Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Image deblurring: I can see clearly now

Inverse problems are among the most challenging computations in science and engineering because they involve determining the parameters of a system that is only observed indirectly. For example, we might have a spectrum and want to determine the species that produced it as well as their relative proportions, or we may have sonar measurements of a containment tank and want to know whether it has an internal crack. Given a blurred image and a linear model for the blurring, the original image is reconstructed. This linear inverse problem illustrates the impact of ill-conditioning on the choice of algorithms.
Microsatellite analysis of breast carcinoma and corresponding local recurrences

Local recurrence is a serious complication of breast carcinoma that reduces quality of life and influences prognosis. The aim of this study was to determine whether local recurrences of breast carcinoma are genetically related to the primary tumours. Forty cases of locally recurrent breast carcinomas (median onset: 3.6 years after primary surgery) were analysed: 22 patients had undergone breast‐conserving therapy and 18 mastectomy. Eighteen microsatellites on chromosomes 2p, 3p, 5q, 10q, 11p, 11q, 13q, 17q, 17p, 18p were amplified by PCR using fluorescent‐labelled primers, automatically detected after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and analysed for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) or microsatellite instability (MSI). Follow‐up data were available for 39 cases with a median value of 89 months. All LOH and MSI found in the primary tumours were also present in the corresponding recurrences, indicating that they are genetically related to the primary tumours and not secondary malignancies in the same breast. MSI was found in three cases, of which one harboured MSI at more than two loci. The median value of LOH per case was significantly higher in the recurrent (four per case) compared to the primary tumours (two per case; p < 0.001, Mann–Whitney test), reflecting the genotype of tumour progression. Early local recurrence was associated with specific LOH for TP53.15 (p = 0.018, log‐rank test) in the primary tumours. LOH on D13S1699 or D17S855 was associated with lymph node metastases (p = 0.024 and p = 0.019, respectively; chi‐square test). In addition, tumour grade, lack of oestrogen or progesterone receptor expression, young patient age and early appearance of local recurrence significantly correlated with poor survival. The development of local recurrence despite clear resection margins may result from residual DCIS distant from the invasive carcinoma, homing of circulating tumour cells, or genetically altered, histologically normal breast tissue not immediately adjacent to the invasive carcinoma. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Adenosine Suppresses Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Production by Murine Macrophages through a Protein Kinase A- and Exchange Protein Activated by cAMP-Independent Signaling Pathway

Adenosine is generated during tissue hypoxia and stress, which reduces inflammation by suppressing the activity of most immune cells. Among its various actions, adenosine suppresses the production of proinflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, through the cAMP-elevating A2A adenosine receptor (AR) subtype. In this study, we examined the signaling mechanisms by which A2AAR activation inhibits TNF-α production in thioglycollate-elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages. Pretreating murine macrophages with the nonselective AR agonist adenosine-5′-N-ethylcarboxamide (NECA), the A2AAR agonist 2-[p-(2-carboxyethyl)phenethylamino]-5′-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (CGS 21680), or the cAMP-elevating agent forskolin reduced TNF-α production in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) by greater than 60%. All of these agents increased cAMP production in macrophages and activated protein kinase A (PKA). However, we were surprised to find that treating macrophages with three different PKA inhibitors or small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of the exchange protein activated by cAMP (Epac-1) failed to block the suppressive actions of NECA or forskolin on LPS-induced TNF-α release. Instead, okadaic acid was effective at low concentrations that selectively inhibit protein serine/threonine phosphatases. Subsequent studies showed that NECA and forskolin decreased LPS-induced steady-state TNF-α mRNA levels; this effect was due to a decreased rate of transcription based on assays examining the rate of generation of primary TNF-α transcripts. Treatment with NECA or forskolin did not interfere with LPS-induced translocation or DNA binding of the RelA/p65 subunit of nuclear factor-κB or phosphorylation of inhibitor of nuclear factor-κB-α, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase, or p38 kinase. Our results suggest that AR activation inhibits LPS-induced TNF-α production by murine macrophages at the level of gene transcription through a unique cAMP-dependent, but PKA- and Epac-independent, signaling pathway involving protein phosphatase activity.
FATORES EXPLICATIVOS DO NÍVEL DE DISCLOSURE VOLUNTÁRIO DAS EMPRESAS BRASILEIRAS LISTADAS NA BM&FBOVESPA

