Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coarse Semantic Guided Alpha Matting via Simultaneous Foreground and Background Estimation

: To address the “color spill” problem in image matting, an algorithm of simultaneously predicting the foreground, background and alpha matte is proposed, and an automatic matting network combined with coarse semantics is designed. The algorithm method includes two stages: coarse semantics generation and matting via simultaneous foreground and background prediction. In the first stage, a semantic segmentation network is used to obtain intermediate results, and then a coarse semantic information fusion module is applied to roughly estimate the semantic information on multiple scales. In the second stage, an encoder-decoder is used to refine the semantic information and obtain the prediction of foreground, background and alpha matte. Foreground objects can be extracted more accurately through this two-stage network. Also, the obtained alpha matte can be directly used for downstream tasks such as image and video processing. The experimental results on Adobe dataset and the Distinction-646 dataset show that the sum of absolution difference is 42.5 and 50.3, the gradient error is 27.1 and 28.0, respectively. And the details are also more accurate.
Sodium Valproate-induced Eosinophilic Exudative Pleural Effusion

A 34-year-old woman presented with a 3-day history of dyspnea. She denied any preceding fever, night sweats, cough, pleurisy, or coryzal symptoms. She was maintained on sodium valproate 800 mg b.i. d. , phenytoin 100 mg o.d. , folate 5 mg o.d. , and clonazepam 2 mg nocte for a known seizure disorder. Clinical examination and radiologic imaging revealed a large left-sided pleural effusion with the associated collapse of the left lower lung lobe. A chest tube was inserted for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes and ≈500 mls of serous fluid was drained. The pleural fluid analysis confirmed an exudative pleural effusion. Extensive evaluation excluded known causes of exudative pleural effusion, and a diagnosis of sodium valproate-induced pleural effusion was made. Sodium valproate was tapered off and topiramate was added to the patient’s antiepileptic regimen. We recommend physicians be cognizant of sodium valproate-associated pleural effusion, even in the setting of chronic use.
Exploring the Role of Sclerostin as a Biomarker of Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality: A Scoping Review

Sclerostin is most recognized for its role in controlling bone formation; however, it is also expressed in the heart, aorta, coronary, and peripheral arteries. Human studies have associated high circulating sclerostin levels with the presence of different cardiovascular diseases (CVD), surrogate CVD markers, and a high risk of cardiovascular events in some populations. However, this is still a matter of scientific debate, as the results have been very heterogeneous among studies. In the present review, the association between serum sclerostin levels and CVD and/or cardiovascular mortality was analyzed. For this purpose, a scoping review was performed in which articles measuring serum sclerostin levels and cardiovascular risk in patients were selected. Eleven articles answered the research question; of these articles, 8/11 evaluated the association between sclerostin and CVD, of which 4/8 found a positive association, 2/8 found a negative association, and 2/8 found no association between variables. Five (5/11) of the articles included in the study evaluated cardiovascular mortality, of which 3/5 found a positive association, 1/5 found a negative association, and 1/5 found no association between variables. In conclusion, we did not find sufficient results to be able to demonstrate an association between elevated sclerostin levels and the development of CVD and/or cardiovascular mortality in the general population due to heterogeneity in the results. However, there seems to be a tendency to consider increased sclerostin levels as a risk factor for both the development of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular mortality in specific populations. Further studies in this field will help to solve some of the inconsistencies found during this scoping review and allow for the future use of sclerostin measurement as a strategy in the prevention and diagnosis of CVD and/or cardiovascular mortality.
Farm factors associated with increased free fatty acids in bulk tank milk

Graphical Abstract Summary: Elevations in free fatty acids (FFA) in milk can result from multiple farm factors. These include cow characteristics, ration composition, milk harvest equipment, milk transport, and milk storage. Although through different mechanisms, each of these factors can result in increased lipase enzyme breakdown of triacylglycerol (TAG) molecules contained inside milk fat globules. The result is a release of FFA that, when in high concentrations, can negatively affect the quality of dairy products.
BILATERAL VARIABILITY OF Q ANGLE IN SYMPTOMATIC UNILATERAL AND SYMPTOMATIC BILATERAL KNEE PAIN IN INDIAN ADULTS OF DECCAN PLATEAU REGION

