Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An ensemble learning approach to auto-annotation for whole-brain C. elegans imaging

Shifting from individual neuron analysis to whole-brain neural network analysis opens up new research opportunities for Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). An automated data processing pipeline, including neuron detection, segmentation, tracking and annotation, will significantly improve the efficiency of analyzing whole-brain C. elegans imaging. The resulting large data sets may motivate new scientific discovery by exploiting many promising analysis tools for big data. In this study, we focus on the development of an automated annotation procedure. With only around 180 neurons in the central nervous system of a C. elegans, the annotation of each individual neuron still remains a major challenge because of the high density in space, similarity in neuron shape, unpredictable distortion of the worm’s head during motion, intrinsic variations during worm development, etc. We use an ensemble learning approach to achieve around 25% error for a test based on real experimental data. Also, we demonstrate the importance of exploring extra source of information for annotation other than the neuron positions.
TonoVet versus Tonopen in a high intraocular pressure monkey model

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the consistency of and deviation in intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements obtained by the TonoVet rebound tonometer and the Tonopen applanation tonometer in a primate model. Methods Twenty-four-hour IOPs (nine time points) were recorded in ten monkeys with normal IOP and eight monkeys with chronic high IOP (one eye was randomly selected for measurement in each animal) using a Tonopen and TonoVet device. Measurements obtained using both handheld devices were first compared in the healthy control group (90 readings). The monkeys with chronic ocular hypertension (COHT, 72 IOP readings) were divided into three subgroups according to the level of IOP. The consistency of and deviations in the measurements were analyzed using Bland–Altman plots, linear regression, and two-tailed Student t tests. Results In monkeys with normal IOP, the two devices produced similar IOP readings (mean IOP deviation, 0.06 ± 2.08 mmHg, p = 0.761), with 56.67% of the deviation between −1 mmHg and 1 mmHg and 91.12% between −3 mmHg and 3 mmHg. However, in the animal model group (23–60 mmHg), the readings obtained by the TonoVet tonometer were higher than those obtained by the Tonopen tonometer (mean deviation, 13.76 ± 9.19 mmHg); furthermore, 75.68% of the TonoVet measurements deviated by ± 5 mmHg from the Tonopen measurements. Conclusions In animals with normal IOP, the TonoVet and Tonopen tonometers produced consistent measurements. However, in a monkey model of chronic high IOP, the measurements obtained by these tonometers were inconsistent, with higher IOPs associated with larger measurement errors. Therefore, it is necessary to be aware that among different tonometers, there may be systemic errors and deviations in IOP measurements. These findings should facilitate efforts to obtain more accurate individualized diagnoses and prevent the utilization of misleading IOP values.
RNNs Evolving in Equilibrium: A Solution to the Vanishing and Exploding Gradients

Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) are particularly well-suited for modeling long-term dependencies in sequential data, but are notoriously hard to train because the error backpropagated in time either vanishes or explodes at an exponential rate. While a number of works attempt to mitigate this effect through gated recurrent units, well-chosen parametric constraints, and skip-connections, we develop a novel perspective that seeks to evolve the hidden state on the equilibrium manifold of an ordinary differential equation (ODE). We propose a family of novel RNNs, namely {\em Equilibriated Recurrent Neural Networks} (ERNNs) that overcome the gradient decay or explosion effect and lead to recurrent models that evolve on the equilibrium manifold. We show that equilibrium points are stable, leading to fast convergence of the discretized ODE to fixed points. Furthermore, ERNNs account for long-term dependencies, and can efficiently recall informative aspects of data from the distant past. We show that ERNNs achieve state-of-the-art accuracy on many challenging data sets with 3-10x speedups, 1.5-3x model size reduction, and with similar prediction cost relative to vanilla RNNs.
Efficacy of withdrawal time monitoring in adenoma detection with or without the aid of a full-spectrum scope

