Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
REAL-TIME CAMERA GUIDANCE FOR 3D SCENE RECONSTRUCTION

Abstract. We propose a framework for operator guidance during the image acquisition process for reliable multi-view stereo reconstruction. Goal is to achieve full coverage of the object and sufficient overlap. Multi-view stereo is a commonly used method to reconstruct both camera trajectory and 3D object shape. After determining an initial solution, a globally optimal reconstruction is usually obtained by executing a bundle adjustment involving all images. Acquiring suitable images, however, still requires an experienced operator to ensure accuracy and completeness of the final solution. We propose an interactive framework for guiding unexperienced users or possibly an autonomous robot. Using approximate camera orientations and object points we estimate point uncertainties within a sliding bundle adjustment and suggest appropriate camera movements. A visual feedback system communicates the decisions to the user in an intuitive way. We demonstrate the suitability of our system with a virtual image acquisition simulation as well as in real-world scenarios. We show that when following the camera movements suggested by our system, the proposed framework is able to generate good approximate values for the bundle adjustment, leading to accurate results compared to ground truth after few iterations. Possible applications are non-professional 3D acquisition systems on low-cost platforms like mobile phones, autonomously navigating robots as well as online flight planning of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Short-Term Prediction of Chaotic Time Series by Using RBF Network with Regression Weights

We propose a framework for constructing and training a radial basis function (RBF) neural network. The structure of the gaussian functions is modified using a pseudo-gaussian function (PG) in which two scaling parameters sigma are introduced, which eliminates the symmetry restriction and provides the neurons in the hidden layer with greater flexibility with respect to function approximation. We propose a modified PG-BF (pseudo-gaussian basis function) network in which the regression weights are used to replace the constant weights in the output layer. For this purpose, a sequential learning algorithm is presented to adapt the structure of the network, in which it is possible to create a new hidden unit and also to detect and remove inactive units. A salient feature of the network systems is that the method used for calculating the overall output is the weighted average of the output associated with each receptive field. The superior performance of the proposed PG-BF system over the standard RBF are illustrated using the problem of short-term prediction of chaotic time series.
Hypertensive Emergency : An Updated Review

Increased Arterial Blood Pressure remains as a major risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease in adults. Worldwide, hypertension affects as many as 1 billion people and isresponsible for approximately 7.1 million deaths per year, as well as one of the most common causes for myocardial infraction and stroke. Unmeasurable efforts have been made in order to find different treatment alternatives which might be suitable for most of populations.
Highly Reliable Inter/Intra-Stream FEC Method for Multi-Server Content Distribution

To establish seamless and highly robust contents distribution technology in the environment of so-called multiserver contents distribution network, we focus on the Forward Error Correction (FEC) as an error recovery method, and we have proposed the new concept, Inter-Stream FEC, that means data recovery method between several streams by introducing redundant parity streams generated by inter-stream cooperation. In this paper, we extensively improve the proposed basic method. We focus on the recovery failure events in the original Inter-Stream FEC method, and propose its remedy. The proposed method makes existing FEC and Inter-Stream FEC cooperate deeply and this leads to higher loss recovery ratio. Besides, we evaluate the basic method and the extensively proposed method through computer simulation and confirm that proposal can improve recovery capability.
Online learning in repeated auctions

Motivated by online advertising auctions, we consider repeated Vickrey auctions where goods of unknown value are sold sequentially and bidders only learn (potentially noisy) information about a good's value once it is purchased. We adopt an online learning approach with bandit feedback to model this problem and derive bidding strategies for two models: stochastic and adversarial. In the stochastic model, the observed values of the goods are random variables centered around the true value of the good. In this case, logarithmic regret is achievable when competing against well behaved adversaries. In the adversarial model, the goods need not be identical and we simply compare our performance against that of the best fixed bid in hindsight. We show that sublinear regret is also achievable in this case and prove matching minimax lower bounds. To our knowledge, this is the first complete set of strategies for bidders participating in auctions of this type.
Diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders Diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease Diagnosis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis Diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease Differential diagnosis of breast diseases

