Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A vision-based haptic exploration

Real-world objects exhibit rich physical interaction behaviours on contact. Such behaviours depend on how heavy and hard it is when held, how its surface feels when touched, how it deforms on contact, etc. Recently, there are thus growing needs for haptic exploration to estimate and extract such physical object properties as mass, friction, elasticity, relational constraints etc. In this paper, we propose a novel paradigm, we call haptic vision,which is a vision-based haptic exploration approach toward an automatic construction of reality-based virtual space simulator, by augmenting active vision with active touch. We apply this technique to mass, relational constraints estimation and elasticity, and use these results to construct virtual object manipulation simulator. Experimental results show that feasibility and validity of the proposed approach.
Towards a Bionic Neural Link for Implantable Prosthetics

This paper presents a biologically-inspired 'silicon neural link', encompassing a neurochemical sensor array, an asynchronous artificial-neural bus and an interleaved biphasic stimulus generator. The proposed system is intended for neuroprosthetic application; employing an array of ISFET-based spiking neurons to convey measured neuronal data across a damaged neural pathway to a target stimulation site. A 48 dB dynamic range is achieved by encoding the neural signal in the time-domain, using accumulating address-events to modulate the biphasic waveform. The electrical stimulation is delivered via a bipolar electrode configuration in a continuous interleave sampling strategy. This has been implemented in a commercially available 035mum CMOS technology.
Concept of a Co-Adaptive Training Environment for Human-Machine Interfaces Based on EMG-Control

Learning how to reliably operate HMIs is chal- lenging and time-consuming especially if the underlying control signal is based on biosignals like myoelectric activ- ities. This work describes a concept of a co-adaptive train- ing environment. The human user performs a given task and various features are extracted for performance measure- ment. Based on single-objective optimization our concept looks for optimal parameters helping the user to improve the performance in the next tasks. Parts of the proposed concept were already implemented.
Research of the mining algorithm based on distributed database

Data mining acquires knowledge and rules that is connotative, unknown and having potential value for decision-making from large databases or data warehouses. Existing association rule mining algorithms and modules cater to a centralized environment, such as database or data warehouse. With the development of distributed database and network technology, they don't meet the needs of mining rules from distributed data sets. In this paper, we provide a mining model based on the distributed database and a corresponding effective mining algorithm. Using association rules of market basket analysis, integrate every database file, then get the mining result, and make a further mining upon the mining method, transport the rules which are not fit with the requirements back to each distributed station to make a more accurate mining process, thus avoiding the frequent network communication. This algorithm can reduce frequent communication burden, they has an distinguish virtue in parallel arithmetic computing and asynchronous operation & heterogeneous mining.
A Faster Convergence Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm in Sensor Deployment for Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks (WSN), sensor deployment is one of the main topics for enhancing the sensor's coverage rate. In this paper, by modifying updating equation of onlooker bee and scout bee of original artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm, a sensor deployment algorithm based on the modified ABC algorithm is proposed. Some new parameters such as forgetting and neighbor factor for accelerating the convergence speed and probability of mutant for maximizing the coverage rate are introduced. Simulation results showed that comparing with the deployment method based on original ABC and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, the proposed approach can achieve a better performance in coverage rate and convergence speed while needing a less total moving distance of sensors.
Comparative evaluation of novel thermo-chemical treatment methods for improved impact performance of laminated glass

The thermal and chemical treatment used for glass is not applicable for the laminated glass due to the presence of interlayer having lower melting temperature than the minimum required temperature for the conventional treatment of glass. The present work reports four specialized treatment methods for laminated glass treatment. The effectiveness of the four novel laminated glass treatment methods is evaluated for an impact response of laminated glass. The destructive ball drop testing was performed following EN 356 on laminated glass samples after treating them with each of the four treatment methods. The treatment methods are compared based on the fracture pattern (correlated to the post-fracture response), fragment size, and amount of damage due to the impact by 2.3 kg, 83 mm diameter smooth solid steel ball from the height of 5 m. A multi-purpose algorithm (transient analysis in ANSYS 14.5 (explicit dynamics module)) was utilized for the determination of the maximum deformation and maximum equivalent stress. The regression analysis is conducted for the validation of experimental results. The impact behavior of thermo-chemically treated laminated glass samples was found to be significantly better than the untreated laminated glass samples in the most cases as the impurities/defects were reduced and strength of the laminated glass samples was increased by the treatment. These treatment methods can be customized later for the laminated glass structures and windshields during operating conditions, which would be a significant contribution to this field.
Not All Orgasms Were Created Equal: Differences in Frequency and Satisfaction of Orgasm Experiences by Sexual Activity in Same-Sex Versus Mixed-Sex Relationships

