Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-consistency of polarization diversity measurement of rainfall

Polarization diversity measurements of rainfall, namely the reflectivity factor, differential reflectivity, and specific differential propagation phase, vary in a constrained three-dimensional space. Algorithms are derived to quantify this self-consistency of measurements. In particular, estimation of the specific differential propagation phase shift based on reflectivity and differential reflectivity is analyzed in detail. Theoretical simulation as well as radar observations of rainfall at S (CSU-CHILL) and C (Polar 55C) bands are used to demonstrate that the range profiles of differential propagation shift can be constructed from measurements of reflectivity and differential reflectivity.
Carrizo silvestre (Arundo donax) como sustrato alternativo en la producción de Pleurotus ostreatus

Antecedentes: La producción de hongos comestibles es una alternativa para la obtención de alimentos, manejo de residuos agrícolas y aprovechamiento de recursos vegetales; en el caso de Arundo donax, además de ser una especie exótica invasora en sistemas riparios, es un eficiente productor de biomasa, con alto contenido de nutrientes, que lo convierten en un sustrato adecuado para la producción de setas.Objetivos: Evaluar el potencial productivo y proximal de la CP-50 de P. ostreatus, utilizando carrizo silvestre en comparación y combinación con residuos agrícolas, en condiciones controladas. Métodos: Se seleccionó el carrizo silvestre y tres residuos agrícolas de la región de Tetela de Ocampo, Puebla. Se evaluó la eficiencia biológica, la tasa de producción y la tasa de biodegradación en un diseño de bloques al azar, además, se realizó un estudio químico proximal de los basidiomas obtenidos de la cepa CP-50 y de A. donax como sustrato y se calculó el valor energético (Kcal/100 g) de las setas para cada tratamiento.Resultados y conclusiones: Arundo donax como sustrato obtuvo el mayor rendimiento, ya que presentó una alta concentración de proteína y materia seca, la cual benefició el potencial productivo de la CP-50 con residuos agrícolas de la región.
The Positive Regulatory Effect of TGF-β2 on Primitive Murine Hemopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells Is Dependent on Age, Genetic Background, and Serum Factors1

TGF-β is considered a negative regulator of hemopoietic stem and progenitor cells. We have previously shown that one TGF-β isoform, TGF-β2, is, in fact, a positive regulator of murine hemopoietic stem cell function in vivo. In vitro, TGF-β2, but not TGF-β1 and TGF-β3, had a biphasic dose response on the proliferation of purified lin-Sca1++kit+ (LSK) cells, with a stimulatory effect at low concentrations, which was subject to mouse strain-dependent variation. In this study we report that the stimulatory effect of TGF-β2 on the proliferation of LSK cells increases with age and after replicative stress in C57BL/6, but not in DBA/2, mice. The age-related changes in the TGF-β2 effect correlated with life span in BXD recombinant strains. The stimulatory effect of TGF-β2 on the proliferation of LSK cells requires one or more nonprotein, low m.w. factors present in fetal calf and mouse sera. The activity of this factor(s) in mouse serum increases with age. Taken together, our data suggest a role for TGF-β2 and as yet unknown serum factors in the aging of the hemopoietic stem cell compartment and possibly in organismal aging.
Sophisticated topology of hidden Markov models for cursive script recognition

The paper describes an adaptation of hidden Markov models (HMM) to automatic recognition of unrestricted handwritten words. Many interesting details of a 50,000 vocabulary recognition system for US city names are described. This system includes feature extraction, classification, estimation of model parameters, and word recognition. The feature extraction module transforms a binary image to a sequence of feature vectors. The classification module consists of a transformation based on linear discriminant analysis and Gaussian soft-decision vector quantizers which transform feature vectors into sets of symbols and associated likelihoods. Symbols and likelihoods form the input to both HMM training and recognition. HMM training performed in several successive steps requires only a small amount of gestalt labeled data on the level of characters for initialization. HMM recognition based on the Viterbi algorithm runs on subsets of the whole vocabulary. <<ETX>>
Identifying active constraints via partial smoothness and prox-regularity

