Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Visualizing Gestures in the Control of a Digital Musical Instrument

Conceiving digital musical instruments might be challenging in terms of spectator accessibility. Depending on the interface and the complexity of the software used as a transition between the controller and sound, a musician performance can be totally opaque for the audience and loose its interest. This paper examines the possibility of adding a visual feedback to help the public understanding, and add expressivity to the performance. It explores the various mapping organizations between controller and sound, giving different spaces of representation for the visual feedback. It can be either an amplification of the controller parameters, or a representation of the related musical parameters. Different examples of visualization are presented and evaluated, taking the Cantor Digitalis as a support. It appears the representation of musical parameters, little used compared to the representation of controllers, received a good opinion from the audience, highlighting the musical intention of the performers.
Economic Intimidation in Contemporary Elections: Evidence from Romania and Bulgaria

This article examines electoral intimidation of voters at their workplace in contemporary new democracies. What is the relative importance of workplace intimidation in the broader portfolio of clientelistic strategies used by politicians at times of elections? What explains the subnational variation in the incidence of this electoral strategy? We answer these questions using empirical evidence from two East European countries – Romania and Bulgaria. We assess the prevalence of non-programmatic electoral mobilization in these countries by using list experiments, a survey methodology that elicits unbiased and truthful responses to sensitive political questions. We find that in both countries, workplace intimidation is an important component in the repertoire of non-programmatic mobilization used at election times. Workplace intimidation is especially pervasive in localities dominated by a small number of large employers. The importance of economic intimidation in the portfolio of clientelistic strategies declines as the economic heterogeneity of the locality increases.
The cranberry flavonoids PAC DP-9 and quercetin aglycone induce cytotoxicity and cell cycle arrest and increase cisplatin sensitivity in ovarian cancer cells

Cranberry flavonoids (flavonols and flavan-3-ols), in addition to their antioxidant properties, have been shown to possess potential in vitro activity against several cancers. However, the difficulty of isolating cranberry compounds has largely limited anticancer research to crude fractions without well-defined compound composition. In this study, individual cranberry flavonoids were isolated to the highest purity achieved so far using gravity and high performance column chromatography and LC-MS characterization. MTS assay indicated differential cell viability reduction of SKOV-3 and OVCAR-8 ovarian cancer cells treated with individual cranberry flavonoids. Treatment with quercetin aglycone and PAC DP-9, which exhibited the strongest activity, induced apoptosis, led to caspase-3 activation and PARP deactivation, and increased sensitivity to cisplatin. Furthermore, immunofluorescence microscopy and western blot study revealed reduced expression and activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in PAC DP-9 treated SKOV-3 cells. In addition, quercetin aglycone and PAC DP-9 deactivated MAPK-ERK pathway, induced downregulation of cyclin D1, DNA-PK, phosphohistone H3 and upregulation of p21, and arrested cell cycle progression. Overall, this study demonstrates promising in vitro cytotoxic and anti-proliferative properties of two newly characterized cranberry flavonoids, quercetin aglycone and PAC DP-9, against ovarian cancer cells.
Cortical dynamics underlying seizure mapping and control

In one-third of epilepsy patients, antiepileptic drugs do not effectively control seizures, leaving resective surgery as the primary treatment option. In the absence of discrete focal lesions, long-term outcome after surgery is modest and often associated with side effects. In many cases, surgery cannot be performed due to the lack of a discrete region generating seizures. For these reasons, new therapeutic technologies have been developed to treat drug-resistant epilepsy with electrical stimulation. These devices are promising, but the efficacy of first-generation implants has been limited. The work in this thesis aims to advance current approaches to seizure monitoring and control by developing better hardware and building the foundational knowledge behind the cortical dynamics underlying seizure generation, propagation and neural stimulation. In this thesis, I first develop new technologies that sample local field potentials on the cortical surface with high spatial and temporal resolutions. These devices capture complex spatiotemporal patterns of epileptiform activity that are not detected on current clinical electrodes. By adding stimulation functionalities to these arrays, we position them as an ideal candidate for responsive, therapeutic neurostimulation. Next, I explore the effect of direct electrical stimulation in the cortex by recording responses with high spatial resolution on the surface and within the cortical laminae. The findings detail the capabilities and limitations of electrical stimulation as a means of modulating seizures. Finally, I use the same three-dimensional recording paradigm in feline neocortex to investigate the genesis and propagation of epileptiform activity in an isolated, chemically-induced epilepsy model. These experiments demonstrate that important circuit elements involved in seizure propagation are found deeper in the cortex and are not reflected in surface recordings. My investigations also present potential stimulation strategies to more effectively disrupt the spread of seizures in the neocortex. It is my hope that the results of this work will inform future technologies to better detect and prevent seizures, ultimately improving the lives of drug-resistant epilepsy patients through the next generation of implantable devices. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Bioengineering First Advisor Brian Litt Subject Categories Biomedical | Neuroscience and Neurobiology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn. edu/edissertations/1612 CORTICAL DYNAMICS UNDERLYING SEIZURE MAPPING AND CONTROL
Integrating cross-scale analysis in the spatial and temporal domains for classification of behavioral movement

