Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Real-time robust vehicle flow statistics based on adjacent frames clustering

In this paper, a clustering method of adjacent frames is proposed for vehicle flow statistics to overcome the fault of low robustness of video-based detection algorithms in complex environments. In the method, the boundaries of the abrupt or gradual visual content changing in consecutive video frames are described by color and intensity histogram method. The clustered frames containing different vehicles are segmented by these boundaries. In order to enhance the robustness of the algorithm, the interaction of adjacent multi-frames is weighted by gauss function which is the function of the interval between frames. Vehicle flow statistics are accomplished by detecting local maxima of the objective function. Experiments show that this method works stable in different weather and traffic status with the real-time performance of over 30 frames per second and with the mean detection precision of 93.2%.
ON RECURSIVE ESTIMATION FOR LOCALLY STATIONARY TIME VARYING AUTOREGRESSIVE PROCESSES

This paper focuses on recursive estimation of locally stationary autoregressive processes. The stability of the model is revisited and uniform results are provided when the time-varying autoregression parameters belong to appropiate smoothness classes. An adequate normalization for the correction term used in the recursive estimation procedure allows for very mild assumptions on the innovations distributions. The rate of convergence of the pointwise estimates are shown to be minimax in β-Lipschitz classes for 0 < β ≤ 1. For 1 < β ≤ 2, this property does no longer hold; a bias reduction method is proposed for recovering the minimax rate. Finally, an asymptotic expansion of the estimation error is given, allowing both for an explicit asymptotic expansion of the mean-square error and for a central limit theorem.
Dynamic stress changes during earthquake rupture

We assess two competing dynamic interpretations that have been proposed for the short slip durations characteristic of kinematic earthquake models derived by inversion of earthquake waveform and geodetic data. The first interpretation would require a fault constitutive relationship in which rapid dynamic restrengthening of the fault surface occurs after passage of the rupture front, a hypothesized mechanical behavior that has been referred to as “self-healing. ” The second interpretation would require sufficient spatial heterogeneity of stress drop to permit rapid equilibration of elastic stresses with the residual dynamic friction level, a condition we refer to as “geometrical constraint. ” These interpretations imply contrasting predictions for the time dependence of the fault-plane shear stresses. We compare these predictions with dynamic shear stress changes for the 1992 Landers (M 7.3), 1994 Northridge (M 6.7), and 1995 Kobe (M 6.9) earthquakes. Stress changes are computed from kinematic slip models of these earthquakes, using a finite-difference method. For each event, static stress drop is highly variable spatially, with high stress-drop patches embedded in a background of low, and largely negative, stress drop. The time histories of stress change show predominantly monotonic stress change after passage of the rupture front, settling to a residual level, without significant evidence for dynamic restrengthening. The stress change at the rupture front is usually gradual rather than abrupt, probably reflecting the limited resolution inherent in the underlying kinematic inversions. On the basis of this analysis, as well as recent similar results obtained independently for the Kobe and Morgan Hill earthquakes, we conclude that, at the present time, the self-healing hypothesis is unnecessary to explain earthquake kinematics.
Manipulation of flowering time and branching by overexpression of the tomato transcription factor SlZFP2

Summary Flowering of higher plants is orchestrated by complex regulatory networks through integration of various environmental signals such as photoperiod, temperature, light quality and developmental cues. In Arabidopsis, transcription of the flowering integrator gene FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) that several flowering pathways converge to is directly regulated by more than ten transcription factors. However, very little is known about the transcriptional regulation of the FT homolog SINGLE FLOWER TRUESS (SFT) in the day‐neutral plant tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Previously, we showed that the zinc finger transcription factor SlZFP2 plays important roles in regulation of seed germination and fruit ripening in tomato and also found that overexpression of SlZFP2 impacted flowering and branching. Here, we characterized in detail the early flowering and high branching phenotypes by overexpression of this transcription factor. Our data showed that overexpression of SlZFP2 accelerated flowering in an SFT‐dependent manner as demonstrated by elevated SFT expression in the leaves and the transcription factor's binding ability to SFT promoter in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, overexpression of the SlZFP2 gene in the sft plants failed to rescue the mutant's late flowering. Through analysis of grafting phenotype, growth response of branches to auxin application and transcriptome profiling by RNA sequencing, we also showed that overexpression of SlZFP2 affected shoot apical dominance through multiple regulatory pathways. Our results suggest that the transcription factor SlZFP2 has potential applications in genetic modification of plant architecture and flowering time for tomato production and other crops as well.
The Potential of Mycelium and Culture Broth of Lignosus rhinocerotis as Substitutes for the Naturally Occurring Sclerotium with Regard to Antioxidant Capacity, Cytotoxic Effect, and Low-Molecular-Weight Chemical Constituents

