Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Zeolite structure and reactivity by combined quantum-chemical- classical calculations

Proton-energy differences, ammonia adsorption, and D/H-exchange barriers for methane at selected isolated Bronsted sites in zeolites FAU, MFI, BEA, ERI, and CHA are studied by combined quantum-chemical−classical (QM/MM) calculations in an attempt to understand the factors that determine the reactivity at these Bronsted sites. The barrier of the D/H-exchange reaction for methane was found to correlate well with the calculated ammonia chemisorption energy, but even better with the O−Al−O angle of the free zeolite Bronsted site the reaction is taking place on, provided the Si−O−Al−O−Si moiety over which the reaction takes place is more or less collinear. The barrier is considerably higher if this collinearity is weaker, which may be explained by the necessity of costly backbone distortions to accommodate the geometrical requirements of the transition state. This is confirmed by similarly strong correlations with the O−Al−O angle change going from the free acid site to zeolite−ammonium ion bidentate structure.
Adapting Gaussian processes for cross-device Wi-Fi localization

We investigate the use of linear adaptation on Gaussian processes for Wi-Fi localization in a cross-device setting. We focus on the case where one has a training set collected with one or more devices and a very small labeled adaptation set from the test device. We first present an algorithm to find reliable linear fits between a training set and a small adaptation set by exploiting the Gaussian process assumption that all measurements are spatially correlated. Such regression algorithm is more reliable than total least squares when the adaptation set is very small. Second, we show that the regression misfit can be used to model the additional uncertainty in a linearly adapted map for cross-device Wi-Fi localization. When such uncertainty estimate is used to fuse Gaussian process maps created from one or more training sets and an adaptation set, localization performance can be greatly improved given just a few adaptation samples.
Foundations of Computational Mathematics : Hong Kong 2008

We design energy preserving and energy stable schemes for the shallow water equations. A new explicit energy preserving flux is proposed and is compared with existing energy preserving fluxes. This new flux results in a considerable reduction in the computational cost. We add suitably discretized viscous terms to the energy preserving scheme in order to obtain an energy stable scheme that replicates the energy decay of the continuous problem. The addition of physical viscosity dramatically reduces the oscillations on resolved meshes. For computing on underresolved meshes, we propose a new Roe-type numerical flux that adds diffusion in terms of energy variables to an energy preserving scheme. The resulting scheme is energy stable and as accurate as the Roe scheme, at a similar computational cost. The robustness of the energy preserving
Native plant diversity increases herbivory to non-natives

There is often an inverse relationship between the diversity of a plant community and the invasibility of that community by non-native plants. Native herbivores that colonize novel plants may contribute to diversity–invasibility relationships by limiting the relative success of non-native plants. Here, we show that, in large collections of non-native oak trees at sites across the USA, non-native oaks introduced to regions with greater oak species richness accumulated greater leaf damage than in regions with low oak richness. Underlying this trend was the ability of herbivores to exploit non-native plants that were close relatives to their native host. In diverse oak communities, non-native trees were on average more closely related to native trees and received greater leaf damage than those in depauperate oak communities. Because insect herbivores colonize non-native plants that are similar to their native hosts, in communities with greater native plant diversity, non-natives experience greater herbivory.
Topology-driven vectorization of clean line drawings

Vectorization provides a link between raster scans of pencil-and-paper drawings and modern digital processing algorithms that require accurate vector representations. Even when input drawings are comprised of clean, crisp lines, inherent ambiguities near junctions make vectorization deceptively difficult. As a consequence, current vectorization approaches often fail to faithfully capture the junctions of drawn strokes. We propose a vectorization algorithm specialized for clean line drawings that analyzes the drawing's topology in order to overcome junction ambiguities. A gradient-based pixel clustering technique facilitates topology computation. This topological information is exploited during centerline extraction by a new “reverse drawing” procedure that reconstructs all possible drawing states prior to the creation of a junction and then selects the most likely stroke configuration. For cases where the automatic result does not match the artist's interpretation, our drawing analysis enables an efficient user interface to easily adjust the junction location. We demonstrate results on professional examples and evaluate the vectorization quality with quantitative comparison to hand-traced centerlines as well as the results of leading commercial algorithms.
An America Curriculum?

