Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Region-Based Rate Control and Bit Allocation for Video Coding

In this paper, we propose adopts a fast but effective block-based segmentation method to extract the regions of interest. Distributing bit allocation methods depends on the region/content-based, which directly control bit allocation among different regions so as to achieve better visual quality in the regions of interest. Our algorithm can effectively enhance the perceptual quality for the regions of interest. Simulation results are presented, using the silent yuvsequences, which show reconstructed images of better quality, as well as signal-to-noise ratio improvements of about 3.1 dB, compared to those achieved by standard h.264 encoders.
EXPERIMENTS ON SPAM DETECTION WITH BOOSTING , SVM AND NAIVE BAYES

For this project, I implement 3 popular text classification algorithms on spam detection, namely AdaBoost, Support Vector Machines and Naive Bayes. The performance are evaluated on some testing datasets. All experiments are done in Matlab. The experimental result is, all 3 algorithms have a satisfactory performance on spam detection. In term of accuracy, Adaboost has the best error bound. On the other hand Naive Bayes and SVM are superior on training and classification speed. In term of overall performance, Naive Bayes is an ideal algorithm for spam detection.
Cross‐cultural study of Asian and European student perception: The need to understand the changing educational environment in New Zealand

Purpose – The paper seeks to explore educational objectives and attitudes to assessment methods between Chinese and New Zealand European students.Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual framework developed from the literature and feedback from the pilot study, explains the impact of factors on curriculum development in this study. This conceptual framework was designed to give preliminary insights into the subject area and form the basis of the research. Curriculum development and teaching style are seen as the product of cultural impact. The cultural impact is made up of factor inputs from demands made on the educational system. The prime data collection method was a self‐completion questionnaire. The population group was postgraduate management students at the Albany Campus of Massey University in New Zealand.Findings – The responses from 110 postgraduate students in management studies at the Albany Campus of Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand, suggest that there is a relationship between cul.
Initial Vancomycin Dosing in Pediatric Oncology and Stem Cell Transplant Patients

Background Gram-positive bacteremia is a common infection in pediatric oncology and stem cell transplant (SCT) patients requiring therapy with vancomycin. Optimal dosing of vancomycin in this patient population has not been well established. Methods All pediatric oncology and SCT patients receiving vancomycin between October 2006 and March 2007 were included in this study. Therapeutic levels were defined as levels between 10 and 15 mg/dL and low therapeutic levels were between 5 and 9 mg/dL. Information regarding any recent or concurrent nephrotoxic medications was collected. Results Fifty-six patients received 82 courses of vancomycin during the study period. More patients (53.7%) received vancomycin for empiric therapy and 78% had recent or concurrent use of nephrotoxic medications. Using standardized vancomycin dosing guided by a computerized provider order entry system, there were significantly more patients who were in the subtherapeutic range than the supratherapeutic range (P=0.0023). There were also significantly more patients in the low therapeutic than the therapeutic range (P<0.0001). A small number of courses (3.5%) were associated with supratherapeutic levels. There was no association between the concurrent or recent use of nephrotoxic medications and vancomycin levels. Conclusions Pediatric oncology and SCT patients with normal renal function require higher daily vancomycin doses than other pediatric patients.
Habilidades sociales preescolares: una escala para niños de contextos de pobreza

Las habilidades sociales son parte esencial de la actividad humana. Estas inciden en la autoestima, la adopcion de roles, la autorregulacion del comportamiento y el rendimiento academico, entre otros aspectos. Este trabajo presenta el proceso de construccion y validacion de una Escala de Habilidades Sociales para ninos preescolares. Se aplico la escala a 318 padres de ninos de 3 a 5 anos de NSE bajo asistentes a Centros de Atencion Primaria de Salud en San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina. Se diseno un protocolo distinto para cada grupo de edad, considerando las caracteristicas evolutivas y contextuales vinculadas al proceso de adquisicion de habilidades sociales. El resultado fue una escala con caracteristicas psicometricas de validez y confiabilidad. La validacion de estos instrumentos es de gran utilidad para la evaluacion de ninos en contextos empobrecidos pues permiten discriminar recursos sociales que facilitan su adaptacion.
Tensorlines: advection-diffusion based propagation through diffusion tensor fields

