Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reshaping Touch Communication: An Interdisciplinary Research Agenda

This workshop aims to generate an interdisciplinary research agenda for digital touch communication that effectively integrates technological progress with robust investigations of the social nature and significance of digital touch. State-of-the-art touch-based technologies have the potential to supplement, extend or reconfigure how people communicate through reshaping existing touch practices and generating new capacities. Their possible impact on interpersonal intimacy, wellbeing, cultural norms, ways of knowing and power relations is far-reaching and under-researched. Few emerging devices and applications are embedded into everyday touch practices, limiting empirical exploration of the implications of digital touch technologies in everyday communication. There is, thus, a real need for methodological innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration to critically examine digital touch communication across social contexts and technological domains, to better understand the social consequences of how touch is digitally remediated. This agenda-setting workshop will bring together HCI researchers and designers with colleagues from sociology, media & communications, arts & design to address key research challenges and build the foundations for future collaborations.
Relaxation and numerical approximation of a two-fluid two-pressure diphasic model

This paper is concerned with the numerical approximation of the solutions of a two-fluid two-pressure model used in the modelling of two-phase flows. We present a relaxation strategy for easily dealing with both the nonlinearities associated with the pressure laws and the nonconservative terms that are inherently present in the set of convective equations and that couple the two phases. In particular, the proposed approximate Riemann solver is given by explicit formulas, preserves the natural phase space, and exactly captures the coupling waves between the two phases. Numerical evidences are given to corroborate the validity of our approach.
The ecological impacts of nighttime light pollution: a mechanistic appraisal

The ecological impacts of nighttime light pollution have been a longstanding source of concern, accentuated by realized and projected growth in electrical lighting. As human communities and lighting technologies develop, artificial light increasingly modifies natural light regimes by encroaching on dark refuges in space, in time, and across wavelengths. A wide variety of ecological implications of artificial light have been identified. However, the primary research to date is largely focused on the disruptive influence of nighttime light on higher vertebrates, and while comprehensive reviews have been compiled along taxonomic lines and within specific research domains, the subject is in need of synthesis within a common mechanistic framework. Here we propose such a framework that focuses on the cross‐factoring of the ways in which artificial lighting alters natural light regimes (spatially, temporally, and spectrally), and the ways in which light influences biological systems, particularly the distinction between light as a resource and light as an information source. We review the evidence for each of the combinations of this cross‐factoring. As artificial lighting alters natural patterns of light in space, time and across wavelengths, natural patterns of resource use and information flows may be disrupted, with downstream effects to the structure and function of ecosystems. This review highlights: (i) the potential influence of nighttime lighting at all levels of biological organisation (from cell to ecosystem); (ii) the significant impact that even low levels of nighttime light pollution can have; and (iii) the existence of major research gaps, particularly in terms of the impacts of light at population and ecosystem levels, identification of intensity thresholds, and the spatial extent of impacts in the vicinity of artificial lights.
ODISEA : Active Environments for Intelligent Offices and Homes

The main goal of this project is the creation of a highly interactive environments based on multi-modal user interfaces (speech recognition, computer vision, etc.). These environments will be able not only to observe the users but also to participate in their everyday tasks. They can be implanted in, for instance, a household, an office, an industrial control room, or a navigation setting (driver assistants). In this framework we will develop a series of agents and the corresponding integrating architecture that will allow to include cameras, microphones, and, in general, all kinds of sensors (smoke, water) in the "active" environment. All these, along with image processing mechanisms, gesture recognition, speech recognition, natural language processing, robust speech control and other similar technologies, will allow a natural and fluid interaction with the environment. We shall also implement an intelligent room as the test laboratory for all these technologies. Such a room will be able to interact with its inhabitants through voice and gestures, will be context sensitive, and will be able to anticipate to events occurring within it. In the same manner we shall implement natural language interfaces in all project participants’ offices so that the overall system would be tested under real conditions.
Tentative detection of warm intervening gas towards PKS 0548-322 with XMM-Newton

We present the results of a long (� 93ksec) XMM-Newton observation of the bright BL-Lac object PKS 0548-322 (z = 0.069). Our Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) spectrum shows a single absorption feature at an observed wavelength � = 23.33 ± 0.01u which we interpret as OVI Kabsorption at z = 0.058, i.e., � 3000kms 1 from the background object. The observed equivalent width of the absorption line � 30mu coupled with the lack of the corresponding absorption edge in the EPIC pn data, implies a column density NOVI � 2×10 16 cm 2 and turbulence with a Doppler velocity parameter b > 100kms 1 . Within the limitations of our RGS spectrum, no OVII or OV Kabsorption are detected. Under the assumption of ionisation equilibrium by both collisions and the extragalactic background, this is only marginally consistent if the gas temperature is � 2.5 × 10 5 K, with significantly lower or higher values being excluded by our limits on OV or OVII. If confirmed, this would be the first X-ray detection of a large amount of intervening warm absorbing gas through OVI absorption. The existence of such a high column density absorber, much stronger than any previously detected one in OVI, would place stringent constraints on the large-scale distribution of baryonic gas in the Universe.
An overview of next-generation architectures for machine learning: Roadmap, opportunities and challenges in the IoT era

