Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A probabilistic approach for attention-based multi-modal human-robot interaction

The interaction between a robot and a human becomes meaningful when the robotic agent possesses some level of human-like cognition. This paper proposes an attention-based approach for multi-modal HRI. The core of the proposed approach is a bio-inspired artificial model of visual attention which enables a robot to focus on the visually salient and/or behaviorally relevant stimuli in the surrounding. The attention model provides the human partner with the opportunity to manipulate the attention behavior of the robot through natural speech command. Similarly the robot is able to manipulate the attention of the human partner using its actuators. Thus the bio-inspired visual attention mechanism along with the sensors and actuators enables the robot to establish joint attention with the human partner. Formation of this joint attention is the basis for further human-robot interaction. Experimental results validate different aspects of the proposed attention-based HRI framework.
Sense of Competence: A Cross-Cultural Analysis for Managerial Application

This study focuses on developing a simple model of human behavior at work with a sense-of-competence concept. A sample of 545 white-collar employees in service organizations in the United States and 1,123 white- collar employees of banks in India indicates that the experienced mean ingfulness of jobs is the single most important contributor to a sense of competence for employees in both cultures. Because sense of competence has been highly correlated to job performance and the quality of work life, this finding has practical implications for organizations and calls for a redirection of managerial efforts.
Alzheimer-like paired helical filaments and antiparallel dimers formed from microtubule-associated protein tau in vitro

Recent evidence from several laboratories shows that the paired helical filaments of Alzheimer's disease brains consist mainly of the protein tau in an abnormally phosphorylated form, but the mode of assembly is not understood. Here we use EM to study several constructs derived from human brain tau and expressed in Escherichia coli. All constructs or tau isoforms are rodlike molecules with a high tendency to dimerize in an antiparallel fashion, as shown by antibody labeling and chemical crosslinking. The length of the rods is largely determined by the region of internal repeats that is also responsible for microtubule binding. One unit length of the repeat domain (three or four repeats) is around 22-25 nm, comparable to the cross-section of Alzheimer PHF cores. Constructs corresponding roughly to the repeat region of tau can form synthetic paired helical filaments resembling those from Alzheimer brain tissue. A similar self-assembly occurs with the chemically cross- linked dimers. In both cases there is no need for phosphorylation of the protein.
Plasma inositol is not elevated in Alzheimer's disease

Brain inositol levels have been previously reported as elevated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) in brain. Brain inositol levels may be reflected in plasma levels. We therefore studied plasma inositol levels in 20 AD patients and 20 controls. Plasma inositol levels in the AD patients did not differ from values found in the controls. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Eye–hand coordination in the newborn.

Are the arm and hand movements of newborns in any way coordinated with vision? If they are, what are the properties of this coordination? These questions were studied in a situation in which newborns were presented with a slowly moving object. In Experiment 1 the number and distribution of arm-hand movements of 14 infants were examined when the object was either present or absent. It was shown that a higher proportion of movements performed while the infant fixated the object was forward extended than otherwise. However, there was no difference in the absolute frequency of forward extension between periods when the object was present and when it was absent. In Experiment 2 the forward extensions of 13 infants were analyzed by a technique that took into consideration the three-dimensional properties of arm-hand movements. It was shown that the movements performed while the neonate fixated the object were aimed closer at the object than were other movements. The effect was not a function of changes in body posture or head direction accompanying changes in visual direction. It was further shown that fixated movements clustered closer around the object and that the hand slowed down near the object in the best aimed of the fixated movements. It was concluded that there exists in the newborn a rudimentary form of eye-hand coordination, the primary function of which is attentional rather than manipulative.
Factors that influence communication about sexuality between parents and adolescents in the cultural context of Mexican families

Sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancy among adolescents are important public health issues that can be tackled through the implementation of effective education strategies. Previous studies have documented the importance and effectiveness of parents as primary educators for their adolescents. A qualitative study based on grounded theory was undertaken in five different public high schools in Mexico and 33 interviews were carried out (18 parents and 15 first-year students). The primary prevention message that parents transmit to their adolescent children is abstinence. Prevention messages that include condom use and emergency contraception are scarce or absent. Promoting safer sexual behaviors among adolescents in Mexico is of critical importance. Nevertheless, the cultural scenario in the country is dictated mainly by a Catholic morality, which makes it difficult for parents to accept the possibility of their children being sexually active. Hence, the transmission of concrete information on the use of contraceptives is limited. Therefore, the challenge is to develop strategies that promote early and constant dialogue about sexuality between parents and children, respecting moral values within the family, but at the same time favoring clear and precise information about modern prevention practices.
Sequential Testing for Comparison of the Mean Time Between Failures for Two Systems

This study deals with simultaneous testing of two systems, one "basic" (subscript b), and the other "new" (n), both with an exponential distribution describing the times between failures. We test whether the mean TBFn/MTBFb ratio equals a given value, versus whether it is smaller than the given value. These tests yield a binomial pattern. A recursive algorithm calculates the probability of a given combination of failure numbers in the systems, permitting rapid, accurate determination of the test characteristics. The influence of truncation of Wald's Sequential Probability Ratio Test (SPRT) on its characteristics is analysed, and relationships are derived for calculating the coordinates of truncation apex (TA). A test planning methodology is presented for the most common cases
Till Mamma och Pappa

Cryptographic operations are normally carried out by a single machine. Sometimes, however, this machine cannot be trusted completely. Threshold cryptography offers an alternative where the cryptographic operation is distributed to a group of machines in such a way that the key used in the cryptographic operation is not revealed to anyone. The tool used to achieve this is threshold secret sharing, by which a secret can be distributed among a group so that subsets (of the members of the group) that are larger than some threshold can cooperate to recover the secret, while subsets smaller than this threshold cannot. This thesis concerns distributed stream ciphers which is a generalisation of threshold cryptography in the sence that the suggested scheme is not restricted to the use of threshold secret sharing schemes. We describe how to do distributed decryption of a ciphertext encrypted by an additive stream cipher. The system works for any secret sharing scheme that is linear under addition. We present a modification of how secret sharing of sequences is done. Due to this modification we can generate shares locally using linear feedback shift registers instead of transmitting shares of each symbol in a sequence. A distributed decryption scheme where the keystream is distributed in this modified way is constructed.
“It’s Good for the Kids”: Fathers Consider Risk and Protection in Their Own and Their Children’s Lives

We conducted a qualitative inquiry to better understand how fathers of young children consider risk in their own life and in the lives of their 2- to 7-year-olds. Interview data were collected from 64 fathers from rural and urban Canada. Fathers’ discourse was considered in the context of masculine identities as well as the implications for father-focused health promotion and safety education. We found that most fathers considered risk taking to be an essential component of their own and their fathering identities. Some fathers held negative views about risk taking in their own and their children’s lives or were inconsistent in risk considerations for themselves compared to their children. For these fathers, identity construction was a somewhat fluid and contradictory process. Overall, we conclude that health promotion programs should support and bolster fathering identities and practices that involve engaging children in physical risk taking while employing appropriate safety strategies.
Modeling Signalized Intersection Using Queueing Theory

Modeling the traffic flow at signalized intersections has been discussed in many works [1][2][3][4]. Though streets and intersections and designed to be Ergodic, the traffic flow during busy hours is not necessarily Ergodic. In this paper, we modeled the traffic at intersection during busy hours by using M/G/1 model. And based on the collected data, we modeled a special service distribution pattern for the traffic lights. We showed that the intersection system is not Ergodic, which means during the busy hours, the traffic queueing length and waiting time will keep growing. At last, we gave two approaches to make the system Ergodic and decrease the average system size as well as the average waiting time. We discussed the improvements and the costs of the two approaches.
Boosted deep neural networks and multi-resolution cochleagram features for voice activity detection

