Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patterns of Activity in the Categorical Representations of Objects

Object perception has been a subject of extensive fMRI studies in recent years. Yet the nature of the cortical representation of objects in the human brain remains controversial. Analyses of fMRI data have traditionally focused on the activation of individual voxels associated with presentation of various stimuli. The current analysis approaches functional imaging data as collective information about the stimulus. Linking activity in the brain to a stimulus is treated as a pattern-classification problem. Linear discriminant analysis was used to reanalyze a set of data originally published by Ishai et al. (2000), available from the fMRIDC (accession no. 2-20001113D). Results of the new analysis reveal that patterns of activity that distinguish one category of objects from other categories are largely independent of one another, both in terms of the activity and spatial overlap. The information used to detect objects from phase-scrambled control stimuli is not essential in distinguishing one object category from another. Furthermore, performing an object-matching task during the scan significantly improved the ability to predict objects from controls, but had minimal effect on object classification, suggesting that the task-based attentional benefit was nonspecific to object categories.
Modular context-aware access control for medical sensor networks

Medical sensor networks allow for pervasive health monitoring of users in hospitals, at home, or on the way. The privacy and confidentiality of medical data need to be guaranteed at any moment to make sure that unauthorized parties cannot retrieve confidential information. This is a great challenge due to two main reasons. First, wireless sensors are resource-constrained devices that limit the applicability of traditional solutions. Second, the access control system must be context-aware and adapt its security settings to ensure the users' safety during, e.g., medical emergencies. To solve these issues, this paper presents a modular context-aware access control system tailored to pervasive medical sensor networks in which the access control decisions and the response delay depend upon the health acuteness of a user. Our system extends traditional role-based access control systems by allowing for context-awareness in critical, emergency, and normal access control situations. We further present a lightweight encoding for our modular access control policies as well as an access control engine efficiently running on resource-constrained sensor nodes. Finally, we analyze how the proposed access control system suits existing security architectures for medical sensor networks.
Constructing Large and Fast On-Chip Cache for Mobile Processors with Multilevel Cell STT-MRAM Technology

Modern mobile processors integrating an increasing number of cores into one single chip demand large-capacity, on-chip, last-level caches (LLCs) in order to achieve scalable performance improvements. However, adopting traditional memory technologies such as SRAM and embedded DRAM (eDRAM) leakage and scalability problems. Spin-transfer torque magnetic RAM (STT-MRAM) is a novel nonvolatile memory technology that has emerged as a promising alternative for constructing on-chip caches in high-end mobile processors. STT-MRAM has many advantages, such as short read latency, zero leakage from the memory cell, and better scalability than eDRAM and SRAM. Multilevel cell (MLC) STT-MRAM further enlarges capacity and reduces per-bit cost by storing more bits in one cell. However, MLC STT-MRAM has long write latency which limits the effectiveness of MLC STT-MRAM-based LLCs. In this article, we address this limitation with three novel designs: line pairing (LP), line swapping (LS), and dynamic LP/LS enabler (DLE). LP forms fast cache lines by reorganizing MLC soft bits which are faster to write. LS dynamically stores frequently-written data into these fast cache lines. We then propose a dynamic LP/LS enabler (DLE) to enable LP and LS only if they help to improve the overall cache performance. Our experimental results show that the proposed designs improve system performance by 9--15% and reduce energy consumption by 14--21% for various types of mobile processors.
Studying fidelity issues in image enhancement by means of multi-scale retinex with color restoration

One of the crucial issue in image quality enhancement is the fidelity issue. There are three fidelity issues to must be studied. The 1st fidelity issue can be called that the information entropy of the enhanced image can not be increase. The 2nd fidelity issue can be called that the constituents of the enhanced image can not be increased. The 3rd fidelity issue can be called that the color relation of the enhanced image can not be changed. MSRCR will be used as an example of an image enhancement method based on the retinex series method. As an example, the three fidelity brought by multi-scale retinex with color restoration (MSRCR), which is one of series methods based on retinex, will be studied in this paper. The study will point out that the MSRCR will result in the three obvious distortions above mentioned.
Stability and regulation of nonsmooth dynamical systems

The mathematical analysis of nonsmooth Lagrangian dynamical systems leads to introduce mathematical tools which are unusual in control theory, velocities with locally bounded variations, measure accelerations, measure differential inclusions to name a few. The control theory for such dynamical systems is just beginning to appear, and even the basic Lyapunov stability theory still needs to be stated. We will be able though to propose a Lagrange-Dirichlet theorem for nonsmooth Lagrangian dynamical systems that will be applied through Potential Shaping to the regulation of the position and force of a robotic manipulator.
A modified moment-based image watermarking method robust to cropping attack

