Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
AdaBoost.MRF: Boosted Markov Random Forests and Application to Multilevel Activity Recognition

Activity recognition is an important issue in building intelligent monitoring systems. We address the recognition of multilevel activities in this paper via a conditional Markov random field (MRF), known as the dynamic conditional random field (DCRF). Parameter estimation in general MRFs using maximum likelihood is known to be computationally challenging (except for extreme cases), and thus we propose an efficient boosting-based algorithm AdaBoost.MRF for this task. Distinct from most existing work, our algorithm can handle hidden variables (missing labels) and is particularly attractive for smarthouse domains where reliable labels are often sparsely observed. Furthermore, our method works exclusively on trees and thus is guaranteed to converge. We apply the AdaBoost.MRF algorithmto a home video surveillance application and demonstrate its efficacy.
MFNet: Towards real-time semantic segmentation for autonomous vehicles with multi-spectral scenes

This work addresses the semantic segmentation of images of street scenes for autonomous vehicles based on a new RGB-Thermal dataset, which is also introduced in this paper. An increasing interest in self-driving vehicles has brought the adaptation of semantic segmentation to self-driving systems. However, recent research relating to semantic segmentation is mainly based on RGB images acquired during times of poor visibility at night and under adverse weather conditions. Furthermore, most of these methods only focused on improving performance while ignoring time consumption. The aforementioned problems prompted us to propose a new convolutional neural network architecture for multi-spectral image segmentation that enables the segmentation accuracy to be retained during real-time operation. We benchmarked our method by creating an RGB-Thermal dataset in which thermal and RGB images are combined. We showed that the segmentation accuracy was significantly increased by adding thermal infrared information.
Chimeric antigen receptor‐engineered cytokine‐induced killer cells overcome treatment resistance of pre‐B‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and enhance survival

Pre‐emptive cancer immunotherapy by donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) using cytokine‐induced killer (CIK) cells may be beneficial to prevent relapse with a reduced risk of causing graft‐versus‐host‐disease. CIK cells are a heterogeneous effector cell population including T cells (CD3+ CD56−), natural killer (NK) cells (CD3−CD56+) and natural killer T (T‐NK) cells (CD3+ CD56+) that exhibit non‐major histocompatibility complex (MHC)‐restricted cytotoxicity and are generated by ex vivo expansion of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the presence of interferon (IFN)‐γ, anti‐CD3 antibody, interleukin‐2 (IL‐2) and interleukin‐15 (IL‐15). To facilitate selective target‐cell recognition and enhance specific cytotoxicity against B‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B‐ALL), we transduced CIK cells with a lentiviral vector encoding a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that carries a composite CD28‐CD3ζ domain for signaling and a CD19‐specific scFv antibody fragment for cell binding (CAR 63.28.z). In vitro analysis revealed high and specific cell killing activity of CD19‐targeted CIK/63.28. z cells against otherwise CIK‐resistant cancer cell lines and primary B‐ALL blasts, which was dependent on CD19 expression and CAR signaling. In a xenograft model in immunodeficient mice, treatment with CIK/63.28. z cells in contrast to therapy with unmodified CIK cells resulted in complete and durable molecular remissions of established primary pre‐B‐ALL. Our results demonstrate potent antileukemic activity of CAR‐engineered CIK cells in vitro and in vivo, and suggest this strategy as a promising approach for adoptive immunotherapy of refractory pre‐B‐ALL.
The Effect of Hypoxia on the Regional Distribution of Cardiac Output in the Dog

