Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Image Stitching of Textures for Augmented Reality Medical Training

Augmented reality is an area that requires the participants to be fully immersed in the environment. As such, the appearance of the object must be as close as possible with the real object, which is really challenging. In achieving a realistic model, a camera capture images are mapped onto the model. The main phase in fulfilling these criteria are seamless image registration and ensuring the mapping of the images onto the model. The virtual model, in this case, the virtual heart, is going to be created by capturing multiple images of the real heart from different angles. The images are then going to be stitched before they can be mapped onto the 3D model of a heart. A preliminary experiment on the texture mapping is implemented using two well-known methods, Scale Invariant Feature Transform and Speeded-up Robust Feature.
Using a measure of structural variation to define a core for the globins

As the database of three-dimensional protein structures expands, it becomes possible to classify related structures into families. Some of these families, such as the globins, have enough members to allow statistical analysis of conserved features. Previously, we have shown that a probabilistic representation based on means and variances can be useful for defining structural cores for large families. These cores contain the subset of atoms that are in essentially the same relative positions in all members of the family. In addition to defining a core, our method creates an ordered list of atoms, ranked by their structural variation. In applying our core-finding procedure to the globins, we find that helices A, B, G and H form a structural core with low variance. These helices fold early in the folding pathway, and superimpose well with helices in the helix-turn-helix repressor protein family. The non-core helices (F and the parts of other helices that interact with it) are associated with the functional differences among the globins, and are encoded within a separate exon. We have also compared the variability measure implicit in our core structures with measures of sequence variability, using a procedure for measuring sequence variability that helps correct for the biased sampling in the databanks. We find, somewhat surprisingly, that sequence variation does not appear to correlate with structural variation.
VTIR at the NTCIR-12 2016 Lifelog Semantic Access Task

The VTIR team participated in the Lifelog Semantic Access Task of the NTCIR-12 2016. We proposed an approach to pre-process the visual concepts of the photos and reconstruct queries from two aspects. Due to limited time, our efforts were constrained. Our main contribution was to learn and incorporate location of each photo to improve search accuracy. The evaluation demonstrated that our approach achieved pretty decent results with querying simple scenarios, while a more sophisticated model is needed for search complicated scenario, including range search. This report describes our approach to improve retrieval accuracy and discusses the results obtained, and proposes some possible improvements that can be made in the future.
Piezoresponse Force Microscopy study of a single-crystal LiTaO3 thin film obtained by the Smart Cut™ technology

The dynamics of domains stability of a 120-nm-thick Z-cut single-crystal LiTaO3 thin film obtained through the Smart Cut™ technology is investigated using Piezoresponse Force Microscopy. The artificially created −Z domains were found to completely relax, driven by the large built-in field observed in the structure. A constant domain wall velocity of 0.2–0.6 nm/s was extracted from the evolution of the equivalent radius of the different domains observed.
Discovering Fuzzy Unexpected Sequences with Concept Hierarchies

Sequential pattern mining is the method that has received much attention in sequence data mining research and applications, however, a drawback is that it does not profit from prior knowledge of domains. In our previous work, we proposed a belief-driven method with fuzzy set theory for discovering the unexpected sequences that contradict existing knowledge of data, including occurrence constraints and semantic contradictions. In this paper, we present a new approach that discovers unexpected sequences with determining semantic contradictions by using concept hierarchies associated with the data. We evaluate the effectiveness of our approach with experiments on Web usage analysis.
A P300 BCI for the Masses: Prior Information Enables Instant Unsupervised Spelling

The usability of Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) based on the P300 speller is severely hindered by the need for long training times and many repetitions of the same stimulus. In this contribution we introduce a set of unsupervised hierarchical probabilistic models that tackle both problems simultaneously by incorporating prior knowledge from two sources: information from other training subjects (through transfer learning) and information about the words being spelled (through language models). We show, that due to this prior knowledge, the performance of the unsupervised models parallels and in some cases even surpasses that of supervised models, while eliminating the tedious training session.
The Rise of Trade Volumes , the Origin-Margin , and Per Capita Income

Recent empirical literature documents the existence of an origin-margin in international trade: importers tend to increase the number of source countries per imported good. Along various dimensions, this trend for diversi cation strongly correlates with the increase in trade volumes. Existing explanations of the rise of world trade volumes cannot account for that parallel development. This paper jointly addresses the rise of trade volumes and the expansion of the origin-margin and suggests per capita income as a common determinant of both trends. It develops a model where varieties de ned as goods di¤erentiated by origin are non-essential in an otherwise standard love-for-variety utility. In presence of transportation costs consumers demand varieties from a strict sub-set of supplier countries. This sub-set expands as per capita income grows. The additional margin in the import-bundle induces milder decreasing returns from imported than from domestic varieties. Consequently, income growth shift expenditure shares towards imports and trade volumes rise. An additional section tests the papers key predictions and presents a calibration exercise. JEL-classi cation: F1, F4
Emission-line outflows in PKS1549-79: the effects of the early stages of radio-source evolution?

