Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Traffic Signal Adaptive Routing

The knowledge of future Signal Phase and Timing information (SPaT) of traffic lights ahead enables a vast number of driving assistance functions, such as Green Light Optimal Speed Control (GLOSA), Red Light Duration Advisory (RLDA) or Traffic Signal Adaptive routing (TSA routing). The purpose of TSA routing is to reduce the travel time by choosing a route that is possibly longer than the shortest one but has less red lights. Whereas GLOSA and RLDA are quite easy to implement from a scientific point of view, TSA routing presents a certain challenge: first of all, TSA routing necessitates predictions on future signal states on a wider look in the future than GLOSA and RLDA, a possible reason why this field of research still seems rather unexplored. Second, there are still many unresolved issues, such as the inadequacy of graphs for TSA-routing, or proper traffic load estimations. In this paper, we present a fully functioning model for TSA routing on the basis of our forgoing research on the prediction of future signal states and address the question of practical usability by evaluating our model under realistic conditions. We analyze, among other things, the impact of partial knowledge on traffic light's future signal states and the impact of different traffic loads on TSA routes by means of a test field in Munich, Germany. We describe necessary modifications of the underlying transportation network's graph structure and shortest path routing algorithm to allow routing under consideration of future signal states of traffic lights. We show that, albeit there are many erratic aspects in traffic and signal states, TSA routing still reaches a significant travel time gain over usual routing in our test field.
Modelling the effect of prosthetic feet and shoes on the heel-ground contact force in amputee gait

Abstract Gait laboratory measurements have been widely used to explore footwear and prosthetic effects on intact and amputee gait in spite of the confounding effects of adaptation, acclimation and inherent variability of human subjects. To facilitate understanding of the variables that affect impact forces that arise from heel-ground contact during amputee walking, a lumped parameter model is proposed to simulate the movement of the human body, prosthetic components and footwear during the period immediately following initial contact. Non-linear viscoelastic properties of prosthetic feet have a proportional relationship to both the magnitude of the impact peak and the rate of increase in the ground reaction force (GRF) immediately following initial contact. Footwear, in spite of a larger capacity to dissipate impact energy than a prosthetic foot alone, can actually amplify the magnitude of the impact peak. These results suggest limitations in the ability of conventional prosthetic feet and footwear to attenuate transmission of potential tissue-damaging forces.
Providing Mobile Phone Access in Rural Areas via Heterogeneous Meshed Wireless Back-Haul Networks

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are often seen as an affordable solution to bring Internet connectivity into rural and previously unconnected regions. To date, the main focus has been to provide access to classical services such as the WWW or email which requires the users to use a personal computer or a recent smart phone. In many developing regions, however, the prevailing end user device is a mobile phone. In order to connect mobile phones to an IP-based wireless back-haul networks, the network access points must provide a mobile phone air interface, compatible with GSM or UMTS specifications. Avoiding dependence on a costly mobile operator infrastructure, we propose to deploy GSM or 3GPP nano cells in order to terminate the mobile phone protocols immediately at the local network access points. Therefore, voice or data traffic can be carried over wireless back-haul networks using open protocols such as SIP and RTP. In this paper we present a meshed wireless back-haul network architecture whose access points have been equipped with GSM nano-cells. The voice packets generated by mobile phones are carried across the back-haul network in parallel to typical web or video traffic. We evaluate the QoS handling received by the voice calls across our multi-hop wireless testbed and show that our architecture can provide the resource isolation required to offer uninterrupted VoIP services in parallel to regular Internet traffic.
A New Peer-to-Peer Network

In this paper we propose a new peer-to-peer network based on Knodel graphs Wd,n of even order n and degree d, where 1 les d les lfloorlog2nrfloor. We then present routing algorithms in the P2P network based on the Knodel graph. The algorithm takes advantage of the routing heuristics in the Knodel graph and reduces the routing length of the P2P network by half. This P2P network can be configured flexibly to be based on the partial Knodel graph, where each peer is connected to the selected dimensions, thus decrease the size of the routing table with trading off the routing length. The applications may choose the configuration according to the computing ability of the peers and other requirements
Effort in sustained and phasic handgrip contractions.

