Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Computational Model for Redundant Human Three-Dimensional Pointing Movements: Integration of Independent Spatial and Temporal Motor Plans Simplifies Movement Dynamics

Few computational models have addressed the spatiotemporal features of unconstrained three-dimensional (3D) arm motion. Empirical observations made on hand paths, speed profiles, and arm postures during point-to-point movements led to the assumption that hand path and arm posture are independent of movement speed, suggesting that the geometric and temporal properties of movements are decoupled. In this study, we present a computational model of 3D movements for an arm with four degrees of freedom based on the assumption that optimization principles are separately applied at the geometric and temporal levels of control. Geometric properties (path and posture) are defined in terms of geodesic paths with respect to the kinetic energy metric in the Riemannian configuration space. Accordingly, a geodesic path can be generated with less muscular effort than on any other, nongeodesic path, because the sum of all configuration-speed-dependent torques vanishes. The temporal properties of the movement (speed) are determined in task space by minimizing the squared jerk along the selected end-effector path. The integration of both planning levels into a single spatiotemporal representation simplifies the control of arm dynamics along geodesic paths and results in movements with near minimal torque change and minimal peak value of kinetic energy. Thus, the application of Riemannian geometry allows for a reconciliation of computational models previously proposed for the description of arm movements. We suggest that geodesics are an emergent property of the motor system through the exploration of dynamical space. Our data validated the predictions for joint trajectories, hand paths, final postures, speed profiles, and driving torques.
PanoramaExcerpts: extracting and packing panoramas for video browsing

Browsing is a fundamental function in multimedia systems. This paper presents PanoramaExcerpts a video browsing interface that shows a catalogue of two types of video icons: panoramic and keyframe icons. A panoramic icon is synthesized from a video segment taken with camera pan or tilt, and extracted using a camera operation estimation technique. A keyframe icon is extracted to supplement the panoramic icons; a shot-change detection algorithm is used. A panoramic icon represents the entire visible contents of a scene extended with camera pan or tilt, which is difficult to summarize using a single keyframe. For the automatic generation of PanoramaExcerpts, we propose an approach to integrate the following: (a) a shot-change detection method that detects instantaneous cuts as well as dissolves, with adaptive control over the sampling rate for efficient processing; (b) a method for locating segments that contain smooth camera pans or tilts, from which the panoramic icons can be synthesized; and (c) a layout method for packing icons in a space-efficient manner. We also describe the experimental results of the above three methods and the potential applications of PanoramaExcerpts.
Double Dissociation between Hippocampal and Parahippocampal Responses to Object–Background Context and Scene Novelty

Several recent models of medial temporal lobe (MTL) function have proposed that the parahippocampal cortex processes context information, the perirhinal cortex processes item information, and the hippocampus binds together items and contexts. While evidence for a clear functional distinction between the perirhinal cortex and other regions within the MTL has been well supported, it has been less clear whether such a dissociation exists between the hippocampus and parahippocampal cortex. In the current study, we use a novel approach applying a functional magnetic resonance imaging adaptation paradigm to address these issues. During scanning, human subjects performed an incidental target detection task while viewing trial-unique sequentially presented pairs of natural scenes, each containing a single prominent object. We observed a striking double dissociation between the hippocampus and parahippocampal cortex, with the former showing a selective sensitivity to changes in the spatial relationship between objects and their background context and the latter engaged only by scene novelty. Our findings provide compelling support for the hypothesis that rapid item–context binding is a function of the hippocampus, rather than the parahippocampal cortex, with the former acting to detect relational novelty of this nature through its function as a match–mismatch detector.
Towards Operational Abduction from a Cognitive Perspective

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Effects of an Evidence-Based Falls Risk-Reduction Program on Physical Activity and Falls Efficacy among Oldest-Old Adults

Purpose of the study The current study was designed to examine changes in falls efficacy and physical activities among oldest-old and young-old participants in a falls risk-reduction program called a matter of balance/volunteer lay leader model. Design and methods An oldest-old group (aged 85 years and older; n = 260) and a young-old group (aged between 65 and 84 years old; n = 1,139) in Texas with both baseline and post-intervention measures were included. Changes in Falls Efficacy Scale scores and weekly physical activity levels were examined from baseline to post-intervention. Repeated measures analysis of covariance were employed to assess program effects on falls efficacy. Results Results showed significant changes in falls efficacy from baseline to post-intervention, as well as a significant interaction effect between time (baseline and post-intervention) and physical activity on falls efficacy. Implications Findings from this study imply the effectiveness of evidence-based programs for increasing falls efficacy in oldest-old participants. Future implications for enhancing physical activities and reducing fear of falling for oldest-old adults are discussed.
Rare event simulation for a static distribution

