Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Marker-less feature and gesture detection for an interactive mixed reality avatar

Subject-object interaction in a museum exhibit requires capture of the rigid museum objects, gestures and tasks performed by visitors as well as the subject-object interactions. Our interactive system takes a real object belonging to the avatar of a Tlingit warrior. The chosen object is a Tlingit war helmet replica which had to be detected by a RGB camera without the help of fiducial markers and used to display information on the screen. Our contribution is to integrate cascade classifiers, normally used to detect faces, to detect the helmet and to inform the mixed reality application flow. Classifiers adapted better to the museums ambient conditions. Additionally, we used skeletal data to detect when the user puts the helmet on and to allow an avatar on screen to be controlled by the user.
Adjustable Speed Drive Bearing Fault Detection via Wavelet Packet Decomposition

Adjustable speed drives perform many vital control functions in the industry serving in such diverse applications as rolling mills and variable speed compressors, fans and pumps. When an adjustable speed drive fails due to a bearing failure, it is usually catastrophic. Bearing defects introduce vibration anomalies that alter the current characteristic frequencies. This paper addresses the application of motor current signature analysis using wavelet packet decomposition to detect bearing fault in adjustable speed drives
Model checking meets performance evaluation

Markov chains are one of the most popular models for the evaluation of performance and dependability of information processing systems. To obtain performance measures, typically long-run or transient state probabilities of Markov chains are determined. Sometimes the Markov chain at hand is equipped with rewards and computations involve determining long-run or instantaneous reward probabilities.This note summarises a technique to determine performance and dependability guarantees of Markov chains. Given a precise description of the desired guarantee, all states in the Markov chain are determined that surely meet the guarantee. This is done in a fully automated way. Guarantees are described using logics. The use of logics yields an expressive framework that allows to express well-known measures, but also (new) intricate and complex performance guarantees. The power of this technique is that no matter how complex the logical guarantee, it is automatically checked which states in the Markov chain satisfy it. Neither manual manipulations of Markov chains (or their high-level descriptions) are needed, nor the knowledge of any numerical technique to analyze them efficiently. This applies to any (time-homogeneous) Markov chain of any structure specified in any high-level formalism.
Rapid retreat and acceleration of Helheim Glacier, east Greenland

A significant amount of the measured coastal thinning of the Greenland ice sheet may be due to recent acceleration of outlet glaciers. Using remote sensing, we measured two major periods of speedup on Helheim Glacier between 2000 and 2005 that increased peak speeds from approximately 8 to 11 km/yr. These speedups coincided with rapid retreats of the calving front, totaling over 7.5 km. The glacier also thinned by over 40 m from 2001 to 2003. Retreat of the ice front appears to decrease resistance to flow and concentrates the gravitational driving force over a smaller area. Farther up‐glacier, acceleration may be a delayed response to surface draw‐down and steepening of the glacier's main trunk. If the 2005 speedup also produces strong thinning, then much of the glacier's main trunk may un‐ground, leading to further retreat.
Design of networking protocols for shallow water peer-to-peer acoustic networks

Communication between a set of underwater systems such as remote sensors, autonomous underwater vehicles and control vessels would enhance the effective use of such systems tremendously. As electromagnetic waves do not propagate well underwater, acoustics plays a key role in underwater communication. Although point-to-point acoustic links can be established via numerous modulation schemes, an acoustic communication network demands multiuser communication. In such an environment, orthogonal modulation schemes could provide a solution for multiple simultaneous acoustic links. As an alternative to orthogonal schemes, random shared access technology has proven successful in many wireless networks. Through numerical simulations, we compare the performance of orthogonal and random shared access for underwater networking. Over the past few decades, numerous networking protocols have been developed for use in wired and wireless networks. Due to significant differences in the characteristics of electromagnetic and acoustic channels, these networking protocols require modifications to perform well in underwater networks. As sound waves are much slower than electromagnetic waves, the latency in communication is typically much higher. Due to the multipath propagation and ambient noise, the effective data rates are lower and packet loss is much greater. In this paper, we simulate variants of some popular protocols for underwater use, focusing on the Physical and Datalink layers of the OSI protocol stack. The aim is to select an appropriate Physical Layer and Datalink Layer model for a small underwater network to be implemented.
Analysis of self-regulated learning strategies oriented to the design of software support

