Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Issues in Facial Animation MS-CIS-90-88 GRAPHICS LAB 36

Our goal is to build a system of 3-D animation of facial expressions of emotion correlated with the intonation of the voice. Up till now, the existing systems did not take into account the link between these two features. Many linguists and psychologists have noted the importance of spoken intonation for conveying different emotions associated with speakers' messages. Moreover, some psychologists have found some universal facial expressions linked to emotions and attitudes. We will look at the rules that control these relations (intonation/ emotions and facial expressions/emotions) as well as the coordination of these various modes of expressions. Given an utterance, we consider how the message (what is new/old information in the given context) transmitted through the choice of accents and their placement, are conveyed through the face. The facial model integrates the action of each muscle or group of muscles as well as the propagation of the muscles' movement. It is also adapted to the FACS notation (Facial Action Coding System) created by P. Ekman and W. Friesen to describe facial expressions. Our first step will be to enumerate and to differentiate facial movements linked to emotions from the ones linked to conversation. Then, we will examine what the rules are that drive them and how their different actions interact.
Provable ownership of files in deduplication cloud storage

With the rapid adoption of cloud storage services, a great deal of data is being stored at remote servers, so a new technology, client-side deduplication, which stores only a single copy of repeating data, is proposed to identify the client's deduplication and save the bandwidth of uploading copies of existing files to the server. It was recently found, however, that this promising technology is vulnerable to a new kind of attack in which by learning just a small piece of information about the file, namely its hash value, an attacker is able to obtain the entire file from the server. In this paper, to solve this problem, we propose a cryptographically secure and efficient scheme for a client to prove to the server his ownership on the basis of actual possession of the entire original file instead of only partial information about it. Our scheme utilizes the technique of spot checking in which the client only needs to access small portions of the original file, dynamic coefficients and randomly chosen indices of the original files. Our extensive security analysis shows that the proposed scheme can generate provable ownership of the file and maintain high detection probability of client misbehavior. Both performance analysis and simulation results demonstrate that our proposed scheme is much more efficient than the existing schemes, especially in reducing the burden of the client. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Semisupervised Transfer Component Analysis for Domain Adaptation in Remote Sensing Image Classification

In this paper, we study the problem of feature extraction for knowledge transfer between multiple remotely sensed images in the context of land-cover classification. Several factors such as illumination, atmospheric, and ground conditions cause radiometric differences between images of similar scenes acquired on different geographical areas or over the same scene but at different time instants. Accordingly, a change in the probability distributions of the classes is observed. The purpose of this work is to statistically align in the feature space an image of interest that still has to be classified (the target image) to another image whose ground truth is already available (the source image). Following a specifically designed feature extraction step applied to both images, we show that classifiers trained on the source image can successfully predict the classes of the target image despite the shift that has occurred. In this context, we analyze a recently proposed domain adaptation method aiming at reducing the distance between domains, Transfer Component Analysis, and assess the potential of its unsupervised and semisupervised implementations. In particular, with a dedicated study of its key additional objectives, namely the alignment of the projection with the labels and the preservation of the local data structures, we demonstrate the advantages of Semisupervised Transfer Component Analysis. We compare this approach with other both linear and kernel-based feature extraction techniques. Experiments on multi- and hyperspectral acquisitions show remarkable cross- image classification performances for the considered strategy, thus confirming its suitability when applied to remotely sensed images.
Black-Box Garbled RAM

Garbled RAM, introduced by Lu and Ostrovsky, enables the task of garbling a RAM (Random Access Machine) program directly, there by avoiding the inefficient process of first converting it into a circuit. Garbled RAM can be seen as a RAM analogue of Yao's garbled circuit construction, except that known realizations of Garbled RAM make non-black-box use of the underlying cryptographic primitives. In this paper we remove this limitation and provide the first black-box construction of Garbled RAM with polylogarithmic overhead. Our scheme allows for garbling multiple RAM programs being executed on a persistent database and its security is based only on the existence of one-way functions. We also obtain the first secure RAM computation protocol that is both constant round and makes only black-box use of one-way functions in the Oblivious Transfer hybrid model.
Plato, Etc.: Problems of Philosophy and their Resolution

This study sets out to diagnose, explain and resolve the "problems of philosophy". It reviews all the main areas of the subject: the theory of knowledge and the philosophy of science; the philosophy of logic and language; the philosophies of the space, time and causality; the philosophy of the social and life sciences and of dialectic; ethics, politics and aesthetics; and the history and sociology of philosophy. Among the issues discussed are the problems of induction and universals, the question of relativism, Heidegger's "scandal of philosophy" (the search for a proof of the reality of the external world), the nature of moral truth, and the conundrum of free will and determinism. The last two chapters consist of a synoptic account of the development of Western philosophy from the pre-socratics to poststructuralism. The book seeks to revindicate the idea of the philosophical project and to demonstrate that Bhaskar's "dialectical critical realism" has the categorial power to remedy the problem fields of philosophy. It serves both as an introduction to philosophy and as a useful resource for the scholar.
Estimated albumin excretion rate versus urine albumin-creatinine ratio for the assessment of albuminuria: a diagnostic test study from the Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease (PREVEND) Study.

