Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ZMP Support Areas for Multicontact Mobility Under Frictional Constraints

We propose a method for checking and enforcing multicontact stability based on the zero-tilting moment point (ZMP). The key to our development is the generalization of ZMP support areas to take into account: 1) frictional constraints and 2) multiple noncoplanar contacts. We introduce and investigate two kinds of ZMP support areas. First, we characterize and provide a fast geometric construction for the support area generated by valid contact forces, with no other constraint on the robot motion. We call this set the full support area. Next, we consider the control of humanoid robots by using the linear pendulum mode (LPM). We observe that the constraints stemming from the LPM induce a shrinking of the support area, even for walking on horizontal floors. We propose an algorithm to compute the new area, which we call the pendular support area. We show that, in the LPM, having the ZMP in the pendular support area is a necessary and sufficient condition for contact stability. Based on these developments, we implement a whole-body controller and generate feasible multicontact motions where an HRP-4 humanoid locomotes in challenging multicontact scenarios.
Evaluation of local detectors and descriptors for fast feature matching

Local feature detectors and descriptors are widely used in many computer vision applications and various methods have been proposed during the past decade. There have been a number of evaluations focused on various aspects of local features, matching accuracy in particular, however there has been no comparisons considering the accuracy and speed trade-offs of recent extractors such as BRIEF, BRISK, ORB, MRRID, MROGH and LIOP. This paper provides a performance evaluation of recent feature detectors and compares their matching precision and speed in randomized kd-trees setup as well as an evaluation of binary descriptors with efficient computation of Hamming distance.
Syntax-Based Post-Ordering for Efficient Japanese-to-English Translation

This article proposes a novel reordering method for efficient two-step Japanese-to-English statistical machine translation (SMT) that isolates reordering from SMT and solves it after lexical translation. This reordering problem, called post-ordering, is solved as an SMT problem from Head-Final English (HFE) to English. HFE is syntax-based reordered English that is very successfully used for reordering with English-to-Japanese SMT. The proposed method incorporates its advantage into the reverse direction, Japanese-to-English, and solves the post-ordering problem by accurate syntax-based SMT with target language syntax. Two-step SMT with the proposed post-ordering empirically reduces the decoding time of the accurate but slow syntax-based SMT by its good approximation using intermediate HFE. The proposed method improves the decoding speed of syntax-based SMT decoding by about six times with comparable translation accuracy in Japanese-to-English patent translation experiments.
Real-Time Large Scale Fluids for Games

This report presents an implementation of a stable height-field fluid solver on non-uniform quadtree grids. It build upon the well known techniques of height field representation of the fluid volume, semi-Lagrangian advection, upwind differencing in the discretized representation and adaptive quadtree grids for faster calculations. A novel contribution is the applications of certain concepts and techniques to the standard approaches. Smoothing kernel interpolation is used to enable semi-Lagrangian advection on a non uniform grid. A definition of a cell neighbor is introduced which doesn’t require the neighbor to be a quadtree leaf solves the problem of hanging nodes inherent to quadtrees. The model is suitable for water propagating over height field terrains in interactive environments like video games.
Spectrum calculation for a PV inverter with chaotic SPWM control

A spectrum calculation method based on double Fourier series for chaotic SPWM control is firstly established in this paper, where, a chaotic sawtooth carrier is used in the SPWM control; further, a PV inverter under SPWM control is employed in this paper and the spectrum of its output voltage are calculated by the proposed method in this paper. By comparing with the simulation and experiment results, the correctness of the spectrum calculation can be verified, which provides the theoretical foundation for chaotic SPWM controls on EMI suppression.
Green Chemistry Approach for Synthesis of Effective Anticancer Palladium Nanoparticles

The purpose of this study was to design and synthesize Palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) using an environmentally friendly approach and evaluate the in vitro efficacy of PdNPs in human ovarian cancer A2780 cells. Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy was used to monitor the conversion of Pd(II) ions to Pd(0)NPs. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the crystallinity of the as-synthesized PdNPs and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) further confirmed the role of the leaf extract of Evolvulus alsinoides as a reducing and stabilizing agent for the synthesis of PdNPs. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the average size of the NPs was 5 nm. After a 24-h exposure to PdNPs, cell viability and light microscopy assays revealed the dose-dependent toxicity of the PdNPs. Furthermore, the dose-dependent cytotoxicity of the PdNPs was confirmed by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, activation of PdNPs-induced autophagy, impairment of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), enhanced caspase-3 activity, and detection of TUNEL-positive cells. Our study demonstrates a single, simple, dependable and green approach for the synthesis of PdNPs using leaf extracts of Evolvulus alsinoides. Furthermore, the in vitro efficacy of PdNPs in human ovarian cancer cells suggests that it could be an effective therapeutic agent for cancer therapy.
Range Face Segmentation: Face Detection and Segmentation for Authentication in Mobile Device Range Images

