Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vitro frog sciatic nerve as a peripheral nerve model for studies of the mechanism of action of low energy lasers: Part one

There have been numerous reports of modulation of peripheral nerve action potential characteristics through application of low energy laser irradiation (LELI), although no mechanism has yet been advanced to explain these observations. In order to investigate the mechanism of LELI effects in peripheral nerve tissue, a well‐characterized, reliable, and robust peripheral nerve preparation is required. The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro frog sciatic nerve as a candidate model for future LELI mechanism studies.
Computing Science Password Authenticated Key Exchange by Juggling Password Authenticated Key Exchange by Juggling Bibliographical Details Password Authenticated Key Exchange by Juggling

Password-Authenticated Key Exchange (PAKE) studies how to establish secure communication between two remote parties solely based on their shared password, without requiring a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). Despite extensive research in the past decade, this problem remains unsolved. Patent has been one of the biggest brakes in deploying PAKE solutions in practice. Besides, even for the patented schemes like EKE and SPEKE, their security is only heuristic; researchers have reported some subtle but worrying security issues. In this paper, we propose to tackle this problem using an approach different from all past solutions. Our protocol, Password Authenticated Key Exchange by Juggling (J-PAKE), achieves mutual authentication in two steps: first, two parties send ephemeral public keys to each other; second, they encrypt the shared password by juggling the public keys in a verifiable way. The first use of such a juggling technique was seen in solving the Dining Cryptographers problem. Here, we apply it to solve the PAKE problem, and show that the protocol is zeroknowledge as it reveals nothing except one-bit information: whether the supplied passwords at two sides are the same. With clear advantages in security, our scheme has comparable efficiency to the EKE and SPEKE protocols.
f-information measures in medical image registration

A measure for registration of medical images that currently draws much attention is mutual information. The measure originates from information theory, but has been shown to be successful for image registration as well. Information theory, however, offers many more measures that may be suitable for image registration. These all measure the divergence of the joint distribution of the images' grey values from the joint distribution that would have been found had the images been completely independent. This paper compares the performance of mutual information as a registration measure with that of other f-information measures. The measures are applied to rigid registration of positron emission tomography(PET)/magnetic resonance (MR) and MR/computed tomography (CT) images, for 35 and 41 image pairs, respectively. An accurate gold standard transformation is available for the images, based on implanted markers. The registration performance, robustness and accuracy of the measures are studied. Some of the measures are shown to perform poorly on all aspects. The majority of measures produces results similar to those of mutual information. An important finding, however, is that several measures, although slightly more difficult to optimize, can potentially yield significantly more accurate results than mutual information.
Analysis of combined voice/data/video operation in cable and DSL access networks: graceful degradation under overload

We develop exact models to analyze the performance of several types and grades of data, voice and video sessions over a cable or DSL based access network. Each session is characterized by a minimum guaranteed data-rate and a maximum allowed data-rate. Sessions would normally transmit at the maximum rate but under congestion some or all sessions would see graceful rate degradation. For each class the blocking probability and the average data-rate attained by a session are computed. In addition, a system-wide probability of rate degradation is also computed. A bufferless model with product-form structure and insensitivity to session holding time distribution except through mean (heavy-tailed distributions are allowed), and a buffered model with standard Markov chain structure are developed. The models are also generalized to allow rate degradation of real-time streaming traffic (e.g., switch from G.711 to G.728 encoding or turn on silence suppression) whenever the total bandwidth usage exceeds a certain threshold. Whenever a model is sensitive to session holding time distribution, that sensitivity is studied through simulations.
Test of performance strategies among college going athletes: differences across type of sports and gender.

The aim of the study was to examine possible differences in the use of performance strategies of college going athletes of different type of sports and gender. The sample consisted of 68 athletes from Lakshmibai National University of Physical Education Gwalior (36 males, 32 females), aged 21.04 ± 1.75 years, with different sports (team sport and individual sport). The Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS-Thomas, Murphy, and Hardy, 1999) was used. The participants completed the TOPS questionnaire during the competition season of 2011-12 sessions. The results showed that there were significant differences in performance strategies used by male and female athletes during competition and practice condition, further there are significant differences in performance strategies used by athletes of team sports and individual sports during practice and competition condition. During both practice and competition condition female athletes were better compared to male athletes in emotional control, whereas male athletes perform better than female athletes in goal setting, Self talk, imagery and attentional control in practice condition and automaticity, self talk, imagery, attention control and activation during competition condition. Individual sports athletes had better emotional control than team sports athletes during practice and competition condition whereas team sports athletes were better than individual athletes in relaxation and activation during practice condition. The differences between athletes of different sports and gender could be considered from coaches and sport psychologists in order to help athletes improve their athletic performance.
Using cooperative transmission in wireless multihop networks

