Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Region of Interest Autoencoders with an Application to Pedestrian Detection

We present the Region of Interest Autoencoder (ROIAE), a combined supervised and reconstruction model for the automatic visual detection of objects. More specifically, we augment the detection loss function with a reconstruction loss that targets only foreground examples. This allows us to exploit more effectively the information available in the sparsely populated foreground training data used in common detection problems. Using this training strategy we improve the accuracy of deep learning detection models. We carry out experiments on the Caltech-USA pedestrian detection dataset and demonstrate improvements over two supervised baselines. Our first experiment extends Fast R-CNN and achieves a 4% relative improvement in test accuracy over its purely supervised baseline. Our second experiment extends Region Proposal Networks, achieving a 14% relative improvement in test accuracy.
The ecological risk of acid mine drainage in a salinising landscape

Acid mine drainage (AMD) and increasing salinity of freshwater ecosystems pose serious threats to water quality in water-stressed South Africa. These threats are exacerbated by mining activities, mainly gold and coal from both active and abandoned mines that continue to release acidic water that is rich in toxic metals and high sulphate concentrations. Therefore, the overarching hypothesis for this study was that “the combination of AMD and sulphate salts confers high ecological risk to the aquatic biota”. The study employed both laboratory and field investigations to test this hypothesis and provide appropriate tools to protect freshwater ecosystems from increasing anthropogenic impacts. Firstly, a laboratory investigation was carried out to develop risk-based water quality guidelines (WQGs) for sulphates and treated AMD (TAMD) using the species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) technique. Five South African freshwater species belonging to five different taxonomic groupings, including Adenophlebia auriculata (insect), Burnupia stenochorias (mollusc), Caridina nilotica (crustacea), Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata (algae) and Oreochromis mossambicus (fish) were exposed to varying concentrations of sodium sulphate (Na2SO4), magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) and calcium sulphate (CaSO4), as well as TAMD in separate ecotoxicological experiments, applying short-term (96 h) non-renewal and long-term (240 h) renewal exposure test methods. Secondly, a novel trait-based approach (TBA) was also used to predict the vulnerability of taxa to treated acid mine drainage (TAMD). The TBA used a combination of carefully selected traits of organisms that are mechanistically linked to TAMD for their potential vulnerability predictions. Leptoceridae (caddisflies) and Leptophlebiidae (mayflies) were selected taxa for evaluation of the trait-based vulnerability predictions to TAMD for laboratory toxicity exposures. This was followed by a field investigation to assess macroinvertebrates assemblage responses, abundance and richness to a TAMD-impacted stream using the South African Scoring System version 5 (SASS5) protocol. Outcomes form the above three sources were combined in a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) to develop an appropriate water quality management strategy in a form of a trait-based decision-making support tool. Results of the risk-based WQGs revealed that Na2SO4 was the most toxic of the tested salts. A concentration of 0.020 g/L Na2SO4, 0.055 g/L CaSO4, and 0.108 g/L MgSO4 or a combined sulphate salts limit of 0.067 g/L were derived as long-term WQGs to protect over 95% of the population species in a natural environment considered as relatively pristine. This means that the generic 0.25 g/L sulphate compliance limit for South African freshwater systems is under-protective.
Financial Risk and Unemployment

There is a strong correlation between the corporate interest rate (BAA rated), and its spread relative to Treasuries, and the unemployment rate. We model how interest rates and potential default rates impact equilibrium unemployment in a Diamond-Mortesen-Pissarides model. We calibrate the model using US data without targeting business cycle statistics. Volatility in the corporate interest rate can explain about 80% of the volatility of unemployment, vacancies, and market tightness. Simulating the Great Recession shows the model can account for much of the rise in unemployment. Without Fed action, unemployment would have been 6% higher.
Characterization of Rhodococcus equi-like bacterium isolated from a wound infection in a noncompromised host

