Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Seasonal Rainfall and Runoff Promote Coral Disease on an Inshore Reef

Background Declining water quality coupled with the effects of climate change are rapidly increasing coral diseases on reefs worldwide, although links between coral diseases and environmental parameters remain poorly understood. This is the first study to document a correlation between coral disease and water quality on an inshore reef. Methodology/Principal Findings The temporal dynamics of the coral disease atramentous necrosis (AN) was investigated over two years within inshore populations of Montipora aequituberculata in the central Great Barrier Reef, in relation to rainfall, salinity, temperature, water column chlorophyll a, suspended solids, sedimentation, dissolved organic carbon, and particulate nitrogen, phosphorus and organic carbon. Overall, mean AN prevalence was 10-fold greater during summer wet seasons than winter dry seasons. A 2.5-fold greater mean disease abundance was detected during the summer of 2009 (44 ± SE 6.7 diseased colonies per 25 m2), when rainfall was 1.6-fold greater than in the summer of 2008. Two water quality parameters explained 67% of the variance in monthly disease prevalence in a Partial Least Squares regression analysis; disease abundance was negatively correlated with salinity (R2 = −0.6) but positively correlated with water column particulate organic carbon concentration (R2 = 0.32). Seasonal temperature patterns were also positively correlated with disease abundance, but explained only a small portion of the variance. Conclusions/Significance The results suggest that rainfall and associated runoff may facilitate seasonal disease outbreaks, potentially by reducing host fitness or by increasing pathogen virulence due to higher availability of nutrients and organic matter. In the future, rainfall and seawater temperatures are likely to increase due to climate change which may lead to decreased health of inshore reefs.
Design of the State Predictive Model Following Control System with Time-Delay

Design of the State Predictive Model Following Control System with Time-Delay Time-delay systems exist in many engineering fields such as transportation systems, communication systems, process engineering and, more recently, networked control systems. It usually results in unsatisfactory performance and is frequently a source of instability, so the control of time-delay systems is practically important. In this paper, a design of the state predictive model following control system (PMFCS) with time-delay is discussed. The bounded property of the internal states for the control is given, and the utility of this control design is guaranteed. Finally, examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, and state predictive control techniques are applied to congestion control synthesis problems for a TCP/AQM network.
YOUNG L DWARFS IDENTIFIED IN THE FIELD: A PRELIMINARY LOW-GRAVITY, OPTICAL SPECTRAL SEQUENCE FROM L0 TO L5

We present an analysis of 23 L dwarfs whose optical spectra display unusual features. Twenty-one were uncovered during our search for nearby, late-type objects using the Two Micron All Sky Survey, while two were identified in the literature. The unusual spectral features, notably weak FeH molecular absorption and weak Na i and K i doublets, are attributable to low gravity and indicate that these L dwarfs are young, low-mass brown dwarfs. We use these data to expand the spectral classification scheme for L0- to L5-type dwarfs to include three gravity classes. Most of the low-gravity L dwarfs have southerly declinations and distance estimates within 60 pc. Their implied youth, on-sky distribution, and distances suggest that they are members of nearby, intermediate-age (∼10–100 Myr), loose associations such as the β Pictoris moving group, the Tucana/Horologium Association, and the AB Doradus moving group. At an age of 30 Myr and with effective temperatures from 1500 to 2400 K, evolutionary models predict masses of 11–30 MJupiter for these objects. One object, 2M 0355+11, with J − Ks = 2.52 ± 0.03, is the reddest L dwarf found in the field and its late spectral type and spectral features indicative of a very low gravity suggest it might also be the lowest mass field L dwarf. However, before ages and masses can be confidently adopted for any of these low-gravity L dwarfs, additional kinematic observations are needed to confirm cluster membership.
Relativistic Landau problem at finite temperature

