Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Three Current Issues In Music Autotagging

The purpose of this paper is to address several aspects of music autotagging. We start by presenting autotagging experiments conducted with two different systems and show performances on a par with a method representative of the state-of-the-art. Beyond that, we illustrate via systematic experiments the importance of a number of issues relevant to autotagging, yet seldom reported in the literature. First, we show that the evaluation of autotagging techniques is fragile in the sense that small alterations to the set of tags to be learned, or in the set of music pieces may lead to dramatically different results. Hence we stress a set of methodological recommendations regarding data and evaluation metrics. Second, we conduct experiments on the generality of autotagging models, showing that a number of different methods at a similar performance level to the state-of-the-art fail to learn tag models able to generalize to datasets from different origins. Third we show that current performance level of a direct mapping between audio features and tags still appears insufficient to enable the possibility of exploiting natural tag correlations as a second stage to improve performance.
Dynamically heterogenous partitions and phylogenetic inference: an evaluation of analytical strategies with cytochrome b and ND6 gene sequences in cranes.

ki ctes over whether molecular sequence data should be partitioned for phylogenetic analysis often confound two types of heterogeneity among partitions. We distinguish historical heterogeneity (i.e., different partitions have different evolutionary relationships) from dynamic heterogeneity (i.e., different partitions show different patterns of sequence evolution) and explore the impact of the latter on phylogenetic accuracy and precision with a two-gene, mitochondrial data set for cranes. The well-established phylogeny of cranes allows us to contrast tree-based estimates of relevant parameter values with estimates based on pairwise comparisons and to ascertain the effects of incorporating different amounts of process information into phylogenetic estimates. We show that codon positions in the cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6 genes are dynamically heterogenous under both Poisson and invariable-sites + gamma-rates versions of the F84 model and that heterogeneity includes variation in base composition and transition bias as well as substitution rate. Estimates of transition-bias and relative-rate parameters from pairwise sequence comparisons were comparable to those obtained as tree-based maximum likelihood estimates. Neither rate-category nor mixed-model partitioning strategies resulted in a loss of phylogenetic precision relative to unpartitioned analyses. We suggest that weighted-average distances provide a computationally feasible alternative to direct maximum likelihood estimates of phylogeny for mixed-model analyses of large, dynamically heterogenous data sets.
An open-source design and validation platform for reconfigurable systems

Reconfigurable computing is a hot topic for research, as the possibilities and the technology offered by the reconfigurable devices improve year after year both in terms of available configurable logic resources and the possibilities offered to exploit them. This has led CAD tools to grow both in complexity and effectiveness. The expertise required to develop and test a complete system-on-chip using vendors tools has subsequently increased, forcing some designers to create their own tools as support to official development flows. Within this field quite few works have been developed, with respect to the huge effort that has been spent in the exploitation of architectural designs. ReBit is an open-source tool able to help the designer in exploring different placement solutions in the architecture refinement process and in testing the correct execution of an application on a real device.
Phase transition in a random NK landscape model

An analysis for the phase transition in a random NK landscape model is given. For the fixed ratio model, NK(<i>n</i>,<i>k</i>,<i>z</i>), Gao and Culberson [17] showed that a random instance generated by NK(<i>n</i>,2,<i>z</i>) with z > z<inf>0</inf> = 27-7/√54 is asymptotically insoluble. Based on empirical results, they conjectured that the phase transition occurs around the value z = z<inf>0</inf>. We prove that an instance generated by NK(<i>n</i>,2,<i>z</i>) with z < z<inf>0</inf> is soluble with positive probability by providing a variant of the unit clause algorithm. Using branching process arguments, we also reprove that an instance generated by NK(<i>n</i>,2,<i>z</i>) with z > z<inf>0</inf> is asymptotically insoluble. The results show the phase transition around z = z<inf>0</inf> for NK(<i>n</i>,2,<i>z</i>). In the course of the analysis, we introduce a generalized random 2-SAT formula, which is of self interest, and show its phase transition phenomenon.
Psychophysics: Introduction to Its Perceptual, Neural and Social Prospects

