Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Entropy Characterization of Random Network Models

This paper elaborates on the Random Network Model (RNM) as a mathematical framework for modelling and analyzing the generation of complex networks. Such framework allows the analysis of the relationship between several network characterizing features (link density, clustering coefficient, degree distribution, connectivity, etc.) and entropy-based complexity measures, providing new insight on the generation and characterization of random networks. Some theoretical and computational results illustrate the utility of the proposed framework.
Centre for Dynamic Macroeconomic Analysis Working Paper Series Learning about Risk and Return: a Simple Model of Bubbles and Crashes

This paper demonstrates that an asset pricing model with least-squares learning can lead to bubbles and crashes as endogenous responses to the fundamentals driving asset prices. When agents are risk-averse they need to make forecasts of the conditional variance of a stock's return. Recursive updating of both the conditional variance and the expected return implies several mechanisms through which learning impacts stock prices. Extended periods of excess volatility, bubbles and crashes arise with a frequency that depends on the extent to which past data is discounted. A central role is played by changes over time in agents' estimates of risk. Thus, this vast increase in the market value of asset claims is in part the indirect result of investors accepting lower compensation for risk. Such an increase in market value is too often viewed by market participants as structural and permanent. Any onset of increased investor caution elevates risk premiums and, as a consequence, lowers asset values and promotes the liquidation of the debt that supported higher asset prices. This is the reason that history has not dealt kindly with the aftermath of protracted periods of low risk premiums. and editor of this journal, and numerous seminar participants for helpful comments.
Population‐Based Study of Age and Sex Differences in Bone Volumetric Density, Size, Geometry, and Structure at Different Skeletal Sites

In a population‐based, cross‐sectional study, we assessed age‐ and sex‐specific changes in bone structure by QCT. Over life, the cross‐sectional area of the vertebrae and proximal femur increased by ∼15% in both sexes, whereas vBMD at these sites decreased by 39–55% and 34–46%, respectively, with greater decreases in women than in men.
Physician and nursing perceptions concerning interprofessional communication and collaboration

Abstract The aim of the study was to investigate the physician and nursing perceptions regarding communication and collaboration as well as the factors that may influence these activities. A self-administered questionnaire survey was sent to a random sample of 93 physicians and 197 nurses based in two large public hospitals in Athens, Greece. Descriptive statistics, t-test and chi square test were performed with the SPSS 19.0 statistical package. Years of experience, the size of the clinic, the university degree and the postgraduate studies were found to be significant factors according to nurses' view (p < 0.05). For the physicians, age, sex, years of experience and the size of clinic affected the communication and collaboration with the nursing staff significantly (p < 0.05). In summary, these findings suggest that nurses and physicians do not share the same views concerning the effectiveness of their communication and nurses' role in the decision-making process of the patients' care. The most important barrier for the establishment of good relations between these professions, according to the physicians, was that they did not recognize the nurses' professional role. The study also indicated that the absence of interprofessional collaboration may result in a higher possibility of errors and omissions in patients' care. Therefore, in everyday practice, both nurses and physicians should acknowledge the importance of their effective communication and they should develop and implement interprofessional teamwork interventions to improve collaboration. Moreover, nurses have to constantly consolidate their role in the decision process and patients' care, especially in countries with limited interprofessional collaboration culture. In addition, factors that improve physicians' attitudes toward collaboration and effective communication should be further explored.
The Reliability of Children's Survey Responses: The Impact of Cognitive Functioning on Respondent Behavior

Increasingly, children of all ages are becoming respondents in survey interviews. While juveniles are considered to be reliable respondents for many topics and survey settings it is unclear to what extend younger children provide reliable information in a face-to-face interview. In this paper we will report results from a study using video captures of 205 faceto-face interviews with children aged 8 through 14. The interviews have been coded using behavior codes on a question by question level which provides behavior-related indicators regarding the question-answer process. In addition, standard tests of cognitive resources have been conducted. Using visible and audible problems in the respondent behavior, we are able to assess the impact of the children’s cognitive resources on respondent behaviors. Results suggest that girls and boys differ fundamentally in the cognitive mechanisms leading to problematic respondent behaviors.
A Newly Identified Methyl-branched Chain Fatty Acid Synthesizing Enzyme from Mycobacterium tuberculosis var.bovis BCG*

