Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variable-resolution velocity-time roadmap generation considering safety constraints for autonomous vehicles

This research develops a new roadmap method for autonomous vehicles based on variable-resolution partitioning of a continuous state-time space. Unlike conventional roadmaps, which include position information only, the proposed roadmap also includes velocity and time information. Each node of the proposed roadmap contains position and velocity information and is the same as a Variable-resolution Velocity Roadmap (VVR). Each directed link of the proposed roadmap has a range of time values, where the time ranges are determined by variable-resolution partitioning of the time space. An ordered pair of nodes is connected by a directed link within a time region if any combination of their velocity and time values is within the acceptable range of the nodes and produces a trajectory satisfying a set of safety constraints. In this manner, a possible trajectory, with transit time, connecting an arbitrary starting node and destination node is obtained by applying a graph search technique on the proposed roadmap. The proposed method is demonstrated through simulations.
Accurate and fast calculation for dielectric-coated PEC surfaces with thin dielectric approximations

To calculate the scattering from thin dielectric-coated perfect electric conductor (PEC) surfaces, the impedance boundary conditions (IBC) and thin dielectric sheet (TDS) approximation are quite powerful in integral equation method because both remove the need to solve the field in dielectric layer. However, the rigid validation criteria restrict the application scope of IBC method. Although the TDS approximation removes physical restrictions by basing on the rigorous integral formulation, only electric material coating have been considered in available literatures. This paper gives an introduction of our progress in the calculation for dielectric-coated PEC surfaces with thin dielectric approximation, including the hybrid PEC-dielectric formulations to deal with the coating with electric and magnetic materials; the multi-layer TDS approximation to analyze coatings with relatively large thickness; the utilization of phase extracted basis functions for electrically large and smooth PEC coatings and some special treatments near the edges to account for the singularity currents for open PEC surfaces.
Implicit Evolvability: An Investigation into the Evolvability of an Embryogeny

This paper investigates the evolvability of an implicit embryogeny-based representation for the evolution of 3-D morphologies. Previous results using this representation have shown that this particular incarnation of an implicit embryogeny does not lend itself well to evolution. Two different experiments are described, the results of which suggest that a many-to-one genotypeto-phenotype mapping is not sufficient to ensure evolvability. The paper concludes by suggesting attributes that a better representation should have.
A Flexible Framework for Mobile Robot Pose Estimation and Multi-Sensor Self-Calibration

The design and the development of the position and orientation tracking system of a mobile robot, and the calibration of its sensor parameters (e.g., displacement, misalignment and iron distortions), are challenging and time consuming tasks in every autonomous robotics project. The ROAMFREE framework delivers turn-on-and-go multi-sensors pose tracking and self-calibration modules and it is designed to be flexible and to adapt to every kind of mobile robotic platform. In ROAMFREE, the sensor data fusion problem is formulated as a hyper-graph optimization where nodes represent poses and calibration parameters and edges the non-linear measurement constraints. This formulation allows us to solve both the on-line pose tracking and the off-line sensor self-calibration problems. In this paper, we introduce the approach and we discuss a real platform case study, along with experimental results.
Tunnelling Crossover Networks

Local optima networks are a recent model of fitness landscapes. They compress the landscape by representing local optima as nodes, and search transitions among them as edges. Previous local optima networks considered transitions based on mutation; this study looks instead at transitions based on deterministic recombination. We define and analyse networks based on the recently proposed partition crossover for k-bounded pseudo-Boolean functions, using NKq landscapes as a case study. Partition crossover was initially proposed for the travelling salesman problem, where it was found to ``tunnel" between local optima, i.e., jump from local optimum to local optimum. Our network analysis shows that this also happens for NK landscapes: local optima are densely connected via partition crossover. We found marked differences between the adjacent and random interaction NK models. Surprisingly, with the random model, instances have a lower number of local optima on average, but their networks are more sparse and decompose into several clusters. There is also large variability in the size and pattern of connectivity of instances coming from the same landscape parameter values. These network features offer new insight informing why some instances are harder to solve than others.
Estimated risk for chronic pain determined using the generic STarT Back 5-item screening tool

