Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A High-Frequency Ultrasound-Guided Fluorescence Tomography System for Protoporphyrin-IX Quantification within Subcutaneous Tumors

A high frequency ultrasound-coupled fluorescence tomography system, which was primarily designed for imaging protoporphyrin IX production in skin tumors in vivo, is demonstrated for the first time. Protoporphyrin IX is an endogenous, fluorescent molecule produced naturally in the heme biosynthesis pathway, with enhanced production in many cancerous tumors. The design couples non-contact fiber-based spectral sampling of the protoporphyrin IX fluorescence emission with high frequency ultrasound imaging, allowing the fluorescence intensity of multiple regions to be quantified. The system measurements are obtained by serial illumination of 4 linear source locations, with parallel detection at each of 5 interspersed detection locations, providing 20 overlapping measures of sub-surface fluorescence from both superficial and deep locations in the ultrasound field. Tissue layers are defined from the segmented ultrasound images, and diffusion theory is used to estimate the fluorescence in these layers. The system calibration is presented with simulation and phantom validation of the system in multi-layer regions. Pilot in vivo data are also presented, showing recovery of subcutaneous tumor tissue values of protoporphyrin IX in three subcutaneous tumor lines, which all display less fluorescence than the skin. All results have been validated with ex vivo fluorescence measurements in situ. Future use of this device involves in vivo imaging of skin tumors to allow visualization of the structure and protoporphyrin IX production.
PTEN Increases Autophagy and Inhibits the Ubiquitin-Proteasome Pathway in Glioma Cells Independently of its Lipid Phosphatase Activity

Two major mechanisms of intracellular protein degradation, autophagy and the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, operate in mammalian cells. PTEN, which is frequently mutated in glioblastomas, is a tumor suppressor gene that encodes a dual specificity phosphatase that antagonizes the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase class I/AKT/mTOR pathway, which is a key regulator of autophagy. Here, we investigated in U87MG human glioma cells the role of PTEN in the regulation of autophagy and the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, because both are functionally linked and are relevant in cancer progression. Since U87MG glioma cells lack a functional PTEN, we used stable clones that express, under the control of a tetracycline-inducible system (Tet-on), wild-type PTEN and two of its mutants, G129E-PTEN and C124S-PTEN, which, respectively, lack the lipid phosphatase activity only and both the lipid and the protein phosphatase activities of this protein. Expression of PTEN in U87MG glioma cells decreased proteasome activity and also reduced protein ubiquitination. On the contrary, expression of PTEN increased the autophagic flux and the lysosomal mass. Interestingly, and although PTEN negatively regulates the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase class I/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway by its lipid phosphatase activity, both effects in U87MG cells were independent of this activity. These results suggest a new mTOR-independent signaling pathway by which PTEN can regulate in opposite directions the main mechanisms of intracellular protein degradation.
Control and responsiveness in Japanese and German mother­ child interactions

The present study aims to examine culturally invariant and culture-specific patterns of mother-child interaction, and, more specifically, to explore the stability and change of such interactions in structurally different situations. Starting from a control theoretical framework (primary and secondary control), we expected that differences in stress induced by differently structured achievement demands would affect mother-child interactions in Japan and Germany differently. For Japanese as compared to German mothers, less primary control and more responsiveness was expected as a result of the cultural value of social orientation. The sample consisted of 20 mother-child dyads (5-year-old girls) in each culture. The experimental procedure confronted each mother-child dyad with three different situations varying with respect to induced stress (from no stress to high stress). The mother-child interactions were videotaped and analysed in regard to control behaviour and responsiveness. Cultural differences with respect to control behaviour were observed in the expected direction only for high-stress situations. Also, Japanese mothers were more responsive in all three situations. Mother's responsiveness was related to child's secondary control in both cultures. Furthermore, Japanese children showed more secondary control than German children.
Engaging the Disengaged: How One School Re-Engages Students in Learning

Engagement can prevent struggling students from dropping out, and re-engagement in learning can help struggling students who have dropped out return to school and graduate. This chapter presents a case study about a struggling student who dropped out and then came to Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center, became engaged in her learning, and graduated. The authors provide policy and practice recommendations as well as a discussion of factors that affect engagement.
Playing the Game: Recruiting Black Males in Teaching

Abstract The purpose of this comparative study is to ascertain the experiences and perceptions of four Black males enrolled in teacher preparation programs, one at a Predominantly Black Institution (PBI) and three at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI). Findings provide insight for Colleges of Teacher Education to understand the barriers that prevent Black males from successfully matriculating and entering the teaching profession.
Model based full body human motion reconstruction from video data

