Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Quality-Aware Attribute-Based Filtering Scheme for Participatory Sensing

Participatory sensing systems can gather and process personal data to produce some knowledge about the world. In this setting, sensing data quality has been the primary focus of widespread adoption of many systems. To encourage more participants to contribute high-quality data, many incentive mechanisms have been proposed to motivate them. Unfortunately, this brings about some other new issues. Firstly, the application server must have to analyze and process a large-scale of sensing data for the incentives, but most of them might not satisfy the essential data requirements. Moreover, the application server cannot determine whether those important data originate from the legal participants, thus has to check at the expense of efficiency loss. Even worse, since anyone who knows the sensing task can report sensing data, the application server would face the denial-of-service attacks from malicious participants. In this paper, we propose a Quality-aware Attribute-based Filtering (QAFilter) scheme to address these problems. In QAFilter, the application server can distribute a Receiver Filtering Policy along with the sensing task, so that only the participants whose data quality satisfies the policy can report sensing data to the server. Furthermore, in order to maintain the data confidentiality, the participant can encrypt the sensing data under his requirement such that only the receivers who hold the related attributes can decrypt it. In particular, the costs of computation and communication are constant and independent of the number of required data attributes, thus making our scheme more adapt to personal mobile devices and the wireless network environment. Our security analysis and experiment evaluation demonstrate the presented scheme’s security strength and performance efficiency, respectively.
The Fc receptor on thymus-derived lymphocytes: II. Mitogen responsiveness of T lymphocytes bearing the Fc receptor

The responsiveness of purified Fc- and Fc+ T lymphocytes, isolated from normal spleen cell populations by cell sorting on the fluorescence activated cell sorter, has been examined. Although both Fc- and Fc+ T cells responded to phytohemagglutinin, the response to concanavalin A (Con A) was found to be a characteristic of the Fc+ T lymphocyte. The poor responsiveness of the Fc- T cells to Con A was shown not to be due to a requirement of either different concentrations of Con A or for adherent cells. The addition of Fc+ T cells to the Fc- T cells in a ratio of 1:3 resulted in a mitotic response not significantly different from that observed with the purified Fc+ T cells alone and up to 15- fold greater than that of Fc- T cells alone. It is suggested that the Fc T cells can be recruited into mitosis as a result of Con A stimulation of the Fc+ T cells.
Almost-Global Finite-Time Trajectory Tracking Control for Quadrotors in the Exponential Coordinates

This paper investigates the trajectory tracking problem for quadrotors with finite-time convergence via homogeneous feedback approach. Based on the inherent underactuated cascaded properties of a quadrotor, the tracking control is decomposed into the outer position tracking control loop and the inner attitude tracking control loop. And the orientation of the four thrust inputs for the position loop is determined by the attitude loop. Therefore, an inner geometric tracking controller based on exponential coordinates for the attitude loop is first proposed, which avoids kinematic singularity and redundancy. Then, a homogeneous feedback plus dynamics compensation scheme is utilized to construct the thrust magnitude control input for the position dynamics, which also provides a reference rotation matrix for the attitude tracking loop. The almost global finite time stability of the whole tracking control system is clearly proved. Numerical results are also presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of this finite-time control strategy.
Observational study of the epidemiology and outcomes of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus bacteraemia treated with newer antimicrobial agents

SUMMARY Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus bloodstream infections (VRE-BSI) are a growing problem with few clinical trials to guide therapy. We conducted a retrospective study of management and predictors of mortality for VRE-BSI at a tertiary-care centre from January 2005 to August 2008. Univariate and multivariable analyses examined the relationship of patient characteristics and antibiotic therapy with 30-day all-cause mortality. Rates of VRE-BSI increased from 0·06 to 0·17 infections/1000 patient-days (P=0·03). For 235 patients, 30-day mortality was 34·9%. Patients were primarily treated with linezolid (44·2%) or daptomycin (36·5%). Factors associated with mortality were haemodialysis [odds ratio (OR) 3·2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·6–6·3, P=0·007], mechanical ventilation (OR 3·7, 95% CI 1·3–10·4, P=0·01), and malnutrition (OR 2·0, 95% CI 1·0–4·0, P=0·046). Use of linezolid, but not daptomycin (P=0·052) showed a trend towards an association with survival. In conclusion, VRE-BSI is a growing problem, associated with significant 30-day mortality. Multiple factors were associated with poor outcomes at our hospital.
Pathogenesis, emerging therapeutic targets and treatment in sialidosis

