Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PCL and ParaView — Connecting the dots

We introduce a novel open-source framework for analyzing and exploring point cloud datasets and algorithms. This is done by integrating the Point Cloud Library (PCL) within ParaView, a parallel scientific visualization tool. In particular, we demonstrate that by wrapping PCL algorithms as VTK1 filters, we can leverage PCL's functionality in an interactive, easy-to-use manner within ParaView. The proposed approach enables rapid algorithm development in a coherent framework without the need to write custom visualization code. We illustrate the advantages of the framework with usage examples such as segmentation, data annotation and Python integration. Additionally, we build upon ParaView's inherent parallelization capabilities and present two strong scaling experiments that demonstrate near-linear scaling performance gains in a multi-processor setup.
Building active student participation in higher education

Purpose. The aim of this work is to understand the reasons behind students’ difficulties in classroom interactions. Methodology. After a literature review on public speaking and mindfulness, a survey was carried out during two management courses at Verona University. A single, open question was posed to the students: “Why is it that students do not participate actively in lessons? ” Each student could write anything they deemed relevant, without limitations. Findings. There are some common underlying causes of difficulty related to communication and to students’ exposing themselves to public scrutiny. These are directly related to psychological problems that give rise to negative states such as agitation and anxiety. The most important of these emotional impediments are identified as fear of failure and fear of being judged by others. Practical implications. difficulties for students during lessons become barriers to active participation in young people’s future lives, with collateral damage to themselves and the community. To combat this phenomenon it is necessary to learn to manage these emotions and not suffer from them. An important technique to achieve this is ‘mindfulness’. In this way, universities could train students in public speaking techniques and in how to act to spread self-awareness and mindful awareness of reality. Originality/value. The paper also suggests that meditation techniques should be included in educational institutions and universities for their positive effects on students’ personality and character.
Least Square-Support Vector Regression based car-following model with sparse sample selection

Car-following model is the basis of driving behavior modeling in microscopic traffic simulation. This paper proposes a car-following model based on Least Square-Support Vector Regression (LS-SVR). In order to reduce the computational complexity of LS-SVR, the maximum entropy theory is introduced to select typical samples from training data. Experimental results indicate that this selection method can ensure the accuracy of car-following model with the least samples. This car-following model is evaluated and validated by USTC Microscopic Traffic Simulation System (UMTSS). Simulation results of trajectory, speed and acceleration are accordance with those of field data. In addition, the proposed model is robust and reliable in the cases of both mild and severe disturbances.
Convex-Concave Hull for Classification with Support Vector Machine

Support vector machine (SVM) is not suitable for classification on large data sets due to its training complexity. Convex hull can simplify SVM training, however the classification accuracy becomes lower when there are inseparable points. This paper introduces a novel method for SVM classification, called convex-concave hull. After a grid processing, the convex hull is used to find extreme points. Then we detect a concave (non-convex) hull, the vertices of it are used to train SVM. We applied the proposed method on several problems. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach has good classification accuracy while the training is significantly faster than other state of the art methods.
Analysis of the Efficiency of Loyalty Programs : a Case Study

Within the field of retailing, most companies have developed loyalty programs build around the concept of loyalty cards. Do these programs are really efficient? Do they really increase customer loyalty ? Few evidence come from the literature because very few empirical work has been done. The purpose of this paper is first to contribute empirically to a better knowledge of this kind of marketing program, second to contribute to a better understanding of their management. Three different analysis are conducted. The first one deals with aggregated data at the store level, relative to a 37 month experiment in 15 point of sales. With panel-data analysis, we tried to test the effect of the card diffusion upon sales, margin, traffic and mean basket. The main result is that if we detect a significative effect, the size of this effect, measured through elasticity, is very low. So low, that extrapolating the results, conditions of profitability of the program, should be a selective diffusion. The second analysis is related to desegregate data relative to the card's owners and their buying behaviour history. We show, on an individual basis, there is no long-term effect, but strong short-term one. These results suggest that loyalty cards seem to work as a promotional device more than as a loyalty induce. The last analysis deals with the effect of mailings sent to the cards holders. With a survival analysis we tested the acceleration of sales effect for 28 mailing campaigns. In most cases there is a significant reduction of the interpurchase time. In conclusion, a discussion about conditions of efficiency is developed. We claim that efficiency of loyalty programs is dependant of two main factors : the ability to target responsive lead users; the quality of promotional events associated with loyalty programs. The loyalty card, including reward schemes, is not sufficient to modify behaviours. The flow of events, animations, associated to the loyalty card, is the key for successful programs when applied to responsive customers.
Cramer-Rao Bound of TDOA estimation for frequency-hopping signals in fading channels

