Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stereo vision-based autonomous mobile robot

In this paper, we propose a method to give more autonomy to a mobile robot by providing vision sensors. The proposed autonomous mobile robot consists of vision, decision, and moving systems. The vision system is based on the stereo technology, which needs correspondence between a set of identical points in the left and the right images. Although mean square difference (MSD) is generally used for the measure of correspondence, it is prone to various types of error caused by: shades, color change, and repetitive texture, to name a few. To correct this error, the fourdirection method, which incorporates surrounding information into correspondence measuring, can be used to improve the accuracy of correspondence. Edge of object is first extracted from the Laplacian of Gaussian (LoG) filtered image and post-treatment is performed to eliminate remaining high-frequency noise. During the process to minimize the change of edge, an adaptive threshold value is applied. The extracted edge image is then segmented based on histogram, and it precisely scans candidate blocks for accurate extraction of object. Even if the mobile robot is guaranteed to move autonomously, it has to sublate meaningless movement. To this end, the target is set up for the robot to be able to move toward the designated target and the robot is made to perceive the target by using structural information. The decision system utilizes three-dimensional (3D) distance information extracted from stereo vision and enables dynamic movement to look for a target. Experimental results show average error of 1.25% in the distance estimation, 97% recognition rate of target objects, and 2.3% collision rate with obstacles.
Soil Organic Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Quantities in Northern Great Plains Rangeland

Soils were characterized in North Dakota rangeland along toposequences formed in sandstone, siltstone, and shale parent materials to evaluate quantities of organic C, N, P, and total P. Distribution of these soil constituents varied systematically with parent material and landscape position along the three toposequences, and generally increased upon moving downslope (.)
Investigation of Antiplasmodial Effects of Terpenoid Compounds Isolated from Myrrh

Abstract As part of our ongoing search for antiprotozoal natural products from plants, we examined different resins from the Burseraceae family. The dichloromethane extract obtained from myrrh, the oleo-gum-resin of Commiphora species, showed promising in vitro activity against Plasmodium falciparum with an IC50 value of 1 µg/mL. Bioactivity-guided fractionation led to the isolation and characterization of 18 sesquiterpenoids, namely, β-elemene (1), elemyl acetate (2), curzerenone (3), 8-hydroxyisogermafurenolide (4), 2-methoxyisogermafurenolide (5), 8-epi-2-methoxyisogermafurenolide (6), furanodienone (7), 1(10)Z,4Z-furanodien-6-one (8), rel-2R-methyl-5S-acetoxy-4R-furanogermacr-1(10)Z-en-6-one (9), (1(10)E)-2-methoxy-8,12-epoxygermacra-1(10),7,11-trien-6-one (10), 2R-methoxyfuranodiene (11), 2-acetyloxyglechomanolide (12), 8-epi-2-acetyloxyglechomanolide (13), (1R,2R,4S)-1,2-epoxyfuranogermacr-10(15)-en-6-one (14), hydroxylindestrenolide (15), isohydroxylindestrenolide (16), myrrhone (17), and myrrhterpenoid O (18). Moreover, nine (nor-)triterpenoids were isolated: mansumbinol (19), mansumbinol epoxide (20), mansumbinone (21), mansumbin-13(17)-en-3,16-dione (22), 3,4-seco-mansumbinoic acid (23), rel-20S-hydroxy-dammar-24-en-3,16-dione (24), rel-(16S,20S)-dihydroxydammar-24-en-3-one (25), cycloart-24-en-1α,2α,3β-triol (26), and 3β-isovaleroyloxycycloart-24-en-1α,2α-diol (27). All compounds were identified by MS and NMR spectroscopic analyses. To the best of our knowledge, compounds 5, 6, 12, 13, 16, 18, and 20 are reported for the first time. All isolated compounds were tested in vitro for activity against P. falciparum and cytotoxicity. The sesquiterpene 7 and the triterpene 25 were the most active compounds found in this study with IC50 values of 7.4 and 2.8 µM, respectively.
Correlations of radon and carbon isotopic measurements with petroleum and natural gas at Cement, Oklahoma

