Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Spatiotemporal Distribution of PM2.5 and its Relationship to Land-Use Patterns and Special to Land-Use and People in Hangzhou

Assessments have quantified the burden of air pollution at the national scale in China; air quality managers would benefit from assessments that disaggregate health impacts over regions and time. The air quality in Hangzhou City, which is one of the central cities of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration, was not in great condition. We used the monitoring sites data and MODIS remote-sensing Aerosol optical thickness (AOT) for the inversion of the PM2.5 concentration map for all four seasons in 2015. Next, we combined the land use data, population density data, and school data (kindergarten, primary school, and middle school) to analyze their correlation; we found that the seasonal variation characteristics of PM2.5 concentration distribution was winter > spring > autumn > summer. For the different land use type in winter and spring, 59.86% and 56.62% land area showed the PM2.5 >50μg/m , respectively. In autumn, 54.38% of the land area exposure was PM2.5 35~50μg/m. In summer, the PM2.5 concentration was lowest, at 70.01%, and the land surface area showed PM2.5 <35μg/m . Increasing the forest landscape performs the function of absorbing and filtering the particulate air pollution, resulting in high PM2.5 concentration at this landscape. It was also discovered that only 9.06% of the population lived in an environment that met the national air quality standards. Specifically, only 1.66% (14,055) of infants and juveniles were living in PM2.5 <35μg/m . Considering the lag health effects of long-term PM2.5 exposure, it is necessary to track these infants’ and juveniles’ health conditions from now until they enter into adulthood. This should enable us to more effectively eliminate the PM2.5 that is harmful to our health. We firmly believe that not only in Hangzhou, but also spanning all of China, many infants and juveniles live in a severely polluted environment in which we need to pay close attention, as their future health is directly relative to the future prosperity of the country as a whole.
Identification of autosomal regions involved in Drosophila Raf function.

Raf is an essential downstream effector of activated p21(Ras) (Ras) in transducing proliferation or differentiation signals. Following binding to Ras, Raf is translocated to the plasma membrane, where it is activated by a yet unidentified "Raf activator. " In an attempt to identify the Raf activator or additional molecules involved in the Raf signaling pathway, we conducted a genetic screen to identify genomic regions that are required for the biological function of Drosophila Raf (Draf). We tested a collection of chromosomal deficiencies representing approximately 70% of the autosomal euchromatic genomic regions for their abilities to enhance the lethality associated with a hypomorphic viable allele of Draf, Draf(Su2). Of the 148 autosomal deficiencies tested, 23 behaved as dominant enhancers of Draf(Su2), causing lethality in Draf(Su2) hemizygous males. Four of these deficiencies identified genes known to be involved in the Drosophila Ras/Raf (Ras1/Draf) pathway: Ras1, rolled (rl, encoding a MAPK), 14-3-3epsilon, and bowel (bowl). Two additional deficiencies removed the Drosophila Tec and Src homologs, Tec29A and Src64B. We demonstrate that Src64B interacts genetically with Draf and that an activated form of Src64B, when overexpressed in early embryos, causes ectopic expression of the Torso (Tor) receptor tyrosine kinase-target gene tailless. In addition, we show that a mutation in Tec29A partially suppresses a gain-of-function mutation in tor. These results suggest that Tec29A and Src64B are involved in Tor signaling, raising the possibility that they function to activate Draf. Finally, we discovered a genetic interaction between Draf(Su2) and Df(3L)vin5 that revealed a novel role of Draf in limb development. We find that loss of Draf activity causes limb defects, including pattern duplications, consistent with a role for Draf in regulation of engrailed (en) expression in imaginal discs.
Self-Amplifying RNA: A Second Revolution of mRNA Vaccines against COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 virus, the causative agent of COVID-19, has produced the largest pandemic in the 21st century, becoming a very serious health problem worldwide. To prevent COVID-19 disease and infection, a large number of vaccines have been developed and approved in record time, including new vaccines based on mRNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles. While mRNA-based vaccines have proven to be safe and effective, they are more expensive to produce compared to conventional vaccines. A special type of mRNA vaccine is based on self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) derived from the genome of RNA viruses, mainly alphaviruses. These saRNAs encode a viral replicase in addition to the antigen, usually the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The replicase can amplify the saRNA in transfected cells, potentially reducing the amount of RNA needed for vaccination and promoting interferon I responses that can enhance adaptive immunity. Preclinical studies with saRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines in diverse animal models have demonstrated the induction of robust protective immune responses, similar to conventional mRNA but at lower doses. Initial clinical trials have confirmed the safety and immunogenicity of saRNA-based vaccines in individuals that had previously received authorized COVID-19 vaccines. These findings have led to the recent approval of two of these vaccines by the national drug agencies of India and Japan, underscoring the promising potential of this technology.
Efficient in-pocket detection with mobile phones

