pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
An approach to hand biometrics in mobile devices

This paper focuses on hand biometrics applied to images acquired from a mobile device. The system offers the possibility of identifying individuals based on features extracted from hand pictures obtained with a low-quality camera embedded on a mobile device. Furthermore, the acquisitions have been carried out regardless illumination control, orientation, distance to camera, and similar aspects. In addition, the whole system has been tested with an owned database. Finally, the results obtained (6.0% ± 0.2) and the algorithm structure are both promising in relation to a posterior mobile implementatio
Pounding force assessment in performance-based design of bridges

Bridges with deck supported on either sliding or elastomeric bearings are very common in mid-seismicity regions. Their main seismic vulnerabilities are related to the pounding of the deck against abutments or between the different deck elements. A simplified model of the longitudinal behavior of those bridges will allow to characterize the reaction forces developed during pounding using the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center framework formula. In order to ensure the general applicability of the results obtained, a large number of system parameter combinations will be considered. The heart of the formula is the identification of suitable intermediate variables. First, the pseudo acceleration spectral value for the fundamental period of the system (Sa(Ts)) will be used as an intensity measure (IM). This IM will result in a very large non-explained variability of the engineering demand parameter. A portion of this variability will be proved to be related to the relative content of high-frequency energy in the input motion. Two vector-valued IMs including a second parameter taking this energy content into account will then be considered. For both of them, a suitable form for the conditional intensity dependence of the response will be obtained. The question of which one to choose will also be analyzed. Finally, additional issues related to the IM will be studied: its applicability to pulse-type records, the validity of scaling records and the sufficiency of the IM
E-beam nano-patterning for the ordered growth of GaN/InGaN nanorods

E-beam lithography was used to pattern a titanium mask on a GaN substrate with ordered arrays of nanoholes. This patterned mask served as a template for the subsequent ordered growth of GaN/InGaN nanorods by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The mask patterning process was optimized for several holes configurations. The smallest holes were 30 nm in diameter with a pitch (center-to-center distance) of 100 nm only. High quality masks of several geometries were obtained that could be used to grow ordered GaN/InGaN nanorods with full selectivity (growth localized inside the nanoholes only) over areas of hundreds of microns. Although some parasitic InGaN growth occurred between the nanorods during the In incorporation, transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence measurements demonstrated that these ordered nanorods exhibit high crystal quality and reproducible optical properties
Improving automatic detection of obstructive sleep apnea through nonlinear analysis of sustained speech

We present a novel approach for the detection of severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) based on patients' voices introducing nonlinear measures to describe sustained speech dynamics. Nonlinear features were combined with state-of-the-art speech recognition systems using statistical modeling techniques (Gaussian mixture models, GMMs) over cepstral parameterization (MFCC) for both continuous and sustained speech. Tests were performed on a database including speech records from both severe OSA and control speakers. A 10 % relative reduction in classification error was obtained for sustained speech when combining MFCC-GMM and nonlinear features, and 33 % when fusing nonlinear features with both sustained and continuous MFCC-GMM. Accuracy reached 88.5 % allowing the system to be used in OSA early detection. Tests showed that nonlinear features and MFCCs are lightly correlated on sustained speech, but uncorrelated on continuous speech. Results also suggest the existence of nonlinear effects in OSA patients' voices, which should be found in continuous speech
Emission inventories and modeling requirements for the development of air quality plans. Application to Madrid (Spain)

Modeling is an essential tool for the development of atmospheric emission abatement measures and air quality plans. Most often these plans are related to urban environments with high emission density and population exposure. However, air quality modeling in urban areas is a rather challenging task. As environmental standards become more stringent (e.g. European Directive 2008/50/EC), more reliable and sophisticated modeling tools are needed to simulate measures and plans that may effectively tackle air quality exceedances, common in large urban areas across Europe, particularly for NO2. This also implies that emission inventories must satisfy a number of conditions such as consistency across the spatial scales involved in the analysis, consistency with the emission inventories used for regulatory purposes and versatility to match the requirements of different air quality and emission projection models. This study reports the modeling activities carried out in Madrid (Spain) highlighting the atmospheric emission inventory development and preparation as an illustrative example of the combination of models and data needed to develop a consistent air quality plan at urban level. These included a series of source apportionment studies to define contributions from the international, national, regional and local sources in order to understand to what extent local authorities can enforce meaningful abatement measures. Moreover, source apportionment studies were conducted in order to define contributions from different sectors and to understand the maximum feasible air quality improvement that can be achieved by reducing emissions from those sectors, thus targeting emission reduction policies to the most relevant activities. Finally, an emission scenario reflecting the effect of such policies was developed and the associated air quality was modeled
A new PET prototype for proton therapy: comparison of data and Monte Carlo simulations

