Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cognitive Assistance in the Workplace

These days, customers can choose and configure nearly every detail of a product they want to buy, making each manufactured product a unique piece rather than just another part in a large-scale production. The availability of such complex built-to-order systems is introducing a more complex manufacturing process, requiring more cognitive effort compared to the traditional built-to-stock approach. The manual-assembly workplace is thus becoming a challenging environment. To help the workers better manage such environments, the authors have built an assistive system that can be integrated directly into the workplace using in-situ projection for augmented reality. This article is part of a special issue on digitally enhanced reality.
Bimatoprost-Loaded Ocular Inserts as Sustained Release Drug Delivery Systems for Glaucoma Treatment: In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation

The purpose of the present study was to develop and assess a novel sustained-release drug delivery system of Bimatoprost (BIM). Chitosan polymeric inserts were prepared using the solvent casting method and characterized by swelling studies, infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, drug content, scanning electron microscopy and in vitro drug release. Biodistribution of 99mTc-BIM eye drops and 99mTc-BIM-loaded inserts, after ocular administration in Wistar rats, was accessed by ex vivo radiation counting. The inserts were evaluated for their therapeutic efficacy in glaucomatous Wistar rats. Glaucoma was induced by weekly intracameral injection of hyaluronic acid. BIM-loaded inserts (equivalent to 9.0 µg BIM) were administered once into conjunctival sac, after ocular hypertension confirmation. BIM eye drop was topically instilled in a second group of glaucomatous rats for 15 days days, while placebo inserts were administered once in a third group. An untreated glaucomatous group was used as control. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was monitored for four consecutive weeks after treatment began. At the end of the experiment, retinal ganglion cells and optic nerve head cupping were evaluated in the histological eye sections. Characterization results revealed that the drug physically interacted, but did not chemically react with the polymeric matrix. Inserts sustainedly released BIM in vitro during 8 hours. Biodistribution studies showed that the amount of 99mTc-BIM that remained in the eye was significantly lower after eye drop instillation than after chitosan insert implantation. BIM-loaded inserts lowered IOP for 4 weeks, after one application, while IOP values remained significantly high for the placebo and untreated groups. Eye drops were only effective during the daily treatment period. IOP results were reflected in RGC counting and optic nerve head cupping damage. BIM-loaded inserts provided sustained release of BIM and seem to be a promising system for glaucoma management.
Optimal area power efficiency in cellular networks

In this paper, we study the problem of minimizing the area power consumption in wireless cellular networks. We focus on the downlink of a single-tier network, in which the locations of base stations (BSs) are distributed according to a homogeneous Poisson point process (PPP). Assuming that a mobile user is connected to its strongest candidate BS, we derive bounds on the optimal transmit power in order to guarantee a certain minimum coverage and data rate. Under the same quality of service constraints, we find the optimal network density that minimizes the area power density. Our results show that the existence of an optimal BS density for minimizing the power consumption depends on the value of the pathloss exponent.
How is the reionization epoch defined

ABSTRA C T We study the effect of a prolonged epoch of reionization on the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background. Typically reionization studies assume a sudden phase transition, with the intergalactic gas moving from a fully neutral to a fully ionized state at a fixed redshift. Such models are at odds, however, with detailed investigations of reionization, which favour a more extended transition. We have modified the code CMBFAST to allow the treatment of more realistic reionization histories and applied it to data obtained from numerical simulations of reionization. We show that the prompt reionization assumed by CMBFAST in its original form heavily contaminates any constraint derived on the reionization redshift. We find, however, that prompt reionization models give a reasonable estimate of the epoch at which the mean cosmic ionization fraction was <50 per cent, and provide a very good measure of the overall Thomson optical depth. The overall differences in the temperature (polarization) angular power spectra between prompt and extended models with equal optical depths are less than 1 per cent (10 per cent).
Physiotherapy for cystic fibrosis in Australia and New Zealand: A clinical practice guideline*

