Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chromatic and spatial properties of parvocellular cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the marmoset (Callithrix jacchus)

The parvocellular (PC) division of the afferent visual pathway is considered to carry neuronal signals which underlie the red–green dimension of colour vision as well as high‐resolution spatial vision. In order to understand the origin of these signals, and the way in which they are combined, the responses of PC cells in dichromatic (‘red–green colour‐blind’) and trichromatic marmosets were compared. Visual stimuli included coloured and achromatic gratings, and spatially uniform red and green lights presented at varying temporal phases and frequencies.
Parametric Versus Nonparametric Data-Aided Channel Estimation in a Multipath Fading Environment

This paper compares a parametric and a nonparametric channel estimation method in a multipath fading environment. In the parametric method the gains and delays are estimated and these estimates are used to compute the samples of the received symbol pulse. In the nonparametric method the samples of the received pulse are estimated directly, ignoring the underlying multipath channel structure. We compare these two channel estimation methods in terms of accuracy (characterized by the MSE on the samples of the received pulse) and computational complexity. We also investigate the influence of channel estimation errors on the BER of a decision feedback equalizer
IIUM Bus on Campus Monitoring System

Malaysia has invested on public transport over the years to improve quality of leaving. Transportation has been identified as the key area in Malaysia's government transformation programme. In Malaysia, many people still choose to use their own transport compared to public transport to travel. For efficient public transport service such as bus, real-time tracking/monitoring must be available apart from their fixed schedule. The objective of this project is to develop a low cost real-time IIUM bus on campus monitoring system. IIUM shuttle bus monitoring has been chosen as a pilot study which reflects the bigger picture of Malaysia's bus system. In IIUM, students need to wait for the bus without any clue and this is such a waste of time. Thus, IIUM bus tracking system is proposed in this project where waiting time can be improved. Users can track the exact location of the bus therefore they can have better plan for their journey. Global positioning system technology has been used to send and receive the coordinate data to the server. A web server application has been developed to integrate the Global positioning system data to be presented on the map. At the end of the project, a website of real-time IIUM bus on campus monitoring system has been developed where users can monitor the exact location of the IIUM bus conveniently.
Implementation of palliative care as a mandatory cross-disciplinary subject (QB13) at the Medical Faculty of the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany

Background: By means of the revision of the Medical Licensure Act for Physicians (ÄAppO) in 2009, undergraduate palliative care education (UPCE) was incorporated as a mandatory cross sectional examination subject (QB13) in medical education in Germany. Its implementation still constitutes a major challenge for German medical faculties. There is a discrepancy between limited university resources and limited patient availabilities and high numbers of medical students. Apart from teaching theoretical knowledge and skills, palliative care education is faced with the particular challenge of imparting a professional and adequate attitude towards incurably ill and dying patients and their relatives. Project description: Against this background, an evidence-based longitudinal UPCE curriculum was systematically developed following Kern’s Cycle [1] and partly implemented and evaluated by the students participating in the pilot project. Innovative teaching methods (virtual standardised/simulated patient contacts, e-learning courses, interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaborative teaching, and group sessions for reflective self-development) aim at teaching palliative care-related core competencies within the clinical context and on an interdisciplinary and interprofessional basis. Results: After almost five years of development and evaluation, the UPCE curriculum comprises 60 teaching units and is being fully implemented and taught for the first time in the winter semester 2014/15. The previous pilot phases were successfully concluded. To date, the pilot phases (n=26), the subproject “E-learning in palliative care” (n=518) and the blended-learning elective course “Communication with dying patients” (n=12) have been successfully evaluated. Conclusion: All conducted development steps and all developed programmes are available for other palliative care educators (Open Access). The integrated teaching formats and methods (video, e-learning module, interprofessional education, group sessions for reflexive self-development) and their evaluations are intended to make a contribution to an evidence-based development of palliative care curricula in Germany.
Transportation Behavior Sensing using Smartphones

Copyright is held by the author/owner(s). UbiComp ’13 Adjunct , Sept 8-12, 2013, Zurich, Switzerland. ACM 978-1-4503-2139-6/13/09. $15.00. Abstract Inferring context information from periods of transportation is an important subtopic of the wider field of mobile and ubiquitous sensing. The transportation behavior reveals information about individual’s physical activity, preferred transit types, mobility patterns and important places. As a platform for mobile sensing, we employ common smartphones, which have matured into a quintessential instrument with both new challenges and new possibilities. The presented research contributes by addressing several key constraints of smartphone based context sensing, including determining the phone’s orientation in real-time, introducing energy-efficient sensor management, and advanced feature engineering from accelerometer.
Common patterns of facial ontogeny in the hominid lineage

