Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving Unsupervised Defect Segmentation by Applying Structural Similarity to Autoencoders

Convolutional autoencoders have emerged as popular methods for unsupervised defect segmentation on image data. Most commonly, this task is performed by thresholding a pixel-wise reconstruction error based on an $\ell^p$ distance. This procedure, however, leads to large residuals whenever the reconstruction encompasses slight localization inaccuracies around edges. It also fails to reveal defective regions that have been visually altered when intensity values stay roughly consistent. We show that these problems prevent these approaches from being applied to complex real-world scenarios and that it cannot be easily avoided by employing more elaborate architectures such as variational or feature matching autoencoders. We propose to use a perceptual loss function based on structural similarity which examines inter-dependencies between local image regions, taking into account luminance, contrast and structural information, instead of simply comparing single pixel values. It achieves significant performance gains on a challenging real-world dataset of nanofibrous materials and a novel dataset of two woven fabrics over the state of the art approaches for unsupervised defect segmentation that use pixel-wise reconstruction error metrics.
Daily tornado frequency distributions in the United States

The authors examine daily tornado counts in the United States over the period 1994–2012 and find strong evidence for a power-law relationship in the distribution frequency. The scaling exponent is estimated at 1.64 (0.019 s.e.) giving a per tornado-day probability of 0.014% (return period of 71 years) that a tornado day produces 145 tornadoes as was observed on 27 April 2011. They also find that the total number of tornadoes by damage category on days with at least one violent tornado follows an exponential rule. On average, the daily number of tornadoes in the next lowest damage category is approximately twice the number in the current category. These findings are important and timely for tornado hazard models and for seasonal and sub-seasonal forecasts of tornado activity.
The Complete Chloroplast Genomes of Six Ipomoea Species and Indel Marker Development for the Discrimination of Authentic Pharbitidis Semen (Seeds of I. nil or I. purpurea)

Ipomoea L. is the largest genus within the Convolvulaceae and contains 600–700 species. Ipomoea species (morning glories) are economically valuable as horticultural species and scientifically valuable as ecological model plants to investigate mating systems, molecular evolution, and both plant–herbivore and plant–parasite interactions. Furthermore, the dried seeds of I. nil or I. purpurea are used in Korean traditional herbal medicines. In this study, chloroplast (cp) genomes were sequenced from six Ipomoea species, namely, I. nil and I. purpurea and, for the first time, I. triloba, I. lacunosa, I. hederacea, and I. hederacea var. integriuscula. The cp genomes were 161,354–161,750 bp in length and exhibited conserved quadripartite structures. In total, 112 genes were identified, including 78 protein-coding regions, 30 transfer RNA genes, and 4 ribosomal RNA genes. The gene order, content, and orientation of the six Ipomoea cp genomes were highly conserved and were consistent with the general structure of angiosperm cp genomes. Comparison of the six Ipomoea cp genomes revealed locally divergent regions, mainly within intergenic spacer regions (petN-psbM, trnI-CAU-ycf2, ndhH-ndhF, psbC-trnS, and ccsA-ndhD). In addition, the protein-coding genes accD, cemA, and ycf2 exhibited high sequence variability and were under positive selection (Ka/Ks > 1), indicating adaptive evolution to the environment within the Ipomoea genus. Phylogenetic analysis of the six Ipomoea species revealed that these species clustered according to the APG IV system. In particular, I. nil and I. hederacea had monophyletic positions, with I. purpurea as a sister. I. triloba and I. lacunosa in the section Batatas and I. hederacea and I. hederacea var. integriuscula in the section Quamoclit were supported in this study with strong bootstrap values and posterior probabilities. We uncovered high-resolution phylogenetic relationships between Ipomoeeae. Finally, indel markers (IPOTY and IPOYCF) were developed for the discrimination of the important herbal medicine species I. nil and I. purpurea. The cp genomes and analyses in this study provide useful information for taxonomic, phylogenetic, and evolutionary analysis of the Ipomoea genome, and the indel markers will be useful for authentication of herbal medicines.
Magnolol Affects Cellular Proliferation, Polyamine Biosynthesis and Catabolism-Linked Protein Expression and Associated Cellular Signaling Pathways in Human Prostate Cancer Cells in vitro

