Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Generating Natural Language Descriptions for Semantic Representations of Human Brain Activity

Quantitative analysis of human brain activity based on language representations, such as the semantic categories of words, have been actively studied in the ﬁeld of brain and neuroscience. Our study aims to generate natural language descriptions for human brain activation phenomena caused by visual stimulus by employing deep learning methods, which have gained interest as an effective approach to automatically describe natural language expressions for various type of multi-modal information, such as images. We employed an image-captioning system based on a deep learning framework as the basis for our method by learning the relationship between the brain activity data and the features of an intermediate expression of the deep neural network owing to lack of training brain data. We conducted three experiments and were able to generate nat-ural language sentences which enabled us to quantitatively interpret brain activity.
A New Pansharpening Algorithm Based on Total Variation

In this letter, we present a new method for the pansharpening of multispectral satellite imagery. Pansharpening is the process of synthesizing a high spatial resolution multispectral image from a low spatial resolution multispectral image and a high-resolution panchromatic (PAN) image. The method uses total variation to regularize an ill-posed problem dictated by a widely used explicit image formation model. This model is based on the assumptions that a linear combination of the bands of the pansharpened image gives the PAN image and that a decimation of the pansharpened image gives the original multispectral image. Experimental results are based on two real datasets and the quantitative quality of the pansharpened images is evaluated using a number of spatial and spectral metrics, some of which have been recently proposed and do not need a reference image. The proposed method compares favorably to other well-known methods for pansharpening and produces images of excellent spatial and spectral quality.
Fast thermal analysis of an ISG in hybrid electric vehicle drive system

Due to the space size of the vehicle itself and vehicle energy capacity constraints, hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) usually use high power density and high efficiency permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) as the integrated starter/generator (ISG) motor of drive system, but the temperature rise caused by the losses in the process of running will lead to some problems. It is necessary to obtain the temperature distribution accurately of the motor. In this paper, a nine nodal point thermal resistance network is established by choosing the key parts of the motor according to the motor structure. The mathematical model is established. Finally, the transient characteristics of the temperature field are obtained. By comparing to the thermal analysis of the motor performed by finite element simulation, the reliability of the results is verified, results show that thermal resistance network method have great advantages on thermal analysis of motors.
Building a Large Annotated Corpus of Learner English: The NUS Corpus of Learner English

We describe the NUS Corpus of Learner English (NUCLE), a large, fully annotated corpus of learner English that is freely available for research purposes. The goal of the corpus is to provide a large data resource for the development and evaluation of grammatical error correction systems. Although NUCLE has been available for almost two years, there has been no reference paper that describes the corpus in detail. In this paper, we address this need. We describe the annotation schema and the data collection and annotation process of NUCLE. Most importantly, we report on an unpublished study of annotator agreement for grammatical error correction. Finally, we present statistics on the distribution of grammatical errors in the NUCLE corpus.
Topical anaesthesia reduces sensitivity of castration wounds in neonatal piglets

The aim of this study was to do determine the efficacy of the topical anaesthetic Tri-Solfen® in the amelioration of the pain of castration in piglets. The trial was conducted over a three day period, and blocked across six litters with 12 piglets treated on days one and two, and 16 on day three. The piglets were randomly allocated by weight and litter to 1 of 4 treatment groups: (i) sham castration (SHAM; n = 10); (ii) surgical castration with no anaesthetic intervention (CAST; n = 10); (iii) surgical castration with post-operative topical anaesthesia (TRI; n = 10); (iv) surgical castration with a pre-operative intra-testicular lignocaine hydrochloride injection (LIG; n = 10). Wound sensitivity testing involved von Frey monofilaments of weights 4g and 300g, and an 18 gauge needle, used to stimulate the wound and surrounding skin respectively, at various pre-determined sites. Neonatal piglets receiving topical anaesthesia (Tri-Solfen®) spray into castration wounds had significantly lower wound sensitivity responses for up to 4h, compared to those castrated following intra-testicular lignocaine injection or those with no treatment. The use of topical anaesthetic is suggested as a practical and affordable method of improving piglet welfare during castration.
Fassieh¯, a Semi-Automatic Visual Interactive Tool for Morphological, PoS-Tags, Phonetic, and Semantic Annotation of Arabic Text Corpora

