Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptive Algorithms and Variable Structures for Distributed Estimation

The analysis and design of new non-centralized learning algorithms for potential application in distributed adaptive estimation is the focus of this thesis. Such algorithms should be designed to have low processing requirement and to need minimal communication between the nodes which would form a distributed network. They ought, moreover, to have acceptable performance when the nodal input measurements are coloured and the environment is dynamic. Least mean square (LMS) and recursive least squares (RLS) type incremental distributed adaptive learning algorithms are first introduced on the basis of a Hamiltonian cycle through all of the nodes of a distributed network. These schemes require each node to communicate only with one of its neighbours during the learning process. An original steady-steady performance analysis of the incremental LMS algorithm is performed by exploiting a weighted spatial–temporal energy conservation formulation. This analysis confirms that the effect of varying signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the measurements at the nodes within the network is equalized by the learning algorithm. [Continues. ]
Characterisation of autoantibodies to neutrophil granule constituents among patients with reactive arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and ulcerative colitis

OBJECTIVE To study the frequency and distribution of antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCA) among patients with reactive arthritis (ReA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and ulcerative colitis (UC) using different immunological methods. METHODS Fifty serum samples from patients with reactive arthritis (26 with acute disease and 24 with chronic disease—that is disease of more than one year) were analysed for ANCA with indirect immunofluorescence, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with six different neutrophil granule proteins as antigens, and immunoblotting on whole neutrophil extract and extracts of azurophil and specific granules. Thirty serum samples from patients with RA and UC served as controls in ELISA and indirect immunofluorescence. RESULTS Sixteen per cent of patients with ReA were positive in immunofluorescence compared with 30% of patients with RA, and 70% of patients with UC. Thirty two per cent of patients with ReA were positive in ELISA. Antibodies directed against lactoferrin occurred in 20%, antibodies against bactericidal permeability increasing protein (BPI), elastase, cathepsin G, myeloperoxidase, and proteinase 3 were found in 8%, 2%, 2%, 8%, and 6%, respectively. Overall, 50% of RA sera and 53% of UC sera were positive in one or more ELISA assays, the corresponding figures for antibodies against individual antigens were for RA 7%, 3%, 0%, 13%, 47%, 17% and for UC 13%, 20%, 0%, 23%, 10%, and 17%. In immunoblotting, bands corresponding to lactoferrin and BPI were recognised in 44% and 22% of ReA sera. CONCLUSION Antibodies against neutrophil granule antigens are often found in patients with ReA, primarily among those with chronic disease. The different methods detect various subsets of antibodies, with immunoblotting being the most and immunofluorescence the least sensitive.
Compressive sensing-based Preisach hysteresis model identification

The Preisach hysteresis model has been adopted extensively in the modeling of magnetic and smart material-based systems. Fidelity of the model hinges on accurate identification of the Preisach density function. Existing work on the identification of density function usually involves applying an input that contains sufficient excitation and measuring a large set of output data. In this paper, we propose a novel compressive sensing-based Preisach model identification approach that requires much fewer measurements. The density function is transformed into the frequency domain, generating a sparse signal of discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients, which can be efficiently reconstructed using compressive sensing algorithms. The root-mean-square error (RMSE) and the maximum absolute error are adopted to examine the density function reconstruction capability and the model estimation performance. The effectiveness of the proposed identification scheme is illustrated through both simulation results and experiments involving a vanadium dioxide (VO2)-integrated microactuator.
Reconstruction of Late Glacial summer temperatures from chironomid assemblages in Lac Lautrey (Jura, France)

