Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving Face Detection Performance with 3D-Rendered Synthetic Data

In this paper, we provide a synthetic data generator methodology with fully controlled, multifaceted variations based on a new 3D face dataset (3DU-Face). We customized synthetic datasets to address specific types of variations (scale, pose, occlusion, blur, etc.), and systematically investigate the influence of different variations on face detection performances. We examine whether and how these factors contribute to better face detection performances. We validate our synthetic data augmentation for different face detectors (Faster RCNN, SSH and HR) on various face datasets (MAFA, UFDD and Wider Face).
Regulation of Structure-Specific Endonucleases in Replication Stress

Replication stress results in various forms of aberrant replication intermediates that need to be resolved for faithful chromosome segregation. Structure-specific endonucleases (SSEs) recognize DNA secondary structures rather than primary sequences and play key roles during DNA repair and replication stress. Holliday junction resolvase MUS81 (methyl methane sulfonate (MMS), and UV-sensitive protein 81) and XPF (xeroderma pigmentosum group F-complementing protein) are a subset of SSEs that resolve aberrant replication structures. To ensure genome stability and prevent unnecessary DNA breakage, these SSEs are tightly regulated by the cell cycle and replication checkpoints. We discuss the regulatory network that control activities of MUS81 and XPF and briefly mention other SSEs involved in the resolution of replication intermediates.
Data-driven electronic structure calculations in semiconductor nanostructures — beyond the eight-band k · p formalism

In this work, we present a scheme to extract electronic structure parameters for multi-band k · p models beyond the well-established eight-band approach using up-to-date ab initio band structures. Our scheme allows us to identify parameters for k · p models with Hamiltonian matrices of arbitrary complexity and level of sophistication. The computational effort of our approach is very small and increases only slightly with the number of parameters that need to be fitted. We can furthermore apply priorities to specific bands or high-symmetry points of the Brillouin zone and can incorporate routines that help to increase the numerical stability of electronic structure simulations of semiconductor nanostructures using the obtained parameter sets.
Five-Stub Directional Device with Substantially Reduced Overall Dimensions

In this paper, a compact design of a five-stub microstrip coupler with significantly reduced overall dimensions has been investigated. To reduce the size, an artificial transmission line was used, with equivalent characteristics at a central operating frequency of 1000 MHz and in its vicinity, with the characteristics of an even-wave-length segment. Using the program of electrodynamic modeling AWR DE, a standard and compact coupler design was simulated. Due to the fact that the artificial line is shorter and the protruding elements are located, so that to maximally use the free space of the coupler without crossing with neighboring conductive lines from other lines, it was possible to reduce the area of the traditional coupler by 70% in relation to the area of the standard design, while the reduction in the band of operating frequencies occurred by 10%.
Nuclear Respiratory Factor 1 Negatively Regulates the P1 Promoter of the Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-γ Gene and Inhibits Chicken Adipogenesis

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) is a master regulator of adipogenesis, and alterations in its function are associated with various pathological processes related to metabolic syndrome. Recently, we found that the chicken PPARγ gene is regulated by three alternative promoters (P1, P2 and P3), producing five different transcript isoforms and two protein isoforms. In this study, the P1 promoter structure was characterized. Bioinformatics identified six putative nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1) binding sites in the P1 promoter, and a reporter assay showed that NRF1 inhibited the activity of the P1 promoter. Of the six putative NRF1 binding sites, individual mutations of three of them abolished the inhibitory effect of NRF1 on P1 promoter activity. Furthermore, a ChIP assay indicated that NRF1 directly bound to the P1 promoter, and real-time quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that NRF1 mRNA expression was negatively correlated with PPARγ1 expression (Pearson’s r = -0.148, p = 0.033). Further study showed that NRF1 overexpression inhibited the differentiation of the immortalized chicken preadipocyte cell line (ICP1), which was accompanied by reduced PPARγ1 mRNA expression. Taken together, our findings indicated that NRF1 directly negatively regulates the P1 promoter of the chicken PPARγ gene and inhibits adipogenesis.
A Dual-Band Antenna with AMC Reflector for WLAN Applications

