Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bag of Contextual-Visual Words for Road Scene Object Detection From Mobile Laser Scanning Data

This paper proposes a novel algorithm for detecting road scene objects (e.g., light poles, traffic signposts, and cars) from 3-D mobile-laser-scanning point cloud data for transportation-related applications. To describe local abstract features of point cloud objects, a contextual visual vocabulary is generated by integrating spatial contextual information of feature regions. Objects of interest are detected based on the similarity measures of the bag of contextual-visual words between the query object and the segmented semantic objects. Quantitative evaluations on two selected data sets show that the proposed algorithm achieves an average recall, precision, quality, and F-score of 0.949, 0.970, 0.922, and 0.959, respectively, in detecting light poles, traffic signposts, and cars. Comparative studies demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed algorithm over other existing methods.
Cholera Toxin B Subunits Assemble into Pentamers - Proposition of a Fly-Casting Mechanism

The cholera toxin B pentamer (CtxB5), which belongs to the AB5 toxin family, is used as a model study for protein assembly. The effect of the pH on the reassembly of the toxin was investigated using immunochemical, electrophoretic and spectroscopic methods. Three pH-dependent steps were identified during the toxin reassembly: (i) acquisition of a fully assembly-competent fold by the CtxB monomer, (ii) association of CtxB monomer into oligomers, (iii) acquisition of the native fold by the CtxB pentamer. The results show that CtxB5 and the related heat labile enterotoxin LTB5 have distinct mechanisms of assembly despite sharing high sequence identity (84%) and almost identical atomic structures. The difference can be pinpointed to four histidines which are spread along the protein sequence and may act together. Thus, most of the toxin B amino acids appear negligible for the assembly, raising the possibility that assembly is driven by a small network of amino acids instead of involving all of them.
Broadband Microphone Arrays for Speech Acquisition

A microphone array provides an effective means of hands-free speech acquisition, finding application in large-room videoconferencing, desktop teleconferencing, and hands-free telephones. Unlike a single omni-directional microphone, the array provides high spatial directivity, allowing it to attenuate room reverberation and other unwanted noise. In this paper, we give an overview of the techniques available for speech acquisition using microphone arrays. In particular we will focus on methods of frequency-invariant beamforming, in which the array maintains the same spatial response over a wide frequency range. Corresponding Author: Darren Ward Room 2C-545 Bell Labs 600 Mountain Ave Murray Hill, NJ 07974 USA Phone: +1-908-582-5601 Fax: +1-908-582-7308 Email: dbward@research.bell-labs.com
Machine learning-based intelligent recommendation in virtual mall

The prosperity of e-commerce has changed the traditional trading behaviors and more and more people are willing to conduct Internet shopping. However, the exponentially increasing information provided by the Internet enterprises causes the problem of searching a lot of information hi which customers are not interested. This would annoy the customers and finally lead them to quit shopping. To solve this problem, our paper builds a personalized products selection system in virtual mall to retrieve product information that the customers really demand. In order to realize personalized products selection, some concepts and techniques about machine learning such as rough set, fuzzy set, case-base reasoning (CBR) is applied to our system. On the other hand, to achieve better realistic and human-like behavior, a virtual reality modeling language (VRML) 97-based user interface is developed to permit users to navigate around the virtual mall. A 3D graphical representation of the participants (avatar) is used to raise user acceptance and usability by providing a more natural interaction with Internet.
The Religious and Spiritual Experiences of Undergraduate Gay Males Attending a Religiously Affiliated Institution of Higher Education.

