Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A fast time-delay calculation method in TWR detection through two layers

Time delay estimation is one of the key steps in target localization and high resolution imaging in Through-Wall-Radar signal processing procedure. In some typical TWR scenarios, electromagnetic wave propagates through two layers with different physical properties parameters. Traditional methods for the time-delay calculation in such situations are usually using three-dimensional searching algorithm or solving three variables equation of four times and tedious and time-wasting. This paper presents a new fast time-delay algorithm for electromagnetic wave propagating through two layers. An equation of two lateral distances through the walls can be established because of the fact that incident angle at upside of the walls equals to refracting angle at the downside of the walls. Total propagation path and time delay can be calculated by the two lateral distances subsequently. Simulating experiments prove the new algorithm is suitable for real-time time-delay calculation in TWR signal processing.
Connectionist classification and specific stochastic models in the understanding process of a dialogue system

In this paper we present an approach to the application of specific models to the understanding process of a dialogue system. The previous classification process is done by means of Multilayer Perceptrons, and Hidden Markov Models are used for the semantic modeling. The task consists of answering telephone queries about train timetables, prices and services for long distance trains in Spanish. A comparison between a global understanding model and the specific models is presented.
Parameter Identification of LuGre Friction Model in Servo System Based on Improved Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

LuGre friction model can describe dynamic characteristics of friction in servo system accurately, but because of its high nonlinearity, it is very difficult to estimate the parameters of the model. In this paper, based on particle swarm optimization algorithm, a two-step off-line identification methodology of the LuGre friction parameters is presented to compensate the dynamic friction. Firstly, four static parameters are identified via Stribeck curve. Secondly, two dynamic parameters are estimated by stick-slip response curve. Particle swarm optimization is used in both steps to minimize the identification errors, which can avoid local convergence problem existing in the many linear identification methods. The main advantage of this method in comparison with classical ones, as the least-squares approach, is that it provides not only estimation of the parameters but also precision with which the estimated values is guaranteed, and at the same time it can avoid the problem of local minimum. At last, the identification results are applied to a ship-borne gun servo system. Experiments verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme for high-precision motion trajectory tracking.
Semantic and phonological information flow in the production lexicon.

When speakers produce words, lexical access proceeds through semantic and phonological levels of processing. If phonological processing begins based on partial semantic information, processing is cascaded; otherwise, it is discrete. In standard models of lexical access, semantically processed words exert phonological effects only if processing is cascaded. In 3 experiments, speakers named pictures of objects with homophone names (ball), while auditory distractor words were heard beginning 150 ms prior to picture onset. Distractors speeded picture naming (compared with controls) only when related to the nondepicted meaning of the picture (e.g., dance), exhibiting an early phonological effect, thereby supporting the cascaded prediction. Distractors slowed picture naming when categorically (e.g., frisbee) related to the depicted picture meaning, but not when associatively (e.g., game) related to it. An interactive activation model is presented.
Association of CRP genetic variants with blood concentrations of C‐reactive protein and colorectal cancer risk

High blood concentrations of C‐reactive protein (CRP) have been associated with elevated risk of colorectal cancer in several prospective studies including the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), but it is unknown whether these observations reflect a causal relationship. We aimed to investigate whether CRP genetic variants associated with lifelong higher CRP concentrations translate into higher colorectal cancer risk. We conducted a prospective nested case–control study within EPIC including 727 cases diagnosed between 1992 and 2003 and 727 matched controls selected according to an incidence‐density sampling protocol. Baseline CRP concentrations were measured in plasma samples by a high sensitivity assay. Tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CRP gene (rs1205, rs1800947, rs1130864, rs2808630, rs3093077) were identified via HapMap. The causal effect of CRP on colorectal cancer risk was examined in a Mendelian Randomization approach utilizing multiple CRP genetic variants as instrumental variables. The SNPs rs1205, rs1800947, rs1130864 and rs3093077 were significantly associated with CRP concentrations and were incorporated in a CRP allele score which was associated with 13% higher CRP concentrations per allele count (95% confidence interval 8–19%). Using the CRP‐score as instrumental variable, genetically twofold higher CRP concentrations were associated with higher risk of colorectal cancer (odds ratio 1.74, 95% confidence interval 1.06–2.85). Similar observations were made using alternative definitions of instrumental variables. Our findings give support to the hypothesis that elevated circulating CRP may play a direct role in the etiology of colorectal cancer.
On View Likelihood and Stability

We define two measures on views: view likelihood and view stability. View likelihood measures the probability that a certain view of a given 3D object is observed; it may be used to identify typical, or "characteristic" views. View stability measures how little the-image changes as the viewpoint is slightly perturbed; it may be used to identify "generic" views. Both definitions are shown to be identical up to the prior probability of camera orientations, and determined by the 2D metric used to compare images. We analytically derive the stability and likelihood measures for two feature-based 2D metrics, where the most stable and most likely view is shown to be the flattest view of the 3D shape. Incorporating view likelihood or stability in 3D object recognition and 3D reconstruction increases the chance of robust performance. In particular, we propose to use these measures to enhance 3D object recognition and 3D reconstruction algorithms, by adding a second step where the most likely solution is selected among all feasible solutions. These applications are demonstrated using simulated and real images.
The effect of dietary supplementation with linoleic and gammalinolenic acids on the pressor response to angiotensin II--a possible role in pregnancy-induced hypertension?

