Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ranking German Texts by Comprehensibility for Foreign Document Retrieval

Assume the result of a search is a set of documents in a language other than the native language of a user. How can one rank these documents based on their perceived comprehensibility (i.e., from easier to most difficult)? Our work addresses this question by providing metrics that estimate how difficult or common are the words that comprise a document. We take special consideration of language cognates, that is, words that are similar in two languages, which can significantly affect the understanding of a foreign-language text. Our evaluations on German documents when addressed to native English speakers, indicate that the comprehensibility estimator of a document, as provided by our technique, outperforms existing readability measures. A video demonstration can be found here: http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=jHiZQ9OOLg4
Side localization to increase localization accuracy

Estimating the location of sensor nodes in wireless sensor networks is a fundamental requirement in a variety of sensing applications. In large scale dense deployments where the area covered by sensor nodes is very large, it is impossible to localize all sensor nodes using single-hop localization techniques. A solution to this problem is to use a multi-hop localization technique to estimate sensor node positions. In some deployments it is required to maintain the anchor nodes at the edge of the simulated area. In previous work, we introduced a new localization scheme that uses distance measurements to localize sensor nodes using a collinear and non-collinear mobile anchor nodes placed at the edge of the sensed area. A Kalman Filter was then used to improve the location accuracy for each node. In this scheme each SN estimated its location from two independent directions then use such information to improve localization accuracy. In this paper, we extend the work to use side localization using hop measurements and fixed anchor node. We also compare the performance of using side localization for both hop and distance measurement. Through simulation we show that side localization using distance and hop measurements outperform DV-Hop and DV-Distance, which are mainstream localization protocols. The weighted mean hop measurement gives higher localization accuracy than using using distance measurement. However, if Kalman Filter is used distance measurement gives better localization accuracy.
Feedback handling in dynamic task nets

While a software process is being executed, many errors and problems occur which require to reconsider previously executed process steps. In order to handle feedback in a process management system, several requirements need to be addressed: adaptability, human intervention, impact analysis, change propagation, restoration of the work context, and traceability. Feedback management in DYNAMITE meets these requirements. DYNAMITE is based on dynamic task nets and specifically supports feedback through feedback relations, task versions, and customized semantics of data flows. A methodology for feedback handling is also represented.
Satellite‐derived increases in net primary productivity across North America, 1982–1998

We used a new 17‐year, high spatial resolution satellite record and a carbon cycle model to explore how changing net primary productivity (NPP) contributed to a proposed carbon (C) sink in North America. We found a small but significant increase in NPP, 0.03 Pg C yr−2 or 8% over 17 years, that could explain a substantial fraction of the C sink. The largest increases occurred in the central and southeastern United States, eastern Canada, and northwestern North America, and were consistent with NPP trends derived from forest inventories and crop yields. Interannual NPP variability was small, implying that the large interannual variability in the C sink found in previous studies were driven by changes in heterotrophic respiration.
Singlet molecular oxygen-quenching activity of carotenoids: relevance to protection of the skin from photoaging

Carotenoids are known to be potent quenchers of singlet molecular oxygen [O2 (1Δg)]. Solar light-induced photooxidative stress causes skin photoaging by accelerating the generation of reactive oxygen species via photodynamic actions in which O2 (1Δg) can be generated by energy transfer from excited sensitizers. Thus, dietary carotenoids seem to participate in the prevention of photooxidative stress by accumulating as antioxidants in the skin. An in vivo study using hairless mice clarified that a O2 (1Δg) oxygenation-specific peroxidation product of cholesterol, cholesterol 5α-hydroperoxide, accumulates in skin lipids due to ultraviolet-A exposure. Matrix metalloproteinase-9, a metalloproteinase family enzyme responsible for the formation of wrinkles and sagging, was enhanced in the skin of ultraviolet-A -irradiated hairless mice. The activation of metalloproteinase-9 and the accumulation of 5α-hydroperoxide, as well as formation of wrinkles and sagging, were lowered in mice fed a β-carotene diet. These results strongly suggest that dietary β-carotene prevents the expression of metalloproteinase-9 (at least in part), by inhibiting the photodynamic action involving the formation of 5α-hydroperoxide in the skin. Intake of β-Carotene therefore appears to be helpful in slowing down ultraviolet-A -induced photoaging in human skin by acting as a O2 (1Δg) quencher.
A Transformer Feedback  ${G}_{m}$ -Boosting Technique for Gain Improvement and Noise Reduction in mm-Wave Cascode LNAs

