Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arc-Length-Based Axial Deformation and Length Preserving Deformation

This paper presents an arc-length preserving axial deformation along a B-spline curve based on arc-length parameterization of the axial curve. Space spanned by arc length and rotation minimizing frame on the axis is taken as the embedded space. As in real life, the length of an object’s skeleton usually remains constant when it is axially deformed such as a swimming fish, a swaying tree etc, An length preserving axial curve deformation is presented. Keyframe skeleton B-spline curves are approximated by polylines after adaptive subdivisions. The edge lengths and the directional vertex angles of the keyframe polylines(or unit edge vectors) are then interpolated to generate the intermediate polylines. These interpolated polylines are intermediate axes in the discreted form. Experiments show our method is very useful, intuitive and easy to control .
Preservice Teachers' Procedural and Conceptual Understanding of Fractions and the Effects of Inquiry-Based Learning on this Understanding

Non-negative rational numbers play a major role in the K-8 curriculum and continue to permeate mathematics content through high school and college in all strands of mathematics. The difficulty that both students and teachers encounter with these concepts is well documented in the literature. This study looked at preservice teacher knowledge and how an alternative means of instruction might improve their conceptual understanding of fractions. To accomplish this task, the study took place in two stages over the course of two semesters. During the first stage, preservice teachers’ conceptual and procedural knowledge of fractions and their associated algorithms were examined through a two-part written assessment and through individual interviews. The results indicate that these participants posses not only weak conceptual knowledge, but weak procedural knowledge as well. Also, when dealing with division, some of the participants’ misunderstandings were due in part to a lack of understanding regarding division of whole numbers. During the second stage of the study, skills and knowledge of preservice teachers who had completed an inquiry-based fraction unit were compared with the skills and knowledge of preservice teachers exposed to a lecture-based unit to determine if one group possesses a better conceptual understanding of fractions and the standard algorithms associated with addition and division. The results indicated that students in an inquiry-based approach to teaching fractions possessed a deeper understanding of fractions and their associated algorithms. Further, the skills of those in the inquiry-based groups were as good as those from the lecture groups, even though
Endoscopic Medial Rectus Sling: A Window Into the Intraconal Orbital Apex

Purpose: Surgical approaches to the medial orbit especially within the cone of orbital muscles necessitate great precision and care to avoid damage to surrounding structures—most importantly the optic nerve. The authors present a novel technique in which access to the medial orbital contents was achieved through an entirely endoscopic approach. Methods: A 72-year-old Caucasian female presented with loss of vision in the right eye and reduced extraocular movements. Baseline blood tests were within normal limits. Inflammatory markers were slightly elevated. CT scan revealed bilateral medial orbital apex masses. Biopsy of the right orbital apex lesion was performed through an exclusively endoscopic approach in which the medial rectus muscle was retracted infero-medially. Results: This exclusively endonasal approach to the medial intraconal space provided excellent access to the orbital apex, thus allowing successful biopsy of the medial orbital apex lesion. A video of the surgical technique demonstrates its use in this patient (see Video, Supplemental Digital Content 1, available at http://links.lww.com/IOP/A123). Conclusions: Similar reports of endonasal medialization of the medial rectus for accessing intraconal orbital lesions have been previously described in the rhinological literature. The authors describe a modification that allows for a safe and less invasive approach to the medial intraconal space and intraorbital optic nerve. There is minimal trauma to the surrounding tissues and no further damage to the optic nerve along with no associated adverse clinical sequelae. In addition, this negates the need for an adjuvant external or transconjunctival approach.
Experimental models of stress

Illustrating the complexity of the stress response and its multifaceted manifestations is the leading idea of this overview of experimental paradigms used for stress induction in laboratory animals. The description of key features of models based on naturalistic stressors, pharmacological challenges, and genomic manipulations is complemented by comprehensive analysis of physiological, behavioral, neurochemical, and endocrine changes and their appropriatness as outcome readouts. Particular attention has been paid to the role of sex and age as determinants of the dynamics of the stress response. Possible translational applications of stress-inducing paradigms as models of disease are briefly sketched.
Weighted dynamic scheduling with many parallelism grains for offloading of numerical workloads to multiple varied accelerators

A wide variety of heterogeneous compute resources are available to modern computers, including multiple sockets containing multicore CPUs, one-or-more GPUs of varying power, and coprocessors such as the Intel Xeon Phi. The challenge faced by domain scientists is how to efficiently and productively use these varied resources. For example, in order to use GPUs effectively, the workload must have a greater degree of parallelism than a workload designed for a multicore-CPU. The domain scientist would have to design and schedule an application in multiple degrees of parallelism and task grain sizes in order to obtain efficient performance from the resources. We propose a productive programming model starting from serial code, which achieves parallelism and scalability by using a task-superscalar runtime environment to adapt the computation to the available resources. The adaptation is done at multiple points, including multi-level data partitioning, adaptive task grain sizes, and dynamic task scheduling. The effectiveness of this approach for utilizing multi-way heterogeneous hardware resources is demonstrated by implementing dense linear algebra applications.
Development of nine new microsatellite loci for the American beaver, Castor canadensis (Rodentia: Castoridae), and cross‐species amplification in the European beaver, Castor fiber

