Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Zebra Mussel Holobionts Fix and Recycle Nitrogen in Lagoon Sediments

Bivalves are ubiquitous filter-feeders able to alter ecosystems functions. Their impact on nitrogen (N) cycling is commonly related to their filter-feeding activity, biodeposition, and excretion. A so far understudied impact is linked to the metabolism of the associated microbiome that together with the host constitute the mussel’s holobiont. Here we investigated how colonies of the invasive zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) alter benthic N cycling in the shallow water sediment of the largest European lagoon (the Curonian Lagoon). A set of incubations was conducted to quantify the holobiont’s impact and to quantitatively compare it with the indirect influence of the mussel on sedimentary N transformations. Zebra mussels primarily enhanced the recycling of N to the water column by releasing mineralized algal biomass in the form of ammonium and by stimulating dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA). Notably, however, not only denitrification and DNRA, but also dinitrogen (N2) fixation was measured in association with the holobiont. The diazotrophic community of the holobiont diverged substantially from that of the water column, suggesting a unique niche for N2 fixation associated with the mussels. At the densities reported in the lagoon, mussel-associated N2 fixation may account for a substantial (and so far, overlooked) source of bioavailable N. Our findings contribute to improve our understanding on the ecosystem-level impact of zebra mussel, and potentially, of its ability to adapt to and colonize oligotrophic environments.
Activator-Mediated Pyruvate Kinase M2 Activation Contributes to Endotoxin Tolerance by Promoting Mitochondrial Biogenesis

Pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) is a key glycolysis enzyme, and its effect on macrophages has not been entirely elucidated. Here, we identified that the PKM2 small-molecule agonist TEPP-46 mediated PKM2 activation by inducing the formation of PKM2 tetramer and promoted macrophage endotoxin tolerance. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-tolerant mice had higher expression of the PKM2 tetramer, which was associated with a reduced in vivo immune response to LPS. Pretreatment of macrophages with TEPP-46 resulted in tolerance to LPS stimulation, as demonstrated by a significant reduction in the production of TNF-α and IL-6. We found that TEPP-46 induced mitochondrial biogenesis in macrophages. Inhibition of mitochondrial biogenesis by mtTFA knockdown effectively inhibited TEPP-46-mediated macrophage tolerance to endotoxins. We discovered that TEPP-46 promoted the expression of PGC-1α and that PGC-1α was the key regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis in macrophages induced by TEPP-46. PGC-1α was negatively regulated by the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Knockdown of PKM2 or PGC-1α uniformly inhibited TEPP-46-mediated endotoxin tolerance by inhibiting mitochondrial biogenesis. In addition, TEPP-46 protected mice from lethal endotoxemia and sepsis. Collectively, these findings reveal novel mechanisms for the metabolic control of inflammation and for the induction of endotoxin tolerance by promoting mitochondrial biogenesis. Targeting PKM2 appears to be a new therapeutic option for the treatment of sepsis and other inflammatory diseases.
Human Pluripotent Stem Cells: A Unique Tool for Toxicity Testing in Pancreatic Progenitor and Endocrine Cells

Diabetes prevalence is increasing worldwide, and epidemiological studies report an association between diabetes incidence and environmental pollutant exposure. There are >84,000 chemicals in commerce, many of which are released into the environment without a clear understanding of potential adverse health consequences. While in vivo rodent studies remain an important tool for testing chemical toxicity systemically, we urgently need high-throughput screening platforms in biologically relevant models to efficiently prioritize chemicals for in depth toxicity analysis. Given the increasing global burden of obesity and diabetes, identifying chemicals that disrupt metabolism should be a high priority. Pancreatic endocrine cells are key regulators of systemic metabolism, yet often overlooked as a target tissue in toxicology studies. Immortalized β-cell lines and primary human, porcine, and rodent islets are widely used for studying the endocrine pancreas in vitro, but each have important limitations in terms of scalability, lifespan, and/or biological relevance. Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) culture is a powerful tool for in vitro toxicity testing that addresses many of the limitations with other β-cell models. Current in vitro differentiation protocols can efficiently generate glucose-responsive insulin-secreting β-like cells that are not fully mature, but still valuable for high-throughput toxicity screening in vitro. Furthermore, hPSCs can be applied as a model of developing pancreatic endocrine cells to screen for chemicals that influence endocrine cell formation during critical windows of differentiation. Given their versatility, we recommend using hPSCs to identify potential β-cell toxins, which can then be prioritized as chemicals of concern for metabolic disruption.
Multilingual Recognition of Temporal Expressions

