Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Consumer Experience and Omnichannel Behavior in Various Sales Atmospheres

The conceptual framework for our analysis is the approach to environmental psychology first introduced by different authors in 1974. Subsequently in 1982 this concept was applied to retail outlets so as to better understand the effect on consumers of atmospheric stimuli experienced in a physical store. Following the developing trend from traditional marketing to new online sales channels, various authors have sought to transfer and validate these theories with virtual outlets or e-stores, so as to validate them in a context of e-commerce. Our study thoroughly analyses and reviews the most widely accepted models in the study of the influence of sales atmospherics on consumer behavior in physical store environments, and the adaptation and application of such models to today’s omnichannel shopper behavior, where shopping environments combine physical sales settings with new digital sales atmospheres.
A new algorithm to get the initial centroids

We investigate in This work the standard k-means clustering algorithm and give our improved version by selecting better initial centroids that the algorithm begins with. First we evaluate the distances between every pair of data-points; then try to find out those data-points which are similar; and finally construct initial centroids according to these found data-points. Different initial centroids lead to different results. If we can find initial centroids which are consistent with the distribution of data, the better clustering can be obtained. According to our experimental results, the improved k-means clustering algorithm has the accuracy higher than the original one.
Occlusion in Mirror-Based Co-Located Augmented Reality Systems

This paper describes the incorporation of realistic occlusion effects into mirror-based, stereoscopic co-location augmented reality display systems. By adding a light-blocking device in the form of an LCD panel underneath the semitransparent mirror, the view of the physical world can be selectively blocked out such that virtual objects can fully occlude physical objects. Furthermore, by discarding pixels of the virtual objects rendered on the reflected display, physical objects seen through the semitransparent mirror and the transmissive LCD panel appear to occlude these virtual objects. The governing principles of the approach are described, and two algorithmic approaches (model based and vision based) for scene reconstruction and the generation of the occlusion masks are presented. Finally, a prototype implementation of the system is presented.
A circular polarized self tracking L band array with high bandwidth and scan beamwidth for inmarsat BGAN applications

This paper presents a 4×5 element antenna array for applications such as Inmarsat BGAN. This array addresses an important phenomenon which appears to have been little reported in the literature. This is the degradation of circular polarisation characteristics when a CP array is steered electronically. The design of this array presents significant challenges, as not only does it have to maintain a high quality of CP when scanning up to ±40°, but also has to do this over an 8.5% frequency coverage of 1.525 to 1.66 GHz. The resulting array was able to fulfil these requirements, with element sequential rotation being employed to further enhance the CP characteristics.
Active 3D Vision through Gaze Relocation in a Humanoid Robot

Motion parallax, the relative motion of 3D space at different distances experienced by a moving agent, is one of the most informative visual cues of depth and distance. While motion parallax is typically investigated during navigation, it also occurs in most robotic head/eye systems during rotations of the cameras. In these systems, as in the eyes of many species, the optical nodal points do not lie on the axes of rotation. Thus, a camera rotation shifts an object's projection on the sensor by an amount that depends not only on the rotation amplitude, but also on the distance of the object with respect to the camera. Several species rely on this cue to estimate distance. An oculomotor parallax is present also in the human eye, and during normal eye movements, displaces the stimulus on the retina by an amount that is well within the range of sensitivity of the visual system. We developed an anthropomorphic robot equipped with an oculomotor system specifically designed to reproduce the images impinging on t.
Growth dynamics of mammalian cells monitored with automated cell cycle staining and flow cytometry

To accurately observe high‐frequency events during transient cell cycle kinetics, we have implemented a single step 15‐min DNA staining protocol using automated flow cytometry. This protocol was used to sample and to analyze a Chinese hamster ovary cell culture for the DNA distribution, viable cell concentration, apoptotic cell concentration, and light scattering properties every 25 min over 4.5 days in response to a nutrient deprivation and a nutrient upshift. After the nutrient deprivation and exposure to fresh growth medium, two populations of cells started proliferating at different times likely corresponding to cells leaving the G0 and G1 cell cycle phases. After a nutrient upshift in late exponential growth, a cell cycle arrest occurred at the G1/S and G2/M boundary. The resulting cell cycle and proliferation kinetics followed damped oscillations that directly reveal the average time cells spend in each cell cycle phase. The observed detailed dynamics of the cell cycle progression is made possible through the high‐frequency sampling enabled by automated flow cytometry. The approach should be useful in studying cell cycle perturbations in response to different environmental conditions resulting from exposure to specific nutrients or to drugs. © 2008 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
Biometric association using transfer subspace learning

