Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
14 Factors Influencing Proprioception : What do They Reveal ?

The term proprioception was coined in 1906 by the neurophysiologist Sir Charles Sherrington from the Latin "proprius," meaning "one's own," for sensory information derived from neural receptors embedded in joints, muscles, and tendons (Sherrington, 1906). Hence, proprioception was originally defined as “the perception of joint and body movement as well as position of the body, or body segments, in space”(Sherrington, 1906). Some years before, in 1880, Bastian introduced the term kinaesthesia, from the Greek “kinein” to move + “aisthēsis” sensation, to describe the role of the motor cortex in eliciting motor behaviors that coordinate specific and functionally appropriate somatosensory afferent patterns (Finger, 1994). Presently, “kinaesthesia” and “proprioception” are used practically synonymously to indicate the capability to appraise the configuration and movements of an organism’s body parts. At present, proprioception can be defined as the cumulative neural input to the Central Nervous System from specialized nerve endings called mechanoreceptors, which are located in the joint, capsules, ligaments, muscles, tendons, and skin (Carpenter, Blasier, & Pellizzon, 1998; Ribeiro & Oliveira, 2007; Voight, Hardin, Blackburn, Tippett, & Canner, 1996). Proprioception alludes to the perception of tension/force, body/joint movement, and limb relative position (Riemann & Lephart, 2002). Proprioception is generally divided in the sub modalities sense of tension (resistance), sense of movement, and joint position sense. Sense of resistance represents the ability to appreciate force generated within a joint. Sense of movement refers to the ability to appreciate joint movement, including the duration, direction, amplitude, speed, acceleration and timing of movements. Joint position sense determines the ability of the subject to perceive a presented joint angle and then, after the limb has been moved, to actively or passively reproduces the same joint angle. All three modalities can be appreciated consciously and unconsciously, contributing to automatic control of movement, balance, and joint stability, and thus being essential to carry out daily living tasks, walking, and sports activities (Riemann & Lephart, 2002). Proprioceptive information is originated and perceived within an organism at the level of the mechanoreceptor, which are sensory neurons located in the muscle, tendon, fascia, joint capsule, ligament, and skin (Carpenter, et al., 1998; Voight, et al., 1996). The main
Retrieval of building shapes from shadows in high resolution SAR interferometric images

Discontinuous objects, such as buildings, produce shadows in SAR images. Shadows are striking features which greatly help in the image understanding. Due to the high density of buildings in urban areas, shadows cover a large part of the image and provide a major hint to build a map of the city. A straightforward use of the shadows is to determine the building height from the shadow dimensions. We propose another approach here which makes use of the shadow to help in detecting the building itself when a high resolution interferogram is available. Starting from an amplitude image with very high definition and the corresponding interferogram, we model the building detection problem as an energy minimization where the interaction between a building and its shadow is taken into account. The method allows to obtain excellent detections especially for high or isolated building, despite the important noise level.
Is Wealth Becoming More Polarized in the United States?

Recent work has documented a rising degree of wealth inequality in the United States between 1983 and 1998. In this paper we look at another dimension of the distribution: polarization. Using techniques developed by Esteban and Ray (1994) and extended by D'Ambrosia (2001), we examine whether a similar pattern exists with regard to trends in wealth polarization over this period. The approach followed provides a decomposition method, based on counterfactual distributions, that allows one to monitor which factors modified the entire distribution and precisely where on the distribution these factors had an effect. An index of polarization is provided, as are summary statistics of the observed movements and of distance and divergence among the estimated and the counterfactual distributions. The decomposition method is applied to U.S. data on the distribution of wealth between 1983 and 1998. We find that polarization between homeowners and tenants and among different educational groups continuously increased from 1983 to 1998, while polarization by income class continuously decreased. In contrast, polarization by racial group increased from 1983 to 1989 and then declined from 1989 to 1998, while polarization by age group followed the opposite pattern. We also find that most of the observed variation in the overall wealth density over the 1983? 98 period can be attributed to changes in the within-group wealth densities rather than changes in household characteristics.
A new access control method based on multi-authority in cloud storage service

With the arrival of the era of big data, data has become a kind of important assets. In order to get a better utilization of big data, paid or unpaid data sharing will be a trend. And as one of key techniques to maintain security of data sharing, access control will play an important role in cloud storage services. This paper proposes an access control method for revocation of user rights in cloud storage services. Revoking user rights includes two aspects: revoking users and revoking attributes. The model presented in this paper is composed of attribute authority (AA), data owner (DO), user and cloud server. The key components of each part are generated by AA and DO, thus avoiding the joint attack between the user and AA. Then, the security of the scheme is analyzed by using Decisional Bilinear Diffie-Hellman (DBDH) theory. Experiments show that the scheme can effectively revoke user rights. Compared with other schemes, the proposed scheme has higher efficiency in terms of computation cost and communication cost. The research results have certain theoretical and practical significance.
Refractoriness Enhances Temporal Coding by Auditory Nerve Fibers

