Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On-Orbit Spatial Quality Evaluation and Image Restoration of FengYun-3C/MERSI

The Medium Resolution Spectral Imager (MERSI) was installed as a key payload on the FengYun-3C (FY-3C) polar-orbit meteorological satellite, which was successfully launched on September 23, 2013. We used 14 months of continuous FY-3C/MERSI Level-1B data (from November 2013 to December 2014) to evaluate the on-orbit image spatial quality. Based on a polar ice block image, a sharp target modulation transfer function (MTF) estimation method is used to quantitatively estimate the MTF value at the Nyquist frequency, which is an index for the spatial quality. The results show very good stability in the first year and a relatively lower spatial quality (MTF approximately 0.15) along the FY-3C/MERSI scan direction. This lower spatial quality is primarily attributed to the known and fixed 27% overlapped scan mode of MERSI, which can significantly reduce the image contrast. By using this fixed overlapped proportion (27%), we develop a fast and robust image restoration algorithm based on the Gaussian elimination (GE) method with lower and upper triangular matrix decomposition (LU). The speed-up ratio of this GE with LU decomposition method can attain a value of 626.30 compared with the traditional GE method when it solves linear equations with 2048 MERSI scan pixels. After the image restoration process, significant enhancement in the image spatial quality along the scan direction for every band of FY-3C/MERSI can be found with an increased MTF value of approximately 0.30. However, we evaluate the possible effect of this restoration algorithm on the original digital number (DN) and reflectance values. We find a slight decrease in the total averaged DN (0.5) and reflectance (<; 0.5%, relative bias) values. The variation in DN or reflectance after the image restoration process exhibits a positive correlation with homogeneity of the original target. Moreover, a sensitivity study on the reflectance reveals that it has a more significant impact on the inhomogeneous pixel with a low DN value.
Ontogeny of Ha‐ras and c‐myc mRNA levels in rabbit embryo and extraembryonic tissues by quantitative in situ hybridization

A large variety of proto‐oncogenes are known to be of key importance in cellular growth and differentiation during embryonic development. Using quantitative during in situ hybridization, we studied in detail the levels of the proto‐oncogenes Ha‐ras and c‐myc mRNA in embryos and extraembryonic tissues (maternal and embryonic placentas, trophoblast, and endometrial epithelium) during prental life of rabbit. cDNA probes encoding for Ha‐ras (fragment Kpn 1‐BstE II of 883 bp) and c‐myc (fragment Pst 1‐Pst 1 of 490 bp) were used to detect specific transcripts in fixed cryostat sections. High levels of Ha‐ras and c‐myc mRNA were detected in the rabbit embryo as well as in the decidua and in the trophoblast as early as day 9 of gestation. At 12 and 15 days of gestation, Ha‐ras and c‐myc mRNA levels decreased in both embryonic and maternal placenta while in the embryo a significant increase of Ha‐ras and c‐myc expression was detected with particular evidence in the central nervous system. Finally, at 25 days of gestation the expression of the two proto‐oncogenes, Ha‐ras and c‐myc, was greatly decreased in both the embryo and extraembryonic tissues, and was undetectable by 30 days of gestation. These results show that in rabbit the expression of the two proto‐oncogenes Ha‐ras and c‐myc is localized in the same tissues with similar intensity and follows an unparallel temporal modulation in the embryo and in the extraembryonic tissues during prental development.
Recognizing Explicit and Implicit Hate Speech Using a Weakly Supervised Two-path Bootstrapping Approach

In the wake of a polarizing election, social media is laden with hateful content. To address various limitations of supervised hate speech classification methods including corpus bias and huge cost of annotation, we propose a weakly supervised two-path bootstrapping approach for an online hate speech detection model leveraging large-scale unlabeled data. This system significantly outperforms hate speech detection systems that are trained in a supervised manner using manually annotated data. Applying this model on a large quantity of tweets collected before, after, and on election day reveals motivations and patterns of inflammatory language.
Contact, coagulation and platelet interaction with heparin treated equipment during heart surgery.

