Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Consensus-Based Distributed Multiple Model UKF for Jump Markov Nonlinear Systems

This note studies the problem of distributed estimation for jump Markov nonlinear systems (JMNLSs) in a not fully connected sensor network. Based on the consensus theory, a distributed unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is first derived for nonlinear systems without jumping parameters and then it is extended to develop a distributed multiple model UKF for JMNLSs. The proposed filtering algorithm is illustrated via a simulation example involving tracking a maneuvering target.
The Effect of Non-Normally Distributed Criterion Scores on item Analysis Techniques

ALTHOUGH Nefzger and Drasgow (1957) have pointed out that Pearson’s product movement correlation does not assume normally distributed variables, item analysis techniques which are intended to give estimates of the product moment coefficient or are the product moment coefficient for a particular situation, need to be interpreted cautiously if the criterion scores are not normally distributed. Four hypothetical distributions of test scores are presented in Table 1. Test W is characterized by approximate normality; Test X by platykurtosis; Test Y by leptokurtosis; and Test Z by skew-
A semi-algebraic framework for approximate CP decompositions via joint matrix diagonalization and generalized unfoldings

The Canonical Polyadic (CP) decomposition of R-way arrays is a powerful tool in multilinear algebra. Algorithms to compute an approximate CP decomposition from noisy observations are often based on Alternating Least Squares (ALS) which may require a large number of iterations to converge. To avoid this drawback we investigate semi-algebraic approaches that algebraically reformulate the CP decomposition into a set of simultaneous matrix diagonalization (SMD) problems. In particular, we propose a SEmi-algebraic framework for approximate CP decompositions via SImultaneous matrix diagonalization (SMD) and generalized unfoldings (SECSI-GU). SECSI-GU combines the benefits of two existing semi-algebraic approaches based on SMDs: the SECSI framework which selects the model estimate from multiple candidates obtained by solving multiple SMDs and the “Semi-Algebraic Tensor Decomposition” (SALT) algorithm which considers a “generalized” unfolding of the tensor in order to enhance the identifiability for tensors with R > 3 dimensions. The resulting SECSI-GU framework offers a large number of degrees of freedom to flexibly adapt the performance-complexity trade-off. As we show in numerical simulations, it outperforms SECSI and SALT for tensors with R > 3 dimensions.
Photosynthesis and Respiration under Low Temperature Stress in Two Dunaliella Strains

The photosynthetic and respiratory behaviors of two Dunaliella salina strains (IR-1 and Gh-U) were investigated at two temperature treatments and two assay temperatures. Net photosynthetic rate (P ), photon- N saturated net photosynthetic rate (P ), irradiance required to Saturate Photosynthetic (SI), respiration and Nmax pigment changes in D. salina strains, containing different chlorophyll (Chl) contents, shifted from 28 to 13°C for 24 h were compared with controls kept at 28°C, at two assay temperatures (28 and 13°C). Cold stress produced a decrease in total Chl content of IR-1 (higher Chl strain) whereas, Gh-U (lower Chl strain) did not exhibit significant changes under low temperature condition in total Chl. Carotenoid showed a larger decrease in IR-1 compared to that in Gh-U under treatment conditions. P , P , SI and respiration rate were higher in IR-1 N Nmax than those in Gh-U, which had a higher carotenoid/total chlorophyll ratio than IR-1, at all conditions. Transferring the cells to low temperature affected P , P , SI and respiration decreasingly in both strains with N Nmax a larger decrease in P and SI in IR-1, when measuring the photosynthesis and respiration carried out at 13°C. Nmax Both strains exhibited an increase in P and respiration when chilled samples assayed at 28°C. N
Looking for the Best Historical Window for Assessing Semantic Similarity Using Human Literature

We describe the way to get benefit from broad cultural trends through the quantitative analysis of a vast digital book collection representing the digested history of humanity. Our research work has revealed that appropriately comparing the occurrence patterns of words in some periods of human literature can help us to accurately determine the semantic similarity between these words by means of computers without requiring human intervention. Preliminary results seem to be promising.
One Sense per Collocation

Previous work [Gale, Church and Yarowsky, 1992] showed that with high probability a polysemous word has one sense per discourse. In this paper we show that for certain definitions of collocation, a polysemous word exhibits essentially only one sense per collocation. We test this empirical hypothesis for several definitions of sense and collocation, and discover that it holds with 90--99% accuracy for binary ambiguities. We utilize this property in a disambiguation algorithm that achieves precision of 92% using combined models of very local context.
Escherichia coli Subtilase Cytotoxin

