Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Privacy-Aware User Tracking System Using Footprint Data Measured across Multiple Pressure Sensor Sheets

In this paper, we propose a privacy-aware user tracking system which traces users by their footprints. Tracking by footprints could reduce discomfort for privacy-sensitive users compared with the use of face recognition by cameras in existing tracking systems, since a footprint is weakly identifiable personal information, i.e., it cannot directly identify a specific individual. In this context, the proposed system is said to be privacy-aware. In the proposed tracking system, the footprint data are collected from spatially disjoint pressure sensor sheets put on significant locations in a target area. The trajectory of a specific user is estimated by extracting a sequence of sensor sheets that can observe the footprint of the user. The main task to be handled in the system is to recognize correspondence between footprints measured across multiple pressure sensor sheets. Moreover, we have conducted a basic evaluation to confirm the feasibility of the proposed system. The result shows that it can distinguish users by 94%.
Statistical decision making in emission tomography using emission-count posteriors

We present a new approach to decision making based on the concept of emission counts (EC), i.e., the number of events emitted per voxel during the scan. The approach allows direct computation of posterior probabilities of hypotheses defined in terms of EC, and is applicable to any type of emission tomographic list-mode projection data, e.g., SPECT, PET, or time-of-flight (TOF)-PET, as well as binned data which can be considered a special case of list-mode data. Conditional Bayesian (CB) decision theory utilizing values of the posterior probability of hypotheses as test statistics are used to derive decision rules. We demonstrate that the derived decision principle is equivalent to the likelihood-ratio ideal observer for binary hypothesis testing. We use data acquired in list-mode format for an anthropomorphic torso phantom using a lanthanum-bromide time-of-flight PET scanner to provide examples of application of EC-CB observer. For data-specific decisions, we demonstrate examples of multiple-hypotheses decision making. For imaging system evaluation, we define two regions of interest (ROls) on the image, and two hypotheses, H1 and H2, that one ROI emitted on average at least r times more events than the other region. The posterior probabilities of H1 and H2 are determined. ROC curves are constructed using 50 projection data sets (list-mode tiles), each including 16 million prompts, from which 25 data sets correspond to H1 and the other 25 to H2. The areas and partial areas under the ROC curves are used as figures of merit evaluating the performance of the LaBr3 PET system in discriminating between H1 and H2 with and without TOF information. Summary: A new optimal numerical observer which makes decisions based on posterior probability of emission counts is presented. The utility of the observer for hypothesis testing is demonstrated on TOF list-mode phantom data acquired on PENN LaPET scanner.
Rotational reset strategy for online semi-supervised NMF-based speech enhancement for long recordings

Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) has been successfully applied to speech enhancement in non-stationary noisy environments. Recently proposed online semi-supervised NMF algorithms are of particular interest as they carry the two nice properties (online and semi-supervised) of classical speech enhancement approaches. These algorithms, however, have only been evaluated using noisy mixtures shorter than 30 seconds. In this paper we find that these algorithms work well when it is run for less than 1 minute, but degradation of the enhanced speech signal starts to appear after 2 minutes. We analyze that the reason is due to the inappropriate dictionary update rule, which gradually loses its ability in updating the speech dictionary. We then propose a simple rotational reset strategy to solve the problem: Instead of continuously updating the entire speech dictionary, we periodically and rotationally select elements and reset their values to random numbers. Experiments show that this strategy successfully solves the degradation problem and the improved algorithm outperforms classical speech enhancement algorithms significantly even when they are run for 10 minutes.
Reactive Reasoning and Planning

