Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bagging and Boosting Negatively Correlated Neural Networks

In this paper, we propose two cooperative ensemble learning algorithms, i.e., NegBagg and NegBoost, for designing neural network (NN) ensembles. The proposed algorithms incrementally train different individual NNs in an ensemble using the negative correlation learning algorithm. Bagging and boosting algorithms are used in NegBagg and NegBoost, respectively, to create different training sets for different NNs in the ensemble. The idea behind using negative correlation learning in conjunction with the bagging/boosting algorithm is to facilitate interaction and cooperation among NNs during their training. Both NegBagg and NegBoost use a constructive approach to automatically determine the number of hidden neurons for NNs. NegBoost also uses the constructive approach to automatically determine the number of NNs for the ensemble. The two algorithms have been tested on a number of benchmark problems in machine learning and NNs, including Australian credit card assessment, breast cancer, diabetes, glass, heart disease, letter recognition, satellite, soybean, and waveform problems. The experimental results show that NegBagg and NegBoost require a small number of training epochs to produce compact NN ensembles with good generalization.
Constructivism in the Art Classroom: Praxis and Policy

Constructivist thought and practice connect easily with forms of art education that emphasize choice and student agency. This article traces the contemporary forms of constructivism that vie with more structured pedagogical approaches in American schools and recommends policies and procedures that may preserve the qualities of constructivist teaching in the arts in an era of restricted possibilities for educational innovation.
Managing Complexity in Activity Specifications by Separation of Concerns

The specification of activities of the different stakeholders is an important activity for software development. Currently, a lot of specification languages like task models, activity diagrams, state charts, and business specifications are used to document the results of the analysis of the domain in most projects. The paper discusses the aspect of reusability by considering generic submodels. This approach increases the quality of models. Additionally, the separation of concerns of cooperation and individual work by subject-oriented specifications is discussed. It will be demonstrated how task models can be used to support subject-oriented specification by so called team models and role models in a more precise way than S-BPM specifications. More precise restrictions on instances of roles can be specified.
Interactive Learning from Policy-Dependent Human Feedback

This paper investigates the problem of interactively learning behaviors communicated by a human teacher using positive and negative feedback. Much previous work on this problem has made the assumption that people provide feedback for decisions that is dependent on the behavior they are teaching and is independent from the learner's current policy. We present empirical results that show this assumption to be false— whether human trainers give a positive or negative feedback for a decision is influenced by the learner's current policy. Based on this insight, we introduce Convergent Actor-Critic by Humans (COACH), an algorithm for learning from policy-dependent feedback that converges to a local optimum. Finally, we demonstrate that COACH can successfully learn multiple behaviors on a physical robot.
Examining the Emotion Aspect of PETTLEP-Based Imagery with Penalty Taking in Soccer.

The current study investigated the Emotion element of the PETTLEP model of motor imagery using penalty kicks in soccer. Two six-week PETTLEP-based imagery interventions were compared to a stretching group (control). Both imagery interventions (skill-based and emotion-based) were facilitative and differed only in their emotional content. Thirty-three participants' penalty taking performance, self-efficacy and interpretations of anxiety were measured prior to and following the intervention period. Post-intervention performance scores for both imagery groups were significantly greater than the stretching group. However, there were no differences between the two imagery groups. In addition, there were no beneficial effects of either imagery intervention on self-efficacy or interpretations of anxiety symptoms when compared to the stretching intervention. These data offer further support for the effectiveness of the PETTLEP model in designing performance facilitating imagery interventions. We propose that the inclusion of emotional content into imagery practices may be more influential in competitive rather than practice situations.
Time stretching of 102-GHz millimeter waves using novel 1.55 μm polymer electrooptic modulator

Millimeter (MM)-wave signals at frequencies up to 102 GHz have been time stretched down to 11 GHz using a new wide-band traveling-wave polymer modulator. This is the first application of electrooptic modulators fabricated using the new polymer material PC-CLD, which has demonstrated good optical loss and high nonlinearity at 1.55 /spl mu/m.
A security processor based on MIPS 4KE architecture

