Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Behavioral and Electrophysiological Study of Phonological Priming between Bisyllabic Spoken Words

Phonological priming between bisyllabic (CV.CVC) spoken items was examined using both behavioral (reaction times, RTs) and electrophysiological (event-related potentials, ERPs) measures. Word and pseudoword targets were preceded by pseudoword primes. Different types of final phonological overlap between prime and target were compared. Critical pairs shared the last syllable, the rime or the coda, while unrelated pairs were used as controls. Participants performed a target shadowing task in Experiment 1 and a delayed lexical decision task in Experiment 2. RTs were measured in the first experiment and ERPs were recorded in the second experiment. The RT experiment was carried out under two presentation conditions. In Condition 1 both primes and targets were presented auditorily, while in Condition 2 the primes were presented visually and the targets auditorily. Priming effects were found in the unimodal condition only. RTs were fastest for syllable overlap, intermediate for rime overlap, and slowest for coda overlap and controls that did not differ from one another. ERPs were recorded under unimodal auditory presentation. ERP results showed that the amplitude of the auditory N400 component was smallest for syllable overlap, intermediate for rime overlap, and largest for coda overlap and controls that did not differ from one another. In both experiments, the priming effects were larger for word than for pseudoword targets. These results are best explained by the combined influences of nonlexical and lexical processes, and a comparison of the reported effects with those found in monosyllables suggests the involvement of rime and syllable representations.
Neuregulin Induces GABAA Receptor Subunit Expression and Neurite Outgrowth in Cerebellar Granule Cells

Neuregulin (NRG), a growth and differentiation factor that signals via erbB receptor tyrosine kinases, has been shown to have biological effects in both the CNS and the peripheral nervous system. We report here that erbB4 is expressed in mature cerebellar granule cells, where it appears to be concentrated at the granule cell postsynaptic terminals. We also show that one form of NRG, Ig-NRG, plays a crucial role in aspects of cerebellar granule cell development in vitro. First, Ig-NRG treatment of granule cells in culture selectively induces the expression of the GABAA receptor β2 subunit. This increase in subunit expression is paralleled by an increase in functional GABAA receptors. In contrast to its effects on GABAA receptor subunit expression, Ig-NRG does not upregulate NMDA receptor N2B and N2C subunit expression. Second, we demonstrate that Ig-NRG also enhances neurite outgrowth from cultured granule cells. Ig-NRG does not, however, act as a survival factor for the granule cells. We have compared the effect of Ig-NRG with the effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a neurotrophin that exerts specific effects on granule cells in culture, and found that BDNF does not mimic the effects of Ig-NRG on GABAAreceptor subunit expression. Our results show that Ig-NRG has specific effects on granule cell development and maturation and may regulate these processes in vivo.
Stereo Matching by Joint Global and Local Energy Minimization

In [18], Mozerov et al. propose to perform stereo matching as a two-step energy minimization problem. For the first step they solve a fully connected MRF model. And in the next step the marginal output is employed as the unary cost for a locally connected MRF model. In this paper we intend to combine the two steps of energy minimization in order to improve stereo matching results. We observe that the fully connected MRF leads to smoother disparity maps, while the locally connected MRF achieves superior results in fine-structured regions. Thus we propose to jointly solve the fully connected and locally connected models, taking both their advantages into account. The joint model is solved by mean field approximations. While remaining efficient, our joint model outperforms the two-step energy minimization approach in both time and estimation error on the Middlebury stereo benchmark v3.
Local Propagation in Bayesian networks Versus Semi-Join Program in Databases

In this paper, we study the local propagation method used in Bayesian net for belief updating from a relational database perspective. We point out and prove that the renowned local propagation method is in fact a (generalized) semi-join program used in relational database for answering database queries. This interesting connection implies and suggests that the task of belief updating can be reconsidered as a database query problem.
Alignment and bit extraction for secure fingerprint biometrics

Security of biometric templates stored in a system is important because a stolen template can compromise system security as well as user privacy. Therefore, a number of secure biometrics schemes have been proposed that facilitate matching of feature templates without the need for a stored biometric sample. However, most of these schemes suffer from poor matching performance owing to the difficulty of designing biometric features that remain robust over repeated biometric measurements. This paper describes a scheme to extract binary features from fingerprints using minutia points and fingerprint ridges. The features are amenable to direct matching based on binary Hamming distance, but are especially suitable for use in secure biometric cryptosystems that use standard error correcting codes. Given all binary features, a method for retaining only the most discriminable features is presented which improves the Genuine Accept Rate (GAR) from 82% to 90% at a False Accept Rate (FAR) of 0.1% on a well-known public database. Additionally, incorporating singular points such as a core or delta feature is shown to improve the matching tradeoff.
Patterns of viral infection in honey bee queens