This paper discusses the rare event simulation for a fixed probability law. The motivation comes from problems occurring in watermarking and fingerprinting of digital contents, which is a new application of rare event simulation techniques. We provide two versions of our algorithm, and discuss the convergence properties and implementation issues. A discussion on recent related works is also provided. Finally, we give some numerical results in watermarking context.
Identification of depression in women during pregnancy and the early postnatal period using the Whooley questions and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale: protocol for the Born and Bred in Yorkshire: PeriNatal Depression Diagnostic Accuracy (BaBY PaNDA) study

Introduction Perinatal depression is well recognised as a mental health condition but <50% of cases are identified by healthcare professionals in routine clinical practice. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is often used to detect symptoms of postnatal depression in maternity and child services. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends 2 ‘ultra-brief’ case-finding questions (the Whooley questions) to aid identification of depression during the perinatal period, but this recommendation was made in the absence of any validation studies in a perinatal population. Limited research exists on the acceptability of these depression case-finding instruments and the cost-effectiveness of routine screening for perinatal depression. Methods and analysis The diagnostic accuracy of the Whooley questions and the EPDS will be determined against a reference standard (the Client Interview Schedule—Revised) during pregnancy (around 20 weeks) and the early postnatal period (around 3–4 months post partum) in a sample of 379 women. Further outcome measures will assess a range of psychological comorbidities, health-related quality of life and resource utilisation. Women will be followed up 12 months postnatally. The sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of the Whooley questions and the EPDS will be calculated against the reference standard at 20 weeks pregnancy and 3–4 months post partum. Acceptability of the depression case-finding instruments to women and healthcare professionals will involve in-depth qualitative interviews. An existing decision analytic model will be adapted to determine the cost-effectiveness of routine screening for perinatal depression. Ethics and dissemination This study is considered low risk for participants. Robust protocols will deal with cases where risk of depression, self-harm or suicide is identified. The protocol received favourable ethical opinion from the North East—York Research Ethics Committee (reference: 11/NE/0022). The study findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at relevant conferences.
Evaluation of a Brief Intervention to Improve the Nursing Care of Young Children in a High HIV and AIDS Setting

The HIV epidemic in South Africa is putting great strain on health services, including the inpatient care of young children. Caregivers and young children (107 pairs) and 17 nurses participated in an intervention to improve the care of young children in hospital in a high HIV and AIDS setting. The intervention addressed caregiver expectations about admission and treatment, responsive feeding, coping with infant pain and distress, assistance with medical procedures, and preparation for discharge and home care. Following a preparatory and piloting phase, measures of nurse burnout, caregiver physical and emotional well-being, and caregiver-child interaction were made before and after intervention. No changes were found between before and after intervention on assessments of caregiver wellbeing. However, mothers in the postintervention phase rated nurses as more supportive; mother-child interaction during feeding was more relaxed and engaged, and babies were less socially withdrawn. While the intervention proved useful in improving certain outcomes for children and their caregivers, it did not address challenging hospital and ward administration or support needed by caregivers at home following discharge. To address the latter need, the intervention has been extended into the community through home-based palliative care and support.
Structural Analysis: Shape Information via Points-To Computation

This paper introduces a new hybrid memory analysis, Structural Analysis, which combines an expressive shape analysis style abstract domain with efficient and simple points-to style transfer functions. Using data from empirical studies on the runtime heap structures and the programmatic idioms used in modern object-oriented languages we construct a heap analysis with the following characteristics: (1) it can express a rich set of structural, shape, and sharing properties which are not provided by a classic points-to analysis and that are useful for optimization and error detection applications (2) it uses efficient, weakly-updating, set-based transfer functions which enable the analysis to be more robust and scalable than a shape analysis and (3) it can be used as the basis for a scalable interprocedural analysis that produces precise results in practice. The analysis has been implemented for . Net bytecode and using this implementation we evaluate both the runtime cost and the precision of the results on a number of well known benchmarks and real world programs. Our experimental evaluations show that the domain defined in this paper is capable of precisely expressing the majority of the connectivity, shape, and sharing properties that occur in practice and, despite the use of weak updates, the static analysis is able to precisely approximate the ideal results. The analysis is capable of analyzing large real-world programs (over 30K bytecodes) in less than 65 seconds and using less than 130MB of memory. In summary this work presents a new type of memory analysis that advances the state of the art with respect to expressive power, precision, and scalability and represents a new area of study on the relationships between and combination of concepts from shape and points-to analyses.
A new topological descriptor for contextual feature indexing

