Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Temporal changes of microbial assemblages in the ice and snow cover of a high mountain lake

It has recently been shown that a rich community of microorganisms inhabits the slush layers of the winter cover of high mountain lakes. In this study, temporal changes in species assemblages and environmental conditions in the ice and snow cover of Lake Redó in the Pyrenees (Spain) are presented. The winter cover was a highly dynamic environment, in which major changes occurred in physical structure and chemical characteristics. The biomass and species composition of the microbial groups present (autotrophic and heterotrophic flagellates, ciliates, and bacteria) reflected these physicochemical alterations. After an initial phase, during which the ice sheet formed and the first snows accumulated with little or no development of slush layers, there were two stages of microbial assemblages, which coincided with the two main phases in the physical change of the cover: the growth period (from January to mid‐April) and the ablation period (from mid‐April to ice‐out in June). Initially, microbial biomass originated from inputs of phytoplankton‐rich (5.9 μg chlorophyll a liter−1 ) surface lake water that flooded the cover as a result of the hydrostatic adjustment induced by the progressive accumulation of snow on top of the ice sheet. This was followed by a differential growth of mixotrophic or heterotrophic flagellated species, such as Ochromonas sp. , Cryptomonas spp. , Monosiga ovata and Oikomonas termo, which peaked at different times. Species depended primarily on bacterivory for their growth, since during this period, light did not reach the slush layers. By April, the transition from cover growth to ablation was marked by a reduction in biomass and in the number of species. During the ablation period, the rate of change of the cover was greater, and microbial assemblages were characterized by the vertical segregation and by the appearance of new species, some of which were typically nonplanktonic. During that time, the cover was highly influenced by the large amount of water from the melting of the snowpack within the catchment. This water likely provided chemicals and organisms, while increased light availability allowed for the growth of algae (Pteromonas sp. and other volvocales) and of the associated food web in the upper slush. In deeper layers, however, a bacteria‐based food web provided prey for large ciliates (Urosoma sp., Dileptus sp., and Lacrymaria sp.), probably carried from littoral or watershed soils.
A fresh look at inter-domain route aggregation

We present three route aggregation strategies to scale the Internet's inter-domain routing system. These strategies result from a keen understanding on how the customer-provider, peer-peer routing policies propagate routes belonging to long prefixes in relation to how they propagate routes belonging to shorter prefixes that cover the long ones. The first strategy, Coordinated Route Suppression, requires coordination between the Autonomous Systems (ASs) of the Internet, and we present a protocol to perform such coordination. The second strategy, No Import Provider Routes, does not require any coordination between the ASs, but benefits only some of them. The third strategy, Implicit Long Routes, does not rely on any coordination between the ASs either and it is the most efficient strategy. However, it presupposes modifications to the way routers build their forwarding tables. We evaluate the three route aggregation strategies over a publicly available description of the Internet topology and on synthetically generated Internet-like topologies. The results are very promising, with savings in the amount of state information required to sustain inter-domain close to the optimum possible.
Integrating ethnography into the requirements engineering process

Experiences from an interdisciplinary project involving software engineers and sociologists are reported. The project is concerned with discovering the requirements of a user interface to a flight database which is used to provide real-time information to air-traffic controllers. The sociologists are conducting an ethnographic analysis of the activity of air-traffic control, and this is being used for the development of a prototype system. An overview of the project is given, the contribution of sociologists to requirements engineering is discussed, and tool support which will allow ethnographic observations to be integrated into the requirements engineering process is suggested. <<ETX>>
Total Faults Deterministic Off-Line Test Fault Coverage Random Off-Line Test Fault Coverage Random On-Line Test Fault Security Random On-Line Test Fault Coverage Area Before Area After Area Overhead GCD

We propose a RT-Level hierarchical test generation methodology based on the concept of transparent hierarchical test paths, which results in significant test generation speedup over traditional gate-level ATPG, while preserving equivalent fault coverage and vector count. Additionally, we demonstrate how hierarchical test paths may assist in design diagnosis and debug through an algorithm that disambiguates among several possibly faulty modules in a design. Furthermore, we devise an online test methodology using invariance inherent in hierarchical test paths and in the algorithm implemented by controller/datapath pairs. This scheme results in fault security in excess of 90% while keeping the hardware overhead below 40%. Utilization of hierarchical test paths not only for off-line test but also for design diagnosis and on-line test helps in reducing the overhead associated with each of these tasks, by amortizing the cost of the required hardware.
Information Technology as a Facilitator of Enhancing Dynamic Capability through Knowledge Management

