gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Reachability-Based Decision-Making for Autonomous Driving: Theory and Experiments (2020)

We describe the design and validation of a decision-making system in the guidance and control architecture for automated driving. The decision-making system determines the timing of transitions through a sequence of driving modes, such as lane following and stopping, for the vehicle to eventually arrive at the destination without colliding with obstacles, hence achieving safety and liveness. The decision-making system commands a transition to the next mode only when it is possible for an underlying motion planner to generate a feasible trajectory that reaches the target region of such next mode. Using forward and backward reachable sets based on a simplified dynamical model, the decision-making system determines the existence of a trajectory that reaches the target region, without actually computing it. Thus, the decision-making system achieves fast computation, resulting in reactivity to a varying environment and reduced computational burden. To handle the discrepancy between the dynamical model and the actual vehicle motion, we model it as a bounded disturbance set and guarantee robustness against it. We prove the safety and liveness of the decision-making system and validate it using small-scale car-like robots.
Super-resolution imaging using the spatial-frequency filtered intensity\n fluctuation correlation (2014)

We report an experimental demonstration of a nonclassical imaging mechanism\nwith super-resolving power beyond the Rayleigh limit. When the classical image\nis completely blurred out due to the use of a small imaging lens, by taking\nadvantage of the intensity fluctuation correlation of thermal light, the\ndemonstrated camera recovered the image of the resolution testing gauge. This\nmethod could be adapted to long distance imaging, such as satellite imaging,\nwhich requires large diameter camera lenses to achieve high image resolution.\n
Spectral multiplexing method for digital snapshot spectral imaging (2009)

We propose a spectral imaging method for piecewise "macropixel" objects, which allows a regular digital camera to be converted into a digital snapshot spectral imager by equipping the camera with only a disperser and a demultiplexing algorithm. The method exploits a "multiplexed spectrum" intensity pattern, i.e., the superposition of spectra from adjacent different image points, formed on the image sensor of the digital camera. The spatial image resolution is restricted to a macropixel level in order to acquire both spectral and spatial data (i.e., an entire spectral cube) in a single snapshot. Results of laboratory experiments with a special macropixel object image, composed of small, spatially uniform squares, provide to our knowledge a first verification of the proposed spectral imaging method.
Threshold Properties of SSFLC in Terms of Polarization Structures (1997)

Abstract Bistability of the surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal (SSFLC) is one of the most important factors of display perfomances. The electrooptical switching is based on the bistability which provides threshold characteristics to the SSFLC display device. The threshold properties of the SSFLC device which has a layer structure of liquid crystal molecules and provides an in-plane molecular switching are assumed to be governed by not only a surface anchoring but also a bulk structure itself. We show some experimental results which suggest a contribution of ferroelectric liquid crystal's bulk structure to the electrooptical threshold properties. Layer structures: the bookshelf and the chevron geometries are one of the main bulk factors. Our experimental results clarified that the polarization switching behavior was intrinsically different between the bookshelf and the chevron structures. The bookshelf geometry also shows a possibility of gray shades.
Semapimod Sensitizes Glioblastoma Tumors to Ionizing Radiation by Targeting Microglia (2014)

Glioblastoma is the most malignant and lethal form of astrocytoma, with patients having a median survival time of approximately 15 months with current therapeutic modalities. It is therefore important to identify novel therapeutics. There is mounting evidence that microglia (specialized brain-resident macrophages) play a significant role in the development and progression of glioblastoma tumors. In this paper we show that microglia, in addition to stimulating glioblastoma cell invasion, also promote glioblastoma cell proliferation and resistance to ionizing radiation in vitro. We found that semapimod, a drug that selectively interferes with the function of macrophages and microglia, potently inhibits microglia-stimulated GL261 invasion, without affecting serum-stimulated glioblastoma cell invasion. Semapimod also inhibits microglia-stimulated resistance of glioblastoma cells to radiation, but has no significant effect on microglia-stimulated glioblastoma cell proliferation. We also found that intracranially administered semapimod strongly increases the survival of GL261 tumor-bearing animals in combination with radiation, but has no significant benefit in the absence of radiation. In conclusion, our observations indicate that semapimod sensitizes glioblastoma tumors to ionizing radiation by targeting microglia and/or infiltrating macrophages.
A novel bicomponent hemolysin from Bacillus cereus (1990)