A universal property of spiking neurons is refractoriness, a transient decrease in discharge probability immediately following an action potential (spike). The refractory period lasts only one to a few milliseconds, but has the potential to affect temporal coding of acoustic stimuli by auditory neurons, which are capable of submillisecond spike-time precision. Here this possibility was investigated systematically by recording spike times from chicken auditory nerve fibers in vivo while stimulating with repeated pure tones at characteristic frequency. Refractory periods were tightly distributed, with a mean of 1.58 ms. A statistical model was developed to recapitulate each fiber's responses and then used to predict the effect of removing the refractory period on a cell-by-cell basis for two largely independent facets of temporal coding: faithful entrainment of interspike intervals to the stimulus frequency and precise synchronization of spike times to the stimulus phase. The ratio of the refractory period to the stimulus period predicted the impact of refractoriness on entrainment and synchronization. For ratios less than ∼0.9, refractoriness enhanced entrainment and this enhancement was often accompanied by an increase in spike-time precision. At higher ratios, little or no change in entrainment or synchronization was observed. Given the tight distribution of refractory periods, the ability of refractoriness to improve temporal coding is restricted to neurons responding to low-frequency stimuli. Enhanced encoding of low frequencies likely affects sound localization and pitch perception in the auditory system, as well as perception in nonauditory sensory modalities, because all spiking neurons exhibit refractoriness.
IceDust Calculation Strategy Composition Performance in Web Applications

Derived values are values calculated from base values. They can be expressed in object-oriented languages by means of getters calculating the derived value, and in relational or logic databases by means of (materialized) views. However, switching to a different calculation strategy (for example caching) in object-oriented programming requires invasive code changes, and the databases limit expressiveness by disallowing recursive aggregation. IceDust is a data modeling language for expressing derived attribute values without committing to a calculation strategy. IceDust provides four strategies for calculating derived values in persistent object graphs: on-demand, incremental, eventual, and on-demand incremental. The first three were introduced at ECOOP last year [2]. The new strategy is inspired by Adapton [1]: it flags caches dirty transitively on writes, and only recomputes caches on reads (Figure 1). At this ECOOP we present IceDust 2 [3], which enables calculation strategy composition. For every field with a derived value a strategy can be selected. The IceDust 2 type system restricts composition to only sound composition, ensuring derived values are up to date when read (except for eventual calculation). Moreover, we have extended IceDust with inline attributes. The expressions of these attributes are inlined on their use site (and thus cannot be recursive). This allows us to control the granularity of caching in IceDust. The four strategies and inlining provide us with many possible options for calculating derived values in IceDust applications. In this extended abstract we benchmark various options for a single application under peak load.
The functional and structural characteristics of the emotion network in alexithymia

Background Alexithymia is a multifaceted personality trait characterized by emotional dysfunction. Methods In this study, the functional and structural features of the emotion network in alexithymia were investigated using resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI), voxel-based morphometry (VBM), functional connectivity (FC) analysis, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Alexithymic and non-alexithymic students were recruited from the local university. The intrinsic neural activity and gray matter density of the brain regions in the emotion network were measured using rsfMRI and VBM; the FC and structural connectivity of the brain regions in the emotion network were measured using FC analysis and DTI. Results The altered intrinsic neural activity in V1, rostral dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and left amygdala, and the weak FC between V1 and left superior temporal gyrus and V1 and left paracentral lobule in alexithymia subjects were identified. However, no alteration of the structure and structural connectivity of the emotion network was identified. Conclusion The results indicated that the development of alexithymia might have been caused only by slight alteration of the neural activity. Furthermore, the results suggest that noninvasive treatment technologies for improving the brain activity are suitable for alexithymic individuals.
Retinal vessel enhancement based on directional field

Motivated by the goal of improving detection of micro-vessels with low contrast, a new technique based on directional field is presented for enhancing vessels in retinal images. This technique consists of two steps: the estimation of directional field and the enhancement. We will make enhancement along the vascular direction and normalize the brightness of image in a single step. After estimating the directional field, the mean and variance values in a local neighborhood were calculated pixel-by-pixel, accordingly normalize and enhance the local neighborhood. In order to eliminate the artificial boundary between two adjacent areas, an anisotropic Gaussian kernel was introduced to weight the enhancement. The proposed method can obviously increase the contrast of retinal vessels. 20 retinal images were tested in our experiments, and the results demonstrate an effective vessel enhancement algorithm.
Graphene and Active Metamaterials: Theoretical Methods and Physical Properties

