Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Counterexample-guided Planning

Planning in adversarial and uncertain environments can be modeled as the problem of devising strategies in stochastic perfect information games. These games are generalizations of Markov decision processes (MDPs): there are two (adversarial) players, and a source of randomness. The main practical obstacle to computing winning strategies in such games is the size of the state space. In practice therefore, one typically works with abstractions of the model. The diffculty is to come up with an abstraction that is neither too coarse to remove all winning strategies (plans), nor too fine to be intractable. In verification, the paradigm of counterexample-guided abstraction refinement has been successful to construct useful but parsimonious abstractions automatically. We extend this paradigm to probabilistic models (namely, perfect information games and, as a special case, MDPs). This allows us to apply the counterexample-guided abstraction paradigm to the AI planning problem. As special cases, we get planning algorithms for MDPs and deterministic systems that automatically construct system abstractions.
A Nuclear-coded Chloroplastic Inner Envelope Membrane Protein Uses a Soluble Sorting Intermediate upon Import into the Organelle

The chloroplastic inner envelope protein of 110 kD (IEP110) is part of the protein import machinery in the pea. Different hybrid proteins were constructed to assess the import and sorting pathway of IEP110. The IEP110 precursor (pIEP110) uses the general import pathway into chloroplasts, as shown by the mutual exchange of presequences with the precursor of the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (pSSU). Sorting information to the chloroplastic inner envelope is contained in an NH2-proximal part of mature IEP110 (110N). The NH2-terminus serves to anchor the protein into the membrane. Large COOH-terminal portions of this protein (80–90 kD) are exposed to the intermembrane space in situ. Successful sorting and integration of IEP110 and the derived constructs into the inner envelope are demonstrated by the inaccessability of processed mature protein to the protease thermolysin but accessibility to trypsin, i.e., the imported protein is exposed to the intermembrane space. A hybrid protein consisting of the transit sequence of SSU, the NH2-proximal part of mature IEP110, and mature SSU (tpSSU-110N-mSSU) is completely imported into the chloroplast stroma, from which it can be recovered as soluble, terminally processed 110NmSSU. The soluble 110N-mSSU then enters a reexport pathway, which results not only in the insertion of 110N-mSSU into the inner envelope membrane, but also in the extrusion of large portions of the protein into the intermembrane space. We conclude that chloroplasts possess a protein reexport machinery for IEPs in which soluble stromal components interact with a membrane-localized translocation machinery.
Size‐Scaling of Tensile Failure Stress in a Hot‐Pressed Silicon Carbide

Quasi-static Weibull strength-size scaling of hot-pressed silicon carbide is described. Two surface conditions (uniaxial ground and uniaxial ground followed by grit blasting) were explored. Strength test coupons sampled effective areas from the very small (4 × 10−3 mm2) to the very large (4 × 104 mm2). Equibiaxial flexure and Hertzian ring crack initiation were used for the strength tests, and characteristic strengths for several different specimen geometries were analyzed as a function of effective area. Characteristic strength was found to substantially increase with decreased effective area for both surface conditions. Weibull moduli of 9.4- and 11.7 well-represented strength-size scaling for the two ground conditions between an effective area range of 10−1 and 4 × 104 mm2. Machining damage was observed to be the dominant flaw type over this range. However, for effective areas <10−1 mm2, the characteristic strength increased rapidly for both ground surface conditions as the effective area decreased, and one or more of the inherent assumptions behind the classical Weibull strength-size scaling were in violation in this range. The selections of a ceramic strength to account for ballistically induced tile deflection and expanding cavity modeling are considered in context with the measured strength-size scaling. The observed size-scaling is briefly discussed with reference to dynamic strength.
A Real-Time Integrated Hierarchical Temporal Memory Network for the Real-Time Continuous Multi-Interval Prediction of Data Streams

Continuous multi-interval prediction (CMIP) is used to continuously predict the trend of a data stream based on various intervals simultaneously. The continuous integrated hierarchical temporal memory (CIHTM) network performs well in CMIP. However, it is not suitable for CMIP in real-time mode, especially when the number of prediction intervals is increased. In this paper, we propose a real-time integrated hierarchical temporal memory (RIHTM) network by introducing a new type of node, which is called a Zeta1FirstSpecializedQueueNode (ZFSQNode), for the real-time continuous multi-interval prediction (RCMIP) of data streams. The ZFSQNode is constructed by using a specialized circular queue (sQUEUE) together with the modules of original hierarchical temporal memory (HTM) nodes. By using a simple structure and the easy operation characteristics of the sQUEUE, entire prediction operations are integrated in the ZFSQNode. In particular, we employed only one ZFSQNode in each level of the RIHTM network during the prediction stage to generate different intervals of prediction results. The RIHTM network efficiently reduces the response time. Our performance evaluation showed that the RIHTM was satisfied to continuously predict the trend of data streams with multi-intervals in the real-time mode.
Efficient similarity search in streaming time sequences

