Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Autonomous cross-country navigation: an integrated perception and planning system

The development of a software system for obstacle avoidance that controls a vehicle smoothly, continuously, and safely across natural terrain en route to a goal is discussed. The work, carried out as part of the Strategic Computing Initiative of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), was performed on the Autonomous Land Vehicle at Martin Marietta's Denver facilities. The planning software uses digital maps to plan a preferred route, and then, as the vehicle traverses that route, sensors are used to obtain scene descriptions. Techniques necessary to detect and avoid obstacles in cross-country terrain, with minimum delay between sensing and acting, are used. The system architecture, the cross-country perception system, the planning system for obstacle avoidance, the simulation environment, and the experiments are described. Work to develop a fine-grained control architecture, internalized plans, multisensor perception, and color image segmentation is discussed. <<ETX>>
Arithmétique des couplages, performance et résistance aux attaques par canaux cachés. (Arithmetic of Pairings, Efficiency and Weakness of Pairing Based Cryptography with respect to Side Channel Attacks)

Ma these porte sur l'etude des couplages, et plus particulierement leur utilisation en cryptographie. Mes premiers travaux ont portes sur l'arithmetique des couplages a travers une comparaison des complexites en nombre d'operations des couplages de Weil et Tate. Puis je me suis interessee a l'etude de l'arithmetique utile pour les couplages. Un de mes travaux propose d'utiliser une representation alternative des corps finis pour ameliorer l'efficacite des calculs impliques dans les couplages. Le second etudie en detail l'arithmetique des couplages pour les courbes dont le degre d'enfoncement est 15. Ces premiers travaux m'ont permis de me familiariser avec les couplages et je me suis alors orientee vers la resistance aux attaques par canaux caches des algorithmes de couplage. J'ai etudie les faiblesses de l'algorithme de Miller lorsqu'il subit des attaques par analyse de consommation de courant et par injection de fautes.
Yet to Come Diving Mammals

The ability of diving mammals to forage at depth on a breath hold of air is dependent on gas exchange, both in the lung and in peripheral tissues. Anatomical and physiological adaptations in the respiratory system, cardiovascular system, blood and peripheral tissues contribute to the remarkable breath-hold capacities of these animals. The end results of these adaptations include efficient ventilation, enhanced oxygen storage, regulated transport and delivery of respiratory gases, extreme hypoxemic/ischemic tolerance, and pressure tolerance. C © 2011 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 1:517-535, 2011.
Comparison of Seven Techniques for Typing International Epidemic Strains of Clostridium difficile: Restriction Endonuclease Analysis, Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis, PCR-Ribotyping, Multilocus Sequence Typing, Multilocus Variable-Number Tandem-Repeat Analysis, Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphis

ABSTRACT Using 42 isolates contributed by laboratories in Canada, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States, we compared the results of analyses done with seven Clostridium difficile typing techniques: multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), surface layer protein A gene sequence typing (slpAST), PCR-ribotyping, restriction endonuclease analysis (REA), multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). We assessed the discriminating ability and typeability of each technique as well as the agreement among techniques in grouping isolates by allele profile A (AP-A) through AP-F, which are defined by toxinotype, the presence of the binary toxin gene, and deletion in the tcdC gene. We found that all isolates were typeable by all techniques and that discrimination index scores for the techniques tested ranged from 0.964 to 0.631 in the following order: MLVA, REA, PFGE, slpAST, PCR-ribotyping, MLST, and AFLP. All the techniques were able to distinguish the current epidemic strain of C. difficile (BI/027/NAP1) from other strains. All of the techniques showed multiple types for AP-A (toxinotype 0, binary toxin negative, and no tcdC gene deletion). REA, slpAST, MLST, and PCR-ribotyping all included AP-B (toxinotype III, binary toxin positive, and an 18-bp deletion in tcdC) in a single group that excluded other APs. PFGE, AFLP, and MLVA grouped two, one, and two different non-AP-B isolates, respectively, with their AP-B isolates. All techniques appear to be capable of detecting outbreak strains, but only REA and MLVA showed sufficient discrimination to distinguish strains from different outbreaks.
Optimisation of acoustic models for a target accent using decision-tree state clustering

