Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teaching the Foundations in AI: Mobile Robots and Symbolic Victories

Introductory AI courses present students with difficult theoretical issues related to the intelligence and behavior of agents operating in the world. We believe that mobile robot projects, when integrated with readings and discussions, help students bridge the gap between abstract AI theory and implementation. In this article we describe an introductory AI class designed around readings, discussion, and student-led mobile robot projects. We then review the outcome of a recent robot project. Finally, we report on the results of surveys taken during the semester to evaluate the success of the course in forming student opinions towards intelligence and agency.
Gradient based Approach for Text Detection in Video Frames

In this paper we propose a simple but efficient methodology for text detection in video frames. The method is based on the gradient information and edge map selection. In the proposed method we first find the gradient of the image and then enhance the gradient information. We later binarized the enhanced gradient image and select the edges by taking the intersection of the edge map with the binary information of the enhanced gradient image. We use the Canny edge detector for generating the edge map. The selected edges are then morphologically dilated and opened using suitable structuring elements and used for text regions. We then perform the projection profile analysis to identify the boundary of the text region. At the end, we implement a false positive elimination methodology to improve the text detection results. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the existing methods in terms of detection rate, false positive rate and misdetection rate.
A Complex Genetic Basis to X-Linked Hybrid Male Sterility Between Two Species of House Mice

The X chromosome plays a central role in the evolution of reproductive isolation, but few studies have examined the genetic basis of X-linked incompatibilities during the early stages of speciation. We report the results of a large experiment focused on the reciprocal introgression of the X chromosome between two species of house mice, Mus musculus and M. domesticus. Introgression of the M. musculus X chromosome into a wild-derived M. domesticus genetic background produced male-limited sterility, qualitatively consistent with previous experiments using classic inbred strains to represent M. domesticus. The genetic basis of sterility involved a minimum of four X-linked factors. The phenotypic effects of major sterility QTL were largely additive and resulted in complete sterility when combined. No sterility factors were uncovered on the M. domesticus X chromosome. Overall, these results revealed a complex and asymmetric genetic basis to X-linked hybrid male sterility during the early stages of speciation in mice. Combined with data from previous studies, we identify one relatively narrow interval on the M. musculus X chromosome involved in hybrid male sterility. Only a handful of spermatogenic genes are within this region, including one of the most rapidly evolving genes on the mouse X chromosome.
Use of Kalman filters for renewable energy sources isolation transformers current harmonics compensation

This paper is focused on the analysis of a Kalman filter performance when introduced in the current control loop of a distributed generator connection inverter. The goal is to use this kind of filter to reduce the harmonic content of the currents injected by this equipment in their point of common coupling. The study has been performed by means of simulation, using Matlab-Simulink, and by implementing the filter on a DSP in our lab. Both, simulation and experimental results, clearly demonstrate that this kind of control system can improve the response produced by the inverters. The elimination of certain well-known noisy harmonics introduced by an element such as the isolation low voltage transformer has been in this way accomplished.
Nuclear Dynamics, Mitosis, and the Cytoskeleton during the Early Stages of Colony Initiation in Neurospora crassa

ABSTRACT Neurospora crassa macroconidia form germ tubes that are involved in colony establishment and conidial anastomosis tubes (CATs) that fuse to form interconnected networks of conidial germlings. Nuclear and cytoskeletal behaviors were analyzed in macroconidia, germ tubes, and CATs in strains that expressed fluorescently labeled proteins. Heterokaryons formed by CAT fusion provided a rapid method for the imaging of multiple labeled fusion proteins and minimized the potential risk of overexpression artifacts. Mitosis occurred more slowly in nongerminated macroconidia (1.0 to 1.5 h) than in germ tubes (16 to 20 min). The nucleoporin SON-1 was not released from the nuclear envelope during mitosis, which suggests that N. crassa exhibits a form of “closed mitosis. ” During CAT homing, nuclei did not enter CATs, and mitosis was arrested. Benomyl treatment showed that CAT induction, homing, fusion, as well as nuclear migration through fused CATs do not require microtubules or mitosis. Three ropy mutants (ro-1, ro-3, and ro-11) defective in the dynein/dynactin microtubule motor were impaired in nuclear positioning, but nuclei still migrated through fused CATs. Latrunculin B treatment, imaging of F-actin in living cells using Lifeact-red fluorescent protein (RFP), and analysis of mutants defective in the Arp2/3 complex demonstrated that actin plays important roles in CAT fusion.
The patterns of ‘care migrantisation’ in South Korea

