Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prerequisites for integrating unsupervised and reinforcement learning in a single network of spiking neurons

Most artificial neural network architectures learn either via unsupervised or reinforcement learning but rarely via both. However, the brain effectively integrates both types of learning. We describe which prerequisites are necessary in a spiking network architecture in order to integrate both learning mechanisms and present a network which meets these requirements. In a nut shell, the network has a winner-take-all type output layer resembling the motor output and an excitatory feedback layer which extends the firing of the input layer until after the end of external stimulation resembling the function of the hippocampus.
THE CYTOLOGY OF THE NORMAL PARATHYROID GLANDS OF MAN AND VIRGINIA DEER

The normal parathyroids of six humans and a Virginia deer were studied by light and electron microscopy. The parenchyma of the deer parathyroid is composed of uniform chief cells, which contained 100 to 400 mµ electron-opaque, membrane-limited granules, presumed to be secretory granules, in addition to the usual cytoplasmic organelles. Desmosomes are present between adjacent cells, and rare cilia are observed protruding from the chief cells into the intercellular space. The human parathyroids contain chief cells in two phases—active and inactive—as well as oxyphil cells. Active chief cells have a large Golgi apparatus, sparse glycogen, numerous secretory granules, and rare cilia. Inactive chief cells contain a small Golgi apparatus, abundant glycogen, and few secretory granules. Both forms have the usual cytoplasmic organelles and, between adjacent cells, desmosomes. Oxyphil cell cytoplasm is composed of tightly packed mitochondria and glycogen granules, with rare secretory granules. Cells with cytoplasmic characteristics intermediate between chief and oxyphil cells, possibly representing transitional cells, have been observed. Secretory granules of both man and deer are composed of 100 to 200 A particles and short rods, and the granules develop from prosecretory granules in the Golgi region of the cell. The human secretory granules are smaller and more variable in shape than those of the deer. The granules are iron and chrome alum hematoxylin-positive, argyrophilic, and aldehyde fuchsin-positive, permitting light microscopic identification. They are also found in the capillary endothelial cells of the parathyroid and in its surrounding connective tissue. The secretory granules of the parathyroid cells can thus be followed from their formation in the Golgi apparatus almost to their extrusion into the blood stream.
The Performances Analysis of Transformation Methods in Image Watermarking Using Subsamplimg

We investigate the performances of different types of transformations in image watermarking algorithm using subsampling which include discrete cosine transform (DCT), discrete wavelet transform (DWT), and discrete multiwavelet transform (DMWT). The DMWT has been used as decomposition tool to obtain multiresolution data. The efficiencies of these transforms are discussed by evaluating watermarked image quality and robustness of the watermark. Due to the multiresolution representation obtained from using DWT and DMWT, the algorithms using both transforms yield better image quality than the one using DCT. Due to the fact that DMWT provides the possibility of superior performance for image processing applications, the algorithm using DMWT yields best image quality and gives the most robust watermark under common image processing. Simulated results show that the DMWT method is superior to other two methods
Supplemental data methods

# methods Study design Each of the 8 biological samples was compared to a common reference sample consisting of a pool of equal quantities of mRNA from 7 other biological samples. This complex mRNA pool was used as a standard or a common point of measurement that enabled a comparison between the individual mRNA samples. Control of technical and biological noises inherent to microarray experiments was incorporated in the study design. To account for the technical fluctuation of the expression measurements, eight technical replicate values were obtained for each muscle sample. To determine the fluctuation due to tissue sampling, two biological replicate samples were obtained from each biopsy.
Superpoint-based detection against distributed denial of service (DDoS) flooding attacks

DDoS flooding attack is a critical threat to the normal operation of network. However, current feature-based detection methods are cheated by hackers easily and most of these mechanisms do not differentiate between DDoS flooding attacks and legitimate random flash crowds with feature independent and location extended. To address the challenges, we propose a two-stage detection strategy by combining superpoints and flow similarity measurement. To locate the suspicious flows, polymerization degree of destination superpoints is introduced in a moving time window mechanism. Based on the suspicious flows, a sliding-detection algorithm is presented for distinguishing flooding attacks from flash crowds with similarity metrics. Computer simulation results indicate that our detection approach can detect DDoS flooding attacks efficiently and Total Variation Distance (TVD) is the most suitable metric for discriminating DDoS flooding attack flows from flash crowds. Built on flow arrivals, the proposed mechanism is practical for the attack detection on high speed links.
Comparison of outcome measures for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in an outpatient setting.

