Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A SIMPLE ALGORITHM FOR REDUCTION OF BLOCKING ARTIFACTS USING SAWS TECHNIQUE BASED ON FUZZY LOGIC

Reducing blocking artifacts encountered in highly compressed images is a very active research area in image processing. Coding artifacts are very annoying in these highly compressed images. Most of the artifact reduction techniques blur the details of the images while removing coding artifacts. In this paper , we propose a novel and explicit approach for reducing coding artifacts in an image by using the combination of SAWS equation and Fuzzy Rules. We use FIDRM for the detection of noisy pixel and NAFSM filter for correction. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves excellent visual quality and PSNR as compared to a number of deblocking methods in the literature.
Process Challenges and Learning-Based Interactions in Stage 2 of Doctoral Education: Implications from Two Applied Social Science Fields

This article reports on an exploratory study that examined the transition to independence in Stage 2 of the doctoral student experience in two applied social science fields. We rely on an interdisciplinary framework that integrates developmental networks and sociocultural perspectives of learning to better understand the connection between the challenges in Stage 2 of the doctoral education process and students' learning-based behavioral responses to such challenges during this critical transition. Results indicate the presence of three types of process challenges in Stage 2: structural, interpersonal, and individual. Results also point to a range of behavioral responses to such challenges and their relative effectiveness in advancing doctoral student learning towards becoming independent scholars. We conclude with directions for future research and practice.
Computational thinking in high school courses

The number of undergraduates entering computer science has declined in recent years. This is paralleled by a drop in the number of high school students taking the CS AP exam and the number of high schools offering computer science courses. The declines come at a time when career opportunities in CS continue to grow and computer science graduates are seen as crucial in building a globally competitive workforce for the 21st century. Efforts aimed at reversing the declining interest in computer science include curriculum revisions at the undergraduate level at many institutions, a re-design of computer science AP courses [1], and the inclusion of computational thinking into disciplines outside computer science [3]. This panel discusses four projects of computer science researchers collaborating with high school teachers on integrating computing and computational thinking into their courses. The majority of the high school teachers involved is teaching science and math courses. They are teaching a diverse group of talented and college-bound students. The goal of all projects is to integrate computing into disciplines represented in the high school curriculum and to raise the awareness of computer science as an exciting and intellectually rewarding field. This panel will outline recent and on-going activities and interaction with high school teachers. Each panelist will describe how he/she got involved and the nature of the interaction. The panelists will talk about their individual projects, outline their visions for future interactions, and how their effort can be replicated by others. The session will briefly describe NSF's RET program which provided teacher support for three of the four projects. The session will then be opened for discussion; the audience will be encouraged to ask questions and contribute additional ideas for the inclusion of computational thinking in high school courses.
Ubiquitin Dynamics in Complexes Reveal Molecular Recognition Mechanisms Beyond Induced Fit and Conformational Selection

Protein-protein interactions play an important role in all biological processes. However, the principles underlying these interactions are only beginning to be understood. Ubiquitin is a small signalling protein that is covalently attached to different proteins to mark them for degradation, regulate transport and other functions. As such, it interacts with and is recognised by a multitude of other proteins. We have conducted molecular dynamics simulations of ubiquitin in complex with 11 different binding partners on a microsecond timescale and compared them with ensembles of unbound ubiquitin to investigate the principles of their interaction and determine the influence of complex formation on the dynamic properties of this protein. Along the main mode of fluctuation of ubiquitin, binding in most cases reduces the conformational space available to ubiquitin to a subspace of that covered by unbound ubiquitin. This behaviour can be well explained using the model of conformational selection. For lower amplitude collective modes, a spectrum of zero to almost complete coverage of bound by unbound ensembles was observed. The significant differences between bound and unbound structures are exclusively situated at the binding interface. Overall, the findings correspond neither to a complete conformational selection nor induced fit scenario. Instead, we introduce a model of conformational restriction, extension and shift, which describes the full range of observed effects.
Cyclic AMP-induced chloride permeability in the apical membrane of necturus gallbladder epithelium

