Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Measurement of the Temperature-Density Relation in the Intergalactic Medium Using a New Lyα Absorption-Line Fitting Method

The evolution of the temperature in the intergalactic medium is related to the reionization of hydrogen and helium and has important consequences for our understanding of the Lyα forest and of galaxy formation. We measure the temperature-density relation of intergalactic gas from Lyα forest observations of eight quasar spectra, using a new line fitting technique to obtain a lower cutoff on the distribution of line widths from which the temperature is derived. Using a numerical simulation, we examine the details of this kind of measurement at different densities, finding that the temperature may be difficult to measure for gas with Δg ≲ 1 (Δg is the density of the gas in units of the mean density) because the velocities due to expansion always dominate the widths of the corresponding weak lines, and that the temperature measurement is increasingly ambiguous for gas with Δg ≳ 5 because the dispersion in temperature at fixed density is high. From our observed spectra, the temperature is most precisely determined at densities slightly above the mean: T* = (20,200 ± 2700, 20,200 ± 1300, 22,600 ± 1900) K (statistical error bars) for gas densities Δ* = (1.42 ± 0.08, 1.37 ± 0.11, 1.66 ± 0.11) at redshift z̄ = (3.9, 3.0, 2.4). Systematic errors in T* should be less than 2000 K. The power-law index of the temperature-density relation, defined by T = T*(Δg/Δ*)γ-1, is γ - 1 = (0.43 ± 0.45, 0.29 ± 0.30, 0.52 ± 0.14) for the same three redshifts. The temperature at fixed overdensity Δ = 1.4 is T1.4 = (20,100 ± 2800, 20,300 ± 1400, 20,700 ± 1900) K. This unchanging temperature is higher than expected for photoionized gas in ionization equilibrium with a cosmic background. If the heat from the He II reionization is responsible for the high measured temperature, then the temperature should not be constant but should have a maximum at the end of the reionization epoch. We update the lower limit to the baryon density implied by the observed mean flux decrement.
OCT Study of Mechanical Properties Associated with Trabecular Meshwork and Collector Channel Motion in Human Eyes

We report the use of a high-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging platform to identify and quantify pressure-dependent aqueous outflow system (AOS) tissue relationships and to infer mechanical stiffness through examination of tissue properties in ex vivo human eyes. Five enucleated human eyes are included in this study, with each eye prepared with four equal-sized quadrants, each encompassing 90 degrees of the limbal circumference. In radial limbal segments perfusion pressure within Schlemm’s canal (SC) is controlled by means of a perfusion cannula inserted into the canal lumen, while the other end of the cannula leads to a reservoir at a height that can control the pressure in the cannula. The OCT system images the sample with a spatial resolution of about 5 μm from the trabecular meshwork (TM) surface. Geometric parameters are quantified from the 2D OCT images acquired from the sample subjected to controlled changes in perfusion pressures; parameters include area and height of the lumen of SC, collector channel entrances (CCE) and intrascleral collector channels (ISCC). We show that 3D OCT imaging permits the identification of 3-D relationships of the SC, CCE and ISCC lumen dimensions. Collagen flaps or leaflets are found at CCE that are attached or hinged at only one end, whilst the flaps are connected to the TM by cylindrical structures spanning SC. Increasing static SC pressures resulted in SC lumen enlargement with corresponding enlargement of the CCE and ISCC lumen. Pressure-dependent SC lumen area and height changes are significant at the 0.01 levels for ANOVA, and at the 0.05 for both polynomial curves and Tukey paired comparisons. Dynamic measurements demonstrate a synchronous increase in SC, CCE and ISCC lumen height in response to pressure changes from 0 to 10, 30 or 50 mm Hg, respectively, and the response time is within the 50-millisecond range. From the measured SC volume and corresponding IOP values, we demonstrate that an elastance curve can be developed to infer the mechanical stiffness of the TM by means of quantifying pressure-dependent SC volume changes over a 2 mm radial region of SC. Our study finds pressure-dependent motion of the TM that corresponds to collagen leaflet configuration motion at CCE; the synchronous tissue motion also corresponds with synchrony of SC and CCE lumen dimension changes.
Partitioned optical passive star (POPS) multiprocessor interconnection networks with distributed control

