Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leveraging 2D and 3D cues for fine-grained object classification

Objects in fine-grained categories always share a high degree of shape similarity, making both “localizing discriminative parts” and “learning appearance descriptors” extremely difficult. We propose a framework to leverage 2D+3D cues to handle above two challenges. Towards the goal of image alignment to localize discriminative parts, traditional methods rely on either manual part annotation or image segmentation. Instead, our framework leverages each image's 3D camera pose estimation to align images; Towards the goal of “learning appearance descriptors” confined with small training data and memory/computation cost, we propose an unsupervised Convolutional Sparse Coding (CSC) + manifold learning that significantly reduces model complexity, but still successfully produces highly diverse feature filters like deep neural network. Our experimental results attest the advocated framework's accuracy is comparable to a deep network, demonstrating its great potential on mobile devices.
Effects of Lipids and Emulsifiers on the Physicochemical and Sensory Properties of Cosmetic Emulsions Containing Vitamin E

Sensory properties are fundamental in determining the success of a cosmetic product. In this work, we assessed the influence of different oils and emulsifiers on the physicochemical and sensory properties of anti-ageing cosmetic O/W emulsions containing vitamin E acetate as active ingredient. No clear correlation between physicochemical properties and sensory characteristics was evidenced. Sensorial evaluation of these formulations pointed out that the emulsifier systems affected the perceived oiliness and absorbency during application of the product, thus influencing its acceptance. These results suggest the need for more detailed studies on the physicochemical factors involved in determining the consumers’ acceptance.
Wedelolactone, a medicinal plant-derived coumestan, induces caspase-dependent apoptosis in prostate cancer cells via downregulation of PKCε without inhibiting Akt

Emerging studies indicate that metabolism of arachidonic acid through the 5-lipoxygenase (5-Lox) pathway plays a critical role in the survival of prostate cancer cells raising the possibility that 5-Lox can be targeted for an effective therapy of prostate cancer. Wedelolactone (WDL), a medicinal plant-derived natural compound, is known to inhibit 5-Lox activity in neutrophils. However, its effect on apoptosis in prostate cancer cells has not been addressed. Thus, we tested the effects of WDL on human prostate cancer cells in vitro. We observed that WDL kills both androgen-sensitive as well as androgen-independent prostate cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner by dramatically inducing apoptosis. We also found that WDL-induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cells is dependent on c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (c-JNK) and caspase-3. Interestingly, WDL triggers apoptosis in prostate cancer cells via downregulation of protein kinase Cε (PKCε), but without inhibition of Akt. WDL does not affect the viability of normal prostate epithelial cells (PrEC) at doses that kill prostate cancer cells, and WDL-induced apoptosis is effectively prevented by 5-oxoETE, a metabolite of 5-Lox (but not by 15-oxoETE, a metabolite of 15-Lox), suggesting that the apoptosis-inducing effect of WDL in prostate cancer cells is mediated via inhibition of 5-Lox activity. These findings indicate that WDL selectivity induces caspase-dependent apoptosis in prostate cancer cells via a novel mechanism involving inhibition of PKCε without affecting Akt and suggest that WDL may emerge as a novel therapeutic agent against clinical prostate cancer in human.
Risk-Minimizing Hedging of General Cash Flows in Discrete Time

This paper addresses the problem of replicating non-attainable cash flows. Foellmer and Sondermann 1986 introduced the concept of risk-minimization by using a global quadratic risk criterion for martingale price processes. A local risk-minimization problem without the restriction to martingales was solved by Foellmer and Schweizer in 1988. Both approaches consider contingent claims of European type. This paper shows in discrete time that both methods are also applicable for general cash ows which are necessary in the growing field of financial engineering.
A Speaker Verification System Under The Scope : Alize Ett system för talarverifiering under luppen : Alize TOMMIE

Title: A Speaker Verification System Under The Scope: Alize Automatic Speaker Recognition is the collective name for problems that involve identifying a person or verifying the identity of a person using her voice. The French speaker recognition toolkit Alize from University of Avignon has been explored from the viewpoint of a toolkit already in use at KTH, called GIVES. The exploration has aimed to study the usability of the toolkit, its features and performance. Alize was found to be comparable with GIVES in terms of performance, and there are only a few differences in functionality between the two. The most notable difference between them is that, for now, the Alize system only uses one type of model (Gaussian Mixture Models), while GIVES can use several types of models (Hidden Markov Models, Gaussian Mixture Models, Artificial Neural Networks). The paper describes the theoretical background of automatic speaker recognition, Alize as a starting point for the project, the experiments, and results. The results verify that Alize and GIVES are equal in performance, while the evaluation of Alize as a »toolkit» shows that it is not as easy to use as it could have been. It has very little documentation, and for some parts, the documentation does not reflect the current implementation. All-in-all Alize works, but to be used by anyone but the authors as a general system for speaker recognition, it needs to become more user friendly and become more structurally simple in its design.
E-learner community exploiting based on collaboration filtering