We present the design of a dual-band slot antenna with high gain for wireless local area network (WLAN) covering the IEEE802.11a/b and IEEE802.116d/e standards. The antenna consists of a feed line with a complementary strip-slot pair and a parasitic slot-element and has a size of $57\times 40\ mm^{2}$. The antenna is combined with a single-band artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) surface to achieve a unidirectional radiation pattern with an average gain of 9.6 dBi. The size of the antenna with the AMC reflector is $68\times 53\ mm^{2}$. The proposed antenna was designed and simulated. The simulation results show that the antenna operates from 2.39 – 2.50 GHz and 4.90 – 5.97 GHz, which covers the 2.4, 5.2 and 5.8 GHz WLAN bands. It has a directional radiation pattern with peak gains of 7.5, 10.3 and 10.9 dBi at 2.4, 5.2 and 5.8 GHz, respectively.
The Presence of a Paretic Propulsion Reserve During Gait in Individuals Following Stroke

Background. The residual hemiparesis after stroke results in a unilateral reduction in propulsive force during gait. Prior work has suggested the presence of a propulsive reserve in the paretic limb. Objective. The purpose of this study was to quantify the paretic propulsive reserve in individuals poststroke and to determine the biomechanical mechanism underlying the generation of additional paretic propulsive limb force. Methods. Ten individuals with chronic hemiparesis poststroke walked on a treadmill against an impeding force (ascending 0% to 10% body weight [BW], in 2.5% BW increments, followed by descending 10% to 0% BW, also in 2.5% BW increments) applied to the body’s center of mass. The resulting propulsive forces were measured bilaterally and compared between impeding force levels. We then assessed potential mechanisms (trailing limb angle and plantarflexion moment) underlying the changes in propulsion. Results. Overall, peak paretic propulsive force increased by 92% and the paretic propulsive impulse increased by 225%, resulting in a significant increase in the paretic limb’s contribution to propulsion. Participants continued to produce increased paretic propulsion on removal of the impeding force. The trailing limb angle contributed significantly to the increase in paretic propulsion, whereas the plantarflexion moment did not. Conclusions. Participants exhibited a robust propulsive reserve on the paretic limb, suggesting that there is untapped potential that can be exploited through rehabilitation to improve gait recovery. The increase in propulsive symmetry indicates that a greater response was observed by the paretic limb rather than increased compensation by the nonparetic limb.
Hyperglycemia Induced by Chronic Restraint Stress in Mice Is Associated With Nucleus Tractus Solitarius Injury and Not Just the Direct Effect of Glucocorticoids

Chronic restraint stress (CRS) can affect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity and increase glucocorticoid levels. Glucocorticoids are stress hormones that regulate multiple aspects of energy homeostasis. Stress also impairs glucose tolerance. The aim of this study was to investigate the cause of insulin-resistant hyperglycemia during CRS. We produced the CRS models (a 7-day restraint followed by a 3-day free moving procedure, total of 4 cycles for 40 days) in mice, detected the parameters related to glucose metabolism, and compared them to those of the dexamethasone (DEX) injection (0.2 mg/kg i.p., also a 4 cycle procedure as the CRS). The results showed that the CRS induced a moderate (not higher than 11 mmol/L) and irreversible insulin-resistant hyperglycemia in about 1/3 of the individuals, and all the restrained mice had adrenal hypertrophy. CRS induced the apoptosis of neurons in the anterior part of commissural subnucleus of nucleus tractus solitarius (acNTS) in the hyperglycemic mice, and acNTS mechanical damage also led to insulin-resistant hyperglycemia. In contrast, in the DEX-treated mice, adrenal gland atrophy was evident. The glucose and insulin tolerance varied with the delay of determination. DEX exposure in vivo does not induce the apoptosis of neurons in NTS. This study indicates that restraint stress and DEX induce metabolic disorders through different mechanisms. During CRS, injury (apoptosis) of glucose-sensitive acNTS neurons cause dysregulation of blood glucose. This study also suggests the mouse restraint stress model has value as a potential application in the study of stress-induced hyperglycemia.
Nonnegative Matrix Factorization Based Consensus for Clusterings With a Variable Number of Clusters

