Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FACE RELIGHTING FOR FACE RECOGNTION UNDER GENERIC ILLUMINATION

The performance of current face recognition systems suffers heavily from the variations in lighting. To deal with this problem, this paper presents a novel illumination normalization approach by relighting faces to a canonical illumination based on harmonic images. Benefit from the observations that the human faces share similar shape and the albedo of the face surface is quasi-constant, we first estimate the nine low-frequency components of the lighting from the input face image. Then the face image is normalized by relighting it to canonical illumination based on illumination ratio image. For face recognition purpose, two kinds of canonical illumination, uniform and frontal point lighting, are considered, among which the former encodes merely texture information, while the latter encodes both texture and shading information. Our experimental results show that the proposed relighting normalization can significantly improve the performance of a face recognition system.
Repetition suppression of face‐selective evoked and induced EEG recorded from human cortex

In functional MRI studies, repetition suppression refers to the reduction of hemodynamic activation to repeated stimulus presentation. For example, the repeated presentation of a face reduces the hemodynamic response evoked by faces in the fusiform gyrus. The neural events that underlie repetition suppression are not well understood. Indeed, in contrast to the hemodynamic response, the face‐specific N200 recorded from subdural electrodes on the ventral occipitotemporal cortex, primarily along the fusiform gyrus, has been reported to be insensitive to face‐identity repetition. We have previously described a face‐specific broadband gamma (30–100 Hz) response at ventral face‐specific N200 sites that is functionally dissociable from the N200. In this study, we investigate whether gamma and other components of the electroencephalogram spectrum are affected by face‐identity repetition independently of the N200. Participants viewed sequentially presented identical faces. At sites on and around the fusiform gyrus, we found that face repetition modulated alpha (8–12 Hz), low‐gamma (30–60 Hz), and high‐gamma (60–100 Hz) synchrony, but not the N200. These findings provide evidence of a spatially co‐localized progression of face processing. Whereas the N200 reflects an initial obligatory response that is less sensitive to face‐identity repetition, the subsequent spectral fluctuations reflect more elaborative face processing and are thus sensitive to face novelty. It is notable that the observed modulations were different for different frequency bands. We observed repetition suppression of broadband gamma, but repetition enhancement of alpha synchrony. This difference is discussed with regard to an existing model of repetition suppression and behavioral repetition priming. Hum Brain Mapp 35:4155–4162, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Estradiol-to-testosterone ratio is associated with response to metformin treatment in women with clomiphene citrate-resistant polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

BACKGROUND To investigate intrinsic alterations in ovarian steroidogenesis in women with clomiphene citrate (CC)-resistant polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who ovulated after metformin treatment. METHODS Fifty-six women of reproductive age (18-40 years) diagnosed with CC-resistant PCOS received metformin for 12 weeks. If ovulation was successfully induced by CC after metformin treatment, the women were classified as responders. Circulating levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol (E2), testosterone (T), free testosterone (freeT), fasting insulin and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were determined at weeks 0, 4 and 12 of metformin treatment. RESULTS Thirty-seven women with CC-resistant PCOS finished the treatment course. There were no significant differences in circulating levels of FSH, E2, T, freeT and fasting insulin at weeks 0, 4, and 12 between responders and nonresponders. At week 4, responders showed significantly higher LH levels and higher LH/FSH ratios than non-responders (p < 0.005 and p < 0.05, respectively). After the 12-week treatment, responders demonstrated higher serum E2/T ratios and lower freeT levels than non-responders (p < 0.05 and p < 0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that in women with CC-resistant PCOS, elevated E2/T is associated with a better response to metformin.
Discussing prognosis with patients and their families near the end of life: impact on satisfaction with end-of-life care

