Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exciton diffusion length in complex quantum systems: the effects of disorder and environmental fluctuations on symmetry-enhanced supertransfer

Symmetric couplings among aggregates of n chromophores increase the transfer rate of excitons by a factor n2, a quantum-mechanical phenomenon called ‘supertransfer’. In this work, we demonstrate how supertransfer effects induced by geometrical symmetries can enhance the exciton diffusion length by a factor n along cylindrically symmetric structures, consisting of arrays of rings of chromophores, and along spiral arrays. We analyse both closed-system dynamics and open quantum dynamics, modelled by combining a random bosonic bath with static disorder. In the closed-system case, we use the symmetries of the system within a short-time approximation to obtain a closed analytical expression for the diffusion length that explicitly reveals the supertransfer contribution. When subject to disorder, we show that supertransfer can enhance excitonic diffusion lengths for small disorders and characterize the crossover from coherent to incoherent motion. Owing to the quasi-one-dimensional nature of the model, disorder ultimately localizes the excitons, diminishing but not destroying the effects of supertransfer. When dephasing effects are included, we study the scaling of diffusion with both time and number of chromophores and observe that the transition from a coherent, ballistic regime to an incoherent, random-walk regime occurs at the same point as the change from supertransfer to classical scaling.
PERCEIVED BENEFITS OF THERAPEUTIC RECREATION CAMPS FOR YOUNG ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES

The purpose of this study is to determine the perceived benefits that a Therapeutic Recreation camp offers young adults with disabilities. A total of 12 campers were interviewed with 6 being male and 6 being female. Emerging themes included: (a) Social, (b) New Experiences, (c) Character Building, and (d) Get Away. Findings identified the benefits that young adults receive from attending a Therapeutic Recreation camp program. Attending a Therapeutic Recreation camp program allows for individuals with disabilities to be around friends, to meet new friends, to feel a part of a family, to do things they have never done before, to become more independent, to escape from feeling different, and to simply be themselves. This study provides the rational towards leisure professionals providing more Therapeutic Recreation camp programs for the young adults with disabilities population. This study also provides practical implications to developing more programming for young adults with disabilities within the field of Therapeutic Recreation. Introduction Therapeutic recreation is a service designed to aid an individual towards reaching their highest level of independence in life activities while helping to reduce the activity limitations to participation in life situations that are caused by an illness or a disability (ATRA, What is RT/TR section, para.1). This service can be provided for people of all ages, for people with all different kinds of disabilities, and can be provided in all kinds of settings. One setting in particular where therapeutic recreation can be provided and which is also the focus of this study is the camp setting. Camp Koinonia, developed in 1977 at Virginia Tech, is a Therapeutic Recreation based camp for children ages 7-21 who have multiple disabilities. The camp was developed as part of a class with the purpose of providing an experiential learning opportunity for the university students while involving children and young adults in outdoor activities that they would not be able to participate in otherwise (The Camp Koinonia, About Section, para. 1). Camp Koinonia has over 200 University of Tennessee (UT) students who are the staff members for the camp during a week in April. In the weeks leading up to the actual week of camp, the staff members are involved in a class course where they learn about different things such as: the field of Therapeutic
Compressed hypothesis testing: To mix or not to mix?

In this paper, we study a hypothesis testing problem of, among n random variables, determining k random variables which have different probability distributions from the rest (n - k) random variables. Instead of using separate measurements of each individual random variable, we propose to use mixed measurements which are functions of multiple random variables. It is demonstrated that O(klog(n)/minPi, PjC(Pi, Pj)) equation observations are sufficient for correctly identifying the k anomalous random variables with a high probability, where C(Pi, Pj) is the Chernoff information between two possible distributions Pi and Pj for the proposed mixed observations. We characterize the Chernoff information under fixed time-invariant mixed observations, random time-varying mixed observations and deterministic time-varying mixed observations respectively. For time-varying measurements, we introduce inner and outer conditional Chernoff information in our derivations. We demonstrate that mixed observations can strictly improve the error exponent of the hypothesis testing, over separate observations of individual random variables. These results imply that mixed observations of random variables can reduce the number of required samples in hypothesis testing applications. In contrast to the compressed sensing problems, this paper considers random variables whose values changes in different measurements.
Simulating Virtual Character's Learning Behaviour as An Evolutionary Process Using Genetic Algorithms

