Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Affine Invariant Recognition of Characters by Progressive Pruning

There are many problems to realize camera-based character recognition. One of the problems is that characters in scenes are often distorted by geometric transformations such as affine distortions. Although some methods that remove the affine distortions have been proposed, they cannot remove a rotation transformation of a character. Thus a skew angle of a character has to be determined by examining all the possible angles. However, this consumes quite a bit of time. In this paper, in order to reduce the processing time for an affine invariant recognition, we propose a set of affine invariant features and a new recognition scheme called "progressive pruning. "' The progressive pruning gradually prunes less feasible categories and skew angles using multiple classifiers. We confirmed the progressive pruning with the affine invariant features reduced the processing time at least less than half without decreasing the recognition rate.
The MRX Complex Plays Multiple Functions in Resection of Yku- and Rif2-Protected DNA Ends

The ends of both double-strand breaks (DSBs) and telomeres undergo tightly regulated 5′ to 3′ resection. Resection of DNA ends, which is specifically inhibited during the G1 cell cycle phase, requires the MRX complex, Sae2, Sgs1 and Exo1. Moreover, it is negatively regulated by the non-homologous end-joining component Yku and the telomeric protein Rif2. Here, we investigate the nuclease activities that are inhibited at DNA ends by Rif2 and Yku in G1 versus G2 by using an inducible short telomere assay. We show that, in the absence of the protective function of Rif2, resection in G1 depends primarily on MRX nuclease activity and Sae2, whereas Exo1 and Sgs1 bypass the requirement of MRX nuclease activity only if Yku is absent. In contrast, Yku-mediated inhibition is relieved in G2, where resection depends on Mre11 nuclease activity, Exo1 and, to a minor extent, Sgs1. Furthermore, Exo1 compensates for a defective MRX nuclease activity more efficiently in the absence than in the presence of Rif2, suggesting that Rif2 inhibits not only MRX but also Exo1. Notably, the presence of MRX, but not its nuclease activity, is required and sufficient to override Yku-mediated inhibition of Exo1 in G2, whereas it is required but not sufficient in G1. Finally, the integrity of MRX is also necessary to promote Exo1- and Sgs1-dependent resection, possibly by facilitating Exo1 and Sgs1 recruitment to DNA ends. Thus, resection of DNA ends that are protected by Yku and Rif2 involves multiple functions of the MRX complex that do not necessarily require its nuclease activity.
Observer and feature analysis on diagnosis of retinopathy of prematurity

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a disease affecting low-birth weight infants and is a major cause of childhood blindness. However, human diagnoses is often subjective and qualitative. We propose a method to analyze the variability of expert decisions and the relationship between the expert diagnoses and features. The analysis is based on Mutual Information and Kernel Density Estimation on features. The experiments are carried out on a dataset of 34 retinal images diagnosed by 22 experts. The results show that a group of observers decide consistently with each other and there are popular features that have a high correlation with labels.
Drag-and-Drop Refactoring: Intuitive Program Transformation

Refactoring is a disciplined technique for restructuring code to improve its readability and maintainability. Almost all popular integrated development environments (IDEs), such as Eclipse, Visual Studio, and Xcode, have built-in support for semi-automated refactorings. Proponents tout that semiautomated refactorings reduce the burden of refactoring by hand. However, recent research suggests that these semiautomated refactorings are greatly underused. We argue that the current semi-automated refactoring tools are complex to use, which could be one of the causes of their underuse. In this paper, we present a novel approach that reduces this complexity by streamlining the invocation and configuration process through drag-and-drop of program elements. We implemented this approach in our tool, Drag-and-Drop Refactoring (DNDRefactoring). Currently, DNDRefactoring supports 12 of 23 refactorings in the Eclipse IDE. Empirical evaluation through surveys (69 results) and controlled user studies (11 participants) demonstrates that DNDRefactoring is intuitive and also reduces the programming effort compared to traditional methods such as menus and keyboard shortcuts.
The effect of dried plum on serum levels of receptor activator of NF-κB ligand, osteoprotegerin and sclerostin in osteopenic postmenopausal women: a randomised controlled trial