Subjects maintained handgrip contractions over time at constant levels of perceived effort. The resulting functions relating force to time were similar in overall shape from person to person and highly reliable for any given person. The reduction in exerted force over time was well described by an equation that comprises two exponential terms; the rate parameters of both terms are independent of the initial force of contraction. Prior fatigue, as generated by sustained constant-effort contractions, increased the perceived intensity of phasic contractions. The psychophysical power law described the perceived intensity of phasic contractions both before and after the exertion of fatiguing contractions; fatigue had little effect on the size of the exponent.
Simulating wind effects on cloth and hair in Disney's Frozen

The winter wonderland of Disney’s feature animation Frozen presented several unique technical and creative challenges for the Character Simulation team. One of the most prominent was capturing the interaction of wind with the cloth and hair simulations. The approach to meet this challenge involved low level changes to the simulation software, the creation of custom fields and visualizers, and the integration of windicator and wind gust rigs into the shot production pipeline. These three primary components gave the artists a tool set that allowed them to hit the desired art direction.
Modification of human circulatory system model for the purpose of physical reproduction of apex of the heart conditions

The paper presents the proposition of a numerical model of the human circulatory system modification for the purpose of physical reproduction of conditions prevailing in the apex of the heart on a hybrid simulator. This is a physical-numerical stand which performs a generation of hydraulic conditions occurring in the selected points of circulatory system. However, so far, there was no possibility of reproduction the apex of the heart point. The paper presents the nature of the problem and suggest solution. The results of simulation tests and analysis of assumptions correctness are shown. Description of further development works is included.
Optimization of reversible sequential circuits

In recent years reversible logic has been considered as an important issue for designing low power digital circuits. It has voluminous applications in the present rising nanotechnology such as DNA computing, Quantum Computing, low power VLSI and quantum dot automata. In this paper we have proposed optimized design of reversible sequential circuits in terms of number of gates, delay and hardware complexity. We have designed the latches with a new reversible gate and reduced the required number of gates, garbage outputs, and delay and hardware complexity. As the number of gates and garbage outputs increase the complexity of reversible circuits, this design will significantly enhance the performance. We have proposed reversible D-latch and JK latch which are better than the existing designs available in literature.
Measurment Uncertainties in Gas-Based Monitors for High Repetition Rate X-Ray FEL Operations

Thermodynamic simulations using a finite difference method were carried out to investigate the measurement uncertainties in gas-based X-ray FEL diagnostic monitors under high repetition rate operations such as planned for the future LCLS-II soft and hard X-ray FEL’s. For monitors using relatively high gas pressures for obtaining sufficient signals, the absorbed thermal power becomes non-negligible as repetition rate increases while keeping pulse energy constant. The fluctuations in the absorbed power were shown to induce significant measurements uncertainties, especially in the single-pulse mode. The magnitude of this thermal effect depends nonlinearly on the absorbed power and can be minimized by using a more efficient detection scheme in which the gas pressure can be set sufficiently low.
Morbidity and mortality in children with obstructive sleep apnoea: a controlled national study

