Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Change-Driven Image Processing Architecture with Adaptive Threshold for Optical-Flow Computation

Optical flow computation has been extensively used for object motion estimation in image sequences. However, the results obtained by most optical flow techniques are as accurate as computationally intensive due to the large amount of data involved. A new strategy for image sequence processing has been developed; pixels of the image sequence that significantly change fire the execution of the operations related to the image processing algorithm. The data reduction achieved with this strategy allows a significant optical flow computation speed-up. Furthermore, FPGAs allow the implementation of a custom data-flow architecture specially suited for this strategy. The foundations of the change-driven image processing are presented, as well as the hardware custom implementation in an EP20K1000C FPGA showing the achieved performance.
Emergency Contraception: An Updated Review

Summary Emergency contraception is a common practice now. Many categories of drugs are marketed with modifications in dosage, in combination and even in the timing of administration. Recent re-analysis suggests that there is still no uniformity of opinion on the actual mechanism of action and this has often fueled the ethical controversy. This review analyzes the most common emergency contraception drugs: levonorgestrel, mifepristone and ulipristal acetate about their action underlining that the hormonal products, when used in emergency contraception, play different roles depending on the phase of the menstrual cycle during which they are administered.This review aims to examine rigorously the most accredited literature to verify if a evidence-based uniformity of opinions has been achieved about the biological effects of hormones administered after the sexual intercourse.
Control of Flexible Manipulators. Theory and Practice

Novel robotic applications have demanded lighter robots that can be driven using small amounts of energy, for example robotic booms in the aerospace industry, where lightweight manipulators with high performance requirements (high speed operation, better accuracy, high payload/weight ratio) are required (Wang & Gao, 2003). Unfortunately, the flexibility of these robots leads to oscillatory behaviour at the tip of the link, making precise pointing or tip positioning a daunting task that requires complex closed-loop control. In order to address control objectives, such as tip position accuracy and suppression of residual vibration, many control techniques have been applied to flexible robots (see, for instance, the survey (Benosman & Vey, 2004)). There are two main problems that complicate the control design for flexible manipulators viz: (i) the high order of the system, (ii) the no minimum phase dynamics that exists between the tip position and the input (torque applied at the joint). In addition, recently, geometric nonlinearities have been considered in the flexible elements. This chapter gives an overview to the modelling and control of flexible manipulators and focuses in the implementation of the main control techniques for single link flexible manipulators, which is the most studied case in the literature.
Dynamic singularities in nonlinear control of underactuated pendulum-like models

The paper presents an analysis of dynamic singularities in n-link pendulum-like models that are controlled using input-output feedback linearisation. The dynamic singularities are caused by the decoupling matrix being singular for particular configurations. The examples include 3-link planar pendulum, 3-link 3D pendulum and a simplified humanoid-like robot model. Partial stabilisation results are presented for specific physical parameters.
Multi-Objective Approach for Energy-Aware Workflow Scheduling in Cloud Computing Environments

We address the problem of scheduling workflow applications on heterogeneous computing systems like cloud computing infrastructures. In general, the cloud workflow scheduling is a complex optimization problem which requires considering different criteria so as to meet a large number of QoS (Quality of Service) requirements. Traditional research in workflow scheduling mainly focuses on the optimization constrained by time or cost without paying attention to energy consumption. The main contribution of this study is to propose a new approach for multi-objective workflow scheduling in clouds, and present the hybrid PSO algorithm to optimize the scheduling performance. Our method is based on the Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) technique to minimize energy consumption. This technique allows processors to operate in different voltage supply levels by sacrificing clock frequencies. This multiple voltage involves a compromise between the quality of schedules and energy. Simulation results on synthetic and real-world scientific applications highlight the robust performance of the proposed approach.
Multiple instruction issue in the NonStop Cyclone processor

The architecture for issuing multiple instructions per clock in the NonStop Cyclone processor is described. Pairs of instructions are fetched and decoded by a dual two-stage prefetch pipeline and passed to a dual six-stage pipeline for execution. Dynamic branch prediction is used to reduce branch penalties. A unique microcode routine for each pair is stored in the large duplexed control store. The microcode controls parallel data paths optimized for executing the most frequent instruction pairs. Other features of the architecture include cache support for unaligned double-precision accesses, a virtually addressed main memory, and a novel precise exception mechanism. <<ETX>>
Asynchronous and self-organizing radiolocation system — AEGIR

