Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A novel approach to image coding using off-line foveation controlled by multiple eye-tracking measurement

In this paper we investigate the feasibility of using a wavelet transform to compress individual frames in a video sequence controlled by points of gaze coordinates collected from different viewers by an eye-tracker. Unlike most eye-tracking controlled compression approaches, we make the compression "off-line" and not in real time. Our results indicate that the distribution of gaze-points is "compact" across viewers in the sense that they tend to group together within limited regions. It is also observed that gaze-points collected from the original video sequence to a high degree cohere with those collected from the compressed sequence. Thus, wavelet-based foveated frame-sequence compression from eye-tracking data is possible, and does not change the viewing behavior of test-subjects.
An economy at risk? The social costs of school inefficiency

A preponderance of economic evidence demonstrates that the public school system in the United States is less efficient than it could be. However, few researchers have examined the economic consequences of such inefficiency. Lori Taylor finds that, although school inefficiency can crowd out consumption and investment in the remainder of the economy and can reduce the rate of return to investments in education, inefficiency has only a limited impact on economic activity. She estimates that, even compounded over twenty-five years, plausible degrees of school inefficiency reduce consumption and potential GDP by less than 1 percent. As such, the social costs of school inefficiency are similar in magnitude to the social costs of monopoly or the corporate income tax.
The Connection between Compositional Language and the Theory of other Minds

In this paper I wish to disambiguate the components of TOM, analyze them, and focus on the single pre-requisite that is commonly said to “systematically aid” TOM, namely, compositional language (Fitch, 2004). I will argue that compositional language is neither necessary nor sufficient for having a theory of other minds, and support this thesis with examples from animals that do not have compositional language, but do exhibit characteristics of TOM, and examples from organisms with compositional language, but do not provide evidence for having a TOM. The paper culminates with a call for further conceptual analysis of TOM, and suggests a promising direction of building layers of attribution of the concept as “sorites” type, admitting of degrees of ascription.
VALORES RELATIVOS AO TRABALHO EM GESTORES DO PODER LEGISLATIVO MUNICIPAL – NATAL, RN

Neste estudo investigaram-se as prioridades axiologicas relativas ao trabalho do corpo gerencial do Poder Legislativo Municipal de Natal, RN, Brasil, assim como se associaram esses resultados aos perfis sociodemograficos desses decisores. Do ponto de vista dos procedimentos tecnicos, trata-se de uma pesquisa de campo; quanto aos seus objetivos, e considerada descritiva; e quanto a forma de abordagem do problema, e classificada como quantitativa. A pesquisa foi censitaria, cujo escopo pesquisado foi o corpo gerencial composto por 82 servidores com cargos comissionados de direcao, gerencia e assessoramento superior. Ademais, foi aplicado o instrumento estruturado denominado Escala Revisada de Valores Relativos ao Trabalho (EVT-R), e, quanto ao tratamento dos dados, foram empregadas as tecnicas estatisticas Analise de Variância (ANOVA), Hipoteses e Teste de Tukey . Os dados revelaram que o corpo gerencial possui um perfil jovem, a maioria homens, casados, graduados e com pouco tempo de servico no Orgao. Analisada a EVT-R, os valores mais importantes foram: “Universalismo e Benevolencia” e “Conformidade”. E o menos importante foi “Poder”. Comparada a EVT-R com o perfil sociodemografico, observou-se evidencia de diferenca estatistica entre os perfis “Estimulacao” e “Realizacao”. Palavras-chave: Cultura organizacional. Valores relativos ao trabalho. Valores organizacionais. Poder Legislativo Municipal. Gestao publica.
An Innovative Method for Concluding User Search Intention Using Feedback Session

With the advent of computers, it became possible to store large amounts of information and finding useful information from such collections became a necessity of today’s world. For a broad-topic and ambiguous query, different users may have different search goals. The inference and analysis of user search goals can be very useful in improving search engine relevance and user experience. Hence, in this paper we have tried to improve the efficiency of the search engine by combining inferring user search goal with feedback sessions. Initially, we composed a framework to implement different user search goals for an ambiguous query with the help of clustering the proposed feedback sessions. The user needs are reflected efficiently through the feedback sessions built by the user click-through logs. Second, to represent better feedback sessions for clustering we generate the pseudo document. Finally, we proposed a new criterion “Classified Average Precision (CAP)” to evaluate the performance of inferring user search goals. Therefore, when users submit their queries, the search engine can return the results that are categorized into different groups according to user search goals online. Thus, users can find what they want conveniently.
Effect of Ixeris dentata Nakai Extract on Nitric Oxide Production and Prostaglandin E2 Generation in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 Cells

