Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust Language Identification of Noisy Texts: Proposal of Hybrid Approaches

This paper deals with the problem of automatic language identification of noisy texts, which represents an important task in natural language processing. Actually, there exist several works in this field, which are based on statistical and machine learning approaches for different categories of texts. Unfortunately, most of the proposed methods work fine on clean texts and/or long texts, but often present a failure when the text is corrupted or too short. In this research work, we use a typical dataset consisting of short texts collected from several discussion forums containing several types of noises. Our dataset contains 32 different languages, where we notice that some languages are quite different while some others are too closed. In this investigation, we propose two types of methods to identify the text language: term-based method and character-based method. Moreover, we propose two hybrid methods to enhance the performances of those techniques. Experiments show that the proposed hybrid methods are quite interesting and present good language identification performances in noisy texts.
Renal Infection by a New Coccidian Genus in Big Brown Bats (Eptesicus fuscus)

Abstract A novel coccidian parasite from the kidney of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) is described. This coccidian (Nephroisospora eptesici nov. gen., n. sp.) was associated with a generally mild, focal or multifocal, well-demarcated cortical renal lesion less than 1 mm in diameter. The lesion represented cystic, dilated tubules with hypertrophied tubular epithelial cells and was present in the kidneys of 29 of 590 bats. Numerous coccidian parasites in various stages of development were present within the tubular epithelial cells and within the cyst lumina. Oocysts were collected from cystic dilated tubules. Thin-walled, sporulated ellipsoidal oocysts measuring an average of 18.9 × 20.8 µm were present in kidney tissue. The oocysts contained 2 sporocysts with 4 sporozoites. A polar body and a prominent oocyst residuum were present in the oocysts, but no micropyle, sporocyst residuum, or Stieda bodies were detected. Analysis of the 18S rRNA gene sequence put the parasite in the Sarcocystidae. The parasite is closely related to Besnoitia, Hammondia, Neospora, and Toxoplasma. Ultrastructural features, such as the presence of an apical complex in merozoites, support the identification of a coccidian. A new genus and species, Nephroisospora eptesicii, is proposed for this unusual coccidian in which the entire cycle is completed in the kidney of a single host; it has a membrane-like oocyst wall, sporogony occurs in the host rather than in the abiotic environment, and the positioning of the parasite by nucleic acid sequence indicates it to be closely allied to Sarcocystis and Besnoitia.
Fenpropimorph affects uptake of uracil and cytosine in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Fenpropimorph was shown to inhibit the accumulation of the pyrimidine bases uracil and cytosine from the growth media in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Uracil prototrophs of S. cerevisiae were more resistant to the growth-inhibitory effects of fenpropimorph than were uracil auxotrophs. High concentrations of uracil rescued fenpropimorph-treated uracil auxotrophs, and cytosine, which is accumulated by a separate mechanism, could also support growth of treated uracil auxotrophs. Fenpropimorph caused a significant decrease in the uptake of radiolabeled uracil, which was not due to accumulation of ergosta-8,14-dienol (ignosterol) in the treated cultures. Radiolabeled cytosine uptake was unaffected by drug treatment in a wild-type strain but was inhibited in a sterol mutant, in which ergosterol was absent from the cell. The role of fenpropimorph in causing membrane dysfunction through a mechanism other than altered sterol metabolism is discussed.
Detection of command and control in advanced persistent threat based on independent access

Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) imposes increasing threats on cyber security with the developing network attack technologies. APT is a highly interactive, specifically targeted and extremely harmful network-centric attack, which employs various technologies to evade detection during attacks leading to the result that victims will not be aware of attacks until they suffer from tremendous losses. Since command and control (C&C) is an essential component during the lifetime of APT, the detection of it is a practical measure to defend against the APT. In this paper, we analyze the features of C&C in APT and find that the HTTP-based C&C is widely used. Based on the analysis results, we propose a new feature of C&C, i.e., independent access, to characterize the difference between C&C communications and normal HTTP requests. Applying the independent access feature into DNS records, we implement a novel C&C detection method and validate it on public dataset. As a new feature of C&C, its advantages and drawbacks are also analyzed.
Cache Friendliness-Aware Managementof Shared Last-Level Caches for HighPerformance Multi-Core Systems

