Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dense, Auto-Calibrating Visual Odometry from a Downward-Looking Camera

We present a technique whereby a single camera can be used as a high precision visual odometry sensor in a range of practical settings using simple, computationally efficient techniques. Taking advantage of the local planarity of common floor surfaces, we use real-time dense alignment of a 30Hz video stream as the camera looks down from a fast-moving robot, making use of the whole texture available rather than sparse feature points. Our key novelty, and crucial to the practicality of this approach, is rapid and automatic calibration for 6DoF camera extrinsics relative to the robot frame. Our experiments show robust performance over a range of low-textured real surfaces.
Courseforges Open Source Curriculum Design for Value-based Software Engineering

As a relatively young discipline within software engineering, value-based software engineering does not yet have an established curriculum. The area draws on models and techniques in so many other disciplines that it is likely to be some time before a single individual is ready to prepare a course or a textbook. Several of the EDSER-4 participants expressed interest and enthusiasm for sharing the effort of developing curriculum and course materials. Inspired by the success of open source software development, especially the distributed collaboration, the free public access to the results, and the lack of administrative overhead; we decided to try to establish a similar community for curriculum development. This report describes progress to date, with emphasis on the community standards for cooperation and sharing.
Granulating data on non-scalar attribute values

Data mining discovers interesting information from a data set. Mining incorporates different methods and considers different kinds of information. Granulation is an important aspect of mining. The data sets can be extremely large with multiple kinds of data in high dimensionality. Without granulation, large data sets often are computationally infeasible; and, the generated results may be overly fine grained. Most available algorithms work with quantitative data. However, many data sets contain a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data. Our goal is to group records containing multiple data varieties: quantitative (discrete, continuous) and qualitative (ordinal, nominal). Grouping based on different quantitative metrics can be difficult. Incorporating various qualitative elements is not simple. There are partially successful strategies as well as several differential geometries. We expect to use a mixture of scalar methods and soft computing methods (rough sets, fuzzy sets), as well as methods using other metrics. To cluster whole records in a data set, it would be useful to have a general similarity metric or a set of integrated similarity metrics that would allow record to record similarity comparisons. There are methods to granulate data items belonging to a single attribute. Few methods exist that might meaningfully handle a combination of many data varieties in a single metric. This paper is an initial consideration of strategies for integrating multiple metrics in the task of granulating records.
Simulation of HEAO 3 background

A Monte Carlo technique for modelling background in space-based gamma-ray telescopes has been developed. The major background components included in this modeling technique are the diffuse cosmic gamma-ray flux, the Earth's atmospheric flux, the decay of nuclei produced by spallation of cosmic rays, trapped protons and their secondaries, the decay of nuclei produced by neutron capture, and the de-excitation of excited states produced by inelastic scattering of neutrons. The method for calculating the nuclear activation and decay component of the background combines the low Earth orbit proton and neutron spectra, the spallation cross sections from Alice91, nuclear decay data from the National Nuclear Data Center's (NNDC) Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) database, and three-dimensional gamma-ray and beta transport with Electron Gamma-ray Shower version 4 (EGS4). This Monte Carlo code handles the following decay types: electron capture, /spl beta//sup -/ /spl beta//sup +/, metastable isotopes and short lived intermediate states, and isotopes that have branchings to both /spl beta//sup -/ and /spl beta//sup +/. Actual background from the HEAO 3 space instrument is used to validate the code.
A review on local asymptotic stability analysis for mathematical models of hematopoiesis with delay and delay-dependent coefficients

Stability analysis of mathematical models of hematopoiesis (blood cell production process), described by differential equations with delay, needs to locate eigenvalues of characteristic equations that are usually exponential polynomial functions with delay-dependent coefficients. It is then more complicated than for ordinary differential equations to determine conditions for all roots to have negative real parts. We present, on three models of increasing complexity, the tools and method that can be used, with their advantages and their limitations. The method consists in the reduction of the problem to the localization of roots of a real function, these roots giving critical values of the delay for which stability possibly switches.
MIMO filtered positional generalized predictive controller design for handling offset

The purpose of this paper is to present an alternative synthesis for the Generalized Predictive Controller (GPC) applied to a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) model, using both a positional plant model and cost function to deal with reference tracking, disturbance rejection and model-plant mismatch (MPM) with minimum control energy and closed-loop robustness. This new control design called Multivariable Filtered Positional GPC (MFP-GPC) uses an integral polynomial weighting filter for the setpoint and output of the plant, thereby extending the applicability of the predictive controllers. Additionally, robustness aspects are incorporated into the control design of the weighting polynomials, and this implementation involves the filter tuning parameters using a multi-objective optimization algorithm. Numerical simulations for a hydroelectric power and a methanol/water distillation plants show the effectiveness of the proposed control methodology.
Organisational Network Analysis within the academic world: Initial steps