The well-being of a colony and replenishment of the workers depends on a healthy queen. Diseases in queens are seldom reported, and our knowledge on viral infection in queens is limited. In this study, 86 honey bee queens were collected from beekeepers in Denmark. All queens were tested separately by two real-time PCRs: one for the presence of deformed wing virus (DWV), and one that would detect sequences of acute bee-paralysis virus, Kashmir bee virus and Israeli acute paralysis virus (AKI complex). Worker bees accompanying the queen were also analysed. The queens could be divided into three groups based on the level of infection in their head, thorax, ovary, intestines and spermatheca. Four queens exhibited egg-laying deficiency, but visually all queens appeared healthy. Viral infection was generally at a low level in terms of AKI copy numbers, with 134/430 tissues (31 %) showing the presence of viral infection ranging from 101 to 105 copies. For DWV, 361/340 tissues (84 %) showed presence of viral infection (DWV copies ranging from 102 to 1012), with 50 tissues showing viral titres >107 copies. For both AKI and DWV, the thorax was the most frequently infected tissue and the ovaries were the least frequently infected. Relative to total mass, the spermatheca showed significantly higher DWV titres than the other tissues. The ovaries had the lowest titre of DWV. No significant differences were found among tissues for AKI. A subsample of 14 queens yielded positive results for the presence of negative-sense RNA strands, thus demonstrating active virus replication in all tissues.
An Approach for Exploring Combinatorial Properties of R-path Omega Interconnection Networks

Multiple path multistage interconnection networks as compared to their parental one path cube-type networks provide better permutation capability and offer such important property as fault-tolerance. In this paper an approach for investigation permuting ability of R-path Omega networks is proposed. The analysis as concerned to arbitrary permutations is done with the help of number theory methods. As to BPC (bitpermute-complement) permutations admissibility check to the aforementioned type of networks, the modified window method is proposed. The aforementioned method reduces drastically the time complexity of admissibility check. The results of computational experiments with applying the technique to some permutations of BPC class are given.
The network structure of malware development, deployment and distribution

The Internet is a global infrastructure, connecting individuals, regardless of their proximity to one another. But, the ability to connect on such a large scale has also been leveraged to coordinate illicit activities. This has led to the emergence of online illicit networks that have enabled broader participation in cybercrime. Online stolen data markets have been of particular interest to researchers, though the networks involved in the development, deployment and distribution of malicious software are far less explored, despite being intricately tied to the growing issue of cyber security. The current study identifies community structures within a larger network of hackers, malware writers and market actors and examines the underlying characteristics of these networks. Results suggest that the network is composed of modular communities formed largely of weak, non-redundant ties that follow the ubiquitous structure of complex networks. Implications, limitations and directions for future research conclude this paper.
Object Localization in Medical Images Using Genetic Algorithms

� Abstract—We present a genetic algorithm application to the problem of object registration (i.e., object detection, localization and recognition) in a class of medical images containing various types of blood cells. The genetic algorithm approach taken here is seen to be most appropriate for this type of image, due to the characteristics of the objects. Successful cell registration results on real life microscope images of blood cells show the potential of the proposed approach.
AUC-based Combination of Dichotomizers: Is Whole Maximization also Effective for Partial Maximization?

The combination of classifiers is an established technique to improve the classification performance. When dealing with two-class classification problems, a frequently used performance measure is the Area under the ROC curve (AUC) since it is more effective than accuracy. However, in many applications, like medical or biometric ones, tests with false positive rate over a given value are of no practical use and thus irrelevant for evaluating the performance of the system. In these cases, the performance should be measured by looking only at the interesting part of the ROC curve. Consequently, the optimization goal is to maximize only a part of the AUC instead of the whole area. In this paper we propose a method tailored for these situations which builds a linear combination of two dichotomizers maximizing the partial AUC (pAUC). Another aim of the paper is to understand if methods that maximize the AUC can maximize also the pAUC. An empirical comparison drawn between algorithms maximizing the AUC and the proposed method shows that this latter is more effective for the pAUC maximization than methods designed to globally optimize the AUC.
Tacit Knowledge Taxonomy and Transfer: Case-Based Research

