Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Usefulness of Soil Moisture and Actual Evapotranspiration Data for Constraining Potential Groundwater Recharge in Semiarid Regions

Unsaturated flow modeling is widely used to estimate potential groundwater recharge. In semiarid regions, modeled recharge is usually highly uncertain due to the uncertainty in model parameters and also because recharge is often a small fraction of overall rainfall and actual evapotranspiration (AET). This study attempted to assess the usefulness of soil moisture and AET data on reducing the recharge uncertainty using an experimental site in semiarid southeastern Australia as an example. A biophysically based model capable of simulating unsaturated flow, energy balance, and plant growth was employed to conduct recharge modeling. Soil moisture measured at five different depths of the vadose zone and AET derived from an eddy covariance tower were used to constrain the recharge modeling. The best‐calibrated model shows reasonable agreement between modeled and simulated soil moisture and AET time series, with three‐year average recharge of 50.9 mm. The model uncertainty analysis using Monte Carlo simulations indicates that recharge estimated from the unsaturated flow modeling could be highly uncertain (0–213 mm/year). The uncertainty analysis shows that the soil moisture was more useful than AET in constraining groundwater recharge, particularly the measurements at the top of both soil horizons. The combined use of both the soil moisture and AET led to the most constrained recharge uncertainty (14.8–87.3 mm/year). This study suggests that for practical applications, soil moisture data from at least the top of each soil horizon and AET data (either remotely sensed or directly measured) should be used together to constrain recharge modeling.
Bone Regeneration in Distraction Osteogenesis Demonstrates Significantly Increased Vascularity in Comparison to Fracture Repair in the Mandible

Background Tissue analysis of bone regenerate has suggested an intense vascular response after mandibular distraction osteogenesis (DO). Quantifying and three-dimensionally imaging this vascular response could be of immense clinical import in efforts to advance the utility of bone regeneration and repair. Conventional quantification of vascular responses has heretofore focused on inexact, cumbersome measurements of blood flow and histologic vessel counting. Using micro–computed tomography after vessel perfusion, we posit that quantitative vascular metrics will be significantly higher in mandibular DO compared with those observed in fracture repair (FxR) after bony union. Methods Sprague-Dawley rats underwent mandibular osteotomy and external fixator placement. A DO group (n = 9) underwent a 5.1-mm distraction, whereas a FxR group (n = 12) had a 2.1-mm fixed gap set. Forty days after surgery, Microfil was perfused into the vasculature, and imaging ensued. Vascular radiomorphometrics were calculated for the regions of interest. Independent-samples t-test was performed for comparison, with statistical significance set at P ⩽ 0.05. Results Stereological analysis demonstrated statistically significant increases in the distracted vasculature compared with fracture repair: vessel volume fraction (5.4% versus 2.8%, P = 0.030) and vessel number (0.86 versus 0.50 mm−1, P = 0.014). Conclusions We report robust and quantifiable increases in vascular density in DO compared with FxR. Our findings support a significant distinction between the regenerative processes of mandibular DO from the reparative mechanisms controlling fracture healing. A better understanding of the differences between the 2 types of bone formation may enable clinicians to selectively optimize therapeutic outcomes in the future.
A new eigen-direction alignment algorithm for physical-layer network coding in MIMO two-way relay channels

We propose a new joint channel coding and physical layer network coding (CPNC) scheme for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) two-way relay channels (TWRCs). At the heart of the scheme lies a key technique referred to as eigen-direction alignment (EDA) precoding. This technique efficiently creates multiple aligned parallel channels which facilitates the deployment of multi-stream CPNC. Our analysis shows that the achievable rate of the scheme can approach the capacity upper bound in the median to high signal-to-noise (SNR) region when nT > nR, where nT and nR denote the number of antennas of each user and that of relay, respectively. The gap to the capacity upper bound diminishes as nT /nR increases. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed scheme significantly outperform other well-known schemes in the literature.
Effects of hydrogen sulfide to Vibrio fischeri, Scenedesmus vacuolatus, and Daphnia magna

