Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Strategy for Bayesian Inference for Computationally Expensive Models with Application to the Estimation of Stem Cell Properties

Bayesian inference is considered for statistical models that depend on the evaluation of a computationally expensive computer code or simulator. For such situations, the number of evaluations of the likelihood function, and hence of the unnormalized posterior probability density function, is determined by the available computational resource and may be extremely limited. We present a new example of such a simulator that describes the properties of human embryonic stem cells using data from optical trapping experiments. This application is used to motivate a novel strategy for Bayesian inference which exploits a Gaussian process approximation of the simulator and allows computationally efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo inference. The advantages of this strategy over previous methodology are that it is less reliant on the determination of tuning parameters and allows the application of model diagnostic procedures that require no additional evaluations of the simulator. We show the advantages of our method on synthetic examples and demonstrate its application on stem cell experiments.
Detection algorithm of video image distance based on rectangular pattern

As the traditional visibility instrument is expensive, its application field is limited and it is difficult to realize high density coverage on road, realizing the detection and precaution of the foggy weather, especially for the agglomerate fog. This paper puts forward a detection algorithm of video image distance based on rectangular pattern,making it successful to overcome the defects of the traditional methods. The method uses parameters of camera calibration to establish the transformation model of video image distance, which simplifies the original method in the field of calibration. Making it possible to realize high density coverage of camera in the highway, and we use it to make precaution and take safety management of highway in foggy weather condition, especially a sudden agglomerate fog weather condition.
The Gamma Database Machine Project

The design of the Gamma database machine and the techniques employed in its implementation are described. Gamma is a relational database machine currently operating on an Intel iPSC/2 hypercube with 32 processors and 32 disk drives. Gamma employs three key technical ideas which enable the architecture to be scaled to hundreds of processors. First, all relations are horizontally partitioned across multiple disk drives, enabling relations to be scanned in parallel. Second, parallel algorithms based on hashing are used to implement the complex relational operators, such as join and aggregate functions. Third, dataflow scheduling techniques are used to coordinate multioperator queries. By using these techniques, it is possible to control the execution of very complex queries with minimal coordination. The design of the Gamma software is described and a thorough performance evaluation of the iPSC/s hypercube version of Gamma is presented. >
Mechanical Coupling Error Suppression Technology for an Improved Decoupled Dual-Mass Micro-Gyroscope

This paper presents technology for the suppression of the mechanical coupling errors for an improved decoupled dual-mass micro-gyroscope (DDMG). The improved micro-gyroscope structure decreases the moment arm of the drive decoupled torque, which benefits the suppression of the non-ideal decoupled error. Quadrature correction electrodes are added to eliminate the residual quadrature error. The structure principle and the quadrature error suppression means of the DDMG are described in detail. ANSYS software is used to simulate the micro-gyroscope structure to verify the mechanical coupling error suppression effect. Compared with the former structure, simulation results demonstrate that the rotational displacements of the sense frame in the improved structure are substantially suppressed in the drive mode. The improved DDMG structure chip is fabricated by the deep dry silicon on glass (DDSOG) process. The feedback control circuits with quadrature control loops are designed to suppress the residual mechanical coupling error. Finally, the system performance of the DDMG prototype is tested. Compared with the former DDMG, the quadrature error in the improved dual-mass micro-gyroscope is decreased 9.66-fold, and the offset error is decreased 6.36-fold. Compared with the open loop sense, the feedback control circuits with quadrature control loop decrease the bias drift by 20.59-fold and the scale factor non-linearity by 2.81-fold in the ±400°/s range.
Real-time scene structure reconstruction

The objective of the proposed method is to reconstruct the three-dimensional structure of a scene in real-time via moving a low-cost RGB mono-camera by hand. Only simple and fast algorithms are used for the purpose of real-time with a decent structure resolution. To compensate the defects of the cheap algorithms, the scene structures will be buffered and used only when they are considered as a good case, and they will be smoothed to decrease the effects of the structural defect. Even if only a minority of overall cases are good cases, a complete scene structure can still be obtained with small amounts of different views. The proposed method can be applied into embedded systems after optimization and adjustment.
Electronic voting with fully distributed trust and maximized flexibility regarding ballot design

One common way to ensure the security in voting schemes is to distribute critical tasks between different entities - so called trustees. While in most election settings election authorities perform the task of trustees, elections in small groups such as board elections can be implemented in a way that all voters are also trustees. This is actually the ideal case for an election as trust is maximally distributed. A number of voting schemes have been proposed for facilitating such elections. Our focus is on a mix net based approach to maximize flexibility regarding ballot design. We proposed and implemented a corresponding voting scheme as an Android smartphone application. We believe smartphones are most likely to be used in the election settings that we consider in the paper. Our implementation also enables voters to remotely participate in the voting process. The implementation enables us to measure timings for the tallying phase for different settings in order to analyze whether the chosen mix net based scheme is suitable for the considered election settings.
The role of genomics in studying genetic susceptibility to infectious disease.

