Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A convolution neural networks scheme for classification of motor imagery EEG based on wavelet time-frequecy image

Motor imagery classification using electroencephalogram (EEG) is increasingly becoming popular in brain-computer interface (BCI) field. In this paper, we present a novel convolution neural networks (CNN) approach for classifying motor imagery electroencephalogram (EEG). For this, we obtained time-frequency representations of EEGs in cases of left and right motor imageries using continuous wavelet transform (CWT). Through experiments using well known public benchmark dataset, it shows that the proposed method provides the improved accuracy compared to the traditional machine learning based classification methods. It confirms the usefulness of the CNN scheme for BCI research field.
Selective Predation of Tawny Owls (Strix aluco) on Yellow-Necked Mice (Apodemus flavicollis) and Bank Voles (Myodes glareolus)

Differential predation on certain classes of individuals within prey populations might make owls strong selective agents on their prey. We investigated selective predation of tawny owls (Strix aluco) on yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis, A.f.) and bank voles (Myodes glareolus, M.g.) for two years by comparing prey from owl nests with live-trapped individuals. The owls killed significantly more male M.g. (73%) than females, but not more than expected from traps (57%). For A.f. , owls selected adults in favour of subadults, and for adults, individuals with longer femurs. Adult males of A.f. killed by owls had significantly heavier testes in relation their size than the trapped males. Prey selection did not correlate with size-adjusted body or spleen mass. Owl-killed A.f. had higher prevalences of the intestinal helminth Heligmosomoides sp. than trapped individuals, but hosted similar numbers of parasite species. Differential predation of tawny owls on yellow-necked mice and bank voles seems to reflect higher exposure to predator encounters of prime individuals rather than selection for substandard individuals.
Open innovation in software requirements engineering: A mapping study

Background: Since 2003, when the concept of open innovation (OI) was introduced, OI has been applied in many industrial fields. Previous research indicates that the use of OI in computer science is less diverse than in other fields. Especially, the role of OI in software requirements engineering (RE) seems to be little explored. Goals: This study aimed to summarize the body of knowledge about the use of OI in the field of RE. More specifically, we analyzed what uses of OI in the context of RE have been reported and how OI has contributed to individual steps of the RE process. Method: We conduct a mapping study on the literature provided in four scientific databases (ISI Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, and Science Direct). Results: We identified 20 relevant papers. We found: 1) 20 primary studies from the period 2003–2016 report on results about applying OI in RE. 2) Half of the studies report on the application of OI on RE as a whole. 3) Only one paper each is related to requirement prioritization and validation. 4) None of the primary studies presents a proprietary tool support for OI in RE. Only one study presents a method for automatic requirements extraction in OSS projects which can be implemented using standard machine learning tools. Conclusions: Acknowledging the lack of published research on the use of OI strategies in specific RE activities, i.e., prioritization and validation, as well as the lack of reported tool support, we see new opportunities for research on automated and thus non-intrusive and low-cost methods for applying OI strategies in RE.
Cycle-to-Cycle Variation Analysis of Two-Colour PLIF Temperature Measurements Calibrated with Laser Induced Grating Spectroscopy in a Firing GDI Engine

In-cylinder temperatures and their cyclic variations strongly influence many aspects of internal combustion engine operation, from chemical reaction rates determining the production of NOx and particulate matter to the tendency for auto-ignition leading to knock in spark ignition engines. Spatially resolved measurements of temperature can provide insights into such processes and enable validation of Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations used to model engine performance and guide engine design. This work uses a combination of Two-Colour Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (TC-PLIF) and Laser Induced Grating Spectroscopy (LIGS) to measure the in-cylinder temperature distributions of a firing optically accessible spark ignition engine. TC-PLIF performs 2-D temperature measurements using fluorescence emission in two different wavelength bands but requires calibration under conditions of known temperature, pressure and composition. Here the TC-PLIF technique is calibrated in-situ using high precision (<1%) LIGS point measurements. Temperature distributions were recorded during the compression stroke for fired operation with Direct Injection and with Plenum Fuel Injection of three two-component fuels containing toluene and iso-octane. Temperature inhomogeneity was observed for all fuels and injection strategies, with mm-scale regions having temperatures up to 10% higher than the local environment. Charge cooling of 3% due to direct injection was resolved. Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) was used to quantify the cycle-to-cycle variation of the temperature data. Low-order POD modes featured most of the cyclic variation in temperature and the corresponding mode coefficients were used to investigate correlations with combustion analysis, fuel injection strategies and toluene content of the fuel. Additionally, the low-order POD mode coefficients provided an opportunity to identify cycles containing local hotspots or outlier measurements.
Approximately detecting duplicates for streaming data using stable bloom filters

