Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Remote Scene Binocular Video Surveillance System with Small Object Tracking

This paper proposes a remote scene surveillance system without ignoring minutiae of object. The utilization of two cameras enables us to track small object as well as providing possibility of content analysis and object recognition. In our system, the position relationship of two cameras is computed automatically based on the images from two views. The object to be tracked is in remote scene so that it lacks enough samples (pixels) to represent itself in image, so no existing tracking method could be utilized directly. Camshift algorithm is improved adequately for our application in three aspects: color space, generation of virtual samples and computation of weight image. Also, these improvements can be employed in general cases to strengthen robustness of tracking. Examples are presented in two parts. Part one demonstrates promising results from the improved tracking approach and part two focuses on the proposed system. Keywords-remote scene; binoculars; small object tracking; camshift
Sink mobility protocols for data collection in wireless sensor networks

In wireless sensor networks data propagation is usually performed by sensors transmitting data towards a static control center (sink). Inspired by important applications (mostly related to ambient intelligence) and as a first step towards introducing mobility, we propose the idea of having a sink moving in the network area and collecting data from sensors. We propose four characteristic mobility patterns for the sink along with different data collection strategies. Through a detailed simulation study, we evaluate several important performance properties of each protocol. Our findings demonstrate that by taking advantage of the sink's mobility, we can significantly reduce the energy spent in relaying traffic and thus greatly extend the lifetime of the network.
Cluster TOF-SIMS Imaging and the Characterization of Biological Materials

It is now clear that the use of metal cluster and polyatomic primary ions can greatly enhance the capability of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to tackle the analysis of complex chemical systems. Biological materials present the greatest challenge, but also probably the greatest opportunity to apply the full capabilities of SIMS in label-free analysis.1 This chapter will seek to provide a brief overview of the present capabilities and the future possibilities of ToF-SIMS using cluster primary ions in the study of biological cells and tissue. There are basically two types of ToF-SIMS instrumentation available at present. By far, the majority of instruments utilize a pulsed primary beam and a reflectron time of flight mass spectrometer. Very recently a new concept of instrument has appeared that uses a DC primary beam and a hybrid two-stage mass spectrometer arrangement. First, we summarize the benefits common to both instruments and then outline those specific to the new ToF-SIMS platforms. The challenges facing ToF-SIMS in biological studies will then be discussed, followed by some illustrative examples of the present status of ToF-SIMS in biological analyses.
Gene transfer into mouse prepancreatic endoderm by whole embryo electroporation.

CONTEXT Understanding gene function in the developing pancreas is a major issue for pancreatic cell therapy. The in vivo analysis of gene function has essentially been performed by modulating gene expression in transgenesis. A faster and easier method is electroporation of mouse embryos. This technique, coupled with whole embryo culture, enables one to deliver genes and analyze their effects in a spatially and temporally regulated manner. OBJECTIVE We wanted to adapt the electroporation technique for gene transfer of whole e8.5 mouse embryos into the endoderm to allow expression of transgenes in the pancreas or liver. RESULTS Using two platinum plate electrodes, low voltage and a precise positioning of the embryo in the electroporation cuvette we could target and express DNA constructs in the prepancreatic or prehepatic territories, identified with cell markers. We also demonstrated that this technique is a valuable tool in the study of transcriptional regulation in the developing endoderm. CONCLUSIONS Targeted electroporation of whole embryos is a useful method of characterizing the gene network which controls pancreatic development.
Automatic lung nodule detection from chest CT data using geometrical features: initial results

In this paper, a complete system for automatic lung nodule detection from Chest CT data is proposed. The proposed system includes the methods of lung segmentation and nodule detection from CT data. The algorithm for lung segmentation consists ofsurrounding air voxel removal, body fat/tissue identification, trachea detection, and pulmonary vessels segmentation. The nodule detection algorithm comprises of candidate surface generation, geometrical feature generation and classification. The proposed system shows 88.2% sensitivity for nodule >=3mm with 8.91 false positive per dataset.
Cattle grazing a riparian mountain meadow: effects of low and moderate stocking density on nutrition, behavior, diet selection, and plant growth response.

