Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Striatal Indirect Pathway Contributes to Selection Accuracy of Learned Motor Actions

The dorsal striatum, which contains the dorsolateral striatum (DLS) and dorsomedial striatum (DMS), integrates the acquisition and implementation of instrumental learning in cooperation with the nucleus accumbens (NAc). The dorsal striatum regulates the basal ganglia circuitry through direct and indirect pathways. The mechanism by which these pathways mediate the learning processes of instrumental actions remains unclear. We investigated how the striatal indirect (striatopallidal) pathway arising from the DLS contributes to the performance of conditional discrimination. Immunotoxin targeting of the striatal neuronal type containing dopamine D2 receptor in the DLS of transgenic rats resulted in selective, efficient elimination of the striatopallidal pathway. This elimination impaired the accuracy of response selection in a two-choice reaction time task dependent on different auditory stimuli. The impaired response selection was elicited early in the test sessions and was gradually restored as the sessions continued. The restoration from the deficits in auditory discrimination was prevented by excitotoxic lesion of the NAc but not by that of the DMS. In addition, lesion of the DLS mimicked the behavioral consequence of the striatopallidal removal at the early stage of test sessions of discriminative performance. Our results demonstrate that the DLS-derived striatopallidal pathway plays an essential role in the execution of conditional discrimination, showing its contribution to the control of selection accuracy of learned motor responses. The results also suggest the presence of a mechanism that compensates for the learning deficits during the repetitive sessions, at least partly, demanding accumbal function.
Stability Conditions of Fuzzy Filter Type III

A digital fuzzy logic filter of type III interacts with a real model signal reference to obtain the best answer in the sense of minimum mean square error of the output. The key part of the filter is a fuzzy mechanism that adaptively selects and emits answer according to the changes of the external reference signal. Based on input signal level, this fuzzy filter selects the best parameter values from a set of membership in the knowledge base (KB), and the filter weights are updated according to the reference signal in a natural form. With this fuzzy structure the filter reduces error. The simulation result shows the stability of the filter. The states of the filtering process require that all of its answers are bounded by the error criteria probabilistically.
Pointing while Looking Elsewhere: Designing for Varying Degrees of Visual Guidance during Manual Input

We propose using eye tracking to support interface use with decreased reliance on visual guidance. While the design of most graphical user interfaces take visual guidance during manual input for granted, eye tracking allows distinguishing between the cases when the manual input is conducted with or without guidance. We conceptualize the latter cases as input with uncertainty that require separate handling. We describe the design space of input handling by utilizing input resources available to the system, possible actions the system can realize and various feedback techniques for informing the user. We demonstrate the particular action mechanisms and feedback techniques through three applications we developed for touch interaction on a large screen. We conducted a two stage study of positional accuracy during target acquisition with varying visual guidance, to determine the selection range around a touch point due to positional uncertainty. We also conducted a qualitative evaluation of example applications with participants to identify perceived utility and hand eye coordination challenges while using interfaces with decreased visual guidance.
Fast mesh segmentation using random walks

3D mesh models are now widely available for use in various applications. The demand for automatic model analysis and understanding is ever increasing. Mesh segmentation is an important step towards model understanding, and acts as a useful tool for different mesh processing applications, e.g. reverse engineering and modeling by example. We extend a random walk method used previously for image segmentation to give algorithms for both interactive and automatic mesh segmentation. This method is extremely efficient, and scales almost linearly with increasing number of faces. For models of moderate size, interactive performance is achieved with commodity PCs. It is easy-to-implement, robust to noise in the mesh, and yields results suitable for downstream applications for both graphical and engineering models.
On the nature of two low-dot{M} X-ray bursters: 1RXS J170854.4-321857 and 1RXS J171824.2-402934

We carried out Chandra observations of two low-luminosity low-mass X-ray binaries, 1RXS J170854.4–321857 and 1RXS J171824.2–402934, for which previously single X-ray bursts were detected with the Wide Field Cameras (WFCs) on board BeppoSAX. Both were detected in our Chandra observations in an actively accreting state three to eight years after the X-ray bursts, with 0.5–10 keV luminosities between $5\times10^{34}$ and $2\times10^{36}$ erg s -1 . The apparently persistent nature is remarkable for 1RXS J171824.2–402934 given its low luminosity of 10 -3 L Edd . The persistence of both sources also distinguishes them from 5 other low- L bursters, which have also been seen during bursts with the WFCs but were not detected during Chandra observations above a luminosity of 10 33 erg s -1 . Those are probably transient rather than persistent sources.
Analytic Hierarchy process selection for batteries storage technologies

