Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Project-Out Cascaded Regression with an application to face alignment

Cascaded regression approaches have been recently shown to achieve state-of-the-art performance for many computer vision tasks. Beyond its connection to boosting, cascaded regression has been interpreted as a learning-based approach to iterative optimization methods like the Newton's method. However, in prior work, the connection to optimization theory is limited only in learning a mapping from image features to problem parameters. In this paper, we consider the problem of facial deformable model fitting using cascaded regression and make the following contributions: (a) We propose regression to learn a sequence of averaged Jacobian and Hessian matrices from data, and from them descent directions in a fashion inspired by Gauss-Newton optimization. (b) We show that the optimization problem in hand has structure and devise a learning strategy for a cascaded regression approach that takes the problem structure into account. By doing so, the proposed method learns and employs a sequence of averaged Jacobians and descent directions in a subspace orthogonal to the facial appearance variation; hence, we call it Project-Out Cascaded Regression (PO-CR). (c) Based on the principles of PO-CR, we built a face alignment system that produces remarkably accurate results on the challenging iBUG data set outperforming previously proposed systems by a large margin. Code for our system is available from http://www.cs. nott.ac. uk/~yzt/.
The European Family and Economy: Central Themes and Issues

This article explores ways in which recent work on the European peasant household by economic historians, demographers, anthropologists, sociologists and women's historians fits together. The main underlying thread is the interworking of economic factors with various aspects of family structure and household strategies. It examines the effects of institutional and economic factors on family structure. It then examines the effects of family structure on inheritance strategies, demographic strategies, and economic strategies within the household. It traces the growth of protoindustrialization theory and evaluates its utility in a revised form. It explores the effects of the protoindustrial household on the broader economy and on family power and affective relationships such as patriarchy, gender roles, attitudes toward children, and sibling relationships.
Implications of cytogenetics for venous thromboembolism in acute myeloid leukaemia

Summary Due to the high risk of thrombocytopenia and haemorrhage, thrombotic complications have received little attention in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Furthermore, the predictive role of cytogenetics on venous thromboembolism (VTE) has largely been ignored. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence, risk factors, and prognostic aspects of VTE in AML. A total of 811 consecutive patients with AML were enrolled and analysed retrospectively. Cox time-dependent covariate regression analysis was used to identify the significant predictors of VTE development. To minimise potential confounding factors, we used propensity-score matching to compare overall survival between patients with and without VTE. The six-month and one-year cumulative incidences of VTE were 3.1 % (95 % confidence interval [CI], 2.0–4.7) and 3.9 % (95 % CI, 2.6–5.7), respectively. Of the 26 cases of VTE, 22 (85 %) developed within 6 months of leukemia diagnosis and 13 (50 %) were catheter-related. In multivariate analysis, advanced age (≥ 65 years) (hazard ratio [HR], 2.70; p = 0.03) and increasing cytogenetic risk (common HR, 1.84; p = 0.05) were independent predictors of VTE. There was no significant association between VTE development and decreased survival (p = 0.32 for matched analysis). Advanced age and increasing cytogenetic risk, well-known predictors for clinical outcome in AML, were also independent risk factors of VTE development. Our results suggest that VTE does not hold prognostic implications for AML.
Cytotoxicity and Apoptotic Activity of Ficus pseudopalma Blanco Leaf Extracts Against Human Prostate Cancer Cell Lines

