Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatio-temporal volume-based video event detection

Online and offline video clips provide rich information on dynamic events that occurred over a period of time, for example, human actions, crowd behaviours, and other subject pattern changes. Although substantial progresses have been made in the last 3 decades on 2D image feature processing and their applications in areas such as face matching and objects recognition, video event detection still remains one of the most challenging fields in computer vision study due to the wide range of continuous and non-linear signals engaged by an imaging system, and the inherent semantic difficulties in machine-based understanding of the detected feature patterns. For bridging the gap between the pixel-level image features and the semantic “meanings” of a videoed single human event, this research has investigated the problem domain through employing the 3D Spatio-Temporal Volume (STV) structure and its global feature paradigm for event pattern recognition. The process pipeline follows an improved Pair-wise Region Comparison (I-PWRC) and a region intersection (RI) based 3D template matching approach for detecting and identifying human actions under uncontrolled real-world videoing conditions. To maintain the run-time performance of this innovative system design, this programme has also developed an efficient pre-filtering mechanism to reduce the amount of voxels (volumetric pixels) that need to be processed in each operational cycle. For further improving the system’s adaptability and robustness, several optimisation techniques, such as scale-invariant template matching and event location prediction mechanisms, have also been developed and implemented. The proposed design has been tested on various renowned online computer vision research databases and been benchmarked against other classic implementation strategies and systems. Satisfactory evaluation results have been obtained through statistical analyses on standard test criteria such as "Recall" rate and the processing efficiency.
Efficacy and safety of front-line therapy with fludarabine-cyclophosphamide-rituximab regimen for chronic lymphocytic leukemia outside clinical trials: the Israeli CLL Study Group experience

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the fludarabine-cyclophosphamide-rituximab regimen for young physically fit patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in the “real-life” setting. We specifically focused on the impact of dose reduction on patient outcomes. The patient cohort consisted of 128 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (≤70 years) treated at 10 Israeli centers with front-line fludarabine-cyclophosphamide-rituximab. We defined reduced chemotherapy as two-thirds or less of the total indicated dose. Patients treated with rituximab were divided into two groups and compared: those who received full dosages of 375 mg/m2 or 500 mg/m2, and patients given less than six cycles with either dose. Overall and clinical complete response rates (92.8% and 70.4%), as well as toxicities and overall survival (median not reached at 6 years), were similar to other reported clinical trials, but progression-free survival was shorter (42.5 months). Almost 50% of patients had some dose reduction of chemotherapy, 21% receiving less than two-thirds of the indicated dose, while close to 30% did not complete six cycles of rituximab. Reduced doses of chemotherapy and rituximab were independently associated with shorter progression-free survival (hazard ratio 3.6, P<0.0001 for reduced chemotherapy; hazard ratio 2.5, P=0.003 for incomplete-treatment with rituximab). Achieving a complete response was associated with longer overall survival but was not linked to the given dose of chemoimmunotherapy. In younger physically fit patients, front-line fludarabine-cyclophosphamide-rituximab therapy in the “real-life” setting achieves long remissions (albeit shorter than in clinical trials) and prolonged overall survival. However, dose reductions are commonly administered and may impact outcome.
What Do Corruption Indices Measure?

type="main" xml:id="ecpo12037-abs-0001"> Evidence from the International Crime Victimization Survey and the World Business Environment Survey suggests that actual corruption experience is a weak predictor of reported corruption perception, and that some of the factors commonly found to “reduce” corruption, such as economic development, democratic institutions or Protestant traditions, systematically bias corruption perception indices downward from corruption experience. In addition, perception indices are influenced by absolute (as opposed to relative) levels of corruption, which tends to penalize large countries, and they exhibit diminishing sensitivity to both absolute and relative corruption, indicating that they may better capture differences among countries with low levels of corruption than among highly corrupt ones. Individual characteristics such as education, age, or employment status, and firm-level characteristics such as the number of competitors are also found to influence corruption perceptions holding experience constant.
The Effect of DOCA on Electrolyte Balance in Normal Man and its Relation to Sodium Chloride Intake *

It has been widely accepted that intramuscular administration of synthetic 11-desoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) causes urinary retention of sodium, chloride and water, and loss of potassium both in normal subjects and in those with adrenocortical insufficiency. "'8"' There is, however, a paucity of published information concerning many aspects of this question which have an important bearing on the problem of the adrenocortical regulation of fluid, electrolyte, and nitrogen balance. In an effort to elucidate this problem, detailed balance studies have been conducted on normal young adults who were given 20 to 40 mgm. of DOCA intramuscularly for periods of three to eleven days.
Prediction-error-method-based adaptive feedback cancellation in hearing aids using pitch estimation

