Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interactions of visual attention and object recognition : computational modeling, algorithms, and psychophysics.

Selective visual attention provides an effective mechanism to serialize perception of complex scenes in both biological and machine vision systems. In extension of previous models of saliency-based visual attention by Koch and Ullman (Human Neurobiology, 4:219-227, 1985) and Itti et al. (IEEE PAMI, 20(11):1254-1259, 1998), we have developed a new model of bottom-up salient region selection, which estimates the approximate extent of attended proto-objects in a biologically realistic manner. Based on our model, we simulate the deployment of spatial attention in a biologically realistic model of object recognition in the cortex and find, in agreement with electrophysiology in macaque monkeys, that modulation of neural activity by as little as 20 % suffices to enable successive detection of multiple objects. We further show successful applications of the selective attention system to machine vision problems. We show that attentional grouping based on bottom-up processes enables successive learning and recognition of multiple objects in cluttered natural scenes. We also demonstrate that pre-selection of potential targets decreases the complexity of multiple target tracking in an application to detection and tracking of low-contrast marine animals in underwater video data. A given task will affect visual perception through top-down attention processes. Frequently, a task implies attention to particular objects or object categories. Finding suitable features can be interpreted as an inversion of object detection. Where object detection entails mapping from a set of sufficiently complex features to an abstract object representation, finding features for top-down attention requires the reverse of this mapping. We demonstrate a computer simulation of this mechanism with the example of top-down attention to faces. Deploying top-down attention to the visual hierarchy comes at a cost in reaction time in fast detection tasks. We use a task switching paradigm to compare task switches that do with those that do not require re-deployment of top-down attention and find a cost of 20-28 ms in reaction time for shifting attention from one stimulus attribute (image content) to another (color of frame).
Neural Network Based Stock Market Forecasting

Summary We develop a useful prediction system in forecasting stock price for Egypt stock market (Egypt stock exchange weighted stock index, Commercial International Bank as CIB). The system is based on a recurrent neural network trained by using ARIMA analyses by differencing the raw data of the CIB series and then examining the ACF and PACF plots. The series can be identified as a nonlinear version of ARIMA (1, 1, 2). Neural networks trained by using first differentiation of data. The networks trained by using history data for 6-years ago to predict 12 weeks market trend.
Differential sorting and fate of endocytosed GPI‐anchored proteins

In this paper, we studied the fate of endocytosed glycosylphosphatidyl inositol anchored proteins (GPI‐ APs) in mammalian cells, using aerolysin, a bacterial toxin that binds to the GPI anchor, as a probe. We find that GPI‐APs are transported down the endocytic pathway to reducing late endosomes in BHK cells, using biochemical, morphological and functional approaches. We also find that this transport correlates with the association to raft‐like membranes and thus that lipid rafts are present in late endosomes (in addition to the Golgi and the plasma membrane). In marked contrast, endocytosed GPI‐APs reach the recycling endosome in CHO cells and this transport correlates with a decreased raft association. GPI‐APs are, however, diverted from the recycling endosome and routed to late endosomes in CHO cells, when their raft association is increased by clustering seven or less GPI‐APs with an aerolysin mutant. We conclude that the different endocytic routes followed by GPI‐APs in different cell types depend on the residence time of GPI‐APs in lipid rafts, and hence that raft partitioning regulates GPI‐APs sorting in the endocytic pathway.
Toward Unification of Source Attribution Processes and Techniques

Automatic source attribution refers to the ability for an autonomous process to determine the source of a previously unexamined piece of writing. Statistical methods for source attribution have been the subject of scholarly research for well over a century. The field, however, is still missing a definitive currency of established or agreed-upon classes of features, methods, techniques and nomenclature. This paper represents continuation of research into the basic attribution problem, as well as work towards an eventual source attribution standard. We augment previous work which utilized in-common, non-trivial word frequencies with neural networks on a more standardized data set. We also use two other techniques: phrase-based feature sets evaluated with naive Bayesians and bi-gram feature sets evaluated with the nearest neighbor algorithm. We compare the three and explore methods of combining the techniques in order to achieve better results
Learning the lexicon from raw texts for open-vocabulary Korean word recognition

