Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Object recognition in floor plans by graphs of white connected components

In this paper we describe the object location module of a complete floor plan understanding system. The approach relies on a Region Adjacency Graph (RAG) whose nodes correspond to connected components of the background. Two types of node attributes are proposed and are used to locate and recognize objects similar to the models or to generalize the recognition to different shapes. The tests are made on two benchmark datasets and on one collection of floor plans downloaded from Internet and containing heterogeneous images.
Recognising Nested Named Entities in Biomedical Text

Although recent named entity (NE) annotation efforts involve the markup of nested entities, there has been limited focus on recognising such nested structures. This paper introduces and compares three techniques for modelling and recognising nested entities by means of a conventional sequence tagger. The methods are tested and evaluated on two biomedical data sets that contain entity nesting. All methods yield an improvement over the baseline tagger that is only trained on flat annotation.
Perceptual Functions of Perirhinal Cortex in Rats: Zero-Delay Object Recognition and Simultaneous Oddity Discriminations

The perirhinal cortex (PRh) is widely accepted as having an important role in object recognition memory in humans and animals. Contrary to claims that PRh mediates declarative memory exclusively, previous evidence suggests that PRh has a role in the perceptual processing of complex objects. In the present study, we conducted an examination of the possible role of PRh in perceptual function in rats. We examined whether bilateral excitotoxic lesions of PRh or PPRh (perirhinal plus postrhinal cortices) in the rat would cause deficits in a zero-delay object-recognition task and a simultaneous oddity discrimination task. Both of these tasks measured spontaneous (untrained, unrewarded) behavior, and the stimuli in these experiments were manipulated to produce varying levels of perceptual difficulty. As predicted by simulations using a computational model, rats with PPRh lesions were impaired in object recognition when the stimuli to be discriminated were manipulated to share many features in common. Furthermore, rats with PPRh and PRh lesions were impaired in a simultaneous oddity discrimination task when the stimuli to be discriminated were manipulated explicitly to be more perceptually similar. These findings provide support for the idea that PRh in the rat is important for the perceptual processing of complex objects, in addition to its well established role in memory.
Graph Based Statistical Analysis of Network Traffic

We propose a method for analyzing traffic data in large computer networks such as big enterprise networks or the Internet. Our approach combines graph theoretical representation of the data and graph analysis with novel statistical methods for discovering pattern and time-related anomalies. We model the traffic as a graph and use temporal characteristics of the data in order to decompose it into subgraphs corresponding to individual sessions, whose characteristics are then analyzed using statistical methods. The goal of that analysis is to discover patterns in the network traffic data that might indicate intrusion activity or other malicious behavior.
A Correspondence Repair Algorithm based on Word Sense Disambiguation and Upper Ontologies

In an ideal world, an ontology matching algorithm should return all the correct correspondences (it should be complete) and should return no wrong correspondences (it should be correct). In the real world, no imple- mented ontology matching algorithm is both correct and complete. For this reason, repairing wrong corre- spondences in an ontology alignment is a very pressing need to obtain more accurate alignments. This paper discusses an automatic correspondence repair method that exploits both upper ontologies to provide infor- mative context to concepts c2 o and c 0 2 o 0 belonging to an alignment a, and a context-based word sense disambiguation algorithm to assign c and c 0 their correct meaning. This meaning is used to decide whether c and c 0 are related, and to either keep or discard the correspondence 2 a, namely, to repair a. The experiments carried on are presented and the obtained results are provided. The advantages of the approach we propose are confirmed by a total average gain of 11,5% in precision for the alignments repaired against a 2% total average error.
When Anger Leads to Rumination

Anger is associated with various responses. Research on the neuroscience of anger has revealed that greater left than right frontal cortical activity is associated with angry approach-oriented responses, such as aggression, whereas greater right than left frontal cortical activity is associated with inhibited angry responses mixed with anxiety. In the current research, we extended these past studies by manipulating asymmetric frontal cortical activity using transcranial direct current stimulation and assessing its influence on ruminative responses to an interpersonal insult. Results revealed that self-reported rumination was greatest for participants who received a manipulated increase in relative right frontal cortical activity compared with those who received either a manipulated increase in relative left frontal cortical activity or sham stimulation. Taken together with past findings, the current results suggest that anger associated with greater relative left frontal cortical activity predicts approach-oriented aggressive action, whereas anger associated with greater relative right frontal cortical activity predicts inhibited rumination.
Effects of virtual reality immersion and audiovisual distraction techniques for patients with pruritus.

