Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recovery of Compressive Sensed Images With Piecewise Autoregressive Modeling

This thesis concerns with recovery of compressive sampled images. Since many natural signals such as images are non-stationary, the sparse space varies in time/spatial domain. Therefore, compressive sensing (CS) recovery should be carried on locally adaptive, signal-dependent spaces to answer the fact that the CS measurements are not dependant to the signal structures. Existing CS reconstruction algorithms use fixed basis such as wavelets and DCT for the signals. To address this problem, we proposed new technique for model guided adaptive recovery of compressive sensing. The proposed algorithms are based on two dimensional piecewise autoregressive model and can adaptively recover compressive sampled images. In addition, proposed algorithms offer a powerful mechanism to characterize structured sparsity of natural images. This mechanism greatly restricts the CS solution space. Simulation results show the preeminent effect of our algorithms in the recovery of wide range of natural images. In average our best algorithm improves the reconstruction quality of existing CS methods by 2dB.
Ensemble approach based on conditional random field for multi-label image and video annotation

Multi-label image/video annotation is a challenging task that allows to correlate more than one high-level semantic keyword with an image/video-clip. Previously, a single model is usually used for the annotation task, with relatively large variance in performance. The correlation among the annotation keywords should also be considered. In this paper, to reduce the performance variance and exploit the correlation between keywords, we propose the En-CRF (Ensemble based on Conditional Random Field) method. In this method, multiple models are first trained for each keyword, then the predictions of these models and the correlations between keywords are incorporated into a conditional random field. Experimental results on benchmark data set, including Corel5k and TRECVID 2005, show that the En-CRF method is superior or highly competitive to several state-of-the-art methods.
Absenteeism Data as a Measure of Cost Effectiveness of Stress Management Programs

Stress in the workplace has been labeled the leading contributor to health-related problems in the United States, with costs to businesses and industry estimated to exceed $I00 billion a year. 1 To a great extent these costs have encouraged a movement toward prevention and alleviation of stressrelated diseases. As a consequence, numerous health promotion entrepreneurs have developed and successfully marketed a variety of stress reduction programs to businesses and industries throughout the country? Oftentimes, however, these enterprising health promotion marketeers release premature estimates about the potential benefits of the programs they market based on data which do not provide a suitable basis for their conclusions and ascertions. 3
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making

Background: It is an absolute necessity to continually assess the quality of health information on the Internet. Quality-controlled subject gateways are Internet services which apply a selected set of targeted measures to support systematic resource discovery. Methods: The CISMeF health gateway became a contributor to the MedCIRCLE project to evaluate 270 health information providers. The transparency heritage consists of using the evaluation performed on providers that are referenced in the CISMeF catalogue for evaluating the documents they publish, thus passing on the transparency label from the publishers to their documents. Results: Each site rated in CISMeF has a record in the CISMeF database that generates an RDF into HTML file. The search tool Doc'CISMeF displays information originating from every publisher evaluated with a specific MedCIRCLE button, which is linked to the MedCIRCLE central repository. Starting with 270 websites, this trust heritage has led to 6,480 evaluated resources in CISMeF (49.8% of the 13,012 resources included in CISMeF). Conclusion: With the MedCIRCLE project and transparency heritage, CISMeF became an explicit third party.
Level-k Auctions: Can a Non-Equilibrium Model of Strategic Thinking Explain the Winner's Curse and Overbidding in Private-Value Auctions?

This paper proposes a structural non-equilibrium model of initial responses to incomplete-information games based on "level-k" thinking, which describes behavior in many experiments with complete-information games. We derive the model's implications in first- and second-price auctions with general information structures, compare them to equilibrium and Eyster and Rabin's (2005) "cursed equilibrium," and evaluate the model's potential to explain behavior in auction experiments. The level-k model generalizes many insights from equilibrium auction theory. It also allows a unified explanation of the winner’s curse in common-value auctions and overbidding in those independent-private-value auctions without the uniform value distributions used in most experiments. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of t (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)
Distributed processing of logic programs

This paper is concerned with the issue of parallel evaluation of logic programs. To address this issue we define a new concept of predicate decomposability. If a predicate is decomposable, it means that the load of evaluating it can be divided among a number of processors, without a need for communication among them. This in turn results in a very significant speed-up of the evaluation process. We completely characterize three classes of single rule programs (sirups) with respect to decomposability nonrecursive, linear, and simple chain programs. All three classes were studied previously in various contexts. We establish that nonrecursive programs are decomposable, whereas for the other two classes we determine which ones are, and which ones are not decomposable. We also establish two sufficient conditions for sirup decomposability.
Highly integrated active dual response filter

