Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DuaLAnet: Dual Lesion Attention Network for Thoracic Disease Classification in Chest X-Rays

The chest radiography is one of the most accessible radiological examinations for diagnosis of lung and heart diseases. Deep learning techniques have been increasingly used to provide more accurate detection of thorax lesions on Chest X-Ray (CXR) images. However, we observe that we can use the complementarity of dual asymmetric deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) to improve the ability of CXR image classification compared to the single network. In this paper, we propose a novel dual lesion attention network named DuaLAnet for the classification of 14 thorax diseases on chest radiography. The DuaLAnet consists of two asymmetric attention networks, DenseNet-169 and ResNet-152, to integrate the advantages into a wider architecture, thus extracting more discriminative features of different abnormalities from the raw CXRs. Moreover, a training strategy is designed to integrate the loss contribution of the involved classifiers into a unified loss. The proposed DuaLAnet has been evaluated against eight deep learning models using the patient-wise official split of the ChestX-ray14 dataset [1]. Our results show that DuaLAnet achieves and average per-class AUC of 0.820 in the experiments, which clearly substantiate the effectiveness of DuaLAnet when compared to the state-of-the-art baselines.
Low-Complexity Compressed Sensing Downlink Channel Estimation for Multi-Antenna Terminals in FDD Massive MIMO Systems

In frequency division duplexing (FDD) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, the overhead of downlink channel estimation is complex in terms of the pilot overhead, the calculation cost and the estimation process. In this paper, we propose a low-complexity downlink channel estimation scheme based on compressed sensing for mobile multi-antenna terminals. In the scheme, the mobile terminal estimates the downlink massive MIMO channel and utilises the characteristics of the spatial sparsity of the massive MIMO channel to reduce the feedback overhead by feeding back the nonzero value of the sparse channel. Specifically, we propose a low-complexity estimation algorithm based on compressive sensing for multi-antenna terminals to reduce the computational overhead of the terminal. Since different antennas of a terminal share the same support set, the algorithm estimates multiple indices per iteration, collecting the estimated indices of different antennas at the end of each iteration, thereby reducing the total number of iterations of the algorithm. Then, we derive a halting condition for a greedy algorithm that stops the iteration process according to the residual energy. The simulation results illustrate the efficiency of the halting condition for the greedy algorithm and the low complexity of the proposed algorithm. In contrast to different greedy algorithms and the Bayesian algorithm, the proposed algorithm has a complexity that decreases as the number of terminal antennas.
DNA REASSOCIATION KINETICS OF FOUR CONIFERS

The DNA genome size of four conifers was determined cytophotometrically and the diploid amounts of DNA per cell of Picea glauca (Moench)Voss, Pinus banksiana Lamb. , Pinus lambertiana Dougl. , and Pinus resinosa Ait. were 19.3, 29.8, 87.7 and 43.1 pg. , respectively. These DNA values yield rRNA gene numbers considerably lower than previously published (Hotta and Miksche, 1974). The DNA was further characterized by studying the kinetics of reassociation. The results indicated that in all four conifers there are four repeated nucleotide sequence fractions and one unique fraction. The genome size as determined by reassociation of the single copy DNA approximated the genome size determined by cytophotometry for Picea glauca and Pinus banksiana. Pinus lambertiana and Pinus resinosa appeared to have a genome size, as determined by cytophotometry, larger than the genome sizes determined by reassociation, indicating possible ploidy of their respective genomes.
Peak Age-of-Information Minimization of UAV-Aided Relay Transmission

We consider a scenario where an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aids a source node to transmit data packets to a remote destination node. The goal is to minimize the peak age-of-information (PAoI) by jointly optimizing the flight trajectory of the UAV, the service time of data packets, and the power allocation for packet transmission. The feasibility condition of the joint design problem is first derived. Since the joint design problem is highly non-convex, we propose an efficient iterative algorithm based on the successive convex approximation to transform this non-convex problem into convex optimization problems, which can thus be efficiently solved by the off-the-shelf solvers. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm performs better than that based on the alternating optimization. The energy and power constraints have a significant impact on the PAoI. Meanwhile, when the energy is limited and/or the packet loads are heavy, the PAoI is dominated by the flight time of the UAV.
Detection of unsigned ephemeral road incidents by visual cues learned from first-on-scene vehicles

