Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The SCRIBO Module of the Olena Platform: A Free Software Framework for Document Image Analysis

Electronic documents are being more and more usable thanks to better and more affordable network, storage and computational facilities. But in order to benefit from computer-aided document management, paper documents must be digitized and analyzed. This task may be challenging at several levels. Data may be of multiple types thus requiring different adapted processing chains. The tools to be developed should also take into account the needs and knowledge of users, ranging from a simple graphical application to a complete programming framework. Finally, the data sets to process may be large. In this paper, we expose a set of features that a Document Image Analysis framework should provide to handle the previous issues. In particular, a good strategy to address both flexibility and efficiency issues is the Generic Programming (GP) paradigm. These ideas are implemented as an open source module, SCRIBO, built on top of Olena, a generic and efficient image processing platform. Our solution features services such as preprocessing filters, text detection, page segmentation and document reconstruction (as XML, PDF or HTML documents). This framework, composed of reusable software components, can be used to create full-fledged graphical applications, small utilities, or processing chains to be integrated into third-party projects.
Elicitation, assessment, and pooling of expert judgments using possibility theory

The problem of modeling expert knowledge about numerical parameters in the field of reliability is reconsidered in the framework of possibility theory. Usually expert opinions about quantities such as failure rates are modeled, assessed, and pooled in the setting of probability theory. This approach does not seem to always be natural since probabilistic information looks too rich to be currently supplied by individuals. Indeed, information supplied by individuals is often incomplete, imprecise rather than tainted with randomness. Moreover, the probabilistic framework looks somewhat restrictive to express the variety of possible pooling modes. In this paper, the authors formulate a model of expert opinion by means of possibility distributions that are thought to better reflect the imprecision pervading expert judgments. They are weak substitutes to unreachable subjective probabilities. Assessment evaluation is carried out in terms of calibration and level of precision, respectively, measured by membership grades and fuzzy cardinality indexes. Finally, drawing from previous works on data fusion using possibility theory, the authors present various pooling modes with their formal model under various assumptions concerning the experts. A comparative experiment between two computerized systems for expert opinion analysis has been carried out, and its results are presented in this paper. >
Subsumer-first : A new Heuristic for Guided Symbolic Reachability Analysis

State space exploration using symbolic techniques provides a basis for the verification of software systems. The exploration procedure has direct impact on the overall effectiveness of the verification efforts. For example, choosing the breadth-first exploration strategy results in a verification tool that finds counterexamples quickly, but may sacrifice the efficiency of the reachability analysis. The existing exploration heuristics, such as A∗ search or chaotic iteration, are geared towards optimizing only one objective, e.g., counterexample length or convergence of fixpoint computation, while neglecting various others that maybe of significant importance as well. In this paper, we present a new subsumer guided heuristic for symbolic state space exploration that supports both efficient counterexample discovery and quick convergence of the reachability computation. The Subsumer-first heuristic leverages the results of partial fixpoint checks performed during the symbolic state space exploration. We present an application of the heuristic for improving efficiency of abstraction-based software verification. Our experimental evaluation of the heuristic in a predicate abstraction-based tool indicates its practical applicability, as we observe significant efficiency improvement (median of 40%) on difficult benchmarks from the transportation domain.
Improved visual tracking using the technique of image pyramid

The advantage of the optical-flow-based visual servo methods is that features of the moving object do not need to be known in advance. Therefore, they can fit for demands of versatile positioning and tracking tasks in the real world. Nevertheless, it is difficult to achieve satisfactory tracking performance for fast moving objects using these standard approaches. The purpose of this paper is to implement a robust image servo scheme that incorporates a sliding-mode control algorithm and the image pyramid technique to track an unknown image pattern in three-dimensional motion. The sliding mode controller deals with possible system uncertainties. The image pyramid builds a group of pictures with different resolutions arranged in layers of a hierarchical structure for the same image. Low resolution images are applied for following a fast moving object to maintain acceptable tracking performance. Switching between layers is performed as the detected motion crosses over a pre-defined maximum critical speed. It is verified that the tracking performance can be greatly improved using the proposed control framework.
Influence of packaging material on the liquid stability of interferon-α 2 b

