Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cortico-thalamo-striatal circuit components’ volumes and their correlations differ significantly among patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder: a case–control MRI study

ABSTRACT AIM: In the present study, we aimed to determine the volume differences in brain regions involved in cortical-striatal-thalamic-cortical circuit (CSTC) between healthy subjects and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) patients. We also evaluated the potential relationship between volumes of region of interest and various illness parameters (duration and current severity OCD, and the influence of drug treatment). METHODS: We examined the volumetric differences in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), thalamus and striatum between OCD patients (n = 21) and healthy controls (HCs) (n = 25). RESULTS: Patients with OCD had significantly larger total, right, and left DLPFC, and OFC volumes compared to HCs. Total, and left ACC, total, and left striatum volumes were significantly smaller in OCD patients than in HC. The thalamus volumes were not different between two groups. The most of volumetric correlations in HCs disappeared among OCD patients. Only, the correlation between the volumes of left striaum and left ACC volume remained significant. Fisher's r-to-z transformation tests indicated that correlation coefficients of brain volumes significantly differed between both groups for right ACC and left (z = 2.17, p = .03) and right OFC (z = 2.00, p = .04); left ACC and right OFC (z = 2.41, p = .01); right ACC and left (z = 2.94, p = .003), and right striatum (z = 2.43, p = .01). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate the impaired connectivity of ACC, OFC, and striatum in the pathophysiology of OCD. Further research is needed to explore precisely which brain regions nuclei are specifically involved in the occurence of OCD symptoms.
Annual variability of nitrogen concentrations and export from forested catchments: A consequence of climatic variability, sampling strategies or human interference?

This study was based on the data from 18 years of monitoring in six forested catchments. The aim was to find links between annual estimates of export and concentrations of NO3-N and organic N and hydroclimatological factors, sampling strategy and human interference. A topography-based wetness index was used to assess whether the effects of forestry activities depended on prevailing wetness conditions. For organic N, annual runoff was the main explaining factor in three catchments. The flow condition during sampling was for organic N the main explaining factor in three and for NO 3-N in one catchment. Effects of clear-cutting of 14% in one catchment were observed. For organic N, the model could be improved by considering clear-cutting in wet areas only. The southernmost catchment, but also the northernmost catchment with the lowest deposition, showed links to atmospheric deposition, demonstrating that deposition can cause a significant direct response in streamwater concentrations in nutrient-poor catchments.
Dead or alive - estimating post-release mortality of Atlantic cod in the recreational fishery.

Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is one of the most important commercial and recreational target species in European marine waters. Recent recreational fisheries surveys revealed that recreational cod catches and release rates are substantial compared to the commercial fishery, particularly in the western Baltic Sea. Despite high release rates, no literature exists exploring the post-release mortality of cod and potential sublethal effects after catch-and-release in recreational fisheries. This study investigates (i) the post-release mortality of undersized cod, (ii) potential factors affecting mortality, and (iii) consequences of the catch-and-release process on cod. During four experimental trials, western Baltic Sea cod were angled from a charter vessel and thereafter observed together with control fish in netpens for 10 d at holding temperatures between 6.2 and 19.88C. Adjusted mortality rates for angled cod ranged from 0.027.3% (overall mean 11.2%). A logistic regression analysis revealed that bleeding and holding-water temperature were the only significant predictors of mortality. Slow hook injury healing (.10 d) and bacterial wound infections were observed in some surviving cod. The results will help to increase the accuracy of recreational cod removal estimates and thereby improve the management of western Baltic cod stock.
ESO VISTA Public Surveys - A Status Overview

The ESO policies for public surveys include regular monitoring and reviews of the progress of the surveys to ensure their legacy value and scientific competitiveness. The review process is carried out on the basis of reports by the ESO survey team and the survey PIs submitted to the relevant Public Survey Panel (PSP) — the VISTA PSP in this case. A summary of the time allocation to VISTA surveys, the service mode observations and the current progress after two years of telescope operation is provided. Furthermore the content of the data products delivery by the survey teams to the ESO Science Archive Facility is described.
The isolation of microsatellite loci in the Mediterranean fruitfly Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) using a biotin/streptavidin enrichment technique

The Medfly ( Ceratitis capitata ) is a polyphagous dipteran pest which has spread from North Africa to the countries of the Mediterranean Basin and has also invaded tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world. Colonizing populations typically possess low levels of genetic variability. Microsatellites provide an effective means of investigating the population structure of such genetically depauperate populations, however, microsatellite markers traditionally require a long phase of development in new taxa. We used a biotin/ streptavidin capture technique to isolate microsatellites directly from C. capitata genomic DNA and we describe here the identification of seven polymorphic microsatellite markers in C. capitata .
Genetic structure and introgression in riparian populations of Populus alba L.