Active set algorithms, such as the projected gradient method in nonlinear optimization, are designed to "identify'' the active constraints of the problem in a finite number of iterations. Using the notions of "partial smoothness'' and "prox-regularity'' we extend work of Burke, Moree and Wright on identifiable surfaces from the convex case to a general nonsmooth setting. We further show how this setting can be used in the study of sufficient conditions for local minimizers.
Variabilité phénotypique et génétique des traits de reproduction de deux espèces de chêne blanc européen (Quercus petraea et Q. robur)

La dynamique et le fonctionnement des ecosystemes forestiers dependent fortement de la reproduction des arbres. Ainsi de nombreux travaux se sont interesses aux fortes fluctuations interannuelles a la fois synchrones et non previsibles des productions de graines, mais tres peu d’etudes ont pu caracteriser la sensibilite aux variables climatiques et le determinisme des traits de reproduction. Dans le cadre de cette these nous avons etudie la reproduction de deux especes de chenes temperes europeens (Quercus petraea et Quercus robur) avec pour objectifs (i) d’evaluer l’evolution des traits de reproduction au cours des deux dernieres decennies, notamment vis-a-vis des changements de temperature, (ii) d’estimer la contribution des facteurs genetiques et environnementaux a la variation de ces traits le long de gradients environnementaux et enfin (iii) d’estimer l’heritabilite des traits de reproduction ainsi que d’identifier les regions du genome qui leurs sont associees. A partir de suivis long-termes de l’effort de reproduction « in situ » sur tout le territoire de France metropolitaine, nous avons pu mettre en evidence une augmentation significative de la production fruitiere des chenes au cours des 14 dernieres annees. Ces accroissements du nombre et de la taille des glands sont fortement correles a l’augmentation des temperatures printanieres. Cette sensibilite a la temperature a par ailleurs pu etre confirmee grâce a un dispositif independant installe le long de gradients altitudinaux dans les Pyrenees. Nos resultats montrent egalement une differenciation genetique entre les populations provenant du gradient altitudinal et une opposition de signes entre les clines genetique et phenotypique « contre-gradient » pour les deux traits de reproduction etudies. Contrairement aux traits de croissance pour lesquels nous observons un « co-gradient », le « contre gradient » observe pour la reproduction suggere que les variations genetiques contrecarrent en partie la forte plasticite environnementale, minimisant ainsi la tendance (ou patron) de l’effort de reproduction avec la temperature. Enfin, nous avons observe une forte heritabilite pour chacun des traits de reproduction chez le chene pedoncule dans une famille de pleins freres, confirmant l’existence d’un determinisme genetique evoque precedemment. De plus, nous avons identifie pour la premiere fois chez les arbres forestiers, des locus a caractere quantitatif (QTLs) associes a la reproduction du chene. Ces resultats suggerent qu’en reponse a des changements environnementaux, les traits de reproduction ont la capacite de repondre a la selection et de faciliter l'adaptation locale, et ainsi apportent de nouvelles perspectives dans l’etude de la reponse des arbres forestiers aux changements climatiques.
Fructo-oligosaccharides and fibre in enteral nutrition has a beneficial influence on microbiota and gastrointestinal quality of life

Objective. Intestinal microbiota is important in health and disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and fibre-enriched tube feeding on quality of life and intestinal microbiota (faecal Bifidobacteria). Material and methods. Nineteen out of 59 home-living, tube-feeding-dependent, adult patients and matched healthy controls were included in this randomized, double-blind study. After a washout period, patients received either no residue tube feeding (non-FOS group) or FOS and fibre-enriched tube feeding (FOS group). Quality of life as defined by the Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI) and quantification of faecal Bifidobacteria were determined. Results. At baseline, GIQLI scores in controls and patients were 88±12 and 67±14, respectively (p=0.001). Following 6 weeks’ intervention, GIQLI scores remained stable (65±14 versus 67±17) in the FOS group, whereas the non-FOS group values decreased (68±17 versus 64±19). Baseline faecal samples contained 2.1×107±3.5×107 and 2.1×106±5.6×106Bifidobacteria (p=0.002) in controls and patients, respectively, with no differences between patient groups. During the intervention, this number remained stable in the FOS group (0.7×106±1.3×106 versus 1.0×106±1.3×106 baseline versus end-point), but decreased in the non-FOS group (3.6 ×1 06±8.0×106 versus 2.5×104±4.0×104). GIQLI scores were correlated with the number of faecal Bifidobacteria (r=0.41, p=0.007). Conclusions. The GIQL score for the tube-fed patients increased with the number of faecal Bifidobacteria, although in a non-linear way, and addition of FOS increased the number of Bifidobacteria. This suggests that prebiotic tube feeding may lead to a change in intestinal microbiota that could induce an increased quality of life in these patients.
Reduction mechanism of L‐cysteine on keratin fibers using microspectrophotometry and Raman spectroscopy

