Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Greedy Dictionary Selection for Sparse Representation

We develop an efficient learning framework to construct signal dictionaries for sparse representation by selecting the dictionary columns from multiple candidate bases. By sparse, we mean that only a few dictionary elements, compared to the ambient signal dimension, can exactly represent or well-approximate the signals of interest. We formulate both the selection of the dictionary columns and the sparse representation of signals as a joint combinatorial optimization problem. The proposed combinatorial objective maximizes variance reduction over the set of training signals by constraining the size of the dictionary as well as the number of dictionary columns that can be used to represent each signal. We show that if the available dictionary column vectors are incoherent, our objective function satisfies approximate submodularity. We exploit this property to develop SDSOMP and SDSMA, two greedy algorithms with approximation guarantees. We also describe how our learning framework enables dictionary selection for structured sparse representations, e.g., where the sparse coefficients occur in restricted patterns. We evaluate our approach on synthetic signals and natural images for representation and inpainting problems.
International Conference on Intelligent and Advanced Systems 2007 Pattern Matching for Automatic Sign Language Translation System Using Labview

This paper presents an automatic sign language translator, which is able to translate Malaysian sign language using pattern-matching algorithm. The sign language translator is a vision-based system where the image of the sign is captured by a camera, processed and translated into English by the computer. This sign language translator is able to recognize alphabets (A-Z), numbers (0-9), finger spelling, words (13 words) and sentences. Alphabets, numbers and fingers are categorized under static signs while words and sentences are known as dynamic signs where the signs involve motion. Static signs are recognised by matching positions of each fingertip with the database while the recognition of dynamic signs is performed by comparing the trajectory of the motion. The accuracy for static sign is 97.79% while the accuracy for dynamic sign is 80.38%
Simulation of electric fields for the development of biochip for the purpose of manipulating biological cells

Researchers nowadays prefer biochip technology platform as a medium for conducting the analysis of biological cells where appropriate manipulation techniques like trapping, screening and sorting in a few seconds are required to perform biological cells analysis. Non-uniform AC electric field is required for dielectrophoresis force (DEP) to implement manipulation technique, where the non-uniform AC is generated by microelectrodes designed. The current design has a limitation in term of electric field distribution pattern generated. Thus, ring microarray microelectrode pattern was designed and simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics 4.4 software for implementing one of the main objectives of this study, which is to investigate the electric field distribution resulting from the microelectrodes designed. To optimize the generated DEP force for manipulating biological cells, electric field simulation is very important. The electric field simulation performed by altering some microelectrode geometric design parameters such as the microelectrodes length and the distance between the microelectrodes and the microcavity. The simulation has been shown in this paper. This is intended to simulate the effect of an electric field that results when there are any changes to the geometric design of microelectrodes. Based on the simulation that has been done, the results show the distance between the microelectrodes and microcavity provide more impact in electric field distribution strength compared to the change of the microelectrodes size.
Compiler-directed cache management in multiprocessors

The necessity of finding alternatives to hardware-based cache coherence strategies for large-scale multiprocessor systems is discussed. Three different software-based strategies sharing the same goals and general approach are presented. They consist of a simple invalidation approach, a fast selective invalidation scheme, and a version control scheme. The strategies are suitable for shared-memory multiprocessor systems with interconnection networks and a large number of processors. Results of trace driven simulations conducted on numerical benchmark routines to compare the performance of the three schemes are presented. <<ETX>>
GIMS-TECNOLOGY FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL DIAGNOSTICS

: Expert system for the operative environment diagnostics (ESOED) that is here proposed realizes GIMS-technology ( GIS+Model) combining the methodic and algorithms of mathematical modeling with the land and remote observations of the environment. Links between experiments, algorithms, and models of environmental processes and subsystems are developed to realize effective procedure for the operative control and diagnostics of the environment. The ESOED functions include: -acquisition and accumulation of data by means of in-situ and remote methods and their analysis with the subsequent subject processing;
The Effects of Near and Far Visual Occlusion upon a Simulated Driving Task

There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that steering behavior during driving can be described as two separate functions: one based upon closed-loop sampling of near-range visual information and the other based upon an open-loop anticipatory utilization of far-range visual cues. Past research has been performed using diagnostic measures of steering performance that may not be ideal for the separate measurement of these different mechanisms mediating driver steering performance. Through the use of a visual occlusion technique to isolate the availability of near-range versus far-range visual information, the proposed study hoped to demonstrate that RMS error and time-to-line crossing (TLC) statistics represent relatively independent measures of the near-range and far-range visual processes, respectively. Results of this investigation supported the idea that near-range visual processes are indexed by RMS error measurements but failed to find evidence supporting the idea of a separate far-range visual system for anticipatory maneuvers using time-to-line-crossing (TLC) as a measure.
A Probabilistic Approach to Merge Context and Content Information for Music Retrieval

