Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modifying an Identified Size of Objects Handled with Two Fingers Using Pseudo-Haptic Effects

In our research, we aim to construct a visuo-haptic system that employs pseudo-haptic effects to provide users with the sensation of touching virtual objects of varying shapes. Thus far, we have proved that it can be possible to modify an identi ﬁ ed curved surface shapes or angle of edges by displacing the visual representation of the user’s hand. However, this method has some limitations in that we can not adapt the way of touching with two or more ﬁ ngers by visually displacing the user’s hand. To solve this problem, we need to not only displace the visual representation of the user’s hand but also deform it. Hence, in this paper, we focus on modifying the identi ﬁ cation of the size of objects handled with two ﬁ ngers. This was achieved by deforming the visual representation of the user’s hand in order to construct a novel visuo-haptic system. We devised a video see-through system, which enables us to change the perception of the shape of an object that a user is visually touching. The visual representation of the user’s hand is deformed as if the user were handling a visual object, when in actuality the user is handling an object of another size. Using this system we performed an experiment to investigate the effects of visuo-haptic interaction and evaluated its effectiveness. The result showed that the perceived size of objects handled with a thumb and other ﬁ nger(s) could be modi ﬁ ed if the difference between the size of physical and visual stimuli was in the range from -40% to 35%. This indicates that our method can be applied to visuo-haptic shape display system that we proposed.
An Improved Method for the Mechanical Behavior Analysis of Electrostatically Actuated Microplates Under Uniform Hydrostatic Pressure

Microplates are essential components of the most electrostatically actuated microdevices. Their mechanical behavior is influenced not only by electrostatic force, but by hydrostatic pressure of the environment. This paper presents an improved reduced-order model for an electrostatically actuated microplate under uniform hydrostatic pressure with a novel method for treating the electrostatic force. The model was developed using the Galerkin method and turns the partial-differential equation governing the plate into an ordinary equation system. Using an axisymmetric deflection function and the first-order Taylor series expansion of the electrostatic force, explicit expressions for the deflection and pull-in voltage of the microplate under the electrostatic force alone, and under both electrostatic force and hydrostatic pressure, were derived. The expressions with only the electrostatic force considered can predict the pull-in voltage with a higher accuracy and the deflection within a large range (from the undeformed state to the pull-in position) compared with literature. The expressions for both types of loadings show a better prediction accuracy when the pressure changes in the lower pressure range. The derived expressions are applicable to the electrostatically actuated configurations where the ratio of the plate diameter to its thickness varies from 100 to 40, and the electrode distance is smaller than or equal to the thickness. These theoretical analyses were validated with finite element method simulations and previous literature.
Characterization of a cDNA Related to K-Cl Cotransporters in the Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne incognita

We report the cloning of a full-length cDNA from the plant-parasitic nematode Meloidogyne incognita, which encodes a putative protein of 1082 amino acids showing high similarity with K-Cl cotransporters (KCCs) from the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (54% identity) and from a number of mammals, including human. Hydropathy analysis indicates typical KCC topology patterns, with a hydrophylic NH 2 -terminal region, 12 membrane-spanning domains, and a long COOH-terminal hydrophylic region. Alignment of the nematode sequences with eleven KCC sequences from mammals suggests that the nematode proteins may constitute a separated family of KCCs. The M. incognita gene was shown to be expressed in both motile and sedentary stages, which suggests an important function in general physiology of the nematode. By analogy with known proteins, it is hypothesized that this gene is involved in the regulation of cell osmotic pressure to maintain nematode body fluids hyperosmotic to the environment.
Design and concepts of the NIMH Collaborative HIV/STD Prevention Trial.

The scope of the AIDS pandemic demands a systematic approach to implementing multiple levels of prevention strategies to control the spread of HIV infection. On the individual level, voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) remains the frontline in HIV prevention. With effective HIV risk reduction counseling, there are clear preventive effects in conjunction with VCT [1], and risk reduction counseling can be effective independent of VCT [2]. Similarly, risk reduction interventions delivered to small groups of at risk persons demonstrate significant preventive benefits in carefully controlled trials [3]. The greatest concern with implementing these effective individuallevel behavioral interventions is that people who are counseled inevitably return to their unchanged social and risk environments where risk-taking practices are normative and socially reinforced. Interventions, such as microbicides, pre-exposure antiretroviral prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, and male circumcision may lead to population level reductions in HIV/AIDS risk, but their effects will be limited if compensating behaviors are not contained and exposure behaviors are kept at least constant [4]. Interventions that structurally alter the social context within which sexual and drug using behaviors occur are therefore necessary for facilitating, supporting, and maintaining HIV risk behavior change.
Self-similarity Formed of Complex Networks