We study the zero temperature Casimir energy and fermion number for Dirac fields in a (2+1)-dimensional Minkowski space-time, in the presence of a uniform magnetic field perpendicular to the spatial manifold. Then, we go to the finite-temperature problem, with a chemical potential, introduced as a uniform zero component of the gauge potential. By performing a Lorentz boost, we obtain the Hall conductivity in the case of crossed electric and magnetic fields.
Shifting discourses of equality and equity of basic education: an analysis of national policy documents in China

ABSTRACT As the world’s second-largest economy, China faces great challenges in educational equality and equity. This article examines the evolution of discourses surrounding educational equality by focusing on how Chinese central governments from the 1980s to the 2010s have formulated this issue. Through key national policy documents and drawing upon Espinoza’s equality–equity model, we analyse the sociopolitical context of changes in China’s educational discourse and come to the conclusions that in the 1980s, shifting the government’s agenda to economic reforms, national poverty subsumed the issue of educational equality. In the 1990s, according to the inherited political rationale, the government treated educational inequality as a ‘necessary process’ of Chinese socialist market economy. Since the 2000s, equality and equity has become an ‘urgent issue’ as the government’s agenda has shifted focus to stabilizing the nation’s economy and society. We propose labelling these three stages of equality–equity discursive departure in the 1980s, continuity and rupture in the 1990s, and prioritization since the 2000s.
Carbon source-dependent alteration of Puf3p activity mediates rapid changes in the stabilities of mRNAs involved in mitochondrial function

The Puf family of RNA-binding proteins regulates gene expression primarily by interacting with the 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) of targeted mRNAs and inhibiting translation and/or stimulating decay. Physical association and computational analyses of yeast Puf3p identified >150 potential mRNA targets involved in mitochondrial function. However, only COX17 has been established as a target of Puf3p-mediated deadenylation and decapping. We have identified 10 new targets that are rapidly degraded in a Puf3p-dependent manner. We also observed changes in Puf3p activity in response to environmental conditions. Puf3p promotes rapid degradation of mRNA targets in the fermentable carbon source dextrose. However, Puf3p-mediated decay activity is inhibited in carbon sources that require mitochondrial function for efficient cell growth. In addition, the activity of Puf3p is rapidly altered by changing the carbon source. PUF3 expression is not decreased at the RNA or protein level by different carbon sources and localization is not significantly altered, suggesting that Puf3p activity is regulated posttranslationally. Finally, under conditions when Puf3p is unable to stimulate decay, Puf3p can still bind its target mRNAs. Together, these experiments provide insight into the carbon source-specific control of Puf3p activity and how such alterations allow Puf3p to dynamically regulate mitochondrial function.
Therapists’ perceptions of the therapeutic alliance in “Mandatory” therapy with sex offenders

ABSTRACT Research suggests that the therapeutic alliance (TA) plays an important part in successful therapy. The pantheoretical concept of the alliance (Bordin, 1979) assumes a client seeks to make a change and joins the therapist in a willing journey. However, treatment with sex offenders can entail various levels of coercion. Little is known about the process of the TA in therapy with sex offenders whose therapy could be seen as coerced or mandated. Thus, the aim of this research was to explore therapists’ perceptions of the TA with sex offenders whose therapy could be seen as “mandated” because it was part of their plan for release/rehabilitation. Eleven therapists were interviewed about their experiences and a qualitative thematic analysis elicited five themes: dynamics of forced work, explicit terms of working, persuasive encouragement to engage, connecting with the human element and preservation and protection. Implications for practice are discussed alongside recommendations for future research.
Unconditionally Secure Signatures

