Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A WCS-based Approach to Integrate Satellite Imagery Data in Wildfire Simulation

This paper describes the integration of multi-dimensional data from satellite sensors in a Civil Protection application that simulates fire spread. The approach uses standard Web Coverage Services from OGC to fetch and process land cover and recently burned areas, available in the form of satellite imagery data previously captured by the MODIS sensor, to automatically generate renovated fuel maps. The proposed architecture is based on rasdaman, a domain-independent database management system (DBMS) that offers a suite of WCS services on top of the DBMS. In the current work we extended rasdaman with facilities to: (i) insert and retrieve multi-layer coverages from WCS, (ii) support new formats, such as HDF, adequate for satellite imagery and multi-layer files, and (iii) support Coordinate Reference Systems. We also demonstrate that it is feasible to use MODIS datasets to automatically compute valuable and regularly updated fuel maps, used as input of fire spread simulations. The results also show that in spite of using inexpensive general and low resolution (500m) MODIS maps, we obtained quite acceptable results when compared with the static ones, which are tailored and higher resolution (80m).
Phonon softening and crystallographic orientation of strained graphene studied by Raman spectroscopy

We present a systematic study of the Raman spectra of optical phonons in graphene monolayers under tunable uniaxial tensile stress. Both the G and 2D bands exhibit significant red shifts. The G band splits into 2 distinct subbands (G+, G−) because of the strain-induced symmetry breaking. Raman scattering from the G+ and G− bands shows a distinctive polarization dependence that reflects the angle between the axis of the stress and the underlying graphene crystal axes. Polarized Raman spectroscopy therefore constitutes a purely optical method for the determination of the crystallographic orientation of graphene.
SENSTRAC: Scalable Querying of SENSor Networks from Mobile Platforms Using TRACking-Style Queries

Future applications running on mobile platforms will sometimes need to query sensors and track sensor data over time. This paper uses the publish-subscribe paradigm as a natural solution to querying sensors from mobile platforms, and proposes a scalable approach to implement publish-subscribe, driven by the querying application. Our approach is evaluated by simulation, focusing on scalability
Suppressions of Migration and Invasion by Cantharidin in TSGH-8301 Human Bladder Carcinoma Cells through the Inhibitions of Matrix Metalloproteinase-2/-9 Signaling

Cancer metastasis becomes an initial cause of cancer death in human population. In many cancers, it has been shown that the high levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and/or MMP-9 are associated with the invasive phenotypes of cancer cells. In this study, we investigated the effects of cantharidin, a derivative of blister beetles which is one of the traditional Chinese medicines, on the adhesion, migration, and invasion of human bladder cancer TSGH-8301 cells. Cantharidin effectively suppressed TSGH-8301 cell adhesion, migration, and invasion in a concentration-dependent manner. Results from Western blotting, RT-PCR, and gelatin zymography assays indicated that cantharidin blocked the protein levels, gene expression (mRNA), and activities of MMP-2 and -9 in TSGH-8301 cells. Cantharidin also significantly suppressed the protein expressions of p-p38 and p-JNK1/2 in TSGH-8301 cells. Taken together, cantharidin was suggested to present antimetastatic potential via suppressing the levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression that might be mediated by targeting the p38 and JNK1/2 MAPKs pathway in TSGH-8301 human bladder cancer cells.
Integrating web feed opinions into a corporate data warehouse

Web opinion feeds have become one of the most popular information sources users consult before buying products or contracting services. Negative opinions about some product can have a high impact in its sales figures. As a consequence, companies are more and more concerned about how to integrate this information in their Business Intelligence (BI) models so that they can predict sales figures or define new strategic goals. In this paper, we present an approach to integrate sentiment data extracted from web feeds into the corporate warehouse where company analytical data and models are stored. Such an integration allows users to perform new analysis tasks by using the traditional OLAP-based data warehouse operators. We have developed a case study over a set of real opinions about digital devices which are offered by a wholesaler company. Over this case study, the quality of the extracted sentiment data is evaluated, and some query examples that illustrate the potential uses of the integrated model are presented.
Detection of the Neupert Effect in the Corona of an RS Canum Venaticorum Binary System by XMM-Newton and the Very Large Array

