Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
AUTO LANDING PROCESS FOR AUTONOMOUS FLYING ROBOT BY USING IMAGE PROCESSING BASED ON EDGE DETECTION

In today’s technological life, everyone is quite familiar with the importance of security measures in our lives. So in this regard, many attempts have been made by researchers and one of them is flying robots technology. One well-known usage of flying robot, perhaps, is its capability in security and care measurements which made this device extremely practical, not only for its unmanned movement, but also for the unique manoeuvre during flight over the arbitrary areas. In this research, the automatic landing of a flying robot is discussed. The system is based on the frequent interruptions that is sent from main microcontroller to camera module in order to take images; these images have been distinguished by image processing system based on edge detection, after analysing the image the system can tell whether or not to land on the ground. This method shows better performance in terms of precision as well as experimentally.
The poetics and politics of polyphony: towards a research method for interactive documentary

This article stems from a panel we jointly convened at the i-Docs 2018 Symposium, where we presented a series of provocations with a view to generating a new theoretical framework for i-docs. These provocations were inspired by all aspects of Mikhail Bakthin’s concept of polyphony, from both a theoretical and a practical point of view. This article presents these provocations and reflects further on them. A number of key issues are documented, expanded and commented upon, as a potential framework for further research, including multiplicity, the chronotope, dialogism and interaction. We propose that these lead to new ways of approaching complexity. With the aim of using juxtaposition, nonlinearity and layering to break down binaries, the article demonstrates how complexity can be embraced and, crucially, how the simplicity within it can be revealed. In other words, a key proposition here is that we should accept and celebrate complexity as the natural order of things, without needing to deny simplicity. By investigating several theoretical aspects of Bakthin’s wider idea of polyphony, this article identifies some areas for potential development and offers input for further research, particularly in relation to the concepts of heteroglossia, carnival and aesthetics.
Evaluation of Surround-View and Self-Rotation in the OCTAVIS VR-System

In this paper we evaluate spatial presence and orientation in the OctaVis system, a novel virtual reality platform aimed at training and rehabilitation of visual-spatial cognitive abilities. It consists of eight touch-screen displays surrounding the user, thereby providing a 360° horizontal panorama view. A rotating office chair and a joystick in the armrest serve as input devices to easily navigate through the virtual environment. We conducted a two-step experiment to investigate spatial orientation capabilities with our device. First, we examined whether the extension of the horizontal field of view from 135° (three displays) to 360° (eight displays) has an effect on spatial presence and on the accuracy in a pointing task. Second, driving the full eight screens, we explored the effect of embodied self-rotation using the same measures. In particular we compare navigation by rotating the world while the user is sitting stable to a stable world and a self-rotating user.
Comparative Experiments for Multilingual Sentiment Analysis Using Machine Translation

Sentiment analysis is the Natural Language Processing (NLP) task dealing with sentiment detection and classiﬁcation from text. Given the importance of user-generated contents on the recent Social Web, this task has received much attention from the NLP research community in the past years. Sentiment analysis has been studied in different types of texts and in the context of distinct domains. However, only a small part of the research concentrated on dealing with sentiment analysis for languages other than English, which most of the times lack or have few lexical resources In this context, the present article proposes and evaluates the use of machine translation and supervised methods to deal with sentiment analysis in a multilingual context. Our extensive evaluation scenarios, for German, Spanish and French, using three different machine translation systems and various supervised algorithms show that SMT systems can start to be employed to obtain good quality data for other languages. Subsequently, this data can be employed to train classiﬁers for sentiment analysis in these languages, reaching performances close to the one obtained for English.
Gender-Based Perspectives of eLearning Systems: An Empirical Study of Social Sustainability

Digital technologies have an increasing impact on our everyday life. A large impact of software engineering on society also means that socio-cultural factors are becoming crucial for software systems. The gender and cultural diversity have significant impact not only on the software development process but also on the overall sustainability of the software as well as on the society where the software is used. Thus, these diversity aspects should be analysed while developing a software system. This paper presents an empirical study that investigates the gender and cultural differences in needs and usage of system features. Our focus is on eLearning systems used in Australia and Saudi Arabia, but the results of the study might be expanded to other application domains. To explore the differences, we applied a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods on the data collected from 177 participants. The results demonstrated the cultural and gender diversity may have a significant impact on user needs and preferences.
Tip of the Red Giant Branch distances to galaxies with composite stellar populations