Although several studies have confirmed the bone-protective properties of dried plum, its exact mechanisms of action remain unclear. Recent research has shown that osteocytes may control bone formation via the production of sclerostin and bone resorption via the receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) and its inhibitor osteoprotegerin (OPG). To investigate the mechanism of action of dried plum in reversing bone loss, we measured serum levels of RANKL, OPG and sclerostin in osteopenic postmenopausal women (n 160). Participants were randomly assigned to the treatment group of either 100 g dried plum/d or 75 g dried apple/d (comparative control) for 1 year. All participants received 500 mg Ca plus 400 IU (10 μg) vitamin D daily. Bone mineral densities (BMD) of the lumbar spine, forearm, hip and whole body were assessed at baseline and at the end of the study using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Blood samples were collected at baseline and after 12 months to assess bone biomarkers. Dried plum significantly increased the BMD of the ulna and spine in comparison with the control group. In comparison with corresponding baseline values, dried plum increased the RANKL levels by only +1·99 v. +18·33 % and increased the OPG levels by +4·87 v. − 2·15 % in the control group. Serum sclerostin levels were reduced by − 1·12 % in the dried plum group v. +3·78 % in the control group. Although percentage changes did not reach statistical significance (P≤ 0·05), these preliminary data may indicate that the positive effects of dried plum on bone are in part due to the suppression of RANKL production, the promotion of OPG and the inhibition of sclerostin.
Chronic Low Quality Sleep Impairs Postural Control in Healthy Adults

The lack of sleep, both in quality and quantity, is an increasing problem in modern society, often related to workload and stress. A number of studies have addressed the effects of acute (total) sleep deprivation on postural control. However, up to date, the effects of chronic sleep deficits, either in quantity or quality, have not been analyzed. Thirty healthy adults participated in the study that consisted of registering activity with a wrist actigraph for more than a week before performing a series of postural control tests. Sleep and circadian rhythm variables were correlated and the sum of activity of the least active 5-h period, L5, a rhythm variable, obtained the greater coefficient value with sleep quality variables (wake after sleep onset WASO and efficiency sleep). Cluster analysis was performed to classify subjects into two groups based on L5 (low and high). The balance tests scores used to asses postural control were measured using Biodex Balance System and were compared between the two groups with different sleep quality. The postural tests were divided into dynamic (platform tilt with eyes open, closed and cursor) and static (clinical test of sensory integration). The results showed that during the tests with eyes closed, the group with worse sleep quality had also worse postural control performance. Lack of vision impairs postural balance more deeply in subjects with chronic sleep inefficiency. Chronic poor sleep quality impairs postural control similarly to total sleep deprivation.
Image- and Video-Based Rendering

The purpose of imageand video-based rendering (IVBR) is to be able to synthesize photo-realistic new, virtual views of real-world scenes and events from no more than a set of conventional photographs or videos of the scene. Purely image-based, or plenoptic, approaches densely sample scene appearance using a large number of images, Sections 17.2 and 5.3. New views are generated by simply re-sampling the captured image data. In contrast, geometry-assisted methods require much less input images. Here, 3D scene geometry is either a-priori known, reconstructed from the captured imagery, or acquired separately by some other means, e.g., ranging imaging, Chapter 4. With (approximate) scene geometry available, views
The impact of film thickness and substrate surface roughness on the thermal resistance of aluminum nitride nucleation layers

Thickness dependent thermal conductivity measurements were made on aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films grown by two methods on the (0001) surfaces of silicon carbide (SiC) and sapphire substrates with differing surface roughness. We find that the AlN itself makes a small contribution to the overall thermal resistance. Instead, the thermal boundary resistance (TBR) of 5.1 ± 2.8 m2K/GW between the AlN and substrate is equivalent to 240 nm of highly dislocated AlN or 1450 nm of single crystal AlN. An order-of-magnitude larger TBR was measured between AlN films and SiC substrates with increased surface roughness (1.2 nm vs. 0.2 nm RMS). Atomic resolution TEM images reveal near-interface planar defects in the AlN films grown on the rough SiC that we hypothesize are the source of increased TBR.
Using AulaNet – a Web-based Learning Environment

The coming years will see significant changes in the educational process. Personal computers, Internet and, in particular, World Wide Web (WWW) will be at the heart of these changes. The use of new communication forms between teachers and students, the possibility of building new learning environments and many other opportunities offered by information technology will dramatically impel change. This paper summarizes some benefits of elearning and describes the use of an environment – AulaNet – used to support teaching/learning through the WWW. AulaNet offers some interesting features that support the creation of new courses in a very simple way. This paper also presents some results of using AulaNet at the Civil Engineering and Architectural Department at Technical University of Lisbon (IST) within a project that embody the experience acquired with the use of this environment at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Heart ‘omics’ in AGEing (HOMAGE): design, research objectives and characteristics of the common database

