Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CITlab ARGUS for Keyword Search in Historical Handwritten Documents - Description of CITlab's System for the ImageCLEF 2016 Handwritten Scanned Document Retrieval Task

We describe CITlab’s recognition system for the Handwritten Scanned Document Retrieval Task 2016 attached to the CLEF 2016 hold in the city of Évora in Portugal, 5-8 September 2016 (see [9]). The task is to locate positions that match a given query – consisting of possibly more than one keyword – in a number of historical handwritten documents. The core algorithms of our system are based on multi-dimensional recurrent neural networks (MDRNN) trained by connectionist temporal classification (CTC). The software modules behind that as well as the basic utility technologies are essentially powered by PLANET’s ARGUS framework for intelligent text recognition and image processing.
Protein supplementation lowers blood pressure in overweight adults: effect of dietary proteins on blood pressure (PROPRES), a randomized trial.

BACKGROUND Dietary protein intake may help to manage blood pressure (BP) and prevent complications associated with elevated BP. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to determine whether 4 wk of increased protein intake (∼25% compared with ∼15% of energy intake that isoenergetically replaces carbohydrate intake) lowers office and daytime BP compared with increased carbohydrate intake. DESIGN A randomized, double-blind, parallel study compared consumption of 3 × 20 g protein/d (20% pea, 20% soy, 30% egg, and 30% milk-protein isolate) with 3 × 20 g maltodextrin/d. Protein or maltodextrin were isoenergetically substituted for a sugar-sweetened drink. Primary outcomes were office and daytime BP. A total of 99 men and women [age range: 20-70 y; BMI (in kg/m²): 25-35] with untreated elevated BP (BP ≥130/85 and <160/100 mm Hg) were randomly assigned. Ninety-four completers (51 subjects in the maltodextrin group, 43 subjects in the protein group) were included in the analyses. RESULTS Office systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were 4.9 ± 1.7 mm Hg (P = 0.005) and 2.7 ± 1.3 mm Hg (P = 0.05) lower, respectively, in the protein group. Daytime SBP was 4.6 ± 1.7 mm Hg lower in the protein group (P = 0.006), whereas daytime DBP did not differ between groups (P = 0.37). Urinary sodium excretion was higher in the maltodextrin group (P = 0.004). CONCLUSION Increased protein intake, at the expense of maltodextrin, lowers BP in overweight adults with upper-range prehypertension and grade 1 hypertension. This trial was registered at www.trialregister. nl as NTR 1362.
Pelvic floor muscle training for urinary incontinence in female stroke patients: a randomized, controlled and blinded trial

Objective: To examine the effects of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) on the contractility of pelvic floor muscle and lower urinary tract symptoms in female stroke patients. Design: Randomized, single-blind controlled study. Setting: Outpatient rehabilitation hospital. Subjects: Thirty one female patients who were more than three months post-stroke and stress urinary incontinence. Interventions: The subjects were randomized to either a PFMT group (n = 16), or a control group (n = 15). Both groups received general rehabilitation exercise for 6 weeks, but the PFMT group additionally received PFMT for 6 weeks. Main measures: Vaginal function test using a perineometer (maximal vaginal squeeze pressure) and intra-vaginal electromyography (activity of pelvic floor muscle), and urinary symptoms and quality of life using a Bristol Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptom questionnaire. Results: After intervention, the maximal vaginal squeeze pressures for the PFMT and control groups were 18.35 (5.24) and 8.46 (3.50) mmHg, respectively. And the activities of pelvic floor muscle of the PFMT and control groups was 12.09 (2.24) ㎶ and 9.33 (3.40) ㎶, respectively. After intervention, the changes of scores for inconvenience in the activity of daily living of the PFMT and control groups were −15.00 (6.25) and −0.17 (1.59), respectively. In addition, the changes of score for lower urinary tract symptom was improved more in the PFMT group (-4.17 (4.00)) than in the control group (-0.25 (1.29)) (P < 0.05). Conclusions: These findings suggest that PFMT is beneficial for the management of urinary incontinence in female stroke patients.
Trophic interactions within the Ross Sea continental shelf ecosystem

