Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
OBJECT RECOGNITION THROUGH TEMPLATE MATCHING USING AN ADAPTIVE AND ROBUST HAUSDORFF DISTANCE

In computer vision, the partial Hausdorff distances (PHDs) are used to compare images but with strong limitations of using fixed fractions. In this paper, we formulate an adaptive and robust Hausdorff distance (ARHD) with nonparametric and robust statistical methods. The new distance is estimated using the empirical distribution of the distance variable based on the distance map of the template’s edge map, and this makes full use of the information associated with the edge distribution structure of templates. The best fraction is determined by adaptively adjusting at two directions along the distance curve and the statistical test using linear regression. The distance threshold is also derived from the same empirical distribution function estimated from the template. Therefore, it is not sensitive to the initial fraction values compared with conventional PHDs. The experiments using aerial images show that ARHD has good performance in matching templates in heavily blurred and complex backgrounds with pose change, scale change, geometric distortion and partial occlusion.
The generation and regulation of lymphocyte populations: evidence from differentiative induction systems in vitro

Results with a dual assay, for the induction of Thy-1+ T cells and of CR+ B cells from marker-negative precursors, confirm that thymopoietin is at present the only known selective inducer of prothymocytes. In contrast, various inducers, including ubiquitin, are active in both assays. Pharmacological evidence indicates that there are different cellular receptors for ubiquitin and thymopoietin. Prothymocytes and pro-CR+ B cells compose two distinct populations in bone marrow and spleen; their distribution in density gradients is different, and elimination of either population enriches the other proportionately. There are no noteworthy differences between induction of these two populations in regard to (a) kinetics, (b) dependence on temperature and protein synthesis, (c) activation by cAMP, and (d) inhibition by cGMP. The opposite inductive effects of cAMP and cGMP were corroborated by the use of pharmacological agents that raise or lower the levels of intracellular cyclic nucleotides. In contrast, a third induction assay, which monitors acquisition of the PC+ surface phenotype, indicates that this differentiative step, the last known for B cells, is initiated by cGMP and inhibited by cAMP. Induction of PC is also inhibited by thymopoietin, signifying that the inductive selectivity of thymopoietin is not due to restriction of its receptors to the T lineage cells. Rather it seems that receptors for thymopoietin occur also on PC- inducible and other B cells, although in this case geared biochemically to inhibition rather than expression of the succeeding gene program. This suggests a role for thymopoietin in the coordinated interregulation of lymphocyte classes, in addition to its better-known function as the thymic inducer of prothymocytes. Present data conform to a general scheme in which the cyclic nucleotides cAMP and cGMP, and agents that affect intracellular levels of these mediators, influence reciprocally the early and late (functional) phases of lymphocyte differentiation as a whole, while thymopoietin influences reciprocally the differentiation of the B and T classes of lymphocyte.
Parallel Task Developing Based on Software Pipeline in Multicore System

The development of multi-core system is ushering in the computer revolution, which strongly drives the programming towards the parallel direction. Software pipeline is one kind of efficient parallel task building. The main reason is that a system commonly includes several subtasks, which execute special functions. When a subtask finishes, some intermediate states and data should be saved for certain time, meanwhile, another subtask will continue to execute until the end of the whole pipeline. Through a real system, web proxy, we partition the whole system into several pipelines, each of which includes multiple subtasks. Based on this, we process series of optimization which can greatly improve the system performance.
An empirical examination of maturity model as measurement of information technology governance implementation

The aim of this study is to evaluate information technology governance implementation in the Jordanian domestic banks using the maturity model. An empirical survey using self-administered questionnaire has been carried out to achieve the study objectives. The study results reveal that Jordanian domestic banks applied effective awareness and communications, responsibility and accountability, and skills and expertise dimensions mainly, while they do not do enough with regard to the other dimensions (tools and automation, "goal setting and measurement", and "policies, plans and procedures"). The study main recommendation for domestic banks is to give more attention to information technology governance. Professionals in Jordanian domestic banks should work more to increase the information technology governance strength for all of its dimensions.
An ant colony optimization approach to test sequence generation for state based software testing

Properly generated test suites may not only locate the defects in software systems, but also help in reducing the high cost associated with software testing, ft is often desired that test sequences in a test suite can be automatically generated to achieve required test coverage. However, automatic test sequence generation remains a major problem in software testing. This paper proposes an ant colony optimization approach to automatic test sequence generation for state-based software testing. The proposed approach can directly use UML artifacts to automatically generate test sequences to achieve required test coverage.
Securing Tyrants or Fostering Reform? U.S. Internal Security Assistance to Repressive and Transitioning Regimes

