Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Visual Odometry System Using Multiple Stereo Cameras and Inertial Measurement Unit

Over the past decade, tremendous amount of research activity has focused around the problem of localization in GPS denied environments. Challenges with localization are highlighted in human wearable systems where the operator can freely move through both indoors and outdoors. In this paper, we present a robust method that addresses these challenges using a human wearable system with two pairs of backward and forward looking stereo cameras together with an inertial measurement unit (IMU). This algorithm can run in real-time with 15 Hz update rate on a dual-core 2 GHz laptop PC and it is designed to be a highly accurate local (relative) pose estimation mechanism acting as the front-end to a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) type method capable of global corrections through landmark matching. Extensive tests of our prototype system so far, reveal that without any global landmark matching, we achieve between 0.5% and 1% accuracy in localizing a person over a 500 meter travel indoors and outdoors. To our knowledge, such performance results with a real time system have not been reported before.
Associations of diet quality with cognition in children – the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children Study

Evidence on the associations of dietary patterns with cognition in children is limited. Therefore, we investigated the associations of the Baltic Sea Diet Score (BSDS) and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) score with cognition in children. The present cross-sectional study sample included 428 children aged 6–8 years (216 boys and 212 girls). The BSDS and the DASH score were calculated using data from 4 d food records, higher scores indicating better diet quality. Cognition was assessed by the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) score, a higher score indicating better cognition. Among all children, the BSDS (standardised regression coefficient β = 0·122, P =0·012) and the DASH score (β = 0·121, P =0·015) were directly associated with the Raven's CPM score. Among boys, a lower BSDS (β = 0·244, P< 0·001) and a lower DASH score (β = 0·202, P= 0·003) were related to a lower Raven's CPM score. Boys in the lowest quartile of the BSDS (22·5 v. 25·3, P= 0·029) and the DASH score (22·4 v. 25·7, P= 0·008) had a lower Raven's CPM score than those in the highest quartile of the corresponding score. Among girls, the BSDS or the DASH score were not associated with cognition. In conclusion, a poorer diet quality was associated with worse cognition in children, and the relationship was stronger in boys than in girls.
Real-time gender recognition with unaligned face images

In image-based face profiling classification, face alignment, which transforms the face images in order that the 2D coordinates of the facial features are consistent with each other, is considered as an important preprocessing step before the actual classification to maximize classification accuracy. Unfortunately, accurate face alignment is a time-consuming process and a challenging problem especially for low-resolution face images, where eye localization is a tough task. In this paper, we aim to develop a real-time gender recognition system where face alignment is omitted and the detected face bounding box is used directly. Three measures are employed to compensate for the errors caused by the misalignment: firstly, unaligned faces are included in the training set; secondly Local Binary Patterns (LBPs) and Gabor features are extracted to represent the face images and components, respectively and thirdly a probability model is proposed to fuse holistic- and component-based features with a boosting scheme. The experiments using unaligned and manually aligned faces show that a comparable accuracy can be obtained even without alignment.
A Toolbox For The Verification Of LOTOS Programs

This paper presents the tools ALDEBARAN, CESAR, CESAR.ADT and CLEOPATRE which constitute a tool- box for compiling and verifying LOTOS programs. The principles of these tools are described, as well as their performances and limitations. Finally, the formal verification of the ret/REL atomic multicast protocol is given as an example to illustrate the practical use of the tool- box.
An Aspectual Classification of Polish Verbs

This paper formally defines and defends a largely traditional account of the Polish aspectual system and explores its semantic consequences. Using an extended version of the secondary imperfectivisation test, together with what we call the secondary perfectivisation test, we define aspectual pairing at the word-formational level. The resulting system is traditional because (with the exception of a few verbs such as modals and habituals) it places every Polish verb in at least one aspectual pair. We then explore the semantic consequences. Although our aspectual classification is purely formal, the verb classes it gives rise to are semantically significant: the five basic classes turn out to be states/gradual transitions, processes, culminating processes, unitisable processes, and culminations. We show how these distinctions can be incorporated into a compositional semantics for a fragment of Polish, discuss the limits of the classification, and conclude by considering the relationship between our approach and the ideas underlying Czochralski’s monumental study of the Polish aspectual system.
Enterovirus 71 3C Protease Cleaves a Novel Target CstF-64 and Inhibits Cellular Polyadenylation