An interesting problem in music information retrieval is how to combine the information from different sources in order to improve retrieval effectiveness. This paper introduces an approach to represent a collection of tagged songs through an hidden Markov model with the purpose to develop a system that merges in the same framework both acoustic similarity and semantic descriptions. The former provides content-based information on song similarity, the latter provides context-aware information about individual songs. Experimental results show how the proposed model leads to better performances than approaches that rank songs using both a single information source and a their linear combination.
Signal Processing Methods for Orbital Angular Momentum Detection

Topic This PhD position takes part of the ANR project SIGMOiD that has been submitted to the ANR. The position will be fully funded if the project is accepted. The final answer for the funding will be known in July 2014. The discovery of the orbital angular momentum (OAM) in an electromagnetic (EM) radiation less than a century ago, has drawn the attention of the scientific community in the optical domain in a first time and also in radiofrequency bands since 2007. From a wave point of view, the OAM is characterized by a helical phase front in the propagation direction. This characteristic can be used to create orthogonal channels for transmission of information but also for target detection purposes in the remote sensing field. Some works have dealt with these applications and some of them have shown that the OAM can be used in free-space optical communications to increase the data rate [1]. Some authors have also shown that an RF beam carrying an OAM makes an object rotating, proving in the same time a mechanical property of the EM radiation [2]. In the radiofrequency range, the transmission of two distinct data contents at the same time with the same frequency using two distinct OAM modes (i.e. l=0 and l=1) has recently been performed in Venice, Italy, in 2011 [3]. It has also been proved that when the OAM is generated with an antenna array, the transmission modes correspond to a particular singular value decomposition (SVD) of the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel in the free-space propagation scenario [4]. However, this precoding technique could be still interesting since it has been proved by the recent interest of industrial actors to this technique [5]. Whatever the application, a reliable detection of the OAM mode is needed. This thesis aims to study advanced signal processing algorithms for the detection of the OAM in EM waves and the use of the OAM as a new spatial modulation as well [6,7]. In a first time, the spherical harmonic decomposition (SHD) of a signal carrying an OAM in various environments, ranging from AWGN to multipath channels, will be investigated. According to the obtained decomposition, we will search for a receiving array architecture allowing the detection of the OAM in various environments. Besides these tasks, the compressed sensing tool applied to the detection of the OAM will be investigated to derive the minimal number of sensors …
Power Manager with PID Controller in Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Networks

System lifetime is the crucial problem of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), and exploiting environmental energy provides a potential solution for this problem. When considering self-powered systems, the Power Manager (PM) plays an important role in energy harvesting WSNs. Instead of minimizing the consumption energy as in the case of battery powered systems, it makes the harvesting node converge to Energy Neutral Operation (ENO) to achieve a theoretically infinite lifetime and maximize the system performance. In this paper, a low complexity PM with a Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller is introduced. This PM monitors the buffered energy in the storage device and performs adaptation by changing the wake-up period of the wireless node. This shows the interest of our approach since the impractical monitoring harvested energy as well as consumed energy is not required as it is the case in other previously proposed techniques. Experimental results are performed on a real WSN platform with two solar cells in an indoor environment. The PID controller provides a practical strategy for long-term operations of the node in various environmental conditions.
Peptide nucleic acids: a review on recent patents and technology transfer

Introduction: DNA/RNA-based drugs are considered of major interest in molecular diagnosis and nonviral gene therapy. In this field, peptide nucleic acids (PNAs, DNA analogs in which the sugar-phosphate backbone is replaced by N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine units or similar building blocks) have been demonstrated to be excellent candidates as diagnostic reagents and biodrugs. Areas covered: Recent (2002 – 2013) patents based on studies on development of PNA analogs, delivery systems for PNAs, applications of PNAs in molecular diagnosis, and use of PNA for innovative therapeutic protocols. Expert opinion: PNAs are unique reagents in molecular diagnosis and have been proven to be very active and specific for alteration of gene expression, despite the fact that solubility and uptake by target cells can be limiting factors. Accordingly, patents on PNAs have taken in great consideration delivery strategies. PNAs have been proven stable and effective in vivo, despite the fact that possible long-term toxicity should be considered. For possible clinical applications, the use of PNA molecules in combination with drugs already employed in therapy has been suggested. Considering the patents available and the results on in vivo testing on animal models, we expect in the near future relevant PNA-based clinical trials.
Molecular Determinants for Functional Differences between Alanine-Serine-Cysteine Transporter 1 and Other Glutamate Transporter Family Members*