Query processing in data streams is a very important research direction. The challenge in a database of data streams is to provide efficient algorithms and access methods for query processing, taking into consideration the fact that the database changes continuously as new data arrive. Traditional access methods that continuously update the data are considered inefficient, due to the significant update costs. In this paper we present IDC-Index, an efficient technique for similarity query processing in streaming time sequences, which is based on a multidimensional access method enhanced with a deferred update policy and an incremental computation of the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), which is used as a feature extraction method. The method manages to reduce the number of false alarms examined and therefore achieves high answers/candidates ratio. Moreover, an extensive performance evaluation based on synthetic random walk and real time sequences have shown that the proposed technique outperforms significantly existing approaches for similarity range query processing.
Free-viewpoint video of human actors

In free-viewpoint video, the viewer can interactively choose his viewpoint in 3-D space to observe the action of a dynamic real-world scene from arbitrary perspectives. The human body and its motion plays a central role in most visual media and its structure can be exploited for robust motion estimation and efficient visualization. This paper describes a system that uses multi-view synchronized video footage of an actor's performance to estimate motion parameters and to interactively re-render the actor's appearance from any viewpoint.The actor's silhouettes are extracted from synchronized video frames via background segmentation and then used to determine a sequence of poses for a 3D human body model. By employing multi-view texturing during rendering, time-dependent changes in the body surface are reproduced in high detail. The motion capture subsystem runs offline, is non-intrusive, yields robust motion parameter estimates, and can cope with a broad range of motion. The rendering subsystem runs at real-time frame rates using ubiquous graphics hardware, yielding a highly naturalistic impression of the actor. The actor can be placed in virtual environments to create composite dynamic scenes. Free-viewpoint video allows the creation of camera fly-throughs or viewing the action interactively from arbitrary perspectives.
Analytical Modelling and Performability Analysis for Cloud Computing Using Queuing System

In recent years, cloud computing becomes a new computing model emerged from the rapid development of the internet. Users can reach their resources with high flexibility using the cloud computing systems all over the world. However, such systems are prone to failures. In order to obtain realistic quality of service (QoS) measurements, failure and recovery behaviours of the system should be considered. System's failures and repairs are associated with availability context in QoS measurements. In this paper, performance issues are considered with the availability of the system. Markov Reward Model (MRM) method is used to get QoS measurements. The mean queue length (MQL) results are calculated using the MRM. The results explicitly show that failures and repairs affect the system performance significantly.
Power minimization using system-level partitioning of applications with quality of service requirements

Design systems to provide various quality of service (QoS) guarantees have received a lot of attention due to the increasing popularity of real-time multimedia and wireless communication applications. Meanwhile, low power consumption is always one of the goals for system design, especially for battery-operated systems. With the design trend of integrating multiple processor cores and memory on a single chip, we address the problem of how to partition a set of applications among processors, such that all the individual QoS requirements are met and the total energy consumption is minimized. We exploit the advantages provided by the variable voltage design methodology to choose the voltage for each application on the same processor optimally for this purpose. We also discuss how to partition applications among the processors to achieve the same goal. We formulate the problem on an abstract QoS model and present how to allocate resources (e.g., CPU time) and determine the voltage profile for every single processor. Experiments on media benchmarks have also been studied.
Ceftaroline-Heteroresistant Staphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT Heteroresistance refers to the presence, within a large population of antimicrobial-susceptible microorganisms, of subpopulations with lesser susceptibilities. Ceftaroline is a novel cephalosporin with activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The aim of this study was to detect the prevalence of ceftaroline heteroresistance in vitro in a select group of S. aureus strains. There were 57 isolates selected for evaluation, 20 MRSA, 20 vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA), 7 daptomycin-nonsusceptible S. aureus (DNSSA), 6 linezolid-nonsusceptible S. aureus (LNSSA), and 4 heteroresistant VISA (hVISA) isolates. MICs and minimal bactericidal concentrations were determined using the broth microdilution method according to CLSI guidelines. All of the isolates were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec element (SCCmec) types were determined by a multiplex PCR. Population analysis profiles (PAPs) were performed to determine heteroresistance for all of the isolates using plates made by adding various amounts of ceftaroline to brain heart infusion agar. The frequencies of resistant subpopulations were 1 in 104 to 105 organisms. We determined that 12 of the 57 (21%) isolates tested were ceftaroline-heteroresistant S. aureus (CHSA). CHSA occurred among strains with reduced susceptibilities to vancomycin, daptomycin, and linezolid but occurred in none of the USA-300 isolates tested. Evaluation of the heteroresistant strains demonstrated that the phenotype was unstable. Further studies are needed to determine whether CHSA has a role in clinical failures and to determine the implications of our study findings.
A new path generation method for autonomous in-door and out-door robots

