Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sharing Space: The Presence of Other Bodies Extends the Space Judged as Near

Background As social animals we share the space with other people. It is known that perceived extension of the peripersonal space (the reaching space) is affected by the implicit representation of our own and other's action potentialities. Our issue concerns whether the co-presence of a body in the scene influences our extrapersonal space (beyond reaching distance) categorization. Methodology/Principal Findings We investigated, through 3D virtual scenes of a realistic environment, whether egocentric spatial categorization can be influenced by the presence of another human body (Exp. 1) and whether the effect is due to her action potentialities or simply to her human-like morphology (Exp. 2). Subjects were asked to judge the location ("Near" or "Far") of a target object located at different distances from their egocentric perspective. In Exp. 1, the judgment was given either in presence of a virtual avatar (Self-with-Other), or a non-corporeal object (Self-with-Object) or nothing (Self). In Exp. 2, the Self condition was replaced by a Self-with-Dummy condition, in which an inanimate body (a wooden dummy) was present. Mean Judgment Transition Thresholds (JTTs) were calculated for each subject in each experimental condition. Self-with-Other condition induced a significant extension of the space judged as “Near” as compared to both the Self-with-Object condition and the Self condition. Such extension was observed also in Exp. 2 in the Self-with-Dummy condition. Results suggest that the presence of others impacts on our perception of extrapersonal space. This effect holds also when the other is a human-like wooden dummy, suggesting that structural and morphological shapes resembling human bodies are sufficient conditions for the effect to occur. Conclusions The observed extension of the portion of space judged as near could represent a wider portion of “accessible” space, thus an advantage in the struggle to survive in presence of other potential competing individuals.
Motor Variability Arises from a Slow Random Walk in Neural State

Even well practiced movements cannot be repeated without variability. This variability is thought to reflect “noise” in movement preparation or execution. However, we show that, for both professional baseball pitchers and macaque monkeys making reaching movements, motor variability can be decomposed into two statistical components, a slowly drifting mean and fast trial-by-trial fluctuations about the mean. The preparatory activity of dorsal premotor cortex/primary motor cortex neurons in monkey exhibits similar statistics. Although the neural and behavioral drifts appear to be correlated, neural activity does not account for trial-by-trial fluctuations in movement, which must arise elsewhere, likely downstream. The statistics of this drift are well modeled by a double-exponential autocorrelation function, with time constants similar across the neural and behavioral drifts in two monkeys, as well as the drifts observed in baseball pitching. These time constants can be explained by an error-corrective learning processes and agree with learning rates measured directly in previous experiments. Together, these results suggest that the central contributions to movement variability are not simply trial-by-trial fluctuations but are rather the result of longer-timescale processes that may arise from motor learning.
Bankruptcy Policy Reform and Total Factor Productivity Dynamics in Korea

Using the firm level panel data, obtained from the period between during , this study shows that the failing firms, accepted in the court-administered rehabilitation procedures after the post-crisis bankruptcy reform in Korea, had experienced less persistent problems in the pre-bankruptcy Total-Factor-Productivity (TFP) performances than those before the reform. The most crucial element of the post-crisis reform in the post-crisis court-administered bankruptcy system is the implementation of an economic efficiency criterion, whereas the pre-reform system benefited failing firms deemed as having high social value and prospects for rehabilitation. The new system removes the possibilities for interested parties to oppose the exit of the firms without economic values. Then, to get an idea of how the bankruptcy policy reform would affect the performance of aggregate TFP, we assess the role of the creative destruction process of entry and exit in total factor productivity growth utilizing plant level panel data in the Korean manufacturing sector during the 1990-98 period. For this purpose, we document the plant entry and exit rates, examine the dynamic relationship between plant turnovers and plant productivity, and quantify the contribution from entry and exit to productivity growth. We conclude that, for sustained total factor productivity growth, it is important to establish policy or institutional environment where efficient businesses succeed and inefficient businesses fail.
Random Unitary Beamforming With Partial Feedback for MISO Downlink Transmission Using Multiuser Diversity

In this paper, we study the problem of downlink transmission in multiple-input-single-output (MISO) wireless communication systems using multiuser diversity. There are antennas at the base station (BS) and single-antenna receivers. The performance of multiuser diversity depends on the number of users that have independent channel realizations. It is well known that increasing the number of users improves the performance at the expense of increasing feedback that is proportional to the number of users. For sufficiently large K, the capacity scales like M log log K. When K is large, increasing feedback limits practical applications of the multiuser diversity. Our approach is to reduce the feedback by selecting a threshold for the linfin-norm of the normalized cross-correlation (||zk||infin) between the users' channel and the beamforming matrix based on the random unitary beamforming. The average amount of feedback per time slot is real numbers and integers which does not change with K. To improve fairness, an equal ratio scheduling algorithm which could serve the users with different rate requirements is developed. Monte Carlo simulation results is provided to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm.
Reciprocal interactions in the turtle hindlimb enlargement contribute to scratch rhythmogenesis.

