Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Explicit task representation based on gesture interaction

This paper describes the role and the use of an explicit task representation in applications where humans interact in non-traditional computer environments using gestures. The focus lies on training and assistance applications, where the objective of the training includes implicit knowledge, e.g., motor-skills. On the one hand, these applications require a clear and transparent description of what has to be done during the interaction, while, on the other hand, they are highly interactive and multimodal. Therefore, the human computer interaction becomes modelled from the top down as a collaboration in which each participant pursues their individual goal that is stipulated by a task. In a bottom up processing, gesture recognition determines the actions of the user by applying processing on the continuous data streams from the environment. The resulting gesture or action is interpreted as the user's intention and becomes evaluated during the collaboration, allowing the system to reason about how to best provide guidance at this point. A vertical prototype based on the combination of a haptic virtual environment and a knowledge-based reasoning system is discussed and the evolvement of the task-based collaboration becomes demonstrated.
SAR131675, a Potent and Selective VEGFR-3–TK Inhibitor with Antilymphangiogenic, Antitumoral, and Antimetastatic Activities

SAR131675 is a potent and selective VEGFR-3 inhibitor. It inhibited VEGFR-3 tyrosine kinase activity and VEGFR-3 autophosphorylation in HEK cells with IC50 values of 20 and 45 nmol/L, respectively. SAR131675 dose dependently inhibited the proliferation of primary human lymphatic cells, induced by the VEGFR-3 ligands VEGFC and VEGFD, with an IC50 of about 20 nmol/L. SAR131675 was found to be highly selective for VEGFR-3 versus 107 receptors, enzymes, ion channels, and 65 kinases. However, it was moderately active on VEGFR-2 with a VEGFR-3/VEGFR-2 ratio of about 10. SAR131675 had no antiproliferative activity on a panel of 30 tumors and primary cells, further showing its high specificity and indicating that SAR131675 is not a cytotoxic or cytostatic agent. SAR131675 was very well tolerated in mice and showed a potent antitumoral effect in several orthotopic and syngenic models, including mammary 4T1 carcinoma and RIP1.Tag2 tumors. Interestingly, it significantly reduced lymph node invasion and lung metastasis, showing its antilymphangiogenic activity in vivo. Moreover, treatment of mice before resection of 4T1 primary tumors was sufficient to prevent metastasis. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) play an important role in tumor growth and metastasis. The expression of VEGFR-3 on TAMs has been recently described. F4/80 immunostaining clearly showed that SAR131675 significantly reduced TAM infiltration and aggregation in 4T1 tumors. Taken together, SAR131675 is the first highly specific VEGFR-3-TK inhibitor described to date, displaying significant antitumoral and antimetastatic activities in vivo through inhibition of lymphangiogenesis and TAM invasion. Mol Cancer Ther; 11(8); 1637–49. ©2012 AACR.
Convergent Fitted Value Iteration with Linear Function Approximation

Fitted value iteration (FVI) with ordinary least squares regression is known to diverge. We present a new method, "Expansion-Constrained Ordinary Least Squares" (ECOLS), that produces a linear approximation but also guarantees convergence when used with FVI. To ensure convergence, we constrain the least squares regression operator to be a non-expansion in the ∞-norm. We show that the space of function approximators that satisfy this constraint is more rich than the space of "averagers," we prove a minimax property of the ECOLS residual error, and we give an efficient algorithm for computing the coefficients of ECOLS based on constraint generation. We illustrate the algorithmic convergence of FVI with ECOLS in a suite of experiments, and discuss its properties.
Integrated resource assignment and scheduling of task graphs using finite domain constraints

This paper presents an approach to modeling of task graphs using finite domain constraints. The synthesis of such models into an architecture consisting of microprocessors, ASICs and communication devices, is then defined as an optimization problem and it is solved using constraint solving techniques. The presented approach offers an elegant and powerful modeling technique for different architecture features as well as heterogeneous constraints. The extensive experimental results prove the feasibility of this approach.
Analysis of Query Reformulation Types on Different Search Tasks

This study examined the frequency of query reformulation types in task-driven experiment, and how it is related to task type and individual differences among users. Our results indicated that Specialization and Word Substitution were the two most frequent query reformulation types. In addition, the type of search task had a significant effect on the type of query reformulation.
Joint Link Adaptation and User Scheduling With HARQ in Multicell Environments

