Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
U-Pb geochronology and geochemistry from the northeastern New River belt, southern New Brunswick, Canada: significance of the Almond Road Group to the Ganderian platformal margin

The Almond Road Group in the northeastern New River belt comprises two formations: the basal Snider Mountain Formation contains orthoquartzite, feldspathic quartzite, and quartzite pebble conglomerate; the gradationally overlying Ketchum Brook Formation is composed of feldspathic sandstone, laminated dark siltstone and shale, overlain by mafic lithic tuffs and basaltic flows. The Almond Road Group overlies latest Ediacaran to earliest Cambrian (early Fortunian) pyroclastic, volcaniclastic, and epiclastic rocks of the Belleisle Bay Group. Based in part on this relationship, the Almond Road Group was thought to be Early Cambrian, although an upper age limit had never been determined. A U–Pb (zircon) age of 475 ± 2 Ma for the West Scotch Settlement porphyry, a small felsic hypabyssal intrusion emplaced into the Ketchum Brook Formation, demonstrates that the Almond Road Group is no younger than Early Ordovician (early Floian) age. Its age is further constrained by LA ICP-MS detrital zircon data from a basal quartzite in the Snider Mountain Formation. Results show a dominant peak in the Ediacaran (ca. 575 Ma), with the youngest coherent cluster of ages at ca. 530–520 Ma. Together these data support a Cambrian age for the quartz-rich Almond Road Group and its platformal relationship to Ganderia.
Edgecomputing: extending enterprise applications to the edge of the internet

Content delivery networks have evolved beyond traditional distributed caching. With services such as Akamai's EdgeComputing it is now possible to deploy and run enterprise business Web applications on a globally distributed computing platform, to provide subsecond response time to end users anywhere in the world. Additionally, this distributed application platform provides high levels of fault-tolerance and scalability on-demand to meet virtually any need. Application resources can be provisioned dynamically in seconds to respond automatically to changes in load on a given application.In some cases, an application can be deployed completely on the global platform without any central enterprise infrastructure. Other applications can require centralizing core business logic and transactional databases at the enterprise data center while the presentation layer and some business logic and database functionality move onto the edge platform.Implementing a distributed application service on the Internet's edge requires overcoming numerous challenges, including sandboxing for security, distributed load-balancing and resource management, accounting and billing, deployment, testing, debugging, and monitoring. Our current implementation of Akamai EdgeComputing supports application programming platforms such as Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and Microsoft's . NET Framework, in large part because they make it easier to address some of these challenges. In the near future we will also support environments for other application languages such as C, PHP, and Perl.
Robust nonlinear observer for flexible joint robot manipulators with only motor position measurement

This paper proposes a design method of sliding mode observer for flexible joint robot manipulators. The proposed observer structure is the conventional Luenberger observer with additional switching element that is a role to attenuate system uncertainties and modeling errors. During sliding, the design method is that the nonlinear function due to system uncertainty in sliding mode observer is divides into the parameter distinction and estimation error elements by using the Lipschitz condition. From the design method, this paper proves relation of the asymptotical stability and robustness of overall system according to the positive nonlinear gain of switching element. The proposed observer accurately estimates the velocity and position of link side in the flexible joint robot using only motor position measurement. In the simulation result, the performance and robustness of proposed sliding mode observer is verified and compared with the high gain observer.
WiPCon: A Proxied Control Plane for Wireless Access Points in Software Defined Networks

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) supports programmability by refactoring the network control plane. An SDN logically centralizes the control plane of network entities at the controller level. To achieve scalability, reliability, and availability, it is inevitable for the control plane to be configured as physically distributed. However, current deployments adopt a single SDN controller mainly due to problems of management complexity and costly maintenance. In this paper, we present a novel SDN architecture called a Wireless Proxy Controller (WiPCon) in order to increase the control plane efficiency of wireless networks. WiPCon involves a proxied control plane for wireless access points (APs) supporting SDN. It has a hybrid architecture in that the proxy SDN controller within the AP performs some of the main SDN controller roles, such as responding to specific network events, collecting wireless information, and local cooperation, although the control plane of the APs moves to the main SDN controller. Even though a single main SDN controller is used, WiPCon has robustness when it comes to network partitions or control bottlenecks, and flexibly copes with scalability issues that originate from dense deployment of APs. We analyzed various network factors through a preliminary implementation of WiPCon. Consequently, we verified that the proposed architecture efficiently supports control scalability and considerably reduces control overhead of the main SDN controller.
A Formal Approach to Conformance Testing

