Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differentially Private Distributed Online Learning

Online learning has been in the spotlight from the machine learning society for a long time. To handle massive data in Big Data era, one single learner could never efficiently finish this heavy task. Hence, in this paper, we propose a novel distributed online learning algorithm to solve the problem. Comparing to typical centralized online learner, the distributed learners optimize their own learning parameters based on local data sources and timely communicate with neighbors. However, communication may lead to a privacy breach. Thus, we use differential privacy to preserve the privacy of learners, and study the influence of guaranteeing differential privacy on the utility of the distributed online learning algorithm. Furthermore, by using the results from Kakade and Tewari (2009), we use the regret bounds of online learning to achieve fast convergence rates for offline learning algorithms in distributed scenarios, which provides tighter utility performance than the existing state-of-the-art results. In simulation, we demonstrate that the differentially private offline learning algorithm has high variance, but we can use mini-batch to improve the performance. Finally, the simulations show that the analytical results of our proposed theorems are right and our private distributed online learning algorithm is a general framework.
THE EXTRATROPICAL UPPER TROPOSPHERE AND LOWER STRATOSPHERE

The extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (Ex‐UTLS) is a transition region between the stratosphere and the troposphere. The Ex‐UTLS includes the tropopause, a strong static stability gradient and dynamic barrier to transport. The barrier is reflected in tracer profiles. This region exhibits complex dynamical, radiative, and chemical characteristics that place stringent spatial and temporal requirements on observing and modeling systems. The Ex‐UTLS couples the stratosphere to the troposphere through chemical constituent transport (of, e.g., ozone), by dynamically linking the stratospheric circulation with tropospheric wave patterns, and via radiative processes tied to optically thick clouds and clear‐sky gradients of radiatively active gases. A comprehensive picture of the Ex‐UTLS is presented that brings together different definitions of the tropopause, focusing on observed dynamical and chemical structure and their coupling. This integral view recognizes that thermal gradients and dynamic barriers are necessarily linked, that these barriers inhibit mixing and give rise to specific trace gas distributions, and that there are radiative feedbacks that help maintain this structure. The impacts of 21st century anthropogenic changes to the atmosphere due to ozone recovery and climate change will be felt in the Ex‐UTLS, and recent simulations of these effects are summarized and placed in context.
A Re-Evaluation of the Size of the White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) Population off California, USA

White sharks are highly migratory and segregate by sex, age and size. Unlike marine mammals, they neither surface to breathe nor frequent haul-out sites, hindering generation of abundance data required to estimate population size. A recent tag-recapture study used photographic identifications of white sharks at two aggregation sites to estimate abundance in “central California” at 219 mature and sub-adult individuals. They concluded this represented approximately one-half of the total abundance of mature and sub-adult sharks in the entire eastern North Pacific Ocean (ENP). This low estimate generated great concern within the conservation community, prompting petitions for governmental endangered species designations. We critically examine that study and find violations of model assumptions that, when considered in total, lead to population underestimates. We also use a Bayesian mixture model to demonstrate that the inclusion of transient sharks, characteristic of white shark aggregation sites, would substantially increase abundance estimates for the adults and sub-adults in the surveyed sub-population. Using a dataset obtained from the same sampling locations and widely accepted demographic methodology, our analysis indicates a minimum all-life stages population size of >2000 individuals in the California subpopulation is required to account for the number and size range of individual sharks observed at the two sampled sites. Even accounting for methodological and conceptual biases, an extrapolation of these data to estimate the white shark population size throughout the ENP is inappropriate. The true ENP white shark population size is likely several-fold greater as both our study and the original published estimate exclude non-aggregating sharks and those that independently aggregate at other important ENP sites. Accurately estimating the central California and ENP white shark population size requires methodologies that account for biases introduced by sampling a limited number of sites and that account for all life history stages across the species' range of habitats.
Internally generated conscious contents: interactions between sustained mental imagery and involuntary subvocalizations

The conscious field includes not only representations about external stimuli (e.g., percepts), but also conscious contents associated with internal states, such as action-related intentions (e.g., urges). Although understudied, the latter may provide unique insights into the nature of consciousness. To illuminate these phenomena, in a new experimental paradigm [Reflexive Imagery Task (RIT)], participants were instructed to not subvocalize the names of visually-presented objects. Each object was presented for 10 s on a screen. Participants indicated whenever they involuntarily subvocalized the object name. Research has revealed that it is difficult to suppress such subvocalizations, which occur on over 80% of the trials. Can the effect survive if one intentionally generates a competing (internally-generated) conscious content? If so, this would suggest that intentional and unintentional contents can co-exist simultaneously in consciousness in interesting ways. To investigate this possibility, in one condition, participants were instructed to reiteratively subvocalize a speech sound (“da, da, da”) throughout the trial. This internally generated content is self-generated and intentional. Involuntary subvocalizations of object names still arose on over 80% of the trials. One could hypothesize that subvocalizations occurred because of the pauses between the intended speech sounds, but this is inconsistent with the observation that comparable results arose even when participants subvocalized a continuous, unbroken hum (“daaa….”) throughout the trial. Regarding inter-content interactions, the continuous hum and object name seem to co-exist simultaneously in consciousness. This intriguing datum requires further investigation. We discuss the implications of this new paradigm for the study of internally-generated conscious contents.
Preparation of Chitin Whisker and Effect to Crystallization of Polylactide

