Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hierarchical pattern mapping

We present a multi-scale algorithm for mapping a texture defined by an input image onto an arbitrary surface. It avoids the generation and storage of a new, specific texture. The idea is to progressively cover the surface by texture patches of various sizes and shapes, selected from a single input image. The process starts with large patches. A mapping that minimizes the texture fitting error with already textured neighbouring patches is selected. When this error is above a threshold, the patch is split into smaller ones, and the algorithm recursively looks for good fits at a smaller scale. The process ends when the surface is entirely covered. Our results show that the method correctly handles a wide set of texture patterns, which can be used at different mapping scales. Hierarchical texture mapping only outputs texture coordinates in the original texture for each triangle of the initial mesh. Rendering is therefore easy and memory cost minimal. Moreover the initial geometry is preserved.
Mechanisms of Selective Attention in Generalized Anxiety Disorder

A well-established literature has identified different selective attentional orienting mechanisms underlying anxiety-related attentional bias, such as engagement and disengagement of attention. These mechanisms are thought to contribute to the onset and maintenance of anxiety disorders. However, conclusions to date have relied heavily on experimental work from subclinical samples. We therefore investigated individuals with diagnosed generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), healthy volunteers, and individuals with high trait anxiety (but not meeting GAD diagnostic criteria). Across two experiments we found faster disengagement from negative (angry and fearful) faces in GAD groups, an effect opposite to that expected on the basis of the subclinical literature. Together these data challenge current assumptions that we can generalize, to those with GAD, the pattern of selective attentional orienting to threat found in subclinical groups. We suggest a decisive two-stage experiment identifying stimuli of primary salience in GAD, then using these to reexamine orienting mechanisms across groups.
Assessment of Clinical Signs of Liver Cirrhosis Using T1 Mapping on Gd-EOB-DTPA-Enhanced 3T MRI

Objectives To assess the differences between normal and cirrhotic livers by means of T1 mapping of liver parenchyma on gadoxetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced 3 Tesla (3T) MR imaging (MRI). Methods 162 patients with normal (n = 96) and cirrhotic livers (n = 66; Child-Pugh class A, n = 30; B, n = 28; C, n = 8) underwent Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced 3T MRI. To obtain T1 maps, two TurboFLASH sequences (TI = 400 ms and 1000 ms) before and 20 min after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration were acquired. T1 relaxation times of the liver and the reduction rate between pre- and post-contrast enhancement images were measured. Results The T1 relaxation times for Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI showed significant differences between patients with normal liver function and patients with Child-Pugh class A, B, and C (p < 0.001). The T1 relaxation times showed a constant significant increase from Child-Pugh class A up to class C (Child-Pugh class A, 335 ms ± 80 ms; B, 431 ms ± 75 ms; C, 557 ms ± 99 ms; Child-Pugh A to B, p < 0.001; Child-Pugh A to C, p < 0.001; Child-Pugh B to C, p < 0.001) and a constant decrease of the reduction rate of T1 relaxation times (Child-Pugh class A, 57.1% ± 8.8%; B, 44.3% ± 10.2%, C, 29.9% ± 6.9%; Child-Pugh A to B, p < 0.001; Child-Pugh A to C,p < 0.001; Child-Pugh B to C, p < 0.001). Conclusion Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced T1 mapping of the liver parenchyma may present a useful method for determining severity of liver cirrhosis.
Subjective auxiliary state for coarse-grained concurrency

From Owicki-Gries' Resource Invariants and Jones' Rely/Guarantee to modern variants based on Separation Logic, axiomatic logics for concurrency require auxiliary state to explicitly relate the effect of all threads to the global invariant on the shared resource. Unfortunately, auxiliary state gives the proof of an individual thread access to the auxiliaries of all other threads. This makes proofs sensitive to the global context, which prevents local reasoning and compositionality. To tame this historical difficulty of auxiliary state, we propose subjective auxiliary state, whereby each thread is verified using a self view (i.e., the thread's effect on the shared resource) and an other view (i.e., the collective effect of all the other threads). Subjectivity generalizes auxiliary state from stacks and heaps to user-chosen partial commutative monoids, which can eliminate the dependence on the global thread structure. We employ subjectivity to formulate Subjective Concurrent Separation Logic as a combination of subjective auxiliary state and Concurrent Separation Logic. The logic yields simple, compositional proofs of coarse-grained concurrent programs that use auxiliary state, and scales to support higher-order recursive procedures that can themselves fork new threads. We prove the soundness of the logic with a novel denotational semantics of action trees and a definition of safety using rely/guarantee transitions over a large subjective footprint. We have mechanized the denotational semantics, logic, metatheory, and a number of examples by a shallow embedding in Coq.
A functional analysis of the role of visualisation in architectural conceptual design