Background Little is known about the diagnostic patterns of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in children. A study was undertaken to evaluate morbidity and mortality in childhood OSA. Methods 2998 patients aged 0–19 years with a diagnosis of OSA were identified from the Danish National Patient Registry. For each patient we randomly selected four citizens matched for age, sex and socioeconomic status, thus providing 11 974 controls. Results Patients with OSA had greater morbidity at least 3 years before their diagnosis. The most common contacts with the health system arose from infections (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.40); endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (OR 1.30, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.80); nervous conditions (OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.65 to 2.73); eye conditions (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.90); ear, nose and throat (ENT) diseases (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.33 to 1.94); respiratory system diseases (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.60 to 1.98); gastrointestinal diseases (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.66); skin conditions (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.71); congenital malformations (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.31 to 1.85); abnormal clinical or laboratory findings (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.39); and other factors influencing health status (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.43). After diagnosis, OSA was associated with incidences of endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.45), nervous conditions (OR 3.16, 95% CI 2.58 to 3.89), ENT diseases (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.84), respiratory system diseases (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.70 to 2.22), skin conditions (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.89), musculoskeletal diseases (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.64), congenital malformations (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.51 to 2.22), abnormal clinical or laboratory findings (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.27) and other factors influencing health status (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.20 to 1.51). The 5-year death rate was 70 per 10 000 for patients and 11 per 10 000 for controls. The HR for cases compared with controls was 6.58 (95% CI 3.39 to 12.79; p<0.001). Conclusions Children with OSA have significant morbidities several years before and after their diagnosis.
Advancing Toward HIV-1 Vaccine Efficacy through the Intersections of Immune Correlates

Interrogating immune correlates of infection risk for efficacious and non-efficacious HIV-1 vaccine clinical trials have provided hypotheses regarding the mechanisms of induction of protective immunity to HIV-1. To date, there have been six HIV-1 vaccine efficacy trials (VAX003, Vaxgen, Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA), VAX004 (Vaxgen, Inc.), HIV-1 Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) 502 (Step), HVTN 503 (Phambili), RV144 (sponsored by the U.S. Military HIV Research Program, MHRP) and HVTN 505). Cellular, humoral, host genetic and virus sieve analyses of these human clinical trials each can provide information that may point to potentially protective mechanisms for vaccine-induced immunity. Critical to staying on the path toward development of an efficacious vaccine is utilizing information from previous human and non-human primate studies in concert with new discoveries of basic HIV-1 host-virus interactions. One way that past discoveries from correlate analyses can lead to novel inventions or new pathways toward vaccine efficacy is to examine the intersections where different components of the correlate analyses overlap (e.g., virus sieve analysis combined with humoral correlates) that can point to mechanistic hypotheses. Additionally, differences in durability among vaccine-induced T- and B-cell responses indicate that time post-vaccination is an important variable. Thus, understanding the nature of protective responses, the degree to which such responses have, or have not, as yet, been induced by previous vaccine trials and the design of strategies to induce durable T- and B-cell responses are critical to the development of a protective HIV-1 vaccine.
Flexible chitin films as potential wound-dressing materials: wound model studies.

Chitin films possessing increased flexibility, softness, transparency, and conformability have been prepared. These attributes enable the potential application of chitin films as occlusive, semipermeable film wound dressings similar to commercial products such as Opsite trade mark. The chitin films are generally nonabsorbent, exhibiting a total weight gain of only up to 120-160% in physiological fluid. Dry chitin films transpire water vapor at a rate of about 600 g/m(2)/24 h, similar to commercial polyurethane-based film dressings, but rises to 2400 g/m(2)/24 h, when wet, which is higher than the water vapor transmission rate of intact skin. The chitin films are nontoxic to human skin fibroblasts, maintaining 70-80% cell viability. Wound studies using a rat model showed no signs of allergenicity or the high inflammatory response associated with biodegradable biomaterials. The chitin films displayed accelerated wound-healing properties. Based on histological examination, wound sites dressed with the chitin films stabilized and healed faster, and appeared stronger than those dressed with Opsite trade mark and gauze dressings after 7 days of healing.
Impact of Economic Policy Reforms , Regional and Global Shocks on Trade and Growth in East Asia : The Case of Korea