The self-similarity of complex networks has broad practical backgrounds. It is similar to the phenomena of social relationships: “things of one kind come together, birds of a feather flock together”. The reason and the course of self-similarity networks formed and these three statistics characters of complex networks are discussed and analyzed in detail in this paper; besides, the concept of self-similarity groups is defined firstly. We propose that different local networks can be covered with different edge of boxes to reveal the self-similarity of complex networks. Both theoretical analyses and simulation results are the evolution and characters more exactly for many complex networks of the real world.
Turbo decoding of product code based on SPC component decoding

We perform turbo/iterative decoding of linear block codes and product codes based on single-parity-check (SPC) component decoding and investigate their performances in both AWGN and Rayleigh fading channels. We also present two iteration mechanisms for decoding a product code and highlight the importance of using a scaling factor for the extrinsic information. For the Hamming code, the SPC-based turbo decoder performs comparably to a similar method that uses a maximum-a-posteriori (MAP) dual-code algorithm to decode the SPC codes. For the product code, the SPC-based turbo decoder performs better than R.M. Pyndiah's block turbo decoder (see IEEE Trans. Commun., vol.46, p.1003-10, 1998) in a Rayleigh fading channel.
Multi-slice and multi-frame image reconstruction by predictive compressed sensing

In this paper, we describe a prediction based compressed-sensing approach for multi-slice (same time, different locations) or multi-frame (same location, different time) CT image reconstruction. In this approach, the second slice/frame of a pair of consecutive slices/frames is reconstructed through reconstructing the prediction error image between the first and second slice/frame, using compressed-sensing. This approach exploits the inter-slice/inter-frame correlation and the higher degree of sparsity of the prediction error image to achieve more efficient image reconstruction, i.e., fewer projections for the same image quality or higher image quality for the same number of projections. The efficacy of our approach is demonstrated through simulation results.
Can a child feel responsible for another in the presence of a robot in a collaborative learning activity?

In order to explore the impact of integrating a robot as a facilitator in a collaborative activity, we examined interpersonal distancing of children both with a human adult and a robot facilitator. Our scenario involves two children performing a collaborative learning activity, which included the writing of a word/letter on a tactile tablet. Based on the learning-by-teaching paradigm, one of the children acted as a teacher when the other acted as a learner. Our study involved 40 children between 6 and 8 years old, in two conditions (robot or human facilitator). The results suggest first that the child acting as a teacher feel more responsible when the facilitator is a robot, compared to a human; they show then that the interaction between a (teacher) child and a robot facilitator can be characterized as being a reciprocity-based interaction, whereas a human presence fosters a compensation-based interaction.
Epidithiodiketopiperazine biosynthesis: a four-enzyme cascade converts glutathione conjugates into transannular disulfide bridges.

Enzyme quartet: Isolation of the first sulfur-bearing intermediate of the gliotoxin pathway in Aspergillus fumigatus and successful in vitro conversion of the bisglutathione adduct into an intact epidithiodiketopiperazine by a four-enzyme cascade (including glutamyltransferase GliK and dipeptidase GliJ) revealed an outstanding adaptation of a primary metabolic pathway into natural product biosynthesis that is widespread in fungi.
Suppressors of ectopic UNC-5 growth cone steering identify eight genes involved in axon guidance in Caenorhabditis elegans.

The UNC-5 guidance receptor, in response to the UNC-6/netrin path cue, orients growing axons in a dorsal direction along the epidermis of Caenorhabditis elegans. When ectopically expressed in the touch neurons, which normally extend ventrally or longitudinally, UNC-5 is able to reorient their axons toward the dorsal side in an UNC-6-dependent manner. This forms the basis of a genetic screen to identify other mutations that, like unc-6 mutations, suppress unc-5-induced growth cone guidance. These mutations may identify new components required for pioneer axon guidance by unc-5. In this paper, we describe eight genes that are required for ectopic unc-5-induced growth cone steering. Mutations in four of these identify the previously known axon guidance genes unc-6, unc-40, unc-34, and unc-44 and mutations in four others identify the novel genes unc-129, seu-1, seu-2, and seu-3. Several of these mutations cause axon guidance defects similar to those found in unc-5 mutants. We propose that some or all of these genes may function in a developmentally important unc-5 signaling pathway.
Detecting false benign in breast cancer diagnosis

