Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fast Global Illumination on Dynamic Height Fields

We present a real‐time method for rendering global illumination effects from large area and environmental lights on dynamic height fields. In contrast to previous work, our method handles inter‐reflections (indirect lighting) and non‐diffuse surfaces. To reduce sampling, we construct one multi‐resolution pyramid for height variation to compute direct shadows, and another pyramid for each indirect bounce of incident radiance to compute inter‐reflections. The basic principle is to sample the points blocking direct light, or shedding indirect light, from coarser levels of the pyramid the farther away they are from a given receiver point. We unify the representation of visibility and indirect radiance at discrete azimuthal directions (i.e., as a function of a single elevation angle) using the concept of a “casting set” of visible points along this direction whose contributions are collected in the basis of normalized Legendre polynomials. This analytic representation is compact, requires no precomputation, and allows efficient integration to produce the spherical visibility and indirect radiance signals. Sub‐sampling visibility and indirect radiance, while shading with full‐resolution surface normals, further increases performance without introducing noticeable artifacts. Our method renders 512×512 height fields (> 500K triangles) at 36Hz.
The 7 th International Semantic Web Conference Incentives for the Semantic Web ( INSEMTIVE 2008 )

The Semantic Web (SW) is still far from realising its full potential, partly because it is still lacking enough high quality SW representations of information. We argue that a step in the right direction is fostering people’s capability to fluently create high quality SW representations of the information they generate during problem solving processes. To foster such a capability, we propose a game in which teams compete in creating the best translations of texts into SW representations. Although playing the game is in itself already a way to foster such a capability, we moreover pursue learning from the game which are the most successful translation strategies (embodied by “constitutions”) so that they can also be used by people outside a game setting.
"Which brew are you going to choose?": an interactive 'tea-decider-er' in a teahouse shop window

We describe the design of an interactive shop window created and installed for use in an independent teahouse. Using cameras to track the gestures of customers on the street front, the system allowed visitors to interact with an animatronic character who helped them choose a 'brew' from over 80 unusual tea varieties. In this paper we describe how we worked with the business owners, observing their practices to develop an understanding of how they helped customers choose one tea out of a large array of appealing possibilities. We describe the design process we undertook when creating the window, and examine the functional, aesthetic, technical and commercial factors that pose challenges when creating a bespoke piece of interactive art for a functioning real-world business.
Ultimate attainment of event segmentation and temporal structuring patterns in speakers of L 2 Swedish Emanuel Bylund

This study investigates ultimate attainment of patterns of segmentation and temporal structuring of events in L2 speakers. The participant group consists of 35 L1 Spanish – L2 Swedish adult bilinguals living in Sweden, with ages of L2 acquisition ranging from 1 to 19 years. Fifteen native speakers of Swedish and 15 native speakers of Spanish were engaged as controls. The participants provided online-retellings of a film excerpt. The results showed that the L2 speakers resorted to an event segmentation strategy with an intermediate degree of event resolution, which fell in between the mono lingual Spanish high degree of resolution and the monolingual Swedish low degree of resolution. Regarding temporal structuring patterns, the results showed that the L2 speakers converged with the Swedish-speaking controls, linking the events by means of anaphoric adverbials (i.e., “x then y”). There was no effect of age of L2 acquisition on the L2 speakers’ degree of conformity with Swedish native speaker behaviour.
Modeling Synaptic Plasticity within Networks of Highly Accelerated I&F Neurons

When studying the different aspects of synaptic plasticity, the timescales involved range from milliseconds to hours, thus covering at least seven orders of magnitude. To make this temporal dynamic range accessible to the experimentalist, we have developed a highly accelerated analog VLSI model of leaky integrate and fire neurons. It incorporates fast and slow synaptic facilitation and depression mechanisms in its conductance based synapses. By using a 180 nm process 105 synapses fit on a 25 mm2 die. A single chip can model the temporal evolution of the synaptic weights in networks of up to 384 neurons with an acceleration factor of 105 while recording the neural action potentials with a temporal resolution better than 30 mus biological time. This reduces the time needed for a 10 minute experiment to merely 6 ms, paving the way for complex parameter searches to reproduce biological findings. Due to a digital communication structure larger networks can be built from multiple chips while retaining an acceleration factor of a least 104.
Cytosolic free calcium increases before and oscillates during frustrated phagocytosis in macrophages