The RS CVn-type binary σ Geminorum was observed during a large, long-duration flare simultaneously with XMM-Newton and the Very Large Array. The light curves show a characteristic time dependence that is compatible with the Neupert effect observed in solar flares: the time derivative of the X-ray light curve resembles the radio light curve. This observation can be interpreted in terms of a standard flare scenario in which accelerated coronal electrons reach the chromosphere, where they heat the cool plasma and induce chromospheric evaporation. Such a scenario can hold only if the amount of energy in the fast electrons is sufficient to explain the X-ray radiative losses. We present a plausibility analysis that supports the chromospheric evaporation model.
Dbnary : Wiktionary as a Lemon Based RDF Multilingual Lexical Resource

Contributive resources, such as Wikipedia, have proved to be valuable to Natural Language Processing or multilingual Information Retrieval applications. This work focusses on Wiktionary, the dictionary part of the resources sponsored by the Wikimedia foundation. In this article, we present our effort to extract multilingual lexical data from Wiktionary data and to provide it to the community as a Multilingual Lexical Linked Open Data (MLLOD). This lexical resource is structured using the LEMON Model. This data, called dbnary, is registered at http://thedatahub.org/dataset/dbnary.
Parameter estimation for linear control valve with hysteresis

The problem of estimating parameters of linear control valve with hysteresis is considered. The hysteretic behavior of control valve is formulated as a switched linear model. An indicator vector, which shows the switching epochs of switched linear model, is explored by subspace decomposition on measurements. With the help of indicator vector, the noisy measurements are classified into separate groups, each corresponding to up-stroke and down-stroke of control valve respectively. The least squares technique is adopted to estimate the parameters of control valve. It is shown that the proposed technique exactly estimates the parameters and switching epochs in absence of noise and exhibits dominant advantage in noisy case.
Proto-Role Hypothesis and Dative Alternation in English

It has been noted repeatedly that although many verbs do occur in both syntactic patterns, some verbs only occur in one of the two patterns. For example, verbs such as cost and deny are widely described as occurring only with the DO construction whereas verbs such as drag and yell only with the PO construction. In addition, although certain verbs have been observed in both syntactic patterns, they only occur in one of the two patterns when the Theme has a restricted meaning. For example, when the Theme denotes an event or a nonreferential object (e. g. a bath, a hard time), the verb give tend to occur in the DO construction, not the PO construction.
Applying Out-of-Core QR Decomposition Algorithms on FPGA-Based Systems

QR decomposition, especially through the means of Householder transformation, is often used to solve least squares problems. A matrix to be decomposed with this method is usually very large, often large enough that it is not able to fit into the main memory of a workstation, let alone the internal memory of an FPGA nowadays. Efficient out-of-core algorithms have been developed to address the factorization of large matrices. This paper describes the application of variants of Householder QR decomposition on FPGA-based systems. More specifically, issues on applying out-of-core algorithms to the relatively small internal memory architecture of FPGA's are investigated.
Straightness Error Compensation Servo-system for Single-axis Linear Motor Stage

Since straightness error of linear motor stage is hardly dependent upon machining accuracy and assembling accuracy, there is limit on maximum realizable accuracy. To cope with this limitation, this paper proposed a servo system to compensate straightness error of a linear motor stage. The servo system is mounted on the slider of the linear motor stage and moves in the direction of the straightness error so as to compensate the error. From position dependency and repeatability of the straightness error of the slider, a feedforward compensation control is applied to the platform servo control. In the consideration of required fine positioning accuracy, a platform driven by an electro-magnetic actuator is suggested and a sliding mode control was applied. The effectiveness of the sliding mode control was verified along with some experimental results. Keywords—Linear Motor Stage, Straightness Error, Friction, Sliding Mode Control.
An automatic acquisition method of statistic finite-state automaton for sentences

