Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Online Self-supervised Scene Segmentation for Micro Aerial Vehicles

Recently, there have been numerous advances in the development of payload and power constrained lightweight Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). As these robots aspire for high-speed autonomous flights in complex dynamic environments, robust scene understanding at long-range becomes critical. The problem is heavily characterized by either the limitations imposed by sensor capabilities for geometry-based methods, or the need for large-amounts of manually annotated training data required by data-driven methods. This motivates the need to build systems that have the capability to alleviate these problems by exploiting the complimentary strengths of both geometry and data-driven methods. In this paper, we take a step in this direction and propose a generic framework for adaptive scene segmentation using self-supervised online learning. We present this in the context of vision-based autonomous MAV flight, and demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed system through extensive experiments on benchmark datasets and real-world field tests.
Diagnostics of Oil-Paper-Insulations Using Relaxation Currents

The dielectric response of oil-paper-models was measured with relaxation currents, also known as Polarisation and Depolarisation Currents (PDC). The measurements cover the influences of moisture content in cellulose, a wide temperature range, insulation geometry, ageing state and measurement voltage. At multilayer insulations the dielectric response appears to be nonlinear, i.e. modeling with equivalent circuits according to Debye is hardly possible. The transient behavior of oil conductivity was found to be the reason for nonlinearities and is explored more exactly. The obtained set of measurement data was applied on power transformers to determine water content in cellulose. INTRODUCTION Reliable assessment of the ageing state of high voltage power transformers is a basic condition for a failsafe and cost-saving service. Cost pressure of a free electricity market forces the power utilities to continue service even if the estimated life time is exceeded. For a safe service and low default risk enhanced diagnostic methods to evaluate the ageing state are necessary. One ageing indicator is water content in the solid part of the insulation (paper, pressboard). Water is an ageing product and accelerates the further deterioration of cellulose through depolymerisation. Dielectric methods applied on power transformers measure a superposition of conductivity and polarisation phenomena. Moisture in paper/pressboard is obtained by a comparison of measurement data to measurements on oil-paperinsulations with known moisture content. Previous investigations don’t cover the whole temperature range occurring at power transformers and don’t pay special attention to the properties of oil conductivity. Dependable and extensive comparison data to analyse onsite measurements involving a wider temperature range and the phenomena of oil conductivity are the goal of this investigation. POLARISATION AND CONDUCTIVITY Macroscopic polarisation The main insulation of power transformers consists of multiple layers of paper or pressboard (cellulose) immersed in oil separated by oil ducts. The time depending polarisation P(t) is caused by electronic, ionic, dipole, space charge and interfacial polarisation and is called dielectric response. At measurement times longer than 1 s the polarisation by space charge and at boundaries (interfacial polarisation) dominate the dielectric response. Interfacial polarisation is only effective because of the different conductivities of oil (10 < δ < 10 S/m) compared to cellulose (10 16 < δ < 10 S/m). Thus under an electric field ionic charge carriers in oil will become deposit at interfaces to cellulose and form a charged cloud. The dielectric properties of oil and cellulose and its polarisation phenomena depend on ageing state and water content. Sophisticated analysis methods can determine the water content of cellulose (paper / pressboard).
Similar function and complications for patients with short versus long hip nailing for unstable pertrochanteric fractures

Purpose: To compare short with long intramedullary hip nailing for elderly patients with unstable pertrochanteric fractures. Methods: We prospectively studied 50 patients (33 women, 17 men; mean age, 80 years; range, 74–93 years) with unstable pertrochanteric fractures admitted and treated with a short (group A) or a long (group B) intramedullary hip nail from January 2013 to 2017. The patients were randomly allocated into each group according to their order of admission. The mean follow-up was 2 years (range, 1–5 years). We evaluated operative time, function, fracture healing, varus/valgus loss of reduction, and distance between the distal line of the fracture and the distal locking screw of the nail. Results: Operative time was significantly shorter in group A. Function, fracture healing and varus/valgus loss of reduction was similar between the two groups. The mean distance between the distal fracture line and distal locking screw was 7.2 cm (range, 3–10 cm) in patients of group A; in all patients of group B, an appropriate nail length was chosen so that the distal locking screw was inserted at least 3 times the diameter of the bone at the distal fracture line. Complications included periprosthetic fracture (one patient of group A), and z-effect phenomenon (one patient of group B); complications rate was similar between the two groups. Conclusion: Short intramedullary hip nailing is associated with similar function and complications, but shorter operative time compared to long intramedullary hip nails for patients with unstable pertrochanteric fractures.
A dust-enshrouded tidal disruption event with a resolved radio jet in a galaxy merger