BACKGROUND: To assist clinicians and researchers in choosing outcome measures for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease attending routine outpatient clinics, a comparative assessment was undertaken of four questionnaires designed to reflect the patients' perception of their physical and emotional health in terms of their feasibility, validity, reliability, and responsiveness to health change. METHODS: Two condition specific questionnaires, the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and Guyatt's Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ), and two generic questionnaires, the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) and Euroqol (EQ), were compared for their discriminative and evaluative properties. Spirometric tests and a walking test were also performed. One hundred and fifty six adults who were clinically judged to have COPD and who attended an outpatient chest clinic were assessed at recruitment and six and 12 months later. Patients were also asked whether their health had changed since their last assessment. RESULTS: Completion rates and consistency between items for dimensions of the SGRQ were lower than for dimensions of the other questionnaires. The distributions of responses were skewed for certain dimensions in all questionnaires except the CRQ. Validity was supported for all instruments insofar as patients' scores were associated with differences in disease severity. The generic questionnaires better reflected other health problems. All instruments were reliable over time. The condition specific questionnaires were more responsive between baseline and first follow up visit but this difference did not persist. While certain dimensions of the SF-36 were responsive to patient perceived changes, this did not apply to the derived single index of the EQ. The rating scale of the EQ, however, provided a quick and easy indicator of change. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from this study supports the CRQ and the SF-36 as comprehensive outcome measures for patients with longstanding COPD.
Understanding the Unusual Looping Track of Hurricane Joaquin (2015) and Its Forecast Errors

Hurricane Joaquin (2015) took a climatologically unusual track southwestward into the Bahamas before recurving sharply out to sea. Several operational forecast models, including the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global Forecast System (GFS), struggled to maintain the southwest motion in their early cycles and instead forecast the storm to turn west and then northwest, striking the U.S. coast. Early cycle GFS track errors are diagnosed using a tropical cyclone (TC) motion error budget equation and found to result from the model 1) not maintaining a sufficiently strong mid- to upper-level ridge northwest of Joaquin, and 2) generating a shallow vortex that did not interact strongly with upper-level northeasterly steering winds. High-resolution model simulations are used to test the sensitivity of Joaquin’s track forecast to both error sources. A control (CTL) simulation, initialized with an analysis generated from cycled hybrid data assimilation, successfully reproduces Joaquin’s observed rapid intensification and southwestward-looping track. A comparison of CTL with sensitivity runs from perturbed analyses confirms that a sufficiently strong mid- to upper-level ridge northwest of Joaquin and a vortex deep enough to interact with northeasterly flows associated with this ridge are both necessary for steering Joaquin southwestward. Contraction and vertical alignment of the CTL vortex during the early forecast period may have also helped draw the low-level vortex center southward. The results indicate that for TCs developing in vertically sheared environments, improved inner-core sampling by means of cloudy radiances and aircraft reconnaissance missions may help reduce track forecast errors by improving the model estimate of vortex depth.
Sub‐mm/mm studies of the molecular gas in the Galactic disk; the TeV gamma ray SNR RXJ1713.7‐3946 and the W28 high mass star forming region

Interstellar molecular clouds are sources of gamma rays through the interactions with cosmic ray protons followed by production of neutral pions which decay into gamma rays. We present new observations of the TeV gamma ray SNR RXJ 1713.7–3946 and the W28 region with the NANTEN2 sub‐mm telescope in the 12CO J = 2−1, 4−3 and 7−6 emission lines. In RXJ 1713.7–3946 we confirm that the local molecular gas having velocities around −10 km s−1 (with respect to the local standard of rest) shows remarkably good spatial correlations with the SNR. We show that the X ray peaks are well correlated with the molecular gas over the whole SNR and suggest that the interactions between the SNR and the molecular gas play an important role in cosmic ray acceleration via several ways including magnetic field compression. The J = 4−3 distribution shows a compact and dense cloud core having a size of ∼1 pc as well as a broad wing towards peak C of the CO distribution. The cloud core shows a remarkable anti‐correlation with the Su.
We Comply with a Little Help from Our Friends: Human Rights, Development Aid, and Well-Being

Abstract:Scholars debate whether human rights treaties and foreign aid are effective in achieving their stated objectives. Using data on more than 100 developing countries over a 20- to 40-year period, we analyze the independent and interactive effects of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and development assistance (general and health-specific) on three population health outcomes: infant mortality rates, life expectancy at birth, and caloric consumption. Pooled OLS and two-way fixed-effects analyses demonstrate that, in conjunction with development assistance for health, being party to the ICESCR improves survival-related outcomes; this is especially true for infant mortality. These findings do not appear to be driven by selection effects (with respect to ICESCR ratification) or simultaneity bias (with respect to aid receipt). In some cases, targeted aid promotes compliance with a human rights treaty that is otherwise difficult to implement; in other cases, ICESCR membership steers aid effects in different directions. Our findings challenge received wisdoms regarding the ineffectiveness of international human rights law and foreign aid.
GADD45a Promoter Regulation by a Functional Genetic Variant Associated with Acute Lung Injury