Subtilase cytotoxin (SubAB) is the prototype of a new AB5 toxin family produced by a subset of Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) strains. Its A subunit is a subtilase-like serine protease and cytotoxicity for eukaryotic cells is due to a highly specific, single-site cleavage of BiP/GRP78, an essential Hsp70 family chaperone located in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This cleavage triggers a severe and unresolved ER stress response, ultimately triggering apoptosis. The B subunit has specificity for glycans terminating in the sialic acid N-glycolylneuraminic acid. Although its actual role in human disease pathogenesis is yet to be established, SubAB is lethal for mice and induces pathological features overlapping those seen in the haemolytic uraemic syndrome, a life-threatening complication of STEC infection. The toxin is also proving to be a useful tool for probing the role of BiP and ER stress in a variety of cellular functions.
Whole ARX gene duplication is compatible with normal intellectual development

We report here on four males from three families carrying de novo or inherited small Xp22.13 duplications including the ARX gene detected by chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA). Two of these males had normal intelligence. Our report suggests that, unlike other XLMR genes like MECP2 and FMR1, the presence of an extra copy of the ARX gene may not be sufficient to perturb its developmental functions. ARX duplication does not inevitably have detrimental effects on brain development, in contrast with the effects of ARX haploinsufficiency. The abnormal phenotype ascribed to the presence of an extra copy in some male patients may have resulted from the effect of another, not yet identified, chromosomal or molecular anomaly, alone or in association with ARX duplication. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Predictive Validity of a Computer-Adaptive Assessment of Kindergarten and First-Grade Reading Skills

Abstract. This study examined the predictive validity of a computer-adaptive assessment for measuring kindergarten reading skills using the STAR Early Literacy (SEL) test. The findings showed that the results of SEL assessments administered during the fall, winter, and spring of kindergarten were moderate and statistically significant predictors of year-end reading and reading-related skills, and they explained 35% to 38% of the variance in a latent variable of word-reading skills. Similar results were observed with a subsample of 71 participants who received follow-up assessments in first grade. End-of-kindergarten analyses indicated that, when added as predictors with SEL, paper-based measures of letter naming, letter-sound fluency, and word-reading fluency improved the amount of explained variance in kindergarten and first-grade year-end word-reading skills. Classification-accuracy analyses found that the SEL literacy classifications aligned with word-reading skills measured by paper-based assessments for students with higher SEL scores, but less alignment was found for students with lower SEL scores. In addition, SEL cut scores showed problematic accuracy, especially in predicting outcomes at the end of first grade. The addition of paper-based assessments tended to improve accuracy over using SEL in isolation. Overall, SEL shows promise as a universal screening tool for kindergarten reading skills, although it may not yet be able to completely replace paper-based assessments of early reading.
Diabetes care and patient-oriented outcomes.

AMAJOR PROBLEM IN CONTEMPOrary diabetes mellitus care is the poor translation of knowledge derived from clinical research into routine clinical practice. To improve standards and outcomes of diabetes care, efforts in the followingareas appear crucial: diagnostic procedures and therapeutic management must be evidence-based; patients need to become more actively involved in their disease management; and every center/geographic area needs to perform quality assessment based on patient-oriented outcomes.
Modeling Collaborative Referring for Situated Referential Grounding

In situated dialogue, because humans and agents have mismatched capabilities of perceiving the shared physical world, referential grounding becomes difficult. Humans and agents will need to make extra efforts by collaborating with each other to mediate a shared perceptual basis and to come to a mutual understanding of intended referents in the environment. In this paper, we have extended our previous graph-matching based approach to explicitly incorporate collaborative referring behaviors into the referential grounding algorithm. In addition, hypergraph-based representations have been used to account for group descriptions that are likely to occur in spatial communications. Our empirical results have shown that incorporating the most prevalent pattern of collaboration with our hypergraph-based approach significantly improves reference resolution in situated dialogue by an absolute gain of over 18%.
Don't Kick the Habit: The Role of Dependency in Habit Formation Apps

Habit formation apps are intended to help instigate and maintain new behaviors. Prior research has established that these apps mostly do not support the theoretical 'habit' construct defined in psychology, yet are generally popular and well reviewed in app stores. This apparent mismatch between theory and 'in-the-wild' usage has not been investigated to date. Through an in-depth qualitative study of a popular application Lift, this research establishes that common techniques such as reminders and streaks are effective at supporting repetition of new behaviors, but at the same time create a dependency: on-going app use is often required to achieve lasting change. This dependency introduces fragility in users' attempts to change their behavior, as they often abandon the app and subsequently disengage with their new behaviors.
OF CANDIDA COLONIZATION AND SPECIATION IN HIV

