Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Theoretical Models of Motor Control and Motor Learning

The ease with which one is able to walk, talk, manipulate objects and play sports belies the fact that generating coordinated movement is a tremendously complex task. We have to control our bodies through a muscular system that is highly redundant, nonlinear and unreliable. Furthermore, we are reliant on sensory feedback that is also unreliable and substantially delayed. Yet many tasks that robotic systems achieve either cumbersomely or not at all are routine to us. Expert performers push the limits of performance even further. Our advantage over synthetic manipulators and – arguably – a professional sportsperson’s advantage over a rookie, lies not so much in the hardware performing the task, but in the way it is controlled. A theoretical approach to motor control and motor learning seeks to explain regularities in behavior in terms of underlying principles. This typically entails formulating mathematical models that describe the mechanics of the body or task, the way in which appropriate motor commands are selected, or the way in which prior experience infl uences future behavior. Many theories are mechanstic in nature – appealing to computations or plasticity occurring at the level of individual neurons or synapses in order to explain observations at the behavioral level. More abstract theories may not necessarily refer to any specifi c neural substrate but instead seek to explain behavior in terms of the way in which information can be represented and transformed. In both approaches, predictions about behavior stem largely from constraints imposed by the assumed circuitry or algorithm. Note that these two modelling approaches are similar to the implementational and algorithmic levels of analysis discussed by Marr (1982). An alternative approach is to set aside questions about mechanism or algorithms and attempt to characterize and understand motor system function purely at the behavioral level. The sheer fl exibility of the motor system makes it seem unlikely that underlying mechanisms place a signifi cant constraint on the kinds of movement that can be generated. Instead, it seems that regularities in behavior are mostly dictated by . mostly dictated by features of 1 THEORETICAL MODELS OF MOTOR CONTROL AND MOTOR LEARNING
Combined cardiac resynchronization and implantable cardioversion defibrillation in advanced chronic heart failure: the MIRACLE ICD Trial.

CONTEXT Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) through biventricular pacing is an effective treatment for heart failure (HF) with a wide QRS; however, the outcomes of patients requiring CRT and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy are unknown. OBJECTIVE To examine the efficacy and safety of combined CRT and ICD therapy in patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or IV congestive HF despite appropriate medical management. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Randomized, double-blind, parallel-controlled trial conducted from October 1, 1999, to August 31, 2001, of 369 patients with left ventricular ejection fraction of 35% or less, QRS duration of 130 ms, at high risk of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias, and in NYHA class III (n = 328) or IV (n = 41) despite optimized medical treatment. INTERVENTIONS Of 369 randomized patients who received devices with combined CRT and ICD capabilities, 182 were controls (ICD activated, CRT off) and 187 were in the CRT group (ICD activated, CRT on). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary double-blind study end points were changes between baseline and 6 months in quality of life, functional class, and distance covered during a 6-minute walk. Additional outcome measures included changes in exercise capacity, plasma neurohormones, left ventricular function, and overall HF status. Survival, incidence of ventricular arrhythmias, and rates of hospitalization were also compared. RESULTS At 6 months, patients assigned to CRT had a greater improvement in median (95% confidence interval) quality of life score (-17.5 [-21 to -14] vs -11.0 [-16 to -7], P =.02) and functional class (-1 [-1 to -1] vs 0 [-1 to 0], P =.007) than controls but were no different in the change in distance walked in 6 minutes (55 m [44-79] vs 53 m [43-75], P =.36). Peak oxygen consumption increased by 1.1 mL/kg per minute (0.7-1.6) in the CRT group vs 0.1 mL/kg per minute (-0.1 to 0.8) in controls (P =.04), although treadmill exercise duration increased by 56 seconds (30-79) in the CRT group and decreased by 11 seconds (-55 to 12) in controls (P<.001). No significant differences were observed in changes in left ventricular size or function, overall HF status, survival, and rates of hospitalization. No proarrhythmia was observed and arrhythmia termination capabilities were not impaired. CONCLUSIONS Cardiac resynchronization improved quality of life, functional status, and exercise capacity in patients with moderate to severe HF, a wide QRS interval, and life-threatening arrhythmias. These improvements occurred in the context of underlying appropriate medical management without proarrhythmia or compromised ICD function.
Comparative Performance Analysis of Artificial Reverberation Algorithms

The paper considers two efficient improved artificial reverberation algorithms built with an early Schroeder's and a late reverberator: modified Schroeder's or an absorbent all-pass. Both of them simulate the behavior of a real concert hall by taking into account the variation with frequency of the reverberation time. Several reverberation algorithms can be found in the literature, but very few design and performance analysis hints are given. Our paper includes a detailed design of the reverberators, simulations are run for each algorithm, acoustic parameters are computed and an objective performance analysis is carried out
Concatenation Hierarchies and Forbidden Patterns

