Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Model-Free Preference-Based Reinforcement Learning

Specifying a numeric reward function for reinforcement learning typically requires a lot of hand-tuning from a human expert. In contrast, preference-based reinforcement learning (PBRL) utilizes only pairwise comparisons between trajectories as a feedback signal, which are often more intuitive to specify. Currently available approaches to PBRL for control problems with continuous state/action spaces require a known or estimated model, which is often not available and hard to learn. In this paper, we integrate preference-based estimation of the reward function into a model-free reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm, resulting in a model-free PBRL algorithm. Our new algorithm is based on Relative Entropy Policy Search (REPS), enabling us to utilize stochastic policies and to directly control the greediness of the policy update. REPS decreases exploration of the policy slowly by limiting the relative entropy of the policy update, which ensures that the algorithm is provided with a versatile set of trajectories, and consequently with informative preferences. The preference-based estimation is computed using a sample-based Bayesian method, which can also estimate the uncertainty of the utility. Additionally, we also compare to a linear solvable approximation, based on inverse RL. We show that both approaches perform favourably to the current state-of-the-art. The overall result is an algorithm that can learn non-parametric continuous action policies from a small number of preferences.
Social drift of cardiovascular disease risk factors in Africans from the North West Province of South Africa: the PURE study

Objective This study examined whether the association between socio-economic status (SES) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in black South Africans from the North West Province had shifted from the more affluent groups with higher SES to the less affluent, lower SES groups over a period of nine years. Method Cross-sectional baseline data of 2 010 urban and rural subjects (35 years and older) participating in the Prospective Urban and Rural (PURE) study and collected in 2005 were analysed to examine the relationship of level of education, employment and urban or rural residence with dietary intakes and other CVD risk factors. These relationships were compared to those found nine years earlier in the Transition and Health during the Urbanisation of South Africans (THUSA) study conducted in the same area. Results The results showed that urban women had higher body mass index (BMI), serum triglyceride and fasting glucose levels compared to rural women and that both urban men and women had higher blood pressures and followed a more Westernised diet. However, rural men and women had higher plasma fibrinogen levels. The more highly educated subjects (which included both urban and rural subjects) were younger than those with no or only primary school education. Few of the risk factors differed significantly between education groups, except that more highly educated men and women had lower BMIs, and women had lower blood pressure and triglyceride levels. These women also followed a more prudent diet than those with only primary school education. Employed men and women had higher BMIs, higher energy intakes but lower plasma fibrinogen levels, and employed women had lower triglyceride levels. No significant differences in total serum cholesterol values were observed. Conclusion These results suggest a drift of CVD risk factors from groups with higher SES to groups with a lower SES from 1996 to 2005, indicating that interventions to prevent CVD should also be targeted at Africans living in rural areas, those with low educational levels, and the unemployed.
The complexity of epigenetic diseases

Over the past 30 years, a plethora of pathogenic mutations affecting enhancer regions and epigenetic regulators have been identified. Coupled with more recent genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) and epigenome‐wide association studies (EWAS) implicating major roles for regulatory mutations in disease, it is clear that epigenetic mechanisms represent important biomarkers for disease development and perhaps even therapeutic targets. Here, we discuss the diversity of disease‐causing mutations in enhancers and epigenetic regulators, with a particular focus on cancer. © 2015 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
Ahmed A. Murad1*, Saber M. Hussein1 and Aidah Al-Abdouli2

The area of robot path planning and navigation has been studied by various researchers over the last decades, resulting in a large number of works. One of the most challenging fields in motion planning is dealing with unknown environment, which is known as online path planning. This paper aims to improve one of the most famous methods for online navigation, that is, Bug algorithm, which has been introduced by V. J. Lumelsky. An improved Bug algorithm was provided in our research and the simulation result for several cases shows its advantage in terms of path shortening. Also the justified Bug algorithm was compared with Bug algorithm and some of the well-known approaches in the field of robotic motion planning. Key words: Bug algorithm, robotic motion planning, path shortening, online path planning.
Social Psychological Methods outside the Laboratory

