Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Collaborative Ad-hoc Multimedia Authoring via Mobile Devices

A particularly challenging situation in amateur multimedia authoring is ad-hoc collaborative capture, i.e., a process that, having no pre-production phase, demands live coordination between multiple authors. Important problems to realize such scenarios include proper synchronization of media elements by multiple devices, and which information to include in the resulting collaboratively authored multimedia document. In this paper, we report how our collaborative authoring system tackles these ad-hoc multimedia capture problems by combining mobile and web applications. We present a case study in the educational domain and discuss the results of a user study.
Multi-Switch for Antenna Selection in Massive MIMO

Massive MIMO has been shown to greatly improve spectral and transmit-energy efficiency. When implementing a massive MIMO system, one challenge is high hardware complexity. A solution is to reduce the number of radio frequency (RF) transceiver chains by performing antenna selection. However, a full RF switch that connects the antennas and RF chains can be highly complex and incurs significant loss in output signal quality, especially when the number of antennas and RF chains are large. We therefore propose a simpler solution - binary switching architecture, which is suboptimal but provides better signal quality, as compared to the full switching network. To evaluate the proposed technique, we compare the sum-rate capacity when using several different configurations of binary switching with the performance of the full switching. Full MIMO performance obtained without antenna selection is also presented as a reference. The investigations in this paper are all based on measured channel data at 2.6 GHz, using a uniform linear array and a cylindrical array, both having 128 antenna elements. It is found that the proposed binary switching gives very competitive performance that are close to the full switching, for the measured channels. The results indicate a potential to simplify massive MIMO hardware by reducing the number of RF chains, and performing antenna selection with simple binary switching architecture.
Twenty-five gauge vitrectomy in uveitis.

PURPOSE To evaluate anatomical and functional results of 25-gauge transconjunctival sutureless pars plana vitrectomy in patients with uveitis. METHODS Vitrectomy was performed on 20 eyes with residual vitritis secondary to infectious and noninfectious uveitis. Patients were evaluated 1 week before surgery and after surgery at day 1, week 1, week 4 and week 12. Visual acuity (VA), intraocular pressure, anterior chamber cells and flare and vitreous haze were measured. RESULTS Mean VA improved from 2.06 ± 0.94 logMAR before surgery to 0.58 ± 0.46 logMAR at week 12 (p<0.05). No case required conversion to standard 20-gauge instrumentation or suture placement, no intraoperative complications were noted. Transient postoperative hypotony was seen in three eyes. One patient with toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis had a relapse during follow-up. CONCLUSION 25-gauge vitrectomy has proven its efficacy on cleansing vitreous opacities and improving visual acuity on patients with residual vitritis secondary to uveitis with minimal postoperative inflammation and complications.
Providing Space for Teacher Renewal: The role of the facilitator in school-university partnerships

This article uses the process of a teacher renewal partnership programme to explore the role of the university academic as a facilitator of change. Responses to a series of interview questions relating to change were used to explore and examine the dimensions of the facilitator's role. Facilitators report that the role is complex, often uncertain and requires an understanding of the school and its culture and schools' and teachers' previous experiences in professional development programmes. The findings from this article suggest that an effective facilitator creates, for the teachers involved, a space for discussion, reflection and challenge and that this space provides for and legitimates teacher renewal.
Structure and Substrate Specificity of the Pim-1 Kinase*

