Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving Super Resolution of Image by Multiple Kernel Learning

Learning-based approaches for image super-resolution (SR) have attracted the attention from researchers in the past few years. We present a novel self-learning approach with multiple kernel learning for adaptive kernel selection for SR. The Multiple Kernel Learning is theoretically and technically very attractive, because it learns the kernel weights and the classifier simultaneously based on the margin criterion. With theoretical supports of kernel matching search method and Optimization approach (Gradient) are proposed in SR framework learns and selects the optimal Kernel ridge regression model when producing an SR image, which results in the minimum SR reconstruction error. Evaluate this method on a variety of images, and obtain very promising SR results. In most cases, this method quantitatively and qualitatively outperforms bi-cubic interpolation and state-of-the-art learning based SR approaches. Keywords—Self-learning,Super-resolution, Sparse Representation, Kernel ridge regression, Multiple kernel learning.
Average-Case Complexity

We survey the average-case complexity of problems in NP. We discuss various notions of good-on-average algorithms, and present completeness results due to Impagliazzo and Levin. Such completeness results establish the fact that if a certain specific (but somewhat artificial) NP problem is easy-on-average with respect to the uniform distribution, then all problems in NP are easy-on-average with respect to all samplable distributions. Applying the theory to natural distributional problems remain an outstanding open question. We review some natural distributional problems whose average-case complexity is of particular interest and that do not yet fit into this theory. A major open question is whether the existence of hard-on-average problems in NP can be based on the P ≠ NP assumption or on related worst-case assumptions. We review negative results showing that certain proof techniques cannot prove such a result. While the relation between worst-case and average-case complexity for general NP problems remains open, there has been progress in understanding the relation between different "degrees" of average-case complexity. We discuss some of these "hardness amplification" results.
Posttraining interventions to enhance transfer: The moderating effects of work environments

The study reported on in this article examined the effectiveness of two posttraining interventions—goal‐setting and self‐management training—and moderating effects of the work environment on improving training transfer. The findings indicate that training in goal‐setting was effective in improving the extent to which trainees applied their skills to the job. Further, both interventions were found to be more effective in supportive work environments. Implications for training research and human resource practices are discussed.
Facial Metrical and Caricature-Pattern-Based Learning in Neural Network System for Face Recognition

Face recognition technology has been an increasingly important module in security systems. A challenging problem is how to extract features tolerant to the appearance variables such as changes in shape, illumination, and occlusion. Extracted metrical features of facial caricatures that are combined with their facial photographs in the training set are examined. The facial caricature is a personal representative amplifying perceptually significant information of individuals. Unlike Eigenfaces, Fisherfaces, and Laplacianfaces, the twenty-nine metrical features that used in this study do not depend upon illumination and occlusion variables. Our results show that facial caricature-trained neural networks outperform significantly of those only facial photograph-trained neural networks.
Numerical study of a highly optical-feedback tolerant DFB laser with an absorber and a rear reflector using transfer matrixes and rate equations

To realize a highly optical-feedback tolerant distributed feedback laser diode (DFB LD), we investigate a design approach combining transfermatrixes and rate-equation analyses. As an important design parameter, we use the C coefficient—the coupling strength between the optical field in the laser cavity and the feedback lightwave—and calculate it numerically. On the basis of the results, a novel DFB-LD structure with high tolerance to optical feedback is proposed and the design parameters are optimized.
Recent Filesystem Optimisations on FreeBSD

In this paper we summarise four recent optimisations to the FFS implementation in FreeBSD: soft updates, dirpref, vmiodir and dirhash. We then give a detailed exposition of dirhash’s implementation. Finally we study these optimisations under a variety of benchmarks and look at their interactions. Under micro-benchmarks, combinations of these optimisations can offer improvements of over two orders of magnitude. Even real-world workloads see improvements by a factor of 2–10.
Unidirectional Movement of Cellulose Synthase Complexes in Arabidopsis Seed Coat Epidermal Cells Deposit Cellulose Involved in Mucilage Extrusion, Adherence, and Ray Formation1[OPEN]