Ion beam therapy is a valuable method for the treatment of deep-seated and radio-resistant tumors thanks to the favorable depth-dose distribution characterized by the Bragg peak. Hadrontherapy facilities take advantage of the specific ion range, resulting in a highly conformal dose in the target volume, while the dose in critical organs is reduced as compared to photon therapy. The necessity to monitor the delivery precision, i.e. the ion range, is unquestionable, thus different approaches have been investigated, such as the detection of prompt photons or annihilation photons of positron emitter nuclei created during the therapeutic treatment. Based on the measurement of the induced β+ activity, our group has developed various in-beam PET prototypes: the one under test is composed by two planar detector heads, each one consisting of four modules with a total active area of 10 × 10 cm2. A single detector module is made of a LYSO crystal matrix coupled to a position sensitive photomultiplier and is read-out by dedicated frontend electronics. A preliminary data taking was performed at the Italian National Centre for Oncological Hadron Therapy (CNAO, Pavia), using proton beams in the energy range of 93–112 MeV impinging on a plastic phantom. The measured activity profiles are presented and compared with the simulated ones based on the Monte Carlo FLUKA package
Urban microclimate and thermal comfort modelling: strategies for urban renovation

The  urban  microclimate  plays  an  important  role  in  building  energy  consumption  and  thermal  \ud
comfort  in  outdoor  spaces.  Nowadays,  cities  need  to  increase  energy  efficiency,  reduce  pollutant  \ud
emissions and mitigate the evident lack of sustainability. In light of this, attention has focused on the \ud
bioclimatic  concepts  use  in  the  urban  development.  However,  the  speculative  unsustainability  of  \ud
the growth model highlights the need to redirect the construction sector towards urban renovation \ud
using a bioclimatic approach. The public space plays a key role in improving the quality of today’s \ud
cities, especially in terms of providing places for citizens to meet and socialize in adequate thermal \ud
conditions. Thermal comfort affects perception of the environment, so microclimate conditions can \ud
be decisive for the success or failure of outdoor urban spaces and the activities held in them. For these \ud
reasons, the main focus of this work is on the definition of bioclimatic strategies for existing urban \ud
spaces,  based  on  morpho-typological  components,  urban  microclimate  conditions  and  comfort  \ud
requirements for all kinds of citizens. Two case studies were selected in Madrid, in a social housing \ud
neighbourhood constructed in the 1970s based on Rational Architecture style. Several renovation \ud
scenarios  were  performed  using  a  computer  simulation  process  based  in  ENVI-met  and  diverse  \ud
microclimate  conditions  were  compared.  In  addition,  thermal  comfort  evaluation  was  carried  out  \ud
using  the  Universal  Thermal  Climate  Index  (UTCI)  in  order  to  investigate  the  relationship  between  \ud
microclimate  conditions  and  thermal  comfort  perception.  This  paper  introduces  the  microclimate  \ud
computer   simulation   process   as   a   valuable   support   for   decision-making   for   neighbourhood   \ud
renovation projects in order to provide new and better solutions according to the thermal quality \ud
of public spaces and reducing energy consumption by creating and selecting better microclimate \ud
areas
Altered functional connectivity in essential tremor

Essential tremor (ET) has been associated with a spectrum of clinical features, with both motor and nonmotor elements, including cognitive deficits. We employed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess whether brain networks that might be involved in the pathogenesis of nonmotor manifestations associated with ET are altered, and the relationship between abnormal connectivity and ET severity and neuropsychological function. Resting-state fMRI data in 23 ET patients (12 women and 11 men) and 22 healthy controls (HC) (12 women and 10 men) were analyzed using independent component analysis, in combination with a ‘‘dualregression’’ technique, to identify the group differences of resting-state networks (RSNs) (default mode network [DMN] and executive, frontoparietal, sensorimotor, cerebellar, auditory/language, and visual networks). All participants underwent a neuropsychological and neuroimaging session, where resting-state data were collected. Relative to HC, ET patients showed increased connectivity in RSNs involved in cognitive processes (DMN and frontoparietal networks) and decreased connectivity in the cerebellum and visual networks. Changes in network integrity were associated not only with ET severity (DMN) and ET duration (DMN and left frontoparietal network), but also with cognitive ability.Moreover, in at least 3 networks (DMN and frontoparietal networks), increased connectivity was associated with worse performance on different cognitive domains (attention, executive function, visuospatial ability, verbal memory, visual memory, and language) and depressive symptoms. Further, in the visual network, decreased connectivity was associated with worse performance on visuospatial ability. ET was associated with abnormal brain connectivity in major RSNs that might be involved in both motor and nonmotor symptoms
Spatio-temporally separated cortical flows and spindle geometry establish physical asymmetry in fly neural stem cells