The paper presents a multilingual approach to temporal expression recognition (TER) using existing tools and their combination. We observe that the rules based methods perform well on documents using well-formed temporal expressions in a narrower domain (e.g., news), while data driven methods are more stable within less standard language and texts across domains. With combination of the two approaches, we achieved F1 of 0.73 and 0.9 for strict and relaxed evaluations respectively on one English dataset. Although these results do not achieve the state-of-the-art on English, the same method outperformed the state-of-the-art results in a multilingual setting not only in recall but also in F1. We see this as a strong indication that combining rule based systems with data driven models such as BERT is a valid approach to improve the overall performance in TER, especially for languages other than English. Further observations indicate that in the domain of office documents, the combined method is able to recognize general temporal expressions as well as domain specific ones (e.g., those used in financial documents).
Towards Useful Word Embeddings

Since the seminal work of Mikolov et al. (2013), word vectors of log-bilinear models have found their way into many nlp applications and were extended with the positional model. Although the positional model improves accuracy on the intrinsic English word analogy task, prior work has neglected its evaluation on extrinsic end tasks, which correspond to real-world nlp applications. In this paper, we describe our first steps in evaluating positional weighting on the information retrieval, text classification, and language modeling extrinsic end tasks.
Video Anomaly Detection Using Cycle-consistent Adversarial Networks

Anomaly detection is a challenging work in the area of intelligent video surveillance. It aims to identify abnormal events from monitoring videos. The main challenge of this task is the ambiguity of anomaly definition. In recent years, many researchers exploit hand-crafted features to detect abnormal events, and all these methods follow a two-stage learning strategy, including feature extraction and model establishment. In this paper, we propose an end-to-end anomaly detection framework using cycle-consistent adversarial networks. In the training phase, the representation of regularity is learned from normal video frames and corresponding optical flow images. Our networks are trained with only normal frames, so our model is sensitive to abnormal behavior in abnormal frames . At testing time, the abnormal areas will have larger reconstruction errors than the normal. We can detect abnormal behaviors according to the error between the reconstructed frame and the original frame through a reasonable threshold. Experimental results in challenging datasets show that our method surpasses state-of-the-art methods.
EVALUATION OF SPATIAL INTERPOLATION METHODS FOR MAPPING THE DEGRADED SOILS OF XANTHI (GREECE)

Soil surveys employ interpolation of point measurements that provides spatial distribution of information for the full study area. However, no specific interpolation method is determined for each soil parameter. The aim of this work was to identify the optimum interpolation method and its parameterization to improve mapping of degraded soils of Xanthi agricultural land. Electrical conductivity (EC), exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), cation exchange capacity (CEC) and pH measurements from 598 soil samples were used. Inverse distance weighted (IDW) and spline interpolation, as well as the power of IDW were evaluated. IDW with power 3 was proved as the most accurate method. Using thresholding, we identified the spatial distribution of saline, sodic, and acidic soils of the study area. Furthermore, degradation sources were identified, including parent material and inappropriate fertilization for acid soils and irrigation with saline water for alkaline soils. The results enabled us to propose amelioration measures and agricultural practices, according to degradation types and levels. The data was provided by the project "Soil Map of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace".
The Safety of Public Space for the Community: A Case Study of Merdeka Square Park in Medan

