Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Semi-supervised multi-instance multi-label learning for video annotation task

Traditional approaches for automatic video annotation usually represent one video clip with a flat feature vector, neglecting the fact that video data contain natural structures. It is also noteworthy that a video clip is often relevant to multiple concepts. Indeed, the video annotation task is inherently a Multi-Instance Multi-Label learning (MIML) problem. Considering that manually annotating videos is labor-intensive and time-consuming, this paper proposes a semi-supervised MIML approach, SSMIML, which is able to exploit abundant unannotated videos to help improve the annotation performance. This approach takes label correlations into account, and enforces similar instances to share similar multi-labels. Evaluation on TREVID 2005 show that the proposed approach outperforms several state-of-the-art methods.
Cell-specific cis-natural antisense transcripts (cis-NATs) in the sperm and the pollen vegetative cells of Arabidopsis thaliana

Background: cis-NATs (cis-natural antisense transcripts ) are transcribed from opposite strands of adjacent genes and have been shown to regulate gene expression by generating small RNAs from the overlapping region. cis-NATs are important for plant development and resistance to pathogens and stress. Several genome-wide investigations identified a number of cis-NAT pairs, but these investigations predicted cis-NATS using expression data from bulk samples that included lots of cell types. Some cis-NAT pairs identified from those investigations might not be functional, because both transcripts of cis-NAT pairs need to be co-expressed in the same cell. Pollen only contains two cell types, two sperm and one vegetative cell, which makes cell-specific investigation of cis-NATs possible. Methods: We investigated potential protein-coding cis-NATs in pollen and sperm using pollen RNA-seq data and TAIR10 gene models using the Integrated Genome Browser. We then used sperm microarray data and sRNAs in sperm and pollen to determine possibly functional cis-NATs in the sperm or vegetative cell, respectively. Results: We identified 1471 potential protein-coding cis-NAT pairs, including 131 novel pairs that were not present in TAIR10 gene models. In pollen, 872 possibly functional pairs were identified. 72 and 56 pairs were potentially functional in sperm and vegetative cells, respectively. sRNAs were detected at 794 genes, belonging to 739 pairs. Conclusion: These potential candidates in sperm and the vegetative cell are tools for understanding gene expression mechanisms in pollen.
Error-Correcting Codes in Projective Spaces Via Rank-Metric Codes and Ferrers Diagrams

Coding in the projective space has received recently a lot of attention due to its application in network coding. Reduced row echelon form of the linear subspaces and Ferrers diagram can play a key role for solving coding problems in the projective space. In this paper, we propose a method to design error-correcting codes in the projective space. We use a multilevel approach to design our codes. First, we select a constant-weight code. Each codeword defines a skeleton of a basis for a subspace in reduced row echelon form. This skeleton contains a Ferrers diagram on which we design a rank-metric code. Each such rank-metric code is lifted to a constant-dimension code. The union of these codes is our final constant-dimension code. In particular, the codes constructed recently by Koetter and Kschischang are a subset of our codes. The rank-metric codes used for this construction form a new class of rank-metric codes. We present a decoding algorithm to the constructed codes in the projective space. The efficiency of the decoding depends on the efficiency of the decoding for the constant-weight codes and the rank-metric codes. Finally, we use puncturing on our final constant-dimension codes to obtain large codes in the projective space which are not constant-dimension.
Three-dimensional deformation in curl vector field

Deformation is an important research topic in graphics. There are two key issues in mesh deformation: (1) self-intersection and (2) volume preserving. In this paper, we present a new method to construct a vector field for volume-preserving mesh deformation of free-form objects. Volume-preserving is an inherent feature of a curl vector field. Since the field lines of the curl vector field will never intersect with each other, a mesh deformed under a curl vector field can avoid self-intersection between field lines. Designing the vector field based on curl is useful in preserving graphic features and preventing self-intersection. Our proposed algorithm introduces distance field into vector field construction; as a result, the shape of the curl vector field is closely related to the object shape. We define the construction of the curl vector field for translation and rotation and provide some special effects such as twisting and bending. Taking into account the information of the object, this approach can provide easy and intuitive construction for free-form objects. Experimental results show that the approach works effectively in real-time animation.
Estimating the Responsiveness of Residential Capital Investment to Property Tax Differentials

The New View of property tax incidence implies very specific impacts on the investment decision faced by developers and thus implications for tax policies enacted by local policy makers. Unfortunately, there is little to no conclusive evidence that the New View is valid and, if so, how significant the theatrical implications of the New View are in practice. This paper begins to fill this void by testing the main implication of the New View that higher (lower) than average property tax rates imply lower (higher) than average capital investment rates using data from three of the counties that make up the Saint Louis MSA. Using the total square footage of living space as a measure of capital investment, this paper shows that when using correct instruments for the property tax endogeneity, the tax elasticity of residential capital is about -0.20 and that this rate depends on the specific area by investigated.
Purification and characterization of a new bacteriocin isolated from a Carnobacterium sp

