Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Land Surface Temperature Retrievals from GOES-8 Using Emissivities Retrieved from MODIS

Recent studies at the Global Hydrology and Climate Center (GHCC) have shown that the assimilation of land skin temperature (LST) tendencies into a mesoscale model can significantly improve short-term forecasts of near surface air temperature and moisture. Derived land surface products from the GOES satellites were used in these studies to provide high spatial and temporal resolution information about the spatial and temporal variability of the land surface forcing simulated in the model. In the model assimilation studies, LST was derived using a split window technique using the 11 and 12 pm channels found on the GOES-8 Sounder. These studies used a constant surface emissivity of 0.98 for both channels. However, this emissivity assumption over the land does not take into account emissivity variations due to varying terrain characteristics and differences between channels. These emissivity variations are seen to be significant as indicated by emissivity products from the polar orbiting MODIS instrument channels similar to the GOES-8 Sounder channels mentioned above. MODIS is a key instrument aboard the Terra (EOS AM) and Aqua (EOS PM) satellites. In an attempt to improve the emissivity assumptions used in the GOES Sounder LST retrieval procedure, the incorporation of MODIS high spatial resolution (1 km) emissivity measurements into the LST procedure is being explored. This paper intercompares the LST retrievals from the GOES-8 Sounder using a constant emissivity assumption with those using MODIS retrieved emissivities. The effects of MODIS emissivities on the LST retrievals are discussed. Potential improvements in model forecasts using assimilated LST products incorporating MODIS emissivities are also examined.
Robust quantification of in vitro angiogenesis through image analysis

An automated image analysis method for quantification of in vitro angiogenesis is presented. The method is designed for in vitro angiogenesis assays that are based on co-culturing endothelial cells with fibroblasts. Such assays are used in many current studies in which anti-angiogenic agents for the treatment of cancer are being sought. This search requires accurate quantification of the stimulatory and inhibitory effects of the different agents. The quantification method gives lengths and sizes of the tubule complexes as well as the numbers of junctions in each of them. The method is tested with a set of test images obtained with a commercially available in vitro angiogenesis assay. The results correctly indicate the inhibitory effect of suramin and the stimulatory effect of vascular endothelial growth factor. Moreover, the image analysis method is shown to be robust against variations in illumination. We have implemented a software package that utilizes the methods. The software as well as a set of test images are available at http://www.cs. tut.fi/sgn/csb/angioquant/.
Automatic error region detection and characterization in LVCSR transcriptions of TV news shows

This paper addresses the issue of error region detection and characterization in LVCSR transcriptions. It is a well-known phenomenon that errors are not independent and tend to co-occur in automatic transcriptions. We are interested in automatically detecting these so-called error regions. Additionally, in the context of information extraction in TVBN shows, being able to automatically characterize detected error regions is a crucial step towards the definition of suitable recovery strategies. In this paper we propose to classify error regions in four classes with a particular focus on errors on person names. We propose several sequential detection + classification approaches and an integrated sequence labeling approach. We show that our best classification system can reach 70% classification accuracy on automatically detected error regions. Additionally, the overall system is able to detect and correctly characterize 29.6% of error region corresponding to a person name with a precision of 61.9%.
Affinity Spaces, Apprenticeships, and Agency

This empirical study examines the virtual exchanges between an African American mother and son's engagement in a blog. Using literacy as social practices as a framework, this study describes how blogging was developed and used to create affinity spaces, encouraged apprenticeship models, and shaped agentic roles within their family. Attention to these digital literacy practices is provided for teacher educators, literacy researchers, and parent, family and community advocates to acknowledge and extend our thinking of how families’ digital literacy practices shape literacy learning and interactions in digitally mediated environments.
Bringing memory fMRI to the clinic: Comparison of seven memory fMRI protocols in temporal lobe epilepsy

