Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Speckle suppression of ultrasonic images using non-local means and McIlhagga-based anisotropic diffusion

Speckle noise contaminates medical ultrasound images and the suppression of speckle noise is valuable for image interpretation. This paper presents a new method for speckle suppression by integrating the non-local means (NLM) with the McIlhagga-based anisotropic diffusion (MAD). The MAD is first used to get a diffused image from the initial noisy image, and then the NLM is conducted to get a final denoised image by processing both the initial image and the diffused image. Experimental results on both simulated and real ultrasound images validate the feasibility of the method and demonstrate its superiority to seven state-of-the-art methods in terms of noise reduction and detail preservation.
Map Construction for Mosaic-Based Vehicle Position Estimation

Mosaic-based vehicle position estimation is a way of tracking the motion of a vehicle using real-time imagery. A vehicle equipped with a downward-looking camera, for example, can track its motion by matching camera images with a high resolution “map” image of the floor. This paper describes our current technique for constructing such a map. The challenges of the map building process include collecting the raw map images, aligning the raw images in a common global reference frame, insuring smooth transitions between map images at map intersections, and reducing the total amount of memory required to store the map. To date, four maps have been constructed and used by four different vehicles equipped with a mosaicbased vehicle position estimation system. Results have shown this technique to be a quick, cost effective way for providing autonomous vehicles with position estimation.
Social Representations of a Controversial Peace Agreement: Subjective Public Meanings of the GRP-MILF MOA

Using social representations theory, we studied the social meanings of a controversial Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. In Study One, we describe the discursive content of the social debate by content analyzing articles from newspapers and selected websites. Study Two uses a survey to examine the fit between social representations of the political elite, as found in media, and the non-elite in Mindanao territories where the MOA was hotly contested. Study Three presents the social representations of the MOA at the local level through analysis of key informant interviews and archival data. Discriminant analysis on survey data shows that in general, the debate of political elites in media mirrors the contentions on-the-ground. However, the issue of constitutionality was only taken up by the political elite. Our findings suggest that the political stumble of the GRP-MILF peace process lay in a lack of procedural fairness and an on-the-ground participatory process acceptable to all antagonistic parties. However, the socially represented fair procedure is not about conventional democratic ways like using or not using a constitutional frame, but rather about pragmatic positioning and public consultations.
Liberation theology, empowerment theory and social work practice with the oppressed

International Social Work (SAGE, London, Newbury Park and New Delhi), Vol. 35 (1992), 135-47. The complex interplay between religious beliefs, values and ethics and social work has gained more attention during the last few decades. Early scholars (Niebuhr, 1932; Tillich, 1954, 1962; Towle, 1957) helped to lay the foundation for our understanding of areas of congruence between the philosophy, values and helping methodologies of social work, and those of the clergy and church/synagogue workers. These writers also understood and illuminated the advan-
Spectral Convergence of the connection Laplacian from random samples

Spectral methods that are based on eigenvectors and eigenvalues of discrete graph Laplacians, such as Diffusion Maps and Laplacian Eigenmaps are often used for manifold learning and non-linear dimensionality reduction. It was previously shown by Belkin and Niyogi \cite{belkin_niyogi:2007} that the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the graph Laplacian converge to the eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of the Laplace-Beltrami operator of the manifold in the limit of infinitely many data points sampled independently from the uniform distribution over the manifold. Recently, we introduced Vector Diffusion Maps and showed that the connection Laplacian of the tangent bundle of the manifold can be approximated from random samples. In this paper, we present a unified framework for approximating other connection Laplacians over the manifold by considering its principle bundle structure. We prove that the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of these Laplacians converge in the limit of infinitely many independent random samples. We generalize the spectral convergence results to the case where the data points are sampled from a non-uniform distribution, and for manifolds with and without boundary.
A cost-of-illness study of spina bifida in Italy

