Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic proof of chromatin diminution under mitotic agamospermy

The previously published data are examined on the base of the hypothesis about existence of differential polyteny of chromosomes and excess chromatin diminution during the first stages of embryogenesis. It has been concluded that available data provide the genetic proof that chromatin diminution is one of the mechanisms underlying the origin of polymorphism in sugar beet agamospermous progenies.
Regional variation in use of exogenous and endogenous glomerular filtration rate (GFR) markers in Sweden

Abstract Background. Markers of renal function (glomerular filtration rate (GFR)) are frequently used in the Swedish health care. GFR is usually estimated based on plasma creatinine concentration, but plasma cystatin C concentration, creatinine clearance, iohexol clearance, and 51Cr-EDTA clearance are also used. These markers are all part of the daily patient care, but there is little specific information on the clinical use of these markers. The aim of this study was to compare the use of these various GFR markers in different parts of Sweden and potential changes over time. Methods. Retrospective study using questionnaires to collect information for the years 2006–2009 divided per county on the specific use of GFR markers with type of test reports. Results. Plasma/serum creatinine concentration (96%) is by far the dominating GFR marker in Sweden, while cystatin C concentration (3.5%), creatinine clearance (0.1%), iohexol clearance (0.1%), and 51Cr-EDTA clearance (0.1%) are less frequently used. The use of GFR markers, including creatinine, continues to increase on a national level with the exception of creatinine clearance and 51Cr-EDTA clearance. There were considerable variations between different counties in the use of GFR markers and the type of test reports that the laboratories provided. Conclusions. The inter-county variations of GFR markers used in Sweden are large and indicate that savings associated with optimized test utilization in this regard could be substantial. Regional habits and traditions are likely to influence the variations in GFR marker use.
Combinatorial Approach to Key Generation using Multiple Key Spaces for Wireless Sensor Networks

Key generation is an important challenge among the issues related to security in wireless sensor network. Each node has a set of keys called key-chain rather than a single shared key. The key-chains are generated at the base station and stored in the ROMs of sensor nodes prior to deployment. This paper brings in the idea of deterministic approach to key generation. There is no need to assume a probability that any two nodes are neighbors. We use combinatorics based approach using a block design technique called symmetric Balanced Incomplete Block Design (BIBD). We construct multiple key-spaces out of a key pool from which the key-chains are formed. The main contribution to this work is the use of multiple key spaces to decrease memory utilization at each sensor node, retain connectivity and still not hamper the resilience of the network. It decreases the redundancy in key generation. It eliminates the dependency between the number of keys in the key-chain and number of nodes in the network.
Bayesian Maximum Margin Principal Component Analysis

Supervised dimensionality reduction has shown great advantages in finding predictive subspaces. Previous methods rarely consider the popular maximum margin principle and are prone to overfitting to usually small training data, especially for those under the maximum likelihood framework. In this paper, we present a posterior-regularized Bayesian approach to combine Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with the max-margin learning. Based on the data augmentation idea for max-margin learning and the probabilistic interpretation of PCA, our method can automatically infer the weight and penalty parameter of max-margin learning machine, while finding the most appropriate PCA subspace simultaneously under the Bayesian framework. We develop a fast mean-field variational inference algorithm to approximate the posterior. Experimental results on various classification tasks show that our method outperforms a number of competitors.
Psychophysics of Prosthetic Vision: III. Stochastic Rendering, the Phosphene Image, and Perception

For pt.I see ibid., p.Z004024-7. For pt.II see ibid., p.Z004558-61. This paper examines the rendering of luminous spots ("phosphenes") in the visual field, and their stochastic positioning as a means of anti-aliasing the resulting spotty image ("phosphene image"). We derive an equation concerning the correlations of pairs of phosphenes comprising the phosphene image, and show the relationship to the statistics governing the stochastic positioning. We present some examples where stochastic rendering assists the veridical perception of textures, and argue for its superiority as cf. ordered rendering. Our preliminary results suggest that it may be perceptually effective to manufacture disordered arrays of stimulating electrodes for intraocular implantation
The Application of Fuzzy Two-Dimensional Principal Component Analysis (F2DPCA) on Face Recognition

