Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Video Superresolution Reconstruction Using Iterative Back Projection with Critical-Point Filters Based Image Matching

To improve the spatial resolution of reconstructed images/videos, this paper proposes a Superresolution (SR) reconstruction algorithm based on iterative back projection. In the proposed algorithm, image matching using critical-point filters (CPF) is employed to improve the accuracy of image registration. First, a sliding window is used to segment the video sequence. CPF based image matching is then performed between frames in the window to obtain pixel-level motion fields. Finally, high-resolution (HR) frames are reconstructed based on the motion fields using iterative back projection (IBP) algorithm. The CPF based registration algorithm can adapt to various types of motions in real video scenes. Experimental results demonstrate that, compared to optical flow based image matching with IBP algorithm, subjective quality improvement and an average PSNR score of 0.53 dB improvement are obtained by the proposed algorithm, when applied to video sequence.
A Procedure for the Rapid Pre-acquisition Screening of Target Companies Using the Pay-off Method for Real Option Valuation ∗

Abstract: Pre-acquisition target screening is a task that often needs to be madefast, but is still complex, especially due to the need to estimate the value of possiblesynergies arising from an acquisition. Acquisition synergies are highly uncertain, dif-ﬁcult to explicitly quantify, and require successful management actions to be realized.The valuation of synergies calls for methods that can handle both, high uncertaintyand inexact information. This paper discusses how a rapid pre-acquisition screeningof target companies can be performed with the pay-oﬀ method for real option valua-tion, treating the acquisition synergy as a real option available for the acquirer. Thepay-oﬀ method is a simple, intuitive, and practitioner friendly method. We deﬁne ac-quisition synergy as the value arising from resource redeployments within the newlyformed entity of the target and the acquirer, and as the value gained through thepossible divesture of target company assets. The procedure presented can be used inthe screening of prospective acquisition target companies.Keywords: Acquisitions; synergy; real options; screening; pay-oﬀ method
Interferon Production in Murine Macrophage‐Like Cell Lines

Five murine macrophage (MΦ)‐like cell lines were examined to determine their suitability for the characterization of MΦ interferons (IFNs). The J774A.1, RAW 309 Cr.1, and RAW 264.7 cell lines produced 30–800 international units (IU)/ 106 cells when treated with 5–200 μg of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). No IFN was detected in LPS‐treated P388D1 or PU5‐1.8 cell cultures. All cell lines produced IFN when inoculated with Newcastle disease virus (NDV); however, only 15 IU/106 cells of acid stable IFN were produced in PU5‐1.8 cell cultures in comparison to 4.2 × 103‐1.7 × 104 IU/106 cells in the other cell lines. Most of the IFN was produced within 4 h in LPS‐treated cell cultures and within 12 h in NDV‐infected cell cultures. All IFNs were stable at pH 2.0 and were neutralized with antiserum against mouse L cell IFN. These cell lines appear competent for use in studying the synthesis, molecular weights, and regulatory functions of MΦ IFNs.
DESIGNING COMPETITIVE TENDERING SYSTEMS FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD: A REVIEW OF THE US EXPERIENCE

For two decades, most urban public transit services in the United States (US) have been provided directly by public authorities and supported by public subsidy programs. A substantial percentage of the public subsidies has been consumed by costs that have escalated well ahead of the inflation rate. Concurrently, the private bus industry experienced unit cost decreases (inflation adjusted). In response to the cost escalation of public transit and the cost control of the competitive market, some public transit authorities have competitively tendered a portion of public transit services to private bus companies. As US competitive tendering has grown, various approaches have been tried. Some public transit authorities have provided revenue vehicles for the use in tendered services; others have required private companies to supply their own vehicles. Tendering package sizes have varied from a single vehicle to more than 200. In some cases, public transit authorities have participated themselves in tendering, r.
An overlap-volume-histogram based method for rectal dose prediction and automated treatment planning in the external beam prostate radiotherapy following hydrogel injection.