In this paper, we describe a genetic algorithm approach to simulate complex virtual character’s learning behaviours as an evolutionary process. The method presented here enables virtual character to have abilities to learn for specific assigned tasks. The skill for the task can be developed and evolved through the experiences of performing the task. The animation system presented here has two tightly coupled simulation units, which are an artificial brain unit for learning and controlling and a physics-based motion simulation unit driven by simulated muscle forces.
The local treatment modalities in FIGO stage I‐II small‐cell carcinoma of the cervix are determined by disease stage and lymph node status

The purpose of this study was to identify the optimal local treatment modalities for International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage I‐II small‐cell carcinoma of the cervix (SCCC), including cancer‐directed surgery (CDS) and/or radiotherapy (RT). The Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database was used to identify SCCC patients from 1988 to 2012, and analyzed using Kaplan–Meier survival and Cox regression proportional hazard methods to determine factors significant for cause‐specific survival (CSS) and overall (OS). A total of 208 patients of SCCC were enrolled. The median follow‐up time was 31 months. Fifty‐eight (27.9%) patients were treated with primary CDS, 88 (42.3%) patients underwent CDS combined with RT, and 62 (29.8%) patients were treated with primary RT. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that local treatment modalities were independent prognostic factors for CSS and OS. Patients who had undergone CDS had better CSS and OS, compared with patients who had been treated with combined CDS and RT or RT alone. The 5‐year CSS and OS of entire group was 49.8% and 46.4%, respectively. The 5‐year CSS in the groups of patients receiving CDS, CDS combined with RT, and RT alone were 67.9%, 49.7%, and 32.6%, respectively (P < 0.001). The 5‐year OS in patients treated with CDS, CDS combined with RT, and RT alone were 64.9%, 46.2%, and 28.8% (P < 0.001). Primary surgery was associated with improved CSS and OS for FIGO stage I and lymph node negative disease. Primary surgery is the most effective local treatment for FIGO stage I‐II SCCC, as adjuvant RT or radical RT does not improve survival compared to radical surgery, especially in patients with FIGO stage I and lymph node negative disease.
Body condition and morphometric measures of adiposity in a cohort of Pony Club horses and ponies in New Zealand

A cross-sectional study was conducted to describe and compare the body condition and morphometrics of Pony Club (PC) horses and ponies at two points in the year. Data were collected from a cohort of PC riders in spring (n=158) and autumn (n=155), with 73 repeat measurements across the two seasons. There were more ponies (68%, 164/240, wither-height ≤148 cm) than horses in the study population. Most (76%, 183/240) animals were kept on ad libitum pasture throughout the year and were fed small quantities of supplementary feed. The median body condition score (BCS) of the animals was 6 (interquartile range 5-7). Forty-seven per cent (112/240) of the animals were scored ‘fat’ (BCS ≥7) and 25% (61/240) presented with a cresty-neck score ≥3. There was poor inter-rater agreement between the study personnel and owners for BCS of horses (Kappa=0.26) and ponies (Kappa=0.11). The study personnel identified 54% (88/162) of ponies as ‘fat’, whereas owners underestimated the BCS of ponies, and identified only 40% (65/162) as ‘fat’ (P<0.001). The measurements of body weight did not differ between seasons, and only some morphologybased assessments of adiposity differed between seasons. Overall, 17% (15/88) of ‘fat’ ponies and 21% (11/53) of those with ‘cresty-necks’ were reported to have had a previous history of laminitis. Laminar rings were observed in 98% (234/240) of the PC horses and ponies. The study highlighted that horses and ponies kept on pasture maintain body weight and condition from spring to autumn, but this finding may be biased by the high percentage of ‘fat’ ponies in the study population. The poor inter-rater agreement for BCS, particularly with ponies, and similar morphological measurements between seasons, highlights the challenges with using these measurements of adiposity in ponies.
From Finite-State to Inversion Transductions: Toward Unsupervised Bilingual Grammar Induction