Abstract : This report examines U.S. government assistance to the police and internal security agencies of repressive and transitioning states. Throughout its history, the United States has provided assistance to a number of countries that have not shared its political ideals. Their security forces were not accountable to the public, and their practices and approaches were not transparent. The decision to provide assistance to repressive and autocratic states (and states that are, to varying extents, seeking to transition away from repression) raises a number of questions, the answers to which have significant policy implications. Can U.S. assistance improve the effectiveness of internal security agencies in countering security threats? Has U.S. assistance improved the accountability and human rights records of these agencies? What is the relationship between improving security and improving accountability and human rights?
Application of Stem Cells in Orthopedics

Stem cell research plays an important role in orthopedic regenerative medicine today. Current literature provides us with promising results from animal research in the fields of bone, tendon, and cartilage repair. While early clinical results are already published for bone and cartilage repair, the data about tendon repair is limited to animal studies. The success of these techniques remains inconsistent in all three mentioned areas. This may be due to different application techniques varying from simple mesenchymal stem cell injection up to complex tissue engineering. However, the ideal carrier for the stem cells still remains controversial. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of current basic research and clinical data concerning stem cell research in bone, tendon, and cartilage repair. Furthermore, a focus is set on different stem cell application techniques in tendon reconstruction, cartilage repair, and filling of bone defects.
Cryptanalysis of the chaotic-based key agreement protocols

Recently, Han-Chang showed that Xiao-Liao-Deng's key agreement protocol based on chaotic maps is vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attack and proposed two improved schemes. One works in clock synchronization, and the other can work without synchronization. They claimed that their schemes are secure against replaying attacks and can establish a shared session key. However, we point out that all the aforementioned schemes are Non-contributory, i.e. the malicious party can predetermine the shared session key by the vice of several Chebyshev polynomials passing through the same point. In particular, we demonstrate that the asynchronous key agreement protocol can't resist replaying attack. Therefore, the use of these schemes for secure applications may be discouraged.
Mechanism of Diphtheria Toxin Catalytic Domain Delivery to the Eukaryotic Cell Cytosol and the Cellular Factors that Directly Participate in the Process

Research on diphtheria and anthrax toxins over the past three decades has culminated in a detailed understanding of their structure function relationships (e.g., catalytic (C), transmembrane (T), and receptor binding (R) domains), as well as the identification of their eukaryotic cell surface receptor, an understanding of the molecular events leading to the receptor-mediated internalization of the toxin into an endosomal compartment, and the pH triggered conformational changes required for pore formation in the vesicle membrane. Recently, a major research effort has been focused on the development of a detailed understanding of the molecular interactions between each of these toxins and eukaryotic cell factors that play an essential role in the efficient translocation of their respective catalytic domains through the trans-endosomal vesicle membrane pore and delivery into the cell cytosol. In this review, I shall focus on recent findings that have led to a more detailed understanding of the mechanism by which the diphtheria toxin catalytic domain is delivered to the eukaryotic cell cytosol. While much work remains, it is becoming increasingly clear that the entry process is facilitated by specific interactions with a number of cellular factors in an ordered sequential fashion. In addition, since diphtheria, anthrax lethal factor and anthrax edema factor all carry multiple coatomer I complex binding motifs and COPI complex has been shown to play an essential role in entry process, it is likely that the initial steps in catalytic domain entry of these divergent toxins follow a common mechanism.
Adaptive Spatially Postprocessing Technique to Remove Blocking Artifacts for DCT Coded Image

This paper introduces an adaptive postprocessing method in Block-based Discrete Cosine Transform (BDCT) coded images. We present a framework, which is a serial-concatenation of a 1-D simple deblocking filter and a 2-D directional filter. First, we classify the simple deblocking filter by an adaptive threshold depending on local statistical properties, and update block types appropriately by a simple rule, which affects the performance of deblocking progresses. Second, a 2-D directional filter is introduced to suppress the ringing artifacts caused at the sharp edges and the block discontinuities while preserving true edges and textural information. Finally, comprehensive experiments indicate that the proposed algorithm outperforms lots of deblocking methods in the literature, in terms of evaluation of PSNR and subjective visual qualities.
Transdermal Delivery of Insulin by Amidated Pectin Hydrogel Matrix Patch in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats: Effects on Some Selected Metabolic Parameters

