Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Realization of Biped Walking in Unstructured Environment Using Motion Primitives

Effective and efficient motion of humanoid robots in unstructured dynamic environments is a prerequisite for their activity in the living and working environment of humans. Motion in such environments has to be adjusted all the time to suit the current conditions. This paper presents a method for the synthesis and realization of the biped robot motion (walking) composed of simple movements-primitives, because any complex motion can be composed of tied primitives. The primitives are parametrized with the relationship established between the overall motion characteristics and their own parameters. This way, it is possible to achieve online modification at any moment. The proposed solution was tested by the simulation involving a dynamic robot model. The results demonstrate that it is possible to generate a dynamically balanced walk that can be modified online at any moment of its realization.
A Format-Compliant Configurable Encryption . . .

– In this paper, we introduce new methods of performing selective encryption and spatial/frequency shuffling of compressed digital content that maintain syntax compliance after content has been secured. The tools described in this paper have been proposed to the MPEG-4 Intellectual Property Management and Protection (IPMP) standardization group and have been adopted into the MPEG-4 IPMP Final Proposed Draft Amendment (FPDAM) [9]. We will describe the application of the new methods to the protection of MPEG-4 video content in the wireless environment, and illustrate how they are used to leverage established encryption algorithms for the protection of only the information fields in the bitstream that are critical to the reconstructed video quality, while maintaining compliance to the syntax of MPEG-4 video, and thereby reduces the amount of data to be encrypted and guarantees the inheritance of many of the nice properties of the unprotected bitstreams that have been carefully studied and built, such as error resiliency, network friendliness, etc. The encrypted content bitstream works with many existing random access, network bandwidth adaptation and error control techniques that have been developed for standard-compliant compressed video, thus making it especially suitable for wireless multimedia applications. Standard compliance also allows subsequent signal processing techniques to be applied to the encrypted bitstream.
Research on IT Architecture of Heterogeneous Big Data

ABSTRACT The amount of data has grown exponentially in industry and internet, and we are facing a significant problem of information explosion. The challenge is not only to store and manage the vast volume of data (“big data”), but also to analyze and extract meaningful value from it. This paper analyzed the characters of the future network and the features of data generated by it. Furthermore, we studied key issues and challenges of the multiple heterogeneous data IT infrastructure. The main focuses of this paper are on three aspects of distributed storage, cloud computing, and data fusion. There are several techniques to address these issues. At last, we proposed an architectural solution and key technology program which can be adapted to developing more application functionality and meet future demand for Internet services and new business for big data processing requirements.
Planning and Maintaining Sound Advisory Programs.

Despite enjoying support from a variety of professional groups including the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development (1989), the National Association of Secondary School Principals (1985), the National Middle School Association (1995), and Phi Delta Kappa (Wayson, DeVoss, Kaeser, Lasley, & Pinnell, 1982), all too often mid dle school advisory programs appear to be struggling (George & Bushneil, 1993; Valentine, Clark, Irvin, Keefe, & Melton, 1993; Van Hoose, 1991). Developing a successful advisory program may be likened to constructing and maintaining a building. A strong and highly functional building requires good plan ning and sound construction. In addition, it requires reg ular maintenance, some of which is routine and some of which may be major, structural in nature, and necessitat ed by the initial plans, construction efforts, and building materials used. Whether planning a new advisory pro gram or maintaining/renovating an existing one, the foun dation for many advisory programs is often weak because the architects and builders have not adequately taken into account major construction factors such as environmen tal considerations, costs, and available building materials. Erected on weak foundations, these advisory programs crumble before their time, are abandoned before they are occupied, or get publicly condemned after minimal usage. In this article, we consider some of the groundwork which affects the foundations of advisory programs, both existing and proposed. Our primary focus is on key deci sions which are made in the planning stages of the pro gram. Planning Issues
Involvement as a Predictor of Performance in L/s Planning and Design Involvement as a Predictor of Performance in L/s Planning and Design Rkbveo Involvement as a Predictor of Perforxmance in I/s Planning and Design

The critical role of computer-based information systems in a firm's competitive strategy increases the need to effectively manage I/S planning and design processes. Involvement is conceptualized as the level of influence of a role for a planning and design task. A problem-solving model is used as a general model of task. Results indicate that a three-component problem-solving model (problem formulation, decomposition/distribution and solution/synthesis) provides a valid basis to discriminate between levels of influence among roles for actual I/S planning and design teams. Analysis of the relationship between the measure of involvement and the performance of the teams supports existing theory that user involvement increases performance of design teams. An exploratory analysis of patterns of influence among roles across problem-solving components (termed involvement strategies) indicates that interactive strategies where designers and users are highly involved in every aspect of problem solving correlate with high performance. -1
Safety margins in older adults increase with improved control of a dynamic object