BACKGROUND Virtual reality immersion (VRI), an advanced computer-generated technique, decreased subjective reports of pain in experimental and procedural medical therapies. Furthermore, VRI significantly reduced pain-related brain activity as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Resemblance between anatomical and neuroendocrine pathways of pain and pruritus may prove VRI to be a suitable adjunct for basic and clinical studies of the complex aspects of pruritus. OBJECTIVES To compare effects of VRI with audiovisual distraction (AVD) techniques for attenuation of pruritus in patients with atopic dermatitis and psoriasis vulgaris. METHODS Twenty-four patients suffering from chronic pruritus - 16 due to atopic dermatitis and eight due to psoriasis vulgaris - were randomly assigned to play an interactive computer game using a special visor or a computer screen. Pruritus intensity was self-rated before, during and 10 min after exposure using a visual analogue scale ranging from 0 to 10. The interviewer rated observed scratching on a three-point scale during each distraction program. RESULTS Student's t tests were significant for reduction of pruritus intensity before and during VRI and AVD (P=0.0002 and P=0.01, respectively) and were significant only between ratings before and after VRI (P=0.017). Scratching was mostly absent or mild during both programs. CONCLUSIONS VRI and AVD techniques demonstrated the ability to diminish itching sensations temporarily. Further studies on the immediate and late effects of interactive computer distraction techniques to interrupt itching episodes will open potential paths for future pruritus research.
Efficacy, Safety, and Cost of Thrombolytic Agents for the Management of Dysfunctional Hemodialysis Catheters: A Systematic Review

Approximately 100,000 patients begin hemodialysis each year in the United States. Although an arteriovenous fistula or graft is the preferred method for long‐term vascular access during hemodialysis, as these types of vascular access are the most reliable, approximately 30% of patients require the use of catheters to continue hemodialysis. Tunneled, cuffed hemodialysis catheters are discouraged for permanent vascular access because of their high rates of infection, morbidity and mortality, and thrombotic and technical complications. These catheters have a short functional life span and require medical intervention, often thrombolytic therapy, to treat the catheter malfunction. No thrombolytic agent is specifically indicated for the management of occluded hemodialysis catheters. Thus, we performed a systematic review to critically evaluate all available studies that examined the efficacy, safety, and cost of thrombolytic therapy for the management of dysfunctional hemodialysis catheters. Studies were included if they reported efficacy in a specific proportion of affected dysfunctional hemodialysis catheters; reported the proportion of patients experiencing an adverse outcome (especially bleeding); and described the type of catheter used, dose of thrombolytic agent, administration protocol, dwell time, definition of treatment success, time to follow‐up for study end points, and sample size. Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The mean ± SD success rate in clearing dysfunctional hemodialysis catheters was greatest with reteplase at 88 ± 4%, followed by alteplase at 81 ± 37% and tenecteplase at 41 ± 5%. Adverse effects associated with the use of these thrombolytic agents administered at low doses were extremely rare. No serious adverse bleeding events attributed to thrombolytic therapy were reported in any of the trials. Aliquotted reteplase from vials for intravenous use was the least costly thrombolytic agent. Thus, at centers that use high volumes of thrombolytics for dysfunctional hemodialysis catheters, reteplase is the thrombolytic agent of choice.
Design And Synthesis Of Gold Nanoparticle Contrast Agents For Atherosclerosis Imaging With Computed Tomography

Cell tracking offers the opportunity to study migration and localization of cells in vivo, allowing investigations of disease mechanisms and drug efficacy. Monocytes play a key role in the progression of atherosclerotic plaques in the coronary arteries. While x-ray computed tomography (CT) is commonly used to clinically assess coronary plaque burden, cell tracking with CT is mostly unexplored. The establishment of monocyte cell tracking tools would allow for the direct investigation of gene and drug therapies aimed at monocyte recruitment in atherosclerosis. In this thesis, we present the design and optimization of gold nanoparticles as CT contrast agents for cell tracking of monocyte recruitment to atherosclerotic plaques. Gold nanoparticle polymer constructs with controlled localization are evaluated as potential monocyte labels. However, cytotoxic effects were observed at concentrations necessary for cell labeling. Therefore, variations in physical and chemical properties of gold nanoparticles were explored as cell labels for monocyte tracking. Each formulation was screened for effects on cell viability, cell function and uptake in monocytes. The uptake in monocytes revealed a complex relationship with nanoparticle size behavior dependent on the surface ligand used. This led to the selection of an optimal size and coating for monocyte labeling, 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid coated 15 nm gold nanoparticles. This formulation was further investigated for cell viability, function, and uptake with isolated primary monocytes. Moreover, primary monocytes labeled with this formulation were used to observe monocyte recruitment in atherosclerotic mice. Mice with early atherosclerotic plaques received intravenously injections of gold labeled monocytes and their recruitment to plaques were observed over 5 days with CT. Increases in CT attenuation in the plaque and transmission electron microscopy of plaque sections indicated the presence of gold labeled monocytes in the plaque. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using CT to track ex-vivo labeled cells non-invasively with CT and could further be used to investigate drugs aimed at modulating monocyte recruitment in the treatment of atherosclerosis. This work expands the applications of cell tracking and may lead to additional uses in other diseases. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Bioengineering First Advisor David P. Cormode Subject Categories Biomedical | Nanoscience and Nanotechnology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn. edu/edissertations/2221 DESIGN AND SYNTHESIS OF GOLD NANOPARTICLE CONTRAST AGENTS FOR ATHEROSCLEROSIS IMAGING WITH COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
AIS Electronic

