Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Quanta Image Sensor: Every Photon Counts

The Quanta Image Sensor (QIS) was conceived when contemplating shrinking pixel sizes and storage capacities, and the steady increase in digital processing power. In the single-bit QIS, the output of each field is a binary bit plane, where each bit represents the presence or absence of at least one photoelectron in a photodetector. A series of bit planes is generated through high-speed readout, and a kernel or “cubicle” of bits (x, y, t) is used to create a single output image pixel. The size of the cubicle can be adjusted post-acquisition to optimize image quality. The specialized sub-diffraction-limit photodetectors in the QIS are referred to as “jots” and a QIS may have a gigajot or more, read out at 1000 fps, for a data rate exceeding 1 Tb/s. Basically, we are trying to count photons as they arrive at the sensor. This paper reviews the QIS concept and its imaging characteristics. Recent progress towards realizing the QIS for commercial and scientific purposes is discussed. This includes implementation of a pump-gate jot device in a 65 nm CIS BSI process yielding read noise as low as 0.22 e− r.m.s. and conversion gain as high as 420 µV/e−, power efficient readout electronics, currently as low as 0.4 pJ/b in the same process, creating high dynamic range images from jot data, and understanding the imaging characteristics of single-bit and multi-bit QIS devices. The QIS represents a possible major paradigm shift in image capture.
Fermentative Bacteria Influence the Competition between Denitrifiers and DNRA Bacteria

Denitrification and dissimilatory reduction to ammonium (DNRA) are competing nitrate-reduction processes that entail important biogeochemical consequences for nitrogen retention/removal in natural and man-made ecosystems. The nature of the available carbon source and electron donor have been suggested to play an important role on the outcome of this microbial competition. In this study, the influence of lactate as fermentable carbon source on the competition for nitrate was investigated for varying ratios of lactate and nitrate in the influent (Lac/N ratio). The study was conducted in an open chemostat culture, enriched from activated sludge, under strict anoxia. The mechanistic explanation of the conversions observed was based on integration of results from specific batch tests with biomass from the chemostat, molecular analysis of the biomass enriched, and a computational model. At high Lac/N ratio (2.97 mol/mol) both fermentative and respiratory nitrate reduction to ammonium occurred, coupled to partial oxidation of lactate to acetate, and to acetate oxidation respectively. Remaining lactate was fermented to propionate and acetate. At a decreased Lac/N ratio (1.15 mol/mol), the molar percentage of nitrate reduced to ammonium decreased to 58%, even though lactate was supplied in adequate amounts for full ammonification and nitrate remained the growth limiting compound. Data evaluation at this Lac/N ratio suggested conversions were comparable to the higher Lac/N ratio, except for lactate oxidation to acetate that was coupled to denitrification instead of ammonification. Respiratory DNRA on acetate was likely catalyzed by two Geobacter species related to G. luticola and G. lovleyi. Two Clostridiales members were likely responsible for lactate fermentation and partial lactate fermentation to acetate coupled to fermentative DNRA. An organism related to Propionivibrio militaris was identified as the organism likely responsible for denitrification. The results of this study clearly show that not only the ratio of available substrates, but also the nature of the electron donor influences the outcome of competition between DNRA and denitrification. Apparently, fermentative bacteria are competitive for the electron donor and thereby alter the ratio of available substrates for nitrate reduction.
The Restaurant Game: Learning Social Behavior and Language from Thousands of Players Online

We envision a future in which conversational virtual agents collaborate with humans in games and training simulations. A representation of common ground for everyday scenarios is essential for these agents if they are to be effective collaborators and communicators. Effective collaborators can infer a partner’s goals and predict future actions. Effective communicators can infer the meaning of utterances based on semantic context. This article introduces a computational model of common ground called a Plan Network, a statistical model that encodes context-sensitive expected patterns of behavior and language, with dependencies on social roles and object affordances. We describe a methodology for unsupervised learning of a Plan Network using a multiplayer video game, visualization of this network, and evaluation of the learned model with respect to human judgment of typical behavior. Specifically, we describe learning the Restaurant Plan Network from data collected from over 5,000 gameplay sessions of a minimal investment multiplayer online (MIMO) role-playing game called The Restaurant Game. Our results demonstrate a kind of social common sense for virtual agents, and have implications for automatic authoring of content in the future.
LOW-COST IMAGE BASED SYSTEM FOR NON-TECHNICAL EXPERTS IN CULTURAL HERITAGE DOCUMENTATION AND ANALYSIS