Physiotherapy management is a key element of care for people with cystic fibrosis (CF) throughout the lifespan. Although considerable evidence exists to support physiotherapy management of CF, there is documented variation in practice. The aim of this guideline is to optimize the physiotherapy management of people with CF in Australia and New Zealand. A systematic review of the literature in key areas of physiotherapy practice for CF was undertaken. Recommendations were formulated based on National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia) guidelines and considered the quality, quantity and level of the evidence; the consistency of the body of evidence; the likely clinical impact; and applicability to physiotherapy practice in Australia and New Zealand. A total of 30 recommendations were made for airway clearance therapy, inhalation therapy, exercise assessment and training, musculoskeletal management, management of urinary incontinence, managing the newly diagnosed patient with CF, delivery of non‐invasive ventilation, and physiotherapy management before and after lung transplantation. These recommendations can be used to underpin the provision of evidence‐based physiotherapy care to people with CF in Australia and New Zealand.
PR ] 1 2 Se p 20 09 Poisson Dirichlet ( α , θ )-Bridge Equations and Coagulation-Fragmentation Duality

Abstract: This paper derives distributional properties of a class of exchangeable bridges closely related to the Poisson-Dirichlet (α, θ) family of bridges. We then show that various stochastic equations derived for these bridges lead to constructions of a new large class of coagulation and fragmentation operators that satisfy a duality property, and are otherwise easily manipulated. This class, builds on, and includes the duality relations developed in Pitman (15), Bertoin and Goldschmidt (2), and Dong, Goldschmidt and Martin (4), which we can treat in a unified way. Our exposition also suggests an approach to obtain other dualities and related results.
A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE CAPABILITIES OF FIVE MEASURES FOR ICT DEVELOPMENT

A variety of single-item composite indices for measurement of information and communication technologies (ICTs) at the country level are currently used to gauge the extent of technological development in developing countries. However, the values that are obtained from these measures typically are not comparable for the purpose of development and growth policy analysis. To remedy this, in 2003 the United Nations World Summit on Information Society called for the creation of an ICT Development (Digital Opportunity) Index. In this article, we survey and critique existing approaches for measurement of ICTs at the country level and identify five streams of measures that inform our efforts to identify the appropriate bases for the design of more effective metrics. They include: discrete non-economic measures, economic measures, technology adoption and diffusion measures, single-item index measures and digital divide measures. We suggest that the overall impact of ICTs can be accounted for in terms of four distinct dimensions: economy-related, society-related, knowledge-related and the temporal dimension. Based on the state of diffusion of ICTs, we categorize single-item index measures in terms of those that measure ICT-readiness, those that assess ICT intensity, and those that gauge the impacts of ICTs. We identify a number of issues and concerns that need to be addressed relative to the single-item index measures. Our evaluation concludes that there is no single-item index that will be able to measure the overall impact of ICTs. As a result, we recommend that the object of an ICT Development Index should be measurement of the impacts of ICTs.
Evolution of the spherical cavity radius generated around a subsurface drip emitter.

Abstract. The emitter discharge in subsurface drip irrigation can be affected by soil properties. A positive pressure develops at the emitter outlet where a spherical cavity is assumed to form. In steady-state conditions, the pressure in the soil relates to soil hydraulic properties, the emitter discharge, and the cavity radius. This pressure in the soil is very sensitive to the cavity radius. In this paper, the development of the cavity around the emitter outlet was measured for various emitter discharges in laboratory tests carried out in containers with uniform loamy soils. A trend between soil pressure and emitter discharge was established that illustrates the performance of buried emitters in the field. Its application to the prediction of water distribution in subsurface drip irrigation units and its effect on the estimation of irrigation performance are also shown.
A real-time multitarget tracking system with robust multichannel CNN-UM algorithms