Digital signatures are one of the most important cryptographic primitives. In this work we construct an information-theoretically secure signature scheme which, unlike prior schemes, enjoys a number of advantageous properties such as short signature length and high generation efficiency, to name two. In particular, we extend symmetric-key message authentication codes (MACs) based on universal hashing to make them transferable, a property absent from traditional MAC schemes. Our main results are summarised as follows. – We construct an unconditionally secure signature scheme which, unlike prior schemes, does not rely on a trusted third party or anonymous channels. In our scheme, a sender shares with each of the remaining protocol participants (or recipients) a set of keys (or hash functions) from a family of universal hash functions. Also, the recipients share with each other a random portion of the keys that they share with the sender. A signature for a message is a vector of tags generated by applying the hash functions to the message. As such, our scheme can be viewed as an extension of MAC schemes, and therefore, the practical implementation of our scheme is straightforward. – We prove information-theoretic security of our scheme against forging, repudiation, and non-transferability. – We compare our schemes with existing both “classical” (not employing quantum mechanics) and quantum unconditionally secure signature schemes. The comparison shows that our new scheme has a number of unparalleled advantages over the previous schemes. – Finally, although our scheme does not rely on trusted third parties, we discuss this, showing that having a trusted third party makes our scheme even more attractive.
Aggregation of Human S100A8 and S100A9 Amyloidogenic Proteins Perturbs Proteostasis in a Yeast Model

Amyloid aggregates of the calcium-binding EF-hand proteins, S100A8 and S100A9, have been found in the corpora amylacea of patients with prostate cancer and may play a role in carcinogenesis. Here we present a novel model system using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to study human S100A8 and S100A9 aggregation and toxicity. We found that S100A8, S100A9 and S100A8/9 cotransfomants form SDS-resistant non-toxic aggregates in yeast cells. Using fluorescently tagged proteins, we showed that S100A8 and S100A9 accumulate in foci. After prolonged induction, S100A8 foci localized to the cell vacuole, whereas the S100A9 foci remained in the cytoplasm when present alone, but entered the vacuole in cotransformants. Biochemical analysis of the proteins indicated that S100A8 and S100A9 alone or coexpressed together form amyloid-like aggregates in yeast. Expression of S100A8 and S100A9 in wild type yeast did not affect cell viability, but these proteins were toxic when expressed on a background of unrelated metastable temperature-sensitive mutant proteins, Cdc53-1p, Cdc34-2p, Srp1-31p and Sec27-1p. This finding suggests that the expression and aggregation of S100A8 and S100A9 may limit the capacity of the cellular proteostasis machinery. To test this hypothesis, we screened a set of chaperone deletion mutants and found that reducing the levels of the heat-shock proteins Hsp104p and Hsp70p was sufficient to induce S100A8 and S100A9 toxicity. This result indicates that the chaperone activity of the Hsp104/Hsp70 bi-chaperone system in wild type cells is sufficient to reduce S100A8 and S100A9 amyloid toxicity and preserve cellular proteostasis. Expression of human S100A8 and S100A9 in yeast thus provides a novel model system for the study of the interaction of amyloid deposits with the proteostasis machinery.
Neoangiogenesis in association with moyamoya syndrome shown by estimation of relative recirculation based on dynamic contrast-enhanced MR images.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE This study examined abnormalities of the recirculation phase of the contrast medium concentration time course curve in patients with moyamoya disease by using the relative recirculation (rR) parameter. Our aims were to increase understanding of the rR parameter and to assess its possible value in the investigation of moyamoya disease. METHODS Six patients with confirmed moyamoya disease and five normal participants were examined by using dynamic T2*-weighted MR perfusion imaging. Parametric maps of relative cerebral blood volume, time to peak (TTP), and rR were calculated. The width of the normal distribution of TTP and the normal upper limit for rR were derived from the normal participants by identification of the 97.5% confidence limits for the distributions. Major vessels were identified by selection of pixels with relative cerebral blood volume >0.5. Areas of abnormally prolonged TTP and of increased rR were then identified in patients, and the relationship between these parameters and major vessels was examined. RESULTS The combination of cerebral blood volume >50%, elevated TTP, and elevated rR values accurately identified areas of moyamoya vessel formation seen on angiograms. Larger well-developed meningeal and basal collaterals did not show abnormalities of rR. Areas of prolonged TTP were also observed to occur in the brain distal to arterial occlusion in all cases. In three of these, abnormal elevation of rR was observed in the center of regions of prolonged TTP. CONCLUSION These findings support those of our previous work, which suggested that rR can act as an indicator of regional microvascular abnormality, such as that seen in areas of angiogenic activity. They also suggest that measurement of rR may provide valuable additional information regarding patients with moyamoya disease.
Does the Exchange Rate Belong in Monetary Policy Rules? New Answers from a DSGE Model with Endogenous Tradability and Trade Frictions

