Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distributed Real-Time Detection and Tracking of Homogeneous Regions in Sensor Networks

In many applications we can deploy large number of sensors spanning wide geographical areas, to monitor environmental phenomena. The analysis of the data collected by such sensor network can help us to understand the field dynamics, and optimize the deployment of other solutions. We define a group of sensors having similar underlying distribution over a period of time as a homogeneous region. In this paper we propose distributed algorithms to detect such regions, approximate their boundary with a piece-wise linear curve and track the boundary in real-time. Experimental results show the accuracy and efficiency of our detection and tracking algorithms
Mild cognitive impairment: Profile of a cohort from a private sector memory clinic

Background: Private hospital memory clinics might see a different clientele than university or academic institutes due to referral biases. Objective: To characterize the profile of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from a private sector memory clinic. Materials and Methods: MCI was diagnosed according to revised clinical criteria of Petersen et al. For a subset of patients with MCI medial temporal atrophy and cerebral small vessel disease (white matter lesions and lacunes) were rated on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and analyzed for their contribution towards cognitive impairment. Results: Subjects with MCI formed one-third (113/371) of this memory clinic sample from a private hospital. MCI could be effectively diagnosed and subtyped using a brief cognitive scale (Concise Cognitive Test (CONCOG)). The amnestic MCI (single and multiple domains) subtype comprised the majority of cases with MCI. In a subsample of 33 patients, lacunar infarcts were more common than white matter lesions and hippocampal atrophy and were inversely associated with verbal fluency. Conclusions: MCI may be more commonly encountered in private hospital settings probably due to early referrals. It is possible to diagnose and subtype MCI using a brief cognitive instrument such as the CONCOG. In this sample, lacunar infarcts were more commonly encountered than medial temporal atrophy in such patients.
A voice conversion method based on joint pitch and spectral envelope transformation

Most of the research in Voice Conversion (VC) is devoted to spectral transformation while the conversion of prosodic features is essentially obtained through a simple linear transformation of pitch. These separate transformations lead to an unsatisfactory speech conversion quality, especially when the speaking styles of the source and target speakers are different. In this paper, we propose a method capable of jointly converting pitch and spectral envelope information. The parameters to be transformed are obtained by combining scaled pitch values with the spectral envelope parameters for the voiced frames and only spectral envelope parameters for the unvoiced ones. These parameters are clustered using a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). Then the transformation functions are determined using a conditional expectation estimator. Tests carried out show that, this process leads to a satisfactory pitch transformation. Moreover, it makes the spectral envelope transformation more robust.
Topological Construction of 2-Manifold Meshes from Arbitrary Polygonal Data

In this paper we present a simple algorithm to construct 2-manifold meshes from arbitrary collections of polygons. We form our final data structure using two very basic manifold-preserving operations, thus guaranteeing that the result is a valid manifold. Our algorithm is purely topological and does not consider the geometric properties of the underlying shape. The algorithm automatically and correctly creates the missing faces of manifolds with boundaries. It also eliminates all twogons (2-sided polygons) and converts nonmanifold meshes into one of the possible manifold interpretations. We have implemented this algorithm and we highlight the performance of our algorithm on a number of sample models.
The Role of Corporate Image for Quality in the Formation of Attitudinal Service Loyalty

Drawing from signaling theory, this study investigates the processes through which corporate image (CI) for quality affects attitudinal loyalty. The research hypotheses are examined using data from a cross-sectional survey and two scenario-based experiments. Overall, findings across these three studies suggest that the effects of CI upon loyalty are channeled through customer satisfaction and perceived value. The effects of CI on perceived value and loyalty are stronger relative to the effects of employee interaction quality (IQ) when IQ is measured as an overall evaluation. However, when employee IQ is measured in reference to a specific service encounter, it becomes a stronger driver of perceived value and loyalty relative to CI. Regardless of the context of measurement (i.e., overall evaluation vs. a specific service encounter), employee IQ exerts a stronger influence on customer satisfaction than CI. CI negatively moderates the effect of employee IQ on customer satisfaction and loyalty, rendering the effect of employee IQ upon customer evaluations less critical for service providers with stronger CIs. The findings highlight the relevance and importance of CI as a signal of unobservable quality, which should be measured and closely monitored by management. Managers should also recognize the central role of customer satisfaction, especially in channeling the effects of IQ upon loyalty, and therefore, design policies that enhance frontline employee ability and motivation to deliver satisfying customer experiences.
Flow-Induced Vascular Remodeling in the Mouse: A Model for Carotid Intima-Media Thickening

