Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Barter Economies and Centralized Merchants

The main goal of this essay is to analyze the emergence of a barter economy, and the rise of centralized merchants and a barter redistribution system out of a primitive barter system. The environment is a spatial general equilibrium model where exchange is costly. Since exchange becomes more complicated as the scope of the economy increases, we prove that, after the economy reaches a critical size, the cost of trade expansion surpasses its benefits. This imposes limitations on the scope of the economy and the production level. To overcome these limitations, rational individuals can develop a more advanced barter system leading to the appearance of centralized merchants. This more sophisticated system is the redistribution system. We also show that under some circumstances, in the presence of transaction costs it may be optimal for individuals to keep using barter instead of adopting a monetary system. This result explains why some primitive economies, like the Incas in Peru and ancient Egypt, did not evolve to a monetary system, and kept barter as their main exchange system.
The Efficacy of Conservative Treatment in Patients With Whiplash Injury: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials

Study Design A systematic review of the literature. Objectives To assess the efficacy of conservative treatment in patients with whiplash injuries. Summary of Background Data Many treatments are available for patients with whiplash injury, but there continues to be no evidence for their accepted use. Methods A computerized literature search of Medline, Embase, Cinahl, Psychlit, and the Cochrane Controlled Trial Register was performed. Studies were selected if the design was a (randomized) clinical trial; if all patients had sustained a whiplash injury; if the type of intervention was a conservative one; if pain, global perceived effect, and participation in daily activities were used as one of the outcome measures, and if the publication was written in English, French, German, or Dutch. The methodologic quality was independently assessed by two reviewers by using the Maastricht–Amsterdam list. Three quality scores were calculated using this criteria list: the Overall Methodologic Quality Score, the Internal Validity Score, and the Delphi Quality Score. The conclusion of the review was based on articles that scored a quality score of at least 50% of the maximum available score on two of three quality scores. Results Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Only three studies satisfied at least 50% on two of three ways of calculating a quality score, indicating overall poor methodology. There was a high rank correlation among the three ways of calculating a quality score. No statistical pooling was performed because of the heterogeneity of the interventions. This review indicates that active treatments show a beneficial long-term effect on at least one of the primary outcome measures. Conclusion Caution is needed when drawing a valid conclusion on the efficacy of conservative treatments in patients with whiplash injury. It appears that “rest makes rusty,” whereas active interventions have a tendency to be more effective in patients with whiplash injury.
Effects of different compost amendments on the abundance and composition of alkB harboring bacterial communities in a soil under industrial use contaminated with hydrocarbons

Alkane degrading microorganisms play an important role for the bioremediation of petrogenic contaminated environments. In this study, we investigated the effects of compost addition on the abundance and diversity of bacteria harboring the alkane monooxygenase gene (alkB) in an oil-contaminated soil originated from an industrial zone in Celje, Slovenia (Technosol). Soil without any amendments (control soil) and soil amended with two composts differing in their maturation stage and nutrient availability, were incubated under controlled conditions in a microcosm experiment and sampled after 0, 6, 12, and 36 weeks of incubation. As expected the addition of compost stimulated the degradation of alkanes in the investigated soil shortly after the addition. By using quantitative real-time PCR higher number of alkB genes were detected in soil samples amended with compost compared to the control soils. To get an insight into the composition of alkB harboring microbial communities, we performed next generation sequencing of amplicons of alkB gene fragment. Richness and diversity of alkB gene harboring prokaryotes was higher in soil mixed with compost compared to control soils with stronger effects of the less maturated, nutrient poor compost. The phylogenetic analysis of communities suggested that the addition of compost stimulated the abundance of alkB harboring Actinobacteria during the experiment independent from the maturation stage of the compost. AlkB harboring γ-proteobacteria like Shewanella or Hydrocarboniphaga as well as α-proteobacteria of the genus Agrobacterium responded also positively to the addition of compost to soil. The amendment of the less maturated, nutrient poor compost resulted in addition in a large increase of alkB harboring bacteria of the Cytophaga group (Microscilla) mainly at the early sampling time points. Our data indicates that compost amendments significantly change abundance and diversity pattern of alkB harboring microbes in Technosol and might be a useful agent to stimulate bioremediation of hydrocarbons in contaminated soils.
The C Terminus of the Large Tegument Protein pUL36 Contains Multiple Capsid Binding Sites That Function Differently during Assembly and Cell Entry of Herpes Simplex Virus

