Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High-performance Semantic Segmentation Using Very Deep Fully Convolutional Networks

We propose a method for high-performance semantic image segmentation (or semantic pixel labelling) based on very deep residual networks, which achieves the state-of-the-art performance. A few design factors are carefully considered to this end. We make the following contributions. (i) First, we evaluate different variations of a fully convolutional residual network so as to find the best configuration, including the number of layers, the resolution of feature maps, and the size of field-of-view. Our experiments show that further enlarging the field-of-view and increasing the resolution of feature maps are typically beneficial, which however inevitably leads to a higher demand for GPU memories. To walk around the limitation, we propose a new method to simulate a high resolution network with a low resolution network, which can be applied during training and/or testing. (ii) Second, we propose an online bootstrapping method for training. We demonstrate that online bootstrapping is critically important for achieving good accuracy. (iii) Third we apply the traditional dropout to some of the residual blocks, which further improves the performance. (iv) Finally, our method achieves the currently best mean intersection-over-union 78.3\% on the PASCAL VOC 2012 dataset, as well as on the recent dataset Cityscapes.
Slim by Design: Serving Healthy Foods First in Buffet Lines Improves Overall Meal Selection

Objective Each day, tens of millions of restaurant goers, conference attendees, college students, military personnel, and school children serve themselves at buffets – many being all-you-can-eat buffets. Knowing how the food order at a buffet triggers what a person selects could be useful in guiding diners to make healthier selections. Method The breakfast food selections of 124 health conference attendees were tallied at two separate seven-item buffet lines (which included cheesy eggs, potatoes, bacon, cinnamon rolls, low-fat granola, low-fat yogurt, and fruit). The food order between the two lines was reversed (least healthy to most healthy, and vise-versa). Participants were randomly assigned to choose their meal from one line or the other, and researchers recorded what participants selected. Results With buffet foods, the first ones seen are the ones most selected. Over 75% of diners selected the first food they saw, and the first three foods a person encountered in the buffet comprised 66% of all the foods they took. Serving the less healthy foods first led diners to take 31% more total food items (p<0.001). Indeed, diners in this line more frequently chose less healthy foods in combinations, such as cheesy eggs and bacon (r = 0.47; p<0.001) or cheesy eggs and fried potatoes (r = 0.37; p<0.001). This co-selection of healthier foods was less common. Conclusions Three words summarize these results: First foods most. What ends up on a buffet diner’s plate is dramatically determined by the presentation order of food. Rearranging food order from healthiest to least healthy can nudge unknowing or even resistant diners toward a healthier meal, helping make them slim by design. Health-conscious diners, can proactively start at the healthier end of the line, and this same basic principle of “first foods most” may be relevant in other contexts – such as when serving or passing food at family dinners.
Exploring Regularities and Dynamic Systems in L2 Development

This article focuses on a theoretical and empirical exploration of developmental trajectories and individual learner variation in second language (L2) acquisition. Taking a processability perspective, I view learner language as a dynamic system that includes predictable universal developmental trajectories as well as individual learner variation, where the latter is not precisely predictable. Both dimensions are subject to specific processing constraints that are determined by the architecture of the human language processor. I claim that this view of L2 acquisition is compatible with the core notions of Dynamic Systems Theory. I present results from an empirical study of beginning L2 learners of English with German as their first language to support this claim. The results show (1) that there are developmental regularities in L2 acquisition that are common to all learners and (2) that the learner variation that occurs is consistent with the constraints of the developing L2 system.
Scutellaria radix Extract as a Natural UV Protectant for Human Skin

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation induces oxidative injury and inflammation in human skin. Scutellaria radix (SR, the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi) contains flavonoids with high UV absorptivity and antioxidant properties. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential use of SR extract as an additive in cosmetic products for UV protection. SR extract and its butanol (BuOH) fraction strongly absorbed UV radiation and displayed free radical scavenging activity against 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl radials and 2,2′‐azinobis‐(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid) radicals. They also attenuated the UV‐induced death of HaCaT cells. Sunscreen creams, with or without supplementation of SR extract BuOH fraction, were tested in vivo in human trials to evaluate potential skin irritation and determine the sun protection factor (SPF). Both sunscreen creams induced no skin irritation. A sunscreen cream containing 24% ZnO showed an SPF value of 17.8, and it increased to 22.7 when supplemented with 5% SR extract BuOH fraction. This study suggests that SR‐derived materials are useful as safe cosmetic additives that provide UV protection. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Methodological Immaturity in Childhood Research?

