Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emotion in the Infant's Face

Abstract: Darwin viewed “experiments in nature” as an important strategy for elucidating the evolutionary bases of human emotional expressions. Infants with craniofacial anomalies are of special interest because morphological abnormalities and resulting distortions or deficits in their facial expressions could make it more difficult for caregivers to read and accurately interpret their signals. As part of a larger study on the effects of craniofacial anomalies on infant facial expression and parent‐infant interaction, infants with different types of craniofacial conditions and comparison infants were videotaped interacting with their mothers at 3 and 6 months. The infants' facial expressions were coded with Baby FACS. Thirty‐seven slides of 16 infants displaying 4 distinctive infant expressions (cry face, negative face, interest, and smile) were rated by 38 naive observers on a 7‐point scale ranging from intense distress to intense happiness. Their ratings were significantly correlated with ratings based on objective Baby FACS criteria (r > 0.9 in all infant groups). A 4 (infant group) × 4 (expression category) ANOVA showed a significant main effect for expression category, F(3) 5 71.9, P 5 0.000, but no significant effect for infant group or group 3 expression interaction. The observers' ratings were thus highly “accurate” in terms of a priori Baby FACS criteria, even in the case of infants with severely disfiguring facial conditions. These findings demonstrate that the signal value of infant facial expressions is remarkably robust, suggesting that the capacity to read emotional meaning in infants' facial expressions may have a biological basis.
Functional Neuroanatomy of the Sensorimotor Control of Singing

Abstract: Reviews of the songbird vocal control system frequently begin by describing the forebrain nuclei and pathways that form anterior and posterior circuits involved in song learning and song production, respectively. They then describe extratelencephalic projections upon the brainstem respiratory‐vocal system in a manner suggesting, quite erroneously, that this system is itself well understood. One aim of this chapter is to demonstrate how limited is our understanding of that system. I begin with an overview of the neural network for the motor control of song production, with a particular emphasis on brainstem structures, including the tracheosyringeal motor nucleus (XIIts), which innervates the syrinx, and nucleus retroambigualis (RAm), which projects upon XIIts and upon spinal motor neurons innervating expiratory muscles. I describe the sources of afferent projections to XIIts and RAm and discuss their probable role in coordinating the bilateral activity of respiratory and syringeal muscles during singing. I then consider the routes by which sensory feedback, which could arise from numerous structures involved in singing, might access the song system to guide song learning, maintain accurate song production, and inform the song system of the requirements for air. I describe possible routes of access of auditory feedback, which is known to be necessary for song learning and maintenance, and identify potential sites of interaction with somatosensory and visceral feedback that could arise from the syrinx, the lungs and air sacs, and the upper vocal tract, including the jaw. I conclude that the incorporation of brainstem‐based respiratory‐vocal variables is likely to be a necessary next step in the construction of more sophisticated models of the control of vocalization.
Independent living: the frontier of communitarian welfare? 1

We hear so much about the ‘cost’ of care, today;and so little about the value society places upon ‘care’ and welfare, which, in turn, can promote economic, social and civic participation within society at large. The question of what should be supported and valued in contemporary society needs exploring critically. In the following I explore three well-established responses to the question of how society should support and deal with disadvantage. I argue that communitarian politics/thought and the independent living movement have key roles to play in forging a better society for disabled people.
Probabilistic Models For Joint Clustering And Time-Warping Of Multidimensional Curves

In this paper we present a family of models and learning algorithms that can simultaneously align and cluster sets of multidimensional curves measured on a discrete time grid. Our approach is based on a generative mixture model that allows both local nonlinear time warping and global linear shifts of the observed curves in both time and measurement spaces relative to the mean curves within the clusters. The resulting model can be viewed as a form of Bayesian network with a special temporal structure. The Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm is used to simultaneously recover both the curve models for each cluster, and the most likely alignments and cluster membership for each curve. We evaluate the methodology on two real-world data sets, and show that the Bayesian network models provide systematic improvements in predictive power over more conventional clustering approaches.
MR appearance of the internal architecture of Ammon's horn.

