Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
6-DOF Camera Pose Estimation Using Reference Points on an Aerial Image without Altitude Information

: A new method for estimating a six-degrees-of-freedom camera pose for a ground-view image using reference points on an aerial image is presented. Unlike typical P n P problems, altitude information is not available for the reference points in our case. The camera pose is estimated by minimizing a cost function deﬁned as the sum of squared distances between observed 2D positions of reference points on a ground-view image and corresponding lines that are projections of 3D vertical lines passing through 2D reference points on an aerial image. The accuracy of the proposed method is evaluated quantitatively in both simulation and real environments. The availability of the proposed method is demonstrated by generating AR images from aerial and ground-view images downloaded from Google Maps and Flickr.
My Story, Your Story, Our Stories: A Community Art-Based Research Project

Abstract In this art-based research project an art therapist utilized reproductions of historic documents and letters discovered in an old building to create a body of three-dimensional art that chronicled local and family history and inquired into societal prejudices of the past. The resulting sculptures and altered books were exhibited in the Missouri History Museum's library such that patrons could encounter them in a seek-and-find activity that parallels a common creative process in research. The artwork and library exhibition inspired four community workshops where a total of 270 participants inquired into and told their own family stories through art.
Donnai–Barrow syndrome (DBS/FOAR) in a child with a homozygous LRP2 mutation due to complete chromosome 2 paternal isodisomy

Donnai–Barrow syndrome [Faciooculoacousticorenal (FOAR) syndrome; DBS/FOAR] is a rare autosomal recessive disorder resulting from mutations in the LRP2 gene located on chromosome 2q31.1. We report a unique DBS/FOAR patient homozygous for a 4‐bp LRP2 deletion secondary to paternal uniparental isodisomy for chromosome 2. The propositus inherited the mutation from his heterozygous carrier father, whereas the mother carried only wild‐type LRP2 alleles. This is the first case of DBS/FOAR resulting from uniparental disomy (UPD) and the fourth published case of any paternal UPD 2 ascertained through unmasking of an autosomal recessive disorder. The absence of clinical symptoms above and beyond the classical phenotype in this and the other disorders suggests that paternal chromosome 2 is unlikely to contain imprinted genes notably affecting either growth or development. This report highlights the importance of parental genotyping in order to give accurate genetic counseling for autosomal recessive disorders. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Automatic Type Inference for Proactive Misconfiguration Prevention

Misconfigurations have become a major cause of software failures. Most research focuses on misconfiguration diagnosis and troubleshooting, which occur after the misconfigurations have happened. Actually, if we can prevent misconfiguration before software runs, many potential catastrophic failures of systems can be avoided, thus reducing customers’ downtime and support costs. In software configuration, we found that most configuration options have specific constraints, which have a strong connection with the configuration option type. If we can check the configuration settings against the inferred type before the software runs, many misconfigurations can be prevented. In this paper, we explore a name-based method called ConfTypeInferer to automatically infer the type of configuration options, which can help users to correctly configure and check settings, thus preventing misconfigurations proactively. We manually studied several popular open-source software projects to investigate the classification and naming conventions of configuration option. Based on these findings, we designed and implemented the ConfTypeInferer. We performed comprehensive experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of our method.
A reconfigurable routing protocol for free space optical sensor network

Recently, there is a growing interest in free space optical sensor network (FSOSN) for wireless applications due to the advantages of lower energy consumption, lower cost, and larger capacity. However, the unidirectional communication of FSOSN suffers from a dramatic decrease of connectivity if certain nodes die of the depletion of energy, which further results in huge loss of packets in data transmission. Thus, this paper proposes a reconfigurable routing protocol for FSOSN to overcome this problem by reconfiguring the network virtual topology. The protocol is operated in four steps: 1) virtual topology construction, 2) routing establishment, 3) routing table update, 4) reconfigurable routing. During data transmission, the data is firstly routed through the shortest hop path. Then the reconfiguration is initiated by the node whose residual energy is bellow a threshold. The nodes affected by this dying node are classified into two types: maintenance nodes and adjustment nodes. They are reconfigured according to their types. An energy model is set up and the performance of the protocol is evaluated and compared with simple-link, a modified secure integrated routing and localization scheme and a direct reconfiguration scheme in terms of connectivity, the number of living node and packet delivery ratio by OPNET simulation.
VSEM: An open library for visual semantics representation

