Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robotized ultrasound imaging of the peripheral arteries – a phantom study

Abstract The first choice in diagnostic imaging for patients suffering from peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is 2D ultrasound (US). However, for a proper imaging process, a skilled and experienced sonographer is required. Additionally, it is a highly user-dependent operation. A robotized US system that autonomously scans the peripheral arteries has the potential to overcome these limitations. In this work, we extend a previously proposed system by a hierarchical image analysis pipeline based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in order to control the robot. The system was evaluated by checking its feasibility to keep the vessel lumen of a leg phantom within the US image while scanning along the artery. In 100% of the images acquired during the scan process the whole vessel lumen was visible. While defining an insensitivity margin of 2.74 mm, the mean absolute distance between vessel center and the horizontal image center line was 2.47 mm and 3.90 mm for an easy and complex scenario, respectively. In conclusion, this system presents the basis for fully automatized peripheral artery imaging in humans using a radiation-free approach.
Wave-shape oscillatory model for nonstationary periodic time series analysis

The oscillations observed in many time series, particularly in biomedicine, exhibit morphological variations over time. These morphological variations are caused by intrinsic or extrinsic changes to the state of the generating system, henceforth referred to as dynamics. To model these time series (including and specifically pathophysiological ones) and estimate the underlying dynamics, we provide a novel wave-shape oscillatory model. In this model, time-dependent variations in cycle shape occur along a manifold called the wave-shape manifold. To estimate the wave-shape manifold associated with an oscillatory time series, study the dynamics, and visualize the time-dependent changes along the wave-shape manifold, we apply the well-established diffusion maps (DM) algorithm to the set of all observed oscillations. We provide a theoretical guarantee on the dynamical information recovered by the DM algorithm under the proposed model. Applying the proposed model and algorithm to arterial blood pressure (ABP) signals recorded during general anesthesia leads to the extraction of nociception information. Applying the wave-shape oscillatory model and the DM algorithm to cardiac cycles in the electrocardiogram (ECG) leads to ectopy detection and a new ECG-derived respiratory signal, even when the subject has atrial fibrillation.
Parent–offspring associations in wintering brent geese: parental investment or mutual assistance?

The continued parent–offspring associations in the Eastern Canadian High Arctic light-bellied brent goose Branta bernicla hrota was examined to determine whether this is an example of continued parental investment or mutual assistance. Adults with juveniles spend more than twice as much time being vigilant and aggressive than do those without offspring. The loss of a partner, however, does not result in the remaining parent increasing parental care but does result in increased ‘self-care’ by the juveniles. Neither parents nor single-parent juveniles appear to pay an energetic cost relative to non-parental adults and two-parent juveniles, respectively. Differences in the feeding distribution of parents and non-parents and equivalent or better physical condition suggests that families are able to maintain access to a superior food supply over the winter. Passive ‘assistance’ by juveniles may assist in maintaining this position in favoured areas, and this is achieved with little overt aggression. The present study thus provides no data that show a net cost to parents by remaining with their juveniles over the winter period. Thus, mutual assistance might be a better explanation of the prolonged association rather than a period of parental investment with an overall cost.
Environmental controls on CH4 emission from polygonal tundra on the microsite scale in the Lena river delta, Siberia

