Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Online Reconstruction of Indoor Scenes from RGB-D Streams

A system capable of performing robust online volumetric reconstruction of indoor scenes based on input from a handheld RGB-D camera is presented. Our system is powered by a two-pass reconstruction scheme. The first pass tracks camera poses at video rate and simultaneously constructs a pose graph on-the-fly. The tracker operates in real-time, which allows the reconstruction results to be visualized during the scanning process. Live visual feedbacks makes the scanning operation fast and intuitive. Upon termination of scanning, the second pass takes place to handle loop closures and reconstruct the final model using globally refined camera trajectories. The system is online with low delay and returns a dense model of sufficient accuracy. The beauty of this system lies in its speed, accuracy, simplicity and ease of implementation when compared to previous methods. We demonstrate the performance of our system on several real-world scenes and quantitatively assess the modeling accuracy with respect to ground truth models obtained from a LIDAR scanner.
Socially Driven Consistent Behavioural Differences during Development in Common Ravens and Carrion Crows

Consistent individual differences in behaviour, or ‘personality’, are likely to be influenced by development, social context, and species ecology, though few comparative, longitudinal studies exist. Here, we investigated the role of development and social context on personality variation in two identically reared, social corvids: common ravens and carrion crows. We repeatedly presented subjects with a variety of novel food and objects, while alone and in a primarily sibling subgroup, from fledging to sub-adulthood. We predicted that consistent individual differences would emerge later in development, and that conspecific presence would facilitate behavioural similarities. In contrast to our predictions, we found that individuals of both species were highly inconsistent in their behavioural responses throughout the development period. In line with our predictions, though in the ravens only, conspecific presence promoted behavioural similarities as individuals were strongly shaped by their subgroup, and it is likely that these effects were driven by social context rather than relatedness. We discuss these findings in relation to developmental steps and the role of social relations in these species. Overall, our findings highlight that these two species are highly adaptable in their behaviour, and the ravens in particular are strongly influenced by their social environment, which may facilitate cooperation and social learning.
Chances and limits of a thermal control for a three-phase voltage source inverter in traction applications using permanent magnet synchronous or induction machines

The lifetime of power semiconductor devices strongly depends on their mission profile. The main influence limiting the lifetime are thermal cycles causing thermo-mechanical stress. Using the example of a three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI) feeding an induction (IM) or a permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM), this paper will present a thermal control strategy to increase the lifetime of the power semiconductors within the VSI. Especially within traction applications, the occurring operation points are very unsteady and rarely predictable. Therefore a thermal control is designed to dynamically react on changing operation points. The performance of the proposed thermal control using both machine types is proved at a real setup for load cycles similar to traction applications. By measuring the junction temperatures of the power semiconductors, a lifetime estimation is done to compare the different control strategies.
Herausforderungen im Förderschwerpunkt geistige Entwicklung aus Sicht von Lehrenden: Eine Analyse mit der Methode kritischer Ereignisse

Die vorliegende Untersuchung identifiziert Herausforderungen fur Lehrkrafte im Forderschwerpunkt geistige Entwicklung an unterschiedlichen schulischen Forderorten. Zur Identifikation der Probleme wird die Methode der kritischen Ereignisse von Flanagan (1954) herangezogen. Die Erfassung von schwierigen Situationen erfolgt in Gruppendiskussionen mit Lehrenden, die inhaltsanalytisch ausgewertet werden. Gemas den ermittelten Ergebnissen stellt auffalliges Verhalten von Schulerinnen und Schulern die groste Herausforderung dar, vor allem aggressive Handlungen und anhaltendes Schreien. Weitere Herausforderungen liegen in nicht gelingender inklusiver Beschulung sowie im Spannungsfeld divergierender Erwartungen, Anspruche und Konflikte, die die Kooperation unterschiedlicher Professionen und mit den Eltern charakterisieren. In der Folge sind Unterricht und Fordermasnahmen beeintrachtigt und es entstehen Unruhe, Angste und Konflikte. Lehrende beklagen Uberforderung, verbunden mit hoher psychischer und physischer Belastung. Aus den identifizierten Ereignissen lassen sich Handlungsansatze zur Bewaltigung bzw. praventiven Verhinderung entwickeln. (DIPF/Orig.) The present study identifies challenges for teachers in the field of intellectual disabilities in inclusive and special school settings. Methodologically the study is based on the critical incident technique according to Flanagan (1954). By this technique group discussions referring to critical incidents are analyzed by qualitative content analysis. The members of the group discussions were teachers and teacher educators from different schools. The analysis revealed that the greatest challenge is behavioural difficulties, in particular aggressions and long-lasting screaming. Further challenges are the failing of inclusive schooling, and tensions and conflicts, resulting from divergent expectations and aspirations, in the interdisciplinary collaboration and in the cooperation with the parents. Challenges like these impede lessons and students’ support, and cause unrest, anxiety and conflicts. Teachers complain of being overwhelmed and feel a high level of mental and physical strain. The results of this study help to develop strategies to deal with the identified challenges or to prevent them in the first place. (DIPF/Orig.)
Cell Activation and Senescence Predict Subclinical Carotid Artery Disease in HIV-Infected Women