We make the following progress on the dot–depth problem: (1) We introduce classes CB n andCL n of starfree languages defined via forbidden patterns in finit e automata. It is shown for all n 0 thatCB n (CL n) contains level n + 1=2 of the dot–depth hierarchy (Straubing–Thérien hierarchy, resp.). Since we prove tha t CB n andCL n have decidable membership problems, this yields a lower bound algorithm for the dot–de pth of a given language. (2) We prove many structural similarities between our hiera rchiesfCB ng andfCL ng, and the mentioned concatenation hierarchies. Both show the same inclu sion structure and can be separated by the same languages. Moreover, we see that our pattern classe s re not too large, since CL n does not capture leveln + 1=2 of the dot–depth hierarchy. We establish an effective conje ctur for the dot– depth problem, namely that CB n andCL n , and the respective levels of concatenation hierarchies in fact coincide. It is known from literature that this is true for n = 0; 1. (3) We prove the decidability of level 5=2 of the Straubing–Thérien hierarchy in case of a two– letter alphabet — in exactly the way as predicted by our conje ctur . To our knowledge, no results concerning the decidability of this class (and of any level 5=2 of these concatenation hierarchy) were previously known. The result is based on a more general u pward translation of decidability, connecting concatenation hierarchies and our pattern hier archies.
PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATION DEVELOPMENT FOR ROADWAY DEPARTURE COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEMS

The Run-Off-Road Collision Avoidance using IVHS countermeasures program is a four year program sponsored by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The primary goal of the program is to develop practical performance specifications for roadway departure collision avoidance systems. This paper describes the results to date of the efforts to: (1) characterize the problem of roadway departure crashes; (2) develop and test technology for preventing these crashes; (3) model countermeasure system performance; and (4) develop preliminary performance specifications. For the covering abstract, see IRRD 490001.
Author ' s personal copy Multi-component correlate for lateral collinear interactions in the human visual cortex

Perceptual facilitation, a decrease in detection threshold for low-contrast Gabor patches (GPs) occurs when the GP is flanked by collinearly oriented high-contrast patches. There is earlier evidence suggesting a spatial architecture of excitatory and inhibitory interactions. Here we used Visual Evoked Potentials (VEPs) to study the temporal structure of this process. We measured VEPs elicited by a foveal nearthreshold target GP presented in isolation (T), T in the presence of two flanking collinear high-contrast GPs (lateral masking, LM), or the flankers alone (F). Stimuli were presented for 50 ms every 1000 ms. The choice of the set parameters elicited behavioral facilitation of T detection. Significant modulation of peak amplitudes in LM compared with linearly summed waveforms elicited by T and F was found for five alternating polarity components, ranging from 65 to 290 ms after stimulus onset. In the frequency domain, suppression at lower frequencies (up to 0.8 log units) was followed by facilitation at higher frequencies (4–6 Hz, up to 0.8 log units). Although no differences in the latencies were found, lateral interactions were reflected by non-linear waveform modulation of multiple components and frequencies, including components as early as 65–75 ms. Spectrum analysis suggests that both suppression and facilitation may be found for the same configuration of stimuli, simultaneously, distributed at different temporal frequencies and/or sources. The physiological correlates of lateral interactions may thus originate at multiple sources, only some of which are explicitly facilitatory. The final perceptual outcome of this complex spatio-temporal representation is determined by combining sensory and cognitive factors. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Reduced MeCP2 Expression is Frequent in Autism Frontal Cortex and Correlates with Aberrant MECP2 Promoter Methylation

Mutations in MECP2, encoding methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2), cause most cases of Rett syndrome (RTT), an X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder. Both RTT and autism are “pervasive developmental disorders” and share a loss of social, cognitive and language skills and a gain in repetitive stereotyped behavior, following apparently normal perinatal development. Although MECP2 coding mutations are a rare cause of autism, MeCP2 expression defects were previously found in autism brain. To further study the role of MeCP2 in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), we determined the frequency of MeCP2 expression defects in brain samples from autism and other ASDs. We also tested the hypotheses that MECP2 promoter mutations or aberrant promoter methylation correlate with reduced expression in cases of idiopathic autism. MeCP2 immunofluorescence in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders was quantified by laser scanning cytometry and compared with control postmortem cerebral cortex samples on a large tissue microarray. A significant reduction in MeCP2 expression compared to age-matched controls was found in 11/14 autism (79%), 9/9 RTT (100%), 4/4 Angelman syndrome (100%), 3/4 Prader-Willi syndrome (75%), 3/5 Down syndrome (60%), and 2/2 attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (100%) frontal cortex samples. One autism female was heterozygous for a rare MECP2 promoter variant that correlated with reduced MeCP2 expression. A more frequent occurrence was significantly increased MECP2 promoter methylation in autism male frontal cortex compared to controls. Furthermore, percent promoter methylation of MECP2 significantly correlated with reduced MeCP2 protein expression. These results suggest that both genetic and epigenetic defects lead to reduced MeCP2 expression and may be important in the complex etiology of autism.
Animated Pedagogical Agents for Intelligent Edutainment