This paper investigates the efficiency of cooperative transmission when it is applied in wireless multihop networks. We consider regular linear networks and derive the achievable rate-delay tradeoff when selective relaying through a single relay node is used in each hop. We show that relaying achieves significant gain particularly in the high throughput — high delay regime.
Learning inverse kinematics

Real-time control of the end-effector of a humanoid robot in external coordinates requires computationally efficient solutions of the inverse kinematics problem. In this context, this paper investigates inverse kinematics learning for resolved motion rate control (RMRC) employing an optimization criterion to resolve kinematic redundancies. Our learning approach is based on the key observations that learning an inverse of a nonuniquely invertible function can be accomplished by augmenting the input representation to the inverse model and by using a spatially localized learning approach. We apply this strategy to inverse kinematics learning and demonstrate how a recently developed statistical learning algorithm, locally weighted projection regression, allows efficient learning of inverse kinematic mappings in an incremental fashion even when input spaces become rather high dimensional. Our results are illustrated with a 30-DOF humanoid robot.
Teaching a Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology Laboratory Course to Undergraduate Students

Here we report our efforts to teach the first multidisciplinary undergraduate nanotechnology laboratory course in the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU). The course was designed to provide undergraduate students with hands-on experience in nanoscience and nanotechnology. The theme of this laboratory course is the integration of nanotechnology with microsystem technology, i.e., bottom-up synthesis meeting top-down fabrication. This course consists of seven carefully designed lab modules that bridge the major “pillars” of nanotechnology– nanomaterials, nanofabrication, nanoscale characterization, and nanodevices. Final projects provide students opportunities to conduct nanotechnology research through problem-based learning and to improve their communication and presentation skills for educating the public about nanotechnology. A pedagogical approach that features problem-based learning, group learning, visual/tactile assistance and interdisciplinary interaction was employed during the offering of this course.
Leucobacter chromiiresistens sp. nov., a chromate-resistant strain.

A Gram-positive, irregular rod-shaped, non-motile, yellow-pigmented bacterium, strain JG 31(T), was isolated in the course of identifying chromium-resistant soil bacteria. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of the isolated bacterium indicated its phylogenetic position within the genus Leucobacter. Binary 16S rRNA gene sequence alignments of the isolated bacterium with the 11 species of the genus recognized at the time of writing revealed sequence similarities of more than 97 % with Leucobacter alluvii (GenBank accession no: AM072820; 99.4 %), Leucobacter iarius (AM040493; 98.2 %), Leucobacter aridicollis (AJ781047; 97.8 %), Leucobacter komagatae (AB007419; 97.4 %), Leucobacter chironomi (EU346911; 97.1 %) and Leucobacter luti (AM072819; 97.1 %). In contrast, DNA-DNA hybridization experiments showed similarity values below 28 % for DNA samples from the most closely related type strains of L. alluvii, L. aridicollis and L. iarius. Protein analysis by matrix-assisted laser-desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and automated RiboPrinting using the restriction enzyme PvuII differentiated strain JG 31(T) from all type strains of the genus Leucobacter. The dominant fatty acids of the novel isolate were anteiso-C(15 : 0), anteiso-C(17 : 0) and iso-C(16 : 0), while the quinone system consisted of menaquinones MK-11, MK-10, MK-9 and MK-8. In a B-type cross-linked peptidoglycan, the cell-wall amino acids were alanine, glycine, threonine, glutamic acid and 2,4-diaminobutyric acid. Strain JG 31(T) was able to grow in a medium containing up to 300 mM K(2)CrO(4) and showed cellular aggregation in response to chromate stress. From biochemical and genomic analyses, the new strain is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Leucobacter, for which the name Leucobacter chromiiresistens sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is strain JG 31(T) ( = DSM 22788(T) = CCOS 200(T)).
Asymptotics of ergodic MIMO capacity in correlated Rayleigh fading environments

Using recent analytical results on the exact ergodic capacity of correlated MIMO channels, with transmit as well as receive correlation, in flat Rayleigh fading environments, we derive simple asymptotic expressions for ergodic capacity in the low and high SNR region. The asymptotics allow for a simple assessment of the influence of the various system parameters and fading correlation on ergodic capacity. Furthermore, we use the asymptotics for studying the capacity-achieving transmission strategies for the case of channel distribution information at the transmitter. Monte-Carlo simulations confirm the validity and accuracy of the analysis.
Thermal Effects with Leakage Power Considered in 2D/3D Floorplanning