Twenty-one dogs were studied under conditions of normal oxygenation and hypoxia with the mlcrosphere distribution method to determine the effect of arterial oxygen saturation on the regional distribution of cardiac output. The dogs were anesthetized and artificially ventilated. Cannulas were placed in the left ventricle to administer microspheres and in a peripheral artery to determine cardiac output. Each dog received two microsphere injections: (1) while normally oxygenated (room air), and (2) under hypoxia (10% oxygen-90% nitrogen in 10 dogs and 5% oxygen-95% nitrogen in 11 dogs). Absolute cardiac output increased from 87 ± 15 ml/min per kg to 101 ± 14 ml/mln per kg during mild hypoxia (10% oxygen) (P < 0.05), and from 73 ± 17 ml/min per kg to 120 ± 24 ml/min per kg during severe hypoxia (5% oxygen) (P < 0.01). Absolute Mood flow increased to all organs except skin and muscle during hypoxia, although there were decreases in the fractional distribution of cardiac output to the splanchnic bed and kidney. Striking changes were found in coronary, hepatic, and cerebral circulation, and the organ with greatest response to hypoxia was tbe heart, with increased coronary flows of 37% and 285% during exposure to 10% and 5% oxygen, respectively. Hence, low oxygen levels in blood cause redistribution of cardiac output and arterial content plays an important role in blood flow regulation.
Editorial: Sensory Hair Cell Death and Regeneration

Sensory hair cells are specialized mechanosensory receptors found in vertebrate auditory, vestibular and lateral line organs that transduce vibratory and acoustic stimuli into the sensations of hearing and balance. Sensorineural hearing loss typically occurs when hair cells are damaged from infection, noise exposure, drugs (called ototoxins), and age-related decline. Unfortunately, as hair cell regeneration does not occur to any significant extent in mammals, damage to these cells in humans leads to hearing and balance disorders. The signaling mechanisms that cause hair cell damage are incompletely understood and vary with the type of damage involved, and a given form of damage can activate multiple cell signaling cascades, complicating our understanding of these damage processes and the development of potential therapeutics. Yang et al. present a comprehensive overview of hair cell damage across stimuli. Other papers in this Research Topic offer more focused reviews or original research, as described below.
The Influence of Rewards and Job Satisfaction on Employees in the Service Industry

The purpose of this study was to find out the relationship between employees’ rewards, and the dimension of their job satisfaction in the service sector. We hypothesized that rewards play a significant role in employee satisfaction, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Thus the role of job satisfcation and rewards was explored with samples from workers in two large Ghanian private organizations. The implications of job satisfcation on customer satisfaction and loyalty towards organzations were also invetsigated. A questionnaire was constructed, tested and administered to a total 110 subjects at two private organizations. Out of that 104 usable surveys were analyzed with microsoft excel to test the hypotheses of the study. Findings showed that rewards induced positive job satisfaction of employees. Additionally the findings also showed that job satisfaction of employees stimulated their loyalty to the organization. However, a very high level of employee dissatisfaction was recorded for employee pay and the amount work they do. The study result highlights the role of employees’ job satisfaction and the responsibilities of organizations in fostering good quality HRM practices in the service sectors, and offers an alternative pathway in employee satisfaction and performance. These results add to the evidence that HR practises influences business outcomes rather than the other way around.
New ideas about genetic differentiation of Chilo suppressalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) populations in China based on the mtDNA cytochrome b gene

Abstract The striped stem borer, Chilo suppressalis (Walker), is an important pest of rice in China and other parts of the world. To further explore the population genetic structure and genetic differentiation of C. suppressalis populations found on rice in China, we amplified 432 bp fragments of the cytochrome b (cyt b) gene for 44 C. suppressalis populations. Nineteen variable sites in the mtDNA gene were observed, and 16 haplotypes were identified. Nucleotide diversity (π) and haplotype diversity (h) ranged from 0.00274 to 0.00786 and 0.72297 to 0.87604, respectively, while genetic structure analysis found significant genetic differentiation to be present among the five regions in China – northern China (NC), northeastern China (NEC), central China (CC), southern China (SC) and southwestern China (SWC) – where C. suppresalis was collected. In addition, molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that a relatively high proportion (57.6%) of the total genetic variance was attributable to variation within the populations. Nm and FST analyses suggested that the differentiation was not significantly different between NEC and NC, CC and SC, and SC and SWC regions, but was significant between NEC and CC, SC and SWC regions, corresponding well with the geographical distribution of the sampled populations. Phylogenetic analysis divided the populations into two indistinct clades: a NEC-NC-CC clade and a CC-SC-SWC clade, while CC region acted as a transition zone between north and south China, a finding different from previous work.
Evaluation of sperm production, testicular measurements and post-thaw sperm quality in Tori and Estonian breed stallions