Safety and security of the community is only achieved when there is a common agreement and understanding of certain norms related to it. Safety of public space, such as streets, squares and parks are very important for the community for continuity. These public spaces are created in tandem with the ebb and flow of human exchange. The vitality of public space is characterised by the frequency of its usage. Public open space is part of the urban structure that forms the core of the city. It is difficult to conceive a public space without its social dimension to provide context. This paper attempts to examine the quality and safety and security in Merdeka Square Park, a popular public open space in Medan. A mixed method technique was used in this research to determine safety and security of public space. A total of 120 respondents and 10 kiosk vendors were interviewed, and a survey was held in a selected area of the public space. Findings showed that security and safety of a public space have a strong impact on the community.
Measuring Equity of Access to Health Services in Practice: Example of Eye Health Outreach Camps in Rural Malawi

Introduction Equity in the access and use of health services is critical if countries are to make progress towards universal health coverage and address the systematic exclusion of the most vulnerable groups. The purpose of this study was to assess if the Co-ordinated Approach To Community Health programme implemented by Sightsavers was successful in reaching the poorest population and people living with disabilities in Kasungu district, Malawi. Outreach camps were organized to provide a range of integrated eye care services. Methods Between April and September 2017, data on socio-economic status, household characteristics and functional disability were collected from patients attending at eye camps in Kasungu district, Malawi. Results were compared to Demographic Health Surveys and Integrated Household Surveys data. Using asset-based questions on household characteristics (EquityTool© and Simple Poverty Scorecard©) and the Washington Group Short Set of Questions, individuals were categorized by wealth quintiles, poverty status, and functional disability status. Results A total of 1,358 participants participated in the study. The study shows that self-reported data on household characteristics and assets are reliable and can be collected in clinical settings (instead of relying on direct observations). Individuals attending outreach camps were poorer in terms of relative wealth and absolute poverty rates compared to the rest of the population in Kasungu. It was estimated that 9% of the participants belonged to the poorest quintile compared to 4% for the population in Kasungu (DHS 2015–2016). The ultra-poverty rate was also lower among respondents (13%) compared to 15% for Kasungu district (IHS 2017). The functional disability rate was 27.5% for study participants, and statistically higher among women and relatively poorer household dwellers. Conclusions Our study shows that existing tools can be reliably used and combined to assess equity of access to health services for vulnerable groups of the population. The findings suggest that the programme was successful in reaching the poorest people of the Kasungu district population as well as those with non-visual disabilities through outreach camps. However, it is essential to use sub-national data (district or regional level) from recent surveys for the purpose of benchmarking in order to produce accurate results.
Analysis of Enhanced Mechanical Properties of Al-MMCs Reinforced with SiC by using Stir Casting Method

The materials which occur naturally or can be made by engineering process by combining two or more constituent materials which have different physical, chemical, electrical, mechanical properties are called composite materials. These properties remain in the composite material as a separate and shows behavior as a whole in the composite structure. Composites have two phases, one is Matrix and other is Reinforcement. Matrix is a continuous phase and Reinforcement is a discontinuous phase and is embedded in Matrix phase. This results in betterment of properties of Composites as compared to individual materials. Matrix phase surrounds the reinforcing phase and holds it for proper combination of individual properties as a whole property of the composite. Al-SiC is a metal matrix composite which consists of Al as a Matrix and SiC as reinforce material that’s why it is also called AlSiC. Al-SiC composite has high thermal conductivity of the range of 180-200 W/m K. It has phenomena to adjust its thermal expansion for matching with other materials like silicon, gallium arsenide and other ceramics. These composites are used to replace the coppermolybdenum (CuMo) and coppertungsten (CuW) alloys and are having weight equal to 1/3 the weight of copper, 1/5 the weight of CuMo, and 1/6 the weight of CuW. This makes them suitable for applications where weight is considered as a leading property. AlSiC composites are also stronger and stiffer than copper. Along with stiffness they have properties like lightweight and strength. In the present work SiC is reinforced in Al-MMC by using Stir Casting Method. The enhanced mechanical properties are analyzed with different percentages of SiC reinforcement.
A RIEMANN-HURWITZ THEOREM IN GRAPH THEORY

