Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
C-KLAM: Constrained keyframe-based localization and mapping

In this paper, we present C-KLAM, a Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) estimator-based keyframe approach for SLAM. Instead of discarding information from non-keyframes for reducing the computational complexity, the proposed C-KLAM presents a novel, elegant, and computationally-efficient technique for incorporating most of this information in a consistent manner, resulting in improved estimation accuracy. To achieve this, C-KLAM projects both proprioceptive and exteroceptive information from the non-keyframes to the keyframes, using marginalization, while maintaining the sparse structure of the associated information matrix, resulting in fast and efficient solutions. The performance of C-KLAM has been tested in experiments, using visual and inertial measurements, to demonstrate that it achieves performance comparable to that of the computationally-intensive batch MAP-based 3D SLAM, that uses all available measurement information.
Model-Driven Development of Context-aware Adaptive Learning Systems

This paper presents the results of our innovative approach for the realization of a model driven development framework for modeling context-aware adaptive learning activities within Context-aware and adaptive learning environments. Its core element consists of a domain specific visual modeling language called CAAML (Context-aware Adaptive Activities Modeling Language). After, we present the developed authoring tool based on CAAML language and that aims to support pedagogical designers to model context-aware adaptive learning activities and transform them into executable models represented in IMS-LD.
Assessment of Open-Ended Questions using a Multidimensional Approach for the Interaction and Collaboration of Learners in E-Learning Environments

Currently, the assessment of learners in conventional e-learning systems is only one dimension in which learners are required to produce answers, for example, by selecting multiple-choice, true/false, or matching answers or by giving short answers. This type of assessment still lacks interactions among the learners, and thus, it might not fully support learning. Many researchers have endeavored to propose an open-ended question method for evaluation, but their methods still focus on content assessment rather than learners' activities, which again lacks interactions among the learners. This paper concentrates on creating a new assessment method using open-ended questions with the aim of enhancing collaborations, activities and interactions of learners at the same time. The objectives are as follows: 1) to develop a process model for multidimensional assessment (M-DA) to enable effective learning; 2) to develop free-text answer assessments using a vector space model and a semantic extraction model; and 3) to develop an algorithm for evaluating learners based on a M-DA to encourage learners' activities. In addition, we created an environment for learners to be actively assessed and to interact with others when studying online. Two groups of parallel learners taking an e-course were tested on the two systems in a virtual learning environment. The results of the experiment noted that the system with multidimensional assessment showed a better outcome than the system without M-DA.
Ultra-Wideband Quasi-Yagi Antenna Using Dual-Resonant Driver and Integrated Balun of Stepped Impedance Coupled Structure

A quasi-Yagi antenna that has an ultra-wideband performance is presented. To enable that performance, the antenna utilizes a dual-resonant driver and a balun formed using a stepped-impedance coupled structure. The driver is designed to be dual-resonant by loading it with an inductor in the form of short section of narrow microstrip line at a certain position. The balun includes a T-junction of microstrip lines and two pairs of stepped-impedance coupled lines. The simulated and measured performance of the integrated antenna indicate less than -10 dB reflection coefficient, 3.6-4.5 dBi gain, 13-17 dB front-to-back ratio, less than -19 dB cross-polarization and more than 90% efficiency across more than 75% fractional bandwidth centered at 7.5 GHz.
A psychometric evaluation of the clinician‐rated Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS‐C16) in patients with bipolar disorder

The clinician‐rated, 16‐item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS‐C16) has been extensively evaluated in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). This report assesses the psychometric properties of the QIDS‐C16 in outpatients with bipolar disorder (BD, N = 405) and MDD (N = 547) and in bipolar patients in the depressed phase only (BD‐D) (N = 99) enrolled in the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP) using classical test theory (CTT) and the Samejima graded item response theory (IRT) model.
(E)-Isopropyl 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)acrylate

