Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fully Automated Real-Time Vehicles Detection and Tracking with Lanes Analysis

This paper presents a fully automated system for traffic surveillance which is able to count passing cars, determine their direction, and the lane which they are taking. The system works without any manual input whatsoever and it is able to automatically calibrate the camera by detecting vanishing points in the video sequence. The proposed system is able to work in real time and therefore it is ready for deployment in real traffic surveillance applications. The system uses motion detection and tracking with the Kalman filter. The lane detection is based on clustering of trajectories of vehicles. The main contribution is a set of filters which a track has to pass in order to be treated as a vehicle and the full automation of the system.
Question routing in community based QA: incorporating answer quality and answer content

Community based question and answering (cQA) services provide a convenient way for online users to share and exchange information and knowledge, which is highly valuable for information seeking. User interest and dedication act as the motivation to promote the interactive process of question and answering. In this paper, we aim to address a key issue about cQA systems: routing newly asked questions to appropriate users that may potentially provide answer with high quality. We incorporate answer quality and answer content to build a probabilistic question routing model. Our proposed model is capable of 1) differentiating and quantifying the authority of users for different topic or category; 2) routing questions to users with expertise. Experimental results based on a large collection of data from Wenwen demonstrate that our model is effective and has promising performance.
Neural signal processing of mfVEP responses from AMD patients

Normal healthy subjects and AMD patients were recorded using 64 EEG channels with a computer based acquisition systems using a pattern-pulse mfVEP. A correctly sized head cap (10/20 layout), was placed over the subjects’ head. The Fpz electrode holder was placed directly on the 10% nasion-inion mark. The data are simultaneously sampled at 256 Hz per channel, and collected using the ActiveTwo BioSemi data acquisition software.The Active Ag-AgCl electrodes mounted on the head cap was connected to the Biosemi A/D interface box. The stimulus layout was an 84 region per eye cortically-scaled dartboard comprising 12 sectors and 7 concentric rings, subtending a diameter of 23°; presented dichoptically at 60 Hz frame rate. The 64 electrode channels were held in place with a head cap with a 10/20 layout. Regression models accounting for independent effects were estimated. The Pattern-pulse mfVEP technique is able to record from patients with advance stage AMD.
A pre-initiation complex at the 3′-end of genes drives antisense transcription independent of divergent sense transcription

The precise nature of antisense transcripts in eukaryotes such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae remains elusive. Here we show that the 3′ regions of genes possess a promoter architecture, including a pre-initiation complex (PIC), which mirrors that at the 5′ region and which is much more pronounced at genes with a defined antisense transcript. Remarkably, for genes with an antisense transcript, average levels of PIC components at the 3′ region are ∼60% of those at the 5′ region. Moreover, at these genes, average levels of nascent antisense transcription are ∼45% of sense transcription. We find that this 3′ promoter architecture persists for highly transcribed antisense transcripts where there are only low levels of transcription in the divergent sense direction, suggesting that the 3′ regions of genes can drive antisense transcription independent of divergent sense transcription. To validate this, we insert short 3′ regions into the middle of other genes and find that they are capable of both initiating antisense transcripts and terminating sense transcripts. Our results suggest that antisense transcription can be regulated independently of divergent sense transcription in a PIC-dependent manner and we propose that regulated production of antisense transcripts represents a fundamental and widespread component of gene regulation.
Homogenization of a neutronic critical diffusion problem with drift

In this paper we study the homogenization of an eigenvalue problem for a cooperative system of weakly coupled elliptic partial differential equations, called the neutronic multigroup diffusion model, in a periodic heterogeneous domain. Such a model is used for studying the criticality of nuclear reactor cores. In a recent work in collaboration with Grégoire Allaire, it is proved that, under a symmetry assumption, the first eigenvector of the multigroup system in the periodicity cell controls the oscillatory behaviour of the solutions, whereas the global trend is asymptotically given by a homogenized diffusion eigenvalue problem. It is shown here that when this symmetry condition is not fulfilled, the asymptotic behaviour of the neutron flux, corresponding to the first eigenvector of the multigroup system, is dramatically different. This result enables to consider new types of geometrical configurations in practical nuclear reactor core computations.
Touch versus mid-air gesture interfaces in road scenarios - measuring driver performance degradation

We present a study aimed at comparing the degradation of the driver's performance during touch gesture vs mid-air gesture use for infotainment system control. To this end, 17 participants were asked to perform the Lane Change Test. This requires each participant to steer a vehicle in a simulated driving environment while interacting with an infotainment system via touch and mid-air gestures. The decrease in performance is measured as the deviation from an optimal baseline. This study concludes comparable deviations from the baseline for the secondary task of infotainment interaction for both interaction variants. This is significant as all participants are experienced in touch interaction, however have had no experience at all with mid-air gesture interaction, favoring mid-air gestures for the long-term scenario.
Parkinson's Disease and Cognitive Impairment

