Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parametric Circle Approximation Using Genetic Algorithms

Pattern recognition is one of the main research areas in the computer vision community. The basic problem consists in detecting and recognizing one or several known patterns in a data stream. Patterns can be specified in the raw data space or in any feature space suitable for the analysis of the input data. In particular, visual pattern recognition deals with applications where the pattern description is specified in terms of visual information and where input data comes from any kind of visual sensor (Chen & Wang, 2005). A common classification scheme divides pattern recognition according to the way the pattern is defined. There are then structural and statistical techniques. With respect to the problem solving approach, object location techniques are divided into two types of methods: i) deterministic methods like Hough transform, e.g. (Yuen et al., 1990), geometric hashing and template or model matching, e.g. (Iivarinen et al., 1997; Jones et al., 1990) and ii) stochastic techniques, including RANSAC (Fischer & Bolles, 1981), simulated annealing and genetic algorithms (Roth & Levine, 1994). Geometric shapes are very useful in a number of tasks because they are often present in human-made environments. They are also widely used as a part of man-designed symbols. To recognize this kind of shapes, many methods have been developed. In particular, circle and ellipse detection problems have been widely studied in the shape recognition community. Most approaches use Hough transform-based techniques. For instance, Lam and Yuen (Lam & Yuen, 1996) have proposed to use a hypothesis filtering approach to a Hough transform to detect circles in images. Yuen and Lo (Yuen & Lo, 1994) have posed the circle detection problem as a multi-resolution problem for the Hough transform. A traffic sign detector proposed by Mainzer uses a circle detector (Mainzer, 2002a,b). Shape classification using a soft computing approach is addressed by Rosin and Nyongesa (Rosin & Nyongesa, 2000). Genetic Algorithms (GA), proposed by Holland (Holland, 1975) in the 60s, are a family of algorithms where we apply an artificial evolution process. The purpose of the evolution is to produce a computational individual which is the best fitted to solve a specific problem. GA have been extensively used to solve optimization problems. Genetic Algorithms (GA) have been already used for several pattern classification tasks. In order to apply them to a pattern recognition problem, we need to pose the pattern recognition problem as an optimization problem. We need then to associate key elements in both approaches. Bandyopadhay
Features of Accretion-phase Gravitational-wave Emission from Two-dimensional Rotating Core-collapse Supernovae

We explore the influence of progenitor mass and rotation on the gravitational-wave (GW) emission from core-collapse supernovae, during the postbounce, preexplosion, accretion phase. We present the results from 15 two-dimensional (2D) neutrino radiation-hydrodynamic simulations from initial stellar collapse to ∼300 ms after core bounce. We examine the features of the GW signals for four zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) progenitor masses ranging from 12 M⊙ to 60 M⊙ and four core rotation rates from 0 to 3 rad s−1. We find that GW strain immediately around core bounce is fairly independent of ZAMS mass and—consistent with previous findings—that it is more heavily dependent on the core angular momentum. At later times, all nonrotating progenitors exhibit loud GW emission, which we attribute to vibrational g-modes of the protoneutron star (PNS) excited by convection in the postshock layer and the standing accretion shock instability (SASI). We find that increasing rotation rates results in muting of the accretion-phase GW signal due to centrifugal effects that inhibit convection in the postshock region, quench the SASI, and slow the rate at which the PNS peak vibrational frequency increases. Additionally, we verify the efficacy of our approximate general relativistic (GR) effective potential treatment of gravity by comparing our core bounce GW strains with the recent 2D GR results of other groups.
Have you been using the wrong estimator? These guys bound average fidelity using this one weird trick von Neumann didn't want you to know

We give bounds on the average fidelity achievable by any quantum state estimator, which is arguably the most prominently used figure of merit in quantum state tomography. Moreover, these bounds can be computed online---that is, while the experiment is running. We show numerically that these bounds are quite tight for relevant distributions of density matrices. We also show that the Bayesian mean estimator is ideal in the sense of performing close to the bound without requiring optimization. Our results hold for all finite dimensional quantum systems.
Antithrombotic Treatment and Its Association with Outcome in a Multicenter Cohort of Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Mitral Valve Repair Patients

Transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair (TEER) has become established as a safe and efficacious therapy for severe mitral regurgitation (MR) in high-risk patients. Despite its widespread use, postprocedural antithrombotic therapy (ATT) still to date is based on local expertise rather than evidence. In a multicenter, observational cohort study, 646 consecutive patients undergoing TEER were enrolled; 609 patients were successfully treated and antithrombotic therapy analyzed; 449 patients (73.7%) were previously treated with oral anticoagulants (OAC) due to the high prevalence of atrial fibrillation (459/609, 75.4%). Postprocedural ATT in patients previously treated with OAC consisted of no additional, additional single (SAPT) or dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) in 146/449 (33.6%), 248/449 (55.2%) and 55/449 (12.2%), respectively. There were 234/449 (52.1%) patients treated with vitamin-k antagonists (VKA) and 215/449 (47.9%) with nonvitamin-k antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOAC). One hundred sixty patients (26.3%) had no prior indication for OAC and were predominantly treated with DAPT (132/160, 82.5%). Use of SAPT (17/160, 10.6%) and no APT (11/160, 6.9%) was marginal. No statistically significant differences in terms of in-hospital mortality or the rate of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) between the different antithrombotic therapy regimens were observed. Multiple Cox regression analysis showed a statistically significant decreased risk for all-cause mortality after a median follow-up of 419 days for OAC monotherapy (HR 0.6, 95%-CI 0.5–0.9, p = 0.04). This study provides evidence for a more favorable long-term outcome of OAC monotherapy in patients with an indication for OAC and reiterates the urgent need for randomized controlled trials on the optimal antithrombotic treatment of TEER patients.
SI iv Resonance Line Emission during Solar Flares: Non-LTE, Nonequilibrium, Radiation Transfer Simulations

The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph routinely observes the Si iv resonance lines. When analyzing quiescent observations of these lines, it has typically been assumed that they form under optically thin conditions. This is likely valid for the quiescent Sun, but this assumption has also been applied to the more extreme flaring scenario. We used 36 electron-beam-driven radiation hydrodynamic solar flare simulations, computed using the RADYN code, to probe the validity of this assumption. Using these simulated atmospheres, we solved the radiation transfer equations to obtain the non-LTE, nonequilibrium populations, line profiles, and opacities for a model silicon atom, including charge exchange processes. This was achieved using the “minority species” version of RADYN. The inclusion of charge exchange resulted in a substantial fraction of Si iv at cooler temperatures than those predicted by ionization equilibrium. All simulations with an injected energy flux erg cm−2 s−1 resulted in optical depth effects on the Si iv emission, with differences in both intensity and line shape compared to the optically thin calculation. Weaker flares (down to F ≈ 5 × 109 erg cm−2 s−1) also resulted in Si iv emission forming under optically thick conditions, depending on the other beam parameters. When opacity was significant, the atmospheres generally had column masses in excess of 5 × 10−6 g cm−2 over the temperature range 40–100 kK, and the Si iv formation temperatures were between 30 and 60 kK. We urge caution when analyzing Si iv flare observations, or when computing synthetic emission without performing a full radiation transfer calculation.
Sex-Related Effects of Adrenergic Drugs on Conditioned Pain Modulation: A Randomized Controlled Cross-Over Double-Blind Trial

