Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison Between Different Feature Extraction Techniques in Lipreading Applications

In this paper we present a novel way of processing the video signal for lipreading application, and a post-processing data transformation that can be used alongside it to improve the audiovisual speech recognition results. The presented Lip Geometry Estimation (LGE) is compared with other geometry- and image intensity- based techniques typically deployed for this task. It can be applied at post-processing stage to any other feature extraction technique. We show to what extent different ways of processing the video signal are equivalent under appropriate transformations.
A web-based CAD system for gear shaper cutters

This paper describes a concept of a novel webbased CAD software for gear shaper cutters, including its core implementation aspects. Web-based system is proposed as a better alternative to traditional desktop CAD systems based on case study of Dathan Tool & Gauge Co. Ltd. One of the main issues in the development of a web-based CAD system is the need to process and, subsequently, visualise a lot of technical product drawings and sketches. Conventional web-oriented design systems are either integrated with specialised CAD software for processing technical drawings or use dedicated graphics visualisation tools. The proposed web-based CAD software tool for gear shaper cutters relies on technologies supported by regular web browser programs with no need for additional client software and is based on the freely available components and standards.
Detecting Industrial Control Malware Using Automated PLC Code Analytics

The authors discuss their research on programmable logic controller (PLC) code analytics, which leverages safety engineering to detect and characterize PLC infections that target physical destruction of power plants. Their approach also draws on control theory, namely the field of engineering and mathematics that deals with the behavior of dynamical systems, to reverse-engineer safety-critical code to identify complex and highly dynamic safety properties for use in the hybrid code analytics approach.
Towards an open-hardware open-software toolkit for robust low-cost eye tracking in HCI applications

Eye tracking has long held the promise of being a useful methodology for human-computer interaction ranging from explicit control of computer interfaces to adaptive interfaces based on the user’s attentional state. A number of barriers have stood in the way of the integration of eye tracking into everyday applications, including the intrusiveness, robustness, availability, and price of eye-tracking systems. To lower these barriers, we have developed the openEyes toolkit. The toolkit consists of an open-hardware design for a digital eye tracker that can be built from low-cost off-theshelf components and a set of open-source software tools for digital image capture, manipulation, and analysis in eyetracking applications. We expect that the availability of this toolkit will facilitate the development of eye-tracking applications and the eventual integration of eye tracking into the next generation of everyday human computer interfaces. We discuss the methods and technical challenges of lowcost eye tracking as well as the design decisions that produced our current system. Finally, we discuss the benefits of an open-hardware and open-software approach as well as ways we can facilitate the integration of eye-tracking techniques into the next generation of human computer inter-
Beam Sizes in Collision and Electron-Cloud Suppression by Clearing Electrodes for KEKB

Evaluating a simplified linear model of the beam-beam interaction, self-consistent beta functions, emittances and beam sizes are computed for the two unequal colliding beams in KEKB. Our results indicate a significant tune dependence and the existence of flip-flop solutions. At nominal tunes three equilibrium solutions exist for head-on collisions, compared with only one solution if the quadrupolar component of the beambeam force is defocusing, as it might be the case for off-center collisions. In the second part of this note, we examine the efficiency of clearing electrodes in suppressing the electron-cloud build up in the KEKB Low Energy Ring (LER). By means of a computer simulation, we study its dependence on the number of electrodes, bunch spacing, electrode location and voltage.
An architecture for practical delegation in a distributed system

A practical technique for delegation is described. It provides both cryptographic assurance that a delegation was authorized and authentication of the delegated systems, thereby allowing reliable access control as well as precise auditing of the systems involved in every access. It goes further than other approaches for delegation in that it also provides termination of a delegation on demand (as when the user logs out) with the assurance that the delegated systems, if subsequently compromised, cannot continue to act on the user's behalf. Delegation and revocation are provided by a simple mechanism that does not rely on online trusted servers. <<ETX>>
Detectably labeled dual conformation oligonucleotide Probes , Assays and Kits

Bulletin, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to that patent, in accordance with the Implementing Regulations. Notice of opposition shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (54) Detectably labeled dual conformation oligonucleotide Probes, Assays and Kits Markierte zwei-konformations oligonukleotid Sonden, Verfahren und Testsätze Trousse de réactives, procédé et sondes oligonucléotides marquées de conformation dual Remarks: The file contains technical information submitted after the application was filed and not included in this specification EP 0 745 690 B1 2 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 Description [0001] The present invention relates to the field of assays which involve nucleic acid hybridization probes. Assays are useful for the detection of specific genes, gene segments, RNA molecules and other nucleic acids. Such assays are used clinically, for e.g., tissue, blood and urine samples, as well as in food technology, agriculture and biological research.
MEMICS - Memory Interval Constraint Solving of (concurrent) Machine Code