This doctoral thesis studied the religious and spiritual experiences of undergraduate gay males at a Protestant affiliated higher education institution and how undergraduate gay males made sense of their personal journeys. Data was collected from four participants and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Five themes emerged from this research: (1) Christian identity development, (2) questioning Christian theology, (3) gay male identity development, (4) empowerment, and (5) awakening: a journey towards spirituality. Findings showed that the participants personally constructed their spirituality after reflecting on their life. Being religious and/or spiritual and a gay male appeared to be paradoxical in nature, however, these participants sought to reconcile these perceived paradoxes. Faculty, staff, and peers at Urban Rural University, the study site, impacted the participants’ ideas on religion, spirituality, and gay male identity and in reconciling the three. Three findings emerged from this study. First, the participants faced challenges of being simultaneously religious and gay and reconciling gay identity with religion and spiritualty spirituality. Second, the participants found support at the undergraduate religiously affiliated institution of higher education that served as the site for this study. Third, participants offered their own definitions for religion, faith, and spirituality. The four participants in this study provided detailed stories that could help other gay males and higher education professional support gay males on their spiritual journeys.
A 50 Gb / s CMOS Crossbar Chip using Asymmetric Serial Links *

A synchronous crossbar chip was designed in a 0. 27µm CMOS technology for use in a high-speed network switch [1]. The crossbar chip uses 32 Asymmetric Serial Links [2] [3] to achieve high speed at the interfaces and to reduce both power and area. The crossbar switch core is implemented with static CMOS multi-stage multiplexors with multicast capability. The chip operates successfully with links running at 1.6 Gb/s. The measured bit-error-rate is < 10-14 when all channels and the switch core are operating. The crossbar chip consumes 5W and provides a total bandwidth above 50 Gb/s. Architecture Crossbar switches are increasingly used for high capacity network switches [1]. Using high-speed serial links for the I/O interface of a crossbar switch chip can reduce the number of I/O pins required to provide a given bandwidth. A crossbar chip, which has many links converging on it, tends to be large and power-hungry because of the silicon area and power consumed by the timing circuits (usually PLLs) and transceivers. To reduce both power and area, we used Asymmetric Serial Links, which adjust the transmitter and receiver clocks on the port chips (the Smart End of the link) while leaving the clocks on the crossbar chip (the Dumb End) fixed. Each crossbar chip interfaces with as many as 32 network port chips in our design. Figure 1: Chip architecture of the crossbar Figure 1 shows the physical architecture of the crossbar chip, which consists of 32 Asymmetric Serial Links, a PLL, an 800MHz clock distribution tree (not shown), a switch core, and a crossbar controller. The speed of the pin interface is 1.6 Gb/s. The switch core and the majority of the digital logic on the chip runs at 200MHz. The speed conversion between these two clock domains is handled by serial-to-parallel and parallel-to-serial converters inside the Asymmetric Serial Links. 200MHz is 1/8 of the bit rate of the serial links and hence all the datapaths on the chip are 8 bits wide, including the switch core and the interface registers between the serial links and the switch core. The PLL serves two purpose. First is for clock multiplication. Second is to compensate for delay variations in the clock distribution. During normal operations, all 32 serial link blocks work as Dumb Ends of the Asymmetric Serial Links, which do not adjust their own transmitter and receiver clocks. However, for testing purposes, two serial link blocks …
Lack of shunt response in suspected idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus with Alzheimer disease pathology

To determine the impact of cortical Alzheimer disease pathology on shunt responsiveness in individuals treated for idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH), 37 patients clinically diagnosed with iNPH participated in a prospective study in which performance on neurologic, psychometric, and gait measures before and 4 months after shunting was correlated with amyloid β plaques, neuritic plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles observed in cortical biopsies obtained during shunt insertion. No complications resulted from biopsy acquisition. Moderate to severe pathology was associated with worse baseline cognitive performance and diminished postoperative improvement on NPH symptom severity scales, gait measures, and cognitive instruments compared to patients lacking pathology. ANN NEUROL 2010
Different Somatic Hypermutation Levels among Antibody Subclasses Disclosed by a New Next-Generation Sequencing-Based Antibody Repertoire Analysis