A local feature descriptor for image analysis is a tool of interest for many applications. In this paper we propose an in context feature descriptor. An instance of this descriptor corresponding to a specific feature includes information from all other features in the image; it is a feature in context descriptor. This descriptor is thus unique for a feature in an ensemble of features. Many medical and industrial imaging applications are possible, one of them could be anomaly detection. Automatic anomaly detection could be implemented using this technique, thanks to the fact that this descriptor forms a metric space. Metric spaces are useful for indexing purposes and for statistical analysis.
Improved evidence-based genome-scale metabolic models for maize leaf, embryo, and endosperm

There is a growing demand for genome-scale metabolic reconstructions for plants, fueled by the need to understand the metabolic basis of crop yield and by progress in genome and transcriptome sequencing. Methods are also required to enable the interpretation of plant transcriptome data to study how cellular metabolic activity varies under different growth conditions or even within different organs, tissues, and developmental stages. Such methods depend extensively on the accuracy with which genes have been mapped to the biochemical reactions in the plant metabolic pathways. Errors in these mappings lead to metabolic reconstructions with an inflated number of reactions and possible generation of unreliable metabolic phenotype predictions. Here we introduce a new evidence-based genome-scale metabolic reconstruction of maize, with significant improvements in the quality of the gene-reaction associations included within our model. We also present a new approach for applying our model to predict active metabolic genes based on transcriptome data. This method includes a minimal set of reactions associated with low expression genes to enable activity of a maximum number of reactions associated with high expression genes. We apply this method to construct an organ-specific model for the maize leaf, and tissue specific models for maize embryo and endosperm cells. We validate our models using fluxomics data for the endosperm and embryo, demonstrating an improved capacity of our models to fit the available fluxomics data. All models are publicly available via the DOE Systems Biology Knowledgebase and PlantSEED, and our new method is generally applicable for analysis transcript profiles from any plant, paving the way for further in silico studies with a wide variety of plant genomes.
Asymmetric Tensor Analysis for Flow Visualization

The gradient of a velocity vector field is an asymmetric tensor field which can provide critical insight that is difficult to infer from traditional trajectory-based vector field visualization techniques. We describe the structures in the eigenvalue and eigenvector fields of the gradient tensor and how these structures can be used to infer the behaviors of the velocity field. To illustrate the structures in asymmetric tensor fields, we introduce the notions of eigenvalue and eigenvector manifolds. These concepts afford a number of theoretical results that clarify the connections between symmetric and antisymmetric components in tensor fields. In addition, these manifolds naturally lead to partitions of tensor fields, which we use to design effective visualization strategies. Both eigenvalue manifold and eigenvector manifold are supported by a tensor reparameterization with physical meaning. This allows us to relate our tensor analysis to physical quantities such as rotation, angular deformation, and dilation, which provide physical interpretation of our tensor-driven vector field analysis in the context of fluid mechanics. To demonstrate the utility of our approach, we have applied our visualization techniques and interpretation to the study of the Sullivan vortex as well as computational fluid dynamics simulation data.
Activation of a PAK-MEK signalling pathway in malaria parasite-infected erythrocytes

Merozoites of malaria parasites invade red blood cells (RBCs), where they multiply by schizogony, undergoing development through ring, trophozoite and schizont stages that are responsible for malaria pathogenesis. Here, we report that a protein kinase‐mediated signalling pathway involving host RBC PAK1 and MEK1, which do not have orthologues in the Plasmodium kinome, is selectively stimulated in Plasmodium falciparum‐infected (versus uninfected) RBCs, as determined by the use of phospho‐specific antibodies directed against the activated forms of these enzymes. Pharmacological interference with host MEK and PAK function using highly specific allosteric inhibitors in their known cellular IC50 ranges results in parasite death. Furthermore, MEK inhibitors have parasiticidal effects in vitro on hepatocyte and erythrocyte stages of the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei, indicating conservation of this subversive strategy in malaria parasites. These findings have profound implications for the development of novel strategies for antimalarial chemotherapy.
Regulation of Caenorhabditis elegans p53/CEP-1–Dependent Germ Cell Apoptosis by Ras/MAPK Signaling

