Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Study of the Variability of the Benguela Current

The Benguela Current forms the eastern limb of the subtropical gyre in the South Atlantic and transports a blend of relatively fresh and cool Atlantic water as well as relatively warm and salty Indian Ocean water northward. Therefore, it plays an important role not only for the local freshwater and heat budgets but for the overall meridional heat and freshwater transports in the South Atlantic. Historically, the Benguela Current region is relatively data sparse, especially with respect to long-term observations. A new three dimensional data set of the horizontal velocity in the upper 2000 m that covers the years 1993 to 2015 is used to analyze the variability of the Benguela Current. This data set was derived using observations from Argo floats, satellite sea surface height and wind fields. The main features of the horizontal circulation observed in this data set are in good agreement with those from earlier observations based on more limited data sets. Therefore, it can be used for a more detailed study the flow pattern as well as the variability of the circulation in this region. It is found that the mean meridional transport in the upper 800 m between the continental shelf of Africa and 3° E, decreases from 23 ± 3 Sv at 31° S to 11 ± 3 Sv at 28° S. In terms of variability, the 23-year long timeseries at 30° S and 35° S reveal phases with large energy densities at periods of 3 to 7 months, which can be attributed to the occurrence of Agulhas rings in this region. The prevalence of these rings is also behind the fact that the energy density at 35° S at the annual period is smaller than at 30° S, because the former latitude is closer to Agulhas retroflection and therefore more likely to be impacted by the Agulhas rings. In agreement with this, the energy density associated with mesoscale variability at 30° S is weaker than at 35° S. With respect to the forcing, the significant correlation between the Sverdrup balance derived from the wind stress and the observed transports at 30° S is 0.7. No significant correlation between these parameters was found at 35° S.
Approximate Sum Rate for Integer-Forcing Receiver

The computation of the achievable sum rate for integer-forcing (IF) linear receivers requires the search for the shortest set of linearly independent lattice vectors (SIVP). Since SIVP is considered an NP-hard problem, we propose two approximations to the IF achievable sum rate. The first approximation is suitable for systems with two antennas at both transmitter and receiver (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2\times 2$ </tex-math></inline-formula> arrays) and is based on the analysis of the Gauss-Lagrange algorithm. The second approximation considers <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n\times n$ </tex-math></inline-formula> array systems and is based on Minkowski’s second theorem. Assuming a block-fading channel with Rayleigh distribution, we have derived the exact probability density function of both approximations. We have used these results to obtain the mean sum-rate, outage probability, and outage rate for uncorrelated fading channels. For the second approximation, the effect of channel correlation on these metrics was also analyzed. An exhaustive series of simulations have been conducted to assess the tightness and robustness of both solutions.
A Novel Discriminative Framework for Sentence-Level Discourse Analysis

We propose a complete probabilistic discriminative framework for performing sentence-level discourse analysis. Our framework comprises a discourse segmenter, based on a binary classifier, and a discourse parser, which applies an optimal CKY-like parsing algorithm to probabilities inferred from a Dynamic Conditional Random Field. We show on two corpora that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art, often by a wide margin.
Cocaine dynamically regulates heterochromatin and repetitive element unsilencing in nucleus accumbens

Repeated cocaine exposure induces persistent alterations in genome-wide transcriptional regulatory networks, chromatin remodeling activity and, ultimately, gene expression profiles in the brain's reward circuitry. Virtually all previous investigations have centered on drug-mediated effects occurring throughout active euchromatic regions of the genome, with very little known concerning the impact of cocaine exposure on the regulation and maintenance of heterochromatin in adult brain. Here, we report that cocaine dramatically and dynamically alters heterochromatic histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a key brain reward region. Furthermore, we demonstrate that repeated cocaine exposure causes persistent decreases in heterochromatization in this brain region, suggesting a potential role for heterochromatic regulation in the long-term actions of cocaine. To identify precise genomic loci affected by these alterations, chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by massively parallel DNA sequencing (ChIP-Seq) was performed on NAc. ChIP-Seq analyses confirmed the existence of the H3K9me3 mark mainly within intergenic regions of the genome and identified specific patterns of cocaine-induced H3K9me3 regulation at repetitive genomic sequences. Cocaine-mediated decreases in H3K9me3 enrichment at specific genomic repeats [e.g., long interspersed nuclear element (LINE)-1 repeats] were further confirmed by the increased expression of LINE-1 retrotransposon-associated repetitive elements in NAc. Such increases likely reflect global patterns of genomic destabilization in this brain region after repeated cocaine administration and open the door for future investigations into the epigenetic and genetic basis of drug addiction.
Metaphor Identification in Large Texts Corpora

