Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evolving Artificial Neural Networks applied to generate virtual characters

Computer game industry is one of the most profitable nowadays. Although this industry has evolved fast in the last years in different fields, Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to be stuck. Many games still make use of simple state machines to simulate AI. New models can be designed and proposed to replace this jurassic technique. In this paper we propose the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) as a new model. ANN will be then in charge of receiving information from the game (sensors) and carry out actions (actuators) according to the information received. The search for the best ANN is a complex task that strongly affects the task performance while often requiring a high computational time. In this work, we present ADANN, a system for the automatic evolution and adaptation of artificial neural networks based on evolutionary ANN (EANN). This approach use Genetic Algorithm (GA) that evolves fully connected Artificial Neural Network. The testing game is called Unreal Tournament 2004. The new agent obtained has been put to the test jointly with CCBot3, the winner of BotPrize 2010 competition [1], and have showed a significant improvement in the humannesss ratio. Additionally, we have confronted our approach and CCBot3 (winner of BotPrize competition in 2010) to First-person believability assessment (BotPrize original judging protocol), demonstrating that the active involvement of the judge has a great impact in the recognition of human-like behaviour.
Two Heads Are Better Than One, but How Much?

Many theories of causal learning and causal induction differ in their assumptions about how people combine the causal impact of several causes presented in compound. Some theories propose that when several causes are present, their joint causal impact is equal to the linear sum of the individual impact of each cause. However, some recent theories propose that the causal impact of several causes needs to be combined by means of a noisy-OR integration rule. In other words, the probability of the effect given several causes would be equal to the sum of the probability of the effect given each cause in isolation minus the overlap between those probabilities. In the present series of experiments, participants were given information about the causal impact of several causes and then they were asked what compounds of those causes they would prefer to use if they wanted to produce the effect. The results of these experiments suggest that participants actually use a variety of strategies, including not only the linear and the noisy-OR integration rules, but also averaging the impact of several causes.
Transcriptional analysis of promoter mutations in the Klebsiella pneumoniae nifHDKY operon

Previously isolated promoter mutations that allow expression of the Klebsiella pneumoniae nifHDKY operon in the absence of nifA (R. Bitoun, J. Berman, A. Zilberstein, D. Holland, J.B. Cohen, D. Givol, and A. Zamir, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 80:5812-5816, 1983) were further characterized. pRB1 and pRB5, containing, respectively, point and duplication mutations in the nifHDKY regulatory region, were transformed into Escherichia coli and K. pneumoniae hosts with different nifA and ntrA backgrounds. nif transcription start sites were determined by nuclease S1 mapping. The results indicated that nifA-independent expression from both mutants did not require ntrA. Transcription from pBR5 started 3 base pairs (bp) upstream of the start site of nif-regulated transcription and could stem from a canonical promoter sequence generated at the junction between the two copies of the duplicated sequence. In the presence of nifA-ntrA, transcription from pRB5 started predominantly at the site characteristic of the nif-regulated promoter. The site of constitutive transcription initiation in pRB1 was located 33 bp upstream of the point mutation and 40 bp upstream of the start of nifA-ntrA-activated transcription. Low-level transcription from the upstream site was also evident, in the absence of nifA or nifA or both, with the plasmid containing the wild-type nifHDKY regulatory region. However, when nifA and ntrA were present to activate transcription from the major nif promoter, no activity was evident from the upstream site in either pRB1 or the parental plasmid. Thus, the mutation enhanced the activity of a pre-existing constitutive promoter, the activity of which was repressed on nifA-ntrA activation of the major nif promoter.
Post-natal myogenic and adipogenic developmental

A-type lamins are a major component of the nuclear lamina. Mutations in the LMNA gene, which encodes the A-type lamins A and C, cause a set of phenotypically diverse diseases collectively called laminopathies. While adult LMNA null mice show various symptoms typically associated with laminopathies, the effect of loss of lamin A/C on early post-natal development is poorly understood. Here we developed a novel LMNA null mouse (LMNAGT-/-) based on genetrap technology and analyzed its early post-natal development. We detect LMNA transcripts in heart, the outflow tract, dorsal aorta, liver and somites during early embryonic development. Loss of A-type lamins results in severe growth retardation and developmental defects of the heart, including impaired myocyte hypertrophy, skeletal muscle hypotrophy, decreased amounts of subcutaneous adipose tissue and impaired ex vivo adipogenic differentiation. These defects cause death at 2 to 3 weeks post partum associated with muscle weakness and metabolic complications, but without the occurrence of dilated cardiomyopathy or an obvious progeroid phenotype. Our results indicate that defective early post-natal development critically contributes to the disease phenotypes in adult laminopathies.
Sparse pattern selection strategies for robust Frobenius-norm minimization preconditioners in electromagnetism

