Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Fluctuation Analysis of the Bolocam 1.1 mm Lockman Hole Survey

We perform a fluctuation analysis of the 1.1 mm Bolocam Lockman Hole Survey, which covers 324 arcmin2 to a very uniform point-source-filtered rms noise level of σ ≃ 1.4 mJy beam-1. The fluctuation analysis has the significant advantage of using all of the available data, since no extraction of sources is performed: direct comparison is made between the observed pixel flux density distribution [P(D)] and the theoretical distributions for a broad range of power-law number count models, n(S) = n0S-δ. We constrain the number counts in the 1-10 mJy range and derive significantly tighter constraints than in previous work: the power-law index δ = 2.7, while the amplitude is n0 = 1595 mJy-1 , or N(> 1 mJy) = 940 (95% confidence). At flux densities above 4 mJy, where a valid comparison can be made, our results agree extremely well with those derived from the extracted source number counts by Laurent et al.: the best-fitting differential slope is somewhat shallower (δ = 2.7 vs. 3.2), but well within the 68% confidence limit, and the amplitudes (number of sources per square degree) agree to 10%. At 1 mJy, however [the limit of the P(D) analysis], the shallower slope derived here implies a substantially smaller amplitude for the integral number counts than extrapolation from above 4 mJy would predict. Our derived normalization is about 2.5 times smaller than that determined by the Max-Planck Millimeter Bolometer (MAMBO) at 1.2 mm (Greve et al.). However, the uncertainty in the normalization for both data sets is dominated by the systematic (i.e., absolute flux calibration) rather than statistical errors; within these uncertainties, our results are in agreement. Our best-fit amplitude at 1 mJy is also about a factor of 3 below the prediction of Blain et al., but we are in agreement above a few millijanskys. We estimate that about 7% of the 1.1 mm background has been resolved at 1 mJy.
Building an Integrated Ontology within the SEWASIE Project: The Ontology Builder Tool

SEWASIE (SEmantic Webs and AgentS in Integrated Economies) (IST-2001-34825) is a research project founded by EU on action line Semantic Web (May 2002/April 2005) (http://www.sewasie.org/). The goal of the SEWASIE project is to design and implement an advanced search engine enabling intelligent access to heterogeneous data sources on the web via semantic enrichment to provide the basis of structured secure web-based communication. A SEWASIE user has at his disposal a search client with an easy-to-use query interface able to extract the required information from the Internet and to show it in an easily enjoyable format. In this paper we focus on the Ontology Builder component of the SEWASIE system, that is a framework for information extraction and integration of heterogeneous structured and semi-structured information sources, built upon the MOMIS (Mediator envirOnment for Multiple Information Sources) [Bergamaschi et al., 2001] system. The Ontology Builder implements a semi-automatic methodology for data integration that follows the Global as View (GAV) approach [Lenzerini, 2002]. The result of the integration process is a global schema which provides a reconciled, integrated and virtual view of the underlying sources, GVV (Global Virtual View). The GVV is composed of a set of (global) classes that represent the information contained in the sources being used and the mappings establishing the connection among the elements of the global schema and those of the source schemata. A GVV, thus, may be thought of as a domain ontology [Guarino, 1998] for the integrated sources. Furthermore, our approach “builds” a domain ontology as the synthesis of the integration process, while the usual approach in the Semantic Web is based on “a priori” existence of an ontology (or a list of different versions of an ontology). The obtained conceptualization is a domain ontology composed of the following elements (see figure 1):
Simulating Fixations When Looking at Visual Arts