Older adults face decreasing motor capabilities due to pervasive neuromuscular degradations. As a consequence, errors in movement control increase. Thus, older individuals should maintain larger safety margins than younger adults. While this has been shown for object manipulation tasks, several reports on whole-body activities, such as posture and locomotion, demonstrate age-related reductions in safety margins. This is despite increased costs for control errors, such as a fall. We posit that this paradox could be explained by the dynamic challenge presented by the body or also an external object, and that age-related reductions in safety margins are in part due to a decreased ability to control dynamics. To test this conjecture we used a virtual ball-in-cup task that had challenging dynamics, yet afforded an explicit rendering of the physics and safety margin. The hypotheses were: (1) When manipulating an object with challenging dynamics, older adults have smaller safety margins than younger adults. (2) Older adults increase their safety margins with practice. Nine young and 10 healthy older adults practiced moving the virtual ball-in-cup to a target location in exactly 2 s. The accuracy and precision of the timing error quantified skill, and the ball energy relative to an escape threshold quantified the safety margin. Compared to the young adults, older adults had increased timing errors, greater variability, and decreased safety margins. With practice, both young and older adults improved their ability to control the object with decreased timing errors and variability, and increased their safety margins. These results suggest that safety margins are related to the ability to control dynamics, and may explain why in tasks with simple dynamics older adults use adequate safety margins, but in more complex tasks, safety margins may be inadequate. Further, the results indicate that task-specific training may improve safety margins in older adults.
Critique of Security

Introduction 1. 'The supreme concept of bourgeois society': liberalism and the technique of security (i) Security, sovereignty, prerogative (ii) Liberty in security and liberal insecurity (iii) Prerogative and necessity: towards emergency 2. Emergency? What emergency? (i) From martial law to emergency powers (ii) Walter Benjamin goes to Senate (iii) Against normality 3. From social to national security: on the fabrication of economic order (i) The garden of security, or 'Security - this is more like it' (ii) Containment I: national security, international order and six million corpses 4. Security, identity, loyalty (i) Containment II: national security, domestic order and the fear of disintegration (ii) The garden of pansies, or 'no communists or cocksuckers in the library' 5. The Company and the Campus (i) Security fetishism (ii) Security intellectuals (iii) Closing gambit: return the gift.
Do Unit Value Export, Import, and Terms of Trade Indices Represent or Misrepresent Price Indices?

Unit value export and import indices compiled from returns to customs authorities are often used as surrogates for price indices in the measurement of inflation transmission, terms of trade (effects), and to deflate import and export value series to derive volume series. Their widespread use is mainly due to their relatively low cost compared with establishment price surveys. This paper provides evidence of substantial bias in their representation of such price changes. Their continued use would mislead economic analysis. The paper considers the efficacy of alternative strategies for their improvement, and argues for a move to establishment-based price surveys.
Pannexin-1 Is Blocked by Its C-Terminus through a Delocalized Non-Specific Interaction Surface

The Pannexin-1 (Panx1) channel is known to become activated under a variety of physiological conditions resulting in the release of medium-sized molecules such as ATP and amino acids from the cell. The detailed molecular mechanism of activation of the channel resulting in the opening of the Pannexin pore is poorly understood. The best-studied gating mechanism is caspase-3/7-mediated cleavage and truncation of the c-terminus. In the absence of caspase-cleavage, the c-terminal peptide maintains the channel in the closed state, possibly by directly plugging the pore from the intracellular side. We sought to understand in detail the part of the c-terminus necessary for this interaction by alanine-scanning and truncation mutagenesis of the c-terminal gating peptide. These experiments demonstrate that no single amino acid side-chain is necessary for this interaction. In fact, replacing blocks of 10–12 amino acids in different parts of the c-terminal peptide with alanines fails to disrupt the ability of the c-terminus to keep the channel closed. Surprisingly, even replacing the entire c-terminal gating peptide with a scrambled peptide of the same length maintains the interaction in some cases. Further analysis revealed that the interaction surface, while delocalized, is located within the amino-terminal two-thirds of the c-terminal peptide. Such a delocalized and potentially low-affinity interaction surface is allowed due to the high effective concentration of the c-terminal peptide near the inner vestibule of the pore and likely explains why this region is poorly conserved between species. This type of weak interaction with a tethered gating peptide may be required to maintain high-sensitivity to caspase-dependent activation.
High quality per-pixel shading in texture-based volume rendering

