Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Intellectual, Physical, and Social Activity on Further Prognosis in Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background Our goal was to specify the relationship between the level of activity (intellectual, physical, and social) in persons diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and the further progression of cognitive dysfunction. Material/Methods We examined 193 patients diagnosed with MCI (according to the criteria of the Working Group on Mild Cognitive Impairment) and under treatment at our Mental Disorders Clinic. It was assumed that these persons would remain under systematic psychiatric observation until dementia was diagnosed. The present study results from a seven-year observation period. The mini–mental state examination (MMSE), the Activity Scale (with the intellectual, physical, and social subscales), and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale were used to evaluate the participants’ status at baseline. The MMSE was re-administered after one year and again at the end of the observation (either upon diagnosis of dementia or after seven years). At each meeting with the participant, the clinical diagnosis was verified to determine if the patient had dementia or not. Of the 193 people initially qualified for the study, 75 were available for the final analysis. Results It was found that there was no statistically significant difference in the baseline MMSE scores between the persons with stable MCI and the persons who had progressed to dementia. However, statistically significant differences in the level of activity at baseline on both the global IADL scale and the Activity Scale between those with stable MCI and those who had progressed to dementia were found. These differences were manifested in the IADL subscales for telephone use, shopping, transportation, and personal finances, and in the physical activity subscale. Conclusions An evaluation of intellectual, physical, and social activity can be useful in determining the prognosis for the future course of MCI.
Detecting cars in aerial photographs with a hierarchy of deconvolution nets

Detecting cars in large aerial photographs can be quite a challenging task, given that cars in such datasets are often barely visible to the naked human eye. Traditional object detection algorithms fail to perform well when it comes to detecting cars under such circumstances. One would rather use context or exploit spatial relationship between different entities in the scene to narrow down the search space. We aim to do so by looking at different resolutions of the image to process context and focus on promising areas. This is done using a hierarchy of deconvolution networks with each level of the hierarchy trying to predict a heatmap of a certain resolution. We show that our architecture is able to model context implicitly and use it for finer prediction and faster search. Keywords—Object detection, Neural networks, Deconvolution nets
Sorting JPEG images at a glance

While content-based image retrieval (CBIR) has been an active research area for more than two decades, the computational overhead associated with image feature extraction is often high, making existing methods unsuitable for on-line retrieval where image features need to be extracted during the retrieval process. In this paper, we present an image retrieval algorithm for JPEG images that works in an extremely fast fashion, and is based solely on information contained in the file headers. In particular, we demonstrate that optimising the Huffman tables of JPEG files not only leads to improved compression but also allows retrieval based on the (image adapted) Huffman tables. Exploiting this leads to a retrieval method that is about 40 times faster than existing compressed domain algorithms and at least 150 times faster than common pixel-domain methods. While retrieval performance on its own does not quite match that of current techniques, the method is shown to work well as an image filter to discard a large part of a database in an efficient way. Combined with a more accurate compressed-domain retrieval algorithm it is found that retrieval time can be shortened by about 80% without sacrificing retrieval accuracy.
Improving learning implicit user interest hierarchy with variable length phrases

A continuum of general to specific interests of a user called a user interest hierarchy (UIH) represents a user’s interests at different abstraction levels. A UIH can be learned from a set of web pages visited by a user. In this paper, we focus on improving learning the UIH by adding phrases. We propose the VPF algorithm that can find variable length phrases without any user-defined parameter. To identify meaningful phrases, we examine various correlation functions with respect to well-known properties and other properties that we propose.
Fragile beliefs and the price of model uncertainty

Concerns about misspecification and an enduring model selection problem in which one of the models has long run risks give rise to countercyclical risk premia. We use two risk-sensitivity operators to construct the stochastic discount factor for a representative consumer who evaluates consumption streams in light of model selection and parameter estimation problems that can aggravate or attenuate long run risks as time passes. The arrival of signals induces the consumer to alter his posterior distribution over models and parameters. The consumer copes with specification doubts by slanting probabilities pessimistically. These pessimistic model probabilities induce model uncertainty premia that contribute a time-varying component to what is ordinarily measured as the market price of risk.
Neuronal Differentiation in Schwann Cell Lineage Underlies Postnatal Neurogenesis in the Enteric Nervous System