Recent evaluation of Neanderthal and modern human ontogeny suggests that taxon‐specific features arose very early in development in both lineages, with early, possibly prenatal, morphological divergence followed by parallel postnatal developmental patterns. Here we use morphometric techniques to compare hominoid facial growth patterns, and show that this developmental phenomenon is, in fact, not unique to comparisons between Neanderthals and modern humans but extends to Australopithecus africanus and to the hominoid lineage more broadly. This finding suggests that a common pattern of juvenile facial development may be more widespread and that the roots of ontogenetically early developmental differentiation are deep—perhaps predating the ape/human split of 6+ million years ago. Anat Rec (New Anat) 269:142–147, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Authoritarian Leadership and Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior: Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement

This study aims to examine how authoritarian leadership influences unethical pro-organizational behavior via moral disengagement. We use 398 valid samples from 10 companies to test our theoretical model. The subjects have certain work experience and are distributed in all walks of life. Results show that authoritarian leadership is positively related to unethical pro-organizational behavior and this positive relationship is partially mediated by moral disengagement. Besides, power distance orientation moderates the strength of mediated relationship between authoritarian leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior via moral disengagement. Keywords: authoritarian leadership, unethical pro-organizational behavior, moral disengagement
Schur Complement Based Analysis of MIMO Zero-Forcing for Rician Fading

For multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) spatial multiplexing with zero-forcing detection (ZF), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) analysis for Rician fading involves the cumbersome noncentral-Wishart distribution (NCWD) of the transmit sample-correlation (Gramian) matrix. An approximation with a virtual CWD previously yielded for the ZF SNR an approximate (virtual) Gamma distribution. However, analytical conditions qualifying the accuracy of the SNR-distribution approximation were unknown. Therefore, we have been attempting to exactly characterize ZF SNR for Rician fading. Our previous attempts succeeded only for the sole Rician-fading stream under Rician-Rayleigh fading, by writing the ZF SNR as scalar Schur complement (SC) in the Gramian. Herein, we pursue a more general matrix-SC-based analysis to characterize SNRs when several streams may undergo Rician fading. On one hand, for full-Rician fading, the SC distribution is found to be exactly a CWD if and only if a channel-mean-correlation condition holds. Interestingly, this CWD then coincides with the virtual CWD ensuing from the approximation. Thus, under the condition, the actual and virtual SNR-distributions coincide. On the other hand, for Rician-Rayleigh fading, the matrix-SC distribution is characterized in terms of the determinant of a matrix with elementary-function entries, which also yields a new characterization of the ZF SNR. Average error probability results validate our analysis vs. simulation.
Frequency-Domain Modeling Techniques for the Scalar Wave Equation : An Introduction

Frequency-domain finite-difference (FDFD) modeling offers several advantages over traditional timedomain methods when simulating seismic wave propagation, including a convenient formulation within the context of wavefield inversion and a straight-forward extension for adding complex attenuation mechanisms. In this short paper we introduce the FDFD method, develop a simple solver for the scalar Helmholtz problem, and explore some possible approaches for solving large scale seismic modeling problems in the frequency domain.
Some Low BER and WER Performance Simulation Results for Linear Block Codes on Rayleigh Fading Channels via DAIS

We use DAIS to obtain very low WER/BER estimates for linear block codes and SPA decoding on the Rayleigh frequency-flat slow-fading AWGN channel using BPSK modulation with interleaving. DAIS results for the (96, 50) LDPC code are compared with standard MC results where practical, demonstrating that DAIS obtains reliable WER/BER estimates to very low values in practical time frames.
On Equivalence Results in Business Cycle Accounting

Business cycle accounting rests on the insight that the prototype neoclassical growth model with time-varying wedges can achieve the same allocation generated by a large class of frictional models: equivalence results. Equivalence results are shown under general conditions about the process of wedges while it is often specified to be the first order vector autoregressive when one applies business cycle accounting to actual data. In this paper, we characterize the class of models covered by the prototype model under the conventional first order vector autoregressive specification of wedges and find that it is much smaller than that believed in previous literature. We also apply business cycle accounting to an artificial economy where the equivalence does not hold and provide a numerical example that business cycle accounting works well even in such an economy.
An introduction to the bootstrap with applications in R

