellants that we employed: synthetic – Polyethylene glycol (PEG), semisynthetic – mAmp, seminatural – Dextran sulfate (DSS) and natural – Protein A (PrA) + Factor H (FH). We developed novel strategies to conjugate these moieties to CNT and in the process also implemented attachment of Antibodies, specific recognition moieties, to these hybrids to make them ready for precision targeting downstream. Of the four materials used, DSS posed considerable difficulties in achieving a pure DSS-CNT hybrid mainly due to its size and lack of defined purification strategies to separate polysaccharides in a mixture. We responded to this challenge by devising a simple lectin based affinity chromatography system that employs CNT as the support material. As proof of principle we tested the four hybrids on Staphylococcus aureus, in their ability to evade the bacterium in the absence of specific antibody and ability to specifically attach to the bacterium in its presence. We then tested the particles on human macrophages in the presence of opsonins, C3b and IgG. It was henceforth proved that coating CNT with the opsonin resistant moieties provided excellent immunity versus macrophages and considerable stealth character to CNTs. This dissertation is approved for Recommendation to the Graduate Council Dissertation Director: _______________________________________ Dr. Jin-Woo Kim
ZCURVE: a new system for recognizing protein-coding genes in bacterial and archaeal genomes.

A new system, ZCURVE 1.0, for finding protein- coding genes in bacterial and archaeal genomes has been proposed. The current algorithm, which is based on the Z curve representation of the DNA sequences, lays stress on the global statistical features of protein-coding genes by taking the frequencies of bases at three codon positions into account. In ZCURVE 1.0, since only 33 parameters are used to characterize the coding sequences, it gives better consideration to both typical and atypical cases, whereas in Markov-model-based methods, e.g. Glimmer 2.02, thousands of parameters are trained, which may result in less adaptability. To compare the performance of the new system with that of Glimmer 2.02, both systems were run, respectively, for 18 genomes not annotated by the Glimmer system. Comparisons were also performed for predicting some function-known genes by both systems. Consequently, the average accuracy of both systems is well matched; however, ZCURVE 1.0 has more accurate gene start prediction, lower additional prediction rate and higher accuracy for the prediction of horizontally transferred genes. It is shown that the joint applications of both systems greatly improve gene-finding results. For a typical genome, e.g. Escherichia coli, the system ZCURVE 1.0 takes approximately 2 min on a Pentium III 866 PC without any human intervention. The system ZCURVE 1.0 is freely available at: http://tubic. tju.edu. cn/Zcurve_B/.
Rational Basis Functions in Iterative Learning Control—With Experimental Verification on a Motion System

Iterative learning control (ILC) approaches often exhibit poor extrapolation properties with respect to exogenous signals, such as setpoint variations. This brief introduces rational basis functions in ILC. Such rational basis functions have the potential to both increase performance and enhance the extrapolation properties. The key difficulty that is associated with these rational basis functions lies in a significantly more complex optimization problem when compared with using preexisting polynomial basis functions. In this brief, a new iterative optimization algorithm is proposed that enables the use of rational basis functions in ILC for single-input single-output systems. An experimental case study confirms the advantages of rational basis functions compared with preexisting results, as well as the effectiveness of the proposed iterative algorithm.
A damage model of mechanical behavior of porous materials: Application to sandstone

In this work, a multiscale model based on the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) technique is applied to describe the mechanical behavior of porous materials. The effects of the microstructures (such as pore shape, number, size, distribution and orientation) on the overall strength of the porous medium and its microstress distribution are fully studied. The elastoplastic model is further extended by including a damage process. The influences of microstructure on the damage evolution of the porous medium are discussed and illustrated numerically. Then the proposed multiscale damage model is applied to study the macroscopic behavior of porous sandstone. According to the microstructure of the studied material, a representative elementary volume with randomly distributed spherical pores is considered. The solid phase of the sandstone is assumed to obey the Drucker–Prager criterion. Taking advantage of the FFT-based method, the evolution of generated damage is clearly illustrated during the loading process at the microscopic level. Comparisons between numerical results and experimental data show the efficiency of the proposed numerical model.
Brief Announcement : Optimal Atomic Broadcast and Multicast Algorithms for Wide Area Networks

