Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bleaching and Recovery of Five Eastern Pacific Corals in an El Niño-Related Temperature Experiment

Coral bleaching events have increased in frequency and severity, due mainly to elevated water temperature associated with El Nino-related warming and a general global warming trend. We experimentally tested the effects of El Nino-like sea temperature conditions on five reef-building corals in the Gulf of Panama. Branching species (Pocillopora damicornis and Pocillopora elegans) and massive species (Porites lobata, Pavona clavus and Pavona gigantea) were exposed to experimentally elevated seawater temperature, 1-2°C above ambient. Differences in zooxanthellate coral responses to bleaching and ability to recover were compared and quantified. All corals exposed to high temperature treatment exhibited significant declines in zooxanthellae densities and chlorophyll a concentrations. Pocilloporid species were the most sensitive, being the first to bleach, and suffered the highest mortality (50% after 50 d exposure). Massive coral species demonstrated varying tolerances, but were generally less affected. P gigantea exhibited the greatest resistance to bleaching, with no lethal effects observed. Maximum experimental recovery was observed in P. lobata. No signs of recovery occurred in P clavus, as zooxanthellae densities and chlorophyll a concentrations continued to decline under ambient (control) conditions. Experimental coral responses from populations in an upwelling environment are contrasted with field responses observed in a nonupwelling area during the 1997-98 El Nino-Southern Oscillation event.
Damage Prognosis for Delamination of a Composite Plate

The objective of this paper is to investigate computationally the growth of internal delaminations in composite plates subjected to cyclic compression. Under compressive loading, these structures experience repeated buckling-unloading of the delaminated layer with a consequent reduction of interlayer resistance. The state of stress near the delamination tip is of mixed mode I and II. The thin film model of Chai et al. (1991) which is a closed-form solution for the initial post-buckling and growth behaviour in the ideal case of delamination in an infinitely thick plate has been used and a graphite-epoxy unidirectional specimen is studied. The delamination growth law considered is the one proposed by Kardomateas et al. (1995). While the study starts from a simplified model, the parameters of the growth law are uncertain and an approach based on interval arithmetic is adopted to investigate the effect of the parameter uncertainty on theoretical prediction of the delamination growth of the laminate.
Improper signaling in two-path relay channels

Inter-relay interference (IRI) challenges the operation of two-path relaying systems. Furthermore, the unavailability of the channel state information (CSI) at the source and the limited detection capabilities at the relays prevent neither eliminating the interference nor adopting joint detection at the relays nodes. Improper signaling is a powerful signaling scheme that has the capability to reduce the interference impact at the receiver side and improves the achievable rate performance. Therefore, improper signaling is adopted at both relays, which have access to the global CSI. Then, improper signal characteristics are designed to maximize the total end-to-end achievable rate at the relays. To this end, both the power and the circularity coefficient, a measure of the impropriety degree of the signal, are optimized at the relays. Although the optimization problem is not convex, optimal power allocation for both relays for a fixed circularity coefficient is obtained. Moreover, the circularity coefficient is tuned to maximize the rate for a given power allocation. Finally, a joint solution of the optimization problem is proposed using a coordinate descent method based on alternate optimization. The simulation results show that employing improper signaling improves the achievable rate at medium and high IRI.
Physical gelation process as direct evidence for crystallization behavior of isotactic polypropylene/clay composites

Early stage crystallization kinetics of polypropylene (PP)/clay composites is studied using rheometery. Relaxation modulus of composites is measured at low frequencies near liquid–solid transition. Small amplitude oscillating shear flow is applied at low frequencies to obtain relaxation modulus. Relaxation modulus of polymeric materials at the liquid–solid transition follows G t = s t − n , at long times (λ < t < ∞), where λ is the time to crossover to a different relaxation regime, s is the gel stiffness, and n is the relaxation exponent. Inverse quenching technique is then employed to retain degree of crystallization while rheological measurements are made. Lower gel time is observed as clay concentration increased, indicating the formation of more nuclei. An improvement to Avrami’s equation is proposed to predict crystallization kinetics for PP/clay composites. There is a good agreement between predicted relative crystallinity values and empirical values.
Impact of Preexisting Depression on Length of Stay and Discharge Destination Among Patients Hospitalized for Acute Stroke: Linked Register-Based Study

