Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perceptual evaluation of visual alerts in surveillance videos

Visual alerts are commonly used in video monitoring and surveillance systems to mark events, presumably making them more salient to human observers. Surprisingly, the effectiveness of computer-generated alerts in improving human performance has not been widely studied. To address this gap, we have developed a tool for simulating different alert parameters in a realistic visual monitoring situation, and have measured human detection performance under conditions that emulated different set-points in a surveillance algorithm. In the High-Sensitivity condition, the simulated alerts identified 100% of the events with many false alarms. In the Lower-Sensitivity condition, the simulated alerts correctly identified 70% of the targets, with fewer false alarms. In the control condition, no simulated alerts were provided. To explore the effects of learning, subjects performed these tasks in three sessions, on separate days, in a counterbalanced, within subject design. We explore these results within the context of cognitive models of human attention and learning. We found that human observers were more likely to respond to events when marked by a visual alert. Learning played a major role in the two alert conditions. In the first session, observers generated almost twice as many False Alarms as in the No-Alert condition, as the observers responded pre-attentively to the computer-generated false alarms. However, this rate dropped equally dramatically in later sessions, as observers learned to discount the false cues. Highest observer Precision, Hits/(Hits + False Alarms), was achieved in the High Sensitivity condition, but only after training. The successful evaluation of surveillance systems depends on understanding human attention and performance.
Learning a Metric Space for Neighbourhood Topology Estimation: Application to Manifold Learning

Manifold learning algorithms rely on a neighbourhood graph to provide an estimate of the data’s local topology. Unfortunately, current methods for estimating local topology assume local Euclidean geometry and locally uniform data density, which often leads to poor data embeddings. We address these shortcomings by proposing a framework that combines local learning with parametric density estimation for local topology estimation. Given a data set D X , we rst estimate a new metric space ( X;dX) that characterizes the varying sample density ofX in X, then use (X;dX) as a new (pilot) input space for the graph construction step of the manifold learning process. The proposed framework results in signicantly improved embeddings, which we demonstrated objectively by assessing clustering accuracy.
Anthropomorphization Framework for Human-Object Communication

We propose an anthropomorphization framework that determines an object’s body image. This framework directly intervenes and anthropomorphizes objects in ubiquitous-computing environments through robotic body parts shaped like those of human beings, which provide information through spoken directions and body language. Our purpose is to demonstrate that an object acquires subjective representations through anthropomorphization. Using this framework, people can more fully understand instructions given by an object. We designed an anthropomorphization framework that changes the body image by attaching body parts. We also conducted experiments to evaluate this framework. Results indicate that the site at which an anthropomorphization device is attached influences human perception of the object’s virtual body image, and participants in experiments understood several instructions given by the object more clearly. Results also indicate that participants better intuited their devices’ instructions and movement in ubiquitous-computing environments.
Transcriptional control of oligodendrogenesis

Oligodendrocytes (OGs) assemble the myelin sheath around axons in the central nervous system. Specification of cells into the OG lineage is largely the result of interplay between bone morphogenetic protein, sonic hedgehog and Notch signaling pathways, which regulate expression of transcription factors (TFs) dictating spatial and temporal aspects of oligodendrogenesis. Many of these TFs and others then direct OG development through to a mature myelinating OG. Here we describe signaling pathways and TFs that are inductive, inhibitory, and/or permissive to OG specification and maturation. We develop a basic transcriptional network and identify similarities and differences between regulation of oligodendrogenesis in the spinal cord and brain. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Obstructions to slicing knots and splitting links

In this thesis, we use invariants inspired by quantum field theory to study the smooth topology of links in space and surfaces in space-time. In the first half, we use Khovanov homology to the study the relationship between links in R3 and their components. We construct a new spectral sequence beginning at the Khovanov homology of a link and converging to the Khovanov homology of the split union of its components. The page at which the sequence collapses gives a lower bound on the splitting number of the link, the minimum number of times its components must be passed through one another in order to completely separate them. In addition, we build on work of Kronheimer- Mrowka and Hedden-Ni to show that Khovanov homology detects the unlink. In the second half, we consider knots as potential cross-sections of surfaces in R4. We use Heegaard Floer homology to show that certain knots never occur as cross-sections of surfaces with small first Betti number. (It was previously thought possible that every knot was a cross-section of a connect sum of three Klein bottles.) In particular, we show that any smooth surface in R 4 with cross-section the (2k, 2k - 1) torus knot has first Betti number at least 2k - 2.
NLRP3 inflammasome and its inhibitors: a review

