Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A fast and accurate facial expression synthesis system for color face images using face graph and deep belief network

For a given animated avatar or face, synthesizing facial expressions in a fast and accurate way is a challenging problem. This paper presents a multi-cue methodology in order to generate facial expressions in a real time manner. The proposed approach first extracts the graph of the face using constrained local model (CLM) and generates a shape based feature vector. Secondly, it employs this feature vector to train a 3 layer deep belief network. After training, the deep belief network has the ability to generate the shape of an ideal facial expression for an input face graph. A post processing step then is applied to produce proper wrinkles and illumination changes which are related to that special facial expression. Employing a small feature vector, instead of a vector which includes all pixels of the face image, increases the speed of both training and generation phase for a deep belief network and makes it intrinsically suitable for real-time purposes. In addition, this approach is independent from the format of the input image and can be used for various types of images, including color images. The experimental results demonstrate the accuracy of our algorithm.
Evaluation techniques for systems analysis and design modelling methods – a review and comparative analysis

Even though hundreds of modelling methods are in existence today, practitioners and researchers are zealously ‘producing’ new modelling methods. The ‘blooming’ production of modelling methods is not the problem; the lack of standardized techniques for evaluating them is. To complicate the matter even further, most of the modelling methods have been introduced based on common sense and intuition of the methods' developers. Many of these methods lack theoretical foundations and empirical evidence to demonstrate their worthiness. With the current state of affairs, studies on evaluation of modelling methods have become necessary and critical. Comparing modelling methods provides us with the necessary knowledge and understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each method. This knowledge can also guide us in our quest for better modelling methods. This paper reviews various evaluation techniques used by both researchers and practitioners. The evaluation techniques are categorized into three classifications: feature comparison, theoretical and conceptual evaluation, and empirical evaluation. This research also analyses the underlying philosophies and assumptions of these evaluation techniques.
Diagonalizable flows on locally homogeneous spaces and number theory

We discuss dynamical properties of actions of diagonalizable groups on locally homogeneous spaces, particularly their invariant measures, and present some number theoretic and spectral applications. Entropy plays a key role in the study of theses invariant measures and in the applications. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000). 37D40, 37A45, 11J13, 81Q50.
PhotoSpace: a vision based approach for digitizing props

This talk will concentrate on how some of the recent advances in computer graphics and vision fit into a visual effects pipeline and their application for digitizing props. The production of movies often requires digitizing physical properties of various props. At Weta Digital we model, texture, and shade thousands of props in immense detail. We present a vision-based pipeline for digitizing props that requires far less user input than previous methods. This vision based pipeline fully automates the process of creating virtual cameras, reference geometry, and texture maps, which is then used by our artists to create the final assets at a much faster rate.
Understanding and predicting habitat for wildlife conservation: the case of Canada lynx at the range periphery

Ecologists and managers are motivated to predict the distribution of animals across landscapes as well as understand the mechanisms giving rise to that distribution. Satisfying this motivation requires an integrated framework that characterizes multi-scale habitat use and selection, as well as builds predictive models such as resource selection functions. However, the assumption of constant habitat use or selection is often made in such analyses, which ignores the possibility that individuals experiencing different conditions might respond differently. Assessing functional responses in habitat use evaluates how animal behavior changes with differing environmental conditions, which has basic and applied utility. Here, we combined these ideas into an integrated process that characterizes habitat relationships, predicts habitat, and assesses behavioral differences with changing environmental conditions. Our species of interest was Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) in the Northern Rocky Mountains, which is a rare and federally threatened forest carnivore. Through our process, we developed multi-scale predictions of lynx distribution and learned that across scales and seasons, lynx use more mature, spruce-fir forests than any other structure stage or species. Intermediate snow depths and the distribution of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) were the strongest predictors of where lynx selected their home ranges. Within their home ranges, female and male lynx increasingly used advanced regeneration forest structures as they became more available (up to a maximum availability of 40%). These patterns supported the bottom-up mechanisms regulating Canada lynx in that advanced regeneration generally provides the most abundant snowshoe hares, while mature forest is where lynx appear to hunt efficiently. However, lynx exhibited decreasing use of stand initiation structures (up to a maximum availability of 25%). Land managers have an opportunity to promote lynx habitat in the form of advanced regeneration, but are required to go through the stand initiation phase. Thus, managers can apply the relative proportions of forest structure classes along with our response curves to inform landscape actions (e.g., timber harvest) targeted at facilitating the forest mosaic used and selected by Canada lynx. Collectively, the insights gleaned from our approach advance habitat conservation efforts and consequently are of broad utility to applied ecologists and managers.
Examinations and entry to university: Pressure and change in a mass system