In this paper we extend the decision-tree state clustering algorithm normally used to construct tied-state hidden Markov models to allow for the explicit optimisation on a particular target accent. Although the traditional algorithm guarantees overall likelihood improvements when clustering states from multiple accents, per-accent improvements are not guaranteed. We develop a tractable formulation of the targeted optimisation strategy by basing the decision-tree cluster splitting criterion on a likelihood calculated exclusively on the target accent. We find that this approach leads to deterioration compared to the traditional modelling approaches. However, when combining targeted and non-targeted approaches by linear weighting, small but consistent improvements over the traditional approaches are observed.
How do we encounter rare factor deficiencies in children? Single-centre results from Turkey

BackgroundRare factor deficiencies (RFDs) are autosomal recessively inherited coagulation factor deficiencies encountered at a frequency of between one in 500 000 and one in two million. Materials and methodsOne hundred and ninety-two patients, diagnosed as having RFD, followed and treated in our clinic between 1990 and 2013 were retrospectively evaluated in this study. ResultsFrom the 192 patients, 142 had FVII, 15 had FX, 14 had FXI, 10 had fibrinogen, six had FV, two had FXIII, two had FV + FVIII and one had FII deficiency. One hundred and thirty of the cases were boys and 62 were girls. The age range was 2 weeks to 24 years and the ages at the admission were between 2 weeks and 16 years. The rate of consanguinity was 49.4%. Eighty-eight of our patients were asymptomatic (45.8%) and 104 were symptomatic (54.2%). Asymptomatic patients were diagnosed by family histories (39.8%), preoperative laboratory studies (54.6%) and operational bleeding (5.6%). Sixty-eight of our symptomatic patients displayed grade II (65.4%) and 36 displayed grade III bleeding symptoms (34.6%). First bleeding regions were skin (33%), nose (28%), central nervous system (CNS) (15.5%), oral cavity (10.5%), soft tissue (6%), joint (3%), urinary system (2%) and gastrointestinal system (GIS) (2%), respectively. The bleeding prevalence rates of our symptomatic patients are listed as epistaxis 62.5%, skin bleedings 53%, oral cavity bleeding 28.8%, haematomas 18.3%, CNS bleedings 17.3%, haemarthrosis 14.4%, GIS bleedings 3.8%, menorrhagia 2.9%, haematuria 1.9%, bleeding because of operations 1.9% and iliopsoas bleedings 1.9%. CNS bleedings (41%) take the first place among the serious bleedings of our cases, followed by haemarthrosis (36.4%), GIS bleedings (18.1%) and iliopsoas bleedings (4.5%). Prophylaxy was applied to nine patients (five patients with FVII, two patients with fibrinogen and one each with FV and FX deficiency). ConclusionsThe characteristics of clinical presentations, first bleeding attacks, bleeding prevalence and severe bleedings as well as prophylactic approaches are discussed in this article.
Carotid intima-media thickness at different sites: relation to incident myocardial infarction; The Rotterdam Study.

AIMS We examined whether intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery, carotid bifurcation, internal carotid artery and the combined measure are predictive of future myocardial infarction and which of the measurements has the strongest predictive value. METHODS AND RESULTS We used a case-cohort approach in the Rotterdam Study. Ultrasound images of the common carotid artery, carotid bifurcation and the internal carotid artery were made. We selected the first 194 myocardial infarctions in the total population (mean follow-up 4.6 years). Analyses were done using Cox regression with adjustment for age and sex. The risk ratios (RR) for myocardial infarction associated with mean maximum common carotid, bifurcation, internal carotid intima-media thickness and the combined measurements were 3.18 (95% confidence interval, 1.83-5.54), 4.11 (2.10-8.05), 5.31 (1.77-15.9) and 6.27 (3.27-12.0), respectively, for the highest compared to the lowest quartile. The RRs for myocardial infarction per standard deviation increase of common carotid, bifurcation, internal carotid artery and combined intima-media thickness were 1.44 (1.28-1.62), 1.34 (1.17-1.53), 1.12 (0.94-1.33) and 1.47 (1.31-1.65), respectively. The areas under the ROC curves for the three measurements and the combined measure were not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS Increased carotid intima-media thickness is a strong predictor of future myocardial infarction and all measurement sites have the same ability to predict future myocardial infarction.
RTN ${\bf V}_{{\bf T}}$ Instability From the Stationary Trap-Filling Condition: An Analytical Spectroscopic Investigation