This paper introduces an Arabic text annotation tool called Fassiehreg. Via a sophisticated interactive GUI application, Fassiehreg makes it easy to build structured large standard written Arabic corpora, then allows the production of fundamental linguistic analyses; i.e., language factorizations, at high coverage and accuracy rates over such corpora. Arabic morphological analysis, part-of-speech (PoS)-tagging, full phonetic transcription (diacritization), and lexical semantics analysis are the most significant Arabic language factorizations currently supported by Fassiehreg. The high inherent ambiguity of these analyses is statistically resolved in Fassiehreg which also affords a multitude of auxiliary features enabling a guided, normalized, and efficient proofreading of any part of the factorized corpus. The paper first reviews the highly inflective and derivative nature of Arabic language, our Arabic language factorization models, and the associated statistical disambiguation methodology. Afterwards, we present Fassiehreg which is not only a text annotation tool, but is also an evaluation, demonstrative, and tutorial means of Arabic natural language processing (NLP).
Inhibition of human polymorphonuclear leukocyte respiratory burst, bactericidal activity, and migration by pneumolysin

The in vitro effects of pneumolysin, a sulfhydryl-activated toxin produced by Streptococcus pneumoniae, on various functions of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) was investigated. Treatment of PMNLs with highly purified toxin significantly inhibited respiratory burst (in response to stimulation), ability to kill opsonized pneumococci, chemotaxis, and random migration. These inhibitions were observed at very low toxin doses (less than or equal to 1 hemolytic unit (2 ng) per 10(6) PMNLs), which had no effect on PMNL viability. These results suggest that pneumolysin could function in pathogenicity by interfering with the ability of PMNLs to migrate toward and kill pneumococci.
Is There a Place for Duplex Screening of the Brachial Artery in the Maturation of Arteriovenous Fistulas?

Clinically there are some autogenous arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) that are obviously mature. The real problem in clinical evaluation is in predicting the ultimate outcome of AVFs that are not clearly mature. Thus it would be advantageous to develop objective quantitative criteria to be applied early after vascular access placement in order to evaluate the suitability of AVFs for dialysis. The goal of this study was to document the blood flow rate modifications that the construction and maturation of a radiocephalic wrist AVF produce in the brachial artery by means of duplex Doppler ultrasonography. All incident uremic patients who needed the construction of a radiocephalic wrist AVF in the last 9 months of 2003 were enrolled in the study: 18 patients underwent such an operation. A linear color Doppler ultrasound scan was performed with a 7.0 MHz imaging/5.0 MHz Doppler probe by sampling the brachial artery 2 cm above the elbow: the internal diameter of the artery was measured and its blood flow rate calculated just before AVF construction and 1, 7, 28 days, and at least 6 months after AVF construction. The internal diameter and blood flow rate of the brachial artery were, respectively, 4.3 ± 0.7 mm and 56.1 ± 19.2 ml/min at baseline. A new AVF was constructed in one patient whose brachial artery blood flow rate was 80.0 ml/min at 28 days. When excluding this AVF, the mean brachial artery blood flow rate of the 17 AVFs was 720.4 ± 132.8 ml/min (median 750 ml/min, range 480–890 ml/min) at 28 days and 997.6 ± 259.7 ml/min 258.0 ± 63.0 days after AVF construction. When analyzing the percent increase in brachial artery blood flow rate of the 17 AVFs at the different time points, the most dramatic one occurred at day 1 compared to the baseline (549.0%; mean blood flow rate at day 1, 365.0 ± 129.3 ml/min). Thus the blood flow rate at day 1 represents more than half (50.7%) of the blood flow rate that will be measured at day 28. Then the increase was less steep, with a 20.1% increase between day 7 and day 1 (mean blood flow rate at day 7, 438.4 ± 86.0 ml/min), a 64.3% increase between day 28 and day 7, and a 38.5% increase at 258.0 ± 63.0 days compared to 28 days. The present study was able to document the changes in brachial blood flow rate consequent to a radiocephalic wrist AVF maturation by means of duplex Doppler ultrasonography of the brachial artery. This measure may be helpful in monitoring which AVFs will probably fail. This screening should integrate clinical assessment, thus allowing sound judgment of the level of maturation of an AVF and of its outcome.
Kahler Anomalies, Fayet-Iliopoulos Couplings, and Flux Vacua

We review the subject of Kähler anomalies in gauged supergravity, emphasizing that field equations are inconsistent when the Kähler potential is non-invariant under gauge transformations or when there are elementary Fayet-Iliopoulos couplings. Flux vacua solutions of string theory with gauged U(1) shift symmetries appear to avoid this problem. The major new result is that the Kähler anomaly involves tensors which are composite functions of the scalars as well as the gauge field strength and spacetime curvature tensors. Anomaly cancellation requires more conditions than have been considered in the literature.
Road dependent driver eye movements under real driving conditions by electrooculography

Electrooculography (EOG) as a tool to measure the driver eye movements allows us to distinguish between drowsiness- or distraction-related and driving situation dependent eye movements. Thus, an experiment under fully controlled conditions is carried out to study the relationship between driver eye movements and different real driving scenarios. In this experiment, unwanted head vibrations within EOG signals and the sawtooth pattern (optokinetic nystagmus, OKN) of eyes are realized as situation dependent eye movements. The former occurs due to ground excitation and the latter during small radius (50m) curve negotiation. The statistical investigation expresses a significant variation of EOG due to unwanted head vibrations. Moreover, an analytical model is developed to explain the possible relationship of OKN and tangent point of the curve. The developed model is validated against the real data on a high curvature track.
A globally exponentially stable filter for bearing-only simultaneous localization and mapping in 3-D

