Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A robust model based algorihtm for detection of singularities in fingerprint images

The performance of fingerprint recognition is heavily depending on the reliable extraction of singularities. Common algorithms are based on a Poincáre-Index estimation which is a numerical method. These algorithms ignore the topology of the underlying data and are only robust when certain heuristics and rules are applied. In this paper we present a model based approach for the detection of singular points. The presented method exploits the geometric nature of linear differential equation systems. Our method is robust against noise in the input image and is able to detect singularities even if they are partly occluded. The algorithm proceeds by fitting parameters for a given patch and then analyses these parameters. The parameters give a measure for the significance of the underlying structure and the type of a possible singularity. Corollary, our algorithm also reconstructs the direction field near a singular point which greatly aids the extraction of minutiae in these regions.
Children, Food and Poverty: Food Insecurity Among Primary School Students in the Wellington Region

This research utilises a questionnaire, completed by 115 primary school principals in the Wellington region, to explore the link between poverty and food insecurity among children. Principals recorded the number of children estimated to be regularly hungry at school for the month of May 2004, and the number of children who regularly came to school without having eaten breakfast and who regularly had no lunch during that month. Principals also provided information on how their school responds to hungry children and gave their opinions on whether schools were responsible for solving food insecurity issues among children. Principals' responses were analysed within a critical realist sociological perspective. This research confirms that a small but significant number of primary school children in the Wellington region experience serious food insecurity, and that food insecurity is strongly correlated with poverty. Two-thirds of children estimated to be regularly hungry are from schools in low socio-economic areas (Decile 1 to 4 schools), and nearly three quarters of children that regularly do not have lunch come from these schools. Ten percent of children in Decile 1 and 2 schools were estimated by their principal to be regularly hungry throughout the school day during May 2004. The responses of schools to hungry children were in most instances inadequate and often ad-hoc, showing little consideration of the outcomes for children. However, the small number of schools in the Wellington region who have developed detailed policy and procedures to respond to hungry children appear to be successful in limiting stigmatisation of children and their families. This thesis argues that responses to food insecure children must consider the causes of food insecurity, and in order to prevent stigmatisation, should be founded on the principle of social justice rather than charity.
Frequency of Stress Patterns in English: A Computational Analysis

Word reduction by weak syllable omission is a fairly common phenomenon in several populations, including normally developing children, children with Specific Language Impairment, and adults with aphasia. A recent study (Carter & Clopper, submitted) has shown that normal adults reduce words using strategies similar to those used by the above-mentioned populations and that these strategies vary to some degree with the number of syllables and the location of the primary stress of the target word. A computational analysis of several frequency measures was conducted on the entire set of English words contained in the Hoosier Mental Lexicon (Luce & Pisoni, 1998) that follow nine different patterns of syllable number and primary stress location (syllable-stress patterns). The frequency measures considered were total word count within each syllable-stress pattern, sum frequency of all words within each syllablestress pattern, and mean, median, and mode frequencies of all words within each syllable-stress pattern. Results indicated that words in English are not evenly distributed across syllable-stress patterns. Specifically, shorter words tend to be more frequent in terms of word count, sum frequency, and mean frequency than longer words. Additionally, some syllable-stress patterns, such as three-syllable and four-syllable words with stress on the final syllable are much less frequent than other words with the same number of syllables. The implications of these results include possible explanations for the different strategies found in word reduction studies for different syllable-stress patterns.
Microsatellites in Cetaceans: An Overview

This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the published literature on microsatellites studied in cetace- ans from 1989 to 2007. We inventoried 246 loci isolated from 18 and amplified in 51 cetacean species representing 11 families. The majority of loci (68%) were dinucleotide (CA) repeats, which were also shown to be on average more vari- able than tetranucleotide repeats. For each of these loci and the 1610 locus/species combinations, we present the species in which the markers were isolated and tested, specific diversity parameters (number of alleles, expected and observed het- erozygosities), together with the primer sequences, the size range of the PCR products and the GenBank accession num- ber. Simple analyses were performed on the assembled data and the widespread use of cross-species amplification, an im- portant source of microsatellites in cetaceans, is discussed using laboratory data from Stenella cœruleoalba. No significant ascertainment bias was detected when considering all dinucleotide or tetranucleotide loci. This comprehensive database should help to inform those working on population and conservation genetic studies in most cetacean species.
The Impact of Lossy Compression on Hyperspectral Data Adaptive Spectral Unmixing and PCA Classification