Mycobacterium bovis BCG produces a variety of methyl-branched fatty acids. They include C28 to C32 mycocerosic acids esterified to phthiocerol and phenolphthiocerol and the shorter (C22 to C26) mycocerosic acids esterified to phthiocerol. A mycocerosic acid synthase gene-disrupted mutant was still able to produce the shorter mycocerosic acids. The enzyme short chain mycocerosic acid synthase (SMAS), that catalyzes the synthesis of such acids, was purified using anion exchange and red-agarose chromatography. Gel filtration showed the native enzyme to be a 537-kDa protein. Since SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the purified enzyme showed a 280-, 170-, and 100-kDa protein and they cross-reacted with antibodies prepared against the 280- or 100-kDa protein, this enzyme is composed of the three subunits or two 280-kDa monomers with an unusual susceptibility to a proteolytic nick. SMAS utilizes methylmalonyl-CoA with C12 to C20 acyl-CoA as primers and with either NADH or NADPH as the reductant to synthesize the short mycocerosic acids. TheK m values for NADH and NADPH were 93 and 90 μm, respectively. Antibodies raised against either the 280- or 100-kDa protein inhibited the incorporation of methylmalonyl-CoA into fatty acids by SMAS. The enzyme is not immunologically closely related to mycocerosic acid synthase or fatty acid synthase.
The Coulomb pump: a novel parts feeding method using a horizontally-vibrating surface

Part feeders, which separate and orient parts prior to packing and insertion, are critical components of an assembly line. Existing feeders utilize off-plane vibrations of a rigid structure to convey parts along a track. Repeated part hopping/landing phases are concerns if parts are delicate and/or high positioning accuracy is required. Here we consider a simpler feeder design in which parts are in permanent contact with a horizontally-vibrating flat plate. Each vibration is a "pump-like" motion along a single degree of freedom: the plate spends more time moving forward than backward. Parts are propelled forward since dynamic friction is fixed and independent of the relative velocity at the interface. In designing plate vibration profiles we consider issues of waveform simplicity, bandwidth, and feed rate performance. Both bang-bang and sinusoidal control waveforms are analyzed. Expressions are derived for equilibrium feed rates for both waveforms; dynamic simulation is used to verify the analysis. A prototype of the proposed feeder has been implemented with cheap mechanical parts. A simple experiment with the device is presented.
Retinal vessel segmentation based on adaptive difference of Gauss filter

Based on the difference of Gauss (DoG) filter, a new retinal vessel segmentation method is proposed in this paper. Firstly, contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE) is used to improve the contrast of the image and then anisotropic diffusion equation is applied to smooth the image for the central reflex of the vessel. Secondly, adaptive DoG (ADoG) with different scale factor σ is used to give the initial vessel segmentation result. Then, the refined vessel enhancement result is computed by the superposition of ADoG in twelve directions. At last, the non-vessel is removed based on the bimodality of histogram of the image after enhancement and smoothing. We evaluate experimental results on the public DRIVE and STARE datasets qualitatively and quantitatively, and demonstrate the performance of the proposed method.
Définir le Supply Chain Management

Une construction managériale ne peut pas être utilisée efficacement par les gestionnaires et les chercheurs si tous ne sont pas d’accord sur sa définition. C’est le cas du terme “Supply Chain Management” (Management de la chaîne logistique) - il existe tellement de définitions différentes qu’il y a peu de consensus sur ce qu’il signifie. L’objet de cet article est de faire le point sur la recherche afin de comprendre le concept de SCM. Plusieurs définitions de SCM et de Supply Chain (chaîne logistique) sont passés en revue, classées et synthétisées. Des définitions des constructions qui sous-tendent le SCM et un cadre sont proposés afin de conceptualiser le SCM. Après avoir identifié les conditions et les conséquences du SCM, ainsi que les limites en terme de fonctions et d’organisation, les auteurs proposent un modèle conceptuel et une définition unifiée du SCM.
The Past, Present, and Future of Artificial Life

