Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Garment capture from a photograph

This paper presents a new method which can create the virtual garment from a single photograph of a real garment put on to the mannequin. In solving this problem, we obtain the insight from the pattern drafting theory in the clothing field. We abstract the drafting process into a computer module, which takes the garment type and primary body sizes then produces the draft as the output. Then the problem is reduced to find out the garment type and primary body sizes. We find that information by analyzing the silhouette of the garment with respect to the mannequin. The method works robustly and produces practically usable virtual clothes that can be used for the graphical coordination. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The genetic requirements for UmuDC-mediated cold sensitivity are distinct from those for SOS mutagenesis

The umuDC operon of Escherichia coli, a member of the SOS regulon, is required for SOS mutagenesis. Following the posttranslational processing of UmuD to UmuD' by RecA-mediated cleavage, UmuD' acts in concert with UmuC, RecA, and DNA polymerase III to facilitate the process of translesion synthesis, which results in the introduction of mutations. Constitutive expression of the umuDC operon causes an inhibition of growth at 30 degrees C (cold sensitivity). The umuDC-dependent physiological phenomenon manifested as cold-sensitive growth is shown to differ from SOS mutagenesis in two respects. Intact UmuD, the form inactive in SOS mutagenesis, confers a significantly higher degree of cold sensitivity in combination with UmUC than does UmuD'. In addition, umuDC-mediated cold sensitivity, unlike SOS mutagenesis, does not require recA function. Since the RecA protein mediates the autodigestion of UnmD to UmuD', this finding supports the conclusion that intact UmuD is capable of conferring cold sensitivity in the presence of UmuC. The degree of inhibition of growth at 30 degrees C correlates with the levels of UmuD and UmuC, which are the only two SOS-regulated proteins required to observe cold sensitivity. Analysis of the cellular morphology of strains that exhibit cold sensitivity for growth led to the finding that constitutive expression of the umuDC operon causes a novel form of sulA- and sfiC-independent filamentation at 30 degrees C. This filamentation is observed in a strain constitutively expressing the single, chromosomal copy of umuDC and can be suppressed by overexpression of the ftsQAZ operon.
MODULATION OF KEY BIOCHEMICAL MARKERS RELEVANT TO STROKE BY ANTIARIS AFRICANA LEAF EXTRACT FOLLOWING CEREBRAL ISCHEMIA/REPERFUSION INJURY

Background: Oxidative stress plays a significant role in stroke pathogenesis. Hence, plants rich in antioxidant phytochemicals have been suggested as effective remedies for prevention and treatment of stroke and other neurological diseases. Antiaris africana Engl. (Moraceae) is traditionally used for the management of brain-related problems but there is paucity of data on its anti-stroke potential. Materials and Methods: Ischemia/reperfusion injury was induced by a 30 min bilateral common carotid artery occlusion/ 2 h reperfusion (BCCAO/R) in the brain of male Wistar rats. A sham-operated group which was not subjected to BCCAO/R and a group subjected to BCCAO/R without treatment with MEA served as controls. The ameliorative effect of 14 days of pretreatment with 50 mg/kg or 100 mg/kg A. africana methanol leaf extract (MEA) on BCCAO/R-mediated alterations to key markers of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde, reduced glutathione, xanthine oxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase) and neurochemical disturbances and excitotoxicity (myeloperoxidase, glutamine synthetase, Na+/K+ ATPase, acetylcholinesterase and tyrosine hydroxylase), was evaluated and compared with the effect produced by treatment with 20 mg/kg quercetin as a reference standard. Results: Results show that pretreatment with MEA significantly mitigated or reversed BCCAO/R-induced changes in the level or activity of the evaluated biochemical markers of oxidative stress, neurochemical dysfunction and excitotoxicity compared with the BCCAO/R untreated control group (p < 0.05). The effect produced by 100 mg/kg MEA was similar to that of the reference standard, quercetin. Conclusion: These results revealed the neuroprotective potential of A. africana in stroke and other ischemia-related pathologies.
Caveolin-1 Associates with TRAF2 to Form a Complex That Is Recruited to Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptors*

