Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Observer design for a class of piecewise affine hybrid systems

A methodology for the design of observers is proposed for a special class of hybrid dynamical systems, which are motivated by traffic and manufacturing applications. The class of hybrid systems is characterized as switched system models with constant drift and constant output, rendering all subsystems unobservable by themselves. However, an observer can still be derived due to the fixed switching pattern, even though the switching times may be unknown. A main step in the observer design methodology is the usage of a discrete-time linear observer based on the discretized hybrid dynamics at the event times that are visible. Using this step, a continuous-time observer is built that incorporates additional modes compared to the original hybrid system. This continuous-time observer is shown to asymptotically reconstruct the state of the original system under suitable assumptions. Manufacturing and traffic applications are used to illustrate the proposed observer design methodology.
Interactive Design of Multimodal User Interfaces Reducing technical and visual complexity

In contrast to the pioneers of multimodal interaction, e.g. Richard Bolt in the late seventies, today’s researchers can benefit from various existing hardware devices and software toolkits. Although these development tools are available, using them is still a great challenge, particularly in terms of their usability and their appropriateness to the actual design and research process. We present a three-part approach to supporting interaction designers and researchers in designing, developing, and evaluating novel interaction modalities including multimodal interfaces. First, we present a software architecture that enables the unification of a great variety of very heterogeneous device drivers and special-purpose toolkits in a common interaction library named ”Squidy”. Second, we introduce a visual design environment that minimizes the threshold for its usage (ease-of-use) but scales well with increasing complexity (ceiling) by combining the concepts of semantic zooming with visual dataflow programming. Third, we not only support the interactive design and rapid prototyping of multimodal interfaces but also provide advanced development and debugging techniques to improve technical and conceptual solutions. In addition,
The Efficiency of Islamic Banks in the Middle East and Southeast Asia: Stochastic Frontier Approach

This research aims to compare and analyze the efficiency of Islamic banking in Southeast Asia and the Middle East by examining particular inputs such as third-party funds, operational expenses, labor costs, and return on assets, focusing on financing as the output. This quantitative study uses a purposive sampling technique to sample 30 sharia banks from Southeast Asia and 30 sharia banks from the Middle East from 2015 to 2022. The data used is secondary data from BankFocus and the annual financial reports of each bank. Data was processed using the Frontier 4.1 application with the Stochastic Frontier Analysis method. The results of this research show that the efficiency of sharia banking in the Middle East is higher than sharia banking in Southeast Asia. On the other hand, the return on assets has no impact on financing, but the input of third-party funds, operational expenses, and labor costs all have an impact. These findings show the importance of efficiently supervising the management of third-party funds and costs incurred by banks in order to improve banking performance. Hence, this will ultimately lead to an increase in the efficiency of sharia banking and a growth of banking profits.
Molecular Pathways: Targeting IDO1 and Other Tryptophan Dioxygenases for Cancer Immunotherapy

Indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1), IDO2, and tryptophan 2, 3-dioxygenase (TDO) comprise a family of enzymes that catalyze the first- and rate-limiting step associated with the catabolic conversion of tryptophan (Trp) into kynurenine (Kyn). Through subsequent enzymatic and spontaneous reactions, Kyn is further converted into the energetic substrates, NAD+ and ATP, to fuel cellular metabolic functions. Coincidently, the depletion of Trp and accumulation of Kyn has been demonstrated to induce effector T-cell apoptosis/dysfunction and immunosuppressive regulatory T-cell induction, respectively. Similar to other immune checkpoints, IDO1 and TDO are suggested to be important targets for immunotherapeutic intervention. This is represented by the recent growth of efforts to inhibit the Trp-to-Kyn pathway as a means to control immunosuppression. Inhibitors currently in clinical trials, INCB024360, GDC-0919, indoximod, and an IDO1 peptide-based vaccine, are being evaluated for their efficacy against a wide range of cancers including melanoma, glioblastoma, non–small cell lung, pancreatic, and/or breast cancer, as well as metastatic disease. Despite the rapid development of potent clinical grade inhibitors, strategic questions remain. Here, we review the state of the literature with respect to current therapeutic inhibitors of tryptophan catabolism, evaluation of those efforts preclinically and clinically, compensatory changes that occur with therapeutic targeting, as well as newly recognized signaling features that raise critical questions to the field. Given the rapidly evolving interest in determining how IDO1/TDO, and to an unknown extent, IDO2, can be targeted for increasing cancer immunotherapeutic efficacy, we present a brief but comprehensive analysis that addresses critical questions, while highlighting the mechanics that remain to be explored. Clin Cancer Res; 21(24); 5427–33. ©2015 AACR.
Visual Correlates of Fixation Selection: A Look at the Spatial Frequency Domain

