Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Integration of Adaptive and Interactive Robotic Smart Spaces

Abstract Enabling robots to seamlessly operate as part of smart spaces is an important and extended challenge for robotics R&D and a key enabler for a range of advanced robotic applications, such as AmbientAssisted Living (AAL) and home automation. The integration of these technologies is currently being pursued from two largely distinct view-points: On the one hand, people-centred initiatives focus on improving the user’s acceptance by tackling human-robot interaction (HRI) issues, often adopting a social robotic approach, and by giving to the designer and - in a limited degree – to the final user(s), control on personalization and product customisation features. On the other hand, technologically-driven initiatives are building impersonal but intelligent systems that are able to pro-actively and autonomously adapt their operations to fit changing requirements and evolving users’ needs, but which largely ignore and do not leverage human-robot interaction and may thus lead to poor user experience and user acceptance. In order to inform the development of a new generation of smart robotic spaces, this paper analyses and compares different research strands with a view to proposing possible integrated solutions with both advanced HRI and online adaptation capabilities.
Communication and Stochastic Processes in Some Bacterial Popelations: Significance for Membrane Computing

Intercellular communication between bacterial cells belonging to the same population is well documented in Microbiology, sporulation and cannibalism in B. Subtilis and genetic competence and fratricide in S. pneumoniae being deeply studied in the last years. The investigation of individual cell behavior has revealed that populations of these bacteria sometimes bifurcate into phenotypically distinct, but genetically identical, subpopulations by random switching mechanisms. The probabilistic nature of the random switching mechanisms, the occurrence of some biochemical processes related to it at plasma membrane and the need to study the processes at the level of each individual cell make intercellular communication and stochastic processes very suitable to be modeled by P systems.
Speeding up coverage queries in 3D multi-goal path planning

In this paper, we present a supporting structure for speeding up visibility queries needed for a 3D multi-goal path planning arising from a robotic coverage problem where goals are sensing locations from which an object of interest can be covered. Although such coverage problems can be addressed by a decomposed approach where sensing locations are determined prior finding the sequence of their visits, the proposed approach is motivated by a solution of the problem in which sensing locations are simultaneously determined together with evaluation of the path connecting them in order to provide a cost effective inspection path. The proposed structure divides the space into elements that support determination of suitable sensing locations to cover the objects during solution of the multi-goal path planning.
Bright Lyman-alpha Emitters at z~9: constraints on the luminosity function from HiZELS

New results are presented, as part of the Hi-z Emission Line Survey (HiZELS), from the largest area survey to date (1.4 sq.deg) for Lyman-alpha emitters (LAEs) at z~9. The survey, which is primarily targeting H-alpha emitters at z 7 by Galactic brown dwarf stars is also examined, leading to the conclusion that such contamination may well be significant for searches at 7.7
Pharmacologic agents for smoking cessation: A clinical review

Tobacco use has been clearly demonstrated to have negative health consequences. Smoking cigarettes is the predominant method of tobacco use. The tar contained within cigarettes and other similar products is also harmful. Other tarless tobacco containing products do exist but carry no significantly decreased risk. While nicotine is considered to be principally responsible for tobacco addiction, other chemicals in the cigarette smoke including acetaldehyde may contribute to the addictive properties of tobacco products. The adverse health consequences of tobacco use have been well documented. Studies have shown that a combined behavioral and pharmacological approach is more effective in smoking cessation than either approach alone. Pharmacotherapy can achieve 50% reduction in smoking. With pharmacotherapy the estimated 6-month abstinence rate is about 20%, whereas it is about 10% without pharmacotherapy. The first-line of drugs for smoking cessation are varenicline, bupropion sustained release, and nicotine replacement drugs, which are approved for use in adults. Data are insufficient to recommend their use in adolescents. This article reviews the use of pharmacological agents used for smoking cessation. A brief overview of epidemiology, chemistry, and adverse health effects of smoking is provided.
Personality Profiling of Juvenile Delinquents through Thematic Apperception Test

