Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Planar-based camera-projector calibration

Structured light (SL) systems make use of a projector and a camera pair to reconstruct the 3D shape of an object. To this end a previous geometric calibration is required. Many camera and projector calibration algorithms have been proposed during decades. However, the necessity to have an easy to use system, non linked to the SL algorithm developed, still remains unsolved. This work proposes a new method for the calibration of the extrinsic and intrinsic parameters of the projector camera pair. The algorithm requires only a two-sided plane having a checkerboard at one of the sides, and does not depend on the SL algorithm used for the 3D reconstruction. Linear and non linear distortion is considered in the calibration of both devices thus obtaining good calibration results, as is shown in the experimental results.
Inactivation of the Pst System Reduces the Virulence of an Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli O78 Strain

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli O78 strains are frequently associated with extraintestinal diseases, such as airsacculitis and septicemia, in poultry, livestock, and humans. To understand the influence of the pst operon in the virulence of E. coli, we introduced mutations into the pst genes of the avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) O78:K80 strain χ7122 by allelic exchange. The mutation of pst genes led to the constitutive expression of the Pho regulon. Furthermore, the virulence of APEC strain χ7122 in a chicken infection model was attenuated by inactivation of the Pst system. The pst mutant caused significantly fewer extraintestinal lesions in infected chickens, and bacterial numbers isolated from different tissues after infection were significantly lower for the mutant than for the wild-type strain. Moreover, resistance to the bactericidal effects of rabbit serum and acid shock was impaired in the pst mutant, in contrast to the wild-type strain. In addition, the MIC of polymyxin was twofold lower for the mutant than for the wild-type strain. Although the pst mutant demonstrated an increased susceptibility to rabbit serum, this strain was not killed by chicken serum, suggesting the presence of differences in host innate immune defenses and complement-mediated killing. In APEC O78 strain χ7122, a functional Pst system is required for full virulence and resistance to acid shock and polymyxin. Our results suggest that the mutation of pst genes induces a deregulation of phosphate sensing and changes in the cell surface composition that lead to decreased virulence, indicating the importance of the Pst system for the virulence of pathogenic E. coli strains from different hosts.
Elliptic Curves Over Finite Fields and the Computation of Square Roots mod p

In this paper we present a deterministic algorithm to compute the number of F^-points of an elliptic curve that is defined over a finite field Fv and which is given by a Weierstrass equation. The algorithm takes 0(log9 q) elementary operations. As an application wc give an algorithm to compute square roots mod p. For fixed . i e Z, it takes 0(log9p) elementary operations to compute fx mod p. 1. Introduction. In this paper we present an algorithm to compute the number of F(/-points of an elliptic curve defined over a finite field F , which is given by a Weierstrass equation. We restrict ourselves to the case where the characteristic of F^ is not 2 or 3. The algorithm is deterministic, does not depend on any unproved hypotheses and takes 0(log9 0. If one applies fast multiplication techniques, the algorithm will take 0((|x|1/2log p)6+f) elementary operations for any e > 0. Let £ be an elliptic curve defined over the prime field Fp and let an affine model of it be given by a Weierstrass equation Y2 = X3 + AX + B (A,BeFp). An explicit formula for the number of F^-points on £ is given by
Characterization of the Sesbania rostrata Phytochelatin Synthase Gene: Alternative Splicing and Function of Four Isoforms

Phytochelatins (PCs) play an important role in detoxification of heavy metals in plants. PCs are synthesized from glutathione by phytochelatin synthase (PCS), a dipeptidyltransferase. Sesbania rostrata is a tropical legume plant that can tolerate high concentrations of Cd and Zn. In this study, the S. rostrata PCS gene (SrPCS) and cDNAs were isolated and characterized. Southern blot and sequence analysis revealed that a single copy of the SrPCS gene occurs in the S. rostrata genome, and produces four different SrPCS mRNAs and proteins, SrPCS1–SrPCS4, by alternative splicing of the SrPCS pre-mRNA. The SrPCS1 and SrPCS3 proteins conferred Cd tolerance when expressed in yeast cells, whereas the SrPCS2 and SrPCS4 proteins, which lack the catalytic triad and the N-terminal domains, did not. These results suggested that SrPCS1 and SrPCS3 have potential applications in genetic engineering of plants for enhancing heavy metal tolerance and phytoremediation of contaminated soils.
Creep of Polycrystalline Ice