PURPOSE Hydrogel injected between the rectum and prostate prior to radiotherapy provides a possible means of increased dose sparing to the rectum. Here the authors evaluate the overlap volume histogram (OVH) metric as a means to predict the rectal dose following hydrogel injection. Whether OVH predicted dose can serve as the dose objective or constraint for automated treatment planning was also investigated. METHODS Treatment planning was performed on 21 prostate cancer patients both pre- and posthydrogel injection, with five-field IMRT delivering 78 Gy to the planning target volume (PTV). The authors quantify the geometrical relationship between the rectum and the prostate PTV using an OVH metric which determines the fractional volume of the rectum that is within a specified distance of the PTV. For an OVH distance the authors selected, L(20), the PTV expansion distance at which 20% of the rectum overlaps. The authors calculated the rectal dose, D(20), received by 20% of the rectum volume on the dose volume histogram. Linear regression was used to examine the correlation between the L(20) and D(20), and between ΔL(20) and ΔD(20) (i.e., the change of L(20) and D(20) posthydrogel injection). Additionally, rectal dose D(15), D(25), D(35), D(50), and bladder dose D(15) were predicted from the OVH (L(15), L(25), L(35), L(50), for rectum and L(15) for bladder) by the L(x)-D(x) linear regression. The predicted doses were applied to the objectives for automated treatment planning of ten plans from five patients. Automatically generated plans were compared with plans manually generated on trial-and-error basis. RESULTS The rectal L(20) was increased and dose D(20) decreased due to the enlarged separation of rectum caused by the hydrogel injection. Linear regression showed an inverse linear correlation between L(20) and D(20), and between ΔL(20) and ΔD(20) (r(2) = 0.77, 0.60, respectively; p < 0.0001). The increase in rectal sparing (ΔD(20)) is only weakly correlated with the volume of injected hydrogel (r(2) = 0.17; p = 0.07), indicating OVH is a more predictive indicator of rectal sparing than the volume of hydrogel itself. Application of the predicted rectum and bladder doses to automated planning produced acceptable treatment plans, with rectal dose reduced for eight of ten plans. CONCLUSIONS The OVH metric can predict the rectal dose in the external beam prostate radiotherapy for patients with hydrogel injection. The predicted doses can be applied to the objectives of optimization in automated treatment planning to produce acceptable treatment plans.
Leveraging Computer Vision Priciples for Image-Based Shoe Recommendation

— We have developed an image-based shoe recommendation system to help modernize the retail industry. This system assesses a dataset of over 10,000 men’s shoes and extracts the shape, color, and texture associated with each of these shoes. Using a combination of contour detection, scale-invariant feature transform, color-based clustering, and several other algorithmic approaches, it is able to extract shape, color, and texture feature descriptors with over 80% accuracy. It then recommends shoes that are similar to a user’s input image on the basis of these features by leveraging support vector machines, k-means, k-nearest neighbors, and ﬁltering techniques. On the whole, our algorithm takes seconds to compute and has a recommendation accuracy of over 88% for each of shape, color, and texture across the top 10 recommendations for each image.
Stock Market Margin Requirements

IN MY judgment," maintained William McChesney Martin, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System, "we can never under the present margin regulations have the same result that occurred in terms of a financial crash in 1929 through undermargined accounts, low margins resulting in a financial debacle. "' A widely used elementary economics textbook claimed, "Margin requirements have exercised an important restrictive influence on security speculation, as contrasted with the uncontrolled period of the late 1920's. Nearly everyone agrees that Federal Reserve margin requirements exercise a healthy restraint on speculative stock purchases in a boom" (Bach, 1963, p. 116). But what evidence is there that margin requirements have the effects claimed? At the December meetings of the American Economic Association, George J. Stigler, in the Presidential address, called on economists to test their assumptions that state regulation of private activity has indeed been successful (Stigler, 1965). This article brings together some data on the efficacy of margin requirements. While the figures can only be considered preliminary, and more data should be collected to test margin requirements, the data that are available and presented here indicate that not one of the aims of the legislation establishing margin requirements has been accomplished.2
Development and Application of a Tool To Assess Laboratory Hygiene in Contained-Use Facilities

ABSTRACT To gain information on laboratory hygiene in contained-use laboratories, a method was developed to study the presence of microorganisms on laboratory equipment. Focusing detection on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) containing the universal M13 primer binding sites enabled the detection of a broad range of GMOs using a single PCR. Swabbing surfaces in three different contained-use laboratories led to detection of M13-containing PCR products in 26 out of 34 swabs. Most sequences (up to five per sample) were detected in swabs from the centrifuge and sink, followed by swabs taken from the bin and incubator (up to four sequences per sample). The obtained sequences varied in length from 171 nucleotides (nt) to 878 nt. In most cases, sequences were only partially similar to sequences published in GenBank. The lengths of the regions with high similarity varied from 94 nt to 795 nt, and these similarities ranged from 81% to 100%. Similarities with more than one sequence were commonly found, complicating the identification of detected sequences. Nonetheless, 84% of the detected sequences were actually handled in the laboratory at the time of sampling. This demonstrates that the method may be used as a quality control tool to assess the efficacy of decontamination and cleaning of commonly used surfaces, such as laboratory benches, freezer doors, and centrifuge rotors, without prior knowledge of the identity or characteristics of the GMOs.
A concept for a cognitive-oriented approach to build autonomous systems

This contribution proposes an architecture of an autonomous system based on a situation-operator-modeling technique to realize a cognitive-based control. The cognitive functions of the system are divided into the learning, testing, and exploration modules; and the planning and plan supervision modules. The proposed architecture of an autonomous learning system consists of different parts, e.g. filter modules, cognitive functions, knowledge base, and goal translation. The core of the approach is the representation of changes of the outside-world of the systems as a sequence of scenes and actions, which are modeled using a special modeling technique. The steps to realize the proposed architecture are illustrated and detailed for a mobile robot as an example.
Alterations of NIS expression in functioning thyroid nodules.

