Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robot Motion Planning: A Distributed Representation Approach

We propose a new approach to robot path planning that consists of building and searching a graph connecting the local minima of a potential function defined over the robot's configuration space. A planner based on this approach has been implemented. This planner is consider ably faster than previous path planners and solves prob lems for robots with many more degrees of freedom (DOFs). The power of the planner derives both from the "good" properties of the potential function and from the efficiency of the techniques used to escape the local min ima of this function. The most powerful of these tech niques is a Monte Carlo technique that escapes local min ima by executing Brownian motions. The overall approach is made possible by the systematic use of distributed rep resentations (bitmaps) for the robot's work space and configuration space. We have experimented with the plan ner using several computer-simulated robots, including rigid objects with 3 DOFs (in 2D work space) and 6 DOFs (in 3D work space) and manipulator arms with 8, 10, and 31 DOFs (in 2D and 3D work spaces). Some of the most significant experiments are reported in this article.
Complete Genome Sequence of the Bacteriophages ECBP1 and ECBP2 Isolated from Two Different Escherichia coli Strains

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli is recognized as one of the most abundant avian bacterial pathogens. In this study, we report the sequencing by the traditional Sanger method of ECBP1 and ECBP2: bacteriophages that infected two different E. coli strains which might be used as therapeutic agents in combination with alternative antibiotics.
Air quality mapping using GIS and economic evaluation of health impact for Mumbai City, India

ABSTRACT Mumbai, a highly populated city in India, has been selected for air quality mapping and assessment of health impact using monitored air quality data. Air quality monitoring networks in Mumbai are operated by National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). A monitoring station represents air quality at a particular location, while we need spatial variation for air quality management. Here, air quality monitored data of NEERI and BMC were spatially interpolated using various inbuilt interpolation techniques of ArcGIS. Inverse distance weighting (IDW), Kriging (spherical and Gaussian), and spline techniques have been applied for spatial interpolation for this study. The interpolated results of air pollutants sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and suspended particulate matter (SPM) were compared with air quality data of MPCB in the same region. Comparison of results showed good agreement for predicted values using IDW and Kriging with observed data. Subsequently, health impact assessment of a ward was carried out based on total population of the ward and air quality monitored data within the ward. Finally, health cost within a ward was estimated on the basis of exposed population. This study helps to estimate the valuation of health damage due to air pollution. Implications: Operating more air quality monitoring stations for measurement of air quality is highly resource intensive in terms of time and cost. The appropriate spatial interpolation techniques can be used to estimate concentration where air quality monitoring stations are not available. Further, health impact assessment for the population of the city and estimation of economic cost of health damage due to ambient air quality can help to make rational control strategies for environmental management. The total health cost for Mumbai city for the year 2012, with a population of 12.4 million, was estimated as USD8000 million.
Enabling LOS delay test with slow scan enable

Delay defects can be detected using Launch-off-capture (LOC) and Launch-off-shift (LOS) based delay test techniques. In terms of delay test coverage and test set size, LOS is more effective compared to LOC. However, to exercise LOS test a high speed scan enable signal is required. The cost of implementing a high speed global scan enable signal is prohibitively high. In practice, most of the commercial designs employing full scan design support only LOC based delay test. In this paper, we propose a new scan flip-flop design that is capable of exercising both LOS and LOC based delay test with a slow scan enable signal. The proposed design can achieve much higher delay fault coverage by exercising both LOS and LOC test. Furthermore, in a mixed mode scan test environment the proposed scan flip-flop can be used both as a serial scan cell as well as a random access scan (RAS) cell.
Solution structure of a GAAA tetraloop receptor RNA

The GAAA tetraloop receptor is an 11‐nucleotide RNA sequence that participates in the tertiary folding of a variety of large catalytic RNAs by providing a specific binding site for GAAA tetraloops. Here we report the solution structure of the isolated tetraloop receptor as solved by multidimensional, heteronuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The internal loop of the tetraloop receptor has three adenosines stacked in a cross‐strand or zipper‐like fashion. This arrangement produces a high degree of base stacking within the asymmetric internal loop without extrahelical bases or kinking the helix. Additional interactions within the internal loop include a U·U mismatch pair and a G·U wobble pair. A comparison with the crystal structure of the receptor RNA bound to its tetraloop shows that a conformational change has to occur upon tetraloop binding, which is in good agreement with previous biochemical data. A model for an alternative binding site within the receptor is proposed based on the NMR structure, phylogenetic data and previous crystallographic structures of tetraloop interactions.
Brief Analysis on the Application of Big Data in Internet Financial Risk Control

