Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-intrusive Human Vital Sign Detection Using mmWave Sensing Technologies: A Review

Non-invasive human vital sign detection has gained significant attention in recent years, with its potential for contactless, long-term monitoring. Advances in radar systems have enabled non-contact detection of human vital signs, emerging as a crucial area of research. The movements of key human organs influence radar signal propagation, offering researchers the opportunity to detect vital signs by analyzing received electromagnetic (EM) signals. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art in millimeter-wave (mmWave) sensing for vital sign detection. We explore human anatomy and various measurement methods, including contact and non-contact approaches, and summarize the principles of mmWave radar sensing. To demonstrate how EM signals can be harnessed for vital sign detection, we discuss four mmWave-based vital sign sensing (MVSS) signal models and elaborate on the signal processing chain for MVSS. Additionally, we present an extensive review of deep learning-based MVSS and compare existing studies. Finally, we offer insights into specific applications of MVSS (e.g., biometric authentication) and highlight future research trends in this domain.
Multi-User Mobile Augmented Reality with ID-Aware Visual Interaction

Most existing multi-user Augmented Reality (AR) systems only support multiple co-located users to view a common set of virtual objects but lack the ability to enable each user to directly interact with other users appearing in his/her view. Such multi-user AR systems should be able to detect the human keypoints and estimate device poses (for identifying different users) in the meantime. However, due to the stringent low latency requirements and the intensive computation of the preceding two capabilities, previous research only enables either of the two capabilities for mobile devices even with the aid of the edge server. Integrating the two capabilities is promising but non-trivial in terms of latency, accuracy, and matching. To fill this gap, we propose DiTing to achieve real-time ID-aware multi-device visual interaction for multi-user AR applications, which contains three key innovations: Shared On-device Tracking to merge the similar computation for optimized latency, Tightly Coupled Dual Pipeline to enhance the accuracy of each task through mutual assistance, and Body Affinity Particle Filter to precisely match device poses with human bodies. We implement DiTing on four types of mobile AR devices and develop a multi-user AR game as a case study. Extensive experiments show that DiTing can provide high-quality human keypoint detection and pose estimation in real time (30fps) for ID-aware multi-device interaction and outperform the state-of-the-art baseline approaches.
Robust Collaborative Filtering to Popularity Distribution Shift

In leading collaborative filtering (CF) models, representations of users and items are prone to learn popularity bias in the training data as shortcuts. The popularity shortcut tricks are good for in-distribution (ID) performance but poorly generalized to out-of-distribution (OOD) data, i.e., when popularity distribution of test data shifts w.r. t. the training one. To close the gap, debiasing strategies try to assess the shortcut degrees and mitigate them from the representations. However, there exist two deficiencies: (1) when measuring the shortcut degrees, most strategies only use statistical metrics on a single aspect (i.e., item frequency on item and user frequency on user aspect), failing to accommodate the compositional degree of a user-item pair; (2) when mitigating shortcuts, many strategies assume that the test distribution is known in advance. This results in low-quality debiased representations. Worse still, these strategies achieve OOD generalizability with a sacrifice on ID performance. In this work, we present a simple yet effective debiasing strategy, PopGo, which quantifies and reduces the interaction-wise popularity shortcut without any assumptions on the test data. It first learns a shortcut model, which yields a shortcut degree of a user-item pair based on their popularity representations. Then, it trains the CF model by adjusting the predictions with the interaction-wise shortcut degrees. By taking both causal- and information-theoretical looks at PopGo, we can justify why it encourages the CF model to capture the critical popularity-agnostic features while leaving the spurious popularity-relevant patterns out. We use PopGo to debias two high-performing CF models (MF [28], LightGCN [19]) on four benchmark datasets. On both ID and OOD test sets, PopGo achieves significant gains over the state-of-the-art debiasing strategies (e.g., DICE [71], MACR [58]). Codes and datasets are available at https://github.com/anzhang314/PopGo.
Opportunities for Accessible Virtual Reality Design for Immersive Musical Performances for Blind and Low-Vision People

Blind and low-vision (BLV) individuals often face challenges in their attendance and appreciation of musical performances (e.g., concerts, musicals, opera) due to limited mobility and accessibility of visual information. However, the emergence of Virtual Reality (VR) based musical performance as a common medium of music access opens up opportunities to mitigate the challenges and enhance the musical experiences by investigating non-visual VR accessibility. This study aims to 1) gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of BLV individuals, including their preferences, challenges, and needs in listening to and accessing various modes (audio, video, and on-site experiences) of music and musical performances and 2) explore the opportunities that VR can create for making the immersive musical experiences accessible for BLV people. Using a mixed-methods approach, we conducted an online survey and a semi-structured interview study with 102 and 25 BLV participants, respectively. Our findings suggest design opportunities for making the VR space non-visually accessible for BLV individuals, enabling them to participate equally in the VR world and to further access immersive musical performances created by VR technology. Our research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on accessibility in virtual environments, particularly in the context of music listening and appreciation for BLV individuals.
Data Issues in High Definition Maps Furniture – A Survey

