Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Additional Evidence That Common Low-level Features Of Individual Audio Frames Are Not Representative Of Music Genre

The Bag-of-Frames (BoF) approach has been widely used in music genre classification. In this approach, music genres are represented by statistical models of low-level features computed on short frames (e.g. in the tenth of ms) of audio signal. In the design of such models, a common procedure in BoF approaches is to represent each music genre by sets of instances (i.e. frame-based feature vectors) inferred from training data. The common underlying assumption is that the majority of such instances do capture somehow the (musical) specificities of each genre, and that obtaining good classification performance is a matter of size of the training dataset, and fine-tuning feature extraction and learning algorithm parameters. We report on extensive tests on two music databases that contradict this assumption. We show that there is little or no benefit in seeking a thorough representation of the feature vectors for each class. In particular, we show that genre classification performances are similar when representing music pieces from a number of different genres with the same set of symbols derived from a single genre or from all the genres. We conclude that our experiments provide additional evidence to the hypothesis that common low-level features of isolated audio frames are not representative of music genres.
Rationalism, Relativism and Scientific Method

{1} That it is excellent to be rational is admitted by many people, but hardly anyone is able to tell us what it means to be rational and why being rational is so important. The Presocratics were called rational because they omitted the gods from their explanations, the Church Fathers were called rational because they eliminated Gnosticism, Einstein was called rational l because he abolished, or seemed to abolish the aether. In all l these cases there is the assumption that some doctrines are 1 true, others false, and being rational means accepting what is f · believed to be true.
Dab1 contributes differently to the morphogenesis of the hippocampal subdivisions

The hippocampal formation (HF) is morphologically and functionally distinguishable into the subdivisions, such as the dentate gyrus (DG), subiculum, and Ammon's horn. The Ammon's horn is further divided into the CA (Cornu Ammonis)1, CA2, and CA3. The Reelin‐Dab1 signal is essential for the morphogenesis of the mammalian brain. In the neocortex of Reelin‐Dab1 signal mutants the laminar pattern of the neurons is disrupted along the radial axis. Morphological abnormalities in the HF of the Reelin‐Dab1 mutants were known, but how these abnormalities appear during development had not been extensively studied. We examined the morphology of the well‐developed Dab1 deficient HF by staining with a silver impregnation method in this report, and found that disruption of lamination in the CA1, CA3, and DG was different. Abnormalities observed in the development of Dab1 deficient CA1 were similar to those reported in the neocortical development, while Dab1 deficient CA3 neuronal progenitors radially spreaded beyond presumptive pyramidal layer. The intermediate progenitor cells ectopically located in the Dab1 deficient DG, but neurogenesis was normal in the CA1 and CA3. These observations suggest that the morphogenesis in these HF subdivisions employs different developmental mechanisms involving Dab1 function.
Hardware-in-loop simulation testbed for quadrotor aerial vehicles

In order to improve the safety and efficiency of the flight control design of quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a hardware-in-loop testbed is proposed in this paper. A miniature quadrotor aeromodel is used as the main-body of the testbed, and an MTi inertial measurement unit (IMU) is employed to measure the orientation angles of the quadrotor. A PC/104-bus embedded computer module is utilized as the simulation computer, and a TI-TMS320F28335 digital signal processor (DSP) is used as the low-level controller to control the four motors on the quadrotor. The real-time control tasks are accomplished via xPC target of the Matlab Real-Time Windows Target toolbox. FlightGear and Google Earth are utilized to display the orientation and flight path of the quadrotor UAV in real-time. Different control algorithms can be verified in the proposed testbed easily, without losing safeness and reliableness. Plus, the testbed can take the full advantage of the numerical simulation functions of Matlab. It provides a very reliable verification methods for the control algorithms before the real flight test. Hardware-in-loop simulation results for a PD hovering controller are provided in the paper to demonstrate the performance of the proposed testbed.
Comparison of Internal Clustering Validation Indices for Prototype-Based Clustering

Clustering is an unsupervised machine learning and pattern recognition method. In general, in addition to revealing hidden groups of similar observations and clusters, their number needs to be determined. Internal clustering validation indices estimate this number without any external information. The purpose of this article is to evaluate, empirically, characteristics of a representative set of internal clustering validation indices with many datasets. The prototype-based clustering framework includes multiple, classical and robust, statistical estimates of cluster location so that the overall setting of the paper is novel. General observations on the quality of validation indices and on the behavior of different variants of clustering algorithms will be given.
Typicality of inanimate category exemplars in aphasia treatment: further evidence for semantic complexity.

