Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Finger Spelling Recognition from Depth Data Using Direction Cosines and Histogram of Cumulative Magnitudes

In this paper, we propose a new approach for finger spelling recognition using depth information captured by Kinect sensor. We only use depth information to characterize hand configurations corresponding to alphabet letters. First, we use depth data to generate a binary hand mask which is used to segment the hand area from background. Then, the major hand axis is determined and aligned with Y axis in order to achieve rotation invariance. Later, we convert the depth data in a 3D point cloud. The point cloud is divided into sub regions and in each one, using direction cosines, we calculated three histograms of cumulative magnitudes Hx, Hy and Hz corresponding to each axis. Finally, these histograms were concatenated and used as input to our Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. The performance of this approach is quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated on a dataset of real images of American Sign Language (ASL) hand shapes. The dataset used is composed of 60000 depth images. According to our experiments, our approach has an accuracy rate of 99.37%, outperforming other state-of-the-art methods.
Computing Tree Decompositions with FlowCutter: PACE 2017 Submission

We describe the algorithm behind our PACE 2017 submission to the heuristic tree decomposition computation track. It was the only competitor to solve all instances and won a tight second place. The algorithm was originally developed in the context of accelerating shortest path computation on road graphs using multilevel partitions. We illustrate how this seemingly unrelated field fits into tree decomposition and parameterized complexity theory.
Modulating the innate immune response by combinatorial engineering of endotoxin

Despite its highly inflammatory nature, LPS is a molecule with remarkable therapeutic potential. Lipid A is a glycolipid that serves as the hydrophobic anchor of LPS and constitutes a potent ligand of the Toll-like receptor (TLR)4/myeloid differentiation factor 2 receptor of the innate immune system. A less toxic mixture of monophosphorylated lipid A species (MPL) recently became the first new Food and Drug Administration-approved adjuvant in over 70 y. Whereas wild-type Escherichia coli LPS provokes strong inflammatory MyD88 (myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88)-mediated TLR4 signaling, MPL preferentially induces less inflammatory TRIF (TIR-domain–containing adaptor-inducing IFN-β)-mediated responses. Here, we developed a system for combinatorial structural diversification of E. coli lipid A, yielding a spectrum of bioactive variants that display distinct TLR4 agonist activities and cytokine induction. Mice immunized with engineered lipid A/antigen emulsions exhibited robust IgG titers, indicating the efficacy of these molecules as adjuvants. This approach demonstrates how combinatorial engineering of lipid A can be exploited to generate a spectrum of immunostimulatory molecules for vaccine and therapeutics development.
Improvements in diagnosis of histoplasmosis

Understanding the uses and limitations of a battery of laboratory methods is essential to diagnose histoplasmosis. Antigen detection and serology are valuable adjuncts to histopathology and culture. Improvements incorporated into the second-generation Histoplasma antigen assay have increased its sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of histoplasmosis. More recently, the antigen assay has been modified to provide quantitation, which improves reproducibility and facilitates monitoring antigen clearance during treatment. Furthermore, detection of antigen in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid increases the sensitivity for diagnosis of pulmonary histoplasmosis. Serological tests for antibodies are also useful, but may be falsely negative in immunosuppressed patients. In addition, elevated antibody titres persist for several years following initial infection, complicating their interpretation. Although histopathology may provide for rapid diagnosis, its sensitivity is < 50% in patients with disseminated disease and even lower in pulmonary histoplasmosis. Polymerase chain reaction has been described, but sensitivity is less than that of histopathology. Culture, although highly specific, has notable limitations, including insensitivity, a need for invasive procedures and delayed growth. This review provides the background for understanding the role of a battery of diagnostic methods in histoplasmosis. Tests facilitating a rapid diagnosis are expected to improve the outcome in patients with severe disease.
Viruses as Groundwater Tracers: Using Ecohydrology to Characterize Short Travel Times in Aquifers