Background and Purpose— There exists limited knowledge regarding the relation between depression and healthcare utilization in stroke patients. The objective of this register-based study was to examine the impact of having preexisting depression at the time of hospital admission for acute stroke on length of hospital stay and discharge destination. Methods— Data from a general-practice database were linked to those of a hospital database to identify patients hospitalized for stroke and were used to categorize these patients into 3 groups based on preexisting mental health (MH) status at admission, ie, those with preexisting depression, those with another preexisting MH condition, and those without any preexisting MH condition. Multilevel analyses controlling for several potentially important covariates were performed to estimate the associations under study. Results— Both patients with preexisting depression (n=41) and those with another preexisting MH condition (n=62) did not differ significantly from patients without any preexisting MH condition (n=211) regarding length of hospital stay for acute stroke. Among patients who survived hospitalization, those with preexisting depression had significantly higher odds of being discharged to an institution instead of their home than did patients without any preexisting MH condition. Having another preexisting MH condition had no significant effect on discharge destination. Conclusions— Having preexisting depression at admission seems to be a relevant factor in determining discharge to institutional care after acute stroke hospitalization. Further research is needed to determine the mechanism(s) through which preexisting depression decreases the chances of being discharged to home.
Microwave Photonics—A Historical Perspective

Microwave photonics is a rapidly-growing interdisciplinary field linking microwave and optical technologies. This paper intends to trace the evolution of microwave photonics over the last three decades emphasizing some major research areas and application fields. Currently, microwave photonics is a vivid research area with several practical applications. In this paper, we attempt to project potential future trends as well.
User interface design in large corporations: coordination and communication across disciplines

This report describes some of the results of a survey constructed to address the multidisciplinary, collaborative nature of user interface design as it is practiced in large software development organizations today. Survey forms were prepared for Software Engineers, Human Factors Engineers, Industrial Design Engineers, Technical Writers, Training Developers, and Marketing representatives. The survey was filled out by over 200 designers from multiple sites within 7 large companies. Previous interview studies of user interface design have relied on far smaller samples taken primarily from single organizations, and have focused on the individual designer's perspective, primarily that of programmers or software engineers. While surveys have limitations as information-gathering tools, the findings in this report suggest specific places where organizational change or tool development might improve the coordination or communication among the different professionals and managers who contribute to interface design in large company settings.
SmartGossip: an improved randomized broadcast protocol for sensor networks

We investigate four performance metrics for randomized broadcast protocols on sensor networks: the fraction of nodes that receive the message (coverage), the number of first-time receivers per transmission (energy efficiency), the node-average normalized time till reception (per hop latency), and the average number of control messages per node (overhead). Our focus is to evaluate the extent to which the exchange of local information (either active or passive) can improve protocol performance. To this end, we study via simulation three protocols from the literature that exploit local information and compare their performance against the well known GOSSIP1 protocol, which does not employ any local information in making transmission decisions. Our findings are that i) local information is of course quite valuable in increasing protocol performance, and ii) it is possible to obtain high coverage and efficiency but one must then incur either increased delay or increased overhead. We study the strengths and weaknesses of the above protocols and propose the new SmartGossip protocol, which combines several ideas from the above protocols, as well as several new mechanisms, to achieve superior performance
Genome Wide Analysis of PHD Finger Family in Soybean (Glycine max)

The PHD finger is a highly conserved structural domain in roles with regulating transcription and modification of chromatin structure. Forty-five PHD finger genes encoding PHD finger protein were identified from soybean (Glycine max) database. And sixty - four unique typical PHD finger domains were retrieved. NJ phylogenetic tree of all 64 PHD finger domains consisted of ten main clades (A-J). Subcellular localization analysis shows that Glyma06g33590.1, Glyma10g05080.1 and Glyma11g11720.1 may localize in Golgi body, chloroplast thylakoid membrane and mitochondrial inner membrane, respectively. The function of domain is loyal to the cause of protein situated in particular site of cell. Eight unique domains have been found concomitant with PHD domain in a certain protein. The cooperative relationship between diverse domains may important for particular biological event.
Containment Game Played on Random Graphs: Another Zig-Zag Theorem

We consider a variant of the game of Cops and Robbers, called Containment, in which cops move from edge to adjacent edge, the robber moves from vertex to adjacent vertex (but cannot move along an edge occupied by a cop). The cops win by "containing" the robber, that is, by occupying all edges incident with a vertex occupied by the robber. The minimum number of cops, $\xi(G)$, required to contain a robber played on a graph $G$ is called the containability number, a natural counterpart of the well-known cop number $c(G)$. This variant of the game was recently introduced by Komarov and Mackey, who proved that for every graph $G$, $c(G) \le \xi(G) \le \gamma(G) \Delta(G)$, where $\gamma(G)$ and $\Delta(G)$ are the domination number and the maximum degree of $G$, respectively. They conjecture that an upper bound can be improved and, in fact, $\xi(G) \le c(G) \Delta(G)$. (Observe that, trivially, $c(G) \le \gamma(G)$. ) This seems to be the main question for this game at the moment. By investigating expansion properties, we provide asymptotically almost sure bounds on the containability number of binomial random graphs $G(n,p)$ for a wide range of $p=p(n)$, showing that it forms an intriguing zigzag shape. This result also proves that the conjecture holds for some range of $p$ (or holds up to a constant or an $O(\log n)$ multiplicative factors for some other ranges).
Artificial Evolution of Expressive Performance of Music: An Imitative Multi-Agent Systems Approach

