Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Small and Lightweight Autonomous Laser Mapping System without GPS

Autonomous mapping systems execute multiple tasks that include navigation, location, and map generation via the collaborative work of multiple sensors. They are the object of a substantial research focus in the fields of robotics and remote sensing. Although the state‐of‐the‐art mobile mapping systems typically found in ready‐made vehicles or robots are reliable, they are rather large and heavy, their cost is high, and they generally use GPS and an inertial measurement unit to position, so their working environments are limited. After reviewing the current state of autonomous mapping systems, we describe the design and development of a small and lightweight autonomous mapping system (ASQ‐6DMapSys) without GPS, which incorporates low‐cost sensors and components. We describe the layout and selection strategy for sensors and other components in detail, and we present the design methodology for each subsystem. The ASQ‐6DMapSys employs a two‐dimensional (2D) lidar, an inclinometer, and two wheel encoders, which constitute a pose subsystem that uses extended Kalman filtering and simultaneous localization and mapping techniques to compute the pose of the vehicle body. A low‐cost 3D lidar that we developed is also installed on the vehicle body, and the resultant data are aligned with the corresponding pose data of the vehicle body to build a 3D point cloud that describes the global geometry of the environment. We designed and developed every subsystem of the ASQ‐6DMapSys, including the robot vehicle, so it will be easy to expand its functions in the future. The ASQ‐6DMapSys performs well in indoor, outdoor, and tunnel environments, and the experiments in different environments show that the ASQ‐6DMapSys is an effective, small, and lightweight autonomous mapping system with a high performance/price ratio.
Social Stress Enhances Allergen-Induced Airway Inflammation in Mice and Inhibits Corticosteroid Responsiveness of Cytokine Production1

Chronic psychosocial stress exacerbates asthma, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that psychosocial stress aggravates allergic airway inflammation by altering innate immune cell function. The effects of stress on airway inflammation, lung function, and glucocorticoid responsiveness were studied in a novel in vivo murine model of combined social disruption stress and allergic sensitization. The effects of corticosterone were assessed on cytokine profile and glucocorticoid receptor activation in LPS-stimulated spleen cell cultures in vitro. Airway inflammation resolved 48 h after a single allergen provocation in sensitized control mice, but not in animals that were repeatedly exposed to stress before allergen challenge. The enhanced eosinophilic airway inflammation 48 h after allergen challenge in these mice was associated with increased levels of IL-5, GM-CSF, IgG1, thymus-activated and regulatory chemokine, TNF-α, and IL-6 in the airways and a diminished inhibition of these mediators by corticosterone in LPS-stimulated splenocyte cultures in vitro. Stress-induced reduction of the corticosteroid effects paralleled increased p65 expression and a decreased DNA-binding capability of the glucocorticoid receptor in vitro. Furthermore, glucocorticoid receptor mRNA and protein expression in the lungs of mice exposed to both stress and allergen was markedly reduced in comparison with that in either condition alone or in naive mice. Thus, exposure to repeated social stress before allergen inhalation enhances and prolongs airway inflammation and alters corticosterone responsiveness. We speculate that these effects were mediated at least in part by impaired glucocorticoid receptor expression and function.
Effect of calorie restriction with or without exercise on body composition and fat distribution.

