Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Ranking-Based Clustering Approach for Hyperspectral Band Selection

Through imaging the same spatial area by hyperspectral sensors at different spectral wavelengths simultaneously, the acquired hyperspectral imagery often contains hundreds of band images, which provide the possibility to accurately analyze and identify a ground object. However, due to the difficulty of obtaining sufficient labeled training samples in practice, the high number of spectral bands unavoidably leads to the problem of a “dimensionality disaster” (also called the Hughes phenomenon), and dimensionality reduction should be applied. Concerning band (or feature) selection, conventional methods choose the representative bands by ranking the bands with defined metrics (such as non-Gaussianity) or by formulating the band selection problem as a clustering procedure. Because of the different but complementary advantages of the two kinds of methods, it can be beneficial to use both methods together to accomplish the band selection task. Recently, a fast density-peak-based clustering (FDPC) algorithm has been proposed. Based on the computation of the local density and the intracluster distance of each point, the product of the two factors is sorted in decreasing order, and cluster centers are recognized as points with anomalously large values; hence, the FDPC algorithm can be considered a ranking-based clustering method. In this paper, the FDPC algorithm has been enhanced to make it suitable for hyperspectral band selection. First, the ranking score of each band is computed by weighting the normalized local density and the intracluster distance rather than equally taking them into account. Second, an exponential-based learning rule is employed to adjust the cutoff threshold for a different number of selected bands, where it is fixed in the FDPC. The proposed approach is thus named the enhanced FDPC (E-FDPC). Furthermore, an effective strategy, which is called the isolated-point-stopping criterion, is developed to automatically determine the appropriate number of bands to be selected. That is, the clustering process will be stopped by the emergence of an isolated point (the only point in one cluster). Experimental results on three real hyperspectral data demonstrate that the bands selected by our E-FDPC approach could achieve higher classification accuracy than the FDPC and other state-of-the-art band selection techniques, whereas the isolated-point-stopping criterion is a reasonable way to determine the preferable number of bands to be selected.
Organizational Research and the Praxeology of Pierre Bourdieu

This commentary explores the assumptions, concepts, objectives, labels, and empirical techniques that underpin, guide, and characterize the research approach and methodology of Pierre Bourdieu. To further understand his approach and its applicability in the context of organization studies, Bourdieu’s general project is contrasted with historical materialism and his view of power briefly compared to that of Foucault. Furthermore, Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital, habitus, doxa, and symbolic violence, and his understanding of language are linked to current organizational literature and theory. His focus on relational analysis, “reflexivity,” and what the author refers to as the “construction of the research object” are similarly discussed. Finally, there is a consideration of the role of the researcher and a brief discussion of the implications and limitations of a Bourdieun approach.
Challenges of Operationalizing Spectrum-Based Fault Localization from a Data-Centric Perspective

Fault localization is known to be tedious and expensive. To help practitioners reduce the needed effort, researchers have proposed many automated fault localization techniques over recent years. Spectrum-based fault localization techniques utilize the coverage data of test cases to localize faults. Although evaluations of these techniques show promising results, they are not being applied in practice yet. With this paper, we would like to stimulate discussions on challenges of operationalizing these techniques from a data-centric point of view. We describe the challenges we have encountered in our collaboration with industry. We also describe future plans.
dictyBase update 2011: web 2.0 functionality and the initial steps towards a genome portal for the Amoebozoa

dictyBase (http://www.dictybase.org), the model organism database for Dictyostelium, aims to provide the broad biomedical research community with well integrated, high quality data and tools for Dictyostelium discoideum and related species. dictyBase houses the complete genome sequence, ESTs, and the entire body of literature relevant to Dictyostelium. This information is curated to provide accurate gene models and functional annotations, with the goal of fully annotating the genome to provide a ‘reference genome’ in the Amoebozoa clade. We highlight several new features in the present update: (i) new annotations; (ii) improved interface with web 2.0 functionality; (iii) the initial steps towards a genome portal for the Amoebozoa; (iv) ortholog display; and (v) the complete integration of the Dicty Stock Center with dictyBase.
Hexagonal path data dissemination for energy efficiency in wireless sensor networks

As sensor technology continues to improve, sensors will be deployed in many more applications. Mobile services utilized by mobile users who wish to access the Internet and sensor networks are becoming more common. Two-Tier Data Dissemination (TTDD) is a scheme that transmits data using square virtual paths. TTDD uses energy efficiently by consuming energy only in sensor nodes that are on virtual paths even if the user who collects the information moves. However, this scheme must use fixed square virtual paths to communicate. It incurs overhead by using a detouring path instead of the shortest practical path. Therefore, the proposed scheme can use both a straight line path and a diagonal line path of a hexagon by constructing a hexagonal virtual path. Compared to TTDD, the energy efficiency is improved because fewer sensor nodes are employed for data communication. The energy consumption of the sensor nodes is decreased by using less energy to generate and to maintain the virtual path and the data transmission path. The energy efficiency and the transmission success rate can be improved by as much as 61% and by approximately 15%, respectively.
SensorAct: a privacy and security aware federated middleware for building management