In this paper, we propose a novel method of building a language model for open-vocabulary Korean word recognition. Due to the complex morphology of Korean, it is inappropriate to use lexicons based on the linguistic entities such as words and morphemes in open-vocabulary domains. Instead, we build the lexicon by collecting variable length character sequences from the raw texts using a dynamic Bayesian network model of the language. In simulated word recognition experiments, the proposed language model could find correct words from lattices of character candidates in 94.3% of cases, increasing the word recognition rates by 20.9%.
Effects of weight loss on visceral and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue blood-flow and insulin-mediated glucose uptake in healthy obese subjects

Objective. Rapid weight loss with very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) is known to improve insulin sensitivity and decrease adipose tissue masses. The aim was to investigate the effects of VLCD on adipose tissue regional glucose uptake (rGU) and perfusion and their association with adipokines. Research design and methods. Sixteen healthy obese (body mass index 33±1.1 kg/m2) subjects underwent VLCD for 6 weeks. RGU and perfusion were measured using [18F]-fluoro-deoxy-glucose, [15O]H2O and positron emission tomography. Results. Blood-flow and rGU expressed per gram of adipose tissue were higher in visceral fat compared to abdominal subcutaneous fat (P<0.01 for both). Dieting decreased weight by 11±0.9 kg (P<0.0001). Visceral adipose fat decreased by 25% (P<0.001) and abdominal subcutaneous fat by 16% (P<0.001). Whole body insulin sensitivity increased by 33% (P<0.01). Perfusion of both fat depots decreased (P<0.001), while rGU remained unchanged. Among the adipokines, leptin and interleukin-6 levels seemed to be associated with abdominal subcutaneous and intra-abdominal adipose tissue insulin resistance but not with adipose tissue perfusion. Conclusions. Abdominal adipose tissue perfusion and rGU are not related in obesity. Rapid weight loss decreases perfusion through adipose tissue depots but has no influence on rGU demonstrating the ‘sink’ role of adipose tissue.
Correlations between phenolic content and antioxidant properties in twenty-four plant species of traditional ethnoveterinary use in the Mediterranean area

Context: Scientific information on antioxidant properties and phenolic content of less widely used plants can be useful. Therefore, the assessment of such properties remains an interesting and useful task, particularly for finding new sources for natural antioxidants, functional foods, and nutraceuticals. Objective: As knowledge about antioxidant properties and phenolic content of many plant species used as traditional plant remedies is limited, we determined in vitro the total antioxidant activity and the phenolic content of several plant species traditionally used for ethnoveterinary practices. Materials and methods: For 24 extracts (70% acetone) from wild and cultivated plant species traditionally used for health care of animals we determined the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) by the two assays 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and the 2,2′-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS). The phenolic content was determined by the Folin Ciocalteu method. Results: Total phenolics, calculated as gallic acid equivalent (GAE), showed variation ranging from 3.18 (Allium sativum L. (Liliaceae)) to 147.68 (Pistacia lentiscus L. (Anacardiaceae)) mgGAE/g dry weight (DW). High TEAC values corresponded to high phenolic content, while plants with low antioxidant activity exhibited low total phenolic content. The TEAC determined through each assay and total phenolic content were positively correlated, R2 = 0.9152 and R2 = 0.8896, respectively, for DPPH and ABTS assay. Discussion and conclusion: These findings suggest that phenolic content could be used as an indicator of antioxidant properties. The results of this study encourage investigations on Mediterranean plant species as sources of antioxidants.
Investigation of Production of Fine-grained SiAlON Ceramics from Nanopowders