A chironomid–July air temperature inference model based on chironomid assemblages in the surface sediments of 81 Swiss lakes was used to reconstruct Late Glacial July air temperatures at Lac Lautrey (Jura, Eastern France). The transfer‐function was based on weighted averaging–partial least squares (WA‐PLS) regression and featured a leave‐one‐out cross‐validated coefficient of determination (r2) of 0.80, a root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 1.53 ° C, and was applied to a chironomid record consisting of 154 samples covering the Late Glacial period back to the Oldest Dryas. The model reconstructed July air temperatures of 11–12 ° C during the Oldest Dryas, increasing temperatures between 14 and 16.5 ° C during the Bølling, temperatures around 16.5–17.0 ° C for most of the Allerød, temperatures of 14–15 ° C during the Younger Dryas and temperatures of ca. 16.5 ° C during the Preboreal. The Lac Lautrey record features a two‐step July air temperature increase after the Oldest Dryas, with an abrupt temperature increase of ca. 3–3.5 ° C at the Oldest Dryas/Bølling transition followed by a more gradual warming between ca. 14 200 and 13 700 BP. The transfer‐function reconstructs a less rapid cooling at the Allerød/Younger Dryas transition than other published records, possibly an artefact caused by the poor analogue situation during the earliest Younger Dryas, and an abrupt warming at the Younger Dryas/Holocene transition. During the Allerød, two centennial‐scale 1.5–2.0 ° C coolings are apparent in the record. Although chronologically not well constrained, the first of these cold events may be synchronous with the beginning of the Gerzensee Oscillation. The second is inferred just before deposition of the Laachersee tephra at Lac Lautrey and is therefore coeval with the end of the Gerzensee Oscillation. In contrast to the Greenland oxygen isotope records, the Lac Lautrey palaeotemperature reconstruction lacks a clearly defined Greenland Interstadial (GI) event 1d and the decreasing temperature trend during the Bølling/Allerød Interstadial. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
T-cell receptor stimulation elicits an early phase of activation and a later phase of deactivation of the transcription factor NFAT1

We show here that NFAT1 is rapidly activated, then slowly deactivated, by stimulation of T cells through their antigen receptor. Within minutes of T-cell receptor stimulation, NFAT1 is dephosphorylated, translocates from the cytoplasm into the nucleus, and shows an increase in its ability to bind to DNA. These changes are dependent on calcium mobilization and calcineurin activation, since they are also elicited by ionomycin and are blocked by the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporin A. After several hours of T-cell receptor stimulation, the majority of the NFAT1 in the cell reverts to its original phosphorylated form, reappears in the cytoplasm, and again displays a low affinity for DNA. Deactivation of NFAT1 is facilitated by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and inhibitors of capacitative calcium entry and most likely reflects the slow return of intracellular free calcium concentrations towards resting levels. Our results suggest that calcineurin-dependent signalling pathways mediate the early activation of NFAT1, while phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-dependent feedback pathways contribute to the late deactivation. Persistent NFAT-dependent cytokine gene transcription in activated T cells may be mediated by other NFAT family proteins in addition to NFAT1 during the immune response.
OBSERVAÇÃO DOS SEDIMENTOS DE FUNDO DE UMA PLATAFORMA ABRIGADA SOB INFLUÊNCIA DE ATIVIDADE DE DRAGAGEM: SACO DOS LIMÕES, FLORIANÓPOLIS, SC

This article presents an assessment on the faciologic distribution of bottom sediments in the Saco dos Limoes and the northern region of the Baia Sul, Florianopolis. The samples were surveyed during the dredging operations which were been carried out aiming the enlargement of the east shore of the bay to implementation of the Via Expressa SC-Sul.
Vers des systèmes de recommandation robustes pour la navigation Web : inspiration de la modélisation statistique du langage. (Towards Robust Recommender Systems for Web Navigation: Inspiration from Statistical Language Modeling)