If G is a finite simple graph on which an arbitrary finite group A of order n acts by automorphisms. When we look at G as a ramified cover over the chain H = G/A, the Riemann-Hurwitz formula χ(G) = nχ(G/A) − ∑ x∈G(ex−1) holds, where ex = 1+ ∑ a6=1,a(x)=x(−1) and where χ(G/A) is the Euler characteristic of the chain. For a class of actions which we call simple, the quotient H = G/A is a finite simple graph and Riemann-Hurwitz relates the Euler characteristic of G and H. Cohomologically χ(G/A) is the average 1 n ∑ a∈A L(a) where L(a) is the Lefshetz number of the automorphism a.
A Production System to (almost) solve 3x3 Ravens Progressive Matrices

In this report, a production system (agent) to solve 3x3 Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM) (Raven, 1962) is presented (Figure 1b) . The developed agent solves 12/12 on Basic, 10/12 on Challenge sets and 6/12 across Test/Raven’s respectively. The report explains details on the incremental design of the solution, error analysis, efficiency, generality, cognitive connection and concludes with some implications on future work.
Uniformly self-justified equilibria

We consider dynamic stochastic economies with heterogeneous agents and introduce the concept of uniformly self-justified equilibria (USJE) -- temporary equilibria for which forecasts are best uniform approximations to a selection of the equilibrium correspondence. In a USJE, individuals' forecasting functions for the next period's endogenous variables are assumed to lie in a compact, finite-dimensional set of functions, and the forecasts constitute the best approximation within this set. We show that USJE always exist and develop a simple algorithm to compute them. Therefore, they are more tractable than rational expectations equilibria that do not always exist. As an application, we discuss a stochastic overlapping generations exchange economy and provide numerical examples to illustrate the concept of USJE and the computational method.
Effect of weed management practices on weed flora, growth and yield of direct seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.)

A field experiment entitled “Effect of weed management practices on growth and yield of direct seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.)” was conducted at Agronomy Research Farm of Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Faizabad (U.P.) during kharif season of 2015-16 and 2016-17. The experiment was laidout in randomize block design with twelve treatments consist in three replications. Result revealed that application of Pendimethaline fb Bispyribac-Na @ 1000 fb 25 g a.i. ha + HW 40 DAS was recorded significantly least density of difference weed flora and dry weight of weed as compare to weedy check. Maximum values (81.97 and 84.50%) of WCE was found with application of Pendimethaline fb Bispyribac-Na @ 1000 fb 25 g a.i. ha + HW 40 DAS, however, weed index values (1.82 and 3.88%) calculated minimum during both the years. All the growth and yield plant height, dry matter, LAI, as well as grain and straw yield were significantly higher in Significantly higher and lower values of yield attributes and yield, as well as lower and higher values of density and dry matter of weeds were recorded with weed free and weedy treatment, respectively.
Contagion Accounting

We provide a simple and tractable accounting-based stress-testing framework to assess loss dynamics in the banking sector, in a context of leverage targeting. Contagion can occur through direct interbank exposures, and indirect exposures due to overlapping portfolios with the associated price dynamics via fire sales. We apply the framework to three granular proprietary ECB datasets, including an interbank network of 26 large euro area banks as well as their overlapping portfolios of loans, derivatives and securities. A 5 percent shock to the price of assets held in the trading book leads to an initial loss of 30 percent of system equity and an additional loss of 1.3 percent due to fire sales spillovers. Direct interbank contagion is negligible in our analysis. Our findings underscore the importance of accurately estimating the price effects of fire sales.
RobustOutputRegulation of 1-dWaveEquation ?