This paper presents a security processor based on MIPS 4KE architecture which extends security functions of AES and ECC. Due to the different features of AES and ECC encryptions, two dedicated hardware units are employed. One is the AES function unit which is integrated into the pipeline of this MIPS-like processor, and the other is the ECC unit which works as a coprocessor to implement asymmetric cryptographic algorithms. Moreover, the instruction set extensions(ISE) of MIPS for these security functions are developed. Therefore, our security processor is not only able to handle high-intensity encryption tasks, but also compatible to the leading software development tools of industry. At last, its functionality and high performance are verified by our experimental chip.
Pervasive Forensic Analysis Based on Mobile Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has become one of mobile's hottest topics. Moving computing processing and data storage away from mobile devices and into large data centers, mobile applications enable the users to improve productivity, to share data and to collaborate with others. Considering the benefits of mobile cloud computing, the forensic service based on mobile cloud computing could be good solution to the problems today's forensic tools are facing. Therefore, this paper introduces a service concept called ¡®Forensic Cloud' to develop new paradigm in digital forensics. Furthermore, in order to show the feasibility of the concept, the paper suggests a technology framework for forensic analysis based on mobile cloud and describe current status of its development.
Warfare When the World Spins Nano : Paradigms , Promises , Perils *

Copyright and Reprint permission : Abstracting is permitted with credit to the source. Libraries are permitted to photocopy for private use of readers. Annual Subscription : Subscription and Advertising rates are available on request and can be seen on website: iete.org The IETE Technical Review welcomes for consideration scientific and technical papers describing product /process oriented R&D work on topics of current interest in all areas of electronics, telecommunications, computer science and engineering, and Information Technology (IT). In addition, state-of-the-art reviews on new and emerging topics of interest to the readers and papers describing the progress in science, technology, industry and applications in these areas are also welcome. While all the papers submitted will go through the same detailed review process, short papers and Practical Designs will receive special attention to enable early publication. Manuscripts may please be submitted in triplicate to the Managing Editor along with a soft copy on floppy/CD/e-mail. Detailed instructions to authors may be seen in the IETE Website : http://www.iete.org under the heading Publications. COPYRIGHT It is the IETE policy to own the copyright of the scientific and technical papers it publishes on behalf of the authors and their employers, and to facilitate the appropriate reuse of this material by others. Authors are required to sign an IETE copyright transfer form before publication. A copy of this form is available in the most recent January, issue of IETE publications, and online in IETE website:www.iete.org. IETE retains the authors' and their employers' right to reuse their material for their own purposes. 136 This issue of IETE Technical Review contains seven articles, of which, five are invited papers. The first article by Yashwant Deva is an amended version of the article earlier published in South Asia Defence and Strategy Year Book which describes the importance of Nano technology and its application in the fields of information, building materials, medicines, environment and defence. In conclusion, the author very clearly states the importance of nano technology amongst other usage in defence field. The second article by Mandeep Singh et al describes a compressing technique of ECG data. The authors feel that the compressing technique is required for transmitting data efficiently for good view by the receiver. The authors have stated that by resorting to a technique of removing " blank-fires " and with a fixed number of refinement passes, the objectives are achieved. Third article by Thandan Babu Naik …
The Role of Production in Infant Word Learning

Studies of phonological development that combine speech-processing experiments with observation and analysis of production remain rare, although production experience is necessarily relevant to developmental advance. Here we focus on three proposals regarding the relationship of production to word learning: (1) Articulatory filter: The hypothesis that children are influenced in noticing words in input speech by their resemblance to patterns they can produce has recently received experimental support. (2) Systematization and regression: It is proposed that the decline in accuracy that follows first-word production is the consequence of an increase in systematicity (with renewed accuracy emerging only later). (3) Word-production experience facilitates new word learning: Evidence that expressive vocabulary growth in itself facilitates new word learning supports the idea that knowledge is gradient, involving increases in stability and reliability with repeated exposure and use.
Flavobacterium johnsoniae RemA Is a Mobile Cell Surface Lectin Involved in Gliding

ABSTRACT Cells of Flavobacterium johnsoniae move rapidly over surfaces by a process known as gliding motility. Gld proteins are thought to comprise the motor that propels the cell surface adhesin SprB. Cells with mutations in sprB are partially defective in motility and are also resistant to some bacteriophages. Transposon mutagenesis of a strain carrying a deletion spanning sprB identified eight mutants that were resistant to additional phages and exhibited reduced motility. Four of the mutants had transposon insertions in remA, which encodes a cell surface protein that has a lectin domain and appears to interact with polysaccharides. Three other genes identified in this screen (remC, wza, and wzc) encode proteins predicted to be involved in polysaccharide synthesis and secretion. Myc-tagged versions of RemA localized to the cell surface and were propelled rapidly along the cell at speeds of 1 to 2 μm/s. Deletion of gldN and gldO, which encode components of a bacteroidete protein secretion system, blocked the transport of RemA to the cell surface. Overexpression of RemA resulted in the formation of cell aggregates that were dispersed by the addition of galactose or rhamnose. Cells lacking RemC, Wza, and Wzc failed to aggregate. Cells of a remC mutant and cells of a remA mutant, neither of which formed aggregates in isolation, aggregated when they were mixed together, suggesting that polysaccharides secreted by one cell may interact with RemA on another cell. Fluorescently labeled lectin Ricinus communis agglutinin I detected polysaccharides secreted by F. johnsoniae. The polysaccharides bound to cells expressing RemA and were rapidly propelled on the cell surface. RemA appears to be a mobile cell surface adhesin, and secreted polysaccharides may interact with the lectin domain of RemA and enhance motility.
Metacognitive Confidence Increases with, but Does Not Determine, Visual Perceptual Learning