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of chitin whisker (CW) to the crystallization of polylactide (PLA) nanocomposite films. CW which obtained from acidolysis reaction was compounded with PLA pellets into nanocomposite films by cast film extrusion. The morphology and crystallinity of CW were observed by TEM and XRD, illustrated that the dimension of whisker was affected by hydrolysis time. Increasing of hydrolysis time, the length of whisker was more regular with narrower distribution. Moreover, the crystallinity of whisker was obviously increased after acid hydrolysis. The nanocomposite film showed rough surface compared to pure PLA film due to some agglomeration of nanoparticles. However, CW and PLA were well-mixed with no phase separation. The introduction of 0.1 phr of CW decrease cold-crystallization temperature (Tcc) from about 121 °C to 118 °C and also increase the degree of crystallinity around 10%. There was no difference of thermal transition temperature between pure PLA and nanocomposite films with the addition of CW more than 0.1 phr which inspected by DSC. Despite the transition temperature express insignificantly different, the degree of crystallinity of nanocomposite was increase, indicating that chitin whisker would induce the crystallinity of PLA.
Simulating Soybean Water Stress Effects with RZWQM and CROPGRO Models

The Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM) and CROPGRO-Soybean simulate soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ] growth, development, and yield. The models require calibration for soybean grown in the specific environmental conditions of the central Great Plains before any long-term assessments can be made of dryland soybean yield potential under the highly variable precipitation patterns of this area. The objective of this study was to calibrate and test RZWQM and CROPGRO-Soybean for soybean growth, yield, and water use under a range of water stress conditions normally encountered by dryland production systems in the central Great Plains. Data from five experiments, each with four levels of water availability (20 data sets), were used to evaluate leaf area, plant height, aboveground biomass, evapotranspiration (ET), soil water extraction, and yield of soybean. Data from one water level of one experiment was used to calibrate the models, and the other 19 data sets were used as evaluation data sets. Both models correctly predicted the time course of volumetric water content, leaf area development, and plant and height biomass increase although RZWQM more accurately simulated water extraction in the lower soil profile. The decline in ET that is a result of decreased water availability was generally predicted well by both models. The models generally estimated the yield to within 10 to 15% of measured values. The models should be useful tools in evaluating the potential for soybean as an alternative crop in dryland rotations in the central Great Plains.
Mathematical Modeling of the Role of Mitochondrial Fusion and Fission in Mitochondrial DNA Maintenance

Accumulation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations has been implicated in a wide range of human pathologies, including neurodegenerative diseases, sarcopenia, and the aging process itself. In cells, mtDNA molecules are constantly turned over (i.e. replicated and degraded) and are also exchanged among mitochondria during the fusion and fission of these organelles. While the expansion of a mutant mtDNA population is believed to occur by random segregation of these molecules during turnover, the role of mitochondrial fusion-fission in this context is currently not well understood. In this study, an in silico modeling approach is taken to investigate the effects of mitochondrial fusion and fission dynamics on mutant mtDNA accumulation. Here we report model simulations suggesting that when mitochondrial fusion-fission rate is low, the slow mtDNA mixing can lead to an uneven distribution of mutant mtDNA among mitochondria in between two mitochondrial autophagic events leading to more stochasticity in the outcomes from a single random autophagic event. Consequently, slower mitochondrial fusion-fission results in higher variability in the mtDNA mutation burden among cells in a tissue over time, and mtDNA mutations have a higher propensity to clonally expand due to the increased stochasticity. When these mutations affect cellular energetics, nuclear retrograde signalling can upregulate mtDNA replication, which is expected to slow clonal expansion of these mutant mtDNA. However, our simulations suggest that the protective ability of retrograde signalling depends on the efficiency of fusion-fission process. Our results thus shed light on the interplay between mitochondrial fusion-fission and mtDNA turnover and may explain the mechanism underlying the experimentally observed increase in the accumulation of mtDNA mutations when either mitochondrial fusion or fission is inhibited.
Jenaer Schriften zur Wirtschaftswissenschaft Using the Manufacturing Productivity Distribution to Evaluate Growth Theories

