Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamical components analysis of fMRI data

We present a new multivariate analysis method for the analysis of fMRI data. This method tries to capture the deterministic structure present in the time series, using either an autoregressive scheme or the knowledge of the experimental paradigm, so that the interpretation of the spatiotemporal patterns is achieved in parallel with their detection. In the spatial domain, the components are made maximally independent through an ICA-like criterion. A global criterion is derived to express the model priors as well as the goodness of fit. The method is a priori adaptable to every sort of experimental conditions (block or event-related design). An experiment is presented on real data to show the potential of the method for the detection of signals, the analysis of their content as well as their localization.
Diverse Image Captioning via GroupTalk

Generally speaking, different persons tend to describe images from various aspects due to their individually subjective perception. As a result, generating the appropriate descriptions of images with both diversity and high quality is of great importance. In this paper, we propose a framework called GroupTalk to learn multiple image caption distributions simultaneously and effectively mimic the diversity of the image captions written by human beings. In particular, a novel iterative update strategy is proposed to separate training sentence samples into groups and learn their distributions at the same time. Furthermore, we introduce an efficient classifier to solve the problem brought about by the non-linear and discontinuous nature of language distributions which will impair performance. Experiments on several benchmark datasets show that GroupTalk naturally diversifies the generated captions of each image without sacrificing the accuracy.
Relationship between the acoustic anisotropy parameter and measures of the stress-strain state for a specimen with a stress concentrator

Investigation of the relationship between acoustic anisotropy and measures of the stress-strain state of specimens from commercial alloy in the case of moderate and large elasto-plastic deformations was carried out. Comparison of the results of mechanical tests with the results of modeling by the finite element method established that the second invariant of the deviator of the strain tensor has the best correlation with the acoustic anisotropy. The observed correlation indicates a nonlinear character of the relationship between acoustic anisotropy and deformations in the case of moderate and large plastic deformations. It has a great importance for technical diagnostics and nondestructive testing of structures by the acoustoelasticity method.
Why industrial revolution missed Africa : Economic Commission for Africa A “ traditional knowledge ” perspective

This paper is part of the book: " Indigenous Knowledge: An Exit Strategy from Africa's Economic Dependence ". The book was drafted in 2001 and is being reviewed for publications. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not reflect the view of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa(UNECA). All comments should be referred to the author .
ClassMiner: Mining Medical Video Content Structure and Events Towards Efficient Access and Scalable Skimming

To achieve more efficient video indexing and access, we introduce a video content structure and event mining framework. A video shot segmentation and key-frame selection strategy are first utilized to parse the continuous video stream into physical units. Video shot grouping, group merging, and scene clustering schemes are then proposed to organize the video shots into a hierarchical structure using clustered scenes, scenes, groups, and shots, in increasing granularity from top to bottom. Then, audio and video processing techniques are integrated to mine event information, such as dialog, presentation and clinical operation, among the detected scenes. Finally, the acquired video content structure and events are integrated to construct a scalable video skimming tool which can be used to visualize the video content hierarchy and event information for efficient access. Experimental results are also presented to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms.
Emotions during reminiscence : researching the use of personal pronouns during the recall of sad memories in relation to the degree of alexithymia

Introduction: How people express their emotions when they talk about negative experiences has taken on a more prominent role in the field of psychology. Personal pronouns are one of the linguistic aspects which characterize a person’s speech. It has been found that the use of personal pronouns is related to a person’s psychological state, cognitive processes and inner emotions. The concept of alexithymia is associated with difficulties to express these inner emotions in words. Therefore, this study investigates how the use of personal pronouns is related to the degree of alexithymia during the reminiscence of sad memories. Method: The participants are students from the University of Twente and the Saxion University of Applied Sciences in Enschede. The 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was administered and the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count 2007 (LIWC) software was used. 35 participants between the ages of 18 and 39 filled out the TAS-20 questionnaire, recalled 8 memories involving emotional content and gave 3 neutral descriptions (control condition). The nonparametric Wilcoxon signed ranks test and a one factor repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) have been applied to analyze the implemented hypotheses. Results: The average alexithymia score was 48.03 with a standard deviation (SD) of 8.78. The number of the first person pronouns “I” and “We” as well as the number of the third person pronouns significantly differed between the sad memories and the control condition. The number of the second person pronoun “You” did not significantly differ between the sad memories and the control condition. No interaction effects between the degree of alexithymia and the use of the different types of personal pronouns were found. Discussion/Conclusion: The first person pronoun “I” and the third person pronouns played an important role when people were talking about sad memories. The first person pronoun “We” was used more often during neutral descriptions than during the recall of sad memories. People used the second person pronoun “You” to an equal amount when they recalled sad memories and when they gave neutral descriptions. Furthermore, the degree of alexithymia was not related to the use of the first, second and third person pronouns during the reminiscence of sad memories.
Aspect-Based Introspection and Change Analysis for Evolving Programs