We present a novel technique for texture-based volume rendering that provides the image with high quality based on the per-pixel shading. Our method produces accurate shading for the arbitrary and dynamically changing directional light source. This is achieved by using the normalized gradient during the lighting and calculating the shading on each pixel. Additionally, we present a new technique circumventing the huge memory consumption of previous approaches by estimating the gradient on the fly. This algorithm is unique in that it utilizes sophisticated PC graphics hardware functionality, especially the fragment program, to enable fast data loading and interactive rendering. Several examples are given to illustrate its effectiveness on real clinic 3D CT datasets
Flagella Overexpression Attenuates Salmonella Pathogenesis

Flagella are cell surface appendages involved in a number of bacterial behaviors, such as motility, biofilm formation, and chemotaxis. Despite these important functions, flagella can pose a liability to a bacterium when serving as potent immunogens resulting in the stimulation of the innate and adaptive immune systems. Previous work showing appendage overexpression, referred to as attenuating gene expression (AGE), was found to enfeeble wild-type Salmonella. Thus, this approach was adapted to discern whether flagella overexpression could induce similar attenuation. To test its feasibility, flagellar filament subunit FliC and flagellar regulon master regulator FlhDC were overexpressed in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium wild-type strain H71. The results show that the expression of either FliC or FlhDC alone, and co-expression of the two, significantly attenuates Salmonella. The flagellated bacilli were unable to replicate within macrophages and thus were not lethal to mice. In-depth investigation suggests that flagellum-mediated AGE was due to the disruptive effects of flagella on the bacterial membrane, resulting in heightened susceptibilities to hydrogen peroxide and bile. Furthermore, flagellum-attenuated Salmonella elicited elevated immune responses to Salmonella presumably via FliC’s adjuvant effect and conferred robust protection against wild-type Salmonella challenge.
Expression in Antennae and Reproductive Organs Suggests a Dual Role of an Odorant-Binding Protein in Two Sibling Helicoverpa Species

Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) mediate both perception and release of semiochemicals in insects. These proteins are the ideal targets for understanding the olfactory code of insects as well as for interfering with their communication system in order to control pest species. The two sibling Lepidopteran species Helicoverpa armigera and H. assulta are two major agricultural pests. As part of our aim to characterize the OBP repertoire of these two species, here we focus our attention on a member of this family, OBP10, particularly interesting for its expression pattern. The protein is specifically expressed in the antennae of both sexes, being absent from other sensory organs. However, it is highly abundant in seminal fluid, is transferred to females during mating and is eventually found on the surface of fertilised eggs. Among the several different volatile compounds present in reproductive organs, OBP10 binds 1-dodecene, a compound reported as an insect repellent. These results have been verified in both H. armigera and H. assulta with no apparent differences between the two species. The recombinant OBP10 binds, besides 1-dodecene, some linear alcohols and several aromatic compounds. The structural similarity of OBP10 with OBP1 of the mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus, a protein reported to bind an oviposition pheromone, and its affinity with 1-dodecene suggest that OBP10 could be a carrier for oviposition deterrents, favouring spreading of the eggs in these species where cannibalism is active among larvae.
Initial perceptions of a casual game to crowdsource facial expressions in the wild

The performance of affective computing systems often depend on the quality of the image databases they are trained on. However, creating good quality training databases is a laborious activity. In this paper, we evaluate BeFaced, a tile matching casual tablet game that enables massive crowdsourcing of facial expressions for the purpose of advancing facial expression analysis. The core aspect of BeFaced is game quality, as increased enjoyment and engagement translates to an increased quantity of varied facial expressions obtained. Hence a pilot user study was performed on 18 university students whereby observational and interview data were obtained during playtests. We found that most users enjoyed the game and were intrigued by the novelty in interacting with the facial expression gameplay mechanic, but also uncovered problems with feedback provision and the dynamic difficulty adjustment mechanism. These findings hence provide invaluable insights for the other researchers/practitioners working on similar crowdsourcing games with a purpose, as well as for the development of BeFaced.
Model-based non-negative matrix factorization for single-channel speech separation

A model-based non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) algorithm is formulated for single-channel speech source separation. With linguistic priors of the speech sources, the state-aligned spectral envelopes of these sources are inferred from acoustic models. Being initialized with the computed spectral envelopes, NMF processing is implemented to estimate the spectral envelope trajectory of each source. Subsequently the source speech is generated by reshaping the mixture spectra according to the estimated spectral envelopes, followed by the reduction of interfering harmonic components. An iterative process is developed for more reliable time alignment and hence better performance of separation. Experimental results show that two speech sources with equal intensity can be successfully separated by the proposed algorithm.
Cardiac Sodium Channel Nav1.5 Is Regulated by a Multiprotein Complex Composed of Syntrophins and Dystrophin