We present new spectroscopic observations of the southern radio galaxy . Despite the flat-spectrum character of the radio emission from this source, our optical spectra show no sign of the broad permitted lines and non-stellar continuum characteristic of quasar nuclei and broad-line radio galaxies. However, the high-ionization forbidden lines, including [O iii]λλ5007, 4959, are unusually broad for a narrow-line radio galaxy , and are blueshifted by 600 km s−1 relative to the low-ionization lines such as [O ii]λλ3726,3729. The [O ii] lines are also considerably narrower than the [O iii] lines, and have a redshift consistent with that of the recently detected H i 21-cm absorption-line system. Whereas the kinematics of the [O iii] emission lines are consistent with outflow in an inner narrow-line region, the properties of the [O ii] emission lines suggest that they are emitted by a more extended and quiescent gaseous component. We argue that, given the radio properties of the source, our line of sight is likely to be lying close to the direction of bulk outflow of the radio jets. In this case it is probable that the quasar nucleus is entirely obscured at optical wavelengths by the material responsible for the H i absorption-line system. The unusually broad [O iii] emission lines suggest that the radio source is intrinsically compact. Overall, our data are consistent the idea that is a radio source in an early stage of evolution.
The Functional Characterization of Long Noncoding RNA SPRY4-IT1 in Human Melanoma Cells

Expression of the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) SPRY4-IT1 is low in normal human melanocytes but high in melanoma cells. siRNA knockdown of SPRY4-IT1 blocks melanoma cell invasion and proliferation, and increases apoptosis. To investigate its function further, we affinity purified SPRY4-IT1 from melanoma cells and used mass spectrometry to identify the protein lipin 2, an enzyme that converts phosphatidate to diacylglycerol (DAG), as a major binding partner. SPRY4-IT1 knockdown increases the accumulation of lipin2 protein and upregulate the expression of diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2 (DGAT2) an enzyme involved in the conversion of DAG to triacylglycerol (TAG). When SPRY4-IT1 knockdown and control melanoma cells were subjected to shotgun lipidomics, an MS-based assay that permits the quantification of changes in the cellular lipid profile, we found that SPRY4-IT1 knockdown induced significant changes in a number of lipid species, including increased acyl carnitine, fatty acyl chains, and triacylglycerol (TAG). Together, these results suggest the possibility that SPRY4-IT1 knockdown may induce apoptosis via lipin 2-mediated alterations in lipid metabolism leading to cellular lipotoxicity.
The Correlation between Personality and Self-Esteem Level among Students at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)

Self-esteem refers to how an individual assesses himself from a positive or negative perspective. The ability to self-assess will build self-esteem and be able to manage ways of thinking, acting and emotion control. There are several factors that affect individuals in self-determination process of self-esteem. Personality is defined as inherent characteristics in the individual by distinguishing themselves from other individuals. Research question proposed in this study is whether or not individuals’ personalities will influence the way individuals’ value and evaluate themselves. The study is aimed to examine the relationship between self-esteem and personality among students at University of Science Malaysia (USM). The study was conducted on a selected sample of six (6) respondents by interview session (qualitative study design). There were four questions or sections that were being proposed during the session, namely knowledge on the definition of self-esteem, the level of self-esteem, knowledge of respondent’s personality and the respondent’s opinion on the correlation between personality and self-esteem. The results have indicated that most of respondents (five out of six respondents) agreed the personality could affect self-esteem level. The implication of the study is that individuals are able to identify correlation between personality and self-esteem as well as be able to use the knowledge of personality possessed in the effort to increase self-esteem.
Semi-supervised Relation Extraction using EM Algorithm

Relation Extraction is the task of identifying relation between entities in a natural language sentence. We propose a semisupervised approach for relation extraction based on EM algorithm, which uses few relation labeled seed examples and a large number of unlabeled examples (but labeled with entities). We present analysis of how unlabeled data helps in improving the overall accuracy compared to the baseline system using only labeled data. This work therefore shows the efficacy of a sound theoretical framework exploiting an easily obtainable resource named “unlabeled data” for the problem of relation extraction.
Optical sensing by polystyrene microspheres

