Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptive Vo-Vo filter for maneuvering targets with time-varying dynamics

The paper addresses the problem of tracking multiple highly dynamic targets. The Vo-Vo filter (also known as Generalized Labeled Multi-Bernoulli or GLMB filter) is an attractive approach which possesses useful analytical properties and is a closed form solution to the Bayes multi-target filter. However, Vo-Vo filter with a fixed motion model is not general enough to accommodate maneuvering targets. In this paper, we propose an adaptive Vo-Vo filter for maneuvering targets with time-varying dynamics. The explicit prediction and update equations of the proposed adaptive Vo-Vo filter are derived and implemented using the Gaussian Mixture (GM) approximations. Simulation results in two challenging tracking scenarios prove the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Noninvasive positive pressure ventilation after extubation: features and outcomes in clinical practice

Objective To describe postextubation noninvasive positive pressure ventilation use in intensive care unit clinical practice and to identify factors associated with noninvasive positive pressure ventilation failure. Methods This prospective cohort study included patients aged ≥ 18 years consecutively admitted to the intensive care unit who required noninvasive positive pressure ventilation within 48 hours of extubation. The primary outcome was noninvasive positive pressure ventilation failure. Results We included 174 patients in the study. The overall noninvasive positive pressure ventilation use rate was 15%. Among the patients who used noninvasive positive pressure ventilation, 44% used it after extubation. The failure rate of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation was 34%. The overall mean ± SD age was 56 ± 18 years, and 55% of participants were male. Demographics; baseline pH, PaCO2 and HCO3; and type of equipment used were similar between groups. All of the noninvasive positive pressure ventilation final parameters were higher in the noninvasive positive pressure ventilation failure group [inspiratory positive airway pressure: 15.0 versus 13.7cmH2O (p = 0.015), expiratory positive airway pressure: 10.0 versus 8.9cmH2O (p = 0.027), and FiO2: 41 versus 33% (p = 0.014)]. The mean intensive care unit length of stay was longer (24 versus 13 days), p < 0.001, and the intensive care unit mortality rate was higher (55 versus 10%), p < 0.001 in the noninvasive positive pressure ventilation failure group. After fitting, the logistic regression model allowed us to state that patients with inspiratory positive airway pressure ≥ 13.5cmH2O on the last day of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation support are three times more likely to experience noninvasive positive pressure ventilation failure compared with individuals with inspiratory positive airway pressure < 13.5 (OR = 3.02, 95%CI = 1.01 - 10.52, p value = 0.040). Conclusion The noninvasive positive pressure ventilation failure group had a longer intensive care unit length of stay and a higher mortality rate. Logistic regression analysis identified that patients with inspiratory positive airway pressure ≥ 13.5cmH2O on the last day of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation support are three times more likely to experience noninvasive positive pressure ventilation failure.
Gait-based gender classification in unconstrained environments

This paper investigates the problem of gait-based gender classification in unconstrained environments. Different from existing human gait analysis and recognition methods which assume that humans walk in controlled environments, we aim to recognize human gender from uncontrolled gaits in which people can walk freely and the walking direction of human gaits may be time-varying in a singe video clip. Given each gait sequence collected in an uncontrolled manner, we first obtain human silhouettes using background substraction and cluster them into several groups. For each group, we compute the averaged gait image (AGI) as features. Then, we learn a distance metric under which the intraclass variations are minimized and the interclass variations are maximized, simultaneously, such that more discriminative information can be exploited for gender classification. Experimental results on our dataset demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method.
Correlation between Genotypic and Phenotypic Testing for Resistance to Rifampin in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical Isolates in Haiti: Investigation of Cases with Discrepant Susceptibility Results

The World Health Organization has recommended use of molecular-based tests MTBDRplus and GeneXpert MTB/RIF to diagnose multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in developing and high-burden countries. Both tests are based on detection of mutations in the Rifampin (RIF) Resistance-Determining Region of DNA-dependent RNA Polymerase gene (rpoB). Such mutations are found in 95–98% of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains determined to be RIF-resistant by the “gold standard” culture-based drug susceptibility testing (DST). We report the phenotypic and genotypic characterization of 153 consecutive clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains diagnosed as RIF-resistant by molecular tests in our laboratory in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 133 isolates (86.9%) were resistant to both RIF and Isoniazid and 4 isolates (2.6%) were RIF mono-resistant in MGIT SIRE liquid culture-based DST. However the remaining 16 isolates (10.5%) tested RIF-sensitive by the assay. Five strains with discordant genotypic and phenotypic susceptibility results had RIF minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) close to the cut-off value of 1 µg/ml used in phenotypic susceptibility assays and were confirmed as resistant by DST on solid media. Nine strains had sub-critical RIF MICs ranging from 0.063 to 0.5 µg/ml. Finally two strains were pan-susceptible and harbored a silent rpoB mutation. Our data indicate that not only detection of the presence but also identification of the nature of rpoB mutation is needed to accurately diagnose resistance to RIF in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Observed clinical significance of low-level resistance to RIF supports the re-evaluation of the present critical concentration of the drug used in culture-based DST assays.
Aortic function is compromised in a rat model of polycystic ovary syndrome.

