Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Shape‐Preserving Approach to Image Resizing

We present a novel image resizing method which attempts to ensure that important local regions undergo a geometric similarity transformation, and at the same time, to preserve image edge structure. To accomplish this, we define handles to describe both local regions and image edges, and assign a weight for each handle based on an importance map for the source image. Inspired by conformal energy, which is widely used in geometry processing, we construct a novel quadratic distortion energy to measure the shape distortion for each handle. The resizing result is obtained by minimizing the weighted sum of the quadratic distortion energies of all handles. Compared to previous methods, our method allows distortion to be diffused better in all directions, and important image edges are well‐preserved. The method is efficient, and offers a closed form solution.
Protective effect of vitamin C on 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine level in peripheral blood lymphocytes of chronic hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND This study focused on the effect of vitamin C on the 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) level of cellular DNA, as well as 8-oxoguanine-DNA glycosylase 1 (hOGG1) and human MutT homologue (hMTH1) gene expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes of chronic hemodialysis patients. METHODS Sixty chronic hemodialysis patients (35 men and 25 women) were recruited to participate in a randomized, placebo-controlled study. Treatment order is block-randomized with intravenous sodium ascorbate (vitamin C, 300 mg) or placebo (0.9% saline), administered postdialysis three times a week. We evaluated 8-OHdG level, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and gene expression of hOGG1 and hMTH1 in peripheral blood lymphocytes by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) electrochemical detection method, flow cytometric analysis, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. RESULTS A total of 51 patients completed the study (26 in placebo group and 25 in vitamin C group). Mean 8-OHdG levels significantly decreased in total subjects following 8 weeks of vitamin C supplementation (22.9 vs. 18.8/10(6) dG, P < 0.01). The decrease in 8-OHdG levels after vitamin C supplementation was also noted in the patients with ferritin <500 or > or =500 microg/L and transferrin saturation (TSAT) <50 or > or =50% (P < 0.05). But 8-OHdG levels had no significant changes in total patients or in the four subgroups of patients treated with placebo as compared to their baselines. Intracellular ROS production by lymphocytes from the four subgroups of patients, either spontaneous (P < 0.05) or phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)-stimulated (P < 0.001), was significantly reduced after 8 weeks vitamin C supplementation. Steady-state hOGG1 mRNA levels were significantly up-regulated at 24 hours after vitamin C administration (P < 0.05), but hMTH1 mRNA levels were not. The changes in the spontaneous and PMA-stimulated ROS production, and an up-regulation of hOGG1 mRNA expression were not observed in patients treated with placebo as compared to their baselines. CONCLUSION Vitamin C supplementation in chronic hemodialysis patients can reduce the lymphocyte 8-OHdG levels and intracellular ROS production, as well as up-regulate hOGG1 gene expression for repair. There is no compelling evidence for an in vivo pro-oxidant effect of vitamin C on lymphocyte DNA base oxidation, even in the status of increased iron stores.
Inefficient Search of Large-Scale Space in Williams Syndrome: Further Insights on the Role of LIMK1 Deletion in Deficits of Spatial Cognition

Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder associated with impairments of spatial cognition. This has primarily been studied in small-scale space, and rarely in large-scale environments. In order to fully characterise the spatial deficits in WS, and also to address claims that the deletion of LIM-kinase 1 (LIMK1) on chromosome 7 is responsible for those deficits, we report an automated large-scale search task for humans that places the participant egocentrically within the search space. Search locations were defined as lights and switches embedded in the floor, and participants attempted to locate a hidden target by pressing the switch at potential locations. We compared individuals with WS to patients with smaller deletions (including LIMK1) in the critical region on chromosome 7. Whilst partial-deletion participants performed efficiently on the task, participants with WS demonstrated inefficient search profiles: their search slopes were steeper and they made significantly more erroneous revisits to previously inspected locations. Our findings indicate that spatial deficits associated with WS also affect large-scale spatial processing and suggest that hemizygous deletion of LIMK1 is not sufficient to account for any of the spatial deficits associated with WS.
Characterization of Solidified Products Yielded by Plasma Melting Treatment of Simulated Non-Metallic Radioactive Wastes

As a part of an advanced volume reduction program for low level radioactive wastes in JAERI, melting tests of non-metallic solid wastes have been conducted with the aim of establishing the optimum melting condition for preparation of a stable solid that is suitable for disposal. Simulated non-metallic wastes containing 60Co, 137Cs and 152Eu tracers were melted with a plasma torch of a non-transferred type, and the examination was carried out on chemical composition and physical properties of solidified products and the distribution of tracers in each product. The products were almost homogeneous and possessed satisfactory mechanical strength for disposal. The radioactive nuclides were almost uniformly distributed in the products. The amount of 137Cs remaining in the products depended on the basicity of slag, while that of 60Co was not. A small amount of fine metal particles containing 60Co was observed in a slag. This was attributable to partial reduction of metal oxides under the relatively reductive atmosphere.
Optimizing average-case delay in technology mapping of burst-mode circuits

