Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new approach to the temporal evolution of a family of curves

In this study the problem of modeling a family of curves is addressed. The need of such modeling appears frequently in many aspects of image processing where many linear structures keep spatial relationships during their evolution. We present a modeling tool well suited to the spatial modeling of a family of curves, and which can be very useful for motion tracking and curve evolution as well. The family of curves is represented as the line paths (orbits) of a "spline vector field", i.e. a vector field interpolating data using a framework similar to the theory of spline curves. The model is exemplified with oceanic satellite data. Its usefulness for curve evolution modeling is also presented.
Inference about the rank of cointegration of a locally trending VAR process

Standard tests for the rank of cointegration of a vector autoregressive (VAR) process present nonstandard distributions that are affected by the presence of deterministic trends. When it is known that the data generating process exhibits a linear trend, it is preferable to model it explicitly and use the corresponding form of the Likelihood Ratio (LR) or Lagrange Multiplier (LM) test statistics. In the presence of stochastic nonstationarity, such as in the cointegrated VAR, deterministic linear trends may be present in the data but with an effect that is not strong enough to be noticeable. Such a situation can be modeled by means of a cointegrated VAR process that exhibits a local linear trend that has same asymptotic magnitude as the common stochastic trends. We derive the properties of the LR and LM tests in this context. We show that whether the trend is orthogonal to the cointegrating vector has a major impact on the distributions. The LR statistics without unrestricted constant are mildlly powerful against the local alternative. The LR with unrestricted trend and the LM are robust towards local trends, but other specifications of the LR perform badly.
Orientation of neurite growth by extracellular electric fields

Extracellularly applied steady electric fields of 0.1 to 10 V/cm were found to have marked effects on the neurite growth of single dissociated Xenopus neurons in culture: (1) neurites facing the cathode showed accelerated growth, while the growth of those facing the anode was reduced. Neurites growing relatively perpendicular to the field axis were prompted to curve toward the cathode. (2) More neurites appeared to be initiate from the cathodal side of the cell. (3) The number of neurite-bearing neurons per culture and the average neurite length were increased. These effects are absent in cultures treated with electric fields of similar strength but alternating polarity and cannot be attributed either to a gradient of extracellular diffusible substances or to the flow of culture medium produced by the field. The field effects are reversible: (1) removal of the electric field resulted in the loss of neurite orientation in a few hours and (2) reversal of the polarity of the electric field led to a rapid reversal in the neurite orientation. To determine the cellular loci of these field effects, we treated the neurons with a number of pharmacological agents or altered their ionic environments. Incubation with concanavalin A (Con A) was found to abolish these filed effects completely. Since the binding of Con A to the neuronal surface was shown to prevent field-induced accumulation of the Con A receptors toward the cathodal side of these neurons, our finding is accumulation of the Con A receptors toward the cathodal side of these neurons, our finding is consistent with the notion that cathodal accumulation of growth-controlling surface glycoproteins by the field is the underlying mechanism of the field-induced orientation of neurite growth toward the cathode.
A machine learning framework for space medicine predictive diagnostics with physiological signals

Prognostics and health management (PHM) in the context of space missions focuses on the fundamental issues of system failures in an attempt to predict when the failures may occur, and links these issues to system life cycle management. Space missions that are targeting for aerospace exploration or aviation also pose great challenges on the health conditions of people involved, such like astronauts, crew members, aviators, etc. Considering the inherent risks of space missions and the difficulty of direct communications between crew and ground support medical specialists, we see that greater autonomy in medical operations for crew is required. Namely, there is an urgent call for an effective onboard medical system to predict and prevent health problems in a timely manner, rather than following reactive approaches which are inherent to conventional medicine.
Caractérisation de la réponse cérébrale à la douleur et ses modulations

Dans le but de mieux comprendre le role et le fonctionnement des regions cerebrales impliquees dans le traitement et la modulation de la perception douloureuse, la premiere partie de cette these s’interesse a l’evaluation en IRMf des modifications de la reponse cerebrale a la douleur grâce a deux modulations de la perception douloureuse. La premiere s’interesse a l’effet d’un contexte emotionnel negatif sur la perception douloureuse afin de dissocier des aires cerebrales repondant a la douleur, les reponses liees a la composante emotionnelle. La deuxieme s’interesse a l’effet d’une manipulation de l’appreciation de la duree d’une stimulation douloureuse sur la perception de la douleur. L’utilisation d’une illusion permet, pour une intensite de stimulation thermique donnee, de modifier la perception douloureuse et d’evaluer les zones cerebrales impliquees dans ce type de modulation. Nous avons module la douleur percue et pu observer que l’emotion met en jeu la partie pregenuale du cortex cingulaire anterieur, tandis que l’illusion d’une duree raccourcie met en jeu un reseau occipito-parietal attentionnel. La seconde partie de cette these s’interesse a la caracterisation du decours temporel de la reponse hemodynamique dans deux regions importantes pour le traitement de l’information douloureuse qui sont l’insula et le cortex cingulaire. La douleur est caracterisee par une latence de la reponse plus courte, par rapport a une stimulation non-douloureuse, dans l’insula anterieure et le cortex cingulaire moyen, tandis qu’il est possible de differencier une stimulation douloureuse d’une stimulation non-douloureuse grâce a l’amplitude de la reponse dans l’insula posterieure.
Comparison of Sensitivity for Consumer Loan Data Using Gaussian Naïve Bayes (GNB) and Logistic Regression (LR)

