Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Topological Coding and Its Application in the Refinement of SIFT

Point pattern matching plays a prominent role in the fields of computer vision and pattern recognition. A technique combining the circular onion peeling and the radial decomposition is proposed to analyze the topology structure of a point pattern. The analysis derives a feature which records the topological structure of a point pattern. This novel feature is free from isometric assumption. It can resist various deformations such as adding points, suppressing points, affine transformations, projective transformations and elastic transformations to some degree. A refinement solution of the well known scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) algorithm is also proposed based on the probabilistic analysis of this feature. Experimental results show that the proposed refinement solution for SIFT using this feature is effective and robust.
Letters from Relatives: A Source of Information Providing Rich Insight into the experience of the Family in Palliative Care

Studies on the effectiveness and efficiency of palliative care (PC) services that use a methodology similar to that used by studies in other medical specialties face serious limitations, since the goals of PC are substantially different. Qualitative research methods can make an important contribution to our understanding of the features of palliative care (PC) that are most relevant to patients and their relatives. The goal of this study was to understand the reasons behind the gratitude shown in letters from bereaved relatives sent to two PC units, one in Spain and one in Portugal. A thematic analysis of the content of the letters was independently carried out by three researchers, who later collaborated to write up the results. Relatives appeared grateful primarily for the humane attitude, professional treatment, and emotional support that their loved ones received from the PC team; they thanked the team for creating a special atmosphere and offering holistic care, and they talked about the contrast between PC and other forms of care. The unsolicited gratitude expressed in their letters constitutes a valid and particularly rich source of information about the contribution that a PC team can make.
Complexity search for compressed neural networks

In this paper, we introduce a method, called Compressed Network Complexity Search (CNCS), for automatically determining the complexity of compressed networks (neural networks encoded indirectly by Fourier-type coefficients) that favors parsimonious solutions. CNCS maintains a probability distribution over complexity classes that it uses to select which class to optimize. Class probabilities are adapted based on their expected fitness, starting with a prior biased toward the simplest networks. Experiments on a challenging non-linear version of the helicopter hovering task, show that the method consistently finds simple solutions.
A Video Based Tracker for use in Computer Aided Surgery

Recent improvements in medical equipment and data visualisation tools have made it possible for surgeons to use medical images of patients during operations as well as during the preparation phase. In order to use the data effectively in the theatre the surgeon must be given live information about his current location inside the patient relative to the pre-operative images. This paper describes a vision-based system that can locate and track a passive hand-held instrument in the operating theatre to provide the real-time information required. A target acquisition system is described which locates a pre-defined object in an arbitrary scene and calculates its 3D location and attitude. Enhancements to the RAPiD model-based tracking system are also detailed including multiple camera operation, improvements to edge identification in the image and combining robust tracking with high accuracy. Experimental results are also provided.
Optimization of the Routing Table Lookup Algorithm for IPv6

With the extensive application of IPv6 protocol, the traditional IPv4 routing table lookup algorithms no longer satisfy the need of routing forward in the IPv6 network environment. So we optimize the routing table lookup algorithm to adapt for IPv6 that employs Bloom filters to realize parallel longest prefix match. The algorithm efficiently narrows the scope of the search, reduces the average time of hash probe per lookup, and thereby enhances lookup speed.
Novel microstrip square-loop triple-mode bandpass filter for wireless communication

This paper presents a novel microstrip triple-mode bandpass filter. Three modes are achieved by adding a microstrip line to a square-loop resonator. The relation between the length of the inset microstrip line and the modes-shifting characteristic is studied. Odd mode and even mode theory is applied to analysis this new proposed resonator. A triple-mode bandpass filter in 3.5GH-band is designed based on the proposed resonator. Then the filter is fed by in-line microstrip feed lines. Circuit model based on coupling theory is set up. The filter is simulated. Experimental results show that three resonant modes occurred in the passband and a transmission zero is achieved in the lower stopband.
Neural and cognitive bases of upper limb apraxia in corticobasal degeneration