The view that visual reasoning in design is facilitated by external visualisation, specifically sketching, is based on both anecdotal evidence and empirical observations. The purpose of the current research is to investigate the relationship between visual reasoning, via sketches and the development of the early conceptual stages of the design process. Thus, the paper focuses on an analysis of visualising in conceptual design problem solving. The application of a new taxonomy throws light on experts' use of external visualisations. The results indicate that there are 'shifts in focus' with regards to the functional use of visualisations in architectural conceptual design.
Spacer-length dependence of programmed −1 or −2 ribosomal frameshifting on a U6A heptamer supports a role for messenger RNA (mRNA) tension in frameshifting

Programmed −1 ribosomal frameshifting is employed in the expression of a number of viral and cellular genes. In this process, the ribosome slips backwards by a single nucleotide and continues translation of an overlapping reading frame, generating a fusion protein. Frameshifting signals comprise a heptanucleotide slippery sequence, where the ribosome changes frame, and a stimulatory RNA structure, a stem–loop or RNA pseudoknot. Antisense oligonucleotides annealed appropriately 3′ of a slippery sequence have also shown activity in frameshifting, at least in vitro. Here we examined frameshifting at the U6A slippery sequence of the HIV gag/pol signal and found high levels of both −1 and −2 frameshifting with stem–loop, pseudoknot or antisense oligonucleotide stimulators. By examining −1 and −2 frameshifting outcomes on mRNAs with varying slippery sequence-stimulatory RNA spacing distances, we found that −2 frameshifting was optimal at a spacer length 1–2 nucleotides shorter than that optimal for −1 frameshifting with all stimulatory RNAs tested. We propose that the shorter spacer increases the tension on the mRNA such that when the tRNA detaches, it more readily enters the −2 frame on the U6A heptamer. We propose that mRNA tension is central to frameshifting, whether promoted by stem–loop, pseudoknot or antisense oligonucleotide stimulator.
Mitochondrial-DNA Variation in Pallid and Shovelnose Sturgeons, Scaphirhynchus (Pisces: Acipenseridae)

Sequencing analysis was used to characterize a mtDNA D-Ioop amplicon of 838 bp. Four pallid sturgeons, Scaphirhynchus albus, and four shovelnose sturgeons, S. platorynchus, from four states (Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota) were used for this analysis. DNA sequencing ofthe nine fish revealed eleven polymorphic sites and six distinct haplotypes. No fixed nucleotide substitutions were observed between pallid and shovelnose sturgeons.
A Genetic Atlas of Human Admixture History

Evidence of human migrations over the past 4000 years is identified in existing genomes. Modern genetic data combined with appropriate statistical methods have the potential to contribute substantially to our understanding of human history. We have developed an approach that exploits the genomic structure of admixed populations to date and characterize historical mixture events at fine scales. We used this to produce an atlas of worldwide human admixture history, constructed by using genetic data alone and encompassing over 100 events occurring over the past 4000 years. We identified events whose dates and participants suggest they describe genetic impacts of the Mongol empire, Arab slave trade, Bantu expansion, first millennium CE migrations in Eastern Europe, and European colonialism, as well as unrecorded events, revealing admixture to be an almost universal force shaping human populations. The in-Laws Through History Admixture, the result of previously distant populations meeting and breeding, leaves a genetic signal within the descendants' genomes. However, over time the signal decays and can be hard to trace. Hellenthal et al. (p. 747) describe a method, using a technique called chromosome painting, to follow the genetic traces of admixture back to the nearest extant population. The approach revealed details of worldwide human admixture history over the past 4000 years.
Suppression of Autoimmune Retinal Disease by Lovastatin Does Not Require Th2 Cytokine Induction1

Intraocular inflammatory diseases are a common cause of severe visual impairment and blindness. In an acute mouse model of autoimmune retinal disease, we demonstrate that treatment with the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor, lovastatin, suppresses clinical ocular pathology, retinal vascular leakage, and leukocytic infiltration into the retina. Efficacy was reversed by coadministration of mevalonolactone, the downstream product of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, but not by squalene, which is distal to isoprenoid pyrophosphate metabolites within the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. Lovastatin treatment (20 mg/kg/day i.p.) over 7 days, which resulted in plasma lovastatin hydroxyacid concentrations of 0.098 ± 0.03 μM, did not induce splenocyte Th2 cytokine production but did cause a small reduction in Ag-induced T cell proliferation and a decrease in the production of IFN-γ and IL-10. Thus, it is possible to dissociate the therapeutic effect of statins in experimental autoimmune uveitic mice from their activity on the Th1/Th2 balance. Statins inhibit isoprenoid pyrophosphate synthesis, precursors required for the prenylation and posttranslational activation of Rho GTPase, a key molecule in the endothelial ICAM-1-mediated pathway that facilitates lymphocyte migration. Consistent with inhibition of leukocyte infiltration in vivo, lovastatin treatment of retinal endothelial cell monolayers in vitro leads to inhibition of lymphocyte transmigration, which may, in part, account for drug efficacy. Unlike lovastatin, atorvastatin treatment showed little efficacy in retinal inflammatory disease despite showing significant clinical benefit in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. These data highlight the potential differential activity of statins in different inflammatory conditions and their possible therapeutic use for the treatment of human posterior uveitis.
A Brain-Robot Interface by BCI based on Repeated Binary CSP

