Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Artificial Intelligence Using hidden nodes in Bayesian networks

In the construction of a Bayesian network, it is always assumed that the variables starting from the same parent are conditionally independent. In practice, this assumption may not hold, and will give rise to incorrect inferences. In cases where some dependency is found between variables, we propose that the creation of a hidden node, which in effect models the dependency, can solve the problem. In order to determine the conditional probability matrices for the hidden node, we use a gradient descent method. The objective function to be minimised is the squared-error between the measured and computed values of the instantiated nodes. Both forward and backward propagation are used to compute the node probabilities. The error gradients can be treated as updating messages and can be propagated in any direction throughout any singly connected network. We used the simplest node-by-node creation approach for parents with more than two children. We tested our approach on two different networks in an endoscope guidance system and, in both cases, demonstrated improved results.
Robust multi-sensor, day/night 6-DOF pose estimation for a dynamic legged vehicle in GPS-denied environments

We present a real-time system that enables a highly capable dynamic quadruped robot to maintain an accurate 6-DOF pose estimate (better than 0.5m over every 50m traveled) over long distances traversed through complex, dynamic outdoor terrain, during day and night, in the presence of camera occlusion and saturation, and occasional large external disturbances, such as slips or falls. The system fuses a stereo-camera sensor, inertial measurement units (IMU), and leg odometry with an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to ensure robust, low-latency performance. Extensive experimental results obtained from multiple field tests are presented to illustrate the performance and robustness of the system over hours of continuous runs over hundreds of meters of distance traveled in a wide variety of terrains and conditions.
Using rigging and transfer to animate 3D characters

Transferring a mesh or skeletal animation onto a new mesh currently requires significant manual effort. For skeletal animations, this involves rigging the character, by specifying how the skeleton is positioned relative to the character and how posing the skeleton drives the character's shape. Currently, artists typically manually position the skeleton joints and paint skinning weights onto the character to associate points on the character surface with bones. For this problem, we present a fully automatic rigging algorithm based on the geometry of the target mesh. Given a generic skeleton, the method computes both joint placement and the character surface attachment automatically. For mesh animations, current techniques are limited to transferring the motion literally using a correspondence between the characters' surfaces. Instead, I propose an example-based method that can transfer motion between far more different characters and that gives the user more control over how to adapt the motion to the new character. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
The ubiquitin-specific protease 14 (USP14) is a critical regulator of long-term memory formation

Numerous studies have suggested a role for ubiquitin–proteasome-mediated protein degradation in learning-dependent synaptic plasticity; however, very little is known about how protein degradation is regulated at the level of the proteasome during memory formation. The ubiquitin-specific protease 14 (USP14) is a proteasomal deubiquitinating enzyme that is thought to regulate protein degradation in neurons; however, it is unknown if USP14 is involved in learning-dependent synaptic plasticity. We found that infusion of a USP14 inhibitor into the amygdala impaired long-term memory for a fear conditioning task, suggesting that USP14 is a critical regulator of long-term memory formation in the amygdala.
Sustainability Education and Australian Universities

Since the early 1990s, there has been discussion about the need for the curriculum of universities to provide students with understanding about the environment. Over the decade this discussion has evolved from thinking about how to green the university curriculum, through to proposals for our students to be environmentally literate and to receive education for sustainability (or sustainability education). Internationally, there have been many instances of universities taking this discussion seriously and introducing curriculum change. A variety of declarations and action plans have enabled universities to share ideas and support this change. Given a dearth of information about the degree to which universities in Australia were part of this discussion and change, we sought to gain an understanding of the status of sustainability education in these institutions. Responses from approximately a quarter of these institutions indicated that a handful of universities are engaged in this education for a wide range of their students, and in some universities more students of particular disciplines are gaining the exposure. However, there are clear barriers to the introduction and expansion of sustainability education.
UNDERSTANDING HEDGE FUND INDICES , BIASES AND METHODOLOGIES

