Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mobile Robot Localization with Map Building and Obstacle Avoidance for Indoor Navigation

This paper describes mobile robot localization using laser-based maps for indoor navigation. It is shown that correlations arise between errors in the robot and map estimates, identified as fundamental to the solution of mobile robot localization. Data association method is used to update the location of existing features and to identify new features. fuzzy logic controller, with Mamdani based fuzzy inference engine, is used for obstacle avoidance. Experiments are carried out on a Pioneer 3-DX mobile robot equipped with sonar and laser range finders.
Changing patterns in HIV/AIDS stigma and uptake of voluntary counselling and testing services: The results of two consecutive community surveys conducted in the Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract Voluntary counselling and HIV testing (VCT) has been associated with decreased human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviour, but in South Africa, which has the largest HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic in the world, uptake of VCT remains low. HIV/AIDS-associated stigma has been identified as a barrier to HIV testing. This study explored changes in stigma, and VCT access in a peri-urban South African community with high HIV prevalence, following education and research interventions, as well as the introduction of a wide-scale antiretroviral therapy (ART) programme. Two cross-sectional community surveys assessing HIV knowledge, attitudes and uptake of VCT services were conducted. The first survey was performed in 2004 prior to the implementation of a community-based HIV awareness and education campaign, HIV prevention research studies and the introduction of an ART programme. The second survey was performed in 2008 after a three-year education programme, the implementation of HIV-related research studies and following the scale-up of the ART programme. The same study design was used in both the 2004 and 2008 surveys: 10% of households were randomly selected and all residents aged ≥ 14 years were invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire. Overall basic knowledge of HIV/AIDS increased from 2004 to 2008 (p=0.04) and stigmatisation towards HIV-positive individuals decreased over the same time period (p<0.001). Increasing knowledge score was significantly associated with a lower stigma score (p<0.001). Decreasing stigma score was associated with knowing someone who was HIV infected (p<0.001), or who had died from HIV/AIDS (p=0.04). The proportion of participants who had undergone HIV testing increased from 2004 to 2008 (40 vs. 70%, respectively) and, in particular, VCT increased from 26 to 43%. In adjusted analysis, participants who had undergone HIV testing were more likely to have a higher HIV knowledge score (p=0.02) and a lower stigma score (p=0.09). A reduction in levels of HIV/AIDS-associated stigma was noted in a community burdened with high HIV prevalence, as was an increase in reported VCT. These findings may be the result of a number of interventions including a wide-spread and targeted education campaign, and the “normalisation” of HIV through the availability of ART. Given the role of HIV/AIDS-associated stigma in influencing choices to access HIV testing, and the benefits associated with HIV testing, interventions to reduce stigma in communities affected by this disease should be encouraged.
An Adaptive Algorithm for Charger Deployment Optimization in Wireless Rechargeable Sensor Networks

Wireless chargers are used to refill sensors’ power supply in a wireless rechargeable sensor network (WRSN) so that the WRSN can operate sustainably. Since wireless chargers are costly, the problem about how to deploy as few as possible chargers to make a WRSN sustainable is important. This paper proposes a greedy algorithm, named adaptive pair based greedy cone selection (APB-GCS), to consider the Friis propagation model for solving the problem under the assumption that chargers are equipped with directional antennas and can be deployed on grid points at a fixed height and that the sensors are deployed on the floor or object surfaces. According to simulation results, the APB-GCS algorithm outperforms others in terms of the number of deployed chargers with moderate computation complexity.
INDUCTION OF AMILORIDE‐SENSITIVE SODIUM TRANSPORT IN THE INTESTINES BY ADRENAL STEROIDS *

