Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TEXTURE-BASED FUZZY SYSTEM FOR ROTATION-INVARIANT CLASSIFICATION OF AERIAL ORTHOIMAGE REGIONS

Orthoimages are aerial images where feature displacements and scale variations have been removed. This type of images is widely used to calculate areas, determine land cover and land use, among others. This paper introduces a rotation-invariant classification model for three common orthoimage regions: city, sea and forest areas, using only texture information (without color information). Our classification model analyzes small sub-images (for example, of 20x20 pixels) to determine their region classes. Our model is based on a Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) constructed over a set of new rotation-invariant texture features. The features are extracted using two rotation-invariant versions of the well-known grayscale co-occurrence matrix (GLCM). Rotation-invariance is a desirable property of orthoimage classification systems, because the aerial images can be taken from different angles. We executed tests on samples from the three regions, including several rotated versions. These experiments show that our system reaches 100% of correct classification rate for our image test database. This correct classification rate is far superior to the rate obtained using the classical GLCM without the rotation-invariant property. Our classifier is robust to images that contain small areas that do not belong to the overall region type. The results demonstrate that our model offers a reliable rotation-invariant orthoimage region classification. This work was financially supported by CAPES. * Corresponding author.
Integrins, Oncogenes, and Anchorage Independence

The ability of cancer cells to proliferate in the absence of adhesion to extracellular matrix (ECM)1 proteins, termed anchorage independence of growth, correlates closely with tumorigenicity in animal models (14). This property of cancer cells presumably reflects the tendency of tumor cells to survive and grow in inappropriate locations in vivo. Such incorrect localization, as occurs in invasion and metastasis, is the characteristic that distinguishes malignant from benign tumors (31). Great progress has been made in the last 20 years toward understanding how growth is controlled in normal cells and how oncogenes usurp these controls. Yet studies on how oncogenes (or loss of tumor suppressors) overcome the mechanisms that govern cellular location have lagged considerably. The finding that integrins transduce signals that influence intracellular growth regulatory pathways provided some insight into anchorage dependence. Available evidence indicates that integrin-dependent signals mediate the growth requirement for cell adhesion to ECM proteins. Our understanding of integrin signaling has now reached a stage that connections to oncogenesis are becoming clear, enabling us to place a number of proto-oncogenes and oncogenes with respect to their adhesion dependence or independence. While many details of molecular mechanisms remain to be elucidated, sufficient information is now available to propose a general framework for how oncogenes lead to anchorage-independent growth.
Chokeberry Anthocyanin Extract as Pancreatic β-Cell Protectors in Two Models of Induced Oxidative Stress

The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of a chokeberry anthocyanin extract (CAE) on pancreatic β-cells (βTC3) exposed to hydrogen peroxide- (H2O2-) and high glucose- (HG-) induced oxidative stress conditions. In order to quantify individual anthocyanins high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to photodiode array (PDA) was used. The identification of the fragment ion pattern of anthocyanins was carried out by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS). The results showed that physiologically achievable concentrations of CAE (1, 5, and 10 μM) protect βTC3 against H2O2- and HG-induced cytotoxicity. Antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were increased in pancreatic β-cells pretreated with CAE compared to cells exposed to the prooxidant agents. GSH levels initially reduced after exposure to H2O2 and HG were restored by pretreatment with CAE. Insulin secretion in βTC3 cells was enhanced by CAE pretreatment. CAE restored the insulin pool and diminished the intracellular reactive oxygen species level in glucose-induced stress condition in βTC3 cells. These results demonstrate that anthocyanins from CAE were biologically active, showing a secretagogue potential and an antioxidative protection of enzymatic systems, conferring protection against H2O2 and glucose toxicity in βTC3 cells.
Why enterprises need more than firewalls and intrusion detection systems

At the approach of the next millenium, enterprises are facing a lot of challenges and have to decide in which direction their communication networks will evolve. At the moment we see a large shift towards using global intranets and extranets. Most of the time it is also necessary to connect these networks to the Internet. During the consultancy work we provided in this area we concluded that although there are good tools available to protect these intranets from external attackers, perfect security could not be obtained. Therefore we started the TACK project to illustrate this by working out attacks that could be launched at any intranet. In these attacks we use the technology that is on the one hand rendering the Internet extremely successful but on the other hand facilitates the work for attackers. This paper summarizes the results of this project. We conclude that fundamentally no intranet can be made completely secure.
Floor-based Audio-Haptic Virtual Collision Responses