The carbon budgets of the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems are closely coupled by vertical gas exchange fluxes. Uncertainties remain with respect to high latitude ecosystems and the processes driving their temporally and spatially highly variable methane (CH4) exchange. Problems associated with scaling plot measurements to larger areas in heterogeneous environments are addressed based on intensive field studies on two nested spatial scales in Northern Siberia. CH4 fluxes on the microsite scale (0.1–100 m2) were measured in the Lena River Delta from July through September 2006 by closed chambers and were compared with simultaneous ecosystem scale (104–106 m2) flux measurements by the eddy covariance (EC) method. Closed chamber measurements were conducted almost daily on 15 plots in four differently developed polygon centers and on a polygon rim. Controls on CH4 emission were identified by stepwise multiple regression. In contrast to relatively low ecosystem‐scale fluxes controlled mainly by near‐surface turbulence, fluxes on the microsite scale were almost an order of magnitude higher at the wet polygon centers and near zero at the drier polygon rim and high‐center polygon. Microsite scale CH4 fluxes varied strongly even within the same microsites. The only statistically significant control on chamber‐based fluxes was surface temperature calculated using the Stefan–Boltzmann equation in the wet polygon centers, whereas no significant control was found for the low emissions from the dry sites. The comparison with the EC measurements reveals differences in controls and the seasonal dynamics between the two measurement scales, which may have consequences for scaling and process‐based models. Despite those differences, closed chamber measurements from within the EC footprint could be scaled by an area‐weighting approach of landcover classes based on high‐resolution imagery to match the total ecosystem‐scale emission. Our nested sampling design allowed for checking scaling results against measurements and to identify potentially missed sources or sinks.
Generalization bound of globally optimal non-convex neural network training: Transportation map estimation by infinite dimensional Langevin dynamics

We introduce a new theoretical framework to analyze deep learning optimization with connection to its generalization error. Existing frameworks such as mean field theory and neural tangent kernel theory for neural network optimization analysis typically require taking limit of infinite width of the network to show its global convergence. This potentially makes it difficult to directly deal with finite width network; especially in the neural tangent kernel regime, we cannot reveal favorable properties of neural networks beyond kernel methods. To realize more natural analysis, we consider a completely different approach in which we formulate the parameter training as a transportation map estimation and show its global convergence via the theory of the {\it infinite dimensional Langevin dynamics}. This enables us to analyze narrow and wide networks in a unifying manner. Moreover, we give generalization gap and excess risk bounds for the solution obtained by the dynamics. The excess risk bound achieves the so-called fast learning rate. In particular, we show an exponential convergence for a classification problem and a minimax optimal rate for a regression problem.
Quality Aspects in Hemp Fibre Production—Influence of Cultivation, Harvesting and Retting

Abstract For hemp cultivar Fedrina 74 we investigated the influence of different sowing dates in 1997 and 1998. The highest yields occurred with early sowing dates, at the middle of April. The pure fibre content of the plants of the last sowing date increased rapidly, reaching the same amounts as earlier sown plants. We measured the influence of harvesting technique and retting duration on strength and fineness. Comparison of the results of the purely visual assessment of the degree of retting with the Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) results shows a good correlation. The NIRS method can supply a reproducible method of analysis for retting. In 1998 we examined damage to the fibres due to the wet conditions during retting. In 1997 an increase in retting time led to a decrease of fibre bundle width. In the North German region, with high humidity in autumn, early sowing is advantageous. For both years early sowing in combination with early harvesting proved the optimal way to get a good yield and a secure collection of the stems after retting.
SDSS-IV MaNGA: the [α/Fe] of early-type galaxies

The mean stellar alpha-to-iron abundance ratio ([α/Fe]) of a galaxy is an indicator of galactic star formation time-scale. It is important for understanding the star formation history of early-type galaxies (ETGs) as their star formation processes have basically stopped. Using the model templates that are made by Vazdekis et al., we apply the pPXF-based spectral fitting method to estimate the [α/Fe] of 196 high-signal-to-noise ratio ETGs from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey. The velocity dispersions within 1Re (σe) range from 27 to 270 km s−1. We find a flat relation between the mean [α/Fe] within the 1$R_\mathrm{ e}^{\mathrm{ maj}}$ ellipses and log(σe), even if limiting to the massive sample with log(σe/km s−1) > 1.9. However, the relation becomes positive after we exclude the Mg1 feature in our fits, which agrees with the results from the previous work with other stellar population models, albeit with relatively large scatter. It indicates that the Vazdekis models have self-inconsistency and do not actually cover the observations in Mg1. For reference, we also measure the stellar population radial gradients within 1$R_\mathrm{ e}^{\mathrm{ maj}}$ ellipses. Due to the low resolution of age estimations for old objects and the Mg1 issue, the uncertainties of these gradients cannot be neglected.
Swimming in the electric eels and knifefishes

