Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Species richness, geographical affinities, and activity patterns of mammals in premontane Andean forests of the Magdalena river basin of Colombia

The Magdalena river basin is home to more than half of Colombia’s human population, and consequently the basin also harbors their economic activities. These activities have generated high deforestation rates and negative pressures on natural resources. With such a scenario of forest loss it is imperative to assess the state of the biodiversity and its conservation. Here, during six years we assessed the mammalian species richness and abundance in premontane forests of Caldas department in the Magdalena river basin. We also presented additional information on the activity patterns and geographical affinities of this fauna. We recorded 100 species of mammals with the Chiroptera as the richest order, followed by Rodentia. Most of the species are common and are not under risk of extinction; however, it is important to highlight the presence of six endemic species, three vulnerable species and one endangered species (white-footed tamarin). The mammalian fauna of this region is similar to other lowland localities in the Neotropics, and less similar to highland localities, including the nearby ones. Specifically, this fauna is most similar to lowland Tolima, and the Caribbean region of Colombia, Venezuela and Costa Rica; however, when we accounted only for bat fauna, it was more similar to the Caribbean and Pacific regions of Colombia. To secure the long-term persistence of these species we recommend maintenance of the current corridors such as riparian forests and living fences and an increase in the forested area.
Additions and Corrections to the Foliicolous Lichen Flora of Costa Rica. The Family Arthoniaceae, with Notes on the Genus Stirtonia

Abstract The taxonomy of the foliicolous members of Arthoniaceae (Anhonia, Arthothelium, Cryptothecia, Eremothecella) in Costa Rica is revised. Cryptothecia farkasiae sp. nov. is described, being closely related to Stirtonia sprucei, and bearing pycnidia reminiscent of Eremothecella. Anhonia lividofusca is placed in synonymy with A. aciniformis. Pycnidia and pycnospores are further described for Anhonialeptosperma, A. cyanea, A. palmulacea, A. trilocularis, Anhothelium cingulatum, Stinonia sprucei and S. macrocephala, and campylidia were found on thalli of Anhonia aciniformis. Anhonia nigratula and Cryptothecia Candida are reported for the first time from Costa Rica, and new localities are given for previously reported species. Ecological data are provided, and the relationships between foliicolous members of the Arthoniaceae are discussed.
Sulfolobus Systems Biology: Cool Hot Design for Metabolic Pathways

Life at high temperature challenges the stability of macromolecules and cellular components, but also the stability of metabolites, which has received little attention. For the cell, the thermal instability of metabolites means it has to deal with the loss of free energy and carbon, or in more extremes, it might result in the accumulation of dead-end compounds. In order to elucidate the requirements and principles of metabolism at high temperature, we used a comparative blueprint modelling approach of the lower part of the glycolysis cycle. The conversion of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate to pyruvate from the thermoacidophilic Crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus P2 (optimal growth temperature 80 degrees C) was modelled based on the available blueprint model of the eukaryotic model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae (optimal growth temperature of 30 degrees C). In S. solfataricus only one reaction is different, namely glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate is directly converted into 3-phosphoglycerate by the non-phosphorylating glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, omitting the extremely heat-instable 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate. By taking the temperature-dependent non-enzymatic (spontaneous) degradation of 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate in account, modelling reveals that a hot lifestyle requires a cool design.
Evidence for spreading seizure as a cause of theta-alpha activity electrographic pattern in stereo-EEG seizure recordings

