Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A stimulus pattern extraction algorithm based on saliency map for a 625-channel retinal prosthesis system

Electronic retinal prosthesis system has been developed to restore some vision for the blinds who lose their vision due to kind of retinal diseases. The image processing of retinal prosthesis system converts the original images from the camera to the stimulus pattern that can be properly interpreted by the brain. Practically, the original images are with much high resolution (256×256) than that of the stimulus pattern (such as 25×25), which causes a technical challenge to extract the stimulus pattern from the original image. In this paper, we focus on developing an efficient stimulus pattern extraction algorithm by using the single cue saliency map, where the salient objects in the image with an optimal trimming threshold are extracted. Experimental results show that the proposed stimulus pattern extraction algorithm performs quite well for different scenes in terms of the perception of the stimulus pattern. Some suggestions are also given on trimming threshold selection for different scenes.
Bulgarian Wordnet – Structure and Validation Svetla KOEVA , Stoyan MIHOV

This paper presents a brief description of the semantic relations included in the Bulgarian wordnet. A complete and decidable formal logic for the wordnet structure is also proposed. This logic provides sufficient expressive power for all important verifications, queries, and consistency and completeness proofs required for wordnet applications. Some parameters concerning Bulgarian synsets and language-internal relations, as well as the distinctive features characterizing the completeness and consistency of the Bulgarian wordnet are
Implementing Selective Attention in Machines: The Case of Touch-Driven Saccades

Recent paradigms in the fields of robotics and machine perception have emphasized the importance of selective attention mechanisms for perceiving and interacting with the environment. In the case of a system involved in operations requiring a physical interaction with the surrounding environment, a major role is played by the capability of attentively responding to tactile events. By performing somatosensory saccades, the nature of the cutaneous stimulation can be assessed, and new motor actions can be planned. However, the study of touch-driven attention, has almost been neglected by robotics researchers. In this paper the development of visuo-cutaneo coordination for the production of somatosensory saccades is investigated, and a general architecture for integrating different kinds of attentive mechanisms is proposed. The system autonomously discovers the sensorymotor transformation which links tactile events to visual saccades, on the basis of multisensory consistencies and basic, built-in, motor reflexes. Results obtained both with simulations and robotic experiments are analyzed.
Re-description of the tadpole of Pleurodema somuncurensis (Cei, 1969) (Amphibia: Anura).

The monotypic genus Somuncuria was erected by Lynch (1978) on the basis of external morphology and osteology of the adults of Telmatobius somuncurensis Cei, 1969. In addition, Lynch remarked a general resemblance between Somuncuria and Pleurodema . The recent phylogenetic analysis by Faivovich et al. (2012) recovered Somuncuria nested into Pleurodema and closely related to Pleurodema bufoninum . According to Faivovich et al. (2012), these species have nearly identical sequences and additional study is required to establish populations identity. Pleurodema somuncurensis inhabits thermal springs at mid altitudes (500–800 ma.s.l.) in a restricted geographic range at Meseta de Somuncura, Rio Negro Province, Argentina (Cei, 1969).
A scalable and accurate hybrid vulnerability analysis framework

Software security assurance is an important process in software development that protects the sensitive data and resources contained in and controlled by the software. Addressing security vulnerabilities at an early phase could decrease the cost of addressing them in later stages by two orders of magnitude. In order to detect vulnerabilities in Web services and Web applications in a scalable and accurate manner, we aim at developing a hybrid vulnerability analysis framework which combines program analysis, symbolic execution and machine learning. We use program analysis to identify potential vulnerable execution branches within the source code for the purpose of guiding the symbolic execution along the potentially vulnerable execution paths. We also propose scalable constraint solving techniques for vulnerability analysis. To further enhance scalability and accuracy, we also apply machine learning by incorporating predictors for identifying potentially vulnerable paths of the program based on known vulnerable cases.
Quantized feedback information in orthogonal space-time block coding

This work considers how the presence of quantized channel information obtained from a feedback link may be utilized for determining a transmit weighting matrix that improves the performance of a predetermined orthogonal space-time block (OSTB) code. To reduce the effects of feedback delay, quantization errors and feedback channel bit errors, methods based on vector quantization for noisy channels are used in the design of the feedback link. The resulting transmission scheme and feedback link take the imperfect nature of the channel information into account while combining the benefits of conventional beamforming with those provided by OSTB coding.
An Economic Analysis Method of Weapon System Based on Weighted Feature Selection

