Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extracting textual inserts from digital videos

Textual inserts and closed captures superimposed on digital videos often contain important and exclusive information about the video contents which cannot be found in other information channels. Therefore, it is very helpful to extract this information automatically and add it to a video index as generated by video archiving and retrieval systems like e.g. ADViSOR, AVAnTA, DiVA or Informedia. Owing to the fact that common OCR systems are restricted to binary images, the video frames have to be preprocessed in order to extract the textual inserts from the image in the background. In this paper we present our approach to the segmentation of textual inserts from digital videos or images, which consists of a region-growing method for color segmentation and a method of separating text regions from background based on character size and alignment constraints. A new method on segmentation refinement taking into account the results of the classification step leads to a significant enhancement of quality of the resulting binary images. The main difficulties in extracting textual inserts from video are caused by the low resolution and quality of digital video material, the high amount of image data, the very complex structured and textured background, and the unknown color size, and position of the text to be extracted from the image.
Considerations of anodic bonding for capacitive type silicon/glass sensor fabrication

The author discusses the suitability of various glass types for different applications, and in particular for absolute capacitive pressure sensors. Some process induced effects which can affect the yield and performance of such devices are investigated and solutions suggested for improving these properties. Effects considered include electrolysis and process induced compositional changes. These can manifest themselves as bowed or warped assemblies, degraded bonds and metallized layers, and poor sensitivity and temperature stability of the resulting devices. Some solutions to these problems are discussed.
Generalized Toda Mechanics Associated with Classical Lie Algebras and Their Reductions

For any classical Lie algebra , we construct a family of integrable generalizations of Toda mechanics labeled a pair of ordered integers . The universal form of the Lax pair, equations of motion, Hamiltonian as well as Poisson brackets are provided, and explicit examples for with are also given. For all , it is shown that the dynamics of the - and the -Toda chains are natural reductions of that of the -chain, and for , there is also a family of symmetrically reduced Toda systems, the -Toda systems, which are also integrable. In the quantum case, all -Toda systems with 1$? > or 1$? > describe the dynamics of standard Toda variables coupled to noncommutative variables. Except for the symmetrically reduced cases, the integrability for all -Toda systems survive after quantization.
Role of Respiratory Viruses in Acute Upper and Lower Respiratory Tract Illness in the First Year of Life: A Birth Cohort Study

Introduction: Although acute respiratory illnesses (ARI) are major causes of morbidity and mortality in early childhood worldwide, little progress has been made in their control and prophylaxis. Most studies have focused on hospitalized children or children from closed populations. It is essential that the viral etiology of these clinical diseases be accurately defined in the development of antiviral drugs. Objective: To investigate the role of all common respiratory viruses as upper and lower respiratory tract pathogens in the first year of life. Study Design: This community-based birth cohort study prospectively collected detailed information on all ARI contracted by 263 infants from birth until 1 year of age. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected for each ARI episode, and all common respiratory viruses were detected by polymerase chain reaction. Episodes were classified as upper respiratory illnesses or lower respiratory illnesses (LRI), with or without wheeze. Results: The majority reported 2–5 episodes of ARI in the first year (range, 0–11 episodes; mean, 4.1). One-third were LRI, and 29% of these were associated with wheeze. Viruses were detected in 69% of ARI; most common were rhinoviruses (48.5%) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (10.9%). Compared with RSV, >10 times the number of upper respiratory illnesses and >3 times the number of both LRI and wheezing LRI were attributed to rhinoviruses. Conclusion: Rhinoviruses are the major upper and lower respiratory pathogens in the first year of life. Although RSV is strongly associated with severe LRI requiring hospitalization, the role of rhinoviruses as the major lower respiratory pathogens in infants has not previously been recognized.
The Role of Attention-Deficit/hyperactivity Disorder in the Association between Verbal Ability and Conduct Disorder

