Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards Empathic Neurofeedback for Interactive Storytelling

Interactive Narrative is a form of digital entertainment based on AI techniques which support narrative generation and user interaction. Despite recent progress in the field, there is still a lack of unified models integrating narrative generation, user response and interaction. This paper addresses this issue by revisiting existing Interactive Narrative paradigms, granting explicit status to users' disposition towards story characters. We introduce a novel Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) design, which attempts to capture empathy for the main character in a way that is compatible with filmic theories of emotion. Results from two experimental studies with a fully-implemented system demonstrate the effectiveness of a neurofeedback-based approach, showing that subjects can successfully modulate their emotional support for a character who is confronted with challenging situations. A preliminary fMRI analysis also shows activation during user interaction, in regions of the brain associated with emotional control.
Synchronous, Focally Modulated β-Band Oscillations Characterize Local Field Potential Activity in the Striatum of Awake Behaving Monkeys

Synchronous oscillatory activity has been observed in a range of neural networks from invertebrate nervous systems to the human frontal cortex. In humans and other primates, sensorimotor regions of the neocortex exhibit synchronous oscillations in the β-frequency band (∼15-30 Hz), and these are also prominent in the cerebellum, a brainstem sensorimotor region. However, recordings in the basal ganglia have suggested that such β-band oscillations are not normally a primary feature of these structures. Instead, they become a dominant feature of neural activity in the basal ganglia in Parkinson's disease and in parkinsonian states induced by dopamine depletion in experimental animals. Here we demonstrate that when multiple electrodes are used to record local field potentials, 10-25 Hz oscillations can be readily detected in the striatum of normal macaque monkeys. These normally occurring oscillations are highly synchronous across large regions of the striatum. Furthermore, they are subject to dynamic modulation when monkeys perform a simple motor task to earn rewards. In the striatal region representing oculomotor activity, we found that small focal zones could pop in and out of synchrony as the monkeys made saccadic eye movements, suggesting that the broadly synchronous oscillatory activity interfaces with modular spatiotemporal patterns of task-related activity. We suggest that the background β-band oscillations in the striatum could help to focus action-selection network functions of cortico-basal ganglia circuits.
Adoption and use of e-government services in the Abu Dhabi police force : a qualitative study

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are becoming increasingly prevalent in peoples’ daily lives due to the presence of e-government. This research-in-progress paper aims to identify and understand factors affecting the diffusion, adoption and use of e-services in a public sector organisation, in this case, Abu Dhabi Police Force (ADPF) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A qualitative approach involving 39 participants’ interviews was used in this study. The questions used in the interviews were based on a conceptual framework that applied certain constructs taken from Diffusion of Innovations Theory (DOI), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and e-Commerce’s Trustworthiness models. The research study results show that age, education, position within an organisation and the job that an individual is involved with inhibit or encourage the use and adoption of e-services. The contributions from this research are anticipated to be a better understanding of the diffusion, adoption and use of e-services in the UAE region. For industry the findings offer a diverse perspective as they provide some information on the impacts of eservices in public sector organisations of Abu Dhabi. Policymakers, particularly in the UAE and developing countries can learn of the impacts of e-government efforts in the public sector of Abu Dhabi.
Invisibility, Illegibility, and Stigma: The Citizenship Experiences of Divorced Gays and Lesbians

ABSTRACT The campaign for marriage equality emphasized that without access to legal marriage, gays and lesbians were relegated to “second-class citizenship. ” Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), gays and lesbians find that marrying can lead to greater acceptance and support from family, friends, and colleagues, suggesting that marriage helps gays and lesbians achieve citizenship, defined in terms of belonging and inclusion. However, it remains unclear whether such acceptance and support then disappears or diminishes after divorce. In this article, the informal social consequences associated with same-sex divorce were explored by drawing on in-depth interviews with a small convenience sample of recently divorced gays and lesbians. Results indicate that same-sex divorce is largely invisible, which leads divorced gays and lesbians to worry that their life circumstances will make them illegible to others. In turn, some also withdraw from social interaction, and others report experiencing stigma.
An analysis of the metric structure of the weight space of feedforward networks and its application to time series modeling and prediction

We study symmetries of feedforward networks in terms of their corresponding groups. We (cid:12)nd that these groups naturally act on and partition weight space into disjunct domains. We derive an algorithm to generate representative weight vectors in a fundamental domain. The analysis of the metric structure of the fundamental domain leads to improved evaluation procedures of learning results, such as local error bars estimated using maximum-likelihood and bootstrap methods. It can be implemented e(cid:14)ciently even for large networks. We demonstrate the approach in the area of nonlinear time series modeling and prediction.
Remodeling Brain Activity by Repetitive Cervicothoracic Transspinal Stimulation after Human Spinal Cord Injury