Much of the recent literature on social research with children advocates the use of participatory techniques. This article attempts to rethink such techniques in several ways. The authors argue that participatory approaches, in their insistence that children should take part in research, may in fact involve children in processes that aim to regulate them. Using examples drawn from their own work, the authors question whether participatory methods are necessary for children to exercise agency in research encounters. They conclude by suggesting that researchers working with children might benefit from an attitude of methodological immaturity.
Eph Receptors Are Involved in the Activity-Dependent Synaptic Wiring in the Mouse Cerebellar Cortex

Eph receptor tyrosine kinases are involved in many cellular processes. In the developing brain, they act as migratory and cell adhesive cues while in the adult brain they regulate dendritic spine plasticity. Here we show a new role for Eph receptor signalling in the cerebellar cortex. Cerebellar Purkinje cells are innervated by two different excitatory inputs. The climbing fibres contact the proximal dendritic domain of Purkinje cells, where synapse and spine density is low; the parallel fibres contact the distal dendritic domain, where synapse and spine density is high. Interestingly, Purkinje cells have the intrinsic ability to generate a high number of spines over their entire dendritic arborisations, which can be innervated by the parallel fibres. However, the climbing fibre input continuously exerts an activity-dependent repression on parallel fibre synapses, thus confining them to the distal Purkinje cell dendritic domain. Such repression persists after Eph receptor activation, but is overridden by Eph receptor inhibition with EphA4/Fc in neonatal cultured cerebellar slices as well as mature acute cerebellar slices, following in vivo infusion of the EphA4/Fc inhibitor and in EphB receptor-deficient mice. When electrical activity is blocked in vivo by tetrodotoxin leading to a high spine density in Purkinje cell proximal dendrites, stimulation of Eph receptor activation recapitulates the spine repressive effects of climbing fibres. These results suggest that Eph receptor signalling mediates the repression of spine proliferation induced by climbing fibre activity in Purkinje cell proximal dendrites. Such repression is necessary to maintain the correct architecture of the cerebellar cortex.
Dietary carnitine supplements slow disease progression in a putative mouse model for hereditary ceroid‐lipofuscinosis

The childhood ceroid‐lipofuscinoses are a group of autosomal recessively inherited disorders characterized by massive accumulation of autofluorescent lysosomal storage bodies in neurons as well as other cell types. The storage body accumulation is accompanied by severe degeneration of the central nervous system that results in blindness, cognitive and psychomotor degeneration, and premature death. On the basis of pathologic and biochemical criteria, a hereditary disease in the mnd mouse strain has been proposed as a model for certain types of human ceroid‐lipofuscinosis. Experimental evidence suggests that the storage body accumulation in humans with juvenile and late‐infantile ceroid‐lipofuscinosis is linked to altered carnitine biosynthesis. On the basis of the latter observation, a study was performed to determine whether dietary carnitine supplements could slow the disease progression in the mnd mouse model. Carnitine supplementation begun at 4 weeks of age did not slow the retinal degeneration that is characteristic of this disease. It did, however, significantly elevate brain carnitine levels, slow the accumulation of autofluorescent storage bodies in brain neurons, and prolong the lifespans of the treated animals. These findings suggest that there is a link between carnitine biosynthesis and the disease pathology and indicate that carnitine supplementation may be beneficial in slowing the disease progression in humans with certain types of hereditary ceroid‐lipofuscinosis. J. Neurosci. Res. 50:123–132, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Diagnostic value of apparent diffusion coefficient for the accurate assessment and differentiation of intracranial meningiomas

