Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Animal Movement on Line Transect Estimates of Abundance

Line transect sampling is a distance sampling method for estimating the abundance of wild animal populations. One key assumption of this method is that all animals are detected at their initial location. Animal movement independent of the transect and observer can thus cause substantial bias. We present an analytic expression for this bias when detection within the transect is certain (strip transect sampling) and use simulation to quantify bias when detection falls off with distance from the line (line transect sampling). We also explore the non-linear relationship between bias, detection, and animal movement by varying detectability and movement type. We consider animals that move in randomly orientated straight lines, which provides an upper bound on bias, and animals that are constrained to a home range of random radius. We find that bias is reduced when animal movement is constrained, and bias is considerably smaller in line transect sampling than strip transect sampling provided that mean animal speed is less than observer speed. By contrast, when mean animal speed exceeds observer speed the bias in line transect sampling becomes comparable with, and may exceed, that of strip transect sampling. Bias from independent animal movement is reduced by the observer searching further perpendicular to the transect, searching a shorter distance ahead and by ignoring animals that may overtake the observer from behind. However, when animals move in response to the observer, the standard practice of searching further ahead should continue as the bias from responsive movement is often greater than that from independent movement.
Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data to identify the major determinants of carotid intima-media thickness in a European population: the IMPROVE study.

AIMS The 'IMPROVE study' was designed to investigate whether cross-sectional carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and overall IMT progression are predictors of new vascular events in European individuals at high risk of cardiovascular diseases. This paper reports the results of the baseline analyses aimed at identifying the major determinants of increased carotid IMT (C-IMT). METHODS AND RESULTS IMPROVE is a prospective, multicentre, longitudinal, observational study. A total of 3711 subjects (age range 54-79 years) with at least three vascular risk factors (VRFs) were recruited in seven centres in Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Collected variables included clinical, biochemical, genetic, socioeconomic, psychological, nutritional, and educational data, personal and family history of diseases, drug intake, and physical activity. By multiple linear regression analysis, C-IMT was positively associated with latitude, age, gender, pulse pressure, pack-years, and hypertension, and inversely with educational level (all P < 0.0001 for IMT(mean-max)). Latitude was the strongest independent determinant of C-IMT (partial r(2) for IMT(mean-max) = 0.109, P < 0.0001) and alone accounted for nearly half of the variation explained by the regression model (partial r(2) for IMT(mean-max) = 0.243, P < 0.0001). The geographical gradient for C-IMT paralleled the well-known north-to-south cardiovascular mortality gradient (r(2) for IMT(mean) = 0.96). CONCLUSION Latitude is an important determinant of C-IMT, which is not explained by between-country differences in established VRFs. Other unknown contributory mechanisms such as heritable, nutritional, or environmental factors may be important in the genesis of this geographical gradient.
Extended Logic Programs as Autoepistemic Theories

Recent research on applications of nonmonotonic reasoning to the semantics of logic programs demonstrates that some nonmonotonic formalisms are better suited for such use than others. Circumscription is applicable as long as the programs under consideration are stratiied. To describe the semantics of general logic programs without the stratiication assumption, one has to use autoepistemic logic or default logic. When Gelfond and Lifschitz extended this work to programs with classical negation, they used default logic, because it was not clear whether autoepistemic logic could be applied in that wider domain. In this paper we show that programs with classical negation can be, in fact, easily represented by autoepistemic theories. We also prove that an even simpler embedding is possible if reeexive autoepistemic logic is used. Both translations are applicable to disjunctive programs as well.
On-Board Pneumatic Pressure Generation Methods for Soft Robotics Applications

The design and construction of a soft robot are challenging tasks on their own. When the robot is supposed to operate without a tether, it becomes even more demanding. While a tethered operation is sufficient for a stationary use, it is impractical for wearable robots or performing tasks that demand a high mobility. Choosing and implementing an on-board pneumatic pressure source are particularly complex tasks. There are several different pressure generation methods to choose from, each with very different properties and ways of implementation. This review paper is written with the intention of informing about all pressure generation methods available in the field of soft robotics and providing an overview of the abilities and properties of each method. Nine different methods are described regarding their working principle, pressure generation behavior, energetic considerations, safety aspects, and suitability for soft robotics applications. All presented methods are evaluated in the most important categories for soft robotics pressure sources and compared to each other qualitatively and quantitatively as far as possible. The aim of the results presented is to simplify the choice of a suitable pressure generation method when designing an on-board pressure source for a soft robot.
Communication cascade processes with Markov chains

