Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gestural Primitives and the context for computational processing in an interactive performance system

The production of sounds intimately involves human motion. In performance practice the relationship between human motion and sound production has naturally evolved intact with the physicality of the instruments and the physical modality required for performers to produce a sound with the instruments. It has been a half century since the computer music field began developing sound analysis and synthesis algorithms apart from human motion. With the benefit of research and knowledge gained from the field, this paper attempts to bring a formalization of human motion in terms of performance gesture into the computable domain. The paper reports experimental examples from compositions and research progress. Gestural primitives are introduced and classified with respect to the cognitive and physical aspects of performers. Gestural primitives are applied to the design and adaptation of sensors and software architecture, and tested in a software environment to facilitate multi-modal performances with interactive simulations. The applications of gestural primitives are accompanied by attributing: 1) a sufficient degree of automation in sound computation, 2) a configuration of interactive pathways, and 3) their functional roles within an adequate organizational structure integrating n-dimensional signals. In order to account for a comprehensive model of interactivity the final section is devoted to the representation of interactive space by way of constructing a hypothetical cognitive map.
The Irpinia (Italy) 1980 earthquake: Detailed analysis of a complex normal faulting

A detailed analysis of near-source strong motion and leveling data, together with the results of teleseismic waveform modeling by Westaway and Jackson (1987) and aftershock studies by Deschamps and King (1984), allows a satisfactory kinematic description of the complex normal faulting associated with the magnitude Ms = 6.9, November 23,1980, Irpinia earthquake (southern Italy). The three main rupture episodes, starting at about 0, 20 and 40 s, are here associated with better constrained source parameters than in previous studies. We first evaluated the triggering time for the 11 closest accelerometers by using the well-recorded 40-s strong motion phases. This gave the absolute time and location of the dominant episodes of faulting. The first rupture propagated mainly toward the northwest on a NE dipping normal fault, at a mean velocity close to 3 km/s for about 20 km, and continued 15 km further on smaller subfaults. It was associated with surface breakage in the southeastern part. The second rupture started from the southeastern end of the first rupture, about 18 s after it, and propagated about 20 km toward the southeast on a low-angle normal fault dipping 20°NE. It was associated with secondary faulting on steeper planes reaching the surface. The third and last episode at 39 s nucleated near the first hypocenter, at shallower depth, and the rupture possibly propagated on a 10- to 15-km-long normal fault, striking SE, antithetic to the first activated fault. A clear correlation appears between the strength of the geological formations and the existence of surface breakage and shallow aftershock activity.
The right kind of generic programming

Haskell is known for its strong, static type system. A good type system classifies values, constraining the valid terms of the language and preventing many common programming errors. The Glasgow Haskell Compiler (GHC) has further extended the type language of Haskell, adding support for type-level computation and explicit type equality constraints. Type-level programming is used to classify values, but types themselves have remained notoriously unclassified. Recently, however, the kind-level language was extended with support for user-defined kinds and kind polymorphism. In this paper we revisit generic programming approaches that rely heavily on type-level computation, and analyse how to improve them with the extended kind language. For instructive purposes, we list a series of advantages given by the new features, and also a number of shortcomings that prevent desirable use patterns.
The Efiect of Service Time Variability on Job Scheduling Fairness

Fairness is an inherent and fundamental factor of queue service disciplines in a large variety of queueing applications, ranging from computer systems, communica- tions systems and call centers to airport and supermarket waiting lines. Service time variability across jobs is a major factor afiecting both system performance and schedul- ing rules (for example, computer systems prioritize short jobs over long jobs). Service time variability and its efiects on mean response times have been studied extensively. However, its efiect on queue fairness has not been researched. This work studies the efiect of service time variability on queue fairness. We use the RAQFM queue fairness measure, whose analysis for the case of the M/M/1 queue was provided in Raz et al. (2004b), and aim at studying it under a wide variety of service time distributions (rather than exponential only) with a large range of service time variability. For the LCFS-PR scheduling we provide a full analysis of the M/G/1 system. We flnd that for this system the fairness (when expressed as second moment of discrimination) de- pends on the flrst two moments of the service time and only on them. For other service disciplines (FCFS, LCFS-NPR, ROS-NPR, ROS-PR) we propose to use the common approach of mapping an arbitrary service time distribution into a Coxian distribu- tion (via moment mapping) and to use a Markovian-type fairness analysis of RAQFM for deriving the fairness level of the single server system with Poisson arrivals. The analysis reveals that queue fairness is sensitive to service time variability and that the fairness ranking of common scheduling policies (e.g. FCFS, LCFS, ROS) depends on
Simulating galaxy formation with black hole driven thermal and kinetic feedback