BACKGROUND Albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) in spot urine samples is recommended for albuminuria screening instead of measured albumin excretion rate (mAER) in 24-hour urine collections. In patients with extremes of muscle mass, differences in spot urine creatinine values may lead to under- or overestimation of mAER by ACR. We hypothesized that calculating estimated AER (eAER) using spot ACR and estimated creatinine excretion rate (eCER) may improve albuminuria assessment. STUDY DESIGN Diagnostic test study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS 2,711 community-living individuals from the general population of the Netherlands participating in the PREVEND (Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease) Study. INDEX TEST eAER was computed as the product of ACR and eCER. eCER was computed using 3 previously validated methods (Ix, Ellam, and Walser). REFERENCE TEST mAER, based on two 24-hour urine collections. Accuracy of the eAER and ACR were defined as the percentage of participants falling within 30% (P30) of mAER. RESULTS Mean age was 49 years, 46% were men, mean estimated glomerular filtration rate was 84 ± 15 mL/min/1.73 m(2), and median mAER was 7.2 (IQR, 5.4-11.0) mg/d. Mean measured CER was 1,381 mg/d, and median ACR was 4.9 mg/g. Using the Ix equation, median eAER was 6.4 mg/d. In the full cohort, eAER was more accurate and less biased compared to ACR (P30, 48.9% vs 33.6%; bias, -34.2% vs -14.1%, respectively). In subgroup analysis, improvement was most notable in the middle and highest weight tertiles and in men. Using the other methods for eCER produced similar results. LIMITATIONS Little ethnic heterogeneity and a generally healthy cohort make extension of findings to other races and the chronically ill uncertain. CONCLUSIONS In a large community-dwelling cohort, eAER was more accurate than ACR in assessing albuminuria.
Expression Pattern of Two Paralogs Encoding Cinnamyl Alcohol Dehydrogenases in Arabidopsis. Isolation and Characterization of the Corresponding Mutants1

Studying Arabidopsis mutants of the phenylpropanoid pathway has unraveled several biosynthetic steps of monolignol synthesis. Most of the genes leading to monolignol synthesis have been characterized recently in this herbaceous plant, except those encoding cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD). We have used the complete sequencing of the Arabidopsis genome to highlight a new view of the complete CAD gene family. Among nine AtCAD genes, we have identified the two distinct paralogs AtCAD-C and AtCAD-D, which share 75% identity and are likely to be involved in lignin biosynthesis in other plants. Northern, semiquantitative restriction fragment-length polymorphism-reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and western analysis revealed that AtCAD-C and AtCAD-D mRNA and protein ratios were organ dependent. Promoter activities of both genes are high in fibers and in xylem bundles. However, AtCAD-C displayed a larger range of sites of expression than AtCAD-D. Arabidopsis null mutants (Atcad-D and Atcad-C) corresponding to both genes were isolated. CAD activities were drastically reduced in both mutants, with a higher impact on sinapyl alcohol dehydrogenase activity (6% and 38% of residual sinapyl alcohol dehydrogenase activities for Atcad-D and Atcad-C, respectively). Only Atcad-D showed a slight reduction in Klason lignin content and displayed modifications of lignin structure with a significant reduced proportion of conventional S lignin units in both stems and roots, together with the incorporation of sinapaldehyde structures ether linked at Cβ. These results argue for a substantial role of AtCAD-D in lignification, and more specifically in the biosynthesis of sinapyl alcohol, the precursor of S lignin units.
The Maternal Nucleolus Is Essential for Early Embryonic Development in Mammals

With fertilization, the paternal and maternal contributions to the zygote are not equal. The oocyte and spermatozoon are equipped with complementary arsenals of cellular structures and molecules necessary for the creation of a developmentally competent embryo. We show that the nucleolus is exclusively of maternal origin. The maternal nucleolus is not necessary for oocyte maturation; however, it is necessary for the formation of pronuclear nucleoli after fertilization or parthenogenetic activation and is essential for further embryonic development. In addition, the nucleolus in the embryo produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer originates from the oocyte, demonstrating that the maternal nucleolus supports successful embryonic development.
Differential bicodon usage in lowly and highly abundant proteins