Purpose: To investigate the cytotoxic and apoptotic activities of Ficus pseudopalma (FP) Blanco leaf extracts against normal human FSE cells and human prostate PRST2 cancer cell line. Methods: FP leaves were extracted with 95 % ethanol, and partitioned with chloroform, ethylacetate, and water. The presence of terpenoid lupeol and flavonoid quercetin was determined through high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of different concentrations of FP extracts on PRST2 cells and on non-cancerous human foreskin surface epithelial (hFSE) cells were determined by 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, tryphan blue exclusion assay, Live/Dead viability assay and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) assay. Results: Ethylacetate, chloroform, and crude ethanol extracts were significantly cytotoxic to PRST2 cell lines (p < 0.001) in a concentration-dependent manner with a 50 % cell growth inhibitory concentration of 4.16, 4.83 and 44.53 µg/mL, respectively. A significant decrease in the viability of PRST2-treated cells (p < 0.001) in a concentration-dependent manner was observed in the tryphan blue exclusion assay and in the Live/Dead® viability assay. Using APO-BrdU TUNEL assay, apoptotic activities of the extracts increased in a concentration-dependent manner. All the extracts did not show significant cytotoxic effect on hFSE cells (p = 0.064). Conclusion: The cytotoxic and apoptotic activities of FP extracts may be due to the presence of lupeol and quercetin. This study suggests that apoptotic mechanisms may be involved in the growth inhibitory activity of FP leaf extracts against human PRST 2 cell lines.
The role of ICT in student engagement in learning mathematics in a preparatory university program

The steady decline of students’ competency in mathematics has become known as the “Mathematics Problem”. Researchers identified that the level of student engagement is one of the most important factors affecting the academic performance of mathematics students. Strong link between students’ attitudes towards the use of technology for learning mathematics and their achievements also has been identified by recent studies. The mathematical problems have a multidimensional source and are initiated from the students’ personal characteristics and attitudes. Thus attitude is important educational concept about learning mathematics with technology. The association between student engagement and the use of ICT suggests that a positive attitude toward the use of ICT in learning mathematics is an important outcome in itself, especially when ICT is used. Student engagement can be influenced by a plethora of factors. These factors include student personal characteristics, learning experiences, perceptions, three aspects of engagement (cognitive, affective and behavioural) and attitudes towards the use of technology in learning of mathematics. This study is aimed at further investigating the factors that might be affected by the use of ICT with two major purposes: (1) to investigate the complex interrelationships between students’ demographic factors, mathematics confidence, access to technology outside university, confidence with technology, perception towards the use of technology for learning and attitude towards learning mathematics with technology, cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement; and student achievement and (2) to determine if the use of ICT impacts on the level of student engagement and achievements in mathematics.
Is It Not Now?: School Counselors' Training in Tanzania Secondary Schools.

Counseling is currently becoming a necessary service for school learners in the developing world, this is due to fact that, the challenges facing learners in their learning process results into both internalizing and externalizing problems which affect student’s learning in terms of social, psychology and academic. This paper explores the status of school counselor’s training, knowledge and skills in Tanzania secondary schools. It attempt to assess school counselor’s perception towards the existing school counseling services and the degree of readiness to attend a counseling training in order to improve their counseling skills. The sample for the study included 62 school counselors from 16 secondary schools in Dar es salaam and the data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. The findings indicate that, there is less training among school counselors in the studied secondary schools. It was also noted that, though some school counselors attended some trainings, their knowledge, skills and awareness to school counseling principles is very limited. However, school counselors’ perception towards counseling services in schools is good and their degree of readiness to attend counseling training is positive (M=1.39, SD= 0.554). It was therefore concluded that school counseling services need to be enhanced through provision of school counseling trainings to teachers who are appointed to serve as school counselors in various secondary schools. With the support from these findings, it is recommended that, seminars and workshops for raising awareness as well as long term trainings are important in order to make school counseling services effective. Therefore, future research can also observe the extent to which the counseling component is taught in teacher colleges and universities so as to test the rationale for appointing teachers to work as school counselors even without any specified training on counseling. Key words: School counselor, Training, Perception, Knowledge
Mutant Analysis Reveals a Specific Requirement for Protein P30 in Mycoplasma pneumoniae Gliding Motility