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-associated factor (TRAF) 2 is an intracellular adapter protein, which, upon TNF stimulation, is directly recruited to the intracellular region of TNF receptor 2 (TNFR2) or indirectly, via TRADD, to the intracellular region of TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1). In cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells, endogenous TRAF2 colocalizes with the membrane-organizing protein caveolin-1 at regions of enrichment subjacent to the plasma membrane as detected by confocal fluorescence microscopy. Both endogenous and transfected TRAF2 protein coimmunoprecipitate with caveolin-1 in the absence of ligand. Upon TNF treatment, the TRAF2-caveolin-1 complex transiently associates with TRADD, and upon overexpression of TNFR2, the TRAF2-caveolin-1 complex stably associates with and causes redistribution of this receptor as detected by confocal fluorescence microscopy. In human embryonic kidney 293 cells, which have minimal endogenous expression of caveolin-1, cotransfection of TRAF2 and caveolin-1 results in spontaneous association of these proteins which can further associate with and redistribute transfected TNFR2 molecules. The association of caveolin-1 with TNFR2 depends upon TRAF2. Cotransfection of caveolin-1 protein increases TRAF2 protein expression levels in HEK 293 cells, which correlates with enhancement of TNF and TRAF2 signaling, measured as transcription of a NF-κB promoter-reporter gene, although the caveolin-enhanced response to TNF is attenuated at higher caveolin levels. These findings suggest that intracellular distribution of activated TNF receptors may be regulated by caveolin-1 via its interaction with TRAF2.
Analysis of eight cases of neonatal meningitis and sepsis due to Enterobacter sakazakii

Eight cases of neonatal meningitis due to Enterobacter sakazakii (formerly known as yellow-pigmented Enterobacter cloacae) which occurred in The Netherlands during the last 6 years were investigated retrospectively. Two patients had necrotizing enterocolitis and meningitis simultaneously. Despite treatment (in most cases with ampicillin and gentamicin), the fatality rate was 75%. Strains were much more susceptible to some of the new beta-lactam antibiotics than to ampicillin. A mode of transmission other than passage through the birth canal was likely, at least for some patients. A cluster of four patient strains in one hospital had almost identical plasmid DNA profiles. However, two strains isolated from formula at the same hospital 2 days after the onset of one case had different profiles, as did the strains from patients in other hospitals.
Classifying bent radio galaxies from a mixture of point-like/extended images with Machine Learning.

The hypothesis that bent radio sources are supposed to be found in rich, massive galaxy clusters and the avalibility of huge amount of data from radio surveys have fueled our motivation to use Machine Learning (ML) to identify bent radio sources and as such use them as tracers for galaxy clusters. The shapelet analysis allowed us to decompose radio images into 256 features that could be fed into the ML algorithm. Additionally, ideas from the field of neuro-psychology helped us to consider training the machine to identify bent galaxies at different orientations. From our analysis, we found that the Random Forest algorithm was the most effective with an accuracy rate of 92% for a classification of point and extended sources as well as an accuracy of 80% for bent and unbent classification.
SEROLOGIC SURVEY FOR ANTIBODIES AGAINST MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM SUBSP. PARATUBERCULOSIS IN FREE-RANGING CERVIDS FROM NORWAY

