Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sounding the net: Recent sonic works for the internet and computer networks

This article examines a number of recent Internet- and network-based audio pieces with a focus on their compositional underpinnings, and the effect of the Internet and networks on the creative process. The process is discussed in excerpts from online interviews with the creators, and the technical and aesthetic goals of the pieces are described. The article concludes with a discussion of the author's own recent experience composing groundloops: for solo percussion and internet—as well as an attempt to find areas of intersection and differentiation among the approaches discussed.
A Pilot Feasibility Study of Whole-systems Ayurvedic Medicine and Yoga Therapy for Weight Loss

Objective: To develop and test the feasibility of a whole-systems lifestyle intervention for obesity treatment based on the practices of Ayurvedic medicine/ Yoga therapy. Design: A pre-post weight loss intervention pilot study using conventional and Ayurvedic diagnosis inclusion criteria, tailored treatment within a standardized treatment algorithm, and standardized data collection instruments for collecting Ayurvedic outcomes. Participants: A convenience sample of overweight/obese adult community members from Tucson, Arizona interested in a “holistic weight loss program” and meeting predetermined inclusion/exclusion criteria. Intervention: A comprehensive diet, activity, and lifestyle modification program based on principles of Ayurvedic medicine/yoga therapy with significant self-monitoring of lifestyle behaviors. The 3-month program was designed to change eating and activity patterns and to improve self-efficacy, quality of life, well-being, vitality, and self-awareness around food choices, stress management, and barriers to weight loss. Primary Outcome Measures: Changes in body weight, body mass index; body fat percentage, fat/lean mass, waist/hip circumference and ratio, and blood pressure. Secondary Outcome Measures: Diet and exercise self-efficacy scales; perceived stress scale; visual analog scales (VAS) of energy, appetite, stress, quality of life, well-being, and program satisfaction at all time points. Results: Twenty-two adults attended an in-person Ayurvedic screening; 17 initiated the intervention, and 12 completed the 3-month intervention. Twelve completed follow-up at 6 months and 11 completed follow-up at 9 months. Mean weight loss at 3 months was 3.54 kg (SD 4.76); 6 months: 4.63 kg, (SD 6.23) and 9 months: 5.9 kg (SD 8.52). Self-report of program satisfaction was more than 90% at all time points. Conclusions: An Ayurveda-/yoga-based lifestyle modification program is an acceptable and feasible approach to weight management. Data collection, including self-monitoring and conventional and Ayurvedic outcomes, did not unduly burden participants, with attrition similar to that of other weight loss studies.
Detecting indirect coupling

Coupling is considered by many to be an important concept in measuring design quality There is still much to be learned about which aspects of coupling affect design quality or other external attributes of software. Much of the existing work concentrates on direct coupling, that is, forms of coupling that exists between entities that are directly related to each other. A form of coupling that has so far received little attention is indirect coupling, that is, coupling between entities that are not directly related. What little discussion there is in the literature suggests that any form of indirect coupling is simple the transitive closure of a form of direct coupling. We demonstrate that this is not the case, that there are forms of indirect coupling that cannot be represented in this way and suggest ways to measure it. We present a tool that identifies a particular form of indirect coupling that is integrated in the Eclipse IDE.
Supply Chain Scheduling in Assembly Systems

We study supply chain scheduling in assembly system where suppliers provide parts to a manufacturer.A product cannot be assembled and delivered until all its parts have been supplied.The manufacturer performs nonbottleneck operations for each product.Two classical scheduling objectives are considered:minimization of the total weighted completion time and of the maximum tardness.Using the theories and methodologies of scheduling,we propose polynomial algorithms with worst-case performance analysis for each problem studied.
Investigating the Influence of Extracellular Matrix and Glycolytic Metabolism on Muscle Stem Cell Migration on Their Native Fiber Environment

The composition of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of skeletal muscle fibers is a unique environment that supports the regenerative capacity of satellite cells; the resident stem cell population. The impact of environment has great bearing on key properties permitting satellite cells to carry out tissue repair. In this study, we have investigated the influence of the ECM and glycolytic metabolism on satellite cell emergence and migration—two early processes required for muscle repair. Our results show that both influence the rate at which satellite cells emerge from the sub-basal lamina position and their rate of migration. These studies highlight the necessity of performing analysis of satellite behavior on their native substrate and will inform on the production of artificial scaffolds intended for medical uses.
Semidefinite Relaxation of Quadratic Optimization Problems