Two cellulose synthases interact to synthesize Arabidopsis seed coat mucilage cellulose in a unidirectional manner and promote mucilage adherence and expansion. CELLULOSE SYNTHASE5 (CESA5) synthesizes cellulose necessary for seed mucilage adherence to seed coat epidermal cells of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). The involvement of additional CESA proteins in this process and details concerning the manner in which cellulose is deposited in the mucilage pocket are unknown. Here, we show that both CESA3 and CESA10 are highly expressed in this cell type at the time of mucilage synthesis and localize to the plasma membrane adjacent to the mucilage pocket. The isoxaben resistant1-1 and isoxaben resistant1-2 mutants affecting CESA3 show defects consistent with altered mucilage cellulose biosynthesis. CESA3 can interact with CESA5 in vitro, and green fluorescent protein-tagged CESA5, CESA3, and CESA10 proteins move in a linear, unidirectional fashion around the cytoplasmic column of the cell, parallel with the surface of the seed, in a pattern similar to that of cortical microtubules. Consistent with this movement, cytological evidence suggests that the mucilage is coiled around the columella and unwinds during mucilage extrusion to form a linear ray. Mutations in CESA5 and CESA3 affect the speed of mucilage extrusion and mucilage adherence. These findings imply that cellulose fibrils are synthesized in an ordered helical array around the columella, providing a distinct structure to the mucilage that is important for both mucilage extrusion and adherence.
How to be a scientific realist (if at all): a study of partial realism

"Partial realism" is a common position in the contemporary philosophy of science literature. It states that the "essential" elements of empirically successful scientific theories accurately represent corresponding features the world. This thesis makes several novel contributions related to this position. Firstly, it offers a new definition of the concept of “empirical success”, representing a principled merger between the use-novelty and unification accounts. Secondly, it provides a comparative critical analysis of various accounts of which elements are "essential" to the success of a theory, including structural realism and the divide et impera strategy. A novel account of essentialness, entitled the “empirically successful sub-theory "account", is defended. Thirdly, it is argued that the realism/anti-realism debate should put to the side metaphysical questions and focus instead on partial realism's commitment to the continuity of science. Because this commitment lacks metaphysical implications, it is referred to as "deflationary realism". Anti-realists cannot reject deflationary realism as a matter of a priori principle; its overall viability (and therefore that of partial realism) can therefore only be assessed by a careful examination of the history of science. Finally, another consequence of partial realism, named "partial rationalism", is defended. Partial rationalism states that, in cases where several competing theories have been suggested, scientists are rational just in case they accept the essential elements of each of the scientific theories on offer. This novel position subverts the existing literature on scientific "revolutions", as it sometimes demands that scientists devise a synthesis between competing scientific theories, instead of "choosing" only one. The philosophical points defended in this thesis are illustrated and supported by case studies from the history of science, including Fresnel’s wave theory of light, the Copernican revolution, the "neo-Darwinian synthesis" in evolutionary biology, the "prion revolution" in molecular biology, the miasma theory of disease, and the chemical revolution.
What Are Educational Processes

This article is the result of a master's thesis in education that aimed to investigate the relationships between student dropout and educational processes in professional training. Our objective was to analyze the teachers´ understanding of the relationship between the educational process and dropout in a specific technical course at a Federal Institute in Northeastern Brazil. It was hypothesized that the professional training of the teachers who are part of the predominantly technical course under study may contribute to dropout, albeit indirectly. The main bases of historical-dialectical materialism and, consequently, historical-critical pedagogical theory are used as a theoretical-methodological reference, concerning the conception of education and the social role of the teacher. As methodological procedures, a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were conducted with the six teachers who constitute the teaching staff of the course under analysis. The results indicate that, from the teachers' point of view, there is no critical consideration about the lack of cohesive pedagogical training as a dimension that causes the high dropout rate. A pragmatic view of education is observed, which reinforces the productivist idea of professional education. In contrast to this scenario, the pedagogical training of teachers through a critical-historical pedagogy that culminates in the integral formation of students is pointed out as fundamental.
Direct nose to brain drug delivery via integrated nerve pathways bypassing the blood–brain barrier: an excellent platform for brain targeting

Introduction: The blood–brain barrier (BBB) represents a stringent barrier for delivery of neurotherapeutics in vivo. An attempt to overcome this barrier is represented by the direct transport of drugs from the nose to the brain along the olfactory and trigeminal nerve pathways. These nerve pathways initiate in the nasal cavity at olfactory neuroepithelium and terminate in the brain. An enormous range of neurotherapeutics, both macromolecules and low molecular weight drugs, can be delivered to the central nervous system (CNS) via this route. Areas covered: Present review highlights the literature on the anatomy-physiology of the nasal cavity, pathways and mechanisms of neurotherapeutic transport across nasal epithelium and their biofate and various strategies to enhance direct nose to brain drug delivery. The authors also emphasize a variety of drug molecules and carrier systems delivered via this route for treating CNS disorders. Patents related to direct nose to brain drug delivery systems have also been listed. Expert opinion: Direct nose to brain drug delivery system is a practical, safe, non-invasive and convenient form of formulation strategy and could be viewed as an excellent alternative approach to conventional dosage forms. Existence of a direct transport route from the nasal cavity to the brain, bypassing the BBB, would offer an exciting mode of delivering neurotherapeutic agents.
An energy-efficient branch prediction technique via global-history noise reduction

