Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A NEW MEASUREMENT OF THE PRIMORDIAL ABUNDANCE OF DEUTERIUM: TOWARDS CONVERGENCE WITH THE BARYON DENSITY FROM THE CMB?

From the analysis of the near-UV spectrum of the QSO 2206−199, obtained with a long series of exposures with STIS on the HST, we deduce a value D/H = (1.65 ± 0.35) × 10 (1σ error) for the abundance of deuterium in the zabs = 2.0762 damped Lyman α system (DLA) along this sight-line. The velocity structure of this absorber is very simple and its neutral hydrogen column density, N(H I), is accurately known; the error in D/H is mostly due to the limited signal-tonoise ratio of the spectrum. Since this is also one of the most metal-poor DLAs, with metal abundances ∼ 1/200 of solar, the correction due to astration of D is expected to be insignificant and the value we deduce should be essentially the primordial abundance of deuterium. When all (six) available measurements of D/H in high redshift QSO absorbers are considered, we find that the three DLAs—where N(H I) is measured most reliably—give consistently lower values than the three Lyman limit systems. We point out that the weighted mean of the DLA measurements, D/H = (2.2±0.2)×10, yields a baryon density ΩBh 2 = 0.025±0.001 which is within ∼ 1σ of the value deduced from the analysis of the CMB angular power spectrum, and is still consistent with the present-day D/H and models of Galactic chemical evolution. Future observations of D I absorption in other DLAs are needed to establish whether our finding reflects a real advantage of DLAs over other classes of QSO absorbers for the measurement of D, or is just a statistical fluctuation. Subject headings: quasars: absorption lines — quasars individual (Q2206−199) — cosmology: observations — nuclear reactions, nucleosynthesis, abundances Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.
Ginsenoside Rg3 Improves Recovery from Spinal Cord Injury in Rats via Suppression of Neuronal Apoptosis, Pro-Inflammatory Mediators, and Microglial Activation

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most devastating medical conditions; however, currently, there are no effective pharmacological interventions for SCI. Ginsenoside Rg3 (GRg3) is one of the protopanaxadiols that show anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and neuroprotective effects. The present study investigated the neuroprotective effect of GRg3 following SCI in rats. SCI was induced using a static compression model at vertebral thoracic level 10 for 5 min. GRg3 was administrated orally at a dose of 10 or 30 mg/kg/day for 14 days after the SCI. GRg3 (30 mg/kg) treatment markedly improved behavioral motor functions, restored lesion size, preserved motor neurons in the spinal tissue, reduced Bax expression and number of TUNEL-positive cells, and suppressed mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6. GRg3 also attenuated the over-production of cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase after SCI. Moreover, GRg3 markedly suppressed microglial activation in the spinal tissue. In conclusion, GRg3 treatment led to a remarkable recovery of motor function and a reduction in spinal tissue damage by suppressing neuronal apoptosis and inflammatory responses after SCI. These results suggest that GRg3 may be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of SCI.
Efficient Salient Region Detection with Soft Image Abstraction

Detecting visually salient regions in images is one of the fundamental problems in computer vision. We propose a novel method to decompose an image into large scale perceptually homogeneous elements for efficient salient region detection, using a soft image abstraction representation. By considering both appearance similarity and spatial distribution of image pixels, the proposed representation abstracts out unnecessary image details, allowing the assignment of comparable saliency values across similar regions, and producing perceptually accurate salient region detection. We evaluate our salient region detection approach on the largest publicly available dataset with pixel accurate annotations. The experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms 18 alternate methods, reducing the mean absolute error by 25.2% compared to the previous best result, while being computationally more efficient.
Learning by Minimizing Resources in Neural Networks

We reformulate the problem of supervised learning in neu­ ral nets to include the search for a network with minimal resources . The information processing in feedforward networks is described in geometrical terms as the partitioning of the space of possible input configurations by hyperplanes corresponding to hidden units. Regu­ lar partitionings introduced here are a special class of partitionings. Corresponding architectures can represent any Boolean function using a single layer of hidden units whose number depends on the specific symmetries of the function. Accordin gly, a new class of pla ne-cutting algorithms is proposed that const ruct in polynomial time a "custom­ made" architecture implementing the desired set of inputj'ouput ex­ amples . We report the results of our experiments on the storage and rule-extraction abilities of three-layer perceptrons synthetized by a simple greedy algorithm. As expected, simple neuronal structures with good generalization properties emerge only for a strongly corre ­ lated set of examples.
Optical absorption of non-interacting tight-binding electrons in a Peierls-distorted chain at half band-filling