Dynamic capability is an emergent field of firms encountering turbulent administrative environment. Eisenhardt and Martin (2000) point out that firms with dynamic capability are not guaranteed to enhancing organizational performance, but without dynamic capability it is impossible for firms to enhance organizational performance. Another research stream in current management thoughts is related to knowledge management that has been confirmed to be a major source of competitive advantage. Research question of this research is whether or not knowledge management contributes to the enhancement of dynamic capability, and thus to the enhancement of competitive advantage of a firm. Following previous research interest of knowledge management on the application of information technology (IT), this research incorporates knowledge management facilitated by IT to examine the effect on enhancement of dynamic capability. Based on a survey of top 1000 Taiwanese firms, the current empirical research tests relevant hypotheses with regression models. Empirical findings include management of both endogenous and exogenous knowledge through IT applications significantly affects the enhancement of dynamic capability. Results shed light to current strategic management issues.
Complete Genome Sequence of Paenibacillus sp. Strain VT 400, Isolated from the Saliva of a Child with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

ABSTRACT We report here the complete genome sequence of spore-forming Paenibacillus sp. strain VT 400, isolated from the saliva of a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The genome consists of 6,986,122 bp, with a G+C content of 45.8%. It possesses 5,777 predicted protein-coding genes encoding multidrug resistance transporters, virulence factors, and resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs.
Skin Images Segmentation

Problem statement: Image segmentation is a fundamental step in many a pplications of image processing. Skin cancer has been the most common of all new cancers detected each year. At early stage detection of skin cancer, simple and ec onomic treatment can cure it mostly. An accurate segmentation of skin images can help the diagnosis to define well the region of the cancer. The principal approach of segmentation is based on thre sholding (classification) that is lied to the probl em of the thresholds estimation. Approach: The objective of this study is to develop a method to segment the skin images based on a mixture of Beta distribu tions. We assume that the data in skin images can be modeled by a mixture of Beta distributions. We u sed an unsupervised learning technique with Beta distribution to estimate the statistical parameters of the data in skin image and then estimate the thresholds for segmentation. Results: The proposed method of skin images segmentation was implemented and tested on different skin images. We obtained very good results in comparing with the same techniques with Gamma distribution. Conclusion: The experiment showed that the proposed method obtained very good results but it requires m ore testing on different types of skin images.
Insights into dissolved organic matter complexity in rainwater from continental and coastal storms by ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

Abstract. A series of seven rainwater samples were collected in Wilmington, North Carolina USA originating from both continental and coastal storms and analyzed by ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). This data set is unique in that it represents a detailed comparison of the molecular level composition of DOM in rainwater collected from distinctly different air mass back trajectories by FT-ICR MS. Approximately 25% of the roughly 2000 assigned CHO molecular formulas are unique to a single storm classification indicating the importance of air mass back trajectory on the composition of rainwater dissolved organic matter (DOM). Analysis of the unique molecular formula assignments highlighted distinct groupings of various bio- and geo-molecule classes with coastal storms containing unique formulas representative of lignin and cellulose-like formulas while continental storms had lipid-like formulas. A series of 18 distinct methylene oligomers were identified in coastal storms and 13 unique methylene oligomers in continental storms, suggesting oligomer formation is ubiquitous in rainwater albeit different for each storm classification. Oligomers of small acids and C 3 H 4 O 2 were detected in both storm types indicating their processing may be similar in both back trajectories. Condensed aromatic hydrocarbons were detected in continental storms with phenol moieties that are not as oxidized as similar compounds detected in aquatic DOM.
Prevalence, Recurrence, and Incidence of Current Depressive Symptoms among People Living with HIV in Ontario, Canada: Results from the Ontario HIV Treatment Network Cohort Study

Introduction Current studies of depression among people living with HIV focus on describing its point prevalence. Given the fluctuating nature of depression and its profound impacts on clinical and quality-of-life outcomes, this study aimed to examine the prevalence, recurrence and incidence of current depressive symptoms and its underlying catalysts longitudinally and systematically among these individuals. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study between October 1, 2007 and December 31, 2012 using longitudinal linked data sources. Current depressive symptoms was identified using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale or the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, first at baseline and again during follow-up interviews. Multivariable regressions were used to characterize the three outcomes. Results Of the 3,816 HIV-positive participants, the point prevalence of depressive symptoms was estimated at 28%. Of the 957 participants who were identified with depressive symptoms at baseline and who had at least two years of follow-up, 43% had a recurrent episode. The cumulative incidence among 1,745 previously depressive symptoms free participants (at or prior to baseline) was 14%. During the five-year follow-up, our multivariable models showed that participants with greater risk of recurrent cases were more likely to feel worried about their housing situation. Participants at risk of developing incident cases were also likely to be younger, gay or bisexual, and unable to afford housing-related expenses. Conclusions Depressive symptoms are prevalent and likely to recur among people living with HIV. Our results support the direction of Ontario’s HIV/AIDS Strategy to 2026, which addresses medical concerns associated with HIV (such as depression) and the social drivers of health in order to enhance the overall well-being of people living with or at risk of HIV. Our findings reinforce the importance of providing effective mental health care and demonstrate the need for long-term support and routine management of depression, particularly for individuals at high risk.
Advanced Multimedia Services for Fast Moving Users on Trains.