We developed nine new nuclear dinucleotide microsatellite loci for Castor canadensis. All loci were polymorphic, except for one. The number of alleles ranged from two to four and from five to 12 in populations from Arizona and Wisconsin, respectively. Average heterozygosity ranged from 0.13 to 0.86 per locus. Since cross‐species amplification in Castor fiber was successful only in four loci, we tested also nine recently published C. canadensis loci in the Eurasian species. Eight of the published loci amplified; however, three were monomorphic. The number of alleles was lower in C. fiber than in C. canadensis at all loci tested.
Brn3a regulation of TrkA/NGF receptor expression in developing sensory neurons

The TrkA/NGF receptor is essential for the survival and differentiation of sensory neurons. The molecular mechanisms regulating tissue and stage-specific expression of TrkA are largely unknown. The Brn3a POU-domain transcription factor has been implicated in the development of the PNS and proposed as a transcription regulator for TrkA. The molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of TrkA by Brn3a is unclear. In this study, we provide genetic, transgenic and biochemical evidence that Brn3a binds to novel, specific sites in the 457 bp enhancer that regulates TrkA expression in embryonic sensory neurons. We employ Bax-knockout mice, in which sensory neurons no longer require neurotrophins for survival, to uncouple TrkA-dependent cell death from downregulation of TrkA expression. In addition, when mutagenized, the novel Brn3a-binding sites identified fail to drive appropriate reporter transgene expression in sensory neurons. Thus, TrkA, a gene that is crucial for the differentiation and survival of sensory nociceptive neurons, requires Brn3a to maintain normal transcriptional activity.
Fuzzy control method for a steering system consisting of a four-wheel individual steering and four-wheel individual drive electric chassis

In this paper, we study a four-wheel, individual steering and four-wheel, individually driven, electric chassis, named the flexible chassis. A 2-FOF nonlinear steering model for the flexible chassis is established based on the “magic formula” tire model and the Ackermann steering theorem at low speed. Also, a new control method based on the fuzzy strategy is proposed for its sideslip angle control. The left front-wheel steering angle is inputted into the simulation of the vehicle, and the left-rear wheel angle is controlled by the fuzzy controller to make the sideslip angle zero. Also, the remaining steering angle of the other two wheels, which meet the Ackermann theorem, are adjusted. Comparisons between simulations of the front-wheel steering, four-wheel, proportional steering and the newly proposed steering indicate that the new control algorithm in this paper is effective.
Application-Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO) Requirements

Many Internet applications are used to access resources, such as pieces of information or server processes that are available in several equivalent replicas on different hosts. This includes, but is not limited to, peer-to-peer file sharing applications. The goal of Application-Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO) is to provide guidance to applications that have to select one or several hosts from a set of candidates capable of providing a desired resource. This guidance shall be based on parameters that affect performance and efficiency of the data transmission between the hosts, e.g., the topological distance. The ultimate goal is to improve performance or Quality of Experience in the application while reducing the utilization of the underlying network infrastructure. This document enumerates requirements for specifying, assessing, or comparing protocols and implementations. This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is published for informational purposes.
On conditions for uniqueness in sparse phase retrieval

The phase retrieval problem has a long history and is an important problem in many areas of optics. Theoretical understanding of phase retrieval is still limited and fundamental questions such as uniqueness and stability of the recovered solution are not yet fully understood. This paper provides several additions to the theoretical understanding of sparse phase retrieval. In particular we show that if the measurement ensemble can be chosen freely, as few as 4k - 1 phaseless measurements suffice to guarantee uniqueness of a k-sparse M-dimensional real solution. We also prove that 2(k2 - k + 1) Fourier magnitude measurements are sufficient under rather general conditions.
Depression and Relationship Dysfunction from Adolescence to Adulthood