Twelve ruminally cannulated and six intact crossbred beef steers were used in a randomized complete block design to evaluate the effects of stocking density of a riparian pasture in the Sierra Nevada mountains on grazing behavior, dietary selection, forage intake, digesta kinetics, and growth rates of Carex nebraskensis and Juncus balticus. Nine . 5-ha pastures were assigned to one of three treatments: ungrazed (CON) or grazed to leave either 1,500 kg/ha (LOW) or 1,000 kg/ha (MOD). Two collections were conducted during the summer of 1992 (following winter drought) and 1993 (following above-average winter precipitation). Standing crop biomass was greater (P < .05) in grazed pastures than in CON pastures at initiation of grazing in 1992 but not in 1993. After grazing in both 1992 and 1993, a treatment x intrapasture location interaction was noted (P < .05). Tiller growth rates in both 1992 and 1993 were affected (P < .05) by a treatment x growth period interaction. Stocking density did not alter (P > .10) botanical or chemical composition of the diet in 1992, and only minor differences were noted (P < .05) in 1993. Forage intake, passage rate measures, and total time spent loafing did not differ (P > .10) between LOW and MOD steers. Within the mid-meadow area in 1992, loafing time was greater (P< .05) for MOD steers than for LOW steers. In 1993, a treatment x trial interaction was noted for loafing time in all three areas. Total time spent grazing was greater (P < .05) for MOD steers than for LOW steers in 1992 and was affected (P < .05) by a treatment x trial interaction in 1993. In 1992 grazing time along the streamside was greater (P < .05) for LOW steers than for MOD steers, and significant treatment x trial interactions were noted for grazing time spent along the forest edge and mid-meadow areas. In 1993, only streamside grazing time was influenced by treatment being greater (P < .05) for MOD steers than for LOW steers. In general, our data suggest that management decisions to reduce stocking densities may force cattle to congregate along streambanks and to concentrate grazing and loafing activities in those areas.
Detection of azo dyes and aromatic amines in women undergarment

ABSTRACT Women are exposed to several chemical additives including azo dyes that exist in textile materials, which are a potential health hazard for consumers. Our objective was to analyze suspected carcinogenic azo dyes and their degradation aromatic amines in women underwear panties using a fast and simple method for quantification. Here, we evaluated 120 different samples of women underwear for their potential release of aromatic amines to the skin. Seventy-four samples yielded low level mixtures of aromatic amines; however eighteen samples were found to produce greater than 200 mg/kg (ppm) of aromatic amines. Azo dyes in these 18 samples were extracted from the fabrics and analyzed by reverse phase thin layer chromatography in tandem with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry. Eleven azo dyes were identified based on their mass spectral data and the chemical structure of the aromatic amine produced from these samples. We demonstrate that planar chromatography and mass spectrometry can be really helpful in confirming the identity of the azo dyes, offering highly relevant molecular information of the responsible compounds in the fabrics. With the growing concern about the consumer goods, analysis of aromatic amines in garments has become a highly important issue.
Concave resource allocation problems for interference coupled wireless systems

The paper characterizes the class of all concave resource allocation problems in interference coupled wireless systems. An axiomatic framework for interference functions proposed by Yates in 1995 is used to model interference coupling in our paper. The paper shows that there exists no transformation, which ensures concavity for all linear interference functions for all functions of SINR. The paper then characterizes the largest class of utility functions under a certain requirement, such that the corresponding class of utility functions functions, which are a function of SINR in the s-domain are concave. The paper shows that such a class of utility functions is a restricted class due to a requirement, which ensures concavity. Furthermore, the paper shows that the largest class of interference functions, which ensures concavity for resource allocation problems are the log-convex interference functions. These results differ from the convex case, where we are interested in minimizing utility functions of inverse SINR.
TuNao: A High-Performance and Energy-Efficient Reconfigurable Accelerator for Graph Processing

Large-scale graph processing is now a crucial task of many commercial applications, and it is conventionally supported by general-purpose processors. These processors are designed to flexibly support highly diverse workloads with classic techniques such as on-chip cache and dynamic pipelining. Yet, it is difficult for the on-chip cache to exploit irregular data locality in large-scale graph processing, even though there are a few high-degree vertices that are frequently accessed in real-world graphs, it is not efficient to perform regular arithmetic operations via sophisticated dynamic pipelining. In short, general-purpose processors could not be the ideal platforms to graph processing. In this paper, we design a reconfigurable graph processing accelerator, with the purpose of providing an energy-efficient and flexible hardware platform for large-scale graph processing. This accelerator features two main components, i.e., the on-chip storage to exploit the data locality of graph processing, and the reconfigurable functional units to adapt to diversified operations in different graph processing tasks. On a total of 36 practical graph processing tasks, we demonstrate that, on average, our accelerator design achieves 1.58x and 25.56x better performance and energy efficiency, respectively, than the GPU baseline.
Estimation of R=P[Y<X] for three-parameter generalized Rayleigh distribution