Personality is a relatively stable pattern of behavior, thoughts, or actions that distinguish one person from another. The present study aims to profile the personality of juvenile delinquents using a projective technique to develop a perspective on the relationships between the individual characteristics and the array of crime committed by juvenile offenders. The study followed a qualitative design using Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) for the collection of data. The sample consisted of five male juvenile delinquents belonging to the age range of 16–18 years in Delhi. The data were analyzed using Leopold Bellack’s method of TAT analysis. The findings indicated that most of the people involved in criminal activities face relationship issues either with the family members or with peers. Social and cultural factors have emerged to be some of the major contributors to the act of delinquency by juveniles. The study can be replicated in schools and correctional homes to identify the psychopathic traits and develop appropriate strategies to reform the personality of the juveniles.
Brain and intersubjectivity: a Hegelian hypothesis on the self-other neurodynamics

Human beings live in a social context, where interacting with others is crucial for survival, and having a clear representation of both the “self” and the “other” is needed (Baumeister, 2011). Interestingly, neuroscience has traditionally adopted a Cartesian perspective by which the self is a solipsistic and self-sufficient unit, fundamentally unrelated to the other individuals' representation. Since the last decade, however, neuroscience is increasingly promoting research about how the “self” and the “other” are processed and represented at both intra- (Decety and Sommerville, 2003; Denny et al., 2012; Wagner et al., 2012; Molnar-Szakacs and Uddin, 2013) and inter-brain level (Dumas et al., 2010, 2012). Nevertheless, the specific way whereby neural self-other representations co-occur and exert influence on each other in order to promote higher-order functions necessary for social functioning remains largely unclear. We propose that the philosophical theory of intersubjectivity (Hegel, 1807/1977) could integrate neuroscience findings and, in turn, shed new light on the self-other dynamics at neurocognitive level.
Motion deblurring as optimisation

Motion blur is one of the most common causes of image degradation. It is of increasing interest due to the deep penetration of digital cameras into consumer applications. In this paper, we start with a hypothesis that there is sufficient information within a blurred image and approach the deblurring problem as an optimisation process where the deblurring is to be done by satisfying a set of conditions. These conditions are derived from first principles underlying the degradation process assuming noise-free environments. We propose a novel but effective method for removing motion blur from a single blurred image via an iterative algorithm. The strength of this method is that it enables deblurring without resorting to estimation of the blur kernel or blur depth. The proposed iterative method has been tested on several images with different degrees of blur. The obtained results have been compared with state of the art techniques including those that require more than one input image. The results are consistently of high quality and comparable or superior to the existing methods which demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed technique.
A Case for Mobile Agent Patterns

In this position paper, we make a case for the development of mobile agent patterns. Patterns have proven extremely useful to the object-oriented programming community. However, of the large amount of pattern research, little effort has been devoted to developing mobile agent patterns. We wish to correct this situation. We believe that the ongoing success of mobile agent systems depends on the development of software engineering principles for them. Patterns are a recognized means to this end, and one that we wish
On Improved DCT Based Channel Estimation with Very Low Complexity for MIMO-OFDM Systems

This paper deals with a novel transform domain channel estimation (TD-CE) based on discrete cosine transform (DCT) for the MIMO-OFDM system. After the description of the conventional DCT based method, a channel estimation scheme improved in terms of both performance and complexity using small DCT blocks is proposed. Finally the efficiency of this estimator is evaluated within IEEE802.11n and 3GPP/LTE system contexts.
Reflections on Reform: A Former Teacher Looks at School Change and the Factors that Shape It

This paper discusses literature on the factors that contribute to and detract from reforms being implemented in schools from the perspective of a former teacher. The effects of school culture, the emotional and relational aspects of teaching and the change process, the importance of professional development, the need for time in teachers’ professional lives, and school leadership are analyzed. Also considered are the reasons various school reform efforts succeed or fail. The paper also considers the impact of social and political factors on schools and discusses the effects of “best practice” research on teachers’ decisions to change.
Noise Emission of a 200 kW Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