The interaction of light with matter has triggered the interest of scientists for long time. The area of plasmonics emerges in this context through the interaction of light with valence electrons in metals. The random phase approximation in the long wavelength limit is used for analytical investigation of plasmons in three-dimensional metals, in a two-dimensional electron gas and finally in the most famous two-dimensional semi-metal, namely graphene. We show that plasmons in bulk metals as well as in a two-dimensional electron gas originate from classical laws, whereas, quantum effects appear as non-local corrections. On the other hand, graphene plasmons are purely quantum modes and, thus, they would not exist in a "classical world". Furthermore, under certain circumstances, light is able to couple with plasmons on metallic surfaces, forming a surface plasmon polariton, which is very important in nanoplasmonics due to its subwavelength nature. In addition, we outline two applications that complete our theoretical investigation. Firstly, we examine how the presence of gain (active) dielectrics affects surface plasmon polariton properties and we find that there is a gain value for which the metallic losses are completely eliminated resulting to lossless plasmon propagation. Secondly, we combine monolayers of graphene in a periodic order and construct a plasmonic metamaterial that provides tunable wave propagation properties, such as epsilon-near-zero behavior, normal and negative refraction.
Impact of Institutional Change on Irrigation Management: A Case Study from Southern Uzbekistan

The rapidly growing population in Uzbekistan has put massive pressure on limited water resources, resulting in frequent water shortages. Irrigation is by far the major water use. Improving irrigation water use through the institutional change of establishing water consumer associations (WCAs) has been identified as a way to increase agricultural production and meet the food demand in the area. However, most WCAs are not fully able to organize collective action or generate sufficient funds to carry out their responsibilities. This study investigated the water-resource-related challenges faced by WCAs and local farmers in Kashkadarya Province in Uzbekistan, using semi-structured expert interviews and focus group discussions. The resulting data were analyzed using qualitative analysis software (Atlas.ti). The results indicated that outdated infrastructure, poor governance, and farmers’ non-payment of irrigation service fees hamper sustainable water management. Greater trust and communication within the WCAs would make an important contribution to effective collective action and to the long-term sustainability of local associations.
Entrainment to the CIECAM 02 and CIELAB colour 1 appearance models in the human cortex 2 3

appearance models in the human cortex 2 3 Andrew Thwaites1,2*, Cai Wingfield1,3, Eric Wieser4, Andrew Soltan5, William D. 4 Marslen-Wilson1,2, Ian Nimmo-Smith2 5 6 1 Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 7 2 MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK 8 3 Department of Psychology, University of Lancaster, Lancaster, UK 9 4 Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 10 5 School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Exploring Perspectives of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities and Histories of Challenging Behaviors about Family Relationships: An Emergent Topic in a Grounded Theory Focus Group Study

ABSTRACT The perspectives of individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) about family relationships are underrepresented in the literature. The topic of family relationships emerged in a grounded theory exploratory focus group study that involved thirty dually diagnosed participants with moderate or mild intellectual disabilities and histories of challenging behaviors. Because of the dearth of existing information and the salience of the topic, this analysis explored properties of the participant’s disclosures associated with family relationships. The aims were to offer treatment providers empirically based information that may inform service provision and increase the availability of ID-specific, psychological supports for dually diagnosed individuals. Participants reported different types and statuses of family relationships. Transactional processes described in positive family relationships included properties such as reciprocity, flexibility, accommodation, trusting, and expressing affection. Conversely, participants described transactional relationship barriers (e.g., victimizing, behavioral dys-control, and substance abuse) that involved dysregulated behaviors of both the participants and family members in conflicted and severed family relationships. These factors appeared to lead to co-dysregulation versus co-regulation within the family relationships. These findings are relevant given the consensus in the literature that environmental factors are associated with challenging behaviors. Not only do treatment providers need to understand potential family relationship patterns to provide individual supports, but these multilayered factors may warrant seeking additional treatment modalities that address emotion regulation deficits of the participants and family members, trauma-informed treatment, and family therapy. Additionally, conceptualizing family relationships as transactional may help families and collateral supports co-construct positive, collaborative transactions with dually diagnosed individuals that improve the quality of life of all involved.
Effect of early enteral nutrition on patients with digestive tract surgery: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Postoperative early enteral nutrition (EEN) is useful for the effective recovery of patients that have undergone surgery. However, the feasibility and efficacy of EEN in patients with digestive tract surgery remain inconclusive. In the present meta-analysis, the PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and VIP databases were searched to identify controlled trials of patients with and without EEN following digestive tract surgery between October, 1966 and December, 2014. Methodological quality assessment was carried out for each of the included studies. For estimation of the analysis indexes, relative risk (RR) was used as the effect size of the the categorical variable, while the weighted mean difference (MD) was used as the effect size of the continuous variable. The meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.2 software. Eleven randomized controlled trials involving 1,095 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The results revealed that, EEN in patients with digestive tract surgery was more effective in decreasing the incidence of infectious [RR=0.50, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.38, 0.67; P<0.01] and non-infectious complications (RR=0.72, 95% CI: 0.43, 1.22; P<0.05) and shortening the length of first bowel action (MD=−4.10, 95% CI: −5.38, −2.82; P<0.05). It also had a significant influence on increasing the serum albumin (MD=2.87, 95% CI: 1.03, 4.71; P<0.05) and serum prealbumin (MD=0.04, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.05; P<0.05) levels. In conclusion, the results of the study have shown that EEN in patients with digestive tract surgery improved the nutritional status, reduced the risk of postoperative complications, shortened the length of hospital stay and promoted the functional recovery of the digestive system.
Crystal chemistry and metal-hydrogen bonding in anisotropic and interstitial hydrides of intermetallics of rare earth ( R ) and transition metals ( T ) , RT 3 and R 2 T 7 1