This paper presents a partitioned optical passive star (POPS) interconnection topology and a control methodology that, together, provide the high throughput and low latency required for tightly coupled multiprocessor interconnection applications. The POPS topology has constant and symmetric optical coupler fanout and only one coupler between any two nodes of the network. Distributed control is based on the state sequence routing paradigm which multiplexes the network between a small set of control states and defines control operations to be transformations of those states. These networks have highly scalable characteristics for optical power budget, resource count, and message latency. Optical power is uniformly distributed and the size of the system is not directly limited by the power budget. Resource complexity grows as O(n) for the couplers, O(n/spl radic/n) for transceivers, and O[/spl radic/nlog(n)] for control. We present analysis and simulation studies which demonstrate the ability of a POPS network to support large scale parallel processing (1024 nodes) using current device and coupler technology.
CDMBE: A Case Description Model Based on Evidence

By combining the advantages of argument map and Bayesian network, a case description model based on evidence (CDMBE), which is suitable to continental law system, is proposed to describe the criminal cases. The logic of the model adopts the credibility logical reason and gets evidence-based reasoning quantitatively based on evidences. In order to consist with practical inference rules, five types of relationship and a set of rules are defined to calculate the credibility of assumptions based on the credibility and supportability of the related evidences. Experiments show that the model can get users' ideas into a figure and the results calculated from CDMBE are in line with those from Bayesian model.
An AI for the Wikipedia Game

We designed an AI to play The Wikipedia Game, a computer game played on wikipedia.org. In short, players start on a random Wikipedia article and then try to traverse the site using only the hyperlinks in the articles to get to some common destination article. The game can be played by humans either for speed or for fewest links used, but a key component of a human’s strategy is that he never backtracks (i.e. his algorithm is entirely greedy). An input to our AI will therefore be a random Wikipedia article, and the output will be a path from there to the destination article, which we chose to remain fixed at the ‘Stanford University’ page. Our AI will navigate from the start article to the goal one attempting to minimize both the link-distance and time but also attempting to minimize states viewed, to emulate the human player and because in a real application to the web each article would take non-trivial time to download and view.
The Learning Keyboard Using the Xbox Kinect to Learn User Typing Behavior

The Learning Keyboard is a machine learning system designed to guess what a user is typing solely by observing their hand movements on a keyboard. The system trains on a per-user basis using supervised learning, and generates feature vectors on a per-word basis. We show that on datasets consisting of more than 100 unique words the Learning Keyboard is able to guess words with over 80% accuracy.
A Predictive Model for Knee Joint Replacement in Older Women

Knee replacement (KR) is expensive and invasive. To date no predictive algorithms have been developed to identify individuals at high risk of surgery. This study assessed whether patient self-reported risk factors predict 10-year KR in a population-based study of 1,462 women aged over 70 years recruited for the Calcium Intake Fracture Outcome Study (CAIFOS). Complete hospital records of prevalent (1980-1998) and incident (1998-2008) total knee replacement were available via the Western Australian Data Linkage System. Potential risk factors were assessed for predicative ability using a modeling approach based on a pre-planned selection of risk factors prior to model evaluation. There were 129 (8.8%) participants that underwent KR over the 10 year period. Baseline factors including; body mass index, knee pain, previous knee replacement and analgesia use for joint pain were all associated with increased risk, (P < 0.001). These factors in addition to age demonstrated good discrimination with a C-statistic of 0.79 ± 0.02 as well as calibration determined by the Hosmer-Lemeshow Goodness-of-Fit test. For clinical recommendations, three categories of risk for 10-year knee replacement were selected; low < 5%; moderate 5 to < 10% and high ≥ 10% predicted risk. The actual risk of knee replacement was; low 16 / 741 (2.2%); moderate 32 / 330 (9.7%) and high 81 / 391 (20.7%), P < 0.001. Internal validation of this 5-variable model on 6-year knee replacements yielded a similar C-statistic of 0.81 ± 0.02, comparable to the WOMAC weighted score; C-statistic 0.75 ± 0.03, P = 0.064. In conclusion 5 easily obtained patient self-reported risk factors predict 10-year KR risk well in this population. This algorithm should be considered as the basis for a patient-based risk calculator to assist in the development of treatment regimens to reduce the necessity for surgery in high risk groups such as the elderly.
The Effect of Incorporating Good Learners' Ratings in e-Learning Content-based Recommender System