Affinity between protein-G and immunoglobulins from red deer (Cervus elaphus), moose (Alces alces), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) was tested in a competition binding assay. Sera from red deer, reindeer, and moose inhibited the assay less than sera from cattle (less affinity), whereas sera from roe deer showed a slightly higher affinity to protein-G than did sera from cattle. The conclusion was made that protein-G could be used instead of anti-species antibodies for these cervid species, where the aim of the screening was to look for exposure or lack of exposure to mycobacteria in the tested populations. Serologic screening of 1,373 free-ranging cervids for antibodies against Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis was conducted. All sera were tested by a protein-G–based antigen-absorbed enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Seropositive moose (10/537; 1.9%), red deer (14/371; 3.8%), roe deer (6/49; 12.2%), and semidomesticated reindeer (11/325; 3.4%) were found, whereas wild reindeer (n=91) were seronegative. In addition, the red deer sera were tested with a commercial ELISA, by which two animals tested positive and nine were suspicious of having M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis antibodies. Tissue samples and feces from 10 moose originating from a population with a clustering of seropositive animals were investigated by histology and bacteriology with negative results. Paratuberculosis has never been diagnosed in free-ranging or farmed cervid species in Norway. Thus, further studies are indicated to prove that the present findings reflect an infection with M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis.
Sustainable ℓ2-regularized actor-critic based on recursive least-squares temporal difference learning

Least-squares temporal difference learning (LSTD) has been used mainly for improving the data efficiency of the critic in actor-critic (AC). However, convergence analysis of the resulted algorithms is difficult when policy is changing. In this paper, a new AC method is proposed based on LSTD under discount criterion. The method comprises two components as the contribution: (1) LSTD works in an on-policy way to achieve a good convergence property of AC. (2) A sustainable ℓ2-regularization version of recursive LSTD, which is termed as RRLSTD, is proposed to solve the ℓ2-regularization problem of the critic in AC. To reduce the computation complexity of RRLSTD, we propose a fast version that is termed as FRRLSTD. Simulation results show that RRLSTD/FRRLSTD-based AC methods have better learning efficiency and faster convergence rate than conventional AC methods.
Communication competence within dietetics: dietitians' and clients' views about the unspoken dialogue--the impact of personal presentation.

BACKGROUND Although client communications are affected by clients' assumptions about professionals' characteristics drawn from dress attire, little is known about how this dialogue operates in dietetics. The present study aimed to describe how dietitians and their clients interpret this dialogue and to explore the implications for practice. METHODS A purposive quota sample of dietitians (n = 46) from 21 health services in one state of Australia and a quota of their adult patients (n = 34) were interviewed about dietitians' nutrition education roles. Semi-structured interviews were transcribed and identified themes developed into a questionnaire to survey Australian dietitians. Analysis used frequencies and nonparametric statistics (P <0.05). Triangulation of the results obtained from the studies revealed a strong agreement between data sources. RESULTS Dietitians' dress attire was perceived as a key source of nonverbal communications by dietetics clients. This was recognised by 75% of the 256 dietitians who were surveyed nationally. Dietitians favoured a professional style (i.e. skirt or slacks, with top). Many clients rejected formal dress (i.e. suit, high heels) as being a potential communication barrier. Some clients viewed dietitians' bodily size/shape as a role model. Implications of dietitians' presentation (i.e. how you look) were important to both clients and dietitians. CONCLUSION Dress style is implicated in nonverbal communication dialogues between the dietitian and client. As a matter of competence and to maintain congruency in communication, dietitians should be aware of their clients' preferences for formality of dress, and conduct their attire accordingly.
Prediction and Planning of Distributed Task Management Using Network Centrality

This work explores the application of complex network centrality metrics as a means to predict the relative location performance of a task manager within a network topology. Our studies examine the problem of optimizing the location of a tasking and data collection node in a master-slave distributed tasking model. Through a series of analytical and emulation experiment-based measurements we examine the correlation between the workflow completion delay and a series of candidate network centrality metrics. Our hypothesis is that centrality based metrics can serve as an engineering guide in planning or managing complex distributed network service deployments. Our initial analytical network experiments are represented by a series of different styles of randomly generated topologies as well as a series of network snapshots from a modeled heterogeneous network topology. Using the baseline analytical model we demonstrate correlation statistics between certain node centrality metrics and the total tasking delay experienced when the task manager is placed at a candidate location. Next, we obtain a set of performance results through emulation experimentation using working distributed coordination software, ad hoc routing, bandwidth restrictions, and network delay within an emulated mesh topology. We perform a series of experiments with varying network diameters and we conclude by reviewing the correlation trends between delay performance prediction and several centrality metrics. We also present a discussion of additional open issues and future work planned.
Three essays on financial fragility and regulation