This paper presents the Cramer-Rao Bound (CRB) of time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) estimation for frequency-hopping (FH) signals, which has still not been reported in the open literature. The CRBs are derived in closed-form for both flat fading and frequency-selective channel models. The derived bounds provide insights into the influence of the FH parameters of a FH signal on TDOA estimate accuracy over flat fading and frequency-selective channels. Simulation results are provided to verify the theoretical findings.
An epidemiological survey of children's iodine nutrition and goitre status in regions with mildly excessive iodine in drinking water in Hebei Province, China

Abstract Objective To identify children's iodine nutrition and goitre status in areas with mildly excessive iodine in drinking water. Design A cross-sectional survey. Probability proportional to size sampling was employed to randomly select children from thirty townships where the median iodine content in drinking water ranged from 150 to 300 μg/l; their urinary iodine concentrations were determined and their thyroid volumes were measured by ultrasound. Drinking water samples and salt samples from the villages where the children lived were collected using a systematic sampling method. Setting Hebei Province of China. Subjects A total of 1259 children aged 8–10 years (621 boys and 638 girls). Results Children's median urinary iodine concentration was found to be 418·8 μg/l, and the iodine concentration was >300 μg/l for 68·3 % (248/363) of the urine samples. Children's median urinary iodine concentration in villages with median salt iodine >10 mg/kg was significantly higher than that in villages with median salt iodine <5 mg/kg (442·9 μg/l v. 305·4 μg/l, P ≈ 0). The goitre rate of 1259 children examined by ultrasound was 10·96 %. Conclusions The iodine intake of children living in areas with mildly excessive iodine in drinking water in Hebei Province was found to be excessive. The measured iodine excess in the sampled children is exacerbated by consumption of iodized salt. Goitre was identified in these areas; however, due to the limitation of the current criteria for children's thyroid volume, a comprehensive assessment of the prevalence of goitre in these regions could not be made and further study is required.
Balance Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease

Stability and mobility in functional motor activities depend on a precise regulation of phasic and tonic muscular activity that is carried out automatically, without conscious awareness. The sensorimotor control of posture involves a complex integration of multisensory inputs that results in a final motor adjustment process. All or some of the components of this system may be dysfunctional in Parkinsonian patients, rendering postural instability one of the most disabling features of Parkinson's disease (PD). Balance control is critical for moving safely in and adapting to the environment. PD induces a multilevel impairment of this function, therefore worsening the patients' physical and psychosocial disability. In this review, we describe the complex ways in which PD impairs posture and balance, collecting and reviewing the available experimental evidence.
Psicología del error y sistema de gestión de recursos para el control de riesgos (SisGRECOR)

El error es inherente a la condicion humana y el riesgo esta presente en toda actividad humana, en la que queden existir eventos adversos. Este trabajo sintetiza una propuesta que ha sido denominada Sistema de Gestion de Recursos para el Control de Riesgos (SisGRECOR), desarrollada con el fin de hacer un manejo racional del riesgo a partir del conocimiento aportado por la psicologia del error y la fiabilidad humana, el uso de un conjunto de estrategias para el desarrollo de la percepcion de riesgos y especialmente la introduccion de la modificacion de conducta desde la seguridad basada en comportamientos (SBC), como elemento central de la intervencion.
Abundant in policy, absent in practice? Rethinking 'local ownership'

iv Acknowledgements iv Introduction 1 The absence of ‘local’ in local ownership 2 ‘Owners’ vs. ‘spoilers’ 3 Extraversion and local ownership as dependence management 5 Recruiting foreigners into the security sector 6 Local ownership inside-out? 8 Conclusion 10 Literature 11 CMI WORKING PAPER ABUNDANT IN POLICY, ABSENT IN PRACTICE? RETHINKING ‘LOCAL OWNERSHIP’ WP 2013: 1
A study on coordination in three-stage perishable product’s supply chain based on false failure return

Through incorporating the effect of the distributed endeavor on demand and return ratio into the three-stage perishable product's supply chain, the game models linking the buyer's return and manufacturer and distributor's reclaim are established under uncertain environment. The paper points out the supply chain can't coordinate under the contract not being concluded among manufacturer, distributor and retailer, but the supply chain can coordinate through reclaim the return and remnant products based on rebate and penalty policy.
Neurons Controlling Voluntary Vocalization in the Macaque Ventral Premotor Cortex

The voluntary control of phonation is a crucial achievement in the evolution of speech. In humans, ventral premotor cortex (PMv) and Broca's area are known to be involved in voluntary phonation. In contrast, no neurophysiological data are available about the role of the oro-facial sector of nonhuman primates PMv in this function. In order to address this issue, we recorded PMv neurons from two monkeys trained to emit coo-calls. Results showed that a population of motor neurons specifically fire during vocalization. About two thirds of them discharged before sound onset, while the remaining were time-locked with it. The response of vocalization-selective neurons was present only during conditioned (voluntary) but not spontaneous (emotional) sound emission. These data suggest that the control of vocal production exerted by PMv neurons constitutes a newly emerging property in the monkey lineage, shedding light on the evolution of phonation-based communication from a nonhuman primate species.
Comparing Pedigree Graphs