Although there is clear evidence that low verbal ability is a risk factor for conduct disorder (CD), some researchers have questioned whether this association is due to the common comorbidity between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and CD. The present study examined the association among verbal ability, ADHD, and CD in a genetically informative sample in order to examine the role of genes and/or environmental influences shared in common with ADHD on the covariation between verbal ability and CD. Participants were 2744 adolescents from the Center for Antisocial Drug Dependence (CADD), and included 360 monozygotic (MZ) female twin pairs, 221 dizygotic (DZ) female twin pairs, 297 MZ male twin pairs, 220 DZ male twin pairs, and 274 opposite-sex DZ twin pairs. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC-IV) was used to assess lifetime symptoms of ADHD and CD. Verbal ability was assessed via the Vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III (WAIS-III) for individuals over the age of 16 and the Vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children III (WISC-III) for individuals under the age of 16. There was a small but significant negative covariance between verbal ability and CD and between verbal ability and ADHD. Results also suggest that the covariation between verbal ability and CD is due to influences shared in common with ADHD.
Water sorption in coated Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) logs and influence of incipient decay

Abstract Scots pine log specimens were given three different surface treatments and two different orientations of large cracks, and subjected to cyclic wetting and drying. Individual fitting of a mechanistic growth model was used to study the shape of absorption and accumulation curves and the final drying curve. Two parameters from this model (increase/decrease rate and maximum/minimum weight gain) were used for statistical analysis. The results indicate that wood tar results in less accumulated moisture over time than solvent-borne or water-borne coating or no treatment at all. An incipient attack by a white-rot fungus on parts of the material during storage affected water uptake greatly, often overriding surface treatment.
Uplink LMMSE Beamforming Design for Cellular Networks with AF MIMO Relaying

In this paper, linear beamforming design for uplink amplify-and-forward relaying cellular networks, in which multiple mobile terminals rely on one relay station to communicate with the base station, is investigated. In particular, the base station, relay station and mobile terminals are all equipped with multiple antennas. Based on linear minimum mean-square-error (LMMSE) criterion and exploiting a hidden convexity in the problem, the precoder matrices at multiple mobile terminals, forwarding matrix at relay station and equalizer matrix at base station are jointly designed. Furthermore, several existing linear beamforming designs for multi-user (MU) MIMO systems and AF MIMO relaying systems can be considered as special cases of the proposed solution. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the performance advantage of the proposed algorithm.
A comparative molecular force spectroscopy study of homophilic JAM‐A interactions and JAM‐A interactions with reovirus attachment protein σ1

JAM‐A belongs to a family of immunoglobulin‐like proteins called junctional adhesion molecules (JAMs) that localize at epithelial and endothelial intercellular tight junctions. JAM‐A is also expressed on dendritic cells, neutrophils, and platelets. Homophilic JAM‐A interactions play an important role in regulating paracellular permeability and leukocyte transmigration across epithelial monolayers and endothelial cell junctions, respectively. In addition, JAM‐A is a receptor for the reovirus attachment protein, σ1. In this study, we used single molecular force spectroscopy to compare the kinetics of JAM‐A interactions with itself and σ1. A chimeric murine JAM‐A/Fc fusion protein and the purified σ1 head domain were used to probe murine L929 cells, which express JAM‐A and are susceptible to reovirus infection. The bond half‐life (t1/2) of homophilic JAM‐A interactions was found to be shorter ($k_{{\bf off}}^{\bf o} = 0.688 \pm 0.349\;{\bf s}^{ - 1} $) than that of σ1/JAM‐A interactions ($k_{{\bf off}}^{\bf o} = 0.067 \pm 0.041\;{\bf s}^{ - 1} $). These results are in accordance with the physiological functions of JAM‐A and σ1. A short bond lifetime imparts a highly dynamic nature to homophilic JAM‐A interactions for regulating tight junction permeability while stable interactions between σ1 and JAM‐A likely anchor the virus to the cell surface and facilitate viral entry. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Function Decomposition Approach for Data Privacy of Controlling Smart Grids