The work executed within the framework of cascade-probability method, the essence of which is to obtain and further use of cascade-probability functions (CPF) for the different particles. CPF sense the probability that a particle generated at a certain depth h’ reaches a certain depth h after the n-th number of collisions. We have considered the interaction of ions with solids and communication processes of radiation defect with Markov processes and Markov chains. Displaying obtain recurrence relations for the simplest of CPF Chapman-Kolmogorov equations. In this case the particle after the collision does not change its direction of movement, the flow rate is independent of time, and hence the penetration depth. recurrence relations are also obtained for the RAF taking into account losses of energy to the ions of the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation, the intensity of the flow depends on the depth of penetration.
Multimedia software for demonstrating animal experiments in pharmacology

For demonstration of animal experiments to undergraduate students of medical and paramedical faculties, a large number of animals are sacrificed every year. Such demonstrations can be humanely presented using computer simulations rather than experimental animals. Considering the necessity of such computer assisted learning tool to reduce/ replace the animal use and to refine the demonstrations as well the teaching process, a software 'X-cology: An Interactive CD-ROM for Pharmacology Undergraduates' was developed. This software (developed in Multimedia Director, Flash and visual basic for windows) displays complete video demonstrations of different procedures like isolation and mounting of animal tissues followed by on screen interactive interface to study the effects of various drugs on the isolated tissues. It simulates / demonstrates experiments causing undue pain to animals. The presentation is made user friendly and self explanatory. This software can minimize the use of experimental animals in routine practical classes. It provides a tool to the teachers to clearly convey the required details on animal experiments.
SMC Proteins and Their Multiple Functions in Higher Plants

In plants as in other eukaryotes, SMC (Structural Maintenance of Chromosome) protein complexes and proteins interacting with them are essential for sister chromatid cohesion, chromosome condensation, DNA repair and recombination. The presence of paralogous genes for various components of the different SMC complexes allowed diversification of their biological functions during evolution of higher plants. Here I summarize the multiple functions of plant SMC complexes and some of the particularities these proteins show in comparison to those of other organisms.
Does organisation by similarity assist image browsing?

In current systems for browsing image collections, users are presented with sets of thumbnail images arranged in some default order on the screen. We are investigating whether it benefits users to have sets of thumbnails arranged according to their mutual similarity, so images that are alike are placed together. There are, of course, many possible definitions of “similarity”: so far we have explored measurements based on low-level visual features, and on the textual captions assigned to the images. Here we describe two experiments, both involving designers as the participants, examining whether similarity-based arrangements of the candidate images are helpful for a picture selection task. Firstly, the two types of similarity-based arrangement were informally compared. Then, an arrangement based on visual similarity was more formally compared with a control of a random arrangement. We believe this work should be of interest to anyone designing a system that involves presenting sets of images to users.
Stabilization and Trajectory Control of a Quadrotor with Uncertain Suspended Load

Stabilization and trajectory control of a quadrotor carrying a suspended load with a fixed known mass has been extensively studied in recent years. However, the load mass is not always known beforehand or may vary during the practical transportations. This mass uncertainty brings uncertain disturbances to the quadrotor system, causing existing controllers to have worse stability and trajectory tracking performance. To improve the quadrotor stability and trajectory tracking capability in this situation, we fully investigate the impacts of the uncertain load mass on the quadrotor. By comparing the performances of three different controllers -- the proportional-derivative (PD) controller, the sliding mode controller (SMC), and the model predictive controller (MPC) -- stabilization rather than trajectory tracking error is proved to be the main influence in the load mass uncertainty. A critical motion mass exists for the quadrotor to maintain a desired transportation performance. Moreover, simulation results verify that a controller with strong robustness against disturbances is a good choice for practical applications.
Data dissemination on MANET using content delivery network (CDN) technique