When macrophages and neutrophils are allowed to settle onto an appropriate surface, they attach and spread in a frustrated attempt to phagocytose the substrate. Spreading is associated with extensive rearrangements of the actin cytoskeleton which resemble those occurring during phagocytosis. We have previously shown that spreading in human neutrophils is preceded by an increase in cytosolic-free calcium concentration [( Ca2+]i) (Kruskal, B. A., S. Shak, and F. R. Maxfield. 1986. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 83:2919-2923). To assess the generality of this signal, we measured [Ca2+]i in single thioglycollate- elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages as they spread on an immune complex-coated surface, using fura-2 microspectrofluorometry. A [Ca2+]i increase always precedes spreading. This increase can involve several (up to 8) [Ca2+]i spikes, with an average peak value of 387 +/- 227 nM (mean +/- SD, n = 92 peaks in 24 cells), before spreading is detected. Neither spreading nor the magnitude of these spikes is significantly altered by removal of extracellular calcium. Many of the spreading macrophages exhibit periodic [Ca2+]i increases before and during spreading. The proportion which does so varies among experiments from 0 to 90%, but it is frequently greater than 40%. The largest number of cells (approximately 25%) exhibited only a single peak. In 13 cells that showed more than 10 peaks, the median period was 29 s (range 19-69 s). The average peak [Ca2+]i was 385 +/- 266 nM (mean +/- SD, n = 208 peaks in 14 cells). The calcium producing these increases is derived from intracellular pools. The oscillations occur with spreading on either opsonized or nonopsonized surfaces. The function of these oscillations is not clear, but the large number of cells which exhibit them suggest that they may be important to macrophage function.
Quantum canonical transformations in Weyl-Wigner-Groenewold-Moyal formalism

A conjecture in quantum mechanics states that any quantum canonical transformation can decompose into a sequence of three basic canonical transformations; gauge, point and interchange of coordinates and momenta. It is shown that if one attempts to construct the three basic transformations in star-product form, while gauge and point transformations are immediate in star-exponential form, interchange has no correspondent, but it is possible in an ordinary exponential form. As an alternative approach, it is shown that all three basic transformations can be constructed in the ordinary exponential form and that in some cases this approach provides more useful tools than the star-exponential form in finding the generating function for given canonical transformation or vice versa. It is also shown that transforms of c-number phase space functions under linear-nonlinear canonical transformations and intertwining method can be treated within this argument.
Temporal Workload-Aware Replicated Partitioning for Social Networks

Most frequent and expensive queries in social networks involve multi-user operations such as requesting the latest tweets or news-feeds of friends. The performance of such queries are heavily dependent on the data partitioning and replication methodologies adopted by the underlying systems. Existing solutions for data distribution in these systems involve hashor graph-based approaches that ignore the multi-way relations among data. In this work, we propose a novel data partitioning and selective replication method that utilizes the temporal information in prior workloads to predict future query patterns. Our method utilizes the social network structure and the temporality of the interactions among its users to construct a hypergraph that correctly models multi-user operations. It then performs simultaneous partitioning and replication of this hypergraph to reduce the query span while respecting load balance and I/O load constraints under replication. To test our model, we enhance the Cassandra NoSQL system to support selective replication and we implement a social network application (a Twitter clone) utilizing our enhanced Cassandra. We conduct experiments on a cloud computing environment (Amazon EC2) to test the developed systems. Comparison of the proposed method with hash- and enhanced graph-based schemes indicate that it significantly improves latency and throughput.
Focus pre-processing chain for object detection in high resolution remote sensing images

This paper proposes simple focusing techniques to assist high resolution remote sensing imagery users in the task of object detection and recognition. Efficient algorithms in this field are very time consuming and thus hardly compatible with the size of remote sensing data from the market. Meanwhile, objects and areas of interest are usually sparsely spread over the scene. There might even be parts of the scene in which there are little or no chance to meet a given kind of object. We intend to show that with some very simple and fast rules, an astonishing amount of the image can be discarded with little or no important data loss. A priori and templates based techniques are described along with examples. The use of synoptic primal sketches to ease fast assessment of the images content is also developed.
Musical frequency tracking using the methods of conventional and