Objectives: Quadriceps angle (Q angle) is a lonesome clinical measure, appraised as a critical factor for the posture maintenance and knee related complications.The excessive Q angle increases the lateral patellofemoral junction pressure, which have a tendency to add biomechanical stress over the knee, leads to patellofemoral complications. This study was attempted to determine the right and left Q angle variabilitybetween asymptomatic or control (ASY), symptomatic unilateral knee pain (SUKP), and symptomatic bilateral knee pain (SBKP) in people of Deccan plateau in India. Material and methods:The bilateral Q angles were measured by universal goniometer in 235subjectsof both genders including asymptomatic (n=135), symptomatic unilateral knee pain (n=60) and symptomatic bilateral knee pain (n=40), in upright standing position, with relaxed quadriceps and fully extended knee.Subjects with clinically determined anterior knee pain considered as symptomatic. Results: The higher bilateral variability of Q angle was noticed in females than males between asymptomatic and SUKP (-5.920) and SBKP (-4.090) on right side and between asymptomatic and SUKP (-4.980) on left side. There was bilateral significant difference in Mean Q angle between asymptomatic and SUKP, and between asymptomatic and SBKP in both sexes. However, the above difference was statistically not significant between SBKP and SUKP. Conclusion: Moderate Q angle bilateral variability was noticed in symptomatic subjects due to malalignment of limbs by trauma, unilateral stance of limb and other influencing factors.
SHG interference microscope as a tool of nondestructive observation of ferroelectric 180° domain structures

Abstract Using the interference SHG microscope, ferroelectric 180° domain structure can be nondestructively observed. The principle of the microscope is to use the fact that up and down domains produce optical second harmonic waves with same amplitude but opposite phase. Then they are superposed with homogeneous SH wave from a standard SHG plate. The phase is controlled by a glass plate to get maximum contrast. This microscope was successfully applied to domain structure observations in BaTiO3 and domain reversal process in MgO:LiNbO3 under the pulsed-electric field. The possibility of the domain structure observation along the axial direction is also discussed.
The Use of Executive Fluency Tasks to Detect Cognitive Impairment in Individuals with Subjective Cognitive Decline

Objective: Although evidence has indicated that subjective cognitive decline (SCD) may be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the objectification of cognitive impairment in SCD is challenging, mainly due to the lack of sensitivity in assessment tools. The present study investigated the potential contribution of two verbal fluency tasks with high executive processing loads to the identification of cognitive impairment in SCD. Methods: A total of 60 adults with SCD and 60 healthy controls (HCs) performed one free action (verb) fluency task and two fluency tasks with more executive processing load—an alternating fluency task and an orthographic constraint fluency task—and the results were compared. Result: In the free action fluency task, the performance of the participants with SCD and the HCs was similar. However, HCs performed significantly better than SCD in the alternating fluency task, which required mental flexibility, and the orthographic constraint fluency task, which required inhibition. Discussion: The study findings suggest that verbal fluency tasks with high executive processing load could be useful in detecting cognitive deficits at the preclinical stage of AD. The inclusion of such tests in assessment batteries should be considered in order to improve the detection of subtle cognitive impairment in preclinical major neurocognitive disorder populations.
Automatic Specification Testing for Vector Autoregressions and Multivariate Nonlinear Time Series Models

This article introduces an automatic test for the correct specification of a vector autoregression (VAR) model. The proposed test statistic is a Portmanteau statistic with an automatic selection of the order of the residual serial correlation tested. The test presents several attractive characteristics: simplicity, robustness, and high power in finite samples. The test is simple to implement since the researcher does not need to specify the order of the autocorrelation tested and the proposed critical values are simple to approximate, without resorting to bootstrap procedures. In addition, the test is robust to the presence of conditional heteroscedasticity of unknown form and accounts for estimation uncertainty without requiring the computation of large-dimensional inverses of near-to-singularity covariance matrices. The basic methodology is extended to general nonlinear multivariate time series models. Simulations show that the proposed test presents higher power than the existing ones for models commonly employed in empirical macroeconomics and empirical finance. Finally, the test is applied to the classical bivariate VAR model for GNP (gross national product) and unemployment of Blanchard and Quah (1989) and Evans (1989). Online supplementary material includes proofs and additional details.
The Tully-Fisher Relation in Coma and Virgo Cluster S0 Galaxies

