Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the intrinsic shape of molecular clouds

Knowledge of the intrinsic shape of molecular clouds and molecular cloud cores provides useful information on both the formation and collapse mechanisms associated with the objects and on the initial conditions for star formation. We compare the shapes of molecular clouds as determined by the Heyer et al. (2001, HCS01) and Brunt et al. (2003, BKP03) catalogues of 12 CO(J = 1 − 0) emission in the outer Galaxy. The catalogues are based upon different versions of the FCRAO Outer Galaxy Survey and also utilize different techniques for defining both the extent and shape of the clouds, which allows us to examine the effects of using different cloud definition and shape-fitting algorithms. In order to compare the two catalogues we use a subset of the cloud population where the clouds are well-defined in both data sets. We model the clouds in terms of triaxial ellipsoids and use a Monte Carlo technique to determine the best-fit intrinsic shape distribution which matches the observed axis ratio distributions. Our analysis shows that the observed shapes of molecular clouds can be best described in terms of an intrinsic distribution of triaxial ellipsoids that are intermediate between near-oblate and near-prolate ellipsoids. The lack of high axis ratio clouds seen in the HCS01 catalogue is shown to be an artifact of the cloud definition algorithm and not an intrinsic property of the molecular clouds.
Text Localization in Web Images Using Probabilistic Candidate Selection Model

Web has become increasingly oriented to multimedia content. Most information on the web is conveyed from images. Text localization in web image plays an important role in web image information extraction and retrieval. Current works on text localization in web images assume that text regions are in homogenous color and high contrast. Hence, the approaches may fail when text regions are in multi-color or imposed in complex background. In this paper, we propose a text extraction algorithm from web images based on the probabilistic candidate selection model. The model firstly segments text region candidates from input images using wavelet, Gaussian mixture model (GMM) and triangulation. The likelihood of a candidate region containing text is then learnt using a Bayesian probabilistic model from two features, namely, histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) and local binary pattern histogram Fourier feature (LBP-HF). Finally best candidate regions are integrated to form text regions. The algorithm is evaluated using 155 non-homogenous web images containing around 600 text regions. The results show that the proposed model is able to extract text regions from non-homogenous images effectively.
Application of Spectroscopic Methods for Structural Analysis of Chitin and Chitosan

Chitin, the second most important natural polymer in the world, and its N-deacetylated derivative chitosan, have been identified as versatile biopolymers for a broad range of applications in medicine, agriculture and the food industry. Two of the main reasons for this are firstly the unique chemical, physicochemical and biological properties of chitin and chitosan, and secondly the unlimited supply of raw materials for their production. These polymers exhibit widely differing physicochemical properties depending on the chitin source and the conditions of chitosan production. The presence of reactive functional groups as well as the polysaccharide nature of these biopolymers enables them to undergo diverse chemical modifications. A complete chemical and physicochemical characterization of chitin, chitosan and their derivatives is not possible without using spectroscopic techniques. This review focuses on the application of spectroscopic methods for the structural analysis of these compounds.
Counteract DNS Attacks on SIP Proxies Using Bloom Filters

SIP proxies play an important part in VoIP services. A Denial of Service (DoS) attack on them may cause the failure of the whole network. We investigate such a DoS attack by exploiting DNS queries. A SIP proxy needs to resolve domain names for processing a message. However, a DNS resolution may take a while. To avoid being blocked, a proxy suspends the processing task of the current message during its name resolution, so that it can continue to deal with other messages. Later when the answer is received, the suspended task will be resumed. It is an asynchronous implementation of DNS queries. Unfortunately, this implementation consumes memory storage and also brings troubles like a race condition. An attacker can collect a list of domain names which take seconds to resolve. Then, the attacker sends to a victim SIP proxy messages which contain these domain names. As a result, the victim proxy has to suspend a number of messages in a short while. Our experiments show that a SIP proxy can be easily crashed by such an attack and thus be not available anymore. To solve the problem, we analyzed the reasons that make a DNS query time-consuming, and then proposed a prevention scheme using bloom filters to blacklist suspicious DNS authoritative servers. Results of our experiments show it efficiently mitigates the attack with a reasonable false positive rate.
Feasibility and acceptability of Facebook for health promotion among people with serious mental illness