Intercell interference (ICI) is one of the most critical factors affecting performance of cellular networks. In this paper, we investigate a joint link adaptation and user scheduling problem for a multicell downlink employing hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) techniques, where the ICI exists among cells. We first propose an approximation method on aggregated ICI for analyzing an effective signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) with the HARQ technique at users, which is known as identical path-loss approximation (IPLA). Based on the proposed IPLA, we propose a transmission rate selection algorithm maximizing an expected throughput at each user. We also propose a simple but effective cross-layer framework jointly combining transmission rate adaptation and user scheduling techniques, considering both HARQ and ICI. It is shown that the statistical distribution of the effective SINR at users based on the IPLA agrees well with the empirical distribution, while the conventional Gaussian approximation (GA) does not work well in the case that dominant ICIs exist. Thus, IPLA enables base stations (BSs) to choose more accurate transmission rates. Furthermore, the proposed IPLA-based cross-layer policy outperforms existing policies in terms of both system throughput and user fairness.
Mining web search topics with diverse spatiotemporal patterns

Mining the latent topics from web search data and capturing their spatiotemporal patterns have many applications in information retrieval. As web search is heavily influenced by the spatial and temporal factors, the latent topics usually demonstrate a variety of spatiotemporal patterns. In the face of the diversity of these patterns, existing models are increasingly ineffective, since they capture only one dimension of the spatiotemporal patterns (either the spatial or temporal dimension) or simply assume that there exists only one kind of spatiotemporal patterns. Such oversimplification risks distorting the latent data structure and hindering the downstream usage of the discovered topics. In this paper, we introduce the Spatiotemporal Search Topic Model (SSTM) to discover the latent topics from web search data with capturing their diverse spatiotemporal patterns simultaneously. The SSTM can flexibly support diverse spatiotemporal patterns and seamlessly integrate the unique features in web search such as query words, URLs, timestamps and search sessions. The SSTM is demonstrated as an effective exploratory tool for large-scale web search data and it performs superiorly in quantitative comparisons to several state-of-the-art topic models.
DNA synthesis by ovine mammary alveolar epithelial cells: effects of heparin, epidermal growth factor-related peptides and interaction with stage of pregnancy.

Amphiregulin is a heparin-binding member of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) family, which we have recently shown to be expressed in sheep mammary gland. Uniquely among known EGF-like growth factors, its mitogenic activity is inhibited by soluble heparin, but heparin-like molecules on the cell surface and/or in extracellular matrix appear to be necessary for amphiregulin to exert its biological effect. In primary cultures of sheep mammary alveolar epithelial cells, heparin (1-20 mg/l) inhibited DNA synthesis in a dose-dependent manner. The extent of the inhibition was influenced by physiological state, being greater (P < 0.05) in mammary cell cultures derived from 5- to 10-week pregnant sheep (63.1 +/- 8.2%, mean +/- S.E.M., n = 8) than in cultures derived from sheep which were non-pregnant (35.8 +/- 8.3% inhibition, n = 6) or late, 20-week, pregnant (39.8 +/- 5.6%, n = 6). Both EGF and transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha) significantly (P < 0.001) increased DNA synthesis in the presence of heparin. The effect of TGF-alpha was dose-related, wholly reversing the inhibitory effect of heparin in cell cultures from non-pregnant and 20-week pregnant sheep. DNA synthesis was stimulated by amphiregulin and TGF-alpha increased the maximum response. The heparin antagonist, hexadimethrine, inhibited DNA synthesis, but, in the presence of amphiregulin, approximately equivalent concentrations of heparin overcame this inhibitory effect. In the presence of heparin, TGF-alpha showed synergistic interactions with insulin or IGF-I. The results indicate interactive effects of EGF and IGF growth factor families in sheep mammary growth.
Painless Disinflation? Monetary Policy Rules in Hungary, 1991-1999

We estimate a small structural model for inflation, the output gap, the domestic interest rate and the exchange rate for Hungary during the period of the transition (1991-1999). The transmission of monetary policy impulses to macro variables is characterized in a similar fashion to that of advanced open industrial countries. In particular, in the context of our rational expectations, forward-looking model, the interest rate channel on aggregate demand and the exchange-rate channel work together as parts of the same disinflation policy. We draw several conclusions on understanding and modeling the effects of monetary policy, and also on the desirable design of policy rules during the process of disinflation. Keywords: disinflation policy, interest rate rules, transition economies, small open-economy macro models, estimation and simulation of rational expectations models
Sexual networks: measuring sexual selection in structured, polyandrous populations