PURPOSE To determine whether the four subdivisions of Ammon's horn and six layers of CA1 seen histologically can be demonstrated with MR imaging. METHODS Specimens of cadaver brains were imaged in a 3.0-T MR imager with a 3.0-cm solenoid coil. The specimens were sectioned, stained, and examined histologically. On anatomic sections, the four subdivisions of Ammon's horn and six layers of CA1 were identified. The MR images were then compared with the anatomic sections. RESULTS Using geographic characteristics, we identified the four subdivisions of Ammon's horn. In CA1, the six layers could be identified by variations in signal intensity, width, and location. CONCLUSION This study suggests that, with MR imaging of sufficiently high resolution, the internal architecture of Ammon's horn may be identified.
Paeonia lactiflora Extract Attenuating Cerebral Ischemia and Arterial Intimal Hyperplasia Is Mediated by Paeoniflorin via Modulation of VSMC Migration and Ras/MEK/ERK Signaling Pathway

Paeonia lactiflora is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine. Paeoniflorin is an active component found in Paeonia lactiflora, which is used to treat smooth muscle spasms and pain and to protect the cardiovascular system. The objective of this study was to determine if Paeonia lactiflora would be protective in rodent models of cerebral ischemia and arterial intimal hyperplasia. Paeonia lactiflora extract (PLex) and paeoniflorin (PF) significantly attenuated cerebral infarction in ischemia/reperfusion injury rats and the severity of intimal hyperplasia in mice where the carotid artery was ligated. PLex and PF reduced PDGF-stimulated VSMC proliferation and migration in a dose-dependent manner by MTT, wound healing, and transwell assays. PF significantly reduced protein levels of Ras, MEK, p-MEK and p-ERK, but not MMP-2 and MMP-9. In summary, Paeonia lactiflora reduced cerebral ischemia and arterial intimal hyperplasia which were mainly made via the intermediary of PF. The protective effect of PF was related to the modulation of the Ras/MEK/ERK signaling pathway.
What Scalable Programs Need from Transactional Memory

Transactional memory (TM) has been the focus of numerous studies, and it is supported in processors such as the IBM Blue Gene/Q and Intel Haswell. Many studies have used the STAMP benchmark suite to evaluate their designs. However, the speedups obtained for the STAMP benchmarks on all TM systems we know of are quite limited; for example, with 64 threads on the IBM Blue Gene/Q, we observe a median speedup of 1.4X using the Blue Gene/Q hardware transactional memory (HTM), and a median speedup of 4.1X using a software transactional memory (STM). What limits the performance of these benchmarks on TMs? In this paper, we argue that the problem lies with the programming model and data structures used to write them. To make this point, we articulate two principles that we believe must be embodied in any scalable program and argue that STAMP programs violate both of them. By modifying the STAMP programs to satisfy both principles, we produce a new set of programs that we call the Stampede suite. Its median speedup on the Blue Gene/Q is 8.0X when using an STM. The two principles also permit us to simplify the TM design. Using this new STM with the Stampede benchmarks, we obtain a median speedup of 17.7X with 64 threads on the Blue Gene/Q and 13.2X with 32 threads on an Intel Westmere system. These results suggest that HTM and STM designs will benefit if more attention is paid to the division of labor between application programs, systems software, and hardware.
Measurement methods for fast and accurate blackhole identification with binary tomography

Binary tomography - the process of identifying faulty network links through coordinated end-to-end probes - is a promising method for detecting failures that the network does not automatically mask (e.g., network "blackholes"). Because tomography is sensitive to the quality of the input, however, naïve end-to-end measurements can introduce inaccuracies. This paper develops two methods for generating inputs to binary tomography algorithms that improve their inference speed and accuracy. Failure confirmation is a per-path probing technique to distinguish packet losses caused by congestion from persistent link or node failures. Aggregation strategies combine path measurements from unsynchronized monitors into a set of consistent observations. When used in conjunction with existing binary tomography algorithms, our methods identify all failures that are longer than two measurement cycles, while inducing relatively few false alarms. In two wide-area networks, our techniques decrease the number of alarms by as much as two orders of magnitude. Compared to the state of the art in binary tomography, our techniques increase the identification rate and avoid hundreds of false alarms.
Probabilistic planning with non-linear utility functions and worst-case guarantees

