Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Robust and Novel Approach for Palmprint Recognition

The hand is the most flexible organ in human body with high degree of movability. It makes it highly convenient to use hand based authentication both as a single modality and also as a supplement to another biometric modality in a multi biometric system. The high degree of freedom of hand also results in a variety of poses which makes it necessary to deal with pose variation to develop a robust palmprint recognition system. However, the performance of existing techniques for palmprint authentication falls considerably, when the camera is not aligned with the surface of the palm. The problems arise primarily due to variations in appearance introduced due to varying pose, but is compounded by specularity of the skin and blur due to motion and focus. To solve the problem of pose invariance in palmprint recognition, one must also partially address all these problems, since finding palm lines accurately is necessary for any palm based recognition algorithm. We present a novel solution for this problem in this paper for preprocessing and feature extraction method and compared with traditional methods.
Accessing Situation Model Information: Memory-Based Processing Versus Here-and-Now Accounts

The focus of the present research was to compare the memory-based processing and here-and-now accounts of situation model updating during reading. The authors conducted two experiments as a follow-up on work by R. A. Zwaan and C. J. Madden (2004), who disputed the conclusions of E. J. O'Brien, M. L. Rizzella, J. E. Albrecht, and J. G. Halleran (1998). The latter researchers found support for the memory-based processing view by showing that readers experienced reading difficulty on a sentence that was consistent with an updated model of the story's protagonist but was inconsistent with initially stated information about the protagonist. In contrast, Zwaan and Madden eliminated what they argued were confounds in the items used by O'Brien et al. and found support for the here-and-now view. In the present article, data from 2 experiments seem to eliminate weaknesses inherent in both previous authors' work. Although the present results are consistent with the here-and-now account, they do not completely discredit the memory-based processing view.
Blackboxing Performance Monitoring Units

Due to the complexity of modern hardware, computer programs often cause complicated interactions when scheduled together. Users therefore frequently turn to specialized tools such as Performance Monitoring Units (PMUs) for diagnosing system issues. However, PMUs themselves are complex, so they require domain knowledge and a good understanding of the underlying hardware to use. Such obstacles prevent PMUs from seeing more widespread use. In this thesis, a survey of PMUs investigates the various intricacies involved in selecting performance events and configuring performance counters. Major problems include the limited number of performance counters relative to the number of measurable performance events, abstruse definitions of performance events, and the processor-specific nature of PMUs. Numerous grouping techniques which associate similar objects are explored with a view of reducing the event space. We also experiment with classification algorithms to automatically detect interference and remove the need for human interpretation of events and counter measurements. Moreover, proposals in this thesis are designed with portability, i.e., the applicability of methods to different machines, in mind. All in all, we show the complexity of PMUs is a manageable problem and select procedures can be automated, which opens up the possibility of abstracting away PMU details from users.
Research on unknown attacks detection based on ArtiAnomalyG algorithm

Distinguish accurately known and unknown attack is a key element to classification model in order to increase detection accuracy of unknown attacks. This paper proposes ArtiAnomalyG algorithm which expands sparse region and injects anomaly instances given the class label anomaly into the training data. Filtering experiment result shows that possibility of causing the collision with original instances is very small. RIPPER algorithm is chosen to induce classification model over expanded training data. Experiment results indicate that using ArtiAnomalyG algorithm could help classification model identify known and unknown attacks effectively.
HIV‐1 inhibits long‐term potentiation and attenuates spatial learning