Objective—Vascular remodeling of the carotid artery with intima-media thickness (IMT) is an important predictive factor for human cardiovascular disease. We characterized a mouse model of vascular remodeling. Methods and Results—The left external and internal carotid branches were ligated so that left carotid blood flow was reduced to flow via the occipital artery. In response to partial ligation of the left carotid artery (LCA), blood flow significantly decreased (−90%) in the LCA and increased (+70%) in the right carotid artery (RCA). Morphometry showed that both RCA and LCA underwent outward remodeling that was maximal at one week. Remodeling was greater in the RCA with predominantly increased lumen and very little increase in media or adventitia. In the LCA there was a dramatic increase in media with adventitia growth and intima formation. Correlation analysis indicated that the outward remodeling was more likely due to primary changes in the vessel wall rather than to changes in the lumen, such as shear stress. Mechanistic studies suggested roles for macrophage infiltration, upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, extracellular matrix reorganization, and vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation in LCA remodeling. Conclusions—The mouse model described here may be useful to define genetic determinants of IMT and identify new targets for therapy based on vascular remodeling.
Modelling rituals for Homo biologicus.

This paper builds on a generic conceptual model to be used in research that uses agent-based models. The aim is to model human social interaction at a detailed level, such as would be needed for believable interactions of embodied virtual characters. This means we model Homo biologicus, not Homo economicus. The present conceptual article investigates the modelling of rituals as a basic unit of group interaction. The ideas introduced here aim at modelling the unwritten rules of social interaction across cultures. The main example is about smoking in bars.
‘Hey robot, please step back!’ - exploration of a spatial threshold of comfort for human-mechanoid spatial interaction in a hallway scenario

Within the scope of the current research the goal was to develop an autonomous transport assistant for hospitals. As a sort of social robots, they need to fulfill two main requirements with respect to their interactive behavior with humans: (1) a high level of safety and (2) a behavior that is perceived as socially proper. One important element includes the characteristics of movement. However, state-of-the-art hospital robots rather focus on safe but not smart maneuvering. Vital motion parameters in human everyday environment are personal space and velocity. The relevance of these parameters has also been reported in existing human-robot interaction research. However, to date, no minimal accepted frontal and lateral distances for human-mechanoid proxemics have been explored. The present work attempts to gain insights into a potential threshold of comfort and additionally, aims to explore a potential interaction of this threshold and the mechanoid's velocity. Therefore, a user study putting the users in control of the mechanoid was conducted in a laboratory hallway-like setting. Findings align with previously reported personal space zones in human-robot interaction research. Minimal accepted frontal and lateral distances were obtained. Furthermore, insights into a potential categorization of the lateral personal space area around a human are discussed for human-robot interaction.
Higher Ki67 expression is associates with unfavorable prognostic factors and shorter survival in breast cancer.

BACKGROUND The prognostic value of the Ki67 expression level is yet unclear in breast cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between Ki67 expression levels and prognostic factors such as grade, Her2 and hormone receptor expression status in breast cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS Clinical and pathological features of the patients with breast cancer were retreived from the hospital records. RESULTS In this study, 163 patients with breast cancer were analyzed, with a mean age of 53.4±12.2 years. Median Ki67 positivity was 20% and Ki67-high tumors were significantly associated with high grade (p<0.001), lymphovascular invasion (p=0.001), estrogen receptor (ER) negativity (p=0.035), Her2 positivity (p=0.001), advanced stage (p<0.001) and lymph node positivity (p<0.003) . Lower Ki67 levels were significantly associated with longer median relapse-free and overall survival compared to those of higher Ki67 levels. CONCLUSIONS High Ki67 expression is associated with ER negativity, Her2 positivity, higher grade and axillary lymph node involvement in breast cancers. The level of Ki67 expression is a prognostic factor predicting relapse-free and overall survival in breast cancer patients.
The Hemodynamic Effects of Endothelin Receptor Antagonism During a Venous Air Infusion in Dogs