Distributed applications spanning multiple geographical locations have become common in recent years. Typically, each geographical site, or group, hosts an arbitrarily large number of processes connected through high-end local links; a few groups exist, interconnected through high-latency communication links. As a consequence, communication among processes in the same group is cheap and fast; communication among processes in different groups is expensive and orders of magnitude slower than local communication. Application data is replicated both locally, for high availability, and globally, usually for locality of access. In this paper, we investigate the atomic broadcast and multicast problems, two communication primitives that offer adequate properties, namely agreement on the set of messages delivered and on their delivery order, to implement data replication [3]. As opposed to atomic broadcast, atomic multicast allows messages to be sent to a subset of processes in the system. More precisely, messages can be addressed to any subset of the system’s groups Γ, each message possibly being multicast to a different subset. The set of groups to which a message m is multicast is denoted by m.dest. Atomic broadcast and multicast are defined by the primitives AXCast, i.e., A-BCast or A-MCast whether the message is broadcast or multicast, and A-Deliver. Moreover, we define the relation < on the set of messages that processes (correct or faulty) A-Deliver as follows: m < m′ if and only if a process A-Delivers m before m′. ∗The work presented in this paper has been partially funded by the SNSF, Switzerland (project #200021-107824). In the case of atomic broadcast, for every message m, m.dest = Γ.
Fabrication and Electromechanical Characterization of a Piezoelectric Structural Fiber for Multifunctional Composites

The use of piezoceramic materials for structural sensing and actuation is a fairly well developed practice that has found use in a wide variety of applications. However, just as advanced composites offer numerous benefits over traditional engineering materials for structural design, actuators that utilize the active properties of piezoelectric fibers can improve upon many of the limitations encountered when using monolithic piezoceramic devices. Several new piezoelectric fiber composites have been developed; however, almost all studies have implemented these devices such that they are surface‐bonded patches used for sensing or actuation. This paper will introduce a novel active piezoelectric structural fiber that can be laid up in a composite material to perform sensing and actuation, in addition to providing load bearing functionality. The sensing and actuation aspects of this multifunctional material will allow composites to be designed with numerous embedded functions, including structural health monitoring, power generation, vibration sensing and control, damping, and shape control through anisotropic actuation. This effort has developed a set of manufacturing techniques to fabricate the multifunctional fiber using a SiC fiber core and a BaTiO3 piezoelectric shell. The electromechanical coupling of the fiber is characterized using an atomic force microscope for various aspect ratios and is compared to predictions made using finite element modeling in ABAQUS. The results show good agreement between the finite element analysis model and indicate that the fibers could have coupling values as high as 68% of the active constituent used.
Draft Genome Sequence of a Clinical Enterococcus faecium Sequence Type 18 Strain from South Africa

ABSTRACT We report the first draft genome sequence of an Enterococcus faecium sequence type 18 (ST18) strain isolated from a tuberculosis patient in Africa. The genome is comprised of 3,202,539 bp, 501 contigs, 37.70% GC content, 3,202 protein-encoding genes, and 61 RNA genes. The resistome and virulome of this important pathogen are presented herein.
Non-WSSUS Vehicular Channel Characterization at 5.2 GHz - Spectral Divergence and Time-Variant Coherence Parameters

The scattering environment in vehicle-to-vehicle communication channels at 5.2 GHz changes rapidly. Hence the wide-sense stationary (WSS) uncorrelated scattering (US) assumption for the fading process is valid for short time intervals only. We characterize the spectral divergence of the local scattering function (LSF) sequence in order to assess the non-WSSUS characteristics in different scenarios. We find that the vehicle-to-vehicle channels violate the wide-sense stationarity much stronger than the US assumption. Additionally, we use the LSF to quantify the time dependence of the channel coherence time and bandwidth. Both parameters vary strongly over time depending on the chosen scenario. Furthermore the effect of the antenna radiation pattern on the fading process is quantified, which can cause the strength of a multipath component to change by more than 40 dB in drive-by experiments. (Less)
A Novel Video Mining System

