Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aspects and comparison of matrix decompositions in unscented Kalman filter

The paper deals with state estimation of nonlinear Gaussian systems with a special focus on the unscented Kalman filter. Its algorithm is based on specification of a set of so-called sigma points which are generated according to the covariance matrix of the state decomposed into a product of a matrix and its transpose. The paper analyzes utilization of different matrix decompositions within the unscented transform, which is a core of the unscented Kalman filter. It is shown that different decompositions may lead to significant differences in quality of approximations provided by the transform. The influence of the decompositions on the filter is demonstrated in an example.
Extracting silhouette-based characteristics for human gait analysis using one camera

With the strong development of computer vision, health care and in-home monitoring systems are widely applied. Gait analysis is one of the main problems, which needs to be solved in such systems. Most of the recent researches implemented on 3D information of each walking person extracted from stereo cameras or devices with sensors, thus it leads to an increase in the computational cost and price. Therefore, we propose an approach for performing gait analysis using only one normal camera. This paper presents how characteristics are extracted from the walking person's silhouette for gait analysis, in detail, detecting abnormal gaits. Experiments are performed with normal gaits and three different types of anomaly, which consist of hunched back, left-right asymmetry, and sudden motion variation. The obtained results show that there is no case of omission or false detection, and our solution can be integrated into real-time systems.
A game theoretic approach to moving horizon control

A control law is constructed for a linear time varying system by solving a two player zero sum diierential game on a moving horizon, the game being that which is used to construct an H 1 controller on a nite horizon. Conditions are given under which this controller results in a stable system and satisses an innnite horizon H 1 norm bound. A risk sensitive formulation is used to provide a state estimator in the observation feedback case.
A Comparison of Six Sample Providers Regarding Online Privacy Benchmarks

esearchers increasingly utilize online tools to gather insights. We show how privacy comfort as measured by questionnaires differs across various survey sample providers. To investigate potential differences depending on provider, we fielded a small set of privacy-related benchmark questions regarding past experience, present and future concerns to six major US survey providers. We found substantial differences depending on privacy benchmark and provider population, illustrating that privacy-related research may yield different insights depending on provider choice.
Intelligent Machinery . Mechanical Intelligence

Erasure coding must work [114], [114], [188], [62], [70], [179], [68], [179], [95], [68], [54], [152], [114], [191], [ 114], [59], [168], [148], [99], [58]. Given the current status of s elflearning methodologies, cryptographers dubiously desire the exploration of red-black trees. PAVAGE, our new applicatio n for the construction of systems, is the solution to all of the se issues.
Creating a Collaborative Space for Creativity through a Pervasive User Experience

This paper explores the potential of a pervasive user experience to inspire, provoke and support creative thinking amongst participants in an intensive ideation workshop. The pervasive experience used a iPad-based virtual narrator to guide groups of participants around a physical and digital environment. It took place towards the start of a three-day workshop and the playful, self-directed nature of the experience was designed to align with subsequent workshop activities. This paper describes the user experience, presenting observations and findings through the lens of space (facilitation, augmentation and story), considering how the experience related to and supported the overall workshop aims of ideation and creative thinking. We conclude by examining some of the tensions that emerged, namely; 1) the disconnect between researcher and participant expectations, 2) the potential trade off between "authentic" outputs and participant engagement, and 3) bridging the knowledge within the workshop with the world outside the workshop.
A Hybrid Model for the Computationally-Efficient Simulation of the Cerebellar Granular Layer

The aim of the present paper is to efficiently describe the membrane potential dynamics of neural populations formed by species having a high density difference in specific brain areas. We propose a hybrid model whose main ingredients are a conductance-based model (ODE system) and its continuous counterpart (PDE system) obtained through a limit process in which the number of neurons confined in a bounded region of the brain tissue is sent to infinity. Specifically, in the discrete model, each cell is described by a set of time-dependent variables, whereas in the continuum model, cells are grouped into populations that are described by a set of continuous variables. Communications between populations, which translate into interactions among the discrete and the continuous models, are the essence of the hybrid model we present here. The cerebellum and cerebellum-like structures show in their granular layer a large difference in the relative density of neuronal species making them a natural testing ground for our hybrid model. By reconstructing the ensemble activity of the cerebellar granular layer network and by comparing our results to a more realistic computational network, we demonstrate that our description of the network activity, even though it is not biophysically detailed, is still capable of reproducing salient features of neural network dynamics. Our modeling approach yields a significant computational cost reduction by increasing the simulation speed at least 270 times. The hybrid model reproduces interesting dynamics such as local microcircuit synchronization, traveling waves, center-surround, and time-windowing.
Phase transition in space: how far does a symmetry bend before it breaks?

