Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monitoring Changes in Minnesota Wetland Area and Type from 2006 to 2014

It has been estimated that Minnesota has lost approximately half of its original pre-settlement wetlands due to draining and filling for agriculture and development, with some regions of the state having lost more than 90 percent of their original wetlands. Other studies have demonstrated more recent wetland losses for portions of Minnesota. Reported wetland loss of 4.3% over an approximately 27 year period (circa 1980 to 2007) for southwestern Minnesota.
Exploring linguistic structure for aspect-based sentiment analysis

Aspect-based sentiment analysis is a task that extracts relevant sentiments of a specific aspect. An opinion text is usually composed of views on different aspects of an entity. By investigating the sources of errors, we observe that a scoring method at the level of elementary discourse units (EDUs) highly contributes to the accuracy of sentiment classification at the aspect level. Score aggregation can be improved by considering linguistic structures between EDUs in a hierarchical manner. We propose a new score aggregation strategy that incrementally aggregates sentiment scores from EDUs to local segments and from local segments to an aspect. The experimental results on a product review dataset demonstrate that our new score aggregation method improves the performance of sentiment classification at the aspect level. At the EDU level, calculation of polarity scores using an all-term average yields better performance compared to score calculation based on opinion phrases extracted by using term dependencies.
Nanoparticles and Genotoxicity

Nanotechnology has advanced rapidly in the last years; Nanotechnology is an enabling technology due to the applications of nanoparticles (NPs) in diverse commercial products. Nanoparticles have unique physicochemical and biological properties and have demonstrated also extraordinary potential for biomedical purposes. Despite the extensive use of nanoparticles in various fields, human exposure to nanoparticles is increasing, it is important to assess their toxicity. This review focuses on the potential of nanomaterial’s to cause genotoxicity and summarizes recent genotoxicity studies. The test most employed to evaluate the genotoxicity of these nanomaterial is the comet assay, followed by micronucleus, Ames and chromosome aberration tests.
EVALUATION ON RAPID PROFILING WITH CLUSTERING ALGORITHMS FOR PLANTATION STOCKS ON BURSA MALAYSIA

Building a stock portfolio often requires extensive financial knowledge and Herculean efforts looking at the amount of financial data to analyse. In this study, we utilized Expectation Maximization (EM), K-Means (KM), and Hierarchical Clustering (HC) algorithms to cluster the 38 plantation stocks listed on Bursa Malaysia using 14 financial ratios derived from the fundamental analysis. The clustering allows investors to profile each resulted cluster statistically and assists them in selecting stocks for their stock portfolios rapidly. The performance of each cluster was then assessed using 1-year stock price movement. The result showed that a cluster resulted from EM had a better profile and obtained a higher average capital gain as compared with the other clusters.
Development of a 3D-PTV algorithm for the investigation of characteristic flow structures in the upper human bronchial tree

The flow in the upper bronchial tree is highly unsteady and three-dimensional. In order to capture the characteristic flow patterns inside a model of the upper human conducting airways, a three-dimensional Particle Tracking Velocimetry evaluation algorithm is developed and tested. At first, the general concept as well as the single routines to obtain three-dimensional particle trajectories are described. Before discussing experimental results, the algorithm is used to process synthetic data to estimate the limits and errors of the reconstruction. Images with a particle density of up to 0.01 particles per pixel are evaluated. For a stepwise particle reconstruction it is shown, that for the whole range about 95% of all particles could be reconstructed with a fraction of ghost particles below 10%. Experiments are conducted using a transparent silicone lung model of the upper human airways. Characteristic flow parameters feature those of normal breathing with a Womersley number of α = 3.0 and a Reynolds number of about Re = 2000. The results reveal the capability of the particle tracking algorithm to reconstruct important flow features during breathing . Fig. 1 Reconstructed particle trajectories for an oscillating frequency of 0.15 Hz and a tidal volume of 500 ml. Image a) shows flow conditions at peak inspiration, image b) at peak expiration. Trajectories are color coded in respect to their local absolute velocity |u|.
Fungus gnats of the genus Urytalpa Edwards (Diptera: Keroplatidae) in Japan

Three Japanese species of the genus Urytalpa are examined. Urytalpa sapporoensis (Okada) is transferred from Zelmira. Urytalpa yoshidai and U. crassicauda are described as new to science. Morphological characters indicate that U. yoshidai is closely related to Asindulum montanum Röder, and the genus Urytalpa is indicated to be non‐monophyletic. A key to the Japanese species is given.
Estimating Optimal Weights for Combinations of Multiple Forecasts