This paper discusses the extension of creep models for polycrystalline ice to include the effects of a non-monotonic loading history. Attention is focussed on cyclic loading since it is of direct relevance to the field problem of ice sheets subjected to oscillatory loads. The modeling approach is based on the internal variable concept in which the change in the underlying microstructure is described by the evolution of structure variables. Significant amount of work has been done using the internal variable concept for the cyclic loading of metallic materials. This serves as a basis for the development of cyclic constitutive models for ice, and is discussed here in some detail. The current paucity of test data essential for theoretical model development and verification underlines the need for systematic experimental research in the non-monotonic loading of ice.
NetPaxos: consensus at network speed

This paper explores the possibility of implementing the widely deployed Paxos consensus protocol in network devices. We present two different approaches: (i) a detailed design description for implementing the full Paxos logic in SDN switches, which identifies a sufficient set of required OpenFlow extensions; and (ii) an alternative, optimistic protocol which can be implemented without changes to the OpenFlow API, but relies on assumptions about how the network orders messages. Although neither of these protocols can be fully implemented without changes to the underlying switch firmware, we argue that such changes are feasible in existing hardware. Moreover, we present an evaluation that suggests that moving Paxos logic into the network would yield significant performance benefits for distributed applications.
Multivariate prediction of upper limb prosthesis acceptance or rejection

Objective. To develop a model for prediction of upper limb prosthesis use or rejection. Design. A questionnaire exploring factors in prosthesis acceptance was distributed internationally to individuals with upper limb absence through community-based support groups and rehabilitation hospitals. Subjects. A total of 191 participants (59 prosthesis rejecters and 132 prosthesis wearers) were included in this study. Methods. A logistic regression model, a C5.0 decision tree, and a radial basis function neural network were developed and compared in terms of sensitivity (prediction of prosthesis rejecters), specificity (prediction of prosthesis wearers), and overall cross-validation accuracy. Results. The logistic regression and neural network provided comparable overall accuracies of approximately 84 ± 3%, specificity of 93%, and sensitivity of 61%. Fitting time-frame emerged as the predominant predictor. Individuals fitted within two years of birth (congenital) or six months of amputation (acquired) were 16 times more likely to continue prosthesis use. Conclusions. To increase rates of prosthesis acceptance, clinical directives should focus on timely, client-centred fitting strategies and the development of improved prostheses and healthcare for individuals with high-level or bilateral limb absence. Multivariate analyses are useful in determining the relative importance of the many factors involved in prosthesis acceptance and rejection.
Accounting for statistical dependency in longitudinal data on dyads

The multilevel approach uses a data set in which the records are person-days. On each record variables called “couple” (couple number), “exmprt” (examinee vs. partner), and “day” indicate which kind of person and which day is represented on the record. Before the analysis is run, some new variables are created that contain the same information. The variable “daycl” is identical to “day,” but will be used to define day as a class variable. The variable “exmnee” is a dummy code with 1 for examinee and 0 for partner. The variable “partner” is the complement of the latter: It is a dummy code with 1 for partner and 0 for examinee. With these variables one can use the following PROC MIXED syntax. PROC MIXED DATA=anger COVTEST METHOD=REML; TITLE ‘Examinee and Partner random effects and correlated errors’; CLASS couple exmprt daycl ; MODEL anger=exmnee partner day / S NOINT;
Is Domain Highlighting Actually Helpful in Identifying Phishing Web Pages?

