Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implementations and evaluations of location-based virtual city system for mobile phones

A system platform for location-based entertainment applications of mobile phones is described. With GPS and electronic compasses, some of today's mobile phones have rich functions for such entertainment as role playing games, treasure hunting, sightseeing with virtual information, etc. Our system model can manage virtual worlds that can be overlaid onto the real world with regard to location (latitude and longitude). Each virtual world is a set of virtual architectural objects and virtual creatures. Virtual creatures are active objects that can interact with users. In this paper, browser-based and BREW-based systems for virtual worlds are described. BREW is an efficient software platform for mobile phones. It enables autonomous location sensing and automatic redrawing, which will solve most of the problems found in evaluation sessions of the browser-based version.
A high dynamic range programmable gain amplifier for HomePlug AV powerline communication system

A high dynamic range programmable gain amplifier (PGA) for HomePlug AV powerline communication (PLC) receivers has been designed in a standard 0.18-μm CMOS technology. Linear transconductance amplifiers are employed as gain cells to obtain high dynamic range. A current compensation technique is proposed to achieve fine gain step characteristics. For constant settling time issue in automatic gain control (AGC) loop, a pseudo-exponential approximation is adopted. A 6-bit PGA suited for PLC receiver is realized by cascading PGA gain cell along with fixed gain amplifiers. The proposed PGA has been measured to exhibits a 3-dB bandwidth of more than 78 MHz and a dB-linear gain ranging from -24 to 74 dB with a maximum gain error of 0.24LSB. The core circuit consumes 1.9 mW through a 1.8 V supply, and occupies only 0.03 mm2 active area.
The role of tobacco, alcohol use, and body mass index in oral and pharyngeal cancer.

BACKGROUND Although tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking are well-established risk factors for oral cancer, relatively few studies have addressed the comparative effect of filter versus non-filter cigarettes, the nature of the reduction in risk following cessation, and the joint effects of tobacco and alcohol. In addition, recent studies suggest an inverse association of body mass index with oral cancer. We used data from a large, hospital-based case-control study to investigate these issues. METHODS The data set consisted of 1097 male and 463 female oral cancer cases and 2075 male and 873 female controls. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate the effect of risk factors in the presence of covariates. RESULTS Among male current smokers, users of filter cigarettes (whether lifetime users or those who switched to filter cigarettes) had a significantly reduced risk of oral cancer which approached 50%. Among female current smokers, only those who switched to filter cigarettes 10+years previously showed a significantly reduced risk. Those who quit smoking experienced a marked decrease in risk compared to current smokers. Smoking and alcohol consumption showed a significant interaction on a multiplicative model. After adjustment for covariates, leanness was significantly associated with oral cancer among male current and ex-smokers. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study: 1) indicate that smokers of filter cigarettes and those who quit smoking are at substantially reduced risk of oral cancer, 2) demonstrate interaction between smoking and drinking, and 3) suggest that leanness preceding diagnosis may be associated with oral cancer.
Transcriptional Bursting in Gene Expression: Analytical Results for General Stochastic Models

Gene expression in individual cells is highly variable and sporadic, often resulting in the synthesis of mRNAs and proteins in bursts. Such bursting has important consequences for cell-fate decisions in diverse processes ranging from HIV-1 viral infections to stem-cell differentiation. It is generally assumed that bursts are geometrically distributed and that they arrive according to a Poisson process. On the other hand, recent single-cell experiments provide evidence for complex burst arrival processes, highlighting the need for analysis of more general stochastic models. To address this issue, we invoke a mapping between general stochastic models of gene expression and systems studied in queueing theory to derive exact analytical expressions for the moments associated with mRNA/protein steady-state distributions. These results are then used to derive noise signatures, i.e. explicit conditions based entirely on experimentally measurable quantities, that determine if the burst distributions deviate from the geometric distribution or if burst arrival deviates from a Poisson process. For non-Poisson arrivals, we develop approaches for accurate estimation of burst parameters. The proposed approaches can lead to new insights into transcriptional bursting based on measurements of steady-state mRNA/protein distributions.
NORMAL AND ABNORMAL ATTENTIONAL DWELL TIME: CONSTRAINS OF TEMPORAL CODING IN VISUAL ATTENTION IN NEUROLOGICAL PATIENTS AND NORMAL INDIVIDUALS