Bootstrap methods are resampling techniques for assessing uncertainty. They are useful when inference is to be based on a complex procedure for which theoretical results are unavailable or not useful for the sample sizes met in practice, where a standard model is suspect but it is unclear with what to replace it, or where a ‘quick and dirty’ answer is required. They can also be used to verify the usefulness of standard approximations for parametric models, and to improve them if they seem to give inadequate inferences. This article, a brief introduction on their use, is based closely on parts of Davison and Hinkley (1997), where further details and many examples and practicals can be found. A different point of view is given by Efron and Tibshirani (1993) and a more mathematical survey by Shao and Tu (1995), while Hall (1992) describes the underlying theory.
Gait recognition based on MEMS accelerometer

Recently, with the rapid development of MEMS technology, the micro-sensor's application in gait research has become more and more widespread, relying on its small size, low cost, light weight, and high precision characteristics. This paper presents a non-specific human gait type recognition system based on a single MEMS accelerometer, and will guide the further study in human identification, motion analysis, medical care, diet plans, etc. After a series of computing and processing the 3D raw acceleration data, by using the wavelet-threshold algorithm, the signal and noise are separated and gait cycles are easily divided. By adopting the pattern recognition theory and the combination method of time domain and frequency domain, the system realizes the gait type recognition. In the experiment the EER can reach 6.29% with 400 sets of acceleration data for test.
VALIDATION OF ZYGOSITY ASSESSMENT BY A SELF-REPORT QUESTIONNAIRE IN A SAMPLE OF ADULT SERBIAN TWINS

Validation of a twin zygosity-estimating questionnaire, The Questionnaire of Twins’ Physical Resemblance, created by Oniszczenko et al. and used in European and Serbian twin studies, was carried out on a sample of 222 pairs (176 monozygotic, 46 dizygotic) of adult twins (average age 24.6). Four discriminant functions, use of different sets of indicators (zygosity questionnaire items), were applied in order to obtain the most correct and accurate estimates of zygosity. The first function was a predefined function used in European twin studies, the following two functions contained sets of 18 and 24 freely estimated indicators respectively, while the last one utilized the items with most consistent contributions to zygosity prediction. The analytic procedure included cross-validation, whereby the sample was randomly split into two subsamples, comprising 107 and 115 twin pairs. The results pointed to successful (over 90% correct) identification of monozygotic twins, and sizeably lower correctness in identifying dizygotic twins. Overall correctness of estimation exceeded 90%, with the small set of best-performing indicators. The results encourage questionnaire estimation of zygosity, and raise the issue of improving the classification procedure in dizygotic twins.
Doing family: The reproduction of heterosexuality in accounts of parenthood

The cultural and legal landscape in the United States has shifted towards increased recognition of LGBQ-parent families. This shift raises questions about the everyday experiences of LGBQ parents and whether the cultural and legal changes also manifest in diminished experiences of discrimination. Drawing on data from 74 interviews with LGBQ parents, we analyze their accounts of whether they are read as a parent by others in their daily interactions. Our findings reveal the ways in which heterosexuality is a key component of how membership to the category of ‘parent’ is produced in social interactions. Our findings also illustrate how assumptions about heterosexuality are both racialized and gendered. Our focus on accountability foregrounds power in everyday interactions and provides a lens through which to understand how inequality and disempowerment for LGBQ people can persist in American society despite cultural and legal changes.
Detecting Cognitive Appraisals from Facial Expressions for Interest Recognition

Interest makes one hold her attention on the object of interest. Automatic recognition of interest has numerous applications in human-computer interaction. In this paper, we study the facial expressions associated with interest and its underlying and closely related components, namely, curiosity, coping potential, novelty and complexity. To this end, we conducted an experiment in which participants watched images and micro-videos while a front-facing camera recorded their expressions. After watching each item they self-reported their level of interest, curiosity, coping potential and perceived novelty and complexity. Using an automated method, we tracked facial action units (AU) and studied the relationship between the presence of facial movements with interest and its related components. We then tracked the facial landmarks, e.g., corners of lips, and extracted features from each response. We trained random forests regression models to detect the level of interest, curiosity, and appraisals. We found a large difference between the way people report and react to interesting visual content. The expressions in response to images and micro-videos were not always pronounced depending on the participants. This makes the direct detection of interest from facial expressions a challenging problem. With this work, for the first time, we demonstrate the feasibility of detecting cognitive appraisals from facial expressions which will open the door for appraisal-driven emotion recognition methods.
Using dynamic information flow analysis to detect attacks against applications

