Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
OLT: A Toolkit for Object Labeling applied to robotic RGB-D datasets

In this work we present the Object Labeling Toolkit (OLT), a set of software components publicly available for helping in the management and labeling of sequential RGB-D observations collected by a mobile robot. Such a robot can be equipped with an arbitrary number of RGB-D devices, possibly integrating other sensors (e.g. odometry, 2D laser scanners, etc.). OLT first merges the robot observations to generate a 3D reconstruction of the scene from which object segmentation and labeling is conveniently accomplished. The annotated labels are automatically propagated by the toolkit to each RGB-D observation in the collected sequence, providing a dense labeling of both intensity and depth images. The resulting objects' labels can be exploited for many robotic oriented applications, including high-level decision making, semantic mapping, or contextual object recognition. Software components within OLT are highly customizable and expandable, facilitating the integration of already-developed algorithms. To illustrate the toolkit suitability, we describe its application to robotic RGB-D sequences taken in a home environment.
Discrete Image Hashing Using Large Weakly Annotated Photo Collections

We address the problem of image hashing by learning binary codes from large and weakly supervised photo collections. Due to the explosive growth of user generated media on the Web, this problem is becoming critical for large-scale visual applications like image retrieval. While most existing hashing methods fail to address this challenge well, our method shows promising improvement due to the following two key advantages.First, we formulate a novel hashing objective that can effectively mine implicit weak supervision by collaborative filtering. Second, we propose a discrete hashing algorithm, offered with efficient optimization, to overcome the inferior optimizations in obtaining binary codes from real-valued solutions. In this way, our method can be considered as a weakly-supervised discrete hashing framework which jointly learns image semantics and their corresponding binary codes. Through training on one million weakly annotated images, our experimental results demonstrate that image retrieval using the proposed hashing method outperforms the other state-of-the-art ones on image and video benchmarks.
Inheritance is not subtyping

In typed object-oriented languages the subtype relation is typically based on the inheritance hierarchy. This approach, however, leads either to insecure type-systems or to restrictions on inheritance that make it less flexible than untyped Smalltalk inheritance. We present a new typed model of inheritance that allows more of the flexibility of Smalltalk inheritance within a statically-typed system. Significant features of our analysis are the introduction of polymorphism into the typing of inheritance and the uniform application of inheritance to objects, classes and types. The resulting notion of type inheritance allows us to show that the type of an inherited object is an inherited type but not always a subtype.
The changing clinical aspects of infective endocarditis: descriptive review of 90 episodes in a French teaching hospital and risk factors for death.

OBJECTIVE We wanted to describe the epidemiological aspects of infective endocarditis (IE) in a French hospital and identify the prognostic factors. METHODS We reviewed the clinical, echocardiographic and microbiological features, and the outcome of 89 patients (90 episodes, median age 60 years) with IE over 18 months. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify prognostic factors for death. RESULTS A native valve was involved in 68 cases (75.5%); in 7 of these the patient was an intravenous drug user. A prosthetic valve was involved in 22 cases (24.5%); 5 of these were of early onset. Diagnosis was definite in 87% of cases. Median time to diagnosis was 3 days. Twenty-five patients (28%) were immunocompromised. A portal of entry, usually cutaneous, was identified in 65% of cases. Sixty-two percent of patients had an underlying heart disorder, usually degenerative. The infection involved the left heart in more than 75% of cases. One or more vegetations were detected in 75% of cases. The median size of vegetation was 15 mm. Isolated agents were mainly staphylococci (n=40 (44%), including 12 coagulase-negative isolates), and streptococci (n=23 (25%), including 7 enterococci). In 11 cases (12%), cultures remained negative. Nineteen episodes were nosocomial and Staphylococcus aureus was implicated in 11 of them. Fifty percent of patients had at least one complication: heart failure (n=42), kidney failure (n=44), embolism (n=35), septic shock (n=19). Surgery was performed in 49 cases (54%) due to heart failure (n=19), cerebral embolism (n=12), and/or severe valve lesions (n=27). Eighteen patients died, 10 of whom were infected with S. aureus. Nosocomial IE (P=0.0008), heart failure (P=0.004) and prosthetic valve (P=0.01), but not S. aureus were independently associated with death. CONCLUSIONS S. aureus was the main microorganism isolated in our patients. However, it was not independently predictive of fatal outcome.
Electromagnetic bandgap metasurfaces for decoupling of elements of MRI body coil array at 7 Tesla

Electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structures belong to an important class of metamaterials that prevent wave propagation at certain frequencies. One of promising application areas of such structures is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Nowadays MRI technology develops towards using higher static magnetic field strengths. Particularly, development of novel receive and transmit body arrays for prospective 7T machines operating at 298 MHz is of a great importance. Such devices allow achieving higher image resolution and better diagnostic accuracy. As an alternative to conventional magnetic coils electric dipole antennas were recently proposed in order to reduce SAR keeping a high penetration depth and field uniformity. One of challenges in using dipole antennas as array elements in MRI is their strong mutual coupling, which lowers the useful signal. In the present work we test EBG metasurfaces with highly miniaturized unit cells for suppression of the coupling between two closely spaced dipole antenna elements of a 7T MRI body coil array. Meta-surface samples were optimized by means of numerical simulations and manufactured as multi-layered structures containing PCB-boards. The metasurface samples improve isolation of matched dipoles by up to -6 dB even for the dipole separation of λ/12. The isolation improvement provided by the manufactured metasurface samples was tested experimentally in the presence of a phantom (an equivalent of a human body).
DRIVER FATIGUE AS IDENTIFIED BY SACCADIC AND BLINK INDICATORS

All saccade and blinks were measured for 20 subjects during 40 trips on the Autobahn lasting six hours. They were identified on-line out of the electrooculogram and stored on a hard disk together with the self-reported alertness/fatigue scores. The relationships of fixation duration, saccadic velocity, blink rate, blink amplitude, lid closure velocity and so on (in total 19 parameters) to subjectively scored fatigue and time on tasks as well as their interrelationships were analyzed. The main result is that subjectively scored alertness/fatigue can be predicted by oculomotor parameters - by blink parameters better than by saccade parameters - but the best predictor was time of task. The sign of the correlations between alertness/fatigue and the oculomotor parameters is different in persons; this necessitates an interpretation that in 'fatigue' at least two proceses are at work; a deactivation one, for which we adopt the name 'sleep propensity function ; (Lavie, 1991) and an activiation process, the struggle to keep awake. A factor analysis results in four dimensions, the first associated with blink intervals and amplitudes, the second with blink duration, the third with fixation duration and velocity of saccades and blinks and the last with saccade durations and amplitudes. (A) For the covering abstract see ITRD E106152.
A Pilot Investigation of Visceral Fat Adiposity and Gene Expression Profile in Peripheral Blood Cells

Evidence suggests that visceral fat accumulation plays a central role in the development of metabolic syndrome. Excess visceral fat causes local chronic low-grade inflammation and dysregulation of adipocytokines, which contribute in the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome. These changes may affect the gene expression in peripheral blood cells. This study for the first time examined the association between visceral fat adiposity and gene expression profile in peripheral blood cells. The gene expression profile was analyzed in peripheral blood cells from 28 obese subjects by microarray analysis. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed using peripheral blood cells from 57 obese subjects. Obesity was defined as body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 kg/m2 according to the Japanese criteria, and the estimated visceral fat area (eVFA) was measured by abdominal bioelectrical impedance. Analysis of gene expression profile was carried out with Agilent whole human genome 4×44 K oligo-DNA microarray. The expression of several genes related to circadian rhythm, inflammation, and oxidative stress correlated significantly with visceral fat accumulation. Period homolog 1 (PER1) mRNA level in blood cells correlated negatively with visceral fat adiposity. Stepwise multiple regression analysis identified eVFA as a significant determinant of PER1 expression. In conclusion, visceral fat adiposity correlated with the expression of genes related to circadian rhythm and inflammation in peripheral blood cells.
Different topologies and control techniques of multi level inverter: A literature survey

