Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Position Estimation Method of Medical Implanted Devices Using Estimation of Propagation Velocity inside Human Body

Wireless communication devices in the field of medical implant, such as cardiac pacemakers and capsule endoscopes, have been studied and developed to improve healthcare systems. Especially it is very important to know the range and position of each device because it will contribute to an optimization of the transmission power. We adopt the time-based approach of position estimation using ultra wideband signals. However, the propagation velocity inside the human body differs in each tissue and each frequency. Furthermore, the human body is formed of various tissues with complex structures. For this reason, propagation velocity is different at a different point inside human body and the received signal so distorted through the channel inside human body. In this paper, we apply an adaptive template synthesis method in multipath channel for calculate the propagation time accurately based on the output of the correlator between the transmitter and the receiver. Furthermore, we propose a position estimation method using an estimation of the propagation velocity inside the human body. In addition, we show by computer simulation that the proposal method can perform accurate positioning with a size of medical implanted devices such as a medicine capsule.
Cone contributions to the photopic spectral sensitivity of the zebrafish ERG

Microspectrophotometry studies show that zebrafish (Danio rerio) possess four cone photopigments. The purpose of this study was to determine the cone contributions to the zebrafish photopic increment threshold spectral-sensitivity function. Electroretinogram (ERG) b-wave responses to monochromatic lights presented on a broadband or chromatic background were obtained. It was found that under the broadband background condition, the zebrafish spectral-sensitivity function showed several peaks that were narrower in sensitivity compared to the cone spectra. The spectral-sensitivity function was modeled with L − M and M − S opponent interactions and nonopponent S- and U-cone mechanisms. Using chromatic adaptation designed to suppress the contribution of the S-cones, a strong U-cone contribution to the spectral-sensitivity function was revealed, and the contributions of the S-cones to the M − S mechanism were reduced. These results show that the b-wave component of the ERG receives input from all four cone types and appears to reflect color opponent mechanisms. Thus, zebrafish may possess the fundamental properties necessary for color vision.
Rational Design and Characterization of the Novel, Broad and Potent Bispecific HIV-1 Neutralizing Antibody iMabm36

Background:Although broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (bNAbs) have always been considered to be a potential therapeutic option for the prophylaxis and treatment of HIV infection, their lack of breadth against all HIV variants has been one of the limiting factors. To provide sufficient neutralization breadth and potency against diverse viruses, including neutralization escape mutants, strategies to combine different bNAbs have been explored recently. Methods:We rationally designed and engineered a novel bispecific HIV-1–neutralizing antibody (bibNAb), iMabm36. The potency and breadth of iMabm36 against HIV were extensively characterized in vitro. Results:iMabm36 comprises the anti-CD4 Ab ibalizumab (iMab) linked to 2 copies of the single-domain Ab m36, which targets a highly conserved CD4-induced epitope. iMabm36 neutralizes a majority of a large, multiclade panel of pseudoviruses (96%, n = 118) at an IC50 concentration of less than 10 µg/mL, with 83% neutralized at an IC50 concentration of less than 0.1 µg/mL. In addition, iMabm36 neutralizes a small panel of replication-competent transmitted-founder viruses to 100% inhibition at a concentration of less than 0.1 µg/mL in a peripheral blood mononuclear cell–based neutralizing assay. Mechanistically, the improved antiviral activity of iMabm36 is dependent on both the CD4-binding activity of the iMab component and the CD4i-binding activity of the m36 component. After characterizing that viral resistance to iMabm36 neutralization was due to mutations residing in the bridging sheet of gp120, an optimized m36 variant was engineered that, when fused to iMab, improved antiviral activity significantly. Conclusions:The interdependency of this dual mechanism of action enables iMabm36 to potently inhibit HIV-1 entry. These results demonstrate that mechanistic-based design of bibNAbs can generate potential preventive and therapeutic candidates for HIV/AIDS.
Evolution of somatic sensory specialization in otter brains

Expabsion of the coronal gyrus in Lutra and Pteroneura indicates a somatic sensory specialization of the head region, presumably in the form of extremely sensitive vibrissae. Enlargement of the primary somatic sensory projection area of the forelimb in Amblonyx, Aonyx, Parainyx and, in a different way, in Enhydra, correlates with anatomical and behavioral observations indicating increased tactile sensitivity of the hand of those otters. Fossil endocranial casts reveal that such specializations, at least in the Lutra and Aonyx groupe, were developed as far back as about ten million years ago. Potamotheirium, representing an independent line of aquatic mustelids, had an enlarged coronal gyrus 25 million years ago, at a time when in other respects it; brain was still quite primitive; descendants of Potamotherium survived until ten million years ago in North America.
Phylogeographic structure of jack pine (Pinus banksiana; Pinaceae) supports the existence of a coastal glacial refugium in northeastern North America.

