Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Knowledge Representation and Management: a Linked Data Perspective

Summary Introduction: Biomedical research is increasingly becoming a data-intensive science in several areas, where prodigious amounts of data is being generated that has to be stored, integrated, shared and analyzed. In an effort to improve the accessibility of data and knowledge, the Linked Data initiative proposed a well-defined set of recommendations for exposing, sharing and integrating data, information and knowledge, using semantic web technologies. Objective: The main goal of this paper is to identify the current status and future trends of knowledge representation and management in Life and Health Sciences, mostly with regard to linked data technologies. Methods: We selected three prominent linked data studies, namely Bio2RDF, Open PHACTS and EBI RDF platform, and selected 14 studies published after 2014 (inclusive) that cited any of the three studies. We manually analyzed these 14 papers in relation to how they use linked data techniques. Results: The analyses show a tendency to use linked data techniques in Life and Health Sciences, and even if some studies do not follow all of the recommendations, many of them already represent and manage their knowledge using RDF and biomedical ontologies. Conclusion: These insights from RDF and biomedical ontologies are having a strong impact on how knowledge is generated from biomedical data, by making data elements increasingly connected and by providing a better description of their semantics. As health institutes become more data centric, we believe that the adoption of linked data techniques will continue to grow and be an effective solution to knowledge representation and management.
An improved analysis and design methodology for RF Class-E power amplifiers with finite DC-feed inductance and switch On-resistance

Previous analytical efforts to incorporate the impact of finite switch ON-resistance into the design procedure of Class-E power amplifiers (PAs) have imposed one or both of the so-called “Class-E switching conditions”, namely zero voltage switching (ZVS) and zero derivative of voltage at switching (ZDVS). These are essential for high efficiency operation only in the absence of losses. In this work, more general design equations have been derived without imposition of either ZVS or ZDVS. The optimal design is found to exhibit neither ZVS nor ZDVS, thereby validating the analysis. For the first time, an attempt has been made to incorporate the input power into the analysis, which facilitates optimization of power-added efficiency (PAE). The resulting designs exhibit better performance in terms of output power and PAE compared to existing design approaches. The analytical results have been verified through Spectre-RF simulations at 5GHz in 0. 18µm and 65nm CMOS. Through this design procedure, we further demonstrate that Class-E PAs at 5GHz based on thick-oxide devices in 0. 18µm CMOS, despite their lower speed, outperform those based on 65nm CMOS devices due to their higher voltage-handling capability.
Benchmarking haar and histograms of oriented gradients features applied to vehicle detection

This paper provides a comparison between two of the most used visual descriptors (image features) nowadays in the field of object detection. The investigated image features involved the Haar filters and the Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HoG) applied for the on road vehicle detection. Tests are very encouraging with a average detection of 96% on realistic on-road vehicle images.
A Pervasive Augmented Reality Serious Game

This paper presents a pervasive augmented reality serious game that can be used to enhance entertainment using a multimodal tracking interface. The main objective of the research is to design and implement generic pervasive interfaces that are user-friendly and can be used by a wide range of users including people with disabilities. A pervasive AR racing game has been designed and implemented. The goal of the game is to start the car and move around the track without colliding with either the wall or the objects that exist in the gaming arena. Users can interact using a pinch glove, a Wiimote, through tangible ways as well as through I/O controls of the UMPC. Initial evaluation results showed that multimodal-based interaction games can be beneficial in serious games.
Articulatory parameter generation using unsupervised Hidden Markov Models

We present an acoustic-to-articulatory inversion method based on unsupervised Hidden Markov Models. A global HMM is first trained from the acoustic and articulatory data. This model is then split in two sub-models which represent the acoustic part and the articulatory part of the data. These two sub-models are linked through the fact that they are deduced from the same global model.
How the Number of Interest Points Affect Scene Classification