Elucidation of the cellular identity of neuronal precursors provides mechanistic insights into the development and pathophysiology of the nervous system. In the enteric nervous system (ENS), neurogenesis persists from midgestation to the postnatal period. Cellular mechanism underlying the long-term neurogenesis in the ENS has remained unclear. Using genetic fate mapping in mice, we show here that a subset of Schwann cell precursors (SCPs), which invades the gut alongside the extrinsic nerves, adopts a neuronal fate in the postnatal period and contributes to the ENS. We found SCP-derived neurogenesis in the submucosal region of the small intestine in the absence of vagal neural crest-derived ENS precursors. Under physiological conditions, SCPs comprised up to 20% of enteric neurons in the large intestine and gave rise mainly to restricted neuronal subtypes, calretinin-expressing neurons. Genetic ablation of Ret, the signaling receptor for glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, in SCPs caused colonic oligoganglionosis, indicating that SCP-derived neurogenesis is essential to ENS integrity. Identification of Schwann cells as a physiological neurogenic source provides novel insight into the development and disorders of neural crest-derived tissues. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Elucidating the cellular identity of neuronal precursors provides novel insights into development and function of the nervous system. The enteric nervous system (ENS) is innervated richly by extrinsic nerve fibers, but little is known about the significance of extrinsic innervation to the structural integrity of the ENS. This report reveals that a subset of Schwann cell precursors (SCPs), which invades the gut alongside the extrinsic nerves, adopts a neuronal fate and differentiates into specific neuronal subtypes. SCP-specific ablation of the Ret gene leads to colonic oligoganglionosis, demonstrating a crucial role of SCP-derived neurogenesis in ENS development. Cross-lineage differentiation capacity in SCPs suggests their potential involvement in the development and pathology of a wide variety of neural crest-derived cell types.
Slice header prediction for depth maps bit reduction

With the 3D Video (3DV) representation of multi-view video plus depth, the 3DV video can be compressed by coding the texture video and depth map independently in current H.264/MVC. This will introduce syntax redundancy between the bitstream of texture video and depth map. To remove the redundancy and improve the coding efficiency of 3D videos, a slice header prediction method is proposed in this paper. Based on the analyses of layered based coding structure and the syntax elements in slice header, the common slice header syntaxes in texture videos and depth maps are jointly coded. Experimental results demonstrate that compared with the existing method in MVC, the proposed method can achieve average and highest bitrate reduction for depth map coding by 2.95% and 7.73%, respectively.
User Preferences Modeling and Learning for Pleasing Photo Collage Generation

In this article, we consider how to automatically create pleasing photo collages created by placing a set of images on a limited canvas area. The task is formulated as an optimization problem. Differently from existing state-of-the-art approaches, we here exploit subjective experiments to model and learn pleasantness from user preferences. To this end, we design an experimental framework for the identification of the criteria that need to be taken into account to generate a pleasing photo collage. Five different thematic photo datasets are used to create collages using state-of-the-art criteria. A first subjective experiment where several subjects evaluated the collages, emphasizes that different criteria are involved in the subjective definition of pleasantness. We then identify new global and local criteria and design algorithms to quantify them. The relative importance of these criteria are automatically learned by exploiting the user preferences, and new collages are generated. To validate our framework, we performed several psycho-visual experiments involving different users. The results shows that the proposed framework allows to learn a novel computational model which effectively encodes an inter-user definition of pleasantness. The learned definition of pleasantness generalizes well to new photo datasets of different themes and sizes not used in the learning. Moreover, compared with two state-of-the-art approaches, the collages created using our framework are preferred by the majority of the users.
Peers' Segment Replacement Strategies in P2P Vod System Based On Client-Side Segmented Cache

In client-side segmented cache based P2P VOD system, statically cached video files in peers' disks can efficiently improve data acquisition rate. However, since disk space in a single peer is very limited, it becomes a key problem to design reasonable strategies for replacing those data segments. We start at studying the three VOD system models, and analyze the necessity of utilizing segmented storage mechanism, then focus on discussing and comparing five segment replacement strategies at client side: FIFO, LRU, LRF, EDF, and LSSF. These strategies sufficiently take local system parameters of a peer and global data distribution patterns into consideration, and manage to save high use rate, high hit rate segments in limited peers' disk space. Our experiment results indicate that, when a peer's cache size is increased from 240M to 960M, the use rate of data segments at client side rises by 36%, but the rate will rise little if continuously increasing its cache size; overall, under the same system environment, LSSF shows best performance
Effective Features for Disambiguation of Turkish Verbs

This paper summarizes the results of some experiments for finding the effective features for disambiguation of Turkish verbs. Word sense disambiguation is a current area of investigation in which verbs have the dominant role. Generally verbs have more senses than the other types of words in the average and detecting these features for verbs may lead to some improvements for other word types. In this paper we have considered only the syntactical features that can be obtained from the corpus and tested by using some famous machine learning algorithms. Keywords—Word sense disambiguation, feature selection. I. INTRODUCTION
Curbing and curing sybil attack in ad hoc network

