Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential Sunlight Sensitivity of Picophytoplankton from Surface Mediterranean Coastal Waters

ABSTRACT We tested the sensitivity of coastal picophytoplankton exposed to natural sunlight in short-term experiments. Cell abundance and cell-specific chlorophyll fluorescence were significantly reduced in Prochlorococcus spp. but not in Synechococcus, whereas picoeukaryotes had an intermediate response. These results are the first direct evidence of a differential sensitivity to sunlight of these ubiquitous marine members of unicellular phytoplankton.
A Monte Carlo analysis of ensemble classification

In this paper we extend previous results providing a theoretical analysis of a new Monte Carlo ensemble classifier. The framework allows us to characterize the conditions under which the ensemble approach can be expected to outperform the single hypothesis classifier. Moreover, we provide a closed form expression for the distribution of the true ensemble accuracy, as well as of its mean and variance. We then exploit this result in order to analyze the expected error behavior in a particularly interesting case.
Queueing Analysis of Software Defined Network with Realistic OpenFlow–Based Switch Model

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is the latest network architecture that does for networking what virtualisation did for servers in data centres. In SDN, separation of the control plane from the data plane brought about new flexibility in the routing of flows through the network. Closely associated with SDN is OpenFlow, the most widely used protocol governing the information exchange between the data plane (switching devices) and the control plane (controller). The ease of implementing and testing new schemes in SDN has prompted many researchers to adopt the experimental and prototyping approach to validate their ideas. Consequently, there has been very little work done to evaluate the performance of SDN and/or OpenFlow-based networks analytically. While the experimentation approach in validation has merits, analytical modelling provides valuable insights by making explicit the dependence of SDN performance on chosen parameters. In this paper: (i) we propose a queueing model of an OpenFlow-based SDN that takes into account classful treatment of packets arriving at a switch and (ii) derive an exact analysis of the proposed queueing model.
Dynamic analysis for stair-climbing of a new-style wheelchair robot

In this paper, a wheelchair robot equipped with new-style variable-geometry-tracked mechanism is proposed. Different from general variable-geometry-tracked mechanisms, the key feature of this new-style mechanism is that it can adapt to convex terrain and transform to concave geometry by active control of track tension, based on which the ability of stair-climbing of traditional wheelchair is improved. For obtaining the dynamic characteristic of stair-climbing which is crucial to the robot design, the locomotion and transformation rule for the robot during different climbing phases is presented, the dynamic models of the robot whole body and its fundamental components are established. Finally the dynamic simulation for stair-climbing is performed, and the drive characteristic of the robot under different climbing conditions is obtained. The simulation results provide theoretical foundation to the future work of driving system design and mechanical parameters optimization.
Learn From Thy Neighbor: Parallel-Chain and Regional Adaptive MCMC

Starting with the seminal paper of Haario, Saksman, and Tamminen (Haario, Saksman, and Tamminen 2001), a substantial amount of work has been done to validate adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms. In this paper we focus on two practical aspects of adaptive Metropolis samplers. First, we draw attention to the deficient performance of standard adaptation when the target distribution is multimodal. We propose a parallel chain adaptation strategy that incorporates multiple Markov chains which are run in parallel. Second, we note that the current adaptive MCMC paradigm implicitly assumes that the adaptation is uniformly efficient on all regions of the state space. However, in many practical instances, different “optimal” kernels are needed in different regions of the state space. We propose here a regional adaptation algorithm in which we account for possible errors made in defining the adaptation regions. This corresponds to the more realistic case in which one does not know exactly the optimal regions for adaptation. The methods focus on the random walk Metropolis sampling algorithm but their scope is much wider. We provide theoretical justification for the two adaptive approaches using the existent theory build for adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo. We illustrate the performance of the methods using simulations and analyze a mixture model for real data using an algorithm that combines the two approaches.
ClusPro: a fully automated algorithm for protein-protein docking

