Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Protein Phosphatase 5 from Three Lepidopteran Insects: Helicoverpa armigera, Mythimna separata and Plutella xylostella

Protein phosphatase 5 (PP5), a unique member of serine/threonine phosphatases, regulates a variety of biological processes. We obtained full-length PP5 cDNAs from three lepidopteran insects, Helicoverpa armigera, Mythimna separata and Plutella xylostella, encoding predicted proteins of 490 (55.98 kDa), 490 (55.82 kDa) and 491 (56.07 kDa) amino acids, respectively. These sequences shared a high identity with other insect PP5s and contained the TPR (tetratricopeptide repeat) domains at N-terminal regions and highly conserved C-terminal catalytic domains. Tissue- and stage-specific expression pattern analyses revealed these three PP5 genes were constitutively expressed in all stages and in tested tissues with predominant transcription occurring at the egg and adult stages. Activities of Escherichia coli-produced recombinant PP5 proteins could be enhanced by almost 2-fold by a known PP5 activator: arachidonic acid. Kinetic parameters of three recombinant proteins against substrate pNPP were similar both in the absence or presence of arachidonic acid. Protein phosphatases inhibitors, okadaic acid, cantharidin, and endothall strongly impeded the activities of the three recombinant PP5 proteins, as well as exerted an inhibitory effect on crude protein phosphatases extractions from these three insects. In summary, lepidopteran PP5s share similar characteristics and are all sensitive to the protein phosphatases inhibitors. Our results also imply protein phosphatase inhibitors might be used in the management of lepidopteran pests.
Interannual climate variability seen in the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project

Abstract. Following reconstructions suggesting weakened temperature gradients along the Equator in the early Pliocene, there has been much speculation about Pliocene climate variability. A major advance for our knowledge about the later Pliocene has been the coordination of modelling efforts through the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP). Here the changes in interannual modes of sea surface temperature variability will be presented across PlioMIP. Previously, model ensembles have shown little consensus in the response of the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) to imposed forcings – either for the past or future. The PlioMIP ensemble, however, shows surprising agreement, with eight models simulating reduced variability and only one model indicating no change. The Pliocene's robustly weaker ENSO also saw a shift to lower frequencies. Model ensembles focussed on a wide variety of forcing scenarios have not yet shown this level of coherency. Nonetheless, the PlioMIP ensemble does not show a robust response of either ENSO flavour or sea surface temperature variability in the tropical Indian and North Pacific oceans. Existing suggestions linking ENSO properties to to changes in zonal temperature gradient, seasonal cycle and the elevation of the Andes Mountains are investigated, yet prove insufficient to explain the consistent response. The reason for this surprisingly coherent signal warrants further investigation.
On-the-fly hand detection training with application in egocentric action recognition

We propose a novel approach to segment hand regions in egocentric video that requires no manual labeling of training samples. The user wearing a head-mounted camera is prompted to perform a simple gesture during an initial calibration step. A combination of color and motion analysis that exploits knowledge of the expected gesture is applied on the calibration video frames to automatically label hand pixels in an unsupervised fashion. The hand pixels identified in this manner are used to train a statistical-model-based hand detector. Superpixel region growing is used to perform segmentation refinement and improve robustness to noise. Experiments show that our hand detection technique based on the proposed on-the-fly training approach significantly outperforms state-of-the-art techniques with respect to accuracy and robustness on a variety of challenging videos. This is due primarily to the fact that training samples are personalized to a specific user and environmental conditions. We also demonstrate the utility of our hand detection technique to inform an adaptive video sampling strategy that improves both computational speed and accuracy of egocentric action recognition algorithms. Finally, we offer an egocentric video dataset of an insulin self-injection procedure with action labels and hand masks that can serve towards future research on both hand detection and egocentric action recognition.
Antenna Selection and Transmit Beamforming Switching Scheme for a MIMO System Operating Over a Varying Rician Channel

In this paper, we investigate a switching scheme involving Antenna Selection and Transmit Beamforming modes for a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system operating over a varying Rician channel. It is shown that that Beamforming outperforms Antenna Selection when Line of Sight (LOS) component dominates the channel. Also Transmit Beamforming is superior over Antenna Selection at high values of Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). When the number of transmitting antennas is increased the switching point moves to higher values of SNR. The switching point also goes up to higher values of SNR when the Non-LOS component is increased. ©2009 IEEE.
Contribution of the Major ND10 Proteins PML, hDaxx and Sp100 to the Regulation of Human Cytomegalovirus Latency and Lytic Replication in the Monocytic Cell Line THP-1

Promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies, also termed nuclear domain 10 (ND10), have emerged as nuclear protein accumulations mediating an intrinsic cellular defense against viral infections via chromatin-based mechanisms, however, their contribution to the control of herpesviral latency is still controversial. In this study, we utilized the monocytic cell line THP-1 as an in vitro latency model for human cytomegalovirus infection (HCMV). Characterization of THP-1 cells by immunofluorescence and Western blot analysis confirmed the expression of all major ND10 components. THP-1 cells with a stable, individual knockdown of PML, hDaxx or Sp100 were generated. Importantly, depletion of the major ND10 proteins did not prevent the terminal cellular differentiation of THP-1 monocytes. After construction of a recombinant, endotheliotropic human cytomegalovirus expressing IE2-EYFP, we investigated whether the depletion of ND10 proteins affects the onset of viral IE gene expression. While after infection of differentiated, THP-1-derived macrophages as well as during differentiation-induced reactivation from latency an increase in the number of IE-expressing cells was readily detectable in the absence of the major ND10 proteins, no effect was observed in non-differentiated monocytes. We conclude that PML, hDaxx and Sp100 primarily act as cellular restriction factors during lytic HCMV replication and during the dynamic process of reactivation but do not serve as key determinants for the establishment of HCMV latency.
Play Preference and Pretend Play Skills between Typically Developed Children and Autism

Pretend play emerged at the age of 18 months in children. The imagination of children creates new play ideas it has incorporated into their play. But Autism children find difficulty in play. Hence, this study aimed to find the different types of pretend and preference play among autistic and typical children. The total sample of 40 is divided into 20 each group respectively. Data analyzed by using Chi-Square result in the significant difference between the pretend play and play preference X² = 42.81 (p=0.05 and p=0.01). Future study needs to examine with larger samples. © 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creative commons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. Keywords: Pretend Play; Play Preferences; Autism; Typically Developed children.
Static Average Case Power Estimation Technique for Block Ciphers

In this paper a new static average case dynamic power estimation technique is introduced based on the property of randomness preservation for digital circuits. The proposed technique is validated by estimating the average case power for a block cipher, DES with a lower estimation error percentage of 0.9481 % and lesser simulation time with a pattern reduction of (2^n x 2^n! )-(2^n x 2^n x 2) for n bit design. The same technique can be extended to any block cipher, including the AES and IDEA-NXT.
Development of a thin pneumatic rubber actuator generating 3-DOF motion

In this research, a flat-type pneumatic actuator aimed to be applied to mobile robots working in narrow spaces or wearable devices has been developed. The actuator is configured with small diameter McKibben Artificial Muscles which show high flexibility and generate contraction force in axial direction. By integrating the artificial muscles parallelly, the actuator can contract in the longitudinal direction and bend in any direction by changing the applied air pressure pattern to the artificial muscles. In this paper, structure of the actuator is proposed and the fabrication process is established. The developed prototype actuator is configured with three artificial muscles of length 50[mm], width 5[mm] and thickness 2.6[mm]. The bending motion with the minimum radius of curvature of 21.3[mm] and contraction motion with the maximum displacement of 9.3 [mm] in the longitudinal direction are performed.
Autonomic Parameter Tuning of Anomaly-Based IDSs: an SSH Case Study

Anomaly-based intrusion detection systems classify network traffic instances by comparing them with a model of the normal network behavior. To be effective, such systems are expected to precisely detect intrusions (high true positive rate) while limiting the number of false alarms (low false positive rate). However, there exists a natural trade-off between detecting all anomalies (at the expense of raising alarms too often), and missing anomalies (but not issuing any false alarms). The parameters of a detection system play a central role in this trade-off, since they determine how responsive the system is to an intrusion attempt. Despite the importance of properly tuning the system parameters, the literature has put little emphasis on the topic, and the task of adjusting such parameters is usually left to the expertise of the system manager or expert IT personnel. In this paper, we present an autonomic approach for tuning the parameters of anomaly-based intrusion detection systems in case of SSH traffic. We propose a procedure that aims to automatically tune the system parameters and, by doing so, to optimize the system performance. We validate our approach by testing it on a flow-based probabilistic detection system for the detection of SSH attacks.
Dimensionality and Psychometric Properties of the Spanish version of the Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Scale (MMDS-S)