ABSTRACT The largest tegument protein of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1), pUL36, is a multivalent cross-linker between the viral capsids and the tegument and associated membrane proteins during assembly that upon subsequent cell entry releases the incoming capsids from the outer tegument and viral envelope. Here we show that pUL36 was recruited to cytosolic progeny capsids that later colocalized with membrane proteins of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) and the trans-Golgi network. During cell entry, pUL36 dissociated from viral membrane proteins but remained associated with cytosolic capsids until arrival at the nucleus. HSV1 UL36 mutants lacking C-terminal portions of increasing size expressed truncated pUL36 but could not form plaques. Cytosolic capsids of mutants lacking the C-terminal 735 of the 3,164 amino acid residues accumulated in the cytosol but did not recruit pUL36 or associate with membranes. In contrast, pUL36 lacking only the 167 C-terminal residues bound to cytosolic capsids and subsequently colocalized with viral and host membrane proteins. Progeny virions fused with neighboring cells, but incoming capsids did not retain pUL36, nor could they target the nucleus or initiate HSV1 gene expression. Our data suggest that residues 2430 to 2893 of HSV1 pUL36, containing one binding site for the capsid protein pUL25, are sufficient to recruit pUL36 onto cytosolic capsids during assembly for secondary envelopment, whereas the 167 residues of the very C terminus with the second pUL25 binding site are crucial to maintain pUL36 on incoming capsids during cell entry. Capsids lacking pUL36 are targeted neither to membranes for virus assembly nor to nuclear pores for genome uncoating.
Could the Extended Phenotype Extend to the Cellular and Subcellular Levels in Insect-Induced Galls?

Neo-ontogenesis of plant galls involves redifferentiation of host plant tissues to express new phenotypes, when new cell properties are established via structural-functional remodeling. Herein, Psidium cattleianum leaves and Nothotrioza cattleiani galls are analyzed by developmental anatomy, cytometry and immunocytochemistry of cell walls. We address hypothesis-driven questions concerning the organogenesis of globoid galls in the association of P. cattleianum - N. cattleianum, and P. myrtoides - N. myrtoidis. These double co-generic systems represent good models for comparing final gall shapes and cell lineages functionalities under the perspective of convergent plant-dependent or divergent insect-induced characteristics. Gall induction, and growth and development are similar in both galls, but homologous cell lineages exhibit divergent degrees of cell hypertrophy and directions of elongation. Median cortical cells in P. cattleianum galls hypertrophy the most, while in P. myrtoides galls there is a centrifugal gradient of cell hypertrophy. Cortical cells in P. cattleianum galls tend to anisotropy, while P. myrtoidis galls have isotropically hypertrophied cells. Immunocytochemistry evidences the chemical identity and functional traits of cell lineages: epidermal cells walls have homogalacturonans (HGAs) and galactans, which confer rigidity to sites of enhanced cell division; oil gland cell walls have arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) that help avoiding cell death; and parenchyma cell walls have HGAs, galactans and arabinans, which confer porosity. Variations in such chemical identities are related to specific sites of hypertrophy. Even though the double co-generic models have the same macroscopic phenotype, the globoid morphotype, current analyses indicate that the extended phenotype of N. cattleiani is substantiated by cellular and subcellular specificities.
A New Solution to Lamport's Concurrent Programming Problem Using Small Shared Variables

A new solution to the concurrent programming control (mutual exclusion) problem that is immune to process failures and restarts is presented. The algorithm uses just four values of shared memory per process, which is within one value of the known lower bound. The algorithm is implemented using two binary variables tha t make it immune to read errors occurring during writes, tha t is, "flickering bits. "
A machine-learning approach to forecasting remotely sensed vegetation health

ABSTRACT Drought threatens food and water security around the world, and this threat is likely to become more severe under climate change. High-resolution predictive information can help farmers, water managers, and others to manage the effects of drought. We have created an open-source tool to produce short-term forecasts of vegetation health at high spatial resolution, using data that are global in coverage. The tool automates downloading and processing Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data sets and training gradient-boosted machine models on hundreds of millions of observations to predict future values of the enhanced vegetation index. We compared the predictive power of different sets of variables (MODIS surface reflectance data and Level-3 MODIS products) in two regions with distinct agro-ecological systems, climates, and cloud coverage: Sri Lanka and California. Performance in California is higher because of more cloud-free days and less missing data. In both regions, the correlation between the actual and model predicted vegetation health values in agricultural areas is above 0.75. Predictive power more than doubles in agricultural areas compared to a baseline model.
An Improved Image Mining Technique For Brain Tumour Classification Using Efficient Classifier

