Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Periodic spline-based frames for image restoration

We present a design scheme that generates tight and semi-tight frames in discrete-time periodic signals space originated from four-channel perfect reconstruction periodic filter banks. Filter banks are derived from interpolating and quasi-interpolating polynomial and discrete splines. Each filter bank comprises one linear phase low-pass filter (in most cases interpolating) and one high-pass filter, whose magnitude's response mirrors that of a low-pass filter. These filter banks comprise two band-pass filters. We introduce local discrete vanishing moments (LDVM). When the frame is tight, analysis framelets coincide with their synthesis counterparts. However, for semi-tight frames, we swap LDVM between synthesis and analysis framelets. The design scheme is generic and it enables us to design framelets with any number of LDVM. The computational complexity of the the framelet transforms, which consists of calculating the forward and the inverse FFTs, does not depend on the number of LDVM and does depend on the size of the the impulse response fi lters. The designed frames are used for image restoration tasks, which were degraded by blurring, random noise and missing pixels. The images were restored by the application of the Split Bregman Iterations method. The frames performances are evaluated. A potential application of this methodology is the design of a snapshot hyperspectral imager that is based on a regular digital camera. All these imaging applications are described.
Assessing the Quality of Whole Genome Alignments in Bacteria

Comparing genomes is an essential preliminary step to solve many problems in biology. Matching long similar segments between two genomes is a precondition for their evolutionary, genetic, and genome rearrangement analyses. Though various comparison methods have been developed in recent years, a quantitative assessment of their performance is lacking. Here, we describe two families of assessment measures whose purpose is to evaluate bacteria-oriented comparison tools. The first measure is based on how well the genome segmentation fits the gene annotation of the studied organisms; the second uses the number of segments created by the segmentation and the percentage of the two genomes that are conserved. The effectiveness of the two measures is demonstrated by applying them to the results of genome comparison tools obtained on 41 pairs of bacterial species. Despite the difference in the nature of the two types of measurements, both show consistent results, providing insights into the subtle differences between the mapping tools.
Comparing Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) Presence and Distribution between Degraded and Non-Degraded Forest within Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar

The aye-aye is considered the most widely distributed lemur in Madagascar; however, the effect of forest quality on aye-aye abundance is unknown. We compared aye-aye presence across degraded and non-degraded forest at Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. We used secondary signs (feeding sites, high activity sites) as indirect cues of aye-aye presence and Canarium trees as an indicator of resource availability. All 3 measured variables indicated higher aye-aye abundance within non-degraded forest; however, the differences across forest type were not significant. Both degraded and non-degraded forests showed a positive correlation between feeding sites and high activity sites. We found that Canarium, an important aye-aye food source, was rare and had limited dispersal, particularly across degraded forest. This preliminary study provides baseline data for aye-aye activity and resource utilization across degraded and non-degraded forests.
Microstrip-fed quasi-Yagi antenna array for a different DSRC system

In this paper an integrated Microstrip-fed quasi-Yagi antenna array for a different DSRC system is proposed. In classical DSRC Free-Flow, the antennas are placed in areas visible to the driver: aerial platforms on highway lanes, boxes next to the highway, etc. In this proposed DSRC system, based on the European DSRC standards, the identification is performed by a reader connected via buried coaxial cable to an antenna located under the lane structure. The antenna had been simulated using CST Microwave Studio software. The antenna was fabricated on Rogers RO4003 substrate. The proposed antenna profile provides at 5.8 GHz: a measured return-loss of -16 dB and a high simulated gain of 16.75 dB.
The Efficacy of Systemic Lidocaine in the Management of Chronic Pain: A Literature Review

Context Despite recent advances in the understanding of the chronic pain concept, its diagnosis and management remains a daily challenge for clinicians and patients. Based on the published literature, this review discusses and tries to organize the current knowledge and the up-to-date clinical experience about the efficacy and safety of the use of intravenous lidocaine in treatment and prevention of chronic pain. Evidence Acquisition To prepare this narrative review, we performed an in depth literature review using the PubMed searching engine. We extracted all relevant articles published in English, up to April 2016. Results Lidocaine, administered as transdermal patch or intravenous lidocaine, is a safe and effective modality in the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), complex regional pain syndrome, as well and for prevention of chronic pain. It may be effective in the management of neuropathic pain syndromes, chronic pain, post-operative pain, and refractory cancer pain. Conclusions Intravenous lidocaine and lidocaine patch are effective and safe for the treatment of several chronic or neuropathic pain syndromes. The use of lidocaine during surgery could prevent the development of some chronic post-surgical pain syndromes.
BOUNDS FOR FLUID MODELS DRIVEN BY SEMI-MARKOV INPUTS

