Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust AAM-based audio-visual speech recognition against face direction changes

As one of the techniques for robust speech recognition under noisy environments, audio-visual speech recognition (AVSR) using lip dynamic scene information together with audio information is attracting attention, and the research has advanced in recent years. However, in visual speech recognition (VSR), when a face turns sideways, the shape of the lip as viewed from the camera changes and the recognition accuracy degrades significantly. Therefore, many of the conventional VSR methods are limited to situations in which the face is viewed from the front. This paper proposes a VSR method to convert faces viewed from various directions into faces that are viewed from the front using Active Appearance Models (AAM). In the experiment, even when the face direction changes about 30 degrees relative to a frontal view, the recognition accuracy improved significantly.
Post-treatment imaging of liver tumours

Abstract In the past few years, great improvements have been made to achieve local tumour control of primary liver malignancies and liver metastases. For hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE) and tumour ablation techniques, including percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI), radiofrequency ablation (RF), and laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy (LITT) have been developed. For colorectal liver metastases, surgery is still the standard technique in localised disease, although percutaneous RF ablation has gained considerable acceptance. In patients with widespread disease, chemotherapy with new drugs offers improved survival. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the modalities of choice to evaluate treatment response. The present review demonstrates imaging findings of complete and incomplete tumour control after intervention as well as the imaging spectrum of complications. Imaging guidelines according to the World Health Organization and Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) for assessment of chemotherapy response are presented.
Expression of integrin alphavbeta6 in the intestinal epithelial cells of patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Background and aims: The prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is about 0.05% in industrialized countries. The pathogenesis of IBD remains to be further understood. The present study aims to elucidate the expression of integrin αvβ6 in the intestinal mucosa of patients with IBD. Materials and Methods: Colonic biopsy was obtained from a group of IBD patients. The expression of αvβ6 in the intestinal mucosa was detected by Western blotting. Human colonic epithelial cell line T84 cells were stimulated by microbial antigen flagellin. The expression of αvβ6 in T84 cells was evaluated by quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting. Results: The levels of αvβ6 in the intestinal mucosa were much lower than it in normal control subjects. The serum levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO) were higher in IBD patients that were negatively correlated with the levels of αvβ6 in the intestinal mucosa. The expression of αvβ6 was detectable in T84 cells at naοve status that could be upregulated by exposure to microbial antigen flagellin. Pretreatment with MPO dramatically suppressed the expression of αvβ6 in T84 cells. Conclusions: We conclude that the expression of αvβ6 was suppressed in IBD intestinal mucosa, which could be resulted from the high levels of MPO.
Prenatal diethylstilbestrol exposure and reproductive hormones in premenopausal women

Diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic estrogen widely prescribed to pregnant women in the mid-1900s, is a potent endocrine disruptor. Prenatal DES exposure has been associated with reproductive disorders in women, but little is known about its effects on endogenous hormones. We assessed the association between prenatal DES exposure and reproductive hormones among participants from the Harvard Study of Moods and Cycles (HSMC), a longitudinal study of premenopausal women aged 36–45 years from Massachusetts (1995–1999). Prenatal DES exposure was reported at baseline (43 DES exposed and 782 unexposed). Early follicular-phase concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and estradiol were measured at baseline and every 6 months during 36 months of follow-up. Inhibin B concentrations were measured through 18 months. We used multivariable logistic and repeated-measures linear regression to estimate odds ratios (OR) and percent differences in mean hormone values (β), respectively, comparing DES exposed with unexposed women, adjusted for potential confounders. DES-exposed women had lower mean concentrations of estradiol (pg/ml) (β=−15.6%, 95% confidence interval (CI): −26.5%, −3.2%) and inhibin B (pg/ml) (β=−20.3%, CI: −35.1%, −2.3%), and higher mean concentrations of FSH (IU/I) (β=12.2%, CI: −1.5%, 27.9%) and LH (IU/I) (β=10.4%, CI: −7.2%, 31.3%), than unexposed women. ORs for the association of DES with maximum FSH>10 IU/I and minimum inhibin B<45 pg/ml – indicators of low ovarian reserve – were 1.90 (CI: 0.86, 4.22) and 4.00 (CI: 0.88–18.1), respectively. Prenatal DES exposure was associated with variation in concentrations of FSH, estradiol and inhibin B among women of late reproductive age.
Predictive Coding as a Model of Response Properties in Cortical Area V1

A simple model is shown to account for a large range of V1 classical, and nonclassical, receptive field properties including orientation tuning, spatial and temporal frequency tuning, cross-orientation suppression, surround suppression, and facilitation and inhibition by flankers and textured surrounds. The model is an implementation of the predictive coding theory of cortical function and thus provides a single computational explanation for a diverse range of neurophysiological findings. Furthermore, since predictive coding can be related to the biased competition theory and is a specific example of more general theories of hierarchical perceptual inference, the current results relate V1 response properties to a wider, more unified, framework for understanding cortical function.
Comparative Analysis of Three Different Modalities for Perception of Artifacts in Videos