Heparin coating of an extracorporeal device may reduce blood activation. To evaluate protein and platelet interaction with Duraflo II surface treatment of the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) circuit, thirty coronary artery bypass grafting patients were randomly divided into two groups (Duraflo II, n = 15 or Control, n = 15). Binding of antibodies against factor XII, antithrombin III (ATIII) and platelet receptor GpIb were significantly higher (p < 0.01) on the Duraflo II treated surface. Hageman Factor fragment (HFf or factor XIIf) activity observed in the fluid phase tended to be lower in the treated circuits, although complexes of factor XIIf-C1 inhibitor (C1INH) increased by the same extent in both groups. Thrombin was effectively bound on the Duraflo II surface while thrombin-antithrombin III formation was reduced during the first phase of CPB. As expected, this thrombin inhibiting capacity remained higher on the Duraflo II, although in the arterial line a reduction of 10% per hour was observed. This indicated loss of functional bound heparin of the Duraflo II surface. During the second phase of CPB, after release of the aortic crossclamp, factor XII and thrombin were strongly activated in both groups indicated by a sharp increase in concentrations of T/AT complex as well as FPA. Platelet numbers tended to increase more in the control group during CPB than in the Duraflo II group, likely by interaction of platelet GpIb receptors on the Duraflo II treated surface (p < 0.01). However, platelet activation assessed by beta-TG was similar in both groups of patients. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Nuclear Factor 1 and Octamer Transcription Factor 1 Binding Preset the Chromatin Structure of the Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus Promoter for Hormone Induction*

When the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) is integrated into the genome of a mammalian cell, its long terminal repeat (LTR) harbors six specifically positioned nucleosomes. Transcription from the MMTV promoter is regulated by the glucocorticoid hormone via the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). The mechanism of the apparently constitutive nucleosome arrangement has remained unclear. Previous in vitro reconstitution of nucleosome(s) on small segments of the MMTV LTR suggested that the DNA sequence was decisive for the nucleosome arrangement. However, microinjection of MMTV LTR DNA in Xenopus oocytes rendered randomly distributed nucleosomes. This indicated that oocytes lack factor(s) that induces nucleosome positioning at the MMTV LTR in other cells. Here we demonstrate that specific and concomitant binding of nuclear factor 1 (NF1) and octamer factor 1 (Oct1) to their cognate sites within the MMTV promoter induce a partial nucleosome positioning that is an intermediary state between the randomly organized inactive promoter and the hormone and GR-activated promoter containing distinctly positioned nucleosomes. Oct1 and NF1 reciprocally facilitate each other's binding to the MMTV LTR in vivo. The NF1 and Oct1 binding also facilitate hormone-dependent GR-DNA interaction and result in a faster and stronger hormone response. Since NF1 and Oct1 generate an intermediary state of nucleosome positioning and enhance the hormone-induced response, we refer to this as a preset chromatin structure. We propose that this state of NF1 and Oct1-induced chromatin presetting mimics the early step(s) of chromatin remodeling involved in tissue-specific gene expression.
Presentation and Diagnosis of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex in Infants

