Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An efficient method of Huffman decoding for MPEG-2 AAC and its performance analysis

This paper presents a new method for Huffman decoding specially designed for the MPEG-2 AAC audio. The method significantly enhances the processing efficiency of the conventional Huffman decoding realized with the ordinary binary tree search method. A data structure of one-dimensional array is newly designed based on the numerical interpretation of the incoming bit stream and its utilization for the offset oriented nodes allocation. The Huffman tree implemented with the proposed data structure allows the direct computation of the branching location, eliminating the need for the pipeline-violating "compare and jump" instructions. The experimental results show the average performance enhancement of 67% and 285%, compared to those of the conventional binary tree search method and the sequential search method, respectively. The proposed method also shows slightly better processing efficiency, while requiring much less memory space, compared even with those up-to-date efficient search methods of Hashemian and its variants.
CORE: A Phylogenetically-Curated 16S rDNA Database of the Core Oral Microbiome

Comparing bacterial 16S rDNA sequences to GenBank and other large public databases via BLAST often provides results of little use for identification and taxonomic assignment of the organisms of interest. The human microbiome, and in particular the oral microbiome, includes many taxa, and accurate identification of sequence data is essential for studies of these communities. For this purpose, a phylogenetically curated 16S rDNA database of the core oral microbiome, CORE, was developed. The goal was to include a comprehensive and minimally redundant representation of the bacteria that regularly reside in the human oral cavity with computationally robust classification at the level of species and genus. Clades of cultivated and uncultivated taxa were formed based on sequence analyses using multiple criteria, including maximum-likelihood-based topology and bootstrap support, genetic distance, and previous naming. A number of classification inconsistencies for previously named species, especially at the level of genus, were resolved. The performance of the CORE database for identifying clinical sequences was compared to that of three publicly available databases, GenBank nr/nt, RDP and HOMD, using a set of sequencing reads that had not been used in creation of the database. CORE offered improved performance compared to other public databases for identification of human oral bacterial 16S sequences by a number of criteria. In addition, the CORE database and phylogenetic tree provide a framework for measures of community divergence, and the focused size of the database offers advantages of efficiency for BLAST searching of large datasets. The CORE database is available as a searchable interface and for download at http://microbiome.osu. edu.
VEGF signalling controls GnRH neuron survival via NRP1 independently of KDR and blood vessels

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons are neuroendocrine cells that are born in the nasal placode during embryonic development and migrate through the nose and forebrain to the hypothalamus, where they regulate reproduction. Many molecular pathways that guide their migration have been identified, but little is known about the factors that control the survival of the migrating GnRH neurons as they negotiate different environments. We previously reported that the class 3 semaphorin SEMA3A signals through its neuropilin receptors, NRP1 and NRP2, to organise the axons that guide migrating GnRH neurons from their birthplace into the brain. By combining analysis of genetically altered mice with in vitro models, we show here that the alternative neuropilin ligand VEGF164 promotes the survival of migrating GnRH neurons by co-activating the ERK and AKT signalling pathways through NRP1. We also demonstrate that survival signalling relies on neuronal, but not endothelial, NRP1 expression and that it occurs independently of KDR, the main VEGF receptor in blood vessels. Therefore, VEGF164 provides survival signals directly to developing GnRH neurons, independently of its role in blood vessels. Finally, we show that the VEGF164-mediated neuronal survival and SEMA3A-mediated axon guidance cooperate to ensure that migrating GnRH neurons reach the brain. Thus, the loss of both neuropilin ligands leads to an almost complete failure to establish the GnRH neuron system.
The spectroscopic orbit and the geometry of R Aquarii

Context. R Aqr is one of the closest symbiotic binaries and the only D-type system with radial velocity data suitable for orbital parameter estimation. Aims. The aims of our study are to derive a reliable spectroscopic orbit of the Mira component, and to establish connections between the orbital motion and other phenomena exhibited by R Aqr. Methods. We reanalyze and revise the velocity data compiled by McIntosh & Rustan complemented by additional velocities. Results. We find an eccentric orbit (e = 0.25) with a period 43.6 yr. This solution is in agreement with a resolved VLA observation of this system. We demonstrate that the last increase in extinction towards the Mira variable in 1974–1981 occurred during its superior, spectroscopic conjunction, and can be due to obscuration by a neutral material in the accreting stream. We also show that jet ejection is not connected with the orbital position.
Physical methods for investigating structural colours in biological systems