Purpose: In this article we studied the effect of the packaging material on the liquid stability of interferon alpha 2b (rhIFN-α2b). Methods: The compatibility of this cytokine with type I borosilicate glass ampoules was evaluated by ELISA and RP-HPLC, at 4oC and after heat sealing. Additionally, the influence of protein concentration (3 and 10 MIU/ml), buffer species (sodium phosphate, sodium citrate and sodium citratephosphate) and additives (polysorbate 80 and EDTA Na2 x 2H2O) were studied in samples with and without contact with chlorobutyl stoppers by RPHPLC. Results: The compatibility of this cytokine in sodium phosphate buffer, with type I borosilicate glass ampoules showed a significant adsorption at the lowest concentration. This influence was eliminated with a polysorbate 80/benzyl alcoholbased vehicle. The effect of the heat sealing of ampoules on the stability of rhIFN-α2b showed two degradation peaks when a volume of 1 ml was dispensed. However, with a lower (0.5 ml) volume, the degradation was not detected. On the other hand, samples in contact with chlorobutyl stoppers increased the apparent degradation rate constant in the range of 6.74 ± 0.38 to 46.34 ± 3.11 x 10 day. This effect significantly decreased in about 1.2and 1.1-fold when sodium citrate or sodium citratephosphate buffers, respectively, were evaluated. Results from the evaluation of EDTA Na2 x 2H2O or polysorbate 80 showed a similar behavior. These additives reduced the apparent degradation rate constant in the range of 2.01 ± 0.14 to 25.51 ± 3.57 x 10 day. Conclusions: The adsorption of the cytokine to type I borosilicate glass ampoules was eliminated with a polysorbate 80/benzyl alcoholbased vehicle, and the deleterious effect of the heat sealing decreased with a lower (0.5 ml) volume. Experimental data indicated that the contact with chlorobutyl stoppers accelerates the degradation of rhIFN-α2b. However, protein concentration, buffer species and pharmaceutical excipients can modulate this effect.
Quantum tunneling, energy-time uncertainty principle and black hole spectroscopy

The entropy-area spectrum of a black hole has been a long-standing and unsolved problem. Based on a recent methodology introduced by two of the authors, for the black hole radiation (Hawking effect) as tunneling effect, we obtain the entropy spectrum of a black hole. In Einstein’s gravity, we show that both entropy and area spectrum are evenly spaced. But in more general theories (like Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity), although the entropy spectrum is equispaced, the corresponding area spectrum is not.
A New Interpretation of Through-Line Deembedding

Deembedding a device mounted between a pair of identical transitions requires the transition two-port parameters. These can be obtained using the through-line (TL) deembedding method requiring only through and uniform line deembedding standards. Other related deembedding methods introduce factors to scale a pair of eigenvectors to obtain the transition two-port parameters. In this paper, it is shown that these scaling factors are interdependent and provide a corrective reference plane adjustment. Moreover, the transition wave-transmission matrix can be factored into two wave-transmission matrices with one encapsulating the transition discontinuity and the other of a matched line to provide a corrective reference plane shift. This factorization permits incorporation of desired and corrective reference plane shifts, using data from a second matched line standard. With an emphasis on substrate-integrated waveguide, the proposed TL deembedding method is verified.
An Investigation of Primary School Teachers' PCK towards Science Subjects Using an Inquiry-Based Approach.

In this study, the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of four experienced primary school teachers was investigated within the “Let’s Solve the Riddle of Our Body Unit”. The PCK investigation adopted a learning approach based on inquiry, content representation and pedagogical and professional-experience repertoires (PaP-eRs), and interview forms were used as data collection tools. During the course of the research, the findings obtained from observations made during a total of 18 course hours formed the basic data source of the study. According to the results of the study, in which descriptive and content analysis were used concurrently, primary school teachers lack subject matter knowledge, do not interrogate the pre-knowledge of students and some misconceptions exist regarding about blood moves and exercise with pulse. Additionally, some deficiencies were detected in the curriculum, i.e., it offers non-inquisitional knowledge. Furthermore, teachers employee assessment methods with traditional teaching methods and techniques. In the context of an inquiry-based learning approach, teachers appeared to believe that classroom activities were adversely affected by the physical conditions (class size, lack of laboratory etc.), students’ cognitive levels and parent profiles. The result of this study revealed that PCK components affect one another. The PCK findings pertaining to primary school teachers as it concerns the unit are briefly discussed and some suggestions about the development of PCK are submitted.
Mechanical preparation of root canals: shaping goals, techniques and means

Preparation of root canal systems includes both enlargement and shaping of the complex endodontic space together with its disinfection. A variety of instruments and techniques have been developed and described for this critical stage of root canal treatment. Although many reports on root canal preparation can be found in the literature, definitive scientific evidence on the quality and clinical appropriateness of different instruments and techniques remains elusive. To a large extent this is because of methodological problems, making comparisons among different investigations difficult if not impossible. The first section of this paper discusses the main problems with the methodology of research relating to root canal preparation while the remaining section critically reviews current endodontic instruments and shaping techniques.
H7N3 Avian Influenza Virus Found in a South American Wild Duck Is Related to the Chilean 2002 Poultry Outbreak, Contains Genes from Equine and North American Wild Bird Lineages, and Is Adapted to Domestic Turkeys