Previous work from this laboratory has demonstrated that mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids cause the epithelium of the rat descending colon to acquire sodium transport that is inhibitable by micromolar concentrations of the diuretic amiloride.1-4 The induction of the amiloride-sensitive sodium transporter produces an increase of the tissue conductance, the transepithelial potential, and the short-circuit current. Using a sodium-deficient diet as a means for elevating endogenous aldosterone levels, we have also noticed an increase in the activity of the (Na+K)-ATPase. * The first parameter to change in the descending colon was the sensitivity of the short-circuit current to ami1oride.l. Subsequently, the activity of the (Na+K) -ATPase is probably elevated by aldosterone as a secondary effect of the increased luminal conductance to sodium, since the properties of the colon from sodium-depleted animals soon revert to those of the colon from control anima1s.l For example, the sensitivity of the short-circuit current to amiloride is lost with a half-time of -14 h.l In a previous communication,' we have presented evidence that other regions of the gastrointestinal tract besides the descending colon acquire the amiloridesensitive transporter. Since glucocorticoids alter the (Na+K) -ATPase activity and electrolyte and water transport in both the small and large intestine,4-10 it was the objective of this study to examine the regulation of sodium transport in selected regions of the rat gastrointestinal tract by glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids. The effects of adrenal steroids on the intestinal epithelium were studied by changing steroid levels in vivo and measuring in vitro changes in the electrical parameters of transport (short-circuit current, transepithelial potential, and tissue conductance), in the mechanism of transport (determined with inhibitors, such as amiloride), and in the activity of key membrane-bound and metabolic enzymes. The time course of these effects of aldosterone (the physiological
A key developmental regulator controls the synthesis of the antibiotic erythromycin in Saccharopolyspora erythraea

Saccharopolyspora erythraea makes erythromycin, an antibiotic commonly used in human medicine. Unusually, the erythromycin biosynthetic (ery) cluster lacks a pathway-specific regulatory gene. We isolated a transcriptional regulator of the ery biosynthetic genes from S. erythraea and found that this protein appears to directly link morphological changes caused by impending starvation to the synthesis of a molecule that kills other bacteria, i.e., erythromycin. DNA binding assays, liquid and affinity chromatography, MALDI-MS analysis, and de novo sequencing identified this protein (Mr = 18 kDa) as the S. erythraea ortholog of BldD, a key regulator of development in Streptomyces coelicolor. Recombinant S. erythraea BldD bound to all five regions containing promoters in the ery cluster as well as to its own promoter, the latter with an order-of-magnitude stronger than to the ery promoters. Deletion of bldD in S. erythraea decreased the erythromycin titer in a liquid culture 7-fold and blocked differentiation on a solid medium. Moreover, an industrial strain of S. erythraea with a higher titer of erythromycin expressed more BldD than a wild-type strain during erythromycin synthesis. Together, these results suggest that BldD concurrently regulates the synthesis of erythromycin and morphological differentiation. The ery genes are the first direct targets of a BldD ortholog to be identified that are positively regulated.
Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury

1. Introduction: pediatric traumatic brain injury Vicki Anderson and Keith Yeates 2. Genomics, proteomics, and biomarkers in pediatric TBI Rachel Berger, Patrick Kochanek and Ronald Hayes 3. Neurobiology of traumatic brain injury sustained during cerebral development David Hovda 4. Biomechanics of pediatric TBI Susan Margulies 5. Clinical trials in pediatric TBI David Adelson 6. Neurobehavioral outcomes of pediatric TBI Gerry Taylor 7. Neuroimaging in pediatric TBI Stephen Ashwal 8. Mild traumatic brain injury Mike Kirkwood and Keith Yeates 9. Mild pediatric TBI: consequences in adulthood Erik Hessen 10. Psychosocial intervention in pediatric TBI Shari Wade 11. Cognitive rehabilitation in children with TBI Ingrid van't Hooft 12. Pediatric TBI: challenges for treatment and rehabilitation Cathy Catroppa 13. Integrative, multi-disciplinary and translational research Bryan Kolb 14. Conclusions: where to now? Vicki Anderson and Keith Yeates.
Learning Folksonomies for Trend Detection in Task-Oriented Dialogues