Objective Endogenous pain inhibition can be investigated using conditioned pain modulation (CPM). CPM efficacy has been reported to be influenced by various factors, such as gender and cardiovascular (autonomic) activity. The aim of this study is to describe the effect of pharmacological manipulations of autonomic activity on CPM efficacy. Methods Thirty healthy participants were enrolled to assess CPM efficacy in 4 experimental sessions. The first session consisted of the determination of baseline CPM effectiveness. The three following sessions were performed in a randomized order and consisted of the injection of (1) esmolol, (2) ephedrine, or (3) placebo, before the conditioning stimulus. Pain intensity induced by using a contact heat stimulation thermode was compared before and after a cold-pressure conditioning stimulus to evaluate CPM effectiveness. Results Our results show that inhibiting sympathetic nervous activity with esmolol did not have a significant effect on CPM. Conversely, enhancing sympathetic nervous activity with ephedrine increased CPM effectiveness in healthy women but decreased it in men. Conclusions Increasing sympathetic activity with adrenergic agonists, such as ephedrine, could improve CPM effectiveness in women. It will be interesting to verify if the same results are present in patients suffering from chronic pain and if adrenergic agonists could have better therapeutic effects in women showing reduced CPM effectiveness.
Two null gravitational cones in the theory of GPS-intersatellite communications between two moving satellites. I. Physical and mathematical theory of the space-time interval and the geodesic distance on intersecting null cones

Several space missions such as GRACE, GRAIL, ACES and others rely on intersatellite communications (ISC) between two satellites at a large distance one from another. The main goal of the theory is to formulate all the navigation observables within the General Relativity Theory. The same approach should be applied also to the intersatellite GPS-communications (in perspective also between the GPS, GLONASS and Galileo satellite constellations). In this paper a theoretical approach has been developed for ISC between two satellites moving on (one-plane) elliptical orbits, based on the introduction of two gravity null cones with origins at the emitting-signal and receiving-signal satellites. The two null cones account for the variable distance between the satellites during their uncorrelated motion.The intersection of the two null cones defines a distance, which can be found from a differential equation in full derivatives. This distance is the space-time interval in GRT. Applying some theorems from higher algebra, it was proved that this space-time distance can become zero, consequently it can be also negative and positive. But in order to represent the geodesic distance travelled by the signal, the space-time interval has to be "compatible" with the Euclidean distance. So this "compatibility condition", conditionally called "condition for ISC", is the most important consequence of the theory. The other important consequence is that the geodesic distance turns out to be the space-time interval, but with account also of the "condition for ISC". This interpretation enables the strict mathematical proof that the geodesic distance is greater than the Euclidean distance - a result, entirely based on the "two null cones approach" and moreover, without any use of the Shapiro delay formulae. Consistency between several other newly derived numerical parameters is noted.
Sensitivity and Specificity of Instrumentation Lab Age-Adjusted D-Dimer Threshold Values in a Single Hospital Site: A Retrospective Analysis

Introduction The D-dimer is a common test in the assessment of chest pain in acute settings. With a high sensitivity and low specificity, a significant number of false positive outcomes occur, leading to unnecessary medical intervention. There is good evidence supporting the use of an age-adjusted D-dimer model to increase diagnostic specificity in the context of a conventional “D-dimer” assay. There is, however, a lack of evidence validating the age adjustment process when considering the less common but still widely utilized “instrumentation lab” assay. Methods A retrospective audit was carried out in a district general hospital by obtaining all acute computed tomography pulmonary angiograms carried out between December 2020 and August 2021. The age-adjusted D-dimer was calculated for each patient by multiplying the patient's age by 5. Thereafter, sensitivity and specificity were reassessed. Results After exclusion, 133 patients under 50 years of age with low pre-test probability scores were included in the analysis. Age-adjusted D-dimer was found to increase specificity from 2% to 28% whilst maintaining a sensitivity of 94%. Conclusion Utilization of the 5x age-adjusted instrumentation lab assay D-dimer results in increased specificity with the potential to reduce the number of unnecessary admissions, radiation exposure, and medication use, improving patient safety and reducing healthcare burden.
Stage-emotion compatibility and the effectiveness of antismoking campaigns in South Korea: tailoring guilt and shame appeals to individuals in different stages of change

