Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A General Framework for Developing Service Robots

Abstract A general framework for developing service robots that can help people in daily activities is presented. This framework is based on a general, distributed architecture which integrates several components; (i) coordinator, (ii) navigator, (iii) perception, and (iv) human-robot interface. The coordinator uses a novel decision-theoretic approach to select the appropriate action according to the current state. The navigator allows the robot to localize itself and navigate in a dynamic environment, using natural landmarks. The perception module combines vision, sonar and lasers so that the robot can detect the relevant objects in the environment, including people. The human-robot interface provides a natural communication with people, using voice, gestures and portable devices. This provides a general and flexible framework for developing house hold robots, so the same infrastructure can be applied to different tasks by just changing the coordinator, reducing development costs.
Correlating multiple SNPs and multiple disease phenotypes: penalized non-linear canonical correlation analysis

MOTIVATION Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) can be used to capture the underlying genetic background of a complex disease, by associating two datasets containing information about a patient's phenotypical and genetic details. Often the genetic information is measured on a qualitative scale, consequently ordinary CCA cannot be applied to such data. Moreover, the size of the data in genetic studies can be enormous, thereby making the results difficult to interpret. RESULTS We developed a penalized non-linear CCA approach that can deal with qualitative data by transforming each qualitative variable into a continuous variable through optimal scaling. Additionally, sparse results were obtained by adapting soft-thresholding to this non-linear version of the CCA. By means of simulation studies, we show that our method is capable of extracting relevant variables out of high-dimensional sets. We applied our method to a genetic dataset containing 144 patients with glial cancer. CONTACT s.waaijenborg@amc.uva. nl.
Joint Pulse Spreading Estimation and Decoding in Stretched Pulse PPM Optical Channels

In this paper, maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) decoding for a stretched-pulse, PPM, direct-detection optical communication system is examined when the spreading factor of the received laser pulse is unknown. Based on the discrete count model; joint pulse spreading estimators and decoders are derived for both Poisson and avalanche photodetection (APD) cases. Performance is evaluated in terms of probability of error for pulse decoding.
A hybrid of decomposition and domination based evolutionary algorithm for multi-objective software next release problem

In software industry, one common problem that the companies face is to decide what requirements should be implemented in the next release of the software. In a more realistic perspective, multiple objectives, such as cost and customer satisfaction, need to be considered when making the decision; thus the multi-objective formulations of the NRP become increasingly popular. This paper studies various multiobjective evolutionary algorithms(MOEAs) to address multi-objective NRP(MONRP). A novel multi-objective algorithm, MOEA/DD, is proposed to obtain trade-off solutions when deciding which requirements to be implemented in MONRP. The proposed MOEA/DD addresses several important issues of decomposition based MOEAs in context of MONRP by combining it with desirable feature of domination based MOEAs. A density based mechanism is proposed to switch between decomposition and domination archives when constructing the subpopulation of subproblems. Our experimental results suggest the proposed approach outperforms the state-of-art domination or decomposition based multi-objective MOEAs.
Patch-Based Information Reconstruction of Cloud-Contaminated Multitemporal Images

Cloud covers, which are generally present in optical remote sensing images, limit the usage of acquired images and increase the difficulty in data analysis. Thus, information reconstruction of cloud-contaminated images generally plays an important role in image analysis. This paper proposes a novel method to reconstruct cloud-contaminated information in multitemporal remote sensing images. Based on the concept of utilizing temporal correlation of multitemporal images, we propose a patch-based information reconstruction algorithm that spatiotemporally segments a sequence of images into clusters containing several spatially connected components called patches and then clones information from cloud-free and high-similarity patches to their corresponding cloud-contaminated patches. In addition, a seam that passes through homogenous regions is used in information reconstruction to reduce radiometric inconsistency, and information cloning is solved using an optimization process with the determined seam. These processes enable the proposed method to well reconstruct missing information. Qualitative analyses of image sequences acquired by a Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor and a quantitative analysis of simulated data with various cloud contamination conditions are conducted to evaluate the proposed method. The experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method to related methods in terms of radiometric accuracy and consistency, particularly for large clouds in a heterogeneous landscape.
A Case-Based Component Selection Framework for Mobile Context-Aware Applications

