Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measurement of the timing behaviour of off-the-shelf cameras

This paper presents a measurement method suitable for investigating the timing properties of cameras. A single light source illuminates the camera detector starting with a varying defined delay after the camera trigger. Pixels from the recorded camera frames are summed up and normalised, and the resulting function is indicative of the overlap between illumination and exposure. This allows one to infer the trigger delay and the exposure time with sub-microsecond accuracy. The method is therefore of interest when off-the-shelf cameras are used in reactive systems or synchronised with other cameras. It can supplement radiometric and geometric calibration methods for cameras in scientific use. A closer look at the measurement results reveals deviations from the ideal camera behaviour of constant sensitivity limited to the exposure interval. One of the industrial cameras investigated retains a small sensitivity long after the end of the nominal exposure interval. All three investigated cameras show non-linear variations of sensitivity at to during exposure. Due to its sign, the latter effect cannot be described by a sensitivity function depending on the time after triggering, but represents non-linear pixel characteristics.
Analysis of muscle synergy contribution on human standing-up motion using a neuro-musculoskeletal model

It is important to understand the mechanism of human standing-up motion to improve the declined physical ability of the elderly people. This study employs the concept of muscle synergies (modular structure of coordinative muscle activation) to understand how humans coordinate their muscles to achieve the standing-up motion. Neuro-musculoskeletal model was developed to represent human body to generate standing-up motion. Using the developed model, forward dynamic simulation was used to analyze how humans utilized the muscle synergies to realize the motion. Results showed that the developed model could generate the standing-up motion with four muscle synergies rather than controlling individual muscles. Moreover, further analysis showed that three different strategies of the standing-up motion could be generated only by changing the start time of the particular muscle synergy.
Predictability of atmospheric boundary‐layer flows as a function of scale

Predictability analysis based on the maximum Lyapunov exponent considers infinitesimal perturbations, which are associated with errors in the smallest fastest‐evolving scales of motion. However, these errors become irrelevant for the predictability of larger scale motions. In this study we employ the newly developed Finite Size Lyapunov Exponent (FSLE) analysis to assess predictability of atmospheric boundary layer flows as a function of scale. We demonstrate the expected enhanced predictability at large scales and quantify the dependence of predictability on the stability of the atmospheric environment.
Continuum Equilibria for Routing in Dense Static Ad Hoc Networks

We consider massively dense ad hoc networks and study their continuum limits as the node density increases and as the graph providing the available routes becomes a continuous area with location and congestion dependent costs. We study both the global optimal solution as well as the non-cooperative routing problem among a large population of users where each user seeks a path from its origin to its destination so as to minimize its individual cost. Finally, we seek for a (continuum version of the) Wardrop equilibrium. We first show how to derive meaningful cost models as a function of the scaling properties of the capacity of the network and of the density of nodes. We present various solution methodologies for the problem: (1) the viscosity solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation, for the global optimization problem, (2) a method based on Green's Theorem for the least cost problem of an individual, and (3) a solution of the Wardrop equilibrium problem using a transformation into an equivalent global optimization problem.
Robotics and Autonomous Systems Robot planning and control

Planning and control are two basic components of autonomous robot systems. In recent years, significant advances have been made in both these areas. However, these developments have continued to be carried out in isolation, and the gap between planning and control remains an important one. This article discusses the ongoing effort at Stanford University for the extension of real-time robot control capabilities in the context of integrated robot planning and control. The goal is to develop a layer of real-time sensor-based motion primitives that connects planning and control. The article presents the basic models and methodologies developed for addressing this research area.
Handwritten Digit Recognition Using Rotations

Handwritten digit recognition is a subproblem of the well-known optical recognition topic. In this work, we propose a new feature extraction method for offline handwritten digit recognition. The method combines basic image processing techniques such as rotations and edge filtering in order to extract digit characteristics. As classifiers, we use k-NN (k Nearest Neighbor) and Support Vector Machines (SVM). The methods are tested on a commonly employed database of handwritten digits' images, MNIST (Mixed National Institute of Standards and Technology) on which the classification rate is over 99%.
Directed Hamilton Cycles in Digraphs and Matching Alternating Hamilton Cycles in Bipartite Graphs