The continental shelf of the Ross Sea is one of the Antarctic's most intensively studied regions. We review the available data on the region's physical characteristics (currents and ice concentrations) and their spatial variations, as well as components of the neritic food web, including lower and middle levels (phytoplankton, zooplankton, krill, fishes), the upper trophic levels (seals, penguins, pelagic birds, whales) and benthic fauna. A hypothetical food web is presented. Biotic interactions, such as the role of Euphausia crystallorophias and Pleuragramma antarcticum as grazers of lower levels and food for higher trophic levels, are suggested as being critical. The neritic food web contrasts dramatically with others in the Antarctic that appear to be structured around the keystone species Euphausia superba. Similarly, we suggest that benthic–pelagic coupling is stronger in the Ross Sea than in most other Antarctic regions. We also highlight many of the unknowns within the food web, and discuss the impacts of a changing Ross Sea habitat on the ecosystem.
Passivity analysis of haptic systems interacting with viscoelastic virtual environment

Passivity analysis of any haptic system requires the knowledge of the environment impedance, i.e., parameters of the employed environment model. There have been a few models proposed to describe the viscoelastic behavior of soft tissues, including the popular Maxwell and Voigt models. This paper analyzes passivity of haptic systems interacting with virtual viscoelastic soft tissues. The Kelvin model is employed to represent better the behavior of the soft tissues. This passivity analysis reveals a new criterion for design and control of the haptic interface. Simulation results show that this new criterion increases the range of passive environment.
EveTrack: An event localization and tracking scheme for WSNs in dynamic environments

This paper introduces EveTrack, an online and distributed method for localization and tracking of global and composite events. Based on hyper-ellipsoid clustering model, we compute the percentage contributions of the individual attributes in multi-attribute and correlated events. In addition, EveTrack utilizes spatio-temporal correlations between multiple events during its event identification phase. Finally, EveTrack estimates the event location using an iterative Linear Least Square (LLS) approach based on the event intensities estimated at different nodes. The results of our localization algorithm show 4-10 fold improvement in localization accuracy with significantly less computational complexity when compared to previously proposed event localization algorithms.
Local Versus Global Triangulations

Free form surfaces are commonly represented by triangular or quadrilateral meshes. Often these meshes are obtained from unorganized point sets sampled from some object’s surface. We show that local rather than global triangulations of point sets are equally well suited for object representations and that the local triangulations proposed in this paper may even lead to fast triangulation routines.
Wearable posture recognition systems: Factors affecting performance

This paper presents an investigation into the design space for real-time, wearable posture classification systems; specifically, it analyses the impact of various factors/design choices on classification accuracy when using C4.5 decision trees. The factors can be broadly divided into: 1) system factors (such as sensor sampling rate and number of sensors used) and 2) algorithm and training factors (such as quantity of training data and temporal data features used). These factors are analysed in the context of a case study involving postural activity monitoring of Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) operatives. The case study involves classifying a set of eight postures commonly encountered in EOD missions: sitting, walking, crawling, laying (on all sides) and kneeling. Design guidelines and generic lessons for a wider class of applications can be drawn from the work.
Division of Economics and Business Working Paper Series Determining the Success of Carbon Capture and Storage Projects

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is regarded as one of the most important technologies to mitigate climate change while providing fossil-fuel based energy security. During the past decade, projects in support of the development and deployment of the technology have been initiated across the globe. However, a considerable number of these projects have later been put on hold or cancelled. Currently, there is little understanding of what characteristics may have led to these undesirable outcomes. Using data on planned, cancelled and operational CCS projects to date, this paper aims to elicit technological, economic and policy characteristics that render CCS projects more or less likely to become operational. The results consistently find that confirmation of storage site and capture processes that are pre-combustion, industrial separation, or natural gas separation increase the probability of project success, while presence of a carbon policy and non-commercial storage of CO2 are negatively linked to project success. JEL classifications: L51, Q5, H3
Inspiratory flows through dry powder inhaler in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: age and gender rather than severity matters

