Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does higher-yielding agriculture mean more environmental harm?

A criticism of the land-sparing approach to preserving biodiversity, by restricting farmland to a smaller, higher-yielding area, is that other impacts are higher in food produced this way. This study aims to investigate the evidence for this based on currently available data and models for greenhouse gas emissions, N, P and soil loss and water use. We asked 25 experts to identify and supply data to plot environmental impact per unit of product against yield for the beef, dairy, wheat and rice sectors. This produced data from modelling and field trials and the lifecycle assessment and field trial literature. The data were modelled statistically to adjust for differences between the studies. Given data limitations, it does not seem that higher yielding agricultural production has higher impacts, often quite the reverse. We ask those conducting field studies to collect data that can definitively answer this question.
Circular orbits detection for gaze interaction using 2D correlation and profile matching algorithms

Recently, interaction techniques in which the user selects screen targets by matching their movement with the input device have been gaining popularity, particularly in the context of gaze interaction (e.g. Pursuits, Orbits, AmbiGaze, etc.). However, though many algorithms for enabling such interaction techniques have been proposed, we still lack an understanding of how they compare to each other. In this paper, we introduce two new algorithms for matching eye movements: Profile Matching and 2D Correlation, and present a systematic comparison of these algorithms with two other state-of-the-art algorithms: the Basic Correlation algorithm used in Pursuits and the Rotated Correlation algorithm used in PathSync. We also examine the effects of two thresholding techniques and post-hoc filtering. We evaluated the algorithms on a user dataset and found the 2D Correlation with one-level thresholding and post-hoc filtering to be the best performing algorithm.
Practical quantification of image registration accuracy following the AAPM TG‐132 report framework

Abstract The AAPM TG 132 Report enumerates important steps for validation of the medical image registration process. While the Report outlines the general goals and criteria for the tests, specific implementation may be obscure to the wider clinical audience. We endeavored to provide a detailed step‐by‐step description of the quantitative tests’ execution, applied as an example to a commercial software package (Mirada Medical, Oxford, UK), while striving for simplicity and utilization of readily available software. We demonstrated how the rigid registration data could be easily extracted from the DICOM registration object and used, following some simple matrix math, to quantify accuracy of rigid translations and rotations. The options for validating deformable image registration (DIR) were enumerated, and it was shown that the most practically viable ones are comparison of propagated internal landmark points on the published datasets, or of segmented contours that can be generated locally. The multimodal rigid registration in our example did not always result in the desired registration error below ½ voxel size, but was considered acceptable with the maximum errors under 1.3 mm and 1°. The DIR target registration errors in the thorax based on internal landmarks were far in excess of the Report recommendations of 2 mm average and 5 mm maximum. On the other hand, evaluation of the DIR major organs’ contours propagation demonstrated good agreement for lung and abdomen (Dice Similarity Coefficients, DSC, averaged over all cases and structures of 0.92 ± 0.05 and 0.91 ± 0.06, respectively), and fair agreement for Head and Neck (average DSC = 0.73 ± 0.14). The average for head and neck is reduced by small volume structures such as pharyngeal constrictor muscles. Even these relatively simple tests show that commercial registration algorithms cannot be automatically assumed sufficiently accurate for all applications. Formalized task‐specific accuracy quantification should be expected from the vendors.
Following Lung Resection: Does the volume of perioperative fluid affect patient outcomes?

