Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developmental Changes in Emotion Recognition from Full-Light and Point-Light Displays of Body Movement

To date, research on the development of emotion recognition has been dominated by studies on facial expression interpretation; very little is known about children's ability to recognize affective meaning from body movements. In the present study, we acquired simultaneous video and motion capture recordings of two actors portraying four basic emotions (Happiness Sadness, Fear and Anger). One hundred and seven primary and secondary school children (aged 4–17) and 14 adult volunteers participated in the study. Each participant viewed the full-light and point-light video clips and was asked to make a forced-choice as to which emotion was being portrayed. As a group, children performed worse than adults for both point-light and full-light conditions. Linear regression showed that both age and lighting condition were significant predictors of performance in children. Using piecewise regression, we found that a bilinear model with a steep improvement in performance until 8.5 years of age, followed by a much slower improvement rate through late childhood and adolescence best explained the data. These findings confirm that, like for facial expression, adolescents' recognition of basic emotions from body language is not fully mature and seems to follow a non-linear development. This is in line with observations of non-linear developmental trajectories for different aspects of human stimuli processing (voices and faces), perhaps suggesting a shift from one perceptual or cognitive strategy to another during adolescence. These results have important implications to understanding the maturation of social cognition.
Effect of Two Herbal Mouthwashes on Gingival Health of School Children

This study aimed at determining the effect of indigenously prepared neem and mango chewing stick mouthwashes on plaque and gingival indices. A sample of 105 children aged 12-15 years was randomized into three groups, namely neem, mango, and chlorhexidine mouthwash groups. All the children were examined at baseline and gingival and plaque indices were recorded. Baseline scores for plaque and gingivitis were fair and moderate, respectively, in all the three groups and there existed no statistically significant difference among them. Ten millilitres each of herbal and chlorhexidine mouthwashes (0.2%) were administered according to the group allocation twice daily for 21 days. Indices were reassessed at 21 days (immediately after intervention) and at 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months after discontinuing the mouthwashes. Statistically significant reduction (P < 0.001) in plaque index was found in all the three mouthwash groups at 21 days and at 1 month from discontinuing the mouthwash. Chlorhexidine additionally showed statistically significant reduction in plaque index at 2 months from discontinuing the mouthwash. Statistically significant reduction (P < 0.001) in gingival index was found in all the three mouthwash groups at 21 days (immediately after discontinuing the mouthwash) and at 1 and 2 months from discontinuing the mouthwash. To conclude, all the three mouthwashes were effective antiplaque and antigingivitis agents. Chlorhexidine and neem possess equivalent efficacy in reducing plaque, while chlorhexidine has superior antigingivitis properties.
Roles of ON Cone Bipolar Cell Subtypes in Temporal Coding in the Mouse Retina

In the visual system, diverse image processing starts with bipolar cells, which are the second-order neurons of the retina. Thirteen subtypes of bipolar cells have been identified, which are thought to encode different features of image signaling and to initiate distinct signal-processing streams. Although morphologically identified, the functional roles of each bipolar cell subtype in visual signal encoding are not fully understood. Here, we investigated how ON cone bipolar cells of the mouse retina encode diverse temporal image signaling. We recorded bipolar cell voltage changes in response to two different input functions: sinusoidal light and step light stimuli. Temporal tuning in ON cone bipolar cells was diverse and occurred in a subtype-dependent manner. Subtypes 5s and 8 exhibited low-pass filtering property in response to a sinusoidal light stimulus, and responded with sustained fashion to step-light stimulation. Conversely, subtypes 5f, 6, 7, and XBC exhibited bandpass filtering property in response to sinusoidal light stimuli, and responded transiently to step-light stimuli. In particular, subtypes 7 and XBC were high-temporal tuning cells. We recorded responses in different ways to further examine the underlying mechanisms of temporal tuning. Current injection evoked low-pass filtering, whereas light responses in voltage-clamp mode produced bandpass filtering in all ON bipolar cells. These findings suggest that cone photoreceptor inputs shape bandpass filtering in bipolar cells, whereas intrinsic properties of bipolar cells shape low-pass filtering. Together, our results demonstrate that ON bipolar cells encode diverse temporal image signaling in a subtype-dependent manner to initiate temporal visual information-processing pathways.
MicroRNA Expression Aberration Associated with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Preterm Infants: A Preliminary Study