CONTEXT There is debate over the independent and combined effects of dieting and increased physical activity on improving metabolic risk factors (body composition and fat distribution). OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to conduct a randomized, controlled trial (CALERIE) to test the effect of a 25% energy deficit by diet alone or diet plus exercise for 6 months on body composition and fat distribution. DESIGN This was a randomized, controlled trial. SETTING The study was conducted at an institutional research center. PARTICIPANTS Thirty-five of 36 overweight but otherwise healthy participants (16 males, 19 females) completed the study. INTERVENTION Participants were randomized to either control (healthy weight maintenance diet, n = 11), caloric restriction (CR; 25% reduction in energy intake, n = 12), or caloric restriction plus exercise (CR+EX; 12.5% reduction in energy intake + 12.5% increase in exercise energy expenditure, n = 12) for 6 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Changes in body composition by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and changes in abdominal fat distribution by multislice computed tomography were measured. RESULTS The calculated energy deficit across the intervention was not different between CR and CR+EX. Participants lost approximately 10% of body weight (CR: - 8.3 +/- 0.8, CR+EX: - 8.1 +/- 0.8 kg, P = 1.00), approximately 24% of fat mass (CR: - 5.8 +/- 0.6, CR+EX: - 6.4 +/- 0.6 kg, P = 0.99), and 27% of abdominal visceral fat (CR: 0.9 +/- 0.2, CR+EX: 0.8 +/- 0.2 kg, P = 1.00). Both whole-body and abdominal fat distribution were not altered by the intervention. CONCLUSION Exercise plays an equivalent role to CR in terms of energy balance; however, it can also improve aerobic fitness, which has other important cardiovascular and metabolic implications.
Transmission capacities for overlaid wireless networks with spatial multiplexing

In this paper, we investigate the performance of open-loop spatial multiplexing in overlaid ad hoc networks. Based on a stochastic geometry model, we derive exact closed-form expressions for the transmission capacity of two coexisting networks (a primary network vs. a secondary network) employing spatial multiplexing with zero-forcing (ZF) receivers. Simulation results confirm the accuracy of our expressions. In addition, we discuss the impact of multi-antenna scheme on the transmission capacity of the overlaid networks. Our findings show that the sum transmission capacity of the overlaid networks will improve significantly over that of a single network if a slight outage probability increase is allowable for the primary network. This improvement can be further boosted if spatial multiplexing is employed with more antennas. But when the antenna number exceeds a certain limit, spatial multiplexing may produce negative effect for the overlaid network.
A novel Fuzzy C Means algorithm based on distance modification for image segmentation

A novel Fuzzy c Means(FCM) algorithm with modified distance computation is proposed in this paper. We modify the distance in FCM with the neighborhood information of cluster centers. The distance in FCM is composed of the Euclidean distance and a characteristic distance, and the characteristic distance is calculated with a pixel center window and tuned with a coefficient. The Gamma function is selected to generate coefficients in our works. Experimental results show high performance of our approach.
Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis of the Diets of West African Bovids in Pendjari Biosphere Reserve, Northern Benin

Bovid diets have been studied for decades, but debate still exists about the diets of many species, in part because of geographical or habitat-related dietary variations. In this study we used stable carbon isotope analyses of faeces to explore the seasonal dietary preferences of 11 bovid species from a West African savanna, the Pendjari Biosphere Reserve (PBR), along the browser/grazer (or C3/C4) continuum. We compare our carbon isotope values with those for eastern and southern African bovids, as well as with dietary predictions based on continent-wide averages derived from field studies. Oribi and reedbuck, expected to be grazers were found to be predominantly C3-feeders (browsers) in the PBR. Bushbuck, common duiker and red-flanked duiker consumed more C4 grass than reported in previous studies. When comparing wet and dry season diets, kob, roan and oribi showed the least variation in C3 and C4 plant consumed proportions, while red-flanked duiker, bushbuck, reedbuck and waterbuck showed the most marked shifts. This study shows that animals in the betterstudied eastern and southern African savannas do not exhibit the full range of possible dietary adaptations. Inclusion of data from a wider geographical area to include less well-studied regions will inform our overall picture of bovid dietary ecology.
Using direct-touch interaction for the visual exploration of profiling sensor data