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease primarily characterized by the hallmarks of motor symptoms, such as tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. However, through clinical investigations in patients and experimental findings in animal models of Parkinson's disease for years, it is now well recognized that Parkinson's disease is more than just a motor-deficit disorder. The majority of Parkinson's disease patients suffer from nonmotor disabilities, for instance, cognitive impairment, autonomic dysfunction, sensory dysfunction, and sleep disorder. So far, anti-PD prescriptions and surgical treatments have been mainly focusing on motor dysfunctions, leaving cognitive impairment a marginal clinical field. Within the nonmotor symptoms, cognitive impairment is one of the most common and significant aspects of Parkinson's disease, and cognitive deficits such as dysexecutive syndrome and visuospatial disturbances could seriously affect the quality of life, reduce life expectancy, prolong the duration of hospitalization, and therefore increase burdens of caregiver and medical costs. In this review, we have done a retrospective study of the recent related researches on epidemiology, clinical manifestation and diagnosis, genetics, and potential treatment of cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease, aiming to provide a summary of cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease and make it easy for clinicians to tackle this challenging issue in their future practice.
Multispectral terahertz camera

We describe a broadband terahertz camera based on a modular 64-element linear array of superconducting hot-spot microbolometers. Unlike many superconducting sensor arrays, the readout for this array is performed entirely by uncooled electronics; no SQUIDs or cryogenic HEMTs are employed. The operating principles for the microbolometer and the readout scheme are described and compared with those of similar superconducting sensors. The camera's design has been optimized for standoff detection, at 8 m range, of objects concealed on the person of individuals. Real-time operation is meant to eliminate the need for individuals being screened to remain stationary, or to cooperate in any other way with the screening operation.
Longitudinal Trend Analysis of Performance Indicators for South Carolina's Technical Colleges.

This study included an analysis of the trend of performance indicators for the technical college sector of higher education in South Carolina. In response to demands for accountability and transparency in higher education, the state of South Carolina developed sector specific performance indicators to measure various educational outcomes for each of the 34 public colleges and universities in the state. Performance indicators allow an institution to compare its position in key strategic areas to peers, to past performance, or to previously set goals. The state assigned 13 performance indicators to the technical colleges. The study analyzed six specific indicators which measure faculty credentials, faculty compensation, program accreditation, graduation rates, graduate scores on professional examinations, and institutional accessibility. The results reflected on the effectiveness of the performance system and its impact on twoyear technical colleges. The overall mean of the trend data changed from 2.645 in 1998-1997 to 2.703 in 2004-2005. The researcher found that there was a very significant curvilinear relationship between the variables. The average score decreased until year 4 then increased steadily thereafter. The study was conducted in two phases, where the second phase was built upon the first phase. Phase one involved statistical testing for the differences in the means of the performance indicators among the colleges. One-way ANOVA along with Tukey’s and Games-Howell multiple comparisons statistical techniques were used to test the hypotheses for each of the six performance indicators.
A Comparative Study on Arabic Stemmers

is considered as a pre-processing step in many applications: text mining, information retrieval, machine translation etc. The Arabic language has many special cases or properties that affect stemming or any automatic method, it depends on both inflectional and derivational morphology to produce the various forms of the language words. Many researchers have proposed algorithms to solve the problems of stemming. This paper aims to make a comparison study among the existing Arabic stemmers, the comparison study is based on the methodologies, the usage, main idea, algorithm, the affixes, limitations, output, and the stemmers' sensitivity for both diacritics and context.
The CORALIE survey for southern extrasolar planets V. 3 new extrasolar planets

We report the detection of 3 new planetary companions orbiting the solar-type stars GJ 3021, HD 52265 and HD 169830 using radial-velocity measurements taken with the CORALIE echelle spectrograph. All these planetary companions have longer orbital periods than the 51 Peg-like objects. The orbits are fairly eccentric. The minimum masses of these planets range from 1 to 3.3 ${M_{\rm Jup}}$. The stars have spectral types from F8V to G6V. They are metal-rich. We also present our radial-velocity measurements for three solar-type stars known to host planetary companions ι Hor (HD 17051), HD 210277 and HD 217107.
An Experimental Study on Swelling of Cellulose Nano-fiber Films in Epoxy Resins and Water