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY The genetic structure of jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), a North American boreal conifer with large longitudinal distribution, was investigated to test for the possible existence of a genetically distinct lineage in the Maritimes region in northeastern North America, which could be indicative of a mid-latitude coastal refuge during the last glaciation. • METHODS One maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) minisatellite marker and four paternally inherited chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) microsatellite markers were used to assess the range-wide geographical structure of jack pine populations with particular focus on northeastern North America. • KEY RESULTS The populations from the Maritimes region presented a unique mtDNA background characterized by very low diversity and the preponderance of a distinctive mitotype. The distribution of cpDNA diversity was not spatially structured, though three chlorotypes were restricted to the east. • CONCLUSIONS MtDNA data suggest that populations from the Maritimes region derive from a genetically depauperated north-coastal refugium. Contrastingly, the much higher geographical uniformity observed for cpDNA variation indicates that gene flow by pollen had been much more effective than seed gene flow at homogenizing population structure.
A structural model for the prostate disease marker, human prostate‐specific antigen

Prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) provides an excellent serum marker for prostate cancer, the most frequent form of cancer in American males. PSA is a 237‐residue protease based on sequence homology to kallikrein‐like enzymes. To predict the 3‐dimensional structure of PSA, homology modeling studies were performed based on sequence and structural alignments with tonin, pancreatic kallikrein, chymotrypsin, and trypsin. The structurally conserved regions of the 4 reference X‐ray proteins provided the core structure of PSA, whereas the loop structures were modeled on the loops of tonin and kallikrein. The unique “kallikrein loop” insert, between Ser 95b and Pro 95k of kallikrein, was constructed using molecular mechanics, dynamics, and electrostatics calculations. In the resulting PSA structure, the catalytic triad, involving residues His 57, Asp 102, and Ser 195, and hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions typical of serine proteases were extremely well conserved. Similarly, the 5 disulfide bonds of kallikrein were also conserved in PSA. These results, together with the fact that no major steric clashes arose during the modeling process, provide strong evidence for the validity of the PSA model. Calculation of the electrostatic potential contours of kallikrein and PSA was carried out using the finite difference Poisson‐Boltzmann method. The calculations revealed matching areas of negative potential near the catalytic triad, but differences in the positive potential surrounding the active site. The PSA glycosylation site, Asn 61, is fully accessible to the solvent and is enclosed in a positive region of the isopotential map. The bottom of the substrate specificity pocket, residue SI, is a serine (Ser 189) as in chymotrypsin, rather than aspartate (Asp 189) as in tonin, kallikrein, and trypsin. This fact, plus other features of the SI binding‐pocket region, suggest that PSA would prefer substrates with hydrophobic residues at the PI position. The location of a potential zinc ion binding site involving the side chain of histidines 91, 101, and 233 is also suggested. This PSA model should facilitate the understanding and prediction of structural and functional properties of this important cancer marker.
Cutting Edge: An Endogenous Pathway to Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS)-Like Reactions through Toll-Like Receptor 41

Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is typically associated with trauma, surgery, or acute pancreatitis. SIRS resembles sepsis, triggered by exogenous macromolecules such as LPS acting on Toll-like receptors. What triggers SIRS in the absence of infection, however, is unknown. In this study, we report that a SIRS-like response can be induced in mice by administration of soluble heparan sulfate, a glycosaminoglycan associated with nucleated cells and extracellular matrices, and by elastase, which cleaves and releases heparan sulfate proteoglycans. The ability of heparan sulfate and elastase to induce SIRS depends on functional Toll-like receptor 4, because mutant mice lacking that receptor or its function do not respond. These results provide a molecular explanation for the initiation of SIRS.
Teams vs. Crowds: A Field Test of the Relative Contribution of Incentives, Member Ability, and Emergent Collaboration to Crowd-Based Problem Solving Performance

Organizations are increasingly turning to crowdsourcing to solve difficult problems. This is often driven by the desire to find the best subject matter experts, strongly incentivize them, and engage them with as little coordination cost as possible. A growing number of authors, however, are calling for increased collaboration in crowdsourcing settings, hoping to draw upon the advantages of teamwork observed in traditional settings. The question is how to effectively incorporate team-based collaboration in a setting that has traditionally been individual-based. We report on a large-field experiment of team collaboration on an online platform, in which incentives and team membership were randomly assigned, to evaluate the influence of exogenous inputs (member skills and incentives) and emergent collaboration processes on performance of crowd-based teams. Building on advances in machine learning and complex systems theory, we leverage new measurement techniques to examine the content and timing of team colla.
The relation of nerve fibers to Mycobacterium leprae. I. The phagocytic activity of cells in damaged nerve.