The noise emission from a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) has been investigated. A noise measurement campaign on a 200 kW straight-bladed VAWT has been conducted, and the result has been compared to a semi-empirical model for turbulent-boundary-layer trailing edge (TBL-TE) noise. The noise emission from the wind turbine was measured, at wind speed 8 m/s, 10 m above ground, to 96.2 dBA. At this wind speed, the turbine was stalling as it was run at a tip speed lower than optimal due to constructional constraints. The noise emission at a wind speed of 6 m/s, 10 m above ground was measured while operating at optimum tip speed and was found to be 94.1 dBA. A comparison with similar size horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) indicates a noise emission at the absolute bottom of the range. Furthermore, it is clear from the analysis that the turbulent-boundary-layer trailing-edge noise, as modeled here, is much lower than the measured levels, which suggests that other mechanisms are likely to be important, such as inflow turbulence.
Lesions induced in rodent pancreas by azaserine and other pancreatic carcinogens.

Focal proliferative changes in the acinar cells of the pancreas of rats have been induced by several systemically administered carcinogens including azaserine, N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine, N-nitroso-(2-hydroxypropyl) (2-oxopropyl)amine, and N delta-(N-methyl-N-nitrosocarbamoyl)-L-ornithine (MNCO). Foci, nodules, and adenomas induced by these carcinogens are usually made up of atypical-appearing acinar cells that maintain a high degree of differentiation, but a minority of these lesions exhibit anaplastic cellular changes that suggest the development of malignant potential. Such anaplasia may occupy the whole of smaller lesions or may occur as a secondary focal change within larger nodules or adenomas. Many foci and nodules per pancreas have been induced by single or multiple exposures to these known genotoxic carcinogens, but relatively few of them develop into carcinomas. Azaserine and MNCO have induced acinar cell carcinomas in rats. Those induced by azaserine have exhibited a broad spectrum of histologic variants, including ductlike cystic, and undifferentiated patterns. Higher doses of MNCO have induced a second pattern of change in the pancreatic lobules of rats, which includes cystic and tubular ductlike structures that have been called cystic and tubular ductal complexes. MNCO has also induced focal acinar cell lesions, cystic and tubular ductal complexes, and adenocarcinomas in the pancreas of Syrain golden hamsters. In this species, ductal complexes are much more numerous than are proliferative lesions of acinar cells, and the histologic appearance of the carcinomas is ductlike. Hyperplasia and atypical changes were also seen in the epithelium of the intralobular ducts of hamsters. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) ImagesFIGURE 1.FIGURE 2.FIGURE 3.FIGURE 4.
Assessment framework and operational definitions for long-term scenarios

To navigate among the long-term challenges for global and national food security, policy makers cannot rely on qualitative analysis only. They also need quantitative tools to measure and rank the different issues that they will face and the policy responses that can be designed. FOODSECURE proposes state-of-the art simulation models that will give both researchers and policy makers the capacity to study these issues in a comprehensive framework. This paper is aimed at providing an overview of the different modeling solutions proposed in the FOODSECURE toolbox and defines a strategy for using the different models in a consistent manner. First, the different models are briefly described and compared. Next, we see how these models tackle key food security indicators and drivers and translate different assumptions about the future within their framework. We then discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses of the different models to address different policy questions. Finally, we discuss how to combine these models and which optimal level of model integration should be used for analysis.
Proteomics Approach to the Study of Cattle Tick Adaptation to White Tailed Deer