Introduction: Appropriate amount of intraoperative intravenous (IV) fluid has been controversial in thoracic surgery. In our study, we investigated outcome measures associated with patients undergoing lung resection for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the correlation with perioperative IV fluids. Methods: A retrospective review of consecutive patients undergoing open lobectomy and bilobectomy for primary NSCLC between January 2010 and June 2016 was performed. Patient were divided into those receiving intraoperative IV fluid less than 7 cc/ kg/hr, 7 to 10 cc/kg/hr, and equal to or greater than 10 cc/kg/hr. Postoperative IV fluid was also recorded. We compared this against patient’s demographics, intraoperative parameters and complication rate. Results: 142 patients with the mean age of 66.5 years were identified. There was no significant difference in the hospital or ICU stay between any of the groups. Patients who received greater than 10 cc/kg/hr intraoperative IV fluids have higher rate of one or more complications and reoperation rate. Patients who had greater than 1.5 cc/kg/hr perioperative fluid have significantly higher duration of chest tube in-situ and pulmonary complication rate. Patients receiving less than 7 cc/kg/hr intraoperative IV fluids have no benefits compare to the group receiving larger IV fluid. Conclusions: In our study, giving high amounts of intraoperative and perioperative IV fluid has adverse effects on postoperative complications. Giving less (< 7 cc/kg/hr) intraoperative IV fluid has no additional benefits. We propose the optimal amount of intraoperative and perioperative IV fluid given should be in between these two extremes.
Clinical application of the GLOBE and United Kingdom‐primary biliary cholangitis risk scores in a trial cohort of patients with primary biliary cholangitis

The GLOBAL Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) Study Group and United Kingdom‐PBC (UK‐PBC) Consortium have demonstrated that dichotomous response criteria are not as accurate as continuous equations at predicting mortality or liver transplantation in PBC. The aim of this analysis was to assess the clinical utility of the GLOBE and UK‐PBC risk scores using data from POISE, a phase 3 trial investigating obeticholic acid (OCA) in patients with PBC. Data (N = 216) at baseline and month 12 were used to calculate the GLOBE and UK‐PBC risk scores to assess the projected change in risk with OCA versus placebo. Additionally, the benefit of OCA was assessed in patients not meeting the POISE primary endpoint. Both the GLOBE and UK‐PBC risk scores predicted a significant reduction in long‐term risk of death and liver transplantation after OCA treatment (P < 0.0001). The differences in the relative risk reduction from baseline in the 10‐year event risk after 1 year for OCA 10 mg versus placebo was 26% (GLOBE) and 37% (UK‐PBC). The scores also predicted a significantly decreased risk in patients treated with OCA who did not meet POISE response criteria after 1 year of treatment compared to an increased risk with placebo (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: This analysis demonstrates the use of the GLOBE and UK‐PBC risk scores to assess risk reduction of a cohort treated with OCA. While validation of this risk reduction in studies with clinical outcomes is needed, this study highlights the potential use of these scores in individualizing risk prediction in PBC both in clinical practice and therapeutic trials. (Hepatology Communications 2018;2:683‐692)
Beyond seablindness: a new agenda for maritime security studies

This article examines the rise of maritime security in concept and practice. We argue that developments in the maritime arena have flown beneath the radar of much mainstream international relations and security studies scholarship, and that a new agenda for maritime security studies is required. In this article we outline the contours of such an agenda, with the intention of providing orientation and direction for future research. Our discussion is structured into three main sections, each of which outlines a core dimension of the maritime security problem space. We begin with a discussion of the issues and themes that comprise the maritime security agenda, including how it has been theorized in security studies to date. Our argument is that the marine environment needs to be understood as part of an interlinked security complex, which also incorporates strong connections between land and sea. Second, we examine the ways in which maritime security actors have responded to these challenges in practice, focusing on issues of maritime domain awareness, coordination of action, and operations in the field. Third, we turn to the mechanisms through which the new maritime security agenda is being disseminated to local actors through a processof devolved security governance. We focus particularly on efforts to distribute knowledge and skills to local actors through capacity building and security sector reform. In the conclusion, we outline the future challenges for maritime security studies that follow from these observations.
Indoor navigation using Wi-Fi fingerprinting combined with pedestrian dead reckoning

