Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cascading Neural Networks for Upper-body Gesture Recognition

Gesture recognition has many applications ranging from health care to entertainment. However for it to be a feasible method of human-computer interaction it is essential that only intentional movements are interpreted and that the system can work for a wide variety of users. To date very few systems have been tested for the real-world where users are inexperienced in gesture performance resulting in data which is noisier in terms of gesturestarts, gesture motion and gesture-ends. In addition, few systems have taken into consideration the dominant hand used when performing gestures. The work presented in this paper takes this into consideration by firstly selecting key-frames from a gesture sequence then cascading neural networks for left and right gesture classification. The first neural network determines which hand is being used for gesture performance and the second neural network then recognises the gesture. The performance of the system is tested using the VisApp2013 gesture dataset which consists of four left and right hand gestures. This dataset is unique in that the test gesture samples have been performed by untrained users to simulate a real-world environment. By key-frame selection and cascading neural networks the system accuracy improves from 79.8% to 95.6%.
Measuring the Post-Adoption Customer Perception of Mobile Banking Services

With liberalization and internalization in the financial market and progress in information technology, banks face dual competitive pressures to provide service quality and administrative efficiency. That these recent developments are fueled by technology might misleadingly suggest that the adoption of mobile banking is largely based on technological criteria. The purpose of this study is to establish a better measurement model for postadoption user perception of mobile banking services. Based on 458 valid responses of mobile banking users, the results show that the instrument, consisting of 21 items and 6 factors, is a reliable, valid, and useful measurement for assessing the postadoption perception of mobile banking.
Pesticide-Related Hospitalizations Among Children and Teenagers in Texas, 2004–2013

Objective. Acute exposure to pesticides is associated with nausea, headaches, rashes, eye irritation, seizures, and, in severe cases, death. We characterized pesticide-related hospitalizations in Texas among children and teenagers for 2004–2013 to characterize exposures in this population, which is less well understood than pesticide exposure among adults. Methods. We abstracted information on pesticide-related hospitalizations from hospitalization data using pesticide-related International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes and E-codes. We calculated the prevalence of pesticide-related hospitalizations among children and teenagers aged ≤19 years for all hospitalizations, unintentional exposures, intentional exposures, pesticide classifications, and illness severity. We also calculated age- and sex-specific prevalence of pesticide-related hospitalizations among children. Results. The prevalence of pesticide-related hospitalizations among children and teenagers was 2.1 per 100,000 population. The prevalence of pesticide-related hospitalizations per 100,000 population was 2.7 for boys and 1.5 for girls. The age-specific prevalence per 100,000 population was 5.3 for children aged 0–4 years, 0.3 for children and teenagers aged 5–14 years, and 2.3 for teenagers aged 15–19 years. Children aged 0–4 years had the highest prevalence of unintentional exposures, whereas teenagers aged 15–19 years had the highest prevalence of intentional exposures. Commonly reported pesticide categories were organophosphates/carbamates, disinfectants, rodenticides, and other pesticides (e.g., pyrethrins, pyrethroids). Of the 158 pesticide-related hospitalizations, most were coded as having minor (n=86) or moderate (n=40) illness severity. Conclusion. Characterizing the prevalence of pesticide-related hospitalizations among children and teenagers leads to a better understanding of the burden of pesticide exposures, including the type of pesticides used and the severity of potential health effects. This study found differences in the frequency of pesticide-related hospitalizations by sex, age, and intent (e.g., unintentional vs. intentional).
Sustained and Distinctive Patterns of Gene Activation in Synovial Fibroblasts and Whole Synovial Tissue Obtained from Inflammatory Synovitis