Markov Decision Processes are one of the most widely used frameworks to formulate probabilistic planning problems. Since planners are often risk-sensitive in high-stake situations, non-linear utility functions are often introduced to describe their preferences among all possible outcomes. Alternatively, risk-sensitive decision makers often require their plans to satisfy certain worst-case guarantees. We show how to combine these two approaches by considering problems where we maximize the expected utility of the total reward subject to worst-case constraints. We generalize several existing results on the structure of optimal policies to the constrained case, both for finite and infinite horizon problems. We provide a Dynamic Programming algorithm to compute the optimal policy, and we introduce an admissible heuristic to effectively prune the search space. Finally, we use a stochastic shortest path problem on large real-world road networks to demonstrate the practical applicability of our method.
O emprego de metodologias ágeis no processo de desenvolvimento de software: um estudo com empresas do NIAVI

Departamentos de programação costumam encontrar dificuldades em cumprir prazos e entregar o produto equipolente às necessidades do cliente. Para amenizar esses transtornos os métodos ágeis (MA) fornecem alternativas na gestão de projetos, pois visam a otimização do processo de desenvolvimento de software. O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar a aplicação de MAs no Núcleo de Informática do Alto Vale do Itajaí (NIAVI). Na técnica de coleta de dados para geração de análises em relação à adoção de MAs foram aplicados questionários virtuais entre os dias 9 e 13 de Junho com 19 questões nas empresas integrantes do NIAVI, as respostas obtidas foram analisadas de forma quantitativa. Os resultados obtidos foram que nenhuma das empresas do NIAVI utiliza de MAs ou de qualquer outro método de desenvolvimento de software.
Domestic Indirect Feedback Compensation of multiple-stage amplifiers for multiple-voltage level-converting amplification

This investigation presents a Domestic Indirect Feedback Compensation (DIFC) operational amplifier for systems with both low voltage and high voltage circuits. The DIFC operational amplifier is capable of converting a voltage signal from a low voltage circuit and amplifying it into a large voltage signal to drive high voltage load. Since the Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) capacitors are not designed for high voltage applications and the feed-forward compensation causes pole-zero doublet as a result from the deviation of high voltage transistor characteristics from shuttle to shuttle, the DIFC is performed only using low voltage circuits. In other words, the feedback by connecting the output node of the operational amplifier is avoided. The proposed design is carried out using the TSMC 0.25 µm 1-poly 3-metal BCD process.
The Conformance Test for Robotic/Prosthetic Fingertip Skins