Dietary supplementation with 3 g/day linoleic acid, 32 mg/day gammalinolenic acid and co-factors for prostaglandin synthesis was given to 10 pregnant and 10 non-pregnant subjects for a week. Their pressor response to the infusion of three doses of angiotensin II (AII) (pregnant: 4, 8, 16 ng kg-1 min-1: non-pregnant: 1, 2, 4 ng kg-1 min-1) was then compared with that of 40 pregnant and 24 non-pregnant controls who had not been given such supplementation. Dietary supplementation was not associated with changes in basal systolic or diastolic blood pressure or heart rate during the week of treatment in pregnant or non-pregnant subjects. Basal systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and heart rate values did not differ between the treated and untreated subjects in each group. The diastolic pressor response to AII was significantly less after treatment at all doses; the effect was more marked in the pregnant subjects. The systolic response to AII, normally less than the diastolic, was somewhat blunted in the treated pregnant patients at the two higher infusion doses. No significant effect was found in the non-pregnant group. Evidence from other studies suggests that increasing plasma linoleic acid concentrations leads to increased plasma concentrations of epoprostenol (prostacyclin, PGI2) while increased availability of gammalinolenic acid is associated with a rise in prostaglandin E1 and E2 production. Pregnancy-induced hypertension is associated with a diminished tissue production of both epoprostenol and E series prostaglandins, and with an enhanced pressor response to AII. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Over-Answering Yes-No Questions: Extended Responses in a NL Interface to a Vision System

This paper addresses the problem of overanswering yes-no questions, i.e. of generating extended responses that provide additional information to yes-no questions that pragmatically must be interpreted as wh-questions. Although the general notion of extended responses has already been explored, our paper reports on the first attempt to build a NL system able to elaborate on a response as a result of anticipating obvious follow-up questions, in particular by providing additional case role fillers, by using more specific quantifiers and by generating partial answers to both parts of questions containing coordinating conjunctions. As a further innovation, the system explicitly deals with the informativeness-simplicity tradeoff when generating extended responses. We describe both an efficient implementation of the proposed methods, which use message passing as realized by the FLAVOR mechanism and the extensive linguistic knowledge in corporated in the verbalization component. The structure of the implemented NL generation component is illustrated using a detailed example of the systems"s performance as an interface to an image understanding system.
Leptin Receptor Immunoreactivity in Chemically Defined Target Neurons of the Hypothalamus