In the last a few years, there have been a couple of works addressing output regulation for 1-d linear wave equations without robustness. The aim of this paper is to provide, under the guidance of the internal model principle, a united way to achieve more profound results including fast convergence, no man-made assumption, simple control design and particularly robustness. Different from existing works where disturbance appears only in one channel, we allow disturbances in all possible channels. Our approach is an observer based control approach which is designed only for a nominal system yet also has the power to guarantee output regulation for original uncertain PDE system. Simulation examples are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed control.
Validated Reversed Phase HPLC Method for the Analysis of the Food Additive, Sodium Benzoate, in Soft Drinks and Jams

Abstract A rapid, simple, and sensitive method is described for the determination of the food preservative sodium benzoate in soft drinks, various jams, and ketchup. The method utilizes high performance liquid chromatography followed by diode array detection. Chromatographic separation was achieved using a C18 reversed phase column and methanol: water (70∶30, v/v) adjusted to pH 3.45 with glacial acetic acid as mobile phase, 0.45 mL . min−1 flow rate, and UV detection at 245 nm. Amoxicillin was used as the internal standard. The retention time observed for sodium benzoate and amoxicillin were 5.01 and 12.07 min, respectively. The method is selective, reliable, and reproducible with a relative standard deviation of 0.66 and linear in the range of 50–450 ng/mL sodium benzoate concentration. The limit of detection and limit of quantification concentrations were 61 pg/mL and 203 pg/mL, respectively. The proposed method can be used for the routine analysis of sodium benzoate in soft drinks and jams.
Merging SLAM and photometric stereo for 3D reconstruction with a moving camera

—By using photometric stereo it is possible to compute the normal of the surfaces of a scene. This paper applied photometric stereo using a moving camera. This implementation is meant for dark environment enlightened by the torchlight of the camera. Since the photometric stereo is applied while the camera is moving, it requires a camera pose estimation. This estimation is performed thanks to ORB features used in a similar way as ORB SLAM algorithm. A first estimation of the depth map is provided by stereo matching.
Lexical Micro-adaptation for Neural Machine Translation

This work is inspired by a typical machine translation industry scenario in which translators make use of in-domain data for facilitating translation of similar or repeating sentences. We introduce a generic framework applied at inference in which a subset of segment pairs are first extracted from training data according to their similarity to the input sentences. These segments are then used to dynamically update the parameters of a generic NMT network, thus performing a lexical micro-adaptation. Our approach demonstrates strong adaptation performance to new and existing datasets including pseudo in-domain data. We evaluate our approach on a heterogeneous English-French training dataset showing accuracy gains on all evaluated domains when compared to strong adaptation baselines.
Towards an eﬃcient STM that ensures local progress

Software Transactional Memory (STM) systems should ensure two fundamental properties: safety and liveness. Opacity and local progress are, respectively, the strongest safety and liveness properties that are ensured by these systems. It has been proven that in faulty environments, these properties can’t be ensured together. With this work we aim at designing an STM system that can satisfy both opacity and local progress for fault-free environments.
Novel Models of Streptococcus canis Colonization and Disease Reveal Modest Contributions of M-Like (SCM) Protein

Streptococcus canis is a common colonizing bacterium of the urogenital tract of cats and dogs that can also cause invasive disease in these animal populations and in humans. Although the virulence mechanisms of S. canis are not well-characterized, an M-like protein, SCM, has recently identified been as a potential virulence factor. SCM is a surface-associated protein that binds to host plasminogen and IgGs suggesting its possible importance in host-pathogen interactions. In this study, we developed in vitro and ex vivo blood component models and murine models of S. canis vaginal colonization, systemic infection, and dermal infection to compare the virulence potential of the zoonotic S. canis vaginal isolate G361 and its isogenic SCM-deficient mutant (G361∆scm). We found that while S. canis establishes vaginal colonization and causes invasive disease in vivo, the contribution of the SCM protein to virulence phenotypes in these models is modest. We conclude that SCM is dispensable for invasive disease in murine models and for resistance to human blood components ex vivo, but may contribute to mucosal persistence, highlighting a potential contribution to the recently appreciated genetic diversity of SCM across strains and hosts.