Abstract Background and study aims Withdrawal time (WT) monitoring and full-spectrum endoscopy (FUSE) have been suggested to increase adenoma detection rate (ADR) due to more accurate evaluation of the hidden areas of the colon. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of WT monitoring and FUSE on ADR. Patients and methods This was a prospective observational study involving consecutive outpatients, aged 18 to 85 years, undergoing colonoscopy with unselected indications. In phase 1, endoscopists performed 660 colonoscopies either with standard forward-viewing endoscope (SFVE) (n = 330) or with FUSE (n = 330). In this phase, WTs were measured without endoscopist awareness of being monitored. In phase 2, endoscopists were informed of being monitored and performed additional 660 colonoscopies either with SFVE (n = 330) or with FUSE (n = 330). Results WT was lower in phase 1 compared to phase 2 (SFVE: 269 ± 83 vs. 386 ± 60 sec, P < 0.001; FUSE: 289 ± 97 vs. 403 ± 65 sec, P < 0.001). Use of FUSE increased ADR both in phase 1 (33.0 % vs. 27.3 %, P = 0.127) and in phase 2 (41.8 % vs. 33.6 %, P = 0.037). When endoscopists were aware of being monitored, ADR was higher in SFVE (33.6 % vs. 27.3 %; P = 0.090) and FUSE arms (41.8 % vs. 33.0 %; P = 0.024). Improvement in detection of proximal adenomas was associated with WT monitoring [OR 1.577 (95 % C. I. 1.158 – 2.148); P = 0.004], whereas detection of distal adenomas was associated with use of FUSE [OR 1.320 (95 % C. I. 1.022 – 1.705); P = 0.037]. Conclusions Unmonitored endoscopists have suboptimal WT, which increases when they are monitored. WT monitoring and use of FUSE are two reliable and alternative strategies to increase ADR.
Implicit Bodies Through Explicit Action 1

this paper contends that the body is performed. a body can “act” as a site of emergence, a boundary project, and an incipience. While rebecca schneider’s “explicit body” in feminist performance art performatively unfolds (latin: explicare) and explicates, the implicit body concordantly enfolds (latin: implicare) and implies. inter-action is both constitutive of, and always already involved in, the flesh. Like an animated Möbius strip, the body feeds back between affection and reflection. The last section of this paper attempts to think through interactive digital art as a proscenium for, and framer of, the implicit body.
Full 3 D Microwave Tomography enhanced GPR surveys : a case study

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) systems are well assessed non-invasive diagnostic tools capable of providing high resolution images of the inner structure of the probed spatial region. Owing to this capability, GPR systems are nowadays more and more considered in the frame of civil engineering surveys since they may give information on constructive details as well as on the aging and risk factors affecting the healthiness of an infrastructure. In this frame, accurate, reliable and easily interpretable images of the probed scenarios are mandatory in order to support the management of maintenance works and assure the safety of structures. Such a requirement motivates the use of different and sophisticated data processing approaches in order to compare more than one image of the same scene, thus improving the reliability and objectiveness of the GPR survey results.
Accumulation of indium derived from acidic thermal water in the sediment at Tamagawa Dam , Akita prefecture , Japan

Variations in the concentrations of major elements (Fe, Al and Si) and trace elements (In and Pb) in sediments in Tamagawa Dam, a man-made dam that receives acidic water from Tamagawa Hot Spring, were investigated. Two sediment samples were collected at an upstream site (pH = 4.7) and downstream site (pH=4.1) at Tamagawa Dam. The thickness of both sediments was approximately 12 cm. The sediments consist of alternation of many layers composed of fine-grained particles. Indium content in the sediment ranges from 0.39 to 0.79 ppm and the content is 7-14-times higher than the average In content in the continental crust. The In-rich layer is characterized by high concentrations of Fe and Pb and a low concentration of Al. Based on the average In content and the amount of sediment at Tamagawa Dam, the estimated amount of In in the sediment is approximately 540 kg since Tamagawa Dam was built in 1990. On the other hand, the amount of In released from Obuki Hot Spring is estimated to be approximately 500 kg based on the discharge rate (9,000L/min) and In content (0.57 ppb) of Obuki thermal water from 1990 to 2012. Both estimations are consistent and this fact suggests that most of the In was precipitated in Tamagawa Dam over the 22-year period.
Preliminary Evidence of aMissing Self Bias in Face Perception FOR Individuals with Dissociative Identity Disorder

