Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Temporal event clustering for digital photo collections

We present similarity-based methods to cluster digital photos by time and image content. The approach is general, unsupervised, and makes minimal assumptions regarding the structure or statistics of the photo collection. We present results for the algorithm based solely on temporal similarity, and jointly on temporal and content-based similarity. We also describe a supervised algorithm based on learning vector quantization. Finally, we include experimental results for the proposed algorithms and several competing approaches on two test collections.
SUPERBOT: A Deployable, Multi-Functional, and Modular Self-Reconfigurable Robotic System

Self-reconfigurable robots are modular robots that can autonomously change their shape and size to meet specific operational demands. Recently, there has been a great interest in using self-reconfigurable robots in applications such as reconnaissance, rescue missions, and space applications. Designing and controlling self-reconfigurable robots is a difficult task. Hence, the research has primarily been focused on developing systems that can function in a controlled environment. This paper presents a novel self-reconfigurable robotic system called SuperBot, which addresses the challenges of building and controlling deployable self-reconfigurable robots. Six prototype modules have been built and preliminary experimental results demonstrate that SuperBot is a flexible and powerful system that can be used in challenging real-world applications
Just-for-us: a context-aware mobile information system facilitating sociality

Mobile computer technologies are increasingly being appropriated and used to facilitate people's social life outside the work domain. Addressing this emerging domain of use, we present the design of a context-aware mobile information system prototype facilitating sociality in public places: Just-for-Us. The design of the prototype system was informed by two empirical studies: an architectural analysis of a recently built public space in Melbourne, Australia and a field study of small groups socialising there. We describe these two studies and illustrate how findings informed our prototype design. Finally, we outline an ongoing field study of the use of the Just-for-Us prototype.
Key Practice Areas of Lean Manufacturing

Today, many organizations are enthusiastic to adopt lean manufacturing strategy that would enable them to compete in this competitive globalization market. In this respect, it is necessary to assess the implementation of lean manufacturing in different organizations so that the important best practices can be identified. This paper describes the development of key areas which will be used to assess the adoption and implementation of lean manufacturing practices. Specifically, a set of 14 key areas is developed based on a thorough analysis and synthesis of previous studies. These areas are work processes, scheduling, inventory, equipment, layout, material handling, employees, quality, product design, suppliers, tools and techniques, customers, ergonomics and safety, and management and culture.
A Polynomial-Time Algorithm for Action Graph Games

Action-Graph Games (AGGs) (Bhat & Leyton-Brown 2004) are a fully expressive game representation which can compactly express strict and context-specific independence and anonymity structure in players' utility functions. We present an efficient algorithm for computing expected payoffs under mixed strategy profiles. This algorithm runs in time polynomial in the size of the AGG representation (which is itself polynomial in the number of players when the in-degree of the action graph is bounded). We also present an extension to the AGG representation which allows us to compactly represent a wider variety of structured utility functions.
Bounds and approximations for optimum combining of signals in the presence of multiple cochannel interferers and thermal noise

We derive an upper bound and investigate some approximations on the symbol error probability (SEP) for coherent detection of M-ary phase-shift keying, using an array of antennas with optimum combining in wireless systems in the presence of multiple uncorrelated equal-power cochannel interferers and thermal noise in a Rayleigh fading environment. Our results are general and valid for an arbitrary number of antenna elements as well as an arbitrary number of interferers. In particular, the exact SEP is derived for an arbitrary number of antennas and interferers; the computational complexity of the exact solution depends on the minimum number of antennas and interferers. Moreover, closed-form approximations are provided for the cases of dual optimum combining with an arbitrary number of interferers, and of two interferers with an arbitrary number of antenna elements. We show that our bounds and approximations are close to Monte Carlo simulation results for all cases considered in this paper.
Patching the Heart: Cardiac Repair From Within and Outside