Identifying metaphorical language-use (e.g., sweet child) is one of the challenges facing natural language processing. This paper describes three novel algorithms for automatic metaphor identification. The algorithms are variations of the same core algorithm. We evaluate the algorithms on two corpora of Reuters and the New York Times articles. The paper presents the most comprehensive study of metaphor identification in terms of scope of metaphorical phrases and annotated corpora size. Algorithms’ performance in identifying linguistic phrases as metaphorical or literal has been compared to human judgment. Overall, the algorithms outperform the state-of-the-art algorithm with 71% precision and 27% averaged improvement in prediction over the base-rate of metaphors in the corpus.
Low-Power Logarithmic Number System Addition/Subtraction and Their Impact on Digital Filters

This paper presents techniques for low-power addition/subtraction in the logarithmic number system (LNS) and quantifies their impact on digital filter VLSI implementation. The impact of partitioning the look-up tables required for LNS addition/subtraction on complexity, performance, and power dissipation of the corresponding circuits is quantified. Two design parameters are exploited to minimize complexity, namely the LNS base and the organization of the LNS word. A roundoff noise model is used to demonstrate the impact of base and word length on the signal-to-noise ratio of the output of finite impulse response (FIR) filters. In addition, techniques for the low-power implementation of an LNS multiply accumulate (MAC) units are investigated. Furthermore, it is shown that the proposed techniques can be extended to cotransformation-based circuits that employ interpolators. The results are demonstrated by evaluating the power dissipation, complexity and performance of several FIR filter configurations comprising one, two or four MAC units. Simulations of placed and routed VLSI LNS-based digital filters using a 90-nm 1.0 V CMOS standard-cell library reveal that significant power dissipation savings are possible by using optimized LNS circuits at no performance penalty, when compared to linear fixed-point two's-complement equivalents.
Abstract Semantics for Software Security Analysis

Author(s): Chen, Zhijie | Advisor(s): Song, Dawn | Abstract: Program analysis and formal methods have enabled advanced automatic software security analysis such as security policy enforcement and vulnerability discovery. However, due to the complexity of the modern software, recent applications of such techniques exhibit serious usability and scalability problems. In this thesis, we address these problems usingautomatically or semi-automatically constructed abstract program semantics. Specifically, we study two typical scenarios where the power of formal techniques is limited by the problems above, and develop novel techniques that address these issues. First, we propose a newalgorithm to construct event-based program abstraction, and check contextual security policies under this abstraction. Our approach addresses the usability and scalability problems in the model-checking of security policies in event-driven programs. Second, we propose a synthesis-based algorithm to learn and check web server logic without having access to theserver-side source code. The key insight is that the client-side behavior reflects partially the server-side logic, thus we infer server-side logic by observing the client-side’s execution. We develop a declarative language to encode our domain specific modeling of common server-side operations, as well as an efficient algorithm to synthesize a server model in that language. In summary, we demonstrate that abstract semantics can bridge the gap between the human and the massive details of the program, and make formal techniques applicable in a large scale.
Separating point sets in polygonal environments

We consider the separability of two point sets inside a polygon by means of chords or geodesic lines. Specifically, given a set of red points and a set of blue points in the interior of a polygon, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a chord and for the existence of a geodesic path which separate the two sets when they exist we also derive efficient algorithms for their obtention. We study as well the separation of the two sets using a minimum number of pairwise non-crossing chords.
Tunneling nanotubes mediate rescue of prematurely senescent endothelial cells by endothelial progenitors: exchange of lysosomal pool

Although therapeutic effect of adoptive transfer of endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) has been well-substantiated, the actual engraftment is relatively low compared to a robust functional improvement of vasculopathy. Cellular mechanisms governing this action remain elusive. A recently discovered cell-cell communication via tunneling nanotube (TNT) formation is capable of transferring mitochondria and lysosomes between the cells – “organellar diakinesis”. Based on the previous demonstration of lysosomal dysfunction in endothelial cells exposed to AGE-modified collagen I, we inquired whether TNT mechanism may be involved in EPC-mediated repair of stressed endothelial cells. Here we demonstrate that EPC selectively and multiplicatively establish TNT communication with stressed endothelia. The guidance cues for the selectivity are provided by exofacially exposed phosphatidylserine moieties. Lysosomal transfer is associated with the preservation of lysosomal pH gradient, functionally reconstituting lysosomal pool of stressed cells and improving endothelial cell viability, reducing premature senescence and apoptosis. In vivo, adoptive transfer of EPC to streptozotocin-diabetic mice results in a TNT-dependent reduction of senescent endothelial cells and correction of endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation. Collectively, these data establish a selective multiplicative effect of TNT between EPC and stressed endothelia, reconstitution of the lysosomal pool, and improved viability and function of stressed endothelia.
Source-Specific Multicast for IP