Background: count to less than or equal to 200 cells/mm3 is a major risk factor for colonization with species and development of candidiasis speciation and their correlation with CD4+ cell counts in HIV therapy (ART) Methodology: 500 HIV study. All HIV patients underwent clinical examination and were subjected to CD4+ cell counts. rinse samples were obtained and processed conventional methods. Results: and in 100 healthy controls 25 (25%) isolated in 166/500(33%) and Candida albicans cells/mm3 were significantly (p<0.0001) more frequently colonized Conclusion counts species colonization, non candida species are also emerging.
Smoothness Constraint Based Stochastic Optimization for Wireless Scalable Video Streaming

The randomness of wireless channels, which may cause frequent interruption or fluctuation of video playback, is challenging for wireless video streaming. In this letter, a smoothness constraint based dynamic layer switching strategy is proposed for wireless scalable video streaming over a variable bitrate channel. It aims for optimizing long-term quality of users' experience via maximizing video quality subject to a constraint on playback smoothness ( i.e., interruption and fluctuation). The proposed algorithm does not require a priori knowledge of the channel dynamics, and is capable of operating online with the currently available information. We further characterize the attainable performance of the proposed algorithm by theoretical analysis as well as experiments.
Complex causality in improving underperforming schools: A complex adaptive systems approach

textabstractWhen designing and implementing policies, policy makers usually assume linear, proportionate causation between interventions and consequences. Yet frequently unexpected consequences occur that seem unintended and disproportionate. This article argues that interventions are more appropriately understood as loops, not lines. System dynamics shows that causes and consequences interact in circular patterns, creating unexpected outcomes and self-reinforcing mechanisms. Some loops are vicious, causing deterioration of the situation, others are virtuous, propelling self-sustaining improvements that exceed original intentions. The article illustrates the circular approach to causality by applying it to interventions aimed at the improvement of the performance of primary schools in the Netherlands.
Vibration characteristics of a circular cylindrical ceramic tube piezoelectric transducer with helical electrodes

We develop a 1-D mechanics model for coupled extensional and torsional vibrations of a circular cylindrical ceramic tube piezoelectric transducer with helical electrodes. A theoretical analysis of the electrically forced vibration of the tube is performed. Basic vibration characteristics of resonant frequencies, modes, and admittance are calculated and examined. The optimal orientation of the electrodes for exciting torsional modes is determined.
Of Pins and Tweets: Investigating How Users Behave Across Image- and Text-Based Social Networks

Today, it is the norm for online social (OSN) users to have accounts on multiple services. For example, a recent study showed that 34% of all Twitter users also use Pinterest. This situation leads to interesting questions such as: Are the activities that users perform on each site disjoint? Alternatively, if users perform the same actions on multiple sites, where does the information originate? Given the interlinking between social networks, failure to understand activity across multiple sites may obfuscate the true information dissemination dynamics of the social web. In this study, we take the first steps towards a more complete understanding of user behavior across multiple OSNs. We collect a sample of over 30,000 users that have accounts on both Twitter and Pinterest, crawling their profile information and activity on a daily basis for a period of almost three months. We develop a novel methodology for comparing activity across these two sites. We find that the global patterns of use across the two sites differ significantly, and that users tend to post items to Pinterest before posting them on Twitter. Our findings can inform the understanding of the behavior of users on individual sites, as well as the dynamics of sharing across the social web.
Making products active with intelligent agents for supporting product lifecycle management

Modern organization paradigms within manufacturing enterprises have arose in last years, like Agile Manufacturing and collaboration, in order for enterprises to increase their productivity and be more competitive in front of shorter due dates and increasing product qualities required by customers. Most previous works on PLM and currently available systems are usually focused on the use of additional information to support business processes, and integrate limited information of lower-level applications (CAD, CAPP, etc). However, little emphasis has been put on making products more intelligent during their complete lifecycle, in order to exploit PLM information for improving their development and management. In this paper, a framework based on intelligent agents is proposed, for giving products active behaviors, in order to assist people involved in PLM to reduce lead times and costs, and improving product quality. Application of the proposed framework to a product definition example is presented as a case study.
Defining aphasia: Some theoretical and clinical implications of operating from a formal definition

Theoretical and philosophical issues related to the need for and criteria of a formal definition of aphasia are discussed. Following a review of several definitions of aphasia and the contrast of two, a formal definition is advanced that meets the specific requirements of a scientific definition: criteria for group membership and the assumed mechanisms for these criteria. The specific criteria for group membership are discussed and the assumed mechanisms are presented. It is argued that this definition (or a well justified alternative) can serve as a first approximation to a general theory of aphasia. It is also claimed that it can inform the research consumer about important but unstated assumptions of researchers as well as provide clinical guidance.
A Research Agenda for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

