Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Discriminant Subspace Learning Based Face Recognition Method

In the system of face recognition, the tradition method of data dimension reduction method is used to rearrange the face image vectors, resulting in the structural characteristics of the data itself lost and the recognition accuracy not high. In this paper, we develop a data dimension reduction method based on tensor-multilinear discriminant subspace projection. The algorithm directly describes the face with tensor and projects the tensor data into the vector discriminant subspace through a new projection mode tensor to vector projection (TVP). This method finds a set of orthogonal projection vector sets to maximize the dispersion between the data classes and minimize the intra-class dispersion in the discriminant subspace. Then, the high-dimensional tensor data is mapped to low-level vector data by TVP. These vector features after dimension reduction will be the most representative feature data in the whole face data under the appropriate constraint condition. Finally, these feature data are classified by the K-nearest neighbor classifier. Experiments on classical face database Olivetti Research Laboratory and face recognition technology verify the effectiveness of this method.
N-Acylated Derivatives of Sulfamethoxazole Block Chlamydia Fatty Acid Synthesis and Interact with FabF

ABSTRACT The type II fatty acid synthesis (FASII) pathway is essential for bacterial lipid biosynthesis and continues to be a promising target for novel antibacterial compounds. Recently, it has been demonstrated that Chlamydia is capable of FASII and this pathway is indispensable for Chlamydia growth. Previously, a high-content screen with Chlamydia trachomatis-infected cells was performed, and acylated sulfonamides were identified to be potent growth inhibitors of the bacteria. C. trachomatis strains resistant to acylated sulfonamides were isolated by serial passage of a wild-type strain in the presence of low compound concentrations. Results from whole-genome sequencing of 10 isolates from two independent drug-resistant populations revealed that mutations that accumulated in fabF were predominant. Studies of the interaction between the FabF protein and small molecules showed that acylated sulfonamides directly bind to recombinant FabF in vitro and treatment of C. trachomatis-infected HeLa cells with the compounds leads to a decrease in the synthesis of Chlamydia fatty acids. This work demonstrates the importance of FASII for Chlamydia development and may lead to the development of new antimicrobials.
Phytoremediation of petroleum-contaminated soil by Salicornia: from PSY activity to physiological and morphological communications

ABSTRACT Petroleum is one of the critical environmental pollutants. Salicornia can grow in petroleum-contaminated soil. Therefore, the potential of two Iranian Salicornia species, S. persica Akhani and S. iranica Akhani, for phytoremediation of soils contaminated with 0.2% or 2% petroleum was evaluated over short (1 and 10 h) and long (100 days) periods of time. In addition, some key factors including the expression analysis of phytoene synthase, physiological and morphological factors were studied. Both species reduced the petroleum in 0.2% and 2% petroleum-contaminated soils to 40% and 60% of the initial amount, respectively. The expression of PSY increased twice more than the control 10 h after 0.2% petroleum stress and the carotenoid content increased twice more than the control. Chlorophyll a and total chlorophyll decreased three times less than the control in both contamination levels, while chlorophyll b decreased three times less than the control only in 2% contamination. The proline content peaked 10 h after 2% stress as it was 10 times more than the control. Promoter analysis of PSY showed the existence of responsive cis-acting elements to abscisic acid suggesting the key role of this gene in abiotic stresses.
Energy Efficient Resource Allocation in Multi-User Downlink Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access Systems

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) has been investigated recently as a candidate radio access technology for the fifth generation (5G) networks due to its high spectrum efficiency (SE). As green radio which focuses on energy efficiency (EE) becomes an inevitable trend, energy efficient design is becoming more and more important. In this paper, we focus on energy efficient resource allocation problem in multi-user downlink NOMA system with the aim to optimize subchannel assignment and power allocation to maximize the system EE. We propose a novel low-complexity suboptimal subchannel assignment algorithm and obtain the optimal power allocation coefficients among subchannel multiplexed users. To further improve the system EE, unequal power allocation across subchannels (UPAAS) scheme including an optimal solution and a suboptimal Dinkelbach-like algorithm is studied. Simulation results show the effectiveness of our proposed resource allocation algorithms.
A Systematic Critical Appraisal for Non-Pharmacological Management of Osteoarthritis Using the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation II Instrument