Tracking linear features through tensor field datasets is an open research problem with widespread utility in medical and engineering disciplines. Existing tracking methods, which consider only the preferred local diffusion direction as they propagate, fail to accurately follow features as they enter regions of local complexity. This shortcoming is a result of partial voluming; that is, voxels in these regions often contain contributions from multiple features. These combined contributions result in ambiguities when deciding local primary feature orientation based solely on the preferred diffusion direction. We introduce a novel feature extraction method which we term tensorline propagation. Our method resolves the above ambiguity by incorporating information about the nearby orientation of the feature, as well as the anisotropic classification of the local tensor. The nearby orientation information is added in the spirit of an advection term in a standard diffusion based propagation technique, and has the effect of stabilizing the tracking. To demonstrate the efficacy of tensorlines, we apply this method to the neuroscience problem of tracking white-matter bundles within the brain.
OtoPittan: A Music Recommendation System for Making Impressive Videos

The impression of a video changes depending on the audio and visual content of the video. Adding appropriate background music to a video is an important process for making the video more impressive. In this paper, we present a system called OtoPittan which recommends background music for video based on the valence and arousal model. As input for the system, first a user registers a video with no background music, and then inputs a desired impression by setting the valence and the arousal level. The system recommends music clips as candidates of background music for the video. Recommended music clips are determined by minimizing the difference between the desired impression and the predicted impression calculated from the audio features of each candidate music and the visual features of the registered video. We have confirmed that with the proposed system users can quickly create videos giving desired impressions.
Scalability of Optical Interconnects Based on Microring Resonators

This letter investigates the use of optical microring resonators as switching elements (SEs) in large optical interconnection fabrics. We introduce a simple physical-layer model to assess scalability in crossbar- and Benes-based architectures. We also propose a new dilated SE that improves scalability to build fabrics of several terabits per second of aggregate capacity.
Role Of Hippocampal Neurogenesis In The Etiology And Treatment Of Mood & Anxiety Disorders

Mood disorders are associated with deficits in hippocampal size and function. Neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus has been implicated in the behavioral efficacy of some antidepressants. However, the precise function of newborn hippocampal neurons in the etiology and treatment of mood disorders remains unclear. Anxiety, which is highly comorbid with mood disorders, also appears to be influenced by neurogenesis. The intricacies of this influence are poorly understood. Here, the role of neurogenesis in the pathophysiology and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders is investigated in a transgenic mouse exhibiting partial suppression of hippocampal neurogenesis. This reduction is induced by hippocampal microinjection of a Cre-expressing adeno-associated virus to delete ATR, a cell cycle checkpoint kinase, from the hippocampus of adult mice. Subsequent to hippocampal ATR deletion, behavior is examined in mouse models of anxiety, depressive-like behavior, antidepressant efficacy, and susceptibility to stress. In addition, the necessity of heightened neurogenesis in exercise-induced anxiety is examined. ATR deletion resulted in an anhedonic phenotype in a sucrose drinking task but did not increase the likelihood of developing behavioral despair in the learned helplessness paradigm. Furthermore, mice lacking hippocampal ATR exhibited reduced anxiety in a number of behavioral tests. In the novelty-induced hypophagia task, the ability of chronic antidepressants to alleviate hyponeophagia was absent in ATR-deleted mice, and this effect was linked to an attenuation of the ability of chronic antidepressants to stimulate dendritic spine density. Finally, ATR deletion attenuated the neurogenic effect of voluntary wheel running, and concurrently blocked some of the anxiogenic effects of wheel running. In conclusion, neurogenesis appears to be an essential regulator of behaviors indicative of mood and anxiety disorders. These observations contribute to the body of work investigating the etiology and treatment of mood disorders for the purpose of guiding pharmaceutical drug discovery towards the eventual identification of antidepressant compounds with greater efficacy and fewer side effects. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Pharmacology First Advisor Dr. Julie A. Blendy
Microarray Analysis of Natural Socially Regulated Plasticity in Circadian Rhythms of Honey Bees