Traditional duplicate elimination techniques are not applicable to many data stream applications. In general, precisely eliminating duplicates in an unbounded data stream is not feasible in many streaming scenarios. Therefore, we target at approximately eliminating duplicates in streaming environments given a limited space. Based on a well-known bitmap sketch, we introduce a data structure, Stable Bloom Filter, and a novel and simple algorithm. The basic idea is as follows: since there is no way to store the whole history of the stream, SBF continuously evicts the stale information so that SBF has room for those more recent elements. After finding some properties of SBF analytically, we show that a tight upper bound of false positive rates is guaranteed. In our empirical study, we compare SBF to alternative methods. The results show that our method is superior in terms of both accuracy and time effciency when a fixed small space and an acceptable false positive rate are given.
A Balanced Approach to Adaptive Probability Density Estimation

Our development of a Fast (Mutual) Information Matching (FIM) of molecular dynamics time series data led us to the general problem of how to accurately estimate the probability density function of a random variable, especially in cases of very uneven samples. Here, we propose a novel Balanced Adaptive Density Estimation (BADE) method that effectively optimizes the amount of smoothing at each point. To do this, BADE relies on an efficient nearest-neighbor search which results in good scaling for large data sizes. Our tests on simulated data show that BADE exhibits equal or better accuracy than existing methods, and visual tests on univariate and bivariate experimental data show that the results are also aesthetically pleasing. This is due in part to the use of a visual criterion for setting the smoothing level of the density estimate. Our results suggest that BADE offers an attractive new take on the fundamental density estimation problem in statistics. We have applied it on molecular dynamics simulations of membrane pore formation. We also expect BADE to be generally useful for low-dimensional applications in other statistical application domains such as bioinformatics, signal processing and econometrics.
Three-dimensional visual comfort assessment via preference learning

Abstract. Three-dimensional (3-D) visual comfort assessment (VCA) is a particularly important and challenging topic, which involves automatically predicting the degree of visual comfort in line with human subjective judgment. State-of-the-art VCA models typically focus on minimizing the distance between predicted visual comfort scores and subjective mean opinion scores (MOSs) by training a regression model. However, obtaining precise MOSs is often expensive and time-consuming, which greatly constrains the extension of existing MOS-aware VCA models. This study is inspired by the fact that humans tend to conduct a preference judgment between two stereoscopic images in terms of visual comfort. We propose to train a robust VCA model on a set of preference labels instead of MOSs. The preference label, representing the relative visual comfort of preference stereoscopic image pairs (PSIPs), is generally precise and can be obtained at much lower cost compared with MOS. More specifically, some representative stereoscopic images are first selected to generate the PSIP training set. Then, we use a support vector machine to learn a preference classification model by taking a differential feature vector and the corresponding preference label of each PSIP as input. Finally, given a testing sample, by considering a full-round paired comparison with all the selected representative stereoscopic images, the visual comfort score can be estimated via a simple linear mapping strategy. Experimental results on our newly built 3-D image database demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve a better performance compared with the models trained on MOSs.
Monitoring the “tip of the iceberg'': Ambulance records as a source of injury surveillance

Aims: The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of moderate and severe injury morbidity in a defined population on the basis of ambulance records, and to validate ambulance records as a potential source of surveillance. Methods: A geographical target area was defined; the county of Värmland, Sweden. All ambulance attendances and hospitalizations for unintentional and intentional injury in 2002 were selected, analysed, and compared. Results: Ambulance data comprised 3,964 injury cases (14.5/1,000). Most injuries for which ambulance attention was sought occurred in road traffic areas (27%), followed by residential areas (20%), school and institutional areas (14%), and sports areas (8%). An ecological comparison between ambulance-based data and hospitalizations showed that ambulance services captured approximately the same amount of injury cases (3,235 ambulance reports, as compared to 3,456 hospital discharges) with a similar profile. Conclusions: This study provides epidemiological support for ambulance services as a potential source of regular surveillance data on moderate and severe injuries. However, at a population level, our results indicate that ambulance data tend to overestimate some injury categories, and underestimate others, as compared to hospital data. The significance of these differences for preventive work, as well as other practical aspects of the feasibility of regular injury surveillance, will be analysed and discussed on the basis of general criteria for evaluation of surveillance systems in a forthcoming paper.
Weaning diet induces sustained metabolic phenotype shift in the pig and influences host response to Bifidobacterium lactis NCC2818

