Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An overview of non-central cameras 1 Hynek Bakstein

Several cameras used for panoramic vision or mosaicing cannot be modeled by perspective projections. A summary of existing methods employing these so called non-central cameras is presented in this paper. It is shown that non-central cameras are widely used and that there are advantages and reasons for their employment. However, many standard computer vision theorems and algorithms (for example the epipolar constraint) are designed for and require central cameras. Outlook for research in theory of non-central cameras targeted to their suitability for use with these theorems and algorithms is proposed at the end of this paper.
Closed loop navigation for multiple micro robots

Micro robotic agents are more difficult to control than `macro' robots as they suffer from a number of inherit limitations. In this work we apply a previous result on decentralized navigation to the case of micro robots. The micro-robots we are interested in, move like unicycles with bounded turning radius. To control these micro-robots, we use a multi-level control strategy. In the upper level the agents are thought as omnidirectional. The middle layer maps these movements into the motion of a unicycle, and finally the lower level drive controls the micro-agent. We present simulations to demonstrate the validity of this approach.
Testing Weak Form of Efficient Market Hypothesis: Empirical Evidence from South Asia

2 Abstract: With the advent of world crisis in developed western economies during first decade of 21 century st investors' focus shifted towards East. South Asian markets displayed outstanding performance in this era. One of the major attractions for investors is the market efficiency of underlying economy. This study has examined the weak form of efficient market hypothesis on the four major stock exchanges of South Asia including, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Historical index values on a monthly, weekly and daily basis for a period of 14 Years (1997-2011) were used for analysis. We applied four statistical tests including runs test, serial correlation, unit root and variance ratio test. Findings suggest that none of the four major stock markets of south-Asia follows Random-walk and hence all these markets are not the weak form of efficient market. To our knowledge this is the first ever study is being conducted which covers leading South Asian markets, hence an evidence on market efficiency of this region is being contributed in literature.
Low Power , Reduced Dynamic Voltage Swing Domino Logic Circuits

Dynamic domino logic circuits are widely used in modern digital VLSI circuits. These dynamic circuits are often favoured in high performance designs because of the speed advantage offered over static CMOS logic circuits. The main drawbacks of dynamic logic are a lack of design automation, a decreased tolerance to noise and increased power dissipation. In this work, new reduced – swing domino logic techniques which provide significant low power dissipation as compared to traditional domino circuit structures are proposed. The key idea of the new design styles is to limit both the upper and lower bounds of the voltage swing at the internal dynamic node. The voltage swing at the input and output of the circuits remains full – swing. The design styles are compared by performing detailed transistor level simulations on benchmark circuits such as OR2 gate, AND2 gate, XOR2 gate, 16-bit adder, 16-bit Comparator and 4-bit LFSR(Linear Feedback Shift Register) using Dsch3 and Microwind3 CAD tool.
Bi-directional ABR mechanism (decreasing feedback delays)

The ABR mechanism was designed for controlling the traffic flows in ATM networks. The key factor for efficient and stable controlling of traffic control loops is fast transfer of feedback control information from the network back to the traffic source. In ABR mechanism so-called resource management (RM) cells are used for this purpose. The limited number of these control cells is especially noticeable in local area networks with negligible round trip time delays, when lower bit rates (less than 1 Mbit/s) are in question. Bi-directional ABR connections are composed of two independent unidirectional ABR connections each having its own flow of RM cells. Our proposal is to modify existing RM cells in such a way that each RM cell will be able to transfer control information for both directions at the same time. With the use of such modified RM cells and some modifications in network elements, the ABR control loop response time can be substantially reduced for a relatively small price. The number of RM cells in the network and therefore the amount of overhead information remains unchanged.
Interaction on the edge: offset sensing for small devices

The touch screen interaction paradigm, currently dominant in mobile devices, begins to fail when very small systems are considered. Specifically, "fat fingers", a term referring to the fact that users' extremities physically obstruct their view of screen content and feedback, become particularly problematic. This paper presents a novel solution for this issue based on sensing touches to the perpendicular edges of a device featuring a front-mounted screen. The use of such offset contact points ensures that both a user's fingers and the device screen remain clearly in view throughout a targeting operation. The configuration also supports a range of novel interaction scenarios based on the touch, grip and grasp patterns it affords. To explore the viability of this concept, this paper describes EdgeTouch, a small (6 cm) hardware prototype instantiating this multi-touch functionality. User studies characterizing targeting performance, typical user grasps and exploring input affordances are presented. The results show that targets of 7.5-22.5 degrees in angular size are acquired in 1.25-1.75 seconds and with accuracy rates of 3%-18%, promising results considering the small form factor of the device. Furthermore, grasps made with between two and five fingers are robustly identifiable. Finally, we characterize the types of input users envisage performing with EdgeTouch, and report occurrence rates for key interactions such as taps, holds, strokes and multi-touch and compound input. The paper concludes with a discussion of the interaction scenarios enabled by offset sensing.
Cancer Related Fatigue: A Focus on Breast Cancer Patients Under Chemotherapy