Transplantation of engineered tissue patches containing either progenitor cells or cardiomyocytes for cardiac repair is emerging as an exciting treatment option for patients with postinfarction left ventricular remodeling. The beneficial effects may evolve directly from remuscularization or indirectly through paracrine mechanisms that mobilize and activate endogenous progenitor cells to promote neovascularization and remuscularization, inhibit apoptosis, and attenuate left ventricular dilatation and disease progression. Despite encouraging results, further improvements are necessary to enhance current tissue engineering concepts and techniques and to achieve clinical impact. Herein, we review several strategies for cardiac remuscularization and paracrine support that can induce cardiac repair and attenuate left ventricular dysfunction from both within and outside the myocardium.
Compressed ISAR autofocusing: Experimental results

This paper is reporting some experimental results of compressed inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging. The autofocusing procedure accepting sparse echoes is developed, which consists of range alignment and phase correction as in conventional ISAR processing. Range alignment is implemented through minimizing the entropy of the average range profile, while phase correction is accomplished using the eigenvector method. The presented results have suggested further applicability of compressed sensing (CS) in the ISAR technique.
SPIN INTERACTIONS AT THE INTERFACES FERROMAGNETIC OXIDE/FERROMAGNETIC INTERMETALLIC SUPERLATTICE

The magnetic properties of the heterostructures consisting of platinum Pt, epitaxially grown manganite optimally doped by strontium La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 (LSMO), rare earth intermetallic superlattices consisting of exchange-coupled layers TbCo 2 /FeCo (TCFC), and the epitaxial film of yttrium iron garnet Y 3 Fe 5 O1 2 (YIG) were investigated. The TCFC material provides giant magnetostriction, large magnitude of the magnetomechanical coupling coefficient, and controlled induced magnetic anisotropy. In addition TCFC, as well as Pt, has strong spin-orbit interaction. Experimental studies have shown that the magnetic interaction of the heterostructure (TeCo 2 / FeCo)n/LSMO has an antiferromagnetic character. An increase of linewidth of the ferromagnetic resonance in the Pt/LSMO structure was observed and explained by the spin current flow induced in Pt film by the LSMO film at ferromagnetic resonance. In the TCFC/YIG heterostructure, an electric voltage induced in the TCFC film was observed and explained by the inverse spin-Hall effect under conditions of ferromagnetic resonance.
Design and analysis of a satellite-mount array-fed parabolic antenna by electromagnetic computations

Precise contoured beam is very important in designing antenna system for satellite broadcasting application. Through accurate contoured beam design, constant signal and optimum beam performance can be achieved throughout the region. For the case of Malaysia, two separate contoured beams for the peninsular and Borneo regions must be obtained. In this paper, a lightweight non-symmetrical array feed structure is designed to illuminate a single parabolic reflector. For this structure, calculation of the exact positions of radiating element on a widely distributed feed area is the most critical aspect in achieving an optimum contoured beam. Therefore, an accurate two-dimensional caustic locus graph is used to determine the position of the array elements on the radiating patch. Optimization of amplitude excitations of each element is performed to ensure less than -3dB variation along the edge of coverage (EOC). The performance of the multi-element asymmetrical patch feed integrated with parabolic reflector system are analyzed and verified through MOM-based FEKO solver.
Mix and Match : A Strategyproof Mechanism for Multi-Hospital Kidney Exchange I

As kidney exchange programs are growing, manipulation by hospitals becomes more of an issue. Assuming that hospitals wish to maximize the number of their own patients who receive a kidney, they may have an incentive to withhold some of their incompatible donor-patient pairs and match them internally, thus harming social welfare. We study mechanisms for twoway exchanges that are strategyproof, i.e., make it a dominant strategy for hospitals to report all their incompatible pairs. We establish lower bounds We have benefited from valuable discussions with Moshe Tennenholtz and David Parkes. An earlier version of this paper appeared in the Proceedings of the 11th ACM Conference on Electronic Commerce. Email addresses: iashlagi@mit.edu (Itai Ashlagi), fischerf@statslab.cam. ac.uk (Felix Fischer), iankash@microsoft.com (Ian A. Kash), arielpro@cs.cmu. edu (Ariel D. Procaccia) The author thanks the NSF for financial support. Support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under grant FI 1664/1-1 is gratefully acknowledged. Preprint submitted to Games and Economic Behavior May 20, 2013 on the welfare loss of strategyproof mechanisms, both deterministic and randomized, and propose a randomized mechanism that guarantees at least half of the maximum social welfare in the worst case. Simulations using realistic distributions for blood types and other parameters suggest that in practice our mechanism performs much closer to optimal.
Cotton-Surfaced Nonwovens for Short-Wear-Cycle Apparel

