Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Map-based drone homing using shortcuts

Up to the present day, GPS signals are the key component in almost all outdoor navigation tasks of robotic platforms. To obtain the platform pose, comprising the position as well as the orientation, and receive information at a higher frequency, the GPS signals are commonly used in a GPS-corrected inertial navigation system (INS). The GPS is a critical single point of failure, especially for autonomous drones. We propose an approach which creates a metric map of the observed area by fusing camera images with inertial and GPS data during its normal operation and use this map to steer a drone efficiently to its home position in the case of an GPS outage. A naive approach would follow the previously traveled path and get accurate pose estimates by comparing the current camera image with the previously created map. The presented procedure allows the usage of shortcuts through unexplored areas to minimize the travel distance. Thereby, we ensure to reach the starting point by taking into consideration the maximal positional drift while performing pure visual navigation in unknown areas. We achieved close to optimal results in intensive numerical studies and we demonstrate the usability of the algorithm in a realistic simulation environment.
Policing, Schooling and Human Capital Accumulation

A substantial body of empirical literature argues that greater investment in schools can lower criminality and violence. On the other hand, recent work demonstrates that low levels of public safety can have serious detrimental effects on educational outcomes. This paper develops a model to analyze the roles that investments in education and public safety have for student's educational attainment, and explores the optimal balance between the two public programs. I analyze individual decisions to acquire violence related skills at the expense of human capital accumulation in a setting where the former serves to protect one's property or expropriate that of others. Therefore, if the level of public safety, which prevents violent confrontations, is low, the incentives to study will also be lower. Moreover, the agents who accumulate more human capital and hence are more productive suffer a comparative disadvantage in exerting violence because their opportunity cost of doing so is higher. I show that if investments in public education increase the productivity spread between adult agents of different ability, the incentives to study might further decrease and lead to a lower output, showing that the benefits of schooling can only be seized if they are complemented with enough public safety.
Gender Equity in Theories of Fertility Transition

Recent theoretical discussion has postulated that low fertility in advanced countries is attributable to low levels of gender equity. Low gender equity is evidenced in the lack of support for women to combine paid employment and childrearing; tax-transfer systems that remain based on the male-breadwinner model of the family; and the retention of gender-oriented roles within the family. Hence, it is argued that an increase in gender equity is a precondition of a rise in fertility from very low levels. At the same time, theorists argue that, in less developed countries, higher levels of gender equity are a necessary condition for achieving lower fertility. The article addresses this apparent contradiction by distinguishing two types of gender equity: gender equity in individual-oriented institutions and gender equity in family-oriented institutions. The argument is made that the transition from very high fertility to replacement-level fertility has been associated with a gradual increase in gender equity primarily within the family itself. In contrast, the further movement to very low fertility is associated with a rapid shift toward high levels of gender equity in individual institutions such as education and market employment, in combination with persistent low levels of gender equity within the family and in family-oriented institutions. Copyright 2000 by The Population Council, Inc.
Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer for ultra-low pressure detection

This paper presents a novel approach for ultra-low pressure detection using a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) as the sensing element. The working principle depends on the resonant frequency shift of the CMUT under the measured pressure. The finite element method (FEM) simulations were employed to study the sensing performance of the CMUT. The results demonstrated the feasibility and superiority of the CMUT for ultra-low pressure measurement. The resonant frequency varies linearly with the measured pressure. The pressure sensitivity can be improved by increasing the bias DC voltage for a certain CMUT. Additionally, the effects of structure parameters such as electrode dimension, electrode separation distance, membrane radius and thickness on the pressure sensitivity were also studied, which will contribute to the design and operation of the CMUT-based ultra-low pressure sensor.
Stochastic synchronization over weighted directed networks