Traffic is a highly dynamic environment and ephemeral changes to the on-road conditions impact it continuously. Research in Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) is currently highly focused on dynamic changes, due to the high safety requirements [12]. AVs must be able to detect and respond appropriately to incidents. In a connected traffic data ecosystem [3], AVs will further share traffic information about the state of the road network. Our research addresses the detection of ephemeral incidents affecting road networks by first-on-scene vehicles. An incident is ". an event, which directly or indirectly can result in considerable reductions or interruptions in the serviceability of a link/route/road network. " [2]. For any unsigned incident (i.e. not yet signposted or tagged incidents such as a recently detected fire), the sensors of the vehicle that is first on the scene should detect and assess the danger to the traffic and report it to the connected traffic ecosystem. Efforts have been made to recognize signed changes to the environment (i.e., pedestrian and traffic signs) [6, 14], as well as the avoidance of dynamic scenarios (e.g., pedestrians or animals stepping into the traffic [9, 10, 11]). Yet, there has been no research covering the systematic classification and autonomous detection of various types of incidents by first-on-scene vehicles. In this paper we address the problem of identifying and classifying unsigned ephemeral on-road incidents from street-level imagery, such as those acquired by dashcams. We present the approach to the creation of an extensive, labeled street-level image library that supports the detection and classification of on-road incidents using a deep convolutional neural network (CNN). The full results of the experiments will be reported at the workshop.
Statistically-Aided Codebook-Based Hybrid Precoding for mmWave Single-User MIMO Systems

In this paper, we propose practical yet effective statistically-aided codebook-based hybrid precoding schemes for single-user massive MIMO systems operating in millimeter wave channels. We develop novel hybrid precoding algorithms for selecting analog and/or the digital precoders from DFT-based codebooks. The selection algorithms aim at maximizing the spectral efficiency based on minimizing the chordal distance between the optimal unconstrained precoder given by the dominant right singular vectors of the channel and the hybrid (digital/analog) beamformer selected from statistically skewed DFT codebooks. We investigate the performance of the proposed algorithms by considering the mutual information as a performance metric. We derive lower and upper bounds on the mutual information of the channel given the proposed algorithms. Moreover, we show that the performance gap between the lower and upper bounds depends heavily on how many DFT columns are aligned to the largest eigenvectors of the transmit antenna array response of the millimeter wave channel. Then, we show that the proposed algorithms are asymptotically optimal as the number of transmit antennas M goes to infinity and the millimeter wave channel has a limited number of paths, i.e., P < M. Finally, we verify the performance of the proposed algorithms and the DFT codebook numerically. The results illustrate that the spectral efficiency performance of the proposed algorithms approaches the optimal precoder performance in certain scenarios.
Dynamic DEA: A Hybrid Measure Approach

In the real world applications, there are some situations where inputs and outputs are timedependent and are affected during the production periods. Capital stock can be seen as an effective instance in such occasions. In order to handling long-time planning, dynamic structure was proposed in efficiency evaluation. In this framework, there are some of the inputs and outputs change proportionally, which is called radially and the others change non-radially. Hence, for efficiency evaluation a combination of the radial and non-radial approaches, the hybrid model is applied. This paper goals to extend the hybrid measure in dynamic structure of Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA), also efforts to evaluate the overall efficiency of Decision Making Units(DMUs) with both radial and non-radial inputs and outputs for the whole terms as well as each term efficiencies.
Meromixis in hypersaline Mono Lake, California. 1. Stratification and vertical mixing during the onset, persistence, and breakdown of meromixis

Changes in vertical mixing in hypersaline Mono Lake, California, are described for the onset, persistence, and breakdown of meromixis, 1982 through 1990. In 1982 and 1983 exceptionally large runoff led to a 2.6-m rise in surface elevation and the onset of meromixis. Chemical stratification accounted for a density difference between 2 and 28 m of 1.2-1.5 x 1O-2 g cm-3 in 1984; the midsummer density difference between 2 and 28 m due to temperature was -0.5 x 10 -2 g cm -? Salinities ranged from 77 to 98 g liter-‘; sodium, chloride, sulfate, and carbonate are the major ions. The flux-gradient heat method corrected for solar heating was used to calculate vertical mixing during the period from April to October. The eddy diffusivity at the thermocline ranged from molecular to 26 x 10. 6 m2 s- ’ and averaged 3.4 x lo-” m2 s-l. Eddy diffusivity was found to regress on Nr, the Brunt-Vaisala frequency squared, to the -0.58 power, suggesting turbulence is generated by local shear rather than large-scale processes.
Residential Housing Choice in a Multihazard Environment: Implications for Natural Hazards Mitigation and Community Environmental Justice

This study examines residents’ housing decisions in a multihazard environment (flood, hurricane, and toxic chemicals). The combination of a hedonic price model and a household survey conducted in Harris County, Texas, indicates that flood hazard was an important factor in households’ housing decisions, but not hurricane and toxic materials hazards. The results have further suggested that home buyers were poorly informed about hurricane and toxic materials hazards when housing decisions were made and came to understand their vulnerability only while living in hazard-prone neighborhoods. Moreover, it appears that low-income households and minorities were the least-informed group in the housing market. These findings provide implications for using hazard information programs to promote community resilience to natural hazards and community environmental justice.
ROBUST BASEDBAND REED SOLOMON DETECTION OVER POWER LINE CHANNEL

