Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Head-Mounted Displays: Are They Practical for School-Age Children?

Head-mounted displays (HMDs) for people with low vision are video devices with user-controlled variable magnification and some degree of contrast enhancement. In this preliminary study of visually impaired students in a residential school, HMDs improved acuity and contrast sensitivity, prevented glare, and enhanced performance of near, intermediate, and distance tasks, including mobility. The study also showed that students enjoyed using the devices.
Cell Wall Biomolecular Composition Plays a Potential Role in the Host Type II Resistance to Fusarium Head Blight in Wheat

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a serious disease of wheat worldwide. Cultivar resistance to FHB depends on biochemical factors that confine the pathogen spread in spikes. Breeding for cultivar resistance is considered the most practical way to manage this disease. In this study, different spectroscopy and microscopy techniques were applied to discriminate resistance in wheat genotypes against FHB. Synchrotron-based spectroscopy and imaging techniques, including focal plane array infrared and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy were used to understand changes in biochemical and nutrients in rachis following FHB infection. Sumai3 and Muchmore were used to represent resistant and susceptible cultivars to FHB, respectively, in this study. The histological comparison of rachis showed substantial differences in the cell wall thickness between the cultivars after infection. Synchrotron-based infrared imaging emphasized substantial difference in biochemical composition of rachis samples between the two cultivars prior to visible symptoms; in the resistant Sumai3, infrared bands representing lignin and hemicellulose were stronger and more persistent compared to the susceptible cultivar. These bands may be the candidates of biochemical markers for FHB resistance. Focal plane array infrared imaging (FPA) spectra from the rachis epidermis and vascular bundles revealed a new band (1710 cm−1) related to the oxidative stress on the susceptible cultivar only. XRF spectroscopy data revealed differences in nutrients composition between cultivars, and between controls and inoculated samples, with substantial increases observed for Ca, K, Mn, Fe, Zn, and Si in the resistant cultivar. These nutrients are related to cell wall stability, metabolic process, and plant defense mechanisms such as lignification pathway and callose deposition. The combination of cell wall composition and lignification plays a role in the mechanism of type II host resistance to FHB. Biochemical profiling using the synchrotron-based spectroscopy holds potential for screening wheat genotypes for FHB resistance.
Assessment of cognitive function and communication ability in a completely locked-in patient

The term “locked in” refers to a paralysis of voluntary muscular functions1 as a consequence of disease that leads to de-efferentation of the motor system. Although blinking and vertical eye movements are sometimes preserved, many patients such as those with advanced ALS may lose all voluntary muscular function. We report a 58-year-old patient who had ALS for 8 years, who was artificially fed and respirated and had lost all motor control 8 months before the assessment. Both peripheral (electromyogram, heart rate, electro-oculogram [EOG], skin conductance level [SCL]) and central (EEG) functions were tested to determine if there might be a possibility to use other means than the striate muscular system for communication purposes. Moreover, it was not clear to what extent the patient was still cognitively intact and might be able to learn to communicate via an EEG-based brain-computer interface (BCI). 2–4 Indications about cognitive awareness can be derived from psychophysiologic event-related paradigms using the EEG5,6 or other measures. We found that the patient was unable to use any muscle, not even the anal sphincter …
Revisiting the IISS Small‐Gain Theorem through Transient Plus ISS Small‐Gain Regulation

Recently, the small‐gain theorem for input‐to‐state stable (ISS) systems has been extended to the class of integral input‐to‐state stable (iISS) systems. Feedback connections of two iISS systems are robustly stable with respect to disturbance if an extended small‐gain condition is satisfied. It has been proved that at least one of the two iISS subsystems needs to be ISS for guaranteeing globally asymptotic stability and iISS of the overall system. Making use of this necessary condition for the stability, this paper gives a new interpretation to the iISS small gain theorem as transient plus ISS small‐gain regulation. The observation provides useful information for designing and analyzing nonlinear control systems based on the iISS small‐gain theorem.
Cognitive behavior therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE Cognitive behavior therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome was compared with relaxation in a randomized controlled trial. METHODS Sixty patients with chronic fatigue syndrome were randomly assigned to 13 sessions of either cognitive behavior therapy (graded activity and cognitive restructuring) or relaxation. Outcome was evaluated by using measures of functional impairment, fatigue, mood, and global improvement. RESULTS Treatment was completed by 53 patients. Functional impairment and fatigue improved more in the group that received cognitive behavior therapy. At final follow-up, 70% of the completers in the cognitive behavior therapy group achieved good outcomes (substantial improvement in physical functioning) compared with 19% of those in the relaxation group who completed treatment. CONCLUSIONS Cognitive behavior therapy was more effective than a relaxation control in the management of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Improvements were sustained over 6 months of follow-up.
RACK1 Is a Ribosome Scaffold Protein for β-actin mRNA/ZBP1 Complex

