Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Region edge histogram: A new feature for region-based tracking

We present a new histogram feature for region-based tracking, which we refer as region edge histogram (REH). Firstly, we introduce some new concepts such as bin region and edge complexity. A bin region consists of the pixels falling in the corresponding histogram bin, and edge complexity denotes a ratio of the circumference to the area of bin region. Then, we propose our feature based on conventional histogram and the edge complexity of its bin region. We confirm that a higher edge complexity shows a more complicated space distribution to bin region. Finally, we derive a compact form of REH and discuss its accelerated computing method based on integral histogram. We design a region-based tracker using exhaustive search method to compare the performances of conventional histogram, weighted histogram, spatiogram and REH. Experiments show that REH obtains the lowest tracking errors and owns a relative high efficiency to conventional histogram, which is much higher than that of the other two.
Sialyl Lewisx expression at the invasive front as a predictive marker of liver recurrence in stage II colorectal cancer

Sialyl Lewisx (SLX) is a carbohydrate ligand for endothelial selectin that participates in cell adhesion, proliferation and scattering. It plays an important role in cancer cell adhesion to vascular endothelial cells, leading to hematogenous metastasis. The prognostic significance of SLX expression level at the invasive front in patients with stage II colorectal cancer (CRC) was examined. A total of 209 patients with stage II CRC curatively resected between 1997 and 2000 were enrolled. The preoperative serum SLX levels measured by radioimmunoassay and SLX immunoexpression levels at the invasive front, and at the non-invasive frontal region determined by tissue microarray were analyzed. SLX expression at the invasive front was positively associated with tumor invasion depth (P=0.007) and tumor budding grade (P=0.038). Disease-free survival curves differed between the high and low SLX-expression groups (5-year survival rates, 77.0 and 89.7%, respectively; P=0.036). Liver cancer recurrence was more frequent in the high-expression group than in the low-expression group (15.9 and 2.4%; P=0.002). Multivariate analysis revealed that its expression (hazard ratio, 5.26; P=0.015) and venous invasion (hazard ratio, 4.14; P=0.040) were independent predictive markers of liver cancer recurrence. Neither the preoperative serum SLX level nor SLX expression at the non-invasive frontal region showed any association with histopathological features or disease-free survival. SLX expression level at the invasive front is a promising marker for identifying patients with stage II CRC with a high risk of liver cancer recurrence.
Receipt of maintenance therapy is most predictive of survival in older acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients treated with intensive induction chemotherapy regimens

While the prognosis for older adults diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is frequently poor, long‐term survival can be achieved in patients treated with curative intent. We reviewed the outcomes of 37 patients age ≥60 treated at our institution with either DVP‐ or hyperCVAD‐based chemotherapy regimens from 2003–2011. In this patient population, a complete response rate of 92%, relapse rate of 56% and median overall survival of 18.1 months was experienced. Univariate analysis revealed that receipt of maintenance therapy vs. no maintenance therapy was associated with a statistically‐significant impact on overall survival (p = 0.001, HR 0.15 for death), while disease‐related characteristics including high‐risk white blood cell count at diagnosis and Philadelphia chromosome status as well as treatment‐related factors including chemotherapy regimen or completion of intensive therapy were not. Many patients were unable to initiate or remain on maintenance therapy due to toxicities including infections and cytopenias. Our analysis reveals the benefit of prolonged therapy in the treatment of older adults with ALL as well as the high incidence of treatment‐related toxicity experienced by these patients. Am. J. Hematol. 88:657–660, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
From Heroes to Organizers

Purpose: Educational leadership is key to addressing the persistent inequities in low-income urban schools, but most principals struggle to work with parents and communities around those schools to create socially just learning environments. This article describes the conditions and experiences that enabled principals to share leadership with teachers and low-income Latino parents to improve student learning. Methods: This study used interviews, observations, and documents to examine the perceptions and experiences of the principals of three small autonomous schools initiated by a community organizing group in California. Data analysis was conducted in iterative phases using shared leadership, social capital, and role theories as lenses to identify themes, triangulate across data sources, and examine alternative hypotheses. Findings: Findings illuminate how a design team process initiated principals into a model of shared leadership with teachers and empowered parents that focused on deep relationships and capacity building. Principals enacted this model of the “principal as organizer” in the newly-opened schools, but they struggled to navigate conflicting leadership role expectations from district administration. Implications: Organizing approaches to education reform can cultivate shared leadership in principals and the capacity to partner with empowered, low-income Latino parents. District expectations and principals’ broader social networks may be critical in navigating and sustaining such leadership. Further research on districts that collaborate with community organizing groups may provide promising insights into the development of a new generation of educational leaders.
Why do We Flirt? Flirting Motivations and Sex Differences in Working and Social Contexts