This paper introduces a tightly coupled topographic sensor-processor and digital signal processor (DSP) architecture for real-time visual multitarget tracking (MTT) applications. We define real-time visual MTT as the task of tracking targets contained in an input image flow at a sampling-rate that is higher than the speed of the fastest maneuvers that the targets make. We utilize a sensor-processor based on the cellular neural network universal machine architecture that permits the offloading of the main image processing tasks from the DSP and introduces opportunities for sensor adaptation based on the tracking performance feedback from the DSP. To achieve robustness, the image processing algorithms running on the sensor borrow ideas from biological systems: the input is processed in different parallel channels (spatial, spatio-temporal and temporal) and the interaction of these channels generates the measurements for the digital tracking algorithms. These algorithms (running on the DSP) are responsible for distance calculation, state estimation, data association and track maintenance. The performance of the proposed system is studied using actual hardware for different video flows containing rapidly moving maneuvering targets.
Energy Prices and the Real Exchange Rate of Commodity-Exporting Countries

This paper investigates the relationship between energy prices and the real effective exchange rate of commodity-exporting countries. We consider two sets of countries: 10 energy-exporting and 23 non-fuel commodity-exporting countries over the period 1980-2011. Estimating a panel cointegrating relationship between the real exchange rate and its fundamentals, we provide evidence for the existence of "energy currencies". Relying on the estimation of panel smooth transition regression (PSTR) models, we show that there exists a certain threshold beyond which the real effective exchange rate of both energy and commodity exporters reacts to oil prices, through the terms-of-trade. More specifically, when oil price variations are low, the real effective exchange rates are not determined by terms-of-trade but by other usual fundamentals Nevertheless, when the oil market is highly volatile, currencies follow an "oil currency" regime, terms-of-trade becoming an important driver of the real exchange rate.
Motivically functorial coniveau spectral sequences; direct summands of cohomology of function fields

We construct a 'triangulated analogue' of coniveau spectral sequences: the motif of a variety over a countable field is 'decomposed' (in the sense of Postnikov towers) into the twisted (co)motives of its points; this is generalized to arbitrary Voevodsky's motives. To this end we construct a 'Gersten' weight structure for a certain triangulated category of 'comotives': the latter is defined to contain comotives for all projective limits of smooth varieties; the definition of a weight structure was introduced in a preceding paper. The corresponding weight spectral sequences are essentially coniveau one; they are $DM^{eff}_{gm}$-functorial (starting from $E_2$) and can be computed in terms of the homotopy $t$-structure for the category $DM^-_{eff}$ (similarly to the case of smooth varieties). This extends to motives the seminal coniveau spectral sequence computations of Bloch and Ogus. We also obtain that the cohomology of a smooth semi-local scheme is a direct summand of the cohomology of its generic fibre; cohomology of function fields contain twisted cohomology of their residue fields (for all geometric valuations). We also develop further the general theory of weight structures for triangulated categories (independently from the 'motivic' part of the paper). Besides, we develop a certain theory of 'nice' pairings of triangulated categories; this subject seems to be new.
Situated information spaces and spatially aware palmtop computers