Failing to recognize one’s mirror image can signal an abnormality in one’s sense of self. In dissociative identity disorder (DID), individuals often report that their mirror image can feel unfamiliar or distorted. They also experience some of their own thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations as if they are nonautobiographical and sometimes as if instead, they belong to someone else. To assess these experiences, we designed a novel backwards masking paradigm in which participants were covertly shown their own face, masked by a stranger’s face. Participants rated feelings of familiarity associated with the strangers’ faces. 21 control participants without traumagenerated dissociation rated masks, which were covertly preceded by their own face, as more familiar compared to masks preceded by a stranger’s face. In contrast, across two samples, 28 individuals with DID and similar clinical presentations (DSMIV Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified type 1) did not show increased familiarity ratings to their own masked face. However, their familiarity ratings interacted with selfreported identity state integration. Individuals with higher levels of identity state integration had response patterns similar to control participants. These data provide empirical evidence of aberrant self-referential processing in DID/DDNOS and suggest this is restored with identity state integration. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 8 November 2017 Accepted 23 October 2018
Analysis of acoustic field in the cylindrical shape with membrane

Directional characteristics of the acoustic field i n a cylindrical shape with membrane are investigation in this paper. The main objective of the study is to determine the impulse response of the sound sources for calculating acous ti parameters in a closed cylindrical space. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed analytical model enables evaluation of the sound field in the cylinder-shaped space with membr ane.
Individual and Situational Factors Related to Lecturing in Abstract Algebra

In this study, we report the results of a national survey of 219 abstract algebra instructors concerning their instructional practices and pedagogical decision-making. Organizing our respondents into groups (Alternative, Mixed, Traditional) based on proportion of class time lecturing, we investigated differences in the prevalence of specific pedagogical practices and the individual/situational factors influential therein. We used the reported teaching practices to generate profiles of the salient features of each instructional type and attempted to explain these differences through a combination of individual/situational factors. Results indicate that while significant differences in teaching practices exist, these are primarily explained by individual factors such as personal beliefs, level of experience, and interest in various scholarly activities. Situational characteristics, apart from institution type as identified by terminal degree, such as perceived departmental support and situation of abstract algebra in the broader mathematics curriculum did not appear to be related to instructional differences.
GALOIS-1703 Applying Formal Methods to Reinforcement Learning

We report our research on formal methods guided testing of autonomous systems. In particular, we looked at closed-loop control systems that incorporate neural network based reinforcement learning components. Typically, reinforcement learning approaches train good control policies only after millions of experiments due to the sparsity of high reward actions. This may be unacceptable in an online learning setting. Our solution to this problem is inspired by Imitation Learning, a learning from demonstrations framework, in which an agent learns a control policy by directly mimicking demonstrations provided by an expert. Our approach automatically generates expert trajectories using a variant of the Monte Carlo tree search method. Unlike traditional methods, which eagerly expand a Monte Carlo search tree and draw samples on tree nodes, our technique is lazy and counterexample driven. This gives us the ability to directly and more efficiently get states and actions that are weighted highly. For each violation of safety properties found by the simulator, we traverse the Monte Carlo search tree induced by the failed trajectory. This search procedure allows us to collect expert trajectories that satisfy our safety properties by forcing the agent to take certain actions in key states to avoid property violation. Our technique proceeds by aggregating an expert trajectory dataset at each training iteration. The intuition is that, over iterations, it builds up the set of inputs that the policy is likely to encounter during its execution based on previous experience, which allows us to use supervised learning algorithms for efficient reinforcement learning. As our solution is counterexample-driven, the available expert trajectories may still be sparse. To combat this challenge, we use a constraint encoding of the neural network policy model and an SMT solver to compute states that are nearby states visited by an expert trajectory, but for which the policy chooses significantly different actions. In a robust policy, such nearby states should behave similarly, and so these ”edge cases” are likely to be interesting from a safety property perspective. We then use the above tree based search procedure again to test and improve the policy model using these newly generated trajectories. In our experiments, we found that our algorithm enabled policy training with several orders of magnitude less data. We show the effectiveness of our approach via a case study on the game Pong.
Enhancing Malaysia’s human capital: A study of students’ preference and usage level of graphs in solving applied derivative problems

