Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two Independent Mechanisms for Motion-In-Depth Perception: Evidence from Individual Differences

Our forward-facing eyes allow us the advantage of binocular visual information: using the tiny differences between right and left eye views to learn about depth and location in three dimensions. Our visual systems also contain specialized mechanisms to detect motion-in-depth from binocular vision, but the nature of these mechanisms remains controversial. Binocular motion-in-depth perception could theoretically be based on first detecting binocular disparity and then monitoring how it changes over time. The alternative is to monitor the motion in the right and left eye separately and then compare these motion signals. Here we used an individual differences approach to test whether the two sources of information are processed via dissociated mechanisms, and to measure the relative importance of those mechanisms. Our results suggest the existence of two distinct mechanisms, each contributing to the perception of motion-in-depth in most observers. Additionally, for the first time, we demonstrate the relative prevalence of the two mechanisms within a normal population. In general, visual systems appear to rely mostly on the mechanism sensitive to changing binocular disparity, but perception of motion-in-depth is augmented by the presence of a less sensitive mechanism that uses interocular velocity differences. Occasionally, we find observers with the opposite pattern of sensitivity. More generally this work showcases the power of the individual differences approach in studying the functional organization of cognitive systems.
Inquiry-based Projects in the Spanish Heritage Language Classroom: Connecting Culture and Community through Research

Abstract:This study presents the development and implementation of inquiry-based cultural projects in a Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) Program. Four different inquiry-based curricula are described to illustrate how university students in an SHL program advance their knowledge of Spanish while carrying out research to understand Hispanic cultures. First-, second-, and third-year students conducted research utilizing different tools, including the Internet, surveys, interviews, and field data collection. They sought out and analyzed materials related to particular cultural expressions and became familiar with perspectives, products, and practices influencing the development of Hispanic cultures in the Houston area. The scaffolding of these projects from their immediate family context to the broader community allowed students gradually to expand their connection to and appreciation of their home culture while advancing their heritage language skills. By the end of each SHL course, students were able to articulate their research findings in written and oral presentations requiring increasing levels of linguistic proficiency. This study exemplifies a comprehensive approach to heritage language teaching integrating community engagement, cultural perspectives, and literacy, and can serve as a pedagogical model for heritage language programs elsewhere.
A Marginal Ergodic Theorem

In recent years there have been several papers giving examples of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms whose invariant measures are improper (have infinite mass) and which therefore are not positive recurrent, yet which have subchains from which valid inference can be derived. These are nonergodic (not having a limiting distribution) Markov chains (MC’s) that can be written, possibly after transformation, as Z = fZ(n) = Z(z; n); n 0g = f(X(n); Y (n);n 0g for which the subchain X(n) is ergodic (has a limiting distribution). This paper gives a marginal ergodic theorem which (a) gives conditions on Z guaranteeing that the subchain X is ergodic, (b) gives a formula for computing the limiting distribution in case it exists, and (c) gives a formula for bounding the lim inf and lim sup as n ! 1 of the distribution of X(n) in case the limit does not exist.
Language-Enriched Exercise plus Socialization for Older Adults with Dementia: Translation to Rural Communities

Abstract Interventions that stimulate and engage individuals with dementia physically, cognitively, and socially offer promise for improving health and well-being and for potentially slowing functional losses with disease progression. We describe a volunteer-based intervention that combines physical exercise, cognitive-linguistic stimulation, and social outings for older persons living with dementia in rural communities. One-year follow-up data, although clearly preliminary (n = 8), suggest stability in global cognition, mood, and aspects of physical fitness. Challenges to implementing dementia interventions in rural areas are discussed.
Links : Linking Theory to Practice for the Web Case for Support

e-Commerce, e-Government, e-Science — the coining of such words reflects the growing importance of the World Wide Web in all aspects of our lives. Consumer spending on the web in Britain exceeds £12 billion a year. A typical web program involves three tiers. The front end is the browser running on your computer. The middle tier is a server, executing the logic that controls your interaction with the web site. The back end is a database, providing the information you wish to access, such as a catalog of items for purchase, a collection of government records, or a store of scientific data. The programmer must master a myriad of languages: the logic is written in a mixture of Java, Perl, PHP, and Python; the forms in HTML, XML, and JavaScript; and the queries are written in SQL or XQuery. There is no easy way to link these — to be sure that a form in HTML or a query in SQL produces data of a type that the logic in Java expects. This is called theimpedance mismatch problem. Links will solve the impedance mismatch problem by providing a single language for all three tiers. The system will be responsible for distributing tasks among tiers and translating into suitable languages for each tier — for instance, translating part of a program into JavaScript to run in the browser, Java to run on the server, and SQL to run on the database. Links will incorporate ideas proven in other programming languages: support for database programming from Kleisli, for XML programming from XDuce, for web interaction from PLT Scheme, and for distribution from Erlang. It will be developed by a consortium, as were ML and Haskell. Like all of these languages, it will be functional. Support is sought for one PhD studentship and one RA for three years, costing£292K for 36 months. Letters of support are attached from two commercial web firms, LShift and Run Deep.
Propagation of hexagonal patterns near onset