Maintaining genome stability in the germline is thought to be an evolutionarily ancient role of the p53 family. The sole Caenorhabditis elegans p53 family member CEP-1 is required for apoptosis induction in meiotic, late-stage pachytene germ cells in response to DNA damage and meiotic recombination failure. In an unbiased genetic screen for negative regulators of CEP-1, we found that increased activation of the C. elegans ERK orthologue MPK-1, resulting from either loss of the lip-1 phosphatase or activation of let-60 Ras, results in enhanced cep-1-dependent DNA damage induced apoptosis. We further show that MPK-1 is required for DNA damage-induced germ cell apoptosis. We provide evidence that MPK-1 signaling regulates the apoptotic competency of germ cells by restricting CEP-1 protein expression to cells in late pachytene. Restricting CEP-1 expression to cells in late pachytene is thought to ensure that apoptosis doesn't occur in earlier-stage cells where meiotic recombination occurs. MPK-1 signaling regulates CEP-1 expression in part by regulating the levels of GLD-1, a translational repressor of CEP-1, but also via a GLD-1-independent mechanism. In addition, we show that MPK-1 is phosphorylated and activated upon ionising radiation (IR) in late pachytene germ cells and that MPK-1-dependent CEP-1 activation may be in part direct, as these two proteins interact in a yeast two-hybrid assay. In summary, we report our novel finding that MAP kinase signaling controls CEP-1-dependent apoptosis by several different pathways that converge on CEP-1. Since apoptosis is also restricted to pachytene stage cells in mammalian germlines, analogous mechanisms regulating p53 family members are likely to be conserved throughout evolution.
A : \ basar . doc 1 SUPERBINDING IN INTEGRATIVE BRAIN FUNCTION AND MEMORY

In this report a proposal related to the superbinding of the activity of neural populations is outlined. Basing on the observation of EEG-Oscillations, this proposal aims to replace the Sherrington`s single neuron doctrine for interpretation of the mechanisms of complex percepts and integrative brain function. Keywordssuperbinding, oscillations, binding, coherence
Identifying Information Sender Configuration of Web Pages

The source of a piece of information is a crucial element to consider when judging the credibility of that information. In this paper, we address the task of identifying the information source which is cast as a problem of identifying the {\em information sender configuration (ISC)} of a Web page. An information sender of a Web page is an entity which is involved in the publication of the information on the page. An ISC of a Web page describes the information senders of the page and the relationship among them. Information sender extraction is thus a subtask of identifying ISC, and we present a method for extracting information senders from Web pages and offer preliminary evaluation. The ISC provides a basis for deeper analysis of information on the Web.
Students’ perceptions of the instructional quality of district hospital-based training

Background An innovative, three-year training programme, the Bachelor of Clinical Medical Practice (BCMP), for mid-level medical healthcare workers was started in 2009 by the Department of Family Medicine, University of Pretoria. Aim To measure the students’ perceptions of the instructional quality of district hospital-based training. Setting Training of students took place at clinical learning centres in rural district hospitals in the Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces. Methods A survey using the MedEd IQ questionnaire was performed in 2010 and 2011 to measure BCMP second- and third-year students’ perceptions of instructional quality of district hospital-based training. The MedEd IQ questionnaire is composed of four subscales: preceptor activities, learning opportunities, learner involvement and the learning environment. Composite scores of instructional quality were used to present results. Results The preceptor activities, learning opportunities and the learning environment were considered by second- and third-year BCMP students to be of consistently high instructional quality. In the area of learner involvement, instructional quality increased significantly from second to third year. Conclusion Overall, instructional quality of district hospital-based training was high for both second- and third-year BCMP students, and the instructional quality of learner involvement being significantly higher in third year students. The MedEd IQ tool was a useful tool for measuring instructional quality and to inform programme quality improvement.
Data authentication scheme for Unattended Wireless Sensor Networks against a mobile adversary

An Unattended Wireless Sensor Network (UWSN) is a type of sensor network where a trusted sink visits each node periodically to collect the data. Due to the offline nature of this network, every node has to secure its data until the next visit of the sink which makes the network susceptible of attacks focusing on the data collected. In this work, we focus on the data authentication in the presence of a mobile adversary aiming to modify the data without being detected. We propose a data authentication scheme which uses inexpensive cryptographic primitives and few message exchanges. The proposed scheme is analyzed both mathematically and using simulations proving that the proposed scheme is better than the previous schemes in terms of security and communication overhead.
Toward Behavioral Web Services Using Policies

Making Web services context-aware is a challenge. This is like making Web service expose appropriate behaviors in response to changes detected in the environment. Context awareness requires a review and extension of the current execution model of Web services. This paper discusses the seamless combination of context and policy to manage behaviors that Web services expose during composition and in response to changes in the environment. For this purpose, a four-layer approach is devised. These layers are denoted by policy, user, Web service, and resource. In this approach, behavior management and binding are subject to executing policies of types permission, obligation, restriction, and dispensation. A prototype that illustrates how context and policy are woven into Web services composition scenarios is presented as well.