Different sialons’ compositions were used to find the effect of material starting components on sintering and properties of sialon materials. The nanopowders (Si 3 N 4 , AlN, Al 2 O 3 , Y 2 O 3 and Si 3 N 4 -27 wt.% AlN nanocomposite) were produced by the plasmachemical synthesis. The composite materials were sintered by the method of pressure-less sintering. Sintering temperature decreased significantly, if Si 3 N 4 -AlN nanocomposite was used as one of the components. The increased amount of a- sialon phase and higher hardness are characteristic for materials obtained from separate Si 3 N 4 , AlN, Al 2 O 3 , Y 2 O 3 nanocomponents. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.5755/j01.ms.18.3. 2439
Improving multiprocessor performance of a large telecommunication system by replacing interpretation with compilation

We consider different techniques for increasing the multiprocessor performance of an interpreted processing language in a large real-time telecommunication system, called Billing Gateway. We have implemented a prototype in which we first translate the language into C++ code, and then compile it using a C++ compiler. In our prototype we achieved a more than fourfold increase in throughput, compared to the original system, when running on an SMP with eight CPUs. The prototype also shows better scalability than the original system, due to less use of dynamic memory.
Genome Sequences and Photosynthesis Gene Cluster Composition of a Freshwater Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototroph, Sandarakinorhabdus sp. Strain AAP62, Isolated from the Shahu Lake in Ningxia, China

ABSTRACT We report the first genome sequence from the recently established alpha-4 proteobacterial genus Sandarakinorhabdus. The genome of the Sandarakinorhabdus sp. strain AAP62 contains a photosynthesis gene cluster carrying major genes for bacterial reaction centers. The presence of genes related to aerobic respiratory electron transport confirms the lifestyle of this organism as an aerobic anoxygenic photoheterotroph.
Complete Genome Sequence of Sporisorium scitamineum and Biotrophic Interaction Transcriptome with Sugarcane

Sporisorium scitamineum is a biotrophic fungus responsible for the sugarcane smut, a worldwide spread disease. This study provides the complete sequence of individual chromosomes of S. scitamineum from telomere to telomere achieved by a combination of PacBio long reads and Illumina short reads sequence data, as well as a draft sequence of a second fungal strain. Comparative analysis to previous available sequences of another strain detected few polymorphisms among the three genomes. The novel complete sequence described herein allowed us to identify and annotate extended subtelomeric regions, repetitive elements and the mitochondrial DNA sequence. The genome comprises 19,979,571 bases, 6,677 genes encoding proteins, 111 tRNAs and 3 assembled copies of rDNA, out of our estimated number of copies as 130. Chromosomal reorganizations were detected when comparing to sequences of S. reilianum, the closest smut relative, potentially influenced by repeats of transposable elements. Repetitive elements may have also directed the linkage of the two mating-type loci. The fungal transcriptome profiling from in vitro and from interaction with sugarcane at two time points (early infection and whip emergence) revealed that 13.5% of the genes were differentially expressed in planta and particular to each developmental stage. Among them are plant cell wall degrading enzymes, proteases, lipases, chitin modification and lignin degradation enzymes, sugar transporters and transcriptional factors. The fungus also modulates transcription of genes related to surviving against reactive oxygen species and other toxic metabolites produced by the plant. Previously described effectors in smut/plant interactions were detected but some new candidates are proposed. Ten genomic islands harboring some of the candidate genes unique to S. scitamineum were expressed only in planta. RNAseq data was also used to reassure gene predictions.
Heuristic Algorithms for Task Assignment in Distributed Systems