Background The process of weaning causes a major shift in intestinal microbiota and is a critical period for developing appropriate immune responses in young mammals. Objective To use a new systems approach to provide an overview of host metabolism and the developing immune system in response to nutritional intervention around the weaning period. Design Piglets (n=14) were weaned onto either an egg-based or soya-based diet at 3 weeks until 7 weeks, when all piglets were switched onto a fish-based diet. Half the animals on each weaning diet received Bifidobacterium lactis NCC2818 supplementation from weaning onwards. Immunoglobulin production from immunologically relevant intestinal sites was quantified and the urinary 1H NMR metabolic profile was obtained from each animal at post mortem (11 weeks). Results Different weaning diets induced divergent and sustained shifts in the metabolic phenotype, which resulted in the alteration of urinary gut microbial co-metabolites, even after 4 weeks of dietary standardisation. B lactis NCC2818 supplementation affected the systemic metabolism of the different weaning diet groups over and above the effects of diet. Additionally, production of gut mucosa-associated IgA and IgM was found to depend upon the weaning diet and on B lactis NCC2818 supplementation. Conclusion The correlation of urinary 1H NMR metabolic profile with mucosal immunoglobulin production was demonstrated, thus confirming the value of this multi-platform approach in uncovering non-invasive biomarkers of immunity. This has clear potential for translation into human healthcare with the development of urine testing as a means of assessing mucosal immune status. This might lead to early diagnosis of intestinal dysbiosis and with subsequent intervention, arrest disease development. This system enhances our overall understanding of pathologies under supra-organismal control.
Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans as Drivers of Neural Progenitors Derived From Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Background: Due to their relative ease of isolation and their high ex vivo and in vitro expansive potential, human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are an attractive candidate for therapeutic applications in the treatment of brain injury and neurological diseases. Heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) are a family of ubiquitous proteins involved in a number of vital cellular processes including proliferation and stem cell lineage differentiation. Methods: Following the determination that hMSCs maintain neural potential throughout extended in vitro expansion, we examined the role of HSPGs in mediating the neural potential of hMSCs. hMSCs cultured in basal conditions (undifferentiated monolayer cultures) were found to co-express neural markers and HSPGs throughout expansion with modulation of the in vitro niche through the addition of exogenous HS influencing cellular HSPG and neural marker expression. Results: Conversion of hMSCs into hMSC Induced Neurospheres (hMSC IN) identified distinctly localized HSPG staining within the spheres along with altered gene expression of HSPG core protein and biosynthetic enzymes when compared to undifferentiated hMSCs. Conclusion: Comparison of markers of pluripotency, neural self-renewal and neural lineage specification between hMSC IN, hMSC and human neural stem cell (hNSC H9) cultures suggest that in vitro generated hMSC IN may represent an intermediary neurogenic cell type, similar to a common neural progenitor cell. In addition, this data demonstrates HSPGs and their biosynthesis machinery, are associated with hMSC IN formation. The identification of specific HSPGs driving hMSC lineage-specification will likely provide new markers to allow better use of hMSCs in therapeutic applications and improve our understanding of human neurogenesis.
Creep of Hi-Nicalon™ S Ceramic Fiber Tows at 700°C in Air and in Silicic Acid-saturated Steam

Aircraft structural and engine components are subjected to elevated temperature and steam environments during operation. Turbine blades experience particularly harsh conditions that are approaching the operating temperature limits of current Nickel-based superalloys even with active cooling. Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), which demonstrate high specific strength and specific stiffness and maintain these properties at elevated temperatures such that active cooling is not required, are prime candidates to replace superalloys as the materials for turbine blades. Ceramic matrix composites are composite materials that consist of a ceramic matrix with fiber reinforcement. This research investigated a silicon carbide (SiC) fiber, Hi-NicalonTM S, which is a candidate for reinforcement of CMCs with SiC-based matrices. Hi-NicalonTM S fiber tows, consisting of approximately 500 filaments, were creep tested at 700°C in air and in silicic acid-saturated steam. The steam was saturated with silicic acid in order to simulate the interaction that would occur in a SiC-SiC CMC as the steam environment enters through matrix cracks and leaches Si from the matrix while moving towards the fibers. Creep stresses ranged from 2.96 to 1256 MPa in air and from 2.96 to 798 MPa in silicic acid-saturated steam. Creep run-out was defined as 100 h at creep stress. Creep strains were measured and steady-state creep rates were determined in all tests. In air creep runout was achieved at stresses as high as 1023 MPa, while in saturated steam creep runout was achieved only at 750 MPa. Creep rates were approximately an order of magnitude greater in saturated steam than in air. Post-test fiber microstructure was examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Microscopy revealed the presence of a passive
Low energy single event upset/single event transient-tolerant latch for deep subMicron technologies