An expanding radio jet from a destroyed star If a star gets too close to a supermassive black hole, it gets ripped apart in a tidal disruption event (TDE). Mattila et al. discovered a transient source in the merging galaxy pair Arp 299, which they interpret as a TDE. The optical light is hidden by dust, but the TDE generated copious infrared emission. Radio observations reveal that a relativistic jet was produced as material fell onto the black hole, with the jet expanding over several years. The results elucidate how jets form around supermassive black holes and suggest that many TDEs may be missed by optical surveys. Science, this issue p. 482 A relativistic radio jet is seen switching on after a star is ripped apart by a black hole. Tidal disruption events (TDEs) are transient flares produced when a star is ripped apart by the gravitational field of a supermassive black hole (SMBH). We have observed a transient source in the western nucleus of the merging galaxy pair Arp 299 that radiated >1.5 × 1052 erg at infrared and radio wavelengths but was not luminous at optical or x-ray wavelengths. We interpret this as a TDE with much of its emission reradiated at infrared wavelengths by dust. Efficient reprocessing by dense gas and dust may explain the difference between theoretical predictions and observed luminosities of TDEs. The radio observations resolve an expanding and decelerating jet, probing the jet formation and evolution around a SMBH.
Scalable Neural Network Compression and Pruning Using Hard Clustering and L1 Regularization

We propose a simple and easy to implement neural network compression algorithm that achieves results competitive with more complicated state-of-the-art methods. The key idea is to modify the original optimization problem by adding K independent Gaussian priors (corresponding to the k-means objective) over the network parameters to achieve parameter quantization, as well as an L1 penalty to achieve pruning. Unlike many existing quantization-based methods, our method uses hard clustering assignments of network parameters, which adds minimal change or overhead to standard network training. We also demonstrate experimentally that tying neural network parameters provides less gain in generalization performance than changing network architecture and connectivity patterns entirely.
Treacher Collins Syndrome and Tracheostomy: Decannulation Using Mandibular Distraction Osteogenesis