Introduction: Sialidosis is a neurosomatic, lysosomal storage disease (LSD) caused by mutations in the NEU1 gene, encoding the lysosomal sialidase neuraminidase 1 (NEU1). Deficient enzyme activity results in impaired processing/degradation of sialoglycoproteins, and accumulation of oversialylated metabolites. Sialidosis is considered an orphan disorder for which no therapy is currently available. Areas covered: The review describes the clinical forms of sialidosis and the NEU1 mutations so far identified; NEU1 requirement to complex with the protective protein/cathepsin A for stability and activation; and the pathogenic effects of NEU1 deficiency. Studies of the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis in animal models uncovered basic cellular pathways downstream of NEU1 and its substrates, which may be implicated in more common adult (neurodegenerative) diseases. The development of a Phase I/II clinical trial for patients with galactosialidosis may prove suitable for sialidosis patients with the attenuated form of the disease. Expert opinion: Recently, there has been a renewed interest in the development of therapies for orphan LSDs, like sialidosis. Given the small number of potentially eligible patients, the way to treat sialidosis would be through the coordinated effort of clinical centers, which provide diagnosis and care for these patients, and the basic research labs that work toward understanding the disease pathogenesis.
Genomic and Proteomic Analysis of Mitochondrial Carrier Proteins in Arabidopsis 1

Plant mitochondria maintain metabolic communication with the cytosol through a family of carrier proteins. In Arabidopsis, a subset of 45 putative genes encoding members of this family have been identified based on generalized mitochondrial carrier features. No gene clusters are apparent and few of the predicted protein products have mitochondrial targeting sequences recognized by bioinformatic predictors. Only nine genes are currently represented by more than 10 expressed sequence tags at The Institute for Genomic Research. Analyses of public microarray experiments reveal differential expression profiles of the more highly expressed members of this gene family in different plant organs and in response to plant hormone application and environmental stresses. A comparison of this Arabidopsis carrier subset (45) to the yeast gene family (35) reveals 10 orthologous groups between the two species. Recent surveys of the Arabidopsis mitochondrial proteome by two-dimensional gel separations have not identified any of these carrier proteins, presumably because of their hydrophobicity and basicity. Isolating integral membrane proteins from Arabidopsis mitochondria, using one-dimensional electrophoresis for protein separation and tandem mass spectrometry-based sequencing of doubly charged peptides, we have unequivocally identified specific carrier gene products located in mitochondria. This approach has identified six of the nine carriers represented highly in expressed sequence tag databases: adenine nucleotide translocator (At3g8580 and At5g13490), dicarboxylate/tricarboxylate carrier (At5g19760), phosphate carrier (At5g14040), uncoupling protein (At3g54110), and a carrier gene of unknown function (At4g01100). Overall, the combined transcript and protein expression data indicates that only a small subset of the carrier family of genes provide the majority of carrier proteins of Arabidopsis mitochondria.
Paperoles et musique

Les compositeurs contemporains constituent un cas d'étude particulièrement riche pour la problématique du papier augmenté par l'ordinateur. Ils ont tout d'abord une utilisation avancée des deux technologies. Ceux qui travaillent dans les studios de l'IRCAM sont souvent des experts en informatique : il n'est pas rare que certains programment en Lisp et connaissent les algorithmes des outils qu'ils utilisent. Ils bénéficient d'un environnement informatique très complet, doté de nombreux outils de calcul et de modélisation sophistiqués, et travaillent la plupart du temps en association avec des assistants musicaux, experts en informatique ou en électro-acoustique. Quant à l'utilisation du papier, elle résulte de plusieurs siècles de tradition, au cours desquels une notation quasiment universelle a pu s'établir. Bien entendu, on observe également une forte utilisation conjointe des deux technologies, parfois concurrente, comme lorsqu'il s'agit d'éditer une partition soit `a la main, soit avec un outil spécialisé, parfois complémentaire, le papier et l'ordinateur correspondant à des étapes différentes du travail de création.
Thermal expansion of germanium and silicon at low temperatures