The objective of this study is to select the most appropriate battery technology for photovoltaic application. However, the selection criteria and the diversity of technologies make choice difficult. So, we focus on the Analytic Hierarchy Process which is among the most widely used and has been applied in several multicriteria decision making domains.
Proximity to Traffic, Ambient Air Pollution, and Community Noise in Relation to Incident Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background: The risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been associated with living near traffic; however, there is evidence suggesting that air pollution may not be responsible for this association. Noise, another traffic-generated exposure, has not been studied as a risk factor for RA. Objectives: We investigated proximity to traffic, ambient air pollution, and community noise in relation to RA in the Vancouver and Victoria regions of British Columbia, Canada. Methods: Cases and controls were identified in a cohort of adults that was assembled using health insurance registration records. Incident RA cases from 1999 through 2002 were identified by diagnostic codes in combination with prescriptions and type of physician (e.g., rheumatologist). Controls were matched to RA cases by age and sex. Environmental exposures were assigned to each member of the study population by their residential postal code(s). We estimated relative risks using conditional logistic regression, with additional adjustment for median income at the postal code. Results: RA incidence was increased with proximity to traffic, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.37 (95% CI: 1.11, 1.68) for residence ≤ 50 m from a highway compared with residence > 150 m away. We found no association with traffic-related exposures such as PM2.5, nitrogen oxides, or noise. Ground-level ozone, which was highest in suburban areas, was associated with an increased risk of RA (OR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.18, 1.36 per interquartile range increase). Conclusions: Our study confirms a previously observed association of RA risk with proximity to traffic and suggests that neither noise levels nor traffic-related air pollutants are responsible for this relationship. Additional investigation of neighborhood and individual correlates of residence near roadways may provide new insight into risk factors for RA. Citation: De Roos AJ, Koehoorn M, Tamburic L, Davies HW, Brauer M. 2014. Proximity to traffic, ambient air pollution, and community noise in relation to incident rheumatoid arthritis. Environ Health Perspect 122:1075–1080; http://dx.doi. org/10.1289/ehp.1307413
An Investigation of Indicators of Success in Graduates of a Progressive, Urban, Public High School.

Using standardized test scores to measure success in schools is a controversial topic in education today. Many feel that test scores are not a valid indicator of success, or are being overused to the detriment of the curriculum. But if not test scores, then what is the alternative? This study examines potential alternatives, or more authentic indicators of student success through a survey of alumni from one progressive, urban, public school, and also how this school might have contributed to this success. Participants in this study identified markers for success both while in school as well as later in adult life. Project presentations, reflective portfolio work, leadership and service experiences, daily classroom and quarterly assessments, graduation and acceptance into college were identified as indicators of success while in high school. Later in life, participants noted that graduating from college, getting a job, purchasing a home, being able to pay the bills, community engagement, and being happy and satisfied with life were also indicators of success. These findings suggest that while standardized test scores offer a snapshot of information about K-12 students, educational leaders need to look far beyond these scores to gauge true success. This study suggests ways to look at how students and schools are actually performing in deep and authentic ways, and presents curriculum that has been reported to foster success in students’ lives.
B1-insensitive T2 mapping of healthy thigh muscles using a T2-prepared 3D TSE sequence