We extend the theory of symmetry-breaking dynamics in non-equilibrium second-order phase transitions known as the Kibble–Zurek mechanism (KZM) to transitions where the change of phase occurs not in time but in space. This can be due to a time-independent spatial variation of a field that imposes a phase with one symmetry to the left of where it attains critical value, while allowing spontaneous symmetry breaking to the right of that critical borderline. Topological defects need not form in such a situation. We show, however, that the size, in space, of the ‘scar’ over which the order parameter adjusts as it ‘bends’ interpolating between the phases with different symmetries follows from a KZM-like approach. As we illustrate on the example of a transverse quantum Ising model, in quantum phase transitions this spatial scale—the size of the scar—is directly reflected in the energy spectrum of the system: in particular, it determines the size of the energy gap.
Simplicial functors and stable homotopy theory

The problem of constructing a nice smash product of spectra is an old and well-known problem of algebraic topology. This problem has come to mean the following: Find a model category, which is Quillen-equivalent to the model category of spectra, and which has a symmetric monoidal product corresponding to the smash product of spectra. Two solutions were found recently, namely the smash product of S-modules of [EKMM], and the smash product of symmetric spectra of [HSS]. Here we present another solution, the smash product of SF, the category of simplicial functors from finite pointed simplicial sets to pointed simplicial sets. Before we describe some interesting special properties of SF, we summarize some other results contained in this paper: Although SF might not seem a natural object to study, especially to a reader not very familiar with simplicial techniques, it should in fact be thought of as the category of functors from finite pointed CW-complexes to pointed topological spaces which are pointed (take one-point spaces to one-point spaces) and homotopy functors (take weak equivalences to weak equivalences). It is clear that this latter category has an interesting homotopy theory (it has a natural class of weak equivalences), which cannot come from a model structure (for the trivial reason that colimits and limits do not preserve weak equivalences in general). However, this homotopy theory is equivalent to another one that SF has (see section 8, especially for which we construct a model structure Ordinary (Bousfield-Friedlander) spectra can also be viewed as pointed simplicial functors into pointed simplicial sets (only now they are not defined on all finite pointed simplicial sets,
A Fast Shape Context Matching Using Indexing

In this paper, an efficient 2D shape matching algorithm is proposed. The proposed algorithm uses the mean distances and standard deviations of shape contexts as the index of shapes to reduce the search space of the previous work on shape matching with shape context descriptor. The best-fit ellipse modeling is adopted as the preprocessing for normalizing its scale. The simulation databases include human body postures and shapes of 3D objects from MPEG-7 silhouettes, and the COIL data set, respectively. Experimental results show that the recognition rates are 98% for human body postures and 100% for shapes of 3D objects.
Repulsive guidance molecule B inhibits metastasis and is associated with decreased mortality in non-small cell lung cancer

Repulsive guidance molecules (RGMs) are co-receptors of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and programmed death ligand 2 (PD-L2), and might be involved in lung and other cancers. We evaluated repulsive guidance molecule B (RGMB) expression in 165 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors and 22 normal lung tissue samples, and validated the results in an independent series of 131 samples. RGMB was downregulated in NSCLC (P ≤ 0.001), possibly through promoter hypermethylation. Reduced RGMB expression was observed in advanced-stage tumors (P = 0.017) and in tumors with vascular invasion (P < 0.01), and was significantly associated with poor overall survival (39 vs. 62 months, P < 0.001) and with disease-associated patient mortality (P = 0.015). RGMB knockdown promoted cell adhesion, invasion and migration, in both NSCLC cell lines and an in vivo mouse model, which enhanced metastatic potential. Conversely, RGMB overexpression and secretion suppressed cancer progression. The tumor-suppressing effect of RGMB was exerted through inhibition of the Smad1/5/8 pathway. Our results demonstrate that RGMB is an important inhibitor of NSCLC metastasis and that low RGMB expression is a novel predictor or a poor prognosis.
Effect of Honesty as an Ethical Value on Software Project Performance: A Grounded Theory Approach

For successful project outcomes to organizations and clients alike, project managers (PMs) need to make ethical decisions and yet balance the interests of all stakeholders involved. Hence, honest communication among project stakeholders is essential as a countermeasure to this paradox. Honesty is one of the core ethical values propagated by the Project Management Institute (PMI), USA. Our study aimed to gain an endogenous perspective on honesty vis-à-vis its reification by PMI in its effect on software project performance. Empirical data were collected through in-depth interviews from 83 Indian PMs in one of the prominent Indian software consulting organizations. Grounded theory was utilized to analyze the data obtained. Our results validate the importance of honesty on software project performance, the need for trust among stakeholders in maintaining honesty, importance of Indian culture in understanding honesty and ensuing ethical challenges faced by PMs. Our results bear implications to extant research on honesty in projects with specific reference to the Indian software context. They are important for PMI professionals as they provide a culture-specific perspective to honesty and the scope for ideation on how to inculcate and sustain honesty in project management in India.
Improved meta-analysis for truncated data

