Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptive auditory-motor control of the time-varying formant trajectories in vowels and its patterns of generalization

This thesis aims at elucidating the role of auditory feedback in the learning and planning of complex articulatory gestures in time-varying phonemes. To this end, we studied native Mandarin speakers' responses to perturbations of their auditory feedback of the first and second formant trajectories during the production of the Mandarin triphthong /iau/. On the group level, subjects adaptively adjusted their productions to partially compensate for the perturbations in auditory feedback under both the F1 and F2 perturbations. But considerable between-individual variation existed. The result indicate that auditory feedback-based learning and control of speech movements is not restricted to quasi-static gestures in monophthongs as found in previous studies, but also extends to time-varying gestures. To probe the internal structure of the mechanisms of auditory-motor transformations in speech, we tested the pattern of generalization of the adaptation trained on the triphthong /iau/ to other vowels with different spatial and temporal characteristics in the same language. A broad but weak and decaying pattern of generalization was observed under the F1 perturbation; the strength of the generalization diminished with increasing dissimilarity from /iau/. No significant transfer of adaptation was found under the perturbation of F2. The details and implications of the pattern of generalization are examined and discussed in light of previous sensorimotor adaptation studies of speech and limb motor control and a neurocomputational model of speech motor control. Thesis Supervisor: Joseph S. Perkell Title: Senior Research Scientist, Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT
General resilience: Taxonomy and strategies

Because resilience thinking has increasingly been used in various disciplines and domains and extended with a broader scope of concepts, it is difficult to find a unified and encompassing definition by which it can be accurately referred to. Furthermore, to elucidate and synthesize all resilience theories and conceptual frameworks that have been put forward will require volumes of written work. We therefore argue in this paper that research works pursuing the common strategies of system resilience require a language that can help describe the specific contexts in which resilience is applied. We propose here a taxonomy for general resilience that consists of four orthogonal dimensions, namely, type of shock or perturbation, target system, phase of concern, and type of recovery. Furthermore, it has also been observed that despite its domain-dependency, there exist resilience strategies that cut across multiple disciplines and domains, specifically, redundancy, diversity and adaptability. There is another, however, which we argue here in detail that is equally compelling, i.e., a strategy that can break the rigid stability that leads to greater fragility and a more severe collapse with prolonged period of severity. Specifically, the strategy is to deliberately inject or induce regularly small “controlled” shocks into the system to regulate the build-up of complexity and rigidity among its components and their connections. Doing so will not only prolong the period of stability of the system, but also shorten the period of severity in the wake of a severe shock.
Genomic classifier identifies men with adverse pathology after radical prostatectomy who benefit from adjuvant radiation therapy.

PURPOSE The optimal timing of postoperative radiotherapy (RT) after radical prostatectomy (RP) is unclear. We hypothesized that a genomic classifier (GC) would provide prognostic and predictive insight into the development of clinical metastases in men receiving post-RP RT and inform decision making. PATIENTS AND METHODS GC scores were calculated from 188 patients with pT3 or margin-positive prostate cancer, who received post-RP RT at Thomas Jefferson University and Mayo Clinic between 1990 and 2009. The primary end point was clinical metastasis. Prognostic accuracy of the models was tested using the concordance index for censored data and decision curve analysis. Cox regression analysis tested the relationship between GC and metastasis. RESULTS The cumulative incidence of metastasis at 5 years after RT was 0%, 9%, and 29% for low, average, and high GC scores, respectively (P = .002). In multivariable analysis, GC and pre-RP prostate-specific antigen were independent predictors of metastasis (both P < .01). Within the low GC score (< 0.4), there were no differences in the cumulative incidence of metastasis comparing patients who received adjuvant or salvage RT (P = .79). However, for patients with higher GC scores (≥ 0.4), cumulative incidence of metastasis at 5 years was 6% for patients treated with adjuvant RT compared with 23% for patients treated with salvage RT (P < .01). CONCLUSION In patients treated with post-RP RT, GC is prognostic for the development of clinical metastasis beyond routine clinical and pathologic features. Although preliminary, patients with low GC scores are best treated with salvage RT, whereas those with high GC scores benefit from adjuvant therapy. These findings provide the first rational selection of timing for post-RP RT.
Surface charge measurement of gamma-rays irradiated polymer insulating materials