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to analyze both the level and the cell site of the sodium-iodide symporter (NIS) protein expression in autonomously functioning thyroid nodules (AFTNs) and extranodular thyroid tissues. In addition, this study sought to compare the clinical results of patients with the levels of human NIS (hNIS) protein expression. PATIENTS AND METHODS The histological slides consisted of 36 AFTNs and 31 extranodular thyroid tissues from 28 patients (5 males, 23 females; mean age 54.5±11.0 years; range 37 to 72 years) who underwent surgery for toxic multinodular goitre. The expression of NIS protein was investigated by immunohistochemistry in paraffin-embedded tissue sections using anti-hNIS monoclonal antibody by the labeled streptavidin-biotin method. RESULTS The percentage of hNIS positive follicular cells was significantly higher in the AFTNs (13.33±12.09) than in the extranodular thyroid tissues (1.35±3.03). Staining for hNIS was mostly confined to the cell membrane in the AFTNs (88.9%) and in the extranodular thyroid tissues (54.5%). The clinical parameters and nodule volume did not establish any correlation with hNIS immunoreactivity. CONCLUSION Our data indicate that functioning nodules express higher amounts of NIS protein than the extranodular thyroid tissue, but the level of hNIS immunoreactivity was lower than had been reported in the previous literature. This result may be due to interindividual variability between different populations, and iodine status. Furthermore, the localization of the NIS protein might not give an indication of its functional status.
Sleep apnea syndrome: comparison of MR imaging of the oropharynx with physiologic indexes.

PURPOSE To compare magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the oropharynx in patients with sleep apnea syndrome with fiberoptic nasopharyngoscopy, and oropharyngeal pressure and apnea index values. MATERIALS AND METHODS After sleep induction, 24 patients with sleep apnea syndrome and nine patients with non-sleep-apnea snoring underwent MR imaging and fiberoptic nasopharyngoscopy combined with subsequent measurement of oropharyngeal pressure. Patients were previously classified with apnea index values obtained at polysomnography. MR imaging and fiberoptic nasopharyngoscopic findings of severity and location of oropharyngeal abnormalities were compared. Oropharyngeal pressure and apnea index values were also compared with MR findings. RESULTS A statistically significant correlation was observed between MR and fiberoptic nasopharyngoscopic findings (r = .931; P < .0001). The degree of decompression in oropharyngeal pressure and apnea index values in the multiple-site abnormality group were statistically significantly higher than those in the single-site abnormality group. CONCLUSION MR imaging is useful for localization of sites of oropharyngeal abnormalities and for evaluation of the severity of apnea.
The Association of Thyroid Dysfunction with All-Cause and Circulatory Mortality: Is There a Causal Relationship?

Context: Currently there is ongoing debate on whether subclinical and overt thyroid dysfunction may exert deleterious effects on the cardiovascular system with the consequence of increased mortality in affected individuals. We systematically review studies on the relation of thyroid dysfunction with all-cause and circulatory mortality questioning whether thyroid dysfunction is a causal factor for mortality. Methods: Two investigators independently searched the MEDLINE database. All case-control and cohort studies published in peer-reviewed journals were selected. Studies on nonthyroidal illness or low-T3 syndrome and reports from highly selected populations were not considered. Risk estimates from studies with appropriate adjustment for confounders were metaanalyzed. Results: Four among eight studies performed to investigate the association between hyperthyroidism and mortality revealed an increased risk of either all-cause or circulatory mortality. Only the minority of studies, however, adjusted analyses.
Tauopathy in Drosophila: Neurodegeneration Without Neurofibrillary Tangles

The microtubule-binding protein tau has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. However, the mechanisms underlying tau-mediated neurotoxicity remain unclear. We created a genetic model of tau-related neurodegenerative disease by expressing wild-type and mutant forms of human tau in the fruit flyDrosophila melanogaster. Transgenic flies showed key features of the human disorders: adult onset, progressive neurodegeneration, early death, enhanced toxicity of mutant tau, accumulation of abnormal tau, and relative anatomic selectivity. However, neurodegeneration occurred without the neurofibrillary tangle formation that is seen in human disease and some rodent tauopathy models. This fly model may allow a genetic analysis of the cellular mechanisms underlying tau neurotoxicity.
Transcriptomic Responses of Salmonella enterica Serovars Enteritidis and Typhimurium to Chlorine-Based Oxidative Stress

