Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dealing with ambiguity in plan recognition under time constraints

Plan recognition has been widely used in agents that need to infer which plans are being executed or which activities are being performed by others. In many applications, reasoning and acting in response to plan recognition requires time. In such systems, plan recognition is expected to be made not only with precision, but also in a timely fashion. When recognition cannot be made in time, an agent attempting to recognize plans can interact with the observed agents to disambiguate multiple hypotheses. However, such an intrusive behavior is often not possible, very costly, or undesirable. In this paper, we focus on the problem of deciding when to interact with the observed agents in order to determine their plans under execution.To tackle this problem, we develop a plan recognizer that, on one hand is the least intrusive possible, and on the other hand attempts to recognize the plans of the observed agents with precision as soon as possible and no later than it is viable to respond to the recognized plan.
Skeletal Muscle Insulin Resistance Is the Primary Defect in Type 2 Diabetes

Insulin resistance is a characteristic feature of type 2 diabetes and plays a major role in the pathogenesis of the disease (1,2). Although β-cell failure is the sine qua non for development of type 2 diabetes, skeletal muscle insulin resistance is considered to be the initiating or primary defect that is evident decades before β-cell failure and overt hyperglycemia develops (3,4). Insulin resistance is defined as a reduced response of target tissues (compared with subjects with normal glucose tolerance [NGT] without a family history of diabetes), such as the skeletal muscle, liver, and adipocytes, to insulin. Because skeletal muscle is the predominant site of insulin-mediated glucose uptake in the postprandial state, here we will focus on recent advances about the time of onset, as well as the mechanism, of the skeletal muscle insulin resistance. The euglycemic insulin clamp technique (5) is considered to be the gold standard for measuring insulin action in vivo. With this technique, whole-body insulin action is quantified as the rate of exogenous glucose infusion (plus any residual hepatic glucose production) required to maintain the plasma glucose concentration at euglycemic levels in response to a fixed increment in the plasma insulin concentration. Because 80–90% of the infused glucose is taken up by skeletal muscle under conditions of euglycemic hyperinsulinemia, insulin sensitivity measured with the insulin clamp technique primarily reflects skeletal muscle (6). Another advantage of this technique is that it can be combined with indirect calorimetry to measure different substrate oxidation rates and with muscle biopsy to examine the biochemical/molecular etiology of the insulin resistance. Measurement of insulin sensitivity by the frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test reflects both hepatic and peripheral insulin resistance and correlates well with the insulin clamp technique (7). Because insulin clamp studies are not feasible in large …
Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Actin Associated Proteins Function as Androgen Receptor Coregulators: an Implication of Androgen Receptor's Roles in Skeletal Muscle

In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: a b s t r a c t This review of androgen receptor (AR) coregulators, which also function as actin-binding proteins, intends to establish the connection between actin cytoskeletal components and androgen signaling, especially in skeletal muscle. In cellular and animal models, androgen activated AR modulates myoblasts proliferation, promotes sexual dimorphic muscle development, and alters muscle fiber type. In the clinical setting, administration of anabolic androgens can decrease cachexia and speed wound healing. During myogenesis and regeneration of skeletal muscle in embryo and adult, the membrane of myoblasts fuse and the actin cytoskeleton is rearranged to form an alignment with myosin to form myotubes then ultimately the myofibrils. Contraction of skeletal muscle promotes the growth of myocytes by coordinating signals from the neuromuscular junction to intra-myofibrils through costameres, the functional structure comprised of signal proteins closely associated with actin filaments and involved in muscular dystrophy. Therefore, the discovery of actin-binding proteins functioning as AR coregulators implies that androgen signaling is tightly regulated during the process of the development and regeneration of skeletal muscle. The search for selective androgen receptor modulators (SARM) that act precisely in skeletal muscle instead of other tissues could target the engineering of a SARM–AR complex that selectively recruits these coregulators.
Environmental Effects in Galaxy Clusters: Infalling Groups in Abell 85 and 1367

Abstract We are carrying out a multifrequency survey of late type galaxies in nearby clusters with the aim to investigate the effects exerted by both the very local and the global cluster environments. We report new VLA-HI images of galaxies in Abell 1367 and study the evolution of their gaseous component. In Abell 85 we perform a deep NIR imaging survey of the brightest spirals projected up to 1.0 Abell radius with the aim of unveiling possible gravitational effects on their stellar disks. Here we show preliminary results of these projects, mainly focused on infalling compact groups of galaxies moving towards their respective cluster centers.
Mexican Hat Wavelet on the Heisenberg Group

In this article wavelets (admissible vectors) on the Heisenberg group H are studied from the point of view of Calderon's formula. We shall define Calderon admissible vectors in Definition 2.1 . Further in Theorem 2.2 we show that for the class of Schwartz functions the Calderon admissibility condition is equivalent to the usual admissibility property which will be introduced in this work. Furthermore motivated by a well-known example on the real line, the Mexican-Hat wavelet, we demonstrate the existence and construction of an analogous wavelet on the Heisenberg Lie group with 2 vanishing moments, which together with all of its derivatives has "Gaussian" decay. The precise proof can be found in Theorem 3.2.
A time-series study of percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale: premature adoption?

