Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Higher frontal EEG synchronization in young women with major depression: a marker for increased homeostatic sleep pressure?

STUDY OBJECTIVES Major depressive disorder (MDD) is often associated with disturbances in circadian and/or sleep-wake dependent processes, which both regulate daytime energy and sleepiness levels. DESIGN Analysis of continuous electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings during 40 h of extended wakefulness under constant routine conditions. Artifact-free EEG samples derived from 12 locations were subjected to spectral analysis. Additionally, half-hourly ratings of subjective tension and sleepiness levels and salivary melatonin measurements were collected. SETTING Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Hospitals of the University of Basel, Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS Eight young healthy women and 8 young untreated women with MDD. INTERVENTIONS N/A. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS MDD women exhibited higher frontal low-frequency (FLA) EEG activity (0.5-5.0 Hz) during extended wakefulness than controls, particularly during the night. Enhanced FLA was paralleled by higher levels of subjective sleepiness and tension. In MDD women, overall FLA levels correlated positively with depression scores. The timing of melatonin onset did not significantly differ between the two groups, but the nocturnal secretion of salivary melatonin was significantly attenuated in MDD women. CONCLUSIONS Our data imply that young women with MDD live on a higher homeostatic sleep pressure level, as indexed by enhanced FLA during wakefulness. Its positive correlation with depression scores indicates a possible functional relationship. High FLA could reflect a use-dependent phenomenon in depression (enhanced cognitive rumination or tension) and/or an attenuated circadian arousal signal.
What A Metaobject Protocol Based Compiler Can Do For Lisp

AbstractA new kind of metaobject protocol, that controls the compilation of programs, allows users toparticipatein the compilation in a principled and modular way. Such a compiler makes it possi-ble to program in a high-level language and still maintain control over crucial implementationissues. This result is that a number of simple and elegant Scheme programs can be compiled asefﬁciently as if they had been written with special purpose primitives. 1 Introduction Considera worldinwhichyougettohaveyourcake and eatittoo. Youdoyourday-to-dayprogram-mingin a high-levellanguagelikeLisp,thatprovidesyouwithpowerful abstractionsandallowsyouto write your programs in a principled and modular way. But, on those crucial occasions where itis important that an abstraction be implemented in a particular way, you get to help the compilerachieve that end, also in a principled and modular way. In this world, you get to enjoy the beneﬁtsof high-level abstraction without paying traditional performance, interoperability and functionalitycosts.In thispaper, we will showhow a proof-of-conceptmetaobject protocolbased compiler we havedeveloped for Scheme allows programmers to cleanly, concisely and portably code the followingexamples, and have them work as efﬁciently and as robustly as if they had been implemented prim-itively:
Executive functioning in children with unilateral cerebral palsy: protocol for a cross-sectional study

Introduction Early brain injury, as found in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP), may cause deficits in higher-order cognitive tasks known as executive functions (EF). EF has been conceptualised as comprised of four distinct yet inter-related components: (1) attentional control, (2) cognitive flexibility, (3) goal setting and (4) information processing. The aim of this study was to examine EF in children with unilateral CP and compare their performance with a typically developing reference group (TDC). The potential laterality effects of unilateral CP on EF will be explored, as will the relationship between the cognitive measures of EF, behavioural manifestations of EF, psychological functioning and clinical features of unilateral CP. Methods and analysis This cross-sectional study aims to recruit a total of 42 children with unilateral CP (21 right unilateral CP and 21 left unilateral CP) and 21 TDC aged between 8 and 16 years. Clinical severity will be described for gross motor function and manual ability. Outcomes for cognitive EF measureswill include subtests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fourth Edition, Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System, Rey Complex Figure Test and the Test of Everyday Attention for Children. Behavioural manifestations of EF will be assessed using the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Parent and Teacher versions. Psychological functioning will be examined using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Between-groups differences will be examined in a series of one-way analyses of covariance and followed up using linear comparisons. An overall composite of cognitive EF measures will be created. Bivariate correlations between the EF composite and psychological measures will be calculated. Ethics and dissemination This protocol describes a study that, to our knowledge, is the first to examine multiple components of EF using a cohort of children with unilateral CP. Exploration of potential laterality effects of EF among children with a congenital, unilateral brain injury is also novel. Possible relationships between EF and psychological functioning will also be investigated. Ethics have been obtained through the University of Queensland School of Psychology Ethics Committee and the Queensland Children's Health Services Human Research Ethics Committee. Results will be disseminated in peer reviewed publications and presentations at national and international conferences. This study is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12611000263998).
Improving the Usability of Privacy Settings in Facebook