Abstract In this, the first of three articles on the optical absorption of electrons in half-filled Peierls-distorted chains, we present analytical results for non-interacting tight-binding electrons. We carefully derive explicit expressions for the current operator, the dipole transition matrix elements and the optical absorption for electrons with a cosine dispersion relation of bandwidth W and dimerization parameter δ. New correction (η) terms to the current operator are identified. A broad band-to-band transition is found in the frequency range Wδ < ω < W whose shape is determined by the joint density of states for the upper and lower Peierls subbands and the strong momentum dependence of the transition matrix elements.
Keep doing what i just did: automating smartphones by demonstration

Automating tasks can make a smartphone easier to use and more battery efficient. However, currently little work has been done to help end-users to create such automations. In this paper, we explore an approach for automating smartphone tasks by demonstration. We have developed a mobile application called Keep Doing It that continuously records users' interactions with their smartphones. After users performed a task that they would like to automate, they can ask our application to create the automation based on their latest actions. Since users only have to use their smartphones, as they would naturally do, to demonstrate automations, we believe that our approach can lower the barrier for creating smartphone automations. Overall, an initial evaluation of the approach suggests that users would be willing to automate their phones by demonstration.
Sticky 1+1 path protection method by dynamic disjoint path discovery

Our goal is to maintain 1+1 path protection as much as possible after a single failure occurs for ensuring carrier-grade reliability. An obvious approach is preparing a third path that is disjoint with the primary and backup paths, but applicability to actual networks with this approach is extremely restricted. From our evaluation, the recovery ratio for reconstructing 1+1 path protection decreases to 13–30% in the worst case. We propose a dynamic disjoint path discovery algorithm for possibly repairing 1+1 path protection. The dynamic path does not provide a path-disjoint but failed-link-disjoint path. The disjoint constraint is relaxed; therefore, our algorithm can provide a high recovery ratio to reconstruct 1+1 path protection. Our analysis identified the dominant elements for maintaining the high recovery ratio: the number of nodes whose node degrees are less than three and the distance between those nodes. This dynamic approach, which uses mature protocols, is applicable to various networks, and automatic preparation of the new backup path can reduce the OPEX.
Joint Particle Filter and UKF Position Tracking Under Strong NLOS Situation

The location performance within a wireless communication system is severely impaired by biases introduced in the range measures because of the Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) condition, caused by obstacles in the transmitted signal path. Usually not all the base stations (BS) are in NLOS, and the knowledge of the LOS-NLOS situation for each measure can improve the final positioning accuracy [6]. This paper studies the use of a Particle Filter (PF) to track the LOS-NLOS situation for each BS. A Rao-Blackwellized approach is used to estimate both the position, by an appropriate Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF), and the situation, by a PF. The approach shows a remarkable reduction in positioning error and a high degree of scalability in terms of performance versus complexity.
Adaptive Visual Information Retrieval by Changing Visual Vocabulary Sizes in Context of User Intentions

The overwhelming availability of visual content on the Internet poses a serious problem: although there are huge resources to tap, users often cannot find the content they actually want. The information need of a user is based on the user's intention or the goal s/he wants to achieve. In this paper we distinguish between users that have clearly defined, specific information needs and goals and those that have a broader interest and less specific needs. We present a novel approach to retrieval adaptation based on the degree of intentionality. Our tests on two well known data sets demonstrate the potential of our approach.
A feedback approach to multitarget multisensor tracking with application to bearing-only tracking

A novel approach to multitarget multisensor tracking, exploiting the feedback connection of a PHD (Probability Hypothesis Density) smoother and multisensor multidimensional data association, is presented. The PHD smoother is used to initialize target tracks while the feedback from the hard data association makes the PHD smoother, and hence the overall tracker, less sensitive to missed detections and false alarms. An application to bearing-only tracking is investigated in order to demonstrate the potentials of the proposed approach for tracking problems wherein the state of a target is observable from multiple sensors but not from a single one.
Characterization of Cellulolytic and Xylanolytic Enzymes of Bacillus licheniformis JK7 Isolated from the Rumen of a Native Korean Goat

A facultative bacterium producing cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic enzymes was isolated from the rumen of a native Korean goat. The bacterium was identified as a Bacillus licheniformis on the basis of biochemical and morphological characteristics and 16S rDNA sequences, and has been designated Bacillus licheniformis JK7. Endoglucanase activities were higher than those of β-glucosidase and xylanase at all temperatures. Xylanase had the lowest activity among the three enzymes examined. The optimum temperature for the enzymes of Bacillus licheniformis JK7 was 70°C for endoglucanase (0.75 U/ml) and 50°C for β-glucosidase and xylanase (0.63 U/ml, 0.44 U/ml, respectively). All three enzymes were stable at a temperature range of 20 to 50°C. At 50°C, endoglucanse, β-glucosidase, and xylanase had 90.29, 94.80, and 88.69% residual activity, respectively. The optimal pH for the three enzymes was 5.0, at which their activity was 1.46, 1.10, and 1.08 U/ml, respectively. The activity of all three enzymes was stable in the pH range of 3.0 to 6.0. Endoglucanase activity was increased 113% by K+, while K+, Zn+, and tween 20 enhanced β-glucosidase activity. Xylanase showed considerable activity even in presence of selected chemical additives, with the exception of Mn2+ and Cu2+. The broad range of optimum temperatures (20 to 40°C) and the stability under acidic pH (4 to 6) suggest that the cellulolytic enzymes of Bacillus licheniformis JK7 may be good candidates for use in the biofuel industry.
Object-Based Verification of Precipitation Forecasts. Part I: Methodology and Application to Mesoscale Rain Areas