Honey bee workers care for (“nurse”) the brood around the clock without circadian rhythmicity, but then they forage outside with strong circadian rhythms and a consolidated nightly rest. This chronobiological plasticity is associated with variation in the expression of the canonical “clock genes” that regulate the circadian clock: nurse bees show no brain rhythms of expression, while foragers do. These results suggest that the circadian system is organized differently in nurses and foragers. Nurses switch to activity with circadian rhythms shortly after being removed from the hive, suggesting that at least some clock cells in their brain continue to measure time while in the hive. We performed a microarray genome-wide survey to determine general patterns of brain gene expression in nurses and foragers sampled around the clock. We found 160 and 541 transcripts that exhibited significant sinusoidal oscillations in nurses and foragers, respectively, with peaks of expression distributed throughout the day in both task groups. Consistent with earlier studies, transcripts of genes involved in circadian rhythms, including Clockwork Orange that has not been studied before in bees, oscillated in foragers but not in nurses. The oscillating transcripts also were enriched for genes involved in the visual system, “development” and “response to stimuli” (foragers), “muscle contraction” and “microfilament motor gene expression” (nurses), and “generation of precursor metabolites” and “energy” (both). Transcripts of genes encoding P450 enzymes oscillated in both nurses and foragers but with a different phase. This study identified new putative clock-controlled genes in the honey bee and suggests that some brain functions show circadian rhythmicity even in nurse bees that are active around the clock.
OntoRefiner, a user query refinement interface usable for Semantic Web Portals

We present a user interface, the OntoRefiner system, for helping the user to navigate numerous retrieved documents after a search querying a semantic portal which integrates a very important number of documents. Retrieved answers are filtered and the user could be provided only with the answers which are, according to him, the most relevant. The refinement process is based on two technologies, dynamic clustering close to Galois lattice structure combined to the use of a domain ontology. The Galois lattice structure provides a sound basis for the query refinement process. However, its construction as a whole is a very costly process. So, we propose an approach based on the use of a domain ontology, avoiding the construction of the whole Galois lattice. In the paper, we present the algorithm and experimental results.
Cognitive-behavioral processes distinguishing normal from pathological experiences across anxiety and mood disorders

Several cognitive, behavioral, and emotional experiences are found across healthy and clinical populations and across distinct diagnostic categories. The present research was aimed at identifying processes (e.g., functional impairment, perfectionism, unwanted thought) that may operate across disorders to differentiate normal from abnormal experiences or increase risk for anxiety or mood symptoms. In Study 1, individuals diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), non-GAD high worriers, and normal worriers completed measures of perceived functioning and performance standards. Widespread functional impairments were reported both by individuals with GAD and by non-GAD high worriers. However, only non-GAD high worriers showed elevated performance standards, suggesting that different processes may account for the functional impairments perceived by these groups (i.e., recognition of diminished personal functioning versus inflated standards). Study 2 tested the association of appraisals of worried, ruminative, and obsessional thoughts to outcomes assessed concurrently and at 1-month follow-up. Across thought types, negative and positive appraisals were cross-sectionally associated with greater negative outcomes; positive appraisals were further associated with greater positive outcomes. Negative and positive appraisals of worry and rumination were also associated with increased negative outcomes at follow-up. These results suggest several similarities across thought types in the relationship between appraisals and outcomes, providing support for further transdiagnostic study of these processes. In Study 3, healthy participants were randomly assigned to receive negative, normalizing, or no feedback about their worried, ruminative, and obsessional thoughts to test the hypothesis that negative appraisals would lead to negative outcomes across thought types. Individuals' preexisting beliefs about thoughts were also expected to predict outcomes, both alone and in interaction with experimental condition. Unexpectedly, individuals in the Negative Feedback condition reported less negative outcomes than those in the other conditions, but these results were qualified by an interaction between preexisting beliefs and experimental condition across all thought types. These results suggest that preexisting negative beliefs about different forms of unwanted thought function as a cognitive vulnerability in interaction with specific stressors. Collectively, these studies suggest several features that may operate transdiagnostically to increase risk for symptom development or to differentiate normal from abnormal experiences of anxiety and depression. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Psychology First Advisor Ayelet Meron Ruscio This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn. edu/edissertations/755
Explanation-Aware Maintenance of Distributed Case-Based Reasoning Systems

