Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Brief Vagal Stimulation on the Isolated Rabbit Sinus Node

We developed an isolated rabbit atrial preparation which responds consistently and reproducibly to brief, aubmaximal stimulation of the autonomic nerves contained in it. In 6 of 11 preparations in the presence of propranolol (1 mg/liter), the time course of changes in the.atrial rate following 120 msec vagal stimulation was bimodal. The maximal slowing occurred at 0.64 ± 0.16 second, and the peak secondary slowing occurred at 2.3 ± 1.0 seconds. An acceleratory component occurred between the first and second peaks between 0.8 and 1.6 seconds. The total time course of vagal effect lasted for 5.0 ± 2.0 seconds. These changes in rate could not be explained by shifts in the location of the primary pacemaker. The acceleratory component was due to a 4.7 ± 2.0 (SD) mV depolarization of the maximum diastolic membrane potential of the primary pacemaker of the sinus node which lasted for 1.8 ± 0.3 seconds. Following vagal stimulation, there was an increase of 0.2 mM in the activity of potassium in the extracellular space recorded with a potassium-sensitive electrode; this peaked between 1.4 and 2.5 seconds and cleared with an exponential time course. The halftimes for recovery ranged between 2.8 and 4.6 seconds. The initial peak slowing of the bimodal time course and the acceleratory component therefore appear to be direct effects of acetylcholine. The secondary slowing occurs after acetylcholine presumably has been inactivated and occurs coincidently with the accumulation of potassium in the extracellular space. Circ Res 44: 75-88, 1979
The PAQ1 Data Compression Program

This paper describes the PAQ1 lossless data compression program. PAQ1 is an arithmetic encoder using a weighted average of five bit-level predictors. The five models are: (1) a bland model with 0 or 1 equally likely, (2) a set of order-1 through 8 nonstationary n-gram models, (3) a string matching model for n-grams longer than 8, (4) a nonstationary word unigram and bigram model for English text, and (5) a positional context model for data with fixed length records. Probabiliti es are weighted roughly by n/tp(0)p(1) where n is the context length, t is the age of the training data (number of subsequent events), and p(0) and p(1) are the probabiliti es of a 0 or 1 (favoring long runs of zeros or ones). The aging of training statistics makes the model nonstationary, which gives excellent compression for mixed data types. PAQ1 compresses the concatenated Calgary corpus to 1.824 bits per character, which is 4.5% better than RK (Taylor, 1999) and 2.9% better than PPMONSTR (Shkarin, 2001), the top programs rated by Gilchrist (2001) and Ratushnyak (2001) respectively, although those programs do slightly better on homogeneous data.
Computational Challenges of Co-Creation in Collaborative Music Live Coding : An Outline

Co-creation between a human agent (HA) and a virtual agent (VA) is an approach to collaboration that has been explored in different creative domains, particulary in computer music. With a few exceptions, there is little research on the use of virtual agents in collaborative music live coding (CMLC), a network music improvisational practice. This paper considers the benefits of CMLC both in education and in performance involving human agents, with or without virtual agents. We reflect on our previous work on, and lessons learned from, two studies of collaboration and live coding using EarSketch, an educational online platform for learning music via code based on audio clips. We speculate future scenarios, in particular, we envision a virtual agent that can help students to improve their programming and musical skills, and can help musicians to exploit computational creativity applied to music.
Analysis and Design of Wireless Ad Hoc Networks With Channel Estimation Errors

We investigate the impact and design of two important application dependent parameters - the effective per-node data rate and the outage constraint - for single-antenna point-to-point transmission in wireless ad hoc networks. In contrast to most existing work, our results explicitly account for the effects of channel estimation. We first derive a new outage probability expression, from which we completely characterize the feasible range of effective per-node data rate and outage constraint pairs which yield a positive transmission capacity, and derive an exact expression for the transmission capacity in such cases. We then proceed to optimize the transmission capacity under different assumptions, yielding considerable new insight. First, assuming that all nodes place a stringent outage constraint, the optimal pilot-training length is derived and this is shown to increase with the frame length according to a square root law. Consequently, for a sufficiently long coherence interval, we show that there is a negligible loss in transmission capacity when using this optimal pilot-training length. Second, we show that if nodes place a constraint on their required effective data rate, then the outage constraint yielding the maximum transmission capacity is quite large. Moreover, this result demonstrates that, from an overall network perspective, it is preferable to operate with a higher total data rate (aggregated across all nodes) at the expense of a lower reliability.
Construction of the CDF silicon vertex detector