Surles and Padgett [Inference for reliability and stress–strength for a scaled Burr type X distribution. Lifetime Data Anal. 2001;7:187–200] introduced a two-parameter Burr-type X distribution, which can be described as a generalized Rayleigh distribution. In this paper, we consider the estimation of the stress–strength parameter R=P[Y<X], when X and Y are both three-parameter generalized Rayleigh distributions with the same scale and locations parameters but different shape parameters. It is assumed that they are independently distributed. It is observed that the maximum-likelihood estimators (MLEs) do not exist, and we propose a modified MLE of R. We obtain the asymptotic distribution of the modified MLE of R, and it can be used to construct the asymptotic confidence interval of R. We also propose the Bayes estimate of R and the construction of the associated credible interval based on importance sampling technique. Analysis of two real data sets, (i) simulated and (ii) real, have been performed for illustrative purposes.
Intraluminal Vapor Bubble Induced by Excimer Laser Pulse Causes Microsecond Arterial Dilation and Invagination Leading to Extensive Wall Damage in the Rabbit

Background. Previous in vitro studies demonstrated that during excimer laser ablation of aortic tissue in saline, a fast‐expanding and imploding vapor bubble is formed. The present in vivo study was designed to demonstrate the formation of a fast‐expanding intraluminal bubble in flowing blood and to assess any damage to the adjacent arterial wall. Methods and Results. Excimer laser pulses (one to 10, at 55 mJ/mm2 per pulse) were delivered coaxially in the femoral and iliac arteries of nine normal rabbits. Time‐resolved flash photography of dissected arteries in situ demonstrated a 50% diameter increase within 75 &mgr;sec after the laser pulse and a subsequent invagination (150‐500 &mgr;sec) that corresponded with the temporal course of the bubble expansion (up to 3.2 mm in diameter) and implosion observed in a hemoglobin solution. One day after laser light delivery, light microscopy (47 arterial segments) showed abrasion of the internal elastic lamina, medial necrosis, and extensive dissection planes filled with red blood cells. The degree (up to 100% medial necrosis) and extent of damage (up to 1.9 mm in length) increased with the number of delivered laser pulses. Conclusions. In blood, each excimer laser pulse generated a fast‐expanding and imploding vapor bubble. In vivo, the intraluminal vapor bubble produced microsecond dilation and invagination of the adjacent arterial segment, which induced dissections and extensive wall damage far beyond the penetration depth of 308‐nm laser light (<100 &mgr;m). This unique pattern of extensive wall damage observed in the rabbit might explain the mechanism of dissection observed in humans and might have an impact on the acute and chronic outcome after excimer laser coronary angioplasty. (Circulation 1993;87:1258‐1263)
Even More Practical Key Exchanges for the Internet using Lattice Cryptography

In 2014, Peikert described the first practical lattice-based key exchange that is provably secure and provides perfect forward security. However, his presentation lacks concrete proposals for parameters. We aim to provide a clear description of how the algorithm can be implemented along with some analysis for potential parameters. Previously in 2015, Singh considered the simpler case, as chosen by Bos, Costello, Naehrig and Stebila in 2014, of cyclotomic rings with power-of-two degree. In this work we focus on the case of cyclotomic rings with degree p− 1 for prime p. This allows for a greater degree of flexibility in choosing lattice dimension, which determines the security level and efficiency of the scheme. We describe the necessary arithmetic setup and then present Peikert’s DiffieHellman-like key exchange along with security, correctness and implementation analysis.
Probing Bacterial Electrosteric Interactions Using Atomic Force Microscopy

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to probe the effects of pH, ionic strength, and the presence of bacterial surface polymers on interaction forces between individual, negatively charged bacteria and silicon nitride. Bacterial surface polymers dominated interactions between bacteria and AFM silicon nitride tips. The measured forces were represented well by an electrosteric repulsion model accounting for repulsion between the tip and bacterial polymers but were much larger in magnitude and extended over longer distances (100’s of nanometers) than predicted by DLVO theory. The equilibrium length (Lo) of the polymers was allowed to vary with solution chemistry to account for intramolecular electrostatic interactions between individual polymer units. The effects of the variables pH and ionic strength on bacterial interaction forces were investigated independently. Pseudomonas putida KT2442 was studied in 1 mM MOPS buffer at pH values of 2.2, 4.75, 7.00, and 8.67. Burkholderia cepacia G4 was studied in 1 mM MOPS buffer at pH values of 2.2, 4.75, and 6.87. Then, the pH was held constant at 4.5 or 4.75, and the ionic strength was studied in 0.01, 1, or 100 mM MOPS buffer (for each microbe). For KT2442 (in 1 mM MOPS buffer), Lo increased from 230 to 750 nm as pH increased from 4.75 to 8.67. For G4 (in 1 mM MOPS buffer), Lo increased from 350 nm at pH 2.2 to 1040 nm at pH 7.0. Varying the ionic strength between 0.01 and 100 mM did not affect the equilibrium length of the polymers nearly as much as pH. Partially removing polysaccharides from the bacterial surfaces resulted in lower repulsive forces that decayed much more rapidly. The magnitude of the measured forces in these experiments and the equilibrium lengths predicted by the electrosteric model are comparable to other force measurements and size estimates on polymers and polysaccharides.
Polyaniline-coated foam electrodes for electroencephalography (EEG) measurement

