Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lotic Diatoms as Environmental Indicators for Modern and Paleo Studies

The ecological impacts of anthropogenic activities on aquatic environments have led to the development of new methods of environmental monitoring (Cohen et al 1993, Kelly and Whitton 1995). Benthic algae represent a ubiquitous group of photosynthetic organisms that play a pivotal role in stream food webs but may also be used for observing long-term trends in community changes that can occur because of non-point source pollution (Lowe and Pan 1996). Diatoms in particular are useful ecological indicators because they are abundant in most lotic systems and have been used in a number of trophic indices for water quality monitoring (USEPA report, Kelly and Whitton 1995 and authors therein). The persistence of diatom frustules in the environment enables prehistoric conditions to be reconstructed based on the narrow ecological preferences of most species (Lowe and Pan 1996).
Simulating the performance of market-based policies for renewable energy using learning trading agents

Different instruments are available to support electricity generation from renewable energy sources. However, it is still controversial and highly debated which policy leads to preferable results for society. The European Commission has recently stated that a policy relying on a competitive allocation mechanism forcing market players to reveal their real generation costs is preferable. The commission recommends to either allocating feed-in premiums through a tender mechanisms, or to implement a renewable quota obligation scheme. As any other market-based mechanism, both systems are vulnerable to manipulation by market participants. This paper analyzes and compares the performance of the above mentioned mechanisms by simulating the behavior of market participants as adaptive learning agents.
An Empirical Bayesian Method for Estimating Biological Networks from Temporal Microarray Data

Gene regulatory networks refer to the interactions that occur among genes and other cellular products. The topology of these networks can be inferred from measurements of changes in gene expression over time. However, because the measurement device (i.e., microarrays) typically yields information on thousands of genes over few biological replicates, these systems are quite difficult to elucidate. An approach with proven effectiveness for inferring networks is the Dynamic Bayesian Network. We have developed an iterative empirical Bayesian procedure with a Kalman filter that estimates the posterior distributions of network parameters. We compare our method to similar existing methods on simulated data and real microarray time series data. We find that the proposed method performs comparably on both model-based and data-based simulations in considerably less computational time. The R and C code used to implement the proposed method are publicly available in the R package ebdbNet.
Studying the behaviour and sensory ecology of marine mammals using acoustic recording tags: a review

Many marine animals use sound passively or actively for communication, foraging, predator avoidance, navigation, and to sense their environment. The advent of acoustic recording tags has allowed biologists to get the on-animal perspective of the sonic environment and, in combi- nation with movement sensors, to relate sounds to the activities of the tagged animal. These power- ful tools have led to a wide range of insights into the behaviour of marine animals and have opened new opportunities for studying the ways they interact with their environment. Acoustic tags demand new analysis methods and careful experimental design to optimize the consistency between research objectives and the realistic performance of the tags. Technical details to consider are the suitability of the tag attachment to a given species, the accuracy of the tag sensors, and the recording and attach- ment duration of the tag. Here we consider the achievements, potential, and limitations of acoustic recording tags in studying the behaviour, habitat use and sensory ecology of marine mammals, the taxon to which this technology has been most often applied. We examine the application of acoustic tags to studies of vocal behaviour, foraging ecology, acoustic tracking, and the effects of noise to assess both the breadth of applications and the specific issues that arise in each.
Aerosol generation using nanometer liposome suspensions for pulmonary drug delivery applications

Abstract Pulmonary lung targeting finds applications in drug delivery to the lung itself and to other body organs, via blood circulation following transfer across alveolar membranes. Understanding pulmonary drug delivery systems towards improving their efficacy needs identification of particle sizes of relevance and elucidation of links between suspension properties, techniques of atomisation and properties of the generated aerosols. This review article is focussed on understanding the elements of pulmonary drug delivery, specifically related to suspensions of small liposomes. Specific objectives of this review include (a) understanding aerosol particle deposition and absorption on pulmonary surface, (b) links between properties of aerosol generation and colloidal drug carriers used for drug encapsulation, and (c) investigation on the controlled properties of liposome aerosols generated using different atomisation techniques for efficacious aerosol therapy.
Blind separation of multiple co-channel BPSK signals arriving at an antenna array

In this letter, we propose a method for blind separation of d co-channel BPSK signals arriving at an antenna array. Our method involves two steps. In the first step, the received data vectors at the output of the array is grouped into 2/sup d/ clusters. In the second step, we assign the 2/sup d/ d-tuples with /spl plusmn/1 elements to these clusters in a consistent fashion. From the knowledge of the cluster to which a data vector belongs, we estimate the bits transmitted at that instant. Computer simulations are used to study the performance of our method. <<ETX>>
Anti-Friend virus antibody-induced resistance of Friend virus-infected spleen cells to lysis mediated by anti-H-2 antisera.

