Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improved auto-extrinsic calibration between stereo vision camera and laser range finder

ABSTRACT This study identifies a way to accurately estimate extrinsic calibration parameters between stereo vision camera and 2D laser range finder (LRF) based on 3D reconstruction of monochromatic calibration board and geometric co-planarity constraints between the views from these two sensors. It supports automatic extraction of plane-line correspondences between camera and LRF using monochromatic board, which is further improved by selecting optimal threshold values for laser scan dissection to extract line features from LRF data. Calibration parameters are then obtained by solving co-planarity constraints between the estimated plane and line. Furthermore, the obtained parameters are refined by minimising reprojection error and error from the co-planarity constraints. Moreover, calibration accuracy is achieved because of extraction of reliable plane-line correspondence using monochromatic board which reduces the impact of range-reflectivity-bias observed in LRF data on checkerboard . As the proposed method supports to automatically extract feature correspondences, it provides a major reduction in time required from an operator in comparison to manual methods. The performance is validated by extensive experimentation and simulation, and estimated parameters from the proposed method demonstrate better accuracy than conventional methods.
Gear pitting severity level identification using binary segmentation methodology

With growth of a defect on the gear tooth surface, vibration response of the geared rotor system changes, which can be quantified using a health indicator. Based on the health indicator, identification of an accurate health stage or categorization is crucial so that the pitting severity classification can be done precisely. In all the prior reported works, the fault severity classification approaches are applied to the seeded pitting fault, and hence, exact state change point is known in advance. However, in the real life, the gear tooth surface is subjected to a natural pitting progression, and exact state change point of the gear is not known a priori. This study presents a binary segmentation methodology for identification of multiple degradation stages such as initial pitting, medium pitting, and severe pitting in a spur gear subjected to natural pitting progression. The gear damage progression is represented by a correlation coefficient‐based degradation parameter extracted from the residual vibration signal. Based on the change in distributional properties such as mean and variance of the degradation parameter with time progression, three degradation stages of the gear are identified. A flexible miniature inspection camera is used to access and assess the actual physical damage on the gear tooth surface. Based on the visual inspection pictures, actual damage area at the identified degradation stages is quantified. Performance of the binary segmentation methodology is validated through six run‐to‐failure accelerated gear pitting experiments.
P63/mmc-Ge and their Si–Ge alloys with a mouldable direct band gap

Physical properties, such as stability, electronic properties, hole effective mass, electron effective mass, mechanical properties, structural properties, and optical properties of P63/mmc-Ge6 and their Si6-xGex (x = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) alloys are investigated using ab initio calculations based on density functional theory. The anisotropic mechanical properties of the Young’s modulus of Si6-xGex alloys are all slightly superior than those of diamond-Si, while the Young’s modulus of Si6-xGex alloys in the (001) plane are isotropic (Emax = Emin). With the increase in the number of germanium atoms, Si5Ge and Si4Ge2 exhibit direct band gaps of 0.63 eV and 0.18 eV, respectively. All other Si6-xGex (x = 3, 4, 5) alloys and P63/mmc-Ge6 exhibit metallicity properties. In addition, the effective masses of electrons and heavy holes of Si4Ge2 along the x and y directions become substantially smaller than those of Si6 and Si5Ge.
Negative Aspects of Using Social Networks in Education: A Brief Review on WhatsApp Example

The aim of this study is to examine negative effects of using WhatsApp social network application in educational processes and to create a conceptual framework in this manner. In order to examine the literature related to the research topic, sources in different databases were evaluated and research works after especially 2010 have been considered accordingly. A holistic framework regarding negative results of using WhatsApp in education has been tried to be established by examining the sources in detail. There is currently not too many scientific research works on benefits and disadvantages of using WhatsApp in long-term. But since this application has been accepted by many researchers as an instant messaging approach, it appears to be a small number of studies analyzing the effects of over-use of instant messaging take place in the associated literature. When the data obtained within this research is examined it is possible to express that the students addicted to instant messaging are inadequate in academic processes, they cannot control the time spent for messaging, they neglect their homework and they are also less disciplined compared to other students. Additionally, it is also seen these students’ comprehension levels, learning skills, productivity and academic achievements have been affected negatively. It is also remarkable that students using instant messaging during reading tasks can increase the time required for completing reading, and may even feel sleepiness during daytime.
Acrylamide Formation and Different Mitigation Strategies during Food Processing – A Review

