Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamic 3 D Modelling of the Human Left Ventricle

Visualization and quantification of cardiac function is important in diagnosing and management of heart diseases. As quantitative analysis performed on the images is crucial to understand the heart mechanics, an accurate diagnosis of heart conditions can be done if clear visualization of ventricular volume, mass and function are obtained from echo-cardiograph images. This paper presents a technique to develop a dynamic three dimensional model of the left ventricle of the human heart to illustrate both the shape and motion of the ventricle along a cardiac cycle. The proposed methodology includes a multistage approach that involves a pipeline of image processing routines such as filtering, contrast stretching and binary morphology to isolate heart tissues. Subsequently, cubic spline curves are used to generate a smooth surface of the heart muscle using a set of control points extracted from the locations of boundaries of the heart muscle. A complete pulse included 40 images and it takes an average of 16.0665 seconds for the model to deform over a pulse. Keywords— left ventricle, echocardiography, dynamic modelling
Towards memristor based accelerator for sparse matrix vector multiplication

In the last few years, memristor crossbar array is drawing increasing attention from the research community as a promising neuromorphic computing accelerator. In this work, we investigate the hardware acceleration of a sparse matrix vector (SpMV) multiplication engine based on memristor crossbar array. We demonstrate that naive matrix coefficient mapping is infeasible and unpractical if the matrix has large dimensions. To combat this problem, we extend the traditional Cuthill-McKee algorithm used for matrix restructuring, and propose a generalized sparse matrix reordering (GSMR) technique, which leverages linear transformation to effectively break down any rectangular unsymmetrical matrices into minimum number of sub-blocks that fit into the reasonably sized crossbar array. Simulated results show that our proposed design achieves appealing performances in terms of speed and energy efficiency compared to both CPU and GPU platforms. In addition, a memristor crossbar array utilizing GSMR outperforms its counterpart with no-GSMR by 90% performance improvements and 44% energy reduction.
L2F/INESC-ID at SemEval-2019 Task 2: Unsupervised Lexical Semantic Frame Induction using Contextualized Word Representations

Building large datasets annotated with semantic information, such as FrameNet, is an expensive process. Consequently, such resources are unavailable for many languages and specific domains. This problem can be alleviated by using unsupervised approaches to induce the frames evoked by a collection of documents. That is the objective of the second task of SemEval 2019, which comprises three subtasks: clustering of verbs that evoke the same frame and clustering of arguments into both frame-specific slots and semantic roles. We approach all the subtasks by applying a graph clustering algorithm on contextualized embedding representations of the verbs and arguments. Using such representations is appropriate in the context of this task, since they provide cues for word-sense disambiguation. Thus, they can be used to identify different frames evoked by the same words. Using this approach we were able to outperform all of the baselines reported for the task on the test set in terms of Purity F1, as well as in terms of BCubed F1 in most cases.
Reconfigurable electromagnetic shield by AFSS for 4G mobile communications

A reconfigurable electromagnetic shield by active frequency selective surface (AFSS) with switch function at LTE-D 4G mobile communication is proposed in this paper. Double coupled metallic meandered structures on one layer substrate loaded PIN diodes are designed carefully to realize the band-pass characteristic at 2.6GHz when PINs are OFF and the rejection characteristic when PINs are ON. The proposed model required no additional biasing lines and the amount of PINs is affordable, which contribute to the practicality in real applications. The polarization-insensitivity and angle-stability are analyzed through the simulation results.
Fabrication and properties of magnetorheological elastomers based on CR / ENR self-crosslinking blends

