Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transfer function approach to quantum control-part I: Dynamics of quantum feedback systems

This paper gives a unified approach to feedback control theory of quantum mechanical systems of bosonic modes described by noncommutative operators. A quantum optical closed-loop, including a plant and controller, is developed and its fundamental structural properties are analyzed extensively from a purely quantum mechanical point of view, in order to facilitate the use of control theory in microscopic world described by quantum theory. In particular, an input-output description of quantum mechanical systems which is essential in describing the behavior of the feedback systems is fully formulated and developed. This would then provide a powerful tool for quantum control and pave an avenue that connects control theory to quantum dynamics. This paper is divided into two parts. The first part is devoted to the basic formulation of quantum feedback control via quantum communication and local operations on an optical device, cavity, that can be regarded as a unit of quantum dynamics of bosonic modes. The formulation introduced in this paper presents the feature intrinsic in quantum feedback systems based on quantum stochastic differential equations. The input-output description provides a basis for developing quantum feedback control through the transfer function representation of quantum feedback systems. In the follow-up paper, the quantum mechanical representation of feedback is further elaborated to yield the control theoretical representation of fundamental notions of quantum theory, uncertainty principle, e.g., and some applications are presented.
Manejo holístico de plagas: Más allá del MIP

Las plagas, es decir, los organismos que interfieren con las actividades y propositos de los humanos, se encuentran entre los factores limitantes mas importantes de la productividad de los sistemas agroforestales y pecuarios. Tratese de insectos, patogenos o malezas, estos organismos son responsables del 37 al 50% de las perdidas reportadas en la agricultura mundial (Pimentel et al., 1991; Sweetmore et al., 2001; Oerke, 2005). A lo largo de la historia, con el proposito de eliminar o contrarrestar estas perdidas, el ser humano ha desarrollado diversas tecnologias y ha implementado infinidad de programas de control en todo el mundo. En los ultimos 50 anos, destaca el Manejo Integrado de Plagas (MIP) entre las estrategias de control, cuya aplicacion ha demostrado reducir las poblaciones y danos ocasionados por las plagas al menor costo economico, social y ambiental (Kogan, 1998). No obstante, existen al menos tres hechos que implican que, a pesar de las innovaciones tecnologicas y de los recursos invertidos, el MIP no ha sido una estrategia viable: Su adopcion ha sido muy baja; los danos ocasionados por plagas a las cosechas no han disminuido a escala global (Oerke, 2005); y, aqui y alla han emergido nuevos paradigmas alternativos al MIP. Este ensayo tiene el proposito de reflexionar sobre la naturaleza del MIP, como punto de partida para argumentar su inviabilidad para la inmensa mayoria de los agricultores. En consecuencia, se propondra una estrategia alternativa cuyo concepto, principios y filosofia se sustentan en un enfoque holistico, de alli que se le haya denominado “Manejo Holistico de Plagas”.
La comida española y la mirada extranjera

El punto de partida de esta reflexion es la consideracion altamente positiva que tienen los espanoles sobre su gastronomia. Se pregunta el autor si comparten los extranjeros esa valoracion, porque no siempre coinciden las percepciones propias y ajenas. Para contestar esta cuestion analiza los testimonios (los llamados libros de viaje) que escribieron los visitantes de la peninsula desde el siglo XVI al XX. Dicho examen muestra que el capitulo alimentario solo puede entenderse en un contexto social y cultural mas amplio: de ahi que los juicios sobre la comida hispana sean indisociables de la imagen general del pais. En este sentido hay que subrayar la potencia y perdurabilidad del mito de la Espana romantica, con unos efectos, positivos y negativos, que se prolongan hasta casi nuestros dias. Palabras clave Imagen de Espana, alimentacion, viajes por Espana, gastronomia, estereotipos.
Dynamical model and experimental identification of a cable-driven finger joint for surgical robot

This paper proposes a new type of wire rope drive, and designed the single joint for Surgical Robot micro devices. Based on taking the elasticity of driven cable into account, the dynamical analysis of submodule, the complete and accurate dynamical model of the cable-driven finger joint for surgical robot were set up, designed of the estimator of the joint angle, and the DC servo motor control modelling. We focus on the modelling method and the experimental identification of the model parameters. The Inverse Dynamic Method (IDM) was adopted. Identification results were validated by another trajectory. The model shows a good efficiency in predicting the behaviour of the cable-driven finger joint.
Neprilysin-sensitive Synapse-associated Amyloid-β Peptide Oligomers Impair Neuronal Plasticity and Cognitive Function*

