Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HEIGHT TEXTURE OF LOW VEGETATION IN AIRBORNE LASER SCANNER DATA AND ITS POTENTIAL FOR DTM CORRECTION

The influence of low vegetation on laser scanning and its disturbing effect (a systematic positive height shift) during DTM generation is well recognized. Based on our experience in a previous study of estimating the effect of medium-height vegetation (shrubs and bushes) in rough terrain by using point-cloud based co-occurrence texture methods, we now investigate the effect of lower vegetation, such as grass, in very flat marshland conditions. When vegetation is very low, and thus the effect very small, it appears difficult to separate the systematic shift from random measurement noise. When the shift becomes larger, however, it shows significant correlation with texture measures such as slope texture and standard deviation. These measures are derived from the laser data itself and do not require any additional information.
Conceptual Annotations Preserve Structure Across Translations: A French-English Case Study

Divergence of syntactic structures between languages constitutes a major challenge in using linguistic structure in Machine Translation (MT) systems. Here, we examine the potential of semantic structures. While semantic annotation is appealing as a source of cross-linguistically stable structures, little has been accomplished in demonstrating this stability through a detailed corpus study. In this paper, we experiment with the UCCA conceptual-cognitive annotation scheme in an English-French case study. First, we show that UCCA can be used to annotate French, through a systematic type-level analysis of the major French grammatical phenomena. Second, we annotate a parallel English-French corpus with UCCA, and quantify the similarity of the structures on both sides. Results show a high degree of stability across translations, supporting the usage of semantic annotations over syntactic ones in structure-aware MT systems.
Anterior gradient protein 3 is associated with less aggressive tumors and better outcome of breast cancer patients

Anterior gradient protein (AGR) 3 is a highly related homologue of pro-oncogenic AGR2 and belongs to the family of protein disulfide isomerases. Although AGR3 was found in breast, ovary, prostate, and liver cancer, it remains of yet poorly defined function in tumorigenesis. This study aimed to determine AGR3 expression in a cohort of 129 primary breast carcinomas and evaluate the clinical and prognostic significance of AGR3 in these tumors. The immunohistochemical analysis revealed the presence of AGR3 staining to varying degrees in 80% of analyzed specimens. The percentage of AGR3-positive cells significantly correlated with estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor (both P<0.0001) as well as low histological grade (P=0.003), and inversely correlated with the level of Ki-67 expression (P<0.0001). In the whole cohort, AGR3 expression was associated with longer progression-free survival (PFS), whereas AGR3-positive subgroup of low-histological grade tumors showed both significantly longer PFS and overall survival. In conclusion, AGR3 is associated with the level of differentiation, slowly proliferating tumors, and more favorable prognosis of breast cancer patients.
Principal Component Analyses and Scalp Distribution of the Auditory P150–250 and N250–550 to Speech Contrasts in Mexican and American Infants

We report a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the scalp distribution of the normalized peak amplitude values for speech-related auditory Event-related Potentials (ERP) P150–250 and N250–550 in 7-, 11-, and 20-month-old American infants learning English and in 10–13-month-old Mexican infants learning Spanish. After assessing the infant auditory ERP P-N complex using PCA, we evaluated the topographic distribution of each of the discriminatory phases to native and non-native CV-syllabic contrasts used in Spanish and English. We found that the first two Principal Components for each contrast type across ages showing a maximization of differences between the P150–250 and the N250–550 waves, explain more than 70% of the variance. The scalp distributions of the P150–250 and N250–550 components also differed, the P150–250 showing a frontal and anterior temporal distribution, and the N250–550 a more posterior distribution. The older infants showed a broader distribution of responses, particularly for the N250–550. There were no differences in the topographies of the components between same-aged Mexican and American infants. We discuss the perceptual/linguistic functions that each component may reflect during development and across the two cultures.
Crowd sentiment detection during disasters and crises