Radon in soil gas and the carbon isotopic composition of carbon compounds in soil have been measured at 98 sites over the Cement, Oklahoma oil and gas field. Strong correlations were observed between the density of oil and gas wells and storage tanks and soil 222Rn, field 222Rn, vertical gas flow, and δ13C gradients. No meaningful correlation is seen with δ13C. If further study shows that these results are general, the types of measurement done here could facilitate exploratory drilling.
A directional analysis of the small wavelength geoid in the Pacific Ocean

The geoid over the Pacific Ocean has been filtered in order to enhance wavelengths of the order of 200 km. As noticed by previous authors, lineations elongated in the direction of present plate motion are observed in the East-Central Pacific. Elongated features as clearly visible with a larger amplitude and a totally different direction are also present south of the Hawaiian chain and west of Baja California. The dominant directions visible on the filtered geoid map have been confirmed by spectral analyses. Near the Californian coast, the NE-SW lineations seem to be related to extensional tectonics. South of Hawaii, the NW-SE directions correspond to the various directions of the Pacific plate prior to 40 Ma. Magmas implaced in the lithosphere over fixed convective plumes may be the source of these geoid lineations.
Transnasal Endoscopic Repair of Cerebrospinal Fluid Rhinorrhea: A Meta‐Analysis

Objectives/Hypothesis Trauma and surgery are the most common causes of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhea. Surgical repair is recommended for patients with CSF leaks that do not respond to conservative measures, traumatic CSF leaks that require transcranial surgery for associated brain injuries, and iatrogenic defects that are discovered intraoperatively. The purpose of our study was to ascertain the outcome after transnasal endoscopic repair of CSF leaks and to identify factors regarding the patient, CSF fistula, and treatment that may influence the results of the repair.
Valuing water quality advisories and beach amenities in the Great Lakes

This paper presents estimates of the value of reducing beach advisories in Great Lakes beaches located along Lake Erie's shoreline in Ohio. Given the potential health consequences associated with swimming in contaminated water, health officials have made more effort in recent years to ensure that information about beach advisories is available through the media and other sources. A recent survey of over 800 single‐day beach visitors during the summer of 1998 found that nearly two thirds of visitors take advantage of this information when making decisions about their beach trips. When accounting for this information in a travel cost model, we find that the average (across all visitors) seasonal benefits of reducing one advisory is approximately $28 per visitor. Individuals who use the media in advance of trips gain less, approximately $24 per year, while those who use only signs posted at the beach would gain more, $38 per year.
The initial thermal state of the Moon

It is argued that the initial thermal state of the Moon was molten. The existence of young thrust fault scarps in the highlands and kbar stress drop, shallow moonquakes both suggest that the thermoelastic stresses in the outer crust are currently in the kbar range. This is expected if the Moon was initially molten, but not if the Moon had a magma ocean only a few hundred km deep. The thesis is also supported by reference to model studies of the concentrations of refractory incompatible elements.
Forecasts in IPO Prospectuses: The Effect of Corporate Governance on Earnings Management

Prior research suggests that managers may use earnings management to meet voluntary earnings forecasts. We document the extent of earnings management undertaken within Canadian Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and study the extent to which companies with better corporate governance systems are less likely to use earnings management to achieve their earnings forecasts. In addition, we test other factors that differentiate forecasting from non-forecasting firms, and assess the impact of forecasting and corporate governance on future cash flow prediction. We find that firms with better corporate governance are less likely to include a voluntary earnings forecast in their IPO prospectus. In addition, we find that while IPO firms use accruals management to meet forecasts; the informativeness of the discretionary accruals depends on whether or not the firm would have missed its forecast without the use of discretionary accruals.
Thermodynamic‐biological‐optical coupling in the oceanic mixed layer