Abstract Heart failure is common in older people and its prevalence is increasing. The Heart ‘omics’ in AGEing (HOMAGE) project aims to provide a biomarker approach that will improve the early diagnosis of heart failure. A large clinical database, based on (1) prospective population studies or (2) cross-sectional, prospective studies or randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of patients at risk for or with overt cardiovascular disease will be constructed to determine most promising ‘omics’-based biomarkers to identify the risk of developing heart failure and/or comorbidities. Population studies, patient cohorts and RCTs are eligible for inclusion in the common database, if they received ethical approval to obtain and share data and have baseline information on cardiovascular risk factors. Currently, the HOMAGE database includes 43,065 subjects, from 20 studies in eight European countries, including healthy subjects from three population studies in France, Belgium and Italy (n = 7,124), patients with heart failure (n = 4,312) from four cohorts in the UK, Spain and Switzerland and patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease (n = 31,629) in 13 cohorts. It is anticipated that more partners will join the consortium and enlarge the pooled data. This large merged database will be a useful resource with which to identify candidate biomarkers that play a role in the mechanism underlying the onset and progression of heart failure.
On Bayesian Simplicity in Human Visual Perceptual Organization

A returning idea among some Bayesians in research on human visual perceptual organization is that the surprisal of something (i.e., the negative logarithm of its probability) expresses its complexity (i.e., the length of its shortest description). Bayes' rule is a powerful modeling tool and descriptive simplicity is a rich concept, but this idea is wishful thinking at best: If true, it would unify the simplicity and likelihood principles, which reflect two traditionally opposed schools of thought on perceptual organization. Some rapprochement between the two principles can certainly be discerned, but the aforementioned idea lacks formal underpinning and confounds otherwise perfectly good ideas. Here, this idea is revisited and its latest version is debunked step by step. In addition, I argue that its likely origin lies, inadvertently, in a standard Bayesian textbook: The author made (a) a pivotal mistake and (b) a compelling argument that was overinterpreted by others.
Preliminary Data on an Intervention to Reduce Negative Social Reactions to Victims’ Disclosures

Abstract: We examined the preliminary effectiveness of a novel intervention to reduce disclosure recipients’ negative social reactions (SR) and increase positive SR to a sexual assault (SA) and/or intimate partner violence (IPV) disclosure. Surveys were completed by 43 college students before and immediately after participating in a 2-hour intervention. There were significant decreases from pretest to posttest on the following anticipated responses: negative SR to a SA or IPV disclosure, demanding IPV victims to leave their abusive relationship, and encouraging SA victims to use alcohol to cope. There were significant increases from pretest to posttest in anticipated positive SR to an IPV disclosure.
Notice of RetractionApplication of the SHGA basing on the CFPM to hypersonic vehicle wing-body location design optimization

The Genetic Algorithms (GA) is a kind of modern intellective global optimization algorithm, but there are many shortcomings in some idiographic questions, and its local searching ability is worse. In this paper, aiming at the wing-body joint location of quasi-waverider hypersonic vehicle, improving on the Simple Genetic Algorithms (SGA), inducting the Constrained Flexible Polyhedron Method (CFPM), the Serial Hybrid Genetic Algorithm (SHGA) is presented. Optimizing the wing-body location with the SHGA, getting the Pareto optimal solution of the multi-objective optimization question, the best configuration is recommended. Comparing with the basic model configuration, the recommended configuration improves in the balancing, maneuverability and stability, hiding ability. The SHGA and results of this paper are valuable for hypersonic vehicle design.
Modeling and Analyzing Search / Insert / Delete Problem by Petri Nets

Search/Insert/Delete Problem [1] Three kinds of processes share access to a single-linked list: searchers, inserter, and deleters. Searchers merely examine the list; hence they can execute concurrently with each other. Inserters add new items to the end of the list; insertions must be mutually exclusive to prelude two inserters from inserting new items at about the same time. However, one insert can proceed in parallel with any number of searches. Finally, deleters remove items from anywhere in the list. At most one deleter process can access the list at a time, and deletion must also be mutually exclusive with searches and insertions.
Ray Tracing Complex Scenes: Sequential or in Parallel?

We present a discussion whether current parallel machines or, preferable, fast sequential computers should be used to render images using ray tracing. Based on the deenitions of cost{eeective speedup and eeciency, we will show that shared memory machines have advantages over distributed memory machines. Moreover, the SB{Pram appears to be an architecture which allows for cost{eeective absolute speedup on large data bases.
A Tri-Valued Belief Network Model for Information Retrieval