Microblogs are an opportunity for scavenging critical information such as sentiments. This information can be used to detect rapidly the sentiment of the crowd towards crises or disasters. It can be used as an effective tool to inform humanitarian efforts, and improve the ways in which informative messages are crafted for the crowd regarding an event. Unique characteristics of microblogs (lack of context, use of jargon etc) in Tweets expressed by a message-sharing social network during a disaster response require special handling to identify sentiment. We present a systematic evaluation of approaches to accurately and precisely identify sentiment in these Tweets. This paper describes sentiment detection expressed in 3698 Tweets, collected during the September 2010, San Bruno, California gas explosion and resulting fires. The data collected was manually coded to benchmark our techniques. We start by using a library of words with annotated sentiment, SentiWordNet 3.0 , to detect the basic sentiment of each Tweet. We complemented that technique by adding a comprehensive list of emoticons, a sentiment based dictionary and a list of out-of-vocabulary words that are popular in brief, online text communications such as lol , wow , etc. Our technique performed 27% better than Bayesian Networks alone, and the combination of Bayesian networks with annotated lists provided marginal improvements in sentiment detection than various combinations of lists.
Studies of Automated Collection of Email Records

There are few quantitative techniques for directly measuring email use patterns. This paper describes an automated tool that, with a user’s permission, reads their mail database to create a one-time snapshot and gathers relevant structural and behavioral information. We successfully collected important statistics about message threading, folders, and mail volume. Our techniques are relevant to the further development of mail systems, and to future studies of email behavior.
Total Cluster: A person agnostic clustering method for broadcast videos

The goal of this paper is unsupervised face clustering in edited video material – where face tracks arising from different people are assigned to separate clusters, with one cluster for each person. In particular we explore the extent to which faces can be clustered automatically without making an error. This is a very challenging problem given the variation in pose, lighting and expressions that can occur, and the similarities between different people. The novelty we bring is three fold: first, we show that a form of weak supervision is available from the editing structure of the material – the shots, threads and scenes that are standard in edited video; second, we show that by first clustering within scenes the number of face tracks can be significantly reduced with almost no errors; third, we propose an extension of the clustering method to entire episodes using exemplar SVMs based on the negative training data automatically harvested from the editing structure. The method is demonstrated on multiple episodes from two very different TV series, Scrubs and Buffy. For both series it is shown that we move towards our goal, and also outperform a number of baselines from previous works.
Are Individual Differences in Arithmetic Fact Retrieval in Children Related to Inhibition?

Although it has been proposed that inhibition is related to individual differences in mathematical achievement, it is not clear how it is related to specific aspects of mathematical skills, such as arithmetic fact retrieval. The present study therefore investigated the association between inhibition and arithmetic fact retrieval and further examined the unique role of inhibition in individual differences in arithmetic fact retrieval, in addition to numerical magnitude processing. We administered measures of cognitive inhibition (i.e., numerical and non-numerical stroop tasks) and a complementary, more ecologically valid measure of children’s inhibition in the classroom (i.e., teacher questionnaire), as well as numerical magnitude processing (i.e., symbolic and non-symbolic numerical magnitude comparison) and arithmetic fact retrieval (i.e., two verification tasks) in 86 typically developing third graders. We used a correlation, a regression and a Bayesian analysis. This study failed to observe a significant association between inhibition and arithmetic fact retrieval. Consequently, our results did not reveal a unique contribution of inhibition to arithmetic fact retrieval in addition to numerical magnitude processing. On the other hand, symbolic numerical magnitude processing turned out to be a very powerful predictor of arithmetic fact retrieval, as indicated by both frequentist and Bayesian approaches.
Velic coordination in French nasals: a real-time magnetic resonance imaging study