Inflammation is the basis of severe acute and chronic diseases. This study investigated the anti-inflammatory property of a crude methanol extract (MeOH-ex) and the solvent fractions of Ixeris dentata Nakai (IDN) in LPS-stimulated murine macrophage-like cell line RAW264.7. Here, we showed that the ethyl acetate fraction (EtOAc-fr) had the most potent inhibitory activity on LPS-induced nitric oxide (NO) production among the tested samples, i.e., IDN MeOH-ex and the three different solvent fractions (chloroform, n-hexane, and EtOAc). We further found that the EtOAc-fr significantly inhibited LPS-induced prostaglandin PGE2 (PGE2) generation in RAW264.7 cells. Furthermore, the treatment with EtOAc-fr effectively suppressed the expression of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2). These results suggest that the EtOAc-fr of IDN MeOH-ex exhibits an anti-inflammatory activity in vitro by inhibiting LPS-induced NO production and PGE2 generation via suppression of iNOS and COX-2 expression.
Forget-me-not: History-less Mobile Messaging

Text messaging has long been a popular activity, and today smartphone apps enable users to choose from a plethora of mobile messaging applications. While we know a lot about SMS practices, we know less about practices of messaging applications. In this paper, we take a first step to explore one ubiquitous aspect of mobile messaging -- messaging history. We designed, built, and trialled a mobile messaging application without history named forget-me-not. The two-week trial showed that history-less messaging no longer supports chit-chat as seen in e.g. WhatsApp, but is still considered conversational and more 'engaging'. Participants expressed being lenient and relaxed about what they wrote. Removing the history allowed us to gain insights into what uses history has in other mobile messaging applications, such as planning events, allowing for distractions, and maintaining multiple conversation threads.
A Meta-Analysis of Experiments Linking Incubation Conditions with Subsequent Leg Weakness in Broiler Chickens

A series of incubation and broiler growth studies were conducted using one strain of broiler chicken (fast feathering dam line) observing incubation effects on femoral bone ash % at hatch and the ability of the bird to remain standing at 6 weeks of age (Latency-To-Lie). Egg shell temperatures during incubation were consistently recorded. Parsimonious models were developed across eight studies using stepwise multiple linear regression of egg shell temperatures over 3-day periods and both bone ash at hatch and Latency-To-Lie. A model for bone ash at hatch explained 70% of the variation in this factor and revealed an association with lower egg shell temperatures during days 4–6 and 13–15 and higher egg shell temperatures during days 16–18 of incubation. Bone ash at hatch and subsequent Latency-To-Lie were positively correlated (r = 0.57, P<0.05). A model described 66% of the variation Latency-To-Lie showing significant association of the interaction of femoral ash at hatch and lower average egg shell temperatures over the first 15 days of incubation. Lower egg shell temperature in the early to mid incubation process (days 1–15) and higher egg shell temperatures at a later stage (days 16–18) will both tend to delay the hatch time of incubating eggs. Incubation profiles that resulted in later hatching chicks produced birds which could remain standing for a longer time at 6 weeks of age. This supports a contention that the effects of incubation observed in many studies may in fact relate more to earlier hatching and longer sojourn of the hatched chick in the final stage incubator. The implication of these outcomes are that the optimum egg shell temperature during incubation for broiler leg strength development may be lower than that regarded as ideal (37.8°C) for maximum hatchability and chick growth.
Neoplasia Driven by Mutant c-KIT Is Mediated by Intracellular, Not Plasma Membrane, Receptor Signaling

ABSTRACT Activating mutations in c-KIT are associated with gastrointestinal stromal tumors, mastocytosis, and acute myeloid leukemia. In attempting to establish a murine model of human KITD816V (hKITD816V)-mediated leukemia, we uncovered an unexpected relationship between cellular transformation and intracellular trafficking. We found that transport of hKITD816V protein was blocked at the endoplasmic reticulum in a species-specific fashion. We exploited these species-specific trafficking differences and a set of localization domain-tagged KIT mutants to explore the relationship between subcellular localization of mutant KIT and cellular transformation. The protein products of fully transforming KIT mutants localized to the Golgi apparatus and to a lesser extent the plasma membrane. Domain-tagged KITD816V targeted to the Golgi apparatus remained constitutively active and transforming. Chemical inhibition of intracellular transport demonstrated that Golgi localization is sufficient, but plasma membrane localization is dispensable, for downstream signaling mediated by KIT mutation. When expressed in murine bone marrow, endoplasmic reticulum-localized hKITD816V failed to induce disease in mice, while expression of either Golgi-localized HyKITD816V or cytosol-localized, ectodomain-deleted KITD816V uniformly caused fatal myeloproliferative diseases. Taken together, these data demonstrate that intracellular, non-plasma membrane receptor signaling is sufficient to drive neoplasia caused by mutant c-KIT and provide the first animal model of myelomonocytic neoplasia initiated by human KITD816V.
View-Dependent Tessellation and Simulation of Ocean Surfaces

