Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Composing instrument control dynamics

The expression gestural mapping is well imbedded in the language of instrument designers, describing the function from interface control parameters to synthesis control parameters. This function is in most cases implicitly assumed to be instantaneous, so that at any time its output depends only on its input at that time. Here more general functions are considered, in which the output depends on the history of input, especially functions that behave like physical dynamic systems, such as a damped resonator. Acoustic instruments are rich in dynamical behaviour. Introducing dynamics at the control stage of an electronic instrument can help compensate for lack of dynamics in later non-physical synthesis stages. A broadening of the function space offers new aesthetic possibilities for composing instruments. Examples are presented to illustrate the new design/composition mode as well as practical techniques. In this context, it is suggested that the word mapping be updated with the more descriptive expression dynamic control processing.
Diffractive lateral-shearing interferometer for phase-shift mask measurement using an excimer laser source

The physical limits of optical lithography are mainly determined by the aperture of the mask projection system and the wavelength of the light. In addition to the wavelength shift to the deep UV the application of special techniques to improve the processing window are required. This has furthered the application of the phase shift mask as a lithography tool. The generation of the exact intensity distribution needed in the plane of the wafer strongly depends on the accuracy of the phase shift introduced by the phase shift mask. However, one difficult issue is the reliable measurement of the phase shift introduced by the phase mask at the working wavelength. This is of course mainly due to the lack of suitable and simple interferometric devices for the deep-UV-region -- here 193 nm. We propose the use of a diffractive shearing interferometer as a way out. By combining two Ronchi-phase gratings in series it is possible to produce shear and phase shifts for the evaluation of the fringe patterns simply by axial and lateral shifts of the phase gratings relative to each other. Since the excimer laser emits spatially partial coherent light only, the coherence issue is one of the physical problems dealt with. The state of the art of our experiments will be presented.
A knowledge-based automated vectorizing system for geographic information system

Recently, there is a growing interest from various fields of studies in GIS which promotes efficient storage and retrieval of geographic information. The development of automated vectorizing system, an input method for GIS, is of extreme importance due to the fact that this part of constructing a GIS has been time consuming. Most vectorizing systems require users to set parameters as appropriately as possible to the map image at hand, but it is quite difficult for a novice to adjust the parameters accurately. In this paper, we propose an automated vectorizing system based on a knowledge base rendering an appropriate choice of the parameters. Each rule in the knowledge base is characterized by the type of maps, resolution, line width, slope and protrusion. Experimental results with various map images evince the proposed system to be superior in terms of performance and convenience.
Distinct Renal Injury in Early Atherosclerosis and Renovascular Disease

Background—Atherosclerotic renovascular disease may augment deterioration of renal function and ischemic nephropathy compared with other causes of renal artery stenosis (RAS), but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that concurrent early atherosclerosis and hypoperfusion might have greater early deleterious effects on the function and structure of the stenotic kidney. Methods and Results—Regional renal hemodynamics and function at baseline and during vasoactive challenge (acetylcholine or sodium nitroprusside) were quantified in vivo in pigs by electron-beam computed tomography after a 12-week normal (n=7) or hypercholesterolemic (HC, n=7) diet, RAS (n=6), or concurrent HC and a similar degree of RAS (HC+RAS, n=7). Flash-frozen renal tissue was studied ex vivo. Basal cortical perfusion and single-kidney glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were decreased similarly in the stenotic RAS and HC+RAS kidneys, but tubular fluid reabsorption was markedly impaired only in HC+RAS. Perfusion responses to challenge were similarly blunted in the experimental groups. Stimulated GFR increased in normal, HC, and RAS (38.3±3.6%, 36.4±7.6%, and 60.4±9.3%, respectively, P <0.05), but not in HC+RAS (6.5±15.1%). These functional abnormalities in HC+RAS were accompanied by augmented perivascular, tubulointerstitial, and glomerular fibrosclerosis, inflammation, systemic and tissue oxidative stress, and tubular expression of nuclear factor-&kgr;B and inducible nitric oxide synthase. Conclusions—Early chronic HC+RAS imposes distinct detrimental effects on renal function and structure in vivo and in vitro, evident primarily in the tubular and glomerular compartments. Increased oxidative stress may be involved in the proinflammatory and progrowth changes observed in the stenotic HC+RAS kidney, which might potentially facilitate the clinically observed progression to end-stage renal disease.
A Diffusive Homeostatic Signal Maintains Neural Heterogeneity and Responsiveness in Cortical Networks