In this paper we consider an infinite buffer fluid model whose input is driven by independent semi-Markov processes. The output capacity of the buffer is a constant. We derive upper and lower bounds for the limiting distribution of the stationary buffer content process. We discuss examples and applications where the results can be used to determine bounds on the loss probability in telecommunication networks.
Role of long non-coding RNAs in cancer and associated signal transduction pathways

LncRNAs have been shown to regulate multiple major biological processes in development processes and differentiation. Accumulating evidence suggests that lncRNAs play an important role in tumorigenesis. Up to now, genetic, epigenetic and transcriptional and posttrancriptional regulatory mechanisms have been clarified to involve in lncRNA disregulation in cancers. However, the detailed mechanisms of most lncRNAs involve in the cancer-associated signal transduction pathways remain largely unknown. In this review, we highlight the recent studies about the biological characteristics of lncRNAs in cancer, and the role of lncRNAs in some conventional caner-associated signaling pathways for clinical application in diagnosis, prognosis and potential treatment.
Stochastic gene expression: bacterial elites in chemotaxis

Even in the absence of genetic or environmental differences, cells differ from each other in their molecular make‐up. The consequences of these phenotypic differences are often not well understood. New work by Waite et al ( ) directly links variation in the molecular composition of individual bacterial cells to their population‐level performance.
Synapse Models for Neural Networks: From Ion Channel Kinetics to Multiplicative Coefficient wij

This paper relates different levels at which the modeling of synaptic transmission can be grounded in neural networks: the level of ion channel kinetics, the level of synaptic conductance dynamics, and the level of a scalar synaptic coefficient. The important assumptions to reduce a synapse model from one level to the next are explicitly exhibited. This coherent progression provides control on what is discarded and what is retained in the modeling process, and is useful to appreciate the significance and limitations of the resulting neural networks. This methodic simplification terminates with a scalar synaptic efficacy as it is very often used in neural networks, but here its conditions of validity are explicitly displayed. This scalar synapse also comes with an expression that directly relates it to basic quantities of synaptic functioning, and it can be endowed with meaningful physical units and realistic numerical values. In addition, it is shown that the scalar synapse does not receive the same expression in neural networks operating with spikes or with firing rates. These coherent modeling elements can help to improve, adjust, and refine the investigation of neural systems and their remarkable collective properties for information processing.
Localization of magnetic interictal discharges in temporal lobe epilepsy

Three young adults with intractable complex partial seizures were studies by electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, and electrocorticography. Interictal electroencephalographic (EEG) spikes for each patient were grouped according to their morphological characteristics and distribution across channels. Mapping of simultaneously recorded magnetoencephalographic signals produced dipolar patterns from which the three‐dimensional locations of equivalent current dipoles were calculated, whereas the mapping of EEG spikes showed single regions of electronegativity. The magnetic spikes were localized to the anterotemporal lobe, and the EEG spikes were localized somewhat anterior or posterior to the magnetic spikes. The magnetoencephalographic findings corresponded well with intraoperative electrocorticographic and depth‐electrode findings of discharging areas located over the lateral temporal lobe and on the basal and mesial surfaces of the temporal cortex.
On the ‘Incomplete Neutralization’ of German Final Obstruents

Abstract Recent work in acoustic phonetics purports to show that neutralization of the voiced/voiceless contrast in final position in German is only apparent, because it is incomplete. Thus, a recent study shows that native speakers of German do regularly devoice word-final obstruents, but they also produce slightly longer vowels before the morphophonemically voiced obstruents (e.g. Rad ‘wheel’) than before the voiceless ones (e.g. Rat ‘advice’). However, our work replicating these studies indicates that the previously observed differences actually resulted from hypercorrect spelling pronunciation, and that in more natural linguistic contexts the neutralization is indeed complete.
A NEW LOOK AT "COMPULSIVE BUYING": SELF-DISCREPANCIES AND MATERIALISTIC VALUES AS PREDICTORS OF COMPULSIVE BUYING TENDENCY

