Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Underwater Image Processing: State of the Art of Restoration and Image Enhancement Methods

The underwater image processing area has received considerable attention within the last decades, showing important achievements. In this paper we review some of the most recent methods that have been specifically developed for the underwater environment. These techniques are capable of extending the range of underwater imaging, improving image contrast and resolution. After considering the basic physics of the light propagation in the water medium, we focus on the different algorithms available in the literature. The conditions for which each of them have been originally developed are highlighted as well as the quality assessment methods used to evaluate their performance.
Reduced Neural Integration of Letters and Speech Sounds in Dyslexic Children Scales with Individual Differences in Reading Fluency

The acquisition of letter-speech sound associations is one of the basic requirements for fluent reading acquisition and its failure may contribute to reading difficulties in developmental dyslexia. Here we investigated event-related potential (ERP) measures of letter-speech sound integration in 9-year-old typical and dyslexic readers and specifically test their relation to individual differences in reading fluency. We employed an audiovisual oddball paradigm in typical readers (n = 20), dysfluent (n = 18) and severely dysfluent (n = 18) dyslexic children. In one auditory and two audiovisual conditions the Dutch spoken vowels/a/and/o/were presented as standard and deviant stimuli. In audiovisual blocks, the letter ‘a’ was presented either simultaneously (AV0), or 200 ms before (AV200) vowel sound onset. Across the three children groups, vowel deviancy in auditory blocks elicited comparable mismatch negativity (MMN) and late negativity (LN) responses. In typical readers, both audiovisual conditions (AV0 and AV200) led to enhanced MMN and LN amplitudes. In both dyslexic groups, the audiovisual LN effects were mildly reduced. Most interestingly, individual differences in reading fluency were correlated with MMN latency in the AV0 condition. A further analysis revealed that this effect was driven by a short-lived MMN effect encompassing only the N1 window in severely dysfluent dyslexics versus a longer MMN effect encompassing both the N1 and P2 windows in the other two groups. Our results confirm and extend previous findings in dyslexic children by demonstrating a deficient pattern of letter-speech sound integration depending on the level of reading dysfluency. These findings underscore the importance of considering individual differences across the entire spectrum of reading skills in addition to group differences between typical and dyslexic readers.
Ramified Satake isomorphisms for strongly parabolic characters

For certain characters of the compact maximal torus of a reductive p-adic group, which we call strongly parabolic characters, we prove Satake-type isomorphisms. Our results generalize those of Satake, Howe, Bushnell and Kutzko, and Roche. 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 20G25
近20年来美国教育社会学研究的热点论题与前沿演进——基于《Sociology of Education》1996-2015年文献共被引网络图谱的分析

运用文献计量可视化软件Cite Space绘制美国教育社会学领域SSCI期刊《Sociology of Educa鄄tion》1996-2015年刊载文献共被引网络图谱,探测出近20年来美国教育社会学伴随美国社会发展的研究热点主题有：少数族裔儿童、课外活动、废除种族隔离、教育机会平等和学校问题等研究。 探讨近20年来美国教育社会学研究的前沿演进：1996年以前,关于教育分流、课程设置与学习成绩的研究;1999-2001年,关于社会排斥和社会包容、资本主义美国教育改革的研究;2002-2008年,关于社会结构（阶层、种族）与学校经历、教育不平等的研究;2007-2010年,关于分层线性模型,学校教育与认知能力不平等,家庭、教育与不平等的再生产的研究;2010-2013年,英语语境下的“文化资本”研究。 从美国教育社会学主题的演进过程大抵可以看出,美国社会经历了从强调效率到强调公平的历史过程,值得中国教育界借鉴。
Multiple Reference Frames for Saccadic Planning in the Human Parietal Cortex

