Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monitoring Individual and Joint Action Outcomes in Duet Music Performance

We investigated whether people monitor the outcomes of their own and their partners' individual actions as well as the outcome of their combined actions when performing joint actions together. Pairs of pianists memorized both parts of a piano duet. Each pianist then performed one part while their partner performed the other; EEG was recorded from both. Auditory outcomes (pitches) associated with keystrokes produced by the pianists were occasionally altered in a way that either did or did not affect the joint auditory outcome (i.e., the harmony of a chord produced by the two pianists' combined pitches). Altered auditory outcomes elicited a feedback-related negativity whether they occurred in the pianist's own part or the partner's part, and whether they affected individual or joint action outcomes. Altered auditory outcomes also elicited a P300 whose amplitude was larger when the alteration affected the joint outcome compared with individual outcomes and when the alteration affected the pianist's own part compared with the partner's part. Thus, musicians engaged in joint actions monitor their own and their partner's actions as well as their combined action outcomes, while at the same time maintaining a distinction between their own and others' actions and between individual and joint outcomes.
The First Korean Experience of Telemanipulative Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Using the da Vinci System

With the advancement of laparoscopic instruments and computer sciences, complex surgical procedures are expected to be safely performed by robot assisted telemanipulative laparoscopic surgery. The da Vinci system (Intuitive Surgical, Mountain View, CA, USA) became available at the many surgical fields. The wrist like movements of the instrument's tip, as well as 3-dimensional vision, could be expected to facilitate more complex laparoscopic procedure. Here, we present the first Korean experience of da Vinci robotic assisted laparoscopic cholecystectomy and discuss the introduction and perspectives of this robotic system.
Metformin Inhibits Expression and Secretion of PEDF in Adipocyte and Hepatocyte via Promoting AMPK Phosphorylation

Objective. Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) plays an important role in obesity-induced insulin resistance (IR). The study aims to investigate the effect of metformin, a widely used agent to improve IR, on PEDF production both in vivo and in vitro. Methods. SD rats were divided into normal control group, high fat group (HF group), and metformin group (MET group). Hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp was performed to evaluate insulin sensitivity. IR models of 3T3-L1 and HepG2 cells were established and then treated with metformin and inhibitor of AMP activated protein kinase (AMPK). Results. In vivo, the HF group showed increased serum PEDF which is negatively correlated with insulin sensitivity, while the MET group revealed decreased serum PEDF and downregulated PEDF expression in fat and liver, concomitant with significantly improved IR. In vitro, the IR cells showed enhanced PEDF secretion and expression, whereas metformin lowered PEDF secretion and expression, accompanied with increased glucose uptake. Metformin stimulated AMPK phosphorylation in fat and liver of the obese rats, while in vitro, when combined with AMPK inhibitor, the effect of metformin on PEDF was abrogated. Conclusions. Metformin inhibits the expression and secretion of PEDF in fat and liver via promoting AMPK phosphorylation, which is closely associated with IR improvement.
A visually guided swimming robot

We describe recent results obtained with AQUA, a mobile robot capable of swimming, walking and amphibious operation. Designed to rely primarily on visual sensors, the AQUA robot uses vision to navigate underwater using servo-based guidance, and also to obtain high-resolution range scans of its local environment. This paper describes some of the pragmatic and logistic obstacles encountered, and provides an overview of some of the basic capabilities of the vehicle and its associated sensors. Moreover, this paper presents the first ever amphibious transition from walking to swimming.
Mutational Analysis of Ligand Recognition by Tcp, the Citrate Chemoreceptor of Salmonella entericaSerovar Typhimurium

ABSTRACT The chemoreceptor Tcp mediates taxis to citrate. To identify citrate-binding residues, we substituted cysteine for seven basic or polar residues that are chosen based on the comparison of Tcp with the well-characterized chemoreceptors. The results suggest that Arg-63, Arg-68, Arg-72, Lys-75, and Tyr-150 (and probably other unidentified residues) are involved in the recognition of citrate.
A seismic signature of river bedload transport during storm events

