Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatial Constraint Method: A New Approach to Real-Time Haptic Interaction in Virtual Environments

In this paper, we propose an approach to real-time haptic interaction based on the concept of simulating the constraining propertes of space. Research on haptic interaction has been conducted from the points of view of both surface and volume rendering. Most approaches to surface renderingsuch as the constraint-based god-object method, the point-based approach, and the virtual proxy approachhave dealt only with the interaction with an object surface. Whereas, in volume rendering approaches, algorithms for representing volume data through interactions in space have been investigated. Our approach provides a framework for the representation of haptic interaction with both surface and space. We discretize the space using a tetrahedral cell mesh and associate a constraining property with each cell. The interaction of the haptic interface points with a volume is simulated using the constraining properties of the cells occupied by this volume. We implemented a fast computation algorithm that works at a haptic rate. The algorithm is robust in that any sudden or quick motion of the user does not disturb the computation, and the computation time for each cycle is independent of the complexity of the model as a whole. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed method, we present experimental results on the interaction with models of varying complexity. Also, we discuss some problems that need to be solved in future work.
Parallel graph contraction

This paper shows how n-node, e-edge graphs can be contracted in a mannel ~ s imilar to the paral lel tree contract ion algori thm due ~o Miller and Reif. We give an O((n + e)/lgn)-processor determinis t ic a lgor i thm tha t cont rac ts a graph in O(lg 2 n) t ime in the E R E W P R A M model. We also give art O(n/lg n)-processor randomized algori thm tha t with high probabi l i ty can cont rac t a bounded-degree graph in O(lg n + l g 2 77) time, where 77 is the max imum genus of any connected component of the graph. (The algori thm can be made to run in determinis t ic O(lg n lg* n + lg ~ 77) t ime using known techniques. ) This a lgor i thm does not require a priori knowledge of the genus of the graph to be contrac ted . The cont rac t ion a lgor i thm for boundeddegree graphs can be used direct ly to solve the problem of region label ing in vision systems, i.e., determining the connected components of bounded-degree p lanar graphs in O( lgn) t ime, thus improving the best previous bound of O(lg 2 n).
Insulin-like growth factor-I ameliorates delayed kidney graft function and the acute nephrotoxic effects of cyclosporine.

BACKGROUND Delayed graft function (DGF) is a relatively common complication after cadaveric renal transplantation. The adverse effect of DGF on long-term graft survival has lead to intensive efforts to reduce ischemic graft injury. In this study we examined the effects of a new protective treatment based on insulin growth factor (IGF)-I. We evaluated the impact of the treatment on renal recovery and on the nephrotoxicity that is a common side effect of mainstream immunosuppressants. Because therapy with IGF-I or the analog des(1-3)IGF-I is effective in treating experimental ischemic renal failure, these peptides may be useful as perspective clinical treatments. METHODS We have addressed three areas relating to the potential use of IGF-I and its analog des(1-3)IGF-I. First, because of the immunogenic properties of IGF-I, we assessed the effect of des(1-3)IGF-I on the rejection of skin allografts in Lewis rats. Next we determined whether treatment with des(1-3)IGF-I influences the early function of transplanted kidneys in a model of DGF induced by a combination of warm and cold ischemia. Finally we tested whether IGF-I protects against acute cyclosporine nephrotoxicity. RESULTS Des(1-3)IGF-I did not accelerate the rejection of the skin grafts (P=0.57). The administration of this peptide in a model of syngenic renal transplant improved the early function of the graft. Postoperative values of creatinine and blood urea nitrogen were significantly better (P<0.05) in treated animals. IGF-I also ameliorated the nephrotoxicity of cyclosporine, with better values of creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS In evaluating this study it should be recognized that the animal models studied, although widely used, differ from the human condition. However, IGF-I and des(1-3)IGF-I exhibit properties that strongly suggest their value in preventing clinical DGF, and they deserve further studies.
Memory access scheduling

The bandwidth and latency of a memory system are strongly dependent on the manner in which accesses interact with the "3-D" structure of banks, rows, and columns characteristic of contemporary DRAM chips. There is nearly an order of magnitude difference in bandwidth between successive references to different columns within a row and different rows within a bank. This paper introduces memory access scheduling, a technique that improves the performance of a memory system by reordering memory references to exploit locality within the 3-D memory structure. Conservative reordering, in which the first ready reference in a sequence is performed, improves bandwidth by 40% for traces from five media benchmarks. Aggressive reordering, in which operations are scheduled to optimize memory bandwidth, improves bandwidth by 93% for the same set of applications. Memory access scheduling is particularly important for media processors where it enables the processor to make the most efficient use of scarce memory bandwidth.
On Observability in Decentralized Factored Representations