The purpose of this exploratory paper is to show the consequence of applying the Copernican Revolution represented by the Critique of the Pure Reason to IS. This revolution has three important implications. First, it implicitly makes a clear distinction between the object of knowledge and the origin of knowledge. Second, it implicitly goes beyond the classical alternatives between perception and understanding, on one hand, and reason and experience, on the other hand. Third, it defines nine potential epistemological trends, from the “normative explanation” to the “critical distinction”. Each of these trends has a specific purpose, from the “phenomena principles” to the “distinctive conditions of possibility”. This grid may be therefore used in future researches to describe the actual epistemological trends used in IS… and to focus on those who could be used.
Towards an automated directory information system

This paper describes a design and feasibility study for a large-scale automatic directory information system with a scalable architecture. The current demonstrator, called PADIS-XL, operates in realtime and handles a database of a medium-size German city with 130,000 listings. The system uses a new technique of taking a combined decision on the joint probability over multiple dialogue turns, and a dialogue strategy that strives to restrict the search space more and more with every dialogue turn. During the course of the dialogue, the last name of the desired subscriber must be spelled out. The spelling recognizer permits continuous spelling and uses a context-free grammar to parse common spelling expressions. This paper describes the system architecture, our maximum a-posteriori (MAP) decision rule, the spelling grammar, and the dialogue strategy. We give results on the SPEECHDAT and SIETILL databases on recognition of first names by spelling and on jointly deciding on the spelled and the spoken name. In a 35,000-names setup, the joint decision reduced name-recognition errors by 31%.
ACTS theory: extending the model of bounded rationality

In this paper we propose an extension to the traditional model of bounded rationality and incorporate the extended model into a theory of organizational behavior. We argue that organizations are collections of tasks and intelligent agents engaged in performing those tasks, both situated within an organizational setting. Organizational behavior is an emergent property of such collections and is constrained by the agent, the task, and the situation. We propose that a unified theory of organizational behavior is possible, but only if agents, tasks, and situations are specified at a sufficient level of detail, and only if that specification embodies both the agents' mental models of the task and social-situation and the task and social-situation. Inattention to relevant details of the agent, task, or situation (and their interactions) may produce misleading results. We describe a candidate theory, ACTS theory, that integrates Agents who are Cognitively-restricted, Task-oriented, and Socially-situated in an interlinked set of representational systems. We suggest that the complexity of the theory warrants its realization and testing in a computational form, and that there exist candidate computational theories of cognitive agents and organizational situations. We illustrate the importance of attending to task and the benefits of multi-point focus on agent cognition, task, and situation using two computational models that take the ACTS perspective, yet are currently only partially sufficient as models that embody a full ACTS theory.
Hydrophobic Substituents of the Phenylmethylsulfamide Moiety Can Be Used for the Development of New Selective Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors

A new series of compounds containing a sulfamide moiety as zinc-binding group (ZBG) has been synthesized and tested for determining inhibitory properties against four human carbonic anhydrase (hCA) isoforms, namely, CAs I, II, IX, and XII. The X-ray structure of the cytosolic dominant isoform hCA II in complex with the best inhibitor of the series has also been determined providing further insights into sulfamide binding mechanism and confirming that such zinc-binding group, if opportunely derivatized, can be usefully exploited for obtaining new potent and selective CAIs. The analysis of the structure also suggests that for drug design purposes the but-2-yn-1-yloxy moiety tail emerges as a very interesting substituent of the phenylmethylsulfamide moiety due to its capability to establish strong van der Waals interactions with a hydrophobic cleft on the hCA II surface, delimited by residues Phe131, Val135, Pro202, and Leu204. Indeed, the complementarity of this tail with the cleft suggests that different substituents could be used to discriminate between isoforms having clefts with different sizes.
A comparison of phase-coded CW radar modulation schemes for integrated radar sensors