As it is widely known documentation is an important issue within the tasks of conservation, preservation and restoration of Cultural Heritage objects. In this context high-tech measuring methods which, at the same time, are located in the low-cost price segment, are of special interest. In this paper a special solution is presented, which preserves the potential of state-of-the-art photogrammetry and is simple enough to be used by non-technical experts on their own. The design of the system enables, e.g., scientists of the humanities to benefit from modern 3D measuring methods in their daily work without needing permanent support by technical professionals. The system consists of off-the-shelf digital cameras which actually have reached a high level of resolution, of image quality and of functionality, all at a reasonable price. Ease of use for measuring purposes is guaranteed by mounting one or two cameras on a specially developed space bar. The corresponding evaluation software allows for stereo-viewing on standard PC hardware, for various methods of stereophotogrammetric model referencing, for object digitizing as vector features, for data export as CAD data, for production of orthophotos and of true-scale object representations of curved surfaces. Two projects are reported for illustration of the system’s application. The first project deals with the documentation of 500 caves in the Ukrainian area of Crimea, the second one gives an example for the application in the field of preservation of historical monuments in Germany. In both projects the stereophotogrammetric system was used as an integrated part within the full spectrum of modern metrology methods, comprising laser scanning, tacheometry, GPS and more.
Children's Interaction with Mobile Touch-Screen Devices: Experiences and Guidelines for Design

In this article, the authors investigate the usability of mobile touch-screen devices for children. This is a growing area, and as such there is currently a lack of definitive guidelines for mobile device designers. This article reports two studies that investigated input methods for touch-screens with children aged 7-10, concentrating on the interaction between the child and the devices. In the first study, a range of devices were observed in use, in order to gather overall impressions of interaction styles and user experience. In the second study, a more controlled comparison between stylus and finger input is made. The article concludes by offering a set of general design guidelines for the design of mobile devices for children.
Relationships between Th1 or Th2 iNKT Cell Activity and Structures of CD1d-Antigen Complexes: Meta-analysis of CD1d-Glycolipids Dynamics Simulations

A number of potentially bioactive molecules can be found in nature. In particular, marine organisms are a valuable source of bioactive compounds. The activity of an α-galactosylceramide was first discovered in 1993 via screening of a Japanese marine sponge (Agelas mauritanius). Very rapidly, a synthetic glycololipid analogue of this natural molecule was discovered, called KRN7000. Associated with the CD1d protein, this α-galactosylceramide 1 (KRN7000) interacts with the T-cell antigen receptor to form a ternary complex that yields T helper (Th) 1 and Th2 responses with opposing effects. In our work, we carried out molecular dynamics simulations (11.5 µs in total) involving eight different ligands (conducted in triplicate) in an effort to find out correlation at the molecular level, if any, between chemical modulation of 1 and the orientation of the known biological response, Th1 or Th2. Comparative investigations of human versus mouse and Th1 versus Th2 data have been carried out. A large set of analysis tools was employed including free energy landscapes. One major result is the identification of a specific conformational state of the sugar polar head, which could be correlated, in the present study, to the biological Th2 biased response. These theoretical tools provide a structural basis for predicting the very different dynamical behaviors of α-glycosphingolipids in CD1d and might aid in the future design of new analogues of 1.
Site-Specific Inhibitors of NADPH Oxidase Activity and Structural Probes of Flavocytochrome b: Characterization of Six Monoclonal Antibodies to the p22phox Subunit1

The integral membrane protein flavocytochrome b (Cyt b) is the catalytic core of the human phagocyte NADPH oxidase, an enzyme complex that initiates a cascade of reactive oxygen species important in the elimination of infectious agents. This study reports the generation and characterization of six mAbs (NS1, NS2, NS5, CS6, CS8, and CS9) that recognize the p22phox subunit of the Cyt b heterodimer. Each of the mAbs specifically detected p22phox by Western blot analysis but did not react with intact neutrophils in FACS studies. Phage display mapping identified core epitope regions recognized by mAbs NS2, NS5, CS6, CS8, and CS9. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer experiments indicated that mAbs CS6 and CS8 efficiently compete with Cascade Blue-labeled mAb 44.1 (a previously characterized, p22phox-specific mAb) for binding to Cyt b, supporting phage display results suggesting that all three Abs recognize a common region of p22phox. Energy transfer experiments also suggested the spatial proximity of the mAb CS9 and mAb NS1 binding sites to the mAb 44.1 epitope, while indicating a more distant proximity between the mAb NS5 and mAb 44.1 epitopes. Cell-free oxidase assays demonstrated the ability of mAb CS9 to markedly inhibit superoxide production in a concentration-dependent manner, with more moderate levels of inhibition observed for mAbs NS1, NS5, CS6, and CS8. A combination of computational predictions, available experimental data, and results obtained with the mAbs reported in this study was used to generate a novel topology model of p22phox.
State-Of-The-Art In Empirical Validation Of Software Metrics For Fault Proneness Prediction: Systematic Review

