Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Semantic Hierarchies for Recognizing Objects and Parts

This paper describes the construction and use of a novel representation for the recognition of objects and their parts, the semantic hierarchy. Its advantages include improved classification performance, accurate detection and localization of object parts and sub-parts, and explicitly identifying the different appearances of each object part. The semantic hierarchy algorithm starts by constructing a minimal feature hierarchy and proceeds by adding semantically equivalent representatives to each node, using the entire hierarchy as a context for determining the identity and locations of added features. Part detection is obtained by a bottom-up top-down cycle. Unlike previous approaches, the semantic hierarchy learns to represent the set of possible appearances of object parts at all levels, and their statistical dependencies. The algorithm is fully automatic and is shown experimentally to substantially improve the recognition of objects and their parts.
Evolutionary Trends of A(H1N1) Influenza Virus Hemagglutinin Since 1918

The Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 is spreading to numerous countries and causing many human deaths. Although the symptoms in humans are mild at present, fears are that further mutations in the virus could lead to a potentially more dangerous outbreak in subsequent months. As the primary immunity-eliciting antigen, hemagglutinin (HA) is the major agent for host-driven antigenic drift in A(H3N2) virus. However, whether and how the evolution of HA is influenced by existing immunity is poorly understood for A(H1N1). Here, by analyzing hundreds of A(H1N1) HA sequences since 1918, we show the first evidence that host selections are indeed present in A(H1N1) HAs. Among a subgroup of human A(H1N1) HAs between 1918∼2008, we found strong diversifying (positive) selection at HA1 156 and 190. We also analyzed the evolutionary trends at HA1 190 and 225 that are critical determinants for receptor-binding specificity of A(H1N1) HA. Different A(H1N1) viruses appeared to favor one of these two sites in host-driven antigenic drift: epidemic A(H1N1) HAs favor HA1 190 while the 1918 pandemic and swine HAs favor HA1 225. Thus, our results highlight the urgency to understand the interplay between antigenic drift and receptor binding in HA evolution, and provide molecular signatures for monitoring future antigenically drifted 2009 pandemic and seasonal A(H1N1) influenza viruses.
Tunable plasmonic nanostructures: From fundamental nanoscale optics to surface-enhanced spectroscopies

The fascinating optical properties of metallic nanostructures, dominated by collective oscillations of free electrons known as plasmons, open new opportunities for the development of fundamentally new metal-based subwavelength optical elements with broad technological potential. This thesis demonstrates the rational design and controllable fabrication of a whole family of novel plasmonic nanostructures with geometrically tunable optical properties with a particular focus on utilizing plasmonic nanostructures to optimize molecular sensing platforms based on surface-enhanced spectroscopies.
Moment-matched lognormal modeling of uplink interference with power control and cell selection

We develop an alternate characterization of the statistical distribution of the inter-cell interference power observed in the uplink of CDMA systems. We show that the lognormal distribution better matches the cumulative distribution and complementary cumulative distribution functions of the uplink interference than the conventionally assumed Gaussian distribution and variants based on it. This is in spite of the fact that many users together contribute to uplink interference, with the number of users and their locations both being random. Our observations hold even in the presence of power control and cell selection, which have hitherto been used to justify the Gaussian distribution approximation. The parameters of the lognormal are obtained by matching moments, for which detailed analytical expressions that incorporate wireless propagation, cellular layout, power control, and cell selection parameters are developed. The moment-matched lognormal model, while not perfect, is an order of magnitude better in modeling the interference power distribution.
Computational Model of Human Creativity in Dance Choreography

Dance choreography is a system of techniques used to create new dances. The choreographer devises body movements using internal and external cues to express feelings and concepts, from the most abstract ideas to very concrete human situations in a highly creative manner. In 3D Tele-immersive Environments (3DTI) the choreographer has exponentially more options to create new body movements in the new dance since the 3DTI technology offers an array of visual stimulations, called Digital Options, which influence this movement making process. In this paper, first, we explore the creative process of dance choreography through Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis (LMA) representation via computational models in the 3D technology. Second, we elaborate on the creativity framework and the design of dynamic compositions that are placed in the geographically distributed multi-stream, multiparty 3DTI environment. Third, we discuss some very preliminary results of our creativity framework and first findings that validate parts of our computational modeling and 3DTI design.
Fracture strength and fractographic analysis of zirconia copings treated with four experimental silane primers

