Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling Multimodal Clues in a Hybrid Deep Learning Framework for Video Classification

Videos are inherently multimodal. This paper studies the problem of exploiting the abundant multimodal clues for improved video classification performance. We introduce a novel hybrid deep learning framework that integrates useful clues from multiple modalities, including static spatial appearance information, motion patterns within a short time window, audio information, as well as long-range temporal dynamics. More specifically, we utilize three Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) operating on appearance, motion, and audio signals to extract their corresponding features. We then employ a feature fusion network to derive a unified representation with an aim to capture the relationships among features. Furthermore, to exploit the long-range temporal dynamics in videos, we apply two long short-term memory (LSTM) networks with extracted appearance and motion features as inputs. Finally, we also propose refining the prediction scores by leveraging contextual relationships among video semantics. The hybrid deep learning framework is able to exploit a comprehensive set of multimodal features for video classification. Through an extensive set of experiments, we demonstrate that: 1) LSTM networks that model sequences in an explicitly recurrent manner are highly complementary to the CNN models; 2) the feature fusion network that produces a fused representation through modeling feature relationships outperforms a large set of alternative fusion strategies; and 3) the semantic context of video classes can help further refine the predictions for improved performance. Experimental results on two challenging benchmarks—the UCF-101 and the Columbia Consumer Videos (CCV)—provide strong quantitative evidence that our framework can produce promising results: ${\text{93.1}\%}$ on the UCF-101 and ${\text{84.5}\%}$ on the CCV, outperforming several competing methods with clear margins.
Modulation of Voltage-dependent Shaker Family Potassium Channels by an Aldo-Keto Reductase*♦

The β subunit (Kvβ) of the Shaker family voltage-dependent potassium channels (Kv1) is a cytosolic protein that forms a permanent complex with the channel. Sequence and structural conservation indicates that Kvβ resembles an aldo-keto reductase (AKR), an enzyme that catalyzes a redox reaction using an NADPH cofactor. A putative AKR in complex with a Kv channel has led to the hypothesis that intracellular redox potential may dynamically influence the excitability of a cell through Kvβ. Since the AKR function of Kvβ has never been demonstrated, a direct functional coupling between the two has not been established. We report here the identification of Kvβ substrates and the demonstration that Kvβ is a functional AKR. We have also found that channel function is modulated when the Kvβ-bound NADPH is oxidized. Further studies of the enzymatic properties of Kvβ seem to favor the role of Kvβ as a redox sensor. These results suggest that Kvβ may couple the excitability of the cell to its metabolic state and present a new avenue of research that may lead to understanding of the physiological functions of Kvβ.
Reversing Transmembrane Electron Flow: The DsbD and DsbB Protein Families

DsbD and DsbB are two proteins that in Escherichia coli catalyze transmembrane electron flow in opposite directions, thereby allowing reversible oxidoreduction of periplasmic dithiol/disulfide-containing proteins. We have identified all recognizable homologues of these two proteins in the databases and have conducted structural and phylogenetic analyses of the two families. The larger DsbD family is more diverse in sequence, topology, function and organismal distribution than the smaller DsbB family. DsbB homologues are rarely found outside of the proteobacteria, although DsbD homologues are found in many bacterial kingdoms as well as archaea and plant chloroplasts. Few organisms with a fully sequenced genome and a DsbB homologue lack a DsbD homologue, and most of these DsbD homologues fall within two clusters in the DsbD tree, exhibiting phylogenetic relationships that are the same as those observed for the DsbB proteins. These observations suggest that a subset of the DsbD homologues evolved in parallel with the DsbB family to perform a single unified function involving reversible extracytoplasmic protein dithiol-disulfide bond interchange. DsbD family proteins are shown to have arisen by an internal gene duplication event, and this observation leads to prediction of the pathway taken for the evolutionary appearance of the different protein topological types found within this family.
Data sharing: A viable resource for future

Clinical trials and research studies are being conducted worldwide at a rampant pace leading to generation of large amount of data. However, to reap the benefits of the data generated it is important that this data is shared with the general public without which it can be deemed useless. Despite its importance being known to us, data sharing does not come without its share of problems and it is not as easy to execute as it sounds on-paper. Over the past few years, multiple coveted organizations around the world involved in research activities have come up with their respective guidelines and initiatives to make sure the sharing of research data is smooth and ethical. Developing countries like India have made a few strides in the right direction with some initiatives in-place, but there still seems a long way to go before unanimous data sharing can be a reality. The stakeholders may have to face certain possible repercussions due to data sharing but there is no doubt that if done in the right way, it can lead to universal development.
Electromagnetic losses computation in existing large hydro electrical generators