ABSTRACT Over the past couple of decades, researchers have documented a phenomenon called ‘migrantisation of care’, which is patterned by the national regimes of care and migration. By applying the ideas of social reproduction and care–migration intersections to the South Korean case, this paper investigates the interplay of care and migration policies through which migrants get involved for various care roles in different care settings. In the matrix of migration (regime) and care (regime) emerge two intersecting fields in South Korea: co-ethnic labour migrants in paid care work and marriage migrants in unpaid care work. The paper has found a growing demand for migrant care labour to address the care crisis in Korea, but the degree to which care work is migrantised varies significantly between childcare and eldercare as well as between home-based care and institution-based care. The paper not only geographically extends the care–migration intersection frame to an East Asian welfare state but widens its theoretical application to an under-explored pattern of care migrantisation, notably unpaid care provision by family migrants.
Acute Loss and the Social Construction of Blame

Using interview and observation data from white and African-American parents of murdered children, this article explores a primary social process accompanying acute loss: the social construction of blame. Findings reveal that race and class are primary forces that shape not only the experience of loss, but also attributions of cause, designations of blame, and the construction of post-mortem identities. While poor Black informants encountered avoidance strategies on the part of authorities (e.g., police) when their child was murdered, whites and upper middle-class Blacks received emotional support. This differential treatment by authorities led to either legitimate or disenfranchised grief, both of which were addressed by the strategy of “sanctification,” a form of emotion work.
Rapid Turnover of Stereocilia Membrane Proteins: Evidence from the Trafficking and Mobility of Plasma Membrane Ca2+-ATPase 2

We studied the spatial distribution, mobility, and trafficking of plasma membrane Ca2+ATPase-2 (PMCA2), a protein enriched in the hair cell apical membrane and essential for hair cell function. Using immunofluorescence, we determined that PMCA2 is enriched in the stereocilia and present at a relatively low concentration in the kinocilium and in the remaining apical membrane. Using an antibody to the extracellular domain of PMCA2 as a probe, we observed that PMCA2 diffuses laterally from the stereocilia membrane and is internalized at the apical cell border maintaining an estimated half-life of residency in the stereocilia of ∼5–7 h. A computer simulation of our data indicates that PMCA2 has an estimated global diffusion coefficient of 0.01–0.005 μm2/s. Using a green fluorescent protein tag, we observed that PMCA2 is rapidly delivered to the apical cell border from where it diffuses to the entire stereocilia surface. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments show that ∼60% of PMCA2 in the stereocilia exhibit high mobility with a diffusion coefficient of 0.1–0.2 μm2/s, whereas the remaining pool represents a relatively immobile fraction. These results suggest that PMCA2 molecules maintain transient interactions with other components of the stereocilia, and the mobile pool of PMCA2 mediates the exchange between the stereocilia and the removal and delivery sites at the periphery of the apical cell surface. This rapid turnover of a major stereocilia membrane protein matches the previously described rapid turnover of proteins of the stereocilia actin core, further demonstrating that these organelles undergo rapid continuous renewal.
Semantic Retrieval for the NCSA Mosaic