The archaic centralized software systems, currently used to manage buildings, make it hard to incorporate advances in sensing technology and user-level applications, and present hurdles for experimental validation of open research in building information technology. Motivated by this, we --- a transnational collaboration of researchers engaged in development and deployment of technologies for sustainable buildings --- have developed SensorAct, an open-source federated middleware incorporating features targeting three specific requirements: (i) Accommodating a richer ecosystem of sensors, actuators, and higher level third-party applications (ii) Participatory engagement of stakeholders other than the facilities department, such as occupants, in setting policies for management of sensor data and control of electrical systems, without compromising on the overall privacy and safety, and (iii) Flexible interfacing and information exchange with systems external to a building, such as communication networks, transportation system, electrical grid, and other buildings, for better management, by exploiting the teleconnections that exist across them. SensorAct is designed to scale from small homes to network of buildings, making it suitable not only for production use but to also seed a global-scale network of building testbeds with appropriately constrained and policed access. This paper describes SensorAct's architecture, current implementation, and preliminary performance results.
Clarifying the subject centred approach to vocational learning theory: negotiated participation

Workplace learning research has taken what could be termed a turn to the subjective. This brings the person and agency of workers to the centre of work learning theory. Within sociocultural perspectives that emphasise participative practice as the basis of vocational learning, a key concept that emerges from this subject centred approach is ‘negotiation’. This paper suggests that negotiation is insufficiently understood in sociocultural perspectives of work learning and needs to be more fully elaborated to support understandings of workers’ learning practices. Workers are negotiators who manage the conduct of their work participation through sets of personal values that are transacted as personal working and learning practices. These transactions are not bargaining or deal making but ongoing processes of creating mutualities that unite worker and work as sites of personal and cultural transformation. From research with workers engaged in work based vocational learning programs, the paper explores how such understandings may offer ways of conceptualising workplace learning as a transactive process that is personally negotiated. In this way the paper helps clarify how the personal practices of workers can be better understood within the subject centred approach to vocational learning that rightfully emphasises the person as the locus of learning.
Convergent and discriminant validity of the MCMI-II and MMPI personality disorder scales.

Validity of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) personality disorder scales was examined using multitrait-multi-method procedures and factor analyses. Effects of item overlap were also examined by conducting analyses using both overlapping and nonoverlapping scales. Eighty psychiatric inpatients, most of whom had an Axis II personality disorder, were administered the MCMI-II and MMPI
Communication apprehension among master's of business administration students: Investigating a gap in communication education

Master's of Business Administration students at a large Midwestern university were administered the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension‐24. The students also responded to a questionnaire that generated data for six independent variables and were analyzed in relation to the PRCA‐24 scores via a multiple regression analysis. The findings indicate that communication apprehension (CA) exists among the MBA students with the average overall score slightly below the national average. The students had low dyadic, but high meeting and public speaking apprehension. Undergraduate major and culture significantly predicted the PRCA‐24 scores. Students with math‐related majors had significantly lower CA than students with a business‐related or other undergraduate majors. The findings suggest that MBA programs are not addressing CA in their curricula.
The Causal Effect of Federal Work-Study Participation

Since 1964, the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program has provided funds to subsidize the wages of student employees, but it has never been studied directly. I use an instrumental variables difference-in-difference framework with administrative data from West Virginia to identify causal effects, comparing eligible and ineligible students across institutions with higher and lower FWS availability and using differences in FWS availability to instrument for actual FWS participation. I find no evidence that FWS participation improves academic outcomes for the full sample, but this masks significant negative effects for women and some significant positive effects for men. Although results should be interpreted cautiously given limitations of the sample, they represent the first direct, quasi-experimental evidence regarding the effect of the program.
All hands on deck: A team approach to preparing year one Arts students for their first major assignment. A Practice Report