The compromise of confidential information will lead to catastrophic disaster during the operation and control in the next generation of power grid. With more advanced yet vulnerable techniques integrated, the system is more exposed to malicious attackers compared with isolated old systems. In this paper, we investigate the privacy issues in the optimal control of load-frequency with information exchange in deregulated power systems. We focus on the problem to stabilize the system while sharing limited information, thus maintaining a proper level of privacy, based on the technique of function decomposition. We prove the existence of an upper bound for the approximation of decomposable functions, which provides privacy protection for each participant in a competitive environment. Then we examine the security and feasibility of different possible mechanisms to achieves an approximate decomposability. Numeral simulation shows the approximated control law obtained from the privacy preserving information exchange for power systems could stabilize the system with barely noticeable performance degradation.
On the vices of nominalization and the virtues of contextualizing

• Theme 1. Extensive evidence exists for context effects. Regardless of one's theoretical orientation, there can be no doubt that context effects are ubiquitous. When a phenomenon is studied carefully, it typically does not behave the same way across contexts. Regardless of ·, whether the phenomenon is genetic, neural, cognitive, behavioral, social, or cultural, it is likely to exhibit extensive sensitivity to context, as the . diverse chapters of this volume illustrate. • Theme 2. Taking context into account is more effective than ignoring it. When a mechanism is specified independently of context, it may capture some variance of the phenomena it explains. Nevertheless, taking context into account usually explains significantly more variance. When a mechanism contributes to a phenomenon, context shapes the expression of its contribution. • Theme 3. Mechanisms as dynamic, context-sensitive processes. As Barrett, Mesquita, and Smith (Chapter 1) document, lay individuals
High Thermal Conductive Epoxy Molding Compound with Thermal Conductive Pathway

The epoxy molding compound (EMC) with thermal conductive pathways was developed by structure designing. Three kinds of EMCs with different thermal con- ductivities were used in this investigation, specifically ep- oxy filled with Si3N4, filled with hybrid Si3N4/SiO2, and filled with SiO2. Improved thermal conductivity was achieved by constructing thermal conductive pathways using high thermal conductivity EMC (Si3N4) in low ther- mal conductivity EMC (SiO2). The morphology and micro- structure of the top of EMC indicate that continuous network is formed by the filler which anticipates heat con- ductivity. The highest thermal conductivity of the EMC was 2.5 W/m K, reached when the volume fraction of EMC (Si3N4) is 80% (to compare with hybrid Si3N4/SiO2 filled- EMC, the content of total fillers in the EMC was kept at 60 vol %). For a given volume fraction of EMC (Si3N4) in the EMC system, thermal conductivity values increase accord- ing to the order EMC (Si3N4) particles filled-EMC, hybrid Si3N4/SiO2 filled-EMC, and EMC(SiO2) particles filled- EMC. The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) decreases with increasing Si3N4 content in the whole filler. The values of CTE ranged between 23 � 10 � 6 and 30 � 10 � 6 K � 1 . The investigated EMC samples have a flexural strength of about 36-39 MPa. The dielectric constant increases with Si3N4 con- tent but generally remains at a low level (<6, at 1 MHz). The average electrical volume resistivity of the EMC samples are higher than 1.4 � 10 10 X m, the average electrical surface re- sistivity of the EMC samples are higher than 6.7 � 10 14 X. V C 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 113: 2117-2125, 2009
FastRoute 4.0: Global router with efficient via minimization

The number of vias generated during the global routing stage is a critical factor for the yield of final circuits. However, most global routers only approach the problem by charging a cost for vias in the maze routing cost function. In this paper, we present a global router that addresses the via number optimization problem throughout the entire global routing flow. We introduce the via aware Steiner tree generation, 3-bend routing and layer assignment with careful ordering to reduce via count. We integrate these three techniques into FastRoute 3.0 and achieve significant reduction in both via count and runtime.
Ultrasound Strain Imaging of Altered Myocardial Stiffness: Stunned Versus Infarcted Reperfused Myocardium