ABSTRACT An H7N3 avian influenza virus (AIV) was isolated from a Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera) (A/CinnamonTeal/Bolivia/4537/01) during a survey of wild waterfowl in Bolivia in 2001. The NA and M genes had the greatest identity with North American wild bird isolates, the NS was most closely related to an equine virus, and the remaining genes were most closely related to isolates from an outbreak of H7N3 in commercial poultry in Chile in 2002. The HA protein cleavage site and the results of pathogenesis studies in chickens were consistent with a low-pathogenicity virus, and the infective dose was 105 times higher for chickens than turkeys.
Liver Segmentation Based on Snakes Model and Improved GrowCut Algorithm in Abdominal CT Image

A novel method based on Snakes Model and GrowCut algorithm is proposed to segment liver region in abdominal CT images. First, according to the traditional GrowCut method, a pretreatment process using K-means algorithm is conducted to reduce the running time. Then, the segmentation result of our improved GrowCut approach is used as an initial contour for the future precise segmentation based on Snakes model. At last, several experiments are carried out to demonstrate the performance of our proposed approach and some comparisons are conducted between the traditional GrowCut algorithm. Experimental results show that the improved approach not only has a better robustness and precision but also is more efficient than the traditional GrowCut method.
Planning behaviors of a modular robot: an approach applying a randomized planner to coherent structure

A method for behavior planning is presented for a modular robot that applies a randomized planner to coherent structure of the robot. To cope with difficulty in planning of many degrees of freedom (DOFs) of a modular robot, coherent structure is introduced in terms of control system and robot configuration. As the control system, a simple phase synchronization mechanism is introduced that can control the robot with many DOFs with reduced number of parameters. Together with symmetrical configuration, this control system generates various dynamic motions. In order to plan the behaviors of the modular robot determined by the parameters of the control system, we adopt a randomized planner called rapidly exploring random trees (RRTs). This can benefit from a number of advantages of RRT planner, including simple implementation, uniform search, and applicability to a dynamic system with differential constraints. By exploring parameter space of the coherent control system, behaviors including dynamic motions can be planned. We have applied the proposed planner to M-TRAN modular robot to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method through preliminary simulation results.
Experimental sensitivity investigation of mean-shift variants to bandwidth parameters for 3D buildings reconstruction

The goal of this work is to investigate on the one hand the sensitivity of three variants of the joint mean shift algorithm to the choice of the bandwidth parameters and on the other hand their upsampling capabilities in the area of 3D buildings reconstruction. In particular, we examined the quality of upsampled 3D building models obtained by fusing high resolution image data with low resolution elevation data acquired from airborne scanners from densely built urban areas. Using the root mean square error (RMSE) criterion computed between the actual upsampled result and a ground truth, prototype, 3D model, we provide both qualitative and quantitative comparative results. Discussion following the experimental section gives some insight to the observation that the spatially restricted joint mean shift seems to outperform the other two variants.
Co-Designing Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) Environments: Unravelling the Situated Context of Informal Dementia Care

Ambient assisted living (AAL) aims to help older persons “age-in-place” and manage everyday activities using intelligent and pervasive computing technology. AAL research, however, has yet to explore how AAL might support or collaborate with informal care partners (ICPs), such as relatives and friends, who play important roles in the lives and care of persons with dementia (PwDs). In a multiphase codesign process with six (6) ICPs, we envisioned how AAL could be situated to complement their care. We used our codesigned “caregiver interface” artefacts as triggers to facilitate envisioning of AAL support and unpack the situated, idiosyncratic context within which AAL aims to assist. Our findings suggest that AAL should be designed to support ICPs in fashioning “do-it-yourself” solutions that complement tacitly improvised care strategies and enable them to try, observe, and adapt to solutions over time. In this way, an ICP could decide which activities to entrust to AAL support, when (i.e., scheduled or spontaneous) and how a system should provide support (i.e., using personalized prompts based on care experience), and when adaptations to system support are needed (i.e., based alerting patterns and queried reports). Future longitudinal work employing participatory, design-oriented methods with care dyads is encouraged.
The Three Spectral Regimes Found in the Stellar Black Hole XTE J1550–564 in Its High/Soft State

