Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A different look on cyclic prefix for SC/FDE

We investigate the use of a known symbol sequence - a so-called unique word (UW) - instead of the well-known cyclic prefix (as it is used in OFDM, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, systems) for a single carrier system with frequency domain equalization (SC/FDE). The considered SC/FDE system is similar to the one proposed in the IEEE 802.16. 3c target group. It is shown that the UW fulfils the theorem of cyclic convolution required for efficient implementation of the SC/FDE structure. We elaborate on the advantages that result for equalization, channel estimation, and synchronisation. Compared to the advantages, the disadvantages in terms of BER behaviour and bandwidth efficiency are rather modest.
Efficient reverse far neighbors search

Among the variations of similarity search in data engineering, Reverse Farthest Neighbors(RFN) query is one of the newest and is attracting more attention. RFN is likely to find its applications in facility location problem, product evaluation, social network system, and so on. Given an object set O and a query object q, the RFN query retrieves the objects of O, which take q as their farthest neighbor. The result of an RFN is affected significantly by outliers because it compares only the farthest neighbor. In this paper, we propose a general Reverse Far Neighbors Search and develop an efficient algorithm. Experiments on synthetic and real data confirmed the efficiency.
Parallel processing and immersive visualization of sonar point clouds

The investigation of underwater structures and natural features through Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) is an expanding field with applications in archaeology, engineering, environmental sciences and astrobiology. Processing and analyzing the raw sonar data generated by automated surveys is challenging due to the presence of complex error sources like water chemistry, zero-depth variations, inertial navigation errors and multipath reflections. Furthermore, the complexity of the collected data makes it difficult to perform effective analysis on a standard display. Point clouds made up of hundreds of millions to billions of points are not uncommon. Highly interactive, immersive visualization is a desirable tool that researchers can use to improve the quality of a final sonar-based data product. In this paper we present a scalable toolkit for the processing and visualization of sonar point clouds on a cluster-based, large scale immersive visualization environment. The cluster is used simultaneously as a parallel processing platform that performs sonar beam-tracing of the source raw data, and as the rendering driver of the immersive display.
Functional MR imaging using gradient‐echo echo‐planar imaging in the presence of large static field inhomogeneities

At 1.5 T, the field strength of most clinical MR imagers, gradient‐echo Imaging Is the primary imaging method for measuring brain activation, as such sequences are highly sensitive to changes in blood oxygenation or T2* effects. Unfortunately, gradient‐echo sequences are also extremely sensitive to magnetic field inhomogeneities, and this sensitivity has precluded examination of regions of cortex near field inhomogeneities with functional MR imaging. This article presents a gradient‐echo echo‐planar imaging method that uses variable amplitude scaling on the slice‐select refocusing lobe to generate images compensated for static field inhomogeneities. A technique for constructing composite Images to be used in statistical tests for activation is also presented. The method is shown to produce clean activation maps in the presence of large static field inhomogeneities. The technique retains the sensitivity of gradient‐ echo imaging to changes in blood oxygenation while removing the sensitivity to large static field inhomogeneities.
The promises and perils of the emotional Stroop task: A general review and considerations for use with forensic samples

Abstract Assessing the implicit attitudes and beliefs of offenders has proved difficult over decades of work and research with offender samples. The purpose of this paper is to outline the research related to the use of the emotional Stroop task and to encourage researchers and practitioners to use it as a measure to assess the implicit attitudes of offenders within their assessments. We consider the factors that may influence Stroop results along with the research considerations that need to be taken into account when using an emotional Stroop paradigm. Currently, a significant limitation of the emotional Stroop task is a lack of standard word stimulus sets that are able to distinguish between offender types. This limitation could seriously impede further development of this tool. Suggestions for future research are proposed.
Social Care Information Systems and Technologies Infrastructure Non-Linear Deformation Monitoring Via Satellite Radar Interferometry

The advantages of satellite radar interferometry for displacement monitoring are demonstrated in the cases of monitoring man-made structures, i.e., buildings, bridges and dams. The application of PSInSAR methodology using ENVISAT radar images in urban area of Bratislava (Slovakia) allowed for detecting the changes over areas, that were out of interest of any regarding conventional monitoring technique. The PS derived results over structures with an existing geodetic measurements (levelling, GNSS) are compared. In other case, ascending vs. descending combination is examined. The comparison with GNSS and levelling data indicates good correlation and confirms achievable precision of InSAR measurements. As a whole, the investigated urban area of Bratislava is stable with the linear displacement trends within a ±3 millimetres per year. However, the non-linear approach reveals small movements on the structures without the prior interest of particular monitoring technique. Thanks to technology driven progress in the development of high resolution SAR sensors (e.g. TerraSAR-X) many permanent scatterers can be found in one individual man-made construction. Moreover, with the shorter revisit times it is possible to process a long series of SAR data and expand standard PS model to account for a seasonal expansion due to changes in temperature, water levels, pressure, etc. The topic of separation between deformations and seasonal movements is discussed within the exploitation of TerraSAR-X data for deformation monitoring of Plover Cove Dam and high-rise building of Hyatt Hotel, both located in Hong Kong. Data have been processed using advanced multi-temporal processing techniques implemented in SARPROZ. These techniques show high potential for continuous monitoring of ground motion and structure stability in civil surveillance. * Corresponding author. Tel. : +421-917-669-453; fax: +421-2-5292-5476. E-mail address: matus.bakon@stuba.sk 2 Author name / Procedia Technology 00 (2014) 000–000 © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committees of CENTERIS/ProjMAN/HCIST 2014
Obj2Text: Generating Visually Descriptive Language from Object Layouts