This paper is a thesis proposal and describes the idea of an integrated, explanation-aware maintenance approach for distributed case-based reasoning systems. We describe the related work and the foundations our own research will base on and the derived research goals for the dissertation. We describe in detail the integration of several existing approaches with our ideas to develop a methodology and maintenance strategy for distributed case-based reasoning systems.
Circulating Tumor Cells Predict Survival in Early Average-to-High Risk Breast Cancer Patients

Background Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been shown to predict reduced survival outcomes in metastatic breast cancer. Methods CTCs were analyzed in 2026 patients with early breast cancer before adjuvant chemotherapy and in 1492 patients after chemotherapy using the CellSearch System. After immuno-magnetic enrichment for cells expressing the epithelial-cell adhesion molecule, CTCs were defined as nucleated cells expressing cytokeratin and lacking CD45. The patients were followed for a median of 35 months (range = 0–54). Kaplan–Meier analyses and the log-rank test were used for survival analyses. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results Before chemotherapy, CTCs were detected in 21.5% of patients (n = 435 of 2026), with 19.6% (n = 136 of 692) of node-negative and 22.4% (n = 299 of 1334) of node-positive patients showing CTCs (P < .001). No association was found with tumor size, grading, or hormone receptor status. After chemotherapy, 22.1% of patients (n = 330 of 1493) were CTC positive. The presence of CTCs was associated with poor disease-free survival (DFS; P < .0001), distant DFS (P < .001), breast cancer-specific survival (P = .008), and overall survival (OS; P = .0002). CTCs were confirmed as independent prognostic markers in multivariable analysis for DFS (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.11; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.49 to 2.99; P < .0001) and OS (HR = 2.18; 95% CI = 1.32 to 3.59; P = .002). The prognosis was worst in patients with at least five CTCs per 30mL blood (DFS: HR = 4.51, 95% CI = 2.59 to 7.86; OS: HR = 3.60, 95% CI = 1.56 to 8.45). The presence of persisting CTCs after chemotherapy showed a negative influence on DFS (HR = 1.12; 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.25; P = .02) and on OS (HR = 1.16; 95% CI = 0.99 to 1.37; P = .06) Conclusions These results suggest the independent prognostic relevance of CTCs both before and after adjuvant chemotherapy in a large prospective trial of patients with primary breast cancer.
Plan Explainability and Predictability for Cobots

Robots are becoming pervasive in human populated environments. A desirable capability of these robots (cobots) is to respond to goal-oriented commands by autonomously constructing plans. However, such autonomy can add significant cognitive load and even potentially introduce safety risks to the humans when robots choose their plans unexpectedly. As a result, for cobots to be more helpful, one important requirement is for them to synthesize plans that do not {\it surprise} the humans. While there are previous works that studied socially acceptable robots which discuss ``natural ways'' for cobots to interact with humans, there still lacks a general solution, especially for cobots that can construct their own plans. In this paper, we introduce the notions of plan {\it explainability} and {\it predictability}. To compute these measures, first, we postulate that humans understand robot plans by associating high level tasks with robot actions, which can be considered as a labeling process. We learn the labeling scheme of humans for robot plans from training examples using conditional random fields (CRFs). Then, we use the learned model to label a new plan to compute its explainability and predictability. These measures can be used by cobots to proactively choose plans, or directly incorporated into the planning process to generate plans that are more explainable and predictable. We provide an evaluation on a synthetic dataset to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.
BILATERALLY SYMMETRIC FORM OF HIRAYAMA DISEASE