This paper presents an analytical investigation of the spatial and energetic position of the traps responsible for threshold voltage random telegraph fluctuations in a metal-oxide-semiconductor device. Assuming a stationary trap-filling condition as a result of the application of a constant gate bias, a simple formula is obtained to identify the oxide region where traps having an arbitrary probability to change their state between two subsequent time instants are located. Results are extremely important for the statistical spectroscopic analysis of random telegraph noise sources.
Laser printed graphene on polyimide electrodes for magnetohydrodynamic pumping of saline fluids

An efficient, scalable pumping device is reported that avoids moving parts and is fabricated with a cost-effective method. The magnetohydrodynamic pump has electrodes facilely made by laser printing of polyimide. The electrodes exhibit a low sheet resistance of 22.75 Ω/square. The pump is implemented in a channel of 240 mm2 cross-section and has an electrode length of 5 mm. When powered by 7.3 V and 12.43 mA/cm2, it produces 13.02 mm/s flow velocity.
Pathway based analysis of SNPs with relevance to 5‐FU therapy: Relation to intratumoral mRNA expression and survival

Genetic factors are thought to play a role in resistance towards chemotherapeutic agents such as 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU). Approximately 30 genes are directly or indirectly involved in 5‐FU metabolism, and genetic variation in any of these may contribute to anti‐tumor response. Polymorphisms in these genes were analyzed in relation to tumoral mRNA levels of 5‐FU metabolizing genes, response to chemotherapy and survival. A total of 21 genetic variants were studied in 35 breast cancer patients treated with 5‐FluoroUracil, mitomycin (FUMI) and in a similar cohort of 90 doxorubicin treated breast cancer patients. Genotype distributions were compared using 109 healthy controls. No significant association was found between any polymorphisms and response to chemotherapy as measured by shrinkage of tumor. However, carriers of 3 copies of the TYMS 5′UTR repeat had shorter survival than noncarriers (p = .048) in the FUMI treatment group, but not in the doxorubicin treated group. Carriers of 3 copies of the repeat were also more frequently observed in both patients groups than in healthy controls (p = .034). Several highly significant associations were observed between genotypes and expression levels of 5‐FU metabolizing genes. A SNP in codon 72 of TP53 was revealed to be a key regulator of 5‐FU metabolizing genes such as DHFR and MTHFR, constituting 50% of all significant associations observed after FUMI therapy. These data suggest that 3 copies of the TYMS 5′UTR repeat may give a treatment specific reduced survival in breast cancer patients, and that TP53 may have a direct, allele specific, role in 5‐FU mediated response. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Hyperemia in the skin in the distal part of the left amputated lower exremity

Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disease which is also known as hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy type 4 (1). The prominent characteristics of the disease include fever due to anhidrosis, absence of sense of pain, painless ulcers in the structures inside the mouth and extremities, self-harm behavior, mild to severe mental retardation, myelination defect in the sural nerve biopsy and loss of small myelinized fibers. Infection in the fingers and toes, lips and tongue and scarring is observed commonly. Keratoderma palmoplantaris is a typical finding in the advanced period (1, 2). Other problems include chronic bone and joint infections.
Moral Reasoning and the Review of Research Involving Human Subjects

The model of moral reasoning used in Institutional Review Board review fails to uphold ethical ideals for research participants for it does not adequately acknowledge the particular context of research or of subjects, including their gender, their socioeconomic status, and the communities in which they lead their lives. The ethical review of research needs to take seriously the particularities of the research context as well as the situations of potential participants. A variety of conclusions are drawn for changes to the system for ethical review. Most significant is a call for effective consultation with the various communities affected by research and greater reliance on subject representatives. Also proposed is national review for selected research.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance in a suburban community in southern Mexico.

