Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study of the Temporal Behavior of 4U 1728–34 as a Function of Its Position in the Color-Color Diagram

We study the timing properties of the bursting atoll source 4U 1728-34 as a function of its position in the X-ray color-color diagram. In the island part of the color-color diagram (corresponding to the hardest energy spectra), the power spectrum of 4U 1728-34 shows several features such as a band-limited noise component present up to a few tens of Hz, a low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillation (LFQPO) at frequencies between 20 and 40 Hz, a peaked noise component around 100 Hz, and one or two QPOs at kHz frequencies. In addition to these, in the lower banana (corresponding to softer energy spectra) we also find a very low frequency noise (VLFN) component below ~1 Hz. In the upper banana (corresponding to the softest energy spectra), the power spectra are dominated by the VLFN, with a peaked noise component around 20 Hz. We find that the frequencies of the kHz QPOs are well correlated with the position in the X-ray color-color diagram. For the frequency of the LFQPO and the break frequency of the broadband noise component, the relation appears more complex. Both of these frequencies increase when the frequency of the upper kHz QPO increases from 400 to 900 Hz, but at this frequency a jump in the values of the parameters occurs. We interpret this jump in terms of the gradual appearance of a QPO at the position of the break at high inferred mass accretion rate, while the previous LFQPO disappears. Simultaneously, another kind of noise appears with a break frequency of ~7 Hz, similar to the NBO of Z sources. The 100 Hz peaked noise does not seem to correlate with the position of the source in the color-color diagram but remains relatively constant in frequency. This component may be similar to several 100 Hz QPOs observed in black hole binaries.
Exploiting unlabeled data using multiple classifiers for improved natural language call-routing

Positive images including color images are obtained by imagewise exposure and development of a material which comprises at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer which contains an unfogged direct-positive silver halide emulsion, when the development is carried out in the presence of a fogging agent of the formula wherein the symbols are defined as hereinafter. The fogging agent is preferably contained in a layer of the material and more preferably in the unfogged direct-positive silver halide emulsion layer. For the production of color instant images the material may also contain non-diffusible color providing compounds capable in their oxidized form of being split under alkaline photographic development conditions to release diffusible dyes.
Spillover and crossover of work- and family-related negative emotions in couples

This paper investigates the interaction of the work and family domain in a detailed manner. Two different aspects of interaction are considered: spillover and crossover effects of work and family in couples. Furthermore, both directions of the work family interaction are respected: work-to-family and family-to-work. Data were obtained from 56 couples (n=112), both of whom were working at least 40 % and had at least one child aged under 13. In line with expectations, spillover effects were found for men’s and women’s domain specific strain even if same domain stressors were controlled for. Contrary to expectations, however, crossover effects were not found within the family domain. Possibly, men and women take different aspects of the family into consideration, leading to independent strain reactions with respect to the family. Cross domain crossover effects were found for one’s traditional gender domain. Thus, men’s work strain is related to women’s family strain, even if one’s same domain stressors are controlled for. The traditional gender role domain seems to exert a stronger influence but, in turn, seems to be more vulnerable than the non-traditional domain.
Illuminant-invariant model-based road segmentation

Road segmentation is an essential functionality for supporting advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) such as road following or vehicle detection and tracking. Significant efforts have been made in order to solve this task using vision-based techniques. One of the major challenges of these techniques is dealing with lighting variations, especially shadows. Many of the approaches presented within this field use ad-hoc mechanisms applied after an initial segmentation to recover shadowed road patches. In this paper, we present an innovative method to obtain a road segmentation algorithm robust to extreme shadow conditions. The novelty of the proposal is the use of a shadowless feature space in combination with a model-based region growing algorithm. The former projects the color images such that the shadow effect is greatly attenuated. The latter uses histogram models to label the pixels as belonging to the road or to the background. These models are constructed on a frame by frame basis independently of the road shape to avoid limitations when addressing unstructured roads. The results presented show the validity of our approach.
An Exploration of the Effects of Total Quality Management Implementation on Organisational Creativity in the Hotel Industry

Rapid changes in the world economy have brought the key challenges of globalisation, high competition, and new technology firmly into focus for all organisations. Many service organisations, including hotels, have responded to these challenges by adopting Total Quality Management (TQM) as a management approach in order to provide new solutions through organisational creativity and innovation as well as established outcomes in terms of productivity and service delivery. A review of the relevant literature has shown that no study has yet addressed the impact of the implementation of TQM in stimulating organisational creativity in organisations in general and in the hotel industry in particular. A small number of studies has focused on the relationship between TQM and innovation but the results are inconclusive in describing that relationship. Therefore, this study sets out to explore the impact of the critical success factors (CSFs) necessary for TQM implementation on organisational creativity in the hotel industry. It aims to present a conceptual framework to explore the nature of the relationship between TQM and organisational creativity, and suggests that the relationship between TQM and organisational creativity is has both a direct and indirect relationship which are mediated by employees’ attitudes and the organisational climate for creativity.
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific The Distribution Of Heavy Elements In Spiral And Elliptical Galaxies