In many domains and particularly in multiagent problems, the characterization of the observability of each agent’s environment impacts directly on the problem complexity. In this paper, we explore how factored representations of each agent’s environment can help in capturing precisely the nature of each agent’s observations and how a precise definition of observations can help the agent figuring out the true state of the environment. We evaluate our new specification of observations experimentally by studying the correlation between our assumptions and the difficulty to solve different problem classes. Experimental results establish that the defined classes of observation and their characterization correlate with problem difficulty.
Programmable Architectures That Are Complex and Self-Organized - From Morphogenesis to Engineering

Outsidebiologicalandsocialsystems,�naturalpatt ernformation� isessentially�"simple"�andrandom,�whereascomplic atedstruc, turesaretheproductofhumandesign. �Sofar,�the� onlyself, organized� (undesigned)� andcomplexmorphologiesthatwe� knowarebiologicalorganismsandsomeagentsociet ies. �Can� weexporttheirprinciplesofdecentralization,�sel f,repairand� evolutiontoourmachines,�networksandotherartif icialcon, structions? �Inparticular,�canan�"embryomorphic"�e ngineering� approachinspiredbyevo,devosolvetheparadoxical �challenge� ofplanningautonomoussystems? �Inthiswork,�Iwis htobetter� understandandreproducecomplexmorphogenesisbyi nvesti, gatingandcombiningitsthreefundamentalingredie nts:�self- assemblyandpattern formationundergenetic regulation . �The� modelIproposecanbeequivalentlyconstruedas�(a )�moving � cellularautomata,�inwhichcellrearrangementisi nfluencedby� thepatterntheyform,�or�(b)� heterogeneouscollectivemotion,� inwhichswarmagentsdifferentiateintopatternsa ccordingto� theirlocation. �Itoffersatheoreticalframeworkf orexploring� thecausalandprogrammablelinkfromgenotypetop henotype. �
Prevalence and Incidence of Depression during Interferon-Based Antiviral Therapy in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients in the Republic of Korea

Background/Aims The association between depression and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection or pegylated interferon α and ribavirin therapy (PR therapy) has not been extensively studied in Korea. We aimed to clarify the prevalence of depression and its incidence during PR therapy in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. Methods In this prospective, multicenter study, 114 CHC patients were screened for depression using two self-reported scales, the Beck Depression Inventory-I (BDI-I) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS). The incidence of depression during PR therapy was evaluated in 62 patients who underwent PR therapy during the study period. Results The prevalence of baseline depression was 17.5% according to the BDI-I score ≥10 criterion and 4.4% according to the HADS-D score ≥8 criterion in the 114 CHC patients, and it was significantly associated with an unmarried state. During PR therapy, depression developed in 34.6% according to the BDI-I scale and 29.5% according to the HADS-D, which negatively affected sustained virologic response (SVR). Conclusions The prevalence of depression in Korean CHC patients appears to be low compared to that in Western patients; however, its incidence during PR therapy (approximately 30%) was similar to that of other populations, which led to a lower SVR rate. Active screening and multidisciplinary management of depression during PR therapy is warranted.
Retinal Image Segmentation by using Texture-based Gabor Filter Optimized by Gradient Descent Followed by Evolutionary Algorithm

Segmentation and localization of fundus image is a crucial step of pathologies in diagnosing the retinal diseases. Swelling in different parts of vasculature, as change in width along blood vessels and tortuosity may lead to eye-blindness. This process can be utilized in automated screening of the patients suffering from diabetic retinopathy. An attempt was made to apply texture based Gabor filter which captures the band-pass filter bank characteristics of the eye and its output was used to detect the discontinuities and derive statistical properties helping in segmenting and classifying retinal images. This work deals with a general problem of segmentation of multi-texture images using clustering of Gabor filter output features, required to be separated in order to get better classification efficiency. Therefore, an effort was done to formalize it as an objective function for tuning filter parameters with Gradient descent and Genetic Algorithm. The results showed both quantitative and qualitative segmentation results of retinal images with improved classification accuracy.
A Robust Backstepping High-Order Sliding Mode Control Strategy for Grid-Connected DG Units With Harmonic/Interharmonic Current Compensation Capability