article in this issue) will further these abilities and cause the generation of short-range and global electronic information spaces to appear lhroughout our everyday environments. How will this information be organized, and how will we interact with it? Wherever possible, we should look for ways of associating electronic information with physical objects in our environment. This raeans that our information spaces will be 3D. The SemNet system [4] is an example of a tool that offers users access to large, complicated 3D information spaces. Our goal is to go a step further by grounding and situating the information in a physical context to provide additional understanding of the organization of the space and to improve user orientation. As an example of ubiquitous computing and situated information spaces, consider a fax machine. The electronic data associated with a fax machine should be collecl:ed, associated , and colocated with [he physical device (see Figure 1). This means that your personal electronic phone book, a log of your incoming and outgoing calls, and fax messages could be accessible by browsing a situated 3D electronic information space surrounding the fax machine. The information would be organized by the layout of the physical device. Incoming calls would be located near 1:he earpiece of the hand receiver while outgoing calls would be situated near the mouthpiece. The phone, book could be found near the keypad. A log of the outgoing fax messages would be found near the fax paper feeder while a log of the incoming faxes would be located at the paper dispenser tray. These logical information hot spots on the physical device can be moved and customized by users according to their personal organizations. The key idea is that the physical object anchors the information, provides a logical means of partitioning and organizing the associated information space, and serves as a retrieval cue for users. A major design requirement of situated information spaces is the ability for users to visualize, browse, and manipulate the 3D space using a ,. RoE.ALL-portable, palmtop computer. That is, instead of a large fixed display on a desk, we want a small, mobile display to act as a window onto the information space. Since the information spaces will consist of multimedia data, the display of the palmtop should be able to handle all forms of data including text, graphics, video, and audio. Moreover, the desire to merge the physical and …
Dividend Initiations, Increases and Idiosyncratic Volatility

We examine three aspects of the relation between dividend initiation and increase announcements and idiosyncratic volatility. First, consistent with dividend signaling, we find that firms with higher levels of idiosyncratic volatility are associated with higher announcement abnormal returns when initiating or increasing dividends. Second, firms on average experience an ex post reduction in idiosyncratic volatility following dividend initiations that is associated with announcement and long-term abnormal returns. Finally, high idiosyncratic volatility firms are associated with stronger positive post event return drift.
Molecular genetic identification of symbiotic dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae)

Zooxanthellae are phototrophic dinoflagellates that occur as endosymbionts in many marine invertebrates. Because traditional biological methods have not provided useful schemes for zooxanthella identification and classification, the natural history of zooxanthella symbioses is poorly known. We have apphed molecular genehc methods to zooxanthella taxonomy. Small ribosomal subunit RNA (ssRNA) genes can be rapidly obtained from small amounts of symbiotic (non-cultured) algae by gene amplification using the polymerase chain reaction. Different Symbiodinium-like zooxanthellae are then identified by digesting the amplified DNA with restriction enzymes. A sample of 16 cnidarian host species yielded 6 distinct Symbiodinium ssRNA genes: different Hawaiian corals harbored dfferent algae, but different individuals of the same coral species harbored indistinguishable algae. The corals Pocillopora damicornis and P. meandrina appear to contain a mixture of 2 zooxanthella ssRNA genes; other hosts exhibited a single zooxanthella genotype. The same algal genotype occurs in taxonomically dissimilar hosts.
DeepTox: Toxicity Prediction using Deep Learning

The Tox21 Data Challenge has been the largest effort of the scientific community to compare computational methods for toxicity prediction. This challenge comprised 12,000 environmental chemicals and drugs which were measured for 12 different toxic effects by specifically designed assays. We participated in this challenge to assess the performance of Deep Learning in computational toxicity prediction. Deep Learning has already revolutionized image processing, speech recognition, and language understanding but has not yet been applied to computational toxicity. Deep Learning is founded on novel algorithms and architectures for artificial neural networks together with the recent availability of very fast computers and massive datasets. It discovers multiple levels of distributed representations of the input, with higher levels representing more abstract concepts. We hypothesized that the construction of a hierarchy of chemical features gives Deep Learning the edge over other toxicity prediction methods. Furthermore, Deep Learning naturally enables multi-task learning, that is, learning of all toxic effects in one neural network and thereby learning of highly informative chemical features. In order to utilize Deep Learning for toxicity prediction, we have developed the DeepTox pipeline. First, DeepTox normalizes the chemical representations of the compounds. Then it computes a large number of chemical descriptors that are used as input to machine learning methods. In its next step, DeepTox trains models, evaluates them, and combines the best of them to ensembles. Finally, DeepTox predicts the toxicity of new compounds. In the Tox21 Data Challenge, DeepTox had the highest performance of all computational methods winning the grand challenge, the nuclear receptor panel, the stress response panel, and six single assays (teams ``Bioinf@JKU''). We found that Deep Learning excelled in toxicity prediction and outperformed many other computational approaches like naive Bayes, support vector machines, and random forests.
Abuse-Related Neurochemical Effects of Para-Substituted Methcathinone Analogs in Rats: Microdialysis Studies of Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine and Serotonin