The effects of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) were tested in three ecotoxicological tests in order to evaluate its confounding potential in assessment of pore water and groundwater toxicity. The luminescent bacteria Vibrio fischeri, the water flea Daphnia magna, and the microalgae Scenedesmus vacuolatus often are part of a biotest battery. A new technique for the synthesis of hydrogen sulfide solutions of defined concentrations using an electrochemical generator instead of sodium sulfide solutions was used. Because hydrogen sulfide is volatile, the loss rate of H2S was studied over time to enable estimation of the mean test concentrations over the whole test duration. Loss rates were calculated to be 13 ± 6% after 30 min, and 39 ± 11% and 43 ± 16% after a 24‐ and 48‐h exposure time, respectively. Sensitivities of the test organisms in terms of median effective concentration (EC50), corrected for the above loss rates, varied from 0.28 to 0.0036 and 0.055 mM for the luminescent bacteria, the crustacea, and the algae, respectively. A species‐sensitivity distribution using EC and mean lethal concentration literature data for marine and freshwater crustaceans and phytoplankton showed a medium sensitivity of the water flea D. magna, though the bacteria V. fischeri and the algae S. vacuolatus were among the least‐sensitive group of organisms. This demonstrates that only the algae and the bacteria are easy to use in the assessment of toxicity of matrices with H2S concentrations above 0.06 mM.
Introduction Overview of CRISPR – Cas 9 Biology

Hannah K. Ratner,1,2,3,6 Timothy R. Sampson,1,2,3,5,6 and David S. Weiss2,3,4,7 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Program, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30329
Inactivation of the Akt survival pathway during photoreceptor apoptosis in the retinal degeneration mouse.

PURPOSE Previous work has indicated that the serine-threonine protein kinase Akt is a general mediator of cellular survival signals and that loss of Akt-mediated signaling can lead to the activation of apoptosis. This study was conducted to establish whether regulation of the Akt survival pathway mechanisms is implicated in the induction of apoptosis during photoreceptor cell death in the rd mouse model of retinal degeneration. METHODS Quantitative Western blot analysis and immunocytochemistry were used to examine the activation status and localization of key components of the Akt signaling cascade (Akt, BAD, Forkhead [FKHR], HSP27, mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase-3 and -6 (MKK3/6), the tumor-suppressor phosphatase PTEN, and the cytoplasmic protein-tyrosine kinase cSrc-p60), in the retina of the rd mouse in comparison with the control. The time points examined spanned the period of photoreceptor degeneration. RESULTS In the period up to the peak of photoreceptor apoptosis at postnatal day 15, dysregulation of the survival pathway was identified at several levels, including deactivation of both Akt itself and its downstream transcription factor target Forkhead (FKHR) and activation of the upstream negative regulator PTEN. CONCLUSIONS Taken in conjunction with previous studies, the data support a model in which photoreceptor cell death in the rd mouse is the result of combined inactivation of the Akt survival pathway and the activation of the two major apoptotic pathways.
Highly reliable breast cancer diagnosis with cascaded ensemble classifiers

Accuracy and reliability are two important issues in computer assisted breast cancer diagnosis. In this paper, a new cascade Random Subspace ensembles scheme with reject options is proposed for automatic breast cancer diagnosis. The diagnosis system is built as a serial fusion of two different Random Subspace classifier ensembles with rejection options to enhance the classification reliability. The first ensemble consists of a set of Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers that converts the original K-class classification problem into a number of K 2-class problems. The second ensemble consists of a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) ensemble, that focuses on the rejected samples from the first ensemble. For both of the ensembles, the reject option is implemented by relating the consensus degree from majority voting to a confidence measure, and abstaining to classify ambiguous samples if the consensus degree is lower than some threshold. Using a microscopic breast biopsy image dataset from Israel Institute of Technology and benchmark datasets from UCI, promising results are obtained using the proposed system.
Diffusive dynamics during the high-to-low density transition in amorphous ice

