Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ENHANCEMENT OF PHOTOREPAIR OF ULTRAVIOLET‐DAMAGE BY PREILLUMINATION WITH FLUORESCENT LIGHT IN CULTURED FISH CELLS

Abstract— Fluorescent light (FL) illumination of RBCF‐1 cells, derived from a goldfish, prior to 254 nm UV‐irradiation enhanced their ability to photorepair. The cells were illuminated with FL for 1 h (29 W/m2) and incubated for 8 h in the dark before being irradiated with 10 J/m2 UV. The surviving fraction of FL‐treated cells after UV‐irradiation rose about 7‐fold (from 3 to 20%) by 20 min photorepair treatment with the same FL source, whereas 4‐fold (from 1.6 to 6%) in the FL nontreated cells. Flow cytometric analysis showed that FL treatment did not affect the distribution of cell cycle phase at the time of UV‐irradiation (8 h after FL treatment). Pyrimidine dimers induced by UV were measured by the use of UV endonuclease of Micrococcus luteus and alkaline agarose gel electrophoresis. Initial yields of dimers after exposure to 10 J/m2 UV were almost the same (about 0.11 dimer/kb) between FL treated and non‐treated cells. But after 20 min photorepair treatment, about 70% of dimers were removed in the FL treated samples, while less than 20% were removed in the non FL‐treated ones.
PARALLEL INDEPENDENT COMPONENT ANALYSIS FOR MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS: APPLICATION TO FMRI AND EEG DATA

This paper presents the technique of parallel independent component analysis (paraICA) with adaptive dynamic constraints applied to two datasets simultaneously. As a framework to investigate the integration of data from two imaging modalities, this method is dedicated to identify components of both modalities and connections between them through enhancing intrinsic interrelationships. The performance is assessed by simulations under different conditions of signal to noise ratio, connection strength and estimation of component order. An application to functional magnetic resonance images and electroencephalography data is conducted to illustrate the usage of paraICA. Results show that paraICA provides stable results and can identify the linked components with a relatively high accuracy. The application exhibits the ability to discover the connection between brain maps and event related potential time courses, and suggests a new way to investigate the coupling between hemodynamics and neural activity.
A Symmetric Analysis of the Border Control Information Systems for People and Trade

Innovative egovernment systems are increasingly being used to manage border controls for both people and goods. While cross–border passage of travelers and cargo are usually treated separately in research and in practice we bring these together in order to identify similarities and differences. We use the concept of “symmetry” from Actor–Network Theory as our conceptual lens. We apply two types of symmetric analyses. In the first type, we treat both technological and social aspects as equally important. In the second type we analyze border crossing for both people and goods. Our analysis illustrates that in the context of crossing borders these two types of symmetric analysis are meaningful and appropriate. Whilst ANT has been advocated as a means of studying egovernment, few studies have explicitly drawn on the symmetry for such work and our paper contributes to this corpus of research. We illustrate that a number of problems are very similar for both people and good, so practitioners and researchers can benefit from exchanging ideas and practices and by doing so can accelerate egovernment innovation. We suggest that a strict symmetry concerning people/goods does not apply, so the boundaries of these similarities and differences require careful consideration.
A comparison of brand personality and brand user‐imagery congruence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare the brand personality and brand user‐imagery constructs in congruity theory to examine their relationship in the image congruence model as a basis of modeling brand attitudes for publicly and privately consumed brands.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 272 surveys measured subjects' self‐image perceptions and subjects' perceptions of brand personality and user‐imagery. Congruence measures were used as indicators of the difference between respondent self‐image and each brand's image, and served as independent variables in stepwise regressions with brand attitude as the dependent variable.Findings – The results indicated that, for publicly consumed brands, user‐imagery‐based congruence measures contributed more often to the explanatory power of the model. For privately consumed brands, brand personality congruity produced significant regressions but did not account for a large portion of explained variance, while user‐imagery only entered one private b.
ORBIT: Optimization by Radial Basis Function Interpolation in Trust-Regions