Many biological systems are known to use structural colour effects to generate aspects of their appearance and visibility. The study of these phenomena has informed an eclectic group of fields ranging, for example, from evolutionary processes in behavioural biology to micro-optical devices in technologically engineered systems. However, biological photonic systems are invariably structurally and often compositionally more elaborate than most synthetically fabricated photonic systems. For this reason, an appropriate gamut of physical methods and investigative techniques must be applied correctly so that the systems' photonic behaviour may be appropriately understood. Here, we survey a broad range of the most commonly implemented, successfully used and recently innovated physical methods. We discuss the costs and benefits of various spectrometric methods and instruments, namely scatterometers, microspectrophotometers, fibre-optic-connected photodiode array spectrometers and integrating spheres. We then discuss the role of the materials' refractive index and several of the more commonly used theoretical approaches. Finally, we describe the recent developments in the research field of photonic crystals and the implications for the further study of structural coloration in animals.
Enhancement of Infrared Image Based on the Retinex Theory

The infrared imaging technique can be used to image the temperature distribution of the body. It's hopeful to be applied to the diagnosis and prediction of many diseases. Image processing is necessary to enhance the original infrared images because of the blurring. In this paper, the image enhancement technique based on the Retinex theory is studied. The algorithms such as Frackle-McCann algorithm, McCann99 algorithm, single-scale Retinex algorithm and multi-scale Retinex algorithm are applied to the enhancement of gray infrared image. The acceptable results are obtained and compared.
A sector-based approach for localization of multiple speakers with microphone arrays

Microphone arrays are useful in meeting rooms, where speech needs to be acquired and segmented. For example, automatic speech segmentation allows enhanced browsing experience, and facilitates automatic analysis of large amounts of data. Spontaneous multi-party speech includes many overlaps between speakers; moreover other audio sources such as laptops and projectors can be active. For these reasons, locating multiple wideband sources in a reasonable amount of time is highly desirable. In existing multisource localization approaches, search initialization is very often an issue left open. We propose here a methodology for estimating speech activity in a given sector of the space rather than at a particular point. In experiments on more than one hour of speech from real meeting room multisource recordings, we show that the sector-based greatly reduces the search space. At the same time, it achieves effective localization of multiple concurrent speakers.
Object surface reconstruction from multi-view images with enhancement driven by image forces

Currently available techniques for surface reconstruction from multi-view images require big number of images in order to assure high surface resolution and precise detail reconstruction. Obtaining such big number of images in some cases is impossible on the other hand it may impose high preparation cost. Therefore, to address the drawback a novel method is presented. The aim of this paper is to present a novel approach for surface reconstruction from multi-view images. This method bases on the visual hull approach. It assumes to be able to reconstruct three dimensional manifold without edge from images, the number of necessary images should be as small as possible, and the quality of reconstructed mesh should be good. Applying this method for four images from dino dataset proved to work well.
Genetic Variants of Diabetes Risk and Incident Cardiovascular Events in Chronic Coronary Artery Disease

Objective To determine whether information from genetic risk variants for diabetes is associated with cardiovascular events incidence. Methods From the about 30 known genes associated with diabetes, we genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms at the 10 loci most associated with type-2 diabetes in 425 subjects from the MASS-II Study, a randomized study in patients with multi-vessel coronary artery disease. The combined genetic information was evaluated by number of risk alleles for diabetes. Performance of genetic models relative to major cardiovascular events incidence was analyzed through Kaplan-Meier curve comparison and Cox Hazard Models and the discriminatory ability of models was assessed for cardiovascular events by calculating the area under the ROC curve. Results Genetic information was able to predict 5-year incidence of major cardiovascular events and overall-mortality in non-diabetic individuals, even after adjustment for potential confounders including fasting glycemia. Non-diabetic individuals with high genetic risk had a similar incidence of events then diabetic individuals (cumulative hazard of 33.0 versus 35.1% of diabetic subjects). The addition of combined genetic information to clinical predictors significantly improved the AUC for cardiovascular events incidence (AUC = 0.641 versus 0.610). Conclusions Combined information of genetic variants for diabetes risk is associated to major cardiovascular events incidence, including overall mortality, in non-diabetic individuals with coronary artery disease. Clinical Trial Registration Information Medicine, Angioplasty, or Surgery Study (MASS II). Unique identifier: ISRCTN66068876 URL.
Adult attachment and feedback-seeking patterns in relationships and work

Adults with different attachment orientations rely on different areas of life to maintain self-views. This paper reports two studies that examine the link between attachment and feedback-seeking patterns in interpersonal and competence-related domains. Participants in Study 1 imagined receiving feedback from a friend. Participants in Study 2 completed dyadic tasks and were promised feedback from interpersonal- and competence-relevant sources. Across both studies, secure individuals consistently chose the most positive feedback. Individuals high in attachment avoidance sought negative feedback over positive, although dismissing-avoidant individuals sought positive hypothetical feedback about autonomy. Study 2 further suggested that highly avoidant individuals were more open to negative feedback than positive feedback and than were secure individuals. Moreover, individuals high in attachment anxiety failed to seek positive interpersonal feedback but pursued interpersonal over competence feedback. Results highlight the role of feedback-seeking in maintenance of positive or negative self-views for adults with different attachment orientations.
Local Directional Number Pattern for Face Analysis: Face and Expression Recognition

