Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Manually Locating Physical and Virtual Reality Objects

Objective: In this study, we compared how users locate physical and equivalent three-dimensional images of virtual objects in a cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE) using the hand to examine how human performance (accuracy, time, and approach) is affected by object size, location, and distance. Background: Virtual reality (VR) offers the promise to flexibly simulate arbitrary environments for studying human performance. Previously, VR researchers primarily considered differences between virtual and physical distance estimation rather than reaching for close-up objects. Method: Fourteen participants completed manual targeting tasks that involved reaching for corners on equivalent physical and virtual boxes of three different sizes. Predicted errors were calculated from a geometric model based on user interpupillary distance, eye location, distance from the eyes to the projector screen, and object. Results: Users were 1.64 times less accurate (p < .001) and spent 1.49 times more time (p = .01) targeting virtual versus physical box corners using the hands. Predicted virtual targeting errors were on average 1.53 times (p < .05) greater than the observed errors for farther virtual targets but not significantly different for close-up virtual targets. Conclusion: Target size, location, and distance, in addition to binocular disparity, affected virtual object targeting inaccuracy. Observed virtual box inaccuracy was less than predicted for farther locations, suggesting possible influence of cues other than binocular vision. Application: Human physical interaction with objects in VR for simulation, training, and prototyping involving reaching and manually handling virtual objects in a CAVE are more accurate than predicted when locating farther objects.
Off-line Signature Verification using the Enhanced Modified Direction Feature and Neural-based Classification

Signatures continue to be an important biometric for authenticating the identity of human beings. This paper presents an effective method to perform off-line signature verification using unique structural features extracted from the signature's contour. A novel combination of the modified direction feature (MDF) and additional distinguishing features such as the centroid, surface area, length and skew are used for classification. A resilient backpropagation (RBP) neural network and a radial basis function (RBF) network were compared in terms of verification accuracy. Using a publicly available database of 2106 signatures (936 genuine and 1170 forgeries), verification rates of 91.21% and 88.0% were obtained using RBF and RBP respectively.
Feedback Refinement Relations for the Synthesis of Symbolic Controllers

We present an abstraction and refinement methodology for the automated controller synthesis to enforce general predefined specifications. The designed controllers require quantized (or symbolic) state information only and can be interfaced with the system via a static quantizer. Both features are particularly important with regard to any practical implementation of the designed controllers and, as we prove, are characterized by the existence of a feedback refinement relation between plant and abstraction. Feedback refinement relations are a novel concept introduced in this paper. Our work builds on a general notion of system with set-valued dynamics and possibly non-deterministic quantizers to permit the synthesis of controllers that robustly, and provably, enforce the specification in the presence of various types of uncertainties and disturbances. We identify a class of abstractions that is canonical in a well-defined sense, and provide a method to efficiently compute canonical abstractions. We demonstrate the practicality of our approach on two examples.
Typology of Public Outreach for Biodiversity Conservation Projects in Spain

Conservation education and outreach programs are a key approach to promote public understanding of the importance of biodiversity conservation. We reviewed 85 biodiversity conservation projects supported by the Spanish Ministry of Environment's Biodiversity Foundation. Through content analysis and descriptive statistics, we examined how the projects carried out communication, education, and public awareness and participation (CEPA) actions. We also used multivariate statistical analysis to develop a typology of 4 classes of biodiversity conservation projects on the basis of CEPA implementation. The classifications were delineated by purpose of CEPA, level of integration of CEPA actions, type of CEPA goals, main CEPA stakeholders, and aim of conservation. Our results confirm the existence of 2 key positions: CEPA has intrinsic value (i.e., they supposed the implementation of any CEPA action indirectly supported conservation) and CEPA is an instrument for achieving conservation goals. We also found that most CEPA actions addressed general audiences and school children, ignored minority groups and women, and did not include evaluation. The characteristics of the 4 types of projects and their frequency of implementation in the sample reflect the need for better integration of different types of actions (communication, education, and participation) and improved fostering of participation of multiple stakeholders in developing policy and implementing management strategies.
An exploratory study of clinical decision-making in five countries.