A procedure combining isoelectric focusing (Sephadex IEF) and fast protein liquid chromatography (Superose 12; Mono-Q) removed hemolytic activity (presumably a contaminant) from partially purified preparations of the multicomponent diarrheal enterotoxin produced by Bacillus cereus. However, when the separated fractions were recombined, hemolytic activity was restored, suggesting that hemolysis is a property of the enterotoxin components. Combined fractions exhibited a unique ring pattern in gel diffusion assays in blood agar. During diffusion of the hemolysin from an agar well, the erythrocytes closest to the well were not lysed initially. After diffusion, hemolysis was observed as a sharp ring beginning several millimeters away from the edge of the well. With time the cells closer to the well were also lysed. This novel hemolysin consists of a protein (component B) which binds to or alters cells, allowing subsequent lysis by a second protein (component L). Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, isoelectric focusing, and Western blot analysis showed that hemolysin BL has properties similar to those described previously for the enterotoxin and that both components are distinct from cereolysin and cereolysin AB.
Energetics of a Zinc−Sulfur Fuel Cell (2002)

Energetics of a novel zinc−sulfur charge storage (generalized as Zn + S → ZnS) is explored to access the high (>1000 Ah/kg) charge capacity of sulfur. At 25 °C, the theoretical energy density of the complete Zn/S system is a high 572 Wh/kg, at E° = 1.04 V. From 273 to 373 K, the thermodynamic cell potential for 29 possible solution-phase reactions of the system were calculated including a variety of known coexisting aqueous polysulfide species. In this domain zinc sulfide products are thermodynamically preferred over zincate products, which can be advantageous compared to Al/S storage where aluminate is the favored discharge product. Initial experimental feasibility of a zinc−sulfur electrochemical system is explored in a zinc anode/aqueous polysulfide/CoS electrocatalytic cathode cell. Measured sustained cathode capacity approaches the theoretical 2 Faraday/sulfur limit. However, the anode tends to passivate due to the zinc sulfide discharge product, preventing sustained discharge. Passivation is overcome in potassium polysulfide solutions containing concentrated (>10 molal) KOH; this results in efficient, sustained 2 Faraday/Zn oxidation and high zinc−sulfur charge capacities.
Optical associative processing elements with versatile adaptive learning capabilities (1987)

We are investigating associative processing architectures for tackling the massive parallel symbolic-processing demands of problems from image understanding, robotic manipulation and locomotion, expert-system problem solving, and other difficult artificial intelligence domains. A modular approach is taken, where a number of smaller adaptive, associative "modules" are nonlinearly interconnected and cascaded under the guidance of a variety of "organizational principles" to construct larger architectures for solving specific problems. 1 , 2 Each module is a complete associative memory which adapts as it is exposed to associated information patterns (u,v), (e.g., feature vectors, encoded symbols, images,…), so that subsequent presentation of one pattern u results in recall of its paired pattern v.
Comparison of two methods for the generation of spatially modulated ultrasound radiation force (2011)

