Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stacked Semantic-Guided Network for Zero-Shot Sketch-Based Image Retrieval

Zero-shot sketch-based image retrieval (ZS-SBIR) is a task of cross-domain image retrieval from a natural image gallery with free-hand sketch under a zero-shot scenario. Previous works mostly focus on a generative approach that takes a highly abstract and sparse sketch as input and then synthesizes the corresponding natural image. However, the intrinsic visual sparsity and large intra-class variance of the sketch make the learning of the conditional decoder more difficult and hence achieve unsatisfactory retrieval performance. In this paper, we propose a novel stacked semantic-guided network to address the unique characteristics of sketches in ZS-SBIR. Specifically, we devise multi-layer feature fusion networks that incorporate different intermediate feature representation information in a deep neural network to alleviate the intrinsic sparsity of sketches. In order to improve visual knowledge transfer from seen to unseen classes, we elaborate a coarse-to-fine conditional decoder that generates coarse-grained category-specific corresponding features first (taking auxiliary semantic information as conditional input) and then generates fine-grained instance-specific corresponding features (taking sketch representation as conditional input). Furthermore, regression loss and classification loss are utilized to preserve the semantic and discriminative information of the synthesized features respectively. Extensive experiments on the large-scale Sketchy dataset and TU-Berlin dataset demonstrate that our proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods by more than 20\% in retrieval performance.
Coverings of Configurations, Prime Configurations, and Orbiconfigurations

This exploratory paper considers the notion of a covering of a configuration and $G$-coverings which are coverings that are quotients under a semi-regular group action. We consider prime configurations, those which cannot $G$-cover other configurations, before considering orbiconfigurations. These are a generalized notion of a configuration in the spirit of an orbifold. We derive some specific results as to when configurations are prime as well as considering when an orbiconfiguration is bad - that is, when it cannot be $G$-covered by a configuration. A number of open questions are posited within.
Derived categories and the genus of space curves

We generalize a classical result about the genus of curves in projective space by Gruson and Peskine to principally polarized abelian threefolds of Picard rank one. The proof is based on wall-crossing techniques for ideal sheaves of curves in the derived category. In the process, we obtain bounds for Chern characters of other stable objects such as rank two sheaves. The argument gives a proof for projective space as well. In this case these techniques also indicate an approach for a conjecture by Hartshorne and Hirschowitz and we prove first steps towards it.
Investigating dynamical properties of evolved Galactic open clusters

Context. The stellar content of Galactic open clusters is gradually depleted during their evolution as a result of internal relaxation and external interactions. The final residues of the long-term evolution of open clusters are called open cluster remnants. These are sparsely populated structures that can barely be distinguished from the field. Aims. We aimed to characterise and compare the dynamical states of a set of 16 objects catalogued as remnants or remnant candidates. We employed parameters that are intimately associated with the dynamical evolution: age, limiting radius, stellar mass, and velocity dispersion. The sample also includes 7 objects that are catalogued as dynamically evolved open clusters for comparison purposes. Methods. We used photometric data from the 2MASS catalogue, proper motions and parallaxes from the Gaia DR2 catalogue, and a decontamination algorithm that was applied to the three-dimensional astrometric space of proper motions and parallaxes (μα, μδ, ϖ) for stars in the objects’ areas. The luminosity and mass functions and total masses for most open cluster remnants are derived here for the first time. Our analysis used predictions of N-body simulations to estimate the initial number of stars of the remnants from their dissolution timescales. Results. The investigated open cluster remnants present masses (M) and velocity dispersions (σv) within well-defined ranges: M between ∼10−40 M⊙ and σv between ∼1−7 km s−1. Some objects in the remnant sample have a limiting radius Rlim ≲ 2 pc, which means that they are more compact than the investigated open clusters; other remnants have Rlim between ∼2−7 pc, which is comparable to the open clusters. We suggest that cluster NGC 2180 (previously classified as an open cluster) is entering a remnant evolutionary stage. In general, our clusters show signals of depletion of low-mass stars. This confirms their dynamically evolved states. Conclusions. We conclude that the open cluster remnants we studied are in fact remnants of initially very populous open clusters (N0 ∼ 103−104 stars). The outcome of the long-term evolution is to bring the final residues of the open clusters to dynamical states that are similar to each other, thus masking out the memory of the initial formation conditions of star clusters.
Adaptive Fuzzy SOSM Controller Design With Output Constraints