Reports a method for breast cancer diagnosis using a robust heteroscedastic probabilistic neural network. The network has the inherent property of clustering patients into several groups, each of which has a distinct significance level: e.g. the larger the significance level of a benign (malignant) group, the more typical the benign (malignant) symptoms. From this, false benign patients can be identified through investigating the probabilistic relationships between each benign group with a small significance level and malignant groups. A false benign analysis table has thus been designed based on this approach. By detecting false benign, the misclassification rate of malignant patients can be reduced to a minimum without significantly increasing the misclassification rate of benign patients. In applying this method to Wisconsin diagnostic breast cancer data, the correct classification rates are 100% for malignant and 98% for benign.
Authenticated Modbus Protocol for Critical Infrastructure Protection

Protecting a nation's critical infrastructure, notably its power grid is crucial in view of increasing threats, such as international terrorism. We focus on the security of the Modbus protocol, a de-facto protocol for distributed control systems popularly used for power plants. Specifically, we analyze the security of a recently proposed authenticated Modbus protocol. We present attacks on the protocol, discuss reasons behind these phenomena, and motivate how these problems can be addressed.
Distributed consensus of linear multi-agent systems with fault tolerant control protocols

In this paper, the problem of fault tolerant consensus control of linear multi-agent systems is investigated using two control protocols, namely, the fixed-gain control protocol and the adaptive-gain control protocol. In the first part, a fixed-gain control protocol is proposed which guarantees the consensus under all possible actuator faults. Also a two-step constructive algorithm of the fixed-gain control protocol is summarized. In the second part, the failure rate-based adaptive control protocol is developed to compensate for the failure effects on multi-agent consensus. Instead of the fixed gain, the adaptive gain in the control protocol is time varying with respective to the online estimation of failure rates, which follows the projection operator adaptive law. Moreover, a criterion is derived for reaching consensus under the adaptive-gain control protocol when the multi-agent systems are subjected to actuator faults. Several procedures to construct the adaptive-gain control protocol are given. Simulation examples are finally included to illustrate the theoretical results.
Immunological Responses of Broiler Chicks Can Be Modulated by Dietary Supplementation of Zinc-methionine in Place of Inorganic Zinc Sources

Male broiler chicks were fed graded levels of organic zinc (zinc-methionine) supplementation to investigate the effects of partial or complete substitution of the organic zinc source for inorganic ones on the development of lymphoid organs and immunological responses. A total of 450 day-old male broilers were distributed into groups of 10 chicks and randomly assigned to nine experimental diets during a 42-day feeding trial. Dietary treatments consisted of two basal diets supplemented with 40 mg/kg added zinc as feed-grade Zn sulfate or Zn oxide in which, Zn was replaced with that provided from zinc-methionine (ZnMet) complex at the levels of 25, 50, 75 or 100%. Two randomly-selected birds from each pen replicate were bled and then slaughtered by cervical cutting on the final day of the trial to measure leukocyte subpopulations and relative weights of lymphoid organs. Among lymphoid organs, only thymus weight was affected (p<0.05) by dietary treatments. The sulfate-supplemented birds were heavier (p<0.01) in relative weight of thymus than oxide-supplemented birds. The 10 days of age-assessed cutaneous hypersensivity reaction was stronger in chicks fed ZnMet-containing diets. Dietary ZnMet supplementation caused (p<0.05) an increase in proportion of lymphocytes and consequently a decrease in heterophil to lymphocyte ratio. Diet fortification by zinc-methionine complex increased (p<0.01) Newcastle antibody titer at 19 days of age. Also, a similar response was observed in antibody titers at 6 and 12 d after infectious bronchitis vaccine administration. There was no significant effect of replacement of dietary zinc on antibody titer against infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) at the 6 th d post-vaccine inoculation; however, at d 12 after vaccination, ZnMet-fortified diets improved antibody titer against IBDV. Although dietary inclusion of ZnMet had no marked effect on primary antibody titer against sheep erythrocytes, effective responses were observed during secondary reaction from the viewpoint of both total antibody and immunoglobulin Y (IgY) titers. From the present findings, it can be concluded that dietary supplementation with organic zinc improves both cellular and humoral immune responses. It is necessary to replace 75% of supplemental inorganic zinc with organic ZnMet complex to achieve the optimum immunological responses in broiler chicks.
Dual-Energy Computed Tomography to Assess Tumor Response to Hepatic Radiofrequency Ablation: Potential Diagnostic Value of Virtual Noncontrast Images and Iodine Maps