When people look at pictures, they fixate on specific areas. The sequences of such fixations are so characteristic for certain pictures that metrics can be derived that allow successful grouping of similar pieces of visual art. However, determining enough fixation sequences by eye tracking is not practically feasible for large groups of people and pictures. In order to get around this limitation, we present a novel algorithm that simulates eye movements by calculating scan paths for images and time frames in real time. The basis of our algorithm is an attention model that combines and optimizes rectangle features with Adaboost. The model is adapted to the characteristics of the retina, and its input is dependent on a few earlier fixations. This method results in significant improvements compared to previous approaches. Our simulation process delivers the same data structures as an eye tracker, thus can be analyzed by standard eye-tracking software. A comparison with recorded data from eye tracking experiments shows that our algorithm for simulating fixations has a very good prediction quality for the stimulus areas on which many subjects focus. We also compare the results with those from earlier works. Finally, we demonstrate how the presented algorithm can be used to calculate the similarity of pictures in terms of human perception.
Neural-Network-based Metamodeling for Financial Time Series Forecasting

In the financial time series forecasting field, the problem that we often encountered is how to increase the predict accuracy as possible using the noisy financial data. In this study, we discuss the use of supervised neural networks as the metamodeling technique to design a financial time series forecasting system to solve this problem. First of all, a crossvalidation technique is used to generate different training subsets. Based on the different training subsets, the different neural predictors with different initial conditions or training algorithms is then trained to formulate different forecasting models, i.e., base models. Finally, a neural-network-based metamodel can be produced by learning from all base models so as to improve the model accuracy. For verification, two real-world financial time series is used for testing.
3D Reconstruction of Planar Patches Seen by Omnidirectional Cameras

We propose a novel solution for reconstructing planar surface patches from omnidirectional camera images. The theoretical foundation relies on variational calculus, which yields a closed form solution for the normal vector a 3D planar surface patch, when a homography is known between the corresponding image region pairs. The method is quantitatively evaluated on a large set of synthetic data. Experimental results confirm that the method provides good reconstructions in real-time.
Viscoelastic Constitutive Equation for Sand-Asphalt Mixtures

•ANALYSIS of stresses and displacements within a layered system subjected to a variety of surface loading is an essential step in the development of a rational method of design for flexible pavements. Such an analysis is generally achieved through the solution of partial differential equations of equilibrium, compatibility, and constitutive equations. The equations of equilibrium are obtained from the conservation of momentum, and the continuity assumption of the body leads through some geometric logic and definition of the strain tensor, to the linear strain-displacement equations. The constitutive equations, which characterize the materials, are generally assumed to be in linear form, thus avoiding the mathematical complications that may otherwise arise. The Boltzmann superposition principle is a consequence of this assumption. This principle states that the total stress (strain) at any time can be computed by simple summation of the stresses (strains) due to all of the individual strain (stress) increments that have been applied to the body in its past history. In the limit of a continuous strain (stress) history, the summation process becomes integration. This principle is often used as an alternate definition of linearity, and constitutive equations can accordingly be written as
EFS: Expert Finding System based on Wikipedia link pattern analysis

Building an expert finding system is very important for many applications especially in the academic environment. Previous work uses e-mails or Web pages as corpus to analyze the expertise for each expert. In this paper, we present an Expert Finding System, abbreviated as EFS to build experts' profiles by using their journal publications. For a given proposal, the EFS first looks up the Wikipedia Web site to get relative link information, and then list and rank all associated experts by using those information. In our experiments, we use a real-world dataset which comprises of 882 people and 13,654 papers, and are categorized into 9 expertise domains. Our experimental results show that the EFS works well on several expertise domains like ldquoArtificial Intelligencerdquo and ldquoImage & Pattern Recognitionrdquo etc.
Hemoglobin and its derived peptides may play a role in the antibacterial mechanism of the vagina.

