Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
School Closure is currently the main . . .

Concerns about an imminent influenza pandemic have been intensified after the emergence of the new influenza A(H1N1) v strain. Mathematical modeling was employed on recent epidemiological data from Mexico in order to assess the impact of intervention strategies on the spread of influenza A(H1N1)v in the setting of the European region. When initiating the intervention of 100% school closure in a community of 2,000 people at a threshold of 1% cumulative attack rate, the total number of symptomatic cases is predicted to decrease by 89.3%, as compared to the non-intervention scenario. When this measure is coupled with treatment and home isolation of symptomatic cases as well as a 50% reduction of social contacts, a 94.8% decline in the cumulative attack rate is predicted along with a much shorter duration of influenza A(H1N1)v transmission. Active surveillance that will ensure timely treatment and home isolation of symptomatic cases in combination with school closure seem to form an efficient strategy to control the spread of influenza A(H1N1)v. Introduction The emergence of the new influenza A(H1N1)v strain in MarchApril 2009 prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to raise the pandemic alert level. Influenza A(H1N1)v has to date spread to 76 countries and has infected 35,928 individuals (confirmed cases as of 15 June 2009) [1]. Currently, there is uncertainty about key epidemiological parameters such as the age-specific attack rates, the case fatality rate and the basic reproductive number R0 (i.e. the number of secondary cases attributed to one infected individual in a susceptible population) [2-4]. Since the epidemic in Mexico provides the most advanced insight into key epidemiological parameters [2], we used those parameters to simulate the potential spread of influenza A(H1N1)v in a model community situated in Greece and explored the effectiveness of various intervention strategies that could inform policies and decisions in the setting of the European region.
Closed Form Approximations for Spread Options

Abstract This article expresses the price of a spread option as the sum of the prices of two compound options. One compound option is to exchange vanilla call options on the two underlying assets and the other is to exchange the corresponding put options. This way we derive a new closed form approximation for the price of a European spread option and a corresponding approximation for each of its price, volatility and correlation hedge ratios. Our approach has many advantages over existing analytical approximations, which have limited validity and an indeterminacy that renders them of little practical use. The compound exchange option approximation for European spread options is then extended to American spread options on assets that pay dividends or incur costs. Simulations quantify the accuracy of our approach; we also present an empirical application to the American crack spread options that are traded on NYMEX. For illustration, we compare our results with those obtained using the approximation attributed to Kirk (1996, Correlation in energy markets. In: V. Kaminski (Ed.), Managing Energy Price Risk, pp. 71–78 (London: Risk Publications)), which is commonly used by traders.
Wavelength and code division multiplexing toward diffuse optical imaging

This work presents the latest simulations and experimental results of an innovative module for functional diffused optical imaging based on double encoding of wavelength and position of the emitting light. A spread spectrum approach to near infrared diffusive optical imaging is implemented: a pseudo-random sequence is used to modulate the light before entering a turbid medium; when the coded sequence propagates through the tissue, it is split into a group of components that have different path lengths. The correlation of the detected signals with the sequence can pick up each component with a specific delay, with the consequence of obtaining time domain information of arriving replicas. We propose to improve that approach, adopting a code division multiple access technology. A module which is expected to enhance the performances in terms of measured time and SNR is presented. We called this technique Wavelength and Space Code Division Multiplexing (WS-CDM).
Extending wordnets by learning from multiple resources

In this paper we present an automatic, language-independent approach to extend an existing wordnet by recycling existing freely available bilingual resources, such as machine-readable dictionaries and on-line encyclopaedias. The approach is applied to Slovene and French. The words extracted from the bilingual resources are assigned one or several synset ids based on a classifier that relies on several features, including distributional similarity. Automatic and manual evaluation shows that the resulting extensions of sloWNet and WOLF are lexico-semantic repositories of high coverage as well as high quality.
Die Pseudo-Exploration – Überlegungen zur Technik qualitativer Interviews in der Sozialforschung / Pseudo-exploration – Thoughts on the techniques of qualitative interviews in social research

