Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Focal length change compensation for monocular slam

In this paper, we propose a method for handling focal length changes in the SLAM algorithm. Our method is designed as a pre-processing step to first estimate the change of the camera focal length, and then compensate for the zooming effects before running the actual SLAM algorithm. By using our method, camera zooming can be used in the existing SLAM algorithms with minor modifications. In the experiments, the effectiveness of the proposed method was quantitatively evaluated. The results indicate that the method can successfully deal with abrupt changes of the camera focal length.
Frame packing in real-time communication

A common computational model in distributed embedded systems is that the nodes exchange signals via a network. Most often, a signal represents the state of some physical device and has a signal size ranging from a single bit up to a few bytes. Furthermore, each signal typically has a deadline requirement. The communication networks used are often based on a broadcast bus where fixed or variable sized frames are transmitted. The amount of data that can be transmitted in each frame is almost always bigger than the size of a signal. Thus, from a resource perspective it would be desirable if each frame could transport several signals. The authors investigate how to assign signals to periodic frames with the objective function to minimise the network bandwidth requirement while not violating specified deadlines. This problem is NP-hard, but can for most typical applications be solved efficiently by using simple heuristics. The effectiveness of our algorithm is demonstrated by applying it to signal sets derived from automotive applications for a CAN based system and for the newly developed, low cost and low speed, Local Interconnect Network (LIN). The results can be of great use in cost sensitive embedded systems such as car control systems, where the used hardware, communication networks and nodes (typically microcontrollers), have to be highly utilised to keep the production cost at a minimum level.
EDRF Increases Cyclic GMP in Platelets During Passage Through the Coronary Vascular Bed

It was investigated whether endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) increases cyclic GMP (cGMP) content in platelets passing through the coronary bed. Boluses of washed platelets from healthy human donors were injected into the aortic perfusion line of isolated, saline-perfused rabbit hearts under constant flow conditions (28 ± 2 ml/min). The coronary effluent was collected over 5 seconds, and the cGMP content of platelets was determined by radioimmunoassay. Platelet cGMP amounted to 0.34 ± 0.11 pmol/mg protein after passage through the unstimulated coronary bed. During stimulation with acetylcholine (1 μ.M), it increased to 1.6 ± 0.5 pmol/mg (p<0.01; n=14). Simultaneously, the platelet recovery (measured over 20 seconds after injection) was enhanced (by 45 ± 11%; p<0.01) during endothelial stimulation with acetylcholine. Treatment with the EDRF inhibitor hemoglobin (6 μM) completely abolished the increase in platelet cGMP (p<0.01; n = ll) as well as the enhanced platelet recovery (n=8). Inhibition of EDRF by hemoglobin reduced also the basal platelet cGMP content to 0.17 ± 0.11 pmol/mg (p<0.01). The data indicate that basally released EDRF is able to increase cGMP in platelets during a single passage through the coronary bed. The enhanced recovery of platelets after EDRF stimulation, which coincides with an increase of platelet cGMP, suggests that EDRF plays an important role as inhibitor of platelet activation in the coronary circulation.
Efficiency of tax-contract policies for natural resource rent collection

The efficiency of natural resource tax-contract systems is of interest to both resource owners and firms wishing to explore for and extract resources. The present paper considers the small country case in which the resource price path can be assumed exogenous. It then compares the efficiency of a number of contractual systems under resource uncertainty. An efficiency ranking of systems both in the absence and presence of general income taxes is produced.
A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study Reveals Local Brain Structural Alterations Associated with Ambient Fine Particles in Older Women

Objective: Exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5: PM with aerodynamic diameters < 2.5 μm) has been linked with cognitive deficits in older adults. Using fine-grained voxel-wise analyses, we examined whether PM2.5 exposure also affects brain structure. Methods: Brain MRI data were obtained from 1365 women (aged 71–89) in the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study and local brain volumes were estimated using RAVENS (regional analysis of volumes in normalized space). Based on geocoded residential locations and air monitoring data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, we employed a spatiotemporal model to estimate long-term (3-year average) exposure to ambient PM2.5 preceding MRI scans. Voxel-wise linear regression models were fit separately to gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) maps to analyze associations between brain structure and PM2.5 exposure, with adjustment for potential confounders. Results: Increased PM2.5 exposure was associated with smaller volumes in both cortical GM and subcortical WM areas. For GM, associations were clustered in the bilateral superior, middle, and medial frontal gyri. For WM, the largest clusters were in the frontal lobe, with smaller clusters in the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes. No statistically significant associations were observed between PM2.5 exposure and hippocampal volumes. Conclusions: Long-term PM2.5 exposures may accelerate loss of both GM and WM in older women. While our previous work linked smaller WM volumes to PM2.5, this is the first neuroimaging study reporting associations between air pollution exposure and smaller volumes of cortical GM. Our data support the hypothesized synaptic neurotoxicity of airborne particles.
Process Algebra as Abstract Data Types

