Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human modelling from multiple views

A long standing problem in computer graphics and animation is the production of synthetic computer graphics models whose appearance, movement and behaviour are visually indistinguishable from the real world. This thesis addresses the problem of reconstructing visually realistic computer graphics models of real people using multiple camera views. A model-based computer vision algorithm is introduced to reconstruct the shape and appearance of a person in an arbitrary pose viewed in a multiple camera studio. Current techniques for multiple view reconstruction address the problem of general scene recovery. These non model-based approaches can fail to accurately reconstruct shape and appearance in the presence of visual ambiguities. The techniques also provide no structure to edit or reuse the captured content in computer animation. The primary novel contributions in this research work are 1) a shape constrained deformable model formulation to match a generic model to shape information in multiple view silhouettes in the presence of visual ambiguities; and 2) a model-based multiple view reconstruction algorithm to recover a model that matches appearance across multiple views to sub-pixel accuracy. Model-based multiple view reconstruction of people is evaluated and results are presented for the reconstruction of shape and appearance of people in an arbitrary pose. The recovered models provide an accurate shape representation for a person and a visual appearance approaching the quality of the original camera images. The models also provide a consistent structured representation for the editing, synthesis and transmission of 3D content in computer graphics and animation.
Design of a novel Artificial Magnetic Conductor plane and its application for low-profile dipole

Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC) surface can be used as reflector or ground plane for low-profile antennas. In this paper, a novel AMC unit cell which is printed on grounded dielectric substrate is proposed; whose overall size is 10mm×10mm (0.19λ5.8GHz×0.19λ5.8GHz). S11, reflection phase and surface impedance of the proposed AMC unit cell can be obtained by simulation. Two dipoles parallel placed over the proposed AMC structure and conversional PEC respectively. The overall height of the dipole with proposed AMC ground plane is 0. 08λ5.8GHz, less than one tenth of operating wavelength, and the dipole backward radiation can be reduced. However, the overall height of dipole with PEC ground plane is 0.25 λ 5.8GHz. Simulation results verify the proposed AMC unit cell can be used as ground plane for low-profile antennas. The proposed unit cell is easily fabricated than mushroom type structure and has smaller size than UC-PBG structure and square patch structure.
Magnesium in Drinking Water Modifies the Association Between Trihalomethanes and the Risk of Death From Colon Cancer

The objectives of this study were to (1) examine the relationship between total trihalomethanes (TTHM) levels in public water supplies and death attributed to colon cancer and (2) determine whether magnesium (Mg) levels in drinking water modify the effects of TTHM on risk of colon cancer development. A matched case-control study was used to investigate the relationship between the risk of death attributed to colon cancer and exposure to total trihalomethanes (TTHM) in drinking water in 53 municipalities in Taiwan. All colon cancer deaths of the 53 municipalities from 1998 through 2007 were obtained from the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the Taiwan Provincial Department of Health. Controls were deaths from other causes and were pair-matched to the cancer cases by gender, year of birth, and year of death. Each matched control was selected randomly from the set of possible controls for each cancer case. Data on TTHM levels in drinking water were collected from Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration. Information on the levels of Mg in drinking water was obtained from the Taiwan Water Supply Corporation. The municipality of residence for cancer cases and controls was presumed to be the source of the subject's TTHM and Mg exposure via drinking water. Relative to individuals whose TTHM exposure levels were <4.9 ppb, the adjusted odds ration (OR) (with 95% confidence interval [CI]) for colon cancer was 1.14 (1.01–1.28) for individuals who had resided in municipalities served by drinking water with a TTHM exposure ≥4.9 ppb. Evidence of an interaction between drinking-water TTHM and Mg intake via drinking water was noted. This is the first study to report an effect modification by Mg intake from drinking water in association between TTHM exposure and risk of colon cancer occurrence. Better knowledge of this modifying factor will help in public policymaking and setting health standards.
The Ombudsman: Are Top Executives Paid Enough? An Evidence-Based Review

Our review of the evidence found that the notion that higher pay leads to the selection of better executives is undermined by the prevalence of poor recruiting methods. Moreover, higher pay fails to promote better performance. Instead, it undermines the intrinsic motivation of executives, inhibits their learning, leads them to ignore other stakeholders, and discourages them from considering the long-term effects of their decisions on stakeholders. Relating incentive payments to executives' actions in an effective manner is not possible. Incentives also encourage unethical behavior. Organizations would benefit from using validated methods to hire top executives, reducing compensation, eliminating incentive plans, and strengthening stockholder governance related to the hiring and compensation of executives.
Proposed guidelines for diagnosis of chromosome mosaicism in amniocytes based on data derived from chromosome mosaicism and pseudomosaicism studies