In the title compound, C12H14O4, a derivative of caffeic acid [(E)-3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-2-propenoic acid], an intramolecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bond forms an S(5) ring. In the crystal, intermolecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link molecules into chains propagating in [110].
Incorporating Implicit Link Preference Into Overlapping Community Detection

Community detection is an important technique to understand structures and patterns in complex networks. Recently, overlapping community detection becomes a trend due to the ubiquity of overlapping and nested communities in real world. However, existing approaches have ignored the use of implicit link preference information, i.e., links can reflect a node's preference on the targets of connections it wants to build. This information has strong impact on community detection since a node prefers to build links with nodes inside its community than those outside its community. In this paper, we propose a preference-based nonnegative matrix factorization (PNMF) model to incorporate implicit link preference information. Unlike conventional matrix factorization approaches, which simply approximate the original adjacency matrix in value, our model maximizes the likelihood of the preference order for each node by following the intuition that a node prefers its neighbors than other nodes. Our model overcomes the indiscriminate penalty problem in which non-linked pairs inside one community are equally penalized in objective functions as those across two communities. We propose a learning algorithm which can learn a node-community membership matrix via stochastic gradient descent with bootstrap sampling. We evaluate our PNMF model on several real-world networks. Experimental results show that our model outperforms state-of-the-art approaches and can be applied to large datasets.
Diagnosis Using Hierarchical Design Models

This paper presents a new algorithm for the diagnosis of computer hardware faults. The algorithm uses a general inference procedure to compute suspect components and generate discriminatory tests from information about the design of the device being diagnosed. In the current implementation this procedure is linear-input resolution, guided by explicit meta-level control rules. The algorithm exploits the hierarchy inherent in most computer system designs to diagnose systems a level at a time. In this way the number of parts under consideration at any one time is kept small, and the cost of test generation remains manageable.
PtYasm: Software Model Checking with Proof Templates

We describe PTYASM, an enhanced version of the YASM software model checker which uses proof templates. These templates associate correctness arguments with common programming idioms, thus enabling efficient verification. We have used PTYASM to verify the safety of array accesses in programs derived from the Verisec suite. PTYASM is able to verify this property in the majority of testcases, while existing software model checkers fail to do so due to loop unrolling.
Hybrid Technology Acceptance Model: The Case of Object-Oriented Programming

The technology acceptance model (TAM) has been widely used for predicting behavioral processes involving information technologies. However, several previous studies point out that TAM may not effectively explain the adoption process of complex information technologies. This study manifests the limitations of TAM and suggests a new research model that incorporates the concept of perceived behavioral control from the theory of planned behavior into TAM. Further, this study compares the two models in the case of acceptance of object-oriented programming. The results support the view that the perceived behavioral control concept should be employed to better predict the relationship between external variables and acceptance of the technology. Overall, the model developed in this study is significantly better than TAM in explaining the acceptance process of object-oriented programming. This study shows that length of training, organizational support, and personal experience are significant predictors of acceptance of object-oriented programming.
On next-generation telco-managed P2P TV architectures

In recent years, Telcos worldwide have deployed IPTV networks to offer cable TV-like services over the IP backbones. Such walled garden IPTV networks are provisioned to guarantee the quality of service, fast channel switching, and user experience expected by TV viewers. A common key design element of these networks is the use of IP multicast within a single network domain to broadcast several hundreds of TV channels to millions of receivers. However, as the amount of content and channels increase and users demand more interactive and asynchronous viewing, current IPTV architectures are showing clear limitations. In this paper, we study next-generation Telco-managed IPTV architectures, where P2P distributed systems are integrated in Telco's TV set-top boxes or home gateways. We explore how P2P can complement existing Telco-managed IPTV architectures to support advanced rewind functionalities and whether P2P can substitute IP multicast solutions towards supporting a potentially unlimited number of live channels. To this extent, we analyze the TV viewing behavior of a quarter million users using real traces from one of the largest Telco-managed IPTV networks in the world and show the synergistic strengths and the potential for various P2P IPTV combined architectures.
The tracrRNA and Cas9 families of type II CRISPR-Cas immunity systems