BACKGROUND Hemoglobin is a precursor of antibacterial peptides. Our aim was to identify an antibacterial peptide in human endometrium. We tested the antimicrobial activities of hemoglobin and a derived peptide in vitro and in vivo in rats. METHODS Samples (n = 3) were scraped from the surface of endometrium. Acid-soluble proteins underwent electrophoresis followed by gel overlay assay and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Antibacterial activities were determined by agar radial diffusion assay. Purified peptides were further characterized by electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, N-terminal amino acid (AA) sequencing and protein structure analysis. A rat model was used to test the inhibitory activity of human hemoglobin on vaginal infection with Escherichia coli, using one experimental group (intravaginal hemoglobin, n = 9) and three control groups (n = 14). Vaginal histology was studied. RESULTS The purified peptide exhibited potent antibacterial activities against E. coli ML-35P. The N-terminal AA sequence was F L S F P T T K T Y, identical to AA 32-41 of the human hemoglobin alpha chain, and it had the same mass (m/z = 6776.8) as the alpha chain 32-93 AA fragment, with at least three alpha-helices. Histology indicated that the hemoglobin group changed significantly compared with the matrix control group (no treatment after infection): the surface layer of stratified squamous epithelium was smoother, inflammatory cell infiltration was relieved in the lamina propria and congestion pattern was decreased. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that erythrocytes from endometrium are another source of the antimicrobial molecules. Hemoglobin and its derived peptides may play a role in the host defense against pathogens in human vagina.
Morphometric Demonstration of Atrophic Changes in the Cerebral Cortex, White Matter, and Neostriatum in Huntington's Disease

We performed morphometric analysis of five standardized coronal brain slices at anterior frontal (AF), caudate-putamen-accumbens (CAP), globus pallidus (GP), lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), and parieto-occipital fissure (OCP) levels in 30 patients with Huntington's disease (HD) and 13 controls. Associated with the 30% mean reduction in brain weight in HDpatients (p<0.001) were significantly smaller overall cross-sectional areas of brain at all five levels studied, with striking losses in cerebral cortex (21-29%), white matter (29-34%), caudate (57%), putamen (64%), and thalamus (28%) (all p<0.005). In addition, the ventricular system was dilated up to 2.5 times normal at CAP, GP, and LGN levels, 9.5 times normal at the OCP level, and 13 times normal at the AFlevel. Higher grades of severity of HDhad greater reductions in the cross-sectional area of the caudate, putamen, thalamus, and cerebral cortex (p<0.005-0.001), and larger ventricles (p=0.08) compared to lower (less severe) grades of HD. The findings confirm and quantitate the severe atrophy of the neostriatum, in addition to demonstrating a severe loss of cerebral cortex and subcortical white matter in HD. The global atrophy of cerebral cortex and white matter observed in all degrees of HD may account for the cognitive and neuropsychiatric impairments which often precede the onset of chorea.
Physics-based compact modeling for nonclassical CMOS

Physics-based compact modeling, as opposed to the conventional empirical approach, is emphasized for nanoscale nonclassical CMOS. UFDG, a physics-based compact model for generic double-gate MOSFETs with ultra-thin bodies, is overviewed, and its applications to double- and (multiple) independent-gate FinFET device and circuit design are demonstrated.
A Space–Time Receiver With Joint Synchronization and Interference Cancellation in Asynchronous MIMO-OFDM Systems

We consider the scenario in which multiple transmitters send signals to a receiver in the asynchronous multiple-input-multiple-output orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) mode. A receiver structure that can perform joint synchronization and space-time equalization for the asynchronous MIMO-OFDM systems is proposed. We first introduce a novel space-time equalization algorithm based on the channel state information. This algorithm aims to null the cochannel interference and combat asynchronism, as well as minimize a lower bound to the symbol error rate in the asynchronous MIMO-OFDM system. In the second part of this paper, we propose a training-based minimizing mean-square-error (MMSE) algorithm to jointly obtain frequency offsets and equalization delays. We compensate for the effects of the frequency offsets and the propagation delays with these estimated parameters and then use the proposed direct training-based equalizer design algorithm to obtain the equalizer coefficients. The simulation section illustrates the desirable bit-error-rate (BER) performance of our proposed algorithms.
Investigating the effect of precession on searches for neutron-star-black- hole binaries with Advanced LIGO