Introduction: Fatigue is a common and frequently disabling symptom in cancer patients and cancer survivors. Fatigue may be caused by the disease itself, by treatment for the disease, by physical symptoms or conditions resulting from the disease or its treatment. The aim of this study was to assess fatigue and related factors in breast cancer patients. Material & Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on 119 random samples of breast cancer patients. The Iranian version of QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 questionnaires were used. Univariate methods and multiple regression analysis were performed to identify predictors of fatigue. Results: Overall, 78% of the patients indicated that they were experiencing fatigue to some degree. The mean score on the fatigue subscale was 41.74±26.91. Of all functional subscales, fatigue showed the strongest influence on social functioning. Linear regression analyses showed that total fatigue was best predicted by pain, appetite loss, body image and type of treatment. Conclusion: Our results support the notion that fatigue in cancer patients is a major problem, which deserves yet more attention from health professionals, and that quality of life in cancer patients might be improved markedly by interventions that effectively reduce fatigue.
Extraction of Lakes from Satellite Imagery

We address the problem of finding the bounding contour of a lake in high-resolution satellite imagery. The proposed solution consists of a novel approach for probabilistic contour grouping when some prior (possibly rough) knowledge about the lake is known. Such knowledge is available, for example, from an existing GIS. The grouping process is based on a Bayesian approach and a constructive algorithm. We use four object cues that are calculated for each edge segment in the image, and four grouping cues between consecutive edges on the lake boundary. We derived statistical models for these cues by using data from a training set of lakes, for which an IKONOS image and NTDB (Canadian National Topographic Database) polygonal data are available, and for which the contours have been traced manually. We then test the algorithm on new lakes. For the latter, we obtained independent measurements of the actual contour by eight geomatics experts. These measurements are used for the evaluation of the results. A quantitative analysis of the results shows that our algorithm improved on the accuracy of the prior GIS models by an average of 41%. The accuracy of our algorithm is comparable to human expert accuracy.
An emotion understanding system

Emotions convey information. We present an emotion understanding system to excavate information from emotions. The system infers mental states, personalities and cooperativeness of agents, related actions, and related events from agents' emotions by the rule-like meta-knowledge about emotions. Our system can be used for agents to make decisions, process knowledge, and interact with users.
An Integrated Genomic Approach to Identify Predictive Biomarkers of Response to the Aurora Kinase Inhibitor PF-03814735

PF-03814735 is a novel, reversible inhibitor of Aurora kinases A and B that finished a phase I clinical trial for the treatment of advanced solid tumors. To find predictive biomarkers of drug sensitivity, we screened a diverse panel of 87 cancer cell lines for growth inhibition upon PF-03814735 treatment. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and, to a lesser extent, colon cancer lines were very sensitive to PF-03814735. The status of the Myc gene family and retinoblastoma pathway members significantly correlated with the efficacy of PF-03814735. Whereas RB1 inactivation, intact CDKN2A/p16, and normal CCND1/Cyclin D1 status are hallmarks of SCLC, activation or amplification of any of the three Myc genes (MYC, MYCL1, and MYCN) clearly differentiated cell line sensitivity within the SCLC panel. By contrast, we found that expression of Aurora A and B were weak predictors of response. We observed a decrease in histone H3 phosphorylation and polyploidization of sensitive lines, consistent with the phenotype of Aurora B inhibition. In vivo experiments with two SCLC xenograft models confirmed the sensitivity of Myc gene-driven models to PF-03814735 and a possible schedule dependence of MYC/c-Myc–driven tumors. Altogether our results suggest that SCLC and other malignancies driven by the Myc family genes may be suitable indications for treatment by Aurora B kinase inhibitors. Mol Cancer Ther; 11(3); 710–9. ©2012 AACR.
Clinical Impact of Ultrasound-Related Techniques on the Diagnosis of Focal Liver Lesions

Since its introduction in clinical practice, ultrasound technology has greatly impacted patient management, particularly in the case of liver diseases, where hepatologists usually perform ultrasound examinations. Clinicians are increasingly aware of the great potential of ultrasound waves and of the recent innovations that exploit the mechanical properties of ultrasound waves. Thus, at present, not only B-mode ultrasound but also contrast-enhanced ultrasound and, more recently, elastosonography are used worldwide in various settings. This review aims to describe why clinicians should be aware of ultrasound-based techniques, how they should use these techniques for assessing focal liver lesions, and how these techniques impact patient management. We will review the clinical potential of ultrasound-related techniques, starting from lesion detection, moving to characterization, and concluding with their utility in guiding treatments and analyzing their effects.
Impact of IT Outsourcing on Business & IT Alignment