Clinical practice CPGs (CPGs) have been developed to summarize evidence related to the management of osteoarthritis (OA). CPGs facilitate uptake of evidence-based knowledge by consumers, health professionals, health administrators and policy makers. The objectives of the present review were: 1) to assess the quality of the CPGs on non-pharmacological management of OA; using a standardized and validated instrument - the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) tool - by three pairs of trained appraisers; and 2) to summarize the recommendations based on only high-quality existing CPGs. Scientific literature databases from 2001 to 2013 were systematically searched for the state of evidence, with 17 CPGs for OA being identified. Most CPGs effectively addressed only a minority of AGREE II domains. Scope and purpose was effectively addressed in 10 CPGs on the management of OA, stakeholder involvement in 12 CPGs, rigour of development in 10 CPGs, clarity/presentation in 17 CPGs, editorial independence in 2 CPGs, and applicability in none of the OA CPGs. The overall quality of the included CPGs, according to the 7-point AGREE II scoring system, is 4.8±0.41 for OA. Therapeutic exercises, patient education, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, acupuncture, orthoses and insoles, heat and cryotherapy, patellar tapping, and weight control are commonly recommended for the non-pharmacological management of OA by the high-quality CPGs. The general clinical management recommendations tended to be similar among high-quality CPGs, although interventions addressed varied. Non-pharmacological management interventions were superficially addressed in more than half of the selected CPGs. For CPGs to be standardized uniform creators should use the AGREE II criteria when developing CPGs. Innovative and effective methods of CPG implementation to users are needed to ultimately enhance the quality of life of arthritic individuals.
Thermal expansion of Cu-graphite composites: effect of copper coating

Cu/graphite composites with 30 and 50 vol.% of graphite were prepared. Copper coated graphite particles enabled to prepare more homogeneous structure at 50 vol.% of graphite as simple powder mixture. In the case of 30 vol.% of graphite, composite prepared from mixture of coated graphite and copper powders is more heterogeneous as simple powder mixture. Measured CTE of coated composites was significantly smaller at both compositions. It is the result of the different area of copper-graphite interface that is established only by mechanical clamping. For coated composites the area of interface increases significantly due to avoiding graphite clustering. Simple model was proposed to predict this behaviour on the basis of anisotropy of graphite CTE. Further, the model can be used for calculation of the thermal expansion coefficient of the graphite reinforcement. K e y w o r d s: metal matrix composites, thermal expansion, coating
An improved online denoising algorithm based on Kalman filter and adaptive current statistics model

In practical process, it's necessary to obtain the real-time data without noise. The Kalman filter is a classical recursive method of the state estimation, thus, it can be used in the online denoising. In order to acquire the preferable denoising effect, the appropriate model would be required to capture the features of the signals. In this paper, adaptive current statistics model (ACSM) was applied to the state estimation of Kalman filter. However, the measurement variance ‘R’ in this method was unknown, meanwhile, it could have a huge impact on the denoising effect. Therefore, this paper proposed a self-adaptive adjustment algorithm of measurement variance, by means of introducing forgetting factor to estimate ‘R’. In this way, ‘R’ would be convergent to the real value. The effectiveness of the method was verified by the simulation experiment. The results show that the proposed method not only can make ‘R’ to be convergence to real value, but also can achieve the favorable denoising effect.
Virtual reality as a physical training assistant