This paper proposes an improved meta-analysis for truncated data to decrease the bias from file drawer problem for meta-analysis. It shows the construction of confidence intervals and test after parameters estimate approached by maximum likelihood estimate with Newton-Raphson iteration, or by way of bootstrap method or jackknife method which beyond the tradition method under the supposition that parameters are normally distributed. This model is available when trials are heterogeneous and contains traditional meta-analysis that with no truncation as special cases. In the case analysis we show that both the confidence intervals constructed by way of bootstrap t method, bootstrap quantiles or the best confidence intervals constructed by bootstrap sampling and jackknife sampling is far more better than the result of traditional meta-analysis.
Insectivorous Bats Digest Chitin in the Stomach Using Acidic Mammalian Chitinase

The gastrointestinal tract of animals is adapted to their primary source of food to optimize resource use and energy intake. Temperate bat species mainly feed on arthropods. These contain the energy-rich carbohydrate chitin, which is indigestible for the endogenous enzymes of a typical mammalian gastrointestinal tract. However, the gastrointestinal tract of bat species should be adapted to their diet and be able to digest chitin. We hypothesized that (i) European vespertilionid bat species have the digestive enzyme chitinase and that (ii) the chitinolytic activity is located in the intestine, as has been found for North American bat species. The gastrointestinal tracts of seven bat species (Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Plecotus auritus, Myotis bechsteinii, Myotis nattereri, Myotis daubentonii, Myotis myotis, and Nyctalus leisleri) were tested for chitinolytic activity by diffusion assay. Gastrointestinal tracts of P. pipistrellus, P. auritus, M. nattereri, M. myotis, and N. leisleri were examined for acidic mammalian chitinase by western blot analysis. Tissue sections of the gastrointestinal tract of P. pipistrellus were immunohistochemically analyzed to locate the acidic mammalian chitinase. Chitinolytic activity was detected in the stomachs of all bat species. Western blot analysis confirmed the acidic mammalian chitinase in stomach samples. Immunohistochemistry of the P. pipistrellus gastrointestinal tract indicated that acidic mammalian chitinase is located in the stomach chief cells at the base of the gastric glands. In conclusion, European vespertilionid bat species have acidic mammalian chitinase that is produced in the gastric glands of the stomach. Therefore, the gastrointestinal tracts of insectivorous bat species evolved an enzymatic adaptation to their diet.
A Theoretical Analysis of Academic and Athletic Roles

One of the research traditions in sociology of sport is the study of athletic participation and academic achievement. Yet most of this research is primarily descriptive in nature and produces little cumulative explanatory knowledge; furthermore, the findings appear contradictory and confusing. The present paper utilizes the exchange and symbolic interactionist perspectives to analyze the concept of commitment to the multiple roles of athlete and scholar. These theoretical perspectives provide the potential for a greater understanding, explanation, and meaning to the findings in this area of research.
Power, Arab media Moguldum & gender rights as entertainment in the Middle East

Discourse is a giant field of research and gender related rights are still a disputed area of thinking. Thus, when Arab transnational satellite televisions produce dialogues, images, stories and narratives about the disputed “universal” gender rights in the Middle East, the big questions remain how and why. According to De Beauvoir (1949), one becomes woman and to Butler (1990) one is not born a gender at all but is “done” and “undone” to become one via discourse. Islamic feminism speaks of a cultural/religious specificity in defending women rights and even gender diversity based on new Quranic interpretations. The gender, “Al-Naw’u”, remains synonym to sex “Al Jins” as gender and queer theories never developed in Arabic in tandem with the European institutions or the theories of the19th century– especially those ideas emerging from studies of the mental asylum. This research tries to understand gender related “rights” and “wrongs” as manifest in the discursive institutions owned by media mogul Prince Al Waleed Ben Talal Al Saud. The trouble of such a study is lexical, ideological and institutional at the same time. Since we lack a critique of the discourses and narratives addressed in the pan-Arab satellite channels, in general it is difficult to understand their significance and influence in everyday life practices. What language is used to speak of gender rights or wrongs? Which ideology is favoured in this practice of legitimisation and/or policing? Using case studies, CDA of social and religious talk shows, narrative analysis of Arabic cinemas, this research adapted triangulation to show the complexity of conversing and narrating gender related content at the micro and macro levels within an institution of power. Using semi-structured interviews from fieldwork in Egypt (2009) and Lebanon (2011), archive research and online ethnography, the research exposes the power structure under which gender discourses evolve. It emerges that gender content is abundant on the Pan Arab satellite space, “manufactured” on talk shows and plotted tactfully in the cinematic “creative-act”. The result is a complex discourse of gender content that scratches the surface calling for interpretation. So how and why do gender rights and wrongs find place on Prince Al Waleed’s Media Empire?
Subleading jet functions in inclusive B decays