The present paper describes the analysis of multiple RXTE PCA data of the black hole binary with superluminal jet, XTE J1550-564, acquired during its 1998-1999 outburst. The X-ray spectra show features typical of the high/soft spectral state and can approximately be described by an optically thick disk spectrum plus a power-law tail. Three distinct spectral regimes, which we call the "standard regime," the "anomalous regime," and the "apparently standard regime," have been found from the entire set of the observed spectra. When the X-ray luminosity is well below ~6 × 1038 ergs s-1 (assuming a distance of 5 kpc), XTE J1550-564 resides in the standard regime, in which the soft spectral component dominates the power-law component and the observed disk inner radius is kept constant. When the luminosity exceeds the critical luminosity, the apparently standard regime is realized, in which the luminosity of the optically thick disk rises less steeply with the temperature, and the spectral shape is moderately distorted from that of the standard accretion disk. In this regime, the radial temperature gradient of the disk has been found to be flatter than that of the standard accretion disk. The results of the apparently standard regime suggest a slim disk, which is a solution predicted for a high mass accretion rate. In the intermediate anomalous regime (or very high state in the literature), the spectrum becomes much harder, and the disk inner radius derived using a simple disk model spectrum apparently varies significantly with time. These properties can be explained as a result of significant thermal inverse Comptonization of the disk photons, as was found from GRO J1655-40 in its anomalous regime by Kubota and coworkers.
Modifying Round Robin Algorithm for Process Scheduling using Dynamic Quantum Precision

Any processor is said to be optimally performing if it has a higher throughput, low waiting time, low turn around time, and less number of context switches for the processes coming for execution. The scheduler is the component which is responsible for taking the decision on how and when to schedule the processes waiting in the ready queue for their chance to get the CPU. In this paper we have given a proposal for modifying the classical round robin scheduling algorithm. The proposal works by finding the left out burst time of the processes in the last but one turns of the quantum cycle. The left out burst time values in last but one turn of each process are processed to get an optimal threshold value. Based on this, we have divided the processes waiting in the ready queue in two categories. The processes in the first category are the one for which we will modify the time quantum and the processes in the second category will be processed as per the classical round robin algorithm. We have also compared our proposal with the classical round robin algorithm and the results are depicted in tabular form.
Stroke research at a road block: the streets from adversity should be paved with meta‐analysis and good laboratory practice

In this issue, Bath et al. use state of the art meta‐analytical tools to address the pressing question of why NXY‐059, a compound at the time considered to fulfil all the recommendations for the evaluation of preclinical data regarding neuroprotective drugs, has failed clinically. They demonstrate quantitatively that a negative publication bias existed, that the compound was indeed neuroprotective in experimental stroke, but that bias may have resulted in an overestimation of efficacy, and that efficacy in healthy, male, adolescent animals is a poor predictor of success in clinical trial. The study contains important messages for researchers, journal editors, the pharmaceutical industry and science policy makers. Bias is both prevalent and relevant in experiments modelling human stroke. Simple measures can reduce, perhaps substantially, the impact of such bias. The decision to proceed to clinical trial should be based on a thorough and systematic review of the animal data.
An Enhanced Implementation of Brain Tumor Detection Using Segmentation Based on Soft Computing

Image Segmentation is an important and challenging factor in the medical image segmentation. This paper describes segmentation method consisting of two phases. In the first phase, the MRI brain image is acquired from patients database, In that film artifact and noise are removed. After that Hierarchical Self Organizing Map(HSOM) is applied for image segmentation. The HSOM is the extension of the conventional self organizing map used to classify the image row by row. In this lowest level of weight vector, a higher value of tumor pixels, computation speed is achieved by the HSOM with vector quantization
On the design of multi‐rate tracking controllers: Application to rotorcraft guidance and control

This paper presents a new methodology for the design and implementation of gain‐scheduled controllers for multi‐rate systems. The proposed methodology provides a natural way to address the integrated guidance and control problem for autonomous vehicles when the outputs are sampled at different instants of time. A controller structure is first proposed for the regulation of non‐square multi‐rate systems with more measured outputs than inputs. Based on this structure, an implementation for a gain‐scheduled controller is obtained that satisfies an important property known as the linearization property. The implementation resembles the velocity implementation for single‐rate systems. The method is then applied to the problem of steering an autonomous rotorcraft along a predefined trajectory defined in terms of space and time coordinates. By considering a convenient error vector to describe the vehicle's dynamics, the trajectory tracking problem is reduced to that of regulating the error variables to zero. Because of the periodic multi‐rate nature of the onboard sensor suite, the controller synthesis is dealt with under the scope of linear periodic systems theory. Simulation results obtained with a full non‐linear rotorcraft dynamic model are presented and discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.