CRISPR-Cas is a rapidly evolving RNA-mediated adaptive immune system that protects bacteria and archaea against mobile genetic elements. The system relies on the activity of short mature CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs) that guide Cas protein(s) to silence invading nucleic acids. A set of CRISPR-Cas, type II, requires a trans-activating small RNA, tracrRNA, for maturation of precursor crRNA (pre-crRNA) and interference with invading sequences. Following co-processing of tracrRNA and pre-crRNA by RNase III, dual-tracrRNA:crRNA guides the CRISPR-associated endonuclease Cas9 (Csn1) to cleave site-specifically cognate target DNA. Here, we screened available genomes for type II CRISPR-Cas loci by searching for Cas9 orthologs. We analyzed 75 representative loci, and for 56 of them we predicted novel tracrRNA orthologs. Our analysis demonstrates a high diversity in cas operon architecture and position of the tracrRNA gene within CRISPR-Cas loci. We observed a correlation between locus heterogeneity and Cas9 sequence diversity, resulting in the identification of various type II CRISPR-Cas subgroups. We validated the expression and co-processing of predicted tracrRNAs and pre-crRNAs by RNA sequencing in five bacterial species. This study reveals tracrRNA family as an atypical, small RNA family with no obvious conservation of structure, sequence or localization within type II CRISPR-Cas loci. The tracrRNA family is however characterized by the conserved feature to base-pair to cognate pre-crRNA repeats, an essential function for crRNA maturation and DNA silencing by dual-RNA:Cas9. The large panel of tracrRNA and Cas9 ortholog sequences should constitute a useful database to improve the design of RNA-programmable Cas9 as genome editing tool.
Evaluation of the Inhibition Efficiency of a Green Inhibitor on Corrosion of Cu-Ni Alloys in the Marine Application

The aim of this article describes the application of green tea aqueous extract as an eco-friendly corrosion inhibitor for two Cu-Ni alloys in 3.5% NaCl solution. This ability has been studied by using electrochemical techniques (i.e. PDP, CT and EIS), IR spectroscopy measurements and the surface analysis technique (i.e. SEM/EDX). This ability was compared with it's of a commercial cooling water (green water). The results show that tested extract exhibited a good ability to decrease the corrosion rate of alloys in 3.5% NaCl solution.The inhibition efficiency of the green water and green tea extract inhibitors increased with increasing the concentration and decreased with increasing the temperature. The inhibition efficiency of two Cu-Ni alloys which reaching ̴ 91.5% and ̴ 93.9% with 50 % green tea aqueous extract for Cu-10 Ni and Cu-30 Ni alloy, respectively. Electrochemical impedance showed that the change in charge transfer resistance (Rct) and double layer capacity (Cdl) which adsorbed on the alloy surface. Adsorption of the inhibitors gives a good fit to Langmuir isotherm model. Some thermodynamic parameters of activation and adsorption processes were also determined and discussed. Surface examination studies by SEM and EDX confirm the presence of protective film on the alloy surface. In the present study, we investigated the corrosion of the Cu-Ni (cupronickel) alloys in 3.5 % NaCl environment to simulate the seawater desalination plants conditions. Therefore, the future studies can be focused on the development of polymeric compounds used as self- healing or production of new natural corrosion inhibitors especially recommended the waste product of green tea.
Delayed damage accumulation by athermal suppression of defect production in concentrated solid solution alloys

