SIRIS-Lab/unlabelled-sti-corpus huggingface dataset:
A genealogy of islamic religious leadership in post-ottoman states

A Genealogy of Islamic Religious Leadership in Post-Ottoman States (GIRLPOS)

This project will produce the first history of the 'Grand Mufti' as a modern model of Islamic religious leadership. This title emerged in several Arab states in the process of post-Ottoman nation-building, and represents a common trend toward the articulation of ‘religion’ as a social category distinct from the implicitly ‘non-religious’. Ottoman muftis had been legal scholars serving the courts and society at large, and muftis have been studied ever since through a classical lens of scholarly knowledge production. Yet the creation of new offices of ‘Grand Mufti’ in successor states has radically reformulated their function. For the first time in Islamic history, Middle Eastern states have generated centralised religious hierarchies in which a Grand Mufti administers a professionalised ‘clergy’ and a nationwide network of mosques, schools, cemeteries and other properties defined as religious. My contribution will be a genealogy of this contemporary model of Islamic religious leadership, using it as a lens through which to analyse changing discourses around ‘religion’ in modern Islam.
Robotic manipulation planning for human-robot collaboration on forceful manufacturing tasks

This proposal addresses robotic manipulation planning for human-robot collaboration during manufacturing. My objective is to develop a planning framework which will enable a team of robots to grasp, move and position manufacturing parts (e.g. planks of wood) such that a human can execute sequential forceful manufacturing operations (e.g. drilling, cutting) to build a product (e.g. a wooden table). 
The overall objective is divided into three components: First, I will develop a planning algorithm which, given the description of a manufacturing task, plans the actions of all robots in a human-robot team to perform the task. Second, I will develop probabilistic models of human interaction to be used by the planner. This model will include (i) an action model that assigns probabilities to different manufacturing operations (e.g. drilling a hole vs. cutting a piece off) as the next actions the human intends to do; (ii) a geometric model that assigns probabilities to human body postures; and (iii) a force model that assigns probabilities to force vectors as the predicted operational forces. Third, I will build a real robotic system to perform experiments and test my algorithm's capabilities. This system will consist of at least three robot manipulators.
This fellowship will enable me to add a completely new human dimension to my planning research. I will work with Prof. Tony Cohn (supervisor) who is a world-leading expert in human activity recognition and prediction - a critical skill for the human-robot collaboration problem I intend to solve. From him and his group, I will receive training on tracking/predicting human posture and recognizing/predicting human activities using vision and point-cloud data. I will then integrate these tracking and prediction methods into a robotic planning framework to enable human-robot collaborative operations. 
This fellowship will help me to attain a permanent academic position and to become a leading researcher in robotic manipulation.
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DIGITIZING AN IMAGE

An improved method and apparatus for digitizing scanned images are disclosed. A matrix or window of pixels is centered on each pixel of the image. For each pixel, prescribed number of brightness vector differences, represented as algebraic signs, is calculated in parallel from the center pixel to surrounding pixels in the matrix. At the same time, the difference signs of the inverse vector differences between surrounding pixels and the center pixel are also calculated. Both sets of vector differences are stored and will be utilized in the vector difference sign determinations for subsequent windows. Only the difference signs (+ or -) associated with each vector and inverse vector are actually determined and stored in memory. Each difference sign represents a change in brightness between two pixels associated with a particular vector. A (+) represents a change from light to dark while a (-) represents a change from dark to light. For each pixel, the number of (+) difference signs and (-) difference signs are summed. Those pixels having a significant number of (+) signs greater than the number of (-) signs or a significant number of (-) signs greater than the number of (+) signs are assigned as edge points of the scanned image.
Evaluation of GHG discharge reduction policy by multi-regional CGE in Japan

To implement Japan's obligation of greenhouse gases (GHG) discharge reduction in the Kyoto protocol, carbon taxes or other environmental policies need to be introduced. Then, there is a lot of existing research analysing the economic impact of those policies. Most of these studies, however, pay attention to only the entire impact to the Japanese economy and there is little literature analysing it by region. The main object of our research is to construct a Japanese multi–regional computable general equilibrium (MRCGE) model and clarify the cost and benefit of GHG tax policy quantitatively by region and by industrial sector. The result of this study shows clearly the significant difference of the economic impact of GHG tax among regions and industries.
Anna Soma, <i>Il «Trattato dei mesi» di Bonvesin da la Riva. Edizione e analisi del codice Toledano 10–28</i> (Romanische Texte des Mittelalters, 9), Heidelberg, Universitätsverlag Winter, 2021, VII + 216 p.

