Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Motion and balance neural control of inverted pendulums with nonlinear friction and disturbance

In this paper, a motion and balance control scheme is introduced for inverted pendulums using artificial neural network (ANN). The control strategy uses a trade-off strategy to achieve motion tracking and balance control simultaneously with a single controller. Unlike other neural control strategies, no offline learning or a priori system's dynamics knowledge is required. The controller is trained online to learn the nonlinear inverted pendulum system's dynamics. Simulation results for different situations highlight the performance of the proposed controller in compensating for friction nonlinearities and for external disturbance. Furthermore, ANNs' inherent parallelism makes them a good candidate for real-time implementation.
Microbial Community Structure in the Rhizosphere of Rice Plants

The microbial community in the rhizosphere environment is critical for the health of land plants and the processing of soil organic matter. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which rice plants shape the microbial community in rice field soil over the course of a growing season. Rice (Oryza sativa) was cultivated under greenhouse conditions in rice field soil from Vercelli, Italy and the microbial community in the rhizosphere of planted soil microcosms was characterized at four plant growth stages using quantitative PCR and 16S rRNA gene pyrotag analysis and compared to that of unplanted bulk soil. The abundances of 16S rRNA genes in the rice rhizosphere were on average twice that of unplanted bulk soil, indicating a stimulation of microbial growth in the rhizosphere. Soil environment type (i.e., rhizosphere versus bulk soil) had a greater effect on the community structure than did time (e.g., plant growth stage). Numerous phyla were affected by the presence of rice plants, but the strongest effects were observed for Gemmatimonadetes, Proteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia. With respect to functional groups of microorganisms, potential iron reducers (e.g., Geobacter, Anaeromyxobacter) and fermenters (e.g., Clostridiaceae, Opitutaceae) were notably enriched in the rhizosphere environment. A Herbaspirillum species was always more abundant in the rhizosphere than bulk soil and was enriched in the rhizosphere during the early stage of plant growth.
Example-based Estimation of Hand's Strength in the Game of Bridge with or without Using Explicit Human Knowledge

The paper presents results of experiments of estimating the number of tricks to be taken by one pair of bridge players in so-called Double Dummy Bridge Problem, using artificial neural networks. In addition to deals presented to neural network's inputs, also some human methods of estimating strength of a hand were applied. Influence of human knowledge on neural network's results depends on the way of coding a deal. One of deal representations tested in the paper definitely outperformed all the other choices even when the remaining representations were additionally supported by human knowledge implemented by several estimators frequently used in professional play. This superior representation output a perfect answer in 53.11% of test deals and only in 3.52% of them was mistaken by more than one trick
A concept of the web-based e-testing system

The paper is devoted to the development of a general web-based e-testing knowledge system (WbeTS) solution with optimal use of communication possibilities offered by the Internet. Developed conceptual solution: (a) enable frequent testing of many students with fewer teaching stuff, (b) allows each student the significant freedom of choosing the time, place and manner to do the test, and (c) provides the method for uniform evaluation criteria achievement. Introduction of the paper reviews and elaborates advantages and disadvantages of actual practice in testing and e-testing as well as written and oral part of final exam. Here it can be concluded that contemporary practice of the student examination is far more intensive than the former so it is necessary to increase the number of teaching staff or develop more appropriate examination systems. The second part considers different testing methods and possibilities of their application in the case of WbeTS. Further, the possibilities of the online and offline supervision of the students work are analyzed. The third part describes the development concept of WbeTS system. The diagram of the test routing is also presented - each student starts with the same block of questions, and the next block depends on the results of the first block: time spent, quantity, and quality of answers.
Four Dimensions of College Students’ Effective Participation in the Political Education Class Based on the Perspective of Constructivism Theory

The improvement of the teaching effectiveness of education in ideological and political courses must be based on the active and effective "learning" of college students. The education theory of constructivism starts from the whole education process, and makes a comprehensive and in-depth exploration of enhancing students' subject participation through the subject dimension, content dimension, situation dimension and technical dimension. The quadruple dimensions interweave and influence each other. Content dimension is the premise and foundation of subject dimension, situation dimension and technical dimension. The situational dimension is the representation and embodiment of the subject dimension and the content dimension, the technical dimension is the intermediary and guarantee of the content dimension, the main dimension, the students' effective participation in the classroom is the orientation and final foothold. Keywords—effective participation; constructivism; quadruple dimensions; ideological and political theory course
Discovery of Submillisecond Quasi-periodic Oscillations in the X-Ray Flux of Scorpius X-1