The kinematics of steady forward swimming in six species of Gymnotidae and three species of Notopteridae are described. All the gymnotids and one notopterid (Xenomystis nigri) are propelled by the action of an undulatory anal fin (gymnotiform mode). Notopterus notopterus and Notopterus chilata employ the body and anal fin as a single propulsive unit and generate a body wave. Rapid bouts of burst swimming activity (e.g., escape responses) are generated by large amplitude motions of the entire body in all species studied. Experimentally determined drag coefficients exceed the theoretical rigid body predicted minimum values for the case of a laminar boundary layer and reasons for this are suggested. Values of the drag coefficient inferred from hydromechanical theory are within 20% of the experimental values. It is concluded that fish swimming in the gymnotiform mode may be subject to significantly less viscous drag than fish of equivalent size swimming at the same speed in the subcarangiform mode. Hydromecha.
The Future of Work Is Here: Toward a Comprehensive Approach to Artificial Intelligence and Labour

This commentary traces contemporary discourses on the relationship between artificial intelligence and labour and explains why these principles must be comprehensive in their approach to labour and AI. First, the commentary asserts that ethical frameworks in AI alone are not enough to guarantee workers' rights since they lack enforcement mechanisms and the representation of different stakeholders. Secondly, it argues that current discussions on AI and labour focus on the deployment of these technologies in the workplace but ignore the essential role of human labour in their development, particularly in the different cases of outsourced labour around the world. Finally, it recommends using existing human rights frameworks for working conditions to provide more comprehensive ethical principles and regulations. The commentary concludes by arguing that the central question regarding the future of work should not be whether intelligent machines will replace humans, but who will own these systems and have a say in their development and operation.
The Crustacea Decapoda Macrura (the Alpheidae excepted) of Easter Island

So far the Crustacean fauna of Easter Island has received but very little attention. In most early narratives of expeditions visiting the island no mention is made of any Crustacean. Behrens (1908: 135) who accompanied Jacob Roggeveen on the voyage during which, in 1722, the island was discovered, stated in his diary that "No animals were met with, as far as we penetrated on this occasion, except sundry species of birds". Cornelis Bouman, captain of the ship "Tienhoven" of Roggeveen's expedition, did not mention any Crustacean from Easter Island, even though in his narrative he shows a great interest in marine life, as is clearly demonstrated by his account of the expedition's visit to Juan Fernandez (24 February to 17 March 1722) in which he repeatedly mentioned the presence of "delicaete creeften" (delicious lobsters) at that island (cf. Mulert, 1911: 123-127, 134-144). Also Cook, Laperouse, Beechey, and other early explorers, who visited the island do not report the presence of Crustacea. Only Herve (1908: 122) in his account of Gonzalez's 1770 voyage reported "small crabs" from the outer of the small islets at the S.E. tip of Easter Island. The first positive mention of the occurrence of macrurous Decapods on the island seems to be by Gana (1870). In early 1870 Ignacio L. Gana, captain of the corvette "O'Higgins" of the Chilean navy, made an 8 days visit to Easter Island. He was charged by his government to make a scientific description of the island, which study was published by him in 1870. A french translation of this report was given by De Lapelin (1872). F. T. de Lapelin, vice-admiral of the French Pacific fleet visited Easter Island in the "Flore", anchoring off Hanga Roa on 3 January 1872. Through circumstances he was only able to verify a great part of the information provided by previous visitors but "elle ne nous a
Efficient Planning in Large MDPs with Weak Linear Function Approximation

Large-scale Markov decision processes (MDPs) require planning algorithms with runtime independent of the number of states of the MDP. We consider the planning problem in MDPs using linear value function approximation with only weak requirements: low approximation error for the optimal value function, and a small set of "core" states whose features span those of other states. In particular, we make no assumptions about the representability of policies or value functions of non-optimal policies. Our algorithm produces almost-optimal actions for any state using a generative oracle (simulator) for the MDP, while its computation time scales polynomially with the number of features, core states, and actions and the effective horizon.
Subclinical coccidiosis in Angora rabbits, a field survey in Himachal Pradesh, India.