Background: Dry powder inhalers (DPIs) are inspiratory flow driven and hence flow dependent. Most patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are elderly and have poor lung function. The factors affecting their inspiratory flows through inhalers are unclear. Objective: To study peak inspiratory flows (PIFs) and their determinants through a DPI in COPD patients of varying age and severity. Methods: Flow-volume spirometry was performed in 93 COPD patients. Maximum PIF rates were recorded through an empty Easyhaler® (PIFEH; Orion Corporation, Espoo, Finland), a DPI that provides consistent dose delivery at inhalation rates through the inhaler of 28 L/min or higher. Results: The mean PIFEH was 54 L/min (range 26–95 L/min) with a coefficient of variation of 7%. All but two patients were able to generate a flow of ≥28 L/min. In a general linear model, the independent determinants for PIFEH were age (P = 0.02) and gender (P = 0.01), and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) expressed as percent predicted was not a significant factor. The regression model accounted only for 18% of the variation in PIFEH. Conclusion: In patients with COPD, age and gender are more important determinants of inspiratory flow through DPIs than the degree of expiratory airway obstruction. Most COPD patients with varying age and severity are able to generate inspiratory flows through the test inhaler that is sufficient for optimal drug delivery to the lower airways.
Hyperpolarized [1,13C]pyruvate in lysed human erythrocytes: effects of co‐substrate supply on reaction time courses

Hyperpolarized [1,13C]pyruvate was injected rapidly into haemolysates in which hydrolysis of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (phosphate) (NAD(P))/NAD(P)H had been inhibited with nicotinamide. Haemolysates provide a stable glycolytic system in which membrane permeability is not a flux‐controlling step, and they enable the concentration of NADH to be adjusted experimentally while keeping the rest of the sample with the same composition as that of the cytoplasm of the cell (albeit diluted twofold at the time of injection of the [1,13C]pyruvate). We showed that the maximum amplitude of the 13C NMR signal from the [1,13C]l‐lactate, produced from [1,13C]pyruvate, and the time at which it occurred was dependent on NADH concentration, as predicted by enzyme‐kinetic analysis. The main feature of such curves was dictated by the immediacy of the supply of the co‐substrate of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, EC 1.1.1.27), and we posit that this also pertains in vivo in various tissues including neoplasms. By constructing an appropriate mathematical model and by using a Markov‐chain Monte Carlo approach, we fitted experimental data to estimate LDH and NADH concentrations. Experiments carried out with only endogenous NADH present enabled the estimation of its effective concentration in human RBCs; the ability to make this estimate is a special feature of the rapid‐dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization method. We found an endogenous NADH concentration in human RBCs two to four times higher than previously reported. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Scalable TCP: improving performance in highspeed wide area networks

TCP congestion control can perform badly in highspeed wide area networks because of its slow response with large congestion windows. The challenge for any alternative protocol is to better utilize networks with high bandwidth-delay products in a simple and robust manner without interacting badly with existing traffic. Scalable TCP is a simple sender-side alteration to the TCP congestion window update algorithm. It offers a robust mechanism to improve performance in highspeed wide area networks using traditional TCP receivers. Scalable TCP is designed to be incrementally deployable and behaves identically to traditional TCP stacks when small windows are sufficient. The performance of the scheme is evaluated through experimental results gathered using a Scalable TCP implementation for the Linux operating system and a gigabit transatlantic network. The preliminary results gathered suggest that the deployment of Scalable TCP would have negligible impact on existing network traffic at the same time as improving bulk transfer performance in highspeed wide area networks.
Matching and stabilization of discrete mechanical systems

