Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new compressive imaging camera architecture using optical-domain compression

Compressive Sensing is an emerging field based on the revelation that a small number of linear projections of a compressible signal contain enough information for reconstruction and processing. It has many promising implications and enables the design of new kinds of Compressive Imaging systems and cameras. In this paper, we develop a new camera architecture that employs a digital micromirror array to perform optical calculations of linear projections of an image onto pseudorandom binary patterns. Its hallmarks include the ability to obtain an image with a single detection element while sampling the image fewer times than the number of pixels. Other attractive properties include its universality, robustness, scalability, progressivity, and computational asymmetry. The most intriguing feature of the system is that, since it relies on a single photon detector, it can be adapted to image at wavelengths that are currently impossible with conventional CCD and CMOS imagers.
Combining CBR and Constraint Reasoning in Planning Forest Fire Fighting1

Introduction In this poster we shall illustrate a work in progress aimed at developing an integrated system for planning first attack to forest fires. It is based on two major techniques: case based reasoning and constraint reasoning. The architecture we propose is part of a more extended system that is aimed at supporting the user in the whole process of forest fires management. The novelty of the proposed system is mainly due to the use of advanced techniques for the development of the man/machine interface based on the representation of the user tasks' structure, the integration of more traditional techniques for data analysis with up to date techniques for data classification developed in the AI community, the extensive application of the Case Based paradigm to the planning of the first attack and the integration of the case based reasoner with a constraint solver, mainly in charge with temporal reasoning. Many computerised systems have been proposed and developed to help the responsible organisations in dealing with some of the phases of forest fire management: prevention, suppression, control. A part from many systems based on traditional techniques (GIS, Spreading fire models, resources management with data base) very few AI rooted applications have been developed. We cannot avoid quoting the Phoenix project [CGHH89], which is real-time adaptive planner that manages forest fires in a simulated environment, and the system developed by P. Kourtz that addresses the problem of dispatching waterbombers, helicopters and crews for fire control in Quebec [Kourtz87]. None of them use CBR techniques, the first one is a research on the design of intelligent agents and the second is a classification system based on rules implemented in PROLOG. In this extended abstract we shall illustrate the operational context in which the system will be deployed and the intervention planning approach. At the moment we are terminating the design phase and we shall start the development in the next September.
Power-time tradeoff in test scheduling for SoCs

We present a test scheduling methodology for core-based system-on-chips that allows tradeoff between system power dissipation and overall test time. The basic strategy is to use the power profile of nonembedded cores to find the best mix of their test pattern subsets that satisfy the power and/or time constraints. An MILP formulation is presented to globally perform the power-time tradeoff and produce the SoC test schedule. Many constraints including peak/average power of cores, time/sequencing requirements, and ATE pin limitation are also incorporated within this formulation.
Interval Coded Scoring Index with Interaction Effects - A Sensitivity Study

Scoring systems have been used since long in medical practice, but often they are based on experience rather than a structural approach. In literature, the interval coded scoring index (ICS) has been introduced as an alternative. It derives a scoring system from data using optimization techniques. This work discusses an extension, ICS*, that takes variable interactions into account. Furthermore, a study is performed to give insight into the new modelâ? s sensitivity to noise, the size of the data set and the number of non-informative variables. The study shows interactions can mostly be discovered robustly, even in the presence of noise and spurious variables. A final validation on two UCI data sets further indicates the quality of the approach.
Prix fonciers, immobiliers et localisation des ménages au sein d'une agglomération urbaine

A travers une analyse hedonique spatialisee des marches fonciers et immobiliers d'un departement francais, les processus d'urbanisation des espaces non encore urbains ont ete explores, dans une finalite de connaissance des mecanismes de metropolisation et de comprehension des influences modifiant la nature des espaces ruraux. Le parti pris fut de rester le plus proche possible d'une echelle de l'ordre du voisinage, afin de rendre compte du lien entre la structure territoriale et le mecanisme de metropolisation. Dans un premier temps, a ete testee l'integration d'outils de la geomatique et de l'ecologie du paysage a des modeles micro-economiques issus de la nouvelle economie urbaine, afin de prendre en compte des heterogeneites spatiales. Dans un second temps, une modelisation des anticipations des proprietaires et des preferences de la demande fonciere a ete proposee. Les principaux resultats sont de quatre ordres. 1/ Les anticipations de changement de vocation des sols qui s'expriment sur le marche foncier minorent les effets de la regulation publique ; 2/ Le risque local d'incendie n'influe pas sur la localisation residentielle ; 3/ Les outils issus de l'ecologie du paysage permettent d'integrer la structure spatiale du voisinage a un modele economique de formation de la valeur des biens immobiliers ; 4/ L'accessibilite aux services publics et la nature de l'environnement social segregent les acquereurs immobiliers.
Endocannabinoid Biosynthetic Enzyme mRNA: Patterns of Expression in Hippocampus and Ventral Tegmental Area and Effects on Synaptic Plasticity