Rationale Growth arrest DNA damage inducible alpha (GADD45a) is a stress-induced gene we have shown to participate in the pathophysiology of ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) via regulation of mechanical stress-induced Akt ubiquitination and phosphorylation. The regulation of GADD45a expression by mechanical stress and its relationship with acute lung injury (ALI) susceptibility and severity, however, remains unknown. Objectives We examined mechanical stress-dependent regulatory elements (MSRE) in the GADD45a promoter and the contribution of promoter polymorphisms in GADD45a expression and ALI susceptibility. Methods and Results Initial studies in GADD45a knockout and heterozygous mice confirmed the relationship of GADD45a gene dose to VILI severity. Human lung endothelial cells (EC) transfected with a luciferase vector containing the full length GADD45a promoter sequence (−771 to +223) demonstrated a >4 fold increase in GADD45a expression in response to 18% cyclic stretch (CS, 4 h) compared to static controls while specific promoter regions harboring CS-dependent MSRE were identified using vectors containing serial deletion constructs of the GADD45a promoter. In silico analyses of GADD45a promoter region (−371 to −133) revealed a potential binding site for specificity protein 1 (SP1), a finding supported by confirmed SP1 binding with the GADD45a promoter and by the significant attenuation of CS-dependent GADD45a promoter activity in response to SP1 silencing. Separately, case-control association studies revealed a significant association of a GADD45a promoter SNP at −589 (rs581000, G>C) with reduced ALI susceptibility. Subsequently, we found allelic variation of this SNP is associated with both differential GADD45a expression in mechanically stressed EC (18% CS, 4 h) and differential binding site of interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7) at this site. Conclusion These results strongly support a functional role for GADD45a in ALI/VILI and identify a specific gene variant that confers risk for ALI.
Robotic harness for the field assessment of galloping gaits

An important tool in clarifying various theories governing the dynamics of rapid quadrupedal gaits, such as the trot and gallop, is the measurement of body attitude. Such measurements are complicated in open field environments because of the large ranges and high data rates needed due to the speeds (7 m/s) and rapid shifts in dynamics present. To address this a lightweight inertial sensing harness is introduced with sensing design based on the KOLT robot. Its mass center is collocated with the subject so as to reduce dynamic bias. This work combines dynamic gait system identification and motion estimation and is demonstrated on a Labrador retriever (Canis lupus familiaris) through measurements of the gallop over long spans (20 m) and at data rates comparable with gait laboratories (400 Hz). The results are consistent with laboratory measurements, but seem to suggest a roll and yaw cross-coupling during gallop.
Parallelization of the MAFFT multiple sequence alignment program

Summary: Multiple sequence alignment (MSA) is an important step in comparative sequence analyses. Parallelization is a key technique for reducing the time required for large-scale sequence analyses. The three calculation stages, all-to-all comparison, progressive alignment and iterative refinement, of the MAFFT MSA program were parallelized using the POSIX Threads library. Two natural parallelization strategies (best-first and simple hill-climbing) were implemented for the iterative refinement stage. Based on comparisons of the objective scores and benchmark scores between the two approaches, we selected a simple hill-climbing approach as the default. Availability: The parallelized version of MAFFT is available at http://mafft.cbrc. jp/alignment/software/. This version currently supports the Linux operating system only. Contact: kazutaka.katoh@aist.go. jp Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Social media and microtargeting: Political data processing and the consequences for Germany

Amongst other methods, political campaigns employ microtargeting, a specific technique used to address the individual voter. In the US, microtargeting relies on a broad set of collected data about the individual. However, due to the unavailability of comparable data in Germany, the practice of microtargeting is far more challenging. Citizens in Germany widely treat social media platforms as a means for political debate. The digital traces they leave through their interactions provide a rich information pool, which can create the necessary conditions for political microtargeting following appropriate algorithmic processing. More specifically, data mining techniques enable information gathering about a people's general opinion, party preferences and other non-political characteristics. Through the application of data-intensive algorithms, it is possible to cluster users in respect of common attributes, and through profiling identify whom and how to influence. Applying machine learning algorithms, this paper explores the possibility to identify micro groups of users, which can potentially be targeted with special campaign messages, and how this approach can be expanded to large parts of the electorate. Lastly, based on these technical capabilities, we discuss the ethical and political implications for the German political system.
Decision Support System Model: Topic Analysis to the IT Project

We study the behaviors and the problem in changing the project topic during the last four years. We use primary sources to develop the concept and the decision support system. This research proposed the concept of making decision. The concept is used to apply to the problem when the students choose the final project. The process of the system is taken from regular project defense process to develop tree-like decision theory that will be the supporting model in P-DSS model. The P-DSS system analyzes the student's information on choosing the project in Information Technology and matches the skills, practices, and the curriculum regulations.
Suitable Site Selection for Rainwater Harvesting and Storage Case Study Using Dohuk Governorate