Virtual collisions are considered an important aspect of creating effective travel interactions for virtual environments; yet, they are not yet well understood. We introduce a new ﬂoor based audio-haptic interface for providing virtual collision feedback, the soundﬂoor. With this device, haptic feedback can be provided through the ﬂoor of a projection VR system, without disturbing the visual presentation on the same ﬂoor. As the impact of feedback is not yet known for virtual travel, we also present a series of experiments that compare different feedback methods coupled with classic collision handling methods. The results of the experiments show only limited beneﬁts of collision handling and of additional feedback for performance. However, user preference of context appropriate feedback is evident, as well as a preference for the ﬂoor based haptic feedback. The experiments provide evidence of best practices for handling virtual travel collisions, namely that context appropriate feedback should be preferred and that quality sounds are sufﬁcient when haptics cannot be provided.
Simulation-based decision support for bringing a project back on track: The case of RUP-based software construction

RUP-based development has proven successful in various contexts. The iterative and phased development approach provides a framework for how to develop software efficiently and effectively. Yet, there are plenty of occasions that the projects go off-track in terms of the key parameters of the project such as quality, functionality, cost, and schedule. The challenge for the software project manager is to bring the project back on track. Simulation, in general, and system dynamics based simulation in particular, is established as a method to pro-actively evaluate possible scenarios and decisions. The main contribution of this paper is a method called SIM-DASH; it combines three established techniques for providing decision support to the software project manager in the context of RUP-based development. SIM-DASH consists of (i) a system dynamics modeling and simulation component for RUP-based construction, (ii) dashboard functionality providing aggregated and visualized information for comparing actual versus targeted performance, and (iii) knowledge and experience base describing possible actions that have proven successful in the past for how to bring a project back on track. As part of (iii), decision trees and experience-based guidelines are used. The interplay between these three components provides pre-evaluated actions for bringing the current project iteration back on track. As proof-of-concept, a case study is provided to illustrate the key steps of the method and to highlight its principal advantages. For this purpose, SIM-DASH was substantiated retrospectively for a real-world SAP web system development project within the banking field. While the method is applicable for different issues and scenarios, we study its impact for the specific issue of adding personnel to testing and/or development in order to ensure improved project performance to achieve established quality levels of feature development.
The U-Box Protein CMPG1 Is Required for Efficient Activation of Defense Mechanisms Triggered by Multiple Resistance Genes in Tobacco and Tomato[W]

We previously identified three Avr9/Cf-9 Rapidly Elicited (ACRE) genes essential for Cf-9– and Cf-4–dependent hypersensitive response (HR) production in Nicotiana benthamiana. Two of them encode putative E3 ubiquitin ligase components. This led us to investigate other ACRE genes associated with the ubiquitination pathway. ACRE74 encodes a U-box E3 ligase homolog, highly related to parsley (Petroselinum crispum) CMPG1 and Arabidopsis thaliana PLANT U-BOX20 (PUB20) and PUB21 proteins, and was called Nt CMPG1. Transcript levels of Nt CMPG1 and the homologous tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Cmpg1 are induced in Cf9 tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and Cf9 tomato after Avr9 elicitation. Tobacco CMPG1 possesses in vitro E3 ligase activity. N. benthamiana plants silenced for Nt CMPG1 show reduced HR after Cf-9/Avr9 elicitation, while overexpression of Nt CMPG1 induces a stronger HR in Cf9 tobacco plants after Avr9 infiltration. In tomato, silencing of Cmpg1 decreased resistance to Cladosporium fulvum. Overexpression of epitope-tagged tobacco CMPG1 mutated in the U-box domain confers a dominant-negative phenotype. We also show that Nt CMPG1 is involved in the Pto/AvrPto and Inf1 responses. In summary, we show that the E3 ligase Nt CMPG1 is essential for plant defense and disease resistance.
Making Sense of Distributed Leadership: The Case of Peer Assistance and Review

This article explores a case of shifting leadership responsibility for teacher evaluation. Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) formally involves teachers in the summative evaluation of other teachers—although the boundaries of the involvement are often vague. Since teacher evaluation has traditionally been the domain of school principals, involving teachers in teacher evaluation raises questions about how those faced with the new role make sense of it and enact it. The article draws on theories of professions, organizations, and institutions to examine the implementation of PAR in one large urban school district. Findings suggest that, despite positive sentiments about the policy across stakeholder groups, those involved wanted principals to remain a central figure in the evaluation of teachers in PAR. Education’s hierarchical norms, the difficulty of conducting evaluations, district leadership, and program ambiguity are identified as challenges to distributing leadership.
A prospective study of tomato products, lycopene, and prostate cancer risk.