Endocannabinoid Biosynthetic Enzyme mRNA: Patterns of Expression in Hippocampus and Ventral Tegmental Area and Effects on Synaptic Plasticity Collin B. Merrill Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology, BYU Doctor of Philosophy Endocannabinoids (eCBs) are lipophilic signals that are produced by postsynaptic neurons in an activity-dependent manner, and signal in a retrograde fashion to modulate neurotransmitter release. As such, eCBs are highly involved in synaptic plasticity, a process that strengthens or weakens synapses. eCB-mediated synaptic plasticity is involved in many brain processes including learning, short-term memory, and adaptive reward, which are processed in the hippocampus and ventral tegmental area (VTA), respectively. However, the expression of eCB biosynthetic enzyme mRNA within hippocampal and VTA neurons, as well as the relationship between these mRNA species and the occurrence of synaptic plasticity, remains unclear. The goal of these studies was to demonstrate the expression pattern of eCB biosynthetic enzyme mRNA within hippocampal and VTA neurons, and to describe the relationship between synaptic plasticity and mRNA expression. Using whole-cell electrophysiology and real-time quantitative PCR, I tested hippocampal and VTA neurons for the presence of eCB biosynthetic enzyme mRNA and described the relationship between these enzymes and synaptic plasticity. The data presented herein demonstrate the importance of eCB signaling within the hippocampus and VTA and the expression patterns of eCB biosynthetic machinery within several neuron types. These data provide evidence that eCB signaling plays a critical role in learning, shortterm memory, and adaptive reward.
National Borders Effectively Halt the Spread of Rabies: The Current Rabies Epidemic in China Is Dislocated from Cases in Neighboring Countries

China has seen a massive resurgence of rabies cases in the last 15 years with more than 25,000 human fatalities. Initial cases were reported in the southwest but are now reported in almost every province. There have been several phylogenetic investigations into the origin and spread of the virus within China but few reports investigating the impact of the epidemic on neighboring countries. We therefore collected nucleoprotein sequences from China and South East Asia and investigated their phylogenetic and phylogeographic relationship. Our results indicate that within South East Asia, isolates mainly cluster according to their geographic origin. We found evidence of sporadic exchange of strains between neighboring countries, but it appears that the major strain responsible for the current Chinese epidemic has not been exported. This suggests that national geographical boundaries and border controls are effective at halting the spread of rabies from China into adjacent regions. We further investigated the geographic structure of Chinese sequences and found that the current epidemic is dominated by variant strains that were likely present at low levels in previous domestic epidemics. We also identified epidemiological linkages between high incidence provinces consistent with observations based on surveillance data from human rabies cases.
Factors associated with the psychological and behavioral adjustment of siblings of youths with spina bifida.

The intensive health management activities associated with spina bifida (SB) often command a pervasive presence in the lives of families and may place some members at risk for psychosocial difficulties. However, research on the risk and protective factors associated with sibling adjustment is limited. Anchored upon a social-ecological theoretical framework, the purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore the relationships between select individual, family, and peer factors and sibling adjustment. A convenience sample of 224 adolescent siblings and parents of youths with SB responded to anonymous mailed surveys. Siblings completed measures of attitude toward spina bifida, family satisfaction, warmth and conflict in the sibling relationship, peer support, and three dimensions of adjustment-self-concept, prosocial behavior, and behavior problems. Parents provided SB clinical data and family demographics. The individual, family, and peer factors explained a significant amount of variance in sibling self-concept, prosocial behavior, and behavior difficulties, with R(2) ranging from . 27 to . 57. Differing patterns of the relationships between the ecological factors and sibling adjustment emerged. Findings highlight multi-level opportunities to intervene and support siblings. Minimizing threats and bolstering protective influences on sibling adjustment is an essential component of family-centered services in SB.
Thyroid Classification using Ensemble Model with Feature Selection

Now days, diagnosis of health conditions is a very critical and challenging task in field of medical science. Medical history data comprises of a number of tests essential to diagnose a particular disease and the diagnoses are based on the physician experience. The thyroid gland faced by physician which is one of the important organs in the body and also increases cellular activity. Data mining technique can greatly deal the diseases of patients. Classification is one of the most important decision making techniques in many real world problem. In this paper, the main objective is to classify the data as thyroid or non thyroid and improve the classification accuracy. We have used various classifications techniques and its ensemble model for classification of thyroid data. Feature selection technique is also important role to improve the classification accuracy and increases performance. An ensemble of C4.5 and Random forest gives better accuracy 99.47% with 5 features.
The importance of cardiovascular pathology contributing to maternal death: Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths in South Africa, 2011–2013

