Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Real-time avatar animation from a single image

A real time facial puppetry system is presented. Compared with existing systems, the proposed method requires no special hardware, runs in real time (23 frames-per-second), and requires only a single image of the avatar and user. The user's facial expression is captured through a real-time 3D non-rigid tracking system. Expression transfer is achieved by combining a generic expression model with synthetically generated examples that better capture person specific characteristics. Performance of the system is evaluated on avatars of real people as well as masks and cartoon characters.
A Vietnamese language model based on Recurrent Neural Network

Language modeling plays a critical role in many natural language processing (NLP) tasks such as text prediction, machine translation and speech recognition. Traditional statistical language models (e.g. n-gram models) can only offer words that have been seen before and can not capture long word context. Neural language model provides a promising solution to surpass this shortcoming of statistical language model. This paper investigates Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) language model for Vietnamese, at character and syllable-levels. Experiments were conducted on a large dataset of 24M syllables, constructed from 1,500 movie subtitles. The experimental results show that our RNN-based language models yield reasonable performance on the movie subtitle dataset. Concretely, our models outperform n-gram language models in term of perplexity score.
A randomized double-blind comparative study of sublingual immunotherapy for cedar pollinosis.

BACKGROUND Seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) induced by Japanese cedar pollen is a substantial problem in Japan. Sublingual immuno-therapy (SLIT) is safer than conventional antigen-specific immunotherapy, the only treatment modality by which complete cure of the disease can be expected. We investigated the safety and efficacy of SLIT in the treatment of cedar pollinosis patients compared to placebo. METHODS A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study was conducted in 61 cedar pollinosis patients. Increasing doses of standardized Japanese cedar extract or placebo were administered sublingually in intervals ranging from daily to once a week after six weeks. The primary efficacy variable was the mean of the daily total symptom scores (TSS) during the pollen dispersing period. Secondary efficacy variables included the QOL scores and related variables. RESULTS Primary efficacy variable scores were significantly lower for some days in the SLIT group than in the placebo group (P < .01 or P < .05). Secondary efficacy for the QOL score in SLIT group was almost of half of placebo group. There was no significant difference in the overall incidence of side effects between the SLIT group and the placebo group. CONCLUSIONS SLIT was effective and safe in the treatment of cedar pollinosis.
Tyranny of the randomised clinical trial

Abstract Researchers and clinicians often disagree about what it means to provide the best possible care. This paper’s purpose is to propose ways of resolving the disagreements. The first is to have both groups re-examine the three equal components of evidence-based practice, a re-examination that begins with rejection of the randomised clinical trial’s tyranny. The second is for researchers to design rehabilitation research based on a biopsychosocial rather than a biomedical model. The third is for both groups to redefine translational research so that it means both translation from the laboratory to the clinic and from the clinic to the laboratory. The fourth is to advocate for a science of dissemination that is as robust as rehabilitation’s present science of discovery. Most examples are drawn from the literature on acquired neurologic speech and language disorders.
The aetiology of primary osteoarthritis of the hip.

In most reports on osteoarthritis of the hip approximately half the patients have presented in adult life with no relevant antecedent history. In order to assess, in such cases of so-called primary osteoarthritis, the presence of any minor pre-existing anatomical abnormality, the pelvic radiographs of 200 cases of this type were examined. No case in which the changes could be attributed to symptomatic disorder earlier in life was accepted. In this connection a few cases showing a protrusio acetabuli deformity were arbitrarily regarded as being secondary to inflammatory change of a rheumatoid nature and were therefore excluded. The cases were divided by visual assessment into those arising in the presence of (a) normal anatomy; (b) abnormal anatomy. The variations in the latter group included imperfect acetabular development—acetabular dysplasia—and an abnormal relationship of the femoral head to the femoral neck, comparable to the residual adult deformity of epiphysiolysis in adolescence. This abnormality.
SOC Design for Wireless Communications

Summary form only given. A common denominator of system-on-chip (SOC) design is research of how to integrate a whole system on one silicon chip. The tutorial emphasizes design methods, architectures and circuits towards system level integration. It gives the basic knowledge and skills for designing small, low-power, embedded devices. Besides tackling issues of functionality, an important goal is to understand the balancing of production cost, development time, and performance of such devices. The complexity of these devices increases exponentially, and so does the effort of designing such systems. Only by using an appropriate design methodology which concentrates on reuse, executable specifications, and early error detection, these complexities can be mastered. The tutorial bundles these topics in order to provide a good understanding of all problems involved. Finally, it teaches how to design large systems and shows how to go from description and simulation to implementation and testing. A good SOC design flow assumes getting a design from the architectural level or RTL level to the chip layout. It should provide the designer with a working starting point for each stage of the design process. The tutorial describes such a methodology that relies on a library of configurable IP cores and custom hardware accelerators and satisfies the unique needs of wireless applications. The SOC design flow will be thoroughly examined with examples drawn from wireless communications.
Slicing tRNAs to boost functional ncRNA diversity

