Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Post-Capture Lighting Manipulation using Flash Photography

Real-world lighting often consists of multiple illuminants with different colors. Separating and manipulating these illuminants in post-process is a challenging problem that requires either significant manual input or calibrated scene geometry and lighting. In this work, we leverage a flash/no-flash image pair to analyze and edit scene illuminants based on their color differences. We derive a novel physics-based relationship between color variations in the observed flash/no-flash intensities and the chromaticies and surface shading corresponding to individual scene illuminants. Our technique uses this constraint to automatically separate an image into constituent images lit by each illuminant. Each light component can then be edited independently to enable applications like white-balance, lighting editing, and intrinsic image decompositions. We demonstrate that this technique outperforms state-of-the-art techniques for some applications and enables other applications that are not possible with previous work.
Peroxiredoxin 1 Promotes Pancreatic Cancer Cell Invasion by Modulating p38 MAPK Activity

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the role of peroxiredoxin 1 (Prdx1) in the invasiveness of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells. Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to determine overexpression of Prdx1 in human PDAC tissues. Immunoprecipitation and immunocytochemistry were used to determine the interaction and intracellular distribution of Prdx1 and a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family protein, p38 MAPK, in PDAC cells. Finally, immunocytochemistry and Matrigel invasion assay were used to examine the effects of Prdx1 and p38 MAPK on the formation of cell protrusions and PDAC cell invasion. Results Prdx1 is overexpressed in human PDAC tissues. Peroxiredoxin 1 interacts with active forms of p38 MAPK, and complexes of Prdx1 and phosphorylated p38 MAPK localize at the leading edges of migrating PDAC cells. Suppression of Prdx1 decreases active p38 MAPK localized in cell protrusions and inhibits the invasiveness of PDAC cells. Consequently, suppression of Prdx1 inhibits membrane ruffling and protrusions. The p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580 also decreases the formation of membrane protrusions and inhibits invasiveness. Conclusions Prdx1 associates with the formation of membrane protrusions through modulation of the activity of p38 MAPK, which in turn promotes PDAC cell invasion.
Organizational Progeny: Why Governments are Losing Control over the Proliferating Structures of Global Governance

1. The Making of Global Governance: Not by States Alone 2. Making Global Governance Structures: How International Bureaucrats Enter the Institutional Design Process 3. Insulating Global Governance Structures: How International Bureaucrats Shape the Institutional Design Process 4. Evidence of International Bureaucrats' Widespread Institutional Design 5. The Origins of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: A Within-Case Probe 6. The Origins of the WFP, UNDP, and UNAIDS: A Cross-Case Probe 7. Rethinking Non-State Actors and Global Governance 8. Looking Ahead: Policy Implications and the Future
Finite Sample Accuracy of Integrated Volatility Estimators

We consider the properties of three estimation methods for integrated volatility, i.e. realized volatility, the Fourier estimator, and the wavelet estimator, when a typical sample of high-frequency data is observed. We employ several different generating mechanisms for the instantaneous volatility process, e.g. Ornstein-Uhlenbeck, long memory, and jump processes. The possibility of market microstructure contamination is also entertained using a model with bid-ask bounce in which case alternative estimators with theoretical justification under market microstructure noise are also examined. The estimation methods are compared in a simulation study which reveals a general robustness towards persistence or jumps in the latent stochastic volatility process. However, bid-ask bounce effects render realized volatility and especially the wavelet estimator less useful in practice, whereas the Fourier method remains useful and is superior to the other two estimators in that case. More strikingly, even compared to bias correction methods for microstructure noise, the Fourier method is superior with respect to RMSE while having only slightly higher bias.
Explaining the Real Exchange Rate During Sudden Stops Period: Evidence from Asia and Latin America

This paper tries to untangle the causes behind the recent real exchange rate overshooting events with particular attention paid to the Sudden Stop of capital flows, and also to the comparison across the two emerging markets, Asian and Latin America. We examine whether the sudden stop of capital inflows leads to asymmetric behavior in real exchange rate movements as suggested by Calvo (1999) among others. By utilizing cumulative impulse response function and variance decomposition analysis, we argue that there is the asymmetric response across Sudden Stop and tranquil times. Further comparison across Asia and Latin America, however, reveals that the sudden stop disturbance has significantly larger explanatory power in Asia than in Latin America. The estimation result also reveals that the real exchange rate in Asia is subject more to the external shocks while it is due more to the domestic policy developments in Latin America. I thank Graciela Kaminsky, Holger Wolf, and the participants at the LAEBA conferences in September 2003, Tokyo Japan, and October 2003, Puebla, Mexico.
Ownership structure, Voting and Risk