Endothelin (ET) is involved in the humoral component of the vasoconstriction during pulmonary embolism. We examined the effects of selective ET receptor antagonists on the hemodynamic and respiratory changes and on serum thromboxane B2 (TXB2) levels, during a continuous venous air infusion (VAI) in anesthetized mongrel dogs. The VAI (0.2 mL · kg−1 · min−1) was initiated 5 min after an injection of saline (controls, n = 7), 1 &mgr;mol of the selective ETA receptor antagonist JKC-301 (group A, n = 6), or 1 &mgr;mol of the selective ETB receptor antagonist BQ-788 (group B, n = 6). Hemodynamic evaluation was performed every 15 min of VAI, and blood samples were drawn for blood gas analysis and TXB2 determinations. The increase in pulmonary perfusion pressure after 30 min of VAI was attenuated in Group A compared with the controls and Group B (Group A = 7 ± 1 mm Hg; Group B = 16 ± 1 mm Hg; controls = 14 ± 1 mm Hg;P < 0.05). Pulmonary vascular resistance showed a similar behavior. TXB2 concentrations increased after 60 min of VAI in the controls and in Group B, but not in Group A (controls = 48%; Group B = 104%; Group A = 18%;P < 0.05 for controls and Group B). Similar decreases in PaO2 and SaO2 were observed in the three groups. We conclude that antagonism of ETA receptors attenuates the hemodynamic changes and blunts the increase in thromboxane A2 production during a VAI in dogs. Implications We evaluated the effects of endothelin receptor antagonists during a venous air infusion in dogs. EndothelinA receptor antagonism attenuated the hemodynamic changes and blunted the increase in thromboxane A2 production in this setting.
Iceberg-cube computation with PC clusters

In this paper, we investigate the approach of using low cost PC cluster to parallelize the computation of iceberg-cube queries. We concentrate on techniques directed towards online querying of large, high-dimensional datasets where it is assumed that the total cube has net been precomputed. The algorithmic space we explore considers trade-offs between parallelism, computation and I/0. Our main contribution is the development and a comprehensive evaluation of various novel, parallel algorithms. Specifically: (1) Algorithm RP is a straightforward parallel version of BUC [BR99]; (2) Algorithm BPP attempts to reduce I/0 by outputting results in a more efficient way; (3) Algorithm ASL, which maintains cells in a cuboid in a skiplist, is designed to put the utmost priority on load balancing; and (4) alternatively, Algorithm PT load-balances by using binary partitioning to divide the cube lattice as evenly as possible. We present a thorough performance evaluation on all these algorithms on a variety of parameters, including the dimensionality of the cube, the sparseness of the cube, the selectivity of the constraints, the number of processors, and the size of the dataset. A key finding is that it is not a one-algorithm-fit-all situation. We recommend a “recipe” which uses PT as the default algorithm, but may also deploy ASL under specific circumstances.
Neural markers of predictive coding under perceptual uncertainty revealed with Hierarchical Frequency Tagging

There is a growing understanding that both top-down and bottom-up signals underlie perception. But it is not known how these signals integrate with each other and how this depends on the perceived stimuli’s predictability. ‘Predictive coding’ theories describe this integration in terms of how well top-down predictions fit with bottom-up sensory input. Identifying neural markers for such signal integration is therefore essential for the study of perception and predictive coding theories. To achieve this, we combined EEG methods that preferentially tag different levels in the visual hierarchy. Importantly, we examined intermodulation components as a measure of integration between these signals. Our results link the different signals to core aspects of predictive coding, and suggest that top-down predictions indeed integrate with bottom-up signals in a manner that is modulated by the predictability of the sensory input, providing evidence for predictive coding and opening new avenues to studying such interactions in perception. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.22749. 001
Business history: state of the art and controversies