The inefficiency of star formation in massive elliptical galaxies is widely believed to be caused by the interactions of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) with the surrounding gas. Achieving a sufficiently rapid reddening of moderately massive galaxies without expelling too many baryons has however proven difficult for hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation, prompting us to explore a new model for the accretion and feedback effects of supermassive black holes. For high-accretion rates relative to the Eddington limit, we assume that a fraction of the accreted rest mass energy heats the surrounding gas thermally, similar to the ‘quasar mode’ in previous work. For low-accretion rates, we invoke a new, pure kinetic feedback model that imparts momentum to the surrounding gas in a stochastic manner. These two modes of feedback are motivated both by theoretical conjectures for the existence of different types of accretion flows as well as recent observational evidence for the importance of kinetic AGN winds in quenching galaxies. We find that a large fraction of the injected kinetic energy in this mode thermalizes via shocks in the surrounding gas, thereby providing a distributed heating channel. In cosmological simulations, the resulting model produces red, non-star-forming massive elliptical galaxies, and achieves realistic gas fractions, black hole growth histories and thermodynamic profiles in large haloes.
What Can OSS Mailing Lists Tell Us? A Preliminary Psychometric Text Analysis of the Apache Developer Mailing List

Developer mailing lists are a rich source of information about Open Source Software (OSS) development. The unstructured nature of email makes extracting information difficult. We use a psychometrically-based linguistic analysis tool, the LIWC, to examine the Apache httpd server developer mailing list. We conduct three preliminary experiments to assess the appropriateness of this tool for information extraction from mailing lists. First, using LIWC dimensions that are correlated with the big five personality traits, we assess the personality of four top developers against a baseline for the entire mailing list. The two developers that were responsible for the major Apache releases had similar personalities. Their personalities were different from the baseline and the other developers. Second, the first and last 50 emails for two top developers who have left the project are examined. The analysis shows promise in understanding why developers join and leave a project. Third, we examine word usage on the mailing list for two major Apache releases. The differences may reflect the relative success of each release.
Diagonal block space-time code design for diversity and coding advantage over flat fading channels

The potential promised by multiple transmit antennas has raised considerable interest in space-time coding for wireless communications. In this paper, we propose a systematic approach for designing space-time trellis codes over flat fading channels with full antenna diversity and good coding advantage. It is suitable for an arbitrary number of transmit antennas with arbitrary signal constellations. The key to this approach is to separate the traditional space-time trellis code design into two parts. It first encodes the information symbols using a one-dimensional (M,1) nonbinary block code, with M being the number of transmit antennas, and then transmits the coded symbols diagonally across the space-time grid. We show that regardless of channel time-selectivity, this new class of space-time codes always achieves a transmit diversity of order M with a minimum number of trellis states and a coding advantage equal to the minimum product distance of the employed block code. Traditional delay diversity codes can be viewed as a special case of this coding scheme in which the repetition block code is employed. To maximize the coding advantage, we introduce an optimal construction of the nonbinary block code for a given modulation scheme. In particular, an efficient suboptimal solution for multilevel phase-shift-keying (PSK) modulation is proposed. Some code examples with 2-6 bits/s/Hz and two to six transmit antennas are provided, and they demonstrate excellent performance via computer simulations. Although it is proposed for flat fading channels, this coding scheme can be easily extended to frequency-selective fading channels.
Protection of axotomized retinal ganglion cells by adenovirally delivered BDNF in vivo

Following intraorbital transection of the optic nerve (ON) in rats, more than 80% of the retinal ganglion cell (RGC) population die by apoptosis within 14 days. Repeated intraocular injection of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been efficient in enhancing RGC survival following ON axotomy. The present study was designed to define a potential survival‐promoting effect of adenovirally administered BDNF on axotomized RGCs. A single injection of an adenoviral vector expressing the human BDNF gene from a CMV promoter/enhancer (Ad‐BDNF) enhanced RGC survival 14 days after axotomy by 40.3%. Moreover, a combinatory treatment regimen consisting of intraocular Ad‐BDNF administration and systemic application of the free radical scavenger, N‐tert‐butyl‐(2‐sulphophenyl)‐nitrone (S‐PBN), enhanced RGC survival by 63.0%. Our data demonstrate that adenoviral delivery of neurotrophic factors to the vitreous body is a feasible approach for the prevention of axotomy‐induced RGC death. Further, as shown for S‐PBN, therapeutic regimens that combine local virus‐mediated gene delivery with systemic administration of protective compounds, may offer promising strategies for future treatment also in human neurodegenerative conditions.
The development of lymphatic and myelogenous leukemia in Wistar rats following gastric instillation of methylcholanthrene.