Since various behavioral movement patterns are likely to be valid within differ- ent, unique ranges of spatial and temporal scales (e.g., instantaneous, diurnal, or seasonal) with the corresponding spatial extents, a cross-scale approach is needed for accurate clas- sification of behaviors expressed in movement. Here, we introduce a methodology for the characterization and classification of behavioral movement data that relies on comput- ing and analyzing movement features jointly in both the spatial and temporal domains. The proposed methodology consists of three stages. In the first stage, focusing on the spatial domain, the underlying movement space is partitioned into several zonings that correspond to different spatial scales, and features related to movement are computed for each partitioning level. In the second stage, concentrating on the temporal domain, several movement parameters are computed from trajectories across a series of temporal windows of increasing sizes, yielding another set of input features for the classification. For both the spatial and the temporal domains, the "reliable scale" is determined by an automated procedure. This is the scale at which the best classification accuracy is achieved, using only spatial or temporal input features, respectively. The third stage takes the measures from the spatial and temporal domains of movement, computed at the corresponding reliable
PLAPACK: high performance through high-level abstraction

Coding parallel algorithms is generally regarded as a formidable task. To make this task manageable in the arena of linear algebra algorithms, we have developed the Parallel Linear Algebra Package (PLAPACK), an infrastructure for coding such algorithms at a high level of abstraction. It is often believed that by raising the level of abstraction in this fashion, performance is sacrificed. Throughout, we have maintained that indeed there is a performance penalty, but that by coding at a higher level of abstraction, more sophisticated algorithms can be implemented, which allows high levels of performance to be regained. In this paper, we show this to be the case for the parallel solver package implemented using PLAPACK, which includes Cholesky, LU, and QR factorization based solvers for symmetric positive definite, general, and overdetermined systems of equations, respectively. Contributions of this paper include new parallel algorithms for these factorizations and performance results on a Cray T3E-600.
The shape of the inner rim in proto-planetary disks

We discuss the properties of the inner puffed-up rim that forms in circumstellar disks when dust evaporates. We argue that the rim shape is controlled by a fundamental property of circumstellar disks, namely their very large vertical density gradient, through the dependence of grain evaporation temperature on gas density. Numerical models show that the bright side of the rim is naturally curved, rather than vertical as expected when a constant evaporation temperature is assumed. The rim emits most of its radiation in the near and mid-IR, and provides a simple explanation to the observed values of the near-IR excess (the “ 3 μ m bump” of Herbig Ae stars). We have computed synthetic images of the curved rim. Face-on rims are seen as bright, centrally symmetric rings on the sky; increasing the inclination, the rim takes an elliptical shape, with one side brighter than the other.
Effects of Apoprotein E Polymorphism on Serum Lipoprotein Concentration

Serum concentrations for the cholesterol and triglyceride content of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and the cholesterol content of intermediate density lipoprotein (IDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and the high density lipoprotein fractions (HDL2, HDL3) were measured in 337 men and women with the apo E phenotype who were born in the Grampian Region of North East Scotland. The subjects' ages ranged from 45 to 60 years (mean, 53 years). Cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption were recorded and were shown to have minor, but suggestive, effects on serum lipoprotein concentrations. The LDL concentration of E-3/2 subjects was compared with the commonest category, E-3/3, and was found to be about 20% lower in men and about 12% lower in women, in whom the VLDL and IDL concentrations were substantially elevated. In E-4/3 women, the serum LDL concentration was about 10% higher than in E-3/3 women, and the other differences were minor. The effect of allelic substitutions differed between the sexes. The relations between C-peptide ratios and serum lipoprotein concentration differed by gender and phenotype. A comparison with earlier estimates of LDL heritability suggests that in this population, a substantial fraction of the genetic variance of LDL is due to segregation at the apo E locus. The implications of this significant finding are discussed.
Executive Compensation