Purpose Studies in our laboratory are concerned with developing optional insulin delivery routes based on amidated pectin hydrogel matrix gel. We therefore investigated whether the application of pectin insulin (PI)-containing dermal patches of different insulin concentrations sustain controlled release of insulin into the bloodstream of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats with concomitant alleviation of diabetic symptoms in target tissues, most importantly, muscle and liver. Methods Oral glucose test (OGT) responses to PI dermal matrix patches (2.47, 3.99, 9.57, 16.80 µg/kg) prepared by dissolving pectin/insulin in deionised water and solidified with CaCl2 were monitored in diabetic rats given a glucose load after an 18-h fast. Short-term (5 weeks) metabolic effects were assessed in animals treated thrice daily with PI patches 8 hours apart. Animals treated with drug-free pectin and insulin (175 µg/kg, sc) acted as untreated and treated positive controls, respectively. Blood, muscle and liver samples were collected for measurements of selected biochemical parameters. Results After 5 weeks, untreated diabetic rats exhibited hyperglycaemia and depleted hepatic and muscle glycogen concentrations. Compared to untreated STZ-induced diabetic animals, OGT responses of diabetic rats transdermally applied PI patches exhibited lower blood glucose levels whilst short-term treatments restored hepatic and muscle glycogen concentrations. Plasma insulin concentrations of untreated diabetic rats were low compared with control non-diabetic rats. All PI treatments elevated plasma insulin concentrations of diabetic rats although the levels induced by high doses (9.57 and 16.80 µg/kg) were greater than those caused by low doses (2.47 and 3.99 µg/kg) but comparable to those in sc insulin treated animals. Conclusions The data suggest that the PI hydrogel matrix patch can deliver physiologically relevant amounts of pharmacologically active insulin. Novelty of the Work A new method to administer insulin into the bloodstream via a skin patch which could have potential future applications in diabetes management is reported.
The Role of Visual Templates on Improving Teamwork Performance

Knowledge Visualization can be a valuable support for facilitating a number of cognitive and collaborative tasks in organizations. The aim of this paper is to provide concrete evidence of how visual templates provide useful support for teams, which lead to higher quality of idea generation and sharing, compared to unstructured meetings. Evidence is provided through the illustration of a field study conducted in a multinational telecommunication company and a series of laboratory experiments. Results show that visually structuring meetings improves the number of high quality ideas developed, and increased knowledge shared and remembered.
Single Channel Versus Multichannel MAC Protocols for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

MAC layer protocol which is a sub layer of data link layer has become an interesting research topic in Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANET). Being affected by the physical layer and providing service for the upper layers, several schemes have been proposed to improve the deficiencies in this important layer. Although several single channel schemes came into design and tried to achieve a high quality of service scheme, most of them, if not all, were not successful due to hidden and exposed terminal problems and the fairness issue. On the other hand, the multichannel schemes were almost successful in solving these problems and providing a better and more reliable MAC protocol for the users. In this paper, we will make a thorough investigation among these protocols and will demonstrate why multichannel schemes outperform single channel ones and the best solutions to benefit from all these factors in order to achieve a reliable MAC protocol.
Regeneration Energy Management in AC Mining Drives for Providing Control Power

A typical mining facility uses excavation machines like shovels, draglines etc. for removing overburden and ores during the mining process. These machines are characterized by cyclic loads consisting of high peak power demands as well as regenerative energy. The regenerated energy is as high as 60 % of the peak motoring power. This regenerated energy can be stored temporarily and then reused. The recent development in the field of ultracapacitors has led to commercial availability of high power ultracapacitor modules rated for reasonably high voltages. The paper proposes the use of ultracapacitors for regenerative energy storage to provide control power source for medium voltage gas insulated switchgear. Energy calculation and design of the ultracapacitor system into the existing converter system is presented.
Discourse Understanding of Work-Related Tweets

A healthy work life is essential for every individual. If a person is happy at work or enjoys the work he does it will have a positive impact on his personal life. People often tweet about their day-to-day activities on social media sites, such as twitter. These could include activities from personal or professional life. We aim at understanding the work related tweets to determine whether a person is happy with his work or not.
Optimal design of NPC and Active-NPC transformerless PV inverters

Targeting at a cost-effective deployment of grid-connected PhotoVoltaic (PV) systems, this paper presents a new methodology for the optimal design of transformerless PV inverters, which are based on the Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) and the Active-Neutral Point Clamped (ANPC) topologies. The design optimization results demonstrate that a different set of optimal values of the PV inverter switching frequency and output filter components are derived for the NPC and ANPC topologies, respectively, as well as for each of the PV inverter installation sites under study. The NPC and ANPC PV inverter structures, which are derived using the proposed design optimization methodology exhibit lower Levelized Cost Of generated Electricity (LCOE) and manufacturing cost and they are simultaneously capable to inject more energy into the electric grid than the corresponding non-optimized PV inverters. Thus, the proposed optimal design methodology enables to maximize the economic benefit obtained during the lifetime period of the installed PV system.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AS A PHILOSOPHICAL, SOCIAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL CATEGORY