The current breed of natural-fiber based polymer composites, because of their biobased and possibly biodegradable nature, offer an alternative as a 'green' material available for automotive and other engineering applications. However such composites suffer from the drawback of low strength and fatigue properties compared to the carbon-or glass-fiber based polymer composites. Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) are a new type of nanofibers made purely from cellulose molecules and have very high mechanical properties compared to other natural fibers, even approaching that of inorganic reinforcing fibers. However, there remain several hurdles in the use of CNF films for the production of polymer composites through the liquid composite molding technologies. One such problem is the swelling of these films during the manufacturing of such composites. In this study, we have microscopically studied the swelling of CNF films when they come in contact with three different liquids: water, epoxy, and bio-based epoxy. It was observed that the swelling rate was very high in the beginning but decreased subsequently. The swelling process was seen to be complete within two minutes for all the three liquids. The highest and lowest swelling of CNF films were observed for water and bioepoxy, respectively.
Automatic 3D Image Registration for Medical Change Detection Applications

We are developing an automated 3D change detection system which accurately registers medical imagery (e.g., MRI or CT) of the same patient from different times for diagnosing pathologies, monitoring treatment, and tracking tissue changes. The system employs a combination of energyminimization registration techniques to achieve ac~ curate and robust alignment of 3D data sets. The bases for the registration are 3D surfaces extracted from the 3D imagery. Resultant changes in the data are identified by differencing registered normalized intensity images or comparing measurements of the same segmented tissue over time. The contributions of this work are (1) automation the registration process, (2) high registration accuracy, and (3) registration stability in the presence of noise, outliers, and data deviations. We have applied this system to a rigid registration problem, namely head registration for multiple sclerosis change detection, and are exploring other rigid and flexible registration applications.
Drug Resistance Mechanisms in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious public health problem worldwide. Its situation is worsened by the presence of multidrug resistant (MDR) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of the disease. In recent years, even more serious forms of drug resistance have been reported. A better knowledge of the mechanisms of drug resistance of M. tuberculosis and the relevant molecular mechanisms involved will improve the available techniques for rapid drug resistance detection and will help to explore new targets for drug activity and development. This review article discusses the mechanisms of action of anti-tuberculosis drugs and the molecular basis of drug resistance in M. tuberculosis.
3-D Representation and Volumetric Measurement of Human Heart from a Cylindrical B-Spline Surface Model

In this paper, a cylindrical 3-D B-Spline model of heart's surfaces is proposed. Since volume is a basic parameter in cardiac image analysis, an effectively integral algorithm for volumetric measurement of the B-Spline surface model represented by matrix forms is presented in this article as well. This method makes the volumetric measurement convenient and its result is more accurate than the results counted by the traditional methods. In order to validate B-Spine surface fitting and advantage of our method for volumetric measurement, several experiments were done. Finally, the results show that the cylindrical B- Spline with a given number of control points can well fit the surfaces of the heart and left ventricle. Experiments also show the algorithm can get satisfactory measurement accuracy and efficiency.
Do dwarf galaxies form in tidal tails

The formation of tidal dwarf galaxies (TDGs) inside tidal arms of interacting disc galaxies has been studied with N-body and N-body/Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations at different resolutions. In pure N-body simulations, no bound objects are formed at high resolution. At low resolution, bound objects can form in tidal tails in agreement with previous work. We conclude that TDGs are not likely to form by pure collisionless collapse in tidal tails. However, the presence of a sufficiently massive and extended gas component in the progenitor disc supports the formation of bound stellar objects in the tidal arms. Our results clearly favour a dissipation supported scenario in which the formation of TDGs is induced by the local collapse of gas which then triggers the collapse of the stellar component.
Get sober ; stay sober In the decades since alcoholism