In pursuing policies of trade liberalisation and growth promotion within the framework of regional economic integration, WTO membership and globalisation, major Asian economies had achieved economic ‘miracles’ in the past decades. Recently however, they face many challenges, economically and politically (Tran Van Hoa, 2002), compounded by a global (especially the US) economic slowdown (IMF, 2005), terrorist attacks, the SARS and avian flu outbreaks, unprecedented Indian Ocean tsunami devastation affecting millions in Asia, and other domestic or international (eg, the current China/Korea-Japan tension) uncertainty ahead. What are the development and growth prospects then for these economies or especially Korea in the medium and long term? The paper introduces the generalised gravity theory (Tran Van Hoa, 2004) to construct a simple flexible simultaneous-equation econometric model of growth and trade of Korea with its 6 major trading countries or blocs (China, Japan, ASEAN-6, the European Union, the US, and Australia). The model incorporates explicitly major temporary and persistent structural change in the form of reforms and shocks. Using latest ICSEAD, OECD and WBWT data, the paper reports efficient empirical results on trade-growth causality, trade determination and effects of policy reforms and shocks on Korea’s trade and growth with these economies over the past two decades. Based on these findings, current trade policy and economic relations developments, economic policy challenges are then targeted for discussion and resolution.
Use of Fresh Decellularized Allografts for Pulmonary Valve Replacement May Reduce the Reoperation Rate in Children and Young Adults: Early Report

Background— Degeneration of xenografts or homografts is a major cause for reoperation in young patients after pulmonary valve replacement. We present the early results of fresh decellularized pulmonary homografts (DPH) implantation compared with glutaraldehyde-fixed bovine jugular vein (BJV) and cryopreserved homografts (CH). Methods and Results— Thirty-eight patients with DPH in pulmonary position were consecutively evaluated during the follow-up (up to 5 years) including medical examination, echocardiography, and MRI. These patients were matched according to age and pathology and compared with BJV (n=38) and CH (n=38) recipients. In contrast to BJV and CH groups, echocardiography revealed no increase of transvalvular gradient, cusp thickening, or aneurysmatic dilatation in DPH patients. Over time, DPH valve annulus diameters converge toward normal z-values. Five-year freedom from explantation was 100% for DPH and 86±8% and 88±7% for BJV and CH conduits, respectively. Additionally, MRI investigations in 17 DPH patients with follow-up time >2 years were compared with MRI data of 20 BJV recipients. Both patient groups (DPH and BJV) were at comparable ages (mean, 12.7±6.1 versus 13.0±3.0 years) and have comparable follow-up time (3.7±1.0 versus 2.7±0.9 years). In DPH patients, the mean transvalvular gradient was significantly (P=0.001) lower (11 mm Hg) compared with the BJV group (23.2 mm Hg). Regurgitation fraction was 14±3% and 4±5% in DPH and BJV groups, respectively. In 3 DPH recipients, moderate regurgitation was documented after surgery and remained unchanged in follow-up. Conclusions— In contrast to conventional homografts and xenografts, decellularized fresh allograft valves showed improved freedom from explantation, provided low gradients in follow-up, and exhibited adaptive growth.
[Inhibitory effect of melatonin on morphine withdrawal syndromes and the content of NO in plasma and brain tissue in morphine dependent mice].

AIM To observe the effect of melatonin (MT) on morphine withdrawal syndromes and determine the content of NO in plasma and brain tissue in morphine dependent mice. METHODS A physical dependent model in mice was established by subcutaneous injection of morphine. MT (15 mg.kg-1, qd x 3) was given by intragastric infusion (ig) for three days. Withdrawal syndromes were induced by intraperitoneal injection of naloxon (5 mg.kg-1). The intensity of withdrawal syndromes was evaluated according to the jumping latency, the jumping times and the body weight loss. The content of NO was detected with Griess method. RESULTS The jumping latency of morphine withdrawal reaction was prolonged and the jumping times were reduced obviously by ig MT. The increased NO content in plasma and brain tissue in morphine dependent mice was reduced by ig MT. CONCLUSION The physical withdrawal syndromes and the content of NO in plasma and brain tissue in morphine dependent mice are inhibited by MT.
Technical efficiency and conversion to organic farming: the case of France