Abstract White poplar (Populus alba) is a widespread species of the northern hemisphere. Introgressed populations or hybrid zones with the related species of the European aspen (Populus tremula) have been suggested as potential venues for the identification of functionally important variation for germplasm conservation, restoration efforts and tree breeding. Data on the genetic diversity and structure of introgressed P. alba are available only for sympatric populations from central Europe. Here, clonality, introgression and spatial genetic patterns were evaluated in three riparian populations of P. alba along the Ticino, Paglia‐Tevere and Cesano river drainages in Italy. Samples of all three populations were typed for five nuclear microsatellite markers and 137 polymorphic amplified fragment length polymorphisms. Microsatellite‐based inbreeding co‐efficients (F IS) were significantly positive in all three populations. Genetic diversity was consistently highest in Ticino, the population with the highest level of introgression from P. tremula. Population differentiation (F ST) was low between the Ticino valley in northern Italy and the Cesano valley in central Italy and between the central Italian populations of Cesano and Paglia‐Tevere, consistent with a role of the Appenine mountain range as a barrier to gene flow between adjacent drainage areas. Introgression was not the primary determinant of within‐population spatial genetic structure (SGS) in the studied populations.
Tire-Road Friction Estimation based on Frequency Characteristics of In- Wheel Electric Drive System

In-wheel drive systems which combine with the permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) and tires are highly electromechanical-coupled. This paper studies the dynamic characteristics of this system to estimate the tire-road friction condition. After a dynamic tire model and a PMSM model is studied, a transfer function from control signal of the motor to the wheel dynamics is obtained. As a result of analyses about longitudinal dynamics in the frequency domains, motor-wheel resonance frequency is observed, which is related to the tire-road friction. Based on this feature, the friction estimation method combining a system identification technique to find dominant resonance frequency and recursive least square filtering, is applied for simulation. The simulation result shows that the proposed approach can detect road friction in the case that the tire is freely rolling, which is not sensitive to the noise and error of wheel speed signal.
Corrective Processes in Modeling Reference Resolution

Reference resolution is one of the core components of language understanding. In spite of its centrality, psychological evidence has shown that the reference resolution process is prone to errors and egocentric bias. In this work, we propose an extension to Analogical Reference Resolution, a computational model based on analogical retrieval, which accounts for such errors. We test the extended model on a study by Epley et al. (2004) and replicate human patterns of bias and correction.
Action Decomposable MDP A Linear Programming formulation for queuing network problems

Markov decision processes (MDP) have provided general frameworks for many control, decision making, and stochastic optimization problems. In this paper we are interested in a class of queuing control that can be modelled with a Continuous-Time MDP but that have an exponential actions state space with classic methods. The Event Based Dynamic Programming approach deals with this problem and provides some algorithms (value iteration) to compute the best policy efficiently. However there is no formal definition of the subclass of MDP models they can tackle. The first contribution of this paper to define this class, naming it "Action Decomposable MDP". The second contribution is to give a new MDP Linear Programming formulation using "Action Decomposability" that contributes to extend MDP solution techniques. Finally we give some examples of application of this framework and give numeric experiments showing the interest of using the action decomposition properties.
Morphological variation in the catadromous Australian bass, from seven geographically distinct riverine drainages

The Australian bass Macquaria novemaculeata is a catadromous species restricted to coastal drainages of south-eastern Australia and recently has undergone reductions in population numbers. Morphometric variation among bass from seven distinct drainages was used to test for the presence of stock structuring. Males and females were treated separately. For both male and female bass, significant heterogeneity in morphology among sample locales was revealed by univariate statistics and discriminant function analysis, with morphological variation found to differ in a clinal pattern. The demonstration of population-specific morphological traits among bass from different river drainages may indicate that inter-populational movement is restricted and that each sample locale constitutes a separate stock of bass.
Influence of boundary conditions on stochastic movement of biological molecular motors

The aim of this work is to show the use of statistical physics in biomechanics, especially for modelling a muscle on molecular level. To approximate stochastic (Markovian) evolution in the spatial variable of muscle configuration, we solve the Fokker-Planck equation with the use of the Wang-Peskin-Elston algorithm. The approach is used for numerical simulation in MATLAB of the system time development with different boundary conditions.
The regulatory framework for marine dredging indicators and their operational efficiency within the UK: A possible model for other nations?