Psychophysics is a lively account by one of experimental psychology's seminal figures of his lifelong scientific quest for general laws governing human behavior. It is a landmark work that captures the fundamental themes of Stevens's experimental research and his vision of what psycho-physics and psychology are and can be. The context of this modern classic is detailed by Lawrence Marks's pungent and highly revealing introduction. The search for a general psychophysical law-a mathematical equation relating sensation to stimulus-pervades this work, first published in 1975. Stevens covers methods of measuring human psychophysical behavior: magnitude estimation, magnitude production, and cross-modality matching are used to examine sensory mechanisms, perceptual processes, and social consensus. The wisdom in this volume lies in its exposition of an approach that can apply generally to the study of human behavior
Human Bone Marrow Subpopulations Sustain Human Islet Function and Viability In vitro

Aims Allogeneic bone marrow (BM) has been shown to support human islet survival and function in long-term culture by initiating human islet vascularization and β-cell regeneration. Various BM subpopulations may play different roles in human islet functions and survival. In this paper we investigated the effects of BM and its subpopulations, endothelial progenitor cells (E) and mesenchymal (M) cells on human islet's β-cell function and regeneration. Study Design Isolation and identification of subpopulations from human bone marrow and culture with allogeneic human islet to investigate effects of different cell population on human islet function and regeneration. Place and Duration of Study Department of Medicine, Center for Stem Cell & Diabetes Research, RWMC, Providence, RI, USA, between 2010 - 2014. Methodology Human islets were distributed from Integrated Islet Distribution Program (IIDP) and human bone marrow (BM) was harvested by Bone marrow transplantation center at Roger Williams Hospital. BM subpopulation was identified cell surface markers through Fluorescence-activated cell sorting, applied in flow cytometry (FACS), islet function was evaluated by human ELISA kit and β cell regeneration was evaluated by three methods of Cre-Loxp cell tracing, β cell sorting and RT-PCR for gene expression. Results Four different BM and seven different islet donates contributed human tissues. We observed islet β-cell having self regeneration capability in short term culture (3∼5 days) using a Cre-Loxp cell tracing. BM and its subtype E, M have similar benefits on β cell function during co-culture with human islet comparison to islet only. However, only whole BM enables to sustain the capability of islet β-cell self regeneration resulting in increasing β cell population while single E and M individual do not significantly affect on that. Mechanism approach to explore β-cell self regeneration by evaluating transcription factor expressions, we found that BM significantly increases the activations of β-cell regeneration relative transcription factors, the LIM homeodomain protein (Isl1), homologue to zebrafish somite MAF1 (MAFa), the NK-homeodomain factor 6.1 (NKX6.1), the paired box family factors 6 (PAX6), insulin promoter factor 1 (IPF1) and kinesin family member 4A (KIF4a). Conclusion These results suggest that BM and its derived M and E cells enable to support human islet β-cell function. However, only BM can sustain the capability of β-cell self regeneration through initiating β-cell transcriptional factors but not individual E and M cells suggesting pure E and M cells less supportive for islet long-term survival in vitro.
The class-specific BCR tonic signal modulates lymphomagenesis in a c-myc deregulation transgenic model

Deregulation of c-myc by translocation onto immunoglobulin (Ig) loci can promote B cell malignant proliferations with phenotypes as diverse as acute lymphoid leukemia, Burkitt lymphoma, diffuse large B cell lymphoma, myeloma… The B cell receptor (BCR) normally providing tonic signals for cell survival and mitogenic responses to antigens, can also contribute to lymphomagenesis upon sustained ligand binding or activating mutations. BCR signaling varies among cell compartments and BCR classes. For unknown reasons, some malignancies associate with expression of either IgM or class-switched Ig. We explored whether an IgA BCR, with strong tonic signaling, would affect lymphomagenesis in c-myc IgH 3′RR transgenic mice prone to lymphoproliferations. Breeding c-myc transgenics in a background where IgM expression was replaced with IgA delayed lymphomagenesis. By comparison to single c-myc transgenics, lymphomas from double mutant animals were more differentiated and less aggressive, with an altered transcriptional program. Larger tumor cells more often expressed CD43 and CD138, which culminated in a plasma cell phenotype in 10% of cases. BCR class-specific signals thus appear to modulate lymphomagenesis and may partly explain the observed association of specific Ig classes with human B cell malignancies of differential phenotype, progression and prognosis.
Normal Serum Aminotransferase Levels and the Metabolic Syndrome: Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys

Increasing evidence suggests an association between elevated serum aminotransferase level and the metabolic syndrome. However, the significance of relatively low levels of aminotransferase in relation to the metabolic syndrome has not been fully investigated in the general population. We investigated the association between serum amiontransferase level and the metabolic syndrome using data from a nationwide survey in Korea. We measured serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and metabolic conditions among 9771 participants aged 20 or more in the 1998 and 2001 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to NCEP-ATP III criteria with a modified waist circumference cutoff (men > 90 cm; women > 80 cm). Serum aminotransferase level, even within normal range, was associated with the metabolic syndrome independent of age, body mass index, waist circumference, smoking, and alcohol intake. Compared with the lowest level (< 20 IU/L), the adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) for an AST level of 20-29, 30-39, 40-49 and ≥ 50 IU/L were 1.10 (0.85-1.42), 1.37 (1.02-1.83), 1.62 (1.08-2.43), and 2.25 (1.47-3.44) in men, and 1.18 (0.99-1.41), 1.43 (1.29-1.83), 1.71 (1.09-2.68), and 2.14 (1.20-3.80) in women, respectively. Corresponding odds ratios for ALT levels were 1.27 (0.99-1.63), 1.69 (1.28-2.23), 2.17 (1.58-2.99), and 2.65 (1.96-3.58) in men, and 1.44 (1.22-1.70), 1.65 (1.26-2.15), 2.94 (1.93-4.47), and 2.25 (1.54-3.30) in women, respectively. In conclusion, elevated serum aminotransferase levels, even in the normal to near normal range, are associated with features of the metabolic syndrome.
Thyroid tumors: Cytomorphology of papillary carcinoma

Of 2,012 fine‐needle aspirations (FNA) of the thyroid performed by the authors between the years 1984 and 1988, a detailed cytomorphologic analysis of 9.5 cases diagnosed as neoplastic on histology and/or cytology and those that received an equivocal cytodiagnosis is presented. Discussed are papillary carcinomas (28 correctly diagnosed on FNA and two false positives).
Accelerated Life Testing Model for a Generalized Birnbaum-Saunders Distribution

Fatigue failures caused by cyclic stresses are commonly modeled by Birnbaum-Saunders (B-S) and Weibull distributions. Sometimes, materials with high cycle fatigue exhibit bimodal failure rates which are difficult to model with Weibull distribution. The objective of this paper is to investigate a general Birnbaum-Saunders (GB-S) distribution which covers diverse hazard rates such as increasing, upside down, multimodal and others. This paper also utilizes GB-S distribution to model fatigue failure data and validate its performance under different conditions. GB-S-based-ALT model is also developed to provide accurate reliability and lifetime prediction at operating conditions using data from accelerated life testing experiments.
A Review on WordNet and Vector Space Analysis for Short-text Semantic Similarity