This paper presents a method by which to calibrate the Wi-Fi fingerprinting database with less effort using smartphone based Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR) without any a-priori knowledge. Because the accumulated errors from PDR will decrease the quality of the database, we employ a quaternion based orientation extended Kalman filter (EKF) to deal with the pedestrian heading and to narrow down the PDR positioning error to 2.2 meters for a 270 meter path. Furthermore, we implement the Walkie-Markie method to enhance the accuracy of the PDR step positions used to replace the reference points (RPs) built into the Wi-Fi fingerprinting database. The method defines the Wi-Fi landmarks according to the trend of the Receive Signal Strength (RSS) collected by PDR and converges the pathway map using the Wi-Fi Marks (WMs). In a simulation scenario, the WMs and PDR pathway errors is nearly 0 meters.
Exploiting Opinion Influence in Question Answering Systems

This paper proposes a question-answering approach capable of influencing human opinions. We rely on the assumption that humans are inclined to react positively if confronted with a positive situation. Our work is based on up to date opinion mining techniques which we link to the answer candidate generation to produce the question-answering system. We propose a new process of candidate answer selection with regard to both similarity and opinion by introducing a trade-off parameter which also can be adapted on-line to allow for situation specific answers. The presented approach is intended to serve as a basis for a class of future investigations and developments.
Gap-Coupled Excitation for Evanescent-Mode Substrate Integrated Waveguide Filters

This paper reports on a study of substrate integrated waveguides integrated with gap-coupled (capacitive) excitation to design multipole multiband bandpass filters (BPFs). Waveguide structures are conventionally coupled using inductive aperture to realize a BPF. The capacitive gap-coupled structure is proposed as an alternative for the conventional inductive aperture-coupled ones. It is shown that the proposed structure could operate at the frequencies considerably below the cutoff frequency of the waveguide. Therefore, the filters designed by this technique can be considered as evanescent-mode filters, resulting in a significant size reduction. Moreover, the dual-pole and dual-resonance evanescent-mode BPFs are demonstrated by integrating the new and the conventional evanescent-mode resonators. It is shown that the proposed capacitive excitation enables significant miniaturization and resonates at a small fraction of a 3-D structure cutoff frequency. The proposed integration is analytically discussed using lumped element equivalent circuit accompanied by experimental verification.
Short-duration respirometry underestimates metabolic rate for discontinuous breathers

ABSTRACT Metabolic rate is commonly estimated from rates of gas exchange. An underappreciated factor that can influence estimates is patterns of pulmonary respiration. Amphibians display discontinuous respiratory patterns, often including long apnoeas, in addition to cutaneous gas exchange. The contribution of cutaneous exchange increases at low temperatures when metabolic rate is low. Because of the relatively low permeability of skin, measurements that disproportionately capture cutaneous exchange can produce underestimates of metabolic rate. The permeability of amphibian skin to CO2 is greater than that to O2; therefore, calculating the ratio of whole-animal CO2 emission to O2 uptake (the respiratory exchange ratio, RER) can be used to avoid underestimates of metabolic rate by ensuring that observed values of RER fall within the normal physiological range (∼0.7 to 1). Using data for cane toads, Rhinella marina, we show that short-duration measurements lead to underestimates of metabolic rate and overestimates of RER. At low temperatures, this problem is exacerbated, requiring over 12 h for RER to fall within the normal physiological range. Many published values of metabolic rate in animals that utilise cutaneous exchange may be underestimates. Summary: Calculation of the respiratory exchange ratio from rates of both oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide emission avoids underestimation of metabolic rate in discontinuous breathers.
Wavelength-Routed Optical Networks-on-Chip: Design Methods and Tools to Bridge the Gap Between Logic Topologies and Physical Ones in 3D Architectures

Silicon photonics is gaining momentum as a candidate technology platform for future intra- and inter-chip communications. However, its industrial uptake depends not only on technology maturity, but also on the capability to bridge the abstraction gap between technology developers and system designers. This paper presents an early-stage cross-layer refinement methodology of wavelength-routed optical network-on-chip topologies, linking logic topology synthesis to the physical implementation steps.
Le salarié de la précarité