Accurate branch prediction can improve processor performance, while reducing energy waste. Though some existing branch predictors have been proved effective, they usually require large amount of storage or complicate the processor front-end. This paper proposes a novel branch prediction technique called History Artificially Selected (HAS) prediction. It is a hardware technique that bases on the existing branch predictors to detect history noises and avoid noise interferences when predicting branches. It separates the original branch predictor into sub-predictors, each of which performs differently in branch history updating. With the help of some history stacks, one sub-predictor saves and restores the branch history at the entrance and the exit of loops and program subroutines where history noise usually exists. Through using a tournament mechanism, HAS prediction selectively uses the modified branch history to eliminate the history noise interferences and retain those useful history correlations at the same time. Our experimental results show that for three representative branch predictors, gshare, perceptron, and TAGE, it reduces the MPKI by 1.49, 2.85, and 1.10 respectively, resulting in 4.55%, 10.16%, and 4.45% performance improvement. It also reduces energy consumption by 4.02%, 7.78%, and 3.91%, respectively.
cAMP opposes the glucose‐mediated induction of the L‐PK gene by preventing the recruitment of a complex containing ChREBP, HNF4α, and CBP

Glucose‐mediated activation of the L type pyruvate kinase (L‐PK) gene is repressed by cAMP, making this an excellent model for studying the mechanism by which these contrary signals regulate gene expression. Using the 832/13 rat insulinoma cell line, we demonstrate using RNA interference and chromatin immunoprecipitation that carbohydrate response element binding protein (ChREBP), hepatic nuclear factor 4a (HNF4α), and the coactivator CREB binding protein (CBP) are required for the glucose response of the L‐PK gene and are recruited to the promoter by glucose. The cAMP agonist forskolin blocked the glucose‐mediated induction of the L‐PK gene in a PKA‐dependent manner and blocked the recruitment of ChREBP, HNF4α, and CBP to the L‐PK promoter, while simultaneously recruiting CBP to the cAMP‐inducible gene, nuclear receptor subfamily 4, group A, member 2 (NR4A2). Overexpression of CBP, but not ChREBP, reversed the cAMP repression of the L‐PK gene. In addition, CBP augmented the glucose response of the L‐PK promoter. We conclude that cAMP and glucose signaling converge on a complex containing ChREBP, HNF4α, and CBP, and that cAMP acts by disrupting this transcriptional complex assembled by glucose‐derived signals. —Burke, S. J., Collier, J. J., Scott, D. K cAMP opposes the glucose‐mediated induction of the L‐PK gene by preventing the recruitment of a complex containing ChREBP, HNF4α, and CBP. FASEB J. 23, 2855‐2865 (2009). www.fasebj. org
The Visual World in Memory

J.R. Brockmole, Introduction. R.H. Logie, M. van der Meulen, Fragmenting and Integrating Visuo-Spatial Working Memory. Y.V. Jiang, T. Makovski, W. Mok Shim, Visual Memory for Features, Conjunctions, Objects, and Locations. V. Bruce, Remembering Faces. A. Hollingworth, Memory for Real-World Scenes. M.M. Hayhoe, Visual Memory in Motor Planning and Action. A.L. Shelton, N. Yamamoto, Visual Memory, Spatial Representation, and Navigation. D. Davis, E.F. Loftus, Expectancies, Emotion, and Memory Reports for Visual Events. G. Ganis, W. L. Thompson, S.M. Kosslyn, Visual Mental Imagery: More than 'Seeing with the Mind's Eye'.
Compressed Sensing of Analog Signals in Shift-Invariant Spaces

A traditional assumption underlying most data converters is that the signal should be sampled at a rate exceeding twice the highest frequency. This statement is based on a worst-case scenario in which the signal occupies the entire available bandwidth. In practice, many signals are sparse so that only part of the bandwidth is used. In this paper, we develop methods for low-rate sampling of continuous-time sparse signals in shift-invariant (SI) spaces, generated by m kernels with period T . We model sparsity by treating the case in which only k out of the m generators are active, however, we do not know which k are chosen. We show how to sample such signals at a rate much lower than m/T, which is the minimal sampling rate without exploiting sparsity. Our approach combines ideas from analog sampling in a subspace with a recently developed block diagram that converts an infinite set of sparse equations to a finite counterpart. Using these two components we formulate our problem within the framework of finite compressed sensing (CS) and then rely on algorithms developed in that context. The distinguishing feature of our results is that in contrast to standard CS, which treats finite-length vectors, we consider sampling of analog signals for which no underlying finite-dimensional model exists. The proposed framework allows to extend much of the recent literature on CS to the analog domain.
Testing a Modified TAM that Accounts for Realities of Technology Acceptance in Sub Saharan Africa

