Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Latent-Space Variational Bayes

Variational Bayesian expectation-maximization (VBEM), an approximate inference method for probabilistic models based on factorizing over latent variables and model parameters, has been a standard technique for practical Bayesian inference. In this paper, we introduce a more general approximate inference framework for conjugate-exponential family models, which we call latent-space variational Bayes (LSVB). In this approach, we integrate out model parameters in an exact way, leaving only the latent variables. It can be shown that the LSVB approach gives better estimates of the model evidence as well as the distribution over latent variables than the VBEM approach, but in practice, the distribution over latent variables has to be approximated. As a practical implementation, we present a first-order LSVB (FoLSVB) algorithm to approximate this distribution over latent variables. From this approximate distribution, one can estimate the model evidence and the posterior over model parameters. The FoLSVB algorithm is directly comparable to the VBEM algorithm and has the same computational complexity. We discuss how LSVB generalizes the recently proposed collapsed variational methods [20] to general conjugate-exponential families. Examples based on mixtures of Gaussians and mixtures of Bernoullis with synthetic and real-world data sets are used to illustrate some advantages of our method over VBEM.
Tunable Mirrorless Lasing in Cholesteric Liquid Crystalline Elastomers

Cholesteric liquid crystals are chiral nematics, where the handedness of the constituent molecules causes the orientation of the local nematic director to vary in space. In the helical cholesteric structure, the director is perpendicular to the helix axis, and its orientation varies linearly with position along the helix axis. The spatial period of the structure is the pitch, which is determined by the concentration and the helical twisting power of the chiral constituents. As a consequence of the periodicity of the helical cholesteric structure and the birefringence of the liquid crystal, for a range of wavelengths, light propagation along the helix axis is forbidden for one of the normal modes. Since propagation is forbidden, incident light with a wavelength in this band and with the same helicity as the cholesteric is strongly reflected. The edges of this reflection band are at wavelengths that are equal to the refractive indices times the pitch. [1] Because of the existence of the selective reflection band, cholesteric liquid crystals are 1D photonic bandgap materials. The bandgap structure of cholesteric liquid crystals allows for the possibility of lasing without external mirrors that usually form a laser cavity. When a fluorescent dye is dissolved in the cholesteric host so that the peak of the fluorescent emission of the dye is in the selective reflection band of the cholesteric, propagation of one normal mode of the emitted light is forbidden. As a consequence, at low pump intensities, the fluorescence spectrum of the dye is modified, [2] showing suppression of emission in the reflection band, and enhanced emission near the band edge. As the pump intensity is increased, the linewidth of the enhanced fluorescence at the band edge narrows, and, above a pump threshold, lasing occurs. [2] Thin samples, typically 15‐30 lm in thickness, of low molecular weight cholesteric liquid crystals incorporating a variety of dyes [3] have been shown to lase. The primary role of the cholesteric liquid crystal in these systems is to act as a distributed cavity. Lasing occurs at the band edges, [2‐4] as pre
Anti-occlusion observation model and automatic recovery for multi-view ball tracking in sports analysis

The 3D position of the ball plays a crucial role in professional sport analysis. In ball sports, tracking of ball's precise position accurately is highly required, whose performance is affected by inaccurate 3D coordinates and occlusion problem. In this paper, we propose anti-occlusion observation model and automatic recovery by 3D ball detection based on multiview videos to track the ball in 3D space. The anti-occlusion observation model evaluates each camera's image and eliminates the influence of the cameras in which the ball is occluded. The automatic recovery method detects the ball's 3D position by homography relation of the multi-video and generates a new distribution to initiate the tracker when tracking failure is detected. Experimental results based on the HDTV video sequences, which were captured by four cameras located at the corners of the court, show that the success rate of the 3D ball tracking achieves 99.14%.
Aerobic and anaerobic power responses to the practice of taekwon-do

Background—Practising the martial art of taekwon-do (TKD) has been proposed to have beneficial effects on cardiovascular fitness as well as general physical ability. Furthermore, TKD masters and participants have promoted TKD as a total fitness programme. Research studies substantiating this, however, seem to be lacking, perhaps because TKD is recognised more as a method of self defence than a fitness programme. Methods—Nineteen TKD practitioners with an average age of 13.8 years and 10.4 months of TKD training experience were recruited to participate. Measurements included resting heart rate, aerobic power, anaerobic power, and anaerobic capacity. Results—Paired t test analysis showed no significant differences in either resting heart rate or aerobic power after training. However, significant differences were observed in anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity (p = 0.05). The increases in anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity were 28% and 61.5% respectively. Conclusion—The practice of TKD promotes anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity, but not aerobic power, in male adolescents.
A novel online real-time classifier for multi-label data streams