For a pattern-forming system with two unbounded spatial directions that is near the onset to instability, we prove the existence of modulated fronts that connect (i) stable hexagons with the unstable trivial pattern, (ii) stable hexagons with unstable roll solutions, (iii) stable hexagons with unstable hexagons, and (iv) stable roll solutions with unstable hexagons. Our approach is based on spatial dynamics, bifurcation theory, and geometric singular perturbation theory.
Detection and Quantification of Protein Biomarkers from Fewer than 10 Cells*

The use of antibody microarrays continues to grow rapidly due to the recent advances in proteomics and automation and the opportunity this combination creates for high throughput multiplexed analysis of protein biomarkers. However, a primary limitation of this technology is the lack of PCR-like amplification methods for proteins. Therefore, to realize the full potential of array-based protein biomarker screening it is necessary to construct assays that can detect and quantify protein biomarkers with very high sensitivity, in the femtomolar range, and from limited sample quantities. We describe here the construction of ultramicroarrays, combining the advantages of microarraying including multiplexing capabilities, higher throughput, and cost savings with the ability to screen very small sample volumes. Antibody ultramicroarrays for the detection of interleukin-6 and prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a widely used biomarker for prostate cancer screening, were constructed. These ultramicroarrays were found to have a high specificity and sensitivity with detection levels using purified proteins in the attomole range. Using these ultramicroarrays, we were able to detect PSA secreted from 100 LNCaP cells in 3 h and from just four LNCaP cells in 24 h. Cellular PSA could also be detected from the lysate of an average of just six cells. This strategy should enable proteomic analysis of materials that are available in very limited quantities such as those collected by laser capture microdissection, neonatal biopsy microspecimens, and forensic samples.
Optimum Design of Remote Patient Monitoring Systems

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) of physiological measurements offers the potential to provide high quality care to elderly, chronically and acutely ill people in their home environment, while making effective use of healthcare resources. However, despite its clearly demonstrated potential, RPM has not become an integrated part of patient care so far. In this paper, we undertake an extensive systematic literature review to identify the typical setup of RPM projects and services in the UK. We then propose a solution for a clinically and organizationally more integrated service, which is based in primary care. Key to the design is the involvement of other healthcare services such as social care, the emergency department of a hospital, and out-of-hours General Practitioner services, and also the involvement of the patient and their carer/s. This allows a team-based approach with information-sharing across different healthcare sectors, and offers maximum continuity of care for the patient
High Temporal and Spatial Resolution Distributed Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors Using Time-Stretch Frequency-Domain Reflectometry

A novel interrogation technique for fully distributed linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating (LCFBG) strain sensors with simultaneous high temporal and spatial resolution based on optical time-stretch frequency-domain reflectometry (OTS-FDR) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. LCFBGs is a promising candidate for fully distributed sensors thanks to its longer grating length and broader reflection bandwidth compared to normal uniform FBGs. In the proposed system, two identical LCFBGs are employed in a Michelson interferometer setup with one grating serving as the reference grating whereas the other serving as the sensing element. Broadband spectral interferogram is formed and the strain information is encoded into the wavelength-dependent free spectral range (FSR). Ultrafast interrogation is achieved based on dispersion-induced time stretch such that the target spectral interferogram is mapped to a temporal interference waveform that can be captured in real-time using a single-pixel photodetector. The distributed strain along the sensing grating can be reconstructed from the instantaneous RF frequency of the captured waveform. High-spatial resolution is also obtained due to high-speed data acquisition. In a proof-of-concept experiment, ultrafast real-time interrogation of fully distributed grating sensors with various strain distributions is experimentally demonstrated. An ultrarapid measurement speed of 50 MHz with a high spatial resolution of 31.5 μm over a gauge length of 25 mm and a strain resolution of 9.1 μϵ have been achieved.
Sequential Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells into Neural Epithelial-Like Stem Cells and Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells

Background Recent advances in stem cell technology afford an unlimited source of neural progenitors and glial cells for cell based therapy in central nervous system (CNS) disorders. However, current differentiation strategies still need to be improved due to time-consuming processes, poorly defined culture conditions, and low yield of target cell populations. Methodology/Principle Findings This study aimed to provide a precise sequential differentiation to capture two transient stages: neural epithelia-like stem cells (NESCs) and oligodendrocytes progenitor cells (OPCs) derived from mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs). CHIR99021, a glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) inhibitor, in combination with dual SMAD inhibitors, could induce ESCs to rapidly differentiate into neural rosette-like colonies, which facilitated robust generation of NESCs that had a high self-renewal capability and stable neuronal and glial differentiation potentials. Furthermore, SHH combined with FGF-2 and PDGF-AA could induce NESCs to differentiate into highly expandable OPCs. These OPCs not only robustly differentiated into oligodendrocytes, but also displayed an increased migratory activity in vitro. Conclusions/Significance We developed a precise and reliable strategy for sequential differentiation to capture NESCs and OPCs derived from ESCs, thus providing unlimited cell source for cell transplantation and drug screening towards CNS repair.
A New Algorithm of the FPAR Product in the Heihe River Basin Considering the Contributions of Direct and Diffuse Solar Radiation Separately

It remains a challenging issue to accurately estimate the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically-active radiation (FPAR) using remote sensing data, as the direct and diffuse radiation reaching the vegetation canopy have different effects for FPAR. In this research, a FPAR inversion model was developed that may distinguish direct and diffuse radiation (the DnD model) based on the energy budget balance principle. Taking different solar zenith angles and diffuse PAR proportions as inputs, the instantaneous FPAR could be calculated. As the leaf area index (LAI) and surface albedo do not vary in a short periods, the FPAR not only on a clear day, but also on a cloudy day may be calculated. This new method was used to produce the FPAR products in the Heihe River Basin with the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) LAI and surface albedo products as the input data source. The instantaneous FPAR was validated by using field-measured data (RMSE is 0.03, R2 is 0.85). The daily average FPAR was compared with the MODIS FPAR product. The inversion results and the MODIS FPAR product are highly correlated, but the MODIS FPAR product is slightly high in forest areas, which is in agreement with other studies for MODIS FPAR products.
PARALLAX AND DISTANCE ESTIMATES FOR TWELVE CATACLYSMIC VARIABLE STARS

We report parallax and distance estimates for 12 more cataclysmic binaries and related objects observed with the 2.4 m Hiltner telescope at MDM Observatory. The final parallax accuracy is typically ∼1 mas. Notable results include distances for V396 Hya (CE 315), a helium double degenerate with a relatively long orbital period, and for MQ Dra (SDSSJ155331+551615), a magnetic system with a very low accretion rate. We find that the Z Cam star KT Persei is physically paired with a K main-sequence star lying 15 arcsec away. Several of the targets have distance estimates in the literature that are based on the white dwarf's effective temperature and flux; our measurements broadly corroborate these estimates, but tend to put the stars a bit closer, indicating that the white dwarfs may have larger masses than assumed. As a side note, we briefly describe radial velocity spectroscopy that refines the orbital period of V396 Hya to 65.07 ± 0.08 minutes.
Biophilic Design: The Architecture of Life

Biophilic design connects people to nature and local landscapes through gardens, green views, green walls and roofs, indoor plantings, water, natural light, natural materials, and architectural forms derived from nature, on every scale from individual buildings to neighborhoods. This 60-minute film features leaders in design and environmental advocacy who identify the many ways that contact with nature is important for human health and well-being and present examples from architecture, landscape architecture and planning that respond to this need. It takes the concept of green building into new territory by adding human emotions and connection to place into the discourse of sustainability. As Stephen Kellert, one of the film’s creators, observes, “Sustainable design focuses only on reducing environmental damage from waste and pollution, or excessive use of resources like energy and water,” while failing to appreciate people’s equally important need for beneficial contact with nature. The most sustainable buildings and places are those that people love, that nourish the spirit as well as the body, so that people are prepared to protect them and care for them across generations. This is the type of design that the film presents.
Customer Relationship Management and Interface Redesign: A Study on the Website Design on the eBay Websites on Cultural Perspectives

This study is focused on the cross-cultural issues in the post-adoption phases of customer relationship management CRM for an international electronic marketplace, which operates in more than 30 countries. In particular, the authors focus on how the electronic marketplace modifies its interface redesign for addressing the different tastes of users from different cultural backgrounds. The authors hope this study can address to how cultural and language differences affect the interface redesign of CRM, which is part of the enterprise system, in the multinational and global context through a qualitative study.
Speaker, Environment and Channel Change Detection and Clustering via the Bayesian Information Criterion

