Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sensing Miscanthus Swath Volume for Maximizing Baler Throughput Rate

Abstract. The cost of harvesting is one of the constraints in improving biofuel economics. Adjusting the ground speed of harvesting machines to maximize their throughput rate in relation to yield level is one of the ways to reduce harvesting cost. To control the ground speed of a baler, a real-time sensor that can predict the swathed-biomass yield in front of the baler would be an invaluable tool. It was hypothesized that the swathed-biomass volume is a reliable predictor of the swathed-biomass yield. A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) based sensing system was developed to sense swathed-biomass volume and was field tested. To correlate the sensed swathed-biomass volume with the Miscanthus yield, a new bale-specific method was developed. A linear correlation (R 2 = 0.76) was found between Miscanthus yield and sensed swathed-biomass volume at the time of mowing-conditioning. Yield maps were generated using the developed correlation model. The model was also used to predict the harvested plot biomass. The average percent error in predicting the harvested plot biomass was 12.4% for training plots and 10.1% for validation plots. The analysis revealed that a proper control strategy to maximize the baler throughput rate would be to either operate the large square baler at the maximum feasible ground speed (6 km h -1 ) or at the maximum achievable throughput rate (35 Mg h -1 ). For the specific case analyzed, the proposed control strategy would result in the following advantages: 38.0% higher field capacity, 35.6% higher throughput rate, and 30.4% lower baling cost. Further studies and field evaluation of the proposed control strategy are needed. Studies are also needed to extend the swathed-biomass volume sensing concept to corn stover, other energy grasses, and forage crops.
Gestures as point clouds: a $P recognizer for user interface prototypes

Rapid prototyping of gesture interaction for emerging touch platforms requires that developers have access to fast, simple, and accurate gesture recognition approaches. The $-family of recognizers ($1, $N) addresses this need, but the current most advanced of these, $N-Protractor, has significant memory and execution costs due to its combinatoric gesture representation approach. We present $P, a new member of the $-family, that remedies this limitation by considering gestures as clouds of points. $P performs similarly to $1 on unistrokes and is superior to $N on multistrokes. Specifically, $P delivers >99% accuracy in user-dependent testing with 5+ training samples per gesture type and stays above 99% for user-independent tests when using data from 10 participants. We provide a pseudocode listing of $P to assist developers in porting it to their specific platform and a "cheat sheet" to aid developers in selecting the best member of the $-family for their specific application needs.
Global Liquidity Risk in the Foreign Exchange Market

Using a broad data set of 20 US dollar exchange rates and order flow of institutional investors over 14 years, we construct a measure of global liquidity risk in the foreign exchange (FX) market. Our FX liquidity measure may be seen as the analog of the well-known Pastor–Stambaugh liquidity measure for the US stock market. We show that this measure has reasonable properties, and that there is a strong common component in liquidity across currencies. Finally, we provide evidence that liquidity risk is priced in the cross-section of currency returns, and estimate the liquidity risk premium in the FX market around 4.7 percent per annum.
A New Phillips Curve for Israel

The paper offers an alternative description of a Phillips curve for the Israeli economy in the last decade. We use a structural model, based on the micro-founded “New Keynesian” relationship between marginal costs and inflation along the lines of the approach presented in Gali and Gertler (1999) and Sbordone (2001) and following the extension for an open economy by Balakrishnan and Lopez-Salido (2002). The estimation results show that the frequency of price adjustments in Israel was relatively high–updating prices every 2 to 3 quarters on average, but in the magnitude of the results for other countries. We also found that the share of price adjustments which is based on backward looking considerations is, on the background of Israel’s inflationary history, low - only about 0.2 to 0.5 of price updates.
The minimum mass for star formation, and the origin of binary brown dwarfs