The effects of theophylline, 8-Br-cAMP, and cAMP on necturus gallbladder epithelium were investigated using microelectrode techniques. Each of these substances depolarized the cell membranes by approximately 15 mV and decreased the apparent ratio of apical to basolateral membrane resistances to a value not significantly different from zero. Examination of the ionic selectivity of the apical membrane by ion substitutions in the mucosal bathing medium revealed a large increase in Cl permeability with no apparent changes in K and Na permeabilities. Intracellular Cl activity ((a)CL(i)) was measured using Cl- sensitive liquid ion-exchanger microelectrodes. Under control conditions, (a)Cl(i) was approximately 20 mM, 2.5 times higher than the value expected for equilibrium distribution ((a)Cl(i/eq). After addition of 8-Br-cAMP, (a)Cl(i) decreased within less than 60 s to approximately 13 mM, a value not significantly different from ((a)Cl(i/eq)). Virtually identical results were obtained with theophylline. Under control conditions, luminal Cl removal caused (a)Cl(i) to fall at an initial rate of 1.8 mM/min, whereas in tissues exposed to 8-Br- cAMP or theophylline a rate of 11.6 mM/min was observed. The apical membrane Cl transference number was estimated from the change of (a)Cl(i) upon exposure to 8-Br-cAMP as well as from the changes in apical membrane potential during variation of the luminal Cl concentration. The results, 0.91 and 0.88, respectively, are indicative of a high Cl permeability of the apical membrane during cAMP. This effect may explain, at least in part, the complete inhibition of fluid absorption produced by theophylline in this tissue. Moreover, enhancement of apical membrane Cl permeability may account for a variety of cAMP effects in epithelial tissues.
The Effect of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) on Plasmodium falciparum Infection in Rural and Semi-Urban Communities in the South West Region of Cameroon

Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) have been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality, but coverage and proper utilization continues to be moderate in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The gains made through a nationwide free distribution were explored as well as the effect on malaria prevalence in semi-urban and rural communities in south western Cameroon. A cross sectional survey was conducted between August and December 2013. Information on net possession, status and use were collected using a structured questionnaire while malaria parasitaemia was determined on Giemsa-stained blood smears by light microscopy. ITN ownership increased from 41.9% to 68.1% following the free distribution campaign, with 58.3% (466/799) reportedly sleeping under the net. ITN ownership was lower in rural settings (adjusted OR = 1.93, 95%CI = 1.36–2.74, p<0.001) and at lower altitude (adjusted OR = 1.79, 95%CI = 1.22–2.62, p = 0.003) compared to semi-urban settings and intermediate altitude respectively. Conversely, ITN usage was higher in semi-urban settings (p = 0.002) and at intermediate altitude (p = 0.002) compared with rural localities and low altitude. Malaria parasitaemia prevalence was higher in rural (adjusted OR = 1.63, 95%CI = 1.07–2.49) compared to semi-urban settings and in those below 15 years compared to those 15 years and above. Overall, participants who did not sleep under ITN were more susceptible to malaria parasitaemia (adjusted OR = 1.70, 95%CI = 1.14–2.54, p = 0.009). Despite the free distribution campaign, ITN ownership and usage, though improved, is still low. As children who reside in rural settings have greater disease burden (parasitemia) than children in semi-urban settings, the potential gains on both reducing inequities in ITN possession as well as disease burden might be substantial if equitable distribution strategies are adopted.
Towards talking face on portable devices - a flexible and realistic approach

Talking face using face modeling and animation techniques has been a popular branch of computer graphics for several years. There are many methods of texture mapping to obtain realistic result, or produce natural animation. In this paper, we propose a flexible texture mapping method aiming at application on portable devices. Our method needs only one single front view face image and it does not require exact match between the model and the presented texture. Satisfactory mapping can be achieved by interactive adjustment scheme, where users define correspondence for feature locations through editing the key points and their influence regions. Efficiency and realism are well balanced using our algorithm.
Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease strategy for the diagnosis, management and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: An Asia–Pacific perspective

Abstract: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major public health problem and its prevalence and mortality are increasing throughout the world, including the Asia–Pacific region. To arrest these worldwide trends, the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) Expert Panel's global strategy for the diagnosis, management, and prevention of COPD was published in 2001. Based on recently published clinical trials, the GOLD statement was updated in 2003. The Asia–Pacific COPD Roundtable Group, a taskforce of expert respirologists from the Asia–Pacific region, has recently formulated a consensus statement on implementation of the GOLD strategy for COPD in the Asia–Pacific region. The key issues identified by the COPD Roundtable Group for comment are: (i) where there is no access to spirometry, diagnosis of COPD could be suspected on the basis of history, symptoms and physical signs; (ii) inhaled bronchodilators are the preferred regular treatment for COPD in the region, but oral bronchodilators may be considered if the cost of inhaled bronchodilators is a barrier to treatment; (iii) the use of an Metered Dose Inhaler with spacer in place of a nebulizer is recommended in the treatment of acute airflow obstruction in patients with COPD; (iv) influenza vaccination is recommended for all patients with COPD in communities where there is a high likelihood of Severe Acute Respitory Syndrome; and (v) simplified pulmonary rehabilitation programmes should be established in areas where comprehensive programmes are unavailable. Physical exercise training and education on smoking cessation should be core elements of any rehabilitation program. In summary, the COPD Roundtable Group supports implementation of the GOLD strategy for the diagnosis, management and prevention of COPD in the Asia–Pacific region, subject to the additions and modifications to the guidelines suggested above.
Surprise Detection and Visual Homing in Cognitive Technical Systems

