Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hidden Markov models with t components. Increased persistence and other aspects

Hidden Markov models have been applied in many different fields, including econometrics and finance. However, the lion's share of the investigated models concerns Markovian mixtures of Gaussian distributions. We present an extension to conditional t-distributions, including models with unequal distribution types in different states. It is shown that the extended models, on the one hand, reproduce various stylized facts of daily returns better than the common Gaussian model. On the other hand, robustness to outliers and persistence of the visited states increases significantly.
Influence of Sugars, Modified Starches and Hydrocolloids Addition on Colour and Thermal Properties of Raspberry Cream Fillings

Abstract This paper deals with the influence of the addition of sugars (sucrose, fructose and trehalose), modified starches (tapioca or waxy maize starch) and hydrocolloids (karaya or guar gum) on colour and thermal properties of raspberry cream fillings. In addition, the influence of the above-mentioned additives on the colour and thermal properties of raspberry cream fillings stored at room temperature over a period of 8 and 16 months was investigated. Results showed that the highest anthocyanin content and total phenolic content were detected in raspberry cream filling prepared with sucrose and trehalose in combination with guar gum. During storage, after 8 and 16 months at room temperature, anthocyanin content and total phenolic content decreased. Results also showed that the kind of sugar and added modified starches or hydrocolloids influenced the thermal properties of cream fillings. During storage, a decrease was observed in both freezing temperature as well as enthalpy of cream fillings.
Recent Progress and Problems in Food Web Theory

In 1968 I proposed a way to set lower bounds on the dimensionality of trophic niche space by using data on food webs. In 19'78 I showed that, in community food webs in a single habitat, the data on trophic niche overlap were consistent with a onedimensional trophic niche space more often than might be expected from some simplified random models of food webs. This note has three parts. First, I will comment on some recent explanations and criticisms of my empirical finding of a high frequency of interval food webs (Sect. 2). Second, I will review some recent mathematical progress in the graph theory of food webs (Sect. 3). Third, I will s tate an outstanding theoretical question concerning the combinatorial structure of food webs (Sect. 4): to explain the observed distributions of the length of maximal food chains. I conclude with a list of open problems.
The clinical significance of CXCL 5 in non-small cell lung cancer

and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php). OncoTargets and Therapy 2017:10 5561–5573 OncoTargets and Therapy Dovepress
The integrated indicator of sustainable urban development based on standardization

The paper justifies the necessity for the system of planned indicators for sustainable urban development design in accordance with the requirements of international standards and the Russian standard GOST R ISO 37120-2015, and the estimation of their actual achievement based on complex qualimetric models. An analysis of opinions on this issue and an overview of Russian normative documents for assessing the effectiveness of the municipalities, including urban development are presented. General methodological principles and sequence for the construction of qualimetric models, as well as formulas for the calculation of complex indicators, taking into account the specific weights obtained on the basis of expert assessment, are presented, the need for careful selection of experts and determination of the consistency of expert opinions is indicated. The advantages and disadvantages of this approach are shown. Conclusions are drawn on the use of qualimetric models for sustainable urban development.
SotonAUV: the design and development of a small, manoeuvrable autonomous underwater vehicle

The University of Southampton's entry into the Student Autonomous Underwater Challenge-Europe (SAUC-E) 2007 was a custom designed and built autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) named 'SotonAUV'. Originally developed for SAUC-E 2006, the vehicle was significantly upgraded for the 2007 competition. The mechanical design of the vehicle is described, and an overview of the autonomy and control approaches employed is provided. The updated vehicle successfully competed in SAUC-E 2007, winning first place in the overall competition and taking the BAE Systems prize for innovation in autonomy.
DISEQUILIBRIUM CARBON, OXYGEN, AND NITROGEN CHEMISTRY IN THE ATMOSPHERES OF HD 189733b AND HD 209458b

We have developed a one-dimensional photochemical and thermochemical kinetics and diffusion model to study the effects of disequilibrium chemistry on the atmospheric composition of “hot-Jupiter” exoplanets. Here we investigate the coupled chemistry of neutral carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen species on HD 189733b and HD 209458b and we compare the model results with existing transit and eclipse observations. We find that the vertical profiles of molecular constituents are significantly affected by transport-induced quenching and photochemistry, particularly on the cooler HD 189733b; however, the warmer stratospheric temperatures on HD 209458b help maintain thermochemical equilibrium and reduce the effects of disequilibrium chemistry. For both planets, the methane and ammonia mole fractions are found to be enhanced over their equilibrium values at pressures of a few bar to less than an mbar due to transport-induced quenching, but CH4 and NH3 are photochemically removed at higher altitudes. Disequilibrium chemistry also enhances atomic species, unsaturated hydrocarbons (particularly C2H2), some nitriles (particularly HCN), and radicals like OH, CH3, and NH2. In contrast, CO, H2O, N2, and CO2 more closely follow their equilibrium profiles, except at pressures ≲1 μbar, where CO, H2O, and N2 are photochemically destroyed and CO2 is produced before its eventual high-altitude destruction. The enhanced abundances of CH4, NH3, and HCN are expected to affect the spectral signatures and thermal profiles of HD 189733b and other relatively cool, transiting exoplanets. We examine the sensitivity of our results to the assumed temperature structure and eddy diffusion coefficients and discuss further observational consequences of these models.
Markov Processes for Stochastic Modeling Ed. 2

