Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Classification with rejection based on various SVM techniques

The task of identifying native and foreign elements and rejecting foreign ones in the pattern recognition problem is discussed in this paper. Such the task is a nonstandard aspect of pattern recognition, which is rarely present in research. In this paper, ensembles of support vector machines solving two-classes and one-class problems are employed as classification tools and as basic tools for rejecting of foreign elements. Evaluation of quality of classification and rejection methods are proposed in the paper and finally some experiments are performed in order to illustrate acquainted terms and methods.
Fast and Robust Feature-based Recognition of Multiple Objects

In robotics, one crucial requirement to a visual system is robust and efficient recognition of multiple objects. While in many available systems the focus is on tracking, the main problem still is to recognize objects in an arbitrary scene within a database of multiple objects. For any tracking system, recognition is needed for initialization and therefore always built in. However, the task of recognition becomes considerably harder, when learning and recognizing multiple objects. In this paper, we present a system, which accomplishes this task for textured objects robustly and efficiently. Our system is based on texture features, combining principal component analysis, k-means clustering and kd-tree search with best-bin-first strategy. We evaluated our system in several real-word scenarios, and present experimental results in a kitchen environment. Within a database of 20 objects, our system can analyze an arbitrary scene in less than 350 ms on a 3 GHz CPU
Effects of Intraruminal Isopropyl Alcohol Infusions on the Ruminating Behavior of Goats

Isopropyl alcohol (IPA), produced from acetone by rumen bacterial action, was infused into the rumen of three female goats kept in a climatically controlled experimental room during feeding to investigate the mechanism and roles of IPA in ruminating behavior (number of boli and ruminating time). The ruminating behavior measured by the number of boli, ruminating time, number of remastications, and remasticating time increased (p<0.05) with intraruminal IPA infusion. The concentrations of IPA and acetone in the rumen and the plasma significantly increased (p<0.05) during intraruminal IPA infusion. These data suggest that rumination receptors sensitive to IPA and acetone may be in an area such as the rumen epithelium and the brain stem where they can respond to metabolite levels. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2002. Vol 15, No. 8 : 1134-1138)
Direct Computation of Depth from Shading for Perspective Projection

We present a method for recovering shape from shading in which the surface depth is directly computed. The already proposed method solving the same problem assumes that images are captured under the parallel projection, and hence, it can be correctly used only for the relative thin objects compared with the distance from the camera. If this method is formally extended for the perspective projection completely, the complicated calculations for differential are required. This gives rise to unstable recovery. In this study, we examine an extension of this method so as to treat the perspective projection approximately. In order to keep the simplicity of the original method, we propose the simple approximation of the derivative of the surface with respect to the image coordinate.
Automatic transcription of general audio data: effect of environment segmentation on phonetic recognition 1

The task of automatically transcribing general audio data is very different from those usually confronted by current automatic speech recognition systems. The general goal of our work is to determine the optimal training strategy for recognizing such data. Specifically, we have studied the effects of different speaking environments on a phonetic recognition task using data collected from a radio news program. We found that if a singlerecognizer is to be used, it is more effective to use a smaller amount of homogeneous, clean data for training. This approach yielded a decrease in phonetic recognition error rate of over 26% over a system trained with an equivalent amount of data which contained a variety of speaking environments. We found that additional gains can be made with a multiple-recognizer system, trained with environment-specific data. Overall, we found that this approach yielded a decrease in error rate of nearly 2%, with some individual speaking environments’ error rate decreasing by over 7%.
Temporal alignment of communicative gesture sequences

In this paper we address the problem of temporal alignment applied to capture communicative gestures conveying different styles. We propose a representation space that may be considered as robust to the spatial variability induced by style. By extending a multilevel dynamic time warping algorithm, we show how this extension can fulfil the goals of time correspondence between gesture sequences while preventing jerkiness introduced by standard time warping methods. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Whole Blood Transcriptomics Is Relevant to Identify Molecular Changes in Response to Genetic Selection for Feed Efficiency and Nutritional Status in the Pig