This paper proposes a new semi-reliable multicast algorithm based on the (m, k)-firm scheduling technique, where in each consecutive k window messages sent by a sender, at least m of these messages must be received by the receiver. To assure this restriction, message recovery mechanisms from reliable multicast protocols can be used. This algorithm is mainly applicable to applications that may suffer losses, as long as these losses do not occur consecutively and do not overrun a specified maximum value of message, without any degradation of the quality of service.
The impact of primer sets on detection of the gene encoding biofilm‐associated protein (Bap) in Acinetobacter baumannii: in silico and in vitro analysis

The Acinetobacter baumannii virulence protein Bap is encoded by a large gene and contains both variable sequence and repetitive modules. To date, four primer sets targeting different regions of bap have been designed, but no study has evaluated all these primers simultaneously for detection of bap. Here, we assessed the effect of primer sets Bap I–IV, on detection of bap both in silico and in vitro. Using the primer set Bap II, all 143 tested strains yielded an amplicon corresponding to the bap gene. This primer set showed the highest sensitivity (100, 95% CI: 97·9–100%) compared to the other primer sets. This study demonstrates that primer set Bap II performs with optimal efficiency for detection of the bap gene among different strains.
Brodmann's localization in the cerebral cortex : the principles of comparative localisation in the cerebral cortex based on cytoarchitectonics

The principles of comparative cortical cytoarchitectonics. - The basic laminar pattern of the cerebral cortex. - Regional variations in cell structure of the cerebral cortex. - Particularities of the cytoarchitecture in different animals. - The principles of comparative field organisation in the cerebral cortex. - Description of individual brain maps. - Common features in cortical architectonics. - Variations in cortical architectonics. - Synthesis: Hypothesis of the cortex as a morphological, physiological and pathological organ. - Histological cortical localisation in relation to morphology. - Localisation and histopathology. - Physiology of the cortex as an organ.
Architecture Decision within Value-Based Software Engineering concepts

Architectures in software intensive systems are a s ignificant field of study while it is representing static structure, da taflow, and relationships among subsystems or components. Also, architectures could be considered an artifact as blueprint of sof tware system to make sure that design approach will yield an accept able system in early system analysis. As the complexity of system increases, there will be several approaches to design or select comp onents to improve qualities, namely performance, modification , a d security, and there are many stakeholders involved in those a rchitectural concerns such as implementors, testers, maintainers , and managers. To select right and workable architectural approach es, architects firstly need to recognize the values among stakehol ders, how to affect them, and how to lead negotiated architectur al decisions against the value-neutral approach that focuses on only technical issues. In this paper, we primarily propose a metho d that systematically derives architectural decision frame work to reflect both economical and technical issues in context of architecture processes.
Indoor Device-Free Activity Recognition Based on Radio Signal

Activity recognition based on a wireless signal has received a lot of attention recently. Only requiring some modification on Access Point (AP), this type of approach is applicable to indoor environments. Many approaches require the line-of-sight signal, while activity recognition based on a wireless signal in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environment remains a challenging problem. More importantly, how to distinguish the velocity of humans is still an open problem. In this paper, we present an approach for device-free movement recognition that leverages the radio frequency signal in the NLOS environment. We extract features from the received packet to classify different moving directions and velocities. We propose to distinguish human height based on the frequency feature of the received packet as well. Our experiment shows that the proposed approach can achieve a high accuracy of human activity recognition, even considering people with different heights.
The sequence of a 17 933 bp segment of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome XIV contains the RHO2, TOP2, MKT1 and END3 genes and five new open reading frames

We report the DNA sequence of a 17 933 bp fragment from the left arm of chromosome XIV of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Analysis of the sequence reveals the presence of ten open reading frames (ORFs) larger than 100 codons. Four of these were previously identified as genes RHO2, TOP2, MKT1 and END3. Additionally, the NH2 end coding region of PMS1 is found in the 3′ end of the sequence. No significant homology to any known protein has been found for the other five ORFs. The nucleotide sequence has been deposited at EMBL, with Accession Number X89016.
The voiceTRAN machine translation system

Freely available tools and language resources were used to build the VoiceTRAN statistical machine translation (SMT) system. Various configuration variations of the system are presented and evaluated. The VoiceTRAN SMT system outperformed the baseline conventional rule-based MT system in both English-Slovenian in-domain test setups. To further increase the generalization capability of the translation model for lower-coverage out-of-domain test sentences, an "MSD-recombination" approach was proposed. This approach not only allows a better exploitation of conventional translation models, but also performs well in the more demanding translation direction; that is, into a highly inflectional language. Using this approach in the out-of-domain setup of the English-Slovenian JRCACQUIS task, we have achieved significant improvements in translation quality.
The metabolism of phospholipids oscillates rhythmically in cultures of fibroblasts and is regulated by the clock protein PERIOD 1