Objectives To evaluate the impact of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance in January 2005 and subsequent trial evidence on the adoption of percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale (PCPFO). Methods A retrospective time series study was conducted using the Inpatient Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) England. A total of 3801 patients, aged ≥18 and ≤60 years, who had PCPFO from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2012 in England. Percentage change annualised (PCA) in PCPFO procedure rates between initial NICE guidance and publication of trial results was analysed. Results Between Quarter 2, 2006 and Quarter 4, 2009, 2163 PCPFO procedures were performed, with an increasing PCA of 48.4%. The procedure rate peaked before the presentation of equivocal results from the first randomised controlled trial (RCT) in late 2010, and declined between Quarter 4, 2009 and Quarter 4, 2011 (PCA=−15.3%). Of more than 2300 patients recruited to three RCTs, only 71 were recruited in English hospitals. Conclusions PCPFO was rapidly adopted after the publication of initial NICE guidance despite the absence of RCT evidence of efficacy. Very few English patients participated in international RCTs of PCPFO, suggesting that NICE recommendations also failed to encourage the generation of RCT evidence.
Comparative Evaluation of the Translocator Protein Radioligands 11C-DPA-713, 18F-DPA-714, and 11C-PK11195 in a Rat Model of Acute Neuroinflammation

Overexpression of the translocator protein, TSPO (18 kDa), formerly known as the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, is a hallmark of activation of cells of monocytic lineage (microglia and macrophages) during neuroinflammation. Radiolabeling of TSPO ligands enables the detection of neuroinflammatory lesions by PET. Two new radioligands, 11C-labeled N,N-diethyl-2-[2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-5,7-dimethylpyrazolo[1,5-α]pyrimidin-3-yl]acetamide (DPA-713) and 18F-labeled N,N-diethyl-2-(2-(4-(2-fluoroethoxy)phenyl)-5,7-dimethylpyrazolo[1,5-α]pyrimidin-3-yl)acetamide (DPA-714), both belonging to the pyrazolopyrimidine class, were compared in vivo and in vitro using a rodent model of neuroinflammation. Methods: 11C-DPA-713 and 18F-DPA-714, as well as the classic radioligand 11C-labeled (R)-N-methyl-N-(1-methylpropyl)-1-(2-chlorophenyl)isoquinoline-3-carboxamide (PK11195), were used in the same rat model, in which intrastriatal injection of (R,S)-α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolopropionique gave rise to a strong neuroinflammatory response. Comparative endpoints included in vitro autoradiography and in vivo imaging on a dedicated small-animal PET scanner under identical conditions. Results: 11C-DPA-713 and 18F-DPA-714 could specifically localize the neuroinflammatory site with a similar signal-to-noise ratio in vitro. In vivo, 18F-DPA-714 performed better than 11C-DPA-713 and 11C-PK11195, with the highest ratio of ipsilateral to contralateral uptake and the highest binding potential. Conclusion: 18F-DPA-714 appears to be an attractive alternative to 11C-PK11195 because of its increased bioavailability in brain tissue and its reduced nonspecific binding. Moreover, its labeling with 18F, the preferred PET isotope for radiopharmaceutical chemistry, favors its dissemination and wide clinical use. 18F-DPA-714 will be further evaluated in longitudinal studies of neuroinflammatory conditions such as are encountered in stroke or neurodegenerative diseases.
Optimal power flow with consideration of wind generation cost

This paper discusses the solution of optimal power flow incorporating wind generation cost. A new model of wind generation cost is presented based on the probability distribution of wind farm power output. In this model, the wind farm generation cost consists of two components: the reserve capacity cost and the environmental benefit loss. Both of the two components could be attributed to the intermittence and uncertainties of wind power. A self-adaptive evolutionary programming method is employed to solve the OPF with wind power incorporated. A case study is conduced based on the IEEE New England test system (10-Geneartor-39-Bus) as benchmark. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and validity of the proposed model and method.
Enabling Wireless Powering and Telemetry for Peripheral Nerve Implants

Wireless power delivery and telemetry have enabled completely implantable neural devices. Current day implants are controlled, monitored, and powered wirelessly, eliminating the need for batteries and prolonging the lifetime. A brief overview of wireless platforms for such implantable devices is presented in this paper alongside an in-depth discussion of wireless platform for peripheral nerve implants covering design requirements, link design, and safety. Initial acute studies on the performance of the wireless power and data links in rodents are also presented.
An Improved Face Recognition Algorithm Using Quantized DCT Coefficients