Since first travels by land or sea, it was necessary to determine position in an unknown environment. At the beginning methods were simple. They were based on the observation of characteristic points, in the case of shipping additional observations of the coastline. Then came a navigation based on astronomical methods (astronavigation). At the beginning of the XX-century a new way of determining the current location was developed. It uses radiowave signals. First came the radio-beacons, which at fixed intervals, transmitted well-defined sequence of radio signals. Then came ground-based systems. Pulse signals are received from at least three stations operating synchronously. Electronically measured the delay of one signal relative to the other, allows to determine the difference in distance separating the object from the localized sources. According to the principles of geometry allows the plot (or find) on the map hyperbole, which is the object. The newest way to determine your position are satellite systems. They are based on the measurement of arrival time of radio signals from satellites to the receiver. Currently, the most popular system is GPS (Global Positioning System). This system is fully controlled by the Department of Defense, and only the U.S. forces and their closest allies have guaranteed accuracy offered by the system. Armies of other countries can only use the civilian version. Due to the popularity of this system and its worldwide range, terrorist can build bombs with simple GPS receivers to detonate in a specific place. To prevent this, deliberate errors to the civilian version of the system can be introduced. Those deliberate errors will also prevent the use of GPS by the secret services or the armies of other countries than the U.S. This situation has spawned the need for an independent radiolocation system. This article describes the construction and operation of such a technology demonstrator that was developed at the Technical University of Gdansk. It was named AEGIR (according to Norse mythology: god of the seas and oceans). The main advantage of the system is to dispense with the chain organization of the reference station, which work with each other asynchronously. This paper presents results and analysis of its effectiveness.
Statistical Test of the Rule Assessment Methodology by Latent Class Analysis

A problem of Siegler’s (1981) rule assessment methodology is that the assignment of subjects to rules takes place by an arbitrary criterion. This problem can be solved by latent class analysis by which we can test statistically how many rules are needed to fit the data and which these rules are. Two data sets of the balance scale test are analyzed. The first empirical data set stems from a study of Van Maanen, Been & Sijtsma (1989) and consists of 484 subjects in Grade 7 and Grade 8. The second data set is derived from the simulation of the PDP model of McClelland (1989). According to McClelland and Jenkins (1991), this connectionistic model simulates the saltatory acquisition of rules for tasks like the balance scale. The fit of the latent class models to the empirical data shows that rules can be found, that some are different from the ones Siegler proposes, that the correct rule is not acquired by the subjects in this sample, and that the rules in the transitional period are difficult to identify. The latent class models do not fit the PDP data, indicating that the behavior of the PDP model can not be characterized by rules. © 1997 Academic Press
How Early Can Myocardial Iron Overload Occur in Beta Thalassemia Major?

Background Myocardial siderosis is the most common cause of death in patients with beta thalassemia major(TM). This study aimed at investigating the occurrence, prevalence and severity of cardiac iron overload in a young Chinese population with beta TM. Methods and Results We analyzed T2* cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and serum ferritin (SF) in 201 beta TM patients. The median age was 9 years old. Patients received an average of 13 units of blood per year. The median SF level was 4536 ng/ml and 165 patients (82.1%) had SF>2500 ng/ml. Myocardial iron overload was detected in 68 patients (33.8%) and severe myocardial iron overload was detected in 26 patients (12.6%). Twenty-two patients ≤10 years old had myocardial iron overload, three of whom were only 6 years old. No myocardial iron overload was detected under the age of 6 years. Median LVEF was 64% (measured by CMR in 175 patients). Five of 6 patients with a LVEF<56% and 8 of 10 patients with cardiac disease had myocardial iron overload. Conclusions The TM patients under follow-up at this regional centre in China patients are younger than other reported cohorts, more poorly-chelated, and have a high burden of iron overload. Myocardial siderosis occurred in patients younger than previously reported, and was strongly associated with impaired LVEF and cardiac disease. For such poorly-chelated TM patients, our data shows that the first assessment of cardiac T2* should be performed as early as 6 years old.
Effect of optimal cluster head placement in MANET through multi objective GA

Ad-hoc network refers to a wireless network comprising of non-stationary nodes, which autonomously collaborate between themselves for transmitting communication. Wireless sensor networks (WSN) are a subclass, where the nodes feature topological limitation in creating contact with the outside world. Replenishment of energy in WSN is usually not possible due to inhospitable environment. Accordingly, activity switching and clustering are two major approaches adopted for energy conservation and prolonging lifetime in MANETs. For large networks, soft computing has been repeatedly proven to achieve near to optimal solutions in routing and clustering problems. A genetic algorithm based approach towards efficient election of cluster heads has been proposed. The objective functions targeting optimal selection and placement of cluster centers has been derived. The problem is genetically encoded and standard multi-objective genetic algorithm is used for evaluation. Subsequent results and comparative discussion is provided.
Cost minimization scheduling for deadline constrained applications on vehicular cloud infrastructure