VSEM is an open library for visual semantics. Starting from a collection of tagged images, it is possible to automatically construct an image-based representation of concepts by using off-theshelf VSEM functionalities. VSEM is entirely written in MATLAB and its objectoriented design allows a large flexibility and reusability. The software is accompanied by a website with supporting documentation and examples.
Power Aware Alternation : a novel power saving mechanism for ad hoc networks

Ad hoc networks are composed of mobile nodes without any centralized management entity. The appearance and the disappearance of the nodes are managed in a distributed way as well as the operation of routing, which forces each node to become itself router. There is an important traffic overhead to maintain the network connectivity and to assume the data transmission in spite of congestions. In addition ad hoc networks are characterized by limited energy resources. Considered as one of their critical issues, energy consumption determines and affects the lifetime of the ad hoc networks. In order to reduce energy consumption and increase the lifespan of the network, we propose a novel approach: Power Aware Alternation (PAA). Our work is based upon cooperation between mobile nodes to negotiate on the use of their energy. For some nodes, this cooperation permits to eliminate their network activity during a certain period (called inactive period) while keeping their presence in the network by delegation using some supporters, charged to collect their messages. In this paper we propose two versions of PAA, Synchronous PAA is based on alternation of active and inactive states between supporters at pre-definite periods. Asynchronous PAA requests a negotiation phase between groups of supporters before any entering in inactive state.
Praziquantel in a Clay Nanoformulation Shows More Bioavailability and Higher Efficacy against Murine Schistosoma mansoni Infection

ABSTRACT Consideration of existing compounds always simplifies and shortens the long and difficult process of discovering new drugs specifically for diseases of developing countries, an approach that may add to the significant potential cost savings. This study focused on improving the biological characteristics of the already-existing antischistosomal praziquantel (PZQ) by incorporating it into montmorillonite (MMT) clay as a delivery carrier to overcome its known bioavailability drawbacks. The oral bioavailability of a PZQ-MMT clay nanoformulation and its in vivo efficacy against Schistosoma mansoni were investigated. The PZQ-MMT clay nanoformulation provided a preparation with a controlled release rate, a decrease in crystallinity, and an appreciable reduction in particle size. Uninfected and infected mice treated with PZQ-MMT clay showed 3.61- and 1.96-fold and 2.16- and 1.94-fold increases, respectively, in area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 8 h (AUC0–8) and maximum concentration of drug in serum (Cmax), with a decrease in elimination rate constant (kel) by 2.84- and 1.35-fold and increases in the absorption rate constant (ka) and half-life (t1/2e) by 2.11- and 1.51-fold and 2.86- and 1.34-fold, respectively, versus the corresponding conventional PZQ-treated groups. This improved bioavailability has been expressed in higher efficacy of the drug, where the dose necessary to kill 50% of the worms was reduced by >3-fold (PZQ 50% effective dose [ED50] was 20.25 mg/kg of body weight for PZQ-MMT clay compared to 74.07 mg/kg for conventional PZQ), with significant reduction in total tissue egg load and increase in total immature, mature, and dead eggs in most of the drug-treated groups. This formulation showed better bioavailability, enhanced antischistosomal efficacy, and a safer profile despite the longer period of residence in the systemic circulation. Although the conventional drug's toxicity was not examined, animal mortality rates were not different between groups receiving the test PZQ-clay nanoformulation and conventional PZQ.
Merging components and testing tools: the self-testing COTS components (STECC) strategy