Currently, accepted protocol which has been developed at the Prenatal Diagnosis Laboratory of New York City (PDL) requires that when a chromosome abnormality is found in one or more cells in one flask, another 20–40 cells must be examined from one or two additional flasks. Chromosome mosaicism is diagnosed only when an identical abnormality is detected in cells from two or more flasks. In a recent PDL series of 12 000 cases studied according to this protocol, we diagnosed 801 cases (6.68 per cent) of single‐cell pseudomosaicism (SCPM), 126 cases (1.05 per cent) of multiple‐cell pseudomosaicism (MCPM), and 24 cases (0.2 per cent) of true mosaicism. Pseudomosaicism (PM) involving a structural abnormality was a frequent finding (2/3 of SCPM and 3/5 of MCPM), with an unbalanced structural abnormality in 55 per cent of SCPM and 24 per cent of MCPM. We also reviewed all true mosaic cases (a total of 50) diagnosed in the first 22000 PDL cases. Of these 50 cases, 23 were sex chromosome mosaics and 27 had autosomal mosaicism; 48 cases had numerical abnormalities and two had structural abnormalities. Twenty‐five cases of mosaicism were diagnosed in the first 20 cells from two flasks, i.e., without additional work‐up, whereas the other 25 cases required extensive work‐up to establish a diagnosis (12 needed additional cell counts from the initial two culture flasks; 13 required harvesting a third flask for cell analysis). Our data plus review of other available data led us to conclude that rigorous efforts to diagnose true mosaicism have little impact in many instances, and therefore are not cost‐effective.
The iterative resource allocation in interconnected networks

In the study of complex networks, identifying important nodes in propagation contributes a lot to the control of diffusion. Since real-world networks are often closely interacted, it seems promising to generalize the ranking algorithms of nodes to multi-layer networks. In this paper, the iterative resource allocation method is extended to interconnected networks for the identification of influential spreaders. The new method is verified by the SIR model in interconnected networks. Simulations show that the proposed model performs more accurately comparing the original IRA in monoplex networks.
Scene Text Recognition with a Hough Forest Implicit Shape Model

Scene text recognition is the problem of recognizing text in natural scene images taken in unconstrained manner. Many approaches have been proposed, but most of them utilize character models only in character recognition phase, the last stage of the process. If characteristic of the target character shape is utilized earlier for the text detection and extraction, text localization would be much easier and therefore, text recognition would be more robust. In this paper, we propose a novel scene text recognition approach which fully utilizes models of target characters from the beginning to the end of the recognition process. Each of target character set is modeled with part-based object model called Implicit Shape Model (ISM) to achieve robustness for partial degradation of text objects. Towards this end, we trained a Hough forest which localizes and aggregates character parts to detect characters candidates from an image. The detected character candidates are verified by organizing the most plausible text lines using dynamic programming. As concrete character models are utilized throughout the process, even extremely deformed texts are detected and recognized, which are hardly detected with previous approaches.
Government Multichannel Marketing: How to Seduce Citizens to the Web Channels?

Governments have a variety of channels at their disposal to interact with their citizens. Having realized that citizens still prefer the traditional channels, such as the front desk and the telephone, governments have to (re)think their multichannel marketing (MCM) strategies. In order to be successful, not only knowledge on citizen multichannel behavior is required but also on the effects of MCM instruments. Questions such as how do citizens' perceive the various instruments and to what extent are the instruments associated with each other rise up. Moreover, can instruments be used to target specific citizen segments? Based on qualitative depth interviews we formulate constructs to measure the citizens' perceptions on the instruments. Subsequently, we answer our research questions based on a quantitative survey amongst almost 2,000 citizens. As a result, this research increases the knowledge on government MCM and as such the possibilities to influence citizen multichannel behavior.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis of HIV in adults at high risk : Truvada ( emtricitabine / tenofovir disoproxil )

This evidence summary reviewed 4 randomised trials of Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil 200 mg/245 mg) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) of HIV in either HIV-negative men or transgender women who have sex with men, or HIV-negative individuals in a heterosexual partnership with a person already infected with HIV. In these trials, Truvada reduced the relative risk of acquiring HIV infection by between 44% and 86% compared with placebo or no prophylaxis, which is equivalent to approximate numbers needed to treat of between 13 and 68 per year. In all trials, Truvada was given in addition to a comprehensive package of prevention services including HIV testing, risk-reduction counselling, condoms and sexually transmitted infection management. In addition to efficacy, issues relating to uptake, adherence, sexual behaviour, drug resistance, safety, prioritisation for prophylaxis and cost-effectiveness are also important to consider, especially at a population level.
An assessment of resonant gate drive techniques for use in modern low power dc-dc converters

