Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Statistically Unique and Cryptographically Verifiable (SUCV) Identifiers and Addresses

This paper addresses the identifier ownership problem. It does so by using characteristics of Statistic Uniqueness and Cryptographic Verifiability (SUCV) of certain entities which this document calls SUCV Identifiers and Addresses. Their characteristics allow them to severely limit certain classes of denial of service attacks and hijacking attacks. SUCV addresses are particularly applicable to solve the address ownership problem that hinders mechanisms like Binding Updates in Mobile IPv6. keywords: Security, Mobile IPv6, Address ownership.
NK Cell Receptors of the Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus): A Pivotal Species for Tracking the Coevolution of Killer Cell Ig-Like Receptors with MHC-C1

CD94, NKG2, Ly49, and killer cell Ig-like receptor (KIR) expressed by orangutan peripheral blood cells were examined by cloning and sequencing cDNA from a panel of individuals. Orthologs of human CD94, NKG2A, D, and F were defined. NKG2C and E are represented by one gene, Popy-NKG2CE, that is equidistant from the two human genes. Several Popy-CD94, NKG2A, and NKG2CE alleles were defined. Popy-Ly49L is expressed in cultured NK cells and has a sequence consistent with it encoding a functional receptor. Orangutan KIR corresponding to the three KIR lineages expressed in humans and chimpanzees were defined. Popy-KIR2DL4 of lineage I is the only ortholog of a human or chimpanzee KIR, but in all individuals examined, the transcripts of this gene produced premature termination, either in the D2 domain or at the beginning of the cytoplasmic domain. Ten Popy-KIR3DL and one Popy-KIR3DS of lineage II are all closely related, but represent the products of at least two genes. The two Popy-KIR2DL and four Popy-KIR2DS of lineage III also represent two genes, both being more related to KIR2DS4 than to other human and chimpanzee KIR of lineage III. The Popy-KIR2D include ones predicted to be specific for the C1 epitope of MHC-C, but none specific for C2. This correlates with the observation that all orangutan MHC-C allotypes examined have the C1 motif.
The Paleoclimate Reconstruction Challenge

Detailed understanding of the full range of annual and seasonal climate variability over the past millennium forms an important basis for the interpretation of the observed record, and for gauging the response of the climate system to various forcings. Using different methods and proxy networks, the climate reconstructions available show general similarity in their depiction of large-scale meantemperature evolution, particularly at the decadal to centennial timescale. There are, however, important differences in reconstructions at the interannual and multicentennial to millennial scale. It is unclear whether these differences result from the selection of specific proxy networks, the potential inability of the included proxies to resolve information at all timescales, or the algorithms themselves (National Research Council, 2006). The paleoclimate community needs to establish a protocol for reassessing its methods to rebuild confidence in the reconstruction efforts. The last millennium Paleoclimate Reconstruction (PR) Challenge—run under the auspices of the PAGES-CLIVAR-Intersection and co-sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)—will allow us to directly address these concerns and to establish objective reconstruction benchmarks. The idea is to use results from state-of-the-art coupled Atmosphere-Ocean-General Circulation Models (AOGCMs) in both openand blind-test reconstruction exercises. Individual reconstruction groups (and anyone who would like to participate) will be brought together and issued a small set of realistic pseudo-proxy series and calibrated “instrumental data” drawn from the model output. They will be asked to reconstruct the simulated climate evolution to the best of their technique’s ability. By comparing reconstructions with the full, “true” model climates, each group can assess their performance in great detail. A key objective of this project is to document how much of the true climate can be described with the combined set of reconstruction results, to determine which aspects of the overall or regional climate are captured well, and whether important elements are being missed. Beyond the main goal of improved understanding of the performance of climate reconstruction methods, it is hoped that the PR Challenge will improve exchange among the different paleoclimate reconstruction groups and provide a flexible platform for enhanced interaction with the associated disciplines in climate modeling and statistics. The latter might be particularly helpful with regard to a more formal assessment and quantification of uncertainty and regional climate understanding. The results of the PR Challenge will support and steer the community to develop strategies for improving reconstruction methods, so that past climate variations can be better understood. PR Challenge organizers: Caspar Ammann National Center for Atmospheric Research Nicholas Graham Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Hydrologic Research Center Rosanne D’Arrigo Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory Thorsten Kiefer PAGES International Project Office
The impact of microsatellite electromorph size homoplasy on multilocus population structure estimates in a tropical tree (Corythophora alta) and an anadromous fish (Morone saxatilis)