The Pim kinases are a family of three vertebrate protein serine/threonine kinases (Pim-1, -2, and -3) belonging to the CAMK (calmodulin-dependent protein kinase-related) group. Pim kinases are emerging as important mediators of cytokine signaling pathways in hematopoietic cells, and they contribute to the progression of certain leukemias and solid tumors. A number of cytoplasmic and nuclear proteins are phosphorylated by Pim kinases and may act as their effectors in normal physiology and in disease. Recent crystallographic studies of Pim-1 have identified unique structural features but have not provided insight into how the kinase recognizes its target substrates. Here, we have conducted peptide library screens to exhaustively determine the sequence specificity of active site-mediated phosphorylation by Pim-1 and Pim-3. We have identified the major site of Pim-1 autophosphorylation and find surprisingly that it maps to a novel site that diverges from its consensus phosphorylation motif. We have solved the crystal structure of Pim-1 bound to a high affinity peptide substrate in complexes with either the ATP analog AMP-PNP or the bisindolylmaleimide kinase inhibitor 2-[1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-1H-indol-3-yl]-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)maleimide HCl. These structures reveal an unanticipated mode of recognition for basic residues upstream of the phosphorylation site, distinct from that of other kinases with similar substrate specificity. The structures provide a rationale for the unusually high affinity of Pim kinases for peptide substrates and suggest a general mode for substrate binding to members of the CAMK group.
Exploiting Document Level Information to Improve Event Detection via Recurrent Neural Networks

This paper tackles the task of event detection, which involves identifying and categorizing events. The previous work mainly exist two problems: (1) the traditional feature-based methods apply cross-sentence information, yet need taking a large amount of human effort to design complicated feature sets and inference rules; (2) the representation-based methods though overcome the problem of manually extracting features, while just depend on local sentence representation. Considering local sentence context is insufficient to resolve ambiguities in identifying particular event types, therefore, we propose a novel document level Recurrent Neural Networks (DLRNN) model, which can automatically extract cross-sentence clues to improve sentence level event detection without designing complex reasoning rules. Experiment results show that our approach outperforms other state-of-the-art methods on ACE 2005 dataset without external knowledge base.
Exponential Determinization for omega-Automata with a Strong Fairness Acceptance Condition

In [S. Safra, Proceedings of the 29th IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science, 1988, pp. 319-327] an exponential determinization procedure for Buchi automata was shown, yielding tight bounds for decision procedures of some logics (see [A. E. Emerson and C. Jutla, Proceedings of the 29th IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science, 1988, pp. 328-337; Safra (1988); S. Safra and M. Y. Vardi, Proceedings of the 21st ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing, 1989, pp. 127-137; and D. Kozen and J. Tiuryn, Logics of program, in Handbook of Theoretical Computer Science, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1990, pp. 789-840]). In Safra and Vardi (1989) the complexity of determinization and complementation of o-automata was further investigated, leaving as an open question the complexity of the determinization of a single class of o-automata. For this class of o-automata with strong fairness as an acceptance condition (Streett automata), Safra and Vardi (1989) managed to show an exponential complementation procedure; however, the blow-up of translating these automata—to any of the classes known to admit exponential determinization—is inherently exponential. This might suggest that the blow-up of the determinization of Streett automata is inherently doubly exponential. This paper shows an exponential determinization construction for Streett automata. In fact, the complexity of our construction is roughly the same as the complexity achieved in Safra (1988) for Buchi automata. Moreover, a simple observation extends this upper bound to the complementation problem. Since any o-automaton that admits exponential determinization can be easily converted into a Streett automaton, we have obtained a single procedure that can be used for all of these conversions. Furthermore, this construction is optimal (up to a constant factor in the exponent) for all of these conversions. Our results imply that Streett automata (with strong fairness as an acceptance condition) can be used instead of Buchi automata (with the weaker acceptance condition) without any loss of efficiency.
An architecture to support information sources discovery through semantic search

In most scenarios, different information sources coexist and their content overlap, thus requiring domain knowledge to discover, understand and integrate information. In general, information sources are not designed for integration and their descriptive metadata do not suffice to enable IIS to consistently and unambiguously discover which information sources contain the required data to be integrated. This paper proposes an architecture to discover information sources through the use of semantic search techniques on top of corporative metadata repositories. Our experiments using a prototype of the proposed architecture obtained positive results with regard to precision and recall.
Barcode Localization using Curvelet Transform and Neural Network

