Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Live-User Evaluation of Collaborative Web Search

Collaborative Web search exploits repetition and regularity within the query-space of a community of like-minded individuals in order to improve the quality of search results. In short, search results that have been judged to be relevant for past queries are promoted in response to similar queries that occur in the future. In this paper we present the results of a large-scale evaluation of this approach, in a corporate Web search scenario, which shows that significant benefits are available to its users.
A novel design of multi-blocks light guide plate for dimming edge-type LED backlight

With the enhancement of mobile devices features, to reduce the power consumption and extend the battery duration is a big challenge. To reduce power consumption and enhance the image display quality in the mobile devices, a novel structure of Multi-blocks Light Guide Plate (LGP) in the edge-type backlight module is proposed in this paper. The novel structure of LGP limits the backlight in one block and the brightness of each block can be dynamic controlled. Moreover, the users of mobile devices can set the “Clipping Threshold” themselves according to their needs.
Differences in molecular characteristics between Cronartium quercuum from Japan and fusiform rust from USA

haracteristics were compared among Cronartium quercuzzm f. sp . densiflorae and C. quercuum f. sp, thurzbergii from Japan ami C. quercuum f.sp. fusifomze, fusiform rust from the USA. We examined the PCR-amplifield internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of ribosomal DNA from Japanese and American sources of aeciospores by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and nucleotide sequences. The ITS regions of six collections from Pinus densflora and four collections from P. thunbergii from Japan and five collections from the native American hosts P. taeda or P. e l l io t t i i were amplif ied by PCR. The RFLP pat terns with the three enzymes Dra I, Hinf I and Toq I showed clear differences between the two Japanese formae speciales an the American C. quercuum f. sp. fusiforrne. No differences were found in e RFLP patterns between f f . spp. densif lorae Nucleotide sequences of the ITS2 region confirmed the ween ff. sp. densij7orae and jksiforme. Comparisons with btained from GenBank database on the other fornuze speciales in C. quercuum also comfirmed the dist inct iveness off . sp. densiflorae. These molecular data supported ological differences reported earlier between the Asiam and Ame in the C. quercuum complex.
Riemann-Roch and index formulae in twisted K-theory

In this paper, we establish the Riemann-Roch theorem in twisted K-theory extending our earlier results. As an application, we prove a twisted index formula and show that D-brane charges in Type I and Type II string theory are classified by twisted KO-theory and twisted K-theory respectively in the presence of B-fields as proposed by Witten.
A semicontinuity theorem and its application to network source coding

For a general class of Gaussian network source coding problems for which no single-letter characterization of the rate-distortion region is known, it is shown that the rate- distortion region is inner semicontinuous with respect to the source distribution. This semicontinuity theorem is used to obtain two new results, one for the Gaussian many-help-one problem and one for the Gaussian robust distributed source coding problem.
Inhibition of Candida parapsilosis Fatty Acid Synthase (Fas2) Induces Mitochondrial Cell Death in Serum

We have recently observed that a fatty acid auxotrophic mutant (fatty acid synthase, Fas2Δ/Δ) of the emerging human pathogenic yeast Candida parapsilosis dies after incubation in various media including serum. In the present study we describe the mechanism for cell death induced by serum and glucose containing media. We show that Fas2Δ/Δ yeast cells are profoundly susceptible to glucose leading us to propose that yeast cells lacking fatty acids exhibit uncontrolled metabolism in response to glucose. We demonstrate that incubation of Fas2Δ/Δ yeast cells with serum leads to cell death, and this process can be prevented with inhibition of protein or DNA synthesis, indicating that newly synthesized cellular components are detrimental to the mutant cells. Furthermore, we have found that cell death is mediated by mitochondria. Suppression of electron transport enzymes using inhibitors such as cyanide or azide prevents ROS overproduction and Fas2Δ/Δ yeast cell death. Additionally, deletion of mitochondrial DNA, which encodes several subunits for enzymes of the electron transport chain, significantly reduces serum-induced Fas2Δ/Δ yeast cell death. Therefore, our results show that serum and glucose media induce Fas2Δ/Δ yeast cell death by triggering unbalanced metabolism, which is regulated by mitochondria. To our knowledge, this is the first study to critically define a link between cytosolic fatty acid synthesis and mitochondrial function in response to serum stress in C. parapsilosis.
A systematic review of counterfeit and substandard medicines in field quality surveys

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The Impact of cHS4 Insulators on DNA Transposon Vector Mobilization and Silencing in Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells

DNA transposons have become important vectors for efficient non-viral integration of transgenes into genomic DNA. The Sleeping Beauty (SB), piggyBac (PB), and Tol2 transposable elements have distinct biological properties and currently represent the most promising transposon systems for animal transgenesis and gene therapy. A potential obstacle, however, for persistent function of integrating vectors is transcriptional repression of the element and its genetic cargo. In this study we analyze the insulating effect of the 1.2-kb 5′-HS4 chicken β-globin (cHS4) insulator element in the context of SB, PB, and Tol2 transposon vectors. By examining transgene expression from genomically inserted transposon vectors encoding a marker gene driven by a silencing-prone promoter, we detect variable levels of transcriptional silencing for the three transposon systems in retinal pigment epithelium cells. Notably, the PB system seems less vulnerable to silencing. Incorporation of cHS4 insulator sequences into the transposon vectors results in 2.2-fold and 1.5-fold increased transgene expression levels for insulated SB and PB vectors, respectively, but an improved persistency of expression was not obtained for insulated transgenes. Colony formation assays and quantitative excision assays unveil enhanced SB transposition efficiencies by the inclusion of the cHS4 element, resulting in a significant increase in the stable transfection rate for insulated SB transposon vectors in human cell lines. Our findings reveal a positive impact of cHS4 insulator inclusion for SB and PB vectors in terms of increased transgene expression levels and improved SB stable transfection rates, but also the lack of a long-term protective effect of the cHS4 insulator against progressive transgene silencing in retinal pigment epithelium cells.
Implementation and quality testing for compact models implemented in Verilog-A

An overview on the implementation of new physical effects into the heterojunction bipolar transistor compact model HICUM/L2 is presented along with a description of the quality testing procedures performed before its public release for production circuit design in commercial simulators. Related topics such as potential measures for model run time improvements and failures are also discussed. Significant differences in run time for different commercial circuit simulators reflect their different approaches towards compact model implementation and solution of the non-linear circuit equation system.
Parental risk factors for the development of pediatric acute and chronic postsurgical pain: a longitudinal study

Background The goal of this longitudinal study was to examine the associations among psychological factors and pain reports of children and their parents over the 12 month period after pediatric surgery. Materials and methods Included in the study were 83 children aged 8–18 years undergoing major surgery. In each case, the child and one of their parents completed measures of pain intensity and unpleasantness, psychological function, and functional disability at 48–72 hours, 2 weeks (child only), 6 months, and 12 months after surgery. Results The strength of the correlation coefficients between the psychological measures of the parent and their child increased significantly over time. There was a fair level of agreement between parent ratings of child acute and chronic pain (6 months after surgery) and the child’s actual ratings. Parent and child pain anxiety scores 48–72 hours after surgery interacted significantly to predict pain intensity, pain unpleasantness, and functional disability levels 2 weeks after discharge from hospital. Parent pain catastrophizing scores 48–72 hours after surgery predicted child pain intensity reports 12 months later. Conclusion These results raise the possibility that as time from surgery increases, parents exert greater and greater influence over the pain response of their children, so that by 12 months postsurgery mark, parent pain catastrophizing (measured in the days after surgery) is the main risk factor for the development of postsurgical pain chronicity.
Performance estimation of spontaneous speech recognition using non-reference acoustic features

To ensure a satisfactory QoE (Quality of Experience), it is essential to establish a method that can be used to efficiently investigate recognition performance for spontaneous speech. By using this method, it is allowed to monitor the recognition performance in providing speech recognition services. It can be also used as a reliability measure in speech dialogue systems. Previously, methods for estimating the performance of noisy speech recognition based on spectral distortion measures have been proposed. Although they give an estimate of recognition performance without actually performing speech recognition, the methods cannot be applied to spontaneous speech because they require the reference speech to obtain the distortion values. To solve this problem, we propose a novel method for estimating the recognition performance of spontaneous speech with various speaking styles. The main feature is to use non-reference acoustic features that do not require the reference speech. The proposed method extracts non-reference features by openSMILE (open-Source Media Interpretation by Large feature-space Extraction) and then estimates the recognition performance by using SVR (Support Vector Regression). We confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed method by experiments using spontaneous speech data from the OGVC (On-line Gaming Voice Chat) corpus.
Boosting Facial Expression Recognition in a Noisy Environment Using LDSP-Local Distinctive Star Pattern

This paper presents a local feature descriptor, the Local Distinctive Star Pattern (LDSP), for facial expression recognition. The feature is obtained from a local 3x3 pixels area by computing the directional edge response value. Each pixel is represented by two 4-bit binary patterns, which is named as LDSP feature for that pixel. Each face is divided into 81 equal sized blocks and histogram of LDSP codes from those blocks are concatenated to build the feature vector for classification. The recognition performance of our descriptor is tested on popular JAFFE dataset with Support vector Machine (SVM) as classifier. Extensive experimental results with prototype expressions show that proposed LDSP descriptor is superior to existing appearancebased feature descriptor in terms of classification accuracy on static image.
On Ideal Generators for Affine Schubert Varieties