BACKGROUND: Because environmental insults and genetic factors account for the variance in the risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in very low birth weight (VLBW, birth weight < 1,500 g) preterm infants, the search for BPD biomarkers has begun to focus on the regulators of non-coding RNA such as microRNAs (miRNAs). Therefore, this study aimed to identify potential miRNAs involved in the pathogenesis of BPD in VLBW preterm infants. METHODS: A case-control study (15 subjects with BPD and 15 sex-matched control subjects without BPD) was conducted to investigate the expression profiles of 365 miRNAs in the peripheral blood of VLBW preterm infants at 36 weeks post-menstrual age (called the older-age set). The expression levels of identified miRNAs were further evaluated in a subsample of blood collected during the first 2 weeks post-natal age (called the younger-age set). Possible biological functions and pathways implicated in the target genes regulated by the miRNAs were explored using database predictions. RESULTS: A 4-miRNA signature (miR-152, miR-30a-3p, miR-133b, and miR-7) with aberrant expression levels at 36 weeks, derived from a supervised classification with internal cross-validation, discriminated the subjects with BPD from those without BPD with an accuracy of 0.91. The discriminative accuracy of the 4 miRNAs was supported by random permutations of either the disease status or the number of miRNAs selected (both P < .001). A down-regulation change of miR-152 and miR-30a-3p expression levels and an up-regulation change of miR-133b and miR-7 expression levels were found in the older-age set, compared to the younger-age set. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to identify blood-based miRNAs associated with BPD. The findings provide information regarding the roles of these biomarkers in the development of BPD in VLBW preterm infants.
Kryptein: A Compressive-Sensing-Based Encryption Scheme for the Internet of Things

Internet ofThings (IoT) is flourishing and has penetrated deeply into people’s daily life. With the seamless connection to the physical world, IoT provides tremendous opportunities to a wide range of applications. However, potential risks exist when the IoT system collects sensor data and uploads it to the cloud.The leakage of private data can be severe with curious database administrator or malicious hackers who compromise the cloud. In this work, we propose Kryptein, a compressive-sensing-based encryption scheme for cloud-enabled IoT systems to secure the interaction between the IoT devices and the cloud. Kryptein supports random compressed encryption, statistical decryption, and accurate raw data decryption. According to our evaluation based on two real datasets, Kryptein provides strong protection to the data. It is 250 times faster than other state-of-the-art systems and incurs 120 times less energy consumption.e performance of Kryptein is also measured on off -the-shelf IoT devices, and the result shows Kryptein can run efficiently on IoT devices.
Accelerating In-Page Logging with Non-Volatile Memory

A great deal of research has been done on solid-state storage media such as flash memory and non-volatile memory in the past few years. While NAND-type flash memory is now being considered a top alternative to magnetic disk drives, non-volatile memory (also known as storage class memory) has begun to appear in the market recently. Although some advocates of non-volatile memory predict that flash memory will give way to non-volatile memory soon, we believe that they will co-exist, complementing each other, for a while until the hurdles in its manufacturing process are lifted and non-volatile memory becomes commercially competitive in both capacity and price. In this paper, we present an improved design of In-Page Logging (IPL) by augmenting it with phase change RAM (PCRAM) in its log area. IPL is a buffer and storage management strategy that has been proposed for flash memory database systems. Due to the byte-addressability of PCRAM and its faster speed for small reads and writes, the IPL scheme with PCRAM can improve the performance of flash memory database systems even further by storing frequent log records in PCRAM instead of flash memory. We report a few advantages of this new design that will make IPL more suitable for flash memory database systems.
Durability of an Ultrahigh-Performance Concrete