For millennia people have wondered what makes the living different from the non-living. Beginning in the mid-1980s, artificial life has studied living systems using a synthetic approach: build life in order to understand it better, be it by means of software, hardware, or wetware. This review provides a summary of the advances that led to the development of artificial life, its current research topics, and open problems and opportunities. We classify artificial life research into fourteen themes: origins of life, autonomy, self-organization, adaptation (including evolution, development, and learning), ecology, artificial societies, behavior, computational biology, artificial chemistries, information, living technology, art, and philosophy. Being interdisciplinary, artificial life seems to be losing its boundaries and merging with other fields.
Determining the Factors Contributing to Quality of Life of Patients at the Last Stage of Life: A Qualitative Study

Background: Quality- of- life of patients at their last stage of their life are different from that of other people. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the factors contributing to the quality- of- life of patients at their last stage of their life and provide good cares for these patients. Patients and Methods: This qualitative study was performed by the thematic- framework method of analysis. Twenty three participants including patients, their families, nurses, physicians, psychologists and clergymen were selected sampling. Data were collected by semi – structured interview. We used the thematic framework method to analyze qualitative data. Results: Seven factors which needed to be considered in the patients’ at last stage quality of life included stress reduction, participation, homecare, education, independency, support, recourses and facilities. According to the findings, the number of these factors may be more than what was mentioned above. Conclusions: Paying attention to the quality of life at the last stage can be helpful for patients and their families and the special care can be taken for them.
Meta-analytic functional connectivity : finding brain regions’ multi-way interactions

pseudo-images and rFMRI data to find distinct brain regions and their interconnections. With over 7000 functional contrasts and rFMRI from 36 subjects involved we expected powerful and generalisable results. Our results confirm the existence of a strong inseperability among different functionally-distinct brain regions in both activation and rest (Fig. 1), with a striking correspondence (Fig. 1). We find that some areas are involved in such multi-way interactions more than others (Fig. 2), the extent of which varies across different behavioural domains and in different individuals (Fig. 3). From a methodological viewpoint, the introduced method can be extended from a 3-way to an N-way interaction simply by using N variables to form the contingency table and LLGM. Results Methods Meta-analytic Functional Connectivity: Finding Brain Regions' Multi-way Interactions
Complete Genome Sequence of a Tobacco-Infecting, Tomato-Blistering Mosaic Virus

ABSTRACT The complete genome sequence of a new tomato-blistering mosaic virus (ToBMV) isolate was determined. This tymovirus isolate was first described infecting tobacco during the 1980s, but it also infects other Solanaceae members experimentally. The genome has 6,257 nucleotides and shares 88% nucleotide identity with the ToBMV isolated from tomato.
Identification and Characterization of Lutheran Blood Group Glycoprotein as a New Substrate of Membrane-type 1 Matrix Metalloproteinase 1 (MT1-MMP)

Membrane-type 1 matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MT1-MMP) is a potent modulator of the pericellular microenvironment and regulates cellular functions in physiological and pathological settings in mammals. MT1-MMP mediates its biological effects through cleavage of specific substrate proteins. However, our knowledge of MT1-MMP substrates remains limited. To identify new substrates of MT1-MMP, we purified proteins associating with MT1-MMP in human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells and analyzed them by mass spectrometry. We identified 163 proteins, including membrane proteins, cytoplasmic proteins, and functionally unknown proteins. Sixty-four membrane proteins were identified, and they included known MT1-MMP substrates. Of these, eighteen membrane proteins were selected, and we confirmed their association with MT1-MMP using an immunoprecipitation assay. Co-expression of each protein together with MT1-MMP revealed that nine proteins were cleaved by MT1-MMP. Lutheran blood group glycoprotein (Lu) is one of the proteins cleaved by MT1-MMP, and we confirmed the cleavage of the endogenous Lu protein by endogenous MT1-MMP in A431 cells. Mutation of the cleavage site of Lu abrogated processing by MT1-MMP. Lu protein expressed in A431 cells bound to laminin-511, and knockdown of MT1-MMP in these cells increased both their binding to laminin-511 and the amount of Lu protein on the cell surface. Thus, the identified membrane proteins associated with MT1-MMP are an enriched source of physiological MT1-MMP substrates.
Ultrasonic spectacles and waist-belt for visually impaired and blind person

