Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
2013 7th International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare and Workshops Remote Assessment of the Heart Rate Variability to Detect Mental Stress

In the present paper, we introduce a new framework for detecting workload changes using video frames obtained from a low-cost webcam. The measurements are performed on human faces and the proposed algorithms were developed to be motion-tolerant. An interactive Stroop color word test is employed to induce stress on a set of twelve participants. We record the skin conductance and compare these responses to the stress curve assessed by a webcam-derived heart rate variability analysis. The results offer further support for the applicability of stress detection by remote and low-cost means, providing an alternative to conventional contact techniques.
Deconvolution model for cytometric microbial subgroups along a freshwater hydrologic 1 continuum 2 3 Authors 4

31 32. CC-BY 4.0 International license not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder. It is made available under a The copyright holder for this preprint (which was. Abstract 33 Flow cytometry is suitable to discriminate and quantify aquatic microbial cells within a 34 spectrum of fluorescence and light scatter signals. Using fixed operational and gating settings, 35 a mixture model, coupled to Laplacian operator and Nelder-Mead optimization algorithm, 36 allowed deconvolving bivariate cytometric profiles into single cell subgroups. This procedure 37 was applied to outline recurrent patterns and quantitative changes of the aquatic microbial 38 community along a river hydrologic continuum. We found five major persistent subgroups 39 within each of the commonly retrieved populations of cells with Low and High content of 40 Nucleic Acids (namely, LNA and HNA cells). Moreover, we assessed changes of the 41 cytometric community profile over-imposed by water inputs from a wastewater treatment 42 plant. Our approach for multiparametric data deconvolution confirmed that flow cytometry 43 could represent a prime candidate technology for assessing microbial community patterns in 44 flowing waters. 45 46 47. CC-BY 4.0 International license not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder. It is made available under a The copyright holder for this preprint (which was .
Parasitic Nematodes Modulate PIN-Mediated Auxin Transport to Facilitate Infection

Plant-parasitic nematodes are destructive plant pathogens that cause significant yield losses. They induce highly specialized feeding sites (NFS) in infected plant roots from which they withdraw nutrients. In order to establish these NFS, it is thought that the nematodes manipulate the molecular and physiological pathways of their hosts. Evidence is accumulating that the plant signalling molecule auxin is involved in the initiation and development of the feeding sites of sedentary plant-parasitic nematodes. Intercellular transport of auxin is essential for various aspects of plant growth and development. Here, we analysed the spatial and temporal expression of PIN auxin transporters during the early events of NFS establishment using promoter-GUS/GFP fusion lines. Additionally, single and double pin mutants were used in infection studies to analyse the role of the different PIN proteins during cyst nematode infection. Based on our results, we postulate a model in which PIN1-mediated auxin transport is needed to deliver auxin to the initial syncytial cell, whereas PIN3 and PIN4 distribute the accumulated auxin laterally and are involved in the radial expansion of the NFS. Our data demonstrate that cyst nematodes are able to hijack the auxin distribution network in order to facilitate the infection process.
Money Circulation, Trackable Items, and the Emergence of Universal Human Mobility Patterns

In this article, we report on the discovery of statistical regularities, mathematical laws, and universal characteristics underlying multiscale human mobility. Our study is based on the generation of proxy networks for global human travel behavior from pervasive user data collected at the world's largest bill- tracking Web site and trajectories of trackable items (known as travel bugs) recorded at a geocaching Web. From this pervasive data, we extract multiscale human traffic networks for the US and European countries that cover distances of a few to a few thousand kilometers. Proxy networks permit reliable estimates of statistical features such as degree, flux, and traffic weight distributions. The authors show that despite cultural and national differences, universal properties exist in a diverse set of traffic networks along with important insight into traffic-related phenomena such as the geographic spread of emergent infectious diseases.
A Scalable Distributed Ontology Repository

In this paper we present a scalable distributed ontology storage system (OntStore), which unlike other ontology repositories is capable of storing and querying the ontologies and the resource descriptions in a distributed manner. It is based on the distributed hash table (DHT) approach emerging in the P2P arena and well known W3C standardized languages. The system decomposes the ontologies into the corresponding triples (subject, predicate, object) and uses the DHT system called Pastry to hash and store the elements. There are no super-peers in the system and both exact-matched and range queries can be routed. The system ensures, that queries do find the resources if the resources are available in the network. It also guaranties, that the number of routing hops for inserting a resource and resolving most queries is logarithmic to the number of nodes in the network.
A contrast-sensitive visible watermarking scheme

