Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust hopping based on virtual pendulum posture control

A new control approach to achieve robust hopping against perturbations in the sagittal plane is presented in this paper. In perturbed hopping, vertical body alignment has a significant role for stability. Our approach is based on the virtual pendulum concept, recently proposed, based on experimental findings in human and animal locomotion. In this concept, the ground reaction forces are pointed to a virtual support point, named virtual pivot point (VPP), during motion. This concept is employed in designing the controller to balance the trunk during the stance phase. New strategies for leg angle and length adjustment besides the virtual pendulum posture control are proposed as a unified controller. This method is investigated by applying it on an extension of the spring loaded inverted pendulum (SLIP) model. Trunk, leg mass and damping are added to the SLIP model in order to make the model more realistic. The stability is analyzed by Poincaré map analysis. With fixed VPP position, stability, disturbance rejection and moderate robustness are achieved, but with a low convergence speed. To improve the performance and attain higher robustness, an event-based control of the VPP position is introduced, using feedback of the system states at apexes. Discrete linear quartic regulator is used to design the feedback controller. Considerable enhancements with respect to stability, convergence speed and robustness against perturbations and parameter changes are achieved.
Food Policy and Poverty in Indonesia: A General Equilibrium Analysis

Rice is Indonesia's staple food and accounts for large shares of both consumers' budgets and total employment. Until recently, Indonesia was the world's largest importer, but rice import policy is now highly protectionist. Since early 2004, rice imports have been officially banned. Advocates of this policy say it reduces poverty by assisting poor farmers. Opponents say it increases poverty, stressing negative effects on poor consumers. This paper uses a general equilibrium model of the Indonesian economy to analyse the effects of a ban on rice imports. The analysis recognises 1000 individual households, including all major socioeconomic categories, disaggregated by expenditures per person. It takes account of effects on each household's real expenditure and its income, operating through wages and returns to land and capital. The results indicate that the rice import ban raises the domestic price of rice relative to the import price by an amount equivalent to a 125 per cent tariff, six times the pre-2004 tariff. Poverty incidence rises by a little under 1 per cent of the population and increases in both rural and urban areas. Among farmers, only the richest gain. These results are qualitatively robust to variations in key parametric assumptions. Copyright 2005 Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society Inc. and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.
Are rapidly mutating Y‐short tandem repeats useful to resolve a lineage? Expanding mutability data on distant male relationships

Y‐chromosomal short tandem repeats (Y‐STRs) are essential to relate male lineages in forensic and evolutionary studies. Although large panels of Y‐STR markers are now available, none possess sufficient discrimination power to distinguish close male relatives. This limit may be overcome by the use of rapidly mutating Y‐STRs (RM Y‐STRs), characterized by mutation rates higher than common Y‐STRs. Recently, multicenter studies evaluated the ability of RM Y‐STRs to differentiate father–son pairs; however, more extensive data on distantly related males are needed.
A Scenario-Based Optimization Approach to Robust Estimation of Airport Capacity

Estimation of airport capacity plays a fundamental role in planning air traffic flow around the airport. Due to the impact of various dynamic factors on practical airport operation, e.g., the varying meteorological condition and changing fleet mix, airport capacity is characterized by uncertainties. The robustness of the existing iconic estimation approaches is challenged. This paper proposes a scenario-based optimization approach to robust estimation of airport capacity in the presence of the operational uncertainties. The capacity envelope identified through empirical analysis is associated with some probabilistic level and the estimation problem is then formulated as a chance-constrained optimization program approximately solved via scenario approach. Case study using real data set collected from Beijing Capital International Airport shows that the capacity envelope obtained by the proposed approach is more robust than two iconic approaches, i.e., proportion-based filtration approach and the quantile regression approach.
Comparative Study of Image Processing Techniques on Geometrical Shape

Image plays very important role in human life Now a day it is one of the reliable sources of information. There were many image processing techniques have been proposed according to need. With the fast computers and signal processors available in the 2000s, (1)digital image processing has become the most common form of image processing, and is generally used because it is not only the most versatile method, but also the cheapest. Shape, color and texture are undoubtedly important visual features for image representation, there is still little understanding of how best to implement these attributes for image retrieval. This paper represents the various techniques of image processing & the comparative study of moment invariant with chain code technique on geometric shapes to extract feature based on shape and reason of image which produce better performance.
Kitchen kinesics: situating gestural interaction within the social contexts of family cooking

