Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arsenic in groundwater in Bangladesh: A geostatistical and epidemiological framework for evaluating health effects and potential remedies

This paper examines the health crisis in Bangladesh due to dissolved arsenic in groundwater. First, we use geostatistical methods to construct a map of arsenic concentrations that divides Bangladesh into regions and estimate vertical concentration trends in these regions. Then, we use census data to estimate exposure distributions in the regions; we use epidemiological data from West Bengal and Taiwan to estimate dose response functions for arsenicosis and arsenic‐induced cancers; and we combine the regional exposure distributions and the dose response models to estimate the health effects of groundwater arsenic in Bangladesh. We predict that long‐term exposure to present arsenic concentrations will result in approximately 1,200,000 cases of hyperpigmentation, 600,000 cases of keratosis, 125,000 cases of skin cancer, and 3000 fatalities per year from internal cancers. Although these estimates are very uncertain, the method provides a framework for incorporating better data as it becomes available. Moreover, we examine the remedy of drilling deeper wells in selected regions of Bangladesh. By replacing 31% of the wells in the country with deeper wells the health effects of drinking groundwater arsenic could be reduced by approximately 70% provided that arsenic concentrations in deep wells remain relatively low.
SemEval-2013 Task 1: TempEval-3: Evaluating Time Expressions, Events, and Temporal Relations

Within the SemEval-2013 evaluation exercise, the TempEval-3 shared task aims to advance research on temporal information processing. It follows on from TempEval-1 and -2, with: a three-part structure covering temporal expression, event, and temporal relation extraction; a larger dataset; and new single measures to rank systems ‐ in each task and in general. In this paper, we describe the participants’ approaches, results, and the observations from the results, which may guide future research in this area.
Spatio‐temporal analysis of illegal activities from ranger‐collected data in W
 National Park of Benin

This study analyses the spatio-temporal trends of illegal activities in W Biosphere Reserve of Benin in order to provide guidance for planning the patrol system. We used ranger-collected data on illegal activities in the reserve from 2012 to 2015. Illegal grazing is the most common illegal activity observed in the reserve (1,137 incidents), followed by poaching (469 incidents), agricultural encroachment (285 incidents) and logging (69 incidents). The distribution of these activities in the reserve is highly dependent on zones and also varies between seasons. Generally, incidents of illegal activities were more frequent during the non-hunting season than the hunting season because of flooding, impassability of tracks and closing of plant cover which limit patrol activities during the nonhunting season. From these findings, managers of the W National Park can identify high human pressure zones where ranger patrol efforts should be enhanced. We propose the use of emerging technologies such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to better monitor these zones, especially during the non-hunting season when the reserve is practically inaccessible for rangers.
In-Sample Tests of Predictive Ability: A New Approach

This paper presents analytical, Monte Carlo, and empirical evidence linking in-sample tests of predictive content and out-of-sample forecast accuracy. Our approach focuses on the negative effect that finite-sample estimation error has on forecast accuracy despite the presence of significant population-level predictive content. Specifically, we derive simple-to-use in-sample tests that test not only whether a particular variable has predictive content but also whether this content is estimated precisely enough to improve forecast accuracy. Our tests are asymptotically non-central chi-square or non-central normal. We provide a convenient bootstrap method for computing the relevant critical values. In the Monte Carlo and empirical analysis, we compare the effectiveness of our testing procedure with more common testing procedures.
Routing in Mobile Ad-hoc Networks: the Virtual Distance Vector Protocol

A novel routing protocol for wireless mobile ad hoc networks, named virtual distance vector (VDV), is presented. This protocol augments AODV with a virtual overlay, unrelated to the actual network topology, which accounts for routes kept proactively by mobile nodes acting as scouts toward the nodes in the respective subsets of peers. This provides routes from any source to any destination node, along which data packets can be routed without the need of preliminary route discovery. The intended goal of VDV was to reduce the average end-to-end delivery time of data packets. VDV has been evaluated against AODV by running extensive simulation under OPNET Modeler. Simulation confirmed the expected advantage of VDV, which increases with increasing node mobility and average route length. The confidence intervals of reported data showed that VDV fits better the dynamic nature of the network.
Measuring the acceptable word error rate of machine-generated webcast transcripts

