Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Social horizon of embodied language and material symbols

If the mind is external – as this thematic issue of Versus provokingly states –, if cognition is not just something that happens beneath the skin but also and importantly “out of our heads” (Noë 2009), language – given its pervasive role both in thinking, everyday life and specialised activities is an obvious place to look for whether and how this happens. In a traditional information-processing view – as prototypically portrayed by the information theory developed by Shannon and Weaver (1949) – language is simply a code that allows the transmission of previously elaborated information from one cognizer to another, just another kind of input and output. This model was developed to describe and improve the transmission of information through telephonic cables, where it had a perfect adequacy. It became, however, the prototype and legitimising model for a widespread conceptual metaphor – or ideology (Leezenberg 2011) -, COMMUNICATION AS A CONDUIT that is still widely implied in common-sense (Reddy 1979, Lakoff & Johnson 1980, Grady 1998 and Semino 2006), as well as in philosophical and scientific conceptions (Ronchi 2003, Leezenberg 2011). But what if we do think through language and not in isolation but through conversations – linguistic or not – between ourselves and others, between ourselves and cognitive artefacts like books, software and devices, between ourselves and the culture we are embedded in? Indeed, both the conception of cognition as a coding/decoding function cushioned between input and output and this radical divide between cognition and language are being questioned in a crescent number of philosophical and empirical studies. On the one hand cognitive linguistics – following the lead of authors like Langacker, Talmy, Lakoff,
An analysis of SEU robustness of C-element structures implemented in bulk CMOS and SOI technologies

Market place demands for higher performance and greater functionality per unit area have been the force driving down minimum feature sizes. However, several unintended consequences resulting from the advances in technology to address these market place demands has been an increase in the susceptibility of the circuits to SEUs and a growing uncertainty in the determination of timing parameters which is becoming detrimental to achieving timing closure. Some of the issues related to timing closure and the associated increase in power dissipation resulting from the increase in performance can be addressed through the adoption of an asynchronous design style. A logic element which is not only widely used but also peculiar to asynchronous design is the Muller C-element, which can be realised in a number of different configurations. In view of the increased susceptibility of logic elements to the effects of SEUs as device geometries are reduced this paper reports on the analysis of the robustness of various C-element configurations implemented in different technologies, to the effects of SEUs. It has been observed that of the static C-element configurations the symmetric C-element is the most robust.
Robust sliding mode control design for a dual-stage actuator system

To improve the positioning accuracy of servomechanisms with one single actuator only, the dual-stage actuator (DSA) systems have been proposed and widely used for industrial applications for the benefits of both large working range, high positioning accuracy and fast response. However, it is common that servomechanisms suffer from plant uncertainties and external disturbances which will affect the positioning accuracy. As such, this paper studies a robust control method called fast non-singular terminal sliding mode (FNTSM) control for a class of DSA systems. Compared with conventional sliding mode control, the FNTSM control can guarantee a faster convergence rate of the tracking error in the presence of system uncertainties including payload variations and external disturbances. Furthermore, it has the inherent feature of chattering-free in the control input. We also discuss the selection criteria of the controller parameters and then the FNTSM control method is applied to design the two control inputs of the DSA system. Simulations are studied to verify that the FNTSM controller can offer robust performance with respect to the mass variations and disturbance. Tracking performance achieved by conventional linear controllers is also presented for comparison.
Topic-focused Bookmark Service for Professional Groups

Information overload emerges as a critical problem for information gathering as the resources on the Web grow rapidly in both scale and complexity. Networked information discovery aims to assist people's search tasks with centralized information services. User interests and user relevance judgements of Web pages with regard to these interests can be used to improve the resource discovery process. Based on this observation, an interest-topic concept model is presented. It illustrates how group processes can be enhanced with support for cooperation between users with various professional affiliation but similar interests. The design of a domain-independent bookmark service TopicMark is then presented that specifies the specific topic generation process, and the autonomous aggregation of information resources.
Multimodal Phylogeny for Taxonomy: Integrating Information from nucleotide and amino acid Sequences

