Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A novel gait contours segmentation algorithm

Effective extraction of human area from human-body moving gait image sequences is of great concern to human-body moving gait recognition. A new segmentation algorithm was proposed, the concept of the time-domain was afresh defined, the inverse transformation of the wavelet was unnecessary. The two value result which was gained by combining background subtraction and symmetric frame difference performed moving estimation, it was the new method of time-domain segmentation; the first order wavelet transform was used to the current frame image, used high order linear interpolation to extend the LL weight of wavelet transformation as the same size as the current frame image, watershed segmentation algorithm was used to divide the LL weight image which was extended into many closed and non-overlapping regions, it was space-domain segmentation; used spatio-temporal combination algorithm, marked the result of space-domain segmentation casting shadow to the result of time-domain segmentation, then gained the accurate area of human-body. The experiments were made on the NLPR gait database and the results proved that the algorithm can abstract the whole area of human-body precisely, owned the good robust noise and flexibility, and eventually improved the performance of gait recognition.
The Air Is Always Cleaner on the Other Side: Race, Space, and Ambient Air Toxics Exposures in California

ABSTRACT: Environmental justice advocates have recently focused attention on cumulative exposure in minority neighborhoods due to multiple sources of pollution. This article uses U.S. EPA’s National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) for 1996 to examine environmental inequality in California, a state that has been a recent innovator in environmental justice policy. We first estimate potential lifetime cancer risks from mobile and stationary sources. We then consider the distribution of these risks using both simple comparisons and a multivariate model in which we control for income, land use, and other explanatory factors, as well as spatial correlation. We find large racial disparities in California’s “riskscape” as well as inequalities by other factors and suggest several implications for environmental and land use policy.
Organizational practices for generating human resources in non‐corporate research and technology organizations

In the present context an organization competes in terms of its knowledge intensity. In this article we are focusing on human resource development, sustenance and enhancement as a process in non‐corporate research and technology organizations (RTOs), based on an international study on “Benchmarking the best practices for research and technology organizations”, coordinated by WAITRO. The basic function of these RTOs is to generate knowledge to effectively enhance their client’s competitive strength. A best RTO can be the one that provides a structure, which encourages people to take initiatives to generate new knowledge and effectively translate clients’ technological requirements into research results. For this, the RTO has to be a learning organization. To develop and sustain capabilities is essential for any RTO’s survival and growth. How best an organization performs depends upon its capability to build and enhance this knowledge base, i.e. the human capital. This in turn depends upon the way various activities are organized to generate human resource from the manpower they have.
Markets for Clean Air: The U.S. Acid Rain Program

List of illustrations List of tables Authors Preface Acknowledgments 1. A market-based experiment 2. A political history of Federal Acid Rain Legislation 3. The political economy of allowance allocations 4. The pre-1995 trend in SO2 emissions 5. Title IV compliance and Emission reductions, 1995-97 6. Emissions trading: the effect on abatement behavior 7. Emissions trading: development of the allowance market 8. Title IV's voluntary compliance program 9. The cost of compliance with the Title IV in Phase I 10. Cost savings from emissions trading 11. Errors, imperfections, and allowance prices 12. Concluding observations.
Infant and young child feeding practices and child undernutrition in Bangladesh: insights from nationally representative data

Abstract Objective To determine the association between indicators of infant and young child feeding (IYCF) and anthropometric measures of nutritional status among children aged 0–23 months in a nationally representative data set. Design Data from the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey were used. Analyses were conducted using multiple linear regression and logistic regression analyses adjusted for the complex survey design of the survey, controlling for child, maternal and household characteristics, and including regional dummy variables. Setting Bangladesh. Subjects Pairs (n 2096) of last born infants and their mothers. Results Exclusive breast-feeding under 6 months of age was associated with higher weight-for-height Z-score (effect size (ES) = 0·29; P < 0·05). Appropriate complementary feeding in children aged 6–8 months was associated with higher height-for-age Z-score (HAZ; ES = 0·63; P < 0·01) and higher weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ; ES = 0·30; P < 0·05). Higher dietary diversity index (DDI) was associated with higher HAZ (ES = 0·08; P < 0·01 for every 1 point higher DDI) and higher WAZ (ES = 0·04; P < 0·05). Children who achieved minimum diet diversity had higher HAZ (ES = 0·20; P < 0·05). Logistic regression models confirmed that exclusive breast-feeding was protective against wasting and DDI was protective against stunting and underweight. Conclusions Our results highlight the importance of IYCF practices as determinants of child growth outcomes in this context, and reinforce the need for interventions that address the spectrum of IYCF practices, from exclusive breast-feeding to age-appropriate complementary feeding, especially diet diversity, in efforts to improve nutrition of infants and young children.
Compact Personal Distributed Wearable Exposimeter