In order to quantitatively investigate the role of phytoplanktonic blooms in the open ocean on sea surface temperature (SST) prediction, the mixed layer model of Gaspar (1985, 1988) is coupled to a primary production model adapted from Agoumi (1985), allowing an interactive prediction of the upper ocean turbidity, over two seasonal cycles at Ocean Weather Station (OWS) R (Romeo). (In this paper we use “turbidity” for total optical content, thus including mineral and phytoplanktpnic content.) The validity of Gaspar's model, originally tested at OWS P (Papa), is first demonstrated for OWS R in its only thermodynamic version. Agoumi's (1985) model, developed for multiyear simulations over the English Channel, is then adapted to the case of the open ocean upper layers. It is shown how turbulent mixing is an important factor regulating primary production and nutrient fluxes, in order to obtain spring and autumn phytoplanktonic blooms and winter decay. Finally, it is shown how the typical spring and autumn errors in SST prediction from the mixed-layer model can be changed in sign in the thermodynamic-biological-optical coupled version of the model. These results confirm that the phytoplanktonic seasonal cycle has a significant impact on sea surface temperature simulation. It is therefore reasonable to consider taking this factor into account in future upper ocean simulation experiments, and some recommendations are suggested for further studies.
Stream chemistry modeling of two watersheds in the Front Range, Colorado

We investigated the hydrologic, geochemical, and biogeochemical controls on stream chemical composition on the Green Lakes Valley and Andrews Creek watersheds using the alpine hydrochemical model (AHM). Both sites had comparable data sets from 1994 and 1996, including high‐resolution spatial data and high‐frequency time series of hydrology, geochemistry, and meteorology. The model of each watershed consisted of three terrestrial subunits (soil, talus, and rock), with the routing between the subunits determined by spatial land cover data. Using 1994 data for model calibration and 1996 data for evaluation, AHM captured the dominant processes and successfully simulated daily stream chemical composition on both watersheds. These results confirm our procedure of using spatial and site‐specific field and laboratory data to generate an initial catchment model and then calibrating the model to calculate effective parameters for unmeasured processes. A net source of nitrogen was identified in the Andrews Creek watershed during the spring snowmelt period, whereas nitrogen was immobilized in the Green Lakes Valley. This difference was most likely due to the larger and more dominant area of talus in the Andrews Creek watershed. Our results also indicate that routing of snowmelt through either soil or talus material is sufficient for retention of H+ and release of base cations but that N retention is more important on areas mapped as soil. Owing to the larger ionic pulse and larger fraction of surface runoff the Green Lakes Valley was more sensitive to a doubling of wet deposition chemistry than the Andrews Creek watershed.
New in‐flight calibration adjustment of the NIMBUS 6 and 7 Earth Radiation Budget wide field of view radiometers

The in-flight space environment of the NIMBUS 6 and 7 earth radiation budget instrument differs in many important ways from the steady state preflight laboratory calibration environment. Because of this, the first 20 months of NIMBUS 7 wide field of view (WFOV) channels had their calibration adjusted through a comparison with the in-flight calibrated longwave scanner data. The adjustments were most important for the reflected solar radiation channel 13. The scanner failed on June 22, 1980, leading to the requirement for new algorithms to process the remainder of the WFOV data set. On the basis of detailed studies of the sensor characteristics, in-flight calibration adjustments of the WFOV channels are developed which account for the major thermal, chemical, and radiative dynamics of the orbital environment. These adjustments correct for (1) long-term changes in the rsponse of the sensors; (2) thermal transients due to the instrument's on-off duty cycle, and (3) absorption of longwave radiation by the filter domes. In addition, these studies have led to improved in-flight calibration adjustments for channel 12, the broadband total irradiance sensor. The rational behind the new algorithm is described, and differences between the new and old algorithms are discussed.
Heterogeneity of treatment effects: from “How to treat” to “Whom to treat”