Detection of bacteriuria Detection of cancer (e.g., breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer and cancer of the pleura, pancreatic cancer; not an all-inclusive list) Diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders Diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease Diagnosis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis Diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease Differential diagnosis of breast diseases (e.g., breast cancer, cyclomastopathy, and mammary gland fibroma) Prediction of development of childhood obesity Use as markers for monitoring hemodialysis efficiency
Neural tuner development method to adjust PI-controller parameters on-line

The main objective of this research is to develop a method to construct a neural tuner of PI-controller parameters. Such tuning is necessary to improve energy efficiency of nonlinear industrial plants since the PI-controller is linear, and its parameters certain values are optimal only for a certain plant functioning mode. The tuner consists of a neural network calculating the controller parameters values and a rule base scheduling moments of the network training and learning rates values. Methods to select both the neural tuner structure and an appropriate neural network structure are proposed. The general network structure is defined by Cybenko, Horknick and Gorban theorems. The number of input layer neurons is chosen in accordance with a PI-controller difference equation. The number of neurons in a hidden layer calculation method is based on the number of input layer neurons, delayed setpoint and plant output signals used in the input layer and the number of points, which are used to average network input signals. Such methods do not use the plant model. Stability of a control system with the tuner is estimated for each transient using technical sustainability criteria. Proposed methods are applied to control empty and loaded electroheating furnace. Obtained results show that the tuner usage allows to achieve up to 6% plant energy efficiency improvement in comparison with the conventional PI-controller with constant parameters usage.
Structure of almost diagonal matrices

Classical and recent results on almost diagonal matri- ces are presented. These results measure the absolute and the relative distance between diagonal elements and the appropriate eigenvalues or singular values, and in case of multiple eigenvalues or singular values, reveal special structure in matrices. Simple MATLAB programs serve to illustrate how good the theoretical estimates are.
Cloning, mapping and molecular characterization of porcine progesterone receptor membrane component 2 (PGRMC2) gene

Progesterone plays an important role in sow reproduction by stimulating classic genomic pathways via nuclear receptors and non-genomic pathways via membrane receptors such a progesterone receptor membrane component 2 (PGRMC2). In this work, we used radiation hybrid mapping to assign PGRMC2 to pig chromosome 8 and observed that this receptor has two transcripts in pigs. The full-length cDNA of the large transcript is 1858 bp long and contains a 669-bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a protein of 223 amino acids. The shorter transcript encodes a protein of 170 amino acids. The porcine PGRMC2 gene consists of three exons 446 bp, 156 bp and 1259 bp in length. The promoter sequence is GC-rich and lacks a typical TATA box. Several putative cis-regulatory DNA motifs were identified in the 208-bp upstream genomic region. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected in introns* and the 3' UTR. RT-PCR indicated that the PGRMC2 gene is expressed ubiquitously in all pig tissues examined.
Improvement in maize bread quality through addition of pre-gelatinized starch, sourdough in combination with dough sheeting

Maize is produced under diverse environments in Africa and could be used for bread making to reduce cost of importing wheat. However, it lacks the unique viscoelastic properties of wheat gluten. Dough sheeting has shown to improve wheat flour of low protein quality. This investigation showed that maize bread of improved quality could be made from maize flour with the use of dough sheeting in combination with other treatments. Sheeting and pregelatinization of maize flour produced a cohesive dough. Tensile tests showed improved extensibility and strength for maize dough up to 15 sheeting passes. Alveography revealed that increased sheeting passes reduced the strength and extensibility of composite maize-zein dough. CLSM revealed intermingling of zein fibrils with the maize flour which caused presumably improved viscoelastic properties. Furthermore, zein improved gas holding. Addition of sourdough to maize produced bread with improved crumb texture. Stereomicroscopy showed elongated gas cells in the crumb of maize sourdough breads. The addition of DATEM produced a homogenous crumb texture for maize, maize-zein and maize sourdough breads. Dough sheeting in combination with pre-gelatinized maize flour (30 %), addition of sourdough fermented maize flour (80%) and DATEM (5%) has potential as a technology to produce good quality maize bread. © University of Pretoria 29 4.
Pre-operative serum vascular endothelial growth factor can select patients for adjuvant treatment after curative resection in colorectal cancer