The First Year Experience Programme (FYE) at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Arts is in its second year of operation. After a year of focusing on pastoral care, things were running smoothly. We were able to implement a special project in the second year focused on two significant areas of academic support which are increasingly underused by first year students: student willingness to access to university wide teaching support services; and low usage of tutor office hours when students are preparing for a major assignment. The solution was the creation of Targeted Learning Sessions which are designed to attract students in selected large year one courses to engage with an easy-access option of discipline-specific academic support. This article sets up factors influencing the conception of the project and then provides a systematic breakdown of the way in which course convenors, the First Year Experience programme, library and student learning personnel combined forces to offer students a new way of seeking academic support that was not behind a closed office door.
Wild-Type Measles Virus Infection in Human CD46/CD150-Transgenic Mice: CD11c-Positive Dendritic Cells Establish Systemic Viral Infection1

We generated transgenic (TG) mice that constitutively express human CD46 (huCD46) and/or TLR-inducible CD150 (huCD150), which serve as receptors for measles virus (MV). These mice were used to study the spreading and pathogenicity of GFP-expressing or intact laboratory-adapted Edmonston and wild-type Ichinose (IC) strains of MV. Irrespective of the route of administration, neither type of MV was pathogenic to these TG mice. However, in ex vivo, limited replication of IC was observed in the spleen lymphocytes from huCD46/huCD150 TG and huCD150 TG, but not in huCD46 TG and non-TG mice. In huCD150-positive TG mouse cells, CD11c-positive bone marrow-derived myeloid dendritic cells (mDC) participated in MV-mediated type I IFN induction. The level and induction profile of IFN-β was higher in mDC than the profile of IFN-α. Wild-type IC induced markedly high levels of IFN-β compared with Edmonston in mDC, as opposed to human dendritic cells. We then generated huCD46/huCD150 TG mice with type I IFN receptor (IFNAR1)−/− mice. MV-bearing mDCs spreading to draining lymph nodes were clearly observed in these triple mutant mice in vivo by i.p. MV injection. Infectious lymph nodes were also detected in the double TG mice into which MV-infected CD11c-positive mDCs were i.v. transferred. This finding suggests that in the double TG mouse model mDCs once infected facilitate systemic MV spreading and infection, which depend on mDC MV permissiveness determined by the level of type I IFN generated via IFNAR1. Although these results may not simply reflect human MV infection, the huCD150/huCD46 TG mice may serve as a useful model for the analysis of MV-dependent modulation of mDC response.
Enabling CUDA acceleration within virtual machines using rCUDA

The hardware and software advances of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) have favored the development of GPGPU (General-Purpose Computation on GPUs) and its adoption in many scientific, engineering, and industrial areas. Thus, GPUs are increasingly being introduced in high-performance computing systems as well as in datacenters. On the other hand, virtualization technologies are also receiving rising interest in these domains, because of their many benefits on acquisition and maintenance savings. There are currently several works on GPU virtualization. However, there is no standard solution allowing access to GPGPU capabilities from virtual machine environments like, e.g., VMware, Xen, VirtualBox, or KVM. Such lack of a standard solution is delaying the integration of GPGPU into these domains. In this paper, we propose a first step towards a general and open source approach for using GPGPU features within VMs. In particular, we describe the use of rCUDA, a GPGPU (General-Purpose Computation on GPUs) virtualization framework, to permit the execution of GPU-accelerated applications within virtual machines (VMs), thus enabling GPGPU capabilities on any virtualized environment. Our experiments with rCUDA in the context of KVM and VirtualBox on a system equipped with two NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 cards illustrate the overhead introduced by the rCUDA middleware and prove the feasibility and scalability of this general virtualizing solution. Experimental results show that the overhead is proportional to the dataset size, while the scalability is similar to that of the native environment.
Flow experience in sport: Construct validation of multidimensional, hierarchical state and trait responses

Three hundred eighty-five athletes from the 1994 World Masters Games completed the 9-factor Flow State Scale (Jackson & Marsh, 1996), anew trait version of the instrument, and external validity criteria. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested alternative 1st-order and higher order models of responses to each instrument separately, to combined responses from the 2 instruments, and to responses augmented by external validity criteria. There was good support for the construct validity of state and trait flow responses in that a priori 9-factor (for each instrument separately) and 18-factor (for the 2 instruments) models Fit the data well, correlations were substantially higher between matching trait and state factors than between nonmatching factors, and external state and trait validity criteria were predictably related to specific state and trait flow factors. Whereas higher order models positing global trait and state factors could not be distinguished from corresponding lst-order models when responses to each instrument were considered separately, the higher order models fared poorly when state and trait factors were related to each other and to the external criteria. This CFA approach to construct validity may have broad applicability for evaluating multidimensional, hierarchical constructs and for comparing the relative usefulness of 1st-order and higher order representations of such constructs.
Sound and speech detection and classification in a Health Smart Home

