Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
and Motor Cortical Discharge During Reaching On the Relationship Between Joint Angular Velocity

[PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , May 1, 2009; 587 (9): 1977-1987. J Physiol W. J. Z'Graggen, A. B. Conforto, R. Wiest, L. Remonda, C. W. Hess and A. Kaelin-Lang controlling thumb movements Mapping of direction and muscle representation in the human primary motor cortex [PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , October 14, 2009; 29 (41): 12948-12956. J. Neurosci. Dimitrov, Jonathan D. Wallis, Nicholas M. Barbaro, Robert T. Knight and Jose M. Carmena Karunesh Ganguly, Lavi Secundo, Gireeja Ranade, Amy Orsborn, Edward F. Chang, Dragan F. Cortical Representation of Ipsilateral Arm Movements in Monkey and Man [PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , January 20, 2010; 30 (3): 958-962. J. Neurosci. Wei Wang, Sherwin S. Chan, Dustin A. Heldman and Daniel W. Moran Motor Cortical Representation of Hand Translation and Rotation during Reaching [PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , April 14, 2010; 30 (15): 5415-5425. J. Neurosci. Fritzie Arce, Itai Novick, Yael Mandelblat-Cerf, Zvi Israel, Claude Ghez and Eilon Vaadia Combined Adaptiveness of Specific Motor Cortical Ensembles Underlies Learning [PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , October 13, 2010; 30 (41): 13873-13882. J. Neurosci. Steven M. Chase, Andrew B. Schwartz and Robert E. Kass Latent Inputs Improve Estimates of Neural Encoding in Motor Cortex
A high-performance FPGA architecture for restricted boltzmann machines

Despite the popularity and success of neural networks in research, the number of resulting commercial or industrial applications have been limited. A primary cause of this lack of adoption is due to the fact that neural networks are usually implemented as software running on general-purpose processors. Algorithms to implement a neural network in software are typically O(n2) problems -- as a result, neural networks are unable to provide the performance and scalability required in non-academic settings. In this paper, we investigate how FPGAs can be used to take advantage of the inherent parallelism in neural networks to provide a better implementation in terms of scalability and performance. We will focus on the Restricted Boltzmann machine, a popular type of neural network, because its architecture is particularly well-suited to hardware designs. The proposed, multi-purpose hardware framework is designed to reduce the O(n22) problem into an O(n) implementation while only requiring O(n) resources. The framework is tested on a Xilinx Virtex II-Pro XC2VP70 FPGA running at 100MHz. The resources support a Restricted Boltzmann machine of 128x128 nodes, which results in a computational speed of 1.02 billion connection-updates-per-second and a speed-up of 35 fold over an optimized C program running on a 2.8GHz Intel processor.
A randomised study of two training programmes for general practitioners in the techniques of shoulder injection

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of two different modes of shoulder injection training on the level of confidence and number of injections performed by general practitioners (GPs) Methods: Demographic details, and information on referrals for shoulder problems, shoulder joint injection activity, and confidence in the six months before training were obtained for 40 GP principals at baseline. Standardised training in the techniques of shoulder joint injection using rubber mannequins was given to all GPs. Twenty of these GPs were randomly allocated to receive additional training on patients in hospital joint injection clinics. Six months after both forms of training the shoulder injection and referral activities of all GPs were reassessed. Results: Both training groups had comparable demographic characteristics and baseline clinical activity. GPs who had additional training with patients reported a marked increase in their level of confidence in performing shoulder injections and the number performed. The number of shoulder referrals did not differ between the groups Conclusion: Training on patients in addition to conventional training on mannequins increased GPs’ shoulder injection activity and their level of confidence. Hospital injection clinics may provide a suitable setting in which to train GPs interested in developing their shoulder joint injection skills.
WORLD-WIDE CRUDE TRANSPORTATION LOGISTICS : A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM BASED ON SIMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION

World wide crude transportation is the central logistics operation that links the upstream and downstream functions and plays a crucial role in the global supply chain management in the oil industry. In this work, we develop a decision support system to investigate and improve the combined inventory and transportation system in a representative world-wide crude supply problem. The decision support system is based on the integration of discrete event simulation and stochastic optimal control of the inventory/transportation system. A unifying simulation framework that integrates the simulation model and controller is constructed to simulate the controlled inventory/transportation system. It provides the decision makers valuable insights into the behavior of the dynamic and stochastic system and also a powerful tool to evaluate strategies and policies for the design and operation of the system. We formulate the optimal design/control problem rigorously as a Markov decision process that incorporates such uncertainties as travel time and crude demand. Due to the overwhelming computational requirements of the rigorous methods, approximate methods based on dynamic programming principles are needed to determine the near-optimal control policies that minimize the expected total cost. We propose an approximation architecture that involves two stages: decomposition of the system into individual subsystems and use of parametric function approximators for the cost-togo functions. We also provide future directions on computationally practical approaches to solve large scale industrial problems.
A simple and unambiguous definition of threshold voltage and its implications in deep-submicron MOS device modeling

A new definition of MOSFET threshold voltage is proposed, namely, the "critical-current at linear-threshold" method, which has a unique solution and is very simple to measure. This definition gives consistent values of threshold voltage for different regions of operation at long channel, and contains the information on short-channel effects at short channel, which is very useful for deep-submicron MOS device characterization and modeling. The proposed method effectively removes ambiguity of de facto industry standard of the constant-current method for MOS threshold voltage.
Energy Efficient Neural Stimulation: Coupling Circuit Design and Membrane Biophysics

The delivery of therapeutic levels of electrical current to neural tissue is a well-established treatment for numerous indications such as Parkinson’s disease and chronic pain. While the neuromodulation medical device industry has experienced steady clinical growth over the last two decades, much of the core technology underlying implanted pulse generators remain unchanged. In this study we propose some new methods for achieving increased energy-efficiency during neural stimulation. The first method exploits the biophysical features of excitable tissue through the use of a centered-triangular stimulation waveform. Neural activation with this waveform is achieved with a statistically significant reduction in energy compared to traditional rectangular waveforms. The second method demonstrates energy savings that could be achieved by advanced circuitry design. We show that the traditional practice of using a fixed compliance voltage for constant-current stimulation results in substantial energy loss. A portion of this energy can be recuperated by adjusting the compliance voltage to real-time requirements. Lastly, we demonstrate the potential impact of axon fiber diameter on defining the energy-optimal pulse-width for stimulation. When designing implantable pulse generators for energy efficiency, we propose that the future combination of a variable compliance system, a centered-triangular stimulus waveform, and an axon diameter specific stimulation pulse-width has great potential to reduce energy consumption and prolong battery life in neuromodulation devices.
Region-of-interest processing for electronic visual prostheses

Electronic visual prostheses, or "bionic eyes," are likely to provide some coarse visual sensations to blind patients who have these systems implanted. The quality of artificially induced vision is anticipated to be very poor initially. Research described explores image processing techniques that improve perception for users of visual prostheses. We describe visual perception experiments undertaken with 192 normally sighted viewers to simulate artificially induced vision expected from emerging electronic visual prosthesis designs. Several variations of region-of-interest (ROI) processing were applied to images that were presented to subjects as low-resolution 25×25 binary images. Several additional processing methods were compared to determine their suitability for use in automatically controlling a zoom-type function for visual prostheses. The experiments show that ROI processing improves scene understanding for low-quality images when used in a zoom application.
Dignity versus diagnosis: sexual orientation and gender identity differences in reports of one’s greatest concern about receiving a sexual health exam