We consider a certain class of Schubert varieties of the affine Grassmannian of type A. By embedding a Schubert variety into a finite-dimensional Grassmannian, we construct an explicit basis of sections of the basic line bundle by restricting certain Pl\"ucker co-ordinates. As a consequence, we write an explicit set of generators for the degree-one part of the ideal of the finite-dimensional embedding. This in turn gives a set of generators for the degree-one part of the ideal defining the affine Grassmannian inside the infinite Grassmannian which we conjecture to be a complete set of ideal generators. We apply our results to the orbit closures of nilpotent matrices. We describe (in a characteristic-free way) a filtration for the coordinate ring of a nilpotent orbit closure and state a conjecture on the SL(n)-module structures of the constituents of this filtration.
Performance evaluation of 3D keypoint detectors for time-of-flight depth data

In object recognition techniques, specially feature-based methods, a fundamental step is to extract keypoints which are distinct and considerably interesting in the image. There are many different keypoint detectors already available, each with its own specific use and results vary enormously. It is widely agreed that evaluation of feature detectors is important. To our knowledge there is no comparative study for the performance of keypoint detectors for only depth data from Time-Of-Flight (ToF) camera. As ToF sensors are cheap and extensively used for robotic applications, especially sensors with low sensor noise like Swiss Ranger SR-4k which give only depth data, need arises for this comparative study. A meticulous acquisition of different household object's depth data has been achieved using a Cartesian robot. The pose information from the robot has been used for more accurate evaluation. Different keypoints valid for only depth data are extracted and their repeatability is evaluated. A Comparative study has also been done on standard RGB-D datasets using the new metrics we have defined, to test the correctness of our approach with state of the art approaches which have used RGB-D data.
Exercise oncology. From theory to the practice

Exercise-Oncology is an emerging area with a lot of questions for physical activity professionals focused on health. This review collects the general side effects and exercise implication and benefits, such as body composition changes, cardiovascular limitations or functional impairments as lymphedema; exercise relevance in cancer biomarkers related to cancer prognosis; as well as the exercise cautions related to some specific side effects. In addition, exercise recommendations to specialists are explained, including practice suggestions about how to personalize exercise prescription collecting a clinical history in order to control patient’s development; how to control exercise intensity with different devices; and, finally, types of exercise and how they should be developed in terms of intensity and volume.
Receipt of care and depressive symptoms in later life: the importance of self-perceptions of aging.

OBJECTIVES This study examines the extent to which self-perceptions of aging and perceived loss of control explain the relationship between the receipt of care and depressive symptoms among older adults. METHODS The sample consists of individuals aged 51 and older from the 2006, 2008, and 2010 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (n = 5,938). Structural equation modeling was used to test an analytic model that focused on the mediating effects of self-perceptions of aging and perceived loss of control. The respondents' demographic and health characteristics and depressive symptoms at baseline were included as control variables. RESULTS The results indicated that self-perceptions of aging mediated the relationship between receipt of care and depressive symptoms. That is, older adults who received a greater amount of care perceive their aging more negatively, which, in turn, increased depressive symptoms 2 years later. However, perceived loss of control did not significantly mediate the relationship between the receipt of care and depressive symptoms. DISCUSSION These findings suggest that the receipt of care may make frail older adults more vulnerable to negative self-perceptions of aging.
A Frequency Domain Approach to ARX-LF Voiced Speech Parameterization and Synthesis

The ARX-LF model interprets voiced speech as the an LF derivative glottal pulse exciting an all-pole vocal tract filter with an additional exogenous residual signal. It fully parameterizes the voice and has been shown to be useful for voice modification. Because time domain methods to determine the ARX-LF parameters from speech are very sensitive to the time placement of the analysis frame and not robust to phase distortion from e.g. recording equipment, a magnitude-only spectral approach to ARX-LF parameterization was recently developed. This paper describes extensions to this frequency domain approach to obtain continuous robust ARX-LF parameters for voiced speech segments. A listening test of 50 participants comparing synthetic speech produced by this method with a time domain ARX-LF parameterization approach under real and simulated recording conditions was conducted and it was found that the frequency domain approach was generally preferred.
On Boolean Encodings of Transition Relation for Parallel Compositions of Transition Systems

We present and compare different Boolean encodings of the transition relation for the parallel composition of transition systems, both for the asynchronous and the synchronous semantics. We compare the encodings considered by applying them to the SAT-based bounded model checking (BMC) of ECTL∗ properties. We provide experimental results which show that our new encoding for the asynchronous semantics significantly increases the efficiency of the SATbased BMC.
Clustering and Classification (Time Series analysis) Based Congestion Control algorithm: Data Mining Approach

