Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On Disparity Matching in Stereo Vision via a Neural Network Framework

This paper presents a neural framework for dealing with the problem of disparity matching in stereo vision. Two different types of neural networks are used in this framework: one is called the vitality conservation (VC) network for learning clustering, and the other is the back-propagation (BP) network for learning disparity matching. The VC network utilizes a vitality conservation principle to facilitate self-development in network growing. The training process of VC is smooth and incremental; it not only achieves the biologically plausible learning property, but also facilitates systematic derivations for training parameters. Using the [intensity, variation, orientation, x, y] of each pixel (or a block) as the training vector, the VC network dismembers the input image into several clusters, and results can be used by the BP network to achieve accurate matching. Unlike the conventional k-means and self-organizing feature map (SOFM), VC is a self-creating network; the number of clusters is self-organizing and need not be pre-specified. The BP network, using differential features as input training data, can learn the functional relationship between differential features and the matching degree. After training, the BP network is first used to generate an initial disparity (range) map. With the clustering results and the initial map, a matching algorithm that incorporates the BP network is then applied to recursively refine the map in a cluster-bycluster manner. In the matching process, useful constraints, such as a epipolar line, ordering, geometry and continuity, are employed to reduce the occurrence of mismatching. The matching process continues until all clusters are matched. Empirical results indicate that the proposed framework is very promising for applications in stereo vision.
Cytoplasmic domains of the myelin-associated glycoprotein

The function of the vertebrate nervous system is based on the rapid and accurate transmission of electrical impulses. The myelin sheath is a lipid-rich membrane that envelops the axon, preventing the leakage of the nervous impulse to the environment. Myelin is formed when the plasma membrane of a myelinating glial cell differentiates and wraps around an axon. The compaction of myelin leads to the extrusion of most of the glial cell cytoplasm from the structure. Both the compact and noncompact regions of myelin carry distinct subsets of proteins. The myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) is present in noncompact myelin. It is a cell adhesion molecule expressed only by myelinating glial cells. Two isoforms of MAG, Sand LMAG, exist, and these forms differ from each other only by their cytoplasmic domains. Until now, little information has been available on the differences between the MAG isoforms. This study was carried out in order to gain information on the cytoplasmic domains of Sand L-MAG. Significant differences were observed in the properties of the MAG cytoplasmic domains. An interaction between the L-MAG cytoplasmic domain and the S100β protein was characterised, and a role for this interaction was found in the regulation of L-MAG phosphorylation. Evidence was also obtained for the dimerisation of the L-MAG cytoplasmic domain. The S-MAG cytoplasmic domain bound zinc, which induced a change in the surface properties of the protein. The S-MAG cytoplasmic domain was also found to interact directly with tubulin, the core component of microtubules. In conclusion, this study has brought information on the functions of the MAG cytoplasmic domains. The results are complementary with ealier hypotheses on the roles of the MAG isoforms in myelinating glia. While the properties of L-MAG suggest a role as a signaling molecule, a dynamic structural role for S-MAG during myelin formation and maintenance can be envisaged.
Self-determination, Self-efficacy and Self-regulation in School： A Longitudinal Intervention Study With Primary School Pllnile

The study documents an intervention programme based on the Self‐determination Theory of Deci and Ryan (2000) with school beginners in an Austrian primary school with the aim to improve perceived self‐determination and academic self‐regulation of school beginners. For two years, teachers were guided by a team of educational scientists to design challenging autonomous learning settings and to foster self‐determined academic regulation. Before and after the intervention, about 100 pupils were questioned concerning their well‐being in school, perceived autonomy support, their academic self‐regulation, and school‐related self‐efficacy. Teachers’ autonomy support decreased during the first year but remained stable from then on. Pupils’ intrinsic regulation, as well as their introjected and external regulation and their self‐efficacy, decreased throughout the intervention but identified regulation remained stable. The results indicate that perceived self‐determination, self‐determined academic regulation, and self‐efficacy contribute to school‐related well‐being and offer interesting recommendations for improving the climate in schools for pupils and teachers.
Evaluating software engineering methods and tools: part 9: quantitative case study methodology

This article is the first of three articles describing how to undertake a quantitative case study based on work done as part of the DESMET project [1], [2]. In the context of methods and tool evaluations, case studies are a means of evaluating methods and tools as part of the normal software development activities undertaken by an organisation. The main benefit of such case studies is that they allow the effect of new methods and tools to be assessed in realistic situations. Thus, case studies provide a cost-effective means of ensuring that process changes provide the desired results. However, unlike formal experiments and surveys, case studies do not have a well-understood theoretical basis. This series of articles provides guidelines for organising and analysing case studies so that your investigations of new technologies will produce meaningful results.
“It’s a Snake, You Guys!”: The Power of Text Characteristics on Children’s Responses to Information Books