Intracranial electroencephalography is a standard tool in clinical evaluation of patients with focal epilepsy. Various early electrographic seizure patterns differing in frequency, amplitude, and waveform of the oscillations are observed. The pattern most common in the areas of seizure propagation is the so-called theta-alpha activity (TAA), whose defining features are oscillations in the θ – α range and gradually increasing amplitude. A deeper understanding of the mechanism underlying the generation of the TAA pattern is however lacking. In this work we evaluate the hypothesis that the TAA patterns are caused by seizures spreading across the cortex. To do so, we perform simulations of seizure dynamics on detailed patient-derived cortical surfaces using the spreading seizure model as well as reference models with one or two homogeneous sources. We then detect the occurrences of the TAA patterns both in the simulated stereo-electroencephalographic signals and in the signals of recorded epileptic seizures from a cohort of fifty patients, and we compare the features of the groups of detected TAA patterns to assess the plausibility of the different models. Our results show that spreading seizure hypothesis is qualitatively consistent with the evidence available in the seizure recordings, and it can explain the features of the detected TAA groups best among the examined models.
Rethinking WOM Codes to Enhance the Lifetime in New SSD Generations

New generations of Solid State Drives (SSDs) offer increased storage density with higher bits per cell, but an order of magnitude lower Program and Erase (P/E) cycles. This decreases the number of times one can rewrite on the SSD, and hence, the overall lifetime of the drive. One way of improving drive lifetime is by applying Write-Once Memory (WOM) codes which can rewrite on top of pre-existing data without erasing previous data. This increases the total logical data that can be written on the physical medium before an erase operation is required. Traditional WOM codes are not scalable and only offer up to 50% increase in total writable logical data between any two erase operations. In this paper we present a novel, simple and highly efﬁcient family of WOM codes. Although our design is generic and could be applied to any N-Level cell drive, we focus on QLC drives to demonstrate and evaluate the proposed scheme and show that it can increase the total logical writable data before an erase in a range of 50-375% the physical medium capacity with varying storage overheads. Next, we argue that it is possible to further increase the total logical writable data between two erase operations by up to 500% with the help of a carefully chosen internal error-correcting code (ECC) already present in SSDs.
NeuOS: A Latency-Predictable Multi-Dimensional Optimization Framework for DNN-driven Autonomous Systems

Deep neural networks (DNNs) used in computer vision have become widespread techniques commonly used in autonomous embedded systems for applications such as image/object recognition and tracking. The stringent space, weight, and power constraints seen in such systems impose a major impediment for practical and safe implementation of DNNs, because they have to be latency predictable while ensuring minimum energy consumption and maximum accuracy. Unfortunately, exploring this optimization space is very challenging because (1) smart coordination has to be performed among system-and application-level solutions, (2) layer characteristics should be taken into account, and more importantly, (3) when multiple DNNs exist, a consensus on system conﬁgurations should be calculated, which is a problem that is an order of magnitude harder than any previously considered scenario. In this paper, we present NeuOS, a comprehensive latency predictable system solution for running multi-DNN workloads in autonomous systems. NeuOS can guarantee latency predictability, while managing energy optimization and dynamic accuracy adjustment based on speciﬁc system constraints via smart coordinated system-and application-level decision-making among multiple DNN instances. We implement and extensively evaluate NeuOS on two state-of-the-art autonomous system platforms for a set of popular DNN models. Experiments show that NeuOS rarely misses deadlines, and can improve energy and accuracy considerably compared to state of the art.
Fine-Grained Isolation for Scalable, Dynamic, Multi-tenant Edge Clouds

5G edge clouds promise a pervasive computational infrastructure a short network hop away, enabling a new breed of smart devices that respond in real-time to their physical surroundings. Unfortunately, today’s operating system designs fail to meet the goals of scalable isolation, dense multi-tenancy, and high performance needed for such applications. In this paper we introduce EdgeOS that emphasizes system-wide isolation as ﬁne-grained as per-client. We propose a novel memory movement accelerator architecture that employs data copying to enforce strong isolation without performance penalties. To support scalable isolation, we introduce a new protection domain implementation that offers lightweight isolation, fast startup and low latency even under high churn. We implement EdgeOS in a microkernel based OS and demonstrate running high scale network middleboxes using the Click software router and endpoint applications such as memcached, a TLS proxy, and neural network inference. We reduce startup latency by 170X compared to Linux processes, and improve latency by three orders of magnitude when running 300 to 1000 edge-cloud memcached instances on one server.
Phyto-sanitary monitoring of coriander crops in south-east Bulgaria.