Leakage power is becoming a key design challenge in current and future CMOS designs. Due to technology scaling, the leakage power is rising so quickly that it largely elevates the die temperature. In this paper, we deeply investigate the impact of leakage power on thermal profile in 2D and 3D floorplanning. Our results show that chip temperature can increase by about 11 V in 2D design and 68 V for 3D case with leakage power considered. Then we propose a thermal-driven floorplanning flow integrated with an iterative leakage-aware thermal analysis process to optimize chip temperature and save leakage power consumption. Experimental results show that for 2D design, the max chip temperature can be reduced by about 8 "C and the proportion of leakage power to total power can be reduced from 19.17% to 11.12%. The corresponding results for 3D are 60 degC temperature reduction and 16.3% less leakage power proportion.
Feature Depth Observation for Image-based Visual Servoing: Theory and Experiments

In the classical image-based visual servoing framework, error signals are directly computed from image feature parameters, allowing, in principle, control schemes to be obtained that need neither a complete three-dimensional (3D) model of the scene nor a perfect camera calibration. However, when the computation of control signals involves the interaction matrix, the current value of some 3D parameters is requiredfor each considered feature, and typically a rough approximation of this value is used. With reference to the case of a point feature, for which the relevant 3D parameter is the depth Z, we propose a visual servoing approach where Z is observed and made available for servoing. This is achieved by interpreting depth as an unmeasurable state with known dynamics, and by building a non-linear observer that asymptotically recovers the actual value of Z for the selected feature. A byproduct of our analysis is the rigorous characterization of camera motions that actually allow such observation. Moreover, in the case of a partially uncalibrated camera, it is possible to exploit complementary camera motions in order to preliminarily estimate the focal length without knowing Z. Simulations and experimental results are presented for a mobile robot with an on-board camera in order to illustrate the benefits of integrating the depth observation within classical visual servoing schemes.
Simultaneous Block-Sparse Signal Recovery Using Pattern-Coupled Sparse Bayesian Learning

In this paper, we consider the block-sparse signals recovery problem in the context of multiple measurement vectors (MMV) with common row sparsity patterns. We develop a new method for recovery of common row sparsity MMV signals, where a pattern-coupled hierarchical Gaussian prior model is introduced to characterize both the block-sparsity of the coefficients and the statistical dependency between neighboring coefficients of the common row sparsity MMV signals. Unlike many other methods, the proposed method is able to automatically capture the block sparse structure of the unknown signal. Our method is developed using an expectation-maximization (EM) framework. Simulation results show that our proposed method offers competitive performance in recovering block-sparse common row sparsity pattern MMV signals.
Facial age estimation using BSIF and LBP

Human face aging is irreversible process causing changes in human face characteristics such us hair whitening, muscles drop and wrinkles. Due to the importance of human face aging in biometrics systems, age estimation became an attractive area for researchers. This paper presents a novel method to estimate the age from face images, using binarized statistical image features (BSIF) and local binary patterns (LBP)histograms as features performed by support vector regression (SVR) and kernel ridge regression (KRR). We applied our method on FG-NET and PAL datasets. Our proposed method has shown superiority to that of the state-of-the-art methods when using the whole PAL database.
Heterogeneous multi-robot cooperation

This dissertation addresses the problem of achieving fault tolerant cooperation within small- to medium-sized teams of heterogeneous mobile robots. I describe a software architecture I have developed, called ALLIANCE, that facilitates robust, fault tolerant cooperative control, and examine numerous issues in cooperative team design. ALLIANCE is a fully distributed architecture that utilizes adaptive action selection to achieve cooperative control in robot missions involving loosely coupled, largely independent tasks. The robots in this architecture possess a variety of high-level functions that they can perform during a mission, and must at all times select an appropriate action based on the requirements of the mission, the activities of other robots, the current environmental conditions, and their own internal states. Since such cooperative teams often work in dynamic and unpredictable environments, the software architecture allows the team members to respond robustly and reliably to unexpected environmental changes and modifications in the robot team that may occur due to mechanical failure, the learning of new skills, or the addition or removal of robots from the team by human intervention. In addition, an extended version of ALLIANCE, called L-ALLIANCE, incorporates a simple mechanism that allows teams of mobile robots to learn from their previous experiences with other robots, allowing them to select their own actions more efficiently on subsequent trials when working with "familiar" robots on missions composed of independent tasks. This mechanism allows a human system designer to easily and quickly group together the appropriate combination of robots for a particular mission, since robots need not have a priori knowledge of their teammates. The development of ALLIANCE and L-ALLIANCE involved research on a number of topics: fault tolerant cooperative control, adaptive action selection, distributed control, robot awareness of team member actions, improving efficiency through learning, inter-robot communication, action recognition, and local versus global control. This dissertation describes each of these topics in detail, along with experimental results of investigating these issues both in simulated and in physical mobile robot teams. I am not aware of any other cooperative control architecture that has exhibited the combination of fault tolerance, reliability, adaptivity, and efficiency possible with ALLIANCE and L-ALLIANCE, and which has been successfully demonstrated on physical mobile robot teams. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
A Context-sensitive, Multi-faceted Model of Lexico-Conceptual Affect