This paper introduces a novel framework for full body human motion reconstruction from 2D video data using a motion capture database as knowledge base containing information on how people move. By extracting suitable two-dimensional features from both, the input video sequence and the motion capture database, we are able to employ an efficient retrieval technique to run a data-driven optimization. Only little preprocessing is needed by our method, the reconstruction process runs close to real time. We evaluate the proposed techniques on synthetic two-dimensional input data obtained from motion capture data and on real video data.
Method for User Interface of Large Displays Using Arm Pointing and Finger Counting Gesture Recognition

Although many three-dimensional pointing gesture recognition methods have been proposed, the problem of self-occlusion has not been considered. Furthermore, because almost all pointing gesture recognition methods use a wide-angle camera, additional sensors or cameras are required to concurrently perform finger gesture recognition. In this paper, we propose a method for performing both pointing gesture and finger gesture recognition for large display environments, using a single Kinect device and a skeleton tracking model. By considering self-occlusion, a compensation technique can be performed on the user's detected shoulder position when a hand occludes the shoulder. In addition, we propose a technique to facilitate finger counting gesture recognition, based on the depth image of the hand position. In this technique, the depth image is extracted from the end of the pointing vector. By using exception handling for self-occlusions, experimental results indicate that the pointing accuracy of a specific reference position was significantly improved. The average root mean square error was approximately 13 pixels for a 1920 × 1080 pixels screen resolution. Moreover, the finger counting gesture recognition accuracy was 98.3%.
RASPberry: A stable reader activation scheduling protocol in multi-reader RFID systems

Recent technological advances have motivated large-scale deployment of RFID systems. RFID readers are often static and carefully deployed in a planned manner. However, the distribution and movements of tags are often dynamically changed and unpredictable. We study a challenging problem of scheduling the activation of the readers without collision such that the system can work in a stable way in the long term. Here a schedule is stable if at any time slot, the number of total unread tags is bounded from above with high probability under this scheduling. In this paper, we propose a stable reader activation scheduling protocol, RASPberry, in multi-reader RFID systems. We analytically prove that our scheduling protocol, RASPberry, is stable if the arrival rate of tags is less than the processing rate of all readers. In RASPberry, at any time slot, a reader can determine its status using only information of readers within a local neighborhood. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to address the stability problem of reader activation scheduling in RFID systems. Our extensive simulations show that our system performs very well.
Longitudinal Predictors of Vocabulary Knowledge in Turkish Children: The Role of Maternal Warmth, Inductive Reasoning, and Children’s Inhibitory Control

ABSTRACT Research Findings: The present study investigated the social and cognitive precursors of vocabulary knowledge in 239 Turkish preschoolers both concurrently (Time 1 [T1] Mage = 53.29 months, SD = 10.19) and subsequently 1 year later (Time 2 [T2] Mage = 65.40 months, SD = 10.55). We examined the role of parenting behaviors by focusing on emotional and stimulation aspects of parenting (maternal warmth and inductive reasoning) and children’s inhibitory control skills in vocabulary comprehension. The results showed that T1 maternal warmth was linked with neither concurrent nor subsequent vocabulary knowledge, whereas T1 maternal inductive reasoning predicted vocabulary knowledge 1 year later. On the other hand, T1 inhibitory control predicted vocabulary knowledge at both time points, even when the child’s age and SES were controlled. T1 vocabulary knowledge mediated the links from T1 inhibitory control and SES to T2 vocabulary knowledge. The findings highlighted that parenting, children’s regulation skills, and broader contextual variables (SES) are all involved in the development of children’s vocabulary knowledge. Practice or Policy: The findings provided a nuanced understanding of the relation between aspects of parenting and vocabulary knowledge by showing that not maternal warmth but inductive reasoning is crucial for enhancing word comprehension of preschoolers.
The functional role of phenomenal consciousness

This thesis explores what I call the functional question: what is the functional role of phenomenal consciousness (p-consciousness)? Over the last thirty years or so, philosophers (and non-philosophers) have been occupied with trying to provide an account of p-consciousness in scientifically acceptable terms. One question that has not received as much attention, however, is the question of what p-consciousness contributes to the functioning of the mind. This question is important, for we tend to think that p-consciousness must contribute something to our mental economy. How might we attempt to address it? The strategy that I adopt in this thesis is to look at some important accounts of the functional role of p-consciousness, and see whether they offer a promising answer to the functional question. The accounts that I consider in this thesis satisfy an important requirement: they both endorse Ned Block’s distinction between p-consciousness and access consciousness (a-consciousness). Even though we still lack a satisfactory account of the former, the distinction has allowed us to make significant progress in explaining the latter. Today, several researchers from different fields agree that the Global Workspace Model provides an empirically-grounded, and theoretically-satisfying picture of a-consciousness. So, which are the accounts of the functional role of p-consciousness that I have in mind? Uriah Kriegel’s, and Block’s very own. According to both accounts, p-consciousness figures, somehow, in the causal explanation of a-consciousness. Unfortunately, as I will argue, both accounts fail to provide a tenable answer to the functional question. While Kriegel’s account is incompatible with certain empirical results, Block’s ends up providing the functional role of a property other than p-consciousness. In fact, Block’s account may even rest on a misunderstanding of the functional question. I conclude that Kriegel’s and Block’s are not the accounts that we should look at for a promising answer to the functional question.
A Wide Dynamic Range Multichannel Spectral Estimator

