Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analogue driven handling of emergent complexity

Complexity Science has noted as the next evolution of the science in which the main idea is a global emergent behavior, which is resulting from the interaction between its local, dynamic, complex, interconnected, distributed, and uncertain entities. In Computer Science; modelling of complex systems are not naive and many technologies have been used for this specially due to the advancements in Artificial Intelligence. This paper presents a novel approach to model complex systems through relations on analogy making. Analogy making is considered as a mapping of knowledge between two domains. Multi Agent Technology has been used to facilitate the underneath support for this, while primarily using the power of relating in different domains as the working mechanism for agents. Agents are used to isolate an appropriate domain in which the same problem that happens to be analogically feasible; and for this domain selection, communication and negotiation features of agent technology have been used. The model has been partially scrutinized in the geometric analogy domain for empirical validations and the idea is still in a conceptual level.
Cost-effective approach to automated resource management using real time sensing and networking

Approximately 50% of the operating funds in heavy manufacturing are tied up in inventory. Reducing this cost can be achieved by automating the inventory management. This thesis develops a cost-effective approach to automated resource management using real time sensing and networking. The enabling technology for automated inventory management is based primarily on real time sensing and standard network protocols and languages. With techniques developed in this thesis, all classes of resources, including discrete and continuous objects, can be managed with less labor than the traditional approaches. 3 4 Acknowledgements I would like to start with my advisor, Dr. Brock, who has sparked the fire in this thesis with his deep vision and brilliant ideas. The freedom he provided helped me to pursue my ideas confidently. I can not say enough about my partner, and the best friend Ozgu, who motivated me to achieve beyond my expectations. Working with Ozgu was the best experience I bring from MIT. There was not a single project that two of us could not handle while working together. Sanjay, my new friend, thank you for your support and hospitality. Thank you for helping me in choosing my career after MIT. You made me realize that professors can be as friendly and as fun as my fellow students can. I would like to thank my parents and my sister, who never stopped loving and supporting me and were my motivation through these years. Their courage and suffering through the times of war in Bosnia gave me enormous energy and pushed me beyond my limits to succeed. Finally, and above all, I would like to thank to a person I owe the most for my success. She helped me become who I am now with her unselfish gift of love, sacrifice and endurance. Karen Lynn Swyers, thank you for your patience, laughter, and happiness you brought to my life. Nobody else in my life had so much confidence in me as you did. You know me better than I know myself. This thesis is my gift to you with all my heart.
Modulation of Visually Evoked Postural Responses by Contextual Visual, Haptic and Auditory Information: A ‘Virtual Reality Check’

Externally generated visual motion signals can cause the illusion of self-motion in space (vection) and corresponding visually evoked postural responses (VEPR). These VEPRs are not simple responses to optokinetic stimulation, but are modulated by the configuration of the environment. The aim of this paper is to explore what factors modulate VEPRs in a high quality virtual reality (VR) environment where real and virtual foreground objects served as static visual, auditory and haptic reference points. Data from four experiments on visually evoked postural responses show that: 1) visually evoked postural sway in the lateral direction is modulated by the presence of static anchor points that can be haptic, visual and auditory reference signals; 2) real objects and their matching virtual reality representations as visual anchors have different effects on postural sway; 3) visual motion in the anterior-posterior plane induces robust postural responses that are not modulated by the presence of reference signals or the reality of objects that can serve as visual anchors in the scene. We conclude that automatic postural responses for laterally moving visual stimuli are strongly influenced by the configuration and interpretation of the environment and draw on multisensory representations. Different postural responses were observed for real and virtual visual reference objects. On the basis that automatic visually evoked postural responses in high fidelity virtual environments should mimic those seen in real situations we propose to use the observed effect as a robust objective test for presence and fidelity in VR.
Interactive Sonification of the Spatial Behavior of Human and Synthetic Characters in a Mixed-Reality Environment

It is generally admitted that music is a powerful carrier of emotions [4, 21], and that audition can play an important role in enhancing the sensation of presence in Virtual Environments [5, 22]. In mixed-reality environments and interactive multi-media systems such as Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMORPG), the improvement of the user’s perception of immersion is crucial. Nonetheless, the sonification of those environments is often reduced to its simplest expression, namely a set of prerecorded sound tracks. Background music many times relies on repetitive, predetermined and somewhat predictable musical material. Hence, there is a need for a sonification scheme that can generate context sensitive, adaptive, rich and consistent music in real-time. In this paper we introduce a framework for the sonification of spatial behavior of multiple human and synthetic characters in a Mixed-Reality environment. Previously we have used RoBoser [1] to sonify different interactive installation including the interaction between humans and a large-scale accessible space called Ada [2] Here we are investigating the applicability of the RoBoser framework to the sonification of the continuous and dynamic interaction between individuals populating a mixed-reality space. We propose a semantic layer that maps sensor data into intuitive parameters for the control of music generation, and show that the musical events are directly influenced by the spatial behavior of human and synthetic characters in the space, thus creating a behavior-dependant sonification that enhance the user’s perception of immersion.
Combining Improvements in FQF Distributional Reinforcement Learning Algorithm