We report the discovery, with NASA's Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), of the first submillisecond oscillations found in a celestial X-ray source. The quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) come from Sco X-1 and have a frequency of ~1100 Hz and amplitudes of 0.6%-1.2% (rms) and are relatively coherent, with Q up to ~102. The frequency of the QPOs increases with accretion rate, rising from 1050 to 1130 Hz when the source moves from top to bottom along the normal branch in the X-ray color-color diagram, and shows a strong, approximately linear correlation with the frequency of the well-known 6-20 Hz normal/flaring-branch QPOs. We also report the discovery of QPOs with a frequency near 800 Hz that occur, simultaneously with the 1100 Hz QPOs, in the upper normal branch. We discuss several possible interpretations, one involving a millisecond X-ray pulsar whose pulses we see reflected off accretion flow inhomogeneities. Finally, we report the discovery of ~45 Hz QPOs, most prominent in the middle of the normal branch, which might be magnetospheric beat-frequency QPOs.
Secrecy capacity region of a class of two-user Gaussian MIMO BC with degraded message sets

We consider a two-user broadcast channel (BC) with two-degraded message sets where a common message M2 is intended for both receivers and a private message M1 is intended for receiver one. There is an eavesdropper whose channel is stochastically degraded with respect to both receivers and both messages must be kept confidential from the eavesdropper. However, we do not assume any form of degradedness between the two receivers. We first characterize the capacity region of this class of discrete memoryless BC. Next, we consider the two-user Gaussian MIMO BC with two-degraded message sets and an eavesdropper. We characterize the capacity region for the case where the eavesdropper is only required to be stochastically degraded with respect to receiver one. We make use of the channel enhancement technique as well as an extremal entropy inequality of Liu et al. that was derived using the generalized Costa's entropy power inequality (EPI).
Antitumor Activity of Orally Bioavailable Farnesyltransferase Inhibitor, ABT-100, Is Mediated by Antiproliferative, Proapoptotic, and Antiangiogenic Effects in Xenograft Models

Purpose: To evaluate the preclinical pharmacokinetics, antitumor efficacy, and mechanism of action of a novel orally active farnesyltransferase inhibitor, ABT-100. Experimental Design:In vitro sensitivity of a panel of human cell lines was determined using proliferation and clonogenic assays. In vivo efficacy of ABT-100 was evaluated in xenograft models (flank or orthotopic) by assessing angiogenesis, proliferation, and apoptosis in correlation with pharmacokinetics. Efficacy of the racemate of ABT-100 (A-367074) was also compared with R115777 (tipifarnib). Results: ABT-100 inhibited proliferation of cells in vitro carrying oncogenic H-Ras (EJ-1 bladder; IC50 2.2 nmol/L), Ki-Ras (DLD-1 colon, MDA-MB-231 breast, HCT-116 colon, and MiaPaCa-2 pancreatic; IC50 range, 3.8-9.2 nmol/L), and wild-type Ras (PC-3 and DU-145; IC50, 70 and 818 nmol/L, respectively) as well as clonogenic potential. ABT-100 shows 70% to 80% oral bioavailability in mice. ABT-100 regressed EJ-1 tumors (2-12.5 mg/kg/d s.c., every day for 21 days) and showed significant efficacy in DLD-1, LX-1, MiaPaCa-2, or PC-3 tumor-bearing mice (6.25-50 mg/kg/d s.c. once daily or twice daily orally). A-367074 showed equivalent efficacy to R115777 given at approximately one-fourth the total dose of R115777 for a shorter duration (EJ-1 and LX-1). Antitumor activity was associated with decreased cell proliferation (Ki-67), increased apoptosis (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated dUTP nick end labeling), and decreased angiogenesis. A reduction in tumor angiogenic cytokine levels (vascular endothelial growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, and interleukin-8) correlated with a reduction in tumor vascularity (CD31). Conclusions: Overall, ABT-100 has an acceptable pharmacokinetic profile, is well tolerated, and possesses broad-spectrum antitumor activity against a series of xenograft models similar to farnesyltransferase inhibitors in clinical development; therefore, it is an attractive candidate for clinical evaluation.
ViewointS : vers une émergence de con-naissances collectives par élicitation de points de vue