Post-transcriptional cleavage of RNA molecules to generate smaller fragments is a widespread mechanism that enlarges the structural and functional complexity of cellular RNomes. Substrates for such RNA fragmentations are coding as well as non-protein-coding RNAs. In particular, fragments derived from both precursor and mature tRNAs represent one of the rapidly growing classes of post-transcriptional RNA pieces. Importantly, these tRNA fragments possess distinct expression patterns, abundance, cellular localizations, or biological roles compared with their parental tRNA molecules. Here we review recent reports on tRNA cleavage and attempt to categorize tRNA pieces according to their origin and cellular function. The biological scope of tRNA-derived fragments ranges from translation control, over RNA silencing, to regulating apoptosis, and thus clearly enlarges the functional repertoire of ncRNA biology.
Sensing-Throughput Tradeoff in Cluster-Based Cooperative Cognitive Radio Networks: A Novel Frame Structure

In cooperative cognitive radio networks (CCRNs), the reporting time is consumed by all secondary users (SUs) for reporting the sensing results to the central node or fusion center. Intuitively, the performance of CCRNs will be degradation, since the more SUs for cooperation, the more reporting time for reporting sensing results. However, most previous studies have not considered this point. In this paper, a cluster-based cooperative spectrum sensing model is proposed in order to reduce the reporting time. Based on a novel frame structure, a sensing-throughput tradeoff problem considering the reporting time is formulated for two scenarios. The optimal clustering rule is obtained by maximizing the transmission time of all SUs. Then, a low-complexity solution is proposed to solve the tradeoff problem, which shows close-to-optimal performance by simulation.
THE STUDY OF SOME ICT PROJECTS IN AGRICULTURE FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA

Information and communication technology (ICTs) ischanging all the spheres of human lives. Hence it is popular. The application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in agriculturesector is increasingly important. Agriculture is an important sector with the majority of the rural population in developing countriesdepend ing on it.The agriculture sector faces major challenges of enhancing production in a situation of decliningnatural resources necessary for production. The growing demand for agricultural products, however, also offers opportunities for producers to sustain and improve their livelihoods. Information andCommunication Technologies (ICT) act as a key agent in agriculture sector in addressing these challenges and enrichingthe livelihoods of the poorrural population which depends on agricultural produce. In this paper we studied some of the existing ICT projects in India. Despite the huge potential to harness ICT for agricultural development, only few isolated projects have been initiated in India and few in other parts of the world. Interestingly, many of these projects were started by NGOs, private organisations, cooperative bodies and governmental organisations other than agricultural departments. To formulate a strategy for overall agricultural development, the isolated ICT projects need to be studied and the experiences generated must be documented in order to draw lessons for the future.
Does Liability Affect Small Business?

Small-business owners and advocates have expressed concern that liability jeopardizes the economic viability of small businesses. Yet empirical evidence concerning this issue is limited. This study assesses the impact of liability on the number of firms in a wide variety of industries dominated by small businesses. The authors use caps on non-economic damages as a measure of liability pressure and compare the number of small businesses before and after supreme courts in Illinois, Ohio, and Oregon struck caps down. This analysis indicates that caps are associated with more firms in some industries but fewer in others. The hypothesis that the average impact is negligible cannot be rejected.
Suppression by Methionine of Reversions to Adenine Independence in Schixosaccharomyces pombe

Spontaneous mutations, and those induced by nitrous acid or ultraviolet light, were studied in the haploid fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Reverse mutations conferring ability to grow on a minimal medium lacking adenine were scored in adenine auxotrophs, and in di-auxotrophs having requirements for both adenine and methionine. The apparently lower mutability of the ad-1 mutants in the ad-metdiauxotrophic strains compared with the adstrains was shown to be due to the influence of methionine in the plating medium. L-methionine added to the minimal medium at a concentration of 40pg. per ml. wil suppress the appearance of spontaneous and induced revertants of adenine-1 mutants. A similar effect has been shown for reversions of an adenine mutant at another locus, and for reversions of a leucine auxotroph. Methionine has the effect of decreasing the extent of residual divisions undergone by adenine-requiring cells when plated on a minimal medium.
Clustering via Matrix Exponentiation