While perceptual learning increases objective sensitivity, the effects on the constant interaction of the process of perception and its metacognitive evaluation have been rarely investigated. Visual perception has been described as a process of probabilistic inference featuring metacognitive evaluations of choice certainty. For visual motion perception in healthy, naive human subjects here we show that perceptual sensitivity and confidence in it increased with training. The metacognitive sensitivity–estimated from certainty ratings by a bias-free signal detection theoretic approach–in contrast, did not. Concomitant 3Hz transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) was applied in compliance with previous findings on effective high-low cross-frequency coupling subserving signal detection. While perceptual accuracy and confidence in it improved with training, there were no statistically significant tACS effects. Neither metacognitive sensitivity in distinguishing between their own correct and incorrect stimulus classifications, nor decision confidence itself determined the subjects’ visual perceptual learning. Improvements of objective performance and the metacognitive confidence in it were rather determined by the perceptual sensitivity at the outset of the experiment. Post-decision certainty in visual perceptual learning was neither independent of objective performance, nor requisite for changes in sensitivity, but rather covaried with objective performance. The exact functional role of metacognitive confidence in human visual perception has yet to be determined.
Prognostic role of microRNA-21 in non-small cell lung cancer: a meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION Many studies have reported that microRNA-21 (miR-21) mihght predict the survival outcome in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) but the opposite opinion has also been expressed. The aim of this study was to summarize the evidence for a prognostic role of miR-21. MATERIALS AND METHODS All the eligible studies was searched by Medline and EMBASE and patients' clinical characteristics and survival outcome were extracted. Then a meta-analysis was performed to clarify the prognostic role of the miR-21 expression in different subgroups. RESULTS A total of 8 eligible articles were yielded covering survival outcomes or clinical characteristics. The combined hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for overall survival (OS) was 2.19 [0.76, 6.30], while the combined HR (95% CI) of Asian group for OS had a significant result, 5.49 [2.46, 12.27]. The combined HR (95% CI) for recurrence free survival or disease free survival (RFS/DFS) was 2.31 [1.52, 3.49]. Odds ratios (ORs) showed that the miR-21 expression was associated with lymph node status and histological type. CONCLUSION miR-21 expression could predict the prognostic outcome of NSCLC in Asians, despite some deficiencies in the study data.
Evolution of detoxifying systems: the role of environment and population history in shaping genetic diversity at human CYP2D6 locus

Objective The transition from food collection to food production (FP) modified the nature of selective pressures, and several studies illustrate that genetic adaptation to new lifestyle has occurred in humans since the agricultural revolution. Here we test the hypothesis that high levels of genetic variation at CYP2D6, a locus coding for a detoxifying enzyme of the cytochrome P450 complex, reflect this change. Methods We compared DNA sequences and predicted the levels of enzyme activity across 10 African, Asian and European populations, six of which currently rely on hunting and gathering (HG) while four on food production (FP). Results and conclusion HG and FP showed similar levels of CYP2D6 diversity, but displayed different substitution patterns at coding DNA sites possibly related to selective differences. Comparison with variation at presumably neutral independent loci confirmed this finding, despite the confounding effects of population history, resulting in higher overall variation in Africans than in Eurasians. The differences between HG and FP populations suggest that new lifestyle and dietary habits acquired in the transition to agriculture affected the variation pattern at CYP2D6, leading to an increase in FP populations of the frequency of alleles that are associated with a slower rate of metabolism. These alleles reached a balanced co-existence with other important and previously selected variants. We suggest that the pronounced substrate-dependent activity of most of these enzymes expanded the spectrum of the metabolic response.
Micro-Computed Tomography Derived Anisotropy Detects Tumor Provoked Deviations in Bone in an Orthotopic Osteosarcoma Murine Model