One of the most important developments in the software industry in recent years has been the merger of the entertainment and educational software markets. An intriguing possibility for edutainment software is the introduction of intelligent life-like characters. By coupling inferential capabilities with well-crafted animated creatures, it becomes possible to create animated pedagogical agents that provide communicative functionalities with strong visual impact. We have developed the coherence-structured behavior space approach to creating animated pedagogical agents. This is a two-step approach. Firsti we design a behavior space of animation and audio segments that are structured by prerequisite relationships and a continuity metric. Second, we navigate coherent paths through the space to dynamically sequence behaviors. This creates seamless global behaviors that communicate fundamental knowledge and provide contextualized problem-solving advice. The coherence-structured behavior space approach has been implemented in "Herman the Bug," an animated pedagogical agent for DESIGN-A-PLANT, which is an edutalnment system for teaching students about botanical anatomy and physiology. Formative evaluations of Herman with middle school students are encouraging.
Cooperative Filter-and-Forward Beamforming for Frequency-Selective Channels with Equalization

Most of the existing literature on cooperative relay networks has focused on frequency-nonselective channels or frequency-selective channels with multi-carrier transmission. However, several practical systems employ single-carrier transmission over frequency-selective channels and the design of corresponding relaying schemes is a largely under-explored topic. In this paper, we investigate filter-and-forward beamforming (FF-BF) for relay networks employing single-carrier transmission over frequency-selective channels. In contrast to prior work, we assume that the destination node is equipped with a simple linear or decision feedback equalizer. The FF-BF filters at the relays are optimized for maximization of the signal-to-noise ratio at the equalizer output under a joint relay power constraint. For infinite impulse response (IIR) FF-BF filters, we derive a unified expression for the filter frequency response valid for linear equalization, decision feedback equalization, and an idealized matched filter receiver. A numerical algorithm with guaranteed convergence is developed for optimization of the power allocation factor included in the expression for the IIR FF-BF filter frequency response. We also provide an efficient gradient algorithm for recursive calculation of near-optimal finite impulse response (FIR) FF-BF filters. Simulation results show that, in general, short FIR FF-BF filters are sufficient to closely approach the performance of IIR FF-BF filters even in severely frequency-selective channels and that the proposed FF-BF scheme with equalization at the destination achieves substantial performance gains compared to a previously proposed FF-BF scheme without equalization.
The relative importance of reproductive assurance and automatic selection as hypotheses for the evolution of self-fertilization.

BACKGROUND The field of plant mating-system evolution has long been interested in understanding why selfing evolves from outcrossing. Many possible mechanisms drive this evolutionary trend, but most research has focused upon the transmission advantage of selfing and its ability to provide reproductive assurance when cross-pollination is uncertain. We discuss the shared conceptual framework of these ideas and their empirical support that is emerging from tests of their predictions over the last 25 years. SCOPE These two hypotheses are derived from the same strategic framework. The transmission advantage hypothesis involves purely gene-level selection, with reproductive assurance involving an added component of individual-level selection. Support for both of these ideas has been garnered from population-genetic tests of their predictions. Studies in natural populations often show that selfing increases seed production, but it is not clear if this benefit is sufficient to favour the evolution of selfing, and the ecological agents limiting outcross pollen are often not identified. Pollen discounting appears to be highly variable and important in systems where selfing involves multiple floral adaptations, yet seed discounting has rarely been investigated. Although reproductive assurance appears likely as a leading factor facilitating the evolution of selfing, studies must account for both seed and pollen discounting to adequately test this hypothesis. CONCLUSIONS The transmission advantage and reproductive assurance ideas describe components of gene transmission that favour selfing. Future work should move beyond their dichotomous presentation and focus upon understanding whether selection through pollen, seed or both explains the spread of selfing-rate modifiers in plant populations.
Economical solutions for the critical section problem in a distributed system (Extended Abstract)

A solution to the critical section problem, first posed by Dijkstra [1], is a fundamental requirement for concurrent program control. The problem is to ensure that no two processes are in a specified area of their programs (the critical section) at the same time. Improvements to Dijkstra's solution were made by Knuth [2], deBruijn [3], and Eisenberg and McGuire [4]. The situation, for a distributed system was considered by Lamport [5]. Rivest and Pratt [6] presented a solution for a distributed system where processes may repeatedly fail. The algorithms to be presented will be further improvements, where the comparisons will be made according to three measures: message size—the number of values the variable for interprocess communication can take on; fairness—the sequence in which waiting processes enter their critical sections; and time—the amount of time a process spends attempting to enter its critical section.
Of Financial And Strategic Decisions Volume 7 Number 1 Spring 1994 1 INTERNAL / EXTERNAL TOP MANAGEMENT SUCCESSION AND FIRM PERFORMANCE