With the rapid development of information technology, the Internet has been applied to all walks of life. The integration of big data in Internet finance has resulted in the rapid development of Internet finance. The application of big data to Internet finance has played an important role in controlling Internet financial risks, which has improved the accuracy of Internet financial risk control systems, and improved the services of Internet finance. This paper briefly summarizes big data technology and Internet finance, analyzes the specific application of big data in Internet finance and clarifies the principle of Internet financial risk control, and the specific application of big data in Internet financial risk control is obtained finally.
Outsourcing Vertical Integration: Distributed Ledgers and the V-Form Organisation

This paper introduces the V-form organisation, a new form of firm organisation where vertical integration is outsourced to a decentralized distributed ledger (a blockchain). V-form organisations rely on the coordination of a (trusted) third party. It looks specifically at two instances of V-form organisation being established on the IBM-Linux Foundation Hyperledger permissioned blockchain. The paper concludes with four recommendations for strategic management about how to adjust to a V-form world, and four recommendations for policymakers.
Separation of multiple sources in PD measurements using an amplitude-frequency relation diagram

A new procedure for the pulse signal separation generated by multiple sources during Partial Discharge (PD) measurements, is presented in the paper. It is based on the analysis of signals projected into a 3D Amplitude-Frequency Space (AFS) obtained by selecting three different frequencies from the FFT of the recorded signals. Assuming that the same source can exhibit signals having similar shape, those which show different shapes i.e. different frequency spectrum, are grouped differently in this space. The DBSCAN algorithm is adopted here to select the different groups (clusters) of 3D AFS. The relevant Phase Resolved PD sub-patterns are derived accordingly. A case study is also discussed to show the validity of the method.
Pain Conditions Ranked by Healthcare Costs for Members of a National Health Plan

Healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and associated costs specific to pain are a growing concern, as increasing dollar amounts are spent on pain‐related conditions. Understanding which pain conditions drive the highest utilization and cost burden to the healthcare system would enable providers and payers to better target conditions to manage pain adequately and efficiently. The current study focused on 36 noncancer chronic and 14 noncancer acute pain conditions and measured the HCRU and costs per member over 365 days. These conditions were ranked by per‐member costs and total adjusted healthcare costs to determine the most expensive conditions to a national health plan. The top 5 conditions for the commercial line of business were back pain, osteoarthritis (OA), childbirth, injuries, and non‐hip, non‐spine fractures (adjusted annual total costs for the commercial members were $119 million, $98 million, $69 million, $61 million, and $48 million, respectively). The top 5 conditions for Medicare members were OA, back pain, hip fractures, injuries, and non‐hip, non‐spine fractures (adjusted annual costs for the Medicare members were $327 million, $218 million, $117 million, $82 million, and $67 million, respectively). The conditions ranked highest for both per‐member and total healthcare costs were hip fractures, childbirth, and non‐hip, non‐spine fractures. Among these, hip fractures in the Medicare member population had the highest mean cost per member (adjusted per‐member cost was $21,058). Further examination specific to how pain is managed in these high‐cost conditions will enable providers and payers to develop strategies to improve patient outcomes through appropriate pain management.
Analog memory and spike-timing-dependent plasticity characteristics of a nanoscale titanium oxide bilayer resistive switching device

We demonstrated analog memory, synaptic plasticity, and a spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) function with a nanoscale titanium oxide bilayer resistive switching device with a simple fabrication process and good yield uniformity. We confirmed the multilevel conductance and analog memory characteristics as well as the uniformity and separated states for the accuracy of conductance change. Finally, STDP and a biological triple model were analyzed to demonstrate the potential of titanium oxide bilayer resistive switching device as synapses in neuromorphic devices. By developing a simple resistive switching device that can emulate a synaptic function, the unique characteristics of synapses in the brain, e.g. combined memory and computing in one synapse and adaptation to the outside environment, were successfully demonstrated in a solid state device.
Produced household waste and the recycling and disposal strategies of the population of Santiago de Cuba

The increased production of household waste in most of the developing countries is a growing problem. Most of these countries have no treatment of the waste except disposing of it in a landfill. In order to improve the solid waste management of the city of Santiago de Cuba, an investigation of the households' waste production and treatment was conducted. In February of 2004, a survey of 1150 households was carried out with questions about the monthly consumed goods and their treatment. For the same households, a measurement of their produced waste was made by weighing the total amount and the components of the waste. In the paper, the distribution of the produced waste across the households and its composition will be presented. Also, the distribution of the treatment strategies of the households for the different waste components will be depicted. With a statistical cluster analysis, several household types could be differentiated. These household types were characterised by their produced waste, their socio-economic status, and their waste treatment behaviour. With the help of these results, several waste management strategies concerning amount and types of waste and its distribution across the city can be derived and will serve to improve the waste situation.
Deep Learning is Hot : Max-Pooling Plagiarism ?