As new versions of software are developed bugs inevitably arise either due to regression or new functionality. Challenges arise in discovering, managing, and testing the impact of changes on software. These challenges are magnified in software systems that evolve, because the new functionality is piece-wise introduced into a live program with prior state produced by the prior component versions. If new functionality introduced into a live system induces bugs, it can be extremely difficult to analyze at run-time exactly which differences led to the incorrect behavior. In order to help programmers plan for evolution, understand the impact of specific evolutionary steps, and to diagnose evolution gone wrong, herein we propose combining the benefits of Aspect-Oriented Programming and reflection with impact analysis techniques from the OO and software engineering disciplines. We contribute a tool that assists with the deployment of new code to evolving software that gives insight as to precisely the behavioral changes between the new code and the code it is replacing within the running system. This tool is implemented using pure aspect-oriented and reflection techniques, and we discuss how to combine this tool with a load-time aspect weaver to allow precise determination of the cause of bugs introduced in live, evolving systems. We conclude by considering the challenges of implementing and deploying such a tool and outline our plans for future research and evaluation.
Reducing leakage with mixed-V/sub th/ (MVT)

We present a new method for assignment of devices with different V/sub th/ in a double-V/sub th/-process, whereas leakage is reduced and performance increases or is constant. A mixed-V/sub th/ gate type is developed, which renders new masks unnecessary. As compared with known methods, our approach achieves an additional leakage reduction of 25% while leakage reduction in raw designs is average 65%.
Semantic segmentation of urban scenes by learning local class interactions

Traditionally, land-cover mapping from remote sensing images is performed by classifying each atomic region in the image in isolation and by enforcing simple smoothing priors via random fields models as two independent steps. In this paper, we propose to model the segmentation problem by a discriminatively trained Conditional Random Field (CRF). To this end, we employ Structured Support Vector Machines (SSVM) to learn the weights of an informative set of appearance descriptors jointly with local class interactions. We propose a principled strategy to learn pairwise potentials encoding local class preferences from sparsely annotated ground truth. We show that this approach outperform standard baselines and more expressive CRF models, improving by 4-6 points the average class accuracy on a challenging dataset involving urban high resolution satellite imagery.
Human CHAC1 Protein Degrades Glutathione, and mRNA Induction Is Regulated by the Transcription Factors ATF4 and ATF3 and a Bipartite ATF/CRE Regulatory Element*

Background: CHAC1 is associated with the stress response in atherosclerosis. Results: ATF4, ATF3, and CEBPβ regulate CHAC1 transcription. Human CHAC1 protein overexpression depletes glutathione. Conclusion: CHAC1 is induced following multiple cell stress signals and leads to depletion of glutathione. Significance: CHAC1 may be an essential link between stress signaling and the oxidative status of the cell, contributing to multiple diseases. Using an unbiased systems genetics approach, we previously predicted a role for CHAC1 in the endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway, linked functionally to activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) following treatment with oxidized phospholipids, a model for atherosclerosis. Mouse and yeast CHAC1 homologs have been shown to degrade glutathione in yeast and a cell-free system. In this report, we further defined the ATF4-CHAC1 interaction by cloning the human CHAC1 promoter upstream of a luciferase reporter system for in vitro assays in HEK293 and U2OS cells. Mutation and deletion analyses defined two major cis DNA elements necessary and sufficient for CHAC1 promoter-driven luciferase transcription under conditions of ER stress or ATF4 coexpression: the −267 ATF/cAMP response element (CRE) site and a novel −248 ATF/CRE modifier (ACM) element. We also examined the ability of the CHAC1 ATF/CRE and ACM sequences to bind ATF4 and ATF3 using immunoblot-EMSA and confirmed ATF4, ATF3, and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β binding at the human CHAC1 promoter in the proximity of the ATF/CRE and ACM using ChIP. To further validate the function of CHAC1 in a human cell model, we measured glutathione levels in HEK293 cells with enhanced CHAC1 expression. Overexpression of CHAC1 led to a robust depletion of glutathione, which was alleviated in a CHAC1 catalytic mutant. These results suggest an important role for CHAC1 in oxidative stress and apoptosis with implications for human health and disease.
A Neuron-Based Screening Platform for Optimizing Genetically-Encoded Calcium Indicators