Virtual Reality (VR) technology has emerged itself to become one of the essential parts of education, entertainment, healthcare, architecture and much more. It empowers a user to learn, discover, explore, design and interact with 3D objects in real-time. Due to the recent advancements in computer hardware and constant decline in the cost of mobile devices has encouraged virtual reality to reach a broader audience. The combination of high computational power, mobile computing, and virtual reality can help simulate the world dynamically. This dynamic behavior enables users to communicate with virtual environments using different forms such as body movement, voice commands, gesture control, etc. These means of interaction can create a real-time communication between people and VR. Due to this interactive nature of VR, it can be used in facilitating any physical activity, e.g., sports, exercise, military and more. This paper consists of experiments and surveys of a VR application developed for physical training, i.e., walking, running and jogging with an accuracy of 82.46%. The purpose of this paper urges the use of emerging technologies in competitive physical training to encourage users to be physically trained using virtual environment.
Preserving communication bandwidth with a gradient coding scheme

Large–scale machine learning involves the communicaiton of gradients, and large models often saturate the communication bandwidth to communicate gradients. I implement an existing scheme, quantized stochastic gradient descent (QSGD) to reduce the communication bandwidth. This requires a distributed architecture and we choose to implement a parameter server that uses the Message Passing Interface (MPI). I provide results that illustrate this method is performing, and mention some ideas on future work.
A neural oscillator sound separator for missing data speech recognition

In order to recognise speech in a background of other sounds, human listeners must solve two perceptual problems. First, the mixture of sounds reaching the ears must be parsed to recover a description of each acoustic source, a process termed 'auditory scene analysis'. Second, recognition of speech must be robust even when the acoustic evidence is missing due to masking by other sounds. This paper describes an automatic speech recognition system that addresses both of these issues, by combining a neural oscillator model of auditory scene analysis with a framework for 'missing data' recognition of speech.
Naturalistic Stimulus Structure Determines the Integration of Audiovisual Looming Signals in Binocular Rivalry

Rapid integration of biologically relevant information is crucial for the survival of an organism. Most prominently, humans should be biased to attend and respond to looming stimuli that signal approaching danger (e.g. predator) and hence require rapid action. This psychophysics study used binocular rivalry to investigate the perceptual advantage of looming (relative to receding) visual signals (i.e. looming bias) and how this bias can be influenced by concurrent auditory looming/receding stimuli and the statistical structure of the auditory and visual signals. Subjects were dichoptically presented with looming/receding visual stimuli that were paired with looming or receding sounds. The visual signals conformed to two different statistical structures: (1) a ‘simple’ random-dot kinematogram showing a starfield and (2) a “naturalistic” visual Shepard stimulus. Likewise, the looming/receding sound was (1) a simple amplitude- and frequency-modulated (AM-FM) tone or (2) a complex Shepard tone. Our results show that the perceptual looming bias (i.e. the increase in dominance times for looming versus receding percepts) is amplified by looming sounds, yet reduced and even converted into a receding bias by receding sounds. Moreover, the influence of looming/receding sounds on the visual looming bias depends on the statistical structure of both the visual and auditory signals. It is enhanced when audiovisual signals are Shepard stimuli. In conclusion, visual perception prioritizes processing of biologically significant looming stimuli especially when paired with looming auditory signals. Critically, these audiovisual interactions are amplified for statistically complex signals that are more naturalistic and known to engage neural processing at multiple levels of the cortical hierarchy.
The response of polymer optical fiber (POF) to bending and axial tension for the application of a POF sensor for automotive seat occupancy sensing