Organisational Network Analysis (ONA) is a branch of Complex Networks science that has the purpose to inspect and evaluate the exchange of information within organisations. Although many studies have been conducted using ONA on different types of organisations, we are not aware of any papers that regard higher education organisations. This paper's goal is to evaluate how well information is exchanged within a small size university, the Romanian-German University of Sibiu. In order to better assess the organisation we retrieved data from 3 sources: email logs, organisational chart and directly from the employees. Another scope of this study is to determine which of the above mentioned sources give reliable analysis on information flow between university staff.
Influencing factors on compliance of timely visits among patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy in southern China: a qualitative study

Objective To identify the reasons for low adherence among patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR) in southern China using a qualitative method. Methods Exploratory indepth interviews were conducted in 27 diabetic patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy who required vitrectomy surgery at Zhongshan Ophthalmic Centre, Sun Yat-sen University, from March to August 2015. Qualitative data analysis and research software (ATLAS.ti7) was used for data processing and analysis. Results Factors influencing the occurrence of timely visits included lack of DR related knowledge, fear and worries about insulin, interactions between patients and society combined with the complexity of emotions and social culture, and the economic burden of treatment. Conclusions Although the reasons for low adherence involved social, emotional, cultural and economic factors, the key issue was the lack of awareness and knowledge of DR. Our findings have several practical implications for health policymakers and programme planners in China.
When is limited feedback for transmit beamforming beneficial?

Transmit beamforming and receive combining are low complexity techniques that help in achieving the full diversity afforded by the multi-antenna channel. Complete channel state information at the transmitter may be possible only under rare instances. Thus quantized beamforming with limited feedback on a reverse link has been a topic that has attracted great attention recently. But almost all of the work to date has focussed on modeling the channel with independent, identically distributed (i.i.d.) Rayleigh fading between antenna pairs. In this paper, we consider the correlated channel case, and show that Grassmannian line packing is an artificial artifact of the i.i. d. assumption. We show that there are dominant peaks in the eigen-domain when correlation is imposed and the codebook construction should be matched to the correlation in the channel, which renders the problem in this case easier than for i.i. d. channels
Hepatitis C virus testing of persons born during 1945-1965: recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

DESCRIPTION The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a group of governmental and private sector partners developed these evidence-based recommendations to increase the proportion of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected persons who know their status and are linked to appropriate care and treatment. The recommendations also address brief alcohol screening, as alcohol accelerates progression of liver disease among HCV-infected individuals. These recommendations augment CDC's 1998 and 1999 recommendations based on risk and medical indications and are not meant to replace those recommendations. METHODS These recommendations are based on systematic reviews of evidence published from 1995 through February 2012 in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Sociological Abstracts, and Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects. Selected studies included cross-sectional and cohort studies that addressed either prevalence of hepatitis C in the United States or clinical outcomes (for example, hepatocellular carcinoma and serious adverse events) among treated patients and systematic reviews of trials that assessed effectiveness of brief screening interventions for alcohol consumption. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation framework was used to assess quality of the evidence. RECOMMENDATION 1: Adults born during 1945-1965 should receive 1-time testing for HCV without prior ascertainment of HCV risk. (Grade: strong recommendation; moderate-quality evidence). RECOMMENDATION 2: All persons with identified HCV infection should receive a brief alcohol screening and intervention as clinically indicated, followed by referral to appropriate care and treatment services for HCV infection and related conditions (Grade: strong recommendation; moderate-quality evidence).
Resource monitoring issues in ad hoc networks

In this paper we explore the solution space for resource monitoring systems for mobile ad hoc networks. To cope with the range of parameters of interest to an application, we separate the resource monitoring system into an extensible infrastructure and specific sensors, which record network parameters of interest. The monitoring infrastructure includes two abstractions that capture a node's environment, the neighborhood and the swath. Whereas in a wire-line network information about the nodes along the path from source to destination is sufficient to characterize the connection between source and destination, in mobile networks other nodes within transmit range may have an impact. The paper concludes with a discussion of our experience obtained with a prototype implementation and a summary of preliminary results.
Sl l . 8 ROBUST CONNECTIONIST PARSING OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE

We present a novel, modular, recurrent connectionist network architecture which learns to robustly perform incremental parsing of complex sentences. From sequential input, one word at a time, our networks learn to do semantic role assignment, noun phrase attachment, and clause structure recognition for sentences with passive constructions and center embedded clauses. The networks make syntactic and semantic predictions at every point in time, and previous predictions are revised as expectations are affirmed or violated with the arrival of new information. Our networks induce their own " grammar rules " for dynamically transforming an input sequence of words into a syntactic/semantic interpretation. These networks generalize and display tolerance to input which has been corrupted in ways common in spoken language.
Maximum likelihood based multi-channel isotropic reverberation reduction for hearing aids

We propose a multi-channel Wiener filter for speech dereverberation in hearing aids. The proposed algorithm uses joint maximum likelihood estimation of the speech and late reverberation spectral variances, under the assumption that the late reverberant sound field is cylindrically isotropic. The dereverberation performance of the algorithm is evaluated using computer simulations with realistic hearing aid microphone signals including head-related effects. The algorithm is shown to work well with signals reverberated both by synthetic and by measured room impulse responses, achieving improvements in the order of 0.5 PESQ points and 5 dB frequency-weighted segmental SNR.
Increased HIV Incidence in Men Who Have Sex with Men Despite High Levels of ART-Induced Viral Suppression: Analysis of an Extensively Documented Epidemic

Background There is interest in expanding ART to prevent HIV transmission, but in the group with the highest levels of ART use, men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), numbers of new infections diagnosed each year have not decreased as ARTcoverage has increased for reasons which remain unclear. Methods We analysed data on the HIV-epidemic in MSM in the UK from a range of sources using an individual-based simulation model. Model runs using parameter sets found to result in good model fit were used to infer changes in HIV-incidence and risk behaviour. Results HIV-incidence has increased (estimated mean incidence 0.30/100 person-years 1990–1997, 0.45/100 py 1998–2010), associated with a modest (26%) rise in condomless sex. We also explored counter-factual scenarios: had ART not been introduced, but the rise in condomless sex had still occurred, then incidence 2006–2010 was 68% higher; a policy of ART initiation in all diagnosed with HIV from 2001 resulted in 32% lower incidence; had levels of HIV testing been higher (68% tested/year instead of 25%) incidence was 25% lower; a combination of higher testing and ART at diagnosis resulted in 62% lower incidence; cessation of all condom use in 2000 resulted in a 424% increase in incidence. In 2010, we estimate that undiagnosed men, the majority in primary infection, accounted for 82% of new infections. Conclusion A rise in HIV-incidence has occurred in MSM in the UK despite an only modest increase in levels of condomless sex and high coverage of ART. ART has almost certainly exerted a limiting effect on incidence. Much higher rates of HIV testing combined with initiation of ART at diagnosis would be likely to lead to substantial reductions in HIV incidence. Increased condom use should be promoted to avoid the erosion of the benefits of ART and to prevent other serious sexually transmitted infections.
Eating alone and depression in older men and women by cohabitation status: The JAGES longitudinal survey

Background: eating by oneself may be a risk factor for mental illness among older adults, but may be influenced by cohabitation status. We examined the association between eating alone and depression in the context of cohabitation status in older adults in Japan. Design: a longitudinal, population-based study. Setting: data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study. Subjects: we analysed 17,612 men and 19,581 women aged ≥65 without depression (Geriatric Depression Scale <5) at baseline in 2010. Methods: eating status was classified into two categories: eating with others and eating alone. The risk of depression onset by 2013 was estimated using Poisson regression. Results: after adjusting for socioeconomic status, physical health, nutritional status, social support, social participation, frequency of meet friends, employment status and marital status, the adjusted rate ratio (ARR) for depression onset in men who ate alone compared with those who ate with others was 2.36 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.18–4.71) for those living alone and 1.03 (95% CI: 0.81–1.32) for those living with others. Among women, the ARR for depression for those who ate alone compared with those who ate with others was 1.31 (95% CI: 1.00–1.72) for those living alone and 1.21 (95% CI: 1.01–1.44) for those living with others. Conclusions: eating alone may be a risk factor for depression. Among men, the effect of eating alone on depression may be reinforced by living alone, but appears to be broadly comparable in women living alone and women living with others.
Regularized Covariance Matrix Estimation via Empirical Bayes

An Empirical Bayes formalization of the regularized covariance estimation problem is proposed for (possibly high-dimensional, low-sample) normal variates. A simple iteration is provided to automatically adjust the shrinkage level, which provably converges to the maximum likelihood hyperparameter estimation for any choice of the starting point. The proposed approach is effective and can outperform both MSE-optimized diagonal loading and the Rao-Blackwell Leidot-Wolf estimator in terms of covariance-matrix-specific metrics.
An efficient bottom-up distance between trees