A subtle but chronic alteration in metabolic balance between amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) anabolic and catabolic activities is thought to cause Aβ accumulation, leading to a decade-long pathological cascade of Alzheimer disease. However, it is still unclear whether a reduction of the catabolic activity of Aβ in the brain causes neuronal dysfunction in vivo. In the present study, to clarify a possible connection between a reduction in neprilysin activity and impairment of synaptic and cognitive functions, we cross-bred amyloid precursor protein (APP) transgenic mice (APP23) with neprilysin-deficient mice and biochemically and immunoelectron-microscopically analyzed Aβ accumulation in the brain. We also examined hippocampal synaptic plasticity using an in vivo recording technique and cognitive function using a battery of learning and memory behavior tests, including Y-maze, novel-object recognition, Morris water maze, and contextual fear conditioning tests at the age of 13–16 weeks. We present direct experimental evidence that reduced activity of neprilysin, the major Aβ-degrading enzyme, in the brain elevates oligomeric forms of Aβ at the synapses and leads to impaired hippocampal synaptic plasticity and cognitive function before the appearance of amyloid plaque load. Thus, reduced neprilysin activity appears to be a causative event that is at least partly responsible for the memory-associated symptoms of Alzheimer disease. This supports the idea that a strategy to reduce Aβ oligomers in the brain by up-regulating neprilysin activity would contribute to alleviation of these symptoms.
Morbilliviruses Use Signaling Lymphocyte Activation Molecules (CD150) as Cellular Receptors

ABSTRACT Morbilliviruses comprise measles virus, canine distemper virus, rinderpest virus, and several other viruses that cause devastating human and animal diseases accompanied by severe immunosuppression and lymphopenia. Recently, we have shown that human signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) is a cellular receptor for measles virus. In this study, we examined whether canine distemper and rinderpest viruses also use canine and bovine SLAMs, respectively, as cellular receptors. The Onderstepoort vaccine strain and two B95a (marmoset B cell line)-isolated strains of canine distemper virus caused extensive cytopathic effects in normally resistant CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cells after expression of canine SLAM. The Ako vaccine strain of rinderpest virus produced strong cytopathic effects in bovine SLAM-expressing CHO cells. The data on entry with vesicular stomatitis virus pseudotypes bearing measles, canine distemper, or rinderpest virus envelope proteins were consistent with development of cytopathic effects in SLAM-expressing CHO cell clones after infection with the respective viruses, confirming that SLAM acts at the virus entry step (as a cellular receptor). Furthermore, most measles, canine distemper, and rinderpest virus strains examined could any use of the human, canine, and bovine SLAMs to infect cells. Our findings suggest that the use of SLAM as a cellular receptor may be a property common to most, if not all, morbilliviruses and explain the lymphotropism and immunosuppressive nature of morbilliviruses.
A Novel Nonsense Mutation at E106 of the 2B Rod Domain of Keratin 14 Causes Dominant Epidermolysis Bullosa Simplex

Epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS) is classified into three main types and is caused, in most cases, by missense mutations in the genes encoding keratin (K) 5 and K14. In this study, we clinically, ultrastructurally, immunohistochemically, and molecularly studied a patient with a dominant EBS, Köbner type. Using sequence analysis of genomic DNA, a novel K14 nonsense mutation was identified. A heterozygous mutation G1231T of KRT14 was found to be associated with the disease in the patient. The mutation created a premature stop codon (amino acid codon 411, residue 106 of the 2B helix) in the K14 molecule. This residue lies in a highly conserved region and was recently found to be absolutely required for molecular stability and intermediate filament assembly in K5 and K14. The E411X (E106X) heterozygous ablation, missing the last 16 amino acid residues of the 2B and the entire tail domain of K14, led to disease but did not result in clumping of keratin filaments. It is the first premature stop codon mutation of K14 found in dominant EBS.
ROC methods for evaluation of fMRI techniques

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) methods provide a standardized and statistically meaningful means for comparing signal‐detection accuracy. A brief overview of ROC methods is presented. Example applications include a comparison of four different postprocessing algorithms operating on simulated fMRI time‐course data sets and on human null data sets to which a simulated fMR response had been added. ROC methods also were used to reanalyze one data set from a previously published work. Additional ROC methods that also may be useful for fMRI comparisons are described.
Evolution of the Ablation Region After Magnetic Resonance–Guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation in a Vx2 Tumor Model

