Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A hybrid system on chip solution for the detection and labeling of moving objects in video streams

A a system on-chip architecture performing the task of moving object detection and labeling in video data is proposed in the paper. The solution involves task partitioning between the microprocessor-bound software and the dedicated hardware coprocessor. A detailed description of the system is given, along with the analysis of the hardware/software decomposition process. A summary of the resources used for the implementation and the projections of system performance are also given in the paper. The resulting solution can be applied either as a standalone smart camera solution or a part of a bigger system.
Using Information Foraging Theory to Understand Search Behavior in Different Environments

The aim of this research proposal is to understand the extent in which Information Scent, part of Information Foraging Theory, influence the perception of relevance of retrieved search engine result pages (SERPs) in different environments (desktop and mobile). %We intend to study this influence by observing information seekers' behavior when they are searching for topics on a typical search engine. Firstly, we planned to investigate how previously found correlations between information scent and search behavior on desktop SERPs may also applicable on mobile. Secondly, we investigate if the differences in search behavior are also caused by SERP visibility and/or physical input behavior in different environments. Lastly, we would like to observe the extent in which changing snippet length can affect web search behavior. The perception of relevance on SERPs might be similar in both environments because the arrangement of SERPs on both mobile and desktop are identical; or different because the visibility of search results is less on mobile compared to desktop, due to limited screen sizes. We wanted to study the extent of which the physical limitations might significantly impact search behavior in different environments due to expected ``hidden scent". We conducted two user studies to observe these phenomenon and seek to understand search behavior by manipulating the SERPs presented to users. We observed both similarities and differences in web search behavior between the environments. On the desktop, increasing information scent led to lower positions of search results saved as relevant and lower positions of mouse hover. However, on mobile, increasing relevant search results beyond the initial screen size reduced number of documents examined.
A multimodal user interface for remote object exploration in teleoperation systems

This paper describes the design and implementation of a multimodal user interface for exploration and surface reconstruction of remote environments in teleoperation systems. The sensory information collected by heterogeneous sensors at the teleoperated site is integrated by the system to build a meaningful representation of the remote environment. The user interface includes streaming of video information, surface reconstruction and visualization of sampled data from tactile and proximity sensors, and a haptic device (the CyberTouch virtual reality glove) returning distance information through vibrotactile actuators. The glove also enables intuitive guidance of the remote end-effector, as long as an appropriate mapping between the operator’s hand and the robotic device is established. The user interface is implemented on top of a distributed architecture for teleoperation, designed according to a software framework exploiting advanced CORBA features. The multimodal user interface, along with the teleoperation framework, has been successfully applied to control simulated robotic devices operating in virtual environments, and is currently being deployed in a real robot workcell comprising a manipulator and several sensory devices.
The effect of low-frequency sound stimulation on patients with fibromyalgia: A clinical study

Researchers have hypothesized that thalamocortical dysfunction plays a role in fibromyalgia. The use of low-frequency sound stimulation to ameliorate thalamocortical dysfunction has also been investigated, and has shown promise in treating certain pain conditions. Accordingly, the authors of this study aimed to assess the effects of treatment with low-frequency sound stimulation among patients with fibromyalgia.
Extreme-Value Analysis of Standardized Gaussian Increments

Let $\{X_i,i=1,2,. \}$ be i.i. d. standard gaussian variables. Let $S_n=X_1+. +X_n$ be the sequence of partial sums and $$ L_n=\max_{0\leq i<j\leq n}\frac{S_j-S_i}{\sqrt{j-i}}. $$ We show that the distribution of $L_n$, appropriately normalized, converges as $n\to\infty$ to the Gumbel distribution. In some sense, the the random variable $L_n$, being the maximum of $n(n+1)/2$ dependent standard gaussian variables, behaves like the maximum of $Hn \log n$ independent standard gaussian variables. Here, $H\in (0,\infty)$ is some constant. We also prove a version of the above result for the Brownian motion.
Breath Analysis as a Potential and Non-Invasive Frontier in Disease Diagnosis: An Overview

Currently, a small number of diseases, particularly cardiovascular (CVDs), oncologic (ODs), neurodegenerative (NDDs), chronic respiratory diseases, as well as diabetes, form a severe burden to most of the countries worldwide. Hence, there is an urgent need for development of efficient diagnostic tools, particularly those enabling reliable detection of diseases, at their early stages, preferably using non-invasive approaches. Breath analysis is a non-invasive approach relying only on the characterisation of volatile composition of the exhaled breath (EB) that in turn reflects the volatile composition of the bloodstream and airways and therefore the status and condition of the whole organism metabolism. Advanced sampling procedures (solid-phase and needle traps microextraction) coupled with modern analytical technologies (proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry, selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, ion mobility spectrometry, e-noses, etc.) allow the characterisation of EB composition to an unprecedented level. However, a key challenge in EB analysis is the proper statistical analysis and interpretation of the large and heterogeneous datasets obtained from EB research. There is no standard statistical framework/protocol yet available in literature that can be used for EB data analysis towards discovery of biomarkers for use in a typical clinical setup. Nevertheless, EB analysis has immense potential towards development of biomarkers for the early disease diagnosis of diseases.
Olivocochlear Efferent Control in Sound Localization and Experience-Dependent Learning

