Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comprehensive study of Cepheid variables in the Andromeda galaxy. Period distribution, blending, a

Extragalactic Cepheids are the basic rungs of the cosmic distance scale. They are excellent standard candles, although their luminosities and corresponding distance estimates can be affected by the particular properties of the host galaxy. Therefore, the accurate analysis of the Cepheid population in other galaxies, and notably in the Andromeda galaxy (M 31), is crucial to obtaining reliable distance determinations. We obtained accurate photometry (in B and V passbands) of 416 Cepheids in M 31 over a five year campaign within a survey aimed at the detection of eclipsing binaries. The resulting Cepheid sample is the most complete in M 31 and has almost the same period distribution as the David Dunlap Observatory sample in the Milky Way. The large number of epochs (∼250 per filter) has permitted the characterisation of the pulsation modes of 356 Cepheids, with 281 of them pulsating in the fundamental mode and 75 in the first overtone. The period-luminosity relationship of the fundamental mode Cepheids has been studied and a new approach has been used to estimate the effect of blending. We find that the blending contribution is as important as the metallicity correction when computing Cepheid distance determinations to M 31 (∼0.1 mag). Since large amplitude Cepheids are less affected by blending, we have used those with an amplitude AV > 0.8 mag to derive a distance to M 31 of (m − M)0 = 24.32 ± 0.12 mag.
Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria and Silicon Synergistically Enhance Salinity Tolerance of Mung Bean

The present study explored the eco-friendly approach of utilizing plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) inoculation and foliar application of silicon (Si) to improve the physiology, growth, and yield of mung bean under saline conditions. We isolated 18 promising PGPR from natural saline soil in Saudi Arabia, and screened them for plant-growth-promoting activities. Two effective strains were selected from the screening trial, and were identified as Enterobacter cloacae and Bacillus drentensis using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry and 16S rRNA gene sequencing techniques, respectively. Subsequently, in a 2-year mung bean field trial, using a randomized complete block design with a split-split plot arrangement, we evaluated the two PGPR strains and two Si levels (1 and 2 kg ha−1), in comparison with control treatments, under three different saline irrigation conditions (3.12, 5.46, and 7.81 dS m−1). The results indicated that salt stress substantially reduced stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, relative water content (RWC), total chlorophyll content, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid content, plant height, leaf area, dry biomass, seed yield, and salt tolerance index. The PGPR strains and Si levels independently improved all the aforementioned parameters. Furthermore, the combined application of the B. drentensis strain with 2 kg Si ha−1 resulted in the greatest enhancement of mung bean physiology, growth, and yield. Overall, the results of this study provide important information for the benefit of the agricultural industry.
Reduced-intensity conditioning therapy with busulfan, fludarabine, and antithymocyte globulin for HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplantation in acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.

Any role for reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) before hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) from a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-haploidentical donor remains to be defined. We therefore assessed 83 patients (age, 16-70 years): 68 with acute leukemia (including 34 in remission and 34 with refractory disease) and 15 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, in HCT trials using RIC with busulfan, fludarabine, and antithymocyte globulin. The HLA-haploidentical donors, offspring (n = 38), mothers (n = 24), or siblings (n = 21) of patients, underwent leukapheresis after receiving granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and donated cells were transplanted without further manipulation. Cyclosporine and methotrexate were given for GVHD prophylaxis. The cumulative incidences of neutrophil engraftment, grade 2 to 4 acute GVHD, chronic GVHD, and transplantation-related mortality after HCT, were 92%, 20%, 34%, and 18%, respectively. After a median follow-up time of 26.6 months (range, 16.8-78.8 months), the event-free and overall survival rates were 56% and 45%, respectively, for patients with acute leukemia in remission; 9% and 9%, respectively, for patients with refractory acute leukemia; and 53% and 53%, respectively, for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome. HCT from an HLA-haploidentical family member resulted in favorable outcomes when RIC containing antithymocyte globulin was performed. This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials. gov as #NCT00521430 and #NCT00732316.
Driver Braking Behavior during Intersection Approaches and Implications for Warning Strategies for Driver Assistant Systems

Data from vehicles approaching an intersection during a red-light phase has been recorded by measuring real traffic in urban areas. Using a laser scanner based tracking system, vehicle velocities during approaches to the red light have been estimated and various metadata (such as object class, distance to the intersection when the traffic light turned from green to orange and weather data) has been collected. The experimental setup is validated using a Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS system. The resulting information can be used when designing warning strategies for Advanced Driver Assistant Systems (ADAS). Examples of a warning strategy estimation for a misinterpretation of the traffic situation for both the host vehicle's driver as well as other drivers endangering the host vehicle are presented.
Impacts of Financial Factors on Emerging Market Business Cycle Fluctuations