The authors use a visible watermarking algorithm for digital rights management that computes composite coefficients using global and local characteristics of the host and watermark images. They also use a contrast-sensitive function and block classification in the discrete wavelet transform domain for a better visual effect. The original and watermark images are divided into different blocks and classified based on visual masking. Experiments indicate that this approach provides a better visual effect than other schemes.
Introduction of the Reliable Estimation of Atopic Dermatitis in ChildHood: Novel, Diagnostic Criteria for Childhood Atopic Dermatitis

Purpose Questionnaire-based diagnostic criteria for atopic dermatitis (AD) have been proposed to detect the major group of AD with flexural dermatitis. We aimed to develop novel, questionnaire-based diagnostic criteria for childhood AD, which can detect more comprehensive AD including non-flexural type. Methods The draft version of questionnaire to detect childhood AD was prepared to be used for preliminary hospital- (n=1,756) and community-based (n=1,320) surveys. From analysis, the Reliable Estimation of Atopic dermatitis of ChildHood (REACH) was derived and verified in derivation (n=1,129) and validation (n=1,191) sets by community-based surveys. Results The REACH consists of 11 questions including 2 major and 9 minor criteria. AD is diagnosed as the major group of 'eczema on the antecubital or popliteal fossa' to fulfill the 2 major criteria (2M), and the minor group of 'eczema on the non-antecubital or popliteal fossa' to fulfill the 1 major plus 4 or more minor criteria (1M+4m). In the validation set, the overall 1-year AD prevalence by the REACH was estimated as 12.3% (95% CI, 10.5%-14.2%), and the REACH showed a sensitivity of 75.2%, a specificity of 96.1%, and an error rate of 6.4%. The REACH demonstrated better diagnostic performance than the ISAAC in terms of the number of misclassification (10.0%). Conclusions We propose the REACH as new full, questionnaire-based diagnostic criteria for childhood AD in epidemiological surveys. Further studies are warranted to validate the REACH in different populations or countries in the context of large-scale, epidemiological surveys.
Quantifying and Mapping Global Data Poverty

Digital information technologies, such as the Internet, mobile phones and social media, provide vast amounts of data for decision-making and resource management. However, access to these technologies, as well as their associated software and training materials, is not evenly distributed: since the 1990s there has been concern about a "Digital Divide" between the data-rich and the data-poor. We present an innovative metric for evaluating international variations in access to digital data: the Data Poverty Index (DPI). The DPI is based on Internet speeds, numbers of computer owners and Internet users, mobile phone ownership and network coverage, as well as provision of higher education. The datasets used to produce the DPI are provided annually for almost all the countries of the world and can be freely downloaded. The index that we present in this ‘proof of concept’ study is the first to quantify and visualise the problem of global data poverty, using the most recent datasets, for 2013. The effects of severe data poverty, particularly limited access to geoinformatic data, free software and online training materials, are discussed in the context of sustainable development and disaster risk reduction. The DPI highlights countries where support is needed for improving access to the Internet and for the provision of training in geoinfomatics. We conclude that the DPI is of value as a potential metric for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Transform coding with backward adaptive updates

The Karhunen-Loeve transform (KLT) is optimal for transform coding of a Gaussian source. This is established for all scale-invariant quantizers, generalizing previous results. A backward adaptive technique for combating the data dependence of the KLT is proposed and analyzed. When the adapted transform converges to a KLT, the scheme is universal among transform coders. A variety of convergence results are proven.
Random wandering of Airy axisymmetric laser beam propagating through the turbulent atmosphere

The efficiency of using an Airy axisymmetric beam for energy transfer and concentration to a given point in a randomly inhomogeneous medium is studied. Capabilities of this beam are assessed in comparison with beams of other types. The variance of beam wandering is calculated. For the given parameters of the transmitting system, path length, and degree of turbulent distortions, the intensity at the axis of the considered Airy beam is shown to be much lower than that of other beams, the Airy beam is compared with. In addition, the Airy beam is characterized by smaller wandering.
Secured Flooding Time Synchronization Protocol

This research aims to complement security vulnerability of Flooding Time Synchronization Protocol (FTSP), which is currently one of the most sophisticated approaches for time synchronization in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). FTSP has advanced features like implicitly dynamic topology and high accuracy time, but its original design does not consider security issues. In order to defend against attacks from malicious nodes, we propose several techniques to reinforce the structure of FTSP. A reference node selecting mechanism is proposed to reduce the effect of multiple reference nodes, and four filters are proposed to defend against seqNum attack, global time attack, and node replication attack. Experiments of the above attacks are performed and the results show that all these attacks can be defended when sequence number blacklist filter and global time blacklist filter are adopted. Furthermore, fluctuation filter helps to reduce the data collection time from 10 sending cycles to 5 cycles when detecting global time attack.
Investigating and modelling the interaction among vegetation, hydrodynamics and morphology

