Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A User-Adaptive Gesture Recognition System Applied to Human-Robot Collaboration in Factories

Enabling Human-Robot collaboration (HRC) requires robot with the capacity to understand its environment and actions performed by persons interacting with it. In this paper we are dealing with industrial collaborative robots on assembly line in automotive factories. These robots have to work with operators on common tasks. We are working on technical gestures recognition to allow robot to understand which task is being executed by the operator, in order to synchronize its actions. We are using a depth-camera with a top view and we track hands positions of the worker. We use discrete HMMs to learn and recognize technical gestures. We are also interested in a system of gestures recognition which can adapt itself to the operator. Indeed, a same technical gesture seems very similar from an operator to another, but each operator has his/her own way to perform it. In this paper, we study an adaptation of the recognition system by modifying the learning database with a addition very small amount of gestures. Our research shows that by adding 2 sets of gestures to be recognized from the operator who is working with the robot, which represents less than 1% of the database, we can improve correct recognitions rate by ~3.5%. When we add 10 sets of gestures, 2.6% of the database, the improvement reaches 5.7%.
A New Genetic Algorithm Based Control Method Using State Space Reconstruction

A new control method using Genetic Algorithms (GAs) to reduce the structural response under seismic excitation is proposed. The proposed control method uses state space reconstruction technique to obtain the full state performance from the available reduced order feedback. The controller is optimized using GAs without making simplifying assumptions. The method has been used on a benchmark problem – an active mass driver system. The results and advantages of the proposed method are discussed in this paper. The robustness of the controller developed by this method has also been examined.
BacNet and Analog/Digital Interfaces of the Building Controls Virtual Testbed

This paper gives an overview of recent developments in the Building Controls Virtual Test Bed (BCVTB), a framework for co-simulation and hardware-in-the- loop. First, a general overview of the BCVTB is presented. Second, we describe the BACnet interface, a link which has been implemented to couple BACnet devices to the BCVTB. We present a case study where the interface was used to couple a whole building simulation program to a building control system to assess in real-time the performance of a real building. Third, we present the ADInterfaceMCC, an analog/digital interface that allows a USB-based analog/digital converter to be linked to the BCVTB. In a case study, we show how the link was used to couple the analog/digital converter to a building simulation model for local loop control.
Use Case Maps for the Design and the Validation of Interaction-Free Telephony Features

Functional scenarios describing system views, uses, or services are a common way of capturing ments of telecommunication systems. However, integrating individual descriptions of telephony features in d ways may result in different kinds of unexpected or undesirable interactions. Appropriate integration techniqu hopefully lead to fewer such interactions. In this report, we first present how a collection of features integrate ally through causal scenarios called Use Case Maps (UCMs) may help generating high-level L OTOS specifications. Integrating UCMs together helps avoiding trivial and art ificial interactions before any prototype is generated. The we use the powerful testing concepts and tools of L OTOS to detect remaining undesirable interactions. To illustra these concepts, we capture and validate a subset of the telephony features from the First Feature Interaction We discuss the results of this experiment, as well as strengths and weaknesses of our methodology.
Data Association for the PHD Filter

The Probability Hypothesis Density (PHD) filter was developed as a suboptimal method for tracking a time varying number of targets. The first order statistical moment of the multiple target posterior distribution, called the Probability Hypothesis Density, gives the expected locations of the targets. This property is used instead of the full multi-target posterior distribution as it requires significantly less computation. Particle filter implementations have demonstrated the potential of the algorithm for real-time tracking applications. One of the main criticisms of the PHD filter is that there is no means of associating the same target between frames. Whilst this may be of advantage if the main concern is where the targets are, it is a major drawback if it is necessary to identify the trajectories of the different targets. Novel techniques for solving the problem of track continuity are presented here and demonstrated on simulated data.
Balancing food and predator pressure induces chronic stress in songbirds

The never–ending tension between finding food and avoiding predators may be the most universal natural stressor wild animals experience. The ‘chronic stress’ hypothesis predicts: (i) an animal's stress profile will be a simultaneous function of food and predator pressures given the aforesaid tension; and (ii) these inseparable effects on physiology will produce inseparable effects on demography because of the resulting adverse health effects. This hypothesis was originally proposed to explain synergistic (inseparable) food and predator effects on demography in snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus). We conducted a 2 × 2, manipulative food addition plus natural predator reduction experiment on song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) that was, to our knowledge, the first to demonstrate comparable synergistic effects in a bird: added food and lower predator pressure in combination produced an increase in annual reproductive success almost double that expected from an additive model. Here we report the predicted simultaneous food and predator effects on measures of chronic stress in the context of the same experiment: birds at unfed, high predator pressure (HPP) sites had the highest stress levels; those at either unfed or HPP sites showed intermediate levels; and fed birds at low predator pressure sites had the lowest stress levels.
Cortical microtubule rearrangements and cell wall patterning