Employing worker and student samples, motivations to engage in flirtatious communication are explored. Six flirting motivations, derived from Henningsen, are considered. Differences across samples are considered using cognitive valence theory as a framework. In addition to differences across worker and student samples, sex differences are also examined. Measures tapping six different flirting motivations (i.e., sexual, relational, exploring, esteem, instrumental, and fun) are utilized. Overall, and consistent with cognitive valence theory, the worker sample is less likely to view flirting as motivated by sexual or relational motivations than is the student sample. Additionally, sex differences emerge for sex and exploration motivations, with men reporting greater levels of each than women.
Group Personality Composition, Satisfaction and Performance in Virtual Teams

Multi-user virtual environments (MUVE) have been gaining popularity as a medium for collective work in modern organizations. No empirical work to date has examined performance and satisfaction outcomes in a non-arbitrary, MUVE-mediated team. This study considered the influence of group personality composition on multiple sources of performance ratings as well as satisfaction outcomes using a quasi-experimental design. The teams in this study were assigned via Humphrey, Hollenbeck, Meyer, and Ilgen’s (2007) “seeding” technique for group personality composition, and worked collaboratively over three months on a MUVE project. Recommendations for future research in MUVE contexts are discussed.
The Pygmalion and Galatea Effects: An Agency Model with Reference-Dependent Preferences and Applications to Self-Fulfilling Prophecy ∗

We attempt to formulate and explain two types of self-fulfilling prophecy, called the Pygmalion effect (if a supervisor thinks her subordinates will succeed, they are more likely to succeed) and the Galatea effect (if a person thinks he will succeed, he is more likely to succeed). To this purpose, we extend a simple agency model with moral hazard and limited liability by introducing a model of reference-dependent preferences (RDP) by K˝oszegi and Rabin (2004). We show that the agent with high expectations about his performance can be induced to choose high effort with low-powered incentives. We then argue that the principal’s expectation has an important role as an equilibrium selection device.
Predeliberation activity in prefrontal cortex and striatum and the prediction of subsequent value judgment

Rational, value-based decision-making mandates selecting the option with highest subjective expected value after appropriate deliberation. We examined activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and striatum of monkeys deciding between smaller, immediate rewards and larger, delayed ones. We previously found neurons that modulated their activity in this task according to the animal's choice, while it deliberated (choice neurons). Here we found neurons whose spiking activities were predictive of the spatial location of the selected target (spatial-bias neurons) or the size of the chosen reward (reward-bias neurons) before the onset of the cue presenting the decision-alternatives, and thus before rational deliberation could begin. Their predictive power increased as the values the animals associated with the two decision alternatives became more similar. The ventral striatum (VS) preferentially contained spatial-bias neurons; the caudate nucleus (CD) preferentially contained choice neurons. In contrast, the DLPFC contained significant numbers of all three neuron types, but choice neurons were not preferentially also bias neurons of either kind there, nor were spatial-bias neurons preferentially also choice neurons, and vice versa. We suggest a simple winner-take-all (WTA) circuit model to account for the dissociation of choice and bias neurons. The model reproduced our results and made additional predictions that were borne out empirically. Our data are compatible with the hypothesis that the DLPFC and striatum harbor dissociated neural populations that represent choices and predeliberation biases that are combined after cue onset; the bias neurons have a weaker effect on the ultimate decision than the choice neurons, so their influence is progressively apparent for trials where the values associated with the decision alternatives are increasingly similar.
The action of brief polarizing currents on the cerebral cortex of the rat (1) during current flow and (2) in the production of long‐lasting after‐effects

During the course of work on the effects of polarizing currents on the electrical activity of the rat cerebral cortex, we found that prolonged changes in the level of cortical activity could be produced by relatively brief periods of polarizing. This paper describes the after-action of transcortical polarizing current upon the activity evoked by stimulating the forepaw and upon spontaneous firing in cortical neurones.
Getting out the vote in the social media era

This paper compares the spread and impact of new digital modes of voter mobilization with more traditional methods (phone, mail and in person canvassing) in recent national elections in the US and UK. We develop hypotheses regarding the relative effects of online contacting and test them using election study data. Our findings show that while online contact is generally less frequent than the offline form in both countries, this gap is particularly pronounced in the UK. US campaigns also reach a much wider audience than their UK counterparts. In terms of impact, while offline forms remain most effective in mobilizing turnout, online messages are important for campaign participation, particularly among younger citizens when they are mediated through social networks.
Dynamic Capabilities for Service Innovation: Conceptualization and Measurement