The adipose tissue-derived hormone leptin regulates body weight homeostasis by decreasing food intake and increasing energy expenditure. The weight-reducing action of leptin is thought to be mediated primarily by signal transduction through the leptin receptor (LR) in the hypothalamus. We have used immunohistochemistry to localize LR-immunoreactive (LR-IR) cells in the rat brain using an antiserum against a portion of the intracellular domain of LR that is common to all LR isoforms. The antiserum recognized the short and long isoforms of LR in transfected hematopoietic BaF3 cells. To examine the chemical nature of target cells for leptin, direct double-labeling immunofluorescence histochemistry was applied. The results show extensive distribution of LR-like immunoreactivity (LR-LI) in the brain with positively stained cells present, e.g., in the choroid plexus, cerebral cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, and hypothalamus. In the hypothalamus, strongly LR-IR neurons were present in the supraoptic nucleus (SON) and paraventricular nucleus (PVN), periventricular nucleus, arcuate nucleus, and lateral hypothalamus. Weaker LR-IR neurons were also demonstrated in the lateral and medial preoptic nuclei, suprachiasmatic nucleus, ventromedial and dorsomedial nuclei, and tuberomammillary nucleus. Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed LR-LI in the periphery of individual cells. In magnocellular neurons of the SON and PVN, LR-LI was demonstrated in vasopressin- and oxytocin-containing neurons. In parvocellular neurons of the PVN, LR-LI was demonstrated in many corticotropin-releasing hormone-containing neurons. LR-IR neurons were mainly seen in the ventromedial aspect of the arcuate nucleus, where LR-LI co-localized with neuropeptide Y. In the ventrolateral part of the arcuate nucleus, LR-LI was present in many large adrenocorticotropic hormone-IR proopiomelanocortin-containing neurons and in a few galanin-, neurotensin-, and growth hormone-releasing hormone-containing neurons. In the dorsomedial arcuate nucleus, few tyrosine hydroxylase (dopamine)-containing neurons were seen to have LR-LI. Melanin-concentrating hormone-containing neurons in the lateral hypothalamus had LR-LI. Based on the immunohistochemical results, possible interactions of leptin with brain mechanisms are discussed.
Pharmacological and Electrophysiological Characterization of Store-Operated Currents and Capacitative Ca2+ Entry in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Capacitative Ca2+ entry (CCE) in vascular smooth muscle cells contributes to vasoconstrictor and mitogenic effects of vasoactive hormones. In A7r5 rat aortic smooth muscle cells, measurements of cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) have demonstrated that depletion of intracellular Ca2+ stores activates CCE. However, there is disagreement in published studies regarding the regulation of this mechanism by the vasoconstrictor hormone [Arg8]-vasopressin (AVP). We have employed electrophysiological methods to characterize the membrane currents activated by store depletion [store-operated current (ISOC)]. Because of different recording conditions, it has not been previously determined whether ISOC corresponds to CCE measured using fura-2; nor has the channel protein responsible for CCE been identified. In the present study, the pharmacological characteristics of ISOC, including its sensitivity to blockade by 2-aminoethoxydiphenylborane, diethylstilbestrol, or micromolar Gd3+, were found to parallel the effects of these drugs on thapsigargin- or AVP-activated CCE measured under identical external ionic conditions using fura-2. Thapsigargin-stimulated ISOC was also measured in freshly isolated rat mesenteric artery smooth muscle cells (MASMC). Members of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family of nonselective cation channels, TRPC1, TRPC4, and TRPC6, were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot in both A7r5 cells and MASMC. TRPC1 expression was reduced in a stable A7r5 cell line expressing a small interfering RNA (siRNA) or by infection of A7r5 cells with an adenovirus expressing a TRPC1 antisense nucleotide sequence. Thapsigargin-stimulated ISOC was reduced in both the TRPC1 siRNA- and TRPC1 antisense-expressing cells, suggesting that the TRPC1 channel contributes to the ISOC/CCE pathway.
Population Dynamics of Early Visual Cortex during Working Memory

Although the content of working memory (WM) can be decoded from the spatial patterns of brain activity in early visual cortex, how populations encode WM representations remains unclear. Here, we address this limitation by using a model-based approach that reconstructs the feature encoded by population activity measured with fMRI. Using this approach, we could successfully reconstruct the locations of memory-guided saccade goals based on the pattern of activity in visual cortex during a memory delay. We could reconstruct the saccade goal even when we dissociated the visual stimulus from the saccade goal using a memory-guided antisaccade procedure. By comparing the spatiotemporal population dynamics, we find that the representations in visual cortex are stable but can also evolve from a representation of a remembered visual stimulus to a prospective goal. Moreover, because the representation of the antisaccade goal cannot be the result of bottom–up visual stimulation, it must be evoked by top–down signals presumably originating from frontal and/or parietal cortex. Indeed, we find that trial-by-trial fluctuations in delay period activity in frontal and parietal cortex correlate with the precision with which our model reconstructed the maintained saccade goal based on the pattern of activity in visual cortex. Therefore, the population dynamics in visual cortex encode WM representations, and these representations can be sculpted by top–down signals from frontal and parietal cortex.
A New Deepwater Species of Stauromedusae, Lucernaria janetae (Cnidaria, Staurozoa, Lucernariidae), and a Preliminary Investigation of Stauromedusan Phylogeny Based on Nuclear and Mitochondrial rDNA Data

The deepwater stauromedusan Lucernaria janetae n. sp is described from adult and juvenile specimens collected from the East Pacific Rise. Lucernaria janetae is the first species in the genus recorded from the Pacific Ocean, and differs from its congeners in size and morphology. Mitochondrial (16S) and nuclear (SSU) ribosomal gene sequences from L. janetae were analyzed with those of representative stauromedusan taxa to evaluate stauromedusan monophyly. Both genes recovered a strongly monophyletic Stauromedusae that is the sister group to all other medusozoans. Support of these hypotheses is robust to method of phylogenetic reconstruction and to outgroup selection, buttressing the argument that Stauromedusae should be recognized as the class Staurozoa. The molecular markers used here favor the same topology of relationships among our samples and clearly distinguished between two species, Haliclystus sanjuanensis and H. octoradiatus, that have been considered synonymous by many workers. A stable systematic framework for Stauromedusae appears achievable through comprehensive study of both morphological and sequence data.
Magnetic Model Self-Identification for PM Synchronous Machine Drives