In this demonstration paper, we show a novel approach to detect the common placements of a mobile phone, such as "in pocket", "in bag" or "out of pocket or bag", from embedded proximity (IR) and light sensors. We use sensor data fusion and pattern recognition to extract distinct features from sensor signals and classify the boundaries among these three phone placement contexts. The detection results are demonstrated on a Samsung Tizen mobile phone.
Tobacco/Salvia miltiorrhiza Intercropping Improves Soil Quality and Increases Total Production Value

Unreasonable cultivation methods and management measures have led to widespread obstacles in tobacco continuous cropping in planting areas, resulting in reduced tobacco yield and soil degradation. Therefore, intercropping tobacco with other crops is an effective strategy to improve continuous cropping barriers. In this study, flue-cured tobacco NC102 and conventional planting varieties of Salvia miltiorrhiza were used as materials, and four treatments of flue-cured tobacco monoculture (CK), flue-cured tobacco, and Salvia miltiorrhiza at a ratio of 1:1 (TS11), 2:2 (TS22), and 2:3 (TS23), respectively, were set up to study their effects on soil microorganisms, physical and chemical properties, and yield and quality of flue-cured tobacco. The results showed that intercropping Salvia miltiorrhiza increased the number of soil bacteria and actinomycetes, decreased the number of fungi, and increased the activity of urease and sucrase. The content of available nitrogen and available phosphorus in intercropping Salvia miltiorrhiza soil was significantly higher than that of the flue-cured tobacco monoculture, while the content of available potassium was lower than that of the flue-cured tobacco monoculture. The soil environment was more conducive to the growth of flue-cured tobacco. Compared with the flue-cured tobacco monoculture, the proportion of superior tobacco in intercropping Salvia miltiorrhiza increased by 2.2–3.4%, and the ratio of potassium to chlorine in leaves of different parts of flue-cured tobacco increased by 12.3–75.0%. The content of total sugar and soluble sugar in middle and upper leaves of intercropping flue-cured tobacco was higher than that of the flue-cured tobacco monoculture, which improved the quality of flue-cured tobacco. From the analysis of the chemical composition of tobacco leaves, TS11 (flue-cured tobacco and Salvia miltiorrhiza intercropping row ratio of 1:1) had the best treatment effect, potassium content, total sugar, reducing sugar content, and potassium chloride ratio of flue-cured tobacco were the highest, the chlorine content was the lowest, and the quality was better than other treatments. From the analysis of total output value, the total output value of TS22 (flue-cured tobacco and Salvia miltiorrhiza intercropping row ratio of 2:2) was higher than that of other intercropping treatments. In 2018 and 2019, the total output value increased by 21.3% and 22.4%, respectively, compared with the flue-cured tobacco monoculture. The intercropping advantage was obvious, and the treatment effect was the best.
Foundations for the implementation of higher-order subtyping

We show how to implement a calculus with higher-order subtyping and subkinding by replacing uses of implicit subsumption with explicit coercions. To ensure this can be done, a polymorphic function is adjusted to take, as an additional argument, a proof that its type constructor argument has the desired kind. Such a proof is extracted from the derivation of a kinding judgement and may in turn require proof coercions, which are extracted from subkinding judgements. This technique is formalized as a type-directed translation from a calculus of higher-order subtyping to a subtyping-free calculus. This translation generalizes an existing result for second-order subtyping calculi (such as F &le;). We also discuss two interpretations of subtyping, one that views it as type inclusion and another that views it is the existence of a well-behaved coercion, and we show, by a type-theoretic construction, that our translation is the minimum consequence of shifting from the inclusion interpretation to the coercion-existence interpretation. This construction shows that the translation is the natural one, and it also provides a framework for extending the translation to richer type systems. Finally, we show how the two interpretations can be reconciled in a common semantics. It is then easy to show the coherence of the translation relative to that semantics.
Multiple Objective Robot Coalition Formation

Abstract In multiple robot systems, the problem of allocation of complex tasks to heterogeneous teams of robots, also known as the multiple robot coalition formation problem, has begun to receive considerable attention. Efforts to address the problem range from heuristics based approaches that search the subspaces of the coalition structure to evolutionary learning approaches. Conventional approaches typically strive to optimize a single objective function such as the number of tasks executed or the time required to execute all tasks, or a weighted function of such objectives. In real world applications, objectives such as minimizing distance traveled and maximizing the number of tasks completed are often conflicting in nature. The coalition formation problem thus naturally lends itself to a multi-objective optimization approach based on evolutionary learning. In this paper, we formulate the problem of mapping coalitions of robots to a set of tasks as a multi-objective optimization problem and propose a variant of non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) to arrive at trade-off solutions. Additionally, we extend the solution to domains where robot resources are non-additive. Simulations demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach in generating the set of Pareto-optimal solutions.
Performance and energy trade-offs analysis of L2 on-chip cache architectures for embedded MPSoCs

