Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploiting View-Specific Appearance Similarities Across Classes for Zero-Shot Pose Prediction: A Metric Learning Approach

Viewpoint estimation, especially in case of multiple object classes, remains an important and challenging problem. First, objects under different views undergo extreme appearance variations, often making within-class variance larger than between-class variance. Second, obtaining precise ground truth for real-world images, necessary for training supervised viewpoint estimation models, is extremely difficult and time consuming. As a result, annotated data is often available only for a limited number of classes. Hence it is desirable to share viewpoint information across classes. Additional complexity arises from unaligned pose labels between classes, i.e. a side view of a car might look more like a frontal view of a toaster, than its side view. To address these problems, we propose a metric learning approach for joint class prediction and pose estimation. Our approach allows to circumvent the problem of viewpoint alignment across multiple classes, and does not require dense viewpoint labels. Moreover, we show, that the learned metric generalizes to new classes, for which the pose labels are not available, and therefore makes it possible to use only partially annotated training sets, relying on the intrinsic similarities in the viewpoint manifolds. We evaluate our approach on two challenging multi-class datasets, 3DObjects and PASCAL3D+.
Calcium Homeostasis and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Striatal Neurons of Huntington Disease*

Dysfunctions of Ca2+ homeostasis and of mitochondria have been studied in immortalized striatal cells from a commonly used Huntington disease mouse model. Transcriptional changes in the components of the phosphatidylinositol cycle and in the receptors for myo-inositol trisphosphate-linked agonists have been found in the cells and in the striatum of the parent Huntington disease mouse. The overall result of the changes is to delay myo-inositol trisphosphate production and to decrease basal Ca2+ in mutant cells. When tested directly, mitochondria in mutant cells behave nearly normally, but are unable to handle large Ca2+ loads. This appears to be due to the increased Ca2+ sensitivity of the permeability transition pore, which dissipates the membrane potential, prompting the release of accumulated Ca2+. Harmful reactive oxygen species, which are produced by defective mitochondria and may in turn stress them, increase in mutant cells, particularly if the damage to mitochondria is artificially exacerbated, for instance with complex II inhibitors. Mitochondria in mutant cells are thus peculiarly vulnerable to stresses induced by Ca2+ and reactive oxygen species. The observed decrease of cell Ca2+ could be a compensatory attempt to prevent the Ca2+ stress that would irreversibly damage mitochondria and eventually lead to cell death.
Evaluation of network solutions for improving WebRTC quality

The omnipresence of real-time communication has significantly increased in recent years. Nevertheless it is treated as any best effort traffic, regardless its vulnerability to network conditions. WebRTC allows communication between browsers and uses application layer mechanisms to assure the quality (e.g. congestion control), but would benefit from network layer mechanisms. In this paper we evaluate specialized network treatment based on queuing management for uplink in wired access networks. We propose a test environment and later, based on application and network layer measurements, we assess the impact of proposed solutions on WebRTC quality. We prove that best effort is not enough to assure WebRTC communication in a presence of TCP flows and that network layer mechanisms can significantly improve the perceived quality of WebRTC communication.
Human-inspired robot assistant for fast point-to-point movements

A first step towards truly versatile robot assistants consists of building up experience with simple tasks such as the cooperative manipulation of objects. This paper extends the state-of-the-art by developing an assistant which actively cooperates during the point-to-point transportation of an object. Besides using admittance control to react to interaction forces generated by its operator, the robot estimates the intended human motion and uses this identified motion to move along with the operator. The offered level of assistance can be scaled, which is vital to give the operator the opportunity to gradually learn how to interact with the system. Experiments revealed that, while the robot is programmed to adapt to the human motion, the operator also adapts to the offered assistance. When using the robot assistant the required forces to move the load are greatly reduced and the operators report that the assistance feels comfortable and natural.
Organization of the G Protein-coupled Receptors Rhodopsin and Opsin in Native Membranes*