The ever increasing popularity of Facebook and other Online Social Networks has left a wealth of personal and private data on the web, aggregated and readily accessible for broad and automatic retrieval. Protection from both undesired recipients as well as harvesting through crawlers is implemented by simple access control at the provider, configured by manual authorization through the publishing user. Several studies demonstrate that standard settings directly cause an unnoticed over-sharing and that the users have trouble understanding and configuring adequate settings. Using the three simple principles of color coding, ease of access, and application of common practices, we developed a new privacy interface that increases the usability significantly. The results of our user study underlines the extent of the initial problem and documents that our interface enables faster, more precise authorisation and leads to increased intelligibility.
A simple method for the simulation of autocorrelated and arbitrarily distributed envelope fading processes

We propose an efficient and accurate method for imposing a desired autocorrelation on random sequences with arbitrarily distributed envelope. In particular, the method is applied to the simulation of Nakagami-m and Weibull fading channels, with arbitrary values of the fading parameter. The proposed method is based on the unidimensional Iman-Conover method. This method is computationally unexpensive and the experimental results demonstrate the statistical quality of the samples generated for both these fading channels.
Research Report 05-06 Construction and comparison of approximations for switching linear gaussian state space models

We introduce a new method for approximate inference in Hybrid Dynamical Graphical models, in particular, for switching dynamical networks. For the important special case of switching linear Gaussian state space models (switching Kalman Filters), our method is a novel form of Gaussian sum smoother, consisting of a single forward and backward pass. Our method is particularly well suited to switching observation models, since one of the key approximations is obviated. We compare our method very favourably against a range of competing techniques, including sequential Monte Carlo and Expectation Propagation, for which we also derive a novel numerically more stable implementation using the ‘auxiliary variable trick’. We show that the use of mixture representations for both filtering and smoothing can dramatically improve the quality of the approximation.
Quantification of fetal DNA by use of methylation-based DNA discrimination.

BACKGROUND Detection of circulating cell-free fetal nucleic acids in maternal plasma has been used in noninvasive prenatal diagnostics. Most applications rely on the qualitative detection of fetal nucleic acids to determine the genetic makeup of the fetus. This method leads to an analytic dilemma, because test results from samples that do not contain fetal DNA or are contaminated with maternal cellular DNA can be misleading. We developed a multiplex approach to analyze regions that are hypermethylated in placenta relative to maternal blood to evaluate the fetal portion of circulating cell-free DNA isolated from maternal plasma. METHODS The assay used methylation-sensitive restriction enzymes to eliminate the maternal (unmethylated) fraction of the DNA sample. The undigested fetal DNA fraction was then coamplified in the presence of a synthetic oligonucleotide to permit competitive PCR. The amplification products were quantified by single-base extension and MALDI-TOF MS analysis. RESULTS Using 2 independent markers, (sex determining region Y)-box 14 (SOX14) and T-box 3 (TBX3), we measured a mean of 151 copies of fetal DNA/mL plasma and a mean fetal fraction of 0.13 in samples obtained from pregnant women. We investigated 242 DNA samples isolated from plasma from pregnant and nonpregnant women and observed an analytical sensitivity and specificity for the assay of 99% and 100%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS By investigating several regions in parallel, we reduced the measurement variance and enabled quantification of circulating cell-free DNA. Our results indicate that this multiplex methylation-based reaction detects and quantifies the amount of fetal DNA in a sample isolated from maternal plasma.
Linear Abadi and Plotkin Logic