In this paper, due to the low information transfer rate and low recognition accuracy in Brain-Computer Interface (BCI), a four-class motor imagery Brain-Robot Interface based on Repeated Binary Common Spatial Pattern (RB-CSP) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) is proposed. The control strategy is offline training first, online control next-after users finish learning to control their thinking, the system makes pattern recognition on the collected users' EEG signals and finally translates them into commands to control the movement of the robot. Experiments indicate that the system is able to extract users' EEG signal features quickly and correctly, translate them into robot's control instructions, which can be used to make real-time control on robots effectively.
Air2p is critical for the assembly and RNA-binding of the TRAMP complex and the KOW domain of Mtr4p is crucial for exosome activation

Trf4/5p-Air1/2p-Mtr4p polyadenylation complex (TRAMP) is an essential component of nuclear RNA surveillance in yeast. It recognizes a variety of nuclear transcripts produced by all three RNA polymerases, adds short poly(A) tails to aberrant or unstable RNAs and activates the exosome for their degradation. Despite the advances in understanding the structural features of the isolated complex subunits or their fragments, the details of complex assembly, RNA recognition and exosome activation remain poorly understood. Here we provide the first understanding of the RNA binding mode of the complex. We show that Air2p is an RNA-binding subunit of TRAMP. We identify the zinc knuckles (ZnK) 2, 3 and 4 as the RNA-binding domains, and reveal the essentiality of ZnK4 for TRAMP4 polyadenylation activity. Furthermore, we identify Air2p as the key component of TRAMP4 assembly providing bridging between Mtr4p and Trf4p. The former is bound via the N-terminus of Air2p, while the latter is bound via ZnK5, the linker between ZnK4 and 5 and the C-terminus of the protein. Finally, we uncover the RNA binding part of the Mtr4p arch, the KOW domain, as the essential component for TRAMP-mediated exosome activation.
Nicotine‐induced phosphorylation of ERK in mouse primary cortical neurons: evidence for involvement of glutamatergic signaling and CaMKII

Extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) is activated in vivo in a number of brain areas by nicotine and other drugs of abuse. Here we show that nicotine stimulation of cultured mouse cortical neurons leads to a robust induction of ERK phosphorylation that is dependent on nicotine concentration and duration of exposure. Calcium/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II activity is necessary for nicotine‐induced ERK phosphorylation and neither cAMP‐dependent protein kinase or protein kinase C appear to be involved. Activity of glutamate receptors, L‐type voltage‐gated calcium channels, and voltage‐gated sodium channels are also required for nicotine‐induced ERK phosphorylation. Nicotine‐induced ERK phosphorylation was inhibited by high concentrations of mecamylamine, however it was not blocked by other broad nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) inhibitors (including hexamethonium and chlorisondamine) or nAChR subtype selective inhibitors (such as methyllycaconitine, alpha‐bungarotoxin, dihydro‐beta‐erythroidine, and α‐conotoxin Au1B). In accord with these pharmacological results, nicotine‐induced ERK phosphorylation was normal in primary cultures made from β2 or α7 nAChR subunit knockout mice. The α3/β4 nAChR agonist cytisine did not induce ERK phosphorylation suggesting that α3/β4 nAChRs were not involved in this process. Taken together, these data define a necessary role for glutamatergic signaling and calcium/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II in nicotine‐induced ERK phosphorylation in cortical neurons and do not provide evidence for the involvement of classical nAChRs.
A fast and compact hybrid memory resident datastore for text analytics with autonomic memory allocation