Polybutylene naphthalate (PBN) was employed as test sample which was previously irradiated in air up to 100 kGy and then up to 1000 kGy with dosage rate of 10 kGy / h by using a 60Co gamma-source. The experiment was carried out on sample surface under a negative dc stress between two parallel electrodes. An electrostatic probe was designed to measure the surface charge density during charging period and decay process. Obtained results showed that both max charge density and total charge decreased with increasing the total dose of irradiation. It indicated that the capability of storing charges reduced by the increase of the total dose of irradiation. It is suggested that charge accumulation depends upon the density of surface states, which is varied by radiation induced cross-linking and degradation reaction of the molecule structure. Furthermore, the charge decay mainly relies on the recombination of surface charge with ions of opposite sign in surrounding media.
Effects of Bay K 8644 and nifedipine on femoral arteries of spontaneously hypertensive rats

1 Vasoconstrictor effects of Bay K 8644 (an agonist known to increase Ca2+ influx through the voltage‐dependent Ca2+ channels) on femoral arteries of 6 week old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were investigated, and data compared with findings in age‐matched normotensive Wistar‐Kyoto rats (WKY). 2 The addition of Bay K 8644 (1 × 10−10 − 3 × 10−7 M) elicited a dose‐dependent contraction in SHR femoral artery in the absence of any contractile agent. Maximum contraction induced by this agonist was the same as the maximum induced by either K+‐depolarization or α‐adrenoceptor stimulation. 3 Bay K 8644 was less effective in eliciting a contraction in the WKY femoral artery. 4 Increased sensitivity to K+ was also observed in the SHR femoral artery. In contrast, contractions in response to α‐adrenoceptor stimulation were the same in the SHR as those in the WKY. 5 The addition of nifedipine, a Ca2+ channel antagonist, to an unstimulated preparation produced a dose‐dependent relaxation in femoral arteries from SHR, but not from WKY. When the arteries were contracted with 60 mM K+, nifedipine produced similar relaxations in the SHR as those in the WKY, suggesting that the Ca2+ channels in the SHR femoral arteries are more activated than those in the WKY femoral arteries. 6 Contractile responses of SHR femoral arteries to Bay K 8644 were antagonized competitively by nifedipine. 7 Contractile responses to Ca2+ determined in K+‐depolarized strips were also antagonized competitively by nifedipine. However, Schild plot analysis clearly demonstrated a different pA2 value for nifedipine, suggesting that there may be a difference in the state of voltage‐dependent Ca2+ channels in SHR femoral artery between the stimulation with Bay K 8644 and K+‐depolarization.
RECK overexpression reduces invasive ability in ameloblastoma cells.

BACKGROUND Ameloblastoma is a frequent odontogenic neoplasm characterized by local invasiveness and high risk of recurrence. Reversion-inducing cysteine-rich protein with Kazal motifs (RECK) is a tumor suppressor that inhibits metastasis and angiogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of RECK overexpression on invasive potential in ameloblastoma cells. METHODS Lentiviral vectors containing human RECK gene were created and subsequently stably transfected into immortalized ameloblastoma cell line hTERT(+) -AM. Functional characteristics of hTERT(+) -AM cells with stable RECK overexpression included proliferation, migration, invasion, and regulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2, MMP-9 measured by zymography or commercially available assays. RESULTS The stable and higher expression of RECK mRNA and protein (P < 0.01) was detected in RECK-transfected hTERT(+) -AM cells. RECK overexpression caused a decrease in migration and invasion (P < 0.01) for hTERT(+) -AM cells and a decrease in activity of MMP-2, MMP-9 (P < 0.01). Proliferation was not affected by RECK overexpression (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Overexpression of RECK gene significantly inhibited cell invasive ability of hTERT(+) -AM cells, suggesting RECK may be a new target for ameloblastoma treatment.
A static projective control method of a flying-wing UAV based on the robust and optimal theories