Robert C. Kaplan,1 Elizabeth Sinclair,2 Alan L. Landay,4 Nell Lurain,4 A. Richey Sharrett,5 Stephen J. Gange,5 Xiaonan Xue,1 Peter Hunt,2 Roksana Karim,3 David M. Kern,1 Howard N. Hodis,3 and Steven G. Deeks2 1Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York; 2Division of Experimental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, and 3Atherosclerosis Research Unit, Departments of Medicine and Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; 4Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois; and 5Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
Online Multiple Kernel Learning for Structured Prediction

Despite the recent progress towards efficient multiple kernel learning (MKL), the structured output case remains an open research front. Current approaches involve repeatedly solving a batch learning problem, which makes them inadequate for large scale scenarios. We propose a new family of online proximal algorithms for MKL (as well as for group-lasso and variants thereof), which overcomes that drawback. We show regret, convergence, and generalization bounds for the proposed method. Experiments on handwriting recognition and dependency parsing testify for the successfulness of the approach.
On the Detection and Estimation of Long Memory in Stochastic Volatility 1 Long Memory in Stochastic Volatility

Recent studies have suggested that stock markets' volatility has a type of long-range dependence that is not appropriately described by the usual Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedastic (GARCH) and Exponential GARCH (EGARCH) models. In this paper, diierent models for describing this long-range dependence are examined and the properties of a Long-Memory Stochastic Volatility (LMSV) model, constructed by incorporating an Autoregressive Fractionally Integrated Moving Average (ARFIMA) process in a stochastic volatility scheme, are discussed. Strongly consistent estimators for the parameters of this LMSV model are obtained by maximizing the spectral likelihood. The distribution of the estimators is analyzed by means of a Monte Carlo study. The LMSV is applied to daily stock market returns providing an improved description of the volatility behavior. In order to assess the empirical relevance of this approach, tests for long-memory volatility are described and applied to an extensive set of stock market series, presenting substantial evidence for the existence of long-memory volatility. 1 The authors had the privilege of presenting this paper at the conference in honor of Professor Carl Christ held at the Johns Hopkins University in April 1995. We are thankful to Patrick Asea and participants at the conference, as well as to Francis Diebold, Thomas Epps, and Roger Pinkham for helpful comments and suggestions which led to improvements of this paper. Any remaining insuuciencies are our own.
Vertical decomposition of shallow levels in 3-dimensional arrangements and its applications

Let ${\cal F}$ be a collection of $n$ bivariate algebraic functions of constant maximum degree. We show that the combinatorial complexity of the vertical decomposition of the ${\le}k$-level of the arrangement ${\cal A}({\cal F})$ is $O(k^{3+\varepsilon}\psi({n/k}))$, for any $\varepsilon<0$, where $\psi (r)$ is the maximum complexity of the lower envelope of a subset of at most $r$ functions of ${\cal F}$. This bound is nearly optimal in the worst case, and implies the existence of shallow cuttings of small size in arrangements of bivariate algebraic functions. We also present numerous applications of these results, including: (i) data structures for several generalized three-dimensional range searching problems; (ii) dynamic data structures for planar nearest and farthest neighbor searching under various fairly general distance functions; (iii) %dynamic data structures for maintaining bichromatic %closest pairs under a fairly general distance function, and for %maintaining minimum spanning trees of a set of points under an improved (near-quadratic) algorithm for minimum-weight bipartite Euclidean matching in the plane; and (iv) efficient algorithms for certain geometric optimization problems in static and dynamic settings.
On the Modelling of Option Processes ∗