Given a set of n points with a matrix of pairwise similarity measures, one would like to partition the points into clusters so that similar points are together and different ones apart. We present an algorithm requiring only matrix exponentiation that performs well in practice and bears an elegant interpretation in terms of random walks on a graph. Under a certain mixture model involving planting a partition via randomized rounding of tailored matrix entries, the algorithm can be proven effective for only a single squaring. It is shown that the clustering performance of the algorithm degrades with larger values of the exponent, thus revealing that a single squaring is optimal. Thesis Supervisor: Santosh Vempala Title: Associate Professor
Designing Strategies for the Implementation of EBMgt among Senior Management, Middle Management, and Supervisors

Proponents of evidence-based management point to a range of benefits accruing to users, including more effective decision-making through exploitation of the science base. Despite this lure, incorporating research evidence findings is relatively new to much management practice. In this chapter, evidence-based management is conceived of as a technological innovation, and we draw on Diffusion of Innovation theory and the Transtheoretical Stages of Change Model to explore some individual and organizational factors impacting the adoption of EBMgt at different levels of management. In light of this analysis, a number of strategies and initiatives to accelerate the adoption of EBMgt are proposed.
A cryogenic, wide band receiver for the 500 m Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST)

A unique wide band receiver for radio astronomy has been designed, constructed and will be installed on the 500 m Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Guizhou, China. The receiver has a frequency range of 270 to 1620 MHz. Astronomical use of the receiver includes observing pulsars, continuum source surveys, galactic hydrogen line and extragalactic hydrogen with high red shift.
Noise reduction on partial discharge data with wavelet analysis and appropriate thresholding

One of the major challenges of partial discharge (PD) measurements is separation of PD signals from different type of noises resulting from measurement circuit or surrounding environment. White noise is the most common noise component that couples the PD data in practice. De-noising with wavelet shrinkage method is capable of separating the noise component to some extent, but thresholding is a key factor which is directly related to distortion of PD waveform and quality of de-noising process. Although there are applications in literature for PD noise separation, selection of thresholding rule and thresholding function, which affects the evaluation of PD characteristics, is still challenging. In this paper, by using the simulative noisy PD pulses, different thresholding rules and thresholding functions with various combinations have been studied in order to achieve the best thresholding scheme by way of observing the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), Mean Square Error (MSE) and Magnitude Error (ME). Results show that level dependent thresholding rule together with combined thresholding function gives the best result for de-noising white noise coupled to the PD signal.
R-peak Detection in Electrocardiogram Signals Using Continuous Wavelet Transform

In this paper, an efficient wavelet-based method is proposed to detect the R-peak from QRS complex. At first, a preprocessing step is taken to remove high frequency noise of electrocardiogram (ECG) data. Then, continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is applied to the signal and the R-peaks of QRS complexes are detected with acceptable accuracy using special thresholding method. The detection performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated against the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database. The numerical results indicated that the proposed method achieved a detection rate of 99.72% over all standard database used for evaluation. Also, evaluating the performance of the proposed algorithm on ECG signal with poor signal quality indicated the reliability of this algorithm even under the condition of poor SNR. Finally, the accuracy of detection rate is proven by comparing the proposed algorithm with some other methods from different literatures.
Analysis of cogging torque in brushless Machines having nonuniformly distributed stator slots and stepped rotor magnets

A simple analytical technique is proposed for synthesizing the cogging torque waveform of a permanent magnet brushless machine from the cogging torque waveform that is associated with a single stator slot. The machine may have either uniformly or nonuniformly distributed stator slots and/or a skewed rotor, in which the skew is realized by circumferentially displacing the magnets of each pole. The technique is validated by finite element analysis and measurements.
INDIAN SOCIETY OF PEDIATRIC NEPHROLOGY STEROID RESISTANT NEPHROTIC SYNDROME formulate broad guidelines for the management of patients with idiopathic SRNS

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome, characterized by altered permselectivity of the glomerular filter, is a common chronic renal disorder in children. Most patients are steroid sensitive and respond to therapy with remission of proteinuria (steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome). Revised Guidelines for treatment of these patients were published recently(1). Approximately 10-20% children with nephrotic syndrome, who do not respond to therapy with corticosteroids, are classified as steroid resistant (SRNS). Their management is difficult since patients are, on one hand, at risk for complications of unremitting nephrotic syndrome and progressive renal disease and on the other, the side effects of treatment with immunosuppressive medications(2).
The statistical distribution of percolation current for soft breakdown in ultrathin gate oxide