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of domain highlighting in helping users identify whether Web pages are legitimate or spurious. Background: As a component of the URL, a domain name can be overlooked. Consequently, browsers highlight the domain name to help users identify which Web site they are visiting. Nevertheless, few studies have assessed the effectiveness of domain highlighting, and the only formal study confounded highlighting with instructions to look at the address bar. Method: We conducted two phishing detection experiments. Experiment 1 was run online: Participants judged the legitimacy of Web pages in two phases. In Phase 1, participants were to judge the legitimacy based on any information on the Web page, whereas in Phase 2, they were to focus on the address bar. Whether the domain was highlighted was also varied. Experiment 2 was conducted similarly but with participants in a laboratory setting, which allowed tracking of fixations. Results: Participants differentiated the legitimate and fraudulent Web pages better than chance. There was some benefit of attending to the address bar, but domain highlighting did not provide effective protection against phishing attacks. Analysis of eye-gaze fixation measures was in agreement with the task performance, but heat-map results revealed that participants’ visual attention was attracted by the highlighted domains. Conclusion: Failure to detect many fraudulent Web pages even when the domain was highlighted implies that users lacked knowledge of Web page security cues or how to use those cues. Application: Potential applications include development of phishing prevention training incorporating domain highlighting with other methods to help users identify phishing Web pages.
Better Optimism By Bayes: Adaptive Planning with Rich Models

The computational costs of inference and planning have confined Bayesian model-based reinforcement learning to one of two dismal fates: powerful Bayes-adaptive planning but only for simplistic models, or powerful, Bayesian non-parametric models but using simple, myopic planning strategies such as Thompson sampling. We ask whether it is feasible and truly beneficial to combine rich probabilistic models with a closer approximation to fully Bayesian planning. First, we use a collection of counterexamples to show formal problems with the over-optimism inherent in Thompson sampling. Then we leverage state-of-the-art techniques in efficient Bayes-adaptive planning and non-parametric Bayesian methods to perform qualitatively better than both existing conventional algorithms and Thompson sampling on two contextual bandit-like problems.
Contribution of transpiration to forest ambient vapour based on isotopic measurements

Using a simple isotope mixing model, we evaluated the relative proportion of water vapour generated by plant transpiration and by soil evaporation at two sites in the Amazon basin. Sampling was carried out at two different soil covers (forest and pasture), in a seasonal tropical rainforest at eastern Amazon where major deforestation is the result of land‐use change, and compared to a less seasonal central Amazon forest. In both forests, vapour from transpiration was responsible for most, if not all, of the water vapour generated in the forest, while it could not be detected above the grassy pastures. Thus the canopy transpiration may be a major source of water vapour to the forest and perhaps to the atmosphere during the dry season. The results are discussed in relation to predictive models based on net radiation that usually are not able to distinguish between transpiration and evaporation.
Speaker recognition using the resynthesized speech via spectrum modeling

Recently, using prosodic information such as pitch and energy for speaker recognition has attracted much attention. However, these kinds of systems yield performance much worse than the traditional cepstral based systems. Limited performance improvement can be achieved when combining the two kinds of systems. In this paper, we present a new approach for speaker recognition, which uses the prosodic information calculated on the original speech to resynthesize the new speech data utilizing the spectrum modeling technique. The resynthesized data are modeled with sinusoids based on pitch, vibration amplitude and phase bias. We use the resynthesized speech data to extract cepstral features for speaker modeling and scoring in the same way as in traditional speaker recognition approaches. We then model these features using GMMs and compensate for speaker and channel variability effects using joint factor analysis. The experiments are carried out on the core condition of NIST 2008 speaker recognition evaluation data. The experimental results show that our proposed system achieves comparable performance to the state-of-the-art cepstral-based joint factor analysis system which uses the original data for speaker recognition. Besides, the fusion of the two kinds of systems can achieve signiﬁcant performance improvement compared to the cepstral-based system alone.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