This paper describes a novel object mining system for videos. An algorithm published in a previous paper by the authors is used to segment the video into shots and extract stable tracks from them. A grouping technique is introduced to combine these stable tracks into meaningful object clusters. These clusters are used in mining similar objects. Compared to other object mining systems, our approach mines more instances of similar objects in different shots. The proposed framework is applied to a full length feature film and improved results are shown.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STATE OF NERVE‐TERMINAL POLARIZATION AND LIBERATION OF ACETYLCHOLINE

Published hypotheses of the mechanism of acetylcholine (ACh) liberation agree in postulating that the quanta1 nature of ACh release arises because the ACh is contained in synaptic vesicles and is released when these vesicles interact with the nerve terminal membrane. These hypotheses differ, however, in the role to which they assign nerve terminal polarization. According to Bass and Moore ( 1966), terminal depolarization removes a charge and hydration barrier normally preventing impingement of charged hydrated vesicles with the terminal membrane. According to del Castillo and Katz ( 1957), however, depolarization increases the number of membrane receptors available for combination with presumably uncharged vesicles, it being assumed that combination leads to release of ACh. These hypotheses have been tested using the frequency of miniature end-plate potentials (m.e.p.p.s) intracellularly recorded from rat diaphragm-phrenic nerve preparations in vitro as a measure of ACh liberation and the raising of the KCI concentration of the bathing medium as a controlled means of depolarizing nerve terminals (Liley, 1956).
Towards the Generalization of Game-Based Learning: Integrating Educational Video Games in LAMS

In e-Learning the interest on the use of new kinds of highly-interactive content is increasing. In this regard video games are one of the media that is gaining momentum because of their high potential for enhancing both students' motivation and learning outcomes. Nevertheless, the actual adoption of games in the educational system is scarce. In this paper we identify different open issues to be addressed to reach the aforementioned goal. To deal with these issues and broaden the use of educational video games, we propose their integration into the existing e-Learning infrastructure. Moreover, we present the integration of the educational game platform into the widespread Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) and discuss how this approach contributes to push forward the generalized adoption of educational video games.
Improved Techniques for the Measurement of High-Voltage Impulses Using the Electrooptic Kerr Effect

The purpose of this paper is to present two methods of accumulating, analyzing, and presenting in real time the data generated by a Kerr system in response to a high-voltage impulse. These methods provide immediate information concerning selected electrical parameters in a form which is easily interpretable by most personnel. The first method uses an electronic counter to determine the number of optical transmittance maxima, i.e., light pulses, duritg the high-voltage impulse. From this count, the peak value of impulse can be calculated. The second method, which can be more accurate and does provide information concerning waveshape, uses a digital recorder to store the output waveform from the Kerr system. A computer is then used to reconstruct the voltage impulse and to determine such parameters as the peak value and risetime of the impulse.
Input Constraints Handling in an MPC/Feedback Linearization Scheme

Input Constraints Handling in an MPC/Feedback Linearization Scheme The combination of model predictive control based on linear models (MPC) with feedback linearization (FL) has attracted interest for a number of years, giving rise to MPC+FL control schemes. An important advantage of such schemes is that feedback linearizable plants can be controlled with a linear predictive controller with a fixed model. Handling input constraints within such schemes is difficult since simple bound contraints on the input become state dependent because of the nonlinear transformation introduced by feedback linearization. This paper introduces a technique for handling input constraints within a real time MPC/FL scheme, where the plant model employed is a class of dynamic neural networks. The technique is based on a simple affine transformation of the feasible area. A simulated case study is presented to illustrate the use and benefits of the technique.