Infants with TSC can often be identified before neurologic symptoms present, allowing for improved surveillance and the possibility of disease-modifying treatment. OBJECTIVES: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a neurocutaneous genetic disorder with a high prevalence of epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disorders. TSC can be challenging to diagnose in infants because they often do not show many clinical signs early in life. In this study, we describe the timing and pattern of presenting and diagnostic features in a prospective longitudinal study of infants with TSC. METHODS: Two multicenter, prospective studies enrolled 130 infants with definite TSC by clinical or genetic criteria and followed them longitudinally up to 36 months of age. Periodic study visits included medical and seizure histories, physical and neurologic examinations, and developmental assessments. Ages at which major and minor features of TSC and seizures were first identified were analyzed. RESULTS: The most common initial presenting features of TSC were cardiac rhabdomyomas (59%) and hypomelanotic macules or other skin findings (39%), and 85% of infants presented with either or both. Ultimately, the most prevalent diagnostic TSC features were hypomelanotic macules (94%), tubers or other cortical dysplasias (94%), subependymal nodules (90%), and cardiac rhabdomyomas (82%). Thirty-five percent of infants presented prenatally, 41% presented at birth or within the first month of life, and 74% met criteria for TSC diagnosis at or within 30 days of presentation. Seizure onset occurred before or at initial presentation in only 15% of infants, but 73% developed epilepsy within the first year of life. CONCLUSIONS: Infants with TSC can often be identified early, before the onset of neurologic sequelae, enabling earlier diagnosis, surveillance, and possibly disease-modifying treatment.
Drought and leaf herbivory influence floral volatiles and pollinator attraction

The effects of climate change on species interactions are poorly understood. Investigating the mechanisms by which species interactions may shift under altered environmental conditions will help form a more predictive understanding of such shifts. In particular, components of climate change have the potential to strongly influence floral volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and, in turn, plant–pollinator interactions. In this study, we experimentally manipulated drought and herbivory for four forb species to determine effects of these treatments and their interactions on (1) visual plant traits traditionally associated with pollinator attraction, (2) floral VOCs, and (3) the visitation rates and community composition of pollinators. For all forbs tested, experimental drought universally reduced flower size and floral display, but there were species‐specific effects of drought on volatile emissions per flower, the composition of compounds produced, and subsequent pollinator visitation rates. Moreover, the community of pollinating visitors was influenced by drought across forb species (i.e. some pollinator species were deterred by drought while others were attracted). Together, these results indicate that VOCs may provide more nuanced information to potential floral visitors and may be relatively more important than visual traits for pollinator attraction, particularly under shifting environmental conditions.
The vocabulary profile of Slovak children with primary language impairment compared to typically developing Slovak children measured by LITMUS-CLT

ABSTRACT This study compared a sample of children with primary language impairment (PLI) and typically developing age-matched children using the crosslinguistic lexical tasks (CLT-SK). We also compared the PLI children with typically developing language-matched younger children who were matched on the basis of receptive vocabulary. Overall, statistical testing showed that the vocabulary of the PLI children was significantly different from the vocabulary of the age-matched children, but not statistically different from the younger children who were matched on the basis of their receptive vocabulary size. Qualitative analysis of the correct answers revealed that the PLI children showed higher rigidity compared to the younger language-matched children who are able to use more synonyms or derivations across word class in naming tasks. Similarly, an examination of the children’s naming errors indicated that the language-matched children exhibited more semantic errors, whereas PLI children showed more associative errors.
Development and validation of an automatic speech-in-noise screening test by telephone