This paper is concerned with the investigation of existing gate drive topologies for use in low power, high frequency, dc-dc conversion. Each topology's theoretical characteristics are examined and verified in a detailed mathematical analysis suite. Simulation and experimental results emphasize the advantages, or otherwise, of the selected topologies. Practical issues in developing high frequency resonant gate drives are explored. The optimum topology for low power, high frequency dc-dc converter applications, based on the findings of this work, is then identified
Multiple-mode Kalman filtering with node selection using bearings-only measurements

This work investigates multiple-mode tracking method with node selection using bearings-only measurements. We combine multiple-mode extended Kalman filter with node resource management to conserve energy while tracking a maneuvering target. Experiments using real data show that the MM adapts quicker to target maneuvers than the realizable single-mode tracker. Additional experiments show that the simplex node selection leads to better geolocation performance compared to the closest node selection when the number of active nodes is set to two.
The influence of host haematocrit on the blood feeding success of Anopheles stephensi: implications for enhanced malaria transmission

Two studies were carried out to determine the effect of the rodent malaria Plasmodium yoelii nigeriensis on the blood feeding success of Anopheles stephensi. Initially, pairs of mice with similar packed cell volume (PCV) (measured by haematocrit) were selected. Following infection of one of the pair its PCV gradually fell. At various times post-infection, a comparison was made of the bloodmeal size (haemoglobin content) of mosquitoes feeding on these mice. The bloodmeal sizes increased with parasite-induced fall in PCV down to a haematocrit of 43–44%, which occurred approximately 48 h post-infection. Bloodmeals were significantly reduced, however, when mosquitoes fed on mice with higher parasitaemias and a haematocrit of 15–35%. Thus, at early stages of infection, mosquitoes ingested a bloodmeal significantly greater than did the mosquitoes feeding on the control mice. However, mosquitoes were not able to compensate for severe infection-associated anaemia. To compensate for variation due to innate differences in the mice, a second experiment was performed. Mosquitoes were fed on the same mice before (control) and after infection. Again, the bloodmeal size increased with decreasing PCV down to haematocrits of 42–45%, but declined thereafter. In this host–parasite–vector system, haematocrits that maximized erythrocyte intake were produced when gametocytes, capable of exflagellation, were present.
Homeobox genes: going for growth

The role of homeobox genes and dietary factors in gut growth and differentiation In this issue of Gut , Domon-Dell and colleagues1 report the influence of butyrate on the intestinal homeobox gene Cdx2 [ see page 525 ]. Butyrate is a byproduct of fibre fermentation by colonic bacteria and is known to be a substrate for colonocytes. Over the last few years there has been increasing interest in the function of genes involved in controlling the anatomical relationships between various organs. This article therefore touches on the role of homeobox genes and dietary factors in gut growth and differentiation. The development of multicellular animals is dependent on expression of a hierarchy of genes that sequentially provide increasingly detailed positional information. Many of these genes contain a highly preserved “homeobox” sequence that codes for a DNA binding homeo domain. In insects, a group of such genes—specifying the individual characteristics of body segments and known as homeotic selector genes of the Antp -type (the defining gene is named Antennapaedia )—are clustered in a complex known as the HOM cluster. These are expressed topographically in the same order as they occupy in chromosomal DNA. They are conserved strongly during evolution so that their homologues appear as four paraologous gene complexes known as Hox complexes which specify positional information in mammalian embryos. Other homeobox genes are scattered in …
Validation of UV spectroscopy for simultaneous estimation of stavudine , lamivudine and nevirapine in tablet formulations

Mostly antiretroviral drugs are estimated using methods which require expensive equipment and trained technicians. Spectrophotometric method is relatively simple and accurate for the estimation of antiretroviral drugs in pharmaceutical formulations which is also cost effective when compared to other specialized methods. In the present study, simultaneous quantification of stavudine (STV), lamivudine (LMV) and nevirapine (NVP) by UV spectroscopy method was developed. The drugs STV, LMV and NVP were quantified at 266, 271 and 315 nm, respectively. Recovery values of 98.92 100.12 %, 99.40 – 100.13%, 99.01100. 32% for STV, LMV and NVP respectively with percentage relative standard deviation of <1 shows that the developed method was accurate and precise. This method can be employed for the routine analysis of tablets containing STV, LMV and NVP as comparable to other methods requiring higher facilities.
The Next Treatment Option: Using Ventricular Assist Devices for Heart Failure

Ventricular assist devices (VADs) are becoming more commonplace in the hospital and community settings as the number of patients living with heart failure increases. Patients being discharged after hospitalization for heart failure rose from 399 000 in 1979 to 1 099 000 in 2004, an increase of 175%. Patients with heart failure become severely debilitated finding activities of daily living including eating, bathing, and walking a great effort. Patients with end-stage heart failure are often sent home on inotropic therapies and referred to hospice care. The use of VADs for these patients can dramatically improve both the quality and the length of life. VADs can be broadly categorized as being either continuous flow (fluid dynamic) or pulsatile (volume displacement) and either can be used as short- or long-term support devices. The critical care nurse is in a unique position to educate patients with chronic heart failure on options available to improve their quality of life including VAD therapy. VADs are available for destination therapy for those not meeting transplant criteria, offering a longer quality of life. As centers gain more experience and referrals are made earlier in the disease process, VAD patient care will be more streamlined decreasing length of stay.
Robust belief space planning under intermittent sensing via a maximum eigenvalue-based bound