We assess synchronization of oscillators that are coupled via a time-varying stochastic network, modeled as a weighted directed random graph that switches at a given rate between a set of possible graphs. The existence of any graph edge is probabilistic and independent from the existence of any other edge. We further allow each edge to be weighted differently. Even if the network is always instantaneously not connected, we show that sufficient information is propagated through the network to allow almost sure synchronization as long as the expected value of the network is connected, and that the switching rate is sufficiently fast.
TSV-Last, Heterogeneous 3D Integration of a SiGe BiCMOS Beamformer and Patch Antenna for a W-Band Phased array Radar

We report a TSV-last, heterogeneous 3D integration process for millimeter wave solid state tiles for use in the demonstration of a W-band active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar system. Each phased array tile consists of a high speed SiGe BiCMOS beamformer chip, vertically integrated with an advanced, multi-metallization level glass substrate which includes an RF interposer and a patch antenna array. This paper will briefly describe the SiGe and glass circuit layers, along with the main components of the 3D integration processing and assembly. Electrical testing of the SiGe and glass chips was conducted at various points during the integration processing, including DC and RF measurements after the two chips were bonded together. Additionally, DC testing of TSV chains was completed along with thermal cycling. The results of this work indicated a successful initial prototype demonstration of 3D heterogeneous integrated phased array tiles, which can be used for a multi-tile subarray assembly and subsequent sensor system demonstration.
A digital up-sampling technique for a heterodyne digital centric transmitter

In this paper, a digital up-sampling technique is presented for digital communication transmitters. This method allows to up-sample the I/Q baseband modulated signals to an intermediate frequency based on a 4:1 multiplexing technique, before being again up-converted at the carrier frequency. The frequency conversion is made in two steps and permits to avoid the nonlinear behavior of direct up-converting architectures. Also, the mutual coupling between the output power amplifier (PA) and the phase-locked loop (PLL) can be reduced by choosing the local oscillator frequency (LO) far enough from the carrier output frequency. A fully integrated CMOS transmitter with an on chip PA is thus becoming feasible. A PLL at the frequency of 4.8 GHz has been designed in a 65 nm CMOS process along with a digital 4:1 multiplexer in order to target the band-VII Long Term Evolution (LTE) applications in the 2.55 GHz frequency.
Citizen Trust in Civil Servants: A Cross-National Examination

ABSTRACT How trusting of civil servants are citizens in North America and Europe? What individual-level and national-level attributes correlate with trust in civil servants? To answer these questions, data from national samples across 21 countries are taken from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) 2006 Role of Government module and are analyzed by estimating multilevel binary logistic regression models. Trust is correlated with both subjective (at the individual-level) and objective (at the national-level) indicators of performance. The quality of institutions also matters as countries with lower levels of public sector corruption experience higher levels of trust in the civil service.
Electronic Structure Studies on Reactive Nano-Films

The present research effort developed a real-space formulation for orbital-free density functional theory and Kohn-Sham density functional theory in order to conduct large-scale electronic structure calculations that take an important step towards addressing the prevailing domain-size and geometry limitations of existing electronic-structure codes. In particular, by combining the real-space formulation with a finite-element discretization, which has the desirable attributes of a local basis that is amenable to coarse-graining and a scalable discretization on parallel-computing platforms, it has been demonstrated that large-scale electronic structure calculations at macroscopic scales become accessible to conduct an accurate electronic structure study of the energetics of defects in materials. Careful verification and validation studies of the developed techniques and codes for both orbital-free DFT and Kohn-Sham DFT have been conducted. Using orbital-free DFT the energetics of vacancies in Aluminum as well as the properties of Al-Mg alloys have been investigated. Using Kohn-Sham DFT the studies on the energetics of Ni-Al bi-layers are ongoing. The present research study was conducted in close collaboration with scientists at Army Research Labs. In this report we provide a summary of our research accomplishments and comment on our ongoing and future work. (a) Papers published in peer-reviewed journals (N/A for none) Enter List of papers submitted or published that acknowledge ARO support from the start of the project to the date of this printing. List the papers, including journal references, in the following categories:
Diversity of penetration of anti‐cancer agents into solid tumours