Tacit organizational knowledge is intangible, implicit, and profoundly attached to people (Spender, 2003). While highly complex, it is also a driving force of organizational performance, and its transfer crucial in capitalizing on existing resources (Cross & Baird, 2000). Spender (1998) suggested that tacit knowledge may represent an alternative system of organizational knowledge, and this author investigated this notion. This research is built upon empirical evidence from six knowledge transfer case studies so as to examine tacit knowledge and provide insight into what makes it tacit. Nine distinct, however not mutually exclusive types of tacit knowledge were identified through this research: Skill, Cause-effect, Cognitive, Composite, Cultural, Unlearning, Taboo, Human, and Emotional. Each type can be discerned with its unique set of elements that is essentially responsible for it being tacit, or subjective. In addition, the relationship between the problematic nature of knowledge and its transferability is explored. Various knowledge transfer channels are examined for their richness. Results indicated that no transfer channel was rich independently of the knowledge it transfers, and that all effective channels involved an active ‘pull’ of the knowledge by its recipient. Acknowledgments: The author wishes to deeply thank Professors Robert Hamilton and Andrew Inkpen for continuous support and encouragement. Valuable support was provided by Rav and Karen Berg and Meir Yeshurun. This research was made possible with grants from The Carnegie Bosch Institute and Temple University
DOLPHIN: THE DESIGN AND INITIAL EVALUATION OF MULTIMODAL FOCUS AND CONTEXT

In this paper we describe a new focus and context visualisation technique called multimodal focus and context. This technique uses a hybrid visual and spatialised audio display space to overcome the limited visual displays of mobile devices. We demonstrate this technique by applying it to maps of theme parks. We present the results of an experiment comparing multimodal focus and context to a purely visual display technique. The results showed that neither system was significantly better than the other. We believe that this is due to issues involving the perception of multiple structured audio sources.
The structure of legume–rhizobium interaction networks and their response to tree invasions

We provide data on how legume-rhizobia interaction webs react to invasions by exotic legumes. This is the first study of its kind and found that general hypotheses derived from above-ground mutualistic webs may not hold for below-ground counterparts. Specifically, we found that legume-rhizobia interactions at the community level are highly specialised resulting in strongly modular webs, which are not nested, and that invasive legumes do not infiltrate existing native webs but rather form unique and novel modules in webs.
Mortgage Amortization and Welfare

In the pre-crisis period the U.S. housing market experienced a large increase in mortgage lending in part fueled by government housing policies aimed at expanding credit to low-income households. Such credit expansion was made possible by the introduction of non-standard mortgage products characterized by low down payments and reduced (initial) repayments. This paper builds a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with housing and endogenous default on mortgages to study the welfare effects of alternative mortgage contracts. We find that non-standard mortgage contracts with low down payments and reduced amortization make credit-constrained borrowers worse off and unconstrained households (savers) better off at least in the long run. Our results can be explained only in the light of general equilibrium effects. When offered mortgages with low amortization rates, credit-constrained agents rationally choose to take advantage of them and borrow more because they take prices as given. But higher housing demand raises housing prices. To afford housing at the higher prices, borrowers cut non-durable consumption and work more, thereby reducing their welfare. Our results contribute to the recent policy debate on the reform of the mortgage market.
Reversible data hiding based on histogram modification of difference images by s-type and Hilbert curve scanning

Reversible data hiding technology has currently attracted great attention recently. Using reversible data hiding methods, original cover images can be recovered losslessly from the cover image embedded information. In this paper, spatial reversible data hiding schemes based on histogram modification of difference images are discussed, in which the pixel gray values of difference image are altered slightly to perform the embedding and extraction. Specifically, we design two reversible data hiding schemes based on S-type scanning and Hilbert curve scanning, and compare them with the reversible data hiding scheme by difference between adjacent columns of the cover image. Embedding capacity and PSNR are calculated to figure out how block size, difference manner and embedding level influence the effect of hiding.
Collaborative optimistic replication for efficient delay-sensitive MP2P streaming using community oriented neighboring feedback