Inflammasomes are newly recognized, vital players in innate immunity. The best characterized is the NLRP3 inflammasome, so-called because the NLRP3 protein in the complex belongs to the family of nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain-like receptors (NLRs) and is also known as “pyrin domain-containing protein 3”. The NLRP3 inflammasome is associated with onset and progression of various diseases, including metabolic disorders, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, cryopyrin-associated periodic fever syndrome, as well as other auto-immune and auto-inflammatory diseases. Several NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors have been described, some of which show promise in the clinic. The present review will describe the structure and mechanisms of activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, its association with various auto-immune and auto-inflammatory diseases, and the state of research into NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors.
Appreciative GIS and Strength‐Based Community Change

Problem‐solving is embedded deeply in the digital DNA of GIS. Most projects involving GIS 1.0 and 2.0 raise community weaknesses, failures and other problems and use them to motivate change. The projects often create a future that does not differ greatly from the past or last long. Although looking into community problems is important and sometimes necessary, the steps of problem‐solving do not always leave people feeling happy. To inspire communities to create change based on their strengths and achievements, and to provide better participant experience, this article develops the concept of a new form of GIS called Appreciative GIS (AGIS). AGIS are grounded in the affirmative premise that every community, however challenged, is gifted with certain assets, potentials and strengths which, when effectively exploited, can take that community to a better and sustainable future. Based on Earth's internal structure, the article develops a useful layered community model where crust, mantle and core strata represent the community's body, life‐draining and life‐giving elements in that order. The model helps explain the different views of the community from current GIS and AGIS perspectives. A Total GIS (TGIS) cube is also developed and used to indicate that current GIS commonly focus on elements of the mantle or what we do not have, what we cannot do and what makes us weak. AGIS, on the other hand, dig up the core and cultivate what we have, what we can possibly do and what makes us strong. In a significant departure from the linear approach of problem‐solving, the article suggests implementing AGIS through a 7G cyclical method. The article contends that although AGIS may not be the whole enchilada, they can serve as a beacon of hope and a powerful source of inspiration especially for individuals and groups who are perceived or made to perceive themselves as dysfunctional, weak or poor.
Decay-accelerating factor modulates induction of T cell immunity

Decay-accelerating factor (Daf) dissociates C3/C5 convertases that assemble on host cells and thereby prevents complement activation on their surfaces. We demonstrate that during primary T cell activation, the absence of Daf on antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and on T cells enhances T cell proliferation and augments the induced frequency of effector cells. The effect is factor D- and, at least in part, C5-dependent, indicating that local alternative pathway activation is essential. We show that cognate T cell–APC interactions are accompanied by rapid production of alternative pathway components and down-regulation of Daf expression. The findings argue that local alternative pathway activation and surface Daf protein function respectively as a costimulator and a negative modulator of T cell immunity and explain previously reported observations linking complement to T cell function. The results could have broad therapeutic implications for disorders in which T cell immunity is important.
Crystal structures of Escherichia coli exonuclease I in complex with single-stranded DNA provide insights into the mechanism of processive digestion

Escherichia coli Exonuclease I (ExoI) digests single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) in the 3′-5′ direction in a highly processive manner. The crystal structure of ExoI, determined previously in the absence of DNA, revealed a C-shaped molecule with three domains that form a central positively charged groove. The active site is at the bottom of the groove, while an extended loop, proposed to encircle the DNA, crosses over the groove. Here, we present crystal structures of ExoI in complex with four different ssDNA substrates. The structures all have the ssDNA bound in essentially the predicted manner, with the 3′-end in the active site and the downstream end under the crossover loop. The central nucleotides of the DNA form a prominent bulge that contacts the SH3-like domain, while the nucleotides at the downstream end of the DNA form extensive interactions with an ‘anchor’ site. Seven of the complexes are similar to one another, but one has the ssDNA bound in a distinct conformation. The highest-resolution structure, determined at 1.95 Å, reveals an Mg2+ ion bound to the scissile phosphate in a position corresponding to MgB in related two-metal nucleases. The structures provide new insights into the mechanism of processive digestion that will be discussed.
Optimal SIR algorithm vs. fully adapted auxiliary particle filter: A matter of conditional independence

Particle filters (PF) and auxiliary particle filters (APF) are widely used sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) techniques. In this paper we comparatively analyse the Sampling Importance Resampling (SIR) PF with optimal conditional importance distribution (CID) and the fully adapted APF (FA-APF). Both algorithms share the same Sampling (S), Weighting (W) and Resampling (R) steps, and only differ in the order in which these steps are performed. The order of the operations is not unsignificant: starting at time n − 1 from a common set of particles, we show that one single updated particle at time n will marginally be sampled in both algorithms from the same probability density function (pdf), but as a whole the full set of particles will be conditionally independent if created by the FA-APF algorithm, and dependent if created by the SIR algorithm, which results in support degeneracy.
A Method to Remove Differences in Frequency Response Between Commercial Hearing Aids to Allow Direct Comparison of the Sound Quality of Hearing-Aid Features