Markov processes are processes that have limited memory. In particular, their dependence on the past is only through the previous state. They are used to model the behavior of many systems including communications systems, transportation networks, image segmentation and analysis, biological systems and DNA sequence analysis, random atomic motion and diffusion in physics, social mobility, population studies, epidemiology, animal and insect migration, queueing systems, resource management, dams, financial engineering, actuarial science, and decision systems. Covering a wide range of areas of application of Markov processes, this second edition is revised to highlight the most important aspects as well as the most recent trends and applications of Markov processes. The author spent over 16 years in the industry before returning to academia, and he has applied many of the principles covered in this book in multiple research projects. Therefore, this is an applications-oriented book that also includes enough theory to provide a solid ground in the subject for the reader. Presents both the theory and applications of the different aspects of Markov processes Includes numerous solved examples as well as detailed diagrams that make it easier to understand the principle being presented Discusses different applications of hidden Markov models, such as DNA sequence analysis and speech analysis.
TeV GAMMA-RAY SURVEY OF THE NORTHERN SKY USING THE ARGO-YBJ DETECTOR

The Astrophysical Radiation with Ground-based Observatory at Yang Ba Jing (ARGO-YBJ) detector is an extensive air shower array that has been used to monitor the northern γ-ray sky at energies above 0.3 TeV from 2007 November to 2013 January. In this paper, we present the results of a sky survey in the declination band from −10° to 70°, using data recorded over the past five years. With an integrated sensitivity ranging from 0.24 to ∼1 Crab units depending on the declination, six sources have been detected with a statistical significance greater than five standard deviations. Several excesses are also reported as potential γ-ray emitters. The features of each source are presented and discussed. Additionally, 95% confidence level upper limits of the flux from the investigated sky region are shown. Specific upper limits for 663 GeV γ-ray active galactic nuclei inside the ARGO-YBJ field of view are reported. The effect of the absorption of γ-rays due to the interaction with extragalactic background light is estimated.
Microparticle Inertial Focusing in an Asymmetric Curved Microchannel

Inertial Microfluidics offer a high throughput, label-free, easy to design, and cost-effective solutions, and are a promising technique based on hydrodynamic forces (passive techniques) instead of external ones, which can be employed in the lab-on-a-chip and micro-total-analysis-systems for the focusing, manipulation, and separation of microparticles in chemical and biomedical applications. The current study focuses on the focusing behavior of the microparticles in an asymmetric curvilinear microchannel with curvature angle of 280°. For this purpose, the focusing behavior of the microparticles with three different diameters, representing cells with different sizes in the microchannel, was experimentally studied at flow rates from 400 to 2700 µL/min. In this regard, the width and position of the focusing band are carefully recorded for all of the particles in all of the flow rates. Moreover, the distance between the binary combinations of the microparticles is reported for each flow rate, along with the Reynolds number corresponding to the largest distances. Furthermore, the results of this study are compared with those of the microchannel with the same curvature angle but having a symmetric geometry. The microchannel proposed in this study can be used or further modified for cell separation applications.
Hazard Quotients, Hazard Indexes, and Cancer Risks of Toxic Metals in PM10 during Firework Displays

Bonfire night is a worldwide phenomenon given to numerous annual celebrations characterised by bonfires and fireworks. Since Thailand has no national ambient air quality standards for metal particulates, it is important to investigate the impacts of particulate injections on elevations of air pollutants and the ecological health impacts resulting from firework displays. In this investigation, Pb and Ba were considered potential firework tracers because their concentrations were significantly higher during the episode, and lower than/comparable with minimum detection limits during other periods, indicating that their elevated concentrations were principally due to pyrotechnic displays. Pb/Ca, Pb/Al, Pb/Mg, and Pb/Cu can be used to pin-point emissions from firework displays. Air mass backward trajectories (72 h) from the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model indicated that areas east and north-east of the study site were the main sources of the airborne particles. Although the combined risk associated with levels of Pb, Cr, Co., Ni, Zn, As, Cd, V, and Mn was far below the standards mentioned in international guidelines, the lifetime cancer risks associated with As and Cr levels exceeded US-EPA guidelines, and may expose inhabitants of surrounding areas of Bangkok to an elevated cancer risk.
Milestones achieved in response to drought stress through reverse genetic approaches