Public schooling in the United States serves the purposes of Americanization and assimilation. Group and national identities are continually refashioned, however, and in the late 1990s, it is much less clear what students are being socialized or assimilated to than it was twenty or forty or eighty years ago. The resurgence of policy activity and controversy regarding American pluralism-diversity-multiculturalism has raised questions about what vision or version of the nation is to be transmitted to future generations via school curricula. The focus of the study presented here is the images of America actually being conveyed in elementary, middle, and high school social studies classes. The absence of a single, predominant image of America in these classes can be understood as reflecting the complex realities of United States history and contemporary society. Closest to a dominant theme was “imperfect but best”—America as the best country in the world, despite past problems, current difficulties, and various complaints. Alternative interpretations were offered, all pointing to disruption of the traditional story of America, a disruption that challenges not only the conventional wisdom but also the privileged positions of those individuals and groups who have benefited from dominant ideologies and prevailing distributions of power.
Two processes support visual recognition memory in rhesus monkeys

A large body of evidence in humans suggests that recognition memory can be supported by both recollection and familiarity. Recollection-based recognition is characterized by the retrieval of contextual information about the episode in which an item was previously encountered, whereas familiarity-based recognition is characterized instead by knowledge only that the item had been encountered previously in the absence of any context. To date, it is unknown whether monkeys rely on similar mnemonic processes to perform recognition memory tasks. Here, we present evidence from the analysis of receiver operating characteristics, suggesting that visual recognition memory in rhesus monkeys also can be supported by two separate processes and that these processes have features considered to be characteristic of recollection and familiarity. Thus, the present study provides converging evidence across species for a dual process model of recognition memory and opens up the possibility of studying the neural mechanisms of recognition memory in nonhuman primates on tasks that are highly similar to the ones used in humans.
Redescription and histopathology of Myxobolus cyprinicola Reuss, 1906, an intestinal parasite of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.).

Although Myxobolus spores can often be detected from the gut of fish, from the mucus covering the intestinal wall and from the intestinal content, the number of species actually developing in the gut wall is rather low. Myxobolus cyprinicola can be considered a parasite rarely occurring in Europe. This parasite was found to cause infection in the gut of common carp caught from Lake Balaton. Its pinhead-sized plasmodia were located in the lamina propria at the tip of the mucosal folds of the intestine, immediately below the basement membrane. The plasmodia were closely connected with the capillaries of the lamina propria. The large number of red blood cells found between the basement membrane and the plasmodium wall suggests that they started their development in the lumen of a capillary. By their morphological characteristics, the spores of M. cyprinicola are well distinguishable from those of M. cyprini, which more commonly occur in the gut within necrotic macrophages (yellow bodies) after having reached that site as a result of a secondary process. Because of the small size of the plasmodia, the subepithelial location, and the low prevalence and intensity, M. cyprinicola can be considered a less pathogenic species.
SIVIC: Open-Source, Standards-Based Software for DICOM MR Spectroscopy Workflows

Quantitative analysis of magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) data provides maps of metabolic parameters that show promise for improving medical diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring. While anatomical images are routinely reconstructed on the scanner, formatted using the DICOM standard, and interpreted using PACS workstations, this is not the case for MRSI data. The evaluation of MRSI data is made more complex because files are typically encoded with vendor-specific file formats and there is a lack of standardized tools for reconstruction, processing, and visualization. SIVIC is a flexible open-source software framework and application suite that enables a complete scanner-to-PACS workflow for evaluation and interpretation of MRSI data. It supports conversion of vendor-specific formats into the DICOM MR spectroscopy (MRS) standard, provides modular and extensible reconstruction and analysis pipelines, and provides tools to support the unique visualization requirements associated with such data. Workflows are presented which demonstrate the routine use of SIVIC to support the acquisition, analysis, and delivery to PACS of clinical 1H MRSI datasets at UCSF.
Philosophy of Economy: The World as Household

The writings of Sergei Bulgakov (1871-1944), like those of other major social thinkers of Russia's Silver Age, were obliterated from public consciousness under Soviet rule. Discovered again after eighty years of silence, Bulgakov's work speaks with remarkable directness to the postmodern listener. This outstanding translation of Philosophy of Economy brings to English-language speakers for the first time a major work of social theory written by a critical figure in the Russian tradition of liberal thought. What is unique about Bulgakov, Catherine Evtuhov explains in her introduction to this book, is that he bridges two worlds. His social thought is firmly based in the Western tradition, yet some of his ideas reflect a specifically Russian way of thinking about society. Though arguing strenuously in favour of political and social liberty, Bulgakov repudiates the individualistic basis of Western liberalism in favour of a conception of human dignity that is compatible with collectivity. His economic theory stresses the spiritual content of life in the world and imagines national life as a kind of giant household. Bulgakov's work, with its singularly postmodern balance between Western and non-Western, offers fascinating implications for those in the process of reevaluating ideologies in post-Soviet Russia and in America as well.
Adaptive navigation of an omni-drive autonomous mobile robot in unstructured dynamic environments