Microsatellite allelic states are determined by electrophoretic sizing of polymerase chain reaction fragments to define electromorphs. Numerous studies have documented that identical microsatellite electromorphs are potentially heterogeneous at the DNA sequence level, a phenomenon called electromorph size homoplasy. Few studies have examined the impact of electromorph size homoplasy on estimates of population genetic parameters. We investigated the frequency of microsatellite electromorph size homoplasy for 12 loci in the tropical tree Corythophora alta and 11 loci in the anadromous fish Morone saxatilis by sequencing 14–23 homozygotes per locus sampled from multiple populations for a total of 453 sequences. Sequencing revealed no homoplasy for M. saxatilis loci. Seven C. alta loci exhibited homoplasy, including single and compound repeat motifs both with and without interruptions. Between 12.5 and 42.9% of electromorphs sampled per locus showed size homoplasy. Two methods of correction for homoplasy in C. alta generally produced little or no change in single‐locus estimates of RST, except for two loci in which some additional differentiation among populations was revealed. Twelve‐locus estimates of RST (including the seven loci corrected for homoplasy) were slightly greater than estimates from uncorrected data, although the 95% confidence intervals overlapped. The frequency of methodological errors such as clerical mistakes or sample mislabelling per genotype scored was estimated at 5.4 and 7.3% for C. alta and M. saxatilis, respectively. Simulations showed that the increase in RST produced by homoplasy correction was only slightly larger than variation in RST estimates expected to be caused by methodological errors.
Simultaneous Two-Dimensional Cell Layout Compaction Using MILP with ASTRAN

This paper describes a technique to compact cell layouts efficiently using Mixed-Integer Linear Programming. By using binary variables we were able not only to model the conditional design rules, which apply to technology nodes down to 65nm, but also to compact layouts in the two-dimensions simultaneously. This technique was applied to a transistor network layout synthesis tool called ASTRAN which is being used to generate on-demand cells with unrestricted transistor network structure. We demonstrate in this paper that our technique is able to generate dense cell layouts, competitive with manually designed cells.
A simulator for Freeman K-sets in Java

Freeman K-sets form a hierarchy of models of the dynamics of neuron populations at the mesoscopic (intermediate) level. The topology of connections is modeled by networks of excitatory and inhibitory populations of neurons; the dynamics is approximated by piecewise linearization of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODE). A simulator for the K-sets of levels K0 to K3 was built in Java in order to remedy some of the deficiencies found in the simulator available built in MATLAB, as defects that cause instabilities in the simulation, the lack of flexibility in the parameterization of the K3-set and the high computational time required to use the simulator due to design and language decisions. Java was chosen because it is a popular, multi-platform, object oriented and computationally efficient language. The software developed in Java also allows easy integration with MATLAB and other environments. An application on clustering of social networking data evaluates the proposed simulator.
Modeling of conservation practices on a HUC-12 watershed scale using Hydrological Simulation Program -- FORTRAN

Conservation practices are frequently used to try and restore the natural resilience of the landscape to retain water, decrease nutrient loads, and mitigate flooding. Quantifying the potential benefits of conservation practices can inform stakeholders and improve the effectiveness of watershed planning. To this end, an existing Hydrological Simulation Program — FORTRAN (HSPF) model of the English River was enhanced to enable detailed modeling of conservation practices. Using site-specific nutrient removal wetlands and water and sediment control basins (WASCOBs) derived from the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) two 12-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC-12) watersheds within the English River, Headwaters North English River and Gritter Creek, were selected for modeling. Wetlands drain much larger areas than ponds that currently exist in the two watersheds. Average flood peak reductions are over 50% near the wetland sites, and diminish moving downstream to a few percent or less at the watershed outlets. Many WASCOBs exist in the two watersheds, but WASCOB use is minimal in other areas of the state. WASCOBs provide slightly more flood storage than ACPF wetlands but the storage isy distributed throughout the watershed. As a result the simulations show that the peak reduction is greater than for wetlands at many locations.
Increased BOLD Variability in the Parietal Cortex and Enhanced Parieto-Occipital Connectivity during Tactile Perception in Congenitally Blind Individuals

Previous studies in early blind individuals posited a possible role of parieto-occipital connections in conveying nonvisual information to the visual occipital cortex. As a consequence of blindness, parietal areas would thus become able to integrate a greater amount of multimodal information than in sighted individuals. To verify this hypothesis, we compared fMRI-measured BOLD signal temporal variability, an index of efficiency in functional information integration, in congenitally blind and sighted individuals during tactile spatial discrimination and motion perception tasks. In both tasks, the BOLD variability analysis revealed many cortical regions with a significantly greater variability in the blind as compared to sighted individuals, with an overlapping cluster located in the left inferior parietal/anterior intraparietal cortex. A functional connectivity analysis using this region as seed showed stronger correlations in both tasks with occipital areas in the blind as compared to sighted individuals. As BOLD variability reflects neural integration and processing efficiency, these cross-modal plastic changes in the parietal cortex, even if described in a limited sample, reinforce the hypothesis that this region may play an important role in processing nonvisual information in blind subjects and act as a hub in the cortico-cortical pathway from somatosensory cortex to the reorganized occipital areas.
Characterizing multi-layered vegetation with dual-polarimetric TerraSAR-X imagery