Viruses are attractive tracers of short (<3 year) travel times in aquifers because they have unique genetic signatures, are detectable in trace quantities, and are mobile in groundwater. Virus “snaphots” result from infection and disappearance in a population over time; therefore, the virus snapshot shed in the fecal wastes of an infected population at a specific point in time can serve as a marker for tracking virus and groundwater movement. The virus tracing approach and an example application are described to illustrate their ability to characterize travel times in high‐groundwater velocity settings, and provide insight unavailable from standard hydrogeologic approaches. Although characterization of preferential flowpaths does not usually characterize the majority of other travel times occurring in the groundwater system (e.g., center of plume mass; tail of the breakthrough curve), virus approaches can trace very short times of transport, and thus can fill an important gap in our current hydrogeology toolbox.
THE IMPACT OF INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS ON THE EQUITY OF H 1 N 1 VACCINE DISTRIBUTION

Public Health Problem/Policy Issue: During the initial stages of the 2009-2010 H1N1 vaccination campaign, the demand for vaccines significantly outpaced supply. The federal government divided this limited vaccine among project areas (states, territories, the District of Columbia, and three large metropolitan public health departments) using a pro rata method based on population. Each project area then determined how its allocation would be divided among health care providers, and a variety of allocation methods (including pro rata) were used by project areas. This policy represents an equitable allocation in proportion to state population, but it does not ensure equal access to vaccine at lower levels of aggregation or at the individual level. Our study examines the shipments of vaccine and the resulting availability at the census tract level to identify potential inequities arising from the distribution approach. This research integrates tools from optimization, game theory, spatial statistics, and geographical information systems in a novel way, with the goal of providing insights that lead to improved resource allocation for future public health response.
Identification of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterases 3, 4 and 7 in human CD4+ and CD8+ T‐lymphocytes: role in regulating proliferation and the biosynthesis of interleukin‐2

1 The cyclic AMP phosphodiesterases (PDE) expressed by CD4+ and CD8+ T‐lymphocytes purified from the peripheral blood of normal adult subjects were identified and characterized, and their role in modulating proliferation and the biosynthesis of interleukin (IL)‐2 and interferon (IFN)‐γ evaluated. 2 In lysates prepared from both subsets, SK&F 95654 (PDE3 inhibitor) and rolipram (PDE4 inhibitor) suppressed cyclic AMP hydrolysis indicating the presence of PDE3 and PDE4 isoenzymes in these cells. Differential centrifugation and subsequent inhibitor and kinetic studies revealed that the particulate fraction contained, predominantly, a PDE3 isoenzyme. In contrast, the soluble fraction contained a PDE4 (∼65% of total activity) and, in addition, a novel enzyme that had the kinetic characteristics of the recently identified PDE7. 3 Reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) studies with primer pairs designed to recognise unique sequences in the human PDE4 and PDE7 genes amplified cDNA fragments that corresponded to the predicted sizes of HSPDE4A, HSPDE4B, HSPDE54D and HSPDE7. No message was detected for HSPDE4C after 35 cycles of amplification. 4 Functionally, rolipram inhibited phytohaemagglutinin‐ (PHA) and anti‐CD3‐induced proliferation of CD4+ and CD8+ T‐lymphocytes, and the elaboration of IL‐2, which was associated with a three to four fold increase in cyclic AMP mass. In all experiments, however, rolipram was approximately 60 fold more potent at suppressing IL‐2 synthesis than at inhibiting mitogenesis. In contrast, SK&F 95654 failed to suppress proliferation and cytokine generation, and did not elevate the cyclic AMP content in T‐cells. Although inactive alone, SK&F 95654 potentiated the ability of rolipram to suppress PHA‐ and anti‐CD3‐induced T‐cell proliferation, and PHA‐induced IL‐2 release. 5 When a combination of phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and ionomycin were used as a co‐mitogen, rolipram did not affect proliferation but, paradoxically, suppressed IL‐2 release indicating that cyclic AMP can inhibit mitogenesis by acting at, or proximal to, the level of inositol phospholipid hydrolysis. 6 Collectively, these data suggest that PDE3 and PDE4 isoenzymes regulate the cyclic AMP content, IL‐2 biosynthesis and proliferation in human CD4+ and CD8+ T‐lymphocytes. However, the ability of rolipram to suppress markedly mitogen‐induced IL‐2 generation without affecting T‐cell proliferation suggests that growth and division of T‐lymphocytes may be governed by mediators in addition to IL‐2. Finally, T‐cells have the potential to express PDE7, although elucidating the functional role of this enzyme must await the development of selective inhibitors.
Studying TLS Usage in Android Apps