PURPOSE The typicality treatment approach on improving naming was investigated within 2 inanimate categories (furniture and clothing) using a single-subject experimental design across participants and behaviors in 5 patients with aphasia. METHOD Participants received a semantic feature treatment to improve naming of either typical or atypical items within semantic categories, whereas generalization was tested to untrained items of the category. The order of typicality and category trained was counterbalanced across participants. RESULTS Results indicated that 2 out of 4 patients trained on naming of atypical examples demonstrated generalization to naming untrained typical examples. One patient showed trends toward generalization but did not achieve criterion. Furthermore, all 4 patients trained on typical examples demonstrated no generalized naming to untrained atypical examples within the category. Also, analysis of errors indicated an evolution of errors as a result of treatment, from those with no apparent relationship to the target to primarily semantic and phonemic paraphasias. CONCLUSION These results extend our previous findings (S. Kiran & C. K. Thompson, 2003a) to patients with nonfluent aphasia and to inanimate categories such as furniture and clothing. Additionally, the results provide support for the claim that training atypical examples is a more efficient method of facilitating generalization to untrained items within a category than training typical examples (S. Kiran, 2007).
Nested cages

Many tasks in geometry processing and physical simulation benefit from multiresolution hierarchies. One important characteristic across a variety of applications is that coarser layers strictly encage finer layers, nesting one another. Existing techniques such as surface mesh decimation, voxelization, or contouring distance level sets do not provide sufficient control over the quality of the output surfaces while maintaining strict nesting. We propose a solution that enables use of application-specific decimation and quality metrics. The method constructs each next-coarsest level of the hierarchy, using a sequence of decimation, flow, and contact-aware optimization steps. From coarse to fine, each layer then fully encages the next while retaining a snug fit. The method is applicable to a wide variety of shapes of complex geometry and topology. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our nested cages not only for multigrid solvers, but also for conservative collision detection, domain discretization for elastic simulation, and cage-based geometric modeling.
Charitable Giving in the Public Workplace

This study addresses formal workplace giving campaigns, a less-researched area of philanthropic studies that is increasingly important to the nonprofit sector and a fixture in local, state, and federal governments. Using data from an electronic survey administered to state employees at a large public university and mixed methods for preliminary analysis, a three-part analytical framework is proposed to better explain workplace giving, looking in particular at how philanthropic crowding, organizational identification, and conceptions of community influence employee donative behavior. No evidence is found that workplace giving crowds out private giving, and a possible reinforcement effect is detected in that those who give in the workplace also tend to give outside the workplace. Organizational identification and conceptions of community are also found to influence workplace donative behavior.
Extreme Learning Machine : A Design Space Exploration

In this paper, we describe a compact low-power, high performance hardware implementation of the extreme learni ng machine (ELM) for machine learning applications. Mismatch in current mirrors are used to perform the vector-matrix multi plication that forms the first stage of this classifier and is t he most computationally intensive. Both regression and class ification (on UCI data sets) are demonstrated and a design space tradeoff between speed, power and accuracy is explored. Our resul ts indicate that for a wide set of problems,σVT in the range of 15−25mV gives optimal results. An input weight matrix rotation method to extend the input dimension and hidden layer size beyond the physical limits imposed by the chip is also descri bed. This allows us to overcome a major limit imposed on most hardware machine learners. The chip is implemented in a0. 35μm CMOS process and occupies a die area of around 5 mm× 5 mm. Operating from a 1 V power supply, it achieves an energy efficiency of 0.47 pJ/MAC at a classification rate of 31.6 kHz.
WENC: HTTPS Encrypted Traffic Classification Using Weighted Ensemble Learning and Markov Chain

SSL/TLS protocol is widely used for secure web applications (i.e., HTTPS). Classifying encrypted SSL/TLS based applications is an important but challenging task for network management. Traditional traffic classification methods are incapable of accomplishing this task. Several recently proposed approaches that focused on discriminating defining fingerprints among various SSL/TLS applications have also shown various limitations. In this paper, we design a Weighted ENsemble Classifier (WENC) to tackle these limitations. WENC studies the characteristics of various sub-flows during the HTTPS handshake process and the following data transmission period. To increase the fingerprint recognizability, we propose to establish a second-order Markov chain model with a fingerprint variable jointly considering the packet length and the message type during the process of HTTPS handshake. Furthermore, the series of the packet lengths of application data is modeled as HMM with optimal emission probability. Finally, a weighted ensemble strategy is devised to accommodate the advantages of several approaches as a unified one. Experimental results show that the classification accuracy of the proposed method reaches 90%, with an 11% improvement on average comparing to the state-of-the-art methods.
Bacillus subtilis HemY is a peripheral membrane protein essential for protoheme IX synthesis which can oxidize coproporphyrinogen III and protoporphyrinogen IX