Fluorescent protein-based sensors for detecting neuronal activity have been developed largely based on non-neuronal screening systems. However, the dynamics of neuronal state variables (e.g., voltage, calcium, etc.) are typically very rapid compared to those of non-excitable cells. We developed an electrical stimulation and fluorescence imaging platform based on dissociated rat primary neuronal cultures. We describe its use in testing genetically-encoded calcium indicators (GECIs). Efficient neuronal GECI expression was achieved using lentiviruses containing a neuronal-selective gene promoter. Action potentials (APs) and thus neuronal calcium levels were quantitatively controlled by electrical field stimulation, and fluorescence images were recorded. Images were segmented to extract fluorescence signals corresponding to individual GECI-expressing neurons, which improved sensitivity over full-field measurements. We demonstrate the superiority of screening GECIs in neurons compared with solution measurements. Neuronal screening was useful for efficient identification of variants with both improved response kinetics and high signal amplitudes. This platform can be used to screen many types of sensors with cellular resolution under realistic conditions where neuronal state variables are in relevant ranges with respect to timing and amplitude.
Synchronization in iterated function systems

We treat synchronization for iterated function systems on compact manifolds in two cases:(i) iterated function systems generated by random diffeomorphisms with absolutely continuous parametric noise,(ii) iterated function systems generated by finitely many diffeomorphisms. Synchronization is the convergence of orbits starting at different initial conditions when iterated by the same sequence of diffeomorphisms. The iterated function systems admit a description as skew product systems of diffeomorphisms on compact manifolds driven by shift operators. Under open conditions including transitivity and negative fiber Lyapunov exponents, we prove the existence of a unique attracting invariant graph for the skew product system. This explains the occurrence of synchronization. For skew product systems arising from iterated function systems generated by finitely many diffeomorphisms we have the following additional statements. Recent work by Bochi, Bonatti and D\'{\i}az establishes the existence of an open class of such skew product systems that admit invariant measures of full support with zero fiber Lyapunov exponents. Our results imply the existence of an open class of skew product systems that simultaneously admit an invariant measure of full support, Bernoulli measure as marginal, and negative fiber Lyapunov exponents.
The Adenosine Salvage Pathway as an Alternative to Mitochondrial Production of ATP in Maturing Mammalian Oocytes1

ABSTRACT Although the oocyte is the largest cell in the body and an unavoidable phase in life, its physiology is still poorly understood, and other cell types provide little insight into its unique nature. Even basic cellular functions in the oocyte such as energy metabolism are not yet fully understood. It is known that the mitochondria of the female gamete exhibit an immature form characterized by limited energy production from glucose and oxidative phosphorylation. We show that the bovine oocyte uses alternative means to maintain ATP production during maturation, namely, the adenosine salvage pathway. Meiosis resumption is triggered by destruction of cyclic AMP by phosphodiesterases producing adenosine monophosphate that is converted into ATP by adenylate kinases and creatine kinases. Inhibition of these enzymes decreased ATP production, and addition of their substrates restored ATP production in denuded oocytes. Addition of phosphocreatine to the oocyte maturation medium influenced the phenotype of the resulting blastocysts. We propose a model in which adenylate kinases and creatine kinases act as drivers of ATP production from added AMP during oocyte maturation.
“Don't Call Him A Cowboy”: Masculinity, Cowboy Drag, and A Costume Change

Abstract Informed by feminism and theories of masculinity and space, this ethnography explores how gay men negotiate hegemonic masculinity in a country-western gay bar, focusing specifically on how the bar's clientele use dress as a marker of hegemonic masculinity and how bar patrons change their dress (and consequently their masculinity) as they migrate to other bars in the city. By examining social practices and cultural descriptions, the author is able to discern how gay men engaged in a negotiation process that included both acquiescence and opposition to heteromasculine ideologies which simultaneously reinforce and challenge hegemonic masculinity but always remain connected to symbolic power, strength, and self worth as gay men.
Performance analysis of ACQUIRE, considering timeliness monitoring

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) come across various challenges when it comes to its design and operations which cause major degradation in their performance. With increasing number of applications having their own different limitations, make the challenge of application expectations even greater for such resource limited networks. These challenges appear at different layers of WSNs starting from physical layer up to application layer. At routing layer, the main concern of routing protocols is operation of WSN. Thus, the overall performance of WSN, affected by the presence of these challenges, results in major degradation in network's performance. In this paper, to validate the impact of identified challenges from literature review, a mathematical model is presented to calculate the end-to-end delays of a routing protocol ACQUIRE and a comparison is presented between two routing protocols(ACQUIRE and DIRECTED DIFFUSION) for evaluation. On the basis of thorough literature survey carried out for this research and results achieved, recommendations are made for selecting the best protocol depending on nature of application in the presence of considered challenges.
Intravitreal bevacizumab alone or combined with triamcinolone acetonide as the primary treatment for diabetic macular edema