In large disk and spheroidal galaxies spatially resolved abundance information can be extracted by analysis of either emission lines, absorption lines, or both, depending on the situation. This review recaps significant results as they apply to non-dwarf galaxies, including the Milky Way, spiral disks and bulges, and elliptical and lenticular galaxies. Methods for determining abundances are explained in appendices. Conclusions that span the galaxy types treated here are as follows. All galaxies, on average, have heavy element abundances (metallicities) that systematically decrease outward from their galactic centers while their global metallicities increase with galaxy mass. Abundance gradients are steepest in normal spirals and are seen to be progressively flatter going in order from barred spirals, lenticulars, and ellipticals. The distribution of abundances N(Z) vs. Z is strongly peaked compared to simple closed-box model predictions of chemical enrichment in all galaxy types. That is, a “G dwarf problem”, commonly known in the solar cylinder, exists for all large galaxies. For spiral galaxies, local metallicity appears to be correlated with total (disk plus bulge) surface density. Examination of N/O versus O/H in spiral disks indicates that production of N is dominated by primary processes at low metallicity and secondary processes at high metallicity. Carbon production increases with increasing metallicity. Abundance ratios Ne/O, S/O, and Ar/O
CD138 and CD31 Double-Positive Cells Comprise the Functional Antibody-Secreting Plasma Cell Compartment in Primate Bone Marrow

Plasma cells (PCs) are defined as terminally differentiated B cells that secrete large amounts of immunoglobulin (Ig). PCs that reside in the bone marrow (BM) are responsible for maintaining long-term antibody (Ab) responses after infection and vaccination, while PCs present in the blood are generally short-lived. In rhesus macaques, a species frequently used for the evaluation of human vaccines, B cells resemble those found in humans. However, a detailed characterization of BM-resident rhesus PC phenotype and function is lacking. Here, we examined Ig secretion of distinct rhesus CD138+ populations by B cell ELISpot analysis to couple phenotype with function. We demonstrate that the CD20low/−CD138+CD31+ BM population was highly enriched for antibody-secreting cells with IgG being the predominant isotype (60%), followed by IgA (33%) and IgM (7%). Transmission electron microscopy analysis confirmed PC enrichment in the CD20low/−CD138+CD31+ population with cells containing nuclei with “spokes of a wheel” chromatin structure and prominent rough endoplasmic reticulum. This panel also stained human BM PCs and allowed a clear distinction between BM PCs and short-lived peripheral PCs, providing an improved strategy to isolate PCs from rhesus BM for further analysis.
Modeling Conversational Speech for Speech Recognition

In language modeling for speech recognition the goal is to constrain the search of the speech recognizer by providing a model which can, given a context, indicate what the next most likely word will be. In this paper, we explore how the addition of information to the text, in particular part of speech and dysfluency annotations, can be used to,build more complex language models. In particular, we ask two questions. First, in conversational speech, where there is a less clear notion of "sentence" than in written text, does segmenting the text into linguistically or semantically based units contribute to a better language model than merely segmenting based on broad acoustic information, such as pauses. Second, is the sentence itself a good unit to be modeling, or should we look at smaller units, for example, dividing a sentence into a "given" and "new" portion and segmenting out acknowledgments and replies. To answer these questions, we present a variety of kinds of analysis, from vocabulary distributions to perplexities on language models. The next step will be modeling conversations and incorporating those models into a speech recognizer.
Drivers of macrophyte development in rivers in an agricultural area: indicative species reactions

The ecological drivers of macrophyte development in a lowland agricultural area were tested based on a 2008 survey on the Wkra River catchment. Our survey was carried out in the rivers of an agricultural area with relatively high concentrations of both nitrates and phosphates in the water. By using the Polish macrophyte method, we were able to calculate several botanical metrics. Canonical ordination analyses used to relate biological data to environmental variables such as physical and chemical parameters of water, surface water velocity or river width, were carried out using CANOCO for Windows. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that pH and alkalinity were the parameters best correlated with the distribution of macrophytes and values of macrophyte indices. The recorded values of the Macrophyte Index for River in the Wkra River and its tributaries reflected their good and moderate ecological status (the Water Framework Directive scale). Despite the fact that nutrient concentrations in the water were relatively high and that most of the sites represented eutrophic conditions, the results of this survey showed that non-nutrient parameters may play an important role in explaining aquatic plant occurrence in rivers that have been subjected to eutrophication.
Improving the Efficiency of Arithmetic BIST by Combining Targeted and General Purpose Patterns

