Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evolution of attention mechanisms for early visual processing

Early visual processing as a method to speed up computations on visual input data has long been discussed in the computer vision community. The general target of a such approaches is to filter nonrelevant information from the costly higher-level visual processing algorithms. By insertion of this additional filter layer the overall approach can be speeded up without actually changing the visual processing methodology. Being inspired by the layered architecture of the human visual processing apparatus, several approaches for early visual processing have been recently proposed. Most promising in this field is the extraction of a saliency map to determine regions of current attention in the visual field. Such saliency can be computed in a bottom-up manner, i.e. the theory claims that static regions of attention emerge from a certain color footprint, and dynamic regions of attention emerge from connected blobs of textures moving in a uniform way in the visual field. Top-down saliency effects are either unconscious through inherent mechanisms like inhibition-of-return, i.e. within a period of time the attention level paid to a certain region automatically decreases if the properties of that region do not change, or volitional through cognitive feedback, e.g. if an object moves consistently in the visual field. These bottom-up and top-down saliency effects have been implemented and evaluated in a previous computer vision system for the project JAST. In this paper an extension applying evolutionary processes is proposed. The prior vision system utilized multiple threads to analyze the regions of attention delivered from the early processing mechanism. Here, in addition, multiple saliency units are used to produce these regions of attention. All of these saliency units have different parameter-sets. The idea is to let the population of saliency units create regions of attention, then evaluate the results with cognitive feedback and finally apply the genetic mechanism: mutation and cloning of the best performers and extinction of the worst performers considering computation of regions of attention. A fitness function can be derived by evaluating, whether relevant objects are found in the regions created. It can be seen from various experiments, that the approach significantly speeds up visual processing, especially regarding robust ealtime object recognition, compared to an approach not using saliency based preprocessing. Furthermore, the evolutionary algorithm improves the overall performance of the preprocessing system in terms of quality, as the system automatically and autonomously tunes the saliency parameters. The computational overhead produced by periodical clone/delete/mutation operations can be handled well within the realtime constraints of the experimental computer vision system. Nevertheless, limitations apply whenever the visual field does not contain any significant saliency information for some time, but the population still tries to tune the parameters - overfitting avoids generalization in this case and the evolutionary process may be reset by manual intervention.
Closed Frequent Pattern Mining Using Vertical Data Format: Depth First Approach

Frequent pattern finding plays an essential role in mining associations, correlations and many more interesting relationships among data. Discovery of such correlations among huge amount of business transaction records can help in many aspects of business-related decision-making processes like catalog design, cross-marketing and customer shopping behavior analysis. ―Market Basket Analysis‖ is one of such applications. It involves analysis of customer buying patterns by finding associations between the different items that customers place in their shopping carts. The discovery of such associations can help retailers and analysts to develop marketing strategies by gaining insight into which items are frequently purchased together by customers leading to increased sales by helping retailers do selective marketing and design efficient store layout.
Brain tissue segmentation in MR brain images using multiple Otsu's thresholding technique

In this paper a new method is devised to segment the brain tissue from Tl-weighted MR brain images. The proposed method selects optimal threshold values based on Otsu's multiple thresholding technique to segment WM, GM and CSF from MR brain images. The segmentation results obtained by the proposed method is compared with the manually segmented images and have produced best results in terms of overlapping measure. The experimental results using 20 volumes of brain images show that the proposed method accurately segmented the brain tissues than the existing methods AMAP, BMAP, FCM, MAP, ML and TKmean.
Relational clustering for multi-type entity resolution

In many applications, there are a variety of ways of referring to the same underlying entity. Given a collection of references to entities, we would like to determine the set of true underlying entities and map the references to these entities. The references may be to entities of different types and more than one type of entity may need to be resolved at the same time. We propose similarity measures for clustering references taking into account the different relations that are observed among the typed references. We pose typed entity resolution in relational data as a clustering problem and present experimental results on real data showing improvements over attribute-based models when relations are leveraged.
Epithelial integrin alpha 6 beta 4: complete primary structure of alpha 6 and variant forms of beta 4

