Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quality Enhancement of Direct Volume Rendered Images

In this paper, we propose a new method for enhancing the quality of direct volume rendered images. Unlike the typical image enhancement techniques which perform transformations in the image domain, we take the volume data into account and enhance the presentation of the volume in the rendered image by adjusting the rendering parameters. Our objective is not only to deliver a pleasing image with better color contrast or enhanced features, but also generate a faithful image with the information in the volume presented in the image. An image quality measurement is proposed to quantitatively evaluate image quality based on the information obtained from the image as well as the volumetric data. The parameter adjustment process is driven by the evaluation result using a genetic algorithm. More informative and comprehensible results are therefore delivered, compared with the typical image-based approaches.
Dependency-length minimization in natural and artificial languages*

Abstract A wide range of evidence points to a preference for syntactic structures in which dependencies are short. Here we examine the question: what kinds of dependency configurations minimize dependency length? We consider two well-established principles of dependency-length minimization; that dependencies should be consistently right-branching or left-branching, and that shorter dependent phrases should be closer to the head. We also add a third, novel, principle; that some “opposite-branching” of one-word phrases is desirable. In a series of computational experiments, using unordered dependency trees gathered from written English, we examine the effect of these three principles on dependency length, and show that all three contribute significantly to dependency-length reduction. Finally, we present what appears to be the optimal “grammar” for dependency-length minimization.
Low docosahexaenoic acid status is associated with reduced indices in cortical integrity in the anterior cingulate of healthy male children: A 1H MRS Study

Abstract Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) is the principal omega-3 fatty acid in mammalian brain gray matter, and emerging preclinical evidence suggests that DHA has neurotrophic and neuroprotective properties. This study investigated relationships among DHA status, neurocognitive performance, and cortical metabolism measured with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) in healthy developing male children (aged 8–10 years, n = 38). Subjects were segregated into low-DHA (n = 19) and high-DHA (n = 19) status groups by a median split of erythrocyte DHA levels. Group differences in 1H MRS indices of cortical metabolism, including choline (Cho), creatine (Cr), glutamine + glutamate + γ-aminobutyric acid (Glx), myo-inositol (mI), and N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), were determined in the right and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (R/L-DLPFC, BA9) and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC, BA32/33). Group differences in neurocognitive performance were evaluated with the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test and identical-pairs version of the continuous performance task (CPT-IP). Subjects in the low-DHA group consumed fish less frequently (P = 0.02), had slower reaction times on the CPT-IP (P = 0.007), and exhibited lower mI (P = 0.007), NAA (P = 0.007), Cho (P = 0.009), and Cr (P = 0.01) concentrations in the ACC compared with the high-DHA group. There were no group differences in ACC Glx or any metabolite in the L-DLPFC and R-DLPFC. These data indicate that low-DHA status is associated with reduced indices of metabolic function in the ACC and slower reaction time during sustained attention in developing male children.
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization Experimental Evidence of Self-image Concerns as Motivation for Giving

In this paper we present evidence of self-image concerns in charitable giving using a laboratory experiment. Subjects make a series of three decisions of allocating an endowment of £10 between themselves and a passive recipient that is either a charity or the experi-menters. When making these decision subjects are informed that one of them will be chosen randomly at the end to determine payoffs. After all decisions have been made and it has been revealed which decision will determine payoffs we offer subjects an opportunity to opt out from their initial decision and receive £10 instead. We find that almost a quarter of subjects choose to opt out, while around one third opt out from a positive donation. The fact that a subject decides to revise a decision to give and chooses instead to keep the whole amount – an option that was available when she made the first decision and was not exercised – indicates that giving in the first instance was not motivated solely by altruism toward the recipient. We argue that opting out can be explained through a combination of a reduced benefit of self-signaling due to satiation, and an increase in the costs of giving at the opt out stage, as they are realized with certainty.
Perils of Publishing on the Internet

This article takes as its starting point the brief but illuminating discussion of the transnational phenomenon of the internet in Michael Whincop and Mary Keyes’ 2001 book Policy and Pragmatism in the Conflict of Laws, and observes that the prospect of internet publication will inevitably influence the framing of choice of law and jurisdictional rules from now on. This has already been shown by the High Court’s decision in the recent case of Dow Jones & Company Inc v Gutnick where, in attempting to adapt the previously certain lex loci delicti defamation choice of law rule to the exigencies of the internet, the court effectively transformed the rule into a more fluid — and more reasonable — standard that only allows for presumptive conclusions about the place of the tort as ordinarily (but by implication not inevitably) the place of downloading. Further, the fact that the court stressed that the lex loci delicti for other kinds of torts will depend on the ‘essence’ of the tort suggests that policy is now central to choice of law to an extent not previously contemplated. We suggest that is possible to elucidate some relatively certain choice of law rules for internet publications — being as much as can be hoped for at this stage.
OntoKBEval : a support tool for OWL ontology evaluation