Abstract. Failure of anti‐cancer agents to reach all clonogenic cells at cytotoxic concentrations is recognized as an important form of resistance in solid tumours. Subcutaneously implanted mammary adenocarcinoma 16/C was used to evaluate the intratumour distribution of five alkylating, bioreductive alkylating and intercalating agents and two radiation sensitizers. The agents were classified according to their in vivo distribution in well‐ and poorly‐perfused tumour regions, as delineated by lissamine green. The classifications were: (1) distribution in direct proportion to the vascular supply; (2) uniform distribution to well‐ and poorly‐perfused tumour regions; and (3) preferential retention in the poorly‐perfused tumour regions. Our current state of knowledge did not allow reliable prediction of the classification based on chemical structure or mechanism of action.
Management of diabetes and pancreatic cancer.

Vol. 39, No. 5, September 2012 • Oncology Nursing Forum A 54-year-old male patient named D.N. developed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) 10 months ago. At the time, he weighed 225 pounds and had a body mass index of 35.2. D.N. was started on metformin with poor control and, within two months, glimepiride was added to his regimen. Six months later, D.N. ’s hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was still above 8% (normal is less than 6%), so his endocrinologist added exenatide. He had a fairly well controlled fasting blood glucose and HbA1c ranging from 6.5%–7.3% after exenatide was added. One month later, however, D.N. developed abdominal pain and anorexia with a 20-pound weight loss. His blood glucose became extremely labile despite his poor oral intake and good compliance with his oral hypoglycemic agents. A few days later, D.N. presented to the emergency room with severe abdominal pain and difficulty eating. An abdominal ultrasound revealed a normal pancreas, but a computed tomography (CT) scan showed evidence of pancreatitis and a possible mass in the tail of the pancreas. D.N. was first treated for pancreatitis and then underwent an endoscopic ultrasound that revealed an irregular partially cystic mass that was 2 x 3 cm in size. Multiple biopsies showed atypical cells. A distal pancreatectomy was performed and pathology revealed pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia with high-grade dysplasia with a question of invasive adenocarcinoma; findings by two independent pathologists were inconclusive. Thirteen peripancreatic lymph nodes were negative for metastatic tumor. D.N. was observed for two months and a repeat CT scan revealed a recurrent mass in the pancreatic surgical bed with invasion of the hepatic artery and superior mesenteric vein. An ultrasound-guided biopsy confirmed adenocarcinoma, and D.N. was referred to a medical oncologist for treatment Management of Diabetes and Pancreatic Cancer
Maximum upper esophageal sphincter (UES) admittance: a non‐specific marker of UES dysfunction

Assessment of upper esophageal sphincter (UES) motility is challenging, as functionally, UES relaxation and opening are distinct. We studied novel parameters, UES admittance (inverse of nadir impedance), and 0.2‐s integrated relaxation pressure (IRP), in patients with cricopharyngeal bar (CPB) and motor neuron disease (MND), as predictors of UES dysfunction.
Two-Phase Flow Regime Identification Based on Cross-Entropy and Information Extension Methods for Computerized Tomography

Computerized tomography (CT) is applied to multiphase flow measurements in recent years. A new approach based on the cross-entropy and information extension methods is proposed for two-phase flow regime identification in this paper. Two minimum cross-entropy methods, namely, maximum a posteriori and simultaneous multiplicative algebraic reconstruction technique (ART), are presented. This paper discusses the selection of parameters and prior smoothing operator. An information extension method is proposed based on the geometrical model of the CT system to reduce ill condition and modify the edge shape of reconstruction. Both simulation and experiments were carried out for typical flow regimes, indicating that the proposed method can reduce the computation time and improve the resolution of the reconstructed images compared with the ART method.
Metabolic costs imposed by hydrostatic pressure constrain bathymetric range in the lithodid crab Lithodes maja

