Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spectral Filter Tracking

Visual object tracking is a challenging computer vision task with numerous real-world applications. In this paper, we propose a simple but efficient spectral filter tracking (SFT) method from the viewpoint of a graph, where each candidate’s image region is modeled as a pixelwise grid graph. Instead of the conventional graph matching, we formulate the tracking as a plain least square regression problem of learning spectral filters on graphs to predict an optimal vertex, which indicates the center of the target. To bypass computationally expensive eigenvalue decomposition on graph Laplacian <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ \mathcal {L}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, we parameterize spectral graph filters as a polynomial of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ \mathcal {L}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> to aggregate local graph features according to spectral graph theory, in which <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ \mathcal {L}^{k}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> exactly encodes a k-hop local neighborhood of each vertex. Thus, different from the holistic regression in those correlation filter-based methods, SFT can operate on localized regions around a pixel (i.e., a vertex), which can effectively reduce the influence of local variations and cluttered backgrounds. Furthermore, we observe that the correlation filter tracking may be viewed as a specific case of our proposed spectral filtering method. The implementation of SFT can simply boil down to only a few line codes, but surprisingly it beats the correlation filter-based model with the same feature input and achieves the state-of-the-art performance on OTB-2015 and VOT2016 under the same feature extraction strategy.
Decoupling of the PI3K Pathway via Mutation Necessitates Combinatorial Treatment in HER2+ Breast Cancer

We report here on experimental and theoretical efforts to determine how best to combine drugs that inhibit HER2 and AKT in HER2+ breast cancers. We accomplished this by measuring cellular and molecular responses to lapatinib and the AKT inhibitors (AKTi) GSK690693 and GSK2141795 in a panel of 22 HER2+ breast cancer cell lines carrying wild type or mutant PIK3CA. We observed that combinations of lapatinib plus AKTi were synergistic in HER2+/PIK3CAmut cell lines but not in HER2+/PIK3CAwt cell lines. We measured changes in phospho-protein levels in 15 cell lines after treatment with lapatinib, AKTi or lapatinib + AKTi to shed light on the underlying signaling dynamics. This revealed that p-S6RP levels were less well attenuated by lapatinib in HER2+/PIK3CAmut cells compared to HER2+/PIK3CAwt cells and that lapatinib + AKTi reduced p-S6RP levels to those achieved in HER2+/PIK3CAwt cells with lapatinib alone. We also found that that compensatory up-regulation of p-HER3 and p-HER2 is blunted in PIK3CAmut cells following lapatinib + AKTi treatment. Responses of HER2+ SKBR3 cells transfected with lentiviruses carrying control or PIK3CAmut sequences were similar to those observed in HER2+/PIK3CAmut cell lines but not in HER2+/PIK3CAwt cell lines. We used a nonlinear ordinary differential equation model to support the idea that PIK3CA mutations act as downstream activators of AKT that blunt lapatinib inhibition of downstream AKT signaling and that the effects of PIK3CA mutations can be countered by combining lapatinib with an AKTi. This combination does not confer substantial benefit beyond lapatinib in HER2+/PIK3CAwt cells.
Energy dependence of nuclear transparency in C (p,2p) scattering.

The transparency of carbon for (p,2p) quasielastic events was measured at beam momenta ranging from 5.9 to 14.5 GeV/c at 90 degrees c.m. The four-momentum transfer squared (Q2) ranged from 4.7 to 12.7 (GeV/c)(2). We present the observed beam momentum dependence of the ratio of the carbon to hydrogen cross sections. We also apply a model for the nuclear momentum distribution of carbon to obtain the nuclear transparency. We find a sharp rise in transparency as the beam momentum is increased to 9 GeV/c and a reduction to approximately the Glauber level at higher energies.
Precipitation of Ammonium from Concentrated Industrial Wastes as Struvite: A Search for the Optimal Reagents

Precipitation of struvite (MgNH4PO4) is a known process for purification of wastewater from high concentrations of ammonium. The optimal conditions for precipitation are basic pH (around 9) and sufficient concentrations of magnesium and phosphate ions. In this work, we accomplished efficient precipitation of ammonium from concentrated industrial waste stream by using magnesium oxide (MgO) both as a source of magnesium ions and as a base. Best results were obtained with technical‐grade MgO, which provided 99% removal of ammonium. Moreover, ammonium removal occurred already at pH 7, and the residual ammonium concentration (50 mg/L) remained constant upon addition of more MgO without rising again, as occurs with sodium hydroxide (NaOH). This process may have two other advantages; it also can be relevant for the problem of uncontrolled precipitation of struvite in the supernatant of anaerobic sludge treatment plants, and the precipitate can be used as a fertilizer.
Enterprise Quality Credit Evaluation Based on Grey Correlation Analysis and TOPSIS Method