Timely sexual health exams are important healthcare behaviours that contribute to the early detection of cancer and health promotion. Sexual and gender minorities have been shown in past research to be significantly less likely to access healthcare services. Consequently, the current study included participants of diverse sexual and gender identities in order to gain greater insight into their concerns and potential reasons for avoiding healthcare services. The current study asked participants to describe their greatest concerns about visiting the doctor for a sexual health exam. Sexual and gender minorities were more likely to mention their identities as being central to their concerns about visiting the doctor. In contrast, the primary concerns mentioned by non-minority participants were related to their actual health, such as the potential diagnosis of cancer or STIs. The current study presents the self-reported reasons that individuals avoid visiting their doctors for sexual health exams as a function of sexual and gender identity. Through understanding how sexual and gender identity are related to the prevalence of specific concerns related to sexual health exams, it becomes possible to determine areas of improvement for increasing healthcare utilisation among marginalised populations. Implications for minority health and recommendations on improving healthcare support for sexual and gender minorities are discussed.
Hemodynamic Signal Changes Accompanying Execution and Imagery of Swallowing in Patients with Dysphagia: A Multiple Single-Case Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

In the present multiple case study, we examined hemodynamic changes in the brain in response to motor execution (ME) and motor imagery (MI) of swallowing in dysphagia patients compared to healthy matched controls using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Two stroke patients with cerebral lesions in the right hemisphere, two stroke patients with lesions in the brainstem, and two neurologically healthy control subjects actively swallowed saliva (ME) and mentally imagined to swallow saliva (MI) in a randomized order while changes in concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) and deoxygenated hemoglobin (deoxy-Hb) were assessed. In line with recent findings in healthy young adults, MI and ME of swallowing led to the strongest NIRS signal change in the inferior frontal gyrus in stroke patients as well as in healthy elderly. We found differences in the topographical distribution and time course of the hemodynamic response in dependence on lesion location. Dysphagia patients with lesions in the brainstem showed bilateral hemodynamic signal changes in the inferior frontal gyrus during active swallowing comparable to healthy controls. In contrast, dysphagia patients with cerebral lesions in the right hemisphere showed more unilateral activation patterns during swallowing. Furthermore, patients with cerebral lesions showed a prolonged time course of the hemodynamic response during MI and ME of swallowing compared to healthy controls and patients with brainstem lesions. Brain activation patterns associated with ME and MI of swallowing were largely comparable, especially for changes in deoxy-Hb. Hence, the present results provide new evidence regarding timing and topographical distribution of the hemodynamic response during ME and MI of swallowing in dysphagia patients and may have practical impact on future dysphagia treatment.
MRI geometric distortion: A simple approach to correcting the effects of non‐linear gradient fields

We present a method to correct intensity variations and voxel shifts caused by non‐linear gradient fields in magnetic resonance images. The principal sources of distortion are briefly discussed, as well as the methods of correction currently in use. The implication of the gradient field non‐linearities on the signal equations are described in a detailed way for the case of two‐ and three‐dimensional Fourier imaging. A model of these non‐linearities, derived from the geometry of the gradient coils, is proposed and then applied in post‐processing to correct any images regardless of the acquisition sequence. Initial position errors, as large as 4 mm (i.e., four voxels of 1 × 1 × 1.4 mm3 ) before correction, are reduced to less than the voxel sizes after correction. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 1999;9:821–831. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Keck and ESO-VLT View of the Symmetry of the Ejecta of the XRF/SN 2006aj