The Middle East is an inherently dry zone. It has experienced severe drought for the last seven years, and climate change has made the situation worse. The Dohuk governorate has been suffering from an appalling water crisis. One possible way of relieving this water crisis is by properly harvesting the rainwater. Rainwater harvesting is a widely used method of storing rainwater in the countries presenting with drought characteristics. Several pieces of research have derived and developed different criteria and techniques to select suitable sites for harvesting rainwater. The main aim of this research was to identify and select suitable sites for the potential erection of dams, as well as to derive a model builder in ArcMap 10.4. 1. The model combined several parameters, such as slope, runoff potential, land cover/use, stream order, soil quality, and hydrology to determine the suitability of the site for harvesting rainwater. To compute the land use/cover categories, the study depended on Landsat image data from 2018. Supervised classification was applied using the ENVI 5 software, while the slope mapping and drainage order were extracted using a digital elevation model. Inverse distance weighting (IDW) was used for the spatial interpolation of the rain data. The results demonstrated that suitable areas for water harvesting, are located in the middle and northern part of the research area, and in intensively cultivated zones. The main soil texture in these suitable sites was loam, while the rainfall rate amounted to 750 to 900 mm. This research shows that 15% and 13% of the area studied can be categorized as having excellent and good suitability for water harvesting, respectively. Furthermore, 21% and 27% of the area studied were of moderate and poor suitability, while the remaining 24% were not suitable at all.
THE RESPONSES OF SALSOLA ORIENTALIS TO SALT STRESS

Objective: Salt stress is a world-wide problem and soil salinity is common in arid and semi-arid regions. This study was undertaken to investigate salt tolerance in Salsola orientalis in laboratory and natural conditions and recognize the mechanisms that allow it to tolerate these conditions. Methods: This study had two parts of greenhouse and natural habitats. The treatment solutions for salinity tests were different concentrations of NaCl and Na2SO4 (0, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 mM) with three replicates and growth parameters and proline and soluble sugar were determined in vegetative growth stage in greenhouse. Soil (two depths of 0-10 cm and 10-45 cm) and plant (root and shoot) samples have been harvested from three 200 meters transects in three provinces of Esfahan, Semnan and Markazi. Plant proline and soluble sugar and soil texture and EC were measured in laboratory. Collected data were analyzed using a factorial experiment and means were compared by DMRT method by SPSS software. Results: Results indicated that proline and soluble sugar were significantly affected by salinity levels and increased with salinity increase. The rate of growth parameters increased with an increase in salinity up to 300 mM while salinity levels more than 300 mM NaCl caused all growth characteristics decline. Data obtained from the laboratory experiment confirmed the findings noted during the field study. It has to be mentioned that nature is unpredictable and observing unexpected trends under specific conditions is not impossible.
Clathrin structure characterized with monoclonal antibodies. I. Analysis of multiple antigenic sites

Three monoclonal antibodies that react with previously undefined antigenic determinants on the clathrin molecule have been produced and characterized. They were isolated from a fusion between myeloma cells and popliteal lymphocytes from SJL mice that had received footpad injections of human brain clathrin. This protocol was chosen to favor the production of antibodies to poorly immunogenic proteins and thereby increase the repertoire of anti-clathrin monoclonal antibodies. One antibody (X16) reacts preferentially with the heavier of the two clathrin light chains (LCa) when it is not associated with heavy chain. This specificity is different from that of the anti-LCa antibody, CVC.6, which has preferential reactivity with heavy chain-associated LCa. In addition, X16 and CVC.6 bound simultaneously to LCa, confirming that they react with different sites. The other two antibodies produced, X19 and X22, react with two different determinants on the clathrin heavy chain, based on immunoprecipitation, Western blot, and binding studies. Competitive binding studies with anti-clathrin monoclonal antibodies showed that they define a total of five distinct antigenic determinants on bovine clathrin.
COMBINING VISUAL AND AUDIO INFORMATION FOR NOISE REDUCTION IN MOBILE PHONE COMMUNICATION

This paper describes a novel approach for noise reduction in mobile phone communication by combining visual and audio information. An Active Noise Control (ANC) system and a Spectral Subtraction technique are adopted to cancel environment noise in the mobile phone communication. In addition, a vision system is employed to detect the non-speech and speech periods of the target speaker by detecting the difference of the ratio of width and length of the lip between consecutive frames. During the non-speech period, noise cancellation is performed by the ANC. At the same time, noise spectrum is analyzed and then used to cancel the noise during the speech period using the spectral subtraction technique. This approach is suitable for mobile phone communication which only one microphone and phone’s camera is available.