Evaluate the enterprise quality credit with the method of grey correlation analysis and TOPSIS. Determine the main evaluation indicators of enterprise quality credit according to the quality credit definition proposed by GAQSIQ. Introduce the grey correlation analysis and TOPSIS method to the evaluation of the built indexes, resulting quality credit score of every enterprise, while ranking their quality credit level more accurately. Index Terms - Enterprise Quality Credit, Grey Correlation, TOPSIS
Difference in keratinase activity of dermatophytes at different environmental conditions is an attribute of adaptation to parasitism

Dermatophytes are a group of morphologically and physiologically related moulds, which cause well‐defined infection called dermatophytosis. The enzymatic ability of fungi to decompose keratin has long been interpreted as a key innovation in the evolution of animal dermatology. In the present study, keratinase activity profile among Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton rubrum, Microsporum canis and Microsporum gypseum isolated on keratin substrates such as human hair, human nail and chicken feather at variable environmental conditions of temperature, pH and metal ions was elucidated. All the above‐mentioned fungal strains were isolated from soil using To‐KA‐Va baiting technique and keratinolytic activity was measured spectrophotometrically. In the temperature range of 30–40 °C and slightly alkaline pH (7.0–8.0), Trichophyton produced the highest activity of keratinase. It can be presumed that high enzyme production of Trichophyton species at normal body temperature range and pH could be an attribute for obligate anthropization in some dermatophytes.
Barriers to Trade with Japan: A Socio‐cultural Perspective

The relationship between cultural and social elements in Japan and the presence and maintenance of trade barriers is examined. The European Community and the US had $23 billion and $60 billion deficits with Japan in 1988, respectively. In particular, the US has experienced a trade deficit with Japan since 1969. Understanding the social and cultural influences is the first step in unravelling the hidden barriers – buyer behaviour, channel relationships, oligopolistic competition, government procurement, regulation and standards, custom valuation codes, intellectual property rights, and industrial targeting. Visible tariff and non‐tariff barriers are also discussed. Strategies for bypassing these barriers are discussed and several examples of how European and American companies have overcome them are offered.
The Effect of Online Media Credibility on Trust Relationships

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the online information credibility on trust relationships. A 2 (newspaper news and online press release) 2 (negative news and positive news) experiment was designed with 184 participants to implement the test. The results showed that media source type and news content exerted significant effects on media credibility and trust relationships with organizations. The subjects perceived as more credible newspaper news stories than those posted in online press releases. Specifically, the news audience is more likely to believe traditional journalistic sources when faced with negative reports about organizations. Moreover, a significant correlation between media credibility and trust relationships suggests that media source credibility has an influence on the trust relationships. Public relations practitioners may be advised to invest more time in placing objective and credible information in key traditional media first in order to initiate, nurture.
A new affine invariant descriptor for shape recognition

Shape is considered to be one of the most promising tools to represent and recognize an object. In this paper, an effective and rigorous shape descriptor is developed for shape recognition under affine transformations. To reflect the gray information of the shape, two extended centroids with different orders are adopted to form the vector which is treated as the x-axis to establish a new positively oriented orthonormal frame. Then, the descriptor representing the distribution of all points within the shape region along the y-axis is captured to achieve shape recognition. In addition to its stable affine invariance and robustness to noise, the descriptor has low computational complexity. The proposed descriptor has been implemented on a famous database and gives encouraging results while it is compared to other two state-of-the-art algorithms including GC and EC-ARC.
Advertising Implications of Millennials' Motives and Device-Platform Consideration Sets: An Exploratory Study

abstract Comprising between 25 to 30 percent of the population with huge and growing purchasing power, Millennials, as a demographic group, are of great interest to advertisers and media companies alike. Their traits and characteristics have been studied extensively. This fact notwithstanding, reaching millennials continues to be a challenge. Based on Grounded Theory, the cohort's mind-set, behavioral tendencies as well as their perceived device-platform cognitive fit and device-platform consideration sets are explored. The study provides a window into the innovation-adoption process they go through, contributing to device-platform choice theory. The findings suggest that Millennials have an over-arching concern about availability/connectivity, responsiveness and reliability of internet access, followed by convergence across-platforms. The cohort exhibits control and decision anxiety over devices and platforms.
Computer vision and laser scanner road environment perception

Data fusion procedure is presented to enhance classical Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). The novel vehicle safety approach, combines two classical sensors: computer vision and laser scanner. Laser scanner algorithm performs detection of vehicles and pedestrians based on pattern matching algorithms. Computer vision approach is based on Haar-Like features for vehicles and Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG) features for pedestrians. The high level fusion procedure uses Kalman Filter and Joint Probabilistic Data Association (JPDA) algorithm to provide high level detection. Results proved that by means of data fusion, the performance of the system is enhanced.
Managing supply chain risk with options and online spot markets

