Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic Histogram Threshold Using Fuzzy Measures

In this paper, an automatic histogram threshold approach based on a fuzziness measure is presented. This work is an improvement of an existing method. Using fuzzy logic concepts, the problems involved in finding the minimum of a criterion function are avoided. Similarity between gray levels is the key to find an optimal threshold. Two initial regions of gray levels, located at the boundaries of the histogram, are defined. Then, using an index of fuzziness, a similarity process is started to find the threshold point. A significant contrast between objects and background is assumed. Previous histogram equalization is used in small contrast images. No prior knowledge of the image is required.
Plasma Level of Adrenomedullin Is Influenced by a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in the Adiponectin Gene

Objective Adrenomedullin (ADM) and adiponectin are both involved in inflammation and cardiovascular diseases. The plasma levels of these peptides are influenced by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the ADM and ADIPOQ genes respectively. There is some evidence that ADM may regulate adiponectin gene expression, but whether adiponectin can regulate ADM expression is unclear, and was therefore investigated. Methods Plasma ADM level was measured in 476 subjects in the Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factor Prevalence Study-2 (CRISPS2). We genotyped them for 2 ADIPOQ SNPs that are known to be associated with plasma adiponectin level. Results The minor allele frequencies of ADIPOQ SNPs rs182052 and rs12495941 were 40.6% and 42.2% respectively. Plasma ADM level was significantly associated with rs182052 after adjusting for age and sex (β = 0.104, P = 0.023) but not with rs12495941 (β = 0.071, P = 0.120). In multivariate analysis, plasma ADM level increased with the number of minor alleles of rs182052 (P = 0.013). Compared to subjects with GG genotype, subjects with AA genotype had 17.7% higher plasma ADM level (95% CI: 3.6%–33.7%). Subgroup analysis revealed that the association was significant in diabetic patients (β = 0.344, P = 0.001) but not in non-diabetic subjects. Conclusion Plasma ADM level is related to SNP rs182052 in the ADIPOQ gene. Our findings provide new evidence of the interplay between these two important peptides in cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Knowing the genotype may help to refine the interpretation of these biomarkers.
Collagen overlays can inhibit leptin and adiponectin secretion but not lipid accumulation in adipocytes

Background White adipose tissue (WAT) is essential for energy storage as well as being an active endocrine organ. The secretion of adipokines by adipocytes can affect whole body metabolism, appetite, and contribute to overall health. WAT is comprised of lipid-laden mature adipocytes, as well as immune cells, endothelial cells, pre-adipocytes, and adipose-derived stem cells. In addition, the presence of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in WAT can actively influence adipocyte differentiation, growth, and function. Type I collagen is an abundant fibrous ECM protein in WAT that is secreted by developing adipocytes. However, the extent and overall effect of Type I collagen on adipokine secretion in mature adipocytes when added exogenously has not been established. Methods We characterized the effects of Type I collagen overlays prepared using two different buffers on adipocyte physiology and function when added at different times during differentiation. In addition, we compared the effect of collagen overlays when adipocytes were cultured on two different tissue culture plastics that have different adherent capabilities. Triglyceride accumulation was analyzed to measure adipocyte physiology, and leptin and adiponectin secretion was determined to analyze effects on adipokine secretion. Results We found that collagen overlays, particularly when added during the early differentiation stage, impaired adipokine secretion from mature adipocytes. Collagen prepared using PBS had a greater suppression of leptin than adiponectin while collagen prepared using HANKS buffer suppressed the secretion of both adipokines. The use of CellBind plates further suppressed leptin secretion. Triglyceride accumulation was not substantially impacted with any of the collagen overlays. Discussion Adipokine secretion can be selectively altered by collagen overlays. Thus, it is feasible to selectively manipulate the secretion of adipokines by adipocytes in vitro by altering the composition or timing of collagen overlays. The use of this technique could be applied to studies of adipokine function and secretion in vitro as well as having potential therapeutic implications to specifically alter adipocyte functionality in vivo.
Aggregated Search and Interleaving Methods: A survey