In all the projects centered on the promotion of self-regulation, self-regulation strategies and learning strategies are taught, to enable the students to use them in order to improve their learning and self-regulatory skills. When the students use these strategies, they choose the tools that they want to use to implement the strategies, pen and paper in many cases, and generic software tools in other cases, as the range of specialized tools is very poor or they do not enable the implementation of the strategies more efficiently than the generic ones. The requirements of the support for self-regulated learning provided by a software tool are not clear. The goal of this paper is, on the one hand, to define the design criteria for tools intended to support self-regulated learning, based on the study of self-regulated learning theory and strategies, and on the other hand to discuss the evaluation of tools' capabilities for supporting self-regulated learning.
GA based SVS control strategy for mitigation of SSR in series compensated power system

This paper presents a Genetic Algorithm (GA) based control strategy to design more effective and robust auxiliary control of Static VAR System (SVS) for Sub Synchronous Resonance (SSR) damping improvement. The problem of tuning all the control parameters for effective stabilization of multiple torsional modes over various system conditions is formulated into a standardized optimization problem and optimized using GA for improving SSR damping. The studies have been carried out on First IEEE bench mark model. With the proposed GA, the problem is efficiently solved and the auxiliary controller of SVS is optimized over a wide operating range. Eigenvalue analysis using a linearized system model has been conducted on the test system to validate the approach and the designed SVS based auxiliary controller. A simulation study, using a nonlinear system model, has been carried out to illustrate the performance of the proposed SVS control strategy under large disturbance conditions. This corroborates the outcome of the eigenvalue analysis.
CQ-profiles for key finding in audio

Key finding in audio is based on the constant Q transform. A heuristics is suggested how to compress the constant Q transform into a 12-dimensional short-term pitch class profile. Short-term profiles are weighted by a cosine window and summed up yielding long-term profiles. The latter are matched against averaged major and minor prototype profiles.
Occurrence of Validating Clinical Findings in the Hospital Record for Appendectomy, Cholecystectomy and Intervertebral Disc Excision Patients: Comparisons among Hospitals and among Surgeons

This study examines the variation among 36 Pennsylvania hospitals, and the individual surgeons practicing in them, in the proportion of appendectomy, cholecystectomy and intervertebral disc excision patients with clinical findings in the hospital record that validate the need for surgery. Using admissions from January 1990 through June 1991, we performed logistic regressions on the probability of validating clinical findings controlling for patient age, sex, admission severity of illness, and Medicaid and Health Maintenance Organization membership. Our results show that hospitals, and surgeons, vary significantly in their validation rates for cholecystectomy and disc surgery and, to a lesser extent, appendectomy. We also found that increased procedure-specific volume at both the hospital and surgeon levels is not related to the odds of validating clinical findings. We define a future research agenda to investigate the reasons for the observed differences among hospitals and among surgeons.
Short-term Retention of Tactile Stimulation

In three experiments subjects were required to reproduce after varying delays the locus of a tactile stimulation delivered to the upper-side of the arm. During the retention periods subjects either performed a subsidiary, arithmetic task or rested. Recall, as measured by accuracy in reproducing the locus of stimulation, decreased as a function of retention interval, asymptoting after approximately 5 s. Performance was poorer in the subsidiary task condition than in the rest condition; however, the effect of the subsidiary task appeared to be more on subject recall strategies than on rehearsal capacity. No evidence of proactive interference effects was found, and a decay interpretation of forgetting of discrete tactile stimuli in the short-term memory distractor paradigm was favoured.
Determination of procaine hydrochloride using flow injection inhibitory chemiluminescence.