This paper presents the analysis and design of a novel topology of a low-noise amplifier (LNA) with gain improvement and noise reduction simultaneously. A transformer feedback gm-boosting technique is proposed in a single-ended cascode topology to increase the gain and reduce the noise. The proposed technique is theoretically formulated and detailed analyses are presented. Two V-band single-ended cascode LNAs, with a transformer and transmission line for impedance matching, respectively, are demonstrated to verify this technique. Fabricated in a 65-nm CMOS process, the transformer-based (TF-based) LNA exhibits a minimum noise figure (NF) of 3.6 dB at 53.5 GHz and a highest power gain of 28.2 dB at 54 GHz in measurement. To our best knowledge, this LNA has the best NF and power gain among all the published V-band LNAs in 65-nm CMOS up to date. The transmission-line-based (TL-based) LNA exhibits a minimum NF of 3.8 dB at 53.9 GHz and a highest power gain of 25.4 dB at 54.2 GHz in measurement. Both the LNAs consume 18 mA from a power supply of 1.1 V.
Recovering facial shape and albedo using a statistical model of surface normal direction

This paper describes how facial shape can be modelled using a statistical model that captures variations in surface normal direction. To construct this model, we make use of the azimuthal equidistant projection to map surface normals from the unit sphere to points on a local tangent plane. The variations in surface normal direction are captured using the covariance matrix for the projected point positions. This allows us to model variations in face shape using a standard point distribution model. We train the model on fields of surface normals extracted from range data and show how to fit the model to intensity data using constraints on the surface normal direction provided by Lambert's law. We demonstrate that this process yields accurate facial shape recovery and allows an estimate of the albedo map to be made from single, real world face images.
Predicting Novel Tick Vectors of Zoonotic Disease

With the resurgence of tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease and the emergence of new pathogens such as Powassan virus, understanding what distinguishes vector from non-vector species, and predicting undiscovered tick vectors is an important step towards mitigating human disease risk. We apply generalized boosted regression to interrogate over 90 features for over 240 species of Ixodes ticks. Our model predicted vector status with ~97% accuracy and implicated 14 tick species whose intrinsic trait profiles confer high probabilities (~80%) that they are capable of transmitting infections from animal hosts to humans. Distinguishing characteristics of zoonotic tick vectors include several anatomical structures that facilitate efficient host seeking and blood-feeding from a wide variety of host species. Boosted regression analysis produced both actionable predictions to guide ongoing surveillance as well as testable hypotheses about the biological underpinnings of vectorial capacity across tick species.
Reverse Engineering of Oxygen Transport in the Lung: Adaptation to Changing Demands and Resources through Space-Filling Networks

The space-filling fractal network in the human lung creates a remarkable distribution system for gas exchange. Landmark studies have illuminated how the fractal network guarantees minimum energy dissipation, slows air down with minimum hardware, maximizes the gas- exchange surface area, and creates respiratory flexibility between rest and exercise. In this paper, we investigate how the fractal architecture affects oxygen transport and exchange under varying physiological conditions, with respect to performance metrics not previously studied. We present a renormalization treatment of the diffusion-reaction equation which describes how oxygen concentrations drop in the airways as oxygen crosses the alveolar membrane system. The treatment predicts oxygen currents across the lung at different levels of exercise which agree with measured values within a few percent. The results exhibit wide-ranging adaptation to changing process parameters, including maximum oxygen uptake rate at minimum alveolar membrane permeability, the ability to rapidly switch from a low oxygen uptake rate at rest to high rates at exercise, and the ability to maintain a constant oxygen uptake rate in the event of a change in permeability or surface area. We show that alternative, less than space-filling architectures perform sub-optimally and that optimal performance of the space-filling architecture results from a competition between underexploration and overexploration of the surface by oxygen molecules.
Translating e-learning Flow-Oriented Activity Sequencing Descriptions into Rule-Based Designs