Business & IT alignment (BIA) has been an area of interest in both industry and academic research for over 35 years. It received signi cant attention from the strategic alignment model article published by Henderson & Venkatraman in 1992. BIA is about the integration of IT for the business. All businesses focus on opportunities to grow, constantly aiming to obtain predetermined targets using strategies such as customer intimacy, operational excellence or best product. It is the expectation that the IT organisation enables and drives this growth, recognizing that the IT organisation must contend with their own challenges. The development and implementation of their respective strategies often lead to discrepancies. The result is a gap between business & IT. BIA is about closing that gap. The assumption is that doing nothing means creating a chasm. BIA is consistently reported as a key concern of business & IT management as one of the top 3 concerns in the last decade.
Crystallographic studies on lactate dehydrogenase at –75°C

Crystals of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were frozen by equilibration in a sucrose-ammonium sulfate solution, and then dipping into liquid nitrogen. The rate of radiation damage for frozen crystals was tenfold less than for crystals at room temperature. The physical properties of frozen crystals are discussed. Analysis of 3"5 A data collected at -75°C for native LDH and two heavy atom derivatives showed that these derivatives retained their isomorphism in the frozen state.
Genome Information of Methylobacterium oryzae, a Plant-Probiotic Methylotroph in the Phyllosphere

Pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophs in the Rhizobiales are widespread in the environment, and many Methylobacterium species associated with plants produce plant growth-promoting substances. To gain insights into the life style at the phyllosphere and the genetic bases of plant growth promotion, we determined and analyzed the complete genome sequence of Methylobacterium oryzae CBMB20T, a strain isolated from rice stem. The genome consists of a 6.29-Mb chromosome and four plasmids, designated as pMOC1 to pMOC4. Among the 6,274 coding sequences in the chromosome, the bacterium has, besides most of the genes for the central metabolism, all of the essential genes for the assimilation and dissimilation of methanol that are either located in methylotrophy islands or dispersed. M. oryzae is equipped with several kinds of genes for adaptation to plant surfaces such as defense against UV radiation, oxidative stress, desiccation, or nutrient deficiency, as well as high proportion of genes related to motility and signaling. Moreover, it has an array of genes involved in metabolic pathways that may contribute to promotion of plant growth; they include auxin biosynthesis, cytokine biosynthesis, vitamin B12 biosynthesis, urea metabolism, biosorption of heavy metals or decrease of metal toxicity, pyrroloquinoline quinone biosynthesis, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deamination, phosphate solubilization, and thiosulfate oxidation. Through the genome analysis of M. oryzae, we provide information on the full gene complement of M. oryzae that resides in the aerial parts of plants and enhances plant growth. The plant-associated lifestyle of M. oryzae pertaining to methylotrophy and plant growth promotion, and its potential as a candidate for a bioinoculant targeted to the phyllosphere and focused on phytostimulation are illuminated.
Modeling video streaming over VANETs

Transmitting video over Vehicular Adhoc NETworks (VANETs) is a hard-to-manage task. This is due to VANET problems (attenuation, packet losses, changing topology, etc.) and video streaming high requirements. To find out the feasibility of video streaming over VANETs and which error resilience strategies can improve video quality, testing is necessary. A real test with hundreds of vehicles communicating to each other is not an easy to get benchmark. So, modeling vehicular networks is mandatory to predict the behavior of video streaming applications and evaluate the feasibility of deploying vehicular video services. In this paper we present a set of available software tools for VANETs and video streaming modeling. A complete experiment is drawn from scratch to illustrate the usage of these tools.
Efficacy and safety of fondaparinux for the prevention of venous thromboembolism in older acute medical patients: randomised placebo controlled trial