Objective Elevated obesity rates are a major contributor to the significantly reduced life expectancy impacting people with serious mental illness. With over 1.5 billion Facebook users worldwide, this platform may afford opportunities for reaching individuals with serious mental illness outside professional settings and fostering social support for adopting healthier behaviors. In this mixed methods pilot study, we explored the feasibility and acceptability of using Facebook to support a group lifestyle intervention for weight loss among obese adults with serious mental illness. Methods Nine of eleven participants enrolled in a six-month lifestyle intervention delivered through a community mental health center agreed to join a private Facebook group to support their healthy eating and exercise goals. We measured participants’ use of the Facebook group and collected post-intervention feasibility and acceptability questionnaires followed by in-depth qualitative interviews to elicit participants’ perspectives and recommendations for improving the use of Facebook. Results Of 188 posts to the Facebook group, the majority (79%) were from participants compared to study staff (21%). Participants also posted 186 comments, 299 likes, and recorded 1316 page views. Participants were positive about opportunities to interact and support each other outside group sessions, found content posted by other participants to be helpful, and indicated that the Facebook group was safe to use. Participants provided constructive feedback, including recommendations for more detailed instructions for accessing the group and posting content, finding ways to encourage more interaction within the group, and tips for responding to notifications or alerts directly from the Facebook website. Conclusions These findings suggest that Facebook may be feasible for supporting health promotion efforts targeting people with serious mental illness. Participants provided valuable feedback that can inform the use of Facebook for future health promotion efforts targeting this high-risk group.
Somatic mutations predict outcomes of hypomethylating therapy in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome

Although hypomethylating therapy (HMT) is the first line therapy in higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), predicting response to HMT remains an unresolved issue. We aimed to identify mutations associated with response to HMT and survival in MDS. A total of 107 Korean patients with MDS who underwent HMT (57 responders and 50 non-responders) were enrolled. Targeted deep sequencing (median depth of coverage 1,623X) was performed for 26 candidate MDS genes. In multivariate analysis, no mutation was significantly associated with response to HMT, but a lower hemoglobin level (<10g/dL, OR 3.56, 95% CI 1.22-10.33) and low platelet count (<50,000/μL, OR 2.49, 95% CI 1.05-5.93) were independent markers of poor response to HMT. In the subgroup analysis by type of HMT agents, U2AF1 mutation was significantly associated with non-response to azacitidine, which was consistent in multivariate analysis (OR 14.96, 95% CI 1.67-134.18). Regarding overall survival, mutations in DNMT1 (P=0.031), DNMT3A (P=0.006), RAS (P=0.043), and TP53 (P=0.008), and two clinical variables (male-gender, P=0.002; IPSS-R H/VH, P=0.026) were independent predicting factors of poor prognosis. For AML-free survival, mutations in DNMT3A (P<0.001), RAS (P=0.001), and TP53 (P=0.047), and two clinical variables (male-gender, P=0.024; IPSS-R H/VH, P=0.005) were independent predicting factors of poor prognosis. By combining these mutations and clinical predictors, we developed a quantitative scoring model for response to azacitidine, overall- and AML-free survival. Response to azacitidine and survival rates became worse significantly with increasing risk-scores. This scoring model can make prognosis prediction more reliable and clinically applicable.
Better ways of ecological compensation: Integration of environmental governance with regional development

Through logical argument, illustration, and analysis of questionnaire results conducted in Loess Plateau, China, this paper argues that environmental governance should be integrated with regional development to realize the long-term goals of both sustained ecological improvement and lasting economic development. The paper suggests that when an ecological restoration program is implemented with an obvious positive externality improving local environment with benefits for the whole regional society and even outside the region, and where the boundary of the benefits provided is unclear and total benefits are un-measurable as some beneficiaries are unidentifiable it is the government's responsibility to work out a feasible and operable environmental governance policy for ecological compensation that effectively and efficiently offsets externalities. The preliminary conclusions of the paper are as follows: 1) When the positive externality from a large ecological program, such as the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) in Loess Plateau, China, extends to other regions and its ecological benefits can not be clearly measured and calculated across these regions, the Ecological Compensation (EC, or Payments for Environmental Services, PES, to offset the externality) paid by the government to the participants who undergo economic losses due to program's implementation, should be sufficient to cover all the opportunity costs of the participants. 2) The present EC standard for SLCP should be revised to not only consider the local people's present livelihood, but also to consider the local region's long-term socioeconomic development. 3) It is suggested the EC payment standard should include 2 main parts: payment for farmer's direct losses and payment to farmers to resettle down their livelihoods. The latter payment may consist of an initial payment to encourage farmers to adopt a new production mode and a fee to support farmers while they receive vocational training or employment guidance. 4) The current EC payment standard for SLCP in Loess Plateau region from the government, though judged by the participants of SLCP as “passably fair”, has not paid much attention to the issue of transferring farmers' surplus labor, which can be particularly encouraged by providing them with better local infrastructure and increasing the efficiency of rural production. Greater emphasis on transfer of surplus labor may increase the efficiency of EC. There is room to re-orientate EC policy and speed up the transfer of farmers' surplus labor, such as by facilitating transformation of rural production methods and promoting sustainable local socioeconomic development.
A First-Order Extension of Modal μ- calculus