Aggregated search attempts to satisfy user's need by searching and assembling information from variety verticals and placing them into a single result page. Aggregated search has two research directions namely, cross-vertical Aggregated Search (cvAS) and Relational Aggregated Search (RAS). The first one focuses to find relations between the keywords of query. The second one tries to attain the variety results from different information sources. The outcomes (results) given by aggregated search should be evaluated to determine which system is reliable. To achieve this evaluation we use various metrics. Then for improving the ranked list which given by web search engines we must utilize interleaved methods for comparing the relative quality of two ranking systems. In addition to present the perfect result to users. The purpose of this article is to collect and classify the different methods of aggregated search and interleaving methods that exist so far in literature. Furthermore, we conduct some comparisons between interleaved methods and other ranking systems.
Evaluating the High Risk Groups for Suicide: A Comparison of Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine, Decision Tree and Artificial Neural Network

Background: We aimed to assess the high-risk group for suicide using different classification methods includinglogistic regression (LR), decision tree (DT), artificial neural network (ANN), and support vector machine (SVM). Methods: We used the dataset of a study conducted to predict risk factors of completed suicide in Hamadan Province, the west of Iran, in 2010. To evaluate the high-risk groups for suicide, LR, SVM, DT and ANN were performed. The applied methods were compared using sensitivity, specificity, positive predicted value, negative predicted value, accuracy and the area under curve. Cochran-Q test was implied to check differences in proportion among methods. To assess the association between the observed and predicted values, Ø coefficient, contingency coefficient, and Kendall tau-b were calculated. Results: Gender, age, and job were the most important risk factors for fatal suicide attempts in common for four methods. SVM method showed the highest accuracy 0.68 and 0.67 for training and testing sample, respectively. However, this method resulted in the highest specificity (0.67 for training and 0.68 for testing sample) and the highest sensitivity for training sample (0.85), but the lowest sensitivity for the testing sample (0.53). Cochran-Q test resulted in differences between proportions in different methods (P<0.001). The association of SVM predictions and observed values, Ø coefficient, contingency coefficient, and Kendall tau-b were 0.239, 0.232 and 0.239, respectively. Conclusion: SVM had the best performance to classify fatal suicide attempts comparing to DT, LR and ANN.
Extreme Learning Machine based fast object recognition

Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) as a type of generalized single-hidden layer feed-forward networks (SLFNs) has demonstrated its good generalization performance with extreme fast learning speed in many benchmark and real applications. This paper further studies the performance of ELM and its variants in object recognition using two different feature extraction methods. The first method extracts texture features, intensity features from Histogram and features from two types of color space: HSV & RGB. The second method extracts shape features based on Radon transform. The classification performances of ELM and its variants are compared with the performance of Support Vector Machines (SVMs). As verified by simulation results, ELM achieves better testing accuracy with much less training time on majority cases than SVM for both feature extraction methods. Besides, the parameter tuning process for ELM is much easier than SVM as well.
Multi-Site Data Collection for a Spoken Language Corpus

This paper describes a recently collected spoken language corpus for the ATIS (Air Travel Information System) domain. This data collection effort has been co-ordinated by MADCOW (Multi-site ATIS Data COllection Working group). We summarize the motivation for this effort, the goals, the implementation of a multi-site data collection paradigm, and the accomplishments of MADCOW in monitoring the collection and distribution of 12,000 utterances of spontaneous speech from five sites for use in a multi-site common evaluation of speech, natural language and spoken language.
A study of background cleaning and data allocation for multi-channel SSDs

Due to the idiosyncrasies of NAND flash memories, such as erase-before-write and bulk erase, SSDs employ an internal garbage collection process to recycle obsolete data to provide free spaces. To overlap the cleaning with I/O services in parallel units of multi-channel SSDs, a finer-granularity cleaning has been proposed, namely background cleaning. This method is not widely accepted for its reliability and wear-leveling problems. In this work, we study the background cleaning with different striping allocation policies, analyzing the SSD performance and write amplification with diverse cleaning units. Trace-driven simulations reveal that with certain striping allocation policies, finer-granularity cleaning can improve the SSD performance, as well as keep comparable cleaning efficiency, even without using the copy-back command.
Love-melancholy : revolt against mourning