The Support Tool for OWL Ontology Evaluation (OntoKBEval) has been developed to apply Description Logics reasoning to ontology evaluation by deriving information from knowledge bases. The principal objective is to evaluate ontologies and to present results using a user-friendly visualized interface to users. OntoKBEval offers hierarchical diagrams describing the structure of OWL-DL ontologies divided into the description logics view of TBoxes and ABoxes. Furthermore, corresponding detailed information is offered for these structures to guide further evaluation directions. The three main methods for ontology evaluation are: (i) quick-view ontology evaluation (providing a keyword search for named concepts); (ii) general ontology evaluation (performing a more comprehensive TBox- and ABox-based evaluation); (iii) multi-file ontology evaluation (facilitating multiple OWL ontology evaluation by offering basic TBox and ABox information). The implementation relies on the OWL-DL reasoner RacerPro to support reasoning functionalities
Evidence for nonnucleonic effects in the threshold electrodisintegration of the deuteron at high momentum transfer.

This thesis presents the results of an experiment at the Bates Linear Accelerator Center in which cross section measurements for deuteron electrodisintegration near threshold were made at high momentum transfer with good energy resolution. The experiment was performed at a constant scattering angle of 160* at bombarding energies of 347, 576, 754, 820 and 913 MeV. The corresponding measured Q 2 values were 8.7, 20.5, 31.6, 36.0, and 42.4 fm2. Threshold cross sections averaged over 0-3 MeV and 0-10 MeV in En, were calculated. Measurements were also obtained for elastic electron-deuteron scattering and elastic electron-hydrogen scattering (the latter only at 913 MeV). The analysis of the data involved accurately determining the elastic line shape. Landau straggling, external Bremsstrahlung radiation, and internal Bremsstrahlung radiation (both from the scattered electron and target nucleus) were included. A Monte Carlo simulation was written to include the geometry of the target cell, target collimating slits and model the acceptance of the electron spectrometer. The elastic line shape and spectrometer acceptances agreed very well with the data. The averaged threshold cross sections were compared with existing data in the region of overlap. Good agreement was seen with the Saclay data which was averaged over 0-3 MeV in En,. And comparison to the poorer resolution SLAC measurement which was averaged over 0-10 MeV in En, also showed good agreement. Comparisons of the data were made with theoretical calculations. The standard nonrelativistic meson-exchange calculations agree only qualitatively agree with trend of the data. These calculations are very model dependent since a fully relativistic theory is not yet present. Hybrid quark-hadron calculations which put quark degrees of freedom in the deuteron wave functions at small distances agree with the overall magnitude of the data. Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Claude F. Williamson Title: Senior Research Scientist 3
Stigma, stress and emotional labour: experiences of women with chronic illness at work

Women who work after being diagnosed with a chronic illness often find it difficult to fit in with the expectations of workplaces and for this reason often choose not to disclose their illness to their colleagues. The employment experiences of these women reveal that they negotiate the negative attitudes of their workplaces and employ strategies such as enlisting support and evaluating the risks of disclosure. They display a higher than usual amount of emotional labour in order to continue working specifically in relation to their severity or variability of illness, their avoidance of stigma and expected management and peer support. These variables form part of the model of disclosure and will be used to examine the factors which influence the decision to disclose their illness in their place of work.
Competitive Pricing Behavior in the Auto Market: A Structural Analysis

Focuses on a theory-driven empirical approach for the understanding of the competitive pricing behavior in the United States automobile market. Average segment characteristics with potential impact on competitive behavior for 1981 to 1990; Methodological issues in estimating a structural model of the auto market; Structural models of competitive interactions; Components of an empirical model of a competitive market.
Agricultural robot dataset for plant classification, localization and mapping on sugar beet fields

There is an increasing interest in agricultural robotics and precision farming. In such domains, relevant datasets are often hard to obtain, as dedicated fields need to be maintained and the timing of the data collection is critical. In this paper, we present a large-scale agricultural robot dataset for plant classification as well as localization and mapping that covers the relevant growth stages of plants for robotic intervention and weed control. We used a readily available agricultural field robot to record the dataset on a sugar beet farm near Bonn in Germany over a period of three months in the spring of 2016. On average, we recorded data three times per week, starting at the emergence of the plants and stopping at the state when the field was no longer accessible to the machinery without damaging the crops. The robot carried a four-channel multi-spectral camera and an RGB-D sensor to capture detailed information about the plantation. Multiple lidar and global positioning system sensors as well as wheel encoders provided measurements relevant to localization, navigation, and mapping. All sensors had been calibrated before the data acquisition campaign. In addition to the data recorded by the robot, we provide lidar data of the field recorded using a terrestrial laser scanner. We believe this dataset will help researchers to develop autonomous systems operating in agricultural field environments. The dataset can be downloaded from http://www.ipb. uni-bonn.de/data/sugarbeets2016/.
More nitrogen rich B-type stars in the SMC cluster, NGC 330