OBJECTIVE To determine the impact of drug resistance (DR) on the clinical outcome and transmission of tuberculosis under programmatic conditions. METHODS Prospective cohort and molecular epidemiologic study in the Orizaba Health Jurisdiction of Mexico. Between March 1995 and July 1999, chronic coughers with positive acid-fast bacilli (AFB) detected in sputum smear underwent clinical and mycobacteriologic evaluation (species identification, drug susceptibility testing and IS6110-based genotyping). Treatment was provided in accordance with official norms. RESULTS Mycobacterium tuberculosis was isolated from 326/387 AFB-positive cases. The rate of DR was 24.2% and that of multidrug resistance (MDR, defined as resistance to both isoniazid and rifampin at least) was 7.7%; 78% were cured, 8% abandoned treatment, 6% failed treatment, and 5% died. An additional 13.5% received retreatment and 8.9% died during a median 28.6 months of follow up. Factors associated with DR by multivariate analysis were chronicity of tuberculosis (OR 4.8, 95%CI 2.7-8.4, P < 0.001), age >40 years (OR 1.9, 95%CI 1.1-3.2, P = 0.02) and indigenous origin (OR 0.3, 95%CI 0.13-0.75, P = 0.01). Cox-adjusted relative risks showed that MDR (RR 2.5, 95%CI 1.02-6.16, P = 0.04), HIV infection (RR 31.3, 95%CI 11.6-84.8, P < 0.001), and chronicity of tuberculosis (RR 2.1, 95%CI 1.0-4.4, P = 0.06) were associated with mortality, controlling for age. Predictors of retreatment were DR (not including MDR) (RR 2.2 95%CI 0.89-5.31, P < 0.087), MDR (RR 12.6, 95%CI 5.46-28.88, P < 0.001), and living in a household with an earthen floor (RR 2.8, 95%CI 1.27-6.13, P = 0.011). Being infected with MDR-TB was the only factor associated with a decreased likelihood of being in an RFLP cluster (OR 0.31, 95%CI 0.12-0.81, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS Although MDR-TB may have a decreased propensity to spread and cause disease, it has a profoundly negative impact on tuberculosis control.
Hacking AES-128

Advanced Encryption Standard, commonly known as AES, is one the most well known encryption protocols. It is used in a large variety of applications ranging from encrypting classified documents in government agencies to allowing secure data transfer in everyday transfer protocols, such as HTTPS and FTPS. In this paper, we use template attack and Support Vector Machine to perform a side-channel attack on AES-128 and recover the cipher key from a power trace of a hardware encrypting device. Using SVM, we achieve an overall prediction accuracy of 35%, which is more than sufficient to retrieve the entire cipher key. In addition, we use a balanced SVM to counteract the skewing of our prediction classes.
Scalable flame synthesis of SiO2 nanowires: dynamics of growth

Silica nanowire arrays were grown directly onto plain glass substrates by scalable flame spray pyrolysis of organometallic solutions (hexamethyldisiloxane or tetraethyl orthosilicate). The silicon dioxide films consisted of a network of interwoven nanowires from a few to several hundred nanometres long (depending on the process conditions) and about 20 nm in diameter, as determined by scanning electron microscopy. These films were formed rapidly (within 10–20 s) at high growth rates (ca 11–30 nm s − 1) by chemical vapour deposition (surface growth) at ambient conditions on the glass substrate as determined by thermophoretic sampling of the flame aerosol and microscopy. In contrast, on high purity quartz nearly no nanowires were grown while on steel substrates porous SiO2 films were formed. Functionalization with perfluorooctyl triethoxysilane converted the nanowire surface from super-hydrophilic to hydrophobic. Additionally, their hermetic coating by thin carbon layers was demonstrated also revealing their potential as substrates for synthesis of other functional 1D composite structures. This approach is a significant step towards large scale synthesis of SiO2 nanowires facilitating their utilization in several applications.
The human immunodeficiency virus Tat proteins specifically associate with TAK in vivo and require the carboxyl-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II for function