Multilevel inverters have been today in favour of academic domain as well as industrial field. Because of high power and the capacity to minimize harmonic level, multilevel inverters is strongly introduced, in the recent decades, in power applications. This paper presents a review on most important topologies and techniques of control of multilevel inverters.
A hybrid particle swarm optimization and vector fitting based identification algorithm in a time-delayed systems

An exact knowledge of delay is crucial to control and synchronize a time-delayed system. In this paper, a least square based so-called Vector Fitting method is developed to identify parameters of a time-delayed system. The Vector Fitting (V.F.) algorithm efficiently directs evolution of parameters of a model towards their optimal values, iteratively. During each iteration poles of the model are calculated and replaced as starting poles for the next generation. The proposed algorithm is then combined with a heuristic optimization method, i.e. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to provide a hybrid technique, leading to identify delay time (r) of the system. The hybrid algorithm works in two stages; primarily the delay parameter is estimated using particle swarm optimization. The Vector fitting algorithm identifies the remaining parameters in the second stage. These two stages will be performed iteratively until the termination criterion is reached. Illustrative cases especially in presence of white noisy data are given to show the validity and the significance of the proposed method.
In the blink of an ear : towards a non-cochlear sonic art

i. Introduction ii. Noise and Its Opposite iii. Sectarianism in the Sensorium iv. Settling the Score v. The Technological Ontological vi. Rock and Roll Aesthetics vii. The Blink of an Ear viii. Postscript: A Tentative Definition of Sound Art.
Screening healthy infants for iron deficiency using reticulocyte hemoglobin content.

CONTEXT Current clinical practice relies on hemoglobin to detect iron deficiency, which misses infants not yet anemic and places them at higher risk for neurocognitive impairment. Reticulocyte hemoglobin content (CHr) has never been compared with hemoglobin for screening healthy infants. OBJECTIVES To evaluate CHr for detecting iron deficiency without anemia in healthy 9- to 12-month-old infants and to compare CHr with hemoglobin in screening for iron deficiency in this population. A secondary objective was to explore the association between CHr and subsequent development of anemia. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS A prospective observational cohort study of 202 healthy 9- to 12-month-old infants from an urban, hospital-based, primary care clinic in Boston, Mass, who were screened for iron deficiency between June 2000 and April 2003, and followed up for a median of 5.6 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Iron deficiency (transferrin saturation <10%) and anemia (hemoglobin <11 g/dL). RESULTS Of 202 infants enrolled, 23 (11.4%) had iron deficiency and 6 (3%) had iron deficiency and anemia. Iron-deficient and non-iron-deficient infants had significantly different values for all measured hematological and biochemical markers for iron deficiency. Optimal CHr cutoff for detecting iron deficiency was 27.5 pg (sensitivity, 83% and specificity, 72%); a hemoglobin level of less than 11 g/dL resulted in a sensitivity of 26% and a specificity of 95%. Reticulocyte hemoglobin content was more accurate overall than hemoglobin was for detecting iron deficiency (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.85 vs 0.73; P = .007). A CHr of less than 27.5 pg without anemia at initial screening was associated with subsequent anemia when screened again in the second year of life (risk ratio, 9.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-78.9; P = .01). CONCLUSIONS A CHr of less than 27.5 pg is a more accurate hematological indicator of iron deficiency compared with hemoglobin of less than 11 g/dL in these healthy 9- to 12-month-old infants. Further studies are warranted to determine whether CHr should be the preferred screening tool in the early detection of iron deficiency in infants.
Mediated Communication: A Social Action Perspective

