Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of a System for Measurement and Analysis of Tremor Using a Three-axis Accelerometer

Summary Objectives: The aim of the study was to develop a low-cost and compact system for analysis of tremor using a three-axis accelerometer (the Wii Remote (Nintendo)). To analyze tremor, we hypothesized that the influence of gravitational acceleration should be separated from that of movement. This hypothesis was tested experimentally and we also attempted to record and analyze tremor using our system in a clinical ward. Methods: A system for tremor measurement and analysis was developed using the three-axis accelerometer built into the Wii Remote. The frequency and amplitude of mechanical oscillation were calculated using methods for frequency analysis of the axis of largest variance and an estimation of tremor amplitude. Results: The system consists of a program for measurement and analysis of Wii Remote acceleration (Tremor Analyzer), a Wii Remote, a Bluetooth USB adapter and a Web camera. The Tremor Analyzer has a GUI (graphical user interface) that is divided into five segments. The sampling period of the analyzer is 30 msec. To confirm the hypothesis, mechanical oscillations were fed to the Wii Remote. The peak frequency of the power spectrum and the frequency of the oscillation generator were in good agreement, except at 1 Hz (0.01 G) and 2 Hz (0.02 G). With a change in the sum of squares of the three axes from 1.0 to 1.8 (G), the estimated and generated amplitude (0.3 cm) were in close agreement. Conclusions: This system using a Wii Remote is capable of analyzing frequency and estimated amplitude of tremor between 3 Hz and 15 Hz.
Artifact reduction in true‐FISP imaging of the coronary arteries by adjusting imaging frequency

The presence of resonance frequency offsets often causes artifacts in images acquired with true fast imaging with steady‐state precession (true‐FISP). One source of resonance offsets is a suboptimal setting of the synthesizer frequency. The goal of this work was to demonstrate that shifting the synthesizer frequency could minimize the off‐resonance related image artifacts in true‐FISP. A simple scouting method was developed to estimate the optimal synthesizer frequency for the volume of interest (VOI). To improve fat suppression, a similar scouting method was also developed to determine the optimal frequency offset for the fat saturation pulse. Coronary artery imaging was performed in healthy subjects using a 3D true‐FISP sequence to validate the effectiveness of the frequency corrections. Substantial reduction in image artifacts and improvement in fat suppression were observed by using the water and fat frequencies estimated by the scouting scans. Frequency shifting is a useful and practical method for improving coronary artery imaging using true‐FISP. Magn Reson Med 49:803–809, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Impact of Utilitarian and Hedonistic Shopping Values on Sustainable Fashion Consumption: The Moderating Role of Religiosity

The present study aims to elaborate whether sustainable fashion consumption is characterized by emotions or rational thinking and how religiosity influences the motive for the consumers to get involved in sustainable consumption behaviour. A mall intercept survey sampling technique was employed in a large metropolitan area of Pakistan. All scales were adapted from extant literature. It was found out that sustainable fashion is more of a utilitarian aspect of clothing than a hedonistic aspect of clothing. Moreover, religiosity has a strong moderating influence on the relationship between utilitarian and hedonistic shopping values and sustainable fashion consumption. The present study has significant implications for fashion retailers in the developing countries as they need to incorporate sustainability aspects into their production processes more so because developing countries encounter severe mismanagement or scarcity of natural resources. The present study is one of the preliminary researches to investigate sustainable fashion consumption patterns of consumers with distinct disparity between the underlying motives of consumption either catering to utilitarian functions or gratifying hedonistic purposes. Another novelty is examining the moderating impact that religiosity would have on hedonic and utilitarian shopping values towards shaping sustainable behaviour.
Impact of (segmentation) quality on long vs. short-timespan assessments in iris recognition performance

Several researchers have presented studies of temporal effects on iris recognition accuracy, with varying results on severity of observed effects. The sensitive topic continues to be adversely discussed and the difficulty of isolating performance-impacting factors is immanent. The impact of ageing on segmentation vs. feature extraction has been largely neglected so far. This study attempts to shed light on the impact of segmentation quality on observed temporal effects highlighting the critical role of the segmentation module and quality assessment when assessing ageing effects. The lack of large and standardised temporal variation in public datasets as well as additional metadata (age of subject, recording parameters) and strictly enforced unified recording and quality guidelines over time-separated sessions are identified as imminent problems of ageing studies. Results are reported on a long-timespan database of 36,240 images comprising 104 classes and a 4 year time lapse, offering a large variety of recording conditions highlighting the critical role of a transparent recording setup.
Humans Use Predictive Kinematic Models to Calibrate Visual Cues to Three-Dimensional Surface Slant