Context. The minimum mass for star formation is a critical parameter with profound astrophysical, cosmological and anthropic consequences. Aims. Our first aim is to calculate the minimum mass for PrimaryFra gmentation in a variety of potential star-formation scenarios, i.e. (a) hierarchical fragmentation of a 3D medium; (b) one-shot, 2D fragmentation of a shock-compressed layer; (c) fragmentation of a circumstellar disc. By Primary Fragmentation we mean fragmentation facilitated by efficient radiative cooling. Our second aim is to evaluate the role of H2 dissociation in facilitating Secondary Fra gmentation and thereby producing close, low-mass binaries. Methods. We use power-law fits to the constitutive physics, a one-zone model for condensing fragments, and the diffusion approximation for radiative transport in the optically thick limit, in order to formulate simple analytic estimates. Results. (i) For contemporary, local star formation, the minimum mass for Primary Fragmentation is in the range 0.001 to 0.004 M� , irrespective of the star-formation scenario considered. This result is remarkable since, both the condition for gravitational instability, and the radiation transport regime operating in a minimum-mass fragment, are different in the different scenarios. (ii) Circumstellar discs are only able to radiate fast enough to undergo Primary Fragmentation in their cool outer parts (R > 100 AU). Therefore brown dwarfs should have difficulty forming by Primary Fragmentation at R 100 AU could be the source of brown dwarfs in wide orbits about Sun-like stars, and could explain why massive discs extending beyond this radius are rarely seen. (iii) H2 dissociation can lead to collapse and Secondary Fragmentation, thereby converting primary fragments into close, low-mass binaries, with semi-major axes a ∼ 5A U (m SYSTEM /0.1 M� ), in good agreement with observation; in this circumstance, the minimum mass for Primary Fragmentation becomes a minimum system mass, rather than a minimum stellar mass. (iv) Any primary fragment can undergo Secondary Fragmentation, producing a close low-mass binary, provided only that the primary fragment is spinning. Secondary Fragmentation is therefore most likely in primary fragments formed in the outer parts of circumstellar discs (since such fragments inevitably spin), and this could explain why a brown dwarf in a wide orbit about a Sun-like star has a greater likelihood of having a brown-dwarf companion than a brown dwarf in the field – as seems to be observed. Moreover, we show that binary brown dwarfs formed in this way can sometimes be ejected into the field without breaking up.
Distribution of Central Corneal Thickness and its Association with Ocular Parameters in a Large Central European Cohort: The Gutenberg Health Study

Main objective To evaluate the distribution of central corneal thickness (CCT) in a large German cohort and to analyse its relationship with intraocular pressure and further ocular factors. Design Population-based, prospective, cohort study. Methods The Gutenberg Health Study (GHS) cohort included 4,698 eligible enrollees of 5,000 subjects (age range 35–74 years) who participated in the survey from 2007 to 2008. All participants underwent an ophthalmological examination including slitlamp biomicroscopy, intraocular pressure measurement, central corneal thickness measurement, fundus examination, and were given a questionnaire regarding glaucoma history. Furthermore, all subjects underwent fundus photography and visual field testing using frequency doubling perimetry. Results Mean CCT was 557.3±34.3 µm (male) and 551.6±35.2 µm in female subjects (Mean CCT from right and left eyes). Younger male participants (35–44 years) presented slightly thicker CCT than those older. We noted a significant CCT difference of 4 µm between right and left eyes, but a high correlation between eyes (Wilcoxon test for related samples: p<0.0001). Univariable linear regression stratified by gender showed that IOP was correlated with CCT (p<0.0001). A 10 µm increase in CCT led to an increase in IOP between 0.35–0.38 mm Hg, depending on the eye and gender. Multivariable linear regression analysis revealed correlations between gender, spherical equivalent (right eyes), and CCT (p<.0001 and p = 0.03, respectively). Conclusions We observed positive correlations between CCT and IOP and gender. CCT was not correlated with age, contact lens wear, positive family history for glaucoma, lens status, or iris colour.
A Phase II Trial of Pegylated Interferon -2b Therapy for Polycythemia Vera and Essential Thrombocythemia Feasibility, Clinical and Biologic Effects, and Impact on Quality of Life

The results of the current trial are presented on behalf of the following members of the Nordic Study Group for Myeloproliferative Disorders (NMPD): Waleed Ghanima, MD (Department of Medicine, Ostfold-Fredriksstads Hospital, Fredriksstad, Norway); Poul Gram-Hansen, MD (Department of Hematology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark); Peter Johansson, MD, PhD (Department of Hematology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden); Claes Malm, MD (Department of Hematology, University Hospital, Linkoping, Sweden); Berit Markevarn, MD (Department of Medicine, University Hospital, Umea, Sweden); Torben Mourits-Andersen, MD (Department of Medicine, Esbjerg Hospital, Esbjerg, Denmark); and Lars Nilsson, MD, PhD (Department of Hematology, Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden).
Assessment of serum cortisol, thoughts of death, and loss of pleasure in patients with schizophrenia: a correlative study