Compulsive buying is a widespread dysfunctional consumer behavior that is still not well understood, and existing clinical conceptualizations view it as a manifestation of other underlying psychiatric disorders. This article intends to improve understanding through developing and testing a new perspective on compulsive buying as identity–seeking behavior that is driven jointly by self–discrepancies and endorsement of materialistic values. It presents three studies—a qualitative exploration using shopping diaries, and two quantitative surveys—which provide convergent evidence that compulsive buying is characterized by the motivation to move closer to an “ideal self” through material goods. For women, who constitute the great majority of compulsive buyers, there was good support for the two–factor model in both middle and young adulthood. For young men, materialistic values, but not self–discrepancies, were a significant predictor. Conceptual and treatment implications are discussed.
MINIMIZING METHOD VARIANCE IN MEASURES OF SYSTEM USAGE

Although the system usage construct has a central place in information systems (IS) research, there has been little discussion to date about how it should be measured. Usage is most commonly measured by selfreported questionnaire data, and, on occasion, interview reports, computer logs, or independent observation. Some researchers have found that the relationship between usage and other constructs differs depending on its method of measurement. Consequently, there is a need to determine how to obtain ‘true’ measures. The objective of this paper is to present a framework for measuring systems use. Specifically, the paper distinguishes two components of systematic variance—common methods bias and distance bias. These can lead to inaccurate measures of usage and inaccurate measures of its relationships with other constructs. The paper then presents an approach to minimizing these two sources of systematic bias and operationalizes this approach in the context of studying the relationship between usage and performance.
Algebraic dataflows for big data analysis

Analyzing big data requires the support of dataflows with many activities to extract and explore relevant information from the data. Recent approaches such as Pig Latin propose a high-level language to model such dataflows. However, the dataflow execution is typically delegated to a MapRe-duce implementation such as Hadoop, which does not follow an algebraic approach, thus it cannot take advantage of the optimization opportunities of PigLatin algebra. In this paper, we propose an approach for big data analysis based on algebraic workflows, which yields optimization and parallel execution of activities and supports user steering using provenance queries. We illustrate how a big data processing dataflow can be modeled using the algebra. Through an experimental evaluation using real datasets and the execution of the dataflow with Chiron, an engine that supports our algebra, we show that our approach yields performance gains of up to 19.6% using algebraic optimizations in the dataflow and up to 39.1% of time saved on a user steering scenario.
State of the Art About Remote Laboratories Paradigms - Foundations of Ongoing Mutations

In this paper, we provide a literature review of modern remote laboratories. According to this review, we explain why remote laboratories are at a technological crossroad, whereas they were slugging for a decade. From various observations based on our review, we try to identify possible evolutions for the next generation of remote laboratories.
Extracting Collocations in Modern Greek Language

In this paper we describe and apply two statistical methods for extracting collocations from text corpora written in Modern Greek. The first one is the mean and variance method which calculates “offsets” (distances) between words in a corpus and looks for patterns of distances with low spread. The second method is based on the X test. Such an approach seems to be more flexible because it does not assume normally distributed probabilities of the words in the corpus. The two techniques produce interesting collocations that are useful in various applications e.g. computational lexicography, language generation and machine translation.
Sonification Mapping Configurations: Pairings Of Real-Time Exhibits And Sound

Visitors to aquariums typically rely on their vision to interact with live exhibits that convey rich descriptive and aesthetic visual information. However, some visitors may prefer or need to have an alternative interpretation of the exhibitÕs visual scene to improve their experience. Musical sonification has been explored as an interpretive strategy for this purpose and related work provides some guidance for sonification design, yet more empirical work on developing and validating the music-to-visual scene mappings needs to be completed. This paper discusses work to validate mappings that were developed through an investigation of musician performances for two specific live animal exhibits at the Georgia Aquarium. In this proposed study, participants will provide feedback on musical mapping examples which will help inform design of a real-time sonification system for aquarium exhibits. Here, we describe our motivation, methods, and expected contributions.
The Concept of Musical Consonance: A Link between Music and Psychoacoustics