Previous studies on the nutritional and nutraceutical properties of Lignosus rhinocerotis focused mainly on the sclerotium; however, the supply of wild sclerotium is limited. In this investigation, the antioxidant capacity and cytotoxic effect of L. rhinocerotis cultured under different conditions of liquid fermentation (shaken and static) were compared to the sclerotium produced by solid-substrate fermentation. Aqueous methanol extracts of the mycelium (LR-MH, LR-MT) and culture broth (LR-BH, LR-BT) demonstrated either higher or comparable antioxidant capacities to the sclerotium extract (LR-SC) based on their radical scavenging abilities, reducing properties, metal chelating activities, and inhibitory effects on lipid peroxidation. All extracts exerted low cytotoxicity (IC50>200 µg/ml, 72 h) against selected mammalian cell lines. Several low-molecular-weight compounds, including sugars, fatty acids, methyl esters, sterols, amides, amino acids, phenolics, and triterpenoids, were identified using GC-MS and UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS. The presence of proteins (<40 kDa) in the extracts was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and SELDI-TOF-MS. Principal component analysis revealed that the chemical profiles of the mycelial extracts under shaken and static conditions were distinct from those of the sclerotium. Results from bioactivity evaluation and chemical profiling showed that L. rhinocerotis from liquid fermentation merits consideration as an alternative source of functional ingredients and potential substitute for the sclerotium.
Replication Method Based on Demand Forecasting of File Download in P 2 P Networks

AbstrAct: In peer-to-peer (P2P) networks that support file-sharing services, the level of access demand can vary widely between different files. Since fewer nodes store files for which there is a lower demand, these files are more likely to be lost from the P2P networks if users leave the network or delete the files. File loss can cause users to seek alternatives to P2P services, and lead to degradation in service quality. We propose and evaluate a replication method based on demand forecasting that aims to prevent the loss of low-demand files. In this method, the number of file replicas to be placed is determined based on the forecast demand for the file, so that the loss of low-demand files is likely prevented by placing replicas at nodes that frequently use P2P services. Based on simulation results, we compared our proposed method with basic replication methods in terms of the number of files and the amount of storage used. Our experimental results show that the proposed method prevents file loss by preserving low-demand files over extended periods of time. We also confirmed that the node storage resources consumed by this method are efficiently used.
A SURVEY ON SCLERA VEIN RECOGNITION TECHNIQUES

Sclera vein recognition is an evolving technology for the pattern recognition system that recognize a person for authentication . sclera vein recognition presents a challenging problem in the field of image analysis and computer vision, and as such has received a great deal of attention over the last few years because of its many applications in various domains. This is a challenging research problem because images of sclera vessel patterns are often defocused and/or saturated and, most importantly, the vessel structure in the sclera is multilayered and has complex nonlinear deformations. This paper has several contributions. First, we proposed the new approach for human ID: sclera recognition. Second, we developed a new method for sclera segmentation which works for both color and grayscale images. Third, we designed a Gabor filter for sclera pattern enhancement method to emphasize and binarize the sclera vessel patterns. Finally, we proposed a histogram oriented gradient feature extraction, registration, and matching method. KeywordsSclera vein recognition, sclera feature matching, sclera matching, parallel computing multilayered vesselpattern recognition, sclera recognition, sclera segmentation.
EVALUATING ENTERPRISE SUPPORT PROGRAMS USING PANEL FIRM DATA

This paper evaluates enterprise support programs in Mexico using ten-year panel firm data (1994-2005), which allows for addressing selectivity bias from observed and unobserved firm heterogeneity by applying fixed effects models. The analysis finds evidence that participation in some enterprise programs such as training, tax breaks, and environmental certification is associated with improvements in key variables such as value added, gross production, and wages. Furthermore, the paper finds evidence that some of the positive effects can take several years to realize.
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolated From Various Types of Hospital Infections in Pediatrics: Panton-Valentine Leukocidin, Staphylococcal Chromosomal Cassette mec SCCmec Phenotypes and Antibiotic Resistance Properties

Background: Staphylococcus aureus has long been considered as a major pathogen of hospital infections. Objectives: The present investigation was carried out to study the distribution of Staphylococcal Chromosomal Cassette mec (SCCmec) types, Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) gene and antibiotic resistance properties of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated from various types of infections found in Iranian pediatric patients. Patients and Methods: Two-hundred and fifty-five clinical specimens were collected from four major provinces of Iran. Samples were cultured and the MRSA strains were subjected to Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The patterns of antibiotic resistance were determined using the disk diffusion method. Results: Seventy-four out of 255 (29.01%) clinical samples were positive for MRSA. Of the 74 MRSA strains, 47 (63.51%) were PVL positive. The clinical samples of respiratory tract infections (36.36%), those from the Shiraz province (37.87%) and samples collected during the summer season (56.48%) were the most commonly infected samples. The most commonly detected antibiotic resistance genes were tetK (89.18%), mecA (71.62%), msrA (56.75%) and tetM (54.05%). Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus had the highest levels of resistance against penicillin (100%), tetracycline (98.64%), ampicillin (93.24%) and oxacillin (93.24%). The most commonly detected SCCmec types in the MRSA strains were type V (18.91%) and III (17.56%). Conclusions: Regular surveillance of hospital-associated infections and monitoring of the antibiotic sensitivity patterns are required to reduce the prevalence of MRSA. We recommend initial management of children affected by MRSA with imipenem, lincomycin and cephalothin prescriptions.
Molecular Population Genetics and Evolution of the Chagas’ Disease Vector Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