Deep learning is a term that describes learning by an artificial neural network that consists of a cascade of nonlinear processing layers. Deep learning networks have recently attracted great interest from industries, such as Google, Microsoft, IBM, Samsung, and Baidu. I report a key architecture mechanism of deep learning network Cresceptron — well-known now as max-pooling — and ask the reader whether HMAX plagiarized Cresceptron. In this report I do not claim that this is a plagiarism.
Nonlinear-interferometric generation of number-phase-correlated fermion states.

We propose a nonlinear-interferometric scheme for generating two fermion states correlated in particle number or in wave phase. This scheme can be used for surpassing either the standard quantum limit of the number-partition noise or that of the interferometric phase sensitivity, up to a factor of the order of (total particle number) 1/3 . A possible experimental scheme in a mesoscopic system is discussed.
Supply Network Relationships: A Review of Empirical Evidence

Supply networks are prevalent industry structures which, like the academic literature, are complex, confusing and short on practical guidance. We evaluate the current position of empirical research to expose the main constructs that can be used to study cooperative supply network relationships, to identify emergent themes, gaps and shortcomings, to share insights with managers and, to propose future research approaches. Five significant drivers of supply network relationship behaviors are identified: complexity, power, alignment of objectives, knowledge management and coordination. This paper provides a unique, topical 'map' of the supply networks field and proposes a theoretical model for integrating the many diverse concepts into a general framework. This will enable researchers to focus more effectively on its relational dynamics. We also give managers some key guidance for successful operations within these essential structures.
Hough-space-based object recognition tightly coupled with path planning for robust and fast bin-picking

The proposed bin-picking method combines object recognition with path planning. To avoid conflicts between the assumptions of the elemental techniques needed for bin-picking, object recognition is combined with path planning by using environmental information. To achieve this combination, a Hough transform, which records the model-to-image matches in a Hough space, is used to estimate the pose. The matches represent the arrangement of the objects, so they can be regarded as environmental information for path planning. To reduce the number of recognition errors and the object-detection time, a pair of object features that reduces the number of invalid votes in the Hough space is used for the Hough transform. Simulated path planning showed that using a Hough space to represent the environmental information improves the ability to plan a safe path for the manipulator. Simulated object recognition showed that using a pair of features makes the process faster and reduces the number of invalid votes. The pose estimation and safe path planning ability were confirmed by an experiment on casting objects using a range finder and a robot.
Vital signs : an exploratory case study of community foundations' local collaborations in a National program context

The Vital Signs program allows community foundations across Canada to produce a “report card” on the state of well-being of their respective communities. Vital Signs is presented as both a tool that benefits community foundations – as a means by which they can build their profile, ground their relevance and position their leadership in the community – and as a means to engage local communities around issues of concern. At the present time, community foundations are invited to expand the range of roles that they occupy to include that of knowledge broker. At the same time, in recognition of the growing number of other actors present in the community data and indicators landscape, community foundations are invited to rethink Vital Signs’ relationship to actual and potential partners, collaborators and competitors. This case study’s overall purpose was to describe and explore the local collaborations and partnerships that community foundations undertake within the context of the Vital Signs program, and to understand their relationship to the program’s purposes and outcomes. The investigation was framed by an understanding of the Vital Signs program as one means by which community foundations fulfill the “community leadership” aspect of their mission. This case study is part of a larger multiple case study design looking into the collaboration practices of grantmaking foundations. The case studies that form part of the research cluster’s initial exploratory phase aim to identify potential areas for fuller inquiry at a later stage. Community Foundations of Canada (CFC) was a full partner in this research undertaking, helping to define research questions and assisting in data collection. For CFC, it was hoped that the case study would help to illustrate the effects that collaboration and the use of common indicators can have upon planning and decision-making for community and local development. An embedded mixed methods design was chosen for this study, with the Vital Signs program as its primary unit of analysis, and participating community foundations as subunits. Mixing occurred through all points of the research: at the point of design, with the choice to embed quantitative methods in a primarily qualitative design, as well as data collection, analysis and interpretation.
2-D pattern of nerve fiber bundles in glaucoma emerging from spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.