HCI research and practice have moved into the kitchen, and alongside screen-based technologies, a number of tangible interaction designs are emerging to support home cooking. However, we note that the designs of tangible technologies for kitchens have, to date, emphasized the work of cooking rather than the social significance or context in which it occurs. Building on this growing interest in cooking and the kitchen, we report on ethnographic research with intergenerational family members cooking together in their homes. We analyze the social, material and embodied contexts of kitchen kinesics -- the non-verbal gestural communication observed in family cooking interactions. Based upon these social, embodied, and material contexts of gestural interaction in the kitchen, we identify a number of contextual concerns for approaching the design and understanding of the role of gesture in familial cooking. Ultimately we highlight the significance of collocated gestural interaction and gestured interaction over a distance to understand the opportunities and limitations afforded by the design of new technologies in the kitchen.
Expression and Localization of Thrombospondin-1 and -2 and Their Cell-Surface Receptor, CD36, During Rat Follicular Development and Formation of the Corpus Luteum1

Abstract Thrombospondin (TSP)-1 and -2 are extracellular matrix glycoproteins that are both antiangiogenic and important in regulating cellular development, differentiation, and function. To evaluate the expression of TSP in follicular and luteal development, ovarian cycles of Sprague-Dawley rats were synchronized and tissues collected daily at stages corresponding to the early antral, ovulatory, early luteal, and late luteal phases of the ovarian cycle. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot analyses demonstrated that TSP-1 protein and its receptor, CD36, were present in the early antral phase and were localized primarily to the granulosa cells of antral follicles. Both proteins were also present immediately after ovulation and were localized to the developing corpus luteum. Messenger RNA for TSP-1 showed a similar pattern, with expression at the early antral and ovulatory phases. Protein and mRNA expression for TSP-2 was relatively delayed compared to TSP-1, although TSP-2 also was expressed in granulosa cells. Both TSP-1 and -2 were increased in response to LH stimulation in vitro, whereas TSP-2 was suppressed by FSH. The temporal pattern of expression of TSP-1, -2, and CD36, which mirrors the active phases of angiogenesis in this experimental model, is compatible with a role for these proteins in the control of ovarian vascularization.
[Quality of life in multiple sclerosis--association with clinical features, fatigue and depressive syndrome].

INTRODUCTION The aim of the study was to assess the health related quality of life in patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) in association with clinical features, fatigue and depressive symptoms. METHODS The examined group consisted of 61 patients (45 women and 16 men) in the mean age of 38.6 +/- 11.4. The mean duration of disease was 7.1 +/- 6.1 years. The control group consisted of 30 healthy volunteers. The following questionnaires were used: EuroQol (EQ5D) with visual scale EuroQol-VAS, Modified Impact Fatigue Scale (MIFS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). RESULTS The quality of life in the examined group of MS patients was significantly lower in comparison to the control group. Results of EQ-5D and EQ-VAS were influenced by age, disease course, level of disability and carried treatment. Statistically significant association was also found between results of the questionnaires assessing quality of life and either fatigue or depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION The used questionnaires confirmed that quality of life in patients with MS is significantly worse, especially in the older people with secondary progressive course of the disease, more disable and not treated. Presence of fatigue and depressive symptoms influenced the self-assessment of quality of life. Complex care of MS patient should consider diagnosis and treatment of fatigue and depression which could improve their quality of life.
Nutrition, temperature and homeostasis during perinatal development

Introduction 907 The maternal environment and fetal development 908 Maternal nutrition and fetal lung growth 911 Fetal metabolism 913 Placetal inhibitory factors 915 Adenosine 915 Prostaglandin E2 916 Fetal stimulatory factors 917 Thyroid hormones 917 Catecholamines 917 Ontogeny of fetal brown adipose tissue 918 Birth 920 Caesarean section delivery 922 Environmental temperature and metabolic adaptation after birth 923 Postnatal development 925 Thyroid hormones and the control of metabolism during postnatal life 926 Nutritional and environmental influences on postnatal metabolism and growth 929 Postnatal metabolism and breathing control 931 Conclusion 932 References 933
Allelic variants interaction of dopamine receptor D4 polymorphism correlate with personality traits in young Korean female population

Polymorphism in exon III of the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) gene has been implicated to be associated with the human personality trait of novelty seeking (NS). For this study, we have investigated the possible association between 48‐bp VNTR in exon III and −521 C/T SNP of the DRD4 and personality traits among young (≈14 years of age) Korean female population. We found that the interaction between the two alleles of DRD4 polymorphism, 48‐bp VNTR and −521 C/T, were significantly high on NS (F = 4.88, P = 0.029) and persistence (P) (F = 5.05, P = 0.027) personality scores, suggesting that the variants of DRD4 gene influence the NS and P (persistent) personality traits. When analyzed independently, however, the two different alleles of DRD4 polymorphisms, 48‐bp VNTR and −521 C/T, there was no direct correlation with the personality traits. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Disinhibition Combines with Excitation to Extend the Operating Range of the OFF Visual Pathway in Daylight