Dialogues are created by the interaction between people, who speak different kinds of topics using natural language. Task-oriented dialogue aims the solution of a given task in a given domain. Folksonomies are knowledge structures composed of users, tags and resources. Folksonomies emerge from the tagging process in collaborative tagging systems. Dialogues and folksonomies have in common their social dimension. One of the main characteristics of the folksonomies is its social dimension (users), which is also presented in dialogues, through the interaction between human beings. In this research, we describe a method that performs the learning of folksonomies, represented by a quadripartite model, from task-oriented dialogues. Using the learned folksonomies, we propose an approach for trend detection (those topics being discussed more than others). The main difference from others approaches is that we use the content of each resource in this process. This can be useful for instance, to retrieve the topics addressed by the interlocutors of the dialogues, in different time intervals. Experiments with a real-world task-oriented dialogue corpus were done.
Epidemiology and Etiology of Wegener Granulomatosis, Microscopic Polyangiitis, Churg-Strauss Syndrome and Goodpasture Syndrome: Vasculitides with Frequent Lung Involvement

This review focuses on the epidemiological characteristics and etiologies of four primary systemic vasculitides with frequent lung involvement, namely Wegener granulomatosis (WG), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS), and Goodpasture syndrome (GPS). Elucidation of the mechanisms underlying these vasculitides with frequent lung involvement is complicated by their rarity, which hampers the undertaking of large-scale studies; difficulties in classification; and their multifaceted clinical presentations, which infer the existence of several etiologic pathways. Notwithstanding, epidemiological research showed some evidence for international, interethnic, and temporal variations of the frequencies of these four vasculitides; led to the identification of several genetic and environmental risk factors; and provided insight on the extent to which genes and environment might contribute to their development. Available data support the concept that WG, MPA, CSS, and GPS have unique and shared risk determinants. Although the precise causes of these vasculitides are not yet fully understood and the development of prevention strategies is out of our reach at present, current knowledge enables the formulation of etiologic hypotheses to provide caregivers and their patients with valuable information on the nature of these rare entities.
THE APPEARANCE AND STRUCTURE OF INTERCELLULAR CONNECTIONS DURING THE ONTOGENY OF THE RABBIT OVARIAN FOLLICLE WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO GAP JUNCTIONS

Lanthanum tracer and freeze-fracture electron microscope techniques were used to study junctional complexes between granulosa cells during the differentiation of the rabbit ovarian follicle. For convenience we refer to cells encompassing the oocyte, before antrum and gap junction formation, as follicle cells. After the appearance of an antrum and gap junctions we call the cells granulosa cells. Maculae adherentes are found at the interfaces of oocyte-follicle-granulosa cells throughout folliculogenesis. Gap junctions are first detected in follicles when the antrum appears. In early antral follicles typical large gap junctions are randomly distributed between granulosa cells. In freeze-fracture replicas, they are characterized by polygonally packed 90-Å particles arranged in rows separated by nonparticulate A-face membrane. A particle-sparse zone surrounds gap junctions and is frequently occupied by small particle aggregates of closely packed intramembranous particles. The gap junctions of granulosa cells appear to increase in size with further differentiation of the follicle. The granulosa cells of large Graafian follicles are adjoined by small and large gap junctions; annular gap junctions are also present. The large gap junctions are rarely surrounded by a particle-free zone on their A-faces, but are further distinguished by particle rows displaying a higher degree of organization.
Does the relative importance of MMR vaccine concerns differ by degree of parental vaccine hesitancy?

Background: There has been a rise in the number of vaccine-hesitant parents (VHPs) in the US, many of whom express reservations about administering the MMR vaccine to their children. We studied the relative importance of attitudinal barriers to MMR vaccination among VHPs with differing levels of MMR vaccine-hesitancy. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional exploratory analysis of a parental survey that assessed common vaccination barriers among MMR vaccine-hesitant parents in Michigan. The outcome of interest was parental MMR vaccination intention, measured on an 11-point scale, with higher numbers corresponding to greater intent. The relative importance of identified barriers to MMR vaccination was assessed across levels of vaccine hesitancy. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to identify underlying attitudinal constructs and assess if these constructs’ importance varied depending on the degree of parental vaccine hesitancy. Results: Our study population included 79 Michigan parents who initially screened positive for MMR vaccine-hesitancy. Within this sample, 47% of parents were unsure about their vaccination intentions and 20% expressed negative intentions, while a third (33%) of parents had positive vaccination intentions when further questioned. After grouping the barriers in our study into four underlying factors, parents with negative vaccination intentions had statistically significant higher factor score for the factor “risks versus benefits” and a statistically significant lower mean score for “vaccine importance,” compared with parents with unsure or positive intentions. Conclusions: In this exploratory study we found that vaccine-specific concerns have varying salience for parents based on their vaccination intention. Thus, future educational programs likely should tailor messages based on the degree of vaccine hesitancy expressed in their target populations in order to improve their overall effectiveness.
Reconfigurable and transparent wavelength division multiplexed optical transport networks

