Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamic Responses in Brain Networks to Social Feedback: A Dual EEG Acquisition Study in Adolescent Couples

Adolescence is a sensitive period for the development of romantic relationships. During this period the maturation of frontolimbic networks is particularly important for the capacity to regulate emotional experiences. In previous research, both functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and dense array electroencephalography (dEEG) measures have suggested that responses in limbic regions are enhanced in adolescents experiencing social rejection. In the present research, we examined social acceptance and rejection from romantic partners as they engaged in a Chatroom Interact Task. Dual 128-channel dEEG systems were used to record neural responses to acceptance and rejection from both adolescent romantic partners and unfamiliar peers (N = 75). We employed a two-step temporal principal component analysis (PCA) and spatial independent component analysis (ICA) approach to statistically identify the neural components related to social feedback. Results revealed that the early (288 ms) discrimination between acceptance and rejection reflected by the P3a component was significant for the romantic partner but not the unfamiliar peer. In contrast, the later (364 ms) P3b component discriminated between acceptance and rejection for both partners and peers. The two-step approach (PCA then ICA) was better able than either PCA or ICA alone in separating these components of the brain's electrical activity that reflected both temporal and spatial phases of the brain's processing of social feedback.
Probe-SDN: A smart monitoring framework for SDN-based networks

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is in the process of revolutionizing the way of managing networks by providing a new way to support current and future services. However, by relocating the control functionality in a remote entity, the measurements' accuracy of the resources' utilization becomes more difficult, which complicates the decision making. Although there are previous works focusing on the problem of network management and measurement in SDN networks, only few proposed solutions have taken into consideration the tradeoff existing between statistics' polling frequency (i.e. generated overhead), and the accuracy of monitoring results (i.e. optimized resources' allocation). In this paper, we propose a new approach calculating accurately the bandwidth utilization while adapting the polling frequency according to ports/switches activity. The emulations' results under Mininet clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution, which outperforms existing works.
Exposure in wireless Ad-Hoc sensor networks

Wireless ad-hoc sensor networks will provide one of the missing connections between the Internet and the physical world. One of the fundamental problems in sensor networks is the calculation of coverage. Exposure is directly related to coverage in that it is a measure of how well an object, moving on an arbitrary path, can be observed by the sensor network over a period of time. In addition to the informal definition, we formally define exposure and study its properties. We have developed an efficient and effective algorithm for exposure calculation in sensor networks, specifically for finding minimal exposure paths. The minimal exposure path provides valuable information about the worst case exposure-based coverage in sensor networks. The algorithm works for any given distribution of sensors, sensor and intensity models, and characteristics of the network. It provides an unbounded level of accuracy as a function of run time and storage. We provide an extensive collection of experimental results and study the scaling behavior of exposure and the proposed algorithm for its calculation.
Data Mining Techniques and Applications in Speech Processing - A Review

Data mining can be defined as an activity that automatically extracts hidden knowledge from large set of data. Data mining research has emerged in the areas of speech, audio processing and spoken language dialog. The research has gained interest due to audio data that are available in plenty. In this paper, we have discussed about different kinds of mining with speech, voice and audio processing and tasks of data mining in speech processing. Also a brief summary about existing data mining applications with speech and audio processing is given.
Universität Des Saarlandes Fachrichtung 6.1 – Mathematik Level Set Segmentation with Multiple Regions Level Set Segmentation with Multiple Regions

The popularity of level sets for segmentation is mainly based on the sound and convenient treatment of regions and their boundaries. Unfortunately, this convenience is so far not known from level set methods when applied to images with more than two regions. This paper introduces a comparatively simple way how to extend active contours to multiple regions keeping the familiar quality of the two-phase case. We further suggest a strategy to determine the optimum number of regions as well as initializations for the contours.
Aluminum nanoparticles production by laser ablation in liquids

