Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multiple antenna systems: their role and impact in future wireless access

Multiple antennas play an important role in improving radio communications. In view of this role, the area of multiple antenna communication systems is in the forefront of wireless research. This article reviews two key related aspects of multiple antenna communication systems: multiple access interference mitigation at the receiver via multi-user beamforming; and space-time modulation and coding for MIMO systems. It is shown that both multi-user and MIMO receivers share similar signal processing and complexity tradeoffs. Following that, a general unified framework for assessing different types of space-time modulation for MIMO systems is introduced. These space-time modulation methods are then compared in terms of Shannon capacity over multipath channels. Key MIMO system performance and implementation issues are also highlighted.
An Efficient CBIR Approach for Diagnosing the Stages of Breast Cancer Using KNN Classifier

This paper proposes a mammogram image retrieval technique using pattern similarity scheme. Comparing previous and current mammogram images associated with pathologic conditions are used to diagnose the real stage of breast cancer by doctors. Lack of awareness and screening programs causes the breast cancer deaths. Early detection is the best way to reduce the deaths per incident ratio. Mammogram is the best one in the currently used technique for diagnosing breast cancer. In this paper, the retrieval process is divided into four distinct parts that are feature extraction, kNN classification, pattern instantiation and computation of pattern similarity. In feature extraction step, low level texture features like entropy, homogeneity, contrast, energy, correlation and run length matrix features are extracted. These extracted features are classified using K- Nearest Neighbor classifier to differentiate the normal tissue from abnormal one. Each group is considered as patterns. Finally, pattern similarity is estimated for retrieving images based on their similarity with the query image. This scheme is effectively applied to the Content Based Image Retrieval systems to retrieve the images from large databases and identify the real stage of breast cancer. If we find cancer in early stages we can cure it.
The Role of Social Networks in Georgian Migration to Greece.

Social networks have been identified as a significant explanatory factor of migration. Apart from their role in prospective migrants’ decision-making with regards to both the decision to migrate and the choice of destination country, networks (co-ethnics as well as employers, recruitment agents, etc.) may assist in overcoming structural constraints as well as facilitate migrants’ settlement. In the case of Georgian migration, networks rooted in the early 1990s and the repatriation of Pontic Greeks play a vital role in Greece’s emergence as one of the main destinations for Georgian migrants. This paper examines the role of social networks in Georgian migration to Greece based on interviews with Georgian migrants in Greece, returned migrants in Georgia, and relevant stakeholders in both countries. The interviews were conducted in 2013–2014 under the auspices of the IRMA research project funded by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of Greece.
An Effective Tree-Based Algorithm for Ordinal Regression

Recently ordinal regression has attracted much interest in machine learning. The goal of ordinal regression is to assign each instance a rank, which should be as close as possible to its true rank. We propose an effective tree-based algorithm, called Ranking Tree, for ordinal regression. The main advantage of Ranking Tree is that it can group samples with closer ranks together in the process of tree learning. This approach is compared with original decision tree. Experiments on some synthetic and real-world datasets show that Ranking Tree outperforms original decision tree in terms of speed and accuracy as well as robustness.
DIFFUSIVE DYNAMICS OF THE REACTION COORDINATE FOR PROTEIN FOLDING FUNNELS

The quantitative description of model protein folding kinetics using a diffusive collective reaction coordinate is examined. Direct folding kinetics, diffusional coefficients and free energy profiles are determined from Monte Carlo simulations of a 27‐mer, 3 letter code lattice model, which corresponds roughly to a small helical protein. Analytic folding calculations, using simple diffusive rate theory, agree extremely well with the full simulation results. Folding in this system is best seen as a diffusive, funnel‐like process.
Spinor representation of Lie algebra for complete linear group

Spinor representation of group GL(4,R) on special spinor space is developed. Representation space has a structure of the fiber space with the space of diagonal metricses as the base and standard spinor space as typical fiber. Non-isometric motions of the space-time entail spinor transformations which are represented by translation over fibering base in addition to standard $Spin(4,C)$ representation.
2 Our collective robotics application

In the specific area of Collective Robotics , the Man-Robot Interface can be greatly enhanced by adding speech recognition as a new interaction c apability. However, for using spoken command words as a new interface modality, the cri tical success factor is the robustness of the speech recognition technology; in that fr amework, this paper presents an original modeling technique, namely the Multirate Neural Network(MNN). For evaluation purposes, experimental results on connected digit recogni ti n are presented. The promising results obtained so far make MNN a suitable technique for Man -Robot Interface.
Einsamkeit – erblich, ansteckend, tödlich

Menschen wurden schon von Artistoteles nicht ohne Grund als „GemeinschaftsTier“ (Zoon politikon) bezeichnet: Sie verbringen etwa 80% ihrer Zeit mit anderen Menschen (21), und ihre Nachkommen sind von allen Lebewesen diejenigen, die am längsten auf Unterstützung und Schutz durch die Eltern angewiesen sind. So wundert es nicht, dass Menschen permanent aktiv Kontakt zu anderen Menschen suchen, und dass Einsamkeit buchstäblich schmerzt, wie eine ganze Reihe seit mehr als zehn Jahren publizierter Studien zeigt (32).
L’éducation numérique peut-elle être une éducation à la collaboration et à l’inter-culturalité ?