The accurate determination of galaxy relative distances is extremely important for the empirical calibration of the uncertain metallicity dependence of some standard candles like Cepheid stars, or for studying the galaxy space distribution and peculiar velocities. Here we have investigated the reliability of the widely used I-band Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB) relative distances for a sample of Local Group galaxies with complex star formation histories (SFHs) and age–metallicity relationships (AMRs) namely the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and LGS3. The use of the K band is also discussed. By employing theoretical stellar population synthesis techniques, we find that using actual determinations of SFH and AMR of the LMC and SMC, their RGB is populated by stars much younger (by ∼9 Gyr) than the Galactic globular cluster counterparts, on which the I-band (and K-band) TRGB absolute magnitude is calibrated. This age difference induces a bias in both the photometric metallicity estimates based on the comparison of RGB colours with globular cluster ones, and the TRGB distances. The extent of the distance bias – which is not influenced by the actual value of the TRGB absolute magnitude zero-point – is strongly dependent on the specific TRGB technique applied, and on the assumed I-band bolometric correction (BCI) scale adopted; the correction to apply to the SMC–LMC distance modulus ranges from 0 up to +0.10 mag. LGS3 is an example of a galaxy populated mainly by old stars, so that photometric metallicity and distance estimates using globular cluster calibrations are reliable. However, the relative distance moduli between the Magellanic Clouds and LGS3 are affected by the population effects discussed for the LMC and SMC. The correction to apply to the LGS3–LMC distance modulus ranges between −0.05 and +0.14 mag, whereas in the case of the LGS3–SMC distance modulus it goes from −0.07 to +0.04 mag. In the case of all three relative distances discussed before, the correction to apply to the K-band TRGB distances are larger than the I-band case. Our results clearly show that the presence of a well-developed RGB in the colour – magnitude diagram of a stellar system with a complex SFH does not guarantee that it is populated by globular cluster-like red giants, and therefore the TRGB method for distance determination has to be applied with caution. A definitive assessment of the appropriate corrections for population effects on TRGB distances has, however, to wait for a substantial reduction in the uncertainties on the BCI scale for cold stars.
Fast algorithms for restoration of color wireless capsule endoscopy images

Wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE) has been widely adopted to diagnose diseases in human intestine on account of its convenience and invasiveness to the patients. Due to complicated environment of the intestine and intrinsic restrictions of the equipment in terms of image acquisition and transmission, however, raw WCE images are often blurred and noise contaminated. In this paper, we report several new developments for the restoration of color WCE images in a total variation (TV) minimization framework. Specifically, the monotone fast iterative shrinkage/thresholding algorithm combined with the fast gradient projection algorithm, proposed recently by Beck and Teboulle, is extended to deal with vector-valued (e.g. color) images. The new algorithm also incorporates a bisection technique to tune the weighting parameter of the TV-Frobenius objective function to its optimal value quickly and accurately. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.
Reduced-Length Rat-Race Couplers

In this paper, analysis of a rat-race coupler having three equal arms of arbitrary electrical length is presented. All of these couplers have lower characteristic impedances than the conventional 1.5-lambda coupler and some of them have smaller electrical lengths. Bandwidths in terms of isolation, matching, amplitude, and phase imbalances are also discussed. A reduced-size rat-race coupler of length 19lambda/18 at the operating frequency of 0.9 GHz has been fabricated in the microstrip line. Experimental results agree well with the theoretical predictions.
Eco-friendly reduction of travel times in european smart cities

This article proposes an innovative solution for reducing polluting gas emissions from road traffic in modern cities. It is based on our new Red Swarm architecture which is composed of a series of intelligent spots with WiFi connections that can suggest a customized route to drivers. We have tested our proposal in four different case studies corresponding to actual European smart cities. To this end, we first import the city information from OpenStreetMap into the SUMO road traffic micro-simulator, propose a Red Swarm architecture based on intelligent spots located at traffic lights, and then optimize the resulting system in terms of travel times and gas emissions by using an evolutionary algorithm. Our results show that an important quantitative reduction in gas emissions as well as in travel times can be achieved when vehicles are rerouted according to our Red Swarm indications. This represents a promising result for the low cost implementation of an idea that could engage the interest of both citizens and municipal authorities.
Performance of MIMO MC-CDMA system with channel estimation equalization and relay

This paper analyzes the bit error rate (BER) performance of cooperative communication using relays which is capable of efficiently combating wireless impairments and hence will extend the coverage. With the requirement of higher data rate, the distortion of the received signal caused by multipath fading channel becomes a major problem. The relay assisted multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) Multi carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) system can tackle the problem and provide higher data rate for future wireless communication system. But inter symbol interference (ISI) caused by the frequency selectivity of the channel affect the overall performance. To improve the performance of the system further, it is proposed to incorporate channel estimation based equalization and relaying in MIMO MC-CDMA system. The simulation results show performance can be still with higher number of sub carriers (SCs) and antenna configuration.
Death and dying: elderly persons’ experiences of grief over the loss of family members