Mass education has developed in three great waves. The  rst involved primary education, which became universal in industrialised countries during the second half of the nineteenth century, although the poorest parts of the world are still struggling to achieve it today. Second came secondary education, where numbers rose gradually in the  rst half of the twentieth century, to be followed, post-World War II, by wholesale expansion and reform. Full-time secondary education up to the age of 18 is now the norm throughout the OECD countries, as well as in richer parts of the developing world, such as the cities of the Chinese eastern seaboard. Then third, higher education, which is the focus of this special issue. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, student numbers rose everywhere at an enormous rate, creating mass higher education systems of a totally new kind. One  fth of the world’s population is already enrolled in formal education. The continuing surge in tertiary enrolments indicates that we are still far from reaching the peak. Mass higher education is also a very high-stakes affair. In developed countries, there are proportionately more professional, managerial and technical jobs, but fewer skilled manual jobs than a generation ago; while in many countries, there has also been a widening of the earnings gap between the university educated and the rest of the population. Higher education is the gateway to the ‘good life’, especially as large numbers of jobs which, in the past, were open to non-graduates have become graduate-only (Murphy, 1993; Dolton & Vignoles, 1999). Young people and their parents are, in consequence, acutely aware of the value of continued education. These developments have placed new pressures on the examinations and tests which mediate university entrance. Countries differ widely in the particular way they use examinations and tests at this juncture (Green et al., 1999). For example, in some countries (e.g. the UK) universities can, in principle, admit any individual they please, irrespective of whether they hold any formal quali cations, while in others (e.g. Germany) only those with the correct diploma are entitled to register. Nonetheless, everywhere, be it by law or through established practice, examination and test results play an important role in determining both whether an individual can enrol, and for what courses. As the size of the higher education sector has grown, so too has the political visibility and sensitivity of the related assessments. This volume examines six countries in depth—France, Italy, Israel, The Netherlands, Slovenia and the USA. Each has quite unique features. However, in each case, we can see that two key dimensions of the country’s university system also have
C6orf89 encodes three distinct HDAC enhancers that function in the nucleolus, the golgi and the midbody

We report here that C6orf89, which encodes a protein that interacts with bombesin receptor subtype‐3 and accelerates cell cycle progression and wound repair in human bronchial epithelial cells (Liu et al., 2011, PLoS ONE 6: e23072), encodes one soluble and two type II membrane proteins that function as histone deacetylases (HDAC) enhancers. Soluble 34/64sp is selectively targeted to the nucleolus and is retained in nucleolar organiser regions (NORs) in mitotic cells. Nucleolar 34/64sp is integrated into the ribosomal gene transcription machinery, colocalises and coimmunoprecipitates with the Pol I transcription factor UBF, and undergoes a dramatic relocalisation to the nucleolus upon the arrest of rDNA transcription, protein synthesis and PI3K/mTORC2 signalling. Membrane 42/116mp localises to the Golgi and the midbody, and its controlled ectopic expression provokes the disruption of the Golgi cisternae and hinders the separation of daughter cells and the completion of mitosis. The latter effect is also produced by the microinjection of an affinity‐purified amfion antibody. The identification of C60rf89 as a gene that encodes three distinct proteins with the capacity to enhance the activity of histone deacetylases (HDACs) in the nucleolus, the Golgi and the midbody provides new information regarding the components of the acetylome and their capacity to interact with different functional groups in the cell. J. Cell. Physiol. 228: 1907–1921, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Mazindol Augmentation of Antipsychotic Treatment for Schizophrenic Patients with Comorbid Cocaine Abuse or Dependence

Abstract Objectives: Cocaine abuse has a negative impact on the natural history of schizophrenia. There are no proven treatments for cocaine abuse in schizophrenia patients. The catecholamine reuptake inhibitor, mazindol, has been reported to reduce cocaine abuse in some studies. Here we report the results of a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled 6-week pilot study of mazindol augmentation of antipsychotic pharmacotherapy in patients diagnosed with comorbid schizophrenia and cocaine abuse or dependence. Methods: Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and cocaine abuse or dependence participated in group therapy focused on substance abuse issues and were randomly assigned to mazindol (1 mg tid, increased to 2 mg tid after 1 week) or matched placebo in addition to their current antipsychotic medication for 6 weeks. Results: Twenty-four patients were included in the analysis, with 11 and 13 randomized to the mazindol and placebo groups, respectively. While safe and well-tolerated, mazindol was ineffective in reducing cocaine consumption, cocaine craving, and psychiatric symptoms. Conclusions: These results do not support the efficacy of mazindol in decreasing cocaine craving, cocaine consumption, and psychiatric symptoms in schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients.
Changing Disability‐related Attitudes and Self‐efficacy of Israeli Children via the Partners to Inclusion Programme