BILATERALLY SYMMETRIC FORM OF HIRAYAMA DISEASE To the Editor: Dr. Pradhan1 reported bilateral symmetric involvement in 11 cases within a series of 106 patients with Hirayama disease (HirD). The iconographic information is important for the correct diagnosis of this rare form of motor neuron disease. However, the author’s suggestion that “the symmetric involvement has never been described” is incorrect. Hirayama reported a small subset of patients with symmetric atrophy and weakness on many occasions. For example, of the 333 cases analyzed in a National Japan Survey, 3.1% presented with the variant described by Pradhan.2 Other authors have reported similar cases.3,4 The diagnosis of HirD variants is difficult and diagnosis criteria are supported by laboratory and neuroimaging tests to rule out other entities.2 Identification of HirD has led to a search for labels that cover these clinical variants of HirD, including late onset, familial forms, proximal muscle involvement, and bilateral and progressive forms.5 Since the first definition of this entity as “juvenile muscular atrophy of unilateral upper extremity” was coined by Hirayama in 1959, other terms have been used to improve the definition of the different clinical variants of the disease, including “chronic segmental spinal muscular atrophy of the upper extremities,” “anterior tephromalacia,” and “O’Sullivan-McLeod syndrome. ” In addition to the anatomic abnormalities in the cervical/dural canal mentioned by the author, there are other pathogeneses of HirD. EMG observation of chronic denervation signs in the proximal muscles of all 4 limbs in at least one third of patients suggests that it may be an adult-onset diffuse lower motor neuron disease, or a clinical variant of spinal muscular atrophy with a focal symptomatology and benign course. There may also be genetic factors which play a role in the disease’s etiopathogenesis, considering the patients’ male predominance, Asian origin, and the descriptions of familial cases.
Pharmacogenomics of hypertension: a genome‐wide, placebo‐controlled cross‐over study, using four classes of antihypertensive drugs.

BACKGROUND Identification of genetic markers of antihypertensive drug responses could assist in individualization of hypertension treatment. METHODS AND RESULTS We conducted a genome-wide association study to identify gene loci influencing the responsiveness of 228 male patients to 4 classes of antihypertensive drugs. The Genetics of Drug Responsiveness in Essential Hypertension (GENRES) study is a double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study where each subject received amlodipine, bisoprolol,hydrochlorothiazide, and losartan, each as a monotherapy, in a randomized order. Replication analyses were performed in 4 studies with patients of European ancestry (PEAR Study, N=386; GERA I and II Studies, N=196 and N=198; SOPHIA Study, N=372). We identified 3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms within the ACY3 gene that showed associations with bisoprolol response reaching genome-wide significance (P<5x10(-8))however, this could not be replicated in the PEAR Study using atenolol. In addition, 39 single-nucleotide polymorphisms showed P values of 10(-5) to 10(-7). The 20 top-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms were different for each antihypertensive drug. None of these top single-nucleotide polymorphisms co-localized with the panel of >40 genes identified in genome-wide association studies of hypertension. Replication analyses of GENRES results provided suggestive evidence for a missense variant (rs3814995) in the NPHS1 (nephrin) gene influencing losartan response, and for 2 variants influencing hydrochlorothiazide response, located within or close to the ALDH1A3 (rs3825926) and CLIC5 (rs321329) genes. CONCLUSIONS These data provide some evidence for a link between biology of the glomerular protein nephrin and antihypertensive action of angiotensin receptor antagonists and encourage additional studies on aldehyde dehydrogenase–mediated reactions in antihypertensive drug action.