Developing a watermarking method that is robust to cropping attack is a challenging task in image watermarking. The moment-based watermarking schemes show good robustness to common signal processing attacks and some geometric attacks but are sensitive to cropping attack. In this paper, we modify the moment-based approach to deal with cropping attack. Firstly, we find the probability density function (pdf) of the pixel value distribution from the original image. Secondly, we reshape and normalize the pdf of the pixel value distribution (PPVD) to form a two dimensional image. Then, the moment invariants are calculated from the PPVD image. Since PPVD is insensitive to cropping, the proposed method is robust to cropping attack. Besides, it also has high robustness against other common attacks. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Dynamic Spherical Volumetric Simplex Splines with Applications in Biomedicine

This paper presents a novel computational framework based on dynamic spherical volumetric simplex splines for simulation of genuszero real-world objects. In this framework, we first develop an accurate and efficient algorithm to reconstruct the high-fidelity digital model of a real-world object with spherical volumetric simplex splines which can represent with accuracy geometric, material, and other properties of the object simultaneously. With the tight coupling of Lagrangian mechanics, the dynamic volumetric simplex splines representing the object can accurately simulate its physical behavior because it can unify the geometric and material properties in the simulation. The visualization can be directly computed from the object’s geometric or physical representation based on the dynamic spherical volumetric simplex splines during simulation without interpolation or resampling. We have applied the framework for biomechanic simulation of brain deformations, such as brain shifting during the surgery and brain injury under blunt impact. We have compared our simulation results with the ground truth obtained through intra-operative magnetic resonance imaging and the real biomechanic experiments. The evaluations demonstrate the excellent performance of our new technique presented in this paper. CR Categories: I.3. 5 [Computer Graphics]: Computational Geometry and Object Modeling—Physically based modeling
Calibrated Self-Assessment

Peer-grading is widely believed to be an inexpensive and scalable way to assess students in large classroom settings. In this paper, we propose calibrated self-grading as a more efficient alternative to peer grading. For self-grading, students assign themselves a grade that they think they deserve via an incentive-compatible mechanism that elicits maximally truthful judgements of performance. We show that the students’ self-evaluation scores obtained via this mechanism can be used to perform classic item response theory (IRT) analysis. In order to obtain unbiased estimates of the IRT parameters, we show that the self-assigned grades can be calibrated with a minimum amount of input from instructors or domain experts. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed calibrated self-grading approach via simulations and experiments on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk.
Force-chain buckling in granular media: a structural mechanics perspective

Parallels are drawn between the response of a discrete strut on a linear elastic foundation and force-chain buckling in a constrained granular medium. Both systems buckle initially into periodic shapes, with wavelengths that depend on relative resistances to lateral displacement, and curvature in the buckled shape. Under increasing end shortening, the classical structural model evolves to a localized form extending over a finite number of contributing links. By analogy, it is conjectured that the granular model of force-chain buckling might follow much the same evolutionary route into a shear band.
Survival probability and prognostic factors for breast cancer patients in Vietnam

Background : Breast cancer is becoming a public health problem in Vietnam. The mortality to incidence ratio of the disease was ranked second among the most common cancers in women. This study estimates the survival probability at 1, 3, and 5 years following diagnosis and determines prognostic factors for breast cancer mortality in Vietnam. Methods : A survival analysis was conducted based on retrospective data from Hue Central Hospital and the Cancer Registry in Ho Chi Minh City. Using the Kaplan-Meier method, the survival probability of patients with breast cancer was estimated at 1, 3, and 5 years following diagnosis. The covariates among prognostic factors for survival time were studied using an extended Cox proportion hazards model, including time-dependent predictors. Results : Overall survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 years following diagnosis were 0.94, 0.83 and 0.74 respectively. Marital status, education level, stage at diagnosis, and hormone therapy were prognostic factors for mortality. For the stage at diagnosis, the relation to the risk of death for breast cancer was 1.32 (95% CI, 1.22–1.41). Married women faced a risk of death nearly 1.59 times higher than unmarried women (95% CI, 1.09–2.33). Women with higher levels of education and who received hormone therapy had approximately 10% (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.92; 95% CI, 0.89–0.96) and 80% (HR: 0.22; 95% CI, 0.12–0.41) risk reduction of death respectively, compared with those classified as illiterate and those without hormone therapy. Conclusions : The 5-year survival probability of breast cancer was lower in Vietnam than in countries with similar distributions of the stage at diagnosis. Screening programs and related support policies should be developed to increase the life expectancy of women with breast cancer in Vietnam.
Tracing John Dewey's Influence on Progressive Education, 1903–1951: Toward a Received Dewey