A diverse antibody repertoire is primarily generated by the rearrangement of V, D, and J genes and subsequent somatic hypermutation (SHM). Class-switch recombination (CSR) produces various isotypes and subclasses with different functional properties. Although antibody isotypes and subclasses are considered to be produced by both direct and sequential CSR, it is still not fully understood how SHMs accumulate during the process in which antibody subclasses are generated. Here, we developed a new next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based antibody repertoire analysis capable of identifying all antibody isotype and subclass genes and used it to examine the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 12 healthy individuals. Using a total of 5,480,040 sequences, we compared percentage frequency of variable (V), junctional (J) sequence, and a combination of V and J, diversity, length, and amino acid compositions of CDR3, SHM, and shared clones in the IgM, IgD, IgG3, IgG1, IgG2, IgG4, IgA1, IgE, and IgA2 genes. The usage and diversity were similar among the immunoglobulin (Ig) subclasses. Clonally related sequences sharing identical V, D, J, and CDR3 amino acid sequences were frequently found within multiple Ig subclasses, especially between IgG1 and IgG2 or IgA1 and IgA2. SHM occurred most frequently in IgG4, while IgG3 genes were the least mutated among all IgG subclasses. The shared clones had almost the same SHM levels among Ig subclasses, while subclass-specific clones had different levels of SHM dependent on the genomic location. Given the sequential CSR, these results suggest that CSR occurs sequentially over multiple subclasses in the order corresponding to the genomic location of IGHCs, but CSR is likely to occur more quickly than SHMs accumulate within Ig genes under physiological conditions. NGS-based antibody repertoire analysis should provide critical information on how various antibodies are generated in the immune system.
Comparison of Comorbidity Scores in Predicting Surgical Outcomes

Introduction:The optimal methodology for assessing comorbidity to predict various surgical outcomes such as mortality, readmissions, complications, and failure to rescue (FTR) using claims data has not been established. Objective:Compare diagnosis-based and prescription-based comorbidity scores for predicting surgical outcomes. Methods:We used 100% Texas Medicare data (2006–2011) and included patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, pulmonary lobectomy, endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm, open repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm, colectomy, and hip replacement (N=39,616). The ability of diagnosis-based [Charlson comorbidity score, Elixhauser comorbidity score, Combined Comorbidity Score, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-Hierarchical Condition Categories (CMS-HCC)] versus prescription-based Chronic disease score in predicting 30-day mortality, 1-year mortality, 30-day readmission, complications, and FTR were compared using c-statistics (c) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI). Results:The overall 30-day mortality was 5.8%, 1-year mortality was 17.7%, 30-day readmission was 14.1%, complication rate was 39.7%, and FTR was 14.5%. CMS-HCC performed the best in predicting surgical outcomes (30-d mortality, c=0.797, IDI=4.59%; 1-y mortality, c=0.798, IDI=9.60%; 30-d readmission, c=0.630, IDI=1.27%; complications, c=0.766, IDI=9.37%; FTR, c=0.811, IDI=5.24%) followed by Elixhauser comorbidity index/disease categories (30-d mortality, c=0.750, IDI=2.37%; 1-y mortality, c=0.755, IDI=5.82%; 30-d readmission, c=0.629, IDI=1.43%; complications, c=0.730, IDI=3.99%; FTR, c=0.749, IDI=2.17%). Addition of prescription-based scores to diagnosis-based scores did not improve performance. Conclusions:The CMS-HCC had superior performance in predicting surgical outcomes. Prescription-based scores, alone or in addition to diagnosis-based scores, were not better than any diagnosis-based scoring system.
A Lexicon approach to multidimensional analysis of tweets opinion

Nowadays, social media present a valuable source for business decision support. This article outlines the integration of social opinion data in multidimensional design combining sentiment analysis techniques and ETL design to oifer a novel approach for social ETL design. The main contribution of this paper is the definition of a lexicon opinion analysis approach that extracts the sentiment polarity of informal text expressed in the Twitter social network. We propose a new algorithm, POLSentiment, based on lexical resources to firstly extract opinion words and emoticons from the tweet and then detect its positive or negative polarity. To assess the performance of the proposed algorithm, we evaluate POLSentiment on Sanders dataset. The results show that the proposal is suitable to automate the whole polarity analysis process, providing high accuracy levels and low false positive rates. Additionally, we define ETL processes design that consists of extracting tweets, its preprocessing, opinion analysis and polarity classification, then its loading into the Social Data Webhouse.
Structural Basis for Elastic Mechanical Properties of the DNA Double Helix