The present study was aimed to evaluate daily sperm output, testicular measurements and post-thaw sperm quality of Tori and Estonian breed stallions. In the first study, daily sperm output (DSO) and testicular measurements were evaluated. One ejaculate was collected daily for 10 subsequent days from 8 Tori (T) and 8 Estonian (E) breed stallions. The daily sperm output was calculated as the mean of the total sperm number (TSN) collected on days 8-10 in T stallions and on days 4-10 in E stallions. The DSO of T stallions was 12.9x109 spermatozoa and of E stallions 4.5x109 spermatozoa (p 0.05). After Percoll separation, 79.3 % of the sperma-tozoa from T stallions had intact acrosomes and 1.7 % of them showed early signs of capacitation. The same parameters for E stallions were 84.5 % and 2.3 %, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between breeds or ejaculates within breed for any evaluated parameter
Field-sensitive value analysis of embedded C programs with union types and pointer arithmetics

We propose a memory abstraction able to lift existing numerical static analyses to C programs containing union types, pointer casts, and arbitrary pointer arithmetics. Our framework is that of a combined points-to and data-value analysis. We abstract the contents of compound variables in a field-sensitive way, whether these fields contain numeric or pointer values, and use stock numerical abstract domains to find an overapproximation of all possible memory states---with the ability to discover relationships between variables. A main novelty of our approach is the dynamic mapping scheme we use to associate a flat collection of abstract cells of scalar type to the set of accessed memory locations, while taking care of byte-level aliases---i.e., C variables with incompatible types allocated in overlapping memory locations. We do not rely on static type information which can be misleading in C programs as it does not account for all the uses a memory zone may be put to.Our work was incorporated within the Astrée static analyzer that checks for the absence of run-time-errors in embedded, safety-critical, numerical-intensive software. It replaces the former memory domain limited to well-typed, union-free, pointer-cast free data-structures. Early results demonstrate that this abstraction allows analyzing a larger class of C programs, without much cost overhead.
A 3 bit 20 GS/s flash ADC in 65 nm low power CMOS technology

A 20 GS/s 3 bit flash ADC with a wide analog bandwidth is realized in a 65 nm CMOS technology. By employing a fourfold parallelization a high sampling rate is achieved, while a large input bandwidth is maintained. The measured effective resolution is between 2 bit and 2.5 bit at a sampling rate of 12.8 GS/s and between 2 bit and 2.3 bit at a sampling rate of 18 GS/s. The power consumption of the ADC core is 2W, the core area is 0.16 mm2.
Mathematics education in the Netherlands: A guided tour 1

This paper addresses mathematics education in the Netherlands and provides a guided tour through the main aspects of the Dutch approach to mathematics education. The title of the paper also refers to the guidance aspects of mathematics education, the role of the teacher and of the curriculum. The tour will focus on the number strand in primary school mathematics. The two main questions to be dealt with are: 1. How is arithmetic taught in primary school in the Netherlands? 2. What contains the Dutch arithmetic curriculum?
Molecular Determinants for Activation of Human Ether-à-go-go-related Gene 1 Potassium Channels by 3-Nitro-N-(4-phenoxyphenyl) Benzamide

