Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Utility of Turning Spot Learning under complex goal search and the limit of memory usage

Chain Form Reinforcement Learning (CFRL) was proposed for a reinforcement learning agent using low memory. However, we hold unused information in the memory. In this paper, we introduce Turning Spot Learning (TSL). The method allows an agent to learn with less memory than a CFRL agent. TSL is a method which imitates human perceptions. If we are asked direction, we often tell spot where we changes our action. We call it "Turning Spot". It retains information regarding state, action and distance of a present spot to a next spot. A TSL agent learns only Turning Spots and uses our original action selection method using nearest neighbor algorithm. And, we attempted to limit the amount of the memory usage that a TSL usage can use. Our method was made a comparison to Q-Learning and CFRL in two kinds of goal search problems. We examined performance and discussed the best usage environment.
Escherichia coli rpoB Mutants Have Increased Evolvability in Proportion to Their Fitness Defects

Evolvability is the capacity of an organism or population for generating descendants with increased fitness. Simulations and comparative studies have shown that evolvability can vary among individuals and identified characteristics of genetic architectures that can promote evolvability. However, little is known about how the evolvability of biological organisms typically varies along a lineage at each mutational step in its history. Evolvability might increase upon sustaining a deleterious mutation because there are many compensatory paths in the fitness landscape to reascend the same fitness peak or because shifts to new peaks become possible. We use genetic marker divergence trajectories to parameterize and compare the evolvability—defined as the fitness increase realized by an evolving population initiated from a test genotype—of a series of Escherichia coli mutants on multiple timescales. Each mutant differs from a common progenitor strain by a mutation in the rpoB gene, which encodes the β subunit of RNA polymerase. Strains with larger fitness defects are proportionally more evolvable in terms of both the beneficial mutations accessible in their immediate mutational neighborhoods and integrated over evolutionary paths that traverse multiple beneficial mutations. Our results establish quantitative expectations for how a mutation with a given deleterious fitness effect should influence evolvability, and they will thus inform future studies of how deleterious, neutral, and beneficial mutations targeting other cellular processes impact the evolutionary potential of microorganisms.
Individual-level Cultural Values and Norms at Workplace - Comparison between Korea and China -

유교 문화의 영향으로 한국과 중국은 다소 상이한 점도 있으나 비교적 유사한 사회적 규범과 문화를 공유하고 있다. 최근 두 나라의 도약적인 경제 발전과 다문화 사회로의 변화로 조직구성원의 가치나 규범 체제에도 문화적 변화를 겪고 있음에도 불구하고 두 문화 간 비교연구가 활발히 진행되고 있지 않은 실정 이다. 이에 본 연구는 복합적 문화 가치의 변화가 조직구성원의 태도와 행동에 미치는 영향을 조사함으로 써 이질성과 갈등을 초래할 수 있는 조직 문화적 이슈를 이해하고 심도 있는 한국과 중국의 비교연구를 위한 기초연구를 제공함에 그 목적이 있다. 조직구성원의 집단주의(collectivism), 권력거리(power distance), 불확실성 회피(uncertainty avoidance)와 같은 Hofstede 문화지수와 전통적 규범(tradtitionality)과 같은사회 규범을 이용하여, 조직구성원간의 관계성(LMX), 그들의 태도(정서적 몰입, 지속적 몰입)와 행동(직 무성과와 조직시민행동)에 미치는 문화적 가치와 규범의 영향력에 대해 조사하였다. 검증을 위해 417부(한국 211부, 중국 206부)의 설문을 수집하였다. 분석 결과에 따르면, 불확실성 회피 와 전통적 규범은 정서적 조직몰입과 LMX에 정적 영향을 주었는데 이는 중국에 비해 한국 근로자에게 더 큰 의미있는 영향력이 있었다. 반면 권력거리와 지속적 조직몰입은 양국에서 강한 상관관계를 보이며 한국과 중국 근로자 모두에게서 정적 영향관계가 있음을 확인하였다. 불확실성을 회피하고자 하는 양국 근로자의 성향은 그들의 직무성과에 정적 영향을 주고 있었으며, 집단주의 성향은 중국 근로자들의 직무 성과에는 부적 영향을 주고 있음을 확인하였다. 반면 권력거리에 대한 수용 성향은 한국 근로자의 직무성 과에 부적 영향을 주고 있었다. 마지막으로 양국 근로자의 조직시민행동은 불확실성 회피 성향에 의해 정적 영향을 받고 있음을 확인하였다. 연구결과를 바탕으로 시사점과 연구의 한계점 및 향후 연구방향이 논의 되었다.
MESO : Simulated Muscles for a Humanoid Robot