The hydroelectric generation industry faces two related challenges: increasing the output the existing hydro electrical generators but without reducing the reliability of these aging facilities. Many aspect of hydroelectric generator should be considered during any up-rate study. Magnetic losses of the stator and rotor core may change significantly with any load increase. The open and short circuit core losses are major components in the efficiency and temperature rise calculations for any considered up-rate. Advanced numerical methods are used to determine different magnetic losses in the considered hydro electrical generator before any upgrade. Magnetic core losses results will be discussed in this present paper.
The binding motif recognized by HU on both nicked and cruciform DNA

The heterodimeric HU protein, highly conserved in bacteria and involved in transposition, recombination, DNA repair, etc., shares similarity with histones and HMGs. HU, which binds DNA with low affinity and without sequence specificity, binds strongly and specifically to DNA junctions and DNA containing single‐strand breaks. The fine structure of these specific complexes was studied by footprinting and HU chemically converted into nucleases. The positioning of HUαβ on nicked DNA is asymmetrical and specifically oriented: the β‐arm binds the area surrounding the break whereas the α‐arm lies on the 3′ DNA branch. This positioning necessitates a pronounced bend in the DNA at the discontinuous point, which was estimated by circular permutation assay to be 65°. At junctions, HU is similarly asymmetrically positioned in an identical orientation: the junction point plays the role of the discontinuous point in the nicked DNA. The HU binding motif present in both structures is a pair of inclined DNA helices.
TDT statistics for mapping quantitative trait loci

The original transmission disequilibrium test (TDT), was introduced to test for linkage between a marker and a disease‐susceptibility locus (Spielman et al. 1993). Allison (1997) extended the TDT procedure to quantitative traits. Allison's test, however, is restrictive in that it requires family trios consisting of one heterozygous parent, one homozygous parent and one child, and considers only the situation where the marker locus is analogous to the quantitative trait locus itself. In this paper, we propose, investigate and apply a general TDT for quantitative traits that permits more than one child per family, does not require only one parent to be heterozygous, and allows for the fact that the various alleles at the marker and trait loci may be at varying degree of linkage disequilibrium. We also show that this TDT for quantitative traits is still a valid test of linkage in the presence of population substructure. To provide guidelines for study design, we develop analytic formulae for calculation of the power of the TDT for mapping quantitative trait loci and investigate the impact of various factors on the power. Power calculations show that the proposed TDT for quantitative traits is more powerful than Allison's basic test statistic and the extreme discordant sib pair linkage method. The proposed TDT statistic for quantitative traits is applied to systolic blood pressure variation in the Rochester Family Heart Study using an extremely discordant sibling pair design.
Altered Subjective Reward Valuation Among Female Heavy Marijuana Users

Maladaptive decision-making is a cardinal feature of drug use, contributing to ongoing use, and reflecting alterations in how drug users assess uncertain reward value. Accumulating evidence indicates the consequences of heavy marijuana use are worse for female versus male animals and humans, but research assessing sex differences in reward-related decision-making among marijuana users remains scarce. We examined sex differences in the subjective valuation of certain and uncertain rewards among heavy marijuana users (52; 26 male and 26 female) and controls (52; 26 male and 26 female). We offered male and female heavy marijuana users and controls monetary rewards of certain and uncertain (probabilistic) values. We measured how preferences for uncertain rewards varied by the objective value of those rewards, moderators of reward uncertainty, Marijuana Group and Sex. Men were more sensitive to changes in the objective value of uncertain rewards than women. However, this effect of Sex differed by Marijuana Group. Female heavy marijuana users were more sensitive to changes in uncertain reward value, particularly when the “stakes” were high (i.e., greater difference between potential uncertain rewards), than female controls. Female heavy marijuana users’ sensitivity to changes in the value of high stakes uncertain rewards was comparable to male marijuana users and controls. In contrast, male marijuana users’ sensitivity to changes in the value of high stakes uncertain rewards did not differ from male controls. These results suggest sex differences in sensitivity to high risk rewards may be one pathway contributing to severer consequences of heavy marijuana use among women.
Disaster-Aware Submarine Fiber-Optic Cable Deployment for Mesh Networks