Although memory deficits have been clearly documented in patients with human immunodeficiency virus type‐1 (HIV‐1) infection, the physiological basis of this dysfunction is poorly understood. We focused on Tat, a viral protein released from HIV‐1–infected cells and investigated its effect on spatial learning in adult mice. An intracerebroventricular injection of Tat leads to attenuation of spatial learning accompanied by suppression of long‐term potentiation (LTP), the cellular basis of spatial learning, in hippocampal cornu ammonis 1 pyramidal neurons. Tat facilitates extrasynaptic but not synaptic N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor activity. Taken together, these data provide strong evidence that the Tat pathway underlies the development of memory dysfunction in patients with HIV‐1 infection and suggest a causal relationship between Tat, the facilitation of extrasynaptic NMDA receptor activity, inhibition of LTP, and attenuation of spatial learning.
Recognizing human actions using bag-of-features and Intersection Kernel Support Vector Machines

This paper addresses the problem of human action recognition by introducing a new representation of image sequences as a collection of spatio-temporal events that are localized at interest point. The interest points are detected by the SIFT detector and a spatio-temporal interest point detector. We proposed a new bag of words approach to represent videos in two different models. Intersection Kernel Support Vector Machines is used for classification. We also present action classification results on two different datasets. Our results are either comparable to previous published results on these datasets.
Do not overlook lonely children

The present article investigated the longitudinal influence of loneliness on peer acceptance in school through two longitudinal studies; specifically, we hypothesized a bidirectional view on the relationship between loneliness and peer acceptance. In Study 1, a total of 383 Japanese elementary school students in fourth and fifth grades (207 boys and 176 girls, aged 9–11) at three public schools in Japan participated in an 18-month longitudinal study. Through a comparison of hypothetical models, the accepted model showed a ripple effect of loneliness on peer acceptance. Subsequently, in Study 2, a total of 506 Japanese elementary school students in fourth to sixth grades (253 boys and 253 girls, aged 9–12) at two public schools in Japan participated in a 6-month longitudinal study. The statistically accepted cross-lagged model indicated a bidirectional influence between loneliness and peer acceptance. These findings indicate a strong link between loneliness and peer acceptance from a longitudinal bidirectional perspective and suggest the importance of early educational practices for lonely children to prevent them from entering this vicious cycle.
CORDIC based BPSK modulator

This paper presents a novel approach for implementing Binary Phase Shift keying (BPSK) modulator and demodulator using Coordinate Rotation Digital Computer (CORDIC). The CORDIC is used in rotation mode for modulator and in vector mode for the demodulator. For the sake of comparison, the modulator and demodulator have been implemented using three different architectures. From the results, it is inferred that, pipelined multiplexer based CORDIC modulator-demodulator is more speed efficient and unpipelined multiplexer based CORDIC modulator-demodulator is more hardware efficient.
Secure delivery of handwritten signature

A number of researchers have proposed using digital marks to provide ownership (watermarking) identification for the property. One way of data hiding is digital signature, copyright label or digital watermark that completely characterizes the person who applies it and, therefore, marks it as being his property. Digital Watermarking is the process that embeds data called a watermark into an object such that watermark can be detected and extracted later to make an assertion about the object. Watermarking is either "visible" or "invisible". Although visible and invisible are visual terms watermarking is not limited to images, it can also be used to protect other types of multimedia object. Our research work is on watermarking techniques in particular.Many of these proposed techniques share three specific weaknesses: complexity of copy detection, vulnerability to mark removal after revelation for ownership verification, and mark integrity issues due to partial mark removal. This paper presents a method for watermarking Handwritten Signature that achieves robustness by responding to these three weaknesses. The key techniques involve using secure functions to generate and embed image marks that is more detectable, verifiable, and secure than existing protection and detection techniques.
Antiproliferative Activities of Water Infusions from Leaves of Five Cornus L. Species