For both managers and policy makers involved in innovation, capability failures regarding development of new services are a major concern. Efforts to strengthen those capabilities, and evaluation thereof, demand more comprehensive insight in firms’ actual abilities to source ideas and convert them into marketable service propositions. This paper aims to provide clarity by operationalizing a set of dynamic service innovation capabilities (DSICs). We first review how existing conceptualizations adopt recent insights from the dynamic capability view, which emphasizes the need to identify microfoundations corresponding to a limited set of common constructs. One of the encountered conceptualizations, consolidating earlier works in specific service sectors, was found appropriate for gauging DSICs across a wide range of industries. It exemplifies how DSICs can be conceptualized according to the so-called synthesis approach to service innovation by capturing insights on the evolutionary properties of the creation of novel solutions. Secondly, we operationalize a refined version of such DSICs and develop a measurement scale, using two subsamples from a dataset of 391 Dutch firms. The measured capabilities are found to correlate to different extents with performance measures. Our main contribution, a validated scale for five complementary DSICs, opens the way to comparative analyses which are of relevance for further research, management and policy development.
Long-term intermittent dobutamine infusion combined with oral amiodarone improves the survival of patients with severe congestive heart failure.

STUDY OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of long-term intermittent dobutamine infusion (IDI) with concomitant administration of low-dose amiodarone in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) refractory to standard medical treatment. DESIGN Prospective, interventional clinical trial. SETTING Inpatient and outpatient heart failure clinic in a university teaching hospital. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS Twenty-two patients with CHF refractory to standard treatment who could be weaned from dobutamine therapy after an initial 72-h infusion were included in this study. The first 11 patients (group 1) were treated with IDI, 10 micromin, as needed (mean, once every 16 days, lasting for 12 to 48 h); the next 11 patients (group 2) received oral amiodarone, 400 mg/d, and IDI, 10 microg/kg/min, for 8 h every 7 days. MEASUREMENT AND RESULTS There were no differences in baseline clinical, hemodynamic, and five biochemical characteristics between the two groups. The left ventricular ejection fraction was 13.5 +/- 4.5% in group 1 vs 15.5 +/- 4.9% in group 2 (mean +/- SD; p = 0.451); mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure was 31.3 +/- 4.4 mm Hg vs 29.4 +/- 3.3 mm Hg (p = 0.316); serum creatinine was 1.9 +/- 0.4 mg/dL vs 1.6 +/- 0.5 mg/dL (p = 0.19); and serum Na was 139.6 +/- 6.2 mEq/L vs 138.4 +/- 3.1 mEq/L (p = 0.569). At 12 months of follow-up, 1 of 11 patients (9%) was alive in group 1 vs 6 of 11 patients (55%) in group 2 (p = 0.011). Furthermore, in group 2, the functional status improved significantly within the first 3 months of treatment, from New York Heart Association functional class IV to 2.63 +/- 0.5 (p = 0.0001). CONCLUSION Long-term IDI in conjunction with amiodarone, added to conventional drugs, improved clinical status and survival of patients with severe CHF.
Feeding Ecology, Food Availability and Ranging Patterns of Wild Hamadryas Baboons at Filoha

Most hamadryas baboons rely on Acacia species for subsistence in their semidesert habitats. Unlike other hamadryas sites, palm forests at Filoha in Awash National Park, Ethiopia, provide the baboons with a preferred food resource close to a commonly used sleeping site. The baboons are expected to feed on doum palm trees when fruit is available, and this resource use should play a role in ranging patterns. This paper describes the feeding ecology, food availability and ranging patterns of a band of wild hamadryas baboons at Filoha from March 2005 to February 2006. Data on feeding and ranging behavior derive from band scans during all-day follows of baboons, and data on food availability derive from monthly phenological monitoring of frequently consumed food species. The baboons fed predominantly on palms when fruit was available, and preferred the flowers of Acacia senegal to its leaves. There was no relationship between daily path length and the proportion of palm fruit in the baboons’ diet, but changes in the availability of fruit across the Filoha region appear to mirror the baboons’ shifting use of its home range. The large band sizes at Filoha may obscure the effects doum palm fruit might have on ranging patterns.
Does the Orientation of an Euler Diagram Affect User Comprehension?