Seasonal patterns in high frequency seismic waves near rivers can record energy transmitted to the river bed from particle impacts during bedload transport. Here we show that single storm events in a river can also be observed seismically. We analyzed the high frequency seismic noise in a reach of the Cho‐Shui (Zhuóshu) River in central Taiwan and made detailed observations during individual storm events. Discharge, derived from a water level gage 4.25 km from the seismometer, is highly variable due to typhoons. We found a correlation between seismic amplitude and discharge that differs on the rising and falling limbs of three storms. During each storm, for a given discharge the amplitude of seismic waves are on average two times greater on the rising limb of the storm than on the falling limb, in both aggradational and erosional events. Clockwise hysteresis in both aggradational and erosional events implies that water turbulence, alone, is not the source of the seismic waves. If seismic wave amplitude correlates linearly with the flux of bedload, this implies a roughly two‐fold decrease in transport efficiency over the time‐scale of days during individual storms. The observed change in transport efficiency can plausibly be explained by the disturbance of bed armor during storms and subsequent reformation during the waning stages. This data highlights the potential for fluvial seismology to reveal the dynamics of bedload transport.
Route-Based Detection of Conflicting ATC Clearances on Airports

Runway incursions are among the most serious safety concerns in air traffic control. Traditional A-SMGCS level 2 safety systems detect runway incursions with the help of surveillance information only. In the context of SESAR, complementary safety systems are emerging that also use other information in addition to surveillance, and that aim at warning about potential runway incursions at earlier points in time. One such system is "conflicting ATC clearances", which processes the clearances entered by the air traffic controller into an electronic flight strips system and cross-checks them for potentially dangerous inconsistencies. The cross-checking logic may be implemented directly based on the clearances and on surveillance data, but this is cumbersome. We present an approach that instead uses ground routes as an intermediate layer, thereby simplifying the core safety logic.
Analysis of mobile radio slotted ALOHA networks

Given a mobile terminal transmitting a message to some receiver, the level at the receiver will be affected by path loss and by fading phenomena. Transmissions from different terminals will suffer different attenuations on their respective ways to the receiver and will therefore yield different levels at the receiver. Thanks to the capture effect, the receiver will now be able to read the message with the strongest signal, provided that it is sufficiently stronger than its contenders. In a mobile radio ALOHA network this means that a packet collision need not necessarily destroy all packets involved. A Markov model is developed for slotted ALOHA networks with capture and it is shown that the throughput in such a network can be markedly greater than the famous 1/e. Perhaps even more important is the result that such networks are very stable under overload.
Optimal resource allocation in wireless ad hoc networks: a price-based approach

The shared-medium multihop nature of wireless ad hoc networks poses fundamental challenges to the design of effective resource allocation algorithms that are optimal with respect to resource utilization and fair across different network flows. None of the existing resource allocation algorithms in wireless ad hoc networks have realistically considered end-to-end flows spanning multiple hops. Moreover, strategies proposed in wireline networks are not applicable in the context of wireless ad hoc networks, due to their unique characteristics of location-dependent contention. In this paper, we propose a new price-based resource allocation framework in wireless ad hoc networks to achieve optimal resource utilization and fairness among competing end-to-end flows. We build our pricing framework on the notion of maximal cliques in wireless ad hoc networks, as compared to individual links in traditional wide-area wireline networks. Based on such a price-based theoretical framework, we present a two-tier iterative algorithm. Distributed across wireless nodes, the algorithm converges to a global network optimum with respect to resource allocations. We further improve the algorithm toward asynchronous network settings and prove its convergence. Extensive simulations under a variety of network environments have been conducted to validate our theoretical claims.
Indexing Mixed Types for Approximate Retrieval