In this paper, the reasoning and planning capabilities of an autonomous mobile robot are described. The reasoning system that controls the robot is designed to exhibit the kind of behavior expected of a rational agent, and is endowed with the psychological attitudes of belief, desire, and intention. Because these attitudes are explicitly represented, they can be manipulated and reasoned about, resulting in complex goal-directed and reflective behaviors. Unlike most planning systems, the plans or intentions formed by the robot need only be partly elaborated before it decides to act. This allows the robot to avoid overly strong expectations about the environment, overly constrained plans of action, and other forms of overcommitment common to previous planners. In addition, the robot is continuously reactive and has the ability to change its goals and intentions as situations warrant. The system has been tested with SRI's autonomous robot (Flakey) in a space station scenario involving navigation and the performance of emergency tasks.
Adventitial transplantation of blood outgrowth endothelial cells in porcine haemodialysis grafts alleviates hypoxia and decreases neointimal proliferation through a matrix metalloproteinase-9-mediated pathway—a pilot study

Purpose. We hypothesized that adventitial transplantation of blood outgrowth endothelial cells (BOEC) to the vein-to-graft anastomosis of polytetrafluoroethylene grafts will reduce neointimal hyperplasia by reducing hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), by increasing angiogenesis in a porcine model of chronic renal insufficiency with haemodialysis polytetrafluoroethylene grafts. Because matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been shown to be involved with angiogenesis, the expression of MMPs and their inhibitors was determined. Methods. Chronic renal insufficiency was created by subtotal renal infarction and 28 days later, arteriovenous PTFE grafts were placed bilaterally from the carotid artery to the jugular vein. Autologous blood outgrowth endothelial cells labeled with Lac Z were transplanted to the adventitia of the vein-to-graft anastomosis using polyglycolic acid scaffolding and scaffolding only to other side (control). Animals were killed 14 days later and vessels were explanted from the vein-to-graft anastomosis of both sides and underwent immunohistochemical analysis, western blotting and zymography for HIF-1α, MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2. BOEC were also made hypoxic and normoxic for 12, 24 and 48 h to determine protein expression for MMPs and TIMPs. Results. Under hypoxia, BOEC significantly increased the expression of pro MMP-2 by 12 h and TIMP-2 by 24 h when compared to normoxic cells (P < 0.05). Transplantation of BOEC resulted in a significant decrease in both HIF-1α and intima-to-media ratio with a significant increase in both pro and active MMP-9 when compared to control vessels (P < 0.05). MMP-9 activity was localized to the neointima of the transplanted vessels by immunohistochemistry. There was increased CD31 density with engraftment of BOEC cells into the neointima of both the transplanted vessels compared to controls (P = NS). Conclusion. Transplantation of BOEC resulted in a significant decrease in intimal hyperplasia and HIF-1α with a significant increase in both pro and active MMP-9 that was localized to the neointima of transplanted vessels. The increase in MMP-9 offers a possible mechanism for angiogenesis and the reduced intima-to-media ratio. Furthermore, we observed that BOEC had homed to the neointima of the contralateral vessels that had increased levels of HIF-1α, suggesting that hypoxia may be an important stimulus for BOEC migration.
Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction and gas exchange in acute canine pulmonary embolism.

Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) is inhibited in several models of acute lung injury. Whether HPV is preserved in pulmonary embolism is unknown. We investigated the effects of a reduction in the fraction of inspired O2 (FIO2) on pulmonary hemodynamics and gas exchange in anesthetized dogs before and after autologous blood clot pulmonary embolism. In a first group of 14 dogs, stimulus-response curves for HPV were constructed as pulmonary arterial pressure (Ppa) vs. FIO2 varied between 1.0 and 0.06 at a cardiac output (Q) kept constant at 3.5 l.min-1.m-2. Gas exchange was evaluated by using the multiple inert-gas elimination technique at FIO2 of 1.0, 0.4, and 0.1. Embolism decreased the relative magnitude of HPV, expressed as the gradient between Ppa and pulmonary arterial occluded pressure in hypoxia divided by (Ppa-pulmonary arterial occluded pressure) at FIO2 of 1.0, from 1.8 to 1.2 (P < 0.05). Retention minus excretion gradients for sulfur hexafluoride and ethane were increased by decreased FIO2 (P < 0.005 and P < 0.05, respectively) before but not after embolism. Hypoxia-induced deterioration in gas exchange before embolism was related to the amount of baseline very low ventilation-perfusion (VA/Q) ratios. Similar results were obtained in a second group of seven dogs with Q decreased to maintain Ppa at the same average value as before embolism. However, gas exchange was not affected by inspiratory hypoxia before as well as after embolism in this group, which presented with a lesser amount of baseline very low VA/Q. In both groups of dogs, increase in the FIO2 from 0.4 to 1.0 did not affect gas exchange. We conclude that 1) pulmonary embolism is associated with a partial inhibition of HPV, 2) HPV does not contribute to preserve gas exchange in pulmonary embolism, and 3) a strong HPV may deteriorate gas exchange in severe hypoxia in the presence of minor very low VA/Q inequality.
Developmental regulation of DNase I-hypersensitive sites in Dictyostelium discoideum