Background—In this study we evaluate the diastolic deformation of ischemic/reperfused myocardium and relate this deformation to tissue elastic properties. Methods and Results—Farm pigs were subjected to left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion followed by reperfusion to create either stunning (n=12) or transmural myocardial infarction (n=12). Ultrasound-derived radial strain rates (SR) and strain were measured in the ischemic and remote walls. Myocardial stiffness was estimated from diastolic pressure–wall thickness relationship obtained from preload alterations. At reperfusion, end-systolic strain (∈sys) was significantly reduced in both stunned and infarcted walls compared with their remote walls (3±3% versus 26±2% and 1±0% versus 33±5%, respectively; P< 0.0001) or baseline values. Diastolic passive deformation (∈A) and rates of deformation during early (ESR) and late (ASR) diastole were comparable between stunned and remote walls (∈A: 7.3±1.6% versus 7.9±1.9%; ESR: −2.7±0.4 s−1 versus −2.6±0.5 s−1; ASR: −1.8±0.2 s−1 versus −1.9±0.3 s−1; P= NS for all) but were of significantly lower magnitude in infarcted walls versus remote walls (∈A: 1.1±0.2% versus 11.4±1.9%; ESR: −0.3±0.1 s−1 versus −2.4±0.4 s−1; ASR: −0.3±0.1 s−1 versus −2.5±0.4 s−1; P< 0.0001 for all). Stiffness coefficient of exponential diastolic pressure–wall thickness relation was higher for infarcted (P< 0.05) but not for stunned walls (P= NS) compared with their remote walls. Conclusions—Early after postischemic reperfusion and in the presence of severely reduced systolic deformation, diastolic passive deformation (and rates of deformation) can distinguish stiff, noncompliant, transmurally infarcted myocardial walls from those more compliant walls containing viable but stunned myocardium.
Implementation and experimental validation of Dynamic Movement Primitives for object handover

This article presents the implementation and experimental validation of a control system dedicated to human robot physical interaction during object handovers. Our control law defines the trajectory of the robotic arm towards a previously unknown handover location based on the Dynamic Movement Primitives formalism adapted for human robot object handover. The control law was deployed on a Kuka Light-Weight Arm equipped with the Azzurra anthropomorphic hand. We employed an industrial-like setting involving three different human postures for object handover in order to evaluate the performance and user experience of our control law and its generalizability. The evaluation was conducted over 1000 object handover trials between the human and robot partners, and the kinematic data and subjective experience were gathered for each trial. The outcomes of this evaluation validate the current implementation and guide the next steps towards more efficient and fluid human robot interaction.
Trading Agents Competing: Performance, Progress, and Market Effectiveness

The annual trading agent competition offers agent designers a forum for evaluating programmed trading techniques in a challenging market scenario. TAC aims to spur research by enabling researchers to compare techniques on a common problem and build on each other's ideas. A fixed set of assumptions and environment settings facilitates communication of methods and results. As a multiyear event, TAC lets researchers observe trading agents' progress over time, in effect accelerating the evolution of an adapted population of traders. Given all the participant effort invested, it is incumbent on us to learn as much from the experience as possible. After three years of TAC, we're ready to examine there we stand. To do this, we used data from actual TAC tournaments and some post-competition experimentation. We based our analysis almost entirely on outcomes (profits and allocations), with very little direct accounting for specific agent techniques.
Vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-roadside multi-hop communications for vehicular sensor networks: Simulations and field trial

Using vehicles as sensors for traffic and environment monitoring is a new paradigm that opens the way to worthwhile applications. Data collected on board are usually delivered through the cellular network, with the consequent overloading risk. This paper focuses on the alternative adoption of short range vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-roadside (V2R) communications, with particular reference to the wireless access in vehicular environment (WAVE)/IEEE802.11p technology. Specifically, we propose and validate, through simulations in a urban scenario, a simple but effective routing algorithm to forward data through V2V and V2R communications. The benefits are quantified in terms of the amount of data that can be transmitted without using cellular resources. Furthermore, we present an urban field trial, deployed to test our proposed multi-hop algorithm, through the adoption of low cost hardware and open source software.
A study in two-handed input