Context The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis seems dysregulated in schizophrenic patients, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown; yet recent evidence indicates that systemic cortisol metabolism influences blood cortisol levels and HPA axis functioning. There has been a recent increase in interest in anhedonia research. Linkages to schizophrenia and the underlying neurobiology are still not well understood. There is clear evidence that the activity of certain neurobiological systems has a role in the pathophysiology of suicidal behavior and this includes hyperactivity of the HPA axis. Objectives The objectives of this work were to examine whether there is an increased activity of HPA axis in schizophrenic patients, and to detect the presence of an association between the level of plasma cortisol and thoughts of death and anhedonia in the disorder. Setting and design Twenty patients diagnosed with schizophrenia were studied in comparison with 20 controls. Patients and methods All patients were assessed through Present State Examination, 10th revision. The Snaith Hamilton Pleasure Scale was used to assess anhedonia, and Beck’s Suicidal Ideation Scale was used to quantify suicidal intention. In addition, The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale was also used. Blood samples were collected from all patients to assess plasma cortisol level in the morning and evening. Statistical analysis Collected data in this study were analyzed using the statistical package for the social sciences (version 15). Results There were increased levels of morning and evening cortisol in schizophrenic patients. Thoughts of death were positively associated with elevated morning cortisol. Conclusion Schizophrenic patients have higher cortisol levels in comparison with controls, suggesting hyperactivity of the HPA axis in the disorder. Anhedonia predicts suicidal tendencies in schizophrenia; the higher the anhedonia, the higher the suicidal ideations.
Managing Multiword Expressions in a Lexicon-Based Sentiment Analysis System for Spanish

This paper describes our approach to managing multiword expressions in Sentitext, a linguistically-motivated, lexicon-based Sentiment Analysis (SA) system for Spanish whose performance is largely determined by its coverage of MWEs. We defend the view that multiword constructions play a fundamental role in lexical Sentiment Analysis, in at least three ways. First, a significant proportion conveys semantic orientation; second, being units of meaning, their relative weight to the calculated overall sentiment rating of texts needs to be accounted for as such, rather than the number of component lexical units; and, third, many MWEs contain individual words that carry a given polarity, which may or may not be that of the phrase as a whole. As a result, successful lexiconbased SA calls for appropriate management of MWEs. 1
SEAS: A System for SEED-Based Pathway Enrichment Analysis

Pathway enrichment analysis represents a key technique for analyzing high-throughput omic data, and it can help to link individual genes or proteins found to be differentially expressed under specific conditions to well-understood biological pathways. We present here a computational tool, SEAS, for pathway enrichment analysis over a given set of genes in a specified organism against the pathways (or subsystems) in the SEED database, a popular pathway database for bacteria. SEAS maps a given set of genes of a bacterium to pathway genes covered by SEED through gene ID and/or orthology mapping, and then calculates the statistical significance of the enrichment of each relevant SEED pathway by the mapped genes. Our evaluation of SEAS indicates that the program provides highly reliable pathway mapping results and identifies more organism-specific pathways than similar existing programs. SEAS is publicly released under the GPL license agreement and freely available at http://csbl.bmb. uga.edu/~xizeng/research/seas/.
Social anxiety disorder: A review of environmental risk factors

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a debilitating and chronic illness characterized by persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations, with a relatively high lifetime prevalence of 7% to 13% in the general population. Although the last two decades have witnessed enormous growth in the study of biological and dispositional factors underlying SAD, comparatively little attention has been directed towards environmental factors in SAD, even though there has been much ongoing work in the area. In this paper, we provide a recent review and critique of proposed environmental risk factors for SAD, focusing on traditional as well as some understudied and overlooked environmental risk factors: parenting and family environment, adverse life events, cultural and societal factors, and gender roles. We also discuss the need for research design improvements and considerations for future directions.
The Benefit and Tolerability of Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Elderly Stage III Colon Cancer Patients: A 3 Year Retrospective Audit

Objectives: The benefit of adding oxaliplatin to adjuvant fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy in patients >70 years is controversial. This retrospective audit investigated usage, benefit and tolerability of adjuvant chemotherapy for colon cancer in older adults. Materials and methods: Patients aged >60 years with stage III colon cancer referred for adjuvant chemotherapy between 2010–2012 were identified from a tertiary hospital oncology database. Data were collected on demographics, chemotherapy received, completion rates, toxicities, relapse and survival. Comparison was made between the older group (age >70 years) and the younger group (age 60-70 years). Results: 95 eligible patients were identified; 50 in the older group (median age 76), 45 in the younger group (median age 66), 56% male, 82% NZ European and 5% Maori. Older patients were less likely to receive adjuvant chemotherapy (76% and 91% in the older and younger group respectively, p=0.0017), especially oxaliplatincontaining regimens (14% and 47% of older and younger groups, respectively). Similar proportions in each group completed >80% of planned chemotherapy doses with no significant difference in early discontinuation due to toxicities. Survival was poorer in the older group (HR=2.90, 95% CI 1.40-5.47), including those who received chemotherapy (HR=3.22, 95% CI 1.42-6.88) but there was no significant difference in relapse-free survival between older and younger patients. Conclusion: Adjuvant chemotherapy was commonly offered to older adults with stage III colon cancer, although oxaliplatin was largely restricted to younger patients. While relapse-free survival was similar between age groups and chemotherapy types, older patients had poorer survival despite adjuvant chemotherapy.
Robust Encoding of Stimulus Identity and Concentration in the Accessory Olfactory System