First standardized by the IETF in the 1990's, SSL/TLS is the most widely-used encryption protocol on the Internet. This makes it imperative to study its usage across different platforms and applications to ensure proper usage and robustness against attacks and vulnerabilities. While previous efforts have focused on the usage of TLS in the desktop ecosystem, there have been no studies of TLS usage by mobile apps at scale. In our study, we use anonymized data collected by the Lumen mobile measurement app to analyze TLS usage by Android apps in the wild. We analyze and fingerprint handshake messages to characterize the TLS APIs and libraries that apps use, and evaluate their weaknesses. We find that 84% of apps use the default TLS libraries provided by the operating system, and the remaining apps use other TLS libraries for various reasons such as using TLS extensions and features that are not supported by the Android TLS libraries, some of which are also not standardized by the IETF. Our analysis reveals the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, demonstrating that the path to improving TLS security in the mobile platform is not straightforward. Based on work published at: Abbas Razaghpanah, Arian Akhavan Niaki, Narseo Vallina-Rodriguez, Srikanth Sundaresan, Johanna Amann, and Phillipa Gill. 2017. Studying TLS Usage in Android Apps. In Proceedings of CoNEXT '17. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 13 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3143361.3143400
Equal Gain Combining in Poisson Networks With Spatially Correlated Interference Signals

We study the successful reception probability and the area spectral efficiency (ASE) of equal gain receivers in a network where transmitters are distributed according to a Poisson point process. Considering spatially correlated interference signals, we derive exact analytical expression of the successful reception probability for two receive antennas and tight approximations for more than two receive antennas. Also, we give an approximation for the optimal transmitter density maximizing the ASE. The results show that the fully-correlated case where interference on different antennas are from the same set of transmitters gives pessimistic successful reception probability, while the uncorrelated case is optimistic.
Helsinki alert of biodiversity and health

Abstract Urban living in built environments, combined with the use of processed water and food, may not provide the microbial stimulation necessary for a balanced development of immune function. Many chronic inflammatory disorders, including allergic, autoimmune, metabolic, and even some behavioural disorders, are linked to alteration in the human commensal microbiota. Sedentary lifestyle is associated with reduced exposure to a broad spectrum of environmental micro-organisms and surplus energy balance, both risk factors of chronic inflammatory disorders. According to the Biodiversity Hypothesis, an environment with diverse macrobiota and microbiota modifies and enriches the human microbiota, which in turn is crucial in the development and maintenance of appropriate immune function. These issues were discussed in the symposium ‘Chronic Inflammation, Lifestyle and Environment’, held in Helsinki, 20–22 August 2014, under the sponsorship of the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation. This paper briefly outlines the recent findings in the context of the environment, lifestyle, and health; discusses the forces that undermine immune tolerance in urban environments; and highlights the possibilities to restore broken immune tolerance among urban dwellers, summarizing the main messages in four statements and calling for actions to combat major public health threats.
Numerical modelling for bipolar charge transport in polyethylene under high DC applied voltage

In this paper, a bipolar transport model for low-density polyethylene under DC voltage, theorecale formulation of the model is based on the poisson's equation and continuity, transport equation. As well as on the appropriate models for injection and take into account trapping and detrapping and recombination mechanism. The numerical model are chosen, for the resolution step, we have applied the finite element method for resolve poisson's equation, Leonard model applied for continuity equation without taking into account source term. Runge-Kutta method on the high precision for determining mobile and trapped charge local density within the sample. Finally, our model determining conduction and displacement current density and extrenal current density.
Editing of Mitochondrial Transcripts nad3 and cox2 by Dek10 Is Essential for Mitochondrial Function and Maize Plant Development