One of the anticipated challenges of today’s e-learning is to solve the problem of recommending from a large number of learning materials. In this study, we introduce a novel architecture for an e-learning recommender system. More specifically, this paper comprises the following phases i) to propose an e-learning recommender system based on content-based filtering and good learners’ ratings, and ii) to compare the proposed e-learning recommender system with exiting e-learning recommender systems that use both collaborative filtering and content-based filtering techniques in terms of system accuracy and student’s performance. The results obtained from the test data show that the proposed e-learning recommender system outperforms existing e-learning recommender systems that use collaborative filtering and content-based filtering techniques with respect to system accuracy of about 83.28% and 48.58%, respectively. The results further show that the learner’s performance is increased by at least 12.16% when the students use the e-learning with the proposed recommender system as compared to other recommendation techniques.
Rateless codes for heterogeneous in-home interfaces aggregation

With the appearance of P2P networks and the rapid progress in the technologies used to setup in-home networks, these have recently elicited much interest between the industry and the scientific community. Nowadays, there are several alternatives that could be used to establish an in-home network and it is very common that various of these technologies were available in homes and small offices. Therefore, an application able to combine two or more of these interfaces should be very useful in these networks. The Linux Kernel contains a driver (or module) called Bonding that permits Ethernet interfaces aggregation. However, it is not prepared for asymmetric interfaces aggregation and even less for variable capacity technologies, like PLC. In this work a variation of the bonding module is presented. This new module works properly in asymmetric scenarios by using Rateless Codes.
Bowyer: A Planning Tool for Bridging the Gap between Declarative and Procedural Domains

Traditionally, there have been two large obstacles faced in attempting to apply AI techniques to games and other virtual environments. The first obstacle is the gap between the largely declarative representations used by many AI techniques and the largely procedural approaches used in virtual environments. The second obstacle is the gap between the skill sets and knowledge bases of the two domain experts with AI researchers often lacking experience using virtual environment APIs and development environments and virtual environments developers often lacking significant AI knowledge. In this paper we present Bowyer, a tool designed to address these two obstacles to the integration of AI planning algorithms into virtual environments. Bowyer bridges the gap between the declarative representations in a planning domain and the procedural framework of a virtual environment via the use of code generation techniques. Bowyer’s functionality also allows planning researchers to integrate their planning research into virtual environments without the need to have extensive knowledge of virtual environment development.
E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion prevents invasiveness of human carcinoma cells

The ability of carcinomas to invade and to metastasize largely depends on the degree of epithelial differentiation within the tumors, i.e., poorly differentiated being more invasive than well-differentiated carcinomas. Here we confirmed this correlation by examining various human cell lines derived from bladder, breast, lung, and pancreas carcinomas. We found that carcinoma cell lines with an epithelioid phenotype were noninvasive and expressed the epithelium-specific cell- cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin (also known as Arc-1, uvomorulin, and cell-CAM 120/80), as visualized by immunofluorescence microscopy and by Western and Northern blotting, whereas carcinoma cell lines with a fibroblastoid phenotype were invasive and had lost E-cadherin expression. Invasiveness of these latter cells could be prevented by transfection with E-cadherin cDNA and was again induced by treatment of the transfected cells with anti-E-cadherin mAbs. These findings indicate that the selective loss of E-cadherin expression can generate dedifferentiation and invasiveness of human carcinoma cells, and they suggest further that E-cadherin acts as an invasion suppressor.
Estimating Elastic Moduli of Transversely Isotropic Formations