Autonomous robot navigation is an important research field because these robots can solve problems where the human presence is impossible, dangerous, expensive, or uncomfortable. The main problem to be solved for an autonomous robot is that the environment where they have to move safely is usually not or only partially known and possibly even dynamically changing. In such situations universal navigation methods can be advantageous because they can combine the abilities of both the global and local techniques and thus can be used in any environment. In this paper, a new autonomous hybrid navigation method is introduced. The algorithm is composed of visibility graph based global navigation and simple potential field based local navigation parts. It applies a new automated graph generation method which may become necessary if, because of the observed new obstacles, a new path should be generated. The route generated by the introduced technique is quasi optimal. The presented technique offers a universal navigation technique which can successfully be used in all, known, unknown, and dynamically changing environments.
Effect of rhPDGF-BB-Coated Sutures on Tendon Healing in a Rat Model: A Histological and Biomechanical Study

Delivering growth factors to the site of injury using a coated suture delivery method has been investigated recently as a means to augment tissue repair [1]. This is a practical approach for growth factor delivery, as sutures are the method of choice for most orthopaedic surgeons for soft tissue repairs. One advantage of growth factor-coated sutures in tendon repair is the potential to accelerate healing in vivo, thereby improving the outcome of the repair. In particular, platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) is a well characterized wound healing protein known to be chemotactic and mitogenic for cells of mesenchymal origin, including tenocytes, and has been shown to improve healing when applied to animal models of tendon injury [2,3]. The aim of this study was to compare the quality of the tendon repair at four weeks post treatment with sutures coated with varying concentrations of rhPDGF-BB, relative to buffer-coated suture repairs. © 2011 ASME
Social Policy and Temporal Patterns of Retirement : Evidence from Germany and Britain

include life course processes, aging, stratification, and longitudinal data analysis. She has published on gender inequality in recruitment processes, job mobility, and methods in life course research. She recently defended her dissertation on family events and retirement processes with honors at Jacobs University Bremen. and the participants of the CIQLE workshop at Yale University for helpful suggestions. I thank Matthew Evans for language editing. Abstract Since the 1970s retirement has become increasingly early and less standardized. While much research has addressed the early retirement trend, there is little understanding of changing retirement patterns. Yet, changing retirement patterns are an important potential driver of economic inequality among retirees. This article proposes de-standardization and differentiation as two concepts to systematically analyze temporal retirement patterns. Germany and Britain are compared to assess how social policies interact to shape individual retirement patterns and economic inequality. The study uses sequence analysis and relative distribution methods to provide an innovative and dynamic perspective on retirement. Results from longitudinal data show that retirement de-standardization and differentiation are driven by employment maintenance policies on the labor market, high institutional complexity in pensions, and a lack of institutionalized early retirement routes. De-standardization and differentiation of retirement, however, are not associated with increasing economic inequality among retirees.
Curriculum development in nursing education.

Inevitably, reading is one of the requirements to be undergone. To improve the performance and quality, someone needs to have something new every day. It will suggest you to have more inspirations, then. However, the needs of inspirations will make you searching for some sources. Even from the other people experience, internet, and many books. Books and internet are the recommended media to help you improving your quality and performance.
The light field stereoscope

Over the last few years, virtual reality (VR) has re-emerged as a technology that is now feasible at low cost via inexpensive cellphone components. In particular, advances of high-resolution micro displays, low-latency orientation trackers, and modern GPUs facilitate extremely immersive experiences. To facilitate comfortable long-term experiences and wide-spread user acceptance, however, the vergence-accommodation conflict inherent to all stereoscopic displays will have to be solved. We present the first factored near-eye display technology supporting high image resolutions as well as focus cues --- i.e. accommodation and retinal blur. To this end, we build on Brewster's original stereoscope but augment it with modern factored light field synthesis via stacked liquid crystal panels. We demonstrate significant improvements in resolution and retinal blur quality over previously-proposed near-eye displays.
Fast pedestrian detection Based on Adaboost and probability template matching

In this paper, we propose a real time pedestrian detection approach which consists of two levels: coarse detection and further validation. First, partial stages of cascaded Adaboost classifiers are adopted to detect the upper bodies and generate candidate regions with a high detection rate. In the second level, a probability template is proposed, based on which a template matching technique is used to further reject the negative candidates. All the parameters involved are learnt from the training samples automatically. Our experimental results verify that the proposed approach improves detection performance substantially, while maintaining a fast processing speed.
Endogenous Government Spending and Fiscal Stimulus (Incomplete Version)