With excellent characteristic of magnetic-control stiffness, magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) is well suited as a spring element of vibration absorber. To improve the vibration attenuation performance of MRE vibration absorbers, this paper expects to improve the mechanical strength and reduce the loss factor of MRE by interface modification. The surface of carbonyl iron powder (CIP) was modified with silica coating by a simple and convenient approach. Several MRE samples, with different proportions of modified CIPs were fabricated under a constant magnetic field. The morphology and composition of modified CIP were characterized by scanning electron microscope and Fourier transform infrared spectra. The results indicated that the modified CIPs were coated with uniform and continuous silica, which can make a better combination between particle and matrix. The tensile strength, magnetorheological properties and the damping properties of the MRE samples were tested by material testing machine and rheometer. The experimental results demonstrated that the loss factor of the MRE which incorporated with modified CIPs decreased markedly, and the tensile strength of such material has been much improved, at the same time this kind of MRE kept high MR effect. It is expected that this MRE material will meet the requirements of vibration absorber.
Analysis and experimental evaluation of a Stewart platform-based force/torque sensor

The kinematic analysis and experimentation of a force/torque sensor whose design is based on the mechanism of the Stewart Platform are discussed. Besides being used for measurement of forces/torques, the sensor also serves as a compliant platform which provides passive compliance during a robotic assembly task. It consists of two platforms, the upper compliant platform (UCP) and the lower compliant platform (LCP), coupled together through six spring-loaded pistons whose length variations are measured by six linear voltage differential transformers (LVDT) mounted along the pistons. Solutions to the forward and inverse kinematics of the force sensor are derived. Based on the known spring constant and the piston length changes, forces/torques applied to the LCP gripper are computed using vector algebra. Results of experiments conducted to evaluate the sensing capability of the force sensor are reported and discussed.
OMAM at SemEval-2017 Task 4: Evaluation of English State-of-the-Art Sentiment Analysis Models for Arabic and a New Topic-based Model

While sentiment analysis in English has achieved significant progress, it remains a challenging task in Arabic given the rich morphology of the language. It becomes more challenging when applied to Twitter data that comes with additional sources of noise including dialects, misspellings, grammatical mistakes, code switching and the use of non-textual objects to express sentiments. This paper describes the “OMAM” systems that we developed as part of SemEval-2017 task 4. We evaluate English state-of-the-art methods on Arabic tweets for subtask A. As for the remaining subtasks, we introduce a topic-based approach that accounts for topic specificities by predicting topics or domains of upcoming tweets, and then using this information to predict their sentiment. Results indicate that applying the English state-of-the-art method to Arabic has achieved solid results without significant enhancements. Furthermore, the topic-based method ranked 1st in subtasks C and E, and 2nd in subtask D.
Plasticity and Response to Action Observation

Background. Action observation has been suggested as a possible gateway to retraining arm motor function post stroke. However, it is unclear if the neuronal response to action observation is affected by stroke and if it changes during the course of recovery. Objective. To examine longitudinal changes in neuronal activity in a group of patients with subacute stroke when observing and executing a bimanual movement task. Methods. Eighteen patients were examined twice using 3-T functional magnetic resonance imaging; 1 to 2 weeks and 3 months post stroke symptom onset. Eighteen control participants were examined once. Image time series were analyzed (SPM8) and correlated with clinical motor function scores. Results. During action observation and execution, an overlap of neuronal activation was observed in the superior and inferior parietal lobe, precentral gyrus, insula, and inferior temporal gyrus in both control participants and patients (P < .05; false discovery rate corrected). The neuronal response in the observation task increased from 1 to 2 weeks to 3 months after stroke. Most activated clusters were observed in the inferior temporal gyrus, the thalamus and movement-related areas, such as the premotor, supplementary and motor cortex (BA4, BA6). Increased activation of cerebellum and premotor area correlated with improved arm motor function. Most patients had regained full movement ability. Conclusions. Plastic changes in neurons responding to action observation and action execution occurred in accordance with clinical recovery. The involvement of motor areas when observing actions early and later after stroke may constitute a possible access to the motor system.
MasterThesis Multi-Agent Based Sound Source Localization for Aerial Swarm

Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences Graduate School of Information Sciences Master Multi-Agent Based Sound Source Localization for Aerial Swarm by Lana Sinapayen Rescue missions could be faster and safer if human rescue teams were assisted by autonomous robots. In this research, we use a swarm of micro-quadrocopters to explore an indoor environment and localize possible victims using sound. Groups of very small quadrocopters are capable of maneuvering indoors while performing sound processing. But they produce a loud ego noise and need noise-robust algorithms that do not require heavy sensors or heavy processing. We propose a multi-agent based design and a combination of three sound processing algorithms allowing robust, distributes Sound Source Localization (SSL) for micro-quadrocopters with few sensors. In this thesis, we describe the concept and design of our proposal and present results of simulated and real-world experiments showing that our proposed architecture and algorithms are effective to localize a sound source using a swarm of micro-quadrocopters.
Sequence of a replication competent hepatitis B virus genome with a preX open reading frame.

The complete sequence of a replication competent Hepatitis B Virus (HPV) full length genome (p4al;l) cloned via the unique Xhol restriction site from a hepatocellular carcinoma was 3215 base pairs long. As other sequenced HBV genomes it contains open reading frames (ORF) for the genes X (1247-1708), C (1774-2322), PreS/S (2586-705) and Pol (2180-1493). The genome can be attributed to the adr serotype and possesses an interrupted preC and an intact preX ORF, properties shared by 4 other HBV DNA clones from the same carcinoma (1). The presence of the preX ORF appears to be adr specific but not generally present on DNA of this serotype based on a comparison with published sequences (2, 3, 4, 5, 6). REFERENCES
THERAPEUTIC ULTRASOUND AND IMMOBILIZATION IN MUSCULAR TRAUMA REPAIR

Currently, different therapeutic alternatives are being suggested targeting the full recovery of patients with muscle injuries within the shortest possible time, thus providing them back with a normal functional physical status and allowing a better physical performance.1 TUS has been used for over six decades to treat soft tissues, being currently a resource strongly employed in physiotherapeutic practice2, and the most used one for treating soft tissues’ injuries.3 The effects of the TUS on muscular repair process in experimental injuries have been studied under different aspects. Stratton, Heckmann and Francis4 used different therapeutic ultrasound powers for the histochemical evaluation of its effects for the repair process of blunt muscle injuries, regarding it as beneficial. Rantanen et al.5 concluded that therapeutic ultrasound accelerates muscle repair after contusion promoting significant proliferation of satellite cells to the injury site. Menezes et al.6 applied therapeutic ultrasound in an experimental muscle injury model by smashing, acquired their results by means of mechanical assays and concluded that it seems to have an improvement of the injury repair quality. Injured muscles have not been previously treated with immobilization. Karnes and Burton7 found a significant improvement of the muscle strength degree, in an injury caused by repeated eccentric contraction, when the injury was stimulated with therapeutic ultrasound. Järvinen8 and Järvinen et al.9 showed the benefits of early immoOriginal article
Parameter Optimization of Three-Directional Tuned Mass Damper for Seismic Response Control

An optimization approach is presented for design of a new tuned mass damper called TD-TMD for three-directional seismic response reduction of structures. The mass damper consists of a viscous damper and a mass connected by flexible springs. By utilizing the flexibility of springs, the movement of the mass in three-directions and the elongation of viscous damper are amplified, and the vibration energy of the mass is effectively absorbed by the viscous damper. The TD-TMDs are attached to a latticed roof and its seismic responses are compared with those with conventional single-directional dampers (SD-TMDs). The objective function of the parameter optimization problem is the mean norm of the response displacements at the nodes of the roof. The bounds of parameters are determined by solving a auxiliary nonlinear programming problem to maximize the minimum deformation of the damper against static loads of various directions. The parameters are discretized into integer values, and approximate optimal solutions are found using a heuristic approach called tabu search (TS) combined with pure random search (PRS) that generates efficient intial solutions.
CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF AUTOMATED SYSTEMS FOR SRF CAVITY OPTICAL INSPECTION AND ASSEMBLY*