To achieve high efficiency and prevent destructive interference among multiple divergent workloads, the last-level cache of Chip Multiprocessors has to be carefully managed. Previously proposed cache management schemes suffer from inefficient cache capacity utilization, by either focusing on improving the absolute number of cache misses or by allocating cache capacity without taking into consideration the applications' memory sharing characteristics. Reduction of the overall number of misses does not always correlate with higher performance as Memory-level Parallelism can hide the latency penalty of a significant number of misses in out-of-order execution. In this work we describe a quasi-partitioning scheme for last-level caches that combines the memory-level parallelism, cache friendliness and interference sensitivity of competing applications, to efficiently manage the shared cache capacity. The proposed scheme improves both system throughput and execution fairness - outperforming previous schemes that are oblivious to applications' memory behavior. Our detailed, full-system simulations showed an average improvement of 10 percent in throughput and 9 percent in fairness over the next best scheme for a four-core CMP system.
Highly Frequent Mutations in Negative Regulators of Multiple Virulence Genes in Group A Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome Isolates

Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) is a severe invasive infection characterized by the sudden onset of shock and multiorgan failure; it has a high mortality rate. Although a number of studies have attempted to determine the crucial factors behind the onset of STSS, the responsible genes in group A Streptococcus have not been clarified. We previously reported that mutations of csrS/csrR genes, a two-component negative regulator system for multiple virulence genes of Streptococcus pyogenes, are found among the isolates from STSS patients. In the present study, mutations of another negative regulator, rgg, were also found in clinical isolates of STSS patients. The rgg mutants from STSS clinical isolates enhanced lethality and impaired various organs in the mouse models, similar to the csrS mutants, and precluded their being killed by human neutrophils, mainly due to an overproduction of SLO. When we assessed the mutation frequency of csrS, csrR, and rgg genes among S. pyogenes isolates from STSS (164 isolates) and non-invasive infections (59 isolates), 57.3% of the STSS isolates had mutations of one or more genes among three genes, while isolates from patients with non-invasive disease had significantly fewer mutations in these genes (1.7%). The results of the present study suggest that mutations in the negative regulators csrS/csrR and rgg of S. pyogenes are crucial factors in the pathogenesis of STSS, as they lead to the overproduction of multiple virulence factors.
Psychology's Dilemma: To Explain or To Understand

At one time behavioristic psychology depreciated the value of introspection and descriptive observation in an attempt to exorcise the ghosts of mentalism and introspectionism. The roots of this bias were traced to a Cartesian dualism of subject and object. Behavioristic research has typically concentrated on a specific kind of data requiring the controls of a detached third-person observer. Its findings have been far removed from the concrete "lived world" of the subject, notwithstanding the sophistication and utility of its experimental designs. The task of understanding the human world of everyday life has been precluded from investigation by an exclusive reliance on explanation for the purpose of facilitating prediction. A case has been made that such a position is neither philosophically tenable nor conducive to the growth of psychology as a science. The contention of contemporary philosophers and behavioral scientists is that psychology cannot proceed as an independent science of man without combining empirical induction with experiential descriptions. Psychologists cannot exclude the role of intentionality and remain consistently within the orbit of causality. A science of psychology as the study of behavior and experience is possible through a comprehensive approach with equitable sharing of methodologies. Two methods were presented: The method of Phenomenal Study, and the method of Individual Reflection. Experiences from the real world may be studied without the earlier pitfalls of "introspectionism," or the present outcries against a meaningfulness. An application of the two methods to the experience of "feeling understood," suggests a necessary and possible rapprochement between the methods of behaviorism and phenomenology.
A Hybrid Decoding Scheme for Short Non-Binary LDPC Codes

