Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A rich media framework for communication-broadcasting converged IPTV

As the trend toward communication and broadcasting convergence grows, a hybrid Internet Protocol television (IPTV) that supports both IP network-based video and traditional TV broadcast is attracting increasing attention. This paper proposes a rich media framework for hybrid IPTV with support of the latest H.264 codec. The problem of software incompatibility along with the resource constraints of IPTV set-tops limits the adoption of rich media technologies in IPTV environment. Aiming for portability and performance, we propose a media component for hybrid IPTV that features an efficient application interface and sophisticated media processing schemes. Using the media interface, we developed a rich media runtime whose design enables it to fully utilize the built-in graphics acceleration hardware. Through demonstration and experiments, we validate the performance and flexibility of the proposed framework. Our schemes that include ring-structured media stream abstraction, I-frame prefetch via vectored I/O, and adaptive I-frame search proved to greatly enhance the VCR functions in respect of the fulfillment of the requested playback speed and the download throughput. The proposed framework is believed to provide a useful insight into the design of vector graphics and the playback of hybrid media in the applications of IPTV-based advertising, education, and Video-on-Demand (VoD).
The Anthropologist in Business and Industry

The social anthropologist is trained to look at any group or organization as a social system and understand its meanings for the members of the system. Business today has no idea of how to use these skills. There is no logical place for an anthropologist in the usual business organization. There are certain places where the skills are more appropriate. One is the personnel department when it is directly involved in solving people problems and helping management maintain morale and motivation. The other is in consumer research where the anthropologist can apply his understanding of behavior, motivation and social systems.
Coarse-Graining Parameterization and Multiscale Simulation of Hierarchical Systems. Part I: Theory and Model Formulation

Abstract : Coarse-grain models provide an efficient means to simulate and investigate systems in which the desired behavior, property, or response is inherently at the mesoscale those that are both inaccessible to full atomistic representations and inapplicable to continuum theory. Granted, a developed coarse-grain model can only reflect the behavior included in their governing potentials and associated parameters, and consequently, the source of such parameters typically determines the accuracy and utility of the coarse-grain model. It is our contention that a complete theoretical foundation for any system requires synergistic multiscale transitions from atomic to mesoscale to macroscale descriptions. Hierarchical handshaking at each scale is crucial to predict structure property relationships, to provide fundamental mechanistic understanding, and to enable predictive modeling and material optimization to guide synthetic design efforts. Indeed, a finer-trains-coarser approach is not limited to bridge atomistic to mesoscopic scales (which is the focus of the current discussion), but can also refer to hierarchical parameterization transcending any scale, such as mesoscopic to continuum levels. Such a multiscale modeling paradigm establishes a fundamental link between atomistic behavior and the coarse-grain representation, providing a consistent theoretical approach to develop coarse-grain models for systems of various scales, constituent materials, and intended applications.
A Procedure for Obtaining Initial Values of Parameters in the RAM Model.

An algorithm for obtaining initial values for the minimization process in covariance structure analysis is developed that is more generally applicable for computing parameters connected to latent variables than the currently existing ones. The algorithm is formulated in terms of the RAM model but can be easily extended to model specifications used in other structural equation programs (e.g., LISREL, Joreskog & Sorbom, 1988, or EQS, Bentler, 1989).
INVESTIGATING THE MULTILEVEL EFFECTS OF SEVERAL VARIABLES ON TURKISH STUDENTS’ SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENTS ON TIMSS

Two-level hierarchical linear modelling was used to analyse data obtained from TIMSS 1999 database to examine the effect of inquiry-based learning on science achievement of eighth-grade students in Turkey. The influence of teachers’ emphasis on scientific reasoning and problem solving and availability of school resources for science instruction on inquiry-based learning and science achievement slopes were also examined. At the student-level, overall plausible values were used as the outcome variable whereas gender, availability of home educational resources, attitude toward science, and inquiry-based learning were predictor variables. At the school level, there were two predictor variables: teachers’ emphasis on scientific reasoning and problem solving and availability of school resources for science instruction. While statistically significant and negative relationship was found between inquiry-based learning and within-school science achievement, there were nonsignificant effects of school-level predictors on inquiry-based learning and science achievement slopes. Key words: HLM, inquiry learning, science achievement, TIMSS.
The role of intrinsic motivations in attention allocation and shifting

The concepts of attention and intrinsic motivations are of great interest within adaptive robotic systems, and can be exploited in order to guide, activate, and coordinate multiple concurrent behaviors. Attention allocation strategies represent key capabilities of human beings, which are strictly connected with action selection and execution mechanisms, while intrinsic motivations directly affect the allocation of attentional resources. In this paper we propose a model of Reinforcement Learning (RL), where both these capabilities are involved. RL is deployed to learn how to allocate attentional resources in a behavior-based robotic system, while action selection is obtained as a side effect of the resulting motivated attentional behaviors. Moreover, the influence of intrinsic motivations in attention orientation is obtained by introducing rewards associated with curiosity drives. In this way, the learning process is affected not only by goal-specific rewards, but also by intrinsic motivations.
A study on feature sets for emotion recognition from speech signals