This paper proposes a novel method, called fuzzy two-dimensional principal component analysis (F2DPCA), which combines the two-dimensional principal component analysis (2DPCA) and fuzzy set theory. 2DPCA preserve the total variance by maximizing the trace of feature variance, but 2DPCA cannot preserve local information due to pursuing maximal variance. So, the fuzzy two-dimensional principal component analysis (F2DPCA) algorithm is proposed, in which the fuzzy k-nearest neighbor (FKNN) is implemented to achieve the distribution local information of original samples. Experimental results on ORL and Yale face databases show the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Development of an Innovative Prototype Lane Departure Warning System

Development of various techniques such as lane departure warning (LDW) systems can improve traffic safety significantly. An LDW system should be able to detect when the driver is in danger of departing the road and then trigger an alarm to warn the driver early enough to take corrective action. This report presents the development of a new prototype LDW system. It is mainly an image-based approach to find the vehicle's lateral characteristics and then uses that information to establish an operation algorithm to determine whether a warning signal should be issued based on the status of the vehicle deviating from its heading lane. The system developed takes a mixed approach by integrating the Lucas-Kanade (L-K) optical flow and the Hough transform-based lane detection methods in its implementation. The L-K point tracking is used when the lane boundaries cannot be detected, while the lane detection technique is used when they become available. Even though both techniques are used in the system, only one method is activated at any given time because each technique has its own advantages and also disadvantages. The developed LDW system was road tested on I-35, US-53, Rice Lake Road, Martin Road, and Jean Duluth Road. Overall, the system operates correctly as expected, with a false alarm occurring only roughly 1.18% of the operation time. This report presents the system implementation together with findings. Factors that could affect the system performance are also discussed. The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the information presented herein. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation University Transportation Centers Program, in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the contents or use thereof. This report does not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the University of Minnesota. The authors, the University of Minnesota, and the U.S. Government do not endorse products or manufacturers. Any trade or manufacturers' names that may appear herein do so solely because they are considered essential to this report.
Immortalisation of human oesophageal epithelial cells by a recombinant SV 40 adenovirus vector

We introduced the origin-defective SV40 early gene into cultured human oesophageal epithelial cells by infection of a recombinant SV40 adenovirus vector. The virus-infected cells formed colonies 3-4 weeks after infection in medium containing fetal calf serum. When the cells derived from 'serum-resistant' colonies were then maintained in the serum-free medium with a low calcium ion concentration, some of them passed the cell crisis and kept growing for over 12 months. These cells, regarded as immortalised cells, resembled the primarily cultured oesophageal epithelial cells in morphology and had some of their original characteristics. Treatment of the cells with a high calcium concentration induced phenotypic changes. These cells still responded to transforming growth factor beta. When the immortalised cells were injected into severe combined immunodeficient mice, they transiently formed epithelial cysts, although the typical differentiation pattern of the oesophageal epithelium was not observed. These cysts regressed within 2 months without development into tumours. The results indicated that human oesophageal epithelial cells were reproducibly immortalised by infection with a recombinant SV40 adenovirus vector at relatively high efficiency. The immortalised cells should be useful in studies on oesophageal carcinogenesis and in assessing the cooperative effects with other oncogene products or carcinogens.
Automatic interpolation of phenological phases in Germany

The German joint project DeCover 2 is developing a methodological framework to cope with the increasing demand for up-to-date land cover information using remote sensing techniques. New satellite systems like RapidEye provide both data of high geometric resolution and high repetition rates. Because of the Germany-wide diversity of natural conditions, same acquisition dates don't correspond to same phenological phases. Thus, a phenological structuring of the available imagery over the year is needed for the assessment of Rapid-Eye imagery regarding their suitability for the classification and distinction of vegetation classes. On the example of the phenological phase ‘Yellow Ripeness’ of Winter Wheat in 2010, the presented algorithm demonstrates for the total area of Germany how daily phenological phases can be automatically interpolated on demand, in real-time and considering interpolation accuracies. As input, daily provided point data on temperature and phenological phases from the extensive network of the German Weather Service as well as a SRTM digital elevation model are used. The modeling results enable the identification of temporal phenological windows for specific test sites.
Learning by (limited) forward looking players

A uniaxially oriented, polyolefin film is prepared by melt blending a mixture of a polyolefin, an inert filler, a processing aid such as calcium stearate, and optionally a stabilizer, maintaining the moisture level in the melt blend below 700 ppm, casting a film, and uniaxially stretching the film at least about 2 times its original casting dimensions in one direction until the film has a sufficient number of elongated, narrow shaped, microporous voids in order to create a CO2 and O2 permeance in the range of 5,000 to 10,000,000 cc/1002-atm-day. Such a film is used in a controlled atmosphere packaging container as a panel in a window for a controlled flow or flux of CO2 and O2 through its wall in an otherwise gas impermeable container.
RECOMMENDATION ITU-R BS.1387-1 - Method for objective measurements of perceived audio quality

