Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Turbulent magnetic Prandtl number and magnetic diffusivity quenching from simulations

Forced turbulence simulations are used to determine the turbulent kinematic viscosity, t, from the decay rate of a large scale velocity field. Likewise, the turbulent magnetic diusivity,t, is determined from the decay of a large scale magnetic field. In the kinematic regime, when the field is weak, the turbulent magnetic Prandtl number, t=t, is about unity. When the field is nonhelical, t is quenched when magnetic and kinetic energies become comparable. For helical fields the quenching is stronger and can be described by a dynamical quenching formula.
Education and causal attributions: the development of «person-blame» and «system-blame» ideology

A l'aide de deux etudes, les auteurs testent les predictions derivees d'une theorie qui propose que les jugements a propos des causes d'un probleme social ne proviennent pas seulement de facteurs cognitifs ou motivationnels, mais sont le resultat de la socialisation dans une culture particuliere. Les resultats plaident en faveur d'un interet plus grand des theories des processus attributionnels pour «le social» au sens large
An Evaluation of Air-Sea Flux Products for ENSO Simulation and Prediction

This paper presents a quantitative methodology for evaluating air‐sea fluxes related to ENSO from different atmospheric products. A statistical model of the fluxes from each atmospheric product is coupled to an ocean general circulation model (GCM). Four different products are evaluated: reanalyses from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), satellite-derived data from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imaging (SSM/I) platform and the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP), and an atmospheric GCM developed at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) as part of the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) II. For this study, comparisons between the datasets are restricted to the dominant air‐sea mode. The stability of a coupled model using only the dominant mode and the associated predictive skill of the model are strongly dependent on which atmospheric product is used. The model is unstable and oscillatory for the ECMWF product, damped and oscillatory for the NCEP and GFDL products, and unstable (nonoscillatory) for the satellite product. The ocean model is coupled with patterns of wind stress as well as heat fluxes. This distinguishes the present approach from the existing paradigm for ENSO models where surface heat fluxes are parameterized as a local damping term in the sea surface temperature (SST) equation.
Mutational Analysis of the Class IIa Bacteriocin Curvacin A and Its Orientation in Target Cell Membranes

ABSTRACT To analyze the orientation in target cell membranes of the pediocin-like bacteriocin (antimicrobial peptide) curvacin A, 55 variants were generated by site-directed mutagenesis and their potencies against four different target cells determined. The result suggest that the somewhat hydrophilic short central helix (residues 19 to 24), along with the N-terminal β-sheet-like structure (residues 1 to 16), inserts in the interface region of the target cell membrane, with Ala22 close to the hydrophobic core of the membrane. The following hinge region, with Gly28 as an important residue, may then form a turn wherein Gly28 becomes positioned near the border between the interface and the hydrophobic regions, thus permitting the longer and more-hydrophobic C-terminal helix (residues 29 to 41) to insert into the hydrophobic core of the membrane. This helix contains three glycine residues (G33, G37, and G40) that form a putative helix-helix-interacting GxxxGxxG motif. The replacement of any of these glycines with a larger residue was very detrimental, suggesting their possible involvement in helix-helix interactions with a membrane-embedded receptor protein.
Online action adaptation in interactive computer games

Nonplayer characters (NPCs) in today's computer games lack the ability to adapt to situations that were not envisaged by the artificial intelligence (AI) programmer. This lack of adaptation produces lifeless characters that are prone to repetitive and predictable behavior. In this article, we present our work towards the development of an online learning and adaptation architecture for NPCs in first-person shooter (FPS) computer games. Our architecture builds upon incremental case-based approaches to modelling an observed entity, and makes a number of novel contributions. In particular, we develop a dual state representation to enhance case matching, and use adaptive k-d tree-based techniques to improve case storage and retrieval. The dual state representation allows more game features to be represented in the system, which enables observed behavior to be more accurately recorded and actions predicted. The system is applied to the Unreal Tournament using the GameBots API and evaluated in a number of different game scenarios. Our results show that the adaptation system can accurately predict a human player's actions and that our dual state representation enhances prediction. We also demonstrate that an adaptive k-d tree-based technique can be used online to maintain a balanced tree of observed cases.
Exploring a resource dependency perspective as an organizational strategy for building resource capacity

Declining state revenue, increased expenditures and rising costs at public universities are critical issues that are further heightened by the current economic environment. In an effort to address the challenges associated with reduced revenue and rising costs, this theoretical paper will explore how public institutions can leverage the resource dependency theory framework for strategy formulation and increased resource capacity. The organization of the paper begins with an introduction that sets forth the topic parameters and rationale of the paper. This is followed by a literature review that provides an overview of pertinent fiscal issues and strategies that were designed to mitigate these issues in public higher education. The authors then introduce the resource dependency theory and its linkage to public higher education based upon an understanding of the institution’s interdependence with the external environment. Based upon the resource dependency theory, the authors discuss strategies that can garner greater resources and serve as a guide for university administrators and leaders during strategic planning efforts.
Internames: A name-to-name principle for the future Internet