Research on e-learner community building has attracted much attention for its effectiveness in sharing the learning experience and resources among geographically dispersed e-learners. While collaborative filtering proves its success as one of the most efficient methods in finding similar users in e-commerce domain, it does meet special challenges in e-learning areas. This paper incorporates multi-agent techniques into collaborative filtering and proposes a novel community building scheme. By doing so, this paper manages to collect useful information from the learner behaviors thus increase the scalability and flexibility of traditional collaborative filtering methods. The experiment on a standard benchmark shows that our scheme has reasonable community building quality and e-learners can make better recommendations to each other inside the community.
The Three-User Finite-Field Multi-Way Relay Channel with Correlated Sources

This paper studies the three-user finite-field multi-way relay channel, where the users exchange messages via a relay. The messages are arbitrarily correlated, and the finite-field channel is linear and is subject to additive noise of arbitrary distribution. The problem is to determine the minimum achievable source-channel rate, defined as channel uses per source symbol needed for reliable communication. We combine Slepian-Wolf source coding and functional-decode-forward channel coding to obtain the solution for two classes of source and channel combinations. Furthermore, for correlated sources that have their common information equal their mutual information, we propose a new coding scheme to achieve the minimum source-channel rate.
Sexual Dimorphism in the Spinal Cord Is Absent in Mice Lacking the Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor Receptor

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) has potent survival-promoting effects on motoneurons in vitro and in vivo. We examined knockout mice with null mutations of the gene for either CNTF itself or the α-subunit of the CNTF receptor (CNTFRα) to assess whether CNTF and/or its receptors are involved in the development of a sexually dimorphic neuromuscular system. Male rodents have many more motoneurons in the spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB) than do females. This sex difference is caused by hormone-regulated death of SNB motoneurons and their target muscles. Sexual dimorphism of SNB motoneuron number developed completely normally in CNTF knockout (CNTF −/−) mice. In contrast, a sex difference in the SNB was absent in CNTFRα −/− animals: male mice lacking a functional CNTF α-receptor had fewer than half as many SNB motoneurons than did wild-type males and no more than did their female counterparts. Size of the bulbocavernosus and levator ani muscles, the main targets of SNB motoneurons, was not affected in either CNTF or CNTFRα knockout males. These observations suggest that signaling through the CNTF receptor is involved in sexually dimorphic development of SNB motoneuron number and that target muscle survival per se is not sufficient to ensure motoneuron survival in this system. In addition, our observations are consistent with the suggestion that CNTF itself is not the only endogenous ligand for the CNTF receptor. A second, as yet unknown, ligand may be important for neural development, including sexually dimorphic motoneuron development.
Annexin I modulates cell functions by controlling intracellular calcium release

Annexin I is an intracellular protein in search of a function. Ex vivo it has calcium‐ and phospholipid‐binding properties. To evaluate its role in vivo, MCF‐7 cells were stably transfected with annexin I in sense or antisense orientations. In cells overexpressing annexin I, calcium release was abrogated on stimulation of purinergic or bradykinin receptors, whereas non‐transfected cells or cells with down‐regulated annexin I released calcium within seconds. Basal calcium and calcium stores were not affected. The impaired calcium release was paralleled by a down‐regulation of the activities of phospholipase C, group II phospholipase A2, and E‐cadherin with altered adhesion and enhanced tumor growth on soft agar. Significantly smaller tumors, with the histologically most differentiated cells, were observed in nude mice inoculated with cells trans‐fected with the antisense rather than with the sense plasmid. These observations indicate that annexin I modulates cell functions by controlling intracellular calcium release. Frey, B. M. , Reber, B. F. X. , Vishwanath, B. S. , Escher, G. , Frey, F. J. Annexin I modulates cell functions by controlling intracellular calcium release. FASEB J. 13, 2235–2245 (1999)
Patterns of Genetic Variability in Island Populations of the Cane Toad (Rhinella marina) from the Mouth of the Amazon

