Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monitoring of significant changes over time in fluorescence microscopy imaging of living cells

The question whether structural changes in time-resolved images are of statistical significance, and therefore of scientific interest, or merely emerge from random noise is of great relevance in many practical applications such as live cell fluorescence microscopy, where intracellular diffusion processes are investigated. In this paper the statistical recovery of such time-resolved images from fluorescence microscopy of living cells is discussed, based on which a bootstrap method is introduced that allows to both monitor and visualize statistically significant structural changes between individual frames over time. The method can be adopted for use in other imaging systems. It yields a criterion to assess time-resolved small scale structural changes e. g. in the nanometer range. The proposed bootstrap method is based on data reconstruction with a regularization technique as well as new theoretical results on uniform confidence bands for the function of interest in a two-dimensional heteroscedastic nonparametric convolution-type inverse regression model of Poisson-type. Moreover, a data-driven selection method for the regularization parameter based on statistical multiscale methods is discussed. The method can be used for an automatic, data-driven data analysis. The theoretical results are demonstrated in a simulation study and are used to analyze data of fluorescently labeled intracellular transport compartments in living cells.
Mirrored Disk Scheduling Methods with a Non-Volatile Shared Cache

Mirrored disks were a popular paradigm to attain high data availability, as well as performance, even before they were classified as RAID1. Caching of data blocks to be written to disk at first in non-volatile storage (NVS) can be used to further improve mirrored disk performance. Such blocks can be destaged asynchronously, thus allowing read requests to be processed at a higher priority than destage requests. In addition blocks can be destaged in batches optimized with respect to disk layout. A mirrored disk scheduling method proposed by Polyzois et al. always makes one disk available for processing read requests, while the other disk processes a write batch according to the CSCAN algorithm. Polyzois’ method can be improved by: (i) eliminating the forced idleness by processing write requests individually; (ii) using an SATFbased scheduling method or even an exhaustive search for smaller batch sizes; (iii) introducing a threshold for the number of read requests, which when attained results in deferring the processing of write batches. We also consider a modification to SATF, where read requests are given priority to write requests, unless the latter can be processed much more efficiently than read requests. Head-of-the-line (HOL) priority queueing with higher priority for read requests than write requests is inferior to SATF, since it processes requests from both queues in FCFS order. We report on simulation results of the four schemes and show that the new method outperforms Polizois’ method, which is even outperformed by the HOL priority method. Modified SATF policy outperforms all other methods in terms of throughput and response time. We acknowledge the support of NSF through Grant 0105485 in Computer Systems Architecture.
A Review of Biologically Plausible Neuron Models for Spiking Neural Networks

In this paper, five mathematical models of single neurons are discussed and compared. The physical meanings, derivations, and differential equations of each model are provided. Since for many applications the spiking rates of neurons are of great importance, we compare the spiking rate patterns under different sustained current inputs. Numerical stability and accuracy are also considered. The computational cost and storage requirements needed to numerically solve each of the models are also discussed.
Detecting the Orientation of N-gonal Cropped Sub-images and Its Application

An increasing number of public web services have attempted to prevent exploitation by bots and automated scripts, by requiring a user to solve a Turing-test problem, namely a ”Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Cmputers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA)”, before they are allowed to use web services. In this paper, we present an effective image-based CAPTCHA based on the orientation of N-gonal cropped sub-images as a solution of CAPTCHAs. Our CAPTCHA is based on the difficulty of detecting the orientation of N-gonal sub-images. In our CAPTCHA, the number of orientations and the crop size are important considerations, since our CAPTCHA requires users to find the orientation of sub-images cropped in the form of a regular polygon. So, we discuss usability of our CAPTCHA and the efficient values of the number of orientations and the crop size through user experiments and SVM-based machine learning tests in this paper.
Comparison binary search and linear algorithm for German-Indonesian sign language using Markov model

Research in the area of sign language gives significant results in the decade of years. A lot of research has been done focusing on the signer-independent schemas that contain sign language and video. This paper contributes the statistical translation words from German-Indonesia sign language and vice versa. The process of translation used Markov model and parsing tree to translate words. A binary search and linear algorithms in collaboration with Markov model are used to implement the translation process. The execution time between 2 models of algorithms has been analyzed. A binary search and Markov model have given a better execution than sequential algorithm and Markov model when translates words.
Audio-visual Convolutive Blind Source Separation