Background Seriously ill patients and their physicians often avoid discussing prognosis, which may compromise optimal end-of-life (EOL) care planning. The relation between prognosis discussion and patient and family satisfaction with EOL care is unknown. Methods Using a 5-domain questionnaire, we surveyed inpatients with cancer or end-stage medical disease and their families on their satisfaction with specific aspects of EOL care and their overall satisfaction with EOL care. Scores were standardized to 0–100 points. We compared the results based on whether or not a physician had discussed the patient’s prognosis with them, as well as on whether the patient and family member agreed on whether the patient was nearing the end of life. Supplementary questions were also asked (e.g., preferred location of death, willingness to discuss cardiopulmonary resuscitation). Results Of 569 eligible patients and 176 eligible family members, 440 (77%) patients and 160 (91%) family members participated in the study. Overall, 18% of patients and 30.1% of families recalled a prognosis discussion with a physician. Patients who recalled such a discussion were more satisfied with overall care (76.1 v. 73.1 points, difference 3.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.40 to 5.67, p = 0.02) and with communication and decision-making aspects of care (77.9 v. 72.4 points, difference 5.5, 95% CI 1.43 to 9.52, p = 0.008), and were more willing to discuss cardiopulmonary resuscitation status (69.6% v. 55.3%, difference 14.3, 95% CI 2.15 to 26.45, p = 0.03), than those who did not. Patients who were in accord with their family member as to whether they were nearing the end of life also showed significant satisfaction in these 3 areas. Family members’ overall satisfaction was also higher among those who recalled a prognosis discussion (75.3 v. 70.4 points, difference 4.9, 95% CI 0.53 to 9.24, p = 0.03). Multivariate analyses confirmed the significance of the relation between the prognosis discussion and overall satisfaction with care for both patients and family members. Conclusion Although discussions about prognosis occur infrequently for patients who have advanced terminal disease, such discussions with patients and their families may facilitate advance care planning and improve satisfaction with EOL care. Encouraging discussion regarding EOL status between the patient and family members may also lead to greater satisfaction with EOL care for patients.
Entamoeba histolytica Induces Cell Death of HT29 Colonic Epithelial Cells via NOX1-Derived ROS

Entamoeba histolytica, which causes amoebic colitis and occasionally liver abscess in humans, is able to induce host cell death. However, signaling mechanisms of colon cell death induced by E. histolytica are not fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated the signaling role of NOX in cell death of HT29 colonic epithelial cells induced by E. histolytica. Incubation of HT29 cells with amoebic trophozoites resulted in DNA fragmentation that is a hallmark of apoptotic cell death. In addition, E. histolytica generate intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a contact-dependent manner. Inhibition of intracellular ROS level with treatment with DPI, an inhibitor of NADPH oxidases (NOXs), decreased Entamoeba-induced ROS generation and cell death in HT29 cells. However, pan-caspase inhibitor did not affect E. histolytica-induced HT29 cell death. In HT29 cells, catalytic subunit NOX1 and regulatory subunit Rac1 for NOX1 activation were highly expressed. We next investigated whether NADPH oxidase 1 (NOX1)-derived ROS is closely associated with HT29 cell death induced by E. histolytica. Suppression of Rac1 by siRNA significantly inhibited Entamoeba-induced cell death. Moreover, knockdown of NOX1 by siRNA, effectively inhibited E. histolytica-triggered DNA fragmentation in HT29 cells. These results suggest that NOX1-derived ROS is required for apoptotic cell death in HT29 colon epithelial cells induced by E. histolytica.
The origin of the Afrikaans pronunciation: a comparison to West Germanic languages and Dutch dialects

This paper aims to find the origin of the Afrikaans pronunciation with the use of dialectometry. First, Afrikaans was compared to Standard Dutch, Standard Frisian and Standard German. Pronunciation distances were measured by means of Levenshtein distances. Afrikaans was found to be closest to Standard Dutch. Second, the Afrikaans pronunciation was compared to 361 Dutch dialect varieties in the Netherlands and North-Belgium. Material from the Reeks Nederlandse Dialectatlassen was used. Afrikaans was found to be closest to the South Holland variety of Zoetermeer, which largely agrees with Kloeke (1950, Herkomst en Groei van het Afrikaans).
Benchmark design for characterization of balanced high-performance architectures