Using acoustic logging data, we develop a method of estimating the horizontal shear modulus C66) of a transversely isotropic formation with its axis of symmetry parallel to that of the borehole. The data for the inversion are the wavenumbers, at every frequency, of the guided waves. The inversion minimizes the difference between these observed wavenumbers and those calculated by a forward model. The final estimates of the elastic moduli are constrained by the a priori estimates of their values and by the requirement to keep the stiffness tensor positive definite. The inversion produced similar results when it was applied to synthetic data from hard and soft formations. The estimate for the shear modulus, C66, was fairly accurate because this parameter is moderately well resolved. The estimates for Cll and C13 are inaccurate because they are poorly resolved by the data. Tight constraints on the fluid modulus prevent this parameter from changing. much. The inversion did not attempt to estimate either C33 or C44 because they can be determined from the refracted P and S-waves or the flexural wave.
SIaaS - Sensing Instrument as a Service Using Cloud Computing to Turn Physical Instrument into Ubiquitous Service

Sensing Instrument as a Service (SIaaS) is a new cloud service that allows users to use data acquisition instruments shared through cloud infrastructure. It offers a common interface to managing physical sensing instrument and it permits to take all advantages of using cloud computing technology in storing and processing acquired data. With SIaaS different research groups could share physical instrument, in a controlled way, event if they are geographically distributed and user can access to them using an internet connected device without the need to install any sort of program. With the interaction of different own framework we have created a new cloud service for transforming physical resources in a ubiquitous service.
Microbial, pH, Titratable Acidity, Functional and Sensory Properties of Weaning Food Blends Formulated from Maize, Cowpea, Bambaranut and Groundnut

This study investigated the microbial, sensory evaluation and functional properties of cereal/legume complementary weaning food blends using yellow maize, cowpea, bambaranut and groundnut. Yellow maize was fermented to produce “Akamu”, cowpea, bambaranut and groundnut were roasted. The weaning food blends were formulated as follows: MCBG: 60 (g) yellow maize: 20(g) cowpea: 10(g) bambaranut: 10(g) groundnut, MCB; 60(g) yellow maize: 20(g) cowpea: 20(g) bambaranut, MCG: 60(g) yellow maize: 20(g) bambaranut: 20(g) groundnut and MBG: 60(g) yellow maize: 20(g) bambaranut: 20(g) groundnut. Standard laboratory methods were used to determine the parameters. The yellow maize (Improved variety), cowpea, bambaranut and groundnut were obtained from Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI) Maiduguri. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan’s multiple range test was used to separate the means. A decrease in pH with an increase in titratable acidity was observed during the production of “Akamu” from yellow maize. The weaning food blend MCBG showed a significant decrease in viscosity, water absorption capacity and bulk density than MCB, MCG and MBG. Predominant micro organisms isolated during the production of Akamu and the weaning food blends were lactobacillus, saccharomyces cerevisae, and streptococcus lactics. Results of the sensory evaluation showed that MCBG had the highest overall acceptability than the three weaning food blends MCB, MCG and MBG.
An Overview on Time/Frequency Modulated Array Processing

Time and frequency modulated arrays have numerous application areas including radar, navigation, and communications. Specifically, a time modulated array can create a beampattern with low sidelobes via connecting and disconnecting the antenna elements from the feed network, while the frequency modulated frequency diverse array produces a range-dependent pattern. In this paper, we aim to introduce these advanced arrays to the signal processing community so that more investigations in terms of theory, methods, and applications, can be facilitated. The research progress of time/frequency modulated array studies is reviewed and the most recent advances are discussed. Moreover, potential applications in radar and communications are presented, along with their technical challenges, especially in signal processing aspects.
The MOND paradigm