In this article, we have provided general, comprehensive coverage of the SDR technique, from its practical deployments and scope of applicability to key theoretical results. We have also showcased several representative applications, namely MIMO detection, B¿ shimming in MRI, and sensor network localization. Another important application, namely downlink transmit beamforming, is described in [1]. Due to space limitations, we are unable to cover many other beautiful applications of the SDR technique, although we have done our best to illustrate the key intuitive ideas that resulted in those applications. We hope that this introductory article will serve as a good starting point for readers who would like to apply the SDR technique to their applications, and to locate specific references either in applications or theory.
Cervical and Vulvar Cancer Risk in Relation to the Joint Effects of Cigarette Smoking and Genetic Variation in Interleukin 2

Cigarette smoking is an established cofactor to human papillomavirus (HPV) in the development of cervical and vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and may influence risk through an immunosuppressive pathway. Genetic variation in interleukin 2 (IL2), associated in some studies with the inhibition of HPV-targeted immunity, may modify the effect of smoking on the risk of HPV-related anogenital cancers. We conducted a population-based case-only study to measure the departure from a multiplicative joint effect of cigarette smoking and IL2 variation on cervical and vulvar SCC. Genotyping of the four IL2 tagSNPs (rs2069762, rs2069763, rs2069777, and rs2069778) was done in 399 cervical and 486 vulvar SCC cases who had been interviewed regarding their smoking history. Compared with cases carrying the rs2069762 TT genotype, we observed significant departures from multiplicativity for smoking and carriership of the TG or GG genotypes in vulvar SCC risk [interaction odds ratio (IOR), 1.67; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.16-2.41]. Carriership of one of three diplotypes, together with cigarette smoking, was associated with either a supramultiplicative (TGCT/GGCC; IOR, 2.09; 95% CI, 0.98-4.46) or submultiplicative (TTCC/TGTC; IOR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.16-0.85 or TGCT/TGCC; IOR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.15-0.87) joint effect in vulvar cancer risk. For cervical SCC, departure from multiplicativity was observed for smokers homozygous for the rs2069763 variant allele (TT versus GG or GT genotypes; IOR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.00-3.48), and for carriership of the TTCC/TTCC diplotype (IOR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.01-4.30). These results suggest that cervical and vulvar SCC risk among cigarette smokers is modified by genetic variation in IL2. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(7):1790–9)
Molecular Analysis of Bacterial Community Structure and Diversity in Unimproved and Improved Upland Grass Pastures

ABSTRACT Bacterial community structure and diversity in rhizospheres in two types of grassland, distinguished by both plant species and fertilization regimen, were assessed by performing a 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequence analysis of DNAs extracted from triplicate soil plots. PCR products were cloned, and 45 to 48 clones from each of the six libraries were partially sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis of the resultant 275 clone sequences indicated that there was considerable variation in abundance in replicate unfertilized, unimproved soil samples and fertilized, improved soil samples but that there were no significant differences in the abundance of any phylogenetic group. Several clone sequences were identical in the 16S rDNA region analyzed, and the clones comprised eight pairs of duplicate clones and two sets of triplicate clones. Many clones were found to be most closely related to environmental clones obtained in other studies, although three clones were found to be identical to culturable species in databases. The clones were clustered into operational taxonomic units at a level of sequence similarity of >97% in order to quantify diversity. In all, 34 clusters containing two or more sequences were identified, and the largest group contained nine clones. A number of diversity, dominance, and evenness indices were calculated, and they all indicated that diversity was high, reflecting the low coverage of rDNA libraries achieved. Differences in diversity between sample types were not observed. Collector’s curves, however, indicated that there were differences in the underlying community structures; in particular, there was reduced diversity of organisms of the α subdivision of the class Proteobacteria (α-proteobacteria) in improved soils.
Analysis of harmonic emmision from dimmable compact fluorescent lamps

The widespread use of compact fluorescent lighting in residential and commercial application is a significant source of power pollution. The ballast that controls the operation of this type of lamp is known to generate peak currents and introduce harmonics into the distribution systems. Currently, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) with dimming function have been introduced for brightness control using conventional dimmers. Typically, dimmers utilize a phase-control circuit with triac to vary the conducting period of each half cycle of lamp currents, thus reducing the light output. This paper focuses on analyzing the harmonics generated from dimmable CFLs. Therefore, laboratory tests on various CFLs are conducted to tap the load current behavior under different conditions. Frequency domain analysis is then performed to investigate the generated harmonics from CFLs. For comparison purposes, the performance of dimmable CFLs and incandescent lamps at various brightness is also investigated. Furthermore, harmonic levels of dimmable and non dimmable CFLs is experimentally evaluated and compared. The results show that the dimmable CFLs produce more harmonics compared to incandescent lamps and non dimmable CFLs.
Frame Hierarchy : A Framework for Level-of-Detail Video Visualization