Voice activity detection (VAD) is an important frontend of many speech processing systems. In this paper, we describe a new VAD algorithm based on boosted deep neural networks (bDNNs). The proposed algorithm first generates multiple base predictions for a single frame from only one DNN and then aggregates the base predictions for a better prediction of the frame. Moreover, we employ a new acoustic feature, multi-resolution cochleagram (MRCG), that concatenates the cochleagram features at multiple spectrotemporal resolutions and shows superior speech separation results over many acoustic features. Experimental results show that bDNN-based VAD with the MRCG feature outperforms state-of-the-art VADs by a considerable margin.
Strength testing machines for wearable walking assistant robots based on risk assessment of Robot Suit HAL

The safety of wearable walking assistant robots (W2ARs) is expected to be guaranteed as they are spreading. From our experience of the risk assessments on Robot Suit HAL, we assume that the mechanical angle stoppers and appropriate assembling are inherent safety measures for the W2ARs. These measures prevent the hazardous situations: excess assistance and collision with floor or wall. In this paper, we develop the testing machines to prove their strength. They have the weights imitating a leg or a whole body and simulate cyclic impulsive load during walking by exploiting free fall. We hope this paper helps to develop safer W2ARs and to establish safety standards of the W2ARs.
Mining Frequent Itemsets Based On CBSW Method

Mining data streams poses many newchallenges amongst which are the one-scan nature, the unboundedmemory requirement and the high arrival rate of data streams.In this paper we propose a Chernoff Bound based Sliding-window approach called CBSW which is capable of mining frequent itemsets over high speed data streams.In the proposed method we design a synopsis data structure to keeptrack of the boundary between maximum and minimum window size prediction for itemsets. Conceptual drifts in a data streamare reflected by boundary movements in the data structure. The decoupling approach of simplified Chernoff bound defines the boundary limit for each transaction. Our experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach. Keywords—Chernoff Bound, Data Streams, Decoupling, Mining Frequent Itemsets
Consequences of cognitive impairments following traumatic brain injury: Pilot study on visual exploration while driving

Primary objective: The aim was to assess the visual exploration of a person suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI). It was hypothesized that visual exploration could be modified as a result of attentional or executive function deficits that are often observed following brain injury. Research design: This study compared an analysis of eyes movements while driving with data from neuropsychological tests. Methods and procedures: Five participants suffering from TBI and six control participants took part in this study. All had good driving experience. They were invited to drive on a fixed-base driving simulator. Eye fixations were recorded using an eye tracker. Neuropsychological tests were used to assess attention, working memory, rapidity of information processing and executive functions. Main outcomes and results: Participants with TBI showed a reduction in the variety of the visual zones explored and a reduction of the distance of exploration. Moreover, neuropsychological evaluation indicates that there were difficulties in terms of divided attention, anticipation and planning. Conclusions: There is a complementarity of the information obtained. Tests give information about cognitive deficiencies but not about their translation into a dynamic situation. Conversely, visual exploration provides information about the dynamic with which information is picked up in the environment but not about the cognitive processes involved.
Learning to talk and gesture about motion in French

This study explores how French adults and children aged four and six years talk and gesture about voluntary motion, examining (1) how they encode path and manner in speech, (2) how they encode this information in accompanying gestures; and (3) whether gestures are co-expressive with speech or express other information. When path and manner are equally relevant, children's and adults' speech and gestures both focus on path, rather than on manner. Moreover, gestures are predominantly co-expressive with speech at all ages. However, when they are non-redundant, adults tend to gesture about path while talking about manner, whereas children gesture about both path and manner while talking about path. The discussion highlights implications for our understanding of speakers' representations and their development.
Multiple Unit Auctions and Short Squeezes

