Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synthesis of progressively-variant textures on arbitrary surfaces

We present an approach for decorating surfaces with progressively-variant textures. Unlike a homogeneous texture, a progressively-variant texture can model local texture variations, including the scale, orientation, color, and shape variations of texture elements. We describe techniques for modeling progressively-variant textures in 2D as well as for synthesizing them over surfaces. For 2D texture modeling, our feature-based warping technique allows the user to control the shape variations of texture elements, making it possible to capture complex texture variations such as those seen in animal coat patterns. In addition, our feature-based blending technique can create a smooth transition between two given homogeneous textures, with progressive changes of both shapes and colors of texture elements. For synthesizing textures over surfaces, the biggest challenge is that the synthesized texture elements tend to break apart as they progressively vary. To address this issue, we propose an algorithm based on texton masks, which mark most prominent texture elements in the 2D texture sample. By leveraging the power of texton masks, our algorithm can maintain the integrity of the synthesized texture elements on the target surface.
Poleward microtubule flux mitotic spindles assembled in vitro

In the preceding paper we described pathways of mitotic spindle assembly in cell-free extracts prepared from eggs of Xenopus laevis. Here we demonstrate the poleward flux of microtubules in spindles assembled in vitro, using a photoactivatable fluorescein covalently coupled to tubulin and multi-channel fluorescence videomicroscopy. After local photoactivation of fluorescence by UV microbeam, we observed poleward movement of fluorescein-marked microtubules at a rate of 3 microns/min, similar to rates of chromosome movement and spindle elongation during prometaphase and anaphase. This movement could be blocked by the addition of millimolar AMP-PNP but was not affected by concentrations of vanadate up to 150 microM, suggesting that poleward flux may be driven by a microtubule motor similar to kinesin. In contrast to previous results obtained in vivo (Mitchison, T. J. 1989. J. Cell Biol. 109:637-652), poleward flux in vitro appears to occur independently of kinetochores or kinetochore microtubules, and therefore may be a general property of relatively stable microtubules within the spindle. We find that microtubules moving towards poles are dynamic structures, and we have estimated the average half-life of fluxing microtubules in vitro to be between approximately 75 and 100 s. We discuss these results with regard to the function of poleward flux in spindle movements in anaphase and prometaphase.
Large-Scale Mining of Co-occurrences: Challenges and Solutions

The ability to extract frequent pairs from a set of baskets (or frequent word co-occurrences from a set of documents) is one of the fundamental building blocks of data mining. When the number of items in a given basket is relatively small the problem is trivial. Even when dealing with millions of baskets it is still trivial providing that the number of unique items in the basket set is small. The problem becomes much more challenging when we deal with millions of baskets, each containing hundreds of items that are part of a set of millions of potential items. Especially when we are looking for highly correlated results at extremely low support levels. A particularly difficult case is when "items" are words and "baskets" are long documents in a very large text corpus. For 17 years the Direct Hashing and Pruning Park Chen Yu (PCY) Algorithm has been the principal technique used when there are billions of potential pairs that need to be counted. In this paper we show new approaches that allow us to take full advantage of both multi-core and multi-CPU setups for cases where PCY fails and Map-Reduce struggles, offering excellent performance scaling when the number of processors, unique items and items per transaction are at their highest. We believe that our approaches have much broader applicability in the field of co-occurrence counting, and can be used to generate much more interesting results when mining very large data sets.
Photoplethysmography and its application in clinical physiological measurement

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a simple and low-cost optical technique that can be used to detect blood volume changes in the microvascular bed of tissue. It is often used non-invasively to make measurements at the skin surface. The PPG waveform comprises a pulsatile (‘AC’) physiological waveform attributed to cardiac synchronous changes in the blood volume with each heart beat, and is superimposed on a slowly varying (‘DC’) baseline with various lower frequency components attributed to respiration, sympathetic nervous system activity and thermoregulation. Although the origins of the components of the PPG signal are not fully understood, it is generally accepted that they can provide valuable information about the cardiovascular system. There has been a resurgence of interest in the technique in recent years, driven by the demand for low cost, simple and portable technology for the primary care and community based clinical settings, the wide availability of low cost and small semiconductor components, and the advancement of computer-based pulse wave analysis techniques. The PPG technology has been used in a wide range of commercially available medical devices for measuring oxygen saturation, blood pressure and cardiac output, assessing autonomic function and also detecting peripheral vascular disease. The introductory sections of the topical review describe the basic principle of operation and interaction of light with tissue, early and recent history of PPG, instrumentation, measurement protocol, and pulse wave analysis. The review then focuses on the applications of PPG in clinical physiological measurements, including clinical physiological monitoring, vascular assessment and autonomic function.
Training pseudoword reading in acquired dyslexia: a phonological complexity approach

