Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Singularity Preserving Fingerprint Image Adaptive Filtering

Accurate and reliable detection of minutiae from the fingerprint images is an important factor in the performance of automatic fingerprint identification systems (AFIS). Fingerprint image quality evaluation and appropriate enhancement technique are critical steps for accuracy of minutiae detection algorithm. Most fingerprint enhancement algorithms rely heavily on local orientation of ridge flows. However, significant orientation changes occur around the delta and core points in the fingerprint images, and this poses a challenge to the enhancement of ridge flows in those high-curvature regions. Instead of identifying the singular points, we calculate an orientation coherence map and determine minimum coherence regions as high-curvature areas. Gaussian filter window sizes are adaptively chosen to smooth the local orientation map. Because the smoothing operation is applied to local ridge shape structures, it efficiently joins broken ridges without destroying essential singularities and enforces continuity of directional fields even in creases. To the best the authors' knowledge, the coherence has not previously been used to estimate ridge curvature, and curvature has not been used to select filter scale in this field. These two strategies are the primary contributions of this paper. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
A weighted multi-attribute method for matching user-generated Points of Interest

To a large degree, the attraction of Big Data lies in the variety of its heterogeneous multi-thematic and multi-dimensional data sources and not merely its volume. To fully exploit this variety, however, requires conflation. This is a two-step process. First, one has to establish identity relations between information entities across different data sources; and second, attribute values have to be merged according to certain procedures that avoid logical contradictions. The first step, also called matching, can be thought of as a weighted combination of common attributes according to some similarity measures. In this work, we propose such a matching based on multiple attributes of Points of Interest (POI) from the Location-based Social Network Foursquare and the local directory service Yelp. While both contain overlapping attributes that can be used for matching, they have specific strengths and weaknesses that make their conflation desirable. For instance, Foursquare offers information about user check-ins to places, while Yelp specializes in user-contributed reviews. We present a weighted multi-attribute matching strategy, evaluate its performance, and discuss application areas that benefit from a successful matching. Finally, we also outline how the established POI matches can be stored as Linked Data on the Semantic Web. Our strategy can automatically match 97% of randomly selected Yelp POI to their corresponding Foursquare entities.
Reliable data transport and congestion control in wireless sensor networks

Reliable data delivery and congestion control are two fundamental transport layer functions. Due to the specific characteristics of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), traditional transport layer protocols (e.g. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP)) that are widely used in the Internet may not be suitable for WSNs. In this paper, the characteristics of WSNs are reviewed and the requirements and challenges of reliable data transport over WSNs are presented. The issues with applying traditional transport protocols over WSNs are discussed. We then survey recent research progress in developing suitable transport protocols for WSNs. The proposed reliable data transport and congestion control protocols for WSNs are reviewed and summarised. Finally, we describe some future research directions of transport protocol in WSNs.
Image Thresholding by Indicator Kriging

We consider the problem of segmenting a digitized image consisting of two univariate populations. Assume a priori knowledge allows incomplete assignment of voxels in the image, in the sense that a fraction of the voxels can be identified as belonging to population II/sub 0/, a second fraction to II/sub 1/, and the remaining fraction have no a priori identification. Based upon estimates of the short length scale spatial covariance of the image, we develop a method utilizing indicator kriging to complete the image segmentation.
Chinese Students – A New Zealand Tourism Niche?

Abstract This paper describes the findings of research into the travel patterns of 264 University students at a university in New Zealand. The number of overseas Chinese students studying in New Zealand in 2002 is estimated to be about 15,000. The paper finds relatively high levels of independent travel by the sample. They tend to travel in groups, by private car but spend relatively highly if only because they prefer motel and hotel accommodation to cheaper alternatives like backpacker hostels. They are also unlike northern European counterparts by not participating very highly in adventure tourism activities, but prefer more passive activities. A cluster analysis indicated three main groups that are labeled as being “combined motivation travellers”, “social traveller” and “new experience explorer and adventure seeker”.
Finding Vertical Multinational Enterprise Activity