Nebular-phase spectra of SN 2006aj, which was discovered in coincidence with X-ray ﬂash 060218, were obtained with Keck in 2006 July and the Very Large Telescope in 2006 September. At the latter epoch spectropolarimetry was also attempted, yielding an upper limit of ∼ 2% for the polarization. The spectra show strong emission lines of [O i ] and Mg i ], as expected from a Type Ic supernova, but weak Ca ii lines. The [Fe ii ] lines that were strong in the spectra of SN 1998bw are much weaker in SN 2006aj, consistent with the lower luminosity of this SN. The outer velocity of the line-emitting ejecta is ∼ 8000 km s − 1 in July and ∼ 7400 km s − 1 in September, consistent with the relatively low kinetic energy of expansion of SN 2006aj. All emission lines have similar width, and the proﬁles are symmetric, indicating that no major asymmetries are present in the ejecta at the velocities sampled by the nebular lines ( v < 8000 km s − 1 ), except perhaps in the innermost part. The spectra were modelled with a non-LTE code. The mass of 56 Ni required to power the emission spectrum is ∼ 0 . 20 M ⊙ , in excellent agreement with the results of early light curve modelling. The oxygen mass is ∼ 1 . 5 M ⊙ , again much less than in SN 1998bw but larger by ∼ 0 . 7 M ⊙ than the value derived from the early-time modelling. The total ejected mass is ∼ 2 M ⊙ below 8000 km s − 1 . This conﬁrms that SN 2006aj was only slightly more massive and energetic than the prototypical Type Ic SN 1994I, but also indicates the presence of a dense inner core, containing ∼ 1 M ⊙ of mostly oxygen and carbon. The presence of such a core is inferred for all broad-lined SNe Ic. This core may have the form of an equatorial oxygen-dominated region, but it is too deep to aﬀect the early light curve and too small to aﬀect the late polarization spectrum.
A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers

Editor's Note The authors of this article, published in 2015, have written a response to their work in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. We urge our readers to consider the response when reading the article. https://bmjopen.bmj. com/content/5/4/e006577.responses#covid-19-shortages-of-masks-and-the-use-of-cloth-masks-as-a-last-resort Objective The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of cloth masks to medical masks in hospital healthcare workers (HCWs). The null hypothesis is that there is no difference between medical masks and cloth masks. Setting 14 secondary-level/tertiary-level hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam. Participants 1607 hospital HCWs aged ≥18 years working full-time in selected high-risk wards. Intervention Hospital wards were randomised to: medical masks, cloth masks or a control group (usual practice, which included mask wearing). Participants used the mask on every shift for 4 consecutive weeks. Main outcome measure Clinical respiratory illness (CRI), influenza-like illness (ILI) and laboratory-confirmed respiratory virus infection. Results The rates of all infection outcomes were highest in the cloth mask arm, with the rate of ILI statistically significantly higher in the cloth mask arm (relative risk (RR)=13.00, 95% CI 1.69 to 100.07) compared with the medical mask arm. Cloth masks also had significantly higher rates of ILI compared with the control arm. An analysis by mask use showed ILI (RR=6.64, 95% CI 1.45 to 28.65) and laboratory-confirmed virus (RR=1.72, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.94) were significantly higher in the cloth masks group compared with the medical masks group. Penetration of cloth masks by particles was almost 97% and medical masks 44%. Conclusions This study is the first RCT of cloth masks, and the results caution against the use of cloth masks. This is an important finding to inform occupational health and safety. Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection. Further research is needed to inform the widespread use of cloth masks globally. However, as a precautionary measure, cloth masks should not be recommended for HCWs, particularly in high-risk situations, and guidelines need to be updated. Trial registration number Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12610000887077.
Using Case-based Reasoning in an Algorithm Portfolio for Constraint Solving ?

It has been shown in areas such as satisfiability testing and integer linear programming that a carefully chosen combination of solvers can outperform the best individual solver for a given set of problems. This selection process is usually performed using a machine learning technique based on feature data extracted from constraint satisfaction problems. In this paper we present CPHYDRA, an algorithm portfolio for constraint satisfaction that uses case-based reasoning to determine how to solve an unseen problem instance by exploiting a case base of problem solving experience. We demonstrate the superiority of our portfolio over each of its constituent solvers using challenging benchmark problem instances from the most recent CSP Solver Competition.
Preamble-based channel estimation methods with high spectral efficiency for pulse shaping OFDM/OQAM systems

The classical preamble-based channel estimation for pulse shaping orthogonal frequency division multiplex/offset QAM (OFDM/OQAM) systems requires zero-value guard symbols to guarantee interference avoidance, which leads to low spectral efficiency. In this study, we cut down the preamble structure without zero-value guard symbol to reduce preamble resource overhead. However, the intrinsic imaginary interference from unknown data symbols around degrades the channel estimation performance. Therefore, we provide three different methods to remove or even utilize the intrinsic interference. Simulation results demonstrate that compared with the classical methods, the proposed approaches achieve approximate performance and save preamble resource.1
Cooperative interactions between HOX and PBX proteins mediated by a conserved peptide motif