Consensus clustering is an aggregation of base clusterings into an ensemble clustering which is better than the individual base clusterings. It is beneficial to determine the clusters from heterogeneous data. This paper presents a new approach that generates a set of good quality base clusterings and finds a single by aggregation of base clusterings into one clustering solution. The new approach consists of two phases. In the first phase, we present a new tree-based $k$ -means algorithm to build different base clusterings. It builds a cluster-tree which gives us one base clustering. The tree generation process uses two stopping criteria which base on the underlying data distribution of a data set. We change the value of the input parameter of the tree generation algorithm to produce multiple cluster-trees where each tree gives a base clustering with a variable number of clusters. In the second phase, we propose a new nonnegative matrix factorization-based consensus method to ensemble base clusterings into final clustering. We investigated the quality and diversity of base clusterings, which often have a large influence on the performances of consensus clustering. Experimental results on various real-world and synthetic data sets have demonstrated that the proposed algorithm was dominant over the well-known algorithms in term of clustering accuracy.
Inflammation by activated macrophage‐like THP‐1 cells increases human dura mater cell adhesion with alteration of integrin α2β1 and matrix metalloproteinase

This study was designed to investigate (i) extracellular matrix to specify adhesive substrates to human dura mater cell (hDMC); (ii) the alteration on adhesion‐related molecules in hDMC; and (iii) secreted matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) linked with extracellular matrix remodeling after exposure to inflammation. The hDMC was cultured from human dura mater tissue, and the studies were performed with hDMC after co‐culturing with macrophage like THP‐1 cells (Mϕ). The adhesion of co‐cultured hDMC through collagen I increased 6.4‐fold and through collagen IV increased 5.0‐fold compared with the adhesion of naïve cells (p < 0.001). Integrin subtype α2β1 expression was increased 6.3‐fold (p < 0.001) and α1 expression was decreased 2.0‐fold (p < 0.001) in the co‐cultured cells compared with the naïve cells. Co‐culturing induced significant increases in MMP‐1 (13.9‐fold, p < 0.01), MMP‐3 (7.6‐fold, p < 0.01), and VEGF (VEGF: 3.8‐fold, p < 0.05) expression and decreases in MMP‐9 (0.1‐fold, p < 0.01) compared with the sum of naïve hDMC and Mϕ values. Increased hDMC adhesion under inflammatory conditions is caused by an increased cellular affinity for collagen I and IV mediated by increased hDMC levels of integrin subtype α2β1 and environmental MMP‐1, ‐3 and decreased MMP‐9. Selective integrin subtype α2β1 inhibition assay showed 37.8% and 35.7% reduction in adhesion of co‐cultured hDMC to collagen I (p < 0.001) and IV (p = 0.057), respectively. The present study provides insight into the pathological conditions related to dura mater adhesion in inflammation. © 2018 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 9999:1–11, 2019.
Preconception Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter Leads to Cardiac Dysfunction in Adult Male Offspring