BACKGROUND Arterial mechanical parameters are modified in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), before and during pregnancy. This study tested the hypothesis that aortic mechanics and endothelial function are modified in the mifepristone-treated rat model of PCOS. METHODS Female rats injected daily with mifepristone or vehicle for 7-9 days were assessed by ultrasound to allow estimation of aortic stiffness index and compliance. The influence of acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) on dissected phenylephrine-contracted aortic rings was assessed. RESULTS Aortic compliance was reduced by 67% in mifepristone-treated rats versus controls (P<0.05), while stiffness index was increased 2.3-fold (P<0.02). ACh-induced dilation was less in aortic rings from mifepristone-treated rats (P=0.022) and was less sensitive to the nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) (P<0.001), while SNP-induced dilation was greater (P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS Aortic mechanics in vivo and endothelial function in vitro were consistently perturbed in mifepristone-treated rats. Aortic ring behaviour suggested that NO release was depressed or degradation elevated, with a compensatory increase in NO sensitivity and/or activation of a non-NO-mediated relaxation mechanism. The mifepristone-treated rat is a valid model for investigation of the vascular deficits seen in PCOS.
Analysis of Decentralized Extremum-Seeking Schemes

We introduce a general analytic framework for decentralize d extremum-seeking control schemes involving N dynamic agents. The agents cooperate in achieving a coordin ation objective which is abstracted as a collective optimization problem. Each agen t has access only to the measurements of its individual objective function values, and may communic ate with neighboring agents. We provide a set of sufficient conditions under which such schemes exhibi t semi-global practical asymptotic stability with respect to an equilibrium point which is parameterized by the collective optimizer.
Vibratory Ventilation Decreases Filtration of Fluid in the Lungs of Newborn Lambs

To compare effects of vibratory and mechanical ventilation on fluid balance in the newborn lung, we measured pulmonary arterial and left atrial pressures, pleural and airway pressures, lung blood flow and lymph flow, and concentrations of protein in lymph and plasma of 19 healthy lambs, 2–4 weeks old, during a 2- to 4-hour period of spontaneous breathing, followed by 4–8 hours of mechanical ventilation at 30 breaths/min and 4–8 hours of vibratory ventilation, in which the lambs received 1650 whiffs of air/min. In 8 of 22 studies, we increased lung microvascular pressure by filling a balloon catheter in the left atrium with saline. There was no significant difference in mean airway pressure during the two types of ventilation. Despite higher lung vascular pressures, lymph flow was less and lymph protein concentration was greater during vibratory than during mechanical ventilation. These findings are consistent with reduced lung fluid filtration, possibly from reduced pulmonary blood flow and increased perimicrovascular pressure, during vibratory ventilation. In eight lambs killed after 8 hours of vibratory ventilation, exrravascular lung water was normal and microscopy showed no edema. We conclude that vibratory ventilation has no adverse effect on lung fluid balance and may benefit lambs by decreasing net filtration of fluid into their lungs.
A Study of the 4th Grade Students in Primary School through the Compositions of Their Opinions about the Classroom Environment They Want to be In

The purpose of this study was to reveal the thoughts of the students who were studying at 4th grade in a primary school related to the classroom environment in their dreams. In the study, it was envisaged that the opinions of the students about the physical and emotional environments in the classroom give an idea about the desire and expectations of the students to create a more appropriate classroom environment. 114 students who were studying at 4th grade in public school in Istanbul were involved in the study. The compositions of the students about what kind of classroom environment they want constituted the data of the study. With the data analysis, the items related to the classroom environment that students desire were organized under two main headings: Physical expectations and Emotional expectations. According to the findings, it was seen that a single study table, a private locker, an interactive smartboard, colorful furniture and design, fancy bulletin boards, a tidy environment and a clean environment were the general physical expectations of the students from the classroom environment whereas positive social relations with friends, positive communication with the teacher and the sense of success were the general emotional expectations of the students. In addition, it was observed that the students expressed a variety of opinions on technological possibilities, emergency measures, security and discipline.
From Locke to Slots: Money and the Politics of Indigeneity