Abstract Possible associations have been sought between cell surface Friend murine erythroleukemia virus (FV)-encoded molecules and H-2 molecules by subjecting spleen cells from infected mice to antibody-induced capping of one molecule and then examining the cells for cocapping of the second. Capping was detected by the resistance of capped cells to lysis by the capping antiserum and complement. Three strains of mice congenic with respect to the H-2 complex were used as sources of infected spleen cells: BALB/c ( H-2 d ), BALB.B ( H-2 b ), and BALB.K ( H-2 k ). Following treatment with anti-FV antiserum produced by immunization with whole virus, cells from mice of each of the three H-2 types demonstrated a drastic loss of sensitivity to anti-FV-mediated lysis, a partial but marked decrease in sensitivity to anti- H-2D -mediated lysis, and an unaltered susceptibility to anti- H-2K -mediated lysis, compared to control cells pretreated with normal mouse serum. In the case of cells from BALB.K mice, capping of FV antigens with an anti-FV antiserum produced in BALB.B mice against syngeneic FV-infected tumor cells caused a decrease in sensitivity to anti- H-2K k antiserum, as well as to anti- H-2D k . In reciprocal experiments, capping with anti- H-2 sera did not cause a decrease in sensitivity to lysis by anti-FV antisera. The apparent cocapping of H-2D d , H-2D b , H-2D k , and H-2K k antigens with FV antigens is taken as evidence for a selective physical association between these molecules on infected cell surfaces.
CD4+lymphocytes are extracted from blood by peripheral lymph nodes at different rates from other T cell subsets and B cells

The circulation of lymphocyte subsets through prescapular lymph nodes in sheep has been quantified using a panel of monoclonal antibodies against sheep lymphocyte surface antigens. Differences in the extraction of lymphocyte subsets from blood by the lymph node were found with CD4+ lymphocytes being extracted at a faster rate (1/2) than CD8+, SBU‐T19+, major histocompatibility complex class II+ and B cells (1/4 to 1/5). In order to accommodate existing data on organ‐specific cell migration, the possibility is raised that two distinct families of lymphocyte adhesion molecules, one subset specific and one tissue specific, expressed on vascular endothelium could act jointly to regulate the migration of recirculating lymphocytes.
Developing transfer of learning through reflective framing and design thinking: An engineering-games design approach

Successful inculcation of lifelong learning dispositions and transfer of learning is critical. We aim to develop these through reflective framing and design thinking. The former helps in reformulating old problems or discovering new ones. The latter leads to the development of general principles, useful in helping learners to search for abstract problem-solving methods and mental schemata, which subsequently, serves as analogy-enhancing transfer between different task situations. An Engineering-Games Design human factors approach is applied as these exemplify the interdisciplinary ecosystem which requires technological problem-solving, and planning abilities from conception to completion. Findings indicate successful scaffolding-building on prior knowledge, evidences of micro and macro causal structures, and evidences of near transfer (genres as classes and its instantiation) and far transfer between Web and portfolio design. We hope the findings will help instructors to make more informed decisions as to the design of context, task and assessment for Engineering Education.
ENOS polymorphisms in neovascular age-related macular degeneration and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy in a Chinese Han population

ABSTRACT Purpose: To investigate whether common genetic variants in the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene (eNOS) are associated with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and polypoidal choroidalvasculopathy (PCV) in a Chinese Han population. Methods: DNA samples were obtained from 157 nAMD patients, 250 PCV patients and 204 healthy control subjects. Tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the extended eNOS region were selected using data derived from the HapMap project. Genotyping of each tag SNP was performed by Multiplex SNaPshot system and direct DNA sequencing techniques. Genotypes and allele frequencies were evaluated with PLINK software for each group. Results: Seven SNPs for eNOS, rs1799983, rs1800783, rs3918186, rs3800787, rs3918188, rs7830, and rs3918227, were chosen as tag SNPs. Among these tag SNPs, rs1800783, rs3918186, rs3918188, and rs3918227 were not associated with nAMD or PCV. Rs1799983, rs3800787, and rs7830 was significantly associated with nAMD (p = 0.0192, 0.0170, and 0.0164, respectively), but not associated with PCV (p = 0.4852, 0.4568, and 0.4014, respectively). The discovered associations were no longer significant after Bonferroni correction. Conclusions: We found no sufficient evidence to support the role of any common eNOS variants in the susceptibility to nAMD or PCV in a Chinese Han population.
Estimation of an interaction structure in Gibbs image modelling

