Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neural Correlates for Perception of 3D Surface Orientation from Texture Gradient

A goal in visual neuroscience is to reveal how the visual system reconstructs the three-dimensional (3D) representation of the world from two-dimensional retinal images. Although the importance of texture gradient cues in the process of 3D vision has been pointed out, most studies concentrate on the neural process based on binocular disparity. We report the neural correlates of depth perception from texture gradient in the cortex. In the caudal part of the lateral bank of intraparietal sulcus, many neurons were selective to 3D surface orientation defined by texture gradient, and their response was invariant over different types of texture pattern. Most of these neurons were also sensitive to a disparity gradient, suggesting that they integrate texture and disparity gradient signals to construct a generalized representation of 3D surface orientation.
An Algorithm to Derive Use Cases from Business Processes

This paper describes an algorithm to transform business process models into a functional requirements specification, specified in the form of use case diagrams. The benefit of such an algorithm is that it helps to draw up a functional requirements specification more quickly, because business process models may be available in an enterprise, while use case diagrams have to be developed by performing interviews. The use case diagrams that result from applying the algorithm, specify a software system that provides automated support for the original business processes. We show this with a case study from practice.
When Do Luxury Cars Hit the Road

In this paper, we focus on studying the appearing time of different kinds of cars on the road. This information will enable us to infer the life style of the car owners. The results can further be used to guide marketing towards car owners. Conventionally, this kind of study is carried out by sending out questionnaires, which is limited in scale and diversity. To solve this problem, we propose a fully automatic method to carry out this study. Our study is based on publicly available surveillance camera data. To make the results reliable, we only use the high resolution cameras (i.e. resolution greater than $1280 \times 720$). Images from the public cameras are downloaded every minute. After obtaining 50,000 images, we apply faster R-CNN (region-based convoluntional neural network) to detect the cars in the downloaded images and a fine-tuned VGG16 model is used to recognize the car makes. Based on the recognition results, we present a data-driven analysis on the relationship between car makes and their appearing times, with implications on lifestyles.
Contextual classification of Cropcam UAV high resolution images using frequency-based approach for land use/land cover mapping case study: Penang Island

Cropcam UAV provides GPS based digital images on demand and real time data with high temporal resolution throughout the equatorial region where the sky is often covered by clouds. The images obtained by the UAV system in this research were used to overcome the problem of unclear images obtained by the satellite and manned aircraft in our study area. Conventional classification methods commonly cannot handle the complex landscape environment in the image. The result of each image has often a salt and pepper appearances which are the main characteristic of misclassification. The objective of this study is to evaluate the land use/land cover features over Penang Island using contextual classification method based on the frequency-based approach. The technique was applied to the high resolution images in three bands collected from a digital camera equipped with the platform system to extract thematic maps. Contextual classifier that utilized both spectral and spatial information could be reduce the speckle error and improve the classification performance significantly. Four classes could be classified clearly within the study area, and a high accuracy was achieved in the classification process. In order to evaluate the performance of the classifier, nine different window sizes ranging from 3 by 3 to 19 by 19 with an increment are tested. The study revealed that the frequency based-contextual classifier is effective with the images used in this research compare with the satellite images and images collected from conventional manned platforms and could be used for land use/cover mapping for the small area of coverage.
Update and Future of Systemic Acne Treatment

Systemic treatment is required in patients with moderate-to-severe acne, especially when acne scars start to occur. Antibiotics with anti-inflammatory properties, such as tetracyclines (oxytetracycline, tetracycline chloride, doxycycline, minocycline and limecycline) and macrolide antibiotics (erythromycin and azithromycin) are the agents of choice for papulopustular acne, even though the emerging resistant bacterial strains are minimizing their effect, especially regarding erythromycin. Systemic antibiotics should be administered during a period of 8–12 weeks. In severe papulopustular and in nodulocystic/conglobate acne, oral isotretinoin is the treatment of choice. Hormonal treatment represents an alternative regimen in female acne, whereas it is mandatory in resistant, severe pubertal or post-adolescent forms of the disease. Compounds with anti-androgenic properties include estrogens combined with progestins, such as ethinyl estradiol with cyproterone acetate, chlormadinone acetate, desogestrel, drospirenone, levonogestrel, norethindrone acetate, norgestimate, and other anti-androgens directly blocking the androgen receptor (flutamide) or inhibiting androgen activity at various levels, corticosteroids, spironolactone, cimetidine, and ketoconazole. After 3 months of treatment control of seborrhea and acne can be obtained. Low-dose corticosteroids (prednisone, prednisolone, or dexamethasone) are indicated in patients with adrenal hyperandrogenism or acne fulminans. New developments and future trends represent low-dose long-term isotretinoin regimens, new isotretinoin formulations (micronized isotretinoin), isotretinoin metabolites, combination treatments to reduce toxicity, insulin-sensitizing agents, 5α-reductase type 1 inhibitors, antisense oligonucleotide molecules, and, especially, new anti-inflammatory agents, such as lipoxygenase inhibitors.
Machine learning approaches to network anomaly detection

