Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tracking and modelling prices using web‐scraped price microdata: towards automated daily consumer price index forecasting

With the increasing relevance and availability of on‐line prices that we see today, it is natural to ask whether the prediction of the consumer price index (CPI), or related statistics, may usefully be computed more frequently than existing monthly schedules allow for. The simple answer is ‘yes’, but there are challenges to be overcome first. A key challenge, addressed by our work, is that web‐scraped price data are extremely messy and it is not obvious, a priori, how to reconcile them with standard CPI statistics. Our research focuses on average prices and disaggregated CPI at the level of product categories (lager, potatoes, etc.) and develops a new model that describes the joint time evolution of latent daily log‐inflation rates driving prices seen on the Internet and prices recorded in official surveys, with the model adapting to various product categories. Our model reveals the differing levels of dynamic behaviour across product category and, correspondingly, differing levels of predictability. Our methodology enables good prediction of product‐category‐specific CPI immediately before their release. In due course, with increasingly complete web‐scraped data, combined with the best survey data, the prospect of more frequent intermonth aggregated CPI prediction is an achievable goal.
A new edge detection algorithm based on Canny idea

The traditional Canny algorithm has poor self-adaptability threshold, and it is more sensitive to noise. In order to overcome these drawbacks, this paper proposed a new edge detection method based on Canny algorithm. Firstly, the media filtering and filtering based on the method of Euclidean distance are adopted to process it; secondly using the Frei-chen algorithm to calculate gradient amplitude; finally, using the Otsu algorithm to calculate partial gradient amplitude operation to get images of thresholds value, then find the average of all thresholds that had been calculated, half of the average is high threshold value, and the half of the high threshold value is low threshold value. Experiment results show that this new method can effectively suppress noise disturbance, keep the edge information, and also improve the edge detection accuracy.
The hard X-ray Photon Single-Shot Spectrometer of SwissFEL—initial characterization

SwissFEL requires the monitoring of the photon spectral distribution at a repetition rate of 100 Hz for machine optimization and experiment online diagnostics. The Photon Single Shot Spectrometer has been designed for the photon energy range of 4 keV to 12 keV provided by the Aramis beamline. It is capable of measuring the spectrum in a non-destructive manner, with an energy resolution of Δ E/E = (2–5) × 10−5 over a bandwidth of 0.5% on a shot-to-shot basis. This article gives a detailed description about the technical challenges, structures, and considerations when building such a device, and to further enhance the performance of the spectrometer.
Drivers of interannual variability of the East African “Long Rains”

The East African Long Rains season is unusual in that its year‐to‐year rainfall variability is mostly insensitive to the main modes of interannual tropical sea‐surface temperature (SST) variability (ENSO, Indian Ocean Dipole). Various alternative drivers of interannual variability have been described previously but remain poorly understood. Here we present an analysis of three important drivers: regional Indian Ocean SST, seasonal amplitude of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) and phase of the Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation (QBO). Reanalyses and instrumental datasets are in close agreement about rainfall interannual variability across the region as a whole, which represents 30–50% of the total variance. Subregional structure of the remaining variance is far more uncertain and is not considered here. We use modern reanalyses to understand how the proposed drivers affect March–April mean. Common to all three drivers is their ability to modify the large‐scale subsidence over the East African region during boreal spring. SST in the western Indian Ocean achieves this via anomalous boundary‐layer heating of the lower troposphere. The MJO modifies subsidence over the region through anomalous ascent and descent. Rainfall over East Africa responds to this MJO forcing in a unidirectional way, allowing seasonal rectification and interannual modulation by seasonal MJO amplitude. Understanding the QBO's influence is complicated by the limited number of cycles over the reanalysis period. Each driver individually has a modest effect on the Long Rains, but added together they explain 30–60% of the variance of yearly rainfall variability that affects the region as a whole. This constitutes 13–25% of the total interannual precipitation variance, depending on dataset. The mechanisms we discuss suggest priorities for model development to improve model variability over East Africa. The metrics developed here lend themselves for easy evaluation of the remote drivers in models and other datasets.
Emergence Phenomena in German W-immer/auch -Subordinators