Barcode localization is the main challenge in developing an imagebased barcode reading system. Bar codes are able to carry both explicit information and a database key, by encoding a series of characters or symbols. This paper deals with localization of European Article Number-13 (EAN-13) barcode in an image. A new approach for detecting and locating bar-codes is introduced here, which is based on the curvelet transform. All extracted feature by curvelet transform are applied to the neural network for training and testing. The performance of the proposed work shows efficient result.
Stability of soft-finger grasp under gravity

We discuss grasp stability under gravity where each finger makes soft-finger contact with an object. By clustering polygon models of a finger and an object, the contact area between a finger and an object is obtained as the common area between an object cluster and a finger cluster. Then, by assuming the Winkler elastic foundation, the pressure distribution within the contact area is obtained. By using this pressure distribution, we show that we can judge grasp stability under soft-finger contact. We further consider defining a quality measure of a soft-finger grasp by assuming that although the gravitational force is applied to an object, the direction of gravity is unknown. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, we show several numerical examples.
Frame-based bit allocation for spatial scalability in H.264/SVC

The spatial scalability of H.264/SVC is achieved by a multi-layer approach, where an enhancement layer is dependent on its preceding layers. To address this dependent issue, we propose a modelbased spatial layer bit allocation algorithm for H.264/SVC in this work. The inter-layer dependency is decoupled by analyzing the signal flow in the H.264/SVC encoder. We show that the rate and the distortion (R-D) characteristics of a dependent layer with a frame as a basic coding unit. Finally, a low complexity spatial layer bit allocation scheme is developed using the proposed frame-based R-D models. It is shown by experimental results that our proposed bit allocation algorithm can achieve the coding performance close to the optimal R-D performance of full search and is highly improved from current reference codec JSVM.
Real-Time Facial Expression Recognition Using a Fuzzy Emotion Model

This paper presents the fuzzy video based emotion recognition system VISBER, that allows to analyze facial expressions in video sequences. In order to process images in real-time a tracking mechanism is used for face localization. The fuzzy classification itself analyzes the deformation of a face separately in each image. In contrast to most existing approaches, also blended emotions with varying intensities as proposed by psychologists can be handled. For this purpose we propose a fuzzy emotion model which is generally applicable for also for other emotion recognition solutions. Furthermore, VISBER supports the automatic adaptation to the characteristics of individual human faces by a short training phase that can be done before the emotion recognition starts.
Modelling plasmonic waveguide resonators using pseudospectral methods