Le but de cette these est d'ameliorer la qualite des systemes de recommandation pour la navigation Web en utilisant la sequentialite des actions de navigation des utilisateurs. La notion de sequentialite a deja ete etudiee dans ce contexte. De telles etudes tentent habituellement de trouver un bon compromis entre precision, complexite en temps et en memoire, et couverture. De plus, le Web a cela de particulier que du bruit peut etre contenu au sein des navigations (erreurs de navigation, apparition de pop-ups, etc.), et que les utilisateurs peuvent effectuer des navigations paralleles. La plupart des modeles qui ont ete proposes dans la litterature exploitent soit des suites contigues de ressources et ne sont pas resistants au bruit, soit des suites discontigues de ressources et induisent une complexite en temps et en memoire importantes. Cette complexite peut etre reduite en effectuant une selection sur les sequences, mais cela engendre alors des problemes de couverture. Enfin a notre connaissance, le fait que les utilisateurs puissent effectuer des navigations paralleles n'a jamais ete etudie du point de vue de la recommandation. La problematique de cette these est donc de proposer un nouveau modele sequentiel ayant les cinq caracteristiques suivantes : (1) une bonne precision de recommandation, (2) une bonne resistance au bruit, (3) la prise en compte des navigations paralleles, (4) une bonne couverture (5) et une faible complexite en temps et en memoire. Afin de repondre a cette problematique, nous nous inspirons de la Modelisation Statistique du Langage (MSL), qui a des caracteristiques tres proches de celles de la navigation Web. La MSL est etudiee depuis beaucoup plus longtemps que les systemes de recommandation et a largement prouve sa precision et son efficacite. De plus, la plupart des modeles statistiques de langage qui ont ete proposes prennent en compte des sequences. Nous avons donc etudie la possibilite d'exploiter les modeles utilises en MSL et leur adaptation aux contraintes specifiques de la navigation Web.
A Framework for Optimizing Paper Matching

At the heart of many scientific conferences is the problem of matching submitted papers to suitable reviewers. Arriving at a good assignment is a major and important challenge for any conference organizer. In this paper we propose a framework to optimize paper-to-reviewer assignments. Our framework uses suitability scores to measure pairwise affinity between papers and reviewers. We show how learning can be used to infer suitability scores from a small set of provided scores, thereby reducing the burden on reviewers and organizers. We frame the assignment problem as an integer program and propose several variations for the paper-to-reviewer matching domain. We also explore how learning and matching interact. Experiments on two conference data sets examine the performance of several learning methods as well as the effectiveness of the matching formulations.
ON THE BOUNDARY OF ATTRACTORS WITH NON-VOID INTERIOR

Let f f i g Ni =1 be a family of N contractive mappings on R d such that the attractor K has nonvoid interior. We show that if the f i ’s are injective, have non-vanishing Jacobian on K , and f i ( K ) \ f j ( K ) have zero Lebesgue measure for i 6 = j; then the boundary @K of K has measure zero. In addition if the f i ’s are a(cid:14)ne maps, then the conclusion can be strengthened to dim H ( @K ) < d . These improve a result of Lagarias and Wang on self-a(cid:14)ne tiles.
High resolution optically stimulated luminescence dating of a sediment core from the southwestern Sea of Okhotsk

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is now widely accepted as a chronometer for terrestrial sediment. More recently, it has been suggested that OSL may also be useful in the dating of deep‐sea marine sediments. In this paper, we test the usefulness of high resolution quartz OSL dating in application to a 19 m marine sediment core (MR0604‐PC04A) taken from the southwestern Sea of Okhotsk, immediately to the north of Hokkaido, Japan. Fine‐grained quartz (4 to 11μm) was chosen as the dosimeter, and a single‐aliquot regenerative‐dose protocol was used for the determination of equivalent dose (De), with stimulation by both infrared and blue light. The suitability of the measurement procedure was confirmed using dose recovery tests. A high resolution record (∼2 OSL ages/m) identified clear sedimentation rate changes down the core. The OSL ages are significantly dependent on the water content model chosen; two alternative interpretations are discussed, and the geologically preferred model identified. However, ages resulting from the observed (non‐modeled) water content lie closest to the available radiocarbon ages (in the range back to 20 ka). Our OSL ages confirm the known high sedimentation rates in this locality, and for the first time demonstrate clear differences in sedimentation rate before, during and after deglaciation. Although the apparent accuracy of single sample ages is not always consistent with expectations, average ages are accurate, and our data show that OSL dating can be a powerful method for establishing high resolution marine chronologies.
Crustal thickness variations in the Aegean region and implications for the extension of continental crust