Purpose To propose a T2-prepared 3D turbo spin echo (T2prep 3D TSE) sequence for B1-insensitive skeletal muscle T2 mapping and compare its performance with 2D and 3D multi-echo spin echo (MESE) for T2 mapping in thigh muscles of healthy subjects. Methods The performance of 2D MESE, 3D MESE and the proposed T2prep 3D TSE in the presence of transmit B1 and B0 inhomogeneities was first simulated. The thigh muscles of ten young and healthy subjects were then scanned on a 3 T system and T2 mapping was performed using the three sequences. Transmit B1-maps and proton density fat fraction (PDFF) maps were also acquired. The subjects were scanned three times to assess reproducibility. T2 values were compared among sequences and their sensitivity to B1 inhomogeneities was compared to simulation results. Correlations were also determined between T2 values, PDFF and B1. Results The left rectus femoris muscle showed the largest B1 deviations from the nominal value (from 54.2% to 92.9%). Significant negative correlations between T2 values and B1 values were found in the left rectus femoris muscle for 3D MESE (r = -0.72, p<0.001) and 2D MESE (r = -0.71, p<0.001), but not for T2prep 3D TSE (r = -0.32, p = 0.09). Reproducibility of T2 expressed by root mean square coefficients of variation (RMSCVs) were equal to 3.5% in T2prep 3D TSE, 2.6% in 3D MESE and 2.4% in 2D MESE. Significant differences between T2 values of 3D sequences (T2prep 3D TSE and 3D MESE) and 2D MESE were found in all muscles with the highest values for 2D MESE (p<0.05). No significant correlations were found between PDFF and T2 values. Conclusion A strong influence of an inhomogeneous B1 field on the T2 values of 3D MESE and 2D MESE was shown, whereas the proposed T2prep 3D TSE gives B1-insensitive and reproducible thigh muscle T2 mapping.
Faktor-Faktor Internal Individual Dalam Pembuatan Keputusan Etis: Studi Pada Konsultan Pajak Di Kota Surabaya

This study aims to examine the influence of individual factors (perception of the importance of ethical and social responsibility; machiavellianism; ethical reasoning) toward ethical decision making of tax consultants. This study used 50 tax consultants as the study samples in Tax Consultant Office in Surabaya. The method of data analysis using regression analysis. This study reveals perception of the importance of ethical and social responsibility have positive influence toward ethical decision making by tax consultant, machiavellianism have negative influence toward ethical decision making by tax consultant and ethical reasoning have positive imfluence toward ethical decision making. The implication of this study is a person who has a high perception of the importance of ethical and responsibility supporting that person to conduct ethical decision making. The General Director of Taxation or the official which is delegated in issuing tax practical license needed to conduct a machiavellianism trait test from tax consultant itself. Besides, it also takes to be ensured that the tax consultant who have had the licence is an individual who has a high moral maturity (post conventional stage), so that the possibilities will be less to approve the non-ethical act and more independent in decision making which is related to ethical dilemma.
Comparison of online and traditional performance appraisal systems

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare employee reactions to the use of an online performance appraisal (PA) system to the traditional paper‐and‐pencil (P&P) approach.Design/methodology/approach – A quasi‐experimental study is conducted comparing the reactions of a group of 83 employees evaluate with a traditional P&P PA instrument to the reactions of a group of 152 employees evaluated with an online version of the same assessment tool.Findings – Employees rate with the online version reported significantly higher levels of rater accountability and employee participation than employees rate with the traditional instrument. They report no difference in perceived security of the ratings, utility of the ratings, or satisfaction with the PA. Online employees report significantly lower levels of quality for the PA ratings than traditional employees.Research limitations/implications – The paper is limited to employees in one organization and the variables examined. In the future, researchers should e.
Adaptive Image Steganography with Mod-4 Embedding Using Image Contrast

A new adaptive steganography method based on image contrast to improve the embedding capacity and imperceptibility of the stego images is presented. The method exploits the average difference between the gray level values of the pixels in 2×2 blocks of non-overlapping spatially and their mean gray level in order to select valid blocks for embedding. The method was tested on different gray scale images. Results show that our proposed approach provides larger embedding capacity, while being less detectable by steganalysis methods such as χ2 attack and machine learning steganalysis systems, as compared to some well-known adaptive and non-adaptive steganography algorithms.
On the duality between state-dependent channels and wiretap channels

In this paper, a duality between wiretap and state-dependent channels with non-causal channel state information at the transmitter is established. First, a common achievable scheme is described for a certain class of state-dependent and wiretap channels. Further, state-dependent and wiretap channels for which this scheme is capacity (resp. secrecy capacity) achieving are identified. These channels are said to be dual. This duality is used to establish the secrecy capacity of certain state-dependent wiretap channels with non-causal channel state information at the transmitter. Interestingly, combatting the eavesdropper or combatting the lack of state information at the receiver turn out to be two non-concurrent tasks.
Self-organization of the web and identification of communities