The first direct detection of neutron-star– black-hole binaries will likely be made with gravitational-wave observatories. Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo will be able to observe neutron-star– black-hole mergers at a maximum distance of 900 Mpc. To achieve this sensitivity, gravitational-wave searches will rely on using a bank of filter waveforms that accurately model the expected gravitational-wave signal. The emitted signal will depend on the masses of the black hole and the neutron star and also the angular momentum of both components. The angular momentum of the black hole is expected to be comparable to the orbital angular momentum when the system is emitting gravitational waves in Advanced LIGO’s and Advanced Virgo’s sensitive band. This angular momentum will affect the dynamics of the inspiralling system and alter the phase evolution of the emitted gravitational-wave signal. In addition, if the black hole’s angular momentum is not aligned with the orbital angular momentum, it will cause the orbital plane of the system to precess. In this work we demonstrate that if the effect of the black hole’s angular momentum is neglected in the waveform models used in gravitational-wave searches, the detection rate of (10+1.4)M_⊙ neutron-star– black-hole systems with isotropic spin distributions would be reduced by 33%–37% in comparison to a hypothetical perfect search at a fixed signal-to-noise ratio threshold. The error in this measurement is due to uncertainty in the post-Newtonian approximations that are used to model the gravitational-wave signal of neutron-star– black-hole inspiralling binaries. We describe a new method for creating a bank of filter waveforms where the black hole has nonzero angular momentum that is aligned with the orbital angular momentum. With this bank we find that the detection rate of (10+1.4)M_⊙ neutron-star– black-hole systems would be reduced by 26%–33%. Systems that will not be detected are ones where the precession of the orbital plane causes the gravitational-wave signal to match poorly with nonprecessing filter waveforms. We identify the regions of parameter space where such systems occur and suggest methods for searching for highly precessing neutron-star– black-hole binaries.
FastIntegrationof EDA ToolsandScriptingLanguage

EDA tools are implementedto automatea designtaskefficiently, but they often lack flexibility to be highly customizableor programmable.SomeEDA tools have a primitive anduniquecommandlanguageto realizeprogrammability, but usually it further complicatesa designflow. We thusproposemethodsandcrucial techniquesto fastlink EDA toolswith apopularscriptinglanguage suchasPerl[1],Tcl[2] or Python[3] for ease-of-useandbetterintegration.Thisapproachencourages rapidprototypingof algorithms, codereuse,customizability, extensibility, interoperabilitybetween tools, and easiertestingof applicationprograminterface(API)’s. Basedon the proposedmethodsand techniques,we efficiently built several Perl/Tcl/Pythoninterfacesto EDA packagessuchas LEF/DEF parser , Synopsys.lib parser , Verilog PLI2.0 routines, SDFreader/writerandsoon. Thesetoolsaregreatassestsfor chip designersto build a robustandpowerful designflow, andthis techniqueis a very genericapproachtowardsintegratingall thedesign toolstogether .
In Vitro Degradation Effects on Strength, Stiffness, and Creep of PLLA/PBS: A Potential Stent Material

Poly(L-lactic acid) is prominent in biodegradable stent material research but its brittleness is a disadvantage. Poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) addition enhances ductility but there is a void in knowledge of degradation effects on PLLA/PBS blends—vital for evaluation of a potential stent material. Neat PLLA and melt-blended PLLA/PBS specimens were subjected to tensile testing, before and after degradation in buffered saline (37°C, pH 7.4), for up to 24 weeks. Additional specimens were subjected to constant-load creep tests. Tensile test results indicate that PLLA/PBS blends exhibit gradual losses of strengths and Young's moduli as they degrade whilst neat PLLA shows little change over a 24-week degradation period. Neat PLLA exhibits increasing creep resistance during the first eight weeks of degradation whilst the 75/25 wt% PLLA/PBS blend exhibits decreasing creep resistance with increasing degradation time. PLLA/PBS blends are ductile but creep resistance during degradation needs improvement for their use as biodegradable stent materials. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Service Availability in Concurrent Systems - Part I: A Theory of Hierarchical Services of Interacting Processes