This study compares three popular modalities for analyzing perceived video quality; user ratings, eye tracking, and EEG. We contrast these three modalities for a given video sequence to determine if there is a gap between what humans consciously see and what we implicitly perceive. Participants are shown a video sequence with different artifacts appearing at specific distances in their field of vision; near foveal, middle peripheral, and far peripheral. Our results show distinct differences between what we saccade to (eye tracking), how we consciously rate video quality, and our neural responses (EEG data). Our findings indicate that the measurement of perceived quality depends on the specific modality used.
Improved Mannanase Production from Penicillium occitanis by Fed-Batch Fermentation Using Acacia Seeds

By applying a fed-batch strategy, production of Penicillium occitanis mannanases could be almost doubled as compared to a batch cultivation on acacia seeds (76 versus 41 U/mL). Also, a 10-fold increase of enzyme activities was observed from shake flask fermentation to the fed-batch fermentation. These production levels were 3-fold higher than those obtained on coconut meal. The high mannanase production using acacia seeds powder as inducer substrate showed the suitability of this culture process for industrial-scale development.
Functional facial nerve weakness after surgery for benign parotid tumors: A multivariate statistical analysis

A retrospective study was done on 64 patients who underwent superficial or subtotal parotidectomy for a primary benign tumor of the parotid gland. Factors, such as age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, type of surgery, duration of surgery, pathology of lesion, and size of lesion, were reviewed in a multivariate statistical analysis to determine if any factors alone or in combination contributed to the development of functional facial nerve weakness postoperatively. Only the age of the patient was found to have a statistically significant causal relation using the Pearson chi‐square method (p = 0.015). The marginal mandibular branch was affected in nine of 10 cases. Different surgical approaches cited in the literature are discussed, along with the possible role of ischemic injury to the facial nerve during parotidectomy.
Affective Response to a Loved One's Pain: Insula Activity as a Function of Individual Differences

Individual variability in emotion processing may be associated with genetic variation as well as with psychological predispositions such as dispositional affect styles. Our previous fMRI study demonstrated that amygdala reactivity was independently predicted by affective-cognitive styles (phobic prone or eating disorders prone) and genotype of the serotonin transporter in a discrimination task of fearful facial expressions. Since the insula is associated with the subjective evaluation of bodily states and is involved in human feelings, we explored whether its activity could also vary in function of individual differences. In the present fMRI study, the association between dispositional affects and insula reactivity has been examined in two groups of healthy participants categorized according to affective-cognitive styles (phobic prone or eating disorders prone). Images of the faces of partners and strangers, in both painful and neutral situations, were used as visual stimuli. Interaction analyses indicate significantly different activations in the two groups in reaction to a loved one's pain: the phobic prone group exhibited greater activation in the left posterior insula. These results demonstrate that affective-cognitive style is associated with insula activity in pain empathy processing, suggesting a greater involvement of the insula in feelings for a certain cohort of people. In the mapping of individual differences, these results shed new light on variability in neural networks of emotion.
Rif1 Regulates Initiation Timing of Late Replication Origins throughout the S. cerevisiae Genome

Chromosomal DNA replication involves the coordinated activity of hundreds to thousands of replication origins. Individual replication origins are subject to epigenetic regulation of their activity during S-phase, resulting in differential efficiencies and timings of replication initiation during S-phase. This regulation is thought to involve chromatin structure and organization into timing domains with differential ability to recruit limiting replication factors. Rif1 has recently been identified as a genome-wide regulator of replication timing in fission yeast and in mammalian cells. However, previous studies in budding yeast have suggested that Rif1’s role in controlling replication timing may be limited to subtelomeric domains and derives from its established role in telomere length regulation. We have analyzed replication timing by analyzing BrdU incorporation genome-wide, and report that Rif1 regulates the timing of late/dormant replication origins throughout the S. cerevisiae genome. Analysis of pfa4Δ cells, which are defective in palmitoylation and membrane association of Rif1, suggests that replication timing regulation by Rif1 is independent of its role in localizing telomeres to the nuclear periphery. Intra-S checkpoint signaling is intact in rif1Δ cells, and checkpoint-defective mec1Δ cells do not comparably deregulate replication timing, together indicating that Rif1 regulates replication timing through a mechanism independent of this checkpoint. Our results indicate that the Rif1 mechanism regulates origin timing irrespective of proximity to a chromosome end, and suggest instead that telomere sequences merely provide abundant binding sites for proteins that recruit Rif1. Still, the abundance of Rif1 binding in telomeric domains may facilitate Rif1-mediated repression of non-telomeric origins that are more distal from centromeres.
Validation of the Psychometric Properties of the Self-Compassion Scale. Testing the Factorial Validity and Factorial Invariance of the Measure among Borderline Personality Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Eating Disorder and General Populations.