ABSTRACT The cell-wall-less prokaryote Mycoplasma pneumoniae, long considered among the smallest and simplest cells capable of self-replication, has a distinct cellular polarity characterized by the presence of a differentiated terminal organelle which functions in adherence to human respiratory epithelium, gliding motility, and cell division. Characterization of hemadsorption (HA)-negative mutants has resulted in identification of several terminal organelle proteins, including P30, the loss of which results in developmental defects and decreased adherence to host cells, but their impact on M. pneumoniae gliding has not been investigated. Here we examined the contribution of P30 to gliding motility on the basis of satellite growth and cell gliding velocity and frequency. M. pneumoniae HA mutant II-3 lacking P30 was nonmotile, but HA mutant II-7 producing a truncated P30 was motile, albeit at a velocity 50-fold less than that of the wild type. HA-positive revertant II-3R producing an altered P30 was unexpectedly not fully wild type with respect to gliding. Complementation of mutant II-3 with recombinant wild-type and mutant alleles confirmed the correlation between gliding defect and loss or alteration in P30. Surprisingly, fusion of yellow fluorescent protein to the C terminus of P30 had little impact on cell gliding velocity and significantly enhanced HA. Finally, while quantitative examination of HA revealed clear distinctions among these mutant strains, gliding defects did not correlate strictly with the HA phenotype, and all strains attached to glass at wild-type levels. Taken together, these findings suggest a role for P30 in gliding motility that is distinct from its requirement in adherence.
Removal of dark compounds from fruit juices by membrane separation

The objective of this work is to carry out de-coloration of browned apple and grape juice by physical separation of melanoidins with combined use of ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes. Proposed actions were focused to reduce decoloration agents addition to juice, in accordance with current trends in food processing. Concentrated samples of apple and grape juices were stored at relatively high temperature (53 °C) until considerable browning level was obtained. Decoloration of browned juices by ultra (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) were performed with a cross-flow membrane filtration unit, using thin-film composite based in polyamide membranes, with cutoff in the range 150-450 Da; and cellulose acetate or polyvinylidene fluoride membranes, in the range 2-30 kDa. The following parameters were analyzed in permeates and compared with the non-browned clarified juice sample: Soluble sugars; pH; absorbance at 420 nm; soluble solids concentration (°Brix); and tristimulus color parameters, L, a, b and ∆E. Results indicated that after filtration with NF membranes (Cutoff < 2,000 Da), browned apple juice color was reduced to a level close to that of a fresh clarified juice. Although changes in pH of permeates were not observed, reduction in °Brix occurred after nanofiltration. Contrarily, color recovering by NF resulted unviable for highly colored grape juices and traditional active carbon discoloration should be used. Moreover, from a practical point of view, soluble solids concentration reduction after NF must be carefully taking into account, since additional concentration step may be required.
Ross River Virus Glycoprotein-Pseudotyped Retroviruses and Stable Cell Lines for Their Production

ABSTRACT Pseudotyped retroviruses have important applications as vectors for gene transfer and gene therapy and as tools for the study of viral glycoprotein function. Recombinant Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MuLV)-based retrovirus particles efficiently incorporate the glycoproteins of the alphavirus Ross River virus (RRV) and utilize them for entry into cells. Stable cell lines that produce the RRV glycoprotein-pseudotyped retroviruses for prolonged periods of time have been constructed. The pseudotyped viruses have a broadened host range, can be concentrated to high titer, and mediate stable transduction of genes into cells. The RRV glycoprotein-pseudotyped retroviruses and the cells that produce them have been employed to demonstrate that RRV glycoprotein-mediated viral entry occurs through endocytosis and that membrane fusion requires acidic pH. Alphavirus glycoprotein-pseudotyped retroviruses have significant advantages as reagents for the study of the biochemistry and prevention of alphavirus entry and as preferred vectors for stable gene transfer and gene therapy protocols.
An Analysis of the MAX Problem in Genetic Programming

We present a detailed analysis of the evolution of genetic programming (GP) populations using the problem of finding a program which returns the maximum possible value for a given terminal and function set and a depth limit on the program tree (known as the MAX problem). We confirm the basic message of [Gathercole and Ross, 1996] that crossover together with program size restrictions can be responsible for premature convergence to a suboptimal solution. We show that this can happen even when the population retains a high level of variety and show that in many cases evolution from the sub-optimal solution to the solution is possible if sucient time is allowed. In both cases theoretical models are presented and compared with actual runs. Price’s Covariance and Selection Theorem is experimentally tested on GP populations. It is shown to hold only in some cases, in others program size restrictions cause important deviation from its predictions.
A Practicum Turn in Teacher Education