Objective The generic STarT Back 5-item screening tool (STarT-G) is used to manage chronic pain in the lower back and elsewhere. This study evaluated the validity of the Japanese version of this generic screening tool. Materials and methods Japanese participants between the ages of 20 and 64 years completed online surveys regarding pain. Survey reliability was assessed with internal consistency, as calculated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Spearman’s correlation coefficients were used to evaluate concurrent validity between the STarT-G score and standard reference questionnaires. Associations between STarT-G scores and the presence of a disability due to chronic pain (DCP) were analyzed using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves. Results Analyses ultimately included data obtained from 52,842 Japanese participants (54.4% male) with a mean (standard deviation) age of 47.7 (9.4) years. Approximately 1.5% of participants had DCP, and the mean STarT-G score was 1.2 (1.4). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.71, indicating an acceptable reliability. The STarT-G score moderately correlated with the pain numerical rating scale (NRS) score (Spearman’s correlation coefficient: r = 0.34). When the STarT-G threshold was set at 4, the sensitivity and specificity of the DCP predictive model were 65.8% and 82.4%, respectively, and the area under the ROC was 0.808. Conclusion The STarT-G was internally consistent and was able to distinguish between subjects with and without a DCP. Therefore, the STarT-G can reliably be used in the Japanese population to identify patients with DCP.
Three-dimensional time-space grid allocation algorithm for traffic control of autonomous vehicles at an intersection

Two-dimensional (2-D) time-space diagram have been widely used to analyze the flow of the traffic. However, it has limitations to make a plan that guarantees the collision avoidance of vehicles at the intersections. In this paper, we introduce the three-dimensional (3-D) time-space diagram and demonstrate its effectiveness in describing the movements of vehicles at the intersections. We also propose an algorithm based on the grid allocation of 3-D time-space diagram to avoid collision between vehicles to achieve the autonomous intersection.
Autoantibody targeting of brain and intestinal transglutaminase in gluten ataxia

Objective: To investigate the presence of autoantibody deposition against type 2 tissue transglutaminase (TG2; a reliable marker of the whole spectrum of gluten sensitivity) in the jejunal tissue and brain of patients with gluten ataxia and in control subjects. Methods: The authors evaluated jejunal biopsy samples from nine patients with gluten ataxia and seven patients with other causes of ataxia for the presence of TG2-related immunoglobulin deposits using double-color immunofluorescence. Autopsy brain tissue from one patient with gluten ataxia and one neurologically intact brain were also studied. Results: IgA deposition on jejunal TG2 was found in the jejunal tissue of all patients with gluten ataxia and in none of the controls. The intestinal IgA deposition pattern was similar to that seen in patients with overt and latent celiac disease and in those with dermatitis herpetiformis. Widespread IgA deposition around vessels was found in the brain of the patient with gluten ataxia but not the control brain. The deposition was most pronounced in the cerebellum, pons, and medulla. Conclusions: Anti–tissue transglutaminase IgA antibodies are present in the gut and brain of patients with gluten ataxia with or without an enteropathy in a similar fashion to patients with celiac disease, latent celiac disease, and dermatitis herpetiformis but not in ataxia control subjects. This finding strengthens the contention that gluten ataxia is immune mediated and belongs to the same spectrum of gluten sensitivity as celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis.
Strathprints Institutional Repository Boundary Layers in Pressure-driven Flow in Smectic a Liquid Crystals *

Boundary layers in pressure-driven flow in smectic A liquid crystals. Strathprints is designed to allow users to access the research output of the University of Strathclyde. Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. You may not engage in further distribution of the material for any profitmaking activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute both the url (http://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/) and the content of this paper for research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge. Abstract. This article examines the steady flow of a smectic A liquid crystal sample that is initially aligned in a classical " bookshelf " geometry confined between parallel plates and is then subjected to a lateral pressure gradient which is perpendicular to the initial local smectic layer arrangement. The nonlinear dynamic equations are derived. These equations can be linearized and solved exactly to reveal two characteristic length scales that can be identified in terms of the material parameters and reflect the boundary layer behavior of the velocity and the director and smectic layer normal orientations. The asymptotic properties of the nonlinear equations are then investigated to find that these length scales apparently manifest themselves in various aspects of the solutions to the nonlinear steady state equations, especially in the separation between the orientations of the director and smectic layer normal. Non-Newtonian plug-like flow occurs and the solutions for the director profile and smectic layer normal share features identified elsewhere in static liquid crystal configurations. Comparisons with numerical solutions of the nonlinear equations are also made. 1. Introduction. Nematic liquid crystals generally consist of elongated rod-like molecules that have a preferred local average direction. A unit vector n, called the director, is introduced to describe this average direction of the molecular alignment. Smectic liquid crystals are more ordered than nematics and, for many materials, the smectic phases occur at a temperature below that for which the same material exhibits the nematic phase. The smectic A (SmA) liquid crystal phase occurs when the molecules are arranged within parallel layers where the director is commonly aligned perpendicular to the layers and parallel to the local unit layer normal, a,a ss h o w n in Figure 1(a). Further details on the physics of liquid crystals can be found in the books by Chandrasekhar [8] and de Gennes and Prost [12], while …
Finding periodicity in pseudo periodic time series and forecasting

