Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using occupancy grids for mobile robot perception and navigation

An approach to robot perception and world modeling that uses a probabilistic tesselated representation of spatial information called the occupancy grid is reviewed. The occupancy grid is a multidimensional random field that maintains stochastic estimates of the occupancy state of the cells in a spatial lattice. To construct a sensor-derived map of the robot's world, the cell state estimates are obtained by interpreting the incoming range readings using probabilistic sensor models. Bayesian estimation procedures allow the incremental updating of the occupancy grid, using readings taken from several sensors over multiple points of view. The use of occupancy grids from mapping and for navigation is examined. Operations on occupancy grids and extensions of the occupancy grid framework are briefly considered. <<ETX>>
From Noose to Needle: Capital Punishment and the Late Liberal State

"From Noose to Needle" contributes a new perspective on the controversial topic of capital punishment by asking how the conduct of state killing reveals broader contradictions in the contemporary liberal state, especially, but not exclusively, in the United States. Moving beyond more familiar legal and sociological approaches to this matter, Timothy V. Kaufman-Osborn asks several questions. Why do executions no longer take the form of public spectacles? Why are certain methods of execution considered barbaric? Why must the liberal state strictly segregate the imposition of a death sentence, whether by judge or jury, from its actual infliction, whether by a state official or an ordinary citizen? Why are women so infrequently sentenced to death and executed? How does the state seek to hide the suffering inflicted by capital punishment through its endorsement of a bio-medical conception of pain? How does the nearly-universal shift to lethal injection pose problems for the late liberal state by confusing its punitive and welfare responsibilities? Drawing on a wide range of theoretical sources, including John Locke, Max Weber, Nicos Poulantzas, Friedrich Nietzsche, J. L. Austin, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Pierre Bourdieu, Elaine Scarry, and others, Kaufman-Osborn grounds his appropriation of these authors in analyses of specific recent executions, including that of Wesley Allan Dodd and Charles Campbell in Washington, Karla Faye Tucker in Texas, and Allen Lee Davis in Florida. "From Noose to Needle" will be of interest to students of law, political theory, and sociology as well as more general readers interested in the troublesome issue of capital punishment.Timothy V. Kaufman-Osborn is Baker Ferguson Professor of Politics and Leadership, Whitman College.
Parallel Spectral Transform Shallow Water Model: a runtime-tunable parallel benchmark code

Fairness is an important issue when benchmarking parallel computers using application codes. The best parallel algorithm on one platform may not be the best on another. While it is not feasible to re-evaluate parallel algorithms and reimplement large codes whenever new machines become available, it is possible to embed algorithmic options into codes that allow them to be "tuned" for a particular machine without requiring code modifications. We describe a code in which such an approach was taken. PSTSWM was developed for evaluating parallel algorithms for the spectral transform method in atmospheric circulation models. Many levels of runtime-selectable algorithmic options are supported. We discuss these options and our evaluation methodology. We also provide empirical results from a number of parallel machines, indicating the importance of tuning for each platform before making a comparison. <<ETX>>
Modeling Context-Aware Command Recommendation and Acceptance in an IDE

For software developers to use the full range of available commands in an integrated development environment, one has to provide proactive support which can suggest unknown commands that could be useful for the task at hand. Researchers started exploring the potential of recommender systems to provide this type of help, but so far there are still very few contributions. We propose a new multi-criteria context-aware rating prediction model that can be used to predict the user choice of either to accept or reject an IDE command recommendation. Individual command recommendation evaluation criteria are: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence, besides, the overall evaluation/rating is the intention to use a command. We have identified four types of contexts, namely, current practice, environment, interaction, and recommendation presentation context. The model is aimed at improving recommendation quality and enabling more effective recommendation presentations.
Disposition of Flavonoids via Enteric Recycling: UDP-Glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1As Deficiency in Gunn Rats Is Compensated by Increases in UGT2Bs Activities