We report a wide range of comparative experiments establishing for the first time contrastive foundations for a completely unsupervised approach to bilingual grammar induction that is cognitively oriented toward early category formation and phrasal chunking in the bootstrapping process up the expressiveness hierarchy from finite-state to linear to inversion transduction grammars. We show a consistent improvement in terms of cross-entropy throughout the bootstrapping process, as well as promising decoding experiments using the learned grammars. Rather than relying on external resources such as parses, POS tags or dictionaries, our method is fully unsupervised (in the way this term is typically understood in the machine translation community). This means that the bootstrapping can only rely on information gathered during the previous step, which necessitates some strategy for expanding the expressiveness of the grammars. We present principled approaches for moving from finite-state to linear transduction grammars as well as from linear to inversion transduction grammars. It is our belief that early, integrated category formation and phrasal chunking in this unsupervised bootstrapping process is better aligned to child language acquisition. Finally, we also report exploratory decoding results using some of the learned grammars. This is the first step towards an end-to-end grammar-based statistical machine translation system.
Cognitive and geographic constraints on morphosyntactic variation: The variable agreement of presentational haber in Peninsular Spanish

In this paper, I examine whether the variation patterns of haber pluralization (e.g., hubo/hubieron fiestas ‘there was/were parties’) in Peninsular Spanish corroborate the hypothesis elaborated in earlier work that the phenomenon constitutes a competition between two variants of the presentational construction with haber that is constrained by domain-general cognitive constraints on spreading activation. In addition, this paper examines whether haber pluralization is incrementing in frequency in particular Peninsular regions and whether or not the phenomenon is spreading geographically. To meet these objectives, I analyze a dataset of more than 7,500 cases of haber + plural NP, which were culled from two publicly available data sources: the Corpus Oral y Sonoro del Espanol Rural (which represents only rural speakers born before the 1940s; Fernandez-Ordonez 2005- ) and Twitter (which represents mainly young and middle-aged speakers). The results of a mixed-effects logistic regression analysis that tests the effects of tense, the absence/presence of negation, typical action-chain position of the noun, the regional origin of the examples, and the data sources support the competition hypothesis. This model also supports that pluralized haber is spreading westward from its epicenters (Valencia, Barcelona, and Murcia), while also incrementing in frequency in northern, eastern and southern Spain. However, its frequency appears to be declining in central Spain. A geographically more detailed, but similar picture is obtained with three generalized additive mixed models that test the effects of geography on the total dataset as well as on each of the two subcorpora.
Spatial integration in polarization-sensitive interneurones of crickets: a survey of evidence, mechanisms and benefits.

Many insects exploit the polarization pattern of the sky for compass orientation in navigation or cruising-course control. Polarization-sensitive neurones (POL1-neurones) in the polarization vision pathway of the cricket visual system have wide visual fields of approximately 60 degrees diameter, i.e. these neurones integrate information over a large area of the sky. This results from two different mechanisms. (i) Optical integration; polarization vision is mediated by a group of specialized ommatidia at the dorsal rim of the eye. These ommatidia lack screening pigment, contain a wide rhabdom and have poor lens optics. As a result, the angular sensitivity of the polarization-sensitive photoreceptors is very wide (median approximately 20 degrees ). (ii) Neural integration; each POL1-neurone receives input from a large number of dorsal rim photoreceptors with diverging optical axes. Spatial integration in POL1-neurones acts as a spatial low-pass filter. It improves the quality of the celestial polarization signal by filtering out cloud-induced local disturbances in the polarization pattern and increases sensitivity.
Indirect Pathways Connecting Sexual Orientation and Weight Discrimination to Disordered Eating Among Young Adult Lesbians