Soft breakdown in ultrathin gate oxide has been studied using constant voltage stressing. The behavior of current increments resulting from a number of soft breakdown events has been characterized by statistical distribution. It is shown that the distribution of the current increment follows Weibull distribution rather than log normal distribution. The newly established Weibull slope is shown to be independent of the stressed voltage in the range investigated between 4.5 and 5.1 V. The temperature effect study shows that the Weibull slope reduces with increasing testing temperature. Furthermore, a strong dependence of the Weibull slope on the oxide thickness has been found. These observations can be explained well by geometrical configurations of the percolation path.
Attracting Flows by Attracting Big Clients: Conflicts of Interest and Mutual Fund Portfolio Choice

We explore a new channel for attracting inflows using a unique dataset of corporate 401(k) retirement plans and their mutual fund family trustees. Families secure substantial inflows by being named trustee of a 401(k) plan. This affords the plan sponsor potential influence on the family’s portfolio decisions. Consistent with this, we find that family trustees significantly overweight their 401(k) client firm’s stock. Trustee overweighting is more pronounced when the conflict of interest of the trustee family is more severe and when other mutual funds are selling the client firm’s stock. This overweighting is not explained by superior information. We quantify a potentially large benefit to the 401(k) sponsor firm of having its price propped up by its trustee fund’s more severe overweighting. We also estimate the resulting loss to mutual fund investors. In some cases, this can be large. JEL classification: G11, G23, J26
Overcoming internal barriers to implement strategy effectively

Degree programme: International Business Administration Writer(s): Arturs Dutka Thesis title: Overcoming internal barriers to implement strategy effectively Pages (of which appendices): 101 (46) Date: May 27, 2013 Thesis instructor(s): Esa Jauhola A changing environment is a fact today and organisations shall cope with changes, no matter if the organisation is a business unit, educational or social unit. To be successful in changing business environment it is mandatory for the organisations to make changes in their own strategies and to revise it accordingly. Revised strategy itself will not make changes, but people working in the organisation will make changes through the decisions, actions and reactions. The objective of this thesis is to develop sample of the balanced scorecard through analysing effectiveness of the current strategy implementation in case the Ramk’s heat pump test centre. This Thesis has three research questions and they are as follows: 1. What tools and methods are used when implementing strategy in the organisation? 2. How effective is strategy implemented currently in the case organisation? 3. How can the heat pump test centre development strategy implementation be managed in an effective way? The barriers and success factors of the effective strategy implementation in the organisation proposed by various known researchers such as Kaplan and Norton, Raps, Neely, Porter and Jones, just to mention few, formed theoretical framework for this Thesis work. The theoretical framework was obtained by analysing relevant books, articles and previous studies on the subject. The balanced scorecard was introduced to raise effectiveness of the strategy implementation in the organisation at the end. A qualitative research method was applied in this Thesis. Data was gathered through semi-structured open-ended interviews with organisation management and experts. In addition, my own observations from meetings and development work over the last two years were used. Analysis was done through finding a pattern match of the theoretical background and practice in the case organisation. To conclude, I first recognise that execution of strategy in the case organisation could be effective based on the positive previous experience in the organisation. For instance, for the past two years development of the heat pump test centre in the case organisation is not effective, I found that placing balanced scorecard in the centre of the strategy implementation would provide clear plan of actions to every member of the team which will raise effectiveness in achieving goals set. Balanced scorecard supports clear decision making through communication, monitoring and control possibilities, and it explains actions to be implemented to each team member. Furthermore, balanced scorecard is proven to be effective in the organisations with complex process of the strategy implementation such as Ramk’s case.
A statistical framework to discover true associations from multiprotein complex pull‐down proteomics data sets

Experimental processes to collect and process proteomics data are increasingly complex, and the computational methods to assess the quality and significance of these data remain unsophisticated. These challenges have led to many biological oversights and computational misconceptions. We developed an empirical Bayes model to analyze multiprotein complex (MPC) proteomics data derived from peptide mass spectrometry detections of purified protein complex pull‐down experiments. Using our model and two yeast proteomics data sets, we estimated that there should be an average of about 20 true associations per MPC, almost 10 times as high as was previously estimated. For data sets generated to mimic a real proteome, our model achieved on average 80% sensitivity in detecting true associations, as compared with the 3% sensitivity in previous work, while maintaining a comparable false discovery rate of 0.3%. Cross‐examination of our results with protein complexes confirmed by various experimental techniques demonstrates that many true associations that cannot be identified by previous approach are identified by our method. Proteins 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.