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which constitute the largest and structurally best conserved family of signaling molecules, are involved in virtually all physiological processes. Crystal structures are available only for the detergent-solubilized light receptor rhodopsin. In addition, this receptor is the only GPCR for which the presumed higher order oligomeric state in native membranes has been demonstrated (Fotiadis, D., Liang, Y., Filipek, S., Saperstein, D. A., Engel, A., and Palczewski, K. (2003) Nature 421, 127–128). Here, we have determined by atomic force microscopy the organization of rhodopsin in native membranes obtained from wild-type mouse photoreceptors and opsin isolated from photoreceptors of Rpe65–/– mutant mice, which do not produce the chromophore 11-cis-retinal. The higher order organization of rhodopsin was present irrespective of the support on which the membranes were adsorbed for imaging. Rhodopsin and opsin form structural dimers that are organized in paracrystalline arrays. The intradimeric contact is likely to involve helices IV and V, whereas contacts mainly between helices I and II and the cytoplasmic loop connecting helices V and VI facilitate the formation of rhodopsin dimer rows. Contacts between rows are on the extracellular side and involve helix I. This is the first semi-empirical model of a higher order structure of a GPCR in native membranes, and it has profound implications for the understanding of how this receptor interacts with partner proteins.
The Influence of Parental Involvement on the Educational Aspirations of First-Generation College Students

Title of thesis: THE INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT ON THE EDUCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS OF FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS Graziella Michele Pagliarulo, Masters of Arts, 2004 Thesis directed by: Assistant Professor Karen K. Inkelas Department of Counseling and Personnel Services This study examines the influence of parental involvement on the educational aspirations of first-generation college students. Additionally, the researcher investigates the changes in first-generation students’ educational aspirations over time as well as the differences in students’ educational aspirations and actual attainment. Differences in educational aspirations and attainment are analyzed by race, gender, and SES. For this study, longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of students generated by the National Educational Longitudinal Study 1988-2000 (NELS:88/2000) was used. Statistical measures employed included multiple regression, repeated measures ANOVA, and crosstabulation. Results indicated that parental involvement, among other variables, explained some variance in first-generation students’ educational aspirations. Additionally, these students’ educational aspirations increased over time, and, for the most part, students did not attain their aspirations. Differences in aspirations and attainment by race, gender, and SES were also discovered. THE INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT ON THE EDUCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS OF FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS
Effect of Titanium Oxide Coating on Performance Characteristics of Bio-Diesel ( Honge ) Fuelled C . I . Engine

This paper presents the effect of Titanium oxide coating on the performance characteristics of the bio-diesel fuelled engine. The engine used was four strokes, single cylinder direct injected diesel engine. The engine was tested with diesel & at different proportionality of diesel with Honge bio-diesel and by varying torque without coating. Then, the piston head was coated with thermal barrier material. The layer of thermal coating was made of Alumina-Titanium oxide (Al2O3/TiO2) plasma coated on to the base of NiCrAl. Then the coated piston was tested at the same operation conditions as the standard (without coating) engine. The results indicate a reduction in specific fuel consumption and an improved brake thermal efficiency for titanium oxide coated piston. KeywordsBio-diesel, Performance characteristics, Thermal barrier coating, Titanium Oxide
Asymptotic normalization coefficients for mirror virtual nucleon decays in a microscopic cluster model

It has been suggested recently (Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 232501 (2003)) that charge symmetry of nucleon-nucleon interactions relates the Asymptotic Normalization Coefficients (ANCs) of proton and neutron virtual decays of mirror nuclei. This relation is given by a simple analytical formula which involves proton and neutron separation energies, charges of residual nuclei and the range of their strong interaction with the last nucleon. Relation between mirror ANCs, if understood properly, can be used to predict astrophysically relevant direct proton capture cross sections using neutron ANCs measured with stable beams. In this work, we calculate one-nucleon ANCs for several light mirror pairs, using microscopic two-, three- and four-cluster models, and compare the ratio of mirror ANCs to the predictions of the simple analytic formula. We also investigate mirror symmetry between other characteristics of mirror one-nucleon overlap integrals, namely, spectroscopic factors and single-particle ANCs.
Behavioral Strategies of Phorid Parasitoids and Responses of Their Hosts, the Leaf-Cutting Ants