In order to assure successful communication between computer systems from different manufacturers, standardized communication protocols are being developed and specified. As a next step implementations of these protocols are needed that conform to these specifications. Testing is a way to check correctness of protocol implementations with respect to their specifications. This activity is known as protocol conformance testing. This thesis deals with a formal approach to protocol conformance testing. Testing is performed based on a formal specification of the protocol. The final aim is to obtain methods for the (automatic) derivation of useful sets of tests from formal specifications. The derived tests should be provably correct, which means that they should not detect errors in correct implementations. Moreover, the derived tests should be meaningful: erroneous implementations should be detected with a high probability. An important aspect is a formal definition of what constitutes correctness, i.e. when does a protocol implementation conform to a protocol specification.
The large fourth abdominal intersegmental interneuron: A new type of wind‐sensitive ventral cord interneuron in locusts

A large interneuron in Locusta migratoria is described that extends from the fourth abdominal ganglion to the brain. The morphology was revealed by injection of cobaltous ions or Lucifer yellow into the cell. As its cell body lies within the fourth abdominal ganglion it is named A4I1, the first identified intersegmental interneuron of the fourth abdominal ganglion. This neuron receives input from highly flexible, wind‐sensitive hairs on the prosternum, the pronotum, and the head (field 1). Sensory connections with A4I1 are made within the prothoracic ganglion. Stimulation of the receptive field initiates spikes in A4I1 which travel anteriorly and posteriorly from the prothoracic ganglion. Intracellular recording from the axon and the soma shows that the cell membrane becomes inactive within the fourth abdominal ganglion. Spikes could be generated within the fourth abdominal ganglion by current injection into the soma. Occasionally excitatory postsynaptic potentials were observed in a soma recording, but up to now there is no evidence for a second spike initiation site.
Large-Scale Circulation Anomalies and Intraseasonal Oscillations Associated with Long-Lived Extreme Heat Events in South China

AbstractSouth China experiences extreme heat (EH) most frequently in eastern China. This study specifically explores the large-scale circulation anomalies associated with long-lived EH events in south China. The results show that there is an anomalous cyclone (anticyclone) and active (inactive) convection over south China (the western Pacific) before the EH onset; then, an anticyclone develops and moves northwestward and dominates over south China on the onset day. The anomalous anticyclone maintains its strength over south China and then diminishes and is replaced by another cyclone migrating from the western Pacific after the final day of the EH event. Consequently, the temperature increases over south China around the onset day and is anomalously warm for approximately 10 days on average and then decreases shortly thereafter. The fluctuating anomalies over south China and the western Pacific are intimately related to two intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) modes, namely, the 5–25- and 30–90-day oscillation.
Fast approximation algorithms for fractional packing and covering problems

Fast algorithms that find approximate solutions for a general class of problems, which are called fractional packing and covering problems, are presented. The only previously known algorithms for solving these problems are based on general linear programming techniques. The techniques developed greatly outperform the general methods in many applications, and are extensions of a method previously applied to find approximate solutions to multicommodity flow problems. The algorithms are based on a Lagrangian relaxation technique, and an important result is a theoretical analysis of the running time of a Lagrangian relaxation based algorithm. Several applications of the algorithms are presented. <<ETX>>
Storm surge scenarios for Hamburg

Abstract A scenario for future storm surge heights for the tide gauge of Hamburg St. Pauli is constructed on the basis of results from a regional model for Cuxhaven. Under the A2 emission scenario, an increase of the mean annual maximum water level of about 0.1724 m appears possible and plausible for the time horizon of 2030. In Cuxhaven, an increase of 0.14 may be expected in this scenario. In 2085 the expected increase for St. Pauli is 0.6891 m. These values are uncertain, not only because of the employed emission scenarios but also because of a series of downscaling steps, which describe the chain of processes from increased emissions and local climate change impact.
An information-theoretic approach to normal forms for relational and XML data

Normalization as a way of producing good database designs is a well-understood topic. However, the same problem of distinguishing well-designed databases from poorly designed ones arises in other data models, in particular, XML. While in the relational world the criteria for being well-designed are usually very intuitive and clear to state, they become more obscure when one moves to more complex data models.Our goal is to provide a set of tools for testing when a condition on a database design, specified by a normal form, corresponds to a good design. We use techniques of information theory, and define a measure of information content of elements in a database with respect to a set of constraints. We first test this measure in the relational context, providing information-theoretic justification for familiar normal forms such as BCNF, 4NF, PJ/NF, 5NFR, DK/NF. We then show that the same measure applies in the XML context, which gives us a characterization of a recently introduced XML normal form called XNF. Finally, we look at information-theoretic criteria for justifying normalization algorithms.
A new Upper Jurassic species of Scenedesmus from the Bossier Formation, Texas, USA

