Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning long‐range vision for autonomous off‐road driving

Most vision‐based approaches to mobile robotics suffer from the limitations imposed by stereo obstacle detection, which is short range and prone to failure. We present a self‐supervised learning process for long‐range vision that is able to accurately classify complex terrain at distances up to the horizon, thus allowing superior strategic planning. The success of the learning process is due to the self‐supervised training data that are generated on every frame: robust, visually consistent labels from a stereo module; normalized wide‐context input windows; and a discriminative and concise feature representation. A deep hierarchical network is trained to extract informative and meaningful features from an input image, and the features are used to train a real‐time classifier to predict traversability. The trained classifier sees obstacles and paths from 5 to more than 100 m, far beyond the maximum stereo range of 12 m, and adapts very quickly to new environments. The process was developed and tested on the LAGR (Learning Applied to Ground Robots) mobile robot. Results from a ground truth data set, as well as field test results, are given. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Topology-Aware I/O Caching for Shared Storage Systems

The main contribution of this paper is a topologyaware storage caching scheme for parallel architectures. In a parallel system with multiple storage caches, these caches form a shared cache space, and effective management of this space is a critical issue. Of particular interest is data migration (i.e., moving data from one storage cache to another at runtime), which may help reduce the distance between a data block and its customers. As the data access and sharing patterns change during execution, we can migrate data in the shared cache space to reduce access latencies. The proposed storage caching approach, which is based on the two-dimensional post-office placement model, takes advantage of the variances across the access latencies of the different storage caches (from a given node’s perspective), by selecting the most appropriate loc ation (cache) to place a data block shared by multiple nodes. This paper also presents experimental results from our implementation of this data migration-based scheme. The results reveal that the improvements brought by our proposed scheme in average hit latency, average miss rate, and average data access latency are 29.1%, 7.0% and 32.7%, respectively, over an alternative storage caching scheme.
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An evaluation of current SIMD programming models for C++

SIMD extensions were added to microprocessors in the mid '90s to speed-up data-parallel code by vectorization. Unfortunately, the SIMD programming model has barely evolved and the most efficient utilization is still obtained with elaborate intrinsics coding. As a consequence, several approaches to write efficient and portable SIMD code have been proposed. In this work, we evaluate current programming models for the C++ language, which claim to simplify SIMD programming while maintaining high performance. The proposals were assessed by implementing two kernels: one standard floating-point benchmark and one real-world integer-based application, both highly data parallel. Results show that the proposed solutions perform well for the floating point kernel, achieving close to the maximum possible speed-up. For the real-world application, the programming models exhibit significant performance gaps due to data type issues, missing template support and other problems discussed in this paper.
Numerical and Experimental Investigation on Corrugation Geometry for Metallic Tubes under Lateral Loading

Energy absorption devices are being used to protect structures from severe damages and reduce injury to occupants during accidents. The integrated characteristics of crash absorption devices can be classified as high energy absorption capacity, light-weight, and cost-effective. One of the thin-walled structures which has drawn the attention of scientists is corrugated tube structure. In this paper, the effect of corrugation geometry on the crushing parameters of an aluminum corrugated tube is investigated. In this regard, different elliptical corrugation shapes were deemed and the compression response was numerically evaluated under lateral quasi-static loading. Finally, the crashworthiness parameters were extracted and compared to determine the influence of corrugation shape on the crashworthy response. Our results showed that using vertical elliptical corrugation decrease the densification point. Moreover, there is a gradual enhancement of mean crushing load by moving from the horizontal elliptical corrugations to the vertical ones. Also, by modifying of corrugation shape, the stress variation pattern changes, significantly.
Neural data mining for credit card fraud detection

The prevention of credit card fraud is an important application for prediction techniques. One major obstacle for using neural network training techniques is the high necessary diagnostic quality: since only one financial transaction in a thousand is invalid no prediction success less than 99.9% is acceptable. Because of these credit card transaction requirements, completely new concepts had to be developed and tested on real credit card data. This paper shows how advanced data mining techniques and a neural network algorithm can be combined successfully to obtain a high fraud coverage combined with a low false alarm rate.
Groundwater data management system

We have developed a system to manage groundwater data (geology, hydrology and geochemistry). The system is flexible, readily extensible and adaptable. It can load data in different formats. Loading and cleaning the data is performed by an ETL tool Pentaho Data Integration (aka. Kettle). The coordinates are converted by GeoKettle (spatial fork of Kettle). The database PostgreSQL uses our own data model. Groundwater specialists can visualize data in EnviroInsite desktop software. A non-specialist can visualize data in a web application. Non-point spatial data is stored in a spatial database (PostGIS) and served via a map server (GeoServer) as a map service to our web application or to any geographic information systems (GIS). We have successfully used tools for business intelligence and spatial data infrastructure.
Universal prediction of individual binary sequences in the presence of noise