Spatially modulated ultrasound radiation force (SMURF) imaging is an elastographic technique that involves generating a radiation force beam with a lateral intensity variation of a defined spatial frequency. This results in a shear wave of known wavelength. By using the displacements induced by the shear wave and standard Doppler or speckle-tracking methods, the shear wave frequency, and thus material shear modulus, is estimated. In addition to generating a pushing beam pattern with a specified lateral intensity variation, it is generally desirable to induce larger displacements so that the displacement data signal-to-noise ratio is higher. We provide an analysis of two beam forming methods for generating SMURF in an elastic material: the focal Fraunhofer and intersecting plane wave methods. Both techniques generate beams with a defined spatial frequency. However, as a result of the trade-offs associated with each technique, the peak acoustic intensity outputs in the region of interest differs for the same combinations of parameters (e.g., the focal depth, the width of the area of interest, and ultrasonic attenuation coefficient). Assuming limited transducer drive voltage, we provide a decision plot to determine which of the two techniques yields the greater pushing force for a specific configuration.
ChemInform Abstract: Synthesis of 2‐Formyl‐1‐aza‐dibenzo[e,h]azulenes. (2008)

Abstract ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 200 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.
Low voltage ride through for DFIG wind turbines using passive impedance networks (2009)

This paper presents an approach to utilize a passive impedance network in series at the stator side of a typical DFIG wind turbine for the purpose of voltage sag ride through. A control strategy that enables the passive impedance network to engage and stabilize the stator flux during grid voltage sag events has been studied. Simulation results demonstrates that electromagnetic torque and rotor current meet the requirements of new regulator codes, even at zero voltage remaining with uninterrupted current feeding into the grid. Due to its topology and control strategy, the proposed system is easy to control, capable of off-line operation for high efficiency and economic in manufacturing and maintenance.
Spiro[isobenzofuran-1(3H),4'-piperidines]. 3. Diuretic and antihypertensive properties of compounds containing a sulfur attached to nitrogen (1978)

The synthesis and antihypertensive and diuretic activity of several N-sulfur derivatives of 3-phenylspiro[isobenzofuran-1(3H),4'-piperidine] are reported. Benzenesulfenamide 3 possessed marked, species-specific diuretic and antihypertensive activity in rats.
Chondroitin sulphate inhibits connective tissue mast cells (2000)

Mast cells derive from the bone marrow and are responsible for the development of allergic and possibly inflammatory reactions. Mast cells are stimulated by immunoglobulin E (IgE) and specific antigen, but also by a number of neuropeptides such as neurotensin (NT), somatostatin or substance P (SP), to secrete numerous pro‐inflammatory molecules that include histamine, cytokines and proteolytic enzymes. Chondroitin sulphate, a major constituent of connective tissues and of mast cell secretory granules, had a dose‐dependent inhibitory effect on rat peritoneal mast cell release of histamine induced by the mast cell secretagogue compound 48/80 (48/80). This inhibition was stronger than that of the clinically available mast cell ‘stabilizer’ disodium cromoglycate (cromolyn). Inhibition by chondroitin sulphate increased with the length of preincubation and persisted after the drug was washed off, while the effect of cromolyn was limited by rapid tachyphylaxis. Immunologic stimulation of histamine secretion from rat connective tissue mast cells (CTMC) was also inhibited, but this effect was weaker in umbilical cord‐derived human mast cells and was absent in rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) cells which are considered homologous to mucosal mast cells (MMC). Oligo‐ and monosaccharides were not as effective as the polysaccharides. Inhibition, documented by light and electron microscopy, involved a decrease of intracellular calcium ion levels shown by confocal microscopy and image analysis. Autoradiography at the ultrastructural level showed that chondroitin sulphate was mostly associated with plasma and perigranular membranes. Chondroitin sulphate appears to be a potent mast cell inhibitor of allergic and nonimmune stimulation with potential clinical implications. British Journal of Pharmacology (2000) 131 , 1039–1049; doi: 10.1038/sj.bjp.0703672
Splicer-based long-period fiber gratings (2002)