If the training sample size is asymptotic (number approaching to infinity) classification accuracy for Logistic Regression is often better than the asymptotic accuracy of GNB. Also if the training sample size is scarce, classification accuracy for GNB is often better than the asymptotic accuracy of Logistic Regression. This article shows that, although the Bayesian classifier's probability estimates are only optimal under quadratic loss if the independence assumption holds, the classifier itself can be optimal under zero-one loss (misclassification rate) even when this assumption is violated by a wide margin. We have attempted to validate the above two distinct features on the consumer loan data with a sample size of 1000 and 500,000.
A Novel Self Organizing Network to Perform Fast Moving Object Extraction from Video Streams

Image segmentation is a critical task in computer vision. In the context of motion detection, a very popular segmentation approach is background subtraction which consists in classifying the pixels as background and foreground. Then, the foreground pixels are grouped together to find objects, this task is known as object extraction. There are several different approaches to object extraction (e.g. connected component labeling, morphological operators, size thresholding and clustering) amongst them, cluster based approaches are, probably, the ones with a stronger theoretical foundation. However, their application to object extraction is difficult because of three problems: a) need to know the number of objects to be detected beforehand, b) high sensibility to initialization due to a trend to get stuck in local minima and c) high complexity which makes difficult their application in real-time. This paper proposes an algorithm which aims to combine the strong theoretical foundations of clustering with the speed of other approaches. This is possible due to the introduction of a novel self organizing network (SON) which has a robust initialization schema and is able to find the number of clusters in the image. The algorithm has a time complexity of order NM where N is the number of foreground pixels in the image and M is the number of nodes in the SON
Approaches to phoneme-based topic spotting: an experimental comparison

Topic spotting is often performed on the output of a large vocabulary recognizer or a keyword spotter. However, this requires detailed knowledge about the vocabulary, and transcribed training data. If portability to new topics and languages is important, then a topic spotter based on phoneme recognition is preferable. A phoneme recognizer is run on training data consisting of audio files labeled by topic alone-no word transcripts are required. Phoneme sub-sequences which help to predict the topic are then extracted automatically. The work described was carried out by two teams exploring three very different approaches to phoneme-based topic spotting: the "DP-ngram", the "decision tree", and the "Euclidean" approach. Results obtained by each team on the ARM (Airborne Reconnaissance Mission) and Switchboard data sets were compared by means of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The best performance for each team was obtained via a similar type of discriminative training.
Switching converters with wide DC conversion range

Compared to basic converter topologies (buck, boost, buck-boost, Cuk, etc.), pulse-width modulation (PWM) converters with quadratic DC conversion ratios, M(D)=D/sup 2/, M(D)=D/sup 2//(1-D) or M(D)=D/sup 2//(1-D)/sup 2/, offer a significantly wider conversion range. For a given minimum ON-time and, consequently, for a given minimum duty ratio D/sub min/, D/sup 2/ in the numerator of M(D) yields a much lower limit on the minimum attainable conversion ratio. By applying a systematic synthesis procedure, six novel single-transistor converter configurations with quadratic DC conversion ratios are found. The simpler, single-transistor realization is the most important advantage over the straightforward cascade of two basic converters. As far as conversion efficiency is concerned, it is clear that a single-stage converter is usually a better choice than a two-stage converter. The quadratic converters proposed are intended for applications where conventional single-stage converters are inadequate-for high-frequency applications where the specified range of input voltages and the specified range of output voltages call for an extremely large range of conversion ratios. >
Are Workers with a Long Commute Less Productive? An Empirical Analysis of Absenteeism

We hypothesise, and test for, a negative effect of the length of the worker's commute on worker's productivity, by examining whether the commute has a positive effect on worker's absenteeism. We identify this effect using employer-induced changes in commuting distance. Our estimates for Germany indicate that commuting distance induces absenteeism with an elasticity of about 0.07 to 0.09. On average, absenteeism would be about 15 to 20% less if all workers would have a negligible commute. These results are consistent with extended urban efficiency wage models.
Layer-by-layer surface freezing of freely suspended liquid-crystal films.