We examined interactions between the spinal networks that generate right and left rostral scratch motor patterns in turtle hindlimb motoneurons before and after transecting the spinal cord within the anterior hindlimb enlargement. Our results provide evidence that reciprocal inhibition between hip circuit modules can generate hip rhythmicity during the rostral scratch reflex. "Module" refers here to the group of coactive motoneurons and interneurons that controls either flexion or extension of the hip on one side and coordinates that activity with synergist and antagonist motor pools in the same limb and in the contralateral limb. The "bilateral shared core" hypothesis states that hip flexor and extensor (HF and HE) circuit modules interact via crossed and uncrossed spinal pathways: HF modules make reciprocal inhibitory connections with contralateral HF and ipsilateral HE modules and mutual excitatory connections with contralateral HE modules. It is currently unclear how much reciprocal inhibition between modules contributes to scratch rhythmogenesis. To address this issue, fictive scratch motor patterns were recorded bilaterally as electroneurograms from HF, HE, knee extensor (KE), and respiratory (d.D8) muscle nerves in immobilized animals. D3-end (low-spinal) preparations had intact spinal cords posterior to a complete D2-D3 transection. Unilateral stimulation of rostral scratch in D3-end turtles elicited rhythmic alternation between ipsilateral HF and HE bursts in most cycles; consecutive HF bursts were separated by complete silent (HF-OFF ) periods. D3-D9 and D3-D8 preparations received a second spinal transection at the caudal end of segment D9 or D8, respectively, within the anterior hindlimb enlargement. This second transection disconnected most HE circuitry (located mainly in segments D10-S2 of the posterior enlargement) from the rostral scratch network and thereby reduced the HE-associated inhibition of HF circuitry. Unilateral stimulation of rostral scratch in most D3-D9 and D3-D8 preparations evoked rhythmic or weakly modulated ipsilateral HF discharge without HF-OFF periods between bursts and without ipsilateral HE activity in the majority of cycles. In contrast, bilateral stimulation in D3-D9 and D3-D8 preparations reconstructed the HF-OFF periods, increased HF rhythmicity (assessed by fast Fourier transform power spectra and autocorrelation analyses), and reestablished weak HE-phase motoneuron activity. We suggest that bilateral stimulation produced these effects by simultaneously activating reciprocally inhibitory hip modules on opposite sides (right and left HF) and the same side (HF and residual ipsilateral HE circuitry). Our data support the hypothesis that reciprocal inhibition can contribute to spinal rhythmogenesis during the scratch reflex.
Adult spinal motoneurones are not hyperexcitable in a mouse model of inherited amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Intrinsic hyperexcitability of spinal motoneurones is thought to contribute to excitotoxicity during amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but it has never been demonstrated that adult motoneurones become hyperexcitable before disconnection from their muscle fibres. We found an increased input conductance in motoneurones recorded in a mouse model of ALS. Yet, most cells retained normal excitability as measured by current onset for firing and input–output gain. This indicates successful regulation of excitability, compensating for the increase in conductance. In contrast, some cells became hypoexcitable, losing their ability to fire repetitively to quasi‐stationary inputs before denervation. Hypoexcitability might therefore be an early marker of disease progression. We thereby demonstrate that, if excitotoxicity is indeed a mechanism leading to degeneration in ALS, it is not caused by changes in the intrinsic electrical properties of the motoneurones but most probably by extrinsic factors such as excessive synaptic excitation.
Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of a Calyx of Held and Its Postsynaptic Principal Neuron in the Medial Nucleus of the Trapezoid Body

The three-dimensional morphology of the axosomatic synaptic structures between a calyx of Held and a principal neuron in the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB) in the brainstem of young postnatal day 9 rats was reconstructed from serial ultrathin sections. In the apposition zone between the calyx and the principal neuron two types of membrane specializations were identified: synaptic contacts (SCs) with active zones (AZs) and their associated postsynaptic densities (PSDs) constituted ∼35% (n = 554) of the specializations; the remaining 65% (n = 1010) were puncta adherentia (PA). Synaptic contacts comprised ∼5% of the apposition area of presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes. A SC had an average area of 0.100 μm2, and the nearest neighbors were separated, on average, by 0.59 μm. Approximately one-half of the synaptic vesicles in the calyx were clustered within a distance of 200 nm of the AZ membrane area, a cluster consisting of ∼60 synaptic vesicles (n = 52 SCs). Approximately two synaptic vesicles per SC were “anatomically docked. ” Comparing the geometry of the synaptic structure with its previously studied functional properties, we find that during a single presynaptic action potential (AP) (1) ∼35% of the AZs release a transmitter quantum, (2) the number of SCs and anatomically docked vesicles is comparable with the low estimates of the readily releasable pool (RRP) of quanta, and (3) the broad distribution of PSD areas [coefficient of variation (CV) = 0.9] is likely to contribute to the large variability of miniature EPSC peaks. The geometry of the reconstructed synapse suggests that each of the hundreds of SCs is likely to contribute independently to the size and rising phase of the EPSC during a single AP.
Partitioned EDF Scheduling for Multiprocessors using a C=D Scheme