We describe the design and MPI implementation of two benchmarks created to characterize the balanced system performance of high-performance clusters and supercomputers. We start with a communication-specific benchmark, called b eff that characterizes the message passing performance of a system. Following the same line of development, we extend this work to the design and implementation of the effective I/O bandwidth benchmark (b eff io). Both of these benchmarks have two goals: a) to obtain a single bandwidth number that characterizes the average performance of the system namely processor communication for b eff, and the I/O subsystem for b eff io, and b) to get a detailed insight into the performance strengths and weaknesses of different parallel communication and I/O patterns. Both benchmarks use a time-driven approach and loop over a variety of communication and access patterns to characterize a system in a fairly automated fashion. Results of the two benchmarks are given for several systems including IBM SPs, Cray T3E, NEC SX-5, and Hitachi SR 8000.
Who Would You Like to Work With?

People and organizations are increasingly using online platforms to assemble teams. In response, HCI researchers have theorized frameworks and created systems to support team assembly. However, little is known about how users search for and choose teammates on these platforms. We conducted a field study where 530 participants used a team formation system to assemble project teams. We describe how users' traits and social networks influence their teammate searches, teammate choices, and team composition. Our results show that (a) what users initially search for differs from what they finally choose: initially they search for experts and sociable users, but they are ultimately more likely to choose their prior social connections as their teammates; (b) users' decisions lead to non-diverse and segregated teams, where most of the expertise and social capital are concentrated in a few teams. We discuss the implications of these results for designing team formation systems than promote users' agency.
Analyzing Compute vs. Storage Tradeoff for Video-aware Storage Efficiency

Video content is quite unique from its storage footprint perspective. In a video distribution environment, a master video file needs to be transcoded into different resolutions, bitrates, codecs and containers to enable distribution to a wide variety of devices and media players over different kinds of networks. Our experiments show that when 8 master videos are transcoded into most popular 376 formats (derived from 8 resolutions and 6 containers), transcoded versions occupy 8 times more storage than the master video. One major challenge with efficiently storing such content is that traditional de-duplication algorithms cannot detect significant duplication between any 2 versions. Transcoding on-the-fly is a technique in which a distribution copy is created only when requested by a user. This technique saves storage but at the expense of extra compute cost and latency resulting from transcoding after a user request is received. In this paper we develop cost metrics that allow us to compare storage vs. compute costs and suggest when a transcoding on-the-fly solution can be cost effective. We also analyze how such a solution can be deployed in a practical storage system using access pattern information or a variant of ski-rent [1] online algorithm when such information is not available.
Investigating the Early Stages of Person Perception: The Asymmetry of Social Categorization by Sex vs. Age

Early perceptual operations are central components of the dynamics of social categorization. The wealth of information provided by facial cues presents challenges to our understanding of these early stages of person perception. The current study aimed to uncover the dynamics of processing multiply categorizable faces, notably as a function of their gender and age. Using a modified four-choice version of a mouse-tracking paradigm (which assesses the relative dominance of two categorical dimensions), the relative influence that sex and age have on each other during categorization of infant, younger adult, and older adult faces was investigated. Results of these experiments demonstrate that when sex and age dimensions are simultaneously categorized, only for infant faces does age influence sex categorization. In contrast, the sex of both young and older adults was shown to influence age categorization. The functional implications of these findings are discussed in light of previous person perception research.
Harmonizing music memories as a part of life story