Aluminium nanoparticles were produced by pulsed laser ablation of a sample of pure aluminium situated in distilled water. This technique provides the possibility to generate a large variety of nanoparticles that are free of both surfaceactive substances and counter-ions The sample was irradiated by the focused output of the third harmonics of pulsed nanosecond Nd : YAG laser operating at 10 Hz frequency. The typical thickness of the liquid above the target was 10 mm. In order to select the most efficient material removal conditions the irradiation print on the ablated surface was analyzed as a function of the irradiation parameters (incident laser fluence, irradiation pulses number or irradiation time) with optical microscopy and white light interferometry. The presence of the ablated aluminium nanoparticles in the liquid was evidenced by SEM. For SEM measurement, one drop of solution containing Al nanoparticles was placed on a gold coated silicon substrate and dried. The minimum diameter of nanoparticles estimated by SEM was under 100 nm. The SEM results show also clusters of spherical particles together with well-defined singles. In order to improve the quantity of the ablated material the irradiation cell was mounted on a computer-driven X-Y stage and translated during laser exposure.
Coupled 3D reconstruction of sparse facial hair and skin

Although facial hair plays an important role in individual expression, facial-hair reconstruction is not addressed by current face-capture systems. Our research addresses this limitation with an algorithm that treats hair and skin surface capture together in a coupled fashion so that a high-quality representation of hair fibers as well as the underlying skin surface can be reconstructed. We propose a passive, camera-based system that is robust against arbitrary motion since all data is acquired within the time period of a single exposure. Our reconstruction algorithm detects and traces hairs in the captured images and reconstructs them in 3D using a multiview stereo approach. Our coupled skin-reconstruction algorithm uses information about the detected hairs to deliver a skin surface that lies underneath all hairs irrespective of occlusions. In dense regions like eyebrows, we employ a hair-synthesis method to create hair fibers that plausibly match the image data. We demonstrate our scanning system on a number of individuals and show that it can successfully reconstruct a variety of facial-hair styles together with the underlying skin surface.
Phospholamban-to-SERCA2 ratio controls the force-frequency relationship.

The force-frequency relationship (FFR) describes the frequency-dependent potentiation of cardiac contractility. The interaction of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-adenosinetriphosphatase (SERCA2) with its inhibitory protein phospholamban (PLB) might be involved in the control of the FFR. The FFR was analyzed in two systems in which the PLB-to-SERCA2 ratio was modulated. Adult rabbit cardiac myocytes were transduced with adenovirus encoding for SERCA2, PLB, and β-galactosidase (control). After 3 days, the relative PLB/SERCA2 values were significantly different between groups (SERCA2, 0.5; control, 1.0; PLB, 4.5). SERCA2 overexpression shortened relaxation by 23% relative to control, whereas PLB prolonged relaxation by 39% and reduced contractility by 47% (0.1 Hz). When the stimulation frequency was increased to 1.5 Hz, myocyte contractility was increased by 30% in control myocytes. PLB-overexpressing myocytes showed an augmented positive FFR (+78%), whereas SERCA2-transduced myocytes displayed a negative FFR (-15%). A more negative FFR was also found in papillary muscles from SERCA2 transgenic mice. These findings demonstrate that the ratio of phospholamban to SERCA2 is an important component in the control of the FFR.
Identification and Validation of Novel Spinophilin-associated Proteins in Rodent Striatum Using an Enhanced ex Vivo Shotgun Proteomics Approach*

