Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
4 DOFs Hollow Soft Pneumatic Actuator–HOSE

This study reports a novel Hollow Soft Pneumatic Actuator (HOSE), which exhibits 4 degrees of freedom (DOFs). The design consists of a central hollow cylinder surrounded by four twisting symmetric chambers. By virtue of their spiral disposition, each chamber produces a diagonal force along the hollow internal cylinder composed of two components: one parallel to the Z axis and the other one to the plane X-Y. Both top and bottom sections of the actuator are reinforced to avoid deformation, essential for optimal function and dexterity of HOSE. Different movements of the actuator are produced by varying the activation combinations of the 4 chambers. They are constructed from thin walled (0.5 mm) Ecoflex 00–30 super soft silicon rubber, enabling HOSE to perform controlled movements with low pressure not exceeding 35 kPa. HOSE exhibits a maximal extension of 230% of its original length, bends up to i) ±900 around X axis, ii) ±1150 around Y axis, and iii) twists around Z axis with a total range of ±350. The paper describes the manufacturing process together with the actuator performance, reporting the range of motion along each DOF related to the internal pressure, volume versus forces and torques produced along each axis.
Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of Genetics in Undifferentiated Peripheral Inflammatory Arthritis: A Systematic Review

Objective. To evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic utility of genetic testing in undifferentiated peripheral inflammatory arthritis (UPIA). Methods. A systematic literature search was performed in Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and abstracts presented at the 2007 and 2008 meetings of the American College of Rheumatology and the European League Against Rheumatism. The target studies were those evaluating diagnostic or prognostic value of genetic markers specifically in UPIA. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts and reviewed included articles in detail. All data were collected using ad hoc standard forms, permitting the calculation of positive and negative likelihood ratios of each genetic marker for diagnoses of different rheumatic diseases and for the development of relevant outcomes. Results. Of the 3109 articles retrieved, 26 original studies fulfilled criteria of the systematic review. The most frequent diagnosis tested was rheumatoid arthritis, followed by inflammatory polyarthritis, and spondyloarthropathies. The main prognostic outcome evaluated was development of erosions, followed by median Larsen score, remission, Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score, and persistent synovitis. In total, 122 genetic markers were tested. No genetic marker had a high likelihood ratio for the diagnosis of a specific rheumatic disease. The shared epitope was associated with poor prognosis (erosions, HAQ > 1, mortality, and persistent synovitis). Other genes did not predict outcome in undifferentiated arthritis. Other outcomes for persistent disease or disability were not studied in depth. Conclusion. In isolation, no studied genetic marker is very informative of a future diagnosis in patients with UPIA. The shared epitope has a slight association with poor prognosis of UPIA.
Systematic Infrared 2.5—5μm Spectroscopy of Nearby Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies with AKARI

We report on the results of systematic infrared 2.5–5 � m spectroscopy of 45 nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) at z 0.15. We estimate the intrinsic luminosities of extended (several kpc), modestly obscured (AV < 15 mag) starburst activity based on the observed 3.3 � m PAH emission luminosities measured in AKARI IRC slitless spectra, and confirm that such starbursts are energetically unimportant in nearby ULIRGs. In roughly half of the observed ULIRGs classified optically as nonSeyferts, we find signatures of luminous buried AGNs. The fraction of ULIRGs with detectable buried AGN signatures increases with increasing infrared luminosity. Our overall results support the scenario that luminous buried AGNs are important in many ULIRGs at z< 0.3 classified optically as non-Seyferts, and that the optical undetectability of such buried AGNs occurs merely because of a large amount of nuclear dust, which can make the sightline of even the lowest dust column density opaque to the ionizing radiation of the AGNs.
Matrin3 binds directly to intronic pyrimidine‐rich sequences and controls alternative splicing