ABSTRACT Scenedesmus Meyen 1829 is an extant freshwater representative of the Chlorophyta (Order Chlorococcales, Family Scenedesmaceae). Fossil representatives have been conclusively identified from Lower Cretaceous lacustrine sediments and some are possibly as old as the Middle Jurassic. Specimens clearly attributable to Scenedesmus were encountered in Upper Jurassic Bossier Formation palynology preparations from a proprietary hydrocarbon exploration well in Wood County, Texas, USA. This alga, named Scenedesmus texanus sp. nov., is described herein. Also occurring with Scenedesmus are other freshwater representatives of the Chlorococcales, including Tetrastrum multifilorum and Pediastrum sp. The Bossier Formation Scenedesmus specimens occur in a mixed palynological assemblage consisting of freshwater algae, pollen, spores and a few dinoflagellate cysts. The combined occurrence of these palynomorphs indicates a marginal marine depositional setting with a freshwater influence.
Cooperative Mutual 3D Laser Mapping and Localization

A 3D laser scanner is built by adding a rotating mirror to a conventional 2D scanner. The scanners are deployed on four robots to build full 3D representations of an indoor environment. An original representation mechanism referred to as occupancy lists, rather than standard 2D free space grids, is used to maintain the 3D map. Localization is done by extracting horizontal sub-ceiling cross-sections. Taking cross-sections from near the ceiling in this way results in more reliable and time invariant maps. Experimental results show inter-robot sightings and the sharing of map data aid mapping by improving the reliability of localization. Mapping with four robots reduced the average position error from 0.35 m for single robot operation to 0.1 m when cooperating.
TA-MAC: Task Aware MAC Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), reducing energy consumption of resource constrained sensor nodes is one of the most important issues. In this paper, we propose a task aware (TA) MAC protocol, which improves energy efficiency and throughput by introducing a channel access scheme depending on traffic load in WSNs. The amount of traffic load of a sensor node can be estimated by its task activity, where a task is an operation that the sensor node performs based on the schedule set by data dissemination procedures in advance. In addition, the sensor node collects neighbor nodes' task activities and determines its channel access probability using the collected information. Consequently, the sensor node can choose a more suitable channel access probability which is adaptive to its traffic load as well as neighbor's traffic load. We carry out performance analysis using a p-persistent MAC protocol. The results reveal that the TA-MAC protocol exhibits less collisions than the normal p-persistent MAC protocol and thus it achieves energy efficient operations. Also, it can been seen that the TA-MAC protocol improves system throughput compared with other protocols
Solar System Exploration Augmented by In Situ Resource Utilization: Lunar Base Issues

Creating a presence and an industrial capability on the Moon is essential for the development of humankind. There are many historical study results that have identified and quantified the lunar resources and analyzed the methods of obtain-ing and employing those resources. The idea of finding, obtaining, and using these materials is called in situ resource utilization (ISRU). The ISRU research and development efforts have led to new ideas in rocket propulsion. Applications in chemical propulsion, nuclear electric propulsion, and many other propulsion systems will be critical in making the initial lunar base and future lunar industries more sustainable and will lead to brilliant futures for humanity. our helionauts and of those engineers, scientists, and techni-cians behind them, astrophysicists today work in a solar physics station on Mercury; biologists experiment on Mars, backed by a well-supplied research and supply station on the Mars moon, Phobos; planetologists have landed on Venus; and teams of scientists right now study what have turned out to be the two most fascinating of our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, from research stations on Callisto and Titan.
Low Rank Matrix Completion through Semi-definite Programming with Facial Reduction

The matrix completion problem is a hot problem in data science. In recent years, many theories and practices on efficiently recovering the partially observed matrix have been introduced. A good example is the Netflix Challenge [15], where the provided data set is a partially observed matrix with each row represents a user and each column represents a film. The winning team of this competition applied matrix completion algorithm to this challenge, and improved the success rate of rating system by 10%. In this report, We will show how to convert the original low rank matrix completion problem which is nonconvex to convex problem. Furthermore we will convert the convex optimization problem to a semi-definite programming problem. For the semi-definite programming problem, although Slater’s condition holds, the facial reduction method can still be applied to obtain a proper face containing the optimal set and so can dramatically shrink the size of original problem while guaranteeing a low-rank solution. We include numerical tests for both the case without noise and the case with noise. In all cases the target rank is pre-defined.
Pre-processing cascades and fusion in finger vein recognition

Preprocessing and fusion techniques for finger vein recognition are investigated. An experimental study involving a set of preprocessing approaches shows the importance of selecting the appropriate single technique and the usefulness of cascading several different preprocessing methods for subsequent feature extraction of various types. Score level fusion is able to significantly improve recognition results, in particular when combining features describing complementary finger image properties.
Fungal disease incidence along tree diversity gradients depends on latitude in European forests