The rapid advancements in sensing techniques, networking and AI algorithms in the recent years have brought the autonomous driving vehicles closer to common use in vehicular transportation. One of the fundamental components to enable the autonomous driving functionalities are the High Definition (HD) maps – a type of maps that carry highly accurate and much richer information than conventional maps. The creation and use of HD maps rely on advances in multiple disciplines such as computer vision/object perception, geographic information system, sensing, simultaneous localization and mapping, machine learning, etc. To date, several survey papers have been published, describing the literature related to HD maps and their use in specialized contexts. In this survey, we aim to provide: (1) a comprehensive overview of the issues and solutions related to HD maps and their use, without attachment to a particular context; (2) a detailed coverage of the important domain knowledge of HD map furniture, from acquisition techniques and extraction approaches, through HD maps related datasets, to furniture quality assessment metrics, for the purpose of providing a comprehensive understanding of the entire workflow of HD map furniture generation, as well as its use.
Voice of incarcerated male youths in Malawi’s semi-urban prisons: a qualitative study

Objective Incarcerated male youths in Malawi’s detention facilities face multiple threats to their health and well-being. The most common challenges are overcrowding, poor sanitation and a lack of access to basic needs such as adequate food, bedding and healthcare. In addition, youth are vulnerable to sexual abuse. Design A qualitative approach using an exploratory study design was used to explore the experiences of incarcerated male youths in semi-urban prisons. Setting Two semi-urban prisons in Malawi. Participants Three focus group discussions (each with six participants) with incarcerated youths aged 18 were conducted. Results The following four themes emerged from the data: sexual violence perpetuated by other incarcerated persons; the need for sexual violence communication and prevention; trauma associated with incarceration and youth surviving prison life. The incarcerated male youths reported being given incentives such as extra food and adequate sleeping space in exchange for sexual favours with adult incarcerated people or incarcerated individuals with leadership positions. The victims of sexual abuse have had some difficulties reporting the incidences due to a non-existent reporting system for such matters to prison authorities. Conclusions This study reveals that the prison environment in Malawi is unsafe, particularly for incarcerated male youths who are at an increased risk of being victims of sexual violence. We recommend that the youths be separated from adults according to the Prison Rape Elimination Act standards. The prison officers should prevent incarcerated youth from having sight or physical contact with adult incarcerated people while in housing units. Policy-makers, prison authorities and researchers must safeguard and empower survivors of sexual violence in prisons.
Cognitive and biomarker responses in healthy older adults to a 18-hole golf round and different walking types: a randomised cross-over study

Introduction The global burden of age-related cognitive decline is increasing, with the number of people aged 60 and over expected to double by 2050. This study compares the acute effects of age-appropriate cognitively demanding aerobic exercises involving walking, on cognitive functions and exerkine responses such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cathepsin B (CTSB) in older, healthy adults. Methods/design Healthy older golfers (n=25, 16 male and 9 female, 69±4 years) were enrolled in a 5-day randomised cross-over study and completed three different exercise trials (18-hole golf round, 6 km Nordic walking, 6 km walking) in a real-life environment, in random order and at a self-selected pace. Differences in cognition (the Trail-Making Test (TMT) AB) and exerkines (BDNF and CTSB) were analysed within groups using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and between groups using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results All exercise types resulted in a significant decrease in the TMT A-test (p<0.05; golf: −4.43±1.5 s, Nordic walking: −4.63±1.6 s, walking: −6.75±2.26 s), where Nordic walking and walking demonstrated a decrease in the TMT B-test (p<0.05; Nordic walking: −9.62±7.2 s, walking: −7.55±3.2 s). In addition, all exercise types produced significant decreases in the TMT AB test scores (p<0.05), and Nordic walking (p=0.035) showed decreases in the TMTB-TMTA-test. There were no immediate postexercise changes in the levels of BDNF or CTSB. Conclusion Acute bouts of golf, Nordic walking and walking improved cognitive functions irrespective of exerkines in healthy older adults. In addition, Nordic walking and walking in general enhanced executive functions. No significant effects were seen on the levels of BDNF and CTSB. Trial registration number ISRCTN10007294.
Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in the RhineNeckar/Heidelberg Region 01/2021 07/2023