Asymmetric cell division, creating sibling cells with distinct developmental potentials, can be manifested in sibling cell size asymmetry. This form of physical asymmetry occurs in several metazoan cells, but the underlying mechanisms and function are incompletely understood. Here we use Drosophila neural stem cells to elucidate the mechanisms involved in physical asymmetry establishment. We show that Myosin relocalizes to the cleavage furrow via two distinct cortical Myosin flows: at anaphase onset, a polarity induced, basally directed Myosin flow clears Myosin from the apical cortex. Subsequently, mitotic spindle cues establish a Myosin gradient at the lateral neuroblast cortex, necessary to trigger an apically directed flow, removing Actomyosin from the basal cortex. On the basis of the data presented here, we propose that spatiotemporally controlled Myosin flows in conjunction with spindle positioning and spindle asymmetry are key determinants for correct cleavage furrow placement and cortical expansion, thereby establishing physical asymmetry
Philosophical perspectives on ad hoc-hypotheses and the Higgs mechanism\ud

We examine physicists' charge of ad hocness against the Higgs mechanism in the standard model of elementary particle physics. We argue that even though this charge never rested on a clear-cut and well-entrenched definition of "ad hoc", it is based on conceptual and methodological assumptions and principles that are well-founded elements of the scientific practice of high-energy particle physics. We further evaluate the implications of the recent discovery of a Higgs-like particle at the CERN's Large Hadron Collider for the charge of ad hocness against the Higgs mechanism
Constructive Empiricism and the Closure Problem

In this paper I articulate a fictionalist solution to the closure problem that affects constructive empiricism. Relying on Stephen Yablo’s recent study of closure puzzles, I show how we can partition the content of a theory in terms of its truthmakers and claim that a constructive empiricist can believe that all the observable conditions that are necessary to make a part of her theory true obtain and remain agnostic about whether or not the other truthmakers for the other parts of her theory obtain. This can be done even though she asserts her theory as if it was wholly tru
A conversational collaborative filtering approach to recommendation

Recent work has shown the value of treating recommendation as a conversation between user and system, which conversational recommenders have done by allowing feedback like “not as expensive as this” on recommendations. This allows a more natural alternative to content-based information access. Our research focuses on creating a viable conversational methodology for collaborative-filtering recommendation which can apply to any kind of information, especially visual. Since collaborative filtering does not have an intrinsic understanding of the items it suggests, i.e. it doesn’t understand the content, it has no obvious mechanism for conversation. Here we develop a means by which a recommender driven purely by collaborative filtering can sustain a conversation with a user and in our evaluation we show that it enables finding multimedia items that the user wants without requiring domain knowledge
Association and Expression Study of  PRKCH Gene in a French Caucasian Population with Rheumatoid Arthritis

We study the association between three protein kinase C, eta gene polymorphisms (+8134C/T, rs912620, rs959728), and susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis. One hundred French Caucasian rheumatoid arthritis trio families were genotyped. Relative quantification of protein kinase C, eta mRNA expression was performed from whole blood in 24 unrelated rheumatoid arthritis patients and in 16 healthy controls. Our results showed no significant association or linkage between the protein kinase C, eta polymorphisms, and rheumatoid arthritis. The protein kinase C, eta mRNA was expressed at lower level in rheumatoid arthritis unrelated patients than in healthy controls. This study shows that protein kinase C, eta gene is not a Rheumatoid Arthritis major susceptibility genetic factor in the French Caucasian population. Furthermore, the lower expression of this gene in rheumatoid arthritis patients comparing to healthy controls suggests that protein kinase C, eta could be associated with the patho-physiologic mechanism of rheumatoid arthritis.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10875-007-9143-
Design equations for reinforced concrete members strengthened in shear with external FRP reinforcement formulated in an evolutionary multi-objective framework

Methods for predicting the shear capacity of FRP shear strengthened RC beams assume the traditional approach of superimposing the contribution of the FRP reinforcing to the contributions from the reinforcing steel and the concrete. These methods become the basis for most guides for the design of externally bonded FRP systems for strengthening concrete structures. The variations among them come from the way they account for the effect of basic shear design parameters on shear capacity. This paper presents a simple method for defining improved equations to calculate the shear capacity of reinforced concrete beams externally shear strengthened with FRP. For the first time, the equations are obtained in a multiobjective optimization framework solved by using genetic algorithms, resulting from considering simultaneously the experimental results of beams with and without FRP external reinforcement. The performance of the new proposed equations is compared to the predictions with some of the current shear design guidelines for strengthening concrete structures using FRPs. The proposed procedure is also reformulated as a constrained optimization problem to provide more conservative shear predictions
Plane-wave scattering by self-complementary metasurfaces in terms of
  electromagnetic duality and Babinet's principle

