Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Trajectory-Based Map-Matching System for the Driving Road Identification in Vehicle Navigation Systems

Driving road identification is the key issue of a vehicle navigation system that supports various services of intelligent transportation systems. The method for driving road identification is also known as map matching (MM). In spite of the development of MM algorithms, limitations still exist in obtaining the positioning data and preparing candidate roads (CRs) that may result in mismatches in some special difficult road configurations such as flyovers and parallel roads. To overcome the limitations, an integrated trajectory-based MM (tbMM) system is proposed based on the trajectory similarity evaluation method. The system can fuse the information from global positioning systems (GPS) and inertial sensors to generate the vehicle trajectory that represents the vehicle continuous movement in three dimensions. The elevation data of vehicle and roads are involved to enhance the trajectory-based matching process. Also the method employs an optimized mechanism for generating and maintaining CRs. Using the mechanism, separated road segments in a digital map are reorganized in the form of possible driving roads and the topology among them is guaranteed. Moreover, the CRs are obtained considering all the possibilities in determining the driving road so that the valuable historical information can be effectively reserved to provide more reliable matches in ambiguous situations. The tbMM system was evaluated using a number of real-world vehicle-level test datasets in urban areas in Beijing. Also a comparison test was performed to evaluate the driving road identification accuracy against existing MM algorithms. The results show that the tbMM system can provide reliable matches with about 99% accuracy in all the difficult scenarios and outperforms the existing algorithms.
E-commerce evolution: a Gulf region review

E-commerce has become a priority for many corporations since it is seen as a way to overcome many obstacles of the traditional distribution channels. To date, however, and despite the fact that e-commerce is likely to have far-reaching implications for the international market, only a few studies have explored e-commerce growth in the Gulf region from an international perspective. This paper reviews and examines some of the problems that e-commerce faces through looking at internal and external factors. The review shows that there is great potential for e-commerce in the Gulf region that needs attention from different disciplines and sectors. The paper concludes with a discussion of the possible factors that may contribute to e-commerce success in the region, including but not limited to government support, trust-related issues, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure and Information Technology (IT) skills development.
Social exclusion of people with severe mental illness in Switzerland: results from the Swiss Health Survey

Aims. People with severe mental illness (SMI) have a high risk of living socially excluded from the mainstream society. Policy initiatives and health systems aim to improve the social situation of people who suffer from mental health disabilities. The aim of this study was to explore the extent of social exclusion (employment and income, social network and social activities, health problems) of people with SMI in Switzerland. Methods. Data from the Swiss Health Survey 2012 were used to compare the social exclusion magnitude of people with SMI with those suffering from severe physical illness, common mental illness and the general population. Results. With the exception of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, we found a gradient of social exclusion that showed people with SMI to be more excluded than the comparison groups. Loneliness and poverty were widespread among people with SMI. Logistic regression analyses on each individual exclusion indicator revealed that people with SMI and people with severe physical illness were similarly excluded on many indicators, whereas people with common mental illness and the general population were much more socially included. Conclusions. In contrast to political and health system goals, many people with SMI suffer from social exclusion. Social policy and clinical support should increase the efforts to counter exclusionary trends, especially in terms of loneliness and poverty.
Topographic and zonal organization of the olivocerebellar projection in the reeler mutant mouse

The organization of the olivocerebellar projection in the homozygous reeler mouse (rl/rl) was studied with the use of microinjections of 3H‐leucine in different regions of the inferior olivary complex (IO) or horseradish peroxidase conjugated with wheat germ agglutinin (WGA‐HRP) into medial, intermediate, or lateral regions of the reeler cerebellum. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the pattern of termination of olivocerebellar climbing fibers (CFs) in the cerebellum via an anterograde tracing technique, and to determine the topographic organization of the olivocerebellar projection via both anterograde and retrograde methods. The inferior olive injections were made via the ventral (i.e., retropharygeal) approach to the IO to minimize diffusion into other brainstem precerebellar nuclei and thus to ensure accurate well‐restricted, injection sites. Labeled CF terminals were seen in both the superficial Purkinje cell (PC) layer (normally positioned PCs) and around PCs in the granular layer and central masses (ectopic PCs). The pattern of labeling is suggestive of orthogonal organization, in that vertical columns of cells are labeled. This is especially apparent in the medial PC group, where at least three bands are identified. Within an orthogonal band, CF terminals are seen around both superficial and deep Purkinje cells. Our data indicate that olivocerebellar topography is generally similar in reeler and normal mice despite severe abnormalities in target cell position in the reeler. The medial cerebellar region receives input from the caudal two‐fifths of the medial accessory olive (MAO). The intermediate PC cluster receives input from more rostral portions of all three olivary divisions (MAO), principal olive [PO] and dorsal accessory olive [DAO], while rostral portions of MAO and PO project to the lateral cerebellum. These results indicate that the zonal organization of the olivocerebellar projection in the adult reeler exhibits a pattern generally similar to that seen in normal mice. This suggests that an afferent system can develop a normal organization despite having ectopic targets.
No 15 How Effective is European Merger Control ?