This thesis is concerned with the analysis of constrains of temporal coding in visual selective attention. It is well known that despite the great amount of visual information present in the environment the human visual system is only capable to attend and select some of it. How the brain is able to selectively prioritize relevant information and de-prioritize the irrelevant information in order to guide us through space, has been extensively investigated (Treisman and Gelade, 1980; Posner, 1980). Less is known about how this occurs over time. In the present thesis I investigate the role of temporal limitation of selective attention in brain damaged patients and in normal participants by using a simplified version (attentional dwell time paradigm, Duncan et al., 1994), of the Attentional Blink (AB) paradigm which involves the identification of two or more visual targets when stimuli are presented rapidly in temporal succession always at one location (Broadbent and Broadbent, 1987; Raymond, Shapiro and Arnell, 1992). Within this paradigm I have manipulated different factors which may influence this limitation such as: temporal binding, perceptual similarity among stimuli, task switching, integration of audio-visual information and working memory. In addition, by examining the AB in different brain lesioned groups, this thesis attempts to throws light on the neural mechanisms underlying temporal coding and selection. Evidence was provided of the influence of all these mechanisms in coding, selecting and consolidating visual information over time which suggest a multi components nature of temporal selection as well as possible involvements of a temporo-parietal network (Corbetta and Shulman, 2002) which governs their integration.
Putative precursor lesions: summary and some analytical considerations.

it is readily apparent from the presentations at this Con fenence that several generalizations can be made concern ing the nature of possible precursor populations during the development of cancer in several organs and tissues. Some of these can be summarized as follows. 1. A multiplicity of cellular and tissue structural changes can be seen in every organ system discussed, long before the appearance of cancer can be recognized by any criteria, including morphological. This overall pattern is seen in many human systems including skin, breast, gastrointes tinal tract, urinary bladder, and tracheobmonchial tree. It is certainly seen in most, if not all, animal models useful in the study of carcinoma, including cancer of the liven.This oven riding generalization must be included in any valid hypothe sis of cancer development that purports to be realistic and meaningful. 2. The patterns of cellular alterations seen in any organ or tissue during cancer development are remarkably simi ! ar, even with different chemical carcinogens. This is valid even with carcinogens that are widely diverse in their chem ical structure. This seems to be true also in comparing the human with the animal models, although the data are very spotty concerning the response to specific carcinogens in humans. 3. The majority of such early lesions are proliferative. Doubts have been expressed periodically about whether the early lesions seen in the liver during carcinogenesis are proliferative. Alterations in preexisting hepatocytes without hyperplasia have been considered by some as playing the dominant role during cancendevelopment. Cleanly,from the presentations at this Conference, it is evident that the changes in surface epithelium during carcinogenesis are proliferative. This consideration, plus the data presented by Williams (11), would suggest that the liver is not exceptional with respect to the type of precursor lesion seen. No evidence was presented to support an old suggestion that chemical carcinogens rapidly induce cancer and that the relatively long period of cancer development is con cenned entirely with the control of the growth of these hypothetical so-called dormant cancer cells. 4. Several tissue or organ systems require only a rela tively brief exposure (hours to days) to a chemical carcino gen to initiate cancer development. These observations
Ultrahigh-throughput screening in drop-based microfluidics for directed evolution

The explosive growth in our knowledge of genomes, proteomes, and metabolomes is driving ever-increasing fundamental understanding of the biochemistry of life, enabling qualitatively new studies of complex biological systems and their evolution. This knowledge also drives modern biotechnologies, such as molecular engineering and synthetic biology, which have enormous potential to address urgent problems, including developing potent new drugs and providing environmentally friendly energy. Many of these studies, however, are ultimately limited by their need for even-higher-throughput measurements of biochemical reactions. We present a general ultrahigh-throughput screening platform using drop-based microfluidics that overcomes these limitations and revolutionizes both the scale and speed of screening. We use aqueous drops dispersed in oil as picoliter-volume reaction vessels and screen them at rates of thousands per second. To demonstrate its power, we apply the system to directed evolution, identifying new mutants of the enzyme horseradish peroxidase exhibiting catalytic rates more than 10 times faster than their parent, which is already a very efficient enzyme. We exploit the ultrahigh throughput to use an initial purifying selection that removes inactive mutants; we identify ∼100 variants comparable in activity to the parent from an initial population of ∼107. After a second generation of mutagenesis and high-stringency screening, we identify several significantly improved mutants, some approaching diffusion-limited efficiency. In total, we screen ∼108 individual enzyme reactions in only 10 h, using < 150 μL of total reagent volume; compared to state-of-the-art robotic screening systems, we perform the entire assay with a 1,000-fold increase in speed and a 1-million-fold reduction in cost.
A neural network with localized receptive fields for visual pattern classification