Identification of novel cellular proteins as substrates to viral proteases would provide a new insight into the mechanism of cell–virus interplay. Eight nuclear proteins as potential targets for enterovirus 71 (EV71) 3C protease (3Cpro) cleavages were identified by 2D electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF analysis. Of these proteins, CstF-64, which is a critical factor for 3′ pre-mRNA processing in a cell nucleus, was selected for further study. A time-course study to monitor the expression levels of CstF-64 in EV71-infected cells also revealed that the reduction of CstF-64 during virus infection was correlated with the production of viral 3Cpro. CstF-64 was cleaved in vitro by 3Cpro but neither by mutant 3Cpro (in which the catalytic site was inactivated) nor by another EV71 protease 2Apro. Serial mutagenesis was performed in CstF-64, revealing that the 3Cpro cleavage sites are located at position 251 in the N-terminal P/G-rich domain and at multiple positions close to the C-terminus of CstF-64 (around position 500). An accumulation of unprocessed pre-mRNA and the depression of mature mRNA were observed in EV71-infected cells. An in vitro assay revealed the inhibition of the 3′-end pre-mRNA processing and polyadenylation in 3Cpro-treated nuclear extract, and this impairment was rescued by adding purified recombinant CstF-64 protein. In summing up the above results, we suggest that 3Cpro cleavage inactivates CstF-64 and impairs the host cell polyadenylation in vitro, as well as in virus-infected cells. This finding is, to our knowledge, the first to demonstrate that a picornavirus protein affects the polyadenylation of host mRNA.
EFL Instructors’ Majors and Their Speaking Activity Choices for Informal Oral Assessment

The purpose of the study is to investigate frequently used speaking tasks in English classes at tertiary level in Turkey and differences in language instructors’ speaking activity choices for informal oral assessment with regard to their academic majors. As data collection tool, an electronic questionnaire was sent to 82 participant language instructors from different universities in Turkey in the academic year 2016-2017. The questionnaire included speaking activities that can be used with assessment purpose and the participants were asked to report the frequency of the activities they used. The data which was collected through the electronic questionnaire was analysed by using SPSS 22 software. Kruskal-Wallis test revealed statistically significant differences between participants’ academic majors and speaking activities they used for informal oral assessment. Seven oral assessment activities were found to differ in frequency according to academic majors; picture-cued tasks, giving instructions/directions, role-play, discussions/conversations, games, picture-cued storytelling, and retelling story/news event. The differences were compared by mean ranks and medians, and these differences were classified according to the creativity the task required. In the light of the findings, practical and theoretical implications are given with concluding remarks.
Evaluation of the Mechanical Parameters of Ultrasonically Welded Textile Composite Structures for Protective Footwear

Textile materials are used in protective footwear due to their good mechanical and hygienic properties and to provide thermal insulation. This work presents a technological process of designing ultrasonically welded composite structures characterised by various densities of welding spots. The study involved three variants of composite structures made of three layers. The composite structures developed were tested in terms of mechanical properties and were statistically analysed in terms of the effects of welding spot density and reinforcing nonwoven thickness on the protective parameters. Inserts made of ultrasonically spot-welded textile composite structures may offer protective footwear users greater comfort in terms of mechanical resistance. The evaluation method proposed may be a useful tool in assessing textile composite structure inserts for protective footwear.
Interactively Mapping Data Sources into the Semantic Web

The Linked Open Data continues to grow rapidly, but a limitation of much of the data that is being published is the lack of a semantic description. While there are tools that help users to quickly convert a database into RDF, they do not provide a way to easily map the data into an existing ontology. This paper presents an approach that allows users to interactively map their structured sources into an existing ontology and then use that mapping to generate RDF triples. This approach automatically generates a mapping from the data source into the ontology, but since the precise mapping is sometimes ambiguous, we allow the user to interactively refine the mappings. We implemented this approach in a system called Karma, and demonstrate that the system can map sources into an ontology with minimal user interaction and efficiently generate the corresponding RDF.
Simple But Effective Methods for QBSH at MIREX 2006

This extended abstract describes a submission to the QBSH (Query by Singing/Humming) task of MIREX (Music Information Retrieval Evaluation eXchange) 2006. The methods used for both subtasks 1 and 2 are introduced together with the evaluation results Comments and suggestions for further QBSH task are also addressed in the paper.
Analysis of the impact of adopting international accounting standards in predicting the insolvency of businesses listed on the BM&FBovespa brazilian stock exchange