Purpose: To compare the efficacy of intravitreal injection of bevacizumab alone or combined with intravitreal triamcinolone as the primary treatment for cases with diabetic macular edema (DME). Methods: Ninety eyes were enrolled in one of the three study arms; where intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVT) was used in group I, IVT/intravitreal bevacizumab (IVT/IVB) in group II, and IVB in group III. The visual acuity (VA) and central macular thickness (CMT) were used as the outcome measures, where the results of each group were calculated and compared with the results of the other. Results: There was significant improvement in the VA in the three study groups at weeks 6 and 12; with regards to the intraocular pressure (IOP), there was significant difference at week 6 in the IVT and IVT/IVB groups, and at week 12 in IVT/IVB group, and nonsignificant difference at week 6 in the IVB group and at week 12 in IVT and IVB groups. Conclusion: From this study, we conclude that IVB is an effective drug for treatment of DME, and has a long lasting effect when compared with IVT and when compared with combined IVT/IVB; adding IVT does not affect the outcome measures except for elevating the IOP in treated patients in the early post-injection period.
Speeding Up SMT-Based Quantitative Program Analysis

Quantitative program analysis involves computing numerical quantities about individual or collections of program executions. An example of such a computation is quantitative information flow analysis, where one estimates the amount of information leaked about secret data through a program's output channels. Such information can be quantified in several ways, including channel capacity and (Shannon) entropy. In this paper, we formalize a class of quantitative analysis problems defined over a weighted control flow graph of a loop-free program. These problems can be solved using a combination of path enumeration, SMT solving, and model counting. However, existing methods can only handle very small programs, primarily because the number of execution paths can be exponential in the program size. We show how path explosion can be mitigated in some practical cases by taking advantage of special branching structure and by novel algorithm design. We demonstrate our techniques by computing the channel capacities of the timing side-channels of two programs with extremely large numbers of paths.
F-18 FDG Whole-Body PET for the Assessment of Disease Activity in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Purpose of Report: F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) can be used to image synovitis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to evaluate if a simple scoring system based on visual assessment of FDG joint uptake correlates with the clinical assessment of patients with RA undergoing antiinflammatory treatment. Materials and Methods: Seven patients with active RA underwent whole-body FDG PET and clinical assessment before and after treatment with the antitumor necrosis factor alpha antibody (infliximab). A PET total joint score, ie, the sum of all scores based on FDG uptake intensity between zero and 4 in 28 joints, was correlated with a total joint score based on the clinical disease activity in the same joints using a Spearman rank correlation. Results: The PET based total joint score was similarly high before onset as was the clinical total joint score. The decrease of FDG joint uptake in the follow-up PET scans correlated significantly with the clinical assessment. Additionally, synovial FDG uptake was found in extraarticular sites such as tendon sheaths and bursae. Conclusions: Visual assessment of FDG uptake shows a significant correlation with clinical evaluation of disease activity in patients with RA undergoing antiinflammatory treatment.
Finding an Optimum Maximum Congestion Window for TCP Reno over 802.11 Based Ad Hoc Networks

Bandwidth delay product (BDP) represents the maximum amount of allowed unacknowledged data in flight at any moment in the network. Due to the spatial reuse property of 802.11 MAC protocol in multi-hop ad hoc networks, the BDP of the path approximates 1/4 of the path length and is a value of several packets. With such a small BDP, TCP cannot work efficiently since its congestion window increases far beyond BDP most of the time, which can generate heavy congestion in the network. This paper presents a mathematical approach to derive an optimum maximum congestion window for TCP Reno over 802.11 based ad hoc networks. We adopt a Markov renewal approach to analyze the behavior of TCP Reno, which incorporates an accurate and realistic modelling of the fast-recovery process. Through analysis, we find that the optimum maximum congestion window is 6 packets for a multi-hop chain with any path length.
Age-Dependent Labeling and Imaging of Insulin Secretory Granules

Insulin is stored within the secretory granules of pancreatic β-cells, and impairment of its release is the hallmark of type 2 diabetes. Preferential exocytosis of newly synthesized insulin suggests that granule aging is a key factor influencing insulin secretion. Here, we illustrate a technology that enables the study of granule aging in insulinoma cells and β-cells of knock-in mice through the conditional and unequivocal labeling of insulin fused to the SNAP tag. This approach, which overcomes the limits encountered with previous strategies based on radiolabeling or fluorescence timer proteins, allowed us to formally demonstrate the preferential release of newly synthesized insulin and reveal that the motility of cortical granules significantly changes over time. Exploitation of this approach may enable the identification of molecular signatures associated with granule aging and unravel possible alterations of granule turnover in diabetic β-cells. Furthermore, the method is of general interest for the study of membrane traffic and aging.