Cet ouvrage etudie les logiques contemporaines de l'integration professionnelle et distingue deux dimensions de la precarite : l'insatisfaction dans le travail et l'instabilite de l'emploi. Le salarie est precaire lorsque son travail lui semble sans interet, mal retribue et faiblement reconnu dans l'entreprise. Mais il l'est aussi lorsque son emploi est incertain et qu'il ne peut ni prevoir son avenir professionnel, ni assurer durablement sa protection sociale. La precarite atteint son stade le plus eleve lorsque le salarie se sent tout a la fois etranger a lui-meme, inutile au travail et desespere face a la menace permanente d'un licenciement. L'ouvrage s'appuie sur le temoignage de 1 000 salaries pour comprendre les contraintes auxquelles ils sont confrontes dans les entreprises. Il tente egalement d'en evaluer les effets economiques, sociaux et politiques.
An IP Core Remote Anonymous Activation Protocol

The IP-based design of Systems-on-chip, both for FPGAs and ASICs, is enabling various new business models, where the essential aspect is the decoupling of system integration from the development of the individual cores. Such new scenarios also bring inherently new security challenges for the protection of the intellectual property. On the other hand, online tracking requires some exposure of the user's platform, which may result in compromised privacy. This work relies on a concept borrowed from the trusted computing area, Direct Anonymous Attestation, to enable remote IP licensing and activation mechanisms preserving the full anonymity of the end user, i.e., making it impossible for the Activation Server (AS) in charge of distributing the IP core license to track the user's behavior across the SoC lifecycle. The main findings of this work lie in the definition of an ad-hoc protocol, called Remote Anonymous Activation Protocol (RAAP), as well as a proof-of-concept implementation. The experimental results collected from the prototype confirm the computational feasibility of the proposed protocol on a representative example of a medium-end system-on-chip.
Optimizing Neural Network as Locomotion Controller With Motion Data

This paper proposes a novel method of optimizing locomotion controller for virtual characters, which is constructed with the deep neural network and learned with the assistance of existing motion data. The learning is accomplished with a progressive reward function by starting from a simple reward function and gradually imposing advanced requirements on the gait pattern. A multi-critic model is proposed to address the dynamically changing reward function by evaluating the individual goal in a separate fashion. This strategy proves effective in avoiding the local minima that are likely to occur when a set of weighted reward functions are introduced at the beginning of the optimization. The results show that the integration of motion data not only ensures the consistency between the synthetic and original motions but also accelerates the learning of network parameters. We demonstrate the application of our method to a variety of virtual characters (cheetah, hopper, 2-D walker, and 3-D humanoid) performing various tasks (walking, running, jumping, and traversing at different velocities and across uneven terrains).
Wearable eye tracker calibration at your fingertips

Common calibration techniques for head-mounted eye trackers rely on markers or an additional person to assist with the procedure. This is a tedious process and may even hinder some practical applications. We propose a novel calibration technique which simplifies the initial calibration step for mobile scenarios. To collect the calibration samples, users only have to point with a finger to various locations in the scene. Our vision-based algorithm detects the users' hand and fingertips which indicate the users' point of interest. This eliminates the need for additional assistance or specialized markers. Our approach achieves comparable accuracy to similar marker-based calibration techniques and is the preferred method by users from our study. The implementation is openly available as a plugin for the open-source Pupil eye tracking platform.
A Psychologically Informed Approach to CLPsych Shared Task 2018

This paper describes our approach to the CLPsych 2018 Shared Task, in which we attempted to predict cross-sectional psychological health at age 11 and future psychological distress based on childhood essays. We attempted several modeling approaches and observed best cross-validated prediction accuracy with relatively simple models based on psychological theory. The models provided reasonable predictions in most outcomes. Notably, our model was especially successful in predicting out-of-sample psychological distress (across people and across time) at age 50.
Coffee and Tea Consumption and the Contribution of Their Added Ingredients to Total Energy and Nutrient Intakes in 10 European Countries: Benchmark Data from the Late 1990s