ABSTRACT In many domains of health risk prevention and management, tailoring messages specifically for different stages of change is critical. In the context of smoking cessation, this research represents an initial attempt to discover stage-specific affective profiles in terms of guilt versus shame. It then examines whether stage-congruent emotional appeals increase the persuasiveness of antismoking campaigns. Study 1 found that participants felt more negative self-conscious emotions as they entered the later stages of smoking cessation, showing more salient emotional states of guilt rather than shame. Study 2 found that stage-emotion compatibility, such as that exhibited by participants in the early stages of change, was not altered by emotional appeals regardless of the emotional type. In contrast, those in the later stages of change perceived guilt rather than shame appeals to be more effective and displayed greater smoking cessation intention. Through this, current research takes an important step toward theoretically identifying the affective states associated with different stages of change for smoking cessation and helps practitioners use emotional appeals effectively and appropriately in public health campaigns.
Equation of state of nuclear and neutron matter at third-order in perturbation theory from chiral effective field theory

We compute from chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions the energy per particle of symmetric nuclear matter and pure neutron matter at third-order in perturbation theory including self-consistent second-order single-particle energies. Particular attention is paid to the third-order particle-hole ring-diagram, which is often neglected in microscopic calculations of the equation of state. We provide semi-analytic expressions for the direct terms from central and tensor model-type interactions that are useful as theoretical benchmarks. We investigate uncertainties arising from the order-by-order convergence in both many-body perturbation theory and the chiral expansion. Including also variations in the resolution scale at which nuclear forces are resolved, we provide new error bands on the equation of state, the isospin-asymmetry energy, and its slope parameter. We find in particular that the inclusion of third-order diagrams reduces the theoretical uncertainty at low densities, while in general the largest error arises from omitted higher-order terms in the chiral expansion of the nuclear forces.
A new approach to the optimal target selection problem

Context. This paper addresses a common problem in astronomy and cosmology: to optimally select a subset of targets from a larger catalog. A specific example is the selection of targets from an imaging survey for multi-object spectrographic follow-up. Aims. We present a new heuristic optimisation algorithm, HYBRID, for this purpose and undertake detailed studies of its performance. Methods. HYBRID combines elements of the simulated annealing, MCMC and particle-swarm methods and is particularly successful in cases where the survey landscape has multiple curvature or clustering scales. Results. HYBRID consistently outperforms the other methods, especially in high-dimensionality spaces with many extrema. This means many fewer simulations must be run to reach a given performance confidence level and implies very significant advantages in solving complex or computationally expensive optimisation problems. Conclusions. HYBRID outperforms both MCMC and SA in all cases including optimisation of high dimensional continuous surfaces indicating that HYBRID is useful far beyond the specific problem of optimal target selection. Future work will apply HYBRID to target selection for the new 10 m Southern African Large Telescope in South Africa.
De novo transcriptome assembly using Illumina sequencing and development of EST-SSR markers in a monoecious herb Sagittaria trifolia Linn

Background Sagittaria trifolia Linn. is a widespread macrophyte in Asia and southeast Europe and cultivated in parts of Asia. Although a few genomic studies have been conducted for S. trifolia var. sinensis, a crop breed, there is limited genomic information on the wild species of S. trifolia. Effective microsatellite markers are also lacking. Objective To assemble transcriptome sequence and develop effective EST-SSR markers for S. trifolia. Methods Here we developed microsatellite markers based on tri-, tetra-, penta-, and hexa-nucleotide repeat sequences by comparatively screening multiple transcriptome sequences of eleven individuals from ten natural populations of S. trifolia. Results A total of 107,022 unigenes were de novo assembled, with a mean length of 730 bp and an N50 length of 1,378 bp. The main repeat types were mononucleotide, trinucleotide, and dinucleotide, accounting for 55.83%, 23.51%, and 17.56% of the total repeats, respectively. A total of 86 microsatellite loci were identified with repeats of tri-, tetra-, penta-, and hexa-nucleotide. For SSR verification, 28 polymorphic loci from 41 randomly picked markers were found to produce stable and polymorphic bands, with the number of alleles per locus ranging from 2 to 11 and a mean of 5.2. The range of polymorphic information content (PIC) of each SSR locus varied from 0.25 to 0.80, with an average of 0.58. The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.29 to 0.82, whereas the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.25 to 0.90. Conclusion The assembled transcriptome and annotated unigenes of S. trifolia provide a basis for future studies on gene functions, pathways, and molecular mechanisms associated with this species and other related. The newly developed EST-SSR markers could be effective in examining population genetic structure, differentiation, and parentage analyses in ecological and evolutionary studies of S. trifolia.
Time-dependent Models of Magnetospheric Accretion onto Young Stars