Cattle ticks, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, are a serious threat to animal health and production. Some ticks feed on a single host species while others such as R. microplus infest multiple hosts. White tailed deer (WTD) play a role in the maintenance and expansion of cattle tick populations. However, cattle ticks fed on WTD show lower weight and reproductive performance when compared to ticks fed on cattle, suggesting the existence of host factors that affect tick feeding and reproduction. To elucidate these factors, a proteomics approach was used to characterize tick and host proteins in R. microplus ticks fed on cattle and WTD. The results showed that R. microplus ticks fed on cattle have overrepresented tick proteins involved in blood digestion and reproduction when compared to ticks fed on WTD, while host proteins were differentially represented in ticks fed on cattle or WTD. Although a direct connection cannot be made between differentially represented tick and host proteins, these results suggested that differentially represented host proteins together with other host factors could be associated with higher R. microplus tick feeding and reproduction observed in ticks fed on cattle.
Population dynamic consequences of allee effects.

We take a well-known dynamic model of an isolated, unstructured population and modify this to include a factor that allows for a reduction in fitness due to declining population sizes, often termed an Allee effect. Analysis of the behaviour of this model is carried out on two fronts - determining the equilibrium values and examining the stability of these equilibria. Our results point to the stabilising effect on population dynamics of the Allee effect and an unexpected increase in stability with increased competition due to the interaction between competitive and Allee effects.
Detecting Location-Based Enumerating Bursts in Georeferenced Micro-Posts

Nowadays, a large number of georeferenced micro-posts, i.e., short messages including location information, are posted on social media sites. People transmit and collect information over the Internet through these georeferenced micro-posts, which are usually related to not only personal topics but also local topics and events. Detecting local topics and events in georeferenced micro-posts is beneficial for many different geo-mobile application domains. Burstiness is one of the simplest and most effective criteria for extracting hot topics and events in micro-posts. In this paper, we propose a novel burst detection algorithm for detecting location-based enumerating bursts in georeferenced micro-posts. To evaluate the proposed burst detection algorithm, we used an actual set of georeferenced micro-posts, which are crawling tweets posted on the Twitter site. The experimental results show that our new burst detection algorithm can detect location-based enumerating bursts.
A Political Economy of Agricultural Markets in South India: Masters of the Countryside

Introduction The Case for a Political Economy of Markets, Institutions and Policy Reform Field Methods and Data Agrarian Structure in Coimbatore District, South India Exchange Relations and the Marketed Surplus The Marketing Systems Marketing Activity, Economic Power and Spatial Patterns Capital and Money in the Market Systems Labour and the Social Construction of Market Systems Merchant's Land and Control of Production State Regulation, Economic Crime and Bureaucratic Corruption Accumulation and its Politics Conclusion Agricultural Markets of Coimbatore District
The Proteasome Inhibition Model of Parkinson’s Disease

The pathological hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease are the progressive loss of nigral dopaminergic neurons and the formation of intracellular inclusion bodies, termed Lewy bodies, in surviving neurons. Accumulation of proteins in large insoluble cytoplasmic aggregates has been proposed to result, partly, from a failure in the function of intracellular protein degradation pathways. Evidence in support for such a hypothesis emerged in the beginning of the years 2000 with studies demonstrating structural and functional deficits in the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in post-mortem nigral tissue of patients with Parkinson’s disease. These fundamental findings have inspired the development of a new generation of animal models based on the use of proteasome inhibitors to disturb protein homeostasis and trigger nigral dopaminergic neurodegeneration. In this review, we provide an updated overview of the current approaches in employing proteasome inhibitors to model Parkinson’s disease, with particular emphasis on rodent studies. In addition, the mechanisms underlying proteasome inhibition-induced cell death and the validity criteria (construct, face and predictive validity) of the model will be critically discussed. Due to its distinct, but highly relevant mechanism of inducing neuronal death, the proteasome inhibition model represents a useful addition to the repertoire of toxin-based models of Parkinson’s disease that might provide novel clues to unravel the complex pathogenesis of this disorder.
Fusion bases for affine Lie algebras

