Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of wildlife fences on ungulate vehicle collisions

Many of Sweden’s roads are fitted with wildlife fences to decrease the risk of ungulate vehicle collisions (UVCs). Nevertheless has it been observed that at the ends of these fences, the number of collisions actually increases. In this thesis, I examined if collision probability decreased with an increasing dis-tance from the fence end. In addition, I examined whether the landscape sur-rounding the fence end and the characteristics of the road influenced this. Lastly, I studied if two wildlife fences between Mellerud and Tosse were suc-cessful in reducing the number of UVCs. To test my hypotheses, I analysed collision data collected all over Sweden between 2008 and 2017. I found that collision probability was highest within the first 100 m from a fence end, and that the decrease in collision probability was not influenced by different landscapes and road types. Only one of the two wildlife fences I studied was able to decrease the number of UVCs, where the collision rate was decreased by up to 78%. This information can be used for planning future mitigation efforts, such as the construction of under- or overpasses.
Keyword Auctions, Unit‐Price Contracts, and the Role of Commitment

Motivated by the enormous growth of keyword advertising, this paper explores the design of unit-price contract auctions, in which bidders bid their unit prices, and the winner is chosen based on both their bids and performance levels. The previous literature in unit-price contract auctions usually considers a static case where bidders' performance levels are fixed, and suggests giving preferential treatment to those bidders with low performance levels in order to promote competition. This paper extends such research by allowing bidders with lower performance levels to improve their performance at a certain cost. We examine the impact of the preferential policy on overall bidder performance, the auction efficiency, and the auctioneer's revenue, and derive the revenue-maximizing and efficient policy accordingly. Moreover, the possible upgrade in bidders' performance levels gives the auctioneer an incentive to modify the auction rules over time, as is confirmed by the practice of Yahoo! and Google. We thus compare the auctioneer's revenue-maximizing policies when she is fully committed to the auction rule and when not, and show that she should give less preferential treatment to low-performance advertisers when she is fully committed.
A Bayesian Interpretation of Interpolated Kneser-Ney

Interpolated Kneser-Ney is one of the best smoothing method s for n-gram language models. Previous explanations for its superiority have been based on intu itive and empirical justifications of specific properties of the method. We propose a novel interpretation of i terpolated Kneser-Ney as approximate inference in a hierarchical Bayesian model consisting of Pitman-Yor processes. As opposed to past explanations, our interpretation can recover exactly the formulation of interpolated Kneser-Ney, and performs better than interpolated Kneser-Ney when a better inf rence procedure is used.
A Comparison of Fast Blocking Methods for Record Linkage

linkage of millions of individual health records for ethically-approved research purposes is a computationally expensive task. Blocking methods are used in record link- age systems to reduce the number of candidate record com- parison pairs to a feasible number whilst still maintaining linkage accuracy. New blocking methods have been imple- mented recently using high-dimensional indexing or cluster- ing algorithms. We compare two new blocking methods, bigram indexing and canopy clustering with TFIDF (Term Frequency/Inverse Document Frequency), with two older methods of standard traditional blocking and sorted neighbourhood blocking. The results show that recently blocking methods such as bigram indexing and canopy clustering provide scalable blocking methods while maintaining or improving upon record link- age accuracy. There is a potential for large performance speed-ups and better accuracy to be achieved by these new blocking methods.
Digital hermeneutics: Agora and the online understanding of cultural heritage

Cultural heritage institutions are currently rethinking access to their collections to allow the public to interpret and contribute to their collections. In this work, we present the Agora project, an interdisciplinary project in which Web technology and theory of interpretation meet. This we call digital hermeneutics. The Agora project facilitates the understanding of historical events and improves the access to integrated online history collections. In this contribution, we focus on defining and modeling prototypical object-event and event-event relationships that support the interpretation of objects in cultural heritage collections. We present a use case in which we model historical events as well as relations between objects and events for a set of paintings from the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam collection. Our use case shows how Web technology and theory of interpretation meet in the present, and what technological hurdles still need to be taken to fully support digital hermeneutics.
Centralized Consensus Hemagglutinin Genes Induce Protective Immunity against H1, H3 and H5 Influenza Viruses