Empirical and analytical methods of selecting a characteristic structure of pairwise pixel interactions in Gibbs random field texture models are compared. Simple thresholding of partial interaction energies recovers a basic structure for modelling spatially homogeneous stochastic textures. Computationally intensive empirical sequential learning reduces the size of a basic structure and complements it by a fine structure describing characteristic minor details of regular textures. The empirical selection implicitly assumes that characteristic structures should include only statistically independent interactions. It can be approximated using analytical estimates of energies. Experiments show that a combined analytical-empirical sequential learning finds reduced basic and fine interaction structures much faster than the purely empirical one, but the sequential selection based on relative interaction energies may deteriorate basic structures of stochastic textures with strongly interdependent characteristic interactions.
Redes neuronales y preprocesado de variables para modelos y sensores en bioingeniería

El proposito de esta Tesis Doctoral es proponer una alternativa viable a la aproximacion de modelos y procesos en el ambito cientifico y, mas concretamente, en aplicaciones complejas de bioingenieria, en las cuales es imposible o muy costoso encontrar una relacion directa entre las senales de entrada y de salida mediante modelos matematicos sencillos o aproximaciones estadisticas. Del mismo modo, es interesante lograr una compactacion de los datos que necesita un modelo para conseguir una prediccion o clasificacion en un tiempo y con un coste de implementacion minimos. Un modelo puede ser simplificado en gran medida al reducir el numero de entradas o realizar operaciones matematicas sobre estas para transformarlas en nuevas variables. En muchos problemas de regresion (aproximacion de funciones), clasificacion y optimizacion, en general se hace uso de las nuevas metodologias basadas en la inteligencia artificial. La inteligencia artificial es una rama de las ciencias de la computacion que busca automatizar la capacidad de un sistema para responder a los estimulos que recibe y proponer salidas adecuadas y racionales. Esto se produce gracias a un proceso de aprendizaje, mediante el cual se presentan ciertas muestras o ? ejemplos? al modelo y sus correspondientes salidas y este aprende a proponer las salidas correspondientes a nuevos estimulos que no ha visto previamente. Esto se denomina aprendizaje supervisado. Tambien puede darse el caso de que tal modelo asocie las entradas con caracteristicas similares entre si para obtener una clasificacion de las muestras de entrada sin necesidad de un patron de salida. Este modelo de aprendizaje se denomina no supervisado. El principal exponente de la aplicacion de la inteligencia artificial para aproximacion de funciones y clasificacion son las redes neuronales artificiales. Se trata de modelos que han demostrado sobradamente sus ventajas en el ambito del modelado estadistico y de la prediccion frente a otros metodos clasicos. N
Study of computer room management system based on C/S structure

This article related to network data transmission technology, bar code technology, serial communications technology, Windows authentication interface technology, data encryption and decryption techniques are studied; the final design and implement a set of “Public Computer Lab Management System. ” The system's feature is the use of low cost, good compatibility, management model and has better management efficiency. Thesis on the public computer room of the scientific management, software process of interpretation, computer integrated control, network security of data transmission has a certain reference value.
The Definition of El Niño Kevin

A review is given of the meaning of the term “El Niño” and how it has changed in time, so there is no universal single definition. This needs to be recognized for scientific uses, and precision can only be achieved if the particular definition is identified in each use to reduce the possibility of misunderstanding. For quantitative purposes, possible definitions are explored that match the El Niños identified historically after 1950, and it is suggested that an El Niño can be said to occur if 5-month running means of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the Niño 3.4 region (5°N–5°S, 120°–170°W) exceed 0.4°C for 6 months or more. With this definition, El Niños occur 31% of the time and La Niñas (with an equivalent definition) occur 23% of the time. The histogram of Niño 3.4 SST anomalies reveals a bimodal character. An advantage of such a definition is that it allows the beginning, end, duration, and magnitude of each event to be quantified. Most El Niños begin in the northern spring or perhaps summer and peak from November to January in sea surface temperatures. *The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Corresponding author address: Kevin E. Trenberth, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307. E-mail: trenbert@ncar.ucar. edu In final form 1 August 1997. ©1997 American Meteorological Society
HLA-F Complex without Peptide Binds to MHC Class I Protein in the Open Conformer Form

HLA-F has low levels of polymorphism in humans and is highly conserved among primates, suggesting a conserved function in the immune response. In this study, we probed the structure of HLA-F on the surface of B lymphoblastoid cell lines and activated lymphocytes by direct measurement of peptide binding to native HLA-F. Our findings suggested that HLA-F is expressed independently of bound peptide, at least in regard to peptide complexity profiles similar to those of either HLA-E or classical MHC class I (MHC-I). As a further probe of native HLA-F structure, we used a number of complementary approaches to explore the interactions of HLA-F with other molecules, at the cell surface, intracellularly, and in direct physical biochemical measurements. This analysis demonstrated that HLA-F surface expression was coincident with MHC-I H chain (HC) expression and was downregulated upon perturbation of MHC-I HC structure. It was further possible to directly demonstrate that MHC-I would interact with HLA-F only when in the form of an open conformer free of peptide and not as a trimeric complex. This interaction was directly observed by coimmunoprecipitation and by surface plasmon resonance and indirectly on the surface of cells through coincident tetramer and MHC-I HC colocalization. These data suggest that HLA-F is expressed independently of peptide and that a physical interaction specific to MHC-I HC plays a role in the function of MHC-I HC expression in activated lymphocytes.
Macular Pucker in Association with RPE Adenoma: A Report of a Case and Review of the Literature