The mammalian circadian timing system is composed of countless cell oscillators distributed throughout the body and central pacemakers regulating temporal physiology and behavior. Peripheral clocks display circadian rhythms in gene expression both in vivo and in culture. We examined the biosynthesis of phospholipids as well as the expression of the clock gene period 1 (Per1) and its potential involvement in the regulation of the phospholipid metabolism in cultured quiescent NIH 3T3 cells synchronized by a 2 h serum shock. A 30 min pulse of radiolabeled precursor was given at phases ranging from 0.5 to 62 h after serum treatment. We observed a daily rhythm in the phospholipid labeling that persisted at least for two cycles, with levels significantly decreasing 29 and 58 h after treatment. Per1 expression exhibited a rapid and transient induction and a daily rhythmicity in antiphase to the lipid labeling. After Per1 expression knockdown, the rhythm of phospholipid labeling was lost. Furthermore, in cultures of CLOCK mutant fibroblasts—cells with a clock mechanism impairment—PER1 was equally expressed at all times examined and the phospholipid labeling did not oscillate. The results demonstrate that the biosynthesis of phospholipids oscillates daily in cultured fibroblasts by an endogenous clock mechanism involving Per1 expression.
The Forest Metrics for Graph Vertices ⋆

We propose a new graph metric and study its properties. In contrast to the standard distance in connected graphs [5], it takes into account all paths between vertices. Formally, it is deﬁned as d ( i, j ) = q ii + q jj − q ij − q ji [11], where q ij is the ( i, j )-entry of the relative forest accessibility matrix Q ( ε ) = ( I + εL ) − 1 , L is the Laplacian matrix of the (weighted) (multi)graph, and ε is a positive parameter. By the matrix-forest theorem, the ( i, j )-entry of the relative forest accessibility matrix of a graph provides the speciﬁc number of spanning rooted forests such that i and j belong to the same tree rooted at i . Extremely simple formulas express the modiﬁcation of the proposed distance under the basic graph transformations. We give a topological interpretation of d ( i, j ) in terms of the probability of unsuccessful linking i and j in a model of random links. The properties of this metric are compared with those of some other graph metrics [13,1]. An application of this metric is related to clustering procedures such as centered partition [2]. In another procedure, the relative forest accessibility and the corresponding distance serve to choose the centers of the clusters and to assign a cluster to each non-central vertex. Some related geometric representations are discussed in [3]. The notion of cumulative weight of connections between two vertices is proposed. The reasoning involves a reciprocity principle for weighted multigraphs. Connections between the resistance distance and the forest distances are established.
Wage Dips and Drops Around First Birth

We use a rich longitudinal data set for West Germany to disentangle the wage effects for female workers around first birth. Data on daily real wages reveal a dip in women's real wages shortly before giving birth and a drop of 10 to 20 percent after finishing maternity leave and returning to the labour market. To pinpoint what drives the movement in wages around the first birth, we analyse the wages of women, taking into account the potential correlation of the duration of individual interruptions due to parental leave with other unobserved individually specific factors and non random sample selection. In order to identify the causes of the movements in wages we exploit the panel structure of the data, regional variations in access to child care and female unemployment rates, as well as policy changes, which increased the maximum duration of parental leave from 6 months to 3 years.
EODM-a novel representation for collision detection

Jung and Gupta reported (1996) a representation, called octree distance map (ODM), for efficient collision detection in static environments. ODM captured partial distance information in a hierarchical manner and traded some memory (2 bytes per white node) for speed gains (as compared to an octree) in collision detection. In this paper, we propose a much more complete and systematic hierarchical representation for distance maps, the extended octree distance map (EODM). Like ODM, it utilizes an octree as the base representation. Along the perimeter of each white node in the octree, it stores a distance function that represents the distance of each boundary point of the white node to the obstacle closest to that point. As a result, EODM is more memory intensive than an ODM (and an octree), however, it would significantly decrease the collision detection time compared to either a conventional octree or the ODM. EODM is computed once and then repeatedly used for collision detection queries. We present algorithms for creating the EODM and use it for collision detection. Our preliminary experiments in 2D show that while EODM requires about three to five times more memory than an octree and four to five times extra memory than an ODM, it speeds up collision detection by a factor of three to six compared to an octree and by a factor of three to four as compared to an ODM.
Association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and body composition in postmenopausal women: the Postmenopausal Health Study