A internacionalizacao dos mercados e as constantes crises financeiras que tem ocorrido nos ultimos anos, fazem com que o disclosure voluntario ganhe crescente atencao por parte dos investidores. O disclosure e um dos principios da governanca corporativa e representa a forma como a empresa se comunica com investidores e o mercado de capitas. Diante do exposto, o estudo tem o objetivo de verificar os fatores que melhor explicam o nivel de disclosure voluntario das empresas brasileiras no ano de 2011. A metodologia utilizada e caracterizada quanto aos objetivos com descritiva, quanto aos procedimentos como pesquisa documental e quanto a abordagem do problema de cunho quantitativo. Foram formuladas hipoteses e para validacao foi utilizada a analise de regressao linear multipla pelo metodo do minimo quadrado ordinario (MGO). A amostra da pesquisa e composta por 106 empresas listadas no mercado tradicional, nivel 1, nivel 2 e novo mercado da BM&FBOVESPA. Concluiu-se que o tamanho das empresas e fator explicativo do nivel de disclosure voluntario total e que a rentabilidade e o tamanho sao fatores explicativos para o nivel de disclosure economico.
Implementation of cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter for liquid food sterilization using pulsed electric field

This paper presents on evaluating a performance of Cascaded H-bridge Multilevel Inverter (CHMI) pulsed power supply, which can produce high-voltage output pulses and electric field strength for effective inactivation of microbes in liquid food sterilization process. The unique feature of the CHMI allows the system to produce bipolar square wave pulses with less power consumption and high stability compared to an exponential decay pulse (EDP) and oscillatory decay pulse (ODP) in liquid food sterilization. The CHMI pulsed power supply can achieving high output voltage without using a transformer while fulfilling the requirements specification for sterilizing an identified liquid food. This in turn can reduce the power losses due to omission of winding coil as well as reduce cost. The experimental results on the 7-level CHMI indicate that, output voltage and electric field strength up of 2.0 kVp-p and 10 kV/cm respectively have been produced with both values meeting the pulse specifications for liquid food sterilization applications particularly for inactivation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in orange juice.
Improving bag-of-visual-words model with spatial-temporal correlation for video retrieval

Most of the state-of-art approaches to Query-by-Example (QBE) video retrieval are based on the Bag-of-visual-Words (BovW) representation of visual content. It, however, ignores the spatial-temporal information, which is important for similarity measurement between videos. Direct incorporation of such information into the video data representation for a large scale data set is computationally expensive in terms of storage and similarity measurement. It is also static regardless of the change of discriminative power of visual words for different queries. To tackle these limitations, in this paper, we propose to discover Spatial-Temporal Correlations (STC) imposed by the query example to improve the BovW model for video retrieval. The STC, in terms of spatial proximity and relative motion coherence between different visual words, is crucial to identify the discriminative power of the visual words. We develop a novel technique to emphasize the most discriminative visual words for similarity measurement, and incorporate this STC-based approach into the standard inverted index architecture. Our approach is evaluated on the TRECVID2002 and CC\_WEB\_VIDEO datasets for two typical QBE video retrieval tasks respectively. The experimental results demonstrate that it substantially improves the BovW model as well as a state of the art method that also utilizes spatial-temporal information for QBE video retrieval.
Assessment of Automatic Classification of Artery Plaque Composition in IVUS Images Using Histology Correlation

Nowadays, atherosclerosis, with its complications, is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the developed world. The composition of atherosclerotic plaques is variable, and complex, and it is the interaction between the various cell types within a plaque that determines the progression, complications, and outcome of the disease. Among all of the materials which are forming the vessels’ plaque, calcium, fibrous, necrotic core, and lipid core are the most important ones; there are several diseases (e.g. FA, TCFA, and AIT) that are classified based on the different combinations and the amount of each of these four materials [1]. Therefore, eligible characterizing of these plaques would help the physician to make the proper decision in order to save the patient’s life. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is becoming accepted as an imaging technique that allows precise tomographic assessment of the coronary anatomy in vivo in the latest 90’s. Clinical studies have documented the sensitivity of IVUS in detecting atherosclerosis and in quantifying the morphology of coronary lesions [2]. More importantly, IVUS can potentially quantify the structure and composition of normal and atherosclerotic coronary rather than relying on histological data which can only be obtained at autopsy. Mainly, there are two practical information that can be obtained by processing the IVUS data; one of them lead to detecting the Intima and Media-Adventitia borders, and the other help us to interpret the composition of arteries plaques. In this paper, we are focusing on characterizing the composition of atherosclerotic plaques via processing the IVUS images. A manual processing of images, apart from being a tedious time consuming task, might suffer from intraand interobserver variability. Besides, it is not possible for an expert to
Environmental Genomics Reveals a Single-Species Ecosystem Deep Within Earth