Introduction Treacher Collins syndrome (TC) and Pierre Robin sequence (RS) are associated with hypoplastic mandible, glossoptosis, and consequent airway obstruction. Although TC and RS are often grouped together, airway outcomes of bilateral mandibular distraction osteogenesis (MDO) have not been specifically studied in TC. The purpose of this study is to report on the clinical outcomes of MDO in the TC patient population. Materials and Methods A twenty-year single-institution retrospective review of all patients with TC who underwent bilateral MDO was performed. Twenty-four patients were identified after exclusion due to different diagnoses or insufficient medical records. Data on comorbidities, airway status, MDO operations, and complications were collected. Data were compared with published clinical outcomes in RS and data for 13 RS patients from our institution. Results Surgical success, defined as prevention of imminent tracheostomy or successful decannulation within 1 year after primary distraction, was observed in 21% of TC patients and 65% of RS patients (P = 0.01). Repeat distraction was necessary for 11 TC patients (46%) and 1 RS patient. Complications were divided into minor, moderate, and major based on need for invasive management. Overall, 67% of TC patients had complications, 20% of which were major. Conclusions Clinical outcomes to airway function after MDO are significantly inferior in patients with TC compared with patients with RS. Repeat MDO and longer course to decannulation are more prevalent in patients affected by TC.
Different defibrillation strategies in survivors after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Background In the last decade, there has been a rapid increase in the dissemination of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for prehospital defibrillation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients. The aim of this study was to study the association between different defibrillation strategies on survival rates over time in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Western Sweden and Amsterdam, and the hypothesis was that non-EMS defibrillation increased over time and was associated with increased survival. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of four prospectively collected cohorts of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients between 2008 and 2013. Emergency medical service (EMS)-witnessed arrests were excluded. Results A total of 22 453 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients with known survival status were identified, of whom 2957 (13%) survived at least 30 days postresuscitation. Of all survivors with a known defibrillation status, 2289 (81%) were defibrillated, 1349 (59%) were defibrillated by EMS, 454 (20%) were defibrillated by a first responder AED and 429 (19%) were defibrillated by an onsite AED and 57 (2%) were unknown. The percentage of survivors defibrillated by first responder AEDs (from 13% in 2008 to 26% in 2013, p<0.001 for trend) and onsite AEDs (from 14% in 2008 to 30% in 2013, p<0.001 for trend) increased. The increased use of these non-EMS AEDs was associated with the increase in survival rate of patients with a shockable initial rhythm. Conclusion Survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are increasingly defibrillated by non-EMS AEDs. This increase is primarily due to a large increase in the use of onsite AEDs as well as an increase in first-responder defibrillation over time. Non-EMS defibrillation accounted for at least part of the increase in survival rate of patients with a shockable initial rhythm.
cgDNAweb: a web interface to the cgDNA sequence-dependent coarse-grain model of double-stranded DNA

Abstract The sequence-dependent statistical mechanical properties of fragments of double-stranded DNA is believed to be pertinent to its biological function at length scales from a few base pairs (or bp) to a few hundreds of bp, e.g. indirect read-out protein binding sites, nucleosome positioning sequences, phased A-tracts, etc. In turn, the equilibrium statistical mechanics behaviour of DNA depends upon its ground state configuration, or minimum free energy shape, as well as on its fluctuations as governed by its stiffness (in an appropriate sense). We here present cgDNAweb, which provides browser-based interactive visualization of the sequence-dependent ground states of double-stranded DNA molecules, as predicted by the underlying cgDNA coarse-grain rigid-base model of fragments with arbitrary sequence. The cgDNAweb interface is specifically designed to facilitate comparison between ground state shapes of different sequences. The server is freely available at cgDNAweb.epfl. ch with no login requirement.
The influence of fatigue on decision-making in athletes: a systematic review

Abstract A potential challenge associated with sports is that athletes must often perform the cognitive processing associated with decision-making (i.e., movement selection) when fatigued. The purpose of this systematic review was to summarise studies that have analysed the extent to which fatigue influences the effects of decision-making on lower extremity mechanics during execution of common sports manoeuvres. We specifically focused on mechanics associated with ACL injury risk. Reviewers searched the PubMed, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL and Web of Science databases. The search identified 183 unique articles. Five of these articles met our eligibility criteria. Two of the studies incorporated fatigue protocols where athletes progressed to exhaustion and found that the effects of decision-making on mechanics were more pronounced with fatigue. The nature of the results appears to indicate that fatigue may compromise an athlete’s cognitive processing in a manner that diminishes their ability to control movement when rapid decision-making is required. However, three subsequent studies utilised fatigue protocols designed to mimic sports participation and found that fatigue did not influence the effects of decision-making on mechanics. In general, these findings appear to indicate that fatigue may only affect the cognitive processing associated with decision-making when athletes approach a state of exhaustion.
Depressiooni ja ärevuse esinemine Eesti inimestel: depressiivse häire hetkelevimus, depressiivsuse ja ärevuse levimuse muutus kümne aasta jooksul