We present a novel software approach for the interactive and integrated visual exploration of sensor data acquired by profiling platforms. The solution combines decent web-technologies and linked interactive 2D and 3D data presentations utilizing a direct-touch interaction metaphor. The user can point with his finger on specific data points and slide through the depth profiles and the time scale. For the visualization and interaction design, widely recognized visualization and interaction principles and techniques like “focus & context” and “overview & detail” were incorporated. Our goal is to facilitate the dynamic exploration of spatio-temporal sensor data, to reduce visual clutter in the user interface and to allow the user to focus in on specific time and depth situations. We present first results of a user study with domain experts (marine researchers). The goal of the study was to prove the design considerations and to investigate the practicability of web-based interactive visualization and direct-touch interaction for analytical tasks. Additionally we tested the suitability of our approach for data exploration tasks on different multi-touch display setups. The study results show, that through the intuitive direct-touch interaction and the linked 2D and 3D visualizations of the data sets, the proposed solution offers a better support to explore profiling data sets, compared to currently available nonintegrated tool sets. The presented approach also reduces the efforts of analytical tasks. While the proposed 3D view of ADCP data was considered very useful for a fast assessment of current conditions in the water column, most of the participants also had problems to fully understand the offered navigation and interaction within the 3D space. Creating an intuitive view navigation in 3D space with direct-touch interaction proved to be rather challenging and needs a careful design.
Stretchable coil arrays: Application to knee imaging under varying flexion angles

To fit high‐density receiver arrays for MRI closely around individual target anatomies, there is a need to provide a high degree of geometric adjustability with ease of handling and patient comfort. In this work, this is accomplished by the construction of a coil array that is stretchable such that it automatically conforms to a given anatomy's shape and size. Stretchability is implemented by creating the coil conductors from braided wire mounted on an elastic textile substrate. The signal‐to‐noise ratio yield of such coils is measured by MRI experiments at 3 T, and the signal‐to‐noise ratio effect of coil stretching is investigated with and without adjustment of the matching between each coil and the respective preamplifier. Four‐channel and eight‐channel arrays of stretchable receiver coils are evaluated in phantoms as well as for in vivo imaging of the human knee. Exploiting stretchability, it is demonstrated that the knee can be imaged under varying flexion angles up to 60° while maintaining closely coupled array detection, high signal‐to‐noise ratio, and uniform coverage of the entire joint. Magn Reson Med, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Data and Information Leakage Prevention Within the Scope of Information Security

Incidents involving data breaches are ever-present in the media since several years. In order to overcome this threat, organizations apply enterprise content-aware data leakage prevention (DLP) solutions to monitor and control data access and usage. However, this paper argues that current solutions are not able to reliably protect information assets. The analyses of data breaches reported in 2014 reveal a significant number of data leakage incidents that are not within the focus of the DLP solutions. Furthermore, these analyses indicate that the classification of the provided data breach records is not qualified for detailed investigations. Therefore, advanced criteria for characterizing data leakage incidents are introduced, and the reported records are extended. The resulting analyses illustrate that DLP and information leakage prevention (ILP) demand various information security (IS) measures to be established in order to reduce the risk of technologically based data breaches. Furthermore, the effectiveness of DLP and information leakage prevention (ILP) measures is significantly influenced by non-technological aspects, such as the human factor. Therefore, this paper presents a concept for establishing DLP and ILP within the scope of IS.
Investigation of the relationship between chemical composition and size distribution of airborne particles by partial least squares and positive matrix factorization

[1] Two multivariate data analysis methods, partial least square (PLS) and positive matrix factorization (PMF), were used to analyze aerosol size distribution data and composition data. The relationships between the size distribution data and composition data were investigated by PLS. Three latent variables summarized chemical composition data and most variations in size distribution data especially for large particles and proved the existence of the linearity between the two data sets. The three latent variables were associated with traffic and local combustion sources, secondary aerosol, and coal-fired power plants. The size distribution, particle composition, and gas composition data were combined and analyzed by PMF. Source information was obtained for each source using size distribution and chemical composition simultaneously. Eleven sources were identified: secondary nitrate 1 and 2, remote traffic, secondary sulfate, lead, diesel traffic, coal-fired power plant, steel mill, nucleation, local traffic, and coke plant.
Parameter Settings of Genetic Algorithm Based on Multi-Factor Analysis of Variance

