Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Demo: Spatio-temporal template matching for ball detection

This paper considers the detection of ball in a basketball game covered by multiple loosely synchronized cameras. First, plausible ball candidates are detected on the nodes of a 3D grid defined around the basket. This is done by correlating independently in each view the spatial template of the ball with a precomputed foreground mask. Efficient implementation of this step relies on integral images. Afterwards, false positives are filtered out based on a temporal analysis of the ball trajectory. This analysis builds on the Random Sample Consensus (RANSAC) method, with a ballistic trajectory model. The integrated approach is demonstrated on a real-life dataset, and appears to be both effective and efficient.
RoadView: A traffic scene simulator for autonomous vehicle simulation testing

Simulation testing is an initial phase for the development of autonomous vehicle system. The developers can ensure the model they use behaves as close to the actual vehicle as possible in this cycle. This paper proposed a novel traffic scene modeling approach using image sequences and road GIS data. Such method was contributed to building a simulated environment for autonomous vehicle software systems testing and validating as well as its various algorithms. Based on the proposed approach, a traffic scene simulator, the RoadView is realized. Compared with the existed robot testing simulators such as the USARSim and the Gazebo, the RoadView can provide a more photorealistic scene. This simulator is employed to test performance of autonomous vehicle and evaluate its self-driving tasks. In such process the proposed approach is proved workable and effective for autonomous vehicle simulation testing.
An ant colony optimization approach for the single machine total tardiness problem

Machine scheduling is a central task in production planning. In general it means the problem of scheduling job operations on a given number of available machines. We consider a machine scheduling problem with one machine, the Single Machine Total Tardiness Problem. To solve this NP hard problem, we apply the ant colony optimization metaphor, a recently developed meta-heuristic that has proven its potential for various other combinatorial optimization problems. We test our algorithm using 125 benchmark problems and present computational results.
Virtual box: supporting mediated family intimacy through virtual and physical play

Mediated intimacy is the phenomenon where humans use technologies to express, share, or communicate intimate feelings with each other. Typically, technologies supporting mediated intimacy encompass different characteristics than technologies designed to solve specific work-oriented tasks. This paper reports on the design, implementation and initial evaluation of Virtual Box. Virtual Box attempts to create a physical and engaging context in order to support reciprocal interactions with expressive content. An implemented version of Virtual Box is evaluated in a location-aware environment to evaluate the design ideas according to mediated family intimacy.
Discriminative Representative Selection via Structure Sparsity

This paper focuses on the problem of finding a few representatives for a given dataset, which have both representation and discrimination ability. To solve this problem, we propose a novel algorithm, called Structure Sparsity based Discriminative Representative Selection (SSDRS), to find a representative subset of data points. The selected representative subset keeps the representation ability based on sparse representation models assuming that each data point can be expressed as a linear combination of those representatives. Meanwhile, we employ the Fisher discrimination criterion to make the coefficient matrix possess small within-class scatter but big between-class scatter, which leads to the discriminant ability of representatives. Since such a selected subset is representative and discriminative, it can be used to properly describe the entire dataset and achieve a good classification performance simultaneously. Experimental results in terms of video summarization and image classification indicate that our proposed algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.
Phase detection in a visual-evoked-potential based brain computer interface

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) based on Steady State Visual Evoked Potential (SSVEP) can provide higher information transfer rate than other BCI modalities. For the sake of safety and comfort, the frequency of the repetitive visual stimulus (RVS) necessary to elicit an SSVEP, should be higher than 30 Hz. However, in the frequency range above 30 Hz, only a limited number of frequencies can elicit sufficiently strong SSVEPs for BCI purposes. Consequently, the conventional approach, consisting in presenting various repetitive visual stimuli having different frequency each, is not practical for SSVEP based BCI functioning. Indeed this would bring low communication bitrates. In order to increase the number of possible repetitive visual stimuli, we consider modulating the phase of the stimulus instead of the frequency. Thus, several stimuli, sharing the same frequency, but with different phase can be presented to the user. The approach presented in this document, to detect the phase of the stimulus is termed phase synchrony. It consists in using as feature, the phase difference between the SSVEP and the stimulus. The phase is extracted through the Hilbert transform applied on an univariate signal resulting from spatially filtering the electroencephalogram. The spatial filter is determined in such a way that the SSVEP energy is enhanced through a linear combination of the signals recorded at different positions on the scalp. Phase detection accuracy for seven subjects ranges from 70 to 94%.
Deterministic Propagation Modeling for the Realistic High-Speed Railway Environment