The molecular mechanisms underlying feed efficiency need to be better understood to improve animal efficiency, a research priority to support a competitive and sustainable livestock production. This study was undertaken to determine whether pig blood transcriptome was affected by differences in feed efficiency and by ingested nutrients. Growing pigs from two lines divergently selected for residual feed intake (RFI) and fed isoproteic and isocaloric diets contrasted in energy source and nutrients were considered. Between 74 and 132 days of age, pigs (n = 12 by diet and by line) received a regular diet rich in cereals and low in fat (LF) or a diet where cereals where partially substituted by lipids and fibers (HF). At the end of the feeding trial, the total number of white blood cells was not affected by the line or by the diet, whereas the red blood cell number was higher (P<0.001) in low RFI than in high RFI pigs. Analysis of the whole blood transcriptome using a porcine microarray reveals a higher number of probes differentially expressed (DE) between RFI lines than between diets (2,154 versus 92 probes DE, P<0.01). This corresponds to 528 overexpressed genes and 477 underexpressed genes in low RFI pigs compared with high RFI pigs, respectively. Overexpressed genes were predominantly associated with translational elongation. Underexpressed genes were mainly involved in the immune response, regulation of inflammatory response, anti-apoptosis process, and cell organization. These findings suggest that selection for RFI has affected the immune status and defense mechanisms of pigs. Genes DE between diets were mainly related to the immune system and lipid metabolism. Altogether, this study demonstrates the usefulness of the blood transcriptome to identify the main biological processes affected by genetic selection and feeding strategies.
Simultaneous wire sizing and wire spacing in post-layout performance optimization

In this paper, we study the wire sizing and wire spacing problem for post-layout performance optimization under Elmore delay model. Both ground capacitance and coupled capacitance in a wire are included in interconnect delay calculation. Combined with general ASIC design flow, we construct section constraint graph in each routing region and use the graph to guide segment sizing and spacing. By defining a cost function to trade-off between interconnect delay and routing area, we formulate wire sizing and wire spacing problem (WSSP) into a constraint-optimization problem and develop a heuristic algorithm to solve it. The preliminary experiments are promising.
A Practical Test Patterns Generation Technique for Hardware Trojan Detection

Due to the globalization of the integrated circuit manufacturing industry, hardware Trojans constitutes an increasingly probable threat to both military and commercial applications. The Trojans being stealthy in nature, the Trojan hardware is hard to be triggered under random patterns. In this paper, we propose practical test patterns generation technique based on rare logic conditions at internal nodes. The technique increases the probability of the inserted Trojans getting triggered and detected by logic testing. Simulation results for benchmarks show that the proposed test pattern generation technique can make hardware Trojan more frequently triggered than random patterns.
Prolonged Consumption of Sucrose in a Binge-Like Manner, Alters the Morphology of Medium Spiny Neurons in the Nucleus Accumbens Shell

The modern diet has become highly sweetened, resulting in unprecedented levels of sugar consumption, particularly among adolescents. While chronic long-term sugar intake is known to contribute to the development of metabolic disorders including obesity and type II diabetes, little is known regarding the direct consequences of long-term, binge-like sugar consumption on the brain. Because sugar can cause the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) similarly to drugs of abuse, we investigated changes in the morphology of neurons in this brain region following short- (4 weeks) and long-term (12 weeks) binge-like sucrose consumption using an intermittent two-bottle choice paradigm. We used Golgi-Cox staining to impregnate medium spiny neurons (MSNs) from the NAc core and shell of short- and long-term sucrose consuming rats and compared these to age-matched water controls. We show that prolonged binge-like sucrose consumption significantly decreased the total dendritic length of NAc shell MSNs compared to age-matched control rats. We also found that the restructuring of these neurons resulted primarily from reduced distal dendritic complexity. Conversely, we observed increased spine densities at the distal branch orders of NAc shell MSNs from long-term sucrose consuming rats. Combined, these results highlight the neuronal effects of prolonged binge-like intake of sucrose on NAc shell MSN morphology.
The effect of initial weight of the ewe on later reproductive effort in domestic sheep (Ovis aries)