This study describes ways in which a small group of preschool children responded to typical information books during read-aloud sessions. Responses were coded according to a content analysis system that included focus of talk and type of talk. The results indicate that even young children are attuned to characteristics of texts and that those characteristics (especially illustrations) have a powerful influence on children’s responses.
The future of industrial automation and IEC 614993 standard

The design of Automation and Control Systems shows a consolidated tendency towards what has been called Distributed Intelligence. This concept has proven to be appropriate to meet the current requirements imposed on production systems, aimed at optimizing the agility to respond to disturbances and productive environment; and enhance the reconfigurability of control systems and processes. Within the theoretical conceptions of the emergent Intelligent Automation, such as Agents, the Holonic Systems, Fractal Manufacturing stand above the rest. The theoretical concept should lead to availability of technological tools that enable its implementation. According to the previous idea, the IEC 61499 standard has been established approaches from intelligent distributed components. This comes as standard programming method that will surely pass the current forms of algorithm design for programmable logic controllers, whose languages are normalized by traditional IEC 61131-3. This paper aims to show how the recent standard is compatible with the adoption of new paradigms of automation, and illustrate the concepts of distributed intelligence and autonomy that could be implemented through algorithms with new structures of Function Blocks, compiled on some programmable controllers such as PLC.
Fibrillar Amyloid Plaque Formation Precedes Microglial Activation

In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), hallmark β-amyloid deposits are characterized by the presence of activated microglia around them. Despite an extensive characterization of the relation of amyloid plaques with microglia, little is known about the initiation of this interaction. In this study, the detailed investigation of very small plaques in brain slices in AD transgenic mice of the line APP-PS1(dE9) revealed different levels of microglia recruitment. Analysing plaques with a diameter of up to 10 μm we find that only the half are associated with clear morphologically activated microglia. Utilizing in vivo imaging of new appearing amyloid plaques in double-transgenic APP-PS1(dE9)xCX3CR1+/- mice further characterized the dynamic of morphological microglia activation. We observed no correlation of morphological microglia activation and plaque volume or plaque lifetime. Taken together, our results demonstrate a very prominent variation in size as well as in lifetime of new plaques relative to the state of microglia reaction. These observations might question the existing view that amyloid deposits by themselves are sufficient to attract and activate microglia in vivo.
Noise Intensity-Based Denoising of Point-Sampled Geometry

A denoising algorithm for point-sampled geometry is proposed based on noise intensity. The noise intensity of each point on point-sampled geometry (PSG) is first measured by using a combined criterion. Based on mean shift clustering, the PSG is then clustered in terms of the local geometry-features similarity. According to the cluster to which a sample point belongs, a moving least squares surface is constructed, and in combination with noise intensity, the PSG is finally denoised. Some experimental results demonstrate that the algorithm is robust, and can denoise the noise efficiently while preserving the surface features.
Pressões internas e externas na utilização de padrões de divulgação de informações socioambientais amplamente aceitos: uma análise sobre estrutura de governança corporativa, ambiente institucional e a perspectiva de legitimação

O objetivo deste estudo e verificar se pressoes internas, representadas pela estrutura de governanca corporativa das organizacoes, e pressoes externas, representadas pelo ambiente institucional legal e pressoes exercidas por acionistas e credores, influenciam a utilizacao de padroes de divulgacao de informacoes socioambientais voluntarias (i.e.GRI) amplamente aceitos. A amostra e composta pelas 96 empresas e foi utilizada a tecnica estatistica da Regressao Logistica. Os resultados demonstraram que a estrutura de governanca corporativa apresenta-se como fator relevante para utilizacao desses padroes de divulgacao. A presenca de um mecanismo de governanca associado a responsabilidade socioambiental exerce influencia na utilizacao dos padroes isoladamente do conjunto de mecanismos que compoem a estrutura de governanca. O ambiente institucional legal nao se apresentou significativo, enquanto as pressoes exercidas por credores e acionistas apresentaram-se relevantes na decisao de utilizar o padrao de divulgacao em analise. Os resultados corroboram para a perspectiva da legitimacao da Teoria Institucional.
Imagining the Use of Intelligent Agents and Artificial Intelligence in Academic Law Libraries

Academic law librarians should consider ways to incorporate intelligent technology into their libraries in order to benefit the law school community. This article explains the distinction between intelligent agents and artificial intelligence, discusses current and potential future uses for both, provides examples of how academic law librarians can use them, and explores their benefits and drawbacks. Finally, it examines issues unique to law libraries, including how the ABA standards could affect the use of these technologies.
NPCs as People, Too: The Extreme AI Personality Engine