Background : Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer in men in Canada and the United States. Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development and progression of many cancers, including prostate cancer. Context and purpose of this study : This study investigated the effects of magnolol, a compound found in the roots and bark of the magnolia tree Magnolia officinalis, on cellular proliferation and proliferation-linked activities of PC3 human prostate cancer cells in vitro. Results : PC3 cells exposed to magnolol at a concentration of 80 μM for 6 hours exhibited decreased protein expression of ornithine decarboxylase, a key regulator in polyamine biosynthesis, as well as affecting the expression of other proteins involved in polyamine biosynthesis and catabolism. Furthermore, protein expression of the R2 subunit of ribonucleotide reductase, a key regulatory protein associated with DNA synthesis, was significantly decreased. Finally, the MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase), PI3K (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase), NFκB (nuclear factor of kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells) and AP-1 (activator protein 1) cellular signaling pathways were assayed to determine which, if any, of these pathways magnolol exposure would alter. Protein expressions of p-JNK-1 and c-jun were significantly increased while p-p38, JNK-1/2, PI3Kp85, p-PI3Kp85, p-Akt, NFκBp65, p-IκBα and IκBα protein expressions were significantly decreased. Conclusions : These alterations further support the anti-proliferative effects of magnolol on PC3 human prostate cancer cells in vitro and suggest that magnolol may have potential as a novel anti-prostate cancer agent. Key Words : prostate cancer cells, magnolol, polyamines, MAPK, PI3K, NFκB
The Association between Immigration and Labor Market Outcomes in the United States

In this paper we present important correlations between immigration and labor market outcomes of native workers in the US. We use data on local labor markets, states and regions from the Census and American Community Survey over the period 1970-2010. We first look at simple correlations and then we use regression analysis with an increasing number of controls for observed and unobserved factors. We review the potential methods to separate the part of this correlation that captures the causal link from immigrants to native labor outcomes and we show estimates obtained with 2SLS method using the popular shift-share instrument. One fact emerging from all the specifications is that the net growth of immigrant labor has a zero to positive correlation with changes in native wages and native employment, in aggregate and by skill group. We briefly review the literature on the channels and the mechanisms that allow local economies to absorb immigrants with no negative (and possibly positive) impact on the labor demand for natives.
Neural Coding With Bursts—Current State and Future Perspectives

Neuronal action potentials or spikes provide a long-range, noise-resistant means of communication between neurons. As point processes single spikes contain little information in themselves, i.e., outside the context of spikes from other neurons. Moreover, they may fail to cross a synapse. A burst, which consists of a short, high frequency train of spikes, will more reliably cross a synapse, increasing the likelihood of eliciting a postsynaptic spike, depending on the specific short-term plasticity at that synapse. Both the number and the temporal pattern of spikes in a burst provide a coding space that lies within the temporal integration realm of single neurons. Bursts have been observed in many species, including the non-mammalian, and in brain regions that range from subcortical to cortical. Despite their widespread presence and potential relevance, the uncertainties of how to classify bursts seems to have limited the research into the coding possibilities for bursts. The present series of research articles provides new insights into the relevance and interpretation of bursts across different neural circuits, and new methods for their analysis. Here, we provide a succinct introduction to the history of burst coding and an overview of recent work on this topic.
Raman Spectroscopy and Imaging for Cancer Diagnosis

Raman scattering has long been used to analyze chemical compositions in biological systems. Owing to its high chemical specificity and noninvasive detection capability, Raman scattering has been widely employed in cancer screening, diagnosis, and intraoperative surgical guidance in the past ten years. In order to overcome the weak signal of spontaneous Raman scattering, coherent Raman scattering and surface-enhanced Raman scattering have been developed and recently applied in the field of cancer research. This review focuses on innovative studies of the use of Raman scattering in cancer diagnosis and their potential to transition from bench to bedside.
Global perturbation of the marine calcium cycle during the Permian-Triassic transition

A negative shift in the calcium isotopic composition of marine carbonate rocks spanning the end-Permian extinction horizon in South China has been used to argue for an ocean acidification event coincident with mass extinction. This interpretation has proven controversial, both because the excursion has not been demonstrated across multiple, widely separated localities, and because modeling results of coupled carbon and calcium isotope records illustrate that calcium cycle imbalances alone cannot account for the full magnitude of the isotope excursion. Here, we further test potential controls on the Permian-Triassic calcium isotope record by measuring calcium isotope ratios from shallow-marine carbonate successions spanning the Permian-Triassic boundary in Turkey, Italy, and Oman. All measured sections display negative shifts in δ44/40Ca of up to 0.6‰. Consistency in the direction, magnitude, and timing of the calcium isotope excursion across these widely separated localities implies a primary and global δ44/40Ca signature. Based on the results of a coupled box model of the geological carbon and calcium cycles, we interpret the excursion to reflect a series of consequences arising from volcanic CO2 release, including a temporary decrease in seawater δ44/40Ca due to short-lived ocean acidification and a more protracted increase in calcium isotope fractionation associated with a shift toward more primary aragonite in the sediment and, potentially, subsequently elevated carbonate saturation states caused by the persistence of elevated CO2 delivery from volcanism. Locally, changing balances between aragonite and calcite production are sufficient to account for the calcium isotope excursions, but this effect alone does not explain the globally observed negative excursion in the δ13C values of carbonate sediments and organic matter as well. Only a carbon release event and related geochemical consequences are consistent both with calcium and carbon isotope data. The carbon release scenario can also account for oxygen isotope evidence for dramatic and protracted global warming as well as paleontological evidence for the preferential extinction of marine animals most susceptible to acidification, warming, and anoxia.
A 12 mV Input, 90.8% Peak Efficiency CRM Boost Converter With a Sub-Threshold Startup Voltage for TEG Energy Harvesting

