Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
3D model watermarking algorithm robust to geometric attacks

A 3D model watermarking method robust to geometric attacks is proposed. The vertices of the model are classified into three groups. The vertices of the low-resolution group are used to establish an invariant space in which to resist geometric attacks. In the medium-resolution group, appropriate vertices in which to embed the watermarking information are selected. The selection of vertices that contain information about the watermark is based on the area of the local set of the vertex, the curvature of which determines the embedding strength of the watermark. The vertices of the high-resolution group are reserved for resisting simplification and smoothing attacks. The choice of the embedding position and the embedding strength can provide a suitable trade-off between good transparency and maximum robustness of the proposed method. The simulation results show that, compared to existing state-of-the-art methods, the proposed method is robust against attacks such as noise, smoothing, simplification, cropping, rotation, translation, and scaling while ensuring high visual quality of the watermarked model.
Variability of Secondary Metabolites of the Species Cichorium intybus L. from Different Habitats

The principal aim of this paper is to show the influence of soil characteristics on the quantitative variability of secondary metabolites. Analysis of phenolic content, flavonoid concentrations, and the antioxidant activity was performed using the ethanol and ethyl acetate plant extracts of the species Cichorium intybus L. (Asteraceae). The samples were collected from one saline habitat and two non-saline habitats. The values of phenolic content from the samples taken from the saline habitat ranged from 119.83 to 120.83 mg GA/g and from non-saline habitats from 92.44 to 115.10 mg GA/g. The amount of flavonoids in the samples from the saline locality varied between 144.36 and 317.62 mg Ru/g and from non-saline localities between 86.03 and 273.07 mg Ru/g. The IC50 values of antioxidant activity in the samples from the saline habitat ranged from 87.64 to 117.73 μg/mL and from 101.44 to 125.76 μg/mL in the samples from non-saline habitats. The results confirmed that soil types represent a significant influence on the quantitative content of secondary metabolites. The greatest concentrations of phenols and flavonoids and the highest level of antioxidant activity were found in the samples from saline soil. This further corroborates the importance of saline soil as an ecological factor, as it is proven to give rise to increased biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and related antioxidant activity.
The Relationship between Blood Buffer Capacity and Aerobic Power with Ability to Perform High Intensity Intermittent Activities in Young Football Players

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between blood buffer capacity and aerobic power (Vo2max) with ability to perform high intensity intermittent activities in young football players. Methods: 27 male football players (age 17.66 ±0.49 years) selected as subjects. Blood samples were collected before and after the yoyo intermittent test. Then, after 48 hours, the Bruce treadmill test was performed for measuring Vo2max. The Pearson coefficient correlation was used for analyzing data. Results: A significant relationship was found between H, Hco3, BE and ability to perform high intensity intermittent activities (r=0.609, p=0.001; r= -0.381, p=0.050; r=-0.401, p=0.038), a significant relationship between Vo2max and ability to perform high intensity intermittent activities (r=0.761, p=0.000) and no significant relationship between Pco2 and ability to perform high intensity intermittent activities (r=-0.130, p=0.517). Conclusion: Results indicate that blood buffer capacity and Vo2max are effective factors in the performance of intermittent activities in football players.
Hough Networks for Head Pose Estimation and Facial Feature Localization

We present Hough Networks (HNs), a novel method that combines the idea of Hough Forests (HFs) [12] with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) [18]. Similar to HFs we perform a simultaneous classification and regression on densely extracted image patches. But instead of a Random Forest (RF) we utilize a CNN which is able to learn higherorder feature representations and does not rely on any handcrafted features. Applying a CNN on a patch level has the advantage of reasoning about more image details and additionally allows to segment the image into foreground and background. Furthermore, the structure of a CNN supports efficient inference of patches extracted from a regular grid. We evaluate HNs on two computer vision tasks: head pose estimation and facial feature localization. Our method achieves at least state-of-the-art performance without sacrificing versatility which allows extension to many other applications.
Female choice and plasticity of male calling behaviour in the Pacific treefrog

Male Pacific treefrogs, Hyla regilla, use advertisement and encounter calls to regulate intermale spacing within breeding choruses. When either type of call produced by a neighbour is detected above a particular amplitude, a resident frog responds aggressively by producing encounter calls. These 'aggressive thresholds' differ for the two call types and are plastic: males rapidly resume advertisement calling (accommodate) following repeated presentation of these calls above their aggressive threshold. We tested the hypothesis that this plasticity is the result of female preference for the advertisement call over the encounter call. Female choice was tested in a two-speaker phonotaxis assay with alternating presentation of the two call types. Of the 12 females that met our criteria for demonstrating a phonotaxic response, each approached the speaker playing the advertisement call rather than the encounter call. This strong female preference for the advertisement call supports our hypothesis, and suggests that the plasticity in male calling behaviour allows males to maximize the time spent in producing advertisement calls to attract a female by rapidly adjusting their aggressive behaviour to changes in male spacing within choruses. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
Goal Orientations, Study Strategies and Achievement of Hong Kong Teacher Education Student 1

