Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Voxel-guided morphometry ("VGM") and application to stroke

Monitoring of cerebral diseases associated with a change of morphology (e.g., stroke) requires unprecedented accuracy for quantification of its morphological progression for each voxel. The purpose of this paper is to provide a technique [voxel-guided morphometry (VGM)] to quantify macroscopic anatomical differences. VGM consists of four steps: 1) coarse linear alignment by the extended principle axes theory (ePAT) generalized to affine movements; 2) a cross-correlation-based technique using a matrix-norm for fine linear alignment; 3) the applied high-dimensional multiresolution full multigrid method determines the nonlinear deformations, thereby achieving a complete exploitation of information and effective processing. The method measures a gray-value-guided movement of each voxel from source to target. The resulting high-dimensional deformation field is further processed by 4) determination of volume alterations for each voxel. Furthermore, the effect of linear registration errors on final morphometric measurements is discussed and the conditions for a bijective correspondence of voxels assuming small alterations are derived. To illustrate the technique the changing morphology of different subjects suffering from cerebral infarction is presented by using commonly available T/sub 1/-weighted magnetic resonance volumes. VGM visualizes that ischemic as well as remote regions are affected by stroke.
CloudSight: A Tenant-Oriented Transparency Framework for Cross-Layer Cloud Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting in an infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) cloud platform is an inherently difficult task because it is a multi-player as well as multi-layer environment where tenant and provider effectively share administrative duties. To address these concerns, we present our work on CloudSight in which cloud providers allow tenants greater system-wide visibility through a transparency-as-a-service abstraction. We present the design, implementation, and evaluation of CloudSight in the OpenStack cloud platform. We also develop two example applications that make use of the CloudSight abstraction and use the applications to explore real cloud problems.
Freedom with a Human Face

207 As good a definition as any of a philosophical conundrum is a problem all of whose possible solutions are unsatisfactory. The problem of understanding the springs of action for morally responsible agents is commonly recognized to be such a problem. The origin, nature, and explanation of freely willed actions puzzle us today as they did the ancients Greeks, and for much the same reasons. However, one can carry this “perennial-puzzle” sentiment too far. The unsatisfactory nature of philosophical theories is a more or less matter, and some of them have admitted of improvement over time. This, at any rate, is what we self-selecting metaphysicians tend to suppose, and I will pursue that high calling by suggesting a few improvements to a theory of metaphysical freedom, or freedom of the will. Philosophers who rightly defend a robust account of freedom have tended to err in the direction of over-idealization. Concerned to protect the notion that we are self-determining beings from various naysayers (theological as well as philosophical), they have often suggested a picture on which our freedom of will is wellnigh absolute. We are led to entertain a capacity of will or choice that is not conditioned or structured as other terrestrial capacities are, whose only limits are the bounds of its imagination and perhaps desires. Here, for example, is the late Roderick Chisholm:
Structural Organization of Essential Iron-Sulfur Clusters in the Evolutionarily Highly Conserved ATP-binding Cassette Protein ABCE1*

The ABC protein ABCE1, formerly named RNase L inhibitor RLI1, is one of the most conserved proteins in evolution and is expressed in all organisms except eubacteria. Because of its fundamental role in translation initiation and/or ribosome biosynthesis, ABCE1 is essential for life. Its molecular mechanism has, however, not been elucidated. In addition to two ABC ATPase domains, ABCE1 contains a unique N-terminal region with eight conserved cysteines, predicted to coordinate iron-sulfur clusters. Here we present detailed information on the type and on the structural organization of the Fe-S clusters in ABCE1. Based on biophysical, biochemical, and yeast genetic analyses, ABCE1 harbors two essential diamagnetic [4Fe-4S]2+ clusters with different electronic environments, one ferredoxin-like (CPXnCX2CX2C; Cys at positions 4-7) and one unique ABCE1-type cluster (CXPX2CX3CXnCP; Cys at positions 1, 2, 3, and 8). Strikingly, only seven of the eight conserved cysteines coordinating the Fe-S clusters are essential for cell viability. Mutagenesis of the cysteine at position 6 yielded a functional ABCE1 with the ferredoxin-like Fe-S cluster in a paramagnetic [3Fe-4S]+ state. Notably, a lethal mutation of the cysteine at position 4 can be rescued by ligand swapping with an adjacent, extra cysteine conserved among all eukaryotes.
Like Brother, Like Sister? The Importance of Family Background for Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills

This paper estimates sibling correlations in cognitive skills and non-cognitive skills to evaluate the importance of family background for skill formation. The study is based on a large representative German dataset, which includes IQ test scores and measures of personality (locus of control, reciprocity, Big Five) for brothers and sisters. Using a Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) model we find substantial influences of family background on the skills of both brothers and sisters. Sibling correlations of personality traits range from 0.24 to 0.59, indicating that even for the lowest estimate, one fourth of the variance can be attributed to factors shared by siblings. With one exception, all calculated sibling correlations in cognitive skills are higher than 0.50, indicating that more than half of the inequality can be explained by family characteristics. Comparing these findings to the results in the intergenerational skill transmission literature suggests that intergenerational correlations are only able to capture parts of the influence of the family on children s cognitive and non-cognitive skills. This result is in line with findings in the literature on educational and income mobility.
Fog-Degraded Image Clearness Based on Wavelet Fusion

In view of problems of low in contrast gradient and fuzzy in imaging quality, it proposed a wavelet fusion method. Wavelet transform, histogram equalization and non-linear operator are used to process synthetically fog-degraded Image based on the existent image enhancement method. Histogram equalization is processed fog-degraded image firstly, then wavelet transform is used to decompose the image, non-linear operator is used to enhance high-frequency part of the decomposition image lastly. The experiments show that the combination method compared with conventional methods can not only obviously improve image contrast but also enhance the image edge details and texture property, and achieve a better result of clearness
A characterization of inequality changes in Argentina through microeconometric decompositions

We apply a variant of the microeconometric decomposition methodology proposed in Bourguignon et al. (1998) to assess the relevance of various factors that affected inequality in the period 1986-1998 in the Greater Buenos Aires area. The results of the paper suggest that the small change in inequality between 1986 and 1992 was the result of mild forces that compensated each other. In contrast, between 1992 and 1998 nearly all factors played in the same direction. Changes in the returns to education and experience, changes in the endowments of unobservable factors and their returns, changes in hours of work and in labor force participation, and the transformation of the educational structure of the population have all had some role in increasing inequality in Argentina to unprecedented levels. The increase in the returns to education, changes in endowments of unobservable factors and their remunerations, and the fall in hours of work by low-income people are particularly important to explain the growth in inequality in the nineties. In contrast, although Argentina witnessed dramatic changes in the gender wage gap, the unemployment rate and the educational structure, these factors appear to have had only a mild effect on the household income distribution.
A study of user participation in information systems development

User participation in information system development is considered to be an important factor influencing implementation success or failure. The ETHICS (Effective Technical and Human Implementation of Computer-based Systems) method was developed as a guide to user involvement in system design. A case study of successful implementation which did not use the ETHICS method explicitly is described. The case study and the ETHICS methodology are then compared and contrasted in an attempt to gain greater insight into user participation and to understand why the implementation was successful. Furthermore, techniques of software process modelling are applied to both ETHICS and the case study with the intention of more closely defining the user participation process and potentially also guiding it in future developments. The case study is used as a vehicle both to examine user participation and also to investigate the modelling of user participation.
Interactive graphical model building using virtual reality

This paper presents a prototype system to create and verify computer generated graphical models of a remote physical environment. Virtual reality, specifically enhanced telepresence, is used to allow interaction between the user and the remote environment. A stereo view of the remote environment is produced by two CCD cameras. The cameras are mounted onto a robot which is slaved to a stereoscopic viewing device. This gives the user a sense of immersion in the physical environment. The stereo video is enhanced by overlaying the graphical models onto it. The overlay capability allows for visual verification of graphical models. Creation of a graphical model is composed of three steps: identification, marking, and placement of the object. The user is responsible for identification and marking of the object. Computer vision is used for the placement of the object. Thesis Supervisor: W. Eric L. Grimson Title: Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Thesis Supervisor: Sharon Stansfield Title: Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories
A Self-Organizing Model of Color Blob Formation

This paper explores the possibility that the formation of color blobs in primate striate cortex can be partly explained through the process of activity-based self-organization. We present a simulation of a highly simplified model of visual processing along the parvocellular pathway, that combines precortical color processing, excitatory and inhibitory cortical interactions, and Hebbian learning. The model self-organizes in response to natural color images and develops islands of unoriented, color-selective cells within a sea of contrast-sensitive, orientation-selective cells. By way of understanding this topography, a principal component analysis of the color inputs presented to the network reveals that the optimal linear coding of these inputs keeps color information and contrast information separate.
Managers and Efficiency in Banking

This paper presents evidence on the impact of managers on cost efficiency in banking. Stochastic frontier analysis is applied to a unique Finnish data set. The paper finds that manager age and education have strong yet complicated effects. University education enhances efficiency if the manager is running a large bank. Managing director changes are systematically followed by efficiency changes. Manager retirement typically causes an efficiency improvement, whereas other manager changes can either improve or weaken efficiency.
Exercise training reduces circulating adiponectin levels in patients with chronic heart failure.

