Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Minimalistic Approach to Humanoids

In this work, we present a design principle for building humanoid walking that puts emphasis on minimal control, minimal actuation, and minimal energy use in the design. This results in humanoid robots that are easier to develop and much cheaper to produce. We achieve this by utilising springs and the oscillatory motion of pendulums, e.g. the pendulums (or arms) create a 3D dynamic force profile, which leads to walk because of the properties of the robot’s body and legs’ design. We illustrate the design principle with the implementation of a few, cheap LEGO humanoid robot prototypes.
Demonstration of either endogenous recurrence or exogenous reinfection by resiriction endonuclease cleavage analysis of herpes simplex virus from patients with recrudescent genital herpes

By using restriction endonuclease (RE) cleavage analysis, either endogenous recurrence or exogenous reinfection of herpes simplex virus (HSV) was clarified in 45 male and 20 female subjects with recrudescent genital herpes. All of the plural (two to ten) isolates from 63 (205 isolates) out of 65 subjects (97%) were HSV‐2. Two isolates from only one of 65 subjects (1.5%) were HSV‐1, and they showed the same RE profile. In addition, an HSV‐1 and five HSV‐2 isolates were obtained from the remaining one female patient (1.5%), indicating that an exogenous HSV‐1 strain has been reinfected during HSV‐2 recrudescences. HSV‐2 isolates were furthermore classified into genotypes of HSV‐2 using 16 different RE markers with five REs. Two hundred and ten HSV‐2 isolates from 64 subjects were classified into 27 distinct genotypes, in which some predominant genotypes and seven new genotypes were found. Plural HSV‐2 isolates obtained from 63 out of 64 subjects, including one subject from whom an HSV‐1 and five HSV‐2 strains were isolated, were classified into the same genotypes, indicating that they may be regarded as recrudescent genital herpes by the reactivation of the same endogenous strain. However, the RE profiles of two HSV‐2 strains from the remaining one subject were different. Thus, it was finally found that only two out of 65 subjects (3%) were reinfected with exogenous strains. These results lead to the conclusion that almost all recrudescent genital herpes are due to the reactivation of an initially infected HSV‐2 strain, and are occasionally due to reinfection with distinct HSV strains of either the same or a different type. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A network clustering algorithm for detection of protein families

Detection of protein families in large scale database is a difficult but important biological problem. Computational clustering methods can effectively address the problem. Although there exist many clustering algorithms, most of them are just based on the threshold. Their computational performances are affected by the weight distribution greatly, and they are only valid for some special networks. A new network clustering algorithm, Markov Finding and Clustering (MFC), is proposed to cluster the proteins into their functionally specific families accurately in this paper. The MFC algorithm makes an improvement in the random walk process and reduces the affection of the noise on the clustering result. It has a good performance on these networks which are not well addressed by existing algorithms sensitive to the noise. Finally, experiments on the protein sequence datasets demonstrate that the algorithm is effective in the detection of protein families and has a better performance than the current algorithms.
Perfectly Balanced Partitions of Smoothed Graphs

For a graph G = (V, E) of even order, a partition (V1, V2) of the vertices is said to be perfectly balanced if |V1| = |V2| and the numbers of edges in the subgraphs induced by V1 and V2 are equal. For a base graph H define a random graph G(H, p) by turning every non-edge of H into an edge and every edge of H into a nonedge independently with probability p. We show that for any constant ǫ there is a constant α, such that for any even n and a graph H on n vertices that satisfies �(H)−δ(H) ≤ αn, a graph G distributed according to G(H, p), with ǫ ≤ p ≤ 1− ǫ n , admits a perfectly balanced partition with probability exponentially close to 1. As a direct consequence we get that for every p, a random graph from G(n, p) admits a perfectly balanced partition with probability tending to 1.
Gastroretentive drug delivery systems

A controlled drug delivery system with prolonged residence time in the stomach is of particular interest for drugs that i) are locally active in the stomach, ii) have an absorption window in the stomach or in the upper small intestine, iii) are unstable in the intestinal or colonic environment, or iv) exhibit low solubility at high pH values. This article gives an overview of the parameters affecting gastric emptying in humans as well as on the main concepts used to design pharmaceutical dosage forms with prolonged gastric residence times. In particular, bioadhesive, size-increasing and floating drug delivery systems are presented and their major advantages and shortcomings are discussed. Both single- and multiple-unit dosage forms are reviewed and, if available, results from in vivo trials are reported.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROLACTIN HORMONE LEVEL, MOLTING AND DUCK EGG PRODUCTION