We have studied two regions of Dictyostelium discoideum chromatin and identified several DNase I-hypersensitive sites in these regions. One of these sites is located about 300 to 500 bases upstream of the transcriptional start site of a gene that is expressed at all stages of development. This site is present in both vegetative cells and postaggregation cells. Another hypersensitive site is associated with a gene that is expressed only after the multicellular stage. This site is located about 400 bases upstream of the start site, and it is present only in postaggregation cells. Thus, much like higher eucaryotes, D. discoideum contains DNase I-hypersensitive sites that may be involved in the regulation of the genes with which they are associated.
Designing an Optimized Water Quality Monitoring Network with Reserved Monitoring Locations

The optimized design of water quality monitoring networks can not only minimize the pollution detection time and maximize the detection probability for river systems but also reduce redundant monitoring locations. In addition, it can save investments and costs for building and operating monitoring systems as well as satisfy management requirements. This paper aims to use the beneficial features of multi-objective discrete particle swarm optimization (MODPSO) to optimize the design of water quality monitoring networks. Four optimization objectives: minimum pollution detection time, maximum pollution detection probability, maximum centrality of monitoring locations and reservation of particular monitoring locations, are proposed. To guide the convergence process and keep reserved monitoring locations in the Pareto frontier, we use a binary matrix to denote reserved monitoring locations and develop a new particle initialization procedure as well as discrete functions for updating particle’s velocity and position. The storm water management model (SWMM) is used to model a hypothetical river network which was studied in the literature for comparative analysis of our work. We define three pollution detection thresholds and simulate pollution events respectively to obtain all the pollution detection time for all the potential monitoring locations when a pollution event occurs randomly at any potential monitoring locations. Compared to the results of an enumeration search method, we confirm that our algorithm could obtain the Pareto frontier of optimized monitoring network design, and the reserved monitoring locations are included to satisfy the management requirements. This paper makes fundamental advancements of MODPSO and enables it to optimize the design of water quality monitoring networks with reserved monitoring locations.
The Ins and Outs of Forecasting Unemployment: Using Labor Force Flows to Forecast the Labor Market

This paper presents a forecasting model of unemployment based on labor force flows data that, in real time, dramatically outperforms the Survey of Professional Forecasters, historical forecasts from the Federal Reserve Board's Greenbook, and basic time-series models. Our model's forecast has a root-mean-squared error about 30 percent below that of the next-best forecast in the near term and performs especially well surrounding large recessions and cyclical turning points. Further, because our model uses information on labor force flows that is likely not incorporated by other forecasts, a combined forecast including our model's forecast and the SPF forecast yields an improvement over the latter alone of about 35 percent for current-quarter forecasts, and 15 percent for next-quarter forecasts, as well as improvements at longer horizons.
Combined Effects Aluminized Explosives