Accretion onto Classical T Tauri stars is thought to take place through the action of magnetospheric processes, with gas in the inner disk being channeled onto the star’s surface by the stellar magnetic field lines. Young stars are known to accrete material in a time-variable manner, and the source of this variability remains an open problem, particularly on the shortest (∼day) timescales. Using one-dimensional time-dependent numerical simulations that follow the field line geometry, we find that for plausibly realistic young stars, steady-state transonic accretion occurs naturally in the absence of any other source of variability. However, we show that if the density in the inner disk varies smoothly in time with ∼day-long timescales (e.g., due to turbulence), this complication can lead to the development of shocks in the accretion column. These shocks propagate along the accretion column and ultimately hit the star, leading to rapid, large amplitude changes in the accretion rate. We argue that when these shocks hit the star, the observed time dependence will be a rapid increase in accretion luminosity, followed by a slower decline, and could be an explanation for some of the short-period variability observed in accreting young stars. Our one-dimensional approach bridges previous analytic work to more complicated multi-dimensional simulations and observations.
Full sky imaging polarimetry for initial polarized modtran validation

Although military studies of the last ten years have shown that visible polarimetry supplies supplemental surveillance information, the polarimetric signatures of groundbased objects greatly depend on the illuminating skylight polarization. The polarization of a pure molecular atmosphere is easily modeled, but aerosols and clouds modify clearsky polarization substantially. The Air Force has developed a polarimetric atmospheric radiative transfer model (MODTRAN-P) to simulate atmospheric effects. To assist MODTRAN-P code validation, a full-sky visible polarimeter has been developed using liquid crystal variable retarders (LCVRs). Unique calibration issues of LCVR instruments are addressed. A fisheye lens can be exchanged for a telephoto lens to provide system flexibility. This allows comparison between changing sky and changing target signatures. Calibration accuracy is within ±3% Degree of Linear Polarization (DoLP). Comparison of measured data with MODTRAN-P calculations shows that single-scatter models overpredict the sky polarization, while the improperly implemented multiple-scatter models under-predict it. Furthermore, a model comprising only one scattering path looking directly at a cloud insufficiently predicts polarization. The polarization is dependent upon whether or not there are clouds in surrounding areas. Similarly, clouds affect adjacent clear sky polarization, but further instrumentation is needed to understand whether this is caused by sub-visual cloud layers in these clear-sky areas or by illumination from neighboring clouds. Halo and cloud polarizations are also treated briefly.
Axial Compression Property Test of GFRP Tube-Confined Coal Gangue Steel Fiber Short Concrete Column

In order to study the axial compression property of a GFRP (glass fiber-reinforced polymer) tube-confined coal gangue steel fiber short concrete column, a test was carried out. The whole process of deformation and failure of the specimen under axial compression load was observed, and the whole process of the stress–strain curve of the specimen was obtained. The results show that the thickness of the GFRP tube has the most significant effect on the mechanical properties. The thickness of the 7 mm tube is 4.3 times the axial ultimate stress and 21.5 times the ultimate strain of the unconstrained short column. Under a certain volume fraction, the ultimate axial strain of the wave fiber is 10.1% higher than that of the hook fiber short column, and the ductility coefficient is 9.6% higher. The fiber volume fraction significantly increases the strain of the short column, and the 3% fiber content is 50.1% higher than that of the non-fiber short column. Finally, three classical strength models of confined concrete were selected for comparative calculation, and a new stress correction model was proposed.