Cotton-surfaced nonwovens have been developed with cotton on one side or both sides of a core structure in which the cotton content varies from 41–75% of the fabric weight. The thermally bonded two or three layered laminates are soft but strong and have a hand similar to cotton knits or hydroentangled fabrics. The fabrics have also demonstrated excellent wetting, wicking rates, water adsorption and water retention properties. Although these novel fabrics have notable flexibility and extensibility as produced, a post-treatment process provides the fabrics with instantaneous elastic recoveries ranging from 83–93% from an extension of 50%. The fabrics exhibit minimal linting characteristics and would be suitable as medical isolation gowns, head covers and shoe covers, bed sheets, pillow cases and for consumer applications such as disposable underwear, towels, wipers and personal hygiene products.
The smartphone as a medical device: Assessing enablers, benefits and challenges

Over one billion smartphones have now been shipped worldwide. These mobile devices feature multi-core CPUs and GPUs, megapixel cameras and an array of sensors. Smartphone sensors can now be processed to diagnose a wide variety of medical conditions including cough detection, irregular heartbeat detection, and lung function analysis. The ability to diagnose ailments in the convenience of patients' homes on smartphones that they already possess could lead to early detection, which could ultimately reduce healthcare costs. This paper reviews state-of-the-art examples, examines the technical issues involved in the use of the smartphone as a medical device, and outlines potential benefits and challenges. A case study of an Android smartphone app for wound detection and healing progress analysis by diabetes patients is also presented.
Susceptibility to oxidative stress: proteomic analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage from ozone‐sensitive and ozone‐resistant strains of mice

Previous studies have shown that the pulmonary response to ozone (O3) varies greatly among strains of mice, but the factor(s) and the mechanism(s) that are responsible for this differential susceptibility have not yet been clearly identified. The present study explores the molecular bases for this differential O3 susceptibility by studying the expression of proteins associated to the epithelial lining fluid (ELF) from two strains of mice, C57BL/6J and the C3H/HeJ, respectively described as O3‐sensitive and O3‐resistant. The ELF proteins of these two strains were displayed by two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis (2‐DE) of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALFs) and the protein patterns obtained with BALF samples of both strains were compared. Two major differences were observed between the BALF 2‐DE protein maps obtained from C57BL/6J and C3H/HeJ strains. First, two isoforms of the antioxidant protein 2 (AOP2) were detected in a strain‐dependent manner: C3J/HeJ possesses only AOP2a (isoelectric point 5.7) and C57BL/6J exhibits only AOP2b (isoelectric point 6.0). Second, the levels of anti‐inflammatory and immunosuppressive Clara cell protein‐16 (CC16) were 1.3 times higher in the BALF from resistant C3H/HeJ than from sensitive C57BL/6 mice. Moreover, two 6 kDa isoforms of CC16 with isoelectric points of 4.9 (CC16a) and 5.2 (CC16b) are detected in both strains. Interestingly, the C57BL/6J strain had a twice decreased level of the acidic isoform of CC16 compared to C3H/HeJ. Our results suggest that AOP2 and CC16 might participate in the protection of the pulmonary tract to O3‐induced lung injury. The possible differential contribution of specific protein isoforms in the differential susceptibility to oxidative stress is discussed.
Semiconductor Package Thermal Impedance Extraction for Modelica Thermal Network Simulation Combined with VHDL-AMS model

