Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intuitive Gesture Control of robots with a sensor arm sleeve based on dielectric elastomer sensors

Different types of robots help to fulfill simple work on their own like simple pick-and-place, handling and mounting tasks over long-lasting periods with no loss of accuracy and speed. However, regarding to products produced in small numbers the programming of those robots can be very time-consuming and workers have to be trained in programming the movements and tasks. Also, in the medical field where robots can be used for assistance during surgery or cancer treatment in future the surgeon or doctor has to respond to each patient individually. To train those medical specialists in programming robots would be very extensive. Therefore, the development of an intuitive robot control can help to facilitate tasks done by non-specialized workers or surgeons. In this contribution a concept of an intuitive control of robots via gesture control is shown. For the perception of gestures the different degrees of freedom of the worker's arm are detected by the use of a wearable sensor system based on dielectric elastomer sensors, which are generally lightweight and flexible. This paper describes the whole system consisting of an arm sleeve with attached stretch sensors, an analysis circuit board, the used software for communication and data processing as well as the controlling of the robot and the robot itself. Experiments show promising results, which are also specified in this paper. Furthermore, suggestions of different future applications based on dielectric elastomer sensors for example as artificial skin of prostheses are discussed.
Time-Dependent Effect of Hydrocortisone Administration on Intertemporal Choice

Intertemporal choices, involving decisions which trade o ff outcomes at different points in time, are often made under stress. Stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, resulting in the release of corticosteroids. Recent studies provide evidence that corticosteroids can induce rapid non-genomic effects followed by slower genomic effects that are thought to modulate cognitive function in opposite and complementary ways. It remains unknown, however, how corticosteroids affect intertemporal choice. To target time-dependent effects of cortisol on intertemporal choice, we randomly assigned healthy men to one of three possible groups: 1) receiving 10 mg hydrocortisone 195 minutes (slow cort) or 2) 15 minutes (rapid cort), or 3) placebo at both times, before measuring intertemporal choice by offering subjects decisions between small rewards available sooner vs. large rewards available later, in a double-blind design. We demonstrate a time-dependent effect of cortisol administration on intertemporal choice: when tested 15 minutes after hydrocortisone administration, subjects showed a strongly increased preference for the small, soon reward over the larger, delayed reward. In contrast, this effect was not found when testing occurred 195 minutes after hydrocortisone administration. Together, these results suggest that the physiological effects of acute, but not delayed, stress may increase temporal discounting.
Western Dietary Pattern Reduced Male Fertility: A Systematic review and Meta-analysis of Observational Studies

Background: Previous studies have investigated the associations between dietary patterns and male infertility, but found contradictory results. So, this meta-analysis was conducted to examine the association between dietary patterns and male infertility. Methods: An electronic search was conducted to identify the studies over association between dietary patterns and male infertility. The western and healthy dietary patterns were selected in this regard. The random-effect model was used to compute the summary risk estimates. Results: We found eight articles, of which five (n = 7679 participants) were included in our meta-analysis. This meta-analysis determined that the western dietary patterns containing high levels of processed, meat, high-fat dairy, and low levels of vegetables, fruit, and whole grains could significantly reduce the sperm concentration (MD = -0.07, P = 0.01). However, no significant relationship was observed between this dietary pattern and the sperm motility and morphology (MD = 0.01, P = 0.71, MD = 0.2, P = 0.39, respectively). Moreover, regarding the healthy dietary pattern, which contains high level of fruit, vegetables, whole grain, low-fat dairy, as well as low level of red meat and processed food, no significant relationship was observed (sperm concentration: MD = 0.11, P = 0.11, morphology: MD = -0.02, P = 0.42 and motility: MD = 0.35, P = 0.09). Conclusions: Findings of our meta-analysis suggested that the western dietary patterns could decrease the sperm concentration and reduce male fertility. Further prospective studies are required to confirm this result.
3D MHD Simulations of Disk Accretion onto Magnetized Stars: Numerical Approach and Sample Simulations

We present results of global 3D MHD simulations of disk accretion to a rotating star with dipole and more complex magnetic fields using a Godunov-type code based on the "cubed sphere" grid developed earlier in our group. We describe the code and the grid and show examples of simulation results.
DEBS – a unification theory for dry eye and blepharitis