Gaseous neurotransmitters such as nitric oxide (NO) provide a unique and often overlooked mechanism for neurons to communicate through diffusion within a network, independent of synaptic connectivity. NO provides homeostatic control of intrinsic excitability. Here we conduct a theoretical investigation of the distinguishing roles of NO-mediated diffusive homeostasis in comparison with canonical non-diffusive homeostasis in cortical networks. We find that both forms of homeostasis provide a robust mechanism for maintaining stable activity following perturbations. However, the resulting networks differ, with diffusive homeostasis maintaining substantial heterogeneity in activity levels of individual neurons, a feature disrupted in networks with non-diffusive homeostasis. This results in networks capable of representing input heterogeneity, and linearly responding over a broader range of inputs than those undergoing non-diffusive homeostasis. We further show that these properties are preserved when homeostatic and Hebbian plasticity are combined. These results suggest a mechanism for dynamically maintaining neural heterogeneity, and expose computational advantages of non-local homeostatic processes. Author Summary Neural firing rates must be maintained within a stable range in the face of ongoing fluctuations in synaptic connectivity. Existing cortical network models achieve this through various homeostatic mechanisms which constrain the excitability of individual neurons according to their recent activity. Here, we propose a new mechanism, diffusive homeostasis, in which neural excitability is modulated by nitric oxide, a gas which can flow freely across cell membranes. Information about a neurons’ firing rate can be carried by nitric oxide, meaning that an individual neurons’ excitability is affected by neighboring neurons’ firing rates as well as its own. We find that this allows a neuron to deviate from the target population activity, as its neighbors will counteract this deviation, thus maintaining stable average activity. This form of neural heterogeneity is more flexible than assigning different target firing rates to individual neurons.
Object Views and Database Restructuring (extended Abstract)

We present a formal data model for views in Object DataBase Systems (ODBS) which is a continuation of the work presented in AK89, AB91, dSDA94, dS95a]. The main contribution of this paper is the formalization of views as a transformation mechanism for databases using a generalization of referent proposed in dS95b]. We deene an IQL-like language adapted to manipulate referents. The view-based transformation is achieved in two steps: an extension of the source base followed by a projection of the extended base. The extension and projection can be carried out using four object algebraic operators that specify both the virtual schema and its corresponding virtual instance. This simple algebra can express all the view operators proposed in KR96, LS92, dS95b, KRR95, CTR96, KR96].
FIPOS (Full Isolation by Porous Oxidized Silicon) technology and its application to LSI's

Processing steps of FIPOS (Full Isolation by Porous Oxidized Silicon) technology and its application to LSI's are presented, FIPOS technology realizes a silicon-on-insulator structure, utilizing thick porous oxidized silicon and donors produced by proton implantation. New processing steps are proposed which provides small surface step and are suitable for LSI fabrication. Formation conditions of thick porous oxidized silicon are established by density control technique for porous silicon using a newly developed anodization system. CMOS devices are fabricated in isolated silicon layers and it is shown that the characteristics of n-channel and p-channel MOSFETS's are sufficient for application to CMOS LSI's. A FIPOS/CMOS logic array with 1.3K gate is successfully fabricated, which shows a higher speed and lower power dissipation than the gates fabricated by bulk CMOS technology. These results indicate that FIPOS technology is very useful for realizing high-performance CMOS LSI's.
Rapid Updating and Improvement of Airborne LIDAR DEMs Through Ground-Based SfM 3-D Modeling of Volcanic Features

We present a workflow to create, scale, georeference, and integrate digital elevation models (DEMs) created using open-source structure-from-motion (SfM) multiview stereo (MVS) software into existing DEMs (as derived from the light detection and ranging data in the presented cases). The workflow also maps the root-mean-square error between the base DEM and the SfM surface model. This allows DEM creation from field-based surveys using consumer-grade digital cameras with open-source and custom-built software. We employ this workflow on three examples of different scales and morphology: 1) a scoria cone on Mt. Etna; 2) a lava channel on Mauna Ulu (Ki̅lauea); and 3) a flank collapse scar on Mt. Etna. This represents a new approach for rapid low-cost construction and updating of existing DEMs at high temporal and spatial resolutions and for areas of up to several thousand square meters. We assess the self-consistency of the method by comparison of DEMs of the same features, created from independent data sets acquired on the same day and from the same vantage points. We further evaluate the effect of grid cell size on the reconstruction error. This method uses existing DEMs as a georeferencing tool and can therefore be used in limited access and potentially hazardous areas as it no longer relies exclusively on control targets on the ground.
Joint Adaptive Compensation of Transmitter and Receiver IQ Imbalance Under Carrier Frequency Offset in OFDM-Based Systems