Because of the emerging market demand for higher power with higher efficiency for the power semiconductor devices, thermal design of the semiconductor package and its cooling method has become one of the key elements for the power supply systems in power electric design. Thus, many thermal designers now require the junction-to-case thermal Impedance ZθJC since it is one of the most important thermal characteristics of semiconductor devices and thus, in November 2010, the more reliable and sufficiently reproducible measurement method without a case temperature measurement has been standardized by JEDEC as JESD 51-14 (https://www.jedec.org/standardsdocuments/docs/jesd51-14-0) This paper shows the new feature in ANSYS simulation tool, ANSYS Electronics Desktop, which extracts ZθJC from JESD 51-14 compliant measurement data. The extracted ZθJC , or its cumulative expression of thermal resistance ∑ (Rthi) n i=1 and capacitance∑ (Cthi) n i=1 called “structure function”, is transformed to the Modelica thermal ladder network model. This Modelica model was simulated by ANSYS TwinBuilder, Multi-domain system simulator, and the junction temperature is reproduced by this simulation, that agreed well with the original measured temperature data. Further, ZθJC is split into two components, Junction-to-Die part(IC package DUT) and Heat-sink part(cold plate) in accordance with the guideline of Transient Dual Interface Measurement Procedure principle described in JESD 51-14. Then, ZθJC corresponding to IC package structure part is transformed to the VHDL-AMS model ( as IC Package thermal compact model ) while Heat-sink structure part is transformed to Modelica model(as testing fixture structure model) . Those models built by two wellknown physical model description languages were connected with the acausal (i.e., conservative) condition in ANSYS TwinBuilder and the thermal response of the combined model is evaluated. The result of the simulation matches to the full Junction-to-Heat-sink Modelica thermal ladder network model, that ensures Modelica and VHDL-AMS models can be connected in a single physical multi-domain system simulation environment in ANSYS TwinBuilder under the energy conservative principle, that might expand the potential applicability and the coverage for Modelica simulation for the broader application area. Please send an email to eiji.nakamoto@ansys.com if there are any questions or suggestions regarding this paper.
Hardware-assisted Occlusion Culling for Scene Graph Systems

This thesis describes different aspects of occlusion cullin g algorithms for the efficient rendering of 3D scenes with rasterization hardware. S c ne graphs are used as data structures for the scenes to support a wide range of diff erent applications. All presented algorithms permit modifications of the graphs at r untime and therefore the algorithms are suitable for dynamic scenes. The thesis consists of three parts. The first part compares diff erent techniques to determine the visibility of a single scene graph node. All techniques have the same characteristic in that they utilize the depth informat ion on the graphics hardware in some way. Unfortunately, each access to the hardware requires some latency. Therefore the second part of this thesis presents some algori thms to reduce the number of these accesses to the graphics hardware. The algorithm s take advantage of a lower resolution representation of the scene graph nodes in screen-space on the one hand, and they also use the informations of previous occlusi on queries on the other. Because all the presented algorithms use the depth values of the currently rendered scene, the order of the rendering and the occlusion tests is i mportant. Hence the third part of this thesis presents a novel algorithm for the t raversal of a scene graph which efficiently utilizes hardware occlusion queries. Ther efo e the algorithm uses screen-space coherence in combination with a front-to-bac k sorted traversal of the scene graph in object-space. To determine the occlusion, th e algorithm bundles individual occlusion tests in multiple occlusion queries. The se can be asynchronously performed to reduce the latency. All presented algorithms deliberately do not use special – s patial – data structures for the scene to avoid long preprocessing times or restricti ons n the use of dynamic scenes. Also, the algorithms do not exploit temporal cohere nce between the frames, because this results in limitations for dynamic and interac tive scenes. However, the presented algorithms admit an efficient rendering of scenes with high depth complexity.
Recommender Systems : Investigating the Impact of Recommendations on User Choices and Behaviors