The crucial role played by the analysis of microbial diversity in biotechnology-based innovations has increased the interest in the microbial taxonomy research area. Phylogenetic sequence analyses have contributed significantly to the advances in this field, also in the view of the large amount of sequence data collected in recent years. Phylogenetic analyses could be realized on the basis of protein-encoding nucleotide sequences or encoded amino acid molecules: these two mechanisms present different peculiarities, still starting from two alternative representations of the same information. This complementarity could be exploited to achieve a multimodal phylogenetic scheme that is able to integrate gene and protein information in order to realize a single final tree. This aspect has been poorly addressed in the literature. In this paper, we propose to integrate the two phylogenetic analyses using basic schemes derived from the multimodality fusion theory (or multiclassifier systems theory), a well-founded and rigorous branch for which its powerfulness has already been demonstrated in other pattern recognition contexts. The proposed approach could be applied to distance matrix-based phylogenetic techniques (like neighbor joining), resulting in a smart and fast method. The proposed methodology has been tested in a real case involving sequences of some species of lactic acid bacteria. With this dataset, both nucleotide sequence- and amino acid sequence-based phylogenetic analyses present some drawbacks, which are overcome with the multimodal analysis.
A community‐based approach to cancer counselling for patients and carers: a preliminary study

Objective: The delivery of psychological care services to people with cancer and their carers is a key clinical priority that has yet to be broadly implemented. The present study aimed to provide guidance for service provision by describing a community‐based intervention approach; outlining the characteristics, psychological concerns, and distress outcomes for people who utilise the service.
A novel secure channel selection rule for spatial image steganography

This paper introduces a novel secure channel selection rule for spatial image steganography. In this scheme, there are two factors considered to identify a pixel, which causes less distortion to cover image, to be modified in data hiding. The first one is an average difference between considered pixel and its neighbors. The value of the considered pixel is the second employed factor. Obtained experimental results reported on 10,000 natural images indicate the higher visual quality and security of our new channel selection rule for spatial image steganography when compared with the previous approaches.
TAS-102 for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer

The survival of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer has notably increased in the past 20 years, from 12 months to around 30 months. Nevertheless, the prognosis of patients pretreated with all available agents is poor and there is high unmet need for newer treatments. TAS-102 is an orally administered combination of the nucleoside analogue trifluridine and tipiracil hydrochloride, a thymidine phosphorylase inhibitor. In a randomized trial of 800 patients who had received at least two other treatments previously (most patients had received more than four treatments). TAS-102 demonstrated a significant prolongation of overall survival compared with placebo (median survival 7.1 vs. 5.3 months; hazard ratio 0 · 68, 95%CI: 0 · 58–0 · 81; p < 0 · 001). The toxicity was manageable, grade 3 or higher events occurred in 69% of patients in the TAS-102 group versus 52% in the placebo group, with neutropenia the most common event.
Improved automated detection of glaucoma from fundus image using hybrid structural and textural features

Glaucoma is a group of eye disorders that damage the optic nerve. Considering a single eye condition for the diagnosis of glaucoma has failed to detect all glaucoma cases accurately. A reliable computer-aided diagnosis system is proposed based on a novel combination of hybrid structural and textural features. The system improves the decision-making process after analysing a variety of glaucoma conditions. It consists of two main modules hybrid structural feature-set (HSF) and hybrid texture feature-set (HTF). HSF module can classify a sample using support vector machine (SVM) from different structural glaucoma condition and the HTF module analyses the sample founded on various texture and intensity-based features and again using SVM makes a decision. In the case of any conflict in the results of both modules, a suspected class is introduced. A novel algorithm to compute the super-pixels has also been proposed to detect the damaged cup. This feature alone outperformed the current state-of-the-art methods with 94% sensitivity. Cup-to-disc ratio calculation method for cup and disc segmentation, involving two different channels has been introduced increasing the overall accuracy. The proposed system has given exceptional results with 100% accuracy for glaucoma referral.
Multivariate MA( 1 ) processes with heavy tails and random coefficients

Many interesting processes share the property of multivariate regular variation. This property is equivalent to existence of the tail process introduced by B. Basrak and J. Segers [1] to describe the asymptotic behavior for the extreme values of a regularly varying time series. We apply this theory to multivariate MA( ∞ ) processes with random coeﬃcients.
Effective Practices for Students with Asperger Syndrome.