Plant cortical microtubules, which form a highly ordered array beneath the plasma membrane, play essential roles in determining cell shape and function by directing the arrangement of cellulosic and non-cellulosic compounds on the cell surface. Interphase transverse arrays of cortical microtubules self-organize through their dynamic instability and inter-microtubule interactions, and by branch-form microtubule nucleation and severing. Recent studies revealed that distinct spatial signals including ROP GTPase, cellular geometry, and mechanical stress regulate the behavior of cortical microtubules at the subcellular and supercellular levels, giving rise to dramatic rearrangements in the cortical microtubule array in response to internal and external cues. Increasing evidence indicates that negative regulators of microtubules also contribute to the rearrangement of the cortical microtubule array. In this review, I summarize recent insights into how the rearrangement of the cortical microtubule array leads to proper, flexible cell wall patterning.
Lack of resolution in the animal phylogeny: closely spaced cladogeneses or undetected systematic errors?

A recent phylogenomic study reported that the animal phylogeny was unresolved despite the use of 50 genes. This lack of resolution was interpreted as "a positive signature of closely spaced cladogenetic events. " Here, we propose that this lack of resolution is rather due to the mutual cancellation of the phylogenetic signal (historical) and the nonphylogenetic signal (due to systematic errors) that results from inadequate taxon sampling and/or model of sequence evolution. Starting with a data set of comparable size, we use 3 different strategies to reduce the nonphylogenetic signal: 1) increasing the number of species; 2) replacing a fast-evolving species by a slowly evolving one; and 3) using a better model of sequence evolution. In all cases, the phylogenetic resolution is markedly improved, in agreement with our hypothesis that the originally reported lack of resolution was artifactual.
Mixed Pfair/ERfair scheduling of asynchronous periodic tasks

In this paper, we prove that a simplified variant of the PD Pfair algorithm, called PD/sup 2/, is optimal for scheduling any mix of early-release and non-early-release asynchronous tasks on a multiprocessor. This result breaks new ground by incorporating both early-release and non-early-release tasks under a common framework. In addition, all prior work on optimal multiprocessor Pfair scheduling algorithms has been limited to synchronous periodic task systems.
On the Origin of Cusps in Stellar Systems

An origin is sought for the ubiquity of cusps, both in computer simulations of halo formation in hierarchical clustering cosmogonies and in observations of galactic nuclei by the Hubble Space Telescope. The encounters of merging clumps that built the galaxies can be described by the collisional Boltzmann equation. Using insights gained by studying the simpler Fokker-Planck equation, we show that there is a steady-state, self-consistent, cusped solution of the collisional Boltzmann equation corresponding to ρ ~ r-4/3. This equilibrium is both stable and an attractor. It is the natural endpoint of the diffusive encounters of an ensemble of equal mass clumps. The introduction of a mass spectrum weakens the mass density cusp. The spike in the luminosity density can be accentuated or softened, depending on the form of the mass-luminosity relation. Possible applications to the cusped nuclei of early-type galaxies are discussed.
Inverse Kinematics and Control of a 7-DOF Redundant Manipulator Based on the Closed-Loop Algorithm

Closed-loop inverse kinematics (CLIK) algorithm mostly resolves the redundancy at the velocity level. In this paper we extend the CLIK algorithm to the acceleration level to meet some applications that require the joint accelerations. The redundancy resolutions at the velocities and acceleration levels via pseudoinverse method are analyzed respectively. The objective function of joint limits avoidance(JLA) is combined into the redundancy resolution as an optimization approach of the null space motion. A seven-DOF redundant manipulator is designed to do the computer simulations and the real experiments are carried out on a Powercube modular manipulator. Their results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Phase Retrieval from 1D Fourier Measurements: Convexity, Uniqueness, and Algorithms

This paper considers phase retrieval from the magnitude of one-dimensional over-sampled Fourier measurements, a classical problem that has challenged researchers in various fields of science and engineering. We show that an optimal vector in a least-squares sense can be found by solving a convex problem, thus establishing a hidden convexity in Fourier phase retrieval. We then show that the standard semidefinite relaxation approach yields the optimal cost function value (albeit not necessarily an optimal solution). A method is then derived to retrieve an optimal minimum phase solution in polynomial time. Using these results, a new measuring technique is proposed which guarantees uniqueness of the solution, along with an efficient algorithm that can solve large-scale Fourier phase retrieval problems with uniqueness and optimality guarantees.
Communication for Omniscience