In neurons, specific mRNAs are transported in a translationally repressed manner along dendrites or axons by transport ribonucleic-protein complexes called RNA granules. ZBP1 is one RNA binding protein present in transport RNPs, where it transports and represses the translation of cotransported mRNAs, including β-actin mRNA. The release of β-actin mRNA from ZBP1 and its subsequent translation depends on the phosphorylation of ZBP1 by Src kinase, but little is known about how this process is regulated. Here we demonstrate that the ribosomal-associated protein RACK1, another substrate of Src, binds the β-actin mRNA/ZBP1 complex on ribosomes and contributes to the release of β-actin mRNA from ZBP1 and to its translation. We identify the Src binding and phosphorylation site Y246 on RACK1 as the critical site for the binding to the β-actin mRNA/ZBP1 complex. Based on these results we propose RACK1 as a ribosomal scaffold protein for specific mRNA-RBP complexes to tightly regulate the translation of specific mRNAs.
Measuring ‘Registerness’ in Human and Machine Translation: A Text Classification Approach

In this paper, we apply text classification techniques to prove how well translated texts obey linguistic conventions of the target language measured in terms of registers, which are characterised by particular distributions of lexico-grammatical features according to a given contextual configuration. The classifiers are trained on German original data and tested on comparable English-to-German translations. Our main goal is to see if both human and machine translations comply with the nontranslated target originals. The results of the present analysis provide evidence for our assumption that the usage of parallel corpora in machine translation should be treated with caution, as human translations might be prone to errors.
Genetic Determinants of P Wave Duration and PR Segment

Background—The PR interval on the ECG reflects atrial depolarization and atrioventricular nodal delay which can be partially differentiated by P wave duration and PR segment, respectively. Genome-wide association studies have identified several genetic loci for PR interval, but it remains to be determined whether this is driven by P wave duration, PR segment, or both. Methods and Results—We replicated 7 of the 9 known PR interval loci in 16 468 individuals of European ancestry. Four loci were unambiguously associated with PR segment, while the others were shared for P wave duration and PR segment. Next, we performed a genome-wide analysis on P wave duration and PR segment separately and identified 5 novel loci. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in KCND3 (P=8.3×10–11) and FADS2 (P=2.7×10–8) were associated with P wave duration, whereas single-nucleotide polymorphisms near IL17D (P=2.3×10–8), in EFHA1 (P=3.3×10−10), and in LRCH1 (P=2.1×10–8) were associated with PR segment. Analysis on DNA elements indicated that genome-wide significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms were enriched at genomic regions suggesting active gene transcription in the human right atrium. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that genes were significantly higher expressed in the right atrium and atrioventricular node compared with left ventricle (P=5.6×10–6). Conclusions—Genetic associations of PR interval seem to be mainly driven by genetic determinants of the PR segment. Some of the PR interval associations are strengthened by a directional consistent effect of genetic determinants of P wave duration. Through genome-wide association we also identified genetic variants specifically associated with P wave duration which might be relevant for cardiac biology.
Unit Quaternions: A Mathematical Tool for Modeling, Path Planning and Control of Robot Manipulators

Robot manipulators are thought of as a set of one or more kinematic chains, composed by rigid bodies (links) and articulated joints, required to provide a desired motion to the manipulator’s end–effector. But even though this motion is driven by control signals applied directly to the joint actuators, the desired task is usually specified in terms of the pose (i.e., the position and orientation) of the end–effector. This leads to consider two ways of describing the configuration of the manipulator, at any time (Rooney & Tanev, 2003): via a set of joint variables or pose variables. We call these configuration spaces the joint space and the pose space, respectively. But independently of the configuration space employed, the following three aspects are of interest when designing and working with robot manipulators: • Modeling: The knowledge of all the physical parameters of the robot, and the relations among them. Mathematical (kinematic and dynamic) models should be extracted from the physical laws ruling the robot’s motion. Kinematics is important, since it relates joint and pose coordinates, or their time derivatives. Dynamics, on the other hand, takes into account the masses and forces that produce a given motion. • Task planning: The process of specifying the different tasks for the robot, either in pose or joint coordinates. This may involve from the design and application of simple time trajectories along precomputed paths (this is called trajectory planning), to complex computational algorithms taking real–time decisions during the execution of a task. • Control: The elements that allow to ensure the accomplishment of the specified tasks in spite of perturbances or unmodeled dynamics. According to the type of variables used in the control loop, we can have joint space controllers or pose space controllers. Robot control systems can be implemented either at a low level (e.g. electronic controllers in the servo–motor drives) or via sophisticated high–level programs in a computer. Fig. 1 shows how these aspects are related to conform a robot motion control system. By motion control we refer to the control of a robotic mechanism which is intended to track a desired time–varying trajectory, without taking into account the constraints given by the environment, i.e., as if moving in free space. In such a case the desired task (a time function along a desired path) is generated by a trajectory planner, either in joint or pose variables. The motion controller can thus be designed either in joint or pose space, respectively.
Validity and critical driving errors of on-road assessment for older drivers.