In this paper, we propose an improved face recognition algorithm using quantized Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) coefficients for facial image recognition. For adding spatial information of the face to improve recognition performance, a region-division (RD) method is utilized. The facial area is firstly divided into 5 regions relating to the facial parts (forehead, eye, nose, mouth, jaw). Then feature vectors of each facial part are generated by using DCT coefficients in low frequency domains. Code vector referred count histogram, which is utilized as a very effective personal feature value, is obtained by Vector Quantization (VQ) processing. Recognition results with different parts are first obtained separately and then fused by weighted averaging. Experimental results show face recognition using proposed feature vector is very efficient.
Vital role for the Plasmodium actin capping protein (CP) beta-subunit in motility of malaria sporozoites

Successful malaria transmission from the mosquito vector to the mammalian host depends crucially on active sporozoite motility. Sporozoite locomotion and host cell invasion are driven by the parasite's own actin/myosin motor. A unique feature of this motor machinery is the presence of very short subpellicular actin filaments. Therefore, F‐actin stabilizing proteins likely play a central role in parasite locomotion. Here, we investigated the role of the Plasmodium berghei actin capping protein (PbCP), an orthologue of the heterodimeric regulator of filament barbed end growth, by reverse genetics. Parasites containing a deletion of the CP beta‐subunit developed normally during the pathogenic erythrocytic cycle. However, due to reduced ookinete motility, mutant parasites form fewer oocysts and sporozoites in the Anopheles vector. These sporozoites display a vital deficiency in forward gliding motility and fail to colonize the mosquito salivary glands, resulting in complete attenuation of life cycle progression. Together, our results show that the CP beta‐subunit exerts an essential role in the insect vector before malaria transmission to the mammalian host. The vital role is restricted to fast locomotion, as displayed by Plasmodium sporozoites.
A Simple Controller of Robot Manipulators for Industrial Application ∗

In this article, we test a new control algorithm with non–linear structure for the position control problem of robot manipulators. We have demonstrated by taking into account the full nonlinear and multivariable nature of the robot dynamics, that the overall closed–loop system is globally asymptotically stable through the Lyapunov’s direct method together with LaSalle invariance principle. Experimental results of the proposed controller are presented on a three–degrees–of–freedom direct drive robot manipulator, this is an industrial application knew as pick and place.
Gaussian interference channels with multiple receive antennas: Capacity and generalized degrees of freedom

Gaussian interference channels with multiple receive antennas are studied. First we investigate the two-user Gaussian interference channel with two receive antennas, and it turns out that the angles among channel vectors play a central role in how the additional antenna helps increase the capacity. We formulate the notion of generalized degrees of freedom and show that optimal g.d. o.f. is achieved by superposition Gaussian random coding. Remarkably, the operating regime for the best linear scheme (MMSE followed by treating interference as noise) achieves optimal g.d. o.f. is enlarged when angle is large. Second, a three-to-one Gaussian interference channel in which the interfered receiver has two receive antennas is studied. Unlike the single-antenna case, the idea of interference alignment on signal scales is not directly applicable, and a natural generalization of Han-Kobayashi-type scheme with Gaussian random codes can achieve the capacity region within a number of bits, which depends only on the angle between two interfering channel vectors. We use the notion of generalized degrees of freedom to analyze the problem, and it turns out the HK-type scheme is not g.d. o.f. -optimal. We propose a new scheme, partial interference alignment, which well exploits both the receiver joint processing gain and interference alignment structural gain, and it outperforms HK-type scheme and single-antenna interference alignment scheme.
Parental Influence on Labor Market Outcomes and Location Decisions of Young Workers ( Job Market Paper )

I investigate the impact of parents’ location and occupational attributes on young adult children’s labor market outcomes, particularly wages. I exploit the genealogical structure of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to measure locations, occupations and wages of young adults and their parents. I find that college graduates who live near their parents have lower wages than those who do not, but that wages for high school graduates are not strongly correlated with proximity to parents. In order to determine the reasons for these patterns, I build and estimate a model of young adults’ location and occupation decisions to account for potentially competing effects parents may have on their childrens wages. Using the model, I find evidence that young adults have strong preferences for living near parents, a result which through compensating differentials can partially account for the tendency to earn lower wages when near parents. However, I estimate that young people across all levels of educational attainment place similar value on this proximity. I also find that living near parents may directly enhance productivity and/or match quality and lead to higher wages. In particular, I find that high school graduates whose fathers are in high-skill occupations have higher wages if they live in the same labor market as their father, but that this effect is not present for college graduates. I also find a differential selection in the ability of movers and differential costs of occupational switching between education groups. These differences all substantially contribute to the differences in wage and location choice patterns between high school and college graduates. ∗I would like to thank my dissertation committee for support and guidance throughout the project, especially my primary advisor V. Joseph Hotz. I am also indebted to all faculty and students of the Duke labor lunch group for comments on earlier drafts of this work. I particularly benefited from numerous conversations with Kyle Mangum, Mike Dalton and Tyler Ransom. All errors and omissions are my own. †PhD Candidate in Economics, Duke University, Contact email: patrick.coate@duke.edu
The Zapatista Effect: The internet and the rise of an alternativa political fabric