The aim of this paper is to consider the phenomena of love-melancholy through an object relations framework, conceiving of this phenomena as a revolt against mourning. The theoretical framework utilized is the early object relations concepts introduced by Freud in his 1917 paper Mourning and Melancholia and elaborated by object relations theorist Melanie Klein in her later works. Using the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) as a case example, this writer identifies a developmental process that occurs in resolving the pain of love-melancholy, emphasizing mourning the lost love object as necessary for establishing hope for future attachments. LOVE-MELANCHOLY: A REVOLT AGAINST MOURNING A project based upon an independent investigation, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work. Samantha Chaplin Smith College School for Social Work Northampton, Massachusetts 01063
Long-term effects of conscription: lessons from the UK

The effect of military service on subsequent earnings has not been taken into account in the decennial debate on the abolition of military conscription in Western Europe. This paper provides evidence of the long-term effects of conscription on subsequent earnings. In our analysis, we use a regression-discontinuity approach to obtain unbiased estimates. The RD design used is based on a sharp discontinuity due to the abolition of military conscription in the UK in 1960. We study the effects of the abolition of compulsory military service in the UK on labour market outcomes. Our analysis sheds light on the importance of early labour career phase on labour market outcome.
Passive Stiffness of Myocardium From Congenital Heart Disease and Implications for Diastole

Background— In ventricular dilatation or hypertrophy, an elevated end-diastolic pressure is often assumed to be secondary to increased myocardial stiffness, but stiffness is rarely measured in vivo because of difficulty. We measured in vitro passive stiffness of volume- or pressure-overloaded myocardium mainly from congenital heart disease. Methods and Results— Endocardial ventricular biopsies were obtained at open heart surgery (n=61; pressure overload, 36; volume-overload, 19; dilated cardiomyopathy, 4; normal donors, 2). In vitro passive force-extension curves and the stiffness modulus were measured in skinned tissue: muscle strips, strips with myofilaments extracted (mainly extracellular matrix), and myocytes. Collagen content (n=38) and titin isoforms (n=16) were determined. End-diastolic pressure was measured at cardiac catheterization (n=14). Pressure-overloaded tissue (strips, extracellular matrix, myocytes) had a 2.6- to 7.0-fold greater force and stiffness modulus than volume-overloaded tissue. Myocyte force and stiffness modulus at short stretches (0.05 resting length, L0) was pressure-overloaded >normal≈volume-overloaded>dilated cardiomyopathy. Titin N2B:N2BA isoform ratio varied little between conditions. The extracellular matrix contributed more to force at 0.05 L0 in pressure-overloaded (35.1%) and volume-overloaded (17.4%) strips than normal myocardium. Stiffness modulus increased with collagen content in pressure-overloaded but not volume-overloaded strips. In vitro stiffness modulus at 0.05 L0 was a good predictor of in vivo end-diastolic pressure for pressure-overloaded but not volume-overloaded ventricles and estimated normal end-diastolic pressure as 5 to 7 mm Hg. Conclusions— An elevated end-diastolic pressure in pressure-overloaded, but not volume-overloaded, ventricles was related to increased myocardial stiffness. The greater stiffness of pressure-overloaded compared with volume-overloaded myocardium was due to the higher stiffness of both the extracellular matrix and myocytes. The transition from normal to very-low stiffness myocytes may mark irreversible dilatation.
On a measurement-free quantum lambda calculus with classical control

We study a measurement-free, untyped λ-calculus with quantum data and classical control. This work arises from previous proposals by Selinger and Valiron, and Van Tonder. We focus on operational and expressiveness issues, rather than (denotational) semantics. We prove subject reduction and confluence, and a standardisation theorem. Moreover, we prove the computational equivalence of the proposed calculus with a suitable class of quantum circuit families.
Sentiment Analysis for Kannada using mobile product reviews: A case study

