Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A novel Skill-based Programming Paradigm based on Autonomous Playing and Skill-centric Testing

We introduce a novel paradigm for robot pro- gramming with which we aim to make robot programming more accessible for unexperienced users. In order to do so we incorporate two major components in one single framework: autonomous skill acquisition by robotic playing and visual programming. Simple robot program skeletons solving a task for one specific situation, so-called basic behaviours, are provided by the user. The robot then learns how to solve the same task in many different situations by autonomous playing which reduces the barrier for unexperienced robot programmers. Programmers can use a mix of visual programming and kinesthetic teaching in order to provide these simple program skeletons. The robot program can be implemented interactively by programming parts with visual programming and kinesthetic teaching. We further integrate work on experience-based skill-centric robot software testing which enables the user to continuously test implemented skills without having to deal with the details of specific components.
Sunk Costs, Entry, and Exit in Dynamic Oligopoly

This paper develops a dynamic econometric framework for the analysis of entry, exit, and competitive conduct in oligopolistic markets. This framework only requires panel data on the demand and producer counts of geographically dispersed markets over time. It is a dynamic extension of Bresnahan and Reiss's (1990, 1991) framework for the analysis of static competition in a cross-section of markets. Our extension to the infinite-horizon model facilitates the empirical analysis of the dynamic determinants of market structure and competition: sunk entry costs and uncertainty. Moreover, it is needed for the consistent measurement of static market primitives, such as the toughness of competition. Our model's timing and expectation assumptions help to select an essentially unique Markov-perfect equilibrium that can be computed quickly by solving a finite sequence of dynamic programming problems with low-dimensional state spaces. We apply our model to the empirical re-analysis of sunk costs and the toughness of competition in the US market for dental services, using Bresnahan and Reiss's (1993) panel data on the number of dentists across geographical markets in the US.
Nonlinear Integral-Differential evolution equation arising in option pricing when including transaction costs: A viscosity solution approach

Since Black and Scholes´s paper (1973) presents a formula to pricing option, there has been an increasing interest on problems arising in Financial Mathematics and in particular on derivatives pricing. The standard approach to this problem leads to the study of equations of parabolic type. One of the classic assumptions with the Black- Scholes models resolution (1973) is that the investor's portfolio revalue in a continuous form. This dynamic implies transaction costs, due to the buy/sell of necessary stocks to maintain the portfolio's equilibrium. Black- Scholes models which include proportional transaction costs were studied by many authors (Leland, 1985). In this work we suppose that transaction costs behave as a no increasing lineal function, h(x) =a-bx, (a, b>0), depending on the trading stocks need to hedge the portfolio that replicates the contingent claim. Moreover, if the underlying asset follows a jump-diffusion process, (Merton, 1993), we obtain an Evolution Integro-differential problem, with value boundaries conditions, extending the paper (Amster, Averbuj, 2005) Under adequate conditions, we propose a unique convex solution to the corresponding evolution Dirichlet problem Key words: Poisson-diffusion process, transaction costs, nonlinear partial differential equations, viscosity solution, Perron´s method Code:C02,G13
RF nonlinear interactions in living cells–II: Detection methods for spectral signatures

The presence of harmonic products due to possible nonlinear interaction of amplitude modulated RF signals in living cells is best detected by using a cavity with high quality factor. Harmonic products generated by elementary oscillators can be trapped and accumulated in a cavity, permitting detection sensitivity much greater than in an open environment, where they would be radiated in all directions. The experimental method described herein is a systematic approach to detection of the non‐Planck RF energy (if any) emitted by an exposed sample of living cells. Balzano and Sheppard [Balzano and Sheppard ( 2003 ): Bioelectromagnetics 24:473–482] classified the non‐Planck RF emissions from living cells as coming from (1) nonlinear interactions and (2) inelastic interactions. Nonlinear harmonic products would appear in the band at twice the frequency of an amplitude modulated RF carrier. Inelastic interaction products resulting from the interaction between the incident RF energy and normally occurring mechanical vibrations are found in the band immediately adjacent to the carrier. Detection of the latter signals is difficult because of this close spectral proximity, for example, 1 part in 107 for 100 Hz modulation of a GHz carrier. Modern audio spectrum analyzers have excellent selectivity, providing 60 dB rejections only 2 kHz away from the carrier. By judicious selection of the amplitude modulation (AM) frequency, frequency of the RF carrier, and size of the biological sample, it is possible to achieve very high sensitivity (about −90 dBm) with commercially available instrumentation. The presence (or absence) of harmonics in the band adjacent to the amplitude modulated RF carrier would establish (or negate) the existence of coherent interactions between mechanical vibrations in the cell ensemble and the incident RF signal. Bioelectromagnetics 24:483–488, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Recognizing physical activity from ego-motion of a camera