This study examined the interrelationship among achievement goals, study strategies and achievement of 473 students in a Hong Kong tertiary institution by means of questionnaire survey. Correlational analyses showed that performance goal was significantly and positively related to both surface and deep strategies while learning goal was significantly and positively related to deep strategy but negatively related to surface strategy. However there was no significant relation between achievement and goals or achievement and study strategies held by the sample. The results validated the applicability of an adapted instrument developed in western countries to measure achievement goal orientations in the Hong Kong context. It also gave support to the western findings that students who hold learning goals usually adopt a deep approach of study while students who are performance goal orientated tend to be shallow in study approach. Nevertheless, it was interesting to find that achievement was not significantly related to either the goals or study strategies held by students in the sample. The results were in contrast to the usual assumption that students who are performance goal oriented and adopt shallow approach in study would score low in academic achievement. Further investigation would be necessary to verify the effects of these variables on achievement of students.
Efficient multicast algorithms for scalable video coding in software-defined networking

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is a new approach to design, build and manage computer networks. Multicast is used to transmit the same video file to different users. In this paper, we propose two multicast algorithms to solve the multicast problem in SDN environment. Both algorithms consider the balance of bandwidth utilization and communication delay between the source and clients. Simulation results show that our algorithms can improve the network bandwidth utilization and successful rate of the multicast requests than the previous works.
The impact of green perceived value and green perceived risk on green purchase behavior of Iranian consumers

One way to help environment is using green products, means those products that are compatible with environment. In order to measure and be aware of this subject, explore of tendency scale for purchasing and consumption of green products among consumers of each country is a necessary and helpful act. Therefore this research has been paid to indirect effect of green perceived value and green perceived risk of green purchase behavior of Iranian consumers. For these reason 412 individuals of Refah and Etka chain stores consumers were chosen in Bandar Abbas city, and developed research model was analyzed with gathering of questionnaire data by SME method. Results showed that green perceived value has positive and direct effect on green trust and green purchase intention, and green perceived risk has negative and direct effect on green trust and green purchase intention. Green trust also has positive and direct effect on green purchase intention. Finally direct effect of green purchase intention on green purchase behavior was positive. This means green perceived value and perceived risk are effective on green purchase behavior of Iranian consumers.
Problematic Internet Use and Problematic Online Gaming Are Not the Same: Findings from a Large Nationally Representative Adolescent Sample

There is an ongoing debate in the literature whether problematic Internet use (PIU) and problematic online gaming (POG) are two distinct conceptual and nosological entities or whether they are the same. The present study contributes to this question by examining the interrelationship and the overlap between PIU and POG in terms of sex, school achievement, time spent using the Internet and/or online gaming, psychological well-being, and preferred online activities. Questionnaires assessing these variables were administered to a nationally representative sample of adolescent gamers (N=2,073; Mage=16.4 years, SD=0.87; 68.4% male). Data showed that Internet use was a common activity among adolescents, while online gaming was engaged in by a considerably smaller group. Similarly, more adolescents met the criteria for PIU than for POG, and a small group of adolescents showed symptoms of both problem behaviors. The most notable difference between the two problem behaviors was in terms of sex. POG was much more strongly associated with being male. Self-esteem had low effect sizes on both behaviors, while depressive symptoms were associated with both PIU and POG, affecting PIU slightly more. In terms of preferred online activities, PIU was positively associated with online gaming, online chatting, and social networking, while POG was only associated with online gaming. Based on our findings, POG appears to be a conceptually different behavior from PIU, and therefore the data support the notion that Internet Addiction Disorder and Internet Gaming Disorder are separate nosological entities.
Influence of Flooring on Standing Fatigue

This study investigated effects of flooring on perceived tiredness, fatigue, and discomfort for workers required to stand while performing their jobs. Eight flooring conditions of varying thickness and stiffness (including one shoe insert) were evaluated by workers who answered a questionnaire. Questions were asked regarding whole-body tiredness. leg fatigue. and discomfort. Flooring had a significant effect on workers' perception. In general softer materials caused less perceived tiredness; however, one extremely soft floor resulted in higher ratings of tiredness. Similar results were found for material thickness. The shoe insert condition showed low tiredness ratings as compared with most floors, including one made of the same material. The discomfort ratings indicated that harder flooring materials caused greater discomfort. Discomfort of the lower extremities tended to decrease as distance from the floor increased. Low back discomfort was found for hard flooring surfaces.
Dcv: a causality detection approach for large-scale dynamic collaboration environments