In various applications such as data cleansing, being able to retrieve categorical or numerical attributes based on notions of approximate match (e.g., edit distance, numerical distance) is of profound importance. Commonly, approximate match predicates are specified on combinations of attributes in conjunction. Existing database techniques for approximate retrieval, however, limit their applicability to single attribute retrieval through B-trees and their variants. In this paper, we propose a methodology that utilizes known multidimensional indexing structures for the problem of approximate multi-attribute retrieval. Our method enables indexing of a collection of string and/or numeric attributes to facilitate approximate retrieval using edit distance as an approximate match predicate for strings and numeric distance for numeric attributes. The approach presented is based on representing sets of strings at higher levels of the index structure as tries suitably compressed in a way that reasoning about edit distance between a query string and a compressed trie at index nodes is still feasible. We propose and evaluate various techniques to generate the compressed trie representation and fully specify our indexing methodology. Our experimental results show the benefits of our proposal when compared with various alternate strategies for the same problem.
Lck, Membrane Microdomains, and TCR Triggering Machinery: Defining the New Rules of Engagement

In spite of a comprehensive understanding of the schematics of T cell receptor (TCR) signaling, the mechanisms regulating compartmentalization of signaling molecules, their transient interactions, and rearrangement of membrane structures initiated upon TCR engagement remain an outstanding problem. These gaps in our knowledge are exemplified by recent data demonstrating that TCR triggering is largely dependent on a preactivated pool of Lck concentrated in T cells in a specific type of membrane microdomains. Our current model posits that in resting T cells all critical components of TCR triggering machinery including TCR/CD3, Lck, Fyn, CD45, PAG, and LAT are associated with distinct types of lipid-based microdomains which represent the smallest structural and functional units of membrane confinement able to negatively control enzymatic activities and substrate availability that is required for the initiation of TCR signaling. In addition, the microdomains based segregation spatially limits the interaction of components of TCR triggering machinery prior to the onset of TCR signaling and allows their rapid communication and signal amplification after TCR engagement, via the process of their coalescence. Microdomains mediated compartmentalization thus represents an essential membrane organizing principle in resting T cells. The integration of these structural and functional aspects of signaling into a unified model of TCR triggering will require a deeper understanding of membrane biology, novel interdisciplinary approaches and the generation of specific reagents. We believe that the fully integrated model of TCR signaling must be based on membrane structural network which provides a proper environment for regulatory processes controlling TCR triggering.
Astilbe thunbergii reduces postprandial hyperglycemia in a type 2 diabetes rat model via pancreatic alpha-amylase inhibition by highly condensed procyanidins

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a common global health problem. Prevention of this disease is an important task, and functional food supplements are considered an effective method. We found potent pancreatic α-amylase inhibition in Astilbe thunbergii root extract (AT) and confirmed that AT treatment in a T2DM rat model reduces post-starch administration blood glucose levels. Activity-guided isolation revealed procyanidin (AT-P) as the α-amylase inhibitory component with IC50 = 1.7 μg/mL against porcine pancreatic α-amylase. Structure analysis of AT-P revealed it is a B-type procyanidin comprised of four types of flavan-3-ols, some with a galloyl group, and catechin attached as the terminal unit. The abundant AT-P content and its comparable α-amylase inhibition to acarbose, the anti-diabetic medicine, suggest that AT is a promising food supplement for diabetes prevention. Astilbe thunbergii extract showed anti-diabetic effect against type-2 diabetes mellitus rat model. Procyanidin was isolated as an active compound with potent α-amylase inhibition.
A 70GHz VCO with 8GHz Tuning Range in 0.13um CMOS Technology

A 70 GHz VCO with 8 GHz tuning range is implemented on 0.13um CMOS. It has an output power of - 4 dBm and a phase noise of -107 dBc/Hz at 10 MHz carrier offset. From 0 to 70 degree Celsius the output power varies from -4 dBm to -8 dBm and exhibits a maximum frequency deviation of 200 MHz over this range. The VCO has the highest figure of merit (-169.8dBc/Hz) of any VCO fabricated on bulk CMOS operating above 60 GHz.
Piezoelectric Effect on the Buckling of Piezoelectric Thin Film with Viscoelastic Substrate