With the exception of the live attenuated influenza vaccine there have been no substantial changes in influenza vaccine strategies since the 1940’s. Here we report an alternative vaccine approach that uses Adenovirus-vectored centralized hemagglutinin (HA) genes as vaccine antigens. Consensus H1-Con, H3-Con and H5-Con HA genes were computationally derived. Mice were immunized with Ad vaccines expressing the centralized genes individually. Groups of mice were vaccinated with 1 X 1010, 5 X 107 and 1 X 107 virus particles per mouse to represent high, intermediate and low doses, respectively. 100% of the mice that were vaccinated with the high dose vaccine were protected from heterologous lethal challenges within each subtype. In addition to 100% survival, there were no signs of weight loss and disease in 7 out of 8 groups of high dose vaccinated mice. Lower doses of vaccine showed a reduction of protection in a dose-dependent manner. However, even the lowest dose of vaccine provided significant levels of protection against the divergent influenza strains, especially considering the stringency of the challenge virus. In addition, we found that all doses of H5-Con vaccine were capable of providing complete protection against mortality when challenged with lethal doses of all 3 H5N1 influenza strains. This data demonstrates that centralized H1-Con, H3-Con and H5-Con genes can be effectively used to completely protect mice against many diverse strains of influenza. Therefore, we believe that these Ad-vectored centralized genes could be easily translated into new human vaccines.
Overeating Behavior and Striatal Dopamine with 6-[18F]-Fluoro-L-m-Tyrosine PET

Eating behavior may be affected by dopamine synthesis capacity. In this study, 6-[18F]-fluoro-L-m-tyrosine (FMT) positron emission tomography (PET) uptake in striatal subregions was correlated with BMI (kg/m2) and an estimate of the frequency of prior weight loss attempts in 15 healthy subjects. BMI was negatively correlated with FMT uptake in the dorsal caudate. Although the association between BMI and FMT uptake in the dorsal caudate was not significant upon correction for age and sex, the association fell within the range of a statistical trend. Weight loss attempts divided by years trying was also negatively correlated with FMT uptake in the dorsal putamen (P = .05). These results suggest an association between low dorsal striatal presynaptic dopamine synthesis capacity and overeating behavior.
Chronic pelvic pain

Definition Chronic Pelvic Pain (CPP) is defined as intermittent or constant pain in the lower abdomen or pelvis of at least six months duration, not occurring exclusively with menstruation or intercourse and not associated with pregnancy. Chronic Pelvic Pain is a symptom, not a disease, and can result from many different entities. As there is a significant socio-economic impact, it is important to triage, diagnose and manage these patients efficiently and accurately.
De novo assembly of the Japanese lawngrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.) root transcriptome and identification of candidate unigenes related to early responses under salt stress

Japanese lawngrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.) is an important warm-season turfgrass that is able to survive in a range of soils, from infertile sands to clays, and to grow well under saline conditions. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved in its resistance to salt stress. Here, we used high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to investigate the changes in gene expression of Zoysia grass at high NaCl concentrations. We first constructed two sequencing libraries, including control and NaCl-treated samples, and sequenced them using the Illumina HiSeq™ 2000 platform. Approximately 157.20 million paired-end reads with a total length of 68.68 Mb were obtained. Subsequently, 32,849 unigenes with an N50 length of 1781 bp were assembled using Trinity. Furthermore, three public databases, the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Swiss-prot, and Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COGs), were used for gene function analysis and enrichment. The annotated genes included 57 Gene Ontology (GO) terms, 120 KEGG pathways, and 24 COGs. Compared with the control, 1455 genes were significantly different (false discovery rate ≤0.01, |log2Ratio |≥1) in the NaCl-treated samples. These genes were enriched in 10 KEGG pathways and 73 GO terms, and subjected to 25 COG categories. Using high-throughput next-generation sequencing, we built a database as a global transcript resource for Z. japonica Steud. roots. The results of this study will advance our understanding of the early salt response in Japanese lawngrass roots.
Systemic Inflammation-Associated Proteins and Retinopathy of Prematurity in Infants Born Before the 28th Week of Gestation

Purpose To assess the association between systemic levels of inflammation-associated proteins and severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in extremely preterm infants. Methods We collected whole blood on filter paper on postnatal days 1, 7, 14, 21, and 28 from 1205 infants born before the 28th week of gestation, and measured the concentrations of 27 inflammation-associated, angiogenic, and neurotrophic proteins. We calculated odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals for the association between top quartile concentrations of each protein and prethreshold ROP. Results During the first three weeks after birth, high concentrations of VEGF-R1, myeloperoxidase (MPO), IL-8, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, matrix metalloproteinase 9, erythropoietin, TNF-α, and basic fibroblast growth factor were associated with an increased risk for prethreshold ROP. On day 28, high levels of serum amyloid A, MPO, IL-6, TNF-α, TNF-R1/-R2, IL-8, and ICAM-1 were associated with an increased risk. Top quartile concentrations of the proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 were associated with increased risks of ROP when levels of neuroprotective proteins and growth factors, including BDNF, insulin-like growth factor 1, IGFBP-1, VEGFR-1 and -2, ANG-1 and PlGF, were not in the top quartile. In contrast, high concentrations of NT-4 and BDNF appeared protective only in infants without elevated inflammatory mediators. Conclusions Systemic inflammation during the first postnatal month was associated with an increased risk of prethreshold ROP. Elevated concentrations of growth factors, angiogenic proteins, and neurotrophins appeared to modulate this risk, and were capable of reducing the risk even in the absence of systemic inflammation.
Biscuit making potentials of flours from wheat and plantain at different stages of ripeness

Summary The biscuit making potentials of wheat and plantain (stages 1 and 3 ripeness) flour blends were evaluated. Composite flours were formulated using wheat (white) and plantain flour in ratio 90/10 1 , 80/20 1 , 50/50 1, 100/0, 90/10 3 , 80/20 3 and 50/50 3 at stages 1 and 3 respectively with the superscripts representing the stage of ripeness. The functional properties of the flours, proximate composition, mineral composition and sensory attributes of the biscuit were evaluated. The loose bulk density (LBD) of flours ranged from 0.46-0.53 g/mL, the packed bulk density (PBD) ranged from 0.64-0.76 g/mL. The water absorption capacity (WAC) ranged from 1.19-2.02 g water/g flour and oil adsorption capacity (OAC) ranged from 0.50-1.00 g oil/g flour. The LBD and PBD values of the composite blends were higher than the control (100 % white wheat flour-sample D). The proximate composition ranged from 11.00 %-9.96 % for moisture, 1.21 %-1.27 % for ash, 2.98 %-4.30 % for fat, 11.82 %- 12.64 % for protein, 0.97 %-1.52 % for fibre and 69.56 %-71.21 % for carbohydrate. The protein and carbohydrate value of biscuit produced from composite flour 80/20 3 (sample F) was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) lower than other biscuits. Composite flour 50/50 3 had the highest protein content (12.64 %). The observed mineral composition varied among the samples. The content of calcium, iron and phosphorus ranged from 5.89-6.14, 0.48-0.78 and 21.97-23.46 mg/100g respectively. The calcium and iron contents of biscuit produced from flour blends F was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher than other biscuits, while the phosphorus content of biscuit produced from composite flour 90/10 1 (sample C) was higher than other biscuit samples. Sensory evaluation of the formulated biscuit samples showed similar sensory attributes with the control.
Levels of certainty in knowledge-intensive corpora: an initial annotation study

In this initial annotation study, we suggest an appropriate approach for determining the level of certainty in text, including classification into multiple levels of certainty, types of statement and indicators of amplified certainty. A primary evaluation, based on pairwise inter-annotator agreement (IAA) using F1-score, is performed on a small corpus comprising documents from the World Bank. While IAA results are low, the analysis will allow further refinement of the created guidelines.
Transition Cells for Dynamic Multiresolution Marching Cubes

Abstract This paper presents a method for quickly and seamlessly stitching together triangle meshes generated from multiresolution voxel data with the marching cubes algorithm. A layer of transition cells is inserted between volumes of differing voxel resolutions, and triangles are generated for these cells using a new algorithm that is based on a concept similar to that of marching cubes, but operates on voxel data at two different resolutions. To enable high performance for dynamically changing voxel data, our stitching algorithm requires access only to local data in the voxel map.
Radio-loud Active Galactic Nuclei in the Context of the Eigenvector 1 Parameter Space

We consider the properties of radio-loud (RL) active galactic nuclei in the context of the eigenvector 1 (E1) parameter space. RL sources show a restricted E1 parameter space occupation relative to the radio-quiet (RQ) majority. The Fanaroff-Riley II "parent population" of relatively unboosted RL sources (median radio/optical flux ratio ~490) shows the most restricted occupation. RL sources have different broad-line properties (and inferred black hole masses and Eddington ratios). FWHM Hβ for the broad-line component in RL sources are at least twice as large as in the RQ majority. The average broad Fe II λ4570 emission-line strength is also about half that for RQ sources. Our sample suggests that the RL cutoff occurs near RK ≈ 70 or log P6 cm ~ 32.0 ergs s-1 Hz-1. Sources below this cutoff are RQ, although we cannot rule out the existence of a distinct intermediate population. We show that the Doppler-boosted core-dominated RL sources (median flux ratio ~1000) lie toward smaller FWHM(HβBC) and stronger Fe IIopt in E1, as expected if the lines arise in an accretion disk. Our subsample of superluminal sources, with orientation inferred from the synchrotron self-Compton model, reinforce this general E1 trend and allow us to estimate the role of source orientation in driving E1 domain occupation.
Semiconductor drift detectors: applications and new devices

Recent technological developments and new topology designs have made semiconductor drift detectors ideal devices for high-resolution x-ray spectrometry. In this paper the basic topology of a semiconductor drift detector with on-chip electronics specially designed for x-ray spectrometry is reviewed. These devices have been used for the first time in x-ray and γ-ray spectroscopy applications. In particular, the results obtained in non-destructive analyses by using a EDXRF spectrometer based on a Peltier cooled semiconductor drift detector and in photodetection of scintillation light are reported. The working principle and the first experimental results for a novel position-sensitive x-ray detector with spectroscopic capability are presented.
Algorithms for community and role detection in networks

Many real networks encompass a community structure which means that nodes are organized in densely connected groups with, at the same time, relatively few links between the groups. We propose a new algorithm to uncover those community structures in very large networks based on an efficient representation of the most important interactions in the graph. This framework allows our algorithm to converge much faster than its competitors while extracting results of similar accuracy. Moreover, our method can efficiently use multiple processors synchronously to further decrease the computational time or to analyze larger networks. Yet, a partition in communities is not always representative of the actual distribution of the nodes. We consider a generalization of the problem of community detection, termed role extraction, which does not use any prior assumption on the links distribution in the graph. To extract a role structure, we describe a similarity measure based on the number of common neighbors between each pair of nodes and we propose an iterative scheme to compute a low-rank approximation of the similarity matrix. Our low-rank similarity measure has interesting properties that reveal characteristics of the role structure in benchmark and real graphs.
An Optimal Algorithm for Raw Idea Selection under Uncertainty

At the first gate of an innovation process, a large number of raw ideas must be evaluated and those good enough to continue to the next phase be selected. No information about these ideas is available, so they have a high level of uncertainty. We present an algorithm that selects and ranks a set of alternatives in optimal time. The algorithm addresses uncertainty by allowing decision-makers to specify missing information that affect the outcome of their judgments. It generates multiple partial rankings efficiently according to the various possible combinations of missing items of information and identifies the set of items that are needed to obtain a unique result. In this manner, we can reduce the uncertainty in the selection procedure and make explicit expert knowledge that is relevant to the evaluation process. The algorithm is intended for use in a collaborative tool for corporations who utilize a structured innovation process.
The RCCM 2009 Survey: Mapping Doctoral and Postdoctoral CAM Research in the United Kingdom

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is widely available in the UK and used frequently by the public, but there is little high quality research to sustain its continued use and potential integration into the NHS. There is, therefore, a need to develop rigorous research in this area. One essential way forward is to train and develop more CAM researchers so that we can enhance academic capacity and provide the evidence upon which to base strategic healthcare decisions. This UK survey identified 80 research active postgraduates registered for MPhils/PhDs in 21 universities and were either current students or had completed their postgraduate degree during the recent UK Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2001–2008. The single largest postgraduate degree funder was the university where the students registered (26/80). Thirty-two projects involved randomized controlled trials and 33 used qualitative research methods. The UK RAE also indicates a significant growth of postdoctoral and tenured research activity over this period (in 2001 there were three full time equivalents; in 2008 there were 15.5) with a considerable improvement in research quality. This mapping exercise suggests that considerable effort is currently being invested in developing UK CAM research capacity and thus inform decision making in this area. However, in comparative international terms UK funding is very limited. As in the USA and Australia, a centralized and strategic approach by the National Institute of Health Research to this currently uncoordinated and underfunded activity may benefit CAM research in the UK.
On the eigenspectrum of the gram matrix and the generalization error of kernel-PCA

In this paper, the relationships between the eigenvalues of the m/spl times/m Gram matrix K for a kernel /spl kappa/(/spl middot/,/spl middot/) corresponding to a sample x/sub 1/,. ,x/sub m/ drawn from a density p(x) and the eigenvalues of the corresponding continuous eigenproblem is analyzed. The differences between the two spectra are bounded and a performance bound on kernel principal component analysis (PCA) is provided showing that good performance can be expected even in very-high-dimensional feature spaces provided the sample eigenvalues fall sufficiently quickly.
Low-loss 60 GHz patterned ground shield CPW transmission line

This paper describes the slow wave structure design below the metallization plane to reduce dielectric loss of the silicon substrates. Three types of structure, floating strips with shield strip length (SL) = shield strip spacing (SS)=10µm and 5µm, and patterned ground with SL=SS=5µm have been designed for coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission line using 0. 18µm CMOS TSMC technology. These structures act to prevent the penetration of the electric field into the silicon substrate. It shows that at frequency of 60GHz, patterned ground shield resulted lower attenuation loss, approximately 60% lower compare to conventional CPW with the increase of quality factor to 16.006. The patterned structure exhibit the attenuation loss of 0.731dB/mm. The wavelength of the design is 980µm at 60GHz.
QUANTIFICATION OF ATTENTION‐RELATED BEHAVIORS IN INDIVIDUALS WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY: A Pilot Study1

&NA; Whyte J, Rose T, Glenn MB, Gutowski W, Wroblewski B, Reger J: Quantification of attention‐related behaviors in individuals with traumatic brain injury: a pilot study. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 1994;73:2‐9 Clinical disorders of attention are common after traumatic brain injury but objective measures of their nature and severity are lacking. We developed a standardized independent work task to be performed by patients in a controlled, distracting environment. Videotaped records of patient behavior were made and coded in 15‐s intervals for on‐task behavior, presence of distractors and presence of extraneous motor behavior. Interrater reliability was good to excellent across eleven testing sessions involving four patients. This evaluation system revealed clinically important differences in on‐task behavior among the four patients, as well as different levels of distraction in response to external stimuli. It also showed effects of different tasks and repeated sessions. These data indicate that this evaluation system and accompanying coding process are reliable and provide preliminary evidence that they produce clinically valid results.