In this paper, we are interested in detecting changes in speaker identity, environmental condition and channel condition; we call this the problem of acoustic change detection. The input audio stream can be modeled as a Gaussian process in the cepstral space. We present a maximum likelihood approach to detect turns of a Gaussian process; the decision of a turn is based on the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), a model selection criterion well-known in the statistics literature. The BIC criterion can also be applied as a termination criterion in hierarchical methods for clustering of audio segments: two nodes can be merged only if the merging increases the BIC value. Our experiments on the Hub4 1996 and 1997 evaluation data show that our segmentation algorithm can successfully detect acoustic changes; our clustering algorithm can produce clusters with high purity, leading to improvements in accuracy through unsupervised adaptation as much as the ideal clustering by the true speaker identities.
The ABORTED MICROSPORES Regulatory Network Is Required for Postmeiotic Male Reproductive Development in Arabidopsis thaliana[W][OA]

This study identifies targets and interacting factors of an Arabidopsis basic helix-loop-helix protein, ABORTED MICROSPORES (AMS), which is known to be required for pollen development. AMS is found to regulate the expression of several genes involved in metabolism and pollen wall deposition. The Arabidopsis thaliana ABORTED MICROSPORES (AMS) gene encodes a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor that is required for tapetal cell development and postmeiotic microspore formation. However, the regulatory role of AMS in anther and pollen development has not been fully defined. Here, we show by microarray analysis that the expression of 549 anther-expressed genes was altered in ams buds and that these genes are associated with tapetal function and pollen wall formation. We demonstrate that AMS has the ability to bind in vitro to DNA containing a 6-bp consensus motif, CANNTG. Moreover, 13 genes involved in transportation of lipids, oligopeptides, and ions, fatty acid synthesis and metabolism, flavonol accumulation, substrate oxidation, methyl-modification, and pectin dynamics were identified as direct targets of AMS by chromatin immunoprecipitation. The functional importance of the AMS regulatory pathway was further demonstrated by analysis of an insertional mutant of one of these downstream AMS targets, an ABC transporter, White-Brown Complex homolog, which fails to undergo pollen development and is male sterile. Yeast two-hybrid screens and pull-down assays revealed that AMS has the ability to interact with two bHLH proteins (AtbHLH089 and AtbHLH091) and the ATA20 protein. These results provide insight into the regulatory role of the AMS network during anther development.
Intrinsic Fluctuations in Sustained Attention and Distractor Processing

Although sustaining a moderate level of attention is critical in daily life, evidence suggests that attention is not deployed consistently, but rather fluctuates from moment to moment between optimal and suboptimal states. To better characterize these states in humans, the present study uses a gradual-onset continuous performance task with irrelevant background distractors to explore the relationship among behavioral fluctuations, brain activity, and, in particular, the processing of visual distractors. Using fMRI, we found that reaction time variability, a continuous measure of attentional instability, was positively correlated with activity in task-positive networks and negatively correlated with activity in the task-negative default mode network. We also observed greater processing of distractor images during more stable and less error prone “in the zone” epochs compared with suboptimal “out of the zone” epochs of the task. Overall, the data suggest that optimal states of attention are accomplished with more efficient and potentially less effortful recruitment of task-relevant resources, freeing remaining resources to process task irrelevant features of the environment.
A DYNAMIC CLUSTERING TECHNIQUE USING MINIMUM- SPANNING TREE

Clustering technique is one of the most important and basic tool for data mining. In this paper, we present a clustering algorithm that is inspired by minimum spanning tree. Given the minimum spanning tree over a data set, selects or rejects the edges of the MST in process of forming the clusters, depending on the threshold value. The Algorithm is invoked repeatedly until all the clusters are fully formed. We present experimental results of our algorithm on some synthetic data sets as well as real world data sets.
Tartanian 5 : A Heads-Up No-Limit Texas Hold ’ em Poker-Playing Program ∗

We present an overview of Tartanian5, a no-limit Texas Hold’em agent which we submitted to the 2012 Annual Computer Poker Competition. The agent plays a game-theoretic approximate Nash equilibrium strategy. First, it applies a potential-aware, perfect-recall, automated abstraction algorithm to group similar game states together and construct a smaller game that is strategically similar to the full game. In order to maintain a tractable number of possible betting sequences, it employs a discretized betting model, where only a small number of bet sizes are allowed at each game state. The strategies for both players are then computed using an improved version of Nesterov’s excessive gap technique specialized for poker. To mitigate the effect of overfitting, we employ an ex-post purification procedure to remove actions that are played with small probability. One final feature of our agent is a novel algorithm for interpreting bet sizes of the opponent that fall outside our model. We describe our new approach in detail, and present theoretical and empirical advantages over prior approaches. Finally, we briefly describe ongoing research in our group involving real-time computation and opponent exploitation, which will hopefully be incorporated into our agents in future years.