Sentiment Analysis (SA) is a very popular research area in the field of text mining as its computational capabilities have found a lot of research applications. Sentiment Prediction,Subjectivity Detection,Text summarization,Sentiment Summarization for Opinions etc. are some example applications. There are many research studies in the area of SA in different languages. However, Kannada SA has not been explored extensively and in particular, for the analysis of product reviews. In this paper, a case study of Kannada SA for mobile product reviews is proposed as there are many user generated Kannada product reviews available online. In this approach a lexicon based method for aspect extraction has been developed. Furthermore, the Naive Bayes classification model is applied to analyze the polarity of the sentiment due to its computational simplicity and stochastic robustness. This is the first attempt in Kannada to the best of author's knowledge. Therefore, a customized corpus has been developed. The weekly reviews from the column `Gadget Loka' by U.B Pavanaja are considered to develop this corpus. The source for this is the famous Kannada news paper `Prajavani'. The preliminary results indicate this approach is an efficient technique for Kannada SA.
Mapping the distribution of Anopheles funestus across Benin highlights a sharp contrast of susceptibility to insecticides and infection rate to Plasmodium between southern and northern populations

Background. Malaria remains an important public health issue in Benin, with Anopheles gambiae s.l. and Anopheles funestus s.s being the predominant vectors. This study was designed to generate information on An. funestus distribution, molecular speciation, Plasmodium infection rate and insecticide susceptibility status across Benin. Methods. Mosquito samples were collected from December 2014 to January 2016 in 46 localities in Benin. These samples were mapped and An. funestus collected were speciated to the molecular level. Plasmodium infection rate was determined using a Taqman assay and susceptibility to insecticides was assessed using the WHO guidelines. The genotyping of the L119F- Gste2 mutation was also carried out. Results. An. funestus was found in 8 out of the 46 localities surveyed with a high presence in Tanongou (wet Sudanese ecological zone), Kpome, Doukonta and Pahou (sub-equatorial ecological zone). Molecular identifications revealed that only An. funestus s.s was present in southern Benin, whereas in Tanongou (northern Benin) An. funestus s.s. and An. leesoni were found in sympatry at proportions of 77.7% and 22.3% respectively. Plasmodium infection rate of An. funestus was higher in southern Benin at a range of 13 to 18% compared to 5.6% recorded in Tanongou. High DDT (8±0.5%) and permethrin (11±0.5%) resistance were observed in Doukonta, Kpome and Pahou, contrasting with relatively low resistance profiles: mortality-DDT=90±3.18% and mortality-permethrin=100% in Tanongou. Genotyping analysis revealed high frequency of the resistant 119F allele in the South (Kpome and Doukonta) compared to the North (Tanongou). Discussion and Conclusion. The high presence of An. funestus in the South compared to the North could be due to favorable environmental and climatic conditions found in both regions. A significant Plasmodium infection rate was recorded across the country. A high resistance profile was recorded in the southern Benin; this raises the need for further investigations on resistance selection factors.
The microdomain-organizing protein MPP1 is required for insulin-stimulated activation of H-Ras

Signaling complexes are localized to distinct plasma-membrane domains which undergo precise spatiotemporal regulation. A crucial link between membrane dynamics and the small GTPase, H-Ras, has been suggested, connecting membrane localization, clustering and scaffolding with its activity and signal transduction. Results of this study suggest a relationship between MPP1 and/or MPP1-dependent plasma-membrane organization and H-Ras activation. Namely, we show here that in HEL cells, MPP1 knock-down lead to the disruption of signaling cascade(s) from the activated insulin receptor. The signal inhibition occurred at the level of H-Ras, as it showed impaired GDP-to-GTP exchange and further interaction with its effector molecule, Raf. Moreover, in these cells H-Ras detergent-resistant membrane localization was not sensitive to insulin treatment which may imply molecular mechanism via which MPP1 affects functions of other proteins which may be connected with functional domain formation. Understanding the link between MPP1 and activation of H-Ras, may provide an important insight into the complexity of Ras related signaling pathways which may become a potential target for associated cancer therapies.
Novel Leptin-Regulated Genes Revealed by Transcriptional Profiling of the Hypothalamic Paraventricular Nucleus