We use the Tully-Fisher relation (TFR) to compare the behavior of S0 and late-type spiral galaxies. We determine circular velocities based on stellar kinematics derived from stellar absorption line spectroscopy for 10 S0's in the Coma Cluster and eight S0's in the Virgo Cluster. We combine these results with similar measurements of 13 Coma S0 galaxies obtained previously. We find that there is only a small offset, ΔmH ∼ 0.2, in the H-band luminosity at a given circular velocity, vc ∼ 200 km s-1, between S0 and late-type spirals. This result implies a similar total H-band mass-to-light ratio (within an effective radius) among disk galaxies of different Hubble types. As the older stellar population in S0's is dimmer, this suggests a somewhat larger fraction of stellar mass in these S0's than in late-type spirals. We also find that the relation between (I- and H-band) luminosity and vc for the S0 galaxies is at best poorly defined and has a scatter of ∼1 mag, significantly larger than the TFR for late-type spirals, where the observed I- and H-band scatter is σ ∼ 0.3–0.5 mag. This substantial scatter confirms the original findings of Dressler & Sandage and is similar to that found in a study by Neistein and coworkers of 18 nearby S0 galaxies in the field where σI ∼ 0.7 mag, but differs from the small scatter found by Mathieu and coworkers, σI ∼ 0.3 mag, for six nearby S0's. Our results suggest that differing formation histories can lead to S0's with diverse properties and that S0's are more likely to be the outcomes of minor mergers or some "preprocessing" in groups of galaxies falling into clusters, rather than simply late-type spirals that have been stripped of their gas but are kinematically preserved. We suggest that it is likely that many mechanisms, such as slow encounters, tidal interactions, and gas stripping, may have occurred in the lifetimes of the galaxies and produced the heterogeneous class of S0's that are observed today.
Negation In Nepali Complex Predicates

This paper aims to discuss some properties and characteristics of complex predicates with reference to negation in Nepali. The paper will analyze how negation works with compound verb and serial verb constructions in Nepali. It will also discuss compound verbs like N+V along with V+V structure and analyze the conjunctive participle marker in certain construction. We will also look into the agreement system of negative compound verbs where certain agreement feature gets attached to the negation marker. In this paper we will enquire the condition of negation marker occurring as both prefix and suffix in Nepali serial verbs. We will also try to show how negative polarity items occur in Nepali complex predicate configuration. This paper is a descriptive account of the negative constructions in Nepali complex predicates. Theoretical account is outside the scope of this paper.
Identification and Potential Biotechnological Characterization of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from White Cheese Samples

In this study, the isolation of lactic acid bacteria was carried out from one hundred white cheese samples collected from different regions of Turkey. Subsequently, phenotypic and genotypic characterization of the isolates was performed. Biochemical characteristics of the isolates were determined by API 50CHL. Furthermore, the biotechnological enzyme production potential of the isolates was screened. Genomic fingerprint profiles of the test isolates were detected by using rep-PCR (BOX-PCR), which has been used successfully in the differentiation of microorganisms at the species, subspecies, and even strain levels. The results showed that a total of forty-one bacteria were isolated and seventeen of which are found to be different species. The isolates generally grew at 4-6 pH values, 0-8% NaCl and 30-40°C. Later, isolates thought to be different species were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses. According to 16S rRNA sequence results, MA56 showed a 96.41% similarity match to Lentilactobacillus buchneri, it is thought to be a new species. In addition, MA19, MA25, MA43, and MA47 were determined to have multi-enzyme production potential. MA43 has a plantaricin gene and it showed a high antagonistic effect on Escherichia coli O157:H7 ATCC 43888 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027. Inhibition zones were measured at 19 mm and 16 mm respectively.
Terrestrial superrotation - A bifurcation of the general circulation