Meaningful sentences are the combination of meaning words, if a system wants to process natural language it should have essential knowledge regarding words and their meanings. The assessment of semantic similarity between the words of a short text is one of the challenging task knowledge based tasks and the tasks in NLP like text summarization, information retrieval, search, categorization of text and machine learning etc. which uses the sentence similarity measures for assessing the similarity between the short-text or sentences. In this paper the survey of two techniques is done which are helpful in generating the extractive text summaries WordNet and Vector space analysis. In vector space model words can be represented as numeric vectors based on different semantic similarity measures, the similarity between the word numeric vectors can be calculated with the semantic measures called WordNet. The information regardin the word and teir meaning in earlier days was provided with the help of traditional dictionaries, but these dictionaries were only helpful for human readers not for machine, WordNet provide combination of traditional lexicographic information and modern information. It is a online lexical database designed for use under the program control, it uses the measure like for calculating the semantic similarity between the concepts. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs are organized into set of synonyms and semantic relationship between the synonym sets called as Synset.
Eye-gaze interaction for mobile phones

In this paper, we discuss the use of eye-gaze tracking technology for mobile phones. In particular we investigate how gaze interaction can be used to control applications on handheld devices. In contrast to eye-tracking systems for desktop computers, mobile devices imply several problems like the intensity of light for outdoor use and calibration issues. Therefore, we compared two different approaches for controlling mobile phones with the eyes: standard eye-gaze interaction based on the dwell-time method and gaze gestures. Gaze gestures are a new concept, which we think has the potential to overcome many of these problems. We conducted a user study to see whether people are able to interact with applications using these approaches. The results confirm that eye-gaze interaction for mobile phones is attractive for the users and that the gaze gestures are an alternative method for eye-gaze based interaction.
Modeling and Coverage Analysis of BS-Centric Clustered Users in a Random Wireless Network

Modeling the irregularities in the locations of cellular base station (BS) using Poisson point process (PPP) has attracted attention in the research community. In existing literature, for coverage analysis the assumption of modeling the locations of users and BSs using independent homogeneous PPP is common. Nevertheless, irregularities in the locations of BS is the effect of traffic-demand-based deployment. Therefore, correlation between the locations of users and BSs is evident. In this letter, we present the coverage analysis for the scenario of BS-centric user clustering. The users are modeled using Poisson cluster process (PCP). The parent points of clusters are assumed to be BSs that are drawn from PPP. Thomas cluster process (TCP) is considered to model the clusters of PCP. The derived expressions of coverage under small scale fading with and without long-term shadowing are validated through simulations. Further, the coverage experienced under TCP becomes the same as that under the assumption of independent PPPs for users and BSs as standard deviation of TCP tends to infinity.
Communication-Based Decomposition Mechanisms for Decentralized MDPs

Multi-agent planning in stochastic environments can be framed formally as a decentralized Markov decision problem. Many real-life distributed problems that arise in manufacturing, multi-robot coordination and information gathering scenarios can be formalized using this framework. However, finding the optimal solution in the general case is hard, limiting the applicability of recently developed algorithms. This paper provides a practical approach for solving decentralized control problems when communication among the decision makers is possible, but costly. We develop the notion of communication-based mechanism that allows us to decompose a decentralized MDP into multiple single-agent problems. In this framework, referred to as decentralized semi-Markov decision process with direct communication (Dec-SMDP-Com), agents operate separately between communications. We show that finding an optimal mechanism is equivalent to solving optimally a Dec-SMDP-Com. We also provide a heuristic search algorithm that converges on the optimal decomposition. Restricting the decomposition to some specific types of local behaviors reduces significantly the complexity of planning. In particular, we present a polynomial-time algorithm for the case in which individual agents perform goal-oriented behaviors between communications. The paper concludes with an additional tractable algorithm that enables the introduction of human knowledge, thereby reducing the overall problem to finding the best time to communicate. Empirical results show that these approaches provide good approximate solutions.
Enhancing partner support to improve smoking cessation.