In a realistic high-speed railway environment, the track, terrain, vegetation, cuttings, barriers, pylons, buildings, and crossing bridges are the main sources of reflection, diffraction, and scattering. Moreover, the radiation pattern and the polarization of the transmitting and receiving antennas considerably influence the propagation. This paper presents a deterministic modeling approach covering all the effects in a realistic highspeed railway environment for the first time. The antenna influence and the mechanisms of transmission, scattering, and reflection are evaluated by developing a 3D ray-optical tool. The diffraction loss is obtained by the multi-edge diffraction models using raster databases. This approach compensates the limitation of the existent empirical and stochastic models used for the high-speed railway, and promotes the deterministic modeling towards to the realistic environment. Therefore, it allows a detailed and realistic evaluation and verification of the train control communications systems.
Whole-exome tumor sequencing study in biliary cancer patients with a response to MEK inhibitors

We previously conducted a phase-II study with selumetinib (AZD6244), a small molecule inhibitor of MEK1/2, in advanced biliary tract cancers (BTC), where the primary endpoint was response rate. Several patients experienced objective response. These findings were confirmed with MEK162 in a similar patient population. To assess for tumor-specific genetic variants that mediate sensitivity to MEK inhibition in BTC, we performed whole-exome sequencing in patients with an objective response to selumetinib. Normal and tumor DNA from FFPE tissue from two patients who experienced an objective response underwent whole-exome sequencing. Raw sequence reads were processed with GATK workflow and tumor specific variants were identified using MuTect and VarScan2. Ensemble Variant Effect Predictor was used to determine functional consequences of these variants. Copy number changes and potential gene fusion events were also screened. Findings were compared to assess for any commonality between the two tumor samples, and whether the identified variants were intrinsic to the MAPK pathway. 1169 and 628 tumor-specific variants were identified in the two samples. Further analysis demonstrated 60 and 53 functional and novel variants, respectively. Of the identified tumor-specific variants, fusion events or copy number changes, no commonality was seen. Several variants in genes associated with ERK signaling were present in each tumor sample. Although there were no common tumor-specific variants in the two patients who exhibited an objective response to selumetinib, several genes associated with ERK signaling were identified. Confirmatory studies investigating the role of the identified genes and other potential tumor independent factors need further investigation.
From global policy to tertiary pedagogy: Transformational thresholds for creative arts degrees

Performing arts teachers, in diverse regions of the world, recognise that globalisation has indelibly influenced how the arts are valued, practiced and taught (Rowe, Martin, Buck, et al., 2018). As illustrated by three key United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO) policies on arts and culture in the 21st century (UNESCO, 2003, 2006, 2011), global mandates can present contrasting imperatives, prompting shifts within regional, national and institutional strategies. So how do tertiary arts educators respond to shifts in global policies? After a brief historical analysis of three UNESCO strategic documents associated with arts education, this article considers how the contrasts within these strategies have presented challenging learning moments for arts educationalists. ‘Threshold concept’ theory is presented as a means of framing such learning challenges, to highlight the professional development needs of designers of tertiary curricula. Critically reflecting on the author’s experiences of codesigning tertiary degree programmes in New Zealand, China and Fiji, this article identifies key conceptual thresholds that can challenge tertiary educators when seeking to align institutional teaching practices with contemporary global policies on arts education.
A framework for a multidimensional OLAP model using Topic Maps