Le Web d’aujourd’hui est forme, entre autres, de deux types de contenus que sont les donnees structurees et liees du Web semantique et les contributions subjectives des utilisateurs du Web social. L’approche ViewpointS a ete concue comme un formalisme creuset apte a integrer ces deux types de contenus, en preservant la subjectivite des interactions du Web Social. ViewpointS est une approche de representation subjective des connaissances. Les connaissances sont representees sous forme de points de vue – des viewpoints – qui sont des elements de base d’une semantique individuelle declarant la proximite de deux ressources. L’approche propose aussi un second degre de subjectivite. En effet, viewpoints peuvent etre interpretes differemment selon l’utilisateur grâce au mecanisme de perspective. Il y a une subjectivite dans la connaissance capturee ainsi que dans la maniere de l’exploiter. En complement aux approches top-down ou la semantique collective d’un groupe est etablie par consensus, la semantique collective d’une communaute ViewpointS emerge de facon « bottom-up » de l’echange et la confrontation des viewpoints et evolue de maniere fluide au fur et a mesure de leur emission. Les ressources du Web sont representees et liees par les viewpoints dans le Graphe de Connaissances. A l’utilisation, les viewpoints entre deux ressources sont agreges pour creer une « synapse ». A partir du Graphe de Connaissances contenant les viewpoints et les ressources du Web une Carte de Connaissances composee de synapses et de ressources est creee qui est le fruit de l’interpretation et de l’agregation des viewpoints. Chaque viewpoint contribue a la creation, au renforcement ou a l’affaiblissement d’une synapse qui relie deux ressources. L’echange de viewpoints est le processus de selection qui permet l’evolution des synapses d’une maniere analogue a celles qui evoluent dans le cerveau au fil d’un processus selectionniste neuronal. Nous investiguons dans cette etude l’impact que peut avoir la representation subjective des connaissances dans divers scenarii de construction collective des connaissances. Les domaines traites sur les benefices de la subjectivite des connaissances representees sont la recherche d’information, la recommandation, l’alignement multilingue d’ontologies et les methodes de calcul de distance semantique.
Turbulence and Magnetic Fields in the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe

The nature and origin of turbulence and magnetic fields in the intergalactic space are important problems that are yet to be understood. We propose a scenario in which turbulent-flow motions are induced via the cascade of the vorticity generated at cosmological shocks during the formation of the large-scale structure. The turbulence in turn amplifies weak seed magnetic fields of any origin. Supercomputer simulations show that the turbulence is subsonic inside clusters and groups of galaxies, whereas it is transonic or mildly supersonic in filaments. Based on a turbulence dynamo model, we then estimated that the average magnetic field strength would be a few microgauss (μG) inside clusters and groups, approximately 0.1 μG around clusters and groups, and approximately 10 nanogauss in filaments. Our model presents a physical mechanism that transfers the gravitational energy to the turbulence and magnetic field energies in the large-scale structure of the universe.
Infectivity of porcine circovirus type 2 DNA in semen from experimentally-infected boars