The peripheral neuritis of leprosy seems to be most intense at sites where nerves run a superficial course and are subject to repeated minor trauma. Sites such as the ulnar nerve just above the elbow and the lateral popliteal nerve at the neck of the fibula are commonly affected. In these situations the nerves may become grossly hypertrophic as a result of the uptake of the leprosy bacillus associated with a cellular reaction in and around the nerve. This is paralleled by the intensity of the Mitsuda reaction, which is a reflection of tissue sensitivity to the presence of the bacillus. The predilection of this organism for areas of minor trauma has made us examine the changes that occur in a nerve when it is slightly damaged. The present paper is concerned with the changes that occur in segments of the median popliteal nerve of the mouse 1 cm. proximal to the site of injection of 0.002 ml. of polystyrene consisting of a suspension of spherical particles 1,380A in diameter in normal saline. The only trauma to the nerve was that associated with exposure of the nerve and the injection of this material.
Uncertainty decoding for DNN-HMM hybrid systems based on numerical sampling

In this article, we propose an uncertainty decoding scheme for DNN-HMM hybrid systems based on numerical sampling. A ﬁnite set of samples is drawn from the estimated probability distribution of the acoustic features and subsequently passed through feature transformations/extensions and the deep neural network (DNN). Then, the nonlinearly-transformed feature samples are averaged at the output of the DNN in order to approximate the posterior distribution of the context-dependent Hidden Markov Model (HMM) states. This concept is experimentally veriﬁed for the REVERB challenge task using a reverberation-robust DNN-HMM hybrid system: The numerical sampling is performed in the logmelspec domain, where we estimate the posterior distribution of the acoustic features by combining coherence-based Wiener ﬁltering and uncertainty propagation. The experimental results highlight the good performance of the proposed uncertainty decoding scheme with signiﬁcantly increased recognition accuracy even for a small number of feature samples.
Designing interference‐aware network selection protocol for WLAN mobile devices

Due to increasing demand of wireless services for portable devices, numerous efforts to enhance wireless network performance have been made for decades. Many researchers were focused on the word ‘seamless’ for sustaining connectivity during a handover process, but wireless performance of destined access point (AP) is rarely considered. This paper analyses thoroughly usual network connection behaviour, captures several problems from the procedure, and proposes interference‐avoiding selection (IAS) mechanism that associates a wireless AP, which is expected to perform better than other APs nearby. Proposed selection mechanism concentrates on utilization of each channel within one hop range and received signal strength measured by incoming beacons from surrounding APs. Possible interference by adjacent channels is also considered in this paper. Moreover, unlike any other prior selection mechanism, IAS protocol does not require any modification on existing communication protocols, extra delay to evaluate surrounding APs, and support from huge data server that collects information and derives quality of surrounding APs ahead of the selection phase. Various analysis and performance evaluations are progressed using OPNET, ns2, and Android programming, and the evaluation results showed that proposed selection mechanism can increase the throughput of original selection mechanism by more than 55% in average. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Stopping power in nonideal and strongly coupled plasmas.

The stopping power of dense nonideal plasmas is calculated in different approximations. The T-matrix approximation for binary collisions is compared with the random phase approximation for dielectric fluctuations. Within a microscopic model, the dynamical evolution of the velocity of the projectile is calculated. It reproduces well experimental values for the stopping of fast heavy ions. A comparison with molecular dynamical simulation is performed for the friction coefficient. It is found that the T matrix reproduces the simulation result with a charge dependence of ${\ensuremath{\xi}}^{1.4}$, where \ensuremath{\xi}=Z${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}}^{3/2}$. The connection to transport properties like conductivity is presented. In this way we extend former small \ensuremath{\Gamma} expansions to strongly coupled plasmas. Further improvements due to correlations are discussed. Both concepts, cluster decomposition and memory, are compared and it is found that they lead to the same quantum virial corrections of Beth-Uhlenbeck type in equilibrium. However, memory in the kinetic equation causes an additional renormalization of the effective energy transfer in nonequilibrium. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
Use of peer assessment in tooth extraction competency.

INTRODUCTION Peer assessment is a widely recognised practice in higher education and is being increasingly utilised in healthcare education. It offers multiple advantages and may play a useful role in enhancing students' learning experience. This study was carried out to evaluate the utility of peer assessment in tooth extraction competency in simulated dental learning environment (SDLE). METHODS Year 2 dental students were invited to participate in a formative, peer assessment exercise on forceps tooth extraction in SDLE. The ratings made by peers in the formative assessment were compared with the ratings made by academic supervisors in an equivalent summative assessment. RESULTS One hundred and twenty-two students participated in both the formative and summative assessments. Descriptive statistics demonstrated that the majority of students were given the same rating in both assessments. However, there were a number of students who were rated as 'Competent' in one assessment and 'Not Competent' in the other assessment. Spearman's Rho correlations showed that there were weak relationships between the formative and summative assessments. There was also weak inter-rater reliability for the ratings of the peers and academic supervisors, as measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient. Feedback from the students and academic supervisors showed unanimously positive perceptions about the peer assessment experience, and they expressed the desire for incorporating peer assessment in other competencies. CONCLUSIONS This study shows mixed results with regard to the value of the peer assessment. Given the potential utility of peer assessment as a tool to augment and enrich students' learning experience, further work needs to be done to evaluate the use of peer assessment in operative competencies in dentistry.
LMI Approach for Air-management in Diesel Engines using PDC Fuzzy Controllers