BACKGROUND While many cessation programs are available to assist smokers in quitting, research suggests that partner involvement may encourage long-term abstinence. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this review was to determine if an intervention to enhance partner support helps smoking cessation when added as an adjunct to a smoking cessation program. SEARCH STRATEGY The search was performed in: Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group specialized register (Apr 2004), Cochrane controlled trials register (Apr 2004), CDC and Prevention-Tobacco Information and Prevention Database (Jul 2000), MEDLINE (1966-Apr 2004), Cancer Lit (1966-Apr 2004), EMBASE (1974-Apr 2004), CINAHL (1966-Jul 2000), PsycInfo (1861-Apr 2004), ERIC, PsycLit, & Dissertation Abstracts (1861-Dec 1999), SSCI (1972-Apr 2004) and HealthStar (1975-Jul 2000). The search terms used were smoking (prevention, control, therapy), smoking cessation, and support (family, marriage, spouse, partner, sexual partner, buddy, friend, co-habitees, and co-worker). The search was also limited to English language. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomized controlled trials of smoking cessation interventions that compared an intervention that included a partner support component with an otherwise identical intervention and reported follow-up of 6 months or greater. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two reviewers independently identified the included studies and extracted data using a structured form. A third reviewer was consulted to aid in the resolution of discrepancies. Abstinence and biochemical assessment were the primary outcome measures and were analyzed at two post-treatment intervals: 6-9 months and >12 months. The scores of PIQ (partner interaction questionnaire) were also analyzed to assess partner support. A fixed-effects model was used to assess the summary effect of the studies. MAIN RESULTS A total of 40 articles were identified for this review. Only eight articles (nine studies) met the inclusion criteria. The definition of partner varied among the studies. All studies included data on self reported smoking cessation rates, but there was limited biochemical validation of abstinence rates. The odds ratio for self-reported abstinence at 6-9 months was 1.08 (CI 95%, 0.81 -1.44); and at 12 months post-treatment was 1.0 (CI 95%, 0.75 - 1.34). Of the six studies that measured partner support at follow-up, only two studies reported significant increase in partner support in the intervention groups. REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS In this review of the randomized controlled trials of interventions designed to enhance partner support for smokers in cessation programs, we failed to detect an increase in quit rates. Limited data from several of the trials suggest that these interventions did not increase partner support either. No conclusions can be made about the impact of partner support on smoking cessation. More systematic intervention to affect partnership significantly should be delivered if partner support were part of an existing cessation program.
In Dialogue with Reggio Emilia: Listening, Researching and Learning

Note on Terminology Our Reggio Emilia (Gunilla Dahlberg and Peter Moss) Carlina Rinaldi: Writings, Speeches and Interviews, 1984-2004 Staying by the children's side: the knowledge of educators Participation as Communication Malaguzzi and the Teachers Documentation and Assessment: What is the Relationship? Dialogues The Space of Childhood Issues in Educating Today Documentation and Research Continuity in Children's Services Creativity as a Quality of Thought The Construction of the Educational Project: Interview with Carlina Rinaldi Teachers as researchers: Formation and Professional Development in a School of Education The Organisation, the Method: Conversation with Carlina Rinaldi Crossing Boundaries: Reflections on Loris Malaguzzi and Reggio Emilia In Dialogue with Carlina Rinaldi: a Discussion between Carlina Rinaldi, Gunilla Dahlberg and Peter Moss
Knowledge Graph Constraints for Multi-label Graph Classification

Graph classification methods have gained increasing attention in different domains, such as classifying functions of molecules or detection of bugs in software programs. Similarly, predicting events in manufacturing operations data can be compactly modeled as graph classification problem. Feature representations of graphs are usually found by mining discriminative sub-graph patterns that are non-uniformly distributed across class labels. However, as these feature selection approaches are computationally expensive for multiple labels, prior knowledge about label correlations should be exploited as much as possible. In this work, we introduce a new approach for mining discriminative sub-graph patterns with constraints that are extracted from links between labels in knowledge graphs which indicate label correlations. The incorporation of these constraints allows to prune the search space and ensures extraction of consistent patterns. Therefore, constraint checking remains efficient and more robust classification results can be obtained. We evaluate our approach on both, one public and one custom simulated data set. Evaluation confirms that incorporation of constraints still results in efficient pattern mining and can increase performance of state-of-the-art approaches.