fMRI is increasingly implemented in the clinic to assess memory function. There are multiple approaches to memory fMRI, but limited data on advantages and reliability of different methods. Here, we compared effect size, activation lateralisation, and between‐sessions reliability of seven memory fMRI protocols: Hometown Walking (block design), Scene encoding (block design and event‐related design), Picture encoding (block and event‐related), and Word encoding (block and event‐related). All protocols were performed on three occasions in 16 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Group T‐maps showed activity bilaterally in medial temporal lobe for all protocols. Using ANOVA, there was an interaction between hemisphere and seizure‐onset lateralisation (P = 0.009) and between hemisphere, protocol and seizure‐onset lateralisation (P = 0.002), showing that the distribution of memory‐related activity between left and right temporal lobes differed between protocols and between patients with left‐onset and right‐onset seizures. Using voxelwise intraclass Correlation Coefficient, between‐sessions reliability was best for Hometown and Scenes (block and event). The between‐sessions spatial overlap of activated voxels was also greatest for Hometown and Scenes. Lateralisation of activity between hemispheres was most reliable for Scenes (block and event) and Words (event). Using receiver operating characteristic analysis to explore the ability of each fMRI protocol to classify patients as left‐onset or right‐onset TLE, only the Words (event) protocol achieved a significantly above‐chance classification of patients at all three sessions. We conclude that Words (event) protocol shows the best combination of between‐sessions reliability of the distribution of activity between hemispheres and reliable ability to distinguish between left‐onset and right‐onset patients. Hum Brain Mapp 36:1595–1608, 2015. © 2015 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Evolution of the long non-coding RNAs MALAT 1 and MEN β / ǫ

MALAT1 is one of the best-conserved long ncRNAs in mammals and shares several characteristics, among them nuclear retention and a non-standard processing of its 3’ end, with the longer, but less well conserved, adjacent MENβ RNA. We show that MALAT1 is conserved among gnathostomes (with the possible exception of birds), while MENβ likely originated in the mammalian stem lineage. Evolutionary conserved features of both transcripts are discussed, including RNA secondary structure motifs and short RNA processing products.
Unsupervised adaptation of student DNNS learned from teacher RNNS for improved ASR performance

In automatic speech recognition (ASR), adaptation techniques are used to minimize the mismatch between training and testing conditions. Many successful techniques have been proposed for deep neural network (DNN) acoustic model (AM) adaptation. Recently, recurrent neural networks (RNNs) have outperformed DNNs in ASR tasks. However, the adaptation of RNN AMs is challenging and in some cases when combined with adaptation, DNN AMs outperform adapted RNN AMs. In this paper, we combine student-teacher training and unsupervised adaptation to improve ASR performance. First, RNNs are used as teachers to train student DNNs. Then, these student DNNs are adapted in an unsupervised fashion. Experimental results on the AMI IHM and AMI SDM tasks show that student DNNs are adaptable with significant performance improvements for both frame-wise and sequentially trained systems. We also show that the combination of adapted DNNs with teacher RNNs can further improve the performance.
EPOC aware energy expenditure estimation with machine learning

In 2014, 39 % of adults were overweight, and 13 % were obese. Clearly, knowing exact energy expenditure (EE) is important for sports training and weight control. Furthermore, excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) must be included in the total EE. This paper presents a machine learning-based EE estimation approach with EPOC for aerobic exercise using a heart rate sensor. On a dataset acquired from 33 subjects, we apply machine learning algorithms using Weka machine learning toolkit. We could achieve 0.88 correlation and 0.23 kcal/min root mean square error (RMSE) with linear regression. The proposed model could be applied to various wearable devices such as a smartwatch.
Outer Pore Topology of the ECaC-TRPV5 Channel by Cysteine Scan Mutagenesis*