We present a new derivative-free algorithm, ORBIT, for unconstrained local optimization of computationally expensive functions. A trust-region framework using interpolating Radial Basis Function (RBF) models is employed. The RBF models considered often allow ORBIT to interpolate nonlinear functions using fewer function evaluations than the polynomial models considered by present techniques. Approximation guarantees are obtained by ensuring that a subset of the interpolation points is sufficiently poised for linear interpolation. The RBF property of conditional positive definiteness yields a natural method for adding additional points. We present numerical results on test problems to motivate the use of ORBIT when only a relatively small number of expensive function evaluations are available. Results on two very different application problems, calibration of a watershed model and optimization of a PDE-based bioremediation plan, are also encouraging and support ORBIT's effectiveness on blackbox functions for which no special mathematical structure is known or available.
A sequential mobile vehicle location method with visual features

Localization is of vital importance to a mobile vehicle system. Most of the existing algorithms are based on laser range finders, sonar sensors, artificial landmarks or GPS information. In this paper, we present a sequential probability location method for mobile vehicle, which uses scale-invariant image features as natural landmarks in unmodified environments. First, we construct a ground truth map with the appearance of the environment in a learning step, then by a proposed sequential matching approach and kd-trees, we could recognize the map and locate the mobile vehicle. In the experiment, we use two cameras, one is left oriented and the other is right. We have try several method, the experiment result shows that the proposed method could locate the vehicle in nearly realtime with higher matching rate than the other approach.
Software Infrastructure and Tools for the TRIPS Prototype

The TRIPS hardware prototype is the first instantiation of an Explicit Data Graph Execution (EDGE) architecture. Building the compiler, toolset, and system software for the prototype required supporting the system’s unique dataflow construction, its banked register and memory configurations, and its novel Instruction Set Architecture. In particular, the TRIPS ISA includes (i) a block atomic execution model, (ii) explicit mappings of instructions to execution units, and (iii) predicated instructions which may or may not fire, depending on the outcome of preceding instructions. Our primary goal has been to construct tools to consume standard C and Fortran source code and generate binaries both for the TRIPS software simulators and hardware prototype. A secondary goal has been to build the software infrastructure on standard platforms using standard tools. These goals have been met through a combination of off-the-shelf and custom tools. We present a number of design issues and their resolution in enabling end users to exercise the prototype ISA using familiar tools and programming interfaces. Finally, we offer download instructions for those who wish to test-drive the TRIPS tools.
Pollutant Removal From Aquaculture Wastewater Using the Biopolymer Chitosan at Different Molecular Weights

Removal of organic compounds, inorganic nutrients, and bacteria from aquaculture wastewaters before discharge cannot only minimize deterioration of receiving water quality, but can also make possible the reuse of the original water in the culture of prawn, fish, and shellfish. In this study, the feasibility of using chitosan, a multifunctional environmentally friendly biopolymer, at different molecular weights to simultaneously remove various pollutants from the discharge of an eel culture pond is evaluated. Experimental results indicated chitosan with a high molecular weight was best at removing turbidity, suspended solids, and biological and chemical oxygen demand (BOD and COD). In contrast, chitosan of a low molecular weight excelled at removing NH3 and PO4 3 − from wastewater. Additionally, chitosan with a high molecular weight did well at eliminating suspended solids of various particle sizes relative to chitosan with a low molecular weight. The best performance of chitosan in removing turbidity, suspended solids, BOD, COD, NH3, PO4 3 −, and bacteria was 87.7%, 62.6%, 52.3%, 62.8%, 91.8%, 99.1%, and 99.998% removal, respectively. When chitosan with a high molecular weight was added at 12 mg/L, the quality of treated wastewater successfully complied with government discharge standards. Furthermore, the relatively low bacteria amount in the wastewater after treatment with chitosan was confirmed by both the plate count method and molecular analysis technique. These results indicated that the application of chitosan is feasible in an effort to recycle the effluents of a culture pond.
Incentives for Subjective Evaluations with Private Beliefs