Abstract The topic of the article is methods and methodology of ‘‘qualitative” research in sociology. Taking own experiences in a school administration project as an example, I try to show risks, fallacies and typical conflicts in the “qualitative interview”. This is shown to be subjected to a fundamental dilemma: the “qualitative interview” aims at a “natural” discourse but cannot fully adapt to rules of everyday communication. The roles of the interviewer and of the interviewee remain separated, and the governing influence of the interviewer is maintained. An especially restrictive form of this influence is the “bureaucratization” of the interview which, ironically, is fostered by the very features of the qualitative interview being its specific advantages, namely, openness, unstructuredness, and the like. On the other hand, to avoid “bureaucratization” of the interview does not mean successful communication. As the interviewer relies of his competence in everyday communication, new risks and tensions arise. The article is concerned with the analysis of these conflicts and offers no solutions in the technical sense. Zusammenfassung Der Artikel soll einen Beitrag zur methodischen und methodologischen Auseinandersetzung mit der Praxis qualitativer Sozialforschung leisten. Am Beispiel von Interviewerfahrungen, die im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojektes zu Fragen der Schulaufsicht gemacht wurden, sollen die Risiken und Fallen des qualitativen Interviews erläutert und typische Konflikt-Konstellationen qualitativer Interviews herausgearbeitet werden. Wichtiger Gesichtspunkt ist dabei, daß das qualitative Interview durch ein bestimmtes, im Prinzip nicht aufhebbares Dilemma gekennzeichnet ist: Es soll einer „natürlichen“ Gesprächssituation möglichst nahe kommen, ohne zugleich auch die Regeln der Alltagskommunikation zu übernehmen. Die Rollentrennung von Frager und Befragtem bleibt im Prinzip erhalten und damit auch der steuernde Einfluß des Interviewers. Als eine besonders restriktive Form dieser Steuerung wird die „Leitfadenbürokratie“ beschrieben, die selbst wiederum durch bestimmte psychische und soziale Bedingungen der Situation des qualitativen Interviews begünstigt wird (Angst vor offenen und wenig strukturierten Situationen u.ä.). Aber auch der Verzicht auf eine bürokratische Steuerung der Interviewsituation ist keineswegs mit gelungener Kommunikation identisch. In dem Maße, in dem der Befrager sich auf seine alltagskommunikative Kompetenz verläßt und mit dieser spontan umzugehen versucht, gibt es eine Reihe neuer Gefährdungen und Störungen der Interviewkommunikation. Der Artikel befaßt sich mit einer Analyse dieser Störungen. Er ist von einer technischen Lösung im Sinne „positiver“ methodischer Ratschläge noch weit entfernt.
Is it Worth it? On the Returns to Holding Political Office

Despite the key role played by political payoffs in theory, very little is known empirically about the types of payoffs that motivate politicians. The purpose of this paper is to bring some light into this. I estimate causal effects of being elected in a local election on monetary returns. The claim for causality, I argue, can be made thanks to a research design where the income of some candidate who just barely won a seat is compared to that of some other candidate who was close to winning a seat for the same party, but ultimately did not. This research design is made possible thanks to a comprehensive, detailed data set covering all Swedish politicians who have run for office in the period 1991{2006. I establish that monetary returns are absent both in the short and long run. In stead, politicians seem to be motivated by non-monetary returns, and I show that being elected locally once (for exogenous reasons) can be an effective starting point for enjoying such payoffs.
Rush: A simple and autonomous quadruped running robot

Abstract In this paper, the system design and analysis of a quadruped robot, Rush, are presented. The quadruped robot was fabricated to study autonomous and efficient running on flat and rough terrain. It is a compact, kneed, four-legged machine with only one actuator per compliant leg. A novel control strategy for the quadruped robot has been proposed in consideration of several engineering limitations on sensory feedback. Several simulation studies have already been performed to confirm the validity of the control strategy in the previous reports. In this paper, the results obtained from experiments with Rush are found to agree with the simulation results. The reported work may help improve the understanding of energy-efficient running locomotion and the simple control required to autonomously stabilize it on flat or rough terrain.
CLOUDTHINK: A SCALABLE SECURE PLATFORM FOR MIRRORING TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS IN THE CLOUD