One of the challenges of Autonomous Systems navigating in real world is to deal with the large amounts of uncertainties which are inherent in such environment while maintaining stability. Higher order Fuzzy Logic Systems (FLS), such as Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Systems (IT2FLS), that use type-2 fuzzy sets, can model and handle such uncertainties, and give good performances that outperform their Type-1 counterparts. However, the complexity and computational time of type-reduction process which is strongly related to Membership Functions (MFs) structure and the number of fuzzy rules limit their applications to simple cases in real-time. Artificial Potential Field (APF) approach due to its elegant mathematical analysis, simplicity and its possibility to take into account the dynamic of the system is widely used for autonomous mobile robots navigation. However, the potential field introduced exhibits local minima other than at the goal position of the robot. In this paper, a new real-time navigation approach where we combine the APF and IT2FL approaches is developed and implemented for an omnidrive mobile robot navigating in dynamic unstructured environments. The novelty of the approach is the association of IT2FL to APF and the way in which the two approaches are hybridized (rule base size reduction). The experiments carried out on an omnidrive mobile robot named Robotino show the effectiveness of our approach.
Behavioural detection with API call-grams to identify malicious PE files

Present day malware shows stealthy and dynamic capability to avail administrative rights and control the victim computer [10]. Malware writers depend on evasion techniques like code obfuscation, packing, compression, encryption or polymorphism to avoid detection by Anti-Virus (AV) scanners as AV primarily use signature based detection. According to the FireEye Threat report second half of 2011 [15], top 50 malware have generated 80% infections. Malware like Zues, Conficker, Koobface have become more stealthy by use of pay per install toolkits like Blackhole [15]. Pay per install toolkits make the samples dynamic in nature. This has led to exponential increase of unknown, zero-day malware [14]. To complement the signatured approach, a good behavioral scheme is imminent due to exponential increase in number of encoded malware samples. Behavioural analysis can detect unknown, encrypted, zero day malware, but these methods result in increased false alarm rate. We propose a behaviour model that represents abstraction of a binary by analyzing the Application Programming Interface (API) strings made by Windows Portable Executable (PE) [25] files. Our focus is based on extracting temporal snapshots of malware and benign executables known as API Call-grams, as API strings are primarily written for software development kits to generate sane code. Malcode writers misues the available functionality to keep the code compact and escape being detected by AV software.
Experimental approaches to imitation

The title of this chapter can be read in two ways, referring to method and theory. As regards method I will discuss a number of experimental paradigms we have been developing in our lab over the past few years in order to elucidate the mechanisms underlying performance in imitation tasks. As regards theory I will elaborate on the broader theoretical framework that forms their background. In the first place, this framework provides us with principles to direct our research. At a later point it will, hopefully, also provide us with more detailed models and mechanisms to account for the basic findings. In this chapter I will first introduce the theoretical framework, then discuss pertinent experimental work from our lab, and finally draw some major general conclusions. Framework The study of imitation has two faces. On the one face, imitation and related phenomena have never been an object of systematical study in the experimental analysis of human performance in adults. In a way, imitational behavior appears to be too complex for experimental analysis. This is mainly because a number of things need to be studied at the same time. When A mimics B, we need to give an account of (1) the model's actions (as a stimulus for the imitator), (2) the imitator's perception of the model's action, and (3) the imitator's action itself. Obviously, this is quite a complex network of variables as compared to the standard type of situation normally captured in experiments on cognition and action.
Active compliance hybrid zero dynamics control of bounding on HyQ

This paper presents a control law that induces stable bounding on a model of the quadrupedal robot HyQ designed specifically for highly-dynamic locomotion. The controller integrates active compliance and torque planning with the framework of hybrid zero dynamics. Exploiting the hybrid nature of the system, the control action is developed in both continuous and discrete time to regulate the torque applied at the support leg and the motion of the swing leg. It is demonstrated that the proposed control law is capable of producing stable periodic bounding gaits. The controller is tested in simulations under different perturbations, including an unexpected vertical disturbance in ground height that amounts to 15% of the leg length, as well as under parameter uncertainty.
Characterization of drug-induced splicing complexity in prostate cancer cell line using long read technology

We characterize the transcriptional splicing landscape of a prostate cancer cell line treated with a previously identified synergistic drug combination. We use a combination of third generation long-read RNA sequencing technology and short-read RNAseq to create a high-fidelity map of expressed isoforms and fusions to quantify splicing events triggered by treatment. We find strong evidence for drug-induced, coherent splicing changes which disrupt the function of oncogenic proteins, and detect novel transcripts arising from previously unreported fusion events.
Stylized Rendering Using Samples of a Painted Image