At the beginning of 2021 the monitoring of the circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2 was established in Germany in accordance with the Corona Surveillance Act (discontinued after July 2023) to allow a better containment of the pandemic, because certain amino acid exchanges (especially) in the spike protein lead to higher transmission as well as a reduced vaccination efficacy. Therefore, our group performed whole genome sequencing applying the ARTIC protocol (currently V4) on Illumina's NextSeq 500 platform (and starting in May 2023 on the MiSeq DX platform) for SARS-CoV-2 positive specimen from patients of the Heidelberg University Hospital (and associated hospitals) as well as the Public health office in Rhine-Neckar/Heidelberg region. Our group sequenced a total of 26,795 SARS-CoV-2-positive samples between January 2021 and July 2023 - valid sequences, according to the requirements for sequence upload to the German electronic sequencing data hub (DESH) operated by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), could be determined for 24,852 samples, while the lineage/clade could be identified for 25,912 samples. While the year 2021 was very dynamic and changing regarding the circulating variants in the Rhine-Neckar/Heidelberg region with the initial non-variant of concerns, followed by A.27. RN and the rise of B.1. 1.7 in winter/spring and its displacement by B.1. 617.2 in spring/summer, which remained almost exclusive until the beginning of December and the first B.1. 1.529 incidences, which rose to a proportion of 40 percent by the end of 2021 (and superseded B.1.617.2 by January 2022 with a proportion of over 90 percent). The years 2022 and 2023 were then dominated by B.1. 1.529 and its numerous sublineages, especially BA.5 and BA.2, and more recently by the rise of recombinant variants, such as XBB.1. 5. By the end of July 2023 (and since calendar week 20) the proportion of the recombinant variants amounted to 100 percent of all circulating variants in the Rhine-Neckar/Heidelberg region.
The seasonal cycle of carbon dioxide on Mars

Results of Viking investigations relevant to the CO2 cycle on Mars are presented, and the extensive modeling efforts directed towards understanding this cycle and its couplings to the seasonal cycles of water and dust are reviewed. It is found that winter condensation is suppressed either because the solid CO2 deposits are inefficient radiators or because of the scattering effects of CO2 clouds. With regard to the qualitative difference between the spring regression curves and between the wind systems for the two seasonal caps, it is suggested that the greater amount of aerosols in the atmosphere during northern winter results in a greater proportion of atmospheric condensation there than in the south. The seasonal pressure curves obtained by the Viking Landers during four Martian years are remarkably similar. It is suggested that the CO2 cycle is not sensitive to atmospheric dust and the meteorological variations accompanying global storms or that some subtle cancellation between different mechanisms suppresses variations.
Orbital calibration of the Early Kimmeridgian (southeastern France): implications for geochronology and sequence stratigraphy

Classic stratigraphic methods rarely provide high‐resolution correlations between intrabasinal sedimentary sequences, which are important to understand the origin of sedimentation process and its environmental change. In this study, we investigate high‐resolution cyclostratigraphic correlation from magnetic susceptibility in two Early Kimmeridgian pelagic marl‐limestone successions, at La Méouge and Châteauneuf‐d'Oze, southeastern France. Spectral analysis reveals the complete suite of orbital frequencies (precession, obliquity, and eccentricity) with the marl‐limestone couplets being primarily precession‐driven. Frequencies detected by the spectral analysis are similar between the sections, but their relative amplitudes are somewhat different, linked to the palaeoenvironmental position and the completeness of the sections. High‐resolution correlation reveals two significant hiatuses at Châteauneuf‐d’Oze. Early Kimmeridgian Platynota, Hypselocyclum, and Divisum ammonite zones were orbitally calibrated for an ultra‐high resolution assessment of geological time. Finally, strong 405‐kyr eccentricity cycles are recorded as third‐order depositional sequences.
Cellular Calcium Activity at Depth Predicted from Surface Potential Recordings using Ultra-high Density Transparent Graphene Arrays