When Kurt Lewin ushered in the modern era of experimental social psychology, he did so with the strong belief that the scientific psychology of the time seemed to be trying " increasingly to stay away from a too close relation to life " (1951, p. 169). Lewin primarily intended to keep experimental social psychology close to life by urging researchers to maintain an active interest in applications of theory to social problems, but he also felt that, beyond research with experimentally created laboratory groups, the field shall have also to develop research techniques that will permit us to do real experiments within existing " natural " social groups. In my opinion, the practical and theoretical importance of these types of experiments is of the first magnitude. By this Lewin meant that social psychological research needed to keep its theoretical feet firmly grounded in real-world contexts, problems, and social relations. In the more than half-century of research and theorizing that followed, social psychology ' s remarkable progress has derived in large measure from laboratory research. For example, Sears (1986) reported that 78% of the social-psychological research published in 1985 in the field ' s top journals was conducted in the laboratory. Rozin (2001) similarly concluded that nearly all of the articles published in the first two sections of volume 66 (1994) of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP) were situated in the laboratory or used questionnaires. No doubt this emphasis reflects the many benefits of laboratory (typically , although not exclusively experimental) research, including experimental control over variables, contexts and procedures, which allows researchers to control extraneous influences and differentiate causal mechanisms from one another (Smith, 2000), and easy access to undergraduate samples. These advantages were a great part of the reason why social psychology, which had been more non-experimental than experimental in its early days, evolved into a predominantly experimental science during the 1930s and 1940s (House, 1977; Jones, 1985), a considerable and enduring legacy. But these advantages may also have a cost, in terms of increasing distance from Lewin ' s " close relation to life. " Laboratory settings by definition remove research participants from their natural contexts and place them in an artificial environment in which nearly all aspects of the setting, including physical features, goals, other persons involved, and even the possibility of getting up and doing something else, are determined by an external entity …
The Halo Stars in NGC 5128. III. An Inner Halo Field and the Metallicity Distribution

We present new Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 (V, I) photometry for field stars in NGC 5128 at a projected distance of 8 kpc from the galaxy center, which probes a mixture of its inner halo and outer bulge. The color-magnitude diagram shows an old red giant branch that is even broader in color than our two previously studied outer halo fields (at 21 and 31 kpc), with significant numbers of stars extending to solar metallicity and higher. The peak frequency of the metallicity distribution function (MDF) is at [m/H] ≃ -0.4, with even fewer metal-poor stars than in the outer halo fields. If we use the 21 and 31 kpc fields to define template "halo" MDFs and subtract these from the 8 kpc field, the residual "bulge" population has a mean [m/H] ≃ -0.2, similar to the bulges of other large spiral and elliptical galaxies. We find that the main features of the halo MDF can be reproduced by a simple chemical evolution model in which early star formation goes on simultaneously with an initial stage of rapid infall of very metal-poor gas, after which the infall dies away exponentially. Finally, by comparison with the MDFs for the NGC 5128 globular clusters, we find that in all the halo fields we have studied there is a clear decrease of specific frequency SN (number of clusters per unit halo light) with increasing metallicity. At the lowest-metallicity range ([Fe/H] < -1.6) SN is ∼4-8, while at metallicities [Fe/H] > -1 it has dropped to ≃1.5. This trend may indicate that globular cluster formation efficiency is a strong function of the metallicity of the protocluster gas. However, we suggest an alternate possibility, which is that globular clusters form preferentially sooner than field stars. If most of the cluster formation within a host giant molecular cloud takes place sooner than most of the distributed field-star formation and if the earliest most metal-poor star-forming clouds are prematurely disrupted by their own first bursts of star formation, then they would leave relatively few field stars with a high-SN population. The high specific frequency at low metallicity may therefore be related to the comparably large SN values found in the most metal-poor dwarf elliptical galaxies.
Study on an effective adaptive autopilot for ships

This work presents an effective adaptive autopilot for ships that ensures the optimal accuracy, economy and stability characteristics. The PID control methodology is modified and a controller is designed to satisfy conditions for an optimal objective function that is comprised by heading error, resistance and drift during changing course, and loss of surge velocity or fuel consumption. Design of the controller is based on the model reference adaptive system (MRAS) and the self tuning regulator (STR) control theories. Simulation (using MATLAB software) in various disturbance conditions shows that in comparison with conventional PID autopilots, the designed autopilot has several notable advantages.
A wearable robot for upper limb rehabilitation of patients with neurological disorders

Passive and active movement therapies are essential in the rehabilitation process post stroke and other neurological disorders. Considering the shortage of therapists and limited insurance coverage, qualified healthcare services are not always available to patients. There is also a lack of compact rehabilitation robots powerful enough to perform forceful stretching of spastic joint and yet flexible enough for backdrivable active movement training with motivating game interface and suitable for clinical/home settings. To address the issues, an affordable and wearable robot has been developed to perform therapeutic rehabilitation with the following three integrated functions: 1) stretching a spastic/stiff joint forcefully and precisely based on the joint resistance. 2) Active movement training by playing customized computer games with assistance or resistance provided by the wearable robot when needed. 3) Biomechanical outcome evaluation. The wearable robot with combined functions of passive and active movement training can potentially provide convenient, user-friendly and motivating rehabilitation to many patients with neurological impairments.
Photovoltaic Generators -- Modeling and Control