Investigate the problem of static task assignment in distributed computing systems, i.e. given a set of k communicating tasks to be executed on a distributed system of n processors, to which processor should each task be assigned? The author proposes a family of heuristic algorithms for Stone's classic model of communicating tasks whose goal is the minimization of the total execution and communication costs incurred by an assignment. In addition, she augments this model to include interference costs which reflect the degree of incompatibility between two tasks. Whereas high communication costs serve as a force of attraction between tasks, causing them to be assigned to the same processor, interference costs serve as a force of repulsion between tasks, causing them to be distributed over many processors. The inclusion of interference costs in the model yields assignments with greater concurrency, thus overcoming the tendency of Stone's model to assign all tasks to one or a few processors. Simulation results show that the algorithms perform well and in particular, that the highly efficient Simple Greedy Algorithm performs almost as well as more complex heuristic algorithms. >
The Application of Ant Algorithm in Structural Optimization of Antenna

Ant algorithm is a newly developed algorithm. It has been widely applied in combination optimization and artificial intelligence. In this paper, two typical optimization problems are solved by ant algorithm, genetic algorithm and simulated annealing algorithm respectively. The comparisons between these results show that ant algorithm is a satisfying and promising algorithm for structural optimization of antenna.
Towards Practical Program Execution over Fully Homomorphic Encryption Schemes

This paper intends to provide a first assessment of the practicality of using Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) to perform real calculations, in terms of software engineering as well as performances. We present a prototype of a compilation and execution infrastructure targeting any FHE scheme. The paper also provides some preliminary experimental results obtained with our implementation of the Brakerski-Gentry-Vaikuntanathan (BGV) scheme, which is one of the most promising FHE schemes with respect to practicality.
Eggshell Appearance Does Not Signal Maternal Corticosterone Exposure in Japanese Quail: An Experimental Study with Brown-Spotted Eggs

Reproduction is a critical period for birds as they have to cope with many stressful events. One consequence of an acute exposure to stress is the release of corticosterone, the avian stress hormone. Prolonged stress can have negative impacts on the immune system, resulting in, for example, increased oxidative stress. Through maternal effects, females are known to modulate their investment in eggs content according to their own physiological condition. Less is known about maternal investment in eggshells, especially in pigments. The two main eggshell pigments may possess opposite antioxidant properties: protoporphyrin (brown) is a pro-oxidant, whereas biliverdin (blue-green) is an antioxidant. In Japanese quail, we know that the deposition of both pigments is related to female body condition. Thus, a chronic stress response may be reflected in eggshell coloration. Using female Japanese quails that lay brown-spotted eggs, we explored whether physiological exposure to corticosterone induces a change in female basal stress and antioxidant factors, and eggshell pigment concentration, spectrophotometric reflectance, and maculation coverage. We supplemented adult females over a 2 week period with either peanut oil (control) or corticosterone (treatment). We collected pre- and post-supplementation eggs and analysed the effect of corticosterone treatment on female physiology and eggshell appearance parameters. Except for corticosterone-fed birds which laid eggs with brighter spots, supplementation had no significant effect on female physiology or eggshell pigment concentration, reflectance and maculation. The change in eggshell spot brightness was not detected by a photoreceptor noise-limited color opponent model of avian visual perception. Our data confirms that eggshell reflectance in spotted eggs varies over the laying sequence, and spot reflectance may be a key factor that is affected by females CORT exposure, even if the changes are not detected by an avian visual model.
Project FEELEX: adding haptic surface to graphics

This paper presents work carried out for a project to develop a new interactive technique that combines haptic sensation with computer graphics. The project has two goals. The first is to provide users with a spatially continuous surface on which they can effectively touch an image using any part of their bare hand, including the palm. The second goal is to present visual and haptic sensation simultaneously by using a single device that doesn't oblige the user to wear any extra equipment. In order to achieve these goals, we designed a new interface device comprising of a flexible screen, an actuator array and a projector. The actuator deforms the flexible screen onto which the image is projected. The user can then touch the image directly and feel its shape and rigidity. Initially we fabricated two prototypes, and their effectiveness is examined by studying the observations made by anonymous users and a performance evaluation test for spatial resolution.
Effect of expulsion on peak load and energy absorption of low carbon steel resistance spot welds