When the meanings of music education are explored, the clear significance of music as a part of civilization and culture is often mentioned. Indeed, music also has a strong instrumental meaning as it offers harmonizing cultural experiences through the memories and imaginings that remain throughout life, reminding the listener of important interactions, people, and experiences. These experiences are interwoven in many ways with identity and its construction. Important music experiences follow everyone from childhood to old age. Songs from childhood can even have an impact on old people’s memories and strengthen their quality of life and feelings of coherence, especially if they are affected by dementia or other memory illnesses. This article is based on 217 stories that respondents wrote about music experiences connected to important experiences in life. The themes of the stories were handled through content analysis and they focus on changes in human life phases and the problems of growing up. These changes are characterized by smooth periods interspersed with traumatic periods where music has significantly helped in the processing of the life problems. From the music education point of view, the results stress the special meaning of experimental music listening as a promoter of pupils’ personality and emotional life.
Numerical study of the acoustic streaming and mean excess pressure produced in a small gap between a vibrating surface and a thin boundary

In this paper, a circular plane piston located horizontally and immersed in water is considered, and a rigid pipe is assumed to be placed vertically with its lower end very closed to the vibrating surface. The general objective of the work has been to investigate the acoustic streaming produced in the gap between the piston and the lower end of the pipe, and to study the associated spatial distribution of the mean excess pressure in the fluid and the flow of mass. For this purpose, the classical finite-difference time-domain method has been implemented, and the complete equations of conservation of mass and conservation of momentum were used together with the state equation to a second order approximation for an adiabatic process. Thermal effects were neglected to simplify the problem. The obtained numerical results illustrate the applicability of the method. The simulations show that a net flow of mass is produced in the gap between the piston and the end of the tube. The results illustrate the dependence of the flow on the size of the gap, the thickness of the wall of the pipe, and its inner radius.
A Primal-Dual Parallel Approximation Technique Applied to Weighted Set and Vertex Covers

We give an efficient deterministic parallel approximation algorithm for the minimum-weight vertex- and set-cover problems and their duals (edge/element packing). The algorithm is simple and suitable for distributed implementation. It fits no existing paradigm for fast, efficient parallel algorithms-it uses only "local" information at each step, yet is deterministic. (Generally, such algorithms have required randomization.) The result demonstrates that linear-programming primal-dual approximation techniques can lead to fast, efficient parallel algorithms. The presentation does not assume knowledge of such techniques.
An Aerial Vision Platform for Acquiring Situational Awareness

Abstract In times of disaster acquiring aerial images is chal-lenging. Runways may be crippled thus denying con-ventional aircraft in the area from taking oﬀ. Also thetime required to schedule a satellite ﬂy-by may delayﬁrst response eﬀorts. Man backpackable aerial robotscan be carried close to the disaster site and ﬂown tocapture aerial images. This paper integrates mecha-tronics, intelligent sensing, and mechanism synthesisin a teleoperable kite-mounted camera. Rapidly de-ployable, transportable by foot, easy to ﬂy and aﬀord-able, our system can quickly acquire, process and dis-tribute aerial images. Image mosaicing, edge detec-tion, 3D reconstruction and geo-referencing resultingfrom images acquired by our aerial platform are alsopresented. 1 Introduction Providing command and control (C2) teams with anadditional viewpoint of a disaster scene from the airwould supplement their capabilities. Aerial imagespresent useful information that might not be seenfrom someone on the ground such as the extent ofdamage, structural integrity of buildings and bridges,and ingress and egress routes to the site and nearbyhospitals, respectively. However, in a disaster sit-uation, most of the familiar methods for acquiringaerial images are eliminated. Runways, bridges orhelipads can be crippled, destroyed or blocked thusdenying access by conventional aircraft or road vehi-cles. Satellites can provide high resolution images,but reprogramming them for a ﬂy-by introduces un-necessary delays in the mitigation eﬀort. UnmannedAerial Vehicles (UAVs), like those used in Iraq andAfghanistan for surveillance, usually require a highlytrained teleoperator. Finally, remote controlled air-craft demands there be a line-of-sight path betweenthe operator and the vehicle at all times which isnot feasible in urban environments. Thus, in disas-ter mitigation and urban search-and-rescue (USAR)environments, an aerial image acquisition and distri-bution system is needed that is rapidly deployable,backpackable, lightweight, and easily controllable.The future of aerial robots possesses vast capabili-ties, but current prototypes have several limitations.Lighter-than-air vehicles, like blimps [9], cannot berapidly deployed. The helium would be backpack-able, but inﬂation time would seem endless since thebuoyancy force of helium is . 064 lbs/ft
Architectural overview of the SPEAKeasy system