To meet the need for an objective self-test for hearing screening, a new Dutch speech-in-noise test was developed. Digit triplets were used as speech material. The test was made fully automatic, was controlled by a computer, and can be done by telephone. It measures the speech reception threshold (triplet SRTn) using an adaptive procedure, in about 3 min. Our experiments showed no significant influence of telephone type or listening environment. Measurement errors were within 1 dB, which makes the test accurate. In additional experiments with hearing-impaired subjects (76 ears of 38 listeners), the new test was compared to the existing sentence SRTn test of Plomp and Mimpen, which is considered to be the standard. The correlation between both SRTns was 0.866. As expected, correlations between the triplet SRTn test by telephone and average pure-tone thresholds are somewhat lower: 0.732 for PTA0.5, 1, 2, and 0.770 for PTA0.5, 1, 2,4. When proper SRTn values were chosen for distinguishing between normal-hearing and hearingimpaired subjects, the triplet SRTn test was found to have a sensitivity of 0.91 and a specificity of 0.93. Sumario Para satisfacer la necesidad de un test objetivo de autoevaluacio´n para identificacio´n de problemas auditivos, se desarrollo´ una nueva prueba holandesa de lenguaje en ruido. Se utilizaron cifras de tres di´gitos como material logoaudiome´trico. El test se hizo totalmente automa´tico, controlado por una computadora y realizable por tele´fono. Mide el umbral de recepcio´n del lenguaje (SRTn triplet) en 3 minutos, utilizando un procedimiento adaptativo. Nuestras pruebas no muestran una influencia significativa del tipo de tele´fono o del ambiente de la prueba. Los errores de medicio´n no variaron en ma´s de 1 dB, lo que hace que la prueba sea exacta. En experimentos adicionales con sujetos hipoacu´sicos (76 oi´dos de 36 sujetos), la nueva prueba se comparo´ con el test de SRTn con frases de Plomp y Mimpen, considerado como el esta´ndar de referencia. La correlacio´n entre los SRTnfue de 0.866. Como se esperaba, la correlacio´n entre la prueba telefo´nica de SRTncon di´gitos triples y el promedio de umbrales tonales puros es un poco ma´s baja: 0.732 para el PTA0.5, 1, 2 y 0.770 para el PTA0.5, 1, 2, 4. Cuando se escogieron los valores apropiados de SRTnpara distinguir entre sujetos normo-oyentes e hipoacu´sicos, la prueba de SRTncon di´gitos triples demostro´ una sensibilidad de 0.91 y una especificidad de 0.93.
Multiple Images of the City: Unveiling Group-Specific Urban Perceptions through a Crowdsourcing Game

Our perceptions of public spaces are central for our experience in the city. Understanding which factors shape this perception informs both urban planners, that aim at improving city life, as well as computational models that help us navigate in urban spaces. To understand cities at scale, crowdsourcing games have been employed successfully to evaluate citizens' opinions about cities and urban scenes. By analyzing human perceptions from residents of a mid-sized Brazilian city, this work brings three novel contributions. First, we consider theories from urban design to explore through crowdsourcing which high and low level features in an urban space are linked to perceptions of safety and pleasantness. Secondly, this paper leverages theory from urban sociology and anthropology to show how the sociodemographic profile of the citizens significantly mediate their perception of safeness and pleasantness of places. Finally, we show that features of the urban form proposed by urbanists can be combined with sociodemographics to improve the accuracy of machine learning models that predict which scene a person will find more safe or pleasant. This last result paves the road for more personalized recommendations in cold-start scenarios.
A survey of viruses of flower bulbs in New Zealand

Ornamental flower bulbs are an increasingly important crop in New Zealand. In general, production is dependent on overseas breeding programmes and regular imports of propagation material, in particular from The Netherlands. Toenable the implementation of appropriate phytosanitary controls, a targeted survey was done in 2005–2006 to determine the presence of viruses in the most important bulb genera. Using serological and molecular methods, 10 viruses (Alstroemeria mosaic virus, Freesia sneak virus [syn. Freesia leaf necrosis-associated ophiovirus], Hippeastrum mosaic virus, Hyacinth mosaic virus, Nerine latent virus, Nerine yellow stripe virus, Ornithogalum virus 3, Tulip mosaic virus, Veltheimia mosaic virus and Vallota mosaic virus) were identified for the first time in New Zealand. In addition eleven new hosts of viruses reported previously in New Zealand were detected; these new associations include one not reported previously overseas (Tomato spotted wilt virus in Ornithogalum). None of the newly reported viruses cause significant diseases and it is unlikely that they will affect bulb production significantly.
IR4CF: A intrusion replay system for computer forensics

