Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Image and watermark registration for monochrome and coloured images

This paper addresses issues concerned with image registration of monochrome and coloured images, where the image contains an invisible watermark. We discuss a selection of registration masks which can be deliberately overlaid on a watermarked or raw image, allowing the recovery of the correct registration. This extends our earlier work in steganography, (the art of hiding messages in text and images). We discuss more recent techniques which include watermarks to carry more data and become more resistant to image distortions and lossy compression, such as JPEG.
Photoacoustic tissue characterization using envelope statistics and ultrasonic spectral parameters

Photoacoustic (PA) tissue characterization relies on the analysis of ultrasound (US) signals generated through the PA effect. The probability distributions of PA signal amplitude as well as the frequency content of the PA signals are typically not considered. We present a phantom study where we introduce the combined use of US/PA signal envelope statistics along with analysis of the frequency content of the US/PA signals for the purposes of monitoring physical changes in the absorbers. The phantoms were constructed using black polystyrene beads (radius 1.77 μm and 7.36 μm). Tissue microenvironment was emulated by homogenously mixing 10 beads/imaging-transducer-resolution-volume in order to accommodate large numbers of sub-resolved beads. The phantoms were imaged with the Vevo LAZR US/PA integrated imaging system (Fujifilm-VisualSonics) using a 40 MHz linear array probe and 680 nm illumination. US/PA signals from the same region of interest were analyzed by mapping the signal amplitudes distributions from 5 phantom locations, fitting the data to the Generalized Gamma (GG) distribution and extracting the fit parameters while computing the normalized power spectra to retrieve the spectral slope (SS) and midband fit (MBF) spectral parameters. The GG scale parameter increased by 500x for US images and 12x for PA equivalents as the size of the beads increased by ~4.5x. The SS decreased by 0.8x for US and 0.4x for PA. These changes can be attributed variations in size and spatial organization of the beads suggesting that combined US/PA statistical and spectral analysis can potentially monitor normal and abnormal tissue physiological changes.
The life cycles of the temperate lactococcal bacteriophage phiLC3 monitored by a quantitative PCR method.

We present here a new and general approach for monitoring the life cycles of temperate bacteriophages which establish lysogeny by inserting their genomes site-specifically into the bacterial host chromosome. The method is based on quantitative amplification of specific DNA sites involved in various cut-and-join events during the life cycles of the phages (i.e. the cos, attP, attB, attL and attR sites) with the use of sequence-specific primers. By comparing the amounts of these specific DNA sites at different intervals, we were able to follow the development of the lytic and lysogenic life cycles of the temperate lactococcal bacteriophage phiLC3 after infection of its bacterial host Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris IMN-C18.
Neuronal Cell Surface Molecules Mediate Specific Binding to Rabies Virus Glycoprotein Expressed by a Recombinant Baculovirus on the Surfaces of Lepidopteran Cells

ABSTRACT The existence of specific rabies virus (RV) glycoprotein (G) binding sites on the surfaces of neuroblastoma cells is demonstrated.Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf21) cells expressing G of the RV strain CVS (Gcvs-Sf21 cells) bind specifically to neuroblastoma cells of different species but not to any other cell type (fibroblast, myoblast, epithelial, or glioma). Attachment to mouse neuroblastoma NG108-15 cells is abolished by previous treatment of Gcvs-Sf21 cells with anti-G antibody. Substitutions for lysine at position 330 and for arginine at position 333 in RV G greatly reduce interaction between Gcvs-Sf21 cells and NG108-15 cells. These data are consistent with in vivo results: an avirulent RV mutant bearing the same double mutation is not able to infect sensory neurons or motoneurons (P. Coulon, J.-P. Ternaux, A. Flamand, and C. Tuffereau, J. Virol. 72:273–278, 1998) after intramuscular inoculation into a mouse. Furthermore, infection of NG108-15 cells by RV but not by vesicular stomatitis virus leads to a reduction of the number of binding sites at the neuronal-cell surface. Our data strongly suggest that these specific attachment sites on neuroblastoma cells represent a neuronal receptor(s) used by RV to infect certain types of neurons in vivo.
Biological and enzymatic features of human melanoma clones with different invasive potential