Abstract: The financial statements of Brazilian companies have been transformed with the adoption of international accounting standards, and it was expected that this would offer more reliable information for decision-making. This study aims to analyze the influence of the adoption of international accounting standards in predicting corporate insolvency. The sample comprises 94 Brazilian companies listed on BM&FBovespa, divided into two groups: the first group has companies considered insolvent and the second group has solvent companies. For each insolvent company we selected another enterprise of the same segment, based on the nearest value of the total assets. The collected data comprised the period of 31 December 2004 to 31 December 2013. The explanatory variables include 29 financial indicators and the methodological procedure was the statistical method called Discriminant Analysis. The application of statistical tests on separate samples in periods before and after the adoption of IFRS, led to the conclusion that there was a considerable improvement in predicting insolvency after the adoption of international accounting standards, because the average accuracy increased from 73.5% to 82.1%. Keywords: Insolvency forecast. Financial indicators. International accounting standards. Análise do impacto da adoção das normas internacionais de contabilidade na previsão de insolvência de empresas listadas na BM&FBovespaResumo: As demonstrações contábeis das empresas brasileiras foram revolucionadas com a adoção das normas internacionais de contabilidade e espera-se que tragam informações mais confiáveis para a tomada de decisão. O objetivo com este trabalho foi analisar a influência da adoção das normas internacionais de contabilidade na previsão de insolvência empresarial. A amostra compreende 94 empresas brasileiras listadas na BM&FBovespa, divididas em dois grupos: um com empresas consideradas insolventes e outro com as empresas solventes. Para cada empresa insolvente foi selecionada outra do mesmo segmento, com o valor do ativo mais próximo. Os dados coletados abrangem o período de 31 de dezembro de 2004 a 31 de dezembro de 2013. As variáveis explicativas compreendem 29 indicadores contábeis e o método aplicado baseia-se no método estatístico de Análise Discriminante. A aplicação de testes estatísticos em amostras separadas em períodos anteriores e posteriores à adoção das IFRS permitiu verificar que houve uma melhoria considerável na previsão de insolvência após a adoção das normas internacionais de contabilidade, pois a média de acerto aumentou de 73,5% para 82,1%. Palavras-chave: Previsão de insolvência. Indicadores contábeis. Normas internacionais de contabilidade.
ELLIPSOIDAL BOUNDS FOR STATIC RESPONSE OF UNCERTAIN TRUSSES BY USING SEMIDEFINITE PROGRAMMING

A semidefinite relaxation technique is proposed for computing a minimal bounding ellipsoid that contains the set of static responses of an uncertain truss. We assume that the parameters both of member stiffnesses and external forces are unknown but bounded. By using a combination of the quadratic embedding technique of the uncertainty and the S-procedure, we formulate a semidefinite programming (SDP) problem which provides an outer approximation of the minimal bounding ellipsoid. Our approach has polynomial computational complexity of the problem size, if the SDP problem presented is solved by using the primal-dual interior-point method.
Review of Image Compression Methods

Everyday some development is taking place in imaging field. The large volume of data is required to be transmitted. It is therefore, mandatory to compress the data as much as possible without compromising with the quality of an image. General techniques are being developed globally to meet out the modern requirement. This review paper is targeted to make a fruitful investigation of such compression methods
A new approach for body pose recovery

Human body pose estimation is a very important procedure in human posture reconstruction. In order to obtain the initial motion parameter, various model-based methods must use an appropriate posture to track and match a fixed parameter, which is stored in the system. Learning-based methods that rely on a priori probabilities devote much time learning human poses in advance, thus delaying posture initialization. To solve this initialization problem, we propose a new approach in human body pose recovery using ordinary cameras and PCs. We apply a layer-thinning method to obtain the human skeleton points set from voxels, which are obtained in real time using the shape-from-silhouette algorithm based on a lookup table. In the process, the method analyzes the thinned point set, locates human articulation points, and determines the body orientation, using vector analysis according to anthropometric measurements. Through this method, the initial pose can have a variety of free gestures with low-intensity limits. Experiment results show that this approach recovers the initial skeleton pose in a valid and robust manner. In addition, several perturbations in the input data and the human pose recovered rapidly and automatically.
IMS Mobility Management in Integrated WiMAX-3G Architectures

The IP Multimedia System (IMS) is a promising solution for converging new technologies with existing networks. The interworking environment and service flexibility that IMS offers to the currently deployed wireless broadband technologies, makes it appealing to users, service developers and network operators. In our previous work a heterogeneous network model based on IMS that integrates the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies and provides guaranteed QoS was proposed. In this paper an analytical model is derived in order to evaluate the signalling cost of mobility management during a vertical handoff.
Effect of δ-Opioid Receptor Activation on BDNF-TrkB vs. TNF-α in the Mouse Cortex Exposed to Prolonged Hypoxia