 Abstract — In the past, scientific data have been almost exclusively compressed by means of lossless methods, in order to preserve their full quality. However, more recently, there has been an increasing interest in the lossy compression which has not yet globally accepted by the remote sensing community, mainly because it is sensed that the lossy compressed images may affect the results of posterior processing stages. Hence here, the influence of lossy compression on two standard approaches for hyperspectral data exploitation known as adaptive spectral unmixing, and supervised classification using PCA are considered. The experimental result states that the adaptive spectral unmixing provides a user defined spatial scale which improves the process of extraction of end members and PCA improves the classification accuracy. It is also observed that, for certain compression techniques, a higher compression ratio may lead to more accurate classification results. This work further provides recommendations on best practices when applying lossy compression prior to hyperspectral data classification and/or unmixing.
Tool wear inspection method for small lathe

This paper represents the method for tool wear area inspection for small lathe. Based on the machine vision technology, combined with the features of the cutting tool, tool wear area inspection system is designed. Facet model is used for Sub-pixel extraction of tool edge, then the main and minor cutting edge is fitted, and the wear area of tool tip zone is calculated. Tool wear experiments are done with PCD tool and #45 steel. Results show the tool wear inspection method could calculate the tool tip angle and the wear area of the tool tip precisely and rapidly. This method could monitor the tool wear in the cutting process for the small lathe.
Local and Global: Management of Cities in the Information Age by Jordi Borja and Manuel Castells

This "urban manifesto" was based on a report prepared for the Istanbul Habitat Conference of June 1996. In some ways this book should be treated as the fourth volume of Castells' critically acclaimed trilogy: The Rise OfThe Network Society (1996), The Power Of Identity (1997), and The End OfThe Millennium (1998). The strength of this book lies in the authors' attempt to make Castells' theoretical · and empirical works more practical, and it is on these terms that we should evaluate the book. More than half of this book is dedicated to comparative urban policy to illustrate the issues many cities are facing.
Serum Cystatin C Reflects Angiographic Coronary Collateralization in Stable Coronary Artery Disease Patients with Chronic Total Occlusion

Objective We investigated whether and to what extent cystatin C was associated with angiographic coronary collateralization in patients with stable coronary artery disease and chronic total occlusion. Methods Serum levels of cystatin C and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were determined in 866 patients with stable angina and angiographic total occlusion of at least one major coronary artery. The degree of collaterals supplying the distal aspect of a total occlusion from the contra-lateral vessel was graded as poor (Rentrop score of 0 or 1) or good coronary collateralization (Rentrop score of 2 or 3). Results In total, serum cystatin C was higher in patients with poor collateralization than in those with good collateralization (1.08 ± 0.32 mg/L vs. 0.90 ± 0.34 mg/L, P < 0.001), and correlated inversely with Rentrop score (adjusted Spearmen’s r = -0.145, P < 0.001). The prevalence of poor coronary collateralization increased stepwise with increasing cystatin C quartiles (P for trend < 0.001). After adjusting for age, gender, risk factors for coronary artery disease, GFR and hsCRP, serum cystatin C ≥ 0.97 mg/L remained independently associated with poor collateralization (OR 2.374, 95% CI 1.660 ~ 3.396, P < 0.001). The diagnostic value of cystatin C levels for detecting poor coronary collateralization persisted regardless of age, gender, presence or absence of diabetes, hypertension or renal dysfunction. Conclusions Serum cystatin C reflects angiographic coronary collateralization in patients with stable coronary artery disease, and cystatin C ≥ 0.97 mg/L indicates a great risk of poor coronary collaterals.
Minimax optimization for handling range and setup uncertainties in proton therapy.

PURPOSE Intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) is sensitive to errors, mainly due to high stopping power dependency and steep beam dose gradients. Conventional margins are often insufficient to ensure robustness of treatment plans. In this article, a method is developed that takes the uncertainties into account during the plan optimization. METHODS Dose contributions for a number of range and setup errors are calculated and a minimax optimization is performed. The minimax optimization aims at minimizing the penalty of the worst case scenario. Any optimization function from conventional treatment planning can be utilized by the method. By considering only scenarios that are physically realizable, the unnecessary conservativeness of other robust optimization methods is avoided. Minimax optimization is related to stochastic programming by the more general minimax stochastic programming formulation, which enables accounting for uncertainties in the probability distributions of the errors. RESULTS The minimax optimization method is applied to a lung case, a paraspinal case with titanium implants, and a prostate case. It is compared to conventional methods that use margins, single field uniform dose (SFUD), and material override (MO) to handle the uncertainties. For the lung case, the minimax method and the SFUD with MO method yield robust target coverage. The minimax method yields better sparing of the lung than the other methods. For the paraspinal case, the minimax method yields more robust target coverage and better sparing of the spinal cord than the other methods. For the prostate case, the minimax method and the SFUD method yield robust target coverage and the minimax method yields better sparing of the rectum than the other methods. CONCLUSIONS Minimax optimization provides robust target coverage without sacrificing the sparing of healthy tissues, even in the presence of low density lung tissue and high density titanium implants. Conventional methods using margins, SFUD, and MO do not utilize the full potential of IMPT and deliver unnecessarily high doses to healthy tissues.
Assessing a Template Matching Approach for Tree Height and Position Extraction from Lidar-Derived Canopy Height Models of Pinus Pinaster Stands