Degeneracy in the genetic code implies that different codons can encode the same amino acid. Usage preference of synonymous codons has been observed in all domains of life. There is much evidence suggesting that this bias has a major role on protein elongation rate, contributing to differential expression and to co-translational folding. In addition to codon usage bias, other preference variations have been observed such as codon pairs. In this paper, I report that codon pairs have significant different frequency usage for coding either lowly or highly abundant proteins. These usage preferences cannot be explained by the frequency usage of the single codons. The statistical analysis of coding sequences of nine organisms reveals that in many cases bicodon preferences are shared between related organisms. Furthermore, it is observed that misfolding in the drug-transport protein, encoded by MDR1 gene, is better explained by a big change in the pause propensity due to the synonymous bicodon variant, rather than by a relatively small change in codon usage. These findings suggest that codon pair usage can be a more powerful framework to understand translation elongation rate, protein folding efficiency, and to improve protocols to optimize heterologous gene expression.
Insomnia and self-reported infections in cancer patients: An 18-month longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE This study, conducted in cancer patients, aimed to evaluate longitudinally whether the presence of insomnia is associated with the occurrence of self-reported infections. METHOD Patients scheduled to receive a curative surgery for a first diagnosis of nonmetastatic cancer were solicited on the day of their preoperative visit. In total, 962 cancer patients completed the Insomnia Interview Schedule and a clinical interview to assess infectious symptoms at 6 time points: at the perioperative phase (baseline), as well as 2, 6, 10, 14, and 18 months later. At each assessment, patients were categorized into the following 3 groups: insomnia syndrome (SYN), insomnia symptoms (SX), and good sleepers (GS). RESULTS The analyses revealed that SYN patients at 1 time point were at a significantly higher risk of reporting at least 1 infectious episode at the subsequent assessment (OR = 1.31, p = .04), whereas SX patients were at a marginally significant higher risk of reporting such episodes (OR = 1.19, p = .08), as compared with GS. CONCLUSIONS Although these results need replication and the causality needs to be established, they suggest that insomnia may potentiate the risk of experiencing infections during the cancer care trajectory. (PsycINFO Database Record
Regulatory interactions between phospholipid synthesis and DNA replication in Caulobacter crescentus

Several Caulobacter crescentus mutants with lesions in phospholipid biosynthesis have DNA replication phenotypes. A C. crescentus mutant deficient in glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity (gpsA) blocks phospholipid synthesis, ceases DNA replication, and loses viability in the absence of a glycerol phosphate supplement. To investigate the interaction between membrane synthesis and DNA replication during a single cell cycle, we moved the gpsA mutation into a synchronizable, but otherwise wild-type, strain. The first effect of withholding supplement was the cessation of synthesis of phosphatidylglycerol, a major component of the C. crescentus membrane. In the absence of glycerol 3-phosphate, DNA replication was initiated in the stalked cell at the correct time in the cell cycle and at the correct site on the chromosome. However, after replication proceeded bidirectionally for a short time, DNA synthesis dropped to a low level. The cell cycle blocked at a distinct middivision stalked cell, and this was followed by cell death. The "glycerol-less" death of the gpsA mutant could be prevented if the cells were treated with novobiocin to prevent the initiation of DNA replication. Our observations suggest that the processivity of C. crescentus replication requires concomitant phospholipid synthesis and that cell death results from incomplete replication of the chromosome.
N × N coupling matrix synthesis of dissipative microwave filters

In this communication, the coupling matrix synthesis of dissipative microwave filters is analyzed and compared to the synthesis of lossless filters. A modified definition of the vector matrix product allows using the same synthesis procedure in both cases. The constraint conditions to obtain a symmetric coupling matrix are also presented in the communication. Finally, a synthesis example is presented to show how the proposed method is used.
A flexible in-network IP anonymization service

User privacy on the Internet has been an increasing concern in recent years. With the proliferation and sophistication of information services, data mining, and search engines, a simple network address may be used to reveal a great deal of information about a user, including location, identity, and behavior. Existing approaches to privacy, however, make unacceptable tradeoffs between performance and anonymity. For example, Tor [5] attempts to provide strong anonymity by withholding trust from third-party relays. We believe an acceptable level of privacy can be provided to most users, with noticeably lower latency and throughput impact, by working with the network provider. In this paper, we introduce AnonyFlow, an in-network anonymization service designed to efficiently and seamlessly provide privacy to users as they communicate with other endpoints and services. We design, implement, and evaluate an OpenFlow-based prototype of AnonyFlow that achieves endpoint anonymity without compromising on throughput or latency.
The Relationships of Family and Classroom Environments with Peer Relational Victimization: An Analysis of their Gender Differences