In order to investigate the reduction mechanism of L‐cysteine (Cys) on keratin fibers, cross‐sectional samples of virgin white human hair treated with Cys were prepared. The heterogeneous reaction between Cys and keratin fibers involving the diffusion of Cys into human hair was analyzed at the molecular level using microspectrophotometry and Raman spectroscopy. The diffusion pattern of Cys into human hair showed non‐Fickian type characteristics, thus indicating the free amino groups of electrostatically interacted with the anionic ions of the fiber surface. The disconnected relative concentration of —SS— groups at various depths of the hair samples with pH 9.0 was less than the Cys relative concentration, indicating that the reaction rate (the disconnection of —SS— groups) was slower than the diffusion rate of Cys into human hair. From these experiments, we concluded that the free amino groups of Cys electrostatically interacted with the anionic ions of the fiber surface, thereby decreasing the reaction rate (the disconnection of —SS— groups) of Cys at pH 9.0. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 79: 324–334, 2005
Increased N‐Acetylaspartate/creatine ratio in the medial prefrontal cortex among unmedicated obsessive–compulsive disorder patients

Aims: Changes in the fronto‐striato‐thalamo‐cortical‐circuit loop have been suggested in the pathogenesis of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), and have been studied using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) with interesting findings. However, whether neural metabolites are abnormal in the medial prefrontal cortex in patients with OCD is unknown. The purpose of the present study was to investigate neural metabolites in this brain region in a sample of patients with OCD.
Global path planning of wheeled robots using multi-objective memetic algorithms

Global path planning is a fundamental problem of mobile robotics. The majority of global path planning methods are designed to find a collision-free path from a start location to a target location while optimizing one or more objectives like path length, smoothness, and safety at a time. It is noted that providing multiple tradeoff path solutions of different objectives is much more beneficial to the user’s choice than giving a single optimal solution in terms of some specific criterion. This paper proposes a global path planning of wheeled robots using multi-objective memetic algorithms (MOMAs). Particularly, two MOMAs are implemented based on conventional multi-objective genetic algorithms with elitist non-dominated sorting and decomposition strategies respectively to optimize the path length and smoothness simultaneously. Novel path encoding scheme, path refinement, and specific evolutionary operators are designed and introduced to the MOMAs to enhance the search ability of the algorithms as well as guarantee the safety of the candidate paths obtained in complex environments. Experimental results on both simulated and real environments show that the proposed MOMAs are efficient in planning a set of valid tradeoff paths in complex environments.
Assessing the strength of cardiac and sympathetic baroreflex controls via transfer entropy during orthostatic challenge

The study assesses the strength of the causal relation along baroreflex (BR) in humans during an incremental postural challenge soliciting the BR. Both cardiac BR (cBR) and sympathetic BR (sBR) were characterized via BR sequence approaches from spontaneous fluctuations of heart period (HP), systolic arterial pressure (SAP), diastolic arterial pressure (DAP) and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA). A model-based transfer entropy method was applied to quantify the strength of the coupling from SAP to HP and from DAP to MSNA. The confounding influences of respiration were accounted for. Twelve young healthy subjects (20–36 years, nine females) were sequentially tilted at 0°, 20°, 30° and 40°. We found that (i) the strength of the causal relation along the cBR increases with tilt table inclination, while that along the sBR is unrelated to it; (ii) the strength of the causal coupling is unrelated to the gain of the relation; (iii) transfer entropy indexes are significantly and positively associated with simplified causality indexes derived from BR sequence analysis. The study proves that causality indexes are complementary to traditional characterization of the BR and suggests that simple markers derived from BR sequence analysis might be fruitfully exploited to estimate causality along the BR. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Mathematical methods in medicine: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology’.
A two‐component Kdo hydrolase in the inner membrane of Francisella novicida

