Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deformation Measurement of Dielectric Elastomer using Slide Ring Material on a 2-D Plane

Dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) is a soft actuator with low manufacturing cost and high energy efficiency; it expands when an electric field is applied. The structure of DEA comprises a dielectric material interlayered with elastic electrodes similar to a sandwich. The performance of DEA is determined by the material of the dielectric layer, which is generally silicon or acrylic rubber. This study focused on investigating the characteristics and various applications of slide ring material (SRM) as a dielectric. SRM is more suitable for use as a dielectric of DEA as compared to silicone and acrylic rubbers in terms of the dielectric constant and hysteresis loss. Several measurement methods of existing DEAs measure only uniaxial deformation. However, the actual DEA strain distribution is not completely uniform. In addition, obtaining the two-dimensional (2D) strain distribution leads to a better understanding of the lifetime and performance of DEA as DEA deforms in 2D practical applications. Therefore, this study measured the strain on the DEA, while changing the load, applied voltage, and number of layers, using the image correlation method, which is a 2D planar measurement method. This measurement confirmed the two-dimensionally spreading strain distribution. The relationship between the stress, strain, and number of DEA layers was also obtained.
Natural Walking in Virtual Reality

Recent technological developments have finally brought virtual reality (VR) out of the laboratory and into the hands of developers and consumers. However, a number of challenges remain. Virtual travel is one of the most common and universal tasks performed inside virtual environments, yet enabling users to navigate virtual environments is not a trivial challenge—especially if the user is walking. In this article, we initially provide an overview of the numerous virtual travel techniques that have been proposed prior to the commercialization of VR. Then we turn to the mode of travel that is the most difficult to facilitate, that is, walking. The challenge of providing users with natural walking experiences in VR can be divided into two separate, albeit related, challenges: (1) enabling unconstrained walking in virtual worlds that are larger than the tracked physical space and (2) providing users with appropriate multisensory stimuli in response to their interaction with the virtual environment. In regard to the first challenge, we present walking techniques falling into three general categories: repositioning systems, locomotion based on proxy gestures, and redirected walking. With respect to multimodal stimuli, we focus on how to provide three types of information: external sensory information (visual, auditory, and cutaneous), internal sensory information (vestibular and kinesthetic/proprioceptive), and efferent information. Finally, we discuss how the different categories of walking techniques compare and discuss the challenges still facing the research community.
Collective Classification of Spam Campaigners on Twitter: A Hierarchical Meta-Path Based Approach

Cybercriminals have leveraged the popularity of a large user base available on Online Social Networks~(OSNs) to spread spam campaigns by propagating phishing URLs, attaching malicious contents, etc. However, another kind of spam attacks using phone numbers has recently become prevalent on OSNs, where spammers advertise phone numbers to attract users» attention and convince them to make a call to these phone numbers. The dynamics of phone number based spam is different from URL-based spam due to an inherent trust associated with a phone number. While previous work has proposed strategies to mitigate URL-based spam attacks, phone number based spam attacks have received less attention. In this paper, we aim to detect spammers that use phone numbers to promote campaigns on Twitter. To this end, we collected information (tweets, user meta-data, etc.) about 3,370 campaigns spread by 670,251 users. We model the Twitter dataset as a heterogeneous network by leveraging various interconnections between different types of nodes present in the dataset. In particular, we make the following contributions -- (i) We propose a simple yet effective metric, called Hierarchical Meta-Path Score (HMPS) to measure the proximity of an unknown user to the other known pool of spammers. (ii) We design a feedback-based active learning strategy and show that it significantly outperforms three state-of-the-art baselines for the task of spam detection. Our method achieves 6.9% and 67.3% higher F1-score and AUC, respectively compared to the best baseline method. (iii) To overcome the problem of less training instances for supervised learning, we show that our proposed feedback strategy achieves 25.6% and 46% higher F1-score and AUC respectively than other oversampling strategies. Finally, we perform a case study to show how our method is capable of detecting those users as spammers who have not been suspended by Twitter (and other baselines) yet.
Treating and preventing acute exacerbations of COPD

Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)—characterized by shortness of breath, increased sputum production, increased purulence, or a combination of these signs—are costly and can have major impacts on the patient’s health. Corticosteroids, antibiotics, and bronchodilators are the cornerstones of prevention and therapy, with mucolytics, oxygen supplementation, and ventilatory support also advisable for some patients. Treatment should be evidence-based and tailored to the patient’s history and present needs. Corticosteroids, antibiotics, and bronchodilators are the cornerstones of prevention and treatment.
Practice Patterns and Barriers for Intravenous Thrombolysis: A Survey of Neurologists in Saudi Arabia