Background: Coffee and tea are among the most commonly consumed nonalcoholic beverages worldwide, but methodological differences in assessing intake often hamper comparisons across populations. We aimed to (i) describe coffee and tea intakes and (ii) assess their contribution to intakes of selected nutrients in adults across 10 European countries. Method: Between 1995 and 2000, a standardized 24-h dietary recall was conducted among 36,018 men and women from 27 European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study centres. Adjusted arithmetic means of intakes were estimated in grams (=volume) per day by sex and centre. Means of intake across centres were compared by sociodemographic characteristics and lifestyle factors. Results: In women, the mean daily intake of coffee ranged from 94 g/day (~0.6 cups) in Greece to 781 g/day (~4.4 cups) in Aarhus (Denmark), and tea from 14 g/day (~0.1 cups) in Navarra (Spain) to 788 g/day (~4.3 cups) in the UK general population. Similar geographical patterns for mean daily intakes of both coffee and tea were observed in men. Current smokers as compared with those who reported never smoking tended to drink on average up to 500 g/day more coffee and tea combined, but with substantial variation across centres. Other individuals’ characteristics such as educational attainment or age were less predictive. In all centres, coffee and tea contributed to less than 10% of the energy intake. The greatest contribution to total sugar intakes was observed in Southern European centres (up to ~20%). Conclusion: Coffee and tea intake and their contribution to energy and sugar intake differed greatly among European adults. Variation in consumption was mostly driven by geographical region.
Mining Worldwide Entrepreneurs Psycholinguistic Dimensions from Twitter

Entrepreneurs have been subjects of great interest among researchers since they are commonly recognized as important players for economic growth worldwide. A variety of studies have already been conducted, in which entrepreneurs motivations, emotions, choices, income, behavior, personality, and thinking, amongst others, were analyzed. However, little has been investigated about the interactions of entrepreneurs within the context of online social networks, and even less at a geographical level where they develop their duties. Two of the well-known organizations in the world, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Consortium and the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI), provide valuable insights about the entrepreneurial activity and the countries’ entrepreneurship ecosystems, based on several dimensions. Yet, none of such dimensions have taken into account the speech of entrepreneurs in social media, and the reproducibility of such studies presents considerable limitations as they are very costly and highly demanding. The present study proposes a framework to fetch users, grouped by their country of residence, from a target community in the micro-blogging platform Twitter. By using natural language processing and data mining techniques over psycholinguistic dimensions present on 219M posts, authored by 135K entrepreneurs of 65 countries, we found significant differences in their speech. Results indicate that African entrepreneurs show higher scores regarding negative emotions than the rest of the entrepreneurs’ population. In addition to this, we found that entrepreneurs from developed countries exhibit higher scores in positive emotions than other entrepreneurs in the world.
Photosynthesis-irradiance relationships of antarctic phytoplankton during austral winter

Results from photosynthesis-irradiance (P-I) experiments were used to examine photosynthetic adaptations of phytoplankton populations from the Bransfield Strait region in Antarctica during austral winter. Chlorophyll a concentrations during this period were low, ranging from 0.04 to 0.33 pg I ' in the mixed layer. Average photosynthetic efficiency (a) for surface populations was 0.021 mg C (mg ch1)-' h-' (FE m-' S ' ) ' (+0.01) , andmean maximum photosynthetic rates (P:) were 1.19mg C (mg ch1)-' h-' ( 2 0 . 6 ) No apparent differences were found between photosynthetic parameters for open ocean regions or within the Bransfield Strait, and there was little evidence for adaptation within the water column. Integrated production within the euphotic zone was low, 1 to 7 mg C m-2 dl , when estimated either from in situ measurements or from P-I relationships. These low primary productivity values support the belief that the waters within the Antarctic remain a region of extremely low productivity during the winter, despite conditions such as water column stratification and saturating surface irradiance levels which could potentially support phytoplankton growth.