Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Forest Extension of Error Correcting Output Codes and Boosted Landmarks

In this paper, we introduce a robust novel approach for detecting objects category in cluttered scenes by generating boosted contextual descriptors of landmarks. In particular, our method avoids the need of image segmentation, being at the same time invariant to scale, global illumination, occlusions and to small affine transformations. Once detected the object category, we address the problem of multiclass recognition where a battery of classifiers is trained able to capture the shared properties between the object descriptors across classes. A natural way to address the multiclass problem is using the error correcting output codes technique. We extend the ECOC technique proposing a methodology to construct a forest of decision trees that are included in the ECOC framework. We present very promising results on standard databases: UCI database and Caltech database as well as in a real image problem
Comparison of bevacizumab plus chemotherapy with chemotherapy alone in advanced non-small-lung cancer patients

Bevacizumab plus chemotherapy was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a first-line treatment for advanced nonsquamous, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in 2006. This study retrospectively compared the efficacy of bevacizumab plus chemotherapy with chemotherapy alone as the first-line and second-line treatment as well as the maintenance treatment for advanced NSCLC patients. A total of 1,352 patients were included and we analyzed the efficacy evaluation according to the criteria of the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST), survival, and adverse reactions. The data showed that for bevacizumab plus chemotherapy as the first-line treatment, the median progression-free survival (mPFS) and median overall survival (mOS) were 11.5 and 17.0 months, respectively, compared to 7.0 and 14 months, respectively, in patients who received chemotherapy alone (P<0.01). With bevacizumab plus chemotherapy as maintenance treatment, the mPFS and mOS were 6.0 and 17.4 months, respectively, compared to 3.0 and 15.0 months, respectively, with chemotherapy alone (P<0.01). With bevacizumab plus chemotherapy as the second-line treatment, the mPFS was 3.0 months compared to only 2.0 months with chemotherapy alone (P<0.01). The overall responses to the different regimens showed that the remission rate with bevacizumab plus chemotherapy was higher than that with chemotherapy alone (31.8% vs 25.5%, P<0.05), although there was no statistical difference in the disease control rate with either first- or second-line treatment. In conclusion, chemotherapy plus bevacizumab as the first-line and maintenance treatment, led to better curative rates and tolerable adverse reactions compared with chemotherapy alone in advanced NSCLC patients. Bevacizumab combined with cytotoxic drugs was suitable as the second-line treatment for such patients.
Maternal Style and Children's Participation in Reminiscing: Stepping Stones in Children's Autobiographical Memory Development

In this study we investigated maternal and child factors in children's autobiographical memory development. Fifty-eight mother-child dyads discussed unique past events when the children were 19, 25, 32, and 40 months old. In addition, children participated in experimenter-child interviews about unique events when they were 25, 32, and 40 months old. The developmental progression to children's independent verbal memory begins with children's early interest in participating in the conversations and maternal reminiscing style, which together elicit children's later shared memory elaborations. Subsequently, children's shared memory elaborations and maternal reminiscing style both contribute to children's later independent memory at approximately 3 1/2 years of age. We address the idea that autobiographical memory development is essentially a collaborative process, with children significantly contributing to the development of their own reminiscing style from its inception.
Night Moves: A Qualitative Investigation of Street-Level Sex Work

The subculture of street-level sex work including the social environment, drug use and abuse, and violence was examined. Personal interviews were conducted with 43 women involved in streetwalking prostitution. Data were analyzed using Phenomenological Descriptive Analysis (Colaizzi, 1978). Several participants reported developing emotional relationships and having children with clients, former clients, or pimps; some participants were married to men who pimped them. Supportive relationships with other streetwalkers were largely nonexistent; streetwalking constitutes a solitary business for most. The majority reported drug addiction, although less than half entered prostitution to support an already established drug habit. Financial need propelled many into the streets. Victimization and subjection to multiple forms of abuse were commonly reported but did not constitute justification for leaving the streets. Implications of this investigation are discussed.
Neighborhoods of Affinity

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Planners have traditionally focused on how the physical characteristics of neighborhoods influence people's activity and travel -patterns, overlooking an equally important factor: the social nature of neighborhoods. We focus on one kind of neighborhood characterized by strong social ties: gay and lesbian -neighborhoods of affinity. Gay men living in a neighborhood of affinity—those with a high percentage of coupled gays and lesbians—take shorter work and non-work trips. The mix of local activity sites and social connections results in some gay men conducting a substantial share of their lives within these neighborhoods and nearby. These results are independent of the design or density of the neighborhood. We do not, however, find similar results for lesbians, perhaps because they have less residential mobility. Takeaway for practice: Gay and lesbian neighborhoods of affinity represent the kinds of supportive communities where local travel is possible for many activities, behavior that planners seek with so many public policies. Planners must explore how the social and physical environments of neighborhoods interact with one another when they focus on the impacts of physical design and infrastructure on community outcomes. Research support: None.
Consumer Response to Ads in Social Network Sites: An Exploration into the Role of Ad Location and Path