Improvements in medicine increase life expectancy in the world and create a new bottleneck at the entrance of specialized and equipped institutions. To allow elderly people to stay at home, researchers work on ways to monitor them in their own environment, with non-invasive sensors. To meet this goal, smart homes, equipped with lots of sensors, deliver information on the activities of the person and can help detect distress situations. In this paper, we present a global speech and sound recognition system that can be set-up in a flat. We placed eight microphones in the Health Smart Home of Grenoble (a real living flat of 47m2) and we automatically analyze and sort out the different sounds recorded in the flat and the speech uttered (to detect normal or distress french sentences). We introduce the methods for the sound and speech recognition, the post-processing of the data and finally the experimental results obtained in real conditions in the flat.
Role of Extracellular Superoxide Dismutase in the Mouse Angiotensin Slow Pressor Response

Low rates of angiotensin II (Ang II) infusion raise blood pressure, renal vascular resistance (RVR), NADPH oxidase activity, and superoxide. We tested the hypothesis that these effects are ameliorated by extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD). EC-SOD knockout (−/−) and wild type (+/+) mice were equipped with blood pressure telemeters and infused subcutaneously with Ang II (400 ng/kg per minute) or vehicle for 2 weeks. During vehicle infusion, EC-SOD −/− mice had significantly (P<0.05) higher MAP (+/+: 107±3 mm Hg versus −/−: 114±2 mm Hg; n=11 to 14), RVR, lipid peroxidation, renal cortical p22phox expression, and NADPH oxidase activity. Ang II infusion in EC-SOD +/+ mice significantly (P<0.05) increased MAP, RVR, p22phox, NADPH oxidase activity, and lipid peroxidation. Ang II reduced SOD activity in plasma, aorta, and kidney accompanied by reduced renal EC-SOD expression. During Ang II infusion, both groups had similar values for MAP (+/+ Ang II: 125±3 versus −/− Ang II: 124±3 mmHg; P value not significant), RVR, NADPH oxidase activity, and lipid peroxidation. SOD activity in the kidneys of Ang II–infused mice was paradoxically higher in EC-SOD −/− mice (+/+: 8.8±1.2 U/mg protein−1 versus −/−: 13.7±1.6 U/mg protein−1; P<0.05) accompanied by a significant upregulation of mRNA and protein for Cu/Zn-SOD. In conclusion, EC-SOD protects normal mice against oxidative stress by attenuating renal p22phox expression, NADPH oxidase activation, and the accompanying renal vasoconstriction and hypertension. However, during an Ang II slow pressor response, renal EC-SOD expression is reduced and, in its absence, renal Cu/Zn-SOD is upregulated and may prevent excessive Ang II–induced renal oxidative stress, renal vasoconstriction, and hypertension.
Divide and Conquer: Crowdsourcing the Creation of Cross-Lingual Textual Entailment Corpora

We address the creation of cross-lingual textual entailment corpora by means of crowd-sourcing. Our goal is to define a cheap and replicable data collection methodology that minimizes the manual work done by expert annotators, without resorting to preprocessing tools or already annotated monolingual datasets. In line with recent works emphasizing the need of large-scale annotation efforts for textual entailment, our work aims to: i) tackle the scarcity of data available to train and evaluate systems, and ii) promote the recourse to crowdsourcing as an effective way to reduce the costs of data collection without sacrificing quality. We show that a complex data creation task, for which even experts usually feature low agreement scores, can be effectively decomposed into simple subtasks assigned to non-expert annotators. The resulting dataset, obtained from a pipeline of different jobs routed to Amazon Mechanical Turk, contains more than 1,600 aligned pairs for each combination of texts-hypotheses in English, Italian and German.
Neuropathological changes in striate and extrastriate visual cortex in variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD)

Pathological changes in striate (B17, V1) and extrastriate (B18, V2) visual cortex were studied in variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). No differences in densities of vacuoles or surviving neurons were observed in B17 and B18 but densities of glial cell nuclei and deposits of prion protein (PrP) were greater in B18. PrP deposit densities in B17 and B18 were positively correlated. Diffuse deposit density in B17 was negatively correlated with the density of surviving neurons in B18. The vacuoles either exhibited a density peak in laminae II/III and V/VI or were more uniformly distributed across the laminae. Diffuse deposits were most frequent in laminae II/III and florid deposits more generally distributed. In B18, the surviving neurons were more consistently bimodally distributed and the glial cell nuclei most abundant in laminae V/VI than in B17. Hence, both striate and extrastriate visual cortex is affected by the pathology of vCJD, the pathological changes being most severe in B18. Neuronal degeneration in B18 appears to be associated with diffuse PrP deposit formation in B17. These data suggest that the short cortico-cortical connections between B17 and B18 and the pathways to subcortical visual areas are compromised in vCJD.