Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Finger Vein Recognition Based on Local Directional Code

Finger vein patterns are considered as one of the most promising biometric authentication methods for its security and convenience. Most of the current available finger vein recognition methods utilize features from a segmented blood vessel network. As an improperly segmented network may degrade the recognition accuracy, binary pattern based methods are proposed, such as Local Binary Pattern (LBP), Local Derivative Pattern (LDP) and Local Line Binary Pattern (LLBP). However, the rich directional information hidden in the finger vein pattern has not been fully exploited by the existing local patterns. Inspired by the Webber Local Descriptor (WLD), this paper represents a new direction based local descriptor called Local Directional Code (LDC) and applies it to finger vein recognition. In LDC, the local gradient orientation information is coded as an octonary decimal number. Experimental results show that the proposed method using LDC achieves better performance than methods using LLBP.
Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia Induced During Tilt Table Testing in a Patient with Syncope and Probable Dysfunction of the Sinus Node

We present a case of life‐threatening arrhythmia occurring during tilt table testing in a 44‐year‐old man with syncope. Polymorphic ventricular tachycardia occurred while the patient was tilted up under the intravenous infusion of isoproterenol (2 μg/min). No ischemia, QTc prolongation, or electrolyte abnormality preceded this event. The arrhythmia was not induced by programmed ventricular stimulation or exercise testing. Based on electrophysiological and clinical data, the diagnosis of sick sinus syndrome was entertained.
Middle Ear Status at Myringotomy and Its Relationship to Middle Ear Immitance Measurements

Middle ear status at myringotomy was compared to middle ear immitance measurements in 76 ears. Clinical features examined included plane and mobility of the tympanic membrane, amount of effusion, and status of the middle ear mucosa. Middle ear effusion yielded the strongest relationship with immitance results. Plane and mobility of the tympanic membrane were not strongly related with clinical immitance data. Tympanometry and acoustic reflex threshold were found to be the best indicators of the presence of middle ear effusion.
Simulation building blocks for airport terminal modeling

Airports are an ideal application area for simulation. The processes are in a continuous state of change, are complex and stochastic, involve many moving objects, and require a good performance that can be measured in several different performance indicators. Within airports, but also between airports, the same kind of questions are answered over and over again. Often, however, new simulation models are built for each question, if possible copying some parts of previous models. Structured reuse of simulation components is rarely seen. This paper shows an approach for airport terminal modeling that departs from the assumption that reusable simulation building blocks can form the core of a powerful airport modeling tool, which is able to answer different questions at airports better and faster than traditional models. The building blocks have been implemented in the commercially available simulation language eM-Plant. Several studies carried out with this library were very successful.
A Multi-Cell MMSE Precoder for Massive MIMO Systems and New Large System Analysis

In this paper, a new multi-cell MMSE precoder is proposed for massive MIMO systems. We consider a multi-cell network where each cell has K users and B orthogonal pilot sequences are available, with B = βK and β ≥ 1 being the pilot reuse factor over the network. In comparison with conventional single-cell precoding which only uses the K intra-cell channel estimates, the proposed multi-cell MMSE precoder utilizes all B channel directions that can be estimated locally at a base station, so that the transmission is designed spatially to suppress both parts of the inter-cell and intra-cell interference. To evaluate the performance, a large-scale approximation of the downlink SINR for the proposed multi-cell MMSE precoder is derived and the approximation is tight in the large-system limit. Power control for the pilot and payload, imperfect channel estimation and arbitrary pilot allocation are accounted for in our precoder. Numerical results show that the proposed multi-cell MMSE precoder achieves a significant sum spectral efficiency gain over the classical single-cell MMSE precoder and the gain increases as K or β grows. Compared with the recent M-ZF precoder, whose performance degrades drastically for a large K, our M-MMSE can always guarantee a high and stable performance. Moreover, the large-scale approximation is easy to compute and shown to be accurate even for small system dimensions.
Antiviral Effects of Geranylgeranylacetone: Enhancement of MxA Expression and Phosphorylation of PKR during Influenza Virus Infection

ABSTRACT A cyclic polyisoprenoid compound, geranylgeranylacetone (GGA), has been used as antiulcer drug. GGA is also a potent inducer of heat shock proteins (HSPs). HSPs are considered to induce an antiviral effect; however, the detailed mechanism is unknown. To determine whether GGA might show antiviral activity and what the mechanism is, the effect of GGA against influenza virus (strain PR8) infection in vivo and in vitro was investigated. The results demonstrated that GGA treatment strongly suppressed the deleterious consequences of PR8 replication and was accompanied by an increase in HSP70 gene expression in mice. Results from in vitro analyses demonstrated that GGA significantly inhibited the synthesis of PR8-associated proteins and prominently enhanced expression of human myxovirus resistance 1 (MxA) followed by increased HSP70 transcription. Moreover, GGA augmented the expression of an interferon-inducible double-strand RNA-activated protein kinase (PKR) gene and promoted PKR autophosphorylation and concomitantly α subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 phosphorylation during PR8 infection. It is proposed that GGA-induced HSP70 has potent antiviral activity by enhancement of antiviral factors and can clinically achieve protection from influenza virus infection.
Probabilistic verification of Architectural software models using SoftArc and Prism