Abstract With ongoing consequences for American Indians, the New World Indian has been a pervasive figure of constitutive exclusion in modern theories of money, property, and government. This paradoxical exclusion of indigenous peoples from the money/property/government complex is intrinsic to, and constitutive of, modern theories of money. What is more, it haunts the cultural politics of indigenous peoples’ economic actions. In Part I, I establish that, and how, indigeneity has been constitutively present at the foundation of modern theories of money, as Europeans and settlers defined indigenous peoples in part by the absence of money and property (of which money is a special form). In turn, and more to the point here, they defined money and property in part as that which modern non-indigenous people have and use. These are not solely economic matters: the conceptual exclusions from money/property were coproduced with juridical ones insofar as liberal political theory grounded the authority of modern government in private property (and, in turn, in money). To show how this formation of money and indigeneity has mattered both for disciplinary anthropology and for American public culture at several historical moments, Part II traces how the dilemmas expressed by these texts haunt subsequent debates about the function of wampum, the logic of potlatch, and the impact of tribal gaming. Such debates inform scholarship beyond the boundaries of anthropology and, as each case shows in brief, they create harms and benefits for peoples in ways that perpetuate the (il)logics and everyday practices of settler colonialism.
GAME BASE LEARNING IN PSYCHOLOGY EDUCATION: IMPROVING UNDERGRADUATES COMPETENCE FOR TEAM WORKING

Gamification has been identified, as an interesting tool, to make educational processes more efficient. It supposes the application of gameful thinking, and game mechanics, in non-game contexts to engage users in solving problems or carrying out tasks. There is solid and growing empirical evidence that supports how games can favour effective learning in a variety of subjects. Some findings showed, that the mean scores of university students in classrooms using the game were significantly higher than those in classes that did not, supporting the idea that knowledge acquisition and content understanding can be learning from games. Moreover, it has been found that simulation games build more confidence for on-the-job application of learned knowledge, than classroom instruction does. Throughout their university training, Psychology undergraduates must acquire various knowledges and competences that are necessary to exercise their future professional activity in an effective and efficient way. Among them is the competence to work in teams, as well as to manage teams and groups so that they work properly. An important part of key knowledges to develop such competences are worked and developed in the classroom of Groups Psychology, at the end of the third course of Psychology Degree. In this context this paper deals, on one hand, with the development of a proposal of a game-based learning experience amongst Psychology undergraduates and on the other hand, with testing its effects on such undergraduates´ own competence perceptions for teamworking. We developed a simulation game called “the group to the rescue” that implies for the undergraduates to be confronted as a group to a new and a potential stressing situation that needs a fast and effective solution. In order to identify that solution, it is necessary to use some of the learnings and knowledges related to the physical and social environment of the groups that will be easier acquired and interiorized through this game. Moreover, this simulation game will have a positive impact in terms of building more confidence in one´s own competence perception for teamwork. Our results, in a sample composed by the 31 Psychology Undergraduates that participated in the game, showed that after it, undergraduates have a higher perception of their competence for working effectively in teams. These findings are useful in order to foster the development of team working competence.
Structural Uncertainty in Model-Simulated Trends of Global Gross Primary Production

Projected changes in the frequency and severity of droughts as a result of increase in greenhouse gases have a significant impact on the role of vegetation in regulating the global carbon cycle. Drought effect on vegetation Gross Primary Production (GPP) is usually modeled as a function of Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) and/or soil moisture. Climate projections suggest a strong likelihood of increasing trend in VPD, while regional changes in precipitation are less certain. This difference in projections between VPD and precipitation can cause considerable discrepancies in the predictions of vegetation behavior depending on how ecosystem models represent the drought effect. In this study, we scrutinized the model responses to drought using the 30-year record of Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) 3g Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) dataset. A diagnostic ecosystem model, Terrestrial Observation and Prediction System (TOPS), was used to estimate global GPP from 1982 to 2009 under nine different experimental simulations. The control run of global GPP increased until 2000, but stayed constant after 2000. Among the simulations with single climate constraint (temperature, VPD, rainfall and solar radiation), only the VPD-driven simulation showed a decrease in 2000s, while the other scenarios simulated an increase in GPP. The diverging responses in 2000s can be attributed to the difference in the representation of the impact of water stress on vegetation in models, i.e., using VPD and/or precipitation. Spatial map of trend in simulated GPP using GIMMS 3g data is consistent with the GPP driven by soil moisture than the GPP driven by VPD, confirming the need for a soil moisture constraint in modeling global GPP.
The Rest-Frame Optical Spectra of Lyman Break Galaxies: Star Formation, Extinction, Abundances, and Kinematics