Introduction Spina bifida (SB) is a congenital malformation of the spinal cord, nerves, and adjacent covering structures, with different levels of severity and functional disability. The economic cost of spina bifida and its prevention using folic acid have never been estimated in Italy. This study was conducted to define the cost of illness of SB in Italy. Methods A retrospective multicenter observational study on the social cost of patients with SB was carried out in three SB centers in Italy. Cost data were collected relating to the 12 months preceding the enrollment time (T0), and subsequently 3 months after the T0 time (±20 days) through a case report form designed to collect the relevant information on the costs incurred during the period considered. The data for all patients were analyzed through multivariate analysis on the main parameters. Results We enrolled 128 patients equally divided between males and females, with a mean age of 13 years (minimum, 0; maximum, 29). Diagnosis was mostly postnatal, with 64 cases diagnosed at birth and 33 cases diagnosed subsequently. The lesion severity levels, as defined in the inclusion criteria, were walking (52 patients); walking with simple orthoses (33 patients); walking with complex orthoses (16 patients); and nonwalking, (25 patients). The anatomic type identified is open SB in most cases (84 patients), followed by closed SB (37 patients) and SB occulta (3 patients). The most significant cost per year was for assistive devices, for a total of 4307.00 €, followed by hospitalization (907.00 €), examinations (592.00 €), and drug therapy (328.00 €). Cost breakdown by age range shows that the highest costs are incurred in the 0–4 age range. The highest cost was for cases of open SB (12,103.00 €). The cost/degree of severity ratio showed that the highest cost was for nonwalking patients (14,323.00 €), followed by patients walking with complex orthoses (13,799.00 €). Conclusion The data from this study show that the mean total cost for a patient with SB was 11,351.00 € per year. Based on data provided by the Italian Institute of Health, we can estimate a total annual social cost of about 60 million Euros per year for SB in Italy. Cost of illness was correlated with age and degree of severity of SB.
A Static Analysis for Synthesizing Parametric Specifications of Dynamic Memory Consumption

We present a static analysis for computing a parametric upper-bound of the amount of memory dynamically allocated by (Java-like) imperative object-oriented programs. We propose a general procedure for synthesizing non-linear formulas which conservatively estimate the quantity of memory explicitly allocated by a method as a function of its parameters. We have implemented the procedure and evaluated it on several benchmarks. Experimental results produced exact estimations for most test cases, and quite precise approximations for many of the others. We also apply our technique to compute usage in the context of scoped memory and discuss some open issues.
Who Are Those Guys? Constructing the Oilfield’s New Dominant Masculinity

Slippages between dominant-nonhegemonic masculinities and hegemonic masculinities obscure and confuse the importance of these masculinities for understanding the hierarchal gender order. This article uses in-depth interviews (N = 22) with oilfield workers, and observations at drilling sites to clarify how men can construct a socially dominant-nonhegemonic masculinity and subordinate a previously hegemonic masculinity. This study shows how a recursive relationship between industry and organizational safety policies enable men to construct a new dominant masculinity predicated on safety at work, while socially dominant men remain complicit with hegemonic masculinity in the domestic sphere. The discussion underscores the importance of distinguishing between dominant-nonhegemonic and hegemonic masculinities, which promotes our understanding of the hierarchal relationship among masculinities, femininities, and the struggle for gender dominance.
Developmental Changes In Switching Between Mental Task Sets: The Influence Of Verbal Labeling In Childhood

Age-related changes in the use of verbal processes for the efficient switching between tasks were investigated in 5-year-old children (N = 32, M age = 5.9 years) and 9-year-old children (N = 32, M age = 9.4 years). Task switching was assessed by means of a cued switching paradigm to examine two switching components: (a) to maintain and select and (b) to switch between task sets. The aim of this study is to determine (a) developmental changes in both switching components during childhood, (b) whether age-related changes in these components are influenced by verbalizations in terms of “thinking aloud” (Ericsson & Simon, 1993) during task performance, and (c) age changes in the content of the self-verbalizations. Results show an age-related impairment of the 5-year-old group on the level of task-set maintenance and selection. Children mainly verbalized the response labels. However, whereas 5-year-olds more often labeled their perceptions (Zelazo, 1999), 9-year-olds used language to maintain the currently relevant task set. Both age groups relied on the same verbal strategy facilitating task switching, supporting the view that language can be used to plan and guide actions (Luria, 1969).
Kannada Handwritten Vowels Recognition based on Normalized Chain Code and Wavelet Filters

In this paper, an algorithm is designed to recognize the handwritten Kannada vowels based on shape features such as normalized chain codes and wavelet filters. A normalized chain code and wavelet decomposition co-efficients are extracted as a feature vector of size 22 from the normalized binary images of size 40x40 and KNN classifier is applied for classification of vowels. A sample of 1400 Kannada vowels image are used for experiment. The average recognition accuracy of the proposed algorithm is 95.07% for Kannada vowels. General Terms Pattern Recognition, Document Image Analysis.
Impaired Vowel Discrimination in Mandarin-speaking Congenital Amusics

This paper investigates if individuals with amusia show deficits in the identification and discrimination of Mandarin vowels, with the aim of exploring whether the deficiency of the amusics lies in the acoustic processing of frequency, or in pitch processing. The results showed that the amusics performed comparably as the controls in vowel identification. For discrimination, both groups exhibited better discrimination for between-category pairs than within-category pairs, indicating that the amusics are not impaired in the categorical perception of vowels. However, amusics exhibited poorer accuracy than the controls in vowel discrimination across the board, irrespective of betweenor within-category vowel pairs. Moreover, the participants’ vowel discrimination accuracy is significantly correlated to their musical ability, as indexed by the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA) scores. The results suggest that individuals with congenital amusia might be impaired in frequency processing in general, a deficiency broader than originally believed.
Pakistan Sign Language Recognition Using Statistical Template Matching