PART ONE: THE PERSPECTIVE OF ANALYSIS The Nature of Communication Thoughts on the Mediated Communication Industry The Contexts of Reception The Social Action of Mediated Communication PART TWO: THE SEARCH FOR EFFECTS In Search of Effects Experimental Methods in Communication Research Survey and Ethnographic Methods in Mediated Communication Research Claims and Evidence PART THREE: AN ORGANIZING THEORY Accommodation Theory
Microbial Elastases. A Comparative Study.∗

Summary The effects of pH and of 1% NaCl and human serum on the elastolytic activity of 10 microbial enzyme preparations were determined and compared with those previously reported for pancreatic elastase and Flavobacterium elastase. The pH optima and the NaCl inhibition of the microbial enzymes showed similarity with pancreatic elastase rather than Flavobacterium elastase, but serum inhibition was less pronounced.
Residents' Ability to Identify Patients with Poor Literacy Skills

Purpose. To determine whether residents could identify patients with poor literacy skills based on clinical interactions during a continuity clinic visit. The authors hypothesized residents would overestimate patients' literacy abilities and fail to recognize many patients at risk for poor literacy. Method. The Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine—Revised (REALM-R) was administered to screen patients for potential literacy problems. Residents were asked “Do you feel this patient has a literacy problem? ” and answered yes or no. Continuity adjusted chi-square was used to test for overestimation of literacy abilities by residents. Results. REALM-R scores and residents' evaluations of literacy were available for 182 patients. The residents believed 10% of patients (18) had literacy problems based on their clinical interactions. Only three patients passing the literacy screen were incorrectly identified as at risk for literacy. Of the 90% of patients (164) the residents perceived to have no literacy problem, 36% (59) failed the literacy screen. Conclusion. Resident physicians overestimated the literacy abilities of their patients. A significant portion of these residents' patients may not have the skills to effectively interact with the health care system and are at increased risk for adverse outcomes.
The Schema Editor of OpenIoT for Semantic Sensor Networks

Ontologies provide conceptual abstractions over data, in domains such as the Internet of Things, in a way that sensor data can be harvested and interpreted by people and applications. The Semantic Sensor Network (SSN) ontology is the de-facto standard for semantic representation of sensor observations and metadata, and it is used at the core of the open source platform for the Internet of Things, OpenIoT. In this paper we present a Schema Editor that provides an intuitive web interface for defining new types of sensors, and concrete instances of them, using the SSN ontology as the core model. This editor is fully integrated with the OpenIoT platform for generating virtual sensor descriptions and automating their semantic annotation and registration process.
Metropolis Integration Schemes for Self-Adjoint Diffusions

We present explicit methods for simulating diffusions whose generator is self-adjoint with respect to a known (but possibly not normalizable) density. These methods exploit this property and combine an optimized Runge--Kutta algorithm with a Metropolis--Hastings Monte Carlo scheme. The resulting numerical integration scheme is shown to be weakly accurate at finite noise and to gain higher order accuracy in the small noise limit. It also permits the user to avoid computing explicitly certain terms in the equation, such as the divergence of the mobility tensor, which can be tedious to calculate. Finally, the scheme is shown to be ergodic with respect to the exact equilibrium probability distribution of the diffusion when it exists. These results are illustrated in several examples, including a Brownian dynamics simulation of DNA in a solvent. In this example, the proposed scheme is able to accurately compute dynamics at time step sizes that are an order of magnitude (or more) larger than those permitted wit.
Lamin A/C speckles mediate spatial organization of splicing factor compartments and RNA polymerase II transcription