A representation for observing local image content is proposed for the purpose of considering the distinguishing characteristics of visual content that tends to draw a human observers gaze. Within this representation, the spectral profile distinguishing fixated from non-fixated locations is considered. Finally, the possibility of designing saliency operators based on the proposed local magnitude spectrum representation is explored, revealing a promising domain for predicting human gaze patterns.
Improving Sequence to Sequence Neural Machine Translation by Utilizing Syntactic Dependency Information

Sequence to Sequence Neural Machine Translation has achieved significant performance in recent years. Yet, there are some existing issues that Neural Machine Translation still does not solve completely. Two of them are translation for long sentences and the “over-translation”. To address these two problems, we propose an approach that utilize more grammatical information such as syntactic dependencies, so that the output can be generated based on more abundant information. In our approach, syntactic dependencies is employed in decoding. In addition, the output of the model is presented not as a simple sequence of tokens but as a linearized tree construction. In order to assess the performance, we construct model based on an attention mechanism encoder-decoder model in which the source language is input to the encoder as a sequence and the decoder generates the target language as a linearized dependency tree structure. Experiments on the Europarl-v7 dataset of French-to-English translation demonstrate that our proposed method improves BLEU scores by 1.57 and 2.40 on datasets consisting of sentences with up to 50 and 80 tokens, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed method also solved the two existing problems, ineffective translation for long sentences and over-translation in Neural Machine Translation.
Pluripotent stem cells as a model to study non-coding RNAs function in human neurogenesis

As fine regulators of gene expression, non-coding RNAs, and more particularly micro-RNAs (miRNAs), have emerged as key players in the development of the nervous system. In vivo experiments manipulating miRNAs expression as neurogenesis proceeds are very challenging in the mammalian embryo and totally impossible in the human. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), from embryonic origin (hESCs) or induced from adult somatic cells (iPSCs), represent an opportunity to study the role of miRNAs in the earliest steps of human neurogenesis in both physiological and pathological contexts. Robust protocols are now available to convert pluripotent stem cells into several sub-types of fully functional neurons, recapitulating key developmental milestones along differentiation. This provides a convenient cellular system for dissecting the role of miRNAs in phenotypic transitions critical to brain development and plasticity that may be impaired in neurological diseases with onset during development. The aim of this review is to illustrate how hPSCs can be used to recapitulate early steps of human neurogenesis and summarize recent reports of their contribution to the study of the role of miRNA in regulating development of the nervous system.
Evaluation of Internet-Based Interventions on Waist Circumference Reduction: A Meta-Analysis

Background Internet-based interventions are more cost-effective than conventional interventions and can provide immediate, easy-to-access, and individually tailored support for behavior change. Waist circumference is a strong predictor of an increased risk for a host of diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia, independent of body mass index. To date, no study has examined the effect of Internet-based lifestyle interventions on waist circumference change. Objective This study aimed to systematically review the effect of Internet-based interventions on waist circumference change among adults. Methods This meta-analysis reviewed randomized controlled trials (N=31 trials and 8442 participants) that used the Internet as a main intervention approach and reported changes in waist circumference. Results Internet-based interventions showed a significant reduction in waist circumference (mean change –2.99 cm, 95% CI −3.68 to −2.30, I2=93.3%) and significantly better effects on waist circumference loss (mean loss 2.38 cm, 95% CI 1.61-3.25, I2=97.2%) than minimal interventions such as information-only groups. Meta-regression results showed that baseline waist circumference, gender, and the presence of social support in the intervention were significantly associated with waist circumference reduction. Conclusions Internet-based interventions have a significant and promising effect on waist circumference change. Incorporating social support into an Internet-based intervention appears to be useful in reducing waist circumference. Considerable heterogeneity exists among the effects of Internet-based interventions. The design of an intervention may have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the intervention.
A profile-aware microtasking approach for improving task assignment in crowdsourcing services

Microtasking as one of the crowdsourcing models has found penetration mostly in developed nations and is slowly making inroads in developing nations. It has been used for quickly solving a myriad of social and business challenges by tapping into the diversity of the unknown crowd. Nevertheless, there are still a number of research challenges that are found in various microtasking initiatives, such as lack of user profiling, quality of task submissions, poor task design and assignment, ambiguous task assessments, and lack of diverse platforms to cater for the needs of differently skilled crowds. Most prominent microtasking platforms do not consider or even exploit the profile of the crowd in improving task design, assignment, and eventually quality of completed microtasks. In this paper, the objective was to explore the design and evaluation of a conceptual approach that could be implemented in microtasking environments for purposes of improving task assignments and eventually quality. A design science research methodology was adopted to build the proposed artefact, which was evaluated for relevance using comparative analysis and crowdsourcing metrics. The results suggest that exploiting micro workers' profiles could improve task design, assignment, assessment, and ultimately quality. However, stakeholders' awareness of effective microtasking approaches still requires research attention.
Classification and segmentation of fMRI Spatio-Temporal Brain Data with a NeuCube evolving Spiking Neural Network model