Eduquer au numerique est une exigence pour les enseignants d'aujourd'hui. Il leur faut repondre a de nouveaux imperatifs pedagogiques : savoir gerer, et creer de l'information, communiquer, participer a des reseaux et echanger. Pour ce faire, de nouvelles competences sont necessaires a nos eleves pour devenir des « citoyens globaux », aptes a apprehender la diversite culturelle qui les entoure. La specificite du projet iTEC, sur lequel nous basons notre etude, est centree sur l'evolution de l'ecole dans les annees a venir. Une evolution qui tient compte des principes d'une education a la collaboration et a l'inter-culturalite.
Let’s Talk Politics

Deliberative democratic theory puts discussions at the centre of democracy. Schools are places where young people can practise such discussions. In this article, we argue that these perceptions of deliberation in class are differential for different young people. Individual student characteristics matter when making schools successful in creating an ‘open discussion climate’. Using the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2009, we find that gender, self-efficacy and socio-economic background have an impact on the perception of such a climate. If students evaluate discussion opportunities differently based on background characteristics, alternate strategies should be developed to get everyone to deliberate. Future research looking into the quality of discussions should take this into account, as boys or students with a lower SES (socio-economic status) might need extra stimulation to perceive the classroom as a place to discuss public matters. Also, schools and policymakers should be aware when deciding which civic education strategy should be followed to obtain the desired results.
Underwater Sensor Network Deployment for Water Quality Monitoring

A sensor network is composed of a given number of communicating sensors, which aims to collect data from their envirenement. When interesting events are detected, information is routed from one node to another and eventually gathered in gateway nodes or base stations. Recently, sensors have become a promising operational technology for underwater environment. For example, they are now able to collect accurately several water quality parameters such as; temperature, chemical substances, water density etc. Another major technological advance of underwater sensors technology is the improvement in their communication capability. For instance, many underwater sensors are now able to exchange data through acoustic waves. As a result of this evolution, underwater sensors could now be organized as an autonomous communicating network. UnderWater Sensors Network (UWSN) is a very recent network topic. Since very few years, it attracts a growing interest from the network community. The underwater context offers to the community the possibility to design and to imagine new applications. Potential applications domain includes, military surveillance (e.g. leak detection), ecology (e.g. water quality and biological monitoring) and public safety (e.g. seismic and tsunami monitoring) etc. Moreover, the particularity of the underwater context (e.g. the long delay related to the acoustic communication technology) offers to the community new interesting challenges. Recent works have addressed some of the identified issues. Since UWSN is a new emerging network topic, up to now, most of researches have mainly focused on fundamental sensor networking problems such as routing protocols, energy minimization, delocalization, and data gathering. But, a lot still have to be done in order to obtain low cost operational UWSN. Suitable deployment of under water sensors for efficient monitoring is among these crucial issues. In the best of our knowledge, deployment of sensors has been addressed mainly in terrestrial networks. Most of works assume a random geographical sensors deployment within a target area. This assumption holds for a non-accessible area
Online Biped Walking Pattern Generation for Humanoid Robot KHR-3(KAIST Humanoid Robot - 3: HUBO)

This paper describes an algorithm about online walking pattern generation method, sensory feedback controllers for walking of humanoid robot platform KHR-3 (KAIST Humanoid Robot-3: HUBO) and experimental results. The walking pattern trajectories have continuity, smoothness in varying walking period and stride, and it has simple mathematical form which can be implemented easily. The gait trajectory algorithm is composed of two kinds of function trajectory. The first one is cycloid function which is used for ankle position in Cartesian coordinate space. Because this profile is made by superposition of linear and sinusoidal function, which has a property of slow start, fast moving, and slow stop. This characteristics can reduce the over drive at high speed motion of the actuator. The second one is 3rd order polynomial function. It is continuous in the defined time interval, easy to use when the boundary condition is well defined, and has standard values of coefficients when the time scale is normalized. Position and velocity values are used for its boundary condition. F/T (Force and Torque) sensors at the ankles of the robot and accelerometers at soles are used to compensate the input position profiles (in joint angle space and Cartesian coordinate space) for keeping its dynamic balance. They are to reduce unexpected external forces such as landing shock, and vibration induced by compliances of the F/T sensor structures, link frames and reduction gears, because they can affect seriously on the walking stability. We use real-time controllers such as ZMP (zero moment point), vibration reduction, landing orientation, damping, landing timing and landing position controller according to its objectives. This trajectory and control algorithm is implemented for the free-walking of KHR-3
7 Lens Shading Correction for Dirt Detection