The aims of this study were to obtain information on the mechanism of molting and the prolactinhormone levels affecting egg production. The study utilized AP (crossbred of Alabio ♂ with Peking ♀)and PA (crossbred of Peking ♂ and Alabio ♀ ducks) with a total of 180 birds. The observed variableswere the duration of cessation of egg production before and after molting, the prolactin hormone level inthe period of molting, the egg production period before and after molting. The data was analyzed usingANOVA, regression and correlation. The results showed that AP crossbred had fewer molting (23.33%)compared to PA (50.00%). The mechanism of molting is always preceded by cessation of eggproduction, molting and relaying. The prolactin hormone concentrations of AP and PA in the periodbefore and after molting were significantly higher than in the period of molting. At the egg productionperiod before molting, the prolactin hormone concentration of AP ducks was higher than the PA ducks.So that the egg production of AP before molting (0-16 weeks) was higher than the PA. The eggproduction of AP was higher than PA, 256.66±6.00 vs 232.22±6.64 eggs for 48 weeks. So it can beconcluded that the prolactin hormone affects the molting and egg production.
RADIATION DOSE IN PAEDIATRIC COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY: RISKS AND BENEFITS

Computed tomography (CT) is a powerful tool for the accurate and effective diagnosis and treatment of a variety of conditions because it allows high-resolution three-dimensional images to be acquired very quickly. However as the number of CT procedures performed globally have continued to increase; with growing concerns about patient protection. Currently, no system is in place to track patient doses and the lifetime cumulative dose from medical sources. The widespread use of CT even in developing countries has raised questions regarding the possible threat to public health especially in children. The best available risk estimates suggest that paediatric CT will result in significantly increased lifetime radiation risk over adult CT. Studies have shown that lower milliampere-second (mAs) settings can be used for children without significant loss of information. Although the risk–benefit balance is still strongly tilted toward benefit, there is still need for caution. Furthermore since the frequency of paediatric CT examinations is rapidly increasing, and estimates suggest that quantitative lifetime radiation risks for children are not negligible, efforts should be made toward more active reduction of CT exposure settings in paediatric patients. This article hopes to address this concerns and draw attention to the fact that children are not ‘small adults ’ and should therefore be treated differently.
Using Cognitive Models to Investigate the Temporal Dynamics of Semantic Memory Impairments in the Development of Alzheimer’s Disease

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is characterized by subjective and objective memory impairment in the absence of dementia. MCI is a strong predictor for the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). A standard task used in the diagnosis of MCI is verbal fluency, where participants produce as many items from a specific category (e.g., animals) as possible. This task is typically analyzed by counting the number of items produced. However, analysis of the actual pattern of items produced can provide valuable additional information. Here we describe a computational model that uses multiple types of lexical information in conjunction with a standard memory search process. The model parameters were able to successfully differentiate changes in semantic memory processing for individuals who develop MCI, even when behavioral variables could not.
Molecular Basis of Thalassemia Syndromes in Serbia and Montenegro

This study reports the molecular characterization of thalassemia syndromes in Serbian and Montenegrin populations. We identified eight β-thalassemia mutations [codon 39 (C→T), IVS-I-110 (G→A), IVS-II-745 (C→G), codon 44 (-C), –87 (C→G), IVS-II-1 (G→A), IVS-I-6 (T→C), IVS I-1 (G→A)] in 70 members of 29 families using polymerase chain reaction, reverse dot blot, amplification refractory mutation system and direct sequencing analysis. Hemoglobin (Hb) Lepore was found to be the most common cause of the thalassemia phenotype. Hb Sabine and α-thalassemia were detected as well. We also studied β-globin gene cluster haplotypes and their association with the most common mutations. A novel haplotype associated with the Hb Lepore gene was identified. The results presented herein allowed the implementation of a prenatal diagnosis program in Serbia and Montenegro.
Characterizing link asymmetry in vehicle-to-vehicle Visible Light Communications

Recently, it has been found that Vehicular Visible Light Communications (V2LC) can effectively address several challenges faced by conventional Radio-Frequency-based (RF-based) vehicular communications. Utilizing the LED headlamps and taillights as the transmitter and a photodiode as the receiver, V2LC has high reliability even in high vehicle density scenarios, can effectively identify the transmitter of a received message, and has low cost. In this paper, we identify a new problem unique to V2LC - link asymmetry, which is defined as significant difference in incoming and outgoing links and perform the first experimental work to characterize the problem. To this end, we performed extensive optical radiation pattern measurements with off-the-shelf LED headlamps and taillights. We also collected a number of vehicle mobility traces with 2-dimensional locations with centimeter-level accuracy as well as vehicle bearing. Combining these data, we performed an analytical study to obtain an experimental distribution of received power difference of the links in opposite directions. Our results show that in 80% of the cases the received power of the outgoing link using the headlamp of our vehicle is 22 dB or more than the received power of the incoming link using the neighboring vehicle's taillight, and only 8.1% of the cases have less than 10-dB received power difference. This suggests that the link asymmetry problem is very severe in V2LC and new system design or protocol design consideration is required to prevent significant throughput degradation.
CRISPR-Cas-Mediated Gene Silencing Reveals RacR To Be a Negative Regulator of YdaS and YdaT Toxins in Escherichia coli K-12