Two categories of reasons have led to the emergence of vehicular cloud computing; on one hand vehicular networks and the new generation of well-equipped smart cars and on another, the advent of cloud computing and its maturity over a short time-span. Owing to these two facts, the concept of vehicular cloud computing has been shaped up in the recent years in which cloud services are offered through underutilized resources of vehicles that construct a dynamic groups of autonomous vehicles and therefore create a cloud. The difference between this set-up and conventional structures of cloud computing lies in the mobility of nodes which leads to change in the dynamics of resource availability over time. The goal of this study is to offer an application scheduling model for determining the optimum response needed for management of dynamic vehicular cloud resources in a way that tasks are completed with minimum cost; before their deadlines and within the lifetime of the cloud. To solve the aforementioned problem, a binary integer program model is formulated here, and the impact of changes in various parameters such as different tasks costs, application deadlines, types and lifetime of created clouds are analyzed and evaluated. The presented results, specify and highlight the factors that should be taken into consideration in the process of application scheduling and demonstrate how our proposed optimization model could result in reliable solutions for the vehicular computing optimization problems.
Radial Distribution of the Mass-to-Luminosity Ratio in Spiral Galaxies and Massive Dark Cores

We derive radial profiles of the surface mass density for 19 spiral galaxies directly from their high-resolution rotation curves. Using the corresponding luminosity profiles, we obtain the radial distribution of the mass-to-luminosity ratios (M/Ls) from the inner bulge (around a few hundred parsecs) to the outer disk (≥2-10 kpc) for 11 galaxies (with inclination <70° in order to reduce the influence of the interstellar extinction). The M/Ls in the bulges of two galaxies with sufficient resolution, NGC 4527 and NGC 6946, are found to increase steeply toward the center at radii ~100-500 pc at rates of 15 ± 3 and 7 ± 2 times per kpc, respectively. Some other galaxies with fairly high resolution also show signs of an increase toward the center. Such an increase may indicate the existence of a new component, a "massive dark core," which may be an object linking the bulge and a central black hole. Based on radial variations of the M/Ls, we further discuss the variation of the dark mass fraction in spiral galaxies.
Long-term Results after CT-Guided Percutaneous Ethanol Ablation for the Treatment of Hyperfunctioning Adrenal Disorders

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the safety and long-term efficacy of computed tomography-guided percutaneous ethanol ablation for benign primary and secondary hyperfunctioning adrenal disorders. METHOD: We retrospectively evaluated the long-term results of nine patients treated with computed tomography-guided percutaneous ethanol ablation: eight subjects who presented with primary adrenal disorders, such as pheochromocytoma, primary macronodular adrenal hyperplasia and aldosterone-producing adenoma, and one subject with Cushing disease refractory to conventional treatment. Eleven sessions were performed for the nine patients. The patient data were reviewed for the clinical outcome and procedure-related complications over ten years. RESULTS: Patients with aldosterone-producing adenoma had clinical improvement: symptoms recurred in one case 96 months after ethanol ablation, and the other patient was still in remission 110 months later. All patients with pheochromocytoma had clinical improvement but were eventually submitted to surgery for complete remission. No significant clinical improvement was seen in patients with hypercortisolism due to primary macronodular adrenal hyperplasia or Cushing disease. Major complications were seen in five of the eleven procedures and included cardiovascular instability and myocardial infarction. Minor complications attributed to sedation were seen in two patients. CONCLUSION: Computed tomography-guided ethanol ablation does not appear to be suitable for the long-term treatment of hyperfunctioning adrenal disorders and is not without risks.
Normal Presentation on Elliptic Ruled Surfaces

From the introduction: Let X be an irreducible projective variety and L a very ample lLine bundle on X, whose complete linear series defines 'L : X ! P(H0(L)). Let S = 1 m=0 SmH0(X,L) and let R(L) = L1 n=0 H0(X,L n) be the homogeneous coordinate ring associated to L. Then R is a finitely generated graded module over S, so it has a minimal graded free resolution. We say that the line bundle L is normally generated if the natural maps SmH0(X,L) ! H0(X,L m) are surjective for all m 2. If L is normally generated, then we say that L satisfies property Np, if the matrices in the free resolution of R over S have linear entries until the p-th stage. In particular, property N1 says that the homogeneous ideal I of X in P(H0(L)) is generated by quadrics. A line bundle satisfying property N1 is also called normally presented. Let R = kR1R2. be a graded algebra over a field k. The algebra R is a Koszul ring iff TorRi (k, k) has pure degree i for all i. In this article we determine exactly (theorem 4.2) which line bundles on an elliptic ruled surface X are normally presented. As a corollary we show that Mukai’s conjecture is true for the normal presentation of the adjoint linear series for an elliptic ruled surface. In section 5 of this article, we show that if L is normally presented on X then the homogeneous coordinate ring associated to L is Koszul. We also give a new proof of the following result due to Butler: If deg(L) 2g + 2 on a curve X of genus g, then L embeds X with Koszul homogeneous coordinate ring.
Spatially Localized Structures in Diblock Copolymer Mixtures