A compact wearable personal distributed exposimeter (PDE) is proposed, sensing the power density of incident radio frequency (RF) fields on the body of a human. In contrast to current commercial exposimeters, our PDE, being composed of multiple compact personal wearable RF exposimeter sensor modules, minimizes uncertainties caused by the proximity of the body, the specific antenna used, and the exact position of the exposimeter. For unobtrusive deployment inside a jacket, each individual exposimeter sensor module is specifically implemented on the feedplane of a textile patch antenna. The new wearable sensor module's high-resolution logarithmic detector logs RF signal levels. Next, on-board flash memory records minimum, maximum, and average exposure data over a time span of more than two weeks, at a one-second sample period. Sample-level synchronization of each individual exposimeter sensor module enables combining of measurements collected by different nodes. The system is first calibrated in an anechoic chamber, and then compared with a commercially available single-unit exposimeter. Next, the PDE is validated in realistic conditions, by measuring the average RF power density on a human during a walk in an urban environment and comparing the results to spectrum analyzer measurements with a calibrated antenna.
Improving the corn‐ethanol industry: Studying protein separation techniques to obtain higher value‐added product options for distillers grains

Currently in America the biofuel ethanol is primarily being produced by the dry grind technique to obtain the starch contained in the corn grains and subsequently subjected to fermentation. This so‐called 1st generation technology has two setbacks; first the lingering debate whether its life cycle contributes to a reduction of fossil fuels and the animal feed sectors future supply/demand imbalance caused by the co‐product dry distillers grains (DDGS). Additional utilization of the cellulosic components and separation of the proteins for use as chemical precursors have the potential to alleviate both setbacks. Several different corn feedstock layouts were treated with 2nd generation ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) pre‐treatment technology and tested for protein separation options (protease solubilization). The resulting system has the potential to greatly improve ethanol yields with lower bioprocessing energy costs and satisfy a significant portion of the organic chemical industry. Biotechnol. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2008;101: 49–61. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Alcohol-expectancy dimensions and alcohol consumption at different ages in the general population.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate the cross-sectional relationship between alcohol-expectancy dimensions and alcohol consumption and to examine whether this relationship is modified by age. METHOD Data from the 2003 German Epidemiological Survey on Substance Abuse were used (N = 6,099 subjects, ages 18-59 years). Alcohol expectancies were assessed using five dimensions of the Comprehensive Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire: social assertiveness, tension reduction, sexual enhancement, cognitive impairment, and aggression. Alcohol consumption within the last 30 days was assessed by the number of drinking days and a beverage-specific quantity-frequency measure. RESULTS All expectancy dimensions, except for sexual enhancement, were related to alcohol consumption. Results further revealed age differences between three expectancy dimensions and alcohol consumption. The association of social assertiveness and sexual enhancement with drinking frequency, as well as with average daily intake, was stronger among younger respondents compared with respondents ages 30 years and older. In addition, older respondents with high expectations of cognitive impairment drank lower amounts of alcohol compared with younger respondents at the same level of expectation. CONCLUSIONS Future research on alcohol expectancies should use multidimensional alcohol-expectancy instruments rather than measure only positive and negative alcohol expectancies. Age modifies the relationship between alcohol-expectancy dimensions and drinking and needs to be taken into account.
Reconciling paleodistribution models and comparative phylogeography in the Wet Tropics rainforest land snail Gnarosophia bellendenkerensis (Brazier 1875)

Comparative phylogeography has proved useful for investigating biological responses to past climate change and is strongest when combined with extrinsic hypotheses derived from the fossil record or geology. However, the rarity of species with sufficient, spatially explicit fossil evidence restricts the application of this method. Here, we develop an alternative approach in which spatial models of predicted species distributions under serial paleoclimates are compared with a molecular phylogeography, in this case for a snail endemic to the rainforests of North Queensland, Australia. We also compare the phylogeography of the snail to those from several endemic vertebrates and use consilience across all of these approaches to enhance biogeographical inference for this rainforest fauna. The snail mtDNA phylogeography is consistent with predictions from paleoclimate modeling in relation to the location and size of climatic refugia through the late Pleistocene-Holocene and broad patterns of extinction and recolonization. There is general agreement between quantitative estimates of population expansion from sequence data (using likelihood and coalescent methods) vs. distributional modeling. The snail phylogeography represents a composite of both common and idiosyncratic patterns seen among vertebrates, reflecting the geographically finer scale of persistence and subdivision in the snail. In general, this multifaceted approach, combining spatially explicit paleoclimatological models and comparative phylogeography, provides a powerful approach to locating historical refugia and understanding species' responses to them.
DNA quadruplexes and dynamical genetics.