Summary This paper develops a theory of multiple unit auctions with short squeezes in the post-auction market. This is especially relevant for financial and commodity markets where players may enter the auction with established forward positions. We study how a potential short squeeze impacts on bidders' strategies and auction performance. Conversely, we also study how the design of the auction affects the incidence of short squeezes. In particular, we model both uniform price and discriminatory price auctions in a true multiple unit setting, where bidders can submit multiple bids for multiple units. Our model is cast in what appears to be a common value framework. However, we show that the possibility of a short squeeze introduces different valuations of the to-be-auctioned asset between short and long bidders. Equilibrium bidding strategies depend on pre-auction allocations and the size of the auction. Short squeezes are more likely to happen after discriminatory auctions than after uniform auctions, ceteris paribus. Discriminatory auctions therefore lead to (1) more price distortion; (2) higher revenue for an auctioneer; (3) more volatility in the secondary market. This shows that a central bank or sovereign treasury, say, may face a tradeoff between revenue maximization and market distortions when choosing the design of repo or treasury auctions. The probability of a short squeeze following a discriminatory auction tends to decrease with the auction size, increase with the market power of the largest long bidders, and decrease with small long players' scope for free-riding on a short squeeze. Asymptotically, as the auction size becomes arbitrarily large, the two types of auctions lead to equivalent outcomes.
Fragebogen zur Erfassung partnerschaftlicher Kommunikationsmuster (FPK): Reliabilität und Validität

Zusammenfassung. Der Fragebogen zur Erfassung partnerschaftlicher Kommunikationsmuster (FPK) ist die deutsche Ubersetzung des Communication Patterns Questionnaire CPQ (Christensen, 1987, 1988). Der FPK ist ein Selbstbeurteilungsinstrument, das dyadische Kommunikationsmuster unter Berucksichtigung des Verhaltens beider Partner erfassen soll, und besteht aus den Skalen Konstruktive Kommunikation, Konfliktvermeidung und weiblichem bzw. mannlichem Forderungs-/Ruckzugsmuster. An Hand einer Stichprobe von N = 143 Paaren, die an einer Studie zur Wirksamkeit praventiver Interventionen teilnahmen, wurden die teststatistischen Gutekriterien untersucht. Es zeigten sich befriedigende, mit der Originalversion vergleichbare interne Konsistenzen. Die Konstruktvaliditat erscheint gegeben, da sich signifikante Zusammenhange zwischen anderen, konzeptuell ahnlichen Fragebogen und dem beobachteten Interaktionsverhalten der Paare zeigten. Daruber hinaus differenzierten die Skalen zwischen glucklichen und unglucklichen Paaren.
Apolipoprotein E Polymorphism and Left Ventricular Failure in Beta‐Thalassemia: A Multivariate Meta‐Analysis

Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) is potentially a genetic risk factor for the development of left ventricular failure (LVF), the main cause of death in beta‐thalassemia homozygotes. In the present study, we synthesize the results of independent studies examining the effect of ApoE on LVF development in thalassemic patients through a meta‐analytic approach. However, all studies report more than one outcome, as patients are classified into three groups according to the severity of the symptoms and the genetic polymorphism. Thus, a multivariate meta‐analytic method that addresses simultaneously multiple exposures and multiple comparison groups was developed. Four individual studies were included in the meta‐analysis involving 613 beta‐thalassemic patients and 664 controls. The proposed method that takes into account the correlation of log odds ratios (log(ORs)), revealed a statistically significant overall association (P‐value = 0.009), mainly attributed to the contrast of E4 versus E3 allele for patients with evidence (OR: 2.32, 95% CI: 1.19, 4.53) or patients with clinical and echocardiographic findings (OR: 3.34, 95% CI: 1.78, 6.26) of LVF. This study suggests that E4 is a genetic risk factor for LVF in beta‐thalassemia major. The presented multivariate approach can be applied in several fields of research.
MORTALITY PATTERNS IN ENDANGERED HAWAIIAN GEESE (NENE; BRANTA SANDVICENSIS)