Background Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) along with the calculation of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), is a novel, non-invasive, and reliable technique of choice for accurate assessment and for the treatment planning of different types of brain tumors. It is more advantageous in the distinction and differentiation of benign from malignant meningiomas on the basis of ADC values. Purpose To investigate the utility of DW magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to compare the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) obtained at two b-values for an authentic and preoperative characterization of meningiomas. Material and Methods Twenty-six patients with clinically diagnosed or histologically verified meningioma (18 benign and 8 malignant) underwent imaging including DWI at 1.5 T. DW images were obtained at b = 1000 s/mm2 and b = 2000 s/mm2, ADC maps were generated at both the b-values. Signal intensities (SIs) and ADCs for solid tumorous tissues, contralateral normal tissues, and peritumoral edema were calculated and normalized ADC (NADC) ratio were determined for tumorous tissues. SI scores, ADC maps, and ADC values were analyzed visually and quantitatively, and were compared at both the b-values. Results DW images at b = 2000 s/mm2 were more conspicuity (either hyperintense or hypointense) with improved contrast. The mean ADC of malignant meningiomas (0.64 ± 0.05 and 0.42 ± 0.03) was significantly lower (P < 0.05) as compared with benign meningiomas (1.04 ± 0.12 and 0.80 ± 0.07) at both the b-values. Mean NADC ratio in the malignant type was also significantly lower (P < 0.05) than the benign type at both the b-values. Mean ADC values for peritumoral edema do not differ between benign and malignant meningiomas. Conclusion 1.5-T DWI using high b-values improved our ability to differentiate benign from malignant meningiomas. DWI may play an important role in the preoperative radiological evaluation and the recognition of these types for proper surgical treatment.
Are Survey measures of Trust Correlated with Experimental Trust? Empirical Evidence from Cameroon

We analyze the correlation between survey-based measures of trust and behavior in the Trust Game in two villages in Cameroon. Some participants play the Trust Game with people from their own village, and others with people from a neighboring village. The survey that the participants complete includes questions about trust and social distance that reflect the experimental treatment. Some measures of survey-based trust are correlated with experimental trust, but the level of correlation is not uniform.
Ecological, Psychological, and Cognitive Components of Reading Difficulties

The authors tested the component model of reading (CMR) among 186,725 fourth grade students from 38 countries (45 regions) on five continents by analyzing the 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study data using measures of ecological (country, family, school, teacher), psychological, and cognitive components. More than 91% of the differences in student difficulty occurred at the country (61%) and classroom (30%) levels (ecological), with less than 9% at the student level (cognitive and psychological). All three components were negatively associated with reading difficulties: cognitive (student’s early literacy skills), ecological (family characteristics [socioeconomic status, number of books at home, and attitudes about reading], school characteristics [school climate and resources]), and psychological (students’ attitudes about reading, reading self-concept, and being a girl). These results extend the CMR by demonstrating the importance of multiple levels of factors for reading deficits across diverse cultures.
Variable effects of dipteran parasitoids and management treatment on grasshopper fecundity in a tallgrass prairie

Abstract Grasshoppers host a number of parasitoids, but little is known about their impact on grasshopper life history attributes or how those impacts may vary with land use. Here, we report on a three-year survey of nine grasshopper species in a tallgrass prairie managed with fire and bison grazing treatments. We measured parasitoid prevalence and the impact of parasitoid infection on grasshopper fecundity to determine if grasshopper-parasitoid interactions varied with management treatment. Adult female grasshoppers were collected every three weeks from eight watersheds managed with different prescribed burning and grazing treatments. Grasshopper fecundity with and without parasitoids was estimated through dissections of reproductive tracts. Dipteran parasitoids from two families (Nemestrinidae and Tachinidae) were observed infecting grasshoppers. We found significant effects of grazing treatment, but not burn interval, on grasshopper-parasitoid interactions. Parasitoids were three times more abundant in watersheds with bison grazing than in ungrazed watersheds, and the relative abundance of nemestrinid and tachinid flies varied with grazing treatment. Parasitoid prevalence varied among grasshopper species from <0.01% infected (Mermiria bivittata) to 17% infected (Hypochlora alba). Parasitoid infection reduced individual grasshopper fecundity, with stronger effects on current reproduction than on past reproduction. Furthermore, current fecundity in parasitized grasshoppers was lower in grazed watersheds compared to ungrazed watersheds. Nemestrinid parasitoids generally had stronger impacts on grasshopper fecundity than tachinid parasitoids, the effects of which were more variable.
If Torture is Wrong, What About 24?: Torture and the Hollywood Effect