PK Dick once asked “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? ” In video games, a similar question could be asked of non-player characters: Do NPCs have dreams? Can they live and change as humans do? Can NPCs have personalities, and can these develop through interactions with players, other NPCs, and the world around them? Despite advances in personality AI for games, most NPCs are still undeveloped and undeveloping, reacting with flat affect and predictable routines that make them far less than human— in fact, they become little more than bits of the scenery that give out parcels of information. This need not be the case. Extreme AI, a psychology-based personality engine, creates adaptive NPC personalities. Originally developed as part of the thesis “NPCs as People: Using Databases and Behaviour Trees to Give Non-Player Characters Personality,” Extreme AI is now a fully functioning personality engine using all thirty facets of the Five Factor model of personality and an AI system that is live throughout gameplay. This paper discusses the research leading to Extreme AI; develops the ideas found in that thesis; discusses the development of other personality engines; and provides examples of Extreme AI’s use in two game demos.
A functional analysis of the pyrimidine catabolic pathway in Arabidopsis

Reductive catabolism of pyrimidine nucleotides occurs via a three-step pathway in which uracil is degraded to β-alanine, CO2 and NH3 through sequential activities of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.1.2, PYD1), dihydropyrimidinase (EC 3.5.2.2, PYD2) and β-ureidopropionase (EC 3.5.1.6, PYD3). A proposed function of this pathway, in addition to the maintenance of pyrimidine homeostasis, is the recycling of pyrimidine nitrogen to general nitrogen metabolism. PYD expression and catabolism of [2-14C]-uracil are markedly elevated in response to nitrogen limitation in plants, which can utilize uracil as a nitrogen source. PYD1, PYD2 and PYD3 knockout mutants were used for functional analysis of this pathway in Arabidopsis. pyd mutants exhibited no obvious phenotype under optimal growing conditions. pyd2 and pyd3 mutants were unable to catabolize [2-14C]-uracil or to grow on uracil as the sole nitrogen source. By contrast, catabolism of uracil was reduced by only 40% in pyd1 mutants, and pyd1 seedlings grew nearly as well as wild-type seedlings with a uracil nitrogen source. These results confirm PYD1 function and suggest the possible existence of another, as yet unknown, activity for uracil degradation to dihydrouracil in this plant. The localization of PYD-green fluorescent protein fusions in the plastid (PYD1), secretory system (PYD2) and cytosol (PYD3) suggests potentially complex metabolic regulation.
Dexmedetomidine Protects Rat Liver against Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury Partly by the α2A-Adrenoceptor Subtype and the Mechanism Is Associated with the TLR4/NF-κB Pathway

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling plays a dominant role in the pathogenesis of liver ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury. Dexmedetomidine (Dex) protects the liver against IR injury via α2-adrenoceptor activation, but the contribution of TLR4 signaling remains unknown. The authors aimed to examine whether pretreatment with Dex produces hepatic protection and investigate the influence of Dex on TLR4/NF-κB signaling. Dex was given via intraperitoneal injection 30 min prior to orthotopic autologous liver transplantation (OALT) in rats, and three α2-adrenoceptor antagonists including atipamezole (a nonselective α2 receptor blocker), ARC-239 (a specific α2B/C blocker) and BRL-44408 (a specific α2A blocker) were injected intraperitoneally 10 min before Dex administration. Histopathologic evaluation of the liver and the measurement of serum alanine aminotransferase activity, TLR4/NF-κB expression in the liver, and pro-inflammatory factors (serum tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β and hepatic myeloperoxidase) concentrations were performed 8 h after OALT. Dex ameliorated liver injury after OALT probably by suppressing the TLR4/NF-κB pathway and decreasing inflammatory mediator levels. The protective effects of Dex were reversed by atipamezole and BRL-44408, but not by ARC-239, suggesting that these effects were mediated in part by the α2A subtype. In conclusion, Dex attenuates liver injury partly via the α2A-adrenoceptor subtype, and the mechanism is due to the suppression of the TLR4/NF-κB pathway.
“Theory Based Health Education: Application of Health Belief Model for Iranian Obese and Overweight Students about Physical Activity” in Urmia, Iran

Background: Obesity is a major problem in both developed and underdeveloped countries. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of a physical education program (PEP) on promoting health belief model (HBM) scores, increasing physical activity (PA), and reducing obesity among Iranian high school students. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was accomplished at four high schools that were randomly divided into two groups of experiment (forty) and control (forty) male students in junior high schools in Urmia, Iran. Students in the experimental group received a PEP during 6 months. The essential parameters were used for evaluating the effects of educational program on HBM, PA, and body mass index (BMI) of students. Results: After the intervention of 3 and 6 months, the experimental group showed a significant difference on the results of HBM constructs. According to the result of repeated-measures ANOVA, there is a significant difference between the experimental and control groups about the components of PA constructs. Analysis of covariance showed that although BMI reduced in 6 months after intervention, there was no significant difference in BMI. Conclusions: Results of the study revealed that implementation of PEP was effective on increasing the score of the components of HBM and PA of students.
Cultural Differences in Ultimatum Game Experiments: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis

This paper reports the findings of a meta-analysis of 37 papers with 75 results from ultimatum game experiments. We find that on average the proposer offers 40% of the pie to the responder. This share is smaller for larger pie sizes and larger when a strategy method is used or when subjects are inexperienced. On average 16% of the offers is rejected. The rejection rate is lower for larger pie sizes and for larger shares offered. Responders are less willing to accept an offer when the strategy method is employed. As the results come from different countries, meta-analysis provides an alternative way to investigate whether bargaining behavior in ultimatum games differs across countries. We find differences in behavior of responders (and not of proposers) across geographical regions. With one exception, these differences cannot be attributed to various cultural traits on which for instance the cultural classifications of Hofstede (1991) and Inglehart (2000) are based.
Calibration of hydrological model parameters for ungauged catchments

Abstract. The parameters of hydrological models for catchments with few or no discharge records can be estimated using regional information. One can assume that catchments with similar characteristics show a similar hydrological behaviour and thus can be modeled using similar model parameters. Therefore a regionalisation of the hydrological model parameters on the basis of catchment characteristics is plausible. However, due to the non-uniqueness of the rainfall-runoff model parameters (equifinality), a workflow of regional parameter estimation by model calibration and a subsequent fit of a regional function is not appropriate. In this paper a different approach for the transfer of entire parameter sets from one catchment to another is discussed. Parameter sets are considered as tranferable if the corresponding model performance (defined as the Nash-Sutclife efficiency) on the donor catchment is good and the regional statistics: means and variances of annual discharges estimated from catchment properties and annual climate statistics for the recipient catchment are well reproduced by the model. The methodology is applied to a set of 16 catchments in the German part of the Rhine catchments. Results show that the parameters transfered according to the above criteria perform well on the target catchments.
On the mean speed of convergence of empirical and occupation measures in Wasserstein distance

In this work, we provide non-asymptotic bounds for the average speed of convergence of the empirical measure in the law of large numbers, in Wasserstein distance. We also consider occupation measures of ergodic Markov chains. One motivation is the approximation of a probability measure by finitely supported measures (the quantization problem). It is found that rates for empirical or occupation measures match or are close to previously known optimal quantization rates in several cases. This is notably highlighted in the example of infinite-dimensional Gaussian measures.
The Aggregate Implications of Mergers and Acquisitions

This article develops a search and matching model of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and uses it to evaluate the implications of merger activity for aggregate economic outcomes. The theory is consistent with a rich set of facts on U.S. M&A, including sorting among merging firms, a substantial merger premium and serial acquisition. It provides a sharp link between these facts and the nature of merger gains. At the micro-level, both complementarities between merging firms and productivity improvements of target firms are important in generating gains. At the macro-level, the model suggests a significant beneficial impact of M&A on aggregate outcomes—the contribution to steady state output is 14$\%$ and 4$\%$ for consumption—which occurs through the reallocation of resources across firms and equilibrium effects on firm selection and new entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, the economy is not efficient, suggesting a scope for policy improvements—a simple flat tax on M&A can raise steady state consumption as much as 2$\%$ relative to the laissez-faire equilibrium. In short, the boundaries of the firm can matter for macroeconomic outcomes.
Traversing the fantasy of the heroic entrepreneur

Purpose While considerable critical energy has been devoted to unmasking the figure of the heroic entrepreneur, the idea that entrepreneurs are unique individuals with special abilities continues to be widespread in scholarly research, social media and popular culture. The purpose of this paper is to traverse the fantasy of the heroic entrepreneur by offering a reading of Richard Branson’s autobiography, Losing My Virginity. Design/methodology/approach The theoretical approach of this paper is informed by Slavoj Žižek’s concept of fantasy and his critical analytical strategy of “traversing the fantasy”. Žižek offers a theoretical framework that allows us to understand how narratives of famous entrepreneurs create paradoxical fantasies that produce desire. Findings By offering a reading of Richard Branson’s autobiography, Losing My Virginity, this paper serves to illustrate how the fantasy of the heroic entrepreneur creates the injunction to overcome oneself and become true to oneself, but also how this figure is ridden with contradictions and impossibilities. Branson’s book will eventually be shown to be a religious narrative, where the entrepreneur is responsible for redeeming the crises not only of the economy, but of being as such. Originality/value Rather than striving towards a processual approach that lays emphasis on the collective effort involved in entrepreneurship, this paper critically engages directly with the heroic entrepreneur by exploring how this figure is a fantasy that structures desire. This paper shows how critical entrepreneurship studies could benefit from an approach that analyses how the cultural representation of business celebrates the heroic entrepreneur as a source of value creation. The authors further argue that it is the contradictions and impossibilities embodied in the figure of the heroic entrepreneur that carry its far-reaching appeal.