This paper considers the communication for omniscience (CO) problem: A set of users observe a discrete memoryless multiple source and want to recover the entire multiple source via noise-free broadcast communications. We study the problem of how to attain omniscience with the minimum sum-rate, the total number of communications, and determine a corresponding optimal rate vector. The results cover both asymptotic and non-asymptotic models where the transmission rates are real and integral, respectively. Based on the concepts of submodularity and Dilworth truncation, we formulate a maximization problem. The maximum is the highest Slepian-Wolf constraint over all multi-way cuts of the user set, which determines the minimum sum-rate. For solving this maximization problem and searching for an optimal rate vector, we propose a modified decomposition algorithm (MDA) and a sum-rate increment algorithm (SIA) for asymptotic and non-asymptotic models, respectively, both of which complete in polynomial time. For solving the Dilworth truncation problem as the subroutine in both algorithms, we propose a fusion method to implement the existing coordinate saturation capacity (CoordSatCap) algorithm, where the submodular function minimization (SFM) is done over a merged user set. We show by experimental results that this fusion method contributes to a reduction in computation complexity as compared to the original CoordSatCap algorithm.
On the stability of the PWP method

The PWP method was introduced by Diaz in 2009 as a technique for measuring indirect influences in complex networks. It depends on a matrix D, provided by the user, called the matrix of direct influences, and on a positive real parameter which is part of the method itself. We study changes in the method's predictions as D and the parameter vary.
Automatic Recognition and Analysis of Birdsong Syllables from Continuous Recordings

We describe a technique for the automated analysis of continuous, unsegmented animal vocalizations. The algorithm is based on the comparison of templates with unknown signals using a dynamic time-warping (DTW) algorithm. It directly compares signal spectrograms, and identiies constituents and constituent boundaries, thus permitting the identiication of a broad range of signals and signal components. When applied to the vocalizations of an indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea) and a zebra nch (Taeniopygia guttata), the recognizer identiies stereotyped songs and calls with greater than 97% accuracy. We demonstrate how DTW can also be used to assess the variation present in an animal's repertoire. This technique has general applicability to analysis of a variety of animal vocalizations and can dramatically decrease the amount of time spent on manual identiication of vocalizations. The sound spectrograph is the principle tool used in analysis of bioacoustic signals. Based on visual inspection of sound spectrographs, most animal vocalizations are described as comprising discrete subunits in a hierarchical organization. This is reeected, for example, in a popular terminology for birdsong vocalizations: notes, syllables (or gures), phrases, and songs. Many bioacoustic studies require a description of the similarity of diierent units of vocalization within an animal (either as related to some experimental manipulation or during ontogeny), or the similarity of units of vocalization across individuals. In general, the bioacoustic community has failed to embrace modern engineering techniques that permit implementation of useful tools which can aid in automated identiication of segments of vocalizations. Indeed, in most longitudinal studies the analysis of sound spectrographs is largely based on manual inspection (e.g., Marler & Peters 1982; Margoliash et al. 1994). This has the obvious problems of repeatability, subjectivity, and for large data sets can be extremely labor intensive. The last point is signiicant, in that it has inhibited research in cases such as vocal development in songbirds, which can span many months during which a vast number of syllables 1
Innovative Devices for Motor Learning Programs

Two mechatronics prototypes, useful for robotic neurotreatments and new clinical trainings, are here presented. P.I. G.R. O. (pneumatic interactive gait rehabilitation orthosis) is an active exoskeletonwith an electropneumatic control. It imposesmovements on lower limbs in order to produce in the patient’s brain proper motor cortex activation. Bra.Di. P.O. (brain discovery pneumatic orthosis) is anMR-compatible device, designed to improve fMRI (functionalmagnetic resonance imaging) analysis.The twodevices are presented together because both are involved in the study of new robotic treatments of patients affected by ictus or brain stroke or in some motor learning experimental investigations carried out on healthy subjects.
Usability evaluation and PPGIS: towards a user-centred design approach

Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) is a field of research that, among other things, focuses on the use of GIS by non-experts and occasional users. These users tend to have a diverse range of computer literacy, world views, cultural backgrounds and knowledge. These aspects require that the systems used within PPGIS are accessible and easy to use. Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and the related usability evaluation techniques focus on how to make computer systems more accessible, while focusing on user needs and requirements. Thus, the synergy between PPGIS and HCI seems natural. In this paper, we discuss the aspects of this synergy, building on our experience from three workshops. We demonstrate how usability evaluation can contribute to PPGIS research, and how PPGIS research can contribute to the HCI aspects of GIS in general. We conclude this paper with a call for a user-centred design approach to PPGIS projects.
Multiple-order Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling methods with application to a changepoint model

