Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comprehensive framework for visualizing and analyzing spatio-temporal dynamics of racial diversity in the entire United States

The United States is increasingly becoming a multi-racial society. To understand multiple consequences of this overall trend to our neighborhoods we need a methodology capable of spatio-temporal analysis of racial diversity at the local level but also across the entire U.S. Furthermore, such methodology should be accessible to stakeholders ranging from analysts to decision makers. In this paper we present a comprehensive framework for visualizing and analyzing diversity data that fulfills such requirements. The first component of our framework is a U.S.-wide, multi-year database of race sub-population grids which is freely available for download. These 30 m resolution grids have being developed using dasymetric modeling and are available for 1990-2000-2010. We summarize numerous advantages of gridded population data over commonly used Census tract-aggregated data. Using these grids frees analysts from constructing their own and allows them to focus on diversity analysis. The second component of our framework is a set of U.S.-wide, multi-year diversity maps at 30 m resolution. A diversity map is our product that classifies the gridded population into 39 communities based on their degrees of diversity, dominant race, and population density. It provides spatial information on diversity in a single, easy-to-understand map that can be utilized by analysts and end users alike. Maps based on subsequent Censuses provide information about spatio-temporal dynamics of diversity. Diversity maps are accessible through the GeoWeb application SocScape (http://sil.uc.edu/webapps/socscape_usa/) for an immediate online exploration. The third component of our framework is a proposal to quantitatively analyze diversity maps using a set of landscape metrics. Because of its form, a grid-based diversity map could be thought of as a diversity “landscape” and analyzed quantitatively using landscape metrics. We give a brief summary of most pertinent metrics and demonstrate how they can be applied to diversity maps.
Transcriptome Changes in Eriocheir sinensis Megalopae after Desalination Provide Insights into Osmoregulation and Stress Adaption in Larvae

Eriocheir sinensis, an extremely invasive alien crab species, has important economic value in China. It encounters different salinities during its life cycle, and at the megalopal stage it faces a turning point regarding the salinity in its environment. We applied RNA sequencing to E. sinensis megalopae before (MB) and after (MA) desalination, resulting in the discovery of 21,042 unigenes and 908 differentially expressed genes (DEGs, 4.32% of the unigenes). The DEGs primarily belonged to the Gene Ontology groups “Energy metabolism,” “Oxidoreductase activity,” “Translation,” “Transport,” “Metabolism,” and “Stress response. ” In total, 33 DEGs related to transport processes were found, including 12 proton pump genes, three ATP-binding cassettes (ABCs), 13 solute carrier (SLC) family members, two sweet sugar transporter (ST) family members and three other substance transporters. Mitochondrial genes as well as genes involved in the tricarboxylic acid cycle, glycolytic pathway, or β-oxidation pathway, which can generate energy in the form of ATP, were typically up-regulated in MA. 11 unigenes related to amino acid metabolism and a large number of genes related to protein synthesis were differentially expressed in MB and MA, indicating that E. sinensis possibly adjusts its concentration of free amino acid osmolytes for hyper-osmoregulation. Additionally, 33 salinity and oxidative stress induced genes were found to be differentially expressed, such as the LEA2, HSPs, GST and coagulation factor genes. Notably, LEA2 is an extremely hydrophilic protein that responds to desiccation and reported for the first time in crabs. Therefore, we suppose that when the environment is hypo-osmotic, the megalopae might compensate for ion loss via hyper-osmoregulation by consuming more energy, accompanied by a series of stress induced adaptions. This study provides the first genome-wide transcriptome analysis of E. sinensis megalopae for studying its osmoregulation and stress adaption mechanisms.
Computer-Aided Teaching Using MATLAB/Simulink for Enhancing an IM Course With Laboratory Tests