In this paper, a novel extreme learning machine based online multi-label classifier for real-time data streams is proposed. Multi-label classification is one of the actively researched machine learning paradigm that has gained much attention in the recent years due to its rapidly increasing real world applications. In contrast to traditional binary and multi-class classification, multi-label classification involves association of each of the input samples with a set of target labels simultaneously. There are no real-time online neural network based multi-label classifier available in the literature. In this paper, we exploit the inherent nature of high speed exhibited by the extreme learning machines to develop a novel online real-time classifier for multi-label data streams. The developed classifier is experimented with datasets from different application domains for consistency, performance and speed. The experimental studies show that the proposed method outperforms the existing state-of-the-art techniques in terms of speed and accuracy and can classify multi-label data streams in real-time.
Rise and fall of radio haloes in simulated merging galaxy clusters

We present the first high resolution MHD simulation of cosmic-ray electron reacceleration by turbulence in cluster mergers. We use an idealised model for cluster mergers, combined with a numerical model for the injection, cooling and reacceleration of cosmic-ray electrons, to investigate the evolution of cluster scale radio emission in these objects. In line with theoretical expectations, we for the first time, show in a simulation that reacceleration of CRe has the potential to reproduce key observables of radio halos. In particular, we show that clusters evolve being radio loud or radio quiet, depending on their evolutionary stage during the merger. We thus recover the observed transient nature of radio halos. In the simulation the diffuse emission traces the complex interplay between spatial distribution of turbulence injected by the halo infall and the spatial distribution of the seed electrons to reaccelerate. During the formation and evolution of the halo the synchrotron emission spectra show the observed variety: from power-laws with spectral index of 1 to 1.3 to curved and ultra-steep spectra with index > 1:5.
Should the DEA's STRIDE Data Be Used for Economic Analyses of Markets for Illegal Drugs?

The United States Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA's) System to Retrieve Information from Drug Evidence (STRIDE) data contain records of acquisitions of illegal drugs by undercover agents and informants of the DEA and Metropolitan Police of the District of Columbia. These data are widely used in economic analyses of markets for illegal drugs. The STRIDE data are mainly records of acquisitions made to support criminal investigations and are not a random sample of an identifiable population. This article presents evidence that the STRIDE data on cocaine and heroin prices are not representative of market prices for those drugs. Specifically, there are large differences among price estimates obtained from different subsets of STRIDE. It is concluded that STRIDE is not a reliable source of price data for economic and policy analyses that require accurate measures of price levels and variations.
Meiotic spindle assembly in Drosophila females: behavior of nonexchange chromosomes and the effects of mutations in the nod kinesin-like protein

Mature Drosophila oocytes are arrested in metaphase of the first meiotic division. We have examined microtubule and chromatin reorganization as the meiosis I spindle assembles on maturation using indirect immunofluorescence and laser scanning confocal microscopy. The results suggest that chromatin captures or nucleates microtubules, and that these subsequently form a highly tapered spindle in which the majority of microtubules do not terminate at the poles. Nonexchange homologs separate from each other and move toward opposite poles during spindle assembly. By the time of metaphase arrest, these chromosomes are positioned on opposite half spindles, between the metaphase plate and the spindle poles, with the large nonexchange X chromosomes always closer to the metaphase plate than the smaller nonexchange fourth chromosomes. Nonexchange homologs are therefore oriented on the spindle in the absence of a direct physical linkage, and the spindle position of these chromosomes appears to be determined by size. Loss-of-function mutations at the nod locus, which encodes a kinesin-like protein, cause meiotic loss and nondisjunction of nonexchange chromosomes, but have little or no effect on exchange chromosome segregation. In oocytes lacking functional nod protein, most of the nonexchange chromosomes are ejected from the main chromosomal mass shortly after the nuclear envelope breaks down and microtubules interact with the chromatin. In addition, the nonexchange chromosomes that are associated with spindles in nod/nod oocytes show excessive poleward migration. Based on these observations, and the structural similarity of the nod protein and kinesin, we propose that nonexchange chromosomes are maintained on the half spindle by opposing poleward and anti-poleward forces, and that the nod protein provides the anti-poleward force.
Regulation of Angiogenic Functions by Angiopoietins through Calcium-Dependent Signaling Pathways