The literature on foreign direct investment has generally failed to find strong systematic evidence of “vertical” motivations in aggregate data. First, we show that the goal of finding vertical motivations for foreign affiliate sales by estimating the standard 2x2x2 “Knowledge-Capital” model was considerably hampered due to the limitation of only 2 factors (skilled and unskilled labor) and 2 countries. The introduction of a third factor (physical capital) and a third country (ROW) to the Knowledge-Capital model – that is, a 3-country Knowledge-and-PhysicalCapital model – provides sharper testable hypotheses for vertical versus horizontal MNE activity. We introduce differences in relative factor endowments into the Knowledge-and-Physical-Capital model of Bergstrand and Egger (2007) to motivate sharp testable hypotheses for distinguishing between vertical and horizontal multinational enterprise activity in aggregate bilateral data. The key economic insight is that horizontal MNE headquarters will be relatively more abundant than vertical MNE headquarters in countries that are abundant in physical capital relative to knowledge capital, because of the multi-plant (single-plant) structure of horizontal (vertical) MNEs – assuming plants (headquarters) use physical (knowledge) capital relatively intensively in their setups. Second, one of the implications of general equilibrium models of MNE activity is the “interconnectedness” of foreign affiliate sales and trade flows. Our Knowledge-and-Physical-Capital model also provides testable hypotheses for the relationships between relative factor endowments and bilateral trade flows. We confirm the robustness of vertical motivations for MNEs by identifying theoretically and empirically the relationships between relative physical-capital, relative skilled-labor, and relative unskilled-labor endowments with bilateral exports of vertical MNEs from foreign-based plants – distinct from national firms’ export flows.
Mechanisms Underlying Neurocognitive Dysfunctions in Recurrent Major Depression

Recent work shows that depression is intimately associated with changes in cognitive functioning, including memory, attention, verbal fluency, and other aspects of higher-order cognitive processing. Changes in cognitive functioning are more likely to occur when depressive episodes are recurrent and to abate to some degree during periods of remission. However, with accumulating frequency and duration of depressive episodes, cognitive deficits can become enduring, being evident even when mood improves. Such changes in cognitive functioning give depression links to mild cognitive impairment and thereby with neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and multiple sclerosis. Depression may then be conceptualized on a dimension of depression – mild cognitive impairment – dementia. The biological underpinnings of depression have substantial overlaps with those of neurodegenerative conditions, including reduced neurogenesis, increased apoptosis, reactive oxygen species, tryptophan catabolites, autoimmunity, and immune-inflammatory processes, as well as decreased antioxidant defenses. These evolving changes over the course of depressive episodes drive the association of depression with neurodegenerative conditions. As such, the changes in cognitive functioning in depression have important consequences for the treatment of depression and in reconceptualizing the role of depression in wider neuroprogressive conditions. Here we review the data on changes in cognitive functioning in recurrent major depression and their association with other central conditions.
ISWI proteins participate in the genome-wide nucleosome distribution in Arabidopsis.

Chromatin is a highly organized structure with repetitive nucleosome subunits. Nucleosome distribution patterns, which contain information on epigenetic controls, are dynamically affected by ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling factors (remodelers). However, whether plants have specific nucleosome distribution patterns and how plant remodelers contribute to the pattern formation are not clear. In this study we used the micrococcal nuclease digestion followed by deep sequencing (MNase-seq) assay to show the genome-wide nucleosome pattern in Arabidopsis thaliana. We demonstrated that the nucleosome distribution patterns of Arabidopsis are associated with the gene expression level, and have several specific characteristics that are different from those of animals and yeast. In addition, we found that remodelers in the A. thaliana imitation switch (AtISWI) subfamily are important for the formation of the nucleosome distribution pattern. Double mutations in the AtISWI genes, CHROMATIN REMODELING 11 (CHR11) and CHR17, resulted in the loss of the evenly spaced nucleosome pattern in gene bodies, but did not affect nucleosome density, supporting a previous idea that the primary role of ISWI is to slide nucleosomes in gene bodies for pattern formation.
Investigating the Rate-Distortion Performance of a Wavelet-Based Mesh Compression Algorithm by Perceptual and Geometric Distortion Metrics

The rate-distortion performance of wavelet-based mesh compression algorithms is usually only evaluated in a purely geometric sense, by measures such as the Root Mean Square Error and the Hausdorff distance, which do not capture the human visual perception of distortion. This lack of quantitative information about the perceptual effects of wavelet compression has prompted us to present a more complete evaluation of a classic wavelet-based mesh compression algorithm, by measuring its rate-distortion performance both with geometric metrics (the Hausdorff distance and Root Mean Square Error) and perceptual metrics (the recently introduced Mesh Structural Distortion Measure 2 (MSDM2) and the Mean Opinion Scores (MOS) that we obtained by conducting a subjective experiment with human observers), where the rate is measured as the percentage of wavelet coefficients used in reconstruction. The MSDM2 has already been proven to outperform other existing perceptual metrics for several different types of distortions, but this is the first time that it has been tested for this type of geometric distortion in a real-use case scenario. We found that, in this context, the MSDM2 generally correlates well with the MOS but seems to under-estimate the perceptual error in cases of low-frequency (large scale) shape distortion. Due to the disparities in the distortion values produced by the tested distortion metrics, we also conclude that a complete evaluation of any mesh compression algorithm should include several different distortion metrics, to allow the developers and users of these compression algorithms to make more informed decisions about the applicability of those algorithms in different application areas.
Ion distributions around left- and right-handed DNA and RNA duplexes: a comparative study