Statistic language models obtained from a large number of training samples play an important role in speech recognition. In order to obtain higher recognition performance, we should introduce long distance correlations between words. However, traditional statistic language models such as word n-grams and ergodic HMMs are insufficient for expressing long distance correlations between words. We propose an acquisition method for a language model based on HMnet taking into consideration long distance correlations and word location.
IMPLEMENTATION OF DISTRIBUTED CANNY EDGE DETECTOR ON FPGA

Edge detection is one of the basic operation carried out in image processing and object identification.In this paper, we present a distributed Canny edge detection algorithm that results in significantly reduced memory requirements, decreased latency and increased throughput with no loss in edge detection performance as compared to the original Canny algorithm. The new algorithm uses a low-complexity 8-bin non-uniform gradient magnitude histogram to compute block-based hysteresis thresholds that are used by the Canny edge detector. Furthermore, an FPGA-based hardware architecture of our proposed algorithm is presented in this paper and the architecture is synthesized on the Xilinx Spartan-3E FPGA. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed distributed Canny edge detector. The FPGA simulation results show that we can process a 512×512 image in 0.287ms at a clock rate of 100 MHz.
Acceleration of Byzantine Fault Tolerance by Parallelizing Consensuses

We propose a new method that accelerates existing Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) protocols for asynchronous distributed systems by parallelizing the involved consensuses. BFT realizes a reliable system against Byzantine failures and is usually solved by repeatedly executing consensus for a set of requests. Our method consistently parallelizes the consensus by introducing a new extra consensus on the order of processing agreed requests. We show the correctness of our method and analyze its performance in comparison with an existing non-parallelizing method and a naively parallelizing method. The results indicate that our parallelizing method is approximately 20% faster than those methods in such configurations where many replicas are running in order to increase reliability.
Transcriptomic Analysis of the Innate Antiviral Immune Response in Porcine Intestinal Epithelial Cells: Influence of Immunobiotic Lactobacilli

Lactobacillus rhamnosus CRL1505 and Lactobacillus plantarum CRL1506 are immunobiotic strains able to increase protection against viral intestinal infections as demonstrated in animal models and humans. To gain insight into the host–immunobiotic interaction, the transcriptomic response of porcine intestinal epithelial (PIE) cells to the challenge with viral molecular associated pattern poly(I:C) and the changes in the transcriptomic profile induced by the immunobiotics strains CRL1505 and CRL1506 were investigated in this work. By using microarray technology and reverse transcription PCR, we obtained a global overview of the immune genes involved in the innate antiviral immune response in PIE cells. Stimulation of PIE cells with poly(I:C) significantly increased the expression of IFN-α and IFN-β, several interferon-stimulated genes, cytokines, chemokines, adhesion molecules, and genes involved in prostaglandin biosynthesis. It was also determined that lactobacilli differently modulated immune gene expression in poly(I:C)-challenged PIE cells. Most notable changes were found in antiviral factors (IFN-α, IFN-β, NPLR3, OAS1, OASL, MX2, and RNASEL) and cytokines/chemokines (IL-1β, IL-6, CCL4, CCL5, and CXCL10) that were significantly increased in lactobacilli-treated PIE cells. Immunobiotics reduced the expression of IL-15 and RAE1 genes that mediate poly(I:C) inflammatory damage. In addition, lactobacilli treatments increased the expression PLA2G4A, PTGES, and PTGS2 that are involved in prostaglandin E2 biosynthesis. L. rhamnosus CRL1505 and L. plantarum CRL1506 showed quantitative and qualitative differences in their capacities to modulate the innate antiviral immune response in PIE cells, which would explain the higher capacity of the CRL1505 strain when compared to CRL1506 to protect against viral infection and inflammatory damage in vivo. These results provided valuable information for the deeper understanding of the host–immunobiotic interaction and their effect on antiviral immunity. The comprehensive transcriptomic analyses successfully identified a group of genes (IFN-β, RIG1, RNASEL, MX2, A20, IL27, CXCL5, CCL4, PTGES, and PTGER4), which can be used as prospective biomarkers for the screening of new antiviral immunobiotics in PIE cells and for the development of novel functional food and feeds, which may help to prevent viral infections.
PLACING THE FLORIDIAN MARINE GENETIC DISJUNCTION INTO A REGIONAL EVOLUTIONARY CONTEXT USING THE SCORCHED MUSSEL, BRACHIDONTES EXUSTUS, SPECIES COMPLEX