This paper focuses on the relationship between the number of interest points and the accuracy rate in scene classification. Here, we accept the common belief that more interest points can generate higher accuracy. But, few effort have been done in this field. In order to validate this viewpoint, in our paper, extensive experiments based on bag of words method are implemented. In particular, three different SIFT descriptors and five feature selection methods are adopted to change the number of interest points. As innovation point, we propose a novel dense SIFT descriptor named Octave Dense SIFT, which can generate more interest points and higher accuracy, and a new feature selection method called number mutual information (NMI), which has better robustness than other feature selection methods. Experimental results show that the number of interest points can aggressively affect classification accuracy.
The Activity of the Chloroplastic Ndh Complex Is Regulated by Phosphorylation of the NDH-F Subunit1

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) induces increases, to different degrees, in transcripts, protein levels, and activity of the Ndh complex (EC 1.6.5.3). In the present work, we have compared the effects of relatively excess light, H2O2, dimethylthiourea (a scavenger of H2O2), and/or EGTA (a Ca2+chelator) on the activity and protein levels of the Ndh complex of barley (Hordeum vulgare cv Hassan) leaf segments. The results show the involvement of H2O2 in the modulation of both the protein level and activity of the Ndh complex and the participation of Ca2+ mainly in the activity regulation of pre-existing protein. Changes in Ndh complex activity could not be explained only by changes in Ndh protein levels, suggesting posttranslational modifications. Hence, we investigate the possible phosphorylation of the Ndh complex both in thylakoids and in the immunopurified Ndh complex using monoclonal phosphoamino acid antibodies. We demonstrate that the Ndh complex is phosphorylated in vivo at threonine residue(s) of the NDH-F polypeptide and that the level of phosphorylation is closely correlated with the Ndh complex activity. The emerging picture is that full activity of the Ndh complex is reached by phosphorylation of its NDH-F subunit in a H2O2- and Ca2+-mediated action.
Electric Elves: Agent Technology for Supporting Human Organizations

The operation of a human organization requires dozens of everyday tasks to ensure coherence in organizational activities, to monitor the status of such activities, to gather information relevant to the organization, to keep everyone in the organization informed, etc. Teams of software agents can aid humans in accomplishing these tasks, facilitating the organization’s coherent functioning and rapid response to crises, while reducing the burden on humans. Based on this vision, this paper reports on Electric Elves, a system that has been operational, 24/7, at our research institute since June 1, 2000. Tied to individual user workstations, fax machines, voice, mobile devices such as cell phones and palm pilots, Electric Elves has assisted us in routine tasks, such as rescheduling meetings, selecting presenters for research meetings, tracking people’s locations, organizing lunch meetings, etc. We discuss the underlying AI technologies that led to the success of Electric Elves, including technologies devoted to agenthuman interactions, agent coordination, accessing multiple heterogeneous information sources, dynamic assignment of organizational tasks, and deriving information about organization members. We also report the results of deploying Electric Elves in our own research organization.
Sentinel lymph node biopsy: technique validation at the Setúbal Medical Centre, Portugal

Aims: To evaluate the accuracy of sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer patients at this institution, using combined technetium-99m (99mTc) sulphur colloid and patent blue vital dye. Methods: From March 2007 to July 2008, 50 patients with a tumour of less than 3 cm and with clinically negative axillary lymph nodes underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), followed by axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). Sub-areolar 99mTc sulphur colloid injection was performed the day before surgery, and patent blue vital dye was also injected sub-areolarly at least 5 minutes before surgery. Sentinel lymph node was identified during the surgical procedure, using a gamma probe and direct vision. All sentinel nodes underwent frozen section analysis. Later haematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemical analysis were performed. Finally, SLNB was compared with standard ALND for its ability to accurately reflect the final pathological status of the axillary nodes. Results: The sentinel lymph node (SLN) was identified in 48 of 50 patients (96%). The number of sentinel lymph nodes ranged from one to four (mean 1.48) and non-sentinel nodes ranged from seven to 27 (mean 14.33). Of the 48 patients with successfully identified SLNs, 29.17% (14/48) were histologically positive. Sensivity of the SLN to predict axilla was 93.75%; accuracy was 97.96%. The SLN was falsely negative in one patient—6.25% (1/16). Conclusions: The SLNB represents a major advance in the surgical treatment of breast cancer as a minimally invasive procedure predicting the axillary lymph node status. This validation study demonstrates the accuracy of the SLNB and its reasonable false negative rate when performed in our institute. It can now be used as the standard method of staging in patients with early breast cancer at this institution.
Analysis of soil movement around a loaded pile induced by deep excavation