This paper applies an intuitive approach based on stock market data to a unique dataset of large concentrations during the period 1990-2002 to assess the effectiveness of European merger control. The basic idea is to relate announcement and decision abnormal returns. Under a set of four maintained assumptions, merger control might be interpreted to be effective if rents accruing due to the increased market power observed around the merger announcement are reversed by the antitrust decision, i.e. if there is a negative relation between announcement and decision abnormal returns. To clearly identify the events’ competitive effects, we explicitly control for the market expectation about the outcome of the merger control procedure and run several robustness checks to assess the role of our maintained assumptions. We find that only outright prohibitions completely reverse the rents measured around a merger’s announcement. On average, remedies seem to be only partially capable of reverting announcement abnormal returns. Yet they seem to be more effective when applied during the first rather than the second investigation phase and in subsamples where our assumptions are more likely to hold. Moreover, the European Commission appears to learn over time.
Fertilization and early embryology: Consequences of non-extrusion of the first polar body and control of the sequential segregation of homologues and chromatids in mammalian oocytes

Absence of polar body formation, or premature chromatin condensation (PCC) in human oocytes can cause infertility. We studied in-vitro maturing mouse oocytes in order to identify risk factors for such conditions, and for the precocious segregation of homologues or chromatids. Treatment with the actin-binding drug cytochalasin D (10 micrograms/ml) arrested oocytes in metaphase I. Upon exposure to Ca(2+)-ionophores, anaphase I was triggered in the absence of cytokinesis. Chiasmata resolved and homologues separated instantaneously. In some oocytes predivision of all chromatids occurred. Homologues or chromatids never separated even after exposure to Ca(2+)-ionophores when microtubules were depolymerized, although bivalents could eventually decondense. Thus, in meiosis I checkpoints exist which ensure that homologue separation only takes place when a metaphase I spindle is present but cytokinesis and anaphase progression can be uncoupled. Cycloheximide induced a sequential separation of homologues in oocytes with intact metaphase I spindle, resulting in metaphase II chromosomes and bivalents in individual cells as also found in some human oocytes of aged females. In oocytes which progressed to metaphase II but failed to extrude a first polar body, the two sets of chromosomes eventually aligned on a common spindle ('diploid' metaphase II). PCC of one set was never observed. Ageing in vitro of cytochalasin D-blocked metaphase I oocytes had no pronounced effect on chromosome segregation.
The Musician Redefined: A Behavioral Assessment of Rhythm Perception in Professional Club DJs

Studies of musical training demonstrate functional advantages in rhythm tasks that result from enriched auditory experience. Anatomical correlates exist in brain areas involved in auditory perception, speech processing, motor control, attention, and emotion. However, these studies fail to include many classes of musicians that might undergo experience-related change. The current study examined rhythm processing in professional disc jockeys (DJs) who routinely engage in temporally-demanding tasks during practice and performance. In Experiment 1, DJs outperformed controls at detecting a deviation in a rhythmic pattern, and were no different than trained percussionists. In Experiment 2, participants receiving one week of DJ training trended toward outperforming untrained participants on this same measure. Across experiments, movement improved detection of rhythmic deviations, providing evidence of privileged auditory-motor connections, and underscoring the importance of motor areas to rhythm perception. It is clear that DJs show experience-dependent changes in perception that are comparable to more traditional musicians.
A compact CPW-fed planar printed antenna with modified ground structure for super-wideband applications

A compact super-wideband antenna which is asymmetrically fed by a coplanar waveguide (CPW) line is investigated in this paper. The proposed antenna is composed of a rectangular patch and a modified ground plane. The ground plane with an L-shaped structure and a notch helps to improve the impedance match performance. The simulated result shows that the antenna has two frequency bands covering 2.07-2.22 GHz and 3.5-50 GHz with VSWR <; 2. The antenna radiation pattern is nearly omni-directional over the whole operating band. Details of the antenna design and results are presented.
Subspecialty Training in Preventive Cardiology: The Current Status and Discoverable Fellowship Programs

Preventive cardiology is currently not an American Board of Medical Specialties‐recognized subspecialty. However, several programs offer nonaccredited fellowships throughout the country. No source currently exists listing all available programs, and finding programs requires time‐intensive search strategies. Our aim was to find all current preventive cardiology fellowships in the United States and describe their basic structure, duties, and faculty.
Comparative articular toxicity of garenoxacin, a novel quinolone antimicrobial agent, in juvenile beagle dogs.