The dissertation presented in this manuscript contributes to river science by providing a detailed overview on the state of the art on the interaction between riparian vegetation and hydrogeomorphological processes, by devising a novel model encompassing most of such processes and by proposing a field methodology aimed at providing means for improving the modelling of such interactions. The state of the art is summarized in an extensive review describing riparian vegetation and hydrogeomorphological processes mutual feedbacks. Such review did not simply seek to describe these feedbacks but, compiling from a large array of results from field, laboratory and modelling studies, provides a set of physical thresholds that trigger system changes. Therefore, processes are not only described terms but also explained with a quantitative approach. Processes description provided the conceptual foundation for the development of the novel simulation model while model parameterization was based on the quantitative information collected in the review. Such novel model, encompasses the main relationships entwining riparian woody vegetation and hydrogeomorphological processes and is able of replicating long term riparian landscape dynamics considering disturbance events, environmental stressor and riparian woody vegetation establishment from seeds and large wood. The manuscript presents the model structure and its conceptual validation by means of hydrological scenarios aimed at testing the coherence of the simulation results with expected system behaviour. Examples of such coherences are vegetation growth rate in response to hydrological regime, entrainment and establishment of large wood in an unconfined river system and vegetation effect on erosion and deposition patterns. Analysis of sedimentation patterns from the modelled results suggested that vegetation flow resistance should be modelled with greater detail. These conclusions pointed the dissertation research towards the testing of a novel class of vegetation flow resistance equations, proposed by different authors, able of describing woody vegetation flow resistance on a physical basis. These equations have the advantage of considering flow stage, plants foliation level and species-specific flexibility. However, the use of such equations is limited by the difficulty of measuring the vegetation properties required as equation-inputs. In order to test if these equations could effectively improve sediment dynamics predictions, a field method was formulated and tested. The field method allows to sample vegetation properties that can be used with these novel class of flow resistance equations. In the manuscript, such method is applied and the resulting vegetation properties used in several modelling scenarios. Such scenario proved that hydraulic variables modelled with these novel flow resistance approaches are more realistic and thus that the model developed during the dissertation could benefit from inclusion of such flow resistance equations in its source code.
Dynamic Networks for Motion Planning in Multi-Robot Space Systems

A new motion planning framework is presented that enables multiple mobile robots with limited ranges of sensing and communication to maneuver and achieve goals safely in dynamic environments. The framework is applicable to both planetary rover and free-floating space robot applications. To combine the respective advantages of centralized and decentralized planning, this framework is based on the concept of centralized planning within dynamic robot networks. As the robots move in their environment, localized robot groups form networks, within which world models and robot goals can be shared. Whenever a network is formed, new information becomes available to all robots in this network. With this new information, each robot uses a fast, centralized planner to compute new coordinated trajectories on the fly. Planning over multiple robot networks is decentralized and distributed. The applicability of the framework to planetary rovers is demonstrated in both simulations and real robot experiments. Also, the framework’s applicability to free-floating robots in a 3D space environment is demonstrated in simulation.
An interactive evolutionary approach for content based image retrieval

Content based image retrieval (CBIR) systems aim to provide a means to find pictures in large repositories without using any other information except its contents usually as low-level descriptors. Since these descriptors do not exactly match the high level semantics of the image, assessing perceptual similarity between two pictures using only their feature vectors is not a trivial task. In fact, the ability of a system to induce high level semantic concepts from the feature vector of an image is one of the aspects which most influences its performance. This paper describes a CBIR algorithm which combines relevance feedback, evolutionary computation concepts and ad-hoc strategies in an attempt to fill the existing gap between the high level semantic content of the images and the information provided by the low level descriptors.
In vivo imaging of cellular structures in Caenorhabditis elegans by combined TPEF, SHG and THG microscopy

In this study, we use combined two‐photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF), second‐harmonic generation (SHG) and third‐harmonic generation (THG) measurements to image cellular structures of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, in vivo. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a THG modality is employed to image live C. elegans specimens. Femtosecond laser pulses (1028 nm) were utilized for excitation. Detailed and specific structural and anatomical features can be visualized, by recording THG signals. Thus, the combination of three image‐contrast modes (TPEF‐SHG‐THG) in a single instrument has the potential to provide unique and complementary information about the structure and function of tissues and individual cells of live biological specimens.
Pattern of conduction times in the distribution of the radial nerve