ObjectivesVolumetric magnetic resonance (MR)–guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a completely noninvasive image-guided thermal ablation technique. Recently, there has been growing interest in the use of MR-HIFU for noninvasive ablation of malignant tumors. Of particular interest for noninvasive ablation of malignant tumors is reliable treatment monitoring and evaluation of response. At this point, there is limited evidence on the evolution of the ablation region after MR-HIFU treatment. The purpose of the present study was to comprehensively characterize the evolution of the ablation region after volumetric MR-HIFU ablation in a Vx2 tumor model using MR imaging, MR temperature data, and histological data. Materials and MethodsVx2 tumors in the hind limb muscle of New Zealand White rabbits (n = 30) were ablated using a clinical MR-HIFU system. Twenty-four animals were available for analyses. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed before and immediately after ablation; MR temperature mapping was performed during the ablation. The animals were distributed over 7 groups with different follow-up lengths. Depending on the group, animals were reimaged and then killed on day 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, or 28 after ablation. For all time points, the size of nonperfused areas (NPAs) on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted (CE-T1-w) images was compared with lethal thermal dose areas (ie, the tissue area that received a thermal dose of 240 equivalent minutes or greater [EM] at 43°C) and with the necrotic tissue areas on histology sections. ResultsThe NPA on CE-T1-w imaging showed an increase in median size from 266 ± 148 to 392 ± 178 mm2 during the first day and to 343 ± 170 mm2 on day 3, followed by a gradual decrease to 113 ± 103 mm2 on day 28. Immediately after ablation, the NPA was 1.6 ± 1.4 times larger than the area that received a thermal dose of 240 EM or greater in all animals. The median size of the necrotic area on histology was 1.7 ± 0.4 times larger than the NPA immediately after ablation. After 7 days, the size of the NPA was in agreement with the necrotic tissue area on histology (ratio, 1.0 ± 0.2). ConclusionsDuring the first 3 days after MR-HIFU ablation, the ablation region increases in size, after which it gradually decreases in size. The NPA on CE-T1-w imaging underestimates the extent of tissue necrosis on histology in the initial few days, but after 1 week, the NPA is reliable in delineating the necrotic tissue area. The 240-EM thermal dose limit underestimates the necrotic tissue area immediately after MR-HIFU ablation. Reliable treatment evaluation techniques are particularly important for noninvasive, image-guided tumor ablation. Our results indicate that CE-T1-w imaging is reliable for MR-HIFU treatment evaluation after 1 week.
CheckDroid: A Tool for Automated Detection of Bad Practices in Android Applications Using Taint Analysis

Today, Android runs on more than 80% of smartphones and tablets in the market. Although a guide to good programming practices exists, it is not at all enforced by current IDEs. This work presents CheckDroid, a tool towards automatically detecting bad patterns early in the development cycle. Its originality relies on the idea of mapping bad practices into appropriate paths in the code which can be found by static taint analysis. The main benefit for developers consists in the ability to early, simply and quickly clean up the code of potential causes of runtime errors. More specific tools can be used later for deeper verification. Preliminary experimental evaluation shows that CheckDroid is able to find common bad practices incurred in by newbie Android programmers.
Stem Cells and Regeneration in Plants

Background: Plants are characterized by indeterminate post-embryonic development that is evident, for example, in the continuous branching of shoots and roots. High competence to regenerate tissues is another consequence of such intrinsic developmental plasticity in plants. It has been suggested that specialized groups of cells within plant meristems should be compared to stem cells in animals, but the utility of this label in the context of post-embryonic plant development and regeneration is often debated. Summary: This paper is organized into 3 short sections, where (a) key observations and experimental results on tissue regeneration in plants - mainly in the model system Arabidopsis thaliana, (b) stem cell activity and (c) their role in regeneration are described. The main focus is maintained on the critical aspects of defining stem cell-ness in plants, particularly in the context of tissue regeneration. A number of recent excellent reviews are cited throughout the text to give the reader the appropriate tools to dig deeper into the various stimulating topics introduced here. Key Messages: Despite the remarkable somatic developmental plasticity characterizing post-embryonic development in plants, use of the classic concept of stem cells has been imported from the animal literature with the goal of facilitating our understanding and description of plant developmental processes. It is not clear if this is the case, especially in light of the recent experimental results on root regeneration in Arabidopsis mutants.
Ghrelin acts in the central nervous system to stimulate gastric acid secretion.

Ghrelin is a novel acylated peptide that functions in the regulation of growth hormone release and energy metabolism. It was isolated from rat stomach as an endogenous ligand for growth hormone secretagogue receptor. Ghrelin is also localized in the arcuate nucleus of rat hypothalamus. Intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration increases food intake and body weight. We examined the effect of ghrelin on gastric acid secretion in urethane-anesthetized rats and found that ICV administration of ghrelin increased gastric acid output in a dose-dependent manner. Vagotomy and administration of atropine abolished the gastric acid secretion induced by ghrelin. ICV administration of ghrelin also induced c-fos expression in the neurons of the nucleus of the solitary tract and the dorsomotor nucleus of the vagus, which are key sites in the central nervous system for regulation of gastric acid secretion. Our results suggest that ghrelin participates in the central regulation of gastric acid secretion by activating the vagus system.
An optimum downlink power control method for CDMA cellular mobile systems