A new image based activity recognition method for a person wearing a video camera below the neck is presented in this paper. The wearable device is used to capture video data in front of the wearer. Although the wearer never appears in the video, his or her physical activity is analyzed and recognized using the recorded scene changes resulting from the motion of the wearer. Correspondence features are extracted from adjacent frames and inaccurate matches are removed based on a set of constraints imposed by the camera model. Motion histograms are defined and calculated within a frame and we define a new feature called accumulated motion distribution derived from motion statistics in each frame. A Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier is trained with this feature and used to classify physical activities in different scenes. Our results show that different types of activities can be recognized in low resolution, field acquired real-world video.
Compression of topological models and localization using the global appearance of visual information

In this work, a clustering approach to obtain compact topological models of an environment is developed and evaluated. The usefulness of these models is tested by studying their utility to solve the robot localization problem subsequently. Omnidirectional visual information and global appearance descriptors are used both to create and compress the models and to estimate the position of the robot. Comparing to the methods based on the extraction and description of landmarks, global appearance approaches permit building models that can be handled and interpreted more intuitively and using relatively straightforward algorithms to estimate the position of the robot. The proposed algorithms are tested with a set of panoramic images captured with a catadioptric vision sensor in a large environment under real working conditions. The results show that it is possible to compress substantially the visual information contained in topological models to arrive to a balance between the computational cost and the accuracy of the localization process.
Derivation of a Xeno‐Free Human Embryonic Stem Cell Line

Elimination of all animal material during both the derivation and long‐term culture of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) is necessary prior to future application of hESCs in clinical cell therapy. The potential consequences of transplanting xeno‐contaminated hESCs into patients, such as an increased risk of graft rejection [Stem Cells 2006;24:221–229] and the potential transfer of nonhuman pathogens, make existing hESC lines unsuitable for clinical applications. To avoid xeno‐contamination during derivation and culture of hESCs, we first developed a xeno‐free medium supplemented with human serum, which supports long‐term (>50 passages) culture of hESCs in an undifferentiated state. To enable derivation of new xeno‐free hESCs, we also established xeno‐free human foreskin fibroblast feeders and replaced immunosurgery, which involves the use of guinea pig complement, with a modified animal‐product‐free derivation procedure. Here, we report the establishment and characterization (>20 passages) of a xeno‐free pluripotent diploid normal hESC line, SA611.
Morphological subclasses of lateral olivocochlear terminals? Ultrastructural analysis of inner spiral bundle in cat and guinea pig

The lateral olivocochlear efferent pathway terminates in vesicle‐filled swellings in the inner spiral bundles under inner hair cells (IHCs) and has been suggested to include at least two chemically distinct subclasses (see, e.g., Vetter et al. [1991] Synapse 7:21–43). In the present study, the ultrastructure and peripheral targets of vesicle‐filled swellings in the IHC area of the cat and guinea pig cochleas were quantitatively analyzed to determine 1) whether morphological subclasses could be defined based on swelling size or on the density, size, or shape of clear and dense‐cored vesicles and 2) whether swellings with different postsynaptic targets differed morphologically. In both cat and guinea pig, all swellings contained large, round, clear vesicles and a variable number of dense‐core vesicles. Although evidence of clear‐cut subclasses was not compelling, the smallest swellings tended to be rich in dense‐core and poor in clear vesicles and rarely formed synaptic contacts. Most of the larger swellings, which tended to contain few dense‐core vesicles and a rich complement of clear round vesicles, formed synapses with radial afferent fibers. However, there were no morphological differences between swellings contacting afferents originating on the modiolar vs. pillar sides of the IHC (the source of afferents with low and high spontaneous discharge rates, respectively). We conclude that 1) if distinct γ‐amino butyric acid (GABA)ergic and cholinergic subclasses of lateral olivocochlear (LOC) fibers exist, then the vesicle morphology of their terminals does not differ as it does in the central nervous system and that 2) if peptide neurotransmitters, such as calcitonin gene‐related peptide and enkephalins, are packaged in dense‐core vesicles, then the LOC terminals synapsing with IHC afferent fibers are not particularly rich in these peptides. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The 2015 Norwegian Local Elections: Support for Governing Radical Right Progress Party Plummets and Great Gains for Greens in ‘Second-Order’ Elections

ABSTRACT Two years into the first term of the right wing Conservative/Progress Party coalition government, the 2015 Norwegian local elections displayed many features of a ‘second-order’ election: the governing parties lost considerable support, minor parties did well and voter turnout was low. For the second local elections in a row, political circumstances prevented the far right Progress Party from mobilizing on the anti-immigration issue, adding to the burdens of governing nationally for the first time. The Green Party leveraged its 2013 entry into the national parliament into record support, consolidating the progress made in the 2011 local elections. Although the elections were shaped by national politics, municipal and county variation shows that local political factors did matter.
Geriatric Content in Medical School Curricula: Results of a National Survey