Since we can 'spin' words and concepts to suit our affective needs, context is a major determinant of the perceived affect of a word or concept. We view this re-profiling as a selective emphasis or de-emphasis of the qualities that underpin our shared stereotype of a concept or a word meaning, and construct our model of the affective lexicon accordingly. We show how a large body of affective stereotypes can be acquired from the web, and also show how these are used to create and interpret affective metaphors.
Alcohol and Alcohol Effects: Constituting Causality in Alcohol Epidemiology

Taking cues from Science and Technology Studies, we examine how one type of alcohol epidemiology constitutes the causality of alcohol health effects, and how three realities are made along the way: (1) alcohol is a stable agent that acts consistently to produce quantifiable effects; (2) these effects may be amplified or diminished by social or other factors but not mediated in other ways; and (3) alcohol effects observable at the population level are priorities for public health. We describe how these propositions are predicated upon several simplifications and that these simplifications have political implications, including the attribution of responsibility for health effects to a pharmacological substance; the deletion of other agentic forces that might share responsibility; and a prioritization of simple effects over complex effects. We argue that epidemiological research on alcohol might expand its range of ontological, epistemological and methodological practices to identify new ways of understanding and addressing health effects.
Research in the Wild

The phrase "in-the-wild" is becoming popular again in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI), describing approaches to HCI research and accounts of user experience phenomena that differ from those derived from other lab-based methods. The phrase first came to the forefront 20-25 years ago when anthropologists Jean Lave (1988), Lucy Suchman (1987), and Ed Hutchins (1995) began writing about cognition being in-the-wild. Today, it is used more broadly to refer to research that seeks to understand new technology interventions in everyday living. A reason for its resurgence in contemporary HCI is an acknowledgment that so much technology is now embedded and used in our everyday lives. Researchers have begun following suit-decamping from their usability and living labs and moving into the wild; carrying out in-situ development and engagement, sampling experiences, and probing people in their homes and on the streets. The aim of this book is to examine what this new direction entails and what it means for HCI theory, practice, and design. The focus is on the insights, demands and concerns. But how does research in the wild differ from the other applied approaches in interaction design, such as contextual design, action research, or ethnography? What is added by labeling user research as being in-the-wild? One main difference is where the research starts and ends: unlike user-centered, and more specifically, ethnographic approaches which typically begin by observing existing practices and then suggesting general design implications or system requirements, in-the-wild approaches create and evaluate new technologies and experiences in situ(Rogers, 2012). Moreover, novel technologies are often developed to augment people, places, and settings, without necessarily designing them for specific user needs. There has also been a shift in design thinking. Instead of developing solutions that fit in with existing practices, researchers are experimenting with new technological possibilities that can change and even disrupt behavior. Opportunities are created, interventions installed, and different ways of behaving are encouraged. A key concern is how people react, change and integrate these in their everyday lives. This book outlines the emergence and development of research in the wild. It is structured around a framework for conceptualizing and bringing together the different strands. It covers approaches, methods, case studies, and outcomes. Finally, it notes that there is more in the wild research in HCI than usability and other kinds of user studies in HCI and what the implications of this are for the field.
Discourse Chunking and its Application to Sentence Compression

In this paper we consider the problem of analysing sentence-level discourse structure. We introduce discourse chunking (i.e., the identification of intra-sentential nucleus and satellite spans) as an alternative to full-scale discourse parsing. Our experiments show that the proposed modelling approach yields results comparable to state-of-the-art while exploiting knowledge-lean features and small amounts of discourse annotations. We also demonstrate how discourse chunking can be successfully applied to a sentence compression task.
NL-OOPS: from natural language to object oriented requirements using the natural language processing system LOLITA

This paper describes NL-OOPS, a CASE tool that supports requirements analysis by generating object oriented models from natural language requirements documents. The full natural language analysis is obtained using as a core system the Natural Language Processing System LOLITA. The object oriented analysis module implements an algorithm for the extraction of the objects and their associations for use in creating object models.