We consider preconditioning strategies for the iterative solution of dense complex symmetric non-Hermitian systems arising in computational electromagnetics. We consider in particular sparse approximate inverse pre-conditioners that use static non-zero pattern selection. The novelty of our approach comes from using a different non-zero pattern selection procedure for the original matrix from that for the preconditioner and from exploiting geometric or topological information from the underlying meshes instead of using methods based on the magnitude of the entries. The numerical and computational efficiency of the proposed preconditioners are illustrated on a set of model problems arising both from academic and from industrial applications. The results of our numerical experiments suggest that the new strategies are viable approaches for the solution of large-scale electromagnetic problems using preconditioned Krylov methods. In particular, our strategies are applicable when fast multipole techniques are used for the matrix-vector product on parallel distributed memory computers. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Academic Procrastination: Present Bias and Lecture Preparations

In this thesis I study academic procrastination, and try to look at the phenomenon from various angles and approaches. I start out reviewing the literature on the subject, from both an economic and psychological perspective. While psychologists mostly emphasize the various personality traits and individual differences of the people who procrastinate, economists have focused their attention to time preference, and how procrastinators might discount the future differently from others. In particular, models of present bias seem to fit both experimental and real world data, as well as our intuition, better than models using standard exponential discounting. In Part II of the thesis, I discuss and analyze the results from two surveys performed on economics students at the University of Oslo. Procrastination is inherently difficult to identify and measure, and therefore I rather attempt to measure how well prepared the students are for the two lectures where they are surveyed. Before the first lecture, the students had the opportunity to complete some online preparation exercises, and the availability of these creates an incentive mechanism that may induce procrastinating students to prepare, without affecting the behavior of exponentially discounting students much. I formally describe the decision process of the students using a model of present bias, and find that the level of preparations is likely to be affected by both the degree of present bias and the students’ awareness of their own self-control problems. And indeed, the reported levels of preparations are significantly higher for the lecture where the preparation exercises were available. I then estimate a multiple regression model in Stata, with the difference in the levels of preparations between the two lectures where the surveys were held as the dependent variable. As explanatory variables, I use the survey responses to various statements regarding the study habits and attitudes of the students, as well as some more standard, demographic variables. While much of the variation in the difference in levels of preparation can be explained by how busy the students are (e.g., if they have a job) and measures for how they value lecture preparations relative to other educational activities, I find a significant effect that may imply that for students who prepare less than they want, the preparation exercises may have worked as a remedy for procrastination.
The Drosophila ARF6-GEF Schizo controls commissure formation by regulating Slit

The CNS of bilateral symmetric organisms is characterized by intensive contralateral axonal connections. Genetic screens in Drosophila have identified only a few genes required for guiding commissural growth cones toward and across the midline. Two evolutionarily conserved signaling molecules, Netrin and Slit, are expressed in the CNS midline cells. Netrin acts primarily as an attractive signaling cue, whereas Slit mediates repulsive functions. Here, we describe a detailed analysis of the Drosophila gene schizo, which is required for commissure formation. schizo leads to a commissural phenotype reminiscent of netrin mutant embryos. Double-mutant analyses indicate that Netrin and Schizo act independently. The schizo mutant phenotype can be suppressed by either expressing netrin in the CNS midline cells or by a reduction of the slit gene dose, indicating that the balance of attractive and repulsive signaling is impaired in schizo mutants. Overexpression of the schizo RNA in the CNS midline using the GAL4/UAS system leads to a slit phenocopy, suggesting that schizo primarily antagonizes Slit signaling. This is further supported by cell type-specific rescue experiments. The schizo gene generates at least two proteins containing a conserved Sec7 and a pleckstrin homology domain (PH) characteristic for guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEF) acting on ARF GTPases, which are known to regulate endocytosis. In support of the notion that schizo regulates Slit expression via endocytosis, we found that block of endocytosis leads to a schizo-like phenotype. We thus propose that the balance of the two signaling cues Netrin and Slit can be regulated, controlling membrane dynamics.
Developing a Sustainable Phytomanagement Strategy for Excessive Selenium in Western United States and India