Recording brain activity with high spatial and high temporal resolution across deeper layers of cortex has been a long-sought methodology to study how neural information is coded, stored, and processed by neural circuits and how it leads to cognition and behavior. Electrical and optical neural recording technologies have been the key tools in neurophysiology studies toward a comprehensive understanding of the neural dynamics. The advent of optically transparent neural microelectrodes has facilitated multimodal experiments combining simultaneous electrophysiological recordings from the brain surface with optical imaging and stimulation of neural activity. A remaining challenge is to scale down electrode dimensions to single -cell size and increase the density to record neural activity with high spatial resolution across large areas to capture nonlinear neural dynamics at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Here, we developed microfabrication techniques to create transparent graphene microelectrodes with ultra-small openings and a large, completely transparent recording area. We achieved this by using long graphene microwires without any gold extensions in the field of view. To overcome the quantum capacitance limit of graphene and scale down the microelectrode diameter to 20 μm, we used Pt nanoparticles. To prevent open circuit failure due to defects and disconnections in long graphene wires, we employed interlayer doped double layer graphene (id-DLG) and demonstrated cm-scale long transparent graphene wires with microscale width and low resistance. Combining these two advances, we fabricated high-density microelectrode arrays up to 256 channels. We conducted multimodal experiments, combining recordings of cortical potentials with high-density transparent arrays with two-photon calcium imaging from layer 1 (L1) and layer 2/3 (L2/3) of the V1 area of mouse visual cortex. High-density recordings showed that the visual evoked responses are more spatially localized for high-frequency bands, particularly for the multi-unit activity (MUA) band. The MUA power was found to be strongly correlated with the cellular calcium activity. Leveraging this strong correlation, we applied dimensionality reduction techniques and neural networks to demonstrate that single-cell (L2/3) and average (L1 and L2/3) calcium activities can be decoded from surface potentials recorded by high-density transparent graphene arrays. Our high-density transparent graphene electrodes, in combination with multimodal experiments and computational methods, could lead to the development of minimally invasive neural interfaces capable of recording neural activity from deeper layers without requiring depth electrodes that cause damage to the tissue. This could potentially improve brain computer interfaces and enable less invasive treatments for neurological disorders.
Ongoing evolution of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis lactate dehydrogenase reveals the pleiotropic effects of bacterial adaption to host pressure

The bacterial determinants that facilitate Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) adaptation to the human host environment are poorly characterized. We have sought to decipher the pressures facing the bacterium in vivo by assessing Mtb genes that are under positive selection in clinical isolates. One of the strongest targets of selection in the Mtb genome is lldD2, which encodes a quinone-dependent L-lactate dehydrogenase (LldD2) that catalyzes the oxidation of lactate to pyruvate. Lactate accumulation is a salient feature of the intracellular environment during infection and lldD2 is essential for Mtb growth in macrophages. We determined the extent of lldD2 variation across a set of global clinical isolates and defined how prevalent mutations modulates Mtb fitness. We show the stepwise nature of lldD2 evolution that occurs as a result of ongoing lldD2 selection in the background of ancestral lineage defining mutations and demonstrate that the genetic evolution of lldD2 additively augments Mtb growth in lactate. Using quinone-dependent antibiotic susceptibility as a functional reporter, we also find that the evolved lldD2 mutations functionally increase the quinone-dependent activity of LldD2. Using 13C-lactate metabolic flux tracing, we find that lldD2 is necessary for robust incorporation of lactate into central carbon metabolism. In the absence of lldD2, label preferentially accumulates in methylglyoxal precursors dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P) and is associated with a discernible growth defect, providing experimental evidence for accumulated lactate toxicity via a methylglyoxal pathway that has been proposed previously. The evolved lldD2 variants increase lactate incorporation to pyruvate but also alter flux in the methylglyoxal pathway, suggesting both an anaplerotic and detoxification benefit to lldD2 evolution. We further show that the mycobacterial cell is transcriptionally sensitive to the changes associated with altered lldD2 activity which affect the expression of genes involved in cell wall lipid metabolism and the ESX-1 virulence system. Together, these data illustrate a multifunctional role of LldD2 that provide context for the selective advantage of lldD2 mutations in adapting to host stress.
BRD2 and BRD3 genes independently evolved RNA structures to control unproductive splicing

The mammalian BRD2 and BRD3 genes encode structurally related proteins from the bromodomain and extraterminal domain (BET) protein family. The expression of BRD2 is regulated by unproductive splicing upon inclusion of exon 3b, which is located in the region encoding a bromodomain. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that BRD2 exon 3b inclusion is controlled by a pair of conserved complementary regions (PCCR) located in the flanking introns. Furthermore, we identified a highly conserved element encoding a cryptic poison exon 5b and a previously unknown PCCR in the intron between exons 5 and 6 of BRD3, however outside of the homologous bromodomain. Minigene mutagenesis and blockage of RNA structure by antisense oligonucleotides demonstrated that RNA structure controls the rate of inclusion of poison exons. The patterns of BRD2 and BRD3 expression and splicing show downregulation upon inclusion of poison exons, which become skipped in response to transcription elongation slowdown, further confirming a role of PCCRs in unproductive splicing regulation. We conclude that BRD2 and BRD3 independently acquired poison exons and RNA structures to dynamically control unproductive splicing. This study describes a convergent evolution of regulatory unproductive splicing mechanisms in these genes providing implications for selective modulation of their expression in therapeutic applications.