ClusPro (http://nrc.bu.edu/cluster) represents the first fully automated, web-based program for the computational docking of protein structures. Users may upload the coordinate files of two protein structures through ClusPro's web interface, or enter the PDB codes of the respective structures, which ClusPro will then download from the PDB server (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/). The docking algorithms evaluate billions of putative complexes, retaining a preset number with favorable surface complementarities. A filtering method is then applied to this set of structures, selecting those with good electrostatic and desolvation free energies for further clustering. The program output is a short list of putative complexes ranked according to their clustering properties, which is automatically sent back to the user via email.
Hard Luck: How Luck Undermines Free Will and Moral Responsibility

Preface and Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. An Account of Luck 3. Luck and Libertarianism 4. The Luck Problem for Compatibilists 5. The Epistemic Dimensions of Control 6. Akratic Freedom? 7. The Retreat to the Inner Citadel 8. Quality Of Will Theories And History-Insensitive Compatibilism Bibliography Index
The Coat Protein gp120 of HIV‐1 Inhibits Astrocyte Uptake of Excitatory Amino Acids via Macrophage Arachidonic Acid

The human immunodeficiency virus coat protein gp120 injures central mammalian neurons both in vitro and in vivo, and this observation may contribute, at least in part, to the neurological dysfunction associated with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Recent work suggests that gp 120 mediates neuronal damage predominantly via an indirect route involving activation of brain macrophages. We have previously shown that the stimulation of N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptors by excitatory amino acids is essential for the neuronal injury observed with gp 120. Here we show that gp 120 impairs astrocyte uptake of excitatory amino acids and the excess glutamate thus engendered may contribute to the increased neuronal damage. We also studied the mechanism whereby gp 120 inhibits the uptake of excitatory amino acids by astrocytes. We present data suggesting that at least one pathway involves a direct effect of gp120 on macrophages, which in turn release arachidonic acid, a known inhibitor of excitatory amino acid uptake by astrocytes. Our findings suggest that the observed effects on glia and neurons of gp120 may be secondary, at least in part, to its initial activation of macrophages.
A Real-Time Hand Pose Recognition Method with Hidden Finger Prediction

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present a real-time hand pose recognition method to provide an intuitive user interface through hand poses or movements without a keyboard and a mouse. For this, the areas of right and left hands are segmented from the depth camera image, and noise removal is performed. Then, the rotation angle and the centroid point of each hand area are calculated. Subsequently, a circle is expanded at regular intervals from a centroid point of the hand to detect joint points and end points of the finger by obtaining the midway points of the hand boundary crossing. Lastly, the matching between the hand information calculated previously and the hand model of previous frame is performed, and the hand model is recognized to update the hand model for the next frame. This method enables users to predict the hidden fingers through the hand model information of the previous frame using temporal coherence in consecutive frames. As a result of the experiment on various hand poses with the hidden fingers using both hands, the accuracy showed over 95% and the performance indicated over 32 fps. The proposed method can be used as a contactless input interface in presentation, advertisement, education, and game applications. Keywords : Hand Pose Recognition, Hand-based User Interface, Hand Model
Cardiovascular Response Patterns to Sympathetic Stimulation by Central Hypovolemia

In healthy subjects, variation in cardiovascular responses to sympathetic stimulation evoked by submaximal lower body negative pressure (LBNP) is considerable. This study addressed the question whether inter-subject variation in cardiovascular responses coincides with consistent and reproducible responses in an individual subject. In 10 healthy subjects (5 female, median age 22 years), continuous hemodynamic parameters (finger plethysmography; Nexfin, Edwards Lifesciences), and time-domain baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) were quantified during three consecutive 5-min runs of LBNP at −50 mmHg. The protocol was repeated after 1 week to establish intra-subject reproducibility. In response to LBNP, 5 subjects (3 females) showed a prominent increase in heart rate (HR; 54 ± 14%, p = 0.001) with no change in total peripheral resistance (TPR; p = 0.25) whereas the other 5 subjects (2 females) demonstrated a significant rise in TPR (7 ± 3%, p = 0.017) with a moderate increase in HR (21 ± 9%, p = 0.004). These different reflex responses coincided with differences in resting BRS (22 ± 8 vs. 11 ± 3 ms/mmHg, p = 0.049) and resting HR (57 ± 8 vs. 71 ± 12 bpm, p = 0.047) and were highly reproducible over time. In conclusion, we found distinct cardiovascular response patterns to sympathetic stimulation by LBNP in young healthy individuals. These patterns of preferential autonomic blood pressure control appeared related to resting cardiac BRS and HR and were consistent over time.
Performance of a Simple Tuned Fuzzy Controller and a PID Controller on a DC Motor