Cornaceae plants are known for their edible berries, and their leaves are used as tea. In the present study aqueous leaf extracts from Cornus mas (CM), C. alba (CA), C. flaviramea (CF), C. kousa (CK), and C. officinalis (CO) were tested for their antiproliferative activity in human breast cancer cells (MCF-7). Dose- (50–750 µg/mL) and time (24, 48, 72 h)-dependent antiproliferative effects were measured by WST-1, and correlated with the content of flavonoids (FL), total hydroxycinnamic derivatives (THD), total polyphenols (TP) and tannins (T). Extracts induced time dependent decreases in cell survival; CA, CO and CM were the most effective (11.2%, 10.3% and 11.1%, after 72 h). The ED50 (effective dose) values were similar for all extracts and times tested. The THD and TP were identical in all samples, while a two-fold higher T content was present in CK and CO, and of FL in CF. The maximal effects (% of surviving cells) negatively correlated with the T and TP levels, and positively with FL and THD. The results demonstrate the significant antiproliferative effects of the tested water extracts in MCF-7 cells, in which CA, CO and CM are the most effective; and the effectiveness is related to the T and TP contents.
Indian Institute of Technology-Patna: Sentiment Analysis in Twitter

This paper is an overview of the system submitted to the SemEval-2014 shared task on sentiment analysis in twitter. For the very first time we participated in both the tasks, viz contextual polarity disambiguation and message polarity classification. Our approach is supervised in nature and we use sequential minimal optimization classifier. We implement the features for sentiment analysis without using deep domain-specific resources and/or tools. Experiments within the benchmark setup of SemEval-14 shows the F-scores of 77.99%, 75.99%, 76.54 %, 76.43% and 71.43% for LiveJournal2014, SMS2013, Twitter2013, Twitter2014 and Twitter2014Sarcasm, respectively for Subtask A. For Subtask B we obtain the F-scores of 60.39%, 51.96%, 52.58%, 57.25%, 41.33% for five different test sets, respectively.
Coexpression of Human cdk5 and Its Activator p35 with Human Protein Tau in Neurons in Brain of Triple Transgenic Mice

The potential contribution of cyclin-dependent protein kinase 5 (cdk5) to hyperphosphorylate protein tau, as claimed in Alzheimer's disease, was investigated in vivo. We generated single, double, and triple transgenic mice that coexpress human cdk5 and its activator p35 as well as human protein tau in cerebral neurons. Whereas expression and increased cdk5-kinase activity was obtained, as measured in vitro and demonstrated in vivo, neither murine nor human protein tau was appreciably phosphorylated in the brain of double and triple transgenic mice. These mice behaved and reproduced normally. Silver impregnation and immunohistochemistry of brain sections demonstrated that neurofilament proteins became redistributed in apical dendrites of cortical neurons. This suggested a cytoskeletal effect, but no other relevant brain pathology became apparent. These observations indicate that cdk5/p35 is not a major protein tau kinase and that cdk5/p35 did not cause neurodegeneration in mouse brain, as opposed to cdk5/p25.
Improving the Composability of DoD Models and Simulations

This paper discusses ideas for improving the composability of future models and simulations developed or used by the U.S. Department of Defense. It is largely based on a much longer report requested by the Defense Modeling and Simulation Office (DMSO) as independent advice in developing a program to pursue composability issues. This paper presents many suggestions on both policies and investments that would enhance prospects for composability.
Emotion Regulation Checklist

Questa ricerca nasce dall’esigenza di valutare l’attendibilita test-retest della versione italiana dell’Emotion Regulation Checklist. Il presente testo inizia con una breve panoramica sulla storia dei test psicologici: dalla loro nascita alla loro evoluzione. Segue un’analisi sui concetti di validita e di attendibilita in cui vengono sottolineati i criteri essenziali per la costruzione di un strumento idoneo all’indagine psicologica. Nella seconda parte si affronta il tema della regolazione emotiva e della rispettiva valutazione. L’aspetto centrale di questo lavoro e costituito dalla ricerca per la verifica dell’attendibilita test-retest della versione italiana dell’Emotion Regulation Checklist, un questionario ideato da Shields e Cicchetti (1995) e validato per la versione italiana da Molina, Sala, Zappulla (2011). L’indagine ha coinvolto i genitori dei bambini tra i tre e gli otto anni frequentanti le scuole dell’Istituto Comprensivo “Negri” di Casale Monferrato (AL). Una volta restituiti, i questionari compilati sono stati utilizzati per poter descrivere il campione reclutato ed effettuare correlazioni volte a verificare la stabilita nel tempo.
An investigation into student sense of belonging at a post-1992 university