The present study is concerned with the distributional patterns of the irrelevance particles immer ‘ever’ and auch ‘also’ in German universal concessive conditionals and free relatives (e.g. was immer er auch sagt ‘whatever he says’). Whereas irrelevance is conveyed by a single element in a fixed position in languages like English (-ever) , immer and auch occur in multiple positions and combinations. Following the example of Leuschner (2000), the distribution of particles and their combinations is documented and explained using functional motivations. Compared with Leuschner (2000), however, the present study is based on a much larger sample of 23,299 clauses with the W -words was and wer (incl. their inflected forms) from the DeReKo -corpus, allowing for a far more detailed statistical analysis. Special attention is devoted to the distribution of immer and auch (including their combinations) in full subordinate clauses vs. elliptically reduced forms, and to the nature of the resulting patterns as a case of emergent grammar.
Journal of Information Technology Education Improving Is Student Enrollments: Understanding the Effects of It Sophistication in Introductory Is Courses Effects of It Sophistication Background and Theoretical Development

Executive Summary The Information Systems (IS) discipline is facing a sharp downturn in student enrollments. Despite the steady decline in students pursuing the IS major, the demand for information technology (IT) professionals continues to increase. These trends indicate that there might be a shortage of qualified IT employees in the near future. In order to overcome this dilemma, academicians have recently begun to look for mechanisms targeted at improving IS enrollments. This study investigates how such a mechanism – IT sophistication – influences students' aspirations to pursue an IS degree. More specifically, the study suggests that IT sophistication, self-efficacy, outcome expectations , and interests are expected to independently and cumulatively affect students' choice of IS as their major. The data utilized to investigate this issue was collected from students enrolled in introductory IS courses at two large public universities. A total of 151 usable responses were obtained. The results indicate that the degree to which students perceive the IT to be sophisticated affects their aspiration to major in IS. Specifically, utilizing state-of-the art technologies that reflect current industry practices not only enhances students' confidence in their ability to successfully perform as an IS major, but also elevates students' expectations that valued rewards will be received by majoring in IS. In turn, strong self-efficacy and outcome expectations foster student interest in the IS discipline. Moreover, it was found that IT sophistication does not directly affect student interest. Rather, the effects of IT sophistication on interests are channeled indirectly through self-efficacy and outcome expectations. Similarly, our results did not provide support for the direct effects of self-efficacy and outcome expectations on choice goals. In contrast, choice goals develop through strong interests, and finally, interest serves as the primary mechanism through which goals to choose the IS major emerge. Our findings suggest that deploying sophisticated IT in introductory IS classes can be used as a powerful lever to attract additional students the IS discipline. We encourage those who teach introductory IS courses to focus on state-of-the-art technologies that reflect current industry practices. Utilizing these technologies also has the potential to increase student success in the classroom , provide a richer and more engaging learning environment for students, and help students become more attractive to recruiters. Despite the knowledge gained herein, the study has certain limitations. The Material published as part of this publication, either on-line or in print, is copyrighted by the Informing …
Public Spending and Financial Inclusion and Their Impact on Inclusive Growth In Indonesia: A Spatial Approach

Inclusive growth results in equal access to the benefits of growth and, by that, reduces disparities. Public spending plays an important role in supporting economic growth and people's welfare. On the other hand, financial inclusion has the ability to expand opportunities to participate in growth. Using data on government spending and financial inclusion in 34 provinces in Indonesia in 2015-2019, this study aims to examine the link between the two towards inclusive growth. As a result, spending on education and financial inclusion, as well as investment and trade openness, can promote inclusive growth. Expanding access to education as a result of public investment in education will boost labor capacity and productivity. Meanwhile, access to more affordable credit will be realized through an inclusive financial system. Conversely, due to health development gaps, health spending has a negative impact on inclusive growth. The spatial error model with queen contiguity spatial weight matrix shows a significant spatial effect on the error term or residual. The implication is that policies for expanding education, health, and digital access as well as increasing investment and financial literacy need to be carried out to ensure people's affordability to economic opportunities by considering regional aspects.
Evaluating Overall Performance in High-Level Dressage Horse–Rider Combinations by Comparing Measurements from Inertial Sensors with General Impression Scores Awarded by Judges