ABSTRACT Salmonella enterica serovars Enteritidis and Typhimurium are the leading causative agents of salmonellosis in the United States. S. Enteritidis is predominantly associated with contamination of shell eggs and egg products, whereas S. Typhimurium is frequently linked to tainted poultry meats, fresh produce, and recently, peanut-based products. Chlorine is an oxidative disinfectant commonly used in the food industry to sanitize the surfaces of foods and food processing facilities (e.g., shell eggs and poultry meats). However, chlorine disinfection is not always effective, as some S. enterica strains may resist and survive the disinfection process. To date, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of how S. enterica responds to chlorine-based oxidative stress. In this study, we designed a custom bigenome microarray that consists of 385,000 60-mer oligonucleotide probes and targets 4,793 unique gene features in the genomes of S. Enteritidis strain PT4 and S. Typhimurium strain LT2. We explored the transcriptomic responses of both strains to two different chlorine treatments (130 ppm of chlorine for 30 min and 390 ppm of chlorine for 10 min) in brain heart infusion broth. We identified 209 S. enterica core genes associated with Fe-S cluster assembly, cysteine biosynthesis, stress response, ribosome formation, biofilm formation, and energy metabolism that were differentially expressed (>1.5-fold; P < 0.05). In addition, we found that serovars Enteriditis and Typhimurium differed in the responses of 33 stress-related genes and 19 virulence-associated genes to the chlorine stress. Findings from this study suggest that the oxidative-stress response may render S. enterica resistant or susceptible to certain types of environmental stresses, which in turn promotes the development of more effective hurdle interventions to reduce the risk of S. enterica contamination in the food supply.
Association between inbreeding depression and floral traits in a generalist‐pollinated plant

Individual variation in the magnitude of inbreeding depression (ID) in plants and its association with phenotypic traits may have important consequences for mating system evolution. This association has been investigated only scarcely, and always considering traits functionally related to autogamy. Here, we explore the association between individual variation in ID and plant traits associated with pollinator attractiveness (related to plant size, corolla size and corolla shape) in two populations of Erysimum mediohispanicum (Brassicaceae). ID was calculated along the entire life cycle of the plants. In addition, we also explored the relationship between phenotypic traits and the individual levels of heterozygosity. We found significant associations between ID and corolla diameter and stalk height, being taller plants with larger corollas those undergoing a lower intensity of ID. Furthermore, we found a negative relationship between corolla diameter and heterozygosity, suggesting that plants with large flowers have purged their genetic load. Finally, we found a significant effect of corolla diameter on the intrapopulation genetic structure. All these findings suggest that plants with large flowers have secularly suffered frequent inbreeding in the study populations. Because corolla diameter is a trait frequently selected by pollinators in E. mediohispanicum, we believe that the observed relationship between this trait and ID could be mediated by pollinators, probably throughout an increasing in biparental inbreeding, geitonogamy or autogamy.
Accounting‐based Risk Measurement: An Alternative to Capital Asset Pricing Model Derived Discount Factors

Discount factors have a long tradition of being computed using capital market inputs for the estimation of systematic risk. They are of increasing importance in financial accounting, including the valuation of goodwill and other intangibles. In view of the volatility of stock market returns and their inaccuracy and disjunction from the underlying cash flows of the firm, this paper proposes an alternative accounting-based approach: accountingbased risk measurement. Alternatives to beta are computed from planning and budgeting metrics at firm level to produce consistent risk estimates factoring patterns of revenue and cost behaviour weighted according to their impact on the accounting rate of return. This approach is contrasted with the analysis and interpretation of asset betas in the corporate finance literature.
An in vivo comparative evaluation to determine the accuracy of working length between radiographic and electronic apex locators.

BACKGROUND An in vivo comparative evaluation to determine the accuracy of working length between radiographic and electronic apex locators. AIM The study was aimed at evaluating the accuracy of electronic apex locator, to determine the working length of root canal, and to compare it with the radiographic method of working length determination. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 20 teeth selected for the study had to go for extraction because of periodontal or orthodontic reasons. Access cavity was prepared and the clinical estimated working length (CEWL) was determined with 10-25 no. K-file. A radiograph was then taken for determining the radiographic estimated working length (REWL). For electronic measurement of root canal, a 10 no. K-file was advanced toward the apex until it reached a 0.5 mm short of apex as shown by the apex locator. After fixing the file with a light cured composite, the tooth was extracted, the tooth surface was then longitudinally grounded using straight fissure diamond bur until the root canal and the tip of the file were visible. The distance of file from the minor constriction was measured with help of stereomicroscope. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS The chi-square test was used for statistical analysis for this study. RESULTS The chi-square test where χ² = 21.034 with P = 0.000 indicated that a significant difference exists among the groups. The electronic method showed highest number of cases with the working length at the minor constrictor. CONCLUSION The electronic method for determining the working length of root canal was found to be more accurate than the radiographic method.