Summary Aims Cardiac disease is emerging as an important contributor to maternal deaths in both lower-to-middle and higher-income countries. There has been a steady increase in the overall institutional maternal mortality rate in South Africa over the last decade. The objectives of this study were to determine the cardiovascular causes and contributing factors of maternal death in South Africa, and identify avoidable factors, and thus improve the quality of care provided. Methods Data collected via the South African National Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths (NCCEMD) for the period 2011–2013 for cardiovascular disease (CVD) reported as the primary pathology was analysed. Only data for maternal deaths within 42 days post-delivery were recorded, as per statutory requirement. One hundred and sixty-nine cases were reported for this period, with 118 complete hospital case files available for assessment and data analysis. Results Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) (34%) and complications of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) (25.3%) were the most important causes of maternal death. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, HIV disease infection and anaemia were important contributing factors identified in women who died of peripartum cardiomyopathy. Mitral stenosis was the most important contributor to death in RHD cases. Of children born alive, 71.8% were born preterm and 64.5% had low birth weight. Seventy-eight per cent of patients received antenatal care, however only 33.7% had a specialist as an antenatal care provider. Avoidable factors contributing to death included delay in patients seeking help (41.5%), lack of expertise of medical staff managing the case (29.7%), delay in referral to the appropriate level of care (26.3%), and delay in appropriate action (36.4%). Conclusion The pattern of CVD contributing to maternal death in South Africa was dominated by PPCM and complications of RHD, which could, to a large extent, have been avoided. It is likely that there were many CVD deaths that were not reported, such as late maternal mortality (up to one year postpartum). Infrastructural changes, use of appropriate referral algorithm and training of primary, secondary and tertiary staff in CVD complicating pregnancy is likely to improve the outcome. The use of simple screening equipment and point-of-care testing for early-onset heart failure should be explored via research projects.
A path planning approach to compute the smallest robust forward invariant sets

Robustness of nonlinear systems can be analyzed by computing robust forward invariant sets (RFIS). The smallest RFIS provides the least conservative estimate of system performance under perturbations. However, computation of the smallest RFIS through brute force search can be a difficult task. We develop a novel algorithm to find the smallest RFIS for two-dimensional systems subjected to bounded additive perturbations. The algorithm leverages path planning algorithms to produce an approximation of the boundary of the smallest RFIS. The algorithm is mathematically justified, and simulation results are provided showing that the proposed algorithm can be used to find an RFIS that is very close to the smallest RFIS. The amount of computation is effectively reduced. Hence the algorithm may be generalized to higher dimensional systems with generic perturbations.
Spatial encoding of visual words for image classification

Abstract. Appearance-based bag-of-visual words (BoVW) models are employed to represent the frequency of a vocabulary of local features in an image. Due to their versatility, they are widely popular, although they ignore the underlying spatial context and relationships among the features. Here, we present a unified representation that enhances BoVWs with explicit local and global structure models. Three aspects of our method should be noted in comparison to the previous approaches. First, we use a local structure feature that encodes the spatial attributes between a pair of points in a discriminative fashion using class-label information. We introduce a bag-of-structural words (BoSW) model for the given image set and describe each image with this model on its coarsely sampled relevant keypoints. We then combine the codebook histograms of BoVW and BoSW to train a classifier. Rigorous experimental evaluations on four benchmark data sets demonstrate that the unified representation outperforms the conventional models and compares favorably to more sophisticated scene classification techniques.
The StrongWomen-Healthy Hearts program: reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors in rural sedentary, overweight, and obese midlife and older women.

OBJECTIVES We tested a community-based intervention designed to reduce cardiovascular disease risk in sedentary midlife and older women who were overweight or obese. METHODS In a randomized controlled trial conducted in 8 counties in Arkansas and Kansas, counties were assigned to the intervention (a 12-week twice-weekly heart health program) group or to the delayed-intervention control group. Ten to fifteen women were selected from each site, and participants' weight, waist circumference, diet, physical activity, and self-efficacy were measured before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed with multiple regressions. RESULTS Compared with the control group, participants in the intervention group had a significant decrease in body weight (-2.1 kg; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -3.2, -1.0), waist circumference (-2.3 in; 95% CI = -4.2, -0.5), and energy intake (-390 kcal/day; 95% CI = -598, -183); an increase in activity (+1637 steps/day; 95% CI = 712, 2562); and an increase in self-efficacy for dietary and physical activity behaviors. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that a community-based program can improve self-efficacy, increase physical activity, and decrease energy intake, resulting in decreased waist circumference and body weight among at-risk women.
From inspired teaching to effective knowledge work and back again

