Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Biologically Inspired Modular Structure to Control the Sit-to-Stand Transfer of a Biped Robot

In this study, a biologically inspired control structure to control the sit-to-stand (STS) transfer from a chair is developed and simulated. STS movement is consisted of two main phases. First phase of the movement is before leaving the seat (seat-off moment). In this phase seat reactions forces act on the body parts which are in contact with the seat. The second phase is after seat-off, where the only external forces acting on the body are ground reaction forces. A proper control algorithm of the STS transfer needs to consider switching between these two phases, which correspond to two different dynamical structures. The control structure developed and discussed in this work is based on the MOSAIC structure, proposed first by Wolpert and Kawato [1]. Original MOSAIC structure has a modular architecture which is based on multiple pairs of forward and inverse models of the dynamical system to be controlled, and each module is trained separately to learn one part of a given task. The number of effective modules is predetermined. We have developed a new method to train all modules simultaneously. This method is based on reinforcement and cooperative competitive learning, and the number of effective modules is determined automatically. In this study, the simulation was begun with four modules. Our results showed that only two modules out of four were selected to control the STS task. Responsibility of controlling the task was switched between the two modules around the seat-off moment. In the other words, the two modules were corresponding to the two phases of the STS.
Towards adaptability of levels of automation with Human-machine cooperation approach

The current study focuses on how the levels of automation and the number of simultaneous functions that complete the task demands affect the human operator performance. The research objective is to assess the effects of different levels of automation of vehicles (teleoperated VS. autonomous) and the complexity of the task on human operator performance. An experiment is realized using the simulation environment “Mixed Initiative Experimental” (MIX) which is designed for research and training with unmanned systems. The MIX platform aims to respond to the need for warfighters support and training in the domain of robotic military equipment and unmanned systems in general. The complexity of the task is simulated by increasing the number of autonomous vehicles that a human operator has to supervise or to teleoperate.
EBG metasurfaces for MRI application

In this work we investigate capabilities of finite-size EBG metasurface for suppression of inter-element coupling between two neighboring closely-spaced dipole elements of a six-element transceive array coils for body imaging at 7 T. We confirmed the decoupling effect by measurements in a dummy bore as well as inside an MRI system. By numerical simulation we showed that the presence of EBG structure did not increase the local SAR level.
Individual Fitness and the Measurement of Univariate Selection

Natural selection is not evolution — R. A. Fisher (1930) Previous chapters examined the response to selection, assuming that the nature of selection is known. Here we are concerned with the complementary issue of measuring how selection acts on particular phenotypes (phenotypic selection). The estimation of selection involves two related issues: measuring individual fitness and measuring how the phenotype of a particular character influences individual fitness. The latter question is often phrased in terms of estimating W (z), the expected fitness for an individual with character value z. The first half of this chapter deals with various aspects of individual fitness, focusing on fitness components and measuring fitness over multiple episodes of selection. We conclude by examining the properties of an especially useful statistic, the population variance in relative fitness (the opportunity for selection), which bounds the maximum possible within-generation change in the mean and variance of any character. The second half moves from individual fitness to the complementary problem of predicting the expected fitness of an individual given its phenotypic value. Our discussion here is concerned with selection acting exclusively on a single character. This admittedly unre-alistic situation offers the advantage of allowing basic methodological points to be stressed without the additional complications inherent in a multivariate analysis. In Chapter 29 we extend these univariate ideas to the situation where individual phenotypic value is a vector z. The major complication with multiple characters is selection on phenotypically correlated characters. A within-generation change in the distribution of a trait may be due to direct selection on that character, indirect effects of selection on correlated (and often unmeasured) characters, or both. Excellent discussions on the detection of selection in natural populations The use of individual fitness data is developed in Arnold and Wade (1984a,b) and Lande and Arnold (1983), whose approach we largely follow. Selection can often be subdivided into discrete components called episodes of selection. For example, a distinction is often made between viability selection (differences in survivorship) and fertility selection (differences in number of offspring per mating). Tradeoffs may be found, wherein a trait that does well in one episode does poorly in another. For example, large body size is usually favored in adults of Darwin's Medium Ground Finch Geospiza 301
Growth and doping of zinc selenide using alternative gaseous source epitaxial techniques