Angiopoietins are vascular factors essential for blood vessel assembly and correct organization and maturation. This study describes a novel calcium-dependent machinery activated through Angiopoietin-1/2-Tie receptor system in HUVECs monolayer. Both cytokines were found to elicit intracellular calcium mobilization. Targeting intracellular Ca2+ signaling, antagonizing IP3 with 2-APB or cADPR with 8Br-cADPR, was found to modulate in vitro angiogenic responses to Angiopoietins in a specific way. 2-APB and 8Br-cADPR impaired the phosphorylation of AKT and FAK induced by Ang-1 and Ang-2. On the other hand, phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and p38, as well as cell proliferation, was not affected by either inhibitor. The ability of ECs to migrate following Angs stimulation, evaluated by “scratch assay,” was reduced by either 2-APB or 8Br-cADPR following Ang-2 stimulation and only slightly affected by 2-APB in cells stimulated with Ang-1. These results identify a novel calcium-dependent machinery involved in the complex interplay regulating angiogenic processes showing that IP3- and cADPR-induced Ca2+ release specifically regulates distinct Angs-mediated angiogenic steps.
The calibration of Strömgren uvby–Hβ photometry for late-type stars: a model atmosphere approach

The use of model atmospheres for deriving fundamental parameters of stars, such as Teff, log g and [Fe/H], will increase as we find and explore extreme stellar populations where empirical calibrations are not yet available. Moreover, calibrations for upcoming large satellite missions of new spectrophotometric indices, similar to the uvby–Hβ system, will be needed. I aim to test the power of theoretical calibrations based on a new generation of MARCS models by comparisons with observational photometric data. I calculate synthetic uvby–Hβ colour indices from synthetic spectra. A sample of 389 stars is used for a direct comparison of the synthetic indices versus empirical data and for scrutinizing the possibilities of theoretical calibrations for temperature, metallicity and gravity. I show that the temperature sensitivity of the synthetic (b–y) colour is very close to its empirical counterpart, whereas the temperature scale based on Hβ shows a slight offset. The theoretical metallicity sensitivity of the m1 index (and for G-type stars its combination with c1) is somewhat higher than the empirical one, based on spectroscopic determinations. The gravity sensitivity of the synthetic c1 index shows a satisfactory behaviour when compared with observations of F stars. For stars cooler than the sun, a deviation is significant in the c1–(b–y) diagram. The theoretical calibrations of (b–y), (v–y) and c1 seem to work well for Pop II stars and leads to effective temperatures for globular cluster stars supporting recent claims by Korn et al (2007) that atomic diffusion occurs in stars near the turn-off point of NGC 6397. Synthetic colours of stellar atmospheres can indeed be used, in many cases, to derive reliable fundamental stellar parameters. The deviations seen as compared with observational data could be due to incomplete line lists but are possibly also due to effects of assuming plane-parallel or spherical geometry and LTE. For a full length article, see Onehag et al (2008, in preparation).
Towards Open Publication of Reusable Scientific Workflows : Abstractions , Standards and Linked Data

In recent years, a variety of systems have been developed that export the workflows executed to analyze data and make them part of published articles. We argue that the workflows that are published with current approaches are dependent on the specific codes used for execution, the specific workflow system used, and the specific workflow catalogs where they are published. In this paper, we describe a new approach that addresses these shortcomings and makes workflows more reusable through: 1) the publication of abstract workflows that complement executable workflows and that are reusable when the execution environment is different, 2) the publication of both abstract and executable workflows using standards such as the Open Provenance Model that can then be imported by other workflow systems, 3) the publication of workflows as Linked Data that results in open web accessible workflow repositories. We illustrate this approach using a complex workflow that we re-created from an influential publication that describes the generation of „drugomes‟.
Iterative estimation and decoding for an LDPC-coded OFDMA system in uplink environments

In this paper, we propose an LDPC-coded OFDMA system with a resource allocation method suitable for the uplink of mobile cellular environments. At the receiver of the proposed system, an iterative channel estimation and decoding (IED) method with a Wiener filter adapting to the channel variation rate is employed to support high mobility without boosting the pilot power. For practical applications, the channel variation rate is also estimated with pilot symbols to select Wiener filter coefficients for every received packet dynamically allocated. It is shown that the proposed system supports the mobility up to 250 km/h and exhibits more than 1 dB performance gain over the system with conventional non-iterative receiver.
Per-Pixel Displacement Mapping with Distance Functions

In this chapter, we present distance mapping, a technique for adding small-scale displacement mapping to objects in a pixel shader. We treat displacement mapping as a ray-tracing problem, beginning with texture coordinates on the base surface and calculating texture coordinates where the viewing ray intersects the displaced surface. For this purpose, we precompute a three-dimensional distance map, which gives a measure of the distance between points in space and the displaced surface. This distance map gives us all the information necessary to quickly intersect a ray with the surface. Our algorithm significantly increases the perceived geometric complexity of a scene while maintaining real-time performance.
Medical-Miner at TREC 2011 Medical Records Track