Recommender systems have been used in many information systems, helping users handle information overload by providing users with a way to receive specific recommendations that fulfill their information seeking needs. Research in this area has been focused on the recommender system algorithms and improving the core technology so that recommendations are robust. However, little research is focused on the user-centered perspective of recommendations provided by recommender systems and the impact of recommendations on user’s information behaviors. In this paper, we describe the results of an exploratory survey study on a book recommender system, LibraryThing, and the impact of recommendations on user choices, particularly what users do as a result of getting a recommendation. Based on survey respondents, our results indicate that users prefer member recommendations rather than the algorithm-based automatic recommendations and about two third of users that responded are influenced by the recommendations in their various information activities.
Cardiovascular Comorbidities Relate More than Others with Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objectives To explore the influence of comorbidities on clinical outcomes and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods In patients included in the cross-sectional observational multicenter international study COMORA, demographics, disease characteristics and comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, renal failure, ischemic heart disease, stroke, cancer, gastro-intestinal ulcers, hepatitis, depression, chronic pulmonary disease, obesity) were collected. Multivariable linear regression models explored the relationship between each comorbidity and disease activity measures: 28-swollen joint count (SJC), 28-tender joint count (TJC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), patient’s and physician’s global assessment (PtGA, PhGA), patient reported fatigue and 28-Disease Activity Score (DAS28). Results are expressed as mean difference (MD) adjusted for the main confounders (age, gender, disease characteristics and treatment). Results A total of 3,920 patients were included: age (mean ±SD) 56.27 ±13.03 yrs, female 81.65%, disease duration median 7.08 yrs (IQR 2.97–13.27), DAS28 (mean ±SD) 3.74 ± 1.55. Patients with diabetes had more swollen and tender joints and worse PtGA and PhGA (MD +1.06, +0.93, +0.53 and +0.54, respectively). Patients with hyperlipidemia had a lower number of swollen and tender joints, lower ESR and better PtGA and PhGA (MD -0.77, -0.56, -3.56, -0.31 and -0.35, respectively). Patients with history of ischemic heart disease and obese patients had more tender joints (MD +1.27 and +1.07) and higher ESR levels (MD +5.64 and +5.20). DAS28 is influenced exclusively by cardiovascular comorbidities, in particular diabetes, hyperlipidemia, ischemic heart disease and obesity. Conclusions Cardiovascular comorbidities relate more than others with disease activity in RA. Diabetes and hyperlipidemia in particular seem associated with higher and lower disease activity respectively influencing almost all considered outcomes, suggesting a special importance of this pattern of comorbidities in disease activity assessment and clinical management.
Early-time polarized optical light curve of GRB 131030A

We report the polarized optical light curve of a gamma-ray burst afterglow obtained using the RoboPol instrument. Observations began 655 s after the initial burst of gamma-rays from GRB 131030A, and continued uninterrupted for 2 h. The afterglow displayed a low, constant fractional linear polarization of p = (2.1 ± 1.6) per cent throughout, which is similar to the interstellar polarization measured on nearby stars. The optical brightness decay is consistent with a forward-shock propagating in a medium of constant density, and the low polarization fraction indicates a disordered magnetic field in the shock front. This supports the idea that the magnetic field is amplified by plasma instabilities on the shock front. These plasma instabilities produce strong magnetic fields with random directions on scales much smaller than the total observable region of the shock, and the resulting randomly-oriented polarization vectors sum to produce a low net polarization over the total observable region of the shock.
Perceived coach-created and peer-created motivational climates and their associations with team cohesion and athlete satisfaction: evidence from a longitudinal study

Abstract In this longitudinal study, we examined the extent to which perceived coach- and peer-created motivational climates are associated with athlete-group cohesion and satisfaction with participation among Spanish soccer players competing in the Third National Division. Multilevel modelling analyses showed that perceived coach-created task climate was positively related to perceived cohesion and players’ satisfaction with their participation within their team. Also, perceived peer-created task climate related positively to perceived cohesion. The results indicate the importance of considering peer-related aspects of the motivational climate in addition to considering the coach-related aspects of the motivational climate when examining motivational group dynamics in sport.