Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Depth map construction with stereo vision for humanoid robot navigation

This article presents how stereoscopic vision is implemented in a humanoid robot with the purpose of selecting the most proper routine of movements to avoid obstacles encountered. The goals were to identify accurately the three-dimensional environment by using a depth map constructed with 2D images, acquired with a pair of cameras mounted on the robot, for their analysis using a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B to execute an algorithm of navigation. The experimental results demonstrate that the stereoscopic vision system is capable of measuring the relative position between objects and the humanoid robot with accuracy. With this information the humanoid robot would be able to avoid and pass through different obstacles, once the system recognizes a suitable solution for each situation. This article presents how stereoscopic vision is implemented in a humanoid robot with the purpose of selecting the most proper routine of movements to avoid obstacles encountered. The goals were to identify accurately the three-dimensional environment by using a depth map constructed with 2D images, acquired with a pair of cameras mounted on the robot, for their analysis using a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B to execute an algorithm of navigation. The experimental results demonstrate that the stereoscopic vision system is capable of measuring the relative position between objects and the humanoid robot with accuracy. With this information the humanoid robot would be able to avoid and pass through different obstacles, once the system recognizes a suitable solution for each situation.
Virtualizing Graphics Architecture of Android Mobile Platforms in KVM/ARM Environment

With the availability of virtualization extension in mobile processors, e.g. ARM Cortex A-15, multiple virtual execution domains are efficiently supported in a mobile platform. Each execution domain requires high-performance graphics services for full-featured user interfaces such as smooth scrolling, background image blurring, and 3D images. However, graphics service is hard to be virtualized because multiple service components (e.g. ION and Fence) are involved. Moreover, the complexity of Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) device driver also makes harder virtualizing graphics service. In this paper, we propose a technique to virtualize the graphics architecture of Android mobile platform in KVM/ARM environment. The Android graphics architecture relies on underlying Linux kernel services such as the frame buffer memory allocator ION, the buffer synchronization service Fence, GPU device driver, and the display synchronization service VSync. These kernel services are provided as device files in Linux kernel. Our approach is to para-virtualize these device files based on a split device driver model. A major challenge is to translate guest-view of information into host-view of information, e.g. memory address translation, file descriptor management, and GPU Memory Management Unit (MMU) manipulation. The experimental results show that the proposed graphics virtualization technique achieved almost 84%-100% performance of native applications. key words: GPU virtualization, mobile virtualization, KVM, paravirtualization
La Crosse Encephalitis

Mosquito-borne diseases remain a significant cause of economic, social, and health burdens in North Carolina. Although recently overshadowed by emerging threats such as chikungunya virus and Zika virus, La Crosse virus and other endemic arboviruses remain persistent environmental health hazards. Indeed, La Crosse virus, West Nile virus, and Eastern equine encephalitis virus accounted for more than 98% of the reported human arboviral diseases acquired in North Carolina in the past decade. Arbovirus infection is increasingly prevalent in Western North Carolina, with La Crosse encephalitis being endemic in this area. While infections are often asymptomatic and seldom fatal, the long-term neurologic sequelae of La Crosse encephalitis represent a significant burden.
Influence of high frequency electrical stunning and decapitation on broiler activity during slaughter and carcass and meat quality

The effects of high frequency electrical stunning and decapitation on broiler activity, carcass and meat quality, and rigor development were measured in two experiments. In the first experiment broilers were killed by conventional neck cutting, and decapitation independently or following a high frequency electrical stun. Broilers were subjectively scored for severity of activity during slaughter, carcasses scored for processing defects (broken bones, red tails, red wing tips, and number of feathers), and 24 h postmortem muscle pH values, color, cook yield and Allo-Kramer shear. In the second experiment, conventional slaughter was compared to high frequency stunning and decapitation on early rigor development by measuring breast meat pH, R-values, color, cook yield, and shear of fillets deboned at 2, 4, and 24 h postmortem. Results indicated that decapitation following high frequency electrical stunning was comparable to conventional stunning and killing. INDEX WORDS: Broiler, Electrical Stunning, Decapitation, Carcass Quality, Meat Quality INFLUENCE OF HIGH FREQUENCY ELECTRICAL STUNNING AND DECAPITATION ON BROILER ACTIVITY DURING SLAUGHTER AND CARCASS AND MEAT QUALITY
New Three-Phase Symmetrical Multilevel Voltage Source Inverter