According to the unusual conformation and aerodynamic characteristic of a flying-wing UAV, a static projective control system is designed based on the robust and optimal theories. Firstly the features of a flying-wing UAV are presented and a 6 DOF (degree of freedom) nonlinear model of the aircraft is given. Secondly the static projective control method is formulated in three parts: (1) modeling of an expanded robust-servo system; (2) applying the LQR (Linear Quadratic Regulator) method of optimal control to the robust-servo system; (3) using the static projective law to reconstruct the closed loop system by output feedback as a substitute for LQR state feedback. After that an example of a particular static projective controller designing is presented. In simulation, a trajectory tracking example is given by adding additional outer loop controllers outside the static projective controllers. The characteristics of the static projective controllers are shown by a comparison with the ordinary PID attitude autopilot. Then a satisfactory trajectory tracking result is shown which indicates the excellent transient performance and accuracy of static projective controllers of the inner loops.
Construction and evaluation of the first Brazilian atomic clock

For the past two years we have been implementing a program for the establishment of scientific time and frequency metrology in Brazil. The main objective of this program is to construct an atomic fountain and use it as a primary standard. As a first step toward this goal, we have constructed a /sup 133/Cs beam optically pumped conventional clock. In this paper we describe the system and the results of its evaluation. The possible limitations of our short-term stability are discussed.
Capturing Behavioral Influences in Synthetic C2: What We've Learned So Far and Where We Need to Go

Abstract : The MITRE Corporation in Bedford, MA is executing a small research project entitled "Capturing Behavioral Influences in Synthetic C2. " This project is being sponsored by the Air Force Electronic Systems Center (ESC) and began in November of 2001. At the previous SIW we presented the project plan. This paper presents initial findings from the project based on preliminary prototyping efforts and a review of related work in the community. We originally set out to "start simple" by modeling a single C2 operator in the Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) mission area; however, we found it both undesirable and infeasible to single out a single operator since C2 at its core is collaborative teamwork. C2 modeling efforts need to focus on team or unit-level models. To make better use of limited available behavior data, C2 behavior modeling efforts must expand on existing information processing models and address specific taxonomies of C2 user tasks. Hybrid models may be necessary to bring the best of multiple modeling approaches to bear on the complex nature of C2 team/unit modeling. Guidelines are needed to (1) better define appropriate levels of detail/investment, and (2) provide validation approaches for behavior modeling across the different C2 application areas. Finally, in efforts to interface interactive human behavior models with battle simulations, it is necessary to understand and refine the hooks that enable the behavior models to appropriately impact the simulated battle.
Compressed StreamCube: Implementation of Compressed Data Cube in DSMS

Using data cube to analysis historical fact data online more faster than Ad-Hoc queries, but it need very large external storage. In DSMS(Data Stream Management System), due to capacity of memory is much smaller than disk, we meet even more problem in analyzing stream data by in-memory StreamCube. So, we compress StreamCube to gain more information about stream data in certain storage. We implement two compressed structures of StreamCube, StreamDwarf and StreamQCTree, base on state-of-the-art compressed data cube, Dwarf and QCtree. For example, we make a query cost model of StreamQCTree, and get that if we choose the proper cells to materialized, queries using a partial materialized cube costs a little more than the case of a fully materialized cube, the query response time is still kept close to StreamQCTree. Experiments show that compressed StreamCube performs well in tradeoff between storage space and queries response time.
IP Geolocation with Two-tiered Neural Networks