This paper describes an automatic procedure using MATLAB software to plot the circle diagram for two induction motors (IMs), with wound and squirrel-cage rotors, from no-load and blocked-rotor tests. The advantage of this approach is that it avoids the need for a direct load test in predetermining the IM characteristics under reduced power. Additionally, to verify the validity of the equivalent circuit parameters deduced from experimental tests, these characteristics are used to simulate virtual machines implemented under Simulink/PSB models. Furthermore, a virtual load test is performed to validate the proposed model. Finally, the results are given of an assessment that reflects the positive impact the proposed methods have had on students' learning experience in electrical machinery courses in the Electrotechnics Department, Engineer Sciences Faculty, University Mentouri of Constantine (ED-ESF-UMC), Algeria.
Loss of NF1 Expression in Human Endothelial Cells Promotes Autonomous Proliferation and Altered Vascular Morphogenesis

Neurofibromatosis is a well known familial tumor syndrome, however these patients also suffer from a number of vascular anomalies. The loss of NFl from the endothelium is embryonically lethal in mouse developmental models, however little is known regarding the molecular regulation by NF1 in endothelium. We investigated the consequences of losing NF1 expression on the function of endothelial cells using shRNA. The loss of NF1 was sufficient to elevate levels of active Ras under non-stimulated conditions. These elevations in Ras activity were associated with activation of downstream signaling including activation of ERK, AKT and mTOR. Cells knocked down in NF1 expression exhibited no cellular senescence. Rather, they demonstrated augmented proliferation and autonomous entry into the cell cycle. These proliferative changes were accompanied by enhanced expression of cyclin D, phosphorylation of p27KIP, and decreases in total p27KIP levels, even under growth factor free conditions. In addition, NF1-deficient cells failed to undergo normal branching morphogenesis in a co-culture assay, instead forming planar islands with few tubules and branches. We find the changes induced by the loss of NF1 could be mitigated by co-expression of the GAP-related domain of NF1 implicating Ras regulation in these effects. Using doxycycline-inducible shRNA, targeting NF1, we find that the morphogenic changes are reversible. Similarly, in fully differentiated and stable vascular-like structures, the silencing of NF1 results in the appearance of abnormal vascular structures. Finally, the proliferative changes and the abnormal vascular morphogenesis are normalized by low-dose rapamycin treatment. These data provide a detailed analysis of the molecular and functional consequences of NF1 loss in human endothelial cells. These insights may provide new approaches to therapeutically addressing vascular abnormalities in these patients while underscoring a critical role for normal Ras regulation in maintaining the health and function of the vasculature.
Coverage, redundancy and size-awareness in genre diversity for recommender systems

There is increasing awareness in the Recommender Systems field that diversity is a key property that enhances the usefulness of recommendations. Genre information can serve as a means to measure and enhance the diversity of recommendations and is readily available in domains such as movies, music or books. In this work we propose a new Binomial framework for defining genre diversity in recommender systems that takes into account three key properties: genre coverage, genre redundancy and recommendation list size-awareness. We show that methods previously proposed for measuring and enhancing recommendation diversity - including those adapted from search result diversification - fail to address adequately these three properties. We also propose an efficient greedy optimization technique to optimize Binomial diversity. Experiments with the Netflix dataset show the properties of our framework and comparison with state of the art methods.
Efficient production of T cells from mouse pluripotent stem cells by controlled expression of Lhx2