An improved image mining technique for brain tumor classification using pruned association rule with MARI algorithm is presented in this paper. The method proposed makes use of association rule mining technique to classify the CT scan brain images into three categories namely normal, benign and malign. It combines the low level features extracted from images and high level knowledge from specialists. The developed algorithm can assist the physicians for efficient classification with multiple keywords per image to improve the accuracy. The experimental result on prediagnosed database of brain images showed 96 percent and 93 percent sensitivity and accuracy respectively.
Electrolyte solution transport in electropolar nanotubes

Electrolyte transport in nanochannels plays an important role in a number of emerging areas. Using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations, the fundamental transport behavior of an electrolyte/water solution in a confined model nanoenvironment is systematically investigated by varying the nanochannel dimension, solid phase, electrolyte phase, ion concentration and transport rate. It is found that the shear resistance encountered by the nanofluid strongly depends on these material/system parameters; furthermore, several effects are coupled. The mechanisms of the nanofluidic transport characteristics are explained by considering the unique molecular/ion structure formed inside the nanochannel. The lower shear resistance observed in some of the systems studies could be beneficial for nanoconductors, while the higher shear resistance (or higher effective viscosity) observed in other systems might enhance the performance of energy dissipation devices.
Exploiting semantic annotations in math information retrieval

This paper describes exploitation of semantic annotations in the design and architecture of MIaS (Math Indexer and Searcher) system for mathematics retrieval. Basing on the claim that navigational and research search are `killer' applications for digital library such as the European Digital Mathematics Library, EuDML, we argue for an approach based on Natural Language Processing techniques as used in corpus management systems such as the Sketch Engine, that will reach web scalability and avoid inference problems. The main ideas are 1) to augment surface texts (including math formulae) with additional linked representations bearing semantic information (expanded formulae as text, canonicalized text and subformulae) for indexing, including support for indexing structural information (expressed as Content MathML or other tree structures) and 2) use semantic user preferences to order found documents. The semantic enhancements of the MIaS system are being implemented as a math-aware search engine based on the state-of-the-art system Apache Lucene, with support for [MathML] tree indexing. Scalability issues have been checked against more than 400,000 arXiv documents.
2016 Ieee International Conference on Big Data (big Data) Supporting Large Scale Connected Vehicle Data Analysis Using Hive

—Connected vehicles (CVs) are vehicles that can exchange messages containing location and other safety-related information with other vehicles, and with devices affixed to roadside infrastructure. While the main purpose of vehicle connectivity is to enhance safety, the data generated by CVs has an enormous potential to support transportation planning and operations. However, handling the vast volume of data produced by CVs presents considerable challenges for researchers in the transportation domain. This paper presents a case study of using HIVE to facilitate CV data analysis based on the largest CV data set publicly released to date. We characterize the data analytic tasks that are expected to enable transportation planning research, and investigate several approaches to increase the corresponding query efficiency and throughput. This study compares the use of HIVE in conjunction with the MapReduce and Spark programming frameworks, analyzes its performance using different data storage formats, and exemplifies potential use cases.
Regular network low density parity check codes for multiple-access relay channel

Regular network low density parity check (NLDPC) codes are proposed for the multiple-access relay channel with two sources, one relay and one destination. A three-layer Tanner graph is used to describe the code, where the coded bits from the two sources and the coded bits from the relay are separated into two different layers. This makes it possible to design the code more flexibly. A three-layer Gaussian approximation algorithm is developed to calculate the mean values of messages propagated between the layers during decoding iterations. The separation of coded bits from the sources and the relay, which produces the three-layer graph, makes the calculation more accurate. With threshold analysis, it is shown that the regular NLDPC codes are optimal when the degrees of the variable nodes in the middle layer and the lower layer are unitary.
MAC-Layer Misbehaviors in Multi-Hop Cognitive Radio Networks

—The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) regulates radio spectrum by applying regulatory paradigms. In the conventional spectrum management paradigm, a group of primary users is given license to operate exclusively in a specific band. Recent studies have shown that a new paradigm is needed to alleviate the spectrum shortage problem. In the new paradigm, licensed bands are opened up to unlicensed operations by secondary users on a non-interference basis to primary users. Cognitive radio (CR) technology is seen as the enabling technology for realizing this new paradigm. Emergency communication networks and military tactical networks of the future are expected to be built from multi-hop CR networks. In a typical MAC protocol designed for multi-hop CR networks, a node uses the common control channel to perform channel negotiations before data transmission. Recent research findings indicate that the common control channel is highly vulnerable to network attacks. In this paper, we examine MAC layer misbehaviors in multi-hop (ad-hoc) CR networks. First, we study the problem of control channel saturation attacks. This type of attack can cripple the channel assignment process. Second, we investigate selfish misbehaviors that exploit deficiencies in MAC protocols for CR networks. We use simulation data to evaluate the impact of such misbehaviors in terms of network availability and fairness.
Non-invasive skin oxygenation imaging using a multi-spectral camera system: effectiveness of various concentration algorithms applied on human skin