Recent studies have indicated the significance of supporting real-time group editing in "Wiki" applications, whose collaboration environments have their dynamic and large-scale nature. Correct capture of causal relationships between operations from different users is crucial in order to preserve consistency of object copies. This challenge was resolved by employing vector logical clock. But since its size is equal to the number of cooperating sites, it has low efficiency when dealing with a collaborative environment involving a large number of participants. In this paper, we propose a direct causal vector (DCV) approach for solving causality detection issues in real-time group editors. DCV timestamp does not record the causality information that can be deduced from the transitivity of causal relation. As a result, it can automatically reduce its own size when people leave the collaboration session and always keep small. We prove that DCV approach is well fit for capturing causality in wiki like large-scale dynamic collaboration environments.
Collective Intelligence and Group Performance

We review recent research on collective intelligence, which we define as the ability of a group to perform a wide variety of tasks. We focus on two influences on a group’s collective intelligence: (a) group composition (e.g., the members’ skills, diversity, and intelligence) and (b) group interaction (e.g., structures, processes, and norms). We also call for more research to investigate how social interventions and technological tools can be used to enhance collective intelligence.
Evaluating the effectiveness of a road safety education intervention for pre-drivers: an application of the theory of planned behaviour.

BACKGROUND Young drivers are overrepresented in road traffic fatalities and collisions. Attempts to address this problem with pre-driver education have not met with unambiguous success. However, there is a lack of research on whether pre-driver education can change psychological antecedents to behaviour. AIMS The framework of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was employed to assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention used across the UK that aims to improve attitudes to road safety in pre-drivers. SAMPLE(S) Secondary school students aged 15-16 years participated in the research, drawn from 12 schools in the UK. A total of 199 students took part in Expt 1 and 430 in Expt 2. METHOD Expt 1 employed a within-participants design to measure any changes in road safety beliefs from pre- to post-intervention and 5-month follow-up. Expt 2 used a between-participants design to test whether any changes were genuine or due to experimenter effects. RESULTS Results of Expt 1 revealed a small, short-term improvement in some pre-driver beliefs immediately following the educational intervention, but no effect on other beliefs, and some evidence of unintended outcomes. The small, significant improvements found in Expt 1 were replicated in Expt 2, which is consistent with there being a genuine effect. CONCLUSIONS Considering evidence from both experiments suggests the effectiveness of road safety education interventions are at best short term, and limited to some but not all psychological factors, with some risk of unintended consequences.
RECOVERING STELLAR POPULATION PROPERTIES AND REDSHIFTS FROM BROADBAND PHOTOMETRY OF SIMULATED GALAXIES: LESSONS FOR SED MODELING

We present a detailed analysis of our ability to determine stellar masses, ages, reddening, and extinction values, and star formation rates (SFRs) of high-redshift galaxies by modeling broadband spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with stellar population synthesis. In order to do so, we computed synthetic optical-to-NIR SEDs for model galaxies taken from hydrodynamical merger simulations placed at redshifts 1.5 ⩽ z ⩽ 2.9. Viewed under different angles and during different evolutionary phases, the simulations represent a wide variety of galaxy types (disks, mergers, spheroids). We show that simulated galaxies span a wide range in SEDs and color, comparable to those of observed galaxies. In all star-forming phases, dust attenuation has a large effect on colors, SEDs, and fluxes. The broadband SEDs were then fed to a standard SED modeling procedure, and resulting stellar population parameters were compared to their true values. Disk galaxies generally show a decent median correspondence between the true and estimated mass and age, but suffer from large uncertainties (Δlog M = −0.06+0.06−0.13, Δlog agew = +0.03+0.19−0.42). During the merger itself, we find larger offsets: Δlog M = −0.13+0.10−0.14 and Δlog agew = −0.12+0.40−0.26. E(B − V) values are generally recovered well, but the estimated total visual absorption AV is consistently too low, increasingly so for larger optical depths (ΔAV = −0.54+0.40−0.46 in the merger regime). Since the largest optical depths occur during the phases of most intense star formation, it is for the highest SFRs that we find the largest underestimates (Δlog SFR = −0.44+0.32−0.31 in the merger regime). The masses, ages, E(B − V), AV, and SFRs of merger remnants (spheroids) are very well reproduced. We discuss possible biases in SED modeling results caused by mismatch between the true and template star formation history (SFH), dust distribution, metallicity variations, and active galactic nucleus contribution. Mismatch between the real and template SFH, as is the case during the merging event, drives the age, and consequently mass estimate, down with respect to the true age and mass. However, the larger optical depth toward young stars during this phase reduces the effect considerably. Finally, we tested the photometric redshift code EAZY on the simulated galaxies placed at high redshift. We find a small scatter in Δz/(1 + z) of 0.031.
Outcomes of cats undergoing surgical attenuation of congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunts through cellophane banding: 9 cases (2000-2007).