LIM‐homeobox transcription factor Lhx2 induces ex vivo amplification of adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in mice. We previously showed that engraftable HSC‐like cells are generated from mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells by enforced expression of Lhx2. However, when these HSC‐like cells were transplanted into irradiated congenic mice, donor‐derived T cells were barely detectable, whereas other lineages of hematopoietic cells were continuously produced. Here we investigated T‐cell differentiation potential of the Lhx2‐induced HSC‐like cells using ESCs carrying doxycycline (dox)‐inducible Lhx2 expression cassette. Dox‐mediated over‐expression of Lhx2 conferred a self‐renewing activity to ESC‐derived c‐Kit+CD41+ embryonic hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs), thereby converting them to HSC‐like cells. When these HSC‐like cells were transplanted into irradiated immunodeficient mice and they were supplied with a dox‐containing water, CD4/8 double negative T cells were detected in their thymi. Once the Lhx2 expression was terminated, differentiation of CD4/8 double positive and single positive T cells was initiated in the thymi of transplanted mice and mature T cells were released in the peripheral blood. These results showed that engraftable HSC‐like cells with full hematopoietic potential can be obtained from ESCs by the conditional expression of Lhx2.
Modelling the effects of bacterial cell state and spatial location on tuberculosis treatment: Insights from a hybrid multiscale cellular automaton model

If improvements are to be made in tuberculosis (TB) treatment, an increased understanding of disease in the lung is needed. Studies have shown that bacteria in a less metabolically active state, associated with the presence of lipid bodies, are less susceptible to antibiotics, and recent results have highlighted the disparity in concentration of different compounds into lesions. Treatment success therefore depends critically on the responses of the individual bacteria that constitute the infection. We propose a hybrid, individual-based approach that analyses spatio-temporal dynamics at the cellular level, linking the behaviour of individual bacteria and host cells with the macroscopic behaviour of the microenvironment. The individual elements (bacteria, macrophages and T cells) are modelled using cellular automaton (CA) rules, and the evolution of oxygen, drugs and chemokine dynamics are incorporated in order to study the effects of the microenvironment in the pathological lesion. We allow bacteria to switch states depending on oxygen concentration, which affects how they respond to treatment. Using this multiscale model, we investigate the role of bacterial cell state and of initial bacterial location on treatment outcome. We demonstrate that when bacteria are located further away from blood vessels, a less favourable outcome is likely. We also show that in cases were bacteria remain at the end of simulations, the organisms tend to be slower-growing and are often located within granulomas, surrounded by caseous material.
Towards second and third generation web-based multimedia

First generation Web-content encodes information in handwritten (HTML) Web pages. Second generation Web content generates HTML pages on demand, e.g. by filling in templates with content retrieved dynamically from a database or transformation of structured documents using style sheets (e.g. XSLT). Third generation Web pages will make use of rich markup (e.g. XML) along with metadata (e.g. RDF) schemes to make the content not only machine readable but also machine processable - a necessary pre-requisite to the emphSemantic Web. While text-based content on the Web is already rapidly approaching the third generation, multimedia content is still trying to catch up with second generation techniques. Multimedia document processing has a number of fundamentally different requirements from text which make it more difficult to incorporate within the document processing chain. In particular, multimedia transformation uses different document and presentation abstractions, its formatting rules cannot be based on text-flow, it requires feedback from the formatting back-end and is hard to describe in the functional style of current style languages. We state the requirements for second generation processing of multimedia and describe how these have been incorporated in our prototype multimedia document transformation environment, emphCuypers. The system overcomes a number of the restrictions of the text-flow based tool sets by integrating a number of conceptually distinct processing steps in a single runtime execution environment. We describe the need for these different processing steps and describe them in turn (semantic structure, communicative device, qualitative constraints, quantitative constraints, final form presentation), and illustrate our approach by means of an example. We conclude by discussing the models and techniques required for the creation of third generation multimedia content.
Aggregation Latency-Energy Tradeoff in Wireless Sensor Networks with Successive Interference Cancellation