An important current topic is the provisioning of multimedia services to users in fast moving vehicules (e.g., trains or cars). As an example, the focus of the paper is on services to train-users. Different important open challenges will be highlighted. First, an overview of current architectures for network connectivity to trains is presented. An Ethernet-based solution with moving tunnels is detailed. Next, the business case of delivering video services to train users is introduced and critically assessed. A dependable video provisioning service is detailed, together with an overview of the practical deployment of the service.
Augmented EKF localization for mobile robots in urban environments

We propose the augmented EKF Localization for mobile robots in urban environments. Odometer, GPS (Global Positioning System), gyroscope, and camera are used as the localization sensors. The proposed method is aimed for the mobile robot working in urban environments where the traffic lanes exist. Through a camera, the robot measures the lateral offset from the robot position to the centerline of road. Furthermore, the lateral offset is included probabilistically as robot's augmented state to strengthen the robot position estimate. The simulation shows that our proposed method has superior performance compared to the other EKF versions.
A system architecture for manufacturing process analysis based on big data and process mining techniques

Interests in manufacturing process management and analysis are increasing, but it is difficult to conduct process analysis due to the increase of manufacturing data. Therefore, we suggest a manufacturing data analysis system that collects event logs from so-called big data and analyzes the collected logs with process mining. There are two kinds of big data generated from manufacturing processes, structured data and unstructured data. Usually, manufacturing process analysis is conducted by using only structured data, however the proposed system uses both structured and unstructured data for enhancing the process analysis results. The system automatically discovers a process model and conducts various performance analysis on the manufacturing processes.
A review on proniosomal drug delivery system for targeted drug action

Proniosomes are dry formulation of water soluble carrier particles that are coated with surfactant. They are rehydrated to form niosomal dispersion immediately before use on agitation in hot aqueous media within minutes. Proniosomes are physically stable during the storage and transport. Drug encapsulated in the vesicular structure of proniosomes prolong the existence of drug in the systematic circulation and enhances the penetration into target tissue and reduce toxicity. From a technical point of view, niosomes are promising drug carriers as they possess greater chemical stability and lack of many disadvantages associated with liposomes, such as high- cost and variable purity problems of phospholipids. The present review emphasizes on overall methods of preparation characterization and applicability of proniosomes in targeted drug action.
Transmit beamforming for inter-operator spectrum sharing

In EU FP7 project SAPHYRE, we study the nonorthogonal spectrum sharing scenario, in which multiple operators are allowed to utilize the same frequency band in the same location and time. A major impairment in such a scenario is the interference that the cochannel transmissions create. Assuming that the transmitters are equipped with multiple antennas, we propose various transmit beamforming techniques to manage the interference. We show that efficient operating points can be reached, when the operators cooperatively design their beamforming vectors.
NOISE ROBUST DISTANT AUTOMATIC SPEECH RECOGNITION UTILIZING NMF BASED SOURCE SEPARATION AND AUDITORY FEATURE EXTRACTION

This paper describes our contribution to the 2 nd CHiME challenge and focuses on the small vocabulary task, i.e. track one. We present a robust system combination that involves source separation, auditory feature extraction and a modified automatic speech recognition back-end. The source separation code is based on a non-negative matrix factorization approach and the presented auditory feature extraction method uses 2D Gabor filter functions to extract spectral, temporal and spectro-temporal information of the speech signals. In addition we describe the modifications to our classification back-end and discuss the achieved results. On the final CHiME test set the proposed system achieves a maximum keyword recognition rate improvement of 50.25 % for the -6 dB SNR condition, for instance.
Quantum Consciousness and Panpsychism: A Solution to the Hard Problem