Computer-enhanced polarized video microscopy has been used to study the discrete layer-by-layer surface ordering transitions of freely suspended films of 4-(«-nonyloxy)benzylidene-4-(«-butyl)aniline (90 .4) . Stable tilted hexatic smectic-7 surface layers form on both free surfaces of the 2D-liquid smectic-^ interior in a monolayer, bilayer, trilayer, . sequence as T—+ Tc. The appearance of the first ten surface layers is described very well by the simple power-law form, L —Lot ~, predicted for the surface freezing transition in a system with van der Waals forces.
On the Evaluation of RDF Distribution Algorithms Implemented over Apache Spark

Querying very large RDF data sets in an efficient manner requires a sophisticated distribution strategy. Several innovative solutions have recently been proposed for optimizing data distribution with predefined query workloads. This paper presents an in-depth analysis and experimental comparison of five representative and complementary distribution approaches. For achieving fair experimental results, we are using Apache Spark as a common parallel computing framework by rewriting the concerned algorithms using the Spark API. Spark provides guarantees in terms of fault tolerance, high availability and scalability which are essential in such systems. Our different implementations aim to highlight the fundamental implementation-independent characteristics of each approach in terms of data preparation, load balancing, data replication and to some extent to query answering cost and performance. The presented measures are obtained by testing each system on one synthetic and one real-world data set over query workloads with differing characteristics and different partitioning constraints.
Retiming and time borrowing: Optimizing high-performance pulsed-latch-based circuits

Pulsed-latches take advantage of both latches in their high performance and flip-flops in their convenience of timing analysis. To minimize the clock period of pulsed-latch-based circuits for a higher performance, a problem of combined retiming and time borrowing is formulated, where the latter is enabled by using a handful of different pulse widths. The problem is first approached by formulating it as an integer linear programming to lay a theoretical foundation. A heuristic approach is proposed, which solves the problem by performing clock skew scheduling for the minimum clock period and gradually converting skew into a combination of retiming and time borrowing. Experiments with 45-nm technology demonstrate that the clock period close to the minimum can be achieved for all benchmark circuits with an average of 1.03× with less use of extra latches compared to the conventional retiming. Categories and Subject Descriptors: B.6. 1 [Logic Design]: Design Styles-Sequential circuits; B.7. 1 [Integrated Circuits]: Types and Design Styles-VLSI General Terms: Algorithms, Design
Expressed Emotion and Schizophrenia in North India

We conducted a one-year follow-up of patients who had made a first contact with psychiatric services in Chandigarh, North India, and had been assigned a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The expressed emotion (EE) of the patients' relatives was assessed early on. We found the same associations between the individual components of EE and relapse of schizophrenia as in previous Anglo-American studies, but only the association between hostility and relapse was statistically significant. Applying the same criteria as in the Anglo American studies for ‘high EE’, we found a significant relationship between high EE and relapse. This relationship was not explained by other factors often associated with higher relapse rates. We conclude that the significantly better outcome of Chandigarh first-contact patients compared with a London sample is largely due to the significantly lower proportion of high-EE relatives in the North Indian sample.
Decreased Immunoreactivities of the Chloride Transporters, KCC2 and NKCC1, in the Lateral Superior Olive Neurons of Kanamycin-treated Rats

Objectives From our previous study about the weak expressions of potassium-chloride (KCC2) and sodium-potassium-2 chloride (NKCC1) co-transporters in the lateral superior olive (LSO) in circling mice, we hypothesized that partially damaged cochlea of circling mice might be a cause of the weak expressions of KCC2 or NKCC1. To test this possibility, we reproduced the altered expressions of KCC2 and NKCC1 in the LSO of rats, whose cochleae were partially destroyed with kanamycin. Methods Rat pups were treated with kanamycin from postnatal (P)3 to P8 (700 mg/kg, subcutaneous injection, twice a day) and sacrificed for immunohistochemical analysis, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and auditory brain stem response. Results The SEM study revealed partially missing hair cells in P9 rats treated with kanamycin, and the hearing threshold was elevated to 63.8±2.5 dB SPL (4 ears) at P16. Both KCC2 and NKCC1 immunoreactivities were more prominent in control rats on P16. On 9 paired slices, the mean densities of NKCC1 immunoreactivities were 118.0±1.0 (control) and 112.2±1.2 (kanamycin treated), whereas those of KCC2 were 115.7±1.5 (control) and 112.0±0.8 (kanamycin treated). Conclusion We concluded that weak expressions of KCC2 and NKCC1 in circling mice were due to partial destruction of cochleae.
Gender and Swearing: A Community Practice *