ABSTRACT Past research repeatedly suggests that consumers' defensive response to persuasive attempts is a key challenge for advertisers. Given the explosive growth of social media, this study aims to understand whether consumer response to ads placed in a social network site (SNS) could be influenced by ad location and the path through which the ad is delivered. Findings from this experiment suggest that consumers' attention to ads in SNSs is remarkably low. Furthermore, the interaction between ad location and the path significantly influences consumers' attitudes toward the ad, attitudes toward the brand, and purchase intention. Specifically, it appears that an ad placed inside users' timeline and sent through via known others, the indirect path, yielded favorable consumer response. On the other hand, consumers responded more favorably to an ad sent by the unfamiliar advertiser, the direct path, than to an ad sent by known others if the ad is placed outside the user's timeline. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.
Fluted Projectile Points: Their Age and Dispersion

The stratigraphic record shows Clovis projectile points to be restricted to sediments between 11,000 and 11,500 years old. Underlying deposits dating back 11,600 to 13,000 years are without evidence of human occupation. In the High Plains, overlying deposits dating back 10,000 to 11,000 years contain Folsom and Hell Gap artifacts and are without mammoth remains. The glacial history of Alaska, Canada, and the Great Lakes region indicates that, for the first time in at least 15,000 years, an ice-free, trans-Canadian corridor opened up approximately 12,000 years ago. Since Clovis points are distributed from coast to coast south of the Valders ice border, the abrupt appearance of Clovis artifacts in the stratigraphic record of the High Plains some 700 years later suggests that Clovis progenitors passed through Canada during Two Creeks time. If eastern fluted points (for example, Enterline) are older than Clovis points, the difference may be on the order of only a hundred or so years, not thousands. The change from Clovis points to Folsom points in the High Plains may be related to a marked decline in the mammoth population after 11,000 years ago, but whether or not man was a prime factor in the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna is a moot question. On the basis of new data and critical geological evaluation of dates obtained by the radiocarbon method a hypothesis has been offered to explain (i) the abrupt appearance of Clovis points in the stratigraphic record of the United States around 11,500 years ago, and (ii) the lack of a cultural continuum in the United States leading to fluted projectile points. Llano hunters, like the game they pursued, may have persisted longer in some areas of the continent (for example, Bull Brook) than in others, but if a Clovis site can be found for which good stratigraphic evidence supports a date earlier than the Two Creeks interstade, then correlation of this event to the opening of the trans-Canadian ice-free corridor is incorrect (see 41a). Such a misinterpretation of timing would not affect the explanation for the lack of Clovis progenitors in the United States. We must continue to look for an indigenous cultural continuum leading to Clovis points, but if such cannot be demonstrated in the conterminous United States, then it would appear that fluted projectile points were developed elsewhere. Clovis progenitors might best be sought in northern Alaska or the Mackenzie Valley. The interpretations offered here are based on new data and critical geological evaluation of dates previously obtained by the radiocarbon method. How valid these interpretations are can be ascertained only through careful scrutiny of all man-mammoth associations found in the future, to assure precise relating of dates, fossils, and artifacts to the stratigraphic framework. We must pay closer attention to stratigraphic detail if we are to make the fullest use of radiocarbon dating.
An Analysis of the Prosecution of Shoplifters

This article examines the decisions to prosecute shoplifters by Canadian retail investigators. A hypothetical case method that permits a statistical simulation of an experimental design is used. The findings support recent research which indicates that both the value of the item and the age of the suspect are the most important predictors of investigators' decisions to prosecute. In addition, our results identify admission of the offense and the suspect's appearance as important predictors of these decisions. In general, characteristics of the offense rather than of the offender are found to be most important factors in the decision-making process. Further, the results support the argument that investigators' decisions tend to maximize company profit. How-ever, profit maximization is revealed as an unintended conse-quence of these decisions.
Effects of a prolonged 3-hour sleep-wake cycle on sleep stages, plasma cortisol, growth hormone and body temperature in man.