This paper demonstrates the application of the Gaussian-mixture model technique for separation of phase centres in an area containing the aggregate of scattering centres at multiple distances from the SAR sensor. Typically co-polar phase differences have a unimodal gaussian distribution over a diffuse scatterer with high interchannel coherence. This paper shows that in special conditions the phase difference distribution is multimodal with stable mean values and standard deviation over time, indicating correspondence to the separation of coherent scattering centres over the target area.
Modeling Multi-query Retrieval Tasks Using Density Matrix Transformation

The quantum probabilistic framework has recently been applied to Information Retrieval (IR). A representative is the Quantum Language Model (QLM), which is developed for the ad-hoc retrieval with single queries and has achieved significant improvements over traditional language models. In QLM, a density matrix, defined on the quantum probabilistic space, is estimated as a representation of user's search intention with respect to a specific query. However, QLM is unable to capture the dynamics of user's information need in query history. This limitation restricts its further application on the dynamic search tasks, e.g., session search. In this paper, we propose a Session-based Quantum Language Model (SQLM) that deals with multi-query session search task. In SQLM, a transformation model of density matrices is proposed to model the evolution of user's information need in response to the user's interaction with search engine, by incorporating features extracted from both positive feedback (clicked documents) and negative feedback (skipped documents). Extensive experiments conducted on TREC 2013 and 2014 session track data demonstrate the effectiveness of SQLM in comparison with the classic QLM.
Mid Campanian‐Lower Maastrichtian magnetostratigraphy of the James Ross Basin, Antarctica: Chronostratigraphical implications

The James Ross Basin, in the northern Antarctic Peninsula, exposes which is probably the world thickest and most complete Late Cretaceous sedimentary succession of southern high latitudes. Despite its very good exposures and varied and abundant fossil fauna, precise chronological determination of its infill is still lacking. We report results from a magnetostratigraphic study on shelfal sedimentary rocks of the Marambio Group, southeastern James Ross Basin, Antarctica. The succession studied covers a ~1,200 m‐thick stratigraphic interval within the Hamilton Point, Sanctuary Cliffs and Karlsen Cliffs Members of the Snow Hill Island Formation, the Haslum Crag Formation, and the lower López de Bertodano Formation. The basic chronological reference framework is given by ammonite assemblages, which indicate a Late Campanian – Early Maastrichtian age for the studied units. Magnetostratigraphic samples were obtained from five partial sections located on James Ross and Snow Hill islands, the results from which agree partially with this previous biostratigraphical framework. Seven geomagnetic polarity reversals are identified in this work, allowing to identify the Chron C32/C33 boundary in Ammonite Assemblage 8‐1, confirming the Late Campanian age of the Hamilton Point Member. However, the identification of the Chron C32/C31 boundary in Ammonite Assemblage 8‐2 assigns the base of the Sanctuary Cliffs Member to the early Maastrichtian, which differs from the Late Campanian age previously assigned by ammonite biostratigraphy. This magnetostratigraphy spans ~14 Ma of sedimentary succession and together with previous partial magnetostratigraphies on Early‐Mid Campanian and Middle Maastrichtian to Danian columns permits a complete and continuous record of the Late Cretaceous distal deposits of the James Ross Basin. This provides the required chronological resolution to solve the intra‐basin and global correlation problems of the Late Cretaceous in the Southern Hemisphere in general and in the Weddellian province in particular, given by endemism and diachronic extinctions on invertebrate fossils, including ammonites. The new chronostratigraphic scheme allowed us to calculate sediment accumulation rates for almost the entire Late Cretaceous infill of the distal James Ross Basin (the Marambio Group), showing a monotonous accumulation for more than 8 Myr during the upper Campanian and a dramatic increase during the early Maastrichtian, controlled by tectonic and/or eustatic causes.
Adaptive responses to high salinity of two subspecies of Aster tripolium on different nitrogen sources

The effects of NaCl salinity, different N-sources (nitrate or ammonium), as well as pH on the major enzymes of N-metabolism and total antioxidant capacity were investigated in two subspecies of Aster tripolium L. , A. tripolium ssp. tripolium, a maritime halophyte, and A. tripolium ssp. pannonicus, endemic on the continental alkaline salty meadows. Differences in their biochemical and physiological responses to the experimental conditions are in agreement with their evolutional adaptation either to the fluctuating coastal circumstances or to the more constant salinity level on the alkaline salty meadows. Accordingly, A. tripolium ssp. tripolium reacted more sensitively to salinity while A. tripolium ssp. pannonicus showed less physiological flexibility and more stable performance.
Translation Events in Dutch Cross-Language Information Retrieval