Spinophilin regulates excitatory postsynaptic function and morphology during development by virtue of its interactions with filamentous actin, protein phosphatase 1, and a plethora of additional signaling proteins. To provide insight into the roles of spinophilin in mature brain, we characterized the spinophilin interactome in subcellular fractions solubilized from adult rodent striatum by using a shotgun proteomics approach to identify proteins in spinophilin immune complexes. Initial analyses of samples generated using a mouse spinophilin antibody detected 23 proteins that were not present in an IgG control sample; however, 12 of these proteins were detected in complexes isolated from spinophilin knock-out tissue. A second screen using two different spinophilin antibodies and either knock-out or IgG controls identified a total of 125 proteins. The probability of each protein being specifically associated with spinophilin in each sample was calculated, and proteins were ranked according to a χ2 analysis of the probabilities from analyses of multiple samples. Spinophilin and the known associated proteins neurabin and multiple isoforms of protein phosphatase 1 were specifically detected. Multiple, novel, spinophilin-associated proteins (myosin Va, calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II, neurofilament light polypeptide, postsynaptic density 95, α-actinin, and densin) were then shown to interact with GST fusion proteins containing fragments of spinophilin. Additional biochemical and transfected cell imaging studies showed that α-actinin and densin directly interact with residues 151–300 and 446–817, respectively, of spinophilin. Taken together, we have developed a multi-antibody, shotgun proteomics approach to characterize protein interactomes in native tissues, delineating the importance of knock-out tissue controls and providing novel insights into the nature and function of the spinophilin interactome in mature striatum.
An efficient technique for Bayesian modeling of family data using the BUGS software

Linear mixed models have become a popular tool to analyze continuous data from family-based designs by using random effects that model the correlation of subjects from the same family. However, mixed models for family data are challenging to implement with the BUGS (Bayesian inference Using Gibbs Sampling) software because of the high-dimensional covariance matrix of the random effects. This paper describes an efficient parameterization that utilizes the singular value decomposition of the covariance matrix of random effects, includes the BUGS code for such implementation, and extends the parameterization to generalized linear mixed models. The implementation is evaluated using simulated data and an example from a large family-based study is presented with a comparison to other existing methods.
Teaching Analytics: A Clustering and Triangulation Study of Digital Library User Data

* Corresponding author ABSTRACT Teachers and students increasingly enjoy unprecedented access to abundant web resources and digital libraries to enhance and enrich their classroom experiences. However, due to the distributed nature of such systems, conventional educational research methods, such as surveys and observations, provide only limited snapshots. In addition, educational data mining, as an emergent research approach, has seldom been used to explore teachers' online behaviors when using digital libraries. Building upon results from a preliminary study, this article presents results from a clustering study of teachers' usage patterns while using an educational digital library tool, called the Instructional Architect. The clustering approach employed a robust statistical model called latent class analysis. In addition, frequent itemsets mining was used to clean and extract common patterns from the clusters initially generated. The final clusters identified three groups of teachers in the IA: key brokers, insular classroom practitioners, and inactive islanders. Identified clusters were triangulated with data collected in teachers' registration profiles. Results showed that increased teaching experience and comfort with technology were related to teachers' effectiveness in using the IA.
Controller Design for Manipulator Trajectory Control of an AUV - Manipulator System

The design of a trajectory controller for an underwater manipulator mounted on an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is presented in this paper. The dynamic model of the system has been developed using bond graph modeling technique. The impact of hydrodynamic effects such as added mass, viscous drag, buoyancy force etc. on vehicle motion, and the coupled dynamics between the vehicle and the manipulator have been modeled and simulated using 20-SIM simulation software. In order to eliminate the trajectory errors of the manipulator, a PD controller with buoyancy compensation has been designed and implemented for a planar AUV with two-degrees of freedom onboard planar manipulator. Details of controller design and performance analysis of the controller on trajectory tracking are presented. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the controller in reducing the joint trajectory errors due to AUV-manipulator coupling.
Behavior, biology, and the meanings of temperamental constructs.