Abstract Host-searching and oviposition behaviors of parasitoids, and defensive responses of the hosts, are fundamental in shaping the ecology of host-parasitoid interactions. In order to uncover key behavioral features for the little known interactions between phorid parasitoids (Diptera: Phoridae) and their leaf-cutting ant hosts (Formicidae: Attini), host-related behavioral strategies (i.e., host searching and oviposition) for 13 phorid species, and host defensive responses (i.e., hitchhikers and particular body postures) for 11 ant species, were studied. Data was collected at 14 localities, one of them characterized by its high species richness for this host-parasitoid system. Phorid species showed both great variation and specificity in attacking behaviors. Some chose their hosts using either an ambush or an actively searching strategy, while some species attacked ants on different body parts, and specialized on ants performing different tasks, such as when ants were foraging, removing wastes to refuse piles, or repairing the nest. Combining all the behaviors recorded, most phorid species differed in performance in at least one, making it possible to recognize species in the field through their behavior. Phorid species that attacked hosts with greater activity levels showed overall higher attack rates, although there was no significant correlation between attack rates by most phorid species and ant activity outside the nest while parasitoids were attacking. The presence of phorids was a significant determinant for the presence of defensive behaviors by the ants. Although ant species varied in the incidence levels of these defensive behaviors, most ant species reacted against different phorids by utilizing similar behaviors, in contrast to what parasitoids do. General features of the observed phorid-ant interactions were parasitoid specialization and corresponding high interspecific variation in their behaviors, while their hosts showed generalized responses to attacks with high intraspecific variation. Behavioral patterns as well as specific features of these ant-parasitoid interactions are described, and their ecological importance discussed.
The FIT-HaNSA demonstrates reliability and convergent validity of functional performance in patients with shoulder disorders.

STUDY DESIGN Psychometric study design. OBJECTIVES To assess the test-retest reliability and convergent validity of the Functional Impairment Test-Hand and Neck/Shoulder/Arm (FIT-HaNSA) in patients with shoulder disorders. BACKGROUND Performance tests that assess functional ability of patients with shoulder disorders can provide useful information for making clinical or return-to-activity decisions. No performance-based shoulder test has yet demonstrated sufficient relevance or clinical measurement properties. The FIT-HaNSA examines upper extremity performance during repetitive tasks that emphasize shoulder reaching and static postures and, therefore, has greater relevance for assessing performance. METHODS Thirty-six patients with shoulder disorders and 65 healthy controls were recruited for the study. The FIT-HaNSA, the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand questionnaire, the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index, isometric shoulder strength, and shoulder range of motion were assessed at baseline and repeated 2 to 7 days later. Test-retest reliability was described using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC(2,1)) and standard error of measurement. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to examine the level of association between the FIT-HaNSA scores and the other measures. RESULTS The ICCs for test-retest reliability for the FIT-HaNSA ranged from 0.89 to 0.97 in the patient group and 0.79 to 0.91 in the control group. The FIT-HaNSA showed high correlation with the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand and the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index, and moderate correlations with shoulder range of motion and muscle strength. CONCLUSION The FIT-HaNSA demonstrated high test-retest reliability and convergent validity with other related outcomes in patients with shoulder disorders. Further longitudinal studies are required to evaluate the responsiveness of the FIT-HaNSA in patients with different upper extremity conditions.
Biogenic carbon and anthropogenic pollutants combine to form a cooling haze over the southeastern United States