The proposed feasibility analysis introduces a new methodology for modelling and understanding functional Magnetic Resonance Image (fMRI) data recorded during human cognitive activity. This constitutes a type of Spatio-Temporal Brain Data (STBD) measured according to neurons spatial location inside the brain and their signals oscillating over the mental activity period [1]; thus, it is challenging to analyse and model dynamically. This paper addresses the problem by means of a novel Spiking Neural Networks (SNN) architecture, called NeuCube [2]. After the NeuCube is trained with the fMRI samples, the `hidden' spatio- temporal relationship between data is learnt. Different cognitive states of the brain are activated while a subject is reading different sentences in terms of their polarity (affirmative and negative sentences). These are visualised via the SNN cube (SNNc) and then recognized through its classifier. The excellent classification accuracy of 90% proves the NeuCube potential in capturing the fMRI data information and classifying it correctly. The significant improvement in accuracy is demonstrated as compared with some already published results [3] on the same data sets and traditional machine learning methods. Future works is based on the proposed NeuCube model are also discussed in this paper.
U-SPECT-II: An Ultra-High-Resolution Device for Molecular Small-Animal Imaging

We present a new rodent SPECT system (U-SPECT-II) that enables molecular imaging of murine organs down to resolutions of less than half a millimeter and high-resolution total-body imaging. Methods: The U-SPECT-II is based on a triangular stationary detector set-up, an XYZ stage that moves the animal during scanning, and interchangeable cylindric collimators (each containing 75 pinhole apertures) for both mouse and rat imaging. A novel graphical user interface incorporating preselection of the field of view with the aid of optical images of the animal focuses the pinholes to the area of interest, thereby maximizing sensitivity for the task at hand. Images are obtained from list-mode data using statistical reconstruction that takes system blurring into account to increase resolution. Results: For 99mTc, resolutions determined with capillary phantoms were smaller than 0.35 and 0.45 mm using the mouse collimator with 0.35- and 0.6-mm pinholes, respectively, and less than 0.8 mm using the rat collimator with 1.0-mm pinholes. Peak geometric sensitivity is 0.07% and 0.18% for the mouse collimator with 0.35- and 0.6-mm pinholes, respectively, and 0.09% for the rat collimator. Resolution with 111In, compared with that with 99mTc, was barely degraded, and resolution with 125I was degraded by about 10%, with some additional distortion. In vivo, kidney, tumor, and bone images illustrated that U-SPECT-II could be used for novel applications in the study of dynamic biologic systems and radiopharmaceuticals at the suborgan level. Conclusion: Images and movies obtained with U-SPECT-II provide high-resolution radiomolecule visualization in rodents. Discrimination of molecule concentrations between adjacent volumes of about 0.04 μL in mice and 0.5 μL in rats with U-SPECT-II is readily possible.
High sensitivity C-reactive protein distribution in the elderly: the Bambuí Cohort Study, Brazil

The measurement of the serum concentration of the acute-phase reactant C-reactive protein (CRP) provides a useful marker in clinical practice. However, the distribution of CRP is not available for all age and population groups. This study assessed the distribution of high sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) by gender and age in 1470 elderly individuals from a Brazilian community that participates in the Bambuí Cohort Study. Blood samples were collected after 12 h of fasting and serum samples were stored at -70°C. Measurements were made with a commercial hs-CRP immunonephelometric instrument. More than 50% of the results were above 3.0 mg/L for both genders. Mean hs-CRP was higher in women (3.62 ± 2.58 mg/L) than in men (3.03 ± 2.50 mg/L). This difference was observed for all ages, except for the over-80 age group. This is the first population-based study to describe hs-CRP values in Latin American elderly subjects. Our results indicate that significant gender differences exist in the distribution of hs-CRP, and suggest that gender-specific cut-off points for hs-CRP would be necessary for the prediction of cardiovascular risks.
CloudSimSDN: Modeling and Simulation of Software-Defined Cloud Data Centers

Software-Defined Networking not only addresses the shortcoming of traditional network technologies in dealing with frequent and immediate changes in cloud data centers but also made network resource management open and innovation-friendly. To further accelerate the innovation pace, accessible and easy-to-learn testbeds are required which estimate and measure the performance of network and host capacity provisioning approaches simultaneously within a data center. This is a challenging task and is often costly if accomplished in a physical environment. Thus, a lightweight and scalable simulation environment is necessary to evaluate the network allocation capacity policies while avoiding such a complicated and expensive facility. This paper introduces CloudSimSDN, a simulation framework for SDN-enabled cloud environments based on CloudSim. This paper develops and presents the overall architecture and features of the framework and provides several use cases. Moreover, we empirically validate the accuracy and effectiveness of CloudSimSDN through a number of simulations of a cloud-based three-tier web application.
Tall open forest and woodland habitats in the Wet Tropics: responses to climate and implications for the Northern bettong (Bettongia tropica)