For many years, blepharitis and dry eye disease have been thought to be two distinct diseases, and evaporative dry eye distinct from aqueous insufficiency. In this treatise, we propose a new way of looking at dry eye, both evaporative and insufficiency, as the natural sequelae of decades of chronic blepharitis. Dry eye is simply the late form and late manifestation of one disease, blepharitis. We suggest the use of a new term in describing this one chronic disease, namely dry eye blepharitis syndrome (DEBS). Bacteria colonize the lid margin within a structure known as a biofilm. The biofilm allows for population densities that initiate quorum-sensing gene activation. These newly activated gene products consist of inflammatory virulence factors, such as exotoxins, cytolytic toxins, and super-antigens, which are then present for the rest of the patient’s life. The biofilm never goes away; it only thickens with age, producing increasing quantities of bacterial virulence factors, and thus, increasing inflammation. These virulence factors are likely the culprits that first cause follicular inflammation, then meibomian gland dysfunction, aqueous insufficiency, and finally, after many decades, lid destruction. We suggest that there are four stages of DEBS which correlate with the clinical manifestations of folliculitis, meibomitis, lacrimalitis, and finally lid structure damage evidenced by entropion, ectropion, and floppy eyelid syndrome. When one fully understands the structure and location of the glands within the lid, it becomes easy to understand this staged disease process. The longer a gland can resist the relentless encroachment of the invading biofilm, the longer it can maintain normal function. The stages depend purely on anatomy and years of biofilm presence. Dry eye now becomes a very easy disease to understand. We feel that dry eye should be treated and prevented by early and routine biofilm removal through electromechanical lid margin debridement.
Scalable parallel implementation of exact inference in Bayesian networks

We present a scalable parallel implementation for exact inference in Bayesian networks. We explore two levels of parallelization: top level parallelization which uses pointer jumping to stride across nodes; and node level parallelization which parallelizes the node level computations which are independent from each other. For a junction tree with n cliques, using p processors, the worst-case running time is (n/p(log n)) * rw where w is the clique width and r is the maximum range or number of states of the variable. We have implemented the algorithm using MPI and OpenMP. We consider three different types of input junction trees: linear junction trees, balanced trees and random junction trees, and obtained speedups of 203, 181 and 190 respectively over 256 processors
2016 Ieee International Conference on Big Data (big Data) Persistent Cascades: Measuring Fundamental Communication Structure in Social Networks

—We define a new structural property of large-scale communication networks consisting of the persistent patterns of communication among users. We term these patterns " persistent cascades, " and claim they represent a strong estimate of actual information spread. Using metrics of inexact tree matching, we group these cascades into classes which we then argue represent the communication structure of a local network. This differs from existing work in that (1) we are focused on recurring patterns among specific users, not abstract motifs (e.g. the prevalence of triangles or other structures in the graph, regardless of user), and (2) we allow for inexact matching (not necessarily isomorphic graphs) to better account for the noisiness of human communication patterns. We find that analysis of these classes of cascades reveals new insights about information spread and the influence of certain users, based on three large mobile phone record datasets. For example, we find distinct groups of weekend vs. workweek spreaders not evident in the standard aggregated network. Finally, we create the communication network induced by these persistent structures, and we show the effect this has on measurements of centrality.
Hubble Space Telescope STIS Optical Transit Transmission Spectra of the Hot Jupiter HD 209458b

We present the transmission spectra of the hot Jupiter HD 209458b taken with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. Our analysis combines data at two resolutions and applies a complete pixel-by-pixel limb-darkening correction to fully reveal the spectral line shapes of atmospheric absorption features. Terrestrial-based Na I and H I contamination are identified that mask the strong exoplanetary absorption signature in the Na core, which we find reaches total absorption levels of ~0.11% in a 4.4 Å band. The Na spectral line profile is characterized by a wide absorption profile at the lowest absorption depths and a sharp transition to a narrow absorption profile at higher absorption values. The transmission spectra also show the presence of an additional absorber at ~6250 Å, observed at both medium and low resolutions. We performed various limb-darkening tests, including using high-precision limb-darkening measurements of the Sun to characterize a general trend of ATLAS models to slightly overestimate the amount of limb darkening at all wavelengths, likely due to the limitations of the model’s one-dimensional nature. We conclude that, despite these limitations, ATLAS models can still successfully model limb darkening in high signal-to-noise ratio transits of solar-type stars, like HD 209458, to a high level of precision over the entire optical regime (3000-10000 Å) at transit phases between second and third contact.
Incremental Attribute-based Zero-shot Learning