A high-order accurate Legendre pseudospectral time-domain (PSTD) method has been established for accurate analyses and simulations of electromagnetic problems, in particular, plasmonics related problems. Here it is employed to simulate transmission characteristics of two-dimensional plasmonic ring resonators based on the metal/insulator/metal (MIM) waveguide structure. The formulated PSTD method is based on a penalty scheme and a multidomain approach. The same penalty scheme is used to derive a pseudospectral frequency-domain (PSFD) method which offers an alternative technique to analyze the same resonators.
Epidemiologic and surgicopathologic findings of papillary serous and clear cell endometrial cancers when compared to endometrioid carcinoma.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to identify similarities and differences in epidemiologic and surgicopathologic staging results for papillary serous (PS) and clear cell (CC) endometrial cancers compared with endometrioid (EM) carcinoma of the endometrium. METHODS Clinical and surgicopathologic data were retrospectively collected on 574 clinical stage I-II endometrial cancer patients, including 53 PS and 18 CC (based on postoperative histology), undergoing hysterectomy at Duke University Medical Center between 1967 and 1990. All staging material was available and reexamined prior to this analysis, and FIGO surgical staging was retrospectively assigned. PS and CC histologic subtypes were compared both as a common category and as discrete categories versus EM, EM grade 1 (EM1), EM grade 2 (EM2), and EM grade 3 (EM3). Fisher's exact test was used to compare proportions with unordered categories (2x2 tables), while the chi(2) test for trend was used to compare proportions in 3x2 tables with ordered categories. Differences in medians were compared with the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. RESULTS PS tumors accounted for 8%, CC for 2%, and EM for 90% of cases. Overall, 14% of tumors were changed to a different postoperative histology including 64% of PS, 50% of CC, and 8% of EM. Postoperative histology changes were 4% for EM1 and 21% for EM3. PS, CC, and EM3 had more surgical sampling performed than for other EM. Rates for lymph node dissections were similar for EM3 (81%), PS (72%), and CC (67%) tumors, although metastases were more frequent for PS and CC compared with EM3. When PS tumors were confined to the endometrium, paraaortic metastases occurred in 13%. LVSI increased with EM grade and was highest for PS and CC. Upstaging to surgical stage III-IV occurred in 47% of PS, 39% of CC, and 12% of EM. The majority of PS and CC tumors were confined to the inner one-third of the myometrium, compared with EM tumors, where grade correlated with depth of myometrial invasion. Extrauterine metastases occurred in 55% of PS and 45% of CC tumors confined to the inner one-half, compared with 17% of EM3. CONCLUSION Frequent changes from preoperative to postoperative histology and grade may contribute to misassignment of preoperative and intraoperative risk as determined by depth of myometrial invasion for PS and CC patients. The higher frequency of extrauterine metastases in PS and CC tumors compared with EM3, despite similar surgical sampling rates, supports a more virulent behavior. The poor correlation between depth of myometrial invasion and risk for extrauterine metastases helps to explain poorer survival in PS and CC patients, in addition to more frequent upstaging. These results support routine extended surgical staging for women with preoperative or intraoperative diagnosis of PS and CC tumors. Intraoperative assessment of tumor grade and histology may be indicated and warrants further investigation.
The capacity of the ergodic miso channel with per-antenna power constraint and an application to the fading cognitive interference channel

This paper characterizes the ergodic capacity of the fading multiple-input single-output (MISO) channel with per-antenna power constraints (PerPC) with perfect Channel State Information (CSI) at all terminals. This turns out to be the sum-capacity achieving strategy for the ergodic fading Gaussian overlay cognitive interference channel (EGCIFC) in the strong interference regime. The EGCIFC is a two-user time-varying interference channel in which a primary / licensed transmitter and a secondary / cognitive transmitter share the same spectrum and where the cognitive transmitter has non-causal knowledge of the primary user's message. The MISO and the EGCIFC results are verified numerically for the case of independent Rayleigh fading gains. Different achievable strategies, corresponding to different amount of CSI, are compared to show the performance of the derived PerPC optimal power allocation.
PS PROCESSING WITH DECORRELATING TARGETS

The strength of PS SAR interferometry stays with the availability of point-like targets coherent over many years [2]. In a previous work [4] we have investigated the possibility of extending the analysis to targets showing less ideal scattering properties, through the introduction of a covariance matrix estimated from the radar images. However since it is applied to a late phase of the processing, after the stage of atmosphere phase screen (APS) estimation, it proves useless when and where the APS estimation isn’t completed successfully in the first place. This is the case when we have a number of pairs with relevant geometric or temporal decorrelation but we don’t want to trade resolution with SNR. In this work we discuss a way to deal with non ideal targets at the earliest stage of PS processing, presenting the results from a DEM estimation algorithm applyied to Mt. Etna ERS-1/2 Data.
Comparison of Two Quantitative Real Time PCR Assays for Rickettsia Detection in Patients from Tunisia