Objective: To investigate the neural and cognitive bases of upper limb apraxia in corticobasal degeneration (CBD). Methods: Eighteen patients with CBD underwent a cognitive neuropsychological assessment of apraxia and resting [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose PET scanning. Two complementary measures of apraxia were computed for each modality of gesture production. First, a performance score measured error frequency during gesture execution. Second, as a more stringent test of the integrity of the praxis system, the correction score measured the patient’s ability to correct his or her errors on a second attempt. For each measure type, a cut-off score for the presence of apraxia was defined with regard to healthy controls. Using each cut-off score, the regional cerebral glucose metabolism of patients with CBD with apraxia (i.e., performing below cut-off score) was compared with that of patients with CBD without apraxia. Results: Mean performance scores were below normal values in all modalities. Anterior cingulate hypometabolism predominated in patients with CBD who performed below the cut-off performance score. At variance, mean correction scores were below normal values for gesture imitation only. Hypometabolism in superior parietal lobule and supplementary motor area characterized patients with CBD who were unable to correct their errors at the same rate as control subjects did. Conclusions: Distinct neural networks underlie distinct aspects of the upper limb apraxic deficits in CBD. Extending previous findings of gesture production deficits in CBD, the use of complementary measures of apraxic behavior discloses a visuoimitative upper limb apraxia in CBD, underlain by a metabolic decrease in a parietofrontal neural network.
SWSE: Objects before documents!

Web search engines are immensly useful for locating documents online. However, with more and more structured data being published online, the restriction to the hyperdocument model impairs the usefulness for searching and browsing. In contrast, an object-orientated model provides means to firstly integrate data about the same object from multiple sources, and secondly enable expressive queries over the integrated information space. We present SWSE, a search engine over 1.1 billion statements published on the Semantic Web. The system provides an easy-to-use end-user interface through which users can find and navigate an object-orientated information space. In addtion, the system exposes the data via a full SPARQL REST service which is open for application developers to query and integrate data in own applications.
Use of Antimicrobial Agents in Veterinary Medicine and Implications for Human Health

This review discusses why veterinary usage of antimicrobial agents is wrongly accused of causing a substantial part of the problem of resistant human pathogens. Without doubt, resistant organisms in animals are selected by veterinary antimicrobials. However, these are not a major human health risk either because the role of veterinary usage in selection or propagation is insignificant, or because resistant populations selected by veterinary usage do not pose a substantial risk to human health. Indeed, resistant bacterial infections in humans causing serious quantitative and qualitative health consequences are rarely food-borne and are not the same as those selected by veterinary usage of antimicrobial agents. The available evidence for veterinary selection of resistance, transmission to humans, and subsequent health consequences are reviewed for food-borne zoonotic pathogens. A risk assessment strategy is proposed to quantify potential hazards in order to decide on the most effective risk management strategy.
Représentations sociales de la dangerosité psychiatrique chez les intervenants en santé mentale: une anthropologie du risque

The present thesis analyzes social perceptions regarding danger and risk experienced in a psychiatric setting. We seek to explore how psychiatric practitioners and staff, who are confronted daily with aggressivity, perceive the risks inherent in their work and how they react in situations of uncertainty. The concepts of “dangerousness”, “dangerous subjects” and of “risk” in psychiatry are considered in this thesis, through anthropological, historical and sociological perspectives based on the work of Michel Foucault, Robert Castel, Ian Hacking and Mary Douglas. Participant observation in an acute care psychiatric unit, along with semistructured interviews were carried out with more than ten practitioners (including nurses, beneficiary attendants, and security agents). The use of both an ethnographic and interpretative approach highlighted similarities, disparities and contradictions between the narratives of different categories of staff, as well as between individual staff and practitioners, regarding danger and risk in psychiatry . The results are divided into three disparate themes: 1) social perceptions of dangerousness and risks associated with aggression 2) perceptions of risk in the workplace 3) reaction towards perceived risk. This analysis demonstrates that staff and practitioners’ implicit knowledge regarding ‘dangerousness’ is derived from a continuous incorporation of expert knowledge, based on objective risk factors, and the clinical reality in which they interact on a daily basis. Moreover, contrary to the predictions of experts, the difference between practitioners control practices does not derive from an overestimation of risk, nor is it the consequence of a lack of objective information regarding such risk. It can, instead, be explained by the presence or absence of a therapeutic relationship and by the degree of social recognition between caregiver and patient. The elements that strengthen or limit the establishment of trust will be further elucidated in the present discussion.
Towards a structured approach to the definition of indicators for collaborative activities in engineering design

The work reported here relates to the need for collaborative platforms for sharing knowledge in engineering design. Such platforms often integrate different indicators for describing or measuring the characteristics of current or past activities in order to improve collaboration. These collaboration indicators are intended to promote the interaction between the users of those platforms, and to provide engineers with different forms of awareness. In this paper, the issue of defining a structured approach for building a consistent set of indicators for an efficient collaborative platform in engineering design is investigated. A possible classification for these indicators is put forward and is based on several dimensions, such as the social aspects. This classification provides a broad view of indicator requirements, through grid, making it possible both to analyse existing indicators and to characterise users’ needs in order to define new ones. The proposed classification is tested in two different companies using a collaborative platform for their engineering activities. It is shown that the classification makes it possible to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of an existing set of indicators, and how it can support the elicitation process of new ones. Finally, a definition of co-design methodology for collaboration indicators is suggested. Here, particular attention is paid to users’ needs and to the systematic consideration of all relevant dimensions.
Learning Binary Classifiers for Multi-Class Problem