The goal of a data warehouse is to integrate applications at the data level. Data warehouse architectures are developing in response to our increasing data and information requirements. The traditional notion of data warehouses is evolving into a federated warehouse augmented by a set of processes and services to support integrated and consistent access to heterogeneous, decentralized warehouse systems. The evolution of data warehouses into knowledge repositories requires an architecture supporting the information acquisition from heterogeneous sources. We propose a framework using XML Topic Maps (XTM) as a foundation for the combination of Web OLAP and data warehouse resources by integrating schema information and addressing semantic heterogeneity. This aims at providing, managing and exploiting a set of integrated data warehouses for knowledge management and decision support.
A Physical Model for the Luminosity Function of High-Redshift Quasars

We provide a simple theoretical model for the quasar luminosity function at high redshifts that naturally reproduces the statistical properties of the luminous Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasar sample at redshifts z ~ 4.3 and z ≳ 5.7. Our model is based on the assumptions that quasar emission is triggered by galaxy mergers and that the black hole mass is proportional to a power law in the circular velocity of the host galactic halo, vc. We assume that quasars shine at their Eddington luminosity over a time proportional to the mass ratio between the small and final galaxies in the merger. This simple model fits the quasar luminosity function at z ~ 2-3, reproduces the normalization and logarithmic slope (β ~ -2.58) at z ~ 4.3, explains the space density of bright SDSS quasars at z ~ 6.0, reproduces the black hole-halo mass relation for dormant black holes in the local universe, and matches the inferred duty cycle of quasar activity (~107 yr) in Lyman break galaxies at z ~ 3. An acceptable fit to all of these constraints requires 0.7 ≲ σ8 ≲ 1.0. Based on the derived luminosity function, we predict the resulting gravitational lensing rates for high-redshift quasars. The lens fractions in the SDSS samples are predicted to be ~2% at z ~ 4.3 and ~8% at z ≳ 5.7. It is interesting to note that the limiting quasar luminosity in our best-fit relation L ∝ v/G scales as the binding energy of the host galaxy divided by its dynamical time, implying that feedback is the mechanism that regulates black hole growth in galactic potential wells.
Variational Approach to Quantum Field Theory: Gaussian Approximation and the Perturbative Expansion around It

The functional Schrodinger picture formulation of quantum field theory and the variational Gaussian approximation method based on the formulation are briefly reviewed. After presenting recent attempts to improve the variational approximation, we introduce a new systematic method based on the background field method, which enables one to compute the order-by-order correction terms to the Gaussian approximation of the effective action.
Collaborative filtering: Techniques and applications

During the last decade a huge amount of data have been shown and introduced in the Internet. Recommender systems are thus predicting the rating that a user would give to an item. Collaborative filtering (CF) techniques are the most popular and widely used by recommender systems technique, which utilize similar neighbors to generate recommendations. This paper provides the concepts, methods, applications and evaluations of the CF based on the literature review. The paper also highlights the discussion of the types of the recommender systems as general and types of CF such as; memory based, model based and hybrid model. In addition, this paper discusses how to choose an appropriate type of CF. The evaluation methods of the CF systems are also provided throughout the paper.
BinGraph: Discovering mutant malware using hierarchical semantic signatures