Goal: We want to remove differences in frequency response between different commercial hearing aids so that we can compare the sound quality of signal processing features from different hearing-aid in a future paired-comparison set-up. More specifically, we want to control for the confounding effects of the linear hearing aid response when evaluating nonlinear processing. This article presents a control procedure and evaluates its effectiveness. Method: We increased the similarity of hearing-aid recordings in three steps and used both an objective quality metric and listening tests to investigate if the recordings from different hearing aids were perceptually similar. Results: Neither was it sufficient to manually adjust the hearing-aid insertion gain, nor was it sufficient to add an additional bandwidth limitation to the recordings. Only after the application of an inverse filter the perceptual differences between recordings were removed adequately. Conclusion: It was possible to level the ground between different hearing devices, so to speak. This will allow future research to evaluate the sound quality of nonlinear signal processing features.
Emotion Attribution to a Non-Humanoid Robot in Different Social Situations

In the last few years there was an increasing interest in building companion robots that interact in a socially acceptable way with humans. In order to interact in a meaningful way a robot has to convey intentionality and emotions of some sort in order to increase believability. We suggest that human-robot interaction should be considered as a specific form of inter-specific interaction and that human–animal interaction can provide a useful biological model for designing social robots. Dogs can provide a promising biological model since during the domestication process dogs were able to adapt to the human environment and to participate in complex social interactions. In this observational study we propose to design emotionally expressive behaviour of robots using the behaviour of dogs as inspiration and to test these dog-inspired robots with humans in inter-specific context. In two experiments (wizard-of-oz scenarios) we examined humans' ability to recognize two basic and a secondary emotion expressed by a robot. In Experiment 1 we provided our companion robot with two kinds of emotional behaviour (“happiness” and “fear”), and studied whether people attribute the appropriate emotion to the robot, and interact with it accordingly. In Experiment 2 we investigated whether participants tend to attribute guilty behaviour to a robot in a relevant context by examining whether relying on the robot's greeting behaviour human participants can detect if the robot transgressed a predetermined rule. Results of Experiment 1 showed that people readily attribute emotions to a social robot and interact with it in accordance with the expressed emotional behaviour. Results of Experiment 2 showed that people are able to recognize if the robot transgressed on the basis of its greeting behaviour. In summary, our findings showed that dog-inspired behaviour is a suitable medium for making people attribute emotional states to a non-humanoid robot.
The Dependence of Electrophysiological Derangements on Accumulation of Endogenous Long‐Chain Acyl Camitine in Hypoxic Neonatal Rat Myocytes

To determine whether accumulation of long-chain acyl camitine contributes to electrophysiological abnormalities induced by hypoxia, we characterized effects of normoxic and hypoxic perfusion on the subcellular distribution of endogenous long-chain acyl camitine and transmembrane potentials of cultured rat neonatal myocytes. Hypoxia increased long-chain acyl camitine more than 5-fold. Sodium 2-[5-(4-chlorophenyl)-pentyl]-oxirane-2-carboxylate (10 μM), a camitine acyltransferase inhibitor, precluded accumulation of long-chain acyl camitine induced by hypoxia. Tissue was processed for electron microscopy by a procedure specifically developed for selective extraction of endogenous short-chain and free camitine but retention of endogenous long-chain acyl camitine. In normoxic-perfused cells, long-chain acyl camitine was concentrated in mitochondria and cytoplasmic membranous components. Only small amounts were present in sarcolemma. Hypoxia increased mitochondrial long-chain acyl camitine by 10-fold and sarcolemmal long-chain acyl camitine by 70-fold. After 60 minutes of hypoxia, sarcolemma contained 1.4 × 107 long-chain acyl camitine molecules/μm3 of membrane volume, a value corresponding to approximately 3.5% of total sarcolemmal phospholipid. Hypoxia also significantly decreased maximum diastolic potential, action potential amplitude and maximum upstroke velocity of phase 0. Sodium 2-[5-(4-chlorophenyI)-pentyl]-oxirane-2-carboxylate inhibited accumulation of long-chain acyl camitine in each subcellular compartment and prevented the depression of electrophysiological function induced by hypoxia. These results strongly implicate endogenous long-chain acyl camitine as a mediator of electrophysiological alterations induced by hypoxia.
Nonhomogeneous distribution of filamentous actin in the presynaptic terminals on the spinal motoneurons