AbstractWe present a novel approach to developing a vehicle communication platform consisting of a low-cost, open-source hardware for moving vehicle data to a secure server, a Web Application Programming Interface (API) for the provision of third-party services, and an intuitive user dashboard for access control and service distribution. The CloudThink infrastructure promotes the commoditization of vehicle telematics data by facilitating easier, flexible, and more secure access. It enables drivers to confidently share their vehicle information across multiple applications to improve the transportation experience for all stakeholders, as well as to potentially monetize their data. The foundations for an application ecosystem have been developed which, taken together with the fair value for driving data and low barriers to entry, will drive adoption of CloudThink as the standard method for projecting physical vehicles into the cloud. The application space initially consists of a few fundamental and importan.
SWAN: Base-band units placement over reconfigurable wireless front-hauls

Small-cells are rapidly emerging as the mobile operators' choice to provide additional capacity in current and future mobile networks. However, in order to fully deliver on their promises, small-cells need to address severe interference control and coordination challenges. By centralizing base-band processing in large high-volume computing infrastructures, Cloud-RAN can effectively enable advanced coordination features for dense small-cells deployments. Unfortunately, Cloud-RAN tight bandwidth and latency requirements have made optical fiber the most common solution for the links interconnecting remote radio heads (RRHs) with the base band units (BBUs), i.e. the fronthaul. Recent advances in microwave communications are making wireless fronthauls a viable option especially in dense urban environments where fiber fronthauls could be too rigid for accommodating highly dynamic traffic patterns. In this paper, we provide a novel formulation for the BBU Placement problem where BBU pools are placed at the edges of the network, possibly co-located with macro-cells, and a reconfigurable wireless fronthaul is used in order to provide RRHs with connectivity. To the best of our knowledge this is the first work to tackle the BBU placement problem over a reconfigurable substrate network with mmWave links. We also propose a BBU Placement heuristics, and we evaluate it using a numerical simulator.
Independent Evaluation of the Rapid Scale-Up Program to Reduce Under-Five Mortality in Burkina Faso

We conducted a prospective evaluation of the “Rapid Scale-Up” (RSU) program in Burkina Faso, focusing on the integrated community case management (iCCM) component of the program. We used a quasi-experimental design in which nine RSU districts were compared with seven districts without the program. The evaluation included documentation of program implementation, assessments of implementation and quality of care, baseline and endline coverage surveys, and estimation of mortality changes using the Lives Saved Tool. Although the program trained large numbers of community health workers, there were implementation shortcomings related to training, supervision, and drug stockouts. The quality of care provided to sick children was poor, and utilization of community health workers was low. Changes in intervention coverage were comparable in RSU and comparison areas. Estimated under-five mortality declined by 6.2% (from 110 to 103 deaths per 1,000 live births) in the RSU area and 4.2% (from 114 to 109 per 1,000 live births) in the comparison area. The RSU did not result in coverage increases or mortality reductions in Burkina Faso, but we cannot draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the iCCM strategy, given implementation shortcomings. The evaluation results highlight the need for greater attention to implementation of iCCM programs.
Presence of 1/f noise in the temporal structure of psychoacoustic parameters of natural and urban sounds.