Face detection (finding faces of different perspectives in images) is an important task as prerequisite to face recognition. This is especially difficult in the mobile domain, as bad image quality and illumination conditions lead to overall reduced face detection rates. Background information still present in segmented faces and unequally normalized faces further decrease face recognition rates. We present a novel approach to robust single upright face detection and segmentation from different perspectives based on range information (pixel values corresponding to the camera-object distance). We use range template matching for finding the face's coarse position and gradient vector flow (GVF) snakes for precisely segmenting faces. We further evaluate our approach on range faces from the u'smile face database, then perform face recognition using the segmented faces to evaluate and compare our approach with previous research. Results indicate that range template matching might be a good approach to finding a single face; in our tests we achieved an error free detection rate and average recognition rates above 98%/96% for color/range images.
Where do species' geographic ranges stop and why? Landscape impermeability and the Afrotropical avifauna

Although understanding large-scale spatial variation in species' distributions is a major goal in macroecology, relatively little attention has been paid to the factors limiting species' ranges. An understanding of these factors may improve predictions of species' movements in response to global change. We present a measure of landscape impermeability, defined as the proportion of resident species whose ranges end in an area. We quantify and map impermeability for Afrotropical birds and use multi-model inference to assess support for a wide suite of hypotheses about its potential environmental correlates. Non-spatial analyses emphasize the importance of broad-scale environmental patterns of energy availability and habitat heterogeneity in limiting species' distributions. Conversely, spatial analyses focus attention on small-scale factors of habitat and topographic complexity. These results hold even when only species from the top quartile of range sizes are assessed. All our analyses highlight that range edges are concentrated in heterogeneous habitats. Global change is expected to alter the nature and distribution of such habitats, necessitating range movement by many resident species. Therefore, impermeability provides a simple measure for identifying regions, where continuing global change and human encroachment are likely to cause profound changes in regional diversity patterns.
Score-informed audio decomposition and applications

The separation of different sound sources from polyphonic music recordings constitutes a complex task since one has to account for different musical and acoustical aspects. In the last years, various score-informed procedures have been suggested where musical cues such as pitch, timing, and track information are used to support the source separation process. In this paper, we discuss a framework for decomposing a given music recording into notewise audio events which serve as elementary building blocks. In particular, we introduce an interface that employs the additional score information to provide a natural way for a user to interact with these audio events. By simply selecting arbitrary note groups within the score a user can access, modify, or analyze corresponding events in a given audio recording. In this way, our framework not only opens up new ways for audio editing applications, but also serves as a valuable tool for evaluating and better understanding the results of source separation algorithms.
Energy and Spectrum Efficient Systems with Adaptive Modulation and Spectrum Sharing for Cellular Systems

Increasing concern about the energy consumption of cellular networks is driving operators to optimise energy utilisation without sacrificing user experience. In this paper, we consider the capability of spectrum sharing between two or more operators with the objective of achieving energy-efficient operation. Since each operator has a fixed amount of spectrum, they are required to increase the modulation index to achieve a higher data rate for a targeted QoS, which increases the demand on energy. We study the effect of using energy-efficient multilevel quadrature amplitude modulation (MQAM) with the capability of spectrum sharing between operators. Simulations show that using adaptive modulation with spectrum sharing between base stations of different operators can give a more flexible region for the system to operate with a reasonable trade-off.
Abstraction Using Analysis of Subgames

Normal form games are one of the most familiar representations for modeling interactions among multiple agent. However, modeling many realistic interactions between agents results in games that are extremely large. In these cases computing standard solutions like Nash equilibrium may be intractable. To overcome this issue the idea of abstraction has been investigated, most prominently in research on computer Poker. Solving a game using abstraction requires using some method to simplify the game before it is analyzed. We study a new variation for solving normal form games using abstraction that is based on finding and solving suitable sub games. We compare this method with several variations of a common type of abstraction based on clustering similar strategies.
Fabrication of PEDOT:PSS/Graphene Conductive Ink Printed on Flexible Substrate