A novel formal model is introduced that is tailored to the treatment of the service availability problem in concurrent systems. This model, called hierarchical services of interacting processes (HSIP), incorporates the hierarchy of services, processes, shared variables, and dense time to reason about services quantitatively. The underlying concept is that a service, via its hierarchy, relates to a number of so-called ‘atomic services’ at the bottom of the hierarchy that are the outcomes of actions having no subaction within. The services in a hierarchy are the results Mof processes acting and interacting with each other to provide the service at the top of the hierarchy. These processes can completely be described by actions resulting in atomic services. The main features of HSIP are twofold. First, through this model, a wide range of quasi-isolated problems such as mutual exclusion, system reconfiguration, fault tolerance, resource allocation, denial of service, and quality of service can be stated and analyzed in a cohesive manner. Second, it retains the use of shared variables, but resolves the main shortcoming of the shared-variable approach, which is the implicitness of interactions among system components.
In vitro characterization of movement, heating and visualization of magnetic nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Magnetic nanoparticles can be used for a variety of biomedical applications. They can be used in the targeted delivery of therapeutic agents in vivo, in the hyperthermic treatment of cancers, in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging as contrast agents and in the biomagnetic separations of biomolecules. In this study, a characterization of the movement and heating of three different types of magnetic nanoparticles in physiological systems in vitro is made in a known external magnetic field and alternating field respectively. Infra-red (IR) imaging and MR imaging were used to visualize these nanoparticles in vitro. A strong dependence on the size and the suspending medium is observed on the movement and heating of these nanoparticles. First, two of the particles (mean diameter d = 10 nm, uncoated Fe3O4 and d = 2.8 µm, polystyrene coated Fe3O4+γ-Fe2O3) did not move while only a dextran coated nanoparticle (d = 50 nm, γ-Fe2O3) moved in type 1 collagen used as an in vitro model system. It is also observed that the time taken by a collection of these nanoparticles to move even a smaller distance (5 mm) in collagen (∼100 min) is almost ten times higher when compared to the time taken to move twice the distance (10 mm) in glycerol (∼10 min) under the same external field. Second, the amount of temperature rise increases with the concentration of nanoparticles regardless of the microenvironments in the heating studies. However, the amount of heating in collagen (maximum change in temperature ΔTmax∼9 °C at 1.9 mg Fe ml−1 and 19 °C at 3.7 mg Fe ml−1) is significantly less than that in water (ΔTmax∼15 °C at 1.9 mg Fe ml−1 and 33 °C at 3.7 mg Fe ml−1) and glycerol (ΔTmax∼13.5 °C at 1.9 mg Fe ml−1 and 30 °C at 3.7 mg Fe ml−1). Further, IR imaging provides at least a ten times improvement in the range of imaging magnetic nanoparticles, whereby a concentration of (0–4 mg Fe ml−1) could bevisualized as compared to (0–0.4 mg Fe ml−1) by MR imaging. Based on these in vitro studies, important issues and parameters that require further understanding and characterization of these nanoparticles in vivo are discussed.
NeuroImage: Clinical Automated delineation of stroke lesions using brain CT images

Computed tomographic (CT) images are widely used for the identiﬁcation of abnormal brain tissue following infarct and hemorrhage in stroke. Manual lesion delineation is currently the standard approach, but is both time-consuming and operator-dependent. To address these issues, we present a method that can automatically delineate infarct and hemorrhage in stroke CT images. The key elements of this method are the accurate normalization of CT images from stroke patients into template space and the subsequent voxelwise comparison with a group of control CT images for deﬁning areas with hypo- or hyper-intense signals. Our validation, using simulated and actual lesions, shows that our approach is effective in reconstructing lesions resulting from both infarct and hemorrhage and yields lesion maps spatially consistent with those produced manually by expert operators. A limitation is that, relative to manual delineation, there is reduced sensitivity of the automated method in regions close to the ventricles and the brain contours. However, the automated method presents a number of beneﬁts in terms of offering signiﬁcant time savings and the elimination of the inter-operator differences inherent to manual tracing approaches. These factors are relevant for the creation of large-scale lesion databases for neuropsychological research. The automated delineation of stroke lesions from CT scans may also enable longitudinal studies to quantify changes in damaged tissue in an objective and reproducible