OF THE DISSERTATION Three Essays on Financial Fragility and Regulation By YANG LI Dissertation Director: Todd Keister My academic work explores issues in banking, prudential regulation, and financial fragility. In my first paper, I study how changes in the returns on banks’ assets affect financial fragility using a model in the tradition of Diamond and Dybvig (1983). In my second paper, the analysis is based on this work augmented to include fiscal policy and bailouts as in Keister (2015). I explore how imposing regulations on both sides of banks’ balance sheets can be used to bring about a stable financial system. My third paper further explores the policy implications of my second paper by incorporating the comparative-statics effects studied in my first paper. What configuration of interest rates will make the banking system most susceptible to a self-fulfilling run? In Chapter 2, I study this question in a version of the model of Diamond and Dybvig (1983) with limited commitment and a non-trivial portfolio choice. I show that the relationship between the returns on
Clinical experience of the pharmacological treatment algorithm for major depression in advanced cancer patients: preliminary study

INTRODUCTION : Treatment of major depression in advanced cancer patients is often difficult because of their special characteristics. METHOD : The authors developed a treatment algorithm for major depression in advanced cancer patients and report on their clinical experience using it. The applicability, tolerability, and clinical efficacy of the algorithm were evaluated in 95 advanced cancer patients with major depression. RESULTS : The algorithm was not suitable for seven patients and was not used correctly in 14 cases. It was correctly applied to 74 patients (77%), 23 of whom dropped out for cancer-related reasons (deterioration of physical condition, transfer to other hospitals, cancer death). As for tolerability, 22 patients (43%) of the 51 dropped out of the antidepressant treatment regimen because of delirium due to deterioration of their physical condition, adverse effects of the antidepressant, etc. In the 29 cases that could be followed up, clinical efficacy was evaluated for 4 weeks, and improvement was observed in 22 cases (76%). CONCLUSION : These preliminary findings suggest that use of the algorithm may be feasible, but that it requires some alterations to manage major depression in advanced cancer patients. (Int J Psych Clin Pract 2002; 6: 83-89)
Applying One-Versus-One SVMs to classify multi-label data with large labels using spark

Multi-Label classification aims to classify an example that can belong to many classes. Although One-versus-All (OVA) is the most common approach, our prior work has shown that the proposed One-versus-One (OVO) always gives higher prediction accuracy than OVA. However, OVO requires an extremely high computational cost when there are a large number of labels. In this paper, we apply our OVO SVMs on the proposed Spark framework along with a mechanism to split a job into a set of small jobs and then process them in parallel. The framework can induce OVO SVMs very fast, while maintaining the prediction accuracy even though there are a large number of classes. The experiment was conducted on six standard benchmarks. The result shows that our framework can really reduce computing time on Spark environment, while significantly outperforms OVA in terms of F1 on all data.
Usefulness of Plasma Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in the Diagnosis of Pancreatic Carcinoma: Differential Diagnosis, Tumor Progression, and Patient Survival