ABSTRACT A combined experimental and computational evaluation of damage accumulation in ion-irradiated Ni, NiFe, and NiFeCoCr is presented. A suppressed damage accumulation, at early stages (low-fluence irradiations), is revealed in NiFeCoCr, with a linear dependence as a function of ion fluence, in sharp contrast to Ni and NiFe. This effect, observed at 16 K, is attributed to the complex energy landscape in these alloys that limits defect mobility and therefore enhances defect interaction and recombination. These results, together with previous room-temperature and high-temperature investigations, suggest ‘self-healing’ as an intrinsic property of complex alloys that is not a thermally activated process. IMPACT STATEMENT A combined experimental and computational evaluation reveals a remarkable delayed damage accumulation due to significant athermal suppression of defect production in ion-irradiated concentrated solid solution alloys at 16 K. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Analysis of Preprocessing Techniques for Latin Handwriting Recognition

In this work we analyze the contribution of preprocessing steps for Latin handwriting recognition. A preprocessing pipeline based on geometric heuristics and image statistics is used. This pipeline is applied to French and English handwriting recognition in an HMM based framework. Results show that preprocessing improves recognition performance for the two tasks. The Maximum Likelihood (ML)-trained HMM system reaches a competitive WER of 16.7% and outperforms many sophisticated systems for the French handwriting recognition task. The results for English handwriting are comparable to other ML-trained HMM recognizers. Using MLP preprocessing a WER of 35.3% is achieved.
A time-encoding CMOS capacitive sensor readout circuit with flicker noise reduction

This paper shows a novel capacity to digital measurement circuit that is suited for differential MEMS capacitive sensors such as pressure sensors or condenser microphones. The basic operating principle relies on two differential reactance-controlled multivibrator circuits whose frequency differences are sensed by a Time to Digital Converter. The multivibrator oscillators may be biased in the relaxation oscillation mode, where demodulated flicker noise is greatly attenuated by large scale excitation of CMOS transistors. The paper shows a system level description of the readout circuit, a full transistor design in 0.13u CMOS and an oscillator characterization form measurements on a discrete demonstration circuit.
Muscarinic receptor blockade in the ventral tegmental area attenuates cocaine enhancement of laterodorsal tegmentum stimulation‐evoked accumbens dopamine efflux in the mouse

The reinforcing properties of cocaine have been related to increased extracellular concentrations of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). M5 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) on dopamine cells in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) facilitate mesoaccumbens dopamine transmission and are critically involved in mediating natural and drug reinforcement. We investigated the effects of pharmacological blockade of mAChRs in the VTA on cocaine's ability to enhance electrically evoked NAc dopamine efflux. Using fixed potential amperometry together with carbon fiber recording microelectrodes positioned in the NAc core, we quantified dopamine oxidation currents (dopamine efflux) evoked by brief stimulation (15 monophasic pulses at 50 Hz every 30 s) of the laterodorsal tegmentum (LDT) in urethane (1.5 g/kg, i.p.) anesthetized mice. Compared to predrug baseline responses, cocaine (5 or 10 mg/kg, i.p.) dose‐dependently enhanced LDT stimulation‐evoked NAc dopamine efflux, whereas the nonsubtype selective mAChR antagonist scopolamine (10 μg/0.5 μl) microinfused into the VTA diminished LDT‐evoked NAc dopamine efflux. Preinfusion of scopolamine into the VTA diminished the facilitatory actions of cocaine on LDT stimulation‐evoked NAc dopamine efflux, and when infused at the peak effect of cocaine attenuated LDT‐evoked dopamine efflux to below predrug baseline levels. These findings suggest that LDT cholinergic inputs to dopamine neurons in the VTA, via activation of mAChRs (probably of the M5 subtype), are involved in modulating the facilitatory effects of cocaine on NAc dopamine neurotransmission. They also suggest that the development of antagonists aimed at selectively disrupting M5 receptor function may be valuable in reducing abuse liability of psychostimulants. Synapse 64:216–223, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Global A-Optimal Robot Exploration in SLAM

It is well-known that the Kalman filter for simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) converges to a fully correlated map in the limit of infinite time and data [1]. However, the rate of convergence of the map has a strong dependence on the order of the observations. We show that conventional exploration algorithms for collecting map data are sub-optimal in both the objective function and choice of optimization procedure. We show that optimizing the a-optimal information measure results in a more accurate map than existing approaches, using a greedy, closed-loop strategy. Secondly, we demonstrate that by restricting the planning to an appropriate policy class, we can tractably find non-greedy, global planning trajectories that produce more accurate maps, explicitly planning to close loops even in open-loop scenarios.
Isolation of bovine immunoglobulins and lactoferrin from whey proteins by gel filtration techniques.