Our research contributes to a deeper understanding of the interaction between the real and financial sides of the economy by analyzing how balance sheets of not only firms but also banks amplify and propagate business cycles. Based on an open-economy dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with a double financial accelerator mechanism, our model provides a more complete view of the balance sheet channel of monetary policy transmission and is more useful for an emerging market economy with bank-based financial intermediation than a traditional model with only one financial accelerator.
Unilateral commitments: A prisoner's dilemma perspective

We explore factors that influence successful outcomes in exchange relationships in the presence of unilateral cooperative agreements through the lenses of game theory, Transaction Cost Economics, and Social Exchange Theory. We further investigate the impact of commitment length with regard to strategic cooperation. Based on the results of a modified prisoner's dilemma experiment with 85 participants, we find that unilateral commitments of shorter duration successfully drive partner cooperative behavior both during the periods of commitment and after the unilateral commitment to cooperate has ended. However, when long-term commitments are made we find that there is a significant decrease in partner cooperation. Our findings provide guidance surrounding the risky decision to initiate a cooperative arrangement within an exchange. Based on the results we observed, it may be best for an organization to show good faith in initiating a commitment to cooperate, but to be conservative in doing so. Short duration commitments appear to achieve balance and promote optimal outcomes.
Automatic location of frame deletion point for digital video forensics

Detection of frame deletion is of great significance in the field of video forensics. Several approaches have been presented through analyzing the side effect caused by frame deletion. However, most of the current approaches can detect the existence of frame deletion but not the exact location of it. In this paper, we present a method which can directly locate the frame deletion point. Through the analysis of the distinguishing fluctuation feature of motion residual caused by frame deletion compared to interference frames and ordinary video content jitter in tampered video sequence, an algorithm based on the total motion residual of video frame is proposed to detect the frame deletion point. Moreover, an initiative processing procedure for frame motion residual and an adaptive threshold detector are introduced so that the robustness of the detection can be markedly improved. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is effective in generalized scenarios such as different encoding settings, rapid or slow motion sequences and multiple group of picture deletion. It also has a high performance that the true positive rate reaches 90% and the false alarm rate is less than 0.8%.
Gallium nitride-on-silicon micromechanical overtone resonators and filters

In this paper, for the first time, we report on high-performance GaN-on-silicon micromechanical resonators and filters. A GaN-on-silicon resonator is reported which exhibits a quality factor of 1850 at 802.5 MHz, resulting in an f×Q value twice the highest reported for GaN-based resonators to date. The effective coupling coefficient for the GaN resonator is extracted to be 1.7%, which is among the best reported in the literature.
Toward Realistic Performance Bounds for Implicit CFD

The performance of scientiic computing applications often achieves only a small fraction of peak performance 7,17]. In this paper, we discuss two causes of performance problems|insuucient memory bandwidth and a suboptimal instruction mix|in the context of a complete, parallel, unstructured mesh implicit CFD code. The results show that the performance of our code and of similar implicit codes is limited by the memory bandwidth of RISC-based processor nodes to as little as 10% of peak performance for some critical computational kernels. Limits on the number of basic operations that can be performed in a single clock cycle also limit the performance of \cache-friendly" parts of the code.
Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance imaging detects cortical and juxtacortical multiple sclerosis lesions.

BACKGROUND Autopsy studies showed cortical and juxtacortical multiple sclerosis (MS) plaques. Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) is an advanced magnetic resonance imaging sequence that reveals tissue T2 prolongation with cerebrospinal fluid suppression, allowing detection of superficial brain lesions. OBJECTIVES To assess FLAIR, T1-weighted, and T2-weighted images for detecting lesions in or near the cerebral cortex in patients with MS and to explore the relation between cortical lesions and cortical atrophy. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS Cross-sectional study in a university MS clinic of 84 patients with MS and 66 age-matched healthy controls receiving 1.5-T fast FLAIR, T2-weighted, and T1-weighted images. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Regional cortical atrophy was rated vs controls. Cortical and juxtacortical lesions were ovoid hyperintensities involving the cortex and/or gray-white junction. RESULTS A total of 810 cortical and juxtacortical lesions were seen by FLAIR in patients (mean, 9.6 per patient), most commonly in the superior frontal lobe. Cortical and juxtacortical lesions were identified in 72 patients and 6 controls. Fourteen percent of cortical and juxtacortical lesions were seen on T1-weighted images and 26% were seen on T2-weighted images. More cortical and juxtacortical lesions were present in secondary progressive disease than relapsing-remitting disease. The total number of cortical and juxtacortical lesions correlated significantly with disease duration and the regional number correlated with the degree of regional atrophy. After taking into account noncortical (white matter) lesions, only the cortical and juxtacortical lesion count predicted atrophy in that region. CONCLUSIONS FLAIR can detect many cortical and juxtacortical lesions in MS, which were appreciated previously in autopsy studies but usually missed by magnetic resonance imaging during life. Cortical and juxtacortical plaque formation may contribute to cortical atrophy in MS.
Research on Path Scheduling Model and its Stochastic Evolutionary Algorithm with Uncertain Node Set