This Special Issue of the Journal of Human Rights Practice is dedicated to critical reflection on the protection of human rights defenders (HRDs). In this article we consider existing research and knowledge about the protection of HRDs, highlight the contributions of the policy and practice notes in this collection, and put forward current issues and questions on the protection of HRDs for further exploration. Specifically, we highlight eight areas for research: the definition and use of the term ‘human rights defender’; perceptions of risk, security and protection; culture, gender and diversity (with particular emphasis on protecting women human rights defenders); the use of legal and administrative mechanisms for repression; the effectiveness of protection mechanisms; strategies and tactics for protection; fostering enabling environments for the defence of human rights; and the impact of technology and digital security on HRDs. In the last section of this article, we highlight the importance of more collaboration between academics, practitioners and HRDs for the effective evolution of protection mechanisms and practices. We reflect on the merits and challenges of collaborative applied research, suggesting how this can be done effectively.
Diagnosing unilateral primary aldosteronism – comparison of a clinical prediction score, computed tomography and adrenal venous sampling

In patients with primary aldosteronism (PA), adrenalectomy is potentially curative for those correctly identified as having unilateral excessive aldosterone production. It has been suggested that a recently developed and published clinical prediction score (CPS) may correctly identify some patients as having unilateral disease, without recourse to adrenal venous sampling.
The Throughput Analysis of Different IR-HARQ Schemes Based on Fountain Codes

In this contribution, we construct two novel IR-HARQ (automatic repeat request) schemes based on fountain codes, which combine the punctured and rateless IR-HARQ schemes, in order to attain the advantageous properties of both: nearly optimal performance of the former at the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) region and ratelessness of the latter. The preliminary simulation results indicate that these schemes are particularly suitable for scenarios where the transmission is originally assumed to occur at the very high SNR region, but resilience to severe deterioration of channel conditions is required.
Information collection services for QoS-Aware mobile applications

Efficient resource provisioning that allows for cost-effective enforcement of application QoS relies on accurate system state information. However, maintaining accurate information about available system resources is complex and expensive, especially in mobile environments where system conditions are highly dynamic. Resource provisioning mechanisms for such dynamic environments must therefore be able to tolerate imprecision in system state while ensuring adequate QoS to the end-user. In this paper, we address the information collection problem for QoS-based services in mobile environments. Specifically, we propose a family of information collection policies that vary in the granularity at which system state information is represented and maintained. We empirically evaluate the impact of these policies on the performance of diverse resource provisioning strategies. We generally observe that resource provisioning benefits significantly from the customized information collection mechanisms that take advantage of user mobility information. Furthermore, our performance results indicate that effective utilization of coarse-grained user mobility information renders better system performance than using fine-grained user mobility information. Using results from our empirical studies, we derive a set of rules that supports seamless integration of information collection and resource provisioning mechanisms for mobile environments. These results have been incorporated into an integrated middleware framework AutoSeC (Automatic Service Composition) to provide support for dynamic service brokering that ensures effective utilization of system resources over wireless networks.
Administrative Behavior

tality so much driven or possessed by an idea that inaccuracies pass unnoticed. The inaccuracies are indeed slight; but they reveal the "possessed" mentality and its onesidedness of view. Thus, a work attributed to Lamartine is actually by Lichtenberg; there was no revolution in Austria during the reign of Josef II; the description of a cartoon reproduced in the book speaks of spurs, although the man in die picture has none.
<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pi$</tex-math><alternatives> <inline-graphic xlink:href="zhu-ieq1-2793222.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>-Splicer: Perceiving Accurate CSI Phases with Commodity WiFi Devices

WiFi technology has gained a wide prevalence for not only wireless communication but also pervasive sensing. A wide variety of emerging applications leverage accurate measurements of the Channel State Information (CSI) information obtained from commodity WiFi devices. Due to hardware imperfection of commodity WiFi devices, the frequency response of internal signal processing circuit is mixed with the real channel frequency response in passband, which makes deriving accurate channel frequency response from CSI measurements a challenging task. In this paper, we identify non-negligible non-linear CSI phase errors and report that IQ imbalance is the root source of non-linear CSI phase errors. We conduct intensive analysis on the characteristics of such non-linear errors and find that such errors are prevalent among various WiFi devices. Furthermore, they are rather stable along time and the received signal strength indication (RSSI) but sensitive to frequency bands used between a transmission pair. Based on these key observations, we propose new methods to compensate both non-linear and linear CSI phase errors. We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methods by applying them in CSI splicing and indoor distance ranging. Results of extensive real-world experiments indicate that accurate CSI phase measurements can significantly improve the performance of splicing and the stability of the derived power delay profiles (PDPs). Moreover, the estimated distance errors are reduced by 5.7 times on average comparing to the state-of-the-art schemes.