Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Expressive feedback from virtual buttons

The simple action of pressing a button is a multimodal interaction with an interesting depth of complexity. As the development of computer interfaces to support 3D tasks evolves, there is a need to better understand how users will interact with virtual buttons that generate feedback from multiple sensory modalities. This research examined the e↵ects of visual, auditory, and haptic feedback from virtual buttons on task performance dialing phone numbers and on the motion of individual buttons presses. This research also presents a theoretical framework for virtual button feedback and a model of virtual button feedback that includes touch feedback hysteresis. The results suggest that although haptic feedback alone was not enough to prevent participants from pressing the button farther than necessary, bimodal and trimodal feedback combinations that included haptic feedback shortened the depth of the presses. However, the shallower presses observed during trimodal feedback may have led to a counterintuitive increase in the number of digits that the participants omitted during the task. Even though interaction with virtual buttons may appear simple, it is important to understand the complexities behind the multimodal interaction because users will seek out the multimodal interactions they prefer.
Introducing Context Awareness in Unmodified, Context-unaware Software

Software tends to be highly configurable, but most applications are hardly context aware. For example, a web browser provides many settings to configure printers and proxies, but nevertheless it is unable to dynamically adapt to a new workplace. In this paper we aim to empirically demonstrate that by dynamic and automatic reconfiguration of unmodified software we can systematically introduce context awareness. In 16 real-world applications comprising 50 million lines of code we empirically investigate which of the 2,683 run-time configuration accesses (1) already take context into account, or (2) can be manipulated at run-time to do so. The results show that context awareness can be exploited far beyond the developers' initial intentions. Our tool Elektra dynamically intercepts the run-time configuration accesses and replaces them with a context aware implementation. Users only need to specify contexts and add context sensors to make use of this potential.
Strong, efficient and reliable personal messaging peer to peer architecture based on Hybrid RSA

Rivest- Shamir-Adleman (RSA) algorithm is the widespread encryption scheme that promises confidentiality and authenticity over an insecure communication channel. The RSA has drawbacks of various attacks like Brute force key search, Mathematical attacks, Timing attacks and Chosen Ciphertext attacks etc. So here a Strong, efficient and reliable personal messaging peer to peer architecture based on Hybrid RSA for an active networked environment is proposed. The main peer to peer personal messaging architecture will be strong, efficient and reliable, and communication protocol will allow only one authenticated person to converse with the person who is in the server end, multiple chat clients can be connected to the server but has to wait for authenticated connection with secure server one by one. Also multiple servers with multiple clients can run for distributed strong, efficient and reliable messaging. As at the key exchange level, the Miller-Rabin test is done with pseudo random numbers generated and changing the keys synchronously with predefined time frames, these mechanisms make the keys absolutely strong and main RSA integration with shared RSA gives more statistical complexity here. In the decryption process, The Chinese Remainder Theorem (CRT) is used with shadows along with the strong prime of RSA criterion extended into domain of Gaussian Integer for very high efficiency. The Shared RSA adds more complexity in decryption. Public Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS) version 5 is used to tackle the Chosen cipher text attack when messaging is going on. The Efficient RSA with Rabin-Miller strong Primality test integration and pohligHellmanEncipher with salt and padding integration makes it strong and reliable.
The role of social networks in the building of physical activity trails in the state of Kansas

Background and Purpose: Trails can help increase community physical activity levels but little is known about the role that collaborations play in building a trail. Social network analysis may be a useful tool to examine collaborations among various stakeholders, such as municipal public works, parks and recreation, community organizations, hospitals, local businesses, universities, and schools. The purpose of this project is threefold: a) to identify the number and type of organizations involved in trail building, b) to examine the centrality and density of social networks in the trail building process and c) to determine whether collaborations differ between the three phases of trail building (generation, grant funding and construction). Methods: Thirty-four successful trail project builders funded by the Sunflower Foundation of Kansas participated in an online survey designed to explore collaborations throughout the trail building process. Social network analysis adapted from procedures developed by Wickizer and colleagues (1993) was used to identify key organizations in building trails, to estimate the overall density and centrality of connections between the organizations, and to determine differences in collaborations by project phase. Results: Fifteen different groups (e.g. non-profit community organizations, city parks and recreation department, city public works, schools) were identified as part of the trail building process. Non-profit community organizations were most central to trail building during all three phases (generation (.36) grant writing (.38), and construction (.41)). All three phases of trail building were only weakly connected as indicated by density of social network scores measured during the generation (5.7%), grant writing (6.2%) and construction phases (7.5%). Centrality of social networks was high for all three phases of the trail building process, the generation phase (0.32) the grant writing phase (0.27) and the construction phase (0.36). Conclusions: This exploratory analysis suggests Social Network Analysis may be a useful tool to study organizations that collaborate to build trails for physical activity. During the distinct phases of trail-building, the role of collaborations changed. Some organizations were more important in the planning phase, grant writing or construction, while others (e.g. non-profit community organizations) were important throughout the entire process. Additionally, the density of social network increased as the trail projects progressed. The relationships between organizations were often weak but provided a flow of necessary information and skills to successfully build a trail. Future research should attempt to understand these time-dependent collaborations and encourage them in future trail and other built environment projects that support physical activity.
The A-kinase Anchoring Protein Yotiao Facilitates Complex Formation between Adenylyl Cyclase Type 9 and the IKs Potassium Channel in Heart*