Runtimeerrorsoccurringirregularlyinautomotivecontrolunitsareoftenhardtodetect.Acommonreason for such errors are critical race conditions. The introduction of multicore hardware enables software to be run in parallel, and hence, drastically increases the vulnerability to such errors. Race conditions are difficult to discover by testing or monitoring, only. Additionally, a static analysis of code is required to effectively reduce the occurrence of such errors. In this paper we introduce a new Bounded Model Checking tool, which in its core is an Interval Constraint Solver, operating on a machine code based model and is able to handle memory instructions directly. As control units are usually running on task-based operating systems like AUTOSAR or OSEK, our tool features a task model, which is able to handle sequential and concurrent task scheduling.
The sound field generated by tethered stingless bees (Melipona scutellaris): inferences on its potential as a recruitment mechanism inside the hive

SUMMARY In stingless bees, recruitment of hive bees to food sources involves thoracic vibrations by foragers during trophallaxis. The temporal pattern of these vibrations correlates with the sugar concentration of the collected food. One possible pathway for transfering such information to nestmates is through airborne sound. In the present study, we investigated the transformation of thoracic vibrations into air particle velocity, sound pressure, and jet airflows in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris. Whereas particle velocity and sound pressure were found all around and above vibrating individuals, there was no evidence for a jet airflow as with honey bees. The largest particle velocities were measured 5 mm above the wings (16.0±4.8 mm s–1). Around a vibrating individual, we found maximum particle velocities of 8.6±3.0 mm s–1 (horizontal particle velocity) in front of the bee's head and of 6.0±2.1 mm s–1 (vertical particle velocity) behind its wings. Wing oscillations, which are mainly responsible for air particle movements in honey bees, significantly contributed to vertically oriented particle oscillations only close to the abdomen in M. scutellaris (distances ⩽5 mm). Almost 80% of the hive bees attending trophallactic food transfers stayed within a range of 5 mm from the vibrating foragers. It remains to be shown, however, whether air particle velocity alone is strong enough to be detected by Johnston's organ of the bee antenna. Taking the physiological properties of the honey bee's Johnston's organ as the reference, M. scutellaris hive bees are able to detect the forager vibrations through particle movements at distances of up to 2 cm.
Electric solar wind sail mass budget model

Abstract. The electric solar wind sail (E-sail) is a new type of propellantless propulsion system for Solar System transportation, which uses the natural solar wind to produce spacecraft propulsion. The E-sail consists of thin centrifugally stretched tethers that are kept charged by an onboard electron gun and, as such, experience Coulomb drag through the high-speed solar wind plasma stream. This paper discusses a mass breakdown and a performance model for an E-sail spacecraft that hosts a mission-specific payload of prescribed mass. In particular, the model is able to estimate the total spacecraft mass and its propulsive acceleration as a function of various design parameters such as the number of tethers and their length. A number of subsystem masses are calculated assuming existing or near-term E-sail technology. In light of the obtained performance estimates, an E-sail represents a promising propulsion system for a variety of transportation needs in the Solar System.
Approximation algorithms for node-weighted buy-at-bulk network design

We present algorithms with poly-logarithmic approximation ratios for the buy-at-bulk network design problem in the node-weighted setting. We obtain the following results where <i>h</i> is the number of pairs in the input. • On <i>O</i>(log <i>h</i>) approximation for the single-sink non-uniform buy-at-bulk network design. Unless <i>P</i> = <i>NP</i> this ratio is tight up to constant factors. • An <i>O</i>(log<sup>4</sup> <i>h</i>) approximation for the multi-commodity non-uniform buy-at-bulk network design problem.
Balancing error and supervision effort in interactive-predictive handwriting recognition

An effective approach to transcribe handwritten text documents is to follow an interactive-predictive paradigm in which both, the system is guided by the user, and the user is assisted by the system to complete the transcription task as efficiently as possible. This approach has been recently implemented in a system prototype called GIDOC, in which standard speech technology is adapted to handwritten text (line) images: HMM-based text image modeling, n-gram language modeling, and also confidence measures on recognized words. Confidence measures are used to assist the user in locating possible transcription errors, and thus validate system output after only supervising those (few) words for which the system is not highly confident. However, a certain degree of supervision is required for proper model adaptation from partially supervised transcriptions. Here, we propose a simple yet effective method to find an optimal balance between recognition error and supervision effort.
Natural Variation in the Yeast Glucose-Signaling Network Reveals a New Role for the Mig3p Transcription Factor