We aim to determine the clinical usefulness of pre-operative serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) as a predictor of outcome in patients undergoing curative resection for colorectal cancer. Serum VEGF was assayed by quantitative ELISA in 81 patients prior to curative resection for node-negative (n = 53) and node-positive (n = 28) disease. Median follow-up for patients without cancer death was 27 months (range 21–37). Pre-operative serum VEGF was significantly higher in patients who went on to develop metastases than those who did not (median, 713 pg ml–1 vs. 314 pg ml–1, P < 0.0001). Using multivariate Cox regression analysis, pre-operative serum VEGF was the most important prognostic factor independent of nodal status and adjuvant chemotherapy, and was superior to nodal status in predicting outcome (P < 0.00001). At 575 pg ml–1, pre-operative serum VEGF was 64% sensitive and 89% specific in predicting the development of metastases in curative resections, with a positive predictive value of 73% and a negative predictive value of 85%. Pre-operative serum VEGF is a powerful predictor of outcome following curative surgery for colorectal cancer. These data support the measurement of pre-operative serum VEGF as a method for selecting patients who require adjuvant therapy. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer. com
Role of tumour necrosis factor and reactive oxygen intermediates in lipopolysaccharide‐induced pulmonary oedema and lethality

The purpose of this study was to characterize the role of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and neutrophils (PMN) in the pathogenesis of pulmonary oedema induced by endotoxin (lipopolysac‐charide (LPS)). Intraperitoneal administration to BALB/c mice of 0–6–1 mg of LPS caused pulmonary oedema and lethality. This was associated with production of TNF in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and with accumulation of PMN in the lung. In this experimental model, we could block TNF production by different means: pretreatment 30 min before LPS with 4 mg/kg of i.p. chlorpromazine (CPZ), 3 mg/kg of i.p. dexamethasone (DEX), 1 g/kg p.o. of N‐acctylcysteine (NAC, an antioxidant precursor of glutathione), or an anti‐TNF MoAb. CPZ, DEX and anti‐TNF completely prevented LPS lethality but not pulmonary oedema or pulmonary PMN infiltration, indicating that: (i) lung oedema is not the main cause of death after LPS; and (ii) lung oedema induced by LPS is not mediated by TNF. Pretreatment with NAC not only inhibited TNF production but also protected against LPS‐induced pulmonary oedema, indicating that reactive oxygen intermediates are implicated. NAC also blocked TNF production in blood and in bronchoalveolar lavage. We also tested the effect of PMN depletion induced with cyclophosphamide (CP) or 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU). While no pulmonary PMN infiltrate was observed in PMN‐depleted mice, neutropenia did not prevent LPS lethality or oedema, indicating PMN do not play an important role in the toxic effects of LPS in this experimental model.
A dual-layer bus arbiter for mixed-criticality systems with hypervisors

In mixed-criticality systems, applications with different levels of criticality are integrated on the same computational platform. Without a proper isolation of the different applications of such a mixed-criticality system certification gets expensive, because it has to be shown that application components of lower criticality do not hamper the correct operation of the critical applications. Therefore, all components - even the less critical ones - have to be certified for the highest criticality level. For single core platforms the use of hypervisors promises to shield applications of different criticality from each other. Timing problems may emerge when the hypervisor is ported to a multicore platform where different cores access the global memory concurrently. We show, that full temporal isolation of applications executing on different cores is only achievable if the hypervisor is run on appropriate hardware. The presented dual-layer bus arbiter enables critical applications to preserve isolation properties and also improves the execution performance of noncritical applications.
The Marital Process and HIV/AIDS in Rural Malawi