Six primary factors have been analyzed which influence the performance of the Genetic Algorithm. The concrete method has been designed of setting algorithm parameters by using multi-factor analysis of variance. And it illustrates the implementation process of the methods by specific examples of applications. In the end with the data gained from the experiment it has proved that the performance of the algorithm can be markedly improve after setting algorithm parameters by using the analysis of variance.
A Novel Bifunctional Wax Ester Synthase/Acyl-CoA:Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase Mediates Wax Ester and Triacylglycerol Biosynthesis inAcinetobacter calcoaceticus ADP1*

Triacylglycerols (TAGs) and wax esters are neutral lipids with considerable importance for dietetic, technical, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical applications. Acinetobacter calcoaceticus ADP1 accumulates wax esters and TAGs as intracellular storage lipids. We describe here the identification of a bifunctional enzyme from this bacterium exhibiting acyl-CoA:fatty alcohol acyltransferase (wax ester synthase, WS) as well as acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) activity. Experiments with a knock-out mutant demonstrated the key role of the bifunctional WS/DGAT for biosynthesis of both storage lipids in A. calcoaceticus. This novel type of long-chain acyl-CoA acyltransferase is not related to known acyltransferases including the WS from jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis), the DGAT1 or DGAT2 families present in yeast, plants, and animals, and the phospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferase catalyzing TAG formation in yeast and plants. A large number of WS/DGAT-related proteins were identified in Mycobacterium and Arabidopsis thaliana indicating an important function of these proteins. WS and DGAT activity was demonstrated for the translational product of one WS/DGAT homologous gene from M. smegmatismc2155. The potential of WS/DGAT to establish novel processes for biotechnological production of jojoba-like wax esters was demonstrated by heterologous expression in recombinantPseudomonas citronellolis. The potential of WS/DGAT as a selective therapeutic target of mycobacterial infections is discussed.
FPGA implementation of a neural network for a real-time hand tracking system

The advantage of parallel computing of artificial neural networks can be combined with the potentials of VLSI circuits in order to design a real time detection and tracking system applied to video images. Based on these facts, a real-time localization and tracking algorithm has been developed for detecting human hands in video images. Due to the real time aspect, a single-pixel-based classification is aspired, so that a continuous data stream can be processed. Consequently, no storage of full images or parts of them is necessary. The classification, whether a pixel belongs to a hand or to the background, is done by analyzing the RGB-values of a single pixel by means of an artificial neural network. To obtain the full processing speed of this neural network a hardware solution is realized in a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).
Dealing with Co-reference in Neural Semantic Parsing

Linguistic phenomena like pronouns, control constructions, or co-reference give rise to co-indexed variables in meaning representations. We review three different methods for dealing with co-indexed variables in the output of neural semantic parsing of abstract meaning representations: (a) copying concepts during training and restoring co-indexation in a post-processing step; (b) explicit indexing of co-indexation; and (c) using absolute paths to designate co-indexing. The second method gives the best results and outperforms the baseline by 2.9 F-score points.
Are polymorphisms in oestrogen receptors genes associated with lipid levels in response to hormone therapy?

Background: Polymorphisms in the oestrogen receptor 1 (ESR1) and oestrogen receptor 2 (ESR2) genes are associated with intermediate or endpoint markers of cardiovascular disease and with the efficacy of postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT). Contradictory findings have been described in the past and the role of these genetics variants remains unclear. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 266 postmenopausal women, of whom 115 received oral HT (HT+) and 151 did not receive any HT (HT−). We analysed three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ESR1 (rs1801132, rs7757956 and rs2813544) and two in ESR2 (rs3020450 and rs7154455) and derived haplotypes with three additional polymorphisms that had been previously investigated by our group (ESR1 rs2234693 and ESR2 rs1256049 and rs4986938). Results: The ESR1 rs2813544 polymorphism was associated with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in HT+ postmenopausal women (p = 0.044; pC = 0.388), while one ESR2 gene haplotype was associated with total cholesterol (T-chol) (p = 0.015; pC = 0.090) and LDL-C in HT+ postmenopausal women (p = 0.021; pC = 0.126). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that, in HT+ postmenopausal women, the rs2813544 polymorphism may influence LDL-C levels and, as previously described, ESR2 rs1256049 is associated with T-chol and LDL-C. No previous study has investigated the association of this SNP set with lipoprotein levels in women while taking into account the hormonal status of the patients.
Functional analysis of TaABF1 during abscisic acid and gibberellin signalling in aleurone cells of cereal grains