Sexual selection is traditionally measured at the population level, assuming that populations lack structure. However, increasing evidence undermines this approach, indicating that intrasexual competition in natural populations often displays complex patterns of spatial and temporal structure. This complexity is due in part to the degree and mechanisms of polyandry within a population, which can influence the intensity and scale of both pre- and post-copulatory sexual competition. Attempts to measure selection at the local and global scale have been made through multi-level selection approaches. However, definitions of local scale are often based on physical proximity, providing a rather coarse measure of local competition, particularly in polyandrous populations where the local scale of pre- and post-copulatory competition may differ drastically from each other. These limitations can be solved by social network analysis, which allows us to define a unique sexual environment for each member of a population: ‘local scale’ competition, therefore, becomes an emergent property of a sexual network. Here, we first propose a novel quantitative approach to measure pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection, which integrates multi-level selection with information on local scale competition derived as an emergent property of networks of sexual interactions. We then use simple simulations to illustrate the ways in which polyandry can impact estimates of sexual selection. We show that for intermediate levels of polyandry, the proposed network-based approach provides substantially more accurate measures of sexual selection than the more traditional population-level approach. We argue that the increasing availability of fine-grained behavioural datasets provides exciting new opportunities to develop network approaches to study sexual selection in complex societies.
Automatic instrument and environmental sound recognition for media annotation of TV content

Due to the lack of annotation of their large video archives, multimedia content provider companies and television channels do not use the data in their archives to their full extent. In order to contribute with a solution to this problem, we have developed a tool that combines audio and visual information to annotate video. In particular, this tool has been used by a video production company that has given us positive feedback. The main innovation of this tool is the use of environmental sound recognition to annotate video. Here we focus on the tool's audio information extraction method, which consists of a sound recognizer that learns a small set of spectral features from the data using non-negative matrix factorization. The recognizer can be used for different purposes such as to classify musical instruments, to identify the notes that are played and to distinguish environmental sounds like water, traffic, trains and people.
Very-low-frequency modulation of QRS slopes in patients with angina pectoris

This study was designed to investigate very-low-frequency modulation of QRS slopes in control electrocardiographic recordings of patients with stable angina pectoris admitted for prolonged elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This modulation occurs between 0.01Hz and 0.07Hz and has been described for QRS slopes as well as for heart rate variability (HRV). Results shows that power spectrum area in the modulation band (MB) and in the high-frequency (HF) band are larger for QRS downslope (IDS) than QRS upslope (IUS). A differential Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) regulation at different ventricular regions, in addition to respiration or other mechanical effects, could explain this behavior. The same modulation was found in HRV and our results suggest that a relation between QRS slopes and HRV modulation exists. Whatever the source of the MB modulation is, its effect is much lower, in relative terms, for QRS slopes than for HRV.
A Distributed Agent Based System to Control and Coordinate Large Scale Data Transfers

We present a distributed agent based system used to monitor, configure and control complex, large scale data transfers in the Wide Area Network. The Localhost Information Service Agent (LISA) is a lightweight dynamic service that provides complete system and applications monitoring, is capable to dynamically configure system parameters and can help in optimizing distributed applications. As part of the MonALISA (Monitoring Agents in A Large Integrated Services Architecture) system, LISA is an end host agent capable to collect any type of monitoring information, to distribute them, and to take actions based on local or global decision units. The system has been used for the Bandwidth Challenge at Supercomputing 2006 to coordinate global large scale data transfers using Fast Data Transfer (FDT) application between hundreds of servers distributed on major Grid sites involved in processing High Energy Physics data for the future Large Hadron Collider experiments.
Prácticas de crianza de riesgo y su asociación con factores socioeconómicos: Evidencia para Uruguay

Several studies have been conducted with the aim of analyzing the relationship between parenting practices and socioeconomic status (Bradley and Corwyn, 2002; Cheevers, Doyle and McNamara, 2010). This research aims to contribute to this branch of literature studying the association between parenting practices of risk and different socioeconomic factors for the uruguayan case, understanding parenting practices of risk as those that limit the development of the child. Using data from the Survey of Nutrition, Child Development and Health (Encuesta de Nutricion, Desarrollo Infantil y Salud -ENDIS for its acronym in Spanish) carried out among households in urban areas involving children from 0 to 3 years, a risk index was constructed based on the methodology of Alkire and Foster (2008), and thus establishing the associations discussed above. The index contains eight dimensions: limits and everyday rules, parental cooperation and consistency in parenting, parental involvement in decision-making, parenting practices related to the control of behavior, affective context of parenting, parental discrimination between boys and girls, early development of autonomy and degree of social interaction of the child. The dimensions that showed higher proportion of individuals without risk answers were parental discrimination between girls and boys and degree of social interaction of the child. Likewise, there is higher relative risk weight in the dimensions parental participation in decision-making and emotional context of parenting. Regarding the characteristics of the mother, a negative relationship is found between risk in parenting practice and the age at birth, the educational level of the mother, whether the mother had received physical abuse during childhood, and the flexibility of religious practice. Moreover, an increase in risk is observed when the mother is unemployed, has suffered psychological disorders or the pregnancy was not desired. As for the characteristics of the child, higher risk is associated with male gender, whereas there are no significant differences with increasing age of the child. Finally, the risk in parenting practice is higher with increasing number of children under 3 years of age living in the household, the lower the income per capita of the household, the absence of one parent and the location of the household outside the capital city.
Application study on high-impedance surface of microwave photonic crystals