We analyze the relationship between the board’s choice of an internal promotion or external hire of a top executive and relative corporate performance. The board’s choice is predicted using accounting earnings (ROA and EBIT) and stock prices (ROE and Stock Return), in the coincident (year 0) and lagged years (-1 to -3), as measures of performance. The origin of the successor is significantly related only to ROA and EBIT suggesting that boards look at accounting measures more than market measures in evaluating managerial performance. The relationship between poor accounting earnings and outsider appointments is stronger for small firms and the CEO position. Cross-sectional differences in the excess stock returns around the announcement date confirm the value to the firm of outside appointments following poor stock performance.
Multimedia on the Mountaintop: Using Public Snow Images to Improve Water Systems Operation

This paper merges multimedia and environmental research to verify the utility of public web images for improving water management in periods of water scarcity, an increasingly critical event due to climate change. A multimedia processing pipeline fetches mountain images from multiple sources and extracts virtual snow indexes correlated to the amount of water accumulated in the snow pack. Such indexes are used to predict water availability and design the operating policy of Lake Como, Italy. The performance of this informed policy is contrasted, via simulation, with the current operation, which depends only on lake water level and day of the year, and with a policy that exploits official Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) estimated from ground stations data and satellite imagery. Virtual snow indexes allow improving the system performance by 11.6% w.r. t. the baseline operation, and yield further improvement when coupled with official SWE information, showing that the two data sources are complementary. The proposed approach exemplifies the opportunities and challenges of applying multimedia content analysis methods to complex environmental problems.
Optimising Fault Tolerance in Real-Time Cloud Computing IaaS Environment

Fault tolerance is the ability of a system to respond swiftly to an unexpected failure. Failures in a cloud computing environment are normal rather than exceptional, but fault detection and system recovery in a real time cloud system is a crucial issue. To deal with this problem and to minimize the risk of failure, an optimal fault tolerance mechanism was introduced where fault tolerance was achieved using the combination of the Cloud Master, Compute nodes, Cloud load balancer, Selection mechanism and Cloud Fault handler. In this paper, we proposed an optimized fault tolerance approach where a model is designed to tolerate faults based on the reliability of each compute node (virtual machine) and can be replaced if the performance is not optimal. Preliminary test of our algorithm indicates that the rate of increase in pass rate exceeds the decrease in failure rate and it also considers forward and backward recovery using diverse software tools. Our results obtained are demonstrated through experimental validation thereby laying a foundation for a fully fault tolerant IaaS Cloud environment, which suggests a good performance of our model compared to current existing approaches.
Relationship between Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components with Psychological Distress

Background. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and psychological distress are hypothesized to have a bidirectional relationship. According to their high prevalence in most populations, appraisal of this theory would be of great clinical and research interest. Methods. Data were available as part of the Isfahan Healthy Heart Program (IHHP). A total of 9553 men and women aged ≥19 years from three counties in central Iran were selected. Measurements consisted of serologic tests, anthropometrics, and self-reported 12-item general health questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was used to find the association between MetS, MetS components, and distress level. Results. The mean age of 9553 participants (50% male) was 38.7 ± 15.8 years. After adjusting for demographic factors, MetS (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.01–1.37), central obesity (OR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.15–1.49), and hypertension (OR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.42–1.70) were associated with high distress level. However, after adding smoking status and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol to the adjustment factors, hypertension (OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.53–1.98) and central obesity (OR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.17–1.55), but not the MetS, remained significantly associated with distress level. Conclusion. The presence of association between the MetS as well as its key components and high distress level signifies the importance of integrating psychological assessment and intervention in the standard management of MetS patients.
Multi-Scale Saliency-Guided Compressive Sensing Approach to Efficient Robotic Laser Range Measurements

Improving laser range data acquisition speed is important for many robotic applications such as mapping and localization. One approach to reducing acquisition time is to acquire laser range data through a dynamically small subset of measurement locations. The reconstruction can then be performed based on the concept of compressed sensing (CS), where a sparse signal representation allows for signal reconstruction at sub-Nyquist measurements. Motivated by this, a novel multi-scale saliency-guided CS-based algorithm is proposed for an efficient robotic laser range data acquisition for robotic vision. The proposed system samples the objects of interest through an optimized probability density function derived based on multi-scale saliency rather than the uniform random distribution used in traditional CS systems. Experimental results with laser range data from indoor and outdoor environments show that the proposed approach requires less than half the samples needed by existing CS-based approaches while maintaining the same reconstruction performance. In addition, the proposed method offers significant improvement in reconstruction SNR compared to current CS-based approaches.