The modern web critically depends on aggregation of information from self-interested agents, for example opinion polls, product ratings, or crowdsourcing. We consider a setting where multiple objects (questions, products, tasks) are evaluated by a group of agents. We first construct a minimal peer prediction mechanism that elicits honest evaluations from a homogeneous population of agents with different private beliefs. Second, we show that it is impossible to strictly elicit honest evaluations from a heterogeneous group of agents with different private beliefs. Nevertheless, we provide a modified version of a divergence-based Bayesian Truth Serum that incentivizes agents to report consistently, making truthful reporting a weak equilibrium of the mechanism.
A minimal peptide substrate in biotin holoenzyme synthetase‐catalyzed biotinylation

The Escherichia coli biotin holoenzyme synthetase, BirA, catalyzes transfer of biotin to the epsilon amino group of a specific lysine residue of the biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP) subunit of acetyl‐CoA carboxylase. Sequences of naturally biotinylated substrates are highly conserved across evolutionary boundaries, and cross‐species biotinylation has been demonstrated in several systems. To define the minimal substrate requirements in BirA‐catalyzed biotinylation, we have measured the kinetics of modification of a 23‐residue peptide previously identified by combinatorial methods. Although the sequence of the peptide bears little resemblance to the biotinylated sequence in BCCP, it is enzymatically biotinylated in vivo. Rates of biotin transfer to the 23‐residue peptide are similar to those determined for BCCP. To further elucidate the sequence requirements for biotinylation, transient kinetic measurements were performed on a series of amino‐ and carboxy‐terminal truncations of the 23‐mer. The results, determined by stopped‐flow fluorescence, allowed identification of a 14‐residue peptide as the minimum required sequence. Additional support was obtained using matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐flight (MALDI‐TOF) mass spectrometric analysis of peptides that had been incubated with an excess of biotinyl‐5′‐adenylate intermediate and catalytic amounts of BirA. Results of these measurements indicate that while kinetically inactive truncations showed no significant shift in molecular mass to the values expected for biotinylated species, kinetically active truncations exhibited 100% biotinylation. The specificity constant (kcat/Km) governing BirA‐catalyzed biotinylation of the 14‐mer minimal substrate is similar to that determined for the natural substrate, BCCP. We conclude that the 14‐mer peptide efficiently mimics the biotin acceptor function of the much larger protein domain normally recognized by BirA.
Collaborative noise reduction using color-line model

Recently, more and more natural image statistics are found useful for image restoration problems. In this paper, we propose a noise reduction technique by use of color-line assumption for natural color images. Based on the color-line model, we propose an algorithm to analyse local color statistics and recover the original image by promoting color linearity of a local patch. Moreover, the proposed method is employed on superpixels to alleviate the boundary effect of the denoising operation. The experimental results show that the proposed method can collaborate with existing noise reduction methods to successfully further boost the quality in both perceptual and objective evaluations.
Laboratory-scale evaluation of a combined soil amendment for the enhanced biodegradation of propylene glycol-based aircraft de-icing fluids

A combined soil amendment was tested in microcosm experiments with an aim to enhance the aerobic biodegradation of propylene glycol (PG)-based aircraft de-icing fluids during and following the infiltration of contaminated snowmelt. A key objective under field conditions is to increase degradation of organic pollutants in the surface soil where higher microbial activity and plant rhizosphere effects may contribute to a more efficient biodegradation of PG, compared to subsoil ground layers, where electron acceptors and nutrients are often depleted. Microcosm experiments were set up in Petri dishes using 50 g of soil mixed with appropriate additives. The samples contained an initial de-icing fluid concentration of 10,000 mg/kg soil. A combined amendment using calcium peroxide, activated carbon and 1×Hoagland solution resulted in significantly higher degradation rates for PG both at 4 and 22°C. Most probable numbers of bacteria capable of utilizing 10,000 mg/kg de-icing fluid as a sole carbon source were about two orders of magnitude higher in the amended soil samples compared to unamended controls at both temperatures. The elevated numbers of such bacteria in surface soil may be a source of cells transported to the subsoil by snowmelt infiltration. The near-surface application of amendments tested here may enhance the growth of plants and plant roots in the contaminated area, as well as microbes to be found at greater depth, and hence increase the degradation of a contaminant plume present in the ground.
Visual Scene Interpretation as a Dialogue between Vision and Language