Modal μ-calculus is a modal logic with fixed-point operators and well-known in mathematics and computer scince. For example, many verification properties of a system are expressed by formulas of modal μcalculus in computer science. However some verification properties of a system can not be expressed by a formula of modal μ-calculus as we will show later, and quantifiers of first-order logic are essentially required for expressing the verification properties. Therefore a first-order extension of modal μ-calculus is needed for expressing such verification properties. In this paper we introduce a first-order extension of modal μ-calculus and show that it is Σ 1 -complete. Moreover we express some verification properties of a system by its formulas for showing its usefulness.
Almost linear Büchi automata

We introduce a new fragment of linear temporal logic (LTL) called LIO and a new class of Büchi automata (BA) called almost linear Büchi automata (ALBA). We provide effective translations between LIO and ALBA showing that the two formalisms are expressively equivalent. As we expect there to be applications of our results in model checking, we use two standard sources of specification formulae, namely Spec Patterns and BEEM, to study the practical relevance of the LIO fragment, and to compare our translation of LIO to ALBA with two standard translations of LTL to BA using alternating automata. Finally, we demonstrate that the LIO to ALBA translation can be much faster than the standard translation, and the resulting automata can be substantially smaller.
On Stability and Ergodicity of Stochastic Non-Linear Systems Controlled over Communication Channels

This paper is concerned with the following problem: Given a stochastic non-linear system controlled over a noisy channel, what is the largest class of channels for which there exist coding and control policies so that the closed loop system is stochastically stable? Stochastic stability notions considered are stationarity, ergodicity or asymptotic mean stationarity. We do not restrict the state space to be compact, for example systems considered can be driven by unbounded noise. Necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained for a large class of systems and channels. A generalization of Bode's Integral Formula for a large class of non-linear systems and information channels is obtained. The findings generalize existing results for linear systems.
Calcium signalling in early embryos

The onset of development in most species studied is triggered by one of the largest and longest calcium transients known to us. It is the most studied and best understood aspect of the calcium signals that accompany and control development. Its properties and mechanisms demonstrate what embryos are capable of and thus how the less-understood calcium signals later in development may be generated. The downstream targets of the fertilization calcium signal have also been identified, providing some pointers to the probable targets of calcium signals further on in the process of development. In one species or another, the fertilization calcium signal involves all the known calcium-releasing second messengers and many of the known calcium-signalling mechanisms. These calcium signals also usually take the form of a propagating calcium wave or waves. Fertilization causes the cell cycle to resume, and therefore fertilization signals are cell-cycle signals. In some early embryonic cell cycles, calcium signals also control the progress through each cell cycle, controlling mitosis. Studies of these early embryonic calcium-signalling mechanisms provide a background to the calcium-signalling events discussed in the articles in this issue.
2 8 Se p 20 03 Modular Hecke Algebras and their Hopf Symmetry

We introduce and begin to analyse a class of algebras, associated to congruence subgroups, that extend both the algebra of modular forms of all levels and the ring of classical Hecke operators. At the intuitive level, these are algebras of ‘polynomial coordinates’ for the ‘transverse space’ of lattices modulo the action of the Hecke correspondences. Their underlying symmetry is shown to be encoded by the same Hopf algebra that controls the transverse geometry of codimension 1 foliations. Its action is shown to span the ‘holomorphic tangent space’ of the noncommutative space, and each of its three basic Hopf cyclic cocycles acquires a specific meaning. The Schwarzian 1-cocycle gives an inner derivation implemented by the level 1 Eisenstein series of weight 4. The Hopf cyclic 2-cocycle representing the transverse fundamental class provides a natural extension of the first Rankin-Cohen bracket to the modular Hecke algebras. Lastly, the Hopf cyclic version of the Godbillon-Vey cocycle gives rise to a 1-cocycle on PSL(2, Q) with values in Eisenstein series of weight 2, which when coupled with the ‘period’ cocycle yields a representative of the Euler class. ∗Research supported by the National Science Foundation award no. DMS-9988487.
The Effect of Indigocarmine on Improvement of the Polyp Detection Rate during Colonoscopic Examination with Hood Cap

Background/Aims Hood cap-assisted chromocolonoscopy using indigocarmine is expected to improve the detection rate of colorectal polyps, especially adenomatous polyps. Therefore, aim of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of hood cap-assisted chromocolonoscopy in routine colonoscopic examinations. Methods From January, 2013 through March, 2013, a total of 86 patients were enrolled (M:F=33:53, mean age=60 years). For each patient, hood cap-assisted colonoscopic examination was performed, followed by hood cap-assisted chromocolonoscopy using 0.2% indigocarmine from the cecum to the hepatic flexure. Total numbers and characteristics of polyps were compared before and after indigo carmine dye spraying. Results Prior to dye spraying, 48 polyps were found in 37 patients, and after dye spraying, 53 additional polyps were found in 34 patients. Of these undetected polyps, 45 (85%) were small sized polyps (≤0.5 cm). Histologically, 19 (36%) were adenomatous polyps, and of these, 15 (28%) were tubular adenomas and 4 (8%) were serrated adenomas. As for the polyp detection rate, there was no difference between the expert and the non-expert groups. Conclusion Hood cap-assisted chromocolonoscopic examination using indigocarmine was helpful in detecting cecum and ascending colon polyps, especially small sized polyps (<0.5 cm) and neoplastic polyps.
Business Models and Programming Choice: Digital Video Recorders Shaping the TV Industry