Controlled Lagrangian and matching techniques are developed for the stabilization of equilibria of discrete mechanical systems with symmetry as well as broken symmetry. Interesting new phenomena arise in the controlled Lagrangian approach in the discrete context that are not present in the continuous theory. Specifically, a nonconservative force that is necessary for matching in the discrete setting is introduced. The paper also discusses digital and model predictive controllers. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Swift Era

With its rapid-response capability and multiwavelength complement of instruments, the Swift satellite has transformed our physical understanding of γ-ray bursts (GRBs). Providing high-quality observations of hundreds of bursts, and facilitating a wide range of follow-up observations within seconds of each event, Swift has revealed an unforeseen richness in observed burst properties, shed light on the nature of short-duration bursts, and helped realize the promise of GRBs as probes of the processes and environments of star formation out to the earliest cosmic epochs. These advances have opened new perspectives on the nature and properties of burst central engines, interactions with the burst environment from microparsec to gigaparsec scales, and the possibilities for nonphotonic signatures. Our understanding of these extreme cosmic sources has thus advanced substantially; yet, more than 40 years after their discovery, GRBs continue to present major challenges on both observational and theoretical fronts.
A 4-GS/s Single Channel Reconfigurable Folding Flash ADC for Wireline Applications in 16-nm FinFET

This brief presents a 4-GS/s single channel folding flash analog-to-digital converter (ADC) designed to be time-interleaved for wireline receivers in 16-nm FinFET CMOS. The resolution of the ADC is scalable to enable power savings depending on link modulation format (2 PAM/4 PAM) and link loss. A 1-bit folding stage determines the MSB, while the LSBs are determined by a 5-bit full flash where each comparator can be individually enabled/disabled. At 6-bit resolution, the ADC including a variable gain amplifier achieves an SNDR of 30.7 dB and an SFDR of 40.6 dB at Nyquist frequency while consuming 34.4 mW from a 0.9-V supply, yielding an FOM of 303 fJ/conv-step. At lower resolutions of 5, 4, and 3 bits, the FOM remains low at 295, 320, and 399 fJ/conv-step, respectively, at Nyquist frequency.
Short-Maturity Asymptotics for a Fast Mean-Reverting Heston Stochastic Volatility Model

In this paper, we study the Heston stochastic volatility model in a regime where the maturity is small but large compared to the mean-reversion time of the stochastic volatility factor. We derive a large deviation principle and compute the rate function by a precise study of the moment generating function and its asymptotic. We then obtain asymptotic prices for out-of-the-money call and put options and their corresponding implied volatilities.
Extensive Cortical Remyelination in Patients with Chronic Multiple Sclerosis

Recent studies revealed prominent cortical demyelination in patients with chronic multiple sclerosis (MS). Demyelination in white matter lesions is frequently accompanied by remyelination. This repair process, however, often remains incomplete and restricted to the lesion border. In the present study, we examined the frequency and extent of remyelination in cortical and white matter lesions in autopsy brain tissue of 33 patients with chronic MS. The majority of patients (29 of 33) harbored cortical demyelination. Remyelination of cortical lesions was identified light microscopically by the presence of thin and irregularly arranged myelin sheaths, and confirmed by electron microscopy. Extensive remyelination was found in 18%, remyelination restricted to the lesion border in 54%, and no remyelination in 28% of cortical lesions. A direct comparison of the extent of remyelination in white matter and cortical lesions of the same patients revealed that remyelination of cortical lesions was consistently more extensive. In addition, g‐ratios of fibers in areas of “normal appearing cortex” yielded values consistent with remyelination. Our data confirm the high prevalence of cortical demyelination in chronic MS and imply that the propensity to remyelinate is high in cortical MS lesions.
Global structures on CR manifolds via Nash blow-ups.