We introduce a new neural network for 2D pattern classification. The new neural network, termed as localized receptive field neural network (RFNet), consists of a receptive field layer for 2D feature extraction, followed by one or more 1D feedforward layers for feature classification. All synaptic weights and biases in the network are automatically determined through supervised training. In this paper, we derive five different training methods for the RFNet, namely gradient descent, gradient descent with momentum, resilient backpropagation, Polak-Ribiere conjugate gradient, and Levenberg-Marquadrt algorithm. We apply the RFNet to classify face and nonface patterns, and study the performances of the training algorithms and the RFNet classifier in this context.
An integrated visualization system for surgical planning and guidance using image fusion and an open MR

A surgical guidance and visualization system is presented, which uniquely integrates capabilities for data analysis and on‐line interventional guidance into the setting of interventional MRI. Various pre‐operative scans (T1‐ and T2‐weighted MRI, MR angiography, and functional MRI (fMRI)) are fused and automatically aligned with the operating field of the interventional MR system. Both pre‐surgical and intra‐operative data may be segmented to generate three‐dimensional surface models of key anatomical and functional structures. Models are combined in a three‐dimensional scene along with reformatted slices that are driven by a tracked surgical device. Thus, pre‐operative data augments interventional imaging to expedite tissue characterization and precise localization and targeting. As the surgery progresses, and anatomical changes subsequently reduce the relevance of pre‐operative data, interventional data is refreshed for software navigation in true real time. The system has been applied in 45 neurosurgical cases and found to have beneficial utility for planning and guidance. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2001;13:967–975. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Managed Ventricular Pacing Facilitating Atrioventricular Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia

An 81-year-old woman with a history of coronary artery disease (left ventricular ejection fraction of 50%) and severe pulmonary hypertension underwent placement of a dual-chamber pacemaker (EnRhythm, P1501DR, Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA) to treat episodes of syncope caused by a junctional rhythm at a rate of 30 beats/min following episodes of narrow complex tachycardia. To preserve native ventricular activation, the device was programmed to a rate responsive mode, AAIR/DDDR (managed ventricular pacing, MVP) with a lower rate limit of 60 pulses/min (ppm) and an upper rate limit of 120 ppm. The patient subsequently had recurrent episodes of paroxysmal, short-RP tachycardia on ECG (Fig. 1). Intracardiac recordings from the device showing initiation and ventricular pacing during supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) are shown in Figures 2(A) and (B). Reprogramming the device to the DDDR mode with a paced atrioventricular (AV) interval of 180 ms and a sensed AV interval of 150 ms prevented further episodes of tachycardia. What is the explanation?
Constructively formalizing automata theory

Adhesive dressing compositions are disclosed which are useful in restoring and improving adhesive joint surfaces such as grout surfaces in ceramic tile installations by easy, efficient methods. Such compositions form stain resistant, water repellent, washable coverings which adhere to most adhesive surfaces and further have properties of preferential adherability to certain adhesive surfaces compared with adjacent adherend surfaces. The compositions comprise a polymer in the form of an emulsion, an alkali-thickenable polymer, an alkaline material and water with other components including pigments, plasticizers and solvents.
Titanium alloys (AoN) and their involvement in osseointegration

Background: Osseointegration is essential for a long-term successful and inflammation-free dental implant. Such a result depends on osteoblastic cells growth and differentiation at the tissue-implant interface. The aim of this study was to compare two different AoN titanium layers (GR4 and GR5) to investigate which one had a greater osteoconductive power using human osteoblasts (HOb) culture at two different time-points. Materials and Methods: The expression levels of some bone-related (ALPL, COL1A1, COL3A1, SPP1, RUNX2, and SPARC) were analyzed using real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (real time RT-PCR). Results: Real-time RT-PCR data showed that after 3 days of treatment with TiA4GR, the genes up-regulated were COL3A1, ALPL, SPP1, and RUNX2. Moreover, no difference in gene expression was noticed 4 days later. On the other hand, the genes that overexpressed after 3 days of treatment with AoN5GR were ALPL, SPP1, and RUNX2. In both cases, the expression of COL1A1 and SPARC was negatively regulated. Conclusion: Our data showed that both titanium surfaces led to osteoblasts recruitment, maturation, and differentiation, thus promoting osseointegration at the tissue-implant interface.
Bcmimp1, a Botrytis cinerea Gene Transiently Expressed in planta, Encodes a Mitochondrial Protein