In this paper, an assessment of a method using a correlation filter over a lidar-derived digital canopy height model (CHM) is presented. The objective of the procedure is to obtain stem density, position, and height values, on a stand with the following characteristics: ellipsoidal canopy shape (Pinus pinaster), even-aged and single-layer structure. The process consists of three steps: extracting a correlation map from CHM by applying a template whose size and shape resembles the canopy to be detected, applying a threshold mask to the correlation map to keep a subset of candidate-pixels, and then applying a local maximum filter to the remaining pixel groups. The method performs satisfactorily considering the experimental conditions. The mean tree extraction percentage is 65% with a coefficient of agreement of 0.4. The mean absolute error of height is ~0.5 m for all plots except one. It can be considered a valid approach for extracting tree density and height in regularly spaced stands (i.e., poplar plantations) which are fundamental for extracting related forest parameters such as volume and biomass.
The syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of the focus particle 'to' in Czech

I will argue for the following two points: (i) syntactically, to can be identified with a Focus head in the clausal left periphery (Rizzi 1997); (ii) semantically, to is a particle modifying open propositions (Rooth’s 1985 focus semantic value) in the following two ways: it induces the presence of a covert contextually given propositional modifier and it triggers a factive presupposition. The morphological affinity of the Focus particle to with the demonstrative determiner will receive a natural explanation in terms of shared core semantics. Let us start with some basic observations about to. As opposed to standard demonstrative pronouns, which agree with the associated nominals, to always appears in neuter, singular, and nominative/accusative—arguably the default form. The following example shows that to does not agree with the fronted operator, which immediately rules out the hypothesis that the appearance of to is a case of (clitic) doubling.
Towards a Hypermedia-enabled and Web-based Data Analysis Framework

Making better business decisions is often the key to gaining competitive advantage. An important factor in effective decision-making is the ability to access, understand, and utilise business information easily. In this paper, we propose a framework that focuses on integrating data analysis tools into the Web and providing hypermedia functionality to them, and supporting the development of hypermedia functionalities with Web usage mining techniques. In this framework, data analysis tools play the role of utilizing historical data to discover useful information and improve the process of business decisions. Augmenting data analysis tools with rich hypermedia functionality would streamline access to and provide rich navigational features around related information, while augmenting hypermedia facilities with Web usage mining would allow them to dynamically restructure the Web site to fit users’ browsing needs based on past navigation history. We believe that the proposed framework should result in new ways to view and manage data analysis tools and help users easily browse Web sites.
Broadband, Efficient, Electrically Small Metamaterial-Inspired Antennas Facilitated by Active Near-Field Resonant Parasitic Elements

The possibility of using an active internal matching element in several types of metamaterial-inspired, electrically small antennas (ESAs) to overcome their inherent narrow bandwidths is demonstrated. Beginning with the Z antenna, which is frequency tunable through its internal lumped element inductor, a circuit model is developed to determine an internal matching network, i.e., a frequency dependent inductor, which leads to the desired enhanced bandwidth performance. An analytical relation between the resonant frequency and the inductor value is determined via curve fitting of the associated HFSS simulation results. With this inductance-frequency relation defining the inductor values, a broad bandwidth, electrically small Z antenna is established. This internal matching network paradigm is then confirmed by applying it to the electrically small stub and canopy antennas. An electrically small canopy antenna with k¿ = 0.0467 that has over a 10% bandwidth is finally demonstrated. The potential implementation of the required frequency dependent inductor is also explored with a well-defined active negative impedance converter circuit that reproduces the requisite inductance-frequency relations.
New Pricing Framework: Options and Bonds