Zero-intermediate frequency (IF)-based orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmitters and receivers are gaining a lot of interest because of their potential to enable low-cost terminals. However, such systems suffer from front-end impairments such as in-phase/quadrature-phase (IQ) imbalance which may have a huge impact on the performance. Moreover, since OFDM is very sensitive to a carrier frequency offset, this distortion needs to be taken into account in the derivation and analysis of any IQ imbalance estimation/compensation scheme. In this paper, the effect of both transmitter and receiver IQ imbalance under carrier frequency offset in an OFDM system is studied and an algorithm is developed to compensate for such distortions in the digital domain. The algorithm involved is a very efficient post-FFT adaptive equalization which is shown to lead to near ideal compensation.
Optical analysis of scanning microstereolithography systems

Microstereolithography (MSL) is rapidly developing technique for micro-fabrication. Vector-by-vector scanning MSL has a potential to create true 3D micro-devices as compared to mostly planar (2D-2 1/2 D) devices fabricated by conventional MEMS techniques. Previous literature shows two different scanning methods:(1) Galvanomirror scanning, (2) Photoreactor tank scanning. Galvanomirror scanning technique has higher fabrication speed but poor resolution because of defocusing of laser spot on the resin surface. Photo-reactor tank scanning has higher resolution but produces a wavy structures and limited speed of fabrication. This paper proposes and develops an offaxis lens scanning technique for MSL and carries out optical analysis to compare its performance with the existing techniques mentioned above. The comparison clearly demonstrates improved performance with the proposed offaxis lens scanning technique.
Every Packet Counts: Loss and Reordering Identification and Its Application in Delay Measurement

Delay is an important metric to understand and improve system performance. While existing approaches focus on aggregated delay statistics in pre-programmed granularity and provide results such as average and deviation, those approaches may not provide fine-grained delay measurement and thus may miss important delay characteristics. For example, delay anomaly, which is a critical system performance indicator, may not be captured by coarse-grained approaches. We propose a new measurement structure design called order preserving aggregator (OPA). Based on OPA, we can efficiently encode and recover the ordering and loss information by exploiting inherent data characteristics. We then propose a two-layer design to convey both ordering and time stamp, and efficiently derive per-packet delay/loss measurement. We evaluate our approach both analytically and experimentally. The results show that our approach can achieve per-packet delay measurement with an average of per-packet relative error at 2%, and an average of aggregated relative error at 10-5, while introducing additional communication overhead in the order of 10-4 in terms of number of packets. While at a low data rate, the computation overhead of OPA is acceptable. Reducing the computation and communication overhead under high data rate, to make OPA more practical in real applications, will be our future direction.
The Subparsec-Scale Radio Properties of Southern Starburst Galaxies. I. Supernova Remnants, the Supernova Rate, and the Ionized Medium in the NGC 253 Starburst