This paper presents a new nonlinear current control strategy based on backstepping control and high-order sliding mode differentiator in order to employ distributed generation (DG) unit interfacing converters to actively compensate harmonics/interharmonics of local loads. The converter-based DG unit is connected to a weak grid (with uncertain impedance) and local load (that can be parametrically uncertain and topologically unknown) through an LCL filter. The proposed strategy robustly regulates the inverter output currents and delivers pure sinusoidal, three-phase balanced currents to the grid. The new controller demonstrates the robust performance and robust stability of the DG unit system with respect to the filter parameters uncertainties, grid impedance, grid frequency, and grid voltage as well as the unknown load dynamics that include unbalanced loads and nonlinear loads with harmonic and interharmonic currents. We should remark that the local compensation of the loads with interharmonic current using a DG unit system is first proposed in this paper. When compared with the popular parallel proportional resonant control technique, the proposed controller offers smoother transient responses and a lower level of current distortion. The performance of the proposed control strategy is verified in MATLAB/SimPowerSystems toolbox.
Absence of Ret Signaling in Mice Causes Progressive and Late Degeneration of the Nigrostriatal System

Support of ageing neurons by endogenous neurotrophic factors such as glial cell line–derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) may determine whether the neurons resist or succumb to neurodegeneration. GDNF has been tested in clinical trials for the treatment of Parkinson disease (PD), a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of midbrain dopaminergic (DA) neurons. BDNF modulates nigrostriatal functions and rescues DA neurons in PD animal models. The physiological roles of GDNF and BDNF signaling in the adult nigrostriatal DA system are unknown. We generated mice with regionally selective ablations of the genes encoding the receptors for GDNF (Ret) and BDNF (TrkB). We find that Ret, but not TrkB, ablation causes progressive and adult-onset loss of DA neurons specifically in the substantia nigra pars compacta, degeneration of DA nerve terminals in striatum, and pronounced glial activation. These findings establish Ret as a critical regulator of long-term maintenance of the nigrostriatal DA system and suggest conditional Ret mutants as useful tools for gaining insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of PD.
Growth, structure, and performance of depth-graded W/Si multilayers for hard x-ray optics

We describe the development of depth-graded W/Si multilayer films prepared by magnetron sputtering for use as broad-band reflective coatings for hard x-ray optics. We have used specular and nonspecular x-ray reflectance analysis to characterize the interface imperfections in both periodic and depth-graded W/Si multilayer structures, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) to characterize the interface structure and layer morphology as a function of depth in an optimized depth-graded multilayer. From x-ray analysis we find interface widths in the range σ=0.275–0.35 nm for films deposited at low argon pressure (with a slight increase in interface width for multilayers having periods greater than ∼20 nm, possibly due to the transition from amorphous to polycrystalline metal layers identified by TEM and SAED), and somewhat larger interface widths (i.e., σ=0.35–0.4 nm) for structures grown at higher Ar pressures, higher background pressures, or w.
Wage policy in the health care sector: a panel data analysis of nurses' labour supply.

Shortage of nurses is a problem in several countries. It is an unsettled question whether increasing wages constitute a viable policy for extracting more labour supply from nurses. In this paper we use a unique matched panel data set of Norwegian nurses covering the period 1993-1998 to estimate wage elasticities. The data set includes detailed information on 19,638 individuals over 6 years totalling 69,122 observations. The estimated wage elasticity after controlling for individual heterogeneity, sample selection and instrumenting for possible endogeneity is 0.21. Individual and institutional features are statistically significant and important for working hours. Contractual arrangements as represented by shift work are also important for hours of work, and omitting information about this common phenomenon will underestimate the wage effect.
In Utero Exposure to Ischemic-Hypoxic Conditions and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between ischemic-hypoxic conditions (IHCs) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by gestational age and race/ethnicity. METHODS: Nested case-control study using the Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) medical records. The study cohort included children aged 5 to 11 years who were delivered and cared for in the KPSC between 1995 and 2010 (N = 308 634). Case children had a diagnosis of ADHD and received ≥2 prescriptions specific to ADHD during the follow-up period. For each case, 5 control children were matched by age at diagnosis. Exposures were defined by using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes. A conditional regression model was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs). RESULTS: Among eligible children, 13 613 (4.3%) had a diagnosis of ADHD. Compared with control children, case children were more likely to be male and of white or African American race/ethnicity. Case children were more likely to be exposed to IHCs (OR = 1.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11–1.21). When stratified by gestational age, cases born at 28 to 33, 34 to 36, and 37 to 42 weeks of gestation, were more likely to be exposed to IHCs (ORs, 1.6 [95% CI 1.2–2.1], 1.2 [95% CI 1.1–1.3], and 1.1 [95% CI 1.0–1.2], respectively) compared with controls. IHC was associated with increased odds of ADHD across all race/ethnicity groups. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that IHCs, especially birth asphyxia, respiratory distress syndrome, and preeclampsia, are independently associated with ADHD. This association was strongest in preterm births.
Testing the Gaussian copula hypothesis for financial assets dependences