Background: Individuals with acquired phonological dyslexia experience difficulty associating written letters with corresponding sounds, especially in pseudowords. Previous studies have shown that reading can be improved in these individuals by training letter–sound correspondence, practicing phonological skills, or using combined approaches. However, generalisation to untrained items is typically limited. Aims: We investigated whether principles of phonological complexity can be applied to training letter–sound correspondence reading in acquired phonological dyslexia to improve generalisation to untrained words. Based on previous work in other linguistic domains, we hypothesised that training phonologically “more complex” material (i.e., consonant clusters with small sonority differences) would result in generalisation to phonologically “less complex” material (i.e., consonant clusters with larger sonority differences), but this generalisation pattern would not be demonstrated when training the “less complex” material. Methods & Procedures: We used a single-participant, multiple baseline design across participants and behaviours to examine phonological complexity as a training variable in five individuals. Based on participants’ error data from a previous experiment, a “more complex” onset and a “less complex” onset were selected for training for each participant. Training order assignment was pseudo-randomised and counterbalanced across participants. Three participants were trained in the “more complex” condition and two in the “less complex” condition while tracking oral reading accuracy of both onsets. Outcomes & Results: As predicted, participants trained in the “more complex” condition demonstrated improved pseudoword reading of the trained cluster and generalisation to pseudowords with the untrained, “simple” onset, but not vice versa. Conclusions: These findings suggest phonological complexity can be used to improve generalisation to untrained phonologically related words in acquired phonological dyslexia. These findings also provide preliminary support for using phonological complexity theory as a tool for designing more effective and efficient reading treatments for acquired dyslexia.
Ieee Transactions on Wireless Communications, Accepted for Publication Sum Rate Analysis of Two-way Mimo Af Relay Networks with Zero-forcing

—The sum rate of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) amplify-and-forward (AF) two-way relay networks (TWRNs) with zero-forcing (ZF) transmission is analyzed. Namely, (1) ZF at the two sources for transmission and reception and (2) ZF at the relay for transmission and reception, are treated. Specifically, the exact sum rate expressions and corresponding high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) approximations are derived for uncorrelated and min-semi-correlated (i.e., correlation exists only at the minimum antenna terminal) Rayleigh fading cases in closed-form. Moreover, the closed-form upper and lower bounds of the sum rate are derived for max-semi-correlated (i.e., correlation exists only at the maximum antenna terminal) and doubly-correlated Rayleigh fading cases. Notably, these sum rate bounds and high SNR approximations provide valuable insights into practical MIMO AF TWRN system-design and the maximum achievable spatial multiplexing gain. All the analyses are verified by using Monte-Carlo simulations.
Intrapersonal and Familial Effects of Child Sexual Abuse on Female Partners of Male Survivors.

Intrapersonal and familial effects of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) were investigated by interviewing 10 female partners of male survivors. Consensual qualitative research analysis (C. Hill, B. Thompson, & E. Nutt Williams, 1997) yielded 13 domains describing male partner, female partner, couple, and family functioning. Findings concerning emotional reactions, coping strategies, communication patterns, and sexual functioning correspond to the 3 components of C. Maltas and J. Shay's (1995) trauma contagion model (i.e., threatened beliefs, chronic stress, and reenactment of aspects of CSA). Additional findings suggest themes of recovery from trauma contagion. Whereas results concerning threatened beliefs and chronic stress may replicate to other populations (e.g., partners of war veterans), reenactment of aspects of CSA seems unique. Practice and research recommendations are presented.
Adjustable Robust Parameter Design with Unknown Distributions

Abstract This article presents a novel combination of robust optimization developed in mathematical programming, and robust parameter design developed in statistical quality control. Robust parameter design uses metamodels estimated from experiments with both controllable and environmental inputs (factors). These experiments may be performed with either real or simulated systems; we focus on simulation experiments. For the environmental inputs, classic robust parameter design assumes known means and covariances, and sometimes even a known distribution. We, however, develop a robust optimization approach that uses only experimental data, so it does not need these classic assumptions. Moreover, we develop `adjustable' robust parameter design which adjusts the values of some or all of the controllable factors after observing the values of some or all of the environmental inputs. We also propose a new decision rule that is suitable for adjustable integer decision variables. We illustrate our novel method through several numerical examples, which demonstrate its effectiveness.
Analysis of Protein Synthesis Rates after Initiation of Chromosome Replication in Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to investigate whether the synthesis rates of some proteins change after the initiation of replication inEscherichia coli. An intR1 strain, in which chromosome replication is under the control of an R1 replicon integrated into an inactivated oriC, was used to synchronize chromosome replication, and the rates of protein synthesis were analyzed by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of pulse-labeled proteins. Computerized image analysis was used to search for proteins whose expression levels changed at least threefold after initiation of a single round of chromosome replication, which revealed 7 out of about 1,000 detected proteins. The various synthesis rates of three of these proteins turned out to be caused by unbalanced growth and the synthesis of one protein was suppressed in theintR1 strain. The rates of synthesis of the remaining three could be correlated only to the synchronous initiation of replication. These three proteins were analyzed by peptide mass mapping and appeared to be the products of the dps, gapA, andpyrI genes. Thus, the expression of the vast majority of proteins is not influenced by the state of chromosome replication, and a possible role of the replication-associated expression changes of the three identified proteins in the cell cycle is not clear.
Blind speech separation exploiting temporal and spectral correlations using 2D-HMMs