This paper considers the modelling of option prices by using the pricing function’s parameter processes. Our pricing function is derived by using transformation analysis and by assuming a jump-diffusion process for the underlying asset. According to our numerical example with S&P 500 options, the parameters related to the down jumps affect the prices more significantly than those governing stochastic volatility or the up jumps. In our example, hedging the uncertainties in the parameters improves the performance of a simple delta hedge on average by 14.3 percent. Uncertainty in the stochastic volatility parameters is most important in hedging the options, although on average it has a smaller effect on option prices than the down jumps.
Lower Bounds on the Mean Square Error in Emission Tomography for Different Image Approximations

| A lower bound on the mean square error (MSE) of image reconstruction in emission tomography is obtained and used in the evaluation of diierent image approximations. One component of the lower bound on the MSE is the Cram er-Rao (CR) bound on the error variance. The CR bound for diierent image approximations is derived by knowing how the CR bound is modiied when one is interested in some functions of the model parameters. The other component of the lower bound on the MSE is the square of the bias. The study of the lower bound on the MSE for diierent image approximations is the study of the tradeoo between bias and error variance. It is shown that the relative contribution of the two components changes for diierent image approximations, total number of counts and emission densities.
Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry: Beyond Bone Mineral Density Determination

Significant improvements in dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) concerning quality, image resolution and image acquisition time have allowed the development of various functions. DXA can evaluate bone quality by indirect analysis of micro- and macro-architecture of the bone, which and improve the prediction of fracture risk. DXA can also detect existing fractures, such as vertebral fractures or atypical femur fractures, without additional radiologic imaging and radiation exposure. Moreover, it can assess the metabolic status by the measurement of body composition parameters like muscle mass and visceral fat. Although more studies are required to validate and clinically use these parameters, it is clear that DXA is not just for bone mineral densitometry.
Testing for a Unit Root Against Transitional Autoregressive Models

This article develops a novel test for a unit root in general transitional autoregressive models, which is based on the infimum of t‐ratios for the coefficient of a parametrized transition function. Our test allows for very flexible specifications of the transition function and short‐run dynamics and is significantly more powerful than all the other existing tests. Moreover, we develop a large sample theory general enough to deal with randomly drifting parameter spaces, which is essential to properly test for a unit root against stationary transitional models. An empirical application of our test to the exchange rate data is also provided.
MODEL BUILDING FOR LARGE SCALE INSPECTIONS

This paper focuses on data enhancement, the process of building multi- resolution, multi-modal models to be manipulated and displayed with human interaction. The goal of this research is to develop a method for answering the challenge of enhancing data. This method consists of building a data structure with multi- resolution capabilities for data display. This process increases the effectiveness of human performance during data manipulation by maintaining a high level of understanding for a scene being displayed at any resolution.
A High-Speed, Low-Power Phase Frequency Detector and Charge-Pump Circuits for High Frequency Phase-Locked Loops (Special Section on VLSI Design and CAD Algorithms)

In this paper, we introduce a high-speed and low-power Phase-Frequency Detector (PFD) that is designed using a modified TSPC (True Single-Phase Clock) positive edge triggered D flip-flop . The proposed PFD has a simple structure with using only 19 transistors. The operation range of this PFD is over 1.4GHz without using additional prescaler circuits. Furthermore, the PFD has a dead zone less than 0.01ns in the phase characteristics and has low phase sensitivity errors. The phase and frequency error detection range is not limited as in the case of the pt-type and nc-type PFDs [3]. Also, the PFD is independent of the duty cycle of input signals. Also, a new charge-pump circuit is presented that is based on a charge-amplifier. A stand-by current of the proposed charge-pump circuit enhances the speed of charge-pump and removes the charge sharing which causes a phase noise in the charge pump PLL. Furthermore, the effect of clock feedthrough is reduced by separating the output stage from up and down signal. The simulation results base on a third order PLL are presented to verify the lock in process with the proposed PFD and charge pump circuits. The proposed PFD and chargepump circuits are designed using 0. 8μm CMOS technology with 5V supply voltage. key words: PFD, charge-pump, low-power, PLL, high-speed, D flip-flop, error detection range
The study of personalized recommendation technology based content and project collaborative filtering combines

Collaborative filtering is more successful techniques which in personalized recommendation system. However, with the site structure, content of the complexity and increasing number of users, collaborative filtering algorithm has encountered real-time, data sparseness; scalability and cold start other problems. In view of this deficiency, this paper is proposed combination recommendation technologies to improve collaborative filtering algorithms, and for the improved algorithm to simulation experiments, verify the improved algorithm is reasonable and effective, Effective improve the recommendation quality of electronic commerce recommendation algorithm.
The effect of dialysis on the lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status of boar seminal plasma during liquid preservation.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of dialysis on the lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status in liquid stored boar semen. Seventeen ejaculates obtained from eight boars were divided into two aliquots. One aliquot was dialyzed; the other was used as a control. Semen was then stored at 16-17 °C for three days. Sperm quality parameters, capacitation status, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), superoxide dismutase activity (SOD) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of dialyzed and non-dialyzed semen were measured. The effect of lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status on semen quality was evaluated. Removal of low molecular weight components (LMWC) from seminal plasma by dialysis resulted in a signifi cantly higher percentage of morphologically normal spermatozoa (P = 0.002). Dialysis moderated the increasing level of acrosomal reacted spermatozoa, showing a signifi cantly lower level of acrosomal reacted spermatozoa in dialyzed semen samples according to each day of storage (P<0.05). SOD increased with storage time in both groups, whereas control samples showed signifi cantly higher levels of SOD than dialyzed ones (P<0.05). Dialyses yielded a signifi cant decrease in TAC and an increase in the level of TBARS (P<0.05). Our results show that elevated levels of SOD in dialyzed semen are not able to counterbalance decreased levels of TAC and prevent oxidative injures to the spermatozoal sperm membrane.
Privacy issues in social networking platforms: comparative study of facebook developers platform and opensocial