Triatoma infestans (Klug) is the main vector of Chagas’ disease in the Southern Cone of Latin America between the latitudes 10° S and 46° S. The long-term effectiveness of the control campaigns is greatly dependent upon the vector population structure. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genes have been used in a number of T. infestans population genetic analyses. However, the maternally inherited markers as well as nuclear ribosomal DNA analyzed until the present exhibited low or limited levels of variation. Analyses based on microsatellite markers strongly supported the existence of some type of stratification in T. infestans populations and supported the hypothesis of vector population recovery from survivors of the insecticide-treated areas, highlighting the value of population genetic analyses in assessing the effectiveness of Chagas’ disease vector control programmes. Although phylogeographic studies have generally suggested a Bolivian Andean origin of T. infestans, they recovered two reciprocal monophyletic groups of T. infestans and Bolivian populations who were not basal as expected for an ancestral group. In addition, a non-Andean origin could not be excluded by mtDNA genealogies that included sylvatic bugs from Gran Chaco. On the other side, mitochondrial and microsatellite markers supported the hypothesis of two independent migration events of colonization and secondary contacts in southern South America. Since the phylogenetic analyses remain inconclusive, more sequences, not only from mitochondrial genes but also from nuclear genes, need to be examined.
Functional and non-functional properties in a family of embedded operating systems

The increasing complexity of embedded systems calls for software design and implementation techniques that support specialization without abandonment of reusability. This brings up a conflict as software specialized in supporting a very dedicated case usually cannot be (easily) reused for a different environment. Especially the "standard software" packets such as operating systems, e.g., are concerned with this problem. Particularly critical in this setting are non-functional properties that are ingredient parts of single components or crosscut in the extreme case the entire system software. These properties not only limit component reusability but also impair software maintenance in general. The paper deals with this issue in the scope of operating systems for the embedded-systems domain. It motivates using concepts such as family-based software design, feature modeling and aspect-oriented programming in order to come up with highly customizable and yet reusable system software solutions.
Analysis of the genetic architecture of maize kernel size traits by combined linkage and association mapping

Summary Kernel size‐related traits are the most direct traits correlating with grain yield. The genetic basis of three kernel traits of maize, kernel length (KL), kernel width (KW) and kernel thickness (KT), was investigated in an association panel and a biparental population. A total of 21 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected to be most significantly (P < 2.25 × 10−6) associated with these three traits in the association panel under four environments. Furthermore, 50 quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling these traits were detected in seven environments in the intermated B73 × Mo17 (IBM) Syn10 doubled haploid (DH) population, of which eight were repetitively identified in at least three environments. Combining the two mapping populations revealed that 56 SNPs (P < 1 × 10−3) fell within 18 of the QTL confidence intervals. According to the top significant SNPs, stable‐effect SNPs and the co‐localized SNPs by association analysis and linkage mapping, a total of 73 candidate genes were identified, regulating seed development. Additionally, seven miRNAs were found to situate within the linkage disequilibrium (LD) regions of the co‐localized SNPs, of which zma‐miR164e was demonstrated to cleave the mRNAs of Arabidopsis CUC1,CUC2 and NAC6 in vitro. Overexpression of zma‐miR164e resulted in the down‐regulation of these genes above and the failure of seed formation in Arabidopsis pods, with the increased branch number. These findings provide insights into the mechanism of seed development and the improvement of molecular marker‐assisted selection (MAS) for high‐yield breeding in maize.
Research on the Balanced Boolean Functions Satisfying Strict Avalanche Criterion

The balanced Boolean functions satisfying the strict avalanche criterion (SAC) are widely used in stream cipher and block cipher. By introducing the representation matrix of the transition function of Boolean function, we provide a special method for seeking the Boolean functions satisfying the SAC. Moreover, the strong strict avalanche criterion (SSAC) of balanced Boolean function is defined and the general formula of the number of the Boolean functions satisfying SSAC is obtained.
Analysis of Cytochrome P450 Conserved Sequence Motifs between Helices E and H: Prediction of Critical Motifs and Residues in Enzyme Functions