Only a small fraction of patients with acute ischemic stroke receive intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). We sought to assess barriers and practice patterns in using IVT for acute ischemic stroke among neurologists in Saudi Arabia. An electronic survey was sent to all neurologists registered with the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties. A total of 148 (77.5%) neurologists responded. The most common reported barriers for IVT administration were delayed presentation to hospitals (82.4%) and unclear time of symptom onset (50.0%). Only 9.9% of neurologists reported strict adherence to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association guidelines for IVT administration. The most frequently waived criteria were “minor stroke with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale [NIHSS] < 5” (49.4%) and “seizure at onset” (45.7%). For the extended 3–4.5-hour window, 18.5% of neurologists reported strict adherence to the four exclusion criteria. The most frequently waived criteria were “age older than 80 years” (53.1%) and “history of both diabetes and prior stroke” (42.0%). In conclusion, most neurologists do not adhere to the IVT exclusion criteria. However, little consensus exists regarding which criteria do not interfere with IVT administration. Barriers to IVT administration were identified and require immediate action by healthcare authorities in Saudi Arabia.
Neural crest and the patterning of vertebrate craniofacial muscles

Patterning of craniofacial muscles overtly begins with the activation of lineage‐specific markers at precise, evolutionarily conserved locations within prechordal, lateral, and both unsegmented and somitic paraxial mesoderm populations. Although these initial programming events occur without influence of neural crest cells, the subsequent movements and differentiation stages of most head muscles are neural crest‐dependent. Incorporating both descriptive and experimental studies, this review examines each stage of myogenesis up through the formation of attachments to their skeletal partners. We present the similarities among developing muscle groups, including comparisons with trunk myogenesis, but emphasize the morphogenetic processes that are unique to each group and sometimes subsets of muscles within a group. These groups include branchial (pharyngeal) arches, which encompass both those with clear homologues in all vertebrate classes and those unique to one, for example, mammalian facial muscles, and also extraocular, laryngeal, tongue, and neck muscles. The presence of several distinct processes underlying neural crest:myoblast/myocyte interactions and behaviors is not surprising, given the wide range of both quantitative and qualitative variations in craniofacial muscle organization achieved during vertebrate evolution.
Technical note: probabilistic visual and electromagnetic data fusion for robust drift-free sequential mosaicking: application to fetoscopy

The most e↵ective treatment for Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome is laser photocoagulation of the shared vascular anastomoses in the placenta. Vascular connections are extremely challenging to locate due to their caliber and the reduced field of view of the fetoscope. Therefore, mosaicking techniques are beneficial to expand the scene, facilitate navigation and allow vessel photocoagulation decision-making. Local vision-based mosaicking algorithms inherently drift over time due to the use of pairwise transformations. We propose the use of an electromagnetic tracker (EMT) sensor mounted at the tip of the fetoscope to obtain camera pose measurements, which we incorporate into a probabilistic framework with frame-to-frame visual information to achieve globally consistent sequential mosaics. We parametrize the problem in terms of plane and camera poses constrained by EMT measurements to enforce global consistency while leveraging pairwise image relationships in a sequential fashion through the use of Local Bundle Adjustment. We show that our approach is drift-free and performs similarly to state-of-the-art global alignment techniques like Bundle Adjustment albeit with much less computational burden. Additionally, we propose a version of Bundle Adjustment that uses EMT information. We demonstrate the robustness to EMT noise and loss of visual information and evaluate mosaics for synthetic, phantom-based and ex vivo datasets.
NMR close to Mega-Bar Pressures

The past 15 years have seen an astonishing increase in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) sensitivity and accessible pressure range in high-pressure NMR experiments, owing to a series of new developments of NMR spectroscopy applied to the diamond anvil cell (DAC). Recently, with the application of electro-magnetic lenses, so-called Lenz lenses, in toroidal diamond indenter cells, pressures of up to 72 GPa with NMR spin sensitivities of about 10^12 spins/(Hz^1/2) has been achieved. Here, we describe the implementation of a refined NMR resonator structure using a pair of double stage Lenz lenses driven by a Helmholtz coil within a standard DAC, allowing to measure sample volumes as small as 100 pl prior to compression. With this set-up, pressures close to the mega-bar regime (1 Mbar = 100 GPa) could be realised repeatedly, with enhanced spin sensitivities of about 5x10^11 spin/(Hz^1/2). The manufacturing and handling of these new NMR-DACs is relatively easy and straightforward, which will allow for further applications in physics, chemistry, or biochemistry.
Semantically Readable Distributed Representation Learning and Its Expandability Using a Word Semantic Vector Dictionary