Simple Summary Dressage is an Olympic equestrian sport in which scores are awarded primarily for the technical correctness of a horse’s performance. This study focuses on a single score awarded after the completion of a performance called the general impression score that is based on the gaits of the horse, the position of the rider, the effectiveness of the rider’s aids, and the harmony between the horse and rider. Twenty dressage horses and their riders performed a pattern from which walk, trot and canter, and transitions from extended to collected trots were analyzed based on data from inertial measurement units that measured three-dimensional accelerations and rotations of the horse’s trunk, the rider’s pelvis, and the rider’s trunk. The selected movements were observed on video and scored by two or three high-ranking dressage judges. The judged scores were then compared with the data describing the movements of the horse’s trunk, the rider’s pelvis, and the rider’s trunk. The score for a horse’s gaits was most heavily influenced by stride frequency, with a slower frequency being favored. The judges’ scores for posture, effectiveness of aids, and harmony with the horse were most strongly influenced by the asymmetries in a rider’s trunk movements, such that higher scores were associated with fewer rider asymmetries. Abstract In the sport of dressage, one or more judges score the combined performance of a horse and rider with an emphasis on the technical correctness of the movements performed. At the end of the test, a single score is awarded for the ‘general impression’, which considers the overall performance of the horse and rider as a team. This study explored original measures that contributed to the general impression score in a group of 20 horse–rider combinations. Horses and riders were equipped with inertial measurement units (200 Hz) to represent the angular motion of a horse’s back and the motions of a rider’s pelvis and trunk. Each combination performed a standard dressage test that was recorded to video. Sections of the video were identified for straight-line movements. The videos were analyzed by two or three judges. Four components were scored separately: gaits of the horse, rider posture, effectiveness of aids, and harmony with the horse. The main contributor to the score for gaits was stride frequency (R = −0.252, p = 0.015), with a slower frequency being preferred. Higher rider component scores were associated with more symmetrical transverse-plane trunk motion, indicating that this original measure is the most useful predictor of rider performance.
The role of brain white matter in depression resilience and response to sleep interventions

Abstract Insomnia poses a high risk for depression. Brain mechanisms of sleep and mood improvement following cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia remain elusive. This longitudinal study evaluated whether (i) individual differences in baseline brain white matter microstructure predict improvements and (ii) intervention affects brain white matter microstructure. People meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 criteria for Insomnia Disorder (n = 117) participated in a randomized controlled trial comparing 6 weeks of no treatment with therapist-guided digital cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, circadian rhythm support or their combination (cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia + circadian rhythm support). Insomnia Severity Index and Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self Report were assessed at baseline and followed up at Weeks 7, 26, 39 and 52. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images were acquired at baseline and Week 7. Skeletonized white matter tracts, fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity were quantified both tract-wise and voxel-wise using tract-based spatial statistics. Analyses used linear and mixed effect models while correcting for multiple testing using false discovery rate and Bonferroni for correlated endpoint measures. Our results show the following: (i) tract-wise lower fractional anisotropy in the left retrolenticular part of the internal capsule at baseline predicted both worse progression of depressive symptoms in untreated participants and more improvement in treated participants (fractional anisotropy × any intervention, PFDR = 0.053, Pcorr = 0.045). (ii) Only the cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia + circadian rhythm support intervention induced a trend-level mean diffusivity decrease in the right superior corona radiata (PFDR = 0.128, Pcorr = 0.108), and individuals with a stronger mean diffusivity decrease showed a stronger alleviation of insomnia (R = 0.20, P = 0.035). In summary, individual differences in risk and treatment-supported resilience of depression involve white matter microstructure. Future studies could target the role of the left retrolenticular part of the internal capsule and right superior corona radiata and the brain areas they connect.
An Improved JPEG Image Blocking Artifact Detector

: Sharing digital images on social media has become very common these days. People must check for authenticity to share images on social media websites. The shared image may be forged intentionally or unintentionally and can defame someone's reputation, leading to severe events, such as public riots. Thus, authentication of digital images which are posted on social media websites is of paramount importance. Our social media should be intelligent enough to check on these forged images such that no false information spreads around society. Many image forgery detection algorithms have been used by big social groups based on JPEG compression artifacts, but these may not work
Tau functions, Hodge classes, and discriminant loci on moduli spaces of Hitchin’s spectral covers

We define two tau functions, $\tau$ and $\hat{\tau}$ , on moduli spaces of spectral covers of $GL(n)$ Hitchin's systems. Analyzing the properties of $\tau$, we express the divisor class of the universal Hitchin's discriminant in terms of standard generators of the rational Picard group of the moduli spaces of spectral covers with variable base. The function $\hat{\tau}$ is used to compute the divisor of canonical 1-forms with multiple zeros.
Semi-Supervised Single-Image Dehazing Network via Disentangled Meta-Knowledge