Arithmetic additive test pattern generators (AdTPGs) are now being proposed as an alternative to linear feedback shift registers (LFSRs) because of their reduced area overhead impact. As in the case of LFSRs, the compactness of the information required in memory and the test generation time needed to achieve a specified fault coverage level (FC) have a significant impact on the necessary resources and thus on the quality of the test. In this paper, a new approach to the preparation of the test is proposed. It has been observed that, if two different and independent preparation methodologies are combined, a better quality of the test is obtained than that achieved by applying them separately. Experiments show that the combined strategy also improves previously published results.
A Location Based Routing Method for Irregular Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Using location information to help routing is often proposed as a means to achieve scalability in large mobile ad-hoc networks. However, location based routing is difficult when there are holes in the network topology and nodes are mobile. Terminode routing, presented here, addresses these issues. It uses a combination of location based routing (Terminode Remote Routing, TRR), used when the destination is far, and link state routing (Terminode Local Routing, TLR), used when the destination is close. TRR uses anchored paths, a list of geographic points (not nodes) used as loose source routing information. Anchored paths are discovered and managed by sources, using one of two low overhead protocols: Friend Assisted Path Discovery and Geographical Map-based Path Discovery. Our simulation results show that terminode routing performs well in networks of various sizes. In smaller networks, the performance is comparable to MANET routing protocols. In larger networks that are not uniformly populated with nodes, terminode routing outperforms existing location-based or MANET routing protocols.
Distinguishing Historical from Current Problems in Clinical Reports – Which Textual Features Help?

Determining whether a condition is historical or recent is important for accurate results in biomedicine. In this paper, we investigate four types of information found in clinical text that might be used to make this distinction. We conducted a descriptive, exploratory study using annotation on clinical reports to determine whether this temporal information is useful for classifying conditions as historical or recent. Our initial results suggest that few of these feature values can be used to predict temporal classification.
Performance and Characteristics of Swedish Mutual Funds

Abstract This paper studies the relation between fund performance and fund attributes in the Swedish market. Performance is measured as the alpha in a linear regression of fund returns on several benchmark assets, allowing for time-varying betas. The estimated performance is then used in a cross-sectinal analysis of the relation between performance and fund attributes such as past performance, flow, size, turnover, and proxies for expenses and trading activity. The results show that good performance occurs among small equity funds, low fee funds, funds whose trading activity is high and, in some cases, funds with good past performance.
A Contactless Biometric System Using Palm Print and Palm Vein Features

Recently, biometrics has emerged as a reliable technology to provide greater level of security to personal authentication system. Among the various biometric characteristics that can be used to recognize a person, the human hand is the oldest, and perhaps the most successful form of biometric technology (Hand-based biometrics, 2003). The features that can be extracted from the hand include hand geometry, fingerprint, palm print, knuckle print, and vein. These hand properties are stable and reliable. Once a person has reached adulthood, the hand structure and configuration remain relatively stable throughout the person’s life (Yoruk et al., 2006). Apart from that, the hand-scan technology is generally perceived as nonintrusive as compared to irisor retina-scan systems (Jain et al., 2004). The users do not need to be cognizant of the way in which they interact with the system. These advantages have greatly facilitated the deployment of hand features in biometric applications. At present, most of the hand acquisition devices are based on touch-based design. The users are required to touch the device or hold on to some peripheral or guidance peg for their hand images to be captured. There are a number of problems associated with this touchbased design. Firstly, people are concerned about the hygiene issue in which they have to place their hands on the same sensor where countless others have also placed theirs. This problem is particularly exacerbated during the outbreak of epidemics or pandemics like SARS and Influenza A (H1N1) which can be spread by touching germs leftover on surfaces. Secondly, latent hand prints which remain on the sensor’s surface could be copied for illegitimate use. Researchers have demonstrated systematic methods to use latent fingerprints to create casts and moulds of the spoof fingers (Putte & Keuning, 2000). Thirdly, the device surface will be contaminated easily if not used right, especially in harsh, dirty, and outdoor environments. Lastly, some nations may resist placing their hands after a user of the opposite sex has touched the sensor. This chapter presents a contactless hand-based biometric system to acquire the palm print and palm vein features. Palm prints refer to the smoothly flowing pattern formed by alternating creases and troughs on the palmar surface of the hand. Three types of line patterns are clearly visible on the palm. These line patterns are known as the principal lines, wrinkles, and ridges. Principal lines are the longest, strongest and widest lines on the palm. The principal lines characterize the most distinguishable features on the palm. Most people have three principal lines, which are named as the heart line, head line, and life line (Fig. 1).
Meta-Analysis: Diagnostic Accuracy of Antinuclear Antibodies, Smooth Muscle Antibodies and Antibodies to a Soluble Liver Antigen/Liver Pancreas in Autoimmune Hepatitis