Remote sensing data over North America document the ubiquity of secondary aerosols resulting from a combination of primary biogenic and anthropogenic emissions. The spatial and temporal distribution of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) over the southeastern United States cannot be explained by anthropogenic aerosols alone, but is consistent with the spatial distribution, seasonal distribution, and temperature dependence of natural biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions. These patterns, together with observations of organic aerosol in this region being dominated by modern 14C and BVOC oxidation products with summer maxima, indicate nonfossil fuel origins and strongly suggest that the dominant summer AOT signal is caused by secondary aerosol formed from BVOC oxidation. A link between anthropogenic and biogenic emissions forming secondary aerosols that dominate the regional AOT is supported by reports of chemicals in aerosols formed by BVOC oxidation in a NOx- and sulfate-rich environment. Even though ground-based measurements from the IMPROVE network suggest higher sulfate than organic concentrations near the surface in this region, we infer that much of the secondary organic aerosol in the Southeast must occur above the surface layer, consistent with reported observations of the organic fraction of the total aerosol increasing with height and models of the expected vertical distribution of secondary organic aerosols from isoprene oxidation. The observed AOT is large enough in summer to provide regional cooling; thus we conclude that this secondary aerosol source is climatically relevant with significant potential for a regional negative climate feedback as BVOC emissions increase with temperature.
Consistency between parameterisations of aerosol hygroscopicity and CCN activity during the RHaMBLe discovery cruise

Abstract. Results from a measurement study performed in the Tropical Atlantic on board the RHaMBLe Discovery Cruise D319 are presented. Measurements of aerosol composition, hygroscopicity and CCN activity were used to test the ability of a single parameter model to describe water uptake in sub- and supersaturated conditions. It was found that the magnitude and temporal variability of the sub-saturated water uptake could be well represented using the non-refractory composition to derive the model input for 2 periods when the large majority of the aerosol mass was non-refractory. As may be expected, when a significant fraction of the aerosol volume is refractory the sub-saturated water uptake is not well predicted by the non-refractory composition. When predicting the cloud activation potential from the composition and the hygroscopicity there is a consistent under-prediction of the CCN activity. The prediction of CCN activity from the sub-saturated water uptake gives a better prediction of the CCN activity than the composition when the non-refractory components are not fully representative of the aerosol composition. Based on these observations it appears that a single parameter cannot always capture the behavior fully across the sub- and supersaturated regimes. Measurements made at relative humidities (RHs) up to 94% showed that the water activity appears satisfactorily represented by a single parameter derived at 90% RH. It therefore appears that the change in the observed hygroscopicity take place between 94% RH and the point of activation. This change may be due in part to a change solution non-ideality, surface tension effects or the presence of sparingly soluble compounds for example, but cannot be reconciled without measurements at higher RHs.
The Identification of Novel Protein-Protein Interactions in Liver that Affect Glucagon Receptor Activity

Glucagon regulates glucose homeostasis by controlling glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis in the liver. Exaggerated and dysregulated glucagon secretion can exacerbate hyperglycemia contributing to type 2 diabetes (T2D). Thus, it is important to understand how glucagon receptor (GCGR) activity and signaling is controlled in hepatocytes. To better understand this, we sought to identify proteins that interact with the GCGR to affect ligand-dependent receptor activation. A Flag-tagged human GCGR was recombinantly expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, and GCGR complexes were isolated by affinity purification (AP). Complexes were then analyzed by mass spectrometry (MS), and protein-GCGR interactions were validated by co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and Western blot. This was followed by studies in primary hepatocytes to assess the effects of each interactor on glucagon-dependent glucose production and intracellular cAMP accumulation, and then in immortalized CHO and liver cell lines to further examine cell signaling. Thirty-three unique interactors were identified from the AP-MS screening of GCGR expressing CHO cells in both glucagon liganded and unliganded states. These studies revealed a particularly robust interaction between GCGR and 5 proteins, further validated by Co-IP, Western blot and qPCR. Overexpression of selected interactors in mouse hepatocytes indicated that two interactors, LDLR and TMED2, significantly enhanced glucagon-stimulated glucose production, while YWHAB inhibited glucose production. This was mirrored with glucagon-stimulated cAMP production, with LDLR and TMED2 enhancing and YWHAB inhibiting cAMP accumulation. To further link these interactors to glucose production, key gluconeogenic genes were assessed. Both LDLR and TMED2 stimulated while YWHAB inhibited PEPCK and G6Pase gene expression. In the present study, we have probed the GCGR interactome and found three novel GCGR interactors that control glucagon-stimulated glucose production by modulating cAMP accumulation and genes that control gluconeogenesis. These interactors may be useful targets to control glucose homeostasis in T2D.
Modulation of North Pacific Tropical Cyclone Activity by Three Phases of ENSO

