Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simple, efficient peer-to-peer overlay clustering in mobile, ad hoc networks

DHT-based peer-to-peer (P2P) overlays significantly reduce the overlay traffic that is needed to locate a random object on the overlay network. However, DHT-based overlays are often largely oblivious to the underlying physical network and only assign second-rate effort to the exploitation of physical proximity. Hence, a single overlay hop often amounts to an unnecessarily large number of physical hops. While this might at best be considered inefficient in stationary networks, it could prove disastrous in mobile (and wireless) networks, thus, effectively limiting the deployability of P2P overlays on top of mobile and wireless networks. We present an approach that forms clusters in DHT-based P2P overlays based on physical proximity. By grouping physically close nodes into common overlay clusters, we can decrease the number of physical hops per overlay hop. Thus, the amount of physical traffic generated by overlays deployed on top of mobile and wireless ad-hoc networks can be reduced significantly.
Comments on "A New and Effective Method for Removing DMDHEU Crosslinks from Cotton"

As noted in a recent paper by Beck et al. [ 1 ], crossGnking is known to restrict swelling and decrease accessibility of cellulose to reagents, but DMDHEU imparts some added resistance to removal compared to other finishing agents. Beck et al. noted Segal and Timpa’s prior work [7] suggesting that the major reason for this exceptional resistance to hydrolysis was the possibility of formation of a three-dimensional network from the tetrafunctional DMDHEU. Further, a hydrolysis method that involves swelling sufficient to allow penetration should be useful, and this suggestion presumably is substantiated by the removal of a DMDHEU finish by boiling the treated fabric in 23% NaOH for 10 minutes [ 1 ]. These statements imply that physical factors rather than chemical factors are of primary importance in determining the hydrolysis resistance of chemically crosslinked cellulosic fabrics. Since there appears to be
Open Access Research Novel Biomarkers Predict Liver Fibrosis in Hepatitis C Patients: Alpha 2 Macroglobulin, Vitamin D Binding Protein and Apolipoprotein Ai

Background: The gold standard of assessing liver fibrosis is liver biopsy, which is invasive and not without risk. Therefore, searching for noninvasive serologic biomarkers for liver fibrosis is an importantly clinical issue. Methods: A total of 16 healthy volunteers and 45 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) were enrolled (F0: n = 16, F1: n = 7, F2: n = 17, F3: n = 8 and F4: n = 13, according to the METAVIR classification). Three serum samples of each fibrotic stage were analyzed by two-dimension difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE). The differential proteins were identified by the cooperation of MALDI-TOF/TOF and MASCOT; then western blotting and Bio-Plex Suspension Array were used to quantify the protein levels. Results: Three prominent candidate biomarkers were identified: alpha 2 macroglobulin (A2M) is up regulated; vitamin D binding protein (VDBP) and apolipoprotein AI (ApoAI) are down regulated. The serum concentration of A2M was significantly different among normal, mild (F1/F2) and advanced fibrosis (F3/F4) (p < 0.01). The protein levels of VDBP and ApoAI were significantly higher in normal/mild fibrosis, when compared to those in advanced fibrosis (both p < 0.01). Conclusions: This study not only reveals three putative biomarkers of liver fibrosis (A2M, VDBP and ApoAI) but also proves the differential expressions of those markers in different stages of fibrosis. We expect that combination of these novel biomarkers could be applied clinically to predict the stage of liver fibrosis without the need of liver biopsy. Introduction In hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients, liver fibrosis is a noticeable disease and could progress to liver cirrho-sis or hepatocellular carcinoma gradually. Although the pathogenesis of HCV-infected fibrosis is poorly understood , liver fibrosis may be a response of repair when liver is injured or inflamed [1]. In addition, the detection of early stage of liver fibrosis is very important before the irreversible damage occurs. Liver biopsy followed by his-tological examination is still the gold standard for the assessment of liver fibrosis [2]. However, it has several limits and disadvantages such as invasive character and
Replicated Virtual Machines