Trapped light inside the microsphere can make resonance, if the original and returned light happens to be in phase after a few round trips. If the Refractive Index (RI) of the surrounding medium increases, the resonance peaks, known as Whispering Gallery Modes (WGMs), are red-shifted. In this work, the minimum detection limit (DL) of polystyrene microspheres, 10 μm & 25 μm in diameter, is measured while gain medium is embedded Quantum Dots (QDs) on the microspheres surface. For the smaller microsphere, the sensitivity of TE and TM modes are measured individually. Comparing results with available literatures shows a slight improvement of the microspheres' DL when coating with QDs rather than doping with dyes. Furthermore, the smaller microsphere shows to generate higher sensitivity and lower DL.
On the use of the unified chaotic system in the field of secure communication

The synchronization of a unified chaotic system, used to encrypt different types of information signals, is investigated in this paper. In the outset, it is proven that such a system possesses three different types of chaos characterizations depending on a system's parameter, which guarantees a high degree of communication security. Then, the asymptotic convergence of the errors between the states of the master system and those of the slave one is deduced by means of Lyapunov theory. Finally, computer simulations are done to verify the feasibility as well as the efficiency of the proposed theoretical approaches.
Decomposed human localization in personal photo albums

Recent years have seen tremendous progress in human detection, whereas only upright poses are usually considered. In this paper, we relax this constraint to localizing highly deformable persons, as commonly exhibited in personal photo albums. Human localization based on arbitrary pose is extremely challenging, due to the large pose variances, disabling the traditional part based template detectors. To tackle this issue, we propose a decomposition-based human localization model dealing with this issue in three-step: a stable upper-body is firstly detected, then a set of bigger bounding boxes are extended, from which the most appropriate instance is distinguished by a discriminative Whole Person Model. The experiment results demonstrated that our decomposition-based model worked very well at localizing deformable persons, which boosted the average precision by 10% compared to state-of-the-art person detectors. On the other hand, Similar Pose Feature(SPF) provides the feasibility of projecting persons with similar poses into same clusters, facilitating a novel pose-based photo album browsing functionality.
Lessons from the Cleveland Scholarship Program.

This paper examines the Cleveland Scholarship and Tuition Program (CSTP), a program initiated in 1996 that was the first in the U.S. to offer state-funded scholarships that can be redeemed at both secular and parochial schools. To gather information about the program, a telephone survey of 2,020 CSTP applicants, 1,006 of which did not enroll in the program, was conducted. Analysis of the data revealed five major findings. First, parents reported that their decision to apply for a scholarship was largely motivated by academic concerns. Second, a relatively small proportion of nonrecipients claimed that an inability to secure admission to a preferred private school,was an important reason in their decision not to participate in the program. Third, parents of scholarship recipients who previously attended public schools were much more satisfied with every aspect of their choice school than applicants who did not receive a scholarship but attended public school instead. Fourth, choice schools did well at retaining students in the program, both within the school year and from one school year to the next. Finally, preliminary test scores in mathematics and reading show large gains for CSTP students attending the Hope schools. Overall, the findings support future choice initiatives, though special funding arrangements and further programming will be necessary for disabled and other special-needs students. (Contains 15 tables that present research data.) (RJM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Lessons From the Cleveland Scholarship Program Conducted under the auspices of Harvard University's Program on Education Policy and Governance, Jointly Sponsored by the Taubman Center on State and Local Government at the Kennedy School of Government and the Center for American Political Studies in the Department of Government.
Discrete-time sliding mode control coupled with asynchronous sensor fusion for rigid-link flexible-joint manipulators

This paper proposes a discrete-time sliding mode controller coupled with an asynchronous multi-rate sensor fusion estimator which estimates the state of a rigid-link flexible-joint manipulator with visual sensing. In the multiple sensors robotic system, the fusion estimate method deals with the slow sampling rate and the latency of vision sensors by using motor encoders to cover the missing information between two visual samples. The discrete-time sliding mode uses the state estimation from fusion estimator which unique modifications simplify the design of the controller. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is illustrated by a computer simulation.
Genome Analysis of Staphylococcus agnetis, an Agent of Lameness in Broiler Chickens

Lameness in broiler chickens is a significant animal welfare and financial issue. Lameness can be enhanced by rearing young broilers on wire flooring. We have identified Staphylococcus agnetis as significantly involved in bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) in proximal tibia and femorae, leading to lameness in broiler chickens in the wire floor system. Administration of S. agnetis in water induces lameness. Previously reported in some cases of cattle mastitis, this is the first report of this poorly described pathogen in chickens. We used long and short read next generation sequencing to assemble single finished contigs for the genome and a large plasmid from the chicken pathogen. Comparison of the S. agnetis genome to those of other pathogenic Staphylococci shows that S.agnetis contains a distinct repertoire of virulence determinants. Additionally, the S. agnetis genome has several regions that differ substantially from the genomes of other pathogenic Staphylococci. Comparison of our finished genome to a recent draft genome for a cattle mastitis isolate suggests that future investigations focus on the evolutionary epidemiology of this emerging pathogen of domestic animals.
On the stability of equation-error estimates of all-pole systems