The output constraints are widespread in physical systems. Violation of output constraints may result in system damage and performance degradation. This article investigates the design issue of adaptive fuzzy second-order sliding-mode (SOSM) controller, which aims to handle a class of nonlinear systems with output constraints. The unknown bounds of uncertainties are approached dynamically by fuzzy logic systems. Through designing a new barrier Lyapunov function, the output constraint problem has been well solved. Then, by integrating adding a power integrator technology and adaptive fuzzy control, a novel adaptive fuzzy SOSM controller is proposed. It is proved that the proposed method makes the output variable not violate the specified constraint region. At the same time, it can be shown, based upon the Lyapunov approach, that the finite-time stability of the resulting closed-loop system under output constraint is ensured. Finally, a numerical example and a practical pendulum system are presented to demonstrate the validity of the proposed SOSM control strategy.
Subsurface exolife

Abstract We study the prospects for life on planets with subsurface oceans, and find that a wide range of planets can exist in diverse habitats with ice envelopes of moderate thickness. We quantify the energy sources available to these worlds, the rate of production of prebiotic compounds, and assess their potential for hosting biospheres. Life on these planets is likely to face challenges, which could be overcome through a combination of different mechanisms. We estimate the number of such worlds, and find that they may outnumber rocky planets in the habitable zone of stars by a few orders of magnitude.
Relative Alignment between the Magnetic Field and Molecular Gas Structure in the Vela C Giant Molecular Cloud Using Low- and High-density Tracers

We compare the magnetic field orientation for the young giant molecular cloud Vela C inferred from 500 μm polarization maps made with the BLASTPol balloon-borne polarimeter to the orientation of structures in the integrated line emission maps from Mopra observations. Averaging over the entire cloud we find that elongated structures in integrated line-intensity or zeroth-moment maps, for low-density tracers such as 12CO and 13CO J → 1 – 0, are statistically more likely to align parallel to the magnetic field, while intermediate- or high-density tracers show (on average) a tendency for alignment perpendicular to the magnetic field. This observation agrees with previous studies of the change in relative orientation with column density in Vela C, and supports a model where the magnetic field is strong enough to have influenced the formation of dense gas structures within Vela C. The transition from parallel to no preferred/perpendicular orientation appears to occur between the densities traced by 13CO and by C18O J → 1 – 0. Using RADEX radiative transfer models to estimate the characteristic number density traced by each molecular line, we find that the transition occurs at a molecular hydrogen number density of approximately 103 cm−3. We also see that the Centre Ridge (the highest column density and most active star-forming region within Vela C) appears to have a transition at a lower number density, suggesting that this may depend on the evolutionary state of the cloud.
AstroSat-CZTI Detection of Variable Prompt Emission Polarization in GRB 171010A

We present a spectropolarimetric analysis of GRB 171010A using data from AstroSat, Fermi, and Swift to provide insights into the physical mechanisms of the prompt radiation and jet geometry. The prompt emission from GRB 171010A was very bright (fluence >10−4 erg cm−2) and had a complex structure that was composed of the superimposition of several pulses. The energy spectra deviate from the typical Band function to show a low-energy peak ∼15 keV, which we interpret as a power law with two breaks, with a synchrotron origin. Alternatively, the prompt spectra can also be interpreted as Comptonized emission, or a blackbody combined with a Band function. A time-resolved analysis confirms the presence of the low-energy component, while the peak energy is found to be confined in the range of 100–200 keV. The afterglow emission detected by Fermi-LAT is typical of an external shock model, and we constrain the initial Lorentz factor using the peak time of the emission. Swift-XRT measurements of the afterglow show an indication for a jet break, allowing us to constrain the jet opening angle to <6°. The detection of a large number of Compton-scattered events by AstroSat-CZTI provides an opportunity to study the hard X-ray polarization of the prompt emission. We find that the burst has a high time-variable polarization, and the emission has a higher polarization at energies above the peak energy. We discuss all observations in the context of GRB models and polarization arising as a result of physical or geometric effects: synchrotron emission from multiple shocks with ordered or random magnetic fields, a jet dominated by Poynting flux that undergoes abrupt magnetic dissipation, subphotospheric dissipation, a jet consisting of fragmented fireballs, and the Comptonization model.
Immediate Effect of Mental Practice on Performance of a Neurodynamic Skill in Physiotherapy Students: A Randomized Control Trial