I review briefly different aspects of the MOND paradigm, with emphasis on phenomenology, epitomized here by many MOND laws of galactic motion--analogous to Kepler's laws of planetary motion. I then comment on the possible roots of MOND in cosmology, possibly the deepest and most far reaching aspect of MOND. This is followed by a succinct account of existing underlying theories. I also reflect on the implications of MOND's successes for the dark matter (DM) paradigm: MOND predictions imply that baryons alone accurately determine the full field of each and every individual galactic object. This conflicts with the expectations in the DM paradigm because of the haphazard formation and evolution of galactic objects and the very different influences that baryons and DM are subject to during the evolution, as evidenced, e.g., by the very small baryon-to-DM fraction in galaxies (compared with the cosmic value). All this should disabuse DM advocates of the thought that DM will someday be able to reproduce MOND: It is inconceivable that the modicum of baryons left over in galaxies can be made to determine everything if a much heavier DM component is present.
Improving sentence retrieval with an importance prior

The retrieval of sentences is a core task within Information Retrieval. In this poster we employ a Language Model that incorporates a prior which encodes the importance of sentences within the retrieval model. Then, in a set of comprehensive experiments using the TREC Novelty Tracks, we show that including this prior substantially improves retrieval effectiveness, and significantly outperforms the current state of the art in sentence retrieval.
Risk of Pneumonia with Inhaled Corticosteroid versus Long-Acting Bronchodilator Regimens in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A New-User Cohort Study

Introduction Observational studies using case-control designs have showed an increased risk of pneumonia associated with inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-containing medications in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). New-user observational cohort designs may minimize biases associated with previous case-control designs. Objective To estimate the association between ICS and pneumonia among new users of ICS relative to inhaled long-acting bronchodilator (LABD) monotherapy. Methods Pneumonia events in COPD patients ≥45 years old were compared among new users of ICS medications (n = 11,555; ICS, ICS/long-acting β2-agonist [LABA] combination) and inhaled LABD monotherapies (n = 6,492; LABA, long-acting muscarinic antagonists) using Cox proportional hazards models, with propensity scores to adjust for confounding. Setting: United Kingdom electronic medical records with linked hospitalization and mortality data (2002–2010). New users were censored at earliest of: pneumonia event, death, changing/discontinuing treatment, or end of follow-up. Outcomes: severe pneumonia (primary) and any pneumonia (secondary). Results Following adjustment, new use of ICS-containing medications was associated with an increased risk of pneumonia hospitalization (n = 322 events; HR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.14, 2.10) and any pneumonia (n = 702 events; HR = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.22, 1.83). Crude incidence rates of any pneumonia were 48.7 and 30.9 per 1000 person years among the ICS-containing and LABD cohorts, respectively. Excess risk of pneumonia with ICS was reduced when requiring ≥1 month or ≥ 6 months of new use. There was an apparent dose-related effect, with greater risk at higher daily doses of ICS. There was evidence of channeling bias, with more severe patients prescribed ICS, for which the analysis may not have completely adjusted. Conclusions The results of this new-user cohort study are consistent with published findings; ICS were associated with a 20–50% increased risk of pneumonia in COPD, which reduced with exposure time. This risk must be weighed against the benefits when prescribing ICS to patients with COPD.
Fast surface-based measurements using first eigenfunction of the Laplace-Beltrami Operator: Interest for sulcal description

In this paper we propose a fast method to compute the longitudinal extension of surfaces using the extrema of the first eigenfunction of Laplace-Beltrami Operator and the hot spots conjecture. We also propose an original definition of the surface width based on the distance to the longest geodesic. We show that the implementation of our new definition of length is consistent with the one computed from brute force and that the time complexity is considerably improved. We have tested the numerical efficiency of our approach on simple simulations and applied it to cortical surface patches from a real MRI dataset. Besides our approach enriches global descriptors of sulci shapes with a third dimension : length, depth and now width.