Two experiments were run to investigate two-handed input. The experimental tasks were representative of those found in CAD and office information systems. Experiment one involved the performance of a compound selection/positioning task. The two sub-tasks were performed by different hands using separate transducers. Without prompting, novice subjects adopted strategies that involved performing the two sub-tasks simultaneously. We interpret this as a demonstration that, in the appropriate context, users are capable of simultaneously providing continuous data from two hands without significant overhead. The results also show that the speed of performing the task was strongly correlated to the degree of parallelism employed. Experiment two involved the performance of a compound navigation/selection task. It compared a one-handed versus two-handed method for finding and selecting words in a document. The two-handed method significantly outperformed the commonly used one-handed method by a number of measures. Unlike experiment one, only two subjects adopted strategies that used both hands simultaneously. The benefits of the two-handed technique, therefore, are interpreted as being due to efficiency of hand motion. However, the two subjects who did use parallel strategies had the two fastest times of all subjects.
Binding of sFRP-3 to EGF in the Extra-Cellular Space Affects Proliferation, Differentiation and Morphogenetic Events Regulated by the Two Molecules

Background sFRP-3 is a soluble antagonist of Wnts, widely expressed in developing embryos. The Wnt gene family comprises cysteine-rich secreted ligands that regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, organogenesis and oncogenesis of different organisms ranging from worms to mammals. In the canonical signal transduction pathway Wnt proteins bind to the extracellular domain of Frizzled receptors and consequently recruit Dishevelled (Dsh) to the cell membrane. In addition to Wnt membrane receptors belonging to the Frizzled family, several other molecules have been described which share homology in the CRD domain and lack the putative trans-membrane domain, such as sFRP molecules (soluble Frizzled Related Protein). Among them, sFRP-3 was originally isolated from bovine articular cartilage and also as a component of the Spemann organizer. sFRP-3 blocks Wnt-8 induced axis duplication in Xenopus embryos and binds to the surface of cells expressing a membrane-anchored form of Wnt-1. Injection of sFRP-3 mRNA blocks expression of XMyoD mRNA and leads to embryos with enlarged heads and shortened trunks. Methodology/Principal Findings Here we report that sFRP-3 specifically blocks EGF-induced fibroblast proliferation and foci formation. Over-expression of sFRP-3 reverts EGF-mediated inhibition of hair follicle development in the mouse ectoderm while its ablation in Xenopus maintains EGF-mediated inhibition of ectoderm differentiation. Conversely, over-expression of EGF reverts the inhibition of somitic myogenesis and axis truncation in Xenopus and mouse embryos caused by sFRP-3. In vitro experiments demonstrated a direct binding of EGF to sFRP-3 both on heparin and on the surface of CHO cells where the molecule had been membrane anchored. Conclusions/Significance sFRP-3 and EGF reciprocally inhibit their effects on cell proliferation, differentiation and morphogenesis and indeed are expressed in contiguous domains of the embryo, suggesting that in addition to their canonical ligands (Wnt and EGF receptor, respectively) these molecules bind to each other and regulate their activities during embryogenesis.
Regulation of the cell cycle by the cdk2 protein kinase in cultured human fibroblasts

In mammalian cells inhibition of the cdc2 function results in arrest in the G2-phase of the cell cycle. Several cdc2-related gene products have been identified recently and it has been hypothesized that they control earlier cell cycle events. Here we have studied the relationship between activation of one of these cdc2 homologs, the cdk2 protein kinase, and the progression through the cell cycle in cultured human fibroblasts. We found that cdk2 was activated and specifically localized to the nucleus during S phase and G2. Microinjection of affinity-purified anti-cdk2 antibodies but not of affinity-purified anti-cdc2 antibodies, during G1, inhibited entry into S phase. The specificity of these effects was demonstrated by the fact that a plasmid-driven cdk2 overexpression counteracted the inhibition. These results demonstrate that the cdk2 protein kinase is involved in the activation of DNA synthesis.