In 1972, Woodall raised the following Ore-type condition for directed Hamilton cycles in digraphs: Let $D$ be a digraph. If for every vertex pair $u$ and $v$, where there is no arc from $u$ to $v$, we have $d^+(u)+d^-(v)\geq |D|$, then $D$ has a directed Hamilton cycle. By a correspondence between bipartite graphs and digraphs, the above result is equivalent to the following result of Las Vergnas: Let $G = (B,W)$ be a balanced bipartite graph. If for any $b \in B$ and $w \in W$, where $b$ and $w$ are nonadjacent, we have $d(w) +d(b) \geq |G|/2 + 1$, then every perfect matching of $G$ is contained in a Hamilton cycle. The lower bounds in both results are tight. In this paper, we reduce both bounds by $1$ and prove that the conclusions still hold, with only a few exceptional cases that can be clearly characterized.
Nearly Instance Optimal Sample Complexity Bounds for Top-k Arm Selection

In the Best-$k$-Arm problem, we are given $n$ stochastic bandit arms, each associated with an unknown reward distribution. We are required to identify the $k$ arms with the largest means by taking as few samples as possible. In this paper, we make progress towards a complete characterization of the instance-wise sample complexity bounds for the Best-$k$-Arm problem. On the lower bound side, we obtain a novel complexity term to measure the sample complexity that every Best-$k$-Arm instance requires. This is derived by an interesting and nontrivial reduction from the Best-$1$-Arm problem. We also provide an elimination-based algorithm that matches the instance-wise lower bound within doubly-logarithmic factors. The sample complexity of our algorithm strictly dominates the state-of-the-art for Best-$k$-Arm (module constant factors).
Opportunities for 2-[18F] Fluoro-2-Deoxy-D-Glucose PET/CT in Cervical-Vaginal Neuroendocrine Carcinoma: Case Series and Literature Review

Objective Neuroendocrine cervical carcinoma is a rare subtype of cervical cancer. These tumors exhibit an aggressive behavior with early regional lymph node and distant metastases. The purpose of our study was to describe five cases of neuroendocrine cervical-vaginal carcinoma and to discuss the potential of the 2-[18F] fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) scan for the detection of this rare malignancy. Materials and Methods Five cases of cervical-vaginal neuroendocrine tumor were retrospectively collected, during a two year (from September 2009 to August 2011) period in our hospital. The clinical staging distributions were International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IB2 (1 of 5), stage IIA (3 of 5) and stage IVA (1 of 5). Results Two cases (cases 1 and 4) were restaged after 18F-FDG PET/CT scan in the initial staging process. Post-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT scans, in three patients, revealed positive findings for tumor recurrence or lymph node metastases. Two patients (cases 2 and 3) died of tumor within two years. Conclusion 18F-FDG PET/CT scan is a useful tool in cervical-vaginal neuroendocrine tumor. In its initial staging, the 18F-FDG PET/CT scan may help assess the possible nodal involvement or early hematogeneous spreading. We can also use the 18F-FDG PET/CT to detect local recurrence and to evaluate the treatment response after clinical manipulation.
Work Time and 11-Year Progression of Carotid Atherosclerosis in Middle-Aged Finnish Men