In general path planning problem, the road network is presumed to be determined, and real-time optimization method is used to establish optimal path. The result of this approach is not practical. In the rapidly developing China, the road network in fact is changing rapidly, while the road networks of the electronic maps are often not real-time updated; even if the path of their own real-time planning is feasible, the driver will take more time significantly than expected be because of lack of experience on the new road. Considering the uncertainty of the passed nodes, it is feasible to generate stable periodic path to balance the cost and time spent in the path. In this paper, path planning model with uncertainly passed nodes is proposed and a stochastic evolutionary algorithm is designed. Simulation studies show that the model is valid with promising solving performance. The achievement is expected to be integrated in the distribution or transportation decision support system for route planning.
Two Modulatory Effects of Attention That Mediate Object Categorization in Human Cortex

Attentional modulation of cortical activity was examined by varying the rate of visual stimuli in object categorization tasks according to single and conjoined features. Activation of dorsolateral frontal cortex was independent of the stimulus presentation rate and elicited by the participant's attention to conjoined compared with single features. Several cortical regions showed attentionally modulated activity. In inferior temporal cortex, modulation was due to an additional bias signal underlying normal rate-correlated activity. In two other regions (premotor cortex and cerebellum), attention modified the correlation of activity and the stimulus presentation rate. Attentional effects in the human cortex are expressed by at least two physiologically distinct mechanisms acting on spatially distributed areas.
Heart Mitochondrial Proteome Study Elucidates Changes in Cardiac Energy Metabolism and Antioxidant PRDX3 in Human Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Background Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a public health problem with no available curative treatment, and mitochondrial dysfunction plays a critical role in its development. The present study is the first to analyze the mitochondrial proteome in cardiac tissue of patients with DCM to identify potential molecular targets for its therapeutic intervention. Methods and Results 16 left ventricular (LV) samples obtained from explanted human hearts with DCM (n = 8) and control donors (n = 8) were extracted to perform a proteomic approach to investigate the variations in mitochondrial protein expression. The proteome of the samples was analyzed by quantitative differential electrophoresis and Mass Spectrometry. These changes were validated by classical techniques and by novel and precise selected reaction monitoring analysis and RNA sequencing approach increasing the total heart samples up to 25. We found significant alterations in energy metabolism, especially in molecules involved in substrate utilization (ODPA, ETFD, DLDH), energy production (ATPA), other metabolic pathways (AL4A1) and protein synthesis (EFTU), obtaining considerable and specific relationships between the alterations detected in these processes. Importantly, we observed that the antioxidant PRDX3 overexpression is associated with impaired ventricular function. PRDX3 is significantly related to LV end systolic and diastolic diameter (r = 0.73, p value<0.01; r = 0.71, p value<0.01), fractional shortening, and ejection fraction (r = −0.61, p value<0.05; and r = −0.62, p value<0.05, respectively). Conclusion This work could be a pivotal study to gain more knowledge on the cellular mechanisms related to the pathophysiology of this disease and may lead to the development of etiology-specific heart failure therapies. We suggest new molecular targets for therapeutic interventions, something that up to now has been lacking.
Analysis of the coevolution of suppliers and users through an evolutionary modelling-The case of environmental innovations

Analysis of the coevolution of suppliers and users through an evolutionary modelling-The case of environmental innovations. Abstract The paper aims at exploring the co-evolutionary dynamics of two populations of firms interacting through vertical relationships using an original simulation model. Suppliers-users interactions govern the R&D decisions of firms offering the product for sale, but also the requirement levels to which the industrial clients can pretend. This explicit modelling of the suppliers-users interactions comes to an endogenous determination of the attributes of the product. The objective is to examine the promoting or inhibiting effect of particular demand configuration on the patterns of innovation performed by firms in the industry. A significant application of this modelling in the question of environmental protection enables us to analyse the adaptation of the supply by firms facing a demand of environmental quality (regulation of polluting emissions, green pressure groups…). We are able to show different scenarios of market structures that emerge in the long run with different implications in terms of environmental performances. Introduction Interactivity lies at the heart of innovative processes. In particular, innovation involves complex and sustained interactions between users and producers of technology as it is the case within vertical inter-firm relationships. Inter-firm linkages are far more than arms-length market relationships. Rather, they often involve sustained quasi-cooperative relationships which shape learning and technology creation. This paper aims at examining the promoting or inhibiting effect of particular demand configurations on the patterns of innovation performed by suppliers enclosed in vertical relationships. While the focus is put on the interactions between supply and demand, we illustrate our arguments with empirical evidence grounded on observations of environmental innovation. In order to analyse the coevolutionary dynamics of two populations of firms-respectively suppliers and industrial clients-interacting through vertical relationships, we propose to use an original simulation model. Suppliers-users interactions govern the R&D decisions of firms offering the product for sale, but also the requirement levels to which the industrial clients can pretend. This explicit modelling of the suppliers-users interactions comes to an endogenous determination of the attributes of the product. This work may be seen as part of the larger paradigm of evolutionary self-organisation (Lesourne, 1993). In particular, by emphasising the fact that an economic system can, by starting from the same initial situation, knows different evolutions depending on the uncertainties of its history, the framework proposes a coherent vision of the future, undetermined but engendered by a …
Neuroevolution Results in Emergence of Short-Term Memory for Goal-Directed Behavior

