Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computational Approach to Dendritic Spine Taxonomy and Shape Transition Analysis

The common approach in morphological analysis of dendritic spines is to categorize spines into subpopulations based on whether they are stubby, mushroom, thin, or filopodia. Corresponding cellular models of synaptic plasticity, long-term potentiation, and long-term depression associate synaptic strength with either spine enlargement or spine shrinkage. Although a variety of automatic spine segmentation and feature extraction methods were developed recently, no approaches allowing for an automatic and unbiased distinction between dendritic spine subpopulations and detailed computational models of spine behavior exist. We propose an automatic and statistically based method for the unsupervised construction of spine shape taxonomy based on arbitrary features. The taxonomy is then utilized in the newly introduced computational model of behavior, which relies on transitions between shapes. Models of different populations are compared using supplied bootstrap-based statistical tests. We compared two populations of spines at two time points. The first population was stimulated with long-term potentiation, and the other in the resting state was used as a control. The comparison of shape transition characteristics allowed us to identify differences between population behaviors. Although some extreme changes were observed in the stimulated population, statistically significant differences were found only when whole models were compared. Therefore, we hypothesize that the learning process is related to the subtle changes in the whole ensemble of different dendritic spine structures, but not at the level of single shape classes. The source code of our software is freely available for non-commercial use1.
The Evolution of Correctional Program Assessment in the Age of Evidence-Based Practices

ABSTRACT As evidence-based practices becomes an increasingly popular term, it is crucial that correctional programs are assessed to ensure that research is being translated and implemented with fidelity. Too often the corrections field is quick to treat different interventions as a panacea, without truly understanding how the program does or does not meet the literature on effective practices. Data is provided based on decades of assessment using the Correctional Program Assessment Inventory and the Evidence-Based Correctional Program Checklist. Findings suggest program adherence to effective practices has shown some improvement, but still has a way to go, particularly in the area of treatment characteristics and quality assurance.
Online Supplement : About the Model

In Section 1 of this supplement, we describe the process of constructing the pyramidal cell model. In Section 2, we show results of the validation studies used to calibrate the model based on data from published in vitro physiological studies. The parameters of the model are described in detail in Section 3. 1 Building the Model Our goal was to construct and validate a state-of-the-art compartmental model of a CA1 pyramidal cell. Construction of the model was an immense project, as it involved adjusting the internal parameters of 17 types of ion channels, most of them distributed nonuniformly along the soma-dendritic axis, and 4 types of synaptic conductances. Constraints on the model arose from two main sources, including (1) data from studies primarily concerned with individual channel properties, including activation and inactivation curves, time constants, location-dependent channel densities, etc., and (2) data from studies primarily concerned with dendritic physiology and synaptic integration, including responses to current, voltage, and/or synaptic stimuli. In some cases, NEURON channel models developed by others were used with little or no modification, as detailed in Section 3. In spite of the complexity of the model as a whole, we were able through a lengthy manual iteration process to achieve good fits to a variety of experimental data, covering a broader range of phenomena than is handled by other pyramidal cell models that we know of. While we do not claim that the model is a perfect simulacrum of the real cell, its ability
Factor Analysis of EDI-3 Eating Disorder Risk Subscales Among African American Women

This study examined the factor structure of the eating disorder subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory–3 among African American and European American women. Confirmatory factor analyses of the three-factor model proposed by Garner were conducted separately for each group. Confirmatory factor analyses results indicated the three-factor model was an adequate fit for the European American sample, but only a mediocre fit in the African American sample. A follow-up exploratory factor analyses using the African American data produced a pattern matrix consisting of four factors (drive for thinness, bulimia, body dissatisfaction, and body satisfaction). These results indicated that while drive for thinness and bulimia appeared to capture the intended constructs in the African American sample, the third factor was divided into body dissatisfaction and body satisfaction.
Measuring and Modelling Delays in Robot Manipulators for Temporally Precise Control Using Machine Learning

Latencies and delays play an important role in temporally precise robot control. During dynamic tasks in particular, a robot has to account for inherent delays to reach manipulated objects in time. The different types of occurring delays are typically convoluted and thereby hard to measure and separate. In this paper, we present a data-driven methodology for separating and modelling inherent delays during robot control. We show how both actuation and response delays can be modelled using modern machine learning methods. The resulting models can be used to predict the delays as well as the uncertainty of the prediction. Experiments on two widely used robot platforms show significant actuation and response delays in standard control loops. Predictive models can, therefore, be used to reason about expected delays and improve temporal accuracy during control. The approach can easily be used on different robot platforms.
Interdependence and Contagion in Global Asset Markets