The articular toxicity of garenoxacin (formerly T-3811 or BMS-284756) was experimentally examined utilizing juvenile beagle dogs. Garenoxacin and two other reference quinolones were administered at intravenous dosages of 30 and 60 mg/kg. Each group consisted of 3 male dogs (Experiment I). Oral dosages of 50 mg/kg of 3 compounds were also given daily to male only and female only groups (Experiment II) over a period of 7 days. We evaluated the articular toxicity of garenoxacin compared to ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin. In Experiment I, no articular toxicity was detected in the 30 mg/kg garenoxacin group. One animal from the 60 mg/kg garenoxacin group developed detectable histopathological lesions in the articular cartilages of the shoulder, elbow and knee joints. In the 30 mg/kg ciprofloxacin group and the 30 and 60 mg/kg norfloxacin groups, histopathological articular cartilage lesions of the shoulder, elbow, carpus, hip, knee and tarsus joints were observed in all of the dogs. The area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC0-->infinity) values, after the first dose was administered, for the 30 mg/kg groups given garenoxacin, ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin were 164, 68.1 and 65.7 micrograms.hr/mL, respectively. In Experiment II, the degree of histopathological change was most significant in the ciprofloxacin group, followed by the norfloxacin group, and with comparatively the least changes in the garenoxacin group. The AUC0-->infinity values, obtained after the 6th day of antimicrobial administration, were 202 and 173 micrograms.hr/mL for male and female dogs, respectively, from the 50 mg/kg garenoxacin group. The AUC0-->infinity values for the garenoxacin group after the 6th daily administration were 7.8 to 17.0 times greater for male dogs and 3.8 to 13.2 times greater for female dogs than those obtained from the ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin groups. The concentrations of garenoxacin in the synovia, articular cartilage and the synovialis 4 hr following the last garenoxacin administration were 2.0 to 6.5 times higher for male dogs and 1.5 to 3.3 times higher for female dogs than the antimicrobial levels measured in the ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin groups. As discussed above, although the garenoxacin concentrations in plasma and joint tissue were higher than those for ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin, however, the articular toxicity of garenoxacin was much less than that of the other two antimicrobials.
Modeling the Impact of Controls on Information System Risks

Information system risk management helps to reduce or eliminate risk by implementing appropriate controls. In this paper, we propose a quantification model of controls impact on information system risks by automatizing the residual criticality estimation step of FMECA which is based on a inductive reasoning. For this, we defined three equations based on type and maturity of controls. For testing, the values obtained with the model were compared to estimated values given by interlocutors during different working sessions and the result is satisfactory. This model allows an optimal assessment of controls maturity and facilitates risk analysis of information system. Keywords—Information System, Risk, Control, FMECA.
WaPT - Surface Normal Estimation for Improved Template Matching in Visual Tracking

This paper presents an algorithm which is an improvement of the template matching technique. The main goal of the algorithm is to match 3D points with their corresponding 2D points in the images. In the presented method, each 3D point is enriched with a normal vector that approximates the orientation of the surface where the 3D point is lying. This normal improves the transfer process of patches providing more precise warped patches, because perspective deformation is taken into account. The results obtained with the proposed transfer method confirm that matching is more accurate than traditional approaches.
Model-Based Iterative Reconstruction Technique for Ultralow-Dose Chest CT: Comparison of Pulmonary Nodule Detectability With the Adaptive Statistical Iterative Reconstruction Technique

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to evaluate whether model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) enables dose reduction over adaptive iterative reconstruction (ASIR) while maintaining diagnostic performance. MethodsIn this institutional review board–approved and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act–compliant study, 59 patients (mean [SD] age, 64.7 [13.4] years) gave informed consent to undergo reference-, low-, and ultralow-dose chest computed tomography (CT) with 64-row multidetector CT. The reference- and low-dose CT involved the use of automatic tube current modulation with fixed noise indices (31.5 and 70.44 at 0.625 mm, respectively) and were reconstructed with 50% ASIR-filtered back projection blending. The ultralow-dose CT was acquired with a fixed tube current-time product of 5 mA s and reconstructed with MBIR. Two radiologists evaluated 2.5- and 0.625-mm-slice–thick axial images from low-dose ASIR and ultralow-dose MBIR, recorded the pattern of each nodule candidate, and assigned each a confidence score. A reference standard was established by a consensus panel of 2 different radiologists, who identified 84 noncalcified nodules with diameters of 4 mm or greater on reference-dose ASIR (ground-glass opacity, n = 18; partly solid, n = 11; solid, n = 55). Sensitivity in nodule detection was assessed using the McNemar test. Jackknife alternative free-response receiver operating characteristic (JAFROC) analysis was applied to assess the results including confidence scores. ResultsCompared with the low-dose CT, a 78.1% decrease in dose-length product was seen with the ultralow-dose CT. No significant differences were observed between the low-dose ASIR and the ultralow-dose MBIR for overall nodule detection in sensitivity (P = 0.48–0.69) or the JAFROC analysis (P = 0.57). Likewise, no significant differences were seen for ground-glass opacity, partly solid, or solid nodule detection in sensitivity (P = 0.08–0.65) or the JAFROC analysis (P = 0.21–0.90). ConclusionsModel-based iterative reconstruction enables nearly an 80% reduction in radiation dose for chest CT from a low-dose level to an ultralow-dose level, without affecting nodule detectability.
Genetic relationships among strains of Neisseria meningitidis causing disease in Italy, 1984–7