In this paper, pseudo periodic time series are studied. A novel fuzzy granulation based approach is proposed for that. Periodicity discovery and forecast on pseudo periodic time series are concentrated on. Two definitions of periodicity, λ-Pseudo periodicity and generalized λ-Pseudo periodicity are given, and two corresponding algorithms for finding these two kinds of periodicity are designed. These studies are carried on by employing a similarity measure defined on granular value level. Furthermore, we study the forecasting about the development of pseudo periodic time series according to the proposed algorithms. Experiments are given to demonstrate the algorithms. The experimental results show the efficiency of the algorithms, and verify the rationality of the novel fuzzy granulation based approach for studying pseudo periodic time series.
Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator Crosses the Intact Blood-Brain Barrier by Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor–Related Protein-Mediated Transcytosis

Background—Accumulating evidence demonstrates a critical involvement of tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) in pathological and physiological brain conditions. Determining whether and how vascular tPA can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to enter the brain is thus important, not only during stroke but also in physiological conditions. Methods and Results—In the present work, we provide evidence in vivo that intravenous injection of tPA increases NMDA-induced striatal lesion in the absence of BBB leakage. Accordingly, we show that tPA crosses the BBB both after excitotoxic lesion and in control conditions. Indeed, vascular injected tPA can be detected within the brain parenchyma and in the cerebrospinal fluid. By using an in vitro model of BBB, we have confirmed that tPA can cross the intact BBB. Its passage was blocked at 4°C, was saturable, and was independent of its proteolytic activity. We have shown that tPA crosses the BBB by transcytosis, mediated by a member of the LDL receptor–related protein family. Conclusions—We demonstrate that blood-derived tPA can reach the brain parenchyma without alteration of the BBB. The molecular mechanism of the passage of tPA from blood to brain described here could represent an interesting target to improve thrombolysis in stroke
Development Replay : Assessing the Effectiveness of Software Development Tools

In [32], Brooks contended that there is no silver bullet that will suddenly and miraculously make programming fundamentally easier than it has been. Nevertheless, practitioners and researchers are continuously in search of new silver bullets – software development tools, approaches, and technologies – that would increase productivity and improve the quality of software system. Such silver bullets are often adopted by practitioners with little or no empirical assessment of their benefits in realistic settings. In this paper, we present the Development Replay (DR) approach to empirically study the effectiveness of software development tools. The DR approach analyzes software repositories such as source control repositories to recover change sets. These change sets depict changes done to the source code by professional software developers over an extended period of time. These changes are used to empirically asses the effectiveness of not-yet-adopted or not-yet-existing software development tools by simulating their usage to perform the changes recorded in the recovered change sets. The paper proposes several metrics to assess the effectiveness of software development tools over time and to subjectively compare them to determine the value of adopting new tools. The approach usage is illustrated through a case study for 5 large open source systems with over 40 years of development history.
Social Privacy Protector - Protecting Users' Privacy in Social Networks

In recent years, online social networks have grown exponentially, as these networks are fantastic places to meet and network with people who share similar personal interests. Facebook, currently the largest social network, has more than 901 million active users. The amount of personal information each user exposes on social networks like Facebook is stagger- ing. Recent research in the area of social networking evaluated that many Facebook users exposed personal information. Due to the many security concerns regarding online personal exposure, we developed the Social Privacy Protector, a software which aims to improve the security and privacy of Facebook users. The software contains three protection layers which improve user privacy by implementing different methods. The software first identifies a user's friends who might pose a threat, and then restricts this "friend"'s exposure to the user's personal information. The second layer is an expansion of Facebook's basic privacy settings based on different types of social network usage profiles. The third layer alerts the user about the number of installed applications on their Facebook profile which have access to their private information. An initial version of the Social Privacy Protection software was evaluated on 74 Facebook users and successfully assisted them in restricting the access of 392 friends.
Balancing the stations of a self service "bike hire" system