Networks of various kinds often experience anomalous behaviour. Examples include attacks or large data transfers in IP networks, presence of intruders in distributed video surveillance systems, and an automobile accident or an untimely congestion in a road network. Machine learning techniques enable the development of anomaly detection algorithms that are non-parametric, adaptive to changes in the characteristics of normal behaviour in the relevant network, and portable across applications. In this paper we use two different datasets, pictures of a highway in Quebec taken by a network of webcams and IP traffic statistics from the Abilene network, as examples in demonstrating the applicability of two machine learning algorithms to network anomaly detection. We investigate the use of the block-based One-Class Neighbour Machine and the recursive Kernel-based Online Anomaly Detection algorithms.
A Gap Analysis Tool for SMEs Targeting ISO/IEC 27001 Compliance

Current trends indicate that information security is critical for today’s enterprises. As managers realise they cannot ignore the potential security risks, they tend to turn to the ISO/IEC 27001 standard, in order to implement an Information Security Management System (ISMS). While being adopted by large companies, ISMS are still considered as out of range by numerous smaller entities. To help SMEs to access to ISO/IEC 27001 certification is still a challenge. In this context, the initial step of an ISMS implementation project is significant: a gap analysis highlighting the current status of the enterprise with regards to the standard, and thus the resources needed to succeed in this project. This paper presents the method and research works performed in order to design, experiment and improve a SME-oriented gap analysis tool for ISO/IEC 27001.
Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: Implementing a Tiered Home–School Partnership Model to Promote School Readiness

An ecological perspective to school readiness focuses on child and family readiness by enhancing the developmental contexts and relationships within which children reside (e.g., home environment, parent–child relationship, home–school relationships). The Getting Ready intervention is an ecological, relationally based, tiered intervention providing both universal and intensive services to children and families to promote child and family school readiness. Intensive level consultation services were provided via Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC; Sheridan & Kratochwill, 1992, 2008). The purpose of this article is to describe the implementation and effects of CBC within the Getting Ready intervention to promote child and family school readiness. Keys to successful implementation of the CBC intervention and issues needing further investigation are discussed.
Register Cache System Not for Latency Reduction Purpose

A register cache has been proposed to solve the problems of the huge register files of recent super scalar processors. The register cache reduces the effective access latency of the register file for IPC improvement, simplifies the bypass network, and reduces the ports of the main register file. Though the primary purpose of the previous works is to improve IPC, the misses on the register cache may degrade the IPC. We propose Non-Latency-Oriented Register Cache System (NORCS). Though the effects of NORCS are the same as the conventional systems, it is free from register cache miss penalties that the conventional systems suffer from. In NORCS, the register cache itself is not different from that of the conventional systems. The difference is that the instruction pipeline has stages to read the main register file, which all instructions go through regardless of register cache hit / miss. Therefore, the instruction pipeline of NORCS is not immediately disturbed by the register cache misses. For a realistic 4-way super scalar processor, NORCS can simplify the bypass network to the same complexity as a 1-cycle-latency register file, and reduce the ports of the main register file from 12 to 4. CACTI simulation shows that the area and power consumption are reduced to 24.9% and 31.9% compared to the baseline model without register cache. Though these results are not different from the conventional systems, IPCs differ greatly. IPC of the conventional system decreases to 83.1% because of the cache miss penalties, while that of NORCS is retained at 98.0%.
Modeling Bottom-Up Learning from Activity in Soar

This paper presents an implementation of bottom-up learning in a cognitive model. The paper relates the learning mechanism, its implementation in a Soar agent, and an experiment where the agent learns to solve an example task. The agent first learns primary schemas (low-level patterns of behavior) and then secondary schemas (patterns of primary schemas). This implementation draws from theories of hierarchical sequence learning and constructivist learning. It constitutes a first implementation of these theories in Soar, and it shows that Soar can be used to model bottom-up learning, using the weighted preference mechanism available in Soar 9. This study also shows the importance of modeling the agent's activity traces to help the modeler develop the agent. This approach offers a way to represent how autonomous agents create declarative knowledge from and about their interaction with their environment, teammates or opponents.
EMC ’ 09 / Kyoto Computational Dosimetry on Contact Currents from Charged Human Body