Ad-hoc networks are an emerging area of mobile computing and an efficient paradigm for multicast communication. The security challenges faced by the network due to their inherent unique characteristics are exacerbated in case of multicast communication. Group communication in ad hoc network is susceptible to a host of outsider and insider attacks. The security solutions proposed for the outsider attack cannot be directly applied to the insider attack due to their disparate behavior. The compromise of the authenticated and trusted node in the network by Sybil attack poses serious implications. Online auction has been taken as a case study to probe the effect of Sybil attack in the multicast communication, as it supports the formation of secure group. Sybil attack is an attack where an adversary illegitimately forges the identities of the other genuine node by disabling them after launching a DoS attack on it. Iolus framework, a supporter of creation of secure multicast distribution tree with Group Security Agent (GSA) is deployed with MAODV as the underlying protocol. The impact of the compromise of the GSA in the multicast tree by Sybil attack is analyzed with Packet Delivery Ratio as the Performance metric. Theoretical based simulated graphs are presented to analyze the performance of the adhoc network in the presence and absence of Sybil attack. Existing solutions have been discussed and their limitations are addressed by tweaking them to propose a CNIRL (Compromised Node Identity Revocation List).
Risks and Population Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases Associated with Diabetes in China: A Prospective Study of 0.5 Million Adults

Background In China, diabetes prevalence is rising rapidly, but little is known about the associated risks and population burden of cardiovascular diseases. We assess associations of diabetes with major cardiovascular diseases and the relevance of diabetes duration and other modifiable risk factors to these associations. Methods and Findings A nationwide prospective study recruited 512,891 men and women aged 30–79 y between 25 June 2004 and 15 July 2008 from ten diverse localities across China. During ~7 y of follow-up, 7,353 cardiovascular deaths and 25,451 non-fatal major cardiovascular events were recorded among 488,760 participants without prior cardiovascular disease at baseline. Cox regression yielded adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) comparing disease risks in individuals with diabetes to those without. Overall, 5.4% (n = 26,335) of participants had self-reported (2.7%) or screen-detected (2.7%) diabetes. Individuals with self-reported diabetes had an adjusted HR of 2.07 (95% CI 1.90–2.26) for cardiovascular mortality. There were significant excess risks of major coronary event (2.44, 95% CI 2.18–2.73), ischaemic stroke (1.68, 95% CI 1.60–1.77), and intracerebral haemorrhage (1.24, 95% CI 1.07–1.44). Screen-detected diabetes was also associated with significant, though more modest, excess cardiovascular risks, with corresponding HRs of 1.66 (95% CI 1.51–1.83), 1.62 (95% CI 1.40–1.86), 1.48 (95% CI 1.40–1.57), and 1.17 (95% CI 1.01–1.36), respectively. Misclassification of screen-detected diabetes may have caused these risk estimates to be underestimated, whilst lack of data on lipids may have resulted in residual confounding of diabetes-associated cardiovascular disease risks. Among individuals with diabetes, cardiovascular risk increased progressively with duration of diabetes and number of other presenting modifiable cardiovascular risk factors. Assuming a causal association, diabetes now accounts for ~0.5 million (489,676, 95% CI 335,777–681,202) cardiovascular deaths annually in China. Conclusions Among Chinese adults, diabetes is associated with significantly increased risks of major cardiovascular diseases. The increasing prevalence and younger age of onset of diabetes foreshadow greater diabetes-attributable disease burden in China.
Detecting Structural Changes and Command Hierarchies in Dynamic Social Networks

Community detection in social networks varying with time is a common yet challenging problem whereby efficient visualization of evolving relationships and implicit hierarchical structure are important task. The main contribution of this paper is towards establishing a framework to analyze such social networks. The proposed framework is based on dynamic graph discretization and graph clustering.The framework allows detection of major structural changes over time, identifies events analyzing temporal dimension and reveals command hierarchies in social networks.We use the Catalano/Vidro dataset for empirical evaluation and observe that our framework provides a satisfactory assessment of the social and hierarchical structure present in the dataset.
PDGF and PDGF receptors in glioma

Abstract The family of platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) plays a number of critical roles in normal embryonic development, cellular differentiation, and response to tissue damage. Not surprisingly, as it is a multi-faceted regulatory system, numerous pathological conditions are associated with aberrant activity of the PDGFs and their receptors. As we and others have shown, human gliomas, especially glioblastoma, express all PDGF ligands and both the two cell surface receptors, PDGFR-α and -β. The cellular distribution of these proteins in tumors indicates that glial tumor cells are stimulated via PDGF/PDGFR-α autocrine and paracrine loops, while tumor vessels are stimulated via the PDGFR-β. Here we summarize the initial discoveries on the role of PDGF and PDGF receptors in gliomas and provide a brief overview of what is known in this field.
SMOKING AND PERIODONTAL DISEASE