Pedigree graphs, or family trees, are typically constructed by an expensive process of examining genealogical records to determine which pairs of individuals are parent and child. New methods to automate this process take as input genetic data from a set of extant individuals and reconstruct ancestral individuals. There is a great need to evaluate the quality of these methods by comparing the estimated pedigree to the true pedigree. In this article, we consider two main pedigree comparison problems. The first is the pedigree isomorphism problem, for which we present a linear-time algorithm for leaf-labeled pedigrees. The second is the pedigree edit distance problem, for which we present (1) several algorithms that are fast and exact in various special cases, and (2) a general, randomized heuristic algorithm. In the negative direction, we first prove that the pedigree isomorphism problem is as hard as the general graph isomorphism problem, and that the sub-pedigree isomorphism problem is NP-hard. We then show that the pedigree edit distance problem is APX-hard in general and NP-hard on leaf-labeled pedigrees. We use simulated pedigrees to compare our edit-distance algorithms to each other as well as to a branch-and-bound algorithm that always finds an optimal solution.
Detecting Chains of Vulnerabilities in Industrial Networks

In modern factories, personal computers are starting to replace traditional programmable logic controllers, due to cost and flexibility reasons, and also because their operating systems now support programming environments even suitable for demanding real-time applications. These characteristics, as well as the ready availability of many software packages covering any kind of needs, have made the introduction of PC-based devices at the factory field level especially attractive. However, this approach has a profound influence on the extent of threats that a factory computing infrastructure shall be prepared to deal with. In fact, industrial personal computers share the same kinds of vulnerabilities with their office automation counterparts. Then, their introduction increases the risk of cyber-attacks. As the complexity of the network grows, the problem rapidly becomes hard to tackle by hand, due to the subtle and unforeseen interactions that may occur among apparently unrelated vulnerabilities, thus bearing the focus on the full automation of the analysis. Going into this direction, this paper presents a software tool that, given an accurate and machine-readable description of vulnerabilities, detects whether or not they are of concern and evaluates consequences in the context of a factory network.
Radio-luminous Southern Seyfert Galaxies. I. Radio Images and Selected Optical/Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

This is the first of two papers in which a study is made of a sample of 12 southern radio-luminous Seyfert galaxies. Our aim is to investigate possible correlations between radio morphology and nuclear/circumnuclear emission-line properties. In this paper we present radio images at λ = 13, 6, and 3 cm taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array, global far-infrared (FIR) properties for the whole sample, and optical and near-infrared spectroscopy of an interesting subset. We find a mixture of radio morphologies, including linear, diffuse, and compact sources. When the FIR colors of the galaxies are considered, there is an indication that the compact radio sources have warmer FIR colors than the diffuse sources, whereas the linear sources span a wide range of FIR colors. There is a wide variation in radio spectral indices, suggesting that free-free absorption is significant in some systems, particularly IRAS 11249-2859, NGC 4507, and NGC 7213. Detailed emission-line studies are presented of four galaxies: IC 3639, NGC 5135, NGC 3393, and IRAS 11249-2859. In IC 3639 we present evidence of vigorous, compact star formation enclosed by very extended [O I] λ6300 emission, suggestive of the boundary between a diffuse outflow and the surrounding interstellar medium. In another galaxy, IC 5063, we see evidence for the possible interaction of a highly collimated outflow and the surrounding rotating inner disk. Of the five galaxies that show compact radio emission, four have radio/FIR flux ratios consistent with an energetically dominant active galactic nucleus, whereas IC 4995 exhibits evidence for a very compact starburst.
Adjacency Matrix Based Objects Representation for Human Identification in Images

In this paper the human object present in images are identified. K-means clustering algorithm is used for segmenting the images and Connected Component Analysis is used as post-processing step. Initially, templates are created from human posture in idle and various angles. The adjacency matrix is constructed from objects and it is matched with templates. A similarity measure has been proposed for estimating the matching.
Higher-Level Hand Motor Function in Aging and (Preclinical) Dementia: Its Relationship with (Instrumental) Activities of Daily Life – A Mini-Review