We present a novel inspection framework to detect dirt and blemish in production line of optical fabrication automatically. To detect dirt defect from vignette surface, we use B-Spline to generate an ideal vignette surface and subtract the contaminated surface from the generated vignette surface to locate the defect. Besides, we apply some image processing methods to optimize our inspection framework. Experimental results show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach regarding dirt detection in automatic optical inspection.
Subjective memory complaints may announce dementia

Article abstract-Whether subjective memory complaints in the absence of objective memory decline can predict future dementia has been investigated only in highly selected clinical and volunteer cohorts. Our study examines this question in a subsample of AMSTEL (Amsterdam Study of the Elderly), a longitudinal population study on cognitive decline and dementia. Subjects (aged 65 to 84 years; n = 357) without dementia or other psychiatric disorders at baseline were followed for 3 years. After this interval, 16 of 203 re-examined patients developed a dementia. Logistic regression analyses indicated that memory complaints at baseline contributed a small but significant amount of diagnostic information. However, the most powerful predictor of future dementia was deficient memory performance. We conclude that subjective memory complaints may predict dementia within 3 years, particularly when there are objective signs of memory deterioration. NEUROLOGY 1996;46: 121-125
UltraSoundLog: location/person-aware sound log system for museums

In wearable computing environments, various sensors enable the recording of user context as a life log. For enhancing the experience in a museum or exhibition, a voice recorder is useful for recording users' comments and providing explanations for the exhibitions. However, to utilize the sound log after the event, the voice recorder should attach appropriate tags to the sound data for extracting intended data from the long-term sound log. In a previous study, we have proposed an activity and context recognition method where the user carries a neck-worn receiver comprising a microphone and small speakers on his/her wrists that generate ultrasound. Our system also recognizes the location of the user and the people whom are near the user by ultrasonic ID signals generated from speakers placed in rooms and on people. In this study, we focus on embedding location/person IDs to sound logs by using ultrasonic IDs. We actually used the proposed method during a real event, and we confirmed that the wearing position of the microphone affects the accuracy of ultrasonic ID recognition because the acquired volume of ultrasound is different at each position. We propose a new method for recognizing the position of a microphone to improve the accuracy of ID recognition, and we actually use the improved method at another real event. Evaluation results confirmed that the accuracy of position recognition was 84.7 %, and the accuracy of ID recognition was 68.0 % for the proposed method, improved from 55.2 % for the conventional method.
Classroom Aquatic Ecosystems and Earth Science Systems : High School Curriculum Applications By Tyler Brandenburg CCWI Fortuna Water Quality Project

This paper will consist of a discussion of how a classroom aquatic ecosystem can serve as an educational tool to enhance the synthesis of Earth Science Systems concepts to benefit a high school curriculum. Including what students can learn from a classroom aquatic ecosystem in terms of wastewater treatment processes, a sample curriculum for a high school science class, and suggestions for future classroom aquatic ecosystem projects for high schools.
Serum Spot 14 concentration is negatively associated with thyroid-stimulating hormone level

AbstractSpot 14 (S14) is a protein involved in fatty acid synthesis and was shown to be induced by thyroid hormone in rat liver. However, the presence of S14 in human serum and its relations with thyroid function status have not been investigated.The objectives of this study were to compare serum S14 concentrations in patients with hyperthyroidism or euthyroidism and to evaluate the associations between serum S14 and free thyroxine (fT4) or thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels.We set up an immunoassay for human serum S14 concentrations and compared its levels between hyperthyroid and euthyroid subjects. Twenty-six hyperthyroid patients and 29 euthyroid individuals were recruited. Data of all patients were pooled for the analysis of the associations between the levels of S14 and fT4, TSH, or quartile of TSH.The hyperthyroid patients had significantly higher serum S14 levels than the euthyroid subjects (median [Q1, Q3]: 975 [669, 1612] ng/mL vs 436 [347, 638] ng/mL, P < 0.001). In univariate linear regression, the log-transformed S14 level (logS14) was positively associated with fT4 but negatively associated with creatinine (Cre), total cholesterol (T-C), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and TSH. The positive associations between logS14 and fT4 and the negative associations between logS14 and Cre, TG, T-C, or TSH remained significant after adjustment with sex and age. These associations were prominent in females but not in males. The logS14 levels were negatively associated with the TSH levels grouped by quartile (ß = −0.3020, P < 0.001). The association between logS14 and TSH quartile persisted after adjustment with sex and age (ß = −0.2828, P = 0.001). In stepwise multivariate regression analysis, only TSH grouped by quartile remained significantly associated with logS14 level.We developed an ELISA to measure serum S14 levels in human. Female patients with hyperthyroidism had higher serum S14 levels than the female subjects with euthyroidism. The serum logS14 concentrations were negatively associated with TSH levels. Changes of serum S14 level in the whole thyroid function spectrum deserve further investigation.
Robust Superpixel Tracking