Lesbians engage in similar or more disordered eating than heterosexual women. Yet, models of disordered eating have not been researched adequately among lesbians. Theories contend that experiencing discrimination is associated with increased risk for poorer mental and physical health. To increase our understanding of disordered eating among lesbians, we developed a model in which discrimination and disordered eating were connected via mediators of social support, affect (i.e., general negative affect and social anxiety), and weight discrepancy. We recruited a sample of 436 lesbians in the United States (18–30 years old) to participate in an online study. The majority of participants were White (77.3%), with some postsecondary education (84% had at least some college), and were fairly open about their sexual orientation (85% were mostly or completely “out”). Sexual orientation discrimination and weight discrimination were each indirectly associated with disordered eating through a network of mediators. Sexual orientation discrimination was indirectly related to disordered eating via 2 paths: (a) less social support from family and more general negative affect and (b) less social support from family and more social anxiety. Weight discrimination was indirectly associated with more disordered eating via 3 paths: (a) less social support from friends and increased social anxiety, (b) increased social anxiety alone, and (c) higher weight discrepancy alone. The results underscore the need for researchers and clinical providers to understand and assess both sexual orientation discrimination and weight discrimination among lesbians.
Conceptual and procedural knowledge construction in computer supported collaborative learning

This paper focuses on learners' knowledge construction in computer supported collaborative learning. It investigates how far individual knowledge (prior knowledge), collaborative knowledge (the quality of collaborative knowledge construction), and instructional support may contribute to the outcomes of learners' knowledge construction. It analyzes predictors for learners' learning outcomes with respect to procedural knowledge (successful application of rules for case-solving) and conceptual knowledge (cued answer of theory concepts) under consideration of learners' knowledge about theory definitions. To find answers to this issue, results of two studies are presented. They show that predicting factors for learners' construction of conceptual knowledge lie mainly in the individual while procedural knowledge benefits of collaborative knowledge construction.
Managerial Incentives, Endogeneity, and Firm Value

We examine the impact of firm and managerial characteristics on the value and incentive effects of executive stock options. Such a study hinges critically on using a model in which managerial behavior and firm value are endogenous, precluding the use of the Black-Scholes model. In our model, a self-interested manager makes an investment decision (choosing between a risky and a risk-free project) based on private information about investment opportunities. His decision is not only affected by the quality of his signal, but also by his risk aversion, his mix of wealth between stock, options, and shares, as well as the strike prices of his options (if he has any). We show that when a call option’s value is $11.32 under an optimal investment policy, its value varies from $0 to $13.73, depending on the manager’s risk aversion and wealth composition. We also show that the manager’s delta is a poor proxy for incentives to invest, or agency costs. Managers of identical firms with nearly identical deltas may pursue vastly different investment strategies, due to differences in wealth composition and risk aversion. These findings have important implications for empirical research on executive compensation and incentives. Specifically, our model shows that a manager’s portfolio delta is not a sufficient statistic for his incentives to increase firm value. These incentives are multi-dimensional, suggesting that a univariate measure like delta will result in an omitted variables problem, and thus biased inferences. It is important that controls be included for executive risk aversion, wealth composition, investment opportunities, and firm risk. JEL Classification: G31, G34, J33, L22.
Treatment Efficacy in Vertebrobasilar Transient Ischemic Attacks Presenting as Isolated Vertigo: A Retrospective Case Study