Recent studies have shown that the gender-swearing relationship is more complex and context-specific than has been supposed. We adopted a 'communities of practice' framework to contextualize the linguistic practice of swearing and to explore the meanings of this practice for one particular 'community, ' a group of undergraduate drinking friends. Through members' accounts, we can observe their negotiation of specific linguistic categories, and their ongoing (re)definition of 'bad language' as a resource for identity construction. These findings provide insights into the ways in which gender itself becomes redefined and contextualized within particular frames of reference. Both female and male participants reported habitually deploying strong language in the context of shared group enterprises, although a number of subtle, yet persistent gender differences reflect the respondents' location within the wider sociocultural context(s).
Message-passing algorithms for the prediction of protein domain interactions from protein-protein interaction data

MOTIVATION Cellular processes often hinge upon specific interactions among proteins, and knowledge of these processes at a system level constitutes a major goal of proteomics. In particular, a greater understanding of protein-protein interactions can be gained via a more detailed investigation of the protein domain interactions that mediate the interactions of proteins. Existing high-throughput experimental techniques assay protein-protein interactions, yet they do not provide any direct information on the interactions among domains. Inferences concerning the latter can be made by analysis of the domain composition of a set of proteins and their interaction map. This inference problem is non-trivial, however, due to the high level of noise generally present in experimental data concerning protein-protein interactions. This noise leads to contradictions, i.e. the impossibility of having a pattern of domain interactions compatible with the protein-protein interaction map. RESULTS We formulate the problem of prediction of protein domain interactions in a form that lends itself to the application of belief propagation, a powerful algorithm for such inference problems, which is based on message passing. The input to our algorithm is an interaction map among a set of proteins, and a set of domain assignments to the relevant proteins. The output is a list of probabilities of interaction between each pair of domains. Our method is able to effectively cope with errors in the protein-protein interaction dataset and systematically resolve contradictions. We applied the method to a dataset concerning the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and tested the quality of our predictions by cross-validation on this dataset, by comparison with existing computational predictions, and finally with experimentally available domain interactions. Results compare favourably to those by existing algorithms. AVAILABILITY A C language implementation of the algorithm is available upon request.
The Interaction of Cognitive Load and Attention-Directing Cues in Driving

Objective: This study investigated the effect of a nondriving cognitively loading task on the relationship between drivers’ endogenous and exogenous control of attention. Background: Previous studies have shown that cognitive load leads to a withdrawal of attention from the forward scene and a narrowed field of view, which impairs hazard detection. Method: Posner’s cue-target paradigm was modified to study how endogenous and exogenous cues interact with cognitive load to influence drivers’ attention in a complex dynamic situation. In a driving simulator, pedestrian crossing signs that predicted the spatial location of pedestrians acted as endogenous cues. To impose cognitive load on drivers, we had them perform an auditory task that simulated the demands of emerging in-vehicle technology. Irrelevant exogenous cues were added to half of the experimental drives by including scene clutter. Results: The validity of endogenous cues influenced how drivers scanned for pedestrian targets. Cognitive load delayed drivers’ responses, and scene clutter reduced drivers’ fixation durations to pedestrians. Cognitive load diminished the influence of exogenous cues to attract attention to irrelevant areas, and drivers were more affected by scene clutter when the endogenous cues were invalid. Conclusion: Cognitive load suppresses interference from irrelevant exogenous cues and delays endogenous orienting of attention in driving. Application: The complexity of everyday tasks, such as driving, is better captured experimentally in paradigms that represent the interactive nature of attention and processing load.
Labile A1C Is Inversely Correlated With the Hemoglobin Glycation Index in Children With Type 1 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE We hypothesized that labile A1C (LA1C) is directly correlated with stable A1C (SA1C) and between-patient differences in SA1C, which are independent of mean blood glucose (MBG). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We measured SA1C, LA1C, MBG, and a single clinic capillary glucose (CCG) from 152 pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes. Patients were grouped as high, moderate, or low glycators by hemoglobin glycation index (HGI). RESULTS LA1C and SA1C were correlated with CCG and MBG. LA1C was not correlated with SA1C (r = 0.06, P = 0.453). LA1C level was significantly associated with glycator group status (P < 0.0019) and CCG (P < 0.0001). Adjusted LA1C levels were highest in the low-HGI patients and lowest in the high-HGI group. CONCLUSIONS A conventional model of SA1C being directly correlated with LA1C concentration was not confirmed. Between-patient differences in SA1C at the same MBG may be due to complex intracellular factors influencing formation of SA1C from LA1C.