Despite recent gains in establishing academic sections, divisions, and departments of geriatrics in medical schools, much remains to be done to meet the medical needs of an aging population. To better understand how medical schools are educating students in geriatric‐related topics, all U.S. allopathic and osteopathic medical schools were surveyed in two waves, in 1999 and 2000, using a questionnaire based on recommendations from the Education Committee of the American Geriatrics Society. Responding schools were more likely to address diseases and conditions of aging, psychosocial issues, and ethical issues and less likely to cover anatomic changes, nutrition, knowledge of healthcare financing, outcome measurement, and cultural aspects of aging. Although limited, the results indicate that medical schools have increased coverage of aging‐related material, although further expansion of geriatric content will be necessary to meet the needs of an aging society.
An Overview of Literature Topics Related to Current Concepts, Methods, Tools, and Applications for Cumulative Risk Assessment (2007–2016)

Cumulative risk assessments (CRAs) address combined risks from exposures to multiple chemical and nonchemical stressors and may focus on vulnerable communities or populations. Significant contributions have been made to the development of concepts, methods, and applications for CRA over the past decade. Work in both human health and ecological cumulative risk has advanced in two different contexts. The first context is the effects of chemical mixtures that share common modes of action, or that cause common adverse outcomes. In this context two primary models are used for predicting mixture effects, dose addition or response addition. The second context is evaluating the combined effects of chemical and nonchemical (e.g., radiation, biological, nutritional, economic, psychological, habitat alteration, land-use change, global climate change, and natural disasters) stressors. CRA can be adapted to address risk in many contexts, and this adaptability is reflected in the range in disciplinary perspectives in the published literature. This article presents the results of a literature search and discusses a range of selected work with the intention to give a broad overview of relevant topics and provide a starting point for researchers interested in CRA applications.
Measuring Environmental Action and Economic Performance in Developing Countries

Significant advances have been made in measuring the stringency of environmental policies, and understanding the relationship between environmental action and economic dynamics, particularly in high-income countries. Despite this, unequivocal empirical evidence on the impact of environmental policies on economic performance remains elusive, with conclusions being highly dependent on the conceptual and methodological choices with respect to defining and measuring the stringency of environmental policies. Most importantly, the literature evaluating these issues in developing countries remains sparse and robust findings are even more difficult to extract.Produced through the Green Growth Knowledge Platform's Trade and Competitiveness Research Committee, this study reviews the existing body of work in both developed, and, where available, developing countries. It provides a comprehensive assessment of how environmental policy stringency has been measured, outlining definitional and conceptual challenges. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different indicators, and their usefulness for application in developing countries. In an effort to improve our understanding of the impact of environmental policy stringency in middle and low-income countries, the study draws lessons for the prioritization of future data collection and measurement efforts. Through the study, two types of stringency indicators emerge as requiring the most attention: de facto enforcement indicators and de jure explicit measures that capture the stringency of specific environmental laws, rules and regulations. While there is no “best” conceivable measure of the stringency of environmental policies, a multidimensional approach to quantifying stringency in developing countries, with a focus on explicit direct measures, is advocated. Data collection and indicator-improvement efforts need, though, to be updated periodically and supplemented by other proxies for environmental stringency.
Monoamine-Dependent, Opioid-Independent Antihypersensitivity Effects of Intrathecally Administered Milnacipran, a Serotonin Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitor, in a Postoperative Pain Model in Rats

The neurotransmitters serotonin (5-HT) and noradrenaline (NA) have important roles in suppressing nociceptive transmission in the spinal cord. In the present study, we determined the efficacy and nature of the antihypersensitivity effects of milnacipran, a 5-HT and NA reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), in the spinal cord in a rat model of postoperative pain. Sprague-Dawley rats were used in all experiments. An incision was made on the plantar aspect of the hind paw. Mechanical hypersensitivity was measured by determining the withdrawal threshold to von Frey filaments applied to the paw. Drugs were administered intrathecally 24 h after paw incision. Microdialysis studies of the dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord were also performed to measure 5-HT and NA levels after systemic injection of milnacipran. Milnacipran (1–30 μg) produced dose-dependent antihypersensitivity effects. The effect lasted 6 h after the 30-μg injection. Doses of 30 μg or less produced no abnormal behavior. The peak antihypersensitivity effect of 10 μg of milnacipran was blocked by intrathecal pretreatment with antagonists of the α2-adrenoceptor (idazoxan; 30 μg) or 5-HT receptors (methysergide; 30 μg). Intrathecal pretreatment with 30 μg of naloxone, a μ-opioid receptor antagonist, did not reverse the effect of milnacipran. Isobolographic analysis indicated antinociceptive synergism between milnacipran and morphine. Microdialysis studies revealed that milnacipran increased both 5-HT and NA levels in the spinal dorsal horn. These findings suggest that the antihypersensitivity effect of intrathecal milnacipran in the postoperative pain model is monoamine-mediated. Combined administration of an SNRI with morphine might be a promising treatment to suppress postoperative hypersensitivity.
Transnational Public Attention in European Club Football: Current trends and driving forces