Objective:The present study examined the association between body composition measurements, using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and anthropometry, with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in nonosteoporotic, postmenopausal women. Methods:Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, intact parathyroid hormone, insulin-like growth factor I levels, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry measurements of fat and fat-free mass, anthropometric and handgrip strength measurements, dietary intake estimations, ultraviolet B radiation exposure, and physical activity levels were collected from 112 nonosteoporotic, postmenopausal women (age, 60.3 ± 5.0 y; body mass index, 29.5 ± 4.8 kg/m2). Results:At a bivariate level, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were inversely associated with regional and total body fat mass (P < 0.05), whereas positive associations were observed with regional and total body fat-free mass (P < 0.05). After controlling for age, serum intact parathyroid hormone, insulin-like growth factor I levels, ultraviolet B radiation exposure, and physical activity levels, most of the associations observed at a bivariate level between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and body composition indices (as obtained by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry) remained significant. No significant associations were observed between anthropometric indices of body mass and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. Conclusions:An independent inverse association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry measurements of total body and regional fat mass was observed in nonosteoporotic, overweight, postmenopausal women. Further clinical trials are required to come to safe conclusions on whether it is the fat mass that affects serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels or vice versa and whether there is a need to also take into account body composition when providing recommendations for vitamin D intake in postmenopausal women.
Robust and precision motion control system of linear-motor direct drive for high-speed X-Y table positioning mechanism

In this paper, design and implementation of an H/sub /spl infin//-based precision motion control system is presented for a high-speed linear-motor direct-drive X-Y table positioning mechanism in semiconductor wire-bonding applications. The system works with a cascaded robust feedback control, which has an inner loop velocity controller and an outer loop position controller, and an autotuning feedforward compensator. The design aim is to achieve high and consistent tracking performance even in the presence of considerable resonance uncertainties and external disturbances. Toward this aim the velocity controller is designed using H/sub /spl infin// optimization technique, based on reduced-order modeling that considers three significant resonance modes and neglects all other resonance modes having an insignificant amplitude and/or too high frequency. These neglected modes and variations of the three resonance modes from machine to machine (due to manufacturing tolerance) and/or with different operating conditions are taken care of by appropriate additive uncertainty representation in the design phase. The resulting system is validated and implemented with a profile motion of a maximum acceleration of 5.2 g (1g=9.81 m/s/sup 2/) on mass-produced wire bonding machines.
Global assessment of coral bleaching and required rates of adaptation under climate change

Elevated ocean temperatures can cause coral bleaching, the loss of colour from reef‐building corals because of a breakdown of the symbiosis with the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium. Recent studies have warned that global climate change could increase the frequency of coral bleaching and threaten the long‐term viability of coral reefs. These assertions are based on projecting the coarse output from atmosphere–ocean general circulation models (GCMs) to the local conditions around representative coral reefs.
Th1 and Th2 Cells Form Morphologically Distinct Immunological Synapses1

The arrangement of molecules at the interface between T cells and APCs is known as the immunological synapse (IS). We conducted experiments with supported planar bilayers and transfected fibroblast APC to examine the IS formed by polarized Th1 and Th2 cells. Th1 cells formed typical “bull’s-eye” IS with a ring of adhesion molecules surrounding MHC/TCR interactions at all Ag concentrations tested, while Th2 cells formed multifocal IS at high concentrations of Ag. At low Ag concentrations, the majority of Th2 cells formed IS with a compact, central accumulation of MHC/TCR, but ICAM-1 was not excluded from the center of the IS. Additionally, CD45 was excluded from the center of the interface between Th1 cells and APC, while CD45 was found at the center of the multifocal IS formed by Th2 cells. Finally, phosphorylated signaling molecules colocalized with MHC/TCR to a greater extent in Th2 IS. Together, our results indicate that the IS formed by Th1 and Th2 cells are distinct in structure, with Th2 cells failing to form bull’s-eye IS.
Effective Teaching in Schools: Theory and Practice

1. Introduction 2. Ways of thinking about effective teaching 3. How pupils learn 4. Setting up the learning experience 5. Taking account of pupil differences 6. Key classroom teaching qualities and tasks 7. Relationships with pupils 8. Dealing with pupil misbehaviour 9. Appraising practice 10. Conclusions