Article Anna Soma, Il «Trattato dei mesi» di Bonvesin da la Riva. Edizione e analisi del codice Toledano 10–28 (Romanische Texte des Mittelalters, 9), Heidelberg, Universitätsverlag Winter, 2021, VII + 216 p. was published on October 1, 2022 in the journal Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie (volume 138, issue 3).
Characterization of bottom hydrodynamic conditions on the central western Portuguese continental shelf based on benthic foraminifera and sedimentary parameters

Dead benthic foraminiferal assemblages from the central western Portuguese continental shelf have been studied to identify the prevalent oceanographic processes in the study area. Sediment samples collected at 46 stations along transepts perpendicular to the coastal line, between the latitudes of 38-40 °N and 17-190 m water depth, in April/May 2008, were analysed for selected physicochemical parameters (temperature, redox potential), grain size, organic matter content, and benthic foraminifera. Statistical analysis identified two main groups of stations, the Inshore/Offshore groups, which are not only defined by their geographical positions, but easily distinguishable by different hydrodynamic conditions. The Offshore Group is mainly represented by deeper stations characterized by a higher percentage of fines and TOM, negative values of redox potential and by the higher foraminiferal density and species diversity than the Inshore one. Foraminiferal assemblages of the Offshore Group are dominated/represented by species (such as Cassidulina laevigata/Cassidulina carinata, Bolivina spathulata, Bolivina ordinaria, Globocassidulina minuta, Bulimina elongata/Bulimina gibba and Bulimina marginata) common in areas with significant concentrations of organic matter. The benthic foraminiferal assemblages of the Inshore Group are instead characterized by epifaunal species such as Lobatula lobatula, Cibicides ungerianus, Planorbulina mediterranensis, Gavelinopsis praegeri and Quinqueloculina seminula. Both the sedimentary and foraminiferal results suggest that this group of stations is subjected to stronger bottom hydrodynamic conditions, caused by waves and swell activity and coastal currents, than the Offshore Group. Bray-Curtis similarity comparison between the stations of both groups reveals that the Offshore Group has a higher internal similarity than the Inshore Group. These differences seem to stem from topographic forcing, from the presence of rocky outcrops, from canyons and capes, from the distribution of rivers and from the magnitude of their discharges, which determine specific hydrodynamic features and differences in the sedimentary deposits and biological productivity. The influence of the Tagus river (supply of fresh water, detritus and organic matter from continental sources), the presence of canyons and capes, which leave the most important imprint on the study area, are marked by changes in the foraminiferal assemblages both in the Inshore and Offshore groups.
A Fully Automated Approach for Arabic Slang Lexicon Extraction from Microblogs

AbstractWith the rapid increase in the volume of Arabic opinionated posts on different social media forums, comes an increased demand for Arabic sentiment analysis tools and resources. Social media posts, especially those made by the younger generation, are usually written using colloquial Arabic and include a lot of slang, many of which evolves over time. While some work has been carried out to build modern standard Arabic sentiment lexicons, these need to be supplemented with dialectical terms and continuously updated with slang. This paper proposes a fully automated approach for building a dialectical/slang subjectivity lexicon for use in Arabic Sentiment analysis using lexico-syntactic patterns. Since existing Arabic part of speech taggers and other morphological resources have been found to handle colloquial Arabic very poorly, the presented approach does not employ any such tools, allowing the presented approach to generalize across dialects with some minor modifications. Results of experiments, that targeted Egyptian Arabic, show the approach’s ability to detect subjective internet slang represented by single words or by multi-word expressions, as well as classifying the polarity of these with a high degree of precision.KeywordsSentiment AnalysisSentiment LexiconModern Standard ArabicSpeech TaggerMultiword ExpressionThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Applications of GPC Rules and Character Structures in Games for Learning Chinese Characters

We demonstrate applications of psycholinguistic and sublexical information for learning Chinese characters. The knowledge about the grapheme-phoneme conversion (GPC) rules of languages has been shown to be highly correlated to the ability of reading alphabetic languages and Chinese. We build and will demo a game platform for strengthening the association of phonological components in Chinese characters with the pronunciations of the characters. Results of a preliminary evaluation of our games indicated significant improvement in learners' response times in Chinese naming tasks. In addition, we construct a Web-based open system for teachers to prepare their own games to best meet their teaching goals. Techniques for decomposing Chinese characters and for comparing the similarity between Chinese characters were employed to recommend lists of Chinese characters for authoring the games. Evaluation of the authoring environment with 20 subjects showed that our system made the authoring of games more effective and efficient.
Natural functional plasticizers for controlled protein folding and extrusion into biomaterials.