The goal of this article is to introduce a solution for modeling and control of a photovoltaic power plant. Two issues are addressed in this aim. The first one is concerned with the mathematical model of a photovoltaic cell and to tracking of the maximum power point. The second problem deals with the boost converter: how to obtain a desired and stable output voltage even though the input represented by tension from photovoltaic panel is unstable, influenced by internal parameters as resistivity and affected by perturbations.
Price Stability vs . Output Stability : Tales From Three Federal Reserve Administrations

This study disentangles the policy parameters from those describing the behavior of the private sector by simultaneously estimating an empirical model for inflation and output along with a loss function for the monetary policy for the last three Federal Reserve administrations. There are three important results: First, the Federal Reserve appears to put more emphasis on price stability than output stability when the entire sample is considered. Second, and more importantly, the loss function parameters exhibit a structural break at the time Paul Volcker was appointed as the chairman. The accommodative characteristics of monetary policy were replaced with a more active policy towards controlling inflation. Finally, interest rate smoothing is found to be an important feature of the monetary policymaking process for all three administrations. JEL Classification: E52, E58, E61
A single topical dose of erythropoietin applied on a collagen carrier enhances calvarial bone healing in pigs

Background and purpose — The osteogenic potency of erythropoietin (EPO) has been documented. However, its efficacy in a large-animal model has not yet been investigated; nor has a clinically safe dosage. The purpose of this study was to overcome such limitations of previous studies and thereby pave the way for possible clinical application. Our hypothesis was that EPO increases calvarial bone healing compared to a saline control in the same subject. Methods — We used a porcine calvarial defect model. In each of 18 pigs, 6 cylindrical defects (diameter: 1 cm; height: 1 cm) were drilled, allowing 3 pairwise comparisons. Treatment consisted of either 900 IU/mL EPO or an equal volume of saline in combination with either autograft, a collagen carrier, or a polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold. After an observation time of 5 weeks, the primary outcome (bone volume fraction (BV/TV)) was assessed with high-resolution quantitative computed tomography. Secondary outcome measures were histomorphometry and blood samples. Results — The median BV/TV ratio of the EPO-treated collagen group was 1.06 (CI: 1.02–1.11) relative to the saline-treated collagen group. Histomorphometry showed a similar median effect size, but it did not reach statistical significance. Autograft treatment had excellent healing potential and was able to completely regenerate the bone defect independently of EPO treatment. Bony ingrowth into the PCL scaffold was sparse, both with and without EPO. Neither a substantial systemic effect nor adverse events were observed. The number of blood vessels was similar in EPO-treated defects and saline-treated defects. Interpretation — Topical administration of EPO on a collagen carrier moderately increased bone healing. The dosing regime was safe, and could have possible application in the clinical setting. However, in order to increase the clinical relevance, a more potent but still clinically safe dose should be investigated.
PARP3 affects the relative contribution of homologous recombination and nonhomologous end-joining pathways

The repair of toxic double-strand breaks (DSB) is critical for the maintenance of genome integrity. The major mechanisms that cope with DSB are: homologous recombination (HR) and classical or alternative nonhomologous end joining (C-NHEJ versus A-EJ). Because these pathways compete for the repair of DSB, the choice of the appropriate repair pathway is pivotal. Among the mechanisms that influence this choice, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) end resection plays a critical role by driving cells to HR, while accurate C-NHEJ is suppressed. Furthermore, end resection promotes error-prone A-EJ. Increasing evidence define Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 3 (PARP3, also known as ARTD3) as an important player in cellular response to DSB. In this work, we reveal a specific feature of PARP3 that together with Ku80 limits DNA end resection and thereby helps in making the choice between HR and NHEJ pathways. PARP3 interacts with and PARylates Ku70/Ku80. The depletion of PARP3 impairs the recruitment of YFP-Ku80 to laser-induced DNA damage sites and induces an imbalance between BRCA1 and 53BP1. Both events result in compromised accurate C-NHEJ and a concomitant increase in DNA end resection. Nevertheless, HR is significantly reduced upon PARP3 silencing while the enhanced end resection causes mutagenic deletions during A-EJ. As a result, the absence of PARP3 confers hypersensitivity to anti-tumoral drugs generating DSB.
Muscular Power, Neuromuscular Activation, and Performance in Shot Put Athletes At Preseason and at Competition Period