In this paper, we describe how to automatically translate e-learning flow-oriented activity sequences into rule-based designs, such as those supported by the “de-facto” e-learning modeling standard: the IMS Learning Design specification. Our aim is that instructors model their educational designs using a user-friendly visual notation. Then these designs can be automatically exported into standardized and interoperable representations, which can be interchanged with / deployed in a plethora of heterogeneous Learning Management Systems and tools. This approach has been implemented in e-LD, an authoring system which supports the authoring and refactoring of IMS Learning Designs using a flow-oriented visual syntax.
Oxidative Stress Induces Senescence in Cultured RPE Cells

The aim of this research is to determine whether oxidative stress induces cellular senescence in human retinal pigment epithelial cells. Cultured ARPE19 cells were subjected to different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide to induce oxidative stress. Cells were seeded into 24-well plates with hydrogen peroxide added to cell medium and incubated at 37°C + 5% CO2 for a 90-minute period [at 0, 300, 400 and 800 micromolar (MCM) hydrogen peroxide]. The number of viable ARPE19 cells were recorded using the Trypan Blue Dye Exclusion Method and cell senescence was measured by positive staining for senescence-associated beta-galactosidase (SA-beta-Gal) protein. Without hydrogen peroxide treatment, the number of viable ARPE19 cells increased significantly from 50,000 cells/well to 197,000 within 72 hours. Treatment with hydrogen peroxide reduced this level of cell proliferation significantly (to 52,167 cells at 400 MCM; to 49,263 cells at 800 MCM). Meanwhile, cells with a high level of positive senescence-indicator SA-Beta-Gal-positive staining was induced by hydrogen peroxide treatment (from a baseline level of 12% to 80% at 400 MCM and at 800 MCM). Our data suggests that oxidative stress from hydrogen peroxide treatment inhibited ARPE19 cell proliferation and induced cellular senescence.
Chronic therapy with isosorbide-5-mononitrate causes endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and a marked increase in vascular endothelin-1 expression.

AIMS Isosorbide-5-mononitrate (ISMN) is one of the most frequently used compounds in the treatment of coronary artery disease predominantly in the USA. However, ISMN was reported to induce endothelial dysfunction, which was corrected by vitamin C pointing to a crucial role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in causing this phenomenon. We sought to elucidate the mechanism how ISMN causes endothelial dysfunction and oxidative stress in vascular tissue. METHODS AND RESULTS Male Wistar rats (n= 69 in total) were treated with ISMN (75 mg/kg/day) or placebo for 7 days. Endothelin (ET) expression was determined by immunohistochemistry in aortic sections. Isosorbide-5-mononitrate infusion caused significant endothelial dysfunction but no tolerance to ISMN itself, whereas ROS formation and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotidephosphate (NADPH) oxidase activity in the aorta, heart, and whole blood were increased. Isosorbide-5-mononitrate up-regulated the expression of NADPH subunits and caused uncoupling of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) likely due to a down-regulation of the tetrahydrobiopterin-synthesizing enzyme GTP-cyclohydrolase-1 and to S-glutathionylation of eNOS. The adverse effects of ISMN were improved in gp91phox knockout mice and normalized by bosentan in vivo/ex vivo treatment and suppressed by apocynin. In addition, a strong increase in the expression of ET within the endothelial cell layer and the adventitia was observed. CONCLUSION Chronic treatment with ISMN causes endothelial dysfunction and oxidative stress, predominantly by an ET-dependent activation of the vascular and phagocytic NADPH oxidase activity and NOS uncoupling. These findings may explain at least in part results from a retrospective analysis indicating increased mortality in post-infarct patients in response to long-term treatment with mononitrates.
Efficacy of mitomycin C in reducing recurrence of anterior urethral stricture after internal optical urethrotomy