Summary form only given. Presents a one-step process for the fabrication of efficient, compact long-period gratings. The technique makes use ofa controlled arc to periodically modify an optical fiber by a pair of electrodes. The setup comprises a commercially available splicer whose fiber holding mechanism is replaced by a motorized stage, which allows the translation of the fiber between the electrodes. The motion of the fiber and the input current to the electrodes is controlled by a computer and an optical spectrum analyzer constantly monitors the transmission spectrum of the grating being fabricated.
Speed Improvement in Electrical Capacitance Tomography Through a Multiple Excitation and Receiving Method (2011)

Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) is a method to determine the material distribution within the interior of a closed object by measuring the capacitance values across externally mounted electrodes. Traditionally, an AC excitation pulse is applied to a pair of electrodes that form a capacitor during each measurement step, in order to determine the capacitance from the output current measured. This paper investigates how the speed of inter-electrode capacitance measurement can be improved by comparatively studying three methods that affect the way electrodes are excited and signals are received: 1) multiple-excitation-single-receiving, 2) single-excitation-multiple-receiving, and 3) multiple-excitation-multiple-receiving. A PSPICE circuit model was built to simulate the bandwidth and interference between the simultaneously sampled measurement channels. Simulations using ECT sensors with 8 and 12-electrodes have shown that measurement speed can be increased by up to 3 ∼ 30 times as compared to the traditional mode of capacitance measurement. Such new capability opens up new possibilities for ECT as an effective tool for online, real-time monitoring of a wide range of dynamical processes in the industry.
Picture Collage (2006)

In this paper, we address a novel problem of automatically creating a picture collage from a group of images. Picture collage is a kind of visual image summary - to arrange all input images on a given canvas, allowing overlay, to maximize visible visual information. We formulate the picture collage creation problem in a Bayesian framework. The salient regions of each image are firstly extracted and represented as a set of weighted rectangles. Then, the image arrangement is formulated as a Maximum a Posterior (MAP) problem such that the output picture collage shows as many visible salient regions (without being overlaid by others) from all images as possible. Moreover, a very efficientMarkov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method is designed for the optimization. Applications to desktop image browsing and image search result summarization demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.
Controlled molecular weight poly(arylene ether benzimidazole)s endcapped with benzimidazole and ethynyl groups (1995)

A series of controlled molecular weight poly(arylene ether benzimidazole)s (PAEBIs) endcapped with either benzimidazole, ethynyl or phenylethynyl groups was prepared and characterized. PAEBIs endcapped with either ethynyl or phenylethynyl groups were thermally cured to provide polymers with improved moisture and solvent resistance and higher glass transition temperature than PAEBIs without reactive endcaps. The synthesis and characterization of a series of PAEBIs endcapped with benzimidazole, ethynyl and phenylethynyl groups prepared at stoichiometric imbalances of 7 and 10 mol% are discussed.
Pluripotent stem cell differentiation reveals distinct developmental pathways regulating lung versus thyroid lineage specification (2017)

The <i>in vitro</i>-directed differentiation of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) through stimulation of developmental signaling pathways can generate mature somatic cell types for basic laboratory studies or regenerative therapies. However, there has been significant uncertainty regarding a method to separately derive lung versus thyroid epithelial lineages, as these two cell types each originate from Nkx2-1<sup>+</sup> foregut progenitors and the minimal pathways claimed to regulate their distinct lineage specification <i>in vivo</i> or <i>in vitro</i> have varied in previous reports. Here, we employ PSCs to identify the key minimal signaling pathways (Wnt+BMP versus BMP+FGF) that regulate distinct lung- versus thyroid-lineage specification, respectively, from foregut endoderm. In contrast to most previous reports, these minimal pathways appear to be evolutionarily conserved between mice and humans, and FGF signaling, although required for thyroid specification, unexpectedly appears to be dispensable for lung specification. Once specified, distinct Nkx2-1<sup>+</sup> lung or thyroid progenitor pools can now be independently derived for functional 3D culture maturation, basic developmental studies or future regenerative therapies.
Unprecedented Diversity of Catalytic Domains in the First Four Modules of the Putative Pederin Polyketide Synthase (2003)