PURPOSE To identify the cognitive processes nurses use in their decision-making in long- and short-term care settings in five countries, and the demographic variables associated with their decision-making. METHOD AND SAMPLES: The instrument used was a 56-item questionnaire that has been shown to be reliable in earlier studies. The sample consisted of five convenience samples of registered nurses working in either geriatric wards (n = 236) or acute medical-surgical wards (n = 223) in hospitals or nursing homes in Canada, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. FINDINGS Five models of decision-making were identified on the basis of factor analysis. They represent both analytical and intuitive cognitive processes. Analytical cognitive processes were emphasized in information collection, problem definition, and planning of care, and intuitive cognitive processes were emphasized in planning, implementing, and evaluating care. Professional education, practical experience, field of practice, and type of knowledge were significantly associated with decision-making models as well as with country of residence of the participants. The highest proportion of analytically oriented decision-makers was found among nurses in long-term care, the decision-making of nurses in short-term care was more intuitively oriented. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that decision-making of participants varied from country to country and in different nursing situations. Future research should be focused on reasons for these differences, the relationship between the task and the nurses' type of knowledge, and how nurses use their knowledge to make decisions in different nursing situations.
Web Search Result Clustering based on Cuckoo Search and Consensus Clustering

Conventional search engines’ results are often plagued by problems like synonymy, polysemy, high volume etc. Clustering of search result other thanresolving these problems,lets user to quickly locate her information. In this paper, a method,called WSRDC-CSCC, is introduced to cluster web search result using cuckoo search meta-heuristic method and Consensus clustering. Cuckoo search provides a solid foundation for consensus clustering. As a local clustering function, k-means technique is used. The final number of cluster is not depended on this k. Consensus clustering finds the natural grouping of the objects. The proposed algorithm is compared to another clustering method which is based on cuckoo search and Bayesian Information Criterion. The experimental results show that proposed algorithm finds the actual number of clusters with great value of precision, recall and F-measure as compared to the other method.
III–V/SiGe on Si radiation hard space cells with Voc>2.6V

We have achieved the first monolithically integrated triple-junction InGaP/GaAsP/SiGe solar cell on Si substrate, achieving an adjusted efficiency of 20% AM0 1-sun. The practical achievable maximum AM0 efficiency for the optimal cell near this lattice constant is 39%. The combination of this high efficiency with the ability to process such cells on larger area lower-cost silicon substrates motivates our continued advancement of this technology. Radiation testing of 4Power cells, up to 2.7 × 1012 p+/cm2 (10MeV) show excellent radiation hardness; the novel SiGe bottom junction shows no measurable degradation after proton radiation testing, verifying such cells have application in air and space photovoltaics. Furthermore, because of the combination of high efficiency and low mass density, 4Power InGaP/GaAsP/SiGe solar cells can reach AM0 specific power approaching 1400 W/kg, greatly exceeding that of current state of the art InGaP/(In)GaAs/Ge space cells that are ~500 W/kg. The high efficiency afforded by the unique tailoring of the multijunction bandgap cell can provide a realistic maximum of ~500 W/m2 at AM0 1-sun.
Processing Line Drawings

