Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation Test Bed for Object Detection / Tracking and Text Recognition in the VACE Program

The Video Analysis and Content Extraction (VACE) program supported the development of several key component technologies which could be integrated into systems for automatic analysis of human activities and understanding of video sequences. In order to measure system performance and gauge research progress, a series of evaluations focusing on 15 evaluation tasks were administered in this program during Phase II. Our earlier paper titled “Framework for Performance Evaluation of Face, Text, and Vehicle Detection and Tracking in Video: Data, Metrics, and Protocol” described how the individual aspects of evaluation were accomplished through a consistent employment of a formal infrastructure that consists of a set of data, metrics, tools, and processes required for evaluation. Six evaluation tasks were described. In this follow up article, we detail the remaining nine evaluation tasks. We show that, with minor adaptation, the generic framework proposed earlier can be extended to other target objects in various data domains. Additionally, we report the latest scoring tools we have developed in the context of detection and tracking evaluation. It is our intention that this paper, together with our earlier publication, will serve as a complete report of the various evaluations that were conducted as part of the VACE program.
Excitability Profile of Motor Evoked Potentials and Silent Periods

The aim of this study was to confirm the excitability profile of human cortical circuits on the motor evoked potential (MEP) and the silent period (SP) after paired transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with variable interstimulus intervals (ISI), and to compare the time courses of MEP and SP after paired TMS at variable ISIs. MEPs were elicited at the hypothenar muscles at rest, and during tonic muscle contraction by applying paired TMS to the motor cortex. The authors measured the MEP amplitude during rest and the duration of SP during tonic muscle contraction at various ISIs. The response to paired stimuli was inhibited by an ISI of 1–5 ms and facilitated by an ISI of 10–20 ms. The SP at an ISI of 1–5 ms was shorter than that at the single suprathreshold stimulus, but the SP at an ISI of 15–25 ms was longer than this. A significant correlation was observed between the MEP amplitude and the duration of SP at ISIs of 1–20 ms and for a CS of 80% of threshold. These results may provide useful data for the study of the function of cortical excitability in disease states and suggest that the neural circuits underlying MEP and SP differ partly.
Robot mapping with range data

Explores methods by which range-sensor data can be used to generate maps for robot navigation. The authors assume an idealized 2-D environment consisting of flat walls, a point robot, and a perfect range measuring system. The purpose of this idealization is to understand how much effort is to be expended to accomplish the mapping of a region. Several theorems are developed that place limits on the number of robot movements required to completely explore obstacles and boundaries. A mapping procedure is described that works within the limits indicated by these theorems. Results of applying this procedure in a simulated environment are also shown. <<ETX>>
Environmental law & the limits of markets

A number of writers have drawn on Hayekâ€™s epistemic defence of market institutions to argue that free-markets and tort law are best placed to overcome the knowledge problems associated with the environmental sphere. This paper argues to the contrary, that this Austrian School approach itself suffers from significant knowledge problems. The first of these relates to the ability of Austrian economics to assign victim compensation and the second to the difficulty of establishing causation in complex environmental problems. The paper will also show how alternative approaches may not suffer from these epistemic challenges and are better placed to overcome them.
Activation of the mouse mdr3 gene by insertion of retroviruses in multidrug-resistant P388 tumor cells