Fibroblastoid synovial lining cells isolated from rheumatoid and other chronic inflammatory synovial tissue exhibit distinctive and sustained alterations in serial culture not commonly found in similarly cultured cells from osteoarthritic synovium. These are demonstrable using a multi‐gene dot blot assay by labelling reverse transcribed fibroblast cDNA which is hybridized to plasmids containing relevant target gene inserts. Cultured synovial fibroblastoid cells from patients with chronic inflammatory synovitis expressed significantly higher levels of stromelysin, vimentin and TIMP‐1 mRNA and lower levels of c‐myc compared to cells isolated from osteoarthritis synovium although with considerable variation. Early fetal synovial lining cells were similar to cells from osteoarthritis synovium but vimentin expression was higher. Marked differences in patterns of gene expression between cell lines persisted through 10 serial passages over 6–8 months. In whole synovia, the average level of mRNA for stromelysin, vimentin, IL‐4, IL‐6, TIMP‐1, cathepsin D, gelatinase, TGFα, c‐fms and DRβ were preferentially expressed in inflammatory tissue while c‐myc expression was higher in osteoarthritis synovium. Inflammatory synovium also expressed TNFα, IL‐1α, IL‐1β, IL‐2, c‐sis, tissue plasminogen activator, CSF‐1, and GM‐CSF. This pattern resembles, in part, that found in cultured inflammatory fibroblasts but, in addition. , gene products apparently reflecting the presence of activated monocytes and lymphocytes were detected. These results provide evidence that profiles of certain gene activation in cells from patients with inflammatory synovitis differ from those with non‐inflammatory disease and suggest that the fibroblastoid cells are responsible for a considerable proportion of the altered phenotypic expression pattern in whole tissue. Furthermore, this modulated pattern of gene activation appears to be an intrinsic pro‐inflammatory characteristic of the fibroblastoid cells initiated in response to chronic inflammation and persists for a prolonged period in the absence of other inflammatory cells.
High frequency graphene nanomechanical resonators and transducers

This digest paper presents our initial explorations of engineering graphene 2D nanostructures into nanomechanical resonators and transducers vibrating at high frequencies (i.e., ~1-30MHz, in the HF band in radio frequency spectrum) at T ~300K. We explore very small graphene devices that are suspended over micrometer-scale trenches or cavities and are free to vibrate in out-of-plane modes. The devices are derived from single- or few-layer graphene flakes and membranes, made by either mechanical exfoliation of graphite, or transfer of monolayer graphene grown on polycrystalline copper (Cu) by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. We report measured resonance characteristics from our typical exfoliated single- and bi-layer graphene resonators of ~1-5μm in size, with resonance frequency (f) in the ~10-20MHz range, and measured quality (Q) factors of ~800-1200. From a transferred CVD graphene membrane device of ~10μm in size, we have measured a nanomechanical resonance at f≈2.39MHz, with Q≈350. We further explore the potentials of these resonators for enabling sensitive transducers, by evaluating their sensitivities for detecting small displacements, forces, and mass loading effects. Moreover, in this study we have clearly identified and analyzed the striking discrepancies in the measurements and interpretations of both resonance frequency and strain from recently reported studies. Our analyses of these issues help find solutions toward gaining meaningful understandings that will be applicable to future designs and development of graphene nanomechanical devices.
A profile anonymization model for location-based services

Location-based services LBS aim at delivering point of need information. Personalization and customization of such services, based on the profiles of mobile users, would significantly increase the value of such services. Since profiles may include sensitive information of mobile users and moreover can help identify a person, such customization is allowable only when the security and privacy policies dictated by them are respected. While LBS providers are presumed to be untrusted entities, the location services that capture and maintain mobile users' location to enable communication are considered trusted, and therefore can capture and manage the profile information. The question then is, how to enable the use of location based services while protecting privacy? In this paper, we address the problem of privacy preservation via anonymization. Prior research in this area attempts to ensure k-anonymity by generalizing the location. However, a person may still be identified based on his/her profile if the profiles of all k people in the generalized region are not the same. We extend the notion of k-anonymity by proposing a profile based k-anonymization model that guarantees anonymity even when profiles of mobile users are revealed to untrusted entities. Specifically, our anonymization methods generalize both location and profiles to the extent specified by the user. We propose a novel unified index structure, called the PTPR-tree to enhance the performance during anonymization. PTPR-tree is an extension of the TPR-tree [in: SIGMOD'00: Proceedings of the 2000 ACM SIGMOD International Conference on Management of Data, New York, NY, USA, ACM, 2000, pp. 331--342] which organizes both the locations of mobile users as well as their profiles using a single index, and therefore can efficiently find candidate users for the proposed profile based anonymization models.
Who am I, and Why am I Here? Young People's Perspectives on the Role of Spirituality in the Promotion of their Mental Health

Fifty-one young people (14-18 years of age) participated in qualitative research on the role of spirituality in the promotion of their mental health. Findings suggest that youth conceptualisations of spirituality are diverse and contrast with adult definitions (eg the relative significance of organised religion). Participants perceived spirituality as intrinsically positive and potentially beneficial to their mental health. Perceived risks to mental health related to lack of spirituality or to spiritual extremes. A possible connection between spirituality and identity formation was identified. This study highlights young people's interest in spirituality and their desire for better opportunities for spiritual exploration.
Triple-wideband inverted-F frame antenna for the LTE metal-casing smartphone