Although the requirements for robotic and prosthetic skins may considerably differ, conformance is a critical property when a tactile sensory system is embedded on the skin. The skin's inability to deflect or adapt to the surface of an object will prevent the spatial features to be transmitted to the embedded tactile sensors. By characterizing viscoelastic materials like Technogelreg, silicone and polyurethane, and applying their material coefficients to a finite element model, comparisons were made possible with the experimental surface deflection of a human fingertip that was indented by a wedge. Simulations showed that the silicone as the inner layer, and polyurethane or Technogelreg as the outer layer offered the optimal combination that approximates the human fingertip's conformance
Importance of Estrogenic Signaling and Its Mediated Receptors in Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) treatment was first established by Huggins and Hodges in 1941, primarily described as androgen deprivation via interference of testicular androgen production. The disease remains incurable with relapse of hormone-refractory cancer after treatments. Epidemiological and clinical studies disclosed the importance of estrogens in PCa. Discovery of estrogen receptor ERβ prompted direct estrogenic actions, in conjunction with ERα, on PCa cells. Mechanistically, ERs upon ligand binding transactivate target genes at consensus genomic sites via interactions with various transcriptional co-regulators to mold estrogenic signaling. With animal models, Noble revealed estrogen dependencies of PCa, providing insight into potential uses of antiestrogens in the treatment. Subsequently, various clinical trials were conducted and molecular and functional consequences of antiestrogen treatment in PCa were delineated. Besides, estrogens can also trigger rapid non-genomic signaling responses initiated at the plasma membrane, at least partially via an orphan G-protein-coupled receptor GPR30. Activation of GPR30 significantly inhibited in vitro and in vivo PCa cell growth and the underlying mechanism was elucidated. Currently, molecular networks of estrogenic and antiestrogenic signaling via ERα, ERβ and GPR30 in PCa have not been fully deciphered. This crucial information could be beneficial to further developments of effective estrogen- and antiestrogen-based therapy for PCa patients.
A linguistic analysis of humor: A look at Seinfeld

Using the Incongruity Theory of humor (Attardo, 2001; Morreall, 1983; Schwarz, 2010) and the Interactional Sociolinguisitic Methodology of discourse analysis, we examine the incongruous elements, such as moral short-comings, ignorance, and impersonation used in Seinfeld to set up a situation conducive to humor. We analyze the contextualization cues used to support these incongruities, such as genre change, footing alteration, exaggeration, prosody, intonation, marked lexical choices. We present an examination of two scenes taken from the episodes, “The Marine Biologist” and “The Red Dot”. We identify the specific incongruities, and then formulate an in-depth analysis of the contextualization cues and how they are implemented, resulting in humor. Our research provides an original contribution to the field of linguistic studies of humor not only by using a new corpus of data, but by providing an analysis of the contextualization cues implemented to create humor, contributing to the linguistic field of research on humor.
A broker-based framework for integrated SLA-aware SaaS Provisioning

In the service landscape, the issues of service selection, negotiation of Service Level Agreements (SLA), and SLA-compliance monitoring have typically been used in separate and disparate ways, which affect the quality of the services that consumers obtain from their providers. In this work, we propose a broker-based framework to deal with these concerns in an integrated manner for Software as a Service (SaaS) provisioning. The SaaS Broker selects a suitable SaaS provider on behalf of the service consumer by using a utility-driven selection algorithm that ranks the QoS offerings of potential SaaS providers. Then, it negotiates the SLA terms with that provider based on the quality requirements of the service consumer. The monitoring infrastructure observes SLA-compliance during service delivery by using measurements obtained from third-party monitoring services. We also define a utility-based bargaining decision model that allows the service consumer to express her sensitivity for each of the negotiated quality attributes and to evaluate the SaaS provider offer in each round of negotiation. A use-case with few quality attributes and their respective utility functions illustrates the approach.
FDG uptake in primary squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Summary Aim: This study aimed at assessing the relationship between over-expression of glucose transporters and hexokinases, tumour proliferation and apoptosis corrected for cellularity and partial volume corrected (pvc) FDG SUV values in primary squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (pSCCHN). Patients, methods: In 27 consecutive patients suffering from pSCCHN, FDG SUVmax and mean pvc values of the primary tumour were derived from a pre-surgical routine staging FDG PET/CT examination. GLUT-1, GLUT-3, HK-1, HK-3 expression, tumour proliferation (Ki-67 staining) and the number of apoptotic cells (cleaved caspase-3 staining), corrected for tumour cellularity, were subsequently assessed on the corresponding post-surgically obtained biopsies and tumour specimens. FDG SUVmax and mean pvc values of pSCCHN were correlated with the corresponding histological findings. Results: FDG SUV max and mean pvc values correlated significantly: with GLUT-1 scores r = 0.408 (p = 0.04) and r = 0.439 (p = 0.03) as well as with the number of apoptotic cells r = 0.529 (p = 0.008) and r = 0.484 (p = 0.017). The number of apoptotic cells also correlated to GLUT-3 scores: r = 0.62 (p = 0.001) and GLUT-1 scores r = 0.528 (p = 0.008). Conclusion: FDG SUV pvc proved significantly related to GLUT-1 expression by tumour cells and to the absolute number of apoptotic cells. The latter finding warrants further exploration and confirmation by additional studies.
RANKL-induced DC-STAMP Is Essential for Osteoclastogenesis