Which sexual activities result in the most frequent and most satisfying orgasms for men and women in same- and mixed-sex relationships? The current study utilized a convenience sample of 806 participants who completed an online survey concerning the types of sexual activities through which they experience orgasms. Participants indicated how frequently they reached orgasm, how satisfied they were from orgasms resulting from 14 sexual activities, and whether they desired a frequency change for each sexual activity. We present the overall levels of satisfaction, frequency, and desired frequency change for the whole sample and also compare responses across four groups of participants: men and women in same-sex relationships and men and women in mixed-sex relationships. While all participants reported engaging in a wide variety of activities that either could, or often did, lead to the experience of orgasm, there were differences in the levels of satisfaction derived from different types of orgasms for different types of participants, who also engaged in such activities with varying degrees of frequency. We discuss group differences within the context of sexual scripts for same- and mixed-sex couples and question the potential explanations for gender differences in the ability to experience orgasm during partnered sexual activity.
Optimal Useful Clock Skew Scheduling In the Presence of Variations Using Robust ILP Formulations

This paper exploits useful skew to improve system performance and robustness. We formulate a robust integer linear programming problem considering the interactions between data and clock paths on a microprocessor chip to improve clock frequency. The timing slack is optimized for each path to determine a clock schedule. The percentage of timing violations, obtained from a 1000 point Monte Carlo simulation, is highlighted as yield predictions and conveys the robustness of the clock schedule. The results show performance improvement of up to 9.747% with 20% yield and up to 6.682% with 100% yield. The novelty of the proposed method is its ability to tradeoff between performance improvement in frequency and robustness, via a single variable in the formulation
Multicarrier radar signals with low peak-to-mean envelope power ratio

A multicarrier phase-coded (MCPC) pulse consists of N sequences of M bits each. The N sequences modulate N carriers that are transmitted simultaneously. The carriers are equally spaced. The carrier separation Df equals the inverse of the bit duration tb forming orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). A family of MCPC signals is described, based on modulating all carriers with the same sequence while also phase-modulating the carriers to lower the peak-to-mean envelope power ratio (PMEPR). The new MCPC signals have a mainlobe width oftb=N and near sidelobes extending only as far as tb ,f ollowed by az ero sidelobe gap. The frequency spectrum of the new MCPC signals is compared with other low PMEPR MCPC signals and with single-carrier (fix envelope) phase-coded waveforms exhibiting the same compression ratio.
Jump-to-contact instability: The nanoscale mechanism of droplet coalescence in air

We study experimentally by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM) the jump-to-contact instability between two droplets in air, with radii ranging between 0.7 and 74 μm. This instability which occurs at the nanoscale is responsible for droplet coalescence. The AFM experiments were conducted in contact and frequency-modulation modes where the interaction force and the frequency shift are monitored while the two droplet interfaces approach each other. The critical distance d_min at which the jump to contact takes place is determined by fitting the experimental curves by the theoretical expressions for theforce and the frequency shift. The results point out the existence of two regimes. For submicrometer droplets, d_min scales as (HReq/γ)^1/3 where Req is the equivalent droplet radius,H the Hamaker constant, and γ the surface tension of the liquid. For larger droplets,d_min no longer depends on the droplet size and scales as (H/γ)^1/2. This second scaling is the one that controls droplet coalescence in most situations.
Temperature impact on upconversion efficiency and luminescence of Erbium-doped ceria-plasmonic nanostructure

Ceria nanoparticles have been proved to be one of the most promising optical conversion host structures, due to its low-phonon nature and non-stoichiometric structure. In up-conversion, erbium has been extensively used as the main optical center for converting low-photon energy into higher ones. This paper studies the effect of introducing plasmonic nanostructure, such as gold, for enhancing the optical upconversion quantum yield efficiency of erbium-doped-ceria nanoparticles. The numerical results show that the efficiency experienced a significant enhancement as a result of existence of metal nanostructures. In addition, the temperature influence upon the nanocomposite is studied in detail. The numerical calculations show that the temperature change has a remarkable influence on the luminescence parameters and quantum yield efficiency of the up-conversion structure.
Nonlinear control for linear induction motor servo drive

This paper describes a newly designed nonlinear control strategy to control a linear induction motor servo drive for periodic motion. Based on the concept of the nonlinear state feedback theory and optimal technique, a nonlinear control strategy, which is composed of an adaptive optimal control system and a sliding-mode flux observation system, is developed to improve the drawbacks in previous works concerned with complicated intelligent control. The control and estimation methodologies are derived in the sense of Lyapunov theorem so that the stability of the control system can be guaranteed. The sliding-mode flux observation system is implemented using a digital signal processor with a high sampling rate to make it possible to achieve good dynamics. Computer simulations and experimental results have been conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme under the occurrence of possible uncertainties and different reference trajectories. The merits of the proposed control system are indicated in comparison with a traditional optimal control system.
Visualising a fund manager flow graph with columns and worms