We analyze the determinants of ownership structure in firms when conflicts of interest on risk arise endogenously via different ownership stakes and firm decisions are made through majority voting. A large block is chosen to incentivize monitoring. Because a large blockholder holds a large share of the firm, he is averse to risky investing. This generates a conflict of interest with dispersed shareholders. Mid-size blockholders, voting in favor of middle of the road projects, mitigate the conflict of interest. Depending on monitoring costs, voting institutions and the nature of the industry, three types of ownership structures arise: one large shareholder with a fringe of dispersed owners, multiple large shareholders and fully dispersed shareholders.
PAIR PROGRAMMING AS A TEAM BASED LEARNING ACTIVITY : A REVIEW OF RESEARCH

Ability to work in teams has been considered one of the most important learning outcomes of the information systems curriculum. Industry’s pair programming methodology has been adopted in the recent years as a form of collaborative learning in academic settings. This study reviews the existing body of research aiming two achieve two objectives. First, analyze adoption of pair programming as a pedagogical method using theories based on team learning research. The team effectiveness model was adapted as a framework for analysis, focusing on the outcomes such as facilitation of student learning and fostering of team skills. Second, this study aims to inform information system educators about the viability of using this technique in programming courses.
The new rules of the Stability and Growth Pact. Threats from heterogeneity and interdependence

This paper examines the new SGP rules that should govern fiscal policies of the EMU member countries by means of dynamic models of the debt/GDP ratio. The focus is on factors of heterogeneity and interdependence in the three key variables that may affect the debt/GDP evolution in a multi-country setup like a monetary union: the real growth rate, the inflation rate and the nominal interest rate on the sovereign debt stock. These factors are almost ignored in the SGP intellectual and institutional framework, but they can jeopardize the main goal of fostering convergence and keeping debt/GDP ratios equalized and stable over time. Even the return of growth, inflation and interest rates to their pre-crisis tendential values, a not so likely and imminent event, will probably be insufficient to create a favourable environment for smooth debt/GDP convergence across EMU countries.
Improved MPEG-4 still texture image coding under noisy environment

This paper describes the performance of the MPEG-4 still texture image codec in coding noisy images. As will be shown, when using the MPEG-4 still texture image codec to compress a noisy image, increasing the compression rate does not necessarily imply reducing the peak-signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) of the decoded image. An optimal operating point having the highest PSNR can be obtained within the low bit rate region. Nevertheless, the visual quality of the decoded noisy image at this optimal operating point is greatly degraded by the so-called "cross" shape artifact. In this paper, we analyze the reason for the existence of the optimal operating point and the "cross" shape artifact when using the MPEG-4 still texture image codec to compress noisy images. We then propose an adaptive thresholding technique to remove the "cross" shape artifact of the decoded images. It requires only a slight modification to the quantization process of the traditional MPEG-4 encoder while the decoder remains unchanged. Finally, an analytical study is performed for the selection and validation of the threshold value used in the adaptive thresholding technique. It is shown that, the visual quality and PSNR of the decoded images are much improved by using the proposed technique comparing with the traditional MPEG-4 still texture image codec in coding noisy images.
The Corrosion Control of Posttentioned System

The durability problems highlight the importance of controlling corrosion in posttensioned concrete. The four key factors of corrosion protection of normal posttentioned tendon are presented before grouting, grouting and after grouted. The duct, the voids in grout, the pitting corrosion in coated strand and the anchorage system must be got more attention, and corrosion mechanism, research field and the measurement method of them are also discussed in the paper.
The Formation of Rank Structure Through Self Interested Interactions

I study the process of coalition formation when competing agents benefitby cooperating with each other out of self-interest. The payoff to agents depends on their relative skill (rank). Agents benefit from mutual interactions - where agreements are non-binding - that leads to the formation of coalitions. Assuming complete information, I develop an algorithm that segregates agents into coalitions depending on the strategies they play. I prove that a Coalitional Equilibrium does not necessarily exist in this economy. For the case of 2-Rank Stable Economy: an economy where no agent's rank can increase by two or more ranks, I show that the rank ordering will not change due to mutual interactions; it will be identical to the initial rank ordering. For the general case of m-Rank Stable Economy, where rank ordering could change, I establish the necessary and sufficient conditions for agents to increase their ranks.
Mother-father resource control, marriage payments, and girl-boy health in rural Bangladesh

The approach of this study is to examine the effects of household asset ownership patterns on the morbidity status of male and female preschoolers, measured as the number of illness days in the two weeks preceding the household survey.Section 2 of this study outlines the theoretical model. Section 3 describes the data and variables. Section 4 lays out the empirical specification. Sections 5 and 6 present the results and concluding remarks.
Analytical Thinking Predicts Less Teleological Reasoning and Religious Belief