Abstract Background: Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) adenoma is an extremely rare tumor of the posterior segment which must be differentiated from other choroidal tumors, such as choroidal nevus or melanoma. We report the case of a patient with RPE adenoma coincident with macular pucker who underwent successful pars plana vitrectomy and membrane peeling. Patient and Methods: A 58-year-old female patient was diagnosed with RPE adenoma and epiretinal membrane and subsequently underwent pars plana vitrectomy and epiretinal membrane peeling. Results: RPE adenoma was diagnosed and, following vitrectomy with membrane peeling vision, improved to 20/20 with resolution of symptoms of distortion. Sixteen months of follow-up revealed no clinical change in the RPE adenoma and stable vision. Conclusion: The diagnosis of RPE adenoma can be made upon consideration of unique clinical characteristics of these benign tumors. RPE adenoma may be more closely associated with epiretinal membrane than previously believed, given recent advances in imaging technology. We describe our management strategy, which included observation of the adenoma and surgical removal of the epiretinal membrane.
Characterization of four-class motor imagery EEG data for the BCI-competition 2005

To determine and compare the performance of different classifiers applied to four-class EEG data is the goal of this communication. The EEG data were recorded with 60 electrodes from five subjects performing four different motor-imagery tasks. The EEG signal was modeled by an adaptive autoregressive (AAR) process whose parameters were extracted by Kalman filtering. By these AAR parameters four classifiers were obtained, namely minimum distance analysis (MDA)—for single-channel analysis, and linear discriminant analysis (LDA), k-nearest-neighbor (kNN) classifiers as well as support vector machine (SVM) classifiers for multi-channel analysis. The performance of all four classifiers was quantified and evaluated by Cohen's kappa coefficient, an advantageous measure we introduced here to BCI research for the first time. The single-channel results gave rise to topographic maps that revealed the channels with the highest level of separability between classes for each subject. Our results of the multi-channel analysis indicate SVM as the most successful classifier, whereas kNN performed worst.
Genome sequence of a divergent Colombian isolate of potato virus V (PVV) infecting Solanum phureja.

Deep sequencing analysis of the transcriptome of a Solanum phureja cv. Criolla Colombia plant with symptoms typical of a virus disease revealed an infection with potato virus V (PVV). The PVV-phureja genome comprises 9904 nt, exhibits 83% nucleotide identity with currently fully sequenced PVV isolates and contains one large ORF that codes for a polyprotein of 3065 residues flanked by 5' and 3' UTR of 217 and 448 nt, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the PVV-phureja polyprotein indicates that it is divergent with respect to most PVV isolates. This is the first complete PVV genome of an isolate infecting a host different to S. tuberosum and, to this date, the only one from the South American Andes.
Therapy for traumatic optic neuropathy.

To the Editor. —I read with interest the article by Joseph et al 1 in the August 1990 issue of theArchives. I was impressed with their surgical results. I have used a surgical technique similar to theirs but have not had as much success in the patients I selected for such intervention. Although the article reports therapeutic success in what is often a difficult disease to treat, I am concerned about some of the conclusions drawn by the authors. A major problem with the series is that all of the patients operated on received corticosteroid therapy. The recent retrospective study from San Francisco suggests a beneficial effect of high-dose corticosteroids in these patients. 2 In the San Francisco study, 13 (62%) of 21 patients treated with steroids had visual improvement. This compares favorably with the 11 (78.6%) of 14 patients treated with steroids and undergoing surgery in the report
Forecast performance of implied volatility and the impact of the volatility risk premium

Forecasting volatility has received a great deal of research attention, with the relative performance of econometric models based on time-series data and option implied volatility forecasts often being considered. While many studies find that implied volatility is the preferred approach, a number of issues remain unresolved. Implied volatilities are risk-neutral forecasts of spot volatility, whereas time-series models are estimated on risk-adjusted or real world data of the underlying. Recently, an intuitive method has been proposed to adjust these risk-neutral forecasts into their risk-adjusted equivalents, possibly improving on their forecast accuracy. By utilising recent econometric advances, this paper considers whether these risk-adjusted forecasts are statistically superior to the unadjusted forecasts, as well as a wide range of model based forecasts. It is found that an unadjusted risk-neutral implied volatility is an inferior forecast. However, after adjusting for the risk premia it is of equal predictive accuracy relative to a number of model based forecasts.