Drought stress is the most important abiotic stress that constrains crop production and reduces yield drastically. The germplasm of most of the cultivated crops possesses numerous unknown drought stress tolerant genes. Moreover, there are many reports suggesting that the wild species of most of the modern cultivars have abiotic stress tolerant genes. Due to climate change and population booms, food security has become a global issue. To develop drought tolerant crop varieties knowledge of various genes involved in drought stress is required. Different reverse genetic approaches such as virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS), clustered regularly interspace short palindromic repeat (CRISPR), targeting induced local lesions in genomes (TILLING) and expressed sequence tags (ESTs) have been used extensively to study the functionality of different genes involved in response to drought stress. In this review, we described the contributions of different techniques of functional genomics in the study of drought tolerant genes.
Integrated Reference Genetic Linkage Maps of Pear Based on SSR and AFLP Markers

Integrated genetic linkage maps of the European pear (Pyrus communis L.) cultivars ‘Bartlett’ and ‘La France’ were constructed based on SSR markers developed from pear and apple, AFLP and other markers. The map of ‘Bartlett’, which was constructed using an F1 population derived from a cross between ‘Bartlett’ and ‘Housui’, consisted of 447 loci, including 58 loci revealed by pear SSR markers (hereafter referred to as “pear SSR loci”), 60 by apple SSR markers (hereafter referred to as “apple SSR loci”) and 322 by AFLP markers (hereafter referred to as “AFLP loci”). This map covered 17 linkage groups over a total length of 1,000 cM with an average distance of 2.3 cM between markers. Another genetic linkage map of ‘La France’ was constructed using F1 individuals obtained from a cross between ‘Shinsei’ and ‘282-12’ (‘Housui’ × ‘La France’). The map of ‘La France’ contained 414 loci, including 66 pear SSR loci, 68 apple SSR loci and 279 AFLP loci on 17 linkage groups encompassing a genetic distance of 1,156 cM. Using 97 common SSR markers, these two maps were well aligned together for all the 17 linkage groups, which corresponded to the basic chromosome number (n = 17). The positions of 66 SSR markers originating from apple were successfully determined in pear maps and showed a co-linearity with the saturated reference map of apple. Since the high-density genetic linkage maps of pear constructed in the present study covered almost the entire genome, they should be considered as pear reference maps. These pear reference maps may enable to identify the location of genes of interest and QTLs (quantitative trait loci), and to analyze the syntenic genome structure with other Maloideae species.
Population Variability and Extinction Risk

Abstract: Population models generally predict increased extinction risk (ER) with increased population variability ( PV ), yet some empirical tests have provided contradictory findings. We resolve this conflict by attributing negative measured relationships to a statistical artifact that arises because PV tends to be underestimated for populations with short persistence. Such populations do not go extinct quickly as a consequence of low intrinsic variability; instead, the measured variability is low because they go extinct so quickly. Consequently, any underlying positive relationship between PV and ER tends to be obscured. We conducted a series of analyses to evaluate this claim. Simulations showed that negative measured relationships are to be expected, despite an underlying positive relationship. Simulations also identified properties of data, minimizing this bias and thereby permitting meaningful analysis. Experimental data on laboratory populations of a bruchid beetle (Callosobruchus maculatus) supported the simulation results. Likewise, with an appropriate statistical approach (Cox regression on untransformed data), reanalysis of a controversial data set on British island bird populations revealed a significant positive association between PV and ER (p = 0.03). Finally, a similar analysis of time series for naturally regulated animal populations revealed a positive association between PV and quasiextinction risk (p < 0.01). Without exception, our simulation results, experimental findings, reanalysis of published data, and analysis of quasiextinction risk all contradict previous reports of negative or equivocal relationships. Valid analysis of meaningful data provides strong evidence that increased population variability leads to increased extinction risk.
Towards a grapho-phonologically parsed corpus of medieval Scots: database design and technical solutions

This paper presents a newly constructed corpus of sound-to-spelling mappings in medieval Scots, which stems from the work of the From Inglis to Scots (FITS) project. We have developed a systematic approach to the relationships between individual spellings and proposed sound values, and recorded these mutual links in a relational database. In this paper, we introduce the theoretical underpinnings of sound-to-spelling and spelling-to-sound mappings, and show how a Scots root morpheme undergoes grapho-phonological parsing, the analytical procedure that is employed to break down spelling sequences into sound units. We explain the data collection and annotation for the FITS Corpus (Alcorn et al., forthcoming), drawing attention to the extensive meta-data which accompany each analysed unit of spelling and sound. The database records grammatical and lexical information about the root, the positional arrangement of segments within the root, labels for the nuclei, vowels and consonants, the morphological context, and extra-linguistic detail of the text a given root was taken from (date, place and text type). With this wealth of information, the FITS corpus is capable of answering complex queries about the sound and spelling systems of medieval Scots. We also suggest how our methodology can be transferred to other non-standardised spelling systems.
Evaluation of the Histopathology of the Respiratory System in Essential Oil-Treated Broilers Following a Challenge With Mycoplasma gallisepticum and/or H9N2 Influenza Virus