This article has since been published, please cite this published version: Clark, Shelly, Michelle Poulin, and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2009 "Marital Aspirations, Sexual Behaviors, and HIV/AIDS in Rural Malawi. " Journal of Marriage and Family 71(2):396 416. Available online at: http://www3.interscience. wiley.com/journal/ 122328396/abstract Using both qualitative and quantitative data from young men and women in rural Malawi, this paper takes an in-depth look at how youths in an AIDS-afflicted sub-Saharan country – Malawi – attempt to achieve the dual goals of avoiding HIV/AIDS and finding a suitable spouse. For youths in Malawi facing AIDS epidemics, we show that the process leading to marriage, with its concurrent rapid changes in sexual partnerships and sexual behaviors, is integrally related to HIV/AIDS risks. In addition, concerns about HIV/AIDS appear to be influencing adolescents’ marital aspirations with respect to the timing of marriage as well as the selection of spousal partners. Many youths are clearly failing to find safe pathways into marriage, indicating a strong need for far greater research and policy attention on the dynamic relationship between HIV risks and the marital process.
Textural Characteristics and Friction Properties of Facial Tissues

In the current study, we conducted sensory tests for facial tissues that are commercially available in Japan, and we also tested the friction generated by the rubbing of these tissues on an artificial skin model. Using these results, we investigated the factors affecting the textural characteristics of the facial tissues. The tissue sample which contained a moisturizing agent had the highest evaluation score among the samples. Mean friction coefficient decreased as the sliding velocity decreased for low normal loads. The tissue samples which contained moisturizing agents had the low friction coefficients. From the multiple regression analysis to obtain the highest value of the adjusted coefficient of determination, the mean friction coefficient for a normal load of 0.49 N and a sliding velocity of 1 mm/s was the only parameter surprisingly that could be used to predict the evaluation scores; specifically, there was a negative correlation between the mean friction coefficient and the scores. In order to reduce the friction, one should seek to increase the moisture content of a facial tissue or decrease the tensile strength perpendicular to the fiber direction in dry facial tissues. Increasing the elastic modulus and surface roughness and decreasing the fiber diameter were effective methods for reducing the friction coefficient of facial tissues that did not contain moisturizing agents.
Global Consequences of Land Use

Land use has generally been considered a local environmental issue, but it is becoming a force of global importance. Worldwide changes to forests, farmlands, waterways, and air are being driven by the need to provide food, fiber, water, and shelter to more than six billion people. Global croplands, pastures, plantations, and urban areas have expanded in recent decades, accompanied by large increases in energy, water, and fertilizer consumption, along with considerable losses of biodiversity. Such changes in land use have enabled humans to appropriate an increasing share of the planet's resources, but they also potentially undermine the capacity of ecosystems to sustain food production, maintain freshwater and forest resources, regulate climate and air quality, and ameliorate infectious diseases. We face the challenge of managing trade-offs between immediate human needs and maintaining the capacity of the biosphere to provide goods and services in the long term.
Analysis of Laboratory Repeat Critical Values at a Large Tertiary Teaching Hospital in China