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is an economically important pathogen. It has been demonstrated that PCV2 DNA can be detected in boar semen by PCR; however, the biological relevance of this is unknown. The objectives of this study were to determine if semen positive for PCV2 DNA is infectious (1) in a swine bioassay, or (2) when used for artificial insemination. For the first objective, 4-week-old pigs were inoculated intraperitoneally with PCV2 DNA-negative (bioassay-control; n = 3), PCV2a DNA-positive (bioassay-PCV2a; n = 3), or PCV2b DNA-positive (bioassay-PCV2b; n = 3) raw semen, or PCV2 live virus (bioassay-positive; n = 3), respectively. Pigs inoculated with PCV2 DNA-positive semen and PCV2 live virus became viremic and developed anti-PCV2 antibodies indicating that the PCV2 DNA present in semen was infectious. For the second objective, three Landrace gilts were inseminated with PCV2 DNA-negative semen (gilts-controls) from experimentally-infected boars, and six gilts were artificially inseminated with semen positive for PCV2a DNA (gilts-PCV2a; n = 3) or PCV2b DNA (gilts-PCV2b; n = 3). Serum samples collected from the gilts in all groups remained negative for anti-PCV2 antibodies for the duration of the experiment. In addition, fetal serum samples from all 105-day-gestation fetuses were negative for anti-PCV2 antibodies or PCV2 DNA. Under the conditions of this study, PCV2 DNA-positive semen was not infectious when used to artificially inseminate gilts; however, it was demonstrated to be infectious in a swine bioassay model and therefore is a potential means of PCV2 transmission amongst swine herds.
A Motion Detection Based Surveillance System (MDSS)

Security is one of the biggest issues in today's world. According to Metropolitan Police Service there have been a total of 33,471 robberies out of which 90% of them were personal and rest business and there has been a total of 92,135 burglaries out of which 70% of them were residential and the rest were non residential. The above figure shows that no doubt the crime is happing and let it be residential or non-residential places are not safe. There is surely a need for a system which can act as a surveillance for our offices and home and which is easy to use, which can run on a PC, which can be accessed via different medium like mobile phone, email or PDA. Human eye has always been considered as the most reliable source of surveillance. This paper concentrates on developing a computer based system which would replace human eye in surveillance. Machine vision is implemented to detect intruders and notify humans about the unexpected motion using SMS and email communication technologies. The system is a distributed application and can interact with its users from all over the world. Various motion detection algorithms were discussed and suitable choice was made for the project. There are more efficient algorithms available if the required reliability of the system is higher.
DT-CWT Robust Filtering Algorithm for The Extraction of Reference and Waviness from 3-D Nano Scalar Surfaces

Abstract Dual tree complex wavelet transform (DT-CWT) exhibits superiority of shift invariance, directional selectivity, perfect reconstruction (PR), and limited redundancy and can effectively separate various surface components. However, in nano scale the morphology contains pits and convexities and is more complex to characterize. This paper presents an improved approach which can simultaneously separate reference and waviness and allows an image to remain robust against abnormal signals. We included a bilateral filtering (BF) stage in DT-CWT to solve imaging problems. In order to verify the feasibility of the new method and to test its performance we used a computer simulation based on three generations of Wavelet and Improved DT-CWT and we conducted two case studies. Our results show that the improved DT-CWT not only enhances the robustness filtering under the conditions of abnormal interference, but also possesses accuracy and reliability of the reference and waviness from the 3-D nano scalar surfaces.
Freedom of religion and children.

a number of recent federal court cases parents have sought to have their children exempted from certain school activities on the grounds that the children's participation in those activities violates their (the parents') right to freedom of religion. In Mozert v. Hawkins County Public Schools (827 F. 2nd 1058) fundamentalist parents of several Tennessee public school children brought civil action against the school board for violating their constitutional right of freedom of religion. These parents sought to prevent their children from exposure to beliefs or practices opposed to their (the parents') religious convictions. They claim that elementary school readers introduce ideas repugnant to their and their children's deeply held religious tenets. The district court upheld the parents' claims, but that decision was overturned by the appellate court. Now the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal. The parents' case is dead. I am not entirely satisfied, however, with the resolution of the matter. Though I agree with the decision to overturn the lower court, I think the reasons for doing so are not entirely convincing. More importantly, I think all the judges and the litigants in the case have failed to address significant fundamental questions about the scope of parental authority, especially the authority to teach or indoctrinate children about religious matters. Though I realize this is an extremely sensitive matter one which the courts are most assuredly loathe to address that does not, in any way, undermine its importance or centrality. These are issues which must ultimately be faced squarely by the courts. I had hoped that the Supreme Court would have addressed them in this case. I was wrong. Once again the central issues were avoided. Or so I shall argue.
The effects of atorvastatin on antioxidant/antiinflammatory properties of HDLs in hypercholesterolemics.