Acoustic feedback is a well-known problem in hearing aids, which is caused by the undesired acoustic coupling between the loudspeaker and the microphone. The goal of adaptive feedback cancellation (AFC) is to adaptively model the feedback path and estimate the feedback signal, which is then subtracted from the microphone signal. The main problem in identifying the feedback path model is the correlation between the near-end signal and the loudspeaker signal, which is caused by the closed signal loop. In this paper, a novel prediction-error-method (PEM)-based AFC is presented using a harmonic sinusoidal near-end signal model. Furthermore, the prediction error filter (PEF) is designed to incorporate a variable order and a variable amplitude next to a variable pitch. Simulation results for a hearing aid scenario indicate an improvement up to 6dB in maximum stable gain increase and up to 8dB improvement in terms of misadjustment.
General and Specific Avoidance Coping:The Development and Validation of a New Scale.

The impact of a sustained stress response on psychological and physical health is well established. However, the moderating role in this relationship of coping, and especially maladaptive avoidance coping, has been hampered by psychometric shortcomings in existing coping scales. Some of these shortcomings include generating items based on theory or face-validity alone, the extraction of too many factors, and the absence of confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) evidence for the obtained structure. This thesis describes the development of a new avoidance coping scale, the General and Specific Avoidance Questionnaire (GSAQ), to address these issues in multidimensional avoidance coping scales in particular. In contrast to previous scales, the GSAQ items were derived from a scenario technique which elicits responses from participants' experience. Exploratory factor analysis extracted a three-factor solution comprising General, Emotional, and Conflict Avoidance. The scales showed satisfactory reliability, and the structure was confirmed by CFA in independent English and Spanish samples. Concurrent validation and an exploration of differences between high and low avoiders showed that General Avoidance and Conflict Avoidance related to criterion measures in predictable ways, but Emotional Avoidance showed an unexpected pattern. An analysis of the role of avoidance coping in deliberate self-harm showed no statistically significant effects in a non-clinical university student sample, but the overall trend suggested that self-harmers do, on average, score higher on avoidance coping than non-self-harmers. A subsequent laboratory study introducing research participants to a mild laboratory stressor suggested that individuals who score high on avoidance coping showed greater cardiovascular reactivity compared to low conflict avoiders. The findings reported in this thesis show that the GSAQ is a reliable tool to use for future research on the role of multidimensional avoidance coping in psychological and physical health.
Tartrate‐resistant acid phosphatase 5b is a potential biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis: a pilot study in Han Chinese

Background Bone damage around the joints is one of the major pathophysiological mechanisms that leads to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) chronic disability. Serum tartrate‐resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRACP‐5b) is secreted by osteoclasts, its activity can be used as a clinically relevant bone resorption marker. The aim of this study was to test whether the measurement of serum levels of TRACP‐5b in patients with RA would correlate with measures of disease activity and with responses to therapy. Methods Fifty‐six patients were randomly assigned to receive recombinant human cytotoxic tlymphocyte‐associated antigen‐4 immunoglobulin (RhCTLA4‐Ig), infliximab or methotrexate (MTX). The clinical and serologic indicators of RA activity were evaluated at baseline and at 24 weeks. Serum TRACP‐5b was measured by Enzyme‐linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) at 0, 12 and 24 weeks. Hand X‐rays were obtained at baseline. Results At baseline, the levels of TRACP‐5b correlated with the severity of X‐ray damage, disease duration (r=0.332, P=0.012), and tender joint count (r=0.408, P=0.002). The 24 weeks values of TRACP‐5b for RhCTLA4‐Ig group and infliximab group differed significantly from the baseline values in each group (P <0.05; P <0.05), whereas only the value for RhCTLA4‐Ig group differed significantly from the 24 weeks value for the MTX group (P <0.01). Considering the two biologics‐treated groups together, the TRACP‐5b levels at 24 weeks differed significantly from the baseline values only in those patients who reached an ACR70 level (P <0.05). Conclusions Measurement of serum TRACP‐5b in RA patients reflects clinical and radiological measures of disease activity, treatment with certain biologics, and degree of response to therapy. TRACP‐5b should be investigated further as a potential biomarker to predict response to therapy, including slowing of radiographic progression.
Unilateral Destruction of Dopamine Pathways Increases Ipsilateral Striatal Serotonin Turnover in Rats