Technical details and methods used in constructing the Collision Detector Facility (CDF) silicon vertex detector are presented. Attention is given to the foam-carbon fiber composite structure used to support the silicon microstrip detectors and the procedure for achievement of 5- mu m detector alignment. The construction of the beryllium barrel structure, which houses the detector assemblies, is also described. In addition, the 10- mu m placement accuracy of the detectors in the barrel structure is discussed, and the detector cooling and mounting systems are described. The construction of the CDF silicon vertex detector has been completed. The silicon strip detectors are located to an accuracy of 10 mu m and >98-5% of the silicon strips are fully functional. <<ETX>>
Influence of Epidermal Thickness, Pigmentation and Redness on Skin Autofluorescence ¶

Detection of autofluorescence at the skin surface is highly influenced by melanin and hemoglobin. Epidermal absorption and scattering may also be an influencing factor and is represented in this article as a quantitative parameter, epidermal thickness. To examine this parameter we measured the 370 nm fluorescence in vivo after excitation with 330 nm and the 455 nm fluorescence after excitation with 330 and 370 nm. Measurements were performed on sun‐exposed skin at the dorsal aspect of the forearm and shoulder and on nonexposed buttock skin. Skin pigmentation and redness of the same body sites were measured by reflectance spectroscopy. The thickness of the stratum corneum and the cellular part of epidermis was quantified by light microscopy of skin biopsies. Multiple regression analysis was used to find correlations between autofluorescence and the potential influencing factors. We found a highly significant correlation of skin autofluorescence with pigmentation and redness for both emission wavelengths (Em). A small but significant correlation to epidermal thickness was found only for excitation wavelength (Ex) 370 nm and Em455 nm if body site was included in the analysis. No correlation between Ex330:Em370 and Ex330:Em455 and thickness of epidermis was found. For practical use, correction of skin autofluorescence for pigmentation is essential, correction for redness is of less importance and correction for epidermal thickness is unnecessary.
Non-homogeneous generalization in privacy preserving data publishing

Most previous research on privacy-preserving data publishing, based on the k-anonymity model, has followed the simplistic approach of homogeneously giving the same generalized value in all quasi-identifiers within a partition. We observe that the anonymization error can be reduced if we follow a non-homogeneous generalization approach for groups of size larger than k. Such an approach would allow tuples within a partition to take different generalized quasi-identifier values. Anonymization following this model is not trivial, as its direct application can easily violate k-anonymity. In addition, non-homogeneous generalization allows for additional types of attack, which should be considered in the process. We provide a methodology for verifying whether a non-homogeneous generalization violates k-anonymity. Then, we propose a technique that generates a non-homogeneous generalization for a partition and show that its result satisfies k-anonymity, however by straightforwardly applying it, privacy can be compromised if the attacker knows the anonymization algorithm. Based on this, we propose a randomization method that prevents this type of attack and show that k-anonymity is not compromised by it. Nonhomogeneous generalization can be used on top of any existing partitioning approach to improve its utility. In addition, we show that a new partitioning technique tailored for non-homogeneous generalization can further improve quality. A thorough experimental evaluation demonstrates that our methodology greatly improves the utility of anonymized data in practice.
Efficient and Accurate ` p-Norm Multiple Kernel Learning

Learning linear combinations of multiple kernels is an appealing strategy when the right choice of features is unknown. Previous approaches to multiple kernel learning (MKL) promote sparse kernel combinations to support interpretability. Unfortunately, `1-norm MKL is hardly observed to outperform trivial baselines in practical applications. To allow for robust kernel mixtures, we generalize MKL to arbitrary `p-norms. We devise new insights on the connection between several existing MKL formulations and develop two efficient interleaved optimization strategies for arbitrary p > 1. Empirically, we demonstrate that the interleaved optimization strategies are much faster compared to the traditionally used wrapper approaches. Finally, we apply `p-norm MKL to real-world problems from computational biology, showing that non-sparse MKL achieves accuracies that go beyond the state-of-the-art.
Teams organization and performance in multi-human/multi-robot teams

We are developing a theory for human control of robot teams based on considering how control varies across different task allocations. Our current work focuses on domains such as foraging in which robots perform largely independent tasks. The present study addresses the interaction between automation and organization of human teams in controlling large robot teams performing an Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) task. We identify three subtasks: perceptual search-visual search for victims, assistance-teleoperation to assist robot, and navigation-path planning and coordination. For the studies reported here, navigation was selected for automation because it involves weak dependencies among robots making it more complex and because it was shown in an earlier experiment to be the most difficult. Two possible ways to organize operators were identified as assignment of robots to particular operators or as a shared pool in which operators service robots from the population as needed. The experiment compares two member teams of operators controlling teams of 12 robots each in the assigned robots conditions or sharing control of 24 robots in the shared pool conditions using either waypoint control or autonomous path planning. We identify three self organizing team strategies in the shared pool condition: joint control operators share full authority over robots, mixed control in which one operator takes primary control while the other acts as an assistant, and split control in which operators divide the robots with each controlling a subteam. Automating path planning improved system performance. Effects of team organization favored operator teams who shared authority for the pool of robots.
An Augmented Lagrangian Method for Non-Lipschitz Nonconvex Programming