On-chip memory organization is one of the most important aspects that can influence the overall system behavior in multi-processor systems. Following the trend set by high-performance processors, high-end embedded cores are moving from single-level on chip caches to a two-level on-chip cache hierarchy. Whereas in the embedded world there is general consensus on L1 private caches, for L2 there is still not a dominant architectural paradigm. Cache architectures that work for high performance computers turn out to be inefficient for embedded systems (mainly due to power-efficiency issues). This paper presents a virtual platform for design space exploration of L2 cache architectures in low-power Multi-Processor-Systems-on-Chip (MPSoCs). The tool contains several L2 caches templates, and new architectures can be easily added using our flexible plugin system. Given a set of constrains for a specific system (power, area, performance), our tool will perform extensive exploration to find the cache organization that best suits our needs. Through some practical experiments, we show how it is possible to select the optimal L2 cache, and how this kind of tool can help designers avoid some common misconceptions. Benchmarking results in the experiments section will show that for a case study with multiple processors running communicating tasks allocated on different cores, the private L2 cache organization still performs better than the shared one.
A Rice Tc1/Mariner-Like Element Transposes in Yeast

The Tc1/mariner transposable element superfamily is widely distributed in animal and plant genomes. However, no active plant element has been previously identified. Nearly identical copies of a rice (Oryza sativa) Tc1/mariner element called Osmar5 in the genome suggested potential activity. Previous studies revealed that Osmar5 encoded a protein that bound specifically to its own ends. In this report, we show that Osmar5 is an active transposable element by demonstrating that expression of its coding sequence in yeast promotes the excision of a nonautonomous Osmar5 element located in a reporter construct. Element excision produces transposon footprints, whereas element reinsertion occurs at TA dinucleotides that were either tightly linked or unlinked to the excision site. Several site-directed mutations in the transposase abolished activity, whereas mutations in the transposase binding site prevented transposition of the nonautonomous element from the reporter construct. This report of an active plant Tc1/mariner in yeast will provide a foundation for future comparative analyses of animal and plant elements in addition to making a new wide host range transposable element available for plant gene tagging.
Scale Mixture of GaussianModelling of Polarimetric SARData

This paper describes a flexible non-Gaussian statistical method used to model polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (POLSAR) data. We outline the theoretical basis of the well-know product model as described by the class of Scale Mixture models and discuss their appropriateness for modelling radar data. The statistical distributions of several Scale mixture models are then described, including the commonly used Gaussian model, and techniques for model parameter estimation are given. Real data evaluations are made using airborne fully polarimetric SAR studies for several distinct land cover types. Generic scale mixture of Gaussian features is extracted from the model parameters and a simple clustering example presented.
Ground Truth Accuracy and Performance of the Matching Pipeline

Feature matching quality strongly influences the accuracy of most computer vision tasks. This led to impressive advances in keypoint detection, descriptor calculation, and feature matching itself. To compare different approaches and evaluate their quality, datasets from related tasks are used. Unfortunately, none of these datasets actually provide ground truth (GT) feature matches. Thus, matches can only be approximated due to repeatability errors of keypoint detectors and inaccuracies of GT. In this paper, we introduce ground truth matches (GTM) for several well known datasets. Based on the provided spacial ground truth, we automatically generate them using popular feature types. Currently, feature matching evaluation is typically performed using precision and recall. The introduced GTM additionally enable evaluation with accuracy and fall-out. The datasets were manually annotated, on the one hand to evaluate the precision and unambiguousness of the GTM, and on the other hand to determine the accuracy of the ground truth provided with the datasets. Using GTM, we present an evaluation of multiple state-of-the-art keypoint-descriptor combinations as well as matching algorithms.
Sexual dimorphism using geometric morphometric approach.

Comparison of anatomical characters between organisms has been a core element in comparative biology for centuries. Historically, taxonomic classification and understanding of biological diversity have been based mainly on morphological descriptions [1]. In the early twentieth century, comparative biology entered a transition from the description field and quantitative science, where morphological analysis had a similar revolution of quantification [2]. Based on this quantitative mathematical revolution, the study of morphology has had an important emphasis by developing statistical shape analysis. This made possible the combination of multivariate statistical methods and new ways to visualize a structure [3,4].
Video Tonal Stabilization via Color States Smoothing