Respiration, the core of mitochondrial metabolism, depends on the function of five respiratory complexes. Many respiratory chain-related proteins are encoded by the mitochondrial genome and their RNAs undergo post-transcriptional modifications by nuclear genome-expressed factors, including pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins. Maize defective kernel 10 (dek10) is a classic mutant with small kernels and delayed development. Through positional cloning, we found that Dek10 encodes an E-subgroup PPR protein localized in mitochondria. Sequencing analysis indicated that Dek10 is responsible for the C-to-U editing at nad3-61, nad3-62, and cox2-550 sites, which are specific editing sites in monocots. The defects of these editing sites result in significant reduction of Nad3 and the loss of Cox2. Interestingly, the assembly of complex I was not reduced, but its NADH dehydrogenase activity was greatly decreased. The assembly of complex IV was significantly reduced. Transcriptome and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis revealed that proper editing of nad3 and cox2 is critical for mitochondrial functions, biogenesis, and morphology. These results indicate that the E-subgroup PPR protein Dek10 is responsible for multiple editing sites in nad3 and cox2, which are essential for mitochondrial functions and plant development in maize.
Penetration of lipophilic agents with multiple protonation sites into bacterial cells: tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones as examples

Many antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents show significant lipophilicity. These compounds are inherently capa-ble of diffusing through the lipid bilayer region of any biological membrane (41). Some, for example, tetracyclines (TCs) and fluoroquinolones (FQs), contain more than one functional group that may become charged by protonation or deprotonation at physiological pH. The presence of these groups greatly affects both the rates of diffusion and the final equilibrium distribution of these compounds across the membrane bilayer. Although the transbilayer diffusion of these agents has been demonstrated repeatedly beginning with the pioneering study of Argast and Beck (3), the effect of charged groups does not appear to have been analyzed in a rigorous manner, and many of the studies suffer from erroneous interpretations. We assume, as a first approximation, that only the uncharged forms of these agents diffuse through the lipid bilayer, which is essentially impermeable to charged ions (41). Some authors have hypothesized that dipolar ionic forms of drugs penetrate across bilayers (14, 18). This is extremely unlikely if we consider that tryptophan, which can be considered a dipolar ionic analog of an uncharged compound, indole, diffuses across bilayers at a rate more than 100-fold lower than indole (6). We show below that the data used by those authors (14, 18) are better interpreted in other ways. FQs and TCs as acids and bases. With most FQs, titrations reveal two proton-binding groups with pK. values of about
Estimation of Observation Error Probability in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this letter, we first of all propose for a parallel wireless sensor network (WSN) a decoding technique that well exploits the correlation knowledge of the sensing data to be transmitted from each sensor to the fusion center (FC). This letter then derives an algorithm to estimate the observation error probabilities, representing the correlation, of the links between the sensing object and sensors. The convergence of the algorithm is also evaluated. Furthermore, the comparison of bit-error-rate (BER) performance between two cases, one uses estimated observation error probabilities, the other assumes the full knowledge of the observation error probabilities, is made. The simulation results show that the difference is only around 0.3-0.5 dB in per-link signal-to-noise power ratio (SNR), depending on the number of sensors.
What’s happening to the family? Interactions between demographic and institutional change

As soon as men and women … acquire the habit of weighing the individual advantages and disadvantages of any prospective course of action … they cannot fail to become aware of the heavy personal sacrifices that family ties and especially parenthood entail under modern conditions. (Schumpeter 1988/1942, pp. 501–502)
Physical interactions and mutational analysis of MoYpt7 in Magnaporthe oryzae

摘要目的研究MoYpt7 与MoGdi1 的互作关系以及定点突 变体MoYpt7N125I的生物学功能。 创新点补充了MoYpt7 在稻瘟病菌致病过程中的生物学 功能。 方法采用双分子荧光互补和免疫共沉淀的方法检测 MoYpt7 与MoGdi1 的相互作用。 利用点突变的方 法,分析MoYpt7 的鸟嘌呤二核苷酸磷酸(GDP) 结合形式的生物学功能。 结论MoYpt7 与Rab-GDP 解离抑制因子的一个同源物 MoGdi1 相互作用,获得了MoYpt7 的GDP 结合 形式的过表达突变体。 该突变体菌落形态发生变 化,产孢能力和致病性显著下降。 同时,稻瘟病 菌MoYpt7N125I 的亚细胞定位发生变化。
Solubility and stability of scorodite , FeAsOo . lHrO : Reply