Production of nasal vowels in French, and nasal consonants in French and English, was examined using real-time magnetic resonance imaging (rtMRI). The coordination of velic and lingual gestures was found to be tightly controlled across different prosodic contexts in French nasals. Velum lowering in English nasal consonants did not show the same control, although the timing of the corresponding lingual gestures varied with prosodic context in the same way as for French nasals, suggesting a coordinative relationship in which oral and velic articulators are consistently phased in French nasal production. These findings illustrate the utility of real-time MRI as a method for studying velic activity and articulatory coordination in vocalic and nasal phonology. Index Terms: speech production, velum, nasals, nasal vowels, French, articulation, real-time MRI
Family Systems and Fertility: Fertility Behaviour in Europe from a Network Perspective

The family is one of the most studied institutions of society, examined by, amongst others, psychologists, anthropologists, historians, economists and sociologists. While researchers regard the role of families and kin relationships for individual’s lives and for societal outcomes, such as regional socio-economic development, the underlying cultural principles that lead to different patterns of family organization affecting fertility have received little attention. In how far are there different patterns of family organization in Europe? Why is it important to recognize these patterns, and to what extent do they explain regional variations in people’s demographic behaviour? The following chapter addresses these questions to introduce the topic of this thesis, in which I study the effects of regional patterns of family organization, or family systems, on people’s fertility. Chapter 1 Introduction Page | 2 1.
Prevalence of chronic pain with neuropathic characteristics: a randomized telephone survey among medical center patients in Kuwait

Background Chronic pain with neuropathic characteristics is considered to be an international health problem. However, surveys on the actual incidence of neuropathic pain have not been conducted in many Middle East countries, including Kuwait. The aim of this study was to examine the incidence of pain and medical comorbidities among a random sample of patients treated at a large medical center in Kuwait. Methods A list of 1,000 patients was created from the hospital medical record system, and a telephone survey was conducted on 759 patients who responded to the phone call, of which 67.2% (N=510) participated. Those who stated that they had pain every day for the past 3 months were invited to answer additional questions about their pain. Results Fifty-six percentage of those surveyed (N=283) reported experiencing chronic pain. Total average age was 49.2 years (SD=14.5), 45.5% were female, and 70.5% were Kuwaiti nationals. Most (74.3%) reported having diabetes and one-third (32.2%) showed evidence of neuropathic pain characteristics (mean DN4=2.8, SD=1.7). Other comorbid medical conditions were prevalent (48.4% hypertension, 30.4% arthritis, 22.6% heart disease, and 20.4% asthma) with an average of 2.3 (SD=1.3) medical problems per person. Those with pain tended to be older, female, unemployed, and overweight (p<0.01). The pain was mostly located in the lower extremities and those with neuropathic pain tended to report a higher intensity of pain and a higher frequency of seeking treatment for their pain in a clinic or hospital (p<0.05). Most relied on over-the-counter medications for their pain (38.1%). Very few were taking prescription medication for their pain. Conclusion This survey suggests that chronic pain is more prevalent in a medical population in Kuwait than previously anticipated. Health care services and behavioral interventions to improve lifestyle changes in Kuwait and other Arab countries are needed to positively impact pain and reduce other comorbidities.
Stronger effect of amyloid load than APOE genotype on cognitive decline in healthy older adults

Objective: Although the APOE ϵ4 allele is associated with more rapid decline in memory in healthy older adults, the significance of elevated cerebral β-amyloid (Aβ) load for longitudinal changes in cognition is unclear. Methods: Healthy and cognitively normal older adults (n = 141; mean age 76 years) underwent PET neuroimaging for cerebral Aβ, APOE genotyping, and cognitive assessment as part of their baseline assessment in the Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle study. Cognitive function was reassessed 18 months later. Results: Linear mixed-model analyses adjusted for baseline cognitive function indicated that, relative to individuals with low cerebral Aβ, individuals with high cerebral Aβ showed significantly greater decline in working memory and verbal and visual episodic memory at 18 months. Compared with noncarriers, APOE ϵ4 carriers showed a greater decline in visual memory at the 18-month assessment. No interaction between APOE ϵ4 and cerebral Aβ load was observed for any measure of cognitive function. Conclusions: In this prospective study of healthy older adults, high cerebral Aβ load was associated with greater decline in episodic and working memory over 18 months. The APOE ϵ4 genotype was also associated with a decline in visual memory, although the effect was less than that observed for cerebral Aβ load.
Does Advertising Literacy Mediate the Effects of Advertising on Children? A Critical Examination of Two Linked Research Literatures in Relation to Obesity and Food Choice