The number of connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices are expected to reach over 20 billion by 2020. These range from basic sensor nodes that log and report the data to the ones that are capable of processing the incoming information and taking an action accordingly. Machine learning, and in particular deep learning, is the de facto processing paradigm for intelligently processing these immense volumes of data. However, the resource inhibited environment of IoT devices, owing to their limited energy budget and low compute capabilities, render them a challenging platform for deployment of desired data analytics. This paper provides an overview of the current and emerging trends in designing highly efficient, reliable, secure and scalable machine learning architectures for such devices. The paper highlights the focal challenges and obstacles being faced by the community in achieving its desired goals. The paper further presents a roadmap that can help in addressing the highlighted challenges and thereby designing scalable, high-performance, and energy efficient architectures for performing machine learning on the edge.
Microflora and periodontal disease

Background: Periodontitis is a disease that affects and destroys the tissues that support teeth. Tissue damage results from a prolonged inflammatory response to an ecological shift in the composition of subgingival biofilms. Three bacterial species that constitute the red complex group, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, and Treponema denticola, are considered the main pathogens involved in periodontitis. Materials and Methods: In the present study, a real-time polymerase chain reaction bases assay was designed to detect and quantify red complex species, then used to investigate 307 periodontal pocket samples from 127 periodontitis patients and 180 controls. Results: Significant higher prevalence of red complex species and increased amount of P. gingivalis and T. denticola were detected in periodontal pocket of periodontitis patients. Conclusions: Results demonstrated that the test is a valuable tool to improve diagnosis of periodontal disease.
Periodic Textures as Distinguished Regions for Wide-Baseline Stereo Correspondence

This paper addresses the problem of establishing correspondences for wide-baseline stereo, when two images are taken from significantly different viewpoints. Most of the existing approaches avoid using textures for matching as repetitive patterns tend to produce multiple peaks of correlation, which may lead to an ambiguity. We demonstrate that the presence of periodic textures can facilitate widebaseline matching. The concept of a distinguished region is introduced and discussed. Dominant periodic patterns are used as distinguished regions whose affine-invariant descriptors, regularity feature vectors, are computed to identify regions in a wide-baseline stereo pair. Test results with various images are shown and discussed. Keywords— Wide-baseline stereo, correspondence, periodic textures, invariant features.
Visible supercontinuum generation from a tunable mid-infrared laser

Calcium fluoride, BK7 and fused silica are common optical materials used in lenses and windows. In this report, we discuss supercontinuum generation using tunable femtosecond mid-IR laser pulses with wavelengths ranging from 2.7 μm to 7.0 μm and pulse energies between 3 and 18 microjoules. We observed harmonic generation in fused silica and BK7, but not supercontinuum generation. Other borosilicate targets generated supercontinuum in both visible and near infrared regions of the spectrum. The visible supercontinuum was, in some instances, strong enough to be observed directly by the human eye. These results contribute to ongoing work being done to refine eye safety standards for femtosecond lasers.
Controlling Ensembles of Robots via a Supervisory Aerial Robot

We consider the task of controlling a large team of non-holonomic ground robots with an unmanned aerial vehicle in a decentralized manner that is invariant to the number of ground robots. The central idea is the development of an abstraction for the team of ground robots that allows the aerial platform to control the team without any knowledge of the specificity of individual vehicles. This happens in much the same way as a human operator can control a single robot vehicle by simply commanding the forward and turning velocities without a detailed knowledge of the specifics of the robot. The abstraction includes a gross model of the shape of the formation of the team, and information about the position and orientation of the team in the plane. We derive controllers that allow the team of robots to move in formation while avoiding collisions and respecting the abstraction commanded by the aerial platform. We propose strategies for controlling the physical spread of the ensemble of robots by splitting and merging the team based on distributed techniques. We provide simulation and experimental results using a team of indoor mobile robots and a three-dimensional, cable-controlled, parallel robot which serves as our indoor unmanned aerial platform.
Half bridge module asymmetric multilevel inverter based on novel PWM control strategy