Background: Death is one of life’s few certainties and a universal experience for all individuals. When death occurs there is usually an impact on the family and friends of the deceased, the magnitude of which often depends on whether death was expected or unexpected. The grieving experiences of the elderly are rarely discussed. The purpose of this study was to describe experiences of grief and reactions to the death of family members amongst the elderly. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to obtain data from elderly women in Ga-Rankuwa, Gauteng, to gain insight into the experiences of grief in this age group. Purposive sampling was used to conduct in-depth interviews with 10 elderly women whose family members had died. The data were analysed using a thematic approach. Results: The findings show that the elderly were exposed to multiple deaths of family members. The participants helplessly experienced with sorrow the death of family members, had experienced death anxiety, and relinquished control to God in terms of deaths. Conclusions: The response to death of the elderly affirms that it cannot be assumed that multiple death experiences establish their readiness or ability to handle these experiences and to grieve successfully. It can be concluded that the grieving process of the elderly is not different from any other age group and that they will also require the type of support and assistance considered for younger persons in times of grieving.
Making usability work in industry: an Australian practitioner perspective

The gap in usability knowledge between research and industry practice is an important one to bridge. This paper presents the findings of 12 interviews with usability practitioners. The interviews focus on eliciting stories about successful and unsuccessful usability outcomes. The analysis shows that an iterative usability process, ensuring stakeholder involvement, articulating usability goals and requirements and avoiding technological constraints are critical issues to achieving a successful usability outcome in a project.
Comparison between SLOCs and number of files as size metrics for software evolution analysis

There are some concerns in the research community about the convenience of using low-level metrics (such as SLOC, source lines of code) for characterizing the evolution of software, instead of the more traditional higher lever metrics (such as the number of modules or files). This issue has been raised in particular after some studies that suggest that libre (free, open source) software evolves differently than 'traditional' software, and therefore it does not conform to Lehman's laws of software evolution. Since those studies on libre software evolution use SLOCs as the base metric, while Lehman's and other traditional studies use modules or files, it is difficult to compare both cases. To overcome this difficulty, and to explore the differences between SLOC and files/modules counts in libre software projects, we have selected a large sample of programs and have calculated both size metrics over time. Our study shows that in those cases the evolution patterns in both cases (counting SLOCs or files) is the same, and that some patterns not conforming to Lehman's laws are indeed apparent
How Reconceptualization of the Self Is Negotiated in Psychotherapy: An Exploratory Study of the Therapeutic Collaboration

This case study explores the collaboration that occurs between therapist and client when reconceptualization innovative moments emerge. Reconceptualization innovative moments are exceptions to the problematic self-narrative that brought the client to therapy and are associated with successful psychotherapy. Reconceptualization innovative moments have two main components: a contrast between a past problematic facet and a current, more adjusted one (e.g., before I did/thought/felt X . . . , now, I do/think/feel Y) and an attribution for what allowed this transformation to occur (e.g., this was possible because I realized Z). The collaboration between therapist and client was analyzed using the Therapeutic Collaboration Coding System, which conceptualizes the relationship as collaborative or as noncollaborative. The majority of interactions in this case were clearly collaborative, with the therapist and client working inside the therapeutic zone of proximal development, which is typical of successful psychotherapy cases. Reconceptualization innovative moments begin with collaborative exchanges in which the therapist supported the problem and the client elaborated on the change afterward. Implications of these findings for change in psychotherapy are discussed.
A Spectral-Texture Kernel-Based Classification Method for Hyperspectral Images

Classification of hyperspectral images always suffers from high dimensionality and very limited labeled samples. Recently, the spectral-spatial classification has attracted considerable attention and can achieve higher classification accuracy and smoother classification maps. In this paper, a novel spectral-spatial classification method for hyperspectral images by using kernel methods is investigated. For a given hyperspectral image, the principle component analysis (PCA) transform is first performed. Then, the first principle component of the input image is segmented into non-overlapping homogeneous regions by using the entropy rate superpixel (ERS) algorithm. Next, the local spectral histogram model is applied to each homogeneous region to obtain the corresponding texture features. Because this step is performed within each homogenous region, instead of within a fixed-size image window, the obtained local texture features in the image are more accurate, which can effectively benefit the improvement of classification accuracy. In the following step, a contextual spectral-texture kernel is constructed by combining spectral information in the image and the extracted texture information using the linearity property of the kernel methods. Finally, the classification map is achieved by the support vector machines (SVM) classifier using the proposed spectral-texture kernel. Experiments on two benchmark airborne hyperspectral datasets demonstrate that our method can effectively improve classification accuracies, even though only a very limited training sample is available. Specifically, our method can achieve from 8.26% to 15.1% higher in terms of overall accuracy than the traditional SVM classifier. The performance of our method was further compared to several state-of-the-art classification methods of hyperspectral images using objective quantitative measures and a visual qualitative evaluation.
The Roles of Possible Selves in Iranian EFL Learners' L2 Learning Motivation.