Whey is a suitable source of immunoglobulins and lactoferrin to enrich infant formulas. Gel filtration on Sephacryl S-300 and on Fractogel TSK HW-55 was used to isolate immunoglobulins from colostral whey, acid whey, and Cheddar cheese whey. The SDS-PAGE and immunoelectrophoresis techniques indicated that the purity of the fractions from fractionation on Sephacryl S-300 was better than that by fractionation on TSK HW-55 column. Biological activity of fractions from the Sephacryl S-300 column as assessed by immunochemical analysis was 99, 83.3, and 92% for colostral, acid, and sweet wheys. The well-proven antimicrobial agent, lactoferrin, was isolated from sweet whey by heparin-attached Sepharose. Lactoferrin selectively adsorbed to the column was subsequently eluted with 5 mM Veronal-HCl containing . 5 M NaCl, pH 7.4. Purity of the isolated protein was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and immunoelectrophoresis.
Centrality Based Visualization of Small World Graphs

Current graph drawing algorithms enable the creation of two dimensional node‐link diagrams of huge graphs. However, for graphs with low diameter (of which “small world” graphs are a subset) these techniques begin to break down visually even when the graph has only a few hundred nodes. Typical algorithms produce images where nodes clump together in the center of the screen, making it hard to discern structure and follow paths. This paper describes a solution to this problem, which uses a global edge metric to determine a subset of edges that capture the graph's intrinsic clustering structure. This structure is then used to create an embedding of the graph, after which the remaining edges are added back in. We demonstrate applications of this technique to a number of real world examples.
Effect of external cephalic version at term on fetal circulation.

OBJECTIVE We sought to investigate the subclinical effect of external cephalic version on fetal circulation. STUDY DESIGN A prospective observational study was conducted on 136 subjects who had external cephalic version at or beyond 36 weeks of gestation without clinical complication. Doppler ultrasonographic studies of the umbilical and middle cerebral circulations were performed before and after the external cephalic version. The following Doppler indexes were measured: (1) the pulsatility index of the umbilical artery, which represents disturbance of placental circulation, and (2) the pulsatility index of the fetal middle cerebral artery, which represents fetal response. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for all statistical analyses. RESULTS There was no significant difference in pulsatility index of the umbilical artery before and after external cephalic version (P =.674). There was a statistically significant reduction in the pulsatility index of the middle cerebral artery after external cephalic version (P =.043), and this difference existed only among multiparous women (P =.029), among those in whom the external cephalic version was considered to be difficult (P =.038), and when the placenta was posteriorly located (P =.028). The reduction in pulsatility index was not related to whether the external cephalic version was successful. In all cases the Doppler indexes remained within the normal ranges, and there were no associated fetal complications. CONCLUSION External cephalic version was not associated with any significant disturbance of placental resistance to blood flow. Conversely, external cephalic version was associated with a significant reduction in the pulsatility index of the middle cerebral circulation, especially among the multiparous women, after a difficult procedure or in those with a posterior placenta. This probably represents a normal fetal physiologic response to manipulation of the fetal head.
Down‐regulation of calcium/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase kinase 2 by androgen deprivation induces castration‐resistant prostate cancer

Conversion into androgen‐hypersensitive state and adaptation to the low concentration of androgen during ADT cause relapse of prostate cancer (PCa). It is important to identify differentially expressed genes between PCa and normal prostate tissues and to reveal the function of these genes that are involved in progression of PCa.