A multichannel extension of the AR matrix prewhitened power spectral density estimator, which was originally developed for a single channel, is proposed. In order to make the extension, the Cholesky decomposition of the inverse autocorrelation matrix for a multichannel autoregressive process is discussed and the autoregressive model order selection for a multichannel process based on the exponentially embedded families criterion is introduced. The asymptotic mean and variance of the proposed estimator are derived. Compared to a filter-based autoregressive prewhitened multichannel power spectral estimator, the new estimator has less bias, i.e. higher resolution, and less overall mean square error for short data records due to the amelioration of end effects by the matrix prewhitener. It can serve as an excellent multichannel spectral estimator for processes exhibiting a wide dynamic range. Simulation results are given which show the advantage of the new estimator over a variety of common multichannel power spectral density estimators.
Experimental Odometry Calibration of the Mobile Robot Khepera II Based on the Least-Squares Technique

This paper develops an algorithm for odometry calibration of differential-drive mobile robots. As a first step, the kinematic equations are written so as to underline linearity in a suitable set of unknown parameters; then, the least-squares method is applied to estimate them. The wide literature on the least-squares formulation can thus be exploited; suitability of the data can be numerically verified. The proposed technique has been implemented on the Khepera II mobile robot; the obtained results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed calibration method also in comparison to other existing approaches.
Assembling indigeneity: Rethinking innovation, tradition and indigenous materiality in a 19th-century native toolkit

This paper examines a collection of iron artifacts from the Sarah Burnee/Sarah Boston Site, a late 18th- and early 19th-century Nipmuc home site in Grafton, Massachusetts. While the objects represented have a broad spectrum of purposes, the assemblage is assessed for its utility in the practice of woodsplint basketmaking, an emerging Native trade in 19th-century New England. Native woodsplint baskets were desired and prized by Anglo-American consumers for their authenticity and tradition, yet many of their forms, decorations and the associated toolkit were all developed in the specific economic conditions of post-revolutionary New England and are thus entangled with Euro-American materialities. DeLanda’s (2006) “assemblage theory” is examined as an appropriate concept with which to reconcile the apparent tension of innovation and tradition apparent in this collection, and in Indigenous historical archaeology at large.
Efficient FFT-Accelerated Approach to Invariant Optical–LIDAR Registration

This paper presents a fast Fourier transform (FFT)-accelerated approach designed to handle many of the difficulties associated with the registration of optical and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) images. The proposed algorithm utilizes an exhaustive region correspondence search technique to determine the correspondence between regions of interest from the optical image with the LIDAR image over all translations for various rotations. The computational cost associated with exhaustive search is greatly reduced by exploiting the FFT. The substantial differences in intensity mappings between optical and LIDAR images are addressed through local feature mapping transformation optimization. Geometric distortions in the underlying images are dealt with through a geometric transformation estimation process that handles various transformations such as translation, rotation, scaling, shear, and perspective transformations. To account for mismatches caused by factors such as severe contrast differences, the proposed algorithm attempts to prune such outliers using the random sample consensus technique to improve registration accuracy. The proposed algorithm has been tested using various optical and LIDAR images and evaluated based on its registration accuracy. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm is suitable for the multimodal invariant registration of optical and LIDAR images.
Restoring the missing vorticity in advection-projection fluid solvers

Most visual effects fluid solvers use a time-splitting approach where velocity is first advected in the flow, then projected to be incompressible with pressure. Even if a highly accurate advection scheme is used, the self-advection step typically transfers some kinetic energy from divergence-free modes into divergent modes, which are then projected out by pressure, losing energy noticeably for large time steps. Instead of taking smaller time steps or using significantly more complex time integration, we propose a new scheme called IVOCK (Integrated Vorticity of Convective Kinematics) which cheaply captures much of what is lost in self-advection by identifying it as a violation of the vorticity equation. We measure vorticity on the grid before and after advection, taking into account vortex stretching, and use a cheap multigrid V-cycle approximation to a vector potential whose curl will correct the vorticity error. IVOCK works independently of the advection scheme (we present examples with various semi-Lagrangian methods and FLIP), works independently of how boundary conditions are applied (it just corrects error in advection, leaving pressure etc. to take care of boundaries and other forces), and other solver parameters (we provide smoke, fire, and water examples). For 10 ~ 25% extra computation time per step much larger steps can be used, while producing detailed vorticial structures and convincing turbulence that are lost without correction.
Gamma interferon expression during acute and latent nervous system infection by herpes simplex virus type 1