BACKGROUND Some data, including our findings from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS) from 1986 through January 31, 1992, suggest that frequent intake of tomato products or lycopene, a carotenoid from tomatoes, is associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer. Overall, however, the data are inconclusive. We evaluated additional data from the HPFS to determine if the association would persist. METHODS We ascertained prostate cancer cases from 1986 through January 31, 1998, among 47 365 HPFS participants who completed dietary questionnaires in 1986, 1990, and 1994. We used pooled logistic regression to compute multivariate relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS From 1986 through January 31, 1998, 2481 men in the study developed prostate cancer. Results for the period from 1992 through 1998 confirmed our previous findings---that frequent tomato or lycopene intake was associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Similarly, for the entire period of 1986 through 1998, using the cumulative average of the three dietary questionnaires, lycopene intake was associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer (RR for high versus low quintiles = 0.84; 95% CI = 0.73 to 0.96; P(trend) =. 003); intake of tomato sauce, the primary source of bioavailable lycopene, was associated with an even greater reduction in prostate cancer risk (RR for 2+ servings/week versus <1 serving/month = 0.77; 95% CI = 0.66 to 0.90; P(trend)<. 001), especially for extraprostatic cancers (RR = 0.65; 95% CI = 0.42 to 0.99). These associations persisted in analyses controlling for fruit and vegetable consumption and for olive oil use (a marker for Mediterranean diet) and were observed separately in men of Southern European or other Caucasian ancestry. CONCLUSION Frequent consumption of tomato products is associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer. The magnitude of the association was moderate enough that it could be missed in a small study or one with substantial errors in measurement or based on a single dietary assessment.
Symmetric RBF Classifier for Nonlinear Detection in Multiple-Antenna-Aided Systems

In this paper, we propose a powerful symmetric radial basis function (RBF) classifier for nonlinear detection in the so-called "overloaded" multiple-antenna-aided communication systems. By exploiting the inherent symmetry property of the optimal Bayesian detector, the proposed symmetric RBF classifier is capable of approaching the optimal classification performance using noisy training data. The classifier construction process is robust to the choice of the RBF width and is computationally efficient. The proposed solution is capable of providing a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gain in excess of 8 dB against the powerful linear minimum bit error rate (BER) benchmark, when supporting four users with the aid of two receive antennas or seven users with four receive antenna elements.
Cyclin A potentiates maturation-promoting factor activation in the early Xenopus embryo via inhibition of the tyrosine kinase that phosphorylates cdc2

We have produced human cyclin A in Escherichia coli and investigated how it generates H1 kistone kinase activity when added to cyclin-free extracts prepared from parthenogenetically activated Xenopus eggs. Cyclin A was found to form a major complex with cdc2, and to bind cdk2/Eg1 only poorly. No lag phase was detected between the time when cyclin A was added and the time when H1 histone kinase activity was produced in frog extracts, even in the presence of 2 mM vanadate, which blocks cdc25 activity. Essentially identical results were obtained using extracts prepared from starfish oocytes. We conclude that formation of an active cyclin A-cdc2 kinase during early development escapes an inhibitory mechanism that delays formation of an active cyclin B-cdc2 kinase. This inhibitory mechanism involves phosphorylation of cdc2 on tyrosine 15. Okadaic acid (OA) activated cyclin B-cdc2 kinase and strongly reduced tyrosine phosphorylation of cyclin B-associated cdc2, even in the presence of vanadate. 6- dimethylamino-purine, a reported inhibitor of serine-threonine kinases, suppressed OA-dependent activation of cyclin B-cdc2 complexes. This indicates that the kinase(s) which phosphorylate(s) cdc2 on inhibitory sites can be inactivated by a phosphorylation event, itself antagonized by an OA-sensitive, most likely type 2A phosphatase. We also found that cyclin B- or cyclin A-cdc2 kinases can induce or accelerate conversion of the cyclin B-cdc2 complex from an inactive into an active kinase. Cyclin B-associated cdc2 does not undergo detectable phosphorylation on tyrosine in egg extracts containing active cyclin A-cdc2 kinase, even in the presence of vanadate. We propose that the active cyclin A-cdc2 kinase generated without a lag phase from neo-synthesized cyclin A and cdc2 may cause a rapid switch in the equilibrium of cyclin B-cdc2 complexes to the tyrosine-dephosphorylated and active form of cdc2 during early development, owing to strong inhibition of the cdc2- specific tyrosine kinase(s). This may explain why early cell cycles are so rapid in many species.
Dissimilarity Measures for Detecting Hepatotoxicity in Clinical Trial Data