One major problem in MANET is the mutual interferences between each nodes sending data to destination. In this paper, we propose a data dissemination technique on Vehicular Network deploying OLSR mobile ad hoc network in a city scenario. In our proposed algorithm, when deploying content delivery network (CDN) technique, data is delivered via the CDN nodes which are closer to final destination than the original sender node. In this work, multipoint relays (MPRs) nodes are used as the CDN nodes since these node cover all the subscriber nodes optimally due to the nature of OLSR. It can be anticipated that this scheme is suitable to deliver the information from unexpected event or congestions arising in a city.
Maxillary Sinus Grafting With Biphasic Bone Ceramic or Autogenous Bone: Clinical, Histologic, and Histomorphometric Results From a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Purpose:The present, randomized, controlled clinical trial compared the histologic and histomorphometric results from maxillary sinus augmentation with either biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) (60% hydroxyapatite and 40% &bgr;-tricalcium phosphate) or autogenous bone (AB) as bone-grafting materials. Material and Methods:Ten patients received bilateral sinus elevation surgery with intraoral AB chips (control group) on one side and BCP (test group) on the contralateral side. After a healing period of 6 to 8 months, implant sites were created and trephine cores were harvested for histological and histomorphometric analysis of the grafted areas. Results:The histological examination of biopsies showed BCP particles interconnected by bridges of a vital newly formed bone. Histomorphometry demonstrated that the amount of newly formed bone in the control group (36.8%) was significantly greater than that in the BCP (28.2%) group (P = 0.0032). BCP and AB cores revealed an average of residual graft particles of 32.9% and 4.8%, respectively. The average percentage of soft tissue components was 38.9% in the BCP cores and 58.4% in the AB cores. Conclusions:Based on our findings, the amount of vital bone formation was significantly higher for AB than that for BCP. However, BCP seemed to be a biocompatible and osteoconductive material that can be used with success as a bone substitute in maxillary sinus procedures.
Carbohydrate Composition of Endotoxins from R-type Isogenic Mutants of Shigella sonnei Studied by Capillary Electrophoresis and GC-MS

The carbohydrate composition of the rough-type endotoxins (lipopolysaccharides, LPSs) from Shigella sonnei mutant strains (Shigella sonnei phase II 4303, 562H, R41 and 4350) was investigated by capillary electrophoresis and GC-MS. The monosaccharides obtained by hydrolysis were determined by capillary electrophoresis combined with laser induced fluorescence detection (CE-LIF) after labeling with 8-aminopyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid (APTS) and by GC-MS as alditol-acetate derivatives. It was obtained that the lipopolysaccharides of the isogenic rough mutants are formed in a step-like manner, containing no heptose (4350), one D-glycero-D-mannoheptose (562H ), or two or three L-glycero-Dmannoheptoses (R41, 4303, respectively) in the deep core region. Besides the heptoses, the longest LPS from the mutant Shigella sonnei 4303 contains hexoses, such as glucoses and galactoses, in a proportion of approximately 3:2. This study provides a comprehensive comparison of the variability in the carbohydrate part of the rough endotoxins extracted from Shigella sonnei isogenic mutants. (doi: 10.5562/cca1795)
Segmental Recurrent Neural Networks

We introduce segmental recurrent neural networks (SRNNs) which define, given an input sequence, a joint probability distribution over segmentations of the input and labelings of the segments. Representations of the input segments (i.e., contiguous subsequences of the input) are computed by encoding their constituent tokens using bidirectional recurrent neural nets, and these "segment embeddings" are used to define compatibility scores with output labels. These local compatibility scores are integrated using a global semi-Markov conditional random field. Both fully supervised training -- in which segment boundaries and labels are observed -- as well as partially supervised training -- in which segment boundaries are latent -- are straightforward. Experiments on handwriting recognition and joint Chinese word segmentation/POS tagging show that, compared to models that do not explicitly represent segments such as BIO tagging schemes and connectionist temporal classification (CTC), SRNNs obtain substantially higher accuracies.
Multidimensional information visualization through sliding rods

In this paper we propose new visual interface technology to address multidimensional data exploration and browsing tasks. MultiNav, a prototype from GTE Laboratories, is based upon a multidimensional information model that affords new data exploration and semantically structured browsing interactions. The primary visual metaphor is based on sliding rods, each of which is associated with an information dimension from the underlying model. Users can interactively select value ranges along the rods in order to reveal hidden relationships as well as query and restrict the set through direct manipulation. A novel focus+context view is afforded in which detail about individual items is revealed within the context of the global multidimensional attribute space. We propose a novel interaction technique to change focus, which is based on dragging rods from side to side. We relate this work on multidimensional information visualization to other research in the area, including Parallel Coordinates, Dynamic Histograms, Dynamic Queries, and focus+context tables. *.
Study on the Change in Characteristics of Ring Yarn during Post Spinning and Yarn Dyeing Operations

The origin of yarn hairiness has been attributed to the escape of fibres from the twisting action from within the spinning triangle. The protruding fibres entangle themselves due to the rubbing of yarn with parts of the machinery during post spinning operations and form thin places, thick places and neps. In this study, cotton combed yarns were produced by removing 14, 16 and 18% of the noil at the comber. These samples were dyed before and after singeing. The hairiness, imperfections and tenacity of the yarns were measured. The results revealed that an increase in comber noil causes a decrease in imperfections at the ring bobbin stage. The imperfections changed at different stages of post spinning operations and dyeing, and finally the difference was not appreciable, especially when the noil % was extracted beyond a certain level. The tenacity of yarn decreased when the ring bobbin was converted into a cone form, singed and dyed. Removal of a higher level of comber noil or singeing did not make a significant difference at the dyed yarn stage, although there was difference at the ring bobbin and cone stages.
The Cardiorenal Syndrome