THE RADIAL NERVE is one of the most frequently injured nerves and may be the site of a specific mononeuritis or may be affected in polyneuritis. The clinical criteria for the diagnosis of the site of a lesion of the radial nerve are based largely on the serial branching of the nerve, the localization depending on the involvement of the distal branches and preservation of the proximal branches. However, the clinical localization of the lesion is not always clear. Thus, the degree of involvement of the individual fibers in a high lesion may vary considerably; in a funiculitis of the nerve, because of the maintenance of fiber distribution for some distance proximal to the entry of a nerve branch, it is possible to have a lesion somewhat above the presumed level of the lesion determined clinically,l and the motor fibers are frequently more susceptible to compression than the sensory fibers.2$3 Electrical excitation of nerve can be of considerable help in the investigation of a nerve lesion. The retention of nervous excitability below the level of a lesion, even in a complete palsy, is a sign of preservation of continuity and lack of degeneration of nerve fibers, whereas loss of excitability is the earliest sign of a degenerative lesion of the nerve. Electrical excitation is useful in conjunction with electromyography in the diagnosis and in following the course of reinnervation. The involvement of the nerve in a mononeuritis or in the course of a polyneuritis can be confirmed by the demonstration of slowing of conduction velocity or an increase in latency. However, there have been few reports of electrical excitation of the radial nerve. Dejerine and Bernheim4 in 1899 stimulated the
Assessment of the Link Performance With a Single Interferer

A novel metric to assess whether the standard Gaussian approximation of a single interferer underestimates or overestimates the link bit error rate is derived. The standard Gaussian approximation is newly constructed by a nonlinear transformation. The proposed metric is a function of the interference statistics; however, it is otherwise independent of the statistics of the desired signal. A closed-form expression for the proposed metric is obtained for the Nakagami distributed interference fading amplitude. Numerical results confirming validity of the proposed metric are provided for the case of Nakagami and lognormally distributed interference fading amplitudes.
Circadian rhythms in the chemoreflex control of breathing.

Mechanisms underlying the circadian rhythm in lung ventilation were investigated. Ten healthy male subjects were studied for 36 h using a constant routine protocol to minimize potentially confounding variables. Laboratory light, humidity, and temperature remained constant, subjects did not sleep, and their meals and activities were held to a strict schedule. Respiratory chemoreflex responses were measured every 3 h using an iso-oxic rebreathing technique incorporating prior hyperventilation. Subjects exhibited circadian rhythms in oral temperature and respiratory chemoreflex responses, but not in metabolic rate. Basal ventilation [i.e., at subthreshold end-tidal carbon dioxide partial pressure (PET(CO(2)))] did not vary with time of day, but the ventilatory response to suprathreshold PET(CO(2)) exhibited a rhythm amplitude of approximately 25%, mediated mainly by circadian variations in the CO(2) threshold for tidal volume. We conclude that the circadian rhythm in lung ventilation is not a simple consequence of circadian variations in arousal state and metabolic rate. By raising the chemoreflex threshold, the circadian timing system may increase the propensity for respiratory instability at night.
Modelling of colloidal particle and heavy metal transfer behaviours during seawater intrusion and refreshing processes

The proper management of coastal aquifers commonly requires an understanding of regional mass flow and complete seawater–freshwater circulation. In this study, time series observations of seawater intrusion and refreshing were conducted using a column experiment based on natural flow conditions in coastal groundwater and a sampled medium from a coastal sandy aquifer without chemical treatment. Ranges of hydrodynamic and hydrochemical variables were tested and analysed. The results showed that the zeta potential of suspended colloids in aqueous solution in an aquifer polluted with 0.5 g/kg of heavy metals exhibited an isoelectric point for pH values ranging from 5.70 to 6.07 when freshwater or seawater completely occupied the aquifer pores, which is representative of natural hydrochemical conditions. In this scenario, a high background concentration of heavy metals induced colloidal immobilization. Otherwise, seawater–freshwater circulation enabled colloid mobilization due to ionic strength and pH fluctuations. The migration of multiple heavy metals occurred at a characteristic time of approximately 1 pore volume after each intrusion stage began and when the peak rate of colloid release was reached. At these times, the colloid behaviour determined the quantity and pathway of heavy metal transport. On the basis of the influences of seawater and freshwater interactions, the quantity of mobilized particles generally decreased and was uniformly distributed in each fraction due to particle loss and decreased porous connectivity. We speculate that the decrease in the total surface area of the migratory colloids may cause colloid‐associated heavy metal transport to decrease. The experimental results provide a useful basis for testing coastal groundwater flow and mass transport models because these phenomena require full characterization to precisely evaluate the associated fluxes from the field scale to the microscopic dimension.