It is widely assumed in academic and policy circles that younger children are more influenced by advertising than are older children. By reviewing empirical findings in relation to advertising and children’s food choice, it is argued that this assumption is unwarranted. The findings do not suggest that young children are more affected by advertising than are teenagers, even though the latter are more media literate. This article critically examines the theoretical gap in the literature regarding the relationship between advertising literacy and advertising effects. By applying a dual process model of cognitive persuasion, it is shown that the evidence is more consistent with the argument that different processes of persuasion are effective at different ages, precisely because literacy levels vary with age. Recommendations for future research on the effects of advertising on children, together with the implications for policies of regulating advertising to young children and of media literacy interventions, are identified.
Sparse random graphs: regularization and concentration of the Laplacian

Author(s): Le, Can M; Levina, Elizaveta; Vershynin, Roman | Abstract: We study random graphs with possibly different edge probabilities in the challenging sparse regime of bounded expected degrees. Unlike in the dense case, neither the graph adjacency matrix nor its Laplacian concentrate around their expectations due to the highly irregular distribution of node degrees. It has been empirically observed that simply adding a constant of order $1/n$ to each entry of the adjacency matrix substantially improves the behavior of Laplacian. Here we prove that this regularization indeed forces Laplacian to concentrate even in sparse graphs. As an immediate consequence in network analysis, we establish the validity of one of the simplest and fastest approaches to community detection -- regularized spectral clustering, under the stochastic block model. Our proof of concentration of regularized Laplacian is based on Grothendieck's inequality and factorization, combined with paving arguments.
CT findings in an alobar holoprosencephaly associated with Dandy-Walker's cyst.

Holoprosencephaly is a malformation of the brain due to a disturbance of the growth of the prosencephalon during the third cerebral vesicle phase of early fetal life. It is an anomaly of the prosencephalon with a single ventricle associated with malformation of the telencephalon and diencephalon. According to the degree of the malformation, this anomalad is classified into three types (DeMyer, W, Zeman, W. et al, 1964 ; DeMyer W, 1971.) : 1) alobar holoprosencephaly in which there is no formation of the cerebral hemispheres, 2) semilobar holoprosencephaly in which the formation is partial, and 3) lobar holoprosencephaly in which the formation is complete. In this paper, the authors describe neuroradiological features of the alobar holoprosencephaly with possible association of Dandy-Walker's cyst that has recently been encountred.
An Applicative Study of Zipf ’ s Law on Web Cache

Studying the Web access characteristics is the foundation of managing Web cache efficiently. In order to get the characteristics of the Web system, it is for sure that the time interval during which measurements are made should be large enough. Many studies have demonstrated that Zipf’s law governs many features of the WWW and can be used to describe the popularity of the Web objects. In this paper, we model the Web object popularity based on the Zipf-like law, discuss the stability concept of the Web system, which means how long the time interval will be so that the measured object popularities are reliable and calculate an upper bound for the minimum length of the request stream by the use of Zip-like law. Zipf-like law holds the promise of more effective design and use of Web cache resources.
Impulse Propagation in Synthetic Strands of Neonatal Cardiac Myocytes With Genetically Reduced Levels of Connexin43