Cell clones derived from a human melanoma metastasis selected for different integrin profiles were examined in vitro for invasive potential and biological and biochemical features potentially related to this process. Clones which expressed high levels of integrins showed high invasive potential, extracellular matrix degradation, and adhesion to gelatin-coated substrates. A correlation was also found between invasiveness and intracellular and extracellular plasminogen activator activity. Heparanase and collagenase type IV activities were apparently unrelated to invasiveness. γ-Glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity was high in highly invasive clones, whereas melanin content was high in slightly invasive clones. Heterogeneity was also observed in cellular parameters such as cell dimensions, growth features and DNA index. The intrinsic biological and biochemical heterogeneity of a cell population derived from a single metastasis may be responsible for the different behaviour of clones, regardless of their invasive potential. Since slightly invasive cells are more differentiated than highly invasive cells, malignancy and differentiation are inversely correlated in such human melanoma clones.
Efficiency of gene transfection into donor cells for nuclear transfer of bovine embryos

The production of transgenic (TG) animals by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has proven to be a more efficient method than other methods, such as gene injection or sperm mediation. The present study was intended to evaluate the efficiency of gene transfection by Effectene® (Qiagen, Inc.), a lipid‐based reagent compared to electroporation in fetal‐derived fibroblast cells (FFC), cumulus‐derived fibroblast cells (CFC), and adult ear skin‐derived fibroblast cells (AEFC). Parameters compared were factors such as chromosome abnormality, gene expression, and the incidence of apoptosis. Further, the TG embryos with transfected donor cells generated by electroporation or Effectene were compared to IVF and SCNT embryos in terms of rates of cleavage, blastocyst formation, and blastocyst cell number. Most of the cells (>80%) at confluence were at G0/G1 and considered to be suitable nuclear donors for cloning. Transfection with a plasmid containing the enhanced green fluorescent protein (pEGFP‐N1) gene into FFC did not increase the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities. The rates of apoptosis in different cell types transfected with pEGFP‐N1 were 3.3%–5.0%, and the values did not differ among groups. In addition, the rates of apoptosis in various cells between 5–7 and 20–22 cell passages did not differ. However, the efficiency of gene transfecton into FFC by Effectene reagent (14.2 ± 1.7) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that obtained by electroporation (5.1 ± 1.0). Among various cell types, the efficiency of gene transfection by Effectene and eletroporation of FFC (14.2 ± 1.7 and 5.1 ± 1.0, respectively) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than transfection of CFC and AEFC by either method (9.4 ± 1.5 and 3.3 ± 0.8, 8.8 ± 0.7, and 2.1 ± 0.4, respectively). In TG embryos produced by SCNT with electroporation and Effectene, the rates of cleavage and blastocyst formation were significantly lower (P < 0.05) than those of IVF controls, but rates did not differ between SCNT and TG embryos. Similarly, significantly higher (P < 0.05) total cell numbers in day‐8 blastocysts were observed in IVF controls than those in SCNT and TG embryos, but did not differ between SCNT and TG (136 vs. ∼110, respectively). The results demonstrated that, though there were no difference in the rates of chromosomal aneuploidy and the incidence of apoptosis among various cell types, transfected with or without pEGFP‐N1, FFC were the cell type most effectively transfected and Effectene was a suitable agent for transfection. Mol. Reprod. Dev. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Nonfouling Polyampholytes from an Ion-pair Comonomer with Biomimetic Adhesive Groups.