Homeoprotein products of the Hox/HOM gene family pattern the animal embryo through the transcriptional regulation of target genes. We have previously shown that the labial group protein HOXA-1 has intrinsically weak DNA-binding activity due to residues in the N-terminal arm of its homeodomain (M. L. Phelan, R. Sadoul, and M. S. Featherstone, Mol. Cell. Biol. 14:5066-5075, 1994). This observation, among others, suggests that HOX and HOM proteins require cofactors for stable interactions with DNA. We have demonstrated that a putative HOX cofactor, PBX1A, participates in cooperative DNA binding with HOXA-1 and the Deformed group protein HOXD-4. Three Abdominal-B class HOX proteins failed to cooperate with PBX1A. We mapped the interacting domain of HOXD-4 to the YPWMK pentapeptide motif, a conserved sequence found N terminal to the homeodomain of HOXA-1 and many other homeoproteins but absent from the Abdominal-B class. The naturally occurring fusion of the transcriptional activation domain of E2A with PBX1 creates an oncoprotein implicated in human pre-B-cell leukemias (M. P. Kamps, C. Murre, X.-H. Sun, and D. Baltimore, Cell 60:547-555, 1990; J. Nourse, J. D. Mellentin, N. Galili, J. Wilkinson, E. Starbridge, S. D. Smith, and M. L. Cleary, Cell 60:535-545, 1990). A pentapeptide mutation that abolished cooperative interaction with PBX1A in vitro also abrogated synergistic transcriptional activation with the E2A/PBX oncoprotein. The direct contact of PBX family members by the HOX pentapeptide is likely to play an important role in developmental and oncogenic processes.
Software Defined Monitoring of application protocols

Current high-speed network monitoring systems focus more and more on the data from the application layers. Flow data is usually enriched by the information from HTTP, DNS and other protocols. The increasing speed of the network links, together with the time consuming application protocol parsing, require a new way of hardware acceleration. Therefore we propose a new concept of hardware acceleration for flexible flow-based application level monitoring which we call Software Defined Monitoring (SDM). The concept relies on smart monitoring tasks implemented in the software in conjunction with a configurable hardware accelerator. The hardware accelerator is an application-specific processor tailored to stateful flow processing. The monitoring tasks reside in the software and can easily control the level of detail retained by the hardware for each flow. This way the measurement of bulk/uninteresting traffic is offloaded to the hardware while the advanced monitoring over the interesting traffic is performed in the software. The proposed concept allows one to create flexible monitoring systems capable of deep packet inspection at high throughput. Our pilot implementation in FPGA is able to perform a 100 Gb/s flow traffic measurement augmented by a selected application-level protocol parsing.
An Improved Reinforcement Learning System Using Affective Factors

As a powerful and intelligent machine learning method, reinforcement learning (RL) has been widely used in many fields such as game theory, adaptive control, multi-agent system, nonlinear forecasting, and so on. The main contribution of this technique is its exploration and exploitation approaches to find the optimal solution or semi-optimal solution of goal-directed problems. However, when RL is applied to multi-agent systems (MASs), problems such as "curse of dimension", "perceptual aliasing problem", and uncertainty of the environment constitute high hurdles to RL. Meanwhile, although RL is inspired by behavioral psychology and reward/punishment from the environment is used, higher mental factors such as affects, emotions, and motivations are rarely adopted in the learning procedure of RL. In this paper, to challenge agents learning in MASs, we propose a computational motivation function, which adopts two principle affective factors "Arousal" and "Pleasure" of Russell's circumplex model of affects, to improve the learning performance of a conventional RL algorithm named Q-learning (QL). Compared with the conventional QL, computer simulations of pursuit problems with static and dynamic preys were carried out, and the results showed that the proposed method results in agents having a faster and more stable learning performance.