We present the first results of a spectroscopic survey of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) in the near-infrared aimed at detecting the emission lines of [O II], [O III], and Hβ from the H II regions of normal star-forming galaxies at z ≃ 3. From observations of 15 objects with the Keck telescope and the Very Large Telescope augmented with data from the literature for an additional four objects, we reach the following main conclusions. The rest-frame optical properties of LBGs at the bright end of the luminosity function are remarkably uniform, their spectra are dominated by emission lines, [O III] is always stronger than Hβ and [O II], and projected velocity dispersions are between 50 and 115 km s-1. Contrary to expectations, the star formation rates deduced from the Hβ luminosity are on average no larger than those implied by the stellar continuum at 1500 Å; presumably any differential extinction between rest-frame optical and UV wavelengths is small compared to the relative uncertainties in the calibrations of these two star formation tracers. For the galaxies in our sample, the abundance of oxygen can only be determined to within 1 order of magnitude without recourse to other emission lines ([N II] and Hα), which are generally not available. Even so, it seems well established that LBGs are the most metal-enriched structures at z ≃ 3, apart from quasi-stellar objects, with abundances greater than about 1/10 solar and generally higher than those of damped Lyα systems at the same epoch. They are also significantly overluminous for their metallicities; this is probably an indication that their mass-to-light ratios are low compared to present-day galaxies. At face value, the measured velocity dispersions imply virial masses of about 1010 M☉ within half-light radii of 2.5 kpc. The corresponding mass-to-light ratios, M/L ≈ 0.15 in solar units, are indicative of stellar populations with ages between 108 and 109 yr, consistent with the UV-optical spectral energy distributions. However, we are unable to establish conclusively whether or not the widths of the emission lines reflect the motions of the H II regions within the gravitational potential of the galaxies, even though in two cases we see hints of rotation curves. All 19 LBGs observed show evidence for galactic-scale superwinds; such outflows have important consequences for regulating star formation, distributing metals over large volumes, and allowing Lyman continuum photons to escape and ionize the intergalactic medium.
Executive Functions and the Improvement of Thinking Abilities: The Intervention in Reading Comprehension

In this paper, we propose a preliminary theory of executive functions that address in a specific way their relationship with working memory (WM) and higher-level cognition. It includes: (a) four core on-line WM executive functions that are involved in every novel and complex cognitive task; (b) two higher order off-line executive functions, planning and revision, that are required to resolving the most complex intellectual abilities; and (c) emotional control that is involved in any complex, novel and difficult task. The main assumption is that efficiency on thinking abilities may be improved by specific instruction or training on the executive functions necessary to solving novel and complex tasks involved in these abilities. Evidence for the impact of our training proposal on WM's executive functions involved in higher-level cognitive abilities comes from three studies applying an adaptive program designed to improve reading comprehension in primary school students by boosting the core WM's executive functions involved in it: focusing on relevant information, switching (or shifting) between representations or tasks, connecting incoming information from text with long-term representations, updating of the semantic representation of the text in WM, and inhibition of irrelevant information. The results are consistent with the assumption that cognitive enhancements from the training intervention may have affected not only a specific but also a more domain-general mechanism involved in various executive functions. We discuss some methodological issues in the studies of effects of WM training on reading comprehension. The perspectives and limitations of our approach are finally discussed.
Harmonic Analysis on Real Reductive Symmetric Spaces

Let G be a reductive group in the Harish-Chandra class e.g. a connected seniisiniple Lie group with finite center, or the group of real points of a con­ nected reductive algebraic group defined over R. Let a be an involution of the Lie group G, H an open subgroup of the subgroup of fixed points of a. One decomposes the elements of L2(G/H) with the help of joint eigenfunctions under the algebra of left invariant differential operators under G on G/H. 2000 Mathematics subject classification: 22E46, 22F30, 22E30, 22E50, 33C67.
Self-Efficacy, Task Performance and Contextual Performance: A Sri Lankan Experience

The relationship between self-efficacy and job performance has long been established. But, there is limited research on self-efficacy and different dimensions of job performance and the extent of the association has not been investigated comprehensively in the context of the Sri Lankan banking sector. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of self-efficacy on task performance and contextual performance of the employees in the banking sector in Sri Lanka. The data were randomly collected from a sample of 176 managers and 357 non-managerial employees in the banking sector in Sri Lanka. A questionnaire was administered to the employees to measure their self-efficacy, task performance, and contextual performance. The collected data were analyzed using correlation coefficient and regression analysis. The results of the study indicated that self-efficacy had significantly and positively correlated with task performance and contextual performance. According to the findings, the employees’ trust on their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to accomplish the task has significantly and positively correlated with the behaviors that are directly related with the completion of the job and with the extra role supporting behaviors which are not directly related to the job.