Modeling and rendering realistic ocean scenes have been thoroughly investigated for many years. Its appearance has been studied and it is possible to find very detailed simulations where a high degree of realism is achieved. Nevertheless, among the solutions to ocean rendering, real-time management of the huge heightmaps that are necessary for rendering an ocean scene is still not solved. We propose a new technique for simulating the ocean surface on GPU. This technique is capable of offering view-dependent approximations of the mesh while maintaining coherence among the extracted approximations. This feature is very important as most solutions previously presented must retessellate from the initial mesh. Our solution is able to use the latest extracted approximation when refining or coarsening the mesh.
Assessment of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Fellow Eye in Patients with Unilateral Optic Neuritis

Background: One of the main progressive consequences of optic neuritis is inflammatory axonal loss manifested by Retinal Nerve Fiber layer (RNFL) thinning on Optical Coherence Tomography. We assessed RNFL thickness in the fellow eye in patients with unilateral optic neuritis. Methods: Twenty nine patients with unilateral optic neuritis after three months of attack, were enrolled in the study and the RNFL thickness were measured by Optical Coherence Tomography in the quadrants of superior, nasal, inferior, and temporal at both involved and fellow eyes. Results: The mean RNFL thickness was significantly lower in the involved than in fellow eye in all quadrants except for temporal. Significant differences were only in women. Compared to fellow eyes, lower mean RNFL thickness in superior, inferior, and nasal quadrants in involved eyes was found mostly in the ages below 40. RNFL was less thickened in involved than in fellow eyes only in those patients with final diagnosis of isolated optic neuritis not in those with multiple sclerosis. Mean RNFL thickness was significantly lower in involved eyes in all quadrants (except for temporal) only in those who underwent Optical Coherence Tomography 13 to 24 months after optic neuritis. Conclusion: RNFL thinning occurs in involved eye compared to fellow eye in patients with unilateral optic neuritis. It is observed in women more than men and in those patients younger than 40. The abnormal change in RNFL thickness was also found in those patients underwent Optical Coherence Tomography 13 to 24 months after optic neuritis. The difference in mean RNFL thickness may be specified to inferior quadrant in MS patients.
Global m = 1 instabilities and lopsidedness in disc galaxies

Lopsidedness is common in spiral galaxies. Often, there is no obvious external cause, such as an interaction with a nearby galaxy, for such features. Alternatively, the lopsidedness may have an internal cause, such as a dynamical instability. In order to explore this idea, we have developed a computer code that searches for self-consistent perturbations in razor-thin disc galaxies and performed a thorough mode-analysis of a suite of dynamical models for disc galaxies embedded in an inert dark-matter halo with varying amounts of rotation and radial anisotropy. Models with two equal-mass counter-rotating discs and fully rotating models both show growing lopsided modes. For the counter-rotating models, this is the well-known counter-rotating instability, becoming weaker as the net rotation increases. The m = 1 mode of the maximally rotating models, on the other hand, becomes stronger with increasing net rotation. This rotating m = 1 mode is reminiscent of the eccentricity instability in near-Keplerian discs. To unravel the physical origin of these two dierent m = 1 instabilities, we studied the individual stellar orbits in the perturbed potential and found that the presence of the perturbation gives rise to a very rich orbital behaviour. In the linear regime, both instabilities are supported by aligned loop orbits. In the non-linear regime, other orbit families exist that can help support the modes. In terms of density waves, the counterrotating m = 1 mode is due to a purely growing Jeans-type instability. The rotating m = 1 mode, on the other hand, grows as a result of the swing amplier working inside the resonance cavity that extends from the disc center out to the radius where non-rotating waves are stabilized by the model’s outwardly rising Q-prole.
An algebraic approach to information theory

This work proposes an algebraic model for classical information theory. We first give an algebraic model of probability theory. Information theoretic constructs are based on this model. In addition to theoretical insights provided by our model one obtains new computational and analytical tools. Several important theorems of classical probability and information theory are presented in the algebraic framework.
Design and Management of Complex Technical Processes and Systems by means of Computational Intelligence Methods Intelligent Group Movement and Selection in Realtime Strategy Games

Movement of groups in realtime strategy games is often a nuisance: Units travel and battle separately, resulting in huge losses and the AI looking dumb. This applies to computer as well as human commanded factions. We suggest to tackle that by using flocking improved by influence-map based pathfinding which leads to a much more natural and intelligent looking behavior. A similar problem occurs if the computer AI has to select groups to combat a specific target: Assignment of units to groups, especially for multiple enemy groups, is often suboptimal when units have very different attack skills. This can be cured by using offline prepared self-organizing feature maps that use all available information for looking up good matches. We demonstrate that these two approaches work well separately, but also that they go together very naturally, thereby leading to an improved and—via parametrization—very flexible group behavior. Opponent AI may be strenghtened that way as well as player-supportive AI. A thorough experimental analysis supports our claims.
The application of fuzzy analytic network process in supplier selection based on the connection number