The ability to accurately determine the geographic location of an arbitrary IP address has potential in many applications. Previous methods that are based on observing the relationship between network delay and physical distance are inaccurate. Methods based on delay similarity are more accurate but inefficient because they require information on a large number of landmark nodes near the destination to be collected and maintained. We propose a method that can overcome both problems. Our method maintains a stable collection of network observers and landmark nodes that covers the target area. Observers are network nodes from which we can issue measurement command such as ping and traceroute. Landmarks are IP addresses which are reachable from observers and for which the physical locations are well-known. With measurement results collected from these landmarks, we train a two-tier neural network that estimates the geolocation of arbitrary IP addresses. The first tier neural network locates a smaller region in which the target IP resides, and then the second tier estimates its location more accurately within that region. We intentionally limit the size of landmark collection to a controllable and reasonable number, and show that with only a limited number of landmarks, we are able to retain a high accuracy that is similar to previous methods. In our experiment, with 1547 landmarks across US territory, the median error of our estimation is 4.1 km on the entire test dataset. On half of the test regions which contain more than 100 landmarks, the median error can be decreased to 3.7 km.
Self-Consistent Ornstein-Zernike Approximation for Lattice Gases.

A self-consistent approximation for the structure factor of three-dimensional lattice gases yields remarkably accurate predictions (less than 3{percent} error over most of the temperature range) for the correlation length, isothermal compressibility, specific heat, and the coexistence curve. Critical temperatures agree to within 0.2{percent}, and other critical properties to within (1{endash}2){percent}, of the best numerical estimates. Until temperature and density are within 1{percent} of their critical values, the approximate {ital effective} critical exponents do not differ appreciably from their estimated exact form; they attain their limiting spherical-model values only much closer to critical. The method should prove useful for a variety of three-dimensional lattice-gas and fluid problems; it is inappropriate to two dimensions, where it predicts criticality at zero temperature. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society. }
Saturable q-axis magnetizing inductance calculation of Line Start-Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors using Lumped Parameter Mode

Starting phase of a motor in general is a very complicated period. Motors draw a large amount of current, several times the normal full-load current when first energized. In starting period of Line Start Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (LSPMSM), high current causes saturation in stator and rotor. The effect of saturation on the “q-axis” synchronous inductance, Lmq, of LSPMSM is studied in this paper. The paper will proposes a method to calculate the Lmq using the Lumped Parameter Method. Comparative results will be carried on using finite element method. Good agreement between results is justified.
The Continuous Evolution In Vitro Technique

In vitro experimentation techniques were developed in response to the necessity of exploring new molecular structures and functions and to better understand evolutionary phenomena that shape organismal and molecular populations. The advancement of these techniques has allowed further exploration of more complicated evolutionary dynamics. One such technique is the continuous evolution in vitro (CE) method, to which this unit is devoted. The CE method is characterized by continuous cycles of amplification of RNA molecules that occur without much participation of the researcher. This feature allows us to evolve lineages in which the evolutionary phenomena occurring at the molecular level more closely mimic what happens in organismal populations in the present, or what may have happened in RNA populations during the RNA world stage of life. Curr. Protoc. Nucleic Acid Chem. 40:9.7. 1‐9.7. 16. © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Timing and positioning of occlusion of the spinal neurocele in the chick embryo