ongoing challenge for investors and managers in the industry. At Mesirow Advanced Strategies (MAS), creating custom benchmarks for each of our underlying managers is a critical component of our investment process. These custom benchmarks are created utilizing specific underlying instruments and exposures that best approximate a manag-er's historical and expected exposure profile. Deviations from these expectations are potential sources of alpha and risk that assist us in formulating our opinions and analysis of the sources of manager return. It is a resource-intensive and time consuming process with broad applications. However, certain limitations also must be understood. Custom benchmarking is clearly a different approach than what is available to most investors who typically must rely on index providers' published index returns. While several approaches exist for constructing hedge fund benchmarks, the most commonly used indices can generally be defined as peer groups constructed by an index provider that utilizes predefined rules and some judgment to select certain funds, group them together and weight them into an index. This index construction process will, with certainty, involve subjectivity, introduce certain biases and generally lead to wide variation in returns across constructed benchmarks. In this paper, we outline some of the key considerations in selecting hedge fund performance indices or benchmarks. Critical to the usefulness of the data and analysis is the selection of an appropriate index and a full understanding of its built-in biases and limitations. To gain this perspective, it is essential to understand how indices are constructed, the underlying methodologies utilized as well as the potential biases inherent in an index. Index transparency plays a vital role in understanding what we posit to be the three most important characteristics desired in a hedge fund index: Representativeness Investability Minimization of bias Representativeness means that the index is an appropriate sample of what the investor is attempting to proxy. From the user perspective, the index should be as representative as possible of the type of investment strategy that the user is evaluating or analyzing. To understand this dimension requires index transparency, sound index construction methodology and an appropriate population and sample size. Investability is the notion that the funds included in the index are open for investment and accessible to a prospective investor. As such, closed funds should be excluded for most, but not all, index applications. Last, understanding potential index biases is also an extremely important aspect of index analysis and selection.
Statistical Optimization of Chitosan Nanoparticles as Protein Vehicles, Using Response Surface Methodology

Background There has been increased attention given to polymeric nanoparticles as protein carriers. In this regard, chitosan/tripolyphosphate (TPP) nanoparticles are considered to be a simple and efficient carrier. However, to have an ideal protein release profile, we need to optimize the properties of the carrier. Methods This study examined the influence of 4 critical process parameters on the physicochemical characteristics of final nanoparticles. Chitosan-based nanoparticles were produced by ionic gelation, and then the size, polydispersity and zeta potential of those resulting nanoparticles were evaluated. Subsequently, the encapsulation efficiency of bovine serum albumin as model protein was investigated. Results The morphologies of nanoparticles were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Linear mathematical models were presented for each response through 3 levels using Central Composite Design with the help of design of experiments software, and formulation optimization was performed. Conclusions Such research will serve as a basic study in protein loading into TPP cross-linked chitosan nanoparticles.
Diversity and degrees of freedom of cooperative wireless networks

Two key parameters in the outage characterization of a wireless fading network are the diversity and the degrees of freedom (DOF). These two quantities represent the two end-points of the diversity multiplexing gain tradeoff. In this paper, we present max-flow min-cut type theorems for computing both the diversity and the DOF of arbitrary single-source single-sink networks with nodes possessing multiple antennas. We also show that an amplify-and-forward protocol is sufficient to achieve the same. The DOF characterization is obtained using a conversion to a deterministic wireless network for which the capacity was recently found. This conversion is operational in the sense that a capacity-achieving scheme for the deterministic network can be converted into a DOF-achieving scheme for the fading network. We also show that the diversity result easily extends to multi-source multi-sink networks whereas the DOF result extends to a single-source multi-cast network. Along the way, we prove that the zero error capacity of the deterministic network is the same as its isin-error capacity.
Exosomes: A Novel Strategy for Treatment and Prevention of Diseases

An “exosome” is a nanoscale membrane vesicle derived from cell endocytosis that functions as an important intercellular communication mediator regulating the exchange of proteins and genetic materials between donor and surrounding cells. Exosomes secreted by normal and cancer cells participate in tumor initiation, progression, invasion, and metastasis. Furthermore, immune cells and cancer cells exert a two-way bidirectional regulatory effect on tumor immunity by exchanging exosomes. Current studies on exosomes have further expanded their known functions in physiological and pathological processes. The purpose of this review is to describe their discovery and biological functions in the context of their enormous potential in the clinical diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer as well as bacterial and viral infectious diseases.
Enzymatic modifications of exopolysaccharides enhance bacterial persistence