The advances in video acquisition and storage technologies have increased the quantity and size of th e generated video data for various applications. The video data is usually processed by human being as tedious time-consuming task. In this paper we are p resenting a novel approach to generate a multiresolut ion representation of a video data – frame hierarchy – that provides a level-of-detail visualization in an adap tive manner. Frame hierarchy is constructed off-line fro m the original video data based on a given visual dis tance metric. At real-time the generated data struc tu e is used to guide the selection of an appropriate le v lof-detail representation of the video data based on various control parameters. Frame hierarchy is a general framework for levelof-detail video visualization that supports various navigation patterns and extends the available video visualization techniques. It enables passive visual zation as well as interactive visualization where the extracted levels of detail change interactively to co mply with the visual error and the user requests.
TrafficView: traffic data dissemination using car-to-car communication

Vehicles are part of people's life in modern society, into which more and more high-tech devices are integrated, and a common platform for inter-vehicle communication is necessary to realize an intelligent transportation system supporting safe driving, dynamic route scheduling, emergency message dissemination, and traffic condition monitoring. TrafficView, which is a part of the e-Road project, defines a framework to disseminate and gather information about the vehicles on the road. With such a system, vehicle's driver will be provided with road traffic information that helps driving in situations as foggy weather, or finding an optimal route in a trip several miles long. This paper describes the design and implementation of TrafficView and the different mechanisms used in the system.
Sufficient Statistics for Imperfect Externality-Correcting Policies

Pigouvian taxes can fully correct for market failures due to externalities, but actual policies are commonly forced to deviate from the Pigouvian ideal due to administrative or political constraints. This paper derives sufficient statistics, which require a minimum of market information, that quantify the efficiency costs of such constraints on policy design. We demonstrate that, under certain intuitive conditions, standard output from a regression of true externalities on policy variables, including the R2 and the sum of squared residuals, have immediate welfare interpretations—they are sufficient statistics that compare alternative policies. We utilize our approach in three diverse empirical applications: random mismeasurement in externalities, imperfect spatial policy differentiation, and heterogeneity in the longevity of energy-consuming durable goods. Regarding the latter, we use our method and a novel data set and find that policies that regulate vehicle fuel-economy, but ignore the differences in average longevity across types of automobiles, recover only about one-quarter to one-third of the welfare gains achievable by a policy that also takes product longevity into account. In contrast, our other two empirical applications suggest that policy imperfections have only small welfare costs.
On CNN universal perceptron

Perceptron is one of the most important aspects of artificial neural networks (ANN), while cellular neural networks (CNN) are biologically inspired systems in which computation emerges from the collective behavior of some locally coupled simple cells. However, whether the minimal number of the neurons in the hidden layer of a perceptron needed or a CNN template design for performing a prescribed task has not been completely characterized today. This article summarizes several algorithms for decomposing linearly non-separable Boolean function, specially a DNA-like decomposing algorithm and a shortest distance decomposing algorithm, with emphasis on the relationship between universal perceptron (UP) and CNN, and provides some examples to show the powerful ability of these algorithms in decomposing non-LSBF. Moreover, a new concept named CNN-UP is developed, which may lead to a useful new PC software in designing CNN and perceptron in the near future.
Synchronization and computation in a chaotic neural network.

Chaos generated by the internal dynamics of a large neural network can be correlated over large spatial scales. Modulating the spatial coherence of the chaotic fluctuations by the spatial pattern of the external input provides a robust mechanism for feature segmentation and binding, which cannot be accomplished by networks of oscillators with local noise. This is demonstrated by an investigation of synchronized chaos in a network model of bursting neurons responding to an inhomogeneous stimulus.
Experiential Learning for teacher training: a case example on language, content and technologies in a Learning Event by eTwinning,

The paper aims at describing an online training initiative (Learning Event) promoted by eTwinning on CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and technologies within an international community of practice. The discussion starts from a brief conceptualization of experiential learning with reference to teacher training for continuous professional development. Self- re ection on the learning outcomes and the added value of the experience in terms of competence development (referred to language, technology and subject content) are key issues. After explaining the reasons why nowadays it is deemed essential to use technologies for CLIL and language learning, the paper will try to describe the processes of discovering, learning, experimentation and socialization activated in the participants during the training pathway, by mentioning some data from the surveys and by describing some digital contents produced by the teachers.
Understanding Employees' Reactions to Sexual Harassment Training: Interactional Disruptions, Identity Threats, and Negative Training Outcomes

Sexual harassment training is a common organizational activity. Yet, we do not have very much knowledge about why sexual harassment training is effective or ineffective. There is evidence that employees often react negatively toward sexual harassment training, and these negative reactions may help explain inconsistent findings regarding whether sexual harassment training improves employees’ knowledge, attitudes, and transfer of training to the job context. This dissertation draws from social interactionism and identity theory to suggest that employees may experience threats to their valued identities at the announcement of sexual harassment training and during the administration of sexual harassment training. Interactional characteristics, specific identities, and employees’ changing perceptions as a result of the sexual harassment training program are considered as moderators. The effect of identity threat reactions on sexual harassment training outcomes, such as knowledge, backlash attitudes, and transfer of training, are also considered.
The Fanaroff-Riley transition and the optical luminosity of the host elliptical galaxy