Motivation: Cog is an anthropomorphic robot: one fundamental principle of its mechanical design is that it should have enough degrees of freedom and articulation to enable it to recognizably emulate human motor behavior. This is a hardware requirement: Cog can’t pretend to move an arm it doesn’t have. The basic requirements for the control system are not so stringent, though. A very elaborate animatronic motor controller could produce very life-like canned motion, albeit with a very unanthropomorphic control system. The goal of the project is to explore mechanisms for generating and learning social behavior. If Cog emulates the human form at the right level of granularity, these mechanisms should have a very natural form. With that in mind, Cog’s actuators should incorporate human-like control as well as kinematics.
Constructing Hamiltonian quantum theories from path integrals in a diffeomorphism-invariant context

Osterwalder and Schrader introduced a procedure to obtain a (Lorentzian) Hamiltonian quantum theory starting from a measure on the space of (Euclidean) histories of a scalar quantum field. In this paper, we extend that construction to more general theories which do not refer to any background, spacetime metric (and in which the space of histories does not admit a natural linear structure). Examples include certain gauge theories, topological field theories and relativistic gravitational theories. The treatment is self-contained in the sense that an a priori knowledge of the Osterwalder-Schrader theorem is not assumed.
International Conference on Information Systems ( ICIS ) 1-1-2008 Improving Web Site Structure to Facilitate Effective User Navigation

Web sites are most effective when they meet both the contents and usability needs of their users. It is revealed, however, that designing usable Web sites is not a trivial task. A primary reason is that Web developers’ perceptions and knowledge can be very different from those of the target users. Such differences result in cases in which users cannot easily locate the relevant information in a Web site. In this paper, we propose a math programming model to improve the navigation effectiveness of a Web site while preserving its original structure whenever possible. Our approach minimizes unnecessary changes to the present structure of a Web site and hence can be applied for Web site maintenance on a regular basis. Our test on a real Web site shows that the approach can provide significant improvements over the Web site structure by introducing only a small number of new links.
A modular manipulator system using rotary joints toward helping the elderly and the handicapped

At present, the manipulator for the elderly and disabled has the shortcomings of long production cycle, poor versatility and cannot meet the requirements of individual differences. The modular idea is presented to the design of manipulator system. A rotary joint module is developed with the advantages of small size, light weight and large torque. It integrates mechanical structure, drive, control and communication modules and can be combined into various manipulators with different configurations on demand. A distributed control system based on industrial Ethernet and CAN bus is built using a hierarchical modular structure. It can adapt to a variety of modular manipulators characterized by low stiffness and difficulty of control. Toward assisting the elderly and disabled, a 6-DOF manipulator is assembled by utilizing 6 modular rotary joints. An impedance controller is designed based on the position force control strategies. A drawer-pulled experiment is carried out with the compliance control. Experimental results verify that the modular manipulator presented is qualified to assist the elderly and the handicapped with daily operations safely.
A multi-mode multi-band reconfigurable power amplifier for low band GSM/UMTS handset applications

A practical reconfigurable structure for multi-mode multi-band (MMMB) reconfigurable power amplifier (PA) is proposed for GSM/UMTS handset applications. To overcome not only the frequency difference (MB) but also the power difference (MM) between GSM and UMTS standards, the proposed structure reconfigures the PA core as well as the output matching network. To verify the performance of the proposed structure, a MMMB PA is developed for GSM/EDGE/UMTS low-frequency bands applications. The fabricated MMMB PA showed good RF performance for UMTS as well as GSM/EDGE applications. Efficiency degradation was limited to less than 2% compared to the single-mode single-band PA. Measured RF performance validates the usefulness of the proposed structure for MMMB applications.
THE VALUE OF EXERCISE AND NUTRITION FOR THE BRAIN Children - The Developing Brain