Background: In heart, the A-kinase anchoring protein (AKAP) Yotiao anchors the KCNQ1 subunit of the slow outward potassium ion current (IKs). Results: Adenylyl cyclase type 9 (AC9) is associated with the IKs complex and sensitizes PKA phosphorylation of KCNQ1 by isoproterenol. Conclusion: Yotiao facilitates complex formation between AC9 and IKs in heart. Significance: Sympathetic regulation of IKs is important for repolarization in heart. The scaffolding protein Yotiao is a member of a large family of protein A-kinase anchoring proteins with important roles in the organization of spatial and temporal signaling. In heart, Yotiao directly associates with the slow outward potassium ion current (IKs) and recruits both PKA and PP1 to regulate IKs phosphorylation and gating. Human mutations that disrupt IKs-Yotiao interaction result in reduced PKA-dependent phosphorylation of the IKs subunit KCNQ1 and inhibition of sympathetic stimulation of IKs, which can give rise to long-QT syndrome. We have previously identified a subset of adenylyl cyclase (AC) isoforms that interact with Yotiao, including AC1–3 and AC9, but surprisingly, this group did not include the major cardiac isoforms AC5 and AC6. We now show that either AC2 or AC9 can associate with KCNQ1 in a complex mediated by Yotiao. In transgenic mouse heart expressing KCNQ1-KCNE1, AC activity was specifically associated with the IKs-Yotiao complex and could be disrupted by addition of the AC9 N terminus. A survey of all AC isoforms by RT-PCR indicated expression of AC4–6 and AC9 in adult mouse cardiac myocytes. Of these, the only Yotiao-interacting isoform was AC9. Furthermore, the endogenous IKs-Yotiao complex from guinea pig also contained AC9. Finally, AC9 association with the KCNQ1-Yotiao complex sensitized PKA phosphorylation of KCNQ1 to β-adrenergic stimulation. Thus, in heart, Yotiao brings together PKA, PP1, PDE4D3, AC9, and the IKs channel to achieve localized temporal regulation of β-adrenergic stimulation.
Designing an Intelligent Agent that Negotiates Tactfully with Human Counterparts: A Conceptual Analysis and Modeling Framework

Automated negotiation has attracted growing interest within fields such as e-business, multi-agent systems, and web services. Nevertheless, a majority of automated negotiation research concentrates on tactics for pure agent-agent interaction, which may not be applicable in today's e-business environment involving human decision makers. We argue that the design of negotiation agents should consider possible participation of human counterparts, thus requiring more sophisticated machine intelligence in strategic decision making. This paper provides a conceptual analysis of negotiation strategies and tactics from psychological and behavioral literature, and proposes a novel set of tactics for building collaborative agents. These tactics - multiple equivalent (simultaneous) offers, monotone decreasing concession, and strategic decision delay - are posited to enhance some aspects of negotiation outcomes without sacrificing others. Furthermore, we present a modeling framework that translates these tactics into computational rules for prototype development. The implications and future research opportunities are discussed.
Short‐term and long‐term failure of laparoscopic splenectomy in adult immune thrombocytopenic purpura patients: A systematic review

Splenectomy is a common therapy for adults with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Thisstudy was designed to estimate both the short‐term surgical non‐response rate and the long‐term relapse rate after laparoscopic splenectomy. A systematic review was conducted of articles published between January 1, 1991 and January 1, 2008. Selection criteria included: chronic ITP, study enrollment in 1990 or later, ≥12 months of follow‐up, ≥15 patients with ITP, ≥75% of patients at least 14 years of age, not HIV positive, not undergoing a second splenectomy, and type of performed splenectomy clearly reported. Data were pooled across studies to estimate rates. We identified 170 articles, of which 23 met our inclusion criteria (all observational studies). These studies represent 1,223 laparoscopic splenectomies (71 or 5.6% were converted to open splenectomy during surgery). The pooled short‐term surgical non‐response rate among the 18 studies reporting data was 8.2% (95% CI 5.4–11.0). The pooled long‐term relapse rate across all 23 studies was 43.6 per 1,000 patient years (95% CI 28.2–67.2). This translates to an approximate failure rate of 28% at 5 years for all patients undergoing splenectomy. Studies with shorter durations of follow‐up had significantly higher pooled relapse rates than studies with longer follow‐up (P = 0.04). Laparoscopicsplenectomy is effective for most patients. Splenectomy may have higher initial relapse rates, particularly, in the first 2 years after surgery, and the rate may decline over time. Am. J. Hematol. 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
No association between the type 2 diabetes mellitus susceptibility gene, SLC30A8 and schizophrenia in a Chinese population