Malware landscape has been dramatically elevated over the last decade. The main reason of the increase is that new malware variants can be produced easily using simple code obfuscation techniques. Once the obfuscation is applied, the malware can change their syntactics while preserving semantics, and bypass anti-virus (AV) scanners. Malware authors, thus, commonly use the code obfuscation techniques to generate metamorphic malware. Nevertheless, signature based AV techniques are limited to detect the metamorphic malware since they are commonly based on the syntactic signature matching. In this paper, we propose BinGraph, a new mechanism that accurately discovers metamorphic malware. BinGraph leverages the semantics of malware, since the mutant malware is able to manipulate their syntax only. To this end, we first extract API calls from malware and convert to a hierarchical behavior graph that represents with identical 128 nodes based on the semantics. Later, we extract unique subgraphs from the hierarchical behavior graphs as semantic signatures representing common behaviors of a specific malware family. To evaluate BinGraph, we analyzed a total of 827 malware samples that consist of 10 malware families with 1,202 benign binaries. Among the malware, 20% samples randomly chosen from each malware family were used for extracting semantic signatures, and rest of them were used for assessing detection accuracy. Finally, only 32 subgraphs were selected as the semantic signatures. BinGraph discovered malware variants with 98% of detection accuracy.
PET/CT Imaging in Mouse Models of Myocardial Ischemia

Different species have been used to reproduce myocardial infarction models but in the last years mice became the animals of choice for the analysis of several diseases, due to their short life cycle and the possibility of genetic manipulation. Many techniques are currently used for cardiovascular imaging in mice, including X-ray computed tomography (CT), high-resolution ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, and nuclear medicine procedures. Cardiac positron emission tomography (PET) allows to examine noninvasively, on a molecular level and with high sensitivity, regional changes in myocardial perfusion, metabolism, apoptosis, inflammation, and gene expression or to measure changes in anatomical and functional parameters in heart diseases. Currently hybrid PET/CT scanners for small laboratory animals are available, where CT adds high-resolution anatomical information. This paper reviews mouse models of myocardial infarction and discusses the applications of dedicated PET/CT systems technology, including animal preparation, anesthesia, radiotracers, and images postprocessing.
The translational response of the human mdm2 gene in HEK293T cells exposed to rapamycin: a role for the 5′-UTRs

Polysomal messenger RNA (mRNA) populations change rapidly in response to alterations in the physiological status of the cell. For this reason, translational regulation, mediated principally at the level of initiation, plays a key role in the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. In an earlier translational profiling study, we followed the impact of rapamycin on polysome re-seeding. Despite the overall negative effect on transcript recruitment, we nonetheless observed that some mRNAs were significantly less affected. Consequently, their relative polysomal occupancy increased in the rapamycin-treated cells. The behaviour of one of these genes, mdm2, has been further analysed. Despite the absence of internal ribosome entry site activity we demonstrate, using a dual reporter assay, that both the reported mdm2 5′-UTRs confer resistance to rapamycin relative to the 5′-UTR of β-actin. This relative resistance is responsive to the downstream targets mTORC1 but did not respond to changes in the La protein, a reported factor acting positively on MDM2 translational expression. Furthermore, extended exposure to rapamycin in the presence of serum increased the steady-state level of the endogenous MDM2 protein. However, this response was effectively reversed when serum levels were reduced. Taken globally, these studies suggest that experimental conditions can dramatically modulate the expressional output during rapamycin exposure.
Generalities of quarter BPS dyon partition function and dyons of torsion two

We propose a general set of constraints on the partition function of quarter BPS dyons in any N=4 supersymmetric string theory by drawing insight from known examples, and study the consequences of this proposal. The main ingredients of our analysis are duality symmetries, wall crossing formula and black hole entropy. We use our analysis to constrain the dyon partition function for two hitherto unknown cases-the partition function of dyons of torsion two (i.e. gcd(Q Λ P)=2) in heterotic string theory on T 6 and the partition function of dyons carrying untwisted sector electric charge in Z 2 CHL model. With the help of these constraints we propose a candidate for the partition function of dyons of torsion two in heterotic string theory on T 6 . This leads to a novel wall crossing formula for decay of quarter BPS dyons into half BPS dyons with non-primitive charge vectors. In an appropriate limit the proposed formula reproduces the known result for the spectrum of torsion two dyons in gauge theory.
Uncalibrated vision for 3-D underwater applications