Matrin3 is an RNA‐binding protein that is localized in the nuclear matrix. Although various roles in RNA metabolism have been reported for Matrin3, in vivo target RNAs to which Matrin3 binds directly have not been investigated comprehensively so far. Here, we show that Matrin3 binds predominantly to intronic regions of pre‐mRNAs. Photoactivatable Ribonucleoside‐Enhanced Cross‐linking and Immunoprecipitation (PAR‐CLIP) analysis using human neuronal cells showed that Matrin3 recognized pyrimidine‐rich sequences as binding motifs, including the polypyrimidine tract, a splicing regulatory element. Splicing‐sensitive microarray analysis showed that depletion of Matrin3 preferentially increased the inclusion of cassette exons that were adjacent to introns that contained Matrin3‐binding sites. We further found that although most of the genes targeted by polypyrimidine tract binding protein 1 (PTBP1) were also bound by Matrin3, Matrin3 could control alternative splicing in a PTBP1‐independent manner, at least in part. These findings suggest that Matrin3 is a splicing regulator that targets intronic pyrimidine‐rich sequences.
Predicting Online Protest Participation of Social Media Users

Social media has emerged to be a popular platform for people to express their viewpoints on political protests like the Arab Spring. Millions of people use social media to communicate and mobilize their viewpoints on protests. Hence, it is a valuable tool for organizing social movements. However, the mechanisms by which protest affects the population is not known, making it difficult to estimate the number of protestors. In this paper, we are inspired by sociological theories of protest participation and propose a framework to predict from the user's past status messages and interactions whether the next post of the user will be a declaration of protest. Drawing concepts from these theories, we model the interplay between the user's status messages and messages interacting with him over time and predict whether the next post of the user will be a declaration of protest. We evaluate the framework using data from the social media platform Twitter on protests during the recent Nigerian elections and demonstrate that it can effectively predict whether the next post of a user is a declaration of protest.
Robust Sparse Component Analysis Based on a Generalized Hough Transform

An algorithm called Hough SCA is presented for recovering the matrix in, where is a multivariate observed signal, possibly is of lower dimension than the unknown sources. They are assumed to be sparse in the sense that at every time instant, has fewer nonzero elements than the dimension of. The presented algorithm performs a global search for hyperplane clusters within the mixture space by gathering possible hyperplane parameters within a Hough accumulator tensor. This renders the algorithm immune to the many local minima typically exhibited by the corresponding cost function. In contrast to previous approaches, Hough SCA is linear in the sample number and independent of the source dimension as well as robust against noise and outliers. Experiments demonstrate the flexibility of the proposed algorithm.
Evaluation of regional numerical weather prediction model surface fields over the Middle Atlantic Bight

Coastal ocean models often rely on the surface fields from numerical weather prediction (NWP) models for realistic surface boundary conditions, but the errors in these fields are poorly understood. We evaluate the surface meteorological and flux fields provided by three of the regional NWP models in operation during 1996 and 1997 at the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP): the Eta-48, Eta-29, and Rapid Update Cycle (RUC-1) models. These model fields are compared to in situ measurements made from an air-sea interaction buoy deployed from July 1996 to June 1997 at a midshelf location in the Middle Atlantic Bight during the Coastal Mixing and Optics experiment. In addition, data from six National Data Buoy Center buoys are used to evaluate spatial errors in the model fields. The Eta-29 and RUC-1 models overestimate the net ocean-to-atmosphere heat flux by an average 83 and 74 W m−2, respectively, with notable errors in each of the individual heat flux components. The poorly resolved sea surface temperature fields used in the 1996–1997 regional NWP models lead to significant errors in the latent and sensible heat fluxes over the continental shelf and slope. Moreover, wind speeds are slightly overestimated in the Eta-48 and Eta-29 models while the RUC-1 model underestimates them by more than 1 m s−1. All of the models have mean wind direction errors of 7° to 13° east of north. In light of these evaluations, considerations for improving the accuracy of the surface flux fields for use in future ocean modeling studies are discussed.
Optimizing a Kinase Assay for IKKβ on an HTS Station