Nowadays, flexible electronic is an important technology to produce flexible electronic devices due to it offers the attractive features such as possibility of product types and designs, with reducing size and weight, and low cost. Poly (3,4-ethelenedioxythiophene):poly (stylenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is a conductive polymer which possess high conductivity, high electrochemical, and low redox potential. PEDOT:PSS and PEDOT:PSS/Graphene (GP)/Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) conductive ink ware deposited on Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) flexible substrate using desktop inkjet printer. Conductivity and thickness of conductive pattern at 1, 3, 5, 10, 20 layers were investigated in this study. It is observed that sheet resistivity of the conductive pattern is influenced by number of printed layers. Addition of GP at 20 layers of PEDOT:PSS/GP/DMSO conductive pattern exhibits the lowest sheet resistivity at 44 ohm/sq compared to PEDOT:PSS conductive pattern of 1.81×104 ohm/sq.
A Tool for Enterprise Architecture Analysis

The discipline of enterprise architecture advocates the use of models to support decision-making on enterprise-wide information system issues. In order to provide such support, enterprise architecture models should be amenable to analyses of various properties, as e.g. the availability, performance, interoperability, modifiability, and information security of the modeled enterprise information systems. This paper presents a software tool for such analyses. The tool guides the user in the generation of enterprise architecture models and subjects these models to analyses resulting in quantitative measures of the chosen quality attribute. The paper describes and exemplifies both the architecture and the usage of the tool.
Error Correction for Index Coding With Coded Side Information

Index coding is a source coding problem in which a broadcaster seeks to meet the different demands of several users, each of whom is assumed to have some prior information on the data held by the sender. A well-known application is satellite communications, as described in one of the earliest papers on the subject (Birk and Kol, 1998). It is readily seen that if the sender has knowledge of its clients’ requests and their <italic>side-information</italic> sets, then the number of packet transmissions required to satisfy all users’ demands can be greatly reduced if the data are encoded before sending. The collection of side-information indices as well as the indices of the requested data is described as an <italic>instance</italic> <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${ \mathcal I}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of the index coding with side-information (ICSI) problem. The encoding function is called the index code of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ \mathcal I$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, and the number of transmissions, resulting from the encoding is referred to as its <italic>length</italic>. The main ICSI problem is to determine the optimal length of an index code and instance <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ \mathcal I$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. As this number is hard to compute, bounds approximating it are sought, as are algorithms to compute efficient index codes. These questions have been addressed by several authors (e.g., see Alon <italic>et al.</italic> 2008, Bar-Yossef <italic>et al.</italic> 2011, Blasiak <italic>et al.</italic> 2013), often taking a graph-theoretic approach. Two interesting generalizations of the problem that have appeared in the literature are the subject of this paper. The first of these is the case of index coding with <italic>coded side information</italic> (Dai <italic>et al.</italic> 2014), in which linear combinations of the source data are both requested by and held as users’ side-information. This generalization has applications, for example, to relay channels and necessitates algebraic rather than combinatorial methods. The second is the introduction of error-correction in the problem, in which the broadcast channel is subject to noise (Dau <italic>et al.</italic> 2013). In this paper, we characterize the optimal length of a scalar or vector linear index code with coded side information (ICCSI) over a finite field in terms of a generalized <italic>min-rank</italic> and give bounds on this number based on constructions of random codes for an arbitrary instance. We furthermore consider the length of an optimal <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\delta $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-error correcting code for an instance of the ICCSI problem and obtain bounds analogous to those described in (Dau <italic>et al.</italic> 2013), both for the Hamming metric and for rank-metric errors. We describe decoding algorithms for both categories of errors.
IgG4 autoantibodies induce dermal–epidermal separation

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a sub‐epidermal autoimmune blistering disease associated with autoantibodies to the dermal–epidermal junction (DEJ). Patients’ autoantibodies induce dermal–epidermal separation when co‐incubated with cryosections of human skin and leucocytes from healthy volunteers. IgG autoantibodies trigger complement and/or leucocyte activation resulting in specific pathology in several autoimmune conditions. In these diseases, IgG1 and IgG3 isotypes, but not the IgG4 subclass, are thought to trigger inflammatory pathways resulting in tissue damage. The capacity of IgG4 autoantibodies to mediate tissue damage has not yet been demonstrated. In this study, we isolated IgG1 and IgG4 autoantibodies from bullous pemhigoid patients'serum and analysed their blister‐inducing potential in our cryosection assay. As expected, complement‐fixing IgG1 autoantibodies induced sub‐epidermal splits in this experimental model. Purified IgG4 did not fix complement, but, interestingly, like IgG1, activated leucocytes and induced dermal–epidermal separation. The potential of IgG4 autoantibodies to induce Fc‐dependent dermal–epidermal separation was significantly lower compared to IgG1. Our results demonstrate that IgG4 autoantibodies are able to activate leucocytes and point to a hitherto less recognized function of IgG4. Moreover, for the first time, we clearly demonstrate that BP IgG4 autoantibodies have the capacity to induce leucocyte‐dependent tissue damage.
A Novel Group Engagement Score for Virtual Learning Environments