Generating captions for images is a task that has recently received considerable attention. Another type of visual inputs are abstract scenes or object layouts where the only information provided is a set of objects and their locations. This type of imagery is commonly found in many applications in computer graphics, virtual reality, and storyboarding. We explore in this paper OBJ2TEXT, a sequence-to-sequence model that encodes a set of objects and their locations as an input sequence using an LSTM network, and decodes this representation using an LSTM language model. We show in our paper that this model despite using a sequence encoder can effectively represent complex spatial object-object relationships and produce descriptions that are globally coherent and semantically relevant. We test our approach for the task of describing object layouts in the MS-COCO dataset by producing sentences given only object annotations. We additionally show that our model combined with a state-of-the-art object detector can improve the accuracy of an image captioning model.
Infants Discriminate Voicing and Place of Articulation With Reduced Spectral and Temporal Modulation Cues.

PURPOSE This study assessed the role of spectro-temporal modulation cues in the discrimination of 2 phonetic contrasts (voicing and place) for young infants. METHOD A visual-habituation procedure was used to assess the ability of French-learning 6-month-old infants with normal hearing to discriminate voiced versus unvoiced (/aba/-/apa/) and labial versus dental (/aba/-/ada/) stop consonants. The stimuli were processed by tone-excited vocoders to degrade frequency-modulation cues while preserving: (a) amplitude-modulation (AM) cues within 32 analysis frequency bands, (b) slow AM cues only (<16 Hz) within 32 bands, and (c) AM cues within 8 bands. RESULTS Infants exhibited discrimination responses for both phonetic contrasts in each processing condition. However, when fast AM cues were degraded, infants required a longer exposure to vocoded stimuli to reach the habituation criterion. CONCLUSIONS Altogether, these results indicate that the processing of modulation cues conveying phonetic information on voicing and place is "functional" at 6 months. The data also suggest that the perceptual weight of fast AM speech cues may change during development.
Do mindfulness-based interventions reduce pain intensity? A critical review of the literature.

BACKGROUND Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) emphasizing a nonjudgmental attitude toward present moment experience are widely used for chronic pain patients. Although changing or controlling pain is not an explicit aim of MBIs, recent experimental studies suggest that mindfulness practice may lead to changes in pain tolerance and pain intensity ratings. OBJECTIVE The objective of this review is to investigate the specific effect of MBIs on pain intensity. METHODS A literature search was conducted using the databases PUBMED and PsycINFO for relevant articles published from 1960 to December 2010. We additionally conducted a manual search of references from the retrieved articles. Only studies providing detailed results on change in pain intensity ratings were included. RESULTS Sixteen studies were included in this review (eight uncontrolled and eight controlled trials). In most studies (10 of 16), there was significantly decreased pain intensity in the MBI group. Findings were more consistently positive for samples limited to clinical pain (9 of 11). In addition, most controlled trials (6 of 8) reveal higher reductions in pain intensity for MBIs compared with control groups. Results from follow-up assessments reveal that reductions in pain intensity were generally well maintained. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that MBIs decrease the intensity of pain for chronic pain patients. We discuss implications for understanding mechanisms of change in MBIs.
Scattering by an inhomogeneous gyroelectric shell coating a PEC spherical core

In this work we investigate the electromagnetic scattering by a perfect electric conductor (PEC) sphere coated by an inhomogeneous gyroelectric spherical shell. We develop a method based on the surface-volume integral equation (SVIE) approach, in conjunction with Dini series expansion (DSE). An orthogonal set of Dini-type spherical vector wave functions (SVWFs) is constructed that directly satisfies the boundary conditions on the conductor's surface, and allows the reduction of the SVIEs to an algebraic form. Validity tests are performed for the developed method and numerical results are given for radar cross section (RCS) computations.
Roll-out Decisions in a Multihop Cellular System with Fixed Relays