Mobile Peer-to-Peer (MP2P) performance and reliability is affected by the temporal characteristics (connectivity and mobility constraints of each device etc) which are aggravating the end-to-end communicational survivability and resources' availability. This work proposes a scheme which takes into account the community oriented relay regions and considers a combined model for the social interactions to assign available resources to intraclustered communicating nodes. The collaborative streaming is achieved through the epidemically outsourcing file chunk policy which uses a transition-based approach of a chained model of an infectious disease with susceptible, infected, recovered and death states. The combined community oriented model with the gossip-based replication scheme is thoroughly evaluated through experimental simulation which takes measures for the end-to-end reliability when delivering delay-sensitive MP2P streams. Also the proposed scheme targets the minimization of the delay variations between packets and the maximization of the end-toend Successful Delivery Rate (SDR).
Cell Cycle Gene Networks Are Associated with Melanoma Prognosis

Background Our understanding of the molecular pathways that underlie melanoma remains incomplete. Although several published microarray studies of clinical melanomas have provided valuable information, we found only limited concordance between these studies. Therefore, we took an in vitro functional genomics approach to understand melanoma molecular pathways. Methodology/Principal Findings Affymetrix microarray data were generated from A375 melanoma cells treated in vitro with siRNAs against 45 transcription factors and signaling molecules. Analysis of this data using unsupervised hierarchical clustering and Bayesian gene networks identified proliferation-association RNA clusters, which were co-ordinately expressed across the A375 cells and also across melanomas from patients. The abundance in metastatic melanomas of these cellular proliferation clusters and their putative upstream regulators was significantly associated with patient prognosis. An 8-gene classifier derived from gene network hub genes correctly classified the prognosis of 23/26 metastatic melanoma patients in a cross-validation study. Unlike the RNA clusters associated with cellular proliferation described above, co-ordinately expressed RNA clusters associated with immune response were clearly identified across melanoma tumours from patients but not across the siRNA-treated A375 cells, in which immune responses are not active. Three uncharacterised genes, which the gene networks predicted to be upstream of apoptosis- or cellular proliferation-associated RNAs, were found to significantly alter apoptosis and cell number when over-expressed in vitro. Conclusions/Significance This analysis identified co-expression of RNAs that encode functionally-related proteins, in particular, proliferation-associated RNA clusters that are linked to melanoma patient prognosis. Our analysis suggests that A375 cells in vitro may be valid models in which to study the gene expression modules that underlie some melanoma biological processes (e.g., proliferation) but not others (e.g., immune response). The gene expression modules identified here, and the RNAs predicted by Bayesian network inference to be upstream of these modules, are potential prognostic biomarkers and drug targets.
Monitoring 60 Years of Land Cover Change in the Marathon Area, Greece

This study deals with the landscape evolution reflected in the changes of land cover in the suburban area of Marathon, Attica, Greece. The study was based on remote sensing images covering the time period between 1945 and 2007. Several other types of data were also used, such as a digital terrain model, historical orthophotos, vegetation maps, geological maps, cadastral maps and aerial photos. These types of data were used in order to create the spatial database for the classification/interpretation of land cover and to identify the land cover changes that occurred during the period in question. The results of this study showed significant land cover changes, especially for the land covered by forests and wetlands with a 47% and a 37% decrease, respectively. The spatial arrangement of the development of residential areas was partially predictable, while the occurrence of land cover changes due to retrogressive vegetation succession appeared rather idiosyncratically throughout the area initially covered by forest.
Gender, sex roles and the depressive experience

This Study was designed to investigate male and female coilege students' attitudes, beliefs, and coping strategies while depressed. College men {n= 68) and women (n= 70) completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) to assess sex role orientation (masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated), a questionnaire designed to assess beliefs about depression and their coping strategies when depressed, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-^D). It was predicted that men would show a greater intolerance of depression than women and that masculine sex-typed men would show the greatest depression intolerance of all sex-role groups studied. Depression intolerance was assumed to be reflected by subject agreement with items such as, "When I am depressed, I pretend my depression doesn't exist," and, "Depression is a private experience that should not be shared with others. " Data were analyzed by means of hierarchical multiple regressions in which gender, sex role, and gender sex role interactions were used as predictors of the nine belief and coping variables. No gender difference was found on the CES-D scores. In general, results provided only limited support for the hypothesis that men, and especially masculine sex-typed men, would show greater intolerance of depression
A Modified Method for the Microdetermination of Citric Acid

An investigation of the different steps in the method of Weil-Malherbe & Bone (1949), as modified by Taylor (1953), has led to an altered procedure for citric acid determination, with increased sensitivity and accuracy. The main modifications involved are the use of (i) a higher concentration of sulphuric acid during the formation of pentabromoacetone, and (ii) a thiourea-borax-sodium sulphide solution in place of 2 % sodium sulphide.