The classic approach in clinical medicine and medical research has been to evaluate how to treat a specific illness or disease using various study designs to compare treatments and possibly sophisticated statistical analyses to explain effects that take into account confounding factors. Examples from infectious disease and trauma research provide excellent examples of how this approach has been successful in delineating the best options for clinical decision making and treatment. This classic approach may be incomplete, however, in the evaluation of how to treat complex and/or chronic conditions. For such conditions, even randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and other methodologically rigorous studies may show only a small-effect size or fail to find significant differences in outcomes between treatment groups. A number of factors, which are beyond the scope of this article, may contribute to such findings. The bottom line is that we are frequently left with inconclusive evidence about how to treat a given disease. Treatment studies of chronic low back pain and many forms of cancer are examples of entities for which clinical decision making is complex and evidence on the best treatment may be inconclusive. This conundrum invites us to expand our thinking and consider new approaches to both research and clinical management. One newer conceptual approach is the “targeted treatment approach” wherein the ideal treatment by the ideal provider is paired with the ideal patient. This represents at the very least a partial paradigm shift from “How to treat” to “Whom to treat. ”
Holocene delevelling of Devon Island, Arctic Canada: implications for ice sheet geometry and crustal response

The raised beaches and deltas of Devon Island contain an abundance of dateable materials. A large set of radiocarbon dates (228), 154 of which are new, are used to construct relative sea level curves and isobase maps for the island. The best materials for this purpose are driftwood logs (61 dates) and bowhead whale bones (74 dates) from raised beaches and mollusc shells from marine-limit deltas (20 dates) or from altitudes close to marine limit (14 dates). During the last glacial maximum, the island is thought to have lain beneath the southeastern flank of the Innuitian Ice Sheet. The relative sea level history is congruent with that inferred ice configuration. The island spans half the ice sheet width. Relative sea level curves are of simple exponential form, except near the glacial limit where an early Holocene emergence proceeded to a middle Holocene lowstand below present sea level, which was followed by submergence attending the passage of the crustal forebulge. The response times of relative sea lev.
Water losses from an irrigated soybean field by deep percolation and evapotranspiration

Soil water flux below the root zone of a soybean crop was measured in the field at Oakes, North Dakota, during the crop season in 1972 for four water treatments. Amounts of 0, 30.6, 38.1, and 47.0 cm of water were applied in addition to the 19.5-cm rainfall occurring during the growing season to treatments W-1, W-2, W-3, and W-4, respectively. Specific in situ unsaturated hydraulic conductivity for each plot of the Maddock sandy loam soil and hydraulic gradients measured with tensiometers in the field during the growing season were used to compute the soil water flux. Knowledge of the amount of water applied by irrigation and rainfall, of the water loss to deep percolation, and of the changes in soil water content in the soil profile permitted estimation of evapotranspiration from the soil-plant systems. This summary and the entire article are available on microfiche. Order as document W-75-001 from American Geophysical Union, 1909 K Street, N.W. , Washington, D.C. 20006. Payment ($1.00 must accompany order.
Atmospheric circulation variability associated with shallow‐core seasonal isotopic extremes near Summit, Greenland

Seasonal back-diffused δ18O time series, reconstructed for nine shallow firn cores from the Greenland Summit for 1959–1987, are evaluated in terms of (1) their spatial and temporal variability and (2) their association to the atmospheric circulation. Rotated principal component analysis evaluates spatial and temporal patterns of organization in the back-diffused δ18O ice core time series. Mean sea level pressure and 500-hPa height fields are obtained for winter and summer seasons that fall in the isotopically warmest and coldest thirds of the seasonal data. The winter back-diffused δ18O data indicate that some degree of longitudinal separation takes place between isotopic records from western and eastern Greenland in agreement with coastal station climatic data. Temporal variability is linked with statistical significance to the variability of the atmospheric circulation over the Denmark Strait, as well as over the Norwegian and Barents Seas. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the mean Icelandic low in the Denmark Strait affect isotopic variability over the cores west of the ice divide, just as they have been shown to prominently affect west coast air temperature records. Isotopic variability at some ice cores east of the divide is influenced by pressure variability over the Norwegian and Barents Seas, although statistical significance is lower. The NAO appears insignificant in summer isotopic variability, as the circulation in that season is very much localized and dominated by either ridging (warm cases) or troughs (cold cases) over eastern Greenland and the Arctic Ocean. Results suggest that long-term winter δ18O variability can potentially be linked to climate variation over Europe, especially from the Mediterranean basin northward to about 55°N and as far east as central Siberia.
Petrology and age of alkalic lava from the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands

Volcanic rock dredged from the flanks of four volcanic edifices in the Ratak chain of the Marshall Islands consist of alkalic lava that erupted above sea level or in shallow water. Compositions of recovered samples are predominantly differentiated alkalic basalt and hawaiite but include strongly alkalic melilitite. Whole rock 40Ar/39Ar total fusion and incremental heating ages of 87.3±0.6 Ma and 82.2±1.6 Ma determined for samples from Erikub Seamount and Ratak Guyot, respectively, are within the range predicted by plate rotation models but show no age progression consistent with a simple hot spot model. Whole rock major element, and mineral chemistry are similar to those of alkalic lavas from other oceanic islands, but isotopic and certain trace element ratios reveal distinctive mantle source characteristics. Zr/Nb ratios of ∼3.0±0.2 for Bikar and Ratak Guyot, compared to 5.2±0.3 for Majuro Atoll and Erikub Seamount, at comparable degree of differentiation, suggest a more alkalic trend for the northern sites. The 143Nd/144Nd isotopic ratios range from 0.51283 to 0.51289 and 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, and 208Pb/204Pb ratios range from 20.55 to 21.11, 15.71 to 15.77, and 39.93 to 40.75, for samples from Erikub and Ratak. Variations in isotopic and some incompatible element ratios suggest interisland heterogeneity. Similar highly radiogenic lead isotopes, coupled with distinct incompatible element ratios, especially with low Ba/Nb ratios (∼6), are observed for St. Helena in the South Atlantic and for Tubuai and Mangaia in the South Pacific. The similar mantle signature shown by lavas from Tubuai and Mangaia in the Austral-Cook chain, which are located at approximately the position where the Ratak edifices formed during the Late Cretaceous, indicates that this mantle anomaly is not of recent origin but has erupted distinctive lava compositions for at least 87 m.y.
Permeability Tests in Rigid-Wall Permeameters: Determining the Degree of Saturation, its Evolution, and its Influence on Test Results

This paper reports on a method to determine degree of saturation, S-sub-r, of a soil specimen at any time during a rigid wall permeameter test. The method indicates that the tested specimen usually is not fully saturated. It is then used to prove that the usual test termination criterion based on equality of inflow and outflow volumes may be misleading. Examples are provided where the 2 volumes were equal within 1%, whereas S-sub-r increased from 80-100% and k increased by a factor of 4. Without knowing the technique to determine the S-sub-r value at any time, the test would have been stopped prematurely and would have given some k(S-sub-r) value for an unknown S-sub-r with the risk of misinterpreting this result as k(S-sub-r=100%). New equations for gas transfer between water and gas bubbles are also established and experimentally verified for specimens permeated with either deaired water or water oversaturated with air.
Application of microscopic image dynamic range enhancement in sputum smear tuberculosis intelligent examination

The bacteriological microscopic examination of sputum smear for tuberculosis is the most important means of diagnosis and experiments for tuberculosis. Through micro-imaging systems, machine vision systems, digital image processing and computer pattern recognition technology, dynamic intelligent recognition and counting of TB-DNA could be realized. However, the dynamic range of CCD image sensor is limited. The information of TB-DNA could not be fully recorded on microscopic image. In this paper, an effective method to extend the image dynamic range through merging multiple exposure images is proposed. The microscopic images of the same scene with different exposure are taken by rotating the disk-shaped optical grads attenuator that installed under the objective lens of microscopic system to control the illumination. These different exposure images are processed firstly to get irradiance response function of the imaging system, and then the high dynamic range microscopic image (HDRMI) could be obtained. Through the mapping algorithm the dynamic range of HDRMI is compressed in order to been displayed on the general display devices, which not only highlight the feature information of bacillus but also maintain the overall contrast of original microscopic image. The method proposed can effectively express the image information of the bright areas and dark areas in the scenes and enhance the image details and color characteristics. The quality of micro-imaging systems is improved. It is proved that the method proposed in the paper can enhance the resolution and stability of the TB image recognition through the experiment.