This work focuses on the design of a novel compact Active Dual Response Filter within a single device which allows ensuring the coexistence of three different standards while proposing an optimal structure in terms of response and space. The proposed filter is based on a highly selective low-pass filter at which a highly integrated compact notch filter is coupled. This co-integration of both filters is not a cascade so that the dual response filter occupies the same area as the low-pass filter alone. The Notch filter is set to 700 MHz and is loaded by an Active Capacitor (AC) circuit that allows a rejection at the notch central frequency of at least 19 dB. The low-pass filter cut-off frequency is Fc =890 MHz, the in band return loss is better than 20 dB. This methodology can be extended to various shapes of filter functions.
Statistical Measure of the Effectiveness of the Open Editing Model of Wikipedia

Wikipedia is commonly viewed as the main online encyclopedia. Its content quality, however, has often been questioned due to the open nature of its editing model. A high– quality contribution by an expert may be followed by a low– quality contribution made by an amateur or vandal; therefore the quality of each article may fluctuate over time as it goes through iterations of edits by different users. In this study, we model the evolution of content quality in Wikipedia articles in order to estimate the fraction of time during which articles retain high–quality status. The results show that articles tend to have high–quality content 74% of their lifetime and the average article quality increases as articles go through edits. To further analyze the open editing model of Wikipedia, we compare the behaviour of anonymous and registered users and show that there is a positive correlation between registration and quality of the contributed content. In addition, we compare the evolution of the content in Wikipedia known high–quality articles (aka. featured articles) and the rest of the articles in order to extract features affecting quality. The results show that the high turnover of the content caused by the open editing model of Wikipedia results in rapid elimination of low–quality content.These results not only suggest that the process underlying Wikipedia can be used for producing high–quality content, but also to question the viability of collaborative knowledge repositories that impose high barriers to user participation for the purpose of filtering poor quality contributions from the onset.
Structure and Histone Binding Properties of the Vps75-Rtt109 Chaperone-Lysine Acetyltransferase Complex*

The histone chaperone Vps75 presents the remarkable property of stimulating the Rtt109-dependent acetylation of several histone H3 lysine residues within (H3-H4)2 tetramers. To investigate this activation mechanism, we determined x-ray structures of full-length Vps75 in complex with full-length Rtt109 in two crystal forms. Both structures show similar asymmetric assemblies of a Vps75 dimer bound to an Rtt109 monomer. In the Vps75-Rtt109 complexes, the catalytic site of Rtt109 is confined to an enclosed space that can accommodate the N-terminal tail of histone H3 in (H3-H4)2. Investigation of Vps75-Rtt109-(H3-H4)2 and Vps75-(H3-H4)2 complexes by NMR spectroscopy-probed hydrogen/deuterium exchange suggests that Vps75 guides histone H3 in the catalytic enclosure. These findings clarify the basis for the enhanced acetylation of histone H3 tail residues by Vps75-Rtt109.
Ethics training of medical students: the gap between the formal curriculum and the hidden curriculum

To take right decisions in medicine from an ethical-moral point of view is a complex matter and to learn to do it must constitute one of the goals of medical training. A way to contribute to achieve this is to integrate a complete theoretical training in Medical Ethics and Bioethics with a true correlation in clinical practice experience. To take into account what students think and feel about the issue is a good reference to start. In the present paper the results on a workshop about the tipic, carried out whith medical students in advances training, are presented together with reflections raise in the workshop development.
Manuscript Clarification Response.

Thank you for raising these issues and the debate t his has generated. Below we have responded to all your points, where our aim is to s h w that our contention is not with the need to develop an aerobic base, but rather the extent to which it should be developed and the methods used in achieving this. A lso, while we recognize there are three swords, we will outline an argument that the str ngth and conditioning (S&C) programming for these does not differ. Naturally th ese are our inferences so at times it is not about disproving your argument, but rather p r senting a logical alternative.
Scene Labeling with Contextual Hierarchical Models

Scene labeling is the problem of assigning an object label to each pixel. It unifies the image segmentation and object recognition problems. The importance of using contextual information in scene labeling frameworks has been widely realized in the field. We propose a contextual framework, called contextual hierarchical model (CHM), which learns contextual information in a hierarchical framework for scene labeling. At each level of the hierarchy, a classifier is trained based on downsampled input images and outputs of previous levels. Our model then incorporates the resulting multi-resolution contextual information into a classifier to segment the input image at original resolution. This training strategy allows for optimization of a joint posterior probability at multiple resolutions through the hierarchy. Contextual hierarchical model is purely based on the input image patches and does not make use of any fragments or shape examples. Hence, it is applicable to a variety of problems such as object segmentation and edge detection. We demonstrate that CHM outperforms state-of-the-art on Stanford background and Weizmann horse datasets. It also outperforms state-of-the-art edge detection methods on NYU depth dataset and achieves state-of-the-art on Berkeley segmentation dataset (BSDS 500).
Ultrawide-field acoustic-resolution photoacoustic microscopy

Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) is able to represent the light energy absorption of specific biological molecules (hemoglobin, melanin, DNA/RNA, lipid etc.) without the contrast agents. Especially, AR-PAM can overcome the optical diffusion limit and achieve much greater penetration depth up to a quasi-diffusive regime with low acoustic scattering. Therefore, AR-PAM has been significantly investigated in various applications for morphological, physiological, and molecular information. However, previously developed AR-PAM systems have limited field-of-view (FOV) and imaging speed. These barriers preclude AR-PAM systems from their application to exploratory preclinical and clinical trials. In this work, we introduce an ultra-wide-field AR-PAM system. We fabricated a water-proof microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) scanner for high-speed imaging integrated with two stepper-motors for wide-field scanning (30 × 80 mm2). Finally, we performed in-vivo experiments for preclinical and clinical applications to validate the developed AR-PAM system. For the preclinical experiment with mice, we visualized ventral, sagittal, and dorsal anatomical microstructures including vascular layers and inner organs non-invasively using one wavelength. An entire 3D volume data was acquired with the developed system and depth-encoded along the skin surface up to 2.3 mm. Subcutaneous multi-layers were differentiated on each layer according to distinct microstructures such as recognizable vasculatures and organs (mammary vessels, caudal vessels, popliteal vessels, intestine, heart, spline, etc.). Moreover, we have successfully obtained the distinct microstructures and microvascular networks of human fingers, palm and forearm in-vivo.
Molecular characterization and tissue expression profile of porcine Ephrin-B 2

Ephrin-B2 (EFNB2) is a signaling molecule that plays an important role in cell adhesion, proliferation, and migration in humans. However, little is known about this molecule in pigs. In order to investigate whether EFNB2 is associated with the skeletal muscle in pigs, we cloned the full-length cDNA of EFNB2 (GenBank accession No. KF500033) from the longissimus dorsi muscle of Yorkshire pigs by rapid amplification of cDNA ends. The results indicated that its full-length cDNA comprises 1991 bp, with an open reading frame of 1002 bp, a 5' end of 88 bp, and a 3' end of 901 bp. We analyzed the homology of porcine EFNB2 with sequences from other species, and the phylogenetic tree showed that pig EFNB2 was most closely related to that from sheep, followed by domestic cats and wolf, with mackerel being the most distantly related. Porcine EFNB2 is a water-soluble protein with a theoretical molecular weight of 36,928.1 Da, an isoelectric point of 8.98, and a hydrophilic transmembrane-spanning region. It contains 19 glycosylation sites and eight phosphorylation sites. The tertiary structure of the EFNB2 protein showed a forniciform helix structure. The porcine EFNB2 gene was expressed in ten different tissues from 25-day-old Shaziling and Yorkshire piglets, with the highest expression observed in the longissimus dorsi. These results lay the foundation for further study on the EFNB2 gene in pigs.
Carboxy-Terminal Proteolytic Processing at a Consensus Furin Cleavage Site Is a Prerequisite Event for Quail ZPC Secretion1

Abstract In avian species, a glycoprotein homologous to mammalian ZPC is synthesized in the granulosa cells of developing follicles. We have previously reported that the newly synthesized ZPC (proZPC) in granulosa cells is cleaved at a consensus furin cleavage site to generate mature ZPC prior to secretion. In the present study, we examined the effect of the proteolytic cleavage of proZPC on ZPC secretion by using a specific inhibitor of furin endoprotease and site-directed mutagenesis of the furin cleavage site. Western blot analysis demonstrated that the furin inhibitor efficiently blocked both the proteolytic cleavage of proZPC and the subsequent ZPC secretion. A site-directed mutant that possessed a mutated sequence for furin cleavage was not secreted from the cells. The immunocytochemical observations indicated that proZPC produced in the presence of a furin inhibitor or those produced by the site-directed mutant of the furin cleavage site had accumulated in the endoplasmic reticulum. These results indicate that proZPC is proteolytically cleaved at the consensus furin cleavage site with furin-like protease, and the failure of this cleavage results in its accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum. Therefore, the C-terminal proteolytic processing of proZPC at the consensus furin cleavage site is a prerequisite event for quail ZPC secretion.
Genetic Variation of Citrus Tristeza VirusIsolates from California and Spain: Evidence for Mixed Infections and Recombination