Biofilms are surface-attached communities of bacterial cells embedded in a self-produced matrix that are found ubiquitously in nature. The biofilm matrix is composed of various extracellular polymeric substances, which confer advantages to the encapsulated bacteria by protecting them from eradication. The matrix composition varies between species and is dependent on the environmental niche that the bacteria inhabit. Exopolysaccharides (EPS) play a variety of important roles in biofilm formation in numerous bacterial species. The ability of bacteria to thrive in a broad range of environmental settings is reflected in part by the structural diversity of the EPS produced both within individual bacterial strains as well as by different species. This variability is achieved through polymerization of distinct sugar moieties into homo- or hetero-polymers, as well as post-polymerization modification of the polysaccharide. Specific enzymes that are unique to the production of each polymer can transfer or remove non-carbohydrate moieties, or in other cases, epimerize the sugar units. These modifications alter the physicochemical properties of the polymer, which in turn can affect bacterial pathogenicity, virulence, and environmental adaptability. Herein, we review the diversity of modifications that the EPS alginate, the Pel polysaccharide, Vibrio polysaccharide, cepacian, glycosaminoglycans, and poly-N-acetyl-glucosamine undergo during biosynthesis. These are EPS produced by human pathogenic bacteria for which studies have begun to unravel the effect modifications have on their physicochemical and biological properties. The biological advantages these polymer modifications confer to the bacteria that produce them will be discussed. The expanding list of identified modifications will allow future efforts to focus on linking these modifications to specific biosynthetic genes and biofilm phenotypes.
Analytical treatment of planetary resonances

An ever-growing observational aggregate of extrasolar planets has revealed that systems of planets that reside in or near mean-motion resonances are relatively common. While the origin of such systems is attributed to protoplanetary disk-driven migration, a qualitative description of the dynamical evolution of resonant planets remains largely elusive. Aided by the pioneering works of the last century, we formulate an approximate, integrable theory for first-order resonant motion. We utilize the developed theory to construct an intuitive, geometrical representation of resonances within the context of the unrestricted three-body problem. Moreover, we derive a simple analytical criterion for the appearance of secondary resonances between resonant and secular motion. Subsequently, we demonstrate the onset of rapid chaotic motion as a result of overlap among neighboring first-order mean-motion resonances, as well as the appearance of slow chaos as a result of secular modulation of the planetary orbits. Finally, we take advantage of the integrable theory to analytically show that, in the adiabatic regime, divergent encounters with first-order mean-motion resonances always lead to persistent apsidal anti-alignment.
COEUS: Community detection via seed-set expansion on graph streams

We examine the problem of effective identification of community structure of a network whose elements and their respective relationships manifest through streams. The problem has recently garnered much interest as it appears in emerging computational environments and concerns critical applications in diverse areas including social computing, web analysis, IoT and biology. Despite the already expended research efforts in detecting communities in networks, the unprecedented volume that real-world networks now reach, renders the task of revealing community structures extremely burdensome. The sheer size of such networks oftentimes makes their representation in main memory impossible. Thus, processing the developing graphs to extract the underlying communities remains an open challenge. In this paper, we propose a graph-stream community detection algorithm that expands seed-sets of nodes to communities. We consider a stream of edges and aim at processing them to form communities without maintaining the entire graph structure. Instead, we maintain very limited information regarding the nodes of the graph and the communities we seek. In addition to our novel streaming approach, we both develop a technique that increases the accuracy of our algorithm considerably and propose a new clustering algorithm that allows for automatically deriving the size of the communities we seek to detect. Our experimental evaluation using ground-truth communities for a wide range of large real-word networks shows that our proposed approach does achieve accuracy comparable or even better to that of state-of-the-art non-streaming community detection algorithms. More importantly, the attained improvements in both execution time and memory space requirements are remarkable.
Micropower two-stage amplifier employing recycling current-buffer Miller compensation

Proposed is a two-stage amplifier exploiting recycling current-buffer Miller compensation (CBMC). By reusing the most current-consuming devices in the 1st stage as current buffer, such an amplifier not only can preserve the merits of typical CBMC implementation in creating the beneficial left-half-plane (LHP) zero, but also can avoid the drawbacks of typical CBMC scheme from degrading the power efficiency, DC gain, dc offset and noise performances. Optimized in 0. 18μm CMOS via a low-power design procedure, the amplifier achieves >90dB DC gain, 4.5MHz unity-gain frequency and 57.2° phase margin at a 100pF capacitive load. The average slew rate and 1% settling time are 2.68V/μs and 0. 239μs, respectively. The amplifier draws 22μA at a 1.2V supply.
ffect of biodiesel on engine performances and emissions

