Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inferences on mating and sexual systems of two Pacific Cinetorhynchus shrimps (Decapoda, Rhynchocinetidae) based on sexual dimorphism in body size and cheliped weaponry

Abstract Sexual dimorphism in body size and weaponry was examined in two Cinetorhynchus shrimp species in order to formulate hypotheses on their sexual and mating systems. Collections of Cinetorhynchus sp. A and Cinetorhynchus sp. B were made in March, 2011 on Coconut Island, Hawaii, by hand dipnetting and minnow traps in coral rubble bottom in shallow water. Although there is overlap in male and female size, some males are much larger than females. The major (pereopod 1) chelipeds of males are significantly larger and longer than those of females. In these two Cinetorhynchus species, males and females have third maxillipeds of similar relative size, i.e., those of males are not hypertrophied and probably not used as spear-like weapons as in some other rhynchocinetid (Rhynchocinetes) species. Major chelae of males vary with size, changing from typical female-like chelae tipped with black corneous stout setae to subchelate or prehensile appendages in larger males. Puncture wounds or regenerating major chelipeds were observed in 26.1 % of males examined (N = 38 including both species). We interpret this evidence on sexual dimorphism as an indication of a temporary male mate guarding or “neighborhoods of dominance” mating system, in which larger dominant robustus males defend females and have greater mating success than smaller males. Fecundity of females increased with female size, as in most caridean species (500–800 in Cinetorhynchus sp. A; 300–3800 in Cinetorhynchus sp. B). Based on the sample examined, we conclude that these two species have a gonochoric sexual system (separate sexes) like most but not all other rhynchocinetid species in which the sexual system has been investigated.
Demo Proposal – VoIP for isolated and Internet-connected Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

SIPHoc is a middleware infrastructure for session set up and management in MANETs. SIPHoc is compliant to the SIP standard, does not require any centralized components, is message efficient (through routing message piggybacking), and independent of the routing protocol (currently, SIPHoc supports both AODV and OLSR). Moreover, SIPHoc allows seamless interaction with the Internet by treating nodes connected to the Internet as gateway services and making this information known across the MANET. In this demo we will show how SIPHoc can be used to build a wireless multihop VoIP network. Using iPAQ handhelds, participants of the demo can set up VoIP calls between each other, as well as to and from the Internet if a gateway can be discovered. As part of the demo we will further use a protocol analyzer to show how the SIP contact information is piggybacked onto routing messages, for both AODV and OLSR.
Boundary-expanding locality sensitive hashing

Locality sensitive hashing (LSH) has been introduced as an indexing structure for fast large-scale data retrieval. A significant drawback of this technique is that a large number of hash functions require lots of hash computation time. To resolve this issue, the paper presents a new index construction algorithm called boundary-expanding LSH, where the boundary of each bucket is expanded so that each point may be mapped to multiple adjacent buckets in each hash table. The proposed algorithm can map points near to the two sides of the boundary into the same bucket, which increases the collision probability of neighbors. To achieve the same search accuracy, boundary-expanding LSH needs fewer hash tables and less hash computation time, so it can provide us a higher acceleration factor. To obtain the best performance, the paper also presents a parameter optimization method. Experiments conducted on two audio databases show its efficiency.
Cortical dysfunction underlies disability in multiple sclerosis

Background: Gray matter atrophy has been implicated in the development of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). Cortical function may be assessed by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Determining whether cortical dysfunction was a feature of SPMS could be of pathophysiological significance. Objectives: Consequently, novel paired-pulse threshold tracking TMS techniques were used to assess whether cortical dysfunction was a feature of SPMS. Methods: Cortical excitability studies were undertaken in 15 SPMS, 25 relapsing–remitting MS patients (RRMS) and 66 controls. Results: Short interval intracortical inhibition (SPMS 3.0 ± 2.1%; RRMS 12.8 ± 1.7%, p < 0.01; controls 10.5 ± 0.7%, p < 0.01) and motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude (SPMS 11.5 ± 2.2%; RRMS 26.3 ± 3.6%, p <0.05; controls 24.7 ± 1.8%, p < 0.01) were reduced in SPMS, while intracortical facilitation (SPMS -5.2 ± 1.9%; RRMS -2.0 ± 1.4, p < 0.05; controls -0.9 ± 0.7, p < 0.01) and resting motor threshold were increased (SPMS 67.5 ± 4.5%; RRMS 56.0 ± 1.5%, p < 0.01; controls 59.0 ± 1.1%, p < 0.001). Further, central motor conduction time was prolonged in SPMS (9.1 ± 1.2 ms, p < 0.001) and RRMS (7.0 ± 0.9 ms, p < 0.05) patients compared with controls (5.5 ± 0.2 ms). The observed changes in cortical function correlated with the Expanded Disability Status Scale. Conclusion: Together, these findings suggest that cortical dysfunction is associated with disability in MS, and documentation of such cortical dysfunction may serve to quantify disease severity in MS.
Experimental Analysis of Bisbenzocyclobutene Bonded Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers

Experimental measurement results of a 1.75 mm × 1.75 mm footprint area Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer (CMUT) planar array fabricated using a bisbenzocyclobutene (BCB)-based adhesive wafer bonding technique has been presented. The array consists of 40 × 40 square diaphragm CMUT cells with a cavity thickness of 900 nm and supported by 10 µm wide dielectric spacers patterned on a thin layer of BCB. A 150 µm wide one µm thick gold strip has been used as the contact pad for gold wire bonding. The measured resonant frequency of 19.3 MHz using a Polytec™ laser Doppler vibrometer (Polytec™ MSA-500) is in excellent agreement with the 3-D FEA simulation result using IntelliSuite™. An Agilent ENA5061B vector network analyzer (VNA) has been used for impedance measurement and the resonance and anti-resonance values from the imaginary impedance curve were used to determine the electromechanical coupling co-efficient. The measured coupling coefficient of 0.294 at 20 V DC bias exhibits 40% higher transduction efficiency as compared to a measured value published elsewhere for a silicon nitride based CMUT. A white light interferometry method was used to measure the diaphragm deflection profiles at different DC bias. The diaphragm center velocity was measured for different sub-resonant frequencies using a Polytec™ laser Doppler vibrometer that confirms vibration of the diaphragm at different excitation frequencies and bias voltages. Transmit and receive operations of CMUT cells were characterized using a pitch-catch method and a −6 dB fractional bandwidth of 23% was extracted from the received signal in frequency domain. From the measurement, it appears that BCB-based CMUTs offer superior transduction efficiency as compared to silicon nitride or silicon dioxide insulator-based CMUTs, and provide a very uniform deflection profile thus making them a suitable candidate to fabricate highly energy efficient CMUTs.
Neighborhood Effects on Economic Self-Sufficiency: Evidence from a Randomized Housing-Mobility Experiment

This paper examines whether residence within high-poverty urban neighborhoods affects individual economic outcomes. Our data are generated by a randomized housing-mobility experiment, with measures of economic self-sufficiency taken from state administrative records. We find that providing low-income families living in public housing units with private-market rental subsidies that can only be redeemed in very low-poverty neighborhoods reduces rates of welfare use by around 15 percent. Most of this reduction appears to be explained by differences in welfare-to-work transitions. We also find that providing families with unrestricted housing vouchers has little effect on economic outcomes beyond the first year. To download a Brookings Institution policy brief of this paper, please visit the Brookings Institution's site.
Retinal and choroidal oxygen saturation of the optic nerve head in open-angle glaucoma subjects by multispectral imaging

AbstractThe aim of this study was to determine whether differences exist in oxygen supply to the optic nerve head (ONH) from the retinal and choroidal vascular layers in patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) using multispectral imaging (MSI). This ia an observational, cross-sectional study.Multispectral images were acquired from 38 eyes of 19 patients with POAG, and 42 healthy eyes from 21 matched volunteers with Annidis’ RHA multispectral digital ophthalmoscopy. Superficial and deeper oxygen saturation of the optic disc was represented by the mean gray scale values on the retinal and choroidal oxy-deoxy maps, respectively. Statistical analysis was performed to detect differences in ONH oxygen saturation between the 2 groups. Oxygen saturation levels in the eyes of POAG patients with severe glaucoma were compared to those of fellow eyes from the same subjects. Linear correlation analysis was performed to assess the association between ONH oxygen saturation and systemic and ocular parameters.No statistical difference was found in retinal and choroidal oxygen saturation between the POAG and control groups. In the glaucoma patients, retinal oxygen saturation was lower for eyes with worse visual fields than in those with good visual fields (t = 4.009, P = 0.001). In POAG patients, retinal oxygen saturation was dependent on mean defect of visual field and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) (r = 0.511, 0.504, P = 0.001, 0.001, respectively), whereas the choroid vasculature oxygen saturation was inversely related to RNFLT (r = −0.391, P = 0.015). An age-dependent increase in retinal oxygen saturation was found for both the POAG and control groups (r = 0.473, 0.410, P = 0.007, 0.003, respectively). MSI revealed a significant correlation between functional and structural impairments in glaucoma and retinal oxygen saturation. MSI could provide objective assessments of perfusion impairments of the glaucomatous ONH. This is a preliminary indication of the effectiveness of MSI for studying POAG.
Blood Vessel Extraction for retinal images using morphological operator and KCN clustering