Cone signals divide into parallel ON and OFF bipolar cell pathways, which respond to objects brighter or darker than the background and release glutamate onto the corresponding type of ganglion cell. It is assumed that ganglion cell excitatory responses are driven by these bipolar cell synapses. Here, we report an additional mechanism: OFF ganglion cells were driven in part by the removal of synaptic inhibition (disinhibition). The disinhibition played a relatively large role in driving responses at low contrasts. The disinhibition persisted in the presence of CNQX and d-AP-5. Furthermore, the CNQX/d-AP-5-resistant response was blocked by l-AP-4, meclofenamic acid, quinine, or strychnine but not by bicuculline. Thus, the disinhibition circuit was driven by the ON pathway and required gap junctions and glycine receptors but not ionotropic glutamate or GABAA receptors. These properties implicate the AII amacrine cell, better known for its role in rod vision, as a critical circuit element through the following pathway: cone → ON cone bipolar cell → AII cell → OFF ganglion cell. Rods could also drive this circuit through their gap junctions with cones. Thus, to light decrement, AII cells, driven by electrical synapses with ON cone bipolar cells, would hyperpolarize and reduce glycine release to excite OFF ganglion cells. To light increment, the AII circuit would directly inhibit OFF ganglion cells. These results show a new role for disinhibition in the retina and suggest a new role for the AII amacrine cell in daylight vision.
Isolation of Mutant Alginate Lyases with Cleavage Specificity for Di-guluronic Acid Linkages*

Alginates are commercially valuable and complex polysaccharides composed of varying amounts and distribution patterns of 1–4-linked β-d-mannuronic acid (M) and α-l-guluronic acid (G). This structural variability strongly affects polymer physicochemical properties and thereby both commercial applications and biological functions. One promising approach to alginate fine structure elucidation involves the use of alginate lyases, which degrade the polysaccharide by cleaving the glycosidic linkages through a β-elimination reaction. For such studies one would ideally like to have different lyases, each of which cleaves only one of the four possible linkages in alginates: G-G, G-M, M-G, and M-M. So far no lyase specific for only G-G linkages has been described, and here we report the construction of such an enzyme by mutating the gene encoding Klebsiella pneumoniae lyase AlyA (a polysaccharide lyase family 7 lyase), which cleaves both G-G and G-M linkages. After error-prone PCR mutagenesis and high throughput screening of ∼7000 lyase mutants, enzyme variants with a strongly improved G-G specificity were identified. Furthermore, in the absence of Ca2+, one of these lyases (AlyA5) was found to display no detectable activity against G-M linkages. G-G linkages were cleaved with ∼10% of the optimal activity under the same conditions. The substitutions conferring altered specificity to the mutant enzymes are located in conserved regions in the polysaccharide lyase family 7 alginate lyases. Structure-function analyses by comparison with the known three-dimensional structure of Sphingomonas sp. A1 lyase A1-II′ suggests that the improved G-G specificity might be caused by increased affinity for nonproductive binding of the alternating G-M structure.
Inhibition-based fan effect in children engaged in letter and colour blob flanker tasks

An inhibition-based fan effect was explored with two different negative priming tasks. Experiment 1 used a modified flanker-type colour blob task in both children and adults (Pritchard & Neumann, 2004), where two additional conditions were included (C2 and IR2). Each set of the colour blobs for the additional conditions consist of two distractor colours instead of one distractor colour. Experiment 2 used Navon’s (1977) global-local letter task, where a global letter contains one, two, or three local letters as distractors to see if an inhibitory fan effect operated on the should-be-ignored local letters. Results from both experiments did not support for the inhibition-based fan effect hypothesis. However, in line with Pritchard and Neumann (2004) and Frings et al. (2007), there was evidence for the claim that selective control mechanism are developed much earlier in young children than previously thought.
Identification of a Novel Calcium-binding Protein That Interacts with the Integrin αIIb Cytoplasmic Domain*

The mechanism by which platelets regulate the function of integrin αIIbβ3 (or GPIIb/IIIa), the platelet fibrinogen receptor, is unknown but may involve the binding of proteins or other factors to integrin cytoplasmic domains. To identify candidate cytoplasmic domain binding proteins, we screened a human fetal liver cDNA library in the yeast two-hybrid system, using the αIIb cytoplasmic domain as “bait,” and isolated a novel 855-base pair clone. The open reading frame encodes a novel 191-amino acid polypeptide (termed CIB for calcium- and integrin-binding protein) that appears to be specific for the cytoplasmic domain of αIIb, since it does not interact with the αv, α2, α5, β1, or β3 integrin cytoplasmic domains in the yeast two-hybrid system. This protein has sequence homology to two known Ca2+-binding regulatory proteins, calcineurin B (58% similarity) and calmodulin (56% similarity), and has two EF-hand motifs corresponding to the two C-terminal Ca2+ binding domains of these proteins. Moreover, recombinant CIB specifically binds 45Ca2+ in blot overlay assays. Using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis, we detected CIB mRNA and protein (∼25 kDa), respectively, in human platelets. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay performed using either immobilized recombinant CIB or monoclonal antibody-captured αIIbβ3 indicates a specific interaction between CIB and intact αIIbβ3. These results suggest that CIB is a candidate regulatory molecule for integrin αIIbβ3.
Long-Term Retention of Prose following Testing