Individual differences in reflectiveness have been found to predict belief in God. We hypothesize that this association may be due to a broader inclination for intuitive thinkers to endorse teleological explanations. In support of our hypothesis, we find that scientifically unfounded teleological explanations are more likely to be endorsed by intuitive compared to analytical thinkers, and that those who endorse teleological explanations are more likely to have religious beliefs.
Polysomnographic diagnosis of sleepwalking: Effects of sleep deprivation

Somnambulism affects up to 4% of adults and constitutes one of the leading causes of sleep‐related violence and self‐injury. Diagnosing somnambulism with objective instruments is often difficult because episodes rarely occur in the laboratory. Because sleep deprivation can precipitate sleepwalking, we aimed to determine the effects of 25 hours of sleep deprivation on the frequency and complexity of somnambulistic episodes recorded in the laboratory.
Department of Computing Science and Mathematics University of Stirling Handling Emergent Con icts in Adaptable Rule-Based Sensor Networks

Object-oriented analysis (OOA) and design methods are used by the software engineering community , while formal description techniques (FDTs) are mainly used in a research environment. The Rigorous Object-Oriented Analysis (ROOA) method combines OOA methods with the ISO standard FDT LOTOS to produce a practical method which can be applied by software engineers. ROOA takes a set of informal requirements and an object model and produces a formal object-oriented analysis model that acts as a requirements specification. The resulting formal model integrates the static, dynamic and functional properties of a system in contrast to existing OOA methods which are informal and produce three separate models that are difficult to integrate and keep consistent. The ROOA method provides a systematic development process, by proposing a set of rules to be followed during the analysis phase. During the application of these rules, auxiliary structures are created to help in tracing the requirements through to the final formal model. An important part of the ROOA method is to give a formal interpretation in LOTOS of object-oriented analysis constructs. As LOTOS produces executable specifications, prototyping can be used to check the conformance of the specification against the original requirements and to detect inconsistencies, omissions and ambiguities early in the development process. LOTOS is a wide-spectrum specification language and so the requirements specification can act as the starting point for software development based on correctness preserving transformations.
Development of Passive Force Display Glove System and Its Improved Mechanism

The purpose of this study is development of a passive type virtual reality glove, which represents force sensations of grasping virtual objects and rather enhances immersive feelings in virtual space. VR technologies are recently actively researched for application or practical use, and actually some sensor gloves were commercialized. Though, force display gloves have not become popular. One of the major reasons would be safety of the device. We aim to develop a passive force display glove which consists of only passive elements like brakes, have no danger of hurting operator even if the controller runs away, and is to have characteristics of safety, high performance and inexpensive. This paper reports the prototype glove and its improved type.
A Search Model of Discouragement

Discouragement is a process occurring during an unemployment spell. As the spell prolongs, an individual gradually realises that the returns to search can no longer outweigh search costs, and hence she may eventually leave the labour force. This is analysed theoretically in a framework of unemployed search. We construct a search model, which is stationary from the point of view of the individual, but which has nonstationary features. Namely, the unemployed worker is occasionally hit by shocks leading to a decline in job offer arrival rates. These shocks can be due to stigmatisation or to psychological consequences of unemployement affecting search effectiveness. This model enables us to analyse the issue of discouragement, as the returns to search will gradually decline. Even so, the model is actually stationary from the point of view of the individual, which implies that many interesting theoretical results may be derived. Moreover, from the point of view of the researcher, the model exhibits negative duration dependence in the hazard rate into employment and positive duration dependence in the hazard rate into non-participation, features which correspond well to real data. We use the model to analyse theoretically the impact of changes in unemployment insurance and social assistance benefits, and we conduct some simulation exercises based on a calibrated model.
Directionality of large-scale resting-state brain networks during eyes open and eyes closed conditions

The present study examined directional connections in the brain among resting-state networks (RSNs) when the participant had their eyes open (EO) or had their eyes closed (EC). The resting-state fMRI data were collected from 20 healthy participants (9 males, 20.17 ± 2.74 years) under the EO and EC states. Independent component analysis (ICA) was applied to identify the separated RSNs (i.e., the primary/high-level visual, primary sensory-motor, ventral motor, salience/dorsal attention, and anterior/posterior default-mode networks), and the Gaussian Bayesian network (BN) learning approach was then used to explore the conditional dependencies among these RSNs. The network-to-network directional connections related to EO and EC were depicted, and a support vector machine (SVM) was further employed to identify the directional connection patterns that could effectively discriminate between the two states. The results indicated that the connections among RSNs are directionally connected within a BN during the EO and EC states. The directional connections from the salience network (SN) to the anterior/posterior default-mode networks and the high-level to primary-level visual network were the obvious characteristics of both the EO and EC resting-state BNs. Of the directional connections in BN, the directional connections of the salience and dorsal attention network (DAN) were observed to be discriminative between the EO and EC states. In particular, we noted that the properties of the salience and DANs were in opposite directions. Overall, the present study described the directional connections of RSNs using a BN learning approach during the EO and EC states, and the results suggested that the directionality of the attention systems (i.e., mainly for the salience and the DAN) in resting state might have important roles in switching between the EO and EC conditions.
AFM Specific Identification of Bacterial Cell Fragments on Biofunctional Surfaces