High resolution spectra of seven early B-type giant/supergiant stars in the SMC cluster NGC 330 are analysed to obtain their chemical compositions relative to SMC field and Galactic B-type stars. It is found that all seven stars are nitrogen rich with an abundance approximately 1.3 dex higher than an SMC main-sequence field B-type star, AV304. They also display evidence for deficiencies in carbon, but other metals have abundances typical of the SMC. Given the number of B-type stars with low projected rotational velocities in NGC 330 (all our targets have v sin i < 50 km s - 1 ), we suggest that it is unlikely that the stars in our sample are seen almost pole-on, but rather that they are intrinsically slow rotators. Furthermore, none of our objects displays any evidence of significant Balmer emission excluding the possibility that these are Be stars observed pole-on. Comparing these results with the predictions of stellar evolution models including the effects of rotationally induced mixing, we conclude that while the abundance patterns may indeed be reproduced by these models, serious discrepancies exist. Most importantly, models including the effects of initially large rotational velocities do not reproduce the observed range of effective temperatures of our sample, nor the currently observed rotational velocities. Binary models may be able to produce stars in the observed temperature range but again may be incapable of producing suitable analogues with low rotational velocities. We also discuss the clear need for stellar evolution calculations employing the correct chemical mix of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen for the SMC.
Incremental Syntactic Planning across Clauses

Language production research has focused on planning at the lexical and syntactic levels. Consequently, little is known about speakers’ strategies for distributing information across multiple utterances. We present evidence that (a) the overall amount of information in an intended message affects how speakers distribute that information across clauses, and (b) speakers have relatively early access to (at least an estimate of) message complexity, specifically before word retrieval. The observed effect is unexpected for competing theories of sentence production based on availability or macro-propositional accounts. We discuss these findings in an information theoretic context coupled with a sketch of a model of limited resources at the level of macro-propositional planning.
Genome-wide characterization of Foxa2 targets reveals upregulation of floor plate genes and repression of ventrolateral genes in midbrain dopaminergic progenitors

The transcription factors Foxa1 and Foxa2 promote the specification of midbrain dopaminergic (mDA) neurons and the floor plate. Whether their role is direct has remained unclear as they also regulate the expression of Shh, which has similar roles. We characterized the Foxa2 cis-regulatory network by chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing of mDA progenitors. This identified 9160 high-quality Foxa2 binding sites associated with 5409 genes, providing mechanistic insights into Foxa2-mediated positive and negative regulatory events. Foxa2 regulates directly and positively key determinants of mDA neurons, including Lmx1a, Lmx1b, Msx1 and Ferd3l, while negatively inhibiting transcription factors expressed in ventrolateral midbrain such as Helt, Tle4, Otx1, Sox1 and Tal2. Furthermore, Foxa2 negatively regulates extrinsic and intrinsic components of the Shh signaling pathway, possibly by binding to the same enhancer regions of co-regulated genes as Gli1. Foxa2 also regulates the expression of floor plate factors that control axon trajectories around the midline of the embryo, thereby contributing to the axon guidance function of the floor plate. Finally, this study identified multiple Foxa2-regulated enhancers that are active in the floor plate of the midbrain or along the length of the embryo in mouse and chick. This work represents the first comprehensive characterization of Foxa2 targets in mDA progenitors and provides a framework for elaborating gene regulatory networks in a functionally important progenitor population.
Convective outflow of South Asian pollution: A global CTM simulation compared with EOS MLS observations

A global 3‐D chemical transport model is used to analyze observations of carbon monoxide (CO) and upper tropospheric clouds from the EOS Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS). MLS observations during 25 August–6 September 2004 reveal elevated CO and dense high clouds in the upper troposphere over the Tibetan plateau and southwest China, collocating with the upper level Tibetan anticyclone. Model simulations indicate the transport of boundary layer pollution by Asian summer monsoon (ASM) convection and orographic lifting to the upper troposphere over South Asia, where simulated distributions of CO resemble MLS observations. Model results also show elevated aerosols in the anticyclone region. Analysis of model simulated CO and aerosols indicate that the Tibetan anticyclone could ‘trap’ anthropogenic emissions lifted from northeast India and southwest China. These aerosols may be responsible for the formation of some of the dense high clouds.
Quality of Life Indicator Systems–Definitions, Methodologies, Uses, and Public Policy Decision Making