One of the motivations for this paper is to enhance our understanding of the interactions that come to bear between some socio-economic development needs and factors generally innate to sub-Sahara Africa that manifest to impede technological adoption in the region. Developing countries, of which all sub-Sahara Africa countries are part, lag in adopting foreign technologies for various reasons, among which are institutional, cultural, geo-political, tribal, and economic policy factors. This research is an examination of some antecedents to the perceived user resource model, which in turn was developed from the original TAM literature; it also extends ideas espoused in Information Technology literature related to socio-economic development. We validate the model by analyzing survey data gathered in two representative Sub-Saharan Africa countries. We offer some diagnostics and prescriptions for how to effect a sustainable technological adoption and development across the region.
Holotranscobalamin, a marker of vitamin B-12 status: analytical aspects and clinical utility12345

Approximately one-quarter of circulating cobalamin (vitamin B-12) binds to transcobalamin (holoTC) and is thereby available for the cells of the body. For this reason, holoTC is also referred to as active vitamin B-12. HoloTC was suggested as an optimal marker of early vitamin B-12 deficiency >20 y ago. This suggestion led to the development of suitable assays for measurement of the compound and clinical studies that aimed to show the benefit of measurement of holoTC rather than of vitamin B-12. Today holoTC can be analyzed by 3 methods: direct measurement of the complex between transcobalamin and vitamin B-12, measurement of vitamin B-12 attached to transcobalamin, or measurement of the amount of transcobalamin saturated with vitamin B-12. These 3 methods give similar results, but direct measurement of holoTC complex is preferable in the clinical setting from a practical point of view. HoloTC measurement has proven useful for the identification of the few patients who suffer from transcobalamin deficiency. In addition, holoTC is part of the CobaSorb test and therefore useful for assessment of vitamin B-12 absorption. Clinical studies that compare the ability of holoTC and vitamin B-12 to identify individuals with vitamin B-12 deficiency (elevated concentration of methylmalonic acid) suggest that holoTC performs better than total vitamin B-12. To date, holoTC has not been used for population-based assessments of vitamin B-12 status, but we suggest that holoTC is a better marker than total vitamin B-12 for such studies.
Fatty liver in dairy cows

EARLY lactation is a period of particular stress in the highyielding dairy cow. Recent clinical reports have identified a condition termed the parturition, fat cow or fatty liver syndrome. As the name implies, this occurs particularly in the high-yielding dairy herd where overfeeding in the dry period results in overfat cows at calving. The clinical syndrome is associated with an increased incidence of reproductive disorders, infectious disease, such as mastitis and endometritis, and metabolic disorders such as ketosis and milk fever. A feature of the dairy cow, particularly the higher yielding dairy cow in the first weeks of lactation, is the development of negative energy balance because feed intake is insufficient to meet the nutritional demands for maintenance and lactation. As a result of this energy deficiency, cows mobilise body reserves for milk production. The mobilisation of body reserves involves loss of muscle and adipose tissue and is reflected in a loss of bodyweight and condition and a deposition of fat in liver, kidney and muscle. About one-third of high-yielding dairy cows in the UK are affected by sub-clinical fatty liver. High milk yield potential, fatness at calving and loss of condition after calving are all factors which predispose cows to the development of fatty liver. Fatty liver is therefore part of a generalised fat mobilisation syndrome which affects cows early in lactation as milk production outstrips appetite and body reserves are used to meet the energy deficit.
Music use in the classroom : comparing effects on students

Recent research on the brain has shown that music can affect the behaviour of students in schools. This study examines the effects of recorded music on classroom climate in a variety ofK-12 classrooms. This multiple case study focuses on five classrooms in southern Alberta. Teachers recorded observations in a journal format regarding classroom climate at the beginning of classes each morning for three weeks. During the first week no music was played. During the second two weeks, a selected recording of popular songs with positive lyrical messages was played each day. Teachers kept a daily journal, and were interviewed at the conclusion of the observation period. The observations of the teachers were compared with respect to the different divisions of students. It was found that students at all levels were happier, more co-operative, and better behaved after listening to the music before class. The music seemed to have a more dramatic affect on progressively younger students. Some of the teachers reported being in a more positive state as they began their day with music. Recommendations for possible uses of music to enhance classroom management, transitions, and learning, and for further study are cited.
A mumps epidemic on St. George Island, Alaska.

A mumps epidemic occurred on St. George Island, Alaska, among a population which had not been exposed to mumps since 1907. During a 15-week period clinical mumps were observed in 119 of 212 native residents, while an additional 37 residents had serologic evidence of subclinical infections. Prophylactic mumps hyperimmune γ-globulin given to 56 persons who were clinically and serologically susceptible did not appear to reduce the attack rates or to prevent clinical complications.