Title of thesis: A STUDY OF FEATURE SETS FOR EMOTION RECOGNITION FROM SPEECH SIGNALS Yi-Chun Ko, Master of Science, 2015 Thesis directed by: Professor Carol Espy-Wilson Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering This thesis focuses on finding useful features for emotion recognition from speech signals. In comparison to the popular openSMILE ‘emobase’ feature set, our proposed method reduced the size of feature space to about 28% yet boosted the recognition rate by 3.3%. Given we are at a point technologically where computing is cheap and fast, and lots of data are available, the approach to solving all sorts of problems is based on sophisticated machine learning techniques to implicitly make sense of data. Yet in this work, we study particular features that are felt to correlate with changes in emotion but have not been commonly selected for emotion recognition tasks. Jitter, shimmer, breathiness, and speaking rate are analyzed and are found to systematically change as a function of emotion. We not only explore these additional acoustic features that help improve the classification performance, but also try to understand the importance of the existing features in improving accuracy. Our results show that using our features together with MFCCs and pitch related features lead to a better performance. A STUDY ON FEATURE SETS FOR EMOTION RECOGNITION FROM SPEECH SIGNALS
Sera from patients with Crohn’s disease break bacterial lipopolysaccharide tolerance of human intestinal epithelial cells via MD-2 activity

Myeloid differentiation (MD)-2 is linked to the cell surface as a Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4-bound protein though may also function as a soluble receptor to enable the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-driven response. We recently demonstrated the importance of MD-2 either as a cell-associated or as a soluble receptor in the control of intestinal epithelial cell response toward LPS. High levels of circulating MD-2 were recently proposed as a risk factor for infectious/ inflammatory diseases as septic shock. We hypothesized that MD-2 might be present in sera from patients with inflammatory bowel disease and have pathogenic consequences. We analysed MD-2 activity in sera from patients with inflammatory bowel disease or from healthy subjects. We measured MD-2 activity as the capacity to mediate LPS-driven stimulation of intestinal epithelial cells (HT29). We found that sera from patients with inflammatory bowel disease, particularly Crohn’s disease, endowed HT29 cells with a markedly higher LPS-dependent stimulating capacity as compared to sera from healthy subjects. The effect of sera was specific for LPS activation and was reduced in the presence of anti-MD-2, and anti-TLR4 antibodies. We conclude that sera from patients with inflammatory bowel disease might contain increased MD-2. This might result in higher local availability of the protein leading to a loss of tolerance toward gut microbiota.
Touchpad-based remote control devices

A new style of remote control device (RCD) that incorporates a touchpad for input is described. Unistrokes created through touch are used to issue commands and select menu items presented on a television screen. The design addresses the drawbacks of traditional RCDs, such as an over-abundance of buttons and the lack of alphanumeric input. We have assembled a prototype using a Windows9.5-based computer, an infrared card, and a touchpad. Future developments and research plans for the touchpadbased RCD are also discussed.
Investigation of the influence of calibration practices on cytogenetic laboratory performance for dose estimation

Abstract Purpose: In the frame of the QA program of RENEB, an inter-laboratory comparison (ILC) of calibration sources used in biological dosimetry was achieved to investigate the influence of calibration practices and protocols on the results of the dose estimation performance as a first step to harmonization and standardization of dosimetry and irradiation practices in the European biological dosimetry network. Materials and methods: Delivered doses by irradiation facilities used by RENEB partners were determined with EPR/alanine dosimetry system. Dosimeters were irradiated in the same conditions as blood samples. A short survey was also performed to collect the information needed for the data analysis and evaluate the diversity of practices. Results: For most of partners the deviation of delivered dose from the targeted dose remains below 10%. Deviations larger than 10% were observed for five facilities out of 21. Origins of the largest discrepancies were identified. Correction actions were evaluated as satisfactory. The re-evaluation of some ILC results for the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and premature chromosome condensation (PCC) assays has been performed leading to an improvement of the overall performances. Conclusions: This work has shown the importance of dosimetry in radiobiology studies and the needs of harmonization, standardization in irradiation and dosimetry practices and educational training for biologists using ionizing radiation.
The Life Design Group: A Case Study Vignette in Group Career Construction Counseling

Providing cost efficient, yet effective, student services, including career services, is a critical component in higher education. Career services must include the perspectives of the 21st-century work place. We advocate for the delivery of career development services in a group format using a narrative approach to career counseling with college students. Using career construction theory, we provide a framework for the Life Design Group and illustrate its use through a case vignette.
Attenuation of Postischemic Genomic Alteration by Mesenchymal Stem Cells: a Microarray Study

