Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Suprema of Chaos Processes and the Restricted Isometry Property

We present a new bound for suprema of a special type of chaos process indexed by a set of matrices, which is based on a chaining method. As applications we show significantly improved estimates for the restricted isometry constants of partial random circulant matrices and time‐frequency structured random matrices. In both cases the required condition on the number m of rows in terms of the sparsity s and the vector length n is m ≳ s log2 s log2 n. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Model Driven Development of Cooperative Problem-Based Learning Situations Implementing Tools for Teachers and Learners from Pedagogical Models

Model Driven Development is a promising research area for the production of systems dedicated to Human Learning. Our research focuses on developing tools and techniques for producing specific models for cooperative Problem-Based Learning (PBL). Our works led us to propose a UML profile dedicated to such learning situations modeling. The profile is built on the CPM (Co-operative Problem-based learning Meta-model) meta-model which provides the designers with a set of concepts allowing to semi-formally describe a learning scenario and to document it. CPM is thus a language which is both useful for the designers team and for the developers of computerized systems while implementing all or part of a learning scenario. In this paper, we focus on the added value of the models produced from the CPM language. We pinpoint the advantage for tutors and learners using systems implemented from models of a cooperative learning scenario. Finally, we briefly present the Learning Management System (LMS) and the technical architecture from which we have implemented educational tools based on such human learning situations.
The Effect of Spatial Smoothing on Representational Similarity in a Simple Motor Paradigm

Multi-voxel pattern analyses (MVPA) are often performed on unsmoothed data, which is very different from the general practice of large smoothing extents in standard voxel-based analyses. In this report, we studied the effect of smoothing on MVPA results in a motor paradigm. Subjects pressed four buttons with two different fingers of the two hands in response to auditory commands. Overall, independent of the degree of smoothing, correlational MVPA showed distinctive patterns for the different hands in all studied regions of interest (motor cortex, prefrontal cortex, and auditory cortices). With regard to the effect of smoothing, our findings suggest that results from correlational MVPA show a minor sensitivity to smoothing. Moderate amounts of smoothing (in this case, 1−4 times the voxel size) improved MVPA correlations, from a slight improvement to large improvements depending on the region involved. None of the regions showed signs of a detrimental effect of moderate levels of smoothing. Even higher amounts of smoothing sometimes had a positive effect, most clearly in low-level auditory cortex. We conclude that smoothing seems to have a minor positive effect on MVPA results, thus researchers should be mindful about the choices they make regarding the level of smoothing.
On Pruning Techniques for Multi-Player Games

Max n (Luckhardt and Irani, 1986) is the extension of the minimax backup rule to multi-player games. We have shown that only a limited version of alpha-beta pruning, shallow pruning, can be applied to a max n search tree. We extend this work by calculating the exact bounds needed to use this pruning technique. In addition, we show that branch-and-bound pruning, using a monotonic heuristic, has the same limitations as alpha-beta pruning in a max n tree. We present a hybrid of these algorithms, alpha-beta branch-and-bound pruning, which combines a monotonic heuristic and backed-up values to prune even more effectively. We also briefly discuss the reduction of a n-player game to a ‘paranoid’ 2-player game. In Sergeant Major, a 3-player card game, we averaged node expansions over 200 height 15 trees. Shallow pruning and branch-and-bound each reduced node expansions by a factor of about 100. Alpha-beta branch-and-bound reduced the expansions by an additional factor of 19. The 2-player reduction was a factor of 3 better than alpha-beta branchand-bound. Using heuristic bounds in the 2-player reduction reduced node expansions another factor of 12.
DCT-based image compression using wavelet-based algorithm with efficient deblocking filter

This work adopts DCT and modifies the SPIHT algorithm to encode DCT coefficients. The algorithm represents the DCT coefficients to concentrate signal energy and proposes combination and dictator to eliminate the correlation in the same level subband for encoding the DCT-based images. The proposed algorithm also provides the deblocking function in low bit rate in order to improve the perceptual quality. This work contribution is that the coding complexity of the proposed algorithm for DCT coefficients is just close to JPEG but the performance is higher than JPEG2000. Experimental results indicate that the proposed technique improves the quality of the reconstructed image in terms of both PSNR and the perceptual results close to JPEG2000 at the same bit rate.
Robotics and Autonomous Systems Learning social behavior

This paper discusses the challenges of learning to behave socially in the dynamic, noisy, situated and embodied mobile multi-robot domain. Using the methodology for synthesizing basis behaviors as a substrate for generating a large repertoire of higher-level group ! Lnteractions, in this paper we describe how, given the substrate, greedy agents can learn social rules that benefit the group ',as a whole. We describe three sources of reinforcement and show their effectiveness in learning nongreedy social rules. We then demonstrate the learning approach on a group of four mobile robots learning to yield and share information in a foraging task.
Regional Development in the Amazonian Border Area from the Installation of Areas of Free Trade