A case of superficial wound infection in a noncompromised host due to a Rhodococcus equi-like organism, acquired from soil, is described. The strain grew poorly at 37 degrees C and showed several differences from wild-type R. equi in biochemical tests and in its fatty acid and mycolic acid compositions.
Pengaruh Store Atmosphere Terhadap Kepuasan Konsumen (studi Pada Maja House Sugar & Cream Bandung)

Bisnis kuliner merupakan bisnis yang marak ditawarkan di Kota Bandung. Fenomena perubahan gaya hidup, selera dan konsumsi masyarakat membuat pengusaha kuliner memerlukan ide-ide baru yang lebih modern agar lebih disukai. Salah satu faktor yang perlu diperhatikan oleh pengusaha kuliner guna merespon fenomena ini adalah Store Atmosphere. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian kuantitatif dengan menggunakan data primer dari hasil kuesioner yang disebarkan kepada 100 responden. Hasil Penelitian menunjukan bahwa uji koefisien determinasi menunjukan R square (R2 ) sebesar 0,845. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa variabel bebas yang terdiri dari exterior, interior, store layout, interior display memiliki pengaruh terhadap variabel terikat Kepuasan Konsumen sebesar 84,5% sedangkan sisanya 15,5% dijelaskan oleh variabel lain yang tidak diteliti dalam penelitian ini. Berdasarkan uji F dapat diketahui bahwa variabel bebas, yang terdiri dari Exterior, General Interior, Store Layout, dan Interior Displaysecara bersama-sama berpengaruh secara positif dan signifikan terhadap variabel terikat (Kepuasan Konsumen). Hal ini berdasarkan dari perhitungan yaitu Fhitung > Ftabel (129,418>2,467) dan tingkat signifikansinya 0,000 < 0,05. Sedangkan berdasarkan uji t dapat diketahui bahwa variabel bebas, yang terdiri dari Exterior, General Interior, Store Layout, dan Interior Displaysecara parsial berpengaruh secara positif terhadap kepuasan konsumen. Dengan variabel interior display sebagai variabel yang paling berpengaruh signifikan. Kata kunci : Exterior, Interior, Store Loyout, Interior Design, Kepuasan Konsumen
Perceived Environmental Factors Associated with Physical Activity among Normal-Weight and Overweight Japanese Men

Although it is crucial to examine the environmental correlates of physical activity (PA) for developing more effective interventions for overweight populations, limited studies have investigated differences in the environmental correlates on body mass index (BMI). The purpose of the present study was to examine the perceived environmental correlates of PA among normal-weight and overweight Japanese men. Data were analyzed for 1,420 men (aged 44.4 ± 8.3 years), who responded to an internet-based cross-sectional survey of answering the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and its Environment Module. Binary logistic regression analyses were utilized to examine the environmental factors associated with meeting the PA recommendation (150 minutes/week) between the normal-weight and overweight men. After adjusting for socio-demographic variables, common and different environmental correlates of PA were observed among normal-weight and overweight men. Furthermore, significant interactions regarding PA were observed between BMI status and two environmental correlates: access to public transportation (P = 0.03) and crime safety during the day (P = 0.01). The results indicated that BMI status is a potential moderator between perceived environmental factors and PA and suggested that different environmental intervention approaches should be developed for overweight populations.
Forced vital capacity, airway obstruction and survival in a general population sample from the USA