We present a novel method to exploit correlations of adjacent time-frequency (TF)-slots for a sparseness-based blind speech separation (BSS) system. Usually, these correlations are exploited by some heuristic smoothing techniques in the post-processing of the estimated soft TF masks. We propose a different approach: Based on our previous work with one-dimensional (1D)-hidden Markov models (HMMs) along the time axis we extend the modeling to two-dimensional (2D)-HMMs to exploit both temporal and spectral correlations in the speech signal. Based on the principles of turbo decoding we solved the complex inference of 2D-HMMs by a modified forward-backward algorithm which operates alternatingly along the time and the frequency axis. Extrinsic information is exchanged between these steps such that increasingly better soft time-frequency masks are obtained, leading to improved speech separation performance in highly reverberant recording conditions.
Cross sectional survey of socioeconomic variations in severity and mechanism of childhood injuries in Trent 1992-7

Abstract Objective: To determine the relation between morbidity from injury and deprivation for different levels of injury severity and for different injury mechanisms for children aged 0-14 years. Design: Cross sectional survey of routinely collected hospital admission data for injury 1992-7. Setting: 862 electoral wards in Trent Region. Subjects: 21 587 injury related hospital admissions for children aged 0-4 years and 35 042 admissions for children aged 5-14. Main outcome measures: Rate ratios for hospital admission for all injuries, all injuries involving long bone fracture, and all injuries involving long bone fracture requiring an operation; rate ratios for hospital admission for six types of injury mechanism divided by quintiles of the electoral wards' Townsend scores for deprivation. Rate ratios calculated by Poisson regression, with adjustment for distance from nearest hospital admitting patients with injuries, rurality, ethnicity, and percentage of males in each electoral ward. Results: Both total number of admissions for injury and admissions for injuries of higher severity increased with increasing socioeconomic deprivation. These gradients were more marked for 0-4 year old children than 5-14 year olds. In terms of injury mechanisms, the steepest socioeconomic gradients (where the rate for the fifth of electoral wards with the highest deprivation scores was ≥3 times that of the fifth with the lowest scores) were for pedestrian injuries (adjusted rate ratio 3.65 (95% confidence interval 2.94 to 4.54)), burns and scalds (adjusted rate ratio 3.49 (2.81 to 4.34)), and poisoning (adjusted rate ratio 2.98 (2.65 to 3.34)). Conclusion: There are steep socioeconomic gradients for injury morbidity including the most common mechanisms of injury. This has implications for targeting injury prevention interventions and resources. What is already known on this topic? There is a steep socioeconomic gradient for injury related mortality There is conflicting evidence regarding the socioeconomic gradient for injury morbidity, particularly with respect to different injury severity and injury mechanisms What this study adds A socioeconomic gradient for injury morbidity exists in children aged <15 years, particularly in those aged <5, which persist for different measures of injury severity The socioeconomic gradient for injury mechanisms is steepest for pedestrian injuries, burns and scalds, and poisoning, which has implications for targeting injury prevention strategies
The Controversy Over Credit Checks in Selection

The proportion of U.S. employers who consider applicants’ credit reports has increased sharply over the past decade, precipitating controversy and legislative efforts to restrict this practice. Credit checks differ in many ways from commonly studied selection tests, and little is known about how they are perceived. Here an analysis of almost 1,500 online responses to four different media reports reveals the complexity of issues underlying attitudes toward credit checks. Findings demonstrate the utility of a novel methodological approach for exploring the opinions and experiences of a broad sample of people with a variety of perspectives on a poorly understood hiring practice. Discourse reflected some established themes in applicant reactions theory and also concerns about broader societal consequences. Underlying divergent attitudes toward credit checks were sharp disagreements about individual control and about how employers actually implement credit checks and evaluate reports. Implications for expanding theory and informing public debate are discussed.
Spinning an Organizational “Web of Obligation”? Moral Choice in Stanley Milgram’s “Obedience” Experiments