In the present study the results from monitoring weed infestation, development of diseases and pests in the coriander crops are given. The aim of the study is to identify the weed infestation, diseases and pests. In the coriander fields, a total of 28 weed species from 14 families have been registered. All over investigated fields, Amaranthus retroflexus L. , Chenopodium album L. , Sinapis arvensis L. , Anthemis spp. , Polygonum convolvulus L. and Cirsium arvense (L) Scop. are found. Six pests belonging to three orders: Hymenoptera, Hemiptera and Orthoptera are determined. The representatives of the order Hemiptera are dominant. Predator species from three families – Coccinella septempunctata L. (Coccinellidae, Coleoptera), Chrysopa sp. (Chrysopidae, Neuroptera) and Syrphus sp. (Syrphidae, Diptera) are found. Identified are five fungi, causing disease to coriander Alternaria sp. , Fusarium complex, Phoma sp. , Macrophomina phaseolina and Botrytis cenerea. In the rosette stage, sowings of the coriander show diseases with prevalent causes of bacteria origin, whose determination is to be done.
Lifetime Prevalence Of Male-Male Ipv Perpetration In A Community Health Clinic-Based Sample: Implications For Self-Reported Sti And Condom Use

Men who engage in sexual behaviors with other men are at high risk for developing a sexually transmitted infection (STI). They also have reduced access to health care services and poorer health outcomes after developing an STI than their white or higher-income counterparts. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an established risk factor for STI contraction and non-condom use in male-female dyads. Such research on IPV in male-male couples is lacking. The objectives of this study are to document the lifetime prevalence of malemale IPV among an urban, minority community health center-based sample, examine associations between male-male perpetrated IPV and self-reported STI symptomology in the past year, and examine the association of male-male IPV perpetration and lifetime perpetration of forced unprotected sex against another man. We conducted a secondary analysis of data collected through a cross sectional survey of lowincome, minority men. We found a lifetime prevalence of IPV perpetration of 58.8%. Nearly 20% of the sample reported ever forcing another man into unprotected sex. One third of the sample (34.1%) reported STI symptoms in the past year. IPV perpetration was highly predictive of perpetration of forced unprotected sex with another man (aOR = 32.3; 95% CI 3.19-328.0). Men reporting perpetration of IPV against another man were more likely to report STI symptoms in the past year (aOR = 4.52; 1.48-13.77). The results of this study provide evidence that male-male IPV is prevalent in low-income, minority populations, and highlights an important physical and mental health burden that is currently under-addressed.
Elevated mortality of residual trees following structural retention harvesting in boreal mixedwoods

In recent years boreal forests have been harvested to retain a portion of the original canopy, thereby providing forest structure, mostly for biodiversity reasons. Boreal mixedwood cutovers were surveyed at one and five years after harvesting with approximately 10% structural retention, to quantify the mean annual mortality rates of the residual trembling aspen, balsam poplar, paper birch and white spruce trees. For comparison, “natural” mortality rates by species were estimated from permanent sample plots in stands of similar composition. Species ranking of the annual mortality rates of residuals in areas harvested with structural retention were: poplar (10.2%) > birch (8.7%) > aspen (6.1%) > spruce (2.9%). Annual mortality rates were 2.5 to 4 times greater than in the reference stands. The majority of broadleaved species died as snags (~70%‐90%), while most spruce died due to windthrow (80%). Mortality rates increased with slenderness coefficient for codominant and understory poplar and for understory birch. For aspen, codominants were most likely to die, while in spruce, dominant trees and trees with the greatest damage to the bole from harvesting operations had the highest mortality.
Coal Mine Rescue Robots Based on Binocular Vision: A Review of the State of the Art