This paper summarizes the empirical and theoretical research on executive compensation and provides a comprehensive and up-to-date description of pay practices (and trends in pay practices) for chief executive officers (CEOs). Topics discussed include the level and structure of CEO pay (including detailed analyses of annual bonus plans, executive stock options, and option valuation), international pay differences, the pay-setting process, the relation between CEO pay and firm performance ("pay-performance sensitivities"), the relation between sensitivities and subsequent firm performance, relative performance evaluation, executive turnover, and the politics of CEO pay.
Motivating Men Who Have Sex with Men Closet Gays to Get Tested for HIV

The cloak of secrecy that some men throw around their homosexuality does not suit their physical health once they contract the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Being closeted is a deterrent for getting tested for HIV; thus, this study was conducted to determine how to motivate closet gays to be tested for HIV. Most closeted individuals hide in the shadows of lies and live in a contradiction of love, hate, and fear. Many closet homosexuals struggle (or have struggled) with an internal conflict: it’s like, deep down feeling that their affection for and attraction to the same sex just can’t be right. We conducted interview to seven identified closet gays from November to December 2013 with guide questions that identified key features and preferences of why they are closet gays and why they did not submit themselves for HIV testing. Participants reported, being unaware that HIV is asymptomatic, to which they did not consider themselves at risk. They are not willing to come out for fear of social stigma in their workplace and the severity of antihomosexual attitudes in their family and community. Fear, shame, doubt of confidentiality of the result and unaware of the risk of unsafe sexual practice – no condom use, were reasons why they don’t want to get tested for HIV. We identified 4 key themes with regards to preferences and features of an effective ways to motivate HIV testing among MSM closet gays: addressing fear, enhancing risk perception, avoiding stigmatizing, and perception on HIV testing in the center. Although its results must be cautiously considered, many of the conclusions are clear. The results of this study serve as the basis to design an effective campaign to motivate HIV testing among MSM closet gays in Davao City. These interventions should include motivations that reduce the fear of getting tested and increase the risk perception of participants. They should also market the venue to where the testing will be conducted, the professionals who will perform the tests, and the test itself.
Collective pride, happiness, and celebratory emotions: aggregative, network, and cultural models

Leeds Metropolitan University In recent years, many instances of positive collective emotional manifestations of widely shared forms of pride, joy, and happiness have been reported in international media. Reactions to Obama’s election victory in 2008 included pride, excitement, and euphoria amongst supporters within the USA and worldwide. In 2010, the successful rescue of trapped miners in Chile produced contrasting emotions of national pride within the coun-try and transnational collective joy in the global audience following the drama. In Japan, the women’s soccer team triumph in the 2011 FIFA World Cup produced widespread hap-piness only a few months aft er the nuclear disaster and devastating tsunami. In the Ivory Coast in April 2011, supporters of rebel Alassane Ouattara celebrated in the streets aft er the UN confi rmed the capture and surrender of former President Gbagbo. Finally, 80% of the 1002 Britons (aged 16 years and over) surveyed about the 2012 Olympics felt that the “games has made people more proud to be British”—although 53% also agreed with the statement: “the eff ect will be short-lived” (BBC, 2012). Th ese instances of intense collective positive emotion represent only a brief list of events that require greater investigation, understanding, and explanation by an interdisciplinary combination of work from philosophy, sociology, cultural studies, political science, and social psychology. Although multiple perspectives can be taken toward the emotions that occur in groups, it is important to identify some common features. Even when groups (or subgroups) are ephemeral, collective emotion is felt by most members of the group. Th is demonstrates not only the means by which a group is identifi ed by other groups and how group members conceive themselves, but also displays common group inter-ests, values, and aims. It is useful to be aware of: (1) the wide variety of groups in which collective emotions can occur; (2) the degree of commitment, attachment, or identifi ca-tion involved; and (3) the types of collectives that aff ord collective emotions. Salmela (forthcoming) reminds us that collective emotions can occur on the basis of voluntary commitment to “teams, fan clubs, social clubs, bands and orchestras, theater ensembles, political parties, religious sects, as well as other identity groups that focus on gender, sexuality, health, environment, spirituality, or ethnicity. ” Furthermore, events affi rming
Large deviation properties of weakly interacting processes via weak convergence methods

We study large deviation properties of systems of weakly interacting particles modeled by Ito stochastic differential equations (SDEs). It is known under certain conditions that the corresponding sequence of empirical measures converges, as the number of particles tends to infinity, to the weak solution of an associated McKean–Vlasov equation. We derive a large deviation principle via the weak convergence approach. The proof, which avoids discretization arguments, is based on a representation theorem, weak convergence and ideas from stochastic optimal control. The method works under rather mild assumptions and also for models described by SDEs not of diffusion type. To illustrate this, we treat the case of SDEs with delay.
Effects of multimodal cues on children's perception of uncanniness in a social robot