With a raised global awareness of industrial environmental pollution, the polymer research is focusing on green biopolymers. The spinning gland of spiders and silk moths is the holy grail in green extrusion, as silk is spun at ambient conditions and is water based. This is achieved by finely tuned spinning parameters in the silk gland (pH, ion concentration, stress and water removal), whereby the soluble silk solution is converted into a solid fibre. To date, no one has ever succeeded in spinning at these ambient conditions, used in the natural spinning system.

In this project, one missing spinning parameter will be investigated, namely small molecules, in the form of polyphenolic compounds, that are also extruded together with the silk. We formulate the hypothesis that these small molecules help to align and may even induce β-sheet aggregation by removing the water necessary for converting the silk protein solution into a solid fibre during spinning. As this same aggregation of proteins also occurs in many diseases, we will tackle this hypothesis with different techniques from quite different disciplines namely organic chemistry, structural-molecular biology and polymeric sciences. In this way we hope to answer our question that could never be answered by one field alone, as these disciplines will provide complementary data. 

In a first phase, the polyphenol-induced conversion of proteins to β-sheet structures will be investigated, necessary for a successful transformation of a protein solution into a solid material, supervised by world-leading experts (UGent). In a second phase, this knowledge will be applied for the cold extrusion of protein-based materials in the secondment, a company Luxilon, with extended expertise in fibre extrusion technology. Combining the knowledge of both partners, will enable us to spin protein-based biomaterials like nature does for the first time, resulting in green extrusion, impacting the industrial, medical and social sector.
Drugs targets in sympathetic neurons controlling adiposity.

Obesity is a metabolic disorder with unmet medical need for which a pharmacotherapy is urgently needed. The Domingos lab has recently discovered that sympathetic (SNS) neuro-adipose junctions mediate lipolysis and fat mass reduction (Pirzgalska, R.M., Cell, 2015).Thus direct and targeted activation of sympathetic inputs to adipose tissues could represent a new strategy for the induction of fat loss. Our main objective is to identify drug targets in SNS neurons innervating fat, which are suitable for an anti-obesity therapy. To achieve this, we will use technologies such as Translational Ribosome Affinity Purification (TRAP) for translational profiling of neurons innervating fat. We will differentially screen for molecular targets that are enriched in SNS neurons in fat. We will validate target expression in human SNS tissues. This project will identify neuro-excitatory drug targets in sympathetic inputs to adipose tissues, and may lead the development of pharmacotherapies which would circumvent side effects.
Three ecological factors influencing riverine fish diversity in the Shubuto River system, Japan: habitat capacity, habitat heterogeneity and immigration

A major goal of stream ecology is to identify environmental gradients that shape riverine communities. We examined the relative importance of three ecological factors that have been hypothesized to influence a longitudinal pattern of fish diversity: habitat capacity, heterogeneity and immigration of diadromous fishes. Field surveys were carried out in the entire network of the Shubuto River system, Hokkaido, Japan. A hierarchical partitioning approach revealed that distance from the sea, a proxy for immigration potential of diadromous fishes, had the greatest explanatory capacity, by which 24.9 % of variation in fish species richness was explained. Habitat capacity (approximated by catchment area) was also identified as a significant predictor of fish diversity, whereas habitat heterogeneity brought little improvement to the model performance. These results reflect the fish fauna of the Shubuto River system, in which diadromous fishes are dominant in both abundance and species richness.
SECTIONAL CONSTRUCTION ASSEMBLIES

The disclosed system, method and device for construction generally includes a mullion having a guide track disposed therein and a custom fitting suitably adapted to support a construction section via substantially adjustable attachment to the guide track. Disclosed features and specifications may be optionally controlled, adapted or otherwise modified to improve the retention and/or support of construction sections in a variety of operating environments. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention generally provide improved aesthetic presentation and mechanical retention of construction panels in point-supported glass wall systems.
Research and development on the development of innovative waste sludge and municipal waste gasification technology integrated into a heat engine-based cogeneration system