This paper proposes a novel local feature descriptor, local directional number pattern (LDN), for face analysis, i.e., face and expression recognition. LDN encodes the directional information of the face's textures (i.e., the texture's structure) in a compact way, producing a more discriminative code than current methods. We compute the structure of each micro-pattern with the aid of a compass mask that extracts directional information, and we encode such information using the prominent direction indices (directional numbers) and sign-which allows us to distinguish among similar structural patterns that have different intensity transitions. We divide the face into several regions, and extract the distribution of the LDN features from them. Then, we concatenate these features into a feature vector, and we use it as a face descriptor. We perform several experiments in which our descriptor performs consistently under illumination, noise, expression, and time lapse variations. Moreover, we test our descriptor with different masks to analyze its performance in different face analysis tasks.
Ischaemia of the small intestine in patients with systemic sclerosis: Raynaud's phenomenon or chronic vasculopathy?

We investigated duodenal and gastric mucosal blood flow by endoscopic laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) in ten patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and in ten healthy volunteers. In addition, we tested for the presence of small bowel bacterial overgrowth by jejunal aspiration. Jejunal aspiration and LDF were done consecutively, via a gastroscope, using a flexible catheter and laser Doppler probe. Following these procedures, two duodenal biopsies were obtained for light and electron microscopy. Mean duodenal and gastric blood flow were significantly lower in patients with SSc than in normal subjects (516 flux units vs. 240, 521 vs. 202, both p < 0.001). There was no correlation between age and blood flow in patients or volunteers. Four of the ten patients had evidence of significant bacterial overgrowth on jejunal aspiration (> 10(5) colony-forming units/ml). These findings support the hypothesis that within the small intestine of patients with SSc, factors independent of bacterial overgrowth may be responsible for malabsorption. The observed reduction in small-intestine mucosal blood flow may play an important contributory role. Further studies are required to determine whether this represents reversible or chronic progressive ischaemia, and its effect on nutrient absorption.
The Wisconsin Multicube: a new large-scale cache-coherent multiprocessor

The Wisconsin Multicube, a large-scale, shared-memory multiprocessor architecture that uses a snooping cache protocol over a grid of buses, is introduced. The authors describe its cache coherence protocol and discuss efficient synchronization primitive. Then they discuss a number of other important design issues and modeling results. They introduce the general Multicube topology and discuss the scalability of the Wisconsin Multicube. A formal description of the cache consistency protocol is also given. <<ETX>>
Cell Therapy Attenuates Deleterious Ventricular Remodeling and Improves Cardiac Performance After Myocardial Infarction

BackgroundMyocardial infarction (MI) promotes deleterious remodeling of the myocardium, resulting in ventricular dilation and pump dysfunction. We examined whether supplementing infarcted myocardium with skeletal myoblasts would (1) result in viable myoblast implants, (2) attenuate deleterious remodeling, and (3) enhance in vivo and ex vivo contractile performance. Methods and ResultsExperimental MI was induced by 1-hour coronary ligation followed by reperfusion in adult male Lewis rats. One week after MI, 106 myoblasts were injected directly into the infarct region. Three groups of animals were studied at 3 and 6 weeks after cell therapy: noninfarcted control (control), MI plus sham injection (MI), and MI plus cell injection (MI+cell). In vivo cardiac function was assessed by maximum exercise capacity testing and ex vivo function was determined by pressure-volume curves obtained from isolated, red cell-perfused, balloon-in-left ventricle (LV) hearts. MI and MI+cell hearts had indistinguishable infarct sizes of ≈30% of the LV. At 3 and 6 weeks after cell therapy, 92% (13 of 14) of MI+cell hearts showed evidence of myoblast graft survival. MI+cell hearts exhibited attenuation of global ventricular dilation and reduced septum-to-free wall diameter compared with MI hearts not receiving cell therapy. Furthermore, cell therapy improved both post-MI in vivo exercise capacity and ex vivo LV systolic pressures. ConclusionsImplanted skeletal myoblasts form viable grafts in infarcted myocardium, resulting in enhanced post-MI exercise capacity and contractile function and attenuated ventricular dilation. These data illustrate that syngeneic myoblast implantation after MI improves both in vivo and ex vivo indexes of global ventricular dysfunction and deleterious remodeling and suggests that cellular implantation may be beneficial after MI.
Designing dynamic interactive visualisations to support collaboration and cognition