Minimizing latency and energy consumption is the prime objective of the design of data aggregation in battery-powered wireless networks. A tradeoff exists between the aggregation latency and the energy consumption, which has been widely studied under the protocol interference model. There has been, however, no investigation of the tradeoff under the physical interference model that is known to capture more accurately the characteristics of wireless interferences. When coupled with the technique of successive interference cancellation, by which a receiver may recover signals from multiple simultaneous senders, the model can lead to much reduced latency but increased energy usage. In this paper, we investigate the latency-energy tradeoff for data aggregation in wireless sensor networks under the physical interference model and using successive interference cancellation. We present theoretical lower bounds on both latency and energy as well as their tradeoff, and give an efficient approximation algorithm that can achieve the asymptotical optimum in both aggregation latency and latency-energy tradeoff. We show that our algorithm can significantly reduce the aggregation latency, for which the energy consumption is kept at its lowest possible level.
The City of Sights: Design, construction, and measurement of an Augmented Reality stage set

We describe the design and implementation of a physical and virtual model of an imaginary urban scene—the “City of Sights”— that can serve as a backdrop or “stage” for a variety of Augmented Reality (AR) research. We argue that the AR research community would benefit from such a standard model dataset which can be used for evaluation of such AR topics as tracking systems, modeling, spatial AR, rendering tests, collaborative AR and user interface design. By openly sharing the digital blueprints and assembly instructions for our models, we allow the proposed set to be physically replicable by anyone and permit customization and experimental changes to the stage design which enable comprehensive exploration of algorithms and methods. Furthermore we provide an accompanying rich dataset consisting of video sequences under varying conditions with ground truth camera pose. We employed three different ground truth acquisition methods to support a broad range of use cases. The goal of our design is to enable and improve the replicability and evaluation of future augmented reality research.
eComment. New initiatives to get less invasive approaches for atrial fibrillation back on track.

I have read with great interest the article by Starck et al. [1]. It seems to me that this report is an important and constructive tool for futures considerations. According to the Expert Consensus Document on Catheter and Surgical Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation [2], the pool of patients in this article was stratified as Class IIa indication with evidence supporting graded as Level C. In other words, surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) is reasonable for patients undergoing surgery for other indications. The surgical technique described by Cox et al. [3], termed as Cox-maze III procedure, when properly performed in a standard “cut-and-sew” fashion, cures AF in nearly 100% of the patients with or without concomitant disease [4]. However, this is an open procedure performed on a non-beating heart during cardiopulmonary bypass. In addition, despite the high success rate for curing AF, long aortic clamp times have always been the hallmark in this procedure. Simplification of the maze procedure has evolved with the use of different ablation tools such as microwave, cryotherapy, ultrasound, and radiofrequency energy sources to create the atrial lesions instead of employing the incisional technique used in the classic maze procedure. So the original Cox's concept is moving forward, but the procedure as a whole is respected only in appearance. These newer streamlined surgical approaches forget or do not consider the exclusion of the left atrial appendage (LAA) as an integral part of implementation in a global procedure. Indeed, all these less invasive approaches are almost exclusively focused in the pulmonary veins isolation when paroxysmal AF is treated. The high success rate of the Cox-maze III procedure lies not only in curing the AF, but also removing the LAA. As the authors in this article here have emphazised, the primary reason for occluding the LAA is to reduce the stroke risk arising from this anatomical structure. We need new initiatives to get the development of new technological approaches for AF back on track, and I feel that, beyond the elimination of a source of AF triggers, this report opens the way for new and more comprehensive proposals for AF treatment. If the LAA occlusion can be achieved by means of a thoracoscopic approach, as demonstrated by Benussi et al. [5], the central idea discussed here is that LAA occlusion must be understood as complementary to existing minimally invasive current approaches in the treatment of AF. Conflict of interest: none declared.
A novel crowd density estimation technique using local binary pattern and Gabor features

Crowd density estimation is an effective automated video surveillance technique to ensure crowd safety. In spite of various efforts being taken to estimate crowd density, it remains a challenging task. This paper proposes a new texture feature-based approach for the estimation of crowd density where two efficient texture features namely Local Binary Pattern (LBP) and Gabor Filter are used. The LBP features are computed using an extended version which reduces the dimension of conventional LBP and the Gabor features are extracted after convolving the original image with a bank of Log-Gabor filters computed at different scales and orientations. Finally, the LBP and Gabor features are concatenated to yield the final feature vector which is used to train a multi-class Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. The proposed technique is evaluated on the benchmarked PETS 2009 dataset, and a maximum accuracy of 90.3% is obtained for the proposed texture combination. The experimental results show the better performance of the proposed approach as compared to other conventional techniques.
Computer‐aided tissue engineering: overview, scope and challenges

