Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Data Fusion Approach Based on Parallel Support Vector Machine

Support Vector Machine has some advantages, such as simple structure and good generalization, which is one implementation in Statistical Learning Theory. SVM offers a kind of effective way for the data fusion problem of little sample, non-linear and high dimension. In this paper, mobile agents are applied to data fusion system. The model and the study method of data fusion system are improved. An approach of data fusion based on SVM is proposed. The experiment results show that this hierarchical and parallel SVM training algorithm is efficient to deal with large-scale classification problems and has more satisfying accuracy in classification precision.
GALAXY CLUSTERS DISCOVERED WITH A SUNYAEV–ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT SURVEY

The South Pole Telescope (SPT) is conducting a Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) effect survey over large areas of the southern sky, searching for massive galaxy clusters to high redshift. In this preliminary study, we focus on a 40 deg2 area targeted by the Blanco Cosmology Survey (BCS), which is centered roughly at right ascension 5h30m, declination −53° (J2000). Over two seasons of observations, this entire region has been mapped by the SPT at 95 GHz, 150 GHz, and 225 GHz. We report the four most significant SPT detections of SZ clusters in this field, three of which were previously unknown and, therefore, represent the first galaxy clusters discovered with an SZ survey. The SZ clusters are detected as decrements with greater than 5σ significance in the high-sensitivity 150 GHz SPT map. The SZ spectrum of these sources is confirmed by detections of decrements at the corresponding locations in the 95 GHz SPT map and nondetections at those locations in the 225 GHz SPT map. Multiband optical images from the BCS survey demonstrate significant concentrations of similarly colored galaxies at the positions of the SZ detections. Photometric redshift estimates from the BCS data indicate that two of the clusters lie at moderate redshift (z ∼ 0.4) and two at high redshift (z ≳ 0.8). One of the SZ detections was previously identified as a galaxy cluster in the optical as part of the Abell supplementary southern cluster catalog and in the X-ray using data from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS). Potential RASS counterparts (not previously identified as clusters) are also found for two of the new discoveries. These first four galaxy clusters are the most significant SZ detections from a subset of the ongoing SPT survey. As such, they serve as a demonstration that SZ surveys, and the SPT in particular, can be an effective means for finding galaxy clusters.
FACS-coding of facial expressions

Facial expressions can be coded manually using FACS, which is based on local visual movements of the face, called Action Units, caused by contraction/dilatation of facial muscles. Automatic coding tools based on AU's are still under development. In this paper, we present a tool to generate facial expressions. The GUI of that tool has moving sliders corresponding to the activation of AU's. All generated facial expressions can be coded by the position of the sliders and as a consequence the percentage of activation of AU's. We coded 21 well-known emotional facial expressions. The contribution of this paper consists of investigating whether the Euclidean distance measure in the AU-coded space can be used as a semantic distance measure.
A Sparse Projection and Low-Rank Recovery Framework for Handwriting Representation and Salient Stroke Feature Extraction

In this article, we consider the problem of simultaneous low-rank recovery and sparse projection. More specifically, a new Robust Principal Component Analysis (RPCA)-based framework called Sparse Projection and Low-Rank Recovery (SPLRR) is proposed for handwriting representation and salient stroke feature extraction. In addition to achieving a low-rank component encoding principal features and identify errors or missing values from a given data matrix as RPCA, SPLRR also learns a similarity-preserving sparse projection for extracting salient stroke features and embedding new inputs for classification. These properties make SPLRR applicable for handwriting recognition and stroke correction and enable online computation. A cosine-similarity-style regularization term is incorporated into the SPLRR formulation for encoding the similarities of local handwriting features. The sparse projection and low-rank recovery are calculated from a convex minimization problem that can be efficiently solved in polynomial time. Besides, the supervised extension of SPLRR is also elaborated. The effectiveness of our SPLRR is examined by extensive handwritten digital repairing, stroke correction, and recognition based on benchmark problems. Compared with other related techniques, SPLRR delivers strong generalization capability and state-of-the-art performance for handwriting representation and recognition.
Enhancing Two-Stage Multiple Description Scalar Quantization

In this letter we consider enhancing coding performance of two-stage multiple description scalar quantization. An enhancement scheme is proposed to make the product of central and side distortions closer to the rate-distortion bound of multiple description coding under the high-resolution assumption. We show analytically that the second stage refinement information, i.e., the quantized residual errors, can be used to further reduce the side distortions apart from the central distortion, which is substantiated with a memoryless Gaussian source.
Within-Host Dynamics of the Hepatitis C Virus Quasispecies Population in HIV-1/HCV Coinfected Patients

