Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Graphene-Cement Composites

In this work, two type graphene were dispersed in aqueous solution via sonication, and graphene nanoplatelets (GP) and graphene oxide (GO) were characterized by means of ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, the effects of different graphene (GP and GO) on mechanical properties and microstructure of cement-based materials were investigated via filed emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The results suggested that the incorporation of GP and GO both improved the flexural and compressive strength of cement, and the GP had a more prominent impact on the strengths of cement, compared with GO. The flexural and compressive strength of cement increased up to 23.5% and 7.5% with 0.05 wt% GP, respectively. FESEM analysis indicated that the microstructure of GP-cement paste was similar to that of control sample without graphene, whereas, a few flower-like crystals were generated in GO-cement paste. This work could provide a new understanding for further researches of graphene-cement composites.
Genetic Structure of Two Protist Species (Myxogastria, Amoebozoa) Suggests Asexual Reproduction in Sexual Amoebae

Plasmodial slime molds (Myxogastria or Myxomycetes) are common and widespread unicellular organisms that are commonly assumed to have a sexual life cycle culminating with the formation of often macroscopic fruiting bodies that efficiently disseminate spores. However, laboratory studies based on mating compatibility revealed the coexistence of asexual as well as sexual strains. To test this hypothesis in natural populations, we investigated the genetic variability of two species of the genus Lamproderma. Detailed ecological relevés were carried out in 2007 and 2009 in several deep ravines in the Elbsandsteingebirge (Saxony, south-eastern Germany). Morphological characters of 93 specimens of Lamproderma were recorded and genetic analyses, based on the small subunit ribosomal gene, the internal transcribed spacer 1 and partial elongation factor 1α sequences were carried out for 52 specimens. Genetic analyses showed the existence of two major clades, each composed of several discrete lineages. Most of these lineages were composed of several identical sequences (SSU, ITS 1 and EF-1α) which is explained best by an asexual mode of reproduction. Detrended Correspondence Analysis of morphological characters revealed two morphospecies that corresponded to the two major clades, except for one genotype (Lc6), thus challenging the morphospecies concept. Genetic patterns were not related to the geographical distribution: specimens belonging to the same genotype were found in distinct ravines, suggesting effective long-distance dispersal via spores, except for the Lc6 genotype which was found only in one ravine. Implications for the morphological and biological species concept are discussed.
Endoplasmic Reticulum– and Golgi-Localized Phospholipase A2 Plays Critical Roles in Arabidopsis Pollen Development and Germination[W][OA]

This study shows that Arabidopsis PLA2-γ and -δ, which are specifically expressed in pollen, localize to the endoplasmic reticulum and/or Golgi and that the suppression of PLA2s disrupts the endomembrane and induces pollen collapse. The PLA2 product, 18-1:LPE, was found to be required for pollen tube germination. The phospholipase A2 (PLA2) superfamily of lipolytic enzymes is involved in a number of essential biological processes, such as inflammation, development, host defense, and signal transduction. Despite the proven involvement of plant PLA2s in many biological functions, including senescence, wounding, elicitor and stress responses, and pathogen defense, relatively little is known about plant PLA2s, and their genes essentially remain uncharacterized. We characterized three of four Arabidopsis thaliana PLA2 paralogs (PLA2-β, -γ, and -δ) and found that they (1) are expressed during pollen development, (2) localize to the endoplasmic reticulum and/or Golgi, and (3) play critical roles in pollen development and germination and tube growth. The suppression of PLA2 using the RNA interference approach resulted in pollen lethality. The inhibition of pollen germination by pharmacological PLA2 inhibitors was rescued by a lipid signal molecule, lysophosphatidyl ethanolamine. Based on these results, we propose that plant reproduction, in particular, male gametophyte development, requires the activities of the lipid-modifying PLA2s that are conserved in other organisms.
Children's Road Crossing

Most research on perceptual–motor development has focused on changes occurring during infancy and toddlerhood. In this paper, we describe our work on the development of perceptual–motor development during late childhood and early adolescence in the context of an important applied problem: bicycling across traffic-filled roads. Specifically, we have examined the gaps between cars that children and adults accept when bicycling across intersections, using an immersive, interactive bicycling simulator. This work highlights both methodological advances in using immersive, interactive virtual environments to study perceptual–motor functioning as well as theoretical advances in understanding the problem of moving the self in relation to other moving objects. We conclude with ideas for future research and practical implications of this work.
How Neurons Generate Behavior in A Hatchling Amphibian Tadpole: An Outline