The automotive industry is a promising area for innovations in the field of polymer optical fiber (POF) sensors as the industry currently uses the POF mostly for data transmissions. Since an optical fiber sensor has a high bandwidth, is small in size, is lightweight, and is immune to electromagnetic interference, it offers higher performance than that of its electrical-based counterparts such as the strain gage, elastomeric bladder, and resistive sensor systems. This enhanced performance makes an optical fiber sensor a suitable material for sensing seat occupancy for improved safety features in automobiles. The overall goal of this research is to develop a textile-based optical fiber sensor for automotive seat occupancy with high accuracy and reproducibility. In this study, the bending and tensile loading responses of POF were investigated, where two perfluorinated (PF) graded index (GI) POFs with two different core/cladding diameters, 62.5/750 and 62.5/490 μm, were used. The bending loss and the light attenuation against the applied axial stress were measured by a photon counting optical time-domain reflectometer. The critical bending diameters were analyzed: Cytop-1 (62.5/750 μm) ≥ 38.10 mm, Cytop-2 (62.5/490 μm) ≥ 44.45 mm. Furthermore, the elastic sensitive strain regions (x), where the stress-induced loss was recoverable, of the POFs at a 76.2 mm gage length at a strain rate of 4 mm/min were determined: Cytop-1: 3% ≤ x ≤ 3.5%, Cytop-2: 3.1% ≤ x ≤ 3.3%. The Cytop-1 was found to be less sensitive to bending and to have greater elastic sensitive strain range relative to the Cytop-2. In this study, a theoretical approach of the PF GI POF behavior to bending and axial tension was provided. The results demonstrated the feasibility of POFs as optical fiber sensors for automotive seat occupancy sensing.
Microglia-Mediated Synapse Loss in Alzheimer's Disease

Microglia are emerging as key players in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thus far, microglia have rather been known as modulator of neurodegeneration with functions limited to neuroinflammation and release of neurotoxic molecules. However, several recent studies have demonstrated a direct role of microglia in “neuro” degeneration observed in AD by promoting phagocytosis of neuronal, in particular, synaptic structures. While some of the studies address the involvement of the β-amyloid peptides in the process, studies also indicate that this could occur independent of amyloid, further elevating the importance of microglia in AD. Here we review these recent studies and also speculate about the possible cellular mechanisms, and how they could be regulated by risk genes and sleep. Finally, we deliberate on possible avenues for targeting microglia-mediated synapse loss for therapy and prevention. Dual Perspectives Companion Paper: Alzheimer's Disease and Sleep-Wake Disturbances: Amyloid, Astrocytes, and Animal Models by William M. Vanderheyden, Miranda M. Lim, Erik S. Musiek, and Jason R. Gerstner
On fixed-time performance of Lyapunov-based economic model predictive control of nonlinear systems

This work presents an algorithm for improved fixed-time performance of Lyapunov-based economic model predictive control (LEMPC) of nonlinear systems. Unlike conventional Lyapunov-based model predictive control (LMPC) schemes which typically utilize a quadratic cost function and regulate a process at a steady-state, LEMPC designs very often dictate time-varying operation to optimize an economic (typically non-quadratic) cost function. The LEMPC algorithm proposed here utilizes a shrinking prediction horizon with respect to fixed (but potentially large) operation period to ensure improved performance, measured by the desired economic cost, over conventional LMPC. Closed-loop performance improvement is guaranteed by solving an auxiliary LMPC problem and incorporating appropriate constraints, based on the LMPC solution, in the LEMPC formulation at various sampling times. The proposed LEMPC scheme also takes advantage of a predefined Lyapunov-based explicit feedback law to characterize its stability region while maintaining the closed-loop system state in an invariant set. The performance of the LEMPC algorithm is demonstrated through a nonlinear chemical process example.
Testing and Numerical Simulation Research on Shear Band of Soil

The triaxial equipment of GDS with digital image processing technique is used in drained test of sand. The result shows that the end restraint and initial defect have significant effect on mechanical properties of sand sample. End restraint and initial defect of sample both can cause inhomogeneous deformation, then form macroscopic shear band in soil testing and numerical simulation. Shape multiformity and formation mechanism of shear band in normal consolidated soil is analyzed based on Modified Cam-Clay Model under plane strain condition. The result shows that end restraint and initial defect can induce and control the formation and shape of shear band. The impaction of different boundaries and initial defect setting are analyzed.
Excellent Code Dissemination Protocol using Multi-objective Optimization in WSN