Nonfouling surfaces play a very important role for the development of biosensors,1 medical implants,2 and drug delivery vehicles.3 However, few materials and modification methods have been reported to improve the nonfouling properties of surfaces effectively and conveniently. Among these reported materials, zwitterionic polymers, with both positive and negative charges on the side chains, showed excellent nonfouling properties in our previous studies.4–7 Based on these studies, it was hypothesized that a nanometer-scale homogeneous mixture of balanced charge groups will present protein-resistant properties. Recently, this assumption has been proved on hydrogels via free radical polymerization,8 polymer thin films 9 via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) and polymer thin films via self-assembly. 10, 11 The ratios of positively to negatively charged monomers need to be optimized to achieve 1:1 on surfaces for most of these cases.
Construction and Characterization of a Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 3 Infectious Molecular Clone

ABSTRACT We and others have uncovered the existence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 3 (HTLV-3). We have now generated an HTLV-3 proviral clone. We established that gag, env, pol, pro, and tax/rex as well as minus-strand mRNAs are present in cells transfected with the HTLV-3 clone. HTLV-3 p24gag protein is detected in the cell culture supernatant. Transfection of 293T-long terminal repeat (LTR)-green fluorescent protein (GFP) cells with the HTLV-3 clone promotes formation of syncytia, a hallmark of Env expression, together with the appearance of fluorescent cells, demonstrating that Tax is expressed. Viral particles are visible by electron microscopy. These particles are infectious, as demonstrated by infection experiments with purified virions.
AutoGAD: An Improved ICA-Based Hyperspectral Anomaly Detection Algorithm

This work extends the emerging field of hyperspectral imagery (HSI) anomaly detectors and employs independent component (IC) analysis (ICA) to identify anomalous pixels. Using new techniques to fully automate feature extraction, feature selection, and anomaly pixel identification, an Autonomous Global Anomaly Detector has been developed for employment in an operational environment for real-time processing of HSI. Dimensionality reduction, which is the initial feature extraction prior to ICA, is effected through a geometric solution that estimates the number of retained principal components. The solution is based on the theory of the shape of the eigenvalue curve of the covariance matrix of spectral data containing noise. This research presents two new features, namely, potential anomaly signal-to-noise ratio and maximum pixel score, both of which are computed for each of the ICs to create a new 2-D feature space where the overlap between anomaly and nonanomaly classes is reduced. After anomaly feature selection, adaptive noise filtering is applied iteratively to suppress the background. Finally, a zero-detection histogram method is applied to the smoothed signals to identify anomaly locations to the user. After the algorithm is fully developed, a set of designed experiments are conducted to identify a reasonable set of input parameters.
Could consumer resources be even more important than firm resources to explain perceived value in e-commerce contexts ?

Based on Service-Dominant (S-D) Logic and related perspectives, which suggest that value is co-created through the integration of resources, this study proposes a model which considers two value co-creation sources: (1) firm resources, in the form of process Electronic-Service Quality (ESQ) and outcome ESQ, and (2) consumer resources, as represented by consumer expertise and its antecedents (i.e., social expertise and Internet skills). This research analyzes the effect of product type on the relationship between both cocreation sources and value, by collecting survey data from 1,187 e-buyers. For low-outlay/high frequency (LO/HF) products, consumers rely more on their own resources, and expertise is more important than process and outcome quality. For high-outlay/low frequency (HO/LF) products, however, firm resources have a stronger impact. The research findings may be useful to design e-commerce strategies combining specific ESQ and expertise-related policies according to the type of product offered by the e-service provider.
Gastrointestinal pathology in transplant patients

The assessment of gastrointestinal (GI) specimens from transplant patients is complicated by the wide range of potentially rare pathologies that may be found in this clinical setting. Acute GI graft‐versus‐host disease (GvHD) is characterized by epithelial cell apoptosis, although there is increasing recognition that acute and/or chronic inflammation may also be present. By contrast, thus far there are no histological features known to be specific to chronic GI GvHD. Mycophenolate mofetil colitis may mimic both GvHD and inflammatory bowel disease, whereas both cytomegalovirus (CMV) and adenovirus infections can cause gland apoptosis. Post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disorder should be considered if a Crohn's‐like histological picture is seen, and granulomas in biopsies from umbilical cord blood recipients should raise a suspicion of cord colitis syndrome. Finally, the GI tract may be involved directly or indirectly by the disease that originally required haematopoietic stem cell or liver transplantation.
Comparison of heat at various parts of five phase induction motor with predicted temperature by thermal model of a five phase induction motor