During the past two decades, there has been a gradual increase in the development of key indicator systems. Transcending the typical emphasis on quantitative measures, many of these key indicator systems have combined qualitative measures with hard statistical data with the purpose of making determinations about quality of life (QOL). According to many experts, this alternative approach has allowed for a greater understanding of the pulse or measurement of the status and position of a designated population—local, regional, state, national or international in scope. The advantages of QOL key indicator systems are straightforward. They provide a human dimension to measuring progress in broad issue or policy areas by allowing for an integration of indicators that take into consideration and gauge people’s values, preferences, and opinions. This is done generally by the application of scientifically applied surveys that look at non-monetary and normative data and information, which in turn, show commonalities among groups or specified populations.
Fast and practical indexing and querying of very large graphs

Many applications work with graph-structured data. As graphs grow in size, indexing becomes essential to ensure sufficient query performance. We present the GRIPP index structure (GRaph Indexing based on Pre- and Postorder numbering) for answering reachability queries in graphs. GRIPP requires only linear time and space. Using GRIPP, we can answer reachability queries on graphs with 5 million nodes on average in less than 5 milliseconds, which is unrivaled by previous methods. We evaluate the performance and scalability of our approach on real and synthetic random and scale-free graphs and compare our approach to existing indexing schemes. GRIPP is implemented as stored procedure inside a relational database management system and can therefore very easily be integrated into existing graph-oriented applications.
SNX–BAR‐Mediated Endosome Tubulation is Co‐ordinated with Endosome Maturation

Endosomal sorting is essential for cell homeostasis. Proteins targeted for degradation are retained in the maturing endosome vacuole while others are recycled to the cell surface or sorted to the biosynthetic pathway via tubular transport carriers. Sorting nexin (SNX) proteins containing a BAR (for Bin–Amphiphysin–Rvs) domain are key regulators of phosphoinositide‐mediated, tubular‐based endosomal sorting, but how such sorting is co‐ordinated with endosomal maturation is not known. Here, using well‐defined Rab GTPases as endosomal compartment markers, we have analyzed the localization of SNX1 [endosome‐to‐trans‐Golgi network (TGN) transport as part of the SNX–BAR–retromer complex], SNX4 (cargo‐recycling from endosomes to the plasma membrane) and SNX8 (endosomes‐to‐TGN trafficking in a retromer‐independent manner). We show that these SNX–BARs are primarily localized to early endosomes, but display the highest frequency of tubule formation at the moment of early‐to‐late endosome transition: the Rab5‐to‐Rab7 switch. Perturbing this switch shifts SNX–BAR tubulation to early endosomes, resulting in SNX1‐decorated tubules that lack retromer components VPS26 and VPS35, suggesting that both early and late endosomal characteristics of the endosome are important for SNX–BAR–retromer‐tubule formation. We also establish that SNX4, but not SNX1 and SNX8, is associated with the Rab11‐recycling endosomes and that a high frequency of SNX4‐mediated tubule formation is observed as endosomes undergo Rab4‐to‐Rab11 transition. Our study therefore provides evidence for fine‐tuning between the processes of endosomal maturation and the formation of endosomal tubules. As tubulation is required for SNX1‐, SNX4‐ and SNX8‐mediated sorting, these data reveal a previously unrecognized co‐ordination between maturation and tubular‐based sorting.
Stable partitions in coalitional games

We propose a notion of a stable partition in a coalitional game that is parametrized by the concept of a defection function. This function assigns to each partition of the grand coalition a set of different coalition arrangements for a group of defecting players. The alternatives are compared using their social welfare. We characterize the stability of a partition for a number of most natural defection functions and investigate whether and how so defined stable partitions can be reached from any initial partition by means of simple transformations. The approach is illustrated by analyzing an example in which a set of stores seeks an optimal transportation arrangement.
HMM based Fuzzy Model for Time Series Prediction

This paper presents a hidden Markov model (HMM) based fuzzy rule extraction technique for predicting a time series generated by a chaotic dynamical system. The model uses three sequential phases. Firstly, the HMM is used to partition the input dataset based on the ordering of the calculated log-likelihood values (similarity measures). Then, a recursive top-down algorithm is used to generate the minimum number of rules required to accurately predict the next value in the time series using the training dataset. Finally, a gradient descent method is applied to the extracted fuzzy rules in order to fine-tune the model parameters. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated using a benchmark dataset -the Mackey-Glass time series. The results obtained clearly demonstrate significant improvement in prediction capabilities of the proposed HMM-fuzzy model when compared to the other techniques.