Abstract Tropical Pacific Ocean warming has been separated into two modes based on the spatial distribution of the maximum sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly: an east Pacific warming (EPW) and a central Pacific warming (CPW). When combined with east Pacific cooling (EPC), these three regimes are shown to have different impacts on tropical cyclone (TC) activity over the North Pacific by differential modulation of both local thermodynamic factors and large-scale circulation patterns. In EPW years, the genesis and the track density of TCs tend to be enhanced over the southeastern part and suppressed in the northwestern part of the western Pacific by strong westerly wind shear. The extension of the monsoon trough and the weak wind shear over the central Pacific increases the likelihood of TC activity to the east of the climatological mean TC genesis location. In CPW years, the TC activity is shifted to the west and is extended through the northwestern part of the western Pacific. The westward shifting of C.
An Investigation Into Collaborative Behaviours In Task-Based Foreign Language Peer Interactions

Bu calismada, sosyo-kulturel bakis acisiyla gorev tabanli yabanci dildeki akran etkilesimi esnasinda gorev tipi ve grup yapilandirmasinin ogrencilerin isbirlikci davranislari uzerindeki etkisi arastirilmistir. Bir devlet universitesinin Ingilizce hazirlik programindaki 15 ogrenci, ders disi etkinlik olarak duzenlenen bir konusma kulubune dort veya bes kisilik gruplar halinde katilmislardir. Bu ogrencilere konusma etkinlikleri surecince yapilandirilmamis ve yapilandirilmis olarak tek-ciktili ve cok-ciktili konusma gorevleri uygulanmistir. Ogrencilerin gorevleri tamamlamalari esnasindaki ortaya cikan etkilesimler, temellendirilmis bir nitel analiz yontemi uygulanarak analiz edilmistir. Elde edilen bulgulara gore, ogrencilerin 13 farkli isbirligi davranis bicimi kullandiklarini gostermektedir. Bu davranislar, dilsel ve gorevsel olmak uzere iki ana gruba ayrilmislardir. Dilsel sekiz ve gorevsel bes farkli isbirlikci davranis bulunmustur. Gorev tipi ve grup yapilandirmasinin isbirlikci davranislarin uzerindeki etkisini gorebilmek amaciyla bir frekans analizi yapilmistir. Nicel bulgular, ogrencilerin dilsel isbirlikci davranislari daha fazla sergilediklerini gostermistir. Dilsel isbirlikci davranislar tekciktili gorevlerde daha sik gozlenmistir. Ote yandan, cok-ciktili gorevlerde gorevsel isbirlikci davranislar daha sik gozlenmistir. Bunlara ek olarak, ogrencilerin yapilandirilmamis gorevlerde yapilandirilmis gorevlere kiyasla daha fazla isbirlikci davranislar sergiledikleri gozlemlenmistir. Dilsel isbirlikci davranislar, yapilandirilmamis gorevlerde daha sik kullanilirken, gorevsel isbirlikci davranislar yapilandirilmis gorevlerde daha sik gozlemlenmistir. Bu bulgular, hem gorev turu hem de grup yapilanmasinin ogrencilerin isbirlikci davranislari genel olarak kullanmalarini etkiledigini gostermektedir. Ayrica, her isbirlikci davranis sikligi tekciktili ve cok-ciktili gorevlerde farklilik gostermistir. Benzer sekilde, her isbirlikci davranis sikligi yapilandirilmamis ve yapilandirilmis gorevler arasinda farklilik gostermistir.