Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A di- and tripeptide transport system can supply Listeria monocytogenes Scott A with amino acids essential for growth

Listeria monocytogenes takes up di- and tripeptides via a proton motive force-dependent carrier protein. This peptide transport system resembles the recently cloned and sequenced secondary di- and tripeptide transport system of Lactococcus lactis (A. Hagting, E. R. S. Kunji, K. J. Leenhouts, B. Poolman, and W. N. Konings, J. Biol. Chem. 269:11391-11399, 1994). The peptide permease of L. monocytogenes has a broad substrate specificity and allows transport of the nonpeptide substrate 5-aminolevulinic acid, the toxic di- and tripeptide analogs, alanyl-beta-chloroalanine and alanyl-alanyl-beta-chloroalanine, and various di- and tripeptides. No extracellular peptide hydrolysis was detected, indicating that peptides are hydrolyzed after being transported into the cell. Indeed, peptidase activities in response to various synthetic substrates were detected in cell extracts obtained from L. monocytogenes cells grown in brain heart infusion broth or defined medium. The di- and tripeptide permease can supply L. monocytogenes with essential amino acids for growth and might contribute to growth of this pathogen in various foods where peptides are supplied by proteolytic activity of other microorganisms present in these foods. Possible roles of this di- and tripeptide transport system in the osmoregulation and virulence of L. monocytogenes are discussed.
Altered Stationary-Phase Response in aBorrelia burgdorferi rpoS Mutant

ABSTRACT The homolog of the chromosomally encoded stationary-phase sigma factor RpoS in Borrelia burgdorferi was inactivated using gyrBr as a selectable marker. Two-dimensional nonequilibrium pH gradient electrophoresis of stationary-phase cell lysates identified at least 11 differences between the protein profiles of the rpoS mutant and wild-type organisms. Wild-type B. burgdorferi had a growth phase-dependent resistance to 1 N NaCl, similar to the stationary-phase response reported for other bacteria. The B. burgdorferi rpoS mutant strain was less resistant to osmotic stress in stationary phase than the isogenic rpoS wild-type organism. The results indicate that the B. burgdorferi rpoS homolog influences protein composition and participates in stationary-phase-dependent osmotic resistance. This rpoSmutant will be useful for studying regulation of gene expression in response to changing environmental conditions.
PICOntrol: using a handheld projector for direct control of physical devices through visible light

Today's environments are populated with a growing number of electric devices which come in diverse form factors and provide a plethora of functions. However, rich interaction with these devices can become challenging if they need be controlled from a distance, or are too small to accommodate user interfaces on their own. In this work, we explore PICOntrol, a new approach using an off-the-shelf handheld pico projector for direct control of physical devices through visible light. The projected image serves a dual purpose by simultaneously presenting a visible interface to the user, and transmitting embedded control information to inexpensive sensor units integrated with the devices. To use PICOntrol, the user points the handheld projector at a target device, overlays a projected user interface on its sensor unit, and performs various GUI-style or gestural interactions. PICOntrol enables direct, visible, and rich interactions with various physical devices without requiring central infrastructure. We present our prototype implementation as well as explorations of its interaction space through various application examples.
A Time-Aware Exploration of RecSys15 Challenge Dataset

E-commerce is currently one of the main applications of recommender systems, since it generates vast amounts of data that can be used to make predictions and analyse users's behaviour. In this paper we present an overview of the public dataset used for the RecSys Challenge 2015. We describe the basic statistical properties of this dataset and how events (clicks and purchases) are distributed over products (items) and users (sessions). We also present a time-aware analysis of the dataset, with the aim to better understand the change of user behaviour within time cycles, and how it affects the activity in user purchases. We further study the relation between categories, the solely type of metadata present in this completely anonymised dataset. We are interested both in how these categories are distributed and how users and items interact with them. Finally, along the paper we explain the implications that the results obtained from our analysis may have when building models for the challenge.
Assessing the Effects of Water Deficit on Photosynthesis Using Parameters Derived from Measurements of Leaf Gas Exchange and of Chlorophyll a Fluorescence

Water deficit (WD) is expected to increase in intensity, frequency and duration in many parts of the world as a consequence of global change, with potential negative effects on plant gas exchange and growth. We review here the parameters that can be derived from measurements made on leaves, in the field, and that can be used to assess the effects of WD on the components of plant photosynthetic rate, including stomatal conductance, mesophyll conductance, photosynthetic capacity, light absorbance, and efficiency of absorbed light conversion into photosynthetic electron transport. We also review some of the parameters related to dissipation of excess energy and to rerouting of electron fluxes. Our focus is mainly on the techniques of gas exchange measurements and of measurements of chlorophyll a fluorescence (ChlF), either alone or combined. But we put also emphasis on some of the parameters derived from analysis of the induction phase of maximal ChlF, notably because they could be used to assess damage to photosystem II. Eventually we briefly present the non-destructive methods based on the ChlF excitation ratio method which can be used to evaluate non-destructively leaf contents in anthocyanins and flavonols.
Academics and Auditors