This chapter introduces the basic ideas behind Freeman coding of curves for the efficient representation and processing of line drawings. Along the way Bertrand's paradox in probability theory is illustrated with an example that utilizes random chords on a circle. Finally, using a suitable probabilistic model several chain-coding schemes are analyzed from the point of view of the probability of obtaining diagonal elements in the encoding. 1. Introduction By a line drawing we mean an image consisting of line segments and/or curve segments which need not be connected and whose thickness carries no information. A vast quantity of images in computer graphics, image processing and pattern recognition fall under this domain. Examples of line drawings abound in engineering drawings as well as maps in automated cartogra-phy. The problem of the efficient transmission and storage of line drawings has received considerable attention. In geographic information systems large amounts of data such as contours of maps must be stored [1]. For a recent survey of this field, the reader is referred to the article by Freeman [2]. Several methods referred to as chain-coding have been proposed by Freeman and his co-workers [3]-[4]. All these methods require a device to quantize the two-dimensional figure and encode it into a form suitable for machine processing and transmission. Three quantization methods of interest here will be described and compared. Let a uniform mesh be superimposed on the line drawing. Using Freeman's notation, an x-y coordinate system can be drawn on the mesh so that every node is identifiable in terms of its coordinates (mT, nT), where m and n are integers and T represents the separation between adjacent mesh nodes. An efficient quantized description of the line drawing can then be specified by giving the coordinates of the mesh nodes which lie " close " in some sense to the given line drawing. These nodes are called " curve points. " Different quantization schemes yield a possibly different set of curve points for a given line drawing. Three quantization schemes frequently used in the past, referred to as square, circular, and grid-intersect quantization, are illustrated in Fig. 1. Consider first square quantization. In this case a square of side T is centered at each mesh node, with its sides parallel to the mesh lines. A node is then considered to be a curve point if any part of the line drawing falls within the square …
Different regulation of P‐glycoprotein function between Caco‐2 and Caki‐1 cells by ezrin, radixin and moesin proteins

P‐glycoprotein (P‐gp) mediates efflux of many xenobiotics, including therapeutic drugs, from normal and tumour tissues, and its functional localization on the plasma membrane of cells is regulated by scaffold proteins, such as ezrin, radixin and moesin (ERM proteins). We previously reported that radixin is involved in post‐translational regulation of P‐gp in hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and mouse small intestine, but not in mouse kidney.
Impact du boisement des tourbières ombrotrophes sur leur diversité floristique

ii Liste des figures et tableaux . vi Liste des annexes . vii Remerciements . viii Organisation du mémoire . x Chapitre 1 . 1 Mise en contexte . 1 La diversité. 2 L’homogénéisation biotique . 3 Les tourbières ombrotrophes et le phénomène de boisement . 7 Les tourbières . 7 Le boisement . 10 Portrait du boisement en tourbière ombrotrophe . 11 Facteurs favorisant le boisement en tourbière . 11 Changement d’état suite à l’implantation des arbres . 13 Impacts du boisement sur la diversité des tourbières ombrotrophes . 14 Les tourbières des basses terres du Saint-Laurent . 16
Geology of the Central Sivas Basin (Turkey)

ABSTRACT This paper presents a revised geological map at the 1/50,000 scale of the Central Sivas Basin together with a synthetic stratigraphic chart and cross-sections. The map covers an area of approximately 9840 km² within the Eastern Anatolian orogen. The structure of the studied area is dominated by three major tectonic domains: (i) to the south, a north-verging thrust wedge involving Maastrichtian – Eocene sediments deposited onto an ophiolitic basement, (ii) in the center an Oligo-Miocene domain shaped by salt tectonics detached above the thrust wedge, along a late Eocene salt layer, and, (iii) to the north the Pliocene depocenter onlapping onto the Kırşehir basement. The central halokinetic domain exhibits two generations of minibasins (respectively, early Oligocene and late Oligocene to late Miocene), separated by an evaporite canopy. The map includes new stratigraphic correlations for the pre-salt stratigraphy and improve the comprehension of the southern fold-and-thrust-belt.
Predictors of Rehemorrhage After Treatment of Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysms: The Cerebral Aneurysm Rerupture After Treatment (CARAT) Study