Uuring käsitleb depressiooni levimust 2006. a ning depressiooni ja ärevuse sümptomite esinemise muutust olulisemates sotsiaal-majanduslikes gruppides Eesti rahvastikus 10 a jooksul. Töö põhineb Eesti terviseuuringu (ETeU) 2006 (n = 6434) andmetel. Depressiooni ja ärevuse levimuse määramiseks kasutati emotsionaalse enesetunde küsimustikku (EEK-2), mis hindab depressioonile ja ärevushäiretele iseloomulike sümptomite esinemist viimase kuu vältel. Tulemusi võrreldi 1996. a sama uuringu andmetega. ETeU 2006 raames kasutati ka rahvusvahelise neuro psühhiaatrilise intervjuu (MINI) depressioonimoodulit, mis hindab depressiooni praegust olemasolu. Depressiooni hetkelevimus Eesti rahvastikus on 4,9%. Depressiivsuse ja ärevuse ühe kuu levimus on vastavalt 8,7% ja 7,7%, 1996. a vastavalt 11,1% ja 8,5%. Depressiooni ja ärevuse esinemine Eesti rahvastikus on 10 aastaga vähenenud, enam depressiooni osas. Depressioonisümptomeid esineb enam naistel, mitte-eestlastel, eakatel, madalama haridustaseme ja madalama sissetulekuga inimestel. Depressiooni levimus on pigem mõõdukas ja võrreldav teistes analoogsetes uuringutes leituga.
Utility of venous blood gases in severe sepsis and septic shock

ABSTRACT Acid-base status is frequently assessed in severe sepsis and septic shock. Venous blood gas sampling is proposed as a less-invasive modality but lacks evidence within this population. The objective of this study was to evaluate the correlation and agreement between arterial blood gas (ABG), peripheral venous blood gas (pVBG), and central venous blood gas (cVBG) in severe sepsis and septic shock. We conducted a prospective, observational cohort study in subjects admitted to the medical intensive care unit. Simultaneous blood gas samples, including ABG, pVBG, and cVBG, were analyzed for correlation and agreement. Severity of illness scores revealed a mean (±SD) Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score of 7.9 ± 3.3, Simplified Acute Physiology II score of 49.3 ± 16.5, and a mortality rate of 11.9% in the intensive care unit and 16.4% in the hospital. We found a strong intraclass correlation (>0.85) for pH, partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2), bicarbonate, and base excess for ABG/pVBG, ABG/cVBG, and pVBG/cVBG comparisons. Agreement by the Bland-Altman method was found for pH (bias ± SD, 0.03 ± 0.04, 0.03 ± 0.02, and 0.00 ± 0.03) but not for pCO2, partial pressure of oxygen, bicarbonate, base excess, and oxyhemoglobin saturation. In conclusion, adequate correlation and agreement between ABG/pVBG, ABG/cVBG, and pVBG/cVBG comparisons was found only for pH. The current level of evidence does not support the use of venous blood gas sampling in this setting.
The Adrenocortical Stress Response in Three North American Accipiters During Fall Migration

Abstract The associations among corticosterone levels, energy stores, and stress are highly relevant to bird migration physiology. Many birds maintain elevated baseline corticosterone levels during migration, yet they frequently modulate additional glucocorticoid secretion, probably to protect their flight muscles from catabolism. We report on the adrenocortical response to capture and handling stress in three Accipiter species, the Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus), the Cooper's Hawk (A. cooperii), and the Northern Goshawk (A. gentilis) during fall migration. We found mean baseline corticosterone levels to be similar in Sharp-shinned Hawks and Northern Goshawks, but significantly higher in Cooper's Hawks. Likewise, mean baseline levels of corticosterone did not differ in hatch-year and after-hatch-year male and female Sharp-shinned Hawks and Northern Goshawks, but they were higher in adult male Cooper's Hawks than adult females. Mean corticosterone levels did not increase significantly after 30 min of capture and handling stress in any of the three species, indicating that they modulated their adrenocortical stress responses. Fat scores were not correlated with baseline corticosterone levels, except in Sharp-shinned Hawks, in which elevated baseline corticosterone levels were associated with low fat scores.
A Flexible Convolutional Solver with Application to Photorealistic Style Transfer