Reinforcement learning algorithms allow agents to learn from experience, without the need for prior knowledge. For this reason, they have been widely used and the use of low and medium complexity digital games as benchmark environments has become a common practice. New lines of research emerged and new algorithms were proposed. Among these, the FQF (Fully Parameterized Quantile Function) stands out, an algorithm that has become the state of the art among the non-distributed algorithms in the Atari 2600 domain. However, the FQF has not yet achieved results obtained by a human expert in all evaluated games, thus demonstrating that better results than current ones can still be obtained. Thus, this work sought to combine three improvements in the FQF that brought success in algorithms proposed before the FQF, with the objective of improving it. The improvements applied to the FQF are: the use of 3 steps in the temporal difference, the use of prioritized experience replay (PER) and the application of the Munchausen approach (MRL). The FQF changed with the 3 improvements was better than the original FQF in all experiments performed, thus providing a more promising version of the algorithm for the scientific community.
Advances in Peritoneal Dialysis: A Review

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a simple, “low‐tech” form of renal replacement therapy that is less expensive than conventional in‐center hemodialysis in many parts of the world. Despite the advantages associated with this modality, it has not been as embraced as it deserves to be in many countries, including the United States. This brief review will focus on recent interesting and germane publications related to therapy with PD, centering on three broad themes: (i) “biocompatible” PD solutions; (ii) encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis; and (iii) comparisons of survival between PD and conventional hemodialysis. Recent publications concerning biocompatible solutions are hampered by varying trial designs, confounding by indication, and solutions with different compositions. Perhaps the most robust result, a reduction in peritonitis, has not been a consistent finding across studies. The results are generally disappointing with respect to clinically relevant endpoints such as membrane function and patient survival. The rarity of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis, still a vexing and worrying complication, hampers any systematic examination of pathogenesis and treatment. The establishment of registries may help to better understand this condition. In the absence of randomized, controlled trials of PD versus hemodialysis, survival analyses are fraught with enormous methodological and statistical pitfalls. Nevertheless, many investigators remain focused on small differences in survival between the two modalities; even more inappropriately, some clinicians use these imperfect data to guide their modality recommendations. Recent outcome studies suggest that the survival of patients on PD compared with conventional hemodialysis is astonishingly similar, and differences between early and late survival are more explainable by the circumstances around initiation than by the modality itself.
Higher level gait disorders in subcortical chronic vascular encephalopathy: a single photon emission computed tomography study.

BACKGROUND the so-called higher level gait disorders include several types of gait disorders in which there are no major modifications in strength, tone, sensitivity, coordination and balance. Brain activation sites related to walking have been investigated using SPECT in humans. The aim of the study was to investigate brain activation during walking in subjects with high-level gait disorders due to chronic subcortical vascular encephalopathy. SUBJECTS twelve patients with a chronic vascular encephalopathy were enrolled in the study. Seven subjects had apraxic gait while in the other five the gait was normal. All patients had undergone a recent cerebral magnetic resonance that revealed diffused chronic ischemic lesions within the white matter. METHODS all 12 patients underwent a regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) brain SPECT study with (99m)Tc-Bicisate on two separate days and under two different conditions: at rest (baseline) and while walking (functional). RESULTS the rCBF increase induced by the treadmill test (functional-baseline), bilaterally in the medial frontal gyrus and in the anterior lobes of the cerebellum, resulted significantly (P < 0.001) lower in patients with gait apraxia versus those without it. CONCLUSIONS this study of the brain with SPECT records the areas of perfusion deficit that appear in apraxic subjects when they walk, compared with the recordings obtained with the same investigation performed at rest.
Modeling search movements of an insect's front leg