The substituted cysteine accessibility method (SCAM) was used to map the external vestibule and the pore region of the ECaC-TRPV5 calcium-selective channel. Cysteine residues were introduced at 44 positions from the end of S5 (Glu515) to the beginning of S6 (Ala560). Covalent modification by positively charged MTSET applied from the external medium significantly inhibited whole cell currents at 15/44 positions. Strongest inhibition was observed in the S5-linker to pore region (L520C, G521C, and E522C) with either MTSET or MTSES suggesting that these residues were accessible from the external medium. In contrast, the pattern of covalent modification by MTSET for residues between Pro527 and Ile541 was compatible with the presence of a α-helix. The absence of modification by the negatively charged MTSES in that region suggests that the pore region has been optimized to favor the entrance of positively charged ions. Cysteine mutants at positions -1, 0, +1, +2 around Asp542 (high Ca2+ affinity site) were non-functional. Whole cell currents of cysteine mutants at +4 and +5 positions were however covalently inhibited by external MTSET and MTSES. Altogether, the pattern of covalent modification by MTS reagents globally supports a KcsA homology-based three-dimensional model whereby the external vestibule in ECaC-TRPV5 encompasses three structural domains consisting of a coiled structure (Glu515 to Tyr526) connected to a small helical segment of 15 amino acids (527PTALFSTFELFLT539) followed by two distinct coiled structures Ile540-Pro544 (selectivity filter) and Ala545-Ile557 before the beginning of S6.
"Where are you pointing at?" A study of remote collaboration in a wearable videoconference system

This paper reports on an empirical study aimed at evaluating the utility of a reality-augmenting telepointer in a wearable videoconference system. Results show that using this telepointer a remote expert can effectively guide and direct a field worker's manual activities. By analyzing verbal communication behavior and pointing gestures, we were able to determine that experts overwhelmingly preferred pointing for guiding workers through physical tasks.
Role of CypA and Hsp90 in membrane translocation mediated by anthrax protective antigen

Bacillus anthracis lethal toxin consists of the protective antigen (PA) and the metalloprotease lethal factor (LF). During cellular uptake PA forms pores in membranes of endosomes, and unfolded LF translocates through the pores into the cytosol. We have investigated whether host cell chaperones facilitate translocation of LF and the fusion protein LFNDTA. LFN mediates uptake of LFNDTA into the cytosol, where DTA, the catalytic domain of diphtheria toxin, ADP‐ribosylates elongation factor‐2, allowing for detection of small amounts of translocated LFNDTA. Cyclosporin A, which inhibits peptidyl‐prolyl cis/trans isomerase activity of cyclophilins, and radicicol, which inhibits Hsp90 activity, prevented uptake of LFNDTA into the cytosol of CHO‐K1 cells and protected cells from intoxication by LFNDTA/PA. Both inhibitors, as well as an antibody against cyclophilin A blocked the release of active LFNDTA from endosomal vesicles into the cytosol in vitro. In contrast, the inhibitors did not inhibit cellular uptake of LF. In vitro, cyclophilin A and Hsp90 bound to LFNDTA and DTA but not to LF, implying that DTA determines this interaction. In conclusion, cyclophilin A and Hsp90 facilitate translocation of LFNDTA, but not of LF, across endosomal membranes, and thus they function selectively in promoting translocation of certain proteins, but not of others.
Avoidance as a predictor of the biological course of HIV infection over a 7-year period in gay men.

The present study prospectively investigated the relation between avoidance coping and active cognitive and behavioral coping and the progression of HIV infection over 7 years in 181 gay men. Findings revealed that for a number of medical and behavioral factors, (a) avoidance coping predicted a lower rate of decline in CD4 cells, (b) the proportional hazard (PH) attributable to avoidance of developing a syncytium-inducing HIV variant was 0.72 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.53 - 0.99, p < .05), and (c) the PH attributable to avoidance of dropping below 200 CD4 cells/microl was 0.66 (95% CI: 0.50 - 0.89, p < .01). Avoidance coping was not related to the development of AIDS-defining clinical symptoms. Active cognitive and behavioral coping was not related to the outcome measures.
Cerebral Activity Changes in Different Traditional Chinese Medicine Patterns of Psychogenic Erectile Dysfunction Patients