During the past several years, recognition and use of the clinical term Asperger Syndrome have increased dramatically. Thus, although this condition was introduced in 1944, Asperger Syndrome (AS) was virtually unknown worldwide until only recently. Today AS is a relatively common developmental disability whose impact on children, families, educators and other professionals is profound (Barnhill, 2001b). Hans Asperger, a Viennese physician first brought this condition to the attention of the psychiatric community. Based on his work with a group of children with a set of significant and chronic neurodevelopmental social behaviors, Asperger wrote a thesis wherein he described a group of children who today are known diagnostically by his name (Asperger, 1944). Asperger's seminal work accentuated the social peculiarities and social isolation of the children he studied. Although he observed that these individuals had many characteristics in common with children with autism, AS children generally had average cognitive and language development. Based on these characteristics, Asperger opined that his sample represented an independent and distinct clinical condition. In 1981, Wing resurrected the banner that brought AS to the attention of clinical professionals in a paper in which she discussed the syndrome based on her work with 35 individuals ranging in age from 5 to 35 years. Recognition and wide-scale acceptance of the term AS was further advanced in 1994 when the American Psychiatric Association added the syndrome to its list of pervasive developmental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition) (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Today, the condition is widely known and discussed throughout the world, by professionals, parents, and others, but there is intense debate related to whether AS is an independent diagnostic category or is an element of the autism spectrum or continuum (Klin, Volkmar, & Sparrow, 2000). The pervasive and potent attention to AS is attributable at least in part to its increased prevalence (Ehlers & Gillberg, 1993). Indeed, ever-growing numbers of individuals are thought to have AS. Kadesjo, Gillberg, and Nagberg (1999), for instance, estimated that as many as 48 per 10,000 children could have the syndrome. These estimates, however, are widely debated and disputed, as represented by Volkmar and Klin's (2000) contention that "the present data are, at best, 'guestimates' of its prevalence"
The power of independent types of genetic information to detect association in a case‐control study design

There have been many single nucleotide polymorphism‐based tests suggested for association analysis in a case‐control design. The possible evidence for association comprises three types of information: differences between cases and controls in allele frequencies, in parameters for Hardy Weinberg disequilibrium (HWD) and in parameters for linkage disequilibrium (LD). Here, first we find the pairwise covariances between statistics that measure these three types of information and show that the statistics are asymptotically trivariate normally distributed. Then we compare their power analytically to determine the most informative statistics according to the disease model. Our results show that differences in parameters for HWD are informative for dominant and recessive disease models, while differences in allele frequencies and in parameters for LD are generally informative except for rare recessive disease models. There is mutual independence of the statistics that detect these three differences under Hardy Weinberg equilibrium at the marker locus and linkage equilibrium between markers in the population. Knowing the pairwise covariances between the statistics makes it possible to define statistics that are mutually independent. This allows us to perform sequential analyses of the same data without the need to adjust significance levels for all the multiple analyses being performed on the same data set. As a result we can have improved flexible strategies to increase the power of genome‐wide association studies without requiring the collection of a new, independent sample. Genet. Epidemiol. 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Gradient-free activation maximization for identifying effective stimuli

A fundamental question for understanding brain function is what types of stimuli drive neurons to fire. In visual neuroscience, this question has also been posted as characterizing the receptive field of a neuron. The search for effective stimuli has traditionally been based on a combination of insights from previous studies, intuition, and luck. Recently, the same question has emerged in the study of units in convolutional neural networks (ConvNets), and together with this question a family of solutions were developed that are generally referred to as “feature visualization by activation maximization. ” We sought to bring in tools and techniques developed for studying ConvNets to the study of biological neural networks. However, one key difference that impedes direct translation of tools is that gradients can be obtained from ConvNets using backpropagation, but such gradients are not available from the brain. To circumvent this problem, we developed a method for gradient-free activation maximization by combining a generative neural network with a genetic algorithm. We termed this method XDream (EXtending DeepDream with real-time evolution for activation maximization), and we have shown that this method can reliably create strong stimuli for neurons in the macaque visual cortex (Ponce et al., 2019 in press). In this paper, we describe extensive experiments characterizing the XDream method by using ConvNet units as in silico models of neurons. We show that XDream is applicable across network layers, architectures, and training sets; examine design choices in the algorithm; and provide practical guides for choosing hyperparameters in the algorithm. XDream is an efficient algorithm for uncovering neuronal tuning preferences in black-box networks using a vast and diverse stimulus space.
On the deterministic-code capacity of the multiple-access arbitrarily varying channel

A method that allows one to decide whether or not the capacity region of a multiple-access arbitrarily varying channel (AVC) has a nonempty interior is discussed. Using the method of types and an approach different from J.H. Jahn (ibid. vol.27, no.3, p.212-226, 1981) this problem is partially solved. The notion of symmetrizability for the two-user AVC as an extension of the same notion for the single-user AVC is considered. It is shown that if a multiple-access AVC is symmetrizable, then its capacity region has an empty interior. For the two-user AVC, this means that at least one (and perhaps both) users cannot reliably transmit information across the channel. More importantly, it is shown that if the channel is suitably nonsymmetrizable, then the capacity region has a nonempty interior, and both users can reliably transmit information across the channel. The proofs rely heavily on a complicated decoding rule. Conditions under which simpler multiple-message decoding techniques might suffice are therefore examined. In particular, conditions under which the universal maximal mutual information decoding rule will be effective are given. >
Chinese Ischemic Stroke Subclassification

