Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Orthogonal Eigenvectors and Relative Gaps

This paper presents and analyzes a new algorithm for computing eigenvectors of symmetric tridiagonal matrices factored as LDLt, with D diagonal and L unit bidiagonal. If an eigenpair is well behaved in a certain sense with respect to the factorization, the algorithm is shown to compute an approximate eigenvector which is accurate to working precision. As a consequence, all the eigenvectors computed by the algorithm come out numerically orthogonal to each other without making use of any reorthogonalization process. The key is first running a qd-type algorithm on the factored matrix LDLt and then applying a fine-tuned version of inverse iteration especially adapted to this situation. Since the computational cost is O(n) per eigenvector for an n × n matrix, the proposed algorithm is the central step of a more ambitious algorithm which, at best (i.e., when all eigenvectors are well-conditioned), would compute all eigenvectors of an n × n symmetric tridiagonal at O(n2) cost, a great improvement over existing algorithms.
Comparing languages from vocabulary growth to inflection paradigms: A study run on parallel corpora and multilingual lexicons

In this paper we report on a corpora and lexical comparative study on how to compare the difficulties of five languages (English, German, Spanish, French and Italian) for morphosyntactic analysis and the development of lexicographic resources. Experiments were conducted on two different sets of multilingual parallel corpora and two different morphosyntactic lexicons per language. We measure and compare statistics on dynamic and static coverage, form-lemma and morphosyntactic ambiguities in the lexicon and the corpus. In addition to this, we use the lexicons to automatically generate inflection paradigms and calculate how many inflection paradigms are needed per language. Results show the difficulty of working with multilingual resources and parallel corpora and offer some surprising quantitative results on differences in languages.
Calcineurin Activity Is Required for the Initiation of Skeletal Muscle Differentiation

Differentiation of skeletal muscle myoblasts follows an ordered sequence of events: commitment, cell cycle withdrawal, phenotypic differentiation, and finally cell fusion to form multinucleated myotubes. The molecular signaling pathways that regulate the progression are not well understood. Here we investigate the potential role of calcium and the calcium-dependent phosphatase calcineurin in myogenesis. Commitment, phenotypic differentiation, and cell fusion are identified as distinct calcium-regulated steps, based on the extracellular calcium concentration required for the expression of morphological and biochemical markers specific to each of these stages. Furthermore, differentiation is inhibited at the commitment stage by either treatment with the calcineurin inhibitor cyclosporine A (CSA) or expression of CAIN, a physiological inhibitor of calcineurin. Retroviral-mediated gene transfer of a constitutively active form of calcineurin is able to induce myogenesis only in the presence of extracellular calcium, suggesting that multiple calcium-dependent pathways are required for differentiation. The mechanism by which calcineurin initiates differentiation includes transcriptional activation of myogenin, but does not require the participation of NFAT. We conclude that commitment of skeletal muscle cells to differentiation is calcium and calcineurin-dependent, but NFAT-independent.
Control of unmanned aerial vehicle with restricted input in the presence of additive wind perturbations

This study presents simple controllers for achieving trajectory tracking for kinematic models of unmanned aerial vehicles with bounded inputs under various wind conditions. Application of the approach to group control, in particular for flying UAVs in a string-like formation in the presence of additive wind perturbations is demonstrated. Simulation results demonstrate some of the proposed controller performances.
Resting Heart Rate Is Associated With Nonproliferative Retinopathy in Normoalbuminuric Type 1 Diabetic Patients