This paper presents a new approach to using dynamic information flow analysis to detect attacks against application software. The approach can be used to reveal and, under some conditions, to prevent attacks that violate a specified information flow policy or exhibit a known information flow signature. When used in conjunction with automatic cluster analysis, the approach can also reveal novel attacks that exhibit unusual patterns of information flows. A set of prototype tools implementing the approach have been developed for Java byte code programs. Case studies in which this approach was applied to several subject programs are described.
Modelling Nitrogen Distribution in Virtual Plants, as Exemplified by Wheat Culm During Grain Filling

Nitrogen is fundamental for plant growth. In cereals, growing grains represent a strong sink that triggers nitrogen remobilisation from vegetative organs and results in plant death. A better understanding of this mechanism would help in optimizing crop productivity while reducing fertilization. This work presents an experimental analysis and a process–based model of the spatiotemporal nitrogen distribution during grain filling in winter wheat culms. Nitrogen was distributed homogeneously within individual laminae and sheaths, but a strong gradient existed between organs at successive positions along the culm. During grain filling, the changes in nitrogen content of individual laminae and sheaths showed identical patterns, differing only by a scale factor. Modelling N content of each lamina as the result of the turnover of photosynthetic nitrogen and supposing that all organs share a single pool of mobile nitrogen allowed predicting the observed patterns with high accuracy. This offers new insight for modelling plant nitrogen economy.
On commuting elements and embeddings of graph groups and monoids

Abstract We study commutation properties of subsets of right-angled Artin groups and trace monoids. We show that if Γ is any graph not containing a four-cycle without chords, then the group G(Γ) does not contain four elements whose commutation graph is a four-cycle; a consequence is that G(Γ) does not have a subgroup isomorphic to a direct product of non-abelian groups. We also obtain corresponding and more general results in the monoid case.
Toward big data in QSAR/QSPR

We investigate a prospective path to processing “big data” in the field of computer-aided drug design, motivated by the expected increase of the size of available databases. We argue that graph machines, which exempt the designer of a predictive model from handcrafting, selecting and computing ad hoc molecular descriptors, may open a way toward efficient model design procedures. We recall the principle of graph machines, which perform predictions directly from the molecular structure described as a graph, without resorting to descriptors. We discuss scalability issues in the present implementation of graph machines, and we describe an application to the prediction of an important thermodynamic property of contrast agents for MRI imaging.
Why allowing profile name reuse is a bad idea

Twitter allows their users to change profile name at their discretion. Unfortunately, this design decision can be used by attackers to effortlessly hijack user names of popular accounts. We call this practice profile name squatting. In this paper, we investigate this name squatting phenomenon, and show how this can be used to mount impersonation attacks and attract a larger number of victims to potentially malicious content. We observe that malicious users are already performing this attack on Twitter and measure its prevalence. We provide insights into the characteristics of such malicious users, and argue that these problems could be solved if the social network never released old user names for others to use.
On the use of homogeneous transformations to map human hand movements onto robotic hands

Replicating the human hand capabilities is a great challenge in telemanipulation as well as in autonomous grasping and manipulation. One of the main issues is the difference between human and robotic hands in terms of kinematic structure, which does not allow a direct correlation of the joints. We recently proposed an object-based mapping algorithm able to replicate on several robotic hand models the human hand synergies. In such approach the virtual object shapes were a-priori defined (e.g. a sphere or an ellipsoid) and the transformation was represented as the composition of a rigid body motion and a scale variation. In this work, we introduce a generalization of the object-based mapping that overcomes the definition of a shape for the virtual object. We consider only a set of reference points on the hands. We estimate a homogeneous transformation matrix that represents how the human hand motion changes its reference point positions. The same transformation is then imposed to the reference points on the robotic hand and the joints values obtained through a kinematic inversion technique. The mapping approach is suitable also for telemanipulation scenarios where the hand joint motions are combined with a wrist displacement.
Implementing block cipher on embedded multiprocessors platform

Multiprocessor platforms are gaining markets as a solution to boost general performance of processor beyond technological limitations that are present in single processors chips, Multi-processor in embedded systems also have a future in particular with applications like SDR(Software Defined Radio) where both high performance and high adaptability are required. Cryptographic algorithms implementation on embedded systems is also a hot topic for the rapidly developing wireless communication networks. In this paper we examine the implementation of the computation-intensive block ciphers AES and TDES algorithms on a 16 processors platform implemented on FPGA, we implemented a CBC operation mode which suites mass encryption on the platform and we obtained a linear speedup in computation time