Interventions that can produce targeted brain plasticity after human spinal cord injury (SCI) are needed for restoration of impaired movement in these patients. In this study, we tested the effects of repetitive cervicothoracic transspinal stimulation in one person with cervical motor incomplete SCI on cortical and corticospinal excitability, which were assessed via transcranial magnetic stimulation with paired and single pulses, respectively. We found that repetitive cervicothoracic transspinal stimulation potentiated intracortical facilitation in flexor and extensor wrist muscles, recovered intracortical inhibition in the more impaired wrist flexor muscle, increased corticospinal excitability bilaterally, and improved voluntary muscle strength. These effects may have been mediated by improvements in cortical integration of ascending sensory inputs and strengthening of corticospinal connections. Our novel therapeutic intervention opens new avenues for targeted brain neuromodulation protocols in individuals with cervical motor incomplete SCI.
Pharmacokinetic Properties of 2nd-Generation Fibroblast Growth Factor-1 Mutants for Therapeutic Application

Fibroblast growth factor-1 (FGF-1) is an angiogenic factor with therapeutic potential for the treatment of ischemic disease. FGF-1 has low intrinsic thermostability and is characteristically formulated with heparin as a stabilizing agent. Heparin, however, adds a number of undesirable properties that negatively impact safety and cost. Mutations that increase the thermostability of FGF-1 may obviate the need for heparin in formulation and may prove to be useful “2nd-generation” forms for therapeutic use. We report a pharmacokinetic (PK) study in rabbits of human FGF-1 in the presence and absence of heparin, as well as three mutant forms having differential effects upon thermostability, buried reactive thiols, and heparin affinity. The results support the hypothesis that heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) in the vasculature of liver, kidney and spleen serves as the principle peripheral compartment in the distribution kinetics. The addition of heparin to FGF-1 is shown to increase endocrine-like properties of distribution. Mutant forms of FGF-1 that enhance thermostability or eliminate buried reactive thiols demonstrate a shorter distribution half-life, a longer elimination half-life, and a longer mean residence time (MRT) in comparison to wild-type FGF-1. The results show how such mutations can produce useful 2nd-generation forms with tailored PK profiles for specific therapeutic application.
Star-to-Star Abundance Variations among Bright Giants in the Mildly Metal-poor Globular Cluster M4

We present a chemical composition analysis of 36 giants in the nearby mildly metal-poor ( = -1.18) "CN-bimodal" globular cluster M4. The stars were observed at the Lick and McDonald Observatories using high-resolution échelle spectrographs and at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory using the multiobject spectrometer. Confronted with a cluster having interstellar extinction that is large and variable across the cluster face, we combined traditional spectroscopic abundance methods with modifications to the line depth ratio technique pioneered by Gray to determine the atmospheric parameters of our stars. We derive a total-to-selective extinction ratio of 3.4 ± 0.4 and an average ⟨E(B-V)⟩ reddening of 0.33 ± 0.01, which is significantly lower than that estimated by using the dust maps made by Schlegel and coworkers. We determine abundance ratios typical of halo field and cluster stars for scandium, titanium, vanadium, nickel, and europium with star-to-star variations in these elements of less than ±0.1. Silicon, aluminum, barium, and lanthanum are overabundant with respect to what is seen in other globular clusters of similar metallicity. These overabundances confirm the results of an earlier study by Brown & Wallerstein based on a much smaller sample of M4 giants. Superposed on the primordial abundance distribution is evidence for the existence of proton capture synthesis of carbon, oxygen, neon, and magnesium. We recover some of the C, N, O, Na, Mg, and Al abundance swings and correlations found in other more metal-poor globular clusters, but the range of variation is muted. In the case of Mg and Al, this is compatible with the idea that the Al enhancements are derived from the destruction of 25,26Mg, not 24Mg. We determine that the C + N + O abundance sum is constant to within the observational errors and agrees with the C + N + O total that might be expected for M4 stars at birth. The asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in M4 have C, N, and O abundances that show less evidence for proton capture nucleosynthesis than is found in the less evolved stars of the red giant branch (RGB). Deeply mixed stars of the RGB, subsequent to the helium core flash, might take up residence on the blue end of the horizontal branch and thus fail to evolve back to the AGB, but reasons for skepticism concerning this scenario are noted.
Computational time factor analysis of K-means algorithm on actual and transformed data clustering