Significant recent advancements in cement-based, fiber-reinforced composite materials have stretched the bounds of concrete into the realm of ultrahigh-performance concrete (UHPC). The durability of a commercially available UHPC was independently evaluated through six standardized durability tests and the results are reported herein. Regardless of the curing treatment applied, this concrete exhibits significantly enhanced durability properties as compared to normal and high performance concretes. The concrete exhibited minimal damage after being subjected to two times the normal number of ASTM C 666 freeze–thaw cycles. It was innocuous to ASTM C 1260 ASR deterioration, to ASTM C 672 scaling deterioration, and to AASHTO T259 chloride penetration. The ASTM C 1202 Electrical Indication of Concrete’s Ability to Resist Chloride Ion Penetration test result was negligible if any steam-based curing treatment was applied, and was very low otherwise. Steam-based curing treatments significantly enhanced the ASTM C 9.
VIBRATION ANALYSIS AND CONTROL OF CANTILEVER PLATE BY USING FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

Mechanical vibrations induced in flexible structures such as beams and plates have been researched through various optimization functions and control theories to optimize transient response dynamic characteristics. Piezoelectric materials sensors/actuators have been used to reduce and control these vibrations. However, stiffened plate has not been investigated and it is a main and important part of aerospace and light weight mechanical structures. The optimal placement of PZT sensor/actuator pairs on a stiffened plate to determine the optimal controller design and to optimize cost and system response have not studied yet. So, the objective of this project is to find the optimal location of sensor/actuator pairs and design optimal controller for beam, plate and stiffened plate to suppress mechanical vibrations theoretically and experimentally. The finite element method will be use to model the structure with piezoelectric material. The genetic algorithm will apply to find optimal placement of a number of piezoelectric sensor/actuator pairs, with objective functions of minimize control force, displacement, velocity, and the error. However, velocity feedback and linear quadratic regulator closed loop control will apply to study the transient dynamic response for the first six modes.
Independent Mammalian Genome Contractions Following the KT Boundary

Although it is generally accepted that major changes in the earth's history are significant drivers of phylogenetic diversification and extinction, such episodes may also have long-lasting effects on genomic architecture. Here we show that widespread reductions in genome size have occurred in multiple lineages of mammals subsequent to the Cretaceous–Tertiary (KT) boundary, whereas there is no evidence for such changes in other vertebrate, invertebrate, or land plant lineages. Although the mechanisms remain unclear, such shifts in mammalian genome evolution may be a consequence of an increase in the efficiency of selection against excess DNA resulting from post-KT population size expansions. Independent historical changes in genome architecture in diverse lineages raise a significant challenge to the idea that genome size is finely tuned to achieve adaptive phenotypic modifications and suggest that attempts to use phylogenetic analysis to infer ancestral genome sizes may be problematical.
Travelling salesman-based compressive sampling

Compressed sensing theory indicates that selecting a few measurements independently at random is a near optimal strategy to sense sparse or compressible signals. This is infeasible in practice for many acquisition devices that acquire samples along continuous trajectories (e.g., radial, spiral, .). Examples include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or radiointerferometry. In this paper, we propose to generate continuous sampling trajectories by drawing a small set of measurements independently and joining them using a travelling salesman problem solver. Our contribution lies in the theoretical derivation of the appropriate probability density of the initial drawings. Preliminary computational results show that this strategy is as efficient as independent drawings while being implementable on real acquisition systems.
Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology Immunological Changes in Canine Peripheral Blood Leukocytes Triggered by Immunization with First or Second Generation Vaccines against Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis

In this study, we summarized the major phenotypic/functional aspects of circulating leuko-cytes following canine immunization with Leishvaccine and Leishmune ®. Our findings showed that Leishvaccine triggered early changes in the innate immunity (neutrophils and eosinophils) with late alterations on monocytes. Conversely, Leishmune ® induced early phenotypic changes in both, neutrophils and monocytes. Moreover, Leishvaccine triggered mixed activation-related phenotypic changes on T-cells (CD4 + and CD8 +) and B-lymphocytes, whereas Leishmune ® promoted a selective response, mainly associated with CD8 + T-cell activation. Mixed cytokine profile (IFN-␥/IL-4) was observed in Leishvaccine immunized dogs whereas a selective pro-inflammatory pattern (IFN-␥/NO) was induced by Leishmune ® vaccination. The distinct immunological profile triggered by Leishvaccine and Leishmune ® may be a direct consequence of the distinct biochemical composition of these immunobiological, i.e. complex versus purified Leishmania antigen along with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) versus saponin adjuvant. Both immunobiologicals are able to activate phagocytes and CD8 + T-cells and therefore could be considered as a putative vaccines against canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL).
Comparative outcomes of total hip and knee arthroplasty: a prospective cohort study

Purpose The comparative outcome of primary hip and knee arthroplasty is not well understood. This study aimed to investigate the outcome and satisfaction of these procedures and determine predictive models for 1 year patient outcome with a view to informing surgical management and patient expectations. Study design Prospective cohort study of all primary hip and knee arthroplasty procedures performed at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh between January 2006 and November 2008. General health (SF-12) and joint specific function (Oxford Score) was assessed pre-operatively and at 6 and 12 months post-operatively. Patient satisfaction was assessed at 12 months. Results 1410 total hip arthroplasty (THA) and 1244 total knee arthroplasty (TKA) procedures were assessed. Oxford Score improved by 4.9 points more in THA patients than in TKA patients. SF-12 physical scores were on average 2.7 points greater in the THA patients at one year. Satisfaction was also greater (91%) following THA compared with TKA (81%). Regression modelling was not able to predict individual patient outcome; however, mean pre-operative Oxford Scores were found to be strong predictors of mean post-operative Oxford Scores for each procedure. Age, gender and pre-operative general health scores did not influence these models. Conclusions Both THA and TKA confer substantial improvement in patient outcome; however, greater joint specific, general health and satisfaction scores are reported following THA. This difference is physical in nature. Regression models are presented that can be applied to predict mean hip/knee arthroplasty outcome based on preoperative values.
Numerical Analysis of the Effect of Phase Transformation on Residual Stresses in an Autogenous Beam Edge Weld

This paper presents the numerical analysis of phase proportions and residual stresses in an autogenous beam edge weld. The thin beam was welded running a heat source along its longer edge using a TIG process. There is no addition of any material so the focus of modelling the process could be concentrated on the thermal analysis and the phase transformations. Temperature dependent material properties and a continuous cooling transformation (CCT) diagram of the base material were provided. The simulations took into account metallurgical effects and used a Goldak-type heat source. Simulations with and without phase transformations were carried out, in order to analyse the effect on the predicted residual stress.
Algebraic Decoding of a Class of Binary Cyclic Codes Via Lagrange Interpolation Formula

In this paper, three algebraic decoding algorithms are proposed for the binary quadratic residue (QR) codes generated by irreducible polynomials. The polynomial relations among the syndromes and the coefficients of the error-locator polynomials have been computed with Lagrange interpolation formula (LIF). Unlike some previous QR decoders, which may take several iterations to decode a corrupted word, the iteration number of the first two algorithms is at most one. The processes in the first algorithm are the calculation of consecutive syndromes, inverse-free Berlekamp-Massey algorithm (IFBMA), and the Chien search. One of Orsini-Sala's results on the structure of general error-locator polynomials is generalized and applied to derive the second (respectively, third) algorithm that consists of the determination of general error-locator polynomial (respectively, classical error-locator polynomials) and the Chien search. Finally, the (17, 9, 5), (23, 12, 7), and (41, 21, 9) QR decoders are illustrated and their complexity analyses are given.
Robust Lossless Data Hiding by Feature-Based Bit Embedding Algorithm