Using a commercially available time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET)—based assay for IKKβ, the authors have automated the assay procedure on a high-throughput screening station to carry out screening campaigns on multiwell plates. They have determined the Z′ factor and optimized volumes, times, and time-resolved fluorescence parameters. They have also compared 2 kinases with different fusion tags, the influence of different enzyme/substrate ratios and of DMSO presence at different concentration. The authors found that glutathione S-transferase (GST)—fused IKKβ shows better signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios over the poly-histidine-tagged variant. The substrate can be used at 50 nM with optimal performances when the enzyme is used at 2 nM. DMSO at 0.2% and 1% only slightly affects the S/N ratio, whereas when used at 2%, the final concentration deriving from a 50-fold dilution from a 5-mM stock solution in pure solvent, S/N undergoes a decrease of about 15%. Under the optimized conditions, the assay Z′ factor calculated over 192 data points has an optimized value of 0.881 and allows the testing of 94 molecules in quadruplicate in 140 min.
Scanning electrochemical microscopy of individual catalytic nanoparticles.

Electrochemistry at individual metal nanoparticles (NPs) can provide new insights into their electrocatalytic behavior. Herein, the electrochemical activity of single AuNPs attached to the catalytically inert carbon surface is mapped by using extremely small (≥3 nm radius) polished nanoelectrodes as tips in the scanning electrochemical microscope (SECM). The use of such small probes resulted in the spatial resolution significantly higher than in previously reported electrochemical images. The currents produced by either rapid electron transfer or the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction at a single 10 or 20 nm NP were measured and quantitatively analyzed. The developed methodology should be useful for studying the effects of nanoparticle size, geometry, and surface attachment on electrocatalytic activity in real-world application environment.
Facial blindsight

Blindsight denotes unconscious residual visual capacities in the context of an inability to consciously recollect or identify visual information. It has been described for color and shape discrimination, movement or facial emotion recognition. The present study investigates a patient suffering from cortical blindness whilst maintaining select residual abilities in face detection. Our patient presented the capacity to distinguish between jumbled/normal faces, known/unknown faces or famous people’s categories although he failed to explicitly recognize or describe them. Conversely, performance was at chance level when asked to categorize non-facial stimuli. Our results provide clinical evidence for the notion that some aspects of facial processing can occur without perceptual awareness, possibly using direct tracts from the thalamus to associative visual cortex, bypassing the primary visual cortex.
Motivating High-Risk Older Adults to Exercise: Does Coaching Matter?

The aim of the study was to compare two coaching channels—a combination of telephone and face-to-face coaching (combined phone and face-to-face) versus telephone coaching only (phone)—on exercise performances in a home-based low-intensity program. Multiple regression models were used to examine if the two coaching channels were associated with different 3-month posttest exercise performances. Individuals with the combined phone and face-to-face coaches had better exercise performances at 3-month posttest, compared to those who received phone coaching only. The evaluation suggests that, in a home-based, low-intensity training program that has been demonstrated to benefit high-risk, ethnically diverse older adults, face-to-face coaching appears to be a more powerful motivator than a phone-based approach only.
Squibs and Discussions: Evaluating Discourse and Dialogue Coding Schemes

Agreement statistics play an important role in the evaluation of coding schemes for discourse and dialogue. Unfortunately there is a lack of understanding regarding appropriate agreement measures and how their results should be interpreted. In this article we describe the role of agreement measures and argue that only chance-corrected measures that assume a common distribution of labels for all coders are suitable for measuring agreement in reliability studies. We then provide recommendations for how reliability should be inferred from the results of agreement statistics.
Cre/loxP‐mediated inactivation of the murine Pten tumor suppressor gene

Suppressor Gene Ralf Lesche, Matthias Groszer, Jing Gao, Ying Wang, Albee Messing, Hong Sun, Xin Liu, and Hong Wu* Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Waisman Center and School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
A Heuristic Lazy Bayesian Rule Algorithm