Background Particulate matter (particles < 2.5 μm [PM 2.5]) exposure during the in utero and postnatal developmental periods causes cardiac dysfunction during adulthood. Here, we investigated the potential priming effects of preconception exposure of PM 2.5 on cardiac function in adult offspring. Methods and Results Male and female friend leukemia virus b (FVB) mice were exposed to either filtered air (FA) or PM 2.5 at an average concentration of 38.58 μg/m3 for 6 hours/day, 5 days/week for 3 months. Mice were then crossbred into 2 groups: (1) FA male×FA female (both parents were exposed to FA preconception) and, (2) PM 2.5male×PM 2.5female (both parents were exposed to PM 2.5 preconception). Male offspring were divided: (1) preconception FA (offspring born to FA exposed parents) and, (2) preconception PM 2.5 (offspring born to PM 2.5 exposed parents) and analyzed at 3 months of age. Echocardiography identified increased left ventricular end systolic volume and reduced posterior wall thickness, reduced %fractional shortening and %ejection fraction in preconception PM 2.5 offspring. Cardiomyocytes isolated from preconception PM 2.5 offspring showed reduced %peak shortening, −dL/dT, TPS90 and slower calcium reuptake (tau). Gene and protein expression revealed modifications in markers of inflammation (IL‐6, IL‐15, TNFα, NFқB, CRP, CD26E, CD26P, intercellular adhesion molecule 1, and monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1) profibrosis (collagen type III alpha 1 chain), oxidative stress (NOS2), antioxidants (Nrf2, SOD, catalase), Ca2+ regulatory proteins (SERCA2a, p‐PLN, NCX), and epigenetic regulators (Dnmt1, Dnmt3a, Dnmt3b, Sirt1, and Sirt2) in preconception PM 2.5 offspring. Conclusions Preconception exposure to PM 2.5 results in global cardiac dysfunction in adult offspring, suggesting that abnormalities during development are not limited to the prenatal or postnatal periods but can also be determined before conception.
Livestreaming for User Testing Context-Rich Observation of Game Player Behavior

Game developers need methods for judging the effectiveness of their game designs. Although traditional user testing methods have been employed by the video game industry, they fail to capture players in their natural settings, indicating a more ethnographic approach could generate new insights into their behaviors. With the recent rise in popularity of livestreaming, this paper proposes that employing a “think-aloud” testing method over a livestream can be a useful addition to the testing tools available to developers and provide valuable contextual insights that could help game designers discover radical new innovations. By observing the livestreams for seven games, including two games created by one of the researchers, we discover that livestreaming not only exposes many of the design and product quality issues revealed by more traditional user testing, but that it also exposes many contextual behaviors that would otherwise remain hidden in a laboratory setting. This has implications not just for user testing within the video game industry, but for user testing in other industries desiring more contextual information about their consumers.
Food volume estimation based on stereo image analysis

Eating disorder may involve the consumption of excessive amounts of food, more than the human body needs. Numerous related efforts have been devoted to dietary assessment programs that require a daily self-logging and manual identification of food type and volume, which are analyzed later by a computer or a mobile device. This is known to be a challenging task especially when it involves accurate logging of the amount and time of the food intake. For these reasons, the need for a fully automatic approach to carry out all the tasks of food intake detection, food type classification, and dietary assessment has been the point of focus in many recent works [1].
Design of an Artificial Neural Network Algorithm for a Low-Cost Insole Sensor to Estimate the Ground Reaction Force (GRF) and Calibrate the Center of Pressure (CoP)

As an alternative to high-cost shoe insole pressure sensors that measure the insole pressure distribution and calculate the center of pressure (CoP), researchers developed a foot sensor with FSR sensors on the bottom of the insole. However, the calculations for the center of pressure and ground reaction force (GRF) were not sufficiently accurate because of the fundamental limitations, fixed coordinates and narrow sensing areas, which cannot cover the whole insole. To address these issues, in this paper, we describe an algorithm of virtual forces and corresponding coordinates with an artificial neural network (ANN) for low-cost flexible insole pressure measurement sensors. The proposed algorithm estimates the magnitude of the GRF and the location of the foot plantar CoP. To compose the algorithm, we divided the insole area into six areas and created six virtual forces and the corresponding coordinates. We used the ANN algorithm with the input of magnitudes of FSR sensors, 1st and 2nd derivatives of them to estimate the virtual forces and coordinates. Eight healthy males were selected for data acquisition. They performed an experiment composed of the following motions: standing with weight shifting, walking with 1 km/h and 2 km/h, squatting and getting up from a sitting position to a standing position. The ANN for estimating virtual forces and corresponding coordinates was fitted according to those data, converted to c script, and downloaded to a microcontroller for validation experiments in real time. The results showed an average RMSE the whole experiment of 31.154 N for GRF estimation and 8.07 mm for CoP calibration. The correlation coefficients of the algorithm were 0.94 for GRF, 0.92 and 0.76 for the X and Y coordinate respectively.
A Systematic Review of Behavioral Intervention Technologies for Youth With Chronic Health Conditions and Physical and Intellectual Disabilities: Implications for Adolescents and Young Adults With Spina Bifida