A causal relationship between physical activity such as walking and cognitive functions – particularly executive functions and memory – has been observed in elderly people with and without dementia. Executive functions play an important role in the (instrumental) activities of daily life [(I)ADL]. However, a close relationship has also been found between motor activity of the upper limb, particularly the hand, and (I)ADL. Indeed, in aging, a decline in hand motor function is related to a decrease in (I)ADL, an increase in functional dependency, admission to a nursing home, and even mortality. This review begins by addressing clinical studies on the effect of age on higher-level hand motor activity. It then discusses higher-level hand motor function in age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. It concludes by discussing the contribution of higher-level hand motor function assessment to the diagnosis of the various subtypes of (preclinical) dementia and by addressing the clinical relevance of studying higher-level hand motor function, procedural learning, and (I)ADL in aging and (preclinical) dementia.
Information theoretic methods for aligning audio signals using chromagram representations

We present in this paper an information theoretic approach for analyzing the chromagram at its finest temporal resolution and for finding precise alignments of the similar segments in a song. We introduce information theoretic similarity measures for scoring the similarity of the candidate repetitions and for providing a final interpretation of the overall structure. Finally, we present experimental results showing that the proposed approach succeeds in finding relevant repetitive parts in audio.
Safety and Feasibility of Neurofeedback Training (NFB) During Sleep in Uncooperative Child with Autism: Case Report

Purpose: Neurofeedback (NFB) training has demonstrated significant potential in achieving symptoms reduction in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, children with low-functioning ASD are often uncooperative with the treatment. To evaluate whether NFB can eventually be administrated during sleep, a safety and feasibility pilot study was performed. Methods: A 9-year-old male patient diagnosed with ASD underwent NFB training for 30 min twice a week. This was operated at home during sleep by the parents. The NFB protocol aimed at increasing sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) while simultaneously decreasing theta activity over the sensorimotor strip. Results: NFB during sleep was feasible and did not yield adverse side effects. Parents reported improved behavioral and emotional symptoms and enhanced language development following NFB training. Subsequently, the patient could participate in regular sessions of NFB in wakefulness. Conclusion: Overall, parental reports suggest that applying NFB during sleep in low-functioning ASD is feasible and might offer promising therapeutic avenues.
The Derivatives of Centrality and their Applications in Visualizing Social Networks

In this paper, we introduce the notion of derivatives of centrality metrics for graph visualizations. As centrality represents the prestige or importance of a node in a network, its derivative with respect to any other node represents the influencing power it has over that node. Therefore, derivatives tell us how much a given node influences the importance of another node, even if they are not directly connected. We study three different centrality metrics and show the different results when visualizing their derivatives for a number of social and other scale-free networks. We show that derivatives not only provide an analysis tool for social networks, and also help us simplify the layout of complex networks in a way that retains the main structural properties. Centrality derivatives also help to visually measure the centralization degree of a network and provide the necessary information for estimating other metrics, such as structural balance and uncertainty. Through a number of examples, we show the flexibility and generality of this approach, and a general mechanism for extending this to any centrality metric.
ON-CHIP TRAFFIC CHARACTERIZATION BASED ON A MPSOC ARCHITECTURE EXPLORATION

Network traffic characterization is required to obtain a good traffic model that can be used in the performance prediction of an intra-chip communication defined under multiples design parameters. In this paper we analyze the real traffic generated by several configurations of a MPSoC platform running the same multimedia MJPEG application, as we capture some statistical characteristics related to its temporal and longmemory behavior. Using some statistical techniques based on the autocorrelation function and spectrum analysis, we estimated the long-range dependence of on-chip traffic in order to explore how it changes with every platform configuration. Such traffic characterization shows also that packet injection distribution will be different regarding every configuration, but at the end keeping the total traffic on the chip almost unmodified.
Analysing Atmospheric Processes and Climatic Drivers of Tree Defoliation to Determine Forest Vulnerability to Climate Warming

Crown defoliation is extensively monitored across European forests within the International Co-operative Programme (ICP) as a proxy of forest health. Climate warming and drought are assumed to be the major drivers of tree growth and crown defoliation, particularly in seasonally dry areas such as the Mediterranean Basin. Here we analyse how climate, drought, and atmospheric processes are related to defoliation time series of five oak and five pine species that are dominant across Spanish ICP monitoring forest plots. We found that warmer and drier conditions during April were linked to enhanced defoliation. Warm April conditions were also related to high values of the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO), thereby indicating large-scale links between atmospheric processes, temperature, and defoliation patterns. The temperature-defoliation association was species-specific since some tree species from wet sites showed a weak association (e.g., Quercus robur L.) whereas others from dry sites (e.g., Quercus ilex L.) presented the strongest associations. The latter tree species could be considered vulnerable to heat stress in terms of leaf shedding. We also explored if defoliation was related to radial growth and found negative associations in relatively dry areas. Warmer and drier conditions linked to increasing AMO values are connected to the post-1990s rise of defoliation in Spanish ICP forest plots. Combined incorporation of defoliation and growth into mortality models can provide insights into assessments of forest vulnerability.