Information Centric Networking (ICN), a novel network paradigm, places the focus on the content instead of the end-hosts. ICN addresses content by names instead of locations and can ease content retrieval and improve network efficiency. Ongoing work attempts to extend the use of ICN to scenarios such as real time communication, group communication, push services, and addresses the issue of migration from the current network and coexistence of different network paradigms. In this work, we argue that by extending the current design of ICN from a “host-to-name” to a “name-to-name” architecture, the utility and efficiency of ICN could be further increased. We propose Internames, an architectural framework in which names are used to identify all entities involved in communication: content, users, devices, logical points, and services. Internames is envisioned to be an overarching name-to-name communication primitive that is fully compatible with ICN principles, accommodates the coexistence (or gradual migration) of different network realms (e.g., IP, ICN, VANET) and is suitable for application scenarios where ICN is somehow limited by its reliance on a “host-to-name” approach. In this paper, we provide early insights into the Internames architecture by leveraging on the work done by the research community and identify components and challenges that require more detailed investigation.
Experimental Evaluation of Cell Temperature Effects on Miniature, Air-Breathing PEM Fuel Cells

The impact of temperature on air-breathing, polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells is investigated using polarization and impedance spectroscopy. Three active area sizes of 5 cm 2 ,1 0 cm 2 , and 25 cm 2 in both forced convection and air-breathing cathode configurations are presented. The cell design incorporates a large thermal body which can conduct heat away from the active membrane area and minimize the influence of self-heating; allowing for active and precise control of temperature regardless of the current density. Polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results show that at higher current densities, elevated temperature increases the buoyancy of the air around the cell, which improves the air-breathing fuel cell performance. However, the opposite is true for lower current densities as membrane dehydration becomes more prevalent at higher temperatures. Temperature plays a larger role in air-breathing fuel cell performance than the actual size of the cell, whereas both cell temperature and size influence the cell performance for forced convection fuel cells. The discussions presented here provide guidelines for thermal engineering of practical air-breathing fuel cells as a promising portable energy source for the future.
Spermatozoa DNA and plasma membrane integrity after pellet optimized processing for cryopreservation in meat type chicken breeders

ABSTRACT 1. Aim of this study was the development of an optimised cryopreservation pellet procedure for chicken semen and the assessment of DNA and membrane integrity in frozen/thawed spermatozoa in a Hubbard F15 meat type selected strain. 2. The following semen processing conditions were studied: spermatozoa working concentration (SWC), 1.5 vs 2 × 109 cells/ml in pre-freezing extender; equilibration of diluted semen at 5°C, 20 vs 40 min; dimethylacetamide concentration, 6% vs 9%; dimethylacetamide equilibration time at 5°C, 1 vs 30 min; thawing at 60°C for 10 vs 50°C for 30 sec. Spermatozoa viability (EtBr exclusion procedure – stress test), mobility (Accudenz® swim-down test) and subjective motility were assessed in fresh and frozen-thawed semen. 3. The lower SWC (1.5 × 109 cells/ml) and the higher dimethylacetamide concentration (9%) had positive significant effects on the recovery rate of motile (22% vs 16%) and viable spermatozoa (39 vs 34%), respectively. 4.Membrane (SYBR14-PI staining) and DNA integrity (comet assay) were assessed before and after freezing/thawing according to the optimised protocol. 5. Recovery rates of spermatozoa with undamaged plasma membrane and DNA were 41% and 76%, respectively. The distribution of spermatozoa in classes of DNA damage was also analysed and discussed. 6. It was concluded that pellet cryopreservation was a damaging process mainly for plasma membrane rather than nuclear DNA in chicken spermatozoa.
Tuning large scale deduplication with reduced effort

Deduplication is the task of identifying which objects are potentially the same in a data repository. It usually demands user intervention in several steps of the process, mainly to identify some pairs representing matchings and non-matchings. This information is then used to help in identifying other potentially duplicated records. When deduplication is applied to very large datasets, the performance and matching quality depends on expert users to configure the most important steps of the process (e.g., blocking and classification). In this paper, we propose a new framework called FS-Dedup able to help tuning the deduplication process on large datasets with a reduced effort from the user, who is only required to label a small, automatically selected, subset of pairs. FS-Dedup exploits Signature-Based Deduplication (Sig-Dedup) algorithms in its deduplication core. Sig-Dedup is characterized by high efficiency and scalability in large datasets but requires an expert user to tune several parameters. FS-Dedup helps in solving this drawback by providing a framework that does not demand specialized user knowledge about the dataset or thresholds to produce high effectiveness. Our evaluation over large real and synthetic datasets (containing millions of records) shows that FS-Dedup is able to reach or even surpass the maximal matching quality obtained by Sig-Dedup techniques with a reduced manual effort from the user.
A Context-Aware Interaction Model for the Analysis of Users’ QoE in Mobile Environments