Above the critical temperature for the order-disorder transition, diblock copolymer melts have been observed to exhibit localized structures that exist within the homogeneous mixture. This paper uses an Ohta–Kawasaki-type density functional to explore this regime. Spatially localized peak-shaped equilibria are studied in one, two, and three dimensions, corresponding to amphiphilic bilayers, cylindrical micelles, and spherical micelles, respectively. A combination of rigorous estimates, asymptotic analysis, and numerical computation is used to characterize solutions and the regime where they exist. The interaction of superpositions of these solutions is studied by a perturbation analysis and shows how steady multipeak configurations can be achieved. Evidence is found for a secondary bifurcation slightly below the spinodal instability threshold, beyond which self-replication phenomena are observed. Dynamics in two dimensions are also illustrated, suggesting other mechanisms for instability and growth.
Which reliable pharmacodynamic breakpoint should be advised for ciprofloxacin monotherapy in the hospital setting? A TDM-based retrospective perspective.

OBJECTIVES To define in critically ill patients receiving intravenous (iv) ciprofloxacin (200 mg or 400 mg twice daily) and undergoing routine therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) the interindividual pharmacokinetic variability and the reliable pharmacodynamic breakpoint enabled by these fixed dosing regimens according to the PK/PD principles and to the pattern of susceptibility to this antibiotic. METHODS Ciprofloxacin plasma concentrations [trough (Cmin) and 30 min post-dose peak (Cmax) levels] were analysed by means of an HPLC method. Optimal pharmacodynamic exposure was assessed by estimating the theoretical pharmacodynamic breakpoints (PD BP) for either Cmax or AUC. RESULTS The final database included 177 sets of Cmin and Cmax performed in 89 patients (200 mg twice daily group, n=68; 400 mg twice daily group, n=21). A very wide interindividual scatter of results was observed for both the 200 mg group and the 400 mg group. Interestingly, for both groups only moderate log-linear relationships between estimated renal function (CLCR) on one hand and either Cmin (r2=0.08, 0.28) or estimated AUC24 (r2=0.10, 0.34) on the other hand were found. Median PD BP, respectively, in the 200 mg twice daily group and the 400 mg twice daily group, were 0.16 and 0.28 mg/L for Cmax, and 0.19 and 0.29 mg/L for AUC24. CONCLUSIONS Lowering ciprofloxacin dosage in the presence of renal failure seems in most cases unnecessary, since drug accumulation occurred only in a few cases. Optimal pharmacodynamic exposure with fixed 200 or 400 mg twice daily regimens of ciprofloxacin may be ensured only against fully susceptible microorganisms with an MIC<0.3 mg/L. This supports the use of higher dosages in critically ill hospitalized patients, whereas the wide unpredictable interindividual pharmacokinetic variability suggests the usefulness of TDM with the intent of optimizing efficacy with ciprofloxacin therapy.
MapReduce/Bigtable for Distributed Optimization

With large data sets, it can be time consuming to run gradient based optimization, for example to minimize the log-likelihood for maximum entropy models. Distributed methods are therefore appealing and a number of distributed gradient optimization strategies have been proposed including: distributed gradient, asynchronous updates, and iterative parameter mixtures. In this paper, we evaluate these various strategies with regards to their accuracy and speed over MapReduce/Bigtable and discuss techniques and configurations needed for high performance.
Phylogenetic analysis of non-coding plastid DNA in the presence of short inversions

The presence of short inversions in non-coding plastid DNA is universal and an integral part of its evolution. We studied the effect of these structural changes in phylogenetic inference by measuring phylogenetic accuracy as a topological congruence among topologies inferred from plastid and nuclear sequences in ferns ( Lindsaea ) and mosses (Brachytheciaceae). We randomly replicated ten subsets of both groups and tested the performance of various coding schemes and phylogenetic methods. Our results demonstrate that short inversions do interfere with phylogenetic analysis, leading into incongruent topologies. The phylogenetic accuracy was increased by removing inversions or applying various coding schemes to them. Parsimony analyses resulted in greater accuracy than maximum likelihood or Bayesian analyses, but this was at least partly explained by slightly poorer resolution of parsimony trees. Due to the great importance of non-coding plastid DNA in species-level plant systematics and the frequency of structural rearrangements in it, we recommend these kinds of data be carefully explored before analysis, and the possible rearrangements to be optimized.
The Design and Development of a Flight Control System for a Small Size Unmanned Helicopter

Small size unmanned helicopter has found diverse applications for both civil and military missions. In order to develop a flight robot based on a small size unmanned remotely controlled helicopter, a flight control system is presented in this paper. The hardware and software of the system are designed. The design goal is to have the helicopter achieve stable hover. As the kernel of the system, the flight control strategies are described which based on artificial neural network and human operator's skill. The processed flight data are used to train and validate a multilayer artificial neural network offline, and then the trained artificial neural network is reconstructed in the flight control system for control strategies