Animals behave adaptively in the environment with multiply competing goals. Understanding of the mechanisms underlying such goal-directed behavior remains a challenge for neuroscience as well for adaptive system research. To address this problem we developed an evolutionary model of adaptive behavior in the multigoal stochastic environment. Proposed neuroevolutionary algorithm is based on neuron's duplication as a basic mechanism of agent's recurrent neural network development. Results of simulation demonstrate that in the course of evolution agents acquire the ability to store the short-term memory and, therefore, use it in behavioral strategies with alternative actions. We found that evolution discovered two mechanisms for short-term memory. The first mechanism is integration of sensory signals and ongoing internal neural activity, resulting in emergence of cell groups specialized on alternative actions. And the second mechanism is slow neurodynamical processes that makes possible to code the previous behavioral choice.
Performance analysis of space-time trellis codes with transmit antenna selection in Rayleigh fading channels

In this paper we investigate the error performance of a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) scheme combining transmit antenna selection (TAS) and space-time trellis codes (STTCs), which is referred to as the TAS/STTC scheme. In this scheme, two transmit antennas, which maximize the total received signal power, are selected to transmit the full-rank baseline STTCs designed for two transmit antennas. An upper bound on the pairwise error probability (PEP) of this scheme is derived in quasistatic flat Rayleigh fading channels. It is shown that, as long as the baseline STTC has a full rank, a full diversity order can be achieved, as if all the transmit antennas were used. This scheme has a fixed low decoding complexity as for the baseline STTC and a full diversity order can be achieved with a small memory order. Therefore, the TAS/STTC scheme provides a new approach to the design of MIMO system achieving a high diversity order based on the existing STTCs designed for a small number of transmit antennas.
Concerning parameter estimation using the cosmic microwave background

Most parameter constraints obtained from cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy data are based on power estimates and rely on approximate likelihood functions; computational diculties generally preclude an exact analysis based on pixel values. With the specic goal of testing this kind of approach, we have performed a complete (un-approximated) likelihood analysis combining the COBE, Saskatoon and MAX data sets. We examine in detail the ability of certain approximate techniques based on band{power estimates to recover the full likelihood constraints. The traditional 2 {method does not always nd the same best{t model as the likelihood analysis (a bias), due mainly to the false assumption of Gaussian likelihoods that makes the method overly sensitive to data outliers. Although an improvement, other approaches employing non{Gaussian flat-band likelihoods do not always faithfully reproduce the complete likelihood constraints either; not even when using the exact flat-band likelihood curves. We trace this to the neglect of spectral information by simple flat band{power estimates. A straightforward extension incorporating a local eective slope (of the power spectrum, Cl )p rovides a faithful representation of the likelihood surfaces without signicantly increasing computing cost. Finally, we also demonstrate that the best{t model to this particular data set is a good t, or that the observations are consistent with Gaussian sky fluctuations, according to our statistics.
Accelerating 2D FFT with Non-Power-of-Two Problem Size on FPGA

The emergence of embedded and multimedia applications, which have a data-centric favor to them, have great influences on the design methodology of future systems. The 2D FFT is of particular importance to these applications. In this paper, leveraging the reconfigurable features of off-the-shelf FPGAs, we propose a stream architecture that is suitable for accelerating 2D FFT with variable and non-power-of-two problem size. The system is built upon the concept of coarse-grained and application-specific pipeline and is optimized for 2D and real data FFT specifically. Separating data flow from computing flow and providing hardware support for data flow permutation involved in 2D FFT, our design outperforms previous work by 1:8 21 times. Moreover, when facing real data, the speed will further increase by nearly 100%. To increase designer productivity, we reinforced traditional HDL-based hardware design flow with High-Level Synthesis concept. The prototyping system on a customized FPGA-based accelerator card can operate in 200MHz stably.