The renascence of temperamental constructs in discussions of both normal and pathologic development, after almost a century of polite suppression, is accompanied by the same methodologic and epistemologic issues that plague all inquiry into the relation between biologic and psychologic phenomena. During the half-century following World War I, when behavioristic explanations were ascendant, the burden of explanation for many behaviors rested on conditioned habits acquired through contingent interaction with the environment. If a habit happened to become associated with a physiologic reaction, it was usually treated as an epiphenomenon of the conditioned response. The study of temperamentally based behaviors has changed this attitude because the physiology is not viewed as epiphenomenal. Many investigators assume that children who belong to a particular temperamental category inherit a low or a high threshold for particular physiologic reactions to specific incentives. The sequence of behavioral profiles that develops is a joint product of both the child's physiology and the environments encountered. For example, about 20% of healthy 1- to 2-year-old white children react consistently to unfamiliar events that are difficult to assimilate or to cope with—like thunderstorms, large animals, or strangers—with both limbic discharge and an initial restraint on activity, sometimes accompanied by withdrawal. We call such children inhibited.1 The limbic activity accompanies the behavioral phenomena without being causal in the traditional meaning of that term. It is also understood that the temperamentally inhibited child must be differentiated from the shy child who was not born with any temperamental bias favoring limbic reactivity to unfamiliarity, but happened to experience an environment that promoted the acquisition of timidity and restraint.
Muscle Morphology and Metabolic Potential in Elite Road Cyclists during a Season

The purpose of this investigation was to study muscle adaptation to high endurance performance. Muscle biopsies were taken from the m. vastus lateralis of 23 road cyclists, and their VO2 max was measured repeatedly during the season. At the beginning of their training season, VO2 max was 56 (37-66) ml X min-1 X kg-1 in competitive amateurs and 71 (64-76) ml X min-1 X kg-1 in elite professionals. Muscle capillary density determined at the same time was correspondingly roughly 30% higher in elite than in competitive cyclists while muscle enzyme activities (CS, HAD, and HK) were 30%-60% higher and LDH 50% lower in elite compared to competitive cyclists. Some elite cyclists were retested 5 months later when each of them had completed more than 15,000 km of bicycling during training and competition. During this period VO2 max remained unchanged, and the same was true for capillary density, while muscle enzyme activity (CS, HAD, and HK) increased 40%-70%, and LDH slightly decreased. The present results suggest that there may not be a close coupling between whole body VO2 max and the oxidative capacity of a local muscle group. Rather, the changes in muscle enzyme activities may be of importance for the regulation of muscle metabolism enhancing the endurance capacity. It is suggested that capillary density of the working muscles is of significance for VO2 max.
Immunocytochemical Localization of Prohormone Convertases PC1 and PC2 in the Mouse Thyroid Gland and Respiratory Tract

We examined immunocytochemical localization of the prohormone convertases, PC1 and PC2, in the thyroid gland and respiratory tract of the adult mouse using the indirect enzyme- and immunogold-labeled antibody methods for light and electron microscopy, respectively. In the thyroid gland, PC1- and/or PC2-immunoreactive cells were cuboidal, scattered in the follicular epithelium and in the interfollicular spaces. When serial sections were immunostained with anti-calcitonin, anti-PC1, anti-calcitonin-gene-related-peptide (CGRP), and anti-PC2 sera, respectively, localization of both PC1 and PC2 was restricted to the calcitonin/CGRP-producing parafollicular cells. In the respiratory tract, only PC1 immunoreactivity was observed in the basal granulated neuroendocrine cells, which were scattered in the tracheal epithelium. Consecutive sections immunostained with anti-PC1 and anti-CGRP sera showed that a subpopulation of these PC1-immunoreactive cells contained CGRP. Double immunogold electron microscopy of the thyroid parafollicular cells revealed that calcitonin- and/or CGRP-immunopositive secretory granules were also labeled with both PC1 and PC2. These findings suggest that procalcitonin is proteolytically cleaved by PC2 alone or by PC2 together with PC1, and that the proCGRP is cleaved by PC1.
Serum Level of Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Is Independently Associated with Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) has been described as a metabolic hormone critical for glucose and lipid metabolism. Previously, high levels of FGF21 were observed in patients with coronary heart disease and non-acute myocardial infarction (non-AMI). In this study, we investigated the changes in FGF21 levels in Chinese patients with AMI. Methodology/Principal Findings We used ELISA to measure circulating FGF21 levels in 55 AMI patients and 45 non-AMI control patients on the 1st day after syndrome onset. All patients were followed-up within 30 days. FGF21 levels in AMI patients were significantly higher than those in non-AMI controls (0.25 (0.16–0.34) vs. 0.14 (0.11–0.20) ng/mL, P < 0.001). FGF21 levels reached the maximum within approximately 24 h after the onset of AMI and remained at high for 7 days, and the FGF21 level (OR: 16.93; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.65–108.05; P = 0.003) was identified as an independent factor associated with the presence of AMI. On the 7th day, FGF21 levels were significantly higher in the patients who subsequently developed re-infarction within 30 days than in the patients who did not develop re-infarction (with vs. without re-infarction: 0.45 (0.22–0.64) vs. 0.21 (0.15–0.29) ng/mL, P = 0.014). Conclusions/Significance The level of serum FGF21 is independently associated with the presence of AMI in Chinese patients. High FGF21 levels might be related to the incidence of re-infarction within 30 days after onset.
On the security advantages of block-based multiserver searchable symmetric encryption