This study explores students’ sense of belonging through the accounts of nineteen undergraduate students studying at an inner city post-1992 university. Participants' accounts were obtained through semi-structured interviews conducted at three key points during their first year of study. The resulting analysis is influenced by Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, field, capital and knowledge of the rules of the game, which are used to explore the impact of student dispositions on their experiences and perceptions of belonging. The study shows that university can be a particularly challenging place for students from non-traditional backgrounds and it questions the view that belonging is about individual student commitment to institutional values. Belonging is conceptualised in a more nuanced multi-dimensional manner reflecting institutional habitus such as a 'one size fits all' approach to both induction and social provision. The study argues that the onus is on the university to overcome inherent inequalities making belonging easier by encouraging student voice; providing care through help, support and guidance; examining the benefits of small group teaching and paying particular attention to the needs of clearing students. Further, strategies built on unproblematised views of elearning and the independent learner need to be reviewed as participants, especially nontraditional students, articulated both as evidence that the university did not validate them as individuals.
Tonic-Clonic Activity at Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Onset: Impact on Complications and Outcome

Objective Tonic-clonic activity (TCA) at onset complicates 3% to 21% of cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The impact of onset TCA on in-hospital complications, including seizures, remains unclear. One study associated onset TCA with poor clinical outcome at 6 weeks after SAH, but to our knowledge no other studies have confirmed this relationship. This study aims to assess the impact of onset TCA on in-hospital complications, poor functional outcome, mortality, and epilepsy at 3 months. Methods Analysis of a prospective study cohort of 1479 SAH patients admitted to Columbia University Medical Center between 1996 and 2012. TCA within 6 hours of hemorrhage onset was identified based on accounts of emergency care providers or family witnesses. Results TCA at onset was described in 170 patients (11%). Patients with onset TCA were younger (P = 0.002), presented more often with poor clinical grade (55% vs. 26%, P<0.001) and had larger amounts of cisternal, intraventricular, and intracerebral blood than those without onset TCA (all, P<0.001). After adjusting for known confounders, onset TCA was significantly associated with in-hospital seizures (OR 3.80, 95%-CI: 2.43–5.96, P<0.001), in-hospital pneumonia (OR 1.56, 95%-CI: 1.06–2.31, p = 0.02), and delayed cerebral ischemia (OR 1.77, 95%-CI: 1.21–2.58, P = 0.003). At 3 months, however, onset TCA was not associated with poor functional outcome, mortality, and epilepsy after adjusting for age, admission clinical grade, and cisternal blood volume. Conclusions Onset TCA is not a rare event as it complicates 11% of cases of SAH. New and clinically relevant findings are the association of onset TCA with in-hospital seizures, pneumonia and delayed cerebral ischemia. Despite the increased risk of in-hospital complications, onset TCA is not associated with disability, mortality, and epilepsy at 3 months.
Observing heme doming in myoglobin with femtosecond X-ray absorption spectroscopy

We report time-resolved X-ray absorption measurements after photolysis of carbonmonoxy myoglobin performed at the LCLS X-ray free electron laser with nearly 100 fs (FWHM) time resolution. Data at the Fe K-edge reveal that the photoinduced structural changes at the heme occur in two steps, with a faster (∼70 fs) relaxation preceding a slower (∼400 fs) one. We tentatively attribute the first relaxation to a structural rearrangement induced by photolysis involving essentially only the heme chromophore and the second relaxation to a residual Fe motion out of the heme plane that is coupled to the displacement of myoglobin F-helix.
Reproductive biology SB 203580 , a p 38 mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitor , suppresses the development of endometriosis by down-regulating proinflammatory cytokines and proteolytic factors in a mouse model