Purpose – The emerging knowledge societies will – besides many other dramatic changes – see a teaching revolution. This paper seeks to propose quality standards for this new type of teaching.Design/methodology/approach – The paper argues that Peter Drucker experienced much of what he later came to call the principles of self management and effective knowledge work as a boy aged nine or ten at the Schwarzwald School – an utterly exceptional, progressive elementary school in Vienna. Given these astonishing similarities, this school's avant‐garde approach to teaching might just provide some insights into what effective teaching for a future knowledge society should be like. The paper is based to a large extent on accounts by and about the almost forgotten school's owner‐manager Eugenie Schwarzwald, some of which were made available only recently in the course of several biographical research projects dealing with this revolutionary pedagogue and social entrepreneur.Findings – Firstly, the paper identifies si.
3-Hydroxyphenylacetic Acid Induces the Burkholderia cenocepacia Phenylacetic Acid Degradation Pathway – Toward Understanding the Contribution of Aromatic Catabolism to Pathogenesis

The phenylacetic acid (PA) degradative pathway is the central pathway by which various aromatic compounds (e.g., styrene) are degraded. Upper pathways for different aromatic compounds converge at common intermediate phenylacetyl-CoA (PA-CoA), which is then metabolized to succinyl-CoA and acetyl-CoA. We previously made a link in Burkholderia cenocepacia between PA degradation and virulence by showing that insertional mutagenesis of paaA and paaE genes, that encode part of a multicomponent oxidase of PA-CoA, results in PA-conditional growth and an attenuated killing phenotype in the Caenorhabditis elegans model of infection. However, insertional mutagenesis of paaK1, which encodes a phenylacetate-CoA ligase, did not result in a PA-conditional growth probably due to the presence of a putative paralog gene paaK2. Recently published crystallographic and enzyme kinetics data comparing the two PaaK ligases showed that PaaK1 is more active than PaaK2 and that the larger binding pocket of PaaK1 can accommodate hydroxylated PA derived molecules such as 3-hydroxyphenylacetic (3-OHPA) acid and 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (4-OHPA). The higher activity and broader substrate specificity suggested a more active role in pathogenesis. In this work, we aimed to determine the relevance of PaaK1 activity to the killing ability of B. cenocepacia to C. elegans. Using reporter activity assays, we demonstrate that 3-OHPA activated PA degradation gene promoters of Burkholderia cenocepacia K56-2 in a paaK1-dependent manner, while 4-OHPA had no effect. We compared the pathogenicity of a paaK1 deletion mutant with that of the wild type in C. elegans and observed no differences in the killing ability of the strains. Taken together, these studies suggest that 3-OHPA, but not 4-OHPA, can induce the PA pathway and that this induction is dependent on the paaK1 gene. However, the more active PaaK1 does not play a distinct role in pathogenesis of B. cenocepacia as previously suggested.
A new approach for multiple attribute decision making under linguistic environment

Based on the triangular norms, some new operational laws of linguistic variables are defined. They can remedy the defects of some existed operational laws. The desirable properties of the new operational laws are studied. Within the situation of the defined linguistic operational laws, an extended linguistic weighted arithmetic averaging (ELWAA) operator is proposed to aggregate the linguistic information. The desirable properties of the extended operator are investigated. A new approach based on the ELWAA operator is proposed. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the new approach.
Photodynamic therapy for colorectal cancer: A quantitative pilot study

Ten patients with colorectal cancers unsuitable for operation were treated with endoscopic photodynamic therapy (PDT). The patients were assessed before treatment, and at 1 week and 1 month after treatment by colonoscopy with biopsy and endoluminal ultrasound examination. The depth of tumour was measured and the effect of PDT was quantified by measuring the reduction in tumour depth. All patients were sensitized with 2·5mg kg−1 of haematoporphyrin derivative, 48h before phototherapy. A standard treatment protocol of light exposure was used. Up to four parts of the tumour were treated with 50 J of red light (630 nm) from a tuneable dye laser, through a flexible optical fibre passed through the colonoscope and inserted into the tumour. Two patients with small lesions are tumour‐free 20 and 28 months after PDT. One treatment of an advanced tumour was complicated by a haemodynamically significant secondary haemorrhage. PDT may be most suitable for the treatment of small tumours or for small areas of persistent tumour where the bulk has been removed by alternative techniques.