Methcathinone (MCAT) is a monoamine releaser and parent compound to a new class of designer drugs that includes the synthetic cathinones mephedrone and flephedrone. Using MCAT and a series of para-substituted (or 4-substituted) MCAT analogs, it has been previously shown that expression of abuse-related behavioral effects in rats correlates both with the volume of the para substituent and in vitro neurochemical selectivity to promote monoamine release via the dopamine (DA) versus serotonin (5-HT) transporters in rat brain synaptosomes. The present study used in vivo microdialysis to determine the relationship between these previous measures and the in vivo neurochemical selectivity of these compounds to alter nucleus accumbens (NAc) DA and 5-HT levels. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with bilateral guide cannulae targeting the NAc. MCAT and five para-substituted analogs (4-F, 4-Cl, 4-Br, 4-CH3, and 4-OCH3) produced dose- and time-dependent increases in NAc DA and/or 5-HT levels. Selectivity was determined as the dose required to increase peak 5-HT levels by 250% divided by the dose required to increase peak DA levels by 250%. This measure of in vivo neurochemical selectivity varied across compounds and correlated with 1) in vivo expression of abuse-related behavioral effects (r = 0.89, P = 0.02); 2) in vitro selectivity to promote monoamine release via DA and 5-HT transporters (r = 0.95, P < 0.01); and 3) molecular volume of the para substituent (r = −0.85, P = 0.03). These results support a relationship between these molecular, neurochemical, and behavioral measures and support a role for molecular structure as a determinant of abuse-related neurochemical and behavioral effects of MCAT analogs.
A view on contractions of higher dimensional varieties

In this paper we discuss some recent results about extremal contractions of complex algebraic varieties. These are proper surjective maps, $\phi: X\longrightarrow Z$, of normal varieties with connected fibers such that $X$ has mild singularities (in particular $X$ is $Q$-Gorenstein) and the anticanonical divisor of $X$ is $\phi$ ample. It will appear on the Proceedings of AMS-SRI on Algebraic Geometry, Santa Cruz 1995.
Inter-Specific Differences in Numerical Abilities Among Teleost Fish

Adults, infants and non-human primates are thought to possess similar non-verbal numerical systems, but there is considerable debate regarding whether all vertebrates share the same numerical abilities. Despite an abundance of studies, cross-species comparison remains difficult because the methodology employed and the context of species examination vary considerably across studies. To fill this gap, we used the same procedure, stimuli, and numerical contrasts to compare quantity abilities of five teleost fish: redtail splitfin, guppies, zebrafish, Siamese fighting fish, and angelfish. Subjects were trained to discriminate between two sets of geometrical figures using a food reward. Fish initially were trained on an easy numerical ratio (5 vs. 10 and 6 vs. 12). Once they reached the learning criterion, they were subjected to non-reinforced probe trials in which the set size was constant but numerical ratios varied (8 vs. 12 and 9 vs. 12). They also were subjected to probe trials in which the ratio was constant, but the total set size was increased (25 vs. 50) or decreased (2 vs. 4). Overall, fish generalized to numerosities with a 0.67 ratio, but failed with a 0.75 ratio; they generalized to a smaller set size, but not to a larger one. Only minor differences were observed among the five species. However, in one species, zebrafish, the proportion of individuals reaching the learning criterion was much smaller than in the others. In a control experiment, zebrafish showed a similar lower performance in shape discrimination, suggesting that the observed difference resulted from the zebrafish’s difficulty in learning this procedure rather than from a cross-species variation in the numerical domain.