The integrin alpha 6 beta 4 is a heterodimer predominantly expressed by epithelia. While no definite receptor function has yet been assigned to it, this integrin may mediate adhesive and/or migratory functions of epithelial cells. We have determined the complete primary structure of both the alpha 6 and beta 4 subunits from cDNA clones isolated from pancreatic carcinoma cell line libraries. The deduced amino acid sequence of alpha 6 is homologous to other integrin alpha chains (18- 26% identity). Antibodies to an alpha 6 carboxy terminus peptide immunoprecipitated alpha 6 beta 4 complexes from carcinoma cells and alpha 6 beta 1 complexes from platelets, providing further evidence for the association of alpha 6 with more than one beta subunit. The deduced amino acid sequence of beta 4 predicts an extracellular portion homologous to other integrin beta chains, and a unique cytoplasmic domain comprised of greater than 1,000 residues. This agrees with the structures of the beta 4 cDNAs from normal epithelial cells (Suzuki, S., and Y. Naitoh. 1990. EMBO [Eur. Mol. Biol. Organ.] J. 9:757-763; Hogervost, F., I. Kuikman, A. E. G. Kr. von dem Borne, and A. Sonnenberg. 1990. EMBO [Eur. Mol. Biol. Organ.] J. 9:765-770). Compared to these structures, however, the beta 4 cDNAs that we have cloned from carcinoma cells contain extra sequences. One of these is located in the 5'-untranslated region, and may encode regulatory sequences. Another specifies a segment of 70 amino acids in the cytoplasmic tail. Amplification by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of mRNA indicated that multiple forms of beta 4 may exist, possibly due to cell-type specific alternative splicing. The unique structure of beta 4 suggests its involvement in novel cytoskeletal interactions. Consistent with this possibility, alpha 6 beta 4 is mostly concentrated on the basal surface of epithelial cells, but does not colocalize with components of adhesion plaques.
Hardware Virtualization Support In INTEL, AMD And IBM Power Processors

At present, the mostly used and developed mechanism is hardware virtualization which provides a common platform to run multiple operating systems and applications in independent partitions. More precisely, it is all about resource virtualization as the term hardware virtualization is emphasized. In this paper, the aim is to find out the advantages and limitations of current virtualization techniques, analyze their cost and performance and also depict which forthcoming hardware virtualization techniques will able to provide efficient solutions for multiprocessor operating systems. This is done by making a methodical literature survey and statistical analysis of the benchmark reports provided by SPEC (Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation) and TPC (Transaction processing Performance Council). Finally, this paper presents the current aspects of hardware virtualization which will help the IT managers of the large organizations to take effective decision while choosing server with virtualization support. Again, the future works described in section 4 of this paper focuses on some real world challenges such as abstraction of multiple servers, language level virtualization, pre-virtualization etc. which may be point of great interest for the researchers.
Nondecreasing Lyapunov functions

We propose the notion of nondecreasing Lyapunov functions which can be used to prove stability or other properties of the system in question. This notion is in particular useful in studying switched or hybrid systems. We illustrate the concept by a general construction of such a nondecreasing Lyapunov function for a class of planar hybrid systems. It is noted that this class encompasses switched systems for which no piecewise-quadratic (classical) Lyapunov function exists.
Other-regarding behaviour: Testing guilt- and reciprocity-based models

We analyse two types of belief-dependant models of social preferences: guilt aversion and reciprocity. In particular, we test the relevance of their input variables (second-order beliefs and general dispositions for guilt/reciprocity). The data confirm the predictions of belief-dependant models. Both second-order beliefs and a participant's sensitivity to guilt/reciprocity are relevant for the decisions taken. Second-order beliefs appear to have an inverse U-shaped effect on the extent of kind behaviour.
BAC-Pool Sequencing and Analysis of Large Segments of A12 and D12 Homoeologous Chromosomes in Upland Cotton

Although new and emerging next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have reduced sequencing costs significantly, much work remains to implement them for de novo sequencing of complex and highly repetitive genomes such as the tetraploid genome of Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Herein we report the results from implementing a novel, hybrid Sanger/454-based BAC-pool sequencing strategy using minimum tiling path (MTP) BACs from Ctg-3301 and Ctg-465, two large genomic segments in A12 and D12 homoeologous chromosomes (Ctg). To enable generation of longer contig sequences in assembly, we implemented a hybrid assembly method to process ~35x data from 454 technology and 2.8-3x data from Sanger method. Hybrid assemblies offered higher sequence coverage and better sequence assemblies. Homology studies revealed the presence of retrotransposon regions like Copia and Gypsy elements in these contigs and also helped in identifying new genomic SSRs. Unigenes were anchored to the sequences in Ctg-3301 and Ctg-465 to support the physical map. Gene density, gene structure and protein sequence information derived from protein prediction programs were used to obtain the functional annotation of these genes. Comparative analysis of both contigs with Arabidopsis genome exhibited synteny and microcollinearity with a conserved gene order in both genomes. This study provides insight about use of MTP-based BAC-pool sequencing approach for sequencing complex polyploid genomes with limited constraints in generating better sequence assemblies to build reference scaffold sequences. Combining the utilities of MTP-based BAC-pool sequencing with current longer and short read NGS technologies in multiplexed format would provide a new direction to cost-effectively and precisely sequence complex plant genomes.
Realizing Video-Surveillance on Wireless Mesh Networks: Implementation Issues and Performance Evaluation