This quasi‐experimental study investigated how direct contact between students with and without disabilities impacted disability‐related attitudes and specific self‐efficacy of study participants. Study participants (N = 170) were students without disabilities who attended general education schools. Students in an experimental group (N = 77) participated in a Partners to Inclusion Programme. This 1‐year programme provided direct contact with students with disabilities, via weekly or bi‐weekly joint activities that lasted 30–90 min. Participants in a no‐treatment control group (N = 93) did not participate in the programme. We found that disability‐related attitudes and specific self‐efficacy improved over time for participants in the experimental group, but not for participants in the control group. These results extend research findings and practical implications on how to change disability‐related attitudes and biases.
Theory of intracavity-frequency-doubled quasi-three-level cw lasers

The rate equations for the intracavity-frequency-doubled quasi-three-level lasers are developed. By normalizing the related parameters, it is shown that the general solution to the rate equations is dependent upon four dimensionless parameters: the normalized reabsorption loss, the pump to laser-mode size ratio, the normalized pump level, and a parameter written as ηshg, which is related to the ability of the nonlinear crystal to convert the fundamental to the second harmonic. By numerically solving these rate equations, a group of general curves are obtained to express the relations between the solution and the four dimensionless parameters.
Fast incremental objects identification and localization using cross-correlation on a 6 DoF voting scheme

In this work, we propose a sparse features-based object recognition and localization system, well suited for online learning of new objects. Our method takes advantages of both depth and ego-motion information, along with salient feature descriptors information, in order to learn and recognize objects with a scalable approach. We extend the conventional probabilistic voting scheme for object the recognition task, proposing a correlation-based approach in which each object-related point feature contributes in a 6-dimensional voting space (i.e., the 6 degrees-of-freedom, DoF, object position) with a continuous probability density distribution (PDF) represented by a Mixture of Gaussian (MoG). A global PDF is then obtained adding the contribution of each feature. The object instance and pose are hence inferred exploiting an efficient mode-finding method for mixtures of Gaussian distributions. The special properties of the convolution operator for the MoG distributions, combined with the sparsity of the exploited data, provide our method with good computational efficiency and limited memory requirements, enabling real-time performances also in robots with limited resources.
3D Model Streaming Based on JPEG 2000

For PC and even mobile device, video and image streaming technologies, such as H.264 and JPEG/JPEG 2000, are already mature. However, the streaming technology for 3D model or so-called mesh data is still far from practical use. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a mesh streaming method based on JPEG 2000 standard and integrate it into an existed multimedia streaming server, so that our mesh streaming method can directly benefit from current image and video streaming technologies. In this method, the mesh data of a 3D model is first converted into a JPEG 2000 image, and then based on the JPEG 2000 streaming technique, the mesh data can then be transmitted over the Internet as a mesh streaming. Furthermore, we also extend this mesh streaming method for deforming meshes as the extension from a JPEG 2000 image to a motion JPEG 2000 video, so that our mesh streaming method is not only for transmitting a static 3D model but also a 3D animation model. To increase the usability of our method, the mesh stream can also be inserted into a X3D scene as an extension node of X3D. Moreover, since this method is based on the JPEG 2000 standard, our system is much suitable to be integrated into any existed client-server or peer-to-peer multimedia streaming system.
An interactive E-Learning Portal in Pediatric Endocrinology: Practical Experience

Based on educational considerations, the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE) e-learning portal has been developed, providing an interactive learning environment for up-to-date information in pediatric endocrinology. From March 2011 to January 2012, five small-scale pilot studies were completed to assess the usefulness of the structure and content by senior experts, fellows, residents and medical students. Altogether, 8 cases and 4 chapters were studied by a total of 71 individuals: 18 senior experts, 21 fellows, 10 medical students, 9 regional pediatricians and 13 residents, resulting in a total of 127 evaluations. Participants considered the portal content interesting and appreciated the way of learning compared to traditional learning from literature and textbooks. Special attention was paid to assess the personalized feedback given by experts to fellows and residents who completed the portal. Feedback from experts included both medical understanding and communication skills demonstrated by fellows and residents. Users highly appreciated the feedback of the medical experts, who brought perspectives from another clinic. This portal also offers educational opportunities for medical students and regional pediatricians and can be used to develop various CanMEDS competencies, e.g., medical expert, health advocate, and scholar.
Closed loop navigation for mobile agents in dynamic environments

We apply a novel motion planning and control methodology, which is based on a non-smooth navigation function, to a point mobile robot moving amongst moving obstacles. The chattering introduced by the discontinuous potential field is suppressed using non-smooth backstepping. The combined controller guarantees global asymptotic convergence and collision avoidance. This controller is particularly suitable for real time implementation on systems with limited computational resources. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is verified through computer simulations.
Distributed Fair Scheduling for Wireless Mesh Networks Using IEEE 802.11