1/f noise or pink noise, which has been shown to be universal in nature, has also been observed in the temporal envelope of music, speech, and environmental sound. Moreover, the slope of the spectral density of the temporal envelope of music has been shown to correlate well to its pleasing, dull, or chaotic character. In this paper, the temporal structure of a number of instantaneous psychoacoustic parameters of environmental sound is examined in order to investigate whether a 1/f temporal structure appears in various types of sound that are generally preferred by people in everyday life. The results show, to some extent, that different categories of environmental sounds have different temporal structure characteristics. Only a number of urban sounds considered and birdsong, generally, exhibit 1/f behavior on short to medium duration time scales, i.e., from 0.1 s to 10 s, in instantaneous loudness and sharpness, whereas a more chaotic variation is found in birdsong at longer time scales, i.e., of 10 s-200 s. The other sound categories considered exhibit random or monotonic variations in the different time scales. In general, this study shows that a 1/f temporal structure is not necessarily present in environmental sounds that are commonly perceived as pleasant.
Charlatanry in forensic speech science: A problem to be taken seriously

A lie detector which can reveal lie and deception in some automatic and perfectly reliable way is an old idea we have often met with in science fiction books and comic strips. This is all very well. It is when machines claimed to be lie detectors appear in the context of criminal investigations or security applications that we need to be concerned. In the present paper we will describe two types of ‘deception’ or ‘stress detectors’ (euphemisms to refer to what quite clearly are known as ‘lie detectors’). Both types of detection are claimed to be based on voice analysis but we found no scientific evidence to support the manufacturers’ claims. Indeed, our review of scientific studies will show that these machines perform at chance level when tested for reliability. Given such results and the absence of scientific support for the underlying principles it is justified to view the use of these machines as charlatanry and we argue that there are serious ethical and security reasons to demand that responsible authorities and institutions should not get involved in such practices.
Basic Principles of Electrically Small Antennas

Electrically small antennas have been an important part of communications engineering since the beginning. Whether they are small compared to the extremely long wavelengths used at the lowest radio frequencies, or intended to save space in GHz-range wireless devices, the basic principles are the same. This tutorial will review those principles, with primary attention to describing the performance tradeoffs of small size.
Responsive elastic computing

Two production models are candidates for e-science computing: grids enable hardware and software sharing; clouds propose dynamic resource provisioning (elastic computing). Organized sharing is a fundamental requirement for large scientific collaborations; responsiveness, the ability to provide good response time, is a fundamental requirement for seamless integration of the large scale computing resources into everyday use. This paper focuses on a model-free resource provisioning strategy supporting both scenarios. The provisioning problem is modeled as a continuous action-state space, multi-objective reinforcement learning problem, under realistic hypotheses; the high level goals of users, administrators, and shareholders are captured through simple utility functions. We propose an implementation of this reinforcement learning framework, including an approximation of the value function through an Echo State Network, and we validate it on a real dataset.
Effects of Inspired CO2 and Breathing Resistance on Neurocognitive and Postural Stability in U.S. Navy Divers

Abstract : Purpose: The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the effects on neurocognitive performance and postural stability of inspired CO2 and breathing resistance during endurance exercise. Methods: Subjects (N=16) completed five dives. Each dive involved a different combination of inspired CO2 (0%, 1%, and 2% SEV CO2) and breathing resistance (work of breathing per tidal volume of 1.0 kPa and 1.8 kPa at a minute ventilation of 62.5 L/min. Neurocognitive functioning was assessed pre/post each dive using a subset of Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM). Postural stability was assessed post each dive through the use of a Wii Balance Board. Amplitude and sample entropy (SampEn) were calculated for the center of pressure (COP) in both the anterior-posterior (X) and medial-lateral (Y) directions. A general linear model multivariate analysis of variance (GLM MANOVA) with repeated measures was conducted to evaluate the effect of exercise and breathing conditions on ANAM performance. Four GLM MANOVAs with repeated measures were conducted to evaluate the effect of breathing conditions on postural stability. Alpha was set at p = 05. Results: There were no significant differences found. Conclusions: The results of this study can be interpreted as the various combinations of high CO2 levels and high breathing resistance did not impair neurocognitive performance and postural stability. Future studies should focus on other neurocognitive and neurophysiological tests to verify these results. However, it should be noted that the individuals who were most likely to have shown neurocognitive effects from the CO2 exposures did not complete post-exercise neurocognitive assessments.
An Automatic Facial Expression Recognition Approach Based on Confusion-Crossed Support Vector Machine Tree