The change of the bearing capacity of an adjacent pile induced by the excavation of a foundation pit involves the complex interaction between the retaining structure, soil, and loaded pile. Thus, the study of the displacement field of the soil around the pile is very important. A three-dimensional finite element model was established and the influence of pile spacing and pile-cap spacing on the displacement of soil around the pile was analyzed. The pile foundation could restrain the settlement of the soil around the pile. In addition, the soil within 20 m below surface was obviously affected with an influence coefficient of 0.7. The results show that when the pile-cap spacing is less than 50 m, the soil settlement coefficient changes approximately linearly. Moreover, an empirical formula is obtained for the reduction coefficient.
The Planet Simulator: Green planet and desert world

An application of the Planet Simulator is presented to estimate the maximum effect of vegetation on the Earth’s climate. Four sets of sensitivity experiments are performed: (1) All vegetation related land surface parameters are changed simultaneously. (2) Only one effect of vegetation on climate is considered: albedo, surface roughness and soil hydrology. To identify the nature of vegetation-climate interaction, linear superposition and non-linear interaction of these three effects are compared. (3) The first experimental set-up is repeated but with mixed-layer ocean and thermodynamic sea-ice. (4) The effect of enhanced greenhouse gas concentrations on extreme vegetation climates is analysed repeating the preceding experimental setup with twice the CO2 concentration (compared to set-3). Zusammenfassung Der Planet Simulator wird hier benutzt, um den maximalen Effekt der Vegetation auf das Erdklima
Cardiac-specific Deletion of LKB1 Leads to Hypertrophy and Dysfunction

LKB1 encodes a serine/threonine kinase, which functions upstream of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) superfamily. To clarify the role of LKB1 in heart, we generated and characterized cardiac myocyte-specific LKB1 knock-out (KO) mice using α-myosin heavy chain-Cre deletor strain. LKB1-KO mice displayed biatrial enlargement with atrial fibrillation and cardiac dysfunction at 4 weeks of age. Left ventricular hypertrophy was observed in LKB1-KO mice at 12 weeks but not 4 weeks of age. Collagen I and III mRNA expression was elevated in atria at 4 weeks, and atrial fibrosis was seen at 12 weeks. LKB1-KO mice displayed cardiac dysfunction and atrial fibrillation and died within 6 months of age. Indicative of a prohypertrophic environment, the phosphorylation of AMPK and eEF2 was reduced, whereas mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) phosphorylation and p70S6 kinase phosphorylation were increased in both the atria and ventricles of LKB1-deficient mice. Consistent with vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA and protein levels being significantly reduced in LKB1-KO mice, these mice also exhibited a reduction in capillary density of both atria and ventricles. In cultured cardiac myocytes, LKB1 silencing induced hypertrophy, which was ameliorated by the expression of a constitutively active form AMPK or by treatment with the inhibitor of mTOR, rapamycin. These findings indicate that LKB1 signaling in cardiac myocytes is essential for normal development of the atria and ventricles. Cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction in LKB1-deficient hearts are associated with alterations in AMPK and mTOR/p70S6 kinase/eEF2 signaling and with a reduction in vascular endothelial growth factor expression and vessel rarefaction.
A New Thermal-Conscious System-Level Methodology for Energy-Efficient Processor Voltage Selection