This paper investigates the influence of multimodal incongruent gender cues on the perception of a robot's uncanniness and gender in children. The back-projected robot head Furhat was equipped with a female and male face texture and voice synthesizer and the voice and facial cues were tested in congruent and incongruent combinations. 106 children between the age of 8 and 13 participated in the study. Results show that multimodal incongruent cues do not trigger the feeling of uncanniness in children. These results are significant as they support other recent research showing that the perception of uncanniness cannot be triggered by a categorical ambiguity in the robot. In addition, we found that children rely on auditory cues much stronger than on the facial cues when assigning a gender to the robot if presented with incongruent cues. These findings have implications for the robot design, as it seems possible to change the gender of a robot by only changing its voice without creating a feeling of uncanniness in a child.
Comparative Study of Flux-Switching and Doubly-Salient PM Machines Particularly on Torque Capability

Flux-switching and doubly-salient brushless motors are both novel PM machines having magnets in the stator instead of rotor with outstandingly different static characteristics, especially on the PM flux-linkage waveform, namely, the unipolar and quasi-trapezoidal one for the doubly-salient PM motor, whereas bipolar and sinusoidal one for the flux-switching PM motor, which inevitably results in the distinction in the toque capabilities of both motors. In this paper, based on the theoretical analysis and finite element calculation, a comprehensive comparison on the torque performance of the two motors are investigated under five classical working conditions, in which the flux-switching PM motor is operated in brushless AC mode, while the doubly-salient PM motor is run in brushless DC mode. It is found that the flux-switching PM motor has superior torque capability to that of the doubly-salient PM counterpart, which is verified by both the finite element analysis and experimental results.
Providing Secrecy With Structured Codes: Tools and Applications to Two-User Gaussian Channels

Recent results have shown that structured codes can be used to construct good channel codes, source codes and physical layer network codes for Gaussian channels. For Gaussian channels with secrecy constraints, however, efforts to date rely on random codes. In this work, we advocate that structured codes are useful for providing secrecy, and show how to compute the secrecy rate when structured codes are used. In particular, we solve the problem of bounding equivocation rates with one important class of structured codes, i.e., nested lattice codes. Having established this result, we next demonstrate the use of structured codes for secrecy in two-user Gaussian channels. In particular, with structured codes, we prove that a positive secure degree of freedom is achievable for a large class of fully connected Gaussian channels as long as the channel is not degraded. By way of this, for these channels, we establish that structured codes outperform Gaussian random codes at high SNR. This class of channels include the two-user multiple access wiretap channel, the two-user interference channel with confidential messages and the two-user interference wiretap channel. A notable consequence of this result is that, unlike the case with Gaussian random codes, using structured codes for both transmission and cooperative jamming, it is possible to achieve an arbitrary large secrecy rate given enough power.
Neural Machine Translation and Sequence-to-sequence Models: A Tutorial

This tutorial introduces a new and powerful set of techniques variously called "neural machine translation" or "neural sequence-to-sequence models". These techniques have been used in a number of tasks regarding the handling of human language, and can be a powerful tool in the toolbox of anyone who wants to model sequential data of some sort. The tutorial assumes that the reader knows the basics of math and programming, but does not assume any particular experience with neural networks or natural language processing. It attempts to explain the intuition behind the various methods covered, then delves into them with enough mathematical detail to understand them concretely, and culiminates with a suggestion for an implementation exercise, where readers can test that they understood the content in practice.
A new ECG feature extractor for biometric recognition

In this paper, a new wavelet based framework is developed and evaluated for automatic analysis of single lead electrocardiogram (ECG) for application in human recognition. The proposed system utilizes a robust preprocessing stage that enables it to handle noise and outliers so that it is directly applied on the raw ECG signal. Moreover, it is capable of handling ECGs regardless of the heart rate (HR) which renders making presumptions on the individual's stress level unnecessary. One of the novelties of this paper is the design of personalized heartbeat template so that the gallery set consists of only one heartbeart per subject. This substantial reduction of the gallery size, decreases the storage requirements of the system significantly. Furthermore, the classification process is speeded up by eliminating the need for dimensionality reduction techniques such as PCA or LDA. Experimental results for identification over PTB and MIT healthy ECG databases indicate a robust subject identification rate of 99.61% using only 2 heartbeats in average for each individual.