Abstract : This study examines the dimensions and psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Scale (MMDS). The MMDS was designed to evaluate the moral disengagement construct. A sample of 513 students was assessed (58.3% females; 15 to 25 years-of-age). Confirmatory factor analysis showed four models with an adequate fit, both for a first-order factorial structure (Model 1) and a second-order factorial structure (Models 2, 3 and 4). Model 4 achieved the best fit indices [χ2 = 19.35; RMSEA = . 016; GFI = . 99; AGFI = . 98; ECVI = . 11; CAIC = 156.92], a model represented by a general second-order factor (moral disengagement) with three fi rst-order dimensions: disengagement by depersonalization; disengagement by irresponsibility; and disengagement by rationalization. Moreover, significant relations between moral disengagement, aggression, and empathy were found. This scale appears a reliable and valid instrument to evaluate the moral disengagement in adolescents and young adults. Resumen : Dimensiones y propiedades psicometricas de la version espanola de la Escala de Mecanismos de Desconexion Moral (MMDS) . Este trabajo analiza las dimensiones y propiedades psicometricas de la version espanola de la Escala de Mecanismos de Desconexion Moral (MMDS). Este instrumento fue disenado para evaluar el constructo desconexion moral. Se evaluaron 513 estudiantes (58.3% mujeres; rango de 15-25 anos). El analisis factorial confirmatorio mostro cuatro modelos con un adecuado ajuste y una estructura factorial de primer orden (Modelo 1), y una estructura de segundo orden (Modelos 2, 3 y 4). El Modelo 4 ofrecio el mejor ajuste [χ2 = 19.35; RMSEA = . 016; GFI = . 99; AGFI = . 98; ECVI = . 11; CAIC = 156.92], representado por un factor general de segundo orden (desconexion moral) y tres de primer orden: desconexion por despersonalizacion; desconexion por irresponsabilidad; y desconexion por racionalizacion. Se encontraron relaciones significativas entre la desconexion moral, la agresion y la empatia. El instrumento es valido y fiable para evaluar la desconexion moral en adolescentes y adultos jovenes.
Design and implementation of secure multicast based on SDN

Multicast communication is an important requirement for many types of applications such as IPTV, video conference. In current IP multicast architecture, any host can join a multicast group without authentication because no host identification information is maintained by routers, which leads to security risks. In addition, the routers need to be involved in both forwarding packets and maintaining route states, which results in massive complexity of the devices and produces a lot of control overheads. This paper proposes a multicast clean-slate scheme based on Software-defined Networking (SDN), aiming to improve security and controllability of multicast networks. A multicast controller logically centralized is designed to be responsible for handling multicast events, calculating multicast tree and authentication the identity of host. A prototype is implemented in our SDN platform. The result proves that our scheme is superior to the traditional IP multicast, which is reflected in two aspects: firstly, the illegal users are prevented from joining multicast group effectively. Secondly, the delay of joining a group is less than the traditional IP multicast.
Parallel Computation of Skyline Queries

Skyline queries have received considerable attention in the database community. The goal is to retrieve all records in a database that have the property that no other record is better according to all of a given set of criteria. While this problem has been well studied in the computational geometry literature, the solution of this problem in the database context requires techniques designed particularly to handle large amounts of data. In this paper, we show that parallel computing is an effective method to speed up the answering of skyline queries on large data sets. We also propose to preprocess the set of data points to quickly answer subsequent skyline queries on any subset of the dimensions.
Fitness Causes Bloat: Simulated Annealing, Hill Climbing and Populations

In many cases programs length’s increase (known as “bloat”, “fluff” and increasing “structural complexity”) during artificial evolution. We show bloat is not specific to genetic programming and suggest it is inherent in search techniques with discrete variable length representations using simple static evaluation functions. We investigate the bloating characteristics of three non-population and one population based search techniques using a novel mutation operator. An artificial ant following the Santa Fe trail problem is solved by simulated annealing, hill climbing, strict hill climbing and population based search using two variants of the the new subtree based mutation operator. As predicted bloat is observed when using unbiased mutation and is absent in simulated annealing and both hill climbers when using the length neutral mutation however bloat occurs with both mutations when using a population. We conclude that there are two causes of bloat.
Guidelines for Designing Information Visualization Applications

Information overload is considered one of the fundamental human-computer interaction problems today. The Internet provides access to millions of documents. Closer to home, average desktop users may have thousands of files and documents stored on their systems. Users may deal with budgetary information distributed amongst hundreds of categories or access databases of enormous size. The computer can, in a few seconds, retrieve information that humans would take years to digest. Often, much of this information is irrelevant. In an effort to cope with this problem, more and more users are turning to information visualization. This paper surveys the area of Information Visualization. It discusses visualization designs and techniques from a prospective based on Shneiderman’s abstract user-task taxonomy for information visualization. It then presents some design guidelines that should be considered when designing information seeking applications based on visualization techniques. It also observes that little scientific study has been performed on the usability of information visualization and calls for study in realistic work situations.
Learning how to trade off aesthetic criteria in layout