This paper presents technology mapping techniques that optimize for average case delay of asynchronous burst-mode control circuits. First, the specification of the circuit is analyzed using stochastic techniques to determine the relative frequency of occurrence of each state transition. Then, subject to timing and area constraints, the technology mapper minimizes the sum of the cycle times of the state transitions, weighted by their relative frequencies. Unlike other technology mappers, our mapper is based on the single step transition model for delay which finds the true critical paths, avoiding the false path problem.
Autoinducer-2 of Streptococcus mitis as a Target Molecule to Inhibit Pathogenic Multi-Species Biofilm Formation In Vitro and in an Endotracheal Intubation Rat Model

Streptococcus mitis (S. mitis) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) are typically found in the upper respiratory tract of infants. We previously found that P. aeruginosa and S. mitis were two of the most common bacteria in biofilms on newborns’ endotracheal tubes (ETTs) and in their sputa and that S. mitis was able to produce autoinducer-2 (AI-2), whereas P. aeruginosa was not. Recently, we also found that exogenous AI-2 and S. mitis could influence the behaviors of P. aeruginosa. We hypothesized that S. mitis contributes to this interspecies interaction and that inhibition of AI-2 could result in inhibition of these effects. To test this hypothesis, we selected PAO1 as a representative model strain of P. aeruginosa and evaluated the effect of S. mitis as well as an AI-2 analog (D-ribose) on mono- and co-culture biofilms in both in vitro and in vivo models. In this context, S. mitis promoted PAO1 biofilm formation and pathogenicity. Dual-species (PAO1 and S. mitis) biofilms exhibited higher expression of quorum sensing genes than single-species (PAO1) biofilms did. Additionally, ETTs covered in dual-species biofilms increased the mortality rate and aggravated lung infection compared with ETTs covered in mono-species biofilms in an endotracheal intubation rat model, all of which was inhibited by D-ribose. Our results demonstrated that S. mitis AI-2 plays an important role in interspecies interactions with PAO1 and may be a target for inhibition of biofilm formation and infection in ventilator-associated pneumonia.
A Bochner type theorem for inductive limits of Gelfand pairs

Dans cet article, on demontre une generalisation du theoreme de Bochner-Godement. Ce resultat concerne les paires spheriques d'Olshanski qui sont definies comme des limites inductives de suites croissantes de paires de Guelfand (G(n), K(n)) En utilisant la theorie de la representation integrale de G. Choquet sur les cones convexes, on etablit une representation integrale de type Bochner pour tout element φ de l'ensemble P # (G) des fonctions continues sur G, de type positif et biinvariantes par K.
APOA1-75 G to A Substitution Associated with Severe Forms of CAD, Lower Levels of HDL and apoA-I among Northern Indians

Apolipoprotein A-I (APOA1 gene, apoA-I protein) is the major protein for plasma high density lipoprotein (HDL). The relationship of APOA1-75G/A polymorphism with lipid profile and coronary artery disease (CAD) is unclear. Out of 370 individuals initially recruited, 164 angiographically proven CAD patients (≥ 70% stenosis) and 36 individuals with normal coronaries or insignificant CAD (NCAD, ≤ 50% stenosis) from Delhi and adjoining areas were selected for analysis based on the set criteria. Polymorphism was determined by PCR followed by MspI restriction digestion. Lipid profile was estimated by enzymatic kit and apoA-I levels by immunoturbidimetry. A highly significant increasing trend in ‘A’ allele frequency was observed with the rise in severity of CAD: NCAD (0.097) < SVD (single vessel disease) (0.117) < DVD (double vessel disease) (0.223) < TVD (triple vessel disease) (0.291). In comparison to GG individuals, the OR of ‘A’ allele carriers to develop SVD, DVD, TVD was 1.3, 2.8 and 4.2 respectively (ptrend = 0.007). Analysis of intergenotypic variations in the lipid profile revealed significantly lower levels of HDL and apoA-I among ‘A’ allele carriers as compared to GG (patients). Our study, first of its kind from India, suggests that ‘A’ allele may contribute to severity of CAD and low levels of HDL & apoA-I. However, an in depth study with a larger set of sample is necessary.
Response of tropical sea surface temperature, precipitation, and tropical cyclone‐related variables to changes in global and local forcing