We apply functional magnetic resonance imaging and multivariate analysis methods to study the coordinate frame in which saccades are represented in the human cortex. Subjects performed a memory-guided saccade task in which equal-amplitude eye movements were executed from several starting points to various directions. Response patterns during the memory period for same-vector saccades were correlated in the frontal eye fields and the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), indicating a retinotopic representation. Interestingly, response patterns in the middle aspect of the IPS were also correlated for saccades made to the same destination point, even when their movement vector was different. Thus, this region also contains information about saccade destination in (at least) a head-centered coordinate frame. This finding may explain behavioral and neuropsychological studies demonstrating that eye movements are also anchored to an egocentric or an allocentric representation of space rather than strictly to the retinal visual input and that parietal cortex is involved in maintaining these representations of space.
Reduced Volume of the Arcuate Fasciculus in Adults with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Conditions

Atypical language is a fundamental feature of autism spectrum conditions (ASC), but few studies have examined the structural integrity of the arcuate fasciculus, the major white matter tract connecting frontal and temporal language regions, which is usually implicated as the main transfer route used in processing linguistic information by the brain. Abnormalities in the arcuate have been reported in young children with ASC, mostly in low-functioning or non-verbal individuals, but little is known regarding the structural properties of the arcuate in adults with ASC or, in particular, in individuals with ASC who have intact language, such as those with high-functioning autism or Asperger syndrome. We used probabilistic tractography of diffusion-weighted imaging to isolate and scrutinize the arcuate in a mixed-gender sample of 18 high-functioning adults with ASC (17 Asperger syndrome) and 14 age- and IQ-matched typically developing controls. Arcuate volume was significantly reduced bilaterally with clearest differences in the right hemisphere. This finding remained significant in an analysis of all male participants alone. Volumetric reduction in the arcuate was significantly correlated with the severity of autistic symptoms as measured by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient. These data reveal that structural differences are present even in high-functioning adults with ASC, who presented with no clinically manifest language deficits and had no reported developmental language delay. Arcuate structural integrity may be useful as an index of ASC severity and thus as a predictor and biomarker for ASC. Implications for future research are discussed.
The Nrf2/ARE Pathway: A Promising Target to Counteract Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a prominent feature of various neurodegenerative diseases as strict regulation of integrated mitochondrial functions is essential for neuronal signaling, plasticity, and transmitter release. Many lines of evidence suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction plays a central role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Several PD-associated genes interface with mitochondrial dynamics regulating the structure and function of the mitochondrial network. Mitochondrial dysfunction can induce neuron death through a plethora of mechanisms. Both mitochondrial dysfunction and neuroinflammation, a common denominator of PD, lead to an increased production of reactive oxygen species, which are detrimental to neurons. The transcription factor nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2, NFE2L2) is an emerging target to counteract mitochondrial dysfunction and its consequences in PD. Nrf2 activates the antioxidant response element (ARE) pathway, including a battery of cytoprotective genes such as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory genes and several transcription factors involved in mitochondrial biogenesis. Here, the current knowledge about the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in PD, Nrf2/ARE stress-response mechanisms, and the evidence for specific links between this pathway and PD are summarized. The neuroprotection of nigral dopaminergic neurons by the activation of Nrf2 through several inducers in PD is also emphasized as a promising therapeutic approach.
Thresholded Basis Pursuit: LP Algorithm for Order-Wise Optimal Support Recovery for Sparse and Approximately Sparse Signals From Noisy Random Measurements

In this paper, we present a linear programming solution for sign pattern recovery of a sparse signal, x, from noisy random projections of the signal. We consider two types of noise models: input noise, where noise enters before the random projection, and output noise, where noise enters after the random projection. Sign pattern recovery involves the estimation of sign pattern of a sparse signal. Our idea is to pretend that no noise exists and solve the noiseless ℓ1 problem, namely, min ||β||1 s.t. y - Gβ and quantizing the resulting solution. We show that the quantized solution perfectly reconstructs the sign pattern of a sufficiently sparse signal. Specifically, we show that the sign pattern of an arbitrary k-sparse, n-dimensional signal x can be recovered with SNR - Ω(log n) and measurements scaling as m = Ώ,(log n /k) for all sparsity levels k satisfying 0 <; k ≤ an, where a is a sufficiently small positive constant. Surprisingly, this bound matches the optimal Max-Likelihood performance bounds in terms of SNR, re quired number of measurements, and admissible sparsity level in an order-wise sense. In contrast to our results, previous results based on LASSO and Max-Correlation techniques either assume significantly larger SNR, sub-linear sparsity levels or restrictive assumptions on signal sets. Our proof technique is based on noisy perturbation of the noiseless ℓ1 problem, in that, we estimate the maximum admissible noise level before sign pattern recovery fails.
Simultaneous vs. Sequential Group-Buying Mechanisms