The timing and positioning of occlusion of the spinal neurocele were studied in living and serially sectioned chick embryos at stages 8–14. Occlusion occurs in three phases: preocclusion, incipient occlusion, and definitive occlusion. Preocclusion occurs at stage 8. At this time, the neural groove of the spinal cord has not yet closed to form a neural tube. Incipient occlusion begins as early as stage 9 and lasts until stage 11. The neural groove of the cranial spinal cord closes during these stages and incipient occlusion occurs concomitantly with this closure. Seventy‐eight percent of the embryos exhibit incipient occlusion. Incipient occlusion extends along the mid‐somitic region of the neuroaxis, occupying about one‐half the length of the spinal cord. Injection of the brains of living embryos with dyes often reopens incipient occluded areas. Definitive occlusion occurs at stages 11–14 and is present in 89% of the embryos. Definitive occlusion is restricted to mid‐somitic regions, as was incipient occlusion, but it extends approximately two‐thirds the length of the spinal cord. Injection of the brains of living embryos with dyes rarely reopens definitive occluded areas, even when injection pressures are maximal. Six morphological types of definitive occlusion can be identified on the basis of the relative proportions and locations of total and partial occlusion. Closure of the cranial neuropore and roof plate of the hindbrian occurs near the end of the incipient occlusion phase, whereas closure of the caudal neuropore occurs well after definitive occlusion is initiated. Physiological occlusion is due to both anatomical occlusion and back pressure, which prevent the flow of liquids into a blind, narrow tube. Further studies are required to document the reopening phases of the spinal neurocele, as well as the forces involved in causing and maintaining occlusion and reopening.
A Novel Instantaneous Frequency Computation Approach for Empirical Mode Decomposition

— This paper introduces a new instantaneous frequency computation approach (cid:1) -Counting Instantaneous Frequency for a general class of signals called simple waves. The classsimple wave contains a wide range of continuous signals for which the concept instantaneous frequency has a perfect physical sense. The concept of (cid:1) -Counting Instantaneous Frequency also applies to all the discrete data. For all the simple wave signals and the discrete data, (cid:1) -Counting instantaneous frequency can be computed directly without signal decomposition process. The intrinsic mode functions obtained through empirical mode decomposition belongs to simple wave. So (cid:1) -Counting instantaneous frequency can be used together with empirical mode decomposition.
De Novo Assembly of a Bell Pepper Endornavirus Genome Sequence Using RNA Sequencing Data

ABSTRACT The genus Endornavirus is a double-stranded RNA virus that infects a wide range of hosts. In this study, we report on the de novo assembly of a bell pepper endornavirus genome sequence by RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). Our result demonstrates the successful application of RNA-Seq to obtain a complete viral genome sequence from the transcriptome data.
Wavelet-based enhancement of color image using combined local variance and entropy analysis

This paper presents a novel wavelet-based image enhancement approach to reduce noise in a single-sensor color camera. Most traditional noise reduction methods tend to over-suppress high-frequency details. For overcoming this problem we first decompose the input image into flat and edge regions, and adaptively remove noise by multiplying alpha map and wavelet transform coefficients of LH, HL, and HH bands. After removing noise in the flat region, we further remove noise in edge regions by adaptive shrink of wavelet coefficients based on the entropy. Experimental result show the proposed algorithm is proved to be able to reduce noise without losing sharp details and is suitable for commercial low-cost such as digital cameras, CCTV, and surveillance systems.
Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Disease is Associated with Depressed Levels of Soluble Tumor Necrosis Factor-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand.

BACKGROUND Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is characterized by multiple, large renal cysts and impaired kidney function. Although the reason for the development of kidney cysts is unknown, ADPKD is associated with cell cycle arrest and abundant apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells. AIMS We asked whether serum-soluble TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (sTRAIL) might underlie ADPKD. STUDY DESIGN Case-control study. METHODS Serum sTRAIL levels were measured in 44 patients with ADPKD and 18 healthy volunteers. The human soluble TRAIL/Apo2L ELISA kit was used for the in vitro quantitative determination of sTRAIL in serum samples. RESULTS Mean serum sTRAIL levels were lower in patients with ADPKD as compared to the control group (446.9±103.1 and 875.9±349.6 pg/mL, p<0.001). Serum sTRAIL levels did not differ among stages of renal failure in patients with ADPKD. There was no correlation between serum sTRAIL levels and estimated glomerular filtration rate in patients with ADPKD (p>0.05). CONCLUSION Our results show that ADPKD patients have depressed sTRAIL levels, indicating apoptosis unrelated to the stage of chronic renal failure.