This paper presents an automated blood vessel detection method from the fundus image. The method first performs some basic image preprocessing tasks on the green channel of the retinal image. A combination of morphological operations like top- hat and bottom-hat transformations are applied on the preprocessed image to highlight the blood vessels. Finally, the Kohonen Clustering Network is applied to cluster the input image into two clusters namely vessel and non-vessel. The performance of the proposed method is tested by applying it on retinal images from Digital Retinal Images for Vessel Extraction (DRIVE)database. The results obtained from the proposed method are compared with three other state of the art methods. The sensitivity, false-positive fraction (FPF) and accuracy of the proposed method is found to be higher than the other methods which imply that the proposed method is more efficient and accurate.
Linguistic and Statistical Approaches to Basque Term Extraction

The development of applications for terminology extraction in Basque demands previous research on linguistic techniques, in order to fulfil the requirements of Basque language processing. Being Basque an agglutinative language, the results of pure statistical methods are not satisfactory and suitable for term extraction. In this work, we have adopted a hybrid approach, based on the selection of term candidates by means of language techniques and the subsequent application of statistical association measures. In this work, we will focus mainly on linguistic technique design, and we will overview the first experimental results. This work is part of Erauzterm, a project for the development of a term extraction tool for Basque. The tool is in its first stage of development, and future improvements are close. Erauzterm is the first attempt to develop such a tool for Basque.
Text Mining for Open Domain Semi-Supervised Semantic Role Labeling

The identification and classification of some circumstance semantic roles like Location, Time, Manner and Direction, a task of Semantic Role Labeling (SRL), plays a very important role in building text understanding applications. However, the performance of the current SRL systems on those roles is often very poor, especially when the systems are applied on domains other than the ones they are trained on. We present a method to build open domain SRL system, in which the training data is expanded by replacing its predicates by words in the testing domain. A language model, which is considered as a text mining technique, and some linguistic resources are used to select from the vocabulary of the testing domain the best words for the replacement. We apply our method on the case study of transferring a semantic role labeler trained on the news domain to the children story domain. It gives us valuable improvements over the four circumstance semantic roles Location, Time, Manner and Direction.
Mass loss and yield uncertainty in low‐mass asymptotic giant branch stars

We investigate the uncertainty in surface abundances and yields of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. We apply three different mass-loss laws to a 1.5-M ⊙ star of metallicity Z = 0.008 at the beginning of the thermally pulsing-asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) phase. Efficient third dredge-up is found even at very low envelope mass, contrary to previous simulations with other evolution codes. We find that the yield of carbon is uncertain by about 15 per cent and for most other light elements the yield is uncertain at the level of 20-80 per cent. For iron group elements, the uncertainty varies from around 30 per cent for the more-abundant species to over a factor of 2 for the less-abundant radioactive species, like 60 Fe. The post-AGB surface abundances for this mass and metallicity are much more uncertain due to the dilution of dredged-up material in differing envelope masses in the later stages of the models. Our results are compared to known planetary nebula and post-AGB abundances. We find that the models are mostly consistent with observations but we are unable to reproduce observations of some of the isotopes.
The Self-organizing Seismic Early Warning Information Network (SOSEWIN)

Rapid urbanization, the interconnection of economies and increasing dependence on technology makes modern society ever more vulnerable to natural disasters. This is particularly true when considering the growth of so-called mega cities (defined by the United Nations as metropolitan areas with populations exceeding 10 million), the majority of which are in the developing world. This has led to the recognition of the importance of early warning systems as one means of mitigating the potential human and economic losses resulting from natural disasters ( e.g. , International Strategy for Disaster Reduction 2005; United Nations 2006). Considering earthquakes, many areas of major urbanization ( e.g. , Tokyo, Istanbul, Naples, Mexico City) are exposed to significant seismic hazard. Currently, several parts of the world have some form of earthquake early warning system (EEWS) either in operation or under development ( e.g. , Taiwan: Wu and Teng 2002; Japan: Horiuchi et al. 2005; California: Wurman et al. 2007; Istanbul: Erdik et al. 2003; Bucharest: Ionescu et al. 2007; Mexico City: Espinosa-Aranda et al. 1995). However, these systems usually involve the use of a relatively low number of sensors (from several to tens of units), a fact largely dictated by the high cost of such instrumentation. In addition, these systems must usually communicate their data to centralized processing and archiving facilities. An example of a standard centralized EEWS is the Istanbul Earthquake Rapid Response and Early Warning System (IERREWS; Erdik et al. 2003) operated by Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI) of Bogazici University (Figure 1A). This system is made up of 10 strong-motion stations that are installed as close as possible to the fault zone of the north Anatolian fault, which runs through the Marmara Sea to the south of Istanbul. In the IERREWS, a centralized philosophy of early …
Fluctuations in a quasi-stationary shallow cumulus cloud ensemble