ABSTRACT After 1 week of a normal control (baseline) period, 7 healthy young adult subjects were subjected to a 3-hr sleep-wake schedule, (ultradian) which was adhered to for 10 days. They were allowed eight 1 hr sleep times, equally spaced throughout each 24 hr period. They were then allowed a normal nocturnal 8-hr sleep time for 7 days. During all lights-out sleep periods, poly-graphic definition of sleep stages and waking time was made. On the sixth 24-hr period of the first week (baseline) and on the eighth 24-hr period of the ultradian period, sequential 20-min plasma samples were obtained by means of an indwelling intravenous catheter. Rectal temperature was obtained at regularly spaced frequent intervals. Despite significant sleep deprivation, a circadian pattern of total sleep time persisted throughout the 10-day ultradian condition. The distribution and amount of REM sleep time was most affected with stages 3–4 sleep least affected. The time of maximum sleep was delayed by approximately 6 hr. The.
A discourse-pragmatic explanation for argument representation in child Inuktitut

Abstract This paper assesses discourse pragmatics as a potential explanation for the production and omission of arguments in early child language. It employs a set of features that characterize typical situations of informativeness (Greenfield and Smith 1976; Clancy 1993, 1997) to examine argument status in data from four children aged 2;0 through 3;6 learning Inuktitut as a first language. Results based on logistic regression analyses suggest that a discourse-pragmatics account of argument representation has good explanatory adequacy, and that several of the features characterizing informativeness are good indicators of those arguments that tend to be overtly produced rather than omitted in early child language.
Coding SNPs analysis highlights genetic relationships and evolution pattern in eggplant complexes

Brinjal (Solanum melongena), scarlet (S. aethiopicum) and gboma (S. macrocarpon) eggplants are three Old World domesticates. The genomic DNA of a collection of accessions belonging to the three cultivated species, along with a representation of various wild relatives, was characterized for the presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using a genotype-by-sequencing approach. A total of 210 million useful reads were produced and were successfully aligned to the reference eggplant genome sequence. Out of the 75,399 polymorphic sites identified among the 76 entries in study, 12,859 were associated with coding sequence. A genetic relationships analysis, supported by the output of the FastSTRUCTURE software, identified four major sub-groups as present in the germplasm panel. The first of these clustered S. aethiopicum with its wild ancestor S. anguivi; the second, S. melongena, its wild progenitor S. insanum, and its relatives S. incanum, S. lichtensteinii and S. linneanum; the third, S. macrocarpon and its wild ancestor S. dasyphyllum; and the fourth, the New World species S. sisymbriifolium, S. torvum and S. elaeagnifolium. By applying a hierarchical FastSTRUCTURE analysis on partitioned data, it was also possible to resolve the ambiguous membership of the accessions of S. campylacanthum, S. violaceum, S. lidii, S. vespertilio and S. tomentsum, as well as to genetically differentiate the three species of New World Origin. A principal coordinates analysis performed both on the entire germplasm panel and also separately on the entries belonging to sub-groups revealed a clear separation among species, although not between each of the domesticates and their respective wild ancestors. There was no clear differentiation between either distinct cultivar groups or different geographical provenance. Adopting various approaches to analyze SNP variation provided support for interpretation of results. The genotyping-by-sequencing approach showed to be highly efficient for both quantifying genetic diversity and establishing genetic relationships among and within cultivated eggplants and their wild relatives. The relevance of these results to the evolution of eggplants, as well as to their genetic improvement, is discussed.
Exploring the 'Nothing to Hide' Paradox: Estonian Teens’ Experiences and Perceptions About Privacy Online

The aim of the current study was to explore the reasons why Estonian teenagers tend to over-share their private and intimate information on social media, especially on Facebook. Two focus-group interviews were carried out with 16-20 year old high school students (N=15), in June 2010, in order to study their experiences and opinions about the perceived audience of their Facebook postings. Adolescents’ perceptions about the reasons for sharing private information in an online setting were also pondered about. The findings of the study indicate that there are three main reasons why young people tend to share private information through social media – lack of skills and knowledge; sharing private things in the hopes of gaining additional popularity and gratification; and carelessness caused by the illusion of online anonymity. Furthermore, the majority of the young involved in the study, had misperceptions about the size of the audience. The findings suggest that while posting one’s messages and photos on Facebook, the imagined audience of the respondents were precisely the couple of people in the friends list who are supposed to understand the message. The young involved in the study confessed having had problems in the past because of miscalculating the actual size and heterogeneity of their audience, from these experiences they have developed a sense of jeopardy. The main groups that are perceived as a danger to teenager’s privacy are mostly those who are positioned as having some power over the young – the police, teachers and parents.
First Cosmic Shear Results from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Wide Synoptic Legacy Survey