Adult nervous systems are so complex that understanding how they produce behavior remains a real challenge. We chose to study hatchling Xenopus tadpoles where behavior is controlled by a few thousand neurons but there is a very limited number of types of neuron. Young tadpoles can flex, swim away, adjust their trajectory, speed-up and slow-down, stop when they contact support and struggle when grasped. They are sensitive to touch, pressure, noxious stimuli, light intensity and water currents. Using whole-cell recording has led to rapid progress in understanding central networks controlling behavior. Our methods are illustrated by an analysis of the flexion reflex to skin touch. We then define the seven types of neuron that allow the tadpole to swim when the skin is touched and use paired recordings to investigate neuron properties, synaptic connections and activity patterns. Proposals on how the swim network operates are evaluated by experiment and network modeling. We then examine GABAergic inhibitory pathways that control swimming but also produce tonic inhibition to reduce responsiveness when the tadpole is at rest. Finally, we analyze the strong alternating struggling movements the tadpole makes when grasped. We show that the mechanisms for rhythm generation here are very different to those during swimming. Although much remains to be explained, study of this simple vertebrate has uncovered basic principles about the function and organization of vertebrate nervous systems.
Radial dependence of lineal energy distribution of 290-MeV/u carbon and 500-MeV/u iron ion beams using a wall-less tissue-equivalent proportional counter

Using a wall-less tissue-equivalent proportional counter for a 0.72-μm site in tissue, we measured the radial dependence of the lineal energy distribution, yf(y), of 290-MeV/u carbon ions and 500-MeV/u iron ion beams. The measured yf(y) distributions and the dose-mean of y, y¯D, were compared with calculations performed with the track structure simulation code TRACION and the microdosimetric function of the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS). The values of the measured y¯D were consistent with calculated results within an error of 2%, but differences in the shape of yf(y) were observed for iron ion irradiation. This result indicates that further improvement of the calculation model for yf(y) distribution in PHITS is needed for the analytical function that describes energy deposition by delta rays, particularly for primary ions having linear energy transfer in excess of a few hundred keV μm−1.
Demand responsive pricing and competitive spectrum allocation via a spectrum server

In this paper we develop a framework for competition of future operators likely to operate in a mixed commons/property-rights regime under the regulation of a spectrum policy server (SPS). The operators dynamically compete for customers as well as portions of available spectrum. The operators are charged by the SPS for the amount of bandwidth they use in their services. Through demand responsive pricing, the operators try to come up with convincing service offers for the customers, while trying to maximize their profits. We first consider a single-user system as an illustrative example. We formulate the competition between the operators as a non-cooperative game and propose an SPS-based iterative bidding scheme that results in a Nash equilibrium of the game. Numerical results suggest that, competition increases the user's (customer's) acceptance probability of the offered service, while reducing the profits achieved by the operators. It is also observed that as the cost of unit bandwidth increases relative to the cost of unit infrastructure (fixed cost), the operator with superior technology (higher fixed cost) becomes more competitive. We then extend the framework to a multiuser setting where the operators are competing for a number of users at once. We propose an SPS-based bandwidth allocation scheme in which the SPS optimally allocates bandwidth portions for each user-operator session to maximize its overall expected revenue resulting from the operator payments. Comparison of the performance of this scheme to one in which the bandwidth is equally shared between the user-operator pairs reveals that such an SPS-based scheme improves the user acceptance probabilities and the bandwidth utilization in multiuser systems
Phase 2a Study Assessing Colonization Efficiency, Safety, and Acceptability of Lactobacillus crispatus CTV-05 in Women With Bacterial Vaginosis

Background: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common vaginal infection caused by a lack of endogenous lactobacilli and overgrowth of pathogens that frequently recurs following antibiotic treatment. Methods: A phase 2a study assessed colonization efficiency, safety, tolerability, and acceptability of Lactobacillus crispatus CTV-05 (LACTIN-V) administered by a vaginal applicator. Twenty-four women with BV were randomized in a 3:1 ratio of active product to placebo. Participants used LACTIN-V at 2 × 109 colony-forming units (cfu)/dose or placebo for 5 initial consecutive days, followed by a weekly application over 2 weeks. They returned for follow-up on Days 10 and 28. Results: Sixty-one percent of the 18 women randomized to the LACTIN-V group were colonized with L. crispatus CTV-05 at Day 10 or Day 28. Among LACTIN-V users with complete adherence to the study regimen, 78% were colonized at Day 10 or Day 28. Of the 120 adverse events (AEs) that occurred, 108 (90%) and 12 (10%) were of mild and moderate severity, respectively. AEs were evenly distributed between the LACTIN-V and placebo group. Of the total AEs, 93 (78%) were genitourinary in origin. The most common genitourinary AEs included vaginal discharge (46%), abdominal pain (46%), dysuria (21%), pollakiuria (21%), vaginal odor (21%), and genital pruritus (17%). No grade 3 or 4 AEs or serious AEs occurred and no deep epithelial disruption was seen during colposcopic evaluation. The product was well tolerated and accepted. Conclusions: LACTIN-V colonized well, and was safe and acceptable in women treated for BV.
Compressive sensing framework for speech signal synthesis using a hybrid dictionary