Taking a test on content which has just been studied is known to enhance later retention of the material studied ( 1). This testing effect is generally examined through a retention test administered a few (typically two) weeks after initial learning and testing. The present study. examined this phenomenon with respect to long-term benefits which might result from testing. This was accomplished through the administration of a retention test 5 mo. following a typical study of effects of testing. In the initial study ( 2 ) , high-school students studied a brief history text, then took a test on the passage, spent equivalent time reviewing the passage, or went on to an unrelated filler task. A retention test given 2 wk. later indicated that the test condition resulted in significantly better retention than either the review or the control conditions. Five months later, these same 83 students were administered a 12-item multiple-choice test (five options per item) similar to the retention test they had completed earlier. Retention after 5 mo. was less over-all, but the data closely parallel the data obtained on the 2-wk, retention test. The respective means and standard deviations are as follows: Test group: M = 6.0, u = 2.3; Review group: M = 5.1, u = 1.7; Control group: M = 4.8, cr = 2.1 The analysis of variance of these data gave an F2,so of 2.4 which was, however, only significant at p < . lo. While the analysis did not replicate the strong significant differences found after 2 wk. , it is nevertheless of interest that the order of the group means after 5 mo. exactly follows prediction and closely parallels the order of group means after 2 wk. A study with more power (for instance, with more subjects) would probably establish clearly significant group differences. In conclusion, the data indicate the possibility that taking a test immediately after learning may lead to an advantage in retention (although a small one) even at a much later time. Testing may thus be a powerful way of enhancing long-term retention.
Feature Selection and Activity Prediction in Chinese Medicine Research Using a Hybrid Model GA-SVM

A new hybrid method called GA-SVM was proposed which combines GA (Genetic Algorithm) as a feature selection model and SVM (Support Vector Machine) as a regression model. With some modifications to the general GA and SVM models, this method can implement feature selection and activity prediction simultaneously, and its performance can be improved. Two experiments are carried out which indicate its better performance than traditional models such as BP net in small sample sets. Important features could be selected by GA-SVM which are validated by MLR. By applying the new model in Chinese medicine research, the QSAR of COX-2 and PGE2 inhibitors were found out and useful conclusions to instruct practical pharmaceutics were drawn.
Recommendation generation using typicality based collaborative filtering

The rapid growth of information availability on the Web related to movies, news, books, hotels, medicines, jobs etc. have increased the scope of information filtering techniques. Recommender System is software application that uses filtering techniques and algorithms to generate personalized preferences to support decision making of the users. Collaborative Filtering is one type of recommender system that finds neighbors of users on the basis of similar rated items by users or common users of items. It suffers from data sparsity and inaccuracy issues. In this paper, concept of typicality from cognitive psychology is used to find the neighbors of users on the basis of on their typicality degree in user groups. Typicality based Collaborative Filtering (TyCo) approach using K-means and Topic model based clustering is compared in terms of Mean Absolute Error (MAE).
Urdu Word Segmentation

Word Segmentation is the foremost obligatory task in almost all the NLP applications where the initial phase requires tokenization of input into words. Urdu is amongst the Asian languages that face word segmentation challenge. However, unlike other Asian languages, word segmentation in Urdu not only has space omission errors but also space insertion errors. This paper discusses how orthographic and linguistic features in Urdu trigger these two problems. It also discusses the work that has been done to tokenize input text. We employ a hybrid solution that performs an n-gram ranking on top of rule based maximum matching heuristic. Our best technique gives an error detection of 85.8% and overall accuracy of 95.8%. Further issues and possible future directions are also discussed.
A study of improvement of D* algorithms for mobile robot path planning in partial unknown environments

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to improve the D* algorithm which has been used usually in robotics for mobile robot navigation in unknown or dynamic environments.Design/methodology/approach – First, the model of 2D workspace with some obstacles is expressed in regularity grids. The optimal path is planned by using the improved D* algorithm by searching in the neighbor grid cells in 16 directions. It makes the robot that the smallest turning angle drops to π/8. The robot moving angle discrete precision is raised and the unnecessary cost of path planning is reduced so the robot motion path is smoother. Then, the improved D* algorithm is simulated in MOBOTSIM software environment and is tested by the WiRobotX80 mobile robot.Findings – To search in the neighbor grid cells in 16 directions instead of eight directions by using D* algorithms for path planning.Research limitations/implications – The map should be expressed in regularity grids.Originality/value – The improved D* algorithm is effective and .