Kyriazis, TA, Terzis, G, Boudolos, K, and Georgiadis, G. Muscular power, neuromuscular activation, and performance in shot put athletes at preseason and at competition period. J Strength Cond Res 23(6): 1773-1779, 2009-The aim of this study was to investigate changes in shot put performance, muscular power, and neuromuscular activation of the lower extremities, between the preseason and the competition period, in skilled shot put athletes using the rotational technique. Shot put performance was assessed at the start of the pre-season period as well as after 12 weeks, at the competition period, in nine shot putters. Electromyographic (EMG) activity of the right vastus lateralis muscle was recorded during all shot put trials. Maximum squat strength (1RM) and mechanical parameters during the countermovement jump (CMJ) on a force platform were also determined at pre-season and at competition period. Shot put performance increased 4.7% (p < 0.05), while 1RM squat increased 6.5% (p < 0.025). EMG activity during the delivery phase was increased significantly (p < 0.025) after the training period. Shot put performance was significantly related with muscular power and takeoff velocity during the CMJ, at competition period (r = 0.66, p < 0.05 and 0.70, p < 0.05), but not with maximum vertical force. One RM squat was not related significantly with shot put performance. These results suggest that muscular power of the lower extremities is a better predictor of rotational shot put performance than absolute muscular strength in skilled athletes, at least during the competition period.
new weighted rough set framework based classification for Egyptian eoNatal Jaundice

Prediction of diseases would help physicians to make informal decision regarding the type of treatment. Jaundice is the most common condition that requires medical attention in newborn babies. Although most newborns develop some degree of jaundice, a high level bilirubin puts a newborn at risk of bilirubin encephalopathy and kernicterus, which are rare but still occur in Egypt. This paper presents a new vailable online 16 December 2011 eywords: eighted rough set eonatal jaundice weighted rough set framework for early intervention and prevention of neurological dysfunction and kernicterus that are catastrophic sequels of neonatal jaundice. The obtained results illustrate that the weighted rough set can provide significantly more accurate and reliable predictive accuracy than well known algorithms such as weighted SVM and decision tree considering the fact that physicians do not t pro lass imbalance learning ule importance have any estimation abou . Introduction and motivation Neonatal jaundice, although a normal transitional phenomenon n most infants, can occasionally become more pronounced. Blood roup incompatibilities (e.g., Rh, ABO) may increase bilirubin roduction through increased hemolysis. Historically, Rh isoimmuization was an important cause of severe jaundice, often resulting n the development of kernicterus. Although this condition has ecome relatively rare in industrialized countries following the se of Rh prophylaxis in Rh-negative women, Rh isoimmunization emains common in developing countries [34]. About 60% of term abies, and 80% of preterm babies, develop jaundice in their first eek of life. 10% of breastfed babies are still jaundiced at 1 month of ge. Rapid differentiation between the majority of babies with jaunice who have no underlying disease (physiological jaundice) and hose with pathological causes is important to detect the underying disease and to prevent adverse sequelae such as bilirubin ncephalopathy and kernicterus [1]. The increased bilirubin cause the infant’s skin and whiteess of the eyes (sclera) to look yellow. Kernicterus, or bilirubin ncephalopathy, is a condition caused by bilirubin toxicity to the asal ganglia and various brainstem nuclei. In the acute phase, everely jaundiced infants become lethargic, hypotonic and suck oorly. If the hyperbilirubinemia is not treated, the infant becomes ∗ Corresponding author. Tel. : +2
SURFACE CLUSTERING FROM AIRBORNE LASER SCANNING DATA

This paper presents an algorithm for the extraction of surface clusters from airborne laser data. Surface structure analysis is fundamental to almost any application involving LIDAR data, yet most algorithms focus only on identifying planar segments. The proposed algorithm is more general insofar as it aims at extracting surface segments that exhibit an homogeneous behavior, without restriction to one specific pattern. The algorithm adopts a data clustering methodology for this purpose, which offers a very general and flexible way to identify homogeneous patterns in the data.
New Estimation Algorithms for Streaming Data : Count-min Can Do More

Count-min is a general-purpose data stream summary technique, which can be used to answer multiple types of approximate queries such as multiplicity (a.k.a point) queries, join and self-join size estimations, and it has some nice properties such as the one-sided error guarantee, better space bounds and more accurate estimates for highly skewed data in comparison with the best known alternatives. However, based on our experiments for multiplicity queries and self-join size estimations on both synthetic and real data sets, we find that in practice the previous Countmin estimation algorithms only perform well when the data set is highly skewed; in other cases, these algorithms give much less accurate results than Fast-AGMS (a.k.a Countsketch), which is an improvement based on the influential sketching technique, AMS sketch. In this paper, based on the existing Count-min data structure, we propose two new estimation algorithms for multiplicity queries and self-join size estimations, which significantly improve the estimation accuracies compared with the previous Count-min estimation algorithms when the data set is less skewed, exactly where the previous algorithms perform poorly. Moreover, we show both in theory and in practice that the performance of our algorithms are very similar to that of Fast-AGMS regardless of input data distributions. Thus, with both the new and previous estimation algorithms, we argue that Count-min is more flexible and powerful than Fast-AGMS, because Count-min performs almost the same as Fast-AGMS in terms of both estimation accuracy and time efficiency using our new estimation algorithms, while Count-min exhibits other nice properties using the previous estimation algorithms as mentioned before.