This thesis is about reconfigurable and transparentwavelength division multiplexed (WDM) networks.Reconfigurability is used to achieve higher surveillance andthroughput in the network. This is done by wavelength selectiveand independent network elements. These network elements canaccomplish bypass and protection switching ofthe traffic.Transparency in the optical layer enables the transport networkto accept new bit rates, codes and formats of the clients. Theenabling technologies to achieve a reconfigurable andtransparent network are integrated tuneable devices andswitches. In this thesis some of these devices have beenexperimentally evaluated according to theirs cascadability andcrosstalk performance.A unidirectional self-healing wavelength divisionmultiplexed ring was designed, assembled and evaluated. Byutilising WDM, logical networks could be constructed withoptical add drop multiplexers (OADM) to support communicativeand distributive services. The main transmission limitation ofthe ring was homogenous broadening of the opticalamplifiers.The second network element investigated, was the opticalcrossconnect (OXC). The OXC was comprised of optical InP andLiNbO3 switches and tuneable filters, which were experimentallyevaluated. Two OXCs and an OADM were installed in the Stockholmgigabit network (SGN) with fault and configurationmanagement.The cascadability of OXCs with reshaping repeaters andoptical or electrical switches was investigated. The jitter ofthe OXC with electrical switches limited its performance, whilethe OXC with optical switch was limited by its crosstalk.Crosstalk especially intra-band crosstalk, which beats with thesignal, is a severe limitation of optical networks. Experimentsand simulations were performed on the time dependence of theintra-band crosstalk. It was shown and experimentally confirmedthat the quasi-correlated intra-band crosstalk could be theworst case.In the next phase of the network five OADMs and one OXC,which interconnected a unidirectional and a bidirectionalprotected ring, were integrated into SGN with a web basedmanagement system.The OADMs were evaluated in a recirculating loop toinvestigate the cascadability of the nodes. The nodes could bedivided into optical channel or fibre protection and notch ordemultiplex filtering. An optimum of loss of the cascadedoptical amplifiers were found, which maximised the gainflatness and the signal to noise ratio. The OXC utilising fixedWDMs and polymer switches was designed and evaluated takinginto account the configuration, fault handling and performancemonitoring of the optical layer. Data services were evaluatedas clients to the optical layer, especially to provide opticalprotection without interfering with its client.Keywords:Optical Network, Wavelength DivisionMultiplexing, Reconfigurable Network, Optical Cross Connect,Optical Add Drop Multiplexer, Transparency, Crosstalk,Cascading, Protection, Optical Switch, Electrical Switch,Tuneable Filter, Self-Healing Ring, Logical Network, StockholmGigabit Network, Internetworking
Novel Mode of Phosphorylation-triggered Reorganization of the Nuclear Lamina during Nuclear Egress of Human Cytomegalovirus*