Despite the decentralized and unorganized nature of the web, we show that the web self-organizes such that communities of highly related pages can be efficiently identified based purely on connectivity. This discovery allows the identification of communities independent of, and unbiased by, the specific words used by authors. Applications include improved search engines, content filtering, and objective analysis of relationships within and between communities on the web.
TFRC Modeling and Its Applications

of thesis entitled: TFRC Modeling and Its Applications Submitted by CHEN, Liang for the degree of Master of Philosophy at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in July 2009 The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate the applicability of the TCP-Friendly Rate Control (TFRC) [1] algorithm from theoretical perspective. TFRC has the same long-term throughput as TCP, while its short-time throughput fluctuation is much smaller than that of TCP. These quality of service properties make TFRC appropriate for multimedia streaming applications which require constant audio and video quality and fairness to TCP flows. While there are many work on empirically evaluating throughput and fairness of TFRC, little work has been done on examining TFRC’s performance from theoretical aspects. Our work is intended as an investigation of TFRC algorithm based on mathematical modeling and analysis. Under the utility maximization framework, we propose two TFRC models in terms of their detection approaches of loss rate. Both the dynamic systems defined by TFRC algorithm and the systems consisting of TCP and TFRC flows are proved with globally asymptotically stability. Then through the study of the convergence rate and robustness to perturbations of TFRC algorithm, we show that the smoothing factor of TFRC has great influence on these properties. In the presence of delay, we extend the TFRC models by introducing the delay factor, and derive sufficient conditions for the stability of TFRC algorithm under delay. These results imply that the long RTT delay may compromise the system stability, which verifies the empirical study of TFRC. Through simulations, we are able to validate our theoretical analysis and evaluate the relative importance of the smoothing factor and RTT delay on network stability. Therefore, based on our theoretical analysis validated by empirical results, we can confirm that the TFRC algorithm works stably and can coexist with TCP in one network.
Patients With Alzheimer Disease With Multiple Microbleeds: Relation With Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers and Cognition

Background and Purpose— Microbleeds (MBs) are commonly observed in Alzheimer disease. A minority of patients has multiple MBs. We aimed to investigate associations of multiple MBs in Alzheimer disease with clinical and MRI characteristics and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers. Methods— Patients with Alzheimer disease with multiple (≥8) MBs on T2*-weighted MRI were matched for age, sex, and field strength with patients with Alzheimer disease without MBs on a 1:2 basis. We included 21 patients with multiple MBs (73±7 years, 33% female) and 42 patients without MBs (72±7 years, 38% female). Mini-Mental State Examination was used to assess dementia severity. Cognitive functions were assessed using neuropsychological tests. Medial temporal lobe atrophy (0 to 4), global cortical atrophy (0 to 3), and white matter hyperintensities (0 to 30) were assessed using visual rating scales. In a subset, apolipoprotein E genotype and cerebrospinal fluid amyloid &bgr; 1-42, total &tgr; and &tgr; phosphorylated at threonine 181 were determined. Results— Patients with multiple MBs performed worse on Mini-Mental State Examination (multiple MB: 17±7; no MB: 22±4, P<0.05) despite similar disease duration. Atrophy was not related to presence of MBs, but patients with multiple MBs had more white matter hyperintensities (multiple MB: 8.8±4.8; no MB: 3.2±3.6, P<0.05). Adjusted for age, sex, white matter hyperintensities, and medial temporal lobe atrophy, the multiple MB group additionally performed worse on Visual Association Test object naming and animal fluency. Patients with multiple MBs had lower cerebrospinal fluid amyloid &bgr; 1-42 levels (307±61) than patients without MBs (505±201, P<0.05). Adjusted for the same covariates, total &tgr;, and &tgr; phosphorylated at threonine 181 were higher in the multiple MB group. Conclusion— Microbleeds are associated with the clinical manifestation and biochemical hallmarks of Alzheimer disease, suggesting possible involvement of MBs in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease.
HuQ: An English-Hungarian Corpus for Quality Estimation

Quality estimation for machine translation is an important task. The standard automatic evaluation methods that use reference translations cannot perform the evaluation task well enough. These methods produce low correlation with human evaluation for English-Hungarian. Quality estimation is a new approach to solve this problem. This method is a prediction task estimating the quality of translations for which features are extracted from only the source and translated sentences. Quality estimation systems have not been implemented for Hungarian before, thus there is no such training corpus either. In this study, we created a dataset to build quality estimation models for English-Hungarian. We also did experiments to optimize the quality estimation system for Hungarian. In the optimization task we did research in the ﬁeld of feature engineering and feature selection. We created optimized feature sets, which produced better results than the baseline feature set.