Intravenous administration of mesenchymal stem cells (IV-MSC) protects the ischemic rat brain in a stroke model, but the molecular mechanism underlying its therapeutic effect is unclear. We compared genomic profiles using the mRNA microarray technique in a rodent stroke model. Rats were treated with 1 × 106 IV-MSC or saline (sham group) 2 h after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). mRNA microarray was conducted 72 h after MCAo using brain tissue from normal rats (normal group) and the sham and MSC groups. Predicted pathway analysis was performed in differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and functional tests and immunohistochemistry for inflammation-related proteins were performed. We identified 857 DEGs between the sham and normal groups, with the majority of them (88.7%) upregulated in sham group. Predicted pathway analysis revealed that cerebral ischemia activated 10 signaling pathways mainly related to inflammation and cell cycle. IV-MSC attenuated the numbers of dysregulated genes in cerebral ischemia (118 DEGs between the MSC and normal groups). In addition, a total of 218 transcripts were differentially expressed between the MSC and sham groups, and most of them (175/218 DEGs, 80.2%) were downregulated in the MSC group. IV-MSC reduced the number of Iba-1+ cells in the peri-infarct area, reduced the overall infarct size, and improved functional deficits in MCAo rats. In conclusion, transcriptome analysis revealed that IV-MSC attenuated postischemic genomic alterations in the ischemic brain. Amelioration of dysregulated inflammation- and cell cycle-related gene expression in the host brain is one of the molecular mechanisms of IV-MSC therapy for cerebral ischemia.
Expectations Change the Signatures and Timing of Electrophysiological Correlates of Perceptual Awareness

Previous experience allows the brain to predict what comes next. How these expectations affect conscious experience is poorly understood. In particular, it is unknown whether and when expectations interact with sensory evidence in granting access to conscious perception, and how this is reflected electrophysiologically. Here, we parametrically manipulate sensory evidence and expectations while measuring event-related potentials in human subjects to assess the time course of evoked responses that correlate with subjective visibility, the properties of the stimuli, and/or perceptual expectations. We found that expectations lower the threshold of conscious perception and reduce the latency of neuronal signatures differentiating seen and unseen stimuli. Without expectations, this differentiation occurs ∼300 ms and with expectations ∼200 ms after stimulus in occipitoparietal sensors. The amplitude of this differentiating response component (P2) decreases as visibility increases, regardless of whether this increase is attributable to enhanced sensory evidence and/or the gradual buildup of perceptual expectations. Importantly, at matched performance levels, responses to seen and unseen stimuli differed regardless of the physical stimulus properties. These findings indicate that the latency of the neuronal correlates of access to consciousness depend on whether access is driven by stimulus saliency or by a combination of expectations and sensory evidence.
Physical map of the Clostridium beijerinckii (formerly Clostridium acetobutylicum) NCIMB 8052 chromosome

A combined physical and genetic map of the single, circular, 6.7-Mbp chromosome of the NCIMB 8052 strain of Clostridium beijerinckii (formerly Clostridium acetobutylicum) has been constructed by using a combination of cloned DNA fragments as hybridization probes and a bank of strains harboring insertions of the conjugative transposon Tn1545. The positions of 81 restriction endonuclease cleavage sites and 32 genes have been determined. Eight genes concerned with solventogenic fermentation are found at three different locations. The chromosome contains at least 13 rrn operons, 11 of which have been located on the map. Their transcriptional orientation diverges from the presumed location of the replication origin.
Cost-effectiveness analysis of introduction of rapid, alternative methods to identify multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in middle-income countries.

BACKGROUND Resistance to commonly used antituberculosis drugs is emerging worldwide. Conventional drug-susceptibility testing (DST) methods are slow and demanding. Alternative, rapid DST methods would permit the early detection of drug resistance and, in turn, arrest tuberculosis transmission. METHODS A cost-effectiveness analysis of 5 DST methods was performed in the context of a clinical trial that compared rapid with conventional DST methods. The methods under investigation were direct phage-replication assay (FASTPlaque-Response; Biotech), direct amplification and reverse hybridization of the rpoB gene (INNO-LiPA; Innogenetics), indirect colorimetric minimum inhibitory concentration assay (MTT; ICN Biomedicals), and direct proportion method on Löwenstein-Jensen medium. These were compared with the widely used indirect proportion method on Löwenstein-Jensen medium. RESULTS All alternative DST methods were found to be cost-effective, compared with other health care interventions. DST methods also generate substantial cost savings in settings of high prevalence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Excluding the effects of transmission, the direct proportion method on Löwenstein-Jensen medium was the most cost-effective alternative DST method for patient groups with prevalences of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis of 2%, 5%, 20%, and 50% (cost in US$2004, $94, $36, $8, and $2 per disability-adjusted life year, respectively). CONCLUSION Alternative, rapid methods for DST are cost-effective and should be considered for use by national tuberculosis programs in middle-income countries.
Comparison of Fluorescence Microscopy and Solid-Phase Cytometry Methods for Counting Bacteria in Water