This paper is motivated by operating self service transport systems that ourish nowa- days. In cities where such systems have been set up with bikes, trucks travel to maintain a suitable number of bikes per station. It is natural to study a version of the C-delivery TSP dened by Chalasani and Motwani in which, unlike their denition, C is part of the input: each vertex v of a graph G = (V;E) has a certain amount xv of a commodity and wishes to have an amount equal to yv (we assume that P v2V xv = P v2V yv and all quantities are assumed to be integers); given a vehicle of capacity C, nd a minimal route that balances all vertices, that is, that allows to have an amount yv of the commodity on each vertex v. This paper presents among other things complexity results, lower bounds, approximation algo- rithms, and a polynomial algorithm when G is a tree. Mathematics Subject Classication. , ?
Relation Between Transmural Deformation and Local Myofiber Direction in Canine Left Ventricle

To determine the relation between local myofiber anatomy and local deformation in the wall of the left ventricle, both three-dimensional transmural deformation and myofiber orientation were examined in the anterior free wall of seven canine left ventricles. Deformation was measured by imaging columns of implanted radiopaque markers with high-speed, biplane cineradiography (16 mm, 120 frames/sec). Hearts were fixed at end diastole and sectioned parallel to the local epicardial tangent plane to determine the transmural distribution of fiber directions at the site of strain measurement. The principal direction of deformation associated with the greatest shortening was compared with the local fiber direction in the outer (21 ±8% of the wall thickness from the epicardium) and inner (65 ±9%) halves of the wall. Although the fiber direction varied substantially with depth from the epicardium, the principal direction did not. In the outer half of the wall, fiber direction averaged - 8 ± 24°, while the principal direction averaged -33 ±24° from circumferential (counterclockwise angles are positive). In the inner half, fiber direction averaged 69 ±10°, while the principal direction averaged -22 ±21°. Therefore, while fiber and principal directions were not substantially different hi the outer half, the greatest shortening occurred orthogonally to the fiber direction hi the inner half. Normal and shear strains measured in a cardiac coordinate system (circumferential, longitudinal, and radial coordinates) were rotated (transformed) to "fiber" coordinates hi both halves of the wall. In the outer half, normal strains observed in the fiber ( - 0.09 ±0.04) and cross-fiber ( - 0 .0 4 ±0.04) directions were not significantly different (paired t test, p < 0.05). In the inner half, more than twice as much strain occurred in the cross-fiber ( - 0.17 ± 0.03) than in the fiber direction (−0.06 ± 0.06). Moreover, the only shear strain that remained substantial after transformation was transverse shear in the plane of the fiber and radial coordinates. These results suggest that both reorientation and cross-sectional shape changes of myofibers or the interstitium may contribute to the large wall thickenings observed during contraction, particularly in the inner half of the ventricular wall.
An incrementally deployable network architecture to support both data-centric and host-centric services

Most Internet traffic is associated with applications where users are interested in the data and not in the source where the data resides. On the other hand, the current Internet architecture is host-centric rather than data-centric, and it is not practical to deploy a pure data-centric architecture overnight. This motivates an incrementally deployable network architecture that can efficiently support both data-centric and host-centric services. In this article we describe such an architecture called DCNA for the Internet. DCNA is based on the inclusion of a shim layer between the application layer and the transport layer along with appropriate interfaces to connect these layers. In addition to being data-centric and incrementally deployable, DCNA can also effectively support mobility and multi-homing.
PUNS AND BLENDING : THE CASE OF PRINT ADVERTISEMENTS

In this paper, the connection between metaphor, metonymy, blending and humour is discussed against an analysis of puns in print advertisements featuring both visual and verbal elements. The analysis is based on the theory of conceptual blending (Fauconnier and Turner 1994, 1996 etc.) and on analyses of humour within that framework made by Coulson (1996, 2001, in press), but it also draws on observations made by Pollio (1996), Attardo (1994) and Nerhardt (1977) concerning incongruity and humour. The issues being addressed are: (i) whether Pollio's observations can explain the difference between metaphorical and humorous blends, (ii) in what ways conventional metaphors can serve as inputs to humorous blends and (iii) assuming that humour is a graded phenomenon, how degrees of humour in metaphorical and non-metaphorical blends can be explained. In this analysis, the interplay between these mechanisms is handled within the framework of blending theory and Pollio's findings are to some extent applied, showing that the degree of humour is partly related to the type of incongruity between the two spaces. The presence of visual elements and the amount of elaboration in the blended space also seem to be of importance to the degree of humour in metaphorical blends. 1. Blending, metaphor and humour Some interesting cognitive linguistic analyses of humour have been made by Coulson according to the theory of blending or conceptual integration (1996, in press) and in terms of the related process of frame-shifting (2001). In this paper, the focus will be on conceptual blending and the way it is manifested in relation to puns in print advertisements. However, before dealing with humour, we will briefly discuss the basic elements of blending and see how it relates to the