Title: A Practicum Turn in Teacher Education Editors: Matts Mattsson, Tor Vidar Eilertsen and Doreen Rorrison Publisher: Sense Year: 2011 Price: $ 54.00 Paperback $ 99.00 Hardback ISBN-Paperback: 9789460917097 ISBN-Hardback: 9789460917783 Reviewed by: David Barlex
Spectroscopic Terahertz Imaging at Room Temperature Employing Microbolometer Terahertz Sensors and Its Application to the Study of Carcinoma Tissues

A terahertz (THz) imaging system based on narrow band microbolometer sensors (NBMS) and a novel diffractive lens was developed for spectroscopic microscopy applications. The frequency response characteristics of the THz antenna-coupled NBMS were determined employing Fourier transform spectroscopy. The NBMS was found to be a very sensitive frequency selective sensor which was used to develop a compact all-electronic system for multispectral THz measurements. This system was successfully applied for principal components analysis of optically opaque packed samples. A thin diffractive lens with a numerical aperture of 0.62 was proposed for the reduction of system dimensions. The THz imaging system enhanced with novel optics was used to image for the first time non-neoplastic and neoplastic human colon tissues with close to wavelength-limited spatial resolution at 584 GHz frequency. The results demonstrated the new potential of compact RT THz imaging systems in the fields of spectroscopic analysis of materials and medical diagnostics.
Revising disrupted impressions through conversation

This study examined how a negative revelation (e.g., discovering a previously unknown stigma) disrupts dyads' shared impressions of another person; dyads attempt to revise impressions by focusing on negative, stigma-congruent information. Because some individual social cognitive processes have dyad-level analogues (e.g., transactive memory), it was proposed that the time dyads allocate to discussing certain information mimics individual attentional processes; measures of convasation content similarly should mimic measures of individual thought processes. In 2 experiments, dyads' impressions either were disrupted or not disrupted by a stigma revelation
Pengaruh Viral Marketing Terhadap Kepercayaan Pelanggan Dan Keputusan Pembelian (Studi Pada Mahasiswa Fakultas Ilmu Administrasi Universitas Brawijaya Angkatan 2013 Yang Melakukan Pembelian Online Melalui Media Sosial Instagram)