A new bottom-up distance measure for labeled trees, which is based on the largest common forest of the trees and has the threefold advantage of independence ofparticular edit costs, low complexity, and coverage of ordered and unordered trees, is introduced and related in this paper with other distance measures published in the literature. Algorithms for computing the bottom-up distance in time linear in the number ofnodes are given in full detail.
Rhinovirus Outbreak in a Long Term Care Facility for Elderly Persons Associated with Unusually High Mortality

Abstract During a 6-week period in 2003, 56 residents and 26 staff developed respiratory illness in a long-term facility; 12 residents died. Seven of 13 respiratory specimens were culture-positive for rhinovirus; 6 of the isolates were serotype 82. In elderly populations, severe illness may be associated with organisms typically considered to be “benign,” such as rhinovirus.
Active Learning based on the use of Augmented Reality Outline of Possible Applications: Serious Games, Scientific Experiments, Confronting Studies with Creation, Training for Carrying out Technical Skills

This paper looks at augmented reality as a support for active learning. Fourth areas of application are studied: serious games, scientific experiments, confronting study results with creation and training for carrying out technical skills. After introducing a new proposed augmented reality definition, we illustrate each area with original examples like an augmented reality serious game to understand electromagnetic phenomena and their applications in electrical engineering or still an augmented reality training application to learn welding. At the end, we finish to observe that systems using augmented reality can provide a semi-determinist aspect where technology is easier to implement, less rigid and more interactive than other traditional systems.
Regional Model Simulations of Marine Boundary Layer Clouds over the Southeast Pacific off South America. Part II: Sensitivity Experiments*

Abstract The sensitivity of a regional climate model to physical parameterizations and model resolution is investigated in terms of its simulation of boundary layer stratocumulus (SCu) clouds over the southeast Pacific. Specifically, the physical schemes being tested include shallow cumulus convection, subgrid vertical mixing, cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC), and drizzle. As described in Part I, the model with standard settings captures the major features of the boundary layer in the region, including a well-mixed marine boundary layer, a capping temperature inversion, SCu clouds, and the boundary layer regime transition from the well-mixed layer near the coast of South America to a decoupled cloud layer over warmer water to the west. Turning off the shallow cumulus parameterization results in a dramatic increase in the simulated SCu clouds while the boundary layer structure becomes unrealistic, losing the decoupled regime over warm water. With reduced penetrative mixing at the top of shallow cu.
Storytelling with digital photographs

Photographs play a central role in many types of informal storytelling. This paper describes an easy-to-use device that enables digital photos to be used in a manner similar to print photos for sharing personal stories. A portable form factor combined with a novel interface supports local sharing like a conventional photo album as well as recording of stories that can be sent to distant friends and relatives. User tests validate the design and reveal that people alternate between “photo-driven” and “story-driven” strategies when telling stories about their photos.
Mining Email Archives and Simulating the Dynamics of Open-Source Project Developer Networks

In distributed open-source software projects, participation of developers is largely by a voluntary basis. Programmers are not only free to join in or to leave the project, but they are also free to choose who they interact with, and how much they contribute to the project. In that sense, open-source project developers form a dynamic social network. This paper presents a measure to represent the interactions of distributed open-source software developers and utilizes data clustering techniques to mine their email archives to derive a representation of the associated social network. This method is applied on case studies of three social networks from two open-source projects, Linux and KDE. The dynamics of the three networks are then analyzed and simulated using agent-based modeling techniques. Our study shows that the three open-source developer networks evolved over time with some predictable patterns.
CPW-Fed disc patch antennas with an annular ground plane for UWB applications

This paper presents a design of an antenna for Ultra-Wide band (UWB) applications and a design of an UWB antenna with band-notched characteristics. The proposed antennas consist of an annular ring strip as a ground plane and there are two types of the radiating elements, a circular disc patch, and a C-shaped slot on disc patch. As a result, a circular disc patch radiating element has an impedance bandwidth with the return loss (S11&#60;−10dB) and can operate over an UWB frequency range (3.1–10.6GHz). The antenna with the C-shaped slot showed rejection ability in WiMAX band (3.3–3.6 GHz).
Intergenerational and interethnic mental health: An analysis for the United Kingdom

This paper uses a nationally representative data set to examine the extent to which family migration history helps explains inter-ethnic variations in mental health in the UK. We confirm that there is significant variation in mental health across ethnic group and generation of migration. Furthermore, we show how these dimensions interact. The analysis explores the extent to which neighbourhood, personal characteristics and migration experience are related to mental health. We find evidence that all are important. Our results are consistent with a dynamic view of migration and settlement whereby individuals' circumstances and how they might contribute to mental health change over time and across generations.