HIV/HCV coinfected individuals under highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) represent an interesting model for the investigation of the role played by the immune system in driving the evolution of the HCV quasispecies. We prospectively studied the intra-host evolution of the HCV heterogeneity in 8 coinfected subjects, selected from a cohort of 32 patients initiating HAART: 5 immunological responders (group A) and 3 immunological non-responders (group B), and in two HCV singly infected controls not assuming drugs (group C). For all these subjects at least two serial samples obtained at the first observation (before HAART) and more than 1 year later, underwent clonal sequence analysis of partial E1/E2 sequences, encompassing the whole HVR1. Evolutionary rates, dated phylogenies and population dynamics were co-estimated by using a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach, and site specific selection pressures were estimated by maximum likelihood-based methods. The intra-host evolutionary rates of HCV quasispecies was 10 times higher in subjects treated with HAART than in controls without immunodeficiency (1.9 and 2.3×10−3 sub/site/month in group A and B and 0.29×10−3 sub/site/month in group C individuals). The within-host Bayesian Skyline plot analysis showed an exponential growth of the quasispecies populations in immunological responders, coinciding with a peak in CD4 cell counts. On the contrary, quasispecies population remained constant in group B and in group C controls. A significant positive selection pressure was detected in a half of the patients under HAART and in none of the group C controls. Several sites under significant positive selection were described, mainly included in the HVR1. Our data indicate that different forces, in addition to the selection pressure, drive an exceptionally fast evolution of HCV during HAART immune restoration. We hypothesize that an important role is played by the enlargement of the viral replicative space.
The Contrast of the Gender between Albanian and English Language

In Albanian and English language, we have three kinds of gender: masculine, feminine and neuter. In Albanian language, the concept for gender, is: “Gjinia eshte nje nga kategorite gramatikore me karakteristike per emrat ne gjuhen shqipe. Nga natyra e saj, ajo dallohet nga kategorite e tjera te emrit, nga numri, rasa dhe nga kategorite e shquarsise dhe te pashquarsise, sepse i kundervihet mashkullore-femerore dhe asnjanese. ”. This Albanian citation is possible to be the similar and within English language e.g: “a grouping of nouns and pronouns into classes’ masculine, feminine and neuter” or “gender differs from the grammatical categories, case, and definiteness, in being a lexical as well as inflection category of the noun. The gender to which a give word belongs is a property of that particular word independent of context”. The contrast of gender between two languages are e.g: the cases (five in Albanian with different endings and two in English), definite and indefinite nouns (the masculine nouns for Albanian language has some endings: -i, -it, -in, -it, -u, -un, -ut, for feminine -e,-a, -ja, -je, -s, -se, -ne, or for neuter nouns with –i, -it and for indefinite nouns is: /nje/. The definite nouns of English language has the article /the/ and for indefinite /a, an/ than in Albanina some endings. The definite nouns e.g: (masculine noun) mali – the mountain, liber-i – the book, kompjuter -i – the computer; mesues -i – the teacher; moter – sister, motra – the sister.
Prevalence and risk factors for bronchial asthma in Indian adults: a multicentre study.

BACKGROUND There is limited information on field epidemiology of bronchial asthma in Indian adults. OBJECTIVES To estimate prevalence of bronchial asthma in different regions of India and to define risk factors influencing disease prevalence. METHODS A field study was conducted at Chandigarh, Delhi, Kanpur and Bangalore through a two stage stratified (urban/ rural) sampling and uniform methodology using a previously validated questionnaire. Asthma was diagnosed if the respondent answered affirmatively both to (a) whistling sound from chest, or chest tightness, or breathlessness in morning, and (b) having suffered from asthma, or having an attack of asthma in the past 12 months, or using bronchodilators. Besides demographic data, information on smoking habits, domestic cooking fuel used, atopic symptoms, and family history suggestive of asthma was also collected. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression modelling was performed to calculate odds ratio of various potential risk factors. RESULTS Data from 73605 respondents (37682 men, 35923 women) were analysed. One or more respiratory symptoms were present in 4.3-10.5% subjects. Asthma was diagnosed in 2.28%, 1.69%, 2.05 and 3.47% respondents respectively at Chandigarh, Delhi, Kanpur and Bangalore, with overall prevalence of 2.38%. Female sex, advancing age, usual residence in urban area, lower socio-economic status, history suggestive of atopy, history of asthma in a first degree relative, and all forms of tobacco smoking were associated with significantly higher odds of having asthma. CONCLUSION Prevalence estimates of asthma in adults in this study, although lower than several previously reported figures, point to a high overall national burden of disease.
Improved method for extraction of fingerprint features