Markov chain Monte Carlo methods have been applied successfully to a wide variety of modelling problems. There are extra complications when the number of parameters is not xed. Samplers can be designed that makèreversible jumps' between subspaces that correspond to diierent orders of a model, but their eeectiveness is dependent on a variable transformation. This article explores a number of approaches to the task of formulating moves. A structure is proposed in which moves between subspaces are combined with moves within them. This is especially useful if the latter are of a Gibbs type. Ways of enhancing computational eeciency are considered. A framework is set out for reusing the results of computations in secondary moves once a primary move has been accepted or rejected. These methods are discussed in the context of a model of a piecewise-constant signal which is ltered before the addition of noise. This model was designed with a view to analysing ion channel records.
Forward jet production at HERA

Forward jet and particle cross sections have been measured in lepton-proton collisions by the H1 and ZEUS collaborations at HERA. Parton evolution schemes are tested by requiring a forward jet or particle with E T ∼ Q 2 or a forward jet plus a central dijet system. The measurements are compared to next-to-leading order QCD predictions and various QCD-based Monte Carlo models.
Comparative study on character of eye movements while reading for junior high school student with different reading comprehension

The eye movements of 10 students of good reading comprehension and 10 students of bad reading comprehension of Grade 8 were monitored during reading of expository writings.The results showed as follows: in the frequency of fixation,students of good reading comprehension were evidently higher than the others in the time of reading,the duration of fixation,regressive eye movement and the points of fixation students of good reading comprehansion were fewer than the others.Moreover,neither the differences in the saccadic angle nor the difference in the saccadic latent period was significant between the two groups.
Ecological community description using the food web, species abundance, and body size

Measuring the numerical abundance and average body size of individuals of each species in an ecological community's food web reveals new patterns and illuminates old ones. This approach is illustrated using data from the pelagic community of a small lake: Tuesday Lake, Michigan, United States. Body mass varies almost 12 orders of magnitude. Numerical abundance varies almost 10 orders of magnitude. Biomass abundance (average body mass times numerical abundance) varies only 5 orders of magnitude. A new food web graph, which plots species and trophic links in the plane spanned by body mass and numerical abundance, illustrates the nearly inverse relationship between body mass and numerical abundance, as well as the pattern of energy flow in the community. Species with small average body mass occur low in the food web of Tuesday Lake and are numerically abundant. Larger-bodied species occur higher in the food web and are numerically rarer. Average body size explains more of the variation in numerical abundance than does trophic height. The trivariate description of an ecological community by using the food web, average body sizes, and numerical abundance includes many well studied bivariate and univariate relationships based on subsets of these three variables. We are not aware of any single community for which all of these relationships have been analyzed simultaneously. Our approach demonstrates the connectedness of ecological patterns traditionally treated as independent. Moreover, knowing the food web gives new insight into the disputed form of the allometric relationship between body mass and abundance.
Systemic and Nasal Delivery of Orexin-A (Hypocretin-1) Reduces the Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive Performance in Nonhuman Primates

Hypocretin-1 (orexin-A) was administered to sleep-deprived (30–36 h) rhesus monkeys immediately preceding testing on a multi-image delayed match-to-sample (DMS) short-term memory task. The DMS task used multiple delays and stimulus images and effectively measures cognitive defects produced by sleep deprivation (Porrino et al., 2005). Two methods of administration of orexin-A were tested, intravenous injections (2.5–10.0 μg/kg, i.v.) and a novel method developed for nasal delivery via an atomizer spray mist to the nostrils (dose estimated 1.0 μg/kg). Results showed that orexin-A delivered via the intravenous and nasal routes significantly improved performance in sleep-deprived monkeys; however, the nasal delivery method was significantly more effective than the highest dose (10 μg/kg) of intravenous orexin-A tested. The improvement in performance by orexin-A was specific to trials classified as high versus low cognitive load as determined by performance difficulty under normal testing conditions. Except for the maximum intravenous dose (10 μg/kg), neither delivery method affected task performance in alert non-sleep-deprived animals. The improved performance in sleep-deprived animals was accompanied by orexin-A related alterations in local cerebral glucose metabolism (CMRglc) in specific brain regions shown previously to be engaged by the task and impaired by sleep deprivation (Porrino et al., 2005). Consistent with the differential effects on performance, nasal delivered orexin-A produced a more pronounced reversal of sleep deprivation induced changes in brain metabolic activity (CMRglc) than intravenous orexin-A. These findings provide strong evidence for the effectiveness of intranasal orexin-A in alleviating cognitive deficits produced by loss of sleep.