We present a novel method for speech separation from their audio mixtures using the audio-visual coherence. It consists of two stages: in the off-line training process, we use the Gaussian mixture model to characterise statistically the audio- visual coherence with features obtained from the training set; at the separation stage, likelihood maximization is performed on the independent component analysis (ICA)-separated spectral components. To address the permutation and scaling indeterminacies of the frequency-domain blind source separation (BSS), a new sorting and rescaling scheme using the bimodal coherence is proposed. We tested our algorithm on the XM2VTS database, and the results show that our algorithm can address the permutation problem with high accuracy, and mitigate the scaling problem effectively. (5 pages)
Introducing narrative principles into planning-based interactive storytelling

There is a growing interest for interactive computational systems with emphasis in dramatic and narrative aspects, for artistic and entertainment applications. Interactive Storytelling (IS) is the research area that intends to allow the use of interactive computer systems as a new medium for storytellers. One approach used by IS researchers is the use of planning algorithms and STRIPS domains as the base for story generation. The present work explores methods that can be used to introduce some narrative principles into systems using the referred approach. In particular, this paper shows techniques that can be used to enforce the classical three-act structure, and to avoid stalls in the generated story when the player cannot correctly decide what to do.
Positive Signature-Tagged Mutagenesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Tracking Patho-Adaptive Mutations Promoting Airways Chronic Infection

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa can establish life-long chronic infections in the airways of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Persistent lifestyle is established with P. aeruginosa patho-adaptive variants, which are clonal with the initially-acquired strains. Several reports indicated that P. aeruginosa adapts by loss-of-function mutations which enhance fitness in CF airways and sustain its clonal expansion during chronic infection. To validate this model of P. aeruginosa adaptation to CF airways and to identify novel genes involved in this microevolution, we designed a novel approach of positive-selection screening by PCR-based signature-tagged mutagenesis (Pos-STM) in a murine model of chronic airways infection. A systematic positive-selection scheme using sequential rounds of in vivo screenings for bacterial maintenance, as opposed to elimination, generated a list of genes whose inactivation increased the colonization and persistence in chronic airways infection. The phenotypes associated to these Pos-STM mutations reflect alterations in diverse aspects of P. aeruginosa biology which include lack of swimming and twitching motility, lack of production of the virulence factors such as pyocyanin, biofilm formation, and metabolic functions. In addition, Pos-STM mutants showed altered invasion and stimulation of immune response when tested in human respiratory epithelial cells, indicating that P. aeruginosa is prone to revise the interaction with its host during persistent lifestyle. Finally, sequence analysis of Pos-STM genes in longitudinally P. aeruginosa isolates from CF patients identified signs of patho-adaptive mutations within the genome. This novel Pos-STM approach identified bacterial functions that can have important clinical implications for the persistent lifestyle and disease progression of the airway chronic infection.
DOES CHELATED COPPER AMELIORATE THE GREENING OF IRON-DEFICIENT CUCUMBER PLANTS THROUGH NITRIC OXIDE SIGNALING? COMPARISON WITH CHEMICAL FORMS OF ZINC

Summary. Recently the role of nitrogen monoxide (NO) in iron homeostasis has been proved by means of exogenouslyapplied different NO donors that can provoke leaf re-greening under conditions of iron deficiency. It was also supposed, that Fe-deficiency itself could stimulate the endogenous production of NO in stressed plants (Graziano and Lamattina, 2007). In this study, the comparison between effects of NO-donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP and related structural compounds) and chelated forms of copper and zinc [Cu(II)HEDTA and Zn(II)HEDTA, all applied at equimicromolar concentrations in the nutrient solution] towards leaf chlorosis of Fe-deficient cucumber plants was investigated. Plant variants (–Fe+2 µM Cu 2+ ) and (–Fe+ 20 µM Zn 2+ ) with very strong chlorosis were chosen for experiments to follow the recovery of leaf greening after treatment with substances or inhibitors of NO production and action. Treatment with SNP, Fe(II)CN and Cu(II)HEDTA produced leaf greening in both variants, especially strong for the newly developed leaf, as it was shown with chlorophyll measurements. KCN, Fe(III)CN and Zn(II)HEDTA were without greening effect. Using specific NO-inhibitor cPTIO it was shown that Cu(II)HEDTA treatment of iron-deficient cucumber plants could provoke leaf greening by means of endogenous
Infrared Luminosity Functions from the Chandra Deep Field-South: The Spitzer View on the History of Dusty Star Formation at 0 ≲ z ≲ 1*