PURPOSE To correlate the thicknesses of focal regions of the macular ganglion cell layer with those of the peripapillary nerve fiber layer using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in glaucoma subjects. METHODS Macula and optic nerve head SD-OCT volumes were obtained in 57 eyes of 57 subjects with open-angle glaucoma or glaucoma suspicion. Using a custom automated computer algorithm, the thickness of 66 macular ganglion cell layer regions and the thickness of 12 peripapillary nerve fiber layer regions were measured from registered SD-OCT volumes. The mean thickness of each ganglion cell layer region was correlated to the mean thickness of each peripapillary nerve fiber layer region across subjects. Each ganglion cell layer region was labeled with the peripapillary nerve fiber layer region with the highest correlation using a color-coded map. RESULTS The resulting color-coded correlation map closely resembled the nerve fiber bundle (NFB) pattern of retinal ganglion cells. The mean r(2) value across all local macular-peripapillary correlations was 0.49 (± 0.11). When separately analyzing the 30 glaucoma subjects from the 27 glaucoma-suspect subjects, the mean r(2) value across all local macular-peripapillary correlations was significantly larger in the glaucoma group (0.56 ± 0.13 vs. 0.37 ± 0.11; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS A two-dimensional (2-D) spatial NFB map of the retina can be developed using structure-structure relationships from SD-OCT. Such SD-OCT-based NFB maps may enhance glaucoma detection and contribute to monitoring change in the future.
Using crowdsourced data to analyze transport crime

ABSTRACT Anecdotal evidence suggests that harsh social conditions in the road haulage industry are having an impact on transport crime. This paper analyses transport crime, and demonstrates how to use a combination of official statistics and crowdsourced data in the process. A hierarchical regression analysis was applied to investigate the relations among different factors in order to predict transport crime threats. A secondary data set on transport crime from the Swedish Police was combined with primary crowdsourced data from volunteer observations of trucks in Sweden from both high-wage and low-wage countries. The findings imply that transportation is more vulnerable to antagonistic threats in geographical areas where the low-wage hauliers operate more frequently. For policymakers and practitioners, these findings provide useful guidance for the planning of security measures. To the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first exploratory study of its kind that uses a combination of official statistics and crowdsourced data.
Establishment of tumor cell lines by transient expression of immortalizing genes

Many basic and clinical studies on human cancers require establishing of tumor cell lines from fresh tumor tissues in a highly reproducible fashion. However, this goal has not been achieved since the first aneuploid epithelial cell line, HeLa, was established from cervix adenocarcinoma about 5 decades ago. A widely accepted concept is that malignant tumor cells are almost immortal so the difficulty in establishing new tumor cell lines is believed to arise from problems of cell culture techniques. Evidence from our experiments demonstrated that this difficulty has a genetic origin: many primary cancer cells have not completely lost their ‘tumor suppressor’ pathways. In this review the immortalizing genes, transient expression systems of foreign genes in mammalian cells, and the potential applications of transient expression of immortalizing genes are summarized.
Hepatic cirrhosis and hepatitis: MR imaging enhanced with superparamagnetic iron oxide.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide was applied as a reticuloendothelial contrast agent in the diagnosis of cirrhosis and hepatitis in seven patients. Three patients had compensated cirrhosis, and four had active hepatitis. T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo magnetic resonance images were obtained before and 1 hour after the administration of iron oxide. Eight patients without diffuse liver disease served as a control group. Normal liver tissue showed a 75% +/- 9% reduction in signal intensity after the administration of iron oxide, and the liver appeared homogeneously hypointense. Cirrhotic liver tissue showed a smaller response (P less than .05) to iron oxide, with a 52% +/- 13% reduction in liver signal intensity. Inhomogeneous structures could be observed in enhanced images and are thought to represent fibrous bands or regenerating nodules. Liver tissue with active hepatitis showed a markedly reduced response to iron oxide (11% +/- 2%) (P less than .05), and the parenchyma appeared homogeneous. The authors conclude that the uptake of iron oxide particles is inhomogeneously altered in cirrhosis because of structural changes and homogeneously decreased in hepatitis because of functional changes of hepatic parenchyma.
The pilH gene encodes an ABC transporter homologue required for type IV pilus biogenesis and social gliding motility in Myxococcus xanthus

Type IV pilus genes have been shown to be required for social gliding motility in Myxococcus xanthus. We report the discovery of four additional pil genes: pilD, a homologue of type IV prepilin leader peptidases; and pilG, pilH and pilI, which have no known homologues in other type IV pilus systems. pilH encodes an ATP‐binding cassette (ABC) transporter homologue, the first such homologue to be required for the biogenesis of any bacterial pilus type. pilG and pilI are co‐transcribed with pilH and appear to be functionally related to pilH. Null mutants of pilG, pilH and pilI all lack social motility, are deficient in pilus production, have elevated sporulation efficiencies and display similar developmental abnormalities. In addition, all three mutations reduced the amount of PilA found in the supernatant after cells were sedimented from liquid culture. We suggest that the products of these three genes form a single ABC exporter complex, in which pilI is an integral membrane protein with membrane‐spanning domains, and pilG is an accessory factor. The complex may participate in pilus assembly and/or the export of PilA pilin.