Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
17 Aggregate Stability and Size Distribution

An aggregate is a group of primary particles that cohere to each other more strongly than to other surrounding soil particles. Most adjacent particles adhere to some degree. Therefore, disintegration of the soil mass into aggregates requires imposition of a disrupting force. Stability of aggregates is a function of whether the cohesive forces between particles withstand the applied disruptive force. When comparing size distribution or stability of soil aggregates, it is necessary that the disruptive force(s) be standardized. If the measurements are to have practical significance, forces causing disintegration should be related to forces expected in the field. The better methods to determine aggregate-size distribution have evolved as a result of efforts to standardize the disruptive forces and make them comparable to those in field phenomena. Forces involved in aggregate size and stability studies include (i) impact and shearing forces administered while taking and preparing the samples, (ii) abrasive and impact forces during sieving, and/or (iii) forces involved in the entry of water into the aggregate. These forces are generally related to cultivation, erosion (wind and water), and wetting of soils, respectively. However, the disintegrating forces occurring during sample taking, preparation, and analysis do not duplicate the field phenomena. Consequently, the relationship between aggregate-size distribution obtained in the laboratory and that existing in the field is somewhat empirical. Recognizing the empiricism involved in relating aggregate-
Semi-supervised Learning of Concept Types

In our approach, nouns in free text are associated with concept types which are defined on the basis of two binary features: unique reference and relationality. We discuss a system for semi-supervised learning of those concept types combining bootstrapping with maximum entropy models. Learning is grounded on morphosyntactical context features obtained by full parsing.
An analysis of STIS HST UV spectra of M 33 early B supergiants

We present terminal velocities of M 33 B-supergiants, obtained from STIS HST spectra as part of our programme to investigate the Wind Momentum { Luminosity Relationship (WLR) in the Local Group. Terminal velocities are derived from their N v ,C iv, and Si iv resonance lines in UV spectra. Comparing with IUE spectra of Galactic B-supergiants we found evidence of low metallicity in three of our objects. The terminal velocities are consistent with the corresponding values of Galactic stars, except for B-133. For this star we nd a very large v1 and ar ed Siiv component deeper than the blue one, that might be an indication of binarity. The average ratio between terminal and turbulent wind velocities is 0.25, well above the value found for Galactic stars.
Real-time tracking a ground moving target in complex indoor and outdoor environments with UAV

In this paper, we present a complete strategy of tracking a ground moving target in complex indoor and outdoor environments with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based on computer vision. The main goal of this system is to track a ground moving target stably and get the target back when it is lost. An embedded camera on the UAV platform is used to provide real-time video stream to the onboard computer where the target recognition and tracking algorithms are running. A vision-based position estimator is applied to localize the position of UAV. According to the position of the ground target obtained from the 2-dimensional images, corresponding control strategy of the UAV is implemented. Simulation of UAV and ground moving target with the target-tracking system is performed to verify the feasibility of the mission. After the simulation verification, a series of real-time experiments are implemented to demonstrate the performance of the target-tracking strategy.
A COMPARISON OF REGISTRATION TECHNIQUES ON QUICKBIRD SATELLITE IMAGES

ABSTRACT: In remote sensing, because of the wide diversity of image characteristics (size, spatial and radiometric resolution, terrain relief, observation poses, etc.), image registration methods that may work well on certain satellite images may not produce acceptable results for others, requiring more powerful techniques. A variety of registration techniques that account for images with non-rigid geometric deformations has been proposed, including piecewise (linear or cubic) functions, weighted mean functions, radial basis functions, B-spline functions, etc. This paper compares three of them: polynomial, piecewise linear and radial basis –thin plate spline– functions; and evaluates their accuracy according to two well-known metrics: root mean square error (RMSE) and circular error with 90% confidence (CE90). The comparison focuses on pan-sharpened QuickBird images (0.6 meters/pixel) acquired on different dates, from different observation attitudes, and sensing different land covers: urban area, high relief terrain and a combination of both. The experimental results show that local methods (as the radial basis functions) perform much better than global ones based on polynomial functions since they can exploit the geometrical information captured by a (desirable) large number of control points.
A New Method for Pose Estimation from Line Correspondences

We can usually determine the pose of objects from three lines in a general position. The configuration of three non- coplanar lines that intersect at two points has some particular characteristics, which three lines in a general position do not have. Here, we present a new method of determining object pose using this particular line configuration. In theory, this method enriches the pose estimation methods from three line correspondences. In addition, it provides guidance for practical applications. Furthermore, we propose a method to deal with multi-solution phenomenon and a new iterative method. Simulation results demonstrate that our algorithm works speedily and robustly.
Conformational Stability of the NH2-Terminal Propeptide of the Precursor of Pulmonary Surfactant Protein SP-B

Assembly of pulmonary surfactant lipid-protein complexes depends on conformational changes coupled with proteolytic maturation of proSP-B, the precursor of pulmonary surfactant protein B (SP-B), along the surfactant biogenesis pathway in pneumocytes. Conformational destabilization of the N-terminal propeptide of proSP-B (SP-BN) triggers exposure of the mature SP-B domain for insertion into surfactant lipids. We have studied the conformational stability during GdmCl- or urea-promoted unfolding of SP-BN with trp fluorescence and circular dichroism spectroscopies. Binding of the intermediate states to bis-ANS suggests their molten globule-like character. ΔG0H2O was ~ 12.7 kJ·mol-1 either with urea or GdmCl. None of the thermal transitions of SP-BN detected by CD correspond to protein unfolding. Differential scanning calorimetry of SP-BN evidenced two endothermic peaks involved in oligomer dissociation as confirmed with 2 M urea. Ionic strength was relevant since at 150 mM NaCl, the process originating the endotherm at the highest temperature was irreversible (Tm2 = 108.5°C) with an activation energy of 703.8 kJ·mol-1. At 500 mM NaCl the process became reversible (Tm2 = 114.4°C) and data were fitted to the Non-two States model with two subpeaks. No free thiols in the propeptide could be titrated by DTNB with or without 5.7 M GdmCl, indicating disulfide bonds establishment.
Numerical simulation of the field and frequency limits for volume coils in MRI

As signal to noise ratio in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) improves with increasing static magnetic field strength there is a strong incentive to develop the technology to acquire images at higher fields. While magnet technology has made it possible to generate fields of 10 Tesla and more, limitations of the radio frequency (RF) hardware prevent the acquisition of high quality images over full regions of interest in clinical applications. Since its introduction, the birdcage coil [1] has become a very popular choice for volume imaging and this paper investigates the high frequency limits of several different sizes and designs of birdcage coils. Unloaded coils are simulated using commercial Method of Moments (MoM) software (FEKO [12]) and the capacitances and radii of the conductors are varied within practical limits to determine a maximum frequency of operation for each coil. Results show that practical birdcages are frequency limited to about 400 MHz for a typical head coil (27cm inside diameter, 30cm shield diameter and 25cm length); 128 MHz for a small whole body coil (60cm inside diameter, 64cm shield diameter and 70cm length) and 100 MHz for a large whole body coil (60cm inside diameter, 64cm shield diameter and 100 cm length). These limits are reduced when interactions with the load are taken into account and experience shows that a typical head coil is limited to about 200 MHz in practical experiments.
NLP for answer extraction in technical domains

In this paper we argue that question answering (QA) over technical domains is distinctly different from TREC-based QA or Web-based QA and it cannot benefit from data-intensive approaches. Technical questions arise in situations where concrete problems require specific answers and explanations. Finding a justification of the answer in the context of the document is essential if we have to solve a real-world problem. We show that NLP techniques can be used successfully in technical domains for high-precision access to information stored in documents. We present Extr- Ans, an answer extraction system over technical domains, its architecture, its use of logical forms for answer extractions and how terminology extraction becomes an important part of the system.
FDI and fault estimation based on differential evolution and analytical redundancy relations

This article studies fault detection and isolation (FDI) and fault estimation in complex hybrid systems. The FDI approach is based on a set of unified constraints, called augmented Global Analytical Redundancy Relations (AGARRs), to detect and isolate the faults. In order to estimate the magnitude of the fault parameter in the fault candidates, a differential evolution (DE) method is employed. This developed method is applicable to estimation of multiple faults of parametric and nonparametric nature. Simulation is carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method in a front steering system of a CyCab mobile robot with multiple faults.
How to induce defense responses in wild plant populations? Using bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) as example

Abstract Inducible plant defense is a beneficial strategy for plants, which imply that plants should allocate resources from growth and reproduction to defense when herbivores attack. Plant ecologist has often studied defense responses in wild populations by biomass clipping experiments, whereas laboratory and greenhouse experiments in addition apply chemical elicitors to induce defense responses. To investigate whether field ecologists could benefit from methods used in laboratory and greenhouse studies, we established a randomized block‐design in a pine‐bilberry forest in Western Norway. We tested whether we could activate defense responses in bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) by nine different treatments using clipping (leaf tissue or branch removal) with or without chemical treatment by methyljasmonate (MeJA). We subsequently measured consequences of induced defenses through vegetative growth and insect herbivory during one growing season. Our results showed that only MeJA‐treated plants showed consistent defense responses through suppressed vegetative growth and reduced herbivory by leaf‐chewing insects, suggesting an allocation of resources from growth to defense. Leaf tissue removal reduced insect herbivory equal to the effect of the MeJa treatments, but had no negative impact on growth. Branch removal did not reduce insect herbivory or vegetative growth. MeJa treatment and clipping combined did not give an additional defense response. In this study, we investigated how to induce defense responses in wild plant populations under natural field conditions. Our results show that using the chemical elicitor MeJA, with or without biomass clipping, may be a better method to induce defense response in field experiments than clipping of leaves or branches that often has been used in ecological field studies.
A survey on automatic fall detection in the context of ambient assisted living systems

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) systems are a relatively new and expanding area of research. Due to current demographic trends towards gentrification of the population AAL systems are bound to become more important in todays and near future's societies. Fall detection is an important component of AAL systems which could provide better safety and higher independency of the elderly. This paper presents a survey on automatic fall detection in the context of AAL systems. Keywords : Ambient assisted living, fall detection, accelerometers, computer vision, comparative study. Issues of this journal are numbered consecutively. This article appeared in #14. Language: en
Influence of the Perspectives on the Movement of One-Leg Lifting in an Interactive-Visual Virtual Environment: A Pilot Study

Background Numerous studies have confirmed the feasibility of active video games for clinical rehabilitation. To maximize training effectiveness, a personal program is necessary; however, little evidence is available to guide individualized game design for rehabilitation. This study assessed the perspectives and kinematic and temporal parameters of a participant’s postural control in an interactive-visual virtual environment. Methods Twenty-four healthy participants performed one-leg standing by leg lifting when a posture frame appeared either in a first- or third-person perspective of a virtual environment. A foot force plate was used to detect the displacement of the center of pressure. A three-way mixed factor design was applied, where the perspective was the between-participant factor, and the leg-lifting times (0.7 and 2.7 seconds) and leg-lifting angles (30°and 90°) were the within-participant factors. The reaction time, accuracy of the movement, and ability to shift weight were the dependent variables. Results Regarding the reaction time and accuracy of the movement, there were no significant main effects of the perspective, leg-lifting time, or angle. For the ability to shift weight, however, both the perspective and time exerted significant main effects, F(1,22) = 6.429 and F(1,22) = 13.978, respectively. Conclusions Participants could shift their weight more effectively in the third-person perspective of the virtual environment. The results can serve as a reference for future designs of interactive-visual virtual environment as applied to rehabilitation.
Shaping quality: the use of performance polygons for multidimensional presentation and interpretation of qualitative performance data.

BACKGROUND Measuring outcomes and quality in anaesthesia is challenging. In the UK, there is increased focus on these as a result of changes in Department of Health strategy and the imminent introduction of mandatory revalidation for all doctors. A definition of quality may differ according to the observer's standpoint and numerous performance measures may contribute to overall quality. Patients, surgeons, anaesthetic assistants, recovery nurses, managers, and anaesthetic peers are each likely to have their own perspective on 'anaesthetic quality' and would perhaps suggest different metrics to measure it. Speed, efficiency, cost, interpersonal skills, complication rates, patient recorded outcome measures, and satisfaction are all valid as quality measures, but none alone captures anaesthetic quality. Performance data are frequently presented as single-dimension measurements (e.g. pain, postoperative nausea and vomiting, patient satisfaction), but this does not address the fact that two or more domains may be closely related (e.g. use of regional anaesthesia and quality of analgesia) or in opposition (e.g. use of regional anaesthesia and speed). METHODS We introduce the concept of a 'performance polygon' as a tool to represent multidimensional performance assessment. This method of data presentation encourages balanced appraisal of anaesthetic quality. RESULTS Performance polygons may be used to compare individual performance with peers, published outcome norms, trends in performance over time, to explore aspects of team performance and potentially capture data that are required for medical revalidation. CONCLUSIONS Performance polygons enable easy comparison with any relevant data set and are a visual tool that potentially has wider applications in healthcare quality improvement.
An Approximate Sphere of the Four Anchor Nodes Positioning Method Based on RSSI

The utilizing of received signal strength indication (RSSI) in wireless sensor network (WSN) is a distance measurement method to compute the location of nodes, which needn’t additional hardware equipment. However, large errors of measurement may cause by the disturbance of environmental noise and inherent factors of hardware. Through analyzing the location information of anchor nodes and adaptive acquire the uncertain factors of RSSI in WSN to estimate the coordinate of unknown node accurately. We use MATLAB and ZSTACK-CC2530 protocol stack as simulation and real experiments prove that the method to locate nodes is effective and practical than other usual RSSI based strategies. Copyright © 2015 IFSA Publishing, S. L.
iPrivacy: a Distributed Approach to Privacy on the Cloud

The increasing adoption of Cloud storage poses a number of privacy issues. Users wish to preserve full control over their sensitive data and cannot accept that it to be accessible by the remote storage provider. Previous research was made on techniques to protect data stored on untrusted servers; however we argue that the cloud architecture presents a number of open issues. To handle them, we present an approach where confidential data is stored in a highly distributed database, partly located on the cloud and partly on the clients. Data is shared in a secure manner using a simple grant-and-revoke permission of shared data and we have developed a system test implementation, using an in-memory RDBMS with row-level data encryption for fine-grained data access control
Evaluation of a Middleware System for Accessing Digital Music Libraries in Mobile Services

In this paper, we present and discuss the evaluation process of a middleware system that we have developed. Our system facilitates the access to digital music libraries in push technology-based mobile services. Specifically, our system provides a semi-automatic interface that allows users to interact with a digital music library and find/retrieve music files in a flexible way based on a combination of mobile technologies and content-based retrieval techniques. The evaluation process followed three stages, namely user background information collection, system performance evaluation, and overall system assessment. The evaluation results are quite positive in terms of both system performance evaluation, and overall system assessment.
Maternal transmission of multiple sclerosis in a dutch population.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the parental relationship of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) from an extended pedigree with extensive genealogical information up to the middle of the 18th century. DESIGN Multiple sclerosis is a complex disease resulting from genetic and environmental factors. Parent-of-origin effect, a phenomenon when the same allele may express differently depending on the sex of the transmitting parent, may influence the risk for MS. We investigated parental relationships between patients with MS using extensive genealogical information available from the Genetic Research in Isolated Populations program. We compared the average kinship of the parents of MS patients. We further explored the distribution of shortest genealogical links between parents of MS patients. Subjects Twenty-four MS patients from the isolated population who could be linked within a large complex pedigree, including 2471 people in total. RESULTS The results consistently indicate a higher prevalence of maternal transmission of MS. The kinship between mothers of patients was 3.8 times higher than that between fathers (bootstrap P = .01). Among the 814 shortest connections between parents, 333 were maternal (40.9%, vs 25.0% expected), 98 were paternal (12.0%, vs 25.0% expected), and 383 were maternal-paternal (47.1%, vs 50.0% expected) (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Mothers of MS patients were more closely related than their fathers. This skewed relationship shows evidence for a maternal effect in MS. The most likely explanation is a gene-environment effect that takes place in utero.
Dynamic range compression algorithm for mobile display devices using average luminance values

This paper presents a dynamic range compression method for improving the contrast of color images. A variable transformation is applied to the input image, depending on the local dependency of the intensity. In this work, we present a local contrast correction algorithm that allows for simultaneous lowlight region and high-light region adjustments, based on multi-scale gaussian filtering. Also, to minimize the change in color saturation between the input and the output image, we present the linear color restoration method.
Adoption of soil and water conservation measures ( SWCM ) by subsistence farmers in the Eastern Ethiopia

Problems related to soil erosion have been receiving more and more attention in recent years, especially in developing countries. Attention to be given to the problem, however, may vary from country to country depending on the physical environment, importance of agriculture in the national economy and the level of technology applied in the sector. Agriculture in Ethiopia is the dominant economic sector upon which the vast majority of the population directly or indirectly depends. This sector is characterized by small-scale subsistence agriculture based on traditional techniques and implements incapable of preventing soil losses due to erosion to any tolerable level. Soil and water conservation is, therefore, among the top priority areas of intervention to insure food security and improve living conditions of fast growing rural population. Methods of intervention should, however, depend upon knowledge of various personal, physical, economic and institutional factors that influence farmers’ conservation decisions. This understanding could prove useful in the formulation and implementation of policy programs to induce voluntary uptake by farmers. This paper is based on a survey conducted in the Western Hararghe Zone of Eastern Ethiopian Highlands. Within this study area 145 farm households were randomly selected and individual interviews, using a semi-structured questionnaire, were conducted. Multinomial logit analysis of survey data shows that farmers’ adoption of conservation measures is positively related to their ranking of soil erosion problem, wealth status, support programs for initial investment, and participation of women in fieldwork activities. Farmers’ ranking of the problem itself is significantly influenced by access to credit and the topography of plots. Large family size is negatively correlated while land tenure system was not shown to affect conservation decisions. These results suggest a need for wide range of policies and programs for intervention.