The ion atmosphere around nucleic acids is an integral part of their solvated structure. However, detailed aspects of the ionic distribution are difficult to probe experimentally, and comparative studies for different structures of the same sequence are almost non-existent. Here, we have used large-scale molecular dynamics simulations to perform a comparative study of the ion distribution around (5′-CGCGCGCGCGCG-3′)2 dodecamers in solution in B-DNA, A-RNA, Z-DNA and Z-RNA forms. The CG sequence is very sensitive to ionic strength and it allows the comparison with the rare but important left-handed forms. The ions investigated include Na+, K+ and Mg2 +, with various concentrations of their chloride salts. Our results quantitatively describe the characteristics of the ionic distributions for different structures at varying ionic strengths, tracing these differences to nucleic acid structure and ion type. Several binding pockets with rather long ion residence times are described, both for the monovalent ions and for the hexahydrated Mg[(H2O)6]2+ ion. The conformations of these binding pockets include direct binding through desolvated ion bridges in the GpC steps in B-DNA and A-RNA; direct binding to backbone oxygens; binding of Mg[(H2O)6]2+ to distant phosphates, resulting in acute bending of A-RNA; tight ‘ion traps’ in Z-RNA between C-O2 and the C-O2′ atoms in GpC steps; and others.
Computer as Audience : A Strategy for Artificial Intelligence Support of Human Creativity

Tools exist for creating practically every type of artistic, creative, or communicative digital artifact, including pictures, music, video, and computer animation. While these tools make it technically feasible to produce creative content, they do not guarantee that the creator will produce work that is valued by a community as possessing quality or meaning. Can an intelligent system augment non-expert creative ability? We present a metaphor for designing intelligent systems that support human creativity: computer-as-audience. We motivative the computer-as-audience metaphor with discussion of support of human creative story authoring.
Production and detection theory of pulsed photoacoustic wave with maximum amplitude and minimum distortion in absorbing liquid

The photoacoustic effect produced by laser-induced stress waves in liquids has found a variety of scientific and practical applications in industry, medicine, and environmental protection. The photoacoustic technique has the natural advantage of being less sensitive to scattering than traditional optical tools, thus offering increased accuracy and sensitivity. This paper aims to give a systematic outline of photoacoustic techniques, starting with the production and extending to the propagation and detection of photoacoustic waves. The focal point is the production of acoustic waves with maximum amplitude and minimum distortion. Maximum amplitude plays an essential role in photoacoustic spectroscopy and minimum distortion is the key to the determination of optical distribution and imaging in turbid media.
Optimized multipath network coding in lossy wireless networks

Network coding has been a prominent approach to a series of problems that used to be considered intractable with traditional transmission paradigms. Recent work on network coding includes a substantial number of optimization based protocols, but mostly for wireline multicast networks. In this paper, we consider maximizing the benefits of network coding for unicast sessions in lossy wireless environments. We propose optimized multipath network coding (OMNC), a rate control protocol that dramatically improves the throughput of lossy wireless networks. OMNC employs multiple paths to push coded packets to the destination, and uses the broadcast MAC to deliver packets between neighboring nodes. The coding and broadcast rate is allocated to transmitters by a distributed optimization algorithm that maximizes the advantage of network coding while avoiding congestion. With extensive experiments on an emulation testbed, we find that OMNC achieves more than two-fold throughput increase on average compared to traditional best path routing, and significant improvement over existing multipath routing protocols with network coding. The performance improvement is notable not only for one unicast session, but also when multiple concurrent unicast sessions coexist in the network.
Cold: the Cosy Localization Database Cold: the Cosy Localization Database

Two key competencies for mobile robotic systems are localization and semantic context interpretation. Recently, vision has become the modality of choice for these problems as it provides richer and more descriptive sensory input. At the same time, designing and testing vision-based algorithms still remains a challenge, as large amounts of carefully selected data are required to address the high variability of visual information. In this paper we present a freely available database which provides a large-scale, flexible testing environment for vision-based topological localization and semantic knowledge extraction in robotic systems. The database contains 76 image sequences acquired in three different indoor environments across Europe. Acquisition was performed with the same perspective and omnidirectional camera setup, in rooms of different functionality and under various conditions. The database is an ideal testbed for evaluating algorithms in real-world scenarios with respect to both dynamic and categorical
The ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus converts organic matter in plant litter using a trimmed brown-rot mechanism involving Fenton chemistry