This article describes a novel approach to model the quality of experience (QoE) of users in mobile environments. The context-aware and ratings interaction model (CARIM) addresses the open questions of how to quantify user experiences from the analysis of interaction in mobile scenarios, and how to compare different QoE records to each other. A set of parameters are used to dynamically describe the interaction between the user and the system, the context in which it is performed and the perceived quality of users. CARIM structures these parameters into a uniform representation, supporting the dynamic analysis of interaction to determine QoE of users and enabling the comparison between different interaction records. Its run-time nature allows applications to make context- and QoE-based decisions in real time to adapt themselves, and thus provide a better experience to users. As a result, CARIM provides unified criteria for the inference and analysis of QoE in mobile scenarios. Its design and implementation can be integrated (and easily extended if needed) into many different development environments. An experiment with real users comparing two different interaction designs and validating user behavior hypotheses proved the effectiveness of applying CARIM for the assessment of QoE in mobile applications.
Integrating Specification and Programs for System Modeling and Verification

High level specification languages like CSP use mathematical objects as abstractions to represent systems and processes. System behaviors are described as process expressions combined with compositional operators, which are associated with elegant algebraic laws for system analysis. Nonetheless, modeling systems with non-trivial data and functional aspects using CSP remains difficult. In this work, we propose a modeling language named CSP# (short for communicating sequential programs) which integrates high-level modeling operators with low-level procedural codes, for the purpose of efficient mechanical system verification. We demonstrate that data operations can be modeled as terminating sequential programs, which can be composed using high-level compositional operators. CSP# is supported by the PAT model checker and has been applied to a number of systems.
MapReduce Skyline Query Processing with a New Angular Partitioning Approach

Fast skyline selection of high-quality web services is of critically importance to upgrade e-commerce and various cloud applications. In this paper, we present a new MapReduce Skyline method for scalable parallel skyline query processing. Our new angular partitioning of the data space reduces the processing time in selecting optimal skyline services. Our method shortens the Reduce time significantly due to the elimination of more redundant dominance computations. Through Hadoop experiments on large server clusters, our method scales well with the increase of both attribute dimensionality and data-space cardinality. We define a new performance metric to assess the local optimality of selected skyline services. By experimenting over 10,000 real-life web service applications over 10 performance attribute dimensions, we find that the angular-partitioned MapReduce method is 1.7 and 2.3 times faster than the dimensional and grid partitioning methods, respectively with a higher probability to reach the local optimality. These results are very encouraging to select optimal web services in real-time out of a large number of web services.
Direct Confirmation of Two Pattern Speeds in the Double-barred Galaxy NGC 2950

We present the surface photometry and stellar kinematics of NGC 2950, which is a nearby and undisturbed SB0 galaxy hosting two nested stellar bars. We use the Tremaine-Weinberg method to measure the pattern speed of the primary bar. This also permits us to establish directly and for the first time that the two nested bars are rotating with different pattern speeds and, in particular, that the rotation frequency of the secondary bar is higher than that of the primary one.
A high performance multi-port SRAM for low voltage shared memory systems in 32 nm CMOS

A 4 kb fully differential 8-port SRAM bitcell array (6 read ports and 2 write ports) is presented in this paper. This 8-port SRAM provides simultaneous access, high system throughput and a great read static noise margin by isolating the read ports from storage nodes. At 0.4 V supply voltage, designed 8-port SRAM bitcell shows 123, 137 and 123 mV static noise margin during read, write and standby modes, respectively. 4 kb 8-port SRAM array is evaluated for leakage and dynamic power consumption, and also read and write access time in 32 nm SOI CMOS technology. It operates at 250MHz with a 0.4 V supply voltage and above 4 GHz with a 0.9 V supply voltage.
Fluid Intake and Colorectal Cancer Risk in the Netherlands Cohort Study

