Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Model order identification for fractional models

This paper deals with continuous-time system identification using fractional differentiation models. So far, no algorithm exists concerning model order identification of fractional models. The “simplified” refined instrumental variable method is proposed to estimate parameters of fractional differential equation models when all the fractional orders are assumed known. Then an optimization approach based on this instrumental variable estimator is presented. This two-stage algorithm, called oosrivcf is then used for model order identification by using simultaneously two criteria: the Young Information Criterion (YIC) and the RT2 criterion.
Research on failure model of software reliability based on the least squares support vector regression machines and simulated annealing algorithm

Building a software failure model (SFM) is an important means to compute the software reliability. While there are not enough faults data, the estimation for model parameters is not accurate, which would decrease the fitting precision. In addition, the estimation for parameters of complex models is very complicated. An SFM based on the least squares support vector regression machines (LSSVRM) could decrease the fitting error, and there are no parameters to estimate in that SFM. The LSSVRM optimized by simulated annealing algorithm (SA-LSSVRM) is introduced to overcome the problem of there being free parameters in LSSVRM to be modified manually. The SFM based on SA-LSSVGM could fit the faults data better, and the precision of software reliability could be improved.
Clinical significance of serum vascular endothelial growth factor in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent inducer of angiogenesis in malignant tumors. An increased in the serum VEGF concentration (S‐VEGF) has been found in patients with various solid tumors and appears to be correlated with tumor burden. The objective of the current study was to determine the correlation between pretreatment S‐VEGF and clinicopathologic features in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
Assessment of Intra-Serotypic Diversity in Escherichia coli from Dogs Using ERIC-PCR

The scope of this study was to characterize the intra-serotypic genetic diversity in fecal Escherichia coli isolates obtained from dogs, using enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR. Serological typing of forty-seven E. coli isolates recovered from the rectal swabs (n=93) of different dog breeds in Andhra Pradesh revealed O141 (5 isolates), O128 (3 isolates), O126 (2 isolates), O9 (2 isolates), O15, O20, O35, O49, O63, O85, O101, O116, O117, O118 and O119 (1 isolate each) serotypes. A total of 10 and 14 isolates were found to be rough (R) and untypable (UT), respectively. ERIC-PCR genotyping allowed discrimination of 47 E. coli isolates into 46 ERIC-PCR genotypes. The numerical index of discrimination was 0.999. Dendrogram analysis discriminated 47 E. coli isolates into eight major clusters (C1 to C8) with 70% similarity between them and three isolates were found to be unclustered with other isolates. Our results showed high intra-serotypic diversity in fecal E. coli from dogs, as evidenced by the grouping of isolates of same ‘O’ serotype into different clusters. Furthermore, ERIC-PCR genomic fingerprinting was found to be a rapid, easy-to-perform genotyping tool to differentiate E. coli strains within serotype based on their genotype.
The maltose ATP‐binding cassette transporter in the 21st century – towards a structural dynamic perspective on its mode of action

The maltose/maltodextrin transport system of Escherichia coli/Salmonella, composed of periplasmic maltose‐binding protein, MalE, the pore‐forming subunits MalF and MalG, and a homodimer of the nucleotide‐binding subunit, MalK, serves as a model for canonical ATP‐binding cassette importers in general. The wealth of knowledge accumulated on the maltose transporter in more than three decades by genetic, molecular genetic and biochemical means was complemented more recently by crystal structures of the isolated MalK dimer and of two conformational states of the full transporter. Here, we summarize insights into the transport mechanism provided by these structures and draw the reader's attention to experimental tools by which the dynamics of the transporter can be studied during substrate translocation. A transport model is presented that integrates currently available biochemical, biophysical and structural data. We also present the state of knowledge on regulatory functions of the maltose transporter associated with the C‐terminal domain of MalK. Finally, we will address the application of coarse‐grained modelling to visualize the progression of the conformational changes of an ABC transporter with special emphasis on the maltose system, which can provide a model platform for testing and validating the bioinformatic tools.
Group Decision Support: The Effects of Designated Human Leaders and Statistical Feedback in Computerized Conferences

Twenty-four groups of five professionals and managers used computer conferences to reach agreement on the best solution to a complex ranking problem. Two software tools for structuring the conferences were employed in a two-by-two factorial design. Groups with "designated leadership" (DL) used software support to elect a discussion leader. Groups with "statistical feedback" (SF) were presented with tables periodically that displayed the mean rank and degree of consensus for each item. DL improved levels of consensus; in the absence of a leader, SF improved level of agreement slightly. Statistical feedback as operationalized in this experiment was detrimental to the ability of a group to achieve "collective intelligence," defined as a group decision better than the prediscussion decision of any of its individual members. Characteristics of the individuals and groups were also associated with variations in outcomes.
Morphologic Predictors of a Microbiological Yield in Patients With a Tree-in-Bud Pattern on Computed Tomography