The ITU Radiocommunication Assembly, considering a) that conventional objective methods (e.g. for measuring signal-to-noise ratio and distortion) are no longer adequate for measuring the perceived audio quality of systems which use low bit-rate coding schemes or which employ analogue or digital signal processing; b) that low bit-rate coding schemes are rapidly being deployed; c) that not all implementations conforming to a specification or standard guarantee the best quality achievable with that specification or standard; d) that formal subjective assessment methods are not suitable for continuous monitoring of audio quality, e.g. under operational conditions; e) that objective measurement of perceived audio quality may eventually complement or supersede conventional objective test methods in all areas of measurement; f) that objective measurement of perceived audio quality may usefully complement subjective assessment methods; g) that, for some applications, a method which can be implemented in real time is necessary, recommends 1 that for each application listed in Annex 1 the method given in Annex 2 be used for objective measurement of perceived audio quality.
Improving information access by relevance and topical feedback

One of the main bottle-necks in providing more effective information access is the poverty of the query end. With an average query length of about two terms, users provide only a highly ambiguous statement of the, often complex, underlying information need. Implicit and explicit feedback can provide us with additional information that can help disambiguate the query and provide more focused search results. We investigate the effects of using different types of feedback. Retrieval results of pseudo-relevance, explicit relevance and topical feedback are compared. Although on average explicit relevance feedback in combination with pseudo relevance feedback works best, for individual queries results are unpredictable. There is a large potential for improvement if we can predict which type of feedback will perform best for a query. Since we are dealing with feedback potentially provided by users standard evaluation measures are not sufficient to evaluate feedback techniques, and the quality of user interaction should also be taken into account.
Hepatoma-Derived Growth Factor: Its Possible Involvement in the Progression of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an important complication of viral infection induced by hepatitis virus C, and our major research theme is to identify a new growth factor related to the progression of HCC. HDGF (hepatoma-derived growth factor) is a novel growth factor that belongs to a new gene family. HDGF was initially purified from the conditioned medium of a hepatoma cell line. HDGF promotes cellular proliferation as a DNA binding nuclear factor and a secreted protein acting via a receptor-mediated pathway. HDGF is a unique multi-functional protein that can function as a growth factor, angiogenic factor and anti-apoptotic factor and it participates in the development and progression of various malignant diseases. The expression level of HDGF may be an independent prognostic factor for predicting the disease-free and overall survival in patients with various malignancies, including HCC. Furthermore, the overexpression of HDGF promotes the proliferation of HCC cells, while a reduction in the HDGF expression inhibits the proliferation of HCC cells. This article provides an overview of the characteristics of HDGF and describes the potential role of HDGF as a growth-promoting factor for HCC.
Parameter Estimation of Wideband Underwater Acoustic Multipath Channels based on Fractional Fourier Transform

Because of relative motion between transmitter and receiver, the wideband underwater acoustic multipath channel can be more accurately described by a multi-scale multi-lag (MSML) model. The signal components received from different paths can be differentiated in terms of Doppler scales, time delays, and amplitudes. Estimation of these parameters is essential for many underwater applications. In this paper, by virtue of the fractional Fourier transform (FrFT), an accurate and efficient method for parameter estimation is proposed. The algorithm proceeds in an iterative manner, returning parameter estimates of the most dominant signal component successively. With the linear frequency modulation signal employed as the probe signal, the estimation of the Doppler scale factor of each dominant component can be converted into a process of searching for the optimal fractional angle/order of the received signal's FrFT. At each iteration, a sub-iteration is contained to adjust the optimal fractional order. The pulse compression techniques for LFM signal, in both time domain and FrFT domain, are utilized to obtain precise parameter estimates. Once the parameters of a multipath are estimated, the corresponding component will be separated from the received signal-through eliminating the resampled, delayed and attenuated version of the original probe signal. The sparsity of the underwater acoustic channel is considered to reduce the amount of calculation. Simulation results confrm that the proposed algorithm outperforms the existing FrFT domain filter and short-time FrFT domain filter in multicomponent separation, and that the proposed parameter estimation scheme surpasses the matching pursuit based method in accuracy.
Postgraduate studies at the University of Stellenbosch : an exploration of students' perceptions