As a renewable, sustainable and alternative fuel for compression ignition engines, biodiesel instead of diesel has been increasingly fueled to study its effects on engine performances and emissions in the recent 10 years. But these studies have been rarely reviewed to favor understanding and popularization for biodiesel so far. In this work, reports about biodiesel engine performances and emissions, published by highly rated journals in scientific indexes, were cited preferentially since 2000 year. From these reports, the effect of biodiesel on engine power, economy, durability and emissions including regulated and non-regulated emissions, and the corresponding effect factors are surveyed and analyzed in detail. The use of biodiesel leads to the substantial reduction in PM, HC and CO emissions accompanying with the imperceptible power loss, the increase in fuel consumption and the increase in NOx emission on conventional diesel engines with no or fewer modification. And it favors to reduce carbon deposit and wear of the key engine parts. Therefore, the blends of biodiesel with small content in place of petroleum diesel can help in controlling air pollution and easing the pressure on scarce resources without significantly sacrificing engine power and economy. However, many further researches about optimization and modification on engine, low temperature performances of engine, new instrumentation and methodology for measurements, etc., should be performed when petroleum diesel is substituted completely by biodiesel. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The Streptococcal Exotoxin Streptolysin O Activates Mast Cells To Produce Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha by p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase- and Protein Kinase C-Dependent Pathways

ABSTRACT Streptolysin O (SLO), a major virulence factor of pyogenic streptococci, binds to cholesterol in the membranes of eukaryotic cells and oligomerizes to form large transmembrane pores. While high toxin doses are rapidly cytocidal, low doses are tolerated because a limited number of lesions can be resealed. Here, we report that at sublethal doses, SLO activates primary murine bone marrow-derived mast cells to degranulate and to rapidly induce or enhance the production of several cytokine mRNAs, including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). Mast cell-derived TNF-α plays an important protective role in murine models of acute inflammation, and the production of this cytokine was analyzed in more detail. Release of biologically active TNF-α peaked ∼4 h after stimulation with SLO. Production of TNF-α was blunted upon depletion of protein kinase C by pretreatment of the cells with phorbol-12 myristate-13 acetate. Transient permeabilization of mast cells with SLO also led to the activation of the stress-activated protein kinases p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase and c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and inhibition of p38 MAP kinase markedly reduced production of TNF-α. In contrast, secretion of preformed granule constituents triggered by membrane permeabilization was not dependent on p38 MAP kinase or on protein kinase C. Thus, transcriptional activation of mast cells following transient permeabilization might contribute to host defense against infections via the beneficial effects of TNF-α. However, hyperstimulation of mast cells might also lead to overproduction of TNF-α, which would then promote the development of toxic streptococcal syndromes.
Towards Associative Information Access

We propose a framework for a unifying, associative access to distributed and heterogenous information resources. The classical index generation is replaced by a process which builds associations between existing information entities and allows for an interactive exploration of information accessible through this structure. Positive (”‘this looks interesting”) as well as negative (”‘I know this! ”) user feedback allows the system to quickly narrow down on interesting pieces of information. The continuous integration of new analysis engines, added sources of information and user feedback allow the formation of a corporate wide memory and expert knowledge repository.
Comparison of passive stiffness variables and range of motion in uninvolved and involved ankle joints of patients following ankle fractures.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to quantify several variables of ankle stiffness and dorsiflexion (DF) range of motion (ROM) in the casted (fractured) and noncasted ankles of humans after cast removal. SUBJECTS Thirty subjects (mean age = 32.4 years, SD = 15.8) with malleolar ankle fractures were tested within 4 days of cast removal but before they began physical therapy. METHODS A torque motor system generated torque-versus-displacement graphs by recording angular displacement and resistive torque during a 6 0/s passive cycling of the ankle from 10 degrees of plantar flexion to the limit of DF ROM: Maximum passive DF ROM, passive torque, and passive elastic stiffness at the neutral position and energy loss were measured. Testing was performed in the absence of triceps surae muscle electromyographic activity. For analysis, subjects were separated into two groups based on fracture severity. RESULTS There was no difference in passive torque between the fractured ankles and the matched noncasted ankles. There was a small difference in passive elastic stiffness between the more severely fractured ankles and the matched noncasted ankles. The fractured ankles were different in terms of energy loss from the matched noncasted ankles. For maximum passive DF ROM, there was a large difference between the fractured ankles (more severe: mean = 4.4 degrees; less severe: mean = 6.8 degrees) and the matched noncasted ankles (more severe: mean = 15.1 degrees; less severe: mean = 19.1 degrees). CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION Altered length-tension relationships and neuromuscular mechanisms have been suggested to produce postimmobilization joint contractures. The results of this study on humans are consistent with both possibilities and support the theory that changes that occur during immobilization result in protection from overstretching of the fragile calf musculature after a period of ankle fixation. The time course of normalization of stretch reflexes warrants investigation.