Polyketides of the pederin group are highly potent antitumor compounds found in terrestrial beetles and marine sponges. Pederin is used by beetles of the genera Paederus and Paederidus as a chemical defense. We have recently identified a group of putative pederin biosynthesis genes and localized them to the genome of an as yet unculturable Pseudomonas sp. symbiont, the likely true pederin producer. However, this polyketide synthase cluster lacks several genes expected for pederin production. Here we report an additional polyketide synthase encoded on a separate region of the symbiont genome. It contains at least three novel catalytic domains that are predicted to be involved in pederin chain initiation and the formation of an unusual exomethylene bond. The region is bordered by mobility pseudogenes; this suggests that gene transposition led to the disjointed cluster organization. With this work, all putative pederin genes have been identified. Their heterologous expression in a culturable bacterium will provide important insights into how sustainable sources of invertebrate-derived drug candidates can be created.
Relating <i>n</i>-Pentane Isomerization Activity to the Tungsten Surface Density of WO<sub><i>x</i></sub>/ZrO<sub>2</sub> (2010)

Zirconia-supported tungsten oxide (WO(x)/ZrO(2)) is considered an important supported metal oxide model acid catalyst, for which structure-property relationships have been studied for numerous acid-catalyzed reactions. The catalytic activity for xylene isomerization, alcohol dehydration, and aromatic acylation follows a volcano-shape dependence on tungsten surface density. However, WO(x)/ZrO(2) has not been studied for more acid-demanding reactions, like n-pentane isomerization, with regard to surface density dependence. In this work, WO(x)/ZrO(2) was synthesized using commercially available amorphous ZrO(x)(OH)(4-2x) and model crystalline ZrO(2) as support precursors. They were analyzed for n-pentane isomerization activity and selectivity as a function of tungsten surface density, catalyst support type, and calcination temperature. Amorphous ZrO(x)(OH)(4-2x) led to WO(x)/ZrO(2) (WZrOH) that exhibited maximum isomerization activity at ∼5.2 W·nm(-2), and the crystalline ZrO(2) led to a material (WZrO(2)) nearly inactive at all surface densities. Increasing the calcination temperature from 773 to 973 K increased the formation of 0.8-1 nm Zr-WO(x) clusters detected through direct imaging on an aberration-corrected high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). Calcination temperature further increased catalytic activity by at least two times. Brønsted acidity was not affected but Lewis acidity decreased in number, as quantified via pyridine adsorption infrared spectroscopy. WO(x)/ZrO(2) exhibited isomerization activity that peaked within the first 2 h time-on-stream, which may be due to Zr-WO(x) clusters undergoing an activation process.
Fast and Accurate Geometric Sound Propagation Using Visibility Computations (2011)

Geometric Acoustics (GA) techniques based on the image-source method, ray tracing, beam tracing, and ray-frustum tracing, are widely used to compute sound propagation paths. In this paper, we highlight the connection between these propagation techniques with the research on visibility computation in computer graphics and computational geometry. We give a brief overview of visibility algorithms and apply some of these methods to accelerate GA, specifically early specular reflections and finite-edge diffraction. Moreover, we survey our recent work on fast and accurate GA methods that use accurate and conservative visibility techniques. This includes: a) an algorithm for fast computation of early specular reflections using conservative from-point visibility computation; and b) a fast method for finite-edge diffraction using conservative from-region visibility computation. Our approach for computing specular reflections is based on the image-source method and we reduce the number of image sources by using conservative visibility computations. The edge diffraction computation is based on the well known Biot-Tolstoy-Medwin (BTM) diffraction model and we combine it with efficient algorithms for region-based visibility to significantly reduce the number of edge pairs that need to be processed for higher-order diffraction computation. We highlight the performance of these methods on many complex models. Our initial results indicate that we obtain considerable speedups over prior methods for accurate geometric sound propagation.