This study analyzes the relationships of adolescents' perceptions of their family and classroom environments with peer relational victimization, taking into account that these relationships could be mediated by adolescents' self-esteem, feelings of loneliness, and sociometric status. These relationships, and their possible gender differences, were analyzed in a sample of 1319 Spanish adolescents (48% boys and 52% girls), ages 11 to 16 years (M = 13.7, SD = 1.5). A structural equation modeling was calculated for boys and girls separately. The findings suggested that the adolescents' self-esteem, loneliness, and sociometric status had a significant direct effect on peer relational victimization for boys, and adolescents' loneliness and sociometric status for girls. Their perceptions of family and classroom environments had a significant indirect effect on peer relational victimization for boys and girls, but the paths were different. Overall, findings suggested that a negative classroom environment had a more relevant effect in relational victimization for boys. Este estudio analiza las relaciones entre las percepciones que los adolescentes tienen de su clima familiar y escolar y la victimización relacional entre iguales, teniendo en cuenta que estas relaciones pueden estar mediadas por la autoestima, los sentimientos de soledad y el estatus sociométrico de los adolescentes. Estas relaciones, y sus posibles diferencias de género, fueron analizadas en una muestra de 1319 adolescentes españoles (48% chicos y 52% chicas) con edades comprendidas entre los 11 y los 16 años (M = 13.7, DT = 1.5). Un mismo modelo de ecuaciones estructurales fue calculado de forma separada para chicos y chicas. Los resultados sugirieron efectos directos significativos de la autoestima, la soledad y el estatus sociométrico de los adolescentes en la victimización relacional para los chicos, y de la soledad y el estatus sociométrico para las chicas. Las percepciones de los adolescentes del clima familiar y del clima escolar mostraron efectos indirectos significativos en la victimización relacional para chicos y chicas, pero las trayectorias eran diferentes. En general, los resultados sugirieron que para los chicos un clima escolar negativo tenía un efecto más relevante en la victimización relacional.
Clathrin-dependent entry and vesicle-mediated exocytosis define insulin transcytosis across microvascular endothelial cells

How insulin traverses the continuous endothelium of the microvasculature has been poorly studied. Development of a novel assay to measure insulin transcytosis reveals an unexpected role for clathrin in insulin transendothelial transport. Insulin transcytosis is dynamin and clathrin dependent but does not require cholesterol or caveolin-1.
Long-term conductivity decrease of polyethylene and polypropylene insulation materials

This work summarizes the results of a number of DC conductivity measurement studies on polypropylene (PP), low density polyethylene (LDPE), and cross linked polyethylene (XLPE). The main observation is that under apparently time-constant external conditions (voltage, temperature, etc.) no steady-state direct current (DC) was established even after very long measurement times. Nevertheless, this behavior seems to exhibit some common systematic features, and since the experiments were performed with different equipment at different R&D labs in different years by different teams, simple measurement artefacts can be excluded. One observation is that there are two electric field regimes with slightly different behavior, separated by crossover field of about 10–15 kV/mm. In this work we focus on the high-field region, where the main observation is that the conductance slowly decays sub-linearly with time, I∼ t−n, with 0.3 < n < 1, n mostly around 0.5. We provide experimental indications that this behavior is rather independent of the presence of 1) the voltage and 2) the peroxide decomposition products (in PE). The observations are in favor of an underlying thermally driven relaxation process related to structural changes (morphology, free volume) of the polymer. A main implication of the results is that the use of steady-state conductivity values for the characterization of certain polymer insulation is not appropriate and instead the decaying behavior of the conduction current must be considered.
DRIVERS OF E-GOVERNMENT MATURITY IN TWO DEVELOPING REGIONS : FOCUS ON LATIN AMERICA AND SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

This research focuses on the drivers of e-government (E-gov) maturity in two comparable developing regions of the world i.e. Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa (LA&SSA). E-gov maturity refers to the growth levels in a country’s online services and its citizens’ online participation in governance. To date, few researchers have focused on the drivers of E-gov maturity in LA&SSA. Given the challenges faced by LA&SSA with regard to the implementations and deployment of technological innovations including E-gov, research such as this current one is needed to enrich insight in such contexts. Building on a prior framework and the modernization theory (MT), the impacts of macro-environmental factors of political, economic, social, and technological dimensions on E-gov maturity in LA&SSA are examined. A longitudinal data i.e. a 5-year panel data consisting of 160 observations or data points was used for analysis in conjunction with the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. Such factors as human capital development, technological infrastructure, and rule of law were found to have positive impacts on E-gov maturity in LA&SSA. To a large extent, national wealth served as an enabler in the proposed research conceptualization and not as a direct driver of E-gov maturity. The implications of the study's findings for research and policy making are discussed and future research areas noted.