Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extracting Postural Synergies for Robotic Grasping

We address the problem of representing and encoding human hand motion data using nonlinear dimensionality reduction methods. We build our work on the notion of postural synergies being typically based on a linear embedding of the data. In addition to addressing the encoding of postural synergies using nonlinear methods, we relate our work to control strategies of combined reaching and grasping movements. We show the drawbacks of the (commonly made) causality assumption and propose methods that model the data as being generated from an inferred latent manifold to cope with the problem. Another important contribution is a thorough analysis of the parameters used in the employed dimensionality reduction techniques. Finally, we provide an experimental evaluation that shows how the proposed methods outperform the standard techniques, both in terms of recognition and generation of motion patterns.
Matrix Metalloproteinase Activity in Pediatric Acute Lung Injury

Pediatric Acute Lung Injury (ALI) is associated with a high mortality and morbidity, and dysregulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) may play an important role in the pathogenesis and evolution of ALI. Here we examined MMP expression and activity in pediatric ALI compared with controls. MMP-8, -9, and to a lesser extent, MMP-2, -3, -11 and -12 were identified at higher levels in lung secretions of pediatric ALI patients compared with controls. Tissue Inhibitor of Matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1), a natural inhibitor of MMPs was detected in most ALI samples, but MMP-9:TIMP-1 ratios were high relative to controls. In subjects who remained intubated for ≥10 days, MMP-9 activity decreased, with > 80% found in the latent form. In contrast, almost all MMP-8 detected at later disease course was constitutively active. Discriminating MMP-9:TIMP-1 ratios were found in those who had a prolonged ALI course. These results identify a specific repertoire of MMP isoforms in the lung secretions of pediatric ALI patients, and demonstrate inverse changes in MMPs -8 and -9 with protracted disease.
Pigment-Dispersing Hormone Shifts the Phase of the Circadian Pacemaker of the Cockroach Leucophaea maderae

An antiserum against the crustacean neuropeptide pigment-dispersing hormone stains a small set of neurons in the optic lobes of several hemimetabolous and holometabolous insects. These cells, the primary branches of which in the optic lobe lie in the accessory medulla, fulfill several criteria predicted for neurons of the circadian clock. For example, in fruit flies they express timeless andperiod, which are two molecular components of the circadian pacemaker. To test whether pigment-dispersing hormone fulfills a circadian function in the cockroach Leucophaea maderae, 150 fmol of synthetic peptide was injected into the vicinity of the accessory medulla. This resulted in a stable phase-dependent resetting of the phase of the circadian locomotor activity rhythm, which depended on the amount of pigment-dispersing hormone injected. The resulting phase–response curve differs from that obtained with light pulses, suggesting that pigment-dispersing hormone-immunoreactive neurons are not part of the visual input pathway to the pacemaker but an integral part of it and/or part of a nonphotic input into the clock. A possible role of these neurons in coupling the bilaterally paired circadian pacemakers is discussed.
E-Games: Improvisation through Open Platform Design

A diverse range of instructional design and facilitation strategies are emerging as alternatives to content-focused courseware designed for self-paced independent learning. This paper explores improvisation as one such emergence. We have been using improvisation as a fast, cheap and effective strategy to adapt, re-use and continually improve over 20 instructional templates. Designed for technologies like email, forums and chat, these templates aim to facilitate different types of collaborative learning across a broad range of contexts.
Middle Pleistocene Human Remains from Tourville-la-Rivière (Normandy, France) and Their Archaeological Context

Despite numerous sites of great antiquity having been excavated since the end of the 19th century, Middle Pleistocene human fossils are still extremely rare in northwestern Europe. Apart from the two partial crania from Biache-Saint-Vaast in northern France, all known human fossils from this period have been found from ten sites in either Germany or England. Here we report the discovery of three long bones from the same left upper limb discovered at the open-air site of Tourville-la-Rivière in the Seine Valley of northern France. New U-series and combined US-ESR dating on animal teeth produced an age range for the site of 183 to 236 ka. In combination with paleoecological indicators, they indicate an age toward the end of MIS 7. The human remains from Tourville-la-Rivière are attributable to the Neandertal lineage based on morphological and metric analyses. An abnormal crest on the left humerus represents a deltoid muscle enthesis. Micro- and or macro-traumas connected to repetitive movements similar to those documented for professional throwing athletes could be origin of abnormality.
Design of a 5th-polynomial high speed cam-based intermittent four-bar linkage mechanism

With the higher demands of speed and accuracy for automatic mechanism, the diversified parameters and kinematics issues have been paid much more attention in the field of cam research. This paper introduced a special cam-based intermittent linkage mechanism that would produce an ideal application in high speed motion. On the basis of analyzed and compared the basic standing kinematics cam curves, from the point of view of kinematic characteristic, analysis the curve characteristic (the units of kinematics eigenvalue, such as displacement, speed, acceleration and so on), the 5th polynomial profile curve is established. In this paper, kinematic analysis of this cam-based linkage mechanism was done by separate the system into two parts for its one kind of closed-chain structure.
Neighborhood safety and overweight status in children.