A unified analytical pricing framework with involvement of the shot noise random process has been introduced and elaborated. Two exactly solvable new models have been developed. The first model has been designed to value options. It is assumed that asset price stochastic dynamics follows a Geometric Shot Noise motion. A new arbitrage-free integro-differential option pricing equation has been found and solved. The put-call parity has been proved and the Greeks have been calculated. Three additional new Greeks associated with market model parameters have been introduced and evaluated. It has been shown that in diffusion approximation the developed option pricing model incorporates the well-known Black-Scholes equation and its solution. The stochastic dynamic origin of the Black-Scholes volatility has been uncovered. The new option pricing model has been generalized based on asset price dynamics modeled by the superposition of Geometric Brownian motion and Geometric Shot Noise. To model stochastic dynamics of a short term interest rate, the second model has been introduced and developed based on Langevin type equation with shot noise. A new bond pricing formula has been obtained. It has been shown that in diffusion approximation the developed bond pricing formula goes into the well-known Vasicek solution. The stochastic dynamic origin of the long-term mean and instantaneous volatility of the Vasicek model has been uncovered. A generalized bond pricing model has been introduced and developed based on short term interest rate stochastic dynamics modeled by superposition of a standard Wiener process and shot noise. Despite the non-Gaussianity of probability distributions involved, all newly elaborated models have the same degree of analytical tractability as the Black-Scholes model and the Vasicek model.
Deadlock-Free Control of Automated Manufacturing Systems With Flexible Routes and Assembly Operations Using Petri Nets

In the context of automated manufacturing systems (AMS), Petri nets are widely adopted to solve the modeling, analysis, and control problems. So far, nearly all known approaches to liveness enforcing supervisory control investigate AMS with either flexible routes or assembly operations, whereas little work investigates them with both. In this paper, we propose a novel class of systems, which can well deal with both features so as to facilitate the control of more complex AMS. Using structural analysis, we show that liveness of their Petri net model can be attributed to the absence of undermarked siphons, which is realizable by synthesizing a proper supervisory controller. Moreover, an efficient method is developed and verified via AMS examples.
07 01 73 8 v 1 2 5 Ja n 20 07 The White Dwarf Cooling Sequence of NGC 6397 1

We present the results of a deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) exposure of the nearby globular cluster NGC 6397, focussing attention on the cluster’s white dwarf cooling sequence. This sequence is shown to extend over 5 magnitudes in depth, with an apparent cutoff at magnitude F814W ∼ 27.6. We demonstrate, using both artificial star tests and the detectability of background galaxies at fainter magnitudes, that the cutoff is real and represents the truncation of the white dwarf luminosity function in this cluster. We perform a detailed comparison between cooling models and the observed distribution of white dwarfs in colour and magnitude, taking into account uncertainties in distance, extinction, white dwarf mass, progenitor lifetimes, binarity and cooling model uncertainties. After marginalising over these variables, we obtain values for the cluster distance modulus and age of μ0 = 12.02 ± 0.06 and Tc = 11.47 ± 0.47 Gyr (95% confidence limits). Our inferred distance and white dwarf initial-final mass relations are in good agreement with other independent determinations, and the cluster age is consistent with, but more precise than, prior determinations made using the main sequence turnoff method. In particular, within the context of the currently accepted ΛCDM cosmological model, this age places the formation of NGC 6397 at a redshift z ∼ 3, at a time when the cosmological star formation rate was approaching its peak. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with proposal GO-10424 Department of Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, hansen@astro.ucla. edu, reitzel@astro.ucla. edu, rmr@astro.ucla. edu Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics,University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, jay@eeyore.rice. edu Department of Physics & Astronomy, 6224 Agricultural Road, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada, richer@astro.ubc. ca Department of Physics & Astronomy, Dartmouth College, 6127 Wilder Laboratory, Hanover, NH, aaron.l. dotter@dartmouth.edu Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corporation, P.O. Box 1597, Kamuela, HA, 96743, fahlman@cfht.hawaii. edu Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia, jarrod.hurley@sci.monash. edu.au Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, king@astro.washington. edu Department of Astrophysics, Division of Physical Sciences, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th St, New York, NY, 10024-5192, mshara@amnh.org Hertzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council, Victoria, BC, Canada, peter.stetson@nrc-cnrc.gc. ca
An improved SUSAN corner detection algorithm based on adaptive threshold

The SUSAN operator needs to adjust similarity threshold manually time after time in order to achieve a good corner detection results, and it can't detect some corners with special or complex shape. In view of this, the SUSAN operator is improved by the authors of this paper. Firstly, an adaptive threshold selection method based on iterative operation is proposed, and then a discrete ring-shaped mask is added within the SUSAN's circular mask so as to overcome the deficiency of the SUSAN operator. The experimental results show that the improved SUSAN algorithm can not only greatly improve the automation of program operation by releasing the programmers of adjusting threshold manually, but also obtain a good detection result for various types of corners.