The International Linear Collider (ILC) will require ~16,000 Superconducting Radio-Frequency (SRF) cavities at an accelerating gradient of 31.5 MV/m. One of the critical issues that needs to be addressed is the insufficient yield of high-gradient cavities that meet the requirement. This paper describes the design and initial tests of a cavity inner surface optical inspection system. Combined with a full-featured 9-cell cavity temperature mapping system being developed at LANL, we hope to be able to correlate the cavity heating and the surface condition causing it.
Measures of stratigraphic fit to phylogeny and their sensitivity to tree size, tree shape, and scale

Measures of stratigraphic fit to phylogeny are analyzed to test how they are affected by the shape and size of the phylogenetic trees and by the number of stratigraphic intervals encompassed. Monte Carlo randomizations are used to investigate the sensitivity of three commonly used measures (SCI, GER and MSM*) approximating their distribution of possible values under certain conditions. All are shown to vary in different ways as parameters are varied, although MSM* seems to be the most invariant in the analyzed parameter space. These results suggest that the raw metrics should not be used for comparing the fit of different taxonomic groups or competing phylogenetic trees of the same group that differ in tree size or balance. Tree balance also affects the distributions used in significance tests based on randomization and therefore their results should not be interpreted in terms of the amount of conflict implied by a phylogenetic tree.
Power Management analysis and Coordination Control of Standalone Photovoltaic ( PV ) System

This paper mainly emphasizes and explains about the two possible topological configurations which plays a vital role in designing and ensuring the coordination control of a standalone PV system. The development of hybrid power generation systems is of major concern because of its controlling complexity. By comparing the topologies of series and parallel connected PV systems, one can assess the importance of parallel connected PV system over the series connected. The state diagram which is proposed in this paper helps in understanding the concept of coordination control between the generating source and load. Simulation results illustrates about the power flow aspect and operational characteristics of parallel connected PV system.
Learning from an expert

In this work, we study the problem of designing an automated procedure which aims at controlling the concentration of drugs during a global anesthesia. First, we select easy to measure physiological variables, whose choice is validated using a Hidden Markov Model. Then, we use expert trajectories provided by anesthesiologists to train an agent, whose anesthesia policy shows promising result.
Vehicle Dynamics and Steering Angle Estimation Using a Virtual Sensor

Vehicle stability control systems called ESP, vehicle dynamics control (VDC), yaw stability control (YSC), and so forth are important active safety systems used for maintaining lateral stability of the vehicles under such adverse conditions. This paper investigates the notion of virtual sensing which is a promising concept for yaw stability control and is an attractive option for vehicle manufactures as it reduces sensor cost, maintenance, and machine downtime. A frequent situation in automotive control applications is when an unknown input needs to be estimated from available state measurements. The virtual sensor proposed use measurements of lateral acceleration, steering angle as unknown input signals and provide the yaw rate angle estimate as output. Stability conditions of this virtual sensor are given in terms of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMI). To illustrate the proposed methodology, a linear bicycle model is considered. The observer(virtual sensor) is confronted to data issued from the Callas vehicle simulator.
NONLINEAR TRANSIENT ANALYSIS FOR LARGE-SCALE DYNAMICS OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS WITH THE MOR-PIM METHOD

Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) is difficult to take transient analysis due to the tight coupling between the multiple energy domains, typically nonlinear. An effective increment-dimensional precise integration method (PIM) combined with the model order reduction (MOR) technique based on Krylov subspace is present to solve large-scale nonlinear finite element dynamics systems. The numerical example of V-beam electro-thermal actuator is shown to demonstrate that the MOR-PIM method can achieve high precision and fast speed when solving the nonlinear dynamic equation with large-scale freedom.
Molecular Characterization and Quantitative Analysis of Superoxide Dismutases in Virulent and Avirulent Strains of Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida

ABSTRACT Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida is a facultatively intracellular gram-negative bacterium that is the etiological agent of furunculosis, a bacterial septicemia of salmonids that causes significant economic loss to the salmon farming industry. The mechanisms by which A. salmonicida evades intracellular killing may be relevant in understanding virulence and the eventual design of appropriate treatment strategies for furunculosis. We have identified two open reading frames (ORFs) and related upstream sequences that code for two putative superoxide dismutases (SODs), sodA and sodB. The sodA gene encoded a protein of 204 amino acids with a molecular mass of approximately 23.0 kDa (SodA) that had high similarity to other prokaryotic Mn-SODs. The sodB gene encoded a protein of 194 amino acids with a molecular mass of approximately 22.3 kDa that had high similarity to other prokaryotic Fe-SODs. Two enzymes with activities consistent with both these ORFs were identified by inhibition of O2−-catalyzed tetrazolium salt reduction in both gels and microtiter plate assays. The two enzymes differed in their expression patterns in in vivo- and in vitro-cultured bacteria. The regulatory sequences upstream of putative sodA were consistent with these differences. We could not identify other SOD isozymes such as sodC either functionally or through data mining. Levels of SOD were significantly higher in virulent than in avirulent strains of A. salmonicida subsp. salmonicida strain A449 when cultured in vitro and in vivo.
Clustering data using a Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF)

There are many search engines in the web and when asked, they return a long list of search results, ranked by their relevancies to the given query. Web users have to go through the list and examine the titles and (short) snippets sequentially to identify their required results. In this paper we present how usage of Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) can be good solution for the search results clustering.
LIT: Learned Intermediate Representation Training for Model Compression

Researchers have proposed a range of model compression techniques to reduce the computational and memory footprint of deep neural networks (DNNs). In this work, we introduce L earned I ntermediate representation T raining (LIT), a novel model compression technique that outperforms a range of recent model compression techniques by leveraging the highly repetitive structure of modern DNNs (e.g., ResNet). LIT uses a teacher DNN to train a student DNN of reduced depth by leveraging two key ideas: 1) LIT directly compares intermediate representations of the teacher and student model and 2) LIT uses the intermediate representation from the teacher model’s previous block as input to the current student block during training, improving stability of intermediate representations in the student network. We show that LIT can substantially reduce network size without loss in accuracy on a range of DNN architectures and datasets. For example, LIT can compress ResNet on CIFAR10 by 3.4 × outperforming network slimming and FitNets. Furthermore, LIT can compress, by depth, ResNeXt 5.5 × on CIFAR10 (image classiﬁcation), VDCNN by 1.7 × on Amazon Reviews (sentiment analysis), and StarGAN by 1.8 × on CelebA (style transfer, i.e., GANs).
In vitro antibacterial activity and essential oil composition of Litsea petiolata Hook . f . leaves

Article history: Received on: 16/03/2017 Accepted on: 20/07/2017 Available online: 30/09/2017 Essential oil of Litsea petiolata (Hook f) was extracted from their leaves collecting from Chiang Rai province, Northern Thailand. Hydrodistillation technique with Clevenger system was performed to extract L. petiolata essential oil. The essential oil composition was further analyzed by gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric technique. A total of 74 volatile constituents were identified. Representing 96.94% of the oil with 2-ketonesare the key compound group. The major identified volatile components were 2-undecanone (79.52%), 12-tridecen2-one (6.26%) and 2-nonanone (2.46%), respectively. The essential oil of L. petiolata (Hook f) leaves showed good antibacterial activity against tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative human pathogenic bacteria including Bacillus cereus ATCC 11778, B. subtilis TISTR 008, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, S. epidermidis ATCC 12228, S. agalactiae DMST 17129, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 13311, Vibrio cholerae DMST 2873 and V. parahaemolyticus DMST 21243. The zone of inhibition was obtained from 9.54±1.24 to 18.07±2.19 mm. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were within the antibacterial activity range and varied between 31.25 and 500 μg/mL. The essential oil of L. petiolata (Hook f) leaves showed maximum antibacterial activity against S. aureus ATCC 25923 and E. coli ATCC 25922. This study indicates that L. petiolata (Hook f) leaf oil could be employed as a natural medicinal application in antibacterial drugs.