Sensory systems represent stimulus identity and intensity, but in the neural periphery these two variables are typically intertwined. Moreover, stable detection may be complicated by environmental uncertainty; stimulus properties can differ over time and circumstance in ways that are not necessarily biologically relevant. We explored these issues in the context of the mouse accessory olfactory system, which specializes in detection of chemical social cues and infers myriad aspects of the identity and physiological state of conspecifics from complex mixtures, such as urine. Using mixtures of sulfated steroids, key constituents of urine, we found that spiking responses of individual vomeronasal sensory neurons encode both individual compounds and mixtures in a manner consistent with a simple model of receptor–ligand interactions. Although typical neurons did not accurately encode concentration over a large dynamic range, from population activity it was possible to reliably estimate the log-concentration of pure compounds over several orders of magnitude. For binary mixtures, simple models failed to accurately segment the individual components, largely because of the prevalence of neurons responsive to both components. By accounting for such overlaps during model tuning, we show that, from neuronal firing, one can accurately estimate log-concentration of both components, even when tested across widely varying concentrations. With this foundation, the difference of logarithms, log⁡ A−log⁡ B=log⁡AB, provides a natural mechanism to accurately estimate concentration ratios. Thus, we show that a biophysically plausible circuit model can reconstruct concentration ratios from observed neuronal firing, representing a powerful mechanism to separate stimulus identity from absolute concentration.
A Core Invasiveness Gene Signature Reflects Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition but Not Metastatic Potential in Breast Cancer Cell Lines and Tissue Samples

Introduction Metastases remain the primary cause of cancer-related death. The acquisition of invasive tumour cell behaviour is thought to be a cornerstone of the metastatic cascade. Therefore, gene signatures related to invasiveness could aid in stratifying patients according to their prognostic profile. In the present study we aimed at identifying an invasiveness gene signature and investigated its biological relevance in breast cancer. Methods & Results We collected a set of published gene signatures related to cell motility and invasion. Using this collection, we identified 16 genes that were represented at a higher frequency than observed by coincidence, hereafter named the core invasiveness gene signature. Principal component analysis showed that these overrepresented genes were able to segregate invasive and non-invasive breast cancer cell lines, outperforming sets of 16 randomly selected genes (all P<0.001). When applied onto additional data sets, the expression of the core invasiveness gene signature was significantly elevated in cell lines forced to undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition. The link between core invasiveness gene expression and epithelial-mesenchymal transition was also confirmed in a dataset consisting of 2420 human breast cancer samples. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that CIG expression is not associated with a shorter distant metastasis free survival interval (HR = 0.956, 95%C.I. = 0.896–1.019, P = 0.186). Discussion These data demonstrate that we have identified a set of core invasiveness genes, the expression of which is associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer cell lines and in human tissue samples. Despite the connection between epithelial-mesenchymal transition and invasive tumour cell behaviour, we were unable to demonstrate a link between the core invasiveness gene signature and enhanced metastatic potential.
Promoter-like sequences regulating transcriptional activity in neurexin and neuroligin genes

Synapse function requires the cell‐adhesion molecules neurexins (Nrxn) and neuroligins (Nlgn). Although these molecules are essential for neurotransmission and prefer distinct isoform combinations for interaction, little is known about their transcriptional regulation. Here, we started to explore this important aspect because expression of Nrxn1‐3 and Nlgn1‐3 genes is altered in mice lacking the transcriptional regulator methyl‐CpG‐binding protein2 (MeCP2). Since MeCP2 can bind to methylated CpG‐dinucleotides and Nrxn/Nlgn contain CpG‐islands, we tested genomic sequences for transcriptional activity in reporter gene assays. We found that their influence on transcription are differentially activating or inhibiting. As we observed an activity difference between heterologous and neuronal cell lines for distinct Nrxn1 and Nlgn2 sequences, we dissected their putative promoter regions. In both genes, we identify regions in exon1 that can induce transcription, in addition to the alternative transcriptional start points in exon2. While the 5′‐regions of Nrxn1 and Nlgn2 contain two CpG‐rich elements that show distinct methylation frequency and binding to MeCP2, other regions may act independently of this transcriptional regulator. These data provide first insights into regulatory sequences of Nrxn and Nlgn genes that may represent an important aspect of their function at synapses in health and disease.