With the sharp rise in software dependability and failure cost, high quality has been in great demand. However, guaranteeing high quality in software systems which have grown in size and complexity coupled with the constraints imposed on their development has become increasingly difficult, time and resource consuming activity. Consequently, it becomes inevitable to deliver software that have no serious faults. In this case, object-oriented (OO) products being the de facto standard of software development with their unique features could have some faults that are hard to find or pinpoint the impacts of changes. The earlier faults are identified, found and fixed, the lesser the costs and the higher the quality. To assess product quality, software metrics are used. Many OO metrics have been proposed and developed. Furthermore, many empirical studies have validated metrics and class fault proneness (FP) relationship. The challenge is which metrics are related to class FP and what activities are performed. Therefore, this study bring together the state-of-the-art in fault prediction of FP that utilizes CK and size metrics. We conducted a systematic literature review over relevant published empirical validation articles. The results obtained are analysed and presented. It indicates that 29 relevant empirical studies exist and measures such as complexity, coupling and size were found to be strongly related to FP.
Utility-Based Wireless Resource Allocation for Variable Rate Transmission

For most wireless services with variable rate transmission, both average rate and rate oscillation are important performance metrics. The traditional performance criterion, utility of average transmission rate, boosts the average rate but also results in high rate oscillations. We introduce a utility function of instantaneous transmission rates. It is capable of facilitating the resource allocation with flexible combinations of average rate and rate oscillation. Based on the new utility, we consider the time and power allocation in a time-shared wireless network. Two adaptation policies are developed, namely, time sharing (TS) and joint time sharing and power control (JTPC). An extension to quantized time sharing with limited channel feedback (QTSL) for practical systems is also discussed. Simulation results show that by controlling the concavity of the utility function, a tradeoff between the average rate and rate oscillation can be easily made.
Root oxygen deprivation and the reduction of leaf stomatal aperture and gas exchange

The most ubiquitous plant abiotic stress in the global environment is generally thought to be water deficit. The opposite of water-deficit stress. flooding, initially involves relief of the abiotic factor of water deficit and only becomes stressful after flooding persists long enough to directly or indirectly interfere with a variety of plant functions via several mechanisms. The relief of stress with short term flooding (typically a day or less) is the principle upon which irrigation hinges. By contrast, the negative impacts of prolonged flooding on ecosystems, and particularly agricultural production systems, are substantial [I] and may be as significant as drought, depending on one's accounting strategy. Much of this impact is the result of the combination of soil and plant chemical, physical, and biological changes that cause stomata to close after prolonged flooding. This contributes significantly to a drastic reduction in photosynthesis and damages many other plant functions by disrupting transpiration and the complex system of hormonal control of plant systems and processes.
The new approach to automatic detection of Optic Disc from non-dilated retinal images

diabetic retinopathy is the commonest cause of blindness. Diabetes causes cataracts, Glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. The Optic Disc is the exit point of retinal nerve fibers from the eye and the entrance and exit point for retinal blood vessels. The detection of Optic Disc is very essential to locate the various anatomical features in the retinal images. We describe a new filtering approach in the wavelet domain for image preprocessing. Sobel edge detection, Texture Analysis, Intensity and Template matching was used to detect Optic Disc. The proposed algorithm is tested on 150 images of Messidor dataset. Experimental results indicates that we are able to achieve 87.54% sensitivity, 99.76% specificity and 99.81% accuracy.
Perspectives in Cancer Research Chemoprevention of Cancer

Chemoprevention of cancer is a means of cancer control in which the occurrence of this disease is prevented by administra tion of one or several chemical compounds. This Perspective deals with the areas in cancer control that this field addresses, the promise that it holds, and the problems that must be solved in order to realize its goals. The most desirable way of eliminating the impact of cancer in humans is by prevention. The first set of strategies for achieving this objective is to remove the causative agents. In some instances, as with cigarette smoking, it is possible to eliminate the etiological agent. However, in others it is not. The causes of most cancers in the human are not known. Under some circumstances, even when causative factors are known, neoplasia may have been initiated, and prevention now falls into the realm of suppressing the evolution of the neoplastic process. Individuals already exposed to carcinogens fall into this category as do individuals at high risk to cancer because of genetic factors. Finally, there are a considerable number of suspect carcinogens in the environment that have been identified by virtue of mutagenicity testing. Many of these mutagenic substances occur in food. The carcinogenic potential of these compounds for the human is not clear. If they do in fact play a role in the occurrence of cancer, it would be exceedingly difficult to remove them from the environment. Flavones in food are an example of a class of compounds that are mutagenic and that would be virtually impossible to remove because of their ubiqui tous distribution. Likewise, if exposure to oxygen radicals and epoxides poses a hazard, as has been suggested by some investigators, such exposures would be difficult to prevent. While removal of causative agents is the primary goal of cancer pre vention, for the foreseeable future it is likely to be incomplete. Accordingly, the development of a second line of prevention based on Chemoprevention assumes considerable importance. The human constituencies that would be the target for Chemoprevention vary. Two extremes are apparent, but in all likelihood a continuum exists between them. At one extreme are individuals at very high risk of developing cancer because of genetic predisposition or exposure to carcinogens. At the other end of the risk spectrum are individuals lacking any evidence of an increase in risk factors. The strategies for dealing with groups at varying risks differ. As the risk for developing cancer increases, the compounds likely to be most effective are those that sup press evolution of the neoplastic process. The permissible risk of toxicity from the chemopreventive agent also will increase. In contrast, when one considers chemopreventive agents to be directed at populations with no enhanced risk from cancer, protection against attack from compounds that are involved in the causation of cancer assumes a greater importance. For this
Particle swarm mixel decomposition for remote sensing images