ABSTRACT We examined the population structure and genetic variation of four genomic regions within and between 30 Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) isolates from Spain and California. Our analyses showed that most isolates contained a population of sequence variants, with one being predominant. Four isolates showed two major sequence variants in some genomic regions. The two major variants of three of these isolates showed very low nucleotide identity to each other but were very similar to those of other isolates, suggesting the possibility of mixed infections with two divergent isolates. Incongruencies of phylogenetic relationships in the different genomic regions and statistical analyses suggested that the genomes of some CTV sequence variants originated by recombination events between diverged sequence variants. No correlation was observed between geographic origin and nucleotide distance, and thus from a genetic view, the Spanish and Californian isolates analyzed here could be considered members of the same population.
Intracellular Persisting Staphylococcus aureus Is the Major Pathogen in Recurrent Tonsillitis

Background The two major indications for tonsillectomy are recurrent tonsillitis (RT) and peritonsillar abscess (PTA). Unlike PTAs, which are primarily treated surgically, RT is often cured by tonsillectomy only after a series of failed drug therapy attempts. Although the bacteriological background of RT has been studied, the reason for the lack of success of conservative therapeutic approaches is not well understood. Methods In a prospective study, tonsil specimens from 130 RT patients and 124 PTA patients were examined for the presence of extra- and intracellular bacteria using antibiotic protection assays. Staphylococcus aureus isolates from RT patients were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), spa-typing and MSCRAMM-gene-PCR. Their ability for biofilm formation was tested and their cell invasiveness was confirmed by a flow cytometric invasion assay (FACS), fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunohistochemistry. Findings S. aureus was the predominant species (57.7%) in RT patients, whereas Streptococcus pyogenes was most prevalent (20.2%) in PTA patients. Three different assays (FACS, FISH, antibiotic protection assay) showed that nearly all RT-associated S. aureus strains were located inside tonsillar cells. Correspondingly, the results of the MSCRAMM-gene-PCRs confirmed that 87% of these S. aureus isolates were invasive strains and not mere colonizers. Based upon PFGE analyses of genomic DNA and on spa-gene typing the vast majority of the S. aureus isolates belonged to different clonal lineages. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that intracellular residing S. aureus is the most common cause of RT and indicate that S. aureus uses this location to survive the effects of antibiotics and the host immune response. A German translation of the Abstract is provided as supplementary material (Abstract S1).
High throughput virus‐induced gene silencing implicates heat shock protein 90 in plant disease resistance

Virus‐induced gene silencing was used to assess the function of random Nicotiana benthamiana cDNAs in disease resistance. Out of 4992 cDNAs tested from a normalized library, there were 79 that suppressed a hypersensitive response (HR) associated with Pto‐mediated resistance against Pseudomonas syringae. However, only six of these clones blocked the Pto‐mediated suppression of P.syringae growth. The three clones giving the strongest loss of Pto resistance had inserts corresponding to HSP90 and also caused loss of Rx‐mediated resistance against potato virus X and N‐mediated tobacco mosaic virus resistance. The role of HSP90 as a cofactor of disease resistance is associated with stabilization of Rx protein levels and could be accounted for in part by SGT1 and other cofactors of disease resistance acting as co‐chaperones. This approach illustrates the potential benefits and limitations of RNA silencing in forward screens of gene function in plants.
Comparison of an Electronic and Paper-based Montreal Cognitive Assessment Tool

This pilot study compared a novel electronic Montreal Cognitive Assessment (eMoCA) tool to the original paper-based MoCA. Potential participants were approached at primary care practices, a geriatric day hospital, and a university campus. Each of the 401 participants were randomly assigned to either the eMoCA (N=182) or MoCA (N=219). Scores were adjusted by self-reported demographic and health information using regression analysis. The difference in average scores (26.21±3.11 for the MoCA group and 24.84±4.21 for the eMoCA group) was found to be statistically significant. Controlling for the effect of potential covariate factors with regression analyses, the adjusted difference is −0.90 (95% confidence interval, −1.45 to −0.35). This difference may be due to factors related to use of the electronic device or software usability. However, the standardized, self-administered eMoCA may offer an opportunity for health systems to screen for early changes in cognitive function in primary care settings and offer greater access to assessment for rural or remote communities. Population-level research may be required to identify whether the score difference between test versions requires a downward adjustment to the eMoCA score taken as indicative of cognitive impairment.