We are presenting the usefulness of an innovative method called simple tuning algorithm (STA) for tuning fuzzy controllers, it has only one variable to adjust to achieve the tuning goal, this in counterpart to other methods like the proportional integral derivative (PID) controller wish has three variables to adjust for the same goal. Comparative examples of the STA and the PID methods are presented in a speed control of a real DC gear motor application. The PID controller was tuned using the Ziegler-Nichols. In base of the obtained quantitative and qualitative measures and observations, we are concluding that the fuzzy controller performance outperformed the PID controller; moreover, the tuning process using the STA method was easier than using the Ziegler-Nichols method
Emotional development : recent research advances

SECTION I - PSYCHOBIOLOGICAL APPROACHES AND EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVES 1. The search for the fundamental brain/mind sources of affective experience 2. Emotion in chimpanzee infants: the value of a comparative approach to understand the evolutionary bases of emotion 3. Action and emotion in development of cultural intelligence: why infants have feelings like ours 4. Maternal-fetal psychobiology: a very early look at emotional development 5. Emotional processes in human newborns: a functionalist perspective 6. Emotions in early mimesis 7. Feeling shy and showing off: self-conscious emotions must regulate self-awareness 8. Infant perception and production of emotions during face-to-face interactions with live and 'virtual' adults 9. Emotion understanding: robots as tools and models SECTION II - COMPARATIVE APPROACHES: TYPICAL AND IMPAIRED EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 10. The repertoire of infant facial expressions: a ontogenetic perspective 11. Why is connection with others so critical? The formation of dyadic states of consciousness and the expansion of individuals' states of consciousness: coherence governed selection and the co-creation of meaning out of messy meaning making 12. Prenatal depression effects on the fetus and neonate 13. Emotion sharing and emotion knowledge: typical and impaired development 14. Social-emotional impairment and self-regulation in autism spectrum disorder 15. Emotional regulation and affective disorders in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder 16. Loss of emotional fluency as a developmental phenotype: the example of anhedonia
HDR syndrome (hypoparathyroidism, sensorineural deafness, renal dysplasia) associated with del(10)(p13).

A combination of hypoparathyroidism, sensorineural deafness, and renal dysplasia has been considered to be a new syndrome inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion; we name the condition "HDR syndrome. " We describe a Japanese girl who has HDR syndrome associated with de novo del(10)(p13). The chromosome deletion suggests that the putative gene(s) responsible for HDR syndrome is located at a 10pter-->p13 region.
Toward a New Generation of Photonic Humidity Sensors

This review offers new perspectives on the subject and highlights an area in need of further research. It includes an analysis of current scientific literature mainly covering the last decade and examines the trends in the development of electronic, acoustic and optical-fiber humidity sensors over this period. The major findings indicate that a new generation of sensor technology based on optical fibers is emerging. The current trends suggest that electronic humidity sensors could soon be replaced by sensors that are based on photonic structures. Recent scientific advances are expected to allow dedicated systems to avoid the relatively high price of interrogation modules that is currently a major disadvantage of fiber-based sensors.
Angiogenesis , Metastasis , and the Cellular Microenvironment Role of CXCL 13-CXCR 5 Crosstalk Between Malignant Neuroblastoma Cells and Schwannian Stromal Cells in Neuroblastic Tumors