In multidrug-resistant (MDR) derivatives of the mouse lymphoid tumor P388, the emergence of MDR is associated with overexpression and transcriptional activation of the mdr3 gene, either in the absence of (P388/VCR-10) or concomitant with (P388/ADM-2) gene amplification. In both instances, Northern (RNA) blotting analyses have suggested the presence of altered mdr3 transcripts in these cells, possibly originating from novel transcription initiation sites. The mechanisms underlying mdr3 overexpression in these cells have been investigated. In P388/VCR-10 cells, Southern blotting analyses together with genomic DNA cloning and nucleotide sequencing have demonstrated the presence of an intact mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) within the boundaries of intron 1 of mdr3. cDNA cloning and nucleotide sequencing indicated that this integration event results in the synthesis and overexpression of a hybrid MMTV-mdr3 mRNA which initiates within the U3 region of the 5' long terminal repeat (LTR) of the provirus. Consequently, this mRNA lacks the normal exon 1 of mdr3 but contains (i) MMTV LTR-derived sequences at its 5' end, (ii) a novel mdr3 exon, mapping within the boundaries of intron 1 downstream of the MMTV integration site and generated by alternative splicing, and (iii) an otherwise intact 3' portion of mdr3 starting at exon 2. A similar type of analysis of P388/ADM-2 cells revealed that mdr3 overexpression in these cells is associated with the integration of an intracisternal A particle (IAP) within an L1Md repetitive element, immediately upstream of mdr3. The IAP insertion results in the overexpression of hybrid IAP-mdr3 mRNA transcripts that initiate within the 3' LTR of the IAP and which contain IAP LTR-derived sequences at the 5' end spliced 14 nucleotides upstream of the normal exon 1 of mdr3. Taken together, these results indicate that independent retroviral insertions were the initial mutagenic event responsible for mdr3 overexpression and survival during drug selection of these cell lines. Amplification of the rearranged and activated mdr3 gene copy occurred during further selection for high-level drug resistance in P388/ADM-2 cells.
Dissecting noncoding and pathogen RNA–protein interactomes

RNA–protein interactions are central to biological regulation. Cross-linking immunoprecipitation (CLIP)-seq is a powerful tool for genome-wide interrogation of RNA–protein interactomes, but current CLIP methods are limited by challenging biochemical steps and fail to detect many classes of noncoding and nonhuman RNAs. Here we present FAST-iCLIP, an integrated pipeline with improved CLIP biochemistry and an automated informatic pipeline for comprehensive analysis across protein coding, noncoding, repetitive, retroviral, and nonhuman transcriptomes. FAST-iCLIP of Poly-C binding protein 2 (PCBP2) showed that PCBP2-bound CU-rich motifs in different topologies to recognize mRNAs and noncoding RNAs with distinct biological functions. FAST-iCLIP of PCBP2 in hepatitis C virus-infected cells enabled a joint analysis of the PCBP2 interactome with host and viral RNAs and their interplay. These results show that FAST-iCLIP can be used to rapidly discover and decipher mechanisms of RNA–protein recognition across the diversity of human and pathogen RNAs.
Risk management and value creation: new evidence for Brazilian non-financial companies

ABSTRACT The practice of financial risk management with derivatives has received attention both from the academia and the market. In Brazil, there is a growing use of these instruments by companies, in line with the growth of such market in the global economy. This article aims to investigate the relationship between the financial risk management and the value creation to the shareholder for non-financial Brazilian companies. The sample was made up of 1794 firm-year observations from 2006 to 2014. Results obtained via panel data, including the GMM, point out that companies which used derivatives did not add value during the period analysed. An explanation for this result is that most of the companies use derivatives in order to manage the cash flow and not to add value.
Composition of the bovine uterine proteome is associated with stage of cycle and concentration of systemic progesterone

Early embryonic loss accounts for over 70% of total embryonic and foetal loss in dairy cattle. Early embryonic development and survival is associated with the concentration of systemic progesterone. To determine if the uterine proteome is influenced by stage of cycle or systemic progesterone concentrations, uterine flushings were collected from the ipsi‐ and contralateral uterine horns of beef heifers on Days 7 (n = 10) and 15 (n = 10) of the oestrous cycle. Animals were separated into low or high progesterone groups based on plasma progesterone concentrations on Day 5 of the cycle. Samples were albumin depleted before iTRAQ® labeling and subsequent strong cation exchange‐LC‐MS/MS analyses. A total of 20 proteins were up to 5.9‐fold higher (p < 0.05) and 20 were up to 2.3‐fold lower on Day 15 compared to Day 7. In addition, the expression of a number of proteins on Day 7 and/or 15 of the cycle was correlated with progesterone concentrations during Days 3–7 or the rate of change in progesterone between Days 3 and 7. This study highlights the dynamic changes occurring in the microenvironment surrounding the embryo during this period. The findings here also support the hypothesis that progesterone supports embryonic development by altering the maternal uterine environment.
Glutamatergic and dopaminergic neurons in the mouse ventral tegmental area