Video-surveillance systems are currently undergoing a transition from traditional analog solutions to digital ones. This paradigm shift has been triggered by technological advances as well as increased awareness of the need for heightened security in particular vertical markets such as government and transportation. Compared with traditional analog videosurveillance systems, digital video-surveillance offers much greater flexibility in video content processing and transmission. At the same time, it can also easily implement advanced features such as motion detection, facial recognition and object tracking. Many commercial companies now offer IP-based surveillance solutions. This chapter starts from an experience of deployment of a prototype of a large-scale distributed video-surveillance system that the authors’ research group has realized as a common testbed for many research projects. It consists of sixty video cameras distributed over the campus of the University of Catania, transmitting live video streams to a central location for processing and monitoring. Deployment and maintenance of large-scale distributed video-surveillance systems is often very expensive, mainly due to the installation and maintenance of physical wires. The solution chosen in order to significantly reduce the overall system costs, while increasing deployability, scalability, and performance is the use of wireless interconnections (Collins et al., 2001); (Chiasserini & Magli, 2002). With this in mind, the basis idea is to apply multi-hop wireless mesh networks (WMN) (Akyildiz et al., 2005); (Karrer et al., 2003); (Bhagwaty et al., 2003); (Tropos) as the interconnection backbone of a wireless video-surveillance network (WVSN). The proposed architecture is shown in Fig. 1. As we will see in Section 2, it fits in well with the structure of a WMN (Draves et al., 2004), where traffic sources are networked digital video cameras, while the nodes of the WVSN are fixed and wirelessly interconnected to provide video sources with connections towards a video proxy with processing and filtering capabilities. Video proxies are typically located in the wired network. Nevertheless, implementing an intelligent, scalable and massively distributed videosurveillance system over wireless networks remains a research problem and leads to at least the following important issues, some of which have been raised in (Feng et al., 2001):
New Wearable Body Sensor for Continuous Diagnosis of Internal Tissue Bleeding

Continuous monitoring of internal bleeding in tissue is essential for assessment and treatment of medical conditions. In this study we present a new body sensor for diagnosis of internal tissue bleeding based on contact multi-frequency electromagnetic inductive measurements of the tissue. This contributes to the existing family of body network sensors. This sensor can be used in emergency medicine in the field, in a hospital, or during daily life for patients at risk of bleeding. Unlike other sensors that detect bleeding, this sensor is portable, low cost, non-invasive and does not require galvanic coupling between the electrode and the tissue under measurement. Our study includes description of the new body sensor, criteria for data processing, basic diagnostic algorithms and calibration techniques. We show feasibility of this new sensor with a sensor prototype and diagnosis of an experimental simulation of internal bleeding and hypoperfusion conditions in the brain.
Qualitative Description and Reasoning of Topological Relation in Three-Dimensional GIS

Topological relation is invariant under continuous transformations of space, which incarnates the global characteristics of entity. The topological relation is an important spatial relationship in GIS. The three-dimensional space can be described with the simplex model, and a complex entity can be divided into simplexes whose dimensions are equal to or less than the dimension of entity in GIS. The topological relations among 0-simplix (point), 1-simplex (line), 2-simplex (triangle), and 3-simplex (tetrahedron) in the three-dimensional GIS are described with the 9-intersition matrix model. Topological relations that the 9-intersection matrix can classify are 11 topological relations between lines, 13 topological relations between line and triangle, 11 topological relations between line and tetrahedron, 18 topological relations between triangles, 9 topological relations between triangle and tetrahedron, and 8 topological relations between tetrahedron. Base on the set theory, the qualitative reasoning of topological relation is studied, whose results are listed in the composition table.
Mitochondrial Translocation and Apoptosis MEK-ERK-RSK Cascade Induces Phosphorylation of Nur 77 by the and