When the sensory consequences of an action are systematically altered our brain can recalibrate the mappings between sensory cues and properties of our environment. This recalibration can be driven by both cue conflicts and altered sensory statistics, but neither mechanism offers a way for cues to be calibrated so they provide accurate information about the world, as sensory cues carry no information as to their own accuracy. Here, we explored whether sensory predictions based on internal physical models could be used to accurately calibrate visual cues to 3D surface slant. Human observers played a 3D kinematic game in which they adjusted the slant of a surface so that a moving ball would bounce off the surface and through a target hoop. In one group, the ball's bounce was manipulated so that the surface behaved as if it had a different slant to that signaled by visual cues. With experience of this altered bounce, observers recalibrated their perception of slant so that it was more consistent with the assumed laws of kinematics and physical behavior of the surface. In another group, making the ball spin in a way that could physically explain its altered bounce eliminated this pattern of recalibration. Importantly, both groups adjusted their behavior in the kinematic game in the same way, experienced the same set of slants, and were not presented with low-level cue conflicts that could drive the recalibration. We conclude that observers use predictive kinematic models to accurately calibrate visual cues to 3D properties of world.
Financial returns and cultural price determinants on the polish art market, 1991–2012

The paper investigates the price determinants, risk/return characteristics and investment performances of the Polish art market. Special attention is given to cultural and historical determinants underlying the creation of the Polish art market after 1989 and the dynamics of changes in the first two decades after the system transition. Data from auction annuals during the years from 1991 to 2012 and repeat-sales regression (RSR) method are used to create the index of 28,951 art transactions. Based on the art index values, we observe that the art index for the Polish auction market exhibits similar returns to the ones on treasury bonds and much lower returns than the ones on the Polish stock and gold prices. The volatility of the art index is, what is striking, much lower than the volatility of stocks, comparable to gold prices and much higher than the volatility of treasury bonds. Moreover, high correlation between art and money market instruments suggests a limited portfolio diversification opportunity.
Crystal Structures of Geobacillus stearothermophilus α-Glucuronidase Complexed with Its Substrate and Products

α-Glucuronidases cleave the α-1,2-glycosidic bond between 4-O-methyl-d-glucuronic acid and short xylooligomers as part of the hemicellulose degradation system. To date, all of the α-glucuronidases are classified as family 67 glycosidases, which catalyze the hydrolysis via the investing mechanism. Here we describe several high resolution crystal structures of the α-glucuronidase (AguA) from Geobacillus stearothermophilus, in complex with its substrate and products. In the complex of AguA with the intact substrate, the 4-O-methyl-d-glucuronic acid sugar ring is distorted into a half-chair conformation, which is closer to the planar conformation required for the oxocarbenium ion-like transition state structure. In the active site, a water molecule is coordinated between two carboxylic acids, in an appropriate position to act as a nucleophile. From the structural data it is likely that two carboxylic acids, Asp364 and Glu392, activate together the nucleophilic water molecule. The loop carrying the catalytic general acid Glu285 cannot be resolved in some of the structures but could be visualized in its “open” and “closed” (catalytic) conformations in other structures. The protonated state of Glu285 is presumably stabilized by its proximity to the negative charge of the substrate, representing a new variation of substrate-assisted catalysis mechanism.
Climate, satellite imagery and the seasonal abundance of the tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus in southern Africa: a new perspective

Abstract. Recent predictive models for the distribution of the African tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus Neumann, based on the computer packages CLIMEX and BIOCLIM and data derived from meteorological satellites, and for the seasonal dynamics of the same tick using the computer simulation models ECFXPERT and T3HOST, all have their limitations. Statistical analysis of the relationships between the seasonal abundance of all three life stages of this tick and climatic and satellite‐derived data from five sites in southern Africa, taken from the literature, supports a new perspective that it is the timing of the questing activity of the desiccation‐vulnerable larvae that determines the pattern of the tick's seasonal dynamics. The timing of the activity of nymphs and adults is determined by temperature‐dependent development rates plus the delaying phenomenon of photoperiod‐sensitive diapause, the timing and duration of which have evolved to achieve maximum generation survival by ensuring the occurrence of eggs and larvae during periods of optimal climatic conditions. The most important environmental factor appears to be night‐time minimum temperature, determining condensation and saturation deficit and thus the tick's ability to replenish moisture lost during the daytime and so to survive while questing for hosts. It is the larvae whose numbers are correlated most closely with these factors, consistent with earlier experimental results showing larvae to be most susceptible to desiccating conditions. There is a statistical linkage between larval tick numbers and satellite imagery, arising from the correlation between larval numbers and minimum temperature and saturation deficit conditions, and in turn the relationship between these climatic conditions and the subsequent vegetational changes monitored by the satellites. Moisture availability to larvae is likely to be the critical factor throughout the geographical range of R.appendiculatus, but the precise combination of climatic conditions that optimize moisture availability and questing tick survival can be expected to vary geographically. The relationships between ticks, temperatures and satellite data in parts of equatorial Africa have yet to be established. These correlative patterns highlight both the critical life stage and environmental factors when trying to understand temporal, and ultimately spatial, variations in tick abundance.
Robust H∞ control for polytopic nonlinear control systems

This technical note develops a robust control storage function method for solving the H∞ control problem of single-input polytopic nonlinear control systems. Necessary and sufficient conditions for verifying robust control storage functions are provided. Moreover, conditions for the existence of continuous robust H∞ state feedback controllers are derived. An explicit formula for constructing continuous robust H∞ controllers is presented. Finally, a numerical example is given for illustration.
CMF (Cyclophosphamide, Methotrexate, 5-Fluorouracil) Versus CNF (Cyclophosphamide, Mitoxantrone, 5-Fluorouracil) as Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Stage II Lymph-Node Positive Breast Cancer: Results by Demographic and Clinical Subgroups

A multicenter phase III randomized study comparing the efficacies of two adjuvant polychemotherapeutic regimens in 145 patients with stage II node-positive breast cancer: the standard chemotherapy combination, CMF (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil), and an experimental protocol, CNF (cyclophosphamide, mitoxantrone [Novantrone], 5-fluorouracil) in which mitoxantrone replaced methotrexate. The finding of a significant advantage (p = 0.04) in the disease-free survival for those receiving mitoxantrone (mean survival 4.4 years for CNF versus 2.7 years for CMF) led the authors to break the data down in subpopulations to determine exactly which groups of women responded more favorably to CNF than CMF. An advantage in disease-free survival was found, most notable in four subgroups: Sephardic women, women less than 45 years of age, premenopausal women, and women with 4 to 10 positive axillary lymph nodes. Although the small numbers of women in each of these subgroups rule out drawing definitive conclusions, the trend merits further study to confirm these observations.
High-resolution cortical dipole layer imaging based on noise covariance matrix

We have investigated the suitable spatial filters for inverse estimation of cortical dipole imaging from the scalp electroencephalogram. The effects of incorporating statistical information of noise into inverse procedures were examined by computer simulations and experimental studies. The parametric projection filter (PPF) was applied to an inhomogeneous three-sphere volume conductor head model. The noise covariance matrix was estimated by applying independent component analysis (ICA) to the scalp potentials. Moreover, the sampling method of the noise information was examined for calculating the noise covariance matrix. The simulation results suggest that the spatial resolution was improved while the effect of noise was suppressed by including the separated noise at the time instant of imaging and by adjusting the number of samples according to the signal to noise ratio.
Validity and reliability in a Flemish population of the WHO-MONICA Optional Study of Physical Activity Questionnaire.

PURPOSE This study assessed the validity and reliability of a self-administered physical activity questionnaire used in the WHO-MONICA project. METHODS Subjects (N = 167) were physical education and physical therapy alumni. The questionnaire (MOSPA-Q) covers a 1-yr period and measures the average weekly time and energy expenditure spent in one's occupation, transport-related activities, household chores, and leisure time activities. Test-retest reliability was reported as the intra-class correlation between calculated time or energy expenditure in different questionnaire items determined from two MOSPA-Q administrations. Validity was assessed using biometrical and physiological parameters as criterion measures. RESULTS Test-retest reliability ranged from 0.45 to 0.92 with the highest correlation coefficients obtained for the leisure time physical activities. The correlation between calculated daily total energy expenditure (TEE, Kcal.d-1) and lean body mass was 0.53 (P < 0.001). The correlation between energy expenditure in leisure time activities (Kcal.wk-1) and VO2peak was 0.44. CONCLUSIONS The MOSPA-Q provides a relatively valid and reliable estimate of physical activity.
Costly voting: a large-scale real effort experiment

We test the turnout predictions of the canonical costly voting model through a large-scale, real effort experiment. We recruit 1200 participants through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and employ a $$2\times 2$$ 2 × 2 between subjects design encompassing small ( $$N=30$$ N = 30 ) and large ( $$N=300$$ N = 300 ) elections, as well as close and lopsided. As predicted, participants with a higher opportunity cost are less likely to vote; turnout rate decreases as the electorate size increases in lopsided elections and increases the closer the election is in large elections. However, in the large lopsided election the majority turns out to vote at a higher rate than the minority. We rationalize these results as the equilibrium outcome of a model in which voters obtain a small non-monetary utility if they vote and their party wins.
Contributions in linear public goods experiments with stranger matching: two motivations

ABSTRACT We investigated why subjects contribute to the public good in a linear public goods game with stranger matching. In this experiment, subjects were asked to determine their contributions to the public good and also their beliefs about their partners’ contributions. Additionally, the subjects were asked to note the reason for their decisions in real time. We used the subjects’ descriptions for a coding analysis, which is a classification method of the motivations. Integrating this coding methodology and behavioural data revealed that full contributions are the result of two motives. One is the conditional cooperation motive to achieve the socially optimal outcome. The other is the motive to lead the other group member to contribute all of their endowment in the following periods by signalling one’s own act (i.e. a teaching motive). The study further reveals that the two identified motives play a key role in driving cooperative behaviour, and that other motives (such as confusion and altruism) play a minor role.
Mapping tsetse habitat suitability in the common fly belt of Southern Africa using multivariate analysis of climate and remotely sensed vegetation data

Abstract The distribution of Glossina morsitans centralis, Glossina morsitans morsitans and Glossina pallidipes are described in part of southern Africa, using a range of multivariate techniques applied to climate and remotely sensed vegetation data. Linear discriminant analysis is limited in its predictive power by the assumption of common co‐variances in the classes within multivariate environment space. Maximum likelihood classification is one of a variety of alternative methods that do not have this constraint, and produce a better prediction, particularly when a priori probabilities of presence and absence are taken into account. The best predictions are obtained when the habitat is subdivided, prior to classification, on the basis of a bimodality detected on the third component axis of a principal component analysis. The results of the predictions were good, particularly for G.m. centralis and G.m. morsitans, which gave overall correct predictions of 92.8% and 85.1 %, with a Kappa index of agreement between the predion and the training data of 0.7305 and 0.641 respectively. For G.pallidipes, 91.7% of predictions were correct but the value of Kappa was only 0.549. Very clear differences are demonstrated between the habitats of the two subspecies Gmxentralis and G.m. morsitans.
Taming Leviathan: Mitigating Political Interference in Sovereign Wealth Funds’ Public Equity Investments

Extant research finds that announcement-period abnormal returns of sovereign wealth fund (SWF) equity investments in publicly traded firms are positive but lower than those of comparable private investments. We investigate the determinants of this “SWF discount” and mitigating mechanisms. We find that the discount is deeper for domestic investments and for SWFs from non-democratic countries, suggesting it is caused by the threat of political interference. While SWFs from non-democratic countries experience larger discounts, lower profitability, and lower valuation when signaling an active stance (buying large stakes, acquiring control, and investing directly), the opposite is true for SWFs from democratic countries.
Integrated momentum wheel and differential braking control to improve vehicle dynamic performance

Recent studies showed that active yaw moment control is the most effective method to improve the stability and road handling of vehicles. Corrective yaw moment action should be applied to a vehicle in order to improve the vehicle dynamic performance. The corrective yaw moment is directly related to the interaction between the tires and road, which could either be generated directly or indirectly. Subsequently, the performance of the yaw moment control system, in low-friction road conditions, would noticeably be reduced. An innovative method is proposed to generate the corrective yaw moment by utilizing a momentum wheel that works independent of the tire/road interaction. A comprehensive dynamic analysis of this model, when is integrated with a direct yaw moment control system, has been carried out. Computer simulation results for the vehicle model combined with an integrated momentum wheel and differential braking, under different road conditions, are presented.
Hybrid MemNet for Extractive Summarization

Extractive text summarization has been an extensive research problem in the field of natural language understanding. While the conventional approaches rely mostly on manually compiled features to generate the summary, few attempts have been made in developing data-driven systems for extractive summarization. To this end, we present a fully data-driven end-to-end deep network which we call as Hybrid MemNet for single document summarization task. The network learns the continuous unified representation of a document before generating its summary. It jointly captures local and global sentential information along with the notion of summary worthy sentences. Experimental results on two different corpora confirm that our model shows significant performance gains compared with the state-of-the-art baselines.
Mapping tree species of forests in southwest France using Sentinel-2 image time series

In this paper, we study the potential of the new satellite Sentinel-2 (S2) images to identify tree species in temperate forests. Fourteen tree species are classified from eleven S2 images acquired from winter 2015 to autumn 2016 with 2181 reference pixels. Two datasets are compared: (1) the 4-bands dataset including the 10-m VNIR images only and (2) the 10-bands dataset including the red-edge and SWIR bands at 20-m, resampled at 10-m. Three standard supervised algorithms are tested: SVM with three kernel functions, Random Forest, and Gradient Boosted Trees. Depending on the considered dataset and algorithm, we obtain very high performances (Cohen's kappa from 0.92 to 0.97). Black pine and Douglas fir are the most confused species (F1-score of 0.81 and 0.74 respectively). Cultivated tree plantations such as Aspen and Red Oak are the best predicted (F1-score of 0.99 for both). SVM-RBF outperforms systematically the other classifiers. These first results suggest a high potential of the new Sentinel-2 optical images for mapping the distribution of tree species in forest ecosystems.