Background Many studies show a link between forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and survival in the general population and this has been interpreted as a link between airway obstruction and survival. However, the observation that vital capacity is also associated with survival weakens this interpretation. Methods Data on spirometry and survival were taken from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) limited access dataset. Survival among 7489 participants with usable spirometry and complete data was regressed against measures of ventilatory function after controlling for many other factors likely to be associated with survival. Results Survival was strongly associated with forced vital capacity (FVC) after adjustment for FEV1, but not the other way round. The fully adjusted hazard ratio (HR) associated with high FVC was 0.90 in men (95% CI 0.80 to 1.00; p=0.049) and 0.82 in women (95% CI 0.70 to 0.95; p=0.01). This compares with 0.98 for FEV1 in men (95% CI 0.90 to 1.07; p.0.72) and 1.01 in women (95% CI 0.89 to 1.15; p=0.84). There was no association between survival and airway obstruction as measured by the FEV1/FVC ratio. Conclusions FVC but not airway obstruction predicts survival in asymptomatic adults without chronic respiratory diagnoses or persistent respiratory symptoms. The association is not explained by age, anthropometry, smoking, income occupation or blood pressure. As FVC later in life, cardiovascular risk, type II diabetes mellitus and low-grade systemic inflammation are all associated with poor fetal growth, these other conditions may be partly responsible for the poor survival in those with low FVC.
Coastal erosion in the region of Thu Bon River mouth, Vietnam

Coastal erosion has increased worldwide during the last decades, mostly due to human activities. Vietnam is not spared, where many places within the country suffer from beach erosion. This report focuses on the region around Thu Bon river mouth in the central part of Vietnam. The beaches next to the river mouth are experiencing severe erosion, especially Cua Dai Beach. The beach is totally eroded in some areas, and the erosion seems to move further away from the river mouth, which will affect the tourist business. There is a lack of previous studies regarding nearshore wave climate and sediment transport along the coast. In the present investigation, field studies and simulations have been carried out to address this lack of knowledge. Three different numerical models have been used to (1) calculate wave climate (EBED), (2) longshore sediment transport (LST Cascade), and (3) shoreline evolution (Cascade). The future shoreline evolution was simulated for 30 years, employing two different scenarios. The first scenario implied no change in sediment transport with the river flow, whereas in the second scenario the sediment transport was reduced to half of its initial value after 15 years. The results show a further retreat of the shoreline on the northern side of the river mouth, which already has an erosion problem. The erosion will move even more to the north in the future, if proper action is not taken. (Less)
Compression of multispectral and multi-view images with inverse pyramid decomposition

In this paper, a new approach for compression of multi-view and multispectral images, based on the Inverse Pyramid Decomposition (IPD), is presented. This approach is applicable to large number of spectral images or views of same object, processed as a common group. For this, their histograms are calculated and compared. The image, whose histogram is most similar with these of the remaining ones in the group, is used as a reference. The image decomposition starts with the reference image, which is processed with some kind of orthogonal transform, using limited number of transform coefficients only and after inverse transform is obtained the coarse approximation of the image. The IPD then branches out into several parts, corresponding to number of images in the group. The first approximation used in the group is that, calculated for the reference image. In result is obtained high compression and very good visual quality of the restored images.
Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire: validation of a new measure of parental feeding practices.

OBJECTIVE Measures of parents' feeding practices have focused primarily on parental control of feeding and have not sufficiently measured other potentially important practices. The current study validates a new measure of feeding practices, the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ). METHOD The first study validated a 9-factor feeding practice scale for mothers and fathers. In the second study, open-ended questions solicited feeding practices from parents to develop a more comprehensive measure of parental feeding. The third study validated an expanded 12-factor feeding practices measure with mothers of children from 2 to 8 years of age. RESULTS The CFPQ appears to be an adequate tool for measuring the feeding practices of parents of young children. CONCLUSIONS Researchers, clinicians, and health educators might use this measure to better understand how parents feed their children, the factors that contribute to these practices, and the implications of these practices on children's eating behaviors.
Comparison of enzyme activities linked to acid–base regulation in a deep-sea and a sublittoral decapod crab species

