Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neutral Questioning: A New Approach to the Reference Interview.

/Neutral questioning is a strategy for conducting the refer / ence interview in a way that allows the librarian to under / stand the query from the user's viewpoint. Neutral ques tions are open in form, avoid premature diagnosis of the problem, and structure the interview along dimensions im portant to the users. Derived from extensive studies into information-seeking behavior, this strategy has now been taught to over a thousand practitioners through workshops developed in 1981. Empirically based research to test the effects of neutral questioning is in progress. Informal eval uation indicates that neutral questioning may become a useful component of in-service training for librarians.
Effectiveness of Biofeedback in Improving Heart Rate Variability Recovery Following Stress

The current study was designed to examine the efficacy of heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback using emWave, a specific biofeedback device available to the public, and to determine whether such treatment affects phasic physiological responses to stress. Twenty-seven individuals (4 males, 23 females), aged 18-30 years (M = 22.54 years, SD = 3.82) participated in the current study. Thirteen individuals were randomly assigned to a control group and received no intervention, whereas the remaining 14 participants underwent 4-8 sessions of emWave intervention. All participants attended pre-treatment and post-treatment assessment sessions during which a stressor protocol was administered; physiological data were collected during rest, during stress, and following stress. EmWave treatment did not confer changes in resting, or tonic, measures of HRV. However, participants who received emWave treatment exhibited higher parasympathetic responses (i.e., pNN50) during stress at the post-treatment session compared to their control counterparts. Significant group differences in HRV were not evident during the post-stress recovery period. Additionally, no treatment effects were evident on self-reported measures of stress, psychological symptoms, or affect administered during the pre- and post-treatment assessment visits. Overall, results from the current study, combined with previous literature, suggest that the emWave may confer some limited treatment effects by increasing HRV in response to stress. Additional development and testing of the emWave treatment protocol is necessary before it can be recommended for regular use in clinical settings, including the determination of what physiological changes occur during HRV biofeedback that contribute to any clinical effects that may occur with the emWave treatment.
Monte Carlo simulation evidence on the effect of the status-quo in choice experiment models for water supply

Environmental economists have advocated the use of choice modelling in environmental valuation. Standard approaches employ choice sets including one alternative depicting the status-quo, yet the effects of explicitly accounting for systematic differences in preferences for non status-quo alternatives in the econometric models are often unreported. We explore four different ways of addressing such systematic differences using data from two choice modelling exercises designed to value the provision of environmental goods. Preferences for change versus status-quo are explored with standard conditional logit with alternativespecific constant for status-quo, nested logit and choice-set complexity-based heteroskedastic logit specifications, along with a less usual error component analysis via mixed logit (kernel logit). The results are consistent with the hypothesis that alternatives offering changes from status-quo do not share the same preference structure as status-quo alternatives. To further explore the empirical consequences of such mis-specification we report on a series of Monte Carlo experiments. Evidence from the experiments indicates that the potential bias in conventional estimates is large, that alternative specific-constant specifications are efficient even if biased, and that the errors of ignoring complexity may be low. These findings have implications for practitioners and their stance towards the strategies for the econometric analysis of choice modelling data for the purpose of valuation. JEL classification: Q25, H41, D62, C42, C25
Vector Piezoresponse Force Microscopy

A novel approach for nanoscale imaging and characterization of the orientation dependence of electromechanical properties—vector piezoresponse force microscopy (Vector PFM)—is described. The relationship between local electromechanical response, polarization, piezoelectric constants, and crystallographic orientation is analyzed in detail. The image formation mechanism in vector PFM is discussed. Conditions for complete three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the electromechanical response vector and evaluation of the piezoelectric constants from PFM data are set forth. The developed approach can be applied to crystallographic orientation imaging in piezoelectric materials with a spatial resolution below 10 nm. Several approaches for data representation in 2D-PFM and 3D-PFM are presented. The potential of vector PFM for molecular orientation imaging in macroscopically disordered piezoelectric polymers and biological systems is discussed.
Dynamic adaptive streaming over CCN: A caching and overhead analysis

In this paper, we present our implementation and evaluation of Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over Content centric networking (DASC) which implements MPEG Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) utilizing a Content Centric Networking (CCN) naming scheme to identify content segments in a CCN network. In particular, video segments formatted according to MPEG-DASH are available in different quality levels but instead of HTTP, CCN is used for referencing and delivery. Based on the conditions of the network, the DASC client issues interests for segments achieving the best throughput. Due to segment caching within the network, subsequent requests for the same content can be served quicker. As a result, the quality of the video a user receives progressively improves, effectively overcoming bottlenecks in the network. We present two sets of experiments to evaluate the performance of DASC showing that throughput indeed improves. However, the generated overhead is relatively large and the adaptation strategy used for DASH that assumes an end-to-end connection could be revised for the hop-by-hop architecture of CCN.
On Stochastic Cell Association Scheme Over Carrier Aggregated Heterogenous Networks