Abstract A recently developed method of defining rain areas for the purpose of verifying precipitation produced by numerical weather prediction models is described. Precipitation objects are defined in both forecasts and observations based on a convolution (smoothing) and thresholding procedure. In an application of the new verification approach, the forecasts produced by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model are evaluated on a 22-km grid covering the continental United States during July–August 2001. Observed rainfall is derived from the stage-IV product from NCEP on a 4-km grid (averaged to a 22-km grid). It is found that the WRF produces too many large rain areas, and the spatial and temporal distribution of the rain areas reveals regional underestimates of the diurnal cycle in rain-area occurrence frequency. Objects in the two datasets are then matched according to the separation distance of their centroids. Overall, WRF rain errors exhibit no large biases in location, but do suffer from a .
Vicious walkers and random contraction matrices

The ensemble $\CUE^{(q)}$ of truncated random unitary matrices is a deformation of the usual Circular Unitary Ensemble depending on a discrete non-negative parameter $q. $ $\CUE^{(q)}$ is an exactly solved model of random contraction matrices originally introduced in the context of scattering theory. In this article, we exhibit a connection between $\CUE^{(q)}$ and Fisher's random-turns vicious walker model from statistical mechanics. In particular, we show that the moment generating function of the trace of a random matrix from $\CUE^{(q)}$ is a generating series for the partition function of Fisher's model, when the walkers are assumed to represent mutually attracting particles.
Mechanisms of succession along the emersion gradient in intertidal rocky shore assemblages

Theoretical models predict that the relative importance of competition and facilitation vary inversely along gradients of abiotic stress, with facilitation dominating under harsh conditions (the so called "stress-gradient hypothesis"). To date, very few studies have tested this hypothesis in the framework of succession. Moreover, the generality of the hypothesis is currently under debate and the necessity to examine responses at the community level and using different stress levels has been emphasized. We evaluate the mechanisms of succession across the emersion gradient in a rocky shore system. After complete clearing of experimental plots at four shore heights, we removed two separate components of the assemblage: ephemeral green algae, early colonists and canopy-forming species, main space holders in undisturbed assemblages. We aimed to test two hypotheses: (a) the net effect of ephemeral algae on canopy-forming species shift along the emersion gradient according to the predictions of the stress-gradient hypothesis and (b) the net effect of the canopy-forming group on associate species change, from neutral/negative to positive, as succession progresses and plants grow, especially at the highest shore heights. Our results did not support the predictions of the stress gradient hypothesis in the framework of succession. We did detect changes through time in the effect of canopy-forming species, from negative to positive, but this was not dependent on the shore height. The outcome of interactions depended on the identity and life-stage of the species. Moreover, indirect interactions among species could also create a less predictable relationship between successional mechanisms and the environmental gradient.
Deletion of SNAP-23 Results in Pre-Implantation Embryonic Lethality in Mice

SNARE-mediated membrane fusion is a pivotal event for a wide-variety of biological processes. SNAP-25, a neuron-specific SNARE protein, has been well-characterized and mouse embryos lacking Snap25 are viable. However, the phenotype of mice lacking SNAP-23, the ubiquitously expressed SNAP-25 homolog, remains unknown. To reveal the importance of SNAP-23 function in mouse development, we generated Snap23-null mice by homologous recombination. We were unable to obtain newborn SNAP-23-deficient mice, and analysis of pre-implantation embryos from Snap23 Δ/wt matings revealed that Snap23-null blastocysts were dying prior to implantation at embryonic day E3.5. Thus these data reveal a critical role for SNAP-23 during embryogenesis.
International Academy of Education International Bureau of Education Teacher Professional Learning and Development the International Academy of Education Series Preface

