1,164 research outputs found
On the Use of Electrooculogram for Efficient Human Computer Interfaces
The aim of this study is to present electrooculogram signals that can be used for human computer interface efficiently. Establishing an efficient alternative channel for communication without overt speech and hand movements is important to increase the quality of life for patients suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or other illnesses that prevent correct limb and facial muscular responses. We have made several experiments to compare the P300-based BCI speller and EOG-based new system. A five-letter word can be written on average in 25 seconds and in 105 seconds with the EEG-based device. Giving message such as “clean-up” could be performed in 3 seconds with the new system. The new system is more efficient than P300-based BCI system in terms of accuracy, speed, applicability, and cost efficiency. Using EOG signals, it is possible to improve the communication abilities of those patients who can move their eyes
Aggregatable Distributed Key Generation
In this paper, we introduce a distributed key generation (DKG) protocol with aggregatable and publicly-verifiable transcripts. Compared with prior publicly-verifiable approaches, our DKG reduces the size of the final transcript and the time to verify it from O(n2) to O(nlogn) , where n denotes the number of parties. As compared with prior non-publicly-verifiable approaches, our DKG leverages gossip rather than all-to-all communication to reduce verification and communication complexity. We also revisit existing DKG security definitions, which are quite strong, and propose new and natural relaxations. As a result, we can prove the security of our aggregatable DKG as well as that of several existing DKGs, including the popular Pedersen variant. We show that, under these new definitions, these existing DKGs can be used to yield secure threshold variants of popular cryptosystems such as El-Gamal encryption and BLS signatures. We also prove that our DKG can be securely combined with a new efficient verifiable unpredictable function (VUF), whose security we prove in the random oracle model. Finally, we experimentally evaluate our DKG and show that the per-party overheads scale linearly and are practical. For 64 parties, it takes 71 ms to share and 359 ms to verify the overall transcript, while for 8192 parties, it takes 8 s and 42.2 s respectively
A temporal approach for morphological indices of the common sole (Solea solea Linnaeus 1758) from the coast of the Aegean Sea, Turkey
810-818Temporal changes of the morphological indices (Relative Gut Length (RGL), Fullness Index (FI), Hepatosomatic Index
(HSI), Visceral Index (VSI), Gonadosomatic Index (GSI) and Fulton condition)) in 122 (♀: 94, ♂: 19, immature: 9)
common sole were evaluated. Total length-weight relationships were calculated as W = 0.085TL3.01 and W = 0.0547TL2.40
in females and males, respectively, whereby isometric growth was observed in females and negative allometric growth was
observed in males. While there was no statistically significant difference was observed between the FI, HSI, Viscerosomatic
Index (VSI), RGL and GSI values of both sexes, however, there was a statistically significant difference in terms of
Fulton K values (P < 0.05). In addition, there are statistical differences between the sexes total lengths and the values of
RGL, FI, HSI, VSI, and Fulton-K (P < 0.05), as it is discernible in their HSI and VSI index values according to the month
the specimens were obtained (P < 0.05). According to the results of the analysis, it has been determined that the female
common sole along the Aegean coast adjust their energy temporally and store the energy they obtain from vegetative and
carnivorous feeding. Contrary to the situation seen in females, the male individuals invest in energy through omnivorous
feeding, according to the diet in the active process. Based on the results, it can be stated that the VSI and HSI are both
important indicators of fish condition status. The results found here may be useful in both fishery research and fishery
management
Measuring the reproducibility and quality of Hi-C data
BACKGROUND: Hi-C is currently the most widely used assay to investigate the 3D organization of the genome and to study its role in gene regulation, DNA replication, and disease. However, Hi-C experiments are costly to perform and involve multiple complex experimental steps; thus, accurate methods for measuring the quality and reproducibility of Hi-C data are essential to determine whether the output should be used further in a study.
RESULTS: Using real and simulated data, we profile the performance of several recently proposed methods for assessing reproducibility of population Hi-C data, including HiCRep, GenomeDISCO, HiC-Spector, and QuASAR-Rep. By explicitly controlling noise and sparsity through simulations, we demonstrate the deficiencies of performing simple correlation analysis on pairs of matrices, and we show that methods developed specifically for Hi-C data produce better measures of reproducibility. We also show how to use established measures, such as the ratio of intra- to interchromosomal interactions, and novel ones, such as QuASAR-QC, to identify low-quality experiments.