An EDF-based task-splitting scheme for scheduling multiprocessor systems is introduced in this paper. For $m$ processors at most $m$-1 tasks are split. The first part of a split task is constrained to have a deadline equal to its computation time. It therefore occupies its processor for a minimum interval. The second part of the task then has the maximum time available to complete its execution on a different processor. The advantage of this scheme is that no special run-time mechanisms are required and the overheads are kept to a minimum. Analysis is developed that allows the parameters of the split tasks to be derived. This analysis is integrated into the QPA algorithm for testing the schedulability of any task set executing on a single processor under EDF. Evaluation of the $C$=$D$ scheme is provided via a comparison with a fully partitioned scheme and the theoretical maximum processor utilisation.
Risk-taking and Firm Growth

Using firm data from 2002-2012, we examine the relationship between capital structure and risk taking, and between risk taking and firm performance of small and medium-sized enterprises and large private firms. Domestically-owned entrepreneurial private firms are more risk averse than domestically-owned affiliated private firms. Foreign-owned affiliated private firms are much more risk taking than domestically-owned private firms. However, leverage is not strongly associated with less corporate risk taking, but it adversely influences corporate investment significantly. Risk taking has statistically and economically significant effects on corporate growth and corporate earnings. Furthermore, during the credit crisis, risk taking was positively related to corporate earnings, and thus higher risk-taking firms had smaller cash flow shortfalls.
Learning Connective-based Word Representations for Implicit Discourse Relation Identification

We introduce a simple semi-supervised approach to improve implicit discourse relation identification. This approach harnesses large amounts of automatically extracted discourse connectives along with their arguments to construct new distributional word representations. Specifically, we represent words in the space of discourse connectives as a way to directly encode their rhetorical function. Experiments on the Penn Discourse Treebank demonstrate the effectiveness of these task-tailored representations in predicting implicit discourse relations. Our results indeed show that, despite their simplicity, these connective-based representations outperform various off-the-shelf word embeddings, and achieve state-of-the-art performance on this problem.
Gene Silencing by Artificial Micrornas in Chlamydomonas

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a unicellular green alga. It is a model system for studying functions of the chloroplast, basal body and flagella. The completion of the Chlamydomonas genome sequence makes it possible to use reverse genetic approaches in this organism. Chlamydomonas contains a set of endogenous microRNAs (miRNAs) that down-regulate their target gene expression through mRNA cleavage. Here we developed an artificial miRNA-based strategy to knock down gene expression in Chlamydomonas. Using an endogenous Chlamydomonas miRNA precursor as the backbone, we constructed two artificial miRNAs (amiRNAs) targeting the MAA7 and RBCS1/2 genes, respectively. When overexpressed, these two amiRNAs could cleave their respective targets precisely at the predicted sites, resulting in greatly decreased accumulation of MAA7 and RBCS1/2 transcripts and expected mutant phenotypes. We further showed that the two amiRNAs could be produced simultaneously from a dimeric amiRNA precursor. We anticipate that the amiRNA technology developed in this study will be very useful in assessing the functions of individual genes and in genome-wide approaches.
Cyclical adjustment of the federal budget and federal debt : detailed methodology and estimates