Periodontitis is the result of complex interrelationships between infectious agents and host factors. Environmental, acquired, and genetic risk factors modify the expression of disease and may, therefore, affect the onset or progression of periodontitis. Numerous studies of the potential mechanisms whereby smoking tobacco may predispose to periodontal disease have been conducted, and it appears that smoking may affect the vasculature, the humoral immune system, and the cellular immune and inflammatory systems, and have effects throughout the cytokine and adhesion molecule network. The aim of present review is to consider the association between smoking and periodontal diseases.
TEACHERS' EFFICACY BELIEFS AND PERCEPTIONS REGARDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW PRIMARY MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM

The purpose of this study was to investigate primary school and mathematics teachers’ efficacy beliefs and perceptions in the context of the new primary mathematics curriculum in Turkey and identify differences, if any, in teachers’ efficacy beliefs and perceptions based on their area of certification, gender, and experience. The sample consisted of 805 teachers, 696 of whom were primary and 105 of whom were mathematics teachers working in elementary schools located in 5 cities of Turkey. The questionnaire administered to participants was adapted by the researchers throughout the study. The results of the MANOVA analysis indicated that teachers’ area of certification and experience had a significant role on the collective dependent variables, gender did not.
Algebraic Space-Time Code implementation in MB-OFDM UWB communications

Algebraic Space-Time Codes (ASTC) for MIMO systems are based on quaternion algebras. Thanks to their algebraic construction, the ASTC codes, called the golden codes, are full-rank, full-rate and have the non-vanishing determinant property. Proposed for MIMO flat fading channels, these codes can increase the spectral efficiency and enhance the coding gain. ASTC codes maintain their proprieties for a frequency-selective channel. The purpose of this work is to investigate the suitability and analyze the performance of the ASTC codes under Ultra-Wideband (UWB) channels as an example of a frequency and temporal-selective channels, and for a Multi-Band Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (MB-OFDM) system. The Alamouti code, which has recently been proposed in the literature for MB-OFDM UWB systems, can improve the system capacity, error performance and wireless communication range. It will be shown that ASTC code can provide significantly better error performance, compared to the conventional MB-OFDM UWB system as well as to the Alamouti MB-OFDM system, at the same data rate.
Design for dependability in emerging technologies

As current microelectronics will reach their physical limits within the foreseeable future, emerging technologies may offer a solution for maintaining the trends to increase computing performance. Biologically-inspired and quantum computing represent two emerging technology vectors for novel computing architectures within nanoelectronics. However, potential benefits will come at the cost of increased device sensitivity to the surrounding environment. This article provides a dependability perspective over these technologies from a designer's standpoint. Maintaining or increasing the dependability of unconventional computational processes is discussed in two different contexts, a bio-inspired computing architecture (the Embryonics project) and a quantum computational architecture (the QUERIST project).
Link-based Approach to Web Service Discovery

 Abstract —The requirement of automated web service discovery arises in many Service Oriented Computing applications. According to the unique characteristics of rapidly growing huge number of web services over Internet and the various standards in which the services are being described which make automated service discovery challenging and cumbersome task, a study has been made to check whether link based approaches can be employed to extract the context of a web service and to find similar services during discovery. Initial results with typical data set show that a back-link based approach can very well be used to extract service context and improve the efficiency of service discovery by providing context information. Secondly, a backward or reverse approach is used to check the applicability of simple co-citation algorithm in finding similarity among web services. With a typical similar set of services, the ‘recall’ and number of false positives of the proposed method is 22.2% and 1. The observed false positive is due to the fact that some of the back-links pointing to services might be hub pages and those should not be considered for similarity during matching. With this resolution, number of false positives is 0. The number of false negatives is found as 0 as expected. Though the recall seems to be low as compared to a typical full key word matching method which has a recall of 88.8%, the back-links of services may be used in finding best referrers. It is claimed here that the best referrers might be used for filtering of discovered services based on hub score.
Campaign Advertising and Voter Welfare

This paper investigates the role of campaign advertising and the opportunity of legal restrictions on it. An electoral race is modeled as a signalling game with three classes of players: a continuum of voters, two candidates, and one interest group. The group has non-verifiable insider information on the candidates' valence and, on the basis of this information, offers a contribution to each candidate in exchange for a favorable policy position. Candidates spend the contributions they receive on non-directly informative advertising. This paper shows that: (1) A separating equilibrium exists in which the group contributes to a candidate only if the insider information about that candidate is positive; (2) Although voters are fully rational, a ban on campaign advertising can be welfare-improving; and (3) Split contributions may arise in equilibrium (and should be prohibited).