The ventral tegmental area (VTA) comprises dopamine (DA), γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate (Glu) neurons. Some rat VTA Glu neurons, expressing vesicular glutamate transporter 2 (VGluT2), co‐express tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). While transgenic mice are now being used in attempts to determine the role of VGluT2/TH neurons in reward and neuronal signaling, such neurons have not been characterized in mouse tissue. By cellular detection of VGluT2 mRNA and TH immunoreactivity (TH‐IR), we determined the cellular expression of VGluT2 mRNA within VTA TH‐IR neurons in the mouse. We found that some mouse VGluT2 neurons coexpressed TH‐IR, but their frequency was lower than in the rat. To determine whether low expression of TH mRNA or TH‐IR accounts for this low frequency, we evaluated VTA cellular coexpression of TH transcripts and TH protein. Within the medial aspects of the VTA, some neurons expressed TH mRNA but lacked TH‐IR; among them a subset coexpressed VGluT2 mRNA. To determine if lack of VTA TH‐IR was due to TH trafficking, we tagged VTA TH neurons by Cre‐inducible expression of mCherry in TH::Cre mice. By dual immunofluorescence, we detected axons containing mCherry, but lacking TH‐IR, in the lateral habenula, indicating that low frequency of VGluT2 mRNA (+)/TH‐IR (+) neurons in the mouse is due to lack of synthesis of TH protein, rather than TH protein trafficking. In conclusion, VGluT2 neurons are present in the rat and mouse VTA, but they differ in the populations of VGluT2/TH and TH neurons. Under normal conditions, the translation of TH protein is suppressed in the mouse mesohabenular TH neurons.
Chemotherapy-induced transient CEA and CA19-9 surges in patients with metastatic or recurrent gastric cancer

Background. Rising serum tumor markers after chemotherapy are generally considered to indicate tumor progression. However, we have observed a transient increase in carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) or carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) levels despite clinical benefits from chemotherapy in patients with metastatic or recurrent gastric cancer (MRGC). Therefore, this study was performed to determine the incidence of CEA and CA19-9 surges and their implications on the clinical outcome in MRGC patients. Material and methods. Fifty-one and 40 patients who had evaluable data for CEA or CA19-9 surges, respectively, were included. Both CEA and CA 19-9 surges were defined as a > 20% increase in these tumor markers from the baseline that was followed by a > 20% drop in subsequent levels compared to the baseline. Results. Of 51 evaluable patients for CEA surges, nine patients (18%) had documented CEA surges. The median time to CEA peak and the duration of the CEA surge were 2.8 (1.7∼7.0) and 9.1 weeks (7.6∼21.0), respectively. Of 40 evaluable patients for CA19-9 surges, seven patients (18%) had CA19-9 surges. The median time to peak and the duration of the CA19-9 surge were 2.3 (1.9∼6.0) and 7.1 weeks (4.3∼16.1), respectively. All patients with CEA or CA19-9 surges had radiographic evidence of benefits from chemotherapy. Conclusion. CEA or CA19-9 surges can be observed in MRGC patients receiving chemotherapy. All patients with these surge phenomena had clinical benefits from chemotherapy. An initial rise in CEA or CA19-9 levels after initiation of chemotherapy should not be used as an indicator of progressive disease.
LIQUIDITY-PROFITABILITY TRADEOFF EXISTENCE IN TURKEY: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION UNDER STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING

Firms in emerging markets could show a tendency to have high liquidity positions by ignoring the liquidity-profitability tradeoff in terms of working capital management due to gained experiences from stressed times. Accordingly, this study empirically examines the validity of liquidity-profitability tradeoff in Turkish market via structural equation modeling. The functions of liquidity and profitability as latent variables of the model are constituted from Piotroski’s criterias of liquidity/solvency, operating efficiency and profitability. The hypothesized model for the inexistence of the validity of liquidity-profitability tradeoff was verified and there is a moderate level of positive effect between liquidity and profitability in Turkey. The findings indicate that (1) current ratio or its variants as single-handed variables are inadequate to explain liquidity- profitability relation and (2) leverage seems to be the most important indicator as taken into account on working capital management decisions. Turkish firms apply prudent working capital management to overcome possible liquidity shocks.
Emerging trends in open research data