The notion that selection during epidemics or longer periods of exposure to infectious diseases may have had a major effect in modifying the constitution of the human genome is not new. It was proposed, at least in outline, by A.E. Garrod in 1931. In his remarkable book, The Inborn Factors in Disease, he suggested that infectious diseases may have been a major selective force in human evolution and in shaping our biochemical individuality. In 1948, J.B.S. Haldane, unimpressed with the idea that the extremely high frequency of thalassemia in certain racial groups from the Mediterranean region might reflect an unusually high mutation rate in these populations, proposed that these diseases might have come under intense selection because of heterozygote advantage against malaria. It was, in effect, Haldane’s remarkable insight that opened up the field of the investigation of genetic susceptibility to infection. Although considerable progress was made in relating the frequency and distribution of different protein polymorphisms to past or present infection, until recently the field was bedeviled by difficulties relating to population homogeneity, founder effects, and gene drift. However, with an increasing ability to analyze human variability at the DNA level, progress has been much more rapid. Comparing the sequences of genes common to rodents and humans, Murphy (1993), found that host defense genes are much more diverse than those for other families of proteins, an observation suggesting that selection in many species has resulted from exposure to different infectious agents. The way in which DNA analysis is transforming our understanding of the reasons for the distribution and high frequency of the human hemoglobin variants, the problem first posed by Haldane, is reviewed by Flint et al. (1993). Clearly, an analysis of the human genome with respect to variable susceptibility to infection is already beginning to provide important new insights into the mechanisms of human diversity. In considering genetic susceptibility to infectious disease it is important not only to consider the genetic makeup of the host but also that of the infectious agent. Here, we focus mainly on recent studies of the genetic factors that may modify susceptibility to infection in humans and touch only briefly on some recent developments in microbial genetics that may play an important role in this interaction. Mouse models for studying genetic susceptibility to infection have been reviewed recently elsewhere (McLeod et al. 1995).
Multiple faces tracking using local statistics

Our project is to design algorithms to count people in vehicles such as buses from surveillance cameras' video streams. This article presents a method of detection and tracking of multiple faces in a video by using a model of first and second order local moments. The three essential steps of our system are the skin color modeling, the probabilistic shape model and Bayesian decision, and the tracking. An iterative process estimates the position and shape of multiple faces in images, and tracks them. Tracking updates an object history including all spatial and temporal information about this object. Location and size of this tracking object are predicted by constant speed motion analysis and learned trajectories. Results on office and buses video are promising.
Supporting inclusion of at risk students in secondary school through positive behaviour support

The retention of ‘at risk’ students in secondary schools is a major challenge to inclusive education policy. Students with non-compliant behaviour at this level are typically dealt with by authoritarian and punitive disciplinary systems that frequently lead to exclusion from school. This paper reports on the successful establishment of a positive behaviour support system in a secondary school. School-wide systemic change was developed to support the inclusion of students at risk of failure and suspension for non-compliant behaviour. The programme led to the retention of all students in the identified cohort and improved academic performance for all the students. Classroom instructional patterns incorporating evidence-based strategies to engage students, goal setting and self management skills were introduced. Collaborative problem solving with students and teachers ensured intervention integrity. The outcome of the programme and extension at a systemic level for the whole school is briefly discussed.
Approximation Algorithms for Maximum Independent Set of Pseudo-Disks

We present approximation algorithms for maximum independent set of pseudo-disks in the plane, both in the weighted and unweighted cases. For the unweighted case, we prove that a local-search algorithm yields a PTAS. For the weighted case, we suggest a novel rounding scheme based on an LP relaxation of the problem, which leads to a constant-factor approximation. Most previous algorithms for maximum independent set (in geometric settings) relied on packing arguments that are not applicable in this case. As such, the analysis of both algorithms requires some new combinatorial ideas, which we believe to be of independent interest.
Schistosoma mansoni : Functional proteasomes are required for development in the vertebrate host