This paper studies the design of group-buying mechanisms in a two-period game where cohorts of consumers arrive at a deal and make sign-up decisions sequentially. A firm can adopt either a sequential mechanism where the firm discloses to second-period arrivals the number of sign-ups accumulated in the first period, or a simultaneous mechanism where the firm does not post the number of first-period sign-ups and hence each cohort of consumers faces uncertainty about another cohort's size and valuations when making sign-up decisions. Our analysis shows that, compared with the simultaneous mechanism, the sequential mechanism leads to higher deal success rates and larger expected consumer surpluses. This result holds for a multiperiod extension and when the firm offers a price discount schedule with multiple breakpoints. Finally, when the firm can manage the sequence of arrivals, it should inform the smaller cohort of consumers first. This paper was accepted by J. Miguel Villas-Boas, marketing.
Characterizing HEC Storage Systems at Rest

High-performance parallel file systems are a critical component of the largest computer systems, are primarily proprietary, and are specialized to high end computing systems that have many access patterns known to be unusual in enterprise and productivity workplaces. Yet little knowledge of even the basic distributions of file systems and file ages are publicly available, even though significant effort and importance is increasingly associated with small files, for example. In this paper we report on the statistics of supercomputing file systems at rest from a variety of national resource computing sites, contrast these to studies of the 80s and 90s of academic and software development campuses and observe the most interesting characteristics in this novel data.
Three pathways to support the professional and career development of casual academics

Abstract Almost half of current academic staff will need to be replaced within three years in the Australian academic workforce. Literature suggests that casual academics are a potential solution, yet they are frequently excluded from the career development opportunities that would allow them to fulfil an ongoing academic role. Most academic development programmes designed for and delivered to casual academics are constructed by academic developers with little or no input from casual academics themselves. This paper documents what casual academics determine to be their academic development needs and how they could be addressed using three pathways of professional and career development.
MicroRNAs in Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Cancers

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that function as endogenous silencers of numerous target genes. Hundreds of miRNAs have been identified in the human genome. miRNAs are expressed in a tissue-specific manner and play important roles in cell proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation. Aberrant expression of miRNAs may also contribute to the development and progression of human hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers. Recent studies have shown that some miRNAs play roles as tumor suppressors or oncogenes in hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers. miR-122, let-7 family, and miR-101 are down-regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), suggesting that it is a potential tumor suppressor of HCC. miR-221 and miR-222 are up-regulated in HCC and may act as oncogenic miRNAs in hepatocarcinogenesis. miRNA expression profiling may be a powerful clinical tool for diagnosis and regulation of miRNA expression could be a novel therapeutic strategy for hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers. In this review, we summarize current knowledge about the roles of important tumor suppressor microRNAs and oncogenic microRNAs in hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers.
Nascent RNA structure modulates the transcriptional dynamics of RNA polymerases