The increased availability of broadband connections has recently led to an increase in the use of Internet broadcasting (webcasting). Most webcasts are archived and accessed numerous times retrospectively. One of the hurdles users face when browsing and skimming through archives is the lack of text transcripts of the audio channel of the webcast archive. In this paper, we proposed a procedure for prototyping an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) system that generates realistic transcripts of any desired Word Error Rate (WER), thus overcoming the drawbacks of both prototypebased and Wizard of Oz simulations. We used such a system in a study where human subjects perform question-answering tasks using archives of webcast lectures, and showed that their performance and perception of transcript quality is linearly affected by WER, and that transcripts of WER equal or less than 25% would be acceptable for use in webcast archives. Index Terms: Speech recognition, Wizard of Oz, Prototyping, User interface, Webcast.
Airplane tracking documents the fastest flight speeds recorded for bats

The performance capabilities of flying animals reflect the interplay of biomechanical and physiological constraints and evolutionary innovation. Of the two extant groups of vertebrates that are capable of powered flight, birds are thought to fly more efficiently and faster than bats. However, fast-flying bat species that are adapted for flight in open airspace are similar in wing shape and appear to be similar in flight dynamics to fast-flying birds that exploit the same aerial niche. Here, we investigate flight behaviour in seven free-flying Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) and report that the maximum ground speeds achieved exceed speeds previously documented for any bat. Regional wind modelling indicates that bats adjusted flight speeds in response to winds by flying more slowly as wind support increased and flying faster when confronted with crosswinds, as demonstrated for insects, birds and other bats. Increased frequency of pauses in wing beats at faster speeds suggests that flap-gliding assists the bats' rapid flight. Our results suggest that flight performance in bats has been underappreciated and that functional differences in the flight abilities of birds and bats require re-evaluation.
The histone code reader SPIN1 controls RET signaling in liposarcoma

The histone code reader Spindlin1 (SPIN1) has been implicated in tumorigenesis and tumor growth, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we show that reducing SPIN1 levels strongly impairs proliferation and increases apoptosis of liposarcoma cells in vitro and in xenograft mouse models. Combining signaling pathway, genome-wide chromatin binding, and transcriptome analyses, we found that SPIN1 directly enhances expression of GDNF, an activator of the RET signaling pathway, in cooperation with the transcription factor MAZ. Accordingly, knockdown of SPIN1 or MAZ results in reduced levels of GDNF and activated RET explaining diminished liposarcoma cell proliferation and survival. In line with these observations, levels of SPIN1, GDNF, activated RET, and MAZ are increased in human liposarcoma compared to normal adipose tissue or lipoma. Importantly, a mutation of SPIN1 within the reader domain interfering with chromatin binding reduces liposarcoma cell proliferation and survival. Together, our data describe a molecular mechanism for SPIN1 function in liposarcoma and suggest that targeting SPIN1 chromatin association with small molecule inhibitors may represent a novel therapeutic strategy.
Properties of Cloned Rat α1A Calcium Channels Transiently Expressed in the COS‐7 Cell Line