In a recent paper, we have put forward the hypothesis that there exist smart purposive mechanisms - tandem repeat length managers - which regulate the length of some tandem repeat, or cause rearrangements, and are almost always driven by some variable number tandem repeat. We have called the framework in which such mechanisms act 'dynamical genetics'. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to lay the foundations of a molecular study of the above mechanisms, by proposing a hypothesis, based on various kinds of supporting evidence and plausibility arguments, about the special importance of DNA quadruplexes for dynamical genetics, and by considering the involved enzymes. This hypothesis states that a tandem repeat length manager acts almost always by monitoring a DNA tract that has the characteristics of being a variable number tandem repeat and/or forming a DNA quadruplex, and that it is almost always driven by at least one of them.
Histopathological findings in the oral mucosa of celiac patients.

BACKGROUND Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated enteropathy triggered by the ingestion of gluten in genetically susceptible subjects. Although the small intestinal mucosa is the main site of the gut's involvement in CD, other mucosal surfaces belonging to the gastrointestinal tract and the gut-associated lymphoid tissue are known to be affected. AIM Assuming that the oral mucosa could reflect the histopathological inflammatory alterations of the intestine in CD patients, this study wishes to assess the pattern of T-cell subsets in the oral mucosa of young adults with CD. METHODS A group of 37 patients (age range 20-38 years; female: male ratio 28:9) with CD were enrolled. Out of 37 patients, 19 patients (group A) followed a gluten free diet (GFD) -2 patients from less than one year; 6 patients between 1 and 5 years; 11 patients more than 5 years- while 18 patients (group B) were still untreated. Fifteen healthy volunteers (age range 18-35 years, female: Male ratio 11:4) served as controls for the CD patients. Ethical approval for the research was granted by the Ethics Committee. Biopsy specimens were taken from normal looking oral mucosa. The immunohistochemical investigation was performed with monoclonal antibodies to CD3, CD4, CD8, and gamma/delta-chains T cell receptor (TCR). RESULTS The T-lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrate was significantly (p < 0.0001) increased in group B (both compared with group A and with the control group). CONCLUSION This study confirms the oral cavity to be a site of involvement of CD and its possible diagnostic potentiality in this disease.
Molecular and Descriptive Epidemiology of Multidrug-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae in Hospitalized Infants

Objective. To investigate the epidemiology of multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (MDRE) in hospitalized infants. Methods. From 2000 through 2005, active surveillance cultures for MDRE were performed for patients admitted to a 40-bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) that provides care for critically ill infants 6 months of age or younger. MDRE epidemiology and the genetic relatedness of MDRE strains determined by repetitive-sequence polymerase chain reaction were analyzed. Results. Active surveillance cultures revealed that 759 (23%) of 3,370 NICU infants (or approximately 1 in 5) developed MDRE colonization or infection and that 613 (72%) of the 853 isolates with epidemiologic data available were healthcare acquired. MDRE colonization occurred more frequently (in 653 infants [86%]) than did MDRE infection (in 106 [14%]). Of the 653 infants with MDRE colonization, 119 (18%) eventually became infected, with 29 (4%) acquiring sterile site infections. The most commonly isolated organisms were the Enterobacter species, accounting for 612 (71%) of the 862 isolates. Molecular epidemiologic analysis revealed that genetic-relatedness clustering (related clusters defined as having a genetic similarity coefficient greater than 95%) varied depending on microbial species. Clustering was detected for 36 (78%) of the 46 Enterobacter aerogenes isolates, 22 (45%) of the 49 Enterobacter cloacae isolates, and 13 (59%) of the 22 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. Conclusion. Hospitalized infants are at significant risk of acquiring MDRE, specifically Enterobacter species, at the study institution. Active surveillance cultures identified colonized patients who likely contributed to the institutional reservoir of MDRE. Molecular epidemiologic studies suggest that both patient-to-patient transmission and de novo acquisition of resistance play a role in the acquisition of these organisms, and that the clinical significance of such acquisition varies by species. The high percentage of E. aerogenes isolates that demonstrated genetic clustering suggests that monitoring the prevalence of this organism could serve as a useful measure of compliance with infection control procedures.
Nuclear NF-ATp is a hallmark of unstimulated B cells from B-CLL patients.