Using a panel of French crop farms, we test whether farmers’ technical efficiency under conventional practices is a significant driver of conversion to organic farming. An important issue is whether subsidies to organic farming could encourage inefficient farmers to convert. We find that the probability of conversion does depend on technical efficiency preceding the conversion, but that the direction of the effect depends on farm size. This result is found to be robust to the method of calculation of efficiency scores, either parametric or non-parametric. This study also confirms that farm’s characteristics impact the probability of conversion to organic farming.
Vitamin C intake and serum uric acid concentration in men.

OBJECTIVE We examined associations between vitamin C intake and serum uric acid in men in a population-based study. METHODS We included 1387 men without hypertension and with body mass index (BMI) < 30 kg/m(2) in the Health Professional Follow-up Study. Dietary intake was assessed with a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire validated for use in this population. Serum uric acid concentrations were measured. RESULTS Greater intakes of total vitamin C were significantly associated with lower serum uric acid concentrations, after adjustment for smoking, BMI, ethnicity, blood pressure, presence of gout, use of aspirin, and intake of energy, alcohol, dairy protein, fructose, meat, seafood and coffee. An inverse dose-response association was observed through vitamin C intake of 400-500 mg/day, and then reached a plateau. Adjusted mean uric acid concentrations across total vitamin C intake categories (< 90, 90-249, 250-499, 500-999, or > or = 1000 mg/day) were 6.4, 6.1, 6.0, 5.7, and 5.7 mg/dl, respectively (p for trend < 0.001). Greater vitamin C intake was associated with lower prevalence of hyperuricemia (serum uric acid > 6 mg/dl). Multivariate odds ratios for hyperuricemia across total vitamin C intake categories were 1 (reference), 0.58, 0.57, 0.38, and 0.34 (95% CI 0.20-0.58; P for trend < 0.001). When we used dietary data, which were assessed 4-8 years before blood collection, as predictors, we observed similar inverse associations between vitamin C intake and uric acid. CONCLUSION These population-based data indicate that vitamin C intake in men is inversely associated with serum uric acid concentrations. These findings support a potential role of vitamin C in the prevention of hyperuricemia and gout.
Privacy-Aware Traffic Monitoring

Traffic-monitoring systems (TMSs) are vital for safety and traffic optimization. However, these systems may compromise the privacy of drivers once they track the position of each driver with a high degree of temporal precision. In this paper, we argue that aggregated data can protect location privacy while providing accurate information for traffic monitoring. We identify a range of aggregate query types. Our proposed privacy-aware monitoring system (PAMS) works as an aggregate query processor that protects the location privacy of drivers as it anonymizes the IDs of cars. Our experiments show that PAMS answers queries with high accuracy and efficiency.
Approximation results for the optimum cost chromatic partition problem

In this paper, we study the optimum cost chromatic partition (OCCP) problem for several graph classes. The OCCP problem is the problem of coloring the vertices of a graph such that adjacent vertices get different colors and that the total coloring costs are minimum. We prove that there exists no polynomial approximation algorithm with ratio O(|V| 0.5-e ) for the OCCP problem restricted to bipartite and interval graphs, unless P = NP. Furthermore, we propose approximation algorithms with ratio O(|V| 0.5 ) for bipartite, interval and unimodular graphs. Finally, we prove that there exists no polynomial approximation algorithm with ratio O([V| 1-e ) for the OCCP problem restricted to split, chordal, permutation and comparability graphs, unless P = NP.
Implementing quality of service in Web servers

This paper analyzes the importance of differentiated service implementation in current Web servers, within the context of new Internet applications. An innovative approach of resource management is presented, which is carried out using the proportional cumulative value attribution (PCV) heuristic. This heuristic acts through two policies which, in response to requests, simultaneously sort the requests according to dynamically assigned priorities; and select different versions of Web pages.