This study evaluated and compared the effect of new four experimental silane coupling agents on the fracture strength of zirconia copings. The findings were supported with fractographic and finite element analyses. All together 125 zirconia copings with a ‎wall thickness of 0.6 mm were fabricated on identical nickel-chromium master dies and then divided randomly into five groups (n = 25). Four test groups were prepared according the experimental silane primer (labeled: OIWA1, OIWA2, OIWA3 and OIWA4) ‎and one control group without silanization. The silane monomers used were: ‎3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (in OIWA1), ‎3-acryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (in OIWA2), ‎3-‎isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane (in OIWA3) and styrylethyltrimethoxysilane (in OIWA4). Tribochemical sandblasting (silica-coating) treatment was performed to the inner surface of the copings in the ‎test groups. All the specimens were silanized at the inner surfaces of the zirconia copings. Self-‎adhesive universal resin cement was used to cement the copings to ‎the underlying master die. Zirconia copings were vertically loaded on the ‎cusp ‎area until the first crack failure was occurred using Precision Universal Tester ‎at a ‎constant crosshead speed of 1 mm/min. Then, the machine ‎was manually controlled to cause more failure ‎to further determine the texture of fracture. Three dimensional finite element analysis and fractography were performed to support the fracture strength findings. Based on the finite element analysis results, zirconia silanized with ‎3-acryloyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane showed the highest fracture strength with a mean of ‎963.75‎ N (SD 4.5 N), while zirconia copings silanized with ‎3-methacryloyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane showed a mean fracture strength value of ‎925.65 N (SD 2.4 N). Styrylethyltrimethoxysilane-silanised zirconia showed mean fracture strength of 895.95 N (SD 3.5 N). Adding silane coupling agents to the resin-zirconia interface increased the fracture strengths significantly (ANOVA, p < 0.05). Silanization with four new experimental silane primers in vitro produced significantly ‎greater fracture strength than the control group not treated with the test silane. ‎
Phylesystem: a git-based data store for community-curated phylogenetic estimates

1 Motivation Phylogenetic estimates from published studies can be archived using general platforms like Dryad (Vision, 2010) or TreeBASE (Sanderson et al., 1994). Such services fulfill a crucial role in ensuring transparency and reproducibility in phylogenetic research. However, digital tree data files often require some editing (e.g. rerooting) to improve the accuracy and reusability of the phylogenetic statements. Furthermore, establishing the mapping between tip labels used in a tree and taxa in a single common taxonomy dramatically improves the ability of other researchers to reuse phylogenetic estimates. Because the process of curating a published phylogenetic estimate is not error-free, retaining a full record of the provenance of edits to a tree is crucial for openness, allowing editors to receive credit for their work, and making errors introduced during curation easier to correct. 2 Results Here we report the development of software infrastructure to support the open curation of phylogenetic data by the community of biologists. The backend of the system provides an interface for the standard database operations of creating, reading, updating, and deleting records by making commits to a git repository. The record of the history of edits to a tree is preserved by git’s version control features. Hosting this data store on GitHub (2014) provides open access to the data store using tools familiar to many developers. We have deployed a server running the “phylesystem-api”, which wraps the interactions with git and GitHub. The Open Tree of Life project has also developed and deployed a JavaScript application that uses the phylesystem-api and other web services to enable input and curation of published phylogenetic statements. 3 Availability Source code for the web service layer is available at https://github.com/OpenTreeOfLife/phylesystem-api. The data store can be cloned from: https://github.com/OpenTreeOfLife/phylesystem. A web application that uses the phylesystem web services is deployed at https://tree.opentreeoflife. org/curator. Code for that tool is available from https://github.com/OpenTreeOfLife/opentree 4 Contact mtholder@gmail.com
On Unique Additive Representations of Positive Integers and Some Close Problems

Let, for r>=2, (m_r(n)),n>=0, be Moser sequence such that every nonnegative integer is the unique sum of the form s_k+rs_l. In this article we give an explicit decomposition formulas of such form and an unexpectedly simple recursion relation for Moser's numbers. We also study interesting properties of the sequence (rm_r(n-1)+1),n>=1, and its connection with some important problems. In particular, in the case of r=2 this sequence is surprisingly connected with the numbers solving the combinatorial Josephus-Groer problem. We pose also some open questions.
Radiofrequency ablation as initial therapy in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: results on health-related quality of life and symptom burden. The MANTRA-PAF trial.