ABSTRACT Thermal treatment can initiate the production of some undesirable compounds in foods during processing. Acrylamide is one among such compounds that is produced (in starch-rich foods) as a result of Maillard reaction between reducing sugars and free amino acids. Acrylamide has gained much attention owing to its wide occurrence, dietary exposure, and toxicity. Its formation mechanism and mitigation has been an area of interest for numerous researchers since its discovery in foods. Some reviews have already been published on acrylamide where its formation and mitigation has been discussed with reference to some specific group of foods and/or some specific mitigation technique. In others, the mitigation section does not cover all the aspects of acrylamide attenuation reported in the literature. The present paper provides the updated and comprehensive information on formation, occurrence, dietary exposure, toxicity, and mitigation of acrylamide in foods during processing.
Designing Administrative Reforms for Maintaining Trust

ABSTRACT This paper explores how to maintain trust while implementing administrative reforms. The contribution is to show how trust can be enhanced through the design of reform plans. Contrary to the position that favours trust-based management over authority-based management, this paper favours a relational understanding of managing trust, which involves balancing authority and openness towards employees’ involvement. Moreover, different situations will require different balance points between the two dimensions. The notion of ‘minimal critical specification design’ is advanced as a sensitizing conceptualisation of optimal reform designs for maintaining trust during implementation. The argument is illustrated through the case of a large administrative reform within the Norwegian welfare sector.
Cytokine Gene Polymorphisms and Epstein-Barr Virus Infection after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Backgroud: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection/reactivation and associated diseases remain common complications in recipients of HSCT, leading to severe end-organ diseases and malignance. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in cytokine genes is considered to be related with EBV-associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) in solid-organ transplantation recipients. In this study, we analyzed the association between cytokine gene polymorphisms and EBV infection/reactivation or diseases in recipients undergoing allo-HSCT. Methods: A total of 233 patients who received allo-HSCT between March 2012 to December 2014 were enrolled in this study. Ten SNPs, including IL-1β -511 rs16944, IL-1RN +11100 rs315952, IL-2 -330 rs2069762, IL-4 -590 rs2243250, IL-10 -592 rs1800872, IL-12 +1188 rs3212227, TNF-α -308 rs1800629, TGF-β1-509 rs1800469, TGF-β1 +869 rs1800470, IFN-γ +874 rs2430561, were tested. The SNPs genotypes in patients with or without EBV infection/reactivation and associated diseases were compared. Besides, the risk factors for EBV infection/reactivation were studied. Results: Seventy-four patients developed EBV infection/reactivation. The patients with EBV infection/reactivation had higher frequencies of donor IL-1β -511 TT genotype, donor IL-4 -590 TT genotype and recipient TNF-α -308 GG genotype than those without (p=0.021, p=0.004, p=0.020, respectively) while the frequencies of donor IL-1β -511 CC genotype, donor IL-1RN +11100 TT genotype, donor IL-2 -330 TT genotype, donor IL-4 -590 CC genotype and recipient TNF-α-308 GA genotype in patients with EBV infection/reactivation were lower than those without (p=0.041, p=0.029, p=0.005, p=0.011, p=0.042, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed donor IL-4 -590TT genotype (p=0.016, HR=1.907, 95% CI =1.130-3.218) and recipient TNF-α -308GG genotype (p=0.002, HR=3.550, 95% CI=1.613-7.812) were risk factors for post-transplant EBV infection/reactivation while donor IL-1RN +11100TT genotype (p=0.001, HR=0.382, 95% CI=0.218-0.670) was protective factors for post-transplant EBV infection/reactivation. Twenty-one patients developed EBV-associated diseases. The patients who developed EBV-associated diseases had higher frequency of donor IFN-γ +874 AT genotype than those did not (p=0.027). On the contrary, the frequencies of donor IL-1β-511 CC genotype, donor IL-10 -592 AA genotype, donor IL-12 +1188 AA genotype and donor IFN-γ +874 AA genotype in patients with EBV-associated diseases were lower than those without (p=0.019, p=0.018, p=0.018, p=0.010, respectively). Conclusion: Several SNPs in cytokine genes might be associated with EBV infection/reactivation and the development of EBV-associated diseases in recipients of allo-HSCT. However, these association should be studied further. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
INVESTIGATION OF TRANSFER OF NATURALIZATION OF ATHLETES IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES ACCORDING TO SPORT SCIENCES STUDENTS