Abstract The well-documented Floridian Gulf/Atlantic marine genetic disjunction provides an influential example of presumed vicariant cladogenesis along a continental coastline for major elements of a diverse nearshore fauna. However, it is unclear if this disjunction represents a local anomaly for regionally distributed morphospecies, or if it is merely one of many such cryptic phylogenetic splits that underlay their assumed genetic cohesiveness. We aimed to place the previously characterized scorched mussel Gulf/Atlantic genetic disjunction into a regional phylogenetic perspective by incorporating genotypes of nominal conspecifics sampled throughout the Caribbean Basin as well as those of eastern Pacific potential geminate species. Our results show it to be one of multiple latent regional genetic disjunctions, involving five cryptic Caribbean species, that appear to be the product of a long history of regional cladogenesis. Disjunctions involving three stem lineages clearly predate formation of the Isthmus of Panama and of the Caribbean Sea, although four of the five cryptic species have within-basin sister relationships. Surprisingly, the Atlantic clade was also found to be widespread in the southern Caribbean, and ancestral demography calculations through time for Atlantic coast-specific genotypes are consistent with a northward range extension after the last glacial maximum. Our new data seriously undermine the hypothesis of a Floridian vicariant genesis and imply that the scorched mussel Gulf/Atlantic disjunction represents a case of geographic and temporal pseudocongruence. All five Caribbean Basin cryptic species exhibited an intriguing pattern of predominantly allopatric distribution characterized by distinct geographic areas of ecological dominance, often adjoining those of sister taxa. This pattern of distribution is consistent with allopatric speciation origins, coupled with restricted postspeciation range extensions. Several lines of indirect evidence favor the hypothesis that the predominantly allopatric distributions are maintained over evolutionary time scales, primarily by postrecruitment ecological filters rather than by oceanographic barriers to larval-mediated gene flow.
Disney meets Darwin : an evolution-based interface for exploration and design of expressive animated behavior

In this thesis I describe a computer animation system called the Character Evolution Tool. It was developed both as a prototype system for animators and graphic designers, and as a testbed for the applicability of genetic algorithms in the design process. Although the focus is primarily on physically based articulated characters, these are considered as only a subclass in the class of all graphical objects which can exhibit expressive motion behavior, termed, "behavior objects. " The Character Evolution Tool employs a genetic algorithm for the automatic evolution of goal-oriented behavior in animated graphics, with an overlay of interactive evolution. This overlay affords the user of the system the ability to encourage expressivity and communicative behaviors in the animated characters, as they evolve towards some otherwise pre-defined objective goal. Central to this system is an experimental technique for guiding the direction of evolution by way of a gesture drawn into the scene by the user. This gesture constitutes a novel approach to defining the genetic algorithm's objective fitness function, in that the characters are encouraged to emulate properties of the gestured motion, thereby assuming some of the expressive qualities that the user has specified. Thesis Supervisor: Ronald MacNeil Title: Principal Research Associate, Program in Media Arts and Sciences This work was supported in part by Paws, Inc., USDOT, and NIF.
Why can’t I manage academic papers like MP3s? The evolution and intent of metadata standards