Bayer, E. , Barnes, R. A. , and Rees, H. L. 2008. The regulatory framework for marine dredging indicators and their operational efficiency within the UK: a possible model for other nations? – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 1402 –1406. The use of indicators within marine policy and legislation is a developing phenomenon worldwide. As governments begin to take a more holistic approach to marine management, it is inevitable that economic and social goals will increasingly become enshrined in environmental regulations. Consequently, it is imperative to reach an understanding as to how scientific, economic, and social goals are interconnected, and how they influence indicator development. Arguably, a more integrated framework is needed to provide policymakers and legislators with a coherent approach to applying marine indicators within the context of sustainable development. We examine a variety of indicators used in support of the environmental management of the UK marine aggregate-extraction industry and discuss the current UK regulatory framework in relation to the requirements of two EC directives. Additionally, we explore the depth to which interfacing occurs between various policy goals (i.e. scientific, social, economic, and legal). The study highlights the importance of good communication between the various government agencies and disciplines to better achieve sustainable-development objectives. If effective interfacing can be achieved, with scientific aims properly embedded within policy and legislative agendas, then the UK could provide a useful regulatory model for other Member States.
ADVANCED TECHNIQUE FOR DETECTION OF RANKING FRAUDS IN MOBILE APPLICATIONS

— Nowadays ranking fraud of mobile Apps had increases in wide range, which have purpose of striking up to Apps in the popularity list. The developers are supposed to work on software but there are also many developers which makes fraud ranking and puffed their App’s sales. On the leaderboard the ranking of App’s can be manipulated, so this is main problem. Here a holistic view is determined for ranking fraud and new system is used for detection of ranking fraud for mobile App’s. The given system first works on locating the ranking fraud by mining the historical data i.e. mining the document collection with active period. Furthermore, explore three types of evidences like ranking based, rating based and reviews based evidences. Here, Bisecting K-means and Hybrid clustering algorithms are used to integrate all evidences for fraud detection. Finally the system is evaluated with real world App’s data collected from Apples App store. The experiments shows virtue of given system and shows scalability and regularity of ranking fraud activities and algorithms.
The Chair Project: A Case-Study for using Generative Machine Learning as Automatism

We present a case study for the use of generative adversarial neural networks as automatisms to stimulate (or augment) the imagination of human designers. We generate evocative visual prompts for chair designs that become the basis for a design process in which we create sketches, 3D models, and physical prototypes
A modelling approach to assessment and improvement of nitrogen management on New Zealand arable farms: a case study

The Simple Crop Resource Uptake Model operating within the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (SCRUM-APSIM) was used to simulate nitrogen (N) leaching from crop rotations over 2-3 growing seasons from three arable farms in Canterbury, New Zealand. Predicted average whole-farm leaching ranged from 0.5 to 34 kg N/ha across farms and seasons. Leaching was mainly influenced by rainfall and soil type, but management practices determined the amount of soil N at risk of loss. Nitrogen leaching correlated with mineral soil N at the start of the season and/or prolonged fallow periods. The model also indicated that high residual soil N at the end of the season resulted from excessive fertiliser N application and mineralisation of N-rich crop residues. Nitrogen leaching mitigation options i.e. growing oats as a catch crop on paddocks that were fallow after summer harvest, and lower rates of fertiliser N for high soil residual N paddocks, were evaluated in SCRUM-APSIM. Growing catch crops resulted in 3-9% reduction in N leaching and an increase of New Zealand dollar ($) 6-118/ha/y in gross margins if crops were sold as animal feed. Across seasons, reducing fertiliser N to match crop requirement reduced N leaching by 2-5% and increased gross margins by $1-16/ha/y. A further evaluation of modelestimated versus farmer-estimated N fertiliser rates indicated potential to reduce fertiliser N without yield penalty. These modelling results have demonstrated the effectiveness of catch crops in reducing N leaching and highlighted the importance of using fertiliser calculators when prescribing fertiliser N rates. Additional keywords: environment, profitability, nitrogen balance
Effects of cutting position along mother plants on rooting of hybrid coffee varieties

The study was conducted on-station at Tanzania Coffee Research Institute to evaluate the effect of stem cuttings position along the mother plants on rooting of hybrid coffee varieties. Stem cuttings were assessed in a rooting medium of forest soil and sand at a ratio of 2:1 by volume under semi-controlled environment. A split plot experiment in a randomized complete block design with four replications was used. The main factor was five Arabica coffee varieties and the sub-factor consisted of four types of position of stem cuttings, namely base, middle, apex and control (mixture). Four months after planting, stem cuttings were evaluated for root growth characteristics. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using CoStat software and treatment means were separated based on Tukey’s test at (P ≤ 0.05). Results obtained indicate that positions of stem cuttings along the mother plant had a significant effect (P = 0.04) on rooting of coffee varieties with stem cuttings taken from basal and middle positions having the highest rooting percentage with varieties N39-1 and KP423-2 having the highest rooting percentage. Further, interaction between varieties and position of stem cuttings significantly (P = 0.04) affected the rooting percentage and the number of lateral roots at (P = 0.01). The results from this study indicate that clonal multiplication of coffee stems cuttings is affected by varieties and position taken along the mother plant. Further studies are required to determine yield performance of the stem cuttings in relation to their positions along the mother plants.
Modélisation, estimation et contrôle des drones à voilures tournantes : Un aperçu des projets de recherche français