RNA polymerase pausing represents an important mechanism of transcriptional regulation. In this study, we use a single-molecule transcription assay to investigate the effect of template base-pair composition on pausing by RNA polymerase II and the evolutionarily distinct mitochondrial polymerase Rpo41. For both enzymes, pauses are shorter and less frequent on GC-rich templates. Significantly, incubation with RNase abolishes the template dependence of pausing. A kinetic model, wherein the secondary structure of the nascent RNA poses an energetic barrier to pausing by impeding backtracking along the template, quantitatively predicts the pause densities and durations observed. The energy barriers extracted from the data correlate well with RNA folding energies obtained from cotranscriptional folding simulations. These results reveal that RNA secondary structures provide a cis-acting mechanism by which sequence modulates transcriptional elongation.
Student–Athletes’ Experiences of Bullying on Intercollegiate Teams

This study sought to explore student–athletes’ experiences of bullying on intercollegiate teams. Eight team captains, five males and three females, were interviewed about their own experiences with bullying as well as their perceptions of the experiences of their teammates as victims, perpetrators, and onlookers of bullying. The findings revealed that bullying behaviors were perceived as common occurrences on intercollegiate sports teams with relational aggression being the most frequently reported form of bullying. The team captains believed that athletic ability, seniority on the team, age, personality, commitment, and work ethic influenced vulnerability to being bullied and the nature of the responses to bullying behaviors. Bullying behaviors were commonly accepted as part of the sport culture because of traditions and the competition and aggression inherent in sport. Recommendations are posed for exploring bullying experiences with respect to gender differences, single-gender versus mixed gender teams, and various social positions on teams.
Association of a single nucleotide polymorphism in neuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha 5 (CHRNA5) with smoking status and with ‘pleasurable buzz’ during early experimentation with smoking

Aims To extend the previously identified association between a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in neuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha-5 (CHRNA5) and nicotine dependence to current smoking and initial smoking-experience phenotypes. Design, setting, participants Case–control association study with a community-based sample, comprising 363 Caucasians and 72 African Americans (203 cases, 232 controls). Measurements Cases had smoked ≥ five cigarettes/day for ≥ 5 years and had smoked at their current rate for the past 6 months. Controls had smoked between one and 100 cigarettes in their life-time, but never regularly. Participants also rated, retrospectively, pleasurable and displeasurable sensations experienced when they first smoked. We tested for associations between smoking phenotypes and the top 25 SNPs tested for association with nicotine dependence in a previous study. Findings A non-synonymous coding SNP in CHRNA5, rs16969968, was associated with case status [odds ratio (OR) = 1.5, P = 0.01] and, in Caucasians, with experiencing a pleasurable rush or buzz during the first cigarette (OR = 1.6, P = 0.01); these sensations were associated highly with current smoking (OR = 8.2, P = 0.0001). Conclusions We replicated the observation that the minor allele of rs16969968 affects smoking behavior, and extended these findings to sensitivity to smoking effects upon experimentation. While the ability to test genetic associations was limited by sample size, the polymorphism in the CHRNA5 subunit was shown to be associated significantly with enhanced pleasurable responses to initial cigarettes in regular smokers in an a priori test. The findings suggest that phenotypes related to subjective experiences upon smoking experimentation may mediate the development of nicotine dependence.
Face-to-BMI: Using Computer Vision to Infer Body Mass Index on Social Media

A person's weight status can have profound implications on their life, ranging from mental health, to longevity, to financial income. At the societal level, "fat shaming'" and other forms of "sizeism'' are a growing concern, while increasing obesity rates are linked to ever raising healthcare costs. For these reasons, researchers from a variety of backgrounds are interested in studying obesity from all angles. To obtain data, traditionally, a person would have to accurately self-report their body-mass index (BMI) or would have to see a doctor to have it measured. In this paper, we show how computer vision can be used to infer a person's BMI from social media images. We hope that our tool, which we release, helps to advance the study of social aspects related to body weight.
Vocational Anticipatory Socialization

Framed by social cognitive career theory, this study identified college students’ perceptions of the most influential sources and content of encouraging/discouraging career messages (vocational anticipatory socialization [VAS]). A survey of 873 university students found that mothers, followed by teachers/professors, friends, and fathers, were perceived to be the most influential encouraging VAS sources. However, first-generation college students were more likely to identify teachers/professors as their most influential VAS source. Friends were identified as most influential source of discouraging messages. The most frequently identified VAS messages gave career details. Mothers were most often described as conveying messages telling their children to pursue a passion for their career, while teachers/professors were frequently reported as providing career detail messages. Based on the VAS messages reported, we speculate that some VAS messages help students overcome perceived barriers by boosting self-efficacy and outcome expectations, confirming students’ individual skills and helping students envision themselves in particular career settings.
Comparison of blood profiles between healthy and Brucella affected cattle.