Lipid A coats the outer surface of the outer membrane of Gram‐negative bacteria. In Francisella tularensis subspecies novicida lipid A is present either as the covalently attached anchor of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or as free lipid A. The lipid A moiety of Francisella LPS is linked to the core domain by a single 2‐keto‐3‐deoxy‐D‐manno‐octulosonic acid (Kdo) residue. F. novicida KdtA is bi‐functional, but F. novicida contains a membrane‐bound Kdo hydrolase that removes the outer Kdo unit. The hydrolase consists of two proteins (KdoH1 and KdoH2), which are expressed from adjacent, co‐transcribed genes. KdoH1 (related to sialidases) has a single predicted N‐terminal transmembrane segment. KdoH2 contains 7 putative transmembrane sequences. Neither protein alone catalyses Kdo cleavage when expressed in E. coli. Activity requires simultaneous expression of both proteins or mixing of membranes from strains expressing the individual proteins under in vitro assay conditions in the presence of non‐ionic detergent. In E. coli expressing KdoH1 and KdoH2, hydrolase activity is localized in the inner membrane. WBB06, a heptose‐deficient E. coli mutant that makes Kdo2‐lipid A as its sole LPS, accumulates Kdo‐lipid A when expressing the both hydrolase components, and 1‐dephospho‐Kdo‐lipid A when expressing both the hydrolase and the Francisella lipid A 1‐phosphatase (LpxE).
Interleukin‐6 Levels are Inversely Correlated with Heart Rate Variability in Patients with Decompensated Heart Failure

Interleukin‐6 and Heart Rate Variability. Introduction: Increased local and systemic elaboration of cytokines have an important role in the pathogenesis of congestive heart failure (CHF) through diverse mechanisms. Because cytokines are known to act at the neuronal level in both the peripheral and central nervous system, we sought to determine whether increased cytokine levels are associated with the autonomic dysfunction that characterizes CHF.
Robot plans execution for information gathering tasks with resources constraints

Partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) have been widely used to model real world problems because of their abilities to capture uncertainty in states, actions and observations. In robotics, there are also constraints imposed on the problems, such as time constraints or resources constraints for executing actions. In this work, we seek to address the problems of planning in the presence of both uncertainty and constraints. Constrained POMDPs extend the general POMDPs by explicitly representing constraints in the goal conditions. The method we take in this paper is to use a translation-based approach to generate an MDP policy off-line, and apply value of information calculation on-line to stochastically select the observation action by taking into account of information they gain and their resource usage. This on-line selection scheme was evaluated in a number of scenarios and simulations, and the preliminary results show that our approach can achieve better performance compared to deterministic schemes.
Hematopoietic immortalizing function of the NKL‐subclass homeobox gene TLX1

Translocations resulting in ectopic expression of the TLX1 homeobox gene (previously known as HOX11) are recurrent events in human T‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T‐ALL). Transduction of primary murine hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells with retroviral vectors expressing TLX1 readily yields immortalized hematopoietic progenitor cell lines. Understanding the processes involved in TLX1‐mediated cellular immortalization should yield insights into the growth and differentiation pathways altered by TLX1 during the development of T‐ALL. In recent clinical gene therapy trials, hematopoietic clonal dominance or T‐ALL‐like diseases have occurred as a direct consequence of insertional activation of the EVI1, PRDM16 or LMO2 proto‐oncogenes by the retroviral vectors used to deliver the therapeutic genes. Additionally, the generation of murine hematopoietic progenitor cell lines due to retroviral integrations into Evi1 or Prdm16 has also been recently reported. Here, we determined by linker‐mediated nested polymerase chain reaction the integration sites in eight TLX1‐immortalized hematopoietic cell lines. Notably, no common integration site was observed among the cell lines. Moreover, no insertions into the Evi1 or Prdm16 genes were identified although insertion near Lmo2 was observed in one instance. However, neither Lmo2 nor any of the other genes examined surrounding the integration sites showed differential vector‐influenced expression compared to the cell lines lacking such insertions. While we cannot exclude the possibility that insertional side effects transiently provided a selective growth/survival advantage to the hematopoietic progenitor populations, our results unequivocally rule out insertions into Evi1 and Prdm16 as being integral to the TLX1‐initiated immortalization process. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Controlled differentiation of human bone marrow stromal cells using magnetic nanoparticle technology.