We introduce a novel technique to generate painterly art maps (PAMs) for 3D nonphotorealistic rendering. Our technique can automatically transfer brushstroke textures and color changes to 3D models from samples of a painted image. Therefore, the generation of stylized images or animation in the style of a given artwork can be achieved. This new approach works particularly well for a rich variety of brushstrokes ranging from simple 1D and 2D line-art strokes to very complicated ones with significant variations in stroke characteristics. During the rendering or animation process, the coherence of brushstroke textures and color changes over 3D surfaces can be well maintained. With PAM, we can also easily generate the illusion of flow animation over a 3D surface to convey the shape of a model.
Copious Irrigation Versus Suction Alone During Laparoscopic Appendectomy for Complicated Appendicitis in Adults

ABSTRACT Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether copious irrigation of peritoneal cavity during laparoscopic appendectomy for complicated appendicitis effectively reduces the incidence of postoperative complications and improves the postoperative recovery in adults compared with suction alone. Methods: In this prospective randomized trial, adult patients with complicated appendicitis were randomized to “irrigation and suction”(IS) group or “suction only”(SO) group. All surgery was performed with a standardized 3-port laparoscopic approach. The IS group received peritoneal irrigation with a minimum of 2000 mL sterile normal saline. The study primary outcomes included wound infection and postoperative intra-abdominal abscess. The study secondary outcomes included duration of operation, first anal exsufflation time, duration of hospital stay and hospital charges. Chi-squared and t-tests were used to analyze the study data. Results: Between January 2015 and June 2016, a total of 260 patients with complicated appendicitis were enrolled in the study. The peritoneal irrigation resulted in a longer operation time (51.6 ± 16.1 vs. 41.5 ± 15.2 min, p <0.001). There was no significant difference in the rate of wound infection between the two groups. However, the patients who received irrigation had a lower postoperative intra-abdominal abscess rate (3.1% vs. 9.2%, p = 0.039), earlier anal exsufflation (25.2 ± 16.5 vs. 30.7 ± 18.1 hr, p = 0.011), shorter hospital stay (10.2 ± 2.5 vs. 12.5 ± 2.8 days, p <0.001) and lower hospital charges (¥14,592 ± 2,251 vs. 16,674 ± 2,163, p <0.001) compared to those received suction alone. Conclusions: The study findings revealed that copious irrigation of peritoneal cavity during laparoscopic appendectomy could decrease the incidence of postoperative intra-abdominal abscess in adult patients with complicated appendicitis. These patients also had faster postoperative recovery and lower hospital charges.
Visualizing the Limits of Low Vision in Detecting Natural Image Features

Purpose. The purpose of our study was to develop a tool to visualize the limitations posed by visual impairments in detecting small and low-contrast elements in natural images. This visualization tool incorporates existing models of several aspects of visual perception, such as the band-limited contrast model of Peli (J Opt Soc Am A 1996;13:1131–8). Methods. The models underlying the visualization tool were elaborated and tested in experiments with human subjects with various visual impairments such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and subjects with normal vision but under various degraded viewing conditions (including reduced contrast, eccentric viewing). The experiments were designed to determine in three successive steps the contrast sensitivity function that produces a degraded image that can just be discriminated from its original. In the first step, the just detectable blur was determined, while in the next two steps contrast threshold levels were determined for removing high and medium spatial frequencies from the image. Threshold parameters were determined for three image-types (face, stairs, forest) and the relationship with acuity and contrast thresholds (of Landolt-C symbols) was examined. Results. The blur threshold is inversely related to acuity, and this relationship is largely independent of the cause of reduced acuity (visual impairment, contrast reduction or eccentric viewing). Conclusions. We developed a validated visualization tool based on these results that provides a reliable impression of detectability of image features by visual impaired people.
E-inclusion technologies for the speech handicapped

This paper addresses the problem that disabled people face when accessing the new systems and technologies that are available nowadays. The use of speech technologies, specially helpful for motor handicapped people, becomes unapproachable when these people also suffer speech impairments, making the gap in the society wider for them. As a way to include speech impaired people in the technological society of today, two lines of work have been carried out. On one hand, a computer-aided speech therapy software has been developed for the speech training of children with different disabilities. This tool, available for free distribution, makes use of different state-of-the-art speech technologies to train different levels of the language. As a result of this work, the software is being used currently in several centers for special education with a very encouraging feedback about the capabilities of the system. On the other hand, research on the use of automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems for the speech impaired has been carried out. This work has focused on current techniques of speaker adaptation to know how these techniques, fruitfully used in other tasks, can deal with this specific kind of speech. The use of Maximum A Posterior (MAP) obtains an improvement of 60.61% compared to the results of a baseline speaker independent model.