OBJECTIVE To determine if there is a relationship between parental perception of neighborhood safety and overweight at the age of 7 years. DESIGN Cross-sectional analysis of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. SETTING Ten urban and rural US sites. PARTICIPANTS A total of 768 children selected via conditional random sampling with complete data at follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Parents reported demographics and perception of neighborhood safety by standardized questionnaire. Child overweight status was defined as a body mass index greater than or equal to the 95th percentile for age and sex from measured anthropometrics at the age of 7 years. The base model included relationship of the safety reporter to the child, sex, and baseline body mass index z score at the age of 4.5 years. Covariates tested included maternal marital status, education, and depressive symptoms; child race/ethnicity; participation in structured after-school activities; Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment total score; and neighborhood social cohesiveness. RESULTS The sample was 85% white, and 10% of the children were overweight. Neighborhood safety ratings in the lowest quartile were independently associated with a higher risk of overweight at the age of 7 years compared with safety ratings in the highest quartile (adjusted odds ratio, 4.43; 95% confidence interval, 2.03-9.65). None of the candidate covariates altered the relationship between perception of neighborhood safety and child overweight status. CONCLUSIONS Perception of the neighborhood as less safe was independently associated with an increased risk of overweight at the age of 7 years. Public health efforts may benefit from policies directed toward improving both actual and perceived neighborhood safety.
Artful Media: Nuage Vert

Nuage Vert [Green Cloud] is a major environmental artwork that engages light and public participation. A stunning and important work, Nuage Vert has won many accolades and several prestigious prizes, including the 2008 Golden Nica in Hybrid Art from Ars Electronica, the 2008 Green Prix from ZeroOne, and the 2009 Award from the Environmental Art Foundation. The implementation process is particularly interesting as the team found new and successful ways to work with lasers that will benefit future artists.
Hand Functions of Myoelectric and 3D-Printed Pressure-Sensored Prosthetics: A Comparative Study

The loss of an upper limb significantly limits the functional activities of daily living. A huge emphasis is placed on the manipulation, shape, weight, and comfort of a prosthesis, to enable its use as an inherent body part. Even with technological advances, customized upper-extremity myoelectric prosthesis remain heavy and expensive. The high cost of upper-extremity prosthesis is an especially steep economic barrier for patients. Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a promising avenue for reducing the cost of prosthesis. We applied 3D-printed pressure-sensored prosthetics to a traumatic transradial amputee, and compared the hand functions with a customized myoelectric prosthesis. The 3D-printed pressure-sensored prosthetics showed low grip strength and decreased dexterity compared to the conventional myoelectric prosthesis. Although there were a few limitations, the fabrication of prosthesis with 3D printing technology can overcome previous problems such as high production cost, long fabrication period and heavy weight.
Myelo-Enhancement by Astragalus Membranaceus in Male Albino Rats with Chemotherapy Myelo-Suppression. Histological and Immunohistochemical Study

Background and Objectives: Myelosuppression is the most common toxicity encountered in the oncology clinic today. This study was planned to investigate the possible protective and therapeutic role of the traditional Chinese Medicinal Herb; Astragalus Membranaceus (AM), on chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression. Methods and Results: This study was carried out on thirty six adult male albino rats. They were divided into: Group I Control Group (n=6) received a vehicle of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution. Group II (n=12) were injected I.P. with cyclophosphamide (CY) for 3 days (gIIa n =6) and continued for one more week to receive AM orally (gIIb n=6). Group III (n=6) received CY I.P. together with AM orally for 3 days. Group IV (n=12) received AM orally for one week (gIVa n=6) and continued for extra three days receiving CY I.P. with AM orally (gIVb n=6). Blood samples were analysed for Total Leucocytic Count and Lymphocytic Count. Counting of CD34 +ve cells in bone marrow was performed by flowcytometry. Bone marrow sections were subjected to H&E stain as well as immunohistochemical staining for anti- CD20 antibody. The mean area % of cellular bone marrow regions occupied by developing haemopoietic cells, mean area of fat cells and mean number of CD20 immunopositive B lymphocytes in the bone marrow were measured by histomorphometric studies and statistically compared. AM proved to have a myelo-protective and myelo-therapeutic capacity, evidenced at both laboratory and morphological levels. Conclusions: The greatest myelo-potentiating effect of AM was achieved when supplied before and together with CY therapy.
EVOLVING FUZZY RULES FOR REACTIVE AGENTS IN DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENTS

Fuzzy logic controllers have been applied to a wide range of control problems, but are very difficult to build for situations where the environment changes quickly and there is a lot of uncertainty. This work investigates a new method of creating fuzzy controllers, in the form of reactive agents, for such environments. The framework for this investigation is the RoboCup soccer simulation environment, where the agents are in the form of simulated soccer players evolved to exhibit competent dribble-and-score behaviours. The method proposed uses a messy genetic algorithm to evolve a set of behaviour producing fuzzy rules which define the agents. The results presented indicate that the messy genetic algorithm is well suited to this task, enabling a performance improvement over traditional evolutionary methods by reducing complexity, and that the agents produced perform well in their environment. The best agent evolved is consistently and reliably able to locate the ball, dribble it to the goal and score.
Histone H3-K9 Methyltransferase ESET Is Essential for Early Development

ABSTRACT Methylation of histone H3 at lysine 9 (H3-K9) mediates heterochromatin formation by forming a binding site for HP1 and also participates in silencing gene expression at euchromatic sites. ESET, G9a, SUV39-h1, SUV39-h2, and Eu-HMTase are histone methyltransferases that catalyze H3-K9 methylation in mammalian cells. Previous studies demonstrate that the SUV39-h proteins are preferentially targeted to the pericentric heterochromatin, and mice lacking both Suv39-h genes show cytogenetic abnormalities and an increased incidence of lymphoma. G9a methylates H3-K9 in euchromatin, and G9a null embryos die at 8.5 days postcoitum (dpc). G9a null embryo stem (ES) cells show altered DNA methylation in the Prader-Willi imprinted region and ectopic expression of the Mage genes. So far, an Eu-HMTase mouse knockout has not been reported. ESET catalyzes methylation of H3-K9 and localizes mainly in euchromatin. To investigate the in vivo function of Eset, we have generated an allele that lacks the entire pre- and post-SET domains and that expresses lacZ under the endogenous regulation of the Eset gene. We found that zygotic Eset expression begins at the blastocyst stage and is ubiquitous during postimplantation mouse development, while the maternal Eset transcripts are present in oocytes and persist throughout preimplantation development. The homozygous mutations of Eset resulted in peri-implantation lethality between 3.5 and 5.5 dpc. Blastocysts null for Eset were recovered but in less than Mendelian ratios. Upon culturing, 18 of 24 Eset−/− blastocysts showed defective growth of the inner cell mass and, in contrast to the ∼65% recovery of wild-type and Eset +/− ES cells, no Eset −/− ES cell lines were obtained. Global H3-K9 trimethylation and DNA methylation at IAP repeats in Eset −/− blastocyst outgrowths were not dramatically altered. Together, these results suggest that Eset is required for peri-implantation development and the survival of ES cells.
A Quantitative Method for Determining the Resistance of Polymers to Surface Discharges

A method has been developed to characterize the resistance of polymers to erosion by surface discharges. It was found possible to produce surface discharges on wet, contaminated surfaces without the usual disturbing influences of metal electrodes and wetting agents. Instrumentation was devised to monitor continuously the electrical behavior of the test specimens. The test yields a quantitative erosion rate in mg/C which is characteristic of the material and test conditions used. In addition, the electrical measurements permit the detection of long-term changes in the surface properties. A method is proposed to use the test in conjunction with outdoor test station data to obtain an estimate of service life.
Maintenance of caspase-3 proenzyme dormancy by an intrinsic “safety catch” regulatory tripeptide

Caspase-3 is synthesized as a dormant proenzyme and is maintained in an inactive conformation by an Asp-Asp-Asp “safety-catch” regulatory tripeptide contained within a flexible loop near the large-subunit/small-subunit junction. Removal of this “safety catch” results in substantially enhanced autocatalytic maturation as well as increased vulnerability to proteolytic activation by upstream proteases in the apoptotic pathway such as caspase-9 and granzyme B. The safety catch functions through multiple ionic interactions that are disrupted by acidification, which occurs in the cytosol of cells during the early stages of apoptosis. We propose that the caspase-3 safety catch is a key regulatory checkpoint in the apoptotic cascade that regulates terminal events in the caspase cascade by modulating the triggering of caspase-3 activation.
Pigmentary changes in chronic myeloid leukemia patients treated with imatinib mesylate.