Development of a software system from existing components can surely have various benefits, but can also entail a series of problems. One type of problem is caused by a limited exchange of information between the developer and user of a component. A limited exchange and thereby a lack of information can have various consequences, among them the requirement to test a component prior to its integration into a software system. A lack of information cannot only make test prior to integration necessary, it can also complicate this tasks. We propose a new strategy to testing components and making components testable. The basic idea of the strategy is to merge components and testing tools in order to make components capable of testing their own methods. Such components allow their thorough testing without disclosing detailed information, such as source code. This strategy thereby fulfills the needs of both the developer and user of a component.
The structure‐specific endonuclease Ercc1—Xpf is required for targeted gene replacement in embryonic stem cells

The Ercc1—Xpf heterodimer, a highly conserved structure‐specific endonuclease, functions in multiple DNA repair pathways that are pivotal for maintaining genome stability, including nucleotide excision repair, interstrand crosslink repair and homologous recombination. Ercc1—Xpf incises double‐stranded DNA at double‐strand/single‐strand junctions, making it an ideal enzyme for processing DNA structures that contain partially unwound strands. Here we demonstrate that although Ercc1 is dispensable for recombination between sister chromatids, it is essential for targeted gene replacement in mouse embryonic stem cells. Surprisingly, the role of Ercc1—Xpf in gene targeting is distinct from its previously identified role in removing nonhomologous termini from recombination intermediates because it was required irrespective of whether the ends of the DNA targeting constructs were heterologous or homologous to the genomic locus. Our observations have implications for the mechanism of gene targeting in mammalian cells and define a new role for Ercc1—Xpf in mammalian homologous recombination. We propose a model for the mechanism of targeted gene replacement that invokes a role for Ercc1—Xpf in making the recipient genomic locus receptive for gene replacement.
Bureaucratic response to policy change: implementation of adult education policy in Norway

Our main concern was to investigate the implementation of the new Education Act, giving adults the statutory right to complete upper secondary education. Referring to a ‘top‐down’ and a ‘bottom‐up’ perspective we have investigated how the representatives of the county authorities (the bureaucrats) interpret and practise the specific section of the Act in relation to their definition, moral evaluation and economic view. The interpretation of the section in the Act and the practice varied. Two counties were proactive, result‐oriented and generous, while four counties were passive, act‐oriented and restrictive in their implementation. The implementation was influenced by the bureaucrats’ attitudes, decisions and actions. They had their own agenda, moral standard, interest and so on, which influenced their interpretation and practice. Our study indicates that it is not enough just to formulate a right. How it is formulated, and how it is interpreted and perceived may affect the implementation process.
The Synergistic Role of Light-Feeding Phase Relations on Entraining Robust Circadian Rhythms in the Periphery

The feeding and fasting cycles are strong behavioral signals that entrain biological rhythms of the periphery. The feeding rhythms synchronize the activities of the metabolic organs, such as liver, synergistically with the light/dark cycle primarily entraining the suprachiasmatic nucleus. The likely phase misalignment between the feeding rhythms and the light/dark cycles appears to induce circadian disruptions leading to multiple physiological abnormalities motivating the need to investigate the mechanisms behind joint light-feeding circadian entrainment of peripheral tissues. To address this question, we propose a semimechanistic mathematical model describing the circadian dynamics of peripheral clock genes in human hepatocyte under the control of metabolic and light rhythmic signals. The model takes the synergistically acting light/dark cycles and feeding rhythms as inputs and incorporates the activity of sirtuin 1, a cellular energy sensor and a metabolic enzyme activated by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. The clock gene dynamics was simulated under various light-feeding phase relations and intensities, to explore the feeding entrainment mechanism as well as the convolution of light and feeding signals in the periphery. Our model predicts that the peripheral clock genes in hepatocyte can be completely entrained to the feeding rhythms, independent of the light/dark cycle. Furthermore, it predicts that light-feeding phase relationship is a critical factor in robust circadian oscillations.
Eurographics/siggraph Symposium on Computer Animation (2003) a Real-time Cloud Modeling, Rendering, and Animation System