In the decades since alcoholism became widely recognized as a disease (Jellinek, 1960), evidence for alcohol-induced physical damage has accumulated both in quantity and in detail. Prominent amongst the affected organ systems at-risk is the brain, which responds to alcohol in a variety of ways. Free radicals formed during metabolism of alcohol damage the brain. Acetaldehyde, which is generated from ethanol, is highly reactive and toxic. This metabolite cross-links brain enzymes, reducing or eliminating the normal functions of those proteins. Neurotransmitter systems are altered not only through these mechanisms, but by adaptation to the neuromodulatory effects of ethanol itself (Heinz et al., 2003). Furthermore, it is possible to visualize damage to different types of brain cells microscopically (Miguel-Hidalgo and Rajkowska, 2003) and, in particular, changes in the number and size of glia (Miguel-Hidalgo et al., 2002). The alcohol-soaked brain shrinks heterogeneously. The damage involves both white (Rohlfing et al., 2006) and grey matter: one of the most severely affected regions is the frontal cortex (Gazdzinski et al., 2005) which, when damaged, leads to impaired cognitive capacity that may further compromise the individual's judgement and motivation to remain sober. The situation often appears dismal from the view of the patient and the provider of treatment, and patients are often discouraged by the physical and cognitive difficulties of achieving and maintaining sobriety. However, data acquired in recent years provide hope and, when presented appropriately, potentially offer renewed motivation for patients to get sober. There is anecdotal support that patients are helped by knowing that there have been improvements in their brain volume, neurochemistry and cognition, and that even showing alcoholics the results from a separate, published group of similarly affected individuals can provide motivation. Dieter Meyerhoff and Timothy Durazzo (University of California and the Veterans' Administration at San Francisco, personal communication) report that many of the alcohol-dependent subjects in their studies begin treatment with the belief that 'the damage is done' and are surprised to learn of the significant volumetric and neurochemical recoveries to be achieved after only a few weeks. Several of their study participants have explicitly stated that this information is encouraging and assists in their motivation to stay sober, at least in the short term. Against this background, Andreas Bartsch and colleagues report combined measurements of neurochemicals, brain volumetrics and neurocognitive function in a longitudinal study involving one group of patients in this issue of Brain (page 36). Briefly, …
Bandwidth Management in IEEE 802 . 11 WLAN : A Survey

Today wireless networks are becoming popular because of their “3 Anys”any person, any where, any time. People can get on-line, be reached, and interact anywhere and anytime. People are going wireless. One approach is to equip facilities with Access Points (APs) and devices with short-range radio transmitters and receivers to allow them to communicate. Designing 802.11 wireless networks having a major problem of frequency assignment. Coverage and capacity are some key issues when placing APs in a demand area. APs need to cover all users, so efficient assignment of channels becomes necessary to maximize channel utilization and avoid the user interference. Designing 802.11 wireless networks includes two major components: selection of access points (APs) in the demand areas and assignment of radio frequencies. This survey paper is cover the different technique which are use to overcome the channel interference and maximize the throughput of each AP.
Multiple-objective cross-layer optimized content-adaptive scheduling for video streaming over 1xEV-DO

In video transmission over wireless cellular packet networks, service fairness, video quality and channel throughput should all be simultaneously guaranteed. In this regard, a key role is played by the scheduling algorithm, that - to achieve maximum performance should consider both physical and application layer information. At the application layer, we propose to consider the video perceptual importance, which depends on both the time-varying semantic relevance and the individual importance of each packet. In this paper, a novel multiple objective optimized (MOO) opportunistic multiple access scheme for slot assignment in a 1xEV-DO system is presented, and modifications to H.264 codec are also described. Here, the user that experiences the best compromise between the least buffer occupancy level, the best channel condition and the highest packet importance indicator is served at each time slot. Results show that this system outperforms the state-of-the-art techniques.
MLS-PCA: a high assurance security architecture for future avionics

DOD Joint Vision 2020 (JV2020) is the integrated multiservice planning document for conduct among coalition forces of future warfare. It requires the confluence of a number of key avionics technical developments: integrating the network-centric battlefield, management of hundred thousands of distributed processors, high assurance multilevel security (MLS) in the battlefield, and low cost high assurance engineering. We describe the results of a study and modeling of a new security architecture, (MLS-PCA), that yields a practical solution for JV2020 based upon DARPA polymorphic computing architecture (PCA) advances, and a new distributed process-level encryption scheme. We define a functional model and a verified formal specification of MLS-PCA, for high assurance, with the constraints PCA software and hardware morphware must support. Also, we show a viable mapping of the MLS-PCA model to the PCA hardware. MLS-PCA is designed to support upwards of 500,000 CPUs predicted by Moore's law to be available circa 2020. To test such speculation, we conclude with a description of an in-progress proof-of-concept implementation of MLS-PCA using a 100-node grid computing system and an MLS distributed targeting application.
Role of family and entrepreneurial leadership development of university students.

Family has been identified as the first place that enhances students’ awareness about, attitude toward and capabilities of entrepreneurship. However, little attentions has been directed to how family nurtures entrepreneurial abilities particularly, the competencies to lead entrepreneurial activities in students. This study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of how family develops entrepreneurial leadership competencies of university students. A total of fourteen student entrepreneurial leaders, defined as students who were highly involved in leading university entrepreneurship clubs and projects, was purposefully selected and interviewed. Half of the students had one of their parents as an entrepreneur and the parents of the half were not involved in entrepreneurship. Analysis of the data revealed that parents played an influential role in inspiring students to get involved in entrepreneurial activities, whether or not they themselves were entrepreneurs. Furthermore, lived and continuous involvement in family business developed the students’ self-efficacy in leading entrepreneurial activities. The findings are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications.