Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dust exposure levels among treet sweepers in Bole Sub- City, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background: Intensive manual street sweeping has been performed over the last three years in Addis Ababa to optimize the cleanliness of the surface of the street and make it convenient for public use. Street sweeping is a job, but it is a job that also has a direct link with the health of the sweepers. Street sweepers are severely exposed to street dust. Yet, the level of dust exposure among the sweepers has not been documented in Ethiopia. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the level of exposure of dust to street sweepers in Addis Ababa city. Methods: An exposure study was conducted among 10 street sweepers, measuring exposure levels for four working days. The measurements were performed by total dust samplers (37 mm Millipore plastic cassette with a PVC filter) attached to the breathing zone of the workers. Gravimetric analysis of the filters was done using a Mettler Toledo XPE105 micro-balance (detection limit 0.01mg). The sampling cassettes with filter were conditioned in desiccators for 24 hours before weighing. A survey data sheet and an observational checklist were used to record exposure attributes. Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 20. The exposure levels were compared with the threshold limit value for total dust recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists of 10 mg/m. Results: The study participants covered a total of 1km, and were sweeping from 6:00-9:00 am. The participants were assumed to constitute one similar exposure group as all sweepers covered four operations in performing the street sweeping: sweeping the street surface, collecting dust and litter in one place, putting it in a container and then disposing it at a disposal site designated for this purpose. The median dust exposure level (n=19 samples) was 10.71 mg/m (IQR=7.43). This is above the threshold limit value of 10 mg/m. Eleven of the samples exceeded the occupational exposure level. The exposure level did not vary significantly between sampling days. This indicates that the exposure variability is consistent across the four sampling days. Conclusion: The studied street sweepers were exposed to dust levels that exceeded the recommended exposure level. Additional comprehensive research in a larger exposed population is suggested to further identify the most important determinants for high exposure levels among street sweepers. Studying characteristics of the street dust is another suggested area for future research. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2017;31(4):236-243]
A Naive Complexity Measure for color texture images

The notion of complexity is widely-known and used. Various definitions of complexity exist: the Hausdorff dimension, fractal dimension, Kolmogorov complexity, Krohn-Rhodes complexity, Lyapunov exponents or the entropy, some of them with several definitions. All these measures were defined strictly for mathematical objects, but they may apply to real signals like texture images in particular. We are interested in new definitions of complexity or how the existing ones can be extended to color and spectral texture images. In this paper, we propose the definition of a naive complexity measure for color texture images as three times the number of colors divided by the image resolution. We show that such a simple definition may have interesting properties, by comparing its performance to the color entropy previously defined. We show and discuss our experimental results, then draw the conclusions.
Existence and uniform boundedness of strong solutions of the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations of superconductivity

The time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations of superconductivity with a time-dependent magnetic field H are discussed. We prove existence and uniqueness of weak and strong solutions with H1-initial data. The result is obtained under the “φ=−ω(∇⋅A)” gauge with ω>0. These solutions generate a dynamical process and are uniformly bounded in time.
Fully Automated Non-rigid Segmentation with Distance Regularized Level Set Evolution Initialized and Constrained by Deep-Structured Inference

We propose a new fully automated non-rigid segmentation approach based on the distance regularized level set method that is initialized and constrained by the results of a structured inference using deep belief networks. This recently proposed level-set formulation achieves reasonably accurate results in several segmentation problems, and has the advantage of eliminating periodic re-initializations during the optimization process, and as a result it avoids numerical errors. Nevertheless, when applied to challenging problems, such as the left ventricle segmentation from short axis cine magnetic ressonance (MR) images, the accuracy obtained by this distance regularized level set is lower than the state of the art. The main reasons behind this lower accuracy are the dependence on good initial guess for the level set optimization and on reliable appearance models. We address these two issues with an innovative structured inference using deep belief networks that produces reliable initial guess and appearance model. The effectiveness of our method is demonstrated on the MICCAI 2009 left ventricle segmentation challenge, where we show that our approach achieves one of the most competitive results (in terms of segmentation accuracy) in the field.
The First Cross-Script Code-Mixed Question Answering Corpus

In this paper, we formally introduce the problem of crossscript code-mixed question answering (QA) and we elaborate the corpus acquisition process and an evaluation strategy related to the said problem. Today social media platforms are flooded by millions of posts everyday on various topics. This paper emphasizes the use of such ever growing user generated content to serve as information collection source for the QA task on a low-resource language for the first time. A majority of these posts are multilingual in nature and many of them involve code mixing. The multilingual aspect of social media content is reflected in the use of multilingual words as well as in the writing script. For the ease of use multilingual users often pose questions in non-native script. Focusing on this current multilingual scenario, code-mixed cross-script (i.e., non-native script) data give rise to a new problem and present serious challenges to automatic QA. In the work presented in this paper, Bengali is considered as the native language while English is considered to be the non-native language. However, the dataset construction approach presented in this paper is generic in nature and could be used for any other language pair. Apart from introducing this novel problem, this paper highlights corpus development process and a suitable evaluation framework.
Extraction of Visual Features for Lipreading

The multimodal nature of speech is often ignored in human-computer interaction, but lip deformations and other body motion, such as those of the head, convey additional information. We integrate speech cues from many sources and this improves intelligibility, especially when the acoustic signal is degraded. The paper shows how this additional, often complementary, visual speech information can be used for speech recognition. Three methods for parameterizing lip image sequences for recognition using hidden Markov models are compared. Two of these are top-down approaches that fit a model of the inner and outer lip contours and derive lipreading features from a principal component analysis of shape or shape and appearance, respectively. The third, bottom-up, method uses a nonlinear scale-space analysis to form features directly from the pixel intensity. All methods are compared on a multitalker visual speech recognition task of isolated letters.
A mathematical model of reservoir sediment quality prediction based on land-use and erosion processes in watershed

The aim of this paper is to propose a mathematical model for determining of total nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) content in eroded soil particles with emphasis on prediction of bottom sediment quality in reservoirs. The adsorbed nutrient concentrations are calculated using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) extended by the determination of the average soil nutrient concentration in top soils. The average annual vegetation and management factor is divided into five periods of the cropping cycle. For selected plants, the average plant nutrient uptake divided into five cropping periods is also proposed. The average nutrient concentrations in eroded soil particles in adsorbed form are modified by sediment enrichment ratio to obtain the total nutrient content in transported soil particles. The model was designed for the conditions of north-eastern Slovakia. The study was carried out in the agricultural basin of the small water reservoir Klusov.
A Music Library in the Palm of your Hand: A Series of Experiments on Interface Culture

We are interested in the socio-cultural compatibility of media-related technology, especially music information retrieval (MIR) systems. In order to study this special topic we have undertaken several attempts in the past to design and implement applications and experimental scenarios. One solution to observe users’ interactions with large-scale music libraries outside the lab was a mobile application, the so-called ‘musicAssistant’. It allows users to directly interact with a server-side music database over wireless LAN. An integrated recommendation engine may be influenced by a virtual joystick, which controls the weights of 3 musical facets (sound, cultural and lyrics) each contributing to a combined music similarity measure. We collected data with this framework and evaluated the relations between similarity facets, namely sound, lyrics, and cultural issues. Additionally , we have been going beyond the idea of pure similarity-based recommendations by integrating third-parties’ metadata schemes and instances in order to re-use voluntary and commercial efforts in building music ontologies. Open application programming interfaces (API) of commercial players such as Google and Amazon allowed us to concentrate on the implementation of mobile user interfaces rather than collecting metadata on our own. In a second attempt we exhibited stationary MIR systems during a public event and drew implications of its outcome for our future work. In this paper we want to sketch first the basic aspects when implementing systems for personal music libraries. Then we will describe the architecture of such mobile and stationary music libraries and the involved MIR technologies (multimodal similarity, self organizing maps, interface metapher). We report about our initial findings in different scenarios and close with a sketch for future users’ needs .
Discourse Structure and the Proper Treatment of Interruptions

This paper reports on the development of a computational theory of discourse. The theory is based on the thesis that discourse structure is a composite of three structures the structure of the sequence of utterances, the structure of intentions conveyed, and the attentional state. The distinction among these components is essential to provide adequate explanations of such discourse phenomena as clue words, referring expressions and interruptions. We illustrate the use of the theory for four types of interruptions and discuss aspects of interruptions previously overlooked.
Neato Quadcopters

In this paper we detail the implementation and execution of an unsuccessful experiment involving simulated quadcopters trained using NEAT. Quadcopters are simulated using the robotics framework ROS, with the physics simulator Gazebo and the packages provided by Team Hector Darmstadt, and the controllers are implemented using neural networks. Unfortunately, the current experiments failed due to collusion between bugs in our simulator platform and the inscrutability of genetic algorithms. However, the techniques and code we developed could be of use to others wishing to implement similar experiments. The code can be found at www.alexburka. com/neatoquadcopters.html.
Differential evaluation of continual queries

We define continual queries as a useful tool for monitoring of updated information. Continual queries are standing queries that monitor the source data and notify the users whenever new data matches the query. In addition to periodic refresh, continual queries include Epsilon Transaction concepts to allow users to specify query refresh based on the magnitude of updates. To support efficient processing of continual queries, we propose a differential re-evaluation algorithm (DRA), which exploits the structure and information contained in both the query expressions and the database update operations. The DRA design can be seen as a synthesis of previous research on differential files, incremental view maintenance, and active databases.
Novel Microglomerular Structures in the Olfactory Bulb of Mice

The murine olfactory system consists of two primary divisions: (1) a main olfactory system, in which olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) located in the main olfactory epithelium (MOE) send their axons to glomeruli in the main olfactory bulb (MOB); and (2) an accessory olfactory system, in which OSNs located in the vomeronasal organ send their axons to glomeruli in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). In labeling studies using the lectin Ulex europaeusagglutinin (UEA), we discovered a novel subset of small neuropilar structures in the MOB that are distinct from other glomeruli both in the MOB and AOB. These “microglomeruli” are morphologically similar to MOB glomeruli in many respects: they receive innervation from processes present in the olfactory nerve layer and are isolated from other glomeruli by juxtaglomerular cells; in addition, the compartmental pattern of UEA labeling suggests the presence of UEA− processes within their neuropil. Microglomeruli contained processes that express the olfactory marker protein, a marker common to mature OSN axons. However, unlike other glomerular structures, the microglomeruli did not contain neural cell adhesion molecule-labeled processes. Within microglomeruli, UEA+ processes interdigitated with MAP2+ dendrites, some of which likely originate from interneurons, as indicated by glutamic acid decarboxylase labeling. Synaptophysin labeling in microglomeruli strongly suggested that synapses occur between UEA+ processes and dendrites. Anterograde labeling of OSNs, by injection of rhodamine–dextran into one naris, demonstrated that UEA+ processes in microglomeruli originated in the MOE. The unique morphology, protein expression, and location of microglomeruli have led us to hypothesize that they represent a novel class of glomerular structures in the murine olfactory system.
Using Whole Genome Analysis to Examine Recombination across Diverse Sequence Types of Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is an important clinical pathogen worldwide and understanding this organism's phylogeny and, in particular, the role of recombination, is important both to understand the overall spread of virulent lineages and to characterize outbreaks. To further elucidate the phylogeny of S. aureus, 35 diverse strains were sequenced using whole genome sequencing. In addition, 29 publicly available whole genome sequences were included to create a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based phylogenetic tree encompassing 11 distinct lineages. All strains of a particular sequence type fell into the same clade with clear groupings of the major clonal complexes of CC8, CC5, CC30, CC45 and CC1. Using a novel analysis method, we plotted the homoplasy density and SNP density across the whole genome and found evidence of recombination throughout the entire chromosome, but when we examined individual clonal lineages we found very little recombination. However, when we analyzed three branches of multiple lineages, we saw intermediate and differing levels of recombination between them. These data demonstrate that in S. aureus, recombination occurs across major lineages that subsequently expand in a clonal manner. Estimated mutation rates for the CC8 and CC5 lineages were different from each other. While the CC8 lineage rate was similar to previous studies, the CC5 lineage was 100-fold greater. Fifty known virulence genes were screened in all genomes in silico to determine their distribution across major clades. Thirty-three genes were present variably across clades, most of which were not constrained by ancestry, indicating horizontal gene transfer or gene loss.
Semen Promotes the Differentiation of Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells

Seminal plasma is not just a carrier for spermatozoa. It contains high concentrations of cytokines, chemokines, and other biological compounds that are able to exert potent effects on the immune system of the receptive partner. Previous studies have shown that semen induces an acute inflammatory response at the female genital mucosa after coitus. Moreover, it induces regulatory mechanisms that allow the fetus (a semiallograft) to grow and develop in the uterus. The mechanisms underlying these regulatory mechanisms, however, are poorly understood. In this study, we show that seminal plasma redirects the differentiation of human dendritic cells (DCs) toward a regulatory profile. DCs differentiated from human monocytes in the presence of high dilutions of seminal plasma did not express CD1a but showed high levels of CD14. They were unable to develop a fully mature phenotype in response to LPS, TNF-α, CD40L, Pam2CSK4 (TLR2/6 agonist), or Pam3CSK4 (TLR1/2 agonist). Upon activation, they produced low amounts of the inflammatory cytokines IL-12p70, IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6, but expressed a high ability to produce IL-10 and TGF-β. Inhibition of the PG receptors E-prostanoid receptors 2 and 4 prevented the tolerogenic effect induced by seminal plasma on the phenotype and function of DCs, suggesting that E-series PGs play a major role. By promoting a tolerogenic profile in DCs, seminal plasma might favor fertility, but might also compromise the capacity of the receptive partner to mount an effective immune response against sexually transmitted pathogens.
Scene-based video super-resolution with minimum mean square error estimation

Motion estimation is a key problem in video super-resolution (SR). If the estimation is highly accurate then the high resolution (HR) frames reconstructed is better in quality. Otherwise with small errors in estimation, they will create more degradation in the reconstructed HR frames. In many recent studies, the motion estimation is applied on every block of pixels. There is too little input data for estimating process so that it is hard to get high accuracy in results. This paper presents a new method for SR video image reconstruction through two main ideas. First, video frames are separated into two sections, as scene and motive objects. The motions of the scene are the same and uniform. We will have much data for estimating, so that the result can be more accurate. Second, the motion estimation is based on three parameters, rotation and shifts in vertical and horizontal. It presents a perfectly estimating for real motion of camera when capturing video frames. Based on that, an efficient algorithm is proposed by combination of block matching search method and minimum mean square error estimation. The results of the proposed algorithm are more accurate than those of other recent algorithms. It can be easy to see one we visualize the HR video frames reconstructed by other algorithms.
A p-Ge/sub 1-x/C/sub x//n-Si heterojunction diode grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We report on the fabrication and characterization of the first p-n diode made from a heterojunction of epitaxial p-type Ge/sub 0.998/C/sub 0.002/ on an n-type Si substrate. Epitaxial Ge/sub 0.998/C/sub 0.002/ was grown on a (100) Si substrate by solid source molecular beam epitaxy. The p-GeC/n-Si junction exhibits diode rectification. The I-V characteristics of the p-GeC/n-Si diode indicate a reasonable reverse saturation current of 89 pA//spl mu/m/sup 2/ at -1 V and a high reverse breakdown voltage in excess of -40 V. Photoresponse from the Ge/sub 0.998/C/sub 0.002/ p-n diode was observed from 1.3-/spl mu/m laser excitation resulting in an external quantum efficiency of 1.4%.
Engineering Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) Derivative Strains To Minimize E. coli Protein Contamination after Purification by Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatography

ABSTRACT Recombinant His-tagged proteins expressed in Escherichia coli and purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) are commonly coeluted with native E. coli proteins, especially if the recombinant protein is expressed at a low level. The E. coli contaminants display high affinity to divalent nickel or cobalt ions, mainly due to the presence of clustered histidine residues or biologically relevant metal binding sites. To improve the final purity of expressed His-tagged protein, we engineered E. coli BL21(DE3) expression strains in which the most recurring contaminants are either expressed with an alternative tag or mutated to decrease their affinity to divalent cations. The current study presents the design, engineering, and characterization of two E. coli BL21(DE3) derivatives, NiCo21(DE3) and NiCo22(DE3), which express the endogenous proteins SlyD, Can, ArnA, and (optionally) AceE fused at their C terminus to a chitin binding domain (CBD) and the protein GlmS, with six surface histidines replaced by alanines. We show that each E. coli CBD-tagged protein remains active and can be efficiently eliminated from an IMAC elution fraction using a chitin column flowthrough step, while the modification of GlmS results in loss of affinity for nickel-containing resin. The “NiCo” strains uniquely complement existing methods for improving the purity of recombinant His-tagged protein.
Ground Penetrating Radar

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a nondestructive measurement technique, which uses electromagnetic waves to locate targets or interfaces buried within a visually opaque substance or Earth material. GPR is also termed ground probing, surface penetrating (SPR), or subsurface radar. A GPR transmits a regular sequence of low-power packets of electromagnetic energy into the material or ground, and receives and detects the weak reflected signal from the buried target. The buried target can be a conductor, a dielectric, or combinations of both. There are now a number of commercially available equipments, and the technique is gradually developing in scope and capability. GPR has also been used successfully to provide forensic information in the course of criminal investigations, detect buried mines, survey roads, detect utilities, measure geophysical strata, and in other applications. Keywords: ground penetrating radar; ground probing radar; surface penetrating radar; subsurface radar; electromagnetic waves
A Statistical Approach to Machine Aided Translation of Terminology Banks

This paper reports on a new statistical approach to machine aided translation of terminology bank. The text in the bank is hyphenated and then dissected into roots of 1 to 3 syllables. Both hyphenation and dissection are done with a set of initial probabilities of syllables and roots. The probabilities are repeatedly revised using an EM algorithm. After each iteration of hyphenation or dissection, the resulting syllables and roots are counted subsequently to yield more precise estimation of probability. The set of roots rapidly converges to a set of most likely roots. Preliminary experiments have shown promising results. From a terminology bank of more than 4, 000 terms, the algorithm extracts 223 general and chemical roots, of which 91% are actually roots. The algorithm dissects a word into roots with around 86% hit rate. The set of roots and their hand-translation are then used in a compositional translation of the terminology bank. One can expect the translation of terminology bank using this approach to be more cost-effective, consistent, and with a better closure.