Some multi-sector endogenous growth models make strong predictions about productivity differences across sectors in the form of a distribution or density function. In this paper it is demonstrated that this distribution is left-skewed for a wide range of plausible parameter values. This stands in strong contrast to the right-skewed shape of the respective empirical distribution estimated by kernel methods for a measure of relative productivity for more than 450 four-digit U.S. manufacturing industries during 1958-96. This difference is interpreted as evidence in favor of devoting more emphasis on the effects of structural change on the sectoral level in growth models. JEL classification: D24, O47, L60
Ionospheric cusp flows pulsed by solar wind Alfvén waves

Pulsed ionospheric flows (PIFs) in the cusp foot- print have been observed by the SuperDARN radars with periods between a few minutes and several tens of minutes. PIFs are believed to be a consequence of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) reconnection with the magnetospheric magnetic field on the dayside magnetopause, ionospheric signatures of flux transfer events (FTEs). The quasiperiodic PIFs are correlated with Alfvfluctuations observed in the upstream solar wind. It is concluded that on these occasions, the FTEs were driven by Alfv´ en waves coupling to the day- side magnetosphere. Case studies are presented in which the dawn-dusk component of the Alfv´ en wave electric field mod- ulates the reconnection rate as evidenced by the radar obser- vations of the ionospheric cusp flows. The arrival of the IMF southward turning at the magnetopause is determined from multipoint solar wind magnetic field and/or plasma mea- surements, assuming plane phase fronts in solar wind. The cross-correlation lag between the solar wind data and ground magnetograms that were obtained near the cusp footprint ex- ceeded the estimated spacecraft-to-magnetopause propaga- tion time by up to several minutes. The difference can ac- count for and/or exceeds the Alfvpropagation time be- tween the magnetopause and ionosphere. For the case of short period (< 13 min) PIFs, the onset times of the flow tran- sients appear to be further delayed by at most a few more minutes after the IMF southward turning arrived at the mag- netopause. For the case of long period (30-40 min) PIFs, the observed additional delays were 10-20 min. We interpret the excess delay in terms of an intrinsic time scale for re- connection (Russell et al., 1997) which can be explained by the surface-wave induced magnetic reconnection mechanism (Uberoi et al., 1999). Here, surface waves with wavelengths larger than the thickness of the neutral layer induce a tearing- mode instability whose rise time explains the observed delay of the reconnection onset. The compressional fluctuations in solar wind and those generated in the magnetosheath through the interaction between the solar wind Alfv´ en waves and the
DFT study of itinerant ferromagnetism in 
p
-doped monolayers of 
MoS2

Density functional theory is used to explore the possibility of inducing impurity band ferromagnetism in monolayers of semiconducting MoS2 by introducing holes into the narrow Mo 4d band that forms the top of the valence band. A large out-of-plane anisotropy is found for unpaired spins bound to the substitutional acceptor impurities V, Nb, and Ta that couple ferromagnetically for all but the shortest separations. Using the separation-dependent exchange interactions as the input to Monte Carlo calculations, we estimate ordering temperatures as a function of the impurity concentration. For about 9% of V impurities, Curie temperatures in excess of 160 K are predicted. The singlet formation at short separations that limits the ordering temperature is explained and we suggest how it can be circumvented.
Self-focusing of plane dark solitons in nonlinear defocusing media.

We analyze a transverse instability of plane (quasi-one-dimensional) dark solitons in the framework of the two-dimensional nonlinear Schr\"odinger (NLS) equation for beam propagation in a defocusing nonlinear medium. We show that in the vicinity of the instability threshold the exponential growth of transverse perturbations is stabilized by nonlinearity and also by the radiation emitted from the plane dark soliton to the right and left. Dynamics of the transverse instability of the plane dark soliton of arbitrary amplitude is investigated analytically by means of the asymptotic technique, and also numerically by direct integration of the two-dimensional NLS equation. In particular we show that there exist generally three different scenarios of the instability dynamics, namely, (i) generation of a chain of two-dimensional ``gray'' solitons (anisotropic solitons of the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili, or KP1, equation) from the small-amplitude plane dark soliton, (ii) long-lived large-amplitude transverse oscillations of the plane dark soliton near the instability threshold, and finally, (iii) decay of the plane dark soliton into a chain of circular symmetric ``black'' solitons (optical vortices) of alternative topological charges. We estimate the region of the instability domain for the parameters of the soliton and perturbation where the instability of the plane dark soliton ends up in the formation of pairs of vortex and antivortex solitons.
GERMINATION OF ATEMOYA (Annona Cherimola Mill. x A. squamosa L.) CV. GEFNER SEEDS SUBJECTED TO TREATMENTS WITH PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS

The aim of this study was to evaluate the germination of atemoya (Annona cherimola Mill. x A. squamosa L.) cv. Gefner seeds treated with plant growth regulators. Experimental design was completely randomized, with four replicates of 25 seeds per plot and 40 treatments. Seeds were subjected to GA3 (0, 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1500, and 3000 mg L -1 a.i.), GA4+7 + N-(phenylmeth yl)-1H-purine-6-amine (0, 12.5, 25, 50, 75, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, and 3000 mg L -1 a.i.) and CK+GA+AX (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 mL Kg -1 seed). The germination percentage and speed index (GSI), besides the percentage of dormant and dead seeds and normal and abnormal seedlings were subjected to variance and regression analyses. The estimated concentration of 520 mg L -1 GA3 led
Regulation of Human Trophoblast GLUT1 Glucose Transporter by Insulin-Like Growth Factor I (IGF-I)

Glucose transport to the fetus across the placenta takes place via glucose transporters in the opposing faces of the barrier layer, the microvillous and basal membranes of the syncytiotrophoblast. While basal membrane content of the GLUT1 glucose transporter appears to be the rate-limiting step in transplacental transport, the factors regulating transporter expression and activity are largely unknown. In view of the many studies showing an association between IGF-I and fetal growth, we investigated the effects of IGF-I on placental glucose transport and GLUT1 transporter expression. Treatment of BeWo choriocarcinoma cells with IGF-I increased cellular GLUT1 protein. There was increased basolateral (but not microvillous) uptake of glucose and increased transepithelial transport of glucose across the BeWo monolayer. Primary syncytial cells treated with IGF-I also demonstrated an increase in GLUT1 protein. Term placental explants treated with IGF-I showed an increase in syncytial basal membrane GLUT1 but microvillous membrane GLUT1 was not affected. The placental dual perfusion model was used to assess the effects of fetally perfused IGF-I on transplacental glucose transport and syncytial GLUT1 content. In control perfusions there was a decrease in transplacental glucose transport over the course of the perfusion, whereas in tissues perfused with IGF-I through the fetal circulation there was no change. Syncytial basal membranes from IGF-I perfused tissues showed an increase in GLUT1 content. These results demonstrate that IGF-I, whether acting via microvillous or basal membrane receptors, increases the basal membrane content of GLUT1 and up-regulates basal membrane transport of glucose, leading to increased transepithelial glucose transport. These observations provide a partial explanation for the mechanism by which IGF-I controls nutrient supply in the regulation of fetal growth.
Speech recognition based on phonetic features and acoustic landmarks

A probabilistic and statistical framework is presented for automatic speech recognition based on a phonetic feature representation of speech sounds. In this acoustic-phonetic approach, the speech recognition problern is hypothesized as a maximization of the joint posterior probability of a set of phonetic features and the corresponding acoustic landmarks. Binary classifiers of the manner phonetic features—syllabic, sonorant and continuant—are applied for the probabilistic detection of speech landmarks. The landmarks include stop bursts, vowel onsets, syllabic peaks, syllabic dips, fricative onsets and offsets; and sonorant consonant onsets and offsets. The classifiers use automatically extracted knowledge based acoustic parameters (APs) that are acoustic correlates of those phonetic features. For isolated word recognition with known and limited vocabulary, the landmark sequences are constrained using a manner class pronunciation graph. Probabilistic decisions on place and voicing phonetic features are then made using a separate set of APs extracted using the landmarks. The framework exploits two properties of the knowledge-based acoustic cues of phonetic features: (1) sufficiency of the acoustic cues of a phonetic feature for a decision on that feature and (2) invariance of the acoustic cues with respect to context. The probabilistic framework makes the acoustic-phonetic approach to speech recognition suitable for practical recognition tasks as well as compatible with probabilistic pronunciation and language models. Support vector machines (SVMs) are applied for the binary classification tasks because of their two favorable properties—good generalization and the ability to learn from a relatively small amount of high dimensional data. Performance comparable to Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based systems is obtained on landmark detection as well as isolated word recognition. Applications to restoring of lattices from a large vocabulary continuous speech recognizer are also presented.
Probabilistic Global Scale Estimation for MonoSLAM Based on Generic Object Detection

This paper proposes a novel method to estimate the global scale of a 3D reconstructed model within a Kalman filtering-based monocular SLAM algorithm. Our Bayesian framework integrates height priors over the detected objects belonging to a set of broad predefined classes, based on recent advances in fast generic object detection. Each observation is produced on single frames, so that we do not need a data association process along video frames. This is because we associate the height priors with the image region sizes at image places where map features projections fall within the object detection regions. We present very promising results of this approach obtained on several experiments with different object classes.