ABSTRACT The changing climate is shifting the distributions of marine species, yet the potential for shifts in depth distributions is virtually unexplored. Hydrostatic pressure is proposed to contribute to a physiological bottleneck constraining depth range extension in shallow-water taxa. However, bathymetric limitation by hydrostatic pressure remains undemonstrated, and the mechanism limiting hyperbaric tolerance remains hypothetical. Here, we assess the effects of hydrostatic pressure in the lithodid crab Lithodes maja (bathymetric range 4–790 m depth, approximately equivalent to 0.1 to 7.9 MPa hydrostatic pressure). Heart rate decreased with increasing hydrostatic pressure, and was significantly lower at ≥10.0 MPa than at 0.1 MPa. Oxygen consumption increased with increasing hydrostatic pressure to 12.5 MPa, before decreasing as hydrostatic pressure increased to 20.0 MPa; oxygen consumption was significantly higher at 7.5–17.5 MPa than at 0.1 MPa. Increases in expression of genes associated with neurotransmission, metabolism and stress were observed between 7.5 and 12.5 MPa. We suggest that hyperbaric tolerance in L. maja may be oxygen-limited by hyperbaric effects on heart rate and metabolic rate, but that L. maja's bathymetric range is limited by metabolic costs imposed by the effects of high hydrostatic pressure. These results advocate including hydrostatic pressure in a complex model of environmental tolerance, where energy limitation constrains biogeographic range, and facilitate the incorporation of hydrostatic pressure into the broader metabolic framework for ecology and evolution. Such an approach is crucial for accurately projecting biogeographic responses to changing climate, and for understanding the ecology and evolution of life at depth. Highlighted Article: Hyperbaric limitation of depth range suggests the incorporation of hydrostatic pressure into a complex model of environmental tolerance, where energy limitation constrains biogeographic range, and into the metabolic framework for ecology and evolution.
The core histone N-terminal domains are required for multiple rounds of catalytic chromatin remodeling by the SWI/SNF and RSC complexes.

SWI/SNF and RSC are large, distinct multi-subunit complexes that use the energy of ATP hydrolysis to disrupt nucleosome structure, facilitating the binding of transcription factors or restriction enzymes to nucleosomes [Cote, J., Quinn, J., Workman, J. L. , and Peterson, C. L. (1994) Science 265, 53-60 (1); Lorch, Y. , Cairns, B. R. , Zhang, M. , and Kornberg, R. D. (1998) Cell 94, 29-34 (2)]. Here we have used a quantitative assay to measure the activities of these ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes using nucleosomal arrays reconstituted with hypoacetylated, hyperacetylated, or partially trypsinized histones. This assay is based on measuring the kinetics of restriction enzyme digestion of a site located within the central nucleosome of a positioned 11-mer array [Logie, C. , and Peterson, C. L. (1997) EMBO J. 16, 6772-6782 (3)]. We find that the DNA-stimulated ATPase activities of SWI/SNF and RSC are not altered by the absence of the histone N-termini. Furthermore, ATP-dependent nucleosome remodeling is also equivalent on all three substrate arrays under reaction conditions where the concentrations of nucleosomal array and either SWI/SNF or RSC are equivalent. However, SWI/SNF and RSC cannot catalytically remodel multiple nucleosomal arrays in the absence of the histone termini, and this catalytic activity of SWI/SNF is decreased by histone hyperacetylation. These results indicate that the histone termini are important for SWI/SNF and RSC function; and, furthermore, our data defines a step in the remodeling cycle where the core histone termini exert their influence. This step appears to be after remodeling, but prior to intermolecular transfer of the remodelers to new arrays.
The de novo synthesis of numerous proteins is decreased during vitamin D3 deficiency and is gradually restored by 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 repletion in the islets of langerhans of rats.