The combining of multiple models is a technique used in forecasting to improve results over individual models. In this paper, we describe a method to produce an optimal composite forecast by decorrelating the original source data, similar to Principal Component Analysis, and combining the decorrelated components with observed data in an optimal manner. As a test of the performance of the method, we used water level forecasts of varying quality from the Finnish Baltic Sea coast, together with tidegauge measurements. The tests show a 5-25% improvement of the forecast error over the best original forecast. The method is robust and suitable for operational use to produce forecasts without human intervention.
Identifying Iris Sensors from Iris Images

In this chapter we examined two passive approaches to secure an iris recognition system against insertion attacks by verifying the authenticity of the iris images. The first one, named PSI, is based on the photo response non-uniformity (PRNU) of image sensors and the second one, named ITC, exploits the texture information of unrolled iris images. The examination was performed using images from nine distinct iris databases or sensors, respectively
Clinical performance of an objective methodology to categorize tear film lipid layer patterns

Purpose: To validate the performance of a new objective application designated iDEAS (Dry Eye Assessment System) to categorize different zones of lipid layer patterns (LLPs) in one image. Material and methods: Using the Tearscopeplus and a digital camera attached to a slit-lamp, 50 images were captured and analyzed by 4 experienced optometrists. In each image the observers outlined tear film zones that they clearly identified as a specific LLP. Further, the categorization made by the 4 optometrists (called observer 1, 2, 3 and 4) was compared with the automatic system included in iDEAS (5th observer). Results: In general, observer 3 classified worse than all observers (observers 1, 2, 4 and automatic application, Wilcoxon test, <0.05). The automatic system behaved similar to the remaining three observers (observer 1, 2 and 4) showing differences only for Open meshwork LLP when comparing with observer 4 (Wilcoxon test, p=0.02). For the remaining two observers (observer 1 and 2) there was not found statistical differences (Wilcoxon test, >0.05). Furthermore, we obtained a set of photographs per LLP category for which all optometrists showed agreement by using the new tool. After examining them, we detected the more characteristic features for each LLP to enhance the description of the patterns implemented by Guillon. Conclusions: The automatic application included in the iDEAS framework is able to provide zones similar to the annotations made by experienced optometrists. Thus, the manual process done by experts can be automated with the benefits of being unaffected by subjective factors.
Bias in the Choice of Product Differentiation : Evidence from the Taiwanese Media Industry ∗

In this study, we empirically analyze the choice of ideology position in the industry of political talk show programs in Taiwan. We propose a structural model to characterize viewers’ program choice and use the estimated model to investigate a program’s ideology choice. Our estimation result indicates that viewers are more likely to watch a program which offers a slant closer to their own political preference. We also find that the observed ideology positions among political talk show programs are too extreme when comparing to their viewership-maximizing benchmark.
Publications 2005-0101 Prioritization Methods for Accelerating MDP Solvers

The performance of value and policy iteration can be dramati cally improved by eliminating redundant or useless backups, and by backing up states in the right order. We study several methods designed to accelerate these iterative solvers, including prioritization, partitioning, and variable reordering. We generate a family of algorithms by combining several of the methods discussed, and present extensive empirical evidence demonstrating th at performance can improve by several orders of magnitude for many problems, while preserving acc uracy and convergence guarantees.
TRIZ methods applied to the analysis of disruption in the marketplace

Since it's conception by Everett Rogers in 1962 [1], the “S-curve” has been known and used for more than 50 years. The S-curve model has allowed for the prediction of market disruption but has consistently failed to predict the timing in which when disruption would occur. Adner and Kapoor provided a framework [2] that links the evolution of an incumbent challenged by a new technology to the evolution of the ecosystem, providing a better predictive model for the occurrence of disruption. According to the authors, the “mode” and timing of a disruption may now be reasonably be predicted. From a practitioner’s point of view, the question at hand is how to identify the right strategies and subsequent tactics to respond to each of these disruption scenarios, for both the position of the incumbent and new entrant. We propose these answers can be found within the body of knowledge TRIZ offers in its analysis of tends as well as inventive and separation principles. The utilization of these practices can guide both the incumbent and contender to the strategies best employed when engaging with each scenario of disruption. We have demonstrated in this approach through the following case study.
Automatic electrocardiogram signal quality assessment in continuous wireless monitoring

This paper presents an automatic signal quality assessment method for continuously monitoring electrocardiogram (ECG) signals using wireless sensors attached to human bodies, with particular attention being given to ECG signals captured while the subjects are performing daily routine activities. In this study signal recordings from three databases are used: two ECG databases acquired using wireless body sensor networks from young subjects and elderly subjects during their daily routine activities, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital arrhythmia database. From these databases, ECG signals are divided into small segments, each 5 seconds long, and are then labelled with two levels of quality, i.e. ‘low-quality’ and ‘high-quality’. For feature extraction, two levels of statistical features are employed: (i) window-based temporal features and (ii) segment-based features. The latter are derived from statistical values of the window-based temporal features and ECG signal amplitudes. A correlation-based feature selection algorithm is applied to find an optimal set of features. For signal quality classification, four machine-learning-based classification algorithms, i.e. Instance-based Learning, Decision Tree, Multilayer Perceptron and Rule Induction, are compared.
AN APPROACH TOWARDS OPTIMISED LOW POWER NANOSCALE REVERSIBLE DECODER USING QUANTUM-DOT CELLULAR AUTOMATA