This paper presents a new design and implementation of a three-phase multilevel inverter (MLI) for distributed power generation system using low frequency modulation and sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) as well. It is a modular type and it can be extended for extra number of output voltage levels by adding additional modular stages. The impact of the proposed topology is its proficiency to maximize the number of voltage levels using a reduced number of isolated dc voltage sources and electronic switches. Moreover, this paper proposes a significant factor (FC/L), which is developed to define the number of the required components per pole voltage level. A detailed comparison based on FC/L is provided in order to categorize the different topologies of the MLIs addressed in the literature. In addition, a prototype has been developed and tested for various modulation indexes to verify the control technique and performance of the topology. Experimental results show a well-matching and good similarity with the simulation results.
Endotoxin antibodies in African sleeping sickness

Antibodies to the core region of endotoxin (endotoxin core antibodies, EndoCAb), which cross-react with endotoxin from a range of Gram-negative bacteria, are maintained in relative homeostasis in health, but undergo marked changes in a number of different diseases associated directly or indirectly with endotoxaemic or septicaemic states. The levels of EndoCAb IgG in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 35 late-stage sleeping sickness patients and 9 control individuals were measured by ELISA. EndoCAb levels were significantly elevated in the patient blood (mean EndoCAb value 290 MU/ml cf. control 182 MU/ml, P<0·001), and CSF (mean EndoCAb value 254 MU/ml cf. control 150 MU/ml, P<0·001). EndoCAb IgG levels correlated with endotoxin levels in patient blood (r=0·78, P<0·001), but not in the CSF and were not reduced 6 weeks following chemotherapy, unlike the endotoxin levels. It is concluded that late-stage sleeping sickness is associated with chronic exposure to endotoxins from Gram-negative bacteria.
The Eifel Detection Algorithm for TCP

The Eifel detection algorithm allows a TCP sender to detect a posteriori whether it has entered loss recovery unnecessarily. It requires that the TCP Timestamps option defined in RFC 1323 be enabled for a connection. The Eifel detection algorithm makes use of the fact that the TCP Timestamps option eliminates the retransmission ambiguity in TCP. Based on the timestamp of the first acceptable ACK that arrives during loss recovery, it decides whether loss recovery was entered unnecessarily. The Eifel detection algorithm provides a basis for future TCP enhancements. This includes response algorithms to back out of loss recovery by restoring a TCP sender's congestion control state.
Analysis of Protein–Protein Interactions by Using Droplet‐Based Microfluidics

Every little drop: The KD values of angiogenin (ANG) interactions as shown by FRET analysis of thousands of pL‐sized droplets agree with data from bulk‐fluorescence polarization measurements. Importantly, the use of fluorophores does not affect the activity of ANG or the binding of anti‐ANG antibodies to ANG. Such an experimental platform could be applied to the high‐throughput analysis of protein–protein interactions.
Why Were Poverty Rates so High in the 1980s?

This paper explores the relationship between the macroeconomy and the poverty rate. The first section provides evidence that poverty was far less responsive to macroeconomic growth in the 1980s than it had been in earlier decades. The section explores and rejects four reasons for this: It is not due to the exclusion of in-kind income from the data, to the regional location of the poor, to the public assistance changes of the early 1980s, or to the changing demographic composition of the poor. Instead, it is almost entirely due to declines in real wages that occur among low-wage workers over the 1980s. In fact, employment and weeks of work per year within low-income households expands more rapidly in the 1980s than in the 1960s. This is almost entirely offset, however, by declines in weekly earnings at the bottom of the income distribution. The result is that economic growth has been a far less effective anti-poverty tool over the past decade.
Accuracy and sensitivity of DNA pooling with microsatellite repeats using capillary electrophoresis.

DNA pooling is a genetic screening method that combines DNA from many individuals in a single polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reaction to generate a representation of allele frequencies. The substantial saving in effort with DNA pooling over individual genotyping facilitates linkage disequilibrium scanning of the human genome using many thousands of genetic markers, and is applicable to mapping of complex diseases such as schizophrenia. However, the literature to date has not addressed several crucial technical aspects of DNA pooling. These include: DNA quantification; the choice of electrophoresis methods; sensitivity (the minimum reliably detectable difference between pools); and methods of dealing with 'plus-A' stutter. We have examined these points and make recommendations as to the best procedures to adopt as well as quantifying reproducibility and sensitivity. We conclude that, although allele frequencies derived from microsatellite pooling are distorted, differences of 5% or greater between pools can be reliably detected.
Fiscal Policy Transmission : Stimulus with a Lending Friction ∗

The aftermath of the financial crisis has renewed interest in the effects of fiscal policy in the macroeconomy, particularly as a source of stimulation. The impetus for this reinvigorated literature was the breakdown of normal financial market operation. It should come as a surprise that financial markets and their frictions have been conspicuously absent from studies of fiscal transmission. The present paper takes steps to address this issued through the development of a limited participation model with flexible prices, distortionary taxes, and a costly lending technology. Preliminary results suggest that the way costly lending is introduced may not be as important for fiscal transmission in different monetary-fiscal policy regimes as the fact that some investment must be financed.
Modeling Textured Images Using Generalized Long Correlation Models