The co‐occurrence of schizophrenia and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been well documented. Recent genome‐wide association studies and meta‐analyses have shown robust associations of the solute carrier family 30 member 8 (SLC30A8) gene variants with T2DM in various populations. We examined the involvement of the SLC30A8 in the susceptibility to schizophrenia in a Han Chinese population.
Cell phone use and behavioural problems in young children

Background Potential health effects of cell phone use in children have not been adequately examined. As children are using cell phones at earlier ages, research among this group has been identified as the highest priority by both national and international organisations. The authors previously reported results from the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC), which looked at prenatal and postnatal exposure to cell phone use and behavioural problems at age 7 years. Exposure to cell phones prenatally, and to a lesser degree postnatally, was associated with more behavioural difficulties. The original analysis included nearly 13 000 children who reached age 7 years by November 2006. Methods To see if a larger, separate group of DNBC children would produce similar results after considering additional confounders, children of mothers who might better represent current users of cell phones were analysed. This ‘new’ dataset consisted of 28 745 children with completed Age-7 Questionnaires to December 2008. Results The highest OR for behavioural problems were for children who had both prenatal and postnatal exposure to cell phones compared with children not exposed during either time period. The adjusted effect estimate was 1.5 (95% CI 1.4 to 1.7). Conclusions The findings of the previous publication were replicated in this separate group of participants demonstrating that cell phone use was associated with behavioural problems at age 7 years in children, and this association was not limited to early users of the technology. Although weaker in the new dataset, even with further control for an extended set of potential confounders, the associations remained.
The impact of software-defined optical networks on data centre optimization

Delivering scalable packet-switched interconnects that can support the bursty Ethernet traffic, which is common in many data centre applications is a challenging problem that is only getting harder. Implementing the control logic capable of deciding how to forward each packet individually in current packet-switched Ethernet interconnects is not optimized and researchers are proposing hybrid optical/electronic Top of Rack (ToR) architectures to improve the performance towards an optimized operation. Emerging applications (e.g, Big Data) and potential cross-layer performance improvement is another interesting topic that should be properly addressed in future data centres. In this paper a summary of recent developments of optical networking in data centres will be presented. Our software-defined optical network emulation platform is introduced and initial WDM link modelling as a tool for cross layer investigation and optimization are presented. A nonlinear optical signal propagation tool (as a network application) and related results are presented.
Modelling an Italian talking head

Our goal is to create a natural Italian talking face with, in particular, lip-readable movements. Based on real data extracted from an Italian speaker with the ELITE system, we have approximated the data using radial basis functions. In this paper we present our 3D facial model based on MPEG-4 standard and our computational model of lip movements for Italian. Our experiment is based on some phoneticphonological considerations on the parameters defining labial orifice, and on identification tests of visual articulatory movements.
Improved Rules for the Resource Allocation Design

Iterative combinatorial auctions (ICA) have been getting raising attention both from researchers and in practice as they can increase efficiency of complex markets with substitute or complement valuations. This paper suggests several improvements for such auctions. We analyze the impact of these rules along several performance measurements using numerical experiments under various value models. Based on these experiments we select successful rules and consider their possible combinations.
Gastrointestinal parasite infections and self-medication in wild chimpanzees surviving in degraded forest fragments within an agricultural landscape mosaic in Uganda