A bacteriocin-producing Carnobacterium sp. was isolated from fish. The bacteriocin, termed carnocin UI49, was purified to homogeneity by a four-step purification procedure, including hydrophobic interaction chromatography and reverse-phase chromatography. Carnocin UI49 has a bactericidal mode of action. It was shown to be heat tolerant and stable between pH 2 and 8. At pH above 8, carnocin UI49 was rapidly inactivated. Amino acid analysis revealed a composition of about 35 to 37 amino acids in addition to an unidentified peak which migrates at the position of lanthionine. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis suggests a molecular weight of about 4,500 to 5,000. Mass spectrometry gave a molecular weight of 4,635, which is about 1,000 larger than that calculated from the amino acid analysis data. Performic acid oxidation of carnocin UI49, followed by amino acid hydrolysis, revealed the presence of cysteic acid. The sequence of the first seven amino acid residues was determined to be N-Gly-Ser-Glu-Ile-Gln-Pro-Arg. After the seventh amino acid, carnocin UI49 was not available for further Edman degradation. The results suggest that carnocin UI49 belongs to the class of bacteriocins termed lantibiotics.
Core-shell nanostructured hybrid composites for volatile organic compound detection

We report a high-performance chemiresistive sensor for detection of volatile organic compound (VOC) vapors based on core-shell hybridized nanostructures of Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)-conducting polymers. The MNPs were prepared using microwave-assisted synthesis in the presence of polymerized ionic liquids (PILs), which were used as a linker to couple the MNP and PEDOT. The resulting PEDOT–PIL-modified Fe3O4 hybrids were then explored as a sensing channel material for a chemiresistive sensor to detect VOC vapors. The PEDOT–PIL-modified Fe3O4 sensor exhibited a tunable response, with high sensitivity (down to a concentration of 1 ppm) and low noise level, to VOCs; these VOCs include acetone vapor, which is present in the exhaled breath of potential lung cancer patients. The present sensor, based on the hybrid nanostructured sensing materials, exhibited a 38.8% higher sensitivity and an 11% lower noise level than its PEDOT–PIL-only counterpart. This approach of embedding MNPs in conducting polymers could lead to the development of new electronic noses, which have significant potential for the use in the early diagnosis of lung cancer via the detection of VOC biomarkers.
A survey of simultaneous localization and mapping on unstructured lunar complex environment

Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology is the key to realizing lunar rover’s intelligent perception and autonomous navigation. It embodies the autonomous ability of mobile robot, and has attracted plenty of concerns of researchers in the past thirty years. Visual sensors are meaningful to SLAM research because they can provide a wealth of information. Visual SLAM uses merely images as external information to estimate the location of the robot and construct the environment map. Nowadays, SLAM technology still has problems when applied in large-scale, unstructured and complex environment. Based on the latest technology in the field of visual SLAM, this paper investigates and summarizes the SLAM technology using in the unstructured complex environment of lunar surface. In particular, we focus on summarizing and comparing the detection and matching of features of SIFT, SURF and ORB, in the meanwhile discussing their advantages and disadvantages. We have analyzed the three main methods: SLAM Based on Extended Kalman Filter, SLAM Based on Particle Filter and SLAM Based on Graph Optimization (EKF-SLAM, PF-SLAM and Graph-based SLAM). Finally, this article summarizes and discusses the key scientific and technical difficulties in the lunar context that Visual SLAM faces. At the same time, we have explored the frontier issues such as multi-sensor fusion SLAM and multi-robot cooperative SLAM technology. We also predict and prospect the development trend of lunar rover SLAM technology, and put forward some ideas of further research.Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology is the key to realizing lunar rover’s intelligent perception and autonomous navigation. It embodies the autonomous ability of mobile robot, and has attracted plenty of concerns of researchers in the past thirty years. Visual sensors are meaningful to SLAM research because they can provide a wealth of information. Visual SLAM uses merely images as external information to estimate the location of the robot and construct the environment map. Nowadays, SLAM technology still has problems when applied in large-scale, unstructured and complex environment. Based on the latest technology in the field of visual SLAM, this paper investigates and summarizes the SLAM technology using in the unstructured complex environment of lunar surface. In particular, we focus on summarizing and comparing the detection and matching of features of SIFT, SURF and ORB, in the meanwhile discussing their advantages and disadvantages. We have analyzed the three main methods: SLAM B.
The Protege OWL Experience