A new flow injection chemiluminescent method has been developed for the determination of procaine hydrochloride, based on the inhibition of the chemiluminescence reaction of luminol-hydrogen peroxide by procaine hydrochloride. The influence of several surfactants and beta-cyclodextrin on the chemiluminescence intensity were studied. It was found that beta-cyclodextrin enhanced the decrease in chemiluminescence intensity. The method is simple, convenient and sensitive, with a detection limit (3 sigma) of 0.08 micro g/mL. The decreased chemiluminescence intensity is linear, with the concentration of procaine hydrochloride in the range 0.2-100.0 micro g/mL and 100.0-400.0 micro g/mL. The relative standard deviation for 10 repeated measurements were 4.5% and 3.4% for 1.0 and 20.0 micro g/mL procaine hydrochloride, respectively. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of procaine hydrochloride in injection solutions of this drug.
Digital originals: reproduction as a space for design

This paper reports findings from a qualitative study of a group of artists in the North of England. It focuses on the impact of digital technology on their printmaking and wider art practice. Four major themes emerge: apprenticeship, networks, authenticity and commodification. Each of the artists describes a long process of educational and professional apprenticeship. They reflect in detail on the value of networks of support not only in generating contacts for potential professional development but also in affirming their identity as an artist. Current practices around the production of Giclée prints are considered in detail and related to more general problems of what constitutes authentic work and the problems of commodification. After reporting findings from the qualitative study the paper presents initial concept design work around the notion of a "slow print". It also discusses an experience prototype that reveals rather than conceals digital practice. It considers the notion of an original as a social practice and positions reproduction as a space for design.
1 Bridging the Gap for Roma Women . The Effects of a Health Mediation Program on Roma Prenatal Care and Child Health at Birth *

Roma, Europe’s largest minority, face poverty, social exclusion and life-long inequalities, despite the intensified efforts to alleviate their plight. This is the first paper to analyze a large-scale public health program targeting Roma minority. The program aimed to improve the health status of pregnant and postpartum Roma women and children, with the help of specially trained Roma health mediators. Using rich data from Romania, we exploit the spatial and temporal variation in implementation of the program and find a large increase of the take-up of prenatal care services among Roma women and a decrease in stillbirths and infant deaths of their children, but no change in the probability of low birth weight or premature delivery of the children carried to term. JEL classification codes: J13; J15; I14
Of Rocks and Hard Places: Comparing Biotic Assemblages on Concrete Jetties versus Natural Rock along a Microtidal Mediterranean Shore

ABSTRACT Bonnici, L. ; Borg, J.A. ; Evans, J.; Lanfranco, S. , and Schembri, P.J., 2018. Of rocks and hard places: Comparing biotic assemblages on concrete jetties versus natural rock along a microtidal Mediterranean shore. The species composition and structure of littoral assemblages on concrete jetties were compared with those on natural rocky shores at two localities on the microtidal NE coast of Malta. Algal species richness and total algal biomass were significantly lower on jetties. Faunal species richness and faunal abundance were also lower on jetties, albeit not significantly so. Jetties and natural rocky shores differed in relative species composition. The algae Palisada perforata/Laurencia obtusa and several mobile animals, mostly crustaceans, molluscs, and polychaetes, were more abundant on rocky shores. In particular, the supralittoral gastropod Melarhaphe neritoides had a density ranging between 8 ind. /m2 to 98 ind. /m2 on rocky shores but was never recorded on jetties. Conversely, the algae Cladophoropsis spp. , the barnacle Chthamalus stellatus, and the limpets Patella caerulea and P. ulyssiponensis were more abundant on jetties. The rocky shores of sites with jetties were compared with those of a reference site (Dahlet ix-Xmajjar) that lacked jetties. No significant differences occurred in algal biomass and faunal abundance; however, faunal species richness was significantly higher at the reference site. These results may be linked to a number of abiotic factors inclusive of increased exposure to waves, decreased area for colonisation, and habitat homogeneity. The present case study has implications for coastal zone management.
VISION BASED TIME VARYING MOBILE ROBOT CONTROL D.P. TSAKIRIS, C. SAMSON, P. RIVES