We assess interdependence and contagion across three asset classes (bonds, stocks, and currencies) for over 60 economies over the period 1998–2011. Using a global VAR, we test for changes in the transmission mechanism—both within and cross-market changes—during periods of global financial turbulence. Contagion effects within-market are notable in Latin American and Emerging Asian equities. In addition, in times of financial crisis, we find that US equity shocks lead to risk aversion by investors in equities and currencies globally and in some emerging market bonds. Euro area shocks are significant mainly within the bond market.
The Effect of Oral Feedback on Perceived Classroom Community in Undergraduate Students

The ongoing trend in research regarding feedback has been to explore quantitative assessment. Garnering support more recently is qualitative narrative feedback in support of formative assessment. This type of feedback offers insight into expectations as well as offer additional knowledge gained. It enables students to improve their performance with its timeliness and clarity. Research in the area of oral feedback for college students as a more effective formative assessment and tool for learning is needed. This study examined the effects of oral feedback on the students in four undergraduate courses at a public university in Florida. 68 students were recruited to consent to participate. A quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control groups, pretest/posttest factorial design was planned but a Mann Whitney U-test was ultimately employed due to a failed assumption. Data collected from the Classroom Community Scale was evaluated using Mann Whitney u-tests.
Exploring Default Mode and Information Flow on the Web

Social networking services (e.g., Twitter, Facebook) are now major sources of World Wide Web (called “Web”) dynamics, together with Web search services (e.g., Google). These two types of Web services mutually influence each other but generate different dynamics. In this paper, we distinguish two modes of Web dynamics: the reactive mode and the default mode. It is assumed that Twitter messages (called “tweets”) and Google search queries react to significant social movements and events, but they also demonstrate signs of becoming self-activated, thereby forming a baseline Web activity. We define the former as the reactive mode and the latter as the default mode of the Web. In this paper, we investigate these reactive and default modes of the Web's dynamics using transfer entropy (TE). The amount of information transferred between a time series of 1,000 frequent keywords in Twitter and the same keywords in Google queries is investigated across an 11-month time period. Study of the information flow on Google and Twitter revealed that information is generally transferred from Twitter to Google, indicating that Twitter time series have some preceding information about Google time series. We also studied the information flow among different Twitter keywords time series by taking keywords as nodes and flow directions as edges of a network. An analysis of this network revealed that frequent keywords tend to become an information source and infrequent keywords tend to become sink for other keywords. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that frequent keywords form the Web's default mode, which becomes an information source for infrequent keywords that generally form the Web's reactive mode. We also found that the Web consists of different time resolutions with respect to TE among Twitter keywords, which will be another focal point of this paper.
Failed Citizenship and Transformative Civic Education

Global migration, the quest by diverse groups for equality, and the rise of populist nationalism have complicated the development of citizenship and citizenship education in nations around the world. Many racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious groups are denied structural inclusion into their nation-state. Consequently, they do not fully internalize the values and symbols of the nation-state, develop a strong identity with it, or acquire political efficacy. They focus primarily on particularistic group needs and goals rather than the overarching goals of the nation-state. I conceptualize this process as failed citizenship and present a typology that details failed, recognized, participatory, and transformative citizenship. I describe the role of the schools in reducing failed citizenship and helping marginalized groups become efficacious and participatory citizens in multicultural nation-states.
A Design and Validation System for Asynchronous Circuits

In this paper we present a completemethodology for the design and validation of asynchronous circuits starting from a formal specificationmodel that roughly correspondsto a timing diagram. The methodology is presented in such a way that it is easy to embed in the current methodology for synchronous circuits. The different steps of the synthesis process will just be briefly touched upon. The main part of the paper concentrates on the simulation and validation of asynchronous circuits. It discusses where the designer needs validation and how it can be done. It also explains how this process can be automated and embedded in the complete methodology.
Auditory Compensation for Head Rotation Is Incomplete