Soils in boreal forests contain large stocks of carbon. Plants are the main source of this carbon through tissue residues and root exudates. A major part of the exudates are allocated to symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi. In return, the plant receives nutrients, in particular nitrogen from the mycorrhizal fungi. To capture the nitrogen, the fungi must at least partly disrupt the recalcitrant organic matter–protein complexes within which the nitrogen is embedded. This disruption process is poorly characterized. We used spectroscopic analyses and transcriptome profiling to examine the mechanism by which the ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus degrades organic matter when acquiring nitrogen from plant litter. The fungus partially degraded polysaccharides and modified the structure of polyphenols. The observed chemical changes were consistent with a hydroxyl radical attack, involving Fenton chemistry similar to that of brown-rot fungi. The set of enzymes expressed by Pa. involutus during the degradation of the organic matter was similar to the set of enzymes involved in the oxidative degradation of wood by brown-rot fungi. However, Pa. involutus lacked transcripts encoding extracellular enzymes needed for metabolizing the released carbon. The saprotrophic activity has been reduced to a radical-based biodegradation system that can efficiently disrupt the organic matter–protein complexes and thereby mobilize the entrapped nutrients. We suggest that the released carbon then becomes available for further degradation and assimilation by commensal microbes, and that these activities have been lost in ectomycorrhizal fungi as an adaptation to symbiotic growth on host photosynthate. The interdependence of ectomycorrhizal symbionts and saprophytic microbes would provide a key link in the turnover of nutrients and carbon in forest ecosystems.
High-Resolution, Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of the Outflow Tract Demonstrates Segmental Differences in Cleared Eyes

Purpose The rate of conventional aqueous humor outflow is the highest nasally. We hypothesized that this is reflected in regionally different outflow structures and analyzed the entire limbus by high-resolution, full-thickness ribbon-scanning confocal microscopy (RSCM). Methods We perfused pig eyes by anterior chamber cannulation with eight lectin-fluorophore conjugates, followed by optical clearance with benzyl alcohol benzyl benzoate (BABB). RSCM and advanced analysis software (Imaris) were used to reconstruct a three-dimensional (3D), whole-specimen rendering of the perilimbal outflow structures. We performed morphometric analyses of the outflow tract from the level of the trabecular meshwork (TM) to the scleral vascular plexus (SVP). Results Except for pigmented structures, BABB cleared the entire eye. Rhodamine-conjugated Glycine max agglutinin (soybean [SBA]) labeled the outflow tract evenly and retained fluorescence for months. RSCM produced terabyte-sized files allowing for in silico dissection of outflow tract vessels at a high resolution and in 3D. Networks of interconnected lumens were traced from the TM to downstream drainage structures. The collector channel (CC) volumes were 10 times smaller than the receiving SVP vessels, the largest of which were in the inferior limbus. Proximal CC diameters were up to four times the size of distal diameters and more elliptical at their proximal ends. The largest CCs were found in the superonasal and inferonasal quadrants where the highest outflow occurs. Conclusion RSCM of cleared eyes enabled high-resolution, volumetric analysis of the outflow tract. The proximal structures had greater diameters nasally, whereas the SVP was larger in the inferior limbus.
Compact UHF bandpass filter with the subwavelength metamaterial ZORs and transmission zeros for enhanced channel selectivity

In this paper, a microstrip bandpass filter for a UHF 900 MHz Band is remarkably miniaturized and its performance is enhanced using the metamaterial(MTM) Zeroth Order Resonator(ZOR) characteristics. Firstly, we propose each of the resonators for a bandpass filter is implemented by a one-cell ZOR, and the coupling between neighboring different ZORs is controlled to meet the primary goal on the bandpass filtering in the form of a sequential coupling mechanism. Secondly, this MTM ZOR filter is suggested to have transmission zeros due to source-load coupling to improve the isolation from the other wireless communication bands. It is revealed that the first and second proposed filters are less than 1/6 of the conventional filters in terms of size, and they present the smaller insertion loss and return loss in the passband and the higher isolation in the stopband due to the transmission zeros, which checked by the simulation and measurement. Besides, the MTM properties are verified with the dispersion diagram and the no-phase variation electric field distribution over the ZOR by the 3D EM simulation.
Effects of preventive home visits to elderly people living in the community: systematic review

Abstract Objective: To assess the effects of preventive home visits to elderly people living in the community. Design: Systematic review. Setting: 15 trials retrieved from Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane controlled trial register. Main outcome measures: Physical function, psychosocial function, falls, admissions to institutions, and mortality. Results: Considerable differences in the methodological quality of the 15 trials were found, but in general the quality was considered adequate. Favourable effects of the home visits were observed in 5 out of 12 trials measuring physical functioning, 1 out of 8 measuring psychosocial function, 2 out of 6 measuring falls, 2 out of 7 measuring admissions to institutions, and 3 of 13 measuring mortality. None of the trials reported negative effects. Conclusions: No clear evidence was found in favour of the effectiveness of preventive home visits to elderly people living in the community. It seems essential that the effectiveness of such visits is improved, but if this cannot be achieved consideration should be given to discontinuing these visits.