This paper presents an electronic navigation system for visually impaired and blind people (subject). This system understands obstacles around the subject up to 500 cm in front, left and right direction using a network of ultrasonic sensors. It effectively calculates distance of the detected object from the subject and prepares navigation path accordingly avoiding obstacles. It uses speech feedback to aware the subject about the detected obstacle and its distance. This proposed system uses AT89S52 microcontroller based embedded system to process real time data collected using ultrasonic sensor network. Based on direction and distance of detected obstacle, relevant pre-recorded speech message stored in APR9600 flash memory is invoked. Such speech messages are conveyed to the subject using earphone.
Dosage of amyloid precursor protein affects axonal contact guidance in Down syndrome

Amyloid precursor protein (APP), encoded on Hsa21, functions as a cell adhesion molecule (CAM) in axonal growth cones (GCs) of the developing brain. We show here that axonal GCs of human fetal Down syndrome (DS) neurons (and of a DS mouse model) overexpress APP protein relative to euploid controls. We investigated whether DS neurons generate an abnormal, APP‐dependent GC phenotype in vitro. On laminin, which binds APP and β1 integrins (Itgb1), DS neurons formed enlarged and faster‐advancing GCs compared to controls. On peptide matrices that bind APP only, but not on those binding exclusively Itgb1 or L1CAM, DS GCs were significantly enlarged (2.0‐fold), formed increased close adhesions (1.8‐fold), and advanced faster (1.4‐fold). In assays involving alternating stripes of monospecific matrices, human control GCs exhibited no preference for any of the substrates, whereas DS GCs preferred the APP‐binding matrix (cross‐over decreased significantly from 48.2 to 27.2%). Reducing APP expression in DS GCs with siRNA normalized most measures of the phenotype, including substrate choice. These experiments show that human DS neurons exhibit an APP‐dependent, abnormal GC phenotype characterized by increased adhesion and altered contact guidance. The results suggest that APP overexpression may perturb axonal pathfinding and circuit formation in developing DS brain. —Sosa, L. J., Postma, N. L. , Estrada‐Bernal, A. , Hanna, M. , Guo, R. , Busciglio, J., Pfenninger, K. H. Dosage of amyloid precursor protein affects axonal contact guidance in Down syndrome. FASEB J. 28, 195–205 (2014). www.fasebj. org
How might ants use panoramic views for route navigation?

SUMMARY Studies of insect navigation have demonstrated that insects possess an interesting and sophisticated repertoire of visual navigation behaviours. Ongoing research seeks to help us understand how these behaviours are controlled in natural complex environments. A necessary complement to behavioural studies is an understanding of the sensory ecology within which an animal behaves. To this end we have analysed ants'-perspective views of a habitat within which desert ant navigation is well studied. Results from our analysis suggest that: parsimonious visual strategies for homing and route guidance are effective over behaviourally useful distances even in cluttered environments; that these strategies can function effectively using only the skyline heights as input; and that the simplicity and efficacy of using stored views as a visual compass makes it a viable and robust mechanism for route guidance.
Self-Supervised Convolutional Subspace Clustering Network