This chapter introduces an imitative multi-agent system approach to generate expressive performances of music, based on agents’ individual parameterized musical rules. We have developed a system called IMAP (imitative multi-agent performer). Aside from investigating the usefulness of such an application of the imitative multi-agent paradigm, there is also a desire to investigate the inherent feature of diversity and control of diversity in this methodology: a desirable feature for a creative application, such as musical performance. To aid this control of diversity, parameterized rules are utilized based on previous expressive performance research. These are implemented in the agents using previously developed musical analysis algorithms. When experiments are run, it is found that agents are expressing their preferences through their music performances and that diversity can be generated and controlled.
Dep_search: Efficient Search Tool for Large Dependency Parsebanks

We present an updated and improved version of our syntactic analysis query toolkit, dep search , geared towards morphologically rich languages and large parsebanks. The query language supports complex searches on dependency graphs, including for example boolean logic and nested queries. Improvements we present here include better data indexing, especially better database backend and document meta-data support, API access and improved web user interface. All contributions are available under open licences.
Immunodominant HIV-Specific CD8+ T-Cell Responses Are Common to Blood and Gastrointestinal Mucosa, and Gag-Specific Responses Dominate in Rectal Mucosa of HIV Controllers

ABSTRACT Previous studies have suggested that polyfunctional mucosal CD8+ T-cell responses may be a correlate of protection in HIV controllers. Mucosal T-cell breadth and/or specificity may also contribute to defining protective responses. In this study, rectal CD8+ T-cell responses to HIV Gag, Env, and Nef were mapped at the peptide level in four subject groups: elite controllers (n = 16; viral load [VL], <75 copies/ml), viremic controllers (n = 14; VL, 75 to 2,000 copies/ml), noncontrollers (n = 14; VL, >10,000 copies/ml), and antiretroviral-drug-treated subjects (n = 8; VL, <75 copies/ml). In all subject groups, immunodominant CD8+ T-cell responses were generally shared by blood and mucosa, although there were exceptions. In HIV controllers, responses to HLA-B27- and HLA-B57-restricted epitopes were common to both tissues, and their magnitude (in spot-forming cells [SFC] per million) was significantly greater than those of responses restricted by other alleles. Furthermore, peptides recognized by T cells in both blood and rectal mucosa, termed “concordant,” elicited higher median numbers of SFC than discordant responses. In magnitude as well as breadth, HIV Gag-specific responses, particularly those targeting p24 and p7, dominated in controllers. Responses in noncontrollers were more evenly distributed among epitopes in Gag, Env, and Nef. Viremic controllers showed significantly broader mucosal Gag-specific responses than other groups. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that (i) Gag-specific responses dominate in mucosal tissues of HIV controllers; (ii) there is extensive overlap between CD8+ T cells in blood and mucosal tissues, with responses to immunodominant epitopes generally shared by both sites; and (iii) mucosal T-cell response breadth alone cannot account for immune control.
Synergistic Effect of Combined Temporal and Spatial Expectations on Visual Attention

We developed a naturalistic behavioral task to investigate the influence of spatial and temporal expectations on attentional orienting to moving targets. In this task, the movement of an object before its disappearance under an occluding barrier generated expectations concerning the location and/or time of its reappearance. Four different trial types were intermixed, each inducing a different state of expectation: no expectation, only spatial expectation about the location of reappearance, only temporal expectation about the moment of reappearance, and combined spatial and temporal expectation. The behavioral validity of the task was shown by the fact that all expectation conditions produced significantly shorter reaction times than the control state of no expectation. Spatial attention modulated early perceptual analysis in extrastriate areas, as demonstrated by significant enhancement of the visual P1 component. Temporal attention alone had no effect on P1 but instead modulated response-specific components. However, when spatial and temporal attention were combined, the enhancement of perceptual processing was significantly augmented, leading to a greater enhancement of the P1 component than by spatial attention alone. Perceptual analysis reflected by the P1 component correlated significantly with reaction times. In summary, event-related potentials revealed the presence of individual modulatory effects attributable to spatial and temporal expectation as well as synergistic effects indicative of an interaction of the two. This synergistic effect is likely to play a critical role in directing attention to the reappearance of a temporarily occluded moving target, a process of obvious importance in everyday situations.
Modulatory Effect of Inflammation on Blood Pressure Reduction via Therapeutic Lifestyle Change.