In this article, we investigate the principal structural features of the DNA double helix and their effects on its elastic mechanical properties. We develop, in the pursuit of this purpose, a helical continuum model consisting of a soft helical core and two stiff ribbons wrapping around it. The proposed model can reproduce the negative twist-stretch coupling of the helix successfully as well as its global stretching, bending, and torsional rigidities measured experimentally. Our parametric study of the model using the finite element method further reveals that the stiffness of phosphate backbones is a crucial factor for the counterintuitive overwinding behavior of the duplex and its extraordinarily high torsional rigidity, the major-minor grooves augment the twist-stretch coupling, and the change of the helicity might be responsible for the transition from a negative to a positive twist-stretching coupling when a tensile force is applied to the duplex.
Systems Engineering for the Human Factors Engineer: A Workshop

There is provided a strained quantum well layer semiconductor laser device that shows an improved temperature dependency of the threshold current and a high frequency performance while maintaining an excellent low threshold current operability. A strained quantum well layer type semiconductor laser device according to the invention comprises a light emitting active layer 14 of a multilayer structure including a quantum well layer 14a and a barrier layer 14c and a pair of light confining layers 13, 15, respectively laid on and under the active layer, the quantum well layer being made of InAsyP1-y (0<y</=1), the barrier layer and/or the light confining layers being made of In1-xGaxP (0<x</=1). Such a device shows an improved temperature dependency of the threshold current and a high frequency performance, while maintaining an excellent low threshold current operability because of the structural features of its active layer.
Akinetic mutism caused by bilateral infiltration of the fornix in a patient with astrocytoma

In a 59‐year‐old female patient, a World Health Organization (WHO) grade II astrocytoma had been diagnosed 16 years ago, which finally progressed into WHO grade III. Several right frontal neurosurgical resections, local radiation and a local radioimplant had been applied. Despite this long record, she was reported alert with a Karnofsky index of 90% until admission. Within a few weeks she rapidly developed akinetic mutism. Upon admission, computed tomography (CT) scan showed a large cystic right frontal defect and a suggested small tumor recurrence. White matter of the frontal lobe appeared to be translucent and compatible with previous radiation. The severe mental changes were initially attributed to a delayed radiation encephalopathy. Neuropathologically, the white matter of the frontal lobe showed mild elevated cell density consistent with gliosis; however, a tumor recurrence invading the tip of the corpus callosum and invading the entire length both fornices appeared. From the neuropathological findings of massive local tumor recurrence in both fornices, together with the acute clinical onset, it seems unlikely that the sequel of radiotherapy caused akinetic mutism, but the symmetric and severe involvement of the limbic system. We conclude that the rapid progression from a state of alertness to a full clinical picture of akinetic mutism was because of infiltration of both fornices.
Amorphous computing

ver the next few decades, two emerging technologies—microfabrication and cellular engineering—will make it possible to assemble systems incorporating myriads of informationprocessing units at almost no cost, provided all units need not work correctly and that there is no need to manufacture precise geometrical arrangements among them. The shift to this technology will precipitate fundamental changes in methods for constructing and programming computers, and in our view computation itself. Microelectronic mechanical components have become so inexpensive to manufacture we can anticipate integrating logic circuits, microsensors, actuators, and communications devices on the same chip to produce particles that could be mixed with bulk materials, such as paints, gels, and concrete. Imagine coating bridges and buildings with smart paint that senses and reports on traffic and wind loads and monitors structural integrity. A smart-paint coating on a wall could sense vibrations, monitor the premises for intruders, and cancel noise. Even more striking is the amazing progress in understanding the biochemical mechanisms in individual cells, promising that we’ll be able to harness these mechanisms to construct digital logic circuits. AMORPHOUS
La formación de conceptos musicales