We analyze a sample of ~2600 Spitzer MIPS 24 μm sources brighter than ~80 μJy and located in the Chandra Deep Field-South to characterize the evolution of the comoving infrared (IR) energy density of the universe up to z ~ 1. Using published ancillary optical data, we first obtain a nearly complete redshift determination for the 24 μm objects associated with R 24 mag counterparts at z 1. These sources represent ~55%-60% of the total MIPS 24 μm population with f24 μm 80 μJy, the rest of the sample likely lying at higher redshifts. We then determine an estimate of their total IR luminosities using various libraries of IR spectral energy distributions. We find that the 24 μm population at 0.5 z 1 is dominated by "luminous infrared galaxies" (i.e., 1011 L☉ ≤ LIR ≤ 1012 L☉), the counterparts of which appear to be also luminous at optical wavelengths and tend to be more massive than the majority of optically selected galaxies. A significant number of fainter sources (5 × 1010 L☉ LIR ≤ 1011 L☉) are also detected at similar distances. We finally derive 15 μm and total IR luminosity functions (LFs) up to z ~ 1. In agreement with the previous results from the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) and SCUBA and as expected from the MIPS source number counts, we find very strong evolution of the contribution of the IR-selected population with look-back time. Pure evolution in density is firmly excluded by the data, but we find considerable degeneracy between strict evolution in luminosity and a combination of increases in both density and luminosity [L ∝ (1 + z), ∝ (1 + z)]. A significant steepening of the faint-end slope of the IR luminosity function is also unlikely, as it would overproduce the faint 24 μm source number counts. Our results imply that the comoving IR energy density of the universe evolves as (1 + z)3.9±0.4 up to z ~ 1 and that galaxies luminous in the infrared (i.e., LIR ≥ 1011 L☉) are responsible for 70% ± 15% of this energy density at z ~ 1. Taking into account the contribution of the UV luminosity evolving as (1 + z)~2.5, we infer that these IR-luminous sources dominate the star-forming activity beyond z ~ 0.7. The uncertainties affecting these conclusions are largely dominated by the errors in the k-corrections used to convert 24 μm fluxes into luminosities.
A comparison of system call feature representations for insider threat detection

This paper investigates anomaly detection techniques that have been successful for detecting external threats and applies them to the insider threat problem. The "insider threat" involves the actions of a trusted and privileged user who is inappropriately accessing or disseminating sensitive information or otherwise compromising information systems. In contrast, the "external threat" involves the actions of an outsider attempting to compromise or gain access to the information systems. Although approaches for automatically detecting external threat instances have been quite successful (i.e., intrusion detection systems), there is very little similar work for the insider threat. In the past, anomaly detection systems have proven useful for detecting external threat. Anomaly detection at the system call level offers a high degree of information assurance in terms of tamper-resistance and system activity coverage. Therefore, we investigate three system-call-based feature representations: n-grams of system call names, histograms of system call names, and individual system calls with associated parameters. We find that none of these representations consistently performs as well when dealing with the internal threat as previous results show for external threat detection. However, parameter-based features for certain system calls do show some sensitivity to detecting the insider threat, and we plan to explore and enhance this sensitivity in future work.
Identification of X‐Ray Point Sources and a Study of the Nature of 62 X‐Ray Globular Cluster Candidates in M31

This paper includes two parts. The first presents the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 49 globular cluster (GC) X‐ray sources in 13 BATC (Beijing‐Arizona‐Taiwan‐Connecticut) intermediate‐band filters from 3800 to 10000 Å, and identifies 8 previously unidentified X‐ray sources in M31. Using X‐ray data from Einstein observations from 1979 to 1980, ROSAT High Resolution Imager observations in 1990, Chandra High Resolution Channel and ACIS‐I observations from 1999 to 2001, and the BATC optical survey from 1995 to 1999, we find 49 GC X‐ray sources and 8 new X‐ray sources in the BATC M31 field. By analyzing SEDs and FWHMs, we determine that 4 of the 8 X‐ray sources may be GC candidates. The second part presents some statistical relationships between 62 GC X‐ray sources, of which 58 are already known and 4 are identified in this paper. The distribution of M31's GC X‐ray sources’ V magnitudes is bimodal, with peaks at mv = 15.65 and 17.89, which is different from the distribution of GC candidates. The distribution of B - V color shows that the GC X‐ray sources seem to be associated preferentially with the redder GCs, in agreement with previous results. Kolmogorov‐Smirnov test shows that the maximum value of the absolute difference of B - V distributions of GC X‐ray sources and GCs is Dmax = 0.181, and the probability P = 0.068, which means we can reject the hypothesis that the two distributions are the same at the 90.0% confidence level. Finally, we study the correlation between X‐ray luminosity (0.3–10 keV) and optical luminosity (in the V band) of the GC X‐ray sources in M31, and find that there exits a weak relationship with the linear correlation coefficient r = 0.36 at a confidence level of 98.0%.
Fast Coding of Feature Vectors Using Neighbor-to-Neighbor Search