Human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 encode closely related proteins, Tat-1 and Tat-2, that stimulate viral transcription. Previously, we showed that the activation domains of these proteins specifically interact in vitro with a cellular protein kinase named TAK. In vitro, TAK phosphorylates the Tat-2 but not the Tat-1 protein, a 42-kDa polypeptide of unknown identity, and the carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II (RNAP II). We now show that the 42-kDa substrate of TAK cochromatographs with TAK activity, suggesting that this 42-kDa polypeptide is a subunit of TAK. We also show that the Tat proteins specifically associate with TAK in vivo, since wild-type Tat-1 and Tat-2 proteins expressed in mammalian cells, but not mutant Tat proteins containing a nonfunctional activation domain, can be coimmunoprecipitated with TAK. We also mapped the in vivo phosphorylation sites of Tat-2 to the carboxyl terminus of the protein, but analysis of proteins with mutations at these sites suggests that phosphorylation is not essential for Tat-2 transactivation function. We further investigated whether the CTD of RNAP II is required for Tat function in vivo. Using plasmid constructs that express an alpha-amanitin-resistant RNAP II subunit with a truncated or full-length CTD, we found that an intact CTD is required for Tat function. These observations strengthen the proposal that the mechanism of action of Tat involves the recruitment or activation of TAK, resulting in activated transcription through phosphorylation of the CTD.
A Quantum Battle of the Sexes in Noninertial Frame

We investigate the influence of the Unruh effect on the quantum Battle of the Sexes (BOF). We show that the acceleration of a noninertial frame greatly affects the payoffs of the players. In the case of Battle of the Sexes, the Nash Equilibra in the inertial frame may be equilibrium but in other games this conclusion may not be true anymore. Furthermore, we also show that the new Nash Equilibria of the game played in the noninertial frame and the probability distributions of the players in the new Nash Equilibria vary with the acceleration of moving player and the degree of entanglement in the initial state shared by the players.
Effects of a distance learning program on physicians' opioid‐ and benzodiazepine‐prescribing skills

Introduction: Opioid misuse is common among patients with chronic nonmalignant pain. There is a pressing need for physicians to increase their confidence and competence in managing these patients. Methods: A randomized controlled trial of family physicians (N = 88) attending 1 of 4 continuing medical education events helped to determine the effectiveness of e‐mail case discussions in changing physician behavior. Before random assignment, participants completed a pretest and attended a 3‐hour didactic session on prescribing opioids and benzodiazepines. The intervention group participated in 10 weeks of e‐mail case discussions, with designated participants responding to questions on cases. An addictions physician facilitated the discussion. Several months after the e‐mail discussion, participants took part in a mock telephone consultation; a blinded researcher posing as a medical colleague asked for advice about 2 cases involving opioid and benzodiazepine prescribing. Using a checklist, the researcher recorded the questions asked and advice given by the physician. Results: On post‐testing, both groups expressed greater optimism about treatment outcomes and were more likely to report using a treatment contract and providing advice about sleep hygiene. There were no significant differences between pretesting and post‐testing between the groups on the survey. During the telephone consultation, the intervention group asked significantly more questions and offered more advice than the control group (odds ratio for question items, 1.27 [p = .03]; advice items, 1.33 [p = .01). Discussion: Facilitated by electronic mail and a medical expert, case discussion is an effective means of improving physician performance. Telephone consultation holds promise as a method for evaluating physicians' assessment and management skills.
Analysis of 16S rRNA Gene Sequences of Ehrlichia canis, Anaplasma platys, and Wolbachia Species from Canine Blood in Japan

Abstract: In the present study, three canine blood samples from Japan, that were suspected to be ehrlichia positive were examined. After sequencing the 16S rRNA genes, each dog was found to be infected either with Ehrlichia canis (Kagoshima 1), Anaplasma platys (Okinawa 1), or Wolbachia sp. (Okinawa 2). Phylogenic analysis was performed on these sequences. The nearly entire 16S rRNA sequence of Kagoshima 1 was found to be most similar to the sequences from Oklahoma and Venezuela E. canis strains (1 base pair difference out of 1,387, 99.9% sequence identity). The 16S rRNA gene sequence of Okinawa 1 showed the closest DNA identity to the French strain of A. platys (1 base deletion out of 1,385 bp, 99.6% sequence identity). The 16S rRNA gene sequence of Okinawa 2 illustrated the closest DNA identity to that of a Wolbachia sp. from Dirofilaria immitis (98.9% sequence similarity). These data imply a low diversity within E. canis strains and within A. platys strains, including those strains reported in this study. This is also the first demonstration of Wolbachia DNA in dog blood, suggesting the involvement of Wolbachia sp. in canine febrile illnesses.