A single‐column model is used to estimate the equilibrium response of sea surface temperature (SST), precipitation, and several variables related to tropical cyclone (TC) activity to changes in both local and global forcing. Response to local forcing is estimated using the weak temperature gradient (WTG) approximation. The surface temperature is calculated using a thin slab ocean so as to maintain surface energy balance. Forcing is varied by changing the solar constant, atmospheric CO2 concentration, surface wind speed, and the convergence of upper ocean heat flux. These experiments show that precipitation and variables related to TC activity are not unique functions of SST on time scales long enough for surface energy balance to be maintained. Precipitation varies inversely with SST in experiments in which the surface wind speed is varied. At low wind speed, the WTG experiments reveal a regime of high relative SST and low precipitation, which is maintained by increased transmission of longwave radiation from the surface directly to space through a dry troposphere. In general, TC potential intensity and genesis potential vary much more rapidly with SST in response to varying surface wind speed than in response to other forcings. Local changes in TC potential intensity are highly correlated with local changes in SST, showing that relative SST is a good proxy for potential intensity when forcing is strictly local, but it cannot capture potentially important changes in potential intensity that arise from global‐scale changes in forcing.
Structure of Interannual-to-Decadal Climate Variability in the Tropical Atlantic Sector

Abstract A search for coupled modes of atmosphere–ocean interaction in the tropical Atlantic sector is presented. Previous studies have provided conflicting indications of the existence of coupled modes in this region. The subject is revisited through a rotated principal component analysis performed on datasets spanning the 36-yr period 1958–93. The analysis includes four variables, sea surface temperature, oceanic heat content, wind stress, and atmospheric diabatic heating. The authors find that the first rotated principal component is associated with fluctuations in the subtropical wind system and correlates with the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO), while the second and third modes, which are the focus of interest, are related to tropical variability. The second mode is the Atlantic Nino mode with anomalous sea surface temperature and anomalous heat content in the eastern equatorial basin. Wind stress weakens to the west of anomalously warm water, while convection is shifted south and eastward. Surface.
An Algebraic Model for Evaluating the Performance of an ATM Switch with Explicit Rate Marking

Stochastically timed process algebras are emerging as a promising formalism to support performance modeling and evaluation of concurrent and distributed systems. To become well accepted, such formalisms have to be proved to be able to provide readable, modular, scalable formal descriptions of more and more complex systems which can be automatically analyzed with a reasonable computational effort. Because of its complexity, the ATM technology could be used as a valid benchmark to test the adequacy of the stochastically timed process algebra approach. To this aim, in this paper we consider an ATM switch which supports the four service categories (CBR, VBR, ABR, UBR) defined by the ATM Forum and implements explicit rate marking for ABR traffic, backward explicit congestion notification, and connection admission control. We show that this complex system can be modeled in a compositional and scalable way with the stochastically timed process algebra EMPA. Moreover, we resort to the EMPA based software tool TwoTowers to derive some performance measures of interest for the ATM switch, such as the cell loss ratio, the queue length distribution, and the link utilization for the outgoing link in several different configurations.
Does it Pay to Be Transparent? International Evidence from Central Bank Forecasts

Is central bank transparency associated with variation in macroeconomic outcomes? Cross-country data covering 87 countries is used to construct an index for transparency based upon the detail in central banks' published forecasts. After controlling for a number of other institutional and macroeconomic variables it is found that an increase in the detail that central banks include in their published forecasts is associated with lower average inflation. The result holds regardless of whether the domestic nominal anchor is based more on an inflation or money target, but not for exchange rate targeting countries. Furthermore, no evidence is found that the publication of forecasts is associated with greater output volatility.
On the Adoption of Big Data Analytics: Interdependencies of Contextual Factors

: Even though the number of papers on the adoption of big data analytics (BDA) has increased, the literature still only scratches the surface in terms of understanding the influential factors of BDA adoption. To cope with the complexity of these factors, this paper focuses on the influence of some of the most important factors regarding BDA and their interrelations. We followed the technology, organization, and environment framework (TOE framework), which is frequently used to explain the process of technology adoption, to examine the context of the decision-making process and combined it with insights from dynamic capability theory. This paper contributes to BDA research by extending the TOE framework towards a dynamic capability view. It assists in the decision-making process regarding the development of BDA capabilities by determining the most influential factors and their side effects, thereby helping to prioritize these factors and to encourage investments accordingly.
Real-Time RGB-D Camera Relocalization Ben Glocker

We introduce an efficient camera relocalization approach which can be easily integrated into real-time 3D reconstruction methods, such as KinectFusion. Our approach makes use of compact encoding of whole image frames which enables both online harvesting of keyframes in tracking mode, and fast retrieval of pose proposals when tracking is lost. The encoding scheme is based on randomized ferns and simple binary feature tests. Each fern generates a small block code, and the concatenation of codes yields a compact representation of each camera frame. Based on those representations we introduce an efficient frame dissimilarity measure which is defined via the block-wise hamming distance (BlockHD). We illustrate how BlockHDs between a query frame and a large set of keyframes can be simultaneously evaluated by traversing the nodes of the ferns and counting image co-occurrences in corresponding code tables. In tracking mode, this mechanism allows us to consider every frame/pose pair as a potential keyframe. A new keyframe is added only if it is sufficiently dissimilar from all previously stored keyframes. For tracking recovery, camera poses are retrieved that correspond to the keyframes with smallest BlockHDs. The pose proposals are then used to reinitialize the tracking algorithm. Harvesting of keyframes and pose retrieval are computationally efficient with only small impact on the run-time performance of the 3D reconstruction. Integrating our relocalization method into KinectFusion allows seamless continuation of mapping even when tracking is frequently lost. Additionally, we demonstrate how marker-free augmented reality, in particular, can benefit from this integration by enabling a smoother and continuous AR experience.
Equivariant dendroidal sets