This project employs a developmental framework guided by interpersonal theories of depression and the transmission of intimate relationship dysfunction to offspring. We use two datasets to consider the independent and interactive impact of depression history, parental divorce and conflict, and relationship quality with parents on subsequent intimate relationship functioning from adolescence throughout the first eight years of marriage. The first study, using a longitudinal sample of adolescents, determined that participant/maternal relationship quality and parental marital stability predicted relationship conflict and satisfaction approximately 13 years later. Furthermore, adolescent depression history amplified the effect of some family-of-origin variables on some relationship outcomes. Study 2, using a longitudinal sample of newlywed couples, found that neither depression history nor family-of-origin variables predicted or interacted to enhance risky partner selection (with partner's risk defined through a factor- analyzed construct of emotion dysregulation). Instead, one's own level of risk was a strong predictor of partner's risk, supportive assortative mating theories. Study 3, again using the longitudinal newlywed sample, examined which components of intimate relationship communication predicted depressive symptoms approximately eight years later. Results demonstrated that participant's post-interaction evaluations of a negative mood were more consistent predictors of future depression than externally-rated communication behaviors, affect or skills, for both men and women. In addition, among men, a history of clinical or subclinical depression amplified the association between participant's negative evaluations of marital interactions and subsequent depressive symptoms. Taken together, these results suggest that factors well before relationship entry (i.e., psychopathology, familial functioning, emotion dysregulation) impact the quality of later intimate relationships, as well as characteristics of selected relationship partners. Furthermore, we provide evidence supporting attending to participant's evaluations and interpretations of marital interactions as predictors of later depressive symptoms beyond the content of this interpersonal communication.
Regulation of a Vascular Plexus by gata4 Is Mediated in Zebrafish through the Chemokine sdf1a

Using the zebrafish model we describe a previously unrecognized requirement for the transcription factor gata4 controlling embryonic angiogenesis. The development of a vascular plexus in the embryonic tail, the caudal hematopoietic tissue (CHT), fails in embryos depleted of gata4. Rather than forming a normal vascular plexus, the CHT of gata4 morphants remains fused, and cells in the CHT express high levels of osteogenic markers ssp1 and runx1. Definitive progenitors emerge from the hemogenic aortic endothelium, but fail to colonize the poorly vascularized CHT. We also found abnormal patterns and levels for the chemokine sdf1a in gata4 morphants, which was found to be functionally relevant, since the embryos also show defects in development of the lateral line, a mechano-sensory organ system highly dependent on a gradient of sdf1a levels. Reduction of sdf1a levels was sufficient to rescue lateral line development, circulation, and CHT morphology. The result was surprising since neither gata4 nor sdf1a is obviously expressed in the CHT. Therefore, we generated transgenic fish that conditionally express a dominant-negative gata4 isoform, and determined that gata4 function is required during gastrulation, when it is co-expressed with sdf1a in lateral mesoderm. Our study shows that the gata4 gene regulates sdf1a levels during early embryogenesis, which impacts embryonic patterning and subsequently the development of the caudal vascular plexus.
Computer‐generated Chinese color ink paintings

Abstract Chinese color ink painting is a traditional art form, a non‐photorealistic rendering, that is over three thousand years old. Simulating the behavior of Chinese ink is challenging. Various artistic effects of color ink diffusion are analyzed, and a scheme presents how they can be simulated automatically for their computer‐generated simulation. The proposed method simulates various tonal expressions on different papers, by employing a Kubelka‐Munk model to simulate optical effects. Elucidation of the effect of mixing simulated strokes with different brushes is a significant contribution of the proposed method. Finally, results of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of an interactive painting system. Also, results are compared with genuine ink paintings.
A Two-Stage Push-Pull Production Planning Model

We study a hybrid push-pull manufacturing system that the IBM Systems Group implemented as a response to a complex configuration environment and increasing pressure for responsive order fulfillment lead times. This is a two-stage (fabrication and fulfillment center) manufacturing process, which builds and stocks tested subassemblies for justin-time configuration of the final product when a specific customer order is received. The first production stage (fabrication) is a push process where parts are replenished, tested, and assembled into subassemblies according to product-level build plans. The subassembly inventory is kept in stock ready for the final assembly of the end products. The second production stage (fulfillment) is a pull-based assemble-to-order process where the final assembly process is initiated when a customer order is received and no finished goods inventory is kept for end products. One important planning issue is to find an optimal trade-off between capacity utilization and inventory cost reduction that strives to meet the quarter-end peak demand. We present a nonlinear optimization model to minimize the total inventory cost subject to the service level constraints and the production capacity constraints. This results in a convex program with linear constraints. An efficient algorithm using decomposition is developed for solving the nonlinear optimization problem. Other numerical methods including a piece-wise linearization method and a general purpose nonlinear solver are also tested along with the decomposition method. Several variations of the model are formulated to incorporate additional features in practice. Numerical results are presented to show the performance improvement generated by the optimal solutions over a production-smoothing strategy.
Influence Maximization in the Independent Cascade Model

We present our ongoing work on the problem of increasing the information spread in a network by creating a limited amount of new edges incident to a given initial set of active nodes. As a preliminary result, we give a constant approximation algorithm for the case in which the set of initial active nodes is a singleton. Our aim is to extend this result to the general case. We outline some further research directions which we are investigating.
Sistem Pembangkit Pertanyaan Otomatis Dengan Metode Template-Based