In this paper we introduced an algebraic semantics for process algebra in form of abstract data types. For that purpose, we developed a particular type of algebra, the seed algebra, which describes exactly the behavior of a process within a labeled transition system. We have shown the possibility of characterizing the bisimulation of two processes with the isomorphism of their corresponding seed algebras. We pointed out that the traditional concept of isomorphism of algebra does not apply here, because there is even no one-one correspondence between the elements of two seed algebras. The lack of this one-one correspondence comes from the non-deterministic choice of transitions of a process. We introduce a technique of hidden operations to mask unwanted details of elements of a seed algebra, which only reflect non-determinism or other implicit control mechanism of process transition. Elements of a seed algebra are considered as indistinguishable if they show the same behavior after these unwanted details are masked. Each class of indistinguishable elements is called a non-hidden closure. We proved that bisimulation of two processes is equivalent to isomorphism of non-hidden closures of two seed algebras representing these two processes. We call this kind of isomorphism a deep isomorphism. We get different models of seed algebra by specifying different axiom systems for the same signature. Each model corresponds to a different kind of bisimulation. By proving the relations between these models we also established relations between 10 different bisimulations, which form a acyclic directed graph.
Designing 3D Gesture Guidance: Visual Feedback and Feedforward Design Options

Dynamic symbolic in-air hand gestures are an increasingly popular means of interaction with smart environments. However, novices need to know what commands are available and which gesture to execute in order to trigger these commands. We propose to adapt OctoPocus, a 2D gesture guiding system, to the case of 3D. The OctoPocus3D guidance system displays a set of 3D gestures as 3D pipes and allows users to understand how the system processes gesture input. Several feedback and feedforward visual alternatives are proposed in the literature. However, their impact on guidance remains to be evaluated. We report the results of two user experiments that aim at designing OctoPocus3D by exploring these alternatives. The results show that a concurrent feedback, which visually simplifies the 3D scene during the execution of the gesture, increases the recognition rate, but only during the first two repetitions. After the first two repetitions, users achieve the same recognition rate with a terminal feedback (after the execution of the gesture), a concurrent feedback, both or neither. With respect to feedforward, the overall stability of the 3D scene explored through the origin of the pipes during the execution of the gestures does not influence the recognition rate or the execution time. Finally, the results also show that displaying upcoming portions of the gestures allows 8% faster completion times than displaying the complete remaining portions. This indicates that preventing visual clutter of the 3D scene prevails over gesture anticipation.
Transfer learning over big data

Transfer learning has emerged as a new learning technique facilitating an improved learning result of one task by integrating the well learnt knowledge from another related task. While much research has been devoted to develop the transfer learning algorithms in the field of long text analysis, the development of the transfer learning techniques over the short texts still remains challenging. The challenge of short text data analysis arises due to its sparse nature, noise words, syntactical structure and colloquial terminologies used. In this paper, we propose AutoTL(Automatic Transfer Learning), a transfer learning framework in short text analysis with automatic training data selection and no requirement of data priori probability distribution. In addition, AutoTL enables an accurate and effective learning by transferring the knowledge automatically learnt from the online information. Our experimental results confirm the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed technique.
GEOMS: A New Software Package for the Numerical Simulation of Multibody Systems

In this article we present the new numerical algorithm GEOMS for the numerical integration of the most general form of the equations of motion of multibody systems, including nonholonomic constraints and possible redundancies in the constraints, as they may appear in industrial applications. Besides the numerical integration, the algorithm offers some additional features like stabilization of the model quations, use of different decomposition strategies, or checking and correction of the initial values with respect to their consistency. Furthermore, {\tt GEOMS} preserves hidden constraints and (possibly) existing solution invariants.
Challenges in Expanding Development Assistance

This paper highlights the macro and microeconomic challenges associated with success of the effort to mobilize 0.7 percent of GNP for official development assistance (ODA). To promote achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, enhanced ODA must be as productive as possible. In weighing the distribution of enhanced ODA among countries, the paper emphasizes the need to limit potentially adverse “real transfer effects. ” It recommends a multi-pronged approach to ODA that includes, inter alia, in addition to direct bilateral transfers, enhanced use of trust funds and the financing of global public goods.
Systemic Risk, an Empirical Approach