In order to evaluate the influence of dopaminergic transmission on regional brain utilization of serotonin (5HT), the effects of the destruction of the ascending dopamine (DA) pathways on regional brain 5HT metabolism in the rat were examined. Complete unilateral lesions of the nigrostriatal DA pathways (> 90% DA loss) were made by infusing the neurotoxin 6-hydroxy-dopamine into either the left medial forebrain bundle (MFB) or the left substantia nigra (SN). At 6 weeks after the lesions, levels of 5HT and its major metabolite, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA), were determined bilaterally in the striatum, frontal cortex, and hypothalamus. In the striatum of the lesioned hemisphere, the 5HT level decreased by more than 50%, while the ratio of 5HIAA:5HT (an index of 5HT turnover) increased by more than 90%. In the same rats, cortical and hypothalamic 5HT, 5HIAA, and 5HT turnover were not changed as a result of the MFB or SN lesions. These results suggest that the loss of DA innervation in the striatum triggers an increase in 5HT turnover and a net depletion of 5HT in the striatum. To verify that the loss of DA was responsible for the observed striatal 5HT changes, we examined the effect of intracerebral implantation of DA-containing pellets into one group of MFB-lesioned rats. The lesioned rats with placebo pellets did not differ from lesioned rats without pellets, whereas the implantation of DA pellets reversed the lesion-induced changes in the 5HT levels and 5HIAA:5HT ratios. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Is every child’s voice heard? Researching the different ways 3-year-old children make meaning at home and in a preschool playgroup

This ESRC-funded study explores how 3-year-old children use a range of ‘voices’ during their first year in pre-school, investigating how they make and express meaning ‘multimodally’ through combinations of talk, body movement, facial expression and gaze in the two different settings of home and playgroup. Using longitudinal ethnographic video case studies of four children, two boys and two girls, the study identifies patterns in the children’s uses of different communicative strategies that relate to the dynamics of the institutional and immediate contexts in which they are situated. The findings imply that the current focus on talk in the early years may be detracting from the diversity of ways children make and express meaning.
Dynamic Subscription-Based QoS Service for Traffic Optimization

Real-time Internet services such as video transmission and online gaming often require privileged treatment in the Internet routers and wireless links in order to meet their real-time QoS requirements. The challenge is to know which are the services requiring higher priority and when this special treatment is needed. In this study, we introduce mechanisms to intelligently classify different traffic flows and to utilize this information in a dynamic adjustment of traffic priorities. In the presented solution, mobile stations can dynamically subscribe to special treatment for their network services. We capitalize on a deployment of the solution in the context of scalable video and employ fixed WiMAX to provide broadband quality of service enabled wireless connection. Beyond introducing and demonstrating the feasibility of such a deployment, our measurement results attest that dynamic traffic priority change can provide sufficient mechanism to sustain the quality of the real-time service despite the unreliable wireless link.
How Monkeys See the World

Acknowledgments 1. What Is It Like to be a Monkey? 2. Social Behavior 3. Social Knowledge 4. Vocal Communication 5. What the Vocalizations of Monkeys Mean 6. Summarizing the Mental Representations of Vocalizations and Social Relationships 7. Deception 8. Attribution 9. Social and Nonsocial Intelligence 10. How Monkeys See the World Appendix References Index
Distribution of Protein A on the Surface of Staphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT Surface proteins of Staphylococcus aureus fulfill many important roles during the pathogenesis of human infections and are anchored to the cell wall envelope by sortases. Although the chemical linkage of proteins to cell wall cross bridges is known, the mechanisms whereby polypeptides are distributed on the staphylococcal surface have not been revealed. We show here that protein A, the ligand of immunoglobulin, is unevenly distributed over the staphylococcal surface. Upon removal with trypsin, newly synthesized polypeptide is deposited at two to four discrete foci. During subsequent growth, protein A appears to be slowly distributed from these sites. When viewed through multiple focal planes by laser scanning microscopy, protein A foci are arranged in a circle surrounding the bacterial cell. This pattern of distribution requires the LPXTG sorting signal of protein A as well as sortase A, the transpeptidase that anchors polypeptides to cell wall cross bridges. A model is presented whereby protein A deposition at discrete sites coupled with cell wall synthesis enables distribution of protein A on the staphylococcal surface.
The Embedded Corporation: Corporate Governance and Employment Relations in Japan and the United States