The subject of the project is the development of innovative technology for gasification of sewage sludge and municipal waste integrated with a heat engine-based cogeneration system. This technology will allow the conversion of the chemical energy of fuel from waste to electricity and heat in the range of low and medium power. The result of the research project will be a technology that will be product innovation and process innovation. The process innovation will consist of the use of an external combustion chamber with an exchanger, in which the exhaust energy will be converted to steam energy. The solution is a process innovation allowing you to use the chemical energy of syngas to power the cogeneration device without having to install complex syngas purification systems. The project will also create a new product, which will be characterised by an innovative approach linked to combining the gasification process with a heat engine-based cogeneration system. The combination of the gasification system with a heat engine-based cogeneration system by means of an external combustion chamber constitutes product innovations that have not been used so far in terms of low and medium power. The project will be completed within 18 months and will cover 3 research tasks. The project will create 2 new jobs. A project team consisting of 11 people, including 2 newly employed, will be established for its implementation. The company will involve subcontractor – University of Warmia and Mazury. The project implements and contributes directly to the specific objectives pursued in Priority Axis I: 1) Increased marketability of R & D activities; 2) Increasing innovation of companies in the areas of smart specialisation through R & D activities – research concerns 2 RIS areas – “Water economy” and “High-quality food”; 3) Increase the application of innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises.
Saturn's Deep Atmospheric Flows Revealed by the Cassini Grand Finale Gravity Measurements

How deep do Saturn's zonal winds penetrate below the cloud-level has been a decades-long question, with important implications not only for the atmospheric dynamics, but also for the interior density structure, composition, magnetic field and core mass. The Cassini Grand Finale gravity experiment enables answering this question for the first time, with the premise that the planet's gravity harmonics are affected not only by the rigid body density structure but also by its flow field. Using a wide range of rigid body interior models and an adjoint based thermal wind balance, we calculate the optimal flow structure below the cloud-level and its depth. We find that with a wind profile, largely consistent with the observed winds, when extended to a depth of around 8,800 km, all the gravity harmonics measured by Cassini are explained. This solution is in agreement with considerations of angular momentum conservation, and is consistent with magnetohydrodynamics constraints.
Greentop - gamification of crowdcomputing to enhance earth observation data processing

The European Space Agency provides free access to great amounts of data from its space missions.  Processing it for applications in forestry, land cover, land use, precision agriculture and other fields requires huge capabilities.  Through gamification, a community of enthusiasts is encouraged to share their computing power to rapidly process small portions of imagery.
Members can also participate actively in validating data manually, providing a human verification of the computer processed information.  User involvement, both for automated processing and manual validation will be encouraged through a gamification process (virtual badges, eCards, premium access to data, gifts of independent processing units - IoT devices).
The Internet of Things, through small computing modules that process images using energy from renewable sources will organize an innovative mesh network of independent processing units providing green processing power.  Big Data of Earth Observation is split into parts individually processed, constantly updating the Earth view from space.
Processed data will be publicly available for viewing, while thematic downloads will be charged.  Potential customers are Environment NGO’s, local authorities, small and medium sized business in the forestry and agriculture domains, while cooperation with universities in imagery research projects is also envisaged.  The collaboration with startup communities through preferential data access and accessible fees has the purpose of boosting further innovation and creativity.
Data will be processed using well-known algorithms for radar imaging (Seitinel 1), high resolution multispectral imagery (Sentinel2) and multiple instruments data (Sentinel 3).
GREENTOP - Gamification of cRowdcomputing to ENhance EarTh Observation data Processing encourages internet users to support ESA’s initiative of distributing free spatial data.  Further applications include tacking input from IoT devices for enhancing analysis algorithms.
Urban strategies for waste management in tourist cities

Europe’s cities are some of the world’s greatest tourism destinations. The socio-economic impact of tourism is extraordinary and urban tourism, but it brings at the same time a range of negative externalities, including high levels of unsustainable resource consumption and waste production. In comparison with other cities, tourist cities have to face additional challenges related to waste prevention and management due to their geographical and climatic conditions, the seasonality of tourism flow and the specificity of tourism industry and of tourists as waste producers. 

UrBAN-WASTE will support policy makers in answering these challenges and in developing strategies that aim at reducing the amount of municipal waste production and at further support the re-use, recycle, collection and disposal of waste in tourist cities. In doing so UrBAN-WASTE will adopt and apply the urban metabolism approach to support the switch to a circular model where waste is considered as resource and reintegrated in the urban flow. 

UrBAN-WASTE will perform a metabolic analysis of the state of art of urban metabolism in 11 pilot cities. In parallel a participatory process involving all the relevant stakeholders will be set up through a mobilization and mutual learning action plan. These inputs will be integrated in the strategies along with a review of the most innovative existing technologies and practices in the field of waste management and prevention. The strategies will then be implemented in the 11 cities and the results will be monitored and disseminated facilitating the transfer and adaptation of the project outcomes in other cases.