Recently, data hiding, or information hiding, plays an important role in data assurance. Generally speaking, data hiding techniques can be classified into steganography and digital watermarking (Cox et al., 2008; Shih, 2008). The marked images generated by the steganographic methods (Gu & Gao, 2009; Liu & Shih, 2008; Qu et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2010; Zhou et al., 2010; Fan et al., 2011) were prone to catch damage (by manipulations) and resulted in a failure extraction of the message. However, based on the spatial domain, the steganographic methods often provide a large payload with a good perceived quality. Major applications of the techniques can be found in private data saving, image tagging and authentication, and covert communications. On the other hand, the robustness performance with a limited payload is a key feature of digital watermarking approaches (Lai et al., 2009; Al-Qaheri et al., 2010; Lin & Shiu, 2010; Yamamoto & Iwakiri, 2010; Yang et al., 2010; Martinez-Noriega et al., 2011). Most of the robust watermarking approaches which based on the transform domain such as discrete cosine transform (DCT), integer wavelet transform (IWT), and discrete Fourier transform (DFT) can be tolerant of common image processing operations. Their usages can be found in owner identification, proof of ownership, and copy control. Note that conventional data hiding techniques were irreversible, namely, the host media can not be recovered after data extraction. To preserve or protect the originality of the valuable (or priceless) host media, for example, military or medical images, and law enforcement, the reversible data hiding schemes, also known as lossless data hiding schemes were suggested to achieve the goal. For some applications, it requires to completely recover the host media if the marked images remain intact, and to extract the hidden message when the marked images were intentionally (or unintentionally) manipulated by the third parties. But, most of reversible data hiding schemes (Tian, 2003; Alattar, 2004; Hsio et al., 2009; Hu et al., 2009; Tai et al., 2009; Wu et al., 2009; Lee et al., 2010; Xiao & Shih, 2010; Yang & Tsai, 2010; Yang et al., 2010, 2011) were fragile in the sense that the hidden message can be unsuccessfully extract even if a slight alteration to the marked images, not to mention the recovery of the host media. Several authors (Zou et al., 2006; Ni et al., 2008; Zeng et al., 2010) therefore proposed robust reversible data hiding algorithms to overcome the issue.
Development of a Computer-assisted Foot Pressure Biofeedback Sensory Compensation System in Balance Control for Amputees

Sub-sensory electrical or mechanical stimulation can enhance the sensitivity of the human somatosensory system to improve the balance control capabilities of elderly was shown in recent rehabilitation articles. In addition, clinical studies suggest that visual-auditory biofeedback can improve sensory compensation for the elderly were reported. A computerized foot pressure biofeedback sensory compensation system using sub-threshold low-level electrical stimulation combined with visual-auditory biofeedback was developed and proposed for clinical study. Three unilateral trans-tibial amputees who consecutively wore prosthetics over 10 years (13plusmn3.6) were recruited in this study. Experimental results show that reduction in all of the postural sway indices (constant time sway length, max sway distance and average sway distance) and increase in single leg support time index during single leg quiet standing by applying sub-sensory stimulation. With visual-auditory biofeedback for providing clue for heel contact and toe push off condition during treadmill ambulation, the improvement of all four dynamic gait performance indices (double support time, stance/swing time ratio, constant time cadence , and sound side single support time index) in amputees was verified.
SHEAR STRENGTH OF STEEL FIBER-REINFORCED CONCRETE

This paper studies the shear behavior of fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) using direct shear tests. Two 50 mm-long steel fibers, one with flattened ends and a circular cross section and the other with a crimped geometry and a crescent cross section, were investigated at fiber volume fractions varying between 0-2%. Direct comparison was made with flexural toughness determined as per the ASTM C 1018 procedure. Both fibers were determined to provide significant improvements in shear strength and shear toughness, and these improvements were greater at higher fiber dosage rates. When the shear toughness of steel FRC was compared with its flexural toughness, there appeared to be a direct correlation. However, given the subjectivity of this type of comparison and the limited data generated in this work, further study is needed to fully understand and establish this correlation.