We investigated whether δ-opioid receptor (DOR)-induced neuroprotection involves the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) pathway. We studied the effect of DOR activation on the expression of BDNF and other proteins in the cortex of C57BL/6 mice exposed to hypoxia (10% of oxygen) for 1–10 days. The results showed that: (1) 1-day hypoxia had no appreciable effect on BDNF expression, while 3- and 10-day hypoxia progressively decreased BDNF expression, resulting in 37.3% reduction (p < 0.05) after 10-day exposure; (2) DOR activation with UFP-512 (1 mg/kg, i.p., daily) partially reversed the hypoxia-induced reduction of BDNF expression in the 3- or 10-day exposed cortex; (3) DOR activation partially reversed the hypoxia-induced reduction in functional TrkB (140-kDa) and attenuated hypoxia-induced increase in truncated TrkB (90-kDa) in the 3- or 10-day hypoxic cortex; and (4) prolonged hypoxia (10 days) significantly increased TNF-α level and decreased CD11b expression in the cortex, which was completely reversed following DOR activation; and (5) there was no significant change in pCREB and pATF-1 levels in the hypoxic cortex. We conclude that prolonged hypoxia down-regulates BDNF-TrkB signaling leading to an increase in TNF-α in the cortex, while DOR activation up-regulates BDNF-TrkB signaling thereby decreasing TNF-α levels in the hypoxic cortex.
Immersive human-robot interaction

Networked robotic applications enable robots to operate in distant, hazardous, or otherwise inaccessible environments, such as search and rescue, surveillance, and exploration applications. The most difficult challenge which persists for such systems is that of supporting effective human-robot interaction, as this usually demands managing dynamic views, changeable interaction modalities, and adaptive levels of robotic autonomy. In contrast of sophisticated screen-based graphical user interfaces (GUIs), the solution proposed herein is to enable more natural human-robot interaction modalities through a networked immersive user interface. This paper describes the creation of one such shared space where to test such an approach, with both simulated and real robots.
Low power digital design using modified GDI method

GDI (gate diffusion input) based technique for low power combinational logic circuit design has been elaborately discussed and the advantage of this design style over static CMOS (SC) implementation and pass-transistor logic (PTL), with regard to power consumption, delay and area complexity is also described in recent literature (Morgenshtein, 2002). In this paper, we propose a couple of new GDI based cell designs, which are found to be much more power efficient in comparison with existing GDI based cell functionality. The significance of these designs is substantiated by the simulation results obtained for a 0.35 muM TSMC CMOS technology, where an improvement in power efficiency of the order of 2-3times is reported in the pre-layout stage for some widely used important digital arithmetic circuits
The power of positive touch: a qualitative and quantitative study of the impact of daily peer massage in five primary schools in Nottinghamshire, England

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to evaluate the benefits of peer massage for primary school children. A short peer massage routine was taught to pupils in five schools and evaluation was carried out to assess the impact that the process had on the pupils’ well-being, empathy, social skills and confidence. The impact of the intervention was measured by analysis of self-reported data from the pupils using a specifically designed evaluation tool. These results were compared to results from control groups in the same schools who were not involved in the daily massage. Class teachers evaluated the impact that the process had on the pupils and commented on the relationship between massage and subsequent behaviour and performance at school. In the area of well-being, the results for the massage group showed that they felt calmer and less worried than the control group. In the area of confidence, the children receiving massage clearly felt more confident in talking to children they did not know. These changes were supported by the teachers’ evaluations and comments; improved concentration in class was also noted. A less conclusive picture emerged in the social skills and empathy sections. This may suggest that the biggest impact of the programme was the way in which the process was internalised by the children. Feeling calmer, less worried and having more confidence can have a huge impact on the ability to develop lifelong coping strategies for managing the stresses and difficulties that life can bring and maintaining good mental health.
Characterization of artificially dried biofilms for air biofiltration studies

One of the main problems associated with the operation of air biofilters is the loss of performance caused by drying of the bioactive support, as the removal capacity of contaminants by the microorganisms is dependent on their water content. In this work, biofilms from a microbial consortium adapted to toluene were grown on stainless steel slides. The biofilms were dried in stoppered flasks with saturated saline solutions to obtain final water activities of 97.4 %, 83.9 %, 74.8 % and 32 %. The biofilms were characterized by a sorption isotherm Type III with toluene; the water desorption isotherm was fitted to the BET model and the biofilm hydrophobicity was also determined. Specific oxygen consumption rates decreased at lower Aw from 60 μg O2/mg protein/h to zero activity. Biofilm activity, represented by a toluene consumption rate, and others physical properties presented a critical point between Aw 0.84 and 0.97. Biological activity of dried biofilms was restored either partially or completely, depending on the extent of drying and rewetting method.
An Under-sampling Method: Based on Principal Component Analysis and Comprehensive Evaluation Model

Machine learning method can be used to forecast software fault, and identify modules which have the tendency to cause soft-error at the early life cycle, then software developer can modify these defect modules early. It has an important significance on the improvement of software reliability. However, fault samples of software data sets are smaller in number (one or two order of magnitudes) compared with fault-free samples, learning machine's predictive ability to fault samples has been restrained by this kind of unbalanced data sets. This paper put forward an under-sampling method based on principal component analysis (PCA) and comprehensive evaluation model to get rid of redundant majority class samples under the premise of conserving data of majority class characteristic as far as possible, and reaches to a balance between this two kinds of samples.