In this paper we will describe the SoftArc approach. With the SoftArc approach it is possible to model and analyse safety-critical embedded and distributed systems that consist of both hard- and software. We are going to present the SoftArc modelling language, its syntax and semantics. The semantics of the SoftArc modelling language is defined in terms of stochastic reactive modules. We will show how important measures of interest for probabilistic dependability analysis like availability, unavailability, and survivability, can be analysed. We will demonstrate the feasibility of our approach by means of two case studies, that involve hard- and software elements. First, we are presenting two industrial case studies from the automotive industry. We will analyse the non volatile random access manager (NVRAM) from the AUTOSAR open system architecture, Second, we are going to present the survivability analysis of a simplified version of the Google replicated file system.
A worldwide charter for all children with asthma

Childhood asthma is a huge global health burden. The spectrum of disease, diagnosis, and management vary depending on where children live in the world and how their community can care for them. Global improvement in diagnosis and management has been unsatisfactory, despite ever more evidence‐based guidelines. Guidelines alone are insufficient and need supplementing by government support, changes in policy, access to diagnosis and effective therapy for all children, with research to improve implementation. We propose a worldwide charter for all children with asthma, a roadmap to better education and training which can be adapted for local use. It includes access to effective basic asthma medications. It is not about new expensive medications and biologics as much can be achieved without these. If implemented carefully, the overall cost of care is likely to fall and the global future health and life chance of children with asthma will greatly improve. The key to success will be community involvement together with the local and national development of asthma champions. We call on governments, institutions, and healthcare services to support its implementation.
Protecting privacy when disclosing information: k-anonymity and its enforcement through generalization and suppression

Today's globally networked society places great demand on the dissemination and sharing of person-speci(cid:12)c data. Situations where aggregate statistical information was once the reporting norm now rely heavily on the transfer of microscopically detailed transaction and encounter information. This happens at a time when more and more historically public information is also electronically available. When these data are linked together, they provide an electronic shadow of a person or organization that is as identifying and personal as a (cid:12)ngerprint, even when the sources of the information contains no explicit identi(cid:12)ers, such as name and phone number. In order to protect the anonymity of individuals to whom released data refer, data holders often remove or encrypt explicit identi(cid:12)ers such as names, addresses and phone numbers. However, other distinctive data, which we term quasi-identi(cid:12)ers, often combine uniquely and can be linked to publicly available information to re-identify individuals. In this paper we address the problem of releasing person-speci(cid:12)c data while, at the same time, safeguarding the anonymity of the individuals to whom the data refer. The approach is based on the de(cid:12)nition of k-anonymity. A table provides k-anonymity if attempts to link explicitly identifying information to its contents ambiguously map the information to at least k entities. We illustrate how k-anonymity can be provided by using generalization and suppression techniques. We introduce the concept of minimal generalization, which captures the property of the release process not to distort the data more than needed to achieve k-anonymity. We illustrate possible preference policies to choose among di(cid:11)erent minimal generalizations. Finally, we present an algorithm and experimental results when an implementation of the algorithm was used to produce releases of real medical information. We also report on the quality of the released data by measuring the precision and completeness of the results for di(cid:11)erent values of k
Combining Voxel-based Morphometry with Artifical Neural Network Theory in the Application Research of Diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease

The purpose of our study was to explore the automatic method of detecting the gray matter loss of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this paper, we tried to combine voxel-based morphometry(VBM) with Artificial Neural Network(ANN) in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease(AD). Firstly, the features were obtained by VBM method, and then principal component analysis(PCA) was used for feature dimensionality reduction to improve its efficiency. Then, a single three-layer, feed-forward ANN with a back-propagation algorithm was used as a classifier. Finally, the performance of the neural network was evaluated by validation protocol. By taking 20 features into account, which were obtained by VBM. The overall predictive capability of Back-Propagation Neural Network in differentiating AD from normal controls reached 100%. The network kept the accuracy of classification consistently. Also, the result will be slightly better with the process of PCA. In conclusion, the results of this study confirmed that the method of combination VBM with ANN could be used in the early diagnosis of AD.
Free space and speed humps detection using lidar and vision for urban autonomous navigation