Sign language recognition has been a topic of research since the first data glove was developed. Many researchers have attempted to recognize sign language through various techniques. However none of them have ventured into the area of Pakistan Sign Language (PSL). The Boltay Haath project aims at recognizing PSL gestures using Statistical Template Matching. The primary input device is the DataGlove5 developed by 5DT. Alternative approaches use camera-based recognition which, being sensitive to environmental changes are not always a good choice. This paper explains the use of Statistical Template Matching for gesture recognition in Boltay Haath. The system recognizes one handed alphabet signs from PSL. Keywords—Gesture Recognition, Pakistan Sign Language, Data Glove, Human Computer Interaction, Template Matching, Boltay Haath
A model for Escherichia coli chromosome packaging supports transcription factor-induced DNA domain formation

What physical mechanism leads to organization of a highly condensed and confined circular chromosome? Computational modeling shows that confinement-induced organization is able to overcome the chromosome's propensity to mix by the formation of topological domains. The experimentally observed high precision of separate subcellular positioning of loci (located on different chromosomal domains) in Escherichia coli naturally emerges as a result of entropic demixing of such chromosomal loops. We propose one possible mechanism for organizing these domains: regulatory control defined by the underlying E. coli gene regulatory network requires the colocalization of transcription factor genes and target genes. Investigating this assumption, we find the DNA chain to self-organize into several topologically distinguishable domains where the interplay between the entropic repulsion of chromosomal loops and their compression due to the confining geometry induces an effective nucleoid filament-type of structure. Thus, we propose that the physical structure of the chromosome is a direct result of regulatory interactions. To reproduce the observed precise ordering of the chromosome, we estimate that the domain sizes are distributed between 10 and 700 kb, in agreement with the size of topological domains identified in the context of DNA supercoiling.
Family Therapy: A View

This paper is a personal view of the literature of family therapy. It is written to inform those who, like ourselves, are second-generation family therapists, entering a field which began in the early 1950's, and has since developed rapidly. The field has its journals, its books, its GAP committee, its training programs, its internal wars, its multiplying hundreds of practitioners, and, most important for us, its pioneering teachers. In an attempt to bring coherence out of the various teachings and practices of these leaders of the field, we try here to evaluate them by imposing upon them our own order, in the light of our own experience with teaching and practice.
Improving Mobile Reception of Digital Satellite Broadcasting

This article proposes a new method to improve the reception of the digital satellite broadcasting on a moving vehicle. There are two major factors which make the reception difficult, the Doppler shift and the fading channel. The proposed method does not rely on any diversity receptions nor pilot sequences but uses the channel estimation and stochastic inference. First, Doppler shift is estimated and removed. Then the fading channel is represented with a graphical model, and the parameters are estimated by maximum likelihood estimation. The inference of the code words based on the graphical model is computed and used for decoding. We confirmed the improvements through experiments with numerical simulations and real data. Computational cost is reasonable for real time system and the results are promising.
Reflecting‐on‐the‐future: a chronological consideration of reflective practice

This paper involves an investigation into the chronological dimensions of reflection and in particular considers the perspective of reflecting‐on‐the‐future. It is argued that Schön's reflection‐on‐action and reflection‐in‐action do not fully consider the important temporal dimension of the future. An exploration of the published literature would appear to show that there is only limited consideration of the future. This paper presents a number of reasons why reflection‐on‐the‐future has received little attention and argues that it should be given more prominence. In particular it argues that the development of reflective practice in the professions will be constrained by a failure to explicitly consider the future. This article seeks to expand the concept of reflective practice and raise the profile of reflection‐before‐action or reflecting‐on‐the‐future.
Characterization of Dictyostelium discoideum cathepsin D Molecular cloning , gene disruption , endo-lysosomal localization and sugar modifications