In today's globalizing world, unlike others, only a few countries and industries have remained or have opted out of globalization. Globalization shows its effects in sports. The desire of the countries to be more successful in international sports competitions, making athletes of different nationalities their citizens and entering them to the competitions constituted the concept of naturalization of athletes. Whether the successes of the naturalized athletes are ethical or whether these athletes prevent the development of domestic athletes is constantly on the agenda. From this point of view, our research focuses on the perspectives of university students studying in sports sciences to naturalization of athletes. Total of 891 participants voluntarily participated in the study. The Cronbach's Alpha value of the scale, which was used to find out the opinions of the participants about transfer of allegiance of athletes, was found 0,79. Percentage, frequency, t-test and Anova test were used to evaluate the scale. As a result the participants say that; in the future sports infrastructure development must be support instead of naturalization of athletes and their transfer fee should be used for investment in national athletes’ development. Successes of the naturalization of athletes are the loss of prestige for Turkey. In order to prevent this, sports infrastructure based education programs can be given more importance. Article visualizations:
High Dose Stimulant Substitution for the Treatment of Cocaine and Crystal Meth Use Disorders

Treatment of substance use disorder has advanced substantially in the last few decades. Psychosocial interventions such as motivational enhancement treatment, CBT for relapse prevention, and contingency management have been developed and are now widely utilized. A number of effective medications have been approved and implemented for the treatment of alcohol, tobacco, and opioid use disorders. The biggest gap, specifically in the pharmacological treatment of addictive disorders, is the lack of medications to treat stimulant use disorders such as cocaine and methamphetamine use disorders.
Temporal shifts in intraspecific and interspecific diet variation among 3 stream predators

Intraspecific variation is increasingly recognized as an important factor in ecological interactions that can exceed the role of interspecific variation. Few studies, however, have examined how variation in intra- and interspecific resource use affect trophic interactions over time within a seasonally-dynamic food web. We compared diets with respect to predator body size and predator species identity over 3 seasons by collecting stomach contents from 2028 Reticulate Sculpin (Cottus perplexus), 479 Coastal Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii), and 107 Pacific Giant Salamanders (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) in western Oregon streams. In each season, predator body size was strongly associated with dietary composition and positively related to taxonomic breadth and the size of individual prey. Intra- and interspecific diet variation changed substantially across seasons, with much greater interspecific variation in spring than in summer and autumn. Interspecific differences in foraging mode (e.g., benthic vs drift feeding) were associated with predator-specific responses to a seasonal pulse in the availability of terrestrial thrip larvae (Thysanoptera) and contributed to temporal variation in trophic niche differentiation. These findings show that the relative magnitudes of intra- and interspecific diet differentiation can change over time in systems that receive seasonal resource pulses. Our results highlight the dynamic nature of food webs and the need to incorporate sampling over relevant temporal scales to understand species interactions.
What Connects Dark Matter and Black Holes?

Dark matter is a major component of the universe, about six times more abundant than ordinary visible matter. We measure the effects of its mass, but it escapes the telescopes. It has the particularity of emitting no radiation and interacting only by the action of gravity. The main purpose of this article is to try to answer what dark matter is: we conjecture that it is composed of magnetically charged neutrinos, true magnetic monopoles. But that requires a huge conceptual leap: Maxwell's laws must be inverted and the electric charge becomes a magnetic charge. Asymmetric "reversed" Maxwell's laws would provide the "dark" magnetic charge that would replace the electric charge. The very form of the Dirac equation, which imposed on ordinary matter that the particle carries an electric charge and obeys the principal properties of the electron, would impose in the dark matter that the "dark" particle obeys the main properties of a neutrino associated with a magnetic charge. The second aim of the article is to show that dark matter is derived from black holes, mainly from active supermassive black holes. This requires a second conceptual leap: the horizon of the black hole undergoes a high temperature and an intense pressure of magnetic fields which cause a blackout and a phase transition (or broken symmetry) when the matter crosses the horizon. The result is a reversal of Maxwell's laws: a magnetic charge is substituted for the electric charge, and the electric current becomes a tributary of the magnetic current. A third important conceptual leap follows: sterile magnetic neutrinos created inside the black hole would cross the horizon to the outside to constitute dark matter.
Antimicrobial and antioxidant efficacy of various solvent extracts of seeds and fruits rind of Caesalpinia pulcherrima Swartz