PURPOSE Since inflammatory status, as determined by C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, is correlated with many cardiovascular (CV) disease risk factors and major CV events, we sought to determine if median levels of CRP can modulate blood pressure changes as well as other CV risk factors that are typically improved by therapeutic lifestyle changes with formal cardiac rehabilitation and exercise training (CRET) programs. METHODS We retrospectively evaluated CRP status and standard CV risk factors both before and after formal, phase II CRET programs (12 weeks; 36 educational and exercise sessions) in 635 consecutive patients with coronary artery disease after major CV events. RESULTS The median CRP level at baseline was 3.2 mg/L (range, 0.2-80.1 mg/L; mean, 5.8±8.4 mg/L). After CRET, both the patients with high and those with low CRP concentrations exhibited statistically significant improvements in most CV risk factors when their CRP levels were divided by median levels. However, systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressure improved in patients with low CRP levels (each by -4%) but did not change significantly in patients with high CRP levels. In multiple regression models, only young age, low CRP levels, and low body mass index were significant independent predictors of improved mean arterial blood pressure after CRET. CONCLUSIONS In contrast to patients with coronary artery disease and low levels of CRP, patients with high baseline CRP levels did not demonstrate significant reductions in blood pressure after therapeutic lifestyle changes via formal CRET programs.
An effective self-interference cancellation scheme for spatial modulated full duplex systems

In this paper, an effective self-interference (SI) cancellation scheme operated in the digital domain is proposed for the newly-emerging spatial modulated full duplex (SMFD) system. In the proposal, the SMFD receiver performs the SI cancellation through a combination of signals received in successive time slots by resorting to the properties of the SMFD system, i.e., the SI channel is reciprocal and the transmitted data is known by both the transmitter and the receiver. To achieve the ultimate performance of the proposal, however, the transmitted symbols need to be rotated and the number of time slots involved in the SI cancellation has to be carefully chosen to balance the receiver complexity and the system performance. These issues are also discussed in great detail. Monte-Carlo simulations on the error-free information transmission capability of the SMFD system with the proposed SI cancellation scheme over Rayleigh fading channels are conducted and advantages are revealed.
Protection of CCl4-Induced Liver and Kidney Damage by Phenolic Compounds in Leaf Extracts of Cnestis ferruginea (de Candolle)

Background: The chemoprevention of chemically-induced hepatotoxicity is a crucial means of minimizing susceptibility to hepatic carcinogenesis and plants remain a rich source of anti-hepatotoxicants with antioxidant properties. Objective: The protective role of defatted-methanol (MECF) and ethyl acetate fractions (EF), obtained from Leaves of Cnestis ferruginea in rats induced with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) toxicity was investigated. Materials and Methods: Adult male Wistar rats were orally administered MECF or EF (125 – 500 mg/kg bwt/5mL) or silymarin (25 mg/kg bwt/5 mL) separately for three days before intervention with an intraperitoneal dose of CCl4. Biomarkers of liver and kidney toxicity as well as Ca2+ regulation were evaluated. Results: Pre-treatment with MECF and EF significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the activities of serum alanine and aspartate aminotransferases, levels of urea, creatinine and cholesterol. A significantly (P < 0.05) enhanced Ca2+ -ATPase activity and lowered levels of membrane cholesterol: Phospholipid ratio were observed in liver microsomes of pre-treated as compared to CCl4 -only treated rats. Rat liver superoxide dismutase activity was enhanced by 125 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg of EF and MECF, while decreases were observed at 500 mg/kg. MECF and EF, like silymarin, attenuated CCl4 -induced hepatotoxicity, microsomal membrane Ca2+ -ATPase inactivation and renal dysfunction. Phytochemistry of MECF revealed the presence of anthraquinones, cardiac and flavone glycosides, tannins and trihydroxyl phenol. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the mechanism of hepatoprotection elicited by MECF and EF, involve its antioxidative properties and regulation of Ca2+ homeostasis.
Preprocessing compensation techniques for improved classification of imbalanced medical datasets

The paper describes the study on the problem of applying classification techniques in medical datasets with a class imbalance. The aim of the research is to identify factors that negatively affect classification results and propose actions that may be taken to improve the performance. To alleviate the impact of uneven and complex class distribution, methods of balancing the datasets are proposed and compared. The experiments were conducted on five datasets — three binary and two multiclass. They comprise several data preprocessing methods applied on data and the classification with different techniques. The study shows that for some datasets there exists a combination of a certain preprocessing method and a classification technique which outperforms other approaches. For datasets with complex distribution or too many features the ratio of correctly predicted labels may be low regardless what resampling method and classification technique has been applied.