This study describes noninvasive noncontact methods to acquire and analyze functional information from the skin. Multispectral images at several selected wavelengths in the visible and near infrared region are collected and used in mathematical methods to calculate concentrations of different chromophores in the epidermis and dermis of the skin. This is based on the continuous wave Near Infrared Spectroscopy method, which is a well known non-invasive technique for measuring oxygenation changes in the brain and in muscle tissue. Concentration changes of hemoglobin (dO2Hb, dHHb and dtHb) can be calculated from light attenuations using the modified Lambert Beer equation. We applied this technique on multi-spectral images taken from the skin surface using different algorithms for calculating changes in O2Hb, HHb and tHb. In clinical settings, the imaging of local oxygenation variations and/or blood perfusion in the skin can be useful for e.g. detection of skin cancer, detection of early inflammation, checking the level of peripheral nerve block anesthesia, study of wound healing and tissue viability by skin flap transplantations. Images from the skin are obtained with a multi-spectral imaging system consisting of a 12-bit CCD camera in combination with a Liquid Crystal Tunable Filter. The skin is illuminated with either a broad band light source or a tunable multi wavelength LED light source. A polarization filter is used to block the direct reflected light. The collected multi-spectral imaging data are images of the skin surface radiance; each pixel contains either the full spectrum (420 - 730 nm) or a set of selected wavelengths. These images were converted to reflectance spectra. The algorithms were validated during skin oxygen saturation changes induced by temporary arm clamping and applied to some clinical examples. The initial results with the multi-spectral skin imaging system show good results for detecting dynamic changes in oxygen concentration. However, the optimal algorithm needs to be determined. Multi-spectral skin imaging shows to be a promising technique for various clinical applications were the local distribution of oxygenation is of major importance.
The Human FA2H Gene Encodes a Fatty Acid 2-Hydroxylase*

2-Hydroxysphingolipids are a subset of sphingolipids containing 2-hydroxy fatty acids. The 2-hydroxylation occurs during de novo ceramide synthesis and is catalyzed by fatty acid 2-hydroxylase (also known as fatty acid α-hydroxylase). In mammals, 2-hydroxysphingolipids are present abundantly in brain because the major myelin lipids galactosylceramides and sulfatides contain 2-hydroxy fatty acids. Here we report identification and characterization of a human gene that encodes a fatty acid 2-hydroxylase. Data base searches revealed a human homologue of the yeast ceramide 2-hydroxylase gene (FAH1), which we named FA2H. The FA2H gene encodes a 372-amino acid protein with 36% identity and 46% similarity to yeast Fah1p. The amino acid sequence indicates that FA2H protein contains an N-terminal cytochrome b5 domain and four potential transmembrane domains. FA2H also contains the iron-binding histidine motif conserved among membrane-bound desaturases/hydroxylases. COS7 cells expressing human FA2H contained 3–20-fold higher levels of 2-hydroxyceramides (C16, C18, C24, and C24:1) and 2-hydroxy fatty acids compared with control cells. Microsomal fractions prepared from transfected COS7 cells showed tetracosanoic acid 2-hydroxylase activities in an NADPH- and NADPH: cytochrome P-450 reductase-dependent manner. FA2H lacking the N-terminal cytochrome b domain had little activity, indicating that this domain is 5a functional component of this enzyme. Northern blot analysis showed that the FA2H gene is highly expressed in brain and colon tissues. These results demonstrate that the human FA2H gene encodes a fatty acid 2-hydroxylase. FA2H is likely involved in the formation of myelin 2-hydroxy galactosylceramides and -sulfatides.
Modulation technique to reduce EMI in power multiconverters

A new technique to reduce EMI in modular power multiconverters is described. The technique is based on a combination of switching frequency modulation and a variable delay between communication signals of the single converters. The proposed technique has been validated experimentally in a four converters parallel topology. A significant EMI reduction has been obtained with regard to conventional techniques.