Efferent auditory pathways have been implicated in sound localization and its plasticity. We examined the role of the olivocochlear system (OC) in horizontal sound localization by the ferret and in localization learning following unilateral earplugging. Under anesthesia, adult ferrets underwent olivocochlear bundle section at the floor of the fourth ventricle, either at the midline or laterally (left). Lesioned and control animals were trained to localize 1 s and 40 ms amplitude-roved broadband noise stimuli from one of 12 loudspeakers. Neither type of lesion affected normal localization accuracy. All ferrets then received a left earplug and were tested and trained over 10 d. The plug profoundly disrupted localization. Ferrets in the control and lateral lesion groups improved significantly during subsequent training on the 1 s stimulus. No improvement (learning) occurred in the midline lesion group. Markedly poorer performance and failure to learn was observed with the 40 ms stimulus in all groups. Plug removal resulted in a rapid resumption of normal localization in all animals. Insertion of a subsequent plug in the right ear produced similar results to left earplugging. Learning in the lateral lesion group was independent of the side of the lesion relative to the earplug. Lesions in all reported cases were verified histologically. The results suggest the OC system is not needed for accurate localization, but that it is involved in relearning localization during unilateral conductive hearing loss.
Model-based noise suppression using unsupervised estimation of hidden Markov model for non-stationary noise

Although typical model-based noise suppression including the vector Taylor series-based approach employs a single Gaussian distribution for the noise model, it is insufficient for nonstationary noises which have a complex structured distribution. As a solution to this problem, we have already proposed a method for estimating a Gaussian mixture model (GMM)-based noise model by using a minimum mean squared error (MMSE) estimate of the noise. However, the state transition process of the non-stationary noise is not modeled in the noise GMM. In this paper, we propose a way of modeling the noise with a hidden Markov model (HMM) as an extension of our previous method. The proposed method proves that the HMM-based noise model outperforms a GMM-based noise model composed of the same number of Gaussian components. In addition, we discuss the appropriate topology for the noise HMM, i.e., a leftto-right HMM and an ergodic HMM. Index Terms: noise suppression, noise modeling, model topology, MMSE estimation
Evaluation of I/O technologies on a flash-based I/O sub-system for HPC

To meet the growing demand for high performance computing systems that are capable of processing large datasets, the San Diego Supercomputer Center is deploying Gordon. This system was specifically designed for data intensive workloads and uses flash memory to fill the large latency gap in the memory hierarchy between DRAM and hard disk. In preparation for the deployment of Gordon, we evaluated the performance of multiple remote storage technologies and file systems for use with the flash memory. We find that OCFS and XFS are both superior to PVFS at delivering fast random access to flash. In addition, our tests indicate that the Linux SCSI target framework (TGT) can export flash storage devices with minimal overhead and achieve a large fraction of the theoretical peak I/O performance. Despite the difficulties in fairly comparing I/O solutions due to the many differences in file systems and service implementations, we conclude that OCFS on TGT is a viable option for our system as it provides both excellent performance and a user-friendly shared file system interface. In those instances where a parallel file system is not required, XFS on TGT is a better alternative.
Triple negative breast cancer: shedding light onto the role of pi3k/akt/mtor pathway

Breast cancer is one of the most widespread carcinoma and one of the main causes of cancer-related death worldwide, especially in women aged between 35 and 75 years. Among the different subtypes, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by the total absence of the estrogen-receptor (ER) and progesteron-receptor (PR) expression as well as the lack of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression or gene amplification. These biological characteristics confer to TNBC a higher aggressiveness and relapse risk along with poorer prognosis compared to other subtypes. Indeed, 5-years survival rate is still low and almost all patients die, despite any adjuvant treatment which at moment represents the heading pharmacological approach. To date, several clinical trials have been designed to investigate the potential role of some molecular markers, such as VEGF, EGFR, Src and mTOR, for targeted treatments in TNBC. In fact, many inhibitors of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, frequently de-regulated in TNBC, are acquiring a growing interest and several inhibitors are in preclinical development or already in early phase clinical trials. In this Review, we investigated the role of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in TNBC patients, by summarizing the molecular features that led to the distinction of different histotypes of TNBC. Furthermore, we provided an overview of the inhibition mechanisms of the mTOR and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways, highlighting the importance of integrating biological and clinical data for the development of mTOR inhibitors in order to implement targeted therapies for TNBC patients.
Rayleigh Fading Channels in Mobile Digital Communication Systems Part II: Mitigation