In clinical trials, pharmaceutical companies test the efficacy and safety of a new drug for the treatment of a disease by comparing the results from a large number of diseased and healthy patients exposed to either the new drug, an existing drug that treats the disease, or a placebo. One primary concern is liver toxicity, which is usually diagnosed by blood analyte tests. Often, such signals of toxicity lead to the discontinuation of drug development or the withdrawal of the drug from the market. Early detection of liver toxicity can save lives and also save such companies billions of dollars. Existing approaches for detecting liver toxicity typically ignore correlations between blood analyte values, but in this work we present novel dissimilarity measures based on principal component analysis which can be used for detecting liver toxicity and identifying subpopulations who may be susceptible by taking into account the correlations structure of the data. Experimental results on real clinical trial data validate our approach.
Database for contextual personalization

In recent years, research into user centric and personalized applications has focused on the utilization of contextual information about the situation in which the user is consuming the content item. However, there is no database suitable for the investigation of specific open issues of contextual information description and utilization available today. The reason for this are several known difficulties with user related contextual information acquisition. A description of a publicly available database for personalization and user adaptation including contextual information is given in the paper. The data was acquired from users watching movies and then providing contextual information about the event in addition to submitting ratings about the movie. Beside describing raw data, the paper outlines basic statistics and selected properties of potentially contextual variables. At the time of submission, the database included 12 contextual variables, more than 90 users, 950 items and 1600 ratings. Data was acquired using a dedicated web application which is still publicly available and the data acquisition is still in progress. Content items (movies) can be enhanced by content item metadata using publicly available databases.
No-Reference Quality Assessment of H.264/AVC Encoded Video

This paper proposes a no-reference quality assessment metric for digital video subject to H.264/advanced video coding encoding. The proposed metric comprises two main steps: coding error estimation and perceptual weighting of this error. Error estimates are computed in the transform domain, assuming that discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients are corrupted by quantization noise. The DCT coefficient distributions are modeled using Cauchy or Laplace probability density functions, whose parameterization is performed using the quantized coefficient data and quantization steps. Parameter estimation is based on a maximum-likelihood estimation method combined with linear prediction. The linear prediction scheme takes advantage of the correlation between parameter values at neighbor DCT spatial frequencies. As for the perceptual weighting module, it is based on a spatiotemporal contrast sensitivity function applied to the DCT domain that compensates image plane movement by considering the movements of the human eye, namely smooth pursuit, natural drift, and saccadic movements. The video related inputs for the perceptual model are the motion vectors and the frame rate, which are also extracted from the encoded video. Subjective video quality assessment tests have been carried out in order to validate the results of the metric. A set of 11 video sequences, spanning a wide range of content, have been encoded at different bitrates and the outcome was subject to quality evaluation. Results show that the quality scores computed by the proposed algorithm are well correlated with the mean opinion scores associated to the subjective assessment.
Collecting Comparable Corpora from the Web

Statistical machine translation (SMT) relies on the availability of rich parallel corpora. However, in case of under-resourced languages, parallel corpora are not readily available. To overcome this problem previous work has recognized the potential of using comparable corpora as training data. A critical first problem with such an approach is actually identifying and gathering corpora with potential value in improving SMT systems. In this work we attempt to address this problem by exploiting News articles published on the Web to gather a large amount of comparable corpora for a number of different languages including English, German, Croatian, Estonian, Latvian, Romanian, Greek and Slovenian. Given a pair of comparable documents we extract phrases and employ human annotators to indicate whether these phrases are correct translations of each other (parallel units). We report the initial results of our evaluation over the English-German collected corpora. The results indicate that our gathering method leads to corpora that consist of good quality align-able phrases and thus they offer a large potential to improve machine translation.
Overlapping Generations and Environmental Policy: An Introduction

A small but growing body of literature uses overlapping generations (OLG) models to study environmental policy for long-lived problems such as climate change. An OLG model, unlike the infinitely lived representative agent model, distinguishes between impatience with respect to onei¯s own future utility, and attitudes toward successors' utility. I discuss the problem of time inconsistency, the role of Markov perfection, and show that a class of OLG models can be studied using methods developed to analyze models of non-constant discounting. An example illustrates the techniques and determines the conditions underwhich, in equilibrium, there is under-investment or over-investment in natural capital.
Examining the Determinants of Mobile Commerce User Repurchase Behavior

Mobile service providers often invest heavily on attracting new customers. If these new customers cannot be transformed into loyal ones, service providers will bear great loss. To improve user repurchase behavior, service providers can take measures to directly promote user repurchase on the one hand. On the other hand, they need to curb users' switching behavior. From these two perspectives, this paper examined the effect of trust, satisfaction as "enablers" and switching barriers as "inhibitors" on mobile users repurchase behavior. The results showed that these three factors had significant effect on user repurchase intention. Service quality and perceived value strongly affected trust and satisfaction, while switching cost determined switching barrier.