We consider a class of constrained optimization problems where the objective function is a sum of a smooth function and a nonconvex non-Lipschitz function. Many problems in sparse portfolio selection, edge preserving image restoration, and signal processing can be modelled in this form. First, we propose the concept of the Karush--Kuhn--Tucker (KKT) stationary condition for the non-Lipschitz problem and show that it is necessary for optimality under a constraint qualification called the relaxed constant positive linear dependence (RCPLD) condition, which is weaker than the Mangasarian--Fromovitz constraint qualification and holds automatically if all the constraint functions are affine. Then we propose an augmented Lagrangian (AL) method in which the augmented Lagrangian subproblems are solved by a nonmonotone proximal gradient method. Under the assumption that a feasible point is known, we show that any accumulation point of the sequence generated by our method must be a feasible point. Moreover, if RCPL.
[Integration of periosteum covered autogenous bone grafts with and without autologous chondrocytes. An animal experiment using the Göttinger minipig].

Autologous osteochondral transplantation has the major disadvantage of significant damage to a healthy joint surface at the donor site. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of autogenous chondrocytes injected into the periosteum of autologous bone grafts in order to provide an alternative method for cartilage repair. A total of 22 Göttinger minipigs were operated twice on both knees. The first operation served for cartilage biopsy for the chondrocyte culture. During the second operation an osteochondral defect was created in the medial facet of the trochlear groove. The defect was treated differently with an autologous cortico-cancellous bone cylinder,harvested from the proximal tibia.Group A: untreated defect (control);B: bone-graft;C: bone-graft covered with periosteum; D: bone-graft with periosteum and injected autologous chondrocytes. The animals were killed after 6, 12, 26 and 52 weeks. The regenerated areas were evaluated macroscopically, tested biomechanically (long-term specimens; indentation-test) and a histological, blind evaluation was carried out according to a semi-quantitative scoring system. The periosteum covered bone cylinders in Groups C and D showed good repair of the bone and cartilage defect. The repaired tissue consisted predominantly of fibrocartilage with the partial formation of hyalin like tissue. The regenerated areas were integrated with the adjacent cartilage and were biomechanically superior when compared with the other groups. The additional injection of chondrocytes did not produce significantly better results. Our findings suggest that the transplantation of periosteum-covered bone cylinders may provide an alternative method for treating chondral and osteochondral defects and can be recommended for filling large donor site defects in joint surgery. The additional transplantation of chondrocytes does not seem to be justified.
Frustration and its effect on immersion in games : A developer viewpoint on the good and bad aspects of frustration

Frustration has been present throughout gaming history and is often considered to be negative. However, there’s been a lack of significant studies focusing on frustration and how it affects the game experience. This lead us to a qualitative study, based on nine semi-structured interviews with game developers, focusing on the effect of frustration in games. Results indicate that frustration encompass both positive and negative aspects that differ from each other in how they appear in game. Positive frustration is desirable for developers due to it improving the immersion and motivation in games and comes from players learning through frustration whereas negative frustration is undesirable and affects the game experience negatively and comes from aspects, such as technical issues, outside of the players influence.
Intracranial electroencephalography power and phase synchronization changes during monaural and binaural beat stimulation

Auditory stimulation with monaural or binaural auditory beats (i.e. sine waves with nearby frequencies presented either to both ears or to each ear separately) represents a non‐invasive approach to influence electrical brain activity. It is still unclear exactly which brain sites are affected by beat stimulation. In particular, an impact of beat stimulation on mediotemporal brain areas could possibly provide new options for memory enhancement or seizure control. Therefore, we examined how electroencephalography (EEG) power and phase synchronization are modulated by auditory stimulation with beat frequencies corresponding to dominant EEG rhythms based on intracranial recordings in presurgical epilepsy patients. Monaural and binaural beat stimuli with beat frequencies of 5, 10, 40 and 80 Hz and non‐superposed control signals were administered with low amplitudes (60 dB SPL) and for short durations (5 s). EEG power was intracranially recorded from mediotemporal, temporo‐basal and temporo‐lateral and surface sites. Evoked and total EEG power and phase synchronization during beat vs. control stimulation were compared by the use of Bonferroni‐corrected non‐parametric label‐permutation tests. We found that power and phase synchronization were significantly modulated by beat stimulation not only at temporo‐basal, temporo‐lateral and surface sites, but also at mediotemporal sites. Generally, more significant decreases than increases were observed. The most prominent power increases were seen after stimulation with monaural 40‐Hz beats. The most pronounced power and synchronization decreases resulted from stimulation with monaural 5‐Hz and binaural 80‐Hz beats. Our results suggest that beat stimulation offers a non‐invasive approach for the modulation of intracranial EEG characteristics.
Differential Activation of Cysteine‐Substitution Mutants of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 3 Is Determined by Cysteine Localization