For radar sensors, for example, automotive radar sensors based on integrated circuits, taking advantage of the growing capabilities of digital circuits is becoming of increasing interest. Currently used linear frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signals could be replaced with phase-coded ones. As a consequence, the codes used would become a significant design parameter. In our investigation, we applied three binary codes (binary m-sequence, almost perfect autocorrelation sequence, and Golay-complementary sequence), one two-valued code (Golomb's code), and one ternary sequence (Ipatov's ternary sequence) and used a linear FMCW signal for comparison. The codes were selected with a future realization of the radar system based on integrated circuits in mind. We provide brief instructions for generating each sequence. Finally, we demonstrate the performance of the phase-coded signals by means of measurements carried out with a SiGe-based RF IQ-transceiver.
Oscillatory dynamics as a mechanism of integration in complex networks of neurons

The large-scale integrative mechanisms of the brain, the means by which the activity of functionally segregated neuronal regions are combined, are not well understood. There is growing agreement that a flexible mechanism of integration must be present in order to support the myriad changing cognitive demands under which we are placed. Neuronal communication through phase-coherent oscillation stands as the prominent theory of cognitive integration. The work presented in this thesis explores the role of oscillation and synchronisation in the transfer and integration of information in the brain. It is first shown that complex metastable dynamics suitable for modelling phase-coherent neuronal synchronisation emerge from modularity in networks of delay and pulse-coupled oscillators. Within a restricted parameter regime these networks display a constantly changing set of partially synchronised states where some modules remain highly synchronised while others desynchronise. An examination of network phase dynamics shows increasing coherence with increasing connectivity between modules. The metastable chimera states that emerge from the activity of modular oscillator networks are demonstrated to be synchronous with a constant phase relationship as would be required of a mechanism of large-scale neural integration. A specific example of functional phase-coherent synchronisation within a spiking neural system is then developed. Competitive stimulus selection between converging population encoded stimuli is demonstrated through entrainment of oscillation in receiving neurons. The behaviour of the model is shown to be analogous to well-known competitive processes of stimulus selection such as binocular rivalry, matching key experimentally observed properties for the distribution and correlation of periods of entrainment under differing stimuli strength. Finally two new measures of network centrality, knotty-centrality and set betweenness centrality, are developed and applied to empirically derived human structural brain connectivity data. It is shown that human brain organisation exhibits a topologically central core network within a modular structure consistent with the generation of synchronous oscillation with functional phase dynamics.
An immunological approach to change detection: algorithms, analysis and implications

We present new results on a distributable change-detection method inspired by the natural immune system. A weakness in the original algorithm was the exponential cost of generating detectors. Two detector-generating algorithms are introduced which run in linear time. The algorithms are analyzed, heuristics are given for setting parameters based on the analysis, and the presence of holes in detector space is examined. The analysis provider a basis for assessing the practicality of the algorithms in specific settings, and some of the implications are discussed.
Polarization of the epithelial layer and apical localization of integrins are required for engulfment of apoptotic cells in the Drosophila ovary

ABSTRACT Inefficient clearance of dead cells or debris by epithelial cells can lead to or exacerbate debilitating conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. Despite the importance of engulfment by epithelial cells, little is known about the molecular changes that are required within these cells. The misregulation of integrins has previously been associated with disease states, suggesting that a better understanding of the regulation of receptor trafficking could be key to treating diseases caused by defects in phagocytosis. Here, we demonstrate that the integrin heterodimer αPS3/βPS becomes apically enriched and is required for engulfment by the epithelial follicle cells of the Drosophila ovary. We found that integrin heterodimer localization and function is largely directed by the α-subunit. Moreover, proper cell polarity promotes asymmetric integrin enrichment, suggesting that αPS3/βPS trafficking occurs in a polarized fashion. We show that several genes previously known for their roles in trafficking and cell migration are also required for engulfment. Moreover, as in mammals, the same α-integrin subunit is required by professional and non-professional phagocytes and migrating cells in Drosophila. Our findings suggest that migrating and engulfing cells use common machinery, and demonstrate a crucial role for integrin function and polarized trafficking of integrin subunits during engulfment. This study also establishes the epithelial follicle cells of the Drosophila ovary as a powerful model for understanding the molecular changes required for engulfment by a polarized epithelium. Summary: Apical integrin localization, mediated by polarized and directed trafficking, is crucial for proper engulfment by epithelial cells.
Visualizations in exploratory search: a user study with stock market information

In this paper we present an approach that integrates interactive visualizations in the exploratory search process. In this model visualizations can act as hubs where large amounts of information are made accessible in easy user interfaces. Through interaction techniques this information can be combined with related information on the World Wide Web. We applied the new search concept to the domain of stock market information and conducted a user study. Participants could use this interface without instructions, could complete complex tasks like identifying related information items, link heterogeneous information types and use different interaction techniques to access related information more easily. In this way, users could quickly acquire knowledge in an unfamiliar domain.