Tall open forests and the relatively wet woodlands of the Wet Tropics currently occupy a narrow strip between the region’s rainforests and the surrounding, drier woodlands. These forests provide a relatively rare habitat for a number of restricted animal species including the endangered Northern Bettong. This paper presents estimates of the past and future distributions of these forest types, a qualitative model for the habitat requirements of Northern Bettongs and assesses the implications of long-term climatic changes for the availability of their habitat. The results contribute to the ultimate goal of identifying the locations with the most persistent habitat suitability through time where management effort and reintroduction of the Northern Bettong can be focused.
Active inference in concept induction UCSD MPLAB TR 2000.03

People are active information gatherers, constantly experimenting and seeking information relevant to their goals. A reasonable approach to active information gathering is to ask questions and conduct experiments that maximize the expected information gain, given current beliefs (Lindley, 1956; Good, 1966; MacKay, 1992). In this paper we compare the behavior of human subjects with that of an optimal information-gathering agent (infomax) in a concept induction task (Tenenbaum, 1999, 2000). Results show high consistency between subjects in their choices of numbers to sample. However infomax generally fails to predict subjects’ sampling behavior. It is unclear at this time whether the failure of infomax to predict human behavior is due to problems with Tenenbaum’s concept induction model, or due to the fact that subjects use suboptimal heuristics (e.g., confirmatory sampling).
Comment on “Preserved Feedforward But Impaired Top-Down Processes in the Vegetative State”

Boly et al. (Reports, 13 May 2011, p. 858) investigated cortical connectivity patterns in patients suffering from a disorder of consciousness, using electroencephalography in an auditory oddball paradigm. We point to several inconsistencies in their data, including a failure to replicate the classical mismatch negativity. Data quality, source reconstruction, and statistics would need to be improved to support their conclusions.
An incentive mechanism for message relaying in peer-to-peer discovery

Peer discovery via distributed message relaying is an important function of a P2P system in which the resources/services provided by peers and service/resource providers may change frequently. The usual searching protocols create huge burden on communications or cause long response time. Appropriate incentives are required to avoid free-riding and achieve efficient cooperations in message relaying. We present an incentive mechanism that aims at solving both the efficiency and incentive problems of message relaying for peer discovery. In this mechanism rewards are passed from upstream nodes to downstream nodes. A peer is rewarded if a service provider is found via a relaying path composed of this peer. The mechanism allows peers to specifically trade off communication efficiency and reliability, and maintains anonymity and information locality. Some analytical insights are given to the subgame perfect Nash equilibria (SPNE) and best response strategies of this game. An approximation approach is provided to calculate a symmetric SPNE. Experiments show that this incentive mechanism brings a system utility higher than in breadth-first search, and close to the optimal utility in a centralized system. In the incentive mechanism the distribution of relaying efforts over hops is dependent on the convexity of the cost function. With the cost function more convex, peers in earlier hops tend to spend more efforts on relaying.
Enhancing the nutritional quality of two commonly consumed Indian snacks Khakhra and Ladoo with potassium rich apricots and their quality evaluation

Introduction: Elevated blood pressure (hypertension) remains an extraordinarily common and important risk factor for cardiovascular and renal diseases, including stroke, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and kidney failure Well-established dietary modifications that lower hypertension are reduced salt intake, weight loss, and moderation of alcohol consumption (among those who drink). Over the past decade, increased potassium intake and consumption of dietary patterns based on the “DASH diet” have emerged as effective strategies that also lower hypertension. Rationale: Dried apricot was selected based on its nutritional quality and high potassium content, considering its nutritional efficacy as a component of DASH diet. Objectives: Incorporation of apricot at different % levels in the formulation of two basic snacks of India i.e. laddoo and khakhra. The products were studied for their organoleptic and nutritional parameters. Materials and Methods: Standard recipes of laddoo and khakhra were selected and they were incorporated with apricots using different percentage compositions. Nutritional analysis was done, and organoleptic evaluation was done using hedonic scale. Results: Products incorporated with 20-25% of apricots were most acceptable by the panel members having potassium content of 5.8 ± 0.05 and 6.0 ± 0.06%, in laddoo and khakhra respectively. Protein, fat and ash content of khakhra was found to be 6.04 ± 0.06, 5.79 ± 0.11 and 1.84 ± 0.05% respectively. Protein, fat and ash content of laddoo was found to be 5.56± 0.12, 10.05 ±0.08 and 1.34 ±0.04% respectively. Conclusion: Considering the potassium content and nutritional and organoleptic evaluation it was concluded that apricot incorporated products developed were acceptable by people and inclusion of such fortified common daily use snacks will help community to maintain a healthy life.