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the long-term prognosis of cats with a congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunt (CEPSS) attenuated through gradual occlusion with cellophane banding (CB). DESIGN Retrospective case series. ANIMALS 9 cats with a CEPSS that was attenuated with CB. PROCEDURES Medical records of cats surgically treated for CEPSS by means of CB from January 2000 through March 2007 were reviewed. Extracted data included preoperative clinical signs, medications, diagnostic results including serum bile acids concentrations, surgical technique, intraoperative and postoperative complications, and long-term follow-up information. RESULTS 2 cats that developed refractory seizures were euthanized within 3 days after the CB procedure. Seven of the 9 cats survived to 15 days after surgery. Four cats did not have any clinical signs of CEPSS at long-term follow up. At that time, 5 cats had a postprandial SBA concentration within reference limits and 1 cat had persistent ptyalism. One cat had biurate ammonium stones removed > 2 years after surgery. One cat was euthanized 105 days after surgery because of uncontrolled seizures. The 3-year survival rate was 66%. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Uncontrolled seizure activity was the most common cause of death after CB. Long-term outcome for cats with CEPSS was fair to good after the procedure. Cats with a CEPSS surviving the immediate postoperative period had a fair to good long-term outcome. Cellophane banding without intraoperative attenuation appears to be an acceptable technique for gradual occlusion of a CEPSS in cats. Cats should be monitored closely for development of neurologic disorders in the postoperative period.
Linguistic and cognitive motivations for the Typological Primacy Model (TPM) of third language (L3) transfer: Timing of acquisition and proficiency considered*

This article elucidates the Typological Primacy Model (TPM; Rothman, 2010, 2011, 2013) for the initial stages of adult third language (L3) morphosyntactic transfer, addressing questions that stem from the model and its application. The TPM maintains that structural proximity between the L3 and the L1 and/or the L2 determines L3 transfer. In addition to demonstrating empirical support for the TPM, this article articulates a proposal for how the mind unconsciously determines typological (structural) proximity based on linguistic cues from the L3 input stream used by the parser early on to determine holistic transfer of one previous (the L1 or the L2) system. This articulated version of the TPM is motivated by argumentation appealing to cognitive and linguistic factors. Finally, in line with the general tenets of the TPM, I ponder if and why L3 transfer might obtain differently depending on the type of bilingual (e.g. early vs. late) and proficiency level of bilingualism involved in the L3 process.
Stock Price Behavior around External Financing

This dissertation redefines the patterns of the stock performance around corporate financing activities and provides an explanation based on moral hazard to the long-term postfinancing stock underperformance. I partition firms according to their internal funds at the time of their financing activities and find that pre-financing price run-up is much stronger among firms with high internal funds at the time of financing, while post-financing stock underperformance is concentrated among firms with low internal funds at the time of external financing. This new finding is different from the traditional association between prefinancing price run-up and post-financing stock underperformance. I also investigate how external financing affects incentives and long-term post-financing stock performance conditioned on the availability of internal funds. First, Post-financing stock underperformance is disproportionately large during earnings announcement periods. Furthermore, these firms experience less decrease in post-financing average selling, general, and administrative expenses due to economies of scale from expansion. Finally, related to their external financing activities, these firms have a weaker information environment represented by more optimistic analyst earnings forecasts, larger forecast dispersion, and lower analyst coverage. This empirical evidence is consistent with existence and underestimation of a moral hazard problem induced by conflicts between current shareholders and new claimholders when firms lack internal funds.
Improvement in Isolation and Identification of Mouse Oogonial Stem Cells

Female germline stem cells (FGSCs) or oogonial stem cells (OSCs) have the capacity to generate newborn oocytes and thus open a new door to fight ovarian aging and female infertility. However, the production and identification of OSCs are difficult for investigators. Rare amount of these cells in the ovary results in the failure of the acquisition of OSCs. Furthermore, the oocyte formation by OSCs in vivo was usually confirmed using tissue sections by immunofluorescence or immunohistochemistry in previous studies. STO or MEF feeder cells are derived from mouse, not human. In our study, we modified the protocol. The cells were digested from ovaries and cultured for 2-3 days and then were purified by magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS). The ovaries and fetus of mice injected with EGFP-positive OSCs were prepared and put on the slides to directly visualize oocyte and progeny formation under microscope. Additionally, the human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) were also used as feeder cells to support the proliferation of OSCs. The results showed that all the modified procedures can significantly improve and facilitate the generation and characterization of OSCs, and hUC-MSCs as feeder will be useful for isolation and proliferation of human OSCs avoiding contamination from mouse.