This paper describes a high-performance and space-efficient memory-resident datastore for text analytics systems based on a hash table for fast access, a dynamic trie for staging and a list of Level-Order Unary Degree Sequence (LOUDS) tries for compactness. We achieve efficient memory allocation and data placement by placing freqently access keys in the hash table, and infrequently accessed keys in the LOUDS tries without using conventional cache algorithms. Our algorithm also dynamically changes memory allocation sizes for these data structures according to the remaining available memory size. This technique yields 38.6% to 52.9% better throughput than a double array trie - a conventional fast and compact datastore.
Prevalence of Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) inactive disease in a cohort of patients treated with TNF-alpha inhibitors

Abstract Background: Treat to target (T2T), aiming at inactive disease (ID), has become the recommended strategy for axial-SpA (ax-SpA). Using the Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS), we assessed the prevalence of ID in ax-SpA patients treated with TNFα inhibitors (TNFi). Methods: A multicentric, cross-sectional study was performed assessing disease activity status (BASDAI and ASDAS) of consecutive patients with ax-SpA on stable treatment with TNFi for at least six months. We analyzed differences with nonradiographic axSpA (nr-ax-SpA) and the influence of population characteristics and comorbidities in reaching ID. ID was defined as ASDAS-CRP <1.3. Results: A total of 218 patients were enrolled, 165 with AS and 53 with nr-ax-SpA. ASDAS-CRP ID was reached by 89 (40.8%) patients, while 163 (74.8%) of patients achieved good disease control with BASDAI. There were no significant differences between the two diagnostic groups. Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated a negative correlation of concomitant fibromyalgia, higher BASMI and current NSAIDs with the chances of reaching ASDAS-CRP ID or BASDAI <4. Conclusion: T2T represents a new challenge in the management of ax-SpA, with recently introduced disease activity measures being significantly more stringent. The prevalence of ID was affected by concomitant fibromyalgia, decreased spine mobility and concomitant NSAIDs.
Mapping of a novel susceptibility locus suggests a role for MC3R and CTSZ in human tuberculosis.

RATIONALE Tuberculosis remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the developing world. A better understanding of the mechanisms of disease protection could allow novel strategies to disease management and control. OBJECTIVES To identify human genomic loci with evidence of linkage to tuberculosis susceptibility and, within these loci, to identify individual genes influencing tuberculosis susceptibility. METHODS Affected sibling pair analysis in South African and Malawian populations. Independent case-control study in West Africa. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Two novel putative loci for tuberculosis susceptibility are identified: chromosome 6p21-q23 and chromosome 20q13.31-33--the latter with the strongest evidence for any locus reported to date in human tuberculosis (single point LOD score of 3.1, P = 10(-4), with a maximum likelihood score [MLS] of 2.8). An independent, multistage genetic association study in West African populations mapped this latter region in detail, finding evidence that variation in the melanocortin 3 receptor (MC3R) and cathepsin Z (CTSZ) genes play a role in the pathogenesis of tuberculosis. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate how a genomewide approach to the complex phenotype of human tuberculosis can identify novel targets for further research.
3D action matching with key-pose detection

This paper addresses the problem of human action matching in outdoor sports broadcast environments, by analysing 3D data from a recorded human activity and retrieving the most appropriate proxy action from a motion capture library. Typically pose recognition is carried out using images from a single camera, however this approach is sensitive to occlusions and restricted fields of view, both of which are common in the outdoor sports environment. This paper presents a novel technique for the automatic matching of human activities which operates on the 3D data available in a multi-camera broadcast environment. Shape is retrieved using multi-camera techniques to generate a 3D representation of the scene. Use of 3D data renders the system camera-pose-invariant and allows it to work while cameras are moving and zooming. By comparing the reconstructions to an appropriate 3D library, action matching can be achieved in the presence of significant calibration and matting errors which cause traditional pose detection schemes to fail. An appropriate feature descriptor and distance metric are presented as well as a technique to use these features for key-pose detection and action matching. The technique is then applied to real footage captured at an outdoor sporting event.
Worst-Case Robust Distributed Power Allocation in Shared Unlicensed Spectrum

This paper considers non-cooperative and fully-distributed power-allocation for selfish transmitterreceiver pairs in shared unlicensed spectrum when normalized-interference to each receiver is uncertain. We model each uncertain parameter by the sum of its nominal (estimated) value and a bounded additive error in a convex set, and show that the allocated power always converges to its equilibrium, called robust Nash equilibrium (RNE). In the case of a bounded and symmetric uncertainty region, we show that the power allocation problem for each user is simplified, and can be solved in a distributed manner. We derive the conditions for RNE’s uniqueness and for converge nce of the distributed algorithm; and show that the total throughput (social utility) is less than that at NE when RNE is unique. We also show that for multiple RNEs, the social utility may be higher at a RNE as compared to that at the corresponding NE, and demonstrate that this is caused by users’ orthogonal uti lization of bandwidth at RNE. Simulations confirm our analysis.