Targeting and differentiating stem cells at sites of injury and repair is an exciting and promising area for disease treatment and reparative medicine. We have investigated remote magnetic field activation of magnetic nanoparticle-tagged mechanosensitive receptors on the cell membrane of human bone marrow stromal cells (HBMSCs) for use in osteoprogenitor cell delivery systems and activation of differentiation in vitro and in vivo toward an osteochondral lineage. HBMSC-labeled with magnetic beads coated with antibodies or peptides to the transmembrane ion channel stretch activated potassium channel (TREK-1) or arginine–glycine–aspartic acid were cultured in monolayer or encapsulated into polysaccharide alginate/chitosan microcapsules. Upregulation in gene expression was measured in magnetic particle-labeled HBMSCs in response to TREK-1 activation over a short period (7 days) with an increase in mRNA levels of Sox9, core binding factor alpha1 (Cbfa1), and osteopontin. Magnetic particle-labeled HBMSCs encapsulated into alginate chitosan capsules were exposed to magnetic forces both in vitro and in vivo intermittently for 21 days. After 21 days the encapsulated, magnetic particle-labeled HBMSCs in vivo were viable as evidenced by extensive cell tracker green fluorescence. The mechanical stimulation of HBMSCs labeled with TREK-1 magnetic nanoparticle receptors enhanced expression of type-1 collagen in vitro with increases in proteoglycan matrix, core binding factor alpha1 (Cbfa1) and collagen synthesis, and extracellular matrix production and elevated the expression of type-1 and type-2 collagen in vivo. Additionally, the magnetically remote stimulation of HBMSCs labeled with magnetic nanoparticle arginine–glycine–aspartic acid considerably enhanced proteoglycan and collagen synthesis and extracellular matrix production and elevated the expression of type-1 and type-2 collagen in vivo and in vitro. Osteogenic mechanosensitive receptor manipulation by magnetic nanotechnology can induce the differentiation of osteoprogenitor cell populations toward an osteogenic lineage. These cell manipulation strategies offer tremendous therapeutic opportunities in soft and hard tissue repair.
Fast Learning in Networks of Locally-Tuned Processing Units

We propose a network architecture which uses a single internal layer of locally-tuned processing units to learn both classification tasks and real-valued function approximations (Moody and Darken 1988). We consider training such networks in a completely supervised manner, but abandon this approach in favor of a more computationally efficient hybrid learning method which combines self-organized and supervised learning. Our networks learn faster than backpropagation for two reasons: the local representations ensure that only a few units respond to any given input, thus reducing computational overhead, and the hybrid learning rules are linear rather than nonlinear, thus leading to faster convergence. Unlike many existing methods for data analysis, our network architecture and learning rules are truly adaptive and are thus appropriate for real-time use.
Markov Random Field and Fuzzy Logic Modeling in Sonar Imagery: Application to the Classification of Underwater Floor

This paper proposes an original method for the classification of seafloors from high resolution sidescan sonar images. We aim at classifying the sonar images into five kinds of regions: sand, pebbles, rocks, ripples, and dunes. The proposed method adopts a pattern recognition approach based on the extraction and the analysis of the cast shadows exhibited by each seabottom type. This method consists of three stages of processing. First, the original image is segmented into two kinds of regions: shadow (corresponding to a lack of acoustic reverberation behind each “object” lying on the seabed) and seabottom reverberation. Second, based on the extracted shadows, shape parameter vectors are computed on subimages and classified with a fuzzy classifier. This preliminary classification is finally refined thanks to a Markov random field model which allows to incorporate spatial homogeneity properties one would expect for the final classification map. Experiments on a variety of real high-resolution sonar images are reported.