Hearing is confronted by a similar problem to vision when the observer moves. The image motion that is created remains ambiguous until the observer knows the velocity of eye and/or head. One way the visual system solves this problem is to use motor commands, proprioception, and vestibular information. These “extraretinal signals” compensate for self-movement, converting image motion into head-centered coordinates, although not always perfectly. We investigated whether the auditory system also transforms coordinates by examining the degree of compensation for head rotation when judging a moving sound. Real-time recordings of head motion were used to change the “movement gain” relating head movement to source movement across a loudspeaker array. We then determined psychophysically the gain that corresponded to a perceptually stationary source. Experiment 1 showed that the gain was small and positive for a wide range of trained head speeds. Hence, listeners perceived a stationary source as moving slightly opposite to the head rotation, in much the same way that observers see stationary visual objects move against a smooth pursuit eye movement. Experiment 2 showed the degree of compensation remained the same for sounds presented at different azimuths, although the precision of performance declined when the sound was eccentric. We discuss two possible explanations for incomplete compensation, one based on differences in the accuracy of signals encoding image motion and self-movement and one concerning statistical optimization that sacrifices accuracy for precision. We then consider the degree to which such explanations can be applied to auditory motion perception in moving listeners.
Coordination gains in the cellular uplink with noisy interference

This paper studies the performance gains of coordination in an elemental cellular network consisting of a multiple-access channel (MAC) and a point-to-point channel (P2P) interfering with each other. It is assumed that this network, denoted as PIMAC, is operating in the noisy (very-weak) interference regime. Three schemes, denoted as naive-TIN, TDMA-TIN, and IA-TIN, each with different coordination requirements among the transmitters (and receivers), are compared with each other in terms of achievable sum rates. It is shown that, although the PIMAC is in the noisy interference regime, allowing more coordination between the users might increase the performance, depending on the channel parameters. Consequently, this proves the sub-optimality of TDMA-TIN and naive-TIN in those regimes, which is in contrast to existing results for K-user interference and X channels. The analytical finding are verified by numerical evaluations.
HIV infection and antiretroviral therapy: effect on hepatitis C virus quasispecies variability.

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) quasispecies variability has been associated with liver disease progression. The effects of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on HCV quasispecies variability have not been firmly established. METHODS We determined HCV quasispecies complexity and diversity in 69 subjects, 28 of whom were HIV infected, using clonal frequency analysis via heteroduplex mobility analysis of the second envelope gene hypervariable region. Nucleotide sequencing was performed for a small subset of subjects. RESULTS HIV-positive, HAART-naive subjects had significantly lower HCV quasispecies complexity and diversity than did both HIV-negative and HIV-positive HAART-treated subjects. In multivariate analysis, HIV infection predicted decreased complexity (P < .0001) and diversity (P = .001) of HCV quasispecies, whereas HAART predicted increased complexity (P = .013) and diversity (P = .026). For 4 of 6 patients, sequence analysis yielded data supporting the model that positive host pressure drives HCV quasispecies heterogeneity, although data favoring the hypothesis of selective outgrowth of the most fit variants were also observed. CONCLUSION HIV coinfection is associated with decreased HCV quasispecies variability, which appears to be reversed by effective HAART. Although HIV- and HAART-related effects on host immune pressure are likely to play a role in the observed differences in HCV genetic heterogeneity, other mechanisms may be operative.
Fair and Efficient Assignment via the Probabilistic Serial Mechanism

This paper studies the problem of assigning a set of indivisible objects to a set of agents when monetary transfers are not allowed. We offer two characterizations of the prominent lottery assignment mechanism called the probabilistic serial. We show that it is the only mechanism satisfying non-wastefulness and ordinal fairness. Our second result shows that a direct ordinal mechanism satisfies ordinal efficiency, envy-freeness, and upper invariance if and only if it is the probabilistic serial.
Gaussian Ranking by Matrix Factorization

The ranking quality at the top of the list is crucial in many real-world applications of recommender systems. In this paper, we present a novel framework that allows for pointwise as well as listwise training with respect to various ranking metrics. This is based on a training objective function where we assume that, for given a user, the recommender system predicts scores for all items that follow approximately a Gaussian distribution. We motivate this assumption from the properties of implicit feedback data. As a model, we use matrix factorization and extend it by non-linear activation functions, as customary in the literature of artificial neural networks. In particular, we use non-linear activation functions derived from our Gaussian assumption. Our preliminary experimental results show that this approach is competitive with state-of-the-art methods with respect to optimizing the Area under the ROC curve, while it is particularly effective in optimizing the head of the ranked list.
Effect of component separation on the temperature distribution of the cosmic microwave background