SUMMARY The problem with distributed representations generated by neural networks is that the meaning of the features is di ﬃ cult to understand. We propose a new method that gives a speciﬁc meaning to each node of a hidden layer by introducing a manually created word semantic vector dictionary into the initial weights and by using paragraph vector models. We conducted experiments to test the hypotheses using a single domain benchmark for Japanese Twitter sentiment analysis and then evaluated the expandability of the method using a diverse and large-scale benchmark. Moreover, we tested the domain-independence of the method using a Wikipedia corpus. Our experimental results demonstrated that the learned vector is better than the performance of the existing paragraph vector in the evaluation of the Twitter sentiment analysis task using the single domain benchmark. Also, we determined the readability of document embeddings, which means distributed representations of documents, in a user test. The deﬁnition of readability in this paper is that people can understand the meaning of large weighted features of distributed representations. A total of 52.4% of the top ﬁve weighted hidden nodes were related to tweets where one of the paragraph vector models learned the document embed-dings. For the expandability evaluation of the method, we improved the dictionary based on the results of the hypothesis test and examined the relationship of the readability of learned word vectors and the task accuracy of Twitter sentiment analysis using the diverse and large-scale benchmark. We also conducted a word similarity task using the Wikipedia corpus to test the domain-independence of the method. We found the expandability results of the method are better than or comparable to the performance of the paragraph vector. Also, the objective and subjective evaluation support each hidden node maintaining a speciﬁc meaning. Thus, the proposed method succeeded in improving readability.
Pig Manure Application for Remediation of Mine Soils in Murcia Province, SE Spain

In southern Spain, specifically in Murcia Province, an increased pig population causes large amounts of slurry production that creates a very serious environmental concern. Our aim was to use this waste to reduce the acid mine drainage process, heavy metal mobilization, and to improve soil conditions to enhance plant establishment in mine soils. Pig manure, sewage sludge, and lime were used as soil amendments in a field experiment and in undisturbed soil column. Field experiments showed an increase in pH, total nitrogen, organic carbon, and carbonate contents; a reduction of diethylene-tetramine pentaacetic acid (DTPA)– and water-extractable metals; and an improvement of plant establishment. The field studies showed that pig manure could be utilized to remediate polluted soils. Column studies in the laboratory showed that amendment of mine soil with pig manure initially increased soil pH from 2.21 to 6.34, promoted reduced conditions in the surface soil, and decreased the metal mobility. After 21 weeks, while the leachate was slightly acidic, however, the mobility of metals was substantially low. Additions of 7 and 14% of pig manure were insufficient to maintain a neutral pH in the leachate. Therefore, continuous application of the pig manure may be advised.
Compile-Time Silent-Store Elimination for Energy Efficiency: an Analytic Evaluation for Non-Volatile Cache Memory

Energy-efficiency has become very critical in modern high-performance and embedded systems. In on-chip systems, memory consumes an important part of energy. Emerging non-volatile memory (NVM) technologies, such as Spin-Transfer Torque RAM (STT-RAM), offer power saving opportunities, while they suffer from high write latency. In this paper, we propose a fast evaluation of NVM integration at cache level, together with a compile-time approach for mitigating the penalty incurred by the high write latency of STT-RAM. We implement a code optimization in LLVM for reducing so-called silent stores, i.e., store instruction instances that write to memory values that were already present there. This makes our optimization portable over any architecture supporting LLVM. Then, we assess the possible benefit of such an optimization on the Rodinia benchmark suite through an analytic approach based on parameters extracted from the literature devoted to NVMs. This makes it possible to rapidly analyze the impact of NVMs on memory energy consumption. Reported results show up to 42% energy gain when considering STT-RAM caches.
IEEE Access Special Section Editorial: Trust Management in Pervasive Social Networking (TruPSN)

With the rapid growth of mobile computing and social networking, social networks have extended their popularity from the Internet to mobile domain. Pervasive Social Networking (PSN) ensures social communications at any time and in any place with a universal manner. It supports online and instant (i.e., pervasive) social activities based on heterogeneous networks, e.g., the Internet, mobile cellular networks or self-organized networks or other networking technologies. It is treated as one of the killer applications in the next generation mobile networks and wireless systems (i.e., 5G). There are various applications over PSN. Typical examples include social chatting, gaming, rescuing, recommending and information sharing. Because group mobility is very common in modern life, PSN has become valuable for mobile users, especially when they are familiar strangers and often appear in the same vicinity. PSN greatly extends our experiences of social communications.
A fluctuation theorem for time-series of signal-response models with the backward transfer entropy

The irreversibility of trajectories in stochastic dynamical systems is linked to the structure of their causal representation in terms of Bayesian networks. We consider stochastic maps resulting from a time discretization with interval \tau of signal-response models, and we find an integral fluctuation theorem that sets the backward transfer entropy as a lower bound to the conditional entropy production. We apply this to a linear signal-response model providing analytical solutions, and to a nonlinear model of receptor-ligand systems. We show that the observational time \tau has to be fine-tuned for an efficient detection of the irreversibility in time-series.
Classification of Melanoma Thickness from Dermoscopic Images using Mobile Devices