This paper considers the deceptively simple question: Why can’t downloaded academic papers be managed in the simple and effective manner in which digital music files are managed? We make the case that the answer is different treatments of metadata. Two key differences are identified: Firstly, digital music metadata is standardized and moves with the content file, while academic metadata is not and does not. Secondly digital music metadata lookup services are collaborative and automate the movement from a digital file to the appropriate metadata, while academic metadata services do not. To understand why these differences exist we examine the divergent evolution of metadata standards for digital music and academic papers. It is observed that the processes differ in interesting ways according to their intent. Specifically music metadata was developed primarily for personal file management, while the focus of academic metadata has been on information retrieval. We argue that lessons from MP3 metadata can assist individual academics facing their growing personal document management challenges. Our focus therefore is not on metadata for the academic publishing industry or institutional resource sharing, it is limited to the personal libraries growing on our hard-drives. This bottom-up approach to document management combined with p2p distribution radically altered the music landscape. Might such an approach have a similar impact on academic publishing? This paper outlines plans for improving the personal management of academic papers—doing academic metadata and file management the MP3 way—and considers the likelihood of success. 1 Managing Music and Managing Electronic Papers There is a striking difference in the ease and success with which people manage digital music compared to digital academic papers.
Effect of electric field on horseradish peroxidase activity and its structure

After the horseradish peroxidase(HRP) was treated with different strength of electric field, the effect of electric field on the secondary structure of HRP was studied by circular dichroism, and the effect of the change of secondary structure on the activity of the HRP was analyzed. The results have shown that different electric field strength from ranges of 1.0kV/cm to 6.0kV/cm has a different effect on the relative contents of a-helix, β-sheet, β-turn and random coil of the HRP. The electric treatment tends to transform the a-helix, β-turn and random coil into β-sheet for the HRP. It was suggested that electric field was bound to result in conformational change, and the enzyme activity increased. The result of this study has important meaning to explain the biological effect of electric treatment seeds.
COPERNICUS IN THE AMAZON: ONTOLOGICAL TURNINGS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF AMERINDIAN ETHNOLOGIES

INTRODUCTION: THE ANTHROPOCENE AND THE AMERINDIANS This article originates from a paper presented at the Boas Seminar at Columbia University, New York, in May of 2016. The circumstances in which the argument was presented are so intrinsically bound up with how I address the recent debates concerning the intellectual trend in anthropology that is known as ‘the ontological turn’, that I have decided to preserve, in this published version, those signposts that situate the author and her audience. It was the challenge of presenting a line of thought with which, in my view, my very specialized audience of eminent anthropologists was relatively unfamiliar, that demanded this exercise in conceptual archaeology. Had I approached the debate from the standpoint of Amerindian ethnology, many of the presuppositions made explicit in this article would have remained implicit. When teaching about the topic in Brazil, I came to realise that contextualising the history of a concept in this way can be useful for students as well, especially for those unfamiliar with Amerindian ethnology. A conversation with Marilyn Ivy1 on the role of Amerindian ethnology in contemporary anthropological debates prompted an invitation to tackle this topic from my perspective, which is that of a European doing anthropology in Brazil with Amerindian peoples. Once I began to think seriously about it, I realised that this was not at all an obvious task. I had to tackle a complex question, riddled with diplomatic risks. First, everything about the phenomenon is open
A feature re-weighting approach for relevance feedback in image retrieval

Users of image databases often prefer to retrieve relevant images by categories. Unfortunately, images are usually indexed by low-level features like color, texture and shape, which often fail to capture high-level concepts well. To address this issue, relevance feedback has been extensively used to associate low-level image features with highlevel concepts. Among all existing relevance feedback approaches, query movement and feature re-weighting have been proven to be suitable for large-scaled image databases with high dimensional image features. We present a feature re-weighting approach using relevant images as well as irrelevant ones in the relevance feedback. As far as feature re-weighting approaches are concerned, one of their common drawbacks is that the feature re-weighting process is prone to be trapped by suboptimal states. To overcome this problem, we introduce a disturbing factor, which is based on the Fisher criterion, to push the feature weights out of sub-optimum. Experimental results on a large-scaled image database with 31,438 COREL images demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented method.