Background: The structures of neutral and acidic amino acid transporters of the SLC1 family are very similar, yet they function quite differently. Results: Three residues involved in determining substrate selectivity have been identified. Conclusion: A threonine residue modulates the behavior of substrate and proton binding residues. Significance: We have identified how SLC1 members distinguish between substrates. The ASCTs (alanine, serine, and cysteine transporters) belong to the solute carrier family 1 (SLC1), which also includes the human glutamate transporters (excitatory amino acid transporters, EAATs) and the prokaryotic aspartate transporter GltPh. Despite the high degree of amino acid sequence identity between family members, ASCTs function quite differently from the EAATs and GltPh. The aim of this study was to mutate ASCT1 to generate a transporter with functional properties of the EAATs and GltPh, to further our understanding of the structural basis for the different transport mechanisms of the SLC1 family. We have identified three key residues involved in determining differences between ASCT1, the EAATs and GltPh. ASCT1 transporters containing the mutations A382T, T459R, and Q386E were expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes, and their transport and anion channel functions were investigated. A382T and T459R altered the substrate selectivity of ASCT1 to allow the transport of acidic amino acids, particularly l-aspartate. The combination of A382T and T459R within ASCT1 generates a transporter with a similar profile to that of GltPh, with preference for l-aspartate over l-glutamate. Interestingly, the amplitude of the anion conductance activated by the acidic amino acids does not correlate with rates of transport, highlighting the distinction between these two processes. Q386E impaired the ability of ASCT1 to bind acidic amino acids at pH 5.5; however, this was reversed by the additional mutation A382T. We propose that these residues differences in TM7 and TM8 combine to determine differences in substrate selectivity between members of the SLC1 family.
Rethinking my poetry pedagogy: An Autoethnographic self-study

In the English discipline within the university where I am a teacher educator of English, it is standard practice for pre-service teachers to write an evaluation on completion of a series of lectures. This self-study examines a collaborative exercise in which the lecturer and students jointly analysed student reflections in order to establish the efficacy of a series of poetry lectures. To reflect on one’s classroom practice is important for growth and as a teacher educator one should not only practice reflection but also encourage students to engage in the same. In this study I used students’ pre-lecture reflections in order to get a sense of the students’ lived experiences so as to have an idea as to how to approach my lectures. The post-lecture reflections were used to discuss, in collaboration with the students, what makes for an effective poetry lecture. Pre-service teacher educators should model good teaching practices and I have always held the belief that my teaching methodology is constructivist and that in the process I am being reflexive and modeling good practice. However, the intended message is not always that which is received in the way anticipated by the lecturer. This self-study highlights the importance of firstly reflective practice and secondly, working in collaboration with students in order to improve practice. Keywords: reflective practice, collaborative data analysis, constructivism, pre-service teachers, English education
Overexpression of Grb2-associated Binder 2 in Human Lung Cancer

Objective: Grb2-associated binder 2 (Gab2), a member of the family of Gab scaffolding adaptors, transmits and amplifies the signals from receptor tyrosine kinases. A recent study demonstrated that Gab2 was over-expressed in breast cancers and metastatic melanomas, and Gab2 was an oncogenic protein. However, the roles of Gab2 in lung cancers are largely unknown. Method: In this study, to investigate whether Gab2 expression could be a characteristic of lung cancers, we analyzed the expression of Gab2 in 88 lung frozen tissue samples and 122 paraffin-embedded tissue specimens, using quantitative real-time-PCR, immunohistochemistry and western blot. Results: We found that the positive expression rate of Gab2 in the tumor tissues, as detected by immunohistochemistry, 62.5% in squamous cell cancers, 51.35% in adenocarcinomas, and 75% in other types of lung cancers, was significantly higher than that (12%) in normal lung tissues. The mRNA expression detected by quantitative real-time-PCR and protein expression detected by western blotting in different groups were consistent with the immunohistochemical results. Conclusion: Our data indicate that Gab2 is over-expressed in malignant lung tissues compared with that in normal lung tissues, and suggest that Gab2 expression may play a role in lung cancer development.
Exploring Morphosyntactic Annotation over a Spanish Corpus for Dependency Parsing

It has been observed that the inclusion of morphosyntactic information in dependency treebanks is crucial to obtain high results in dependency parsing for some languages. In this paper we explore in depth to what extent it is useful to include morphological features, and the impact of diverse morphosyntactic annotations on statistical dependency parsing of Spanish. For this, we give a detailed analysis of the results of over 80 experiments performed with MaltParser through the application of MaltOptimizer. Our goal is to isolate configurations of morphosyntactic features which would allow for optimizing the parsing of Spanish texts, and to evaluate the impact that each feature has, independently and in combination with others.
# 2008-022 If the Alliance Fits . . . : Innovation and Network Dynamics