This paper develops a 2-region DSGE model that integrates the theory of comparative advantage or endogenous tradability into a monetary model with nominal and real rigidities. We find that without endogenous tradability and trade frictions there is no role for the exchange rate in optimized monetary policy rules. But with endogenous tradability and trade frictions the exchange rate can play a much more fundamental role in facilitating or slowing down adjustments in the real economy, and it enters the optimized policy rule.
Minor Physical Anomalies, Intelligence, and Cognitive Decline

Background/Study Context: Minor physical anomalies are thought to be markers of development and increased frequency of such anomalies has been linked to lower levels of intelligence. Here the authors examine a finger curvature anomaly, and evaluate its potential as a marker of the causes of cognitive aging. Methods: Participants were members of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 (LBC 1921). Intelligence was assessed at ages 11, 79, and 87. In wave 3, at age 87, 192 participants had both hands scanned with a high-resolution flatbed scanner and the curvature of the fifth digit was measured with image editing software. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the proportion of unique variance in cognitive decline that could be explained by the finger curvature anomaly. Results: Finger curvature was significantly associated with cognitive decline across the life span (β = −.19, p = .02). Curvature was not associated with intelligence at age 11 or with decline during the period age 79 to age 87. Conclusion: Continuously varying minor physical anomalies may accumulate to provide a marker of factors impacting life span cognitive change. Curvature anomalies may reflect the common causes underlying cognitive and physical decline.
Continuous multi-modal human interest detection for a domestic companion humanoid robot

This paper addresses the scenario of how a humanoid robot can detect its human companion's intention of initiating interaction in a domestic environment. Previous research was mostly focused on the robot's understanding of human intentions during the course of the interaction, but not the initiation of it. The performance of the several unimodal and multi-modal algorithms have been evaluated using over 100 hours of real life experiments conducted in a city apartment living room. A key evaluation criterion is the ability of the algorithm to continuously monitor its environments to be responsive to human's infrequent requests, while at the same time having an extremely low number of false positives so as not to fire off interactions at random. The multi-modal approach incorporating speech recognition, audio source localisation and face detection features is proven to be superior, but further improvements are desired for real life applications.
Dynamic On-Chip Thermal Sensor Calibration Using Performance Counters

Numerous sensors are currently deployed in modern processors to collect thermal information for fine-grained dynamic thermal management (DTM). Due to process variation and silicon aging, on-chip thermal sensors require periodic calibration before use in DTM. However, the calibration cost for thermal sensors can be prohibitively high as the number of on-chip sensors increases. In this paper, a model which is suitable for online calculation is employed to estimate the temperatures of multiple sensor locations on the silicon die. The estimated sensor and actual sensor thermal profile show a very high similarity with correlation coefficient ~ 0.9 for most tested benchmarks. Our calibration approach combines potentially inaccurate temperature values obtained from two sources: temperature readings from thermal sensors and temperature estimations using system performance counters. A data fusion strategy based on Bayesian inference, which combines information from these two sources, is demonstrated along with a temperature estimation approach using performance counters. The average absolute error of the corrected sensor temperature readings is <; 1.5°C and the standard deviation of error is less than <; 0.5°C for tested benchmarks.
Reelin Depletion in the Entorhinal Cortex of Human Amyloid Precursor Protein Transgenic Mice and Humans with Alzheimer's Disease