The Nano computing paradigm is in need of design and modelling of reversible digital circuits. Reversible digital circuits like adders, subtractors, shift registers, comparators, and decoders have been already proposed. In this paper an approach towards optimized reversible nanoscale decoder using QCA2 gate with Quantum Dot cellular Automata has been proposed. The proposed Reversible decoder uses QCA layout of QCA2 gate and has optimized cell count, area and latency.
HODs ’ views on their capacity to conduct moderation of School Based Assessment in Tourism

The new South African National Curriculum Statement recommends a change in assessment practices which requires schools to place more emphasis on continuous assessment as an integral part of learning, teaching and assessment. It was against this background that a school-based assessment (SBA) component was introduced in the National Senior Certificate Examination. The underlying principles of this new assessment mode also have implications for quality assurance processes such as moderation which the head of department (HOD), as a curriculum manager, is responsible for. This implies that successful implementation of SBA not only depends on the teacher’s conceptual understanding, but largely on how HODs play their role in terms of moderating it. The study investigated the role of HODs in moderating SBA in secondary schools, with the specific aim of determining their capacity to conduct SBA moderation in Tourism. This was a qualitative study which conducted semi-structured face to face interviews with one HOD from each of four schools in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The participants were purposively selected because they were managing Tourism as a subject. The results revealed that the HODs were not capacitated to conduct SBA moderation in Tourism. This was attributed to a lack of training as well as insufficient Tourism content knowledge. Available evidence suggests that, in order to promote quality SBA, there is a need for capacity development among HODs as they are mainly responsible for moderation at the high school level.
Experimenting with data-driven frameworks

From logs and information left in online spaces to data points self-generated by connected devices, digital traces have become more and more diffused over the past years. Along with some big-data approaches, Digital Methods of research treating the actual content of users’ manifestation online (i.e. tweets, Instagram pictures, comments) offer the opportunity to better understand people and behaviours through their online activities. This paper investigates how Digital Methods can be repurposed as a full-fledged approach for the Service Design practice, by offering a method to outline service design frameworks from a corpus of web data. These quantitative methods, in combination with the traditional qualitative ethnographic approaches, leverage the continuous exchange of information that is happening in the digital space and suggest the possibility to automate parts of the data collection and analysis processes in support of service design activities. Grafting on several case studies we will explain how Digital Methods could be used to identify and describe a set of personas by extracting and interpreting data from their online activities, and we will inquire into the application of the same methodological approach to map other frameworks such as experience journeys or system maps that are critical to Service Design.
A Complex ApproACh to SpellCheCking And AutoCorreCtion for ruSSiAn

This study discusses a number of methods that can be used jointly for error detection and correction, namely blacklists and pre-compiled dictionaries, a word2vec model, an N-gram language model and a tripartite error model. Our system consists of two standalone modules, an error detection confidence classifier, built with the help of supervised machine learning methods, and a corrector that processes words flagged as misspellings by the classifier. The error detection classifier uses word2vec filtered vector scores as one of the features. Apart from that, to achieve higher accuracy while having little training data, we use a hybrid error model that combines three approaches: the traditional channel model that uses single letter edits, the model introduced by Brill and Moore, and an extended version of the channel model that uses wider context edits. Combining these tools and methods we achieved rather promising results: our system effectively handles both known and unknown words, including difficult cases such as slang.
Telerobotic control with stereoscopic augmented reality

Teleoperation in unstructured environments is conventionally restricted to direct manual control of the robot. Under such circumstances operator performance can be affected by inadequate visual feedback from the remote site, caused by, for example, limitations in the bandwidth of the communication channel. This paper introduces ARTEMIS (Augmented Reality TEleManipulation Interface System), a new display interface for enabling local teleoperation task simulation. An important feature of the interface is that the display can be generated in the absence of a model of the remote operating site. The display consists of a stereographical model of the robot overlaid on real stereovideo images from the remote site. This stereographical robot is used to simulate manipulation with respect to objects visible in the stereovideo image, following which sequences of robot control instructions can be transmitted to the remote site. In the present system, the update rate of video images can be very low, since continuous feedback is no longer needed for direct manual control of the robot. Several features of the system are presented and its advantages discussed, together with an illustrative example of a pick-and-place task.
English / Chinese Documents Alignment using Length-based and Text-based Approaches