Changing circumstances and new initiatives have made it necessary for Higher Education institutions to reflect on all aspects of their teaching portfolios. Recent global and national trends have had numerous implications for different aspects of the university as an entity, which in turn have important implications for teaching, and particularly postgraduate teaching. The need for greater transparency and efficiency is forcing universities into discussions around facing these challenges. The overarching aims of this study were twofold: firstly, to identify historical and current tendencies and patterns in postgraduate studies at the University of Stellenbosch and secondly, to determine the enabling and constraining factors relating to postgraduate studies at the University of Stellenbosch. It was decided to focus on both completed postgraduate students (years 1991 1999) as well as current postgraduate students (year 2000). Furthermore, "postgraduate" was defined as relating to all Master's and Doctoral students at the University of Stellenbosch. The empirical research for this study included three components. Firstly, two postal surveys were carried out at the University of Stellenbosch in 2000 in order to explore a representative sample of postgraduate students' attitudes and perceptions. Secondly, a secondary data analysis of existing data on the University database for postgraduate students was carried out in order to do an estimate of successand follow through rates. Finally, interviews were conducted with coordinators of four postgraduate programmes at different departments in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Stellenbosch. Results show that the nature of postgraduate studies at the University follows the same form of dynamics, diversity and complexity that characterizes postgraduate studies worldwide. Although there has been an exceptional increase in the number of postgraduate students over the past iii Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
Contrast-Induced Neurotoxicity following Cardiac Catheterization

We report a case of probable contrast-induced neurotoxicity that followed a technically challenging cardiac catheterization in a 69-year-old woman. The procedure had involved the administration of a large cumulative dose of an iodinated, nonionic contrast medium into the innominate artery: twelve hours following the catheterization, the patient developed a seizure followed by a left hemiplegia, and an initial computed tomography (CT) scan showed sulcal effacement in the right cerebral hemisphere due to cerebral swelling. The patient's clinical symptoms resolved within 24 hours, and magnetic resonance imaging at 32 hours showed resolution of swelling. Contrast-induced neurotoxicity should be found in the differential diagnosis of acute neurological deficits occurring after radiological procedures involving iodinated contrast media, whether ionic or nonionic.
Factor Structure for the Internet Addiction Test : A Confirmatory Approach

Internet addiction is getting substantial attention and a number of diagnostic scales have been developed in recent years. To better investigate the internet addiction phenomenon, it is important that we have a better understanding of the structure, validity, and reliability of the assessment instruments. Thus, the current study attempts to evaluate the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) using a confirmatory approach. Four hundred and ten questionnaires were collected via a survey of undergraduates from eight universities in Hong Kong. Data from half of the sample was submitted to exploratory factor analysis and that of the hold-out sample was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis in order to assess the psychometric properties and factor structure of the IAT scale. Three factors named “Withdrawal and Social Problem”, “Time Management and Performance” and “Reality Substitute” were extracted from the analysis. These three dimensions of the refined IAT instrument exhibits adequate reliability and validity. They provide valuable insights about Internet-related addictive behaviors and future research directions.
On the Potential to Improve Accuracy of Network Calculus Analyses

The continuous evolution of network calculus led to a set of different analyses. Among them, there is a single analysis that can derive tights bounds in arbitrary feed-forward server graphs. However, the approach it takes results in the analysis being NP-hard and no efficient analysis algorithm is known. Therefore, the authors propose to confine to a less complex analysis based on their approach instead. Like previous network calculus analyses, it derives tight bounds for some networks and valid bounds with varying accuracy for any other network. In this paper, we examine the work on accurate network calculus analyses regarding their relative accuracy and the potential to improve these analyses.
Extracting source parameters from Gaussian fits to two-particle correlations.

Using a quadratic saddle-point approximation we show how information about a particle-emitting source can be extracted from Gaussian fits to two-particle correlation data. Although the formalism is completely general, extraction of the relevant parameters is much simpler for sources within an interesting class of azimuthally symmetric models. After discussing the standard fitting procedure we introduce a new Gaussian fitting procedure which is an azimuthally symmetric generalization of the Yano-Koonin formalism for spherically symmetric sources. This new fitting procedure has the advantage that in addition to being able to measure source parameters in a fixed frame or the longitudinally comoving system, it can also measure these parameters in the local rest frame of the source.