Government spending multiplier is usually defined as a factor of proportionality that measures how much output changes in response to a change in the exogenous government spending shock. This assumption is inconsistent with the reality that fiscal stimulus are themselves endogenous and state dependent. This paper developed a endogenous regime switching framework in a rational expectation DSGE model to study the counter-cyclical fiscal policy–the unproductive government spending increases only in recession, the regime switch is triggered when certain endogenous variables cross the specified threshold. The model justifies the important role of the counter-cyclical fiscal policy. By comparing the exogenous and endogenous government spending, the model finds out the multiplier effect can be very different in the short and long run. JEL Classification: E62 H30 H50 ∗Department of Economics, Indiana University, 105 Wylie Hall, 100 S. Woodlawn, Bloomington, IN 47405, wenshen@indiana.edu. I am grateful to my advisor, Eric Leeper for inspiring my interest on this topic. I also thank Todd Walker and Bulent Guler for helpful comments and suggestions. In addition, I thank Troy Davig and Huixin Bi for helpful conversation.
Anti-CD25 monoclonal antibody coverage allows for calcineurin inhibitor “holiday” in solid organ transplant patients with acute renal dysfunction1

Background. Solid organ transplant (Tx) patients on calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) can develop acute renal dysfunction (ARD), which could be improved by reducing or withholding (“holiday”) CNI dose. Methods. We used anti-CD25 monoclonal antibodies to prevent acute rejection in 11 adult Tx patients (7 heart, 2 liver, 2 heart-renal Tx), requiring a CNI “holiday” because of 15 events of ARD after the initial postTx hospitalization. An event of ARD was defined as an increase in serum creatinine (Scr)>25% vs. baseline. The CNI “holiday” was implemented until Scr had decreased to baseline. Basiliximab was used in 7 patients (11 events), and daclizumab was used in 4 patients (4 events). Results. The CNI “holiday” was implemented over 21±51 days. Anti-CD25 mAb were well tolerated with no episodes of acute rejection. Scr (&mgr;mol/liter) increased from 145±48 to 301±92 (P <0.0001), and decreased to 143±55 with the CNI “holiday. ” Conclusions. Our results suggest that a CNI “holiday” may improve ARD after solid organ Tx without rejection under anti-CD25 mAb coverage.
Histone lysine demethylases in Drosophila melanogaster

Epigenetic regulation of chromatin structure is a fundamental process for eukaryotes. Regulators include DNA methylation, microRNAs and chromatin modifications. Within the chromatin modifiers, one class of enzymes that can functionally bind and modify chromatin, through the removal of methyl marks, is the histone lysine demethylases. Here, we summarize the current findings of the 13 known histone lysine demethylases in Drosophila melanogaster, and discuss the critical role of these histone-modifying enzymes in the maintenance of genomic functions. Additionally, as histone demethylase dysregulation has been identified in cancer, we discuss the advantages for using Drosophila as a model system to study tumorigenesis.
On a hybrid preamble/soft-output demapper approach for time synchronization for IEEE 802.15.6 narrowband WBAN

In this paper, we present a maximum likelihood (ML) based time synchronization algorithm for Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN). The proposed technique takes advantage of soft information retrieved from the soft demapper for the time delay estimation. This algorithm has a low complexity and is adapted to the frame structure specified by the IEEE 802.15. 6 standard for the narrowband systems. Simulation results have shown good performance which approach the theoretical mean square error limit bound represented by the Cramer Rao Bound (CRB).
Thermo Gravimetric Analysis Study of PMMA/TiO2 Nanocomposites

The polymer matrix of poly (metyl methacrylate) (PMMA) has been introduced with the titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanopowder to study the effects of the TiO2 size on the properties of the nanocomposites. The particle size is playing an important role in determining the properties of the nanocomposite. The decrease the filler size has increase the thermal decomposition of the nanocomposites due to the higher amount of the filler between the polymer chains. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (EDS) also were discussed in this paper.
Assessment of shoulder function using the coronal plane angle

Background: Assessment of shoulder function is an essential part of clinical practice. Current scoring relies on multiple subjective and / or objective components. We present a single angular measurement, the coronal plane angle, which relates to the functional assessment of the shoulder. Materials and Methods: One hundred patients were prospectively enrolled and assessed using the Constant-Murley score and the Oxford shoulder questionnaire, and the coronal plane angle was measured for both symptomatic and asymptomatic shoulder. Results: Nine patients were excluded from the study: Four had apprehension and five were not able to get their hand to head. The mean coronal plane angle on the symptomatic side was +11.3° and the asymptomatic side −1.5° (P ≤ 0.01). Pearson's correlation of 0.9 and 0.84 was demonstrated for the Constant-Murley and Oxford shoulder scores, respectively, with the coronal plane angle. Conclusion: The coronal plane angle is a single objective assessment and provides a simple alternative to shoulder assessment for the majority of patients.