Captured outdoor scene images are easily affected by haze. Most image dehazing methods have limited generalization capabilities for real-world hazy images owing to the complexities of real-world environments and domain gaps in the training datasets. This article proposes a semi-supervised single-image dehazing network based on disentangled meta-knowledge. The symmetric and heterogeneous design of the disentangled network is conducive to the separation of the content and mask features of hazy images and these features are used as meta-knowledge to guide feature fusion in the dehazing network. Moreover, functions describing constant-color and disentangled-reconstruction-checking losses are designed to ensure the subjective qualities of the generated dehazed images. The results of extensive experiments conducted on synthetic datasets and real-world images indicate that the proposed algorithm outperforms state-of-the-art single-image dehazing algorithms. In addition, the algorithm effectively improves the performance of object-detection tasks.
Intraocular Adeno-Associated Virus-Mediated Transgene Endothelin-1 Delivery to the Rat Eye Induces Functional Changes Indicative of Retinal Ischemia—A Potential Chronic Glaucoma Model

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) overactivity has been implicated as a factor contributing to glaucomatous neuropathy, and it has been utilized in animal models of retinal ischemia. The functional effects of long-term ET-1 exposure and possible compensatory mechanisms have, however, not been investigated. This was therefore the purpose of our study. ET-1 was delivered into rat eyes via a single intravitreal injection of 500 µM or via transgene delivery using an adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector. Retinal function was assessed using electroretinography (ERG) and the retinal expression of potentially compensatory genes was evaluated by means of qRT-PCR. Acute ET-1 delivery led to vasoconstriction and a significant reduction in the ERG response. AAV–ET-1 resulted in substantial transgene expression and ERG results similar to the acute ET-1 injections and comparable to other models of retinal ischemia. Compensatory changes were observed, including an increase in calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) gene expression, which may both counterbalance the vasoconstrictive effects of ET-1 and provide neuroprotection. This chronic ET-1 ischemia model might be especially relevant to glaucoma research, mimicking the mild and repeated ischemic events in patients with long-term vascular dysfunction. The compensatory mechanisms, and particularly the role of vasodilatory CGRP in mitigating the retinal damage, warrant further investigation with the aim of evaluating new therapeutic strategies.
On Resolving the Controversy in Statistical Inference

The controversy concerning the fundamental principles of statistics still remains unresolved. It is suggested that one key to resolving the conflict lies in recognizing that inferential probability derived from observational data is inherently noncoherent, in the sense that their inferential implications cannot be represented by a single probability distribution on the parameter space (except in the Objective Bayesian case). More precisely, for a parameter space RI, the class of all functions of the para meter comprise equivalence classes of invertibly related functions, and to each such class a logically distinct inferential probability distribution pertains. (There is an additional cross-coherence requirement for simultaneous inference.) The non coherence of these distributions flows from the nonequivalence of the relevant com ponents of the data for each. Noncoherence is mathematically inherent in confidence and fiducial theory, and provides a basis for reconciling the Fisherian and Neyman-Pearsonian viewpoints. A unified theory of confidence-based inferential probability is presented, and the fundamental incompatibility of this with Subjective Bayesian theory is discussed.
Prevalence of Human Norovirus GII.4 Sydney 2012 [P31] between 2019 and 2021 among Young Children from Rural Communities in South Africa

Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) accounts for considerable morbidity and mortality in the paediatric population worldwide, especially in low-income countries. Human norovirus (HNoV), particularly GII.4 strains, are important agents of AGE. This study aimed to detect and characterise HNoV in children with and without AGE. Between 2019 and 2021, 300 stool samples (200 AGE and 100 without AGE) were collected from children below 5 years of age referred to the healthcare facilities of the rural communities of Vhembe District, South Africa. After detection using real-time RT-PCR, HNoV positive samples were subjected to RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing. Partial nucleotide sequences (capsid/RdRp) were aligned using the Muscle tool, and phylogenetic analysis was performed using MEGA 11. The nucleotides’ percent identity among HNoV strains was compared using ClustalW software. A significant difference in HNoV prevalence between AGE children (37%; 74/200) and non-AGE (14%; 14/100) was confirmed (p < 0.0001). Genogroup II (GII) HNoV was predominant in AGE children (80%; 59/74), whereas most non-AGE children were infected by the GI norovirus genogroup (64%; 9/14). GII.4 Sydney 2012 [P31] strains were dominant (59%; 19/32) during the study period. A phylogenetic analysis revealed a close relationship between the HNoV strains identified in this study and those circulating worldwide; however, ClustalW showed less than 50% nucleotide similarity between strains from this study and those from previously reported norovirus studies in the same region. Our findings indicate significant changes over time in the circulation of HNoV strains, as well as the association between high HNoV prevalence and AGE symptoms within the study area. The monitoring of HuNoV epidemiology, along with stringent preventive measures to mitigate the viral spread and the burden of AGE, are warranted.