This paper presents work done at Medical Minner Project on the TREC-2011 Medical Records Track. The paper proposes four models for medical information retrieval based on Lucene index approach. Our retrieval engine used an Lucen Index scheme with traditional stopping and stemming, enhanced with entity recognition software on query terms. Our aim in this (cid:28)rst competition is to set a broader project that involves the develop of a con(cid:28)gurable Apache Lucene-based framework that allows the rapid development of medical search facilities. Results around the track median have been achieved. In this exploratory track, we think that these results are a good beginning and encourage us for future developments.
The translation of programming languages through the use of a graph transformation language

It is shown that the automated translation of programming languages suffers from its traditional domination by context free parsing techniques, specifically in failing to deal uniformly with such translation-related concerns as language multi-stage translation, as well as in generally ad hoc treatment of the context sensitive aspects of translation, namely those concerned with the identification of symbols. A descriptive technique for discussing translation that takes into account not only the immense and continued success of the syntactic basis for programming language translation but also the need to deal uniformly with the above concerns is presented, and demonstrated to be implementable as a programming tool. This demonstration is effected both by means of a detailed discussion of the technique's application to the expression of translation algorithms, and by a consideration of the practical aspects of its implementation as a programming language. The technique involves a representation of the complete syntactic structure of programs as a directed graph, and the expression of translations as local transformations of the graph representation. A wide range of translation concerns is discussed with reference to graph transformation. Practical experience with an experimental version of a graph transformation language is presented, and used as the basis for a further development in the design. An evaluation of the completed research, and an assessment of its position within concurrent developments in the discipline of programming language translation, conclude this dissertation.
Declarative Bias in ILP

Interest in Declarative bias in Machine Learning is growing with the expressivity of the concept description language of ML systems. Inductive Logic Programming more than any other ML eld is thus concerned with explicitely biasing learning. The main issues already identiied in declarative bias RG90] have been studied within the ILP project, i.e. the restriction of the size of the search space for the target concept and representation of the bias. As a rst step, an extensive study of existing ILP systems and the elicitation of the role of hidden bias has led to deene typologies of bias in relation with their eeects on the learning process as well as alternative representation for bias. Declarative representations of bias have been deened through different types of languages so that bias can be easily set and shifted. In parallel with the deenition, the representation and the experimentation of various biases, the interactions between diierent types of bias have been analyzed in term of computational learning cost so that reusable guidelines for bias setting may be provided.
Intelligibility of machine translation output in speech synthesis

One use of text-to-speech synthesis (TTS) is as a component of speech-to-speech translation systems. The output of automatic machine translation (MT) can vary widely in quality, however. A synthetic voice that is extremely intelligible on naturally-occurring text may be far less intelligible when asked to render text that is automatically generated. In this paper, we compare the quality of synthesis of naturally-occurring text and its MT counterpart. We find that intelligibility of TTS on MT output is significantly lower than on either naturally-occurring text or semantically unpredictable sentences, and explore the reasons why. Index Terms: Speech synthesis, Speech-to-speech translation, TTS evaluation, TTS intelligibility
Functional electrical stimulation in rehabilitation engineering: a survey

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is used widely in rehabilitation to restore motor functions for paralyzed patients. This paper makes a comprehensive review on current situation of FES. The content includes stimulation interface, applications, FES control, challenges and prospect of FES. Especially, combination FES with electromyography (EMG) and brain computer interface (BCI) is surveyed.
RakSOR: Ranking of Ontology Reasoners Based on Predicted Performances

Over the last decade, several ontology reasoners have been proposed to overcome the computational complexity of inference tasks on expressive ontology languages. Nevertheless, it is well-accepted that there is no outstanding reasoner that can outperform in all input ontologies. Thus, an algorithm selection problem have emerged in this field of study. In this paper, we describe first steps to develop a new system to provide user support when looking for guidance over ontology reasoners. Our main goal is to be able to automatically rank a set of candidate reasoners for any given ontology. Robustness standing for the ability of reasoner to correctly achieve a reasoning task within a fixed time limit is our primary ranking criterion. Our ranking method follows a meta-learning approach and applies bucket order rules. An extensive experiments covering over 2500 well selected real-world ontologies and six state-of-the-art of the most performing reasoners was carried out to provide enough data for the study. Our prediction and ranking results are encouraging, witnessing the potential benefits of the proposed approach.
A Method for Continuous Code Quality Management Using Static Analysis

The quality of source code is a key factor for any software product and its continuous monitoring is an indispensable task for a software development project. We have developed a method for systematic assessing and improving the code quality of ongoing projects by using the results of various static code analysis tools. With different approaches for monitoring the quality (a trend-based one and a benchmarking-based one) and an according tool support we are able to manage the large amount of data that is generated by these static analyses. First experiences when applying the method with software projects in practice have shown the feasibility of our method.