Abstract —Connexin43 (Cx43) is a major determinant of the electrical properties of the myocardium. Closure of gap junctions causes rapid slowing of propagation velocity (&thgr;), but the precise effect of a reduction in Cx43 levels due to genetic manipulation has only partially been clarified. In this study, morphological and electrical properties of synthetic strands of cultured neonatal ventricular myocytes from Cx43+/+ (wild type, WT) and Cx+/− (heterozygote, HZ) mice were compared. Quantitative immunofluorescence analysis of Cx43 demonstrated a 43% reduction of Cx43 expression in the HZ versus WT mice. Cell dimensions, connectivity, and alignment were independent of genotype. Measurement of electrical properties by microelectrodes and optical mapping showed no differences in action potential amplitude or minimum diastolic potential between WT and HZ. However, maximal upstroke velocity of the transmembrane action potential, dV/dtmax, was increased and action potential duration was reduced in HZ versus WT. &thgr; was similar in the two genotypes. Computer simulation of propagation and dV/dtmax showed a relatively small dependence of &thgr; on gap junction coupling, thus explaining the lack of observed differences in &thgr; between WT and HZ. Importantly, the simulations suggested that the difference in dV/dtmax is due to an upregulation of INa in HZ versus WT. Thus, heterozygote‐null mutation of Cx43 produces a complex electrical phenotype in synthetic strands that is characterized by both changes in ion channel function and cell‐to‐cell coupling. The lack of changes in &thgr; in this tissue is explained by the dominating role of myoplasmic resistance and the compensatory increase of dV/dtmax. (Circ Res. 2003;92:1209–1216.)
Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience Cellular Neuroscience at Immature Mossy Fi Bers-ca3 Connections, Activation of Presynaptic Gaba B Receptors by Endogenously Released Gaba Contributes to Synapses Silencing

Early in postnatal life correlated GABAergic activity in the hippocampus is thought to play a crucial role in synaptogenesis and in the development of adult neuronal networks. Unlike adulthood, at this developmental stage, mossy fi bers (MF) which are the axons of granule cells, release GABA into CA3 principal cells and interneurons. Here, we tested the hypothesis that at MF-CA3 connections, tonic activation of GABA B autoreceptors by GABA is responsible for the low probability of release and synapse silencing. Blocking GABA B receptors with CGP55845 enhanced the probability of GABA release and switched on silent synapses while the opposite was observed with baclofen. Both these effects were presynaptic and were associated with changes in paired-pulse ratio and coeffi cient of variation. In addition, enhancing the extracellular GABA concentration by repetitive stimulation of MF or by blocking the GABA transporter GAT-1, switched off active synapses, an effect that was prevented by CGP55845. In the presence of CGP55845, stimulation of MF-induced synaptic potentiation. The shift of E GABA from the depolarizing to the hyperpolarizing direction with bumetanide, a blocker of the cation-chloride co-transporter NKCC1, prevented synaptic potentiation and caused synaptic depression, suggesting that the depolarizing action of GABA observed in the presence of CGP55845 is responsible for the potentiating effect. It is proposed that, activation of GABA B receptors by spillover of GABA from MF terminals reduces the probability of release and contributes to synapses silencing. This would act as a fi lter to prevent excessive activation of the auto-associative CA3 network and the emergence of seizures. receptors which are coupled to G i and G o proteins are localized on both pre and postsynaptic membranes (Bettler et al., 2004; Misgeld et al., 1995). Activation of postsynaptic GABA B receptors causes the opening of inwardly rectifying potassium channels (Lüscher et al., 1997) whereas activation of presynaptic GABA B receptors causes a reduction in transmitter release mainly via inhibition of P/Q and N types of voltage-dependent calcium channels (Poncer et al., 1997). While postsynaptic GABA B receptors are developmentally regulated (Cherubini et al., 1998; Gaiarsa et al., 1995), presynap-tic GABA B receptors are present and functional already at birth. It has been shown that they control network activity (McLean et al., 1996) and modulate the amplitude of glutamate-or GABA-mediated postsynaptic currents in CA3 principal cells (Gaiarsa et al., 1995). However, these studies failed in identifying where GABA A-mediated synaptic currents originated from. …