Exponential stabilization to an equilibrium point for a nonlinear control system without drift is an interesting problem in control theory, which has signi cant applications in mobile robotics. State feedback controllers developed for this prob lem require an estimate of the mobile robot's state, either from odometry or from exteroceptive sensors. The present paper considers the use of visual data, from a camera tracking a known target, in a visual servoing scheme based on time varying exponential stabilizers. Two such schemes are presented, one, where the system's state is explicitly reconstructed from the sensory data and another, where these data are used directly in the control loop. We study the planar case, where the camera only pans, and present some preliminary simulation results.
Towards Scalable Multiprocessor Virtual Machines

A multiprocessor virtual machine benefits its guest operating system in supporting scalable job throughput and request latency-useful properties in server consolidation where servers require several of the system processors for steady state or to handle load bursts. Typical operating systems, optimized for multiprocessor systems in their use of spin-locks for critical sections, can defeat flexible virtual machine scheduling due to lock-holder preemption and misbalanced load. The virtual machine must assist the guest operating system to avoid lock-holder preemption and to schedule jobs with knowledge of asymmetric processor allocation. We want to support a virtual machine environment with flexible scheduling policies, while maximizing guest performance. This paper presents solutions to avoid lock-holder preemption for both fully virtualized and paravirtualized environments. Experiments show that we can nearly eliminate the effects of lock-holder preemption. Furthermore, the paper presents a scheduler feedback mechanism that despite the presence of asymmetric processor allocation achieves optimal and fair load balancing in the guest operating system.
Parathyroid Hormone Levels Predict Posttotal Thyroidectomy Hypoparathyroidism

We hypothesized that parathyroid hormone (PTH) determination would be the most effective strategy to identify posttotal thyroidectomy hypoparathyroidism (PTTHP) compared with other clinical and laboratory parameters. We retrospectively reviewed our recent experience with total thyroidectomy. We recorded demographics, malignancy, thyroid weight, parathyroid autotransplantation, hospital stay, use of postoperative calcium and hormonally active vitamin D3 (calcitriol), and postoperative serum calcium and PTH levels. Patients were divided into two groups depending on whether supplemental calcitriol was required to maintain eucalcemia and therefore reflecting the diagnosis of PTTHP. From October 2010 to June 2013, a total of 202 total thyroidectomies were performed. Twenty-four patients (12%) developed PTTHP and required calcitriol replacement. Logistic regression analysis revealed that only postoperative calcium levels (P = 0.02) and PTH levels (P < 0.0001) statistically significantly predicted PTTHP. Twenty-two of 29 patients with PTH 13 pg/mL or less had PTTHP. Only two of 173 patients with a PTH level greater than 13 pg/mL were diagnosed with PTTHP. We recommend using PTH levels after total thyroidectomy to determine which patients will have hypoparathyroidism requiring calcitriol therapy. An early determination of PTTHP allows for prompt management that can shorten hospital stay and improve outcomes.
Domain Event Extraction and Representation with Domain Ontology

With domain ontology, a meaningful index of document indexing, such as the domain events structure in this paper, can be defined. Since the construction of domain ontology is costly, an automatic domain ontology acquisition is preferred. We find that named entity can be a clue of domain event acquisition from the training corpus. Therefore , we add the named entity recognition module into the automatic domain ontology acquisition process. Thus, a subject-verb-object-modifier (SVOM) indexing can be constructed. Our experimental results demonstrate that the automatic event extraction and ontology acquisition can be good resources for text categorization and further information processing.
MultiNotch MS3 Enables Accurate, Sensitive, and Multiplexed Detection of Differential Expression across Cancer Cell Line Proteomes