L’histoire des entreprises : etat de l’art et controversesDans un premier temps, l’article revient sur la periode que traverse actuellement l’histoire des entreprises, qu’il est possible de qualifier de « post-chandlerienne ». Apres avoir presente les principales critiques adressees au travail de Chandler, l’auteur degage les principaux enseignements qu’il est possible de retenir de ses recherches et ses enseignements a Harvard. Dans une deuxieme partie, quatre pistes prometteuses sont presentees : (a) l’etude de nouvelles formes d’organisations apparues avec la troisieme revolution industrielle, (b) la mise en perspective historique de la mondialisation, (c) les problemes lies aux relations entre les entreprises, la societe et la culture et (d) l’entrepreneuriat. Pour finir, l’auteur analyse la situation complexe de l’histoire des entreprises qui doit combiner trois champs de recherche differents et bien etablis : l’economie, les sciences de gestion et l’histoire.
Supplemental : A Rank-based Approach to Active Diagnosis

We will show that the estimates for the area above the ROC curve, A lr (z A), A l (z A) and A ur (z A) defined in (6) in the paper can be equivalently expressed as A lr (z A) = 1 2 + U(z A) + V(z A) 2W(z A) A l (z A) = 1 2 + U(z A) 2W(z A)
Identification and Characterization of the Bacillus thuringiensis phaZ Gene, Encoding New Intracellular Poly-3-Hydroxybutyrate Depolymerase

ABSTRACT A gene that codes for a novel intracellular poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) depolymerase has now been identified in the genome of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis ATCC 35646. This gene, previously annotated as a hypothetical 3-oxoadipate enol-lactonase (PcaD) gene and now designated phaZ, encodes a protein that shows no significant similarity with any known PHB depolymerase. Purified His-tagged PhaZ could efficiently degrade trypsin-activated native PHB granules as well as artificial amorphous PHB granules and release 3-hydroxybutyrate monomer as a hydrolytic product, but it could not hydrolyze denatured semicrystalline PHB. In contrast, purified His-tagged PcaD of Pseudomonas putida was unable to degrade trypsin-activated native PHB granules and artificial amorphous PHB granules. The B. thuringiensis PhaZ was inactive against p-nitrophenylpalmitate, tributyrin, and triolein. Sonication supernatants of the wild-type B. thuringiensis cells exhibited a PHB-hydrolyzing activity in vitro, whereas those prepared from a phaZ mutant lost this activity. The phaZ mutant showed a higher PHB content than the wild type at late stationary phase of growth in a nutrient-rich medium, indicating that this PhaZ can function as a PHB depolymerase in vivo. PhaZ contains a lipase box-like sequence (G-W-S102-M-G) but lacks a signal peptide. A purified His-tagged S102A variant had lost the PHB-hydrolyzing activity. Taken together, these results indicate that B. thuringiensis harbors a new type of intracellular PHB depolymerase.
Bakhtin's Dialogism in a Preschooler's Talk.

The case study describes the application of Bakhtin’s theories of dialogism to the language learning of one child. The author traces the development of her son’s language development from age 2 and 9 months through the age of 5 and 6 months. The findings focus on the ways in which the preschooler appropriated language from books, his parent’s stories, and the media to use in his own play and storytelling. As his language skills developed, he relied less on memorizing texts he had heard and began to combine information from multiple sources. With age and increased exposure to a wide variety of materials, the preschooler became more aware of genre and adapted his talk to an audience for his own purposes. The findings demonstrate how a child was involved in using others’ words and in transforming them to apply to new settings such as his play and his own stories. Further, the child’s use of speech genres provides examples of the ways in which context played a role in shaping a child’s language development. Literacy Teaching and Learning
Coping With Intergroup Threat via Biased Attributions to Low Group Effort