The Crabtree effect, in which fermentative metabolism is preferred at the expense of respiration, is a hallmark of budding yeast’s glucose response and a model for the Warburg effect in human tumors. While the glucose-responsive transcriptional repressors Mig1p and Mig2p play well-characterized roles in the Crabtree effect, little function for the related Mig3p transcription factor has been uncovered, despite numerous investigations of laboratory yeast strains. Here we studied a wild isolate of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to uncover a critical role for Mig3p that has been lost in S288c-derived laboratory strains. We found that Mig3p affects the expression of hundreds of glucose-responsive genes in the oak strain YPS163, both during growth under standard conditions and upon ethanol treatment. Our results suggest that Mig3p may act as a multifunctional activator/repressor that plays separate roles under standard vs. stress conditions and that this function has been largely lost in the lab strains. Population analysis suggests that the lab strain and several wild strains harbor mutations that diminish Mig3p function. Thus, by expanding our attention to multiple genetic backgrounds, we have uncovered an important missing link in a key metabolic response.
A Rare Case of Unrecognized and Uncommon Bladder Perforation after Transobturator Tape Procedure

The transobturator tape (TOT) procedure has become practically widespread worldwide. Complications seem to be rare, but recognizing them intraoperatively is the most significant step because some of the complications which may appear in postoperative period can be challenging for both physicians and patients. The purpose of this case, with this patient who was operated on with open surgery, is to evaluate this rarely seen unrecognized and uncommon bladder perforation after TOT procedure and thus make some contribution to the literature. Here, we present a case report about the treatment of a 48-year-old woman patient with unrecognized and uncommon bladder perforation after TOT procedure, 5 months postoperatively. Cystoscopic evaluation is not recommended routinely, but it must be performed if the patient is complicated enough to create doubt and also the surgeon's skill and ability are not sufficient enough to operate decently.
Depth-Gated Recurrent Neural Networks

In this short note, we present an extension of LSTM to use a depth gate to connect memory cells of adjacent layers. Doing so introduces a linear dependence between lower and upper recurrent units. Importantly, the linear dependence is gated through a gating function, which we call forget gate. This gate is a function of lower layer memory cell, its input, and its past memory. We conducted experiments and verified that this new architecture of LSTMs is able to improve machine translation and language modeling performances.
Sleep prior to and following competition in professional rugby league athletes

ABSTRACT Purpose: The importance of quality sleep for elite athletes is becoming widely recognized. However, objective studies describing the sleep patterns in the lead up to and following competition are currently limited.Methods: Nine elite male Rugby League (RL) athletes performed 3 nights of sleep monitoring on six separate occasions during the RL season. The 3 nights included the following; 1) night before the game (G-1), 2) night of the game (G), and; 3) next night after the game (G+1). Sleep monitoring was performed using wrist-actigraphy.Results: There were significant differences (p < 0.05) between nights for total sleep time during the match periods (mean h:mm; 8:38, 4:53 and 6:42 for G-1, G and G+1, respectively). This was associated with a very large reduction of total sleep time on G in comparison to both G-1 (d = − 2.36) and G+1 (d = − 1.31). Sleep efficiency was also lower on the night of a game when compared to G-1 (d = − 1.58) and G+1 (d = − 1.20). Conclusion: Following RL matches, sleep onset is later, TST and SE are reduced, and sleep patterns the following night are also affected.
Estimation of Anthropomeasures from a Single Calibrated Camera

We are interested in the recovery of anthropometric dimensions of the human body from calibrated monocular sequences, and their use in multi-target tracking across multiple cameras and identification of individual people. In this paper, we focus on two specific anthropomeasures that are relatively easy to estimate from low-resolution images: stature and shoulder breadth. Precise average estimates are obtained for each anthropomeasure by combining measurements from multiple frames in the sequence. Our contribution is two-fold: (i) a novel technique for automatic and passive estimation of shoulder breadth, that is based on modelling the shoulders as an ellipse, and (U) a novel method for increasing the accuracy of the mean estimates of both anthropomeasures. The latter is based on the observation that major sources of error in the measurements are landmark localization the 2D image and 3D modelling error, and that both of these are correlated with gait phase and body orientation with respect to the camera. Consequently, estimation error can be significantly reduced via appropriate selection or control of these two variables
EGR1 Regulates Transcription Downstream of Mechanical Signals during Tendon Formation and Healing