In this paper, we propose a thermal-conscious system-level methodology to make energy-efficient voltage selection (VS) for nanometer processors under real-time constraints. New modeling parameters, such as power composition ratio (PCR), thermal resistance, are integrated and considered in our system models, and their impacts on energy consumption are explored. The interdependence between temperature and power is modeled in an iterative way and two nonlinear programming formulations are presented to determine the optimal energy-efficient supply voltages. Our experiment results show that the energy estimation discrepancy given by the thermal-conscious and traditional system models can reach up to 50% in 65nm PTM CMOS technology, which again underscores the necessity of a thermal-aware power model. Furthermore, our thermal-conscious voltage selection (TCVS) approach can achieve up to 12% further energy savings and much lower peak temperature than the traditional approach. Finally, our specific temperature voltage selection (STVS) approach can reduce the computation complexity greatly with acceptable energy overheads compared with TCVS
Multiaccess Fading Channels-Part I: Polymatroid Structure, Optimal Resource Allocation and Throughput Capacities

In multiaccess wireless systems, dynamic allocation of resources such as transmit power, bandwidths, and rates is an important means to deal with the time-varying nature of the environment. In this two-part paper, we consider the problem of optimal resource allocation from an information-theoretic point of view. We focus on the multiaccess fading channel with Gaussian noise, and define two notions of capacity depending on whether the traffic is delay-sensitive or not. In part I, we characterize the throughput capacity regionwhich contains the long-term achievable rates through the time-varying channel. We show that each point on the boundary of the region can be achieved by successive decoding. Moreover, the optimal rate and power allocations in each fading state can be explicitly obtained in a greedy manner. The solution can be viewed as the generalization of the water-filling construction for single-user channels to multiaccess channels with arbitrary number of users, and exploits the underlying polymatroidstructure of the capacity region. In part II, we characterize a delay-limitedcapacity region and obtain analogous results.
Dissociation and Propagation for Efficient Query Evaluation over Probabilistic Databases

Queries over probabilistic databases are either safe, in which case they can be evaluated entirely in a relational database engine, or unsafe, in which case they need to be evaluated with a general-purpose inference engine at a high cost. We propose a new approach by which every query is evaluated inside the database engine, by using a new method called dissociation. A dissociated query is obtained by adding extraneous variables to some atoms until the query becomes safe. We show that the probability of the original query and that of the dissociated query correspond to two well-known scoring functions on graphs, namely graph reliability (which is #P-hard), and the propagation score (which is related to PageRank and is in PTIME): When restricted to graphs, standard query probability is graph reliability, while the dissociated probability is the propagation score. We define a propagation score for self-join-free conjunctive queries and prove that it is always an upper bound for query reliability, and that both scores coincide for all safe queries. Given the widespread and successful use of graph propagation methods in practice, we argue for the dissociation method as a highly efficient way to rank probabilistic query results, especially for those queries which are highly intractable for exact probabilistic inference.
Slow-light and evanescent modes at interfaces in photonic crystal waveguides: optimal extraction from experimental near-field measurements

We develop a systematic approach for simultaneous extraction of the dispersion relations and profiles of multiple modes in periodic waveguides though a special global optimization procedure applied to near-field electric field measurements in the waveguide plane. We apply this method to perform in-depth analysis of experimental data on wave propagation close to an interface between waveguide sections with different dispersion characteristics, and we successfully identify several modes contributing to the experimentally measured fields. We find clear evidence that when the group velocity is reduced across the interface, evanescent modes that facilitate the excitation of propagating slow-light waves appear, confirming previous theoretical predictions.
Efficient Feature Selection and Nearest Neighbour Search for Hyperspectral Image Classification

Hyperspectral images typically contain hundreds of spectral bands which is one to two orders of magnitude larger than the number of bands in multispectral images. This greater volume of spectral information could lead to discoveries that are not possible with multispectral images; however, overcoming the complexity of the additional information is a computational challenge. Here, we present a solution that uses feature selection, logarithmic nearest neighbor classification and neighborhood spatial analysis to classify the land use of multiple hyperspectral images. Empirical analysis shows that our solution is as accurate as other much more complex approaches and it is orders-of-magnitude more efficient. This ascertains that our solution is scalable to larger datasets while maintaining high accuracy.
The 12 November 2017 Mw 7.3 Ezgeleh‐Sarpolzahab (Iran) Earthquake and Active Tectonics of the Lurestan Arc