Zinc Selenide based II-VI wide bandgap materials are promising candidates for visible light emitters operating in the blue regime of the visible spectrum. Much progress has been demonstrated in the epitaxy and amphoteric doping of ZnSe in recent years using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and ultimately resulted in the first demonstration of a continuous wave, room temperature injection laser diode in 1993. Aiming to overcome some of the significant shortcomings, e.g., repeatability in flux control, of the MBE technique as applied to II-VI’s, the growth of ZnSe using various alternative gaseous source epitaxy techniques that retain the benefits of an UHV background has been investigated. Using metalorganic precursors for both the group II and group VI elements, metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy (MOMBE) has been found to be suitable for selective epitaxy applications; this technique is hampered in their general suitability for II-VI growth only by the requirement of a uniform photon irradiation during growth. Both n-type, using chlorine, and p-type doping, using a plasma source of nitrogen, of ZnSe have been attempted during gas source molecular beam epitaxy (GSMBE), where a hydride source of selenium is substituted for the high vapor-pressure solid selenium. While predictable incorporation of both dopants have been observed, only n-type activation has been consistently obtained. Subsequent comparisons with MBE indicated that hydrogen, both in the form of sub-hydrides attached to the anion precursors as well as any H2 that is present in the growth environment, can lead to significant passivation of the nitrogen acceptors. These
Jet insufflation anesthesia for endolaryngeal laser surgery: A review of 318 consecutive cases

A series of 318 patients utilizing the jet insufflation technique for laser laryngeal anesthesia was studied. The technique utilizes a foil wrapped catheter placed below the vocal cords and attached to the Sanders ventilating adapter. Two pneumothoraces in children, one dental injury and one tube ignition were noted — all without permanent sequelae. Subsequent modification in technique prevented recurrence of these complications. The results indicate that this is a safe technique for laryngeal laser surgery, providing excellent visualization of the larynx while maintaining good oxygenation and airway control.
VideoAnalysis4ALL: An On-line Tool for the Automatic Fragmentation and Concept-based Annotation, and the Interactive Exploration of Videos

This paper presents the VideoAnalysis4ALL tool that supports the automatic fragmentation and concept-based annotation of videos, and the exploration of the annotated video fragments through an interactive user interface. The developed web application decomposes the video into two different granularities, namely shots and scenes, and annotates each fragment by evaluating the existence of a number (several hundreds) of high-level visual concepts in the keyframes extracted from these fragments. Through the analysis the tool enables the identification and labeling of semantically coherent video fragments, while its user interfaces allow the discovery of these fragments with the help of human-interpretable concepts. The integrated state-of-the-art video analysis technologies perform very well and, by exploiting the processing capabilities of multi-thread / multi-core architectures, reduce the time required for analysis to approximately one third of the video's duration, thus making the analysis three times faster than real-time processing.
Impaired remote spatial memory after hippocampal lesions despite extensive training beginning early in life

Damage to the hippocampus typically produces temporally graded retrograde amnesia, whereby memories acquired recently are impaired more than memories acquired remotely. This phenomenon has been demonstrated repeatedly in a variety of species and tasks, and it has figured prominently in theoretical treatments of memory and hippocampal function. A striking exception to the finding of temporally graded retrograde amnesia comes from studies with rodents using spatial tasks like the water maze. In these studies, recent and remote memory were similarly impaired following hippocampal lesions. In contrast to work with rodents, studies of patients with medial temporal lobe lesions, including complete hippocampal lesions, indicate that remote spatial memory can be intact. One difference between studies in humans and studies in rodents is that spatial memory in animal studies is acquired during a limited period of time when the animals are adults. In contrast, the spatial memory studied in humans was acquired beginning at an early age and learning continued for a considerable period of time. We initiated training in a standard water maze immediately after rats had been weaned at 21 days of age and continued training until the rats were young adults (90 days old). Large hippocampal lesions were made 100 days after the completion of training. After recovery from surgery, control rats exhibited good retention on the first retention probe trial, but rats with hippocampal lesions performed at chance. Thus, even after extended training beginning early in life, and with a prolonged training–surgery interval, hippocampal lesions impair performance in the water maze task. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed in the context of the specific performance requirements of the water maze task. Published 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Burroughs' B6500/B7500 stack mechanism

Burroughs' B6500/B7500 system structure and philosophy are an extension of the concepts employed in the development of the B5500 system. The unique features, common to both hardware systems, are that they have been designed to operate under the control of an executive program (MCP) and are to be programmed in only higher level languages (e.g., ALGOL, COBOL, and FORTRAN). Through a close integration of the software and hardware disciplines, a machine organization has been developed which permits the compilation of efficient machine code and which is addressed to the solution of problems associated with multiprogramming, multiprocessing and time sharing.
Salivary PYY: A Putative Bypass to Satiety