Summary The congestion controlling in the network is done by the various approaches. Here we have given a new approach to predict the congestion by historical data points. The time series analysis is done for solving the problem. The experimental analysis is done by using actual network test-bed. The data mining approach is used for discovery and inferring the future intensity of the traffic.
Understanding Cross-Pressured Legislative Voting: The ACESA Vote

This paper looks at the major cross-pressures facing Representatives, and how these can affect their behavior when voting on environmental legislation. This was done by conducting a roll call analysis of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, using a multi-variate logit regression analysis of eight independent variables. Results showed that the non-renewable energy production of one’s district can dampen the effect of party-line voting behavior, in addition to the significant effect of public ideology and a Representative’s own environmental preferences. However, this lessening of party influence was seen more commonly in Democrats than Republicans, and production levels of renewable energy proved to be insignificant in affecting voting behavior. These findings reveal the importance of non-ideological self interests in voting behavior, show an optimistic level of policy responsiveness, and highlight the unique challenge of passing legislation to combat climate change.
Parallel gripping explicit force control of robot hand with dual fingers

To further decrease the grasping damages of robot hand with two fingers, parallel gripping explicit force control strategy with dual fingers was proposed and analyzed while grasping deformable objects. It can quickly convert the gripping force error between the desired force and the actual one acquired form the sensors into the revised input command of position control system. Both two fingers can fast reach the desired gripping position with explicit force controller which supplied the necessary correction to original planned position, and it can reduce excessive overshoots of grasping force and position. Simulation results show that, it can independently adaptive regulate the gripping position and compensate required certain position correction according the deviation from the desired force and the actual one, with which makes the fingers fast track the real time revised trajectory and realize dynamic tracking control of gripping force. Parallel gripping explicit force control are together coordinated to reduce the grasping damages and supply more grasping compliance, so it has a wider range of industrial application prospect in automation grasping and assembly.
Expression of Kv 1 . 5 K 1 Channels in Activated Microglia In Vivo

We examined the expression of outward rectifier K1 channels in activated microglia in vivo. For this purpose, lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 2 μg) was injected into the cortex near the hippocampal region of rat brains, and K1 channel expression was examined using antibodies against shaker-type K1 channels, Kv1.5 and Kv1.3. OX-42positive microglia were found around the injection sites from 8 h after the LPS injection and remained there for 3 days. The OX-42-positive microglia expressed Kv1.5 immunoreactivity, and the time course of Kv1.5 expression was closely correlated with that of OX-42. In saline-injected brains, OX-42-positive cells also expressed Kv1.5 immunoreactivity even though far fewer OX-42-positive cells were found. Increase of Kv1.5 expression after LPS injection was also demonstrated by immunoblot analysis. On the other hand, Kv1.3 immunoreactivity was barely detected in OX-42-positive cells over the entire experimental period. The expression of Kv1.5 preceded that of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which is a prominent indication of microglial activation. iNOS was not detectable until 12 h, and thereafter it was maintained for 3 days together with Kv1.5 and OX-42. These results suggest that in vivo as well as in vitro activated microglia expressed outward K1 channels and that some of the channels at least are Kv1.5. GLIA 24:408–414, 1998. r 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Chronic Hyperosmotic Stress Converts GABAergic Inhibition into Excitation in Vasopressin and Oxytocin Neurons in the Rat

In mammals, the increased secretion of arginine–vasopressin (AVP) (antidiuretic hormone) and oxytocin (natriuretic hormone) is a key physiological response to hyperosmotic stress. In this study, we examined whether chronic hyperosmotic stress weakens GABAA receptor-mediated synaptic inhibition in rat hypothalamic magnocellular neurosecretory cells (MNCs) secreting these hormones. Gramicidin-perforated recordings of MNCs in acute hypothalamic slices prepared from control rats and ones subjected to the chronic hyperosmotic stress revealed that this challenge not only attenuated the GABAergic inhibition but actually converted it into excitation. The hyperosmotic stress caused a profound depolarizing shift in the reversal potential of GABAergic response (EGABA) in MNCs. This EGABA shift was associated with increased expression of Na+–K+–2Cl− cotransporter 1 (NKCC1) in MNCs and was blocked by the NKCC inhibitor bumetanide as well as by decreasing NKCC activity through a reduction of extracellular sodium. Blocking central oxytocin receptors during the hyperosmotic stress prevented the switch to GABAergic excitation. Finally, intravenous injection of the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline lowered the plasma levels of AVP and oxytocin in rats under the chronic hyperosmotic stress. We conclude that the GABAergic responses of MNCs switch between inhibition and excitation in response to physiological needs through the regulation of transmembrane Cl− gradients.