While numerous algorithms have been proposed for object tracking with demonstrated success, it remains a challenging problem for a tracker to handle large appearance change due to factors such as scale, motion, shape deformation, and occlusion. One of the main reasons is the lack of effective image representation schemes to account for appearance variation. Most of the trackers use high-level appearance structure or low-level cues for representing and matching target objects. In this paper, we propose a tracking method from the perspective of midlevel vision with structural information captured in superpixels. We present a discriminative appearance model based on superpixels, thereby facilitating a tracker to distinguish the target and the background with midlevel cues. The tracking task is then formulated by computing a target-background confidence map, and obtaining the best candidate by maximum a posterior estimate. Experimental results demonstrate that our tracker is able to handle heavy occlusion and recover from drifts. In conjunction with online update, the proposed algorithm is shown to perform favorably against existing methods for object tracking. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm facilitates foreground and background segmentation during tracking.
Depression as Related to Quality of Life Andsocial Support among Patients with Diabetes

The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship among depression, social support, and quality of life in 59 diabetic patients (Males= 25, Females= 34) visiting different hospitals in Sialkot and Gujranwala. The sample was selected by purposive sampling technique. Three standardized tools; Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet& Farley, 1988), Quality of Life Scale (WHO, 1991) and depression items from Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) were used in the present study to collect the data. The results indicated that there is a significant negative relationship among depression, social support, and quality of life in diabetic patients. Moreover, the relationship of sociodemographic variables of diabetic patients was also explored with the level of depression, quality of life and social support. Implications of the findings were discussed.
Do the Spectra of Soft X-Ray Transients Reveal Bulk-Motion Inflow Phenomenon?

We present our analysis of the high-energy radiation from black hole (BH) transients using archival data obtained primarily with RXTE and a comprehensive test of the bulk-motion Comptonization (BMC) model for the high-soft state continuum. The emergent spectra of over 30 separate measurements of the GRO J1655-40, GRS 1915+105, GRS 1739-278, 4U 1630-47 XTE J1755-32, and EXO 1846-031 X-ray sources are successfully fitted by the BMC model, which has been derived from basic physical principles in previous work. This in turn provides direct physical insight into the innermost observable regions, where matter impinging on the event horizon can effectively be directly viewed. The BMC model is characterized by three parameters: the disk color temperature, a geometric factor related to the illumination of the BH site by the disk, and a spectral index related to the efficiency of the bulk-motion upscattering. For the case of GRO J1655-40, where there are distance and mass determinations, a self-consistency check of the BMC model has been made, in particular of the assumption regarding the dominance of gravitational forces over the pressure forces within the inner few Schwarzschild radii. We have also examined the time behavior of these parameters, which can provide information on the source structure. Using our inferred model parameters: color temperature, spectral index, and an absolute normalization, we present new, independently derived constraints on the BH mass, mass accretion rate, and the distance for the aforementioned sources. Also notable is the relationship between the color temperature and flux, which for GRO J1655-40 is entirely distinct from a simple T4 dependence and strikingly consistent with the disk model we have invoked: a standard Shakura-Sunyaev disk with the modification to the electron scattering. This provides insight into the origin of the seed soft photons and allows us to impose an important estimation of the hardening parameter, Th, which is the ratio of the color temperature to the effective temperature: we find Th≃2.6, higher than previous estimates used in the literature.
Mechanistic and ecological explanations in agent-based models of cognition

We argue that two styles of explanation—mechanistic and ecological—are needed in accounting for the behaviour of synthetic agents. An emphasis on mechanistic explanation in some current ALife models is identified, and parallels are drawn with issues in the philosophy of mind literature. We conclude that ecological or agent-level explanation does not come with representational baggage, and that mechanistic explanations cannot stand alone.