Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prediction of DCT-based denoising efficiency for images corrupted by signal-dependent noise

This paper describes a simple and fast way to predict efficiency of DCT-based filtering of images corrupted by signal dependent noise as this often happens for hyperspectral and radar remote sensing. Such prediction allows deciding in automatic way is it worth applying denoising to a given image under condition that parameters of signal-dependent noise are known a priori or pre-estimated with appropriate accuracy. It is shown that denoising efficiency can be predicted not only in terms of traditional quality criteria as output MSE or PSNR but also, with slightly less accuracy, in terms of visual quality metrics and PSNR-HVS-M.
Effect of fat volume fraction, sodium caseinate, and starch on the optimization of the sensory properties of frankfurter sausages

The effect of two important nonmeat constituents (starch and sodium caseinate) and fat content on the sensory perception of frankfurter sausages has been assessed for two mixture amounts (17% and 27%). A strong correlation among objective fattiness, elasticity, and chewiness has been established; these correlate negatively to consistency and hardness. This has been attributed to the protein gel disruption arising from local phase separations. Hedonic consistency, elasticity, and chewiness showed a very strong positive correlation to one another. Contour plots, based on responses of principal component axes, show that lard is important in increasing the objective sensory intensities of fattiness, chewiness, and elasticity, and for decreasing hardness and consistency. In higher lard proportions, caseinate and starch decrease the red color intensity and the acceptability of chewiness, elasticity, and consistency. Optimization of the component amounts was performed using response trace plots. After redundancy analysis, sensory and instrumental variables were found in very good mutual agreement; hardness was assessed as the most important mechanical variable, followed by chewiness.
Two Theorems in List Decoding

We prove the following results concerning the list decoding of error-correcting codes: (i) We show that for \textit{any} code with a relative distance of $\delta$ (over a large enough alphabet), the following result holds for \textit{random errors}: With high probability, for a $\rho\le \delta -\eps$ fraction of random errors (for any $\eps>0$), the received word will have only the transmitted codeword in a Hamming ball of radius $\rho$ around it. Thus, for random errors, one can correct twice the number of errors uniquely correctable from worst-case errors for any code. A variant of our result also gives a simple algorithm to decode Reed-Solomon codes from random errors that, to the best of our knowledge, runs faster than known algorithms for certain ranges of parameters. (ii) We show that concatenated codes can achieve the list decoding capacity for erasures. A similar result for worst-case errors was proven by Guruswami and Rudra (SODA 08), although their result does not directly imply our result. Our results show that a subset of the random ensemble of codes considered by Guruswami and Rudra also achieve the list decoding capacity for erasures. Our proofs employ simple counting and probabilistic arguments.
Protocol Analysis and Expert Thought: Concurrent Verbalizations of Thinking during Experts' Performance on Representative Tasks

The superior skills of experts, such as accomplished musicians and chess masters, can be amazing to most spectators. For example, club-level chess players are often puzzled by the chess moves of grandmasters and world champions. Similarly, many recreational athletes find it inconceivable that most other adults – regardless of the amount or type of training – have the potential ever to reach the performance levels of international competitors. Especially puzzling to philosophers and scientists has been the question of the extent to which expertise requires innate gifts versus specialized acquired skills and abilities. One of the most widely used and simplest methods of gathering data on exceptional performance is to interview the experts themselves. But are experts always capable of describing their thoughts, their behaviors, and their strategies in a manner that would allow less-skilled individuals to understand how the experts do what they do, and perhaps also understand how they might reach expert level through appropriate training? To date, there has been considerable controversy over the extent to which experts are capable of explaining the nature and structure of their exceptional performance. Some pioneering scientists, such as Binet (1893/1966), questioned the validity of the experts' descriptions when they found that some experts gave reports inconsistent with those of other experts. To make matters worse, in those rare cases that allowed verification of the strategy by observing the performance, discrepancies were found between the reported strategies and the observations (Watson, 1913).
Salt Toxicity (Sodium Intake): A Serious Threat to Infants and Children of Pakistan