High adiponectin concentrations have emerged as an independent risk factor of outcome inpatients with CHF (chronic heart failure); however, modification of adiponectin in CHF patients has not been assessed to date. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of exercise training on adiponectin levels in CHF patients. A total of 80 patients with CHF due to systolic dysfunction were included. The effect of 4 months exercise training was studied in 46 patients,whereas the remaining 34 untrained CHF patients served as a sedentary control group. Circulating adiponectin concentrations, exercise capacity, anthropometric data and NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide) levels were assessed. Adiponectin levels were significantly higher in CHF patients compared with healthy subjects [9.3 (7.1-16.1) and 4.9 (3.9-8.6) mg/l respectively;P=0.015]. Stratification of CHF patients according to tertiles of NT-proBNP revealed an increase in adiponectin with disease severity (P<0.0001). Exercise training reduced circulating adiponectin levels in CHF patients [10.7 (7.2-17.6) mg/l before training to 9.4 (5.9-14.8) mg/l after training;P=0.013], whereas no changes were observed in the sedentary CHF group [9.0 (7.0-13.5) mg/l before training and 10.1 (6.0-15.7) mg/l after a similar time interval]. A significant time x group interaction (P=0.008) was observed for the mean change in adiponectin between the trained and untrained CHF patients. Adiponectin concentrations were positively associated with NT-proBNP and HDL (high-density lipoprotein)-cholesterol and negatively correlated with BMI (body mass index), triacylglycerols and exercise capacity. In conclusion, circulating adiponectin concentrations are higher in CHF patients compared with healthy subjects and increase with disease severity.Exercise training for 4 months lowers circulating adiponectin levels.
Coping With Barriers to Vigorous Physical Activity During Transition to University

This study examined barriers to vigorous physical activity (VPA) among 132 students transitioning from high school to the first year of a university. An ecological framework was used to classify barriers, and coping self-efficacy (CSE) and task self-efficacy (TSE) were investigated as predictors of VPA. Consistent with population data, 47% of the sample failed to meet national recommendations for VPA. Participants most often cited institutional, intrapersonal, and interpersonal barriers. CSE predicted TSE, which predicted VPA. A greater understanding of ecologically categorized barriers and the relationship of self-efficacy to VPA may aid health care practitioners in the design of targeted interventions to facilitate VPA and health among freshmen students.
Spatial Regression Analysis of Commercial Land Price Gradients

Commercial land price gradients for an emerging real estate market are estimated using spatial regression techniques. Spatial statistics are used to explore the extent of spatial autocorrelation in the residuals of an OLS land price gradient model. Spatial autocorrelation is present but not to the same degree for all time periods or commercial land uses. Maximum likelihood estimates of land price gradients are as one would expect in mature real estate markets.
Myanmar Continuous Speech Recognition System Based on DTW and HMM

This paper presents automatic speech recognition for continuous speech in Myanmar Language. Actually, a computer or a machine is not expected to understand what is uttered. But it is expected to be controlled via speech or to transcript the acoustic signal to symbols. This system will also address the issue of automatic word/sentence boundary detection in both quiet and noisy environments. Combinations of LPC, MFCC and GTCC techniques are used in feature extraction. MFCC features give the good discrimination of speech signal. LPC provides an accurate estimate of the speech parameters and it is also an efficient computational model of speech. DTW is used in the feature clustering and HMM is used in the recognition process. The HMM method is extended by combining it with the DTW algorithm in order to combine the advantages of these two powerful pattern recognition technique.
Review on SERS of Bacteria

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been widely used for chemical detection. Moreover, the inherent richness of the spectral data has made SERS attractive for use in detecting biological materials, including bacteria. This review discusses methods that have been used to obtain SERS spectra of bacteria. The kinds of SERS substrates employed to obtain SERS spectra are discussed as well as how bacteria interact with silver and gold nanoparticles. The roll of capping agents on Ag/Au NPs in obtaining SERS spectra is examined as well as the interpretation of the spectral data.
How do we rate? An evaluation of online student evaluations

This paper analyses the popular RateMyProfessors (RMP) website where students evaluate instructors in higher education. A study was designed to measure (1) the awareness and utilisation of the RMP website, (2) the internal and external validity of the RMP ratings in measuring teaching effectiveness, and (3) variation in the above across disciplines. It is concluded that the category of ratings, created by the website, establishes an anti‐intellectual tone that manifests itself in comments about instructors’ personality, easiness of workload and entertainment value rather than knowledge attained.
Effects of a physical education program on physical activity, fitness, and health in children: The JuvenTUM project