Triggered by the ever growing demand of wireless data rate, modern cellular network is in the middle of a paradigm shift. By deploying small cells underlaying current macrocells, a heterogeneous network (HetNet) architecture is formed with great potentials to improve system capacity and reduce overall energy consumption in the mean time. However, such layout is challenged by the co-tier and crosstier interference and uneven traffic loads due to the massive deployment of small cells. In this work, a cell association scheme based on stochastic control theory is explored to attain improved network performance in carrier aggregated HetNets. Simulation results have shown the advantages of the proposed scheme under different kinds of carrier deployments across multiple tiers.
A Non-rigid Registration Using Elastic Model, Finite Element Method and Mutual Information in Parallel Environment

We have already led a survey on a new approach in nonrigid registration using elastic model, finite element method and mutual information and we have had good results. This approach is a multimodal and a fully automatic registration. Besides, one can use it for a registration with images in low resolutions, such as the positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). However one can note that registration requires a too much important calculation time and high occupancy spaces especially with 3D images. Thus, the parallelization is required. So, the aim is to parallelize this approach for non-rigid registration. Therefore, this paper presents the theory of the approach and deals the transformation of the registration algorithm in a parallel environment. We have worked with single program multiple data model on distributed memory (SPMD-DM) architecture.
On Data Distortion for Privacy Preserving Data Mining

Because of the increasing ability to trace and collect large amount of personal information, privacy preserving in data mining applications has become an important concern. Data perturbation is one of the well known techniques for privacy preserving data mining. The objective of these data perturbation techniques is to distort the individual data values while preserving the underlying statistical distribution properties. Theses data perturbation techniques are usually assessed in terms of both their privacy parameters as well as its associated utility measure. While the privacy parameters present the ability of these techniques to hide the original data values, the data utility measures assess whether the dataset keeps the performance of data mining techniques after the data distortion. In this paper, we investigate the use of truncated non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) with sparseness constraints for data perturbation.
SLA-driven predictive orchestration for distributed cloud-based mobile services

We describe a system for performing SLA-driven management and orchestration of distributed infrastructures composed of services supporting mobile computing use cases. In particular, we focus on a Follow-Me Cloud scenario in which we consider mobile users accessing cloud-enable services. We combine a SLA-driven approach to infrastructure optimization, with forecast-based performance degradation preventive actions and pattern detection for supporting mobile cloud infrastructure management. We present our system's information model and architecture including the algorithmic support and the proposed scenarios for system evaluation.
Molecular Cloning of a cDNA Encoding for Taenia solium TATA-Box Binding Protein 1 (TsTBP1) and Study of Its Interactions with the TATA-Box of Actin 5 and Typical 2-Cys Peroxiredoxin Genes

TATA-box binding protein (TBP) is an essential regulatory transcription factor for the TATA-box and TATA-box-less gene promoters. We report the cloning and characterization of a full-length cDNA that encodes a Taenia solium TATA-box binding protein 1 (TsTBP1). Deduced amino acid composition from its nucleotide sequence revealed that encodes a protein of 238 residues with a predicted molecular weight of 26.7 kDa, and a theoretical pI of 10.6. The NH2-terminal domain shows no conservation when compared with to pig and human TBP1s. However, it shows high conservation in size and amino acid identity with taeniids TBP1s. In contrast, the TsTBP1 COOH-terminal domain is highly conserved among organisms, and contains the amino acids involved in interactions with the TATA-box, as well as with TFIIA and TFIIB. In silico TsTBP1 modeling reveals that the COOH-terminal domain forms the classical saddle structure of the TBP family, with one α-helix at the end, not present in pig and human. Native TsTBP1 was detected in T. solium cysticerci´s nuclear extract by western blot using rabbit antibodies generated against two synthetic peptides located in the NH2 and COOH-terminal domains of TsTBP1. These antibodies, through immunofluorescence technique, identified the TBP1 in the nucleus of cells that form the bladder wall of cysticerci of Taenia crassiceps, an organism close related to T. solium. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays using nuclear extracts from T. solium cysticerci and antibodies against the NH2-terminal domain of TsTBP1 showed the interaction of native TsTBP1 with the TATA-box present in T. solium actin 5 (pAT5) and 2-Cys peroxiredoxin (Ts2-CysPrx) gene promoters; in contrast, when antibodies against the anti-COOH-terminal domain of TsTBP1 were used, they inhibited the binding of TsTBP1 to the TATA-box of the pAT5 promoter gene.
Texture modeling and synthesis using joint statistics of complex wavelet coefficients