Extracting features from fingerprints is a crucial step in fingerprint verification and recognition. Here, features are represented as minutiae, such as end points and bifurcation points. Many algorithms for this issue have been developed recently. This paper presents a fingerprint feature extraction method through which minutiae are extracted directly from original gray-level fingerprint images without binarization and thinning. Our algorithm improves the performance of the existing ones along this stream. Our experimental results demonstrate that our approach can achieve better performance in both efficiency and robustness.
Knowledge-based virtualization of human anatomy:development of an interactive atlas of the upper limbs

Introduction: Currently, two types of atlas provide anatomical studies: those with two-dimensional images, and those compiled by interactive pictures; mostly drawn virtually. In recent decades, the development of virtual anatomical atlases has been encouraged and prioritized by both the technological advances and the need to facilitate and complement medical education. The aim of this study was to develop an interactive virtual atlas of the upper limbs. Material and Methods: A systematic dissection of three upper limbs (shoulder, arm, forearm and hand) of legally preserved cadavers in Anatomy Laboratory of São José do Rio Preto Medical School, SP (FAMERP) has been carried out. Results: A website has been developed to facilitate the learning of superficial and deep structures of the limbs comprising ten pictures showing the steps and the various structures and display devices (naming demarcated structures and text with relevant information about these). In addition, the website includes a photo gallery with subtitled images of the dissected upper limbs. Conclusion: In conclusion, virtual study of Anatomy by means of interactive-image display of dissected parts can facilitate and enhance the learning of the upper limbs.
Inferring what the videographer wanted to capture

Detecting important regions in videos has been extensively studied for past decades for their wide variety of applications including video summarization and retargeting. Visual attention models draw much attention for this purpose, which find visually salient regions. However, visual attention models ignore intentionally captured regions (ICRs) derived from videographers' intentions, i.e., what the videographers wanted to capture in their videos. This paper proposes a Markov random field-based ICR model for finding them. Observing that a videographer's intention is embedded into camera motion together with objects' motion, our ICR model uses point trajectory-based features to distinguish ICRs from non-ICRs. It also leverages spatial and temporal consistency of ICRs to improve the performance. We have experimentally demonstrated our ICR model's performance and the difference between ICRs and visually salient regions.
Improving the recognition of foreign names and non-native speech by combining multiple grapheme-to-phoneme converters

Tasks involving the recognition of native as well as foreign names and being accessed by native as well as non-native speakers are not handled very well by a baseline ASR system with single language acoustical models and one transcription per word in its lexicon. One possible solution is lexical adaptation: alternative transcriptions allowing for a closer match with actual pronunciations from the speakers, are added to the lexicon. In this paper it is shown how transcriptions created by foreign language grapheme-tophoneme converters can be integrated adequately in the recognizer and serve the objected purpose. The experiments reported here show that this approach can effectively deal with foreign names and non-native speakers, as WER reductions of almost 60% relative are attained.
Stat3 and Gap Junctions in Normal and Lung Cancer Cells

Gap junctions are channels linking the interiors of neighboring cells. A reduction in gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) correlates with high cell proliferation, while oncogene products such as Src suppress GJIC, through the Ras/Raf/Erk and other effector pathways. High Src activity was found to correlate with high levels of the Src effector, Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription-3 (Stat3) in its tyrosine-705 phosphorylated, i.e., transcriptionally activated form, in the majority of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer lines examined. However, Stat3 inhibition did not restore GJIC in lines with high Src activity. In the contrary, Stat3 inhibition in normal cells or in lines with low Src activity and high GJIC eliminated gap junctional communication. Therefore, despite the fact that Stat3 is growth promoting and in an activated form acts like an oncogene, it is actually required for junctional permeability.
Effectiveness of a Group Support Lifestyle Modification (GSLiM) Programme among Obese Adults in Workplace: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Background There was an increasing trend in the prevalence of obesity and its comorbidities over the past decades in Malaysia. Effective intervention for obesity remains limited. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a group based lifestyle modification programme amongst obese individuals with an existing dietary counseling programme. Methods We recruited one hundred and ninety four overweight and obese (BMI>27.5 kg/m2) employees from a local university. They were randomly allocated to either Group Support Lifestyle Modification (GSLiM) (intervention)(n = 97) or dietary counseling (comparison)(n = 97). The GSLIM activities included self monitoring, cognitive-behaviour sessions, exercise as well as dietary change advocacy, which were conducted through seminars and group sessions over 24 weeks. The comparison group was given dietary counselling once in 12 weeks. Both groups were followed up for additional 12 weeks to check for intervention effect sustenance. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters were measured at baseline, 12, 24 and 36 weeks; while dietary intake, physical activities, psychological measures and quality of life measured at baseline, 24 and 36 weeks. Data analysis was conducted using ANOVA repeated measures with intention to treat principle. Results The participants were predominantly women with mean (standard deviation) age of 40.5 (9.3) years. A total of 19.6% of the participants in GSLiM achieved 6% weight loss compared to 4.1% in the comparison group (Risk Ratio 4.75; 95% CI: 1.68, 13.45). At 24 weeks, the retention rate was 83.5% for GSLiM and 82.5% for comparison group. GSLiM participants also achieved significant improvement in total weight self-efficacy score, negative emotions and physical discomfort subscales, MDPSS friend subscale and all domains in quality of life. Participants in the comparison group experienced reduction in negative self-thoughts. Conclusion The GSLiM programme proved to be more effective in achieving targeted weight loss, improving weight self-efficacy, friend social support, and quality of life compared to dietary counseling. Trial Registration Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials IRCT201104056127N1
Optogenetic stimulation, and control or promotion of epileptiform activity, in a mean field model of the human cortex