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education is currently receiving much attention from governments and educational institutions. Our work is based on active learning and video-based learning approaches to support STEM education. Here, we aimed to increase student's engagement through reflective processes that embrace video film-making, and subsequent on-line discussion and evaluation of those videos. We propose a group engagement score that takes into account both individual activity and similarity of participation, thus allowing corrective actions to be taken when unengaged students or groups are identified. We tested these ideas using our own social learning platform that combines the principal features of Social Networks with tools that facilitate collaborative learning design. This platform stimulates students’ learning by means of two main reflective processes: participatory production and peer-review. We evaluated this platform and the learning approach it supports in an Object Oriented Programming course and identified interesting differences between group engagement and video ratings. Our principal conclusion is that greater teacher and student awareness of the ongoing activities and group engagement are needed.
Self-regulation of time management: mental contrasting with implementation intentions

Mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) has been found to improve self-regulation across many life domains. The present research investigates whether MCII can benefit time management. In Study 1, we asked students to apply MCII to a pressing academic problem and assessed how they scheduled their time for the upcoming week. MCII participants scheduled more time than control participants who in their thoughts either reflected on similar contents using different cognitive procedures (content-control group) or applied the same cognitive procedures on different contents (format-control group). In Study 2, students were taught MCII as a metacognitive strategy to be used on any upcoming concerns of the subsequent week. As compared with the week prior to the training, students in the MCII (vs. format control) condition improved in self-reported time management. In Study 3, MCII (vs. format control) helped working mothers who enrolled in a vocational business program to attend classes more regularly. The findings suggest that performing MCII on one’s everyday concerns improves time management. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Targeted DNA vaccines for enhanced induction of idiotype-specific B and T cells

Background: Idiotypes (Id) are antigenic determinants localized in variable (V) regions of Ig. Id-specific T and B cells (antibodies) play a role in immunotherapy of Id+ tumors. However, vaccine strategies that enhance Id-specific responses are needed. Methods: Id+ single-chain fragment variable (scFv) from multiple myelomas and B cell lymphomas were prepared in a fusion format that bivalently target surface molecules on antigen-presenting cells (APC). APC-specific targeting units were either scFv from APC-specific mAb (anti-MHC II, anti-CD40) or chemokines (MIP-1α, RANTES). Homodimeric Id-vaccines were injected intramuscularly or intradermally as plasmids in mice, combined with electroporation. Results: (i) Transfected cells secreted plasmid-encoded Id+ fusion proteins to extracellular fluid followed by binding of vaccine molecules to APC. (ii) Targeted vaccine molecules increased Id-specific B and T cell responses. (iii) Bivalency and xenogeneic sequences both contributed to enhanced responses. (iv) Targeted Id DNA vaccines induced tumor resistance against challenges with Id+ tumors. (v) Human MIP-1α targeting units enhanced Id-specific responses in mice, due to a cross reaction with murine chemokine receptors. Thus, targeted vaccines designed for humans can be quality tested in mice. (vi) Human Id+ scFv from four multiple myeloma patients were inserted into the vaccine format and were successfully tested in mice. (vii) Human MIP-1α vaccine proteins enhanced human T cell responses in vitro. (viii) A hypothetical model for how the APC-targeted vaccine molecules enhance Id-specific T and B cells is presented. Conclusion: Targeted DNA Id-vaccines show promising results in preclinical studies, paving the way for testing in patients.
Detection of low level genomic alterations by comparative genomic hybridization based on cDNA micro-arrays

MOTIVATION The accumulation of genomic alterations is an important process in tumor formation and progression. Comparative genomic hybridization performed on cDNA arrays (cDNA aCGH) is a common method to investigate the genomic alterations on a genome-wide scale. However, when detecting low-level DNA copy number changes this technology requires the use of noise reduction strategies due to a low signal to noise ratio. RESULTS Currently a running average smoothing filter is the most frequently used noise reduction strategy. We analyzed this strategy theoretically and experimentally and found that it is not sensitive to very low level genomic alterations. The presence of systematic errors in the data is one of the main reasons for this failure. We developed a novel algorithm which efficiently reduces systematic noise and allows for the detection of low-level genomic alterations. The algorithm is based on comparison of the biological relevant data to data from so-called self-self hybridizations, additional experiments which contain no biological information but contain systematic errors. We find that with our algorithm the effective resolution for +/-1 DNA copy number changes is about 2 Mb. For copy number changes larger than three the effective resolution is on the level of single genes.