1 KEY POINTS • Exercise and nutrition can influence brain development in youth. • Exercise and nutrition can slow down and reverse cognitive decline in the elderly. • Exercise and nutrition influences brain health through several mechanisms that create new neurons (neurogenesis). • Fatigue during exercise can reside in the brain. • Nutritional interventions may influence the occurrence of “central or brain fatigue” during exercise.
A general class of processor interconnection strategies

A new class of general topologies is proposed in this paper for interconnecting a large network of computers in parallel and distributed environment. These structures have been shown to possess small internode distances, fairly low number of links per node, easy message routing and large number of alternate paths that can be used in case of faults in the system. The interconnection is based on a mixed radix number system, presented in this paper. The technique results in a variety of structures for a given number of processors N, depending on the required diameter in the network. A bus oriented structure is also introduced here, based on the same mathematical framework. These structures possess only two I/O ports per processor and are also shown to have small internode distances.
Passive OS Fingerprinting by DNS Traffic Analysis

In this paper, we propose a new passive OS fingerprinting method which only requires DNS traffic analysis. The method utilizes characteristics on DNS queries specific to each OS, e.g. unique domain names, query patterns, time interval etc. The method can estimate the number of devices with each OS from the number of queries by utilizing the characteristics of the time interval patterns. The method considers the likelihood of irregular events that some queries are sent at less than regular time intervals, and some other queries are sent at more than regular time intervals. We analyze DNS traffic sent by each OS and extract the characteristics for OS fingerprinting. Then, we examine our estimation method by using DNS traffic in our intra-network. According to our examination, some results of our estimation method are close to the results of DHCP fingerprinting.
Statistical Determination of the MACHO Mass Spectrum

The mass function of 51 Massive Compact Objects (MACHOs) detected toward the Galactic bulge is statistically estimated from Einstein ring crossing times $t_{\rm e}$. For a Gaussian mass function, the best fitting parameters are $\langle \log (m/M_{\odot}) \rangle = -1.12$ and $\sigma_{\log (m/M_{\odot})} = 0.57$. If the mass function follows a power-law distribution, the best fitting mass cut-off and power are $m_{\rm cut} = 0.04\ M_{\odot}$ and $p = -2.1$. Both mass spectra indicate that a significant fraction of events are caused by MACHOs in substellar mass range. Both best determined mass functions are compared with that obtained from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations. The power law is marginally favored ($2.3\sigma$) over the Gaussian mass function, and significantly over HST mass function ($5.5\sigma$), indicating that MACHOs have a different mass function from stars in the solar neighborhood. In addition, the fact that all the models have very poor fits to the longest four events with $t_{e} \geq 70\ {\rm days}$ remains a puzzle.
The Liberal and Conservative Experience Across Academic Disciplines

Inbar and Lammers asked members of APA Division 8 (personality and social psychology) about their political orientation, hostility experienced related to their political orientation, and their willingness to discriminate against others based on perceived political orientation. In this replication and extension, 618 faculty members from various academic disciplines across four California State University campuses completed an online questionnaire that added parallel questions about the liberal experience to the original questions about the conservative experience. Participants were overwhelmingly liberal in self-report across all academic areas except agriculture. The conservative minority reported experiencing more hostility than the liberal majority, but both groups expressed similar “in-group/out-group” attitudes. Results supported the ideological-conflict hypothesis for discrimination and a “birds of a feather flock together” interpretation of the lack of political diversity among the professoriate.
A DC to 20 GHz ultra-broadband high-gain-linear distributed power amplifier with 19.5% drain efficiency