Background: Vertigo without other neurological symptoms is usually not supposed to be due to a vascular cause. How-ever, hypoperfusion of the anterior cerebellar artery can lead to ischemia of the vestibular labyrinth and/or vestibular nuclei in the pontomedullary region whereas hypoperfusion of the posterior cerebellar artery can cause ischemia of the vestibulocerebellum, all resulting in isolated vertigo. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of pa-tients with vertebrobasilar ischemic attacks referred to our outpatient dizziness clinic during the years 1999-2009. Pa-tients who presented only with vertigo (+/– vomiting and unsteadiness) were selected. Their clinical data, findings and treatment responses were recorded. Results: Amongst about one hundred patients with vertebrobasilar TIA we found 24 patients with monosymptomatic presentation. Their mean age was 67.3 years, fifteen were men. In most of the patients the vertigo attacsk were multiple and lasted from minutes to hours. All but four patients had at least one vascular risk factor at the time of presentation ,among them 13 had multiple vascular risk factors. Seven patients had evidence of chronic ischemic changes on brain CT or MRI . Aspirin (100 - 325 mg/die) was started in 15 patients. Three patients were started on clopidogrel (75 mg/die) because of aspirin intolerance and two patients on warfarin due to atrial fibrilla-tion. In two patients who were treated with aspirin prior to their vertigo attack, clopidogrel or dipyridamol were added. The mean time period from first attack to treatment initiation was 5.2 months. The mean follow up period was 27.4 months. In 18 patients the attacks have completely resolved after treatment initiation. Three patients had further vertigo attacks despite treatment. Two patients with vertigo episodes where a vascular etiology was not suspected, developed later an ischemic stroke in the vertebrobasilar territory (anterior cerebellar artery and vertebral artery infarct). Conclusions: The differential diagnosis of a vertigo attack presenting in a monosymptomatic form should include vertebrobasilar TIA, especially in individuals with vascular risk factors. In view of lack of a specific test for establishing the diagnosis antiplatelets should be administered on empirical grounds since early administration of therapy can abolish further attacks and prevent a vertebrobasilar stroke. Warfarin should be preserved for patients with cardiac conditions that warrant antiocoagulation for stroke prevention.
Recursive and Causal Reconstruction of Sparse Signal Sequences

This work involves the design and analysis of recursive algor ithms for causally reconstructing a time sequence of (approximately) sparse signals from a greatly reduced nu mber of linear projection measurements [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]. By “recursive”, we mean use only the previ ous estimate and the current measurements to get the current estimate. The signals are sparse in some transform do main referred to as the sparsity basis and their sparsity patterns (support set of the sparsity basis coefficients) can ch ge with time. The most important example of the above problem occurs in dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for real-time medical applications such as interventional radiology, MR image guided surgery, or func tional MRI to track brain activation changes. MRI is a technique for cross-sectional imaging that sequentially captures the 2D Fourier projections of the cross-section to be reconstructed. Cross-sectional images of the brain, h eart, larynx or other human organ images are usually piecewise smooth, e.g. see the first row of Fig. 1(b) or 1(c), and thus approximately sparse in the wavelet domain. In a time sequence, the sparsity pattern changes with time, b ut slowly.Slow sparsity pattern change is empirically verified for medical image sequences in Fig. 1(a) and in [2] and f or video in [7]. Since MR data acquisition is sequential, the ability to accur ately reconstruct with fewer measurements directly translates to reduced scan times. Shorter scan times along wi th onl ne (causal) and fast (recursive) reconstruction allow the possibility of real-time imaging of fast changing physiological phenomena. Since the recent introduction of compressive sensing (CS) [8] , [9], the static sparse reconstruction problem has been thoroughly studied. But most existing algorithms for t he dynamic problem just use CS to jointly reconstruct the entire time sequence in one go [10], [11], [12]. This is a batch solution with very high complexity. The alternative doing CS at each time separately (simple CS) is online and fa st but requires many more measurements. To the best of our knowledge, our work [1] was the first to address the problem of causally an d recursively reconstructing sparse signal sequences using fewer measurements than those needed for simple CS. The computational complexity of our proposed algorithms is only as much as that of simple CS , and this is much lower than that of batch CS. We summarize our contributions in the next subsection and af ter that we discuss the related work.