A frame antenna based on the inverted-F antenna (IFA) structure for the LTE (long term evolution) metal-casing smartphone is presented. The antenna uses a frame section along the short edge of the metal casing as the IFA's radiating strip. There are no gaps required at the two side edges of the smartphone. The frame section is connected to a feed circuit board (FCB) to achieve wider bandwidth. With a narrow metal clearance of 2 mm in the metal back cover, the antenna can provide a triple-wideband LTE operation to cover 824∼960 MHz, 1710∼2690 MHz, and 3400∼3800 MHz bands. Moreover, by selecting different inductances of the inductor at the shorting strip of the IFA, the low band of 704∼960 MHz can be covered. Details of the proposed antenna structure and its working principle are described, and experimental results of the fabricated antenna are presented.
Browser interfaces and extended validation SSL certificates: an empirical study

There has been a loss of confidence in the security provided by SSL certificates and browser interfaces in the face of various attacks. As one response, basic SSL server certificates are being demoted to second-class status in conjunction with the introduction of Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificates. Unfortunately, EV SSL certificates may complicate the already difficult design challenge of effectively conveying certificate information to the average user. This study explores the interfaces related to SSL certificates in the most widely deployed browser (Internet Explorer 7), proposes an alternative set of interface dialogs, and compares their effectiveness through a user study involving 40 participants. The alternative interface was found to offer statistically significant improvements in confidence, ease of finding information, and ease of understanding. Such results from a modest re-design effort suggest considerable room for improvement in the user interfaces of browsers today. This work motivates further study of whether EV SSL certificates offer a robust foundation for improving Internet trust, or a further compromise to usable security for ordinary users.
A clarification of transmission terms in host-microparasite models: numbers, densities and areas

Transmission is the driving force in the dynamics of any infectious disease. A crucial element in understanding disease dynamics, therefore, is the ‘transmission term’ describing the rate at which susceptible hosts are ‘converted’ into infected hosts by their contact with infectious material. Recently, the conventional form of this term has been increasingly questioned, and new terminologies and conventions have been proposed. Here, therefore, we review the derivation of transmission terms, explain the basis of confusion, and provide clarification. The root of the problem has been a failure to include explicit consideration of the area occupied by a host population, alongside both the number of infectious hosts and their density within the population. We argue that the terms ‘density-dependent transmission’ and ‘frequency-dependent transmission’ remain valid and useful (though a ‘fuller’ transmission term for the former is identified), but that the terms ‘mass action’, ‘true mass action’ and ‘pseudo mass action’ are all unhelpful and should be dropped. Also, contrary to what has often been assumed, the distinction between homogeneous and heterogeneous mixing in a host population is orthogonal to the distinction between density- and frequency-dependent transmission modes.
Compassion: Conceptualisations, Research and Use in Psychotherapy

[Figure][1] I am suspicious of the analysis of virtues. There seems to me to be a real danger that all that is best about people will be analysed and summed up as ‘ just’ (and the word ‘just’ is important here) a function of genes for this or that, or evolutionary pressures, or
Treatment of autoinflammatory diseases: results from the Eurofever Registry and a literature review

Objective To evaluate the response to treatment of autoinflammatory diseases from an international registry and an up-to-date literature review. Methods The response to treatment was studied in a web-based registry in which clinical information on anonymised patients with autoinflammatory diseases was collected retrospectively as part of the Eurofever initiative. Participating hospitals included paediatric rheumatology centres of the Paediatric Rheumatology International Trial Organisation network and adult centres with a specific interest in autoinflammatory diseases. The following diseases were included: familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS), tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-receptor associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS), mevalonate kinase deficiency (MKD), pyogenic arthritis pustulosis acne (PAPA) syndrome, deficiency of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (DIRA), NLRP12-related periodic fever and periodic fever aphthosis pharyngitis adenitis (PFAPA) syndrome. Cases were independently validated by experts for each disease. A literature search regarding treatment of the abovementioned diseases was also performed using Medline and Embase. Results 22 months from the beginning of the enrolment, complete information on 496 validated patients was available. Data from the registry in combination with evidence from the literature confirmed that colchicine is the treatment of choice for FMF and IL-1 blockade for DIRA and CAPS. Corticosteroids on demand probably represent a valid therapeutic strategy for PFAPA, but also for MKD and TRAPS. Patients with poorly controlled MKD, TRAPS, PAPA or FMF may benefit from IL-1 blockade; anti-TNF treatment may represent a possible valuable alternative. Conclusions In the absence of high-grade evidence, these results could serve as a basis for therapeutic guidelines and to identify candidate drugs for future therapeutic trials.
Implementation Issues of Slackened Memory Dependence Enforcement Technical Report