The long correlation (LC) models are a general class of random field (RF) models which are able to model correlations, extending over large image regions with few model parameters. The LC models have seen limited use, due to lack of an effective method for estimating the model parameters. In this work, we develop an estimation scheme for a very general form of this model and demonstrate its applicability to texture modeling applications. The relationship of the generalized LC models to other classes of RF models, namely the simultaneous autoregressive (SAR) and Markov random field (MRF) models, is shown. While it is known that the SAR model is a special case of the LC model, we show that the MRF model is also encompassed by this model. Consequently, the LC model may be considered as a generalization of the SAR and MRF models.
Monocytes mediate shaving of B‐cell‐bound anti‐CD20 antibodies

Anti‐CD20 monoclonal antibodies are promising for the treatment of B‐cell malignancies such as chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and autoimmune diseases where auto‐antibodies play an important role. Anti‐CD20 such as rituximab (RTX) mediates B‐cell depletion through mechanisms such as complement‐mediated cytotoxicity and antibody‐dependent cellular cytotoxicity. However, in haematological malignancies, such effector mechanisms can be saturated and result in release of malignant B cells with reduced levels of CD20. It has been hypothesized that this is the result of monocyte‐mediated shaving of the CD20/RTX complex from the B‐cell surface. Here, we confirm, that in vitro co‐culture of human monocytes and RTX‐labelled syngeneic B cells results in reduced expression of CD20/RTX complex on the B cell surface. This shaving mechanism was the result of active protease activity because EDTA and PMSF were able to mediate partial inhibition. Also, a series of alternative anti‐CD20 antibodies representing both type I and type II antibodies were tested for their ability to induce the shaving reaction. These results demonstrate that a monocyte‐mediated shaving reaction can lead to complete loss of most anti‐CD20 antibodies from the surface of B cells even from healthy donors and this is an important obstacle for antibody‐mediated immune therapy. The findings demonstrate the necessity of developing novel antibodies that maintain high effector functions without enabling activation of the shaving reaction.
Una aproximación sociológica al estudio de la satisfacción en el trabajo en la provincia de Santander

Se revisan las principales teorias, metodos de investigacion y las conclusiones extraidas de estudios empiricos recientes en torno a la satisfaccion en el trabajo. Se estudia la satisfaccion del trabajador con respecto a los salarios, los jefes, el tipo de empleo, los subordinados y la organizacion, en la provincia de Santander a partir de la realizacion de 753 entrevistas cerradas. Entre las variables se incluye el sector productivo, el sexo, la edad, la profesion, el area de residencia, la antiguedad y el tamano de la empresa. Se establecen comparaciones con estudios no publicados centrados en la provincia de Vizcaya. El mayor grado de satisfaccion se encontro entre las trabajadoras del sector servicios. Resultan evidentes las influencias de la zona geografica y del tamano de la empresa; se encontro una relacion positiva entre edad y satisfaccion. Las relaciones personales resultaron ser el factor mas determinante de la satisfaccion laboral
Associations of Race and Ethnicity With Patient-Reported Outcomes and Health Care Utilization Among Older Adults Initiating a New Episode of Care for Back Pain

Study Design. Secondary analysis of the Back Pain Outcomes using Longitudinal Data (BOLD) cohort study. Objective. To characterize associations of self-reported race/ethnicity with back pain (BP) patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and health care utilization among older adults with a new episode of care for BP. Summary of Background Data. No prior longitudinal studies have characterized associations between multiple race/ethnicity groups, and BP-related PROs and health care utilization in the United States. Methods. This study included 5117 participants ≥65 years from three US health care systems. The primary BP-related PROs were BP intensity and back-related functional limitations over 24 months. Health care utilization measures included common diagnostic tests and treatments related to BP (spine imaging, spine-related relative value units [RVUs], and total RVUs) over 24 months. Analyses were adjusted for multiple potential confounders including sociodemographics, clinical characteristics, and study site. Results. Baseline BP ratings were significantly higher for blacks vs. whites (5.8 vs. 5.0; P < 0.001). Participants in all race/ethnicity groups showed statistically significant, but modest improvements in BP over 24 months. Blacks and Hispanics did not have statistically significant improvement in BP-related functional limitations over time, unlike whites, Asians, and non-Hispanics; however, the magnitude of differences in improvement between groups was small. Blacks had less spine-related health care utilization over 24 months than whites (spine-related RVU ratio of means 0.66, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.51–0.86). Hispanics had less spine-related health care utilization than non-Hispanics (spine-related RVU ratio of means 0.60; 95% CI 0.40–0.90). Conclusion. Blacks and Hispanics had slightly less improvement in BP-related functional limitations over time, and less spine-related health care utilization, as compared to whites and non-Hispanics, respectively. Residual confounding may explain some of the association between race/ethnicity and health outcomes. Further studies are needed to understand the factors underlying these differences and which differences reflect disparities. Level of Evidence: 3
petR, located upstream of the fbcFBC operon encoding the cytochrome bc1 complex, is homologous to bacterial response regulators and necessary for photosynthetic and respiratory growth of Rhodobacter capsulatus