Context As a patient safety measure, laboratories are required to have a critical values policy by regulatory agencies. Unfortunately, little information is available on repeat critical values for the same analyte(s) on the same patient. Objective To investigate the occurrence and distribution of repeat critical values and the relationship between the frequency of such values and patient outcome to provide information for hospitals on improving reporting policies. Methods Eleven laboratory critical value lists, including chemistry and hematology analytes, were selected from a tertiary hospital in China in the year 2010. The distribution and interval time for each repeat critical value were calculated. Serum potassium and platelet count were used as examples to illustrate the relationship between the frequency of the repeat critical values and patient outcome. Results All test items on the critical value list were prone to the occurrence of repeat critical values. On average, each patient who experienced critical values had 2.10 occurrences. The median interval time for each repeat critical value varied, with most being longer than 8 hours. For those patients who had repeat critical values of serum potassium and platelet count, along with the increased frequency, the patients had a longer hospital stay and a generally worse outcome. Conclusions Patient can have a number of repeat critical values and the frequency of these values is closely related to patient outcome. A careful evaluation is warranted if a laboratory chooses to adopt a policy of not reporting each repeat critical value.
Surface Roughness Analysis and Measurement Techniques 2.1 the Nature of Surfaces 2.2 Analysis of Surface Roughness Average Roughness Parameters @bullet Statistical Analyses @bullet Fractal Characterization @bullet Practical Considerations in Measurement of Roughness Parameters 2.3 Measurement of Sur

2.1 The Nature of Surfaces 2.2 Analysis of Surface Roughness Average Roughness Parameters • Statistical Analyses • Fractal Characterization • Practical Considerations in Measurement of Roughness Parameters 2.3 Measurement of Surface Roughness Mechanical Stylus Method • Optical Methods • Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) Methods • Fluid Methods • Electrical Method • Electron Microscopy Methods • Analysis of Measured Height Distribution • Comparison of Measurement Methods 2.4 Closure
Distribution Aware Collaborative Spread Replication for Rare Objects in Unstructured Peer-to-Peer Networks

Existing unstructured peer-to-peer networks have low efficiency to locate the rare objects. Although various algorithms have been provided to address this problem, they do not distinguish whether the objects are rare or not and always incur unnecessary bandwidth consumption. In this paper, we presented a distribution aware replication method for rare objects. Unlike the traditional replication method, we not only replicate the objects but also replicate the peers’ requirement, because we believe that the rare objects are also always rarely queried. Distribution aware can control the number of the copy to avoid unnecessary overhead. Our replication methods are actually index replication named collaborative spread index replication. The distribution aware methods include the multi-hop aware and random walk sampling aware. When execute replicating, the algorithm will decide whether replicating the index or not according to the local distribution information obtained. The experimental results show that distribution aware replication can well support to find the rare objects in unstructured peer-to-peer networks with low overhead.
Urban helicopter response to the scene of injury.

Metropolitan Houston with a population of four million has the nation's poorest freeway system. Its two Level I trauma centers are adjacent within a centrally located freeway loop, therefore the city is ideally suited for a trauma scene helicopter transport service. During 1981 there were 577 flights to the scene of injury (blunt, 466; penetrating, 111). Flights were requested by 60 agencies (EMS, law enforcement, etc.). All flights were manned by a surgical resident and flight nurse. The flight distances ranged from 2 to 57 miles (average, 14.4). Three hundred six flights (53%) were within the city, including 59 (10.2%) within the freeway loop. In approximately one half of the flights, the initial responding EMS unit was a paramedic unit. The average time at the scene was 28 minutes. The overall mortality for trauma scene flights was 35.7% (206/577). Eighty-nine patients (15.1%) died at the scene and were not transported (initial median scene Trauma Score, 2). The mortality among transported patients was 24.0% (117/488). Twenty-nine patients died during attempted emergency-center resuscitation (initial median scene Trauma Score, 5). Eight-eight patients died after hospital admission (initial median scene Trauma Score, 10). Only 27 patients (5.5%) did not require hospitalization. Scene treatment (intubation, hyperventilation and, when appropriate, mannitol administration) was routinely initiated for patients with severe head injuries. Two hundred seventy-nine patients required cardiopulmonary resuscitation, tracheal intubation, chest-tube placement, or other invasive procedures. Based upon these resuscitative efforts and invasive procedures, a physician in attendance was deemed medically desirable for one half of the flights. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)