Osteoclasts are bone-resorbing, multinucleated giant cells that are essential for bone remodeling and are formed through cell fusion of mononuclear precursor cells. Although receptor activator of nuclear factor–κB ligand (RANKL) has been demonstrated to be an important osteoclastogenic cytokine, the cell surface molecules involved in osteoclastogenesis are mostly unknown. Here, we report that the seven-transmembrane receptor-like molecule, dendritic cell–specific transmembrane protein (DC-STAMP) is involved in osteoclastogenesis. Expression of DC-STAMP is rapidly induced in osteoclast precursor cells by RANKL and other osteoclastogenic stimulations. Targeted inhibition of DC-STAMP by small interfering RNAs and specific antibody markedly suppressed the formation of multinucleated osteoclast-like cells. Overexpression of DC-STAMP enhanced osteoclastogenesis in the presence of RANKL. Furthermore, DC-STAMP directly induced the expression of the osteoclast marker tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase. These data demonstrate for the first time that DC-STAMP has an essential role in osteoclastogenesis.
Novel structure of 4H-SiC bipolar junction transistor

A novel structure of 4H-SiC bipolar junction transistor (BJT) with floating buried layer (FBL) in the base epilayer is presented. Numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate that the current gain shows an approximately 100% increase due to the creation of buried layer electric-field. However, the variation rate of current gain is decreased sharply indicating FBL structure with high current gain stability due to reducing the recombination current of base-emitter depletion region. Furthermore, the charges in the buried layer modulate the electric-field resulting from a higher electric-field peak introduced at the etched edge of base-collector junction, which results in breakdown voltage (BVCEO) enhanced.
Gaming Experience as a Prerequisite for the Adoption of Digital Games in the Classroom?

This paper addresses the question of how the gaming experiences of students and their attitudes towards gaming influence Game-based Learning in formal contexts. Based on the subject-scientific learning theory it explores how digital games can further expansive learning. The aim is to combine these issues to explain learning outcomes with digital games. For this purpose the paper presents the results of an empirical study with an Educational Game in a science class. 1
Parameterization of the Optical Properties for Water Clouds in the Infrared

Abstract A parameterization is presented for the optical properties of water clouds in the infrared spectrum. The cloud optical properties are parameterized in terms of the cloud’s liquid water content and the effective radius defined from the droplet size distribution. Rational functions are used for the parameterization. The coefficients for the rational functions are derived by doing least square fitting to points calculated by exact Mie theory. The optical properties are presented for 36 individual wavelengths. Also, parameterizations in 12 spectral bands between 4 and 1000 μm are shown. The parameterization is valid for effective radius between 2 and 40 μm. The accuracy of the parameterization is mostly within 5% compared to the exact Mie calculations.
A Scalable Data Access Layer to Manage Structured Heterogeneous Biomedical Data

This work presents a scalable data access layer, called PyEHR, intended for building data management systems for secondary use of structured heterogeneous biomedical and clinical data. PyEHR adopts openEHR formalisms to guarantee the decoupling of data descriptions from implementation details and exploits structures indexing to speed up searches. The persistence is guarantee by a driver layer with a common driver interface. Presently, are implemented the interfaces with two NoSQL DBMS: MongoDB and Elasticsearch. The scalability of PyEHR has been evaluated experimentally through two types of tests, namely constant load and constant number of records, with queries of increasing complexity on a two synthetic datasets of ten millions records each, containing very complex openEHR archetype structures, distributed on up to ten working nodes.