The 12 November 2017 Mw 7.3 Ezgeleh‐Sarpolzahab earthquake is the largest instrumentally recorded earthquake in the Zagros Simply Folded Belt by a factor of ∼10 in seismic moment. Exploiting local, regional, and teleseismic data and synthetic aperture radar interferometry imagery, we characterize the rupture, its aftershock sequence, background seismicity, and regional tectonics. The mainshock ruptured slowly (∼2 km/s), unilaterally southward, for ∼40 km along an oblique (dextral‐thrust) fault that dips ∼14°E beneath the northwestern Lurestan arc. Slip is confined to basement depths of ∼12–18 km, resolvably beneath the sedimentary cover which is ∼8 km thick in this area. The gentle dip angle and basement location allow for a broad slip area, explaining the large magnitude relative to earthquakes in the main Fars arc of the Zagros, where shallower, steeper faults are limited in rupture extent by weak sedimentary layers. Early aftershocks concentrate around the southern and western edges of the mainshock slip area and therefore cluster in the direction of rupture propagation, implying a contribution from dynamic triggering. A cluster of events ∼100 km to the south near Mandali (Iraq) reactivated the ∼50° dipping Zagros Foredeep Fault. The basement fault responsible for the Ezgeleh‐Sarpolzahab earthquake probably accounts for the ∼1 km elevation contrast between the Lurestan arc and the Kirkuk embayment but is distinct from sections of the Mountain Front Fault that define frontal escarpments elsewhere in the Zagros. It may be related to a seismic interface underlying the central and southern Lurestan arc, and a key concern is whether or not the more extensive regional structure is also seismogenic.
A low power low noise amplifier for 2.45GHz ISM receiver for Body Area Network

This paper presents the design and simulation results of a low power low noise amplifier (LNA) for 2.45 GHz industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) receiver for Body Area Network (BAN) in 0.18 um CMOS technology. This architecture is based on the resistive termination LNA. The proposed LNA consumes just 2.4 mW power. Its bandwidth is between 2 and 2.7 GHz. The simulated LNA shows a high voltage gain of about 22.7 dB with 0.86 dB minimal noise figure at 2.45 GHz frequency. It is characterized by an excellent input impedance equal to 48Ω at 2.45GHz.
Mitochondrial-nuclear interactions maintain a deep mitochondrial split in the face of nuclear gene flow

Proteins encoded by interacting mitochondrial and nuclear genes catalyze essential metabolic processes in eukaryote cells. The correct functioning of such processes requires combinations of mitochondrial and nuclear alleles that work together (mitonuclear interactions) and the avoidance of mismatched combinations (mitonuclear incompatibilities). This interplay could have a major role during the early stages of population divergence. Here, we show that mitonuclear interactions maintain a deep mitochondrial divergence in the face of nuclear gene flow between two lineages of the songbird Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis) occupying contrasting climatic habitats. Using >60,000 SNPs we explored patterns of nuclear gene differentiation and introgression along two sampling transects intersecting the deep mitochondrial divergence between lineages. We found a replicated pattern of low genome-wide differentiation contrasting with two prominent regions of high differentiation (genomic islands of divergence) in different nuclear backgrounds. The largest island of divergence (~15.4 Mb) showed a significant excess of nuclear-encoded genes with mitochondrial functions (N-mt genes), low genetic diversity and high levels of linkage disequilibrium. Thus, genetic differentiation between the two adjacent but climatically divergent lineages is mostly limited to the mitochondrial genome and a nuclear genomic region containing tightly linked N-mt genes that presumably experience reduced recombination. The second island of divergence mapped to the Z-chromosome, suggesting that nuclear gene flow occurs primarily via male hybrids, in accordance with Haldanes Rule. Our results are consistent with accumulating evidence that mitonuclear co-evolution could represent a key vehicle for climatic adaptation during population divergence.