This paper is a presentation of the essentials of a new concept and foundation of musical consonance described by the present author in German in Acustica 36,121-137 (1976). Musical consonance is considered from the terminological, musical, conceptual, and psychoacoustic aspects. An appropriate definition of musical consonance is given, based on the principles governing tonal music. Recent results on psychoacoustic evaluation of consonance, which at first glance appear to be in conflict with musical experience, can be reconciled by a two-component concept of musical consonance. The first component is called sensory consonance; it represents the graded absence of annoying factors and is not confined to musical sounds, that is, not music specific. The second component of musical consonance is called harmony; it represents the typical, musicspecific principles of tonal affinity, compatibility, and fundamental-note relation (root). This concept is discussed in the context of Helmholtz9s work on Konsonanz and Klangverwandtschaft. Helmholtz9s work turns out to be an excellent basis of modern solutions to the consonance problem, as much of it still is valid, while the remainder can readily be replaced by more appropriate new solutions. The psychoacoustic foundations of sensory consonance, as provided by modern psychoacoustics, are largely identical with those found by Helmholtz. With regard to harmony, that is, the music-specific component of musical consonance, a new psychoacoustic foundation is provided by the established principles of virtualpitch perception. Several consequences and prospects of the concept for musical science are briefly considered.
LEARNING AND EXPERIMENTS: THE BOOTSTRAP TO THE RESCUE

(gene-savin@uiowa.edu) 319-335-0855 *Department of Economics **Tippie College of Business University of Pittsburgh University of Iowa Pittsburgh, PA 15260 Iowa City, IA 52242 USA USA Fax: 319-335-1956 September 5, 2002 + Corresponding author ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: We gratefully acknowledge the comments of Joel Horowitz and of seminar participants at Tilburg University. The authors thank the NSF for its support. General field: econometrics, game theory and experiments JEL Classification Numbers: C72, C91, C92
Child care in infancy and cognitive performance until middle childhood in the millennium cohort study.

This study used a British cohort (n = ∼13,000) to investigate the association between child care during infancy and later cognition while controlling for social selection and missing data. It was found that attending child care (informal or center based) at 9 months was positively associated with cognitive outcomes at age 3 years, but only for children of mothers with low education. These effects did not persist to ages 5 or 7 years. Early center-based care was associated with better cognitive outcomes than informal care at ages 3 and 5 years, but not at 7 years. Effect sizes were larger among children whose mother had low education. Propensity score matching and multiple imputation revealed significant findings undetected using regression and complete-case approaches.
REDEFINING HYPNOSIS: THEORY, METHODS AND INTEGRATION

An integration between neurobiological and sociocognitive perspectives is advocated to advance and overhaul the concept of hypnosis and its humanistic applications. The thesis is presented that hypnosis is an altered state of brain functional organization involving interrelations between brain regions initiated by the intervention of the hypnotist – that is, an atypical alteration of brain systems through an interpersonal and cultural context. Experimental evidence shows that the hypnotic process produces a brain state that is different from everyday neurophysiology, as shown by evidence of differential effects of attention and relaxation, and by evidence of cognitive and neurophysiological dissociation, which are central features of hypnosis. The hypnotic induction has a neurophysiological logic involving a temporal process that becomes conditioned to facilitate future induction and self-hypnosis. Our integrative perspective of brain systems in a social context includes a neuropsychological translation of the hypnotic induction and draws out the implications of orbital-frontal suppression for subjects being oblivious to embarrassment and being able to endure stage hypnosis. Wasteful pursuits in the field of hypnosis include the search for a single marker, premature closure of neurophysiological investigation, attributions and inferences such as ‘suggestion’ and goal-directed striving without validation and without consideration of process and mechanism, and the use of dichotomies such as ‘waking’ versus ‘sleeping’. Recommendations include considerations of multidimensionality regarding trance and levels of susceptibility; the modifiability of susceptibility; formal assessment of social conceptions about hypnosis; concurrent validation of susceptibility during experimental procedures; consideration of both objective and subjective measures of susceptibility together with cross-checking for inconsistencies; the feasibility of control conditions; assessment of processes underpinning suggestibility; distinguishing the social impact of experimental, clinical and stage hypnosis; and assessment of after-effects.
Face or Subjective Norm? Chinese College Students’ Purchase Behaviors Toward Foreign Brand Jeans

To help U.S. apparel companies more successfully pursue market opportunities in China, this study aimed to systematically understand Chinese college students’ purchase behaviors toward foreign brand jeans. Considering Chinese value changes as a result of modernization and rapid economic growth, this study proposed a research model incorporating two extended Fishbein models, Lee’s modified Fishbein model and Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior. To test the research model, a total of 238 valid data sets were collected at two universities in Shanghai, China. Structural and measurement models were estimated using LISREL 8.80. Findings indicated that perceived behavioral control had the strongest direct influence on Chinese college students’ purchase intention of foreign brand jeans. Among social pressure factors, face-saving had a stronger impact on purchase intention than subjective norm did. Based on findings, theoretical and managerial implications were provided.