Peptide YY3-36 is a satiation hormone released postprandially into the bloodstream from L-endocrine cells in the gut epithelia. In the current report, we demonstrate PYY3-36 is also present in murine as well as in human saliva. In mice, salivary PYY3-36 derives from plasma and is also synthesized in the taste cells in taste buds of the tongue. Moreover, the cognate receptor Y2R is abundantly expressed in the basal layer of the progenitor cells of the tongue epithelia and von Ebner's gland. The acute augmentation of salivary PYY3-36 induced stronger satiation as demonstrated in feeding behavioral studies. The effect is mediated through the activation of the specific Y2 receptor expressed in the lingual epithelial cells. In a long-term study involving diet-induced obese (DIO) mice, a sustained increase in PYY3-36 was achieved using viral vector-mediated gene delivery targeting salivary glands. The chronic increase in salivary PYY3-36 resulted in a significant long-term reduction in food intake (FI) and body weight (BW). Thus this study provides evidence for new functions of the previously characterized gut peptide PYY3-36 suggesting a potential simple and efficient alternative therapeutic approach for the treatment of obesity.
Probabilistic Disease Classification of Expression-Dependent Proteomic Data from Mass Spectrometry of Human Serum

We have developed an algorithm called Q5 for probabilistic classification of healthy versus disease whole serum samples using mass spectrometry. The algorithm employs principal components analysis (PCA) followed by linear discriminant analysis (LDA) on whole spectrum surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time of flight (SELDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) data and is demonstrated on four real datasets from complete, complex SELDI spectra of human blood serum. Q5 is a closed-form, exact solution to the problem of classification of complete mass spectra of a complex protein mixture. Q5 employs a probabilistic classification algorithm built upon a dimension-reduced linear discriminant analysis. Our solution is computationally efficient; it is noniterative and computes the optimal linear discriminant using closed-form equations. The optimal discriminant is computed and verified for datasets of complete, complex SELDI spectra of human blood serum. Replicate experiments of different training/testing splits of each dataset are employed to verify robustness of the algorithm. The probabilistic classification method achieves excellent performance. We achieve sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive values above 97% on three ovarian cancer datasets and one prostate cancer dataset. The Q5 method outperforms previous full-spectrum complex sample spectral classification techniques and can provide clues as to the molecular identities of differentially expressed proteins and peptides.
A fast map-reduce algorithm for burst errors in big data cloud storage

In distributed storage for Big Data systems, there is a need for exact repair, high bandwidth codes. The challenge for exact repair in big-data storage is to simultaneously enable both very high bandwidth repair using Map-Reduce and simple coding schemes that also combine robust maximally distance separable (MDS) exact repair. MDS repair is for the rare, but exceptional outlier error patterns requiring optimum erasure code reconstruction. We construct the optimum fast bandwidth repair for big-data sources. Our system uses Map-Reduce, exact repair reconstruction. The algorithm combines MDS with a second fast decode algorithm in a cloud environment. We illustrate cloud experiments for optimum fast bandwidth reconstruction for 1-Exabyte Big Data in the cloud and demonstrate cloud results for Poisson error rate arrival models. Unlike prior methods, we jointly solve the problem of fast bandwidth repair for burst-memory error patterns and for code rates up to - in a real time error model framework for Big Data. Furthermore, simulations indicate this method outperforms prior fast bandwidth approaches for burst errors. We also illustrate Map-Reduce algorithm optimized for fast bandwidth repair in Big Data storage in clouds.
Comparison of Cognitive Change after Working Memory Training and Logic and Planning Training in Healthy Older Adults

Recent attention has focused on the benefits of cognitive training in healthy adults. Many commercial cognitive training programs are available given the attraction of not only bettering one’s cognitive capacity, but also potentially preventing age-related declines, which is of particular interest to older adults. The issue of whether cognitive training can improve performance within cognitive domains not trained (i.e., far transfer) is controversial, with meta-analyses of cognitive training both supporting and falsifying this claim. More support is present for the near transfer (i.e., transfer in cognitive domain trained) of cognitive training; however, not in all studies. To date, no studies have compared working memory training to training higher-level processes themselves, namely logic and planning. We studied 97 healthy older adults above the age of 65. Healthy older adults completed either an 8-week web-based cognitive training program on working memory or logic and planning. An additional no-training control group completed two assessments 8-weeks apart. Participants were assessed on cognitive measures of near and far transfer, including working memory, planning, reasoning, processing speed, verbal fluency, cognitive flexibility, and creativity. Participants improved on the trained tasks from the first day to last day of training. Bayesian analyses demonstrated no near or far transfer effects after cognitive training. These results support the conclusion that performance-adaptive computerized cognitive training may not enhance cognition in healthy older adults. Our lack of findings could be due to a variety of reasons, including studying a cohort of healthy older adults that were performing near their cognitive ceiling, employing a training protocol that was not sufficient to produce a change, or that no true findings exist. Research suggests numerous study factors that can moderate the results. In addition, the role of psychological variables, such as expectations and motivation to train, are critical in understanding the effects of cognitive training.
Design of PAP-1, a Selective Small Molecule Kv1.3 Blocker, for the Suppression of Effector Memory T Cells in Autoimmune Diseases