For pt. I see ibid., vol. 35, no. 7, p. 90, 1997. In Part I of this tutorial, the major elements that contribute to fading and their effects in a communication channel were characterized. In Part II, these phenomena are briefly summarized, and emphasis is then placed on methods to cope with these degradation effects. Two particular mitigation techniques are examined: the Viterbi equalizer implemented in the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), and the RAKE receiver used in CDMA systems built to meet Interim Standard 95 (IS-95).
Determinants of Land-Use Change Patterns in the Netherlands

Land-use-change patterns are the result of the complex interaction between the human and the physical environment. Case studies of the determinants of land-use change can help to analyse which theory is appropriate in a particular region and stimulate the development of new theoretic understandings. In this paper an empirical method is presented to analyse the pattern of land-use change that allows a wide range of factors, from different disciplines, to contribute to the explanation of land-use change. The method is applied to the Netherlands, based on an extensive database of land-use change and its potential determinants. Historic as well as recent land-use changes are studied. Historic land-use change is related mainly to the variation in the biophysical environment. Levels of explanation are low because of the inability to address the temporal variation in location factors. For the recent changes in land use high levels of explanation are obtained. The most important changes during this period are expansions of residential, industrial/commercial, and recreational areas. The location of these changes can be explained by a combination of accessibility measures, spatial policies, and neighbourhood interactions. On the basis of these results it is possible to define priority topics for in-depth analysis of land-use-change processes and suggest factors, relations, and processes that need to be included in dynamic land-use-change models that support land-use-planning policies.
Joint optimization scheme and sum constellation distribution for multi-user Gaussian multiple access channels with finite input constellations

Phase adjusting and power adjusting input schemes of non-orthogonal Gaussian multiple access channels (GMAC) for two-user with finite input constellations have been studied. In this paper, the input scheme for multi-user is jointly optimized by both powers and phases. This scheme is deduced from the constellation constrained (CC) capacity of multi-user GMAC. Performance analysis indicates that the proposed input scheme outperforms previous input schemes for most SNR and achieves the largest enlargement of CC capacity region at high SNR values. Motivated by the properties of sum constellation's distance distribution, a procedure to efficiently obtain optimal multi-user input schemes is proposed for MPSK input constellations.
Health Workers’ Use of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) to Guide Clinical Decision Making in Rural Dispensaries, Tanzania

Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) were developed as an alternative to microscopy for malaria diagnosis. The RDTs detect malaria parasite antigen(s) in whole blood with high sensitivity and specificity. We assessed health worker malaria treatment practices after the introduction of RDTs in peripheral health facilities without microscopy. From December 2007 to October 2008, we introduced histidine-rich protein II (HRP-2)-based ParaHIT RDTs for routine use in 12 health facilities in Rufiji District, Tanzania. Health workers received training on how to perform RDTs for patients 5 years of age or older with fever or suspected malaria. Children < 5 years of age were to be treated empirically per national guidelines. Among the 30,195 patients seen at these 12 health facilities, 10,737 (35.6%) were tested with an RDT for malaria. 88.3% (9,405/10,648) of tested patients reported fever or history of fever and 2.7% (289/10,677) of all tested individuals were children < 5 years of age. The RDT results were recorded for 10,650 patients (99.2%). Among the 5,488 (51.5%) RDT-positive patients, 5,256 (98.6%) were treated with an appropriate first-line antimalarial per national guide- lines (artemether-lumefantrine or quinine). Among the 5,162 RDT-negative patients, only 205 (4.0%) were treated with an antimalarial. Other reported treatments included antibiotics and antipyretics. Implementation of RDTs in rural health facilities resulted in high adherence to national treatment guidelines. Patients testing negative by RDT were rarely treated with antimalarials. Unapproved antimalarials were seldom used. Health workers continued to follow guidelines for the empiric treatment of febrile children.
A Statistical Study to Provide Estimators of Hurst Parameter for a Fractional Brownian Motion Through Unbalanced Sampling Time