Advances in computer‐aided technology and its application with biology, engineering and information science to tissue engineering have evolved a new field of computer‐aided tissue engineering (CATE). This emerging field encompasses computer‐aided design (CAD), image processing, manufacturing and solid free‐form fabrication (SFF) for modelling, designing, simulation and manufacturing of biological tissue and organ substitutes. The present Review describes some salient advances in this field, particularly in computer‐aided tissue modeling, computer‐aided tissue informatics and computer‐aided tissue scaffold design and fabrication. Methodologies of development of CATE modelling from high‐resolution non‐invasive imaging and image‐based three‐dimensional reconstruction, and various reconstructive techniques for CAD‐based tissue modelling generation will be described. The latest development in SFF to tissue engineering and a framework of bio‐blueprint modelling for three‐dimensional cell and organ printing will also be introduced.
Complex networks identify spatial patterns of extreme rainfall events of the South American Monsoon System

We investigate the spatial characteristics of extreme rainfall synchronicity of the South American Monsoon System (SAMS) by means of Complex Networks (CN). By introducing a new combination of CN measures and interpreting it in a climatic context, we investigate climatic linkages and classify the spatial characteristics of extreme rainfall synchronicity. Although our approach is based on only one variable (rainfall), it reveals the most important features of the SAMS, such as the main moisture pathways, areas with frequent development of Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCS), and the major convergence zones. In addition, our results reveal substantial differences between the spatial structures of rainfall synchronicity above the 90th and above the 95th percentiles. Most notably, events above the 95th percentile contribute stronger to MCS in the La Plata Basin.
Incorporating the Loss Function Into Discriminative Clustering of Structured Outputs

Clustering using the Hilbert Schmidt independence criterion (CLUHSIC) is a recent clustering algorithm that maximizes the dependence between cluster labels and data observations according to the Hilbert Schmidt independence criterion (HSIC). It is unique in that structure information on the cluster outputs can be easily utilized in the clustering process. However, while the choice of the loss function is known to be very important in supervised learning with structured outputs, we will show in this paper that CLUHSIC is implicitly using the often inappropriate zero-one loss. We propose an extension called CLUHSICAL (which stands for “Clustering using HSIC and loss”) which explicitly considers both the output dependency and loss function. Its optimization problem has the same form as CLUHSIC, except that its partition matrix is constructed in a different manner. Experimental results on a number of datasets with structured outputs show that CLUHSICAL often outperforms CLUHSIC in terms of both structured loss and clustering accuracy.
Apprendre à ordonner la frontière de crawl pour le crawling orienté

RESUME. Le crawling oriente consiste a parcourir le Web au travers des hyperliens en orientant son parcours en direction des pages pertinentes. Pour cela, ces crawlers ordonnent leurs telechargements suivant une strategie d’ordonnancement. Dans cet article, nous proposons d’apprendre cette fonction d’ordonnancement a partir de donnees annotees. Une telle approche nous permet notamment d’integrer un grand nombre de traits heterogenes et de les combiner. Nous decrivons une methode permettant d’apprendre une fonction d’ordonnancement independante du domaine pour la collecte thematique de documents. Nous evaluons notre approche sur de “longs” crawls de 40 000 documents sur 15 themes differents issus de l’OpenDirectory, et montrons que notre methode permet d’ameliorer la precision de pres de 10% par rapport a l’algorithme Shark Search. Enfin, nous discutons les avantages et inconvenients de notre approche, ainsi que les pistes de recherche ouvertes.