BACKGROUND During the last years, there has been a growing interest in self-compassion. Empirical evidences show that self-compassion is associated with psychological benefits among young adults and it might be considered a buffer factor in several mental disorders. AIMS The aim of this study was to validate the psychometric properties of the Self-compassion Scale (SCS: Neff, 2003a) after the initial lack of replicating the original six-factor structure. METHOD Data were collected from the overall database of a research centre (56 men and 305 women; mean age = 25.19) and comprised four groups: borderline personality disorder, anxiety disorder, eating disorder and general population. RESULTS Confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor model (self-compassionate attitude versus self-critical attitude) with good internal consistencies, construct-related validity and external validity. Configural, weak measurement and structural invariance of the two-factor model of SCS were also shown. CONCLUSIONS Findings support the generalizability of the two-factor model and show that both properties and interpretations of scores on self-compassion are equivalent across these population groups. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE A two-factor structure of SCS with strong psychometric validity was supported in clinical and non-clinical samples. Helping individuals with limited experiences of compassion to develop positive internal processing systems seems to be related with better mental health, self-acceptance and self-nurturing abilities. The non-probabilistic sampling limits the generalization of our conclusions.
Action Research for Sustainable Development in a Turbulent World

This book presents and celebrates over 20 years of Action Learning and Action Research (ALAR) through stories, experiences, reflections and specific works of key proponents and participants in Action Learning and Action Research World Congresses. Authors discuss wide-ranging possibilities and argue for the benefits of action research for sustainable development and problem solving in a turbulent world in the 21st century. They practise what they preach: collaborative, participatory action research based on learning outcomes from projects, discussion and debate. All chapters argue for, justify and explain the need for a shift in approaches to learning and development - from technical, managerial and controlling, to emancipatory, critical, ethical and humanist approaches - to achieve sustainable and robust outcomes in a turbulent world. The book is the first to present action research as a solution to and integration of economic, social, philosophical and ecological systems for problem solving and sustainable development in this troubled world of the 21st century.
A Graph Kernel for Protein-Protein Interaction Extraction

In this paper, we propose a graph kernel based approach for the automated extraction of protein-protein interactions (PPI) from scientific literature. In contrast to earlier approaches to PPI extraction, the introduced all-dependency-paths kernel has the capability to consider full, general dependency graphs. We evaluate the proposed method across five publicly available PPI corpora providing the most comprehensive evaluation done for a machine learning based PPI-extraction system. Our method is shown to achieve state-of-the-art performance with respect to comparable evaluations, achieving 56.4 F-score and 84.8 AUC on the AImed corpus. Further, we identify several pitfalls that can make evaluations of PPI-extraction systems incomparable, or even invalid. These include incorrect cross-validation strategies and problems related to comparing F-score results achieved on different evaluation resources.
The effects of feature-based attention on perception

ii Acknowledgement iv List of figures vi 1. General Introduction 1 2. Experiment 1 8 3. Experiment 2 22 4. Experiment 3 43 5. General Discussion and Future Work 64 References 71 Figure Captions 82 Figures 88 Curriculum Vita 103
Flares from small to large: X-ray spectroscopy of Proxima Centauri with XMM-Newton

We report results from a comprehensive study of the nearby M dwarf Proxima Centauri with the XMM-Newton satellite, using simultaneously its X-ray detectors and the Optical Monitor with its U band filter. We find strongly variable coronal X-ray emission, with flares ranging over a factor of 100 in peak flux. The low-level emission is found to be continuously variable on at least three time scales (a slow decay of several hours, modulation on a time scale of 1 hr, and weak flares with time scales of a few minutes). Several weak flares are characteristically preceded by an optical burst, compatible with predictions from standard solar flare models. We propose that the U band bursts are proxies for the elusive stellar non-thermal hard X-ray bursts suggested from solar observations. In the course of the observation, a very large X-ray flare started and was observed essentially in its entirety. Its peak luminosity reached 3.9 × 10 28 erg s −1 (0.15-10 keV), and the total X-ray energy released in the same band is derived to be 1.5 × 10 32 ergs. This flare has for the first time allowed to measure significant density variations across several phases of the flare from X-ray spectroscopy of the O  He-like triplet; we find peak densities reaching up to 4 × 10 11 cm −3 for plasma of about 1-5 MK. Abundance ratios show little variability in time, with a tendency of elements with a high first ionization potential to be overabundant relative to solar photospheric values. Using Fe  lines with different oscillator strengths, we do not find significant effects due to opacity during the flare, indicating that large opacity increases are not the rule even in extreme flares. We model the large flare in terms of an analytic 2-Ribbon flare model and find that the flaring loop system should have large characteristic sizes (≈1R∗) within the framework of this simplistic model. These results are supported by full hydrodynamic simulations. Comparing the large flare to flares of similar size occurring much more frequently on more active stars, we propose that the X-ray properties of active stars are a consequence of superimposed flares such as the example analyzed in this paper. Since larger flares produce hotter plasma, such a model also explains why, during episodes of low-level emission, more active stars show hotter plasma than less active stars.
Carbon Dioxide in the Ocean Surface: The Homogeneous Buffer Factor