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of a school‐based prevention program on physical activity, fitness, and obesity. We performed a prospective study in eight Bavarian primary schools (n = 724 children, 8.4 ± 0.7 years) randomized one to one to either an intervention school (IS, n = 427) or a control school (CS, n = 297). Children in IS attended 10 health‐related lessons at school over a period of 1 year. Parents and teachers attended two and three educational health‐related lessons, respectively, and also received 10 newsletters on health issues. Daily physical activity (≥ 60 min/day), physical fitness (six‐item test battery), and anthropometric data were obtained at baseline and after 1 year. Physical activity and physical fitness increased in IS, but it failed to reach significant intervention effects. Nevertheless, a reduction in waist circumference was observed for all children [mean change 1.7 cm; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2–2.3; P < 0.001). This effect was more pronounced in overweight children (> 90th percentile, n = 99, mean change 3.2 cm; 95% CI 1.5–4.8; P < 0.001). This easily administered preventative program involving children, parents, and teachers revealed that a generalized approach increasing physical activity will even be favorable in a subgroup of obese children.
Registry Based Discovery Model for Android Application

The confrontational growth of the mobile application market has made it a remarkable challenge for the users to find interesting applications in crowded App Stores. The existing industrial solutions often use the users' application download history and possibly their ratings to recommend applications that might be of interest, which in turn have alleviated the crisis. Conversely, the user downloading an application is a weak indicator for ranking an application (particularly if the application is free and the user just wants to try it out). On the contrary, usage of application ratings suffers from tedious manual input and potential data scarcity problems. In this paper, we present the registry based discovery model which uses parameters like reputation, client feedback and QoS metric to find the rating score. Eventually user gets paramount application based on users' functional requirements.
A Personalized Information Search Assistant

A common characteristic of most of the traditional search and retrieval systems is that they are oriented towards a generic user, often failing to connect people with what they are really looking for. In this paper we present PI SA, aPersonalized Information Search Assistant , which, rather than relying on the unrealistic assumption that the user will precisely specify whatshe is really looking for when searching, leverages implicit information about the user’s interests. P I SA is a desktop application which provides the user with a highly personalized information space where she can create, manage and organize folders (similarly to email programs), and manage documents retrieved by the system into her folders to best fit her needs. Furthermore, PI SA offers different mechanisms to search the Web, and the possibility of personalizing result delivery and visualization. PI SA learns user and folder profiles from user’s choices, and uses these profiles to improve retrieval effectiveness in searching by selecting the relevant resources to query and filtering the results accordingly. A working prototype has been developed, tested and evaluated. Preliminary user evaluation and experimental results are very promising, showing that the personalized search environment P I SA provides considerably increases effectiveness and user satisfaction in the searching process.
Policy-gradient for robust planning

Real-world Decision-Theoretic Planning (DTP) is a very challenging research field. A common approach is to model such problems as Markov Decision Problems (MDP) and use dynamic programming techniques. Yet, two major difficulties arise: 1dynamic programming does not scale with the number of tasks, and 2the probabilistic model may be uncertain, leading to the choice of unsafe policies. We build here on Policy Gradient algorithms to address the first difficulty and on robust decision-making to address the second one through algorithms that train competing learning agents. The first agent learns the plan while the second learns the model most likely to upset the plan. It is known from gradient-based game theory that at least one player may not converge, so we focus on convergence of the robust plan only, using non-symmetric algorithms.
Polygraph Testing of 'Low Risk' Offenders Arrested for Downloading Indecent Images of Children

Background: Police investigation of men arrested for downloading indecent images of children is costly and resource intensive. Assessment of their risk is typically based on information already known to the police, and material obtained at arrest and during the police interview. Full forensic examination of an offender's IT media tends to contribute little apart from the number and type of images viewed. For offenders considered 'low risk' it can be difficult to determine whether this is the result of an absence of relevant information. If 'low risk' internet offenders could be identified with confidence there would be benefits in terms of more efficient use of police resources and public protection. This study examined whether information obtained from polygraph testing could assist in in assessing these individuals. Methods: Polygraph tests were carried out on 31 men arrested for downloading indecent images of children. All were considered 'low risk' by the police. 'Low risk' was defined as those whose offending was believed to be limited to downloading images, with nothing to suggest involvement in any other sexual activity involving children. Results: Low risk was confirmed in only 8 individuals (26%). Risk level was raised for 11 men based on their disclosures, for 11 others (35%) after they were found 'deceptive' on the polygraph, and in one case where countermeasures were used. Computer hard drives were subsequently examined, but no new information was uncovered. If a full forensic examination of the computer hardware of those confirmed as low risk was replaced with a summary examination only, savings of 9% would have been obtained. Conclusions: Polygraph testing of apparently low risk men arrested for downloading indecent images of children has the potential to enhance public safety while at the same time conserving and better targeting police resources.