In this paper an ultra-broadband linear distributed power amplifier (DPA) is presented. This amplifier consumes only 100 mW DC power and amplifies input powers up to −3.7 dBm with a power gain of 16.7 dB linearly. Output power at 1-dB compression point is 13 dBm in the linear-mode. By increasing the level of input power, the amplifier no longer works in the linear-mode, drain efficiency and non-linear distortions are increased, and power consumption is decreased to 90 mW. S21 parameter is 18±0.9 dB over DC to 20 GHz. The architecture of all power gain cells (including three stages) is cascade of inductively coupled common source. This amplifier is simulated in a 0.13 um CMOS technology.
The Key Frame Extraction Algorithm Based on the IndigenousDisturbance Variation Difference Video

In view of the traditional support vector machine (SVM) learning algorithm’s learning parameters are not easily determined in the process of video key frame extraction and the accuracy is low. An independent perturbation variable difference SVM algorithm is used for video key frame extraction. First of all, the biological mechanism of differential evolution algorithm was analyzed, and then an improved way of autonomic disturbance variation was put forward. Secondly, combined with improved forms of independent disturbance differential evolution algorithm for SVM parameters optimization, the key frame extraction algorithm of the video based on the improved differential of SVM algorithm was designed. The standard test functions and video test database experiment show that the improvement of autonomic disturbance variation difference video key frame extraction algorithm can optimize parameters of support vector machine more effectively and contribute to the improvement of video retrieval.
Natural and Undetermined Sudden Death: Value of Post-Mortem Genetic Investigation

Background Sudden unexplained death may be the first manifestation of an unknown inherited cardiac disease. Current genetic technologies may enable the unraveling of an etiology and the identification of relatives at risk. The aim of our study was to define the etiology of natural deaths, younger than 50 years of age, and to investigate whether genetic defects associated with cardiac diseases could provide a potential etiology for the unexplained cases. Methods and Findings Our cohort included a total of 789 consecutive cases (77.19% males) <50 years old (average 38.6±12.2 years old) who died suddenly from non-violent causes. A comprehensive autopsy was performed according to current forensic guidelines. During autopsy a cause of death was identified in most cases (81.1%), mainly due to cardiac alterations (56.87%). In unexplained cases, genetic analysis of the main genes associated with sudden cardiac death was performed using Next Generation Sequencing technology. Genetic analysis was performed in suspected inherited diseases (cardiomyopathy) and in unexplained death, with identification of potentially pathogenic variants in nearly 50% and 40% of samples, respectively. Conclusions Cardiac disease is the most important cause of sudden death, especially after the age of 40. Close to 10% of cases may remain unexplained after a complete autopsy investigation. Molecular autopsy may provide an explanation for a significant part of these unexplained cases. Identification of genetic variations enables genetic counseling and undertaking of preventive measures in relatives at risk.
Strategic planning, design, and development of the shale gas supply chain network

The long-term planning of the shale gas supply chain is a relevant problem that has not been addressed before in the literature. This article presents a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model to optimally determine the number of wells to drill at every location, the size of gas processing plants, the section and length of pipelines for gathering raw gas and delivering processed gas and by-products, the power of gas compressors, and the amount of freshwater required from reservoirs for drilling and hydraulic fracturing so as to maximize the net present value of the project. Because the proposed model is a large-scale nonconvex MINLP, we develop a decomposition approach based on successively refining a piecewise linear approximation of the objective function. Results on realistic instances show the importance of heavier hydrocarbons to the economics of the project, as well as the optimal usage of the infrastructure by properly planning the drilling strategy. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 2122–2142, 2014
Geomyces destructans sp. nov. associated with bat white-nose syndrome.

We describe and illustrate the new species Geomyces destructans. Bats infected with this fungus present with powdery conidia and hyphae on their muzzles, wing membranes, and/or pinnae, leading to description of the accompanying disease as white-nose syndrome, a cause of widespread mortality among hibernating bats in the northeastern US. Based on rRNA gene sequence (ITS and SSU) characters the fungus is placed in the genus Geomyces, yet its distinctive asymmetrically curved conidia are unlike those of any described Geomyces species.
Le défi éthique dans un contexte social et culturel en mutation