Contact current, defined as indirect effects of electromagnetic fields, flows a human body when contacting with an object such as a metal structure at a different electric potential, and may stimulate muscle and peripheral nerve. Thus, numerical analyses of electric fields induced by contact currents in a human body have been performed. Computational methods and evaluations of effects of transient field associated with contact currents have not yet been understood sufficiently. In the present study, we have simulated induced electric field in a human body due to contact current with dispersive FDTD method incorporated with a Japanese adult male model developed at National Institute of Information and Communication Technology. We compared FDTD calculations of body surface magnetic fields caused by contact current with measurements to validate our FDTD modeling, and then calculated induced peak electric field. As a result, we found that calculated and measured result of body surface magnetic fields are in fair agreement, confirming the validity of our FDTD modelling. The induced electric field becomes higher around the arm, while relatively lower in the central nerve systems.
The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: Preliminary Results

Spectroscopic observations for a new survey of 250 000 galaxy redshifts are underway, using the 2dF instrument at the AAT. The input galaxy catalogue and commissioning data are described. The first result from the preliminary data is a new estimate of the galaxy luminosity function at =0.1.
The 1999 Hercules X-1 Anomalous Low State

A failed main-on in the 35 day cycle of Her X-1 was observed with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer on 1999 April 26. Exceptions to the normal 35 day cycle have been seen only twice before—in 1983 and again in 1993. We present timing and spectral results of this latest anomalous low state (ALS) along with comparisons to the main-on and normal low states. Pulsations were observed in the 3-18 keV band with a fractional rms variation of 0.037 ± 0.003. Spectral analysis indicates that the ALS spectrum has the same shape as the main-on but is modified by heavy absorption and scattering. We find that 70% of the observed emission has passed through a cold absorber (NH = 5.0 × 1023 cm-2). This partially absorbing spectral fit can be applied to the normal low state with similar results. We find that the ALS observations may be interpreted as a decrease in inclination of the accretion disk causing the central X-ray source to be obscured over the entire 35 day cycle.
An Experimental Test of the Dose‐Dependent Effect of Carotenoids and Immune Activation on Sexual Signals and Antioxidant Activity

Carotenoid‐based sexual traits are thought to be reliable indicators of male quality because they might be scarce and therefore might indicate the ability of males to gather high‐quality food and because they are involved in important physiological functions (as immune enhancers and antioxidants). We performed an experiment where male and female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) were provided with increasing carotenoid doses in the drinking water during 4 weeks (bill color of this species is a carotenoid‐based sexual signal). Simultaneously, birds were split into two groups: one receiving weekly injections of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide in order to activate the immune system, the other being injected with the same volume of phosphate buffered saline. We assessed how carotenoid availability and immune activation affected the amount of circulating plasma carotenoids, the beak color, and the antioxidant defenses (assessed as the resistance of red blood cells to a controlled free radical attack). Carotenoid availability affected the amount of circulating carotenoids and beak color; both variables reached a plateau at the highest carotenoid doses. Immune activation diverted carotenoids from plasma, and this in turn affected the expression of the sexual trait. Finally, we found a positive correlation between the change in circulating carotenoids and antioxidant defenses. These results support the idea that carotenoids have important physiological properties that ensure the honesty of carotenoid‐based sexual traits.
A comparison between the effects of flaxseed oil and fish oil supplementation on cardiovascular health in type 2 diabetic patients with coronary heart disease: A randomized, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled trial

This study compared the effects of flaxseed and fish oil supplementation on cardiovascular risk parameters in diabetic patients with coronary heart disease. Participants were randomly allocated into three intervention groups to receive either 1,000 mg of omega‐3 fatty acids from fish oil or 1,000 mg of omega‐3 fatty acids from flaxseed oil or placebo (n = 30 each group) twice a day for 12 weeks. A significant reduction in insulin levels (.04) was observed following flaxseed oil and fish oil supplementation compared with the placebo. In addition, a significant reduction in high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (.02) was seen after flaxseed oil supplementation compared with the placebo and a significant increase in total nitrite (.001) was seen after flaxseed oil and fish oil intake compared with placebo. Additionally, a significant increase in total antioxidant capacity (p < .001) after consuming flaxseed oil and fish oil compared with placebo and glutathione levels (.001) after consuming fish oil compared with flaxseed oil and placebo was observed. Overall, our study revealed the beneficial effects of flaxseed oil and fish oil supplementation on few metabolic profiles. This study suggests that the effect of flaxseed oil in reducing insulin and increasing total nitrite and total antioxidant capacity is similar to fish oil.
Spontaneous Pelvic Rupture as a Result of Renal Colic in a Patient with Klinefelter Syndrome