Purpose To determine the efficacy of mitomycin C in reducing the recurrence of anterior urethral stricture after internal optical urethrotomy (IOU). Materials and Methods This was a randomized controlled trial conducted in the Department of Urology at the Institute of Kidney Diseases Peshawar from March 2011 to December 2013. A total of 151 patients who completed the study were divided into two groups by the lottery method. Group A (cases) comprised 78 patients in whom mitomycin C 0.1% was injected submucosally in the stricture after conventional IOU. Group B (controls) comprised 73 patients in whom IOU only was performed. Self-clean intermittent catheterization was not offered in either group. All patients were regularly followed up for 18 months. Recurrence was diagnosed by use of retrograde urethrogram in all patients and flexible urethroscopy in selected cases. Data were collected on a structured pro forma sheet and were analyzed by SPSS. Results The mean age of the patients in group A was 37.31±10.1 years and that in group B was 40.1±11.4 years. Recurrence of urethral stricture was recorded in 11 patients (14.1%) in group A and in 27 patients (36.9%) in group B (p=0.002). The mitomycin group also showed a delay in recurrence compared with the control group (p=0.002). Conclusions Recurrence of urethral stricture is high after optical urethrotomy. Mitomycin C was found to be highly effective in preventing the recurrence of urethral stricture after IOU.
Epipolar Geometry for Panoramic Cameras Epipolar Geometry for Panoramic Cameras ?

Reference Tomm a s Svoboda, Tomm a s Pajdla and VV aclav Hlavv a c. Abstract. This paper presents fundamental theory and design of central panoramic cameras. Panoramic cameras combine a convex hyperbolic or parabolic mirror with a perspective camera to obtain a large eld of view. We show how to design a panoramic camera with a tractable geometry and we propose a simple calibration method. We derive the image formation function for such a camera. The main contribution of the paper is the derivation of the epipolar geometry between a pair of panoramic cameras. We show that the mathematical model of a central panoramic camera can be decomposed into two central projections and therefore allows an epipolar geometry formulation. It is shown that epipolar curves are conics and their equations are derived. The theory is tested in experiments with real data.
Tidal Debris Posing as Dark Galaxies

Abstract Debris sent into the intergalactic medium during tidal collisions has received much attention as it can tell us about several fundamental properties of galaxies, in particular their missing mass, both in the form of cosmological Dark Matter and so-called Lost Baryons. High velocity encounters, which are common in clusters of galaxies, are able to produce faint tidal debris that may appear as star–less, free floating HI clouds. These may be mistaken for Dark Galaxies, a putative class of gaseous, dark matter (DM) dominated, objects which for some reason never managed to form stars. VirgoHI21, in the Virgo Cluster, is by far the most spectacular and most discussed Dark Galaxy candidate so far detected in HI surveys. We show here that it is most likely made out of material expelled 750 Myr ago from the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 4254 during its fly–by at about 1000 km s−1 by a massive intruder. Our numerical model of the collision is able to reproduce the main characteristics of the system: in particular the absence of stars, and its prominent velocity gradient. Originally attributed to the gas being in rotation within a massive dark matter halo, we find it instead to be consistent with a combination of simple streaming motion plus projection effects (Duc & Bournaud, 2007). Based on our multi-wavelength and numerical studies of galaxy collisions, we discuss several ways to identify a tidal origin in a Dark Galaxy candidate such as optical and millimetre–wave observations to reveal a high metallicity and CO lines, and more importantly, kinematics indicating the absence of a prominent Dark Matter halo. We illustrate the method using another HI system in Virgo, VCC 2062, which is most likely a Tidal Dwarf Galaxy (Duc et al., 2007). Now, whereas tidal debris should not contain any dark matter from the halo of their parent galaxies, it may exhibit missing mass in the form of dark baryons, unaccounted for by classical observations, as recently found in the collisional ring of NGC 5291 (Bournaud et al., 2007) and probably in the TDG VCC 2062. These “Lost Baryons” must originally have been located in the disks of their parent galaxies.
Deformable Model-Based Segmentation of Brain Tumor from MR Images