Botrytis cinerea is a widespread necrotrophic fungus which infects more than 200 plant species. In an attempt to characterize the physiological status of the fungus in planta and to identify genetic factors contributing to its ability to infect the host cells, a differential gene expression analysis during the interaction B. cinerea-tomato was carried out. Gene Bcmimp1 codes for a mRNA detected by differential display in the course of this analysis. During the interaction with the host, it shows a transient expression pattern with maximal expression levels during the colonization and maceration of the infected tissues. Bioinformatic analysis suggested that BCMIMP1 is an integral membrane protein located in the mitochondrial inner membrane. Co-localization experiments with a BCMIMP1-GFP fusion protein confirmed that the protein is targeted to the mitochondria. ΔBcmimp1 mutants do not show obvious phenotypic differences during saprophytic growth and their infection ability was unaltered as compared to the wild-type. Interestingly, the mutants produced increased levels of reactive oxygen species, likely as a consequence of disturbed mitochondrial function. Although Bcmimp1 expression is enhanced in planta it cannot be considered a pathogenicity factor.
F ¨ Ur Mathematik in Den Naturwissenschaften Leipzig Maximizing Multi-information Maximizing Multi-information

We investigate the structure of the global maximizers of stochas-tic interdependence, which is measured by the Kullback-Leibler divergence of the underlying joint probability distribution from the exponential family of factorizable random fields (multi-information). As a consequence of our structure results, it comes out that random fields with globally maximal multi-information are contained in the topological closure of the exponential family of pair interactions.
Interleukin 1 plays a major role in the development of Th2‐mediated immunity

Expulsion of the gastrointestinal nematode Trichuris muris is mediated by a T helper (Th)2‐type response, involving interleukin (IL)‐4, IL‐9 and IL‐13. Here, we show that Th2 response‐associated resistance is dependent on the presence of IL‐1α and IL‐1β. When lymph node cells from naive IL‐1α‐ or IL‐1β‐deficient mice were subjected to Th2 polarization in vitro, they failed to polarize in the presence of IL‐4 alone, but required the addition of exogenous IL‐1α or IL‐1β. Furthermore, we demonstrate that both IL‐1α‐ and IL‐1β‐deficient mice are susceptible to chronic T. muris infection and that the inability to expel the worms is associated with a defect in the development of a Th2 response in the mesenteric lymph nodes. These results provide the first demonstration of the critical role of IL‐1 in regulating Th2 responses during gastrointestinal nematode infection.
Style-shifting in oral interlanguage: quantification and definition

This state-of-the-art volume presents an outstanding collection of 22 studies on current issues facing research in second-language acquisition (SLA). The editors sought contributions for this volume from seasoned veterans of SLA like Lydia White and Susan Gass, from well-known researchers in linguistics and/or first-language acquisition like Haj Ross and Harald Clahsen, and from relative newcomers to the field like India Plough and Jean-Marc Dewaele. The topics covered range from the role of universals at various levels of second-language (L2) knowledge; the way that linguistic knowledge is represented by L2 learners; the changing nature of linguistic theory itself; and the definition of usage phenomena like style shifting and code switching. The introduction to The Current State of Interlanguage gives a concise yet detailed overview of research in the field over the past 10 years, and focuses on the present growing concensus on a number of issues that were at one point highly controversial.
The Arabidopsis Microtubule-Associated Protein AtMAP65-1: Molecular Analysis of Its Microtubule Bundling Activity

The 65-kD microtubule-associated protein (MAP65) family is a family of plant microtubule-bundling proteins. Functional analysis is complicated by the heterogeneity within this family: there are nine MAP65 genes in Arabidopsis thaliana, AtMAP65-1 to AtMAP65-9. To begin the functional dissection of the Arabidopsis MAP65 proteins, we have concentrated on a single isoform, AtMAP65-1, and examined its effect on the dynamics of mammalian microtubules. We show that recombinant AtMAP65-1 does not promote polymerization and does not stabilize microtubules against cold-induced microtubule depolymerization. However, we show that it does induce microtubule bundling in vitro and that this protein forms 25-nm cross-bridges between microtubules. We further demonstrate that the microtubule binding region resides in the C-terminal half of the protein and that Ala409 and Ala420 are essential for the interaction with microtubules. Ala420 is a conserved amino acid in the AtMAP65 family and is mutated to Val in the cytokinesis-defective mutant pleiade-4 of the AtMAP65-3/PLEIADE gene. We show that AtMAP65-1 can form dimers and that a region in the N terminus is responsible for this activity. Neither the microtubule binding region nor the dimerization region alone could induce microtubule bundling, strongly suggesting that dimerization is necessary to produce the microtubule cross-bridges. In vivo, AtMAP65-1 is ubiquitously expressed both during the cell cycle and in all plant organs and tissues with the exception of anthers and petals. Moreover, using an antiserum raised to AtMAP65-1, we show that AtMAP65-1 binds microtubules at specific stages of the cell cycle.