1,611 research outputs found
A Tagging Solution to Discover IoT Devices in Apartments
The number of IoT devices in smart homes is increasing. This broad adoption
facilitates users' lives, but it also brings problems. One such issue is that
some IoT devices may invade users' privacy. Some reasons for this invasion can
stem from obscure data collection practices or hidden devices. Specific IoT
devices can exist out of sight and still collect user data to send to third
parties via the Internet. Owners can easily forget the location or even the
existence of these devices, especially if the owner is a landlord who manages
several properties. The landlord-owner scenario creates multi-user problems as
designers build machines for single users. We developed tags that use wireless
protocols, buzzers, and LED lighting to lead users to solve the issue of device
discovery in shared spaces and accommodate multi-user scenarios. They are
attached to IoT devices inside a unit during their installation to be later
discovered by a tenant. These tags have similar functionalities as the popular
Tile models or Airtag, but our tags have different features based on our
privacy use case. Our tags do not require pairing; multiple users can interact
with them through our Android application. Although researchers developed
several other tools, such as thermal cameras or virtual reality (VR), for
discovering devices in environments, they have not used wireless protocols as a
solution. We measured specific performance metrics of our tags to analyze their
feasibility for this problem. We also conducted a user study to measure the
participants' comfort levels while finding objects with our tags attached. Our
results indicate that wireless tags can be viable for device tracking in
residential properties
Positive Connectivity Predicts the Dynamic Intrinsic Topology of the Human Brain Network
Functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) has become instrumental in facilitating research of human brain network organization in terms of coincident interactions between positive and negative synchronizations of large-scale neuronal systems. Although there is a common agreement concerning the interpretation of positive couplings between brain areas, a major debate has been made in disentangling the nature of negative connectivity patterns in terms of its emergence in several methodological approaches and its significance/meaning in specific neuropsychiatric diseases. It is still not clear what information the functional negative correlations or connectivity provides or how they relate to the positive connectivity. Through implementing stepwise functional connectivity (SFC) analysis and studying the causality of functional topological patterns, this study aims to shed light on the relationship between positive and negative connectivity in the human brain functional connectome. We found that the strength of negative correlations between voxel-pairs relates to their positive connectivity path-length. More importantly, our study describes how the spatio-temporal patterns of positive connectivity explain the evolving changes of negative connectivity over time, but not the other way around. This finding suggests that positive and negative connectivity do not display equivalent forces but shows that the positive connectivity has a dominant role in the overall human brain functional connectome. This phenomenon provides novel insights about the nature of positive and negative correlations in fcMRI and will potentially help new developments for neuroimaging biomarkers.This research was supported by grants from the National
Institutes of Health K23EB019023 to JS, T32EB013180-06
to LO-T, Postdoctoral Fellowship Program from the Basque
Country Government to ID and R01EB022574, R01MH108467
to JG, and Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute
(UL1TR001108) to JG
Modeling realistic multiphase flows using a non-orthogonal multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method
In this paper, we develop a three-dimensional multiple-relaxation-time
lattice Boltzmann method (MRT-LBM) based on a set of non-orthogonal basis
vectors. Compared with the classical MRT-LBM based on a set of orthogonal basis
vectors, the present non-orthogonal MRT-LBM simplifies the transformation
between the discrete velocity space and the moment space, and exhibits better
portability across different lattices. The proposed method is then extended to
multiphase flows at large density ratio with tunable surface tension, and its
numerical stability and accuracy are well demonstrated by some benchmark cases.
Using the proposed method, a practical case of a fuel droplet impacting on a
dry surface at high Reynolds and Weber numbers is simulated and the evolution
of the spreading film diameter agrees well with the experimental data.
Furthermore, another realistic case of a droplet impacting on a
super-hydrophobic wall with a cylindrical obstacle is reproduced, which
confirms the experimental finding of Liu \textit{et al.} [``Symmetry breaking
in drop bouncing on curved surfaces," Nature communications 6, 10034 (2015)]
that the contact time is minimized when the cylinder radius is comparable with
the droplet cylinder.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figure
Complex relationship between gut microbiota and thyroid dysfunction: a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study
BackgroundMany studies have reported the link between gut microbiota and thyroid dysfunction. However, the causal effect of gut microbiota on thyroid dysfunction and the changes in gut microbiota after the onset of thyroid dysfunction are not clear.MethodsA two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study was used to explore the complex relationship between gut microbiota and thyroid dysfunction. Data on 211 bacterial taxa were obtained from the MiBioGen consortium, and data on thyroid dysfunction, including hypothyroidism, thyroid-stimulating hormone alteration, thyroxine deficiency, and thyroid peroxidase antibodies positivity, were derived from several databases. Inverse variance weighting (IVW), weighted median, MR-Egger, weighted mode, and simple mode were applied to assess the causal effects of gut microbiota on thyroid dysfunction. Comprehensive sensitivity analyses were followed to validate the robustness of the results. Finally, a reverse MR study was conducted to explore the alteration of gut microbiota after hypothyroidism onset.ResultsOur bidirectional two-sample MR study revealed that the genera Intestinimonas, Eubacterium brachy group, Ruminiclostridium5, and Ruminococcaceae UCG004 were the risk factors for decreased thyroid function, whereas the genera Bifidobacterium and Lachnospiraceae UCG008 and phyla Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia were protective. The abundance of eight bacterial taxa varied after the onset of hypothyroidism. Sensitivity analysis showed that no heterogeneity or pleiotropy existed in the results of this study.ConclusionThis novel MR study systematically demonstrated the complex relationship between gut microbiota and thyroid dysfunction, which supports the selection of more targeted probiotics to maintain thyroid–gut axis homeostasis and thus to prevent, control, and reverse the development of thyroid dysfunction
Imitation with Spatial-Temporal Heatmap: 2nd Place Solution for NuPlan Challenge
This paper presents our 2nd place solution for the NuPlan Challenge 2023.