DNA from low-biodiversity fracture water collected at 2.8-kilometer depth in a South African gold mine was sequenced and assembled into a single, complete genome. This bacterium, Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator, composes >99.9% of the microorganisms inhabiting the fluid phase of this particular fracture. Its genome indicates a motile, sporulating, sulfate-reducing, chemoautotrophic thermophile that can fix its own nitrogen and carbon by using machinery shared with archaea. Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator is capable of an independent life-style well suited to long-term isolation from the photosphere deep within Earth's crust and offers an example of a natural ecosystem that appears to have its biological component entirely encoded within a single genome.
An Improved SVPWM Control of Voltage Imbalance in Capacitors of a Single-Phase Multilevel Inverter

This paper presents a modified Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation Technique (SVPWM), which solves the well-known problem of voltage imbalance in the capacitors of a single-phase multilevel inverter. The proposed solution is based on the measurement of DC voltage levels at each capacitor of the inverter DC bus. The measurements are then used to adjust the size of the active vectors within the SVPWM algorithm to keep the voltage waveform sinusoidal regardless of any voltage imbalance on the DC link capacitors. When a voltage deviation exceeds a predetermined hysteresis band, the correspondent voltage vector is restricted to restore the voltage level to an acceptable threshold. Hence, the need for external voltage regulators for the voltage capacitors is eliminated. The functionality of the proposed algorithm is successfully demonstrated through simulations and experiments on a grid tied application.
Mitochondrial Coupling Factor 6 Is Present on the Surface of Human Vascular Endothelial Cells and Is Released by Shear Stress

Background—We showed that mitochondrial coupling factor 6 (CF6), an endogenous inhibitor of prostacyclin synthesis, is present in the systemic circulation as a pressor substance in rats. We investigated the possibility of vascular endothelial cells as a source of circulating CF6. Methods and Results—We used 2 cultured endothelial cell lines, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and ECV 304 cells (transformed HUVECs), for this study. Immunofluorescence microscopy of both ECV 304 and HUVECs confirmed the surface-associated immunoreactivity of anti-CF6 antibody on the plasma membrane. The concentration of CF6 in the medium increased gradually with time in both ECV 304 and HUVECs in static conditions. Exposure of ECV 304 and HUVECs to a fluid shear stress enhanced the release of CF6: In ECV 304, the concentration of CF6 in the medium (ng · well−1 · 6 hours−1) was 2.1±0.8 at baseline, 4.3±0.8 after shear at 15 dynes/cm2, and 57.7±8.4 after shear at 25 dynes/cm2. CF6 contents in the cell homogenate and mitochondria were both significantly increased after exposure of ECV 304 to 6-hour shear at 15 dynes/cm2, whereas they were unchanged after shear stress at 25 dynes/cm2. The ratio of CF6 to GAPDH mRNA was enhanced significantly, by 1.8±0.2-fold, after 6-hour shear stress at 25 dynes/cm2. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that the surface-associated CF6 was significantly increased in a 3-hour static condition after the previous exposure of the cells to shear stress for 3 hours. Conclusions—Vascular endothelial cells are a source of CF6, and shear stress regulates the release of the surface-associated CF6.
Spermiogenesis Deficiency in Mice Lacking the Trf2 Gene

The discovery of TATA-binding protein–related factors (TRFs) has suggested alternative mechanisms for gene-specific transcriptional regulation and raised interest in their biological functions. In contrast to recent observations of an embryonic lethal phenotype for TRF2 inactivation in Caenorhabditis elegansand Xenopus laevis, we found that Trf2-deficient mice are viable. However,Trf2 –/– mice are sterile because of a severe defect in spermiogenesis. Postmeiotic round spermatids advance at most to step 7 of differentiation but fail to progress to the elongated form, and gene-specific transcription deficiencies were identified. We speculate that mammals may have evolved more specialized TRF2 functions in the testis that involve transcriptional regulation of genes essential for spermiogenesis.
Simultaneous camera pose and correspondence estimation in cornerless images

We propose an algorithm which can jointly estimate camera pose and point set registration. Given point sets from two views of a stationary scene, our algorithm registers the point sets while retaining internal scene structure. It simultaneously ensures that the resultant registration is consistent with that of a moving camera viewing a static scene (adheres to some epipolar constraint). Our statistical formulation can incorporate but does not necessarily require additional constraints such as brightness constancy and high dimensional point descriptors such as SIFT. We show that our algorithm is stable over a variety of scenes and offers a pose from edge system which handles currently difficult structure from motion scenes more robustly.
Working Paper Series Remittances and the Brain Drain : Skilled Migrants Do Remit Less !