The infrastructure costs of a hybrid multihop cellular has previously been analyzed by assuming fixed traffic loads. In reality the traffic load in a commercial system gradually increases and therewith the network must be upgraded. The timing and the type of upgrade may have important impact on the overall infrastructure cost. A first step in analyzing the costs of a hybrid network roll-out is taken in this paper. It is assumed that a wireless relay can be turned into an access point by connecting it to a wired transport network. A criterion is introduced for deciding whether to deploy a new relay or turn an old one into an access point, based on the estimated capacity increase and on the present value of the additional costs associated with each upgrade type. The decision is taken as a single-action event at a given time, i.e. ignoring the opportunities created or missed by the decision. It also assumes that the equipment is worth nothing at the end of the operational phase. Numerical examples in a simple deployment scenario show that it is worth deploying relays for up to three hops, at the beginning of the operation period, if the units are of pico-base station type. Relays are always turned into access points toward the end of the operation period.
Tunable geometry of bacterial inclusion bodies as substrate materials for tissue engineering

A spectrum of materials for biomedical applications is produced in bacteria, and some of them, such as metals or polyhydroxyalkanoates, are straightforwardly obtained as particulate entities. We have explored the biofabrication process of bacterial inclusion bodies, particulate proteinaceous materials (ranging from 50 to 500 nm in diameter) recently recognized as suitable for surface topographical modification and tissue engineering. Inclusion bodies have been widely described as spherical or pseudo-spherical particles with only minor morphological variability, mostly restricted to their size. Here we have identified a cellular gene in Escherichia coli (clpP) that controls the in vivo fabrication process of inclusion bodies. In the absence of the encoded protease, the dynamics of protein deposition is perturbed, resulting in unusual tear-shaped particles with enhanced surface–volume ratios. This fact modifies the ability of inclusion bodies to promote mammalian cell attachment and differentiation upon surface decoration. The implications of the genetic control of inclusion body geometry are discussed in the context of their biological fabrication and regarding the biomedical potential of these protein clusters in regenerative medicine.
Ideophones and the Aesthetics of Everyday Language in a West-African Society

ABSTRACT This article explores language, culture, and the perceptual world as reflected in a particular linguistic device: ideophones, marked words that depict sensory imagery. Data from a range of elicitation tasks shows that ideophones are a key resource in talking about sensory perception in siwu. their use in everyday conversations underlines their communicative versatility while at the same time showing that people delight in their expressiveness. In ideophones, we have an expressive resource that combines sheer playfulness with extraordinary precision.
Endothelial function is impaired across the stages of the menopause transition in healthy women.

CONTEXT The stages of the menopause transition are characterized by changes in ovarian hormones and increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and vasomotor symptoms that may adversely affect vascular health. OBJECTIVE We tested the hypothesis that endothelial function, a predictor of CVD, would be reduced across the stages of the menopause transition, independent of CVD risk factors and vasomotor symptoms. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This was a cross-sectional study of 132 healthy women from the general community aged 22-70 yr, categorized as premenopausal (n = 33, 32 ± 6 yr; mean ± SD), early perimenopausal (n = 20, 49 ± 3 yr) or late perimenopausal (n = 22, 50 ± 4 yr), or early (n = 30, 55 ± 3 yr) or late postmenopausal (n = 27, 61 ± 4 yr). MAIN OUTCOME Endothelial-dependent vasodilation was measured by brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) using ultrasound. RESULTS Brachial artery FMD was significantly different among the groups (P < 0.001). It was highest in premenopausal women (9.9 ± 2.1%) with progressive decrements in perimenopausal (early: 8.2 ± 2.5%; late: 6.5 ± 1.9%) and postmenopausal women (early: 5.5 ± 1.9%; late: 4.7 ± 1.7%). Adjustment for risk factors, vasomotor symptoms, and sex hormones did not alter the association (P < 0.001). In subgroup analyses of women aged 50-59 yr, brachial artery FMD was lower in late peri- and early and late postmenopausal compared with early perimenopausal women (P < 0.001) but was not different between late perimenopausal and either early or late postmenopausal women. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that a decline in endothelial function begins during the early stages of menopause (perimenopause) and worsens with the loss of ovarian function and prolonged estrogen deficiency. These data add to the accumulating evidence that the perimenopausal window is a critical time period for adverse changes in CVD risk.
Ranking Right-Wing Extremist Social Media Profiles by Similarity to Democratic and Extremist Groups