evaluation. This task could also lead to new applications, including data compression, robust registration, and effective content based image retrieval in large medical databases. Accurate delineation of tumor can also be helpful for general modeling of pathological brains and the construction of pathological brain atlases Toga et al. (2001). Nevertheless, precise delineation of brain Tumor inMRI is a challenging problem that depends onmany factors. Indeed, there is a large class of tumor typeswhich vary greatly in size and position, have a variety of shape and appearance properties, have intensities overlapping with normal brain tissue, may deform and defect the surrounding structures giving an abnormal geometry also for healthy tissue. Moreover, MR images segmentation widely depends on the specific application and image modality. These images contain sometimes various amounts of noise and/or artifacts due to patient’s motion and soft tissue boundaries are sometimes not well defined. Traditionally manual brain tumors segmentation usually performed by marking the tumor regions slice-by-slice by human expert is time-consuming (hence impractical for processing large amounts of data), nonreproducible, difficult, and highly subjective. On the other hand, fully automatic and robust segmentation is highly required for clinical settings because it reduces significantly the computing time and generates satisfactory segmentation results. The existence of several MR acquisition protocols provides different information on the brain. Each image usually highlights a particular region of the tumor. In visualizing brain tumors, a second T1-weighted image is often acquired after the injection of a ’contrast agent’. These ’contrast agent’ usually contain an element whose composition causes a decrease in the T1 time of nearby tissue (gadolinium is one example) Brown & Semeka (2003). The presence of this type of ’enhancing’ area can indicate the presence of a tumor. Figure 1 illustrates an example of T1-weighted image before and after the injection of a contrast agent. Conventionally, it is difficult to segment a tumor by a simple technique like thresholding or classic edgedetection. These methods may not allow differentiation between non-enhancing tumor and normal tissue due to overlapping intensity distributions of healthy tissue with tumor and surrounding edema. Also, they are unable to exploit all information provided by MRI. Therefore, advanced image analysis techniques are needed to solve the problem. Various promising works have studied the tumor segmentation, offering a diversity of methods and evaluation criteria. In particular, pattern classification techniques refer to a Deformable Model-Based Segmentation of Brain Tumor from MR Images
Neutrophils and Granulocytic MDSC: The Janus God of Cancer Immunotherapy

Neutrophils are the most abundant circulating blood cell type in humans, and are the first white blood cells recruited at the inflammation site where they orchestrate the initial immune response. Although their presence at the tumor site was recognized in the 1970s, until recently these cells have been neglected and considered to play just a neutral role in tumor progression. Indeed, in recent years neutrophils have been recognized to play a dual role in tumor development by either assisting the growth, angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis or by exerting tumoricidal action directly via the secretion of antitumoral compounds, or indirectly via the orchestration of antitumor immunity. Understanding the biology of these cells and influencing their polarization in the tumor micro- and macro-environment may be the key for the development of new therapeutic strategies, which may finally hold the promise of an effective immunotherapy for cancer.
BlogVox: Separating Blog Wheat from Blog Chaff

Blog posts are often informally written, poorly structured, rife with spelling and grammatical errors, and feature non-traditional content. These characteristics make them difficult to process with standard language analysis tools. Performing linguistic analysis on blogs is plagued by two additional problems: (i) the presence of spam blogs and spam comments and (ii) extraneous non-content including blog-rolls, link-rolls, advertisements and sidebars. We describe techniques designed to eliminate noisy blog data developed as part of the BlogVox system - a blog analytics engine we developed for the 2006 TREC Blog Track. The findings in this paper underscore the importance of removing spurious content from blog collections.