Summary Six cases of lymphatic and two cases of myelogenous leukemia developed in a group of 59 Wistar rats under a variety of experimental conditions but in which all animals received methylcholanthrene by stomach catheter. The carcinogen was administered for periods of 1–14 months. From one case of lymphatic leukemia, the disease was transferred to two of three young colony rats by intraperitoneal injection of splenic cells suspended in normal saline.
Outlier-aware spectrum sensing in cognitive radio networks

This paper considers the problem of cooperative spectrum sensing in cognitive radio networks (CRN). Communication in CRNs may be disrupted due to the presence of malicious secondary users (SU) or channel impairments such as shadowing. This paper proposes a spatio-frequency framework that can detect and track malicious users and anomalous measurements in CRNs. The joint problem of spectrum sensing and malicious user identification is posed as an optimization problem that aims to exploit the sparsity inherent to both, spectrum occupancy and malicious user occurrence. Proposed scheme obtains improved performance by utilizing node location information, and can handle missing or inaccurate location information, and noisy SU reports. A distributed block-coordinate descent-based algorithm is proposed, that outperforms the state-of-the-art PCA-based approach, and is flexible enough to defeat a variety of attacks encountered in SU networks. Simulation results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm.
A Learning Algorithm of Fuzzy Model Based on Improved Fuzzy Clustering and QR Decomposition

In this paper, we proposed a learning algorithm for fuzzy modeling based on the improved fuzzy clustering method and QR decomposition. The improved fuzzy clustering method is confirmed by using a new objective function, which includes the influence on the input variables and the output variables exerting the input space of fuzzy model. Fuzzy inference matrix acquired from improved fuzzy clustering method is analyzed on the basis of QR decomposition of matrix. According to analyzing the redundancy of the matrix, the structure of fuzzy system is confirmed in the paper. The structure and parameters of fuzzy model are estimated by means of the proposed algorithm. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm by using the simulating result of the nonlinear system
Attention and distraction: effects on gut perception.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Paying attention to the gut may magnify perception of abdominal symptoms, but the actual influence of attention by anticipatory knowledge and distraction on gut perception remains poorly defined. The aim of this study was to determine whether mental activity, attention vs. distraction, affects intestinal perception and whether mental effects are synergistic with other modulatory mechanisms. METHODS Perception of 1-minute intestinal balloon distentions applied at 7-13-minute random intervals was measured in healthy subjects. First, distentions were tested during attention by anticipatory knowledge and during distraction (n = 8). Because somatic transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) reduces gut perception, distentions were then tested during attention alone, attention plus somatic TENS, and during distraction plus TENS (n = 8). RESULTS Perception of intestinal distentions was higher during attention than during distraction (3.3 +/- 0.2 vs. 2.9 +/- 0.1 [mean +/- SEM]; P < 0.05). The area of somatic projection was greater during attention (P < 0.05). Intestinal compliance and oral reflex relaxation remained unchanged. During application of somatic TENS, perception of intestinal distention was higher during attention than distraction (2.4 +/- 0.3 vs. 1.7 +/- 0.2; P < 0.05). However, TENS did not alter the perception score during attention. CONCLUSIONS Mental activity may modulate gut perception and overrides the effects of somatic TENS on gut perception.
Price Competition under Multinomial Logit Demand Functions with Random Coefficients

In this paper, we postulate a general class of price competition models with Mixed Multinomial Logit demand functions under affine cost functions. We first characterize the equilibrium behavior of this class of models in the case where each product in the market is sold by a separate, independent firm and customers share a common income level. We identify a simple and very broadly satisfied condition under which a Nash equilibrium exists while the set of Nash equilibria coincides with the solutions of the system of First Order Condition equations, a property of essential importance to empirical studies. This condition specifies that in every market segment, each firm captures less than 50% of the potential customer population when pricing at a level which, under the condition, can be shown to be an upper bound for a rational price choice for the firm irrespective of the prices chosen by its competitors. We show that under a somewhat stronger, but still broadly satisfied version of the above condition, a unique equilibrium exists. We complete the picture, establishing the existence of a Nash equilibrium, indeed a unique Nash equilibrium, for markets with an arbitrary degree of concentration; under sufficiently tight price bounds. We then discuss two extensions of our model: unequal customer income and a continuum of customer types. A discussion of the multi product case is included in the appendix. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for structural estimation methods.
An interactive design methodology for service engineering of functional sales concepts : a potential design for environment methodology

Manufacturing companies around the globe are striving to increase their revenues and profitability. One way is through Functional Sales, i.e. shifting the focus from the production of products to the production of services. Functional Sales and Design for Environment (DfE) have many common issues, e.g. the life cycle perspective. The paper’s aim is to highlight a proposed interactive design method for Service Engineering of Functional Sales offers and to relate this method to selected DfE methods and tools as well as users’ experiences with these methods and tools.The paper concludes that the proposed method has several benefits that are useful in DfE. One benefit is that the method does not focus on products but rather on how needs can be satisfied by increasing service content. Another is the visualization of e.g. validation in order to facilitate communication between different actors in the product development process.
Story stem narratives of clinical and normal kindergarten children: Are content and performance associated with children's social competence?