Social media are used by an increasing number of political actors. A small subset of these is interested in pursuing extremist motives such as mobilization, recruiting or radicalization activities. In order to counteract these trends, online providers and state institutions reinforce their monitoring efforts, mostly relying on manual workflows. We propose a machine learning approach to support manual attempts towards identifying right-wing extremist content in German Twitter profiles. Based on a fine-grained conceptualization of right-wing extremism, we frame the task as ranking each individual profile on a continuum spanning different degrees of right-wing extremism, based on a nearest neighbour approach. A quantitative evaluation reveals that our ranking model yields robust performance (up to 0.81 F_1 score) when being used for predicting discrete class labels. At the same time, the model provides plausible continuous ranking scores for a small sample of borderline cases at the division of right-wing extremism and New Right political movements.
Brief report: Optimizing children's memory and management of an invasive medical procedure: the influence of procedural narration and distraction.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the influence of two interventions on children's memory of and distress during a voiding cysto-urethrogram (VCUG, X-ray of the kidneys). METHODS Sixty-two children (aged 2.5-7.5 years) were allocated to one of three conditions. In one (CI + D), they received complete procedural information during the VCUG, with a cartoon video. In a second (PI + D), children received limited procedural information, with a cartoon video. In a third (standard care, PI), they received limited procedural information. VCUGs were videotaped and distress was coded using the CAMPIS-R. To assess memory, children were interviewed 1 week later. RESULTS Relative to the PI condition, children in the CI + D condition recalled more information, appraised the VCUG as less painful, and were less distressed. There were no differences between the PI + D and PI conditions. CONCLUSIONS An inexpensive, theoretically driven intervention can enhance children's memory and reduce distress during an invasive procedure.
Trans-dimerization of JAM-A regulates Rap2 and is mediated by a domain that is distinct from the cis-dimerization interface

Junctional adhesion molecule-A (JAM-A) is a tight junction–associated signaling protein that homodimerizes across cells at a unique motif to activate the small GTPase Rap2, previously implicated in the regulation of barrier function. JAM-A may therefore act as a barrier-inducing molecular switch that is activated when cells become confluent.
Assistive Navigation using a Hierarchical Model of the Environment

This paper presents an application of a hierarchical, symbolic model of large-scale space for representing the environment of a robotic wheelchair that has been automatized for assistance to mobility impaired people. Rehabilitation robotics has an issue that is not present in mobile robotics: the need for an interface with the human driver. Our hierarchical model demonstrates its suitability to represent the environment in a structure easily manageable by the human (it serves as a good interface with the human’s cognitive map) and at the same time its better performance than flat topological maps in route planning. The paper describes and illustrates an experiment in which the wheelchair, with the assistance of the person, builds its model of space and uses it for autonomous navigation.
Construction of Collective and Individual Knowledge in Argumentative Activity

In this article, we elaborate methodologies to study construction of knowledge in argumentative activities. For this purpose, we report on a quasi-empirical study on construction of knowledge through successive argumentative activities on a controversial issue. A group of 120 fifth grade students participated in successive argumentative activities; some activities involved individuals and some involved collectives. According to a first methodology, construction of knowledge was measured through arguments/outcomes produced. We developed tools for evaluating changes in individual and collective arguments. In the study, we showed the generally beneficial effect of argumentative activities on collective and individual arguments/outcomes. The significant discrepancies between collective and individual arguments suggested that individual students only partly internalized the collectively constructed arguments. We developed a qualitative methodology to refine this hypothesis as well as other hypotheses concerning the interpretation of the quantitative study. The integration of the quantitative and qualitative methodologies for studying argumentation helped identify several mechanisms of construction of knowledge in argumentative activities. In particular, it brought new light on the mediating role of representational tools such as Argumentative Maps or Pro-Con tables.
A Conjunctive Query Language for Description Logic Aboxes

A serious shortcoming of many Description Logic based knowledge representation systems is the inadequacy of their query languages. In this paper we present a novel technique that can be used to provide an expressive query language for such systems. One of the main advantages of this approach is that, being based on a reduction to knowledge base satisfiability, it can easily be adapted to most existing (and future) Description Logic implementations. We believe that providing Description Logic systems with an expressive query language for interrogating the knowledge base will significantly increase their utility.
Supervised feature extraction algorithm based on improved polynomial entropy

Based on information entropy theory, a novel feature extraction algorithm based on improved polynomial entropy (IPE) is set up. Firstly, the concepts and their properties of information entropy and cross entropy (CE) are analysed and studied. On this foundation, we prove that symmetrical cross entropy (SCE) proposed here based on CE satisfies three axioms of the distance, i.e. nonnegativity, symmetry and triangle inequation. So SCE is a kind of distance measure, which can be used to measure the degree of variation between two random variables. Secondly, for convenience, we propose a new concept of improved polynomial entropy (IPE) based on polynomial entropy (PE), and explain that IPE is equivalent to SCE. Thirdly, we make IPE separability criterion of the classes for feature extraction, and design a novel feature extraction algorithm based on IPE. Fianlly, the experimental results demonstrate that the algorithm proposed here is valid and reliable, and it provides a new research approach for feature extraction, data mining and pattern recognition.