In the traditional feature selection, only a simple feature selection can be made, which will lead to the loss of information. In this paper, the requirement of weapon system economic analysis on the cost forecasting and the importance analysis of tactical and technical indicators were taken into account, moreover, considering the shortcomings of the traditional method of feature selection, A weighted feature selection with the supervised wrapper mode was used in the economic analysis of weapon system, which can effectively distinguish the influence of different features on the cost. In view of the good application effects of support vector machine (SVM), as well as a good performance of the mixture of kernels, the relationship model among the features and the cost was established based on SVM with the mixture of kernels. In addition, considering the consistency of feature selection and the establishment of cost forecasting model, a joint optimization method based on hybrid particle swarm optimization (PSO) was adopted, which can achieve the influence analysis of features and the optimization of cost forecasting model, that is, the economic analysis and cost forecasting can be done synchronically. Experiments show that the proposed method is effective.
Sinc-Cauchy hybrid wavelet kernel for Support Vector Machines

Support vector machine (SVM) is a machine-learning algorithm, which learns to perform the classification task through a supervised learning procedure, based on pre-classified data examples. Support vector classification using a Sinc-Cauchy hybrid wavelet kernel is presented in this paper. A hybrid wavelet kernel construction for support vector machine is introduced. The construction involves a multi-dimensional sinc wavelet function together with Cauchy kernel. We show that the hybrid kernel is an admissible kernel. Hybrid kernels provide better classification of the signal points in the mapped feature space. The Sinc-Cauchy hybrid kernel thus constructed is used for the classification of cardiac single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images and cardiac arrhythmia signals. The experimental results show that promising generalization performance can be achieved with the hybrid kernel, compared to conventional kernels.
Wilson Loop in Classical Lattice Gauge Theory and the Thermal Width of Heavy Quarkonium

We present an estimate for the imaginary part of the recently introduced finite- temperature real-time static potential. It can be extracte d from the time evolution of the Wil- son loop in classical lattice gauge theory. The real-time st atic potential determines, through a Schrodinger-type equation and a subsequent Fourier-transform of its solution, the spectral func- tion of heavy quarkonium in finite-temperature QCD. We also c ompare the results of the classical simulations with those of Hard Thermal Loop improved simulations, as well as with analytic expectations based on resummed perturbation theory.
Reduced Gyrification is Related to Reduced Interhemispheric Connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on King's Research Portal is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Post-Print version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination, volume/issue, and date of publication details. And where the final published version is provided on the Research Portal, if citing you are again advised to check the publisher's website for any subsequent corrections.
2 Clustering mean shifts with a Pólya urn scheme

We discuss a model-based approach to identifying clusters of objects based on subsets of attributes, so that the attributes that distinguish a cluster from the rest of the population may depend on the cluster being considered. The method is based on a Pólya urn cluster model for multivariate means and variances, resulting in a multivariate Dirichlet process mixture model. This particular model-based approach accommodates outliers and allows for the incorporation of application-specific data features into the clustering scheme. For example, in an analysis of genetic CGH array data we are able to design a clustering method that accounts for spatial dependence of chromosomal abnormalities.
Configurations of multiple disparities in reading performance: longitudinal observations across France, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom

Abstract Research provides evidence that gender, immigrant background and socio-economic characteristics present multiple disadvantaging characteristics that change their relative importance and configurations over time. When evaluating inequalities researchers tend to focus on one particular aspect and often use composite measures when evaluating socio-economic characteristics. Neither can fully represent the complexity of students’ various disadvantaging characteristics, which have autonomous associations with attainment and with each other. This paper investigates how the relative importance and configurations of different disadvantaging factors have changed over time to form educational inequalities and how these changes differ across countries. Data from five PISA cycles (2000–2012) for France, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom are used and configurations of gender, immigration background, parents’ occupational and educational levels, and the number of books at home evaluated. Results enable us to relate changes (or lack thereof) in configurations of disadvantaging factors to recent reforms targeted at reducing educational inequality after the first PISA results.
Poster: Creating a user-specific perspective view for mobile mixed reality systems on smartphones

We propose a method for creating a user-specific perspective view for mobile mixed reality (MR) systems that provides three-dimensional perception based on pseudo motion parallax. In general, most common mainstream interface for a hand-held AR/MR system is video-see-through style with a device-perspective view. On the other hand, our method provides a user-perspective view, which displays MR images according to the user's viewpoint and the position of the display. Namely, our method trims a scene behind the display and superimposes CG images in consideration of the user's point of view. This enables the user to perceive a stereoscopic effect with a non-3D display based on pseudo motion parallax. We implemented a prototype and tested our proposed method on smartphones.
Navigational support in lifelong learning: Enhancing effectiveness through indirect social navigation