The concept of development goes back to the classical theory of economics and has many other aspects over the years. In Brazil, many public policies instituted by the Federal Government sought to promote the country's development, such as the creation of the Manaus Free Zone, which aimed to promote the development of the North region in a sustainable way. Likewise, Free Trade Areas were created decentralized FTAs, as in the case of Guajará-Mirim, as territorial and developmental strategies. The objective of this article is to analyze the regional development of Guajará-Mirim and verify its relation with the institutionalization of the Free Trade Area, having as research variables the Municipal Human Development Indexes MHDI, Education Index, Income Index and Work Index. The following question is answered: did the installation of the Free Trade Area in Guajará-Mirim contribute to regional development? To answer the research problem, the main theoretical approaches to regional development and related public policies are used, with emphasis on the studies provided by MYRDAL (1957), BALDWIN (1979), BARQUERO (1995), AMARAL FILHO (1999), SOUZA, (1999, 2005, 2009), CABUGUEIRA (2007), FREY (1997), among others. Keywords— Regional development, public policy, free zone.
Transferring performance gain from software prefetching to energy reduction

Performance-enhancement techniques improve CPU speed, but at higher cost to other valuable system resources such as power and energy. We study this trade-off using software prefetching as the system performance-enhancement technique. We first demonstrate software prefetching provides an average 36% performance boost with 8% more energy consumption and 69% higher power on six memory-intensive benchmarks. However, when we combine prefetching with a (unrealistic) static voltage scaling technique, the performance gain afforded by prefetching can be traded off for savings in power/energy consumption. In particular, we observe a 48% energy saving when we slow down the system with prefetching so as to match the performance of the system without prefetching. This suggests a promising approach to build low power systems by transforming traditional performance-enhancement techniques into low power methods. We thus propose a real time dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) algorithm that monitors a system's performance and adapts the voltage level accordingly while maintaining the observed system performance. Our dynamic DVS algorithm achieves a 38% energy saving without any performance loss on our benchmark suite.
MIMO Detection for High Order QAM by Canonical Dual Approach

We develop a canonical dual approach for solving the MIMO problem. First, a special linear transformation is introduced to reformulate the original problem into a constrained quadratic programming problem. Then, we derive a canonical dual problem which is piecewise continuous problem with no duality gap. Under certain conditions, the canonical problem becomes a concave maximization dual problem over a convex feasible domain. By getting the stationary point of the canonical dual problem, we can find either an optimal or approximate solution of the original problem. A gradient decent algorithm is proposed to solve the MIMO problem and simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.
An Integrated Pipeline Architecture for Modeling Urban Land Use, Travel Demand, and Traffic Assignment

Integrating land use, travel demand, and traffic models represents a gold standard for regional planning, but is rarely achieved in a meaningful way, especially at the scale of disaggregate data. In this report, we present a new pipeline architecture for integrated modeling of urban land use, travel demand, and traffic assignment. Our land use model, UrbanSim, is an open-source microsimulation platform used by metropolitan planning organizations worldwide for modeling the growth and development of cities over long (~30 year) time horizons. UrbanSim is particularly powerful as a scenario analysis tool, enabling planners to compare and contrast the impacts of different policy decisions on long term land use forecasts in a statistically rigorous way. Our travel demand model, ActivitySim, is an agent-based modeling platform that produces synthetic origin--destination travel demand data. Finally, we use a static user equilibrium traffic assignment model based on the Frank-Wolfe algorithm to assign vehicles to specific network paths to make trips between origins and destinations. This traffic assignment model runs in a high-performance computing environment. The resulting congested travel time data can then be fed back into UrbanSim and ActivitySim for the next model run. This technical report introduces this research area, describes this project's achievements so far in developing this integrated pipeline, and presents an upcoming research agenda.
Voltage-sensing domain mode shift is coupled to the activation gate by the N-terminal tail of hERG channels