Introduction Studies of the relationship between work time and health have been inconclusive. Consequently, we sought to examine the effect of work time on progression of atherosclerosis. Methods This prospective study of 621 middle-aged Finnish men evaluated effects of baseline and repeat measures of work time on 11-year progression of ultrasonographically assessed carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and interactions with cardiovascular disease. Multiple linear regression models adjusted for 21 biological, behavioral, and psychosocial risk factors. Results Working 3 (minimum), 5 (medium), or 7 (maximum) days per week at baseline was associated with 23%, 31%, and 40% 11-year increases in IMT, respectively. The relative change ratio (RCR) at maximum vs minimum was 1.14 for baseline days worked per week and 1.10 for hours worked per year of follow-up. Significant interactions existed between cardiovascular disease and work time. Men with ischemic heart disease (IHD) who worked the maximum of 14.5 hours per day experienced a 69% increase in IMT compared with a 29% increase in men without IHD. The RCR ratio for IHD (RCRIHD/RCRno IHD) was 1.44 for hours per day. Similarly, the RCR ratio for baseline carotid artery stenosis was 1.29 for hours per day and 1.22 for hours per year. Conclusion Increases in work time are positively associated with progression of carotid atherosclerosis in middle-aged men, especially in those with preexisting cardiovascular disease. Our findings are consistent with the hemodynamic theory of atherosclerosis.
Technology transfer at Motorola

While developing a formal software-review process, a working group at Motorola devised a technology-transfer model that is built on process packages, each one targeted to a different user group. Their model allows for tailoring, makes training and consulting widely available, and relies on champions. The approach helps development organizations focus on the technology they really need, devise solutions, and transfer those solutions to development teams. We report on experiences using this approach in the last five years (1989-94) and the lessons learnt. <<ETX>>
Receptor heterogeneity and its effect on sensitivity and coding range in olfactory sensory neurons

Signal processing in the olfactory system is initiated by binding of odorant molecules to receptor molecules embedded in the membranes of sensory neurons. Most analyses of odorant—receptor interaction focus on one or more types of odorants binding with one type of receptors. Here, two basic models of this first step are investigated under the assumption that the population of receptors is not homogenous and is characterized by different activation/deactivation rates. Both, discrete and continuous variation of the rates are considered. The steady-state characteristics of the models are derived. In addition, time to crossing a threshold, defined as a response time, is also investigated. The achieved results are compared with those valid for models with the homogenous population of receptors and interpreted in terms of information coding. The obvious implications of the modeling study—that the heterogeneity of receptors enlarges the coding range and increases the sensitivity of the system—are quantified.
THE NATURALIST IN MEDICINE WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO AUSTRALIA

IT is two hundred years since the birth of Edward Jenner. His observations and deductions on the cowpox led to one of the greatest advances in the control of disease. Ma~y addresses have been given recently in honour of this bicentenary. A hundred years later, on July 27, 1849, Archibald Watson was born near Albury. During the course of his medical career as professor of anatomy in the University of Adelaide, he contributed more than anyone else in Australia to the application of anatomical knowledge in the fullest extent to surgical procedures. So valuable were his observations and recommendations that his fame extended to Britain and the Continent of Europe and the United States and he was welcomed with enthusiasm by surgeons and' anatomists wherever he went. Sir Henry Newland, in the first Archibald Watson Memorial Lecture given in Adelaide on May 1, 1947, in a magnificent address, presented the main facts of Watson's medical career and showed clearly what a large part he took in the advance of surgery in Australia and abroad. Sir Henry also gave biographical details and anecdotes and impressions so vividly and so fully that he has left to his successors in these lectures little fresli to add in these respects. Re-
Enhanced S-cone function with preserved rod function: a new clinical phenotype

Purpose To describe the clinical findings and genetic analysis in two brothers having a novel retinal disease characterized by an enhanced S-cone phenotype with normal rod function. Methods Both patients underwent complete ophthalmologic examinations, including fundus photography, electroretinography (ERG), fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Mutation analysis of the following candidate genes was performed: nuclear receptor subfamily 2 group E member 3 (NR2E3), neural retina leucine zipper (NRL), nuclear receptor subfamily 1 group D member 1 (NR1D1), and thyroid hormone receptor beta (THRB). Results Spectral photopic ERG responses demonstrated enhanced S-cone function in both patients. Their scotopic b-wave ERG amplitude responses, however, were within normal limits. Their scotopic a-wave amplitude responses were within the lower limit of normal. The a- and b-wave latencies were normal for one sibling and on the upper limit of normal for the other. Peripheral retinal findings were normal. OCT showed flattening of the macular curvature and thinning of the photoreceptor layer. Mutation analysis of NR2E3, NRL, NR1D1, and THRB genes was negative. Conclusions We describe what appears to be a previously unidentified familial retinal phenotype with enhanced S-cone function and well preserved rod system function in contrast to the severely reduced rod function seen in the enhanced S-cone syndrome (ESCS). Genetic analysis of candidate genes did not reveal the cause of disease. We postulate that the disease might be caused by mutation of another, as yet unidentified gene, which encodes a protein that functions as a negative inhibitor of rod and S-cone development.
Does an instrumented treadmill correctly measure the ground reaction forces?