This paper proposes a novel filter for sensor-based bearing-only simultaneous localization and mapping in three dimensions with globally exponentially stable (GES) error dynamics. A nonlinear system is designed, its output transformed, and its dynamics augmented so that the proposed formulation can be considered as linear time-varying for the purpose of observability analysis. This allows the establishment of observability results related to the original nonlinear system that naturally lead to the design of a Kalman filter with GES error dynamics. The performance of the proposed algorithm is assessed resorting to a set of realistic simulations.
Investigating the relation between shared stressors and marital satisfaction: The moderating effects of dyadic coping and communication

This study examined the role that communication and coping skills play in moderating the relation between shared stressors and marital satisfaction in a community sample of 119 married, heterosexual couples in Italy. Hierarchical regression models examined communication and coping skills as potential moderators of the association between two indicators of shared relationship stressors (sexual dissatisfaction and dissatisfaction with children) and overall relationship satisfaction. Findings showed there was a significant interaction effect of communication skills and sexual dissatisfaction on relationship satisfaction for both husbands and wives. There was also a significant interaction effect of coping skills and sexual dissatisfaction on relationship satisfaction for wives. For both husbands and wives, there were no significant interaction effects of communication skills nor dyadic coping and dissatisfaction with children on relationship satisfaction. Implications of these findings for prevention and intervention strategies for relationship distress and for further research are discussed.
Output Feedback Control of Bilinear Systems via a Bilinear LTR Observer

In the literature, most observer-based output feedback controls for bilinear systems are only applicable to open-loop (neutrally) stable systems. This paper proposes a new observer-based output feedback control that can be applied to open-loop unstable systems. The key component of the new control is an exponentially stable bilinear loop transfer recovery (LTR) observer that derives from the linear LTR observer.
Regional wall motion abnormalities after prolonged exercise in the normal left ventricle.

To determine whether regional wall motion abnormalities exist or contribute to left ventricular dysfunction, we obtained two-dimensional echocardiograms in 12 athletes before (baseline), immediately after (race finish), and 1 day after (recovery) the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon (a 3.9-km swimming, 180.2-km bicycling, and 42.2-km running event). Left ventricular short-axis and apical four-chamber views were computer digitized and divided into six segments, and radial chord shortening and area ejection fraction were calculated. Global ejection fraction fell at race finish (51% versus 46%, p less than 0.05) but recovered by 1 day (54%, p less than 0.01 by repeated-measures analysis of variance). With the apical four-chamber view, midseptal and apical-septal motion were reduced at race finish but returned to baseline during recovery (midseptal radial chord shortening: 21%, 8%, 22%; apical-septal radial chord shortening: 27%, 12%, 25%; midseptal area ejection fraction: 39%, 30%, 40%; apical-septal area ejection fraction: 44% baseline, 33% race finish, 43% recovery; all p less than 0.01). In contrast, with the parasternal short-axis view, wall motion did not change at race finish but tended to be elevated during recovery and became significant for anteroseptal motion (radial chord shortening: 29%, 30%, 36%; area ejection fraction: 49% baseline, 51% race finish, 58% recovery; both p less than 0.05). Lateral wall motion was unchanged. In addition, an index of septal curvature was calculated using the ratio of the septal-lateral wall minor axis to the perpendicular anteroposterior minor axis. At all three data collections, this ratio remained close to 1.0 at end systole and end diastole. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Opportunistic Flooding in Low-Duty-Cycle Wireless Sensor Networks with Unreliable Links

Flooding service has been investigated extensively in wireless networks to efficiently disseminate network-wide commands, configurations, and code binaries. However, little work has been done on low-duty-cycle wireless sensor networks in which nodes stay asleep most of the time and wake up asynchronously. In this type of network, a broadcasting packet is rarely received by multiple nodes simultaneously, a unique constraining feature that makes existing solutions unsuitable. In this paper, we introduce Opportunistic Flooding, a novel design tailored for low-duty-cycle networks with unreliable wireless links and predetermined working schedules. Starting with an energy-optimal tree structure, probabilistic forwarding decisions are made at each sender based on the delay distribution of next-hop receivers. Only opportunistically early packets are forwarded via links outside the tree to reduce the flooding delay and redundancy in transmission. We further propose a forwarder selection method to alleviate the hidden terminal problem and a link-quality-based backoff method to resolve simultaneous forwarding operations. We show by extensive simulations and test-bed implementations that Opportunistic Flooding is close to the optimal performance achievable by oracle flooding designs. Compared with Improved Traditional Flooding, our design achieves significantly shorter flooding delay while consuming only 20-60% of the transmission energy.
The effect of group diversity on learning on a university-based foundation course