Rescue work after a coal mine accident is fraught with challenges and dangers. Considering the safety of rescue workers and the urgency of a rescue mission, it is necessary to use coal mine rescue robots to perform the tasks of environmental detection and rescue. As a key part of the robot sensing system, a visual sensor can provide much information about a scene. Among vision sensor types, binocular vision has the advantages of being noncontact and passive, and it is the key technology for a robot to acquire obstacle information and reconstruct a three-dimensional scene. Therefore, coal mine rescue robots based on binocular vision have become a popular research topic in the field of mine safety. First, the research status of camera calibration and stereo vision matching for binocular vision is systematically introduced in this paper. Second, the latest research progress on coal mine rescue robots based on binocular vision is reviewed from the perspective of technological applications and development. Finally, the technical challenges and future development trends of binocular vision in coal mine rescue robots are described.
Lactose levels in diets for piglets weaned at 21 days of age

ABSTRACT - With the objective of evaluating levels of lactose in diets for piglets weaned at 21 days of age, it was carriedout an experiment with 72 animals, with average weight of 6.12 kg, distributed in a completely randomized block design withfour diets (0, 4, 8, and 12% lactose), six replicates, and 3 animals per experimental unit. Animals were fed the experimentaldiets from 21 to 35 days of age and they were fed a lactose-free basal diet from 36 to 49 days of age. The lactose levels didnot affect daily weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion of piglets from 21 to 35 days of age. The use of lactose levelsin the diets also did not affect performance of the piglets assessed from 21 to 49 days old. Diets also did not influence villousheight, crypt depth and villous:crypt ratio. Lactose resulted in greater diversity and balance of the intestinal microbialcommunity. The Lactobalillus spp. richness increases with the addition of lactose in diet up to the level of 8% in relationto the total number of intestinal microorganisms, which may a possible improvement of intestinal health.Key Words: intestinal microbiota, microbial diversity, mucosal structure, weaning
A WiFi fingerprint based high-adaptability indoor localization via machine learning

For received signal strength (RSS) fingerprint based indoor localization approaches, the localization accuracy is significantly influenced by the RSS variance, device heterogeneity and environment complexity. In this work, we present a high-adaptability indoor localization (HAIL) approach, which leverages the advantages of both relative RSS values and absolute RSS values to achieve robustness and accuracy. Particularly, a backpropagation neural network (BPNN) is devised in HAIL to measure the fingerprints similarities based on absolute RSS values. With this aid, the characteristics of the applied area could be specially learned such that HAIL could be adaptive to different environments. The experiments demonstrate that HAIL achieves high localization accuracy with the average localization error of 0.87m in the typical environments. Moreover, HAIL has the minimum amount of large errors and decreases the average localization error by about 30%∼50% compared with the existing approaches.
A Glanzmann’s mutation in β3 integrin specifically impairs osteoclast function

Osteoclastic bone resorption requires cell-matrix contact, an event mediated by the αvβ3 integrin. The structural components of the integrin that mediate osteoclast function are, however, not in hand. To address this issue, we generated mice lacking the β3 integrin gene, which have dysfunctional osteoclasts. Here, we show the full rescue of β3–/– osteoclast function following expression of a full-length β3 integrin. In contrast, truncated β3, lacking a cytoplasmic domain (hβ3Δc), is completely ineffective in restoring function to β3–/– osteoclasts. To identify the components of the β3 cytoplasmic domain regulating osteoclast function, we generated six point mutants known, in other circumstances, to mediate β integrin signaling. Of the six, only the S752P substitution, which also characterizes a form of the human bleeding disorder Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia, fails to rescue β3–/– osteoclasts or restore ligand-activated signaling in the form of c-src activation. Interestingly, the double mutation Y747F/Y759F, which disrupts platelet function, does not affect the osteoclast. Thus similarities and distinctions exist in the mechanisms by which the β3 integrin regulates platelets and osteoclasts.
A NEW HERBACEOUS HOST OF CITRUS LEAF BLOTCH VIRUS