The magnetic model self-identification of PM synchronous machines is proposed and experimentally validated. Provided that the shaft is free to turn, the commissioning procedure consists of spinning the machine to positive and negative speed values by way of an appropriate pattern of $dq$ current reference values. The flux linkage versus current curves of the machine are constructed during the test via the standard measurements available on any industrial drive: phase currents, dc-link voltage, and shaft position. With respect to the literature, the proposed method does not require a specific test rig nor offline mathematical manipulation.
Personnel shift assignment: Existence conditions and network models

The personnel scheduling problem is known to be a five-stage process in which the final stage involves the assignment of shifts to the days worked in the schedule. This paper discusses the existence conditions for both continuous and forward rotating shift assignments and heuristic network algorithms for the determination of such assignments. Results generated for a number of test problems demonstrate, first, that the network devised to search for continuous solutions produces these solutions in a high proportion of cases where such solutions are known to exist. Second, for more general problems, the algorithm is shown to be efficient in its ability to generate either continuous or rotating solutions.
Stable isotope (13C, 15N and 34S) analysis of the hair of modern humans and their domestic animals.

Relationships between dietary status and recent migration were examined by delta(13)C, delta(15)N and delta(34)S analysis of hair samples from 43 modern humans living in a rural community in SW England. The isotopic content of 38 'local' hair samples was compared with that of five recently arrived individuals (from Canada, Chile, Germany and the USA). Hair samples from domestic animals (i.e. mainly cats, dogs, cows and horses) were analysed to examine the difference in delta(13)C, delta(15)N and delta(34)S values between herbivores and carnivores. Generally, modern human hair data from the triple stable isotope (delta(13)C, delta(15)N and delta(34)S) provided enough information to confirm the dietary status and origin of the individual subjects. The dietary intake was generally reflected in the animal hair delta(15)N and delta(13)C values, i.e. highest in the carnivores (cats). However, a non-local origin of food sources given to domesticated omnivores (i.e. dogs) was suggested by their hair delta(34)S values.
The ROV 3D Project: Deep-Sea Underwater Survey Using Photogrammetry: Applications for Underwater Archaeology

In this article, we present an approach for a deep-sea survey based on photogrammetry using a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV). A hybrid technique gives us real-time results, sufficient for piloting the ROV from the surface vessel and ensuring a uniform coverage of the site, as well as recording high-definition images using an onboard computer that will later provide a survey with millimetric precision. The measurements are made without any contact and are noninvasive. The time required on-site is minimal and corresponds to the time needed by the ROV to cover the zone. With the photos taken at a frame rate synchronized at 10Hz, the ROV required 2 hours to perform the experiment presented in this article: the survey of the Roman shipwreck Cap Bénat 4, at a depth of 328m. The approach presented in this work was developed in the scope of the ROV 3D project. This project, financed by the Fond Unique Interministériel (FUI) for 3 years, brings together two industrial partners and a research laboratory. Companie Maritime d’Expertise (COMEX) coordinated this project.
Pedestrian detection using stereo night vision

A method is presented for pedestrian detection using a stereo night-vision system installed on the vehicle. Much of the work in this area makes use of shape information. The proposed method detects moving objects whose motions are not consistent with the movement of the background and is considered to be complementary to shape-based approaches. In this paper, two new techniques are introduced for this task for night vision, namely a two-stage method for stereo correspondence and motion detection without explicit ego-motion calculation. These techniques make use of characteristics of night-vision video data, in which humans appear as hotspots. This method works well in cases where the camera motion has a dominant translational motion with a small amount of rotational motion, which is suitable for the camera on the vehicle. Error analysis as well as experimental results are presented to validate our approach and comparisons have been carried out between our approach and frame-by-frame based pattern-recognition approaches.
Ultra-High Capacity WDM Transmission Using Spectrally-Efficient PDM 16-QAM Modulation and C- and Extended L-Band Wideband Optical Amplification

This paper describes ultrahigh capacity transmission based on spectrally-efficient multi-level modulation and wideband optical amplification techniques. 21.4-Gbaud polarization-division multiplexed (PDM) 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals are generated by utilizing an optical synthesis technique, wavelength-multiplexed with 25-GHz spacing by optical pre-filtering, and received by an intradyne coherent receiver based on digital signal processing (DSP) with pilotless algorithms. These techniques realize a spectral efficiency (SE) of 6.4 b/s/Hz. Furthermore, a hybrid amplification technique that combines distributed Raman and dual-band erbium-doped amplifiers (EDFAs) realizes 10.8-THz signal bandwidth in C- and extended L-bands. By using these techniques, we successfully demonstrate 69.1 Tb/s transmission over 240 km of low loss pure silica core fibers.