The paper describes an analysis of the translation events encountered when queries cross the language barrier in crosslanguage information retrieval. A study of a set of query source and target triples resulted in the creation of a translation taxonomy. The taxonomy was used to code 750 English target queries. The 750 coded queries are currently being used in retrieval experiments to assess the impact of the different translation problems on retrieval performance.
Evaluation of water conservation capacity of loess plateau typical mountain ecosystems based on InVEST model simulation

With increasing demand for water resources and frequently a general deterioration of local water resources, water conservation by forests has received considerable attention in recent years. To evaluate water conservation capacities of different forest ecosystems in mountainous areas of Loess Plateau, the landscape of forests was divided into 18 types in Loess Plateau. Under the consideration of the factors such as climate, topography, plant, soil and land use, the water conservation of the forest ecosystems was estimated by means of InVEST model. The result showed that 486417.7 hm2 forests in typical mountain areas were divided into 18 forest types, and the total water conservation quantity was 1.64×1012m3, equaling an average of water conversation quantity of 9.09×1010m3. There is a great difference in average water conversation capacity among various forest types. The water conservation function and its evaluation is crucial and complicated issues in the study of ecological service function in modern times.
Semantic Video-to-Video Search Using Sub-graph Grouping and Matching

We propose a novel video event retrieval algorithm given a video query containing grouped events from large scale video database. Rather than looking for similar scenes using visual features as conventional image retrieval algorithms do, we search for the similar semantic events (e.g. finding a video such that a person parks a vehicle and meets with other person and exchanges a bag). Videos are analyzed semantically and represented by a graphical structure. Now the problem is to match the graph with other graphs of events in the database. Since the query video may include noisy activities or some event may not be detected by the semantic video analyzer, exact graph matching does not always work. For efficient and effective solution, we introduce a novel sub graph indexing and matching scheme. Sub graphs are grouped and their importance is further learned over video by topic learning algorithms. After grouping and indexing sub graphs, the complex graph matching problem becomes simple vector comparison in reduced dimension. The performances are extensively evaluated and compared with each approach.
Binding via Reconstruction Clustering

Disentangled distributed representations of data are desirable for machine learning, since they are more expressive and can generalize from fewer examples. However, for complex data, the distributed representations of multiple objects present in the same input can interfere and lead to ambiguities, which is commonly referred to as the binding problem. We argue for the importance of the binding problem to the field of representation learning, and develop a probabilistic framework that explicitly models inputs as a composition of multiple objects. We propose an unsupervised algorithm that uses denoising autoencoders to dynamically bind features together in multi-object inputs through an Expectation-Maximization-like clustering process. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated on artificially generated datasets of binary images, showing that it can even generalize to bind together new objects never seen by the autoencoder during training.
First report of autochthonous transmission of Zika virus in Brazil

In the early 2015, several cases of patients presenting symptoms of mild fever, rash, conjunctivitis and arthralgia were reported in the northeastern Brazil. Although all patients lived in a dengue endemic area, molecular and serological diagnosis for dengue resulted negative. Chikungunya virus infection was also discarded. Subsequently, Zika virus (ZIKV) was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction from the sera of eight patients and the result was confirmed by DNA sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the ZIKV identified belongs to the Asian clade. This is the first report of ZIKV infection in Brazil.
Performance of a Foot-and-Mouth Disease virus Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction with Amplification Controls between Three Real-Time Instruments

The foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is a member of the picornavirus family, possessing an 8-kb single-stranded RNA genome of positive polarity. It is highly contagious among several livestock species and can lead to severe economic consequences, as evidenced by the UK outbreak in 2001. The usage of real-time polymerase chain reaction has facilitated rapid detection of FMDV. Several real-time PCR instruments are available with various capabilities, such as portability and high sample volume analysis. Primers and a dual-labeled TaqMan probe were optimized to detect a single, highly conserved 88-bp segment of the FMDV 3D (RNA polymerase) gene. To increase the confidence of the RT-PCR result, a positive amplification control was synthesized to detect potential false-positive results due to contamination if a wildtype virus is used as positive control. In addition, a preventative measure against false-negative results was developed in which endogenous beta actin mRNA is coamplified by RT-PCR. Assay performance was compared on the LightCycler1.2 (Roche), the SmartCyclerII (Cepheid), and the SDS 7900HT (ABI). These assays successfully identified the FMDV genome and beta actin mRNA from several sources of infected nasal and oral swabs, as well as probang samples.