The hemY gene of the Bacillus subtilis hemEHY operon is essential for protoheme IX biosynthesis. Two previously isolated hemY mutations were sequenced. Both mutations are deletions affecting the hemY reading frame, and they cause the accumulation of coproporphyrinogen III or coproporphyrin III in the growth medium and the accumulation of trace amounts of other porphyrinogens or porphyrins intracellularly. HemY was found to be a 53-kDa peripheral membrane-bound protein. In agreement with recent findings by Dailey et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 269:813-815, 1994) B. subtilis HemY protein synthesized in Escherichia coli oxidized coproporphyrinogen III and protoporphyrinogen IX to coproporphyrin and protoporphyrin, respectively. The protein is not a general porphyrinogen oxidase since it did not oxidize uroporphyrinogen III. The apparent specificity constant, kcat/Km, for HemY was found to be about 12-fold higher with coproporphyrinogen III as a substrate compared with protoporphyrinogen IX as a substrate. The protoporphyrinogen IX oxidase activity is consistent with the function of HemY in a late step of protoheme IX biosynthesis, i.e., HemY catalyzes the penultimate step of the pathway. However, the efficient coproporphyrinogen III to coproporphyrin oxidase activity is unexplained in the current view of protoheme IX biosynthesis.
Performance Analysis of the IEEE 802.11 MAC Protocol for DSRC Safety Applications

In this paper, we evaluate and improve the performance of the medium-access control (MAC) protocol for safety applications in a dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) environment. We first develop an analytical model to study the IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF) MAC protocol that has been adopted by the IEEE 802.11p standard for DSRC. Explicit expressions are derived for the mean and standard deviation of the packet delay, as well as for the packet delivery ratio (PDR) at the MAC layer in an unsaturated network formed by moving vehicles on a highway. The proposed model is validated using extensive simulations, and its superior accuracy is compared with that of other existing models is demonstrated. Insights gained from our model reveal that the principal reason for the low PDR of the DCF protocol is packet collision due to transmissions from hidden terminals. We then present a novel protocol based on the DCF that uses an out-of-band busy tone as a negative acknowledgment to provide an efficient solution to the aforementioned problem. We extend our analytical model to the enhanced protocol and show that it preserves predictive accuracy. Most importantly, our numerical experiments confirm that the enhanced protocol improves the PDR by up to 10% and increases the supported vehicle density by up to two times for a range of packet arrival rates while maintaining the delay below the required threshold level.
ISOGRID: an Efficient Algorithm for Coverage Enhancement in Mobile Sensor Networks

This paper presents a novel algorithm, called ISOGRID (isometric grid-based algorithm), for autonomous deployment of mobile sensor networks. Upon an initial random placement of sensor nodes, the algorithm iteratively computes node movements to enhance sensing coverage and avoid obstacles while ensuring sensor connectivity. The principle is to redeploy the sensor nodes such that the communication graph approximates the layout of an isometric grid. Based on a number of simulation experiments, we have verified that the proposed algorithm always yields sensor deployments of wide coverage and desired topologies while ensuring collision-free motions of robots and promising wireless communication among sensor nodes. As the algorithm runs in a decentralized framework, it is computationally efficient and scalable. We also suggest another deployment algorithm, MEC (minimum enclosing circle-based algorithm), as an improvement to Minimax presented in (G. L. Wang, et al., March 2004) and extensively utilize it in the simulation examples to make comparison with ISOGRID
The In Vitro Efficacy of Antimicrobial Agents Against the Pathogenic Free‐Living Amoeba Balamuthia mandrillaris

The free‐living amoeba Balamuthia mandrillaris causes usually fatal encephalitis in humans and animals. Only limited studies have investigated the efficacy of antimicrobial agents against the organism. Assay methods were developed to assess antimicrobial efficacy against both the trophozoite and cyst stage of B. mandrillaris (ATCC 50209). Amphotericin B, ciclopirox olamine, miltefosine, natamycin, paromomycin, pentamidine isethionate, protriptyline, spiramycin, sulconazole and telithromycin had limited activity with amoebacidal levels of > 135–500 μM. However, diminazene aceturate (Berenil®) was amoebacidal at 7.8 μM and 31.3–61.5 μM for trophozoites and cysts, respectively. Assays for antimicrobial testing may improve the prognosis for infection and aid in the development of primary selective culture isolation media.
Biophysical characterization of the domain association between cytosolic A and B domains of the mannitol transporter enzymes IIMtl in the presence and absence of a connecting linker

The mannitol transporter enzyme IIMtl of the bacterial phosphotransferase system is a multi‐domain protein that catalyzes mannitol uptake and phosphorylation. Here we investigated the domain association between cytosolic A and B domains of enzyme IIMtl, which are natively connected in Escherichia coli, but separated in Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis. NMR backbone assignment and residual dipolar couplings indicated that backbone folds were well conserved between the homologous domains. The equilibrium binding of separately expressed domains, however, exhibited ∼28‐fold higher affinity compared to the natively linked ones. Phosphorylation of the active site loop significantly contributed to the binding by reducing conformational dynamics at the binding interface, and a few key mutations at the interface were critical to further stabilize the complex by hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. The affinity increase implicated that domain associations in cell could be maintained at an optimal level regardless of the linker.
Plakophilin 2: a critical scaffold for PKCα that regulates intercellular junction assembly