Significance The importance of a molecular-level understanding of the properties, structure, and dynamics of liquid water is recognized in many scientific fields. It has been debated whether the observed high- and low-density amorphous ice forms are related to two distinct liquid forms. Here, we study experimentally the structure and dynamics of high-density amorphous ice as it relaxes into the low-density form. The unique aspect of this work is the combination of two X-ray methods, where wide-angle X-ray scattering provides the evidence for the structure at the atomic level and X-ray photon-correlation spectroscopy provides insight about the motion at the nanoscale, respectively. The observed motion appears diffusive, indicating liquid-like dynamics during the relaxation from the high-to low-density form. Water exists in high- and low-density amorphous ice forms (HDA and LDA), which could correspond to the glassy states of high- (HDL) and low-density liquid (LDL) in the metastable part of the phase diagram. However, the nature of both the glass transition and the high-to-low-density transition are debated and new experimental evidence is needed. Here we combine wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) with X-ray photon-correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) in the small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) geometry to probe both the structural and dynamical properties during the high-to-low-density transition in amorphous ice at 1 bar. By analyzing the structure factor and the radial distribution function, the coexistence of two structurally distinct domains is observed at T = 125 K. XPCS probes the dynamics in momentum space, which in the SAXS geometry reflects structural relaxation on the nanometer length scale. The dynamics of HDA are characterized by a slow component with a large time constant, arising from viscoelastic relaxation and stress release from nanometer-sized heterogeneities. Above 110 K a faster, strongly temperature-dependent component appears, with momentum transfer dependence pointing toward nanoscale diffusion. This dynamical component slows down after transition into the low-density form at 130 K, but remains diffusive. The diffusive character of both the high- and low-density forms is discussed among different interpretations and the results are most consistent with the hypothesis of a liquid–liquid transition in the ultraviscous regime.
Many Bills: Visualizing the Anatomy of Congressional Legislation

US Federal Legislation is a common subject of discussion and advocacy on the web. The contents of bills present a significant challenge to both experts and average citizens due to their length and complex legal language. To make bills more accessible to the general public, we present Many Bills: a web-based visualization prototype that reveals the underlying semantics of a bill. We classify the sections of a bill into topics and visualize them using different colors. Further, using information retrieval techniques, we locate sections that don't seem to fit with the overall topic of the bill. To highlight outliers in our 'misfit mode', we visualize them in red, which builds a contrast against the remaining gray sections. Both topic and misfit visualizations provide an overview and detail view of bills, enabling users to read individual sections of a bill and compare topic patterns across multiple bills. We obtained initial user feedback and continue collecting label corrections from users through the interface.
The effects of an indigenous muscarinic drug, Betel nut (Areca catechu), on the symptoms of schizophrenia: a longitudinal study in Palau, Micronesia.

OBJECTIVE This study tested the findings of a prior study indicating a therapeutic relationship between consumption of betel nut and symptoms of schizophrenia. METHOD The subjects were 65 outpatients with diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Symptoms rated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale were compared between high- and low-consumption betel chewers in a repeated-measures design. Movement disorders were assessed with the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale and Simpson-Angus Rating Scale. Global health and social functioning were assessed with the Medical Outcomes Study 12-item and 36-item Short-Form Health Surveys, respectively. RESULTS Male high-consumption betel chewers had significantly milder positive symptoms than low-consumption chewers over 1 year. Betel chewing was not associated with global health, social functioning, or movement disorders. Betel chewing was associated with tobacco use but not with cannabis or alcohol. CONCLUSIONS These findings have clinical significance in betel-chewing regions and broader implications for theory of muscarinic neurophysiology in schizophrenia.
Secretion of lysine in a broth medium by lactic bacteria and yeasts associated with garri production using a synthetic gene