In two recent papers, a description is given of a means of obtaining an arbitrarily narrow peak in the calculation of the autocorrelation function [J. C. Brown and M. S. Puckette, “Calculation of a narrowed autocorrelation function,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 85, 1595–1601 (1989)] or of a narrow valley in the calculation of an inverse autocorrelation [J. C. Brown and M. S. Puckette, “Musical information from a narrowed autocorrelation function,” Proceedings of the 1987 International Conference on Computer Music, Urbana, Illinois, 84–88 (1987)]. These calculations are applied to the determination of the fundamental frequency of musical signals produced by keyboard, wind, and string instruments. These results are compared to frequency tracking results obtained on these sounds with conventional autocorrelation. In so doing it is determined first whether the method of autocorrelation is well-adapted to the problem of tracking the frequency of musical signals, and, second, under what conditions “narrowed” autocorrel.
Specialty Supplements and Breast Cancer Risk in the VITamins And Lifestyle (VITAL) Cohort

Background: Use of nonvitamin, nonmineral “specialty” supplements has increased substantially over recent decades. Several supplements may have anti-inflammatory or anticancer properties. Additionally, supplements taken for symptoms of menopause have been associated with reduced risk of breast cancer in two case-control studies. However, there have been no prospective studies of the association between the long-term use of these supplements and breast cancer risk. Methods: Participants were female members of the VITamins And Lifestyle (VITAL) Cohort. Postmenopausal women, ages 50 to 76 years, who were residents of western Washington State, completed a 24-page baseline questionnaire in 2000 to 2002 (n = 35,016). Participants were queried on their recency (current versus past), frequency (days/week), and duration (years) of specialty supplement use. Incident invasive breast cancers (n = 880) from 2000 to 2007 were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry. Multivariable-adjusted hazards ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated by Cox proportional hazards models. Results: Current use of fish oil was associated with reduced risk of breast cancer (HR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.50-0.92). Ten-year average use was suggestive of reduced risk (P trend = 0.09). These results held for ductal but not lobular cancers. The remaining specialty supplements were not associated with breast cancer risk: Specifically, use of supplements sometimes taken for menopausal symptoms (black cohosh, dong quai, soy, or St. John's wort) was not associated with risk. Conclusions: Fish oil may be inversely associated with breast cancer risk. Impact: Fish oil is a potential candidate for chemoprevention studies. Until that time, it is not recommended for individual use for breast cancer prevention. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 19(7); 1696–708. ©2010 AACR.
A Face Tracking Algorithm for User Interaction in Mobile Devices

A new face tracking algorithm, and a human-computer interaction technique based on this algorithm, are proposed for use on mobile devices. The face tracking algorithm considers the limitations of mobile use case – constrained computational resources and varying environmental conditions. The solution is based on color comparisons and works on images gathered from the front camera of a device. The face tracking system generates 2D face position as an output that can be used for controlling different applications. Two of such applications are also presented in this work; the first example uses face position to determine the viewpoint, and the second example enables an intuitive way of browsing large images.
Components Analysis in the Metamodelling Based Information System Development

Component-based technology has emerged as a key element in the development of information systems. More and more systems are designed and developed from components instead of from scratch. This paper presents a component taxonomy in the metamodelling based systems development environments, called metaCASE environments. It elaborates on the aspects of structure, functionality, supporting environment, and reusability and provides comparisons between a code component, a model component, and a metamodel component. Through comparison it presents the current state of component based development in metaCASE environments, and reveals challenges and research directions in further research of component based metaCASE environments.
Study on Europium-Doped Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Their Antimicrobial Properties

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis was conducted on europium-doped hydroxyapatite, (PO4)6(OH)2 nanocrystalline powders (Eu:HAp) with . Antimicrobial studies were also performed for the first time on Eu:HAp. The antimicrobial properties of Eu:HAp nanoparticles with on Gram-negative (E. coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 1397) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus 0364, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212) bacteria systems and a species of fungus (Candida albicans ATCC 10231) were reported. Our study demonstrates that the antimicrobial activity of Eu:HAp nanoparticles is dependent on the europium concentration.
Metformin and Cancer Risk in Diabetic Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Metformin, an insulin-lowering agent, has been associated with decreased cancer risk in epidemiologic studies in diabetic patients. We performed a comprehensive literature search and meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies to assess the effect of metformin on cancer incidence and mortality in diabetic patients, using Pubmed, ISI Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane library until May 2009, with no language or time restrictions. Independent reports with sufficient information to allow risk estimation of cancer risk/mortality and a measure of uncertainty were reviewed and cross-checked independently by three investigators. Eleven studies were selected for relevance in terms of intervention, population studied, independence, and reporting of cancer incidence or mortality data, reporting 4,042 cancer events and 529 cancer deaths. A 31% reduction in overall summary relative risk (0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.61-0.79) was found in subjects taking metformin compared with other antidiabetic drugs. The inverse association was significant for pancreatic and hepatocellular cancer, and nonsignificant for colon, breast, and prostate cancer. A trend to a dose-response relationship was noted. Metformin is associated with a decreased risk of cancer incidence compared with other treatments among diabetic patients. Given the retrospective nature of most studies and the possibility that the control treatments increase risk, phase II trials are needed before large cancer prevention trials are launched. Cancer Prev Res; 3(11); 1451–61. ©2010 AACR.
A Survey on Web Application Security