We present a formalization of a version of Abadi and Plotkin's logic for parametricity for a polymorphic dual intuitionistic/linear type theory with fixed points, and show, following Plotkin's suggestions, that it can be used to define a wide collection of types, including existential types, inductive types, coinductive types and general recursive types. We show that the recursive types satisfy a universal property called dinaturality, and we develop reasoning principles for the constructed types. In the case of recursive types, the reasoning principle is a mixed induction/coinduction principle, with the curious property that coinduction holds for general relations, but induction only for a limited collection of ``admissible'' relations. A similar property was observed in Pitts' 1995 analysis of recursive types in domain theory. In a future paper we will develop a category theoretic notion of models of the logic presented here, and show how the results developed in the logic can be transferred to the models.
Novel AGLP-1 albumin fusion protein as a long-lasting agent for type 2 diabetes

Glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1) regulates glucose mediated-insulin secretion, nutrient accumulation, and β-cell growth. Despite the potential therapeutic usage for type 2 diabetes (T2D), GLP-1 has a short half-life in vivo (t1/2 ＜2 min). In an attempt to prolong half-life, GLP-1 fusion proteins were genetically engineered: GLP-1 human serum albumin fusion (GLP-1/HSA), AGLP-1/HSA which has an additional alanine at the N-terminus of GLP-1, and AGLP-1-L/HSA, in which a peptide linker is inserted between AGLP-1 and HSA. Recombinant fusion proteins secreted from the Chinese Hamster Ovary-K1 (CHO-K1) cell line were purified with high purity (＞96%). AGLP-1 fusion protein was resistant against the dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV). The fusion proteins activated cAMP-mediated signaling in rat insulinoma INS-1 cells. Furthermore, a C57BL/6N mice pharmacodynamics study exhibited that AGLP-1-L/HSA effectively reduced blood glucose level compared to AGLP-1/HSA. [BMB Reports 2013; 46(12): 606-610]
Visual motion in a railed shooter game: A designer study

Visual design in games is a complex, but important, area of study, as it affects the player’s experience. Previous games research applied knowledge in visual attention to understand visual designs, for instance through cues and lighting to influence players’ behaviors and feelings. However, these approaches overlook how the visual design changes over time. In this paper, we focus on visual motion as an unexplored aspect of visual design, defined by a theory of visual perception as features associated with game elements. In particular, we consider the speed, size, and density of game elements in motion. Towards this goal, we developed a simple railed shooter game with a tool that allowed 8 expert game designers to manipulate perceptual features over time. Based on analysis of results collected through designers using this tool, as well as qualitative reviews, we present several perception-based design principles, stated as formulae of intended perceptual effects.
RNA-Seq Analysis of the Effect of Kanamycin and the ABC Transporter AtWBC19 on Arabidopsis thaliana Seedlings Reveals Changes in Metal Content

Plants are exposed to antibiotics produced by soil microorganisms, but little is known about their responses at the transcriptional level. Likewise, few endogenous mechanisms of antibiotic resistance have been reported. The Arabidopsis thaliana ATP Binding Cassette (ABC) transporter AtWBC19 (ABCG19) is known to confer kanamycin resistance, but the exact mechanism of resistance is not well understood. Here we examined the transcriptomes of control seedlings and wbc19 mutant seedlings using RNA-seq analysis. Exposure to kanamycin indicated changes in the organization of the photosynthetic apparatus, metabolic fluxes and metal uptake. Elemental analysis showed a 60% and 80% reduction of iron uptake in control and wbc19 mutant seedlings respectively, upon exposure to kanamycin. The drop in iron content was accompanied by the upregulation of the gene encoding for FERRIC REDUCTION OXIDASE 6 (FRO6) in mutant seedlings but not by the differential expression of other transport genes known to be induced by iron deficiency. In addition, wbc19 mutants displayed a distinct expression profile in the absence of kanamycin. Most notably the expression of several zinc ion binding proteins, including ZINC TRANSPORTER 1 PRECURSOR (ZIP1) was increased, suggesting abnormal zinc uptake. Elemental analysis confirmed a 50% decrease of zinc content in wbc19 mutants. Thus, the antibiotic resistance gene WBC19 appears to also have a role in zinc uptake.
Cosmography by GRBs