This study aims to learn an estimation of the Hurst Parameter for unevenly sampled fractional Brownian motion. The motions are reproduced by means of Cholesky’s algorithm, and the parameter of Hurst is predicted by maximizing likelihoods. These methods are proven to be suitable for the use of quantitative data utilised in this paper during simulation. Several tables that contain the estimates of the self-similarity measure are presented in this study according to various sampling procedures with various sizes of motions. The initiations of these tables is stood on a sequence of statistical tests based on Student’s t-test and Fisher’s Test that make it possible to analyze and compare the distinctions between the considered sampling processes. This paper deals with the simulation of the fractional Brownian motions, with their identifications, and with the analysis of the experimental results. This study proves that unpredictable sampling gives more inconsistency between the outcomes and those expected values for a balance sampling. This inconsistency has a tendency to be decreased if there is increase in the size of the signals. Also, this study shows that when there is a uniformlyrandom sampling model, outputs from random samplings tend to be similar to those outputs that come from a balance deterministic sampling. It confirms that the best estimators of Hurst’s parameter are obtained by maximizing the chance.
Simulation of Invertebrate Aggregation Shows the Importance of Stable Personality over Diversity in Consensus Decision-Making

Aggregation of many species of invertebrate is an example of a consensus decision, the success of which is central to survival. Personality is a stable form of behavioural diversity which has been observed in the aggregation process, but neither the reasons for its stability nor its effects on consensus decisions are well understood. By using an agent-based model of invertebrate aggregation, it is found that diverse personalities have only limited benefits to the experimental consensus decision-making process, but may have a more valuable role in natural settings. Importantly, although certain personalities may ostensibly have potential drawbacks at the individual level, such as choosing to rest in unfavourable places, all individuals are likely to benefit from maintaining a constant personality, which promotes group stability. These findings help to improve understanding of consensus decision-making and the prevalence of stable personality.
Event-based Visual Servoing

The research leading to these results has received funding from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science and European FEDER funds, the Valencia Regional Government and the Research and Innovation Vice-president Office of the University of Alicante, through the research projects DPI2012-32390, GV2012/102 and PROMETEO/2013/085, GRE10-16, respectively.
Illness The Economics of Szasz : Preferences, Constraints and Mental

Even confirmed economic imperialists typically acknowledge that economic theory does not apply to the seriously mentally ill. Building on psychiatrist Thomas Szasz’s philosophy of mind, this article argues that most mental illnesses are best modeled as extreme preferences, not constraining diseases. This perspective sheds light not only on relatively easy cases like personality disorders, but also on the more extreme cases of delusions and hallucinations. Contrary to Szasz’s critics, empirical advances in brain science and behavioral genetics are largely orthogonal to his position. While involuntary psychiatric treatment might still be rationalized as a way to correct intra-family externalities, it is misleading to think about it as a benefit for the patient.
GeoCast: An Efficient Overlay System for Multicast Applications

In this paper, we present GeoCast, a geographical location a ware overlay network framework designed for providing efficient group communication servi ces. GeoCast can be seen as an extension to the CAN network in the term of topology management and rout ing protocol. Geocast design has three important properties that attractive to group commun ication applications. First, it uses geographical mapping of nodes to regions to take advantage of the similari ty between physical and network proximity. Second, a shortcut enabled geo-distance routing protocol i s employed in GeoCast, which is more resilient than Chord-like or Pastry-like overlay networks due to the a vail bility of multiple independent routing paths. Third and most importantly, a novel routing table man agement scheme is designed to allow the applications based on that have ability to manage their m a ntenance overhead in terms of network resource constrains.
Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling (SOCS) Proteins Indirectly Regulate Toll-like Receptor Signaling in Innate Immune Cells*♦

Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins constitute a class of negative regulators for Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) signaling pathways. These intracellular proteins are induced by cytokine signaling, but they can also be induced by stimulation of Toll-like receptors (TLR). It has even been suggested that SOCS proteins are important negative regulators of TLR signaling. Here we have elucidated the nature of the regulatory role of SOCS in TLR signaling. Induction of SOCS-3 and cytokine-inducible Src homology 2-containing protein (CIS) by TLR stimulation was strictly dependent on MyD88 but showed differing needs in case of SOCS-1. However, induction of SOCS proteins by TLR ligands was independent of type I interferon. In macrophages overexpressing SOCS, we were not able to observe an inhibitory effect of SOCS-1, SOCS-2, SOCS-3, or CIS on prototypical TLR target genes such as tumor necrosis factor-α. However, we found that TLR-2, TLR-3, TLR-4, and TLR-9 stimulation induced interferon-β (IFN-β), which is able to exert auto- and paracrine signaling, leading to the activation of secondary genes like IP-10. SOCS-1 and, to a lesser extent, SOCS-3 and CIS were able to inhibit this indirect signaling pathway following TLR stimulation, whereas neither MAP kinase nor NFκB signaling were affected. However, STAT-1 tyrosine phosphorylation following TLR triggering was severely impaired by SOCS-1 overexpression. Thus, our data suggest that SOCS proteins induced by TLR stimulation limit the extent of TLR signaling by inhibiting type I IFN signaling but not the main NFκB pathway.