Abstract Understanding causes of death can aid management and recovery of endangered bird populations. Toward those ends, we systematically examined 300 carcasses of endangered Hawaiian Geese (Nene; Branta sandvicensis) from Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, and Kauai between 1992 and 2013. The most common cause of death was emaciation, followed by trauma (vehicular strikes and predation), and infectious/inflammatory diseases of which toxoplasmosis (infection with Toxoplasma gondii) predominated. Toxicoses were less common and were dominated by lead poisoning or botulism. For captive birds, inflammatory conditions predominated, whereas emaciation, trauma, and inflammation were common in free-ranging birds. Mortality patterns were similar for males and females. Trauma predominated for adults, whereas emaciation was more common for goslings. Causes of death varied among islands, with trauma dominating on Molokai, emaciation and inflammation on Kauai, emaciation on Hawaii, and inflammation and trauma on Maui. Understanding habitat or genetic-related factors that predispose Nene (particularly goslings) to emaciation might reduce the impact of this finding. In addition, trauma and infection with T. gondii are human-related problems that may be attenuated if effectively managed (e.g., road signs, enforcement of speed limits, feral cat [Felis catus] control). Such management actions might serve to enhance recovery of this endangered species.
Dry transfer bonding of porous silicon membranes to OSTE(+) polymer microfluidic devices

We present low temperature transfer bonding of porous silicon membranes to polymeric microfluidic devices, using neither adhesives nor bond surface treatment. The transfer is enabled by a novel dual cure ternary monomer system containing thiolene and epoxy. The ability of the epoxy to react with almost any dry substrate provides a very versatile fabrication method. We characterize the two stage curing mechanism, describe the device fabrication, and evaluate the bond strength.
Reflex control of the cutaneous circulation after acute and chronic local capsaicin.

To investigate whether local activity of capsaicin-sensitive sensory afferents in the skin has a modulatory role in the reflex cutaneous vasodilator response to hyperthermia in humans, experiments were conducted in two parts. First, low-dose topical capsaicin (0.025%) was administered acutely to stimulate local activity of these afferents. Second, we temporarily desensitized these nerves in a small area of skin using chronic capsaicin treatment (0.075% for 7 days). Each intervention was followed by whole body heating using water-perfused suits and then by local warming to 42 degrees C for assessment of maximum cutaneous vascular conductance. Skin blood flow was measured by laser-Doppler flowmetry and divided by mean arterial pressure (Finapres) for assessment of cutaneous vascular conductance. Maximum vascular conductance was not influenced by either acute or chronic capsaicin treatment (P > 0.10). After acute capsaicin, baseline cutaneous vascular conductance was elevated above that at control sites (25.34 +/- 6.25 vs. 10.57 +/- 2.42%max; P < 0.05). However, internal temperature thresholds for vasodilation were not affected by either acute or chronic capsaicin (P > 0.10). Furthermore, neither acute (control: 112.74 +/- 36.83 vs. acute capsaicin: 96.92 +/- 28.92%max/ degrees C; P > 0.10) nor chronic (control: 142.45 +/- 61.89 vs. chronic capsaicin: 132.12 +/- 52.60%max/ degrees C; P > 0.10) capsaicin administration influenced the sensitivity of the reflex cutaneous vasodilator response. We conclude that local activity of capsaicin-sensitive afferents in the skin does not modify reflex cutaneous vasodilation during hyperthermia.
Packet tracing and analysis of network cameras with Wireshark

Although people think that their identity is not revealed on the internet, the confidentiality and protection of personal information on unreliable networks such as the internet is an important question. In this study, a sample application on network packet tracing and analysis of network cameras with Wireshark program is realized to show how partial access to personal information and location information is obtained. As it is shown, network packets coming from/sent to IP cameras can be traced and analysed with Wireshark program. Moreover, it is shown that the location information can easily be obtained. This confirms that personal information can be captured and used for illegal purposes if the data is transferred over unreliable networks.