Study the heat at various parts of the five phase induction motor will becoming major research, since the life time of the induction motor is very important. The experimental study of temperature at various parts must be estimated and compared with predicted values using thermal Model of five phase induction motor is developed in this work, the various parameters like thermal resistance and thermal capacitance are calculated which are used to predict the temperature of the five phase induction motor is presented in this paper.
The Political Economy of European Anti-trust and Industrial Policy

This paper discusses alternative political economic perspectives on competition (antitrust) and industrial policies (IP), in theory and in practice, while critically assessing recent European IP in this context. It develops a new framework for IP, which emphasises the sustainability of value and wealth creation at the firm, meso and supranational levels, and explores its implications for IP in general and European IP in particular. It views current EU policies as a step in the right direction, but argues that they need to pay more attention to the issue of economic sustainability, the link between corporate, public and supranational governance, and the impact that different power structures and hierarchies of agencies have on industrial policies for sustainable value and wealth creation. The limitations of self-monitoring and diversity suggest the need for an accountable supranational competition and regulatory policy organisation with a strong focus on economic sustainability.
Thermal impact of 3D stacking and die thickness: Analysis and characterization of a memory-on-logic 3D circuit

Heat dissipation is assumed to be one of the major challenges in the promising 3D integration technology due to its higher power density and reduced heat dissipation properties when compared to a traditional single-die fabrication process. This work brings a discussion of the main aspects differentiating heat dissipation in 3D ICs. A complete system including packaged IC, socket and board is used to evaluate the thermal impact of a stacked memory die. Simulation and experimental temperature data from two versions of a thermal test circuit are compared to reveal the thermal profile changes resulting from the 3D integration. The first circuit version is a 65nm SoC instrumented with heaters and thermal sensors. The second version has a WideIO compatible memory stacked on top of the same SoC, resulting in a memory-on-logic 3D circuit. This work also investigates the thermal impact of chip footprint, die thickness and die-to-die interface parameters using explorative thermal simulations. Results show that while thinned silicon dies required for TSV integration may result in exacerbated hotspots due to reduced lateral heat spreading capacity, non-thinned stacked dies may act as heat spreaders and help to mitigate thermal issues in 3D ICs. The discussion presented in this work aims to understand the thermal impact of technology parameters inherent in 3D integration and support system architects and designers to take early design decisions and prevent thermal issues.
Peroxynitrite, a cloaked oxidant formed by nitric oxide and superoxide.

Peroxynitrite [oxoperoxonitrate(1-), ONOO-] may be formed in vivo from superoxide and nitric oxide. The anion is stable, but the acid (pKa = 6.8) decays to nitrate with a rate of 1.3 s-1 at 25 degrees C. The experimental activation parameters of this process are delta H++ = +18 +/- 1 kcal/mol, delta S++ = +3 +/- 2 cal/(mol.K), and delta G++ = +17 +/- 1 kcal/mol. Peroxynitrite (or its protonated form) oxidizes some compounds such as thiols and thioethers in a biomolecular reaction. The reactions with glutathione and cysteine have activation enthalpies of 10.9 and 9.7 kcal/mol, respectively, which are lower than that of the isomerization reaction. Peroxynitrite reacts with other compounds such as dimethyl sulfoxide and deoxyribose in a unimolecular reaction for which the activation of peroxynitrite is rate-limiting. In theory, activation could involve (1) heterolysis to OH- and NO2+ (delta rxn Gzero' = 13 kcal/mol at pH 7) or (2) homolysis to . OH and . NO2 (delta rxn Gzero = 21 kcal/mol), and these processes also could be involved in the isomerization to nitrate. However, thermodynamic and kinetic considerations indicate that neither process is feasible, although binding to metal ions may reduce the large activation energy associated with heterolysis. An intermediate closely related to the transition state for isomerization of ONOOH to HONO2 may be the strongly oxidizing intermediate responsible for hydroxyl radical-like oxidations mediated by ONOOH. Thus, peroxynitrite reacts with different compounds by at least two distinct mechanisms, and the hydroxyl radical is not involved in either.
Non‐verbal behaviour deficits in schizophrenia: an ethological study of drug‐free patients