Searching for matches to high-dimensional vectors using hard/soft vector quantization is the most computationally expensive part of various computer vision algorithms including the bag of visual word (BoW). This paper proposes a fast computation method, Neighbor-to-Neighbor (NTN) search [1], which skips some calculations based on the similarity of input vectors. For example, in image classification using dense SIFT descriptors, the NTN search seeks similar descriptors from a point on a grid to an adjacent point. Applications of the NTN search to vector quantization, a Gaussian mixture model, sparse coding, and a kernel codebook for extracting image or video representation are presented in this paper. We evaluated the proposed method on image and video benchmarks: the PASCAL VOC 2007 Classification Challenge and the TRECVID 2010 Semantic Indexing Task. NTN-VQ reduced the coding cost by 77.4 percent, and NTN-GMM reduced it by 89.3 percent, without any significant degradation in classification performance.
Expression and Distribution of Mesencephalic Astrocyte-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in the Retina and Optic Nerve

Mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF), otherwise named Arginine-Rich, Mutated in Early-stage Tumors (ARMET), is a secretory endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) protein that is widely expressed in mammalian tissues. To date, little is known about the distribution and expression of MANF in the retina and optic nerve (ON). Therefore, we studied the expression and distribution of MANF in the ON and retina by real-time PCR, immunofluorescence staining and western blotting. Results from rat and mouse were highly consistent in the retina. MANF was detected in both tissues in rat, wherein it was principally localized to the ganglion cell layer (GCL), followed by the inner nuclear layer (INL). The MANF protein levels in the rat retina were 3.33-fold higher than in the rat ON. Additionally, MANF was robustly expressed by retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the human retina. In human ON, MANF was partially co-localized with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), suggesting that it was not restricted to astrocytes. In vitro studies confirmed that MANF could be robustly expressed in RGCs and was found principally within the cytoplasm. Hypoxia can stimulate up-regulation by of MANF expression over time, suggesting that MANF may play a vital role in the functional regulation of RGCs both in health and disease. We believe that the present study improves our understanding of the distribution and expression of MANF in the retina and ON and could help in further analysis of its interact and correlate with the relevant ophthalmic diseases.
Determinants of urban sprawl in European cities

This paper provides empirical evidence that helps to answer several key questions relating to the extent of urban sprawl in Europe. Building on the monocentric city model, this study uses existing data sources to derive a set of panel data for 282 European cities at three time points (1990, 2000 and 2006). Two indices of urban sprawl are calculated that, respectively, reflect changes in artificial area and the levels of urban fragmentation for each city. These are supplemented by a set of data on various economic and geographical variables that might explain the variation of the two indices. Using a Hausman-Taylor estimator and random regressors to control for the possible correlation between explanatory variables and unobservable city-level effects, we find that the fundamental conclusions of the standard monocentric model are valid in the European context for both indices. Although the variables generated by the monocentric model explain a large part of the variation of artificial area, their explanatory power for modelling the fragmentation index is relatively low.
E-Service Quality : A Conceptual Model

The purpose of this article is to examine the theoretical foundations of e-service quality and develop a conceptual model for it. Even though e-service quality has increasingly attracted the attention of researchers, the existing research in this area is mostly focused on identifying quality dimensions of e-services without any deeper attention to the mechanism behind the quality perception. There is a clear need for a model which integrates both the cognitive mechanism behind quality perception as well as quality dimensions relevant in the context of e-services. The present article responds to this need by suggesting a conceptual model for this purpose. This article is based on extensive literature analysis. The proposed conceptual model of e-service quality integrates characteristics common to both traditional and e-services, distinctive characteristics of e-services, relevant e-service quality dimensions, and disconfirmation mechanism on which service quality perception is based.
An experimental approach to prove the efficiency of a cyclic topology of a sensor network

The main contribution of this paper is to find an optimal topology to provide radio coverage of the total trajectory of mobile sensor. We propose also a geographic routing algorithm to minimize the transmission time of messages. Then, we show that by using this algorithm we will have a better network performance (energy consumption, transmission delay and packet delivery rate). The geographic routing algorithm proposed is based on the calculation of the position, such that each sensor recognizes the adjacent sensors, its pre-successor and immediate successor geographical positions. Each sensor measures the acceleration nodes and updates its coordinates x, y which is estimated using a Luenberger observer. When a mobile sensor wants to send a message (or relay a message) it compares, through his knowledge of its position, the best path (the closest geographically) between him and the destination and finally transmits the message to the next node in the way. This work was realized and validated by measurements performed on an experimental platform that will be also presented in this paper.