We observe that the Virtual Machine (VM) interface is an interesting level at which to constrain the behavior of a computation to be a deterministic state machine. Because it is a narrow interface, it is possible to eliminate nondeterminism in the execution of the VM; this paper describes the techniques necessary to achieve that goal. And because the VM is a very low interface, it enables the reuse of almost the entire software stack, including the operating system, all libraries, and existing applications, even entirely unmodified.
Quantum feedback for rapid state preparation in the presence of control imperfections

Quantum feedback control protocols can improve the operation of quantum devices. Here we examine the performance of a purification protocol when there are imperfections in the controls. The ideal feedback protocol produces an x-eigenstate from a mixed state in the minimum time, and is known as rapid state preparation. The imperfections we examine include time delays in the feedback loop, finite strength feedback, calibration errors and inefficient detection. We analyse these imperfections using the Wiseman–Milburn feedback master equation and related formalism. We find that the protocol is most sensitive to time delays in the feedback loop. For systems with slow dynamics, however, our analysis suggests that inefficient detection would be the bigger problem. We also show how system imperfections, such as dephasing and damping, can be included in a model via the feedback master equation.
The trophic dynamics of summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) in Chesapeake Bay

Data on the trophic dynamics of fishes are needed for management of ecosystems such as Chesapeake Bay. Summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) are an abundant seasonal resident of the bay and have the potential to impact foodweb dynamics. Analyses of diet data for late juvenile and adult summer flounder collected from 2002−2006 in Chesapeake Bay were conducted to characterize the role of this flatfish in this estuary and to contribute to our understanding of summer flounder trophic dynamics throughout its range. Despite the diversity of prey, nearly half of the diet comprised mysid shrimp (Neomysis spp.) and bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli). Ontogenetic differences in diet and an increase in diet diversity with increasing fish size were documented. Temporal (inter- and intra-annual) changes were also detected, as well as trends in diet reflecting peaks in abundance and diversity of prey. The preponderance of fishes in the diet of summer flounder indicates that this species is an important piscivorous predator in Chesapeake Bay.
Morphology, thermal, and mechanical properties of polypropylene/polyaniline coated short glass fiber composites

Short glass fiber Type E was coated with electrically conducting polyaniline (PAn) by in situ chemical polymerization. The resulting PAn coated glass fiber, with surface conductivity of 3.3 × 10−1 S/cm, was melt-compounded with isotactic polypropylene (iPP). Polypropylene grafted with maleic anhydride was investigated as an adhesion promoter for these composites. Differential scanning calorimeter and polarized light microscopy indicates that the PAn coated glass fiber has a strong nucleating activity towards iPP. Scanning electron microscopy showed the improvement in the wetting and dispersion of the fibers when the adhesion promoter was added, although this also led to fiber encapsulation and lowering the electrical conductivity of the composites. The adhesion promoter greatly improved the Young's modulus of the composites, and a reaction between the maleic anhydride groups of the adhesion promoter and the PAn was proposed. Composites with an electrical conductivity greater than 10−9 S/cm were achieved using a 30 wt % of PAn coated glass fiber. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007
Assembly and localization of the U1-specific snRNP C protein in the amphibian oocyte

To study the intranuclear localization of the U1-specific snRNP C protein and its assembly into U1 snRNPs, we injected transcripts encoding a myc-tagged C protein into amphibian oocytes. The distribution of protein translated from the injected RNA was essentially the same in continuous and pulse-label experiments. In both cases the C protein localized within the germinal vesicle in those structures known to contain U1 snRNPs, namely the lampbrush chromosome loops and hundreds of extrachromosomal granules called snurposomes. Oocytes were also injected with an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide that caused truncation of U1 snRNA at the 5' end. In these oocytes, myc- tagged C protein localized normally in the germinal vesicle and could be immunoprecipitated together with truncated U1 snRNA. These experiments suggest that the C protein can enter the germinal vesicle on its own and there associate with previously assembled U1 snRNPs. In transfected tissue culture cells, the myc-tagged C protein localized within the nucleus in a speckled pattern similar to that of endogenous U1 snRNPs.
Neural mesh ensembles