AbstractThis work aims to study the buckling kinetic process of a piezoelectric thin film (nanoribbon) bonded to a viscoelastic compliant layer with rigid support. The piezoelectric thin film is assumed to be poled in the thickness direction and is governed by the nonlinear coupled electromechanical equations. Subsequently, on the basis of the classical elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle, the kinetic process of the thin film buckling under the intermediate stress state is analyzed in a systematic manner. In particular the piezoelectric effect is examined with respect to the critical wavelength, the wavelength of the fastest growing mode, the critical stress, and the fastest growth rate in detail. The results evince that the piezoelectricity has an evident stiffening effect on the kinetic buckling process of the thin film with viscoelastic substrate.
Establishment of the Vernalization-Responsive, Winter-Annual Habit in Arabidopsis Requires a Putative Histone H3 Methyl Transferase[W]

Winter-annual accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana are often characterized by a requirement for exposure to the cold of winter to initiate flowering in the spring. The block to flowering prior to cold exposure is due to high levels of the flowering repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC). Exposure to cold promotes flowering through a process known as vernalization that epigenetically represses FLC expression. Rapid-cycling accessions typically have low levels of FLC expression and therefore do not require vernalization. A screen for mutants in which a winter-annual Arabidopsis is converted to a rapid-cycling type has identified a putative histone H3 methyl transferase that is required for FLC expression. Lesions in this methyl transferase, EARLY FLOWERING IN SHORT DAYS (EFS), result in reduced levels of histone H3 Lys 4 trimethylation in FLC chromatin. EFS is also required for expression of other genes in the FLC clade, such as MADS AFFECTING FLOWERING2 and FLOWERING LOCUS M. The requirement for EFS to permit expression of several FLC clade genes accounts for the ability of efs lesions to suppress delayed flowering due to the presence of FRIGIDA, autonomous pathway mutations, or growth in noninductive photoperiods. efs mutants exhibit pleiotropic phenotypes, indicating that the role of EFS is not limited to the regulation of flowering time.
How Sentiment Analysis Can Help Machine Translation

State-of-the-art Machine Translation (MT) does not perform well while translating sentiment components from source to target language. The components such as the sentiment holders, sentiment expressions and their corresponding objects and relations are not maintained during translation. In this paper, we described, how sentiment analysis can improve the translation quality by incorporating the roles of such components. We also demonstrated how a simple baseline phrase-based statistical MT (PB-SMT) system based on the sentiment components can achieve 33.88% relative improvement in BLEU for the under-resourced language pair English-Bengali.
Characterization of Vehicle Penetration Loss at wireless communication frequencies

This paper presents the characterization of Vehicle Penetration Loss (VPL) at wireless communication frequencies up to 6 GHz. VPL is evaluated both empirically and numerically exploiting different automotive window coatings. Ultra-wideband (UWB) radio channel measurements were performed for the frequency range of 0.6-6.0 GHz inside an industrial facility employing a modern hatchback passenger car. Several realistic measurement scenarios were considered to obtain large measurement data sets that were post-processed to analyse directional penetration loss and channel delay characteristics. Measured average VPL was estimated to 3 dB for no window coating, 6.6 dB for commercial window film and 20.7 dB for windows covered with Aluminium metal foil. Full-wave numerical simulations based on finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method were carried out at discrete frequencies of 900 and 1200 MHz for the assessment of VPL. The measured and simulated results were found in close proximity of each other. The results imply that the use of metallized automotive films can adversely affect the communication of radio signals into vehicles.
Multichannel cooperative sensing for cognitive radio with users owning heterogeneous sensing ability