Abstract Background Excess sodium intake can lead to hypertension, the primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the sodium and potassium contents of foodstuff used by infants and children of Pakistan. Methods We analyzed the sodium and potassium contents of infant milk formula (<6 months), follow up milk formula (>6 months), baby food (cereals), biscuits, fruit juices, potato chips (crisps), cheese puffs, roasted cereals (salty), ice cream cones (kulfi) all of which are the processed food extensively used by the children. The amount of sodium and potassium contents in drinking water of few cities of Pakistan were also considered to assess the additional sodium/potassium in the preparation of milk using infant milk formula. Results Na to K ratio (Na:K) was determined 0.3-1.23, 0.3-1.16, 0.33-0.82, 0.54-2.68, 0.51-0.85, 2.86 and 1.02 for infant milk formula (<6 months), follow up milk formula (>6 months), baby food (cereals), biscuits, fruit juices, potato chips (crisps, cheese puffs, roasted cereals), ice cream cones (kulfi), respectively. Conclusion The higher sodium content is present than most of the quoted values; whereas lower potassium is present than the recommended values. The higher Na:K ratio indicates the severity of the situation where it is commonly stated that “higher an individual’s salt intake, the higher an individual’s blood pressure". Present study indicates that nearly all Pakistani children consume substantially more salt than they need which will affect health status in later life.
2 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Yoga Physical movement Breathing Relaxation Increases physical activity

1 Group Health Research Institute, 1730 Minor Avenue, Suite 1600, Seattle, WA 98101, USA 2Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98101, USA 3Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98101, USA 4Departments of Family Medicine and Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98101, USA 5 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
Deep inside the core of Abell 1795: the Chandra view

We present X-ray spatial and spectral analysis of the Chandra data from the central of the cluster of galaxies Abell 1795. The plasma temperature rises outwards by a factor of 3, whereas the iron abundance decreases by a factor of 4. The spatial distribution of oxygen, neon, sulphur, silicon and iron shows that supernovae Type Ia dominate the metal enrichment process of the cluster plasma within the inner 150 kpc. Resolving both the gas density and temperature in nine radial bins, we recover the gravitational mass density profile and show that it flattens within 100 kpc as ρDM∝r-0.6 with a power-law index flatter than −1 at >3σ level. The observed motion of the central galaxy and the presence of excesses and deficits along the north–south direction in the brightness distribution indicate that the central cluster region is not relaxed. In the absence of any non-gravitational heating source, the data from the inner ∼200 kpc indicate the presence of a cooling flow with an integrated mass deposition rate of about 100 M⊙ yr−1. Over the same cluster region, the observed rate of 74 M⊙ yr−1 is consistent with the recent XMM-Newton Reflection Grating Spectrometer limit of 150 M⊙ yr−1.
Structure-based de novo prediction of zinc-binding sites in proteins of unknown function

MOTIVATION Zinc-binding proteins are the most abundant metallo-proteins in Protein Data Bank (PDB). Accurate prediction of zinc-binding sites in proteins of unknown function may provide important clues for the inference of protein function. As zinc binding is often associated with characteristic 3D arrangements of zinc ligand residues, its prediction may benefit from using not only the sequence information but also the structure information of proteins. RESULTS In this work, we present a structure-based method, TEMSP (3D TEmplate-based Metal Site Prediction), to predict zinc-binding sites. TEMSP significantly improves over previously reported best methods in predicting as many as possible true ligand residues for zinc with minimum overpredictions: if only those results in which all zinc ligand residues have been correctly predicted are defined as true positives, our method improves sensitivity from less than 30% to above 60%, and selectivity from around 25% to 80%. These results are for predictions based on apo state structures. In addition, the method can predict the zinc-bound local structures reliably, generating predictions useful for function inference. We applied TEMSP to 1888 protein structures of the 'Unknown Function' class in the PDB database. A number of zinc-binding sites have been discovered de novo, i.e. based solely on the protein structures. Using the predicted local structures of these sites, possible functional roles were analyzed. AVAILABILITY TEMSP is freely available from http://netalign.ustc. edu.cn/temsp/.
Social Anxiety, Depression and Close Relationship: Intra and Inter-Personal Perceptions of Social-Rank and Affiliation

The present study investigated the associations between social anxiety (SA) and depression on the one hand, and intra- and interpersonal perceptions within a friendship relationship on the other. Evolutionary theories suggest that SA is associated with impairment in the social-rank system. Recent studies suggest that depression is associated with impairment in the affiliation system. We examined whether these impairments are manifested in the positivity and accuracy of (a) self-perception; (b) meta-perception (beliefs about how the other perceives the self); and (c) other-perception (evaluations of the friend). Pairs of same-sex friends (n = 50) completed rankings pertaining to these perceptions on general, social-rank, and affiliation traits. Higher levels of SA were associated with lower self-perception positivity, lower meta-perception positivity, and lower accuracy in the social-rank domain. Moreover, higher levels of SA were associated with perceiving the friend as higher on social-rank, regardless of the friend's self-rated traits. Higher levels of depression were associated with lower affiliation and social-rank self-perception positivity, and with lower accuracy in the domain of affiliation. Our findings broaden current conceptualizations of SA and depression and highlight the importance of understanding these disorders through the lens of interpersonal relationships.
Credence Goods and Fraudulent Experts