The preceding discussion by Robins (1987) presents some questions about the techniques used to obtain the solubility product of scorodite reported by Dove and Rimstidt (1985). Robins's major concern was that it was measured under conditions for which scorodite should dissolve incongruently to ferric hydroxide and aqueous arsenate. We are well aware of this problem, and we wish to emphasize that we were careful to use experimental results that showed only congruent dissolution to calculate the reported solubility product. Whereas it is true that the congruent dissolution reaction is easier to obtain at lower pH values, our experimental conditions were chosen to avoid these high ionic strength solutions for which the solubility results must be adjusted for activity coefficients and various complexes. In order to simplify the phase diagrams and the accompanying discussion, we will not distinguish the hydrolysis products of Fe and arsenate (e.g., FeOH'z*, HAsOI , etc.) but we will refer to them collectively as Felg and AsOlr,, The distribution ofthese species can be calculated from the total concentrations of Felfi and AsOl,;, and the hydrolysis constants reported in Dove and Rimstidt (1985), or from ones derived from the free-energy values listed by Robins (1987).
Comparison of nucleic acid hybridization and nucleic acid amplification using conserved sequences from the 5' noncoding region for detection of bovine viral diarrhea virus

Primers and probes derived from conserved sequences located in the 5' noncoding region of pestiviruses were evaluated for detection of bovine viral diarrhea virus. With these reagents, hybridization and polymerase chain reaction tests detected 62 of 90 and 90 of 90 bovine viral diarrhea virus isolates, respectively. A quick lysis method for preparing RNA for use in polymerase chain reaction amplification also was evaluated.
9.2 A single-chip HSPA transceiver with fully integrated 3G CMOS power amplifiers

The increasing complexity and cost pressure of advanced radios for mobile communication devices dictates further integration of front-end components into the transceiver (TRX) in order to reduce bill-of-material (BoM), printed-circuit-board (PCB) area and system cost. In [1] a fully-digital polar modulator is presented, which enables a SAW-less 2G/3G transmitter, in particular by solving the transmitter (TX) noise in receive (RX) band issues at various duplex distances (45/80/190/400MHz). Removing the TX SAW filter by adopting innovative transmitter topologies not only reduced the amount of external components, but also paved the way for monolithic power amplifier (PA) integration into the CMOS transceiver IC. This step poses additional challenges in terms of RX-TX cross-talk, self-heating and remodulation (unwanted frequency modulation of local oscillator by modulated output signal, very critical in IQ direct modulators, much less pronounced in polar modulators). The first integration of a PA with external matching network into a TRX SoC product has been presented in [2] for DECT cordless phones using GFSK modulation. PAs are also successfully integrated into a Wi-Fi TRX SoC, delivering linear transmit power up to 22dBm [3]. Following these earlier examples, this work proposes to fully integrate a PA capable of delivering more than 0.5W of linear RF power for the demanding 3G cellular applications.
Is limited surgery recommended if nodal involvement cannot be ruled out?

classification of small adenocarcinoma of the lung: radiologic-pathologic correlation and its prognostic impact. Ann Thorac Surg 2006;81:413–9. [5] Hattori A, Suzuki K, Matsunaga T, Fukui M, Kitamura Y, Miyasaka Y et al. Is limited resection appropriate for radiologically “solid” tumors in small lung cancers? Ann Thorac Surg 2012;94:212–5. [6] Gould MK, Fletcher J, Iannettoni MD, Lynch WR, Midthun DE, Naidich DP et al. Evaluation of patients with pulmonary nodules: when is it lung cancer? : ACCP evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (2nd edition). Chest 2007;132:108S–30S.