Most of the privacy research in online social networks has focused on protecting profile information of users from other users of online social networks. Another equally important research area is protection of users profile information from social applications. With the introduction of the Google's OpenSocial and Facebook's Developer Platform millions of third party developers are building thousands of social applications for existing massive user base. This fact poses serious privacy risk because current social networking platforms don't provide any mechanism to control disclosure of user's personal information to social applications and their developers. In this paper, we investigate two very popular social networking platform s, i.e. Facebook Developers Platform and OpenSocial. We demonstrate inherit flaws in these social networking platforms. We also point out limitations in existing solutions to the problem suggested by researcher community in the area. We recognise the need for extension of current APIs available for these social networking platforms so that extended version of APIs provide fine grain access control to the user of online social networks.
Motivation, rationale and key results from the GERBILS Saharan dust measurement campaign

The Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget Intercomparison of Longwave and Shortwave radiation (GERBILS) was an observational field experiment over North Africa during June 2007. The campaign involved 10 flights by the FAAM BAe‐146 research aircraft over southwestern parts of the Sahara Desert and coastal stretches of the Atlantic Ocean. Objectives of the GERBILS campaign included characterisation of mineral dust geographic distribution and physical and optical properties, assessment of the impact upon radiation, validation of satellite remote sensing retrievals, and validation of numerical weather prediction model forecasts of aerosol optical depths (AODs) and size distributions. We provide the motivation behind GERBILS and the experimental design and report the progress made in each of the objectives. We show that mineral dust in the region is relatively non‐absorbing (mean single scattering albedo at 550 nm of 0.97) owing to the relatively small fraction of iron oxides present (1–3%), and that detailed spectral radiances are most accurately modelled using irregularly shaped particles. Satellite retrievals over bright desert surfaces are challenging owing to the lack of spectral contrast between the dust and the underlying surface. However, new techniques have been developed which are shown to be in relatively good agreement with AERONET estimates of AOD and with each other. This encouraging result enables relatively robust validation of numerical models which treat the production, transport, and deposition of mineral dust. The dust models themselves are able to represent large‐scale synoptically driven dust events to a reasonable degree, but some deficiencies remain both in the Sahara and over the Sahelian region, where cold pool outflow from convective cells associated with the intertropical convergence zone can lead to significant dust production. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society and British Crown Copyright, the Met Office
Using the Balanced Scorecard and the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence model as a combined roadmap for diagnosing and attaining excellence

The objective of the research presented in this paper is to identify the relations and strength of the relationships between the elements of two models – the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence model. For that purpose, a framework which indicates the relationships between the mentioned models has been developed. The hypothesis to be tested is whether the EFQM Excellence model may be used as an indicator of BSC implementation success. Hypothesis testing is based on data from a sample of 150 Serbian organisations. The results suggest that there are strong positive correlations between the BSC perspectives and the EFQM Excellence model criteria. Since the regression coefficients for the relationships between the BSC perspectives and the EFQM criteria are significant, with high positive values, the research results indicate a strong justification of the developed framework.
Pattern-Based Tool Design for Shared Knowledge Construction

The rapid evolution and development of computing systems and networking technologies resulted in the use of the Internet as a global communication infrastructure. Every day new computers or local area networks are connected via gateways and Internet service providers to the Internet and contributes to its exponential growth. The popularity of the Internet is largely due to the influence of the World Wide Web (WWW). The WWW is the fastest growing segment of the Internet and is now accepted as the standard information support system in many important sectors of life activities such as finance, education, travel, business, science, health care, art etc. Nowadays, the WWW is the platform for all kinds of information sharing and cooperation as well as communication forms. Furthermore, the WWW is currently performing a shift from the single-user-centered usage to support AbstrACt