Summary Since the 1990s, treadmills have been equipped with multi-axis force transducers to measure the three components of the ground reaction forces during walking and running. These measurements are correctly performed if the whole treadmill (including the motor) is mounted on the transducers. In this case, the acceleration of the treadmill centre of mass relative to the reference frame of the laboratory is nil. The external forces exerted on one side of the treadmill are thus equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the external forces exerted on the other side. However, uncertainty exists about the accuracy of these measures: due to friction between the belt and the tread-surface, due to the motor pulling the belt, some believe that it is not possible to correctly measure the horizontal components of the forces exerted by the feet on the belt. Here, we propose a simple model of an instrumented treadmill and we demonstrate (1) that the forces exerted by the subject moving on the upper part of the treadmill are accurately transmitted to the transducers placed under it and (2) that all internal forces – including friction – between the parts of the treadmill are cancelling each other.
Salt tolerance in indica rice cell cultures depends on a fine tuning of ROS signalling and homeostasis

Among cereal crops, salinity tolerance is rare and complex. Multiple genes control numerous pathways, which constitute plant’s response to salinity. Cell cultures act as model system and are useful to investigate the salinity response which can possibly mimic a plant’s response to stress. In the present study two indica rice varieties, KS-282 and Super Basmati which exhibited contrasting sodium chloride (NaCl) stress response were used to establish cell cultures. The cell cultures showed a contrasting response to salt stress at 100 mM NaCl. High level of intracellular hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and nitric oxide (NO) were observed in sensitive cell culture for prolonged period as compared to the tolerant cells in which an extracellular H2O2 burst along with controlled intracellular H2O2 and NO signal was seen. To evaluate the role of NO in inducing cell death under salt stress, cell death percentage (CDP) was measured after 2-4-carboxyphenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (cPTIO) pre-treatment. CDP was reduced significantly in both tolerant and sensitive cell cultures emphasizing NO’s possible role in programmed cell death. Expression analysis of apoplastic NADPH oxidase, i.e. OsRbohA and recently characterised OSCA family members i.e. OsOSCA 1.2 and OsOSCA 3.1 was done. Intracellular H2O2/NO levels displayed an interplay between Ca2+ influx and ROS/RNS signal. Detoxifying enzyme (i.e. ascorbate peroxidase and catalase) activity was considerably higher in tolerant KS-282 while the activity of superoxide dismutase was significantly prominent in the sensitive cells triggering greater oxidative damage owing to the prolonged presence of intracellular H2O2. Salt stress and ROS responsive TFs i.e. OsSERF1 and OsDREB2A were expressed exclusively in the tolerant cells. Similarly, the expression of genes involved in maintaining high [K+]/[Na+] ratio was considerably higher and earlier in the tolerant variety. Overall, we suggest that a control over ROS production, and an increase in the expression of genes important for potassium homeostasis play a dynamic role in salinity tolerance in rice cell cultures.
A Bio-Psycho-Socio-Molecular Approach to Pain and Stress Management