OBJECTIVES We examined the validity of our on-road driving assessment to quantify its outcomes. METHOD Older drivers (N = 127) completed a driving assessment on a standardized road course. Measurements included demographics, driving errors, and driving test outcomes; a categorical global rating score (pass-fail); and the sum of maneuvers (SMS) score (0-273). RESULTS There were significant differences in the SMS (F = 29.9, df = 1, p < or = .001) between drivers who passed the driving test and those who failed. The SMS cutoff value of 230 points was established as the criterion because it yielded the most optimal combination of sensitivity (0.91) and specificity (0.87). The strongest predictors of failure were adjustment to stimuli and lane maintenance errors. CONCLUSION The SMS differentiated between passing and failing drivers and can be used to inform clinical decision making.
Input observer: measuring text entry and pointing performance from naturalistic everyday computer use

In this paper we describe the Input Observer, a background application that will be capable of measuring a user's text entry and pointing abilities from everyday computer use "in the wild. " The application runs quietly in the background of the user's computer and utilizes global Windows Hooks to observe the text entry input stream and use of the mouse, and will yield data equivalent to results from lab-based measures of text entry and target acquisition. A major challenge is the lack of a task model from which researchers can know the intent of the user at every moment. We describe our approach to handling this issue for both text entry and mouse pointing.
ρ-GGD source modeling for wavelet coefficients in image/video coding

A rho-GGD source model is proposed in this paper. The probability distribution of wavelet coefficients has been previously modeled as Laplacian or generalized Gaussian distribution (GGD). The Laplacian model is simple in calculation but not accurate; on the other hand, GGD is accurate but requires a very complicated modeling procedure. In this paper, we introduce a new parameter rho into the GGD source model, where rho is the probability of zero-value coefficients. The shape parameter of the GGD model can then be easily estimated from rho and the standard deviation. Moreover, a piecewise linear approximation method is proposed to further reduce complexity. Our experiments show that the rho-GGD model has high accuracy and consistent performance for modeling the wavelet coefficient pdfs for both spatial 2-D DWT and interframe wavelet video cases.
Wireless Communications for Smart Dust

The goal of this research is to design a wireless communication system for sending and receiving data from distributed sensor networks, or Smart Dust systems. The devices for communication on the dust motes are subject to size and power constraints, and are required to communicate over several hundred meters at a minimum data rate of 1 kbps. Optical links with active and passive transmitters and RF links are considered. A detailed analysis of the link from a passive transmitter, or corner-cube retrore-flector (CCR), on the dust mote to an imaging system, either CMOS or CCD, shows the feasibility of this link. The technique used for modeling and analyzing the performance of imperfect CCRs is discussed , and some results from this analysis are presented. The design of the imaging system for high data rate reception and optimized performance is investigated. Factors governing the choice of an appropriate communication protocol are discussed.
Taking Social Development Seriously: The Experience of Sri Lanka

Foreword James Midgley Introduction 1: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL POLICY Changing Ideas of Social Policy Rethinking Social Development Marshall and Citizenship Theorising 2: THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN SRI LANKA The Formative Phase of Social Development in Sri Lanka Welfarism and Democratisation in the Late Colonial State (1931-1948) Consolidation of the Welfare State 3: The END OF AN ERA AND REFRAMING WELFARISM Retreat from the Welfare State Reclaiming Social Democracy: Charting a 'Third Way' for Sri Lanka Postscript: Taking Stock after the Fall of Sri Lanka's Berlin Wall Afterword by Nimal Sanderatne References Index
Statistical Computations on Grassmann and Stiefel Manifolds for Image and Video-Based Recognition