racR is an essential gene and one of the many poorly studied genes found on the rac prophage element that is present in many Escherichia coli genomes. Employing a CRISPR-based approach, we have silenced racR expression to various levels and elucidated its physiological consequences. We show that the downregulation of racR leads to upregulation of the adjacent ydaS-ydaT operon. Both YdaS and YdaT act as toxins by perturbing the cell division resulting in enhanced cell killing. This work establishes a physiological role for RacR, which is to keep the toxic effects of YdaS and YdaT in check and promote cell survival. We, thus, provide a rationale for the essentiality of racR in Escherichia coli K-12 strains. ABSTRACT Bacterial genomes are rich in horizontally acquired prophages. racR is an essential gene located in the rac prophage that is resident in many Escherichia coli genomes. Employing a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-Cas-based gene silencing approach, we show that RacR is a negative regulator of the divergently transcribed and adjacent ydaS-ydaT operon in Escherichia coli K-12. Overexpression of YdaS and YdaT due to RacR depletion leads to cell division defects and decrease in survival. We further show that both YdaS and YdaT can act independently as toxins and that RacR serves to counteract the toxicity by tightly downregulating the expression of these toxins. IMPORTANCE racR is an essential gene and one of the many poorly studied genes found on the rac prophage element that is present in many Escherichia coli genomes. Employing a CRISPR-based approach, we have silenced racR expression to various levels and elucidated its physiological consequences. We show that the downregulation of racR leads to upregulation of the adjacent ydaS-ydaT operon. Both YdaS and YdaT act as toxins by perturbing the cell division resulting in enhanced cell killing. This work establishes a physiological role for RacR, which is to keep the toxic effects of YdaS and YdaT in check and promote cell survival. We, thus, provide a rationale for the essentiality of racR in Escherichia coli K-12 strains.
Tools for Designing Experience: Repurposing Design Resources for the Emerging Experience Economy

The creative industries are following the trend exhibited in other fields of economic activity by increasingly focussing on selling 'experiences' rather than 'objects'. Typically, this shift results in immersive products which include elements such as narrative, space, media and/or performance within an overall presentation characterised by audience agency and an aim of sense-making. Experience Design, the planning and production of these experience-centred, immersive productions, is a new and essentially interdisciplinary academic field meaning that almost all current practitioners originally trained in a different (albeit related) single area (e.g., architecture, theatre, UI design, etc.) and have developed their interdisciplinary expertise through a process of individual research, experience and reflection. This necessarily limits the availability of suitably skilled practitioners and there is a growing sense that appropriate training needs to be developed to support the continued expansion of the sector. This paper aims to support this pedagogical development process by examining a range of planning processes and tools used the disciplines which contribute to experience design together with recently developed tools from the experience economy. Suggestions of ways existing tools might be extended to accommodate the wider range of media and contexts typically encountered in an experience production are presented. An 'experience model' is proposed to support the analysis and identification of key elements of immersive experiences and the paper concludes with a provisional identification of a core set of key design tools and techniques which experience designers might employ across the range of current immersive practice.
Zebrafish as a model for apolipoprotein biology: comprehensive expression analysis and a role for ApoA-IV in regulating food intake

Improved understanding of lipoproteins, particles that transport lipids throughout the circulation, is vital to developing new treatments for the dyslipidemias associated with metabolic syndrome. Apolipoproteins are a key component of lipoproteins. Apolipoproteins are proteins that structure lipoproteins and regulate lipid metabolism through control of cellular lipid exchange. Constraints of cell culture and mouse models mean that there is a need for a complementary model that can replicate the complex in vivo milieu that regulates apolipoprotein and lipoprotein biology. Here, we further establish the utility of the genetically tractable and optically clear larval zebrafish as a model of apolipoprotein biology. Gene ancestry analyses were implemented to determine the closest human orthologs of the zebrafish apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I), apoB, apoE and apoA-IV genes and therefore ensure that they have been correctly named. Their expression patterns throughout development were also analyzed, by whole-mount mRNA in situ hybridization (ISH). The ISH results emphasized the importance of apolipoproteins in transporting yolk and dietary lipids: mRNA expression of all apolipoproteins was observed in the yolk syncytial layer, and intestinal and liver expression was observed from 4–6 days post-fertilization (dpf). Furthermore, real-time PCR confirmed that transcription of three of the four zebrafish apoA-IV genes was increased 4 hours after the onset of a 1-hour high-fat feed. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that zebrafish ApoA-IV performs a conserved role to that in rat in the regulation of food intake by transiently overexpressing ApoA-IVb.1 in transgenic larvae and quantifying ingestion of co-fed fluorescently labeled fatty acid during a high-fat meal as an indicator of food intake. Indeed, ApoA-IVb.1 overexpression decreased food intake by approximately one-third. This study comprehensively describes the expression and function of eleven zebrafish apolipoproteins and serves as a springboard for future investigations to elucidate their roles in development and disease in the larval zebrafish model.
Signal transducer and activator of transcription-5 activation and breast cancer prognosis.