In this paper, an iterative soft-decision hybrid decoding algorithm for non-binary low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes with short codeword lengths is proposed. The rationale of the approach is to combine the classical belief propagation (BP) iterative LDPC decoding algorithm with the most reliable basis (MRB) decoding algorithm. This allows to achieve significant performance improvements, with a complexity that, for medium/low error rates, is only slightly higher than that of the BP algorithm alone. The performance improvement with respect to pure BP decoding is up to 0.7 dB at codeword error rate (CER) ≈ 10-5. Notably, for a fixed MRB order, hybrid decoding achieves a gain up to 0.5 dB at CER ≈ 10-5 with respect to BP decoding and MRB decoding used alone.
Fast Constrained Spectral Clustering and Cluster Ensemble with Random Projection

Constrained spectral clustering (CSC) method can greatly improve the clustering accuracy with the incorporation of constraint information into spectral clustering and thus has been paid academic attention widely. In this paper, we propose a fast CSC algorithm via encoding landmark-based graph construction into a new CSC model and applying random sampling to decrease the data size after spectral embedding. Compared with the original model, the new algorithm has the similar results with the increase of its model size asymptotically; compared with the most efficient CSC algorithm known, the new algorithm runs faster and has a wider range of suitable data sets. Meanwhile, a scalable semisupervised cluster ensemble algorithm is also proposed via the combination of our fast CSC algorithm and dimensionality reduction with random projection in the process of spectral ensemble clustering. We demonstrate by presenting theoretical analysis and empirical results that the new cluster ensemble algorithm has advantages in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. Furthermore, the approximate preservation of random projection in clustering accuracy proved in the stage of consensus clustering is also suitable for the weighted k-means clustering and thus gives the theoretical guarantee to this special kind of k-means clustering where each point has its corresponding weight.
A 5-bit 3.2-GS/s Flash ADC With a Digital Offset Calibration Scheme

In high-speed Flash analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), preamplifiers are often placed in front of a comparator to reduce metastability errors and enhance comparison speed. The accuracy of a Flash ADC is mainly limited by the random offsets of preamplifiers and comparators. This paper presents a 5-b Flash ADC with a digital random offset calibration scheme. For calibration, programmable resistive devices are used as the loading devices of the second-stage preamplifiers. By adjusting the calibration resistors, the input-referred offset voltage of each comparator is reduced to be less than 1/2 LSB. Fabricated in a 0.13-¿m CMOS process, experimental results show that the ADC consumes 120 mW from a 1.2-V supply and occupies a 0.18- mm2 active area. After calibration, the peak differential non-linearity (DNL) and integral non-linearity (INL) are 0.24 and 0.39 LSB, respectively. At 3.2-GS/s operation, the effective number of bits is 4.54 b, and the effective resolution bandwidth is 600 MHz. This ADC achieves figures of merit of 3.07 and 4.30 pJ/conversion-step at 2 and 3.2 GS/s, respectively.
In Situ CO2 Efflux from Leaf Litter Layer Showed Large Temporal Variation Induced by Rapid Wetting and Drying Cycle

We performed continuous and manual in situ measurements of CO2 efflux from the leaf litter layer (R LL) and water content of the leaf litter layer (LWC) in conjunction with measurements of soil respiration (R S) and soil water content (SWC) in a temperate forest; our objectives were to evaluate the response of R LL to rainfall events and to assess temporal variation in its contribution to R S. We measured R LL in a treatment area from which all potential sources of CO2 except for the leaf litter layer were removed. Capacitance sensors were used to measure LWC. R LL increased immediately after wetting of the leaf litter layer; peak R LL values were observed during or one day after rainfall events and were up to 8.6-fold larger than R LL prior to rainfall. R LL declined to pre-wetting levels within 2–4 day after rainfall events and corresponded to decreasing LWC, indicating that annual R LL is strongly influenced by precipitation. Temporal variation in the observed contribution of R LL to R S varied from nearly zero to 51%. Continuous in situ measurements of LWC and CO2 efflux from leaf litter only, combined with measurements of R S, can provide robust data to clarify the response of R LL to rainfall events and its contribution to total R S.
Sexual Assault Victims' Acknowledgment Status and Revictimization Risk