Different biometrics studies related to face, fingerprint, hand geometry, palmprint, and iris has been taken place in recent past. In this paper two biometrics, face and fingerprint are considered and associated with each other using transfer subspace learning. Transfer subspace learning can share common subspace even if domains are different by minimizing the distance between their probability distribution. Locality preserving projections is used as objective function to discriminate between source domains. This works linearly and preserves the local geometry of the structure by obtaining the subspace spanned by smallest eigenvectors of local covariance matrix. Proposed framework will be very useful in the forensic applications. Though the accuracy of this system is not very high it will help to separate the most probable suspects.
Research on modeling of plough during cable laying operation

For burying cable ploughs need to follow a certain path, big ploughs are towed by surface vessels with powerful propulsion systems, modeling is rather important. Firstly, based on Colomb's passive earth pressure theory, the analysis of effects of pore water, cavitation limit and grain crushing limit are carried out. Secondly, the mathematical model considering the force acting on the plough from the seabed-sediment was derived. It depended on the plough's speed in surge, ocean depth, burial depth and width (shape of the plough share) and various seabed-sediment parameters. Finally, the simulation was implemented in Matlab, the results was reasonable and valid. To conclude, the research results are basically congruent with practice, but because Coulomb's theory of passive earth pressure is little bigger. It can be found that as the ploughing speed increases or the deeper the burial, the greater the decrease in pore water pressure, and hence the greater the friction force and the mathematical model is nonlinear. So, when designing controller of cable laying vessel, the plough model can be used for a feed forward or a prediction. The different type of sediment has different parameter values. For simplicity in this assignment, only the density of the sediment is changed when simulating a change of sediment type.
Efficient view selection by measuring proxy information

View selection aims at finding good views that can watch model information as much as possible. However, existing view evaluation methods used to measure model properties are generally complex and very time‐consuming. In this paper, we address this challenge by generating succinct proxy information to measure the view quality. The proxy information is generated by principal component analysis of the model to obtain its six principal viewing directions and consists of the representative information computed by the principal viewing directions. We discuss and validate the effectiveness of the proxy information for view evaluation. Thus, measuring the proxy information for view evaluation, the time complexity can be reduced as it is independent of the facet number of the model. This is superior to existing methods by straight measurement of model properties and provides acceleration for view selection. Experimental results show that we can obtain good views as state‐of‐the‐art methods and speed up view selection by at least two orders of magnitudes and achieve more acceleration when the models have more facets. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Usefulness of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy in the management of patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. Groupe de Recherche et d'Etude du Syndrome de Zollinger-Ellison (GRESZE).

BACKGROUND: Management of patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (ZES) depends on the presence of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN 1) or liver metastases, or both. Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) detects previously unknown endocrine tumours. AIM AND METHODS: To evaluate SRS findings susceptible to modifying the management of patients with ZES-that is, relevant findings, and the specificity of these findings. The latter were defined according to our current therapeutic strategy in three subgroups of patients (sporadic, MEN 1, and liver metastases). PATIENTS: 85 consecutive patients without known extra-abdominal metastases were studied between September 1991 and March 1996. RESULTS: Relevant findings were found in 41% of 49 patients with sporadic disease but without liver metastases, in 22% of 18 patients with MEN 1 but without liver metastases, and in 17% of 18 patients with liver metastases. Follow up was available for 20 (74%) of 27 patients who had 23 relevant findings. Nineteen relevant findings (83%) were confirmed at a median of three (range 0.25-45) months of follow up; four (17%) were not confirmed at 30 (range 12-52) months (p = 0.025). Findings located in the duodenopancreatic area (90%), chest (100%), bone (100%), and liver (60%) were confirmed. Most findings for patients with MEN 1 involved the chest. CONCLUSION: SRS detects many anomalies susceptible to modifying management of patients with ZES, especially in those with sporadic disease. The specificity of hot spots located outside the liver seems very high. By contrast, the specificity of hot spots located in the liver remains to be evaluated when conventional imaging is negative.
Ste 2 O-like protein kinases are required for normal localization of cell growth and for cytokinesis in buddingYyeast

The yeast Ste2O protein kinase is involved in pheromone response. Mammalian homologs of Ste2O exist, but their function remains unknown. We identified a novel yeast STEP0 homolog, CLA4, in a screen for mutations lethal in the absence of the G, cyclins Clnl and Cln2. Cla4 is involved in budding and cytokinesis and interacts with Cdc42, a GTPase required for polarized cell growth. Despite a cytokinesis defect, cla4 mutants are viable. However, double cla4 ste20 mutants cannot maintain septin rings at the bud neck and cannot undergo cytokinesis. Mutations in CDC12, which encodes one of the septins, were found in the same screen. Cla4 and Ste2O kinases apparently share a function in localizing cell growth with respect to the septin ring.
Synthetic aperture radar algorithm for a global amplitude map