Efficient and effective lifelong learning requires that learners can make well informed choices from a vast amount of learning opportunities. This article proposes to support learners by drawing on principles of self-organization and indirect social navigation; by analysing choices made by learners who went before and feeding this information back as advice to present learners. A tool, developed to offer indirect social navigation through collaborative filtering, and tested in a controlled experiment, showed positive effects on effectiveness (progress and completion rates) though not on efficiency (time taken to complete and learners' perception of learning track efficiency). Learners in the experimental group were not faster at completing all available units of learning nor did they evaluate learning track efficiency more positively. Responses on the five-point scale measuring learning track efficiency seemed to indicate a dichotomy rather than an ordinal scale. Learners stated either that studying the units of learning in a different order might have led to increased understanding of the content or that a different order would not have led to greater efficiency. Analysing this dichotomy in relation to learning track characteristics by means of the decision tree induction data mining technique, revealed that a small subset of navigational choices discriminated between a positive evaluation on the one hand and doubts regarding the efficiency of the learning track on the other hand. These results suggest that positive effects for efficiency might be achieved, by incorporating learners' overall evaluations of learning tracks into the advice.
A Joint Design of Distributed QoS Scheduling and Power Control for Wireless Networks

The capacity of a power controlled wireless network can be changing due to user’s mobility, fading or shadowing effects. As a result, the quality of service (QOS) of users accepted by call admission control may not be guaranteed in a wireless network. In this paper, we propose a two-phase distributed scheduling algorithm to identify a subset of wireless users whose QOS is guaranteed. In the first phase, each link transmits with a probing power and each user determines whether it can be a member of the basic feasible set or not in a distributed manner. In the second phase, we develop a generalized call admission control algorithm that attempts to merge as many as possible the rest links into the basic feasible set. We consider a variation that attempts to enlarge the set of feasible links. For starvation prevention, we discuss conflict resolution in the power domain and in the time domain. Through simulation we evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme in terms of average execution time, average packet delay and maximum of the cycle time.
The coactivator role of histone deacetylase 3 in IL-1-signaling involves deacetylation of p65 NF-κB

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) 3, as a cofactor in co-repressor complexes containing silencing mediator for retinoid or thyroid-hormone receptors (SMRT) and nuclear receptor co-repressor (N-CoR), has been shown to repress gene transcription in a variety of contexts. Here, we reveal a novel role for HDAC3 as a positive regulator of IL-1-induced gene expression. Various experimental approaches involving RNAi-mediated knockdown, conditional gene deletion or small molecule inhibitors indicate a positive role of HDAC3 for transcription of the majority of IL-1-induced human or murine genes. This effect was independent from the gene regulatory effects mediated by the broad-spectrum HDAC inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) and thus suggests IL-1-specific functions for HDAC3. The stimulatory function of HDAC3 for inflammatory gene expression involves a mechanism that uses binding to NF-κB p65 and its deacetylation at various lysines. NF-κB p65-deficient cells stably reconstituted to express acetylation mimicking forms of p65 (p65 K/Q) had largely lost their potential to stimulate IL-1-triggered gene expression, implying that the co-activating property of HDAC3 involves the removal of inhibitory NF-κB p65 acetylations at K122, 123, 314 and 315. These data describe a novel function for HDAC3 as a co-activator in inflammatory signaling pathways and help to explain the anti-inflammatory effects frequently observed for HDAC inhibitors in (pre)clinical use.
Towards a novel infrastructure for conducting high productive cloud-based scientific analytics

The life-science and health care research environments offer an abundance of new opportunities for improvement of their efficiency and productivity using big data in collaborative research processes. A key component of this development is e-Science analytics, which is typically supported by Cloud computing nowadays. However, the state-of-the-art Cloud technology does not provide an appropriate support for high-productivity e-Science analytics. In this paper, we show how productivity of Cloud-based analytics systems can be increased by (a) supporting researchers with integrating multiple problem solving environments into the life cycle of data analysis, (b) parallel code execution on top of multiple cores or computing machines, (c) enabling safe inclusion of sensitive datasets into analytical processes through improved security mechanisms, (d) introducing scientific dataspace-a novel data management abstraction, and (e) automatic analysis services enabling a faster discovery of scientific insights and providing hints to detect potential new topics of interests. Moreover, an appropriate formal productivity model for evaluating infrastructure design decisions was developed. The result of the realization of this vision, a key contribution of this effort, is called the High-Productivity Framework that was tested and evaluated using real life-science application domain addressing breath gas analysis applied e.g. in the cancer treatment.
Variability analysis and FinFET-based design of XOR and XNOR circuit