We present a statisti al hara terization of texture images in the ontext of an over-omplete omplex wavelet transform. The hara terization is based on empiri al observations of statisti al regularities in su h images, and parameterized by (1) the lo al auto-orrelation of the oeÆ ients in ea h subband; (2) both the lo al auto- orrelation and ross- orrelation of oeÆ ient magnitudes at other orientations and spatial s ales; and (3) the (cid:12)rst few moments of the image pixel histogram. We develop an eÆ ient algorithm for synthesizing random images subje t to these onstraints using alternated proje tions, and demonstrate its e(cid:11)e tiveness on a wide range of syntheti and natural textures. In parti ular, we show that many important stru tural elements in textures (e.g., edges, repeated patterns or alternated pat hes of simpler texture), an be aptured through joint se ond order statisti s of the oeÆ ient magnitudes. We also show the (cid:13)exibility of the representation, by applying to a variety of tasks whi h an be viewed as onstrained image synthesis problems, su h as spatial and spe tral extrapolation.
Vacuum fluctuations and Casimir force

The Casimir Force was predicted in 1948 by Dutch physicist Hendrick Casimir. Casimir realized that when calculating the energy between two parallel uncharged conducting plates, only those virtual photons whose wavelengths fit an integral number of times into the gap should be counted. Each mode contributes to a pressure on the plates, and the infinite number of modes outside the plates is in some sense greater than the infinite number inside the plates, resulting in a small force drawing the plates together. This experimentally-confirmed force is one observable consequence of the existence of the vacuum electromagnetic field.
Subspace Gaussian mixture models for dialogues classification

The main objective of this paper is to identify themes from dialogues of telephone conversations in a real-life customer care service. In order to capture significant semantic content in spite of high expression variability, features are extracted in a large number of hidden spaces constructed with a Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) approach. Multiple views of a spoke document can then be represented with several hidden topic models. Nonetheless, the model diversity due to the multi-model approach introduces a new type of variability. An approach is proposed based on features extracted in a common homogenous subspace with the purpose of reducing the multi-span representation variability. A Gaussian Mixture Model subspace model, inspired by previous work on speaker identification, is proposed for theme identification. This representation, novel for theme classification, is compared with the direct application of multiple topic-model representations. Experiments are reported using a corpus collected in the call center of the Paris Transportation Service. Results show the effectiveness of the proposed representation paradigm with a theme identification accuracy of 78.8%, showing a significant improvement with respect to previous results on the same corpus.
EVIDENCE FOR AN EDGE-ON DISK AROUND THE YOUNG STAR MWC 778 FROM INFRARED IMAGING AND POLARIMETRY

MWC 778 is an unusual and little-studied young stellar object located in the IC 2144 nebula. Recent spectroscopy by Herbig & Vacca suggested the presence of an edge-on circumstellar disk around it. We present near-infrared adaptive optics imaging polarimetry and mid-infrared imaging which directly confirm the suspected nearly edge-on disk around MWC 778 (i ∼ 70°–80°) plus reveal a more extensive envelope pierced by bipolar outflow cavities. In addition, our mid-infrared images and near-infrared polarization maps detect a spiral-shaped structure surrounding MWC 778, with arms that extend beyond 6″ on either side of the star. Although MWC 778 has previously been classified as a Herbig Ae/Be star, the properties of its central source (including its spectral type) remain fairly uncertain. Herbig & Vacca suggested an F or G spectral type based on the presence of metallic absorption lines in the optical spectrum, which implies that MWC 778 may belong to the fairly rare class of intermediate-mass T Tauri Stars (IMTTSs) which are the evolutionary precursors to Herbig Ae/Be objects. Yet its integrated bolometric luminosity, ≳750 L☉ (for an assumed distance of 1 kpc) is surprisingly high for an F or G spectral type, even for an IMTTS. We speculate on several possible explanations for this discrepancy, including its true distance being much closer than 1 kpc, the presence of a binary companion, and/or a nonstellar origin for the observed absorption lines.
Mapping COSA Software Architecture Concepts into UML 2.0

In this article we contribute to the issue of documenting architectural description with UML. Describing the architecture of a software system using UML notations is a tricky task due to the lack of explicit support for architectural description concepts. Thus, we try to define a strategy to map any ADL into UML, particularly UML 2.0. Our strategy is based on constructing a meta ADL that next can be mapped into MOF. We show how this strategy can be used by mapping COSA architectural description concepts into UML 2.0
Pixel-level delta-sigma ADC with optimized area and power for vertically-integrated image sensors