Purpose: To evaluate the computed tomographic (CT) predictors of a clinically significant yield from microbiological tests in patients with a tree-in-bud pattern. Materials and Methods: CT examinations in 53 patients (male=34; mean age=52.9±17.3 y) with a tree-in-bud pattern in whom a diagnostic test (sputum analysis, bronchoalveolar lavage or nasopharyngeal aspirates) had been performed within 2 weeks were identified. The following CT patterns were independently quantified by 2 thoracic radiologists: tree-in-bud, bronchiectasis, bronchial wall thickening, consolidation, ground-glass opacification, and nodules. The presence of cavitation (in nodules and/or consolidation) was recorded. Patient charts were reviewed for the presence of a clinically significant positive microbiological result. Results: A clinically significant causal organism was present in 25/53 (47%) patients. The median extent of a tree-in-bud pattern was 5 [range=1 to 16 (maximum range=0 to 18)], and cavitation was present in 14/53 (26%) patients (cavitating nodules=8, cavitation in consolidation=3, and cavitation in consolidation and nodules=3). There was no independent linkage between the extent of a tree-in-bud pattern and the identification of a clinically significant organism. The microbiological yield was significantly higher if there was coexistent cavitation in nodules or consolidation [11/14 (79%) vs. 14/39 (39%); P=0.005]. On stepwise logistic regression, the only CT predictor of a clinically significant microbiological yield was cavitation on CT (odds ratio=9.7; 95% confidence interval=1.9, 49.9; P<0.01); the extent of a tree-in-bud pattern, concurrent use of antibiotics, age, and sex were not independently linked to a significant microbiological yield. Conclusions: A specific clinically significant microbiological diagnosis was obtained in approximately 50% of patients with a tree-in-bud pattern. The microbiological yield rises strikingly when a tree-in-bud pattern coexists with cavitation (in nodules or consolidation) but is not predicted by ancillary CT signs or clinical parameters.
Optimal path planning method with attitude constraints for quadrotor helicopters

This paper proposes a path planning method considering attitude constraints at given geometric points by utilizing the relation between acceleration and attitude. By characterizing the reference path with a parameter vector, optimization technique is introduced to refine the generated path. Numerical simulation with a physical model is also invoked in order to consider the transient response of the path following controller, and the reference path is updated to obtain the feasible path. Results of numerical simulations are also shown in this paper, which validates the proposed approach.
The reinforcing efficacy of alcohol mediates associations between impulsivity and negative drinking outcomes.

OBJECTIVE One predictor of negative drinking outcomes in college populations is impulsivity. Individual differences in the reinforcing efficacy of alcohol, which reflects willingness to drink despite potential costs, may serve as a mechanism by which impulsivity is associated with alcohol-related problems. The purpose of this study was to determine whether two measures of the reinforcing efficacy of alcohol-demand intensity (consumption when drinks are free) and Omax (maximum expenditure on alcohol)-statistically mediated the associations between four facets of impulsivity and negative drinking outcomes. METHOD We gave 202 undergraduate social drinkers a hypothetical task in which they indicated how many drinks they would consume across a range of prices. They also completed measures of impulsivity, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems. RESULTS Path models revealed that two facets of impulsivity-sensation seeking and urgency-were associated with higher reinforcing efficacy and worse alcohol problems. Moreover, the associations between both of these impulsivity facets and alcohol-related problems were sequentially mediated by reinforcing efficacy and alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS Individuals who respond impulsively to negative emotions or have sensation-seeking tendencies may exhibit greater willingness to consume and purchase alcohol. As a result, they may in fact drink more, leading to worse drinking-related problems. These findings suggest a need for more research into the mechanisms of interventions that successfully reduce problem drinking. They also indicate that more study is needed on whether decreasing the availability of low-cost alcohol reduces alcohol-related problems in impulsive individuals.
Socioeconomic status and coronary heart disease risk prediction.