AIMS The Medical ANtiarrhythmic Treatment or Radiofrequency Ablation in Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (MANTRA-PAF) trial assessed the long-term efficacy of an initial strategy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) vs. antiarrhythmic drug therapy (AAD) as first-line treatment for patients with PAF. In this substudy, we evaluated the effect of these treatment modalities on the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and symptom burden of patients at 12 and 24 months. METHODS AND RESULTS During the study period, 294 patients were enrolled in the MANTRA-PAF trial and randomized to receive AAD (N = 148) or RFA (N = 146). Two generic questionnaires were used to assess the HRQoL [Short Form-36 (SF-36) and EuroQol-five dimensions (EQ-5D)], and the Arrhythmia-Specific questionnaire in Tachycardia and Arrhythmia (ASTA) was used to evaluate the symptoms appearing during the trial. All comparisons were made on an intention-to-treat basis. Both randomization groups showed significant improvements in assessments with both SF-36 and EQ-5D, at 24 months. Patients randomized to RFA showed significantly greater improvement in four physically related scales of the SF-36. The three most frequently reported symptoms were breathlessness during activity, pronounced tiredness, and worry/anxiety. In both groups, there was a significant reduction in ASTA symptom index and in the severity of seven of the eight symptoms over time. CONCLUSION Both AAD and RFA as first-line treatment resulted in substantial improvement of HRQoL and symptom burden in patients with PAF. Patients randomized to RFA showed greater improvement in physical scales (SF-36) and the EQ-visual analogue scale. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION URL http://www.clinicaltrials. gov. Unique identifier: NCT00133211.
Optimizing the Production Parameters of Engineered Protein-Based MRI Contrast Agents

Magnetic Resonance Imaging is a noninvasive, complex imaging modality that uses contrast agents to enhance sensitivity and resolution for a clear image enhancement. To optimize the relaxation and targeting properties, our lab has created several protein-based contrast agents, ProCAs. To enable various biophysical characterizations and preclinical studies, we need to optimize expression and purification of the engineered ProCAs. ProCA1 variants are cultured in various cell strains during a tagless method. ProCA32 with multiple binding sites is also successfully purified. It has a strong metalbinding capability with a relaxivity (r2: 27 ± 0.54; r1: 20.6 ± 0.20 mM s) that is significantly greater than the clinically used contrast agent,diethylene triamine pentaacidic acid, DTPA (r1: 3.8 mM s). Our findings in optimizing expression and purification conditions, structural conformation, metal binding, and relaxivity measurements of these ProCAs will facilitate in vitro and in vivo studies needed to move forward into the pre-clinical then clinical phase. INDEX WORDS: Expression, Tag-less refolding method, GST-tag refolding, Gadolinium, Metal binding, Relaxivity, Structural Conformation OPTIMIZING THE PRODUCTION PARAMETERS OF ENGINEERED PROTEIN-BASED MRI CONTRAST AGENTS
Effective osmotic pressure of the plasma proteins and other quantities associated with the capillary circulation in the hindlimbs of cats and dogs.

The principal factors regulating the exchange of fluid between capillaries and tissue spaces were outlined by Starling (1) following his experiments on the absorption of fluid from the connective tissue spaces. Starling’s experiments, performed on perfused hindlimbs of dogs, gave rise to one of the most widely recognized hypotheses in physiology and medicine. According to the ‘Starling Hypothesis’, the direction and rate of fluid transfer between plasma and tissue fluids are determined by three factors; a> the hydrostatic pressures on each side of the capillary membranes, b) the protein osmotic pressures of plasma and tissue fluids acting across the capillary membranes, and c) the physical properties of the capillary membranes considered as mechanical filters. Convincing quantitative evidence in support of the Starling theory was obtained by Landis (2) from direct measurements of the hydrostatic pressure and rates of fluid movement in individual capillaries of the frog’s mesentery. In this preparation the rate of fluid movement across the capillary membrane is, on the average, proportional to the difference between t? ne mean hydrostatic pressure in the capillary and the protein osmotic pressure of the plasma as measured in vitro. This behavior represents a special case of the Starling theory in which tissue pressure opposing filtration is negligible and the capillary membranes are almost completely impermeable to the plasma proteins; it implies that the protein concentration in tissue fluid immediately outside the capillary wall is too low to play a significant role in determining the osmotic balance. No such direct measurements have been made in mammalian capillaries. Circumstantial evidence, reviewed by Landis (3), has in general lent support to the
Improved content based watermarking for images

Krishna for all their help and support. I would also like to thank all my friends who have helped me all through my stay at LSU and have made it a memorable one. Last, but by no means the least, I express my grateful appreciation to my parents for their love, encouragement and support. Through them I have learned that perseverance is the key to success. Abstract Due to improvements in imaging technologies and the ease with which digital content can be created and manipulated, there is need for the copyright protection of
Architectural Design of Flexible Process Management Technology