The rat brain α1A calcium channel clone has been expressed in COS‐7 cells together with the neuronal accessory subunits p1b and α2‐δ. From reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR), immunocytochemistry and electrophysiology experiments, we have obtained no evidence that these cells contain any endogenous calcium channels. Transfected cells were identified by co‐expression of a cDNA for the reporter Green Fluorescent Protein. From immunocytochemical evidence, a high degree of co‐expression was obtained between Green Fluorescent Protein and individual calcium channel subunits. When all three calcium channel subunits (α1, α2‐δ and β1b) were co‐expressed, evidence was obtained that all subunits were present at the cell membrane. Voltage‐dependent calcium currents were observed between 24 and 72 h after transfection with the three calcium channel subunits. The current density for the combination α1A/α/β1ba24IPlb was 4.19 ± 0.69 pA.pF‐1 and the current produced was slowly inactivating. The time constant of inactivation of the maximum IBa was 332 ± 46 ms (n = 5). The voltage‐dependence of activation and steady‐state inactivation had voltages of half activation and inactivation of 9.5 ± 2.5 mV and ‐30.4 ± 1.5 mV respectively, and there was little overlap between the two curves. The α1A current was completely blocked by 100 μM Cd2+ and was also blocked by ω‐conotoxin MVIIC (500 nM). Dose‐inhibition curves and analysis of kon and kfor for ω‐agatoxin IVA both revealed apparent KD values of approximately 11 nM for α1A currents, with a kD of 7.8 × 104 M‐1s‐1. The results suggest that α1A expressed in these cells has some resemblance to the P type component of calcium current observed in native neurons, although it shows a somewhat greater degree of inactivation than native P current, more similar to the Q type current component. It also has an affinity for ω‐agatoxin IVA 2–5 fold lower than reported for P current, but approximately 9‐fold higher than reported for Q current.
The plasma elimination rate and urinary secretion of procalcitonin in patients with normal and impaired renal function

Summary Background and objective The amount of procalcitonin eliminated in the urine and the plasma disappearance rate of procalcitonin were evaluated in patients with normal and impaired renal function, because patients with sepsis are a main target group for procalcitonin measurement, and these patients often develop renal dysfunction. Methods Elimination of procalcitonin in the urine (µg 12 h−1) was measured in 76 patients. In another 67 patients, the 50% plasma disappearance rate (t½, h) was evaluated 48 h after peak concentrations (procalcitonin > 2 µg L−1). Renal function was assessed by creatinine clearance. Results Procalcitonin elimination in the urine was significantly reduced in patients with severe renal dysfunction. However, the plasma disappearance rate correlated only weakly with renal dysfunction (Spearman's rank correlation R = −0.36, P = 0.004, regression t½ = 49.87–0.15 creatinine clearance). The 25% quartile and median were 25.2 h and 30.0 h in patients with normal renal function, and 36.3 h and 44.7 h in patients with severely impaired renal function (creatinine clearance < 30 mL min−1). Conclusion Renal elimination of procalcitonin is not a major mechanism for procalcitonin removal from the plasma. Although the plasma disappearance rate may be prolonged up to 30–50% in some patients with renal dysfunction, clinical diagnostic decisions may not be severely influenced by this moderate prolongation of procalcitonin elimination. We conclude that procalcitonin can be used diagnostically in patients with renal failure as well as in those with normal renal function.
Bitcoin Block Withholding Attack: Analysis and Mitigation

We address two problems: first, we study a variant of block withholding (BWH) attack in Bitcoins and second, we propose solutions to prevent all existing types of BWH attacks in Bitcoins. We analyze the strategies of a selfish Bitcoin miner who in connivance with one pool attacks another pool and receives reward from the former mining pool for attacking the latter. We name this attack as “sponsored block withholding attack. ” We present detailed quantitative analysis of the monetary incentive that a selfish miner can earn by adopting this strategy under different scenarios. We prove that under certain conditions, the attacker can maximize her revenue by adopting some strategies and by utilizing her computing power wisely. We also show that an attacker may use this strategy for attacking both the pools for earning higher amount of incentives. More importantly, we present a strategy that can effectively counter block withholding attack in any mining pool. First, we propose a generic scheme that uses cryptographic commitment schemes to counter BWH attack. Then, we suggest an alternative implementation of the same scheme using hash function. Our scheme protects a pool from rogue miners as well as rogue pool administrators. The scheme and its variant defend against BWH attack by making it impossible for the miners to distinguish between a partial proof of work and a complete proof of work. The scheme is so designed that the administrator cannot cheat on the entire pool. The scheme can be implemented by making minor changes to existing Bitcoin protocol. We also analyze the security of the scheme.
Narrative text classification for automatic key phrase extraction in web document corpora