Due to aggressive scaling and process imperfection in sub-45 nm technology node Vt (threshold voltage) shift is more pronounced causing large variations in circuit response. Therefore, this paper presents the analyses of various popular XOR/XNOR circuits in light of PVT (process, voltage and temperature) variations to verify their functionality and robustness. This paper first investigates output levels of various XOR/XNOR circuits. It further analyses those XOR/XNOR circuits offering better output levels in terms of delay and energy-delay product (EDP). It also performs variability analysis of those parameters to determine robustness of the XOR/XNOR designs. Finally, it implements the best XOR/XNOR circuit in emerging FinFET technology to achieve even better results in terms of propagation delay and EDP. The proposed FinFET-based implementation of XOR/XNOR circuit offers 1.4× improvement in delay and 1.8× improvement in EDP compared to its CMOS counterpart. It proves to be immune against process variation. It proves its robustness by offering 19.3× improvements in delay variability and 10.8× improvements in EDP variability.
Modeling halotropism: a key role for root tip architecture and reflux loop remodeling in redistributing auxin

A key characteristic of plant development is its plasticity in response to various and dynamically changing environmental conditions. Tropisms contribute to this flexibility by allowing plant organs to grow from or towards environmental cues. Halotropism is a recently described tropism in which plant roots bend away from salt. During halotropism, as in most other tropisms, directional growth is generated through an asymmetric auxin distribution that generates differences in growth rate and hence induces bending. Here, we develop a detailed model of auxin transport in the Arabidopsis root tip and combine this with experiments to investigate the processes generating auxin asymmetry during halotropism. Our model points to the key role of root tip architecture in allowing the decrease in PIN2 at the salt-exposed side of the root to result in a re-routing of auxin to the opposite side. In addition, our model demonstrates how feedback of auxin on the auxin transporter AUX1 amplifies this auxin asymmetry, while a salt-induced transient increase in PIN1 levels increases the speed at which this occurs. Using AUX1-GFP imaging and pin1 mutants, we experimentally confirmed these model predictions, thus expanding our knowledge of the cellular basis of halotropism. Summary: During halotropism, root tip architecture allows for a decrease in PIN2 at the salt-exposed side of the root, resulting in re-routing of auxin to the opposite side; feedback on AUX1 amplifies this auxin asymmetry.
Essential Role of GATA2 in the Negative Regulation of Type 2 Deiodinase Gene by Liganded Thyroid Hormone Receptor β2 in Thyrotroph

The inhibition of thyrotropin (thyroid stimulating hormone; TSH) by thyroid hormone (T3) and its receptor (TR) is the central mechanism of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis. Two transcription factors, GATA2 and Pit-1, determine thyrotroph differentiation and maintain the expression of the β subunit of TSH (TSHβ). We previously reported that T3-dependent repression of the TSHβ gene is mediated by GATA2 but not by the reported negative T3-responsive element (nTRE). In thyrotrophs, T3 also represses mRNA of the type-2 deiodinase (D2) gene, where no nTRE has been identified. Here, the human D2 promoter fused to the CAT or modified Renilla luciferase gene was co-transfected with Pit-1 and/or GATA2 expression plasmids into cell lines including CV1 and thyrotroph-derived TαT1. GATA2 but not Pit-1 activated the D2 promoter. Two GATA responsive elements (GATA-REs) were identified close to cAMP responsive element. The protein kinase A activator, forskolin, synergistically enhanced GATA2-dependent activity. Gel-shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays with TαT1 cells indicated that GATA2 binds to these GATA-REs. T3 repressed the GATA2-induced activity of the D2 promoter in the presence of the pituitary-specific TR, TRβ2. The inhibition by T3-bound TRβ2 was dominant over the synergism between GATA2 and forskolin. The D2 promoter is also stimulated by GATA4, the major GATA in cardiomyocytes, and this activity was repressed by T3 in the presence of TRα1. These data indicate that the GATA-induced activity of the D2 promoter is suppressed by T3-bound TRs via a tethering mechanism, as in the case of the TSHβ gene.
Robust damping controller design in power systems with superconducting magnetic energy storage devices

Summary form only given as follows. The decentralized design of low-order robust damping controllers is presented based on a weighted and normalized eigenvalue-distance minimization method (WNEDM) employing several superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) devices. These controllers an aimed at enhancing the damping of multiple inter-area modes in a large power system. This paper describes a comprehensive and systematic way of designing these controllers. Nonlinear simulations further verify the robustness of the damping controllers for various operating conditions.