Neuroblastoma is a stroma-poor (SP) aggressive pediatric cancer belonging to neuroblastic tumors, also including ganglioneuroblastoma and ganglioneuroma, two stroma-rich (SR) less aggressive tumors. Our previous gene-expression profiling analysis showed a different CXCL13 mRNA expression between SP and SR tumors. Therefore, we studied 13 SP and 13 SR tumors by reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) and we found thatCXCR5bwas more expressed in SP than in SR andCXCL13was predominantly expressed in SR tumors. Then, we isolated neuroblastic and Schwannian stromal cells by laser capture microdissection and we found that malignant neuroblasts express CXCR5b mRNA, whereas Schwannian stromal cells express CXCL13. Immunohistochemistry confirmed that stroma expresses CXCL13 but not CXCR5. To better understand the role of CXCL13 and CXCR5 in neuroblastic tumors we studied 11 neuroblastoma cell lines and we detected a heterogeneous expression of CXCL13 and CXCR5b. Interestingly, we found that only CXCR5b splice variant was expressed in both tumors and neuroblastoma lines, whereas CXCR5awas never detected. Moreover, we found that neuroblastoma cells expressing CXCR5 receptor migrate toward a source of recombinant CXCL13. Lastly, neuroblastoma cells induced to glial cell differentiation expressed CXCL13 mRNA and protein. The chemokine released in the culture medium was able to stimulate chemotaxis of LA1–5S neuroblastoma cells. Collectively, our data suggest that CXCL13 produced by stromal cells may contribute to the generation of an environment in which the malignant neuroblasts are retained, thus limiting the possible development of metastases in patients with SR tumor. Mol Cancer Res; 9(7); 815–23. ’2011 AACR.
Macrophage‐mediated cholesterol handling in atherosclerosis

Formation of foam cells is a hallmark at the initial stages of atherosclerosis. Monocytes attracted by pro‐inflammatory stimuli attach to the inflamed vascular endothelium and penetrate to the arterial intima where they differentiate to macrophages. Intimal macrophages phagocytize oxidized low‐density lipoproteins (oxLDL). Several scavenger receptors (SR), including CD36, SR‐A1 and lectin‐like oxLDL receptor‐1 (LOX‐1), mediate oxLDL uptake. In late endosomes/lysosomes of macrophages, oxLDL are catabolysed. Lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) hydrolyses cholesterol esters that are enriched in LDL to free cholesterol and free fatty acids. In the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), acyl coenzyme A: cholesterol acyltransferase‐1 (ACAT1) in turn catalyses esterification of cholesterol to store cholesterol esters as lipid droplets in the ER of macrophages. Neutral cholesteryl ester hydrolases nCEH and NCEH1 are involved in a secondary hydrolysis of cholesterol esters to liberate free cholesterol that could be then out‐flowed from macrophages by cholesterol ATP‐binding cassette (ABC) transporters ABCA1 and ABCG1 and SR‐BI. In atherosclerosis, disruption of lipid homoeostasis in macrophages leads to cholesterol accumulation and formation of foam cells.
Structure and Reaction Mechanism in the Heme Dioxygenases

As members of the family of heme-dependent enzymes, the heme dioxygenases are differentiated by virtue of their ability to catalyze the oxidation of l-tryptophan to N-formylkynurenine, the first and rate-limiting step in tryptophan catabolism. In the past several years, there have been a number of important developments that have meant that established proposals for the reaction mechanism in the heme dioxygenases have required reassessment. This focused review presents a summary of these recent advances, written from a structural and mechanistic perspective. It attempts to present answers to some of the long-standing questions, to highlight as yet unresolved issues, and to explore the similarities and differences of other well-known catalytic heme enzymes such as the cytochromes P450, NO synthase, and peroxidases.
Neuritogenesis induced by vasoactive intestinal peptide, pituitary adenylate cyclase‐activating polypeptide, and peptide histidine methionine in SH‐SY5y cells is associated with regulated expression of cytoskeleton mRNAs and proteins