In this paper, a real-time free space detection system is presented using a medium-cost lidar sensor and a low cost camera. The extrinsic relationship between both sensors is obtained after an off-line calibration process. The lidar provides measurements corresponding to 4 horizontal layers with a vertical resolution of 3.2 degrees. These measurements are integrated in time according to the relative motion of the vehicle between consecutive laser scans. A special case is considered here for Spanish speed humps, since these are usually detected as an obstacle. In Spain, speed humps are directly related with raised zebra-crossings so they should have painted white stripes on them. Accordingly the conditions required to detect a speed hump are: detect a slope shape on the road and detect a zebra crossing at the same time. The first condition is evaluated using lidar sensor and the second one using the camera.
Rearrangement of the JC virus regulatory region sequence in the bone marrow of a patient with rheumatoid arthritis and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy

The polyomavirus JC (JCV) is the etiologic agent of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). JCV remains quiescent in kidneys, where it displays a stable archetypal regulatory region (RR). Conversely, rearranged JCV RR, including tandem repeat patterns found in the central nervous system (CNS) of PML patients, have been associated with neurovirulence. The precise site and mechanism of JCV RR transformation is unknown. We present herein a patient with rheumatoid arthritis treated with methotrexate, who developed PML and had a rapid fatal outcome. JCV DNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was positive in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), bone marrow, blood, and urine. Double-immunohistochemical staining demonstrated that 9% of bone marrow CD138+ plasma cells sustained productive infection by JCV, accounting for 94% of JCV-infected cells. JCV RR analysis revealed archetype and rearranged RR forms in bone marrow, whereas RR with tandem repeat was predominant in blood. These results suggest that the bone marrow may be a potential site of JCV pathogenic transformation. Further studies will be needed to determine the prevalence of JCV in bone marrow of immunosuppressed individuals at risk of PML and characterize the RR and phenotype of these JCV isolates.
Self-taught assistive vocal interfaces: an overview of the ALADIN project

This paper gives an overview of research within the ALADIN project, which aims to develop an assistive vocal interface for people with a physical impairment. In contrast to existing approaches, the vocal interface is trained by the end-user himself, which means it can be used with any vocabulary and grammar, and that it is maximally adapted to the — possibly dysarthric — speech of the user. This paper describes the overall learning framework, the user-centred design and evaluation aspects, database collection and approaches taken to combat problems such as noise and erroneous input.
Indexing and Retrieving Motions of Characters in Close Contact

Human motion indexing and retrieval are important for animators due to the need to search for motions in the database which can be blended and concatenated. Most of the previous researches of human motion indexing and retrieval compute the Euclidean distance of joint angles or joint positions. Such approaches are difficult to apply for cases in which multiple characters are closely interacting with each other, as the relationships of the characters are not encoded in the representation. In this research, we propose a topology-based approach to index the motions of two human characters in close contact. We compute and encode how the two bodies are tangled based on the concept of rational tangles. The encoded relationships, which we define as TangleList, are used to determine the similarity of the pairs of postures. Using our method, we can index and retrieve motions such as one person piggy-backing another, one person assisting another in walking, and two persons dancing/wrestling. Our method is useful to manage a motion database of multiple characters. We can also produce motion graph structures of two characters closely interacting with each other by interpolating and concatenating topologically similar postures and motion clips, which are applicable to 3D computer games and computer animation.
A New Zealand Digital Library for Computer Science Research

A large amount of computing literature has become available over the Internet, as university departments and research institutions have made their technical reports, preprints, and theses available electronically. Access to these items has been limited, however, by the difficulties involved in locating documents of interest. We describe a proposal for a New Zealand-based index of computer science technical reports, where the reports themselves are located in repositories that are distributed world-wide. Our scheme is unique in that it is based on indexing the full text of the technical reports, rather than on document surrogates. The index is constructed so as to minimize network traffic and local storage costs (of particular importance for geographically isolated countries like New Zealand, which incur high Internet costs). We also will provide support for bibliometric/scientometric studies of the computing literature and our users.
Compact 12×12 Switch Matrix integrating RF MEMS switches in LTCC hermetic packages

A 12×12 Switch Matrix Unit featuring silicon RF MEMS assembled on LTCC boards has been developed under a Contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for satellite communication application. The Switch Matrix is a complete Engineering Model unit, housed in a mechanical box in aluminum with RF coaxial connectors and DC connectors for powering and commanding. To the authors' knowledge, it is the first complex equipment realized in Europe exploiting the advanced features of the RF MEMS and multilayer LTCC technology to achieve a significant mass and size reduction. Full wave simulations of entire structure are reported, as well as test results. Their agreement is good up to the satellite downlink C-band (3.7-4.2 GHz). An insertion loss of -20dB, return loss of -10dB and isolation of 40-45dB have been measured. The matrix is passive (not provided with amplifiers), having a DC power consumption of less than half watt due to the digital command circuitry.
Unfalsified adaptive control with MPC candidates