Phytomanagement technology is recognized as an inexpensive and environmental friendly strategy for managing natural-occurring selenium (Se) in soils and in poor quality waters. Multi-year field and greenhouse studies were conducted with different plant species in California, USA and Punjab, India under high Se growing conditions. Some of the plant species included; canola (Brassica napus), mustard (B. juncea), broccoli (B. oleracea), spearmint (Mentha viridis), sugarcane (Saccharum officcinarum), guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and poplar (Populus deltoides). California soils had a sodium-sulfate-dominated salinity between 6–10 dS m−1, while Indian soils had a calcium carbonate salinity less than 1 dS m−1. Results demonstrated that high sulfate conditions reduced plant Se accumulation more than 100× in Californian grown plants compared to Se accumulation in Indian grown plants. Tissue concentrations generally did not exceed 10 and 200 mg kg DM−1 in leaves of plants grown in California and India, respectively. At these plant concentrations, Se phytomanagement is more effective in Indian soils than in California soils. Successful management of Se by plants requires selecting crops or crop rotations that are tolerant of the soil condition and identifying and creating new viable Se-enriched products.
Ca2+‐dependent endoplasmic reticulum stress correlates with astrogliosis in oligomeric amyloid β‐treated astrocytes and in a model of Alzheimer's disease

Neurotoxic effects of amyloid β peptides are mediated through deregulation of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and signaling, but relatively little is known about amyloid β modulation of Ca2+ homeostasis and its pathological influence on glia. Here, we found that amyloid β oligomers caused a cytoplasmic Ca2+ increase in cultured astrocytes, which was reduced by inhibitors of PLC and ER Ca2+ release. Furthermore, amyloid β peptides triggered increased expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), as well as oxidative and ER stress, as indicated by eIF2α phosphorylation and overexpression of chaperone GRP78. These effects were decreased by ryanodine and 2APB, inhibitors of ryanodine receptors and InsP3 receptors, respectively, in both primary cultured astrocytes and organotypic cultures of hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. Importantly, intracerebroventricular injection of amyloid β oligomers triggered overexpression of GFAP and GRP78 in astrocytes of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. These data were validated in a triple‐transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Overexpression of GFAP and GRP78 in the hippocampal astrocytes correlated with the amyloid β oligomer load in 12‐month‐old mice, suggesting that this parameter drives astrocytic ER stress and astrogliosis in vivo. Together, these results provide evidence that amyloid β oligomers disrupt ER Ca2+ homeostasis, which induces ER stress that leads to astrogliosis; this mechanism may be relevant to AD pathophysiology.
Modulation of fibroblast functions by interleukin 1: increased steady- state accumulation of type I procollagen messenger RNAs and stimulation of other functions but not chemotaxis by human recombinant interleukin 1 alpha and beta

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is synthesized by and released from macrophages in response to a variety of stimuli and appears to play an essential role in virtually all inflammatory conditions. In tissues of mesenchymal origin (e.g., cartilage, muscle, bone, and soft connective tissue) IL-1 induces changes characteristic of both destructive as well as reparative phenomena. Previous studies with natural IL-1 of varying degrees of purity have suggested that it is capable of modulating a number of biological activities of fibroblasts. We have compared the effects of purified human recombinant (hr) IL-1 alpha and beta on several fibroblast functions. The parameters studied include cell proliferation, chemotaxis, and production of collagen, collagenase, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP), and prostaglandin (PG) E2. We observed that hrIL-1s stimulate the synthesis and accumulation of type I procollagen chains. Intracellular degradation of collagen is not altered by the hrIL-1s. Both IL-1s were observed to increase the steady-state levels of pro alpha 1(I) and pro alpha 2(I) mRNAs, indicating that they exert control of type I procollagen gene expression at the pretranslational level. We found that both hrIL-1 alpha and beta stimulate synthesis of TIMP, collagenase, PGE2, and growth of fibroblasts in vitro but are not chemotactic for fibroblasts. Although hrIl-1 alpha and beta both are able to stimulate production of PGE2 by fibroblasts, inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis by indomethacin has no measurable effect on the ability of the IL-1s to stimulate cell growth or production of collagen and collagenase. Each of the IL-1s stimulated proliferation and collagen production by fibroblasts to a similar degree, however hrIL-1 beta was found to be less potent than hrIL-1 alpha in stimulating PGE2 production. These observations support the notion that IL-1 alpha and beta may both modulate the degradation of collagen at sites of tissue injury by virtue of their ability to stimulate collagenase and PGE2 production by fibroblasts. Furthermore, IL-1 alpha and beta might also direct reparative functions of fibroblasts by stimulating their proliferation and synthesis of collagen and TIMP.
Losartan Decreases Cardiac Muscle Fibrosis and Improves Cardiac Function in Dystrophin-Deficient Mdx Mice