ABSTRACT Total direct counts of bacterial abundance are central in assessing the biomass and bacteriological quality of water in ecological and industrial applications. Several factors have been identified that contribute to the variability in bacterial abundance counts when using fluorescent microscopy, the most significant of which is retaining an adequate number of cells per filter to ensure an acceptable level of statistical confidence in the resulting data. Previous studies that have assessed the components of total-direct-count methods that contribute to this variance have attempted to maintain a bacterial cell abundance value per filter of approximately 106 cells filter−1. In this study we have established the lower limit for the number of bacterial cells per filter at which the statistical reliability of the abundance estimate is no longer acceptable. Our results indicate that when the numbers of bacterial cells per filter were progressively reduced below 105, the microscopic methods increasingly overestimated the true bacterial abundance (range, 15.0 to 99.3%). The solid-phase cytometer only slightly overestimated the true bacterial abundances and was more consistent over the same range of bacterial abundances per filter (range, 8.9 to 12.5%). The solid-phase cytometer method for conducting total direct counts of bacteria was less biased and performed significantly better than any of the microscope methods. It was also found that microscopic count data from counting 5 fields on three separate filters were statistically equivalent to data from counting 20 fields on a single filter.
Polymethylmethacrylate Augmentation of Pedicle Screws Increases the Initial Fixation in Osteoporotic Spine Patients

Study Design: A retrospective comparative study. Objectives: To investigate the clinical efficacy of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) augmentation in vertebral pseudarthrosis after osteoporotic vertebral fractures. Summary of Background Data: Despite being the most rigid form of posterior instrumentation, pedicle screws sometimes achieve poor initial fixation primarily in patients with osteoporosis. One method for improving pedicle screw fixation in osteoporotic spines is pedicle augmentation using bone cement such as PMMA. Although various biomechanical studies of osteoporotic spines have shown improved pullout strength of pedicle screws augmented with bone cement, there have been few studies that have examined the clinical significance of PMMA augmentation. Methods: Thirty-eight patients with posterior fusion using pedicle screws for vertebral pseudarthrosis after osteoporotic vertebral fracture were included in the study. The level of fracture ranged from T7 to L5. The mean follow-up period was 31 months. Patients were divided into 2 groups: those with posterior instrumentation using pedicle screws augmented with PMMA (group C, N=17) and those without PMMA augmentation (group NC, N=21). Clinical and radiographic results for the 2 groups were compared. Results: With the exception of osteoporotic status, there were no significant differences in the baseline data of the 2 groups. The incidence of clear zones around the pedicle screws was significantly suppressed in group C compared with group NC (29.4% vs. 71.4%). Correction loss was significantly decreased (3 degrees vs. 7.2 degrees) and fusion rate was significantly higher in group C (94.1% vs. 76.1%). Back pain improved in 64.7% of the group C patients. There were no perioperative complications related to the PMMA cement in group C. Conclusions: Reinforcement of pedicle screws using PMMA augmentation may be a feasible surgical technique for osteoporotic spines.
Self-Protecting JavaScript Based on Hierarchical Control

Self-protecting JavaScript can prevent malicious code execution by wrapping security relevant API calls and embedding security policy into the code. This mechanism is easy to use but hold high run-time overhead. This paper introduces hierarchical policy for self-protecting JavaScript. We make the division in accordance with the frequency and control mode of policy and mainly reduce the number of times policies were called. The new approach is able to ensure safety and decrease run-time overhead significantly.
DNA Amplification in Tunicamycin-resistant Leishmania mexicana

Tunicamycin-resistant variants of Leishmania mexicana were found to contain elevated activity of Nacetylglucosamine1-phosphate transferase and amplified DNA (Kink, J. A., and Chang, K.-P. (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 84, 1253-1257). Complete digestion of their DNA with restriction endonucleases produced discrete ethidium bromide-staining bands after agarose gel electrophoresis. All four BamHI fragments of the amplified DNA were cloned separately into pBR322 and found to share no substantial sequence homology. DNA complementary to each of the cloned fragments is 64-128-fold more abundant in the variants than in the wild type cells.The amplified DNA appears to originate from a single chromosomal region of 63 kilobases. Individual copies of the 63 kilobases are each circularized at the newly formed junction site producing multiple extrachromosomal supercoiled molecules in the drug-resistant cells. There is overproduction of RNA ranging in size from 1.9 to 6.6 kilobases complementary to the amplified DNA in these cells.