Abstract The objective of this study is to analyze and quantify the benefits of utilizing options and online spot market procurements for hedging demand uncertainty in managing supply chain risk. Retailers can either buy products directly from the supplier, or purchase options on the products, and still there is a spot market to meet in season’s demand for the two parties. The retailer must balance between using options and online spot market procurements to reduce uncertainty and maximizes profit. This study considers the wholesale price to be an equilibrium resulting from a negotiation game between the two parties. Our study shows the interesting finding that options and spot markets are two competing alternatives for hedging demand uncertainty. When the spot market is more attractive, the retailer will deviate to it, thus losing her negotiation power in determining the wholesale price. However, if in the opposite situation, the retailer will use a large amount of options, leading to the information flows, risk sharing, and supply chain efficiency all being improved.
Familial Adenomatous Polyposis: Challenges and Pitfalls of Surgical Treatment

Abstract Surgical management of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is complex and requires both sound judgment and technical skills. Because colorectal cancer risk approaches 100%, prophylactic colorectal surgery remains a cornerstone of management. Both patient factors and disease characteristics influence surgical decision-making regarding the timing of prophylactic surgery, the extent of resection, and types of reconstruction. Making appropriate choices can be challenging and there is continued debate regarding optimal strategies. This chapter reviews the controversies in colorectal surgery for FAP.
Design of fracture reduction device for distal radius

Radial distal fracture is commonly found in clinical practice. Compared to surgical treatment, the traditional manual reduction is proved effective and has high efficiency-cost ratio. However, the lack of basic research on biomechanical measurements and analysis of manipulative reduction at home and abroad makes the effect of traditional manual reduction not so satisfying. This paper proposed a novel fracture reduction device for distal radius to assist the surgeon with the traditional manual reduction. The fracture reduction device for distal radius was composed of base, calibration device for wrist rotation axis, double forearm supporting device, elbow fixation device, upper arm fixation device, double-plane curved guide rail, traction mechanism of thumb and traction mechanism of fingers except thumb. The pre-experiment demonstrates that with the help of this device, only one doctor can complete the traditional manual reduction easily. In addition, all the necessary biomechanics and related parameters of traditional manual reduction techniques for distal radius fractures can be measured precisely with the help of force signal acquisition system.
Simulation of Heterogeneous Colloidal Particles Immersed in Liquid Crystals

This thesis describes an investigation of interactions between colloidal particles immersed in a liquid crystal. The presence of colloidal particles in the liquid crystal distorts the director field distorted from its uniform orientation. These elastic distortions produce topological defects around the particles, which induce anisotropic interactions between them, and these anisotropic interactions can be used to manufacture non-closed packed colloidal crystals, such as diamond lattices, which are interesting in photonic applications. First, different types of liquid crystals, the mathematical tools to describe the anisotropic nature of liquid crystals, the Landau-de Gennes free-energy model to investigate the particle’s interaction, and different kinds of topological defects are described. Moreover, previous work regarding the interaction of particles with the same applied boundary conditions in both nematic and cholesteric liquid crystal are discussed. Second, the lattice Boltzmann method is introduced in order to couple the molecular dynamics particles to the computational fluid mesh, and the simulation is performed in the open source molecular dynamics package, LAMMPS. Next, we explore anisotropic interactions with minima at specific orientations of particles with heterogeneous boundary conditions inside both nematic and cholesteric liquid crystals, which have not been observed so far. The results show that when particles are put at different distances and angles with respect to each other, new types of defect structures are produced, depending on the relative distances and directions. In the cholesteric liquid crystal, the value of pitch affects the defect structures and induced forces.
Exploring the Decisive Attributesof Supply Chain Planning under Uncertainty

In recent years, many firms have recognized supply chain planning (SCP) as an important issue in doing business. In the electronic industry, it plays a significant role in firm’s performance. Nevertheless, a comprehensive understanding of SCP is yet to be established. Hence, the objective of this study is exploring the decisive attributes of SCP under uncertainty. By providing the aspects such as information quality, procedural quality, alignment quality and information sharing, this study contributes to determine the critical criteria which affect on SCP and thereby firm’s performance and competitive advantage. The fuzzy set theory and a decision making trial and evaluation laboratory are applied. The findings indicate that the driving aspects are information quality and procedural quality that are elements impacting on alignment quality and also contributing information sharing. This study also shows that to achieve efficiency in SCP and improve their performance, firms should focus on complete and adequate of the information exchanges as well as cooperation to plan and execute a strategy for doing business.
Industry-Specialist Audit Fee Premium and Financial Statement Complexity