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and the related peptides pituitary adenylate cyclase‐activating polypeptide (PACAP) and peptide histidine methionine (PHM) are known to regulate proliferation and/or differentiation in normal and tumoral cells. In this study, neuritogenesis in human neuroblastoma SH‐SY5Y cells cultured in serum‐free medium was induced by VIP, PACAP, and PHM. The establishment of this process was followed by the quantification of neurite length and branching and the expression of neurofilament mRNAs, neurofilament proteins, and other cytoskeletal protein markers of neuronal differentiation: neuron‐specific MAPs and β‐tubulin III. Neurite length and branching and the expression of most markers tested were increased by VIP and PACAP in a similar, although slightly different, fashion. In contrast, neuritic elongation induced by PHM was correlated with neither an increase in branching or neurofilament mRNAs nor a clear change in the expression of cytoskeleton proteins, with the exception of the stimulation by PHM of doublecortin, a microtubule‐associated marker of migrating neuroblasts. These findings are the first evidence from a human neuron‐like cell line for 1) a direct regulation of the metabolism of neurofilaments by VIP and PACAP and 2) the induction by PHM of neuritic processes of an apparent immature character. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Cloud computing concept for Intelligent Transportation Systems

In this paper a cloud computing based urban traffic control system is proposed. Its goals are to increase road throughput and optimise the traffic control for increased safety of the participants, reduced fuel consumption and carbon emissions. The urban vehicle control scenario assumes that the speed of each vehicle in the controlled area is set by an off-board control unit that supervises each traffic intersection. The software component responsible for that is called an Intersection Control Service (ICS). From the system's point of view, the vehicles are treated as cloud services and are discovered and invoked using a cloud computing methodology. Geographical multicast addressing is used to target all vehicles in the specified areas. ICSs are part of a city/region wide cloud system that coordinates flow of traffic between intersections. The system's optimisation objective is carried out on several planning planes simultaneously, the lowest being local to a single intersection and the highest being an entire city or region level. The ICS gathers traffic data from various sensors around the intersection, and from the vehicles themselves, creating a dynamic situation map which can be used to assess the road situation and perform short term predictions for vehicle control purposes.
Red/near-infrared irradiation therapy for treatment of central nervous system injuries and disorders

Abstract Irradiation in the red/near-infrared spectrum (R/NIR, 630–1000 nm) has been used to treat a wide range of clinical conditions, including disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), with several clinical trials currently underway for stroke and macular degeneration. However, R/NIR irradiation therapy (R/NIR-IT) has not been widely adopted in clinical practice for CNS injury or disease for a number of reasons, which include the following. The mechanism/s of action and implications of penetration have not been thoroughly addressed. The large range of treatment intensities, wavelengths and devices that have been assessed make comparisons difficult, and a consensus paradigm for treatment has not yet emerged. Furthermore, the lack of consistent positive outcomes in randomised controlled trials, perhaps due to sub-optimal treatment regimens, has contributed to scepticism. This review provides a balanced précis of outcomes described in the literature regarding treatment modalities and efficacy of R/NIR-IT for injury and disease in the CNS. We have addressed the important issues of specification of treatment parameters, penetration of R/NIR irradiation to CNS tissues and mechanism/s, and provided the necessary detail to demonstrate the potential of R/NIR-IT for the treatment of retinal degeneration, damage to white matter tracts of the CNS, stroke and Parkinson’s disease.
Personalized x-ray reconstruction of the proximal femur via a non-rigid 2D-3D registration

In this paper we present a new approach for a personalized X-ray reconstruction of the proximal femur via a non-rigid registration of a 3D volumetric template to 2D calibrated C-arm images. The 2D-3D registration is done with a hierarchical two-stage strategy: the global scaled rigid registration stage followed by a regularized deformable b-spline registration stage. In both stages, a set of control points with uniform spacing are placed over the domain of the 3D volumetric template and the registrations are driven by computing updated positions of these control points, which then allows to accurately register the 3D volumetric template to the reference space of the C-arm images. Comprehensive experiments on simulated images, on images of cadaveric femurs and on clinical datasets are designed and conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation results are given, which demonstrate the efficacy of the present approach.