This article is about a market for credence goods. With a credence good, consumers are never sure about the extent of the good they actually need. Therefore, sellers act as experts determining the customers' requirements. This information asymmetry between buyers and sellers obviously creates strong incentives for sellers to cheat on services. I analyze whether the market mechanism may induce nonfraudulent seller behavior. From the observation of market data such as prices, market shares, etc., consumers can infer the sellers' incentives. I show that market equilibria resulting in nonfraudulent behavior do indeed exist.
No harmful effects of a selfish B chromosome on several morphological and physiological traits in Locusta migratoria (Orthoptera, Acrididae)

Effects of B chromosomes on a number of morphological and physiological traits were analysed in 33 controlled crosses performed with Locusta migratoria specimens collected in a natural population close to Granada (Spain). The results show highly significant differences among families, but the absence of any significant effect of Bs on the individuals carrying them. There was, however, a slightly negative relationship between body size, somatic weight and somatic condition of the progeny and the presence of a high number of Bs in the parents, mostly in the mother. This suggests a possible harmful effect of these B chromosomes on egg allocation of substances regulating the initial stages of development. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the present understanding of the selfish theory of B chromosome evolution. It is proposed that selfishness and parasitism are two different properties of B chromosomes that should be considered separately.
Passive linear discrete time-invariant systems

We begin by discussing linear discrete time-invariant i/s/o (input/state/output) systems that satisfy certain �eenergy�f inequalities. These inequalities involve a quadratic storage function in the state space induced by a positive self-adjoint operator H that may be unbounded and have an unbounded inverse, and also a quadratic supply rate in the combined i/o (input/output) space. The three most commonly studied classes of supply rates are called scattering, impedance, and transmission. Although these three classes resemble each other, we show that there are still significant differences. We then present a new class of s/s (state/signal) systems which have a Hilbert state space and a Kre.n signal space. The state space is used to store relevant information about the past evolution of the system, and the signal space is used to describe interactions with the surrounding world. A s/s system resembles an i/s/o system apart from the fact that inputs and outputs are not separated from each other. By decomposing the signal space into a direct sum of an input space and an output space one gets a standard i/s/o system, provided the decomposition is admissible, and different i/o decompositions lead to different i/o supply rates (for example of scattering, impedance, or transmission type). In the case of non-admissible decompositions we obtain right and left affine representations, both of the s/s system itself, and of the corresponding transfer function. In particular, in the case of a passive system we obtain right and left coprime representations of the generalized transfer functions corresponding to nonadmissible decompositions of the signal space, and we end up with transfer functions which are, e.g., generalized Potapov or Nevanlinna class functions.
What have we learned? On implicit learning in ASD and SLI

A methodological challenge in implicit learning research is how to measure awareness. One solution is to decrease the gap between measures of ongoing task performance and measures of awareness. This study investigated awareness in a Serial Reaction Time task by analyzing response time (RT) drops, which have been found to reliably characterize awareness in other tasks. The present task consisted of a probabilistic part, in which awareness was expected to be low, and a deterministic part, in which awareness was expected to be high. Only the participants who were able to verbalize at least half of the learned sequence showed earlier and more RT drops in the deterministic compared to the probabilistic part. Furthermore, a strong positive correlation was found between RT drops and ability to verbalize. These findings support previous findings of RT drops as a reliable indicator of awareness. Future research could answer several methodological questions in order to increase the reliability and applicability of the method. In conclusion, the RT drop method is strongly related to verbal reports of awareness, and a promising method to establish awareness without relying on post-experimental tests. This could be particularly valuable for studying implicit learning and awareness in populations with communication difficulties, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Impact of contamination and pre-treatment on stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of charred plant remains