Previous studies have reported that retinopathy might be already present in the normoalbuminuric state in type 1 diabetic patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and predictors of nonproliferative retinopathy in normoalbuminuric type 1 diabetic patients. The study included 312 normoalbuminuric type 1 diabetic patients with normal renal function before any interventions with statins, angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors, or angiotensin II receptor blockers. Diagnosis of nonproliferative retinopathy was made by fundoscopy after pupillary dilatation. Urinary albumin excretion (UAE) rate was measured from at least two 24‐hour urine samples. Nonproliferative retinopathy was present in 36% of normoalbuminuric patients. Patients with nonproliferative retinopathy were older and had longer duration of diabetes, higher hemoglobin A1c, daily insulin dose, and higher resting heart rate (RHR) (P≤.01 for all). Patients in the 4th quartile of RHR were older and had longer duration of diabetes, higher hemoglobin A1c, daily insulin dose, serum creatinine, UAE, and a significantly higher prevalence of nonproliferative retinopathy compared with subjects in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quartiles (P<.05). In logistic regression analysis, after adjustment for risk factors, higher RHR was significantly associated with risk of nonproliferative retinopathy in patients (P<.001), with odds ratios of 1.02 to 1.08. These data suggest that RHR is independently associated with nonproliferative retinopathy in normoalbuminuric type 1 diabetic patients.
Teachers' thinking about information and communications technology and learning: beliefs and outcomes

Abstract Constructs about teaching and learning were elicited from teachers of Reception (4-5-year-olds), Year 2 (6-7-year-olds) and Year 4 (8-9-year-olds). Self-ratings on 70 constructs relating to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and learning were compared with pupil outcome data, questionnaire information about classroom practice and teachers' self-reported level of ICT skill. Internally consistent patterns of thinking emerged for the group of 75 teachers. Clear differences emerged by year group taught in the way these patterns predicted pupil progress. Teachers' attitudes towards ICT and ways of using it were significantly linked with pupil outcomes in literacy and numeracy. Similarly, there were links between the way teachers reported that they used computers and the relative pupil progress data from the Performance Indicators in Primary Schools project (PIPS) based at Durham University. The research developed from an investigation into teachers' thinking undertaken as part of a project funded by the Teacher Training Agency (Moseley et al, 1999) into effective pedagogy in literacy and numeracy in primary schools. The research team believe that it is important to take into account teachers’ beliefs and practice in supporting change. Issues for the training and support of teachers using ICT in their teaching are discussed.
Scalable distributed depth-first search with greedy work stealing

We present a framework for the parallelization of depth-first combinatorial search algorithms on a network of computers. Our architecture is intended for a distributed setting and uses a work stealing strategy coupled with a small number of primitives for the processors (which we call workers) to obtain new work and to communicate to other workers. These primitives are a minimal imposition and integrate easily with constraint programming systems. The main contribution is an adaptive architecture, which allows workers to incrementally join and leave and has good scaling properties as the number of workers increases. Our empirical results illustrate that near-linear speedup for backtrack search is achieved for up to 61 workers. It suggests that near-linear speedup is possible with even more workers. The experiments also demonstrate where departures from linearity can occur for small problems, and also for problems where the parallelism can itself affect the search as in branch and bound.
Hierarchical Cost-Sensitive Algorithms for Genome-Wide Gene Function Prediction

In this work we propose new ensemble methods for the hierarchical classification of gene functions. Our methods exploit the hierarchical relationships between the classes in different ways: each ensemble node is trained “locally”, according to its position in the hierarchy; moreover, in the evaluation phase the set of predicted annotations is built so to minimize a global loss function defined over the hierarchy. We also address the problem of sparsity of annotations by introducing a cost-sensitive parameter that allows to control the precision-recall trade-off. Experiments with the model organism S. cerevisiae, using the FunCat taxonomy and seven biomolecular data sets, reveal a significant advantage of our techniques over “flat” and cost-insensitive hierarchical ensembles.
The analysis of transient phenomena on power transmission lines due to lightning electromagnetic pulses