Web applications are one of the most prevalent platforms for information and services delivery over Internet today. As they are increasingly used for critical services, web applications become a popular and valuable target for security attacks. Although a large body of techniques have been developed to fortify web applications and and mitigate the attacks toward web applications, there is little effort devoted to drawing connections among these techniques and building a big picture of web application security research. This paper surveys the area of web application security, with the aim of systematizing the existing techniques into a big picture that promotes future research. We first present the unique aspects in the web application development which bring inherent challenges for building secure web applications. Then we identify three essential security properties that a web application should preserve: input validity, state integrity and logic correctness, and describe the corresponding vulnerabilities that violate these properties along with the attack vectors that exploit these vulnerabilities. We organize the existing research works on securing web applications into three categories based on their design philosophy: security by construction, security by verification and security by protection. Finally, we summarize the lessons learnt and discuss future research opportunities in this area.
Stride and cadence as a biometric in automatic person identification and verification

Presents a correspondence-free method to automatically estimate the spatio-temporal parameters of gait (stride length and cadence) of a walking person from video. Stride and cadence are functions of body height, weight and gender, and we use these biometrics for identification and verification of people. The cadence is estimated using the periodicity of a walking person. Using a calibrated camera system, the stride length is estimated by first tracking the person and estimating their distance travelled over a period of time. By counting the number of steps (again using periodicity) and assuming constant-velocity walking, we are able to estimate the stride to within 1 cm for a typical outdoor surveillance configuration (under certain assumptions). With a database of 17 people and eight samples of each, we show that a person is verified with an equal error rate (EER) of 11%, and correctly identified with a probability of 40%. This method works with low-resolution images of people and is robust to changes in lighting, clothing and tracking errors. It is view-invariant, though performance is optimal in a near-fronto-parallel configuration.
Coordinating on Reducing Advertising: Carbonated Soft Drinks Industry and Combating Obesity

With the rise in obesity levels across the nation, policy makers and public interest groups are taking more interest in advertising of unhealthful foods. The Better Business Bureau has formed the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), which has recruited carbonated soft drink (CSD) manufactures to voluntarily restrict their advertising directed at children less than 12 years of age. This research explores the effects of the CFBAI on firm level advertising to children and adults using nonlinear time series processes. Estimated ARCH processes are significant in all models and capture varying pulse-advertising strategies by all major firms. We find that the market leader does in fact reduce its advertising to both adults and children and the second largest firm reduces advertising to adults. Advertising for the non-participating firm, however, increased for adults following the ban. The results emphasize the potential benefits and difficulty of coordinating cooperative behavior in this type of industry. It appears that policy strategies of this nature may be more effective if directed at industries as a whole and not at individual firms.
The perceptions of African-American female superintendents' career ascendancy patterns in the United States from 2000-2001

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP WILLIAMS WINTHROP, CYNTHIA Y. B.A. OAKWOOD COLLEGE, 1984 M.ED. ANDREWS UNIVERSITY, 1992 THE PERCEPTIONS OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE SUPERINTENDENTS’ CAREER ASCENDANCY PATTERNS IN THE UNITED STATES FROM 2000-200 1 Advisor: Dr. Melanie Carter Dissertation dated May, 2002 This study chronicled the perceptions of African-American female superintendents about their career ascendancy. This study identified factors that impact career ascendancy patterns as identified by African-American female superintendents. These factors included personal factors, educational factors, career factors, sociopolitical factors, and mentoring. The study created a linkage between African-American female administrators and the factors involved in the ascension to the superintendency. The research design selected for this study was a qualitative, descriptive design to identify the experiences and perspectives of African-American female superintendents. The Robison (1992) interview guide and Winthrop 2001 interview guide were the primary instruments.