LBR has demonstrated outstanding classification accuracy. However, it has high computational overheads when large numbers of instances are classified from a single training set. We compare LBR and the tree-augmented Bayesian classifier, and present a new heuristic LBR classifier that combines elements of the two. It requires less computation than LBR, but demonstrates similar prediction accuracy. for classification when all the attributes are mutu- ally independent given the class and the required probabili- ties can be accurately estimated from the training data. As- sume X is a finite set of instances, and A = fA1;A2;¢¢¢ ;Ang is a finite set of n attributes. An instance x 2 X is de- scribed by a vector , where ai is a value of attribute Ai. C is called the class attribute. Predic- tion accuracy will be maximized if the predicted class L( ) = argmaxc(P(cj ). Un- fortunately, unless occurs enough times within X, it will not be possible to directly estimate P(cj ) from the frequency with which each class c 2 C co-occurs with within X. Bayes' theorem provides an equality that might be used to help estimate P(cj ) in such a circumstance: P(cij ) = P(ci)P( jci) P( ) :
Comparison of evaluation methods using structured usability problem reports

Abstract Recent HCI research has produced analytic evaluation techniques which claim to predict potential usability problems for an interactive system.Validation of these methods has involved matching predicted problems against usability problems found during empirical user testing. This paper shows that the matching of predicted and actual problems requires careful attention, and that current approaches lack rigour or generality. Requirements for more rigorous and general matching procedures are presented. A solution to one key requirement is presented: a new report structure for usability problems.It is designed to improve the quality of matches made between usability problems found during empirical user testing and problems predicted by analytic methods. The use of this report format is placed within its design research context, an ongoing project on domain-specific methods for software visualizations.
The effect of prethrombolytic cyclosporine-A injection on clinical outcome of acute anterior ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

INTRODUCTION Reperfusion injury reduces the benefits of early reperfusion therapies after acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Cyclosporine-A (CsA) is a potent inhibitor of opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore, which has been shown to play a key role in myocardial reperfusion injury. The impact of this treatment on clinical outcomes of acute STEMI remains unknown. Our aim was to investigate the clinical outcomes of using this drug in patients with acute anterior STEMI receiving thrombolytic treatment (TLT). METHODS In this double-blinded randomized clinical trial, 101 patients with acute anterior STEMI who were candidate for TLT, were enrolled and randomly assigned into treatment or control groups. Patients in the treatment group received an intravenous bolus injection of 2.5 mg/kg of CsA immediately before TLT. The patients in the control group received an equivalent volume of normal saline. Infarct size, occurrence of major arrhythmias, heart failure, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), TLT-related complications, in-hospital and 6-month mortality rates were investigated. RESULTS There were no significant differences among the demographics, myocardial enzyme release, occurrence of major arrhythmias [9 (18%) vs. 12 (23.5%), P = 0.80], heart failure [18 (36%) vs. 19 (38.3%), P = 0.83], LVEF at first day [34.7 ± 9.9% vs. 33.5 ± 8.1%, P = 0.50] or at discharge [37.7 ± 10% vs. 36.1 ± 8.2%, P = 0.43], and in-hospital [4 (8%) vs. 6 (11.8%), P = 0.74] or 6-month mortality rates [9 (18%) vs. 10 (19.6%), P = 0.99] between the CsA vs. the control group. CONCLUSION In this study, the prethrombolytic administration of CsA was not associated with a reduction in the infarct size or any improvement in clinical outcomes.
Comparison of optimization algorithms for the slow shot phase in HPDC

High-pressure die casting (HPDC) is a popular manufacturing process for aluminum processing. The slow shot phase in HPDC is the first phase of this process. During this phase, the molten metal is pushed towards the cavity under moderate plunger movement. The so-called shot curve describes this plunger movement.A good design of the shot curve is important to produce high-quality cast parts. Three partially competing process goals characterize the slow shot phase: (1) reducing air entrapment, (2) avoiding temperature loss, and (3) minimizing oxide caused by the air-aluminum contact. Due to the rough process conditions with high pressure and temperature, it is hard to design the shot curve experimentally. There exist a few design rules that are based on theoretical considerations. Nevertheless, the quality of the shot curve design still depends on the experience of the machine operator.To improve the shot curve it seems to be natural to use numerical optimization. This work compares different optimization st.
Cross-bridge elasticity in single smooth muscle cells