In IEEE-802.11-based wireless mesh networks (WMNs), unfair bandwidth sharing may arise, because the carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance protocol is designed to provide per-station fairness only in one hop. As the hop count from a mobile client to the gateway node increases, the throughput of the node drastically decreases. In this paper, we propose a fair bandwidth allocation scheme for multiradio multichannel WMNs. This scheme provides fair bandwidth sharing among the nodes in a WMN, regardless of their hop distance from the gateway node. To achieve fairness, we first estimate the number of active nodes attached to each router and calculate the effective weights of routers based on the estimation. Then, we differentiate their contention window using their weights. For this method, we derive a multihop packet collision model. The proposed scheme is fully distributed and does not require any global information. Through an extensive simulation study, we show that our scheme ensures per-node fairness without loss of the total aggregate throughput.
Evaluation of a poliovirus-binding inhibition assay as an alternative to the virus neutralization test

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based poliovirus-binding inhibition (PoBI) test to detect and quantify antibodies to polioviruses was optimized and evaluated for use in population studies as an alternative to the virus neutralization test (NT) in tissue culture. The sensitivities of the inhibition ELISA compared with the NT in an inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV)-vaccinated population were 98.6, 97.4, and 92.1% for serotypes 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The specificities of the PoBI test, as determined with sera from nonvaccinated persons, were also high for all three serotypes (99.0, 95.8, and 100%, respectively). Antibodies to other enteroviruses did not cross-react in the serotype 1 and 3 PoBI, and only levels of cross-reactivity were found for serotype 2. We found high correlations between the PoBI and NT titers for serotypes 1 and 2 in IPV-vaccinated blood donors (0.97 and 0.95), in oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV)-vaccinated blood donors (0.91 and 0.95), and in naturally immune persons (0.90 and 0.87). The correlation coefficient for serotype 3, however, was significantly lower in OPV-vaccinated blood donors (0.73) and in naturally immune persons (0.76) than in IPV-vaccinated persons (0.94; P < 0.01). These results indicate that the antibody response to serotype 3 poliovirus in IPV recipients is different from that in OPV recipients and naturally infected persons. We conclude that the PoBI test is a suitable alternative to the NT for estimating the seroprevalence of neutralizing antibodies to poliovirus, especially in large-scale population studies.
Will Gd-EOB-MRI Change the Diagnostic Algorithm in Hepatocellular Carcinoma?

A hepatocyte-specific contrast agent, gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA), was approved in Japan in 2008. This contrast agent enhances the blood pool and also is hepatocyte specific: it is taken up by hepatocytes and excreted into the biliary tract. Approximately 50% of the administered dose of Gd-EOB-DTPA is taken up by normal hepatocytes and subsequently excreted into the biliary tract, while the remaining 50% is excreted via the kidney. Hepatocellular uptake is considered to represent passive diffusion mediated by organic anion transporter polypeptide 1 (OATP1), which is expressed on the hepatocyte membrane. Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI may offer a breakthrough for the diagnosis of liver tumors, particularly early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The differentiation of dysplastic nodules from early HCC has remained difficult, even for pathologists specialized in liver tumors, but Gd-EOB-DTPA MRI facilitates an objective diagnosis with accuracy close to that of HCC-specialized pathologists. In conclusion, Gd-EOB-DTPA MRI facilitates the diagnosis of hypervascular advanced HCC and the differentiation of early HCC and dysplastic nodules, which used to be difficult, even with CT during arterial portography, and offers a high accuracy rate. Thus, Gd-EOB-DTPA MRI will have a significant impact on diagnostic algorithm for HCC.
MOLECULAR CLONING AND BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF GALACTOSE‐1‐PHOSPHATE URIDYLYLTRANSFERASE FROM GRACILARIA CHANGII (RHODOPHYTA) 1

Galactose‐1‐phosphate uridylyltransferase (GALT) catalyzes the reversible conversion of glucose‐1‐phosphate and UDP‐galactose to galactose‐1‐phosphate and UDP‐glucose. This enzyme is also responsible for one of the biochemical steps that produce the precursors of agar and agarose. In this study, we report the molecular cloning and sequence analyses of a cDNA encoding GALT, from Gracilaria changii (B. M. Xia et I. A. Abbott) I. A. Abbott, J. Zhang et B. M. Xia, which constitutes a genus of seaweeds that supply more than 60% of the world’s agar and agarose. We have subcloned this cDNA into a bacterial expression cloning vector and characterized the enzyme activities of its recombinant proteins in vitro. The GcGALT gene was shown to be up‐regulated by salinity stresses. The abundance of transcripts encoding GcGALT was the highest in G. changii, followed by Gracilaria edulis and Gracilaria salicornia in a descending order, corresponding to their respective agar contents. Our findings indicated that GALT could be one of the components that determines the agar yield in Gracilaria species.