One of the considerations for the security of searchable symmetric encryption is leakage, defined as the amount of information regarding stored data known to the adversary. Recently, some papers showed that information extracted from leakages, combined with some prior knowledge, enables practical attacks. In this work, we argue in favour on the security of multiserver block-based SSE to resist such attacks, where multiple storage servers are used and the documents are stored in the form of sets of encrypted document blocks. We show that the distribution of documents over keyword subsets in such designs can be used to reduce adversary information gain when conducting such practical attacks on multiserver block-based SSE, therefore offering more resistance to these attacks and achieving higher security guarantees.
Topical cooling assisted hepatic resection of segment 7 and 8 oriented by en-bloc interruption of the targeted portal pedicles.

BACKGROUND/AIMS The crucial points of hepatic segmentectomy include an accurate mapping of proposed segment(s) to be resected and minimization of intra-operative blood loss. This study reports a surgical technique of hepatic resection for segment 7 and 8, and a benefit of supplemental use of topical cooling during consecutive right hepatic inflow occlusion. METHODOLOGY From January 1993 to December 1996, ten hepatocellular carcinoma patients with pathologic livers underwent hepatic segmentectomy for segment 7 and 8. The mapping of the target segments was guided by en-bloc test occlusion of the relevant portal pedicles and subsequent discoloration, often after the opening hilum method. Of these, five tumors were resected with topical cooling by ice slush seeding during consecutive right inflow occlusion (cooling group) and the remainder without cooling (Normothermic group). In the normothermic group, inflow occlusion was carried out by cyclic clamping and unclamping method. RESULTS The inflow occlusion time was 54 +/- 9.4 min in the cooling group, much longer than in the normothermic group. Although the post-operative peak transaminase values were twice as high as those in the normothermic group, the blood loss was significantly less, and there was no detrimental effect of prolonged, consecutive ischemia on the other intra- and post-operative data. CONCLUSIONS En-bloc taping of the target portal pedicles with or without the opening hilum method is useful in the mapping of segments, and the use of topical cooling is beneficial in prolonged inflow occlusion during complicated right-sided segmentectomy.
Decoupled dynamics and stabilization of single wheel robot

Gyrover is a single wheel, gyroscopically stabilized robot. It is a single wheel connected to a spinning flywheel through a two-link manipulator at the wheel bearing. The nature of the system is nonholonomic, nonlinear and underactuated. In this paper, we first develop a dynamic model and decouple the model with respect to the control inputs. We then study the effect of the flywheel dynamics on stabilizing the single wheel robot via simulation and experiment study. Finally, we design a linear state feedback control law that stabilizes the single wheel robot toward/in different lean angles, so as to control the precession rate. Simulation and experiment study validated the proposed controller as well as the developed dynamic model.