Developing countries such as Malaysia need to cultivate and harness the problem solving skills of their potential workforce in order to be economically competitive. Cartesian graphs are known to be effective tools for solving derivative problems. Although ‘sketching a graph’ is advocated as a useful strategy, generating an appropriate graph may pose difficulties and consequently cause the students to reluctantly employ them. This study examined the Malaysian students’ preference and usage levels of graphs in solving applied derivative problems. A 16-item Likertscale questionnaire consisting of four categories and two tasks on the application of derivative were distributed to 194 pre-university students in Selangor. The results showed a negative relationship between the students’ actual preference method and their usage level of graphs in solving derivative problems. This implied that teachers should be encouraged to motivate students to practically utilize graphs in their learning of mathematical concepts by increasing the use of graphs creatively. The design of the instructional materials and the questioning and examination tasks should gear towards the promoting of information displayed graphically. It was also recommended that the variations in the types and functions of graphs be highlighted so as to seek students’ skills and ability to sketch graphs and to read and interpret graphs efficiently and effectively. Keywords: applied derivative problems, graphs, instructional materials, mathematics education, problem solving skills, students’ preference
SOME REMARKS ON HAAGERUP S APPROXIMATION PROPERTY

A nite von Neumann algebra M with a faithful normal trace has Haagerups approximation property if there exists a pointwise deformation of the identity in 2-norm by subtracial compact completely positive maps. In this paper we prove that the subtraciality condition can be removed. This enables us to provide a description of Haagerups approximation property in terms of correspondences. We also show that if N M is an amenable inclusion of nite von Neumann algebras and N has Haagerups approximation property, then M also has Haagerups approximation property.
Morale and Debt Dynamics

This paper shows that debt undermines relational incentives and harms worker morale. We build a dynamic model of a manager who uses limited financial resources to simultaneously repay a creditor and motivate a worker. If the manager can divert or misuse revenue, then debt makes the manager less willing to follow through on promised rewards, leading to low worker effort. In profit-maximizing equilibria, the firm prioritizes repaying its debts, leading to gradual increases in effort and wages. These dynamics can persist even after debts have been fully repaid. Consistent with this analysis, we document that a firm’s financial leverage is negatively related to measures of employee morale, wages, and productivity. This paper was accepted by Joshua Gans, business strategy.
The use of visual landmarks by gerbils : Reaching a goal when landmarks are displaced

Gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) can specify the location of a goal by means of visual landmarks and will return to such a goal from different starting positions in the vicinity of the landmarks. To discover whether landmark-cues are used continuously during an approach to the goal, gerbils were trained to forage for sunflower seeds close to a single illuminated light-bulb on the floor of an arena. As they approached the bulb, it was switched off and another bulb in a variable position with respect to the first turned on. On 52 out of 71 trials the gerbils changed their trajectory (latency ca. 240 ms) to aim for the newly lit bulb (Fig. 1 A, B). On the remaining trials, gerbils maintained their original course towards the first bulb as though it were still lit and then paused after a longer delay before eventually changing direction (Fig. 1 C). Thus, an approach to a beacon is usually under continuous visual control. This ensures that the gerbil will reach its goal correctly despite any inaccuracies in its initial computation of its approach. When switches were made between more complex arrays of landmarks, the gerbils' behaviour was less clear-cut. Possible reasons for this difference are suggested.
Changes and their Impacts on Land Surface 2 Temperature in Tropical Hill Stations in South Asia : 3 A Case Study of Nuwara Eliya , Sri Lanka 4 5

