Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pyramidal Gradient Matching for Optical Flow Estimation

Initializing optical flow field by either sparse descriptor matching or dense patch matches has been proved to be particularly useful for capturing large displacements. In this paper, we present a pyramidal gradient matching approach that can provide dense matches for highly accurate and efficient optical flow estimation. A novel contribution of our method is that image gradient is used to describe image patches and proved to be able to produce robust matching. Therefore, our method is more efficient than methods that adopt special features (like SIFT) or patch distance metric. Moreover, we find that image gradient is scalable for optical flow estimation, which means we can use different levels of gradient feature (for example, full gradients or only direction information of gradients) to obtain different complexity without dramatic changes in accuracy. Another contribution is that we uncover the secrets of limited PatchMatch through a thorough analysis and design a pyramidal matching framework based these secrets. Our pyramidal matching framework is aimed at robust gradient matching and effective to grow inliers and reject outliers. In this framework, we present some special enhancements for outlier filtering in gradient matching. By initializing EpicFlow with our matches, experimental results show that our method is efficient and robust (ranking 1st on both clean pass and final pass of MPI Sintel dataset among published methods).
Omptin proteins: an expanding family of outer membrane proteases in Gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae (Review)

The Escherichia coli K-12 outer membrane protein OmpT is a prototype of a unique family of bacterial endopeptidases known as the omptins. This family includes OmpT and OmpP of E. coli, SopA of Shigella flexneri, PgtE of Salmonella enterica, and Pla of Yersinia pestis. Despite their sequence similarities, the omptins vary in their reported functions. The OmpT protease is characterized by narrow cleavage specificity defined by the extracellular loops of the β-barrel protruding above the lipid bilayer. It employs a distinct proteolytic mechanism that involves a histidine and an aspartate residue. Most of the omptin proteins have been implicated in bacterial pathogenesis. As a result, the omptins are potential targets for antimicrobial drug and vaccine development. This review summarizes recent developments in omptins structure and function, emphasizes their role in pathogenesis, proposes evolutionary relation among the existing omptins, and offers possible directions for future research.
MOBILE LEARNING (M-LEARNING ) AND EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS

Mobile devices show a dramatic departure from old-fashion of computing platforms as they no more represent a static or fixed notion of context, where changes are small, absent, or predictable. With this dramatic departure, the expansion and continued evolution of modern mobile devices an opportunity has arisen for much more comprehensive integration of these modern devices into educational environments. Mobile learning is a new research area, that has become an emerging tool for our education system. The mobile learning can be used to enhance the overall learning experience of our students and teachers. This paper discusses the background of mobile learning and how it can be used to enhance the whole eLearning system. The paper presents the M-learning approach as the next generation of eLearning, whereas the next generation of the learning systems will provide easy access and widely available to all who wish to be part of it. The paper also highlights the benefits and future challenges of mobile learning in our educational environments.
Identification of IspC, an 86-Kilodalton Protein Target of Humoral Immune Response to Infection with Listeria monocytogenes Serotype 4b, as a Novel Surface Autolysin

ABSTRACT We identified and biochemically characterized a novel surface-localized autolysin from Listeria monocytogenes serotype 4b, an 86-kDa protein consisting of 774 amino acids and known from our previous studies as the target (designated IspC) of the humoral immune response to listerial infection. Recombinant IspC, expressed in Escherichia coli, was purified and used to raise specific rabbit polyclonal antibodies for protein characterization. The native IspC was detected in all growth phases at a relatively stable low level during a 22-h in vitro culture, although its gene was transiently transcribed only in the early exponential growth phase. This and our previous findings suggest that IspC is upregulated in vivo during infection. The protein was unevenly distributed in clusters on the cell surface, as shown by immunofluorescence and immunogold electron microscopy. The recombinant IspC was capable of hydrolyzing not only the cell walls of the gram-positive bacterium Micrococcus lysodeikticus and the gram-negative bacterium E. coli but also that of the IspC-producing strain of L. monocytogenes serotype 4b, indicating that it was an autolysin. The IspC autolysin exhibited peptidoglycan hydrolase activity over a broad pH range of between 3 and 9, with a pH optimum of 7.5 to 9. Analysis of various truncated forms of IspC for cell wall-hydrolyzing or -binding activity has defined two separate functional domains: the N-terminal catalytic domain (amino acids [aa] 1 to 197) responsible for the hydrolytic activity and the C-terminal domain (aa 198 to 774) made up of seven GW modules responsible for anchoring the protein to the cell wall. In contrast to the full-length IspC, the N-terminal catalytic domain showed hydrolytic activity at acidic pHs, with a pH optimum of between 4 and 6 and negligible activity at alkaline pHs. This suggests that the cell wall binding domain may be of importance in modulating the activity of the N-terminal hydrolase domain. Elucidation of the biochemical properties of IspC may have provided new insights into its biological function(s) and its role in pathogenesis.
SIB-BLAST: a web server for improved delineation of true and false positives in PSI-BLAST searches