of the former National Weather Service publication, "Daily Weather Map. " They are the Surface Weather Map, the 500-Millibar Height Contours chart, the Highest and Lowest Temperatures chart, and the Precipitation Areas and Amounts chart. All charts are derived from the operational weather maps prepared at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, Hydrometeorological Prediction Center, National Weather Service. The symbols on the Surface Weather Map and the 500-Millibar Height contours are standard international symbols. The Surface Weather Map shows station data and the analysis for 7:00 a.m. EST. Areas of precipitation are indicated by shading. The weather reports displayed here are only a fraction of those on which the analyses are based. Occasional apparent discrepancies between the printed station data and the analyses result from the absence of station reports not included here because of a lack of space. The 500-Millibar Height Contours chart shows height contours (solid lines), temperatures (dashed lines) and winds (arrows) at the 500-Millibar pressure level at 7:00 a.m. EST. The height contours show the height of the 500millibar pressure level in dekameters above sea level and isotherms, the lines of constant temperature, are shown in degrees Celsius. Arrows show the wind direction and speed at the 500Millibar level. The Highest and Lowest Temperature chart shows the maximum temperature for a period from 7:00 a.m. EST the previous day through 1 a.m. EST and the minimum temperature for the period from 7:00 p.m. EST the previous day through 1 p.m. The maximum temperature is plotted above the station location and the minimum temperature is plotted below. The Precipitation Areas and Amounts chart shows areas (shaded) that had precipitation during the 24 hours ending at 7:00 a.m. EST, with amounts to the nearest hundredth of an inch. "T" indicates a trace of precipitation. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration • National Weather Service National Centers for Environmental Prediction • Hydrometeorological Prediction Center
Evaluation of a Model for Brain Bilirubin Uptake in Jaundiced Newborns

A model for brain bilirubin uptake (BBU) predicts that BBU in jaundiced newborns typically depends on the plasma total bilirubin concentration (TBC) and the bilirubin-albumin dissociation rate constant (k1) rather than the unbound bilirubin (Bf). The model's validity was tested by 1) evaluating its requirement that k3 >>> k2, where k3 and k2 are the rate constants for BBU and Bf-albumin association, respectively, and 2) determining whether the calculated BBU is ≤5% of the bilirubin production rate, the approximate BBU expected if brain bilirubin levels are <1% of the miscible bilirubin pool as reported in the literature. The model was investigated using peroxidase test measurements of TBC, Bf, k1, and k2 from 185 jaundiced newborns. Mean k2 was compared with the reported k3 value of 0.08/s. BBU calculated from TBC and k1 was expected to be ≤0.005 μg/kg/s given the reported bilirubin production rate of 0.1 μg/kg/s. BBU calculated using Bf was also compared with the bilirubin production rate. The mean k2 of 8.9 L/μmol/s was greater than k3, and the mean BBU of 0.72 μg/kg/s exceeded the expected range of ≤0.005 μg/kg/s. However, mean BBU using Bf (0.00073 μg/kg/s) was within the expected range. A mathematical model calculating BBU as a function of TBC and k1 could not be validated. BBU calculated from Bf is consistent with the observation that <1% of the miscible bilirubin pool is distributed in the brain.
Structural Testing of Corrugated Sheet Steel Shear Walls

The objective of the research is to develop an alternative lateral bracing system comprising corrugated sheet steel shear walls for use with light-framed coldformed steel buildings. The key element of this structural system is the corrugated sheet steel shear wall: the lateral load resistance of this structural element originates with the shear strength of the corrugated sheet steel and the shear resistance of the screws connecting the sheeting to the cold-formed steel framing. To establish a design basis, a total of 44 cyclic racking tests were conducted to establish the relation between corrugated sheet steel shear wall design parameters, such as gauge of the sheet steel, gauge of the cold-formed steel framing, size and spacing of the fasteners, and the shear strength of the wall. The results of these tests are presented. Furthermore, system-level R, Cd and Ω o values consistent with the test results are proposed for adoption into design codes. Finally, a design table listing the nominal shear strength values for corrugated sheet steel shear walls is provided. The primary users of the system would be practicing engineers who design light-framed cold-formed steel buildings. 1. Associate Professor, University of California at Berkeley 2. President, Tipping Mar + associates, Berkeley, CA
Electro-Acupuncture at ‘neiguan— (Pc6) Attenuates Liver Injury in Endotoxaemic Rats