Multilevel inverter (MLI) is an alternative for high power and high voltage applications. It has low switching stress on power switches, lower total harmonic distortion (THD), higher efficiency and low Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). Higher number of power switches contributes complexity of control and high cost. In this paper a five-level MLI is proposed with reduced switch count and improved performance. Optimal structures of this topology are investigated for interface with renewable energy resources. It uses single carrier and single input with hybrid modulation scheme. Proposed topology employs less power switches compared to that of conventional multilevel inverters. The digital simulation has been analysed and hardware prototype has been developed to validated the simulated results. The effect of DC voltage unbalancing and advantages of this structure is compared with conventional MLI topologies.
A Systematic Review of Reviews Evaluating Technology-Enabled Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support

Background: Since the introduction of mobile phones, technology has been increasingly used to enable diabetes self-management education and support. This timely systematic review summarizes how currently available technology impacts outcomes for people living with diabetes. Methods: A systematic review of high quality review articles and meta analyses focused on utilizing technology in diabetes self-management education and support services was conducted. Articles were included if published between January 2013 and January 2017. Results: Twenty-five studies were included for analysis. The majority evaluated the use of mobile phones and secure messaging. Most studies described healthy eating, being active and metabolic monitoring as the predominant self-care behaviors evaluated. Eighteen of 25 reviews reported significant reduction in A1c as an outcome measure. Four key elements emerged as essential for improved A1c: (1) communication, (2) patient-generated health data, (3) education, and (4) feedback. Conclusion: Technology-enabled diabetes self-management solutions significantly improve A1c. The most effective interventions incorporated all the components of a technology-enabled self-management feedback loop that connected people with diabetes and their health care team using 2-way communication, analyzed patient-generated health data, tailored education, and individualized feedback. The evidence from this systematic review indicates that organizations, policy makers and payers should consider integrating these solutions in the design of diabetes self-management education and support services for population health and value-based care models. With the widespread adoption of mobile phones, digital health solutions that incorporate evidence-based, behaviorally designed interventions can improve the reach and access to diabetes self-management education and ongoing support.
Towards a MIR System for Malaysian Music

Systems for the archival of musical documents digitally and development of digital music libraries are currently being researched and developed extensively. However, adapting these systems for the archival and retrieval of Malaysian music materials might not be as straightforward due to the distinct differences in musical structure and modes of non-Western music. This paper covers the motivations for the creation of a MIR system for Malaysian Music and outlines the plans for its development.
Exploring Tangible Ways to Evaluate User Experience for Elders

While user experience assessment enables understanding users' perception about a product, limitations have been encountered when elders use questionnaires to evaluate user experience. In this paper we present the design process of Aestimo, a tangible interface to assist elderly people when evaluating the user experience of interactive prototypes. Our prototype is a simplification of the AttrakDiff questionnaire, which gives a chance to record one's overall opinion (i.e., speech) and emotions. In addition, our design uses playful interaction styles that are familiar to the elderly. In a preliminary evaluation, elderly found Aestimo entertaining and easy to use. As future work, we aim to explore new materials in building Aestimo and to perform a comprehensive evaluation with several elders.
Developing a Community of Practice to Support Global HCI Education

ACM SIGCHI has been supporting research in HCI education for many years, most actively from 2011-2014. At CHI2014, a workshop on developing a new HCI living curriculum was held, building on three years of research and collaboration. We believe the time is right to develop and implement the suggested HCI living curriculum. We propose a hands-on workshop to develop a concrete active community of practice of HCI scholars and educators, sharing and collaborating to develop course outlines, curricula, and teaching materials. The workshop will define the conceptual framework and user experience of the HCI living curriculum, develop its information architecture and infrastructure, and evaluate how existing platforms do and do not fulfill the proposed needs. Post-workshop initiatives will aim to move towards implementing the first iteration of the living curriculum.
Can a Safety Net Subsidy Be Contained?

Banks may receive a subsidy from deposit insurance or from other components of the government-provided banking safety net. Extension (leakage) of a subsidy to banks' nonbank affiliates will only serve to enlarge it. But subsidy enlargement, since it entails expanded risks to taxpayers and reduced economic efficiency, seems to demand steps to prevent it. To contain bank-to-affiliate leaks, observers propose intracompany restrictions. While such restrictions may contain intracompany leaks, they cannot contain broader subsidy enlargement. Competition will compel banks to yield any subsidy to their borrowers and depositors, thereby frustrating public policy attempts to limit it.
On-line rotor time constant estimation for induction motor using two new methods, RLS and SDBP algorithms