Eight species of coccidia were identified in 180 (57.3%) out of 314 faecal samples or topotypes from four commercial rabbitries in Kangra Valley of Himachal Pradesh. Mixed infections were common and 82% of the infected animals harbored 2-4 Eimeria species. Eimeria magna, E eertorans and E media were the predominant species while E. irresidua, E. stiedai and E intestinalis were less common, and E. piriformis and E. coecicola were relatively rare. E. exigua, E. flavescens and E. vejdovskyi were not recorded in the present study. The level of infection based on the oocyst output data, was found to be related to management practices. The intensity of infection assessed by oocyst par gram of faeces (OPG) was higher in big private farms (0.05-80x10 3 ) in comparison to small Government farms (0.3-16.5x10 3 ).
The evidence for shrub expansion in Northern Alaska and the Pan‐Arctic

One expected response to climate warming in the Arctic is an increase in the abundance and extent of shrubs in tundra areas. Repeat photography shows that there has been an increase in shrub cover over the past 50 years in northern Alaska. Using 202 pairs of old and new oblique aerial photographs, we have found that across this region spanning 620 km east to west and 350 km north to south, alder, willow, and dwarf birch have been increasing, with the change most easily detected on hill slopes and valley bottoms. Plot and remote sensing studies from the same region using the normalized difference vegetation index are consistent with the photographic results and indicate that the smaller shrubs between valleys are also increasing. In Canada, Scandinavia, and parts of Russia, there is both plot and remote sensing evidence for shrub expansion. Combined with the Alaskan results, the evidence suggests that a pan‐Arctic vegetation transition is underway. If continued, this transition will alter the fundamental architecture and function of this ecosystem with important ramifications for the climate, the biota, and humans.
The Role of Poultry Industry in Indian Economy

Poultry farming in India, in spite of several constraints, has progressed considerably during the last decade. The present study has been undertaken to examine various aspects related to the growth and development of poultry production in the country. Poultry production in India was confined to backyards till recently. Local breed of birds were reared for the supply of eggs and meat. The increasing demand for poultry products necessitates augmenting the supply by importing improved breeds of poultry. In 1961, the proportion of hybrid populations in the total population of poultry was about 2 percent. Within a couple of decades, these birds have dominated the market sidelining the indigenous birds. The technological advances have revolutionized the role and the structure of poultry industry in India. It became one of the most specialized enterprises in many parts of the country. A general confidence has been created among the people that green revolution has ushered an era of self-reliance in the food grain production. The rapidly growing population has created some doubts in the said hypothesis. In fact, crop production alone may not solve the food problem of the country. The advances in cereal technology, of course, can fill the empty stomach, but it may not help in the balanced growth of the human body. The chief ingredients of balanced diet also comprise proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins, which are essential for growth. The supply of these items can easily be increased through increased production of livestock products.
Co-t-structures, cotilting and cotorsion pairs

Abstract Let $\textsf{T}$ be a triangulated category with shift functor $\Sigma \colon \textsf{T} \to \textsf{T}$ . Suppose $(\textsf{A},\textsf{B})$ is a co-t-structure with coheart $\textsf{S} = \Sigma \textsf{A} \cap \textsf{B}$ and extended coheart $\textsf{C} = \Sigma^2 \textsf{A} \cap \textsf{B} = \textsf{S}* \Sigma \textsf{S}$ , which is an extriangulated category. We show that there is a bijection between co-t-structures $(\textsf{A}^{\prime},\textsf{B}^{\prime})$ in $\textsf{T}$ such that $\textsf{A} \subseteq \textsf{A}^{\prime} \subseteq \Sigma \textsf{A}$ and complete cotorsion pairs in the extended coheart $\textsf{C}$ . In the case that $\textsf{T}$ is Hom-finite, $\textbf{k}$ -linear and Krull–Schmidt, we show further that there is a bijection between complete cotorsion pairs in $\textsf{C}$ and functorially finite torsion classes in $\textsf{mod}\, \textsf{S}$ .
Deep Cross-Subject Mapping of Neural Activity