With the increasing social and economic reliance on the Internet and the significant monetary and non-monetary societal cost associated with service interruption, network survivability is an important element in telecommunication network design. A major cause of Internet service interruption is breakage of fiber-optic cables due to man-made or natural disasters such as earthquakes. In addition to the societal cost, there is also cost of repairing damaged cables paid by the cable owner. A disaster-resilient submarine cable deployment can achieve significant cost saving when disaster strikes. In this study, we investigate a disaster-aware submarine fiber-optic cable deployment optimization problem to minimize such expected costs in case of a disaster. While selecting paths for the cables, our approach aims to minimize the expected cost for both cable owner and the affected society, considering that submarine fiber-optic cables may break because of natural disasters, subject to limitation of available deployment budget and other constraints. In our approach, localized disaster-unrelated potential disconnection (e.g., due to shark bites) are avoided by providing a backup cable along with primary cable. We consider a mesh topology network with multiple nodes located at different sea/ocean shores, submarine fiber-optic cables of irregular shape, and a topography of undersea environment. We present an Integer Linear Program to address the problem, together with illustrative numerical examples. Finally, we validate our approach by applying it to a case study of an existing cable system in the Mediterranean Sea, and the results show that we can significantly reduce overall expected cost at a slight increase in deployment cost. The results demonstrate a potential saving of billions of US dollars for the society in case of a future disaster. In order to achieve such large savings, cable companies may require to lay somewhat longer cables to avoid potential disaster areas, which may increase deployment cost that is relatively smaller compared to potential savings in case of a disaster. Understanding such trade-offs is important for stakeholders, including government agencies, cable industry, and insurance companies, which may have different objectives, but can work together for the overall benefit of the society.
ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT INTERNAL DOSE DUE TO 137Cs and 90Sr FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITHIN THE SEMIPALATINSK TEST SITE, KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract— The Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan was one of the major sites used by the USSR for testing nuclear weapons for more than 40 y. Since the early 1990’s, responsibility for the site has passed to the Kazakh authorities. There has been a gradual re-establishment of agricultural use such as horse and sheep farming. Therefore, it has become important to evaluate the current and future risk to people living on and using the contaminated area. Internal dose assessment is one of the main components of the total dose when deriving risk factors for population living within the test site. Internal doses based on food monitoring and whole body measurements were calculated for adults and are in the range of 13–500 &mgr;Sv y−1 due to radiocesium and radiostrontium.
Staphylococcal scalded-skin syndrome: development of a primary binding assay for human antibody to the exfoliative toxin

Exfoliative toxin (ET) from a phage group II Staphylococcus aureus strain causing staphylococcal scalded-skin syndrome was purified by electrofocusing. Ampholytes and salts were removed from the final product by column chromatography on G-50 Sephadex. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels of the final product yielded a single band upon gel electrophoresis, even when 60 mug of protein was placed in the gels. Radiolabeling of the purified toxin with 125I yielded a product that still caused exfoliation of suckling mice, indicating that the toxin was still biologically active. A radioimmunobinding assay was developed and used to test rabbit and human sera for antibodies to exfoliative toxin. Although the maximum percentage of binding was not as high as expected (approximately 40%), it was postulated that either iodination had not been sufficiently vigorous or the toxin had sustained immunological damage. The assay was reproducible and more sensitive than the existing neutralization method and readily applicable to the testing of human sera for exfoliative toxin antibodies.
Phosphoinositide Kinases Play Key Roles in Norepinephrine- and Angiotensin II-induced Increase in Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-Bisphosphate and Modulation of Cardiac Function*

Background: The mechanism and significance of phosphoinositide metabolism during heart stress stimulations are not clear. Results: Norepinephrine and angiotensin II increase cardiac phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate levels via an enhanced interaction between phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIβ and PKC, which correlate with a maintained systolic function. Conclusion: Cardiac phosphoinositide turnover is enhanced. Significance: A novel mechanism of phosphoinositide metabolism is described for modulation of cardiac function. The seemly paradoxical Gq agonist-stimulated phosphoinositide production has long been known, but the underlying mechanism and its physiological significance are not known. In this study, we studied cardiac phosphoinositide levels in both cells and whole animals under the stimulation of norepinephrine (NE), angiotensin II (Ang II), and other physiologically relevant interventions. The results demonstrated that activation of membrane receptors related to NE or Ang II caused an initial increase and a later fall in phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) levels in the primary cultured cardiomyocytes from adult rats. The possible mechanism underlying this increase in PIP2 was found to be through an enhanced activity of phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIβ, which was mediated by an up-regulated interaction between phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIβ and PKC; the increased activity of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase γ was also involved for NE-induced increase of PIP2. When the systolic functions of the NE/Ang II-treated cells were measured, a maintained or failed contractility was found to be correlated with a rise or fall in corresponding PIP2 levels. In two animal models of cardiac hypertrophy, PIP2 levels were significantly reduced in hypertrophic hearts induced by isoprenaline but not in those induced by swimming exercise. This study describes a novel mechanism for phosphoinositide metabolism and modulation of cardiac function.
Modern DevOps: Optimizing software development through effective system interactions