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the usefulness of plasma vascular endothelial growth factor (p-VEGF) in patients with pancreatic carcinoma (PC) as a tumor marker for PC in comparison with chronic pancreatitis (CP) and to clarify the relationship between p-VEGF and the clinicopathological features of PC. Methods: The subjects were 69 patients with PC, 35 with CP, and 26 healthy volunteers (control group). The p-VEGF levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay. Results: p-VEGF levels were significantly higher in the PC group compared with the CP and control groups (P < 0.0001). A cut-off level of 149.5 pg/mL, discriminating between PC and CP, was determined based on a receiver operating characteristic curve. Using this cut-off level, the sensitivity was 60%, specificity was 96%, and accuracy was 73%. Patients with PC with distant metastases exhibited a significantly higher level of p-VEGF compared with those without metastasis (P = 0.0113). Multivariate analysis indicated that a high level of p-VEGF was an independent prognostic factor, and a significant association was observed between p-VEGF and median survival time (P = 0.0092). Conclusions: p-VEGF proved useful in differentiating between PC and CP, and in patients with PC, a high level of p-VEGF may be a predictor of distant metastases and poor prognosis.
Joint Routing and Sleep Scheduling for Lifetime Maximization of Wireless Sensor Networks

The rapid proliferation of wireless sensor networks has stimulated enormous research efforts that aim to maximize the lifetime of battery-powered sensor nodes and, by extension, the overall network lifetime. Most work in this field can be divided into two equally important threads, namely (i) energy-efficient routing that balances traffic load across the network according to energy-related metrics and (ii) sleep scheduling that reduces energy cost due to idle listening by providing periodic sleep cycles for sensor nodes. To date, these two threads are pursued separately in the literature, leading to designs that optimize one component assuming the other is pre-determined. Such designs give rise to practical difficulty in determining the appropriate routing and sleep scheduling schemes in the real deployment of sensor networks, as neither component can be optimized without pre-fixing the other one. This paper endeavors to address the lack of a joint routing-and-sleep-scheduling scheme in the literature by incorporating the design of the two components into one optimization framework. Notably, joint routing-and-sleep-scheduling by itself is a non-convex optimization problem, which is difficult to solve. We tackle the problem by transforming it into an equivalent Signomial Program (SP) through relaxing the flow conservation constraints. The SP problem is then solved by an iterative Geometric Programming (IGP) method, yielding an near optimal routing-and-sleep-scheduling scheme that maximizes network lifetime. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to obtain the optimal joint routing-and-sleep-scheduling strategy for wireless sensor networks. The near optimal solution provided by this work opens up new possibilities for designing practical and heuristic schemes targeting the same problem, for now the performance of any new heuristics can be easily evaluated by using the proposed near optimal scheme as a benchmark.
Efficient Low-Complexity Scheduler for Wireless Resource Virtualization

This letter proposes an efficient low-complexity scheduler to virtualize the wireless resource blocks (RBs) and share them between users of multiple mobile network operators (MNOs). The scheduler aims at maximizing the throughput while maintaining access proportional fairness (APF) among users as well as MNOs. Normalized signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) selection criterion is used to impose APF between the users of each MNO, while APF between MNOs is maintained by assigning different weights to the normalized SNRs. The optimal weights for all MNOs are computed offline using iterative search method. Analytical and simulation results show that the proposed scheme can maintain APF at the user and MNO levels. Moreover, the throughput of the proposed scheduler is consistently higher than in the static sharing scenario.
Is It Ethical to Teach That Beta and CAPM Explain Something?

My answer to the question in the title is NO. It is crystal clear that CAPM and its Betas do not explain anything about expected or required returns. There are mountains of evidence to support my stance. If, for any reason, a person teaches that Beta and CAPM explain something and he knows that they do not explain anything, such a person is lying. To lie is not ethical. If the person “believes” that Beta and CAPM explain something, his “belief” is due to ignorance (he has not studied enough, he has not done enough calculations, he just repeats what he heard to others…) For a professor, it is not ethical to teach about a subject that he does not know enough about. It is very important to differentiate between a fact (something that truly exists or happens) and an opinion (what someone thinks about a particular thing). It is a fact that Beta and CAPM do not explain anything about expected or required returns. I welcome comments (disagreements, errors…) that will help the readers to think about using and teaching CAPM and calculated betas. The paper also incorporates 107 comments from readers of previous versions.