Human ether-à-go-go-related gene 1 (hERG1) channels mediate repolarization of cardiac action potentials. Inherited long QT syndrome (LQTS) caused by loss-of-function mutations, or unintended blockade of hERG1 channels by many drugs, can lead to severe arrhythmia and sudden death. Drugs that activate hERG1 are a novel pharmacological approach to treat LQTS. 3-Nitro-n-(4-phenoxyphenyl) benzamide [ICA-105574 (ICA)] has been discovered to activate hERG1 by strong attenuation of pore-type inactivation. Here, we used scanning mutagenesis of hERG1 to identify the molecular determinants of ICA action. Three mutations abolished the activator effects of 30 μM ICA, including L622C in the pore helix, F557L in the S5 segment, and Y652A in the S6 segment. One mutation in S6 (A653M) switched the activity of ICA from an activator to an inhibitor, revealing its partial agonist activity. This was confirmed by showing that the noninactivating mutant hERG1 channel (G628C/S631C) was inhibited by ICA and that the addition of the F557L mutation rendered the channel drug-insensitive. Simulated molecular docking of ICA to homology models of hERG1 corroborated the scanning mutagenesis findings. Together, our findings indicate that ICA is a mixed agonist of hERG1 channels. Activation or inhibition of currents is mediated by the same or overlapping binding site located in the pore module between two adjacent subunits of the homotetrameric channel.
Boosting DNN-based speech enhancement via explicit transformations

In this study, we investigate on the learning behaviors of DNN by explicit feature transformations. As a demonstration, linear and logarithm transformations, corresponding to the amplitude spectra and log-power spectra, are compared with the same minimum mean squared error (MMSE) objective function for optimizing DNN parameters. Based on the experimental analysis of the DNN learning behaviors, we make an interesting observation that the learning with the amplitude spectra tends to improve the speech intelligibility while the learning with the log-power spectra yields better speech quality. By leveraging on this strong complementarity, the feature concatenation with two transformations for the input layer and post-processing with two learned targets are proposed to boost DNN-based speech enhancement.
Fluid–particle dynamics in canalithiasis

The semicircular canals (SCCs; located in the inner ear) are the primary sensors for angular motion. Angular head movements induce a fluid flow in the SCCs. This flow is detected by afferent hair cells inside the SCCs. Canalithiasis is a condition where small particles disturb this flow, which leads to benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (top-shelf vertigo). The present work investigates the interaction between the fluid flow and the particles on the basis of an idealized analytical model. Numerical solutions of the full model and a thorough analytical study of the linearized model reveal the principal mechanisms of canalithiasis. We propose a set of dimensionless numbers to characterize canalithiasis and derive explicit expressions connecting these dimensionless numbers directly to the typical clinical symptoms.
Butterfly-shaped pigment dystrophy of the fovea.

Four of five white brothers and a son of one of them were found to have peculiar, bilateral, butterfly-shaped pigment dystrophy of the fovea. Their cases have been followed up since 1965. Three of them have normal visual acuity, and two have a slightly diminished visual acuity. Four of the five affected individuals have a pathological electro-oculogram, which reflects a diffuse abnormality of the retina. At funduscopy only two of the five affected subjects have peripheral alterations. Probably this condition is transmitted as an autosomal dominant.
Biosynthesis of Selenocysteine on Its tRNA in Eukaryotes

Selenocysteine (Sec) is co‐translationally inserted into protein in response to UGA codons and is the 21st amino acid in the genetic code. However, the means by which Sec is synthesized in eukaryotes is not known. Herein, comparative genomics and experimental analyses revealed that the mammalian Sec synthase (SecS) is the previously identified pyridoxal phosphate‐containing protein known as the soluble liver antigen. SecS required selenophosphate and O‐phosphoseryl‐tRNA [Ser]Sec as substrates to generate selenocysteyl‐tRNA [Ser]Sec. Moreover, it was found that Sec was synthesized on the tRNA scaffold from selenide, ATP and serine using tRNA [Ser]Sec, seryl‐tRNA synthetase, O‐phosphoseryl‐tRNA [Ser]Sec kinase, selenophosphate synthetase and SecS. By identifying the pathway of Sec biosynthesis in mammals, this study not only functionally characterized SecS, but also assigned the function of the O‐phosphoseryl‐tRNA [Ser]Sec kinase. In addition, we found that selenophosphate synthetase 2 could synthesize monoselenophosphate in vitro, but selenophosphate synthetase 1 could not. Conservation of the overall pathway of Sec biosynthesis suggests that this pathway is also active in other eukaryotes and archaea that synthesize selenoproteins.
Full-reference audio-visual video quality metric