Autonomous driving in real-world scenarios is highly complex and uncertain.
Achieving safe planning in the complex multimodal scenarios is a highly
challenging task. Our approach, Imitation with Spatial-Temporal Heatmap, adopts
the learning form of behavior cloning, innovatively predicts the future
multimodal states with a heatmap representation, and uses trajectory refinement
techniques to ensure final safety. The experiment shows that our method
effectively balances the vehicle's progress and safety, generating safe and
comfortable trajectories. In the NuPlan competition, we achieved the second
highest overall score, while obtained the best scores in the ego progress and
comfort metrics
The TTYH3/MK5 Positive Feedback Loop regulates Tumor Progression via GSK3-β/β-catenin signaling in HCC
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide, and identification of novel targets is necessary for its diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to investigate the biological function and clinical significance of tweety homolog 3 (TTYH3) in HCC. TTYH3 overexpression promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and inhibited HCCM3 and Hep3B cell apoptosis. TTYH3 promoted tumor formation and metastasis in vivo. TTYH3 upregulated calcium influx and intracellular chloride concentration, thereby promoting cellular migration and regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related protein expression. The interaction between TTYH3 and MK5 was identified through co-immunoprecipitation assays and protein docking. TTYH3 promoted the expression of MK5, which then activated the GSK3β/β-catenin signaling pathway. MK5 knockdown attenuated the activation of GSK3β/β-catenin signaling by TTYH3. TTYH3 expression was regulated in a positive feedback manner. In clinical HCC samples, TTYH3 was upregulated in the HCC tissues compared to nontumor tissues. Furthermore, high TTYH3 expression was significantly correlated with poor patient survival. The CpG islands were hypomethylated in the promoter region of TTYH3 in HCC tissues. In conclusion, we identified TTYH3 regulates tumor development and progression via MK5/GSK3-β/β-catenin signaling in HCC and promotes itself expression in a positive feedback loop
Long-term trends and drivers of aerosol pH in eastern China
Aerosol acidity plays a key role in regulating the chemistry and toxicity of atmospheric aerosol particles. The trend of aerosol pH and its drivers is crucial in understanding the multiphase formation pathways of aerosols. Here, we reported the first trend analysis of aerosol pH from 2011 to 2019 in eastern China, calculated with the ISORROPIA model based on observed gas and aerosol compositions. The implementation of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan led to −35.8 %, −37.6 %, −9.6 %, −81.0 % and 1.2 % changes of PM2.5, SO42-, NHx, non-volatile cations (NVCs) and NO3- in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region during this period. Different from the drastic changes of aerosol compositions due to the implementation of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan, aerosol pH showed a minor change of −0.24 over the 9 years. Besides the multiphase buffer effect, the opposite effects from the changes of SO42- and non-volatile cations played key roles in determining this minor pH trend, contributing to a change of +0.38 and −0.35, respectively. Seasonal variations in aerosol pH were mainly driven by the temperature, while the diurnal variations were driven by both temperature and relative humidity. In the future, SO2, NOx and NH3 emissions are expected to be further reduced by 86.9 %, 74.9 % and 41.7 % in 2050 according to the best health effect pollution control scenario (SSP1-26-BHE). The corresponding aerosol pH in eastern China is estimated to increase by ∼0.19, resulting in 0.04 less NO3- and 0.12 less NH4+ partitioning ratios, which suggests that NH3 and NOx emission controls are effective in mitigating haze pollution in eastern China.</p
In-orbit background simulation of a type-B CATCH satellite
The Chasing All Transients Constellation Hunters (CATCH) space mission plans
to launch three types of micro-satellites (A, B, and C). The type-B CATCH
satellites are dedicated to locating transients and detecting their
time-dependent energy spectra. A type-B satellite is equipped with lightweight
Wolter-I X-ray optics and an array of position-sensitive multi-pixel Silicon
Drift Detectors. To optimize the scientific payloads for operating properly in
orbit and performing the observations with high sensitivities, this work
performs an in-orbit background simulation of a type-B CATCH satellite using
the Geant4 toolkit. It shows that the persistent background is dominated by the
cosmic X-ray diffuse background and the cosmic-ray protons. The dynamic
background is also estimated considering trapped charged particles in the
radiation belts and low-energy charged particles near the geomagnetic equator,
which is dominated by the incident electrons outside the aperture. The
simulated persistent background within the focal spot is used to estimate the
observation sensitivity, i.e. 4.2210 erg cm s
with an exposure of 10 s and a Crab-like source spectrum, which can be
utilized further to optimize the shielding design. The simulated in-orbit
background also suggests that the magnetic diverter just underneath the optics
may be unnecessary in this kind of micro-satellites, because the dynamic
background induced by charged particles outside the aperture is around 3 orders
of magnitude larger than that inside the aperture.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in
Experimental Astronom
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