Abstract. We propose an approach to stochastic parameterisation of shallow cumulus clouds to represent the convective variability and its dependence on the model resolution. To collect information about the individual cloud lifecycles and the cloud ensemble as a whole, we employ a large eddy simulation (LES) model and a cloud tracking algorithm, followed by conditional sampling of clouds at the cloud-base level. In the case of a shallow cumulus ensemble, the cloud-base mass flux distribution is bimodal, due to the different shallow cloud subtypes, active and passive clouds. Each distribution mode can be approximated using a Weibull distribution, which is a generalisation of exponential distribution by accounting for the change in distribution shape due to the diversity of cloud lifecycles. The exponential distribution of cloud mass flux previously suggested for deep convection parameterisation is a special case of the Weibull distribution, which opens a way towards unification of the statistical convective ensemble formalism of shallow and deep cumulus clouds. Based on the empirical and theoretical findings, a stochastic model has been developed to simulate a shallow convective cloud ensemble. It is formulated as a compound random process, with the number of convective elements drawn from a Poisson distribution, and the cloud mass flux sampled from a mixed Weibull distribution. Convective memory is accounted for through the explicit cloud lifecycles, making the model formulation consistent with the choice of the Weibull cloud mass flux distribution function. The memory of individual shallow clouds is required to capture the correct convective variability. The resulting distribution of the subgrid convective states in the considered shallow cumulus case is scale-adaptive – the smaller the grid size, the broader the distribution.
Direction of arrival (DOA) determination based on monopulse concepts

Monopulse is a classical radar technique of precise finding of a source or target. The concept can be used both in radar applications as well as in modern communication techniques. The information contained in antenna sidelobes normally disturbs the determination of DOA in the case of a classical monopulse system. The suitable combination of amplitude- and phase-monopulse algorithm leads to the novel complex monopulse algorithm (CMP), which also can utilise information from the sidelobes by using the phase shift of the signals in the sidelobes in relation to the mainlobes.
Breast milk and cognitive development—the role of confounders: a systematic review

Objectives The association between breastfeeding and child cognitive development is conflicted by studies reporting positive and null effects. This relationship may be confounded by factors associated with breastfeeding, specifically maternal socioeconomic class and IQ. Design Systematic review of the literature. Setting and participants Any prospective or retrospective study, in any language, evaluating the association between breastfeeding and cognitive development using a validated method in healthy term infants, children or adults, was included. Primary and secondary outcome measures Extracted data included the study design, target population and sample size, breastfeeding exposure, cognitive development assessment tool used and participants’ age, summary of the results prior to, and following, adjustment for confounders, and all confounders adjusted for. Study quality was assessed as well. Results 84 studies met our inclusion criteria (34 rated as high quality, 26 moderate and 24 low quality). Critical assessment of accepted studies revealed the following associations: 21 null, 28 positive, 18 null after adjusting for confounders and 17 positive—diminished after adjusting for confounders. Directionality of effect did not correlate with study quality; however, studies showing a decreased effect after multivariate analysis were of superior quality compared with other study groupings (14/17 high quality, 82%). Further, studies that showed null or diminished effect after multivariate analysis corrected for significantly more confounders (7.7±3.4) as compared with those that found no change following adjustment (5.6±4.5, p=0.04). The majority of included studies were carried out during childhood (75%) and set in high-income countries (85.5%). Conclusions Much of the reported effect of breastfeeding on child neurodevelopment is due to confounding. It is unlikely that additional work will change the current synthesis. Future studies should attempt to rigorously control for all important confounders. Alternatively, study designs using sibling cohorts discordant for breastfeeding may yield more robust conclusions.
Strategy, compromise, and cheating in predator–prey games

Background: A prey’s optimal level of anti-predator behaviour depends on its hunger state and its assessment of danger in the environment. Similarly, a predator’s optimal attack behaviour depends on its own satiation level and its assessment of the risks and costs associated with hunting. The optimal behaviour of each depends on what the other is doing, resulting in a dynamic game. Assumptions: We assume that predators are more successful at hunting their prey when prey are further from safety, and that prey are more successful in finding their food items in more risky environments. Question: Under these assumptions, what is the evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) and how does it respond to false attacks by the predators? Mathematical methods: We use stochastic dynamic programming to compute the probabilities of prey and predators surviving a foraging season (e.g. the winter) and game theoretical methods to compute the evolutionarily stable strategies. Results: We find the ESS, and we demonstrate that when foraging time is limited, a predator benefits from making extra ‘false’ attacks on the prey, assuming it can do so safely and efficiently. The extra attacks disturb the prey until they can no longer afford the time for anti-predator behaviour and become easier targets during the next ‘real’ attack.