Modeling and animating complex volumetric natural phenomena, such as clouds, is a difficult task. Most systems are difficult to use, require adjustment of numerous, complex parameters, and are non-interactive. Therefore, we have developed an intuitive, interactive system to artistically model, animate, and render visually convincing vol-umetric clouds using modern consumer graphics hardware. Our natural, high-level interface models volumetric clouds through the use of qualitative cloud attributes. The animation of the implicit skeletal structures and independent transformation of octaves of noise emulate various environmental conditions. The resulting interactive design, rendering, and animation system produces perceptually convincing volumetric cloud models that can be used in interactive systems or exported for higher quality offline rendering.
The i‐gel™ airway for ventilation and rescue intubation

However, continuous intravenous midazolam infusion is another commonly used agent that will preclude BSD testing and it is almost certain that a similar inconsistency and confusion exists. Accumulation of midazolam and its active metabolite, 1-hydroxymidazolam glucuronide, are known to occur in critical illness, especially in the presence of renal impairment and it may take several days for adequate elimination to occur [5, 6]. In the absence of a clear understanding of how to determine the absence of pharmacological sedation it is logical to explore the feasibility of ancillary investigations to assist with or determine BSD diagnosis. The draft revision of the Code of Practice does indeed mention ancillary investigations such as fourvessel angiography, transcranial Doppler, magnetic resonance angiography, positron emission tomography and evoked potentials. However, the draft was unable to provide significant support for their use due to the lack of clear evidence of their role. I believe it is vital that we start to record how many UK patients fail to undergo BSD testing due to persisting sedation by adding this data to the Potential Donor Audit. There is a need to reach consensus on the use of ancillary investigations in the diagnosis of death and on the correct method for the assessment of potential residual sedation caused by longer acting agents. We can then move significantly closer to the goal of allowing all brain stem dead patients to donate if that has been their expressed wish.
Parental involvemet in the education of African learners with intellectual disabilities

Amongst the many disadvantaged groups in the world, an important minority are children with intellectual disabilities. Relative to their counterparts without intellectual disabilities, children with intellectual disabilities face a wide spectrum of challenges, including learning difficulties, social segregation and negative stereotyping. This study sought to determine the effects of parental involvement in the education of children with learning disabilities. The study is both quantitative and qualitative approach. Purposive sampling was used in choosing the sample. The key informants were teachers in five different special schools, (3 in Gauteng Province and 2 in the Northwest Province). For data collection, a designed questionnaire with semi-structured interview was used. The study found that there is a lack of important facilities; teachers were not trained to teach in special schools; male teachers were fewer than female teachers; learners with severe, moderate and mild disabilities were accommodated in one class and not much parent involvement in some schools, especially in rural areas. Children with intellectual disabilities find it difficult to perform various functions such as communicating and socialising with others, and in many situations, even looking after themselves. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014. v5n20p1629
Soil fungal effects on floral signals, rewards, and aboveground interactions in an alpine pollination web.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Plants interact with above- and belowground organisms; the combined effects of these interactions determine plant fitness and trait evolution. To better understand the ecological and evolutionary implications of multispecies interactions, we explored linkages between soil fungi, pollinators, and floral larcenists in Polemonium viscosum (Polemoniaceae). METHODS Using a fungicide, we experimentally reduced fungal colonization of krummholz and tundra P. viscosum in 2008-2009. We monitored floral signals and rewards, interactions with pollinators and larcenists, and seed set for fungicide-treated and control plants. KEY RESULTS Fungicide effects varied among traits, between interactions, and with environmental context. Treatment effects were negligible in 2008, but stronger in 2009, especially in the less-fertile krummholz habitat. There, fungicide increased nectar sugar content and damage by larcenist ants, but did not affect pollination. Surprisingly, fungicide also enhanced seed set, suggesting that direct resource costs of soil fungi exceed indirect benefits from reduced larceny. In the tundra, fungicide effects were negligible in both years. However, pooled across treatments, colonization by mycorrhizal fungi in 2009 correlated negatively with the intensity and diversity of floral volatile organic compounds, suggesting integrated above- and belowground signaling pathways. CONCLUSIONS Fungicide effects on floral rewards in P. viscosum link soil fungi to ecological costs of pollinator attraction. Trait-specific linkages to soil fungi should decouple expression of sensitive and buffered floral phenotypes in P. viscosum. Overall, this study demonstrates how multitrophic linkages may lead to shifting selection pressures on interaction traits, restricting the evolution of specialization.
Urban political ecology I