Recent studies showed that chronic administration of losartan, an angiotensin II type I receptor antagonist, improved skeletal muscle function in dystrophin-deficient mdx mice. In this study, C57BL/10ScSn-Dmdmdx/J female mice were either untreated or treated with losartan (n = 15) in the drinking water at a dose of 600 mg/L over a 6-month period. Cardiac function was assessed via in vivo high frequency echocardiography and skeletal muscle function was assessed using grip strength testing, Digiscan monitoring, Rotarod timing, and in vitro force testing. Fibrosis was assessed using picrosirius red staining and Image J analysis. Gene expression was evaluated using real-time polymerized chain reaction (RT-PCR). Percentage shortening fraction was significantly decreased in untreated (26.9% ± 3.5%) mice compared to losartan-treated (32.2% ± 4.2%; P < .01) mice. Systolic blood pressure was significantly reduced in losartan-treated mice (56 ± 6 vs 69 ± 7 mm Hg; P < .0005). Percentage cardiac fibrosis was significantly reduced in losartan-treated hearts (P < .05) along with diaphragm (P < .01), extensor digitorum longus (P < .05), and gastrocnemius (P < .05) muscles compared to untreated mdx mice. There were no significant differences in skeletal muscle function between treated and untreated groups. Chronic treatment with losartan decreases cardiac and skeletal muscle fibrosis and improves cardiac systolic function in dystrophin-deficient mdx mice.
Co-teachers’ attitudes towards planning and instructional activities for students with disabilities

Abstract Co-teaching is considered a means for improving the inclusion of students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms. This research employs a mixed methods research approach to investigate teachers’ attitudes towards co-teaching practices for students with disabilities in Greek schools. In total, 400 co-teachers completed a survey questionnaire and 10 of them participated in semi-structured interviews, in which they reported co-teaching practices with regard to planning and evaluation activities, co-teaching models, content of teaching and instructional grouping arrangements. The participants stated that the time they spend to plan and evaluate together is insufficient and that they need more time to perform these activities. In addition, co-teachers were found to use their limited time to separate rather than to co-plan or evaluate co-teaching activities. They reported inconsistencies in the rating of co-teaching activities during planning and evaluation. Even though co-teachers approved a specific stance towards all models of co-teaching, they mainly noted that they implemented supportive co-teaching. Also, they stated that they modify the content of teaching for their students with disabilities, but they limit this practice to individual teaching in order to assist these students to overcome specific difficulties. Finally, co-teachers indicated that they prefer to teach the students with disabilities in mixed ability groups rather than to teach them individually out of the class. The results of this research support those of previous studies with regard to the planning needs of co-teachers and the prevalence of the supportive co-teaching model. In addition, our results inform the field about diverse approaches and inconsistencies in delivering the curriculum and the grouping arrangements for students with disabilities. We argue that professional development on the practical implementation of co-teaching and administrative support are necessary to enhance co-teachers’ activities towards the development of an inclusive culture.
Semi-supervised learning for object recognition in RGBz images

In this project I am focused on the problem of using depth information in the absence of labeled depth training data for the task of object detection in RGBz images. This task is important for computers to fully utilize both the breadth of image training data that does not include depth sensors while allowing depth-enabled systems to utilize the valuable added information provided by a depth sensor.
Accuracy Analysis and Enhancement of DFT-Based Synchrophasor Estimators in Off-Nominal Conditions

Synchrophasor estimation accuracy is a well-known critical issue in systems for smart grid monitoring and control. This paper deals with an in-depth analysis of the effect of both steady-state and dynamic disturbances on single-cycle and multicycle windowed discrete Fourier transform (DFT)-based synchrophasor estimators. Unlike other qualitative or simulation-based results found in the literature, this work provides two accurate and easy-to-use analytical expressions that can be used to determine the worst case range of variation of the total vector error (TVE) due to off-nominal frequency deviations. In such conditions, estimation accuracy is limited by two factors, i.e., the infiltration caused by the input signal image frequency and the scalloping loss associated with the spectrum main lobe of the chosen window. Starting from the aforementioned general analysis, a new two-term window minimizing the detrimental effects of image frequency tone is proposed. The accuracy of the related DFT-based synchrophasor estimator is evaluated under both static and dynamic conditions, which is the most interesting scenario for future smart grids. Moreover, the effect of waveform frequency measurement uncertainty on scalloping loss compensation is quantified. Several simulation results (including the effects of noise, harmonic distortion, and amplitude and phase modulation) confirm that the proposed window can significantly improve the accuracy achievable with a simple single-cycle DFT estimator. Indeed, TVE values much smaller than 1% can be achieved even in the worst case conditions reported in the standard IEEE C37.118. 1-2011, when the frequency waveform deviations are within ±4% of the nominal value. In addition, the proposed solution could be useful to improve the performance of more complex dynamic phasor estimators, e.g., those in which the first- and second-order terms of the phasor Taylor series expansion result from the differences of consecutive DFT-based phasor estimates.