Background and Purpose— The primary purpose of intracranial aneurysm treatment is to prevent rupture. Risk factors for rupture after aneurysm treatment have not been clearly established, and the need to completely occlude aneurysms is debated. Methods— The Cerebral Aneurysm Rerupture After Treatment (CARAT) study is an ambidirectional cohort study of all patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms treated with coil embolization or surgical clipping at 9 high-volume centers in the United States from 1996 to 1998. All subjects were followed through 2005, and all potential reruptures were adjudicated by a panel of 3 specialists without knowledge of the initial treatment or aneurysm characteristics. Degree of aneurysm occlusion post-treatment was evaluated as a predictor of nonprocedural rerupture in univariate Kaplan–Meier analysis (log-rank test) and in a Cox proportional-hazards model after adjustment for potential confounders and censoring at time of retreatment. Results— Among 1001 patients during a mean of 4.0 years follow-up, there were 19 postprocedural reruptures; median time to rerupture was 3 days and 58% led to death. The degree of aneurysm occlusion after treatment was strongly associated with risk of rerupture (overall risk: 1.1% for complete occlusion, 2.9% for 91% to 99% occlusion, 5.9% for 70% to 90%, 17.6% for <70%; P<0.0001 in univariate and multivariable analysis). Overall risk of rerupture tended to be greater after coil embolization compared with surgical clipping (3.4% versus 1.3%; P=0.092), but the difference did not persist after adjustment (P=0.83). Conclusions— Degree of aneurysm occlusion after the initial treatment is a strong predictor of the risk of subsequent rupture in patients presenting with subarachnoid hemorrhage, which justifies attempts to completely occlude aneurysms.
An Efficient Mode Decision Scheme by using RD Cost Correlation Coefficients in Scalable Video Coding

—Scalable video coding (SVC) achieves layered coding structure with adaptive inter-layer prediction which causes high computational complexity. To decrease the computational complexity of SVC, we present a fast algorithm to speed up the inter-mode decision process for SVC. The proposed algorithm early terminates inter-mode decision in the enhancement layer by estimating the rate-distortion (RD) cost from the macroblocks of the base layer and the enhancement layer in temporal, spatial and inter-layer directions. Moreover, a search range decision algorithm is also proposed in this paper to further increase the motion estimation speed by using the motion vector information from temporal, spatial or inter-layer domain. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can determine the best mode and provide up to 75% of total coding time saving with 2.2% of bit rate increasing and 0.08dB PSNR degradation in average compared to JSVM 9.10.
Tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Southern Campania Margin: a key area for the evolution of the Tyrrhenian-Apennine system

The Southern Campania Margin (SCM) represents a key area of the Central Mediterranean because it records all the rifting stages of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The interpretation of a seismic dataset calibrated with deep wells and outcrops, using seismic stratigraphy and structural geology methods in a dedicated Geographic Information System (GIS) environment, the seismic depth conversion, the generation of 2-D and 3-D models led to the reconstruction of a polyphased tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the SCM. During the early stage of Tyrrhenian opening a terrigenous transtensional Basin (Langhian-Tortonian Cilento Basin) formed on the Liguride accretionary prism adjacent to the Calabria crystalline terrane. In the SCM the Liguride thrust sheets tectonically overly the Apennine Platform units and both these nappes have been dismembered by Quaternary faults. Three rifting stages, not homogeneously distributed, affected the region since the Lower Pleistocene. They are associated to the deposition of a thick Quaternary succession (A, B and C units). During these Pleistocene stages there was an abrupt change of the extension direction (from NE-SW to NW-SE) accompanying a change of the nappe transport direction of the Southern Apennines. The construction of balanced sections using dedicated software, permitted us to recognize the true geometry of the faults and compute the amount of Quaternary extension of the SCM that results comparable to those calculated for other sectors of the Tyrrhenian margin and further extensional regions worldwide.
Epidemic hysteria.