Human ether-a-go-go–related gene (hERG) potassium channels exhibit unique gating kinetics characterized by unusually slow activation and deactivation. The N terminus of the channel, which contains an amphipathic helix and an unstructured tail, has been shown to be involved in regulation of this slow deactivation. However, the mechanism of how this occurs and the connection between voltage-sensing domain (VSD) return and closing of the gate are unclear. To examine this relationship, we have used voltage-clamp fluorometry to simultaneously measure VSD motion and gate closure in N-terminally truncated constructs. We report that mode shifting of the hERG VSD results in a corresponding shift in the voltage-dependent equilibrium of channel closing and that at negative potentials, coupling of the mode-shifted VSD to the gate defines the rate of channel closure. Deletion of the first 25 aa from the N terminus of hERG does not alter mode shifting of the VSD but uncouples the shift from closure of the cytoplasmic gate. Based on these observations, we propose the N-terminal tail as an adaptor that couples voltage sensor return to gate closure to define slow deactivation gating in hERG channels. Furthermore, because the mode shift occurs on a time scale relevant to the cardiac action potential, we suggest a physiological role for this phenomenon in maximizing current flow through hERG channels during repolarization.
Composition Based Strategies for Controlling Radii in Lipid Nanotubes

Nature routinely carries out small-scale chemistry within lipid bound cells and organelles. Liposome–lipid nanotube networks are being developed by many researchers in attempt to imitate these membrane enclosed environments, with the goal to perform small-scale chemical studies. These systems are well characterized in terms of the diameter of the giant unilamellar vesicles they are constructed from and the length of the nanotubes connecting them. Here we evaluate two methods based on intrinsic curvature for adjusting the diameter of the nanotube, an aspect of the network that has not previously been controllable. This was done by altering the lipid composition of the network membrane with two different approaches. In the first, the composition of the membrane was altered via lipid incubation of exogenous lipids; either with the addition of the low intrinsic curvature lipid soy phosphatidylcholine (soy-PC) or the high intrinsic curvature lipid soy phosphatidylethanolamine (soy-PE). In the second approach, exogenous lipids were added to the total lipid composition during liposome formation. Here we show that for both lipid augmentation methods, we observed a decrease in nanotube diameter following soy-PE additions but no significant change in size following the addition of soy-PC. Our results demonstrate that the effect of soy-PE on nanotube diameter is independent of the method of addition and suggests that high curvature soy-PE molecules facilitate tube membrane curvature.
A Generic Approach for the Automatic Verification of Featured, Parameterised Systems

A general technique is presented that allows property based feature analysis of systems consisting of an arbitrary number of components. Each component may have an arbitrary set of safe features. The components are defined in a guarded command form and the technique combines model checking and abstraction. Features must fulfill certain criteria in order to be safe, the criteria express constraints on the variables which occur in feature guards. The main result is a generalisation theorem which we apply to a well known example: the ubiquitous, featured telephone system.
Predictive factors for 1-year outcome of a cohort of patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI): Results from the PariS-TBI study

Abstract Objectives: To assess outcome and predicting factors 1 year after a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: Multi-centre prospective inception cohort study of patients aged 15 or older with a severe TBI in the Parisian area, France. Data were collected prospectively starting the day of injury. One-year evaluation included the relatives-rating of the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX-R), the Glasgow Outcome Scale–Extended (GOSE) and employment. Univariate and multivariate tests were computed. Results: Among 257 survivors, 134 were included (mean age 36 years, 84% men). Good recovery concerned 19%, moderate disability 43% and severe disability 38%. Among patients employed pre-injury, 42% were working, 28% with no job change. DEX-R score was significantly associated with length of education only. Among initial severity measures, only the IMPACT prognostic score was significantly related to GOSE in univariate analyses, while measures relating to early evolution were more significant predictors. In multivariate analyses, independent predictors of GOSE were length of stay in intensive care (LOS), age and education. Independent predictors of employment were LOS and age. Conclusions: Age, education and injury severity are independent predictors of global disability and return to work 1 year after a severe TBI.
Cross-Stitching Using Little Thread

We consider the problem of cross-stitching a predetermined pattern on a piece of fabric. We show that computing a stitching sequence that minimizes the amount of thread used when cross-stitching a pattern is NPhard. However if the region to be stitched is connected, then the optimal solution can be obtained in linear time.
AppppA-binding protein E89 is the Escherichia coli heat shock protein ClpB

Dinucleotide AppppA (5',5'''-P1,P4-diadenosine tetraphosphate) is rapidly synthesized in Escherichia coli cells during heat shock. apaH mutants lack AppppN hydrolase activity and, therefore, contain constitutively levels of AppppA, which affect several cellular processes. However, the precise role of AppppA remains undetermined. Photo-crosslinking experiments with radioactively labelled azido-AppppA have shown that a number of proteins, including heat shock proteins DnaK and GroEL, specifically bind to AppppA. Several other unidentified proteins (C40, C45, and E89) also bind strongly to AppppA. In this work, we have identified the AppppA-binding protein E89 as heat shock protein ClpB. In addition, since ClpB belongs to a family of proteins implicated in proteolysis, we have examined the effects of apaH mutants on protein degradation. Constitutively elevated levels of AppppA stimulate lon-independent proteolysis only in heat-shocked cells. We also show that overproduction of ClpB from a plasmid rescues apaH mutants from sensitivity to killing by heat.
Optimal post-routing redundant via insertion