In ungulates, females typically need to reach a critical threshold body weight in order to reproduce. Females born in ‘poor’ years may lose 1 year of reproduction, as they reach the critical body mass 1 year later. Some studies report also a lasting effect of low initial body weight into prime age, while several other studies have shown that nearly all prime-age females ovulate or are pregnant. However, the quality of the offspring (as measured by offspring body weight) is often not considered. We tested whether female ungulates with an initially low body weight (at around weaning) reach the same reproductive output as females with higher initial weights, and thus whether or not they are able to compensate for their initial low weight. Data on body weight of 123 533 lambs of domestic sheep Ovis aries from 73 299 litters that in turn derived from 32 359 different ewes were used. All ewes and lambs had been free-ranging on outlying pastures in Norway during the entire summer season. Ewes with an initially low body weight produced smaller offspring throughout their lifespan. Ewes with an initially low body weight also produced fewer lambs at first and second parturition, but lifetime number of offspring was not related to ewes’ initial weight. We concluded that bigger was better: the smaller offspring of ewes with a low initial weight demonstrate a lasting cost on reproductive effort, with consequences for animal production systems and management of wild ungulates.
Deciphering Molecular Mechanisms of Interface Buildup and Stability in Porous Si/Eumelanin Hybrids

Porous Si/eumelanin hybrids are a novel class of organic–inorganic hybrid materials that hold considerable promise for photovoltaic applications. Current progress toward device setup is, however, hindered by photocurrent stability issues, which require a detailed understanding of the mechanisms underlying the buildup and consolidation of the eumelanin–silicon interface. Herein we report an integrated experimental and computational study aimed at probing interface stability via surface modification and eumelanin manipulation, and at modeling the organic–inorganic interface via formation of a 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI) tetramer and its adhesion to silicon. The results indicated that mild silicon oxidation increases photocurrent stability via enhancement of the DHI–surface interaction, and that higher oxidation states in DHI oligomers create more favorable conditions for the efficient adhesion of growing eumelanin.
Mapping sample scenarios to operational models

Achieving mission objectives in complex and increasingly adversarial networks is difficult even under the best of circumstances. Currently, there are few tools for reasoning about how to react to rapid changes in a given network's environmental state; that is, we do not know how to cope with adversarial actions in hostile environments. In this paper, we consider a preliminary operational model that combines the states, detection outputs, and agility maneuvers associated with a cyber-operation in hostile networks. The goal is positing the development of an operational model to aid in the successful completion of mission objectives with a minimal maneuver cost. We present a host remediation case study that explores the efficacy of the proposed model in aiding operation completion.
First identification of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis sheep strain in Argentina

We here identified for the first time the presence of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP) sheep (S) strain in Argentina. IS900 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was positive. The S strain was compared with MAP cattle (C) strains by using IS1311 PCR-restriction endonuclease analysis (PCR-REA), multiplex PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis.
Modelling Mixed Discrete-Continuous Domains for Planning

In this paper we present PDDL+, a planning domain description language for modelling mixed discrete-continuous planning domains. We describe the syntax and modelling style of PDDL+, showing that the language makes convenient the modelling of complex time-dependent effects. We provide a formal semantics for PDDL+ by mapping planning instances into constructs of hybrid automata. Using the syntax of HAs as our semantic model we construct a semantic mapping to labelled transition systems to complete the formal interpretation of PDDL+ planning instances. An advantage of building a mapping from PDDL+ to HA theory is that it forms a bridge between the Planning and Real Time Systems research communities. One consequence is that we can expect to make use of some of the theoretical properties of HAs. For example, for a restricted class of HAs the Reachability problem (which is equivalent to Plan Existence) is decidable. PDDL+ provides an alternative to the continuous durative action model of PDDL2.1, adding a more flexible and robust model of time-dependent behaviour.
Co-channel interference between WiFi and through-wall micro-Doppler radar