Monitoring health in wild great apes is integral to their conservation and is especially important where they share habitats with humans, given the potential for zoonotic pathogen exchange. We studied the intestinal parasites of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) inhabiting degraded forest fragments amid farmland and villages in Bulindi, Uganda. We first identified protozoan and helminth parasites infecting this population. Sixteen taxa were demonstrated microscopically (9 protozoa, 5 nematodes, 1 cestode, and 1 trematode). DNA sequence analysis enabled more precise identification of larval nematodes (e.g. Oesophagostomum stephanostomum, O. bifurcum, Strongyloides fuelleborni, Necator sp. Type II) and tapeworm proglottids (genus Bertiella). To better understand the ecology of infections, we used multidimensional scaling analysis to reveal general patterns of association among parasites, climate, and whole leaf swallowing–a prevalent self-medicative behaviour at Bulindi linked to control of nodular worms (Oesophagostomum spp.). Prevalence of parasites varied with climate in diverse ways. For example, Oesophagostomum sp. was detected in faeces at higher frequencies with increasing rainfall but was most clearly associated with periods of low temperature. Certain parasites occurred together within chimpanzee hosts more or less frequently than expected by chance. For example, the commensal ciliate Troglodytella abrassarti was negatively associated with Balantidium coli and Oesophagostomum sp. , possibly because the latter taxa make the large intestine less suitable for T. abrassarti. Whole leaves in faeces showed independent associations with the prevalence of Oesophagostomum sp. , Strongyloides sp. , and hookworm by microscopic examination, and with egestion of adult O. stephanostomum by macroscopic inspection. All parasites identified to species or genus have been reported in wild chimpanzees inhabiting less-disturbed environments than Bulindi. Nevertheless, several disease-causing taxa infecting these chimpanzees are potentially transmissible between apes and humans (e.g. rhabditoid and strongyle nematodes), underscoring the importance of identifying and reducing risks of pathogen exchange in shared landscapes.
Fast local and global similarity searches in large motion capture databases

Fast searching of content in large motion databases is essential for efficient motion analysis and synthesis. In this work we demonstrate that identifying locally similar regions in human motion data can be practical even for huge databases, if medium-dimensional (15--90 dimensional) feature sets are used for kd-tree-based nearest-neighbor-searches. On the basis of kd-tree-based local neighborhood searches we devise a novel fast method for global similarity searches. We show that knn-searches can be used efficiently within the problems of (a) "numerical and logical similarity searches", (b) reconstruction of motions from sparse marker sets, and (c) building so called "fat graphs", tasks for which previously algorithms with preprocessing time quadratic in the size of the database and thus only applicable to small collections of motions had been presented. We test our techniques on the two largest freely available motion capture databases, the CMU and HDM05 motion databases comprising more than 750 min of motion capture data proving that our approach is not only theoretically applicable but also solves the problem of fast similarity searches in huge motion databases in practice.
Toshiba BRIDJE at NTCIR-5 CLIR: Evaluation using Geometric Means

Toshiba participated in the Monolingual and Bilingual IR tasks at NTCIR-5 CLIR using the BRIDJE system. We submitted 24 runs covering three topic languages (Japanese, English and Chinese) and two document languages (Japanese and English), and achieved the highest performances in the E-J-T, EJ-D, C-J-T, C-J-D, J-E-T and J-E-D subtasks. This paper (re-)examines Partial Disambiguation and the Pivot Language approach for Bilingual IR, Selective Sampling with memory Resetting for Mono/Bilingual IR and a new Monolingual IR strategy called Bounceand-Throw, using the Geometric Mean versions of Average PrecisionandQ-measurein additionto the standard Arithmetic Mean ones. Our analyses show that the Geometric Mean, which focusses on the “harder” topics, provides new insight into retrieval effectiveness evaluation.
Decoupling diffusional from dimensional control of signaling in 3D culture reveals a role for myosin in tubulogenesis

We present a novel microfabricated platform to culture cells within arrays of micrometer-scale three-dimensional (3D) extracellular matrix scaffolds (microgels). These microscale cultures eliminate diffusion barriers that are intrinsic to traditional 3D culture systems (macrogels) and enable uniform cytokine stimulation of the entire culture population, as well as allow immunolabeling, imaging and population-based biochemical assays across the relatively coplanar microgels. Examining early signaling associated with hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-mediated scattering and tubulogenesis of MDCK cells revealed that 3D culture modulates cellular responses both through dimensionality and altered stimulation rates. Comparing responses in 2D culture, microgels and macrogels demonstrated that HGF-induced ERK signaling was driven by the dynamics of stimulation and not by whether cells were in a 2D or 3D environment, and that this ERK signaling was equally important for HGF-induced cell scattering on 2D substrates and tubulogenesis in 3D. By contrast, we discovered a specific HGF-induced increase in myosin expression leading to sustained downregulation of myosin activity that occurred only within 3D contexts and was required for 3D tubulogenesis but not 2D scattering. Interestingly, although absent in cells on collagen-coated plates, downregulation of myosin activity also occurred for cells on collagen gels, but was transient and mediated by a combination of myosin dephosphorylation and enhanced myosin expression. Furthermore, upregulating myosin activity via siRNA targeted to a myosin phosphatase did not attenuate scattering in 2D but did inhibit tubulogenesis in 3D. Together, these results demonstrate that cellular responses to soluble cues in 3D culture are regulated by both rates of stimulation and by matrix dimensionality, and highlight the importance of decoupling these effects to identify early signals relevant to cellular function in 3D environments.