Proteasomes are multi-subunit proteases involved in several mechanisms and thought to contribute to the regulation of cellular homeostasis. Here, we report for the Wrst time biochemical evidence for the existence of a ubiquitin–proteasome proteolytic pathway in this parasite. Proteasomes from both cercariae and adult worms exhibited a high preference for hydrolysis of the substrate SucLLVY-AMC, although in the cercariae extract the rate of hydrolysis was 50% lower when compared to adult worms extracts. The same diVerence in proteasome activities was observed when endogenous proteins were broken down in the presence of ATP and ubiquitin. Additionally, accumulation of high molecular weight conjugates was observed when cercariae were pre-incubated with proteasome inhibitors. Finally, we present evidence that during experimental schistosomiasis, proteasome inhibitors were able to reduce the number of lung stage schistosomula, reduce the worm burden and consequently decrease the egg output in infected mice.  2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Index Descriptors and Abbreviations: Schistosoma mansoni; Proteasome; Development; Hepes, 2-hydroxylethylpperazine-1-ethanesulfonic acid; DMSO, dimethyl sulfoxide; PAGE, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; DTT, dithiothreitol; NBT, nitroblue tetrazolium chloride; BCIP, 5-bromo-4chloro-3-indolylphosphate p-toluidine salt; aa, amino acid(s); SDS, sodium dodecyl sulfate; MG-115 (Z-leucyl-leucyl-norvaline-H), MG-132 (N benzyloxycarbonyl-L-leucyl-L-leucyl-leucinal); TBS, Tris-buVered saline; DEAE, diethylaminoethyl; ATP, adenosine triphosphate
jRapture: A Capture/Replay tool for observation-based testing

We describe the design of jRapture: a tool for capturing and replaying Java program executions in the field. jRapture works with Java binaries (byte code) and any compliant implementation of the Java virtual machine. It employs a lightweight, transparent capture process that permits unobtrusive capture of a Java programs executions. jRapture captures interactions between a Java program and the system, including GUI, file, and console inputs, among other types, and on replay it presents each thread with exactly the same input sequence it saw during capture. In addition, jRapture has a profiling interface that permits a Java program to be instrumented for profiling ó after its executions have been captured. Using an XML-based profiling specification language a tester can specify various forms of profiling to be carried out during replay.
Narrowcasting: an empirical performance evaluation study

This paper studies content dissemination (narrowcasting) in wireless ad hoc networks. We consider (i) the dissemination of general (non selective, broadcast) content (ii) with loose delay constraints (iii) aimed at an entire community confined in a restricted area (iv) served periodically by one single and stationary content emitter (i.e., an access point). These constraints target challenging environments where for practical and/or economical reasons content dissemination must be set up on the fly with the least effort. Examples are dissemination of information at a conference, in military operations, to team workers, and to inhabitants of remote villages. Based on real-world mobility traces, we analyze different dissemination strategies comparing cooperative versus non-cooperative behavior of nodes for storing and/or forwarding content. In particular, we evaluate how the performance is impacted by mobility. The main outcome is that node collaboration drastically increases the performances of content dissemination while the per-device overhead (or load) is very low and remains on average evenly distributed.
The dichotomy of list homomorphisms for digraphs

The Dichotomy Conjecture for Constraint Satisfaction Problems has been verified for conservative problems (or, equivalently, for list homomorphism problems) by Andrei Bulatov. An earlier case of this dichotomy, for list homomorphisms to undirected graphs, came with an elegant structural distinction between the tractable and intractable cases. Such structural characterization is absent in Bulatov's classification, and Bulatov asked whether one can be found. We provide an answer in the case of digraphs. In the process we give forbidden structure characterizations of the existence of certain polymorphisms relevant in Bulatov's dichotomy classification. The key concept we introduce is that of a digraph asteroidal triple (DAT). The dichotomy then takes the following form. If a digraph H has a DAT, then the list homomorphism problem for H is NP-complete; and a DAT-free digraph H has a polynomial time solvable list homomorphism problem. DAT-free digraphs can be recognized in polynomial time. It follows from our results that the list homomorphism problem for a DAT-free digraph H can be solved by a local consistency algorithm (of width (2, 3)).
Filtered Cartesian Flattening: An Approximation Technique for Optimally Selecting Features while Adhering to Resource Constraints

Software Product-lines (SPLs) use modular software components that can be reconfigured into different variants for different requirements sets. Feature modeling is a common method for capturing the configuration rules for an SPL architecture. A key challenge for developers is determining how to optimally select a set of features while simultaneously honoring resource constraints. For example, optimally selecting a set of features that fit the development budget is an NP problem. Although resource consumption problems have been extensively studied in the Artificial Intelligence and Distributed Computing communities, the algorithms that these communities have developed, such as Multiple-choice Knapsack Problems (MMKP) approximation algorithms, have not been extensively applied to feature selection subject to resource constraints. The paper provides the following contributions to the study of automated feature selection for SPL variants: (1) we present a polynomial time approximation technique called Filtered Cartesian Flattening (FCF) for deriving approximately optimal solutions to feature selection problems with resource constraints by transforming the problems into equivalent MMKP problems and using MMKP approximation algorithms, (2) we show that FCF can operate on large feature models that would not be possible with existing algorithmic approaches, and (3) we present empirical results from initial experiments performed using FCF. Our results show that FCF is 93%+ optimal on feature models with 5,000 features.
High‐efficiency somatic mutagenesis in smooth muscle cells and cardiac myocytes in SM22α‐Cre transgenic mice