We present a study of the effect of component separation on the recovered cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature distribution. First, we extract the CMB component from simulated multifrequency Planck data (in small patches of the sky) using the maximum-entropy method (MEM), Wiener filter (WF) and a linear combination of the frequency channels (LCFC). We then apply a wavelet-based method to study the Gaussianity of the recovered CMB and compare it with the same analysis for the input map. When the original CMB map is Gaussian (and assuming that point sources have been removed), we find that neither MEM nor WF introduce non-Gaussianity in the CMB reconstruction. Regarding the LCFC, the Gaussian character is also preserved provided that the appropriate combination of frequency channels is used. On the contrary, if the input CMB map is non-Gaussian, all the studied methods produce a reconstructed CMB with lower detections of non-Gaussianity than the original map. In this case, MEM produces in general the highest non-Gaussian detections in the recovered map and, therefore, provides the best reconstruction from the considered methods to search for non-Gaussianity. We have also studied the effect of point sources in the MEM reconstruction. If no attempt of removing point sources is performed, they clearly contaminate the CMB reconstruction, introducing spurious non-Gaussianity. However, if the brightest point sources are removed from the data using the Mexican Hat Wavelet, the Gaussian character of the CMB is preserved in the reconstruction.
A preliminary review of horse-rider reaction times in the equestrian population

Reaction time is defined as the time between the onset of a sensory stimulus and the subsequent behavioral response. This study aimed to investigate reaction times of members of the horse riding population, testing for variables in subject lifestyles which affect reaction time. Fifty-three subjects completed questionnaires including personal details and information on their normal lifestyle and equestrian involvement. Subjects’ reaction times were measured using a computerised game. No significant difference was found between the reaction times for the right or left hands. An increase in reaction time was associated with an increase in age (r=0.744, P<0.05), whilst sleep and caffeine ingestion prior to testing did not influence reaction time P>0.05). The study identified that as subject age (years) increased, reaction time increased and, surprisingly, that the population did not appear to exhibit hand dominance proposed to be due to striving for a balanced rein contact. To fully assess the effect of sleep, stimulants and experience/competition level on reaction time, further investigation is required. However, identification of factors that impact on rider reaction times will allow these to be considered during equestrian human athlete development to enhance equine performance and reduce injuries to horse and rider.
PENINGKATAN SOFT SKILLS DAN HARD SKILLS MAHASISWA MELALUI PROJECT-BASED LEARNING PADA MATA KULIAH PERENCANAAN PEMBELAJARAN GEOGRAFI

Penelitian ini dilakukan karena masih minimnya kemampuan soft skills dan hard skills mahasiswa. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan soft skills dan hard skills mahasiswa melalui penerapan Project Based Learning pada mata kuliah Perencanaan Pembelajaran Geografi serta untuk mengetahui tanggapan mahasiswa terhadap penerapan Project Based Learning. Penelitian ini tergolong penelitian PTK dengan pengamatan selama 2 siklus. Indikator soft skills yang diamati adalah komunikasi lisan, kejujuran, partisipasi dan kreativitas. Sedangkan indikator hard skills yang digunakan adalah nilai mahasiswa, kemampuan merancang perangkat pembelajaran dan media. Data diperoleh melalui lembar observasi, kuesioner, penilaian product dan hasil tes. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terjadi peningkatan indikator soft skill yaitu komunikasi lisan (0,54), partisipasi (0,92), kejujuran (0,42) dan kreativitas (1,4) Peningkatan jumlah mahasiswa yang mendapat nilai A pada Siklus II yaitu 8 orang (naik 25 % dari total mahasiswa), nilai B meningkat menjadi 2 orang (naik 6 % dari total mahasiswa). Indikator hard skills berupa kemampuan merancang perangkat pembelajaran dan media juga mengalami kenaikan pada Siklus II yaitu 21 orang (68 %) kategori sangat baik dan 10 orang (32 %) kategori baik. Mahasiswa memberi tanggapan positif terhadap penerapan Project Based Learning pada mata kuliah Perencanaan Pembelajaran Geografi. Kata kunci: Soft Skills, Hard Skills, Project Based Learning
Aerosol optical depths over North Africa: 2. Modeling and model validation

[1] An operational dust forecasting model is developed by including the Met Office Hadley Centre climate model dust parameterization scheme, within a Met Office regional numerical weather prediction (NWP) model. The model includes parameterizations for dust uplift, dust transport, and dust deposition in six discrete size bins and provides diagnostics such as the aerosol optical depth. The results are compared against surface and satellite remote sensing measurements and against in situ measurements from the Facility for Atmospheric Airborne Measurements for a case study when a strong dust event was forecast. Comparisons are also performed against satellite and surface instrumentation for the entire month of August. The case study shows that this Saharan dust NWP model can provide very good guidance of dust events, as much as 42 h ahead. The analysis of monthly data suggests that the mean and variability in the dust model is also well represented.