Redundant via insertion is highly recommended for improving chip yield and reliability. In this paper, we study the problem of double-cut via insertion (DVI) in a post-routing stage, where a single via can have at most one redundant via inserted next to it and the goal is to insert as many redundant vias as possible. The DVI problem can be naturally formulated as a zero-one integer linear program (0-1 ILP). Our main contributions are acceleration methods for reducing the problem size and the number of constraints. Moreover, we extend the 0-1 ILP formulation to handle via density constraints. Experimental results show that our 0-1 ILP is very efficient in computing optimal DVI solution, with up to 35.3 times speedup over existing heuristic algorithms
Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange the Effects of Self-control Video Feedback on the Basketball Set Shot Recommended Citation the Effects of Self-controlled Video Feedback on the Basketball Set Shot

I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Christopher Adam Aiken entitled "The Effects of Self-Control Video Feedback on the Basketball Set Shot. " I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Kinesiology. (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Jeffrey Fairbrother, the chair of my thesis committee, for encouraging and helping me successfully complete this thesis project. I appreciate the time and dedication he has spent mentoring me and guiding me to better understand not only the research process, but the field of Motor Behavior. I also thank the other members of my committee for encouraging me to follow my dreams and investigate the questions that most interest me. I would also like to thank my loving wife for all her support, love, and encouragement during each stage of this project and my education. Finally, I would like to thank the students Arya, Rainer, and Dave, in the Motor Behavior Lab at the University of Tennessee for all the long hours spent collecting and analyzing data, and helping me learn more about myself and my educational interests. iv ABSTRACT The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of self-controlled video feedback on the learning of the basketball set shot. Female participants were assigned to self-control (SC) (n = 14) and yoked (YK) (n = 14) groups. SC participants were allowed to request video feedback in the form of knowledge of performance (KP) following any trial while YK participants received video KP according to the schedule created by their SC counterpart. Participants in both groups were also allowed to view a poster of written instructional cues at any time. An acquisition phase consisted of 25 set shots (five blocks) from a youth free throw line (3.66 m). Each trial was 30 s in duration. An additional 30 s break was given between blocks. Retention and transfer phases each consisted of ten trials (two blocks) and occurred 24 hours following acquisition. Retention was administered from the youth free throw line and transfer from a traditional free throw line (4.57 m). Participants were scored on both movement form and shooting accuracy during acquisition, retention, and transfer. Results indicated that the SC …
Pyoverdine, the Major Siderophore in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Evades NGAL Recognition

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most common pathogen that persists in the cystic fibrosis lungs. Bacteria such as P. aeruginosa secrete siderophores (iron-chelating molecules) and the host limits bacterial growth by producing neutrophil-gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) that specifically scavenges bacterial siderophores, therefore preventing bacteria from establishing infection. P. aeruginosa produces a major siderophore known as pyoverdine, found to be important for bacterial virulence and biofilm development. We report that pyoverdine did not bind to NGAL, as measured by tryptophan fluorescence quenching, while enterobactin bound to NGAL effectively causing a strong response. The experimental data indicate that pyoverdine evades NGAL recognition. We then employed a molecular modeling approach to simulate the binding of pyoverdine to human NGAL using NGAL's published crystal structures. The docking of pyoverdine to NGAL predicted nine different docking positions; however, neither apo- nor ferric forms of pyoverdine docked into the ligand-binding site in the calyx of NGAL where siderophores are known to bind. The molecular modeling results offer structural support that pyoverdine does not bind to NGAL, confirming the results obtained in the tryptophan quenching assay. The data suggest that pyoverdine is a stealth siderophore that evades NGAL recognition allowing P. aeruginosa to establish chronic infections in CF lungs.
A polyphase model for Fast Affine Projection with Partial Filter Update

In this paper, we propose a framework for analysing the convergence behavior of an affine projection based algorithm, using a polyphase filterbank model of the adaptive filter. We have recently introduced a low computation-cost version of the Fast Affine Projection Algorithm (FAPA) that combines FAPA with Partial Filter Update (PFU-FAPA). It is shown in this paper that the polyphase model of PFU-FAPA does not represent a perfect reconstruction system. This is in contrast to the sequential update LMS, which is based on a similar partial filter update method, and can be modeled by a perfect reconstruction polyphase filterbank. Hence, in PFU-FAPA, as the decimation rate of the partial update algorithm increases, distortion of the output signal increases. However, as the polyphase model shows, the distortion is only due to the effect of partial update on the autocorrelation estimation, and is negligible at low or modest decimation rates.