The characteristic parameters of the lightning electromagnetic pulse (LEMP) current have been investigated for many years on the basis of the isolation coordination by scientists studying in the field of electricity and physics. The necessity of studying in this area has arisen in order to protect the electrical and electronic equipment inside the power transmission lines and electrical installations against the harmful effects of the harmonic current of the lightning electromagnetic pulse. In this study, the over-voltages, which occur due to the lightning electromagnetic wave strikes on the pylons, were investigated with the Alternative Transient Program (ATP). The Heidler function is used to simulate the LEMP model. Analyzes of the over-voltages that occur as a result of the lightning strike to the protection conductor on the top of a grounded pole or one of the pole conductors of the pylon are carried out. Moreover, high voltage, electric field and magnetic field changes in the environment where the lightning electromagnetic pulse strikes are analyzed numerically in MATLAB using Rusk equations and compared with ATP simulation results.
A Response to Hallahan and Lloyd

I welcome the opportunity to participate in this open exchange of ideas regarding the use of self-monitoring procedures with learning disabled children. Hallahan and Lloyd's reply suggests that the difference between our points of view is not substantive, but rather a matter of emphasis. Thus, Hallahan and Lloyd emphasize the importance of strategy training, whereas I stress the importance of effective curricula as a prerequisite to instruction in metacognitive strategies. Instructional variables are often ignored; however, excellent curricula cannot be taken for granted. Insight and experience are required to design integrated curricula that maximize learning by assuring that students know what to pay attention to. I will briefly respond to each of Hallahan and Lloyd's six points (see p. 153).
Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in the Cytolethal Distending Toxin B Gene Confers Heterogeneity in the Cytotoxicity of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans

ABSTRACT Clinical Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans produces cytolethal distending toxin (CDT) with titers ranging from 102 to 108 U/mg. Single nucleotide polymorphism analysis of the cdt gene in clinical isolates identified a variation of a single amino acid at residue 281 of CdtB, which significantly affected CDT toxicity by modulating the chromatin-degrading activity of CdtB.
Nutritional Intake and Status of Cobalamin and Folate among Non-Pregnant Women of Reproductive Age in Bhaktapur, Nepal

Cobalamin and folate are especially important for women of childbearing age due to their ubiquitous role in fetal growth and development. Population-based data on cobalamin and folate status are lacking from Nepal, where diets are mostly vegetarian. The objectives of the study were to investigate cobalamin and folate intake and status, and to explore associations with socio-demographics, anthropometrics, anemia, and dietary habits. Following a random selection of geographical clusters, we collected blood samples from 500 non-pregnant women and 24-h dietary recalls and food frequency questionnaires from a subsample of 379 women. Twenty percent of the women did not consume any food containing cobalamin during the days recalled, and in 72% nutritional cobalamin intake was <1 μg/day. Eighty-four percent of the women had cobalamin intake lower than the estimated average requirement (EAR) (<2 μg/day). In contrast, only 12% of the women had a folate intake less than 100 μg per day, whereas 62% had intake between 100 and 320 μg. Low plasma cobalamin (<150 pmol/L) was found in 42% of the women, most of whom (88%) also had elevated levels of methylmalonic acid. Our results indicated a high prevalence of nutritional cobalamin deficiency, while folate deficiency was uncommon.
Streaming terrain rendering

Terrains and other geometric models have been traditionally stored locally. Their remote access presents the characteristics that are a combination of data serving such as files and real-time streaming like audio-visual media. In this sketch we describe a client-server system to serve and stream large terrains to heterogenous clients. This process is sensitive to both the client's capabilities as well as the available network bandwidth. Level of Detail and view prediction are used to alleviate the effects of changing latency and bandwidth. We discuss the design of a terrain streaming system and present preliminary results.
Energy-performance design space exploration in SMT architectures exploiting selective load value predictions

This paper presents a design space exploration of a selective load value prediction scheme suitable for energy-aware Simultaneous Multi-Threaded (SMT) architectures. A load value predictor is an architectural enhancement which speculates over the results of a micro-processor load instruction to speedup the execution of the following instructions. The proposed architectural enhancement differs from a classic predictor due to an improved selection scheme that allows to activate the predictor only when a miss occurs in the first level of cache. We analyze the effectiveness of the selective predictor in terms of overall energy reduction and performance improvement. To this end, we show how the proposed predictor can produce benefits (in terms of overall cost) when the cache size of the SMT architecture is reduced and we compare it with a classic non-selective load value prediction scheme. The experimental results have been gathered with a state-of-the-art SMT simulator running the SPEC2000 benchmark suite, both in SMT and non-SMT mode.
Differential analysis of mutations in the Jewish population and their implications for diseases