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Caesalpinia pulcherrima Swartz. is an ornamental plant like a shrub or small tree. In traditional Indian medicine C. pulcherrima is used in the treatment of tridosha, fever, ulcer, abortifacient, emmenagogue, asthma, tumors, vata and skin diseases.Aim of the study: In the present study, the antimicrobial and the antioxidant activities of seeds and fruits rind of Caesalpinia pulcherrima Swartz were investigated.Material and methods: Hexane, chloroform, acetone, methanol and water extracts of C. pulcherrima were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity by agar well diffusion method. DPPHâ€¢ free radical scavenging activity, total phenolic, flavonoids and qualitative phytochemical analysis were also performed.Results: Among the different extracts, the methanol extract showed significant antibacterial and antioxidant activities. The MIC of the methanol extract of fruits rind showed narrow MIC range (1,250 - 78 I¼g/ml) against all the investigated microorganisms. The methanol extract of the fruitsrind showed good antioxidant activity (IC50 value 14 I¼g/ml) which is very near to the standard (ascorbic acid IC50 value 11.4 I¼g/ml). Conclusion: The obtained results suggested that the methanol extract of the seeds and fruits rind of C. pulcherrima possess antimicrobial and antioxidant properties which can be used for the discovery of new bioactive natural products that may serve as leads in the development of new pharmaceuticals that address unmet therapeutic needs.
The association between non-executive compensation and firm performance

ABSTRACT This study uses Taiwanese data, where the disclosure of detailed information regarding employee compensation is mandatory, to calculate non-executive compensation and its components. We find a positive correlation between total non-executive compensation and firm performance. Besides, we find strong evidence that fixed (variable) pay is negatively (positively) correlated with firm performance. Moreover, we find significant positive (negative) incremental effects of fixed (variable) pay on firm performance among companies with high percentages of compensation classified as selling, general, and administrative expenses. Overall, our results suggest that non-executive compensation is highly correlated with firm performance, which has policy and managerial implications.
On local and global graph structure mining

• A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers.
Characterization of lumbar angle, pelvic sagittal balance and flexibility in preschoolers

Introduction: The alignment between the anterior superior and posterior inferior iliac spines is closely related to lumbar curvature in sagittal plane. Objetive: To characterize the flexibility and angulations of lumbar spine and to relation the pelvis in sagittal plane in preschool children in municipal schools in Londrina/PR/BR. Methods: Participated in the study 138 children aged between five and six years of municipal school in Londrina. The assessment was performed by photogrammetry method, sagittal pelvic balance test, extended limb elevation test by flexi meter and Thomas’ Test. The evaluations were done in the schools. Results: There was not difference in angles of lumbar between sexes, weight and ages. In the sagittal pelvic balance the most children presented retroversion (56.6%). Children with pelvis in anteversion (4.3%) presented the lower lumbar angles, indicated hyperlordosis. The children with pelvic balance presented a great flexibility of hamstrings muscle than retroversion and anteversion. Conclusion: Flexibility is greater in girls and in children with five years old. The lumbar angle was 24.07o. The pelvis in retroversion in most children, differing from the expected for the age group. The lower angle of the back was corresponding to a pelvis in anteversion and balanced.
Lo performativo en prácticas de arte y diseño actuales vinculadas a procesos de innovación social. El caso de La venezia che non si vede y de La borda

En este articulo se propone abordar la capacidad performativa de ciertas practicas artisticas y de diseno actuales que inciden en contextos sociales con la voluntad de afectar e influir en los estilos de vida y habitos de lo cotidiano. En el caso del arte podria decirse que son iniciativas que cuentan con antecedentes como la tradicion contemporanea de la estetica relacional y el arte contextual, mientras que en diseno provienen de una vision avanzada del diseno de sistemas y servicios. En ambos casos, en esta investigacion nos interesan los proyectos implicados en procesos de cambio social y que tengan como objetivo procurar vias posibles de transicion hacia modos de vida sostenibles. Por lo mismo, se trata de producciones que abarcan la vision social, etica, politica y estetica.
Self-assessment of noise-induced hearing impairment in traffic police and bus drivers: Questionnaire-based study

Background and Objectives: Noise-induced hearing loss is a major preventable occupational hazard. The ill effect of noise exposure is well evidenced by researchers. This study was done to study the self-assessment of hearing quality, annoyance evaluation, noise-related attitude and knowledge in traffic police, and bus drivers on Indian population in a growing city. Subjects and Methods: The study was done on 60 nonsmokers, male traffic police, and 80 long route bus drivers in the age range of 30–50 years. There were 15 questions related to self-assessment administered on these individuals. Results: The results revealed that in spite of regular noise exposure, around 60% individuals rated excellent hearing. Further, surprisingly all individuals rated no knowledge of any ear protection devices available. Nearly, 30–50% individuals related to poor quality of sleep due to noise exposure in both groups. The result also revealed strong association between the responses of most of the questions asked from bus drivers and traffic police. Conclusion: The negative consequences of noise exposure are well reflected as an outcome of this questionnaire-based study which shows these individuals are having signs of hearing-related problems. Hence, there is a need to educate these professionals about hazardous effect of noise exposure.