The amount of carbon dioxide that can be dissolved in surface seawater depends at least partially on the homogeneous buffer factor, which is a mathematical function of the chemical equilibrium conditions among the various dissolved inorganic species. Because these equilibria are well known, the homogeneous buffer factor is well known. Natural spatial variations depend very systematically on sea surface temperatures, and do not contribute significantly to uncertainties in the present or future carbon dioxide budget.
Statistics of lattice points in thin annuli for generic lattices

We study the statistical properties of the counting func- tion of lattice points inside thin annuli. By a conjecture of Bleher and Lebowitz, if the width shrinks to zero, but the area converges to infinity, the distribution converges to the Gaussian distribution. If the width shrinks slowly to zero, the conjecture was proven by Hughes and Rudnick for the standard lattice, and in our previous paper for generic rectangular lattices. We prove this conjecture for arbitrary lattices satisfying some generic Diophantine properties, again assum- ing the width of the annuli shrinks slowly to zero. One of the obstacles of applying the technique of Hughes-Rudnick on this problem is the existence of so-called close pairs of lattice points. In order to overcome this difficulty, we bound the rate of occurence of this phenomenon by extending some of the work of Eskin-Margulis-Mozes on the quanti- tative Openheim conjecture.
On the consistency theory of high dimensional variable screening

Variable screening is a fast dimension reduction technique for assisting high dimensional feature selection. As a preselection method, it selects a moderate size subset of candidate variables for further refining via feature selection to produce the final model. The performance of variable screening depends on both computational efficiency and the ability to dramatically reduce the number of variables without discarding the important ones. When the data dimension $p$ is substantially larger than the sample size $n$, variable screening becomes crucial as 1) Faster feature selection algorithms are needed; 2) Conditions guaranteeing selection consistency might fail to hold. This article studies a class of linear screening methods and establishes consistency theory for this special class. In particular, we prove the restricted diagonally dominant (RDD) condition is a necessary and sufficient condition for strong screening consistency. As concrete examples, we show two screening methods $SIS$ and $HOLP$ are both strong screening consistent (subject to additional constraints) with large probability if $n > O((\rho s + \sigma/\tau)^2\log p)$ under random designs. In addition, we relate the RDD condition to the irrepresentable condition, and highlight limitations of $SIS$.
Deep Neural Networks Segment Neuronal Membranes in Electron Microscopy Images

We address a central problem of neuroanatomy, namely, the automatic segmentation of neuronal structures depicted in stacks of electron microscopy (EM) images. This is necessary to efficiently map 3D brain structure and connectivity. To segment biological neuron membranes, we use a special type of deep artificial neural network as a pixel classifier. The label of each pixel (membrane or non-membrane) is predicted from raw pixel values in a square window centered on it. The input layer maps each window pixel to a neuron. It is followed by a succession of convolutional and max-pooling layers which preserve 2D information and extract features with increasing levels of abstraction. The output layer produces a calibrated probability for each class. The classifier is trained by plain gradient descent on a 512 × 512 × 30 stack with known ground truth, and tested on a stack of the same size (ground truth unknown to the authors) by the organizers of the ISBI 2012 EM Segmentation Challenge. Even without problem-specific postprocessing, our approach outperforms competing techniques by a large margin in all three considered metrics, i.e. rand error, warping error and pixel error. For pixel error, our approach is the only one outperforming a second human observer.
Leisure Activities in Late Life in Relation to Dementia Risk: Principal Component Analysis

Aims: To explore the underlying dimensions of a set of interrelated lifestyle factors and test the hypothesis that an active lifestyle may protect against dementia. Methods: The study population consisted of 776 participants aged ≥75 years who were dementia-free at both baseline and the first follow-up examinations. Participation in leisure activities was assessed at baseline of the survey, and principal component analysis was used to identify their underlying factors. Results: During the 9-year follow-up from exposure assessment, 212 subjects developed dementia. Higher factor scores of physical, mental, and social dimensions of an active lifestyle was each related to a lower dementia risk. A significant dose-response association between participation in the diverse dimensions and lower dementia risk was observed. Conclusion: An active lifestyle may protect older people against dementia, and the higher level of engagement the stronger protection.