We consider the problem of computing a minimum uncertainty path for an autonomous vehicle from a start to a destination location in the presence intermittent sensing, modeled as a stochastic process, in addition to process and measurement noise. We introduce the use of a novel bound on the maximum eigenvalue of the estimation error covariance matrix as the cost function for belief space planning. Our main contributions are three-fold. We first derive an analytic bound on the performance of a state estimator under sensor misdetection (intermittency) occurring stochastically over time. Second, we use this bound as a proxy for the expected maximum eigenvalue evolution in a sample-based path planning algorithm to produce a path that trades off accuracy and robustness. This extends the recent body of work on planning under uncertainty to include the fact that sensors may not provide any measurement owing to misdetection. Computational results demonstrate the benefit of the approach and comparisons are made with the state of the art in path planning in belief space. Third, and finally, we establish theoretically that the proposed algorithm possesses the optimal substructure property, i.e. the algorithm returns an optimal path relative to the bound treated as a proxy for the expected maximum eigenvalue evolution.
The personality of the systems analyst: an investigation

The last decade has witnessed a significant growth in the use of information technology and information systems. This new industry now employs a variety of personnel from many academic and commercial backgrounds, and is still grappling with the problems of standards, professionalism and performance. The majority of I. S. personnel have followed a traditional technical career often from entry-level programmer through systems analyst to Information Systems Management.
Design of Home Network Gateway for Real-Time A/V Streaming between IEEE1394 and Ethernet

For practical multimedia streaming services in home networks, seamless binding between two stream formats (digital video (DV) and MPEG-4), on two heterogeneous protocols (IEEE 1394 and Ethernet), is required. IEEE 1394 is the best way for the real-time transmission of high bandwidth audio/video (A/V) content inside a home, and Ethernet provides a connection to anywhere, not only in homes, but also outside by using wired or wireless mobile solutions, however, because of differences between the two stream solutions (DV-IEEE 1394 and MPEG-4-Ethernet), an appropriate device or function is needed between the two parts. In this paper, the software and hardware architecture of a media gateway are suggested in order to solve the problems. First, hardware architecture was designed to support transcoding functions between DV and MPEG-4 in real-time. It also solves resource limitations between two protocols and related devices such as bandwidth and quality factors. Suggested software architecture coordinates the heterogeneity of transaction management and addressing mechanisms between two protocols. Based on the design requirements of the proposed system, we implemented a prototype media gateway based on the proposed architecture and the performance was evaluates being successful.
The Effects of a Policy Change on Three Types of Absence

Nurse executives use many strategies to manage nurse absenteeism. Nurses in this study voiced dissatisfaction with a policy requiring progressive disciplinary action after three absence incidents. To alleviate this dissatisfaction, supervisors were allowed to use their discretion in deciding when to initiate disciplinary action regarding the use of sick leave. The authors discuss the effect of the policy change on use of absence time and excused and unexcused leave.
Modified parallel SSHI AC-DC converter for piezoelectric energy harvesting power supplies

Piezoelectric transducers are used for harvesting electrical power from mechanical vibrations and supplying low power applications. The AC-DC converter for piezoelectric energy harvesting applications presented in this paper is a modified version of the Parallel Synchronized Switch Harvesting on Inductor (SSHI) Converter. This modified version provides better results in terms of efficiency than the Parallel SSHI technique.
Eight-Band Antenna With A Small Ground Clearance for LTE Metal-Frame Mobile Phone Applications

This letter presents a compact eight-band monopole antenna whose size is 70 mm × 7 mm × 6 mm for LTE metal-frame mobile phones. The mainly radiating part of the proposed antenna is the metal frame. There are three gaps with the same size of 1 mm in the frame, and these gaps divide the antenna into two parts. Besides, a match circuit is used to enlarge the bandwidth and make the lower band matched. The advantage of the proposed antenna is that eight bands can be covered with a metal frame under the condition of only a 7 mm ground clearance. A prototype is manufactured and tested. The measured –6 dB impedance bandwidths are 375 MHz (0.675–1.05 GHz) and 1.2 GHz (1.6–2.8 GHz). The LTE700, GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS, LTE2300, and LTE2500 bands are covered. The measured efficiencies are 52.7%–78.7% at the lower band and 45.6%–81% at the higher band. The measured gains are 0–2.1 dBi at the lower band and 1.6–3.6 dBi at the higher band.