Aim: The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the blood biochemical metabolites of crossbred cattle suffering from brucellosis, in Khetri region of Kamrup District of Assam, India. Materials and Methods: Blood was collected by venipuncture from the jugular vein using 18 gauge hypodermic needle fitted to a Vacutainer-Leur adapter and evacuated tubes. Samples were screened for Brucella by rose Bengal plate test using plate test antigen. The study consisted of two groups. Group I consisted of healthy crossbred cows and Group II consisted of crossbred cows affected with brucellosis. Blood metabolites were estimated by spectrophotometric methods. Results: Out of 14 serum samples, 8 samples were positive for Brucella and remaining 6 were found to be negative. It was observed that serum albumin and urea of the affected cattle showed a significant decrease (p<0.05), but serum globulin, cholesterol, triglyceride, aspartate transaminase, and alanine transaminase activities were significantly increased (p<0.05) in comparison to the healthy cattle. Glucose, protein, albumin: globulin ratio, blood urea nitrogen did not show much variation between the Brucellosis affected and healthy cattle. Conclusion: Results obtained showed that brucellosis have a harmful effect on the animals health as they disturb the vital organs functions, which appear in the form of changes in blood biochemical parameters.
A quality driven framework for adaptive video streaming in mobile wireless networks

The concern over the quality of delivering video streaming services in mobile wireless networks is addressed in this work. A framework that enhances the Quality of Experience (QoE) of end users through a quality driven resource allocation scheme is proposed. To play a key role, an objective no-reference quality metric, Pause Intensity (PI), is adopted to derive a resource allocation algorithm for video streaming. The framework is examined in the context of 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems. The requirements and structure of the proposed PI-based framework are discussed, and results are compared with existing scheduling methods on fairness, efficiency and correlation (between the required and allocated data rates). Furthermore, it is shown that the proposed framework can produce a trade-off between the three parameters through the QoE-aware resource allocation process.
On the desmitracheate “micronetine” genus Nippononeta Eskov, 1992 (Araneae, Linyphiidae)

Abstract The desmitracheate system in a “micronetine” genus Nippononeta Eskov, 1992 is recognized for the first time in the present study. This makes the subfamilial placement of this genus problematic. A morphological study was conducted for Nippononeta kurilensis Eskov, 1992 (the type species of Nippononeta) and Nippononeta coreana (Paik, 1991). Characters of genitalia and tracheal system, as well as some somatic characters were studied in detail by using scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and compared with those of Agyneta. Updated descriptions of the genus Nippononeta and its two species are presented. Putative synapomorphies for Nippononeta and Agyneta are provided, as well as some putative synapomorphies shared by the two genera. The results imply that both scaped epigynum and desmitracheate tracheal system are probably homoplastic. The placement of Nippononeta and Agyneta within Linyphiidae need to be resolved in future studies.
Measuring Semantic Label Quality Using WordNet

The automatic determination of defects in business process model and the assurance of a high quality standard are crucial to achieve easy to read and understandable models. Recent research has focused its efforts on the analysis of structural properties of business process models. This paper instead wants to focus on the labels and their impact on the understandability and integratability of process models. Metrics which can help in identifying process model labels that could lead to misunderstandings are discussed and a way to automatically detect labels with a high chance of ambiguity is presented. Therefor the lexical database WordNet is used to obtain information about the specificity and possible synonyms of a word. The derived measures were then applied to the SAP Reference Model and the most interesting findings are presented.