Nur77, an orphan nuclear receptor, plays a key role in apoptosis in T cells. In cancer cell lines, Nur77 can induce apoptosis through the intrinsic apoptotic pathway, but the mechanism by which Nur77 kills T cells remains controversial. In this study, we provide biochemical, pharmacological, and genetic evidence demonstrating that Nur77 induces apoptosis through the activation of the intrinsic pathway in T cells. We also show that Nur77 is a physiological substrate of the MEK-ERK-RSK cascade. Specifically, we demonstrate that RSK phosphorylates Nur77 at serine 354 and this modulates Nur77 nuclear export and intracellular translo-cation during T cell death. Our data reveal that Nur77 phosphorylation and mitochondrial targeting, regulated by RSK, defines a role for the MEK1/2-ERK1/2 cascade in T cell apoptosis. N ur77, a member of the NR4A group of nuclear orphan receptors, is identified as a transcription factor required both for TCR-induced apoptosis in T cell hybridomas (1–2) and negative selection of CD4 and CD8 double positive (DP) 3 thymocytes (3– 4). Although target genes regulated by Nur77 in T cells remain to be identified (5), it was assumed that induction of apoptosis by Nur77 in T cells occurred through activation of downstream genes. Consistent with this assumption, expression of a dominant negative form of Nur77 with no DNA binding activity delays TCR-induced apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo (2, 4, 6). Unexpectedly, in cancer cell lines, it was shown that nuclear Nur77 could migrate to mitochondria, bind Bcl-2, and convert Bcl-2 from a cell death protector into a killer, thus implicating the intrinsic pathway in Nur77-mediated apoptosis in these cells (7). However, early studies in thymocytes from Nur77 transgenic mice suggested cytochrome c is not released from mitochondria during Nur77-induced death, thus casting doubt on the role of the canon-ical intrinsic apoptosis pathway in Nur77-mediated apoptosis in T cells (5). More recently, several studies suggest that Nur77 can translocate to the mitochondria following TCR activation in DP thymocytes (8, 9). Although these studies showed by biochemical or pharmacological methods that Nur77 mitochondrial transloca-tion is coincident with apoptosis in T cells, direct genetic evidence linking specific intracellular translocation with onset of intrinsic apoptotic program in T cells has not yet been demonstrated. Therefore , the effector mechanism by which Nur77 induces apoptosis in T cells remains to be defined. MAPKs, which include ERK1/2, JNK1–3, p38s (␣, ␤, ␥ and ␦), and ERK5, are a family of serine/threonine …
Brain Computer Interfaces for Silent Speech

Brain Computer Interface (BCI) systems provide control of external devices by using only brain activity. In recent years, there has been a great interest in developing BCI systems for different applications. These systems are capable of solving daily life problems for both healthy and disabled people. One of the most important applications of BCI is to provide communication for disabled people that are totally paralysed. In this paper, different parts of a BCI system and different methods used in each part are reviewed. Neuroimaging devices, with an emphasis on EEG (electroencephalography), are presented and brain activities as well as signal processing methods used in EEG-based BCIs are explained in detail. Current methods and paradigms in BCI based speech communication are considered.
The relationship between cortical auditory evoked potential (CAEP) detection and estimated audibility in infants with sensorineural hearing loss

Abstract Objective: To determine the effectiveness of objective statistical detection in CAEP testing to evaluate audibility in young infants with sensorineural hearing loss. Design: CAEP recordings to speech-based stimuli were made at three presentation levels (55, 65, or 75 dB SPL) when a group of hearing-impaired infants were either aided or unaided. Later-obtained behavioral audiograms were used as the gold standard against which to evaluate the accuracy of the automatic detection of the presence/absence of CAEP responses. Study sample: Participants were 18 infants with confirmed sensorineural hearing loss. Results: Higher sensation levels led to a greater number of present CAEP responses being detected. More CAEP waveforms were detected in the aided condition than in the unaided condition. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the presence/absence of CAEP responses defined by the automatic statistical criterion was effective in showing whether increased sensation levels provided by amplification were sufficient to reach the cortex. This was clearly apparent from the significant increase in cortical detections when comparing unaided with aided testing.
Network Security Situation Generation and Evaluation Based on Heterogeneous Sensor Fusion

Network Security Situation Awareness (NSSA) is an emerging technique in the field of network security and it helps security analysts to be aware of the actual security situation of their networks. In this paper we presented a novel NSSA model based on multi-sensor data fusion. In our model, we acquired data from heterogeneous sensors and fused them employing Multi-Layer Feed-forward Neural Network in combination with efficient feature reduction approach which improved real-time nature of the fusion engine. Furthermore, we discussed the security situation awareness generation techniques and evaluation indicators detailedly. Our model is proved to be feasible and effective through a series of experiments.
INSTRUMENT TIMBRE MODELS WITH NOISY PARTIAL INCLUSION

This paper presents the results of work performed in the area of analysis, manipulation and re-synthesis of musical instrument sounds. The goal is an efficient method of musical instrument sound modelling. Building on work previously carried out on analysis/re synthesis methods, in addition to phase vocoding methods, the work here presented proffers an alternative method of harmonic partial analysis and filtration. A new technique for sound model generation is presented and results from preliminary testing are discussed.