Compressive sensing (CS) is a promising focus in signal processing field, which offers a novel view of simultaneous compression and sampling. In this framework a sparse approximated signal is obtained with samples much less than that required by the Nyquist sampling theorem if the signal is sparse on one basis. Encouraged by its exciting potential application in signal compression, we use CS framework for speech synthesis problems. The linear prediction coding (LPC) is an efficient tool for speech compression, as the speech is considered to be an AR process. It is also known that a speech signal is quasi-periodic in its voiced parts, hence a discrete fourier transform (DFT) basis will provide a better approximation. Thus we propose a hybrid dictionary combined with the LPC model and the DFT model as the basis of speech signal. The orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) is employed in our simulations to compute the sparse representation in the hybrid dictionary domain. The results indicate good performance with our proposed scheme, offering a satisfactory perceptual quality.
Perspective in Taste Predicates and Epistemic Modals

What if any role is played by perspective—whom the licorice is tasty to, whose evidence allows for licorice in the cupboard—in the semantics of such sentences? I will argue that taste predicates like “tasty” and “fun” project syntactically real experiencer arguments, which specify the perspective at issue. Thus 1 basically means [licorice is tasty to——], with the blank filled in by the speech context. Relative to the context in which Ann is asked to name her favorite treat, the blank is most naturally filled in with “Ann.” But relative to a context in which Ann is asked to suggest a snack for both her and Ben, the blank is most naturally filled in as “both Ann and Ben. ” The perspective may be specified explicitly, as in:
Effect of Ca2+ on the dimeric structure of scallop sarcoplasmic reticulum

Scallop sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), visualized in situ by freeze- fracture and deep-etching, is characterized by long tubes displaying crystalline arrays of Ca2+-ATPase dimer ribbons, resembling those observed in isolated SR vesicles. The orderly arrangement of the Ca2+- ATPase molecules is well preserved in muscle bundles permeabilized with saponin. Treatment with saponin, however, is not needed to isolate SR vesicles displaying a crystalline surface structure. Omission of ATP from the isolation procedure of SR vesicles does not alter the dimeric organization of the Ca2+-ATPase, although the overall appearance of the tubes seems to be affected: the edges of the vesicles are scalloped and the individual Ca2+-ATPase molecules are not clearly defined. The effect of Ca2+ on isolated scallop SR vesicles was investigated by correlating the enzymatic activity and calcium-binding properties of the Ca2+-ATPase with the surface structure of the vesicles, as revealed by electron microscopy. The dimeric organization of the membrane is preserved at Ca2+ concentrations where the Ca2+ binds to the high affinity sites (half-maximum saturation at pCa approximately 7.0 with a Hill coefficient of 2.1) and the Ca2+-ATPase is activated (half-maximum activation at pCa approximately 6.8 with a Hill coefficient of 1.84). Higher Ca2+ concentrations disrupt the crystalline surface array of the SR tubes, both in the presence and absence of ATP. We discuss here whether the Ca2+-ATPase dimer identified as a structural unit of the SR membrane represents the Ca2+ pump in the membrane.
Video Event Recognition by Dempster-Shafer Theory

This paper presents an event recognition framework, based on Dempster-Shafer theory, that combines evidence of events from low-level computer vision analytics. The proposed method employing evidential network modelling of composite events, is able to represent uncertainty of event output from low level video analysis and infer high-level events with semantic meaning along with degrees of belief. The method has been evaluated on videos taken of subjects entering and leaving a seated area. This has relevance to a number of transport scenarios, such as onboard buses and trains, and also in train stations and airports. Recognition results of 78% and 100% for four composite events are encouraging.
Relay Selection for Cognitive Massive MIMO Two-Way Relay Networks