The lymphocyte K+ channel Kv1.3 constitutes an attractive pharmacological target for the selective suppression of terminally differentiated effector memory T (TEM) cells in T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes. Unfortunately, none of the existing small-molecule Kv1.3 blockers is selective, and many of them, such as correolide, 4-phenyl-4-[3-(methoxyphenyl)-3-oxo-2-azapropyl]cyclohexanone, and our own compound Psora-4 inhibit the cardiac K+ channel Kv1.5. By further exploring the structure-activity relationship around Psora-4 through a combination of traditional medicinal chemistry and whole-cell patch-clamp, we identified a series of new phenoxyalkoxypsoralens that exhibit 2- to 50-fold selectivity for Kv1.3 over Kv1.5, depending on their exact substitution pattern. The most potent and “drug-like” compound of this series, 5-(4-phenoxybutoxy)psoralen (PAP-1), blocks Kv1.3 in a use-dependent manner, with a Hill coefficient of 2 and an EC50 of 2 nM, by preferentially binding to the C-type inactivated state of the channel. PAP-1 is 23-fold selective over Kv1.5, 33- to 125-fold selective over other Kv1-family channels, and 500- to 7500-fold selective over Kv2.1, Kv3.1, Kv3.2, Kv4.2, HERG, calcium-activated K+ channels, Na+,Ca2+, and Cl- channels. PAP-1 does not exhibit cytotoxic or phototoxic effects, is negative in the Ames test, and affects cytochrome P450-dependent enzymes only at micromolar concentrations. PAP-1 potently inhibits the proliferation of human TEM cells and suppresses delayed type hypersensitivity, a TEM cell-mediated reaction, in rats. PAP-1 and several of its derivatives therefore constitute excellent new tools to further explore Kv1.3 as a target for immunosuppression and could potentially be developed into orally available immunomodulators.
Popularity and Aggression Among Females in the Eighth Grade

Popularity and Aggression Among Females in the Eighth Grade By April Lynn Kantz This thesis examines how popularity affects the use of indirect and direct aggression. By using a class roster of all of the participants, the girls nominated three of the most popular and three of the least popular girls. The Direct Indirect Aggression Scales were used to examine which girls exhibited which type of aggressive behaviors. The results indicate that popularity affects aggression and that popular girls use more indirect aggression. These findings are consistent with past research on popularity and aggression and could help parents and educators understand the effects of such behaviors.
’ s repository of research publications and other research outputs Children ’ s developing identity

Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online's data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. This chapter shares the findings from a participatory study designed to explore children's identity. The findings illustrate 'picture making' through art and photography as a method which facilitates reflective time and space within the research process and encourages children to talk about different aspects of self. These findings are discussed in relation to early childhood professional practice and demonstrate how listening to children using multi-modal instruments provide opportunities for practitioners to consider the diversity of identity development across home and school contexts and enable children to share their views. Introduction Children convey aspects of their identity using a range of social markers, including their age, gender and ethnicity, family and group membership. This is a dynamic process in which children negotiate, construct and reconstruct multiple identities. Identity is not fixed or singular, but multi-faceted and reflects a range of social, cultural and political influences . Yet focusing on these markers alone may not reveal the richness of children's sense of self. It is important to appreciate the distinctive ways in which children express their identity through friendship, play and many forms of social interaction. For example, methods such as photography, art, and map-making, in order to provide them with opportunities to communicate their views using methods they enjoy and can use independently. This is of particular interest to me as a researcher at the Open University where I use children's pictures as an instrument for exploring childhood. I shall therefore share with you some aspects of that research which suggests ways of listening to children which reveal insights about the way they learn and see the world. Identity Identity is a key foundation for children's social and emotional development and it may be valuable to consider the work of Cooper and Collins (2009) who consider how identity is related to feelings of security and self worth. Research continues to explore the association between identity, resilience development and mental health (Burns and Rapee, 2006). This process is important for anyone working with children because identity and feelings of well-being are firmly linked to life experiences. As researchers and practitioners interested in working with children it is important to reflect on how we view and …