We describe a paradigm for visualising time dependent flow in a network of objects connected by abstract relationships (a graph) by representing time in the third dimension. We show two variants of the paradigm, one in which the elements of the graph are shown as vertical columns of varying width and another which emphasises centrality with bending "worms". We demonstrate these techniques by visualising the movements of Fund Managers within the UK Stock Market in terms of their changing share ownership over time.
Grammar-Based Corpus Annotation

There is an increasing number of linguists interested in large syntactically annotated corpora (treebanks). Such corpora can serve as a base for statistical applications and, at the same time, may be used in theoretical linguistics as a source for investigations about language use. The most important treebank nowadays is the Penn Treebank (Marcus et al., 1993; Marcus et al., 1994). Many statistical taggers and parsers have been trained on this treebank, e.g. (Ramshaw and Marcus, 1995; Srinivas, 1997; Alshawi and Carter, 1994). Furthermore, context-free and uni cationbased grammars have been derived from the Penn Treebank (Charniak, 1996; van Genabith et al., 1999a; van Genabith et al., 1999c; van Genabith et al., 1999b). These parsers, trained or created by means of the treebank, very successfully parse unseen text with respect to correct POS tagging and chunking, and hence can be applied for enlarging the treebank. However, the situation is di erent for languages other than English. Ongoing projects are still in the process of building treebanks, e.g. for German (NEGRA corpus (Skut et al., 1997), now continued in the TIGER project; the German treebank in Verbmobil (Stegmann et al., 1998)), for Czech (The Prague Dependency Treebank (Haji£,
Basal alpha-cell up-regulation in obese insulin-resistant adolescents.

CONTEXT The aim of this analysis was to evaluate glucagon and c-peptide concentrations in two scenarios: euglycemic hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemic hyperinsulinemia. We postulated that worsening obesity and insulin resistance will be reflected as an up-regulated (less suppressible) islet secretion profile. METHODS Eighty-two [34 obese with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), 30 obese with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and 18 nonobese with NGT] subjects underwent a euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp (EHC) and a hyperglycemic clamp. C-peptide and glucagon were evaluated at basal and steady-state (SS) conditions. RESULTS Basal glucagon was significantly elevated in obese insulin-resistant and obese IGT subjects as was basal c-peptide. SS glucagon and c-peptide levels during the EHC were lower in the lean and obese insulin-sensitive subjects compared with the obese insulin-resistant subjects with NGT or IGT. Fasting glucagon was the only significant determinant (β = 0.66, P < 0.001) of SS glucagon during the EHC (R(2) = 0.57). In a longitudinal follow-up of a subsample, those who converted from normal to IGT significantly increased their fasting glucagon concentration in comparison with those who remained with NGT. CONCLUSIONS Islet up-regulation manifesting as basal elevated glucagon and c-peptide secretion that determines the suppressive effects of hyperinsulinemia appears early in the course of deteriorating glucose tolerance.
Doctoral Committee

As a student approaches advancement to candidacy, the student establishes a doctoral committee to supervise dissertation research. This is a five-person committee, including three faculty from within the department and two from other departments within the university, one of which is tenured. The committee should include the faculty members whose fields of expertise make them the most appropriate for supervising the students' research. The student approaches the faculty member he or she would like to include, but the committee must be approved by the director of Graduate Studies and the department chair. Note that a faculty member with a regular appointment in one department, and an adjunct appointment in another department, may be an inside or outside member of the committee for either department. Only one such member is accepted per committee. If the student elects to have a six member committee, the sixth member has all of the same obligations as the other committee members. Students must constitute their dissertation committee one month before the proposed date of the exam by notifying the Graduate Coordinator of the names. Once the committee is constituted it can be changed only if a faculty member becomes unavailable. By the end of the spring quarter of the fourth year in the department the student must have a dissertation proposal approved by his or her doctoral committee (Note: international students must advance at the end of the 3 rd year in order to maintain funding). The dissertation proposal is a document that presents the research topic of the dissertation, places it in the context of the relevant literature, discusses its significance, specifies and justifies the methods the student intends to use, and establishes the anticipated steps leading to completion. Following submission of the dissertation proposal, the student must defend it at an oral exam before the doctoral committee. The purpose of the exam is to certify the proposal is significant and feasible, that the student is prepared to carry it out successfully. Based on the written proposal and the oral exam the committee may choose to approve the proposal or to ask for revisions and resubmission. The oral exam serves as a qualifying examination and approval signifies advancement to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. To make the advancement official, the Graduate Coordinator will provide the student with the required form, which the student brings to the oral exam. After all members sign (original signatures—no …
Growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor I insensitivity of fibroblasts isolated from a patient with an I{kappa}B{alpha} mutation.