We extend the Cisinski-Moerdijk-Weiss theory of $\infty$-operads to the equivariant setting to obtain a notion of $G$-$\infty$-operads that encode "equivariant operads with norm maps" up to homotopy. At the root of this work is the identification of a suitable category of $G$-trees together with a notion of $G$-inner horns capable of encoding the compositions of norm maps. Additionally, we follow Blumberg and Hill by constructing suitable variants associated to each of the indexing systems featured in their work.
Don’t Classify Ratings of Affect; Rank Them!

How should affect be appropriately annotated and how should machine learning best be employed to map manifestations of affect to affect annotations? What is the use of ratings of affect for the study of affective computing and how should we treat them? These are the key questions this paper attempts to address by investigating the impact of dissimilar representations of annotated affect on the efficacy of affect modelling. In particular, we compare several different binary-class and pairwise preference representations for automatically learning from ratings of affect. The representations are compared and tested on three datasets: one synthetic dataset (testing “in vitro ”) and two affective datasets (testing “in vivo”). The synthetic dataset couples a number of attributes with generated rating values. The two affective datasets contain physiological and contextual user attributes, and speech attributes, respectively; these attributes are coupled with ratings of various affective and cognitive states. The main results of the paper suggest that ratings (when used) should be naturally transformed to ordinal (ranked) representations for obtaining more reliable and generalisable models of affect. The findings of this paper have a direct impact on affect annotation and modelling research but, most importantly, challenge the traditional state-of-practice in affective computing and psychometrics at large.
Impaired modulation of postjunctional α1‐ but not α2‐adrenergic vasoconstriction in contracting forearm muscle of postmenopausal women

Contraction‐mediated blunting of postjunctional α‐adrenergic vasoconstriction (functional sympatholysis) is attenuated in skeletal muscle of ageing males, brought on by altered postjunctional α1‐ and α2‐adrenergic receptor sensitivity. The extent to which postjunctional α‐adrenergic vasoconstriction occurs in the forearms at rest and during exercise in postmenopausal women remains unknown. The novel findings indicate that contraction‐mediated blunting of α1‐ (via intra‐arterial infusion of phenylephrine) but not α2‐adrenergic (via intra‐arterial infusion of dexmedetomidine) vasoconstriction was attenuated in postmenopausal women compared to young women. Additional important findings revealed that postjunctional α‐adrenergic vasoconstrictor responsiveness at rest does not appear to be affected by age in women. Collectively, these results contribute to our understanding of local neurovascular control at rest and during exercise with age in women.
Conservation of Intracellular Pathogenic Strategy among Distantly Related Cryptococcal Species

ABSTRACT The genus Cryptococcus includes several species pathogenic for humans. Until recently, the two major pathogenic species were recognized to be Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii. We compared the interaction of murine macrophages with three C. gattii species complex strains (WM179, R265, and WM161, representing molecular types VGI, VGIIa, and VGIII, respectively) and one C. neoformans species complex strain (H99, molecular type VNI) to ascertain similarities and differences in the yeast intracellular pathogenic strategy. The parameters analyzed included nonlytic exocytosis frequency, phagolysosomal pH, intracellular capsular growth, phagolysosomal membrane permeabilization, and macrophage transcriptional response, assessed using time-lapse microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, and gene expression microarray analysis. The most striking result was that the intracellular pathogenic strategies of C. neoformans and C. gattii species complex strains were qualitatively similar, despite the species having separated an estimated 100 million years ago. Macrophages exhibited a leaky phagolysosomal membrane phenotype and nonlytic exocytosis when infected with either C. gattii or C. neoformans. Conservation of the intracellular strategy among species that separated long ago suggests that it is ancient and possibly maintained by similar selection pressures through eons.
SPMRL‘13 Shared Task System: The CADIM Arabic Dependency Parser

We describe the submission from the Columbia Arabic & Dialect Modeling group (CADIM) for the Shared Task at the Fourth Workshop on Statistical Parsing of Morphologically Rich Languages (SPMRL’2013). We participate in the Arabic Dependency parsing task for predicted POS tags and features. Our system is based on Marton et al. (2013).