Structural and semantic interoperability have been the focus of digital library research in the past. Searching and retrieving objects across variations in protocols, formats and disciplines are widely explored. However, research in crossing language boundaries, especially across European languages and Oriental languages, is still in the initial stage. In this proposal, we focus on the issue of crosslingual semantic interoperability. Corpus-based approach is promising for cross-lingual information retrieval, which overcomes the limitation of the knowledge-based approach and controlled vocabulary approach. Since it is impractical to construct bilingual dictionary or sophisticated multilingual thesauri manually for large applications, the corpus-based approach uses the term co-occurrence statistics in parallel or comparable corpora to construct a statistical translation model for crosslingual information retrieval. However, collecting the parallel or comparable corpora is not an easy task. In this paper, we investigate the length-based approach and text-based approach to align English/Chinese parallel documents from the Web.
Optimization of glucose production from corncob by microwave-assisted alkali pretreatment and acid hydrolysis

The production of reducing sugar is the most crucial process in the production of cellulosic ethanol and can be divided into two steps. First, pretreatment removes the unwanted constituents of lignocellulose to produce cellulose; then the cellulose is hydrolyzed to glucose (a reducing sugar) in the hydrolysis step. In this work, microwave heating was applied for both alkali pretreatment and sequential acid hydrolysis of corncob in which the conditions were optimized by response surface methodology. The optimal cellulose content in the pretreated corncob was 52.9 % w/w obtained with 1 M sodium hydroxide using a 1:12 weight ratio of corncob to solution at 900 W microwave power for 20 min, which was used to optimize the glucose yield in the following step. The highest yield of 14.8% glucose was achieved with 1.3% w/w sulfuric acid solution at 900 W for 16 min.
Country : Finland Final Report Summary-MAREX ( Exploring Marine Resources for Bioactive Compounds : From Discovery to Sustainable Production and Industrial Applications )

Final Report Summary MAREX (Exploring Marine Resources for Bioactive Compounds: From Discovery to Sustainable Production and Industrial Applications) Executive Summary: Biodiversity in the seas is only partly explored, although marine organisms are excellent sources for many industrial products. Through close cooperation between industrial and academic partners, it is possible to successfully collect, isolate and classify marine organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, microand macroalgae, cyanobacteria, and marine invertebrates from the oceans and seas globally. Classification of marine organisms exceeds 230,000 species; in the European seas over 36,000 species are known and 5,000-20,000 species are estimated to be still undiscovered. The maritime territory of the European Union is the world's largest with an economic zone covering 25 million km2. The Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea, the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Adriatic Sea, and the brackish Baltic Sea can be regarded as the most important ones for the EU. All these seas have been accessible through the partners of our MAREX Consortium, in which also Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea have been included through the Beneficiaries from four international collaboration partner countries (ICPC).
Nitric oxide signalling in hippocampal synaptic plasticity

Nitric oxide (NO) is a freely diffusible transmitter acting throughout the mammalian nervous system via guanylyl cyclase activation and cGMP production. Since neuronal NO synthesis is linked to NMDA receptor activation, much research has focused on the role of NO in NMDA receptor-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP). The proposed role predicts that exogenous NO, paired with a standard LTP induction protocol, should restore the NO-dependent component of LTP when NMDA receptors are blocked. Surprisingly, however, tests of this prediction have not been reported. Here, it was found that exogenous NO, paired with a 1-s, 100-Hz tetanus during NMDA receptor blockade yielded a slowly-rising, long-lasting potentiation of CA1 field EPSPs in hippocampal slices. Like NO-dependent LTP, this potentiation required the tetanus and was guanylyl cyclase-dependent. Contrary to predictions, however, the NO-induced potentiation was additive with subsequent LTP. At CA1 and other synapses, NO is viewed as a putative retrograde transmitter, generated postsynaptically and acting presynaptically. Discordant with this role, the NO-induced potentiation was not associated with a persistent change in paired-pulse facilitation, an index of presynaptic function. However, endogenous NO did appear to facilitate neurotransmitter release under conditions of basal stimulation. In this case, NO generated by endothelial cells was responsible, perhaps explaining the requirement for endothelium-derived NO in LTP. An NMDA receptor-independent form of LTP involving L-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels has previously been described at CA1 synapses. Unexpectedly, we found that this type of LTP also required NO, apparently derived solely from neurons. Unfortunately, supposed inhibitors of neuronal NO synthesis, though widely used, were found to be inadequately selective to be of use diagnostically. Finally, presynaptic effects of NO, such as those described above, have been reported to require the guanylyl cyclase α1 subunit. Accordingly, immunohistochemistry was used to investigate the location of this subunit in the hippocampus.