In this paper we report an automatic and scalable concept space approach to enhancing the deep searching capability of the NCSA Mosaic. The research, which is based on the findings from a previous NSF National Collaboratory project and which will be expanded in a new Illinois NSF/ARPA/NASA Digital Library project, centers around semantic retrieval and user customization. Semantic retrieval supports a higher level of abstraction in user search, which can overcome the vocabulary problem for information retrieval. Rather than searching for words within the object space, the search is for terms within a concept space (graph of terms occurring within objects linked to each other by the frequency with which they occur together). Co-occurrence graphs seem to provide good suggestive power in specialized domains, such as biology. By providing a more understandable, system-generated, semantics-rich concept space as an abstraction of the enormously complex object space plus algorithms and interface to assist in object/concept spaces traversal, we believe we can greatly alleviate both information overload and the vocabulary problem of internet services. These techniques will also be used to provide a form of customized retrieval and automatic information routing. Results from past research, the specific algorithms and techniques, and the research plan for enhancing the NCSA Mosaic's search capability in the NSF/ARPA/NASA Digital Library project will be discussed.
Immunological Responses and Actin Dynamics in Macrophages Are Controlled by N-Cofilin but Are Independent from ADF

Dynamic changes in the actin cytoskeleton are essential for immune cell function and a number of immune deficiencies have been linked to mutations, which disturb the actin cytoskeleton. In macrophages and dendritic cells, actin remodelling is critical for motility, phagocytosis and antigen presentation, however the actin binding proteins, which control antigen presentation have been poorly characterized. Here we dissect the specific roles of the family of ADF/cofilin F-actin depolymerizing factors in macrophages and in local immune responses. Macrophage migration, cell polarization and antigen presentation to T-cells require n-cofilin mediated F-actin remodelling. Using a conditional mouse model, we show that n-cofilin also controls MHC class II-dependent antigen presentation. Other cellular processes such as phagocytosis and antigen processing were found to be independent of n-cofilin. Our data identify n-cofilin as a novel regulator of antigen presentation, while ADF on the other hand is dispensable for macrophage motility and antigen presentation.
Pragmatic verification for hybrid and real-time designs

Hybrid and real-time designs are ubiquitous in computing and control systems. There are three prevalent methods for verifying real-time and hybrid systems: simulation, model-checking, and theorem proving. None of these approaches are ideal. This paper presents a verification approach based on refinement. In our refinement framework, we first establish safety properties for a simplified, abstract model of the design and then show that these are inherited by progressively more detailed models. In this approach, we see a hybrid system as a hybrid model: part of the system is modeled with discrete time and state, and other parts are modeled with continuous quantities. The paper illustrates this approach with the design of a simple state-machine for a traffic light.
Secure key renewal and revocation for Wireless Sensor Networks

Once a secure mechanism for authenticated communication is deployed in a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), several situations may arise: a node can leave the network, a new node can join the network, an intruder could try to join the network or capture a node. Therefore it is important to revoke and renew certain keys that are learned by a malicious node. We propose several secure WSN protocols for revocations and renewal of cryptographic keys in the network based on symmetric encryption and elliptic curve cryptography (ECC). For all our solutions, we provide a formal analysis of the security of our protocols using Scyther, an automatic verification tool for cryptographic protocols. All the proposed protocols are proven secure but have different security levels by using different types of keys. Finally we implemented all our protocols on real testbeds using TelosB motes and compared their efficiency.
Thermal and Dynamical Equilibrium in Two-Component Star Clusters

We present the results of Monte Carlo simulations for the dynamical evolution of star clusters containing two stellar populations with individual masses m1 and m2 > m1, and total masses M1 and M2 < M1. We use both King and Plummer model initial conditions, and we perform simulations for a wide range of individual and total mass ratios, m2/m1 and M2/M1. We ignore the effects of binaries, stellar evolution, and the galactic tidal field. The simulations use N = 105 stars and follow the evolution of the clusters until core collapse. We find that the departure from energy equipartition in the core follows approximately the theoretical predictions of Spitzer and Lightman & Fall, and we suggest a more exact condition that is based on our results. We find good agreement with previous results obtained by other methods regarding several important features of the evolution, including the precollapse distribution of heavier stars, the timescale on which equipartition is approached, and the extent to which core collapse is accelerated by a small subpopulation of heavier stars. We briefly discuss the possible implications of our results for the dynamical evolution of primordial black holes and neutron stars in globular clusters.
Yet another galaxy identification for an ultraluminous X-ray source