We have developed a quantitative analysis to verify the extent to which the sources of systemic risk identified in the academic and regulatory literature actually contribute to it. This analysis shows that all institutions contribute to systemic risk albeit to a different degree depending on various risk factors such as size, interconnection, un-substitutability, balance sheet and risk quality. From the analysis we conclude that using a single variable or a limited series of variables as a proxy for systemic risk generates considerable errors when identifying and measuring the systemic risk of each institution. When designing systemic risk mitigation measures, all contributing factors should be taken into account. Likewise, classifying institutions as systemic/non-systemic would mean giving similar treatment to institutions that may bear very different degrees of systemic risk, while treating differently institutions that may have very similar charge of systemic risk inside. Therefore, we advocate that some continuous approach to systemic risk -in which all institutions are deemed systemic but to varying degrees- would be preferable. We acknowledge that this analysis may prove somehow limited in the way that it is not founded on a predefined conceptual approach, does not fully consider other very relevant qualitative factors1 and accounts only for some of the relevant sources of systemic risk in the banking system2. These limits are currently set due to data availability and state of the art in empirical research, but we believe that these should not hinder our work identifying the true sources of systemic risk and our aim to help avoiding any partial and thus limited prudential policy approach.
Taking Stock of Paul Krugman's 654 _New York Times_ Columns, 1997 through 2006

tHis document forms an appendix to our main article on paul Krugman. The main article highlights certain characteristics of Krugman’s 654 New York Times columns 1997 through 2006. The case rests in large part on an investigation of what is not found within that body of writings. It suggests that Krugman is primarily interested in advancing a social-democratic political ethos. The purpose of this Appendix is to cover in more detail the ground of what he does say. Here we summarize and characterize the main themes and ideas found in the 654 columns. This review supplements the main article by showing that the main themes and ideas have been largely congruent with the characterizations made in the main article. It also helps to demonstrate the thoroughness with which we have read and studied the 654 articles, and in that way may help to assure readers of the diligence and fairness of our treatment of Krugman. The 654 NYT columns covered the subjects listed in Table 1 (this table is the same as Table 1 in the main article). Here we summarize most of the major themes and positions found in Krugman’s 654 columns. Our summary does not follow the topic listing provided by Table 1. Rather, we simply develop 16 headings that seem to us to stand out as the main messages of the corpus of work.
Improving Search and Information Credibility Analysis from Interaction between Web1.0 and Web2.0 Content

We describe a new concept for improving Web search performance and/or increasing the information credibility of search results using Web1.0 and Web2.0 content in a complementary manner. Conventional Web search engines still suffer from a low precision/recall ratio, especially for searching multimedia content (images, videos etc.). The quality control of Web search is generally insufficient due to low publishing barriers. As a result, there is a large amount of mistaken and unreliable information on the Web that can have detrimental effects on users. This calls for technology that facilitates the judging of the trustworthiness or credibility of content and the accuracy of the information that users encounter on the Web. Such technology should be able to handle a wide range of tasks: extracting credible information related to a given topic, organizing this information, detecting its provenance, and clarifying background, facts, and other related opinions and their distribution. We propose and describe a concept of enhancing the search performance of conventional Web search engines and analyzing information credibility of Web information using the interaction between Web1.0 and Web2.0 content. We also overview our recent research activities on Web search and information credibility based on this concept.
Transcriptional regulation of endothelial dysfunction in atherosclerosis: an epigenetic perspective

Atherosclerosis is a progressive human pathology that encompasses several stages of development. Endothelial dysfunction represents an early sign of lesion within the vasculature. A number of risk factors for atherosclerosis, including hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and hypertension, target the vascular endothelium by re-programming its transcriptome. These profound alterations taking place on the chromatin rely on the interplay between sequence specific transcription factors and the epigenetic machinery. The epigenetic machinery, in turn, tailor individual transcription events key to atherogenesis to intrinsic and extrinsic insults dictating the development of atherosclerotic lesions. This review summarizes our current understanding of the involvement of the epigenetic machinery in endothelial injury during atherogenesis.
IEEE 802.11p unicast considered harmful