BACKGROUND/AIM Hypercholesterolemia is characterized by changes in lipid profile, nitric oxide pathway, and oxidative stress markers, but functions of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were not well established in hypercholesterolemic subjects treated with atorvastatin. In this study, we aimed to evaluate effects of atorvastatin treatment on functionality of HDL, oxidative stress, and endothelial functions in hypercholesterolemic subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty patients (20 females, 10 males) aged from 40 to 60 years and diagnosed as hypercholesterolemic were included. Patients were treated with 10 mg/day atorvastatin for 3 months. Markers of endothelial functions, namely asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), homocysteine, and nitric oxide (NO), and markers of oxidative status, namely malondialdehyde (MDA), antioxidant potential (AOP), paraoxonase 1 (PON1), and arylesterase, were measured. Before and after atorvastatin treatment, glucose, lipid parameters, and antioxidant/antiinflammatory HDL levels were also measured. RESULTS ADMA and homocysteine levels were decreased whereas NO levels were increased with atorvastatin therapy. MDA levels were decreased but AOP, PON1, and arylesterase levels and antinflammatory characteristics of HDLs were increased. Furthermore, lipid profiles of the patients improved with atorvastatin therapy. CONCLUSION Hypercholesterolemia is a cause of oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, and proinflammatory HDL levels. Atorvastatin is a beneficial pharmacological modulator of impaired antiinflammatory HDL-C levels, endothelial functions, and oxidative status against atherosclerosis indicating pleiotropic effects of statins.
A Cellular MicroRNA Mediates Antiviral Defense in Human Cells

In eukaryotes, 21- to 24-nucleotide-long RNAs engage in sequence-specific interactions that inhibit gene expression by RNA silencing. This process has regulatory roles involving microRNAs and, in plants and insects, it also forms the basis of a defense mechanism directed by small interfering RNAs that derive from replicative or integrated viral genomes. We show that a cellular microRNA effectively restricts the accumulation of the retrovirus primate foamy virus type 1 (PFV-1) in human cells. PFV-1 also encodes a protein, Tas, that suppresses microRNA-directed functions in mammalian cells and displays cross-kingdom antisilencing activities. Therefore, through fortuitous recognition of foreign nucleic acids, cellular microRNAs have direct antiviral effects in addition to their regulatory functions.
Achievement goals, the classroom environment, and reflective thinking: A conceptual framework

Introducción: La investigación sobre el logro de objetivos y la práctica del pensamiento reflexivo ha recibido una considerable atención desde la Psicología Educativa. Sin embargo, sólo algunos estudios han prestado atención al impacto que el clima de aula y el ambiente psicosocial tienen sobre ambos.Objetivos: El estudio evalúa un modelo estructural que formado por tres estructuras teóricas: el ambiente de clase, el logro de objetivos (profundo, enfoque de ejecución, enfoque de evitación) y la práctica del pensamiento reflexivo. Particularmente, el logro de objetivos y la práctica reflexiva se postulan como mediadores entre el ambiente de clase y el rendimiento académico. Método: La muestra está compuesta por 298 estudiantes de 12 años (142 niños y 156 niñas) de cuatro escuelas de secundaria. Para evaluar la mediación e influencia entre las tres estructuras mencionadas y el rendimiento académico se utilizaron procedimientos de modelado causal. Inventarios tipo Likert (College and University Classroom Environment Inventory, CU-CEI); Reflective Thinking Questionnaire (RTQ); Inventario de logros) fueron administrados.Resultados: El análisis indica los efectos predictivos de las diferentes dimensiones del ambiente de aprendizaje en el aula sobre el dominio y la ejecución de logro, así como las cuatro fases del pensamiento reflexivo. Los objetivos del enfoque profundo y de ejecución también presentan efectos directos sobre las fases de reflexión. El análisis MANOVA no indica diferencias entre hombres y mujeres. Discusión: Los datos confirman la evidencia de que el ambiente psicosocial del aula afecta a las orientaciones de logro de los estudiantes y su vínculo con la práctica del pensamiento reflexivo.