The research studied the transmission of based-band data for conventional Reed Solomon Codes (RS) over hostile impulsive channel such as power-line channels (PLC). The research works identified the breakdown of well-designed conventional RS codes over PLC impulsive channel and proposed a mitigation technique to improve the performance of such RS codes over impulsive channel. Traditionally, Reed Solomon Codes is designed effectively to combat and correct burst errors arising from Addictive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN). However, it works ineffectively against non-Gaussian noise interference, particularly on PLC channel. Thus such decoding method failed severely in impulsive noise interference due to the deficiency in its design on part of the decoder which is optimized for AWGN channel. Traditionally, median value can statistically eliminate the influence of outliers. Hence, the excellent trait of median value was exploited in our study to eliminate impulses arising from PLC. As a consequence, median filtering framework is incorporated to enhance the detection of signals from PLC prior to hard decision RS decoding. The simulation results showed that performance of RS codes is substantially improved after median filtering. The incorporation of median filtering framework into RS codes has significantly strengthened the operation of RS codes over hostile PLC channel.
Informing Healthy Transport Policies

Transport is an important determinant of health, and the health impact of transport interventions requires robust evaluation. Systematic reviews provide a rigorous tool for locating, appraising, and synthesizing evaluative evidence. Some systematic reviews use meta-analysis techniques to synthesize data, but other systematic reviews do not. This paper addresses some methodological and practical issues associated with conducting systematic reviews on the health impact of transport interventions. By using as case studies recently conducted reviews on topics such as the health impact of new roads and the effectiveness of interventions in promoting modal shift, the paper outlines many of the challenges faced by systematic reviewers in this field. It then describes some research synthesis techniques available to systematic reviewers and discusses some of the strengths and weaknesses of these techniques. Systematic literature reviews on the health impact of specific transport interventions can be used to inform decision making. However, reviews of such complex interventions require an innovative approach to the methodologies of systematic reviews and research synthesis.
Studies on agar degrading Salegentibacter sp. and characterization of its agarase

The phenotypic and agar degrading features of an unidentified marine bacteria was investigated. The strain was Gram-negative, obligatory aerobic and non motile. On the basis of several morphological features and a phylogenetic analysis of the genes coding for the 16S rDNA, this strain was identified as Salegentibacter sp. On solid agar medium, this isolate produced extracellular agarase which causes agar liquefaction around the colonies. An extracellular agarase was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. The purified protein migrated as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and it had a molecular weight of 28 kDa. The enzyme exhibited maximal activity at pH 7.5. The kinetic parameters of the enzyme were Km = 3 ± 0.19 mM, Kcat = 160 ± 10 S -1 and Kcat / Km = 53 ± 10 S -1.mM -1. The purified agarase may be used for application in protoplast formation of agarophytes which can subsequently be used in algal biotechnology to evolve a superior strain of Gracilaria sp. yielding superior quality agar.
Theorizing Borders

An increasing concern with networks and mobilities, especially in the context of thinking about globalization and cosmopolitanism, has stimulated theorizing on the changing nature of borders. It is necessary to distinguish approaches which draw attention to the changing role of political borders in a globalizing world (for example, as revealed by shifting the focus of sociology from the nation-state to the globe) from others that attempt to theorize the changing relations between borders and society. It is the latter approach that interests us here: theorizing borders also involves an attempt to understand the nature of the social. Not surprisingly, therefore, theorizing borders and the dynamics of bordering and rebordering have become key components of understanding contemporary social and political change. Many of the themes central to contemporary social theory – globalization, cosmopolitanism, networked community, mobilities and flows – have led to both a rethinking of the nature and role of borders, and, at the same time, have caused social theorists to place borders more centrally in the study of society. As pointed out by Jan Nederveen Pieterse, ‘[a] global sociology is taking shape around notions such as social networks (rather than “societies”), border zones, boundary crossing, diaspora, and global society’ (2004: 81). In short, borders are central to the social theory agenda: to theorize mobilities and networks is at the same time to theorize borders. Social theorists have generally favoured one of two broad approaches to theorizing borders, although these are by no means mutually exclusive. On the one hand, borders have been contextualized by the idea of the network, which has shaped much current thinking on society, particularly under the influence of globalization theories. The network, along with associated ideas of mobilities, flows, fluids and scapes, has become a key metaphor for understanding modern life in a ‘world in motion’. Urry’s (1999) call for a sociological shift from the study of societies to the study of mobilities, Sassen’s (2002) work on networked cities, and Wellman’s (2001) idea of ‘networked individualism’ have all helped to advance this agenda. However, the work of Manuel Castells is perhaps the most celebrated in this field. The network society is one where a space of places (the territorial nation-state) is being replaced by a space of flows, and the European Union is seen as the paradigm of the network state (Castells, 2000). In the European Journal of Social Theory 9(2): 155–169
Techniques for capturing bighorn sheep lambs