In this paper, we demonstrate that a neural decoder trained on neural activity signals of one subject can be used to \textit{robustly} decode the motor intentions of a different subject with high reliability. This is achieved in spite of the non-stationary nature of neural activity signals and the subject-specific variations of the recording conditions. Our proposed algorithm for cross-subject mapping of neural activity is based on deep conditional generative models. We verify the results on an experimental data set in which two macaque monkeys perform memory-guided visual saccades to one of eight target locations.
Reconstruction Bottlenecks in Object-Centric Generative Models

A range of methods with suitable inductive biases exist to learn interpretable object-centric representations of images without supervision. However, these are largely restricted to visually simple images; robust object discovery in real-world sensory datasets remains elusive. To increase the understanding of such inductive biases, we empirically investigate the role of "reconstruction bottlenecks" for scene decomposition in GENESIS, a recent VAE-based model. We show such bottlenecks determine reconstruction and segmentation quality and critically influence model behaviour.
FACTORS AFFECTING FACULTATIVE DIAPAUSE OF MICROCTONUS VITTATAE (HYMENOPTERA: BRACONIDAE)

In Manitoba, first-stage larvae of Microctonus vittatae Mues. overwinter in diapausing adults of two rape-infesting chrysomelids, Phyllotreta cruciferae (Goeze) and Phyllotreta striolata (F.). The parasite larvae resume their development in May after the hosts have finished overwintering, and mature parasite larvae emerge and spin cocoons from which adults emerge late in May and during June. Usually there are four parasite generations each year; most of the larvae in the first three generations are non-diapausing, whereas most first-stage larvae of the fourth generation develop briefly and then enter diapause in September or October and overwinter. Early attempts to propagate M. vittatae for laboratory studies were unsuccessful because most of the immature parasites either died or entered diapause. Preliminary tests suggested that, as in some other parasite species (Saunders 1965; McNeil and Rabb 1973; Anderson and Kaya 1974), the photoperiod at which the parasites were propagated influenced the incidence of diapause. The following three experiments examined this hypothesis and attempted to identify rearing conditions that would prevent diapause or limit its incidence in M. vittatae.
Profiles of private forest owners and the importance of landscape-scale management in the timber trade process of Finnish wood procurement

Summary In the decision-making process that determines timber sales between private forest owners and the Finnish forest industry, opinions frequently confl ict about the extent to which the forest landscape should be managed. The objective of this study was to investigate whether it would be useful to develop a landscape visualization tool that would help forest owners understand the consequences of harvesting so they could make a more informed decision on whether to sell their timber. We evaluated responses to a survey sent to forest owners in two regions of Finland to provide insights into owner appreciation of the forest landscape. The 545 forest owners who responded also evaluated the value of computer visualizations and a set of computer-generated images of the landscape. Our analysis concentrated on whether visualizing the landscape would affect sales decisions and – since women are increasingly becoming forest owners – how gender affected perceptions of the landscape and decision making. Visualization proved to be a popular tool for all forest owners. However, male and female forest owners had different perspectives on the forest landscape. Factors that differed between men and women for the statements with the strongest weightings in the principal component analysis explained 26 per cent of the overall variation in perceptions. Women particularly wanted to be able to visualize the post-harvesting landscape and preferred different types of visualization than men. Values associated with forest landscapes and their visualization seem more important to women and may therefore affect their sales decisions more than those of men. Based on these results, it will be useful to design and implement a decision support tool that will help forest owners visualize the consequences of harvesting and help the Finnish forest industry provide a more environmentally friendly service that accounts for the owner’s landscape-related goals.