Two studies demonstrate that, in order to cope with social identity threat, strongly but not weakly group-identified individuals make attributions of relatively poor group performance to low group effort rather than ability. However, this only takes place when such group members perceive negative group outcomes of intergroup comparisons as relatively illegitimate and unstable. Results demonstrate that such biased attributions were stronger for highly but not weakly identified participants when perceptions of the ingroup’s low status were induced to be illegitimate (but not when they were induced to be legitimate) – as their perceptions of the group low status as being unstable over time increased in parallel. This, in turn, ameliorated their subsequent affect. These findings point to a fairness-based account of coping with social identity threat through biased effort attributions: Perceived low effort on the part of the ingroup may suggest factors potentially within group control in the future (Weiner, 19.
Automatically combining static malware detection techniques

Malware detection techniques come in many different flavors, and cover different effectiveness and efficiency trade-offs. This paper evaluates a number of machine learning techniques to combine multiple static Android malware detection techniques using automatically constructed decision trees. We identify the best methods to construct the trees. We demonstrate that those trees classify sample apps better and faster than individual techniques alone.
Two-Dimensional Numerical Modeling and Design Optimization of a Moored Buoy Under Ice Load

A single point mooring (SPM) system is one of the possible mooring systems in the field of Arctic floating production. It consists of a moored buoy to provide its anchoring unit with the capacity of mooring and ice sheltering. In the preliminary design phase, the performance of the mooring buoy must be assessed. This can be done by numerical modeling. This thesis provides a model for the two-dimensional numerical simulation of a moored buoy under ice loading, and it optimizes the buoy design based on the results of the numerical simulation. The model is constructed based on the discrete element method (DEM), where the elements consist of the elements describing the level ice, and one element describing the buoy. The numerical model is capable of simulating several ice-structure interaction mechanisms, including the ice compressive failure, the ice bending failure, and friction. The model consists of three parts. A compliant contact formulation describes the behavior of contacts between elements. Contact forces are solved implicitly using a Lagrange multiplier formulation. Lastly, the mooring system is described using the catenary equation. The model is validated against a number of analytical solutions, demonstrating that the model is capable of simulating the buoy-ice interaction. An example of the buoy design optimization process is demonstrated. The optimization aims to obtain a concept design of a satisfactorily performing moored buoy with minimized dimensions under a specific ice condition. Design criteria were determined for the maximum pitch angle and the maximum horizontal displacement of the buoy. Given the desired design criteria, one can obtain the most optimized buoy design after several phases of selection.
Regulation and Traffic of Ceramide 1-Phosphate Produced by Ceramide Kinase

Ceramide 1-phosphate (C1P) has been characterized as a sphingolipid that participates in cell signaling. Although C1P synthesis is thought to occur via phosphorylation of ceramide by ceramide kinase (CerK), the processes that regulate C1P formation and fate remain largely unknown. In this study we analyzed bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) from CerK-null mice (Cerk-/-) and found significant levels of C1P, suggesting that previously unrecognized pathways may also lead to C1P formation. After these experiments we used an overexpression system, BMDM from Cerk-/- mice, and short-chain fluorescent ceramides to trace CerK-dependent formation of C1P. Because the ceramide analogs can also be converted to glucosylceramide (GlcCer) and sphingomyelin (SM), they allowed us to directly compare all three metabolites. We found that C1P produced by CerK is turned over rapidly when serum is removed or upon calcium chelation, whereas GlcCer and SM are stable under these conditions. We further demonstrated that ceramide must be transported to the Golgi complex to be phosphorylated by CerK. Inhibition of the ceramide transfer protein slowed down SM formation without decreasing C1P, suggesting an alternate route of ceramide transport. Other experiments indicated that, like GlcCer and SM, C1P traffics along the secretory pathway to reach the plasma membrane. Furthermore, in BMDM C1P was secreted more readily than was GlcCer or SM. Altogether, our results indicate that CerK is essential to C1P formation via phosphorylation of Cer, providing the first insights into mechanisms underlying ceramide access to CerK and C1P trafficking as well as clarifying C1P as a signaling entity.