In this paper, we examine whether the industry-specialist audit fee premium and scale discounts are attributable to financial statement complexity. Financial statement complexity is measured using a combination of the number of Arabic numerals, the number of words, and the readability of 10-K financial statement footnotes. We find that specialist auditors charge a premium for clients with higher financial statement complexity and, correspondingly, offer scale economy discounts to these clients as well. Interestingly, even though non-specialist auditors charge a higher fee for clients with higher financial statement complexity, they do not offer scale economy discounts to these clients. We also show that a client’s financial statement complexity is distinct from its operational complexity. Collectively, our results suggest that the industry-specialist auditors’ premium is attributable to auditors’ investment in resources to handle client complexity, and not monopoly rent or compensation for audit risk.
Motion planning and control for Hilare pulling a trailer

This paper deals with motion planning and control for mobile robots. The various components of an integrated architecture for the mobile robot Hilare pulling a trailer are presented. The nonholonomic path planner is based on an original steering method accounting for the small-time controllability of the system. Then the path is transformed into a trajectory by including the dynamical constraints of the system (bounded velocity and bounded acceleration). Finally, the motion control is addressed. Due to the geometric transformation for a virtual robot, we show how to reduce the problem to a classical approach of trajectory tracking for a mobile robot moving forward only. The experimental results presented include two types of robot-trailer connection systems.
The recognition of Japanese-accented and unaccented English words by Japanese listeners

This study investigated whether Japanese listeners learning English employ two types of lexical information (word frequency and neighborhood density) when they recognize English words. English words recorded by a native speaker of English and a native speaker of Japanese were presented to Japanese university students in a noise condition. The results of word recognition scores showed that Japanese listeners employed both lexical and pre-lexical levels of information in English word recognition. They were sensitive to both probabilistic phonotactics (bottom-up acoustic information) and word frequency (lexical information). A strong correlation between probabilistic phonotactics and neighborhood density still predict Japanese listeners are influenced by neighborhood density in English word recognition.
The Strategic Responses of the Subsidiaries of Multinational EnterprisesDuring Institutional Upheaval

Every market has a set of institutions that govern the ways that societal interactions take place, including business transactions. Multinational enterprises are global entities that have operations in many different countries in the world and have to adapt their processes and strategies to local institutions, which are often very different from those in their home countries, particularly in emerging and developing economies. This research employs the concept of institutional work to investigate the strategic responses of the subsidiaries of multinational enterprises operating in Morocco to local institutional pressures during stable periods as well as periods characterized by institutional upheaval, as was the case following the Arab Spring events in the Middle East. The study found that the subsidiaries of multinational enterprises are able to respond strategically and proactively in their host environments, through their everyday actions such as interactions with local actors or though highly visible actions such as the introduction of a new norm, standard or practice. Furthermore, the research suggests that during institutional change, the subsidiaries of multinational enterprises have a greater opportunity to act strategically and to capitalize on the transitions occurring to bring about further change to gain a more favorable business environment.
Complete Genome Sequence of Bifidobacterium scardovii Strain JCM 12489T, Isolated from Human Blood

ABSTRACT Bifidobacterium scardovii strain JCM 12489T was isolated from human blood and has the largest bifidobacterial genome reported to date. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of this organism. This paper is the first report demonstrating the fully sequenced and completely annotated genome of a B. scardovii strain.
Virus Detection in Questing Ticks is not a Sensitive Indicator for Risk Assessment of Tick‐Borne Encephalitis in Humans

Tick‐borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is the most important tick‐transmitted arbovirus causing human disease in Europe, but information on its endemic occurrence varies between countries because of differences in surveillance systems. Objective data are necessary to ascertain the disease risk for vaccination recommendations and other public health interventions. In two independent, separately planned projects, we used real‐time RT‐PCR to detect TBE virus in questing ticks. In Poland, 32 sampling sites were selected in 10 administrative districts located in regions where sporadic TBE cases were reported. In Germany, 18 sampling sites were selected in two districts located in a region with high TBE incidence. Altogether, >16 000 ticks were tested by real‐time RT‐PCR, with no sample testing positive for TBEV. A systematic search for published studies on TBEV prevalence in ticks in Poland and Germany also suggested that testing large numbers of collected ticks could not consistently assure virus detection in known endemic foci. Although assignment of results to administrative regions is essential for TBE risk mapping, this was possible in only 10 (investigating 22 417 ticks) of 15 published studies (>50 000 ticks) identified. We conclude that the collection and screening of ticks by real‐time RT‐PCR cannot be recommended for assessment of human TBE risk. Alternative methods of environmental TBEV monitoring should be considered, such as serological monitoring of rodents or other wildlife.