Wide-field, very long baseline interferometry observations of the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253, obtained with the Australian Long Baseline Array, have produced a 2.3 GHz image with a maximum angular resolution of 15 mas (0.3 pc). Six sources were detected, all corresponding to sources identified in higher frequency (>5 GHz) VLA images. One of the sources, supernova remnant 5.48-43.3, is resolved into a shell-like structure approximately 90 mas (1.7 pc) in diameter. From these data and data from the literature, the spectra of 20 compact radio sources in NGC 253 were modeled and found to be consistent with free-free absorbed power laws. Broadly, the free-free opacity is highest toward the nucleus but varies significantly throughout the nuclear region (τ0 ∼ 1 to >20), implying that the overall structure of the ionized medium is clumpy. Of the 20 sources, 9 have flat intrinsic spectra associated with thermal radio emission, and the remaining 11 have steep intrinsic spectra associated with synchrotron emission from supernova remnants. A supernova rate upper limit of 2.4 yr-1 is determined for the inner 320 pc region of the galaxy at the 95% confidence level, based on the lack of detection of new sources in observations spanning almost 17 yr and a simple model for the evolution of supernova remnants. A supernova rate of >0.14(v/104) yr-1 is implied from estimates of supernova remnant source counts, sizes, and expansion rates, where v is the radial expansion velocity of the supernova remnant in kilometers per second. A star formation rate of 3.4(v/104) M⊙ yr-1 < SFR(M ≥ 5 M⊙) < 59 M⊙ yr-1 has been estimated directly from the supernova rate limits and is of the same order of magnitude as rates determined from integrated far-IR and radio luminosities.
Consequences of a restrictive syringe exchange policy on utilisation patterns of a syringe exchange program in Baltimore, Maryland: Implications for HIV risk.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS Syringe distribution policies continue to be debated in many jurisdictions throughout the USA. The Baltimore Needle and Syringe Exchange Program (NSP) operated under a 1-for-1 syringe exchange policy from its inception in 1994 through 1999, when it implemented a restrictive policy (2000-2004) that dictated less than 1-for-1 exchange for non-program syringes. DESIGN AND METHODS Data were derived from the Baltimore NSP, which prospectively collected data on all client visits. We examined the impact of this restrictive policy on program-level output measures (i.e. distributed : returned syringe ratio, client volume) before, during and after the restrictive exchange policy. Through multiple logistic regression, we examined correlates of less than 1-for-1 exchange ratios at the client level before and during the restrictive exchange policy periods. RESULTS During the restrictive policy period, the average annual program-level ratio of total syringes distributed : returned dropped from 0.99 to 0.88, with a low point of 0.85 in 2000. There were substantial decreases in the average number of syringes distributed, syringes returned, the total number of clients and new clients enrolling during the restrictive compared to the preceding period. During the restrictive period, 33 508 more syringes were returned to the needle exchange than were distributed. In the presence of other variables, correlates of less than 1-for-1 exchange ratio were being white, female and less than 30 years old. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS With fewer clean syringes in circulation, restrictive policies could increase the risk of exposure to HIV among Injection Drug Users (IDUs) and the broader community. The study provides evidence to the potentially harmful effects of such policies.
A Proposal of Security Advisory System at the Time of the Installation of Applications on Android OS

For an Android-powered device, its security is established such that an application, when it is installed, declares the functions and other information that it will use, and user approves or rejects the declaration according to reviewing results. The problem is that, however, it is difficult for users to completely understand the details of a declaration, and careless users may neglect the approval process. In particular, in the case that a combination of multiple functions is involved, it would be impossible for users who are unfamiliar with technical details to evaluate its risk. In this paper, we propose a system model for supporting users' approval decision when an application is installed. Our system introduces reputation based security evaluation and also employs original analyses of combinations of permissions for malicious applications. We describe an implementation of the proposed system. Our interface design introduces user centered design that is especially suitable for users who are unfamiliar with technical details. We evaluate our system by employing subjects to measure the time and precision to distinguish malwares from innocent applications. As a result, we confirmed that our proposed system is considerably effective to distinguish malwares when an applications is installed.
Between linguistic attention and gaze fixations inmultimodal conversational interfaces

In multimodal human machine conversation, successfully interpreting human attention is critical. While attention has been studied extensively in linguistic processing and visual processing, it is not clear how linguistic attention is aligned with visual attention in multimodal conversational interfaces. To address this issue, we conducted a preliminary investigation on how attention reflected by linguistic discourse aligns with attention indicated by gaze fixations during human machine conversation. Our empirical findings have shown that more attended entities based on linguistic discourse correspond to higher intensity of gaze fixations. The smoother a linguistic transition is, the less distance between corresponding fixation distributions. These findings provide insight into how language and gaze can be combined to predict attention, which have important implications in many tasks such as word acquisition and object recognition.
Pseudoxanthoma elasticum

Background: Idiopathic perianal pruritus is a poorly managed condition. Topical corticosteroids are effective in idiopathic perianal pruritus, but they may cause some side effects. In this study, the effectiveness of topical steroids were compared with perianal cleansers in the treatment of idiopathic perianal pruritus. Patients and methods: Seventy two patients with the complaint of perianal pruritus were evaluated; 60 of the 72 patients were found to be idiopathic. Twenty eight patients were treated with topical steroids and 32 patients were treated only with a liquid cleanser. Results: At the end of this two week period, cleansers were found to be as effective as topical corticosteroids. Conclusion: This study shows that perianal cleansers can be used as a safe first step treatment in idiopathic perianal pruritus.