Radiographic imaging plays a crucial role in the diagnosis of osteosarcoma. Currently, computed-tomography (CT) is used to measure tumor-induced osteolysis as a marker for tumor growth by monitoring the bone fractional volume. As most tumors primarily induce osteolysis, lower bone fractional volume has been found to correlate with tumor aggressiveness. However, osteosarcoma is an exception as it induces osteolysis and produces mineralized osteoid simultaneously. Given that competent bone is highly anisotropic (systematic variance in its architectural order renders its physical properties dependent on direction of load) and that tumor induced osteolysis and osteogenesis are structurally disorganized relative to competent bone, we hypothesized that μCT-derived measures of anisotropy could be used to qualitatively and quantitatively detect osteosarcoma provoked deviations in bone, both osteolysis and osteogenesis, in vivo. We tested this hypothesis in a murine model of osteosarcoma cells orthotopically injected into the tibia. We demonstrate that, in addition to bone fractional volume, μCT-derived measure of anisotropy is a complete and accurate method to monitor osteosarcoma-induced osteolysis. Additionally, we found that unlike bone fractional volume, anisotropy could also detect tumor-induced osteogenesis. These findings suggest that monitoring tumor-induced changes in the structural property isotropy of the invaded bone may represent a novel means of diagnosing primary and metastatic bone tumors.
A wireless multipoint pressure sensing system: design and operation

This paper describes the development of a remote-sensing and wireless data acquisition system. The system was developed as part of a research effort currently underway to instrument coastal homes in Florida to monitor roof wind pressures during hurricanes. However, the design of the wireless data acquisition is flexible enough to adapt to other multisensor, wind tunnel, or field-testing applications. This paper describes the details of the design, theory of operation, and the results of field performance tests of the system. The new system offers the advantages of ease of installation, capability for more than 48 h of continuous data acquisition from up to 60 sensors at variable sampling rate, and relatively easy maintenance.
Maternal high-fat diet-induced programing of gut taste receptor and inflammatory gene expression in rat offspring is ameliorated by CLA supplementation

Consumption of a high‐fat (HF) diet during pregnancy and lactation influences later life predisposition to obesity and cardiometabolic disease in offspring. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain poorly defined, but one potential target that has received scant attention and is likely pivotal to disease progression is that of the gut. The present study examined the effects of maternal supplementation with the anti‐inflammatory lipid, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), on offspring metabolic profile and gut expression of taste receptors and inflammatory markers. We speculate that preventing high‐fat diet‐induced metainflammation improved maternal metabolic parameters conferring beneficial effects on adult offspring. Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to a purified control diet (CD; 10% kcal from fat), CD with CLA (CLA; 10% kcal from fat, 1% CLA), HF (45% kcal from fat) or HF with CLA (HFCLA; 45% kcal from fat, 1% CLA) throughout gestation and lactation. Plasma/tissues were taken at day 24 and RT‐PCR was carried out on gut sections. Offspring from HF mothers were significantly heavier at weaning with impaired insulin sensitivity compared to controls. This was associated with increased plasma IL‐1β and TNFα concentrations. Gut Tas1R1, IL‐1β, TNFα, and NLRP3 expression was increased and Tas1R3 expression was decreased in male offspring from HF mothers and was normalized by maternal CLA supplementation. Tas1R1 expression was increased while PYY and IL‐10 decreased in female offspring of HF mothers. These results suggest that maternal consumption of a HF diet during critical developmental windows influences offspring predisposition to obesity and metabolic dysregulation. This may be associated with dysregulation of taste receptor, incretin, and inflammatory gene expression in the gut.
Infection of Epithelial Cells by Pathogenic Neisseriae Reduces the Levels of Multiple Lysosomal Constituents

ABSTRACT Members of our group reported recently that neisseria infection of human epithelial cells results in accelerated degradation of the major lysosomal integral membrane protein LAMP1 and that this is due to hydrolysis of this glycoprotein at its immunoglobulin A1 (IgA1)-like hinge by the neisseria type 2 IgA1 protease (L. Lin et al., Mol. Microbiol. 24:1083–1094, 1997). We also reported that the IgA1 protease plays a major role in the ability of the pathogenic neisseriae to survive within epithelial cells and hypothesized that this is due to alteration of lysosomes as a result of protease-mediated LAMP1 degradation. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that neisseria infection leads to multiple changes in lysosomes. Here, we report that neisseria infection also reduces the levels of three other lysosomal markers: LAMP2, lysosomal acid phosphatase (LAP), and CD63. In contrast, neither the epidermal growth factor receptor level nor the β-tubulin level is affected. A detailed examination of LAMP2 indicated that the reduced LAMP2 levels are not the result of an altered biosynthetic rate or of cleavage by the IgA1 protease. Nevertheless, the protease plays a role in reducing LAMP2 and LAP activity levels, as these are partially restored in cells infected with an iga mutant. We conclude that neisseria infection results in multiple changes to the lysosomes of infected epithelial cells and that these changes are likely an indirect result of IgA1 protease-mediated cleavage of LAMP1.