Citrus leaf blotch virus (CLBV), the type species of the putative new genus Citrivirus, causes a bud union disorder of Nagami kumquat and Calamondin scions grafted on trifoliate rootstocks. This virus was successfully transmitted to Nicotiana cavicola using leaf extracts of infected Nagami kumquat and Etrog citron, thus widening its herbaceous host range. The infection was latent but confirmed by the positive response of RTPCR using virus-specific primers and by electron microscopy. The positive transmission of CLBV to N. cavicola should in principle facilitate laboratory investigations, as it provides a new source of virus alternative to and more manageable than citrus.
ParRA: A Shared Memory Parallel FPGA Router Using Hybrid Partitioning Approach

In this paper, we propose a shared-memory parallel field-programmable gate array (FPGA) router called ParRA. Basically, ParRA is composed of hybrid partitioning and parallel routing. During the hybrid partitioning, first an FPGA is split into multiple subregions and nets are geographically partitioned into local subsets. As the intersubregion nets usually overlap each other, these nets cannot be routed in parallel. Second, the intersubregion nets are further partitioned into conflict-free subsets. Since each conflict-free subset consists of intersubregion nets do not overlap each other, the nets in the same conflict-free subset can be routed in parallel. In this way, we significantly increase the number of nets that have potential to be routed in parallel. During the parallel routing process, two novel parallel routing strategies are applied to route the nets in conflict-free and local subsets, respectively. With conflict-free subsets, sinks in the same conflict-free subset are routed in parallel while conflict-free subsets are routed one by one. On the contrast, local subsets are routed in parallel while the nets in the same local subset are routed sequentially. With the two different parallel routing strategies, we reduce the interference between threads and balance the workload of threads, which contributes to gain more parallelism. The proposed parallel router provides deterministic routing results. The experimental results show that ParRA achieves an average speedup of $24.3 {\times }$ with 16 threads compared to VPR 7.0, has no negative impact on the quality of results.
Re-think Data Management Software Design Upon the Arrival of Storage Hardware with Built-in Transparent Compression

This position paper advocates that storage hardware with built-in transparent compression brings new opportunities to innovate data storage management software (e.g., database and filesystem). Modern storage appliances (e.g., all-flash array) and some latest SSDs (solid-state drives) can perform data compression transparently from OS and user applications. Such storage hardware decouples logical storage space utilization efficiency from physical storage space utilization efficiency. This allows data storage management software intentionally waste logical storage space in return for employing simpler data structures, leading to lower implementation complexity and higher performance. Following this theme, we carried out three preliminary case studies in the context of relational database and key-value (KV) store. Initial experimental results well demonstrate the promising potential, and it is our hope that this preliminary study will attract more interest towards exploring this new research area.
Toward Measuring the Level of Spatiotemporal Clustering of Multi-Categorical Geographic Events

Human activity events are often recorded with their geographic locations and temporal stamps, which form spatial patterns of the events during individual time periods. Temporal attributes of these events help us understand the evolution of spatial processes over time. A challenge that researchers still face is that existing methods tend to treat all events as the same when evaluating the spatiotemporal pattern of events that have different properties. This article suggests a method for assessing the level of spatiotemporal clustering or spatiotemporal autocorrelation that may exist in a set of human activity events when they are associated with different categorical attributes. This method extends the Voronoi structure from 2D to 3D and integrates a sliding-window model as an approach to spatiotemporal tessellations of a space-time volume defined by a study area and time period. Furthermore, an index was developed to evaluate the partial spatiotemporal clustering level of one of the two event categories against the other category. The proposed method was applied to simulated data and a real-world dataset as a case study. Experimental results show that the method effectively measures the level of spatiotemporal clustering patterns among human activity events of multiple categories. The method can be applied to the analysis of large volumes of human activity events because of its computational efficiency.