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Robust Hashing Based on Persistent Points for Video Copy Detection

Web video databases tend to contain immense copies with the explosive growth of online videos. How to detect video copies has become an essential problem for web video storage and indexing. This paper presents an efficient Hash scheme for video copy detection. By building trajectories of Harris points from frame to frame, behavior of interest points can be expressed. Spatio-temporal persistent points are selected to get differential description of local region around as local description features. An indexing method is used to generate final hash from the features, which can index multi-dimensional data to one dimension. To effectively localize a short query video clip in a long target video through the proposed video hash, we developed a hash comparison scheme. Experiments showed that the proposed hash scheme has excellent performance in accuracy and speed.
Quantization-Based Simulation of Differential Algebraic Equation Systems

The author studies the use of first-and second-order quantized state systems methods (QSS and QSS2) in the simulation of differential algebraic equation (DAE) systems. A general methodology to obtain the QSS and the QSS2 approximations of a generic DAE of index 1 is provided, and their corresponding discrete event system (DEVS) implementations are developed. Furthermore, an alternative method is given based on the block-by-block translation from block diagrams containing algebraic loops into coupled DEVS representations of the corresponding QSS and QSS2 approximations. The author shows that the main advantages provided by the quantization-based methods in the simulation of ordinary differential equations—stability properties, reduction of computational costs, sparsity exploitation, and so on—are still verified in DAEs. These advantages are illustrated and discussed in the simulation of two examples that show the main features of the methodology.
Using Agents to Reduce Maintenance Cost of Complex Software Systems

PaTra (PAtch TRAcker) is an agent capable of keeping track of patches that have been applied (old) and have to be applied (new) to a complex software system. Patra uses Oracle’s Metalink, a support web site that can provide a list of patches for a specific product and platform. The agent queries daily, to get a list of patches for platforms and products that are specified in its configuration file. PaTra finds new patches, stores their information into its database and sends electronic notifications to a system administrator. Upon receiving the notifications, the system administrator uses PaTra’s interface to examine the new patches and make a final decision whether they have to be applied to the system or not. Although in its current implementation PaTra can be used with Oracle’s ERP system, it can be modified for other complex software systems with a similar scheme of interaction between a software producer and a software consumer. This is a time consuming process especially when there are several instances of the same system and even different versions that have to be maintained. Software systems based on intelligent agent technology can effectively be used to automate some of the maintenance procedures. This work proposes to delegate the task of keeping track of patches to an intelligent software agent. This automation saves time and cuts the cost of maintaining the system in general. Key-Words: Intelligent Agents, Software Maintenance, ERP Systems, Web-based Applications
Measurement of Anxiety toward Robots

To study the short-term and long-term influence of communication robots in daily life applications, it is necessary to develop psychological scales for measuring the mental states of users of robots and analyzing related social trends. In particular, to explore the more internal factors related to communication robots, it is necessary to focus on anxiety. This paper reports the results of developing the Robot Anxiety Scale (RAS) for measuring the anxiety that prevents individuals from interaction with robots having functions of communication in daily life. In particular, we focus on communication in a human-robot dyad
In vivo impact of Dlx3 conditional inactivation in neural crest‐derived craniofacial bones

Mutations in DLX3 in humans lead to defects in craniofacial and appendicular bones, yet the in vivo activities related to Dlx3 function during normal skeletal development have not been fully elucidated. Here we used a conditional knockout approach to analyze the effects of neural crest deletion of Dlx3 on craniofacial bones development. At birth, mutant mice exhibit a normal overall positioning of the skull bones, but a change in the shape of the calvaria was observed. Molecular analysis of the genes affected in the frontal bones and mandibles from these mice identified several bone markers known to affect bone development, with a strong prediction for increased bone formation and mineralization in vivo. Interestingly, while a subset of these genes were similarly affected in frontal bones and mandibles (Sost, Mepe, Bglap, Alp, Ibsp, Agt), several genes, including Lect1 and Calca, were specifically affected in frontal bones. Consistent with these molecular alterations, cells isolated from the frontal bone of mutant mice exhibited increased differentiation and mineralization capacities ex vivo, supporting cell autonomous defects in neural crest cells. However, adult mutant animals exhibited decreased bone mineral density in both mandibles and calvaria, as well as a significant increase in bone porosity. Together, these observations suggest that mature osteoblasts in the adult respond to signals that regulate adult bone mass and remodeling. This study provides new downstream targets for Dlx3 in craniofacial bone, and gives additional evidence of the complex regulation of bone formation and homeostasis in the adult skeleton. J. Cell. Physiol. 228: 654–664, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.