To date, there appears to be a paucity of literature regarding the student experience on university-based foundation courses. There is some thought that such non-traditional, diverse groups of students might present problems during the learning and teaching experience and some students appear to have little insight into what foundation courses entail. The purpose of this study was to consider the influence of diversity on the student learning experience on a university-based foundation course for the health professions. Individual, unstructured interviews were performed in a purposive sample of 13 students (2 male, 11 female) who had completed a foundation course for the health professions. Data was analysed using a qualitative, grounded theory research methodology and emergent themes were analysed in relation to sociological theory. Key themes emerged in the narratives relating to competition (intra- and inter-cohort), self-preservation and camaraderie. These findings are related to the theories of social interaction and social identity, highlighting the processes associated with the student learning experience. Recommendations for improving the learning experience for foundation course students include encouraging early interaction between students (both intra- and inter-cohort) and staff to facilitate camaraderie and positive group dynamics, thereby reducing any negative impact of competition and alleviating fear of failure.
Solar Cycle Prediction

A review of solar cycle prediction methods and their performance is given, including forecasts for cycle 24. The review focuses on those aspects of the solar cycle prediction problem that have a bearing on dynamo theory. The scope of the review is further restricted to the issue of predicting the amplitude (and optionally the epoch) of an upcoming solar maximum no later than right after the start of the given cycle.Prediction methods form three main groups. Precursor methods rely on the value of some measure of solar activity or magnetism at a specified time to predict the amplitude of the following solar maximum. Their implicit assumption is that each numbered solar cycle is a consistent unit in itself, while solar activity seems to consist of a series of much less tightly intercorrelated individual cycles. Extrapolation methods, in contrast, are based on the premise that the physical process giving rise to the sunspot number record is statistically homogeneous, i.e., the mathematical regularities underlying its variations are the same at any point of time and, therefore, it lends itself to analysis and forecasting by time series methods. Finally, instead of an analysis of observational data alone, model based predictions use physically (more or less) consistent dynamo models in their attempts to predict solar activity.In their overall performance during the course of the last few solar cycles, precursor methods have clearly been superior to extrapolation methods. Nevertheless, most precursor methods overpredicted cycle 23, while some extrapolation methods may still be worth further study. Model based forecasts have not yet had a chance to prove their skills. One method that has yielded predictions consistently in the right range during the past few solar cycles is that of K. Schatten et al., whose approach is mainly based on the polar field precursor.The incipient cycle 24 will probably mark the end of the Modern Maximum, with the Sun switching to a state of less strong activity. It will therefore be an important testbed for cycle prediction methods and, by inference, for our understanding of the solar dynamo.
Deterministic Intrusion Detection Rules for MODBUS Protocols

This paper introduces a set intrusion detection system rules for MODBUS/TCP and MODBUS over Serial Line systems. The rules described in this paper were derived from a vulnerability analysis of the MODBUS protocols. In total the paper describes 50 signature based intrusion detection sys-tem rules. Details on protocol requirements and the construction of the rules are provided for each rule. Rule descriptions are generic to encourage use on multiple intrusion detection system platforms.
19.5 A 2.4GHz RF fractional-N synthesizer with 0.25fREF BW

The loop bandwidth of conventional RF fractional-N synthesizers has been limited to about fREF/10 despite the use of methods that suppress the ΔΣ-modulator quantization noise [1–4]. The trade-off between the loop bandwidth and the ΔΣ noise peaking becomes more serious if the synthesizer employs a ring oscillator to achieve multiband operation, less unwanted coupling, and greater design flexibility than LC oscillators [5].
Toward Social Justice

Abstract Social work is committed to promoting social justice, inclusion and the empowerment of people. Qualitative research methods offer exciting possibilities for operationalizing this commitment. Drawing predominantly on constructivist and/or critical paradigms for understanding, qualitative research fosters a rebalancing of power within the researcher/researchee relationship and encourages a focus on marginalized understandings and experiences. More than this, it lends itself to an analysis of power. To realize the potential of qualitative research, however, requires more than just developing a knowledge base; it also requires integrating a different way of “being” as a researcher and social worker. Facilitating this learning process with social work students raises interesting challenges and opportunities. The purpose of this paper is to open for discussion ways for teaching qualitative research that allow the iterative, creative, and reflective practices required for effective qualitative research to develop. Drawing on our experiences teaching qualitative research and student feedback accumulated over the past five years, we discuss aspects of the course that have seemingly “worked” and others that have been less effective. The intent is to initiate a discussion around the ethics and pragmatics of teaching qualitative research.