Automatic key phrase extraction is a useful tool in many text related applications such as clustering and summarization. State-of-the-art methods are aimed towards extracting key phrases from traditional text such as technical papers. Application of these methods on Web documents, which often contain diverse and heterogeneous contents, is of particular interest and challenge in the information age. In this work, we investigate the significance of narrative text classification in the task of automatic key phrase extraction in Web document corpora. We benchmark three methods, TFIDF, KEA, and Keyterm, used to extract key phrases from all the plain text and from only the narrative text of Web pages. ANOVA tests are used to analyze the ranking data collected in a user study using quantitative measures of acceptable percentage and quality value. The evaluation shows that key phrases extracted from the narrative text only are significantly better than those obtained from all plain text of Web pages. This demonstrates that narrative text classification is indispensable for effective key phrase extraction in Web document corpora.
Ultrastructural Study of Spermiogenesis and the Spermatozoon of Microcotyle pancerii (Monogenea: Polyopisthocotylea: Microcotylidae), Parasite of Meagre Argyrosomus regius (Pisces: Teleostei)

Abstract The present work deals with the ultrastructure of spermiogenesis and the spermatozoon of Microcotyle pancerii, a gill parasite of meagre Argyrosomus regius collected in Corsican fish farms. Spermiogenesis was rather similar to that observed in other polyopisthocotylean Monogenea. The intercentriolar body was different from that described in digeneans. The nuclear condensation occurred in 2 successive stages. First, during the nuclear migration in the median cytoplasmic process, the nucleus developed a honeycomb-like appearance. Then, after the flagellar fusion, a discontinuous twisting of the chromatin appeared along the nucleus, with this process ending in total nuclear condensation. The structure of the spermatozoon is characterized by 2 axonemes (9 + “1” pattern), a single and continuous field of cortical microtubules, a mitochondrion, and a nucleus. Our findings were compared with various ultrastructural features in order to highlight variability within the group.
Noisy Interpolation of Sparse Polynomials, and Applications

Let f in F_q[x] be a polynomial of degree d _ q=2: It is well-known that f can be uniquely recovered from its values at some 2d points even after some small fraction of the values are corrupted. In this paper we establish a similar result for sparse polynomials. We show that a k-sparse polynomial f 2 Fq[x] of degree d _ q=2 can be recovered from its values at O(k) randomly chosen points, even if a small fraction of the values of f are adversarially corrupted. Our proof relies on an iterative technique for analyzing the rank of a random minor of a matrix.We use the same technique to establish a collection of other results. Specifically,_ We show that restricting any linear [n; k; _n]q code to a randomly chosen set of O(k) coordinates with highprobability yields an asymptotically good code. _ We improve the state of the art in locally decodable codes,showing that similarly to Reed Muller codes matching vector codes require only a constant increase in querycomplexity in order to tolerate a constant fraction of errors. This result yields a moderate reduction in thequery complexity of the currently best known codes. _ We improve the state of the art in constructions of explicit rigid matrices. For any prime power q and integers n and d we construct an explicit matrix M with exp(d) _ n rows and n columns such that the rank of M stays above n=2 even if every row of M is arbitrarily altered in up to d coordinates. Earlier, such constructions were available only for q = O(1) or q = (n):
Localizing Parts of Faces Using a Consensus of Exemplars

We present a novel approach to localizing parts in images of human faces. The approach combines the output of local detectors with a nonparametric set of global models for the part locations based on over 1,000 hand-labeled exemplar images. By assuming that the global models generate the part locations as hidden variables, we derive a Bayesian objective function. This function is optimized using a consensus of models for these hidden variables. The resulting localizer handles a much wider range of expression, pose, lighting, and occlusion than prior ones. We show excellent performance on real-world face datasets such as Labeled Faces in the Wild (LFW) and a new Labeled Face Parts in the Wild (LFPW) and show that our localizer achieves state-of-the-art performance on the less challenging BioID dataset.
A CLINICAL AND LABORATORY STUDY OF TRICHOMONIASIS OF THE FEMALE GENITAL TRACT