We investigate theoretically electromagnetic plane-wave scattering by
self-complementary metasurfaces. By using Babinet's principle extended to
metasurfaces with resistive elements, we show that the frequency-independent
transmission and reflection are realized for normal incidence of a circularly
polarized plane wave onto a self-complementary metasurface, even if there is
diffraction. Next, we consider two special classes of self-complementary
metasurfaces. We show that self-complementary metasurfaces with rotational
symmetry can act as coherent perfect absorbers, and those with translational
symmetry compatible with their self-complementarity can split the incident
power equally, even for oblique incidences
The role of leading twist operators in the Regge and Lorentzian OPE
  limits

We study two kinematical limits, the Regge limit and the Lorentzian OPE
limit, of the four-point function of the stress-tensor multiplet in Super
Yang-Mills at weak coupling. We explain how both kinematical limits are
controlled by the leading twist operators. We use the known expression of the
four-point function up to three loops, to extract the pomeron residue at
next-to-leading order. Using this data and the known form of pomeron spin up to
next-to-leading order, we predict the behaviour of the four-point function in
the Regge limit at higher loops. Specifically, we determine the leading log
behaviour at any loop order and the next-to-leading log at four loops. Finally,
we check the consistency of our results with conformal Regge theory. This leads
us to predict the behaviour around $J=1$ of the OPE coefficient of the spin $J$
leading twist operator in the OPE of two chiral primary operators.Comment: 22+14 page
Vortices and Magnetization in Kac's Model

We consider a 2-dimensional planar rotator on a large, but finite lattice
with a ferromagnetic Kac potential $J_\gamma(i)=\gamma^2J(\gamma i)$, $J$ with
compact support. The system is subject to boundary conditions with vorticity.
Using a Glauber like dynamics, we compute minimizers of the free energy
functional at low temperature, i.e. in the regime of phase transition. We have
the numerical evidence of a vortex structure for minimizers, which present many
common features with those of the Ginzburg-Landau functional
Influence of sketch types on distributed design team work

Product development is a collaborative activity more often than ever carried out by distributed design teams. It is critical to determine how sketches are used in such environments in order to improve the design process. Sketches produced by students participating in a collaborative design project of three European Universities are classified according to the intention of the designer when producing a sketch, the level of detail shown in the sketch and the phase when the sketch was produced. The adapted classification system used in this paper helps to analyse type of sketches with most variety of ideas. Furthermore, this paper reviews which type of sketches offers the most potential to be further developed. Results show that persuasive sketches offer the broadest range of ideas since they are produced as a combination of ideas from brainstorming sessions. Shared sketches help to achieve consensus in decision-making since the sketches are most likely to be produced by the entire group rather than individually
A mixed effect model for bivariate meta-analysis of diagnostic test
  accuracy studies using a copula representation of the random effects
  distribution

Diagnostic test accuracy studies typically report the number of true
positives, false positives, true negatives and false negatives. There usually
exists a negative association between the number of true positives and true
negatives, because studies that adopt less stringent criterion for declaring a
test positive invoke higher sensitivities and lower specificities. A
generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) is currently recommended to synthesize
diagnostic test accuracy studies. We propose a copula mixed model for bivariate
meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy studies. Our general model includes
the GLMM as a special case and can also operate on the original scale of
sensitivity and specificity. Summary receiver operating characteristic curves
are deduced for the proposed model through quantile regression techniques and
different characterizations of the bivariate random effects distribution. Our
general methodology is demonstrated with an extensive simulation study and
illustrated by re-analysing the data of two published meta-analyses. Our study
suggests that there can be an improvement on GLMM in fit to data and makes the
argument for moving to copula random effects models. Our modelling framework is
implemented in the package CopulaREMADA within the open source statistical
environment R
Electrical energy balance contest in Solar Decathlon Europe 2012

Solar Decathlon Europe (SDE) is an international multidisciplinary competition in which 20 universityteams build and operate energy-efficient solar-powered houses. The aim of SDE is not only scientificbut also educational and divulgative, making visitors to understand the problems presented by realengineering applications and architecture. From a research perspective, the energy data gathered dur-ing the competition constitutes a very promising information for the analysis and understanding of thephotovoltaic systems, grid structures, energy balances and energy efficiency of the set of houses. Thisarticle focuses on the electrical energy components of SDE competition, the energy performance of thehouses and the strategies and behaviors followed by the teams. The rules evaluate the houses? electricalenergy self-sufficiency by looking at the electricity autonomy in terms of aggregated electrical energybalance; the temporary generation-consumption profile pattern correlation; and the use of electricityper measurable area. Although the houses are evaluated under the same climatological and consump-tion conditions, production results are very different due to the specific engineering solutions (differentelectrical topologies, presence or absence of batteries, diverse photovoltaic module solutions, etc.