One important idea for the multi-class classification problem is to combine binary classifiers (base classifiers), which is summarized as error correcting output codes (ECOC), and the generalized Bradley-Terry (GBT) model gives a method to estimate the multi-class probability. In this memo, we review the multi-class problem with the GBT model and discuss two issues. First, a new estimation algorithm of the GBT model associated with α–divergence is proposed. Secondly, the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) algorithm of each base classifier based on the combined multi-class probability is derived.
HMF unit: A key element in dynamic dataflow ASIC

This paper presents a special element named HMF (Hold-Match-Fetch) unit by us. The HMF unit implements token storing, token matching and token fetching mechanism that is necessary in dynamic dataflow ASIC. The HMF unit presented in this paper is implemented in asynchronous way and has been used in an AES ASIC chip, which is based on a dynamic dataflow structure and can resist different power analysis (DPA) attack by randomly changing the operations' sequence. Due to the application requirement, a random fetching mechanism is implemented by the HMF unit in this example.
A small RNA pathway mediates global allelic dosage in endosperm

Balance between maternal and paternal genomes within the triploid endosperm is necessary for normal seed development. The majority of genes in Arabidopsis endosperm are expressed in a 2:1 maternal:paternal ratio, reflecting endosperm genomic DNA content. Here we find that the 2:1 transcriptional ratio is not, unexpectedly, a passive default but is actively regulated. We describe an inverse relationship between the parent-of-origin of small RNAs and mRNAs in endosperm on a genome-wide scale. Disruption of the Pol IV small RNA pathway causes the entire transcriptome to become more maternally biased. Furthermore, paternal inheritance of a RNA Pol IV mutation is sufficient to rescue seed abortion caused by excess paternal genome dosage. These results indicate that maintenance of the maternal:paternal transcriptome ratio in endosperm is an active process and reveal a function for RNA Pol IV in mediating the global transcriptional balance between maternally and paternally inherited genomes in endosperm.
Opportunistic Scheduling of Machine Type Communications as Underlay to Cellular Networks

In this paper we present a simple method to exploit the diversity of interference in heterogenous wireless communication systems with large number of machine-type-devices (MTD). We consider a system with a machine-type-aggregator (MTA) as underlay to cellular network with a multi antenna base station (BS). Cellular users share uplink radio resources with MTDs. Handling the interference from MTDs on the BS is the focus of this article. Our method takes advantage of received interference diversity on BS at each time on each resource block and allocates the radio resources to the MTD with the minimum interference on the BS. In this method, BS does not need to take the interference from MTD into account in the design of the receive beamformer for uplink cellular user, hence, the degrees of freedom is not used for interference management. Our simulation results show that each resource block can be shared between a cellular user and an MTD, with almost no harmful interference on the cellular user.
Targeting macrophages rescues age‐related immune deficiencies in C57BL/6J geriatric mice

Changes to innate cells, such as macrophages and myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), during aging in healthy or tumor‐bearing hosts are not well understood. We compared macrophage subpopulations and MDSCs from healthy young (6–8 weeks) C57BL/6J mice to those from healthy geriatric (24–28 months) mice. Spleens, lymph nodes, and bone marrow of geriatric hosts contained significantly more M2 macrophages and MDSCs than their younger counterparts. Peritoneal macrophages from geriatric, but not young, mice co‐expressed CD40 and CX3CR1 that are usually mutually exclusively expressed by M1 or M2 macrophages. Nonetheless, macrophages from geriatric mice responded to M1 or M2 stimuli similarly to macrophages from young mice, although they secreted higher levels of TGF‐β in response to IL‐4. We mimicked conditions that may occur within tumors by exposing macrophages from young vs. geriatric mice to mesothelioma or lung carcinoma tumor cell–derived supernatants. While both supernatants skewed macrophages toward the M2‐phenotype regardless of age, only geriatric‐derived macrophages produced IL‐4, suggesting a more immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment will be established in the elderly. Both geriatric‐ and young‐derived macrophages induced allogeneic T‐cell proliferation, regardless of the stimuli used, including tumor supernatant. However, only macrophages from young mice induced T‐cell IFN‐γ production. We examined the potential of an IL‐2/agonist anti‐CD40 antibody immunotherapy that eradicates large tumors in young hosts to activate macrophages from geriatric mice. IL‐2‐/CD40‐activated macrophages rescued T‐cell production of IFN‐γ in geriatric mice. Therefore, targeting macrophages with IL‐2/anti‐CD40 antibody may improve innate and T‐cell immunity in aging hosts.
Naturally Presented Peptides on Major Histocompatibility Complex I and II Molecules Eluted from Central Nervous System of Multiple Sclerosis Patients*