THE DESCRIPTION OF COMPLEX MENTAL ACTIVITIES IN THE MUSICAL FIELD FINDS IN COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, NEUROSCIENCES, LINGUISTICS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE A FERTILE FIELD FOR ITS DEVELOPMENT. THEORICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL MODELS ALLOW US TO INQUIRE IN TO THE FORMATION AND ACQUISITION OF MUSICAL CONCEPTS FROM THE ANALYSIS OF THE FACTORS THAT TAKE PART ON IT. IN THIS WORK A LINE OF PARALLELISMS BETWEEN THE CONCEPTS FORMATION IN GENERAL AND THE ONE THAT BELONGS TO THE MUSICAL SOUNDS AND ITS ATTRIBUTES WAS TRIED TO BE MADE. THE TEST OF SOUND ATTRIBUTES (TAS), A SPECIALLY DESIGNED INSTRUMENT FOR STUDYING, ALLOWED TO INQUIRE STRATEGIES OR HEURISTICS THAT ARE USED WHEN OPERATING WITH SOUNDS AND DESCRIPTIONS, EXPLANATIONS, HELP REQUESTED AND/OR DECISIONS THAT ARE ADOPTED DURING THE RESOLUTION OF A CLASIFICATION PROBLEM. SINCE A VYGOTSKYAN PERSPECTIVE, THE CONCEPT FORMATION ON MUSICAL SOUND PRESUPPOSES THE ABILITY OF CATEGORIZING (TO DETACH ATTRIBUTES AND GENERALIZING) USING DICHOTOMYCAL-CATEGORICAL CRITERIA. IT'S MATTER OF STUDY THE DIFFICULTY OBSERVED IN THE CONCEPT CONSTRUCTION PROCESS WHEN THE CONCEPTUALIZATION IS AN EVENT INSTEAD OF AN OBJECT, JUST AS THE MEASURE IN WHAT TEENAGERS (13) MANAGE TO DO A TASK.
Uterine natural killer cells initiate spiral artery remodeling in human pregnancy

Uterine spiral artery remodeling is required for successful human pregnancy; impaired remodeling is associated with pregnancy complications, including late miscarriage, preeclampsia, and fetal growth restriction. The molecular triggers of remodeling are not known, but it is now clear that there are “trophoblast‐independent” and “trophoblast‐dependent” stages. Uterine natural killer (uNK) cells are abundant in decidualized endometrium in early pregnancy; they surround spiral arteries and secrete a range of angiogenic growth factors. We hypothesized that uNK cells mediate the initial stages of spiral artery remodeling. uNK cells and extravillous trophoblast (EVT) cells were isolated from early pregnancy decidua and placenta. Chorionic plate arteries from full‐term placentas and spiral arteries from nonpregnant myometrium were cultured with angiogenic growth factors or conditioned medium (CM) from uNK cells or EVT or uNK cell/EVT cocultures. In both vessel models, uNK cell CM induced disruption of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and breakdown of extracellular matrix components. Angiopoietin (Ang)‐1, Ang‐2, interferon‐γ, and VEGF‐C also disrupted VSMC integrity with an Ang‐2 inhibitor abrogating the effect of uNK cell CM. These results provide compelling evidence that uNK cells contribute to the early stages of spiral artery remodeling; failure of this process could contribute to pregnancy pathology. —Robson, A. , Harris, L. K. , Innes, B. A. , Lash, G. E. , Aljunaidy, M. M. , Aplin, J. D. , Baker, P. N. , Robson, S. C. , Bulmer, J. N. Uterine natural killer cells initiate spiral artery remodeling in human pregnancy. FASEB J. 26, 4876–4885 (2012). www.fasebj. org
JavaCompExt: Extracting Architectural Elements from Java Source Code

Software architecture erosion is a general problem in legacy software. Because they don’t know or don’t understand the original architectural intent, maintainers introduce changes that violate the intended architecture and properties. To ﬁght this trend, component models and languages are designed to try to make explicit, and automatically enforceable, the architectural decisions in terms of components, interfaces, and allowed communication channels between component interfaces. But, what about existing systems written in traditional (e.g. object-oriented) languages? To help maintainers work on such systems, we explore the possibility of extracting architectural elements (components, communications, services, .) from the source code. Some extraction heuristics are proposed and experimented on several implementations of a non-trivial system.