Leptin plays a major role in coordinating the integrated response of the CNS to changes in nutritional state. Neurons within the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus express leptin receptors and receive dense innervation from leptin receptor-expressing neurons in the arcuate nucleus. To obtain new insights into the effects of circulating leptin on PVN function, we compared global transcriptional profiles of laser-captured PVN from ad libitum fed mice versus 48 h fasted mice receiving either sham or leptin treatment intraperitoneally. Five hundred twenty-seven PVN-expressed genes were altered by fasting in a manner that was at least partially reversible by leptin. Consistent with previous reports, thyrotrophin releasing hormone mRNA levels were decreased by fasting but restored to fed levels with leptin treatment. mRNA levels of oxytocin, vasopressin, and somatostatin were also reduced by fasting and restored by leptin. Given the known effects of leptin on synaptic remodeling, it is notable that, among the top 15 genes that were positively regulated by leptin, five have been implicated in synaptic function and/or plasticity (basigin, apolipoprotein E, Gap43, GABAA receptor-associated protein, and synuclein-γ). Pathway analysis identified oxidative phosphorylation, in particular, genes encoding complex 1 proteins that play a role in ubiquinone biosynthesis, to be the predominant gene set that was significantly regulated in a leptin-dependent manner. Thus, in addition to its effects on the expression of a broad range of neuropeptides, leptin may also exert more general influences on synaptic function in, and the bioenergetic state of, the PVN.
Stereo vision-based road obstacles detection

This paper presents a fast road obstacle detection system based on stereo vision. The algorithm contains three main components: road detection, obstacle detection and obstacles tracking. The road detection is achieved by using a small rectangular shape at bottom center of disparity image to extract the disparities of the road. The roadsides are located by using morphological processing and Hough transform. In the obstacle detection process, the objects can be easily located by the segmentation process. The obstacles' tracking is achieved by the discrete Kalman filter. The proposed approach has been tested on different images. The provided results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Cutting Edge: A Chemical Genetic System for the Analysis of Kinases Regulating T Cell Development 1

To understand the regulatory activities of kinases in vivo requires their study across a biologically relevant window of activity. To this end, ATP analog-sensitive kinase alleles (ASKAs) specifically sensitive to a competitive inhibitor have been developed. This article tests whether ASKA technology can be applied to complex immunological systems, such as lymphoid development. The results show that when applied to reaggregate thymic organ culture, novel p56Lck ASKAs readily expose a dose-dependent correlation of thymocyte development with a range of p56Lck activity. By regulating kinase activity, rather than amounts of RNA or protein, ASKA technology offers a general means for assessing the quantitative contributions to immunology of numerous kinases emerging from genomics analyses. It can obviate the generation of multiple lines of mice expressing different levels of kinase transgenes and should permit specific biological effects to be associated with defined biochemical activities.
Characterizing multiple independent behavioral correlates of cell firing in freely moving animals

The heterogeneous sampling of behavioral states by freely moving animals hinders our ability to relate neuronal firing rates to behavioral variables by introducing dependencies between them. We specifically consider the animal's location and orientation, although our analyses may generalize to other behavioral variables, such as speed of movement. A maximum‐likelihood approach is presented for producing estimates of the separate histograms relating firing rate to multiple independent causes. Examples show that the method can be used to avoid the artifactual behavioral correlates of place and head direction‐cell firing produced by standard analyses; to characterize the independent influences of both location and orientation in a third cell type (Cacucci et al., 2004); and to demonstrate the location‐independence of the directional firing of head‐direction cells. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.