Rational approaches have been extensively used to investigate the role of active site residues in cytochrome P450 (CYP) functions. However, recent studies using random mutagenesis suggest an important role for non-active site residues in CYP functions. Meta-analysis of the random mutants showed that 75% of the functionally important non-active site residues are present in 20% of the entire protein between helices E and H (E-H) and conserved sequence motif (CSM) between 7 and 11. The CSM approach was developed recently to investigate the functional role of non-active site residues in CYP2B4. Furthermore, we identified and analyzed the CSM in multiple CYP families and subfamilies in the E-H region. Results from CSM analysis showed that CSM 7, 8, 10, and 11 are conserved in CYP1, CYP2, and CYP3 families, while CSM 9 is conserved only in CYP2 family. Analysis of different CYP2 subfamilies showed that CYP2B and CYP2C have similar characteristics in the CSM, while the characteristics of CYP2A and CYP2D subfamilies are different. Finally, we analyzed CSM 7, 8, 10, and 11, which are common in all the CYP families/subfamilies analyzed, in fifteen important drug-metabolizing CYPs. The results showed that while CSM 8 is most conserved among these CYPs, CSM 7, 9, and 10 have significant variations. We suggest that CSM8 has a common role in all the CYPs that have been analyzed, while CSM 7, 10, and 11 may have relatively specific role within the subfamily. We further suggest that these CSM play important role in opening and closing of the substrate access/egress channel by modulating the flexible/plastic region of the protein. Thus, site-directed mutagenesis of these CSM can be used to study structure-function and dynamic/plasticity-function relationships and to design CYP biocatalysts.
p53 and p73 display common and distinct requirements for sequence specific binding to DNA

Although p53 and p73 share considerable homology in their DNA-binding domains, there have been few studies examining their relative interactions with DNA as purified proteins. Comparing p53 and p73β proteins, our data show that zinc chelation by EDTA is significantly more detrimental to the ability of p73β than of p53 to bind DNA, most likely due to the greater effect that the loss of zinc has on the conformation of the DNA-binding domain of p73. Furthermore, prebinding to DNA strongly protects p73β but not p53 from chelation by EDTA suggesting that DNA renders the core domain of p73 less accessible to its environment. Further exploring these biochemical differences, a five-base sub-sequence was identified in the p53 consensus binding site that confers a greater DNA-binding stability on p73β than on full-length p53 in vitro. Surprisingly, p53 lacking its C-terminal non-specific DNA-binding domain (p53Δ30) demonstrates the same sequence discrimination as does p73β. In vivo, both p53 and p73β exhibit higher transactivation of a reporter with a binding site containing this sub-sequence, suggesting that lower in vitro dissociation translates to higher in vivo transactivation of sub-sequence-containing sites.
Intention detection in upper limb kinematics rehabilitation using a GP-based control strategy

In robot-assisted upper limb rehabilitation, detecting the intentions of hemiplegic patients is essential towards assisting the patients to actively exercise instead of driving passive motions. Many interactive channels, such as voice, EMG and EEG, have been studied to estimate the motion intentions. However, limitations of these techniques, such as high complexity, have constrained their applications in practice. In this paper, we integrate a virtual environment and a low-cost motion sensor into a novel control strategy to detect motion intentions for a rehabilitation robot. Several bimanual motion sequences are intuitively programmed by a professional therapist for subjects to repeat. The strategy uses the unaffected arm and the programmed motion sequence to estimate the motion intentions of the affected arm. We adopt this strategy in Mirror Therapy, a widely-practised therapeutic intervention method. Experiments have been conducted to validate the control strategy.
A General Multivariate Latent Growth Model With Applications to Student Achievement

The evaluation of the formative process in the University system has been assuming an ever increasing importance in the European countries. Within this context, the analysis of student performance and capabilities plays a fundamental role. In this work, the authors propose a multivariate latent growth model for studying the performances of a cohort of students of the University of Bologna. The model proposed is innovative since it is composed by (a) multivariate growth models that allow the capture of different dynamics of student performance indicators over time and (b) a factor model that allows measurement of the general latent student capability. The flexibility of the model proposed allows its applications in several fields such as socioeconomic settings in which personal behaviors are studied using panel data.
Control system of biped robot balancing on board

This paper is devoted to the problem of stabilization of a biped robot that balances on a planar nonstationary board. The incline of the board on which the robot stands can vary arbitrarily. This article is a continuation of previous work. Here we present an improved control system of the robot, assembled on the basis of a robotic kit Bioloid. The main difference between this work and the previous one consists in a more profound study of robot path planning. Moreover, for a more accurate calculation of the desired trajectory, we change the data on which the desired path is determined. In the designed control system readings of the accelerometer and gyroscope installed in the robot torso are used.