The paper presents a new online incremental zero-shot learning method for applications in robotics and mobile communications where attribute labeling is obtained via online interaction with users, and where the potential for inconsistency exists. Unique to most previous offline batch learning methods, the proposed method is based on the indirect-attribute-prediction (IAP) model instead of the direct-attribute-prediction (DAP). Using self-organizing and incremental neural networks (SOINN) as the learning mechanism, our method can learn new attributes and update existing attributes in an online incremental manner while retaining as high accuracy as that of the state-of-the-art offline method. Compared to the offline methods, the computation time has also been reduced by more than 99%. Two experiments evaluated two aspects of the proposed method. First, our method clearly outperforms the previous IAP-based offline method in terms of both time and accuracy, and yield approximately the same accuracy as the DAP-based offline method. Second, the proposed method can deal with situations where object attributes are gradually labeled via interaction with many users and where some of them may be incorrect. This scenario is very important for applications in mobile communications and robotics where some objects and attributes may be initially unknown and must be learnt online.
Enhanced Packet Buffering for DiffServ in Fast Handover Mobile IP

The packets in the Internet are classified by edge router according to the traffic conditioning agreement (TCA) in differentiated services (DiffServ) domain. The core routers forward the packets in different fashion according to the PHB(Per Hop-Behavior). Currently, the QoS during handover is not guaranteed since packet buffering does not consider PHB during the handover in DiffServ domain. To solve the problem, we propose an enhanced packet buffering scheme where the packets are buffered by the predefined rule in the new access point during handover. We analyze the loss probability of each type PHB packet with the enhanced packet buffering, and it validates its performance by computer simulation. It reveals that QoS is supported while reducing the packet loss rate significantly compared to the existing scheme.
A Cross-sectional Study to Assess the Relation between Physical Fitness Index and Body Mass Index in Medical Students of Index Medical College, Indore

Introduction: The present study was carried out in Index Medical College & Hospital, Indore with the objective of assessing the physical fitness of medical students and to study relation between BMI and physical fitness so that suitable corrections can be made to minimize the rate of morbidity. All the students satisfying the inclusion criteria and willing were included in the study. Two hundred students participated in study of which 82 were females and 118 were males. Material & Method: Queen’s College Step Test was used to assess the physical fitness index. This is validated method for Indian subjects because of its simplicity and does not require skills. It classifies the subjects into four groups of physical fitness based on scores obtained. Heart rate recovery after exercise using QCT was used to calculate the scores. Results were analyzed using chi-square and ‘t’ test. Correlation was calculated using Pearson’s coefficient of correlation ‘r’. Conclusion: Females were in better state and physically more fit as they are calorie conscious and pursued some sort of physical activity. Regular physical activity is important determinant of physical fitness. PFI showed negative correlation with pulse rate and BMI and positive with physical activity. Over weight and obesity reduce physical fitness significantly. Study Design: Cross-sectional Study
N-Best Rescoring for Speech Recognition using Penalized Logistic Regression Machines with Garbage Class

State-of-the-art pattern recognition approaches like neural networks or kernel methods have only had limited success in speech recognition. The difficulties often encountered include the varying lengths of speech signals as well as how to deal with sequences of labels (e.g., digit strings) and unknown segmentation. In this paper we present a combined hidden Markov model (HMM) and penalized logistic regression machine (PLRM) approach to continuous speech recognition that can cope with both of these difficulties. The key ingredients of our approach are N-best rescoring and PLRM with garbage class. Experiments on the Aurora2 connected digits database show significant increase in recognition accuracy relative to a purely HMM-based system.
Measurements of indoor 16/spl times/32 wideband MIMO channels at 5.8 GHz

A wideband 16/spl times/32 MIMO channel sounder has been developed for the 5.8 GHz band. The paper reports on a series of measurements with the purpose of investigating both temporal and spatial aspects of channel changes in a number of widely different indoor environments. The measurements are carried out using two planar arrays of monopoles. The results include statistics on capacity, coherence bandwidth, and Doppler spreading for the various measurement scenarios.
How Nonverbal Behaviour and Game Context Alter Athletes Perceptions: A Study of Nonverbal Influence on Expectancy of Success and Impression Formation in Different Game Scenarios, Immediately After an Opponent’s Mistake

Nonverbal behaviour is a social cognition component of sport psychology. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of non-verbal behaviour (NVB), and game scenarios immediately after a mistake was made. Participants (N = 103) were randomly assigned to one of six groups, comprised of one of two body languages, dominant (n = 51) and submissive, and one of three game scenarios, winning (n = 34), tied (n = 34), and losing (n = 35). Due to a high internal consistency between factors of performance outcomes and psychological characteristics one composite variable was created for each variable. Results revealed that dominant NVB was rated significantly higher than submissive NVB in each category, while game situation did not show any significant differences for performance outcome or psychological characteristics. NVB can be a readily accessible resource that should utilized by athletes to gain an advantage over their opponent.
The Impact of Sunlight Conditions on the Consistency of Vegetation Indices in Croplands - Effective Usage of Vegetation Indices from Continuous Ground-Based Spectral Measurements