Narrowband through-wall radars have been researched for detecting and classifying indoor movers on the basis of their micro-Doppler signatures. These radars usually operate in the unlicensed 2.4GHz ISM band and are therefore susceptible to interference from WiFi networks operating with the IEEE 802.11g protocol. In this work, we show, through experiments, how the radar degrades the WiFi throughput by lowering the signal to noise and interference ratio at the WiFi receiver. Similarly, WiFi interference causes deterioration in the radar performance by increasing the probability of false alarms.
Gene Expression Profile Correlates with T-Cell Infiltration and Relative Survival in Glioblastoma Patients Vaccinated with Dendritic Cell Immunotherapy

Purpose: To assess the feasibility, safety, and toxicity of autologous tumor lysate–pulsed dendritic cell (DC) vaccination and toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists in patients with newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma. Clinical and immune responses were monitored and correlated with tumor gene expression profiles. Experimental Design: Twenty-three patients with glioblastoma (WHO grade IV) were enrolled in this dose-escalation study and received three biweekly injections of glioma lysate-pulsed DCs followed by booster vaccinations with either imiquimod or poly-ICLC adjuvant every 3 months until tumor progression. Gene expression profiling, immunohistochemistry, FACS, and cytokine bead arrays were performed on patient tumors and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Results: DC vaccinations are safe and not associated with any dose-limiting toxicity. The median overall survival from the time of initial surgical diagnosis of glioblastoma was 31.4 months, with a 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rate of 91%, 55%, and 47%, respectively. Patients whose tumors had mesenchymal gene expression signatures exhibited increased survival following DC vaccination compared with historic controls of the same genetic subtype. Tumor samples with a mesenchymal gene expression signature had a higher number of CD3+ and CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes compared with glioblastomas of other gene expression signatures (P = 0.006). Conclusion: Autologous tumor lysate–pulsed DC vaccination in conjunction with TLR agonists is safe as adjuvant therapy in newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma patients. Our results suggest that the mesenchymal gene expression profile may identify an immunogenic subgroup of glioblastoma that may be more responsive to immune-based therapies. Clin Cancer Res; 17(6); 1603–15. ©2010 AACR.
miR-26a and miR-214 down-regulate expression of the PTEN gene in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, but not PTEN mutation or promoter methylation

We previous found the expression level of PTEN was low in the chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients. To assess the pathogenic contribution of the low expression of PTEN, we determined PTEN-regulating miRNA interference, PTEN promoter methylation and PTEN gene mutation condition in CLL. One hundred and fifty-four previously untreated CLL patients and 200 cases of healthy controls were sequenced in exons 5−9 of PTEN. None of single nucleotide polymorphism site or mutation was detected in the coding sequences of those exons. Methylation of PTEN promoter was found in one (1.33%) of the 75 patients with CLL, but none of the 25 age-matched control subjects. We found that PTEN was a potential target of miR-26a and miR-214, which had been confirmed following dual-luciferase reporter assays, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. High expression of miR-26a was associated with advanced Binet stage (P=0.012), p53 aberrations (P=0.014) and inferior time to first treatment (P=0.038), and high expression of miR-214 was only associated with p53 aberrations (P=0.041). Inhibition of miR-26a or miR-214 could induce more apoptosis in primary cultured CLL cells. These findings support miR-26a and miR-214 down-regulate expression of PTEN in CLL, but not PTEN mutation or promoter methylation.
High-Order Low-Rank Tensors for Semantic Role Labeling