SPEAKeasy is a successful implementation of a software-defined radio (SDR) for military applications. It permits general-purpose digital hardware to communicate over a wide range of frequencies, modulation techniques, data encoding methods, cryptographic types, and other communication parameters. The background of SDRs for military and commercial needs is discussed, and the SPEAKeasy architecture is defined.
4-port Butler matrix for switched multibeam antenna array

This paper introduced the 4/spl times/4 Butler matrix as the beamforming network combined with 4 linear antenna arrays to produce four narrow steerable beams. The designed was aimed for resonance frequency 900 MHz in application of GSM base station transmitter. The position of radiation patterns achieved by this project then compared with the theoretical calculation and simulation using the PCAAD simulation. The resultants of signal strength by four beams were indicated low level that may caused by loss factor to the components used.
A Cooperative and Adaptive System for Caching Web Service Responses in MANETs

This paper proposes a new model for caching Web service response data in a mobile ad hoc network (MANET). The aim is to enable any node joining the ad hoc network to either contribute services to other nodes or to consume services offered by other nodes. This model attempts to coordinate the service discovery and service use processes while maintaining minimal communication among nodes. The system comprises proxy caches (PCs), for acting as the interface to remote Web services and the internally cached service responses, request directories (RDs)for caching the cache keys that act as indexes to the responses, and finally, the caching nodes (CNs) that cache the responses. The CNs are the mobile nodes that requested the cached responses while the RDs are the ones that store the cache keys generated from the submitted requests and hold pointers to the CNs that store the responses. The PCs, RDs, and CNs are added (assigned) based on need according to capability criteria. Experimental results show the superiority of the system over non-caching and illustrate its performance in terms of delay and load versus hit ratio, which is a function of the system's caching capacity
Optimal separation of polarized signals by quaternionic neural networks

Statistical description of polarized signals is proposed in terms of proper quaternionic random processes. Within this framework, the intrinsic nature of such signals is captured well. Simulation results show the ability of quaternionic approach (statistical model and processing) to perform better separation of polarized signals than real-valued neural networks can do.
Biofilm formation by Candida species on the surface of catheter materials in vitro

A model system for studying Candida biofilms growing on the surface of small discs of catheter material is described. Biofilm formation was determined quantitatively by a colorimetric assay involving reduction of a tetrazolium salt or by [3H]leucine incorporation; both methods gave excellent correlation with biofilm dry weight (r = 0.997 and 0.945, respectively). Growth of Candida albicans biofilms in medium containing 500 mM galactose or 50 mM glucose reached a maximum after 48 h and then declined; however, the cell yield was lower in low-glucose medium. Comparison of biofilm formation by 15 different isolates of C. albicans failed to reveal any correlation with pathogenicity within this group, but there was some correlation with pathogenicity when different Candida species were tested. Isolates of C. parapsilosis (Glasgow), C. pseudotropicalis, and C. glabrata all gave significantly less biofilm growth (P < 0.001) than the more pathogenic C. albicans. Evaluation of various catheter materials showed that biofilm formation by C. albicans was slightly increased on latex or silicone elastomer (P < 0.05), compared with polyvinyl chloride, but substantially decreased on polyurethane or 100% silicone (P < 0.001). Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that after 48 h, C. albicans biofilms consisted of a dense network of yeasts, germ tubes, pseudohyphae, and hyphae; extracellular polymeric material was visible on the surfaces of some of these morphological forms. Our model system is a simple and convenient method for studying Candida biofilms and could be used for testing the efficacy of antifungal agents against biofilm cells.