Sequencing large cohorts of ethnically homogeneous individuals yields genetic insights with implications for the entire population rather than a single individual. In order to evaluate the genetic basis of certain diseases encountered at high frequency in the Ashkenazi Jewish population (AJP), as well as to improve variant annotation among the AJP, we examined the entire exome, focusing on specific genes with known clinical implications in 128 Ashkenazi Jews and compared these data to other non-Jewish populations (European, African, South Asian and East Asian). We targeted American College of Medical Genetics incidental finding recommended genes and the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) germline cancer-related genes. We identified previously known disease-causing variants and discovered potentially deleterious variants in known disease-causing genes that are population specific or substantially more prevalent in the AJP, such as in the ATP and HGFAC genes associated with colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer, respectively. Additionally, we tested the advantage of utilizing the database of the AJP when assigning pathogenicity to rare variants of independent whole-exome sequencing data of 49 Ashkenazi Jew early-onset breast cancer (BC) patients. Importantly, population-based filtering using our AJP database enabled a reduction in the number of potential causal variants in the BC cohort by 36%. Taken together, population-specific sequencing of the AJP offers valuable, clinically applicable information and improves AJP filter annotation.
The discharge of impulses in motor nerve fibres

IT is generally agreed that the motor nerve fibres perform their function in the body by conducting impulses of the normal type, but there is little agreement as to the way in which these impulses are discharged. According to one line of argument a powerful contraction is brought about by more or less synchronous volleys of impulses occurring at the rate of 50-80 a sec. in each motor neurone; according to another the rate of discharge is very much higher and the apparent synchronisation revealed by the electromyogram is caused by the properties of the recording instrument or of the muscle. What happens with a relatively weak contraction is too uncertain even to have become a subject for controversy. In the present investigation we have obtained direct records of the discharge in individual motor nerve fibres innervating the diaphragm. We cannot assume that our results can be applied to every kind of reflex contraction, but for this particular case they seem so definite that it is unnecessary to set out the whole of the evidence which has been brought forward by indirect methods in the past'. The phrenic is an ideal nerve for investigations of the activity of the motor centres, for the respiratory discharge needs no external stimulus to maintain it, its intensity can be varied by controlling the air supply to the lungs and it occurs at definite intervals separated by periods of inactivity. The electric responses in the whole nerve trunk have been recorded by Dittler and Garten (3) with the string galvanometer, and by Ga s s e r and N ew c om e r (4) with the same instrument used in conjunction with a valve amplifier. Their records (made from the dog) show that in each period of inspiration the electric response takes the form of a series of oscillations at the rate of about 70 a sec. Each oscillation resembles
Asymptotically exact error analysis for the generalized equation-LASSO