When compared to the sublittoral Dungeness crab Cancer magister, the deep-sea Tan- ner crab Chionoecetes tanneri exhibited lower activities of enzymes involved in some of the pro- cesses essential for efficient acid-base regulation. Tissue enzymatic activities were compared between Dungeness crabs held in normoxia and Tanner crabs held in hypoxia—both treatments mimicking typical habitat oxygen levels. In the posterior gill, activities of all forms of ATPase and car- bonic anhydrase (CA) were approximately 2- to 13.2-fold lower in Tanner crabs than in Dungeness crabs. CA activity in the heart and white muscle was also significantly lower in hypoxic deep-sea Tanner crabs, while ATPase activity in these 2 tissues was similar between the 2 treatments. Diagnos- tically, enzymatic activities were compared when both species were held in normoxic seawater, with additional significant differences found in specific white muscle ATPase fractions (amiloride- and N-ethylemaleimide (NEM)-sensitive ATPases) and tissue buffering (β) capacity. When both species were acclimated to normoxia, C. tanneri exhibited mass specific rates of oxygen consumption signif- icantly lower (4.5-fold) than C. magister. Under short-term, strongly hypercapnic conditions (1% CO2), the Dungeness crab displayed reduced (30 to 40%) branchial ATPase activities, while enzy- matic activities in the Tanner crab gill, muscle and heart were refractive to short-term (24 h) hyper- capnia, suggesting a minimal ability to tune branchial function to changing environmental condi- tions. These results support our hypothesis that the deep-sea Tanner crab has a reduced capacity for active transport of acid-base relevant ions, particularly at the gill, and is therefore at a marked dis- advantage with respect to iono- and acid-base regulatory capacity. These results add to a growing database documenting the limited ability of deep-sea megafauna to compensate for internal acid-base disruptions associated with introduction of anthropogenic CO2 into the deep sea.
Vanishing and non‐vanishing Dirichlet twists of L‐functions of elliptic curves

Let L(E/ℚ, s) be the L‐function of an elliptic curve E defined over the rational field ℚ. We examine the vanishing and non‐vanishing of the central values L(E, 1, χ) of the twisted L‐function as χ ranges over Dirichlet characters of a given order.
Double venous drainage through the superior vena cava in minimally invasive aortic valve replacement: a retrospective study

Aim To compare the outcomes of patients who underwent upper mini-sternotomy or right mini-thoracotomy and those who underwent full sternotomy and to report a technical improvement in venous drainage by means of double venous cannulation of the superior vena cava (SVC) in mini surgical procedures. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the outcome of 217 patients who underwent aortic valve replacement through upper mini-sternotomy or right mini-thoracotomy at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia from 1996 till 2010. Cannulation of SVC and right atrial appendage was performed in 142/217 (65%) patients, while in the remaining 75 (35%) patients, double cannulation of SVC was used for venous drainage. The results of patients who underwent mini approaches were compared to 236 patients who underwent full sternotomy for the same purpose from 2009 to 2010 at the same center. Results We found a shorter mean length of intensive care unit stay, less volume chest-tube drainage, shorter crossclamp and cardio pulmonary bypass times, and less postoperative permanent pacemaker implantations in the minimally invasive group patients than in full sternotomy group patients. Using double cannulation of the SVC for venous drainage made venous cannulation in mini approaches easier and eliminated the need for obtaining femoral venous access. Conclusion Our study confirmed that even though technically challenging, upper mini-sternotomy and right mini-thoracotomy approaches for aortic valve replacement have potential advantages over conventional median sternotomy. They were proved to be safe, efficacious, and can significantly reduce surgical trauma and are therefore particularly valuable in some higher risk, obese, diabetic and elderly patients. Using double cannulation of SVC for venous drainage made venous cannulation easier and eliminated the need for obtaining femoral venous access.
A taxonomic study of certain bacteria currently classified as Vibrio species.