[1] We installed 5 broadband and 45 short-period temporary seismic stations, distributed partly as a dense, 100-km-long, N-S linear array and partly as a regional network, throughout the Menderes Massif of western Turkey in order to study crust-upper mantle structure and seismicity. In this study, we have combined teleseismic waveform data from these stations with data from several permanent seismic stations to determine crustal thickness variations in the Aegean region. Receiver function studies at seven broadband stations, using the H-κ stacking method, have yielded crustal thicknesses and Vp/Vs ratios over a broad region of the Aegean. A more detailed crustal image was obtained in the central Menderes Massif, where we applied common conversion point stacking to receiver functions obtained from the N-S linear array. The results show a general trend of westward crustal thinning from 36 km in central Anatolia to 28–30 km in the central Menderes Massif to 25 km beneath the Aegean Sea. The results also indicate that crustal thinning in the Aegean is not uniform in the N-S extensional direction. The crust is thinner in the central Menderes Massif (28–30 km of crustal thicknesses) and the Cycladic Massif (25–26 km) than in surrounding regions where crustal thicknesses are 32–34 km. The long-lived elevated Moho under the metamorphic core complexes suggests that the lower crust in the Aegean region is at least 3 times more viscous than that in the Basin and Range Province, where the Moho is much flatter.
A comparison of surface and subsurface controls on summer temperature in a headwater stream

This study compared summer stream temperature between two years in the Star Creek catchment, Alberta, a headwater basin on the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Star Creek is a subsurface water dominated stream, which represents important habitat for native salmonid species. Hydrometeorological data from May to September of 2010 and 2011 accompanied by stream energy budget calculations were used to describe the drivers of stream temperature in this small forested stream. Mean, maximum, and minimum weekly stream temperatures were lower from May to August and higher in September 2011 compared to 2010. Weekly range in stream temperature was also different between years with a higher range in 2010. Inter‐annual stream temperature variation was attributed discharge differences between years, shown to be primarily governed by catchment‐scale moisture conditions. This study demonstrates that both meteorological and hydrological processes must be considered in order to understand stream temperature response to changing environmental conditions in mountainous regions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Brain Proteome of the Ubiquitin Ligase Peli1 Knock-Out Mouse during Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

The ubiquitin ligase Peli1 has previously been suggested as a potential treatment target in multiple sclerosis. In the multiple sclerosis disease model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, Peli1 knock-out led to less activated microglia and less inflammation in the central nervous system. Despite being important in microglia, Peli1 expression has also been detected in glial and neuronal cells. In the present study the overall brain proteomes of Peli1 knock-out mice and wild-type mice were compared prior to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis induction, at onset of the disease and at disease peak. Brain samples from the frontal hemisphere, peripheral from the extensive inflammatory foci, were analyzed using TMT-labeling of sample pools, and the discovered proteins were verified in individual mice using label-free proteomics. The greatest proteomic differences between Peli1 knock-out and wild-type mice were observed at the disease peak. In Peli1 knock-out a higher degree of antigen presentation, increased activity of adaptive and innate immune cells and alterations to proteins involved in iron metabolism were observed during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. These results unravel global effects to the brain proteome when abrogating Peli1 expression, underlining the importance of Peli1 as a regulator of the immune response also peripheral to inflammatory foci during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. The proteomics data is available in PRIDE with accession PXD003710.
Fast Square-Wave Transform for High Frame Rate Imaging with Limited Diffraction Beams

High frame rate(HFR) medical imaging system was developed by Lu Jian-yu in 1997. One of the important steps of this system is weighting with exact limited-diffraction array beams. Recently, Lu Jian-yu developed a new imaging method with square-wave aperture weightings instead of sine and cosine aperture weightings. Experimental results show that almost the same quality of images can be obtained with the square-wave aperture weighting method and with the exact limited-diffraction array beam weightings. But the method with square-wave aperture weighting is more simple, and this method costs less time than the method with exact limited-diffraction array beam weightings. In this paper, a fast square-wave transform is introduced to the HFR imaging method. This fast square-wave transform can be used to deal with the data when the number of data samples is prime. This method can reduce about half of the computation by rearranging the data sequence. And the characters of this method make it have a potential to be actualized easily with digital circuits.
Analysis of nifH Gene Pool Complexity in Soil and Litter at a Douglas Fir Forest Site in the Oregon Cascade Mountain Range