The aims of this study were (i) to define the dimensions of non‐verbal behaviour which distinguish between schizophrenic patients and control subjects and (ii) to examine the relationship between patients' non‐verbal behaviour and clinical symptoms. The non‐verbal behaviour of 28 drug‐free patients with schizophrenia according to Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) and 25 control subjects was videotaped during interviews and scored according to an ethological scoring system. Patients' symptoms were rated on the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms, the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. As a group, schizophrenic patients showed a global restriction of non‐verbal expressiveness, as indicated by their lower scores on prosocial behaviour, gesture and conflict. However, some patients had normal ethological profiles. Non‐verbal behaviour was largely independent of negative and positive symptoms. Deficits in non‐verbal behaviour may play a role in determining or aggravating dysfunctional patterns of relating in schizophrenia. Ethological analysis provides further support for the model that conceptualizes positive symptoms, negative symptoms and disorders of social relationships as three separate dimensions of the schizophrenic syndrome.
5 D reconstruction via robust tensor completion

Tensor completion techniques (including tensor denoising) can be used to solve the ubiquitous multidimensional data reconstruction problem. We present a robust tensor reconstruction method that can tolerate the presence of erratic noise. The method is derived by minimizing a robust cost function with the addition of low rank constraints. Our presentation is based on the Parallel Matrix Factorization (PMF) tensor completion method that we modify to cope with erratic noise.
Exploring photometric redshifts as an optimization problem: an ensemble MCMC and simulated annealing-driven template-fitting approach

Using a 4D grid of ∼2 million model parameters (Δz = 0.005) adapted from Cosmological Origins Survey photometric redshift (photo-z) searches, we investigate the general properties of template-based photo-z likelihood surfaces. We find these surfaces are filled with numerous local minima and large degeneracies that generally confound simplistic gradient-descent optimization schemes. We combine ensemble Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling with simulated annealing to robustly and efficiently explore these surfaces in approximately constant time. Using a mock catalogue of 384 662 objects, we show our approach samples ∼40 times more efficiently compared to a ‘brute-force’ counterpart while maintaining similar levels of accuracy. Our results represent first steps towards designing template-fitting photo-z approaches limited mainly by memory constraints rather than computation time.
Physical mapping of paar mutations of herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2 by intertypic marker rescue

Mutations (paar) in herpes simplex virus (HSV) which confer resistance to phosphonoacetic acid involve genes associated with virus-induced DNA polymerase activity. Two mutants of HSV (HSV-1 tsH and HSV-2 ts6) produce a thermolabile DNA polymerase activity. In this study, the ts lesions present in these mutants and those present in two independent phosphonoacetic acid-resistant mutants of HSV-1 and HSV-2 (paar-1 and paar-2) have been physically mapped by restriction endonuclease analysis of recombinants produced between HSV-1 and HSV-2 by intertypic marker rescue. All four mutations mapped within a 3.3-kilobase pair region around map unit 40. The accuracy of the method is reflected by the mapping results for tsH and paar-2, which were found to lie in the same 1.3-kilobase pair region. paar-1 was found to lie to the right of ts6. Virus-induced DNA polymerase is thought to have a molecular weight of 150,000, necessitating a gene with a coding capacity of 4.6 kilobase pairs. The four mutations mapped in this study all lie within a region smaller than this, but the results do not yet prove that all four lesions reside in this or any single gene.