Wireless reprogramming is a difficult technique for software deployment in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Code dissemination is a basic building block to enable wireless reprogramming. Here present ECD, an Excellent Code Dissemination protocol leveraging 1-hop link quality information based on the TinyOS platform. Compared to previous works, ECD has three main features. First, it supports dynamically configurable packet sizes. By increasing the packet size for high PHY rate radios, it improves the transmission efficiency. Second, it has a precise sender selection algorithm to mitigate transmission collisions and transmissions over poor links. Third, it has a simple impact-based backoff timer design to shorten the time spent in coordinating multiple eligible senders so that the largest impact sender is most likely to transmit. These features is incorporated into multi objective optimization (MOPs) approach using Genetic algorithm (GA) to further reduce delay due to best sender selection. Results show that ECD-MOP outperforms other protocols, in terms of completion time. Keywords— Dissemination, Delay, Genetic algorithm, Link quality, Multi objective optimization, Reprogramming, Wireless sensor network.
Comparative analysis of heat maps over voronoi diagram in eye gaze data visualization

Heat maps generated by eye tracking have gained a major popularity over the years. This is partly since they are easy to create and can effectively produce a data summary that is easy to understand. However, heat maps are often used inconsistently. Furthermore, most of the heat maps produced may not contain enough information for a clear interpretation. The primary objective of this work is to describe the various types of heat maps with respect to an individual's eye gaze data, while providing a means of how to use this data. An explanation on how heat maps are produced provided and how their presence can be changed with display settings change is also discussed. A spatial representation for the eye gaze data called the Voronoi diagram is also discussed and is compared with the heat maps. The experimental results suggests that Voronoi diagrams gives a better, spatial visualization which helps in many eye tracking applications than that of heat maps.
High-fidelity haptics in multimodal human-robot interaction

Introducing haptics into human-robot interaction brings new challenges to control algorithm development as the robot stays in physical contact with the human user. When the aim is to design a system which interacts with the human in a natural and plausible way similar to two humans carrying out the same task, the main challenges are to estimate human intentions online and to plan the behavior of the robot accordingly. This work addresses the challenges of human intention estimation, online robot action generation and the integration of visual and sound feedback signals into the haptic system. Different stages of the system have been evaluated by a series of user studies.
tRNAPro‐mediated downregulation of elongation factor P is required for mgtCBR expression during Salmonella infection

Bacterial ribosome requires elongation factor P to translate fragments harbouring consecutive proline codons. Given the abundance of ORFs with potential EF‐P regulated sites, EF‐P was assumed to be constitutively expressed. Here, we report that the intracellular pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium decreases efp mRNA levels during course of infection. We determined that the decrease in efp mRNA is triggered by low levels of charged tRNAPro, a condition that Salmonella experiences when inside a macrophage phagosome. Surprisingly, downregulation of EF‐P selectively promotes expression of the virulence mgtC gene and contributes to Salmonella's ability to survive inside macrophages. The decrease in EF‐P levels induces ribosome stalling at the consecutive proline codons of the mgtP open reading frame in the mgtCBR leader RNA, and thus allows formation of a stem‐loop structure promoting transcription of the mgtC gene. The substitution of proline codons in the mgtP gene eliminates EF‐P‐mediated mgtC expression and thus Salmonella's survival inside macrophages. Our findings indicate that Salmonella benefits virulence genes by decreasing EF‐P levels and inducing the stringent response inside host.
8-16-2010 2 D Ground-Penetrating Radar AVO Response to a 3 D Dielectric Permittivity Anomaly

To evaluate the amplitude vs offset response of GPR to small distributions of hydrocarbon contamination, I acquired multi-offset 450 MHz GPR data in TE and TM modes over a buried rectangular tank filled with gasoline saturated sand. All dimensions of the tank were less than one wavelength at the characteristic antenna frequency. The permittivity ratio at the moist sand/gasoline sand boundary, estimated by fitting the Fresnel equations to the observed amplitudes and by Brewster's Angle analysis, differed from that obtained through migration velocity analysis by no more than 12%. 2D FDTD modeling reproduced amplitude characteristics for 3 o f 4 target/polarization combinations and explained some deviations from the Fresnel curves. Additional deviations may be caused by out-of-plane polarization effects or heterogeneity not included in