Foreign language education is one of the priority areas of Ukraine’s educational policy. It exists not only for teaching students to acquire a foreign language, but also aims to enrich the inner world of a person, to make it more erudite, bring society to a new level. One of the strategic directions in modernizing of education is the overcoming of reproductive mass education and the transition to a new educational paradigm, which provides cognitive activity and autonomy of thinking of those who study. “The school should teach how to think and teach how to study» these are the pedagogical imperatives of the modern era.
Convexity in Image-Based 3D Surface Reconstruction

The reconstruction of three-dimensional geometry from images is one of the fundamental problems in computer vision and has been exposed to an intensive exploration in recent years. While many of the existing methods manifest considerable accuracy, they suffer from lacking robustness due to the absence of any globality guarantees of the computed result. In this work, we present convex optimization as a powerful tool for shape estimation and demonstrate its applicability to the image-based reconstruction problem. In particular, we show how different paradigms like shape-from-silhouettes, multiview stereo or the integration of silhouettes and stereo can be cast as convex optimization problems. In all cases, the obtained solution is a globally optimal one with respect to the underlying model or lies within an energetic bound of the optimal one. The practical value of convex formulations in this context is additionally emphasized by a quantitative comparison to established discrete graph cut methods. It turns out that continuous convex models prove superior to discrete counterparts in terms of metrication accuracy, potential for parallel computing and memory requirements.
On Prices of Fresh and Frozen Cod Fish in European and U.S. Markets

The purpose of this paper is to test for price linkages among European (France, Germany, and U.K.) and U.S. prices of whole fresh cod and frozen cod fillets. In testing for a cointegrated system, we use both the two-stage Engle-Granger and Johansen procedures. Short-run price dynamics are measured using an error-correction model. Based on monthly import price observations from 1980 to 1992, the empirical results show no long-run price relationships for fresh cod between European and U.S. markets, but we do measure long-run price linkages for frozen cod fillets. Within Europe the markets for both fresh and frozen cod product are well integrated. The U.S. fresh cod market is distinct and separate from European markets, while the U.S. frozen cod market shows no short-run links to European markets. There is weak evidence for a long-run international market in frozen cod fillets.
Syntactic Analysis of Web Queries with Question Intent

Accurate automatic processing of Web queries is important for high quality information retrieval from the Web. While the syntactic structure of a large portion of these queries is trivial, the structure of queries with question intent is much richer. In this paper we therefore extend the standard dependency grammar to describe the syntax of queries with question intent. The extended grammar is driven by the concept of a segment – an independent syntactic unit within a potentially larger syntactic structure. We then develop a general algorithm, based on the idea of query to question mapping, that can adapt any given dependency parser trained on standard edited text to produce syntactic structures that conform to the extended grammar, without requiring training data in the form of queries manually annotated with a dependency structure. On a new dataset of thousands of queries with question intent our algorithm is shown to outperform baselines trained on edited text only and to perform similarly to models trained with as many as several thousand annotated queries.
Synthetic aperture radar interferometry of Okmok volcano, Alaska: radar observations

ERS-1/ERS-2 synthetic aperture radar interferometry was used to study the 1997 eruption of Okmok volcano in Alaska. First, we derived an accurate digital elevation model (DEM) using a tandem ERS-1/ERS-2 image pair and the preexisting DEM. Second, by studying changes in interferometric coherence we found that the newly erupted lava lost radar coherence for 5–17 months after the eruption. This suggests changes in the surface backscattering characteristics and was probably related to cooling and compaction processes. Third, the atmospheric delay anomalies in the deformation interferograms were quantitatively assessed. Atmospheric delay anomalies in some of the interferograms were significant and consistently smaller than one to two fringes in magnitude. For this reason, repeat observations are important to confidently interpret small geophysical signals related to volcanic activities. Finally, using two-pass differential interferometry, we analyzed the preemptive inflation, coeruptive deflation, and posteruptive inflation and confirmed the observations using independent image pairs. We observed more than 140 cm of subsidence associated with the 1997 eruption. This subsidence occurred between 16 months before the eruption and 5 months after the eruption, was preceded by ∼18 cm of uplift between 1992 and 1995 centered in the same location, and was followed by ∼10 cm of uplift between September 1997 and 1998. The best fitting model suggests the magma reservoir resided at 2.7 km depth beneath the center of the caldera, which was ∼5 km from the eruptive vent. We estimated the volume of the erupted material to be 0.055 km3 and the average thickness of the erupted lava to be ∼7.4 m.