The survival of patients with melanoma is mainly dependent on the thickness of the melanoma. The depth of the melanoma is usually give in millimeters then calculated using pathological examination following a biopsy of the suspected lesion. To avoid invasive methods in the estimation of the thickness of the melanoma prior to surgery we propose a computational image analysis system from dermoscopic images. A recent interpretable method merging logistic regression along with artificial networks (LIPU) logistic regression using initial variables and product units, which are nominal classification methods, are compared in terms of performance. In case of binary classification LIPU performs with an accuracy of 77.6% compared to all other methods while in case of the second scheme the ordinal classification methods achieve a better balance between the performances of all classes even though LIPU reports the highest overall accuracy. KeywordsMelanoma, Dermoscopic Images, Image Analysis, Classification Methods
Epigenetic mechanisms elicited by nutrition in early life

A growing number of studies focusing on the developmental origin of health and disease hypothesis have identified links among early nutrition, epigenetic processes and diseases also in later life. Different epigenetic mechanisms are elicited by dietary factors in early critical developmental ages that are able to affect the susceptibility to several diseases in adulthood. The studies here reviewed suggest that maternal and neonatal diet may have long-lasting effects in the development of non-communicable chronic adulthood diseases, in particular the components of the so-called metabolic syndrome, such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, and CVD. Both maternal under- and over-nutrition may regulate the expression of genes involved in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. Early postnatal nutrition may also represent a vital determinant of adult health by making an impact on the development and function of gut microbiota. An inadequate gut microbiota composition and function in early life seems to account for the deviant programming of later immunity and overall health status. In this regard probiotics, which have the potential to restore the intestinal microbiota balance, may be effective in preventing the development of chronic immune-mediated diseases. More recently, the epigenetic mechanisms elicited by probiotics through the production of SCFA are hypothesised to be the key to understand how they mediate their numerous health-promoting effects from the gut to the peripheral tissues.
On underestimation of global vulnerability to tree mortality and forest die-off from hotter drought in the Anthropocene

Patterns, mechanisms, projections, and consequences of tree mortality and associated broad-scale forest die-off due to drought accompanied by warmer temperatures—“hotter drought”, an emerging characteristic of the Anthropocene—are the focus of rapidly expanding literature. Despite recent observational, experimental, and modeling studies suggesting increased vulnerability of trees to hotter drought and associated pests and pathogens, substantial debate remains among research, management and policy-making communities regarding future tree mortality risks. We summarize key mortality-relevant findings, differentiating between those implying lesser versus greater levels of vulnerability. Evidence suggesting lesser vulnerability includes forest benefits of elevated [CO2] and increased water-use efficiency; observed and modeled increases in forest growth and canopy greening; widespread increases in woody-plant biomass, density, and extent; compensatory physiological, morphological, and genetic mechanisms; dampen.
Fat and carbohydrate intake modify the association between genetic variation in the FTO genotype and obesity.

BACKGROUND The fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO) has been shown to be associated with obesity and to influence appetite regulation. OBJECTIVE The aim was to examine whether dietary factors (macronutrient and fiber intakes) and leisure-time physical activity modify the association between genetic variation in FTO and body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)). DESIGN A cross-sectional study examined 4839 subjects in the population-based Malmö Diet and Cancer study with dietary data (from a modified diet history method) and information on the genetic variant FTO (rs9939609). Direct anthropometric measures were made, and leisure-time physical activity was determined from the duration participants spent on 18 different physical activities. RESULTS Significant interactions between energy-adjusted fat intake and FTO genotype (P = 0.04) and between carbohydrate intake and FTO genotype (P = 0.001) on BMI were observed. The observed increase in BMI across FTO genotypes was restricted to those who reported a high-fat diet, with a mean BMI of 25.3 (95% CI: 24.9, 25.6) among TT carriers and of 26.3 (95% CI: 25.8, 26.8) among AA carriers (P = 0.0001). The FTO variant was not associated with a higher BMI among subjects with lower fat intakes (BMI = 25.7 and 25.9 in TT carriers and AA carriers, respectively; P = 0.42). Among individuals with a low-carbohydrate intake, we observed a mean BMI of 25.4 for TT carriers and of 26.8 for AA carriers. The increase in BMI across genotypes was mainly restricted to individuals who reported low leisure-time physical activity (P for trend = 0.004, P for interaction = 0.05). CONCLUSION Our results indicate that high-fat diets and low physical activity levels may accentuate the susceptibility to obesity by the FTO variant.