Abstract Using one of the key properties of copulas that they remain invariant under an arbitrary monotonic change of variable, we investigate the null hypothesis that the dependence between financial assets can be modelled by the Gaussian copula. We find that most pairs of currencies and pairs of major stocks are compatible with the Gaussian copula hypothesis, while this hypothesis can be rejected for the dependence between pairs of commodities (metals). Notwithstanding the apparent qualification of the Gaussian copula hypothesis for most of the currencies and the stocks, a non-Gaussian copula, such as the Student copula, cannot be rejected if it has sufficiently many ‘degrees of freedom’. As a consequence, it may be very dangerous to embrace blindly the Gaussian copula hypothesis, especially when the coefficient of correlation between the pairs of assets is too high, such that the tail dependence neglected by the Gaussian copula can became large, leading to the ignoring of extreme events which may occur in unison.
Quenched narrow-line laser cooling of 40 Ca to near the photon recoil limit

We present a cooling method that should be generally applicable to atoms with narrow optical transitions. This technique uses velocity-selective pulses to drive atoms towards a zero-velocity dark state and then quenches the excited state to increase the cooling rate. We demonstrate this technique of quenched narrow-line cooling by reducing the 1-D temperature of a sample of neutral 40Ca atoms. We velocity select and cool with the 1S0(4s2) to 3P1(4s4p) 657 nm intercombination line and quench with the 3P1(4s4p) to 1S0(4s5s) intercombination line at 553 nm, which increases the cooling rate eight-fold. Limited only by available quenching laser power, we have transferred 18 % of the atoms from our initial 2 mK velocity distribution and achieved temperatures as low as 4 microK, corresponding to a vrms of 2.8 cm/s or 2 recoils at 657 nm. This cooling technique, which is closely related to Raman cooling, can be extended to three dimensions.
Motivating Children to Learn Effectively: Exploring the Value of Intrinsic Integration in Educational Games

The concept of intrinsic motivation lies at the heart of the user engagement created by digital games. Yet despite this, educational software has traditionally attempted to harness games as extrinsic motivation by using them as a sugar coating for learning content. This article tests the concept of intrinsic integration as a way of creating a more productive relationship between educational games and their learning content. Two studies assessed this approach by designing and evaluating an educational game called Zombie Division to teach mathematics to 7- to 11-year-olds. Study 1 examined the learning gains of 58 children who played either the intrinsic, extrinsic, or control variants of Zombie Division for 2 hr, supported by their classroom teacher. Study 2 compared time on task for the intrinsic and extrinsic variants of the game when 16 children had free choice of which game to play. The results showed that children learned more from the intrinsic version of the game under fixed time limits and spent 7 times longer playing it in free-time situations. Together, these studies offer evidence for the genuine value of an intrinsic approach for creating effective educational games. The theoretical and commercial implications of these findings are discussed.
Planning Coherent Multisentential Text

Though most text generators are capable of simply stringing together more than one sentence, they cannot determine which order will ensure a coherent paragraph. A paragraph is coherent when the information in successive sentences follows some pattern of inference or of knowledge with which the hearer is familiar. To signal such inferences, speakers usually use relations that link successive sentences in fixed ways. A set of 20 relations that span most of what people usually say in English is proposed in the Rhetorical Structure Theory of Mann and Thompson. This paper describes the formalization of these relations and their use in a prototype text planner that structures input elements into coherent paragraphs.
GPU-accelerated one-class SVM for exploration of remote sensing data

We present a machine-learning based method for the exploration of remote sensing data. Our framework mixes an intuitive interface and a one-class support-vector machine to look for rare patterns in satellite images. It benefits from a fast implementation on the Graphics Process Unit that allows reasonable times for system-user interactions. We validate our approach with ground-truth experiments and demonstrate the method on real-world datasets. We achieve faster computations when compared with sequential implementations of the same methods (up to 80 times faster for feature extraction) and with other classification methods (such as local distribution comparison).
Influencing Factors for the Adoption of m-Commerce Applications - A Multiple Case Study

In the last few years mobile-commerce (m-commerce) has evolved providing its users set of applications that provide greater communication and flexibility. As these m-commerce applications become popular, organizations are adopting them to provide these services to their customers. This paper explores the influencing factors involved in the adoption of m-commerce applications by organizations. The research question that is addressed in this paper is: What factors affect an organization’s decision to adopt mcommerce? In order to answer the research question a research model adapted from the framework presented by Wang and Cheung (2004) is proposed. The research model examines the influencing factors under three levels: organizational, environmental and managerial. A multiple case study approach is employed as a research method to validate the research model. Findings from this research enhance research in m-commerce as well as assist businesses to better plan their adoption of m-commerce applications.