Clustering is the process of partitioning a set of objects into a distinct number of groups or clusters, such that objects from the same group are more similar than objects from different groups. Clusters are the simple and compact representation of a data set and are useful in applications, where we have no prior knowledge about the data set. There are many approaches to data clustering that vary in their complexity and effectiveness due to its wide number of applications. K-means is a standard and landmark algorithm for clustering data. This multi-pass algorithm has higher time complexity. But in real time we want the algorithm which is time efficient. Hence, here we are giving a new approach using wiener transformation. Here the data is wiener transformed for k-means clustering. The computational results shows that the proposed approach is highly time efficient and also it finds very fine clusters.
Guaranteeing end-to-end quality-of-service with a generic routing approach

Quality-of-Service (QoS) provisioning plays a pivotal role in widespread deployment of new emerging services over the current Internet and is expected to be an indispensable attribute of future Internet. Though relevant progress has been made towards ensuring QoS, modeling and developing efficient algorithms for end-to-end QoS provisioning remain challenging problems in the current and future Internet infrastructure. In this paper, we address these challenging problems from a generic routing perspective, emphasizing modeling and algorithms as well as evaluation on end-to-end QoS provisioning. Specifically, we first model the common features of major technologies for end-to-end QoS provisioning in a "bottom-up" manner. Through the model, a set of end-to-end performance bounds that indicate the serving capability of substrates are obtained. Then we propose two routing algorithms based upon the model and performance bounds. The analysis on computational property of proposed algorithms proves that they are light-weighted and cost-effective. We also conduct thorough performance comparison between the proposed algorithms and previous best-known results in both theoretical and experimental ways. Our results show that the model and the algorithms developed in this paper are efficient and superior to other competitors, thus are applicable to the various networking systems for end-to-end QoS provisioning in current and future Internet.
Detecting β-Casein Variation in Bovine Milk

In bovine species, β-casein (β-CN) is characterized by genetic polymorphism. The two most common protein variants are β-CN A2 (the original one) and A1, differing from A2 for one amino acid substitution (Pro67 to His67). Several bioactive peptides affecting milk nutritional properties can originate from β-CN. Among them, β-casomorphin-7 (BCM7) ranging from amino acid 60 to 66 can be released more easily from β-CN variants carrying His67 (A1 type) instead of Pro67 (A2 type). Nowadays, “A2 milk” is produced in different countries claiming its potential benefits in human health. The aim of this study was to further develop and apply an isoelectric focusing electrophoresis (IEF) method to bulk and individual milk samples in order to improve its use for β-CN studies. We succeeded in identifying A2 milk samples correctly and quantifying the percentage of A2, A1, and B variants in bulk samples not derived from A2 milk as well as in individual milk samples. The method allows us to quantify the relative proportion of β-CN variants in whole milk without eliminating whey protein by acid or enzymatic precipitation of caseins. The aim of this study was also to study the different behavior of β-CN and β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) in the presence of trichloroacetic acid (TCA). The higher sensitivity of β-CN to TCA allows quantifying β-CN variants after TCA fixation because β-LG is not visible. Monitoring β-CN variation in cattle breeds is important in order to maintain a certain balance between Pro67 and His67 in dairy products. Overall, the debate between A1 and A2 milk needs further investigation.
A Robust Gesture Recognition Using Depth Data

In this paper, we propose a novel gesture recognition system using depth data captured by Kinect sensor. Conventionally, the features which have been used for hand gesture recognition are divided into two parts, hand shape features and arm movement features. However, these traditional features are not robust for environmental changing such as individual differences in body size, camera position and so on. In this paper, we propose a novel hand gesture recognition system using depth data, which is robust for environmental changing. Our approach involves an extraction of hand shape features based on gradient value instead of conventional 2D shape features, and arm movement features based on angles between each joints. In order to show the effectiveness of the proposed method, a performance is evaluated comparing with the conventional method by using Japanese sign language.
Printed PAW recognition based on planar hidden Markov models

In this paper, we present an approach for connected Arabic printed text recognition using statistical models based on planar hidden Markov models (PHMM), without prior segmentation. The performance is enhanced by the use of robust features and an efficient superstate duration distribution. The approach has been tested on a vocabulary of 11 kinds of pieces of arabic word (PAW) of three characters each. The experiments have shown promising results and directions for further improvements. The recognition accuracy has proved to be of 100% even with poor and degraded texts.
Preferred argument structure in the narratives of Chinese-English bilinguals and their monolingual peers