Power Control is essential in the design of DS-CDMA techniques. The optimum power control (OPC) methods with carrier-to-interference ratio (CIR) balancing have been identified as eigenvalue problems. For the CDMA cellular system, Wu (see IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol., vol.48, p.571-5, 1999) formulated the CIR-balanced power control problem to an eigenvalue problem based on a newly proposed link-gain matrix. However, the size of the matrix is proportional to the number of active mobiles in a CDMA cellular system. Therefore the implementation will be infeasible due to the exceedingly large size. We present a novel link-gain matrix, whose size is only proportional to the number of cells of a whole CDMA system. Based on the proposed link-gain matrix, the CIR-balanced power control in a CDMA cellular system is formulated as an eigenvalue problem and the corresponding implementation algorithm is presented as well that is optimum in the sense that the interference probability is minimized. As a result of the small size of link-gain matrix, the proposed OPC algorithm has better convergence performance than Wu's. The numerical results indicate that our proposed OPC method achieves the same performance as Wu's regardless of the pretty small size of the proposed link-gain matrix.
MoneyMorph: Censorship Resistant Rendezvous using Permissionless Cryptocurrencies

Abstract Cryptocurrencies play a major role in the global financial ecosystem. Their presence across different geopolitical corridors, including in repressive regimes, has been one of their striking features. In this work, we leverage this feature for bootstrapping Censorship Resistant communication. We conceptualize the notion of stego-bootstrapping scheme and its security in terms of rareness and security against chosencovertext attacks. We present MoneyMorph, a provably secure stego-bootstrapping scheme using cryptocurrencies. MoneyMorph allows a censored user to interact with a decoder entity outside the censored region, through blockchain transactions as rendezvous, to obtain bootstrapping information such as a censorshipresistant proxy and its public key. Unlike the usual bootstrapping approaches (e.g., emailing) with heuristic security, if any, MoneyMorph employs public-key steganography over blockchain transactions to ensure provable cryptographic security. We design rendezvous over Bitcoin, Zcash, Monero, and Ethereum, and analyze their effectiveness in terms of available bandwidth and transaction cost. With its highly cryptographic structure, we show that Zcash provides 1148 byte bandwidth per transaction costing less than 0.01 USD as fee.
Progress Toward Discovery of Susceptibility Genes for Bipolar Manic-Depressive Illness and Schizophrenia

Abstract The inconsistency in linkage results that has bedeviled psychiatric genetics has been observed to occur regularly in common diseases with complex inheritance. Nonetheless, in two such instances—noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)—susceptibility genes have been discovered based on the follow-ups of linkage findings. In bipolar illness disorder (BPD) and schizophrenia (SZ), there are some linkage reports with replication of other studies similar to the situation in NIDDM and IBD before the successful positional cloning efforts. Two of the regions with linkage reports, BPD and SZ, on the long arms of chromosomes 13 and 22, show linkage to the same markers in both diseases. This lends some plausibility to the hypothesis of some shared genetic predispositions for both disorders. Cytogenetic evidence offers another positional approach to susceptibility genes. The velocardiofacial syndrome is associated with deletions very close to the linkage region on chromosome 22, and with psychiatric manifestations of both BPD and SZ. Endophenotypes ofSZ, previously demonstrated to be heritable, have been found to have chromosomal linkage in at least one study. These include eye-tracking abnormalities linked to 6p, and an abnormality of the P50 cortical evoked potential linked to chromosome 15. Variants in specific genes have been associated with susceptibility to the psychiatric illnesses. These genetic findings may contribute to etiologic subcategorization of BPD and SZ, and the development of new treatment approaches. A table of genetic terms is included for review.
The effect of antigen on the development of Peyer's patches in sheep

The proposition that the development of Peyer's patches (PP) is influenced by anti‐genic stimulation has been examined in sheep. Terminal lengths of ileum containing about half of the ileocecal PP were isolated from the intestinal tracts of fetal lambs during the last month before birth. Antigen was injected into some of these segments and the subsequent development of the PP studied before and after birth.
A Head Start for the Whole Family : Assessing the Labor Supply Response of Mothers of Head Start Participants

Childcare programs have the potential to benefit both children, through cognitive development, and parents, by lessening the burden of childcare. This paper is one of the first to study the impact of Head Start, a preschool program serving nearly one million low-income children in the United States, on the parents of participants. Using discontinuities in the eligibility requirements of Head Start, I provide the first evidence that Head Start has a positive causal effect on the labor market participation of the mothers of Head Start children. I find that Head Start increases mothers’ hours worked per week, probability of employment, and probability of an income increase. These effects are large in magnitude and particularly strong for black families who exhibit greater take-up rates of the program. ∗I would like to express my gratitude to my adviser, Professor Altonji, for his patience, expertise, encouragement, and trust. I also thank Marianne Bruins and Robert Moffitt for helpful comments, and Jennifer Cassidy-Gilbert at the BLS for her help obtaining the geocoded NLSY79 dataset. Finally, I thank my professors at Yale who taught me to think critically and creatively; this research would not be possible without them. All errors are my own.