We address the problem of removing video color tone jitter that is common in amateur videos recorded with hand-held devices. To achieve this, we introduce color state to represent the exposure and white balance state of a frame. The color state of each frame can be computed by accumulating the color transformations of neighboring frame pairs. Then, the tonal changes of the video can be represented by a time-varying trajectory in color state space. To remove the tone jitter, we smooth the original color state trajectory by solving an \(L1\) optimization problem with PCA dimensionality reduction. In addition, we propose a novel selective strategy to remove small tone jitter while retaining extreme exposure and white balance changes to avoid serious artifacts. Quantitative evaluation and visual comparison with previous work demonstrate the effectiveness of our tonal stabilization method. This system can also be used as a preprocessing tool for other video editing methods.
Penile perfusion and functional scintigraphy: preliminary clinical results before and after microsurgical revascularization.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect on penile haemodynamics of vascularization using the Hauri method for the treatment of erectile dysfunction of vascular aetiology, as assessed by penile perfusion and functional scintigraphy. PATIENTS AND METHODS Penile perfusion and functional scintigraphy were performed before and after penile revascularization by the Hauri method in 13 patients. The established method of scintigraphy was carried out using 10 MBq/kg body weight of 99m technetium pertechnetate for in vivo labelling of erythrocytes, modified by including an estimate of mean virtual blood inflow rate. RESULTS In 10 of the 13 patients there was a significant increase in the mean virtual blood inflow rate after surgery (P < 0.01, Wilcoxon test). In three patients, the inflow rate was lower after surgery than before; Doppler ultrasonography showed an occluded anastomosis in these patients. CONCLUSIONS Penile vascularization using the Hauri method provides an objectively demonstrable improvement in penile haemodynamics in man. It is thus a sufficiently therapeutic procedure for treating erectile dysfunction of vascular aetiology and its effect greatly exceeds any 'psychological influence'.
Evaluation of the Cape Town Protocol for the isolation of Campylobacter spp. from environmental waters

Campylobacter is recognised as one of the major causes of bacterial gastro-enteritis world-wide. In addition to poultry products, milk and water have also been implicated as possible sources of infection. Methods for the detection and isolation of this organism have been developed specifically for the medical field and select for Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli, excluding all other species of Campylobacter, whereas the filter-based Cape Town Protocol reportedly yields most Campylobacter spp. The Cape Town Protocol was evaluated for possible use in analysis of environmental water samples. It yielded only 0.1% of the total number of actively growing C. jejuni and C. coli cells, whereas the selective medium mCCDA yielded 10%. Analysis of 60 water samples yielded 221 putative Campylobacter isolates, but only four could be confirmed as Arcobacter butzleri and none as Campylobacter. Our results indicated that neither the Cape Town Protocol nor mCCDA can be used for the direct enumeration or isolation of Campylobacter spp. from environmental water samples.
CrossTowns: Automatically Generated Phonetic Lexicons of Cross-lingual Pronunciation Variants of European City Names

The CrossTowns lexicons are part of a study that focuses on the phonetic variants that occur when speakers of different native languages (L1) with varying degrees of target language (L2) proficiency pronounce foreign city names. Based on a collection of speech data from this domain, it is one of the aims to identify the most common pronunciation errors in a particular L1/L2 pair (language direction) and to model them by phonological rewrite rules. Although derived from only a small corpus of names, the rule sets already generate plausible variants when applied to unseen material. Yet there is a need for improvement. To demonstrate the current state of affairs, sample lexicons of 1.000 place names for English, French, and German were compiled and converted into various interlanguage pronunciation lexicons using the accent rule sets. In the paper, the procedures involved in the data collection, an outline of the rule-based accent generation technique, and a discussion of the problems involved in modelling non-native pronunciations on the lexicon level will be presented.
Analyzing IPTV set-top box crashes

Recent advances in residential broadband access technologies have led to a wave of commercial IPTV deployments. As IPTV services are rolled out at scale, it is essential for IPTV systems to maintain ultra-high reliability and performance. A major issue that disrupts IPTV service is the crash of the set-top box (STB) software. The STB directly resides inside the consumer's home network and provides the essential interface to both the user and the network to deliver rich content that goes well beyond traditional TV. To understand the potential causes of STB crashes, we perform an indepth statistical analysis focused on the relationships between STB crashes, video stream content, and user activities. Our initial results suggest that (i) impaired video streams may cause STB crashes, and (ii) continuous STB usage may gradually degrade the STB health over time.
A history-centric approach for enhancing web browsing experiences

Browsing Web pages, which plays an important part of our daily creative knowledge work, often includes purposefully revisiting pages we have browsed before. Many of the existing tools and approaches for revisitation clearly distinguish the use of history from Web browsing. The approach presented in this paper blurs the distinction between browsing the Web and visiting stored pages in a personal Web browsing history database. The HCB (History-Centric Browsing) system allows a user to browse a previously visited Web page stored in the history database in the same way as browsing a page on the Web. The system associates pages from the database to the currently displayed page through three types of relevancies: temporal sequence, URL/location-based proximity, and content similarity. The HCB-stat, HCB-vis, and HCB-tempo components use the associations to enrich the current page-viewing experience.