To provide effective support, process-aware information systems (PAIS) must not freeze existing business processes. Instead they should enable authorized users to deviate on-the-fly from the implemented processes and to dynamically evolve them over time. While there has been a lot of work on the theoretical foundations of dynamic process changes, there is still a lack of PAIS implementing this dynamics. Designing the architecture of respective technology constitutes a big challenge due to the high complexity coming with dynamic processes. Besides this, performance, robustness, security and usability of the system must not be affected by the added flexibility. In the AristaFlow project we have taken a holistic approach to master this complexity. Based on a conceptual framework for flexible process enactment and dynamic processes, we have designed a sophisticated architecture for next generation process management technology. This paper discusses major design goals and basic architectural principles, gives insights into selected system components, and shows how change support features can be realized in an integrated and effective manner.
Rapid-prototyping of iterative learning control using MATLAB/Simlink hybrid-programming

Rapid-control-prototyping is an efficient mean of experimental study for control research. It is a challenge to exercise rapid-control-prototyping for iterative learning control (ILC) due to the finite time nature of ILC. This paper describes the construction of an ILC system based on MATLAB, Simulink, and Quanser WinCon. MATLAB/Simulink hybridprogramming is utilized to solve the complex task of rapid-prototyping for ILC. The built robotic system has been shown an effective testbed for ILC. The project can provide control students a good opportunity to gain hands-on proficiency with MATLAB/Simulink hybrid-programming, rapid-prototyping, and ILC.
Joint stiffness identification from only motor force/torque data

This paper deals with joint stiffness identification with only actual motor force/torque data instead of motor and load positions. The parameters are estimated by using the DIDIM method which needs only input data. This method was previously validated on a 6 DOF rigid robot and is now extended to flexible systems. The criterion to be minimized is the quadratic error between the measured actual motor force/torque and the simulated one. The optimal parameters are calculated with the Nelder - Mead simplex algorithm. An experimental setup exhibits the experimental identification results and shows the effectiveness of our approach.
MICRO-SCALE SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS FOR ULTRA-LONG SPACE FLIGHTS

This paper proposes to leverage the mathematical means of game theory to analyze on-board social crew dynamics. We describe how game theory facilitates capturing the essence of interactive decision making, thereby raising the potential for a fully automated and unintrusive monitoring and diagnosis tool. Finally, we present preliminary findings based on the base-line data collection and the first phase of the ground based Mars-500 isolation experiment.
Hysteresis and conformational drift of pressure-dissociated glyceraldehydephosphate dehydrogenase.

Pressure dissociation of yeast glyceraldehydephosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy. Observations in the range of -5 to 30 degrees C indicate that monomer association into the tetramer proceeds with an enthalpy change of -14 kcal mol-1 and a large increase in entropy which at 25 degrees C amounts to 18 kcal mol-1. The large conformational drift and the low-temperature stability of the tetramer recovered after decompression facilitated a comparison of its properties with those of the native tetramer. Significant differences in absorption and fluorescence-excitation polarization spectra, yield of tryptophan fluorescence, and binding of anilinonaphthalenesulfonate and NADH were observed. At 0 degree C the standard free energies of association of the monomers into the native and drifted tetramers were respectively -32 and -29 kcal mol-1. The volume change upon association measured from the pressure span of the compression curves was 200-230 mL mol-1 but four times as large when derived from the displacement of the compression curves with total protein concentration. This large discrepancy can be explained by the existence in the native tetramer population of a distribution of free energies of association with a dispersion from the mean of about 6 kcal mol-1. At 0 degree C and 1 bar ATP and ADP decreased the stability of the GAPDH tetramer by changes in free energy of association of +3.7 and +4.1 kcal mol-1, respectively. NAD and c-AMP stabilized it by -2.3 and -1.3 kcal mol-1. The variation in sign and magnitude of the ligand-induced changes in free energy of association observed in this case, and previously in hexokinase [Ruan, K. , & Weber, G. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 3295], and the heterogeneity of the free energy of association of GAPDH, revealed as indicated above, lead to the conclusion that oligomeric aggregates exist in a variety of conformations that depend upon the protein concentration, temperature, pressure, and the presence of specific ligands. The multiplicity of species revealed by the energetics raises questions about the significance of the structures of oligomeric proteins determined by X-ray crystallography.
Reliability and validity of the Children's Leisure Assessment Scale.

OBJECTIVE We examined the internal consistency and construct validity of the Children's Leisure Assessment Scale (CLASS), which measures multidimensional participation in children's and adolescents' leisure activities. METHOD The questionnaire's content and face validity were first established, followed by a factor analysis of the CLASS's frequency domain of the responses of 249 children and adolescents. Internal consistency was evaluated for each of the factors, and construct validity was established by examining gender differences. RESULTS The factors showed acceptable levels of internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha ranged from .57 to .83). We found that girls participated in significantly more self-enrichment activities and instrumental indoor activities, with greater preference. However, boys participated in significantly more games and sports activities. CONCLUSION The CLASS shows good internal reliability and may be useful in the future as a clinical and research tool in occupational therapy for evaluating leisure activities among typically developing children and adolescents.