How a victim of rape characterizes her assault has potential implications for her postassault experiences and revictimization risk. Prior research has identified several potential benefits to not conceptualizing one's experience as a form of victimization. The current study sought to identify whether there are costs to not acknowledging rape as well, specifically whether unacknowledged victims are at elevated risk of revictimization. The revictimization risk behaviors of 334 acknowledged and unacknowledged female college rape victims were compared. Unacknowledged victims reported more hazardous alcohol use and were more likely to report that they continued a relationship with the assailant after the assault. A subsample of 105 victims completed a 6-month follow-up survey regarding sexual victimization during the follow-up period. Unacknowledged victims were nearly twice as likely to report having experienced an attempted rape during the 6-month follow-up period. Implications of the results for future work evaluating rape acknowledgment, rape recovery, and revictimization are discussed.
On the mechanisms involved in the regulation of the cell-surface receptors for human choriogonadotropin and mouse epidermal growth factor in cultured Leydig tumor cells

The MA-10 cells are a clonal strain of mouse Leydig tumor cells that have receptors for human choriogonadotropin (hCG) and mouse epidermal growth factor (mEGF). Exposure of the cells to hCG results in a reduction in the number of surface hCG receptors, and little or no change in the number of surface mEGF receptors. On the other hand, exposure of the cells to mEGF results in a reduction in the number of both surface mEGF receptors and surface hCG receptors. In order to study these phenomena, we assumed that the number of surface receptors is determined by the rate at which receptors appear at the surface and by the rate of receptor internalization. When these rates were measured, we found that hCG and mEGF reduce their respective surface receptors by increasing the rate of receptor internalization, and that mEGF reduces the surface hCG receptors by decreasing the rate of appearance of the receptor.
Perception and recognition of photographic quality facial caricatures: Implications for the recognition of natural images

Abstract The perception and recognition of photographic images of famous faces was compared with the same images transformed to produce caricatures of different degrees of exaggeration. Following Brennan (1982; 1985). caricatures were produced by first comparing the position of facial features in a frame-grabbed image with the average position for a series of faces; deviations from the average were then accentuated by a constant fraction (16, 32 or 48%). Photographic quality caricatures for seven famous faces were generated by distorting regions of the original images in accordance with the change in feature positions. Images reducing the distinctiveness of faces (anticaricatures) were produced by decreasing deviations from the norm. In Experiment 1, perceptual ratings of the degree to which images resembled the individuals depicted was found to vary with the degree of caricaturing (−32, −16, 0, +16, +32%). Interpolation from the data indicated that the best likeness occurred for images with a small degre.
Insights into the combinatorial effects of histone modifications in yeast using association rule mining