Purpose:To determine the value of dual-energy (DE) scanning with virtual noncontrast (VNC) images and iodine maps in the evaluation of therapeutic response to radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for hepatic tumors. Materials and Methods:A total of 75 patients with hepatic tumors and who underwent DE computed tomography (CT) after RFA, were enrolled in this study. Our DE CT protocol included precontrast, arterial, and portal phase scans. VNC images and iodine maps were created from 80 to 140 kVp images during the arterial and portal phases. VNC images were then compared with true, noncontrast (TNC) images, and iodine maps were compared with linearly blended images, both qualitatively and quantitatively. For the former comparison, image quality and acceptability of the VNC images as a replacement for TNC images were both rated. The CT numbers of the hepatic parenchyma, ablation zone, and image noise were measured. For the latter comparison, lesion conspicuity of the ablation zone and the additional benefit of integrating the iodine map into the routine protocol, were assessed. Contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) of the ablation zone-to-liver and aorta-to-liver as well as the CT number differences between the center and the periphery of the ablation zone were calculated. Results:The image quality of the VNC images was rated as good (mean grading score, 1.88) and the level of acceptance was 90% (68/75). The mean CT numbers of the hepatic parenchyma and ablation zone did not differ significantly between the TNC and the VNC images (P > 0.05). The lesion conspicuity of the ablation zone was rated as excellent or good in 97% of the iodine map (73/75), and the additional benefits of the iodine maps were positively rated as better to the same (mean 1.5). The CNR of the aorta-to-liver parenchyma was significantly higher on the iodine map (P = 0.002), and the CT number differences between the center and the periphery of the ablation zone were significantly lower on the iodine map (P < 0.001). Conclusion:With DE CT scanning, VNC images can be an alternative to TNC images for evaluating the ablation zone after RFA in patients who had no a previous transcatheter arterial chemoembolization history. The iodine map improves the conspicuity of the ablation zone more than linearly blended images because of its excellent internal homogeneity and sharp ablative margin. Higher lesion-to-liver CNR on an iodine map than on standard images can be helpful for detecting residual tumors.
A nano-fiber coupler thermometer

Optical fiber couplers with ∼300nm waist diameter are used as compact temperature sensors from room temperature to 661<sup>o</sup>C, showing an average temperature sensitivity of 55 pm/<sup>o</sup>C and a maximum sensitivity of 60pm/ <sup>o</sup>C at the highest temperature.
Automated feature extraction and content-based retrieval of pathology microscopic images using k-means clustering and code run-length probability distribution

The dissertation starts with an extensive literature survey on the current issues in content-based image retrieval (CBIR) research, the state-of-the-art theories, methodologies, and implementations, covering topics such as general information retrieval theories, imaging, image feature identification and extraction, feature indexing and multimedia database search, user-system interaction, relevance feedback, and performance evaluation. A general CBIR framework has been proposed with three layers: image document space, feature space, and concept space. The framework emphasizes that while the projection from the image document space to the feature space is algorithmic and unrestricted, the connection between the feature space and the concept space is based on statistics instead of semantics. The scheme favors image features that do not rely on excessive assumptions about image content. As an attempt to design a new CBIR methodology following the above framework, k-means clustering color quantization is applied to pathology microscopic images, followed by code run-length probability distribution feature extraction. Kulback-Liebler divergence is used as distance measure for feature comparison. For content-based retrieval, the distance between two images is defined as a function of all individual features. The process is highly automated and the system is capable of working effectively across different tissues without human interference. Possible improvements and future directions have been discussed.
Very fast transmission line pulsing of integrated structures and the charged device model

Transmission line pulsing (TLP) is well-established for the IV-characterization of electrostatic discharge (ESD)-protection elements. There still is a significant gap between the performance of present TLP-systems and the demands of the charged device model (CDM). A very fast, narrow-pulse (>3.5 ns), high-current TLP (VF-TLP) is designed to reduce this gap. It is feasible to study the pulsed breakdown of gate oxides and to determine at least the quasistatic IV-characteristics of input structures. Gate oxide breakdown is monitored within the first 6 ns of stress. Correlation with CDM (noncontact, nonsocketed) tests and socket discharge model [(SDM) formerly socketed CDM] is achieved in terms of the failure signature. However, the failure thresholds of VF-TLP and CDM/SDM do not correlate due to the different current paths. In the CDM, mobile charge is injected into or coming out of one pin until the full device is at same potential. In the SDM, the full test board is charged and discharged across the device. The VF-TLP current flows between the stress pin and a reference pin for the duration of the square pulse.