We show that a model for radio source dynamics we had earlier proposed can readily reproduce the relationship between the radio power division separating the two Fanaroff-Riley classes of extragalactic radio sources and the optical luminosity of the host galaxy, as found by Owen & Ledlow (1994). In our scenario, when less powerful jets eventually slow down to the point that the advance of the working surface (i.e., hotspot) becomes subsonic with respect to the external gas, the jet's collimation is severely weakened. This criterion distinguishes the powerful and well collimated FR II sources from the weaker sources producing the less collimated FR I type morphologies.
Whole‐Mount Immunohistochemistry of the Brain

The gross anatomical distribution of an antigen is typically mapped using a combination of serial sectioning, immunocytochemistry, and three‐dimensional reconstruction. This is a tedious and time‐consuming procedure, which introduces an array of potential alignment and differential shrinkage errors and requires considerable experience and specialized equipment. In particular, it is unsuited for routine screening applications. To circumvent these problems, this unit presents a routine whole‐mount immunocytochemistry protocol that can be used to map many antigenic distributions in the developing and adult brain. The technique can also be easily adapted to detect anterograde and retrograde transport tracers.
Activation of hypoxia-inducible factors ameliorates hypoxic distal tubular injury in the isolated perfused rat kidney.

BACKGROUND Preconditional activation of HIF with specific prolyl-hydroxylase inhibitors (PHD-I) attenuates proximal tubular injury, induced by warm ischaemia/ reperfusion (Bernhardt, JASN, 2006). Distal tubular damage occurs in humans with acute kidney injury (AKI), in experimental contrast media-induced nephropathy (CIN), as well as in cell-free isolated perfused kidneys (IPKs). Since in the IPK distal tubular damage inversely correlates with HIF activation (Rosenberger, KI, 2005), we explored the potential of PHD-I to improve morpho-functional outcome in this model. METHODS Male SD rats were randomly given the synthetic PHD-inhibitor FG-4497 (FibroGen, 50 mg/kg IV) or its vehicle (CTR, n = 10 per group). Six hours later, the right kidney was perfused for 90 min with cell-free oxygenated medium and subsequently perfusion-fixed for morphologic assessment. The left kidney was used for HIF immunostaining. RESULTS As compared with CTR kidneys, at 6 h after FG-4497 HIF-alpha isoforms were markedly up-regulated in all renal zones: HIF-1alpha in tubules and in papillary interstitial cells (IC), HIF-2alpha in IC and vascular endothelial cells. FG-4497 treatment resulted in a higher perfusate flow rate (P < 0.04, ANOVA). Tubular injury to medullary thick ascending limbs (mTALs) was significantly attenuated in the treatment versus control group (38.9 +/- 7.4% versus 62.7 +/- 4.9% of mTALs in the mid-inner stripe (P < 0.02); 23.8 +/- 6.8% versus 45.6 +/- 7.4% in the innermost zone of the inner stripe (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS These findings illustrate that PHD-I preconditioning attenuates hypoxic distal tubular injury produced in the IPK in the same fashion in which it protects proximal tubules. mTAL conservation may be related to the stabilization of cellular HIF, as well as to preserved endothelial function and microcirculation.
Disruptions in Brain Networks of Older Fallers Are Associated with Subsequent Cognitive Decline: A 12-Month Prospective Exploratory Study

Cognitive impairment and impaired mobility are major public health concerns. There is growing recognition that impaired mobility is an early biomarker of cognitive impairment and dementia. The neural basis for this association is currently unclear. We propose disrupted functional connectivity as a potential mechanism. In this 12-month prospective exploratory study, we compared functional connectivity of four brain networks– the default mode network (DMN), fronto-executive network (FEN), fronto-parietal network (FPN), and the primary motor sensory network (SMN) – between community-dwelling older adults with ≥ two falls in the last 12 months and their non-falling counterparts (≤ one fall in the last 12 months). Functional connectivity was examined both at rest and during a simple motor tapping task. Compared with non-fallers, fallers showed more connectivity between the DMN and FPN during right finger tapping (p = 0.04), and significantly less functional connectivity between the SMN and FPN during rest (p≤0.05). Less connectivity between the SMN and FPN during rest was significantly associated with greater decline in both cognitive function and mobility over the12-month period (r = −0.32 and 0.33 respectively; p≤0.04). Thus, a recent history of multiple falls among older adults without a diagnosis of dementia may indicate sub-clinical changes in brain function and increased risk for subsequent decline.