How common are cost overruns during the delivery of transportation infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and public transit facilities, and what explains their occurrence? This article compares the findings of studies by academics and independent government auditors, two groups that have different mandates, objectives, and access to data. There is a high level of consistency in the finding that transportation projects regularly experience escalating costs. Yet there are sharp divergences between the technical and managerial explanations prioritized by the auditors and the political, economic, and psychological explanations prioritized in much of the academic literature. The differences in explanations point to diverse remedies for the challenge of cost overruns.
LOW-COST 3D LASER SCANNING IN AIR ORWATER USING SELF-CALIBRATINGSTRUCTURED LIGHT

Abstract. In-situ calibration of structured light scanners in underwater environments is time-consuming and complicated. This paper presents a self-calibrating line laser scanning system, which enables the creation of dense 3D models with a single fixed camera and a freely moving hand-held cross line laser projector. The proposed approach exploits geometric constraints, such as coplanarities, to recover the depth information and is applicable without any prior knowledge of the position and orientation of the laser projector. By employing an off-the-shelf underwater camera and a waterproof housing with high power line lasers an affordable 3D scanning solution can be built. In experiments the performance of the proposed technique is studied and compared with 3D reconstruction using explicit calibration. We demonstrate that the scanning system can be applied to above-the-water as well as underwater scenes.
Involuntary memories of emotional events: do memories of traumas and extremely happy events differ?

Laboratory studies of voluntary memories have been criticized for being too insensitive in detecting the impact of trauma. To overcome this, 12 traumatized undergraduates participated in a diary study of involuntary memories (8 females, 4 males, mean age 25 years, range 19–33). Six participants had encountered their trauma more than five years ago, six within the most recent year. No group differences were found on frequency and vividness of involuntary trauma memories, their mood-impact and ability to trigger a physical reaction. Marked differences were found between traumatic and non-traumatic involuntary memories on the same variables. The results indicate that trauma memories are extraordinarily persistent. This was confirmed by a comparative study of memory for extremely happy events (9 females, 5 males, 26 years, range 20–38). Further, it was demonstrated that highly vivid involuntary memories—so-called flashbacks—are not limited to trauma nor even to emotionally negative events. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Potential sources of tumor nitrogen.

Summary The nitrogen content of the lymph nodes, livers, spleens, hearts, kidneys, and “residual carcasses” of rats bearing Walker carcinoma 256 and pair-fed noncancerous rats of the same age and sex was compared at intervals during tumor growth. The “residual carcasses” and lymph nodes of the tumor-bearing rats contained less nitrogen than did the same tissues of the pair-fed controls. The hearts lost nitrogen only among those rats with relatively huge tumors. No difference in renal nitrogen content was found between the two groups. The livers of the cancerous rats acquired nitrogen during a part of the period of tumor growth but, at death, some of them contained no more nitrogen than did the livers of the pair-fed controls. The organs and tissues that lost nitrogen while the Walker tumor was growing represent potential sources of nitrogenous building blocks for the Walker carcinoma.
The music therapy assessment tool for low awareness states

Many existing assessment tools for patients in low awareness states involve language functioning capabilities. Information regarding the construction and validity of a new assessment tool that relies on music, called the Music Therapy Assessment Tool for Low Awareness States (i.e. MATLAS), is presented in this paper. A total of nine assessments, involving eight patients, were examined. Results from the investigation of scores from three tools: the MATLAS, the Sensory Modality Assessment and Rehabilitation Technique (SMART), and the Wessex Head Injury Matrix Main Scale (WHIM)), as administered by multidisciplinary staff, were analysed, and the MATLAS was found to have good validity with these measures. While limitations involved in this work prevent conclusions about the validity of the MATLAS being drawn, they support the need for further research, and indicate that MATLAS may be a valid tool to assist with multidisciplinary assessment of such patients.
Implementation of Accelerometer Sensor Module and Fall Detection Monitoring System based on Wireless Sensor Network

This research implements wireless accelerometer sensor module and algorithm to determine wearer's posture, activity and fall. Wireless accelerometer sensor module uses ADXL202, 2-axis accelerometer sensor (Analog Device). And using wireless RF module, this module measures accelerometer signal and shows the signal at 'Acceloger' viewer program in PC. ADL algorithm determines posture, activity and fall that activity is determined by AC component of accelerometer signal and posture is determined by DC component of accelerometer signal. Those activity and posture include standing, sitting, lying, walking, running, etc. By the experiment for 30 subjects, the performance of implemented algorithm was assessed, and detection rate for postures, motions and subjects was calculated. Lastly, using wireless sensor network in experimental space, subject's postures, motions and fall monitoring system was implemented. By the simulation experiment for 30 subjects, 4 kinds of activity, 3 times, fall detection rate was calculated. In conclusion, this system can be application to patients and elders for activity monitoring and fall detection and also sports athletes' exercise measurement and pattern analysis. And it can be expected to common person's exercise training and just plaything for entertainment.
Users' music information needs and behaviors: Design implications for music information retrieval systems

