Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Specification, design, and simulation of mechanical horses following the opinion of Khong Minh in the novel “Three Kingdoms”

This article presents how to speculate, design and simulate a mechanical horse based on the point of view of the military man Khong Minh, a talented character in the work "Three Kingdoms" (author La Quan Trung). The behavior of this type of horse closely resembles that of a real horse. That is, it can walk, run, carry goods or people. It is made mainly of wood or steel. The authors speculated that Khong Minh placed a leaf spring in the belly of the mechanical horse. Soldiers just need to rotate so that the leaf spring twists, it will store energy in the form of potential energy. Then, it slowly unfolds, and the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, transmitting motion to the mechanisms connected to the horse's legs. Finally, the mechanical horse lifted his leg and was able to walk. Despite such speculation, when recreating a mechanical horse, our team of authors used a battery-powered motor instead of leaf springs and gear transmissions as a pre-assembled transmission part in the belly of the mechanical horse. We design additional parts such as the head, tail, belly, legs, etc. to create a complete mechanical horse. The design goal of the author's mechanical horse is to clear people's doubts about the "wooden buffalo mechanical horse" in the literary work "Three Kingdoms". At the same time, this type of mechanical horse is also applied as an amusement ride for people in tourist areas and as a children's toy in the family.
Exact Stability Analysis of the Second-Order Affine Formation Maneuver System with Three Independent Time Delays

We investigate the asymptotic stability of a leader-follower type second-order affine formation maneuver system with three independent time delays. These three delays stem from the communication channels of position, velocity, and acceleration. The central idea is to exactly determine the potential stability switching loci in the domain of delays, namely the kernel and offspring hypersurfaces (KOH). For this, we first decompose the system's characteristic equation into a sequence of factors through a factorization procedure. We then adopt the Dixon resultant theory combining the frequency sweeping technique to ascertain KOH of each subsystem exhaustively. Finally, we superpose all KOH and resort to the Cluster Treatment of Characteristic Roots (CTCR) paradigm to create the complete stability map of the whole system. Finally, we provide a case study to demonstrate the effectiveness of these methodologies and point out the positive and negative effects of the delays on the affine formation system.
Inferring inter-chromosomal rearrangements and ancestral linkage groups from synteny

Chromosome rearrangements shape the structure of the genome and influence evolutionary processes. Inferring ancestral chromosomes and rearrangements across a phylogenetic tree is therefore an important analysis within evolutionary genetics. One approach to this inference problem is to focus on synteny information, i.e. the co-occurrence of loci on the same chromosome. Although algorithms for inferring ancestral linkage groups (ALGs) and inter-chromosomal rearrangements from synteny have been previously described, they have seldom been applied to modern genome data. Here we implement these algorithms in a command-line tool, syngraph, and evaluate their performance using simulations that include a mix of different rearrangements and types of error. We show that ALGs and rearrangements can be recovered when the rearrangement frequency per-branch is well below the number of chromosomes. We demonstrate that competing models of rearrangement can be inferred by comparing observed results to simulations. Finally, we reanalyse genome assemblies of rhabditid nematodes and find that independent fusions of the same ALGs pose a challenge that is difficult to overcome without gene-order information. Our simulations and analysis of real data demonstrate both the promise and limitations of using synteny information to infer patterns of genome evolution.
The power of forgetting in statistical hypothesis testing

This paper places conformal testing in a general framework of statistical hypothesis testing. A standard approach to testing a composite null hypothesis $H$ is to test each of its elements and to reject $H$ when each of its elements is rejected. It turns out that we can fully cover conformal testing using this approach only if we allow forgetting some of the data. However, we will see that the standard approach covers conformal testing in a weak asymptotic sense and under restrictive assumptions. I will also list several possible directions of further research, including developing a general scheme of online testing.
CET2: Modelling Topic Transitions for Coherent and Engaging Knowledge-Grounded Conversations

Knowledge-grounded dialogue systems aim to generate coherent and engaging responses based on the dialogue contexts and selected external knowledge. Previous knowledge selection methods tend to rely too heavily on the dialogue contexts or over-emphasize the new information in the selected knowledge, resulting in the selection of repetitious or incongruous knowledge and further generating repetitive or incoherent responses, as the generation of the response depends on the chosen knowledge. To address these shortcomings, we introduce a Coherent and Engaging Topic Transition (CET2) framework to model topic transitions for selecting knowledge that is coherent to the context of the conversations while providing adequate knowledge diversity for topic development. Our CET2 framework considers multiple factors for knowledge selection, including valid transition logic from dialogue contexts to the following topics and systematic comparisons between available knowledge candidates. Extensive experiments on two public benchmarks demonstrate the superiority and the better generalization ability of CET2 on knowledge selection. This is due to our well-designed transition features and comparative knowledge selection strategy, which are more transferable to conversations about unseen topics. Analysis of fine-grained knowledge selection accuracy also shows that CET2 can better balance topic entailment (contextual coherence) and development (knowledge diversity) in dialogue than existing approaches.
Mapping the Urban Environments of Aedes aegypti Using Drone Technology