T'he primacy of the nation state is being challenged from both above and below. From above, after the Second World War, the growth in the power and scope of supranational institutions— from multinational corporations to the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund—have gradually usurped national sovereignty in both economic and political matters.1 More recently, from below, the increasingly active role of regional and city governments in foreign trade, immigration and political issues have challenged national governments' constitutional monopoly over foreign affairs.2 Simultaneously, there has been tremendous
Cross-Sectional Survey on Quitting Attempts among Adolescent Smokers in Dharan, Eastern Nepal

Background. Adolescents frequently attempt smoking cessation but are unable to maintain long term abstinence because they are dependent on nicotine and experience withdrawal symptoms. Objectives. This study aimed to explore the quitting attempts among adolescent smokers in Dharan Municipality of Eastern Nepal. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted using pretested self-administered questionnaire adapted from Global Youth Tobacco Survey to assess current smokers and quitting attempts among 1312 adolescent students in middle (14-15 years) and late adolescence (16–19 years). Chi square test was used for association of various factors with quitting attempts. Results. The prevalence of current smoking was 13.7%. Among the current smokers, 66.5% had attempted to quit in the past because they believed smoking was harmful to health (35.5%). The median duration of quitting was 150 days. Nearly 8% of the current smokers were unwilling to quit in the future because they thought it is already a habit (60%). Smokers who are willing to quit smoking in the future were more likely to have made quitting attempts (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 0.40–4.45). Conclusion. Relapse often occurs even after multiple quitting attempts. Tobacco focused interventions to support abstinence are important during adolescence to prevent habituation.
Corticospinal Excitability of Trunk Muscles during Different Postural Tasks

Evidence suggests that the primary motor cortex (M1) is involved in both voluntary, goal-directed movements and in postural control. Trunk muscles are involved in both tasks, however, the extent to which M1 controls these muscles in trunk flexion/extension (voluntary movement) and in rapid shoulder flexion (postural control) remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate this question by examining excitability of corticospinal inputs to trunk muscles during voluntary and postural tasks. Twenty healthy adults participated. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was delivered to the M1 to examine motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in the trunk muscles (erector spinae (ES) and rectus abdominis (RA)) during dynamic shoulder flexion (DSF), static shoulder flexion (SSF), and static trunk extension (STE). The level of background muscle activity in the ES muscles was matched across tasks. MEP amplitudes in ES were significantly larger in DSF than in SSF or in STE; however, this was not observed for RA. Further, there were no differences in levels of muscle activity in RA between tasks. Our findings reveal that corticospinal excitability of the ES muscles appears greater during dynamic anticipatory posture-related adjustments than during static tasks requiring postural (SSF) and goal-directed voluntary (STE) activity. These results suggest that task-oriented rehabilitation of trunk muscles should be considered for optimal transfer of therapeutic effect to function.
Exploring Grapheme-to-Phoneme Induction with Machine Learning

Text-to-speech (TTS) systems have increasingly found use in the modern world. One of the subproblems of TTS is determining the phonetic structure of words, i.e., their pronunciation, from their orthography, i.e., their spelling. This is known as the grapheme-to-phoneme (G2P) problem. In all languages this is a nontrivial task, but particularly in English, a language with rich historiolinguistics that has led to an irregular and inconsistent spelling system. A single letter, even appearing in similar contexts, can be pronounced several different ways. For example, see Table 1. The most common solution to the obstacle of unpredictable pronunciations is using a phonetic dictionary with entries that look like the rows in Table 1. However, neologisms like Google in English, Wikcionario in Spanish, and Klimakatastrophe in German constantly creep into the lexicon. Keeping track of all these new words is impossible, yet native speakers can easily pronounce most neologisms at first sight. This suggests that their oththography carries enough information to determine their pronunciation. The first solutions to the G2P problem involved hand-writing sets of pronunciation rules for various languages. With the onset of the machine learning (ML) paradigm, this method became extremely outmoded. [4] In the ML version, the basic idea is to develop a set of rules which map strings of graphemes to strings of phonemes based on their orthographic context, i.e., the letters surrounding the grapheme. These rules are learned from a phonetic dictionary like [2] which can then be applied to new words outside of the training set.