THIS paper reports the results of a combined clinical, cytological and bacteriological study of trichomoniasis in a gynaecological clinic population. The purpose of this investigation was to establish the relative accuracy of clinical and various laboratory methods of diagnosis. Accuriite diagnosis of trichomonal infestation of the genital tract is clinically essential for correct treatment of symptoms associated with trichomonal infection. Recently, the routine cytological screening for cancer detection of gynaecological patients has added both an additional method of making the diagnosis and a further reason for recognizing the presence of the protozoon. Bechtold and Reicher (1 952), Simon et al. (1956), Pundel (1957), Skacel (1957), Koss and Wolinska (1959), and Frost (1962) have shown that degenerative changes associated with trichomonal infection may mask the presence of dyskaryotic or even malignant cells. The epithelial response to trichomonal infection may include dyskaryosis, which may be indistinguishable from the change seen in some of the cells originating from dysplasia or carcinoma in situ of the cervix. It is, therefore, essential to recognize and treat trichomonal infestation accompanied by cellular atypia before making a definitive cytological diagnosis. A previous review of the results of cytological smears taken routinely for cancer detection at a gynaecological clinic had shown that in 61 cases where cytological evidence of trichomoniasis was obtained only 12 had clinical evidence of infection, and only 4 were positive on wet film examination for protozoa (Hughes, H. E., and Barr, G. T. D., 1963, unpublished results).
The Redox-Sensing Regulator Rex Modulates Central Carbon Metabolism, Stress Tolerance Response and Biofilm Formation by Streptococcus mutans

The Rex repressor has been implicated in regulation of central carbon and energy metabolism in Gram-positive bacteria. We have previously shown that Streptococcus mutans, the primary causative agent of dental caries, alters its transcriptome upon Rex-deficiency and renders S. mutans to have increased susceptibility to oxidative stress, aberrations in glucan production, and poor biofilm formation. In this study, we showed that rex in S. mutans is co-transcribed as an operon with downstream guaA, encoding a putative glutamine amidotransferase. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that recombinant Rex bound promoters of target genes avidly and specifically, including those down-regulated in response to Rex-deficiency, and that the ability of recombinant Rex to bind to selected promoters was modulated by NADH and NAD+. Results suggest that Rex in S. mutans can function as an activator in response to intracellular NADH/NAD+ level, although the exact binding site for activator Rex remains unclear. Consistent with a role in oxidative stress tolerance, hydrogen peroxide challenge assays showed that the Rex-deficient mutant, TW239, and the Rex/GuaA double mutant, JB314, were more susceptible to hydrogen peroxide killing than the wildtype, UA159. Relative to UA159, JB314 displayed major defects in biofilm formation, with a decrease of more than 50-fold in biomass after 48-hours. Collectively, these results further suggest that Rex in S. mutans regulates fermentation pathways, oxidative stress tolerance, and biofilm formation in response to intracellular NADH/NAD+ level. Current effort is being directed to further investigation of the role of GuaA in S. mutans cellular physiology.
Near-Optimal Codebook Constructions for Limited Feedback Beamforming in Correlated MIMO Channels with Few Antennas

Transmit beamforming with receive combining is a low-complexity solution that achieves the full diversity afforded by a multi-antenna channel. Building on our recent result which shows that even channel statistics are sufficient to achieve perfect feedback performance (in the limit of antenna dimensions) with beamforming and combining, we propose near-optimal codebook designs for correlated channels with a focus on few antennas at the transmitter and the receiver. In the process, we refine the answer to the question: When are channel statistics sufficient to achieve near perfect feedback performance? We show that the condition number of the transmit and receive covariance matrices hold the key to this question. We partition the transmit and receive covariance spaces into 4 regions based on well and ill-conditioning of the covariance matrices and show that the number of bits required for near perfect feedback performance is dependent on the condition numbers of these matrices