It has been argued that the adverse impact of skilled versus unskilled labor migration can be mitigated or even offset by the fact that skilled migrants remit more than unskilled ones. This paper contributes to the much debated and so far unresolved related issue of whether remittances actually increase with migrants’ level of education. The determinants of remittances considered include migration levels and rates; migrants’ education level; and source countries’ income, financial sector development, and expected growth rate. The estimation takes potential endogeneity into account, an issue not considered in the few existing studies on this topic. Our main finding is that remittances decrease for migrants with tertiary education. This provides an additional reason for source countries to prefer unskilled to skilled labor migration. Moreover, as predicted by our model, remittances increase with source countries’ level and rate of migration, financial sector development and population, and decrease in per capita income and expected growth rate.
A qualitative study of the experience of obstetric fistula survivors in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Research on obstetric fistula has paid limited attention to the lived experiences of survivors. This qualitative study explored the evolution of survivors’ perceptions of their social relationships and health since developing this obstetric complication. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight survivors who were selected based on purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Thematic categorization and content analysis was used to analyze the data. The resultant themes included participants’ understanding of factors predisposing to fistula, challenges they encounter, their coping responses, and the meaning of their experiences. First, the participants had a common understanding of the factors that predisposed them to obstetric fistula. They mentioned poor knowledge about pregnancy, early marriage, cultural practices, and a delay in or lack of access to emergency obstetric care. Second, the participants suffered from powerlessness experienced during their childhood and married lives. They also faced prolonged obstructed labor, physical injury, emotional breakdown, depression, erosion of social capital, and loss of healthy years. Third, to control their negative emotions, participants reported isolating themselves, having suicidal thoughts, positive interpretation about the future, and avoidance. To obtain relief from their disease, the women used their family support, sold their properties, and oriented to reality. Fourth, the participants were struggling to keep going, to accept their changed reality, and to change their perspectives on life. In conclusion, obstetric fistula has significant physical, psychosocial, and emotional consequences. The study participants were not passive victims but rather active survivors of these challenges. Adequate support was not provided by their formal or informal support systems. To prevent and manage obstetric fistula successfully, there should be family-based interventions that improve access to and provision of emergency obstetric care. These initiatives should also ensure men’s participation, women’s empowerment, and the utilization of community-based institutions.
Can there be a Cognitive Neuroscience of Central Cognitive Systems

A process for producing substantially pure sucralose pentaester from a mixture of 6-O-acyl-4,1' ,6' -trichloro-4,1',6'-trideoxygalactosucrose in a reaction medium comprising a tertiary amide, wherein said process comprises the steps of: (a) recovering the 6-O-acyl-4,1' ,6' -trichloro-4,1' ,6' -trideoxygalactosucrose from said mixture; (b) peracylating the 6-O-acyl-4,1' ,6' -trichloro-4,1' ,6' -trideoxygalactosucrose product of step (a) to produce thereby 4,1',6' -trichloro-4,1' ,6' -trideoxygalactosucrose pentaester; and (c) crystallizing the 4,1',6' -trichloro-4,1' ,6' -trideoxygalactosucrose pentaester product of step (b) to produce substantially pure 4,1',6' -trichloro-4,1' ,6' -trideoxygalactosucrose pentaester.
Geometric Range-Free Localization Algorithm Based on Optimal Anchor Node Selection in Wireless Sensor Networks

In range-free localization scheme of wireless sensor networks, estimating the distance to the anchor nodes having the actual location is common to compute the position of unknown node. Since the range-free scheme is based on the topology information, the accuracy of distance estimation is considerably affected by node density or node deployment. In this paper, we propose a geometric range-free localization algorithm which estimates the unknown positions geometrically by topological information without considering the distance estimation. To achieve this, we propose an optimal anchor node selection algorithm which selects the anchor nodes connected topologically well for the geometrical location estimation. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm offers considerably an improved performance compared to the other existing studies.
Effect of loading a plate with different liquids on the propagation of lamb-like waves studied by laser ultrasonics

Three experimental laser ultrasonic configurations-line excitation with scanning detection, grating excitation with single point detection, and grating excitation with scanning probe beam- are shown to consistently reveal the modified propagation properties of Lamb waves on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film that is in contact with different liquids on its two sides. Theoretical predictions concerning the physical nature of different wave modes in symmetric and asymmetric film loading configurations (i.e., their existence, velocity, damping, and polarization) are confirmed by the experimental results.
Can holistic representations be used for face biometric quality assessment?

A face quality metric must quantitatively measure the usability of an image as a biometric sample. Though it is well established that quality measures are an integral part of robust face recognition systems, automatic measurement of bio-metric quality in face is still challenging. Inspired by scene recognition research, this paper investigates the use of holistic super-ordinate representations, namely, Gist and sparsely pooled Histogram of Orientated Gradient (HOG), in classifying images into different quality categories that are derived from matching performance. The experiments on the CAS-PEAL and SCFace databases containing covariates such as illumination, expression, pose, low-resolution and occlusion by accessories, suggest that the proposed algorithm can efficiently classify input face image into relevant quality categories and be utilized in face recognition systems.