This work proposes the use of neural network ensembles to boost the performance of a neural network based surface reconstruction algorithm. Ensemble is a very popular and powerful statistical technique based on the idea of averaging several outputs of a probabilistic algorithm. In the context of surface reconstruction, two main problems arise. The first is finding an efficient way to average meshes with different connectivity, and the second is tuning the parameters for surface reconstruction to maximize the performance of the ensemble. We solve the first problem by voxelizing all the meshes on the same regular grid and taking majority vote on each voxel. We tune the parameters experimentally, borrowing ideas from weak learning methods.
The Two-Phase Emergence of Non Pandemic HIV-1 Group O in Cameroon

Unlike the pandemic form of HIV-1 (group M), group O viruses are endemic in west central Africa, especially in Cameroon. However, little is known about group O’s genetic evolution, and why this highly divergent lineage has not become pandemic. Using a unique and large set of group O sequences from samples collected from 1987 to 2012, we find that this lineage has evolved in successive slow and fast phases of diversification, with a most recent common ancestor estimated to have existed around 1930 (1914–1944). The most rapid periods of diversification occurred in the 1950s and in the 1980s, and could be linked to favourable epidemiological contexts in Cameroon. Group O genetic diversity reflects this two-phase evolution, with two distinct populations potentially having different viral properties. The currently predominant viral population emerged in the 1980s, from an ancient population which had first developed in the 1950s, and is characterized by higher growth and evolutionary rates, and the natural presence of the Y181C resistance mutation, thought to confer a phenotypic advantage. Our findings show that although this evolutionary pattern is specific to HIV-1 group O, it paralleled the early spread of HIV-1 group M in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both viral lineages are likely to have benefited from similar epidemiological contexts. The relative role of virological and social factors in the distinct epidemic histories of HIV-1 group O and M needs to be reassessed.
A JAPANESE NATIONAL PROJECT ON SPONTANEOUS SPEECH CORPUS AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY

A new national pr1句ectfor raising the t巴chnologicallevel of speech recognition and understanding has recently commenced in Japan. This project aims at a) building a large-scale spontaneous speech corpus consisting of roughly 7M words and 800 hours of speech, b) acoustic and linguistic modeling for spontaneous speech understanding and summarization using linguistic as well as para-linguistic information in speech, and c) building a prototype of a spontaneous speech summarization system. The corpus under compilation will contain spontaneously uttered Common Japanese speech and the morphologically annotated transcriptions. Also, segmental and intonation labeling will be provided for a subset of the corpus. The primary application domain of the co甲山 is speech recognition of spontaneous speech, but it is also planned to become a useful research corpus both for natural language processing and phonetic/linguistic studies.
Research on Distribution of Error in CNC Curve Grinding

The grind test is detected curve of the grinding surface roughness of thin in use of three-dimensional contour in this paper, major influence factor in the accuracy of surface roughness is proposed in the analysis based on grinding surface roughness.Trend of the grinding surface roughness is simulated in Matlab. It is expected that best surface roughness can be obtained by selecting the appropriate cutting speed and feed rate for the material pair of workpiece and cutting tool.
Control of fully actuated ocean surface vessels using a class of feedforward approximators

In this brief, we consider the problem of tracking a desired trajectory for fully actuated ocean vessels, in the presence of uncertainties and unknown disturbances. The combination of approximation-based and domination design techniques allows us to handle time-varying disturbances, without the need for explicit knowledge of the bounds. Using backstepping and Lyapunov synthesis, the stable tracking controller is first designed for the full-state feedback case. Subsequently, the output feedback problem is tackled by employing a high-gain observer to estimate the unmeasurable states required by the stable tracking controller. Under the proposed control, semiglobal uniform boundedness of the closed-loop signals is guaranteed for both full-state and output feedback cases.
Influence of degrees of freedom's manipulation on performances during orientation tasks in virtual reality environments