This paper proposed a high efficiency boost converter targeting thermoelectric generator energy harvesting. The proposed converter adopts the critical conduction mode rather than the discontinuous mode to reduce the conduction loss, which can improve the peak efficiency at high input power. To reduce the minimum input voltage, an adaptive on-resistance switch, which can automatically change the high side and low side on-resistance according to the input voltage, is used. To maximize the output power, a maximum power point tracking circuit is designed to track the internal source resistance. Radio frequency (RF) kick-up and low voltage startup are used to improve the cold start voltage. The proposed converter is implemented in a 0.18-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> standard CMOS process, which occupies a chip area of about 0.48 mm<sup>2</sup>. Measurement results show that the peak efficiency of the converter can be up to 90.8% and 60% at 180 and 20 mV of the open-circuit voltage, respectively. Owing to the cold startup circuit, the proposed converter can start successfully with 260-mV open-circuit voltage or −16-dBm RF input. Moreover, the open-circuit voltage can be further lowered to 12 mV with 1.5-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> output power after startup.
Chapter 9 Priming Plant Defence Against Pathogens by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Root colonisation by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can improve plant resistance/tolerance to biotic stresses. Although this bioprotection has been amply described in different plant systems, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Besides mechanisms such as improved plant nutrition and competition, experimental evidence supports the involvement of plant defence mechanisms in the observed protection. During mycorrhiza establishment, modulation of plant defence responses occurs upon recognition of the AMF in order to achieve a functional symbiosis. As a consequence of this modulation, a mild, but effective activation of the plant immune responses may occur, not only locally but also systemically. This activation leads to a primed state of the plant that allows a more efficient activation of defence mechanisms in response to attack by potential enemies.
A User Scheduling Algorithm via 3-D Space Separation in Interference Management

Multi-user (MU) interference in densely populated areas will degrade the system performance seriously. In this paper, we focus on the MU interference of downlink channel in a single cell based on the general standardized 3-D channel model. A large scale antenna array is equipped at the base station while single- antenna users (UE) are assumed. Considering the typical precodings such as zero-forcing, minimum-mean-square- error and matched-filter, we investigate the effects of various parameters, including the user number, user distribution dispersion (angle spread and average interval distance), pathloss, etc., on the key performance metric, signal-to-noise-and-interference- ratio (SINR). Results demonstrate that dense user distribution would result in extremely low SINR, which highlights the necessity of user scheduling to improve the system performance. Thus, we put forward a use scheduling algorithm via 3-D space separation, aiming to maximize the average interval distance among users divided into each group and achieve a high system sum rate. As expected, large sum rate gains are obtained, which lay a promising future for 3-D space utilization in interference management.
Breeding Migrations in Crawfish Frogs (Lithobates areolatus): Long-Distance Movements, Burrow Philopatry, and Mortality in a Near-Threatened Species

Movements are risky behaviors to animals, and amphibians are no exception, yet most species of amphibians exhibit cyclic annual movements. Crawfish Frogs (Lithobates areolatus) are a relatively understudied species of North American amphibian considered to be “Near Threatened” globally. To better understand the biology of this species, and in particular to assess the role that movements play in affecting survivorship, we radio tracked 48 Crawfish Frog adults in 2009–2010. Our study encompassed a total of 7,898 telemetered-frog days; individual frogs were tracked for up to 606 days. These data demonstrate two behaviors previously undocumented in this species: 1) migration distances that averaged nearly 0.5 km, and for one frog was approximately 1.2 km; and 2) philopatry to upland burrows excavated by crayfish. Together, these findings indicate that Crawfish Frogs have a remarkable ability to home to distant upland burrow sites. Burrow fidelity in Crawfish Frogs involves, in part, following similar migration routes to and from breeding wetlands. Burrow fidelity also occurs after ranging movements, and again often involves individual frogs following the same circuit across years. We demonstrate that movements are hazardous for Crawfish Frogs (about 12 times riskier than burrow dwelling), and therefore have survival consequences. Our data further suggest that adult Crawfish Frogs are not typically moving long distances from one upland burrow to another to populate new sites; instead two mechanisms—adults varying breeding wetlands across years and juvenile dispersion—are primarily responsible for the colonization of new habitats.
Universal Features in the Singing of Birds Uncovered by Comparative Research