Accurate classification of stroke has significant impact on patient care and conduction of stroke clinical trials. The current systems such as TOAST, SSS-TOAST, Korean TOAST, and A–S–C–O have limitations. With the advent of new imaging technology, there is a need to have a more accurate stroke subclassification system. Chinese ischemic stroke subclassification (CISS) system is a new two step system aims at the etiology and then underlying mechanism of a stroke. The first step classify stroke into five categories: large artery atherosclerosis (LAA), including atherosclerosis of aortic arch and intra-/extracranial large arteries, cardiogenic stroke, penetrating artery disease, other etiology, and undetermined etiology. The second step is to further classify the underlying mechanism of ischemic stroke from the intracranial and extracranial LAA into the parent artery (plaque or thrombosis) occluding penetrating artery, artery-to-artery embolism, hypoperfusion/impaired emboli clearance, and multiple mechanisms. Although clinical validation of CISS is being planned, CISS is an innovative system that offers much more detailed information on the pathophysiology of a stroke.
Personal Space Regulation in Childhood Autism Spectrum Disorders

People appropriately adjust the distance between themselves and others during social interaction, and they may feel discomfort and move away when another person intrudes on their personal space. In the present study, we investigated personal space in children with persistent difficulties in the domain of social behavior, such as children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and in children with typical development (TD). The stop-distance paradigm was used to derive estimates of interpersonal distance, before and after a brief interaction with an unfamiliar adult confederate. The results showed that ASD children felt comfortable at a greater distance compared to TD children. Moreover, personal space shrunk after interaction with the confederate in TD children, but it failed to do so in ASD children. These findings reveal that autism deeply affects the regulation of personal space, influencing both its size and flexibility.
Escherichia coli O157:H7 bacteriophage Φ241 isolated from an industrial cucumber fermentation at high acidity and salinity

A novel phage, Φ241, specific for Escherichia coli O157:H7 was isolated from an industrial cucumber fermentation where both acidity (pH ≤ 3.7) and salinity (≥5% NaCl) were high. The phage belongs to the Myoviridae family. Its latent period was 15 min and average burst size was 53 phage particles per infected cell. The phage was able to lyse 48 E. coli O157:H7 strains, but none of the 18 non-O157 strains (including E. coli O104:H7) or the 2 O antigen-negative mutants of O157:H7 strain, 43895Δper (also lacking H7 antigen) and F12 (still expressing H7 antigen). However, the phage was able to lyse a per-complemented strain (43895ΔperComp) which expresses O157 antigen. These results indicated that phage Φ241 is specific for O157 antigen, and E. coli strains lacking O157 antigen were resistant to the phage infection, regardless of the presence or absence of H7 antigen. SDS-PAGE profile revealed at least 13 structural proteins of the phage. The phage DNA was resistant to many commonly used restriction endonucleases, suggesting the presence of modified nucleotides in the phage genome. At the multiplicity of infection of 10, 3, or 0.3, the phage caused a rapid cell lysis within 1 or 2 h, resulting in 3.5- or 4.5-log-unit reduction in cell concentration. The high lytic activity, specificity and tolerance to low pH and high salinity make phage Φ241 a potentially ideal biocontrol agent of E. coli O157:H7 in various foods. To our knowledge, this is the first report on E. coli O157:H7 phage isolated from high acidity and salinity environment.
Adaptive Locomotor Behavior in Larval Zebrafish

In this study we report that larval zebrafish display adaptive locomotor output that can be driven by unexpected visual feedback. We develop a new assay that addresses visuomotor integration in restrained larval zebrafish. The assay involves a closed-loop environment in which the visual feedback a larva receives depends on its own motor output in a way that resembles freely swimming conditions. The experimenter can control the gain of this closed feedback loop, so that following a given motor output the larva experiences more or less visual feedback depending on whether the gain is high or low. We show that increases and decreases in this gain setting result in adaptive changes in behavior that lead to a generalized decrease or increase of motor output, respectively. Our behavioral analysis shows that both the duration and tail beat frequency of individual swim bouts can be modified, as well as the frequency with which bouts are elicited. These changes can be implemented rapidly, following an exposure to a new gain of just 175 ms. In addition, modifications in some behavioral parameters accumulate over tens of seconds and effects last for at least 30 s from trial to trial. These results suggest that larvae establish an internal representation of the visual feedback expected from a given motor output and that the behavioral modifications are driven by an error signal that arises from the discrepancy between this expectation and the actual visual feedback. The assay we develop presents a unique possibility for studying visuomotor integration using imaging techniques available in the larval zebrafish.