The cardiac sodium channel Nav1.5 plays a key role in cardiac excitability and conduction. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the role of the PDZ domain-binding motif formed by the last three residues (Ser-Ile-Val) of the Nav1.5 C-terminus. Pull-down experiments were performed using Nav1.5 C-terminus fusion proteins and human or mouse heart protein extracts, combined with mass spectrometry analysis. These experiments revealed that the C-terminus associates with dystrophin, and that this interaction was mediated by alpha- and beta-syntrophin proteins. Truncation of the PDZ domain-binding motif abolished the interaction. We used dystrophin-deficient mdx5cv mice to study the role of this protein complex in Nav1.5 function. Western blot experiments revealed a 50% decrease in the Nav1.5 protein levels in mdx5cv hearts, whereas Nav1.5 mRNA levels were unchanged. Patch-clamp experiments showed a 29% decrease of sodium current in isolated mdx5cv cardiomyocytes. Finally, ECG measurements of the mdx5cv mice exhibited a 19% reduction in the P wave amplitude, and an 18% increase of the QRS complex duration, compared with controls. These results indicate that the dystrophin protein complex is required for the proper expression and function of Nav1.5. In the absence of dystrophin, decreased sodium current may explain the alterations in cardiac conduction observed in patients with dystrophinopathies.
Stochastic Stability Analysis of the Linear Continuous and Discrete PSO Models

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) can be interpreted physically as a particular discretization of a stochastic damped mass-spring system. Knowledge of this analogy has been crucial to derive the PSO continuous model and to introduce different PSO family members including the generalized PSO (GPSO) algorithm, which is the generalization of PSO for any time discretization step. In this paper, we present the stochastic analysis of the linear continuous and generalized PSO models for the case of a stochastic center of attraction. Analysis of the GPSO second order trajectories is performed and clarifies the roles of the PSO parameters and that of the cost function through the algorithm execution: while the PSO parameters mainly control the eigenvalues of the dynamical systems involved, the mean trajectory of the center of attraction and its covariance functions with the trajectories and their derivatives (or the trajectories in the near past) act as forcing terms to update first and second order trajectories. The similarity between the oscillation center dynamics observed for different kinds of benchmark functions might explain the PSO success for a broad range of optimization problems. Finally, a comparison between real simulations and the linear continuous PSO and GPSO models is shown. As expected, the GPSO tends to the continuous PSO when time step approaches zero. Both models account fairly well for the dynamics (first and second order moments) observed in real runs. This analysis constitutes so far the most realistic attempt to better understand and approach the real PSO dynamics from a stochastic point of view.
Firm Size and Dividend Announcement Effect

This paper examines the impact of firm size on market reaction to unexpected dividend changes. The empirical results indicate, after controlling for the magnitude of dividend changes, a negative relationship exists between firm size and the extent of abnormal returns around the dividend announcement date. The results are consistent with Miller and Rock's [14] position that the dividend announcement effect varies across firms with different degrees of information asymmetry.
Market Mechanisms for Financing Green Real Estate Investments

U.S. buildings consume almost 39% of the total U.S. energy usage, and appear inefficient compared to the available technology and the efficiency of European structures. Government building codes, disclosure requirements, and fiscal subsidies have been the primary instruments used to stimulate the adoption of energy-efficient technology, but have significant limitations. In this paper, we instead look at market mechanisms to stimulate voluntary private sector energy-efficient investments. We argue that the failure of commercial mortgage lenders to take energy-efficiency into account is primarily the result of insufficient information to connect high and volatile energy prices to mortgage default. As a first step in rectifying this failing, we use a Monte Carlo methodology, based on stochastic energy prices, to provide quantitative measures—both expected values and the range of variability—of the impact of energy prices on measures of possible mortgage default.
CLAN : Closely reLated ApplicatioNs

Although popular text search engines allow users to retrieve similar web pages, source code search engines do not have this feature. Knowing similarity between applications plays an important role in improving understanding and assessing reusability of these applications, rapid prototyping, and discovering code theft and plagiarism. However, detecting similar applications is a notoriously difficult problem, since it implies that similar high-level requirements and their low-level implementations can be detected and matched automatically for different applications. We present our approach for automatically detecting Closely reLated ApplicatioNs (CLAN) for a given Java application. CLAN compares applications based on the calls they make to the standard Java Application Programming Interface (API). Our idea is that similar applications will make similar API calls. CLAN is publicly available via a standard web browser; users may view similar applications as well as the API calls they share.