SUMMARY Since 1984 a change in the epidemiological pattern of meningococcal disease in Italy has occurred with a predominance of Neisseria meningitidis of serogroup C (76%), serotype 2a and a high proportion of strains resistant to sulphonamides (71%). In order to understand better the epidemiology of the group C N. meningitidis strains responsible for the disease over the last years in Italy, we studied the genetic features of phenotypically closely related strains, by enzyme electrophoresis. The results showed that the genetic and the phenotypic characteristics of the 57 strains studied were similar, suggesting the spread of a single clone during recent years in our country. This result is in agreement with the circulation of strains typical of epidemic situations, despite the decreasing incidence of meningoccal disease in Italy.
Autoimmunity to Collagen II and Myelin Basic Protein: Comparative Studies in Humans and Rodents

The evolution of systems for self-nonself discrimination in long-lived animals such as mammals is bound to face two major problems: (i) to avoid reacting with self in a destructive manner, and (ii) to react with a sufficient number of molecules within a rapidly changing microbial world. Since the fulfilment of these tasks is potentially contradictory, it is not surprising to find that thymic elimination of autoreactive T lymphocytes is not complete and that several mechanisms may operate peripherally to control potentially harmful autoimmunity. The way we have chosen to study and describe problems encountered in selfnonself discrimination in the periphery is infiuenced by the following preconceptions: (i) Those autoimmune reactions that can be of evolutionary significance as unwanted are mainly those that are associated with autoimmune diseases that significantly affect survival or reproduction, (ii) Whether autoimmune reactions that lead to autoimmune diseases after deliberate immunization of experimental animals is a significant problem for the species can best be determined from studies of similar reactions occurring in diseases that emerge also without deliberate immunizations, (iii) Mechanisms exist for compartmentalization of immune reactions so that, hypothetically, immune reactions that are harmful at one site may at another site be non-harmful or even essential for the antimicrobial defence; evidence for the existence of such compartmentalization derives both from the long known existence of a specialized mucosa-bound immune system, and from the more recent demonstrations of different address-
Recent observations on HIV type-1 infection in the genital tract of men and women.

The ultimate success of strategies to prevent sexual transmission of HIV depends, in part, on a better understanding of the virological and immunological mechanisms that define sexual transmission [1]. Our understanding of HIV-1 shedding in the female genital tract has increased greatly since the publication of the last AIDS comprehensive reviews of HIV shedding in the genital tract [2,3]. Here we review the literature published over the last 5 years, including virological, microbiological and immunological parameters that affect HIV-1 pathogenesis and transmission. Although several biological and behavioral factors influence the sexual transmission of HIV, this review focuses on the genital and systemic factors that define the infectiousness of HIV and susceptibility to sexual transmission [4,5]. Throughout, we compare HIV-1 shedding in the genital tract of women versus men.
Fully inkjet-printed parallel-plate capacitive gas sensors on flexible substrate

Small fully inkjet-printed gas sensors based on capacitive parallel-plate (PP) structures have been realized on flexible plastic foil and characterized. A gas sensing layer was inkjet-printed between inkjet-printed bottom and top silver electrodes. Compared with comb electrode (CE) geometries, PP structures drastically reduce the developing complexity of gas sensors on polymeric foil, avoiding the substrate parasitic signal. Furthermore, the use of porous inkjet-printed metal makes the patterning of complex grids on the top electrode unnecessary, since such porosity permits the analyte to flow into the sensing layer. This low demanding patterning resolution facilitates the miniaturization of the inkjet-printed sensors, introducing significant improvements in their sensing performances, such as sensitivity or response time. The printed sensing devices were characterized against pulses of relative humidity (R.H.) and their performances were analyzed.