IP addresses in the 232/8 (232.0.0.0 to 232.255.255.255) range are designated as source-specific multicast (SSM) destination addresses and are reserved for use by source-specific applications and protocols [IANA-ALLOCATION]. For IP version 6 (IPv6), a proposed range exists, although there is currently no IANA allocation [SSMIPv6]. This document defines the semantics of source-specific multicast addresses and specifies the policies governing their use. It defines an extension to the Internet network service that applies to datagrams sent to SSM addresses and defines the host and router requirements to support this extension. A companion document will describe how the Internet Group Management Protocol Version 3 [IGMPv3] and the Multicast Listener Discovery Protocol Version 2 [MLDv2] can be adapted to support source-specific multicast.
Digital Signal Processing For Optical OFDM Based Future Optical Networks

Digital signal processing (DSP) is widely exploited in the modern world to enable a vast array of high performance services and devices that were unimaginable several years ago. As a highly pervasive technology, DSP considerably enhances everyday life by enabling applications ranging from anti lock breaking systems to satellite navigation and sophisticated medical imaging. DSP has also been an enabler for many of the highly successful communications technologies over the last20 years. It is only in recent years that advanced DSP has been utilized in optical communications to realize commercial long-haul optical systems in the form of DSP-enable coherent optical receivers, which not only offer high transmission capacities of the order of 100 Gb/s per wavelength, but achieve ultra sensitive receivers for radically increasing unrepeated transmission distances. Index Terms: Digital signal processing,OFDM,Passive optical networks.
Access Scheduling Based on Time Water-Filling for Next Generation Wireless LANs

Opportunistic user access scheduling enhances the capacity of wireless networks by exploiting the multi user diversity. When frame aggregation is used, opportunistic schemes are no longer optimal, since users with high capacity links are frequently served, causing small queue sizes and low throughput. Recently, we have proposed schedulers that take queue and channel conditions into account jointly, to maximize the instantaneous throughput. In this paper, we extend this work to design a scheduler that performs block scheduling for maximizing network throughput over multiple transmission sequences. This scheduler makes use of the estimated evolution of the aggregation process by queueing theory and determines users' temporal access proportions using an approach based on the water-filling principle. Through detailed simulations, we show that our new algorithm with block scheduling offers further improvement in throughput over the previous schedulers, along with better fairness.
On the interaction of atmospheric dynamics Arctic and mid-latitudes under climate change

The article discusses some aspects of interaction between atmospheric dynamics processes in the Arctic and the mid-latitudes under conditions of global climate change and rapid warming in the Arctic in the lower layer of the troposphere (due to a mechanism of positive feedbacks, enhancement of atmospheric heat and moisture fluxes to the Arctic and heat transfer by currents in the ocean). This is a difficult task, given the fact that the observation of this phenomenon is relatively short. One of the plausible physical hypotheses of the effect of warming in the Arctic on the dynamics of the atmosphere in the mid- and high latitudes is that the reduction of sea ice and snow cover anomalies caused by this warming can lead to changes in the frequency and intensity of the extreme weather events and large-scale circulation in the mid-latitudes and in the Arctic region. Polar cyclones, stratospheric vortex, jet streams, North Atlantic oscillations - these objects of atmospheric dynamics are the subject of discussion in this article. The paper also presents the results of a study of the sensitivity of the Arctic Ocean and the sea ice to variability of atmospheric circulation, taking into account the dynamics of the NAO/AO. Special attention is paid to the circulation over the Norwegian and Greenland Seas, which are the area of formation of the initial trajectory of distribution of Atlantic waters in the Arctic Ocean.
Toward attack-resistant localization under infrastructure attacks

Trustworthy location information is important because it is a critical input to a wide variety of location-based applications. However, the localization infrastructure is vulnerable to physical attacks, and consequently, the localization results are affected. In this paper, we aim to achieve robust localization under infrastructure attacks. We first investigated the impact of infrastructure attacks on localization and showed that the performance of location estimations degraded significantly under the attack. We then derived an attack-resistant scheme that is not algorithm specific and can be integrated with existing localization algorithms. Our attack-resistant scheme exploited the characteristics of the geometric patterns returned by location estimates under the attack; that is, the localization results of a wireless device under the normal situation were clearly clustered together, whereas the localization results were scattered when an attack was present. Thus, our attack-resistant scheme is grounded on K-means clustering analysis of intra-distance of localization results from all possible combinations of any three access points. To evaluate the effectiveness and scalability of our proposed scheme, we used received signal strength for validation and applied our approach to three broad classes of localization algorithms: lateration based, fingerprint matching, and Bayesian networks. We validated our scheme in the ORBIT test bed (North Brunswick, NJ, USA) using an 802.11 (Wi-Fi) network and in a real office building environment using an 802.15. 4 (ZigBee) network. The extensive experimental results demonstrated that the application of our scheme could help the broad range of localization algorithms to achieve comparable or even better localization performance when under infrastructure attacks as compared with normal situations without attack, thus, effectively eliminating the effects of infrastructure attacks. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Arf6-Dependent Intracellular Trafficking of Pasteurella multocida Toxin and pH-Dependent Translocation from Late Endosomes

The potent mitogenic toxin from Pasteurella multocida (PMT) is the major virulence factor associated with a number of epizootic and zoonotic diseases caused by infection with this respiratory pathogen. PMT is a glutamine-specific protein deamidase that acts on its intracellular G-protein targets to increase intracellular calcium, cytoskeletal, and mitogenic signaling. PMT enters cells through receptor-mediated endocytosis and then translocates into the cytosol through a pH-dependent process that is inhibited by NH4Cl or bafilomycin A1. However, the detailed mechanisms that govern cellular entry, trafficking, and translocation of PMT remain unclear. Co-localization studies described herein revealed that while PMT shares an initial entry pathway with transferrin (Tfn) and cholera toxin (CT), the trafficking pathways of Tfn, CT, and PMT subsequently diverge, as Tfn is trafficked to recycling endosomes, CT is trafficked retrograde to the ER, and PMT is trafficked to late endosomes. Our studies implicate the small regulatory GTPase Arf6 in the endocytic trafficking of PMT. Translocation of PMT from the endocytic vesicle occurs through a pH-dependent process that is also dependent on both microtubule and actin dynamics, as evidenced by inhibition of PMT activity in our SRE-based reporter assay, with nocodazole and cytochalasin D, respectively, suggesting that membrane translocation and cytotoxicity of PMT is dependent on its transfer to late endosomal compartments. In contrast, disruption of Golgi-ER trafficking with brefeldin A increased PMT activity, suggesting that inhibiting PMT trafficking to non-productive compartments that do not lead to translocation, while promoting formation of an acidic tubulovesicle system more conducive to translocation, enhances PMT translocation and activity.
One-pot synthesis of highly luminescent carbon quantum dots and their nontoxic ingestion by zebrafish for in vivo imaging.

Photoluminescent carbon and/or silicon-based nanodots have attracted ever increasing interest. Accordingly, a myriad of synthetic methodologies have been developed to fabricate them, which unfortunately, however, frequently involve relatively tedious steps, such as initial surface passivation and subsequent functionalization. Herein, we describe a green and sustainable synthetic strategy to combine these procedures into one step and to produce highly luminescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs), which can also be easily fabricated into flexible thin films with intense luminescence for future roll-to-roll manufacturing of optoelectronic devices. The as-synthesized CQDs exhibited enhanced cellular permeability and low or even noncytotoxicity for cellular applications, as corroborated by confocal fluorescence imaging of HeLa cells as well as cell viability measurements. Most strikingly, zebrafish were directly fed with CQDs for in vivo imaging, and mortality and morphologic analysis indicated ingestion of the CQDs posed no harm to the living organisms. Hence, the multifunctional CQDs potentially provide a rich pool of tools for optoelectronic and biomedical applications.
Ecological Subregions: Sections and Subsections for the conterminous United States

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. , Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. FOREST SERVICE MAP Compiled and edited by: James E. Keys, Jr., David T. Cleland, and Jerry A. Freeouf, USDA Forest Service. Cartographic production by Alyssa M. Sloan, Michigan Technological University, Janice E. Wilson, and Judy Dersch, USDA Forest Service. Map constructed using automated methods by USDA Forest Service, Eastern Regional Office, Rhinelander, WI. Support was provided by Rocky Mountain Region, Lakewood, CO. Ecoregion and subregion theme designs by Robert G. Bailey, James E. Keys, Jr., Constance A. Carpenter, and others. Map base from US Geological Survey National Atlas Series. USDA FOREST SERVICE REGIONS
Virus à la sauce Yo‐Pro: Microwave enhanced staining for counting viruses by epifluorescence microscopy

A recently developed method for enumerating aquatic viruses (Yo‐Pro stained) was modified to reduce staining time and allow counting of fixed samples. Marine and freshwater virus samples to be enumerated were stained with the cyanine‐based dye Yo‐Pro‐1 by using microwave irradiation, which reduced incubation time from 48 h to 4 min. The modified method and the original protocol yielded similar viral estimates. Easier sample handling and the addition of fixed‐sample capability should allow epifluorescence counting of viruses to become a routine part of field studies of viral ecology.