In this paper, we consider unfalsified adaptive control with candidate controllers that are in the structure of model predictive control (MPC) and are associated with parametrized models. Thus, each candidate controller corresponds to a parameter of the models and a switching corresponds to an update of the parameter selection. We introduce a new switching algorithm in order to pursue a performance criterion imposed on an output signal of an underlying system as well as identification of the system. This switching algorithm achieves an asymptotic boundedness of the performance criterion while the parameter update may be performed endlessly. At the beginning of an experiment, the switchings can be set to be performed mainly focused on identification of the system. Thus, we implement an input design scheme in the MPC structure for a better transient behavior of the closed-loop system via fast system identification.
Advanced techniques and new high resolution SAR sensors for monitoring urban areas

In the last years MultiDimensional (3D and 4D) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) techniques, also known as SAR tomography and differential SAR tomography, are emerging in the field of coherent combination of multibaseline/multitemporal SAR data. With respect to the classical differential interferometric processing, these techniques improve the capability of detection and monitoring of the ground targets. Moreover they were proven to be effective in resolving the signal interference due to the layover effect, that may occur in areas with high density of scatterers located on vertical structures, such as urban areas. Beside the development of these advanced techniques the new generation of sensor, such as TerraSAR-X and COSMO-SKYMED with very high spatial resolution offer new perspectives in the imaging and monitoring of urban areas. In this paper we address the application of the SAR tomography to real spaceborne data. Particularly, we show and discuss the first results of the application of this technique to high resolution TerraSAR-X data.
On the Variance of the Height of Random Binary Search Trees

Let $H_n$ be the height of a random binary search tree on $n$ nodes. We show that there exists a constant $\alpha = 4.31107\ldots$ such that ${\rm P} \{ |H_n - \alpha \log n | > \beta \log \log n \} \to 0$, where $\beta>15 \alpha / \ln 2 = 93.2933\ldots$. The proof uses the second moment method and does not rely on properties of branching processes. We also show that $\Var \{ H_n \} = O( (\log \log n)^2)$.
The Relationship Between Personality, Defense Styles, Internet Addiction Disorder, and Psychopathology in College Students

The purpose of this study is to assess any underlying links between personality, defense styles, Internet addiction disorder (IAD), and psychopathology in a college student sample. This is a cross-sectional study of fourth-year Greek Medical students who responded in a comprehensive test battery, which included validated questionnaires on IAD, personality traits, patterns of psychological defense styles, and psychopathology symptoms. A path model that was tested using Partial Least Squares (PLS) methodology showed that the defense styles employed by the students and certain personality traits (Impulsivity, Sensation Seeking, Neuroticism/Anxiety, and Aggression-Hostility) contributed to the prediction of variability in IAD, with IAD in turn predicting variability in overt psychopathology.
A model-based method for the reconstruction of total knee replacement kinematics

A better knowledge of the kinematics behavior of total knee replacement (TKR) during activity still remains a crucial issue to validate innovative prosthesis designs and different surgical strategies. Tools for more accurate measurement of in vivo kinematics of knee prosthesis components are therefore fundamental to improve the clinical outcome of knee replacement. In the present study, a novel model-based method for the estimation of the three-dimensional (3-D) position and orientation (pose) of both the femoral and tibial knee prosthesis components during activity is presented. The knowledge of the 3-D geometry of the components and a single plane projection view in a fluoroscopic image are sufficient to reconstruct the absolute and relative pose of the components in space. The technique is based on the best alignment of the component designs with the corresponding projection on the image plane. The image generation process is modeled and an iterative procedure localizes the spatial pose of the object by minimizing the Euclidean distance of the projection rays from the object surface. Computer simulation and static/dynamic in vitro tests using real knee prosthesis show that the accuracy with which relative orientation and position of the components can be estimated is better than 1.5/spl deg/ and 1.5 mm, respectively. In vivo tests demonstrate that the method is well suited for kinematics analysis on TKR patients and that good quality images can be obtained with a carefully positioning of the fluoroscope and an appropriate dosage. With respect to previously adopted template matching techniques, the present method overcomes the complete segmentation of the components on the projected image and also features the simultaneous evaluation of all the six degrees of freedom (DOF) of the object. The expected small difference between successive poses in in vivo sequences strongly reduces the frequency of false poses and both the operator and computation time.