Baker, W. E. , and R. R. Faulkner 2001 “Interorganizational networks. ” In J. A. C. Baum (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to Organizations: 520–540. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell. Brass, D. J., J. Galaskiewicz, H. R. Greve, and W. Tsai 2004 “Taking stock of networks and organizations: A multilevel perspective. ” Academy of Management Journal, 47: 795–814. Lincoln, J. R. , M. L Gerlach, and C. L. Ahmadjian 1996 “Keiretsu networks and corporate performance in Japan. ” American Sociological Review, 61: 67–88. ses show repeated cross sections of whether a given tie was present, which is different from dynamic analysis of tie formation and dissolution. Lincoln and Gerlach make the methodological adjustments necessary to make the findings from a cross-sectional analysis plausible, but a dynamic analysis is still the preferred method because of its greater precision.
An evaluation of 2-phase charge pump topologies with charge transfer switches for green mobile technology

The development of charge pumps has been motivated by the power supply requirements of portable electronic devices. Charge pumps are inductorless DC-DC converters that are small size and high integration. The quality of the charge pump greatly depends on the effectiveness of switches to turn on and off at the designated clock phases. However, to date, no analysis has been carried out on the overall performance of charge pumps based on switch components in practice. This work demonstrates the characteristics of transistors as charge transfer switches and their effects on the performance of a charge pump. Three most common charge pump topologies are evaluated in terms of voltage drop due to on-resistance and charge loss per switch. Simulations are performed in 0. 35µm Austriamicrosystems (AMS) technology for Dickson, Voltage Doubler and Makowski charge pump topologies in steady and dynamic states. In addition, the effect of switch parameters for different charge pump topologies are compared and analysed. We demonstrate that the Makowski charge pump is the topology for future green mobile technology.
Structure, mechanical and thermal properties of polypropylene based hybrid composites with banana fiber and fly ash

Polypropylene (PP)-Flyash (FA) composites containing natural banana fiber (NF) treated by Maleic anhydride and NaOH are reported here. Mechanical properties such asflexural modulus and impact strength were improved considerably which were maximum for 20% fly ash filled PP-NF treated composites. There is extensive nucleation of theα crystalline phase of PP in presence of the additives. This changed to mixed α phase with slight β content in presence of FA and treated NF as confirmed by XRD and DSC. The results on the mechanical properties have been explained on the basis of structure development of PP in presence of fly ash and treated NF. The results have also been analyzed with the help of different models for filled polymer composites and using rule of mixtures of two composites to form final ternary hybrid composite. Some agreement is found if a factor is introduced for redistribution of fibers due to added FA as third component. However, the synergistic behavior at certain composition can be explained on the basis of crystalline structure and nucleation due to the additives.
Chitosan as an Immunomodulating Adjuvant on T-Cells and Antigen-Presenting Cells in Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection

Herpes disease caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is an intractable condition. It is a major concern in public health. Our purpose of this study was to verify the function of chitosan as an adjuvant for immune regulation specifically under herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection. Ahead of HSV infection, chitosan, heat inactivated green fluorescent protein expressing HSV (G-HSV), and a combination of chitosan and G-HSV were used to pretreat ICR mice followed by HSV-1 infection. Using flow cytometric analysis, the frequencies of T-cells, monocytes, dendritic cells (DCs), and natural killer (NK) cells were analyzed by surface expression of CD4+, CD8+, CD14+, CD11c+, NK1.1+, and DX5+ cells. In HSV infected mice, chitosan treatment significantly increased the frequencies of CD4+ T-cells (33.6 ± 5.78%) compared to those in the control group (24.02 ± 12.47%, p = 0.05). The frequencies of DC and NK cells were also significantly different between chitosan treated mice and control mice. In addition, anti-HSV IgG antibody was downregulated in chitosan treated mice. These results suggest that chitosan is a potential modulator or immune stimulator as an adjuvant in HSV-1 infected mice.
Multiple Reference Points and the Demand for Principal‐Protected Life Annuities: An Experimental Analysis

We conducted an experiment in which participants were confronted with an experimental annuitization decision. Previous research has argued in favor of the hypothesis that a combination of mental accounting and prospect theory can explain why annuities containing a capital guarantee are preferred to standard annuities. However, from this perspective people would not annuitize their assets at all, but rather invest the money in a risk‐free alternative. Recent research has also suggested a “cushion effect. ” When all possible outcomes of two options are above a certain goal, this goal serves as a cushion in case of unfavorable outcomes. Hence, individuals might have a higher propensity to exhibit risk‐seeking behavior. We find that individuals were indeed more willing to choose the annuity option if it contained a capital guarantee and that individuals using this guarantee as a cushion were even more willing to choose the annuity. Thus, the cushion effect can partially explain the high demand for guarantee features in annuity contracts.