CONCLUSIONS: In this work, we assess reproducibility and quality measures by varying sequencing depth, resolution and noise levels in Hi-C data from 13 cell lines, with two biological replicates each, as well as 176 simulated matrices. Through this extensive validation and benchmarking of Hi-C data, we describe best practices for reproducibility and quality assessment of Hi-C experiments. We make all software publicly available at http://github.com/kundajelab/3DChromatin_ReplicateQC to facilitate adoption in the community
Microwave temperature measurement in microfluidic devices
In spite of various existing thermometry methods for microfluidic applications, it remains challenging to measure the temperature of individual droplets in segmented flow since fast moving droplets do not allow sufficient exposure time demanded by both fluorescence based techniques and resistance temperature detectors. In this contribution, we present a microwave thermometry method that is non-intrusive and requires minimal external equipment. This technique relies on the correlation of fluid temperature with the resonance frequency of a microwave sensor that operates at a GHz frequency range. It is a remote yet direct sensing technique, eliminating the need for mixing fluorescent dyes with the working fluid. We demonstrated that the sensor operates reliably over multiple tests and is capable of both heating and sensing. It measures temperature to within +/- 1.2 degrees C accuracy and can detect the temperature of individual droplets
The entanglement in one-dimensional random XY spin chain with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction
The impurities of exchange couplings, external magnetic fields and
Dzyaloshinskii--Moriya (DM) interaction considered as Gaussian distribution,
the entanglement in one-dimensional random spin systems is investigated by
the method of solving the different spin-spin correlation functions and the
average magnetization per spin. The entanglement dynamics at central locations
of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic chains have been studied by varying the
three impurities and the strength of DM interaction. (i) For ferromagnetic spin
chain, the weak DM interaction can improve the amount of entanglement to a
large value, and the impurities have the opposite effect on the entanglement
below and above critical DM interaction. (ii) For antiferromagnetic spin chain,
DM interaction can enhance the entanglement to a steady value. Our results
imply that DM interaction strength, the impurity and exchange couplings (or
magnetic field) play competing roles in enhancing quantum entanglement.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure
Inflammation modulates intercellular adhesion and mechanotransduction in human epidermis via ROCK2
Aberrant mechanotransduction and compromised epithelial barrier function are associated with numerous human pathologies including inflammatory skin disorders. However, the cytoskeletal mechanisms regulating inflammatory responses in the epidermis are not well understood. Here we addressed this question by inducing a psoriatic phenotype in human keratinocytes and reconstructed human epidermis using a cytokine stimulation model. We show that the inflammation upregulates the Rho-myosin II pathway and destabilizes adherens junctions (AJs) promoting YAP nuclear entry. The integrity of cell-cell adhesion but not the myosin II contractilityper seis the determinative factor for the YAP regulation in epidermal keratinocytes. The inflammation-induced disruption of AJs, increased paracellular permeability, and YAP nuclear translocation are regulated by ROCK2, independently from myosin II activation. Using a specific inhibitor KD025, we show that ROCK2 executes its effects via cytoskeletal and transcription-dependent mechanisms to shape the inflammatory response in the epidermis
Monte Carlo Simulations of Globular Cluster Evolution. III. Primordial Binary Interactions
We study the dynamical evolution of globular clusters using our 2D Monte
Carlo code with the inclusion of primordial binary interactions for equal-mass
stars. We use approximate analytical cross sections for energy generation from
binary-binary and binary-single interactions. After a brief period of slight
contraction or expansion of the core over the first few relaxation times, all
clusters enter a much longer phase of stable "binary burning" lasting many tens
of relaxation times. The structural parameters of our models during this phase
match well those of most observed globular clusters. At the end of this phase,
clusters that have survived tidal disruption undergo deep core collapse,
followed by gravothermal oscillations. Our results clearly show that the
presence of even a small fraction of binaries in a cluster is sufficient to
support the core against collapse significantly beyond the normal core collapse
time predicted without the presence of binaries. For tidally truncated systems,
collapse is easily delayed sufficiently that the cluster will undergo complete
tidal disruption before core collapse. As a first step toward the eventual goal
of computing all interactions exactly using dynamical three- and four-body
integration, we have incorporated an exact treatment of binary-single
interactions in our code. We show that results using analytical cross sections
are in good agreement with those using exact three-body integration, even for
small binary fractions where binary-single interactions are energetically most
important.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. Minor changes to reflect accepted
version. 28 pages, 17 figures; some figures low resolution. Full resolution
paper available at http://www.mit.edu/~fregeau/paper3.pd
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