Reelin regulates nervous system development and modulates synaptic plasticity in the adult brain. Several findings suggest that alterations in Reelin signaling may contribute to neuronal dysfunction associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Cell surface receptors for Reelin, including integrins and very-low-density lipoprotein receptor/apolipoprotein E2 receptor, may be targets of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides presumed to play key roles in the pathogenesis of AD. Reelin also regulates the extent of tau phosphorylation. Finally, increased amounts of Reelin fragments have been found in CSF from AD patients, suggesting altered processing of Reelin. We therefore hypothesized that Reelin levels might be altered in the brains of human amyloid precursor protein (hAPP) transgenic mice, particularly in brain regions vulnerable to AD such as hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. Compared with nontransgenic controls, hAPP mice had significantly fewer Reelin-expressing pyramidal cells in the entorhinal cortex, the major population of glutamatergic neurons expressing Reelin in the brain. Western blot analysis of the hippocampus, which receives projections from the entorhinal cortex, revealed significant reductions in Reelin levels. In contrast, the number of Reelin-expressing GABAergic interneurons was not altered in either the entorhinal cortex or the hippocampus. Thus, neuronal expression of hAPP/Aβ is sufficient to reduce Reelin expression in a specific population of entorhinal cortical pyramidal neurons in vivo. Underscoring the relevance of these findings, we found qualitatively similar reductions of Reelin-expressing pyramidal neurons in the entorhinal cortex of AD brains. We conclude that alterations in Reelin processing or signaling may be involved in AD-related neuronal dysfunction.
Accelerating Dynamic Data Race Detection Using Static Thread Interference Analysis

Precise dynamic race detectors report an error if and only if more than one thread concurrently exhibits conflict on a memory access. They insert instrumentations at compile-time to perform runtime checks on all memory accesses to ensure that all races are captured and no spurious warnings are generated. However, a dynamic race check for a particular memory access statement is guaranteed to be redundant if the statement can be statically identified as thread interference-free. Despite significant recent advances in dynamic detection techniques, the redundant check remains a critical factor that leads to prohibitive overhead of dynamic race detection for multithreaded programs. In this paper, we present a new framework that eliminates redundant race check and boosts the dynamic race detection by performing static optimizations on top of a series of thread interference analysis phases. Our framework is implemented on top of LLVM 3.5. 0 and evaluated with an industry dynamic race detector TSAN which is available as a part of LLVM tool chain. 11 benchmarks from SPLASH2 are used to evaluate the effectiveness of our approach in accelerating TSAN by eliminating redundant interference-free checks. The experimental result demonstrates our new approach achieves from 1.4x to 4.0x (2.4x on average) speedup over original TSAN under 4 threads setting, and achieves from 1.3x to 4.6x (2.6x on average) speedup under 16 threads setting.
Using self-organizing maps approach to pipeline localization

The aim of this paper is to detect and follow the pipeline in sonar imagery. This work is performed in two steps. The first is to split an image (first experiment) or a transformed line image of pipeline image (second experiment) into regions of uniform texture using the Gray Level Concurrence Matrix Method (GLCM). The second addresses the unsupervised learning method based on the Artificial Neural Networks (Self-Organizing Map or SOM) used for determining the comparative model of pipeline from the image. To increase the performance of SOM, we propose a penalty function based on data histogram visualization for detecting the position of pipeline. After a brief review of both techniques (GLCM and SOM), we present our methods and some results from several experiments on the real world data set.
Comparing maintainability evolution of object-oriented and aspect-oriented software product lines

Software Product Line aims at improving productivity and decrease realization times by gathering the analysis, design and implementation activities of a family of systems. Evaluating the quality attributes for SPL architectures is very crucial especially architecture maintainability as SPL are expected to have longer lifetime span. Aspect-orientation offers a modularization way by separating crosscutting concerns from non-crosscutting ones. Aspect-oriented programming is assumed to endorse better modularity and changeability of product lines than traditional variability mechanisms. In this paper, we show that change propagation probability (CP) is helpful and effective in assessing the design quality of software architectures. We propose to use the CP to assess the evolution of the architecture of software product lines through different releases. We use CP to investigate whether aspect oriented SPL has better maintainability evolution than object-oriented SPL.