In this paper we investigate the influence of the integration and separation of the Degrees Of Freedom (DOF) on the users' performances during 3-D orientation tasks. For this purpose, we compare the performances and the level of DOF's coordination users reached using two interaction techniques, one integrating and the other separating the task's DOF. To evaluate the degree of coordination, we propose a new behavioural measurement (called Magnitude of Degrees of Freedom's Separation), which provides the number of DOF simultaneously manipulated during an orientation task. The results of our study suggest that users are not able to integrate the manipulation of all the DOF during the whole task even using a direct manipulation technique. Moreover, if the interaction eases the task's decomposition, its use can lead to significant improvements regarding the achievement times. This result suggests that the simultaneous manipulation of all the DOF does not necessary lead to the best performances.
A Collaborative Annotation between Human Annotators and a Statistical Parser

We describe a new interactive annotation scheme between a human annotator who carries out simplified annotations on CFG trees, and a statistical parser that converts the human annotations automatically into a richly annotated HPSG treebank. In order to check the proposed scheme's effectiveness, we performed automatic pseudo-annotations that emulate the system's idealized behavior and measured the performance of the parser trained on those annotations. In addition, we implemented a prototype system and conducted manual annotation experiments on a small test set.
TRANSACTIVE MEMORY SYSTEMS AND SHARED SITUATION AWARENESS: A WORLD OF WARCRAFT EXPERIMENT

1 ABSTRACT The article discusses the connection between two team mental models - Transactive Memory System and Shared Situation Awareness in virtual, synchronous ad-hoc mission teams. It is argued that both models are interdependent. The research conducted follows a qualitative but experimental approach utilizing the exciting game World of Warcraft as platform. Interesting communication patterns and in-depth analyses of teams playing World of Warcraft are offered.
Mechanical characterization and damage assessment of thick adhesives for wind turbine blades using acoustic emission and digital image correlation techniques

Adhesives play a key role in the structural integrity of the Wind Turbine Blades as they are one of the main load carrying materials. A deep knowledge of the adhesives' mechanical behaviour in terms of failure mechanisms and damage processes enhances the attempt to optimize the blade design. Therefore, a comprehensive experimental programme was performed in order to determine the static mechanical properties of the adhesives. Ultimate tensile strength, ultimate compression strength, ultimate shear strength and the elastic properties of the adhesive specimens were determined through tensile and compression tests on dogbone specimens and single-lap bonded joints. The Acoustic Emission (AE) technique was used to relate the acoustic activity in the specimens to their damage state. More specifically, a frequency-based methodology, analysing the AE data, was used for the identification of the different damage mechanisms into the material during the loading. In addition, Digital Image Correlation technique, as a full-field technique, was used to measure displacements and deformations.
Intragenic Suppression of Gal3C Interaction With Gal80 in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae GAL Gene Switch

Gal4-mediated activation of GAL gene transcription in Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires the interaction of Gal3 with Gal80, the Gal4 inhibitor protein. While it is known that galactose and ATP activates Gal3 interaction with Gal80, neither the mechanism of activation nor the surface that binds to Gal80 is known. We addressed this through intragenic suppression of GAL3C alleles that cause galactose-independent Gal3–Gal80 interaction. We created a new allele, GAL3SOC, and showed that it suppressed a new GAL3C allele. We tested the effect of GAL3SOC on several newly isolated and existing GAL3C alleles that map throughout the gene. All except one GAL3C allele, D368V, were suppressible by GAL3SOC. GAL3SOC and all GAL3C alleles were localized on a Gal3 homology model that is based on the structure of the highly related Gal1 protein. These results provide evidence for allosterism in the galactose- and ATP-activation of Gal3 binding to Gal80. In addition, because D368V and residues corresponding to Gal80-nonbinder mutations colocalized to a domain that is absent in homologous proteins that do not bind to Gal80, we suggest that D368 is a part of the Gal80-binding surface.
Water for Life: The Impact of the Privatization of Water Services on Child Mortality