This special issue of the International Journal of Nephrology is the first nephrology journal edition devoted solely to the discussion of the cardiorenal syndrome and represents a landmark state-of-the-art discussion on such pathological entity. The cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) was first officially defined at a consensus conference of the Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative in 2009 [1]. This definition was made in the attempt to characterize and classify the various connections between acute and chronic heart and kidney disease. Although well known, heart and kidney interactions had not been clearly defined in the past nor were they completely elucidated and classified. The consensus conference defined 5 forms of heart-kidney interaction that would lay the foundation for both a common language in describing patients suffering from these syndromes as well as forming a schema for further research. The consensus conference recognized that communication between the heart and kidneys occurs through a variety of pathways that in the healthy state modulate cardiac output, vascular tone, maintenance of volume state, and excretion of waste products. However, a change in the performance of one of these organs elicits a cascade of mediators that affects the other and leads to a spiral of mutual organ dysfunction.
The potential of a niacinamide dominated cosmeceutical formulation on fibroblast activity and wound healing in vitro

Knowledge on the intrinsic mechanisms involved in wound healing provides opportunity for various therapeutic strategies. The manipulation of dermal fibroblast proliferation and differentiation might prove to beneficially augment wound healing. This study evaluated the combined effects of niacinamide, l‐carnosine, hesperidin and Biofactor HSP® on fibroblast activity. The effects on fibroblast collagen production, cellular proliferation, migration and terminal differentiation were assessed. In addition, the authors determined the effects on in vitro wound healing. The optimal concentrations of actives were determined in vitro. Testing parameters included microscopic morphological cell analysis, cell viability and proliferation determination, calorimetric collagen detection and in vitro wound healing dynamics. Results show that 0·31 mg/ml niacinamide, 0·10 mg/ml l‐carnosine, 0·05 mg/ml hesperidin and 5·18 µg/ml Biofactor HSP® proved optimal in vitro. The results show that fibroblast collagen synthesis was increased alongside with cellular migration and proliferation.
Unsupervised gene function extraction using semantic vectors

Finding gene functions discussed in the literature is an important task of information extraction (IE) from biomedical documents. Automated computational methodologies can significantly reduce the need for manual curation and improve quality of other related IE systems. We propose an open-IE method for the BioCreative IV GO shared task (subtask b), focused on finding gene function terms [Gene Ontology (GO) terms] for different genes in an article. The proposed open-IE approach is based on distributional semantic similarity over the GO terms. The method does not require annotated data for training, which makes it highly generalizable. We achieve an F-measure of 0.26 on the test-set in the official submission for BioCreative-GO shared task, the third highest F-measure among the seven participants in the shared task. Database URL: https://code.google. com/p/rainbow-nlp/
Year 1 Annual Review Stereo Vision for 3 D Face Recognition PhD Student :

Face recognition is one of the most important and rapidly advancing areas of computer science. Increased recent interest in improving commercial security systems has lead to intensive research into biometric identification and verification applications. Whilst a number of biometrics are potentially available for human recognition the face can usually be captured with the greatest degree of “passivity”, thus making it the most suitable choice for general security implementations. Traditional approaches to the face recognition problem usually attempt identification on the basis of two dimensional data. This approach, whilst partially successful, often proves not to be robust under adverse recognition conditions. Our work attempts to improve upon the accuracy offered by currently available systems by incorporating 3D data into the recognition process. Utilising techniques from multi-view geometry a 3D model of the face is constructed and refined, followed by a recognition stage which utilises both 3D geometry and 2D texture to guide the identification process. In order to successfully achieve these goals a robust 3D capture process is required. Despite the availability of several commercial 3D scanners we propose the development of a system capable of 3D capture with minimal hardware requirements and zero interaction with the recognition subject in order to make the system desirable for a multitude of non-invasive security applications. At its current stage, the work investigates the fundamental problem associated with stereo vision (multi-view correspondence) and investigates potential solutions. In addition work has been carried out to determine suitable methods for surface construction given an initial point cloud. This work will then be integrated with stereo rig calibration modules and finally with a recognition stage in order to form the complete identification system which will be extensively tested for accuracy against other state of the art