The problem of predicting the next outcome of an individual binary sequence, based on noisy observations of the past, is considered. The goal of the predictor is to perform, for each individual sequence, "almost" as well as the best in a set of experts, where performance is evaluated using a general loss function. A comprehensive approach to prediction in this noisy setting is presented and proven generally efficient under appropriate conditions. As an illustration of the applicability of the approach suggested for concrete situations, two important special cases are explicitly treated. The first is the case where the data-corrupting noise process is binary-valued (where the observed bit is the bitwise XOR of the clean bit and the noise bit). The second case is that of real-valued additive noise. It is shown that even in this more challenging situation, where the information available to the predictor regarding the past sequence is incomplete, a predictor can be guaranteed to successfully compete with a whole set of experts in considerably strong senses.
Treatment of striae distensae using an ablative Erbium: YAG fractional laser versus a 585-nm pulsed-dye laser

Abstract Striae distensae (SD) represent a common disfiguring cutaneous condition characterized by linear reddish smooth bands of atrophic-appearing skin. Most often SD develop in areas of dermal damage produced by stretching. Numerous treatment modalities have been applied with varying success. Novel approaches include treatments with various types of lasers with the flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser (PDL; 585 nm) being the most commonly reported. Very recently, fractional photothermolysis has been suggested as an effective method for the treatment of SD. Here, we report on the effect of an ablative Erbium:YAG fractional laser in two cases of axillary SD in comparison with a 585-nm PDL.
Interactive on-line conferences

Abstract : A real-time conference allows a group of users, each at his or her own workstation, to conduct a problem-solving meeting by collectively viewing and manipulating a shared space of on-line application information while using a voice communication channel for discussion and negotiation. A real-time conference thus supplements asynchronous communication services, such as electronic mail, by permitting simultaneous manipulation of shared information. Techniques are presented in this document for designing and implementing real-time conferences on distributed computer systems. Useful functions for real-time conferences are proposed: control over who may join a conference, and over concurrent participant commands within a conference, private spaces and transfer of information between shared and private spaces; display of status information describing who is present in a conference and who is entering commands; eliciting and collecting responses to be used in decision-making; planning a conference and making it known to potential participants; and maintaining and reviewing records of a conference. The tradeoffs involved in selecting a comprehensible set of commands for these functions are illustrated by the detailed design of a real-time conferencing system for joint editing of documents. Additional keywords: teleconferencing; computer networks.
Piezoresistive strain sensor based on monolayer molybdenum disulfide continuous film deposited by chemical vapor deposition

In this paper, a centimeter-scale monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) film deposition method has been developed through a simple low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) growth system. The growth pressure dependence on film quality is investigated in this LPCVD system. The layer nature, electrical characteristic of the as-grown MoS2 films indicate that high quality films have been achieved. In addition, a hydrofluoric acid treated SiO2/Si substrate is used to improve the quality of the MoS2 films. Piezoresistive strain sensor based on the monolayer MoS2 film elements is fabricated by directly patterning metal contact pads on MoS2 films through a silicon stencil mask. A gauge factor of 104 ± 26 under compressive strain is obtained by using a four-point bending method, which may inspire new possibilities for two-dimensional (2D) material-based microsystems and electronics.
Up-Regulated Following Pre-TCR Signaling Thymus-Expressed Chemokine That Is Murine CCR9, a Chemokine Receptor for

Chemokines are likely to play an important role in regulating the trafﬁcking of developing T cells within the thymus. By using anti-CD3 « treatment of recombinase-activating gene 2 (Rag2 2 / 2 ) mice to mimic pre-TCR signaling and drive thymocyte development to the double positive stage, we have identiﬁed murine GPR-9-6 as a chemokine receptor whose expression is strongly induced following pre-TCR signaling. GPR-9-6 mRNA is present at high levels in the thymus, and by RT-PCR analysis its expression is induced as normal thymocytes undergo the double negative to double positive transition. Furthermore we show that TECK (thymus-expressed chemokine), a chemokine produced by thymic medullary dendritic cells, is a functional ligand for GPR-9-6. TECK speciﬁcally induces a calcium ﬂux and chemotaxis of GPR-9-6-transfected cells. In addition, TECK stimulates the migration of normal double positive thymocytes, as well as Rag2 2 / 2 thymocytes following anti-CD3 « treatment. Hence, GPR-9-6 has been designated as CC chemokine receptor 9 (CCR9). Our results suggest that TECK delivers signals through CCR9 important for the navigation of developing thymocytes. The Journal of Immunology, 2000, 164: 639–648.
Initiation and Maintenance of Virus-Induced Gene Silencing

The phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene of Nicotiana benthamiana was silenced in plants infected with potato virus X (PVX) vectors carrying PDS inserts, and a green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgene was silenced in plants infected with PVX–GFP. This virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is post-transcriptional and cytoplasmic because it is targeted against exons rather than introns of PDS RNA and against viral RNAs. Although PDS and GFP RNAs are most likely targeted through the same mechanism, the VIGS phenotypes differed in two respects. PDS mRNA was targeted by VIGS in all green tissue of the PVX–PDS—infected plant, whereas PVX–PDS was not affected. In contrast, VIGS of the GFP was targeted against PVX–GFP. Initially, VIGS of the GFP was initiated in all green tissues, as occurred with PDS VIGS. However, after 30 days of infection, the GFP VIGS was no longer initiated in newly emerging leaves, although it was maintained in tissue in which it had already been initiated. Based on these analyses, we propose a model for VIGS in which the initiation of VIGS is dependent on the virus and maintenance of it is virus independent.
Adaptive channel direction quantization — Enabling multi user MIMO gains in practice

Many candidate technologies for future wireless communication systems (e.g., multi-user MIMO, interference alignment), rely on accurate Channel State Information (CSI) at the Transmitter (CSIT) to determine the appropriate multi-antenna pre-processing steps. Thus, in frequency division duplexing systems, a dedicated feedback link has to be provided to each attached user for CSI reporting. In order to keep the feedback rate moderate, CSI quantization is required. Additionally, CSI is typically only provided for a subset of all available time/frequency resources, implicating the need for an interpolation algorithm at the base station. Furthermore, to compensate for the processing delay of the feedback link, CSI prediction is required as well. In this work, we treat these problems by incorporating our previously presented CSI feedback algorithm in a 3GPP LTE-A compliant wideband OFDM simulation environment, and augmenting it with appropriate interpolators and predictors. As an example, the performance of multi-user zero-forcing beamfoming is investigated, under practical feedback delay- and time-frequency granularity-constraints, demonstrating substantial throughput gains, in case of low to moderate user mobility.
An interactive graph visualization for handling cooperative design activity context

The context of a collective activity is characterized by all information produced during the activity. The comprehension of this context by each actor is essential for the success of the activity. The mediatization of this context in software requires the definition of its data representation, but also its visualization representation in a human machine interface. We propose here a network representation of this context and an interactive visualization of graph allowing each actor to have simultaneously a global and local perception of the context, to handle it with adapted navigation functions and to modify it with intuitive edition functions. These representation and visualization forms were implemented in the framework of an architectural design activity.
Factoring Rational Polynomials Over the Complex Numbers

NC algorithms are given for determining the number and degrees of the factors, irreducible over the complex numbers ${\bf C}$, of a multivariate polynomial with rational coefficients and for approximating each irreducible factor. NC is the class of functions computable by logspace-uniform boolean circuits of polynomial size and polylogarithmic depth. The measures of size of the input polynomial are its degree, coefficient length, number of variables (d, c, and n, respectively). If n is fixed, we give a deterministic NC algorithm. If the number of variables is not fixed, we give a random (Monte-Carlo) NC algorithm in these input measures to find the number and degree of each irreducible factor.After reducing to the two-variable, square-free case, we apply the classical algebraic geometry fact that the absolute irreducible factors of $(P(z_1 ,z_2 ) = 0)$ correspond to the connected components of the real surface (or complex curve) $P(z_1 ,z_2 ) = 0$ minus its singular points. In finding the number of connec.
Hamburger polyomaviruses

Epidemiological studies have suggested that consumption of beef may correlate with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. One hypothesis to explain this proposed link might be the presence of a carcinogenic infectious agent capable of withstanding cooking. Polyomaviruses are a ubiquitous family of thermostable non-enveloped DNA viruses that are known to be carcinogenic. Using virion enrichment, rolling circle amplification (RCA) and next-generation sequencing, we searched for polyomaviruses in meat samples purchased from several supermarkets. Ground beef samples were found to contain three polyomavirus species. One species, bovine polyomavirus 1 (BoPyV1), was originally discovered as a contaminant in laboratory FCS. A previously unknown species, BoPyV2, occupies the same clade as human Merkel cell polyomavirus and raccoon polyomavirus, both of which are carcinogenic in their native hosts. A third species, BoPyV3, is related to human polyomaviruses 6 and 7. Examples of additional DNA virus families, including herpesviruses, adenoviruses, circoviruses and gyroviruses were also detected either in ground beef samples or in comparison samples of ground pork and ground chicken. The results suggest that the virion enrichment/RCA approach is suitable for random detection of essentially any DNA virus with a detergent-stable capsid. It will be important for future studies to address the possibility that animal viruses commonly found in food might be associated with disease.
Default Mode Connectivity in Youth With Perinatally Acquired HIV