Stress and trauma are interconnected with the experience of pain. This connection is due to a physiological coupling of underlying molecular autoregulatory mechanisms, as well as phenomenological similarities. Nonpharmaceutical therapeutic approaches such as the relaxation response, a process that supports physiological stress reduction and decreases the negative mental and physical effects of stress, also facilitate pain relief, again demonstrating physiological commonalties. These behavioral approaches have a critical impact on molecular patterns of autoregulation, leading to the assumption of a bio-psycho-socio-molecular model of autoregulation, including stress and pain. Thus, molecules and behavior may be seen as two sides of the same problem in pain and stress relief.
Phosphorylation-dependent regulation of Notch1 signaling: the fulcrum of Notch1 signaling

Notch signaling plays a pivotal role in cell fate determination, cellular development, cellular self-renewal, tumor progression, and has been linked to developmental disorders and carcinogenesis. Notch1 is activated through interactions with the ligands of neighboring cells, and acts as a transcriptional activator in the nucleus. The Notch1 intracellular domain (Notch1-IC) regulates the expression of target genes related to tumor development and progression. The Notch1 protein undergoes modification after translation by posttranslational modification enzymes. Phosphorylation modification is critical for enzymatic activation, complex formation, degradation, and subcellular localization. According to the nuclear cycle, Notch1-IC is degraded by E3 ligase, FBW7 in the nucleus via phosphorylation-dependent degradation. Here, we summarize the Notch signaling pathway, and resolve to understand the role of phosphorylation in the regulation of Notch signaling as well as to understand its relation to cancer. [BMB Reports 2015; 48(8): 431-437]
A DISCOURSE ON THREE COMBINATORIAL DISEASES

Frank Harary in his article [2] was the first to speak of combinatorial diseases (actually, he spoke of graphical diseases). His original diseases were the four-colour disease, the hamiltonian disease and the reconstruction disease. Shortly thereafter, Read and Corneil [9] have discussed the graph isomorphism disease, and somewhat later, Huang, Kotzig and Rosa [4] spoke of a labelling disease. When does a combinatorial problem become a disease? Certainly the extreme ease of formulating the problem has something to do with it: most identified ”diseases” are understandable to undergraduates or even to good high school students. They are highly contagious, and so they attract the attention of not only professional mathematicians but also of scores of layman mathematicians. In what follows I would like to discuss briefly three of my favourite diseases: the labelling disease, the Erdös-Faber-Lovász disease, and Buratti’s problem.
Quantitative blood speed imaging with intravascular ultrasound

Previously, we presented a method of real-time arterial color flow imaging using an intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging system, where real-time RF A-scans were processed with an FIR (finite-impulse response) filter bank to estimate relative blood speed. Although qualitative flow measurements are clinically valuable, realizing the full potential of blood flow imaging requires quantitative flow speed and volume measurements in real time. Unfortunately, the rate of RF echo-to-echo decorrelation is not directly related to scatterer speed in a side-looking IVUS system because the elevational extent of the imaging slice varies with range. Consequently, flow imaging methods using any type of decorrelation processing to estimate blood speed without accounting for spatial variation of the radiation pattern will have estimation errors that prohibit accurate comparison of speed estimates from different depths. The FIR filter bank approach measures the rate of change of the ultrasound signal by estimating the slow-time spectrum of RF echoes. A filter bank of M bandpass filters is applied in parallel to estimate M components of the slow-time DFT (discrete Fourier transform). The relationship between the slow-time spectrum, aperture diffraction pattern, and scatterer speed is derived for a simplified target. Because the ultimate goal of this work is to make quantitative speed measurements, we present a method to map slow time spectral characteristics to a quantitative estimate. Results of the speed estimator are shown for a simulated circumferential catheter array insonifying blood moving uniformly past the array (i.e., plug flow) and blood moving with a parabolic profile (i.e., laminar flow).
The PAPR Problem in OFDM Transmission: New Directions for a Long-Lasting Problem

Energy efficiency matters in future mobile communications networks. The key driving factor is the growing energy cost of network operations that can make up as much as 50% of the total operational cost today [1]. In the context of green information and communication technology (ICT), this has led to many global initiatives such as the Green Touch consortium.