Abstract Objective To determine the efficacy and safety of the anticoagulant fondaparinux in older acute medical inpatients at moderate to high risk of venous thromboembolism. Design Double blind randomised placebo controlled trial. Setting 35 centres in eight countries. Participants 849 medical patients aged 60 or more admitted to hospital for congestive heart failure, acute respiratory illness in the presence of chronic lung disease, or acute infectious or inflammatory disease and expected to remain in bed for at least four days. Interventions 2.5 mg fondaparinux or placebo subcutaneously once daily for six to 14 days. Outcome measure The primary efficacy outcome was venous thromboembolism detected by routine bilateral venography along with symptomatic venous thromboembolism up to day 15. Secondary outcomes were bleeding and death. Patients were followed up at one month. Results 425 patients in the fondaparinux group and 414 patients in the placebo group were evaluable for safety analysis (10 were not treated). 644 patients (75.9%) were available for the primary efficacy analysis. Venous thrombembolism was detected in 5.6% (18/321) of patients treated with fondaparinux and 10.5% (34/323) of patients given placebo, a relative risk reduction of 46.7% (95% confidence interval 7.7% to 69.3%). Symptomatic venous thromboembolism occurred in five patients in the placebo group and none in the fondaparinux group (P = 0.029). Major bleeding occurred in one patient (0.2%) in each group. At the end of follow-up, 14 patients in the fondaparinux group (3.3%) and 25 in the placebo group (6.0%) had died. Conclusion Fondaparinux is effective in the prevention of asymptomatic and symptomatic venous thromboembolic events in older acute medical patients. The frequency of major bleeding was similar for both fondaparinux and placebo treated patients.
Token analysis of graph-oriented process models

In Business Process Management, graph-based models are used to represent coordination protocols between collaborating partners as well as for service orchestration and composition. At runtime however, current process engines are commonly based on mainly block-structured languages, such as BPEL, that differ structurally and semantically from process graphs. Recent work has accomplished elaborate mappings between both representations. Although most mappings strongly depend on the segmentation of the graph-model into components, the necessary graph-decomposition itself is not described in these works. This paper presents a novel approach based on Token Analysis to automatically identify components. The technique also allows for optimizations by integrating further steps in the translation of process graphs to executable workflows.
LTE spectral efficiency using spatial multiplexing MIMO for macro-cells

This paper considers the Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) capacity enhancement considering the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, in the downlink, including the effects of system bandwidth and Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) efficiency. Firstly, the system bandwidth efficiency is calculated for LTE framework. Then, the SNR efficiency using Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) is approximated using curve fitting. The used fitting function is an attenuated and truncated form of the Shannon bound in order to approximate the LTE composite spectral efficiency for the Modulation and Coding Set (MCS). Finally, the total capacity expected results are calculated for different multi-antenna configurations, revealing large capacity gains when compared with Single Input Single Output (SISO).
Game theory based H infinity filter approach for estimating the number of competing terminals in IEEE 802.11 networks

The performance of the IEEE 802.11 protocol based on the distributed coordination function (DCF) depends on the number of competing terminals. We propose game theory-based extended H∞ filter approach to the problem of estimating the number of competing terminals. The proposed approach has an advantageous feature that the noise information of the dynamic state system and the measurement equation is not required in its applications as opposed to the case of the Kalman filter. Simulation results show that H∞ filter outperforms the Kalman filter in estimating the number of competing terminals in both saturated and non-saturated conditions. In particular, the performance of the proposed approach is more satisfactory in non-saturated condition.
Time-series representation of biological information utilizing a constellation graph

To examine human health, we need to check changes over time in the states of various vital signs such as blood pressure, body temperature, and blood glucose level. As long as the human body is alive, vital signs are the values that keep delicately fluctuating within a certain range due to homeostasis, and it is possible to predict signs of diseases when vital signs fluctuate widely. Therefore, it is necessary to check the variations in the time series. In this research, we developed a system that can display time-series variations of vital signs, including delicate changes in values, on a semicircular graph. As an example, we show the fluctuation of the Lyapunov exponent, which relates to mental health in sympathetic nerves, and which the author has been researching, in a time-series constellation graph.
Therapeutic Anti-Angiogenesis for Malignant Brain Tumors

Malignant brain tumors, especially malignant gliomas, have a poor prognosis, a fact which has remained unchanged over the last decades despite the employment of multimodal therapeutic approaches. Malignant gliomas are among the most vascularized tumors known and the amount of vascularization has been correlated to their prognosis. Since tumor growth is dependent on concomitant vascularization, recent experimental studies have focused on the use of anti-angiogenic molecules as a novel strategy in brain tumor therapy. Angiogenesis inhibitors target at proliferating endothelial cells and suppress the formation of a sufficient vascular bed. Inhibitors such as TNP-470, suramin and angiostatin have shown their therapeutic potential in experimental studies. In a clinical setting, they could be applied for the treatment of multiple tumors or postsurgically as an adjuvant therapy to prevent recurrence. This article discusses presently available anti-angiogenic agents, emphasizing on substances already in clinical trials.
A Role for Provenance in Social Computation

We argue that existing systems to support social computation suffer from a lack of transparency and that this can be addressed by integrating provenance capture mechanisms into such systems. We discuss how Semantic Web technologies can be used to facilitate this, and how the provenance record could be used to support various forms of decision-making about tasks such as workforce selection.