Air management control in a turbocharged diesel engine presents itself as a challenge due to its nonlinear behavior, then classic control techniques are unable to provide the required performance. Hence, it is proposed to design fuzzy controllers based on PDC structure (Parallel Distributed Compensation) using a previously obtained Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy model for the engine. Controller parameters are obtained from a minimization problem subject to LMIs (Linear Matrix Inequalities).
EFFECTS OF INOCULATION WITH ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI ON MAIZE GROWN IN MULTI-METAL CONTAMINATED SOILS

Pot culture experiments were established to determine the effects of colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) (Glomus mosseae and G. sp) on maize (Zea mays L.) grown in Pb, Zn, and Cd complex contaminated soils. AMF and non-AMF inoculated maize were grown in sterilized substrates and subjected to different soil heavy metal (Pb, Zn, Cd) concentrations. The root and shoot biomasses of inoculated maize were significantly higher than those of non-inoculated maize. Pb, Zn, and Cd concentrations in roots were significantly higher than those in shoots in both the inoculated and non-inoculated maize, indicating the heavy metals mostly accumulated in the roots of maize. The translocation rates of Pb, Zn, and Cd from roots to shoots were not significantly difference between inoculated and non-inoculated maize. However, at high soil heavy metal concentrations, Pb, Zn, and Cd in the shoots and Pb in the roots of inoculated maize were significantly reduced by about 50% compared to the non-inoculated maize. These results indicated that AMF could promote maize growth and decrease the uptake of these heavy metals at higher soil concentrations, thus protecting their hosts from the toxicity of heavy metals in Pb, Zn, and Cd complex contaminated soils.
Efficient computation of mixed potential dyadic Green's functions for a 1D periodic array of line sources in layered media

In this paper an original approach is described for the efficient computation of the mixed-potential scalar and dyadic Green's functions for a one-dimensional (1D) periodic array of line sources embedded in a planar stratified structure. Suitable asymptotic extractions, corresponding to integrations in z of free-space Green's functions, are performed on the slowly-converging spectral series. The extracted terms are summed back through the Ewald method, modified and optimized to efficiently deal with these new free-space terms.
Human genotyping.

Human genotyping depicts a biochemical analysis of human DNA. DNA consists of a long chain of four nucleotide bases, adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine that amounts to some 6 billion molecules in length and carries the genetic code (genes) for the peptides and proteins that constitute living organisms. DNA is found in cell nuclei, organized into highly specific nucleotide sequences that define each gene, and divided into 23 chromosomes (Fig. 1). Somatic cells carry two copies of DNA (23 pairs of chromosomes) and germline cells carry one copy, or a single set of 23 chromosomes. An organized sequence of nucleotides that “spells out” the information necessary to construct a specific messenger, called “messenger RNA,” in turn translates into a specific protein. The Human Genome Project’s (1) results have reduced our initial expectation of the number of genes existing in the human DNA code from 100,000 to around 25,000. With the exception of the genes coded on the allosomes (the X and Y chromosomes) that define gender, all human beings carry the same genes. Although the set of genes is the same across individuals, there is considerable interindividual difference in the nucleotide base sequences that encode these genes. When the chromosomes of two humans are compared, their DNA sequences can be identical for hundreds of bases. But at about one in every 1,200 bases, the sequences differ. For example, where one person has an adenine, another person has a guanine. Or a person might have extra bases or a missing segment at a given location. Each distinct “spelling” of a chromosomal region is called an allele, and a collection of alleles in a person’s chromosomes is known as a genotype. Although many “spellings” of a gene (i.e., alleles), may exist, just two of them, because of the two sets of chromosomes, form the genotype for any one person. Differences in individual bases are the most common type of genetic variation. These genetic differences, when occurring in 1% of the population, are known as single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs (pronounced “snips”). Rare variants (frequency, 1%) are called mutations. From the Human Genome Project, we now know there are approximately 10 million SNPs across the human genome. As we describe below, these SNPs can be used as markers to help geneticists identify potential genetic risk factors for disease. The term genotyping can have both a broad and narrow definition, as illustrated by the following examples. Human genotyping is as follows.