Tandem mass spectrometry was used to identify naturally processed peptides bound to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) I and MHC II molecules in central nervous system (CNS) of eight patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). MHC molecules were purified from autopsy CNS material by immunoaffinity chromatography with monoclonal antibody directed against HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DR. Subsequently peptides were separated by reversed-phase HPLC and analyzed by mass spectrometry. Database searches revealed 118 amino acid sequences from self-proteins eluted from MHC I molecules and 191 from MHC II molecules, corresponding to 174 identified source proteins. These sequences define previously known and potentially novel autoantigens in MS possibly involved in disease induction and antigen spreading. Taken together, we have initiated the characterization of the CNS-expressed MHC ligandome in CNS diseases and were able to demonstrate the presentation of naturally processed myelin basic protein peptides in the brain of MS patients.
Association between Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase C677T Polymorphism and Bone Mineral Density: The Dong-gu Study and the Namwon Study

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism and bone mineral density (BMD). Two large cohort studies were performed: the Dong-gu Study (3,621 men and 5,409 women) and the Namwon Study (3,703 men and 5,672 women). We assessed lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Genotypes were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between MTHFR C677T and BMD, adjusting for age, weight and height. The MTHFR C677T genotype frequencies for CC, CT, and TT genotypes were 34.5, 48.7, and 16.8%, respectively, in the Dong-gu Study and 33.6, 49.2, and 17.2%, respectively, in the Namwon Study. There are no significant differences between the MTHFR C677T genotype and the BMD at the lumbar spine and femoral neck in men or women in both cohorts.
Optimum compensation method and filter cutoff frequency in myocardial SPECT: a human observer study.

UNLABELLED Attenuation, photon scatter, and distance-dependent collimator-detector response are major degrading factors in myocardial SPECT images. The current study investigated whether compensation for these factors improves perfusion defect detectability, and compared the results for human observers with a previous study using a mathematical observer. METHODS Four methods were investigated: attenuation compensation (AC); attenuation and detector response compensation; attenuation and scatter compensation; and attenuation, detector response, and scatter compensation (ADSC). For ADSC, 4 three-dimensional postreconstruction Butterworth filter cutoff frequencies were investigated for a pixel size of 0.62 cm: 0.12, 0.14, 0.16, and 0.22 pixel(-1). Five observers read images reconstructed using the 4 compensation methods. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was used to determine the area under the ROC curve in each treatment studied. RESULTS Reconstruction methods that incorporated scatter and detector response compensation had higher indices of detectability than AC alone. Over the range studied, a filter cutoff frequency of 0.14 pixel(-1) was optimal. A comparison of human observer results with an earlier channelized Hotelling observer study performed with the same images showed excellent agreement in trend and ranking of defect detectability. CONCLUSION Compensation for detector response and scatter improves defect detectability compared with AC alone, although detectability may depend on phantom population choice and noise level. An optimal filter cutoff was found that is lower than what is typically used in a clinical setting. The channelized Hotelling observer is a good predictor of human observer performance and may reduce the need for tedious, time-consuming studies with human observers.
Dynamics of Disordered Network of Coupled Hindmarsh-Rose Neuronal Models

We investigate the effects of disorder on the synchronized state of a network of Hindmarsh–Rose neuronal models. Disorder, introduced as a perturbation of the neuronal parameters, destroys the network activity by wrecking the synchronized state. The dynamics of the synchronized state is analyzed through the Kuramoto order parameter, adapted to the neuronal Hindmarsh–Rose model. We find that the coupling deeply alters the dynamics of the single units, thus demonstrating that coupling not only affects the relative motion of the units, but also the dynamical behavior of each neuron; Thus, synchronization results in a structural change of the dynamics. The Kuramoto order parameter allows to clarify the nature of the transition from perfect phase synchronization to the disordered states, supporting the notion of an abrupt, second order-like, dynamical phase transition. We find that the system is resilient up to a certain disorder threshold, after that the network abruptly collapses to a desynchronized state. T.