ABSTRACT Nitrogen-fixing microbial populations in a Douglas fir forest on the western slope of the Oregon Cascade Mountain Range were analyzed. The complexity of the nifH gene pool (nifH is the marker gene which encodes nitrogenase reductase) was assessed by performing nested PCR with bulk DNA extracted from plant litter and soil. The restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) of PCR products obtained from litter were reproducibly different than the RFLPs of PCR products obtained from the underlying soil. The characteristic differences were found during the entire sampling period between May and September. RFLP analyses of cloned nifH PCR products also revealed characteristic patterns for each sample type. Among 42 nifH clones obtained from a forest litter library nine different RFLP patterns were found, and among 64 nifHclones obtained from forest soil libraries 13 different patterns were found. Only two of the patterns were found in both the litter and the soil, indicating that there were major differences between the nitrogen-fixing microbial populations. A sequence analysis of clones representing the 20 distinct patterns revealed that 19 of the patterns had a proteobacterial origin. All of the nifH sequences obtained from the Douglas fir forest litter localized in a distinct phylogenetic cluster characterized by the nifH sequences of members of the genera Rhizobium, Sinorhizobium, and Azospirillum. The nifH sequences obtained from soil were found in two additional clusters, one characterized by sequences of members of the genera Bradyrhizobium,Azorhizobium, Herbaspirillum, andThiobacillus and the other, represented by a singlenifH clone, located between the gram-positive bacteria and the cyanobacteria. Our results revealed the distinctness of the nitrogen-fixing microbial populations in litter and soil in a Douglas fir forest; the differences may be related to special requirements for degradation and mineralization processes in the plant litter.
Calcineurin inhibition in splenocytes induced by pavlovian conditioning

Pavlovian conditioning is one of the major neurobiological mechanisms of placebo effects, potentially influencing the course of specific diseases and the response to a pharmacological therapy, such as immunosuppression. In our study with behaviorally conditioned rats, a relevant taste (0.2% saccharin) preceded the application of the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporin A (CsA), a specific calcineurin (CaN) inhibitor. Our results demonstrate that through pavlovian conditioning the particular pharmacological properties of CsA can be transferred to a neutral taste, i.e., CaN activity was inhibited in splenocytes from conditioned rats after reexposure to the gustatory stimulus. Concomitant immune consequences were observed on ex vivo mitogenic challenge (anti‐CD3). Particularly, Th1‐cytokine, but not Th2‐cytokine, production and cell proliferation were impeded. Appropriate pharmacological and behavioral controls certify that all these changes in T‐lymphocyte reactivity are attributable to mere taste reexposure. Furthermore, the underlying sympathetic‐lymphocyte interaction was revealed modeling the conditioned response in vitro. CaN activity in CD4+ T lymphocytes is reduced by β‐adrenergic stimulation (terbutaline), with these effects antagonized by the β ‐adrenoreceptor antagonist nadolol. In summary, CaN was identified as the intracellular target for inducing conditioned immunosuppression by CsA, contributing to our understanding of the intracellular mechanisms behind “learned placebo effects. ”—Pacheco‐López, G. , Riether, C. , Doenlen, R. , Engler, H. , Niemi, M. ‐B. , Engler, A. , Kavelaars, A. , Heijnen, C. J., Schedlowski, M. Calcineurin inhibition in splenocytes induced by pavlovian conditioning. FASEB J. 23, 1161–1167 (2009)
NLK phosphorylates Raptor to mediate stress-induced mTORC1 inhibition

Yuan et al. show that the Nemo-like kinase (NLK) phosphorylates Raptor on S863 to disrupt its interaction with the Rag GTPase, which is important for mTORC1 lysosomal recruitment. Cells with Nlk deletion or knock-in of the Raptor S863 phosphorylation mutants are defective in the rapid mTORC1 inhibition upon osmotic stress.