Although cassava is an important food in the tropics, it has two major deficiencies which are carried over into those foods made from it: its content of toxic cyanogenic glucosides and its low content of protein and amino acids. Garri, a fermented cassava food, has previously been ameliorated using organisms which simultaneously secrete linamarase (to reduce the residual cyanide in the food), amylase (to contribute to the growth of fermenting organisms and increase the flavour) and lysine (to improve the amino‐acid content of the food). Some of the organisms fermenting cassava for garri production produce appreciable quantities of linamarase and amylase, but they are low in lysine production. It was therefore decided to improve these organisms by transforming them with a synthetic lysine gene coding for an 8‐lysine peptide cloned in pBluescript II SK phagemid vector under the control of lac promoter. The synthetic lysine polypeptide gene was successfully introduced into Escherichia coli DH5α and several strains of Lactobacillus spp. and Saccharomyces spp. There was a dramatic increase in lysine secretion in the organisms, ranging from about 2·5 to sixfold, following transformation with the synthetic gene.
Phishing detection using classifier ensembles

This paper introduces an approach to classifying emails into Phishing / non-Phishing categories using the C5.0 algorithm which achieves very high precision and an ensemble of other classifiers that achieve high recall. The representation of instances used in this paper is very small consisting of only five features. Results of an evaluation of this system, using over 8,000 emails approximately half of which were phishing emails and the remainder legitimate, are presented. These results show the benefits of using this recall boosting technique over that of any individual classifier or collection of classifiers.
Resilient Suppressor Mechanism against Illegal Content Redistribution on Peer-to-Peer Video Sharing Networks

This paper presents a simple but resilient method to suppress copyright violations among the content uploaded onto peer-to-peer (P2P) video sharing services, and is especially designed for consumer generated media (CGM). Encryption is a good way to block the circulation of illegal content. However, if the encryption key is caught by a malicious node in the P2P network, the ``denial of deletion'' ability offered by this key may make it difficult to stop the circulation of the content. To solve this problem, we propose a method to divide the encryption key into partial keys using the secret sharing scheme, and allowing them to be distributed into different nodes. Different from existing commercial P2P content distribution systems, this system is more scalable because the keys are managed in a distributed fashion. Regardless of the size of the P2P network, the probability of the encryption key being illegally used after the deletion operation for the target content is less than 0.1 even when more than 10\% of the nodes are malicious.
Studies on bitolterol, di-p-toluate ester of N-tert.-butylarterenol: a new long-acting bronchodilator with reduced cardiovascular effects.

The bronchodilator activity of bitolterol, the di-p-toluate ester of N-tert. -butylarterenol (N-t-B) was evaluated by comparing it with the activity of the parent compound (N-t-B), isoproterenol and in some experiments with salbutamol in the anesthetized, open-chest dog maintained under artificial respiration. Bronchodilation was expressed as percent inhibition of the control bronchoconstriction induced by intravenous carbachol or histamine. At equiactive intravenous bronchodilator doses, the duration of action of bitolterol was 10 times that of N-t-B or isoproterenol. In the cardiovascular studies in anesthetized dogs, chronotropic, inotropic and blood pressure effects of bitolterol were markedly reduced relative to its bronchodilator effect. The bronchodilator/heart rate ratio for bitolterol was 22 times that of isoproterenol and 6 times that of N-t-B or salbutamol suggesting greater selectivity for beta2 adrenoreceptors for bitolterol. A good intraduodenal bronchodilator activity with a prolonged duration of action was obtained with bitolterol when compared with N-t-B and isoproterenol. The intraduodenal/intravenous bronchodilator dose ratio for bitolterol was 2 compared with 240 and 960 for N-t-B and isoproterenol, respectively. Bitolterol showed a significantly less (P less than .01) chronotropic effect than salbutamol at equibronchodilator doses (ED60) by intraduodenal or aerosol administration. A similar difference in chronotropic effect was observed in the unanesthetized dog. The prolonged bronchodilator effect of bitolterol was attributed to high concentration of the ester in lung tissues and to its slow hydrolysis, gradually releasing the active catecholamine, N-t-B.
Tianshan Orogen along the Silk Road (Volume 3): Orogen links, geochemistry, geochronology, mineral deposits, and environments