Interposon mutagenesis of a region upstream of the petABC(fbcFBC) operon, encoding the ubiquinol: cytochrome c2 oxidoreductase (bc1 complex) of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus revealed the presence of two genes, petP and petR. DNA nucleotide sequence determination of this region indicated that petP and petR are transcribed In the same direction as the petABC(fbcFBC) operon, and are translationally coupled. A silent insertion located In the interoperonal region separating petPR and the petABC(fbcFBC) genes indicated that these clusters have separate promoters. The deduced amino acid sequence of the putative petR gene product is homologous to various bacterial response regulators, especially to those of the OmpR subgroup. Moreover, it was found that PetR‐ mutants are unable to grow on rich or minimal media by either photosynthesis or respiration, demonstrating that these gene products are essential for growth of R. capsulatus.
The International Roadmap for Semiconductors 2007

The international roadmap for semiconductors will have major revisions for 2007 when it is published in December. In 2007 there will be a major rewrite of the ITRS with important changes in every chapter. The assembly and packaging chapter is the integrator of components from all other working groups. A result of tins integration role is that progress in each area is both enabling and demanding significant change in the way we assemble and package semiconductors to deliver solutions to a consumer driven market place. The most significant change is the rapid growth in 3D integration and system in package (SiP) technology. The enabling technologies include wafer thinning, wafer to wafer and die to wafer bonding, through silicon vias and many more. The projections for progress in these areas to be included in the 2007 version of the ITRS will be presented.
Investigation on possibility of the mainbeam steering capability of a single antenna element

Radiation pattern corresponds to the construction/deconstruction of far fields generated by the current distributed on the antennas. Consequently, changes in current distribution result in different radiation patterns and probably different mainbeam directions. That is, the mainbeam can probably be steered by varying the current distribution on the patch and ground. This paper investigates possibility of the mainbeam steering capability of a single antenna element.
Análisis del proceso de aprendizaje de los conceptos de función y extremo de una función en estudiantes de economía

Abraham Cuesta Borges, Jordi Deulofeu Piquet y Marco Antonio Mendez SalazarResumen: Se informa una investigacion en el campo de la educacion matema- tica relacionada con las dificultades en el proceso de ensenanza-aprendizaje de los conceptos de funcion y extremo de una funcion en estudiantes de licenciatura en Economia en la Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico. El articulo toma como marco teorico las principales contribuciones de la linea de investigacion conocida como Pensamiento Matematico Avanzado y sus conclusiones estan en concordancia con las de estudios previos (Janvier, 1987; Leinhardt
Modeling crash injury severity by road feature to improve safety

ABSTRACT Objective: The objective of this research is 2-fold: to (a) model and identify critical road features (or locations) based on crash injury severity and compare it with crash frequency and (b) model and identify drivers who are more likely to contribute to crashes by road feature. Method: Crash data from 2011 to 2013 were obtained from the Highway Safety Information System (HSIS) for the state of North Carolina. Twenty-three different road features were considered, analyzed, and compared with each other as well as no road feature. A multinomial logit (MNL) model was developed and odds ratios were estimated to investigate the effect of road features on crash injury severity. Results: Among the many road features, underpass, end or beginning of a divided highway, and on-ramp terminal on crossroad are the top 3 critical road features. Intersection crashes are frequent but are not highly likely to result in severe injuries compared to critical road features. Roundabouts are least likely to result in both severe and moderate injuries. Female drivers are more likely to be involved in crashes at intersections (4-way and T) compared to male drivers. Adult drivers are more likely to be involved in crashes at underpasses. Older drivers are 1.6 times more likely to be involved in a crash at the end or beginning of a divided highway. Conclusions: The findings from this research help to identify critical road features that need to be given priority. As an example, additional advanced warning signs and providing enlarged or highly retroreflective signs that grab the attention of older drivers may help in making locations such as end or beginning of a divided highway much safer. Educating drivers about the necessary skill sets required at critical road features in addition to engineering solutions may further help them adopt safe driving behaviors on the road.