Given an unknown signal x<sub>0</sub> ∈ R<sup>n</sup> and linear noisy measurements y = Ax<sub>0</sub> + σv ∈ R<sup>m</sup>, the generalized ℓ<sub>2</sub><sup>2</sup>-LASSO solves x̂ := arg min<sup>x</sup> 1/2∥y-Ax ∥<sub>2</sub><sup>2</sup> + σλf(x). Here, f is a convex regularization function (e.g. ℓ<sub>1</sub>-norm, nuclearnorm) aiming to promote the structure of x<sub>0</sub> (e.g. sparse, lowrank), and, λ ≥ 0 is the regularizer parameter. A related optimization problem, though not as popular or well-known, is often referred to as the generalized ℓ<sub>2</sub>-LASSO and takes the form x̂̂̂ := arg min<sub>x</sub> ∥y-Ax∥<sub>2</sub> +λf(x), and has been analyzed by Oymak, Thrampoulidis and Hassibi. Oymak et al. further made conjectures about the performance of the generalized ℓ<sub>2</sub><sup>2</sup>-LASSO. This paper establishes these conjectures rigorously. We measure performance with the normalized squared error NSE(σ) := ∥x-x<sub>0</sub>∥<sub>2</sub><sup>2</sup>/(mσ<sup>2</sup>). Assuming the entries of A are i.i. d. Gaussian N (0,1/m) and those of v are i.i. d. N(0,1), we precisely characterize the “asymptotic NSE” aNSE := lim<sub>σ→0</sub> NSE(σ) when the problem dimensions tend to infinity in a proportional manner. The role of λ, f and x<sub>0</sub> is explicitly captured in the derived expression via means of a single geometric quantity, the Gaussian distance to the subdifferential. We conjecture that aNSE = sup<sub>σ>0</sub> NSE(σ). We include detailed discussions on the interpretation of our result, make connections to relevant literature and perform computational experiments that validate our theoretical findings.
Asymmetrical impact: vigilance for differences and self-relevant stimuli

We hypothesized that people are ‘vigilant’ for differences between stimuli. In particular, we compared the reactions elicited by unexpected differences versus unexpected similarities. Participants imagined themselves in several situations where they learned something unexpected. This unexpected information showed either that two things previously thought to be similar were actually different or that two things previously thought to be different were actually similar. Also, the new information was either beneficial, neutral, or detrimental to the perceiver. Participants indicated for each situation how surprised they would be and how they would feel. Unexpected differences were rated as more surprising than unexpected similarities for positive and negative events, though not for neutral events. Participants also reported that beneficial differences would produce more positive affect than beneficial similarities, whereas detrimental differences would produce more negative affect than detrimental similarities. These findings support the asymmetrical impact hypothesis that differences have more psychological impact than similarities. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Visually Controlled Locomotion: Its Dependence on Optic Flow, Three-Dimensional Space Perception, and Cognition

Gibson (1958/this issue) and his followers have emphasized the role of optic flow in the control of locomotion. In recent years much research has been devoted to the visual control of aiming and braking, mainly in connection with terrestrial locomotion. The goal of this article is to broaden the topic empirically and theoretically. At the empirical level, we argue that there are a number of visually controlled maneuvers that need to be addressed for their own sake, for they involve more than can be learned from research on aiming and braking. At the theoretical level, we argue that optic flow needs to be supplemented by other explanatory primitives, including the actor's perception of three-dimensional spatial layout and the actor's cognitive representations of the spatial envelope and plant dynamics of his or her body or vehicle.
Simulation modeling and analysis with INSIGHT: A tutorial

The INSIGHT simulation language describes systems in a quick, simple, and compact fashion using a network representation. This description can be entered and simulated using novel interactive facilities that free the user from learning specific syntax. Statistics summarizing the simulation are produced automatically, but can be greatly enhanced by various input models and output analysis mechanisms. Use of the language does not require programming and complex models use the descriptive features of simple ones, incorporating more elaborate specifications and more sophisticated concepts. INSIGHT is available for most computers and is portable across machines. The language has been extensively applied and its scope of applications has ranged from manufacturing to service environments. Using INSIGHT, the process of simulation modeling and the results from the simulations combine to provide "insight" into problem solving.
Beyond Bias? The Promise and Limits of Q Method in Human Geography

Q method is a quantitative technique for eliciting, evaluating, and comparing human subjectivity. We introduce the method here and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses, especially with regards to its incorporation into human geographic research. We conclude that Q method is particularly appropriate for human geographies informed by anti-essentialist notions of the subject and constructivist accounts of social and natural reality. Claims by the founders of Q method that hold that the procedure distances and removes the bias of the researcher are shown to be unfounded and epistemologically naïve. Nevertheless, Q method is a rigorous, hermeneutic, and iterative technique that allows the researcher to surrender the monopoly of control in their relationship with the researched and so contribute to more democratic research design and implementation.