Abstract The wheat transcription factor TaABF1 physically interacts with the protein kinase PKABA1 and mediates both abscisic acid (ABA)-induced and ABA-suppressed gene expression. In bombarded aleurone cells of imbibing grains, the effect of TaABF1 in down-regulating the gibberellin (GA)-induced Amy32b promoter was stronger in the presence of exogenous ABA. As these grains contained low levels of endogenous ABA, the effect of TaABF1 may also be mediated by ABA-induced activation even in the absence of exogenous ABA. Levels of TaABF1 protein decreased slightly during imbibition of afterripened grains. However, TaABF1 levels (especially in aleurone layers) were not substantially affected by exogenous ABA or GA, indicating that changes in TaABF1 protein level are not an important part of regulating its role in hormone signalling. We found that TaABF1 was phosphorylated in vivo in aleurone cells, suggesting a role for post-translational modification in regulating TaABF1 activity. Induction of Amy32b by overexpression of the transcription factor GAMyb could not be prevented by TaABF1, indicating that TaABF1 acts upstream of GAMyb transcription in the signalling pathway. Supporting this view, knockdown of TaABF1 by RNA interference resulted in increased expression from the GAMyb promoter. These results are consistent with a model in which TaABF1 is constitutively present in aleurone cells, while its ability to down-regulate GAMyb is regulated in response to ABA.
Subcellular distribution of L‐type Ca2+ channels responsible for plateau potentials in motoneurons from the lumbar spinal cord of the turtle

L‐type calcium channels mediate the persistent inward current underlying plateau potentials in spinal motoneurons. Electrophysiological analysis shows that plateau potentials are generated by a persistent inward current mediated by low threshold L‐type calcium channels located in the dendrites. As motoneurons express L‐type calcium channels of the CaV1.2 and CaV1.3 subtypes, we have investigated the subcellular distribution of these channels using antibody labelling. The plateau generating a persistent inward current is modulated by the activation of metabotropic receptors. For this reason, we also examined the relationship between CaV1.2 and CaV1.3 subunits in motoneurons and presynaptic terminals labelled with antibodies against synapsin 1a. Motoneurons in the spinal cord of the adult turtle were identified as large neurons, immunopositive for choline acetyltransferase, located in the ventral horn. In these neurons, CaV1.2 subunits were present in the cell bodies and axons. Patches of CaV1.3 subunits were seen in association with the cell membrane of the somata and both the proximal and distal dendrites. Double labelling with an antibody against synapsin 1a showed that CaV1.3 subunits, but not CaV1.2 subunits, were always located at synaptic sites. The distribution of CaV1.2 and CaV1.3 strongly suggests that the persistent inward current underlying plateau potentials in spinal motoneurons is mediated by CaV1.3 and not by CaV1.2. Our findings also show that CaV1.3 may be located in the somatic and dendritic membrane adjacent to particular presynaptic terminals.
Tailoring Reflections From Thin Composite Metamirrors

We propose an effective route to fully control the phase of plane waves reflected from electrically (optically) thin composite sheets. This becomes possible using engineered artificial full-reflection layers (metamirrors) formed by arrays of electrically small resonant bi-anisotropic particles. In this scenario, fully reflecting mirrors do not contain any continuous ground plane, but only arrays of small particles. Bi-anisotropic omega coupling is required to get asymmetric response in reflection phase for plane waves incident from the opposite sides of the composite mirror. It is shown that with this concept one can independently tailor the phase of electromagnetic waves reflected from both sides of the mirror array.