Since both the release and de novo biosynthesis of insulin are severely decreased by vitamin D3 deficiency and improved by 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) repletion following a 6-h delay in the rat, the present experiments investigated the effects of vitamin D3 deficiency on the biosynthesis of heavier molecular weight proteins using electrophoretic separation. Gel protein staining by Coomassie blue showed very different profiles for islets protein production from 4-week vitamin D3-deficient rats compared with normal islets. The pattern was characterised by a decrease in high molecular weight proteins, concomitantly accompanied by an increase in low molecular weight proteins. This tendency was partially reversed in vivo by 1,25(OH)2D3 repletion treatment for 7 days and was evident after only 16 h of treatment. In parallel with these in vivo observations, which represent a static index of islets protein production, a kinetic study was performed in vitro by a double-labelling method allowing us to measure the de novo synthesis of proteins in islets during a strong 16.7 mM glucose stimulation. Comparison of 3H and 14C labelled samples was achieved via coelectrophoresis to avoid experimental artefacts. The study of the ratio of d.p.m. 3H/d.p.m. 14C for each molecular weight protein in islets stimulated by 16.7 mM glucose (versus basal 4.2 mM glucose) showed an increase in the height of certain peaks: 150, 130 and 8.5 kDa. Under the same conditions, islets from 4-week vitamin D3-deficient rats (versus normal islets) presented a large deficit of numerous newly synthesised proteins and particularly those implicated in the response to glucose stimulation. In vitro repletion of 1,25(OH)2D3 tended to reverse, at least in part, the deleterious effect of vitamin D3 deficiency on the de novo protein synthesis of islets but these effects were gradual. Indeed, there was no detectable effect at 2 h incubation, but 1,25(OH)2D3 increased the 60 to 65 kDa, 55 kDa, and 9 to 8 kDa molecular mass proteins at 4 h, and increased the level of most newly synthesised proteins at 6 h. These data support the hypothesis of a beneficial genomic influence of 1,25(OH)2D3 that occurs progressively within the islets of Langerhans and which may prepare the beta cells for an enhanced response to glucose stimulation.
The convergence of an algorithm for solving sparse nonlinear systems

A new algorithm for solving systems of nonlinear equations where the Jacobian is known to be sparse is shown to converge locally if a sufficiently good initial estimate of the solution is available and if the Jacobian satisfies a Lipschitz condition. The results of numerical experiments are quoted in which systems of up to 600 equations have been solved
Quality of life of nursing home residents in China: A mediation analysis

&NA; We examined whether the relationship between activities of daily living and quality of life was mediated by depression, and identified differences of the mediating effects by age group. In this cross‐sectional survey, 231 older adults were recruited from eight nursing homes. The path analysis indicated that depression played an important mediating role in the relationship between activities of daily living and quality of life. Depression appeared to be more significant for the mental health component as an outcome compared to the physical health component of quality of life. The impact of depression as a mediator for the older old group was greater than the young–middle group. This finding increases our understanding of the impact of age on the mediating effect of depression on the relationship between activities of daily living and quality of life. Healthcare providers should consider older adults' age differences when integrating physical or depression programs into clinical practice to enhance quality of life.
The association of weather and bathing water quality on the incidence of gastrointestinal illness in the west of Scotland

SUMMARY The associations with weather and bathing water quality on infectious intestinal disease (IID) were investigated using data from two Scottish NHS Board areas. Monthly counts of viral and non-viral gastrointestinal infections were modelled as a smooth function of temperature, relative humidity and average monthly counts of faecal indicator organisms, respectively, adjusting for season and long-term trend effects. Strong seasonal patterns were observed for each group of pathogens. Peak viral gastrointestinal infection was in May while that of non-viral gastrointestinal infections was in July. A statistically significant negative association existed between weather (temperature and humidity) and viral infection. Average levels of non-viral gastrointestinal infections increased as temperature and relative humidity increased. Increasing levels of faecal indicator organisms in bathing waters were also associated with an increase in the average number of viral and non-viral gastrointestinal infections at the ecological level. Future climate change and prolonged precipitation events may result in increasing levels of faecal indicator organisms in bathing waters leading to likely increases in IIDs.