Supplier selection is a complex multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem, and its complexity is further aggravated if the highly important interdependence among the selection criteria is taken into consideration. Aimed at this correlation between the various attributes, a method of fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) based on the connection number is proposed. Using triangular fuzzy numbers to evaluate the mutual importance between the various criteria, a hybrid network structure model is developed, then according to characteristics of the triangular fuzzy numbers-the relative certainty median value and uncertainty upper and lower value, using set pair analysis to transform the triangular fuzzy number into connection number. Finally, an example is given to explain the feasibility and availability of this method.
A Meta-Analysis of Mortality in End-Stage Renal Disease Patients Receiving Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs)

Data on the effectiveness of implantable implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) with respect to reducing mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are lacking. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to compare the mortality of patients with ESRD who have received and not received an ICD. A search was conducted on January 31, 2013 of Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. Studies were selected for inclusion based on the following criteria. 1) Randomized controlled trial. 2) ESRD patients with heart failure. 3) Device therapy (ICD, CRT-defibrillator [CRT-D]) used to treat heart failure. 4) Primary outcome is survival analysis. 5) Retrospective study if survival analysis was performed. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS), and the secondary outcome was 2-year survival. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated, and a χ2-based test of homogeneity was performed. Three studies were included in the analysis. The combined OR for OS was 2.245 (95% CI 1.871 to 2.685, P<0.001), indicating that patients with an ICD had a significantly higher OS than those without an ICD. The combined OR for 2-year survival was 2.312 (95% CI 1.921 to 2.784, P<0.001), indicating that patients with an ICD had a significantly higher 2-year survival rate than those without an ICD. The use of ICD in patients with ESRD is associated with an increase in the OS and the 2-year survival rate.
Modeling and Stability Analysis of Dynamic Output Feedback Real-Time Networked Control Systems

Stability of system with real-time Ethernet as control network is studied in this paper. Based on Ethernet/IP real-time Ethernet, model of dynamic output feedback real-time networked control systems with linear time-invariant object is established, and stability criteria of the system are proposed. A simulation example is given to illustrate that the analysis method and the result are valid and feasible.
Supervised All-Words Lexical Substitution using Delexicalized Features

We propose a supervised lexical substitution system that does not use separate classifiers per word and is therefore applicable to any word in the vocabulary. Instead of learning word-specific substitution patterns, a global model for lexical substitution is trained on delexicalized (i.e., non lexical) features, which allows to exploit the power of supervised methods while being able to generalize beyond target words in the training set. This way, our approach remains technically straightforward, provides better performance and similar coverage in comparison to unsupervised approaches. Using features from lexical resources, as well as a variety of features computed from large corpora (n-gram counts, distributional similarity) and a ranking method based on the posterior probabilities obtained from a Maximum Entropy classifier, we improve over the state of the art in the LexSub Best-Precision metric and the Generalized Average Precision measure. Robustness of our approach is demonstrated by evaluating it successfully on two different datasets.
Downregulation of Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor by Hydrophobic 3-Hydroxy-3-Methylglutaryl Coenzyme A Reductase Inhibitors in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase inhibitors, so-called statins, reduce the relative risk of a major coronary event by lowering the serum cholesterol level. In addition, statins may confer beneficial effects by cholesterol-lowering independent mechanisms, which are incompletely characterized. Because angiotensin II (Ang II) plays crucial roles in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, we examined the effect of statins on the expression of the Ang II type 1 receptor (AT1-R) in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Cerivastatin and fluvastatin reduced the AT1-R mRNA and the AT1-R protein levels; however, pravastatin lacked this effect. Cerivastatin and fluvastatin suppressed the AT1-R promoter activity measured by luciferase assay but did not affect AT1-R mRNA stability, suggesting that the suppression occurs at the transcriptional level. Coincubation of VSMCs with mevalonate or geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate but not with farnesyl pyrophosphate reversed the cerivastatin-induced AT1-R downregulation. Overexpression of dominant-negative Rho A also suppressed AT1-R mRNA expression. Treatment with cerivastatin for 24 hours reduced the calcium response of VSMCs to Ang II. Taken together, statins downregulate AT1-R expression through a mevalonate-dependent, geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate-dependent, and Rho A-dependent manner and attenuate the biological function of Ang II. Downregulation of AT1-R may contribute to the cholesterol-independent beneficial effect of statins on the cardiovascular system.