We study the feasibility of IEEE 802.11p unicast communication in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs). In brief, we found unicast communication using MAC acknowledgement frames (ACKs) to be unsuitable for vehicular networks, because missing ACKs make protocol operations susceptible to pronounced head of line blocking effects. Worse, a transmit queue that is blocked by a missing ACK will delay messages for all protocols running on the same node that use the same access category. Other than in traditional networks, missing ACKs are especially prevalent in VANETs due to their high topology dynamics. Depending on the scenario, delays of messages could be shown to reach 200 ms and beyond - above the tolerable range of many VANET applications. Our findings are based on analytical calculations, measurements on hardware, as well as computer simulations; we conducted simulations both at small scale, for a baseline validation, and at a macroscopic level, to gauge the impact on a more complex protocol.
Threshold Neuro Fuzzy Expert System for Diagnosis of Breast Cancer

Expert system is an interactive computer-based decision tool that uses both the facts and heuristics to solve difficult decision making problems. Fuzzy logic is a new way of expressing probability. Neural Networks are eminently suited for approximating and designing of fuzzy Controllers and other types of Fuzzy Expert System. Neuro-fuzzy systems are connectionist models that allow learning as artificial neural network, but their structure can be interpreted as a set of fuzzy rules.Fuzzy logic and neural networks form the basis of the majority aided diagnostic intelligent systems. It would be interesting to combine the two approaches to exploit both advantages. In this paper we propose an ARM Cortex-M3 Based Interactive Neuro Fuzzy Expert System for diagnosis of breast cancers proposed on an Ex-DBC System for benign and malignant digital mammographic findings. In order to assist physicians, Radiologists and others in clinical diagnosis, a wide set of breast cancer detection rules was designed using Digital Mammographic dataset are discussed in this paper.
Early and parallel processing of pragmatic and semantic information in speech acts: neurophysiological evidence

Although language is a tool for communication, most research in the neuroscience of language has focused on studying words and sentences, while little is known about the brain mechanisms of speech acts, or communicative functions, for which words and sentences are used as tools. Here the neural processing of two types of speech acts, Naming and Requesting, was addressed using the time-resolved event-related potential (ERP) technique. The brain responses for Naming and Request diverged as early as ~120 ms after the onset of the critical words, at the same time as, or even before, the earliest brain manifestations of semantic word properties could be detected. Request-evoked potentials were generally larger in amplitude than those for Naming. The use of identical words in closely matched settings for both speech acts rules out explanation of the difference in terms of phonological, lexical, semantic properties, or word expectancy. The cortical sources underlying the ERP enhancement for Requests were found in the fronto-central cortex, consistent with the activation of action knowledge, as well as in the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), possibly reflecting additional implications of speech acts for social interaction and theory of mind. These results provide the first evidence for surprisingly early access to pragmatic and social interactive knowledge, which possibly occurs in parallel with other types of linguistic processing, and thus supports the near-simultaneous access to different subtypes of psycholinguistic information.
Study of Design and Analysis of Low-Power 10-Transistor Full Adders Using Novel XOR–XNOR Gates

Full adders are vital components in applications such as digital signal processors (DSP) architectures and microprocessors. In this paper, we propose a technique to build a total of 41 new 10-transistor FA using novel XOR and XNOR gates in combination with existing ones.We have done over ten thousand HSPICE simulation runs of the entire the different adders in different input patterns, frequencies, and load capacitances. Almost all those new adders consume less power in high frequencies, while 3 new adders consistently use on average 10% less power and have higher speed compared with the previous Ten-transistor full adder and the conventional 28-T CMOS adder. One draw back of the novel adders is the threshold-voltage loss of the pass transistors.
The Explicit/Implicit Distinction in Pragmatics and the Limits of Explicit Communication

This paper has two main parts. The first is a critical survey of ways in which the explicit/implicit distinction has been and is currently construed in linguistic pragmatics, which reaches the conclusion that the distinction is not to be equated with a semantics/pragmatics distinction but rather concerns a division within communicated contents (or speaker meaning). The second part homes in on one particular way of drawing such a pragmatically-based distinction, the explicature/implicature distinction in Relevance Theory. According to this account, processes of pragmatic enrichment play a major role in the recovery of explicit content and only some of these processes are linguistically triggered, others being entirely pragmatically motivated. I conclude with a brief consideration of the language-communication relation and the limits on explicitness.
Agent based micro grid management system

This paper describes a micro grid management system developed using agent based technologies and its application to the effective management of generation and storage devices connected to a LV network forming a micro grid. The micro grid is defined as a set of generation, storage and load systems electrically connected and complemented by a communication system to enable control actions and follow up surveillance. The effectiveness of the proposed architecture has been tested on laboratory facilities under different micro grid configurations. The performance and scalability issues related to the agent framework have also been considered and verified