Aside from some exceptions, songbird species differ in the structure of their singing and usually also in the size and performance mode their song repertoires. In the past, most studies concentrated on the species specific differences of singing, and thereby contributed to a better understanding of their diversity. In our approach, however, we focussed on the opposite perspective; i.e. we investigated whether and how far songbirds share structural song properties. To have a solid data base we focussed on four species of thrushes which were famous for their large vocal repertoires. The two Asian bird species were Oriental Magpie Robins (Copsychus saularis) and Shama Thrushes (Copsychus malabaricus), the two European species the Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) and the Thrush Nightingale (Luscinia luscinia). The latter were incorporated into a sample 40 other European songbird species (Table 1) serving as a framework for our comparative approach (Figure 2, 4). Besides well-known differences among species, our analyses of song material yielded some remarkably similar relationships between structural and functional song properties, which often were shared even by unrelated species. In particular measures of song durations were usually related to song application during vocal interaction. And, individual variation of song duration was mainly a result of differences in syllable repetition within trilled song sections. Although some of these findings were predicted already by former studies (see Todt, 2004), their essentials can be based now on profound data sets of detailed measurement.
Pathway in Gliomas Cannabinoids Inhibit the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor

Cannabinoids inhibit tumor angiogenesis in mice, but the mechanism of their antiangiogenic action is still unknown. Because the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway plays a critical role in tumor angiogenesis, here we studied whether cannabinoids affect it. As a first approach, cDNA array analysis showed that cannabinoid administration to mice bearing s.c. gliomas lowered the expression of various VEGF pathway-related genes. The use of other methods (ELISA, Western blotting, and confocal microscopy) provided additional evidence that cannabinoids depressed the VEGF pathway by decreasing the production of VEGF and the activation of VEGF receptor (VEGFR)-2, the most prominent VEGF receptor, in cultured glioma cells and in mouse gliomas. Cannabinoid-induced inhibition of VEGF production and VEGFR-2 activation was abrogated both in vitro and in vivo by pharmacological blockade of ceramide biosynthesis. These changes in the VEGF pathway were paralleled by changes in tumor size. Moreover, intratumoral administration of the cannabinoid -tetrahydrocannabinol to two patients with glioblastoma multiforme (grade IV astrocytoma) decreased VEGF levels and VEGFR-2 activation in the tumors. Because blockade of the VEGF pathway constitutes one of the most promising antitumoral approaches currently available, the present findings provide a novel pharmacological target for cannabinoid-based therapies.
On the suitability of different probability distributions for the task of image segmentation

The task of image segmentation can be approached by learning a probabilistic mixture model of the observed image data. If this is performed in an unsupervised fashion the problem may be divided into two tasks. Namely, learning the latent structure, and modelling the appearance of each latent component. In this work the task of finding the latent structure is set aside in favour of an in-depth analysis of the influence of the choice of the model distribution and the choice of the feature space. Hence, the latent structure is assumed to be known or predicted by an oracle. Further, an overview of possible distributions is given which may be used to model the data instead of the ubiquitous normal distribution. Lastly, a new class of multivariate distributions utilising flexible marginal distributions and a Gaussian copula to model the correlation structure of the marginals is presented and compared to other distributions in terms of their capability to model challenging natural images.
( VOMS ) Tool in Healthy Collegiate Athletes Reliability and Associated Risk Factors for Performance on the Vestibular / Ocular Motor Screening

http://ajs.sagepub. com/content/44/6/1400 The online version of this article can be found at: DOI: 10.1177/0363546516632754 2016 44: 1400 originally published online March 15, 2016 Am J Sports Med Anthony P. Kontos, Alicia Sufrinko, R.J. Elbin, Alicia Puskar and Michael W. Collins (VOMS) Tool in Healthy Collegiate Athletes Reliability and Associated Risk Factors for Performance on the Vestibular/Ocular Motor Screening
METHODS & MEASURES: Psychometric properties of the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task: An Italian multicentre study

The paper describes a multicentre study of the psychometric properties of the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task in a sample of 230 Italian children aged 4 to 8 years. The task's internal consistency and inter-rater reliability were investigated; in addition, multiple discriminant analysis was used to explore the contribution of individual coding system scale scores to overall categorical attachment classification. The instrument showed acceptable psychometric properties, especially with respect to Disorganization and Coherence scales. However, our results also suggest that some subscales of the coding system could be modified in order to improve reliability. The implications of our results for future research and further test validation are discussed.