The effects of weld nugget size and expulsion on the performance of low carbon steel resistance spot weld have been investigated in the present paper. Failure mode, peak load and failure energy obtained in tensile–shear test have been used to describe the performance of spot weld. The influence of voids and porosity as well as electrode indentation associated with expulsion on peak load and failure energy is discussed. The results showed that although expulsion does not reduce the load carrying capacity of spot welds, it decreases their energy absorption capability which was attributed to the change of failure location due to excessive electrode indentation associated with expulsion.
Sparse Passive-Aggressive Learning for Bounded Online Kernel Methods

One critical deficiency of traditional online kernel learning methods is their unbounded and growing number of support vectors in the online learning process, making them inefficient and non-scalable for large-scale applications. Recent studies on scalable online kernel learning have attempted to overcome this shortcoming, e.g., by imposing a constant budget on the number of support vectors. Although they attempt to bound the number of support vectors at each online learning iteration, most of them fail to bound the number of support vectors for the final output hypothesis, which is often obtained by averaging the series of hypotheses over all the iterations. In this article, we propose a novel framework for bounded online kernel methods, named “Sparse Passive-Aggressive (SPA)” learning, which is able to yield a final output kernel-based hypothesis with a bounded number of support vectors. Unlike the common budget maintenance strategy used by many existing budget online kernel learning approaches, the idea of our approach is to attain the bounded number of support vectors using an efficient stochastic sampling strategy that samples an incoming training example as a new support vector with a probability proportional to its loss suffered. We theoretically prove that SPA achieves an optimal mistake bound in expectation, and we empirically show that it outperforms various budget online kernel learning algorithms. Finally, in addition to general online kernel learning tasks, we also apply SPA to derive bounded online multiple-kernel learning algorithms, which can significantly improve the scalability of traditional Online Multiple-Kernel Classification (OMKC) algorithms while achieving satisfactory learning accuracy as compared with the existing unbounded OMKC algorithms.
A Study of Factors Affecting Acceptance of Hospital Information Systems: A Nursing Perspective

Background: Hospital information systems (HISs) are widely used in Taiwan, and HIS performance must be carefully evaluated. Nursing personnel are the largest group of staff in a hospital and are the center of care delivery; thus, they play an important role in the adoption and evaluation of HISs. Purpose: The primary objective of this study was to explore the critical factors affecting the acceptance of HISs in Taiwan from a nursing perspective. On the basis of the technology acceptance model, we used six exogenous variables (system quality, information quality, user self-efficacy, compatibility, top management support, and project team competency) as investigation factors. Methods: Survey research targeted nursing personnel in the selected case hospital as participants. A total of 545 questionnaires were sent out, and 501 were returned, indicating a valid response rate of 91.9%. Collected data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Results: Results indicate that user self-efficacy, top management support, compatibility, and information quality have significant impacts on perceived ease of use. In addition, top management support, compatibility, and information quality were identified as having significant impacts on perceived usefulness. Furthermore, nurses' perceived ease of use and perceivedusefulness on HISs was found to impact significantly on system acceptance, with 45.1% of the total explained variance. Conclusions/Implications for Practice: Results can help managers understand key considerations affecting HIS development and use and may be applied as a reference for system development and improvement.
Research on Business Strategy and Performance Evaluation in Collaborative Design

Owing to the fast changing environment and the competition pressure of globalization, enterprises are turning away from the business mode of individual management toward the cooperation method of the collaborative model. Enterprises using cooperation involving information transparency can receive requests immediately, and more quickly respond to customer needs. Collaborative design is highly iterative and interactive process, involving a group of designers, engineers, consultants and the client. The research aims to understand the business model, B to B interaction and performance evaluation for collaborative design. The research selected three leading companies in golf, PC server and LCD industry to do the case study. The results highlight how collaborative design can build up new business model, make B to B more efficient and further improve business performance.