Hydrides of the RNi3and R2Ni7-based (R1⁄4 light rare earth element) intermetallics exhibit novel structural features. Structures of these hydrides, including CeNi3D2.8, La2Ni7D6.5, LaNi3D2.8, and Ce2Ni7D4.7, are formed via a huge volume expansion occurring along a single crystallographic direction. Unique structural features during the formation of the hydrides include: (a) The lattice expansion proceeds exclusively within the RNi2 slabs leaving the RNi5 slabs unmodified. Such expansion, 60% along [001] for the Laves layers, is associated with occupation of these slabs by D atoms; (b) New types of interstitial sites occupied by D are formed; (c) An ordered hydrogen sublattice is observed. In the present work we give (a) a review of the crystal chemistry of the conventional, interstitial type hydrides formed by RT3 and R2T7 intermetallic compounds (R 1⁄4 rare earths; T 1⁄4 Fe, Co, Ni) as compared to the unusual features of the crystal chemistry of anisotropic hydrides formed by the RNi3 and R2Ni7 intermetallics and (b) studies of the interrelation between structure and bonding in anisotropic hydrides by performing density functional calculations for CeNi3 and Ce2Ni7 intermetallic alloys and their corresponding hydrides. These studies provide an understanding of the bonding mechanism in the hydrogenated compounds which causes a complete anisotropic rebuilding of their structures. From DOS analysis, both initial intermetallics and their related hydrides were found to be metallic. Bader topological analysis for the non-hydrogenated intermetallics showed that Ce atoms donate in average of almost 1.2 electrons to the Ni sites. Hydrogenation increases electron transfer from Ce; its atoms donate 1.2–1.6 electrons to Ni and H. The Charge Density Distribution and Electron Localization Function for the Ce2Ni7D4.7 phase clearly confirm that the interaction between the Ce and Ni does not have any significant covalent bonding. Ni is bonded with H via forming spatial frameworks – H– Ni– H– Ni– where H atoms accumulate an excess electron density of 0.5e . Thus, the tetrahedral or open saddle-type NiH4 coordination observed in the structures of these hydrides is not associated with the formation of [NiH4 ]4 complexes containing a hydrido-ion H 1. In the structural frameworks there are terminal bonds Ni– H, bridges Ni– H– Ni, and the bonds where one H is bound to three different Ni. These spatial ordered frameworks stand as the principal reason for the anisotropic changes in the structural parameters on hydrogenation. Another unique feature of anisotropic hydrides is the donation of electrons from nonhydrogenated RNi5 parts to hydrogen in RNi2 slabs stabilising these fragments.
Thermal effects of ovenized clocks on episeal encapsulated inertial measurement units

In this paper, we demonstrate the thermal effects of micro-ovenized clocks embedded in the device layer of a vacuum sealed MEMS inertial measurement unit. We demonstrate a novel in-plane suspension and heater that provides improved thermal isolation within a mm-scale chip, compared to in-cap heaters. We show the interaction of three resonators within a single die: an ovenized tuning fork, a resonant accelerometer, and a disk resonating gyroscope. We demonstrate that a device layer micro-oven, which operates at a tenth of the power of an encapsulation cap-layer micro-oven, has very small effects on the frequency of the other resonators in the die, thus proving good thermal isolation in our structures. We show that the in-plane heater isolation provides more than a 15X reduction of frequency deviation of adjacent sensors.
Fiscal Multiplier in a Credit-Constrained New Keynesian Economy

Using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model that accounts for credit constraints, we study the effects of fiscal stimulus on the macroeconomy. We show that the presence of credit constraints results in larger fiscal multipliers than indicated by the standard DSGE models. If credit-crunch conditions persist, the multipliers become large enough for fiscal policy to be highly effective.