This paper presents a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) algorithm for automotive applications to increase azimuth resolution for radar sensors. The image representation can be used as an amplitude map for autonomous maneuvers. The algorithm's emphasis lies on continuous calculation so that current images become immediately available. Thus, the algorithm is described together with a two-grid approach for calculation and storage. In addition, measurements are presented to clarify the SAR procedure. An outlook on a real-time calculation for continuous driving concludes the work.
Low complexity 2D adaptive image processing algorithm and its hardware implementation

Digital image processing (DIP) algorithms used in consumer electronics products have high computational complexities. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a novel low complexity 2D adaptive DIP algorithm. The proposed algorithm reduces computational complexities of 2D DIP algorithms by exploiting pixel correlations in input image without reducing quality of output image. We also designed a low energy 2D adaptive DIP hardware implementing the proposed algorithm. The proposed hardware is verified to work correctly on an FPGA board. It has significantly less energy consumption than original 2D DIP hardware. Therefore, it can be used especially in portable consumer electronics products.
Stability in Optimism-Pessimism in Relation to Bad News: A Study of Women With Breast Cancer

In this study, we investigated the stability of optimism-pessimism in relation to receiving bad news (i.e., positive lymph nodes, more advanced cancer stage) after breast cancer surgery and in comparison to the stability of anxiety and depression level. The women (n = 165) completed the Life Orientation Test-Revised (Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Zigmond & Snaith, 1983) at time of diagnosis, 3 months, and 12 months after surgery. Overall, women's optimism-pessimism levels remained stable over the follow-up period whether they received bad news or not. In contrast, women's anxiety and depression level decreased significantly over the same time period with 1 exception. Women's level of depression remained fairly stable among those who received bad news. Optimism-pessimism appears to remain stable over situations as well as time and regardless of negative affects.
SHARP TWO-WEIGHT INEQUALITIES FOR SINGULAR INTEGRALS

We prove two-weight norm inequalities for Calderón-Zygmund singular integrals that are sharp for the Hilbert transform and for the Riesz transforms. In addition, we give results for the dyadic square function and for commutators of singular integrals. As an application we give new results for the Sarason conjecture on the product of unbounded Toeplitz operators on Hardy spaces Adv. Math. 216 (2007), no. 2, 647--676
An exploration of a social-cognitive framework for improving the human-centric risk communication

With the aim of improving human-centric risk communication, this research in progress paper argues for a social-cognitive perspective focusing on the interaction between laypeople and the information environment. A model is designed to predict laypeople’s environmental risk perception and information seeking behavior. Using data from a national online survey (N=1,032), our research is an effort to test the predictive power of the socialcognitive model. Practical implications are also discussed in this paper.
Vaccines are for dinner

Transgenic plants have been sought not only as bioreactors but also as potential scaffolds for oral vaccines. Tobacco was initially exploited for the successful expression of Streptococcus mutans surface protein A as a potential dental caries vaccine (1) and for hepatitis B surface antigen (2) as a vaccine bioreactor alternative for viral hepatitis B. Today, a number of edible plants (Table 1), including potatoes, tomatoes, maize, and soybeans, have been genetically modified to express a variety of vaccine targets, including hepatitis B surface antigen (2), Norwalk virus particles (3, 4), heat-labile enterotoxin B subunit (5, 6), and others (7–11) that can benefit both humans (6–8) and livestock (9–11). The advantage of edible vaccines is that often the plant products, whether leaves, fruit, or seed, can be readily consumed with limited or no processing. Viable oral platforms such as edible products suitable for human use are in demand to deliver vaccines (12). Obviously, the fact that food products are consumed obviates many of the health concerns that arise in the oral vaccination of humans (as reviewed in ref. 13). Edible vaccines can also have the advantage of circumventing cold-storage issues (the “cold chain”), because plant tissues can be dried or, as when the seeds are targeted, have low moisture content. Likewise, water- or oil-based plant extracts can provide additional storage convenience. In this issue of PNAS, Nochi et al. (14) describe a rice-based oral vaccine that potentially addresses many of these topics. At hand is the need for vaccine development and strategies to aid underserved nations with the ability to produce vaccines locally in a cost-effective manner. Because rice is produced in many such areas, this current work shows the feasibility of propagating rice-based vaccines that are truly edible vaccines, unlike in the …
Characterisation of Colletotrichum species causing anthracnose disease of mango in Italy.