Rationale Stable isotope analysis of archaeological charred plants has become a useful tool for interpreting past agricultural practices and refining ancient dietary reconstruction. Charred material that lay buried in soil for millennia, however, is susceptible to various kinds of contamination, whose impact on the grain/seed isotopic composition is poorly understood. Pre-treatment protocols have been adapted in distinct forms from radiocarbon dating, but insufficient research has been carried out on evaluating their effectiveness and necessity for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis. Methods The effects of previously used pre-treatment protocols on the isotopic composition of archaeological and modern sets of samples were investigated. An archaeological sample was also artificially contaminated with carbonates, nitrates and humic acid and subjected to treatment aimed at removing the introduced contamination. The presence and removal of the contamination were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and δ13C and δ15N values. Results The results show a ca 1‰ decrease in the δ15N values of archaeological charred plant material caused by harsh acid treatments and ultra-sonication. This change is interpreted as being caused by mechanical distortion of the grains/seeds rather than by the removal of contamination. Furthermore, specific infrared peaks have been identified that can be used to detect the three types of contaminants studied. We argue that it is not necessary to try to remove humic acid contamination for stable isotope analysis. The advantages and disadvantages of crushing the grains/seeds before pre-treatment are discussed. Conclusions We recommend the use of an acid-only procedure (0.5 M HCl for 30 min at 80°C followed by three rinses in distilled water) for cleaning charred plant remains. This study fills an important gap in plant stable isotope research that will enable future researchers to evaluate potential sources of isotopic change and pre-treat their samples with methods that have been demonstrated to be effective. © 2014 The Authors. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Imagining Twitter as an Imagined Community

The notion of “community” has often been caught between concrete social relationships and imagined sets of people perceived to be similar. The rise of the Internet has refocused our attention on this ongoing tension. The Internet has enabled people who know each other to use social media, from e-mail to Facebook, to interact without meeting physically. Into this mix came Twitter, an asymmetric microblogging service: If you follow me, I do not have to follow you. This means that connections on Twitter depend less on in-person contact, as many users have more followers than they know. Yet there is a possibility that Twitter can form the basis of interlinked personal communities—and even of a sense of community. This analysis of one person’s Twitter network shows that it is the basis for a real community, even though Twitter was not designed to support the development of online communities. Studying Twitter is useful for understanding how people use new communication technologies to form new social connections and maintain existing ones.
Inferring the brain’s internal model from sensory responses in a probabilistic inference framework

During perception, the brain combines information received from its senses with prior information about the world (von Helmholtz, 1867) – a process whose neural basis is still unclear. If sensory neurons represent posterior beliefs in a Bayesian inference process, then they, just like the beliefs themselves, must depend both on sensory inputs and on prior information. We derive predictions for how prior knowledge relates a neuron’s stimulus tuning to its response covariability in a way specific to the psychophysical task performed by the brain, and for how this covariability arises from both feedforward and feedback signals. We show that our predictions are in agreement with existing measurements. Finally, we demonstrate how to use neurophysiological measurements to reverse-engineer information about the subject’s internal beliefs about the structure of the task. Our results reinterpret neural covariability as signatures of Bayesian inference and provide new insights into their cause and their function.
Ethical leadership and organizational citizenship behaviours: the moderating role of organizational identification

ABSTRACT This study examines whether the relationship between ethical leadership and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) is contingent on organizational identification. Drawing on substitutes for leadership theory, the study proposes that the relationship between ethical leadership and OCBs will be attenuated when employees strongly identify with their organization. Using a sample of Egyptian banking sector employees, this proposition was tested with hierarchal linear modelling (HLM). The results revealed that the positive relationship between ethical leadership and OCBs was stronger for those lower in organizational identification than for those higher in identification. Overall, the findings of the study shed new light on the conditions through which ethical leadership enhances OCBs.
Lightweight (k, n)-file sharing scheme for distributed storages with diverse communication capacities

Since the novel ideas on secret sharing were first proposed in 1979, a number of variants have been invented, based on these two schemes. The secret sharing schemes have selectively been applied to many distributed storage systems connected by both wired and wireless communication links for securely storing files. However, when gathering file fragments necessary to recover a file from network-based distributed storages with diverse communication capacities, a link with the slowest communication capability can be a significant bottleneck in overall performance. Furthermore, in applying the existing schemes directly to the distributed storage systems, there occurs a critical limitation, that of requiring substantial computational overhead to divide a file into fragments and recover a file from them. We propose a new lightweight (k, n)-file sharing scheme for the distributed storages with diverse capacities, where n is the number of file fragments, and k is the minimum number of fragments needed to recover a file. Contrary to the previous works, our scheme can adaptively schedule size of the stored file fragments, and the amount of transmission data in downloading file fragments by considering the communication status of each storage device, minimizing the effect of bottleneck links, and thus reducing the file recovery time. In addition, our scheme significantly reduces the computational complexity by adopting a pure combinatorial method which does not require the solution of computation-intensive polynomial equations. We demonstrate that our scheme can greatly decrease both computation and communication costs, compared to the previous secret sharing schemes for the distributed storages.