Abstract : This paper reports on the development of theory and performance for recently developed combined effects aluminized explosives. Traditional high energy explosives used for metal pushing incorporate high loading percentages of HMX or RDX; whereas, traditional blast explosives commonly incorporate some percentage of aluminum. Although these high blast explosives produce increased blast energies, they normally produce reduced metal pushing capability due to the relatively late time aluminum reaction. Recently developed combined effects aluminized explosives achieve both excellent metal pushing and high blast energies. The excellent metal pushing capability is due to the earlier exothermic conversion of aluminum to aluminum oxide as compared to traditional blast explosives. Traditional Chapman-Jouguet detonation theory does not explain the observed detonation states achieved by these combined effects explosives. This paper demonstrates that the eigenvalue detonation theory explains the observed behavior and that both high metal pushing capability and high blast are achieved using these new explosives.
Robust vision-based hand tracking using single camera for ubiquitous 3D gesture interaction

Along History, the gestures have been one of the most natural interaction methods of the Human Being. This work proposes a novel 3D interaction technique based on computer vision for human-computer gesture interaction. The main contribution to the interaction field is that this technique implements and improves on-the-edge computer vision algorithms offering a low cost solution providing robustness against scenario and user diversity. Thanks to these characteristics, this system allows the human-computer ubiquitous interaction in a robust way.
Nutritional assessment associated with length of inpatients' hospital stay.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the nutritional status of patients on hospital admission, identify the length of hospital stay and identify the parameters of nutritional assessment that are most closely related with the length of stay (LOS). METHODS A cross-sectional study of 278 hospitalized patients evaluated patients' nutritional status in the 48 hours after admission and their LOS after discharge. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters, related to nutrition status were analyzed, such as: weight, height, arm circumference (AC), waist circumference (WC), triceps skinfold thickness (TST), mild arm muscle circumference (MAMC), albumin (Alb) and hemoglobin (HB). Body mass index (BMI) was used to classify the nutritional status. All the nutritional factors except type of disease, gender and age were associated with LOS. The chi-square, Student-t, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and binary logistic multivariate tests were used in the statistical analyses. RESULTS The majority of patients was male (53%), elderly (56%) and had neoplasm (19.4%). Undernutrition was higher in the elderly (p < 0.05) and neoplasm patients (p < 0.05), overweight or obese patients were more likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases (p = 0.001). Average LOS was 14.7 days (± 12.5), longer in neoplasm patients (p < 0.05) and in elderly ones (p < 0.05), and also was 3 times longer in males (p < 0.0001). Among the nutritional parameters, patients with AC under 25 cm had higher LOS (p < 0.05), but only in women could it be considered a marker, increasing LOS 2.8 times. BMI less than 20 kg/m(2) increased LOS 2.1 times, and biochemical data (Alb and HB) do not contribute. In the multivariate analyses, male gender and TST depletion were the significant factors, which together best explained the lengths of hospital stay. CONCLUSION LOS was associated with disease, gender, age and nutritional status. We can highlight two anthropometric analyses: first, AC can be used in women as a marker of longer LOS and second TST is the best overall predictor of longer hospital stay.
Automatic Keyphrase Extraction based on NLP and Statistical Methods

In this article we would like to present our exper imental approach to automatic keyphrase extraction based on statistical methods and Wordnet-based pattern evaluation. Automatic keyphrases are import ant for automatic tagging and clustering because manually assigned keyphrases are not sufficient in most cases. Keyphrase candidates are extracted in a new way derived from a combination of graph methods (TextRank) and statistical methods (TF*IDF). Keyword candidates are merged with named entities and stop words according to NL POS (Part Of a Speech) patterns. Automatic keyphrases are generated as TF*IDF weighted unigrams. Keyphrases describe the main ideas of documents in a human-readable way. Evaluation of this approac h is presented in articles extracted from News web sites. Each article contain s manually assigned topics/categories which are used for keyword evalua tion.
Administration of Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitor Reduces Joint Inflammation but Exacerbates Osteopenia in IL-1α Transgenic Mice Due to GM-CSF Overproduction