Abstract. The goal of this work is to present a full-reference (FR) audio-visual quality metric. We performed three psychophysical experiments in order to obtain a better understanding of how audio and video components interact with each other and how these interactions affect the overall audio-visual quality. In experiment I, subjects evaluated the quality of videos (without any audio) compressed at different video bitrates. In experiment II, subjects evaluated the quality of audio (without any video) compressed at different audio bitrates. In experiment III, subjects evaluated the quality of videos (audio-visual signals), which had their audio and video components compressed at different bitrates. Based on the data gathered from these experiments, we obtain a set of subjective models for audio-visual quality. Inspired by these subjective models, we propose a set of FR audio-visual quality metrics composed of a combination of a video quality metric and an audio quality metric. The proposed metrics have good performance and present better results when compared to simple FR video quality metrics.
Examination of the psychometric properties of the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire - 2 in a sample of female athletes

We undertook two studies to determine the validity and reliability of the revised Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (PMCSQ-2). In Study 1, 201 female athletes (mean age 16.4 years) were administered the initial version of the PMCSQ-2 and a measure of reported tension and pressure experienced in sport. Exploratory principal component analysis suggested that the PMCSQ-2 contained two higher-order scales (Task-Involving and Ego-Involving climates), each with three subscales (Task: Cooperative Learning, Effort/Improvement, Important Role; Ego: Intra-Team Member Rivalry, Unequal Recognition, Punishment for Mistakes). In Study 2, 385 female volleyball players (mean age 15.2 years) completed the PMCSQ-2, the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory and a measure of Team Satisfaction. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to six competing models. The oblique six-factor model and oblique hierarchical model provided comparable fit to the data. Acceptable fit was reached based on model respecification. Across Studies 1 and 2, internal consistency was found to be acceptable for the higher-order scales and subscales (with the exception of the Intra-Team Member Rivalry subscale). We found evidence for the concurrent validity of the instrument.
[Differences in susceptibility of mice among various strains to oral infection with Corynebacterium kutscheri].

Differences in susceptibility of female mice among 10 strains to Corynebacterium kutscheri infection were studied pathologically and bacteriologically. Twenty mice of each strain were inoculated orally with 4 x 10(5.0) CFU of the bacteria. The gross lesions were observed in 60.0% of BALB/c-nu/nu mice, 25.0% of CBA/N mice, 10.0% of MPS mice, and 5.0% of A/J and C3H/He mice, while BALB/cCr, C57BL/6Cr, B10.BR/SgSn, ddY and ICR mice showed neither clinical signs nor gross lesions. Six BALB/c-nu/nu, two CBA/N and one MPS mice died within 15 days after inoculation. C. kutscheri was recovered from 95.0% of BALB/c-nu/nu mice, followed by 75.0% of A/J mice, 65.0% of CBA/N mice, 55.0% of MPS and BALB/cCr mice, and 30% of C3H/He mice. On the other hand, from C57BL/6Cr, B10.BR/SgSn and ddY mice, the bacteria were recovered at less than 15.0% of the mice. No bacteria were recovered from ICR mice. C. kutscheri colonized most frequently in the cecum, colon and rectum. Number of mice having agglutinating antibodies were less than 20% and their antibody titers ranged from 1:10 to 1:80. These results indicated that there were differences in susceptibility of mice among the strains to oral infection of C. kutscheri. Namely, BALB/c-nu/nu, A/J, CBA/N, MPS and BALB/cCr mice appeared to be susceptible, and C3H/He mice intermediate, while C57BL/6Cr, B10.BR/SgSn, ddY and ICR resistant. BALB/c-nu/nu mice were most susceptible and exhibited markedly severe disease by the infection.