Area and power optimization of a first-order delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for pixel-level data conversion is presented. The ADC is designed for use in a vertically-integrated logarithmic CMOS image sensor. A switched-capacitor modulator with minimum area has been employed. Unlike other similar structures, the decimation is performed inside the pixel to decrease its output bit rate. The proposed ADC has an area of 32 times 31 mum2 and consumes 680 nW of power to achieve 80 dB of signal-to-noise ratio with a frame rate of 50 Hz. The circuit was implemented in 0.18 mum CMOS technology with a die area of 2 mm2 and has been sent for fabrication.
Is Entrepreneurial Intention Stable Through Time? First Insights from a Sample of French Students

Currently in France, a high percentage of people over 18 claim that they wish to create a company. The younger they are, the stronger their desire to set up a business. Unfortunately, few of them end up creating a new firm. This research focuses on new business start-up intentions by students who have attended an entrepreneurial awareness course. Our research is based on an empirical study with a sample of people who attended a course in entrepreneurship between 1997 and 2004. Aside from the testing of an intention model (Ajzen, 1991), one of the main objectives of our research is to highlight the entrepreneurial intention level of these people after the course and the stability of this intention over a long period of time. For this exploratory study we used a questionnaire completed by a sample of young graduates in 2004. The data was then analysed. Results are shown and discussed.
Object Detection based Weighted-Center Surround Difference

— Intelligent traffic surveillance technology is an issue in the field of traffic data analysis. Therefore, we need the technology to detect moving objects in real-time while there are variations in background and natural light. In this paper, we proposed a Weighted-Center Surround Difference method for object detection in outdoor environments. The proposed system detects objects using the saliency map that is obtained by analyzing the weight of each layers of Gaussian pyramid. In order to validate the effectiveness of our system, we implemented the proposed method using a digital signal processor, TMS320DM6437. Experimental results show that blurred noisy around objects was effectively eliminated and the object detection accuracy is improved.
Nitric oxide synthesis by nitrate reductase is regulated during development in A spergillus

Nitric oxide (NO) is a signalling molecule involved in many biological processes in bacteria, plants and mammals. However, little is known about the role and biosynthesis of NO in fungi. Here we show that NO production is increased at the early stages of the transition from vegetative growth to development in Aspergillus nidulans. Full NO production requires a functional nitrate reductase (NR) gene (niaD) that is upregulated upon induction of conidiation, even under N‐repressing conditions in the presence of ammonium. At this stage, NO homeostasis is achieved by balancing biosynthesis (NR) and catabolism (flavohaemoglobins). niaD and flavohaemoglobin fhbA are transiently upregulated upon induction of conidiation, and both regulators AreA and NirA are necessary for this transcriptional response. The second flavohaemoglobin gene fhbB shows a different expression profile being moderately expressed during the early stages of the transition phase from vegetative growth to conidiation, but it is strongly induced 24 h later. NO levels influence the balance between conidiation and sexual reproduction because artificial strong elevation of NO levels reduced conidiation and induced the formation of cleistothecia. The nitrate‐independent and nitrogen metabolite repression‐insensitive transcriptional upregulation of niaD during conidiation suggests a novel role for NR in linking metabolism and development.
Estimating the order of mutations during tumorigenesis from tumor genome sequencing data

MOTIVATION Tumors are thought to develop and evolve through a sequence of genetic and epigenetic somatic alterations to progenitor cells. Early stages of human tumorigenesis are hidden from view. Here, we develop a method for inferring some aspects of the order of mutational events during tumorigenesis based on genome sequencing data for a set of tumors. This method does not assume that the sequence of driver alterations is the same for each tumor, but enables the degree of similarity or difference in the sequence to be evaluated. RESULTS To evaluate the new method, we applied it to colon cancer tumor sequencing data and the results are consistent with the multi-step tumorigenesis model previously developed based on comparing stages of cancer. We then applied the new method to DNA sequencing data for a set of lung cancers. The model may be a useful tool for better understanding the process of tumorigenesis. AVAILABILITY The software is available at: http://linus.nci. nih.gov/Data/YounA/OrderMutation.zip.
Remote smartphone monitoring for management of Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a disabling neurodegenerative disease that affects approximately 1 million people in the United States. PD symptoms such as tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia and gait disturbances can be alleviated with drug treatments or deep brain stimulation; however, these treatments need to be appropriately adjusted over time. Monitoring the disease severity during intermittent physician visits for this purpose is notoriously imprecise. Remote and continuous monitoring of the severity of parkinsonism in these patients could therefore significantly improve the patient's health and quality of life. In recent work, we showed it is possible to discriminate between varying levels of parkinsonism and normal brain activity, based on motor cortex electroencephalograms (EEGs). We believe it may be possible to detect similar patterns in ambulatory human EEGs collected periodically during home health care visits. In this study, we investigate how these EEG readings can be used together with continuous smartphone gyroscope and accelerometer movement measurements to allow improved management of Parkinson's Disease treatments.