We analyze the results and implications of the combination of quantum and consciousness. The quantum effect of consciousness is first explored. We show that the consciousness of the observer can help to distinguish the definite states and their quantum superposition, while the usual physical measuring device without consciousness can not do. The result indicates that the causal efficacies of consciousness do exist when considering the basic quantum process. Based on this conclusion, we demonstrate that consciousness is not reducible or emergent, but a new fundamental property of matter. This provides a quantum basis for panpsychism. Furthermore, we argue that the conscious process is one kind of quantum computation process based on the analysis of consciousness time and combination problem. It is shown that a unified theory of matter and consciousness should include two parts: one is the complete quantum evolution of matter state, which includes the definite nonlinear evolution element introduced by consciousness, and the other is the psychophysical principle or corresponding principle between conscious content and matter state. Lastly, some experimental suggestions are presented to confirm the theoretical analysis of the paper.
Downlink Channel Estimation in Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output with Correlated Sparsity by Overcomplete Dictionary and Bayesian Inference

We exploited the temporal correlation of channels in the angular domain for the downlink channel estimation in a massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system. Based on the slow time-varying channel supports in the angular domain, we combined the channel support information of the downlink angular channel in the previous timeslot into the channel estimation in the current timeslot. A downlink channel estimation method based on variational Bayesian inference (VBI) and overcomplete dictionary was proposed, in which the support prior information of the previous timeslot was merged into the VBI for the channel estimation in the current timeslot. Meanwhile the VBI was discussed for a complex value in our system model, and the structural sparsity was utilized in the Bayesian inference. The Bayesian Cramér–Rao bound for the channel estimation mean square error (MSE) was also given out. Compared with other algorithms, the proposed algorithm with overcomplete dictionary achieved a better performance in terms of channel estimation MSE in simulations.
Attention-Driven Parts-Based Object Detection

Recent studies have argued that natural vision systems perform classification by utilizing different mechanisms depending on the visual input. In this paper we present a hybrid, data-driven object detection system that combines parts-based matching and view-based attention for faster detection. We propose a simple competitive policy that allows incremental addition of new object classes to the system without requiring class-vs-class training. Using our framework, we show empirical support for the hypothesis that low-frequency visual information can be effectively used to direct attention and possibly subsume further, more costly analysis. We evaluate our approach on face and car detection problems, while concentrating on the capability to learn from small samples. Our implementation is freely available as Matlab source code.
Active Zones and the Readily Releasable Pool of Synaptic Vesicles at the Neuromuscular Junction of the Mouse

Synchronous neurotransmitter release is a highly regulated process that takes place at specializations at the presynaptic membrane called active zones (AZs). The relationships between AZs, quantal release, and vesicle replenishment are not well understood in a mature synapse. We have measured the number, distribution, and other properties of AZs in mouse motor nerve terminals and combined these observations with electrophysiological estimates of the size of the readily releasable pool (RRP) of synaptic vesicles. On average, we counted 850 AZs per terminal. Assuming two primary docked vesicles per AZ, we predict a total of ∼1700 vesicles optimally positioned for exocytosis. Electrophysiological estimates of the size of the RRP, using a simple kinetic model that assumes exponential depletion of the initial pool and refilling by recruitment, gave an average value of 1730 quanta during 100 Hz stimulation, in satisfying agreement with the morphology. At lower stimulus frequencies, however, the model revealed that the estimated RRP size is smaller, suggesting that not all AZs participate in release at low stimulation frequencies.
A Positive Feedback Synapse from Retinal Horizontal Cells to Cone Photoreceptors

Cone photoreceptors and horizontal cells (HCs) have a reciprocal synapse that underlies lateral inhibition and establishes the antagonistic center-surround organization of the visual system. Cones transmit to HCs through an excitatory synapse and HCs feed back to cones through an inhibitory synapse. Here we report that HCs also transmit to cone terminals a positive feedback signal that elevates intracellular Ca2+ and accelerates neurotransmitter release. Positive and negative feedback are both initiated by AMPA receptors on HCs, but positive feedback appears to be mediated by a change in HC Ca2+, whereas negative feedback is mediated by a change in HC membrane potential. Local uncaging of AMPA receptor agonists suggests that positive feedback is spatially constrained to active HC-cone synapses, whereas the negative feedback signal spreads through HCs to affect release from surrounding cones. By locally offsetting the effects of negative feedback, positive feedback may amplify photoreceptor synaptic release without sacrificing HC-mediated contrast enhancement.
A four-concern-oriented secure is development approach

In this paper, we advocate a strong separation of four aspects of information systems: data, dynamic behavior, security data and access control behavior. We describe how to model each of these aspects using formal methods. An abstract specification of each part of an information system is defined. The presented approach can be used when building a system from scratch but can also be applied to implement a security controller for an existing system. In parallel with models, properties of the system are written. These properties are checked against the system's models to ensure they hold using model checking techniques.