Dictyostelium discoideum is a eukaryotic amoeba that grows by phagocytosis of bacteria. When nutrients are exhausted, the cells initiate a complex developmental program wherein individual amoebae aggregate to form a multicellular funguslike structure called a sorocarp (Raper, 1984). The sorocarp ultimately includes two main cell populations, viable spores and vacuolated stalk cells. Dictyostelium is considered a facultative metazoan equipped with rapid and flexible cell-tocell communication, as recently illustrated by the discovery of a STAT (signal transducer and activator of transcription) signaling pathway (Kawata et al., 1997). Laboratory strains of Dictyostelium have acquired mutations which make them capable of growing axenically in liquid medium (Clarke and Kayman, 1987). The endocytic pathway of axenic Dictyostelium amoebae has been well characterized, and shown to fulfill primarily a nutritive function. Fluid internalized by pinocytosis (Klein and Satre, 1986; O’Halloran and Anderson, 1992; Ruscetti et al., 1994) and macropinocytosis (Aubry et al., 1997; Hacker et al., 1997) is channelled from acidified endosomes to a lysosome-like compartment (Cardelli, 1993). Undigested material is then returned to the cell surface via nearly neutral post-lysosomal vacuoles (Aubry et al., 1993; Padh et al., 1993). Several groups have focused their interest on the protein content of the endolysosomal compartments in Dictyostelium, providing major advances both in the identification of new lysosomal enzymes (Adessi et al., 1995; Bush et al., 1994; Rauchenberger et al., 1997; Schopohl et al., 1992; Souza et al., 1995; Temesvari et al., 1994) and in the determination of their carbohydrate modifications (Freeze and Wolgast, 1986; Gabel et al., 1984; Gustafson and Gander, 1984; Mehta et al., 1996; Souza et al., 1997). However, the precise molecular mechanisms responsible for the routing of enzymes to the lysosomes is still unclear (Bush and Cardelli, 1989; Cardelli et al., 1990; Richardson et al., 1988), as compared to mammalian cells where lysosomal mannose 6-phosphate (Man-6-P) enzymes are mainly targeted to their final destination by the mannose 6phosphate receptors (MPR; Kornfeld, 1992). Despite the ability of Dictyostelium lysosomal enzymes to bind to the mammalian cation-independent MPR (CI-MPR; Freeze et al., 1980; Hoflack and Kornfeld, 1985), no homolog of such a receptor has been identified yet in Dictyostelium (Cardelli, 1993; Cardelli et al., 1986, 1987). The approach we chose to analyze endocytosis in Dictyostelium combines the preparation of highly purified endo-lysosomal vesicles by magnetic fractionation with the 3833 Journal of Cell Science 112, 3833-3843 (1999) Printed in Great Britain © The Company of Biologists Limited 1999 JCS0439
Non-vacuous Real-time Requirements

We introduce the property of vacuity for requirements. A requirement is vacuous in a set of requirements if it is equivalent to a simpler requirement in the context of the other requirements. For example, the requirement “if A then B” is vacuous together with the requirement “not A”. The existence of a vacuous requirement is likely to indicate an error. We give an algorithm that proves the absence of this kind of error for real-time requirements. A case study in an industrial context demonstrates the practical potential of the algorithm. Keywords-behavioral requirements; real-time requirements; automotive; validation; verification; tool; case study;
Animating deformable objects using sparse spacetime constraints

We propose a scheme for animating deformable objects based on spacetime optimization. The main feature is that it robustly and within a few seconds generates interesting motion from a sparse set of spacetime constraints. Providing only partial (as opposed to full) keyframes for positions and velocities is sufficient. The computed motion satisfies the constraints and the remaining degrees of freedom are determined by physical principles using elasticity and the spacetime constraints paradigm. Our modeling of the spacetime optimization problem combines dimensional reduction, modal coordinates, wiggly splines, and rotation strain warping. Our solver is based on a theorem that characterizes the solutions of the optimization problem and allows us to restrict the optimization to low-dimensional search spaces. This treatment of the optimization problem avoids a time discretization and the resulting method can robustly deal with sparse input and wiggly motion.
Turkish-language ability of children of immigrants in Germany: which contexts of exposure influence preschool children's acquisition of their heritage language?

A lot of research has been devoted to explaining immigrants' acquisition of the language of the receiving country. However, less attention has been paid to explaining the acquisition of the heritage language among children of immigrants. The most important determinant for young children is exposure to the language. Language exposure can occur in various contexts, such as within the family, during preschool, through peers or via media. Our empirical analysis therefore explores which of these contexts is most statistically significant for the acquisition of the heritage language among children of Turkish immigrants. Using data from the project Preschool Education and Educational Careers among Migrant Children, we show that all contexts are important at different age levels but the acquisition of the heritage language is mainly determined by the exposure to it within the family.
A Multiresolution Wavelet Based Analysis of the Chinese Stock Market

This paper investigates the domestic impacts on the Chinese stock market using multiresolution wavelet. Three domestic impact factors are considered, which are inflation rate, M2 and lending rate, while Shanghai stock exchange composite index (SSECI) is selected to be representative of the Chinese stock market due to its significance. By decomposing the time series into four level cycles with different scales, the results reveal that among the three domestic factors, M2 has the strongest impact on SSECI at all scales, followed by inflation rate, while lending rate contributes almost no influence to the Shanghai stock exchange except at the largest scale of 16-32 month cycles.