Author(s): Selvaraj, Prashanth | Advisor(s): Szeri, Andrew J | Abstract: Epilepsy is a neural network disorder that manifests when certain elements (neuron types, sub-networks) malfunction or fail. Epileptiform activity, in turn, is characterized by the excessive synchronous firing of populations of neurons. In this dissertation, we present a mathematical model of the human cortex based on the activity of populations of neurons best captured at the meso-scale to study epileptic seizure dynamics. We then investigate further developments of the use of a spatially, temporally and cell type specific stimulation technique called optogenetics to trigger or to inhibit epileptiform activity in the cortical model.Optogenetics involves the genetic modification of a host neuron to express light activated ion channels. To incorporate this method of stimulation into the meso-scale cortical model, we first develop a scale free mathematical model of optogenetic channel dynamics, which enables study of micro-scale level optogenetic activity at the meso-scale. We then integrate the optogenetic model into the meso-scale cortical model to study the combined dynamics of cortico-optogenetic activity in time and two spatial dimensions. Through this combined model, we explore the efficacy of optogenetic stimulation in an open loop configuration to inhibit epileptic seizures. Next, we close the loop using techniques of classical control theory, and investigate the controllability of seizures in two parameter spaces that correspond well with patient seizure data. By basing our control effort on measurements of cortical activity that are clinically relevant, we aim to provide a physiologically safe and efficient way of seizure inhibition. We also study the dynamics of the combined cortico-optogenetic model using bifurcation analysis. We then explore the use of optogenetic stimulation as an excitatory technique to drive seizure like activity in a normally functioning cortical model. All of this makes a strong case for the consideration of optogenetics as a highly specific cortical stimulation modality in seizure research. Finally, we present preliminary results from work that describes the link between cortical metabolic demands and cortical activity. A quantitative definition of this link will aid in reconciling the different temporal scales of electrode measurements and imaging techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging, while also providing a clearer picture of the role of glucose and oxygen metabolism in multiple states of cortical activity, such as normal sleep, awake, and seizure states.
On the Interplay between Global DVFS and Scheduling Tasks with Precedence Constraints

Many multicore processors are capable of decreasing the voltage and clock frequency to save energy at the cost of an increased delay. While a large part of the theory oriented literature focuses on local dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (local DVFS), where every core's voltage and clock frequency can be set separately, this article presents an in-depth theoretical study of the more commonly available global DVFS that makes such changes for the entire chip. This article shows how to choose the optimal clock frequencies that minimize the energy for global DVFS, and it discusses the relationship between scheduling and optimal global DVFS. Formulas are given to find this optimum under time constraints, including proofs thereof. The problem of simultaneously choosing clock frequencies and a schedule that together minimize the energy consumption is discussed, and based on this a scheduling criterion is derived that implicitly assigns frequencies and minimizes energy consumption. Furthermore, this article studies the effectivity of a large class of scheduling algorithms with regard to the derived criterion, and a bound on the maximal relative deviation is given. Simulations show that with our techniques an energy reduction of 30% can be achieved with respect to state-of-the-art research.
Privacy threats and issues in mobile RFID

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology that is used to identify objects and users and automatically takes advantage of contextual information such as user's location is expected to become an important and a core technology of ubiquitous infrastructure. This technology has been applied to many applications such as retail and supply chain. At recent, there are an increasing number of researches related to mobile RFID that provides RFID service to user with a reader embedded in the mobile device as the one of RFID applications. However, there are an increasing number of concerns, and even some resistance, related to user tracking and profiling using RFID technology. Therefore, in this paper, we review privacy threats that have been reported in various RFID applications and bring up some additional privacy threats in mobile RFID, impeding the deployment of mobile RFID. And we analyze whether various privacy protecting measures that have been proposed to address privacy problems in RFID can also apply to mobile RFID.