B lymphocytes from the peripheral blood of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) were analysed for the nuclear presence and DNA binding of a panel of transcription factors which are involved in the gene control of lymphoid cells. The following transcription factors were studied: the Octamer factors Oct-1 and Oct-2, members of the AP-1 factor family, NF-AT factors, in particular NF-ATp, and members of the Rel/NF-kB family. We show that the constitutive nuclear translocation of NF-ATp, a member of the growing family of NF-AT factors, is a hallmark of nonstimulated B cells from CLL patients that distinguishes B-CLL cells from 'normal' B lymphocytes. Constitutive nuclear appearance was also observed for NF-kB2/p52. Constitutive binding of further factor proteins to DNA, such as JunD, c-Fos and FosB, was detected in several patients whereas the localisation and DNA binding of other factors such as c-Jun, RelA/p65 and c-Rel was unaltered. It is remarkable that in B-CLL cells the nuclear appearance and DNA binding of specific transcription factors is dramatically affected whereas other members of the same factor family remained unaltered in these leukemic cells. It remains to be shown which molecular events lead to the specific 'pre-activation', i.e. constitutive nuclear translocation and DNA binding, of these members of NF-AT, NF-kB and AP-1 factor families.
Suit and Settlement vs. Trial: A Theoretical Analysis Under Alternative Methods for the Allocation of Legal Costs

Will a party who believes that he has a legally admissible claim for money damages decide to bring suit? if so, will he subsequently settle with the opposing party or will he go ahead to trial? These questions are analyzed under four methods for allocating legal costs, namely, under the American system, whereby each side bears its own costs; under the "indemnity" or British system, whereby the losing side bears all costs; under the system favoring the plaintiff whereby the plaintiff pays only his own costs if he loses and nothing otherwise; and under the system favor the defendant, whereby the defendant pays only his own costs if he loses and nothing otherwise. Following the analysis, two brief illustrations are considered and comments are made on the relative social desirability of the methods of allocating legal costs.
The Nuclear Envelope in Muscular Dystrophy and Cardiovascular Diseases

Considerable interest has been focused on the nuclear envelope in recent years following the realization that several human diseases are linked to defects in genes encoding nuclear envelope specific proteins, most notably A‐type lamins and emerin. These disorders, described as laminopathies or nuclear envelopathies, include both X‐linked and autosomal dominant forms of Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, dilated cardiomyopathy with conduction system defects, limb girdle muscular dystrophy 1B with atrioventricular conduction disturbances, and Dunnigan‐type familial partial lipodystrophy. Certain of these diseases are associated with nuclear structural abnormalities that can be seen in a variety of cells and tissues. These observations clearly demonstrate that A‐type lamins in particular play a central role, not only in the maintenance of nuclear envelope integrity but also in the large‐scale organization of nuclear architecture. What is not obvious, however, is why defects in nuclear envelope proteins that are found in most adult cell types should give rise to pathologies associated predominantly with skeletal and cardiac muscle and adipocytes. The recognition of these various disorders now raises the novel possibility that the nuclear envelope may have functions that go beyond housekeeping and which impact upon cell‐type specific nuclear processes.
Institutional Change in Europe: Co‐Decision and Comitology Transformed*

This article explains how institutional rules change after they have been established in two important areas of European decision‐making: co‐decision and comitology. It shows how legislation under co‐decision was transformed into fast‐track legislation and why the Parliament gradually – between treaty reforms – gained more institutional power in comitology. The rational choice institutionalist explanation applied here focuses on the efficiency increasing/transaction cost saving aspects of interstitial institutional change, but also on the question of who gains and who loses in power under specific rules and how power may subsequently be shifted. The hypotheses derived from the theoretical considerations are subject to empirical (dis)confirmation on the basis of quantitative and qualitative empirical data collected on co‐decision and delegation over time. The conclusion summarizes the argument and explores the applicability of the explanations to two other polities of regional integration: North Atlantic Free Trade Association (Nafta) and Mercosur (the Common Southern Market).
Factors affecting the hedging decision of farmers : the case of maize farmers in Gauteng province

ii OPSOMMING iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi LIST OF TABLES x LIST OF FIGURES xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background information 1 1.2 Problem statement 2 1.3 The limitations 5 1.4 Motivation for the study 5 1.5 Chapter outline 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 7 2.