We present a framework for semantic visual scene interpretation in a system with vision and language. In this framework the system consists of two modules, a language module and a vision module that communicate with each other in a form of a dialogue to actively interpret the scene. The language module is responsible for obtaining domain knowledge from linguistic resources and reasoning on the basis of this knowledge and the visual input. It iteratively creates questions that amount to an attention mechanism for the vision module which in turn shifts its focus to selected parts of the scene and applies selective segmentation and feature extraction. As a formalism for optimizing this dialogue we use information theory.We demonstrate the framework on the problem of recognizing a static scene from its objects and show preliminary results for the problem of human activity recognition from video. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the active paradigm in introducing attention and additional constraints into the sensing process.
Uplink SDMA with Limited Feedback: Throughput Scaling

Combined space division multiple access (SDMA) and scheduling exploit both spatial multiplexing and multiuser diversity, increasing throughput significantly. Both SDMA and scheduling require feedback of multiuser channel sate information (CSI). This paper focuses on uplink SDMA with limited feedback, which refers to efficient techniques for CSI quantization and feedback. To quantify the throughput of uplink SDMA and derive design guidelines, the throughput scaling with system parameters is analyzed. The specific parameters considered include the numbers of users, antennas, and feedback bits. Furthermore, different SNR regimes and beamforming methods are considered. The derived throughput scaling laws are observed to change for different SNR regimes. For instance, the throughput scales logarithmically with the number of users in the high SNR regime but double logarithmically in the low SNR regime. The analysis of throughput scaling suggests guidelines for scheduling in uplink SDMA. For example, to maximize throughput scaling, scheduling should use the criterion of minimum quantization errors for the high SNR regime and maximum channel power for the low SNR regime.
EmotiPlant: Human-Plant Interaction for Older Adults

This paper presents EmotiPlant, a system that aims to facilitate the nurturing of indoor plants for older adults. The proposed concept exploits the idea of a plant that is able to express emotions and display its status in relation to the environmental conditions. Thanks to the humanized behavior and the possibility to interact through the touch, the augmented plant can be seen as a companion for older adults. In this article, we present a first prototype of the system and we discuss the challenges to obtain a final product that older adults could use easily at home.
On Measuring the Reusability Proneness of Mobile Applications

The abnormal increase in the number of applications available for download in Android markets is a good indication that they are being reused. However, little is known about their real reusability potential. A considerable amount of these applications is reported as having a poor quality or being malicious. Hence, in this paper, an approach to measure the reusability potential of classes in Android applications is proposed. The approach is not meant specifically for this particular type of applications. Rather, it is intended for Object-Oriented (OO) software systems in general and aims also to provide means to discard the classes of low quality and defect prone applications from being reused directly through inheritance and instantiation. An empirical investigation is conducted to measure and rank the reusability potential of the classes of randomly selected Android applications. The results obtained are thoroughly analyzed in order to understand the extent of this potential and the factors influencing it. Keywords—Reusability, Software Quality Factors, Software Metrics, Empirical Investigation, Object-Oriented Software, Android Applications.
Learning 3D mesh segmentation and labeling