This paper presents two new methods of online estimation for the rotor time constant of the induction motor for indirect vector control drives. These methods are presented using artificial neural networks with steepest descent back propagation training algorithm and recursive least square algorithm. These methods use measurements of the stator voltages, stator currents and the rotor speed. The problem is formulated as finding the rotor flux error, which occurs as a result of rotor time constant variation, and then the actual value of the rotor resistance is estimated. The effectiveness of these algorithms is demonstrated with simulation.
cir-ITCH Plays an Inhibitory Role in Colorectal Cancer by Regulating the Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway

Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are the dominant product of eukaryotic transcription. These products range from short microRNAs (miRNAs) to long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs). Circular RNAs composed of exonic sequences represent an understudied form of ncRNA that was discovered more than 20 years ago. Using a TaqMan-based reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assay, we analyzed the relationship between cir-ITCH expression and colorectal cancer (CRC) in a total of 45 CRCs and paired adjacent non-tumor tissue samples. We found that cir-ITCH expression was typically down-regulated in CRC compared to the peritumoral tissue. This result, as well as several follow-up experiments, showed that cir-ITCH could increase the level of ITCH, which is involved in the inhibition of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Therefore, our results showed that cir-ITCH plays a role in CRC by regulating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.
MicroRNA-99 Family Targets AKT/mTOR Signaling Pathway in Dermal Wound Healing

Recent studies suggest that microRNAs play important roles in dermal wound healing and microRNA deregulation has been linked with impaired wound repair. Here, using a mouse experimental wound healing model, we identified a panel of 63 differentially expressed microRNAs during dermal wound healing, including members of miR-99 family (miR-99a, miR-99b, miR-100). We further demonstrated that miR-99 family members regulate cell proliferation, cell migration, and AKT/mTOR signaling. Combined experimental and bioinformatics analyses revealed that miR-99 family members regulate AKT/mTOR signaling by targeting multiple genes, including known target genes (e.g., IGF1R, mTOR) and a new target (AKT1). The effects of miR-99 family members on the expression of IGF1R, mTOR and AKT1 were validated at both the mRNA and protein levels. Two adjacent miR-99 family targeting sites were identified in the 3′-UTR of the AKT1 mRNA. The direct interaction of miR-100 with these targeting sites was confirmed using luciferase reporter assays. The microRNA-100-directed recruitment of AKT1 mRNA to the RNAi-induced silencing complex (RISC) was confirmed by a ribonucleoprotein-IP assay. In summary, we identified a panel of differentially expressed microRNAs which may play important roles in wound healing. We provide evidence that miR-99 family members contribute to wound healing by regulating the AKT/mTOR signaling.
Emerging Role of (Endo)Cannabinoids in Migraine

In this mini-review, we summarize recent discoveries and present new hypotheses on the role of cannabinoids in controlling trigeminal nociceptive system underlying migraine pain. Individual sections of this review cover key aspects of this topic, such as: (i) the current knowledge on the endocannabinoid system (ECS) with emphasis on expression of its components in migraine related structures; (ii) distinguishing peripheral from central site of action of cannabinoids, (iii) proposed mechanisms of migraine pain and control of nociceptive traffic by cannabinoids at the level of meninges and in brainstem, (iv) therapeutic targeting in migraine of monoacylglycerol lipase and fatty acid amide hydrolase, enzymes which control the level of endocannabinoids; (v) dual (possibly opposing) actions of cannabinoids via anti-nociceptive CB1 and CB2 and pro-nociceptive TRPV1 receptors. We explore the cannabinoid-mediated mechanisms in the frame of the Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency (CECD) hypothesis, which implies reduced tone of endocannabinoids in migraine patients. We further discuss the control of cortical excitability by cannabinoids via inhibition of cortical spreading depression (CSD) underlying the migraine aura. Finally, we present our view on perspectives of Cannabis-derived (extracted or synthetized marijuana components) or novel endocannabinoid therapeutics in migraine treatment.
DNA aneuploidy‐specific therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) have an unfavorable prognosis, with a 5‐year survival rate of approximately 40%. Genetic analyses have revealed that the majority of HNSCCs carry complex, aneuploid karyotypes, showing numerical and structural chromosomal imbalances. New compounds are being developed that target chromosomal instability in general, specifically affecting cells with aneuploid karyotypes.
A neural network structure with wide range scale robustness

In the past few years, convolutional neural network-ks(CNN) has made great progress in various computer vision tasks, but its ability to tolerate scale variations is limited. For solving this problem, a common solution is making the model bigger first, and then trains it with data augmentation using extensive scale-jittering. This method greatly increased the study requirement. In this paper, we propose a multi-column structure of CNN, and experiment it at a basic neural network. The structure can effectively solve the problem of scale robustness in target recognition, and almost haven't any increase in study requirement. Especially, our structure is particularly effective when dealing with a wide range of scale-variant problem.