Graphical Models [Pearl88] [Buntine94] [Jensen2001] allow for greater flexibility at modeling relations among different sources, when compared with other methods like LSI, or standard vector models, because each source can be modeled independently. Graphical models rely on a subjective instead of frequentist understanding of probabilities. Such probabilities do not necessarily represent relative frequencies (although they are sometimes calculated like they were), but instead they represent the degree of certainty, belief or support about a certain feature (a term, a link, etc.), and about one feature given another feature (conditional probabilities). The most common type of graphical model applied to IR is Bayesian Networks. The first successful application of Bayesian networks to IR is the Inference Network Model in [Fung95], [Turtle90]. Belief Networks [Ribeiro-Neto96] [Silva2000] are an alternative approach to Inference Networks when explicitly modeling an information retrieval system. While similar in expressive power to inference networks, belief networks can express any inference network used to retrieve documents by content similarity, while the opposite is not necessarily true. The key difference is in the modeling of p(dj|t) (probability of a document given a set of terms or concepts) in belief networks, as opposed to p(t|dj) used in Bayesian networks. Since in a Bayesian network (both of the inference and belief type), instantiating di makes p(t1|dj) and p(t2|dj) defined and mutually independent, then p(t|dj) can be calculated from the independent probabilities p(dj|ti) in a belief network, and so belief networks can reproduce the ranking generated by an inference network. Generating the ranking produced by belief network from an inference network is not always possible, as a belief network can reproduce the cosine similarity ranking, while this is not possible for an inference network (see [Ribeiro96] for details). Figure 4 illustrates the differences in the probability structure between the two networks (note the direction of the arrows between the terms and the documents):
The X-ray Evolution of Merging Galaxies

From a Chandra survey of nine interacting galaxy systems the evolution of X-ray emission during the merger process has been investigated. From comparing LX/LK and LFIR/LB it is found that the X-ray luminosity peaks ∼300 Myr before nuclear coalescence, even though we know that rapid and increasing star formation is still taking place at this time. It is likely that this drop in X-ray luminosity is a consequence of outflows breaking out of the galactic discs of these systems. At a time ∼1 Gyr after coalescence, the merger-remnants in our sample are X-ray dim when compared to typical X-ray luminosities of mature elliptical galaxies. However, we do see evidence that these systems will start to resemble typical elliptical galaxies at a greater dynamical age, given the properties of the 3 Gyr system within our sample, indicating that halo regeneration will take place within low LX merger-remnants.
A case study of teacher retention at one urban school district

A Case Study of Teacher Retention at One Urban School District. (May 2005) Archie L. Blanson, B.A., Southern University; M.A., Texas Southern University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Norvella Carter Teacher attrition is a major topic of discussion and concern in this country. With the growth in the school-age population, the need to attract and retain quality teachers will become even greater. The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to explore factors that influenced teachers’ decisions to remain in an urban school. A qualitative research design was used by conducting one interview with 13 teachers in an intermediate school (5 & 6 grades) in an urban school district near Houston, Texas. The participants’ years of experience in this study ranged from 5-33 years. They presented a diverse range of age, career experiences, and cultural/ethnic backgrounds. Data were collected through audio-taped interviews that lasted 45-90 minutes conducted in their classrooms before or after school. Additional follow-up questions and clarification statements were obtained from the participants where it was warranted. The transcribed interviews and the follow-up questions were analyzed using the Labov method of structuring narratives into stories. This method was used in order to compare participants’ naratives to identify emergentthemes among the rich stories that the participants shared with me.
Sex differences of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with symptomatic carotid disease.

INTRODUCTION Cardiovascular diseases, especially heart disease and stroke are the cause of more than a half of the total number of deaths in Serbia. OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to determine sex differences of atherosclerotic risk factors in patients with symptomatic carotid disease. METHODS The cross-sectional study, involving 657 consecutive patients with verified carotid atherosclerotic disease, was performed in Belgrade, Serbia. Sex differences of anthropometric parameters and atherosclerotic risk factors were analyzed by means of the univariate logistic regression. RESULTS In comparison with men, lower education and physical inactivity were significantly more frequent in women, and the frequency of metabolic syndrome (MetS), lower high-density cholesterol, abdominal obesity, body mass index > or = 30.0 kg/m2, hypercholesterolemia and depression were also significantly higher in women. Smoking and high serum uric acid level were significantly more frequent in men than in women. Women had significantly higher number of MetS components per person, but there were no significant sex differences in the number of other risk factors. Out of all observed risk factors, including MetS components, physical inactivity and hypertension were most frequent in both sexes followed by ever smoking and low education in men and low education and dyslipidemia in women. CONCLUSION There were significant sex differences in the distribution of some atherosclerotic risk factors, but not in their number per person. Only the number of MetS components was significantly higher in women.
Effect of attitudes towards creating women managers in the construction industry

The paper attempts to explore the issues associated with peoples’ attitudes towards under-representation of women at senior managerial positions in the construction industry through a literature review. The construction industry holds an image of a rough natured industry associated with difficult working conditions. The attitudes and stereotypes of society regarding managing work and resources in that hard environment - by a woman, normally expected to be the heart of the family scene, with social responsibilities and in the traditional motherly role - are preventing the promotion of women managers in the industry. Since attitudes are the people's biases or tendencies that influence their response to situations, activities or the people, changing attitudes can be used as a powerful device for altering the pattern of thinking and human behaviour. The construction industry will benefit with more women managers if the unfavourable attitudes regarding the promotion of women managers can be changed.