User studies in the music information retrieval (MIR) domain tend to be exploratory and qualitative in nature, involving a small number of users, which makes it difficult to derive broader implications for system design. In order to fill this gap, we conducted a large‐scale user survey questioning various aspects of people's music information needs and behaviors. In particular, we investigated if general music users' needs and behaviors have significantly changed over time by comparing our current survey results with a similar survey conducted in 2004. In this paper, we present the key findings from the survey data and discuss 4 emergent themes—(a) the shift in access and use of personal music collections; (b) the growing need for tools to support collaborative music seeking, listening, and sharing; (c) the importance of “visual” music experiences; and (d) the need for ontologies for providing rich contextual information. We conclude by making specific recommendations for improving the design of MIR systems and services.
Regulating the blink: Cognitive reappraisal modulates attention

Our brain is unable to fully process all the sensory signals we encounter. Attention is the process that helps selecting input from all available information for detailed processing and it is largely influenced by the affective value of the stimuli. This study examined if attentional bias toward emotional stimuli can be modulated by cognitively changing their emotional value. Participants were presented with negative and neutral images from four different scene-categories depicting humans (“Reading”, “Working”, “Crying” and “Violence”). Using cognitive reappraisal subjects decreased and increased the negativity of one negative (e.g., “Crying”) and one neutral (e.g., “Reading”) category respectively, whereas they only had to watch the other two categories (e.g., “Working” and “Violence”) without changing their feelings. Subsequently, subjects performed the attentional blink paradigm. Two targets were embedded in a stream of distractors, with the previously seen human pictures serving as the first target (T1) and rotated landmark/landscape images as the second (T2). Subjects then reported T1 visibility and the orientation of T2. We investigated if the detection accuracy of T2 is influenced by the change of the emotional value of T1 due to the reappraisal manipulation. Indeed, T2 detection rate was higher when T2 was preceded by a negative image that was only viewed compared to negative images that were reappraised to be neutral. Thus, more resources were captured by images that have been reappraised before, i.e., their negativity has been reduced. This modulatory effect of reappraisal on attention was not found for neutral images. Possibly upon re-exposure to negative stimuli subjects had to recall the previously performed affective change. In this case resources may be allocated to maintain the reappraised value and therefore hinder the detection of a temporally close target. Complimentary self-reported ratings support the reappraisal manipulation of negative images.
Fixed-Parameter Tractability of Multicut in Directed Acyclic Graphs

The Multicut problem, given a graph G, a set of terminal pairs $\ensuremath{\mathcal{T}}=\{(s_i, t_i)\ |\ 1\leq i\leq r\}$ and an integer p, asks whether one can find a cutset consisting of at most p non-terminal vertices that separates all the terminal pairs, i.e., after removing the cutset, ti is not reachable from si for each 1≤i≤r. The fixed-parameter tractability of Multicut in undirected graphs, parameterized by the size of the cutset only, has been recently proven by Marx and Razgon [2] and, independently, by Bousquet et al. [3], after resisting attacks as a long-standing open problem. In this paper we prove that Multicut is fixed-parameter tractable on directed acyclic graphs, when parameterized both by the size of the cutset and the number of terminal pairs. We complement this result by showing that this is implausible for parameterization by the size of the cutset only, as this version of the problem remains W[1]-hard.
Stochastic zero-sum differential games and H∞ control of discrete-time Markov jump systems

In this paper, linear quadratic stochastic zero-sum differential games for discrete-time Markov jump systems are discussed. It is shown that the existence condition of finite horizon stochastic zero-sum games is equivalent to the solvability of the associated difference Riccati equations, and that of infinite horizon stochastic zero-sum games is equivalent to the solvability of the associated algebraic Riccati equations. Moreover, the explicit expressions of the optimal strategies are constructed. The results are applied to H∞ control problem for discrete-time Markov jump systems.
Recommendation systems in mathematical character recognition

In handwritten text there are usually several accepted styles for forming each character. We hypothesize that in the handwriting of individuals there is a correlation among the styles used for characters, and that these correlations may be used to anticipate which styles particular writers will use for symbols that have not yet been seen. This approach may prove useful in the setting of mathematical handwriting recognition, where there are many symbols and it would be onerous to require writers to provide samples of every one in order to personalize handwriting recognition. We describe preliminary experiments using ideas from the area of recommendation systems to predict which styles writers will likely use for symbols they have not yet written. The experiments demonstrate that writers tend to use only a small fraction of the possible combinations of character writing styles, and there are correlations among the styles used for symbols.
Imaging Odor-Evoked Activities in the Mouse Olfactory Bulb using Optical Reflectance and Autofluorescence Signals