ABSTRACT Professional football is a highly globalized area. The paper analyses the impact of globalization on football audiences in European countries. It is argued that in the course of globalization, people are not only thrown into a transnational lifestyle, but may also develop a growing interest in what is going on outside their domestic territory. With regard to football, it is hypothesized that audiences may direct more and more attention to high-class football leagues and clubs abroad. This presumed shift of attention is empirically investigated with a new indicator: search engine queries. It is argued that queries addressing football clubs in foreign countries are expressions of transnational attention. These transnational queries are systematically analysed over a period of seven seasons (2005/2006–2011/2012). Results indicate that public attention to foreign football clubs has indeed increased over time, particularly in those countries with weaker domestic football leagues. Furthermore, the fluctuation of attention to these clubs can be explained systematically: attention increases with (a) the success of a club in European and national competitions, (b) the success of domestic players in an expatriate club and (c) the number of matches against domestic clubs in European club competitions. Although transnational attention is generally on the rise, its change over time still seems to depend largely on national identification.
In Vitro and in vivo antioxidant effects of mustard leaf (Brassica juncea)

To investigate the antioxidant activity of mustard leaf (Brassica juncea), we prepared four fractions (CH2Cl2, EtOAc, BuOH and H2O fractions) and examined their radical scavenging activities in vitro and in vivo. Based on the in vitro results of spin trapping and 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl radical, we carried out an in vivo study with the BuOH fraction to investigate its effect on oxidative stress in rats with streptozotocin‐induced diabetes. We found that in comparison with untreated diabetic control rats, oral administration of the BuOH fraction (100 or 200 mg/kg body weight/day for 10 days) induced a signiﬁcant decrease in serum glucose and glycosylated protein, which is glycosylated with hemoglobin as an indicator of oxidative stress. Moreover, administration of the BuOH fraction also effectively reduced the serum superoxide and nitrite/nitrate levels. Furthermore, the levels of thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substances in serum and liver were also signiﬁcantly lower than in the control group. These results indicate that the BuOH fraction of mustard leaf controls glucose metabolism and reduces lipid peroxidation as well as the level of oxygen radicals, ameliorating the damage caused by oxidative stress in diabetes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Design of a 12-bit 0.83 MS/s SAR ADC for an IPMI SoC

A 12-bit successive approximation register analog to digital converter (SAR ADC) built in an intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) system on chip (SoC) is proposed in this paper. The work is designed and fabricated in SMIC 0.13 μm CMOS process, using the fully differential C-R hybrid digital to analog converter (DAC) structure. Scaling capacitor is adopted to improve the precision and reduce the chip area. Through the optimization of placement and routing, the DAC achieves high precision. Besides, a multi-stage comparator is designed, and an offset calibration technique with capacitors is applied, too. The measurement results show that the effective number of bits (ENOB) of this ADC reaches 9.711 bit at Nyquist frequency with 0.83 MHz sampling frequency and the total current of the ADC is 970 μA with a 3.3 V power supply.
γ-Secretase: Successive Tripeptide and Tetrapeptide Release from the Transmembrane Domain of β-Carboxyl Terminal Fragment

Amyloid β protein (Aβ), a pathogenic molecule associated with Alzheimer's disease, is produced by γ-secretase, which cleaves the β-carboxyl terminal fragment (βCTF) of β-amyloid precursor protein in the middle of its transmembrane domain. How the cleavage proceeds within the membrane has long been enigmatic. We hypothesized previously that βCTF is cleaved first at the membrane–cytoplasm boundary, producing two long Aβs, Aβ48 and Aβ49, which are processed further by releasing three residues at each step to produce Aβ42 and Aβ40, respectively. To test this hypothesis, we used liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to quantify the specific tripeptides that are postulated to be released. Using CHAPSO (3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-2-hydroxyl-1-propanesulfonate)-reconstituted γ-secretase system, we confirmed that Aβ49 is converted to Aβ43/40 by successively releasing two or three tripeptides and that Aβ48 is converted to Aβ42/38 by successively releasing two tripeptides or these plus an additional tetrapeptide. Most unexpectedly, LC-MS/MS quantification revealed an induction period, 3–4 min, in the generation of peptides. When extrapolated, each time line for each tripeptide appears to intercept the same point on the x-axis. According to numerical simulation based on the successive reaction kinetics, the induction period exists. These results strongly suggest that Aβ is generated through the stepwise processing of βCTF by γ-secretase.