Aedes aegypti is widely distributed worldwide and is the main vector mosquito for dengue, one of the most important infectious diseases in middle- and low-income countries. The landscape composition and vegetation cover determine appropriate environments for this mosquito to breed, and it is fundamental to define the most affordable methodology to understand these landscape variables in urban environments. The proposed methodology integrated drone technologies and traditional entomological surveillance to strengthen our knowledge about areas suitable for Ae. aegypti infestation. We included an analysis using the vegetation indexes, NDVI and NDVIRe, and their association with Ae. aegypti larvae and adults in houses from the El Vergel neighborhood Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico. We used drone technology to obtain high-resolution photos and performed multispectral orthomosaic constructions for the data of vegetation indexes with a kernel density analysis. A negative binomial regression was performed to determine the association between the numbers of Ae. aegypti larvae and adults with the kernel density based on NDVI and NDVIRe. Medium and high values of kernel density of NDVIRe (both p-value < 0.05) and NDVI (both p-value < 0.05) were associated with a higher amount of mosquito adults per houses. The density of Ae. aegypti larvae per house did not show an association with medium and high values of NDVIRe (both p-value > 0.05) and NDVI (both p-value > 0.05). The vegetation indexes, NDVI and NDVIRe, have potential as precise predictors of Ae. aegypti adult mosquito circulation in urban environments. Drone technology can be used to map and obtain landscape characteristics associated with mosquito abundance in urban environments.
Evaluation of Microlenses, Color Filters, and Polarizing Filters in CIS for Space Applications

For the last two decades, CNES optoelectronic detection department has studied and evaluated space environment effects on a large panel of CMOS image sensors (CIS), coming from a wide range of commercial foundries and device providers (cf. Table 1). Many environmental tests have been realized in order to bring insights on detection chain degradation in modern CIS for space applications (cf. Table 2). Thanks to their good electro-optical performances, high integration level, low power consumption and tolerance to the space radiation environment, CIS are more and more preferred over Charged Coupled Devices (CCD) in many future space imaging missions. Moreover, the CIS technology has drastically improved during the las decade, reaching very high performances in term of Quantum Efficiency (QE) and spectral selectivity. These improvements are obtained thanks to the introduction of various components in the pixel optical stack such as microlenses[1], color filters[2] and polarizing filters[3]. However, since these parts have been developed for a commercial purpose, it is crucial to evaluate if these technologies can handle space environment for future imaging missions and very few literatures exist on that robustness. Several space imaging systems have thus been able to benefit from these technologies on which these tests have been carried out, such as the Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) in the SuperCam instrument aboard the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance[4] . This CNES work demonstrates that these kinds of optical stacks show little variation in terms of efficiency when exposed to space environment. It also allowed studying the response of various optical systems at pixel level for various technologies such as microlenses, color filters and polarizing filters (shown respectively in Figures 1, 2 and 3). In the presentation, an overview of environmental tests results (cf. Table 2) on many CIS from different commercial technologies and several optical stacks are compared and show that they are suitable for space applications. Thanks to their robustness, they can significantly increase CIS performances without being a limiting path for them along the mission. Since the full paper containing data and more will be published later in MDPI Sensors[5] , it is on purpose that we prefer submitting a more consistent abstract with detailed Tables showing the amount of realized tests, and CNES photos of the optical stacks we are talking about. Additional presentation content can be accessed on the supplemental content page.
Stability Analysis of Second-Order Multi-Agent System with Leaders and Time Delays

This paper studies the collective behavior of multi-agent systems with communication delays under the influence of environment. Leaders in the system are able to extract information from the environment, while followers are not. We extend the attraction and repulsion functions to a class of functions with certain properties, and use matrix, graph theory, Lyapunov stability test and other methods to carry out the work. Under the general assumption, we prove that the individuals of the multi-agent system will form a population to gather together and enter a bounded region. In addition, the effect of time delay on the system can be seen through numerical simulation.
Fungal extracellular vesicle-mediated regulation: from virulence factor to clinical application