This study was initiated to evaluate a role for gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) in herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection. At the acute stage of infection in mice, HSV-1 replication in trigeminal ganglia and brain stem tissue was modestly but consistently enhanced in mice from which IFN-gamma was by ablated monoclonal antibody treatment and in mice genetically lacking the IFN-gamma receptor (Rgko mice). As determined by reverse transcriptase PCR, IFN-gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha transcripts were present in trigeminal ganglia during both acute and latent HSV-1 infection. CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were detected initially in trigeminal ganglia at day 5 after HSV-1 inoculation, and these cells persisted for 6 months into latency. The T cells were focused around morphologically normal neurons that showed no signs of active infection, but many of which expressed HSV-1 latency-associated transcripts. Secreted IFN-gamma was present up to 6 months into latency in areas of the T-cell infiltration. By 9 months into latency, both the T-cell infiltrate and IFN-gamma expression had cleared, although there remained a slight increase in macrophage levels in trigeminal ganglia. In HSV-1-infected brain stem tissue, T cells and IFN-gamma expression were present at 1 month but were gone by 6 months after infection. Our hypothesis is that the persistence of T cells and the sustained IFN-gamma expression occur in response to an HSV-1 antigen(s) in the nervous system. This hypothesis is consistent with a new model of HSV-1 latency which suggests that limited HSV-1 antigen expression occurs during latency (M. Kosz-Vnenchak, J. Jacobson, D.M. Coen, and D.M. Knipe, J. Virol. 67:5383-5393, 1993). We speculate that prolonged secretion of IFN-gamma during latency may modulate a reactivated HSV-1 infection.
A Precise Synchronization Method Tolerating Large Capture Error

Aiming at pseudo random sequence, a precise synchronization method tolerating large capture error is proposed in this paper. It firstly formulates the correlation function of the pseudo random sequence in the range of one chip period around the capture position as two straight lines and parameters of which are acquired by employing least squares (LS) algorithm. Then, intersection point of the two lines together with two sampling points adjoining it are exploited to calculate the parameters of the quadratic function. The precise synchronization position is deducted by computing the abscissa of the peak point of the quadratic function. The synchronous data of the quadratic function can be used to update the fitting data of the two straight lines thereby establishing the iterative cycle. Finally numerical simulation results demonstrate that this method can sustain synchronization precision of fractional sampling period under a low signal to noise (SNR) ratio and the performance worsens little with large capture error.
Personality factors and acceptability of socially assistive robotics in teachers with and without specialized training for children with disability

Personality factors can be predictors of acceptability and intention to use new technologies, especially regarding education and care fields in the whole lifespan. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive factors and attitudes of curricular and specialized teachers towards socially assistive robotics and the intention to use robots in teaching activities. In our research, we investigated the impact of the personality factors measured with the Big Five Questionnaire, on acceptability questionnaires derived by Eurobarometer and by the model Unified Theory of the Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), administered respectively before and after showing the possible uses of the robot NAO in education and teaching. The study was conducted in four schools, participants were 114 teachers (52.07 ± 8.22), aged 26 to 68 years, of the primary and middle school level. The results highlight the primary role of the personality factors Openness to Experience and Extraversion for promoting the acceptability and reduce the prejudicial reject regarding the use of educational and assistive robotic technologies. In conclusion, for using at best robotics in education, teachers need to receive appropriate training also on the basis of their attitudes and personality traits to learn how to plan their educational activities integrating the robotics tools.
Automatic Speech Segmentation Using Probabilistic Latent Component Modeling

Latent variable methods, such as PLCA (Probabilistic Latent Component Analysis) have been successfully used for analysis of non-negative signal representations. In this paper, we formulate PLCS (Probabilistic Latent Component Segmentation), which models each time frame of a spectrogram as a spectral distribution. Given the signal spectrogram, the segmentation boundaries are estimated using a maximum-likelihood approach. For an efficient solution, the algorithm imposes a hard constraint that each segment is modelled by a single latent component. The hard constraint facilitates the solution of ML boundary estimation using dynamic programming. The PLCS framework does not impose a parametric assumption unlike earlier ML segmentation techniques. PLCS can be naturally extended to model coarticulation between successive phones. Experiments on the TIMIT corpus show that the proposed technique is promising compared to most state of the art speech segmentation algorithms.