In the brain, sensory stimulation activates distributed populations of neurons among functional modules which participate to the coding of the stimulus. Functional optical imaging techniques are advantageous to visualize the activation of these modules in sensory cortices with high spatial resolution. In this context, endogenous optical signals that arise from molecular mechanisms linked to neuroenergetics are valuable sources of contrast to record spatial maps of sensory stimuli over wide fields in the rodent brain. Here, we present two techniques based on changes of endogenous optical properties of the brain tissue during activation. First the intrinsic optical signals (IOS) are produced by a local alteration in red light reflectance due to: (i) absorption by changes in blood oxygenation level and blood volume (ii) photon scattering. The use of in vivo IOS to record spatial maps started in the mid 1980's with the observation of optical maps of whisker barrels in the rat and the orientation columns in the cat visual cortex1. IOS imaging of the surface of the rodent main olfactory bulb (OB) in response to odorants was later demonstrated by Larry Katz's group2. The second approach relies on flavoprotein autofluorescence signals (FAS) due to changes in the redox state of these mitochondrial metabolic intermediates. More precisely, the technique is based on the green fluorescence due to oxidized state of flavoproteins when the tissue is excited with blue light. Although such signals were probably among the first fluorescent molecules recorded for the study of brain activity by the pioneer studies of Britton Chances and colleagues3, it was not until recently that they have been used for mapping of brain activation in vivo. FAS imaging was first applied to the somatosensory cortex in rodents in response to hindpaw stimulation by Katsuei Shibuki's group4. The olfactory system is of central importance for the survival of the vast majority of living species because it allows efficient detection and identification of chemical substances in the environment (food, predators). The OB is the first relay of olfactory information processing in the brain. It receives afferent projections from the olfactory primary sensory neurons that detect volatile odorant molecules. Each sensory neuron expresses only one type of odorant receptor and neurons carrying the same type of receptor send their nerve processes to the same well-defined microregions of ˜100μm3 constituted of discrete neuropil, the olfactory glomerulus (Fig. 1). In the last decade, IOS imaging has fostered the functional exploration of the OB5, 6, 7 which has become one of the most studied sensory structures. The mapping of OB activity with FAS imaging has not been performed yet. Here, we show the successive steps of an efficient protocol for IOS and FAS imaging to map odor-evoked activities in the mouse OB.
A Review on Error Correction and Object Removal for Videos Based on Inpainting with Short-Term Windows

Video inpainting is the process of repairing missing regions (holes) in videos. Most automatic techniques are computationally intensive and unable to repair large holes. To tackle these challenges, a computationally-efficient algorithm that separately inpaint foreground objects and background is proposed. Using Dynamic Programming, foreground objects are holistically inpainted with object templates that minimize a sliding-window dissimilarity cost function. Static background are inpainted by adaptive background replacement and image inpainting.In this propose a new video inpainting method which applies to both static or free-moving camera videos. The method can be used for object removal, error concealment, and background reconstruction applications. To limit the computational time, a frame is inpainted by considering a small number of neighboring pictures which are grouped into a group of pictures (GoP). This drastically reduces the algorithm complexity and makes the approach well suited for near real-time video editing applications as well as for loss concealment applications. Experiments with several challenging video sequences show that the proposed method provides visually pleasing results for object removal, error concealment, and background reconstruction context.
Systematic and Random Errors in the Determination of Respiratory Impedance by Means of the Forced Oscillation Technique: A Theoretical Study

The measurement of the impedance of the respiratory system by means of the forced oscillation technique is disturbed by the breathing signal of the subject. The latter introduces systematic and random errors on the obtained impedance values. The size of these errors depends on the relative power of the breathing signal with respect to the forced oscillatory signal x2.
Rushed or Relaxed? - How the Situation on the Road Influences the Driver's Preferences for Music Tracks

In context-aware recommender systems, the dependency of the user’s ratings on factors that describe important aspects of the recommendation context is used to provide more relevant recommendations. Individual users may be influenced differently by the same set of contextual factors. By understanding this kind of dependency between the user’s ratings (evaluations) and context, it is possible to identify user profiles and use them to predict precisely the user ratings for items to be recommended. In this paper, we present our methodology to identify user profiles in a corpus of ratings for music tracks. These ratings were collected in a user study, which simulated typical situations that occur while driving a car. We present the findings derived from the data, and argue that it is feasible to distinguish different typologies of users from the ratings they give to music tracks in specific contexts.