Background Antinuclear antibodies (ANA), smooth muscle antibodies (SMA) and antibodies to a soluble liver antigen/liver pancreas (anti-SLA/LP) are useful markers that can help clinicians to diagnose and classify autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). Objectives To determine whether ANA, SMA and anti-SLA/LP help to accurately diagnose patients with AIH. Search strategy The PubMed, CNKI, WANFANG, and SinoMed databases were accessed to retrieve studies published in English and Chinese. Studies published up to October 2013 were reviewed. Selection criteria Studies on the diagnostic value of ANA, SMA or anti-SLA/LP in the diagnosis of known or suspected AIH were included. Data collection and analysis Two authors evaluated studies independently and rated their methodological quality using quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS) tools; relevant data were abstracted. The random-effects method was used to summarize sensitivities, specificities, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and diagnostic odds ratios (DORs) from all 29 studies. Results The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and DOR for ANA were 0.650 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.619 to 0.680), 0.751 (95%CI, 0.737 to 0.764), 3.030 (95%CI, 2.349 to 3.910), 0.464 (95%CI, 0.356 to 0.604), and 7.380 (95%CI, 4.344 to 12.539), respectively. For SMA, the values were 0.593 (95%CI, 0.564 to 0.621), 0.926 (95%CI, 0.917 to 0.934), 11.740 (95%CI, 7.379 to 18.678), 0.449 (95%CI, 0.367 to 0.549), and 31.553 (95%CI, 17.147 to 58.060), respectively. Finally, for anti-SLA/LP, the values were 0.194 (95%CI, 0.168 to 0.222), 0.989 (95%CI, 0.985 to 0.993), 11.089 (95%CI, 7.601 to 16.177), 0.839 (95%CI, 0.777 to 0.905), and 16.867 (95%CI, 10.956 to 25.967), respectively. Authors’ conclusions ANA provided moderate sensitivity and specificity, while SMA gave moderate sensitivity and high specificity, and anti-SLA/LP exhibited low sensitivity and high specificity. All three antibodies were limited by their unsatisfactory sensitivities and lack of consistency.
The spectrum of parkinsonian manifestations associated with glucocerebrosidase mutations.

BACKGROUND Mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) result in Gaucher disease and can be associated with a phenotype characterized by adult-onset progressive neurologic deterioration and parkinsonism. OBJECTIVE To define the clinical and neurologic spectrum of parkinsonian manifestations associated with GBA mutations. Design, Setting, and Patients A prospective case series of 10 patients (7 men and 3 women) with parkinsonism and GBA mutations evaluated at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The GBA genotypes were identified by means of DNA sequencing. Tests evaluating neurologic, motor, cognitive, ocular, and olfactory functions were performed and the results were analyzed by a single team. RESULTS Genotyping identified GBA mutations N370S, L444P, and c.84dupG and recombinant alleles. The mean age at onset of parkinsonian manifestations was 49 years (range, 39-65 years), disease duration was 7.8 years (range, 1.2-16.0 years), and Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale part III score was 26.3 (range, 13-38). Half of the patients reported cognitive changes later in the disease course. Six patients were diagnosed as having Parkinson disease, 3 as having Lewy body dementia, and 1 as having a "Parkinson plus" syndrome. The most frequent nonmotor finding was olfactory dysfunction. Atypical manifestations included myoclonus, electroencephalographic abnormalities, and seizures. CONCLUSIONS In the homozygous and heterozygous states, GBA mutations are associated with a spectrum of parkinsonian phenotypes ranging from Parkinson disease, mostly of the akinetic type, to a less common phenotype characteristic of Lewy body dementia.
Using External Resources and Joint Learning for Bigram Weighting in ILP-Based Multi-Document Summarization

Some state-of-the-art summarization systems use integer linear programming (ILP) based methods that aim to maximize the important concepts covered in the summary. These concepts are often obtained by selecting bigrams from the documents. In this paper, we improve such bigram based ILP summarization methods from different aspects. First we use syntactic information to select more important bigrams. Second, to estimate the importance of the bigrams, in addition to the internal features based on the test documents (e.g., document frequency, bigram positions), we propose to extract features by leveraging multiple external resources (such as word embedding from additional corpus, Wikipedia, Dbpedia, WordNet, SentiWordNet). The bigram weights are then trained discriminatively in a joint learning model that predicts the bigram weights and selects the summary sentences in the ILP framework at the same time. We demonstrate that our system consistently outperforms the prior ILP method on different TAC data sets, and performs competitively compared to other previously reported best results. We also conducted various analyses to show the contributions of different components.