The Amazonian coast has several unique geological characteristics resulting from the interaction between drainage pattern of the Amazon River and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the most extensive and sedimentologically dynamic regions of the world, with a large number of continental islands mostly formed less than 10,000 years ago. The natural distribution of the cane toad (Rhinella marina), one of the world’s most successful invasive species, in this complex Amazonian system provides an intriguing model for the investigation of the effects of isolation or the combined effects of isolation and habitat dynamic changes on patterns of genetic variability and population differentiation. We used nine fast-evolving microsatellite loci to contrast patterns of genetic variability in six coastal (three mainlands and three islands) populations of the cane toad near the mouth of the Amazon River. Results from Bayesian multilocus clustering approach and Discriminant Analyses of Principal Component were congruent in showing that each island population was genetically differentiated from the mainland populations. All FST values obtained from all pairwise comparisons were significant, ranging from 0.048 to 0.186. Estimates of both recent and historical gene flow were not significantly different from zero across all population pairs, except the two mainland populations inhabiting continuous habitats. Patterns of population differentiation, with a high level of population substructure and absence/restricted gene flow, suggested that island populations of R. marina are likely isolated since the Holocene sea-level rise. However, considering the similar levels of genetic variability found in both island and mainland populations, it is reliable to assume that they were also isolated for longer periods. Given the genetic uniqueness of each cane toad population, together with the high natural vulnerability of the coastal regions and intense human pressures, we suggest that these populations should be treated as discrete units for conservation management purposes.
Validity of Self-Reported Weight and Height of Adolescents, Its Impact on Classification into BMI-Categories and the Association with Weighing Behaviour

This paper investigated the validity of self-reported height and weight of adolescents for the diagnosis of underweight, overweight and obesity and the influence of weighing behaviour on the accuracy. A total of 982 adolescents reported their height, weight, weighing behaviour and eating patterns in a questionnaire. Afterwards, their height and weight were measured and their Body Mass Index (BMI)-categories were determined using age- and gender-specific BMI cut-off points. Both girls and boys underreported their weight, whilst height was overestimated by girls and underestimated by boys. Cohen’s d indicated that these misreportings were in fact trivial. The prevalence of underweight was overestimated when using the self-reported BMI for classification, whilst the prevalence of overweight and obesity was underestimated. Gender and educational level influenced the accuracy of the adolescents’ self-reported BMI. Weighing behaviour only positively influenced the accuracy of the self-reported weight and not height or BMI. In summary, adolescents’ self-reported weight and height cannot replace measured values to determine their BMI-category, and thus the latter are highly recommended when investigating underweight, overweight and obesity in adolescents.
Design and implementation of a miniaturized dual band quadrature hybrid at S and C-band for SATCOM application

This paper presents the design and implementation of a miniaturized dual band hybrid operating at two arbitrary frequencies. The hybrid is realised by adding quarter wavelength stubs to the conventional single section hybrid. The folded stub approach is used to miniaturize the size of this hybrid. The hybrid was designed and fabricated for S and C band with centre frequencies at 2.35 GHz and 4.6 GHz respectively with a bandwidth of 200 MHz in each band. The measured results are in very close agreements with the simulated results.
Exploring the Geometry of the Space of Shells

We prove both in the smooth and discrete setting that the Hessian of an elastic deformation energy results in a proper Riemannian metric on the space of shells (modulo rigid body motions). Based on this foundation we develop a time‐ and space‐discrete geodesic calculus. In particular we show how to shoot geodesics with prescribed initial data, and we give a construction for parallel transport in shell space. This enables, for example, natural extrapolation of paths in shell space and transfer of large nonlinear deformations from one shell to another with applications in animation, geometric, and physical modeling. Finally, we examine some aspects of curvature on shell space.
Scale-Free Neocortical Dynamics - Scholarpedia

According to von Neumann (1958) brains do in "very few short steps" what computers do with "exquisite numerical precision over many logical steps". The challenge is to characterize those few steps as neural operations by which spatiotemporal patterns emerge from interactions of cortical neurons over broadly distributed synaptic connections. The patterns are observed with multichannel recordings that serve to evaluate state variables as trajectories in brain state space and patterns as points along the trajectories. A hierarchy of patterns stems from recordings of microscopic axonal spike trains, mesoscopic dendritic field potentials, and macroscopic images of scalp EEG/MEG and fMRI. Each pattern manifests a part of a brain state that forms by a state transition. The "very few short steps" in the actionperception cycle of intention can be identified with state transitions across levels, upwardly through the hierarchy in perception and cognition and downwardly in planning and executing goal-directed actions.
Mental Disorders among Children and Adolescents Admitted to a French Psychiatric Emergency Service