L'A. , qui est sociologue, examine l'evolution de la problematique ethique en fonction des changement sociaux et culturels. Il montre quelle nouvelle approche des relations humaines et de la responsabilite s'est profilee a la suite notamment de la montee en puissance de la classe moyenne, d'un desenchantement du monde et d'une restriction du role de l'ethique a une fonction regulatrice de la societe
Jamming attack on Cyber-Physical Systems: A game-theoretic approach

We consider security issues in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs). A sensor node communicates with a remote estimator through a wireless channel which may be jammed by an external attacker. With energy constraints for both the sensor and the attacker, the interactive decision making process of when to send and when to attack is studied. We formulate a game-theoretical framework and prove that the optimal strategies for both sides constitute a Nash equilibrium. The derivation of the optimal strategies for both sides is also provided with examples.
Making Metaphors that Matter

The system metaphor was proposed in Extreme Programming as a lightweight alternative to more rigorous architecture practices, but many teams have trouble using metaphors effectively to improve team communication or evaluate a system's architecture. This is no surprise as few agile teams have had training in architecture practices let alone in how to create metaphors. In our experience this does not invalidate the metaphor, but rather shows that more guidance is needed in the proper use of metaphors. This paper outlines one team's positive experience using system metaphors in the development of a medium-sized, service-oriented, enterprise system. Specific guidelines for creating effective metaphors are presented along with concrete examples.
A Simplified 4-Site Economical Intradermal Post-Exposure Rabies Vaccine Regimen: A Randomised Controlled Comparison with Standard Methods

Background The need for economical rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is increasing in developing countries. Implementation of the two currently approved economical intradermal (ID) vaccine regimens is restricted due to confusion over different vaccines, regimens and dosages, lack of confidence in intradermal technique, and pharmaceutical regulations. We therefore compared a simplified 4-site economical PEP regimen with standard methods. Methods Two hundred and fifty-four volunteers were randomly allocated to a single blind controlled trial. Each received purified vero cell rabies vaccine by one of four PEP regimens: the currently accepted 2-site ID; the 8-site regimen using 0.05 ml per ID site; a new 4-site ID regimen (on day 0, approximately 0.1 ml at 4 ID sites, using the whole 0.5 ml ampoule of vaccine; on day 7, 0.1 ml ID at 2 sites and at one site on days 28 and 90); or the standard 5-dose intramuscular regimen. All ID regimens required the same total amount of vaccine, 60% less than the intramuscular method. Neutralising antibody responses were measured five times over a year in 229 people, for whom complete data were available. Findings All ID regimens showed similar immunogenicity. The intramuscular regimen gave the lowest geometric mean antibody titres. Using the rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test, some sera had unexpectedly high antibody levels that were not attributable to previous vaccination. The results were confirmed using the fluorescent antibody virus neutralisation method. Conclusions This 4-site PEP regimen proved as immunogenic as current regimens, and has the advantages of requiring fewer clinic visits, being more practicable, and having a wider margin of safety, especially in inexperienced hands, than the 2-site regimen. It is more convenient than the 8-site method, and can be used economically with vaccines formulated in 1.0 or 0.5 ml ampoules. The 4-site regimen now meets all requirements of immunogenicity for PEP and can be introduced without further studies. Trial Registration Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN 30087513
XARA: An XML- and Rule-based Semantic Role Labeler

XARA is a rule-based PropBank labeler for Alpino XML files, written in Java. I used XARA in my research on semantic role labeling in a Dutch corpus to bootstrap a dependency treebank with semantic roles. Rules in XARA are based on XPath expressions, which makes it a versatile tool that is applicable to other treebanks as well. In addition to automatic role annotation, XARA is able to extract training instances (sets of features) from an XML based treebank. Such an instance base can be used to train machine learning algorithms for automatic semantic role labeling (SRL). In my semantic role labeling research, I used the Tilburg Memory Learner (TiMBL) for this purpose.
Statistical complexity of simple one-dimensional spin systems

We present exact results for two complementary measures of spatial structure generated by 1D spin systems with finite-range interactions. The first, excess entropy, measures the apparent spatial memory stored in configurations. The second, statistical complexity, measures the amount of memory needed to optimally predict the chain of spin values in configurations. These statistics capture distinct properties and are different from existing thermodynamic quantities.