Relations connecting gamma ray burst quantities can be used to constrain cosmographic parameters of the Hubble law at medium-high redshifts. We consider a sample of 27 gamma ray bursts to construct the luminosity distance to redshift relation and derive the values of the parameters $q_0$, $j_0$, and $s_0$. The analysis is compared with other methods in the literature. gamma gay bursts, if calibrated by SNeIa, seem reliable as distance indicators and give cosmographic parameters in agreement with the $\Lambda$CDM model.
Liquidity and the Threat of Fraudulent Assets

We study an over-the-counter (OTC) market in which the usefulness of assets as a means of payment or collateral is limited by the threat of fraudulent practices. Agents can produce fraudulent assets at a positive cost, which generates upper bounds on the quantity of each asset that can be traded in the OTC market. Each of these endogenous, asset-specific, resalability constraints depends on the cost of fraud, on the frequency of trade, and on the asset price. In equilibrium, assets are partitioned into three liquidity tiers, which differ in their resalability, prices, haircuts, sensitivity to shocks, and responses to policies.
OC16-CE80: A Chinese-English mixlingual database and a speech recognition baseline

We present the OC16-CE80 Chinese-English mixlingual speech database which was released as a main resource for training, development and test for the Chinese-English mixhngual speech recognition (MixASR-CHEN) challenge on O-COCOSDA 2016. This database consists of 80 hours of speech signals recorded from more than 1,400 speakers, where the utterances are in Chinese but each involves one or several Enghsh words. Based on the database and another two free data resources (THCHS30 and the CMU dictionary), a speech recognition (ASR) baseline was constructed with the deep neural network-hidden Markov model (DNN-HMM) hybrid system. We then report the baseline results following the MixASR-CHEN evaluation rules and demonstrate that OC16-CE80 is a reasonable data resource for mixlingual research.
Soilse: A decentralized approach to optimization of fluctuating urban traffic using Reinforcement Learning

Increasing traffic congestion is a major problem in urban areas, which incurs heavy economic and environmental costs in both developing and developed countries. Efficient urban traffic control (UTC) can help reduce traffic congestion. However, the increasing volume and the dynamic nature of urban traffic pose particular challenges to UTC. Reinforcement Learning (RL) has been shown to be a promising approach to efficient UTC. However, most existing work on RL-based UTC does not adequately address the fluctuating nature of urban traffic. This paper presents Soilse1, a decentralized RL-based UTC optimization scheme that includes a nonparametric pattern change detection mechanism to identify local traffic pattern changes that adversely affect an RL agent's performance. Hence, Soilse is adaptive as agents learn to optimize for different traffic patterns and responsive as agents can detect genuine traffic pattern changes and trigger relearning. We compare the performance of Soilse to two baselines, a fixed-time approach and a saturation balancing algorithm that emulates SCATS, a well-known UTC system. The comparison was performed based on a simulation of traffic in Dublin's inner city centre. Results from using our scheme show an approximate 35%–43% and 40%–54% better performance in terms of average vehicle waiting time and average number of vehicle stops respectively against the best baseline performance in our simulation.
Embodiment as a unifying perspective for psychology