Abstract European forests host a diversity of tree species that are increasingly threatened by fungal pathogens, which may have cascading consequences for forest ecosystems and their functioning. Previous experimental studies suggest that foliar and root pathogen abundance and disease severity decrease with increasing tree species diversity, but evidences from natural forests are rare. Here, we tested whether foliar fungal disease incidence was negatively affected by tree species diversity in different forest types across Europe. We measured the foliar fungal disease incidence on 16 different tree species in 209 plots in six European countries, representing a forest‐type gradient from the Mediterranean to boreal forests. Forest plots of single species (monoculture plots) and those with different combinations of two to five tree species (mixed species plots) were compared. Specifically, we analyzed the influence of tree species richness, functional type (conifer vs. broadleaved) and phylogenetic diversity on overall fungal disease incidence. The effect of tree species richness on disease incidence varied with latitude and functional type. Disease incidence tended to increase with tree diversity, in particular in northern latitudes. Disease incidence decreased with tree species richness in conifers, but not in broadleaved trees. However, for specific damage symptoms, no tree species richness effects were observed. Although the patterns were weak, susceptibility of forests to disease appears to depend on the forest site and tree type.
Single photon emission computed tomography in pulmonary embolism – estimation of selected, scintigraphic regions of interests

Summary Background: Pulmonary embolism is considered dangerous form of thrombo-embolic venous disease contracted by 25000 people annually with around 30% deaths. Accurate diagnosis of the disease and treatment could reduce mortality rate by several per cent. Discernment of ailment is obstructed by variety of clinical picture. Suspicion of pulmonary embolism is verified by diagnostic patterns, among which SPECT is used as well. Aim of this study was to prove perfusion scintigraphy with use of SPECT evaluated together with radiological examinations of chest could be efficient method of pulmonary embolism diagnosis. Material/Methods: SPECT of lungs was performed in 92 patients, examinations were compared to X-ray scans of chest and in 13 cases to computer tomography. Regions of interest in symmetric zones of chest were also traced in order to evaluate differences radiotracer accumulation. Results: Pulmonary embolism was diagnosed by means of SPECT in 59 patients (64.1%). Radiological examinations allowed to exclude other causes of decreased pulmonary perfusion. Conclusions: Difference over 10% in radiotracer accumulation in symmetric zones among patients with pulmonary embolism was stated in 42 patients, 5–10% – in 15,under 5% – in 2. Drawing symmetric regions of interest all over lungs indicates essential points of decreased perfusion whereas difference in radiotracer accumulation is greater than 10%.
Random coil negative control reproduces the discrepancy between scattering and FRET measurements of denatured protein dimensions

Significance The relationship between proteins unfolded under physiological conditions and those unfolded by chemical denaturation remains controversial. Specifically, although FRET studies suggest that unfolded proteins invariably contract with falling denaturant levels, scattering studies argue that they do not. Here, we explore the origins of this discrepancy using PEG as a negative control. Scattering indicates that, as expected, the polymer’s dimensions are denaturant-independent. The dye-labeled polymer, nevertheless, exhibits denaturant-dependent changes in measured transfer efficiency similar to those seen for unfolded proteins. This similarity raises questions regarding the interpretation of such changes as being indicative of hydrophobic or hydrogen bond-driven collapse. Small-angle scattering studies generally indicate that the dimensions of unfolded single-domain proteins are independent (to within experimental uncertainty of a few percent) of denaturant concentration. In contrast, single-molecule FRET (smFRET) studies invariably suggest that protein unfolded states contract significantly as the denaturant concentration falls from high (∼6 M) to low (∼1 M). Here, we explore this discrepancy by using PEG to perform a hitherto absent negative control. This uncharged, highly hydrophilic polymer has been shown by multiple independent techniques to behave as a random coil in water, suggesting that it is unlikely to expand further on the addition of denaturant. Consistent with this observation, small-angle neutron scattering indicates that the dimensions of PEG are not significantly altered by the presence of either guanidine hydrochloride or urea. smFRET measurements on a PEG construct modified with the most commonly used FRET dye pair, however, produce denaturant-dependent changes in transfer efficiency similar to those seen for a number of unfolded proteins. Given the vastly different chemistries of PEG and unfolded proteins and the significant evidence that dye-free PEG is well-described as a denaturant-independent random coil, this similarity raises questions regarding the interpretation of smFRET data in terms of the hydrogen bond- or hydrophobically driven contraction of the unfolded state at low denaturant.