Background/Context Determining John Dewey's exact influence on civic and social education during the early 20th century has been one of the most vexing issues facing curriculum historians. Generally speaking, interpretations of Dewey's work and influence have been plagued by four recurring methodological limitations: First, historians tend to interpret Dewey's work philosophically rather than historically. Second, they use their philosophically constructed Dewey to judge the fidelity of past educators against the standard of Dewey's “true” vision. Third, historians assume that because they have read all of Dewey's major and obscure works on education, the reformers of the past must (or should) have done so also. Fourth, historians assume rather than demonstrate Dewey's direct influence on others. Purpose To overcome these limitations, this historical study traces the influence of John Dewey on the discourse of civic and social education during the formative years of the progressive education movement by focusing on the received Dewey. By examining the specific ways in which Dewey's ideas were used by his contemporaries and peers, the author demonstrates that Dewey's words were often employed in various and conflicting ways to support a number of different curricular agendas. Specifically, the author argues that divisions between proponents of social justice and social efficiency, which play such a central role in the historical literature on progressive education, were not necessarily apparent to Dewey's contemporaries who cited him. In fact, Dewey's philosophy was often used specifically to assuage the gaps between these seemingly conflicting educational goals and objectives. Research Design The author focuses his inquiry specifically on the curriculum materials and discourse of secondary social and civic education. He focuses qualitatively on the various ways in which Dewey was cited and used by leading and lesser-known civic and social educators during the formative years of the American curriculum, with particular focus on uses of Dewey to support social efficiency and social justice. In the tradition of historiography, the findings are reported in a chronological narrative. Findings/Conclusions Although the evidence presented is merely suggestive, a few summative assertions regarding Dewey's influence on educators during the first half of the 20th century can be made. First, Dewey was often used by contemporaries to reconcile positivistic social science with pragmatic philosophy. Second, although Graham (1995) identified Democracy and Education as “the Bible of the educational reform movement then emerging,” there were in fact numerous Dewey texts cited, often without any reference to others. Third, Dewey's philosophy was used to support reform agendas aimed at social control and social adjustment as well as social reconstruction and social justice. To say that Dewey was used primarily in support of just one (or none) of these goals is a misrepresentation.
A Hypervisor Based Security Testbed

We are developing an experimental testbed intended to help support security research. The testbed allows a network of unmodified hosts, running any of several of unmodified operating systems, to execute in a controlled and reproducible manner. The network is implemented on a hypervisor that is instrumented to observe and control security-relevant events. These events are securely logged to a relational database for later analysis.
Enhanced liver regeneration following changes induced by hepatocyte‐specific genetic ablation of integrin‐linked kinase

Following liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy, liver grows back precisely to its original mass and does not exceed it. The mechanism regulating this “hepatostat” is not clear and no exceptions have been found to date. Although pathways initiating liver regeneration have been well studied, mechanisms involved in the termination of liver regeneration are unclear. Here, we report that integrin‐linked kinase (ILK) (involved in transmission of the extracellular matrix [ECM] signaling by way of integrin receptors) and/or hepatic adaptations that ensue following ILK hepatocyte‐targeted removal are critical for proper termination of liver regeneration. Following partial hepatectomy (PHx), mice with a liver‐specific ILK ablation (ILK‐KO‐Liver) demonstrate a termination defect resulting in 58% larger liver than their original pre‐PHx mass. This increase in post‐PHx liver mass is due to sustained cell proliferation driven in part by increased signaling through hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and the β‐catenin pathway and Hippo kinase pathways. Conclusion: The data indicate that ECM‐mediated signaling by way of ILK is essential in proper termination of liver regeneration. This is the first evidence of a defect leading to impaired termination of regeneration and excessive accumulation of liver weight following partial hepatectomy. (HEPATOLOGY 2009.)
Experimental evolutionary programming-based high-precision control

Conventional linear control schemes often fail to provide precise positioning of a control object under the influence of friction, deadzone, saturation, etc. This article proposes a high-precision control scheme for a precise point-to-point positioning system, called an X-Y table, even under the above-noted influences. The proposed scheme is composed of a fuzzy precompensator and a PD controller. The fuzzy precompensator is employed to improve the performance of the PD controller. Its fuzzy rules are obtained from experimental evolutionary programming (EEP), not from an expert. The effectiveness of the scheme is demonstrated by experiments on the X-Y table, with a positioning error of less than 1 μm and settling time of less than 0.15 s, where the maximum velocity and acceleration are 0.25 m/s and 1.7 m/s2, respectively.
Chronic orthostatic intolerance: a disorder with discordant cardiac and vascular sympathetic control.