It is well known that the standard equation-error (EE) method for the identification of linear systems yields biased estimates if the data are noise corrupted. Due to this bias, the resulting estimate can be unstable in some cases, depending on the spectral characteristics of the input and the noise, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and the unknown system. The set of all-pole linear systems whose equation-error estimate is stable for all wide sense stationary inputs and white measurement noise is investigated. Some results concerning the structure of this set are given.
Modeling spatial spread of communicable diseases involving animal hosts

In this chapter, we review some previous studies on modeling spatial spread of specific communicable diseases involving animal hosts. Reaction-diffusion equations are used to model these diseases due to movement of animal hosts. Selected topics include the transmission of rabies in fox populations (Kallen et al., 1984; Kallen et al., 1985; Murray et al., 1986), dengue (Takahashi et al., 2005), West Nile virus (Lewis et al., 2006; Ou & Wu, 2006), hantavirus spread in mouse populations (Abramson and Kenkre, 2002), Lyme disease (Caraco et al., 2002), and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) (Fitzgibbon et al., 1995; Hilker et al., 2007).
Quantized consensus criterion for discrete-time multi-agent systems with communication delay

This paper proposes a new consensus criterion for discrete-time multi-agent systems with communication-delay and quantization. The interconnection information through the sensor of each agent are measuring to be the quantized by a logarithmic quantizer, and its quantization error is included in the proposed method. By constructing a suitable Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and utilizing reciprocally convex approach, a new consensus criterion for the concerned systems is established in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) which can be easily solved by various effective optimization algorithms. One numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Measurement Error in Survey Data : Revisiting the Study of Income and Consumption Dynamics

A sizable volume of literature on the study of income and consumption dynamics has developed through the application of panel data surveys. Very few researchers, however, have provided solutions to the measurement error bias generated by surveyed income and consumption, although the presence of such bias has been widely acknowledged. This paper uses data from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) to examine whether the measurement error in surveyed income and consumption has the potential to generate biases for studies on income and consumption dynamics. A rstdi¤erenced dynamic panel model is estimated with lagged incomes and consumptions as internal instruments, and an external instrument individualssatisfaction regarding their household income is introduced. This study suggests that there is substantial time-varying measurement error in surveyed income and consumption, and this error plays an important role for both studies of income and consumption dynamics. The combined e¤ect of unobserved heterogeneity and time-invariant measurement error leads to an upward bias, but the e¤ect of time-varying measurement error o¤sets the combined e¤ect of unobserved heterogeneity and time-invariant measurement error. JEL Classi cations: C81, D12, O12
Perception of visitors regarding the wildlife inhabiting an archaeological site

ABSTRACT Cultural heritage sites are often located within biodiversity hotspots, which may induce human-wildlife conflicts despite their effectiveness in attracting tourists. Mitigating these conflicts requires targeted conservation and education measures based on a solid understanding of how visitors perceive wildlife. We assessed visitors’ perception of the major wildlife groups (i.e., amphibians, reptiles, water birds) that were detectable during visiting hours, within an archaeological site overlapping with a biodiversity hotspot in southeastern Romania. We explored whether age, gender, education, nationality, and awareness (i.e., prompted by guided tours, previous visits, or protection level of the area) influenced visitors’ perception towards the different wildlife groups. Visitors were disturbed or felt repulsion mostly towards the less charismatic wildlife groups: snakes, frogs, and toads; the perception was significantly explained by gender, nationality and awareness. We recommend the site to be used to promote education regarding wildlife conservation, to improve visiting experience and protect less charismatic species.
PHASE LOCKED LOOPS-I 1 ECE-599 : Low Power , Adaptive Bandwidth Tracking Phase Locked Loop Design

A low power, adaptive bandwidth tracking Phase Locked Loop (PLL) is presented in this paper. Designed PLL operates over a wide frequency range of 250MHz to 1GHz with a fixed multiplication factor of 8. PLL is optimized for 0.2% UI of r.m.s. jitter over the whole frequency range with bandwidth tracking to keep the power consumption minimum. In addition, a multiplier block is used to increase the input frequency by two, which further increases the power efficiency of the PLL. The circuit is designed and simulated using 0. 18μm process with supply voltage of 1.8V.