Software development processes are fundamentally based on efficient and effective communication. Communication between engineers, between engineers and managers, and between teams and clients are all essential components of a successful project. Requirements must be effectively transferred from client to engineer, specifications must be transitioned from architect to engineer, and constant communication between project team members, managers, and clients throughout the project life cycle is critical to the success of projects of any complexity. To succeed in a world where technologies, requirements, ideas, tools, and timelines are constantly changing, information must be accurate, readily available, easily found, and ideally delivered constantly, in real-time, to all team members. To meet these challenges, modern software development has evolved to encompass key concepts of adaptability to change and data-driven project management. A recent movement dubbed DevOps has attempted to use automated systems to bridge the information gap between project team entities and to enforce rigorous processes to ensure real-time communications. In this paper, the authors frame this challenge as a communications problem that can be addressed by the introduction of specifically designed autonomous system actors and processes. Successful implementation of such a methodology will enable efficient, effective, and immediate data collection, synthesis, and transfer of information between all requisite entities within the software project. A generalized model of DevOps will be presented and analyzed, offering a formalization of the communications and actors requisite to any effective software development process. These concepts will be further developed to illustrate the information flow between human and system actors, and explore how this model can be used to optimize the processes of a software development team to maximize productivity and quality of work products.
The value of grain‐size hydraulic conductivity estimates: Comparison with high resolution in‐situ field hydraulic conductivity

Hydraulic conductivity is commonly estimated from grain size characteristics of unconsolidated sediments. We present an extensive set of air‐permeability and grain size measurements from a heterogeneous aquifer. These data are unique in that the hydraulic conductivity measurements are made on undisturbed in‐situ sediment and, like the grain size measurements, have a small sample volume size (<1200 cm³). Hydraulic conductivity estimated from grain‐size has a higher mean and a lower variance than direct measurements. While grain size estimates of hydraulic conductivity do not correspond well to field measured hydraulic conductivity, spatial correlation of the two data sets is quite similar.
Omnidirectional Thermal Imaging Surveillance System Featuring Trespasser and Faint Detection

This paper proposed an efficient omnidirectional thermal imaging surveillance system featuring trespasser and faint detection. In this thermal imaging system, the omnidirectional scenes in a monitored site such as old folks home, nursing home, hospital etc. are first captured using a thermal camera attached to a custom made hyperbolic IR (infrared radiation) reflected mirror. The captured scenes to be monitored with trespasser or faint detection are then fed into a laptop computer for image processing and alarm purposes. Log-polar mapping is proposed to map the captured omnidirectional thermal image into panoramic image, hence providing the observer or image processing tools a complete wide angle of view. Two effective human behavioral detection algorithms namely: Human head detection algorithm and home alone faint detection algorithm are also designed for monitored the trespasser or fainted people detection. The observed significances of this new proposed omnidirectional thermal imaging system include: it can cover a wide angle of view (360o omnidirectional), using minimum hardware, low cost and the output thermal images are with higher data compression. Experimental results show that the proposed thermal imaging Wai-Kit Wong, Zeh-Yang Chew, Hong-Liang Lim, Chu-Kiong Loo & Way-Soong Lim International Journal of Image Processing (IJIP), Volume (4): Issue (6) 519 surveillance system achieves high accuracy in detecting trespasser and monitoring faint detection for health care purpose.
Cryptanalysis and improvement of a certificateless partially blind signature

Partially blind signature is an important technique in secure electronic cash (e-cash) system. The first concrete certificateless partially blind signature (CLPBS) scheme for e-cash was constructed in 2011. Recently it was found that this construction had a security weakness and a rescued scheme was given. Unfortunately, the formal security proof was not given. In this study, the authors first give cryptanalysis of their rescued scheme. They demonstrate that a malicious user in their rescued scheme can forge a signature on any message by replacing the signer's public key. In an e-cash system, blind signatures issued by the bank are viewed as e-cash. Once they apply their scheme to an untraceable e-cash system, a malicious user can forge valid electronic coins (i.e. valid signatures) without being detected by the bank. It will result in loss of the bank. Then, they propose a newly improved CLPBS scheme which achieves the strongest security level and has higher computational efficiency than the rescued scheme published earlier. Finally, they give an example of potential application to e-cash systems using their scheme.
Intinno: A Web Integrated Digital Library and Learning Content Management System

The work describes the design of Intinno, an intelligent web based learning content management system. The system aims to circumvent certain drawbacks of existing learning management systems in terms of sparsity of content, lack of intelligent search and context sensitive personalization. The sparsity problem is solved by using web mining to crawl learning content from the web. The mined content is then used to automatically generate concept maps. Automatic annotation using the concept maps is used to archive the crawled content into a digital library. Multiparameter indexing and clustering is done to provide intelligent content based search. Finally, algorithms for learning applications like generation of memory maps are proposed. Context sensitive and personalized recommendation on content is supported. The system is available online at http://www.intinno. com