Motivation as one of the most important areas in language learning has been extensively investigated based on various models and theories. Recent motivational theories on L2 learning emphasized the importance of the possible 'selves' in motivating learners. This paper analyzes and compares the two constructs of Ought-to L2 self and Ideal L2 self in Iran EFL context, considering Dörnyei's (2009) L2 Motivational Self System as the main theoretical framework. Participants in this study are 216 B.A. senior students majoring in English. A questionnaire comprising seven motivational dimensions was used as the data collection device. Analysis of the results revealed that although both of these constructs are significant and may overlap, Ought-to L2 self construct mainly mediates for explaining Iranian EFL learners' motivation. Therefore, language learning motivation in unique context of Iran is greatly affected by extrinsic factors.
Insulin-Receptor Substrate-2 (IRS-2) Is Required for Maintaining Glucokinase and Glucokinase Regulatory Protein Expression in Mouse Liver

Insulin receptor substrate (IRS) proteins play important roles in hepatic nutrient homeostasis. Since glucokinase (GK) and glucokinase regulatory protein (GKRP) function as key glucose sensors, we have investigated the expression of GK and GKRP in liver of Irs-2 deficient mice and Irs2(−/−) mice where Irs2 was reintroduced specifically into pancreatic β-cells [RIP-Irs-2/IRS-2(−/−)]. We observed that liver GK activity was significantly lower (p<0.0001) in IRS-2(−/−) mice. However, in RIP-Irs-2/IRS-2(−/−) mice, GK activity was similar to the values observed in wild-type animals. GK activity in hypothalamus was not altered in IRS-2(−/−) mice. GK and GKRP mRNA levels in liver of IRS-2(−/−) were significantly lower, whereas in RIP-Irs-2/IRS-2(−/−) mice, both GK and GKRP mRNAs levels were comparable to wild-type animals. At the protein level, the liver content of GK was reduced in IRS-2(−/−) mice as compared with controls, although GKRP levels were similar between these experimental models. Both GK and GKRP levels were lower in RIP-Irs-2/IRS-2(−/−) mice. These results suggest that IRS-2 signalling is important for maintaining the activity of liver GK. Moreover, the differences between liver and brain GK may be explained by the fact that expression of hepatic, but not brain, GK is controlled by insulin. GK activity was restored by the β-cell compensation in the RIP-Irs-2/IRS-2 mice. Interestingly, GK and GKRP protein expression remained low in RIP-Irs-2/IRS-2(−/−) mice, perhaps reflecting different mRNA half-lives or alterations in the process of translation and post-translational regulation.
A prospective clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of cellulite treatment using the combination of optical and RF energies for subcutaneous tissue heating

BACKGROUND: There have not been any published studies on the use of radiofrequency (RF)–light‐based technologies for the treatment of cellulite. Only preliminary results have recently been reported (ASDS Proceedings, September 2004). OBJECTIVE: This two‐center study investigated the safety and effectiveness of combined energies for cellulite treatment using the VelaSmooth™ system. METHODS: Thirty‐five female subjects with cellulite and/or skin irregularities on the thighs and/or buttocks were treated with the VelaSmooth device. Patients received from eight to 16 treatments twice weekly. All patients maintained their normal lifestyle, and diet and fluid consumption. The circumference of the right and left medial thighs was measured at both baseline and approximately 4 weeks after the last treatment. During the last follow‐up visit, the physician graded the level of improvement in skin smoothing and/or cellulite improvement using pre‐ and post‐treatment photographs. Three patients provided biopsy specimens for histological assessment. RESULTS: All study patients showed some level of reduction in thigh circumference after 8 weeks of treatment; indeed, 70% of all patients showed such a reduction after 4 weeks of treatment. Also, 100% of all patients showed some level of improvement in skin texture and cellulite. The mean decrease in circumference was 0.8 inches. Some patients demonstrated reductions of more than 2 inches. There were minimal complications associated with treatment. CONCLUSION: This preliminary study demonstrates that the VelaSmooth system can have a beneficial effect on cellulite appearance. Further studies are needed to better define the mechanisms by which RF and light energies affect subdermal tissues and develop a method of quantified cellulite analysis.