Abstract Youth with perinatally acquired human immunodeficiency virus (PHIV+) survive longer with combination antiretroviral therapy, but remain at risk for poor cognitive outcomes. We evaluated whether markers of HIV disease severity relate to default mode resting-state functional connectivity in PHIV+ youth. We conducted resting-state functional neuroimaging and cognitive testing in a subset of 40 PHIV+ youth recruited from a single study site of the Adolescent Master Protocol study conducted by the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) network. Current and past HIV disease severity measures (nadir CD4 lymphocyte percentages and peak HIV RNA plasma levels) were obtained from medical charts. We evaluated associations of both HIV disease severity measures and cognitive functioning with between- and within- default mode network (DMN) connectivity using Analysis of Functional NeuroImaging multiple regression analyses, controlling for multiple comparisons. Of the 40 youth, 31 (mean age = 16.5 years) with minimal motion during scans were included. We observed global alterations in DMN within- and between-network connectivity, with significant associations between disease severity and DMN BOLD correlations. Furthermore, patterns of connectivity with the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) that varied as a function of peak HIV RNA were found to predict processing speed ability. Alterations in within- and between-network DMN connectivity in PHIV+ youth may reflect global reorganization of the DMN; this could lead to compensatory alterations in both the within- and between-connectivity of large-scale networks, which may ultimately relate to known cognitive processing difficulties in PHIV+ youth.
Solubility Enhancement of a BCS Class II Drug Using Granulated Fumed Silica as an Adsorbent

Aim: The aim of this study was to improve solubility and dissolution characteristics of Ibuprofen using granulated fumed silica (Aeroperl300) as a carrier. Methods: Ibuprofen-silica complex was prepared by solvent evaporation technique using ethanol as the solvent. Formulation I and II consisted of polymers hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC E5) and Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone (PVP K-30) respectively. Each formulation was prepared using 1:1:1 and 1:1:2 ratio of drug, polymer and silica. Dried powder obtained was characterized using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM). In-vitro dissolution studies were carried out using three different media including Phosphate buffer (pH 6.8), 0.1N Hydrochloric Acid (pH 1.2) and de-ionized water. Results: Drug loading up to 30% w/w was successfully achieved with 1:1:1 ratio formulations. Physical characterization data confirmed change of crystalline Ibuprofen into amorphous form after processing. Maximum solubility increment of 33-37% was achieved in Phosphate buffer with formulations II A and II B within the first 5 minutes of dissolution as compared to the control (pure drug). Conclusion: Enhancement in drug solubility and subsequent dissolution rate can be attributed to adsorption of amorphous drug molecules onto porous silica that readily desorb on contact with Original Research Article Talekar and Dave; JPRI, 18(6): 1-15, 2017; Article no.JPRI. 36872 2 dissolution media. High porosity and huge surface area of silica makes it a potential candidate for improving delivery of poorly soluble drugs.
MetaboAnalyst 3.0—making metabolomics more meaningful

MetaboAnalyst (www.metaboanalyst.ca) is a web server designed to permit comprehensive metabolomic data analysis, visualization and interpretation. It supports a wide range of complex statistical calculations and high quality graphical rendering functions that require significant computational resources. First introduced in 2009, MetaboAnalyst has experienced more than a 50X growth in user traffic (>50 000 jobs processed each month). In order to keep up with the rapidly increasing computational demands and a growing number of requests to support translational and systems biology applications, we performed a substantial rewrite and major feature upgrade of the server. The result is MetaboAnalyst 3.0. By completely re-implementing the MetaboAnalyst suite using the latest web framework technologies, we have been able substantially improve its performance, capacity and user interactivity. Three new modules have also been added including: (i) a module for biomarker analysis based on the calculation of receiver operating characteristic curves; (ii) a module for sample size estimation and power analysis for improved planning of metabolomics studies and (iii) a module to support integrative pathway analysis for both genes and metabolites. In addition, popular features found in existing modules have been significantly enhanced by upgrading the graphical output, expanding the compound libraries and by adding support for more diverse organisms.