Since the shock of Abu Ghraib, scholars and policymakers have engaged in vigorous debate over both the efficacy and morality of torture. Research on torture has focused on a wide range of attitudes about torture, the use of torture, what constitutes torture, why torture persists, and the efficacy of using torture. These studies have generally examined participants’ attitudes but have neglected to assess behaviors in line with stated beliefs. We offer a novel design to address this gap by examining how perceived efficacy of torture impacts the support for torture and ultimately behaviors consistent with these beliefs. Using a mixed within-subjects and between-subjects design, we presented participants with dramatic depictions showing torture as either effective in eliciting information from a detainee, ineffective in this regard, or a neutral condition where torture is not used. We found that dramatic depictions of torture as being effective increased both stated level of support for torture and behavioral commitment to this belief. Interestingly, there was no difference in level of behavioral commitment between participants who saw dramatic depictions of torture, regardless of whether or not it was effective, which may indicate people are more likely to support aggression after seeing violence.
XRCC1 and hOGG1 genes and risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in North African countries

Although genetic susceptibility to nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has been recognized for a long time, little is known about the responsible genes. X‐Ray repair cross‐complementing protein 1 (XRCC1) and human 8‐oxo‐guanine glycosylase 1 (hOGG1) genes are involved in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) repair and were found associated with NPC risk in three Asian case–control studies. The objective of the present study was to test these genes in a sample from North Africa, one of the major NPC endemic regions in the world. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the XRCC1 gene and one SNP in the hOGG1 gene were genotyped in 598 NPC cases from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia and 545 controls frequency matched by recruitment center, age, sex, and urban/rural household. The genotype and allelic distributions for the hOGG1 326Ser/Cys SNP and for the XRCC1 399Arg/Trp, 280Arg/His, and 194Arg/Trp SNPs did not differ significantly among NPC cases and controls. The XRCC1 194Trp allele frequency was significantly lower in the North African population than in Asian population (f = 0.04 vs. 0.31 in Cantonese Chinese and 0.21 Han Chinese). The hOGG1 326Ser allele frequency was significantly higher in the North African population (f = 0.73) than in Asian populations (f = 0.39 in Taiwanese). The results of the present study obtained from a large sample indicate that the XRCC1 and hOGG1 genes are unlikely to play a role in the susceptibility to NPC in North Africans. Our results do not corroborate those found in Asian population on smaller samples. Mol. Carcinog. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Molecular analysis to demonstrate that odontogenic keratocysts are neoplastic.

CONTEXT Odontogenic keratocysts (OKCs) are unique odontogenic lesions that have the potential to behave aggressively, that can recur, and that can be associated with the nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome. Whether they are developmental or neoplastic continues to be debated. OBJECTIVES To identify loss of heterozygosity of tumor suppressor genes in OKCs and to suggest a pathogenetic origin for these lesions. DESIGN We examined 10 OKCs for loss of heterozygosity of tumor suppressor genes, using a microdissection and semiquantitative genotyping analysis. The genes analyzed included 10 common tumor suppressor genes, as well as the PTCH gene, which is mutated in nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome. RESULTS Loss of heterozygosity was seen in 7 of 10 cases, with a frequency between 11% and 80% of the genes studied. The genes that exhibited the most frequent allelic losses were p16, p53, PTCH, and MCC (75%, 66%, 60%, and 60%, respectively). Daughter cysts were associated with a higher frequency of allelic loss (P =.02), but epithelial budding was not. CONCLUSIONS Our study indicates that a significant number of OKCs show clonal loss of heterozygosity of common tumor suppressor genes. The finding of clonal deletion mutations of genomic DNA in these cysts supports the hypothesis that they are neoplastic rather than developmental in origin.
A developmental-specific factor binds to suppressor sites flanking the immunoglobulin heavy-chain enhancer.