Background. Pattern differentiation is the foundation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED). This study aims to investigate the differences in cerebral activity in ED patients with different TCM patterns. Methods. 27 psychogenic ED patients and 27 healthy subjects (HS) were enrolled in this study. Each participant underwent an fMRI scan in resting state. The fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) was used to detect the brain activity changes in ED patients with different patterns. Results. Compared to HS, ED patients showed an increased cerebral activity in bilateral cerebellum, insula, globus pallidus, parahippocampal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and middle cingulate cortex (MCC). Compared to the patients with liver-qi stagnation and spleen deficiency pattern (LSSDP), the patients with kidney-yang deficiency pattern (KDP) showed an increased activity in bilateral brainstem, cerebellum, hippocampus, and the right insula, thalamus, MCC, and a decreased activity in bilateral putamen, medial frontal gyrus, temporal pole, and the right caudate nucleus, OFC, anterior cingulate cortex, and posterior cingulate cortex (P < 0.005). Conclusions. The ED patients with different TCM patterns showed different brain activities. The differences in cerebral activity between LSSDP and KDP were mainly in the emotion-related regions, including prefrontal cortex and cingulated cortex.
Position paper: cloud system deployment and performance evaluation tools for distributed databases

Creating system setups for controlled performance evaluation experiments of distributed systems is time-consuming and expensive. Re-creating experiment setups and reproducing experimental results that have been published by other researchers is even more challenging. In this paper, we present an experiment automation approach for evaluating distributed systems in compute cloud environments. We propose three concepts which should guide the design of experiment automation tools: (1) capture experiment plans in software modules, (2) run experiments in a publicly accessible cloud-based Elastic Lab, and (3) collaborate on experiments in an open, distributed collaboration system. We developed two tools which implement these basic concepts and discuss challenges and lessons learned during our implementation. An initial exemplary use case with Apache Cassandra on top of Amazon EC2 provides a first insight into the types of performance and scalability experiments enabled by our tools.
Reality Monitoring in Mania and Schizophrenia: The Association of Thought Disorder and Performance

Manic (N = 20) and schizophrenic (N = 20) patients, equally divided into thought-disordered (TD) and non-thought-disordered (NTD) subgroups were compared to a normal contrast sample (N = 10) on their reality-monitoring ability (i.e., recognition of the source of presentation of information in their memory). It was found that TD manics and TD schizophrenics had different problems in reality monitoring, in that TD schizophrenics had problems in differentiating information that they had said from information that they had thought and TD manics had problems in discriminating information presented by two external sources. In addition to their problems in reality monitoring, TD patients in general had a response bias that, was different from that manifested by normal subjects in both the present and earlier investigations. Normals and NTD patients performed similarly throughout, which indicates that there were no correlations of diagnosis and performance in the absence of thought disorder. The results of the present investigation were related to earlier reports of attentional deficits in manics and controlled information-processing deficits in TD schizophrenics. Finally, a tentative model of schizophrenic speech disorder, incorporating the present data with earlier reports of controlled information deficits, was advanced.
Tech review: Game platform for upgrading counting ability on preschool children

One of difficulties in learning mathematics (counting) can be overcome by providing a relaxed and fun learning for preschoolers. Games can be used as an alternative solution. This study was conducted as a pilot project for reviewing the Kodu, Unity 3D and Construct 2 game platform for this purpose. The method used is the classification, review/evaluation, prototyping and analysis. Tech Review of these game platforms will be discussed as a result in this paper.
Evolutionary game of opinion dynamics under impact of structural balance

In recent years, many models have been introduced to study on that how those microcosmic individuals with different opinions tend to format macroscopic consensus in the opinion interaction, which have been described by evolutionary game theory. This paper introduce the game theory to model the formation of binary opinions in signed network: cooperative game is used to model the interaction rules of positive(+) relationship between two individuals; minority game is used to model the interaction rules of negative(-) relationship between two individuals. When we calculate those individuals cumulative payoffs, we are firstly induce the probability parameter <;P>; which represent the impact of balance payoff base on structure balance theory to opinion dynamics. Meanwhile, in our work, the result also suggest that when individual resort to more neighbors' opinion as reference, the more difficulty for individual to decide which opinion should be selected, ultimately more consensus time (Tc) will spend on those debate process among individuals.
The “Building Tasks” of Critical History: Structuring Social Studies for Social Justice

Using research in curriculum studies, New Literacy Studies, and discourse analysis, the author examines two illustrative cases of social studies teachers who actively structure their lesson plans with the aim of promoting social justice education. This study finds that these teachers seek to encourage students to question social and economic relations by “building” their curricula in specific ways.
In vitro activity profile of ceftobiprole, an anti-MRSA cephalosporin, against recent gram-positive and gram-negative isolates of European origin.