Euler diagrams, which form the basis of numerous visual languages, can be an effective representation of information when they are both well-matched and well-formed. However, being well-matched and well-formed alone does not imply effectiveness. Other diagrammatical properties need to be considered. Information visualization theorists have known for some time that orientation has the potential to affect our interpretation of diagrams. This paper begins by explaining why well-matched and well-formed drawing principles are insufficient and discusses why we should study the orientation of Euler diagrams. To this end an empirical study is presented, designed to observe the effect of orientation upon the comprehension of Euler diagrams. The paper concludes that the orientation of Euler diagrams does not significantly affect comprehension.
Is Narrative “Primary”? Some Insights from Kindergarteners' Pretend Readings of Stories and Information Books

This paper involves a consideration of the validity of the common assumption in literacy development that narrative or story is somehow primary—that children's abilities to understand and compose stories precede their capabilities to understand and use non-story, informational written language. An examination of kindergarteners' repeated pretend readings of two stories and two information books was made to gain insights into their strategies in dealing with the distinctive textual properties of the two genres. Two features were specifically addressed: (a) their use of co-referentiality of stories versus the co-classification aspects of information books, and (b) their acquisition of lexical items in the two genres. These analyses indicated that children were just as successful in reenacting the information books as they were the stories. Based on these findings, as well as children's preferences for the information books over the stories, it is argued that our unexamined, unacknowledged narrative as primary ideology needs to be reevaluated.
Root-Raised Cosine filter influences on PAPR distribution of single carrier signals

This article addresses a theoretical analysis of the Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) of single carrier modulations when Root-Raised Cosine (RRC) filters are considered. It is shown that two different behaviors occur for RRC filters when PAPR is derived, depending on the roll off factor, greater or not than a value around 0.4. This analysis leads to an upper bound of the PAPR. Then, the influence of some parameters on the PAPR is analyzed, as the roll off, the filter length, the oversampling or the number of symbols. This study shows that PAPR distribution of single carrier signals weighted by a RRC filter is mainly influenced by the roll off factor, what has to be considered for efficient high power amplification.
An analysis of intention formation as a function of prospective memory in air traffic controllers

Author: Jennifer Lynne Nagle Title: An Analysis of Intention Formation as a Function of Prospective Memory in Air Traffic Controllers Institution: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Degree: Master of Science in Human Factors & Systems Prospective memory, or memory for future intents, is an important part of everyone's daily life. Air traffic controllers whose jobs are based in an environment that taxes their memory resources for extended periods of time rely on this type of memory. Controllers objectives often change based on incoming information and the amount of traffic they are controlling. It is important to investigate how controllers form intentions for future events, what processes facilitate retrieval of this information, and establish what influence experience may have. This study proposes to assess controllers in an air traffic scenario by employing a cognitive task analysis to determine when intentions are formed. The experimenter expects that controllers who form explicit intentions for specified future actions will perform better and that experience will facilitate intention formation.
Controllability of switching speed and loss for SiC JFET/Si MOSFET cascode with external gate resistor

The SiC JFET/Si MOSFET cascode is an attractive alternative to conventional Si MOSFETs or IGBTs due to its low on-resistance and good switching performance. However, dv/dt control without increased switching loss is difficult when using a conventional gate resistor or capacitor for the MOSFET. In this paper, a dv/dt and switching loss control method that ensures a good switching performance for the cascode with an external gate resistor for JFET, as well as for MOSFET, is presented.
The oncogenic and growth-suppressive functions of the integrin-linked kinase are distinguished by JNK1 expression in human cancer cells

While most reports detail an oncogenic function for the integrin-linked kinase (ILK) in human cancer, few describe a contradictory growth-suppressive function. We previously reported that ILK functions as either a tumor suppressor or an oncogene in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), in a manner linked to expression of the c-jun amino terminal kinase-1 (JNK1). However, studies in other tumors are lacking. With the advent of bioavailable small molecule inhibitors of ILK, defining both the function of ILK and biomarkers to predict its behaviour are of critical importance. Here, we studied the role of ILK in a panel of tumor cell lines. We demonstrate that ILK functions as either a growth-promoter or suppressor in numerous tumor cell lines. Further, cell lines in which ILK functioned as a growth suppressor displayed elevated JNK1 expression relative to cells in which ILK functioned as an oncogene. Comparison of endogenous JNK1 and JNK1β isoform expression levels to the cellular response to ILK overexpression demonstrated that JNK1β isoforms represent biomarkers differentiating the two functions of ILK. Moreover, RNAi and overexpression-based alteration of JNK1 expression levels was sufficient to switch the function of ILK in both transformed and untransformed cells. These results indicate widespread oncogenic and growth-suppressive functions for ILK in multiple human malignancies and suggest that JNK1 isoforms represent biomarkers for ILK neoplastic activity. These results provide a rationale for stratifying patients to receive ILK kinase inhibitors based on individualized tumor-specific ILK function.