Flavonoids have poor bioavailabilities largely because of metabolism via UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs). This study aims to further understand the functions of UGT in metabolizing genistein and apigenin, two compounds metabolized more extensively in the gut than in the liver. Because Gunn rats are deficient in UGT1As, we determined whether this deficiency would result in less flavonoid glucuronidation, using rat intestinal perfusion model and microsomes prepared from rat liver and intestine. In yeast-expressed rat UGT isoforms, rat UGT1A isoforms (especially UGT1A7) were mainly responsible for flavonoid metabolism. In perfusion studies, the two flavonoids were rapidly absorbed at comparable rates, but the intestinal excretions of glucuronides in Gunn rats compared with Wistar rats were not only comparable for genistein but also were higher (p < 0.05) for apigenin, suggesting up-regulation of UGT isoforms in Gunn rats. To determine the possible compensatory UGT isoforms, we first verified that UGT1A activities were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in Gunn rats by using UGT1A-specific probes 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38) and prunetin. We then demonstrated using UGT2B probes testosterone, ezetimibe, and indomethacin that UGT2B activities were usually significantly higher in Gunn rats. In addition, testosterone was metabolized much faster in liver microsomes than in intestinal microsomes, and in microsomes prepared from Gunn rats compared with Wistar rats. In conclusion, flavonoids are efficiently metabolized by UGT1A-deficient Gunn rats because of compensatory up-regulation of intestinal UGT2Bs and hepatic anion efflux transporters, which increases their disposition and limits their oral bioavailabilities.
Voronoi mobile cellular networks: topological properties

Nowadays, mobile cellular networks are based on the well-known hexagonal mesh in which nodes are considered as base stations. However, this model does not really take into account the irregularity and the randomness of central offices locations in a large telephone network. As we cannot transform this telephone network into a regular structure, because of spatial variations of population density, consumer demand, other geographical and technological factors, Voronoi cellular networks appears to be the more suitable model. In this paper, we describe the Voronoi cellular model and its topological properties.
Stereo by multiperspective imaging under 6 DOF camera motion

Multiperspective imaging has been used to recover the structure of a scene. Although several algorithms for structure recovery have been developed as typified by stereo panoramas, there exists no common framework which subsumes various camera motions to capture stereo images. This paper presents a framework for stereo by multiperspective imaging, which is general in that it can handle 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) camera motion. We derive geometric constraints, equation for structure recovery and that for an epipolar curve by modeling the acquisition of stereo images using push-broom cameras (line sensors). We consider a class of camera motion called a vertical view plane class and demonstrate that several previous results are really special cases of our results. Numerical examples are given to show the correctness of the derived equations.
Characterization of a cloned Bacillus subtilis gene that inhibits sporulation in multiple copies

We have isolated a 1.0-kilobase fragment of the Bacillus subtilis chromosome which, when present in high-copy-number plasmids, caused a sporulation-proficient strain to become phenotypically sporulation deficient. This is referred to as the sporulation inhibition (Sin) phenotype. This DNA fragment, in multicopy, also inhibited the production of extracellular protease activity, which normally appears at the beginning of stationary growth. The origin of the fragment was mapped between the dnaE and spo0A genes on the B. subtilis chromosome, and its complete DNA sequence has been determined. By analysis of various deletions and a spontaneous mutant the Sin function was localized to an open reading frame (ORF) predicted from the DNA sequence. Inactivation of this ORF in the chromosome did not affect the ability of cells to sporulate. However, the late-growth-associated production of proteases and alpha-amylase was elevated in these cells. The predicted amino acid sequence of the protein encoded by this ORF had a DNA-binding domain, typically present in several regulatory proteins. We propose that the sin ORF encodes a regulatory protein that is involved in the transition from vegetative growth to sporulation.
Monitoring of HV Generator Circuit Breaker Contact Ablation Based on Acoustic Emission

High-voltage (HV) generator circuit breaker (GCB) is a key protective element for isolating HV generators in case of faults, or operational reasons. GCB typically has a double contact system. During the breaking operation process of the GCB, at first the nominal contact opens; after a while, the arcing contact opens with a minimum time-elapse between the two operations. An arc ignites when the arcing contact opens. This arc should concern the arcing contact only because the nominal contact is not designed to withstand arcs. However, after each operation the arcing contact is slightly ablated because of the arc. The ablation due to arcing makes the contact shorter and shorter. Therefore, the time interval between the two opening operations also gets shorter. For proper operation of the GCB, a minimum time interval for the commutation of the current from the nominal contact system to the ablation contact system has to be assured. In this paper, a noninvasive direct ablation measurement method based on acoustic emission is presented. This is aimed at monitoring the delay in the time instant of the start of arcing contact touch as it gets shorter due to ablation, from the acoustic emission signals. Test results carried out on real breakers substantiate the proposed approach.
Field Science—the Nature and Utility of Scientific Fields