Abstract The linear expansion coefficients (α) of silicon and germanium are reported at temperatures down to ca. 0/50. At temperatures below 16°K, the expansion coefficients are very small but are positive and hence the Gruneisen parameter γ=3α. VK/C (K is the bulk modulus and C/V is heat capacity per unit volume) is positive. At T∽0/15, γ has a minimum value of —0·1 for germanium and —0·42 for silicon. At higher temperatures α and γ become positive and agree with data of Gibbons. Individual γ-values for the transverse acoustic modes must be reduced considerably by dispersion to account for the deep minimum in γ(T).
More on hepatitis B virus rtI233V mutation and resistance to adefovir.

1. Gonçalves BP, Huang CY, Morrison R, et al. Parasite burden and severity of malaria in Tanzanian children. N Engl J Med 2014;370:1799-808. 2. Hendriksen IC, Mwanga-Amumpaire J, von Seidlein L, et al. Diagnosing severe falciparum malaria in parasitaemic African children: a prospective evaluation of plasma PfHRP2 measurement. PLoS Med 2012;9(8):e1001297. 3. Taylor TE, Fu WJ, Carr RA, et al. Differentiating the pathologies of cerebral malaria by postmortem parasite counts. Nat Med 2004;10:143-5. 4. Seydel KB, Fox LL, Glover SJ, et al. Plasma concentrations of parasite histidine-rich protein 2 distinguish between retinopathypositive and retinopathy-negative cerebral malaria in Malawian children. J Infect Dis 2012;206:309-18. 5. Bejon P, Berkley JA, Mwangi T, et al. Defining childhood severe falciparum malaria for intervention studies. PLoS Med 2007;4(8):e251.
Camera motion and visual information fusion for 3D target tracking

This paper proposes a data fusion scheme for visual object identification and tracking by autonomous vehicles. In this scheme, image motion vectors fields, color features, visual disparity depth information and camera motion parameters are fused together to identify the target 3D visual and dynamic features. This paper also presents a detailed description of the 3D target tracking algorithm using an extended Kalman filter with a constant velocity dynamic model. Performance of the proposed scheme is discussed through experimental results.
Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Residual Stresses in Additive Layer Manufacturing by Laser Melting of Metal Powders

Determining the three-dimensional residual stress fields and the associated distortions using numerical simulations for multi-layered parts has proved to be a challenge in additive layer manufacturing. This paper presents an innovative three-dimensional thermal-elasto-plastic finite element model for predicting the deformation and residual stress fields in TiAl6V4 parts built on steel platforms. The developed model utilises temperature dependent material physical and mechanical properties as well as latent heat of melting. Experiments conducted using surface profilometry showed good agreement with the simulation results. The finite element model was used to investigate the overall effect of the melting powder on the platform deformation and residual stresses for multiple layers of deposited powder.
Learning the elasticity parameters of deformable objects with a manipulation robot

In this paper, we consider the problem of determining the elasticity properties of deformable objects with a mobile manipulator equipped with a force sensorb. We learn the parameters by establishing a relation between the applied forces and the corresponding surface deformations. To determine the parameters, we minimize the difference between the observed surface of an object that is deformed by a real manipulator and the deformed surface obtained with a deformation simulator based on finite element methods. To establish the correspondences between the surfaces, our approach applies a 3D registration technique based on point-clouds which is used as the basis for comparing the results of the simulation system with the observations of the real deformations. As we demonstrate in real-world experiments, our system is able to estimate appropriate parameters that can be used to predict future deformations. This information can directly be incorporated into motion planning approaches that are designed for robots operating with deformable objects.
Incidence and Survival Patterns of Sinonasal Undifferentiated Carcinoma in the United States