Automatic facial expression recognition is the kernel part of emotional information processing. This paper dedicates to develop an automatic facial expression recognition approach based on confusion-crossed support vector machine tree (CSVMT) to improve recognition accuracy and robustness. After the pseudo-Zernike moment features were extracted, they were used to train a CSVMT for automatic recognition. The structure of CSVMT enables the model to divide the facial recognition problem into sub-problems according to the teacher signals, so that it can solve the sub-problems in decreased complexity in different tree levels. In the training phase, those sub-samples assigned to two internal sibling nodes perform decreasing confusion cross, thus, the generalization ability of CSVMT for recognition of facial expression is enhanced. The compared results on Cohn-Kanade facial expression database also show that the proposed approach appeared higher recognition accuracy and robustness than other approaches.
Hemorrhagic Shock Induces NAD(P)H Oxidase Activation in Neutrophils: Role of HMGB1-TLR4 Signaling1

Hemorrhagic shock/resuscitation (HS/R)-induced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays an important role in posthemorrhage inflammation and tissue injury. We have recently reported that HS/R-activated neutrophils (PMN), through release of ROS, serve an important signaling function in mediating alveolar macrophage priming and lung inflammation. PMN NAD(P)H oxidase has been thought to be an important source of ROS following HS/R. TLR4 sits at the interface of microbial and sterile inflammation by mediating responses to both bacterial endotoxin and multiple endogenous ligands, including high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1). Recent studies have implicated HMGB1 as an early mediator of inflammation after HS/R and organ ischemia/reperfusion. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that HS/R activates NAD(P)H oxidase in PMN through HMGB1/TLR4 signaling. We demonstrated that HS/R induced PMN NAD(P)H oxidase activation, in the form of phosphorylation of p47phox subunit of NAD(P)H oxidase, in wild-type mice; this induction was significantly diminished in TLR4-mutant C3H/HeJ mice. HMGB1 levels in lungs, liver, and serum were increased as early as 2 h after HS/R. Neutralizing Ab to HMGB1 prevented HS/R-induced phosphorylation of p47phox in PMN. In addition, in vitro stimulation of PMN with recombinant HMGB1 caused TLR4-dependent activation of NAD(P)H oxidase as well as increased ROS production through both MyD88-IRAK4-p38 MAPK and MyD88-IRAK4-Akt signaling pathways. Thus, PMN NAD(P)H oxidase activation, induced by HS/R and as mediated by HMGB1/TLR4 signaling, is an important mechanism responsible for PMN-mediated inflammation and organ injury after hemorrhage.
Hand gesture recognition for Human-Robot Interaction for service robot

With advances in technology, robots play an important role in our lives. Nowadays, we have more chance to see robots service in our society such as intelligent robot for rescue and for service. Therefore, Human-Robot interaction becomes an essential issue for research. In this paper we introduce a combining method for hand sign recognition. Hand sign recognition is an essential way for Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). Sign language is the most intuitive and direct way to communication for impaired or disabled people. Through the hand or body gestures, the disabled can easily let caregiver or robot know what message they want to convey. In this paper, we propose a combining hands gesture recognition algorithm which combines two distinct recognizers. These two recognizers collectively determine the hand's sign via a process called CAR equation. These two recognizers are aimed to complement the ability of discrimination. To achieve this goal, one recognizer recognizes hand gesture by hand skeleton recognizer (HSR), and the other recognizer is based on support vector machines (SVM). In addition, the corresponding classifiers of SVM are trained using different features like local binary pattern (LBP) and raw data. Furthermore, the trained images are using Bosphorus Hand Database and in addition to taking by us. A set of rules including recognizer switching and combinatorial approach recognizer CAR equation is devised to synthesize the distinctive methods. We have successfully demonstrated gesture recognition experimentally with successful proof of concept.