A SIB-BLAST web server (http://sib-blast.osc.edu) has been established for investigators to use the SimpleIsBeautiful (SIB) algorithm for sequence-based homology detection. SIB was developed to overcome the model corruption frequently observed in the later iterations of PSI-BLAST searches. The algorithm compares resultant hits from the second iteration to the final iteration of a PSI-BLAST search, calculates the figure of merit for each ‘overlapped’ hit and re-ranks the hits according to their figure of merit. By validating hits generated from the last profile against hits from the first profile when the model is least corrupted, the true and false positives are better delineated, which in turn, improves the accuracy of iterative PSI-BLAST searches. Notably, this improvement to PSI-BLAST comes at minimal computational cost as SIB-BLAST utilizes existing results already produced in a PSI-BLAST search.
Clinical Interventions in Aging Dovepress Beneficial Effects of Multisensory and Cognitive Stimulation on Age-related Cognitive Decline in Long-term-care Institutions

The aim of the present report was to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of multisensory and cognitive stimulation on improving cognition in elderly persons living in long-term-care institutions (institutionalized [I]) or in communities with their families (noninstitutionalized [NI]). We compared neuropsychological performance using language and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) test scores before and after 24 and 48 stimulation sessions. The two groups were matched by age and years of schooling. Small groups of ten or fewer volunteers underwent the stimulation program, twice a week, over 6 months (48 sessions in total). Sessions were based on language and memory exercises, as well as visual, olfactory, auditory, and ludic stimulation, including music, singing, and dance. Both groups were assessed at the beginning (before stimulation), in the middle (after 24 sessions), and at the end (after 48 sessions) of the stimulation program. Although the NI group showed higher performance in all tasks in all time windows compared with I subjects, both groups improved their performance after stimulation. In addition, the improvement was significantly higher in the I group than the NI group. Language tests seem to be more efficient than the MMSE to detect early changes in cognitive status. The results suggest the impoverished environment of long-term-care institutions may contribute to lower cognitive scores before stimulation and the higher improvement rate of this group after stimulation. In conclusion, language tests should be routinely adopted in the neuropsychological assessment of elderly subjects, and long-term-care institutions need to include regular sensorimotor, social, and cognitive stimulation as a public health policy for elderly persons.
A reconfigurable beam dual polarized microstrip cross patch antenna

This paper presents the conception of a reconfigurable beam antenna with horizontal or vertical polarization for millimeter-wave multi-beam small cells array purposes for 5G systems. This new structure consists of one driven cross patch surrounded by four parasitic elements. In each parasitic element one shorting switch is used to change the beam direction. The parasitic elements can be considered either reflector or director. Specifically, a new method of the feeding microstrip antenna consists in connecting two coaxial probes alternate ON or OFF in one driven element. By combining the states of the four shorting switches with the probe feeding, three beam patterns can be obtained in each orthogonal plane with 3dB-beamwidth of 178° at frequency 10GHz. The simulated and measured results of S parameter and radiation patterns are presented.
Viewpoint Selection using Viewpoint Entropy

Computation of good viewpoints is important in several fields: computational geometry, visual servoing, robot motion, graph drawing, etc. In addition, selection of good views is rapidly becoming a key issue in computer graphics due to the new techniques of Image Based Rendering. Although there is no consensus about what a good view means in Computer Graphics, the quality of a viewpoint is intuitively related to how much information it gives us about a scene. In this paper we use the theoretical basis provided by Information Theory to define a new measure, viewpoint entropy, that allows us to compute good viewing positions automatically. We also show how it can be used to select a set of good views of a scene for scene understanding. Finally, we design an algorithm that uses this measure to explore automatically objects or scenes.
Juniper Networks

Einheitliches Betriebssystem: Weniger Zeit-und Arbeits-aufwand für die Planung, Bereitstellung und den Betrieb der Netzwerkinfrastruktur. Einheitlicher Software Zyklus: Sorgt für eine stabile Bereitstellung neuer Funktionen in einem konstanten Rhythmus. Einheitliche modulare Softwarearchitektur: Erleichtert die Anpassung an neue Anforderungen – flexibel und skalierbar.
BEAT TRACKING IMPROVED BY AM SINUSOIDAL MODELED ONSETS ( 1 )-MIREX 2010