Abstract Objective To determine trends in sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma (SNUC) survival patterns in the United States. Design Retrospective review of national database. Participants All cases of SNUC in the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results program from 1973 to 2010 were examined. Main Outcome Measures Age-adjusted incidence and survival rates were calculated and stratified by demographic information and treatment modality. Cohort analysis was performed to analyze survival patterns over time. Results A total of 318 SNUC cases were identified. Age-adjusted incidence rate (IR) was 0.02 per 100,000. Incidence was greater in males (IR: 0.03) than females (IR: 0.01; p = 0.03). Overall 5- and 10-year relative survival rate was 34.9% and 31.3%, respectively. Overall median survival was 22.1 months. Median survival following surgery combined with radiation was 41.9 months. Five-year relative survival rate following surgery, radiation, or surgery combined with radiation was 38.7%, 36.0%, and 39.1%, respectively. Median survival from 1973–1986 and 1987–2010 was 14.5 and 23.5 months, respectively. Conclusions This study provides new data regarding survival patterns of SNUC in the United States, confirming survival benefit with surgery and radiation as well as identifying a trend toward improved survival in recent decades.
Online Streaming Feature Selection

We study an interesting and challenging problem, online streaming feature selection, in which the size of the feature set is unknown, and not all features are available for learning while leaving the number of observations constant. In this problem, the candidate features arrive one at a time, and the learner's task is to select a "best so far" set of features from streaming features. Standard feature selection methods cannot perform well in this scenario. Thus, we present a novel framework based on feature relevance. Under this framework, a promising alternative method, Online Streaming Feature Selection (OSFS), is presented to online select strongly relevant and non-redundant features. In addition to OSFS, a faster Fast-OSFS algorithm is proposed to further improve the selection efficiency. Experimental results show that our algorithms achieve more compactness and better accuracy than existing streaming feature selection algorithms on various datasets.
Experimental Evaluation of Integrated Path Estimators

We describe the results of numerical experiments evaluating the efficiency of variance estimators based on integrated sample paths. The idea behind the estimators is to compute a vector of integrated paths and combine them to form an estimator of the time-average variance constant that is used, for example, in the construction of confidence intervals. When used in conjunction with batching, the approach generalizes the method of non-overlapping batch means. Compared with non-overlapping batch means, the estimators require longer to compute, have smaller variance and larger bias. We show that for long enough simulation run lengths, the efficiency (the reciprocal of running time multiplied by mean-squared error) of integrated path estimators can be much greater than that of non-overlapping batch means; the numerical experiments show an efficiency improvement by up to a factor of ten
MINIREVIEW Role of Nitric Oxide in the Physiology of Erection

Penile erection is understood to be a neurally regulated physiologic event, although the underlying mechanisms have eluded characterization for more than a century. The classical autonomic parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems are involved, but the process of erection does not appear to require cholinergic or adrenergic mechanisms. As the search for the principal mediator of penile erection has continued over time, nitric oxide (NO), a gaseous messenger molecule, has been rapidly advanced to fulfill this elusive role. In the recent past, various biochemical and functional data have accumulated to support this understanding. These have shown that NO is an important mediator of corpus cavernosal smooth muscle relaxation and have revealed its potential sources and mechanisms of action in the penis. Additional work involving animal erection models has established that NO mediates physiologic penile erection. This minireview presents these data and includes results from recent clinical trials that have preliminarily evaluated the efficacy of NO-generating or -releasing compounds for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.
Naphtho[1,2-d]thiazol-2-ylamine (SKA-31), a New Activator of KCa2 and KCa3.1 Potassium Channels, Potentiates the Endothelium-Derived Hyperpolarizing Factor Response and Lowers Blood Pressure