ABSTRACT Fields are the fundamental sociological units of science. Despite their importance, relatively little has been written about their emergence, composition, structure, and function in the scientific enterprise. This essay considers the nature of fields and their important role in maintaining information and providing normative standards for scientific work. We suggest that fields arise naturally as a consequence of increasing information and scientific specialization. New fields tend to emerge as research communities grow, which may reflect biologically determined optima for the size of human groups. The benefits of fields include the organization of scientists with similar interests into communities that collectively define the next important problems to pursue. In the discipline of microbiology, fields are often organized on the basis of phylogenetic differences between microorganisms being studied. Although fields are essential to the proper functioning of science, their emergence can restrict access by outsiders and sustain dogmas that hinder progress. We suggest mechanisms to improve the functioning of scientific fields and to promote interdisciplinary interaction between fields.
A Model-Based Interface Development Environment

The author describes Mobi-D (Model-Based Interface Designer), a comprehensive environment that supports user-centered design through model-based interface development. In the Mobi-D paradigm, a series of declarative models, such as user-task, dialog, and presentation, are interrelated to provide a formal representation of an interface design. This contrasts to model-based systems, which use only one or two models in isolation and have no explicit notion as to how the various model elements are organized into an interface design.
DEMO: An IDS framework for internet of things empowered by 6LoWPAN

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging paradigm where smart objects are seamlessly connected to the overall Internet and can potentially cooperate to achieve common objectives such as supporting innovative home automation services. With reference to such a scenario, this paper presents an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) framework for IoT empowered by IPv6 over low-power personal area network (6LoWPAN) devices. In fact, 6LoWPAN is an interesting protocol supporting the realization of IoT in a resource constrained environment. 6LoWPAN devices are vulnerable to attacks inherited from both the wireless sensor networks and the Internet protocols. The proposed IDS framework which includes a monitoring system and a detection engine has been integrated into the network framework developed within the EU FP7 project `ebbits'. A penetration testing (PenTest) system had been used to evaluate the performance of the implemented IDS framework. Preliminary tests revealed that the proposed framework represents a promising solution for ensuring better security in 6LoWPANs.
Assessing the scalability of garbage collectors on many cores

Managed Runtime Environments (MRE) are increasingly used for application servers that use large multi-core hardware. We find that the garbage collector is critical for overall performance in this setting. We explore the costs and scalability of the garbage collectors on a contemporary 48-core multiprocessor machine. We present experimental evaluation of the parallel and concurrent garbage collectors present in OpenJDK, a widely-used Java virtual machine. We show that garbage collection represents a substantial amount of an application's execution time, and does not scale well as the number of cores increases. We attempt to identify some critical scalability bottlenecks for garbage collectors.
Development of real-time wireless brain computer interface for drowsiness detection

In this study, a real-time wireless embedded EEG-based brain computer interface (BCI) system was developed for drowsiness detection in a realistic driving task. Accidents caused by driver's drowsiness behind the steering wheel have a high fatality rate because of the marked decline in the driver's abilities of perception, recognition, and vehicle control abilities while sleepy. Therefore, real-time drowsiness monitoring is important to avoid traffic accidents. In this study, an embedded EEG-based BCI system which includes a wireless physiological signal acquisition module and an embedded signal processing module was designed, and a real-time drowsiness detection algorithm based on our unsupervised approach was implemented in the embedded signal processing module. EEG signal would be monitored and analyzed by the embedded signal processing module, and the warning tone would be triggered to prevent traffic accidents when the drowsiness condition occurred.
Middleware Services for DRM

Lack of generic digital rights management applications has stunted the growth of the media distribution industry. In this paper we point out the need for middleware services required to develop digital rights management (DRM) applications. Many functionalities are common to most DRM applications and by nature are highly distributed. Standalone DRM applications have found it difficult to implement these services in an efficient manner and have led to closed solutions with limited capabilities. This paper categorizes these functions with reference to a layered DRM framework as middleware services. The characteristics and interface of each of these services is defined along with a prototype implementation of an agent-based negotiations service.
A time scale modification with large and varying scaling factors

When it comes to time- and pitch-scale modification algorithms, Phase Vocoder based approaches are widely used. However, a problem with the standard approach is the limited scaling range from 50% to 200%. For an adaptive pitch transposition method for cochlear implants, larger scaling range values that are varying on a by-frame-basis are needed. This paper shows a solution for that problem with adjusted modification and synthesis stages. The developed algorithm has a constant analysis hop size and a varying synthesis hop size. Effectively, interpolated intermediate frames are introduced to compensate for missing signal information. These frames are spaced equidistant with the reciprocal scaling factor and have linear interpolated amplitudes. As a result, the desired characteristics could be achieved by a high quality implementation of the new method. The sound quality could be evaluated at an informal listening test.
Stability, $l_{2}$ -Gain, and Robust $H_{\infty }$ Control for Switched Systems via ${N}$ -Step-Ahead Lyapunov Function Approach