When computer intrusions occur, one of the most costly, time-consuming, and human-intensive tasks is to analysis and take the evidence of the compromised system. IR4CF: a system call based intrusion replay system for supporting the computer forensics. IR4CF uses three key mechanisms to improve the accuracy and reduce the human overhead of performing forensic analysis. First, it streams the kernel event information in real-time, to append-only storage on a separate, hardened, logging machine, making the system resilient to a wide variety of attacks. Second, it uses system-call hijacking technology to perform comprehensive monitoring of the execution of a target system at the kernel event level, giving a high-resolution, application-independent view of all activity. Third, it analyses and replays the intrusion actions dynamically, which can be used for evidence in a court of law.
The Impact of Public Transport Reform: an Assessment of Deregulation Policies

of this PhD thesis is to perform theoretical and empirical analyses of the economic structure and the institutional context of public transport. By doing so the complex mechanisms underlying public transport provision, demand and finance in a (de)regulated environment dominated by competitive tendering are clarified, and an assessment is performed on the impact of competitive tendering on passengers, PT authorities, and PT firms. Based on the empirical work it is concluded that the deregulation policy of the Dutch administration is successful. We find that the immediate effect of competitive tendering on efficiency and satisfaction is (nearly) absent, suggesting that the threat of competitive tendering is sufficient in a market when the majority of concessions is competitively tendered. The economies of scale results indicate that the geographical size of the current concession areas may not be altered without additional costs. From an operational costs perspective, our study suggests that there is no reason to increase (or decrease) the geographical size of the concession areas.
Inaugural Article: Dynamic network structure of interhemispheric coordination

Fifty years ago Gazzaniga and coworkers published a seminal article that discussed the separate roles of the cerebral hemispheres in humans. Today, the study of interhemispheric communication is facilitated by a battery of novel data analysis techniques drawn from across disciplinary boundaries, including dynamic systems theory and network theory. These techniques enable the characterization of dynamic changes in the brain’s functional connectivity, thereby providing an unprecedented means of decoding interhemispheric communication. Here, we illustrate the use of these techniques to examine interhemispheric coordination in healthy human participants performing a split visual field experiment in which they process lexical stimuli. We find that interhemispheric coordination is greater when lexical information is introduced to the right hemisphere and must subsequently be transferred to the left hemisphere for language processing than when it is directly introduced to the language-dominant (left) hemisphere. Further, we find that putative functional modules defined by coherent interhemispheric coordination come online in a transient manner, highlighting the underlying dynamic nature of brain communication. Our work illustrates that recently developed dynamic, network-based analysis techniques can provide novel and previously unapproachable insights into the role of interhemispheric coordination in cognition.
EMS icons: conveying information by analogy to enhance communication through electrical muscle stimulation

Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS) has recently received an increased amount of attention from the HCI community. It has been used to remote control users for navigation and instrument playing, but also as a method to convey haptic feedback in VR, for example. As EMS devices become commercially available and application research continues, we explore EMS as a modality to convey information through actuation and as a means to induce and communicate emotions and moods. In this position paper, we present the results from two focus groups on using EMS for interpersonal communication as a way to send and receive emoticons through electrical stimulation. We argue that so-called "EMS Icons" have the potential to become part of multimedia experiences and more broadly of User Interfaces as a haptic variant in analogy to visual and auditory icons.
Risk Factors for Medically Serious Suicide Attempts

This study explored a psychodynamic model for suicide risk by examining risk factors for medically serious suicide attempts, including assessments of affect flooding, negative self-schema / fragmentation, and impaired reality testing, closely approximating Maltsberger’s psycho-dynamic formulation of suicide crisis. Baseline risk factors including age, gender, psychiatric symptoms, high-risk behaviors, and the Implicit Risk for Suicide Index (IRSI) were used to detect medically serious suicide attempts monitored for up to a year after the assessment. Twenty-five psychiatric inpatients who made life-threatening suicide attempts after assessment were compared to 25 inpatients and 25 psychotherapy outpatients who made no suicide attempts during follow-up. Statistical analysis revealed that a history of at least one suicide attempt and elevated IRSI scores accounted for 60 percent of the variance in detecting medically serious suicide attempts. Elevated IRSI accurately identified suicide attempt status above and beyond past suicide attempts and other empirically validated risk factors. Results are discussed in light of psychodynamic formulations of suicide risk.