IL-1α transgenic (Tg) mice exhibit chronic inflammatory arthritis and subsequent osteopenia, with IL-1-induced GM-CSF playing an important role in the pathogenesis. This study analyzed the mechanisms underlying osteopenia in Tg mice, and the therapeutic effects of the cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor celecoxib on such osteopenia. Inhibited osteoclast formation was observed in RANKL-treated bone marrow cell (BMC) cultures from Tg mice and coculture of Tg-derived BMCs and wild-type-derived primary osteoblasts (POBs). FACS analysis indicated that this inhibition was attributable to a decreased number of osteoclast precursors within Tg-derived BMCs. Moreover, in coculture of Tg-derived POBs and either Tg- or wild-type-derived BMCs, osteoclast formation was markedly inhibited because Tg-derived POBs produced abundant GM-CSF, known as a potent inhibitor of osteoclast differentiation. Histomorphometric analysis of Tg mice revealed that both bone formation and resorption were decreased, with bone formation decreased more prominently. Interestingly, administration of celecoxib resulted in further deterioration of osteopenia where bone formation was markedly suppressed, whereas bone resorption remained unchanged. These results were explained by our in vitro observation that celecoxib dose-dependently and dramatically decreased osteogenesis by Tg mouse-derived POBs in culture, whereas mRNA expressions of GM-CSF and M-CSF remained unchanged. Consequently, blockade of PGE2 may exert positive effects on excessively enhanced bone resorption observed in inflammatory bone disease, whereas negative effects may occur mainly through reduced bone formation, when bone resorption is constitutively down-regulated as seen in Tg mice.
ARF1 promotes prostate tumorigenesis via targeting oncogenic MAPK signaling

ADP-ribosylation factor 1 (ARF1) is a crucial regulator in vesicle-mediated membrane trafficking and involved in the activation of signaling molecules. However, virtually nothing is known about its function in prostate cancer. Here we have demonstrated that ARF1 expression is significantly elevated in prostate cancer cells and human tissues and that the expression levels of ARF1 correlate with the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) ERK1/2. Furthermore, we have shown that overexpression and knockdown of ARF1 produce opposing effects on prostate cancer cell proliferation, anchorage-independent growth and tumor growth in mouse xenograft models and that ARF1-mediated cell proliferation can be abolished by the Raf1 inhibitor GW5074 and the MEK inhibitors U0126 and PD98059. Moreover, inhibition of ARF1 activation achieved by mutating Thr48 abolishes ARF1′s abilities to activate the ERK1/2 and to promote cell proliferation. These data demonstrate that the aberrant MAPK signaling in prostate cancer is, at least in part, under the control of ARF1 and that, similar to Ras, ARF1 is a critical regulator in prostate cancer progression. These data also suggest that ARF1 may represent a key molecular target for prostate cancer therapeutics and diagnosis.
Flow Caml in a Nutshell

Flow Caml is an extension of the Objective Caml language with a type system tracing information flow. It automatically checks information flow within Flow Caml programs, then translates them to regular Objective Caml code that can be compiled by the ordinary compiler to produce secure programs. In this paper, we give a short overview of this system, from a practical viewpoint.
DMT achieving schemes for the isotropic fading vector broadcast channel

In this paper, we consider the isotropic fading broadcast channel. This channel refers to the case when no directional information is available at the transmitter side, and was studied by Jafar et al in. It was shown that the isotropic vector broadcast channel (BC-V) can be reduced to an equivalent scalar broadcast channel (BC-S). It is well known from [2]http://www.pimrc2008. org/ that BC-S is degraded in the same order as the channel magnitude. This implies that the optimal strategy that maximizes the sum capacity for BC-S and BCV consists on allocating the whole power to the strongest user. Based on these results, we derive in this paper the diversity multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) of the isotropic fading BC-S and BC-V, and we propose optimal schemes that achieve these DMT.