An efficient mechanism to track and enforce memory dependences is crucial to an out-of-order microprocessor. The conventional approach of using cross-checked load queue and store queue, while very effective in earlier processor incarnations, suffers from scalability problems in modern high-frequency designs that rely on buffering many in-flight instructions to exploit instruction-level parallelism. In this paper, we make a case for a very different approach to dynamic memory disambiguation. We move away from the conventional exact disambiguation strategy and adopt an opportunistic method: we allow loads and stores to access an L0 cache as they are issued out of program order, hoping that with such a laissez-faire approach, most loads actually obtain the right value. To guarantee correctness, they execute a second time in program order to access the nonspeculative L1 cache. A discrepancy between the two executions triggers a replay. Such a design completely eliminates the necessity of real-time violation detection and thus avoids the conventional approach’s complexity and the associated scalability issue. We show that even a simplistic design can provide similar performance level achieved with a conventional queue-based approach with optimisticallysized queues. When simple, optional optimizations are applied, the performance level is close to that achieved with ideally-sized queues.
Office Hysteroscopy in Women at Risk of Human Nonpolyposis Colon Cancer

To the Editor: I read with great interest the article published by Lécuru et al that explored the value of office hysteroscopy and endometrial biopsy for detection of complex hyperplasia or cancer in patients with asymptomatic human nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC). I would like to clarify several issues concerning screening modalities in this patient population. Endometrial cancer is the most common malignant disease of the female genital tract in the United States. It occurs during the reproductive and menopausal years. In human mutL homolog 1 (hMLH1) and human mutS homolog 2 (hMSH2) female mutation carriers, endometrial cancer appears at least as frequent as colorectal cancer, with a cumulative risk of approximately 30% by the age of 70 years and a mean age of diagnosis of 40 to 50 years, approximately 10 years younger than the general population. As stated by the authors, an argument for an optimal screening modality in this patient population is the high incidence of the disease, potential good outcomes with early detection, and, more importantly, the possibility of cancer in asymptomatic women. Nevertheless, the endometrium in this age group is a very dynamic tissue; ad infinitum changes in response to hormonal influences and vascular and stromal factors are common, making physiological factors potential challenges for an optimal screening modality. In agreement with the authors, for endometrial cancer, surveillance is less well established, largely because of limitations of current screening modalities. However, several authors have published recommendations for surveillance of carriers of HNPCCassociated mutations. For instance, Lindor et al reviewed cancer risks and data on screening efficacy in the context of Lynch syndrome (hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer) to provide recommendations for clinical management of affected families. While fully acknowledging absence of demonstrated efficacy, the authors recommended annual endometrial sampling and transvaginal ultrasound of the uterus and ovaries (range, 30Y35 years). Based on the results of the prospective study by Lécuru et al, no cases of cancer were diagnosed in asymptomatic patients. I will encourage the authors to follow current published guidelines and surveillance options for carriers of HNPCCassociated mutations. Office hysteroscopy, while minimally invasive, is still an invasive office surgical procedure and perhaps inappropriate as a surveillance or screening modality in this group of patients. While optimal modalities of screening remain to be determined, the rationale, risk, benefits, and alternatives regarding cancer screening and prevention in this group of patients should require careful discussion between clinicians, cancer genetic services, and well-informed patients.
Global path planning using artificial potential fields

The author describes a path planning technique for robotic manipulators and mobile robots in the presence of stationary obstacles. The planning consists of applying potential fields around configuration-space obstacles and using these fields to select a safe path for the robot to follow. The advantage of using potential fields in path planning is that they offer a relatively fast and effective way to solve for safe paths around obstacles. In the proposed method of path planning, a trial path is chosen and then modified under the influence of the potential field until an appropriate path is found. By considering the entire path, the problem of being trapped in a local minimum is greatly reduced, allowing the method to be used for global planning. The algorithm was tried with success on many different realistic planning problems. By way of illustration, the algorithm is applied to a two-dimensional revolute manipulator, a mobile robot capable of translation only, and a mobile robot capable of both translation and rotation. <<ETX>>