Unlike the traditional analysis and synthesis approach of a switched system that requires a monotonic decrease of Lyapunov function (LF), this paper investigates an <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${N}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-step-ahead LF approach. Such an approach allows a non-monotonic behavior both at the switching instants and during the running time of each subsystem but guarantees an average decrease at every <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${N}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> sampling steps. The asymptotic stability criterion is improved as well as the capability of disturbance attenuation. By introducing a series of auxiliary variables, the future knowledge of states and exogenous noises can be properly used to derive sufficient conditions for the existence of a robust <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${H}_{\infty }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> controller in the form of a set of numerical testable conditions. Note that <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${N}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> has direct impact on the number of inequality constraints. The essential difficulty is to construct an exponential damping law of the decreasing points of LF, i.e., to find the joint point between the switching interval and the predictive horizon. Moreover, the relationship between <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${N}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-step time difference of LF and switching rate, i.e., the average dwell time constraint, is thoroughly discussed. An ecology system is employed to demonstrate practical potentials of the presented design framework.
Plume Measurements with the T 5 Xenon Ion Thruster 30 September 1994 Prepared by I lö BELEGTEn

Two measurement techniques for investigating performance and life-limiting characteristics of ion engines are applied to a 10-cm TS xenon thruster: (1) Thrust vector stability is evaluated with four doublewire Langmuir probes, aligned in the form of a cross, which are placed in the exhaust plume and are translated by a motorized positioning system to balance the currents collected along two orthogonal axes. The thrust vector position is thereby tracked with an angular resolution of < 0.01° and a response time of < 5 s. (2) A plume-sampling mass spectrometer has been developed for measuring the xenon charge state distribution and the flux of erosion products from the discharge chamber as a function of operating point To demonstrate the capability for real-time erosion monitoring, plume spectra that reveal trace amounts of metal ions are presented.
Fall detection in the elderly by head tracking

In the paper, we propose a fall detection method based on head tracking within a smart home environment equipped with video cameras. A motion history image and code-book background subtraction are combined to determine whether large movement occurs within the scene. Based on the magnitude of the movement information, particle filters with different state models are used to track the head. The head tracking procedure is performed in two video streams taken by two separate cameras and three-dimensional head position is calculated based on the tracking results. Finally, the threedimensional horizontal and vertical velocities of the head are used to detect the occurrence of a fall. The success of the method is confirmed on real video sequences.
FASTSNP: an always up-to-date and extendable service for SNP function analysis and prioritization

Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) prioritization based on the phenotypic risk is essential for association studies. Assessment of the risk requires access to a variety of heterogeneous biological databases and analytical tools. FASTSNP (function analysis and selection tool for single nucleotide polymorphisms) is a web server that allows users to efficiently identify and prioritize high-risk SNPs according to their phenotypic risks and putative functional effects. A unique feature of FASTSNP is that the functional effect information used for SNP prioritization is always up-to-date, because FASTSNP extracts the information from 11 external web servers at query time using a team of web wrapper agents. Moreover, FASTSNP is extendable by simply deploying more Web wrapper agents. To validate the results of our prioritization, we analyzed 1569 SNPs from the SNP500Cancer database. The results show that SNPs with a high predicted risk exhibit low allele frequencies for the minor alleles, consistent with a well-known finding that a strong selective pressure exists for functional polymorphisms. We have been using FASTSNP for 2 years and FASTSNP enables us to discover a novel promoter polymorphism. FASTSNP is available at .
Establishing trust in distributed storage providers

Corporate IT as well as individuals show increasing interest in reliable outsourcing of storage infrastructure. Decentralized solutions with their resilience against partial outages are among the most attractive approaches. Irrespective of the form of the relationship, be it based on a contract or on the more flexible cooperative model, the problem of verifying whether someone promising to store one's data actually does so remains to be solved, especially in the presence of multiple replicas. We introduce a lightweight mechanism that allows the data originator or a dedicated verification agent to build up trust in the replica holder by means of protocols that do not require prior trust or key establishment. We show how naive versions of the protocol do not prevent cheating, and then strengthen it by adding means that make it economically attractive to be honest. This provides a foundation for further work in providing trustworthy distributed storage.