This paper presents a data-driven approach to simultaneous segmentation and labeling of parts in 3D meshes. An objective function is formulated as a Conditional Random Field model, with terms assessing the consistency of faces with labels, and terms between labels of neighboring faces. The objective function is learned from a collection of labeled training meshes. The algorithm uses hundreds of geometric and contextual label features and learns different types of segmentations for different tasks, without requiring manual parameter tuning. Our algorithm achieves a significant improvement in results over the state-of-the-art when evaluated on the Princeton Segmentation Benchmark, often producing segmentations and labelings comparable to those produced by humans.
On the total edge irregularity strength of zigzag graphs

An edge irregular total k-labeling of a graph G is a labeling of the vertices and edges with labels 1, 2, . , k such that the weights of any two different edges are distinct, where the weight of an edge is the sum of the label of the edge itself and the labels of its two end vertices. The minimum k for which the graph G has an edge irregular total k-labeling is called the total edge irregularity strength, tes(G). In this paper we determine the exact values of the total edge irregularity strength of zigzag graphs.
Computergestützte quantitative textanalyse: Äquivalenz und robustheit der deutschen Version des Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count.

Zusammenfassung. Im Beitrag wird die deutsche Adaptation des Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) vorgestellt. Das LIWC ist ein computergestutztes Textanalyseprogramm mit integriertem Worterbuch, das von Pennebaker und Kollegen (2001) entwickelt wurde, um Essays aus Experimenten zum expressiven Schreiben zu untersuchen. Es werden zwei Studien zur Gute und Praktikabilitat des deutschen LIWC berichtet: (1) An einer Stichprobe zweisprachig vorliegender Texte (N = 122) wird die Aquivalenz der deutschen Ubersetzung mit dem Original uberpruft. (2) An einer Stichprobe von N = 104 E-Mails wird die Robustheit des Verfahrens gegenuber Schreibfehlern untersucht. Fur die meisten LIWC-Kategorien zeigt sich eine gute Aquivalenz. Des Weiteren erweist sich das LIWC als robust gegenuber Schreibfehlern. Diese Befunde sprechen fur die Brauchbarkeit des LIWC fur die Analyse deutscher Texte. Die beobachtete Robustheit ist von erheblicher praktischer Bedeutung fur die Analyse naturlicher geschriebener Sprache aus der compu.
Effect of dietary conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on the metabolism and reproduction of dairy cows

Rumen-protected conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) reportedly improves fertility in lactating dairy cows by reducing the postpartum interval to first ovulation and enhancing the circulating insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the blood metabolites, hormones, follicular fluid (FF) and liver for the effect of CLA supplementation (50 g top-dressed daily from 15 days pre-partum to 65 days in milk –DIM -). Pre-partum Holstein cows (n = 24) were assigned to two treatments: a Control and CLA group (n = 12 cows/group). Dry matter intake (DMI) and milk production were recorded daily. At 26 DIM, ovulation was synchronized and at 34 DIM, plasma and FF were analysed for paraoxonase 1(PON) levels. Moreover plasma was analysed for IGF binding protein 2 and 3 (IGFBP). From 34 DIM, blood samples and FF from follicles >9 mm were collected and analysed for estradiol, progesterone, IGF-I and lipoproteins. A liver biopsy was performed at 65 DIM and analysed for the expression of IGF-I, growth hormone receptor (GHR), pyruvate carboxylase (PC) and cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PECK). CLA supplemented cows, compared to the control group, recorded a significant lower milk fat production, improved DMI and energy balance and recorded significant increased plasma concentrations of IGF-I, cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) and IGFBP-3 (interaction treatment x DIM). The concentration of IGF-I, high density lipoprotein (HDL) and LDL tended to be higher in FF than plasma. This study confirms the positive effects of dietary CLA supplementation on the metabolism, by improving the energy intake and reducing the negative energy balance. Moreover, the improvement of plasma IGF-I levels observed in this study, coupled with a better energy balance support previous studies showing a positive effect of CLA supplementation on reproduction. However, CLA did not alter the plasma and the FF concentration of PON, nor the liver gene expression.