L’objectif de cet article est de présenter un ensemble de résultats relatifs à la modélisation, l’estimation, et la commande des drones à voilures tournantes. Cette étude s’appuie sur un ensemble de projets récents menés par des laboratoires de recherche français. Nous proposons tout d’abord une description des configurations les plus connues de ce type de véhicule et nous analysons leurs atouts et leurs faiblesses sur la base des spécificités dynamiques. Une description des stratégies de contrôle permettant de répondre à différents objectifs de navigation est ensuite donnée. La troisième partie est consacrée aux problèmes d’estimation de l’état. Elle offre une description des différentes approches du problème de filtrage permettant de fusionner les différentes données sensorielles pour reconstruire tout ou partie de l’état du véhicule. Enfin, les techniques d’asservissement visuel dédiées à la commande de drone sont présentées à la fin de ce
Model-Driven Framework for Evaluating Learning Outcomes Process

Evaluating learning outcomes in academic institution can be complex and challenging. Several quantitative and qualitative assessment approaches have been adopted to enhance the process of managing, measuring and visualizing the learning outcomes. The difficulty of implementing and analyzing the evaluation process is mainly caused by the nature of the raw data used in assessment. The data is usually unstructured, complex, text-heavy and collected in high volumes. It may also be extracted from heterogeneous platforms and require privileged accessibility. Using paper-based assessment, such as rubric, in complex evaluation process may cause error prone, confusion in analyzing the learning outcomes and subject to different interpretations of the assessment by academic constituencies. In this study, we propose a model-driven framework for evaluation process of the learning outcomes. The framework has four activities: The data collection and data processing activities are used to extract complex data into a useful information for assessment. The model-driven assessment activity is used to generate and analyze goal models of the learning outcomes in a formal way and allows the assessment at different level of academic institutions. Finally, the evaluation reporting activity is used to generate reports that summarizes the institutional status, metrics and real-time data in a form visual object. A prototype implementation of the framework is evaluated using a case study of an ongoing project at Al-Ahliyya Amman University.
Dynamic Encryption Key Design and Management for Embedded Systems with Insecure External Memory

To effectively encrypt memory contents of an embedded processor, multiple keys which are dynamically changed are necessary. However, the resources required to store and manage these keys on-chip (so that they are secure) can be extensive. This paper examines novel methods to improve efﬁciency of encryption(by reducing the amount of re-encryption due to change of key, hence improving the overall encryption speed), and to reduce the required memory resources (by using a special key construction and an implementation scheme). Experiments on a set of applications show that on average, 95% memory and on-chip cost can be saved when compared to the state of art approach.
Studies on Desi and Kabull Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Cultivars: Levels of Protease Inhibitors, Levels of Polyphenolic Compounds and in vitro Protein Digestibility

The levels of trypsin inhibitor activity were higher in both kabuli and desi seeds of chickpea than their chymotrypsin inhibitor activity. Mean values for the trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitor units in dhal and seed samples of desi were higher as compared with kabuli cultivars. The presence of seed coat reduced the protein extraction. Mean values of polyphenolic compounds in seed samples of desi were more than twice that of kabuli and these differences disappeared in dhal samples indicating the distribution of these compounds mainly in the seed coat. The in vitro protein digestibility studies showed larger differences between desi seed and dhal samples when compared with kabuli seed and dhal samples. Polyphenolic compounds exhibited a highly significant and negative corretation (r = 0.872**) with in vitro digestibility of protein and a significant positive correlation with trypsin (r = 0.612*) and chymotrypsin (r = 0.507*) inhibitor activities.
Move it or lose it: movement and mortality of sablefish tagged in Alaska

A basic step in understanding the dynamics of a fish population is to quantify movement and mortality rates. Conventional mark–recapture experiments have provided the foundation for studies on animal movement, particularly for fish. Previous studies have shown rapid mixing of sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) among fishery regulatory areas, with the pattern of movement related to fish size. Over 300 000 tag releases in Alaska and over 27 000 tag recoveries from 1979 to 2009 were analyzed. We used a Markov model to quantify annual movement probabilities among areas for three size groups of sablefish. The negative-binomial likelihood was used to model the tag-recovery data because of significant overdispersion. Annual movement probabilities were high, ranging from 10% to 88% depending on area of occupancy at each time step and size group. Overall, movement probabilities were very different between areas of occupancy and moderately different between size groups. Estimated annual movement of small sablefish from.