Subspace clustering methods based on data self-expression have become very popular for learning from data that lie in a union of low-dimensional linear subspaces. However, the applicability of subspace clustering has been limited because practical visual data in raw form do not necessarily lie in such linear subspaces. On the other hand, while Convolutional Neural Network (ConvNet) has been demonstrated to be a powerful tool for extracting discriminative features from visual data, training such a ConvNet usually requires a large amount of labeled data, which are unavailable in subspace clustering applications. To achieve simultaneous feature learning and subspace clustering, we propose an end-to-end trainable framework, called Self-Supervised Convolutional Subspace Clustering Network (S$^2$ConvSCN), that combines a ConvNet module (for feature learning), a self-expression module (for subspace clustering) and a spectral clustering module (for self-supervision) into a joint optimization framework. Particularly, we introduce a dual self-supervision that exploits the output of spectral clustering to supervise the training of the feature learning module (via a classification loss) and the self-expression module (via a spectral clustering loss). Our experiments on four benchmark datasets show the effectiveness of the dual self-supervision and demonstrate superior performance of our proposed approach.
In vitro reestablishment of cell‐cell contacts in adult rat cardiomyocytes. Functional role of transmembrane components in the formation of new intercalated disk‐like cell contacts

Primary adult rat cardiomyocytes (ARC) in culture are shown to be a model system for cardiac cell hypertrophy in vitro. ARC undergo a process of morphological transformation and grow only by increase in cell size, however, without loss of the cardiac phenotype. The isolated cells spread and establish new cell‐cell contacts, eventually forming a two‐dimensional heart tissue‐like synchronously beating cell sheet. The reformation of specific cell contacts (intercalated disks) is shown also between ventricular and atrial cardiomyocytes by using antibodies against the gap junction protein connexin‐43 and after microinjection into ARC of N‐cadherin cDNA fused to reporter green fluorescent protein (GFP) cDNA. The expressed fusion protein allowed the study of live cell cultures and of the dynamics of the adherens junction protein N‐cadherin during the formation of new cell‐cell contacts. The possible use of the formed ARC cell‐sheet cells under microgravity conditions as a test system for the reformation of the cytoskeleton of heart muscle cells is proposed. —Eppenberger, H. M. , Zuppinger, C. In vitro reestablishment of cell—cell contacts in adult rat cardiomyocytes. Functional role of transmembrane components in the formation of new intercalated disklike cell contacts. FASEB J. 13 (Suppl.), S83–S90 (1999)
Towards Natural Clariﬁcation Questions in Dialogue Systems

Clariﬁcations are often necessary for maintaining human-human as well as human-machine dialogue. However, clariﬁ-cation questions asked by Spoken Dialogue Systems (SDS) are very different from clariﬁcation questions asked in natural human interaction. While in human-human dialogues, speakers ask targeted questions using contextual information, SDS ask generic clariﬁcations such as please repeat or please rephrase . We propose and evaluate a new strategy for creating more natural clariﬁcation questions. We model natural language clariﬁcation question generation rules based on human-generated behavior. We describe results of a user study to evaluate our automatically generated questions and show that subjective scores of the automatically generated questions are comparable to scores for human-generated questions — with some of the automatic rules even outperforming human-generated questions.
Controlling reactive power flows in boundary transformers

This paper presents the results of a study of the different alternatives that System Operators use to address the reactive power flow control problem in transmission/subtransmission boundary transformers. The control problem is formulated and solved using a conventional OPF algorithm including additional constraints to keep reactive power flows between imposed limits. The problems arising from the inclusion of these new restrictions, along with the need to distinguish between networks operated by different agents (TSO, DSOs), are presented and discussed.
Controlling biped walking robots using genetic algorithms in mobile agent environment

The design and implementation of a control program for biped walking robots using the genetic algorithms (GA) are presented. The most difficult problem with biped walking robots is that they have too many possible gaits. Generally it is impossible to find the optimal gait for a given route. In order to control biped walking robots, we have employed GA to determine the gaits of the robots. It is known that keeping the zero moment point (ZMP) in certain area is necessary for stable movement of a biped walking robot deriving ZMP is not theoretically difficult; it is just a matter of solving kinetic equations. The problem is that, for a certain series of ZMPs, the robot can have too many gaits and too hard to find the optimal one. We are using a control program using GA to produce approximately optimal gaits.