Eukaryotic genomes are packaged into chromatin by histone proteins whose chemical modification can profoundly influence gene expression. The histone modifications often act in combinations, which exert different effects on gene expression. Although a number of experimental techniques and data analysis methods have been developed to study histone modifications, it is still very difficult to identify the relationships among histone modifications on a genome-wide scale. We proposed a method to identify the combinatorial effects of histone modifications by association rule mining. The method first identified Functional Modification Transactions (FMTs) and then employed association rule mining algorithm and statistics methods to identify histone modification patterns. Our method succeeds in revealing two different global views of histone modification landscapes on two distinct datasets and identifying a number of modification patterns some of which are supported by previous studies. We concentrate on combinatorial effects of histone modifications which significantly affect gene expression. Our method succeeds in identifying known interactions among histone modifications and uncovering many previously unknown patterns. Our results also demonstrate several histone modification patterns which show significant correspondence between yeast and human cells.
Loss of the Mechanotransducer Zyxin Promotes a Synthetic Phenotype of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Background Exposure of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) to excessive cyclic stretch such as in hypertension causes a shift in their phenotype. The focal adhesion protein zyxin can transduce such biomechanical stimuli to the nucleus of both endothelial cells and VSMCs, albeit with different thresholds and kinetics. However, there is no distinct vascular phenotype in young zyxin-deficient mice, possibly due to functional redundancy among other gene products belonging to the zyxin family. Analyzing zyxin function in VSMCs at the cellular level might thus offer a better mechanistic insight. We aimed to characterize zyxin-dependent changes in gene expression in VSMCs exposed to biomechanical stretch and define the functional role of zyxin in controlling the resultant VSMC phenotype. Methods and Results DNA microarray analysis was used to identify genes and pathways that were zyxin regulated in static and stretched human umbilical artery–derived and mouse aortic VSMCs. Zyxin-null VSMCs showed a remarkable shift to a growth-promoting, less apoptotic, promigratory and poorly contractile phenotype with ≈90% of the stretch-responsive genes being zyxin dependent. Interestingly, zyxin-null cells already seemed primed for such a synthetic phenotype, with mechanical stretch further accentuating it. This could be accounted for by higher RhoA activity and myocardin-related transcription factor-A mainly localized to the nucleus of zyxin-null VSMCs, and a condensed and localized accumulation of F-actin upon stretch. Conclusions At the cellular level, zyxin is a key regulator of stretch-induced gene expression. Loss of zyxin drives VSMCs toward a synthetic phenotype, a process further consolidated by exaggerated stretch.
Putting science at the service of conservation practitioners – Identifying cost-effective interventions for ensuring viable populations of a ground-nesting farmland raptor

a Finnish Centre of Excellence in Metapopulation Biology, Department of Biosciences, P.O. Box 65 (Viikinkaari 1), FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland b Finnish Museum of Natural History, FI-00014University of Helsinki, Finland c Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku d School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041, South Africa e Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo, s/n, E-13005 Ciudad Real, Spain
Shape Representation and Recognition from Multiscale Curvature

We present a technique for shape representation and the recognition of objects based on multiscale curvature information. It provides a single framework for both the decomposition and recognition of both planar curves as well as surfaces in three-dimensional space. The decomposition operation simultaneously performs data interpolation, data smoothing, and segmentation. The unification of these three stages results in a smoothing operation that is coupled with the primitives to be used in description. Each of the minimization operators, in addition to having a curvature tuning, also has a different spatial sensitivity function. As a result, the different possible descriptions capture information at multiple spatial scales. This allows a single region of an object to be described in more than one way, when appropriate. The practicality of the ensuing representation is demonstrated by the recognition of planar curves. A matching strategy based on dynamic programming is used. The results illustrate the manner in which a continuous spectrum of similar objects can be defined, ranging from those that are very similar to a target to those that are very different from it.
Karma-Yoga, the Indian Work Ideal, and its Relationship with Empathy

Karma-Yoga, the technique of performing action such that the soul of the actor is not bound by the results of the action, constitutes the Indian work ideal. The relationship of Karma-Yoga with the dimensions of empathy was explored through a study done on 108 students in a postgraduate programme of business management. Karma-Yoga was found to be related to some dimensions of empathy. The results highlighted the differential impact of dimensions of empathy. Empathic concern was found to be related to Karma-Yoga only for those individuals who were low on personal distress. For individuals high on personal distress, empathic concern was not related to Karma-Yoga. Findings indicate that Karma-Yoga is very similar to altruism motivation in the Indian context. Individuals who are high on empathic concern and low on personal distress are more likely to take actions for the benefit of others rather than for their own benefit.