Adaptive action is the function of cognition. It is constrained by the properties of evolved brains and bodies. An embodied perspective on social psychology examines how biological constrains give expression to human function in socially situated contexts. Key contributions in social psychology have highlighted the interface between the body and cognition, but theoretical development in social psychology and embodiment research remain largely disconnected. The current special issue reflects on recent developments in embodiment research. Commentaries from complementary perspectives connect them to social psychological theorizing. The contributions focus on the situatedness of social cognition in concrete interactions, and the implementation of cognitive processes in modal instead of amodal representations. The proposed perspectives are highly compatible, suggesting that embodiment can serve as a unifying perspective for psychology. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A cell outage compensation scheme based on immune algorithm in LTE networks

Cell outage is the total loss of radio services in the coverage area of a cell. Aiming at mitigating the coverage problems caused by a sudden outage, this paper proposed a concrete cell outage compensation scheme based on immune algorithm. Taking into account the two objectives, coverage and quality, the scheme constructs a mathematical model which adjusts the uplink target received power in surrounding cells, and generates a specific solution by adopting immune algorithm. The reported simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is able to recover a large proportion of unserved users and mitigate the performance degradation.
Integration of Media Sources for Situation Analysis in the Different Phases of Disaster Management: The QuOIMA Project

In this paper we describe work in progress on a cross-media content analysis approach and framework, which is currently being developed within the QuOIMA project. We describe the role of media, and how possible links between social and traditional media and terminology and communication patterns are envisioned to be connected to the different phases of a disaster model. The paper continues with a discussion of potential benefits for decision makers and planners and concludes with an outlook on further planned activities and developments.
The fossilized birth–death process for coherent calibration of divergence-time estimates

Significance Divergence time estimation on an absolute timescale requires external calibration information, which typically is derived from the fossil record. The common practice in Bayesian divergence time estimation involves applying calibration densities to individual nodes. Often, these priors are arbitrarily chosen and specified yet have an excessive impact on estimates of absolute time. We introduce the fossilized birth–death process—a fossil calibration method that unifies extinct and extant species with a single macroevolutionary model, eliminating the need for ad hoc calibration priors. Compared with common calibration density approaches, Bayesian inference under this mechanistic model yields more accurate node age estimates while providing a coherent measure of statistical uncertainty. Furthermore, unlike calibration densities, our model accommodates all the reliable fossils for a given phylogenetic dataset. Time-calibrated species phylogenies are critical for addressing a wide range of questions in evolutionary biology, such as those that elucidate historical biogeography or uncover patterns of coevolution and diversification. Because molecular sequence data are not informative on absolute time, external data—most commonly, fossil age estimates—are required to calibrate estimates of species divergence dates. For Bayesian divergence time methods, the common practice for calibration using fossil information involves placing arbitrarily chosen parametric distributions on internal nodes, often disregarding most of the information in the fossil record. We introduce the “fossilized birth–death” (FBD) process—a model for calibrating divergence time estimates in a Bayesian framework, explicitly acknowledging that extant species and fossils are part of the same macroevolutionary process. Under this model, absolute node age estimates are calibrated by a single diversification model and arbitrary calibration densities are not necessary. Moreover, the FBD model allows for inclusion of all available fossils. We performed analyses of simulated data and show that node age estimation under the FBD model results in robust and accurate estimates of species divergence times with realistic measures of statistical uncertainty, overcoming major limitations of standard divergence time estimation methods. We used this model to estimate the speciation times for a dataset composed of all living bears, indicating that the genus Ursus diversified in the Late Miocene to Middle Pliocene.
Designing rich touch interaction through proximity and 2.5D force sensing touchpad

The touchpad is the de facto standard input device for controlling the GUI on portable computers. Most touchpads detect only finger contact and ignores other physical actions, such as applying force or hovering over the device. In this paper, we introduce a novel touchpad capable of tracking finger hover and measuring normal and shear forces. We also present two design strategies for the hover- and force-enhanced touchpad: multi-level user interaction and mimicry of physical manipulation. We illustrate the two design strategies using two applications that we developed based on the design strategies.