Beat-tracking is a key application in music processing and is used in performance and audio contents analysis (as music transcription and information retrieval), synchronization, alignment, etc. Beat-tracking method needs a reliable onset detector. A new technique is proposed to implement the onset detector system, based detecting energy burst of tones in sinudoidal modeling. Once onset events with salience features are obtained, a multiple agent architecture is used to extract the beat-track. Different hypothesis are considered to get the highest scored agent as the final solution to beat track problem.
Specific Inhibition of Plaque Formation to Phosphorylcholine by Antibody against Antibody

Spleen cells from BALB/c mice immunized with heat-killed rough pneumococci (strain R36A) or spleen cells from normal mice immunized in vitro with the same antigen produce direct hemolytic plaques against sheep erythrocytes coated with pneumococcal C polysaccharide or conjugated with phosphorylcholine. Formation of plaques is specifically inhibited by phosphorylcholine or by antiserum to mouse immunoglobulin A myeloma protein which binds phosphorylcholine. Thus, the myeloma proteins and normal BALB/c antibodies share similar idiotypic determinants. This experimental system is suitable for probing the role of the antigen receptor in the immune response.
Contributions Made by CDC25 Phosphatases to Proliferation of Intestinal Epithelial Stem and Progenitor Cells

The CDC25 protein phosphatases drive cell cycle advancement by activating cyclin-dependent protein kinases (CDKs). Humans and mice encode three family members denoted CDC25A, -B and -C and genes encoding these family members can be disrupted individually with minimal phenotypic consequences in adult mice. However, adult mice globally deleted for all three phosphatases die within one week after Cdc25 disruption. A severe loss of absorptive villi due to a failure of crypt epithelial cells to proliferate was observed in the small intestines of these mice. Because the Cdc25s were globally deleted, the small intestinal phenotype and loss of animal viability could not be solely attributed to an intrinsic defect in the inability of small intestinal stem and progenitor cells to divide. Here, we report the consequences of deleting different combinations of Cdc25s specifically in intestinal epithelial cells. The phenotypes arising in these mice were then compared with those arising in mice globally deleted for the Cdc25s and in mice treated with irinotecan, a chemotherapeutic agent commonly used to treat colorectal cancer. We report that the phenotypes arising in mice globally deleted for the Cdc25s are due to the failure of small intestinal stem and progenitor cells to proliferate and that blocking cell division by inhibiting the cell cycle engine (through Cdc25 loss) versus by inducing DNA damage (via irinotecan) provokes a markedly different response of small intestinal epithelial cells. Finally, we demonstrate that CDC25A and CDC25B but not CDC25C compensate for each other to maintain the proliferative capacity of intestinal epithelial stem and progenitor cells.
An attractor-based Whole-Body Motion Control (WBMC) system for humanoid robots

This paper presents a novel whole-body torque-control concept for humanoid walking robots. The presented Whole-Body Motion Control (WBMC) system combines several unique concepts. First, a computationally efficient gravity compensation algorithm for floating-base systems is derived. Second, a novel balancing approach is proposed, which exploits a set of fundamental physical principles from rigid multi-body dynamics, such as the overall linear and angular momentum, and a minimum effort formulation. Third, a set of attractors is used to implement both balance and movement features such as to avoid joint limits or to create end-effector movements. Superposing several of these attractors allows to generate complex whole-body movements to perform different tasks simultaneously. The modular structure of the proposed control system easily allows extensions. The presented concepts have been validated both in simulations, and on the 29-dofs compliant torque-controlled humanoid robot COMAN. The WBMC has proven robust to the unavoidable model errors.
Detecting HTTP Botnet using Artificial Immune System ( AIS )

Today‟s various malicious programs are “installed” on machines all around the world, without any permission of the users, and transform these machines into Bots, i.e., hosts completely under to control of the attackers. Botnet is a collection of compromised Internet hosts (thousands of Bots) that have been installed with remote control software developed by malicious users to maximize the profit performing illegal activities like DDoS, Spamming, and Phishing etc attack on online network. Moreover various types of Command and Control(C&C) infrastructure based Botnets are existing today e.g. IRC, P2P, HTTP Botnet. Among these Botnet, HTTP Botnet has been a group of Bots that perform similar communication and malicious activity patterns within the same Botnet through GET and POST message. Generally the evolution to HTTP began with advances in “exploit kits” e.g., Zeus Botnet, SpyEye Botnet, Black Energy Botnet but in later due to protocol changing; Communication encryption; intermittent communications; Botnet subgrouping Source concealment, and firewall friendly of Botnet, HTTP Botnet is the most interest of the research community. In this paper, we proposed a new general HTTP Botnet detection framework for real time network using Artificial Immune System (AIS). Generally AIS is a new bio-inspired model which applies to solving various problems in information security; we used this concept in our proposed framework to make it more efficient in detection of HTTP Botnet. Hence finally in this paper, we used AIS to detect effectively malicious activities such as spam and port scanning in Bot infected hosts to detect these malicious exploits kit from a computer system. Our experimental evaluations show that our approach can detects HTTP Botnet activities successfully with high efficiency and low false positive rate.
Tools for Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis of Microbes at Single-Cell Level