PURPOSE Transcription factor signal transducer and activator of transcription-5 (Stat5) promotes breast epithelial cell differentiation. We retrospectively analyzed whether levels of active Stat5 in breast cancer were linked to clinical outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS Immunohistochemistry was used to detect active, tyrosine-phosphorylated Stat5 in paraffin-embedded breast cancer specimens from three archival tissue microarray materials A, B, and C. Material A included 19 healthy human breast tissues and a progression series of primary lymph node-negative, primary lymph node-positive, and metastatic breast cancer (n = 400). Materials B (n = 785) and C (n = 570) represented two independent arrays of unselected primary breast cancer specimens with clinical follow-up data. RESULTS Material A demonstrated that Stat5 activation, but not Stat5 protein expression, was gradually lost during cancer progression, with detectable activation in 100% of healthy breast specimens compared with less than 20% of node-positive breast cancers and metastases. Stat5 activation in tumors of material B was associated with favorable prognosis. This observation was confirmed and extended in material C to include both breast cancer-specific survival and disease-free survival. Stat5 activation remained an independent prognostic marker after adjusting for patient age, tumor size, histological grade, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and Her2/neu status by Cox multivariate analysis (hazard ratio, 2.0; P =.029). Stat5 activation was a particularly favorable marker in the lymph node-negative breast cancer subpopulation (hazard ratio, 7.5; P =.003). CONCLUSION In our study, active Stat5 distinguishes breast cancer patients with favorable prognosis, and may be a useful marker for selection of more individualized treatment, especially in localized disease. These findings require confirmation in a large prospective study.
Sleep Loss and Complex Team Performance

Abstract : There are few objective assessments of the impact of sleep loss on team performance. The present study was designed to quantify the effects of fatigue on teams performing a complex task and to compare team data with individual data on a similar task. Participants were trained on a complex air battle management task (both in individual and team mode) for one week and then experienced a 36-hr period of sustained wakefulness. Forty-minute scenarios (individual and team) were iteratively completed throughout each experimental period alongside traditional cognitive performance tasks (e.g., simple math processing). Individual data showed the well-established performance reduction resulting from sleep loss and circadian variation at both the simple and complex task levels. Significant decrements were seen for both process measures (e.g., information gathering) and outcome measures (e.g., number of targets attacked) after sleep-loss on the complex task. In contrast, team scores on similar measures after sleep loss, did not degrade, and in some cases showed improvements relative to baseline (indicating a continuing team building process). Individual performance (both simple and complex) was significantly degraded during the early morning hours. Team data did not show the expected performance decrements.
The Persuasive Role of Explanations in Recommender Systems

Explanations in Recommender Systems can operate like motivators influencing consumers to purchase the recommended items. In this study, we rely upon the well established and verified framework of Cialdini’s Influence Principles in order to enrich recommendations with explanations and examine their effect on the persuasive power of recommendations. The results of the experiment revealed that all six Influence Principles positively affect users’ perception about the recommended movie while Authority and Social Proof seem to be the more effective ones. These findings indicate that a user’s intention to consume a recommended good is increased if the item is accompanied with a persuasive explanation.
An intellectual journey into the historical evolution of marketing research in brand switching behavior – past, present and future

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore the historical development of brands and the development of literature on brand switching to define the antecedents that cause switching behavior among consumers and the impact of switching on market share of companies. Design/methodology/approach – The historical development of brands is tracked using different secondary sources. Then an intensive literature review is conducted on brand switching at the consumer and business levels. At each level, studies on brand switching are divided into several categories, such as household products, technological products and service providers, and the common factors behind switching for each category and between categories are determined. Findings – An examination of the historical development of brands shows that brands appeared on products a long time ago and evolved through a number of stages based on the economic and social environment. The literature reveals that no single model can explain brand switching behavior.