The A-type lamins have been observed to colocalize with RNA splicing factors in speckles within the nucleus, in addition to their typical distribution at the nuclear periphery. To understand the functions of lamin speckles, the effects of transcriptional inhibitors known to modify RNA splicing factor compartments (SFCs) were examined. Treatment of HeLa cells with α-amanitin or 5,6-dichlorobenzimidazole riboside (DRB) inhibited RNA polymerase II (pol II) transcription and led to the enlargement of lamin speckles as well as SFCs. Removal of the reversible inhibitor DRB resulted in the reactivation of transcription and a rapid, synchronous redistribution of lamins and splicing factors to normal-sized speckles, indicating a close association between lamin speckles and SFCs. Conversely, the expression of NH2-terminally modified lamin A or C in HeLa cells brought about a loss of lamin speckles, depletion of SFCs, and down-regulation of pol II transcription without affecting the peripheral lamina. Our results suggest a unique role for lamin speckles in the spatial organization of RNA splicing factors and pol II transcription in the nucleus.
Are we able to reduce the mortality and morbidity of oral cancer; Some considerations

Oral cancer makes up 1%-2% of all cancers that may arise in the body. The majority of oral cancers consists of squamous cell carcinomas. Oral cancer carries a considerable mortality rate, being mainly dependent on the stage of the disease at admission. Worldwide some 50% of the patients with oral cancer present with advanced disease. There are several ways of trying to diagnose oral cancer in a lower tumor stage, being 1) mass screening or screening in selected patients, 2) reduction of patients’ delay, and 3) reduction of doctors’ delay. Oral cancer population-based screening (“mass screening”) programs do not meet the guidelines for a successful outcome. There may be some benefit when focusing on high-risk groups, such as heavy smokers and heavy drinkers. Reported reasons for patients’ delay range from fear of a diagnosis of cancer, limited accessibility of primary health care, to unawareness of the possibility of malignant oral diseases. Apparently, information campaigns in news programs and TV have little effect on patients’ delay. Mouth self-examination may have some value in reducing patients’ delay. Doctors’ delay includes dentists’ delay and diagnostic delay caused by other medical and dental health care professionals. Doctors’ delay may vary from almost zero days up to more than six months. Usually, morbidity of cancer treatment is measured by quality of life (QoL) questionnaires. In the past decades this topic has drawn a lot of attention worldwide. It is a challenge to decrease the morbidity that is associated with the various treatment modalities that are used in oral cancer without substantially compromising the survival rate. Smoking cessation contributes to reducing the risk of oral cancers, with a 50% reduction in risk within five years. Indeed, risk factor reduction seems to be the most effective tool in an attempt to decrease the morbidity and mortality of oral cancer. Key words:Oral cancer, early diagnosis, quality of life.
Modulation of Potassium Channels Inhibits Bunyavirus Infection*

Bunyaviruses are considered to be emerging pathogens facilitated by the segmented nature of their genome that allows reassortment between different species to generate novel viruses with altered pathogenicity. Bunyaviruses are transmitted via a diverse range of arthropod vectors, as well as rodents, and have established a global disease range with massive importance in healthcare, animal welfare, and economics. There are no vaccines or anti-viral therapies available to treat human bunyavirus infections and so development of new anti-viral strategies is urgently required. Bunyamwera virus (BUNV; genus Orthobunyavirus) is the model bunyavirus, sharing aspects of its molecular and cellular biology with all Bunyaviridae family members. Here, we show for the first time that BUNV activates and requires cellular potassium (K+) channels to infect cells. Time of addition assays using K+ channel modulating agents demonstrated that K+ channel function is critical to events shortly after virus entry but prior to viral RNA synthesis/replication. A similar K+ channel dependence was identified for other bunyaviruses namely Schmallenberg virus (Orthobunyavirus) as well as the more distantly related Hazara virus (Nairovirus). Using a rational pharmacological screening regimen, two-pore domain K+ channels (K2P) were identified as the K+ channel family mediating BUNV K+ channel dependence. As several K2P channel modulators are currently in clinical use, our work suggests they may represent a new and safe drug class for the treatment of potentially lethal bunyavirus disease.