Photonic crystals have been widely used in the microwave fields for their valuable electromagnetic properties. In order to achieve the application of low-frequency microwave photonic crystals, according to local resonance theory of band-gap structure and equivalent circuit model, we do the research from two aspects: reducing the cell size and improving the band-gap width. This paper proposes a slotted embedded structure, which reducing the cell size more effectively. By analyzing the equivalent circuit model, we find substrate material has played a significant role in achieving small size and wide band-gap structure, and it solves the contradiction of when the size reduces, the band-gap width can not increase at the same time. The simulation carried out by HFSS has practical significance to the antennas' production.
Neural sequence chunkers

This paper addresses the problem of learning tòdivide and conquer' by meaningful hierarchical adaptive decomposition of temporal sequences. This problem is relevant for time-series analysis as well as for goal-directed learning, particularily if event sequences tend to have hierarchical temporal structure. The rst neural systems for recursively chunking sequences are described. These systems are based on a principle called thèprinciple of history compression'. This principle essentially says: As long as a predictor is able to predict future environmental inputs from previous ones, no additional knowledge can be obtained by observing these inputs in reality. Only unexpected inputs deserve attention. A focus is on a class of 2-network systems which try to collapse a self-organizing (possibly multi-level) hierarchy of temporal predictors into a single recurrent network. Only those input events that were not expected by the rst recurrent net are transferred to the second recurrent net. Therefore the second net receives a reduced discription of the input history. It tries to develop internal representations for`higher-level' temporal structure. These internal representations in turn serve to create additional training signals for the rst net, thus helping the rst net to create longer and longer`chunks' for the second net. Experiments show that chunking systems can be superior to the conventional training algorithms for recurrent nets. 1 OUTLINE Section 2 motivates the search for sequence-composing systems by describing major drawbacks of`conventional' learning algorithms for recurrent networks with time-varying inputs and outputs. Section 3 describes a simple observation which is essential for the rest of this paper: It describes thèprinciple of history compression'. This principle essentially says: As long as a predictor is able to predict future environmental inputs from previous ones, no additional knowledge can be obtained by observing these inputs in reality. Only unexpected inputs deserve attention. This principle is of particular interest if typical event sequences have hierarchical temporal structure. Basic schemes for constructing sequence chunking systems based on the principle of history compression are described. Section 4 then describes on-line and o-line versions of a particular 2-network chunking system which tries to collapse a self-organizing (possibly multi-level) predictor hierarchy into a single recurrent network (the automatizer). The idea is to feed everything that is unexpected into a `higher-level' recurrent net (the chunker). Since the expected things can be derived from the unexpected things by the automatizer, the chunker is fed with a reduced description of the input history. The chunker has a …
Video indexing based on mosaic representations

Video is a rich source of information. It provides visual information about scenes. This information is implicitly buried inside the raw video data, however, and is provided with the cost of very high temporal redundancy. While the standard sequential form of video storage is adequate for viewing in a movie mode, it fails to support rapid access to information of interest that is required in many of the emerging applications of video. This paper presents an approach for efficient access, use and manipulation of video data. The video data are first transformed from their sequential and redundant frame-based representation, in which the information about the scene is distributed over many frames, to an explicit and compact scene-based representation, to which each frame can be directly related. This compact reorganization of the video data supports nonlinear browsing and efficient indexing to provide rapid access directly to information of interest. This paper describes a new set of methods for indexing into the video sequence based on the scene-based representation. These indexing methods are based on geometric and dynamic information contained in the video. These methods complement the more traditional content-based indexing methods, which utilize image appearance information (namely, color and texture properties) but are considerably simpler to achieve and are highly computationally efficient.
K-clustering in wireless ad hoc networks

Ad hoc networks consist of wireless hosts that communicate with each other in the absence of a fixed infrastructure. Clustering is commonly used in order to limit the amount of routing information stored and maintained at individual hosts. A k-clustering is a framework in which the wireless network is divided into non-overlapping sub networks, also referred to as clusters, and where every two wireless hosts in a sub network are at most k hops from each other. The algorithmic complexity of k-clustering is known to be NP-Complete for simple undirected graphs. For the special family of graphs that represent ad hoc wireless networks, modeled as unit disk graphs, we introduce a two phase distributed polynomial time and message complexity approximation solution with O(k) worst case ratio over the optimal solution. The first phase constructs a spanning tree of the network and the second phase then partitions the spanning tree into subtrees with bounded diameters.