Fusion coefficients for affine Lie algebras are fixed by the corresponding tensorproduct coefficients and a set of threshold levels. It is shown how the information concerning the threshold level is coded in the fusion basis, which is a set of inequalities that completely describes the fusion coefficients. The construction of the ŝu(2) fusion basis is presented in detail. 1. Fusion rules, tensor products and threshold levels We first introduce some basic concepts (and a bit of notation) in order to prepare the ground for the formulation of fusion rules in terms of a fusion basis. Fusion rules give the number of independent couplings between three given primary fields in conformal field theories. Here we are interested to those conformal field theories having a Lie group symmetry. These are the Wess-Zumino-Witten models [1, 2], whose generating spectrum algebra is an affine Lie algebra at integer level. Their primary fields are in 1-1 correspondence with the integrable representations of the appropriate affine Lie algebra at level k. Denote this set by P (k) + and a primary field by the corresponding affine weight λ̂. Fusion coefficients N (k) λ̂μ̂ ν̂ are defined by the product
A novel dynamic clustering algorithm and its application in fuzzy modeling

A novel dynamic evolutionary clustering algorithm (DECA) is proposed in this paper to overcome the shortcomings of fuzzy modeling method based on general clustering algorithms that fuzzy rule number should be determined beforehand. DECA searches for the optimal cluster number by using the improved genetic techniques to optimize string lengths of chromosomes; at the same time, the convergence of clustering center parameters is expedited with the help of Fuzzy C-Means(FCM) algorithm. Moreover, by introducing memory function and vaccine inoculation mechanism of immune system, at the same time, DECA can converge to the optimal solution rapidly and stably. The proper fuzzy rule number and exact premise parameters are obtained simultaneously when using this efficient DECA to identify fuzzy models. The effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy modeling method based on DECA is demonstrated by simulation examples, and the accurate non-linear fuzzy models can be obtained when the method is applied to the thermal processes.
AF-equivalence relations and their cocycles

After a review of some of the main results about hyperfinite equivalence relations and their cocycles in the measured setting, we give a definition of a topological AF-equivalence relation. We show that every cocycle is cohomologous to a quasi-product cocycle. We then study the problem of determining the quasi-invariant probability measures admitting a given cocycle as their Radon-Nikodym derivative.
Association of vitamin D receptor gene variants with polycystic ovary syndrome: A case control study

Background: Vitamin D and insulin play an important role in susceptibility to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and therefore vitamin D receptor (VDR), parathyroid hormone (PTH), and insulin receptor (INSR) gene variants might be involved in the pathogenesis of PCOS. Objective: The present study was designed to investigate the possible associations between polymorphisms in VDR, PTH, and INSR genes and the risk of PCOS. Materials and Methods: VDR, PTH, and INSR gene variants were genotyped in 35 women with PCOS and 35 controls using Polymerase chain reaction – Restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Furthermore, serum levels of glucose and insulin were measured in all participants. Results: No significant differences were observed for the VDR FokI, VDR Tru9I, VDR TaqI, PTH DraII, INSR NsiI, and INSR PmlI gene polymorphisms between the women with PCOS and controls. However, after adjustment for confounding factors, the VDR BsmI “Bb” genotype and the VDR ApaI "Aa" genotype were significantly under transmitted to the patients (p= 0.016; OR= 0.250; 95% CI= 0.081-0.769, and p= 0.017; OR= 0.260; 95% CI= 0.086-0.788, respectively). Furthermore, in the women with PCOS, insulin levels were lower in the participants with the INSR NsiI "NN" genotype compared with those with the "Nn + nn" genotypes (P= 0.045). Conclusion: The results showed an association between the VDR gene BsmI and ApaI polymorphisms and PCOS risk. These data also indicated that the INSR "NN" genotype was a marker of decreased insulin in women with PCOS. Our findings, however, do not lend support to the hypothesis that PTH gene DraII variant plays a role in susceptibility to PCOS.