Background and objectives Quantitative real time PCR (qPCR) offers rapid diagnosis of rickettsial infections. Thus, successful treatment could be initiated to avoid unfavorable outcome. Our aim was to compare two qPCR assays for Rickettsia detection and to evaluate their contribution in early diagnosis of rickettsial infection in Tunisian patients. Patients and methods Included patients were hospitalized in different hospitals in Tunisia from 2007 to 2012. Serology was performed by microimmunofluorescence assay using R. conorii and R. typhi antigens. Two duplex qPCRs, previously reported, were performed on collected skin biopsies and whole blood samples. The first duplex amplified all Rickettsia species (PanRick) and Rickettsia typhi DNA (Rtt). The second duplex detected spotted fever group Rickettsiae (RC00338) and typhus group Rickettsiae DNA (Rp278). Results Diagnosis of rickettsiosis was confirmed in 82 cases (57.7%). Among 44 skin biopsies obtained from patients with confirmed diagnosis, the first duplex was positive in 24 samples (54.5%), with three patients positive by Rtt qPCR. Using the second duplex, positivity was noted in 21 samples (47.7%), with two patients positive by Rp278 qPCR. Among79 whole blood samples obtained from patients with confirmed diagnosis, panRick qPCR was positive in 5 cases (6.3%) among which two were positive by Rtt qPCR. Using the second set of qPCRs, positivity was noted in four cases (5%) with one sample positive by Rp278 qPCR. Positivity rates of the two duplex qPCRs were significantly higher among patients presenting with negative first serum than those with already detectable antibodies. Conclusions Using qPCR offers a rapid diagnosis. The PanRick qPCR showed a higher sensitivity. Our study showed that this qPCR could offer a prompt diagnosis at the early stage of the disease. However, its implementation in routine needs cost/effectiveness evaluation.
Population Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacogenetics of Imatinib in Children and Adults

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the effect of several demographic, biological, and pharmacogenetic covariates on the disposition of imatinib and its main metabolite (CGP74588) in both adults and children. Experimental Design: Thirty-three children with solid malignancies included in a phase II exploratory study and 34 adults with gastrointestinal stromal tumors received 340 mg/m2 and 400 mg imatinib, respectively. Plasma imatinib and CGP74588 concentrations observed on day 1 and at steady-state were analyzed by a population pharmacokinetic method (NONMEM) to evaluate the effect of age, body weight, age, sex, albuminemia, plasma α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), and eight polymorphisms corresponding to ABCB1, ABCG2, CYP3A4, CYP3A5, and AGP (pharmacogenetic data available for 46 of 67 patients). Results: Analysis of the whole data set in 67 patients showed that apparent clearance (CL/F) of imatinib was positively correlated with body weight and albuminemia and negatively with AGP. By considering these three covariates, the interindividual variability on CL/F decreased from 47% to 19%. The apparent clearance of CGP74588 was similarly dependent on both body weight and AGP and significantly lower (30% reduction) at steady-state. By adding genotype status to the final covariate imatinib model, a 22% reduction in CL/F was observed in heterozygous compared with wild-type patients corresponding to ABCG2 c.421C>A (P < 0.05). Conclusions: By considering morphologic and biological covariates, a unique covariate model could be used to accurately describe imatinib pharmacokinetics in patients ages 2 to 84 years. Morphologic and biological characteristics have a stronger influence than pharmacogenetics on imatinib pharmacokinetics.
Practical change impact analysis based on static program slicing for industrial software systems

Change impact analysis, i.e., knowing the potential consequences of a software change, is critical for the risk analysis, developer effort estimation, and regression testing of evolving software. Static program slicing is an attractive option for enabling routine change impact analysis for newly committed changesets during daily software build. For small programs with a few thousand lines of code, static program slicing scales well and can assist precise change impact analysis. However, as we demonstrate in this paper, static program slicing faces unique challenges when applied routinely on large and evolving industrial software systems. Despite recent advances in static program slicing, to our knowledge, there have been no studies of static change impact analysis applied on large and evolving industrial software systems. In this paper, we share our experiences in designing a static change impact analysis framework for such software systems. We have implemented our framework as a tool called Imp and have applied Imp on an industrial codebase with over a million lines of C/ C++ code with promising empirical results.