Anthracnose symptoms consisting of necrotic spots on the leaves, twigs and branches were observed on mango trees of cv. Kensington Pride in orchards located in the countryside of Palermo and Milazzo (southern Italy). Based on morphological observations and phylogenetic analysis of the β-tubulin (benA) and histone H3 (HIS3) genes, three Colletotrichum species were identified and recovered from diseased plants, i.e. C. karstii (nine isolates), C. kahawae subsp. ciggaro (six isolates) and C. gloeosporioides (six isolates). Following artificial inoculation, all species induced symptoms on the leaves and fruits of cv. Kensington Pride. To our knowledge, this is the first report of mango anthracnose caused by C. karstii, C. kahawae subsp. ciggaro and C. gloeosporioides in Italy.
A Pseudo Feedback-Based Annotated TF-IDF Technique for Dynamic Crypto-Ransomware Pre-Encryption Boundary Delineation and Features Extraction

The cryptography employed against user files makes the effect of crypto-ransomware attacks irreversible even after detection and removal. Thus, detecting such attacks early, i.e. during pre-encryption phase before the encryption takes place is necessary. Existing crypto-ransomware early detection solutions use a fixed time-based thresholding approach to determine the pre-encryption phase boundaries. However, the fixed time thresholding approach implies that all samples start the encryption at the same time. Such assumption does not necessarily hold for all samples as the time for the main sabotage to start varies among different crypto-ransomware families due to the obfuscation techniques employed by the malware to change its attack strategies and evade detection, which generates different attack behaviors. Additionally, the lack of sufficient data at the early phases of the attack adversely affects the ability of feature extraction techniques in early detection models to perceive the characteristics of the attacks, which, consequently, decreases the detection accuracy. Therefore, this paper proposes a Dynamic Pre-encryption Boundary Delineation and Feature Extraction (DPBD-FE) scheme that determines the boundary of the pre-encryption phase, from which the features are extracted and selected more accurately. Unlike the fixed thresholding employed by the extant works, DPBD-FE tracks the pre-encryption phase for each instance individually based on the first occurrence of any cryptography-related APIs. Then, an annotated Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (aTF-IDF) technique was utilized to extract the features from runtime data generated during the pre-encryption phase of crypto-ransomware attacks. The aTF-IDF overcomes the challenge of insufficient attack patterns during the early phases of the attack lifecycle. The experimental evaluation shows that DPBD-FE was able to determine the pre-encryption boundaries and extract the features related to this phase more accurately compared to related works.
A Mass Spectrometric and Molecular Modelling Study of Cisplatin Binding to Transferrin

A combination of mass spectrometry, UV/Vis spectroscopy and molecular modelling techniques have been used to characterise the interaction of cisplatin with human serum transferrin (Tf). Mass spectrometry indicates that cisplatin binds to the hydroxy functional group of threonine 457, which is located in the iron(III)‐binding site on the C‐terminal lobe of the protein. UV/Vis spectroscopy confirms the stoichiometry of binding and shows that cisplatin and iron(III) binding are competitive. The binding of cisplatin has been modelled by using molecular dynamic simulations and the results suggest that cisplatin can occupy part of both the iron(III)‐ and carbonate‐binding sites in the C‐terminal lobe of the protein. Combined, the studies suggest that cisplatin binding sterically restricts iron(III) binding to the C‐terminal lobe binding site, whereas the N‐terminal lobe binding site appears to be unaffected by the cisplatin interaction, possibly allowing the iron(III)‐induced conformational change necessary for binding to a Tf receptor.
Rapid gene repression triggered by interleukin-6 at the onset of monocyte differentiation.

To date, the majority of characterized extracellular ligand-induced rapid changes in gene expression involve upregulation. Hence, rapid gene repression is either less common or less well studied. To study rapid gene repression during cytokine-initiated differentiation programs, we used the mRNA subtractive hybridization technique of representational difference analysis to isolate repressed genes. Cultures of the myeloid leukemia cell line M1 were induced to terminally differentiate by treatment with interleukin-6 (IL-6). The repressed genes identified in our subtraction products include the genes encoding the growth factor receptor Flt3/Flk2/STK-1 (CD135) and the costimulatory protein CD24 [heat-stable antigen] and the c-myb oncogene. Following 4 h of IL-6 treatment, mRNA levels of these genes are decreased by 45-65% relative to controls and after 8 h by 65-80%. Lipopolysaccharide also triggers the repression of these genes. Protein synthesis inhibitors do not block the IL-6-stimulated repression of c-myb, or c-myc, mRNA, yet they do block the repression of flt3 and CD24 mRNA, demonstrating the existence of both protein synthesis-independent and -dependent mechanisms of cytokine-triggered rapid gene repression during differentiation.
GPU-Based High Performance Password Recovery Technique for Hash Functions

Due to the development of GPGPU (General Purpose Graphic Processing Unit) technology, GPU has been applied in many computation tasks as accelerators. In this paper, a new password recovery technique for the standardized hash functions, MD5 and SHA1, are proposed by combining the optimization methods on GPU. The performance on AMD HD7970 is 2615 mc/s for SHA1 and 6877 mc/s for MD5, which is 10 times better than the original implementation. If the length of password is limited, our GPU-based technique makes it possible to recover password from hash values in a reasonable time.