We present the case of a young man with Klinefelter syndrome, who was admitted to our clinic with renal colic. Shortly after admittance, spontaneous decrease in pain has occurred. Ultrasound and intravenous contrast computed tomography were performed, which showed the evidence of urine extravasation at the level of left renal pelvis and a 4 mm stone in the lower third of the left ureter. The management with a double-J ureteric stent for three weeks was successful. Then, the stent was removed and computed tomography confirmed the absence of urine extravasation. We also analyze the literature related to this case and discuss the main mechanisms of collecting system rupture.
Fast Geometric Consensus Approach for Protein Model Quality Assessment

Model quality assessment (MQA) is an integral part of protein structure prediction methods that typically generate multiple candidate models. The challenge lies in ranking and selecting the best models using a variety of physical, knowledge-based, and geometric consensus (GC)-based scoring functions. In particular, 3D-Jury and related GC methods assume that well-predicted (sub-)structures are more likely to occur frequently in a population of candidate models, compared to incorrectly folded fragments. While this approach is very successful in the context of diversified sets of models, identifying similar substructures is computationally expensive since all pairs of models need to be superimposed using MaxSub or related heuristics for structure-to-structure alignment. Here, we consider a fast alternative, in which structural similarity is assessed using 1D profiles, e.g., consisting of relative solvent accessibilities and secondary structures of equivalent amino acid residues in the respective models. We show that the new approach, dubbed 1D-Jury, allows to implicitly compare and rank N models in O(N) time, as opposed to quadratic complexity of 3D-Jury and related clustering-based methods. In addition, 1D-Jury avoids computationally expensive 3D superposition of pairs of models. At the same time, structural similarity scores based on 1D profiles are shown to correlate strongly with those obtained using MaxSub. In terms of the ability to select the best models as top candidates 1D-Jury performs on par with other GC methods. Other potential applications of the new approach, including fast clustering of large numbers of intermediate structures generated by folding simulations, are discussed as well.
VCLCR: A Practical Geographic Routing Protocol in Urban Scenarios

In this paper, we propose VANET Cross Link Corrected Routing (VCLCR), a simple yet novel, event-driven geographic routing protocol that removes cross links dynamically to avoid routing loops in urban Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs). VCLCR uses the natural planar feature of urban maps without the problematic planarization strategy. The salient features of dynamic loop detection and statelessness make VCLCR suitable for highly mobile VANET. We have shown that in both static and mobile cases, VCLCR’s packet delivery ratio (PDR) is consistently higher than GPSR’s and GPCR’s. We have also shown that caching (VCLCR+Cache) provides the same high PDR but fewer hops. As the problem of cross links greatly manifests itself in urban environments filled with traffic lights and intersection roads, VCLCR proves promising in making geographic routing possible.
The Sun Has a Significant Influence on the Climate

Introduction According to the latest IPCC report, AR5, the influence of the Sun on our climate since pre-industrial times, in terms of radiative forcing, is very small compared to the variation of radiative forcing due to added anthropogenic greenhouse gases: 0.05 [0.00 to 0.10] W/m 2 vs. 2.29 [1.13 to 3.33] W/m
Limits on the infrared photometric monitoring of brown dwarfs

Recent monitoring programmes of ultra-cool field M and L dwarfs (low-mass stars or brown dwarfs) have uncovered low-amplitude photometric I-band variations that may be associated with an inhomogeneous distribution of photospheric condensates. Further evidence hints that this distribution may evolve on very short time-scales, specifically of the order of a rotation period or less. In an attempt to study this behaviour in more detail, we have carried out a pilot programme to monitor three L dwarfs in the near-infrared where these objects are significantly brighter than at shorter wavelengths. We present a robust data analysis method for improving the precision and reliability of infrared photometry. No significant variability was detected in either the J or K' bands in 2M1439 and SDSS1203 above a peak-to-peak amplitude of 0.04 mag (0.08 mag for 2M1112). The main limiting factor in achieving lower detection limits is suspected to be second-order extinction effects in the atmosphere of the Earth, on account of the very different colours of the target and reference stars. Suggestions are given for overcoming such effects, which should improve the sensitivity and reliability of infrared variability searches.
Sensor Networks and Cooperative Control

This paper provides a tutorial-style overview of sensor networks from a systems and control theory perspective. We identify key sensor network design and operational control problems and present solution approaches that have been proposed to date. These include deployment, routing, scheduling, and power control. In the case of mobile nodes, a sensor network is called upon to perform a "mission". We present solution approaches to two types of missions, both involving stochastic mission spaces and cooperative control: reward maximization missions, and coverage control missions. We conclude by outlining some fundamental research questions related to sensor networks and the convergence of communication, computing, and control.