A ground-based network of spectral observations is useful for ecosystem monitoring and validation of satellite data. However, these observations contain inherent uncertainties due to the change of sunlight conditions. This study investigated the impact of changing solar zenith angles and diffuse/direct light conditions on the consistency of vegetation indices (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and green-red vegetation index (GRVI)) derived from ground-based spectral measurements in three different types of cropland (paddy field, upland field, cultivated grassland) in Japan. In general, the vegetation indices decreased with decreasing solar zenith angle. This response was affected significantly by the growth stage and diffuse/direct light conditions. The decreasing response of the NDVI to the decreasing solar zenith angle was high during the middle growth stage (0.4 < NDVI < 0.8). On the other hand, a similar response of the GRVI was evident except in the early growth stage (GRVI < 0). The response of vegetation indices to the solar zenith angle was evident under clear sky conditions but almost negligible under cloudy sky conditions. At large solar zenith angles, neither the NDVI nor the GRVI were affected by diffuse/direct light conditions in any growth stage. These experimental results were supported well by the results of simulations based on a physically-based canopy reflectance model (PROSAIL). Systematic selection of the data from continuous diurnal spectral measurements in consideration of the solar light conditions would be effective for accurate and consistent assessment of the canopy structure and functioning.
Preventing STT-RAM Last-Level Caches from Port Obstruction

Many new nonvolatile memory (NVM) technologies have been heavily studied to replace the power-hungry SRAM/DRAM-based memory hierarchy in today's computers. Among various emerging NVM technologies, Spin-Transfer Torque RAM (STT-RAM) has many benefits, such as fast read latency, low leakage power, and high density, making it a promising candidate for last-level caches (LLCs). 1 However, STT-RAM write operation is expensive. In particular, a long STT-RAM cache write operation might obstruct other cache accesses and result in severe performance degradation. Consequently, how to mitigate STT-RAM write overhead is critical to the success of STT-RAM adoption. In this article, we propose an obstruction-aware cache management policy called OAP. OAP monitors cache traffic, detects LLC-obstructive processes, and differentiates the cache accesses from different processes. Our experiment on a four-core architecture with an 8MB STT-RAM L3 cache shows a 14% performance improvement and 64% energy reduction.
Electron reconstruction in simulated Pb+Pb events in CMS

Acknowledgments First of all I would like to thank professor Gunther Roland for supervising my thesis and, most of all, the guidance and training during the two years in which I stayed in this group. I would also like to thank Yen-jie Lee, who gave me a lot of advice on the possible ways to progress on the study. Finally I would like to thank my advisor, professor Wit Busza, and everyone who helps me with my studies at MIT and made the undergraduate studies here a pleasant experience.
Shadows Alter Facial Expressions of Noh Masks

Background A Noh mask, worn by expert actors during performance on the Japanese traditional Noh drama, conveys various emotional expressions despite its fixed physical properties. How does the mask change its expressions? Shadows change subtly during the actual Noh drama, which plays a key role in creating elusive artistic enchantment. We here describe evidence from two experiments regarding how attached shadows of the Noh masks influence the observers’ recognition of the emotional expressions. Methodology/Principal Findings In Experiment 1, neutral-faced Noh masks having the attached shadows of the happy/sad masks were recognized as bearing happy/sad expressions, respectively. This was true for all four types of masks each of which represented a character differing in sex and age, even though the original characteristics of the masks also greatly influenced the evaluation of emotions. Experiment 2 further revealed that frontal Noh mask images having shadows of upward/downward tilted masks were evaluated as sad/happy, respectively. This was consistent with outcomes from preceding studies using actually tilted Noh mask images. Conclusions/Significance Results from the two experiments concur that purely manipulating attached shadows of the different types of Noh masks significantly alters the emotion recognition. These findings go in line with the mysterious facial expressions observed in Western paintings, such as the elusive qualities of Mona Lisa’s smile. They also agree with the aesthetic principle of Japanese traditional art “yugen (profound grace and subtlety)”, which highly appreciates subtle emotional expressions in the darkness.
Design of Parallel Coupled Line Band Pass Filter

Band Pass filters play an important role in various fields like satellite and wireless communication. At a certain centre frequency the signals coming from transmitter and are received at receiver have to be filtered at a particular bandwidth. In this paper a parallel coupled line Band Pass Filter is designed at centre frequency 3.6 GHz. The design and simulation are performed using Computer Simulation Technology Microwave Studio to improve the response of the Filter.