We report on the identification of the optical and infrared counterparts of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) XMMU J121214.5+131248 (NGC4168-ULX1). The optical spectrum yields a redshift of z = 0.217, which implies that the ULX is not associated with the nearby galaxy NGC 4168, but rather with a background object. Optical spectral line ratios and the spectral energy distribution constructed from the available data indicate that the source is likely a starburst nucleus.
Designs of Speech Audiometric Tests in Vietnamese – The Issues of Normative Values, Dialectal Effects, and Tonal Patterns

Dialectal variations and linguistic factors are considered to be the primary causes of misdiagnosis during audiological assessments of speech performances. For new speech audiometry materials, the evaluation of the effects of the listener’s dialect or linguistic factors on speech recognition thresholds (SRTs) or supra-threshold phoneme recognition scores (PRSs) would be expected to give a valid and reliable audiometric measurement for clients. This thesis assessed the SRTs of native and non-native listeners of Southern Vietnamese regarding the dialectal effects; the effect of tonal patterns of syllables on speech perception of older adults; and the correlations between SRTs and duo-tone thresholds, between SRTs and PRSs. To attain the aforementioned objectives, two different types of speech audiometry materials were designed: Adaptive Auditory Speech Test (AAST) and NAMES (nonsense syllable test). Data of AAST were collected from 435 normal hearing listeners aged between four and 85 years old, while data of NAMES were gathered from 186 normal hearing listeners ranged between 15 and 85 years. The findings showed that the AAST and NAMES are valid speech audiometric tests to quantify speech recognition of listeners aged between four and 85 (AAST), between 15 and 85 (NAMES). The age-related normative values of AAST in Vietnamese are similar to those in German, Ghanaian, and Polish. The findings of the dialectal study indicate that dialectal variation has an impact on speech recognition. However, the extent of the effects depends on the speech materials being used for the measurement. More effects of dialectal differences in “open speech tests with meaningful words” were found as compared to “closed speech test”. The findings on tonal pattern effects seem to implicate that the tonal patterns of syllables have a minor influence on speech perception of older adults, especially those above 75. Finally, the SRTs could be predicted using duo-tone thresholds. In contrast, the PRSs could not be predicted using either speech thresholds or duo-tone thresholds based on the correlations. The two-new speech audiometric tests provide reliable outcomes with the same properties in normal-hearing listeners as compared to the other AAST and nonsense syllable tests in the different languages. These two speech audiometric tests complement each other in evaluating hearing loss or language impairment. It is claimed that these speech tests will serve as an effective clinical tool for speech audiometric testing in Vietnam.
Real-time facial animation from live video tracking

This paper describes a complete pipe-line of a practical system for producing real-time facial expressions of a 3D virtual avatar controlled by an actor's live performances. The system handles practical challenges arising from markerless expression captures from a single conventional video camera. For robust tracking, a localized algorithm constrained by belief propagation is applied to the upper face, and an appearance matching technique using a parameterized generic face model is exploited for lower face and head pose tracking. The captured expression features then transferred to high dimensional 3D animation controls using our facial expression space which is a structure-preserving map between two algebraic structures. The transferred animation controls drive facial animation of a 3D avatar while optimizing the smoothness of the face mesh. An example-based face deformation technique produces non-linear local detail deformations on the avatar that are not captured in the movement of the animation controls.
Evaluate the Effectiveness of Physical Activity on General Health, Happiness and Life Expectancy in Postmenopausal and Elder Women