The contribution of subleading jet functions to inclusive decay distributions of B mesons are derived from a systematic two-step matching of QCD current correlators onto soft collinear and heavy quark effective theory. Focusing on the tree level matching of QCD onto soft collinear effective theory, the subleading jet functions are defined to all orders in αs(μi) (with μi2 ~ mbΛQCD) and are calculated explicitly at first order in αs(μi). We present explicit expressions for the decay rates of → Xu l and the Q7γ−Q7γ contribution to → Xs γ, where the subleading jet functions are multiplied by a tree level hard function and appear in a convolution with the leading order shape function. Together with the recent two loop calculation of the leading order hard function for → Xu l , this paper will allow for a more precise description of inclusive B decays in the end point region.
An Approach to 1-to- $2^{n}$ Way Microstrip Balanced Power Divider

In this paper, an approach to 1-to-2n (n = 2,3,4, .) way microstrip balanced power divider is proposed for the first time. This approach is realized by one balanced-to-single-ended power divider, 2n-1 single-ended-to-balanced power dividers, and 2n-1 - 2 single-ended power dividers. The function of differential-mode power dividing and common-mode suppression can be ensured by the balanced-to-single-ended and single-ended-to-balanced power dividers. The advantage of this approach is that it can reduce the circuit size effectively when comparing with the approach using all the balanced-to-balanced power dividers. The analysis of the balanced-to-single-ended power divider and the single-ended-to-balanced power divider is realized by combining the standard S-parameters, the mixed-mode S-parameters, and the odd- and even-mode equivalent circuits. To verify the theoretical prediction, three prototypes (one balanced-to-single-ended power divider, one single-ended-to-balanced power divider, and one 1-to-4 way balanced power divider) are fabricated and measured. The fabricated 1-to-4 way balanced power divider with the size of 0. 75λg × 2λg shows an insertion loss of 0.45 dB at 1.8 GHz, a fractional bandwidth for a 15-dB return loss of 29%, a 20-dB common-mode suppression of 74.6%, and a 20-dB differential-mode isolation (|Sdd32| and |Sdd42|) of 15.1% and 100%, respectively.
Group task analysis for groupware usability evaluations

Techniques for inspecting the usability of groupware applications have recently been proposed. These techniques focus on the mechanics of collaboration rather than the work context in which a system is used and offer time and cost savings by not requiring actual users or fully functional prototypes. Although these techniques are valuable, adding information about task and work context could improve the quality of inspection results. We introduce a method for analysing group tasks that can be used to add context to discount groupware evaluation techniques. Our method allows for the specification of collaborative scenarios and tasks by considering the mechanics of collaboration, levels of coupling during task performance, and variability in task execution. We describe how this type of task analysis could be used in a new inspection technique based on cognitive walkthrough.
Multi-Type Web Relation Extraction Based on Bootstrapping

Web-scale relation extraction is crucial to building the Web people search engines. Previous extraction models, such as Snowball, focus only on single type extraction, while the real applications always require as many as possible types of relation. In this paper, we propose a novel Web-scale relation extraction framework Multi-Type Snowball (MultiSnowball). MultiSnowball targets at extracting multiple types of relation simultaneously while starts with one pattern. By adopting the general bootstrapping framework, MultiSnowball not only iteratively finds new relation tuples and extraction patterns, but also iteratively identifies new relation types. Patterns are shared during the simultaneous extraction process among all the types to get more relation tuple extractions. Empirical studies on real Web-scale data set show the effectiveness of MultiSnowball over the baseline and Snowball and the ability to identify accurate relation types.
A Multiple Case Study on Parents' Perspective about the Inftuence of the Islamic Culture on Muslim Children's Daily Lives

The purpose of this study was to explore how Muslim parents interpret the influence of the Islamic culture on their children’s daily lives. Using a qualitative multiple case study, family members from five ethnically diverse households were observed and interviewed. Data were analyzed employing a within-case and a cross-case analysis using a framework adapted from Stake (2006). Eight themes emerged from the study which focused on the centrality of religion in these households, the collective cultural paradigm and the scope of identity negotiation taking place on a daily basis. Implications point towards cultural responsive teaching so as to integrate Muslim students into classroom pedagogies