Multiplexed quantitation via isobaric chemical tags (e.g., tandem mass tags (TMT) and isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ)) has the potential to revolutionize quantitative proteomics. However, until recently the utility of these tags was questionable due to reporter ion ratio distortion resulting from fragmentation of coisolated interfering species. These interfering signals can be negated through additional gas-phase manipulations (e.g., MS/MS/MS (MS3) and proton-transfer reactions (PTR)). These methods, however, have a significant sensitivity penalty. Using isolation waveforms with multiple frequency notches (i.e., synchronous precursor selection, SPS), we coisolated and cofragmented multiple MS2 fragment ions, thereby increasing the number of reporter ions in the MS3 spectrum 10-fold over the standard MS3 method (i.e., MultiNotch MS3). By increasing the reporter ion signals, this method improves the dynamic range of reporter ion quantitation, reduces reporter ion signal variance, and ultimately produces more high-quality quantitative measurements. To demonstrate utility, we analyzed biological triplicates of eight colon cancer cell lines using the MultiNotch MS3 method. Across all the replicates we quantified 8 378 proteins in union and 6 168 proteins in common. Taking into account that each of these quantified proteins contains eight distinct cell-line measurements, this data set encompasses 174 704 quantitative ratios each measured in triplicate across the biological replicates. Herein, we demonstrate that the MultiNotch MS3 method uniquely combines multiplexing capacity with quantitative sensitivity and accuracy, drastically increasing the informational value obtainable from proteomic experiments.
Strategic Attentive Writer for Learning Macro-Actions

We present a novel deep recurrent neural network architecture that learns to build implicit plans in an end-to-end manner by purely interacting with an environment in reinforcement learning setting. The network builds an internal plan, which is continuously updated upon observation of the next input from the environment. It can also partition this internal representation into contiguous sub- sequences by learning for how long the plan can be committed to - i.e. followed without re-planing. Combining these properties, the proposed model, dubbed STRategic Attentive Writer (STRAW) can learn high-level, temporally abstracted macro- actions of varying lengths that are solely learnt from data without any prior information. These macro-actions enable both structured exploration and economic computation. We experimentally demonstrate that STRAW delivers strong improvements on several ATARI games by employing temporally extended planning strategies (e.g. Ms. Pacman and Frostbite). It is at the same time a general algorithm that can be applied on any sequence data. To that end, we also show that when trained on text prediction task, STRAW naturally predicts frequent n-grams (instead of macro-actions), demonstrating the generality of the approach.
A Note on the Asymptotic Properties of Affected‐sib‐pair Linkage Tests

This article concerns the asymptotic properties of linkage tests for affected‐sib‐pair data under the null hypothesis of no linkage. We consider a popular single‐locus analysis model where the unknown parameters are the disease allele frequency, the three penetrances for the three genotypes at the disease locus, and the recombination fraction between the marker locus and the disease locus. These parameters are completely confounded under the null hypothesis of no linkage. We show that 1) If the total variance of the trait (i.e., the additive variance plus the dominance variance) is “separated” from 0, then the likelihood ratio statistic has an asymptotic 0. 5χ20+ 0. 5χ21 distribution; 2) If the prevalence of the trait is “separated” from 0 and the recombination fraction is fixed at 0, then the likelihood ratio statistic has an asymptotic distribution which is a mixture of χ20, χ21 and χ22. The implications of these results are discussed.
Commitment Tracking via the Reactive Event Calculus

Runtime commitment verification is an important, open issue in multiagent research. To address it, we build on Yolum and Singh's formalization of commitment operations, on Chittaro and Montanari's cached event calculus, and on the SCIFF abductive logic programming proof-procedure. We propose a framework consisting of a declarative and compact language to express the domain knowledge, and a reactive and complete procedure to track the status of commitments effectively, producing provably sound and irrevocable answers.