The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of children and adolescents admitted to the psychiatric emergency department (ED) of a French public teaching hospital over a six-year study period (2001–2006). Data for all episodes of care in the psychiatric ED from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2006, delivered to adolescents aged less than 18 years were retrospectively analyzed. During the six-year study period, 335 episodes of care in the psychiatric ED were experienced by 264 different adolescents. They accounted for 2.0% of the 16,754 care episodes of the ED; 164 patients (62.1) were female and the average age was 16.5 (SD = 1.6). The neurotic, stress-related, and somatoform disorders were the most frequent (25.4%) and concerned mainly anxiety disorders (15.2%). The frequency of the absence of psychiatric diagnosis (22.7%) was high. A total of 48 children and adolescents (18.2%) benefited from more than one episode of care. Several factors were associated to a higher number of visits to the ED: substance use, schizophrenia, disorders of adult personality and behaviour, disorders occurring in childhood and adolescence, and dual diagnosis. In conclusion, mental health disorders in children and adolescents are a serious problem associated with several potentially modifiable factors.
Visual language model for face clustering in consumer photos

For consumer photos, this work clusters faces with large variations in lighting, pose, and expression. After matching face images by local feature points, we transform matching situations into a novel representation called visual sentences. Then, visual language models are constructed to describe the dependency of image patches on faces. With the probabilistic framework, we develop a clustering algorithm to group the same individual's face images into the same cluster. An interesting observation about evaluating face clustering performance is proposed, and we demonstrate the superiority of the proposed visual language model approach.
IRAC Excess in Distant Star-Forming Galaxies: Tentative Evidence for the 3.3 μm Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Feature?

We present evidence for the existence of an IRAC excess in the spectral energy distribution (SED) of five galaxies at 0.6 < z < 0.9 and one galaxy at z = 1.7. These six galaxies, located in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey field (GOODS-N), are star-forming since they present strong 6.2, 7.7, and, 11.3 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) lines in their Spitzer IRS mid-infrared spectra. We use a library of templates computed with PEGASE.2 to fit their multiwavelength photometry and derive their stellar continuum. Subtraction of the stellar continuum enables us to detect in five galaxies a significant excess in the IRAC band pass where the 3.3 μm PAH is expected (i.e., IRAC 5.8 μm for the range of redshifts considered here). We then assess if the physical origin of the IRAC excess is due to an obscured active galactic nucleus (AGN) or warm dust emission. For one galaxy evidence of an obscured AGN is found, while the remaining four do not exhibit any significant AGN activity. Possible contamination by warm dust continuum of unknown origin as found in the Galactic diffuse emission is discussed. The properties of such a continuum would have to be different from the local universe to explain the measured IRAC excess, but we cannot definitively rule out this possibility until its origin is understood. Assuming that the IRAC excess is dominated by the 3.3 μm PAH feature, we find good agreement with the observed 11.3 μm PAH line flux arising from the same C-H bending and stretching modes, consistent with model expectations. Finally, the IRAC excess appears to be correlated with the star formation rate in the galaxies. Hence it could provide a powerful diagnostic for measuring dusty star formation in z > 3 galaxies once the mid-infrared spectroscopic capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope become available.
Perspectives on Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching

Citizens’ possibilities to develop intuition and mathematical ideas appear in modern society through instrumentation and instrumentalization: Technology does not only shape the actions of the users but also the mathematical objects to be investigated are shaped by the users. The constructivist viewpoint states that both making of mathematics and teaching of mathematics must relate to this instrumental genesis and teachers must have know-how for new kind of instrumental orchestration. Our contribution discusses the first two issues mentioned as foci of TSG27: (1) Relevant perspectives about mathematical knowledge for teaching, and (2) What teachers need to know and know how to use. Genetic perspective To obtain a solid view of mathematics, it is important to know how and from where mathematical knowledge and mathematical thinking appeared and came into life and action. Based on a “human laboratory within 5000 years”, Zimmermann’s (2003) findings expressed by Figure 1 (2003) can be considered as a framework not only for the teaching and learning of mathematics but also for what could be characterized as ‘meta-mathematical education’ in a more general sense. Eronen and Haapasalo (2007) designed a quantitative instrument based on this octagon to measure the following three so-called Zimmermann profiles among students and teachers: • Math-profile: How strong each activity appears to the subject when using the term ‘mathematics’; • Identity-profile: How good the student thinks he or she is performing each of the activities; • Technoprofile: How suitable a computer is in performing each of the activities. The study revealed very stereotypical profiles among all target groups. The most disturbing finding indicates that traditional mathematics teaching – also in the university seems to be counterproductive and distorting students’ views of mathematics. On the other hand, a constructivist framework using modern technology made a progressive shift towards the promotion of creative activities. The classroom experiments in their pedagogical courses for pre-service teachers showed not only changes in students’ perception of mathematics but also to increase their self-confidence in both their ability to apply mathematics and to utilize the technology. order