Achieving the Healthy People 2010 goal of reducing health disparities has been challenging. Disparity in life expectancy by socioeconomic status (SES) has been increasing.1 Much of this disparity is attributable to higher cardiovascular, particularly coronary heart disease (CHD), mortality among persons of lower SES. Disparities in CHD mortality result from multiple factors, including early life environment and material disadvantage,2 social and behavioral risk factors,3 access to care,4 and systematic underestimation of risk among persons with lower SES in clinical care. This Commentary addresses the importance of SES in CHD risk assessment. Current risk-based intervention strategies ignore the independent contribution of SES to CHD and thus may contribute to increasing SES disparities. If CHD risk is better estimated among the poor, it could lead to increased statin use for cholesterol reduction and aspirin use for CHD prevention among this population, which may reduce CHD disparities.
Public Campaign Finance , Vote Buying and Parties ́ Policies on Government Spending

We study whether public campaign finance creates incentives for parties to adopt a moderate public spending policy (which maximizes the welfare of a majority of voters) or a polarized spending policy (which maximizes the welfare of a minority of voters). We find that symmetric campaign finance (all parties receive an equivalent amount) induces parties to converge in selecting a moderate policy on public spending while asymmetric campaign finance leads parties to diverge in their platforms and propose polarized policies with too much government spending. These findings suggest that public campaign finance has nontrivial effects on the degree of representation of voters’ preferences into policies (an issue that is central for the adequate functioning of a democracy) and in the efficacy of government spending. In addition, we provide empirically verifiable tests of the effect of public campaign finance on the parties’ strategic design of policy proposals on government spending.
Aerial Robot Design for Ground Robot Interaction and Navigation without Landmarks

A design for an autonomous drone’s mechanical, electrical, and software system capable of finishing the International Aerial Robotics Competitions Mission 7a will be presented. The solution focuses on the ability to herd a group of ten ground robots across a single side of an arena while avoiding tall cylindrical obstacles. The sensors used for orientation and position estimates will be described as well as their intended purposes and why they were selected. In addition, a monitoring system will be described that enables safe recovery of the drone during software failure. The drone is of a quadrotor design, 107cm across and weighs over 4kg. Five cameras, a planar lidar, two ground distance sensors, ground contact switches, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer are used for state estimation and target tracking. A real time flight controller is used for active stabilization, while a Jetson TX2 and a ground station are used for image processing, high level control, and planning. INTRODUCTION The Problem Mission 7a of the International Aerial Robotics Competition requires teams to develop autonomous aerial vehicles capable of navigation in an indoor, GPS-denied environment without nearby landmarks amenable to conventional SLAM algorithms. The aerial vehicles must interact with randomly moving ground robots to direct them toward one side of the competition arena, while avoiding dynamic obstacles. Mission 7b builds on these design goals by requiring two drones to compete in the arena at the same time, avoiding collisions with each other and directing ground robots toward separate goals [4]. Overall Solution Concept Our drone is a quadrotor with four side cameras, one bottom camera, a long-range time of flight LIDAR paired with a short-range time of flight LIDAR for height measurement, landing gear with contact switches for landing detection, a 360 degree planar laser scanner, a Teensy 3.2 microcontroller for digital and analog sensor interfacing, an NVIDIA Jetson TX2 for onboard computer vision and high level autopilot functionality, and a Seriously Pro F3 Evo flight controller for real time control and stabilization. The autonomous intelligence primarily runs on the Jetson and uses ROS to support high level autonomous control. The Jetson then communicates its desires to the real time flight controller.
OBJECT-BASED CLASSIFICATION FOR LIDAR POINT CLOUD

Recently, object-based image analysis (OBIA) has been proven to be more efficientin image classificationthan pixel-based methods. In order to raise the capability of automatic recognition of land features from LiDAR data, 2D OBIA method is extended for 3D point cloud classification of LiDAR data in this study. First, point cloud is segmented to independent 3D objects by various methods. Second, several object features designed by this study are calculated. At last, the point clouds are classified automatically according to the variations of object features. In this study, an airborne LiDAR dataset is used to test and verify the efficiency of the proposed method. The results showed that utilizing the object-based concept can give assistance to point cloud recognition by means of depicting the spatial characters of these objects. Furthermore, the proposed method improves not only the completeness, but also the quality of classification results.
Toward Temporal and Punctual Urban Redevelopment in Dynamic, Informal Contexts - An Adaptive Masterplan Driven by Architectural Interventions Using Multiagent Modeling