OBJECTIVE Behavioral intervention technologies (BITs) stand as a promising delivery mechanism that overcomes multiple condition-specific and access barriers for self-management interventions for adolescents and young adults with spina bifida (AYA-SB). The purpose of the current review was to synthesize the behavioral and self-management intervention literature in conditions that have overlapping symptoms with youth with SB and to develop a model of likely user needs for AYA-SB that promotes self-management. METHOD The search strategy was conducted by a medical research librarian in the following databases: MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Elsevier), PsycINFO (EbscoHost), the Cochrane Library (Wiley), and Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) databases. The review was based on a systematic narrative synthesis framework and adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines (registration number CRD42018092342). RESULTS In total, 18 articles were included in the current BIT review. The majority of included studies (1) targeted the management of chronic health conditions, (2) were informed by evidence-based approaches, (3) relied on content delivery, (4) were Web-based, (5) used linear or user-driven workflows, (6) included professional human support, and (7) included a control condition. CONCLUSIONS Many of the evaluated BITs resulted in acceptable usage and maintained or improved targeted symptoms. A user needs model for AYA-SB is proposed with the intention that future research will promote further refinement and ultimate deployment of a BIT for AYA-SB to promote self-management.
Meat and Fish as Sources of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase–Producing Escherichia coli, Cambodia

We compared extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing Escherichia coli isolates from meat and fish, gut-colonized women, and infected patients in Cambodia. Nearly half of isolates from women were phylogenetically related to food-origin isolates; a subset had identical multilocus sequence types, extended-spectrum β-lactamase types, and antimicrobial resistance patterns. Eating sun-dried poultry may be an exposure route.
Asynchronous Group Authentication Based on Geometric Approach

Individual authentication in air warfare is used to check whether a single participant is a legal member of the predefined group but not determine all participants at one time. An asynchronous (m, t, n) group authentication protocol is proposed based on multidimensional sphere reconstruction theorem of space analytic geometry without making any computational assumption, where m is the number of participants, t is threshold value, and n is the number of members. The proposed protocol can determine whether all participants belong to the predefined group at one time, which is applicable to batch verification prior to individual authentication. The center’s coordinate of (t-1)-dimensional sphere is treated as the shared secret and the coordinate of the point on the surface of the sphere, multiplied by a random blind factor, is issued to all members as their tokens. If m participants can reconstruct the shared secret by utilizing their tokens, indicate that there is not any invalid participant, otherwise perform individual authentication. Analyses show the proposed scheme can not only rule out the illegal outsider but also resist up to t-1 group member conspiring to forge a valid token for an outsider. In addition, compared with other schemes the proposed scheme is more applicable for air warfare network, with light-weight computation, flexible distribution, and high information rate.
A Finite Element Solution of the Forward Problem in EEG for Multipolar Sources

Multipolar source models have been presented in the context of electro/magnetoencephalography (E/MEG) to compensate for the limitations of the classical equivalent current dipole to represent realistic generators of brain activity. Although there exist several reports accounting for the advantages of multipolar components over single dipoles, there is still no available numerical implementation in fully personalized scenarios. In this paper, we present, for the first time, a finite element framework for simulating EEG signals generated by multipolar current sources in individualized, heterogeneous, and anisotropic head models. This formulation is based on the subtraction approach, guaranteeing the existence and uniqueness of the solution. In particular, we analyze the cases of monopolar, dipolar, and quadrupolar source components, for which we study their performance in idealized and realistic head models. Numerical solutions are compared with analytical formulas in multi-layered spherical models. Such formulas are available in the case of monopolar and dipolar sources, and here derived for the quadrupolar components. We finally illustrate their advantages in the description of extended current generators using a realistic head model. The framework presented here enables further analysis towards the estimation of biophysically principled source parameters from standard E/MEG experiments.