Plakophilins (PKPs) are armadillo family members related to the classical cadherin-associated protein p120ctn. PKPs localize to the cytoplasmic plaque of intercellular junctions and participate in linking the intermediate filament (IF)-binding protein desmoplakin (DP) to desmosomal cadherins. In response to cell–cell contact, PKP2 associates with DP in plaque precursors that form in the cytoplasm and translocate to nascent desmosomes. Here, we provide evidence that PKP2 governs DP assembly dynamics by scaffolding a DP–PKP2–protein kinase Cα (PKCα) complex, which is disrupted by PKP2 knockdown. The behavior of a phosphorylation-deficient DP mutant that associates more tightly with IF is mimicked by PKP2 and PKCα knockdown and PKC pharmacological inhibition, all of which impair junction assembly. PKP2 knockdown is accompanied by increased phosphorylation of PKC substrates, raising the possibility that global alterations in PKC signaling may contribute to pathogenesis of congenital defects caused by PKP2 deficiency.
Ultra-fast Tomographic Reconstruction with a Highly Optimized Weighted Back-Projection Algorithm

Electron tomography (ET) allows elucidation of the three-dimensional (3D) structure of large complex biological specimens at molecular resolution. In order to achieve such resolution levels, large projection images have to be used to compute the 3D reconstructions. Tomographic reconstruction on this scale requires a tremendous use of computational resources and a considerable processing time. In this work, we present and evaluate a highly optimized implementation of the Weighted Back-Projection reconstruction algorithm. Briefly, optimizations made to the code comprise (1) vector processing with SSE (Streaming SIMD Extensions) instructions, (2) an efficient use of cache memory, (3) to take advantage of the inherent image symmetry, (4) to use the FFTW (Fastest Fourier Transform in the West) library for image filtering, (5) to use regions of interest and last, but not least, (6) a wide range of minor optimizations like some data pre-calculations or an instruction level parallelism improvement. We have evaluated the method on tomographic reconstructions of several datasets and on two computing platforms. The results show that our version speeds up the method by a factor around 14 or 16, depending on the platform.
A Multi-Channel Approach to Brightness

A model of brightness coding is presented which is shown to predict the appearance of a number of classical brightness phenomena. The model is known as MIDAAS which stands for Multiple Independent Descriptions Averaged Across Scale. In common with many other approaches to brightness perception MIDAAS imputes to local feature detectors a central role in the computation of brightness. It also explicitly recognises the crucial importance to brightness perception of feature detectors operating at different spatial scales. The unique and definitive feature of the model however is the supposition that each scale of spatial filtering operates as if to generate its own description of the pattern of brightness relationships in the image. The final percept is then provided by the composite of those individual brightness descriptions. It is shown that MIDAAS provides a good account of a variety of Mach band phenomena, the conditions under which the Missing Fundamental illusion is observed, the effect of occluding bars on the apparent contrast of step edges, the Chevreul illusion, simultaneous brightness contrast and the non-linear appearance of high contrast sinusoidal gratings. The advantages of MIDAAS over other approaches to brightness perception is discussed, as well as its current limitations.
Hardness of Approximation in PSPACE and Separation Results for Pebble Games

We consider the pebble game on DAGs with bounded fan-in introduced in [Paterson and Hewitt '70] and the reversible version of this game in [Bennett '89], and study the question of how hard it is to decide exactly or approximately the number of pebbles needed for a given DAG in these games. We prove that the problem of deciding whether s pebbles suffice to reversibly pebble a DAG G is PSPACE-complete, as was previously shown for the standard pebble game in [Gilbert, Lengauer and Tarjan '80]. Via two different graph product constructions we then strengthen these results to establish that both standard and reversible pebbling space are PSPACE-hard to approximate to within any additive constant. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first hardness of approximation results for pebble games in an unrestricted setting (even for polynomial time). Also, since [Chan '13] proved that reversible pebbling is equivalent to the games in [Dymond and Tompa '85] and [Raz and McKenzie '99], our results apply to the Dymond -- Tompa and Raz -- McKenzie games as well, and from the same paper it follows that resolution depth is PSPACE-hard to determine up to any additive constant. We also obtain a multiplicative logarithmic separation between reversible and standard pebbling space. This improves on the additive logarithmic separation previously known and could plausibly be tight, although we are not able to prove this. We leave as an interesting open problem whether our additive hardness of approximation result could be strengthened to a multiplicative bound if the computational resources are decreased from polynomial space to the more common setting of polynomial time.