It has been over 15 years since the term ‘urban political ecology’ (UPE) was coined. While still often not incorporated into larger discussion of political ecology, its growing visibility in the published literature suggests that it has gone beyond an emerging theoretical lens to one that has fully emerged. This report characterizes the current literature that explicitly utilizes the language of UPE, discusses its theoretical evolution that is now seeing a second wave, as well as catalogs some of the new arenas through which the sub-field has offered novel insights into the socionatural unevenness of cities. A central contribution of this survey is to illustrate the myriad articulations of how urban environmental and social change co-determine each other and how these metabolic processes offer insights into creative pathways toward more democratic urban environmental politics.
On the transmission capacity of quantum networks

We provide various results about the transmission capacity of quantum networks. Our primary focus is on algorithmic methods to efficiently compute upper-bounds to the traffic that the network can handle at most, and to compute lower-bounds on the likelihood that a customer has to wait for service due to network congestion. This establishes analogous assertions as derived from Erlang B or Erlang C models for standard telecommunications. Our proposed methods, while specifically designed for quantum networks, do neither hinge on a particular quantum key distribution technology nor on any particular routing scheme. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach using a worked example. Moreover, we explicitly consider two different architectures for quantum key management, one of which employs individual key-buffers for each relay connection, the other using a shared key-buffer for every transmission. We devise specific methods for analyzing the network performance depending on the chosen key-buffer architecture, and our experiments led to quite different results for the two variants.
(R)-9-(2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)-2,6-diaminopurine is a potent inhibitor of feline immunodeficiency virus infection

The antiviral efficacy of acyclic nucleoside phosphonates, including 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl)adenine (PMEA) and (R)-9-(2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)-2,6-diaminopurine [(R)-PMPDAP] against feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection was determined. (R)-PMPDAP showed the highest selectivity index (> 2,000) in vitro. Treatment of experimentally FIV-infected asymptomatic cats with PMEA or (R)-PMPDAP had no effect on the CD4+/CD8+ ratio. However, mean plasma viral RNA concentrations decreased significantly in the (R)-PMPDAP-treated cats. Our data show that, in comparison to PMEA, (R)-PMPDAP is a more potent and less toxic inhibitor of FIV replication both in vitro and in vivo.
Four-leaf-clover-shaped EBG structure to improve the H/E field ratio of stripline coil for 7 Tesla MRI

This paper presents a multilayer four-leaf-clover-shaped EBG structure as a high impedance surface behind a 7 Tesla MRI stripline coil (meander dipole), operating at 300MHz. The proposed EBG structure has been characterized by its in-phase band gap reflection coefficient, and the surface wave suppression band gap properties. The electrical cell size of the analyzed EBG structure has been reduced to 6.8% of free-space wavelength. The MRI stripline coil backed by the proposed EBG structure exhibited stronger (by 57%) magnetic over electric field ratio than the original design using a PEC ground plane for the coil. The longitudinal RF field of view (FOV) has been maximized when the strip-line coil length is increased from 25cm to 35cm.