Invasive fungal disease (IFD) poses a significant threat to immunocompromised patients and remains a global challenge due to limited treatment options, high mortality and morbidity rates, and the emergence of drug-resistant strains. Despite advancements in antifungal agents and diagnostic techniques, the lack of effective vaccines, standardized diagnostic tools, and efficient antifungal drugs contributes to the ongoing impact of invasive fungal infections (IFI). Recent studies have highlighted the presence of extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by fungi carrying various components such as enzymes, lipids, nucleic acids, and virulence proteins, which play roles in both physiological and pathological processes. These fungal EVs have been shown to interact with the host immune system during the development of fungal infections whereas their functional role and potential application in patients are not yet fully understood. This review summarizes the current understanding of the biologically relevant findings regarding EV in host-pathogen interaction, and aim to describe our knowledge of the roles of EV as diagnostic tools and vaccine vehicles, offering promising prospects for the treatment of IFI patients.
Reduced-Order Observer-Based Formation Control of Multiple Surface Vehicles

In the real ocean environment, as a result of the limited resources or sensor failures, not all states of the vehicles can be available, so the design of the observer is particularly important. In this paper, a novel reduced order observer-solving process is designed, and the parameters are directly chosen to deal with the inherent couplings, avoiding being compensated as the Lipschitz terms, moreover, the convergence rates of observer error states are guaranteed. The formation control of multiple surface vehicles is solved. The simulation results show that the proposed reduced order observer in this paper can effectively estimate the unknown velocities, and the controller can effectively solve the formation problem of multiple surface vehicles.
Feature-Based SLAM and Moving Object Detection and Tracking with Ego-Motion Compensation

SLAM in real dynamic environments is the key component to making the robotic system more useful and intelligent. From now on, most researchers have considered the world as static status. However, avoiding dynamic objects in the real world is inevitable, which deteriorates both pose estimation and mapping process. In this paper, we connect the SLAM with DATMO module, which includes detecting moving object and tracking them. For detecting moving object, the current pose of the egorobot is required to be compensated to exclude its own movement. However, it means that the current pose is needed before the SLAM's pose estimation process. To solve this problem, we exploit the Kalman Filter based predictor to offer pose value to DATMO module. In addition, by including some parameters memorizing the temporal moving status in tracking, we can cope with the objects which are temporarily in static status. All of our systems is built on ROS framework and we evaluated our method on KITTI dataset, which is mainly composed of the town or road scenes. The results show that our method is especially robust to heavy traffic conditions and also stable in other relatively static environments.
Accuracy of a Patient-Specific Total Ankle Arthroplasty Instrumentation

Background: Total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) is a preferred surgical option for end-stage ankle osteoarthritis; however, it is a demanding procedure with a higher historical rate of revision compared with ankle fusion. Patient-specific instrumentation (PSI) has been introduced to optimize prosthesis alignment and theoretically overall improve TAA outcomes. The goal of this study is to report on the experience and surgical outcomes of one implant with specific evaluation of the accuracy and reproducibility of the system with respect to prosthesis alignment and prediction of implant size. Methods: A retrospective, multicentered study involving 4 foot and ankle fellowship–trained orthopaedic surgeon’s patients undergoing TAA between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2018, using the PROPHECY PSI system. Results: 80 TAA procedures were performed. On average the postoperative tibial component alignment was 89.9 (range, 86.1-96.5) degrees in the coronal plane, with a mean sagittal alignment of 88.1 (range, 81.3-96.7) degrees. The mean deviation from neutral sagittal alignment improved from 4.9 ± 3.9 degrees preoperatively to 2.7 ± 1.7 degrees postoperatively, whereas the mean coronal alignment improved from 3.3 ± 2.5 degrees to 1.3 ± 1.1 degrees. The PSI software correctly determined the tibial implant size in 70 patients (89%). Prediction of talar implant sizing was less accurate than the tibial component, with 56 patients (71%) using the predicted sized implant. The overall implant survival at a mean follow-up of 45 months (range, 27-76) was 97.5%. Conclusion: We found that this PSI system accurately and reliably assisted in implant total ankle prosthesis positioning within a clinically acceptable margin and without significant outliers. Prediction of implant size was not as accurate as component orientation. Level of Evidence: Level III, retrospective study.
Proteomic adaptations in the kidney reveal orchestration of local and secreted antimicrobial peptides in human pyelonephritis