Beside locomotion, search movements are another important type of motor activity of insects. They are very often performed by the front legs of the animals. They consist of cyclic stereotypical leg movements that can be modified by sensory signals. The details of the local organization of these movements have however not yet been studied. In this paper, we, using an appropriate variant of our existing one‐leg model, present a scheme of how these searching movements might be organized and performed on the level of local neuromuscular control networks. In the simulations with the model, we attempted to mimic the experimental results by Berg et al. (J. Exp. Biol. 216:1064–1074, 2013) in which an obstacle was put in the way of the search movements of the front leg for a very short while, and then the recovery to the usual search movements was observed and analyzed. Our simulation results suggest that the recruitment of the fast levator and depressor muscles play a crucial part in resuming the search movements after removal of the obstacle. The interplay between the levator and depressor, and the extensor and flexor local control networks can, according to the model, bring about a large variety of search movements upon removal of the obstacle. A number of these movements are comparable with those seen in the experiments.
AIS-based vessel trajectory prediction

In order for autonomous surface vessels (ASVs) to avoid collisions at sea it is necessary to predict the future trajectories of surrounding vessels. This paper investigate the use of historical automatic identification system (AIS) data to predict such trajectories. The availability of AIS data have steadily increased in the last years as a result of more regulations, together with wider coverage through AIS integration on satellites and more land based receivers. Several AIS-based methods for predicting vessel trajectories already exist. However, these prediction techniques tend to focus on time horizons in the level of hours. The prediction time of our interest typically ranges from a few minutes up to about 15 minutes, depending on the maneuverability of the ASV. This paper presents a novel datadriven approach which recursively use historical AIS data in the neighborhood of a predicted position to predict next position and time. Three course and speed prediction methods are compared for one time step predictions. Lastly, the algorithm is briefly tested for multiple time steps in curved environments and shows good potential.
On the symplectic cohomology of log
Calabi–Yau surfaces

This article studies the symplectic cohomology of affine algebraic surfaces that admit a compactification by a normal crossings anticanonical divisor. Using a toroidal structure near the compactification divisor, we describe the complex computing symplectic cohomology, and compute enough differentials to identify a basis for the degree-zero part of the symplectic cohomology. This basis is indexed by integral points in a certain integral affine manifold, providing a relationship to the theta functions of Gross--Hacking--Keel. Included is a discussion of wrapped Floer cohomology of Lagrangian submanifolds and a description of the product structure in a special case. We also show that, after enhancing the coefficient ring, the degree--zero symplectic cohomology defines a family degenerating to a singular surface obtained by gluing together several affine planes.
Hydration process as an activation of trans‐ and cisplatin complexes in anticancer treatment. DFT and ab initio computational study of thermodynamic and kinetic parameters

The thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of hydration reactions of cis‐/transplatin were explored. The polarizable continuum model was used for estimation of solvent effects. Using the B3LYP/6‐31+G(d) method, the structures were optimized and vibrational frequencies estimated. Interaction energies and activation barriers were determined at the CCSD(T)/6‐31++G(d,p) level within the COSMO approach. An associative mechanism was assumed with a trigonal‐bipyramidal structure of the transition state. Within the applied model, all the hydration reactions are slightly endothermic. The Gibbs energies of cisplatin hydration amount to 7.0 and 14.2 kcal/mol for the chloride and ammonium replacement, respectively. Analogous values for the transplatin reactions are 6.8 and 11.9 kcal/mol. The determined rate constants are by several (three to four) orders of magnitude larger for the dechlorination process than for deammination. The cisplatin dechlorination rate constant was established as 1.3 · 10−4 s−1 in excellent accord with the experiment. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 26: 907–914, 2005
A Trusted Approach to Design a Network Monitor

Cyber security has been an issue in industrial control systems (ICS) of critical infrastructures. Existing security measures for ordinary enterprise systems are hardly applicable to ICS because they have different requirements. In contrast, whitelisting network monitors attract wide attention as a security measure for ICS that meets the demand for availability during a long lifetime, as well as to exploit the static nature of system configuration. Once defined, the whitelist of allowed packets can detect ever-increasing new attacks without requiring any update. This paper presents a framework for developing reliable and secure whitelisting network monitors for ICS networks such as used in SCADA systems. The proposed approach relies on a model-based development combined with formal verification and proof steps, such that the normal communication model can be verified, the whitelist can be automatically generated from the model and the soundness of the network monitor program can be proven.
Role of endotoxin in alterations of hepatic drug metabolism by diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccine adsorbed