In smooth muscle, a cross-bridge mechanism is believed to be responsible for active force generation and fiber shortening. In the present studies, the viscoelastic and kinetic properties of the cross- bridge were probed by eliciting tension transients in response to small, rapid, step length changes (delta L = 0.3-1.0% Lcell in 2 ms). Tension transients were obtained in a single smooth muscle cell isolated from the toad (Bufo marinus) stomach muscularis, which was tied between a force transducer and a displacement device. To record the transients, which were of extremely small magnitude (0.1 microN), a high-frequency (400 Hz), ultrasensitive force transducer (18 mV/microN) was designed and built. The transients obtained during maximal force generation (Fmax = 2.26 microN) were characterized by a linear elastic response (Emax = 1.26 X 10(4) mN/mm2) coincident with the length step, which was followed by a biphasic tension recovery made up of two exponentials (tau fast = 5-20 ms, tau slow = 50-300 ms). During the development of force upon activation, transients were elicited. The relationship between stiffness and force was linear, which suggests that the transients originate within the cross-bridge and reflect the cross-bridge's viscoelastic and kinetic properties. The observed fiber elasticity suggests that the smooth muscle cross-bridge is considerably more compliant than in fast striated muscle. A thermodynamic model is presented that allows for an analysis of the factors contributing to the increased compliance of the smooth muscle cross-bridge.
Spark-Discharge as a Nanoparticle Source to Study Size-Dependent Plasmonic Properties for Photo-electrochemical Water Splitting

This work exploits the ability of the spark discharge particle generator (SDG) to produce metallic nanoparticles (NPs) with control over the size, shape and composition, to unravel the plasmonic mechanisms by which NPs can enhance the photoelectrochemical performance of semiconductor photoanodes. Chapter 1 gives an overview of the SDG and the aerosol technology used in this thesis to synthesize the NPs. Chapter 2 summarizes the different aerosol NP immobilization techniques (both on solids and in liquids) and introduces for the first time an electrospray technique to efficiently capture neutral NPs in liquids. In chapter 3, an extensive literature review on plasmonic photoelectrocatalysis is given to introduce the plasmonic mechanisms that are experimentally studied in Chapter 4, 5, 6 and 7. Chapter 4 and 5 are dedicated to study the hot electron injection (HEI) mechanism by which plasmonic NPs create light-induced “hot” charge carriers upon illumination that can drive photoelectrochemical reactions. Chapter 4 reveals that alloying Ag NPs with Au can be used to shift in a control way the absorption and utilization of light to longer wavelengths. However, due to the low interband energy of Au (i.e., 2.3 eV) compared to that of Ag (i.e., 3.6 eV), the alloy NPs exhibited more interband excitations when illuminated with visible light than pure Ag NPs. Such increase in interband excitations resulted in lower hot electron energies and HEI efficiencies in the alloy NPs than in pure Ag NPs. Chapter 5, reveals the HEI size dependency of Ag NPs. It is found that smaller NPs (l 10 nm) where the surface-induced excitations are prominent result in higher HEI efficiencies, while for larger light absorbing NPs (in the range 10-25 nm) a maximum in the performance is found that corresponds well with the size of the Ag NP with the largest nearfield enhancement. Chapter 6, studies the ability of Ag NPs to concentrate and scatter light into thin film semiconductors to enhance their absorption. It is found that most of the solar energy absorbed by pure 15 nm Ag NPs is lost through heat dissipation. However, larger NPs preferentially scatter the incoming light to the neighbour 6 semiconductor, improving its absorption above their band gap energy. Finally, two configurations of plasmonic NP/semiconductor composites were studied to enhance the semiconductor absorption. In the first configuration the NPs were placed at the semiconductor-electrolyte interface and in the second configuration, the NPs were embedded in the semiconductor at the back-contact/semiconductor interface. It was found that an absorption enhancement at the semiconductor/electrolyte interface was better utilized due to the ability of the surface charge layer to efficiently separate the extra electron holes induced by the plasmonic NPs.