One important feature of a cognitive system is to interact with its environment and to react in real-time to changes in it. A pure geometric representation of the world is therefore often insufficient. To allow a cognitive system to refer to a prior perception, it has to be able to re-localize itself with respect to its environment. Thus, a vision based agent needs to register the currently seen images within its history. In this paper, we investigate not only an image based surprise trigger, which uses Bayesian probabilistic inference techniques to detect pixel-wise changes, but also an online image based homing algorithm. This is necessary to achieve a location independent surprise trigger. Our algorithms allow a cognitive system to localize itself within its environment and to react online to changes respectively to a prior measurement using only a calibrated camera. Experiments show acceptable results in terms of a robust detection of unexpected changes in the environment.
Systematic Mutational Analysis of the Yeast Actl Gene

We report the isolation and characterization of a synoptic set of site-directed mutations distributed throughout the single actin gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mutations were systematically targeted to the surface of the protein by identifying clusters of 2 or more charged residues in the primary sequence; every charged residue in a cluster was replaced with alanine. Mutations were recovered in high yield (34 of 36 constructed) as heterozygous diploids. Mutant phenotypes were examined in haploid segregants: 1 1 were recessive lethal, 16 conditional-lethal (including temperature-sensitive and salt-sensitive) and 7 had no discernible phenotype. Genetic analysis suggested that the two mutations constructed but not recovered in yeast may have a dominant defective phenotype. Location of the mutant residues on the three-dimensional structure of the rabbit muscle actin monomer confirmed that most (8 1 %) of the charged residues we altered lie at or near the surface of the protein, confirming a key assumption of the method. Many of the new actl alleles have properties readily interpreted in light of the actin structure and should prove useful in both genetic and biochemical studies of actin function. I N eukaryotic cells, the actin cytoskeleton underlies numerous fundamental processes, including cell motility, cytoplasmic streaming, cytokinesis and organization of the cell surface and extracellular matrix. Actin does not function alone. Numerous proteins have been isolated from diverse sources that influence actin assembly or change the physical properties of actin filaments (POLLARD and COOPER 1986). Presumably , it is through the integration of these many activities that cells achieve proper spatial and temporal control over actin assembly and function. Yeast has proven to be a tractable organism for studying the actin cytoskeleton, especially the identification and characterization of proteins that interact functionally with actin. There is just one structural gene for actin (A C T I). The deduced primary sequence of yeast actin is 88% identical to mammalian muscle or cytoplasmic actins (N c and ABELSON 1980; GALLWITZ and SUERS 1980). Yeast cells serve as a convenient source for the purification of a single actin isotype (GREER and SCHECKMAN 1982), and it has recently been shown (KRON 1990; KRON et al. 1992) that yeast actin filaments will move on glass slides coated with rabbit muscle myosin. A C T l was shown genetically to be an essential gene (SHORTLE, HABER and BOTSTEIN 1982) and two conditional-lethal alleles (actl-1 and actl-2, both temperature-sensitive) were obtained by in vitro …
Within-utterance correlation for speech recognition

Relations between non-adjacent parts of an utterance are commonly regarded as an important source of information for speech recognition. However, they have not been very much used in speech recognition systems. In this paper, we include this information by joint distributions of pairs of phones occurring in the same utterance. In addition to relations between acoustic events, we also have incorporated relations between spectral and prosodically oriented information, such as phone duration, position in utterance and funda-mental frequency. Preliminary recognition results on N-best rescoring show 10% word error reduction compared to a baseline Viterbi decoder.
Use of Sulfated Linked Cyclitols as Heparan Sulfate Mimetics to Probe the Heparin/Heparan Sulfate Binding Specificity of Proteins*

Heparin and heparan sulfate (HS) are structurally diverse glycosaminoglycans (GAG) that are known to interact, via unique structural motifs, with a wide range of functionally distinct proteins and modulate their biological activity. To define the GAG motifs that interact with proteins, we assessed the ability of 15 totally synthetic HS mimetics to interact with 10 functionally diverse proteins that bind heparin/HS. The HS mimetics consisted of cyclitol-based pseudo-sugars coupled by linkers of variable chain length, flexibility, orientation, and hydrophobicity, with variations in sulfation also being introduced into some molecules. Three of the proteins tested, namely hepatocyte growth factor, eotaxin, and elastase, failed to interact with any of the sulfated linked cyclitols. In contrast, each of the remaining seven proteins tested exhibited a unique reactivity pattern with the panel of HS mimetics, with tetrameric cyclitols linked by different length alkyl chains being particularly informative. Thus, compounds with short alkyl spacers (2–3 carbon atoms) effectively blocked the interaction of fibroblast growth factor-1 (FGF-1) and lipoprotein lipase with heparin/HS, whereas longer chain spacers (7–10 carbon atoms) were required for optimal inhibition of FGF-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor binding. This effect was most pronounced with the chemokine, interleukin-8, where alkyl-linked tetrameric cyclitols were essentially inactive unless a spacer of >7 carbon atoms was used. The heparin-inhibitable enzymes heparanase and cathepsin G also displayed characteristic inhibition patterns, cathepsin G interacting promiscuously with most of the sulfated cyclitols but heparanase activity being inhibited most effectively by HS mimetics that structurally resemble a sulfated pentasaccharide. These data indicate that a simple panel of HS mimetics can be used to probe the HS binding specificity of proteins, with the position of anionic groups in the HS mimetics being critical.
Dynamic Channel Assignment Using Ant Colony Optimization for Cognitive Radio Networks