We identified a novel nuclear protein, NF-mu NR, that binds to multiple sites flanking the immunoglobulin heavy-chain enhancer. The expression of NF-mu NR shows a unique developmental pattern; the activity is present in all cells representing early stages of B-cell development, but is absent from more mature cells that express a high level of immunoglobulin heavy chains. NF-mu NR also is present in most cell lines outside of the B-cell lineage (e.g., T cells, macrophages, and fibroblasts). The binding sites for NF-mu NR correlate very well with cis-acting negative regulatory elements of the heavy-chain enhancer defined previously. Indeed, when the segments bound by NF-mu NR are deleted from the enhancer, it is now found to function as a positive transcription element in T cells and macrophages. Taken together, these results suggest that NF-mu NR may function as a negative regulator of enhancer function. The observation that the segments bound by NF-mu NR correspond to the segments bound to the nuclear matrix suggests an intriguing model not only of how enhancers might function but also of how negative regulation might occur.
A unifying approach to defuzzification and comparison of the outputs of fuzzy controllers

This paper addresses the defuzzification of the fuzzy set outputs of fuzzy controllers from a comparison or ranking perspective. This is done by emphasizing the fuzzy controller as a decision-making system. Based on the extensive study and justification of the fuzzy-set comparison criteria that were developed and published elsewhere by the author, a ranking and, thus, a defuzzification index is introduced. This index is shown to overcome the disadvantages of the commonly used defuzzification methods whose attempted justifications based on probabilistic arguments have not been successful. In addition, the proposed index is based on the generalization of the Hurwicz criterion that is usually adopted in decision making under nonprobabilistic uncertainty and it encompasses the pessimistic maximin and the optimistic maximax criteria as special cases.
AVERSÃO À PERDA NAS DECISÕES DE RISCO

Os estudos de Financas Comportamentais surgiram numa tentativa de enquadrar os estudos economicos e financeiros dentro do comportamento humano, levando em consideracao a natureza humana e aceitando o fato de que os agentes economicos estao suscetiveis a erros e a acoes irracionais. A base de Financas Comportamentais esta na Teoria da Perspectiva, que, segundo Bernstein (1997), expoe padroes de comportamento nunca reconhecidos antes pelos estudiosos e teoricos de processo decisorio. A Teoria da Perspectiva aponta duas deficiencias humanas que causam esses padroes. A primeira e o fato de a emocao muitas vezes destruir o autocontrole que e essencial a tomada racional de decisoes. A segunda deficiencia e o fato de as pessoas na maioria das vezes nao entenderem de forma clara com que estao lidando, criando em suas mentes molduras cognitivas. Estes estudos mostraram que a irracionalidade em decisoes e escolhas ocorre tambem entre investidores, executivos e administradores. Com base no estudo de Kahneman e Tversky (1997), este trabalho buscou verificar entre 180 estudantes de administracao da Universidade de Brasilia, como se da a evolucao do processo decisorio destes alunos ao longo do curso, buscando verificar, desta forma, se os estudos de administracao interferem nas tomadas de decisoes quando estes se deparam com situacoes de risco. Os resultados encontrados nesta populacao especifica mostraram que os estudantes pesquisados demonstraram pouca inferencia de molduras cognitivas, levando a concluir que estes frames nao ocorrem de forma generalizada, como afirmado por Kahneman e Tversky (Kahneman e Tversky 1984. apud BERNSTEIN, Peter L. Desafio aos deuses, p. 275).