This paper presents design research speculating on new planning approaches for informal urban sites that enables coordinated planning to operate within the realm of spontaneous, bottom-up redevelopment. In opposition to the /tabula rasa/ Modernist development, this project reacts to the dynamic metabolism of the village and engages with the rapid turnover of the built environment of the village as a mechanism through which to implement incremental redevelopment. A radical reorientation of the object of masterplanning, this replaces the singular image or document as the guiding authority with a collection of opportunistic adaptations, temporal sequences, and localized procedures. Enabling this approach is a computational approach that analyzes the morphology of the public space network to identify opportunities to address issues in the composition of the village. A multiagent system driven by weighted random walks through the circulation network conducts local analyses of the urban fabric while changes are made and proposes potential modifications to discrete areas. The model simulates the potential for such a planning tool to be used over a long time span and updated with empirically gathered data, having the benefit of flexibility and resilience in the face of the changing and unregulated conditions in the context of informal urbanism.
First-Principles Calculations of Optoelectronic Properties of Bi 2 se 3 Surface State for Broadband Photodetector

It has been established experimentally that bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) is van der Waals layered materials of technological importance, with metallic surface state. Formation of a single Dirac cone similar to graphene inside the bulk band gap energy by the surface state is a key requirement toqualifyBi2Se3 for future optoelectronic applications. Therefore, to expose its hidden potentials, detailed analysis of the electronic and optical properties of its surface sate at the level of more efficient and reliable techniques is very essential. To accomplish this purpose, we investigated the electronic and optical properties of the surface states using the recently developed Cooper’s exchange potentials (vdW-DFC09x) within Density Functional Theory (DFT) framework. Our surface states band structure calculations with the inclusion of vdW-DFC09x functionals reveals that Bi2Se3 has energy gap 0.700, 0.221, 0.116 and 0.065 eV at pointfor 1QL, 2QL, 3QL and 4QL films respectively. These values are in good agreement with experimental measurement. The results of optical absorption show that Bi2Se3 surface state has strong absorption in the near infrared to ultraviolet wavelenghts, therefore, it can be used in optoelectronics applications such asoptical communication, biomedical imaging, motion detector, remote sensing, and gas sensing.
Corticosterone targets distinct steps of synaptic transmission via concentration specific activation of mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors

Hippocampal neurons are affected by chronic stress and have a high density of cytoplasmic mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors (MR and GR). Detailed studies on the genomic effects of the stress hormone corticosterone at physiologically relevant concentrations on different steps in synaptic transmission are limited. In this study, we tried to delineate how activation of MR and GR by different concentrations of corticosterone affects synaptic transmission at various levels. The effect of 3‐h corticosterone (25, 50, and 100 nM) treatment on depolarization‐mediated calcium influx, vesicular release and properties of miniature excitatory post‐synaptic currents (mEPSCs) were studied in cultured hippocampal neurons. Activation of MR with 25 nM corticosterone treatment resulted in enhanced depolarization‐mediated calcium influx via a transcription‐dependent process and increased frequency of mEPSCs with larger amplitude. On the other hand, activation of GR upon 100 nM corticosterone treatment resulted in increase in the rate of vesicular release via the genomic actions of GR. Furthermore, GR activation led to significant increase in the frequency of mEPSCs with larger amplitude and faster decay. Our studies indicate that differential activation of the dual receptor system of MR and GR by corticosterone targets the steps in synaptic transmission differently.
Fast Algorithm of Parameters Estimation of High Speed Moving Target Based on Conjugate Gradients and Its Test

Abstract—Wideband signal processing is always realized by wideband correlative processing which has a time scale and time delay 2-D peak value search calculation structure. Aiming at the relatively high parameters estimation precision, the structure should have a high search density, but it would cause a heavy operation which system cannot afford. Then a fast algorithm of parameters estimation based on conjugate gradients was advanced. The computer simulation of fast algorithm was accomplished and parameters estimation deviation variance curves were calculated by Monte Carlo method. The simulated reflected signal of high-speed moving target was collected in lake test and the fast algorithm were applied on the target detection and parameters estimation under the low SNR. The results of simulation and lake test showed that the fast algorithm based on conjugate gradients could reach the peak value by low operation and relatively high parameters estimation precision by iterative calculation.
Trabecular Bone Mineral Density in Idiopathic Scoliosis

The association of idiopathic scoliosis with an osteoporotic state has been indicated previously. The present study compared the trabecular bone mineral densities of 44 adolescent idiopathic scoliotic girls with 44 age-, weight-, sex-, and race-matched controls. Their lumbar spine and femoral neck bone mineral densities were evaluated using dual-photon absorptiometry. Radiographs and scoliotic curve data were also obtained for the experimental group. The scoliotic subjects exhibited significantly lower lumbar and femoral neck bone mineral densities than the control subjects. No effect was found with respect to treatment, degree, or progression of curvature. The results of this study indicate that there is a generalized state of osteoporosis in idiopathic scoliotic girls when compared with matched controls.