Typesetting software is often faced with conflicting aesthetic goals. For example, choosing where to break lines in text might involve aiming to minimize hyphenation, variation in word spacing, and consecutive lines starting with the same word. Typically, automatic layout is modelled as an optimization problem in which the goal is to minimize a complex objective function that combines various penalty functions each of which corresponds to a particular bad feature. Determining how to combine these penalty functions is difficult and very time consuming, becoming harder each time we add another penalty. Here we present a machine-learning approach to do this, and test it in the context of line-breaking. Our approach repeatedly queries the expert typographer as to which one of a pair of layouts is better, and accordingly refines the estimate of how best to weight the penalties in a linear combination. It chooses layout pair queries by a heuristic to maximize the amount that can be learnt from them so as to reduce the number of combinations that must be considered by the typographer.
Manifold of Facial Expressions for Tactile Perception

To enhance their social interactive ability, we study how to provide the sight-impaired with reliable, '"on-line" emotion information. The technical challenge we address here is how to render rich facial expressions in an intuitive way. We demonstrate that manifold of facial expressions is a compact and natural way to characterize human emotions. To compute manifold of facial expressions the standard locally linear embedding (LLE) algorithm is extended to handle the problem of real-time coding of new videos. Experimental results show that using manifold of facial expressions for vibrotactile rendering is very encouraging.
Gravitational anomaly cancellation for M-theory fivebranes

We study gravitational anomalies for fivebranes in M theory. We show that an apparent anomaly in diffeomorphisms acting on the normal bundle is cancelled by a careful treatment of the M theory Chern-Simons coupling in the presence of fivebranes. One interesting aspect of our treatment is the way in which a magnetic object (the fivebrane) is smoothed out through coupling to gravity and the resulting relation between antisymmetric tensor gauge transformations and diffeomorphisms in the presence of a fivebrane.
AGB nucleosynthesis in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Detailed abundance analysis of the RV Tauri sta

Context. Abundance analysis of post-AGB objects as probes of AGB nucleosynthesis. Aims. A detailed photospheric abundance study is performed on the carbon-rich post-AGB candidate MACHO 47.2496. 8 in the LMC. Methods. High-resolution, high signal-to-noise ESO VLT-UVES spectra of MACHO 47.2496. 8 are analysed by performing detailed spectrum synthesis modelling using state-of-the-art carbon-rich MARCS atmosphere models. Results. The spectrum of MACHO 47.2496. 8 is not only dominated by bands of carbon bearing molecules, but also by lines ofatomic transitions of s-process elements. The metallicity of [Fe/H] = -1.4 is surprisingly low for a field LMC star. The C/O ratio, however difficult to quantify, is greater than 2, and the s-process enrichment is large: the light s-process elements are enhanced by 1.2dex compared to iron ([Is/Fe] = +1.2), while for the heavy s-process elements an even stronger enrichment is measured: [hs/Fe] = +2.1. The lead abundance is comparable to the [hs/Fe]. With its low intrinsic metallicity and its luminosity at the low end of the carbon star luminosity function, the star represents likely the final stage of a low initial mass star. Conclusions. The LMC RVTauri star MACHO 47.2496. 8 is highly carbon and s-process enriched, and is most probable a genuine post-C(N-type) AGB star. This is the first detailed abundance analysis of an extragalactic post-AGB star to date.
Relevance feedback and category search in image databases

We present a sound framework for relevance feedback in content based image retrieval. The modeling is based on non parametric density estimation of relevant and non relevant items and Bayesian inference. This theory has been successfully applied to benchmark image databases, quantitatively demonstrating its performance for target search, selective control of precision and recall in category search, and improvement of retrieval effectiveness. The paper is illustrated with several experiments and retrieval results on real world data.
DOES THE ABUNDANCE OF HOVERFLY (SYRPHIDAE) MIMICS DEPEND ON THE NUMBERS OF THEIR HYMENOPTERAN MODELS?

Abstract We tested the prediction that, if hoverflies are Batesian mimics, this may extend to behavioral mimicry such that their numerical abundance at each hour of the day (the daily activity pattern) is related to the numbers of their hymenopteran models. After accounting for site, season, microclimatic responses, and general hoverfly abundance at three sites in northwestern England, the residual numbers of mimics were significantly correlated positively with their models nine times of 17. Sixteen of 17 relationships were positive, itself a highly significant nonrandom pattern. Several eristaline flies showed significant relationships with honeybees even though some of them mimic wasps or bumblebees, perhaps reflecting an ancestral resemblance to honeybees. There was no evidence that good and poor mimics differed in their daily activity pattern relationships with models. However, the common mimics showed significant activity pattern relationships with their models, whereas the rarer mimics did not. We conclude that many hoverflies show behavioral mimicry of their hymenopteran models.