Network formation is often said to be driven by social capital considerations. A typical pattern observed in the empirical data on strategic alliances is that of small world networks: dense subgroups of firms interconnected by (few) clique-spanning ties. The typical argument is that there is social capital value both to being embedded in a dense cluster, and to bridging disconnected clusters. In this paper we develop and analyze a simple model of joint innovation where we are able to reproduce these features, based solely on the assumption that successful partnering demands some intermediate amount of similarity between the partners. This paper will appear in J.A. C. Baum and T.J Rowley (eds.), Network Strategy: Advances in Strategic Management, 25. Oxford UK: JAI/Elsevier, 2008. ∗We gratefully acknowledge comments from Terry Amburgey, Joel Baum, Ronald Burt, Tim Rowley, Gordon Walker and other participants to the Network Strategy Conference held in Toronto, May 2007. We acknowledge support from the European FP6-NEST-Adventure Programme, contract n 028875, Network Models, Governance and R&D collaboration networks (NEMO). Corresponding author: r.cowan@merit.unimaas. nl
Economics, Religion and Happiness

Die oekonomische Forschung nutzt bei der Analyse der Religion im Wesentlichen zwei Herangehensweisen. Der erste Ansatz beschaeftigt sich mit dem Einfluss der Religion auf die Wirtschaft. Die Religionen beinhalten ein Wertesystem, welches oekonomische Einstellungen und die Produktion beeinflussen. Innerhalb des zweiten Ansatzes wird religioeses Verhalten mit Hilfe oekonomischer Modelle erklaert. Diese zeigen, wie Individuen Nutzen aus Religion ziehen koennen. Die moderne Gluecksforschung ermoeglicht es des Weiteren, den Einfluss von Religion auf das subjektive Wohlbefinden empirisch zu messen. Wir bestaetigen die positive Korrelation von Religion und Glueck fuer die Schweiz und zeigen, dass vor allem der positive Effekt des Kirchgangs auf das Wohlergehen robust und betraechtlich ist. (This survey intends to portray the two main approaches of economic research on religion. The first investigates the impact of religion on the economy. Religion and the internalized value system are found to influence economic attitudes output in a favorable way. The second approach is to explain religious behavior with economic models showing how an individual can derive utility from religion. Modern happiness research makes it possible to measure the impact of religion on subjective well-being empirically. The literature finds a positive correlation of religion and happiness, with a robust effect of churchgoing and protestant confession, while the results on internal religiosity are more ambiguous. In our analyses for Switzerland we are able to confirm these results and show that the effect of church going on happiness is quite sizeable.)
Interactive Teaching of a Mobile Robot

Personal service robots are expected to help people in their everyday life in the near future. Such robots must be able to not only move around but also perform various operations such as carrying a user-specified object or turning a TV on. Robots working in houses and offices have to deal with a vast variety of environments and operations. Since it is almost impossible to give the robots complete knowl edge in advance, on-site robot teaching will be important. We are developing a novel teaching framework called task model-based interactive teaching. A task model describes what knowledge is necessary for achieving a task. A robot examines the task model to determine missing pieces of knowledge, and asks the user to teach them. By leading the interaction with the user in this way, the user can teach important (focal) point easily and efficiently. This paper deals with a task of moving to a destination at a different floor; the task includes not only the movement but also the operation of recognizing and pushing elevator buttons. Experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed teaching framework.
Extending the Life of Legacy Software Systems: A Decision Process Model

This paper contains the research plan that will analyze the decision process that is used in replacing or extending the lifetime of a legacy system. A framework will be developed based upon the feedback from a Delphi study on a company in the microelectronics fabrication industry. The framework will be developed based upon known, well-established models that exist in the area of decision making and technology acceptance.
On the robustness of the Quasi-Harmonic model of speech

In this paper we discuss the robustness of the Quasi-Harmonic model, QHM, previously suggested for speech analysis [1] and AM-FM decomposition of speech [2]. Assuming a frame by frame analysis, QHM suggests an iterative estimator for the actual frequencies of the speech components at the center of analysis window. In this paper, we show that this is a biased estimator and then, we compute analytically and numerically the bias of the estimator showing its dependence on the type and length of the analysis window. Moreover, we analyze the robustness of the QHM estimator in white Gaussian noise, showing that the suggested iterative estimator asymptotically attains the corresponding Cramer-Rao lower bound even in adverse noisy conditions. Examples of synthetic signals are provided to support our analysis.