Dynamic interactive visualisations (DIVs) are intended to help coordination and collaboration, through augmenting existing forms of synchronous communication (i.e. phones, face to face, walkie-talkie). A central feature of a DIV is active user involvement: users are required to create, annotate, and change the information visualisation to represent the changes in the activity space they are concerned with. One benefit of doing so is to enable users to externalise and offload some of the cognitive effort involved. in problem-solving, by laying out information in ways that can help them derive a solution and know what to do next. In this paper we describe how we went about designing a DIV to support nomadic team working. We begin by describing our experimentation in designing a DIV. We then show how our computer-based DIV substantially, improved performance for a complex collaborative task, which involved much communication and cognition.
An Efficient BDD-Based A* Algorithm

In this paper we combine the goal directed search of A* with the ability of BDDs to traverse an exponential number of states in polynomial time. We introduce a new algorithm, SetA*, that generalizes A* to expand sets of states in each iteration. SetA* has substantial advantages over BDDA*, the only previous BDD-based A* implementation we are aware of. Our experimental evaluation proves SetA* to be a powerful search paradigm. For some of the studied problems it outperforms BDDA*, A*, and BDD-based breadth-first search by several orders of magnitude. We believe exploring sets of states to be essential when the heuristic function is weak. For problems with strong heuristics, SetA* efficiently specializes to single-state search and consequently challenges single-state heuristic search in general.
Interfacial Characteristics of Insert-Injection Molding by Using Acoustic Emission

Aim of this study focused on insert injection molding process, which is molded the melted polymer around an inserted part placed in the molded cavity of injection molding process. The interfacial adhesive strength between the inserted and an injected polymer parts were investigated by Intron universal test machine in order to investigate the effect of material in inserted and injected part. During tensile testing the acoustic emissions (AE) measurement was applied to evaluate the fracture behavior of insert injection molding. It was found that interfacial adhesive strength of insert injection molded of all specimens increased according with increasing the bonding area of adhesive interface. The fracture mode of the insert injection molded specimens was depended on the length of bonding area of the inserted part. The fracture of mode of the insert-injection molded specimens was confirmed by acoustic emission.
A novel technique for efficient peer-to-peer scalable video transmission

In this paper, we exploit the characteristics of scalable video and Peer-to-peer (P2P) network in order to propose an efficient streaming mechanism for scalable video. The scalable video is divided into chunks and prioritised with respect to its significance in the sliding window by an efficient proposed piece picking policy. Furthermore, a neighbour selective policy is also proposed to receive the most important chunks from the good peers in the neighbourhood to maintain smooth content delivery of certain Quality of Service for the received video. Experimental evaluation of the proposed system clearly demonstrates the superiority of this approach.
Reaching for better image quality and lower radiation dose in head and neck CT: advanced modeled and sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction in combination with tube voltage adaptation.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate image quality and radiation dose in low-dose head and neck CT comparing two different commercially available iterative reconstruction algorithms: sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction (SAFIRE) and advanced modeled iterative reconstruction (ADMIRE) with fixed and automated tube voltage adaptation (TVA). METHODS CT examinations of 103 patients were analysed. 58 patients were examined on a single-source CT at fixed tube voltage of 120 kV and reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP) and SAFIRE (Strength Level 3). 45 patients were examined in a single-source mode on a dual-source CT with automated TVA and reconstructed with FBP and ADMIRE (Strength Levels 2 and 3). Image noise was calculated in seven anatomical volumes of interest. Subjective evaluation of the CT images was performed using a four-grade scale. RESULTS Mean CT numbers of FBP and the corresponding iterative reconstruction did not differ significantly (p = 0.74-0.99). Image noise was lower with both iterative reconstruction techniques than with FBP (SAFIRE 3: -22.3%; ADMIRE 2: -14.9%; ADMIRE 3: -24.2%; all p < 0.05); hence, the signal-to-noise ratio and the contrast-to-noise values were higher. Subjective image quality revealed a more favourable result for the iterative reconstruction. ADMIRE 3 in combination with automated TVA showed 14.4% (p < 0.05) less image noise with a 7.5% lower radiation dose than SAFIRE 3 with fixed tube voltage. CONCLUSIONS Higher image quality at lower radiation dose can be achieved using ADMIRE in combination with automated TVA.
Automatic Categorization of Reviews and Opinions of Internet: E-Shopping Customers

E-shopping customers, blog authors, reviewers, and other web contributors can express their opinions of a purchased item, film, book, and so forth. Typically, various opinions are centered around one topic (e.g., a commodity, film, etc.). From the Business Intelligence viewpoint, such entries are very valuable; however, they are difficult to automatically process because they are in a natural language. Human beings can distinguish the various opinions. Because of the very large data volumes, could a machine do the same? The suggested method uses the machine-learning (ML) based approach to this classification problem, demonstrating via real-world data that a machine can learn from examples relatively well. The classification accuracy is better than 70%; it is not perfect because of typical problems associated with processing unstructured textual items in natural languages. The data characteristics and experimental results are shown.