Background Mental Practice (MP), "the cognitive rehearsal of a task in the absence of overt physical movement," has been used successfully in teaching and rehearsing complex psychomotor tasks in several domains, including sports; music; and recently, in surgical skills acquisition. This study investigates the implementation of MP on performance of a neurodynamic skill in third year undergraduate Physiotherapy students. Method: It was a randomized control trial (single-blind) conducted in a Physiotherapy institute. A convenient sample of 40 III year undergraduate students who were novice for the topic were recruited. Some important preliminary steps involved development and validation of the tools used in the study viz. an audio script to guide mental imagery practice and an OSPE checklist to assess the outcome. The OSPE checklist was procedural specific for ULNT-1 and included stations for cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains. A neurodynamic skill (ULNT-1 Median nerve) was taught to all the students (n = 38, 2 drop outs) by a teacher as a didactic lecture followed by physical practice which was supervised and guided by the same teacher. After randomization, the intervention group (n = 19) received MP guided by a structured audio script as a single session for 20 minutes delivered to all the participants together in a group. The control group participants (n = 19) intended to serve as a basis of comparison and received no intervention. Pre- and post-intervention assessment was done by a set of examiners who were blinded to the intervention. Comparative analysis was done within the group using Wilcoxon sign rank test and between the groups using unpaired t test. Results MP group showed significant improvement in cognitive, psychomotor, affective domain and total score of OSPE post intervention whereas the control group did not show significant difference except for the total score. Between group comparison showed significant differences in all the domains and total score in favor of the MP group. Also, the extent of improvement (effect size calculated using Cohen’s d) was more in the mental practice group than in the control group. Conclusion MP as an adjunct to physical practice is a time-and cost-effective strategy to augment traditional training and enhance performance of a neurodynamic skill in Physiotherapy students. This preliminary evidence supported by robust scientific base and ease of integration should facilitate adoption of MP in Physiotherapy education. We recommend future studies to further explore the potential of this promising tool.
Comparative evaluation of Emblica officinalis as an etchant and an MMP inhibitor with orthophosphoric acid and chlorhexidine on the microshear bond strength of composite resin: an ex vivo study

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate Emblica officinalis (Indian gooseberry or amla) as an acid etchant and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor, and to compare its effect on the microshear bond strength of composite resin with orthophosphoric acid (OPA) and 2% chlorhexidine (CHX) as an acid etchant and MMP inhibitor, respectively. Materials and Methods The etching effect and MMP-inhibiting action of amla on dentin samples were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and gelatin zymography, respectively. Dentinal slabs (3 mm thick) from 80 extracted human molars were divided into 10 and 20 samples to form 2 control groups and 3 experimental groups. Groups 1, 2, and 4 were etched with OPA and groups 3 and 5 with amla juice. An MMP inhibitor was then applied: CHX for group 2 and amla extract for groups 4 and 5. Groups 1 and 3 received no MMP inhibitor. All specimens received a standardized bonding protocol and composite resin build-up, and were subjected to microshear bond strength testing. The force at which the fracture occurred was recorded and statistically analyzed. Results Amla juice had a similar etching effect as a self-etch adhesive in SEM and 100% amla extract was found to inhibit MMP-9 by gelatin zymography. The microshear bond strength values of amla were lower than those obtained for OPA and CHX, but the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions Amla has a promising role as an acid etchant and MMP inhibitor, but further studies are necessary to substantiate its efficacy.
THE INTRODUCTION OF AN ADDITIVE MODELING METHOD RESPONSIVE TO TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION VARIABLES, AND ITS APPLICATIONS TO ESTIMATE THE FOREST STAND BIOMASS OF PICEA SPP. OF EURASIA

This article was the first attempt of modeling changes in the additive component composition of 900 spruce stands’ (genus Picea sp.) biomass (t/ha), according to the trans-Eurasian hydrothermal gradients of Eurasia using the database compiled on the structure of harvest biomass. This study found that the biomass of all components increases with higher mean January temperature, regardless of mean annual precipitation, but any increase in precipitation leads to a decrease in biomass of all the components. For the first time, trans-Eurasian patterns of changes in the biomass of all components of spruce stands in the climate gradients were obtained due to the authors’ first database on the biomass of forest-forming species in Eurasia. In contrast to previously published regional and transcontinental weakly adequate or unreliable regularities that are not additive in the biomass component composition and depersonalized in the species composition, in the proposed additive models for spruce, the contribution of climate variables to the explanation of biomass variability was 9%. The importance of selecting the correct structure of the developed model is shown.
Neural Program Repair by Jointly Learning to Localize and Repair

Due to its potential to improve programmer productivity and software quality, automated program repair has been an active topic of research. Newer techniques harness neural networks to learn directly from examples of buggy programs and their fixes. In this work, we consider a recently identified class of bugs called variable-misuse bugs. The state-of-the-art solution for variable misuse enumerates potential fixes for all possible bug locations in a program, before selecting the best prediction. We show that it is beneficial to train a model that jointly and directly localizes and repairs variable-misuse bugs. We present multi-headed pointer networks for this purpose, with one head each for localization and repair. The experimental results show that the joint model significantly outperforms an enumerative solution that uses a pointer based model for repair alone.
Variation of the magnetic field of the Ap star HD 50169 over its 29-year rotation period