Reasearch aims at understanding the influence of Viral Marketing either simultaneously or directly on Customer Trust and Purchase Decision. This type of research is explanatory research with accidental sampling. Data collection technique is questionnaire given to student of Faculty of Administration Science, University of Brawijaya, Class of 2013, who make online purchase through social media on Instagram. There are 116 respondents included. Data analysis technique is descriptive statistic analysis, inferential statistic analysis and path analysis. Based on the result of examination with path analysis, it is recognized that the influence of Viral Marketing on Customer Trust is direct, significant and positive. It is proved by path coefficient rate of 0,763 at probability t of 0.000 (0.000 < 0.05). Customer Trust has direct to words Purchase Decision and positive influence with path coefficient rate of 0.401 at probability t of 0.001 (0.001 < 0.05). Viral Marketing has direct influence to words Purchase Decision 0.247 at probability t of 0.034 (0.034 < 0.05). Indirectly, the influence of Viral Marketing on Purchase Decision through Customer Trust is 0.307. Keywords: Viral Marketing, Customer Trust, and, Purchase Decision Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh Viral Marketing baik secara bersama-sama maupun secara langsung terhadap Kepercayaan Pelanggan dan Keputusan Pembelian Jenis penelitian yang digunakan adalah penelitian eksplanatory research dengan tenik sampel menggunakan accidental sampling . Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah kuesioner yang disebarkan kepada mahasiswa Fakultas llmu Administrasi Univesitas Brawijaya Angkatan 2013 yang melakukan pembelian online melalui media sosial Instagram sebanyak 116 orang responden. Teknik analisis data yang digunakan yaitu analisis statistik deskriptif, analisis jalur ( path analysis ). Berdasarkan hasil pengujian yang dilakukan dengan analisis jalur ( path analysis ) dapat diketahui bahwa pengaruh Viral Marketing terhadap Kepercayaan Pelanggan secara langsung adalah signifikan dan bernilai positif dengan nilai koefesien path sebesar 0,763 dengan probabilitas t sebesar 0,000 (0,000 < 0,05). Kepercayaan Pelanggan memiliki pengaruh secara langsung terhadap Keputusan Pembelian dan bernilai positif dengan nilai koefesien path sebesar 0,401 dengan probabilitas t sebesar 0,001 (0,001<0,05). Viral Marketing memiliki pengaruh secara langsung terhadap Keputusan Pembelian sebesar 0,247 dengan nilai probabilitas t sebesar 0,034 (0,034<0,05). Secara tidak langsung pengaruh Viral Marketing terhadap Keputusan Pembelian melalui Kepercayaan Pelanggan adalah sebesar 0,307. Kata Kunci: Viral Marketing, Kepercayaan Pelanggan dan Keputusan Pembelian
Multifunctional Polymeric Micelles Co-loaded with Anti–Survivin siRNA and Paclitaxel Overcome Drug Resistance in an Animal Model of Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is a dreadful disease estimated to be the second most common gynecologic malignancy worldwide. Its current therapy, based on cytoreductive surgery followed by the combination of platinum and taxanes, is frequently complicated by the onset of multidrug resistance (MDR). The discovery that survivin, a small antiapoptotic protein, is involved in chemoresistance provided a new prospect to overcome MDR in cancer, because siRNA could be used to inhibit the expression of survivin in cancer cells. With this in mind, we have developed self-assembly polymeric micelles (PM) able to efficiently co-load an anti–survivin siRNA and a chemotherapeutic agent, such as paclitaxel (PXL; survivin siRNA/PXL PM). Previously, we have successfully demonstrated that the downregulation of survivin by using siRNA-containing PM strongly sensitizes different cancer cells to paclitaxel. Here, we have evaluated the applicability of the developed multifunctional PM in vivo. Changes in survivin expression, therapeutic efficacy, and biologic effects of the nanopreparation were investigated in an animal model of paclitaxel-resistant ovarian cancer. The results obtained in mice xenografed with SKOV3-tr revealed a significant downregulation of survivin expression in tumor tissues together with a potent anticancer activity of survivin siRNA/PXL PM, while the tumors remained unaffected with the same quantity of free paclitaxel. These promising results introduce a novel type of nontoxic and easy-to-obtain nanodevice for the combined therapy of siRNA and anticancer agents in the treatment of chemoresistant tumors. Mol Cancer Ther; 14(4); 1075–84. ©2015 AACR.
In retreat from nature? Successes and concerns in Darwinian approaches to facial attractiveness

Abstract The application of evolutionary biological theory to attractiveness judgments of our own species has revolutionized our understanding of a perenially fascinating phenomenon — the perception of beauty. In this review paper, I hope to briefly discuss how an evolutionary approach has added to our understanding of the psychology of human facial attractiveness judgements. I will also raise some theoretical and methodological concerns, and outline what I feel are the most important outstanding questions in the area.
Consensus in discrete-time nonlinearly coupled networks

We consider consensus algorithms for multi-agent networks with discrete-time linear identical MIMO agents. The agents may be of arbitrary order, the interaction topology may be time-varying and the couplings may be nonlinear and uncertain, however assumed to satisfy a slope restriction or, more generally, quadratic constraint. Using the discrete-time version of the KYP Lemma (referred to as the Kalman-Szeg¨o Lemma), we derive a criterion which provide consensus in such a network for any uncertain couplings from the mentioned class. This criterion is close in spirit to the celebrated Tsypkin criterion for discrete time Lurie system.