We present the first measurements of the weak gravitational lensing signal induced by the large-scale mass distribution in the universe from data obtained as part of the ongoing Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS). The data used in this analysis are from the Wide Synoptic Survey, which aims to image ~170 deg2 in five filters. We have analyzed an effective area of ~22 deg2 (31 pointings) of i′ data spread over two of the three survey fields. These data are of excellent quality, and the results bode well for the remainder of the survey: we do not detect a significant "B" mode, suggesting that residual systematics are negligible at the current level of accuracy. Assuming a cold dark matter model and marginalizing over the Hubble parameter h ∈ [0.6, 0.8], the source redshift distribution, and systematics, we constrain σ8, the amplitude of the matter power spectrum. At a fiducial matter density Ωm = 0.3 we find σ8 = 0.85 ± 0.06. This estimate is in excellent agreement with previous studies. A combination of our results with those from the Deep component of the CFHTLS enables us to place a constraint on a constant equation of state for the dark energy, based on cosmic shear data alone. We find that w0 < -0.8 at 68% confidence.
A direct role of Mad1 in the spindle assembly checkpoint beyond Mad2 kinetochore recruitment

The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) ensures accurate chromosome segregation by delaying entry into anaphase until all sister chromatids have become bi‐oriented. A key component of the SAC is the Mad2 protein, which can adopt either an inactive open (O‐Mad2) or active closed (C‐Mad2) conformation. The conversion of O‐Mad2 into C‐Mad2 at unattached kinetochores is thought to be a key step in activating the SAC. The “template model” proposes that this is achieved by the recruitment of soluble O‐Mad2 to C‐Mad2 bound at kinetochores through its interaction with Mad1. Whether Mad1 has additional roles in the SAC beyond recruitment of C‐Mad2 to kinetochores has not yet been addressed. Here, we show that Mad1 is required for mitotic arrest even when C‐Mad2 is artificially recruited to kinetochores, indicating that it has indeed an additional function in promoting the checkpoint. The C‐terminal globular domain of Mad1 and conserved residues in this region are required for this unexpected function of Mad1.
Physiology and pathophysiology of incretins in the kidney

Purpose of review Incretin-based therapy with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors is considered a promising therapeutic option for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Cumulative evidence, mainly from preclinical animal studies, reveals that incretin-based therapies also may elicit beneficial effects on kidney function. This review gives an overview of the physiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology of the renal incretin system. Recent findings Activation of GLP-1R in the kidney leads to diuretic and natriuretic effects, possibly through direct actions on renal tubular cells and sodium transporters. Moreover, there is evidence that incretin-based therapy reduces albuminuria, glomerulosclerosis, oxidative stress, and fibrosis in the kidney, partially through GLP-1R-independent pathways. Molecular mechanisms by which incretins exert their renal effects are understood incompletely, thus further studies are needed. Summary The GLP-1R and DPP-4 are expressed in the kidney in various species. The kidney plays an important role in the excretion of incretin metabolites and most GLP-1R agonists and DPP-4 inhibitors, thus special attention is required when applying incretin-based therapy in renal impairment. Preclinical observations suggest direct renoprotective effects of incretin-based therapies in the setting of hypertension and other disorders of sodium retention, as well as in diabetic and nondiabetic nephropathy. Clinical studies are needed in order to confirm translational relevance from preclinical findings for treatment options of renal diseases.
Morphological analysis of the papillary muscles and the trabeculae

High resolution cardiac CT imaging technology has revealed the complex endocardial structures of the left ventricle, such as the trabeculae and the papillary muscles. In this paper, we study the morphology of such complex structures. We represent the structures accurately and concisely using curve skeletons, and measure these structures using topological and geometrical features. It is observed both qualitatively and quantitatively that structures at different parts of the endocardial surface have different characteristics. This morphological study sheds light on the potential future use of these complex en-docardial structures to study cardiac function and to diagnose cardiac diseases.
Driver assistance via optical information with spatial reference

The occurrence of accidents caused by deficiencies in risk recognition by the driver can be prevented by presenting relevant information in real time to the driver. In this paper it is proposed to draw the driver's attention towards relevant traffic objects, which might be a safety hazard, by a LED strip which is affixed 360° around the interior of the car's cabin. With this approach a higher number of use cases can be covered than with existing HMIs. The effectiveness of this system is evaluated in a driving simulator study with 13 subjects in four critical traffic situations. The gaze attention times are ascertained with eye tracking technology; mental effort and acceptance are determined by questionnaires and the comprehensibility by semi-structured interviews. There are indications of shortened gaze attention times using the LED strip compared to the baseline without driver support. The subjects understand the information submitted mostly intuitively. The acceptance ratings overall are in a positive range, but differ between scenarios.