Pyelonephritis (PN) is a frequent bacterial infection of the kidney and is often associated with severe diseases, organ loss and sepsis. Antibiotics are the cornerstone of therapy, however, increasing antibiotic resistance threatens therapy success and necessitates novel treatment strategies. Various proteins, such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), are key molecules of the innate immune response and insights into their regulation may help overcome multi-drug resistance and severe diseases. Using label-free liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), several cellular, biological, and metabolic processes important for the antimicrobial response were identified, including a significant increase in previously undescribed proteins in human PN with antimicrobial function. Among others, we observed elevation of AMPs, such as calprotectin, azurocidin-1, and cathepsin G in the kidney, which we validated in the urine. Additionally, we observed a negative correlation of azurocidin-1 with plasma levels of C-reactive protein suggesting that the presence in the kidney may protect from severe diseases and systemic inflammation. This study represents the first renal proteomic dataset of human PN, enabling novel insights into the expression of AMPs in the context of PN. Lay Summary Growing antimicrobial resistance necessitates a better understanding of the expression of proteins that are critical for the immune response. Using mass spectrometry we identified AMPs in the kidney and urine of PN patients. Elevated levels of the AMP azurocidin-1 was associated with reduced systemic inflammation, indicated by lower C-reactive protein. Overall, this study identified expression of previously undescribed AMPs in the context of human PN. These proteins may play a pivotal role in protection from severe diseases and systemic inflammation.
An Early Prediction Model for Estimating Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Preterm Infants

Introduction: Accurate assessment of the risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is critical to determine the prognosis and identify infants who will benefit from preventive therapies. Clinical prediction models can support the identification of high-risk patients. In this study, we investigated the potential risk factors for BPD and compared machine learning models for predicting the outcome of BPD/death on days 1, 7, 14, and 28 in preterm infants. We also developed a local BPD estimator. Methods: This study involved 124 infants. We evaluated the composite outcome of BPD/death at a postmenstrual age of 36 weeks and identified risk factors that would improve BPD/death prediction. SPSS for Windows Version 11.5 and Weka 3.9 software were used for the data analysis. Results: To evaluate the combined effect of all variables, all risk factors were taken into consideration. Gestational age, birth weight, mode of respiratory support, intraventricular hemorrhage, necrotizing enterocolitis, surfactant requirement, and late-onset sepsis were risk factors on postnatal days 7, 14, and 28. In a comparison of four different time points (postnatal days 1, 7, 14, and 28), the day 7 model provided the best prediction. According to this model, when a patient was diagnosed with BPD/death, the accuracy rate was 89.5%. Conclusion: The postnatal day 7 model was the best predictor of BPD or death. Future validation studies will help identify infants who may benefit from preventive therapies and develop individualized care.
On the Genesis of a Catalyst: A Brief Review with an Experimental Case Study

The science of catalysis has a direct impact on the world economy and the energy environment that positively affects the environmental ecosystem of our universe. Any catalyst, before being tested in a reaction, must undergo a specific characterization protocol to simulate its behavior under reaction conditions. In this work, these steps that must be carried out are presented, both generically and with examples, to the support and to the catalyst itself before and after the reaction. The first stage consists of knowing the textural and structural properties of the support used for the preparation of the catalysts. The specific surface area and the pore volume are fundamental properties, measured by N2 adsorption at −196 °C when preparing the catalyst, dispersing the active phase, and allowing the diffusion and reaction of the reactants and products on its surface. If knowing the structure of the catalyst is important to control its behavior against a reaction, being able to analyze the catalyst used under the reaction conditions is essential to have knowledge about what has happened inside the catalytic reactor. The most common characterization techniques in heterogeneous catalysis laboratories are those described in this work. As an application example, the catalytic conversion of CO2 to CH4 has been selected and summarized in this work. In this case, the synthesis and characterization of Cu and Ni catalysts supported on two Al2O3 with different textural properties, 92 and 310 m2/g, that allow for obtaining various metallic dispersions, between 3.3 and 25.5%, is described. The catalytic behavior of these materials is evaluated from the CO2 methanation reaction, as well as their stability from the properties they present before and after the reaction.
Comparing genomic and epigenomic features across species using the WashU Comparative Epigenome Browser

Genome browsers have become an intuitive and critical tool to visualize and analyze genomic features and data. Conventional genome browsers display data/annotations on a single reference genome/assembly; there are also genomic alignment viewer/browsers that help users visualize alignment, mismatch, and rearrangement between syntenic regions. However, there is a growing need for a comparative epigenome browser that can display genomic and epigenomic datasets across different species and enable users to compare them between syntenic regions. Here, we present the WashU Comparative Epigenome Browser (http://comparativegateway.wustl.edu). It allows users to load functional genomic datasets/annotations mapped to different genomes and display them over syntenic regions simultaneously. The browser also displays genetic differences between the genomes from single nucleotide variants (SNVs) to structural variants (SVs) to visualize the association between epigenomic differences and genetic differences. Instead of anchoring all datasets to the reference genome coordinates, it creates independent coordinates of different genome assemblies to faithfully present features and data mapped to different genomes. It uses a simple, intuitive genome-align track to illustrate the syntenic relationship between different species. It extends the widely used WashU Epigenome Browser infrastructure and can be expanded to support multiple species. This new browser function will greatly facilitate comparative genomic/epigenomic research, as well as support the recent growing needs to directly compare and benchmark the T2T CHM13 assembly and other human genome assemblies.