Small-conductance (KCa2.1-2.3) and intermediate-conductance (KCa3.1) calcium-activated K+ channels are critically involved in modulating calcium-signaling cascades and membrane potential in both excitable and nonexcitable cells. Activators of these channels constitute useful pharmacological tools and potential new drugs for the treatment of ataxia, epilepsy, and hypertension. Here, we used the neuroprotectant riluzole as a template for the design of KCa2/3 channel activators that are potent enough for in vivo studies. Of a library of 41 benzothiazoles, we identified 2 compounds, anthra[2,1-d]thiazol-2-ylamine (SKA-20) and naphtho[1,2-d]thiazol-2-ylamine (SKA-31), which are 10 to 20 times more potent than riluzole and activate KCa2.1 with EC50 values of 430 nM and 2.9 μM, KCa2.2 with an EC50 value of 1.9 μM, KCa2.3 with EC50 values of 1.2 and 2.9 μM, and KCa3.1 with EC50 values of 115 and 260 nM. Likewise, SKA-20 and SKA-31 activated native KCa2.3 and KCa3.1 channels in murine endothelial cells, and the more “drug-like” SKA-31 (half-life of 12 h) potentiated endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor-mediated dilations of carotid arteries from KCa3.1(+/+) mice but not from KCa3.1(-/-) mice. Administration of 10 and 30 mg/kg SKA-31 lowered mean arterial blood pressure by 4 and 6 mm Hg in normotensive mice and by 12 mm Hg in angiotensin-II-induced hypertension. These effects were absent in KCa3.1-deficient mice. In conclusion, with SKA-31, we have designed a new pharmacological tool to define the functional role of the KCa2/3 channel activation in vivo. The blood pressure-lowering effect of SKA-31 suggests KCa3.1 channel activation as a new therapeutic principle for the treatment of hypertension.
Increased cross-sectional area and reduced tensile stress of the Achilles tendon in elderly compared with young women.

The Achilles tendon cross-sectional area (CSA), tensile force, and stress during an isometric contraction were examined in healthy young (n = 9, age = 29 +/- 1 years, mean +/- SEM) and elderly (n = 10, 79 +/- 2 years) women. CSA area was obtained with magnetic resonance imaging 3 cm proximal to the insertion, and tendon force was obtained from the isometric ankle moment. The moment of force about the ankle joint was greater in young women (95 +/- 17 N m) than in elderly women (51 +/- 5 N m; p <.05). The Achilles tendon CSA was significantly greater in elderly women (56.3 +/- 3.0 mm(2)) than in young women (46.0 +/- 1.9 mm(2); p <. 01). These data show that young women can exert a greater force than elderly women on the Achilles tendon during voluntary contraction, although elderly women have an increased (22%) tendon CSA, and a lower tendon force than young women. The greater tendon size combines to lower the stress on the tendon markedly, which may reduce the risk of injury to the tendon.
Algorithms for self-reconfiguring molecule motion planning

In this paper we present algorithms for planning the motion of robotic "molecules" (modules) on a substrate of other molecules. Our approach is to divide self-reconfiguration planning into three levels: trajectory planning, configuration planning, and task-level planning. This paper focuses on algorithms for trajectory planning, moving a single molecule from a start location to a goal location, and configuration planning, moving a set of molecules from a starting configuration to a goal configuration. We also present our scaffold planning approach in which the interior of a structure contains three-dimensional tunnels. This allows molecules to move within a structure as well as on the surface, simplifying molecule motion planning as well as increasing parallelism. In addition, we present a new gripper-type connection mechanism for the molecule which does not require power to maintain connections.
Intraoperative contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for microcirculatory evaluation in rhesus monkey with spinal cord injury

This study tried to quantify spinal cord perfusion by using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in rhesus monkey models with acute spinal cord injury. Acute spinal cord perfusion after injury was detected by CEUS, coupling with conventional ultrasound (US) and Color Doppler US (CDFI). Time-intensity curves and perfusion parameters were obtained by autotracking contrast quantification (ACQ) software in the epicenter and adjacent regions of injury, respectively. Neurological and histological examinations were performed to confirm the severity of injury. US revealed spinal cords were hypoechoic and homogeneous, whereas dura maters, pia maters, and cerebral aqueducts were hyperechoic. After spinal cord contusion, the injured spinal cord was hyperechoic on US, and intramedullary vessels of adjacent region of injury were increased and dilated on CDFI. On CEUS hypoperfusion were found in the epicenter of injury, while hyperperfusion in its adjacent region. Quantitative analysis showed that peak intensity (PI) decreased in epicenters of injury but significantly increased in adjacent regions at all time points (p < 0.05). Functional evaluation demonstrated significant deterioration compared to pre-contusion (p < 0.05). Quantitative analysis with CEUS is a promising method for monitoring perfusion changes of spinal cord injury in overall views and real-time.