Microbiologists traditionally study population rather than individual cells, as it is generally assumed that the status of individual cells will be similar to that observed in the population. However, the recent studies have shown that the individual behavior of each single cell could be quite different from that of the whole population, suggesting the importance of extending traditional microbiology studies to single-cell level. With recent technological advances, such as flow cytometry, next-generation sequencing (NGS), and microspectroscopy, single-cell microbiology has greatly enhanced the understanding of individuality and heterogeneity of microbes in many biological systems. Notably, the application of multiple ‘omics’ in single-cell analysis has shed light on how individual cells perceive, respond, and adapt to the environment, how heterogeneity arises under external stress and finally determines the fate of the whole population, and how microbes survive under natural conditions. As single-cell analysis involves no axenic cultivation of target microorganism, it has also been demonstrated as a valuable tool for dissecting the microbial ‘dark matter. ’ In this review, current state-of-the-art tools and methods for genomic and transcriptomic analysis of microbes at single-cell level were critically summarized, including single-cell isolation methods and experimental strategies of single-cell analysis with NGS. In addition, perspectives on the future trends of technology development in the field of single-cell analysis was also presented.
Estimation of nonlinear sequence-dependent constitutive law for DNA molecules

Long length-scale structural deformations of DNA play a central role in many biological processes including gene expression. While all-atom based molecular dynamics (MD) tools fall short to simulate the long-length and time scale mechanics of DNA, continuum rod model of DNA has emerged as a viable tool. The continuum rod model predictions are however very sensitive to the constitutive law (material properties) of the molecule which, in turn, vary along the molecule¿s length according to its base-pair sequence. Identification of the sequence-dependent constitutive law from experimental data and feasible all-atom MD simulations remains a significant challenge. The primary goal of the paper is to formulate the general identification problem in a form that is amenable to system identification/estimation methods. To this end, we suggest several simplifications to the continuum rod model of DNA. Finally, we suggest a possible approach to solving the identification problem for a simplified case with a nonlinear constitutive law. A secondary goal of this paper is to bring this important problem to the attention of the system identification community.
The d2 Test of Attention: Construct validity and extensions in scoring techniques

The internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity of the d2 Test, a cancellation test of attention and concentration, was examined in a sample of 364 U.S. adults. Test-taking strategy, new process scores for assessing performance constancy, and relations to gender and education were explored. Results suggested that the d2 Test is an internally consistent and valid measure of visual scanning accuracy and speed. Overall performance scores were related to a proxy measure of test-taking strategy in the expected direction, and new acceleration and deterioration measures exhibited convergent validity. Suggested directions for future research include discrimination of attentional processes that support immediate and sustained visual scanning accuracy and speed, further examination of the impact of test-taking strategies on overall performance measures, and additional construct validity examinations for the new process measures. (JINS, 2004, 10, 392–400.)
Orai1 and CRAC Channel Dependence of VEGF-Activated Ca2+ Entry and Endothelial Tube Formation

Rationale: Orai1 and the associated calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channel were discovered in the immune system. Existence also in endothelial cells has been suggested, but the relevance to endothelial biology is mostly unknown. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relevance of Orai1 and CRAC channels to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and endothelial tube formation. Methods and Results: In human umbilical vein endothelial cells, Orai1 disruption by short-interfering RNA or dominant-negative mutant Orai1 inhibited calcium release–activated (store-operated) calcium entry, VEGF-evoked calcium entry, cell migration, and in vitro tube formation. Expression of exogenous wild-type Orai1 rescued the tube formation. VEGF receptor-2 and Orai1 partially colocalized. Orai1 disruption also inhibited calcium entry and tube formation in endothelial progenitor cells from human blood. A known blocker of the immune cell CRAC channel (3-fluoropyridine-4-carboxylic acid (2′,5′-dimethoxybiphenyl-4-yl)amide) was a strong blocker of store-operated calcium entry in endothelial cells and inhibited calcium entry evoked by VEGF in 3 types of human endothelial cell. The compound lacked effect on VEGF-evoked calcium-release, STIM1 clustering, and 2 types of transient receptor potential channels, TRPC6 and TRPV4. Without effect on cell viability, the compound inhibited human endothelial cell migration and tube formation in vitro and suppressed angiogenesis in vivo in the chick chorioallantoic membrane. The compound showed 100-fold greater potency for endothelial compared with immune cell calcium entry. Conclusions: The data suggest positive roles for Orai1 and CRAC channels in VEGF-evoked calcium entry and new opportunity for chemical modulation of angiogenesis.