We analyze relay selection for an underlay cognitive radio (CR) two-way relay network (TWRN) with zero-forcing (ZF) transmission and receiving. The source and the destination nodes are massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) enabled. Relays will perform amplify and forwarding (AF) while the destination and source nodes perform self interference cancellation. We first obtain asymptotic signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) values under the power scaling at the relay and end nodes. Then, we derive optimal power allocation schemes for the end nodes to satisfy the interference constraints at the primary user (PU). Based on these optimal values, we analyze the effect of relay selection on the sum rate. With the use of massive MIMO, the SINR and the sum rate will only depend on the pathloss coefficients of the channels and average noise levels. Thus, the relay selection can be done at the deployment stages of the system and most of the time it simplifies to selection of the relay with the highest number of antennas. Our simulation results validate the analytical asymptotic results and qualify CR massive MIMO TWRNs as a possible candidate for future wireless systems.
Toward an Animal Model of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) belongs to the most frequent anxiety disorders. Despite a broad body of evidence concerning neurobiological correlates of this illness, the pathomechanisms of PTSD are still poorly understood. This illustrates the need to establish animal models of this disorder. Recently, PTSD model has become a somewhat fashionable term used in animal studies for almost every stress‐induced behavioral alteration. Only few cases, however, reflect the human disorder closely enough to deserve this term. Systematic research requires valid animal modeling with clearly defined criteria. This article outlines and discusses criteria for prospective PTSD models, based on a theoretical framework that emphasizes the involvement of both associative and nonassociative memory processes in the development and maintenance of PTSD.
A Novel Contrast Co-learning Framework for Generating High Quality Training Data

The good performances of most classical learning algorithms are generally founded on high quality training data, which are clean and unbiased. The availability of such data is however becoming much harder than ever in many real world problems due to the difficulties in collecting large scale unbiased data and precisely labeling them for training. In this paper, we propose a general Contrast Co-learning (CCL) framework to refine the biased and noisy training data when an unbiased yet unlabeled data pool is available. CCL starts with multiple sets of probably biased and noisy training data and trains a set of classifiers individually. Then under the assumption that the confidently classified data samples may have higher probabilities to be correctly classified, CCL iteratively and automatically filtering out possible data noises as well as adding those confidently classified samples from the unlabeled data pool to correct the bias. Through this process, we can generate a cleaner and unbiased training dataset with theoretical guarantees. Extensive experiments on two public text datasets clearly show that CCL consistently improves the algorithmic classification performance on biased and noisy training data compared with several state-of-the-art classical algorithms.
The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 4, Fascicle 2: Generating All Tuples and Permutations (Art of Computer Programming)

This multivolume work on the analysis of algorithms has long been recognized as the definitive description of classical computer science.The three complete volumes published to date already comprise a unique and invaluable resource in programming theory and practice. Countless readers have spoken about the profound personal influence of Knuth's writings. Scientists have marveled at the beauty and elegance of his analysis, while practicing programmers have successfully applied his “cookbook” solutions to their day-to-day problems. All have admired Knuth for the breadth, clarity, accuracy, and good humor found in his books.To begin the fourth and later volumes of the set, and to update parts of the existing three, Knuth has created a series of small books called fascicles, which will be published at regular intervals. Each fascicle will encompass a section or more of wholly new or revised material. Ultimately, the content of these fascicles will be rolled up into the comprehensive, final versions of each volume, and the enormous undertaking that began in 1962 will be complete.Volume 4, Fascicle 4This latest fascicle covers the generation of all trees, a basic topic that has surprisingly rich ties to the first three volumes of The Art of Computer Programming. In thoroughly discussing this well-known subject, while providing 124 new exercises, Knuth continues to build a firm foundation for programming. To that same end, this fascicle also covers the history of combinatorial generation. Spanning many centuries, across many parts of the world, Knuth tells a fascinating story of interest and relevance to every artful programmer, much of it never before told. The story even includes a touch of suspense: two problems that no one has yet been able to solve.
Joseph Lister: first use of a bacterium as a ‘model organism’ to illustrate the cause of infectious disease of humans

Joseph Lister's goal was to show that a pure culture of Bacterium lactis, normally present in milk, uniquely caused the lactic acid fermentation of milk. To demonstrate this fact he devised a procedure to obtain a pure clonal population of B. lactis, a result that had not previously been achieved for any microorganism. Lister equated the process of fermentation with infectious disease and used this bacterium as a model organism, demonstrating its role in fermentation; from this result he made the inductive inference that infectious diseases of humans are the result of the growth of specific, microscopic, living organisms in the human host.
A Clustering Algorithm in Complex Social Networks

Complex networks are real graphs (networks) with non-trivial topological features. The empirical study of real-world networks like computer networks and social networks gives insights into the structures and properties of such networks. Identification of community structure is one of the important problems in social networks. Tightly knit group of nodes (Cluster) characterized by a relatively high density of ties (links) tend to be greater than the nodes that have average probability of ties randomly established [8][16]. In this paper a novel clustering algorithm is developed in complex social networks to detect the communities with close relations where in, everybody is aware of every other in their group called cluster. Determining such groups is the main concern of this paper. Some of the social networks are online Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and day today socializing. Graph Theoretic approach is followed for finding the clusters. Perfect graph structures are investigated in the complex social networks. General Terms Networks, Clusters, Graphs