The cytoskeletal protein SM22α is expressed in visceral and vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs), in cardiac myocytes, and in the myotomal components of the somites during murine embryonic development. In this report, we describe the generation and characterization of transgenic mice expressing Cre‐recombinase under the transcriptional control of the −2.8‐kb SM22α promoter. Following interbreeding with the R26R reporter strain, Cre‐dependent β‐galactosidase expression was observed as early as embryonic day 9.5 in SMCs of the developing vasculature, in cardiac myocytes, but not in the somites. In adult mice, Cre‐mediated recombination was observed in vascular SMCs throughout the venous and arterial systems, in visceral SMCs in multiple organs, and in cardiac, but not skeletal muscle. Importantly, Cre‐mediated recombination was present in nearly 100% of arterial SMCs, including in the aorta. These mice are thus an important new tool for performing in vivo loss‐of‐function studies of genes expressed in vascular SMCs. genesis 41:179–184, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Vector directional order-statistics for impulse detection

In this paper, a new vector directional approach for impulse noise detection and filtering in color images is provided. The novelty of this approach lies in the use of vector order-statistics achieved by the ordering according to the sum of angles between input vector samples, in other words directional information, as the base for impulse detector. Thus, the input samples are separated into two classes such as noise-free samples and corrupted samples. This simple binary decision is performed by the comparison between the operation value and the angle threshold. An importance of the vector directional order-statistics with the smallest angle distances to input samples consists in the determination of the operation value that is given by an angle between the central sample and the mean of `smallest' vector order-statistics. After the separation, only affected samples are processed by basic vector directional filter, whereas noise-free samples are passed to a filter output without change, i.e. the system performs an identity operation. In order to achieve the optimal performance of the proposed method, there is necessary to determine the threshold angle and the number of considered vector order-statistics, too. Since, the proposed adaptive method represents directional processing, the excellent results in the term of the simultaneous impulse noise suppression and signal-details and color chromaticity preservation are desired.
Flukes, Opportunities, and Planned Interventions: Factors Affecting Women’s Decisions to become School Administrators

This article presents the results of an exploratory study of women in educational administration that focused on women’s decisions to enter educational administration. Findings suggest that the career aspirations of women who ultimately enter the field of educational administration are intricately related to their career commitments, positional goals, and leadership orientations. Furthermore, although women who go into administration may have personal characteristics that set them apart from women who do not, it also appears that at least three factors greatly affect women’s entrance into administration: their administrative role models, their exposure to transformative leadership styles, and the endorsements and/or support that they receive.
High-resolution Reconstruction of a Waxed Heart Specimen With Flat Panel Volume Computed Tomography and Rapid Prototyping

Summary: A waxed piglet heart was scanned with a flat panel volume computed tomography scanner (voxel size, 0.25 mm3). Virtual and real laser-sintered models showed excellent visual concordance with the original. Using an iterative-closest-point algorithm, a very low mean surface distance was found between the original and laser-sintered model (0.26 ± 0.34 mm). These techniques allow submillimeter 3-dimensional virtual and real reconstructions without destroying the original and might be useful for teaching, research, and planning of cardiac interventions.
Counterbalances to Economic Homophily: Microlevel Mechanisms in a Historical Setting1

The tendency to transact within, rather than across, identity-based groups is a well-established effect of identity divisions. While previous work emphasized macrolevel, impersonal factors that counteract this tendency, this article looks at how individuals may counteract it in everyday interaction. Two microlevel counterbalances to economic homophily are examined with unique data on partnerships among Tory and Whig merchants in 18th-century Bristol, England. No conclusive support is found for the first examined counterbalance, which presumes that cross-group social relations, such as joint civic activities, induce parallel economic relations. Instead, the analysis shows that Tory-Whig partnerships were facilitated by the practice of choosing cross-party partners of unequal professional prominence. Such professionally unequal relations involve tacit status subordination, which reduces the relation-specific uncertainty associated with transacting across a salient identity division. The results highlight the potential of uncertainty avoidance to sustain inequality between social groups and suggest unexplored contingencies to theories of status homophily.