The objective of this work is to evaluate the impact of eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils (Mentofin) in the protection of the respiratory system of broilers against controlled challenges by Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and/or avian influenza virus H9N2. Seventy 1-day-old broilers were reared in 7 groups (10 birds/group) up to 1 week of age. Group 1 was the control (nontreated with Mentofin and unchallenged); challenged groups were Group 2 (non-treated with Mentofin and MG challenged), Group 3 (Mentofin treated and MG chalIntern J Appl Res Vet Med • Vol. 4, No. 4, 2006. Vol4Iss4.qxp 12/16/2006 8:56 AM Page 293
Adaptive Mesh Refinement Based on a Posteriori Error Estimation

Adaptive Mesh Refinement Based on a Posteriori Error Estimation Martin Juhas Master of Applied Science Graduate Department of Aerospace Engineering University of Toronto 2014 This thesis describes the application of a h-refinement, adjoint-based, a posteriori error estimation strategy with a solution-driven, block-based adaptive mesh refinement (AMR), finite-volume scheme to the solution of advection-diffusion problems in two dimension. Error-based criteria following from the adjoint-weighted computable correction of a functional, error in the computable correction for the functional, using either primal, dual, or both error formulations, and/or the total estimated error in the functional are all used to direct the mesh refinement in the block-based AMR scheme. The test cases considered here for the advection-diffusion equation illustrate the ability of the error-based AMR criteria to improve the accuracy of integrated functionals where physics-based AMR criteria may fail. The performance of the adjoint-based refinement criteria is compared with both gradient-based and uniform mesh refinement strategies.
Beyond Clever Hans: Learning From People Without Their Really Trying

Facial expressions and other body language are important for human communication. They complement speech and make the process of communication simple and sustainable. However, the process of communication using existing approaches to human-machine interaction is not intuitive as that of human communication. Specifically, the existing approaches to human machine interaction do not learn from whatever subtle non-verbal cues produced by a user. Many of the existing approaches map body language cues to instructions or rewards and use them to train a machine. These mappings are not learned from ongoing interactions and are assumed to be defined by some external source. As a consequence, the communicative process through these approaches can cause significant cognitive load on the user. This is an important problem that needs to be addressed if we are to amplify our existing cognitive and physical capabilities through intelligent machines. Towards addressing this, we introduce our idea that allows machines to learn from whatever subtle cues people produce during the process of interaction. Particularly, the agent learns a value function that maps the user’s non-verbal cues to later rewards. By using this value function, the user can teach their agent to complete a task according to their preferences, and consequently maximize their satisfaction. We demonstrate this by training an agent using facial expressions. Furthermore, we show that these learned value functions can be successfully transferred across tasks. In conclusion, our approach is the first that allows people to teach their machines using whatever subtle cues they produce and could take us far in achieving sustainable forms of human-machine interaction.
The Nature of Emotions

Human emotions have deep evolutionary roots, a fact that may explain their complexity and provide tools for clinical practice. Plutchik asserts that using the tools and methods of evolutionary biology, and pulling together information from other species, scientists can put emotions in a functional framework--define them in terms of what their adaptive function might be, and thus understand better their biological basis and the apparent connections between them.
Polyaniline-based biosensors

License. The full terms of the License are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. Permissions beyond the scope of the License are administered by Dove Medical Press Limited. Information on how to request permission may be found at: http://www.dovepress. com/permissions.php Nanobiosensors in Disease Diagnosis 2015:4 25–46 Nanobiosensors in Disease Diagnosis Dovepress
Partitions of networks that are robust to vertex permutation dynamics

Abstract Minimum disconnecting cuts of connected graphs provide fundamental information about the connectivity structure of the graph. Spectral methods are well-known as stable and efficient means of finding good solutions to the balanced minimum cut problem. In this paper we generalise the standard balanced bisection problem for static graphs to a new “dynamic balanced bisection problem”, in which the bisecting cut should be minimal when the vertex-labelled graph is subjected to a general sequence of vertex permutations. We extend the standard spectral method for partitioning static graphs, based on eigenvectors of the Laplacian matrix of the graph, by constructing a new dynamic Laplacian matrix, with eigenvectors that generate good solutions to the dynamic minimum cut problem. We formulate and prove a dynamic Cheeger inequality for graphs, and demonstrate the effectiveness of the dynamic Laplacian matrix for both structured and unstructured graphs.