Drawing on unpublished documents from his personal archive at Yale University, this article explains how social psychologist and political scientist Stanley Milgram’s new baseline procedure both coerced and tempted most participants into completing his so-called Obedience to Authority (OTA) experiment. This procedure relies cumulatively on a range of manipulative and seductive psychological techniques that progressively and systematically induced most participants to pursue what they sensed to be a morally reprehensible course of action. The article examines a variety of influences at work in Milgram’s controlled laboratory that help understand how functionaries may resolve an moral dilemma in a bureaucratically organized work situation. In doing so, the article also provides an alternative explanation for Milgram’s new baseline findings, one that is more consistent with Bandura’s concept of “moral disengagement” and Barnard’s concept of an organizational “zone of indifference. ” It concludes that Milgram’s experiments have less to do with obedience to authority per se and more to do with how people resolve moral dilemmas confronting them in a structured organizational setting.
Automatic landmark detection and face recognition for side-view face images

In real-life scenarios where pose variation is up to side-view positions, face recognition becomes a challenging task. In this paper we propose an automatic side-view face recognition system designed for home-safety applications. Our goal is to recognize people as they pass through doors in order to determine their location in the house. Here, we introduce a recognition method, where we detect facial landmarks automatically for registration and identify faces. We test our system on sideview face images from CMU-Multi PIE database. We achieve 95.95% accuracy on detecting landmarks, and 89.04% accuracy on identification.
Improved regeneration and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.)

ii Acknowledgements . iv Table of Contents . v Table of Tables . vi Table of Figures . vii Chapter 1 . 1 Literature Review 1 Literature Cited . 5 Chapter 2 . 9 Introduction . 9 Materials and Methods 15 Plant material and seed germination . 15 Transformation procedures as outlined by Alsheikh et al (2002) 16 Shoot regeneration to improve regeneration frequency . 17 Transformation procedures as outlined by Oosumi et al.(2005) . 18 GFP screening during regeneration 20 Molecular analysis of putative transgenic shoot 20 GUS staining . 21 Flow cytometry 22 Data analysis . 22 Results 22 Seed germination 22 Transformation procedures as outlined by Alsheikh et al. (2002) . 24 Shoot regeneration . 25 Modifications of Oosumi et al. (2005) protocol . 25 Flow cytometry 29 GUS staining . 30 Molecular analysis of T0 plants . 30 Discussion . 31 Literature Cited . 35 Vita 64
Career Assessment and the Salience Inventory

The development and use of the Salience Inventory (SI; Super & Nevill, 1985a), an assessment of the relative importance of five life roles, is summarized. This article begins with an overview of Donald E. Super's career development theory, followed by a brief description of the goals of the work Importance Study (WIS) and its development of the SI. A review of research using the SI follows, with emphasis on the utility of the SI in incorporating gender role and multicultural issues into an understanding of career development across the life span. Finally, use of the SI within a comprehensive career counseling model is discussed.
When boundaries are crossed: Evaluating language attrition data from two perspectives*

This study provides an account for a long-term selective loss of L1 (Russian) morpho-syntactic and content components in early immigrants to the U.S. The analysis of naturally occurring data is carried out from the perspective of two theoretical approaches – three models developed within language contact (Myers-Scotton 2002, 2005) and the Activation Threshold hypothesis as a component of a neurolinguistic approach to bilingualism (Paradis, 2004, 2007). The results show that the language contact approach is useful in identifying morpheme types that are most vulnerable to attrition. The second approach helps explain the differential rate of loss of content morphemes in a variety of topics and account for variability in the rate of attrition of late system morphemes through frequency factors. The study demonstrates that by crossing the boundaries of one theory and one view of language researchers can achieve a stronger explanatory power and identify the common and complementary features that both models provide.
Expectation Processes in Satisfaction Formation

Expectations of a novel restaurant dining experience were manipulated in a controlled field setting to test for the role and persistence of expectation and expectation-related effects within the expectancy disconfirmation and performance model. In an effort to ensure external validity, preconsumption expectations were manipulated via real-appearing reviews, actual service experience was recorded through protocol methods, and postconsumption perceptions were measured in the immediate postusage period. Results showed that the expectation manipulation and the expectations thereby created had an immediate but declining effect over the consumption period, that expectations acted as forward assimilation agents for performance, that retrospective expectations were partially influenced by performance observations in the manner of backward assimilation, that expectation-initiated performance comparisons (disconfirmation) and performance judgments were important satisfaction influences, and that the expectancy disconfirmation model is dimension-specific with regard to operation of its components. These findings shed insight into the operation of expectations, performance, and disconfirmation in service environments and illustrate some effects of consumption tracking.