In this research, textile electrode was developed using electrically conductive polyurethane (PU) foam for electroencephalography (EEG) biopotential measurements. The conductive PU foam was developed through coating of inherently conductive polyaniline (PANI) polymer on PU foam. The conductive PU foam was characterized for surface physical morphology by scanning electron microscope, chemical changes through EDX measurements, and surface resistance and impedance values through two probe resistivity measurement method. The conductive PU foam showed a surface resistance and impedance values of 7 KΩ/square and 1.45 MΩ, respectively. EEG measurements using hospital equipment revealed that the conductive PU foam electrode yielded results similar to commercial Ag/AgCl electrodes. Hence, this study reveals that the conductive PU foam electrode would be a feasible candidate for EEG measurements, particularly for continuous monitoring purposes.
Gibbs measures on self-affine Sierpiński carpets and their singularity spectrum

Abstract We consider a class of Gibbs measures on self-affine Sierpiński carpets and perform the multifractal analysis of its elements. These deterministic measures are Gibbs measures associated with bundle random dynamical systems defined on probability spaces whose geometrical structure plays a central role. A special subclass of these measures is the class of multinomial measures on Sierpiński carpets. Our result improves the already known result concerning the multifractal nature of the elements of this subclass by considerably weakening and in some cases even eliminating a strong separation condition of geometrical nature.
P-Lingua 2.0: New Features and First Applications

P-Lingua is a programming language for membrane computing. It was first presented in Edinburgh, during the Ninth Workshop on Membrane Computing (WMC9). In this paper, the models, simulators and formats included in P-Lingua in version 2.0 are explained. We focus on the stochastic model, associated simulators and updated features. Finally, we present two new applications based on P-Lingua 2.0: a tool for describing and simulating ecosystems and a framework (currently under development) for P systems design.
ALGORITHM FOR REMOTE SENSING OF TROPOSPHERIC AEROSOL FROM MODIS

This document describes the algorithms for simultaneous remote sensing of aerosol from EOS-MODIS over land and ocean. The algorithm will be used to monitor the aerosol optical thickness (proportional to the aerosol total loading) and size distribution (integrated on the vertical column) of the ambient (undisturbed) aerosol, over most of the globe (oceans and the moist parts of the continents) on a daily basis. The size distribution will be derived only over the oceans. These aerosol products will be used to monitor the aerosol mass concentration, optical properties, and radiative forcing.
A Study on the Dynamic Spatial-Temporal Trajectory Features of Pedestrian Small Group

Pedestrian small group is an important part of crowds in public places, they maintain similar speed and direction to reach the destination together through interactive cooperation. However, the research into the influence of groups on pedestrian flow dynamics has been limited. Previous research into the group behaviors mainly focus on the influence of group size on walking speed and spatial pattern problem from a static point of view. The dynamic spatial-temporal trajectory features of pedestrian small groups among people can provide significant insight into the group dynamics. This paper's aim is to provide quantitative insights into the dynamic spatial-temporal trajectory features of pedestrian small groups based on the real-world trajectories data including the interaction between pedestrians. These results will be a quantitative guidance for the group simulation model, the understanding of the social behavior in the video surveillance and automatic group identifying algorithm.
A novel taxonomy of opportunities and risks in massively multiplayer online role playing games

The explosion and rapid embrace of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) has provided players with unique, fully immersive three dimensional environments in which they can express themselves in a myriad of ways. Players can develop unique skill sets, share knowledge, explore and experiment with various identities and network with like-minded individuals. Evidence suggests however, that these opportunities are accompanied with a number of risks including addiction, desensitisation and threats to the privacy of personal information. This paper presents a novel Taxonomy of opportunities and risks in the specific context of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games.
Gas and dust properties in the afterglow spectra of GRB 050730

We present early WHT ISIS optical spectroscopy of the afterglow of gamma-ray burst GRB 050730. The spectrum shows a DLA system with the highest measured hydrogen column to date: N (H ${\small\rm{I}}$) = $22.1 \pm 0.1$ at the third-highest GRB redshift z = 3.968. Our analysis of the Swift XRT X-ray observations of the early afterglow show X-ray flares accompanied by decreasing X-ray absorption. From both the optical and the X-ray spectra we constrain the dust and gas properties of the host galaxy. We find the host to be a low metallicity galaxy, with low dust content. Much of the X-ray absorbing gas is situated close to the GRB, whilst the H I absorption causing the DLA is most likely located further out.