Multichannel cooperative sensing (MCS) is an effective method for dynamic spectrum access in cognitive radio networks. In contrast to most existing work on MCS that considered secondary users with homogeneous sensing ability, this paper studies the MCS problem for secondary users with heterogeneous sensing ability in terms of sensing accuracy. We further take into account different parameters of primary channels such as bandwidth, probability of being idle in each sensing period, and frequency selective fading at the sensing receiver. The MCS problem is formulated as a weapon target assignment problem, where more sensing resources are assigned to channels that are more valuable. This weapon target assignment problem is transformed to an integer generalized network flow problem with convex flow costs to obtain the lower bound solution, and then solved by the branch and bound algorithm with this bound to yield the exact scheme. To reduce computational complexity, a heuristic scheme is also proposed, which has approximate performance compared with the exact scheme. Finally, extensive simulation results for different scenarios illustrate the performance improvements of the proposed schemes over the existing scheme. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Frequency domain fluorescent diffuse tomography of small animals with DsRed2-expressed tumors

The main applications of fluorescent proteins (FPs) are monitoring tumor growth, angiogenesis, metastases formation and effects of new classes of drugs. Different types of tomography allow fluorescence imaging of tumors located deep in human or animal tissue. These techniques were used for investigation of the distribution of near-infrared fluorescent probes, but only a few works are devoted to fluorescence tomography in visible light. In this work, preliminary results of the frequency domain fluorescent diffuse tomography (FD FDT) method in application to DsRed2 protein as a fluorescent agent are presented. For the first step of our experiments we utilized second harmonic generation of Nd:YAG laser (532 nm) modulated by low frequency (1 kHz) in the experimental setup. The transilluminative planar configuration was used in the setup. A series of model experiments has been conducted and show good agreement between theoretical and experimental fluorescence intensity. Post mortem experiments with capsules containing DsRed2 and scattering solution introduced into esophagus of rats to simulate tumor formation have been conducted. The results of these experiments show that sensitivity of the setup is sufficient to detect DsRed2 in concentrations similar to those in FP-expressed tumor, but the contrast is not enough high to separate fluorescence of DsRed2 and surrounding tissues. The setup can be significantly improved by utilizing high-frequency modulation (110 MHz using acousto-optical modulator) of the excitation light and precise phase measurements due to difference in fluorescence life-time of FPs and surrounding tissues. An algorithm of processing a fluorescent image based on calculating zero of maximum curvature was employed for detection of fluorescent inclusions boundaries in the image.
Extracellular matrix retention of thrombospondin 1 is controlled by its conserved C-terminal region

Thrombospondins (TSPs) are an evolutionarily ancient family of extracellular calcium-binding glycoproteins. The five mammalian TSPs collectively have important roles in angiogenesis and vascular biology, synaptogenesis, wound repair and connective tissue organisation. Their complex functions relate to the multiple postsecretion fates of TSPs that can involve endocytic uptake, proteolysis or retention within the extracellular matrix (ECM). Surprisingly, the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which TSPs become retained within the ECM are poorly understood. We hypothesised that the highly conserved TSP C-terminal domain mediates ECM retention. We report that ECM incorporation as insoluble punctate deposits is an evolutionarily conserved property of TSPs. ECM retention of TSP1 is mediated by the C-terminal region in trimeric form, and not by C-terminal monomer or trimers of the N-terminal domain or type 1 repeats. Using a novel mRFP-tagged TSP1 C-terminal trimer, we demonstrate that ECM retention involves the RGD site and a novel site in the L-lectin domain with structural similarity to the ligand-binding site of cargo transport proteins. CD47 and β1 integrins are dispensable for ECM retention, but β1 integrins enhance activity. These novel data advance concepts of the molecular processes that lead to ECM retention of TSP1.
Polarized-light optical actuation in chalcogenide glasses: macroscopic model

The microscopic and macroscopic models of photoinduced anisotropy in general and photoinduced optomechanical effect in particular are critically reviewed. Based on current experimental data available a revised macroscopic model of photo-induced anisotropy is given. As opposed to expansion and contraction phenomena considered previously, the photoinduced polarization dependent viscosity change is proposed to explain the experimental data of the optical actuation in chalcogenide glasses.