Aims and Objectives: This paper aims to tease apart the roles of different factors that contribute to potential divergence between bilingual and monolingual speakers in the patterns of preferred argument structure (PAS) in spoken discourse. Methodology: Spoken narratives were elicited from two groups of Chinese-English bilinguals (early versus late) and their monolingual peers, using the wordless picture storybook, Frog, where are you? Data and Analysis: For each transcribed narrative, core arguments in the clauses are coded for grammatical role and information status. The data are then analyzed for conformity to four constraints that Du Bois introduced in his theory of PAS. Findings: The results revealed both similarities and differences in the PAS patterns in the narratives of the four participant groups. While the similarities provide support for the validity of the PAS theory, the differences were found to result from cross-linguistic influence, an age of second language acquisition effect, or a general effect of bilingualism. Originality: The innovative nature of this study lies in the following: (i) the examination of a new syntax–discourse interface phenomenon in bilingual development; and (ii) the intentional attempt to tease apart the effect of cross-linguistic influence and the effect of bilingualism itself on bilingual performance. Implications: Our findings suggest that it is necessary, and indeed empirically possible, to tease apart not only the effect of age of second language acquisition from the effect of cross-linguistic influence, but also these two effects from the general effect of bilingualism in bilingual development and use.
Interleukin-16 Promotes Cardiac Fibrosis and Myocardial Stiffening in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Background Chronic heart failure (CHF) with preserved left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (HFpEF) is observed in half of all patients with CHF and carries the same poor prognosis as CHF with reduced LV ejection fraction (HFrEF). In contrast to HFrEF, there is no established therapy for HFpEF. Chronic inflammation contributes to cardiac fibrosis, a crucial factor in HFpEF; however, inflammatory mechanisms and mediators involved in the development of HFpEF remain unclear. Therefore, we sought to identify novel inflammatory mediators involved in this process. Methods and Results An analysis by multiplex-bead array assay revealed that serum interleukin-16 (IL-16) levels were specifically elevated in patients with HFpEF compared with HFrEF and controls. This was confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in HFpEF patients and controls, and serum IL-16 levels showed a significant association with indices of LV diastolic dysfunction. Serum IL-16 levels were also elevated in a rat model of HFpEF and positively correlated with LV end-diastolic pressure, lung weight and LV myocardial stiffness constant. The cardiac expression of IL-16 was upregulated in the HFpEF rat model. Enhanced cardiac expression of IL-16 in transgenic mice induced cardiac fibrosis and LV myocardial stiffening accompanied by increased macrophage infiltration. Treatment with anti-IL-16 neutralizing antibody ameliorated cardiac fibrosis in the mouse model of angiotensin II-induced hypertension. Conclusion Our data indicate that IL-16 is a mediator of LV myocardial fibrosis and stiffening in HFpEF, and that the blockade of IL-16 could be a possible therapeutic option for HFpEF.
Axisymmetric superdirectivity in subsonic jets

Abstract We present experimental results for the acoustic field of jets with Mach numbers between 0.35 and 0.6. An azimuthal ring array of six microphones, whose polar angle, $\theta $ , was progressively varied, allows the decomposition of the acoustic pressure into azimuthal Fourier modes. In agreement with past observations, the sound field for low polar angles (measured with respect to the jet axis) is found to be dominated by the axisymmetric mode, particularly at the peak Strouhal number. The axisymmetric mode of the acoustic field can be clearly associated with an axially non-compact source, in the form of a wavepacket: the sound pressure level for peak frequencies is found be superdirective for all Mach numbers considered, with exponential decay as a function of $ \mathop{ (1\ensuremath{-} {M}_{c} \cos \theta )}\nolimits ^{2} $ , where ${M}_{c} $ is the Mach number based on the phase velocity ${U}_{c} $ of the convected wave. While the mode $m= 1$ spectrum scales with Strouhal number, suggesting that its energy content is associated with turbulence scales, the axisymmetric mode scales with Helmholtz number – the ratio between source length scale and acoustic wavelength. The axisymmetric radiation has a stronger velocity dependence than the higher-order azimuthal modes, again in agreement with predictions of wavepacket models. We estimate the axial extent of the source of the axisymmetric component of the sound field to be of the order of six to eight jet diameters. This estimate is obtained in two different ways, using, respectively, the directivity shape and the velocity exponent of the sound radiation. The analysis furthermore shows that compressibility plays a significant role in the wavepacket dynamics, even at this low Mach number. Velocity fluctuations on the jet centreline are reduced as the Mach number is increased, an effect that must be accounted for in order to obtain a correct estimation of the velocity dependence of sound radiation. Finally, the higher-order azimuthal modes of the sound field are considered, and a model for the low-angle sound radiation by helical wavepackets is developed. The measured sound for azimuthal modes 1 and 2 at low Strouhal numbers is seen to correspond closely to the predicted directivity shapes.