This paper introduces a tensor-based approach to semantic role labeling (SRL). The motivation behind the approach is to automatically induce a compact feature representation for words and their relations, tailoring them to the task. In this sense, our dimensionality reduction method provides a clear alternative to the traditional feature engineering approach used in SRL. To capture meaningful interactions between the argument, predicate, their syntactic path and the corresponding role label, we compress each feature representation first to a lower dimensional space prior to assessing their interactions. This corresponds to using an overall cross-product feature representation and maintaining associated parameters as a four-way low-rank tensor. The tensor parameters are optimized for the SRL performance using standard online algorithms. Our tensor-based approach rivals the best performing system on the CoNLL-2009 shared task. In addition, we demonstrate that adding the representation tensor to a competitive tensorfree model yields 2% absolute increase in Fscore. 1
The miR-30 MicroRNA Family Targets smoothened to Regulate Hedgehog Signalling in Zebrafish Early Muscle Development

The importance of microRNAs in development is now widely accepted. However, identifying the specific targets of individual microRNAs and understanding their biological significance remains a major challenge. We have used the zebrafish model system to evaluate the expression and function of microRNAs potentially involved in muscle development and study their interaction with predicted target genes. We altered expression of the miR-30 microRNA family and generated phenotypes that mimicked misregulation of the Hedgehog pathway. Inhibition of the miR-30 family increases activity of the pathway, resulting in elevated ptc1 expression and increased numbers of superficial slow-muscle fibres. We show that the transmembrane receptor smoothened is a target of this microRNA family. Our results indicate that fine coordination of smoothened activity by the miR-30 family allows the correct specification and differentiation of distinct muscle cell types during zebrafish embryonic development.
Design Support for Distributed Systems: DSE4DS

Distributed System design is a highly complicated and non-trivial task. The problem is characterized by the need to design multi-threaded, multi-processor, and multi-media systems. Design frameworks such as Open Distributed Processing (ODP), the ITU/ISO standard, provide significant, theoretical, guidance and aids towards the provision of successful distributed system designs. The purpose of the DSE4DS project is to develop these theoretical aids into practical design support that will assist designers in the construction of distributed system specifications.
Evolution of Substance use, Neurological and Psychiatric Symptoms in Schizophrenia and Substance use Disorder Patients: A 12-Week, Pilot, Case–Control Trial with Quetiapine

Neurological and psychiatric symptoms are consequences of substance abuse in schizophrenia and non-schizophrenia patients. The present case–control study examined changes in substance abuse/dependence, and neurological and psychiatric symptoms in substance abusers with [dual diagnosis (DD) group, n = 26] and without schizophrenia [substance use disorder (SUD) group, n = 24] and in non-abusing schizophrenia patients (SCZ group, n = 23) undergoing 12-week treatment with the atypical antipsychotic, quetiapine. Neurological and psychiatric symptoms were evaluated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia, the Extrapyramidal Symptoms Rating Scale, and the Barnes Akathisia Rating Scale. At endpoint, DD and SCZ patients were receiving significantly higher doses of quetiapine (mean = 554 and 478 mg/day, respectively), relative to SUD patients (mean = 150 mg/day). We found that SUD patients showed greater improvement in weekly dollars spent on alcohol and drugs and SUD severity, compared to DD patients. At endpoint, there was no significant difference in dollars spent, but DD patients still had a higher mean SUD severity. Interestingly, DD patients had significantly higher parkinsonism and depression than SCZ patients at baseline and endpoint. On the other hand, we found that SUD patients had significantly more akathisia at baseline, improved more than SCZ patients, and this was related to cannabis abuse/dependence. Finally, SUD patients improved more in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale positive scores than DD and SCZ patients. Taken together, our results provide evidence for increased vulnerability to the adverse effects of alcohol and drugs in schizophrenia patients. They also suggest that substance abuse/withdrawal may mimic some symptoms of schizophrenia. Future studies will need to determine the role quetiapine played in these improvements.