Certain trends are noticeable. Induction for purely social or medical convenience is recognised to be bad practice and is probably less used now than it was five years ago. Obstetricians are more aware of the need to pay careful attention to the gestational age and so avoid the embarrassment and the dangers of an unexpected premature delivery. Interest is passing increasingly to non-invasive techniques, which are more comfortable for the patients and less likely to bring complications. Finally, there is no agreement about an acceptable rate of induction, but McNay et al 8 are very likely right when they suggest that the optimum induction rate will vary from area to area depending on local medical and obstetric problems.
Synergy in a Neural Code

We show that the information carried by compound events in neural spike trainspatterns of spikes across time or across a population of cellscan be measured, independent of assumptions about what these patterns might represent. By comparing the information carried by a compound pattern with the information carried independently by its parts, we directly measure the synergy among these parts. We illustrate the use of these methods by applying them to experiments on the motion-sensitive neuron H1 of the fly's visual system, where we confirm that two spikes close together in time carry far more than twice the information carried by a single spike. We analyze the sources of this synergy and provide evidence that pairs of spikes close together in time may be especially important patterns in the code of H1.
NO TRANSITION DISK? INFRARED EXCESS, PAH, H2, AND X-RAYS FROM THE WEAK-LINED T TAURI STAR DoAr 21

As part of a program to understand disk dispersal and the interplay between circumstellar disks and X-ray emission, we present new high-resolution mid-infrared (IR) imaging, high-resolution optical spectroscopy, and Chandra grating X-ray spectroscopy of the weak-lined T Tauri star DoAr 21. DoAr 21 (age <106 yr and mass ∼2.2 M☉ based on evolutionary tracks) is a strong X-ray emitter, with conflicting evidence in the literature about its disk properties. It shows weak but broad Hα emission (reported here for the first time since the 1950s); polarimetric variability; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and H2 emission; and a strong, spatially resolved 24 μm excess in archival Spitzer photometry. Gemini sub-arcsecond-resolution 9–18 μm images show that there is little or no excess mid-IR emission within 100 AU of the star; the excess emission is extended over several arcseconds and is quite asymmetric. The extended emission is bright in the ultraviolet (UV)-excited λ = 11.3 μm PAH emission feature. A new high-resolution X-ray grating spectrum from Chandra shows that the stellar X-ray emission is very hard and dominated by continuum emission; it is well fit by a multi-temperature thermal model, typical of hard coronal sources, and shows no evidence of unusually high densities. A flare during the X-ray observation shows a temperature approaching 108 K. We argue that the far-UV emission from the transition region is sufficient to excite the observed extended PAH and continuum emission, and that the H2 emission may be similarly extended and excited. While this extended emission may be a disk in the final stages of clearing, it also could be more akin to a small-scale photodissociation region than a protoplanetary disk, highlighting both the very young ages (<106 yr) at which some stars are found without disks and the extreme radiation environment around even late-type pre-main-sequence stars.
Five-year outcomes of probable rheumatoid arthritis treated with methotrexate or placebo during the first year (the PROMPT study)

Objective To assess long-term disease outcome of undifferentiated arthritis (UA) after initial treatment with methotrexate (MTX) or placebo. Methods 110 patients with UA were randomised to receive MTX (n=55) or placebo (n=55) for 1 year. After 5 years the outcomes for diagnosis (rheumatoid arthritis, 1987 criteria (RA (1987)), UA or UA in remission) and radiographic progression were compared between treatment arms and anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA)-positive and -negative patients. Outcomes were recalculated for patients who, with hindsight, might have been classified at baseline as having RA according to the 2010 criteria (RA (2010)). Results 25 patients in the MTX group and 29 in the placebo group progressed to RA (1987) (p=0.45). MTX delayed progression from UA to RA (1987) but only in ACPA-positive patients. Drug-free remission was achieved in 35 patients, 20 of whom were initially treated with MTX, and 32 were ACPA-negative. ACPA-positive patients had more radiographic progression, regardless of treatment. Forty-three patients (39%) could be reclassified as having had RA (2010) at baseline, 6/24 (25%) of whom achieved remission after placebo treatment. Conclusions After 5 years there is no lasting benefit of a 1 year initial course of MTX for patients with undifferentiated arthritis, compared with initial placebo. Progression to classifiable RA was not suppressed, drug-free remission not induced and the progression of radiological damage was similar in both groups. Reclassification at baseline with the 2010 criteria showed that 25% of patients with RA (2010) achieved spontaneous drug-free remission.