In this paper, we examine image and video-based recognition applications where the underlying models have a special structure-the linear subspace structure. We discuss how commonly used parametric models for videos and image sets can be described using the unified framework of Grassmann and Stiefel manifolds. We first show that the parameters of linear dynamic models are finite-dimensional linear subspaces of appropriate dimensions. Unordered image sets as samples from a finite-dimensional linear subspace naturally fall under this framework. We show that an inference over subspaces can be naturally cast as an inference problem on the Grassmann manifold. To perform recognition using subspace-based models, we need tools from the Riemannian geometry of the Grassmann manifold. This involves a study of the geometric properties of the space, appropriate definitions of Riemannian metrics, and definition of geodesics. Further, we derive statistical modeling of inter and intraclass variations that respect the geometry of the space. We apply techniques such as intrinsic and extrinsic statistics to enable maximum-likelihood classification. We also provide algorithms for unsupervised clustering derived from the geometry of the manifold. Finally, we demonstrate the improved performance of these methods in a wide variety of vision applications such as activity recognition, video-based face recognition, object recognition from image sets, and activity-based video clustering.
The Figure of Speech: The Politics of Contemporary Chatter

This thesis focuses on informal linguistic transactions that operate in relation to, and as part of spectacle in contemporary society. In contrast to presenting such transactions as a subordinated public, exchanging meaningless chatter, these communicative acts are seen to be a formalization of language revealing processes, networks, and territories that have positive possibilities for the public engaged in these communications. Using examples such as the act of communication evident in the recent exponential growth of web 2.0 (on-line social networking), the sound of language represented in the murmur of political demonstrations, and the audibility of voices on the underground network, this thesis builds upon and extends discussions that have asserted the political resistance inherent in rumour, gossip, idle talk, and hearsay. This specific analysis focuses upon both our physical, corporeal, and virtual relations to chatter within the developing systems of new technology that transfer the majority of today’s informal exchanges—investigating the sounds, repetitions, occupation of networks, and gestures of communication rather than the exchange of specific content. Using a methodology that acknowledges the ephemeral, transgressive and fluid nature of its subject, this project uses regular first person narrated sections supporting theoretical discussion, refuses the ‘permanence’ of visual illustration, and is directly informed by concerns within my art practice. Responding to the ideas inherent to my art practice—concerning the form and presentation of information presented (by the media and political authorities) to the public from which a political cognition is constructed, both text and practice elements of this project focus on an abstract, formal reading of contemporary communication. These abstract experiences of communication and collective action are acknowledged as an integral reading of contemporary politics, and that this sphere should be activated, extended and expanded upon in order to discover the positive possibilities inherent within it.
Good Girl, Bad Boy: Corrupt Behavior in Professional Tennis

This paper identifies matches on the male and female professional tennis tours in which one player faces a high payoff from being “on the bubble” of direct entry into one of the lucrative Grand Slam tournaments, while their opposition does not. Analyzing over 378,000 matches provides strong evidence for corrupt behavior on the men's tour, as bubble players are substantially more likely to beat better ranked opponents when a win is desperately needed. However, we find no such evidence on the women's tour. These results prevail throughout a series of extensions and robustness checks, highlighting gender differences regarding corrupt and unethical behavior, but also concerning collusion. We especially find evidence for collusion once monetary incentives are further increased. Finally, the market for sports betting does not seem to be aware of this phenomenon, suggesting a market imperfection and further confirming our suspicion of irregular activities in men's tennis.
Comparison of Channel State Acquisition Schemes in Cognitive Radio Environment

We compare the capacity of two most popular methods for acquiring the state of the spectrum in cognitive radio technology: geolocation-database-based schemes and spectrum-sensing-based schemes. For the comparison, we use a new Hidden Markov Chain based channel model, because recent measurements show that a conventional two-state model, which has been widely used, is not appropriate for modeling the behavior of channels in the cognitive environment. We also consider more generic cognitive environments in which each wireless system has its own licensed bands and uses unlicensed bands in addition to its licensed bands to increase its capacity. This type of wireless systems can comprise conventional cognitive radio systems by letting the number of licensed bands be zero. Moreover, we have derived the optimal number of unlicensed bands to be used for maximizing the capacity of wireless system by taking into account interference from neighboring wireless systems. Through simulations, we compare the capacity of wireless systems with two channel state acquisition schemes and show the counterbalancing relation between two schemes, which has never been investigated in previous works. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to compare the capacity of these two schemes for acquiring the state of the spectrum.
Applications of polarimetric decomposition technology in a dried up lake evolution

This paper presents fundamental reason to Lop Nur “Ear” feature based on polarimetric decomposition technology. Lop Nur is located at the east Tarim Basin in China, and in history, all the major rivers running in Tarim Basin converged to this lowest place. Lop Nur belongs to arid region, and satisfies penetration conditions for SAR signals. Through comparison between decomposed volume scattering contribution and sub-surface salinity, it is found that subsurface properties (such as salinity) is the fundamental reason to “Ear” feature. And dynamic mechanism of geomorphology builds the relationship between surface and subsurface evolution processes, and indirectly unifies previous points on the reasons to formation of Lop Nur “Ear”. Polarimetric technology is anticipated to be used to retrieve more information and to help extend applications in environment of arid region.