Although actin is known to play important roles in synapses, immunocytochemical and structural studies on synaptic actin have resulted in conflicting data, and the presence and precise localization of filamentous actin (F‐actin) in the synapses have still not been well clarified. We recently described a phalloidin‐based antifluorescein isothiocyanate system, which has been successfully developed for ultrastructural investigations of F‐actin in the ependymal microvilli. By this technique, the present study has demonstrated the presence of F‐actin in both the pre‐ and the postsynaptic regions in the synapses of spinal motoneurons. In the presynaptic terminal, F‐actin was localized predominantly in the active zones and the adjacent synaptic vesicle clusters, including the vesicles docked at the active zones and a population of recycling vesicles. By contrast, the proximally located vesicle pool was much less intensely stained. In the postsynaptic region, F‐actin was concentrated at the postsynaptic densities and stretched some way into the surrounding cytoplasm. Insofar as the axonal terminals analyzed in this study touched on either the cell body or the dendritic shaft, where the postsynaptic regions did not form spine‐like specializations, our results cannot shed any light on the distribution of F‐actin within spines. However, the present study has provided a hitherto unreported ultrastructural view of the subcellular distribution of F‐actin in the synapse, which is thought to be helpful for understanding the roles of the synaptic actin cytoskeleton. J. Comp. Neurol. 518:3184–3192, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Video Copy Detection Based on Path Merging and Query Content Prediction

Content-based video copy detection is undoubtedly one of the most effective solutions to video content tracing and copyright protection. It extracts features from videos and determines whether a copy occurs by comparing the extracted features. While a lot of work has been reported to address this problem with good performance, very few considered it from the perspective of a dynamic searching process. In this paper, we treat the copy detection in video streams as a sequential matching problem and take into consideration the connections between temporary results and forthcoming input. Specifically, we propose a video copy detection system that involves a novel frame fusion scheme and an adaptive search strategy. The proposed frame fusion scheme relies on path merging in a graph model, which is able to work in an online manner and provide informative temporary fusion results. Based on these temporary results, query content predictions can be generated, which will be fed back to the frame search engine to instruct it to adaptively adjust the search strategy. The experimental results show that the proposed frame fusion scheme achieves competitive detection and localization accuracies compared with the state-of-the-art methods. Meanwhile, with the assistance of the adaptive search strategy, the computational complexity of frame similarity search is dramatically reduced at a cost of a slight decrease in accuracy.
Influx of calcium, strontium, and barium in presynaptic nerve endings

Depolarization-induced (potassium-stimulated) influx of 45Ca, 85Sr, and 133Ba was measured in synaptosomes prepared from rat brain. There are two phases of divalent cation entry, "fast" and "slow;" each phase is mediated by channels with distinctive characteristics. The fast channels inactivate (within 1 s) and are blocked by low concentrations (less than 1 micro M) of La. The slow channels do not inactivate (within 10 s), and are blocked by high concentrations (greater than 50 micro M) of La. Divalent cation influx through both channels saturates with increasing concentrations of permeant divalent cation; in addition, each permeant divalent cation species competitively blocks the influx of other permeant species. These results are consistent with the presence of "binding sites" for divalent cations in the fast and slow channels. The Ca:Sr:Ba permeability ratio, determined by measuring the influx of all three species in triple-label experiments, was 6:3:2 for the fast channel and 6:3:1 for the slow channel. A simple model for ion selectivity, based on the presence of a binding site in the channel, could account well for slow and, to some extent, for fast, channel selectivity data.
Geology, Geochemistry and Radioactivity of Granitic and Volcanic Rocks at Hadarba Area, South Eastern Desert, Egypt

The present work deals with geology, geochemistry, radioactivity and tectonic environment of the granitic and volcanic rocks at Hadarba area, South Eastern Desert of Egypt. The granitic rocks comprise tonalite-granodiorite and monzogranite, while volcanic rocks include rhyolite, rhyodacite anddacite. These rocks are characterized by high concentrations of SiO2, Na2O, Fe2O3, K2O, Zr, Nb and Y but low in MgO, CaO, Cr, Ni, Sr, Ga and V. Field studies indicate that Dokhan volcanics extrude both tonalite-granodiorite and monzogranite with sharp contact forming a thick successive sequence of laminated acid lava flows, crystal lapilli tuffs and agglomerates. They range in composition from rhyolite, rhyodacite to dacite. Shear zone comprise lines–arranged intrusions trending NE-SW direction were recorded north Gabal Hadarba and extends for about 2.3 km in length with a width reaches up to 10 meter. These lines–arranged intrusions include quartz vein, microgranite and basic dykes. These shear zones cut through monzogranite. Petrochemical studies and tectonic discrimination diagrams for the monzogranite reveal that it is classified as granite developed in the within-plate tectonic environment, while Dokhan volcanics are classified as rhyolite and dacite developed in the immature island arcs and active continental margin environments.Field radiometric measurements of these granitic and volcanic rocks reveal low uranium and thorium contents. Uranium contents range from 1.2 to 2.7 ppm in the tonalite-granodiorite, from 1.1 to 8.5 ppm in the monzogranite, from 1.3 to 9.3 ppm in the Dokhan volcanic and from 1.4 ppm to 15.4 ppm in the felsite dyke.