CONTEXT NF-kappaB is a family of transcription factors involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. OBJECTIVE We have recently demonstrated that NF-kappaB is expressed in the growth plate and it mediates the growth-promoting effects of IGF-I on chondrogenesis and longitudinal bone growth. Humans with defects of the NF-kappaB pathway exhibit growth failure, which suggests a possible regulatory role for NF-kappaB in statural growth. We have previously reported a child with ectodermal dysplasia, immunodeficiency, and growth retardation, harboring a heterozygous mutation of IkappaBalpha, an essential component of the NF-kappaB pathway. Since he was found with low IGF-l and IGFBP-3, and elevated GH secretion, an IGF-l generation test was carried out: baseline IGF-l was low and only responded to a high dose of GH. Thus, the diagnosis of GH resistance was made. RESULTS To assess the underlying mechanisms of his GH resistance, we cultured the patient's skin fibroblasts with GH and/or IGF-I. While both GH and IGF-l induced cell proliferation and NF-kappaB activity in controls' fibroblasts, they had no effect on the patient's fibroblasts. In the fibroblasts of the patient's father (who displays mosaicism for the IkappaBalpha mutation), GH and IGF-l elicited an attenuated stimulatory effect. In addition, GH stimulated STAT5 phosphorylation and IGF-l mRNA expression in controls ' and the father's fibroblasts, while IGF-l induced PI3K activity and mRNA and protein expression of TDAG51, a target gene for IGF-I. In contrast, none of these effects was elicited by GH or IGF-l in the patient's fibroblasts. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that this patient's IkappaBalpha mutation caused GH and IGF-l resistance which, in turn, contributed to his growth failure.
Activation of D2 Dopamine Receptors in CD133+ve Cancer Stem Cells in Non-small Cell Lung Carcinoma Inhibits Proliferation, Clonogenic Ability, and Invasiveness of These Cells*

Lung carcinoma is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and among this cancer, non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) comprises the majority of cases. Furthermore, recurrence and metastasis of NSCLC correlate well with CD133+ve tumor cells, a small population of tumor cells that have been designated as cancer stem cells (CSC). We have demonstrated for the first time high expression of D2 dopamine (DA) receptors in CD133+ve adenocarcinoma NSCLC cells. Also, activation of D2 DA receptors in these cells significantly inhibited their proliferation, clonogenic ability, and invasiveness by suppressing extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) and AKT, as well as down-regulation of octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct-4) expression and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) secretion by these cells. These results are of significance as D2 DA agonists that are already in clinical use for treatment of other diseases may be useful in combination with conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy for better management of NSCLC patients by targeting both tumor cells and stem cell compartments in the tumor mass.
From Speech Corpus to Intonation Corpus: Clustering Phrase Pitch Contours of Lithuanian

This paper presents our research in preparation to compile a Lithuanian intonation corpus. The main objective of this research was to discover characteristic patterns of Lithuanian intonation through clustering of pitch contours of intermediate intonation phrases. The paper covers the set of procedures that were used to extend an ordinary speech corpus to make it suitable for intonation analysis. The process of intonation analysis included pitch extraction, pitch normalization, estimation of the representative frequency of a syllable, measurement of an inter-phrase similarity, k-means phrase clustering, and visualisation of clustering results. These computational procedures were applied to 23 hours of read speech containing 41417 phrases. The clustering results revealed some interesting intonation patterns of Lithuanian that could be related to the well known linguistic-prosodic phenomena. Language-independence is an important feature of computational procedures covered by this paper. If speech waveforms and the knowledge of phone and phrase boundaries are given, these procedures can be used for the analysis of intonation of other languages.
An evaluation of the Amoeba group communication system

The Amoeba group communication system has two unique aspects: (1) it uses a sequencer-based protocol with negative acknowledgements for achieving a total order on all group messages; and (2) users choose the degree of fault tolerance they desire. This paper reports on our design decisions in retrospect, the performance of the Amoeba group system, and our experiences using the system. We conclude that sequencer-based group protocols achieve high performance (comparable to Amoeba's fast remote procedure call implementation), that the scalability of our sequencer-based protocols is limited by message processing time, and that the flexibility and modularity of user-level implementations of protocols is likely to outweigh the potential performance loss.