Biointerfaces with a highly sensitive surface designed for specific interaction with biomolecules are essential approaches for providing advanced biochemical and biosensor assays. For the first time, we have introduced a simple AFM-based recognition system capable of visualizing specific bacterial nanofragments and identifying the corresponding bacterial type. For this we developed AFM-adjusted procedures for preparing IgG-based surfaces and subsequently exposing them to antigens. The AFM images reveal the specific binding of Escherichia coli cell fragments to the prepared biofunctional surfaces. Moreover, the binding of bacterial cell fragments to the affinity surfaces can be characterized quantitatively, indicating a 30-fold to 80-fold increase in the quantity of bound antigenic material in the case of a specific antigen-antibody pair. Our results demonstrate significant opportunities for developing reliable sensing procedures for detecting pathogenic bacteria, and the cell can still be identified after it is completely destroyed.
Uniqueness of positive solutions to some coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations

We study the uniqueness of positive solutions of the following coupled nonlinear Schrodinger equations: \begin{eqnarray*} \Delta u_1-\lambda_1 u_1+\mu_1u_1^3+\beta u_1u_2^2=0\quad in\quad R^N,\\ \Delta u_2-\lambda_2u_2+\mu_2u_2^3+\beta u_1^2u_2=0\quad in\quad R^N, \\ u_1>0, u_2>0, u_1, u_2 \in H^1 (R^N), \end{eqnarray*} where $N\leq3$, $\lambda_1,\lambda_2,\mu_1,\mu_2$ are positive constants and $\beta\geq 0$ is a coupling constant. We prove first the uniqueness of positive solution for sufficiently small $\beta > 0$. Secondly, assuming that $\lambda_1=\lambda_2$, we show that $u_1=u_2\sqrt{\beta-\mu_1}/\sqrt{\beta-\mu_2}$ when $\beta > \max\{\mu_1,\mu_2\}$ and thus obtain the uniqueness of positive solution using the corresponding result of scalar equation. Finally, for $N=1$ and $\lambda_1=\lambda_2$, we prove the uniqueness of positive solution when $0\leq \beta\notin [\min\{\mu_1,\mu_2\},\max\{\mu_1,\mu_2\}]$ and thus give a complete classification of positive solutions.
Learning a loopy model exactly

Learning structured models using maximum margin techniques has become an indispensable tool for computer vision researchers, as many computer vision applications can be cast naturally as an image labeling problem. Pixel-based or superpixel-based conditional random fields are particularly popular examples. Typically, neighborhood graphs, which contain a large number of cycles, are used. As exact inference in loopy graphs is NP-hard in general, learning these models without approximations is usually deemed infeasible. In this work we show that, despite the theoretical hardness, it is possible to learn loopy models exactly in practical applications. To this end, we analyze the use of multiple approximate inference techniques together with cutting plane training of structural SVMs. We show that our proposed method yields exact solutions with an optimality guarantees in a computer vision application, for little additional computational cost. We also propose a dynamic caching scheme to accelerate training further, yielding runtimes that are comparable with approximate methods. We hope that this insight can lead to a reconsideration of the tractability of loopy models in computer vision.
A framework for polynomial model with head pose in low cost gaze estimation

This paper presents the framework for low-cost gaze estimation system to find the polynomial model used in with head pose based system. This framework uses three features - center of pupil, glint, and inner eye corner to create the polynomial model. The pupil-glint vector used to estimate eye gaze while glint-inner eye corner vector used to estimate head pose and adding inner eye corner to the model could improve the accuracy and robustness of the system. The framework consists of five steps ranging from data acquisition to testing the accuracy steps. This process introduces the validation method in order to prove the efficiency of the model.
Foreign Direct Investment, Financial constraints and growth in China

In this paper we use a unique micro-level data-set of Chinese firms to test for the impact of financial constraints faced by private Chinese firms. Our results clearly show that private Chinese firms are credit constrained, whereas Foreign Invested Enterprises (FIEs) and State-Owned Chinese firms (SOEs) do not face such constraints. The empirical evidence presented in this paper seems to confirm the ”political pecking order” theory developed by Huang [2004] who argues that the ”Chinese growth miracle” is predominantly a side-eect of existing capital market distortions in China. According to this theory, the large influx of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into China was triggered by a lack of credit of domestic private Chinese firms that were consequently forced to ”sell out” to foreign firms in order to grow further. This paper is the first to provide empirical evidence of firm level financial constraints faced by Chinese firms.