BACKGROUND Chronic orthostatic intolerance (COI) is a debilitating autonomic condition in young adults. Its neurohumoral and hemodynamic profiles suggest possible alterations of postural sympathetic function and of baroreflex control of heart rate (HR). METHODS AND RESULTS In 16 COI patients and 16 healthy volunteers, intra-arterial blood pressure (BP), ECG, central venous pressure (CVP), and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) were recorded at rest and during 75 degrees tilt. Spectral analysis of RR interval and systolic arterial pressure (SAP) variabilities provided indices of sympathovagal modulation of the sinoatrial node (ratio of low-frequency to high-frequency components, LF/HF) and of sympathetic vasomotor control (LFSAP). Baroreflex mechanisms were assessed (1) by the slope of the regression line obtained from changes of RR interval and MSNA evoked by pharmacologically induced alterations in BP and (2) by the index alpha, obtained from cross-spectral analysis of RR and SAP variabilities. At rest, HR, MSNA, LF/HF, and LFSAP were higher in COI patients, whereas BP and CVP were similar in the two groups. During tilt, BP did not change and CVP fell by the same extent in the 2 groups; the increase of HR and LF/HF was more pronounced in COI patients. Conversely, the increase of MSNA was lower in COI than in control subjects. Baroreflex sensitivity was similar in COI and control subjects at rest; tilt reduced alpha similarly in both groups. CONCLUSIONS COI is characterized by an overall enhancement of noradrenergic tone at rest and by a blunted postganglionic sympathetic response to standing, with a compensatory cardiac sympathetic overactivity. Baroreflex mechanisms maintain their functional responsiveness. These data suggest that in COI, the functional distribution of central sympathetic tone to the heart and vasculature is abnormal.
Segregation of Regulatory Polymorphisms with Effects on the Gluteus Medius Transcriptome in a Purebred Pig Population

Background The main goal of the present study was to analyse the genetic architecture of mRNA expression in muscle, a tissue with an outmost economic importance for pig breeders. Previous studies have used F2 crosses to detect porcine expression QTL (eQTL), so they contributed with data that mostly represents the between-breed component of eQTL variation. Herewith, we have analysed eQTL segregation in an outbred Duroc population using two groups of animals with divergent fatness profiles. This approach is particularly suitable to analyse the within-breed component of eQTL variation, with a special emphasis on loci involved in lipid metabolism. Methodology/Principal Findings GeneChip Porcine Genome arrays (Affymetrix) were used to determine the mRNA expression levels of gluteus medius samples from 105 Duroc barrows. A whole-genome eQTL scan was carried out with a panel of 116 microsatellites. Results allowed us to detect 613 genome-wide significant eQTL unevenly distributed across the pig genome. A clear predominance of trans- over cis-eQTL, was observed. Moreover, 11 trans-regulatory hotspots affecting the expression levels of four to 16 genes were identified. A Gene Ontology study showed that regulatory polymorphisms affected the expression of muscle development and lipid metabolism genes. A number of positional concordances between eQTL and lipid trait QTL were also found, whereas limited evidence of a linear relationship between muscle fat deposition and mRNA levels of eQTL regulated genes was obtained. Conclusions/Significance Our data provide substantial evidence that there is a remarkable amount of within-breed genetic variation affecting muscle mRNA expression. Most of this variation acts in trans and influences biological processes related with muscle development, lipid deposition and energy balance. The identification of the underlying causal mutations and the ascertainment of their effects on phenotypes would allow gaining a fundamental perspective about how complex traits are built at the molecular level.
Range Image Acquisition with a Single Binary-Encoded Light Pattern

The problem of strike identification in range image acquisition systems based on triangulation with periodically structured illumination is discussed. A coding scheme is presented based on a single fixed binary encoded illumination pattern, which contains all the information required to identify the individual strikes visible in the camera image. Every sample point indicated by the light pattern is made identifiable by means of a binary signature, which is locally shared among its closest neighbors. The applied code is derived from pseudonoise sequences, and it is optimized so that it can make the identification fault-tolerant to the largest extent. A prototype measurement system based on this coding principle is presented. Experimental results obtained with the measurement system are also presented. >
AN EMERGENT EMOTION MODEL FOR AN AFFECTIVE MOBILE GUIDE WITH ATTITUDE

This article describes a novel emergent emotion model for a context-aware “Affective Mobile Guide with Attitude,” a guide with emotions and personality that accompanies visitors touring an outdoor attraction. The interest lies in modelling the conditions to the emergence of emotions instead of prescripting emotions. The emotion model regulates the guide's emotions, behavior and beliefs, allowing the guide to adapt to its interaction environment flexibly. The guide adopts improvisational storytelling techniques taking into consideration the user's interests, its own interests, and its current memory activation in narration. It has emotional memory that stores its previous experiences allowing it to express its perspectives while narrating the stories. The guide's internal state is expressed through a 2-dimensional face where different facial features vary from one state to another along the arousal-pleasure emotional space. The guide exhibits potential in improving overall tour experience verified by a user evaluation.