Mixel decomposition of remote sensing images is one of valid assistance means for improving quality of feature extraction from the images. Some problems exist in normal linear mixels decomposition, for example, registration error is too large, and neighbourhood information can be took full advantage of and so on. These result in that distortion of new images generated after linear mixels decomposition is more serious. Aiming at an above-mentioned circumstance, particle swarm intelligence searching method is put forward in this paper. New algorithm implements mixel decomposition of remote sensing images, combined with linear mixels decomposition model. The algorithm takes full advantage of neighbourhood information, makes the decomposition result more human, and presents better robustness to environment.
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

Competition for foreign direct investment (FDI) among developing countries has intensified in recent years. Using a sample of 68 developing countries across different regions, with data from 1975-2005, this paper investigates whether Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) differs from non-LAC regions in regard to determinants of FDI; the evidence suggests that there are differences. In particular, the stock of infrastructure attracts FDI to LAC and constraints on the executive and high debt discourage FDI to non-LAC. These findings are robust to sample size, different estimators, endogeneity, and country fixed effects.
Functional Analyses of Two Tomato APETALA3 Genes Demonstrate Diversification in Their Roles in Regulating Floral Development[W]

The floral homeotic APETALA3 (AP3) gene in Arabidopsis thaliana encodes a MADS box transcription factor required for specifying petal and stamen identities. AP3 is a member of the euAP3 lineage, which arose by gene duplication coincident with radiation of the core eudicots. Although Arabidopsis lacks genes in the paralogous Tomato MADS box gene 6 (TM6) lineage, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) possesses both euAP3 and TM6 genes, which have functionally diversified. A loss-of-function mutation in Tomato AP3 (TAP3) resulted in homeotic transformations of both petals and stamens, whereas RNA interference–induced reduction in TM6 function resulted in flowers with homeotic defects primarily in stamens. The functional differences between these genes can be ascribed partly to different expression domains. When overexpressed in an equivalent domain, both genes can partially rescue the tap3 mutant, indicating that relative levels as well as spatial patterns of expression contribute to functional differences. Our results also indicate that the two proteins have differing biochemical capabilities. Together, these results suggest that TM6 and TAP3 play qualitatively different roles in floral development; they also support the ideas that the ancestral role of AP3 lineage genes was in specifying stamen development and that duplication and divergence in the AP3 lineage allowed for the acquisition of a role in petal specification in the core eudicots.
Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 (GSK-3)-mediated Phosphorylation of Uracil N-Glycosylase 2 (UNG2) Facilitates the Repair of Floxuridine-induced DNA Lesions and Promotes Cell Survival*

Uracil N-glycosylase 2 (UNG2), the nuclear isoform of UNG, catalyzes the removal of uracil or 5-fluorouracil lesions that accumulate in DNA following treatment with the anticancer agents 5-fluorouracil and 5-fluorodeoxyuridine (floxuridine), a 5-fluorouracil metabolite. By repairing these DNA lesions before they can cause cell death, UNG2 promotes cancer cell survival and is therefore critically involved in tumor resistance to these agents. However, the mechanisms by which UNG2 is regulated remain unclear. Several phosphorylation sites within the N-terminal regulatory domain of UNG2 have been identified, although the effects of these modifications on UNG2 function have not been fully explored, nor have the identities of the kinases involved been determined. Here we show that glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) interacts with and phosphorylates UNG2 at Thr60 and that Thr60 phosphorylation requires a Ser64 priming phosphorylation event. We also show that mutating Thr60 or Ser64 to Ala increases the half-life of UNG2, reduces the rate of in vitro uracil excision, and slows UNG2 dissociation from chromatin after DNA replication. Using an UNG2-deficient ovarian cancer cell line that is hypersensitive to floxuridine, we show that GSK-3 phosphorylation facilitates UNG2-dependent repair of floxuridine-induced DNA lesions and promotes tumor cell survival following exposure to this agent. These data suggest that GSK-3 regulates UNG2 and promotes DNA damage repair.