A generic compact real codimension two submanifold X of C^(n+2) will have a CR structure at all but a finite number of points (failing at the complex jump points J). The main theorem of this paper gives a method of extending the CR structure on the non-jump points X-J to the jump points. We examine a Gauss map from X-J to an appropriate flag manifold F and take the closure of the graph of this map in X x F. This is a version of a Nash blow-up. We give a clean criterion for when this closure is a smooth manifold and see that the local differential properties at the points X-J can now be naturally extended to this new smooth manifold, allowing global techniques from differential geometry to be applied to compact CR manifolds. As an example, we find topological obstructions for the manifold to be Levi nondegenerate.
Neural Ensemble Coding during Working Memory Task in Rat Prefrontal Cortex

Working memory is one of important cognitive functions and recent studies demonstrate that prefrontal cortex plays an important role in working memory. But the issue that how neural activity encodes during working memory task is still a question that lies at the heart of cognitive neuroscience. The aim of this study is to investigate neural ensemble coding mechanism via average firing rate during working memory task. Neural population activity was measured simultaneously from multiple electrodes placed in prefrontal cortex while rats were performing a working memory task in Y-maze. Then the original data was filtered by a high-pass filtering, spike detection and spike sorting, spatio-temporal trains of neural population were ultimately obtained. Then, the average firing rates were computed in a selected window (500ms) with a moving step (125ms). The results showed that the average firing rate were higher during workinig memory task, along with obvious ensemble activity. Conclusion: The results indicate that the working memory information is encoded with neural ensemble activity.
Connectivity of a Gaussian network

Following Etherington, Hoge and Parkes, we consider a network consisting of (approximately) N transceivers in the plane R² distributed randomly with density given by a Gaussian distribution about the origin, and assume each transceiver can communicate with all other transceivers within distance s. We give bounds for the distance from the origin to the furthest transceiver connected to the origin, and that of the closest transceiver that is not connected to the origin.
Lifespan of effector memory CD4+ T cells determined by replication-incompetent integrated HIV-1 provirus

Objective:Determining the precise lifespan of human T-cell is challenging due to the inability of standard techniques to distinguish between dividing and dying cells. Here, we measured the lifespan of a pool of T cells that were derived from a single cell ‘naturally’ labelled with a single integrated clone of a replication-incompetent HIV-1 provirus. Design/methods:Utilizing a combination of techniques, we were able to sequence/map an integration site of a unique provirus with a stop codon at position 42 of the HIV-1 protease. In-vitro reconstruction of this provirus into an infectious clone confirmed its inability to replicate. By combining cell separation and integration site-specific PCR, we were able to follow the fate of this single provirus in multiple T-cell subsets over a 20-year period. As controls, a number of additional integrated proviruses were also sequenced. Results:The replication-incompetent HIV-1 provirus was solely contained in the pool of effector memory CD4+ T cells for 17 years. The percentage of the total effector memory CD4+ T cells containing the replication-incompetent provirus peaked at 1% with a functional half-life of 11.1 months. In the process of sequencing multiple proviruses, we also observed high levels of lethal mutations in the peripheral blood pool of proviruses. Conclusion:These data indicate that human effector memory CD4+ T cells are able to persist in vivo for more than 17 years without detectably reverting to a central memory phenotype. A secondary observation is that the fraction of the pool of integrated HIV-1 proviruses capable of replicating may be considerably less than the 12% currently noted in the literature.
Efficient Discrimination Between Closely Related Languages

In this paper, we revisit the problem of language identification with the focus on proper discrimination between closely related languages. Strong similarities between certain languages make it very hard to classify them correctly using standard methods that have been proposed in the literature. Dedicated models that focus on specific discrimination tasks help to improve the accuracy of general-purpose language identification tools. We propose and compare methods based on simple document classification techniques trained on parallel corpora of closely related languages and methods that emphasize discriminating features in terms of blacklisted words. Our experiments demonstrate that these techniques are highly accurate for the difficult task of discriminating between Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian. The best setup yields an absolute improvement of over 9% in accuracy over the best performing baseline using a state-of-the-art language identification tool.