Open Data is gaining much importance among different stakeholders and is being widely accepted as vital component for decision making and result oriented research activities at global level. The collaborative research activities have greatly been benefited by the availability of Open Research Data. The open data encourages transparency and democratic control by encouraging participation, facilitating selfempowerment and providing provisions for improved efficiency and effectiveness of government services and creation of new knowledge from existing data sets. The availability of Open Research data in different subject areas enhances research quality by encouraging broader visibility and sharing provisions among globally distributed community members. This scenario greatly encourages the economic re-usage of existing open research datasets in local research environments for timely and more precise comparative results. The paper thus attempts to analyse the open research data repositories in different setups available at re3 data registry and to ascertain various aspects like content type, access privileges, growth in terms of subject areas and countries, uploading and downloading facilities, data harvesting and retrieval provisions etc.
Maximizing the Periodogram

It has been well known for at least twenty years that computing the maximizer of the periodogram, in order to estimate the unknown frequency in a noisy sinusoid, is problematic. In particular, because the periodogram is highly nonlinear, a grid size of order o (T-1) is needed to find the maximizer reliably, where T is the sample size, and that Newton's method may fail to find the zero of the first derivative of the periodogram closest to the maximizer of the periodogram calculated, for example, using the FFT. In this paper, we show that Newton's method does, in fact, work if it is applied to an appropriately chosen monotonic function of the periodogram.
Validation of Claims Diagnoses and Self‐Reported Conditions Compared with Medical Records for Selected Chronic Diseases

This article assesses the validity of ambulatory administrative and encounter data and patient self-reported information compared with information contained in the ambulatory medical record for 17 chronic diseases. Using a sample of 213 adults (18 to 64 years old) and seniors (65 years and older) enrolled in a health maintenance organization and receiving care at a multispecialty group practice in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sensitivity and specificity for claims and self-report were calculated for each chronic condition using the medical record as the criterion standard. The analysis was performed first by blinded review and then repeated with an unblinded review.
Avian Influenza In Ovo Vaccination with Replication Defective Recombinant Adenovirus in Chickens: Vaccine Potency, Antibody Persistence, and Maternal Antibody Transfer

Abstract Protective immunity against avian influenza (AI) can be elicited in chickens in a single-dose regimen by in ovo vaccination with a replication-competent adenovirus (RCA)-free human adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad)-vector encoding the AI virus (AIV) hemagglutinin (HA). We evaluated vaccine potency, antibody persistence, transfer of maternal antibodies (MtAb), and interference between MtAb and active in ovo or mucosal immunization with RCA-free recombinant Ad expressing a codon-optimized AIV H5 HA gene from A/turkey/WI/68 (AdTW68.H5ck). Vaccine coverage and intrapotency test repeatability were based on anti-H5 hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody levels detected in in ovo vaccinated chickens. Even though egg inoculation of each replicate was performed by individuals with varying expertise and with different vaccine batches, the average vaccine coverage of three replicates was 85%. The intrapotency test repeatability, which considers both positive as well as negative values, varied between 0.69 and 0.71, indicating effective vaccination. Highly pathogenic (HP) AIV challenge of chicken groups vaccinated with increasing vaccine doses showed ∼90% protection in chickens receiving ≥108 ifu (infectious units)/bird. The protective dose 50% (PD50) was determined to be 106.5 ifu. Even vaccinated chickens that did not develop detectable antibody levels were effectively protected against HP AIV challenge. This result is consistent with previous findings of Ad-vector eliciting T lymphocyte responses. Higher vaccine doses significantly reduced viral shedding as determined by AIV RNA concentration in oropharyngeal swabs. Assessment of antibody persistence showed that antibody levels of in ovo immunized chickens continued to increase until 12 wk and started to decline after 18 wk of age. Intramuscular (IM) booster vaccination with the same vaccine at 16 wk of age significantly increased the antibody responses in breeder hens, and these responses were maintained at high levels throughout the experimental period (34 wk of age). AdTW68.H5ch-immunized breeder hens effectively transferred MtAb to progeny chickens. The level of MtAb in the progenies was consistent with the levels detected in the breeders, i.e., intramuscularly boosted breeders transferred higher concentrations of antibodies to the offspring. Maternal antibodies declined with time in the progenies and achieved marginal levels by 34 days of age. Chickens with high maternal antibody levels that were vaccinated either in ovo or via mucosal routes (ocular or spray) did not seroconvert. In contrast, chickens without MtAb successfully developed specific antibody levels after either in ovo or mucosal vaccination. These results indicate that high levels of MtAb interfered with active Ad-vectored vaccination.
Interferon-beta inhibits the expression of metalloproteinases in rat glial cell cultures: implications for multiple sclerosis pathogenesis and treatment