The nucleocytoplasmic egress of viral capsids is a rate-limiting step in the replication of the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). As reported recently, an HCMV-specific nuclear egress complex is composed of viral and cellular proteins, in particular protein kinases with the capacity to induce destabilization of the nuclear lamina. Viral protein kinase pUL97 and cellular protein kinase C (PKC) play important roles by phosphorylating several types of nuclear lamins. Using pUL97 mutants, we show that the lamin-phosphorylating activity of pUL97 is associated with a reorganization of nuclear lamin A/C. Either pUL97 or PKC has the potential to induce distinct punctate lamina-depleted areas at the periphery of the nuclear envelope, which were detectable in transiently transfected and HCMV-infected cells. Using recombinant HCMV, which produces green fluorescent protein-labeled viral capsids, the direct transition of viral capsids through these areas could be visualized. This process was sensitive to an inhibitor of pUL97/PKC activity. The pUL97-mediated phosphorylation of lamin A/C at Ser22 generated a novel binding motif for the peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans-isomerase Pin1. In HCMV-infected fibroblasts, the physiological localization of Pin1 was altered, leading to recruitment of Pin1 to viral replication centers and to the nuclear lamina. The local increase in Pin1 peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans-isomerase activity may promote conformational modulation of lamins. Thus, we postulate a novel phosphorylation-triggered mechanism for the reorganization of the nuclear lamina in HCMV-infected cells.
ffect of a shelf-furnished screen on space utilisation and social ehaviour of indoor group-housed cats ( Felis silvestris catus ) mma

The environment of the laboratory cat can be restrictive and may impact their welfare. Enrichment is often provided to alleviate welfare impacts but is seldom assessed or validated for efficacy. This study investigated the effect of novel room furniture (a screen) on the expression of agonistic and affiliative behaviours and space utilisation amongst colony-housed laboratory cats. Video footage of cats (N = 29) housed in social rooms (N = 4) was collected for 2 days before (baseline phase), 4 days during (test phase) and 2 days following (removal phase) introduction of the novel furniture. Space utilisation data were collected using scan sampling every 10 min and analysed using a generalised linear mixed effects model and Tukey’s HSD test. Behavioural data were collected using continuous sampling for 3 h a day in 6 × 30 min episodes and analysed using a Poisson generalised mixed effects model. Significantly more agonistic events occurred before the morning feed compared to after feeding within all phases (pre-feed mean = 0.227; post-feed mean = 0.026; P < 0.0001). However no significant differences were observed before the morning feed compared to after feeding between phases indicating that the screen had no effect on reducing pre-feed aggression at the morning feed. Agonistic behaviours occurred significantly less following the morning feed during the test phase when compared to the baseline phase (test post-feed mean = 0.011; baseline post-feed mean = 0.029; P = 0.0342). Significant differences were also observed on removal of the screen with agonistic behaviour increasing above baseline at the afternoon pre-feed time point, possibly indicative of aggression due to frustration or a rebound effect (removal pre-feed mean = 0.151; baseline pre-feed mean 0.048; P < 0.0001). Affiliative interactions between phases were not significantly affected by screen presence. Given the ratio of the screen to existing shelving (0.58:0.42) a statistical significant proportion of cats were found to be on the screen in the test phase of the study (P < 0.0001). This study suggests that exploiting the unused vertical space by the addition of stand-alone shelving should be considered a valuable resource for the cat by increasing useable space and reducing agonistic interactions. © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
Structure and activity of regulatory elements involved in the activation of the Hoxd‐11 gene during late gastrulation.

We have used reporter gene constructs to study the cis regulation of the Hoxd‐11 gene (previously Hox‐4.6) in transgenic mice. We identified a 5 kb regulatory unit, which was able to reproduce important aspects of the initial activation of the gene along the major body axis. The comparison of the nucleotide sequence of this DNA fragment with the corresponding avian genomic region revealed the presence of seven highly homologous stretches of DNA outside the protein coding regions. In particular, the 3′ flanking region contained two such domains that are required to mediate the embryonic activation. A chimeric construct containing the two short homologous regions from the chicken gene could replace the complete murine fragment thus demonstrating that the conserved domains carry the main regulatory elements involved in this activation. The first half of this bipartite regulatory region has enhancer activity when tested with a heterologous promoter, while the second half is required to restrict the enhancer activity to the proper expression domain. These results suggest that stage‐ and tissue‐specific cooperation between regulatory elements is required to control properly the activity of the Hoxd‐11 promoter.