Various human skeletal disorders are thought to be caused by mutations in fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3). These result in chronic FGFR3 hyperactivation and inhibition of bone growth. One such disorder, thanatophoric dysplasia, the most common form of sporadic, lethal dwarfism, is associated frequently with cysteine substitutions (G370C, S371C, and Y373C) in the extracellular juxtamembrane region of the receptor. These mutations have been suggested to induce disulfide‐mediated receptor dimerization and constitutive activation. An adjacent cysteine substitution (G375C) leads to a less severe form of human dwarfism, achondroplasia, suggesting that the intensity of FGFR3 activation by these cross‐links may be position dependent. To test this hypothesis, we have sequentially replaced each amino acid at positions 370‐375 of FGFR3 with cysteine. Expression of each of these mutant forms in 293T cells led to their spontaneous, ligand‐independent dimerization and increased basal phosphorylation. Wild‐type (WT) FGFR3 became dimerized and phosphorylated only on FGF stimulation. Among the mutants, only two (G370C and S371C) caused high basal phosphorylation with significantly increased constitutive levels of mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation and c‐fos transcription. This activity was probably caused by mutant homodimer pairs, because WT‐mutant heterodimers were observed only in the presence, but not in the absence, of FGF1. The high spontaneous activity of the mutants in positions 370‐371, unlike those in 372‐375, affirms their known involvement with thanatophoric dysplasia. We conclude that the G370C and S371C mutant receptors spontaneously dimerize in the correct spatial orientation required for effective signal transduction, whereas the 372‐5 mutants, like the WT receptor, may achieve this orientation only on ligand binding.
A conceptual examination of the causal sequences of emotional labor, emotional dissonance, and emotional exhaustion: The argument for the role of contextual and provider characteristics

In response to the increasing interest regarding the emotional consequences facing service providers who perform emotional labor as part of their service roles, this chapter provides a conceptual examination of the causal sequences of emotional labor, emotional dissonance, and emotional exhaustion (the EEE sequence). Specifically, we propose a theoretical model that examines the emotional experience, performance outcomes, and turnover intentions of service providers in a holistic fashion by incorporating affective events theory to integrate the concept of daily hassles and uplifts with the EEE sequence. In addition, the organizational factors of cultural orientation to emotions and workgroup emotional climate, and the individual factors of provider dissonance tolerance, hassle tolerance, and uplift reactivity are introduced and depicted as influencing the EEE sequence. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.
On the Importance of the Stokes–Brinkman Equa- tions for Computing Effective Permeability in Car- bonate Karst Reservoirs

Cavities and fractures significantly affect the flow paths in carbonate reservoirs and should be accurately accounted for in numerical models. Herein, we consider the problem of computing the effective permeability of rock samples based on high-resolution 3D CT scans containing millions of voxels. We use the Stokes-Brinkman equations in the entire domain, covering regions of free flow governed by the Stokes equations, porous Darcy flow, and transitions between them. The presence of different length scales and large (ten orders of magnitude) contrasts in permeability leads to highly ill-conditioned linear systems of equations, which are difficult to solve. To obtain a problem that is computationally tractable, we first analyze the relative importance of the Stokes and Darcy terms for a set of idealized 2D models. We find that, in terms of effective permeability, the Stokes-Brinkman equations are only applicable for a special parameter set where the effective free-flow permeability is less than four orders of magnitude different from the matrix permeability. All other cases can be accurately modeled with either the Stokes or the Darcy end-member flows, depending on if there do or do not exist percolating free-flow regions. The insights obtained are used to perform a direct computation of the effective permeability of a rock sample model with more than 8 million cells. AMS subject classifications: 35B27, 35Q30, 6S05
Spike-timing dependent plasticity in a transistor-selected resistive switching memory

In a neural network, neuron computation is achieved through the summation of input signals fed by synaptic connections. The synaptic activity (weight) is dictated by the synchronous firing of neurons, inducing potentiation/depression of the synaptic connection. This learning function can be supported by the resistive switching memory (RRAM), which changes its resistance depending on the amplitude, the pulse width and the bias polarity of the applied signal. This work shows a new synapse circuit comprising a MOS transistor as a selector and a RRAM as a variable resistance, displaying spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) similar to the one originally experienced in biological neural networks. We demonstrate long-term potentiation and long-term depression by simulations with an analytical model of resistive switching. Finally, the experimental demonstration of the new STDP scheme is presented.