Fokus dari penelitian ini adalah untuk membangun sebuah sistem pembangkit pertanyaan Bahasa Indonesia otomatis. Terdapat tiga proses utama yang terjadi di dalam question generation system. Pertama adalah mengekstrak kalimat di dalam dokumen. Setelah itu, kalimat yang telah diekstrak akan diklasifikasi berdasarkan kata-kata yang terkandung di dalam kalimat tersebut. Pengklasifikasian kalimat bertujuan untuk menentukan kategori pertanyaan yang bisa dibangkitkan berdasarkan kalimat tersebut. Kategori pertanyaan yang dibangkitkan adalah pertanyaan ‘non-factoid’. Proses terakhir adalah membangkitkan pertanyaan berdasarkan kalimat tersebut dengan metode template-based. Metode template-based adalah salah satu metode yang dapat digunakan untuk membangkitkan pertanyaan. Metode ini menggunakan template-template yang telah didefinisikan sebelumnya untuk membangkitkan pertanyaan. Dengan menggunakan 30 dokumen sumber, terdapat 1871 pertanyaan ‘non-factoid’ yang berhasil dibangkitkan oleh sistem.
SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING IN THE TREATMENT OF NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS

Deficits in interpersonal functioning have been associated with schizophrenia since the disorder was first described. These deficits can be pervasive and often persist even when the more disabling psychotic symptoms have been pharmacologically controlled [1]. Although overt psychosis is generally the most salient and disturbing feature of schizophrenia, the importance of social dysfunction cannot be overemphasized. The results of several large-scale investigations have demonstrated that poor premorbid functioning, especially in the area of social relationships, is prognostic of poor long-term outcome [2-4]. In addition, studies have consistently found that schizophrenic patients whose family relationships are characterized by hostile interpersonal interactions are especially likely to require rehospitalization within nine months of discharge [5,6]. In view of these findings, treatments aimed at teaching schizophrenic patients more effective social skills have become a standard component of many psychiatric rehabilitation programs [7]. Indeed, the combined application of neuroleptic therapy to control psychotic symptoms and social skills training to remedy chronic interpersonal dysfunction is now regarded as one of the most promising approaches to the overall treatment and management of schizophre
Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis: Correlation, Causality, and Controversy

The last years, many studies reported associations between correlates of vitamin D exposure and several correlates of multiple sclerosis (MS) disease activity. This review discusses studies on vitamin D status, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score, and relapse activity of MS. Furthermore, several considerations for intervention studies on vitamin D supplementation in MS are provided.
Influence of Plasma Lipoproteins on Platelet Aggregation in a Normal Male Population

Aggregation tests were performed on platelet-rich plasma from healthy male volunteers to determine the minimum concentration of adenosine diphosphate (ADP), epinephrine, collagen, or thrombin required to induce secondary aggregation. Platelets were also analyzed for cholesterol and phospholipid, and in some cases their membrane fluidity was determined by fluorescence depolarization of the probe, diphenylhexatriene. Concentrations of the major lipoprotein fractions in the plasma were measured and related to the sensitivity of platelets to the four agonists. Low density lipoprotein (LDL) and total cholesterol concentrations, but not high density lipoproteins (HDL) or very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), were positively correlated with sensitivity to aggregation by epinephrine, but not by other agonists. By arrangement of the lipoprotein concentration into quintiles, the effect of LDL was most striking in the lower two quintiles, where the sensitivity to adrenaline and ADP were much diminished. The middle and upper two quintiles showed a similar sensitivity. Lower platelet cholesterol/phospholipid ratios were also associated with a reduced sensitivity to epinephrine or ADP, but only at the lower end of the range. Membrane microviscosity was correlated negatively with collagen sensitivity and with VLDL cholesterol concentrations, but positively with HDL cholesterol concentrations. Platelet behavior appears, therefore, to be influenced by lipoprotein concentrations within the range found in a healthy population.
A reduced complexity receiver for multi-carrier faster-than-Nyquist signaling

Faster-than-Nyquist signaling originally proposed by J. E. Mazo promises higher spectral efficiencies by introducing controlled intersymbol interference at the transmitter at the cost of a higher receiver complexity. We propose a non-trellis based maximum likelihood (ML) receiver in conjunction with linear MMSE reception and interference cancellation for multi-carrier faster-than-Nyquist signaling (MC-FTN). The proposed receiver is able to collect the gains MC-FTN is promising while significantly reducing complexity compared to a receiver performing the optimum detection strategy (exhaustive search). We judge our receiver in terms of complexity, error rate performance and achieved spectral efficiency. The key question to be answered with respect to MC-FTN signaling in the view of a potential inclusion into a future 5G cellular communication system is: Are there scenarios in a realistic cellular communication setting for which gains from MC-FTN can be achieved at what complexity? This paper gives some insights covering all three aspects (scenarios, performance gains, complexity).