OBJECTIVES To determine the in vitro activity profile of ceftobiprole, a pyrrolidinone cephalosporin with activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), for use as a contemporary baseline to help detect any changes in its activity profile throughout the course of clinical development and use. METHODS MICs were determined by broth microdilution testing for ceftobiprole and comparators against 6680 isolates [1201 S. aureus, 460 coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), 526 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 1213 Escherichia coli, 854 Klebsiella pneumoniae, 443 Proteus mirabilis, 406 Enterobacter cloacae, 387 Citrobacter spp. , 291 Serratia marcescens, 621 Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 278 Acinetobacter spp. ] from 31 sites in 12 countries. RESULTS Ceftobiprole activity against MRSA (MIC90 2 mg/L) was 4-fold less than the activity against methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MIC90 0.5 mg/L) and a similar trend was observed for methicillin-resistant CoNS (MIC90 2 mg/L) and methicillin-susceptible CoNS (MIC90 0.25 mg/L). Activity against S. pneumoniae (MIC90s: penicillin-susceptible, 0.015 mg/L; -intermediate, 0.25 mg/L; -resistant, 0.5 mg/L) was comparable to that of ceftriaxone. Ceftobiprole activity against Enterobacteriaceae (MIC90s: ceftazidime-susceptible, 0.12 mg/L; non-susceptible, >32 mg/L), P. aeruginosa (MIC90s: ceftazidime-susceptible, 8 mg/L, non-susceptible, >32 mg/L) and Acinetobacter spp. (MIC90: >32 mg/L for imipenem-susceptible and non-susceptible) was comparable to that of cefepime. As with cefepime, ceftobiprole activity was decreased among cephalosporin-resistant isolates of gram-negative bacilli [extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) or non-ESBL mediated]. CONCLUSIONS Ceftobiprole demonstrated potent in vitro activity against MRSA and showed activity against key gram-negative bacilli comparable to that of cefepime. Given this broad spectrum of activity, ceftobiprole appears well suited for development and use in the treatment of a variety of healthcare-associated infections.
Social relationships and cognitive decline: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal cohort studies.

BACKGROUND Although poor social relationships are assumed to contribute to cognitive decline, meta-analytic approaches have not been applied. Individual study results are mixed and difficult to interpret due to heterogeneity in measures of social relationships. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the relation between poor social relationships and cognitive decline. METHODS MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO were searched for longitudinal cohort studies examining various aspects of social relationships and cognitive decline in the general population. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using random effects meta-analysis. Sources of heterogeneity were explored and likelihood of publication bias was assessed. We stratified analyses according to three aspects of social relationships: structural, functional and a combination of these. RESULTS We identified 43 articles. Poor social relationships predicted cognitive decline; for structural (19 studies): pooled OR: 1.08 (95% CI: 1.05-1.11); functional (8 studies): pooled OR: 1.15 (95% CI: 1.00-1.32); and combined measures (7 studies): pooled OR: 1.12 (95% CI: 1.01-1.24). Meta-regression and subgroup analyses showed that the heterogeneity could be explained by the type of social relationship measurement and methodological quality of included studies. CONCLUSIONS Despite heterogeneity in study design and measures, our meta-analyses show that multiple aspects of social relationships are associated with cognitive decline. As evidence for publication bias was found, the association might be overestimated and should therefore be interpreted with caution. Future studies are needed to better define the mechanisms underlying these associations. Potential causality of this prognostic association should be examined in future randomized controlled studies.