This special issue (Volume 3) belongs to the special issues on the orogens along the Silk Road. We selected 34 papers to focus on the mineral deposits, orogeny‐links, geochemistry, geochronology, and environments related to the Tianshan Orogen of the Silk Road. We hope that these papers will highlight more geological research along the Silk Road to promote the construction and development of the Road and Belt.
Projector-based augmented reality in surgery without calibration

Augmented reality (AR) is becoming an important tool in surgery to support the surgeon and improve operation quality, safety and duration. However the AR setup with head-mounted display (HMD) and other equipments is often considered cumbersome by surgeons and limits its wide use in the operating room. To reduce this burden, we introduce a new approach to display undistorted image data directly on the patient (skin, bone, surgery linen etc.) without explicit camera and projector calibration. With a single camera used to capture the surgeon's field of view, the calibration is implicitly represented as a mapping establishing the correspondence of each pixel of a camera to a pixel from a projector. After this mapping has been carried out, one can display an image corrected for the surgeon. Results are presented showing the simplicity and potential of the method for an operating room.
Information Retrieval Features for Personality Traits

This paper describes the methods employed to solve the Au- thor Proling task at PAN-2015. The main goal was to test the use of features derived from Information Retrieval to identify the personality traits of the author of a given text. This paper describes the features, the classication algorithms employed, and how the experiments were run. Also, I provide a comparative analysis of my results compared to those of other groups.
Review of efficiencies in comminuting forest fuels

ABSTRACT Knowledge about the generalized operational efficiency of comminution machines and systems is of great interest when tailoring solid biofuel supply systems. The objectives were therefore to collect and compare data from the literature to those from machinery manufacturers on the performances of various forest biomass comminution systems, with the aim of identifying areas for further research. Our meta-analysis was based on data from 55 scientific publications and specification sheets from 566 machine models collected from manufacturer’s websites. A majority, 56%, of studies were carried out at the roadside and 54% of studies examined comminuted logging residues, which thus reflects the most common materials and environments of the forest fuel supply system studied in the literature. We conclude that: (1) Chipping is more productive and requires less energy than grinding for machinery with nominal power up to 300 kW. (2) Chipping small trees or residues lowers productivities and increases energy demand compared to logs; the comminution productivity is dependent on the type of machine, the nominal power, and the material handled. (3) The energy demand is a function of the variable type of machinery (chipper, grinder), and maximum particle size produced. (4) Productivities in operational studies are clearly lower than the ones reported by the manufacturers in idealized conditions. Further investigations of equipment such as large chippers and grinders operated in terminals under controlled conditions are needed, in order to gain a better understanding of the different factors affecting the efficiencies of large equipment.
Phase Congruency Detects Corners and Edges

There are many applications such as stereo matching, mo- tion tracking and image registration that require so called 'corners' to be detected across image sequences in a reliable manner. The Harris cor- ner detector is widely used for this purpose. However, the response from the Harris operator, and other corner operators, varies considerably with image contrast. This makes the setting of thresholds that are appropri- ate for extended image sequences difficult, if not impossible. This paper describes a new corner and edge detector developed from the phase con- gruency model of feature detection. The new operator uses the principal moments of the phase congruency information to determine corner and edge information. The resulting corner and edge operator is highly local- ized and has responses that are invariant to image contrast. This results in reliable feature detection under varying illumination conditions with fixed thresholds. An additional feature of the operator is that the corner map is a strict subset of the edge map. This facilitates the cooperative use of corner and edge information.