1 Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 7 305-8572, Japan. 8 2 Department of Environmental Management, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 9 Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Mihintale 50300, Sri Lanka. 10 3 Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Tennodai, Tsukuba, 11 Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan. 12 4 Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Resources, Copperbelt University, 13 P.O. Box 21692, Kitwe 10101, Zambia. 14 * Correspondence: manjularanagalage@ssh.rjt. ac.lk or manjularanagalage@gmail.com (M.R.); 15 dissanayakedmslb@gmail.com (D.D) 16 17 Abstract: Although urbanization has contributed to improving living conditions, it has had negative 18 impacts on the natural environment in the urbanized areas. Urbanization has changed the urban 19 landscape and resulted in increasing land surface temperature (LST). Thus, studies related to LST in 20 various urban environments have become a popular research topic. However, few LST studies 21 focusing on the mountain landscapes (i.e. hill stations) have been carried out. The primary objective 22 of this study is to investigate changes in the landscape and their impacts on LST intensity (LSTI) in 23 the tropical mountain city of Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka. The study utilized annual median 24 temperatures extracted from Landsat data collected from 1996 to 2017 based on the Google Earth 25 Engine (GEE) interface. The fractions of built-up (BL), forest (FL), and agricultural (AL) land were 26 calculated using land use and cover maps based on the urban-rural zone (URZ) analysis. The urban27 rural margin was demarcated based on the fraction of BL (<10%) and LSTI was measured using the 28 mean LST difference in the urban-rural zone. In addition, the mixture of land use types was calculated 29 using the AL/FL and BL/FL fraction ratios, and grid-based density analysis. The result shows that the 30 BL in all URZ rapidly developed, while AL decreased during the period 1996 to 2017. There was 31 minimal change in the forest area of the Nuwara Eliya owing to the government forest preservation 32 policies. The fraction of the BL increased from 32.4% in 1996 to 58.7% in 2017 in the city center zone 33 (URZ1) resulting in increased mean LST by 4.7 °C. Furthermore, the increase of the BL/FL fraction 34 ratio and the decrease of the AL/FL fraction ratio were positively correlated with the mean LST. Grid35 based analysis showed an increasing positive relationship between mean LST and density of BL. This 36 indicated that BL density has been a crucial element in increasing LST in the study area. The results 37 of this study will be a useful indicator to introduce improved landscape and urban planning in the 38 future to minimize the negative impact of LST on urban sustainability. 39
P L ] 2 8 A ug 2 01 9 Adding Data to Curry

Functional logic languages can solve equations over user-defined data and functions. Thus, the definition of an appropriate meaning of equality has a long history in these languages, ranging from reflexive equality in early equational logic languages to strict equality in contemporary functional logic languages like Curry. With the introduction of type classes, where the equality operation “==” is overloaded and user-defined, the meaning became more complex. Moreover, logic variables appearing in equations require a different typing than pattern variables, since the latter might be instantiated with functional values or non-terminating operations. In this paper, we present a solution to these problems by introducing a new type class Data which is associated with specific algebraic data types, logic variables, and strict equality. We discuss the ideas of this class and its implications on various concepts of Curry, like unification, functional patterns, and program optimization.
FLUIDS 4 , 013601 ( 2019 ) Ballistics of self-jumping microdroplets

Pierre Lecointre,1,2 Timothée Mouterde,1,2 Antonio Checco,3 Charles T. Black,4 Atikur Rahman,5 Christophe Clanet,1,2 and David Quéré1,2,* 1Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes, UMR 7636 du CNRS, ESPCI, 75005 Paris, France 2Laboratoire d’Hydrodynamique de l’X, UMR 7646 du CNRS, École polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau, France 3Mechanical Engineering Department, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA 4Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA 5Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)-Pune, Maharashtra 411008, India