While most countries are committed to increasing access to safe water and thereby reducing child mortality, there is little consensus on how to actually improve water services. One important proposal under discussion is whether to privatize water provision. In the 1990s Argentina embarked on one of the largest privatization campaigns in the world, including the privatization of local water companies covering approximately 30 percent of the country’s municipalities. Using the variation in ownership of water provision across time and space generated by the privatization process, we find that child mortality fell 8 percent in the areas that privatized their water services and that the effect was largest (26 percent) in the poorest areas. We check the robustness of these estimates using cause‐specific mortality. While privatization is associated with significant reductions in deaths from infectious and parasitic diseases, it is uncorrelated with deaths from causes unrelated to water conditions.
Neuropeptide Y Depresses GABA-Mediated Calcium Transients in Developing Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Neurons: A Novel Form of Calcium Long-Term Depression

In contrast to its inhibitory role in mature neurons, GABA can exert excitatory actions in developing neurons, including mediation of increases in cytosolic Ca2+. Modulation of this excitatory activity has not been studied previously. We used Ca2+ digital imaging with Fura-2 to test the hypothesis that neuropeptide Y (NPY) would depress GABA-mediated Ca2+ rises in neurons cultured from the developing suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). SCN neurons were chosen as a model system for this study because SCN neurons are primarily GABAergic, they express high levels of NPY and GABA receptors, and functionally, NPY causes profound phase-shifts in SCN-generated circadian rhythms. Vigorous GABA-mediated Ca2+ activity was found in young SCN neurons that were maintained in vitro for 4–14 d. NPY showed a dose-dependent rapid depression of the amplitude of Ca2+ rises generated by GABA released from presynaptic SCN axons. NPY exerted a long-term depression of cytosolic Ca2+ in the majority of neurons tested, which lasted more than 1 hr after NPY washout. The magnitude of the NPY depression was dose-dependent. NPY did not affect Ca2+ levels when GABAAreceptor activity was blocked by bicuculline; however, when bicuculline and NPY were withdrawn from the perfusion solution, the subsequent Ca2+ rise was either significantly reduced or completely absent, suggesting that the NPY receptor was activated in the absence of elevated intracellular Ca2+ and GABAA receptor activity, and that the latent effect of NPY was revealed only after depolarizing GABA stimulation was renewed. Pretreating neurons with pertussis toxin greatly reduced the ability of NPY to depress GABAergic Ca2+ rises, suggesting that the NPY modulation of the GABA activity was based largely on a mechanism involving pertussis toxin-sensitive Gi/Go proteins. NPY receptor stimulation depressed (<30%) postsynaptic Ca2+ rises evoked by GABA (20 μm) application in the presence of tetrodotoxin (TTX). The effects of NPY were mimicked by the NPY Y1 receptor agonist [Pro34,Leu31] NPY and the Y2 receptor agonist NPY 13–36 and by peptide YY (PYY). Together, our data suggest that the Y1 and Y2 type NPY receptors act both presynaptically and postsynaptically to depress GABA-mediated Ca2+ rises. If related mechanisms exist in peptide modulation of inhibitory GABA activity in mature neurons, this could underlie long-term changes in the behavior of neurons of the SCN necessary for phase-shifting the circadian clock by NPY. NPY also modulated GABA responses in neuroendocrine neurons from the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. NPY thus can play an important role in evoking long-term depression of GABA-mediated Ca2+ activity in these developing neurons, allowing NPY-secreting cells to modulate the effects of GABA on neurite outgrowth, gene expression, and physiological stimulation. This is the first example of such a cellular memory: that is, long-term Ca2+ depression based on modulation of depolarizing GABA activity.
Noncritical M-theory: Three Dimensions

At the macrosopic level we study candidate 3D effective field theories associated to M theory in three dimensions. These represent analogs of 11D supergravity for eleven dimensional M-theory. At the microscopic level we study various world volume (WV) theories that can be used to relate world sheet (WS) theories of two dimensional strings. These are better defined for 3D targets than their 11D counterparts in part because there are no transverse dimensions. In particular M-theory on the target manifold AdS3 and RxSL(2,R)/SO(2) are studied using a supermembrane and WV 3d gravity approach.