The International Academy of Education (IAE) is a not-for-profit scientific association that promotes educational research, and its dissemination and implementation. Founded in 1986, the Academy is dedicated to strengthening the contributions of research, solving critical educational problems throughout the world, and providing better communication among policy makers, researchers, and practitioners. The general aim of the IAE is to foster scholarly excellence in all fields of education. Towards this end, the Academy provides timely syntheses of research-based evidence of international importance. The Academy also provides critiques of research and of its evidentiary basis and its application to policy. This booklet about teacher professional learning and development has been prepared for inclusion in the Educational Practices Series developed by the International Academy of Education and distributed by the International Bureau of Education and the Academy. As part of its mission, the Academy provides timely syntheses of research on educational topics of international importance. This is the eighteenth in a series of booklets on educational practices that generally improve learning. This particular booklet is based on a synthesis of research evidence produced for the New Zealand Ministry of Education's Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis (BES) Programme, which is designed to be a catalyst for systemic improvement and sustainable development in education. This synthesis, and others in the series, are available electronically at www.educationcounts. govt.nz/themes/BES. All BESs are written using a collaborative approach that involves the writers, teacher unions, principal groups, teacher educators, academics, researchers, policy advisers, and other interested parties. To ensure its rigour and usefulness, each BES follows national guidelines developed by the Ministry of Education. Professor Helen Timperley was lead writer for the Teacher Professional Learning and Development: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration [BES], assisted by teacher educators Aaron Wilson and Heather Barrar and research assistant Irene Fung, all of the University of Auckland. The BES is an analysis of 97 studies of professional development that led to improved outcomes for the students of the participating teachers. Most of these studies came from the United States, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Israel. Dr Lorna Earl provided formative quality assurance for the synthesis; Professor John Hattie and Dr Gavin Brown oversaw the analysis of effect sizes. Helen Timperley is Professor of Education at the University of Auckland. The primary focus of her research is promotion of professional and organizational learning in schools for the purpose of improving student learning. She has …
GeneTrek: An Information Retrieval System for Gene Clustering Study and Implementation of Interface and Study of Chameleon Clustering Algorithm

The vast amount of gathered genomic data from Microarray and other high throughput experiments makes it extremely difficult for the researcher to interpret the data and form conclusions about the functions of the discovered genes. We can make use of extensive biomedical literature databases like Medline to find the functional similarity between genes using various information retrieval and clustering techniques.
Cancer in Women over 50 Years of Age: A Focus on Smoking

The increase in life expectancy worldwide has resulted in a greater prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with the occurrence of cancer among Brazilian women over the age of 50. A cross-sectional study with 622 women over the age of 50 was performed using a population survey. The outcome variable was the occurrence of a malignant tumor in any location. The independent variables were sociodemographic characteristics, self-perception of health, health-related habits and morbidities. Statistical analysis was carried out using the chi-square test and Poisson regression. The mean age of the women was 64.1 years. The prevalence of cancer was 6.8%. The main sites of occurrence of malignant tumors were the breast (31.9%), colorectal (12.7%) and skin (12.7%). In the final statistical model, the only factor associated with cancer was smoking > 15 cigarettes/day either currently or in the past: PR 2.03 (95% CI 1.06–3.89). The results have improved understanding of the prevalence and factors associated with cancer in Brazilian women aged 50 years or more. They should be encouraged to maintain a healthy lifestyle and pay particular attention to modifiable risk factors such as smoking.
Hierarchical indexing for 3D head model retrieval based on kernel PCA

In this paper, a novel 3D head model retrieval framework is proposed. First, kernel PCA is adopted both to reduce the data dimension and to extract features for model characterization. Second, based on the derived features, a hierarchical indexing structure for 3D model database is constructed using the hierarchical self organizing map (HSOM). Third, an efficient search approach is presented based on the established indexing structure that requires only feature matching between the query model and a small number of SOM nodes. The main advantages of our approach include high retrieval precision due to the discrimination capacity of kernel PCA, and low computation cost due to the hierarchical indexing structure and data dimension reduction. In addition, the topology-preserving property of HSOM also facilitates the exploration of the model database with the possibility of further knowledge discovery.
Predicting time series with wavelet packet neural networks

Inspired by both the multilayer perceptron (MLP) and wavelet decomposition, Zhang and Benveniste (1992) proposed the wavelet MLP (W-MLP), which has been used for time series prediction. The wavelet packet MLP (WP-MLP) is an MLP with the wavelet packet as a feature extraction method to obtain time-frequency information. The WP-MLP has been successfully applied to biomedical, image and speech classification. In this paper, we demonstrate that the WP-MLP can be a very promising approach to time series prediction.
Product review summarization from a deeper perspective

With product reviews growing in depth and becoming more numerous, it is growing challenge to acquire a comprehensive understanding of their contents, for both customers and product manufacturers. We built a system that automatically summarizes a large collection of product reviews to generate a concise summary. Importantly, our system not only extracts the review sentiments but also the underlying justification for their opinion. We solve this problem through a novel application of clustering and validate our approach through an empirical study, obtaining good performance as judged by F-measure (the harmonic mean of purity and inverse purity).