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been identified as mediators of brain injury in multiple sclerosis (MS) and it has recently been reported that treatment of MS patients with interferon-beta (IFN-b) reduces MMP-9 serum levels and in vitro release from monocytes. We investigated whether IFN-b is able to modulate the expression of MMPs in glial cell cultures. Rat microglial and astrocyte cultures were treated with different doses of IFN-b, then activated by exposure to LPS. In another set of experiments cells were simultaneously activated with LPS and treated with IFN-b. C ulture supernatants collected from astrocytes and microglia were subjected to zymography for the assessment of MMP-2 and MMP-9. Increased amounts of MMP-9 and MMP-2 were observed in supernatants from LPS-treated astrocytes in comparison with supernatants from nontreated control cells. MMP-9 also increased in LPS-treated microglia. The treatment of astrocytes and microglia with IFN-b inhibited dose-dependently the expression of both MMP-2 and MMP-9 in LPS-treated astrocytes and of MMP-9 in LPS-treated microglia. These results demonstrate a modulating effect of IFN-b on the release of MMPs from C NS cells. This effect represents an additional mechanism by which IFN-b may decrease the development of new C NS lesions in the course of MS.
Acid-suppressive medication use and the risk for nosocomial gastrointestinal tract bleeding.

BACKGROUND Acid-suppressive medications are increasingly prescribed for noncritically ill hospitalized patients, although the incidence of nosocomial gastrointestinal (GI) tract bleeding (GI bleeding) and magnitude of potential benefit from this practice are unknown. We aimed to define the incidence of nosocomial GI bleeding outside of the intensive care unit and examine the association between acid-suppressive medication use and this complication. METHODS We conducted a pharmacoepidemiologic cohort study of patients admitted to an academic medical center from 2004 through 2007, at least 18 years of age, and hospitalized for 3 or more days. Admissions with a primary diagnosis of GI bleeding were excluded. Acid-suppressive medication use was defined as any order for a proton pump inhibitor or histamine-2-receptor antagonist. The main outcome measure was nosocomial GI bleeding. A propensity matched generalized estimating equation was used to control for confounders. RESULTS The final cohort included 78,394 admissions (median age, 56 years; 41% men). Acid-suppressive medication was ordered in 59% of admissions, and nosocomial GI bleeding occurred in 224 admissions (0.29%). After matching on the propensity score, the adjusted odds ratio for nosocomial GI bleeding in the group exposed to acid-suppressive medication relative to the unexposed group was 0.63 (95% confidence interval, 0.42-0.93). The number needed to treat to prevent 1 episode of nosocomial GI bleeding was 770. CONCLUSIONS Nosocomial GI bleeding outside of the intensive care unit was rare. Despite a protective effect of acid-suppressive medication, the number needed to treat to prevent 1 case of nosocomial GI bleeding was relatively high, supporting the recommendation against routine use of prophylactic acid-suppressive medication in noncritically ill hospitalized patients.