Background Tendon is a mechanical tissue that transmits forces generated by muscle to bone in order to allow body motion. The molecular pathways that sense mechanical forces during tendon formation, homeostasis and repair are not known. EGR1 is a mechanosensitive transcription factor involved in tendon formation, homeostasis and repair. We hypothesized that EGR1 senses mechanical signals to promote tendon gene expression. Methodology/Principal findings Using in vitro and in vivo models, we show that the expression of Egr1 and tendon genes is downregulated in 3D-engineered tendons made of mesenchymal stem cells when tension is released as well as in tendon homeostasis and healing when mechanical signals are reduced. We further demonstrate that EGR1 overexpression prevents tendon gene downregulation in 3D-engineered tendons when tension is released. Lastly, ultrasound and microbubbles mediated EGR1 overexpression prevents the downregulation of tendon gene expression during tendon healing in reduced load conditions. Conclusion/Significance These results show that Egr1 expression is sensitive to mechanical signals in tendon cells. Moreover, EGR1 overexpression prevents the downregulation of tendon gene expression in the absence of mechanical signals in 3D-engineered tendons and tendon healing. These results show that EGR1 induces a transcriptional response downstream of mechanical signals in tendon cells and open new avenues to use EGR1 to promote tendon healing in reduced load conditions.
Impact Of Online Renting On Software Piracy

Online rental of software is emerging as a new way of dissemination for several major software firms. Compared to outright selling, the renting scheme delivers the software as a service instead of a physical good. Hence, users cannot privately make copies for resale in the market. We investigate the impact of the renting mechanism on software piracy and pricing in a two-period model whereby a piracy market is present in the second period. We develop and compare models with or without renting. Our analysis shows that renting reduces social welfare but helps to increase a vendor’s profit under certain conditions. We also assess the difference in outcomes in the presence of network effect.
Exploring young people’s understanding of culture: a study from Northern Ireland

ABSTRACT This article highlights the need for greater understanding of the role that historical, socio-cultural and political context play in shaping perceptions of culture and cultural value. Findings draw on the annual attitudinal survey of 16-year-olds in Northern Ireland, Young Life and Times (2016), and four follow-up focus group discussions. Results complement existing cultural participation research, which relates forms of engagement with intersectional factors: age, location of residence, gender and income. Reflecting, to some degree, the specificities of the study’s location in Northern Ireland, we also found that cultural participation and understandings of what counts as culture have strong connections to history, place, religion, tradition and family. Furthermore, while participants placed a high level of personal importance on the informal activities in which they engage daily, those activities associated with tradition and family were perceived as having higher cultural importance.
Local Institutions and Armed Group Presence in Colombia

This paper investigates the causal impact of non-state armed groups on local institutions during the armed conflict in Colombia, and tests competing theoretical mechanisms that may shape such effect. Our identification strategy is based on the construction of contiguous-pairs of rural communities that share common socio-economic characteristics but differ in armed group presence. The results show that the presence of armed groups is associated with increases in overall participation in local organizations, with a particularly strong effect on political organizations. This strengthening of local institutions during wartime appears to be driven by coercion exercised by armed groups that capture local organizations for strategic war purposes, rather than a reflection of a vibrant civil society.
An analytical framework for estimating TCO and exploring data center design space

In this paper, we present EETCO: an estimation and exploration tool that provides qualitative assessment of data center design decisions on Total-Cost-of-Ownership (TCO) and environmental impact. It can capture the implications of many parameters including server performance, power, cost, and Mean-Time-To-Failure (MTTF). The tool includes a model for spare estimation needed to account for server failures and performance variability. The paper describes the tool model and its implementation, and presents experiments that explore tradeoffs offered by different server configurations, performance variability, MTTF, 2D vs 3D-stacked processors, and ambient temperature. These experiments reveal, for the data center configurations used in this study, several opportunities for profit and optimization in the datacenter ecosystem: (i) servers with different computing performance and power consumption merit exploration to minimize TCO and the environmental impact, (ii) performance variability is desirable if it comes with a drastic cost reduction, (iii) shorter processor MTTF is beneficial if it comes with a moderate processor cost reduction, (iv) increasing by few degrees the ambient datacenter temperature reduces the environmental impact with a minor increase in the TCO and (v) a higher cost for a 3D-stacked processor with shorter MTTF and higher power consumption can be preferred, over a conventional 2D processor, if it offers a moderate performance increase.
Segmentation of dual modality brain PET/CT images using the MAP-MRF model

Dual modality PET/CT has now essentially replaced PET in clinical practice and provided an opportunity to improve image segmentation through the high resolution, lower noise CT data. Thus far most research efforts have concentrated on segmentation of PET-only data. In this work we propose a systematic solution for the automated segmentation of brain PET/CT images into gray, white matter and CSF regions with the MAP-MRF model. Our approach takes advantage of the full information available from the combined scan. A PET/CT image pair and its segmentation result are modelled as a random field triplet, and segmentation is eventually achieved by solving a maximum a posteriori (MAP) problem using the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm with simulated annealing. We compared the novel algorithm to two widely used PET-only based segmentation methods in the SPM5 toolbox and the VBM toolbox for simulation and patient data. Our results suggest that using the proposed approach substantially improves the accuracy of the delineation of brain structures.