Protege is one of the most widely used development platforms for ontology-based systems. We report on our experiences with the development of OWL support for Protege, and on the experiences of our user community with OWL. While the overall feedback from the community has been positive, our experience suggests that there are considerable gaps between the user requirements, the expressivity of OWL, and users’ understanding of OWL. In this document we walk through a selection of these issues and suggest directions for future work and standardization efforts.
Symmetric lenses

Lenses--bidirectional transformations between pairs of connected structures--have been extensively studied and are beginning to find their way into industrial practice. However, some aspects of their foundations remain poorly understood. In particular, most previous work has focused on the special case of asymmetric lenses, where one of the structures is taken as primary and the other is thought of as a projection, or view. A few studies have considered symmetric variants, where each structure contains information not present in the other, but these all lack the basic operation of composition. Moreover, while many domain-specific languages based on lenses have been designed, lenses have not been thoroughly explored from an algebraic perspective. We offer two contributions to the theory of lenses. First, we present a new symmetric formulation, based on complements, an old idea from the database literature. This formulation generalizes the familiar structure of asymmetric lenses, and it admits a good notion of composition. Second, we explore the algebraic structure of the space of symmetric lenses. We present generalizations of a number of known constructions on asymmetric lenses and settle some longstanding questions about their properties---in particular, we prove the existence of (symmetric monoidal) tensor products and sums and the non-existence of full categorical products or sums in the category of symmetric lenses. We then show how the methods of universal algebra can be applied to build iterator lenses for structured data such as lists and trees, yielding lenses for operations like mapping, filtering, and concatenation from first principles. Finally, we investigate an even more general technique for constructing mapping combinators, based on the theory of containers.
Conversational Evaluation of Speech Bandwidth Extension Using a Mobile Handset

The quality of narrowband telephone speech can be improved by artificial bandwidth extension. So far, bandwidth extension methods have been evaluated with objective measures and subjective listening-only tests, whereas realistic conversational evaluations have been rare. This article presents a conversational evaluation of two bandwidth extension methods in comparison with narrowband and wideband references. The evaluation was carried out using a mobile handset with a wired earpiece and microphone both in silence and in simulated street noise. The results indicate that speech processed with one of the bandwidth extension methods was preferred over narrowband speech.
FAST TCP: Motivation, Architecture, Algorithms, Performance

We describe FAST TCP, a new TCP congestion control algorithm for high-speed long-latency networks, from design to implementation. We highlight the approach taken by FAST TCP to address the four difficulties which the current TCP implementation has at large windows. We describe the architecture and summarize some of the algorithms implemented in our prototype. We characterize its equilibrium and stability properties. We evaluate it experimentally in terms of throughput, fairness, stability, and responsiveness
Quantifying Machine Availability in Networked and Desktop Grid Systems

In this paper, we examine the problem of predicting machine availability in desktop and enterprise computing environments. Predicting the duration that a machine will run until it restarts (availability duration) is critically useful to application scheduling and resource characterization in federated systems. We describe one parametric model fitting technique and two non-parametric prediction techniques, comparing their accuracy in predicting the quantiles of empirically observed machine availability distribu-
Artifact removal in EEG using Morphological Component Analysis

To reduce the effects of artifacts in electroencephalography (EEG), we propose the use of Morphological Component Analysis (MCA). Taking advantage of the sparse representation of data in overcomplete dictionaries, MCA decomposes EEG signals into parts that have different morphological characteristics. For denoising purpose, the parts related to artifacts are removed. An overcomplete dictionary is constructed using the discrete cosine transform, Daubechies wavelet basis, and Dirac basis. Movement-related potentials (MRP) and EEG signals contaminated by spikes, eye-blinks, and muscle artifacts caused by eye-brow raising are used to evaluate the performance of the method. The results demonstrate that MCA can be used to decompose the single-channel EEG signals into artifacts and MRP components. The correlation coefficient between the denoised MRP and the original MRP using MCA is significantly higher than that obtained using stationary wavelet transform.
Molecular identification of Giardia and Cryptosporidium from dogs and cats

The aim of the present study was to diagnose the presence of Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts in household animals using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequence analysis. One hundred faecal samples obtained from 81 dogs and 19 cats were investigated. The Cryptosporidium genotypes were determined by sequencing a fragment of the small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene, while the Giardia Assemblages were determined through analysis of the glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) locus. Isolates from five dogs and two cats were positive by PCR for the presence of Giardia, and their sequences matched the zoonotic Assemblage A of Giardia. Cryptosporidium spp. isolated from one dog and one cat were both found to be C. parvum. One dog isolate harboured a mixed infection of C. parvum and Giardia Assemblage A. These findings support the growing evidence that household animals are potential reservoirs of the zoonotic pathogens Giardia spp. and Cryptosporidium spp. for infections in humans.
The Listeria monocytogenes strain 10403S BioCyc database

Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne pathogen of humans and other animals. The striking ability to survive several stresses usually used for food preservation makes L. monocytogenes one of the biggest concerns to the food industry, while the high mortality of listeriosis in specific groups of humans makes it a great concern for public health. Previous studies have shown that a regulatory network involving alternative sigma (σ) factors and transcription factors is pivotal to stress survival. However, few studies have evaluated at the metabolic networks controlled by these regulatory mechanisms. The L. monocytogenes BioCyc database uses the strain 10403S as a model. Computer-generated initial annotation for all genes also allowed for identification, annotation and display of predicted reactions and pathways carried out by a single cell. Further ongoing manual curation based on published data as well as database mining for selected genes allowed the more refined annotation of functions, which, in turn, allowed for annotation of new pathways and fine-tuning of previously defined pathways to more L. monocytogenes-specific pathways. Using RNA-Seq data, several transcription start sites and promoter regions were mapped to the 10403S genome and annotated within the database. Additionally, the identification of promoter regions and a comprehensive review of available literature allowed the annotation of several regulatory interactions involving σ factors and transcription factors. The L. monocytogenes 10403S BioCyc database is a new resource for researchers studying Listeria and related organisms. It allows users to (i) have a comprehensive view of all reactions and pathways predicted to take place within the cell in the cellular overview, as well as to (ii) upload their own data, such as differential expression data, to visualize the data in the scope of predicted pathways and regulatory networks and to carry on enrichment analyses using several different annotations available within the database. Database URL: http://biocyc.org/organism-summary? object=10403S_RAST
CREATING TOURIST SPACE ON THE BASIS OF NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AS AN ELEMENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, CASE OF THE STEPNICA COMMUNE

Purpose – the aim of the paper is to point out the possibilities for creating space that is attractive for tourists using environmental resources, while respecting the rules of sustainable development. Design – the research example is the commune of Stepnica, situated by the Szczecin Lagoon (Poland). It has been indicated how useful is the natural environment in creating tourist space, and how it can be used to build tourist products Methodology – The "desk research" method was used to an analysis of the current level of tourism development. On the grounds of the PAPI method were presented the activities in the interest of developing sustainable forms of tourism in the commune of Stepnica. Information were collected by using available secondary data, and through a questionnaire addressed to commune's government, a local tourist organization and the residents. Approach – Achieving balance between the environment, tourists, the local community and service providers is only possible when the active subjects of this arrangement (meaning all except the environment) are willing to agree to impose restrictions on themselves, without which reaching a compromise is impossible. It is one of the main challenges for sustainable tourism, since it takes a high level of ecological knowledge and the awareness of long-term consequences of one's actions to agree to such restrictions. Findings – The conducted research prove that existing natural resources can be used to create an attractive, and sometimes unique, tourist space. Using natural elements to develop varied forms of niche tourism can be a basis for sustainable tourism development and supplement (or balance out) mass tourism. Originality of the research – Findings should be useful for local authorities to indicate opportunities for using the knowledge, awareness and involvement of the local community to overcome the obstacles in the way of sustainable tourism development.
Rice Phytochrome B (OsPhyB) Negatively Regulates Dark- and Starvation-Induced Leaf Senescence

Light regulates leaf senescence and light deprivation causes large-scale transcriptional reprogramming to dismantle cellular components and remobilize nutrients to sink organs, such as seeds and storage tissue. We recently reported that in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), Phytochrome-Interacting Factor4 (PIF4) and PIF5 promote dark-induced senescence and natural senescence by directly activating the expression of typical senescence-associated genes (SAGs), including ORESARA1 (ORE1) and ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE3 (EIN3). In contrast, phytochrome B (PhyB) inhibits leaf senescence by repressing PIF4 and PIF5 at the post-translational level. Although we found how red light signaling represses leaf senescence in Arabidopsis, it remains unknown whether PhyB and/or PhyA are involved in leaf senescence in rice (Oryza sativa). Here we show that rice phyB knockout mutants (osphyB-1, -2, and -3) exhibited an early senescence phenotype during dark-induced senescence, but an osphyA knockout mutant (osphyA-3) senesced normally. The RT-qPCR analysis revealed that several senescence-associated genes, including OsORE1 and OsEIN3, were significantly up-regulated in osphyB-2 mutants, indicating that OsPhyB also inhibits leaf senescence, like Arabidopsis PhyB. We also found that leaf segments of osphyB-2 senesced faster even under light conditions. Supplementation with nitrogen compounds, such as KNO3 and NH4NO3, rescued the early senescence phenotype of osphyB-2, indicating that starvation is one of the major signaling factors in the OsPhyB-dependent leaf senescence pathway.