Abstract When sufficiently large zonally asymmetric tropical heating is introduced in a two-level model of global atmospheric flow, its general circulation becomes strongly superrotating. The nature of the superrotating solutions is studied by examining momentum and heat budgets for a range of values of thermal forcing. Changes in the transport of zonal momentum by transient eddies appear to play the key role in the transition to superrotation. The dramatic bifurcation of the solutions of this model may help explain the maintenance and variability of the zonal mean flow in the tropics.
Wideband High-Gain Low-Profile Endfire Linearly/Circularly Polarized Antennas Based on Magnetic Dipole Directors for Millimeter-Wave Applications

Wideband high-gain low-profile endfire linearly polarized (LP)/circularly polarized (CP) antennas for 5G millimeter-wave (mmWave) applications are presented in this letter. The basic structure of the antennas include a stripline fed horn as the feeder and multiple magnetic diploe directors (MDDs) printed on a single layer substrate. The stripline fed horn exhibits a wide bandwidth and stable endfire radiation, and magnetic dipole directors help further improvement the endfire gain. A LP antenna based on a LP feeder and vertically polarized (VP) MDDs (supporting VP resonance) working at the 5G mmWave band is first designed. Then, on this basis, CP antenna based on a CP feeder and dual-polarized MDDs (supporting two orthogonal polarized resonances) working at the same band is designed. The two proposed antennas with the low profile of 0. 14λ0 are fabricated and measured, both of which show good impedance matching, high gain, and low cross polarization within the 5G mmWave band.
MICROWAVE-ASSISTED GREEN SYNTHESIS OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES USING EXTRACT OF SPONDIAS PINNATA BARK

Formation of silver nanoparticles with irradiation of microwaves using biological agents such as plant extracts is one of the eco-friendly green synthesis approaches which is economical in comparison with the physical and chemical methods. This study is focused at preparation of silver nanoparticles silver using Spondias pinnata bark extract by microwave irradiation and its comparison with aging method. Formation of silver nanoparticles was identified by observing the surface plasmon resonance absorption band peak at ~432 nm by UV-visible spectrophotometer. Optimization of the synthesis procedure was carried out using different amount of extract, concentration of substrate and microwave irradiation time and morphological features were characterised. A solution containing 8ml plant extract and 8 mM silver nitrate exposed to 90 sec microwave irradiation time was identified as optimised condition for the production of spherical shaped silver nanoparticles with a size of 34.52 nm which indicates that faster formation of silver nanoparticles compared to the aging method. Present research shows the importance of optimization of bio reduction conditions and the amount of reactants required for regulation of the morphology of silver nanoparticles as well as to obtain homogenous solution which is the main problem encountered in plant- mediated production of silver nanoparticles.
Implosive accretion and outbursts of active galactic nuclei

A model and simulation code have been developed for time-dependent axisymmetric disk accretion onto a compact object including for the first time the influence of an ordered magnetic field. The accretion rate and radiative luminosity of the disk are naturally coupled to the rate of outflow of energy and angular momentum in magnetically driven (+/- z) winds. The magnetic field of the wind is treated in a phenomenological way suggested by self-consistent wind solutions. The radial accretion speed u(r, t) of the disk matter is shown to be the sum of the usual viscous contribution and a magnetic contribution proportional to r(exp 3/2)(B(sub p exp 2))/sigma, where B(sub p)(r,t) is the poloidal field threading the disk and sigma(r,t) is the disk's surface mass density. An enhancement or variation in B(sub p) at a large radial distance leads to the formation of a soliton-like structure in the disk density, temperature, and B-field which propagates implosively inward. The implosion gives a burst in the power output in winds or jets and a simultaneous burst in the disk radiation. The model is pertinent to the formation of discrete fast-moving components in jets observed by very long baseline interferometry. These components appear to originate at times of optical outbursts of the active galactic nucleus.
Tests and estimates of shape based on spatial signs and ranks