SUMMARY: Twenty-five strains currently classified into 14 serological types or species of the genus Vibrio obtained from the NCIB and NCTC have been studied in detail for morphological, cultural and biochemical characters in two independent studies. The results indicate that these strains include members of three distinct taxonomic groups or genera, Vibrio, Pseudomonas and Comamonas. The new generic name Comamonas, type species C. percolons, replaces Lophomonas (Galarneault & Leifson) which is invalid.
Spleen Vagal Denervation Inhibits the Production of Antibodies to Circulating Antigens

Background Recently the vagal output of the central nervous system has been shown to suppress the innate immune defense to pathogens. Here we investigated by anatomical and physiological techniques the communication of the brain with the spleen and provided evidence that the brain has the capacity to stimulate the production of antigen specific antibodies by its parasympathetic autonomic output. Methodology/Principal Findings This conclusion was reached by successively demonstrating that: 1. The spleen receives not only sympathetic input but also parasympathetic input. 2. Intravenous trinitrophenyl-ovalbumin (TNP-OVA) does not activate the brain and does not induce an immune response. 3. Intravenous TNP-OVA with an inducer of inflammation; lipopolysaccharide (LPS), activates the brain and induces TNP-specific IgM. 4. LPS activated neurons are in the same areas of the brain as those that provide parasympathetic autonomic information to the spleen, suggesting a feed back circuit between brain and immune system. Consequently we investigated the interaction of the brain with the spleen and observed that specific parasympathetic denervation but not sympathetic denervation of the spleen eliminates the LPS-induced antibody response to TNP-OVA. Conclusions/Significance These findings not only show that the brain can stimulate antibody production by its autonomic output, it also suggests that the power of LPS as adjuvant to stimulate antibody production may also depend on its capacity to activate the brain. The role of the autonomic nervous system in the stimulation of the adaptive immune response may explain why mood and sleep have an influence on antibody production.
Predicting self-rated mental and physical health: the contributions of subjective socioeconomic status and personal relative deprivation

Lower subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) and higher personal relative deprivation (PRD) relate to poorer health. Both constructs concern people's perceived relative social position, but they differ in their emphasis on the reference groups people use to determine their comparative disadvantage (national population vs. similar others) and the importance of resentment that may arise from such adverse comparisons. We investigated the relative utility of SSS and PRD as predictors of self-rated physical and mental health (e.g., self-rated health, stress, health complaints). Across six studies, self-rated physical and mental health were on the whole better predicted by measures of PRD than by SSS while controlling for objective socioeconomic status (SES), with SSS rarely contributing unique variance over and above PRD and SES. Studies 4–6 discount the possibility that the superiority of PRD over SSS in predicting health is due to psychometric differences (e.g., reliability) or response biases between the measures.
Achieving Exact Cluster Recovery Threshold via Semidefinite Programming

The binary symmetric stochastic block model deals with a random graph of n vertices partitioned into two equal-sized clusters, such that each pair of vertices is independently connected with probability p within clusters and q across clusters. In the asymptotic regime of p = a log n/n and q = b log n/n for fixed a, b, and n → ∞, we show that the semidefinite programming relaxation of the maximum likelihood estimator achieves the optimal threshold for exactly recovering the partition from the graph with probability tending to one, resolving a conjecture of Abbe et al. Furthermore, we show that the semidefinite programming relaxation also achieves the optimal recovery threshold in the planted dense subgraph model containing a single cluster of size proportional to n.
Reservoir computing for static pattern recognition

This paper introduces reservoir computing for static pattern recognition. Reservoir computing networks are neural networks with a sparsely connected recurrent hidden layer (or reservoir) of neurons. The weights from the inputs to the reservoir and the reservoir weights are ran- domly selected. The weights of the second layer are determined with a linear partial least squares solver. The outputs of the reservoir layer can be considered to be an unsupervised data transformation. This stage has a brain-like plausibility. This paper shows that by letting the dynamics of the reservoir evolve to a stable solution, and then applying a sigmoid trans- fer function, reservoir computing can be applied as a robust and highly accurate pattern classier. Reservoir computing is applied to 16 dicult multi-class classication benchmark cases, and compared with the best re- sults of state-of the art neural network classication methods with entropic error criteria.