Administration of diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccine adsorbed (DTP vaccine) or endotoxin (LPS) resulted in marked alterations in hepatic drug-metabolizing enzymes in endotoxin-responsive (R) and non-endotoxin-responsive (NR) mice. A single human dose (0.5 ml) of DTP vaccine increased hexobarbital-induced sleep times to 1.6- to 1.8-fold above those of controls in both strains of mice. This effect persisted for 7 days. In contrast, Bordetella pertussis LPS-treated mice showed an increase at 1 day (3.0-fold for R mice and 1.5-fold for NR mice), which returned to control levels by day 7. Furthermore, cytochrome P-450 levels were decreased 30 to 40% 24 h after DTP vaccine administration in both R and NR mice, while after LPS administration they were decreased 30% in R mice and less than 10% in NR mice. Both spleen and liver weights of R and NR mice were increased 7 to 14 days following DTP vaccine administration. However, LPS treatment had no apparent effect on liver weights, and spleen weights of R mice were elevated from days 3 to 7. Histopathologic tissue examination showed random, multifocal inflammation with hepatocyte necrosis after DTP vaccine administration to both R and NR mice and an absence of lesions in LPS-treated mice. Premixing LPS with polymyxin eliminated the increased sleep times, but premixing DTP vaccine with polymyxin did not affect the increased sleep times. Levels of tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-6 in plasma of R mice were markedly increased after DTP and LPS treatment, while NR mice had reduced increases. These results suggest that LPS contributes to the alterations in R and NR mice seen within the first 24 h of vaccine administration but that it is not likely to contribute to the effects observed at later time points.
A scheme for PET data normalization in event-based motion correction

Line of response (LOR) rebinning is an event-based motion-correction technique for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging that has been shown to compensate effectively for rigid motion. It involves the spatial transformation of LORs to compensate for motion during the scan, as measured by a motion tracking system. Each motion-corrected event is then recorded in the sinogram bin corresponding to the transformed LOR. It has been shown previously that the corrected event must be normalized using a normalization factor derived from the original LOR, that is, based on the pair of detectors involved in the original coincidence event. In general, due to data compression strategies (mashing), sinogram bins record events detected on multiple LORs. The number of LORs associated with a sinogram bin determines the relative contribution of each LOR. This paper provides a thorough treatment of event-based normalization during motion correction of PET data using LOR rebinning. We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that normalization of the corrected event during LOR rebinning should account for the number of LORs contributing to the sinogram bin into which the motion-corrected event is binned. Failure to account for this factor may cause artifactual slice-to-slice count variations in the transverse slices and visible horizontal stripe artifacts in the coronal and sagittal slices of the reconstructed images. The theory and implementation of normalization in conjunction with the LOR rebinning technique is described in detail, and experimental verification of the proposed normalization method in phantom studies is presented.
Exploring the relationship between student’s personal epistemology and their conception of mental health qualitatively

This study explores the relationship between student’s personal epistemology and their conceptions of mental health qualitatively. To systematically assess student’s personal epistemology, the developmental model of Hamer and van Rossum (2010) is used. To form indications of possible conceptualizations o f mental health, the view on mental health occupied by the DSM is discussed. Moreover, the view on mental health expressed by the two continua model of mental health and illness is discussed. After a theoretical link between personal epistemology and the conception of mental health is established, the study poses the following hypothesis: “Student with low levels of learning conceptions occupy the conception of mental health by the DSM, whereas students with high levels of learning conception occupy a conception of mental health according to the two continua model of mental health and illness. Data was gathered by asking students to write essays on their conception of mental health as well as their personal epistemology. The data was analyzed using the methodology of phenomenography. After categorizing the participants into either of four groups, Fisher’s exact test was employed. The hypothesis was not confirmed by the results of the analysis, Z = 1.74, p = 0.102 (one-tailed). Though statistical significance was not reached, certain trends in accordance to the hypothesis were revealed
A New Global Calibration Method Using Combined 3D Target

A global calibration method based on combined 3D target is proposed to solve the calibration problem of two sensors vision system without common view field. The combined 3D target is consisted of two planar targets, which are placed freely according to the sensors' positions. By translating the 3D target properly, the closed-form solution of the transformation from one local camera coordinate frame to another local camera coordinate frame can be computed using the equality of each planar target's translating vector. Simulation results demonstrate high accuracy of proposed calibration method. The proposed method simplifies the global calibration process, and only needs to combine several planar targets to carry out the global calibration.
Miniature fiber-optic pressure sensor

This letter presents a miniature fiber-optic pressure sensor fabricated directly on the tip of a fiber. The sensor measures only 125 /spl mu/m in diameter. A Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot cavity and a thin silica diaphragm are fabricated by simple techniques involving only fusion splicing, cleaving, and wet chemical etching. Interference pattern of the sensor is analyzed and issues in sensor design are discussed. The sensor has been tested for static pressure response, showing excellent repeatability and no hysteresis. Its all-fused-silica structure lends it great potential for high-temperature pressure measurements. Pressure testing results at 530/spl deg/C are given. The sensor may also find uses in medical applications.