Low lamb recruitment is a major challenge facing managers attempting to mitigate the decline of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), and investigations into the underlying mechanisms are limited because of the inability to readily capture and monitor bighorn sheep lambs. We evaluated 4 capture techniques for bighorn sheep lambs: 1) hand-capture of lambs from radiocollared adult females fitted with vaginal implant transmitters (VITs), 2) hand-capture of lambs of intensively monitored radiocollared adult females, 3) helicopter net-gunning, and 4) hand-capture of lambs from helicopters. During 2010-2012, we successfully captured 90% of lambs from females that retained VITs to � 1 day of parturition, although we noted differences in capture rates between an area of high road density in the Black Hills (92-100%) of South Dakota, USA, and less accessible areas of New Mexico (71%), USA. Retention of VITs was 78% with pre- partum expulsion the main cause of failure. We were less likely to capture lambs from females that expelled VITs � 1 day of parturition (range ¼80-83%) or females that were collared without VITs (range ¼60-78%). We used helicopter net-gunning at several sites in 1999, 2001-2002, and 2011, and it proved a useful technique; however, at one site, attempts to capture lambs led to lamb predation by golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos). We attempted helicopter hand-captures at one site in 1999, and they also were successful in certain circumstances and avoided risk of physical trauma from net-gunning; however, application was limited. In areas of low accessibility or if personnel lack the ability to monitor females and/or VITs for extended periods, helicopter capture may provide a viable option for lamb capture. 2013 The Wildlife Society.
Transformations of Languages of Designs: Part 2

A formal model for defining transformations of languages of designs in terms of the grammars which generate them is described in detail. First, a normal form for grammars is presented which distinguishes two basic determinants of the compositional structure of designs in a language: spatial relations and the order in which they are employed to generate designs. These two constructive mechanisms are used to specify each rule in a normal form grammar. An internal formal property of a normal form grammar called its recursive structure is also characterized. Rules of transformation are then defined which map the rules of a given normal form grammar onto rules of new grammars by changing independently the two components of rules in the original grammar. The new grammars produced specify new languages of designs. Of particular interest are those transformations which preserve the recursive structure of the original grammar.
A Fading Aztec Sun

■ This article examines the changing nature of contemporary political discourse in Mexico. The traditional nationalist political discourse centered on issues of sovereignty and social justice, carefully cultivated and controlled by the Insititutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to legitimize its dominant position in a one-party corporate state. Using the 1994 presidential elections as my entry point, I argue that the PRI has undergone a semiotic metamorphosis, shedding nationalist rhetoric and image in favor of global ones. Its discourse has evolved as the domestic socio-economic situation has devolved. Central to this project is the redefinition of national identity. As Chatterjee (1993: 21) observes, 'nation- ness is virtually inseparable from political consciousness'. The PRI is establishing new sets of institutional myths about the relationship between prosperity, the free market and globalization. Complementing its symbolic rebirth is a redefin ition of danger in a stark survivalist narrative - the politics of everyday fear. Presi dent Carlos Salinas's (1988-94) message emphasized that traditional nationalist economic policies were dangerous, and that Mexico could only survive through economic globalism. Over the course of his term, he was able to disarm the nationalist symbolism of the leftist opposition candidate, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, with an equally powerful integrationist utopian discourse that promised pros perity, especially to the middle class. I conclude by noting that there is a pro nounced disjuncture between material conditions and the historically imagined identity of Mexicans that signifies a break between the nation and the state. Out of the detritus of economic reform, a critical project facing Mexicans is to reimagine what it means to be Mexican and carry forward a sense of social justice in the new global economic order.
Institutional Balancing and International Relations Theory: Economic Interdependence and Balance of Power Strategies in Southeast Asia

This study integrates elements of neorealist and neoliberal theories with a model of institutional balancing that identifies the conditions under which this form of soft balancing occurs. Institutional balancing, i.e. countering pressures or threats through initiating, utilizing, and dominating multilateral institutions, is a new realist strategy for states to pursue security under anarchy. The interplay between the distribution of capabilities and strong economic interdependence shapes states' decisions on when and how to employ this strategy. Historical examples include: inclusive and exclusive efforts by Third World states and the superpowers to organize voting blocs in the UN during the Cold War; inclusive institutional balancing of ASEAN states to constrain China and ensure US support in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) after the Cold War; exclusive institutional balancing of ASEAN states against the US in the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) summit after the Southeast Asian financial crisis. These examples illustrate the logic of institutional balancing under the conditions of bipolarity, incipient multipolarity, and unipolarity.