Abstract This study examined whether content and performance in story stem narratives were associated with children's social competence, and whether children's symptom levels moderated these associations. Five-year-old children from a clinically enriched Swiss sample completed eight stories (N = 187). Teachers rated children's social competence. Parents and teachers rated behavioral/emotional symptoms that were used to categorize children into clinical (n = 80), borderline (n = 31), and normal (n = 74). Controlling for gender and verbal competence, no differences were found in story responses between normal and clinical children. However, pro-social/moral and disciplinary themes, and coherence and quality of narration were significantly associated with children's social competence. The associations between narratives and social competence were prominent in the clinical children, suggesting that narrative assessments may help to identify resources on which psychotherapeutic approaches can build.
Recombination Blurs Phylogenetic Groups Routine Assignment in Escherichia coli: Setting the Record Straight

The characterization of population structures plays a main role for understanding outbreaks and the dynamics of bacterial spreading. In Escherichia coli, the widely used combination of multiplex-PCR scheme together with goeBURST has some limitations. The purpose of this study is to show that the combination of different phylogenetic approaches based on concatenated sequences of MLST genes results in a more precise assignment of E. coli phylogenetic groups, complete understanding of population structure and reconstruction of ancestral clones. A collection of 80 Escherichia coli strains of different origins was analyzed following the Clermont and Doumith's multiplex-PCR schemes. Doumith's multiplex-PCR showed only 1.7% of misassignment, whereas Clermont's-2000 protocol reached 14.0%, although the discrepancies reached 30% and 38.7% respectively when recombinant C, F and E phylogroups were considered. Therefore, correct phylogroup attribution is highly variable and depends on the clonal composition of the sample. As far as population structure of these E. coli strains, including 48 E. coli genomes from GenBank, goeBURST provides a quite dispersed population structure; whereas NeighborNet approach reveals a complex population structure. MLST-based eBURST can infer different founder genotypes, for instance ST23/ST88 could be detected as the founder genotypes for STC23; however, phylogenetic reconstructions might suggest ST410 as the ancestor clone and several evolutionary trajectories with different founders. To improve our routine understanding of E. coli molecular epidemiology, we propose a strategy based on three successive steps; first, to discriminate three main groups A/B1/C, D/F/E and B2 following Doumith's protocol; second, visualization of population structure based on MLST genes according to goeBURST, using NeighborNet to establish more complex relationships among STs; and third, to perform, a cost-free characterization of evolutionary trajectories in variants emerging along the clonal expansion using parsimony methods of phylogenetic analysis.
Low incidence of venous thromboembolism in inflammatory bowel diseases: prevalence and predictors from a population-based inception cohort

Abstract Objective. Patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are considered to have an increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). The aim of the present study was to analyze the incidence and risk factors of VTE in a population-based inception cohort in the Veszprem province database between 1977 and 2012. Material and methods. A total of 1708 incepted IBD patients were included (male/female: 879/829; CD (Crohn’s disease): 648, age at onset: 29, interquartile range (IQR): 22–39; UC (ulcerative colitis): 1060, age at onset: 36, IQR: 26–50 years). Both in- and outpatient records were collected and comprehensively reviewed and followed up for a total of 21,369 patient-years. Results. Twenty-two VTE events were identified in 19 patients (6 events in 5 CD and 16 in 14 UC patients). The incidence rate of VTE in IBD was 1.03 per 1000 patient-years. The risk of VTE in UC was associated with extensive location (odds ratio (OR): 3.25, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.13–9.35), presence of fulminant episode during the disease course (OR: 4.15, 95% CI: 1.28–13.5), smoking (OR: 3.46, 95% CI: 1.14–10.5), and need for steroids (OR: 2.97, 95% CI: 0.99–8.92). Conclusion. The incidence of VTE was lower than previously reported. The incidence was higher in males and in UC it was associated with extensive disease, fulminant episodes, corticosteroids-requiring disease and smoking, but not with age at onset.
Simulation and design models for adsorption processes

Adsorption is a fundamental process for separating inorganic and organic contaminants from waters and waste-waters. Mathematical process models can facilitate the design of full-scale systems simply by reducing the number of pilot-scale tests required to evaluate various operating conditions and design parameters. This paper provides an overview and analysis of certain contemporary elements and applications of adsorption process modeling. Included is a discussion that expands upon considerations that described processes for removing dissolved organic contaminants from water. In addition, this paper lays a foundation for more detailed descriptions of research developments in adsorber modeling.