We propose a new flexible deep convolutional neural network (convnet) to perform fast visual style transfer. In contrast to existing convnets that address the same task, our architecture derives directly from the structure of the gradient descent originally used to solve the style transfer problem [Gatys et al., 2016]. Like existing convnets, ours approximately solves the original problem much faster than the gradient descent. However, our network is uniquely flexible by design: it can be manipulated at runtime to enforce new constraints on the final solution. In particular, we show how to modify it to obtain a photorealistic result with no retraining. We study the modifications made by [Luan et al., 2017] to the original cost function of [Gatys et al., 2016] to achieve photorealistic style transfer. These modifications affect directly the gradient descent and can be reported on-the-fly in our network. These modifications are possible as the proposed architecture stems from unrolling the gradient descent.
Chemocentric Chemoimmunotherapy: A New Concept in Melanoma Immunotherapy

According to the American Cancer Society, 68,130 new cases of melanoma and 8,700 deaths were predicted for 2010 (Jemal et al., 2010). Although melanoma comprises only 5% of all skin cancers, it is by far the deadliest, responsible for 75% of skin cancer-related deaths, and its incidence is steadily increasing worldwide. Primary cutaneous melanoma has an excellent outcome with early surgical intervention, but regional and distant metastatic disease have a much more dismal prognosis. Current five-year survival rates equal 91% for all disease sites, including 98% for local disease, 62% for regional disease (including regional lymph node involvement), and only 15% for those with distant metastasis (median survival is only 7.5 months). Unfortunately, for those patients who will develop locally advanced and metastatic melanoma, current treatment options are limited in scope and effectiveness; thus, the overall poor mortality rates for these patients emphasize the need for better treatment modalities, methods of relapse prevention and earlier recognition of preneoplastic and neoplastic cells (Atallah & Flaherty, 2006; Balch et al., 2001a, 2001b; Blesa et al., 2011). Currently, there are no curative therapies for metastatic melanoma. Until March 25, 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had only approved two drugs for the treatment of metastatic melanoma, the DNA alkylating agent dacarbazine and high-dose Interleukin-2 (IL-2). Dacarbazine alkylates and crosslinks DNA in all phases of the cell cycle, impairing DNA function, inducing cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis (Bajetta et al., 2002), and is a common chemotherapeutic option for multiple cancers (Seam et al., 2009; Yang & Chapman, 2009). IL-2 activates endogenous anti-tumor-reactive T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. Notably, circulating NK cells from stage IV melanoma patients were recently shown to exhibit a unique phenotypic and functional character toward melanoma cells, and this unique character was altered in patients after treatment with chemotherapy (Fregni et al., 2011). Dacarbazine induces objective tumor regression in 15-20% of metastatic melanoma patients with a median survival of only 8-9 months and a 2-3% complete response rate, and single agent bolus IL-2, while providing a 20-30% objective response rate, creates significant long-term response in only 5% of patients treated, is fraught with toxicity and costly. Combination low-dose IL-2 and chemotherapy and single-agent high-dose IL-2 produce a
Serologic Follow-up of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Cases and Contacts—Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Abstract Background Although there is evidence of person-to-person transmission of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in household and healthcare settings, more data are needed to describe and better understand the risk factors and transmission routes in both settings, as well as the extent to which disease severity affects transmission. Methods A seroepidemiological investigation was conducted among MERS-CoV case patients (cases) and their household contacts to investigate transmission risk in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Cases diagnosed between 1 January 2013 and 9 May 2014 and their household contacts were approached for enrollment. Demographic, clinical, and exposure history data were collected. Sera were screened by MERS-CoV nucleocapsid protein enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and indirect immunofluorescence, with results confirmed by microneutralization assay. Results Thirty-one of 34 (91%) case patients were asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and did not require oxygen during hospitalization. MERS-CoV antibodies were detected in 13 of 24 (54%) case patients with available sera, including 1 severely symptomatic, 9 mildly symptomatic, and 3 asymptomatic case patients. No serologic evidence of MERS-CoV transmission was found among 105 household contacts with available sera. Conclusions Transmission of MERS-CoV was not documented in this investigation of mostly asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic cases and their household contacts. These results have implications for clinical management of cases and formulation of isolation policies to reduce the risk of transmission.