We present an uncalibrated vision system recovering 3D reconstructions of underwater scenes using no camera calibration at all. The only information available is a set of point correspondences plus some a-priori knowledge on the scene structure. The system includes three main components: a robust tracker, which targets optimal features for video tracking, and implements a completely automatic mechanism for rejecting unstable image features; a module computing a projective reconstruction of the scene from the set of features declared reliable by the tracker; and a module recovering the target Euclidean reconstruction from the projective one, employing a-priori knowledge of the distances between five identifiable scene points. We sketch the design of each component and report experiments with our working implementation on real data sets, collected by cameras immersed in our laboratory tank.
Study on the Management Maturity Model of High-Tech Venturing Project Based on Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation

Using project management maturity model for reference and combining the three characteristics of high-tech venturing project— high input, high risks, and high returns— we analyze the factor of management maturity of high-tech venturing project and then construct four level maturity model of high-tech venturing project. Applying fuzzy comprehensive evaluation, we propose quantitative evaluation method of management maturity of high-tech venturing project. Through the actual project analysis and calculation, we show the simple operation and reliable results of this model.
P2Y2 Nucleotide Receptors Expressed Heterologously in Sympathetic Neurons Inhibit Both N-Type Ca2+ and M-Type K+ Currents

The P2Y2 receptor is a uridine/adenosine triphosphate (UTP/ATP)-sensitive G-protein-linked nucleotide receptor that previously has been reported to stimulate the phosphoinositide signaling pathway. Messenger RNA for this receptor has been detected in brain tissue. We have investigated the coupling of the molecularly defined rat P2Y2 receptor to neuronal N-type Ca2+ channels and to M-type K+channels by heterologous expression in rat superior cervical sympathetic (SCG) neurons. After the injection of P2Y2cRNA, UTP inhibited the currents carried by both types of ion channel. As previously reported [Filippov AK, Webb TE, Barnard EA, Brown DA (1997) Inhibition by heterologously expressed P2Y2nucleotide receptors of N-type calcium currents in rat sympathetic neurones. Br J Pharmacol 121:849–851], UTP inhibited the Ca2+ current (ICa(N)) by up to 64%, with an IC50 of ∼0.5 μm. We now find that UTP also inhibited the K+M current (IK(M)) by up to 61%, with an IC50 of ∼1.5 μm. UTP had no effect on either current in neurons not injected with P2Y2 cRNA. Structure–activity relations for the inhibition ofICa(N) and IK(M)in P2Y2 cRNA-injected neurons were similar, with UTP ≥ ATP > ITP ≫ GTP,UDP. However, coupling to these two channels involved different G-proteins: pretreatment withPertussis toxin (PTX) did not affect UTP-induced inhibition of IK(M) but reduced inhibition of ICa(N) by ∼60% and abolished the voltage-dependent component of this inhibition. In unclamped neurons, UTP greatly facilitated depolarization-induced action potential discharges. Thus, the single P2Y2 receptor can couple to at least two G-proteins to inhibit both Ca2+N and K+M channels with near-equal facility. This implies that the P2Y2 receptor may induce a broad range of effector responses in the nervous system.
Emerging Non-volatile Memory Technologies Exploration Flow for Processor Architecture

Most die area of today's systems-on-chips is occupied by memories. Hence, a significant proportion of total power is spent on memory systems. Moreover, since processing elements have to be fed with instructions and data from memories, memory plays a key role for system's performance. As a result, memories are a critical part of future embedded systems. Continuing CMOS scaling leads to manufacturing constraints and power consumption issues for the current three main memory technologies, i.e. SRAM, DRAM and FLASH, which compromises further evolution in upcoming technology node. To face these challenges, new non-volatile memory technologies emerged in recent years. Among these technologies, magnetic RAM (MRAM) is a promising candidate to replace existing memories since it combines non-volatility, high scalability, high density, low latency, and low leakage. This paper describes an evaluation flow to explore next generation of the memory hierarchy of processor-based systems using new non-volatile memory technologies.