Considering the inevitable trends for heterogeneous network convergence, Cognitive Radio Network (CRN) concept has been proposed with some essential characteristics to achieve adaptation and global end-to-end goals. This motivates a more flexible and effective dynamic channel assignment scheme which can utilize the licensed spectrum effectively through reusing idle licensed spectrum opportunistically. This paper focuses on the dynamic channel assignment which offers optimal resource allocation mechanism to satisfy the requirement of users and networks in transmission. Owing to the optimization problem of channel assignment is constituted as a nonlinear programming, we propose the use of Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm as a way to manage and assign channel resource dynamically in CRNs. The ACO, as an intelligent technique, has the capacity to solve the complex multi-objective optimization problem and simplify the computational process. Finally, the dynamic channel assignment algorithm is simulated, and the numerical results with detailed are analyzed.
Interactive by-example design of artistic packing layouts

We propose an approach to "pack" a set of two-dimensional graphical primitives into a spatial layout that follows artistic goals. We formalize this process as projecting from a high-dimensional feature space into a 2D layout. Our system does not expose the control of this projection to the user in form of sliders or similar interfaces. Instead, we infer the desired layout of all primitives from interactive placement of a small subset of example primitives. To produce a pleasant distribution of primitives with spatial extend, we propose a novel generalization of Centroidal Voronoi Tesselation which equalizes the distances between boundaries of nearby primitives. Compared to previous primitive distribution approaches our GPU implementation achieves both better fidelity and asymptotically higher speed. A user study evaluates the system's usability.
Explaining customers' willingness to use mobile network-based pay-as-you-drive insurances

Technical progress in the field of information and telecommunication ITC technology enables insurers to offer pay-as-you-drive PAYD motor liability insurances, which take vehicle-specific accident risks into account to derive risk adequate individualised insurance rates. There is a dearth of research concerning customer perception-based factors, which influence the willingness of residential policy-holders to use PAYD. This paper reports results of partial least squares PLS analyses of questionnaire data of a sample of 315 German-speaking car drivers, which explore to what extent seven customer perception-based factors are suited to predict interindividual differences in the intention to use PAYD in the future. The subjects' readiness to provide an insurer with their own driving data for precisely defined purposes and under clear conditions emerged as the independent construct associated most strongly with willingness to use PAYD WUPAYD. Implications are discussed for car insurers, mobile network operators and theory formation concerning the acceptance of innovative mobile service offerings.
Comparison of Ectopic Gene Expression Methods in Rat Neural Stem Cells

Neural stem cells (NSCs) have the ability to proliferate and differentiate into various types of cells that compose the nervous system. To study functions of genes in stem cell biology, genes or siRNAs need to be transfected. However, it is difficult to transfect ectopic genes into NSCs. Thus to identify the suitable method to achieve high transfection efficiency, we compared lipid transfection, electroporation, nucleofection and retroviral transduction. Among the methods that we tested, we found that nucleofection and retroviral transduction showed significantly increased transfection efficiency. In addition, with retroviral transduction of Ngn2 that is known to induce neurogenesis in various types of cells, we observed facilitated final cell division in rat NSCs. These data suggest that nucleofection and retroviral transduction provide high efficiency of gene delivery system to study functions of genes in rat NSCs.
Electrical Stimulation of the Anterior Nucleus of the Thalamus for Intractable Epilepsy: A Long‐term Follow‐up Study

Summary: Purpose: The anterior nucleus of the thalamus (ANT) modulates temporal lobe and hypothalamic activities, and relays information to the cingulate gyrus and entorhinal cortex. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the ANT has been reported to decrease seizure activity in a limited number of human subjects. However, long‐term effect of chronic ANT stimulation on such patients remains unknown. We report long‐term follow‐up results in four patients receiving ANT stimulation for intractable epilepsy.
Modulating the malignancy of Hox proteins.

In this issue of Blood , [Cusan et al][1] identify a proline-rich regulatory domain in the transcription factor HOXB4, whose presence is anticorrelated with leukemic potential of Hox genes. [1][2] Hox genes have the interesting property of specifying both spatial identity along the rostrocaudal axis