Introduction: Menopause is a natural event that occurs in adulthood that in the long term can negative effects on the people. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of exercise on general health, happiness and life expectancy in post-menopausal and elder women. Method: The present research in terms of strategy is descriptive and it was comparative in terms of performance. A total of 109 postmenopausal women (42 active and 67 inactive) in Shiraz (in 1395) By Available sampling method and voluntarily to participated in the study.In order to collect information, we used of the demographic information form , General Health Questionnaire (GHQ28), Oxford Welfare (OHI) and Schneider Life expectancy. To analyze the data we used of SPSS/18, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and independent t-test (α= 0.05). Results: The results showed that active postmenopausal women compared to inactive postmenopausal women are better in happiness (p=0.001). And also active postmenopausal women significantly better in Public health than inactive postmenopausal women (p=0.001). But there was no significant difference in the scale of the life expectancy between two group (p=0.445). Conclusion: According to the research findings, it can be said that Physical activity and exercise can improve overall health and happiness in postmenopausal women. Therefore, It must be resolved consider to accelerate postmenopausal women's participation in sports and provide the necessary facilities to exercise for this population.
Independent modification of baroreceptor and exercise pressor reflex function by nitric oxide in nucleus tractus solitarius.

It has been suggested that nitric oxide (NO) is a key modulator of both baroreceptor and exercise pressor reflex afferent signals processed within the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS). However, studies investigating the independent effects of NO within the NTS on the function of each reflex have produced inconsistent results. To address these concerns, the effects of microdialyzing 10 mM L-arginine, an NO precursor, and 20 mM N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), an NO synthase inhibitor, into the NTS on baroreceptor and exercise pressor reflex function were examined in 17 anesthetized cats. Arterial baroreflex regulation of heart rate was quantified using vasoactive drugs to induce acute changes in mean arterial pressure (MAP). To activate the exercise pressor reflex, static hindlimb contractions were induced by electrical stimulation of spinal ventral roots. To isolate the exercise pressor reflex, contractions were repeated after barodenervation. The gain coefficient of the arterial cardiac baroreflex was significantly different from control (-0.24 +/- 0.04 beats.min(-1). mmHg(-1)) after the dialysis of L-arginine (-0.18 +/- 0.02 beats.min(-1). mmHg(-1)) and L-NAME (-0.29 +/- 0.02 beats.min(-1). mmHg(-1)). In barodenervated animals, the peak MAP response to activation of the exercise pressor reflex (change in MAP from baseline, 39 +/- 7 mmHg) was significantly attenuated by the dialysis of L-arginine (change in MAP from baseline, 29 +/- 6 mmHg). The results demonstrate that NO within the NTS can independently modulate both the arterial cardiac baroreflex and the exercise pressor reflex. Collectively, these findings provide a neuroanatomical and chemical basis for the regulation of baroreflex and exercise pressor reflex function within the central nervous system.
Context aware power management for motion-sensing body area network nodes

Body Area Networks (BANs) are widely used mainly for healthcare and fitness purposes. In both cases, the lifetime of sensor nodes included in the BAN is a key aspect that may affect the functionality of the whole system. Typical approaches to power management are based on a trade-off between the data rate and the monitoring time. Our work introduces a power management layer capable to opportunistically use data sampled by sensors to detect contextual information such as user activity and adapt the node operating point accordingly. The use of this layer has been demonstrated on a commercial sensor node, increasing its battery lifetime up to a factor of 5.
Stochastic optimal control and sensorimotor integration

The paper discusses the problem of modelling intelligent behaviour using stochastic optimal control theory. The stochastic control solution requires state feed-back which requires vast computational resources both in terms of memory and computation. We argue that an efficient approach to this problem requires an integration of sensory and motor computation. We propose the path integral control framework as a natural theory for sensori-motor integration using a Bayesian framework.