Single event upsets (SEUs) and single event transients (SETs) are major reliability concerns in deep submicron technologies. As technology feature size shrinks, digital circuits are becoming more susceptible to SEUs and SETs. A novel SEU/SET-tolerant latch called feedback redundant SEU/SET-tolerant latch (FERST) is presented, where redundant feedback lines are used to mask SEUs and delay elements are used to filter SETs. Detailed SPICE simulations have been done to evaluate the proposed design and compare it with previous latch designs. The results show that the SEU tolerance of the FERST latch is almost equal to that of a TMR latch (a widely used latch which is the most reliable among the previous latches); however, the FERST latch consumes about 50% less energy and occupies 42% less area than the triple modular redundancy (TMR) latch. Furthermore, the results show that more than 90% of the injected SETs can be masked by the FERST latch if the delay size is properly selected.
Tobacco Arp3 is localized to actin-nucleating sites in vivo

The polarity of actin is a central determinant of intracellular transport in plant cells. To visualize actin polarity in living plant cells, the tobacco homologue of the actin-related protein 3 (ARP3) was cloned and a fusion with the red fluorescent protein (RFP) was generated. Upon transient expression of these fusions in the tobacco cell line BY-2 (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Bright Yellow 2), punctate structures were observed near the nuclear envelope and in the cortical plasma. These dots could be shown to decorate actin filaments by expressing RFP–ARP3 in a marker line, where actin was tagged by GFP (green fluorescent protein)–FABD (fimbrin actin-binding domain 2). When actin filaments were disrupted by latrunculin B or by prolonged cold treatment, and subsequently allowed to recover, the actin filaments reformed from the RFP–ARP3 structures, that therefore represented actin nucleation sites. The intracellular distribution of these sites was followed during the formation of pluricellular files, and it was observed that the density of RFP–ARP3 increased in the apex of the polarized, terminal cells of a file, whereas it was equally distributed in the central cells of a file. These findings are interpreted in terms of position-dependent differences of actin organization.
“They think surgery is just a quick fix”

Background To prevent weight regain, patients undergoing weight loss surgery are encouraged to change their exercise and dietary habits. Building on previous research, the aim of this study was to explore women's experiences of changing exercise habits – focusing on women participating in a group based rehabilitation program including surgical as well as non-surgical participants. Findings Based on interviews with the 11 women included in this study, as well as participant observation, two themes were identified; 1) Pushing ones tolerance limits, and 2) Rebutting the “quick fix” fallacy. Taken together, the findings showcase how being a part of this mixed group involved having to relate to social stigmas, as well as notions regarding successful and non-successful surgical outcomes. Although such notions may be useful in identifying potential challenges related to changing exercise habits, they do not illuminate the complexity of undergoing such changes following weight loss surgery. Conclusion The findings point to the need of acknowledging patients' own exceriences to determine how successful they are after surgery. Given the findings, I argue for the need to reconsider the notion of success in relation to group based interventions.
Mitosis in Aspergillus nidulans.

Mitosis in growing hyphae of haploid and diploid Aspergillus nidulans has been studied with the light microscope in Helly-fixed preparations. At the periphery of the nuleus a sharply defined granule is invariably found which has strong affinity for acid fuchsin. Mitosis begins with the duplication of this granule and the development inside the nucleus of a gradually lengthening fibre between the daughter granules. This fibre is also visibel in dividing nuclei of living hyphae examined by phase-contrast microscopy, when it appears as a grey bar traversing the non-nucleolar region. Division of the chromatin has been studied in preparations stained with aceto orcein, directly or after hydrolysis. It proceeds through four phases, beginning with the condensation of distinct chromosomes from the chromatin network of the resting nuclei. Later the chromosomes become arranged in two parallel rows of chromatinic masses in which individual chromosomes can no longer be distinguished. Division is completed by migration of the chromatin to the ends of each row, giving the appearance of a transverse break in the double bar. The chromatin accumulating at the ends of the double bar condenses to form the two daughter nuclei. The number of chromatinic elements appears to be the same in both haploid and diploid nuclei, although the individual elements are larger in the latter. Successive staining of the same dividing nucleus, first for the fibre (acid fuchsin) and then for the chromosomes (HCl-aceto orcein or HCl-Giemsa) has established that the fibre lies among the chromosomes, and that is elongation is closely related to the anaphase-telophase movements of the chromosomes. This suggests that the fibre is the equivalent of a mitotic spindle. That the fibre is connected with the chromosomes is further suggested by the observation that, in stained preparations, the fibre is considerably thicker in dividing diploid than in haploid nuclei. Electron microscopy of dividing nuclei has revealed that mitosis is carried out within the intact nuclear envelope. The mitotic spindle is composed of a bundle of fibrils which traverses the nucleus between two plaques of dense material associated with the envelope. In order to explain the configurations seen during the division of the chromatin it is proposed that the chromosomes become attached to the central spindle at various points along its length. With the elongation of the spindle the sister chromatids separate and pass, asynchronously, to opposite ends of the spindle along two preferred lines, thereby producing the characteristic double bar figure. The absence of a metaphase plate is thus accounted for by the scattered points of attachment of the chromosomes to the spindle and by their asynchronous division.