Editor's Note In recent years, substantial effort has been devoted to improving the high-employment budget—one of the tools useful in the analysis of Federal fiscal policy. In 1980, BEA, in cooperation with the Council of Economic Advisers, the Office of Management and Budget, and several other Federal agencies, prepared new estimates of the high-employment budget. Following publication of these estimates in the SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS, BEA assumed responsibility for the maintenance and improvement of current and historical estimates. In April 1982, revised estimates were presented and estimates of the changes in the high-employment budget due to the automatic response of Federal receipts and expenditures to inflation were introduced. In November of that year, a critique of the high-employment budget and potential output appeared in the SURVEY, followed by a response. The work discussed in the article that follows was undertaken because of widespread dissatisfaction with the concept and measurement of potential output, an integral part of the methodology of the high-employment budget. The article presents a budget, called a cyclically adjusted budget, based on a trend GNP tied more closely to actual estimates than potential output. It also introduces a companion cyclically adjusted debt series. BEA plans to publish these series regularly in the SURVEY, along with a variant of the cyclically adjusted budget based on a 6-percent unemployment rate, and hopes by the publication of these estimates to encourage further development and use of these tools. L HERE is continuing strong interest in partitioning the Federal budget into a cyclical component, which measures the automatic responses of receipts and expenditures to economic fluctuations, and a cyclically adjusted or "structural" component, which measures discretionary fiscal policy and other noncyclical factors affecting the budget. Alternative measures of the size of the cyclically adjusted component, hereafter referred to simply as the cyclically adjusted budget, vary enormously, however, as chart 6 and table 1 illustrate. One alternative, the high-employment budget that BEA has published since 1980, measures what the Federal surplus or deficit on a national income and product accounts (NIPA) basis would be at a 4.9percent unemployment rate, and shows a deficit of 2.0 percent of highemployment (or potential) GNP in the third quarter of 1983. Another alternative, a variant of a high-employment budget based on a 6-percent unemployment rate, shows a deficit of 3.0 percent of the corresponding highemployment GNP. The cyclically adjusted budget introduced in this article, based on "middle-expansion trend" GNP in place of potential GNP, shows a deficit of 4.4 percent of the corresponding trend GNP. For comparison, the actual deficit was 5.6 percent of actual GNP in the third quarter of 1983.
Variation-aware Server Placement and Task Assignment for Data Center Power Minimization

Size and number of data centers are fast growing all over the world and their increasing total power consumption is a worldwide concern. Moreover, increase in the amount of process variation in nanometer technologies and its effect on total power consumption of servers has made it inevitable to move toward variation-aware power reduction strategies. This paper formulates a variation-aware joint server placement and task assignment method using Integer Linear Programming (ILP) to minimize total power consumption of data centers. We first determine the optimum placement of servers in the data center racks based on total power consumption of each server and the data center recirculation model obtained by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. Then, we dynamically consolidate the ON servers in chassis and racks such that the use of power-greedy servers is minimized. Experimental results reveal up to 14.85% and an average of 8.92% power saving at different server utilization rates with respect to conventional methods.
Statistical and Clinical Aspects of Hospital Outcomes Profiling

Hospital profiling involves a comparison of a health care provider's structure, processes of care, or outcomes to a standard, often in the form of a report card. Given the ubiquity of report cards and similar consumer ratings in contemporary American culture, it is notable that these are a relatively recent phenomenon in health care. Prior to the 1986 release of Medicare hospital outcome data, little such information was publicly available. We review the historical evolution of hospital profiling with special emphasis on outcomes; present a detailed history of cardiac surgery report cards, the paradigm for modern provider profiling; discuss the potential unintended negative consequences of public report cards; and describe various statistical methodologies for quantifying the relative performance of cardiac surgery programs. Outstanding statistical issues are also described.
Photochemistry in Clusters and Nanoparticles: Systems of Atmospheric and Biological Importance

Influence of solvation on photodissociation of molecules is investigated in clusters produced in a molecular beam experiment. Photochemistry in three dierent systems is compared: (i) HBrAr n and (HBr)n clusters, where the fragment does not react with the solvent and an eect of the fragment caging is observed, (ii) HBr(H2O)n system where chemical reaction occurs and a new reaction channel is opened by the solvent, and (iii) (Py)n clusters where a reaction channel is closed by the electronic interaction with the solvent. The practical relevance of the studied processes ranges from atmospheric chemistry to biology.
Design and Development of Artificial Neural Networking (ANN) system using sigmoid activation function to predict annual rice production in Tamilnadu

Prediction of annual rice production in all the 31 districts of Tamilnadu is an important decision for the Government of Tamilnadu. Rice production is a complex process and non linear problem involving soil, crop, weather, pest, disease, capital, labour and management parameters. ANN software was designed and developed with Feed Forward Back Propagation (FFBP) network to predict rice production. The input layer has six independent variables like area of cultivation and rice production in three seasons like Kuruvai, Samba and Kodai. The popular sigmoid activation function was adopted to convert input data into sigmoid values. The hidden layer computes the summation of six sigmoid values with six sets of weightages. The final output was converted into sigmoid values using a sigmoid transfer function. ANN outputs are the predicted results. The error between original data and ANN output values were computed. A threshold value of 10-9 was used to test whether the error is greater than the threshold level. If the error is greater than threshold then updating of weights was done all summations were done by back propagation. This process was repeated until error equal to zero. The predicted results were printed and it was found to be exactly matching with the expected values. It shows that the ANN prediction was 100% accurate.