background: p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), a regulator of inflammation, may play a role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis (EM). We studied the effect of SB203580, a p38 MAPK inhibitor, on the development of EM in a mouse model. methods: EM was induced in BALB/c mice by peritoneal injection of endometrium-rich fragments. Mice (n 1⁄4 15) were injected i.p. for 24 days with SB203580 and 15 mice served as positive controls (EM group). Sham-operated mice received carrier only. Peritoneal fluid (PF) cells were collected for protein/mRNA analysis. Interleukin (IL)-1b, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 proteins were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and mRNAs by RT–PCR. Phosphorylation of p38 MAPK was evaluated by western blotting. results: SB203580 decreased the weight and size (P , 0.05 versus EM) of endometriotic lesions in BALB/c mice. IL-1b, TNF-a, MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA levels were decreased in peritoneal cells of the SB203580 versus EM group (P , 0.01, P , 0.05, P , 0.05 and P , 0.05, respectively). Concentrations of IL-1b, TNF-a, MMP-2 and MMP-9 proteins in PF were reduced in the SB203580 versus EM group (P , 0.05, P , 0.01, P , 0.05 and P , 0.05, respectively). Compared with the sham-operated group, phosphorylation of p38 MAPK in the EM group was increased, and this was down-regulated by SB203580 (P , 0.01). conclusions: SB203580 may suppress the development of EM by inhibiting expression of proinflammatory cytokines and proteolytic factors. p38 MAPK might play a key role in progression of EM.
Speech/Music Discrimination Using a Single Warped LPC-Based Feature

Automatic discrimination of speech and music is an important tool in many multimedia applications. The paper presents a low complexity but effective approach for speech/music discrimination, which exploits only one simple feature, called Warped LPC-based Spectral Centroid (WLPC-SC). A three-component Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) classifier is used because it showed a slightly better performance than other Statistical Pattern Recognition (SPR) classifiers. Comparison between WLPC-SC and the timbral features proposed in Tzanetakis and Cook (2002) is performed, aiming to assess the good discriminatory power of the proposed feature. Experimental results reveal that our speech/music discriminator is robust and fast, making it suitable for real-time multimedia applications.
Muslim Women’s Use of Internet Media in the Process of Acculturation in the United States

This study examines how Muslim women use Internet-based media in the process of acculturation in the United States. Grounded theory methodology (Glaser, 1992) and Sam and Berry’s (2006) model of acculturation were used as theoretical and analytical frameworks. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 Muslim women to learn about their media use and experiences in forming and maintaining relationships in the United States. Educational opportunities were an emerging theme in the determining factors of immigrating to the United States. The data indicated that Muslim women use a variety of Internet-based media such as Facebook, Skype, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Viber for communicating with family and friends locally and abroad. A majority of the participants reported that social media allowed them to express a part of their identities. The data suggests that the participants attained the level of acculturation defined as integration. The participants use these media to build and create relationships in their new communities. The combined relationships the participants maintain both locally and abroad seem to play a role in the creation of balance in their lives, which allows them to thrive in their new communities, at school, and at work.
Friends, foes, and self-defence: students with EBD navigating social conflicts and bullying

ABSTRACT Students with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) are more likely to struggle than their peers, which can lead to disengagement and early dropout. Although there are alternate programmes for these students, they are rarely consulted about their struggles, or about their perceived needs. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of students with EBD from their entry in mainstream classrooms to their placement in an alternate programme. During a semi-structured interview and visual mapping activity, six participants described their schooling experiences and their depictions were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Participants described the social process of school and emphasised the importance of relationships with peers and teachers, and the challenges they experienced in these relationships, which included relational, psychological, and physical aggression. Findings highlight the need to consider the reciprocal nature of bullying for students with EBD, and its influence on their schooling.