Total fluid intake, specifically water intake, has been suggested to protect against colorectal cancer. We examined the association of total fluid intake with colorectal cancer endpoints and possible effect modification by fiber intake within the Netherlands Cohort Study (N = 120,852). We also investigated intake of specific beverages. After 13.3 yr, 1,443 male and 1,040 female colorectal cancer cases with complete baseline questionnaires were available for case-cohort analyses. Multivariate analyses showed no dose-response relationship of total fluid intake and intake of specific beverages with the risk of overall colorectal, proximal, and distal colon cancer. For rectal cancer risk in men, there was a nonsignificant positive trend for total fluid intake [> 1,500 vs. ≤ 1,000 ml/day: HR = 1.50, 95% CI = 0.95–2.37, P trend = 0.08) and a significant positive trend for coffee intake (> 6 vs. ≤ 2 cups/day: HR = 1.60, 95% CI = 0.96–2.66, P trend = 0.05). However, a nonsignificant positive trend for total fluid intake was no longer observed when additionally adjusting for coffee intake. Tests for interaction were not significant. In conclusion, total fluid intake was not associated with colorectal cancer risk in either men or women. There was no evidence that fiber intake modified associations. Of the specific beverages, coffee intake was positively associated with rectal cancer risk in men.
Approximating the Plenoptic Function Jonathan Shade 1 December 2002

The full plenoptic function describes all of the light passing through some volume of space. This information has at least seven dimensions: a ray of light requires five numbers to locate it (a point in space and a direction), plus wavelength and time. Given a digital representation of the plenoptic function, we can reconstruct arbitrary views of a scene. Unfortunately, adequately sampling the seven dimensions of the full plenoptic function requires an unmanageable amount of storage. Even if we assume we are concerned with a snapshot in time and that light is monochromatic, we are still faced with the five spatial dimensions of a ray. At the other end of the spectrum, if we consider only a single point in space then we can reconstruct just one view (a 2D photograph). In between the 2D photograph and 5D plenoptic function are many possibilities that provide more freedom than a single image, but less than the full freedom and consequent complexity of capturing and manipulating a 5D object. Recently, there has been considerable research on this topic, typically under the name image-based modeling and rendering (IBMR). We review and classify this work based on the structure of the representation used to approximate the 5D plenoptic function.
The Sol Genomics Network (SGN)—from genotype to phenotype to breeding

The Sol Genomics Network (SGN, http://solgenomics.net) is a web portal with genomic and phenotypic data, and analysis tools for the Solanaceae family and close relatives. SGN hosts whole genome data for an increasing number of Solanaceae family members including tomato, potato, pepper, eggplant, tobacco and Nicotiana benthamiana. The database also stores loci and phenotype data, which researchers can upload and edit with user-friendly web interfaces. Tools such as BLAST, GBrowse and JBrowse for browsing genomes, expression and map data viewers, a locus community annotation system and a QTL analysis tools are available. A new tool was recently implemented to improve Virus-Induced Gene Silencing (VIGS) constructs called the SGN VIGS tool. With the growing genomic and phenotypic data in the database, SGN is now advancing to develop new web-based breeding tools and implement the code and database structure for other species or clade-specific databases.
Low complexity method for wideband DOA estimation based on sparse representation using rotational signal subspace

A low complexity method for wideband direction finding based on sparse representation is proposed, which combines the rotational signal subspace (RSS) with weighted subspace fitting (WSF) to improve the performance of DOA estimation. Exploiting the result of the focusing operation, the covariance matrix at the focusing frequency can be obtained and used as the data for sparse recovery to get wideband DOA estimates. The WSF is employed to reduce the sensitivity to the noise and the regularization parameter is given by the asymptotic distribution of the WSF criterion. Simulations are provided to prove the efficiency and performance of the proposed method.
Puerto Rico and Birth Control

The heavily populated island of Puerto Rico has developed from a rural into a manufacturing economy with the political status of commonwealth. Religion and poverty have strongly influenced family-planninng policies. The legalization of birth control in 1937 and subsequent implementation of a family-planning program were opposed by the island's Catholic bishops; but lack of education about birth control, government inaction, and conflicting values have also hindered progress in family planning. Religious opposition and lack of education about family planning have diminished considerably, and the implementation of voluntary family-planning programs is the next order of business. Puerto Rico's economy is continuing to grow, but at a slower rate than the population, and widespread birth control is necessary to maintain the present standard of living.
Nonparametric low-rank tensor imputation

Completion or imputation of three-way data arrays with missing entries is a basic problem encountered in various areas, including bio-informatics, image processing, and preference analysis. If available, prior information about the data at hand should be incorporated to enhance performance of the imputation method adopted. This is the motivation behind the proposed low-rank tensor estimator which leverages the correlation across slices of the data cube in the form of reproducing kernels. The rank of the tensor estimate is controlled by a novel regularization on the factors of its PARAFAC decomposition. Such a regularization is inspired by a reformulation of the nuclear norm for matrices, which allows to bypass the challenge that rank and singular values of tensors are unrelated quantities. The proposed technique is tested on MRI data of the brain with 30% missing data, resulting in a recovery error of -17dB.