Context. The Ap stars that rotate extremely slowly, with periods of decades to centuries, represent one of the keys to the understanding of the processes leading to the differentiation of stellar rotation. Aims. We characterise the variations of the magnetic field of the Ap star HD 50169 and derive constraints about its structure. Methods. We combined published measurements of the mean longitudinal field ⟨Bz⟩ of HD 50169 with new determinations of this field moment from circular spectropolarimetry obtained at the 6m telescope BTA of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. For the mean magnetic field modulus ⟨B⟩, literature data were complemented by the analysis of ESO spectra, both newly acquired and from the archive. Radial velocities were also obtained from these spectra. Results. We present the first determination of the rotation period of HD 50169, Prot = 29.04 ± 0.82 yr. HD 50169 is currently the longest-period Ap star for which magnetic field measurements have been obtained over more than a full cycle. The variation curves of both ⟨Bz⟩ and ⟨B⟩ have a significant degree of anharmonicity, and there is a definite phase shift between their respective extrema. We confirm that HD 50169 is a wide spectroscopic binary, refine its orbital elements, and suggest that the secondary is probably a dwarf star of spectral type M. Conclusions. The shapes and mutual phase shifts of the derived magnetic variation curves unquestionably indicate that the magnetic field of HD 50169 is not symmetric about an axis passing through its centre. Overall, HD 50169 appears similar to the bulk of the long-period Ap stars.
Probability-free models in option pricing: statistically indistinguishable dynamics and historical vs implied volatility

We investigate whether it is possible to formulate option pricing and hedging models without using probability. We present a model that is consistent with two notions of volatility: a historical volatility consistent with statistical analysis, and an implied volatility consistent with options priced with the model. The latter will be also the quadratic variation of the model, a pathwise property. This first result, originally presented in Brigo and Mercurio (1998, 2000), is then connected with the recent work of Armstrong et al (2018), where using rough paths theory it is shown that implied volatility is associated with a purely pathwise lift of the stock dynamics involving no probability and no semimartingale theory in particular, leading to option models without probability. Finally, an intermediate result by Bender et al. (2008) is recalled. Using semimartingale theory, Bender et al. showed that one could obtain option prices based only on the semimartingale quadratic variation of the model, a pathwise property, and highlighted the difference between historical and implied volatility. All three works confirm the idea that while historical volatility is a statistical quantity, implied volatility is a pathwise one. This leads to a 20 years mini-anniversary of pathwise pricing through 1998, 2008 and 2018, which is rather fitting for a talk presented at the conference for the 45 years of the Black, Scholes and Merton option pricing paradigm.
The symmetry approach to integrability: recent advances

We provide a concise introduction to the symmetry approach to integrability. Some results on integrable evolution and systems of evolution equations are reviewed. Quasi-local recursion and Hamiltonian operators are discussed. We further describe non-abelian integrable equations, especially matrix (ODE and PDE) systems. Some non-evolutionary integrable equations are studied using a formulation of formal recursion operators that allows to study non-diagonalisable systems of evolution equations.
Serum procalcitonin and C- reactive protein as a significant indicatorin differentiation between bacterial and viral meningitis

Background: In patients with infection of meningitis , it's difficult to determine the cause of infection. Thus, the studies continue to develop novel and fast diagnostic methods to distinguish bacterial from viral meningitis.Patients and methods: 60 meningitis patients (38 out of 60 were diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and 22 with viral meningitis), were enrolled in our study, the ages range were between 15 to 65 year, 20 healthy individuals (free any diseases) involved in the study and ages range were between 15 to 65 year. Both patients and control undergo to PCT and CRP levels assessment. Results:The results showed 3 bacterial meningitis, 19 viral meningitis patients and 19 healthy control presented with low PCT (less than 2ng\ml) level, while 35 bacterial meningitis, 3 viral meningitis patients and 1 healthy control presented with high PCT level and the P-value was < 0.0001. moreover, 5 bacterial meningitis, 20 viral meningitis patients and 18 healthy person appeared with low CRP level, but 33 bacterial meningitis, 2 viral meningitis patients and 2 healthy person found with high CRP (more than 10 mg\l) level, and the P-value was < 0.0001. Conclusion: We revealed to the serum PCT and CRP level test consider good differential method between bacterial and viral meningitis.
Total Variation and Tight Frame Image Segmentation with Intensity Inhomogeneity

Image segmentation is an important task in the domain of computer vision and medical imaging. In natural and medical images, intensity inhomogeneity, i.e. the varying image intensity, occurs often and it poses considerable challenges for image segmentation. In this paper, we propose an efficient variational method for segmenting images with intensity inhomogeneity. The method is inspired by previous works on two-stage segmentation and variational Retinex. Our method consists of two stages. In the first stage, we decouple the image into reflection and illumination parts by solving a convex energy minimization model with either total variation or tight-frame regularisation. In the second stage, we segment the original image by thresholding on the reflection part, and the inhomogeneous intensity is estimated by the smoothly varying illumination part. We adopt a primal dual algorithm to solve the convex model in the first stage, and the convergence is guaranteed. Numerical experiments clearly show that our method is robust and efficient to segment both natural and medical images.