Nonparametric procedures for testing and estimation of the shape matrix in the case of multivariate elliptic distribution are considered. Testing for sphericity is an important special case. The tests and estimates are based on the spatial sign and rank covariance matrices. The estimates based on the spatial sign covariance matrix and symmetrized spatial sign covariance matrix are Tyler's [A distribution-free M-estimator of multivariate scatter, Ann. Statist. 15 (1987), pp. 234–251] shape matrix and and Dümbgen's [On Tyler's M-functional of scatter in high dimension, Ann. Inst. Statist. Math. 50 (1998), pp. 471–491] shape matrix, respectively. The test based on the spatial sign covariance matrix is the sign test statistic in the class of nonparametric tests proposed by Hallin and Paindaveine [Semiparametrically efficient rank-based inference for shape. I. Optimal rank-based tests for sphericity, Ann. Statist. 34 (2006), pp. 2707–2756]. New tests and estimates based on the spatial rank covariance matrix are proposed. The shape estimates introduced in the paper play an important role in the inner standardisation of the spatial sign and rank tests for multivariate location. Limiting distributions of the tests and estimates are reviewed and derived, and asymptotic efficiencies as well as finite-sample efficiencies of the proposed tests are compared with those of the classical modified John's [Some optimal multivariate tests, Biometrika 58 (1971), pp. 123–127; The distribution of a statistic used for testing sphericity of normal distributions, Biometrika 59 (1972), pp. 169–173] test and the van der Waerden test (Hallin and Paindaveine, [Semiparametrically efficient rank-based inference for shape. I. Optimal rank-based tests for sphericity, Ann. Statist. 34 (2006), pp. 2707–2756]). The symmetrised spatial sign- and rank-based estimates and tests seem to have a very high efficiency in the multivariate normal case, and they are much better than the classical estimate (shape matrix based on the regular covariance matrix) and test (John's test) for distributions with heavy tails.
Long and thin triangles can be good for linear interpolation

Given a set of data points in $R^2 $ and corresponding data values, it is clear that the quality of a Piecewise Linear Interpolation Surface (PUS) over triangles depends on the specific triangulation of the data points. In this paper, the question of what are good triangles (and triangulations) for linear interpolation is studied further. First, the model problem of constructing optimal triangulations for interpolating quadratic functions by PLIS is considered. Next, a new interpretation of existing error bounds for interpolating general smooth functions by PUS is studied. The conclusion is that triangles should be long in directions where the magnitude of the second directional derivative of F is small and thin in directions where the magnitude of the second directional derivative of F is large.
Far-infrared observations of three compact IRAS sources in Sh 247 star forming complex: IRAS 06056+2131, 06058+2138 and 06061+2151

Three compact IRAS sources-IRAS 06056+2131, 06058+2138 and 06061+2151 in the Sh 247 complex and having IRAS colours typical of compact H II regions have been observed in the far-infrared using the TIFR 1 m balloon-borne telescope. The observations were done simultaneously in two bands; from these intensity maps at 58 μm and 150 μm with a spatial resolution of 1. '5 have been obtained. We have also obtained intensity maps in the four IRAS bands of 12, 25, 60 and 100 μm using the HIRES routine. Using these and other available observations the spectral energy distributions (SED) for the three sources have been obtained. Radiation transfer modelling has been undertaken to fit the observed SED and infer the nature and distribution of dust in the envelope. In particular, we find that a r −2 density distribution is ruled out. The uniform density fits better for two sources while r −1 distribution is better for the third. The total luminosities of the sources imply spectral types in the range O9 to B0; however, only two of them have been detected in the radio continuum, that too at a level much lower than that expected. All three are presumably optically thick at 3.6 cm. Molecular observations available in the lines of CO, CS, NH 3 etc. show dense molecular cores as well as outflows associated with all the three sources. IRAS 06056+2131 shows an extended structure with two cores while IRAS 06061+2151 has probably an additional core. The corresponding structures are also seen in the 25 μm map which has higher resolution. While all the three sources are very young and deeply embedded, the absence of radio continuum and non-fragmentation of the cloud suggest that IRAS 06058+2138 is the youngest of the three.