Background Intravenous injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulates macrophages to release proinflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide (NO). This results in hypotension, vascular hyporeactivity and multiple organ failure (eg, liver injury) in rats. In rats with endotoxin shock, electro-acupuncture (EA) of ‘Neiguan’ (PC6) retrieved blood pressure and reduced plasma concentrations of NO. The authors evaluated whether EA at PC6 could alleviate the development of liver injury and dysfunction in endotoxic rats. Methods A total of 28 male adult Wistar rats were included in this study. Rats received intravenous LPS (10 mg/kg for 4 h) or saline for 4 h followed by EA at PC6 acupuncture point. Results Elevated biochemical parameters of liver injury and marked infiltration of neutrophils into liver tissues caused by LPS were significantly attenuated by EA. However, hypotension, tachycardia and raised production of plasma NO were not suppressed by EA at PC6. Conclusions These results indicate that EA at PC6 should be further investigated as a possible adjuvant therapy for endotoxin-induced liver dysfunction. Its mechanism of action needs further investigation.
Universität Des Saarlandes Fachrichtung 6.1 – Mathematik Highly Accurate Optic Flow Computation with Theoretically Justified Warping Highly Accurate Optic Flow Computation with Theoretically Justified Warping

In this paper, we suggest a variational model for optic flow computation based on non-linearised and higher order constancy assumptions. Besides the common grey value constancy assumption, also gradient constancy, as well as the constancy of the Hessian and the Laplacian are proposed. Since the model strictly refrains from a linearisation of these assumptions, it is also capable to deal with large displacements. For the minimi-sation of the rather complex energy functional, we present an efficient numerical scheme employing two nested fixed point iterations. Following a coarse-to-fine strategy it turns out that there is a theoretical foundation of so-called warping techniques hitherto justified only on an experimental basis. Since our algorithm consists of the integration of various concepts, ranging from different constancy assumptions to numerical implementation issues, a detailed account of the effect of each of these concepts is included in the experimental section. The superior performance of the proposed method shows up by significantly smaller estimation errors when compared to previous techniques. Further experiments also confirm excellent robustness under noise and insensitivity to parameter variations.
WILDLIFE RESERVES, POPULATIONS, AND HUNTING OUTCOME WITH SMART WILDLIFE

We consider a hunting area and a wildlife reserve and answer the question: How does clever migration decision affect the social optimal and the private optimal hunting levels and population stocks? We analyze this in a model allowing for two‐way migration between hunting and reserve areas, where the populations’ migration decisions depend on both hunting pressure and relative population densities. In the social optimum a pure stress effect on the behavior of smart wildlife exists. This implies that the population level in the wildlife reserve tends to increase and the population level in the hunting area and hunting levels tend to decrease. On the other hand, the effect on stock tends to reduce the population in the wildlife reserve and increase the population in the hunting area and thereby also increase hunting. In the case of the private optimum, open‐access is assumed and we find that the same qualitative results arise when comparing a situation with and without stress effects, but of course at a higher level of hunting. We also show that when net social benefits of hunting dominate the net social benefits of populations, wildlife reserves are optimally placed in areas of low carrying capacity and vice versa.
Smoothing Space Curves with the MLS Projection

Smoothing space curves has several applications in reverse engineering, CAD modeling and animation. We propose a 3D curve smoothing algorithm with the primary focus on smoothing boundaries of point clouds obtained during reverse engineering laser scanned models. While several point cloud denoising methods exist that handle the normal noise in the data, the boundary curve may still contain tangential noise. Our space curve smoothing algorithm can be used to obtain models with smooth boundaries. keywords: denoising, boundary smoothing, MLS projection, point clouds