This paper focuses on the influence that Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) are expected to have on the business models and in particular the programming choice of TV stations and cable / satellite TV service providers. After presenting the theoretical underpinnings with respect to programming choice modeling for the TV industry, this work examines DVRs in detail covering their main product features, impacts on viewer behavior, and the current roll-out status. This paper then investigates how these DVR features impact earlier insights from programming choice modeling and how they lead to changed business models for TV stations. The paper concludes with a brief summary and a critical outlook for a TV industry business model.
Spatial Computing How Spatial Structures Replace Computational Effort

At the Advanced Study Institute on Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space in Las Navas del Marqués in July 1990, I presented a chapter on Qualitative Spatial Reasoning . In that chapter, I suggested that spatial inference engines might provide the basis for rather general cognitive capabilities inside and outside the spatial domain. In the present chapter, I will follow up on this perspective and I will illustrate the ways in which research in spatial cognition has progressed towards understanding spatial reasoning and spatial computing in a more literal sense: using a spatial substrate. The chapter presents a progression of approaches to spatial reasoning from purely descriptive to increasingly spatially structured. It demonstrates how spatial structures are capable of replacing computational processes. It discusses how these approaches could be developed and implemented in a way that may help us to better understand higher-level spatial abilities of cognitive systems that are frequently attributed to the right cerebral hemisphere in humans. The chapter concludes by discussing the special role of space and time for cognition and advocates a thorough overall analysis of the speciﬁc problem to be solved to identify the most suitable approach to computation.
Concurrent Self-administration of Alcohol and Nicotine in an Operant Paradigm

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS x LIST OF TABLES xi LIST OF FIGURES xii 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Nicotine and Alcohol Studies in Humans 2 1.1.1. Laboratory studies in humans 2 1.1.1.1. Effect of alcohol on tobacco cigarette seeking 2 1.1.1.2. Effect of cigarette smoking on alcohol drinking 3 1.1.1.3. Summary for laboratory studies in humans 4 1.1.2. Genetic studies in humans 4 1.2. Experimental Studies in Animals 5 1.2. 1. Behavioral studies 5 1.2. 1.1. Effects of nicotine on alcohol consumption 5 1.2. 1.2. Effects of alcohol on nicotine intake 7 1.2. 1.3. Summary for behavioral studies 7 1.2. 2. Genetic studies 8 1.2. 3. Neuropharmacological studies on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) 8 1.2. 3.1. Effects of nicotine on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors 8 1.2. 3.2. Effects of alcohol on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors 10 1.2. 3.3. Summary of neuropharmacological studies on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors 11 1.2. 4. Neurochemical studies 12 1.2. 4.1. Pedunculopontine mesencephalic tegmentum 13
GUN4, a Regulator of Chlorophyll Synthesis and Intracellular Signaling

Nuclear genes control plastid differentiation in response to developmental signals, environmental signals, and retrograde signals from plastids themselves. In return, plastids emit signals that are essential for proper expression of many nuclear photosynthetic genes. Accumulation of magnesium-protoporphyrin IX (Mg-Proto), an intermediate in chlorophyll biosynthesis, is a plastid signal that represses nuclear transcription through a signaling pathway that, inArabidopsis, requires the GUN4 gene. GUN4 binds the product and substrate of Mg- chelatase, an enzyme that produces Mg-Proto, and activates Mg-chelatase. Thus, GUN4 participates in plastid-to-nucleus signaling by regulating Mg-Proto synthesis or trafficking.
Class Participation of International Students in the U.S.A.

Following a qualitative research design, this study aims to explore the differences between international and American graduate students in terms of their class participation. The data for the study were collected from a graduate-level class at a university in upstate New York. There were seven participants in the study, three of the participants were American students, and the other four participants were international students, two from China, one from Iran, and one from Sudan. Main source of data was classroom observations. Three classroom sessions were observed and field notes were taken during observations. There were two phases of the data analysis process. During the first phase, field notes were reviewed after observations and five general categories of classroom participation were identified. During the second phase, the data were further analyzed in order to see the differences between American and international students in terms of their class participation according to these five categories. Results of data analysis revealed three main differences between American and international students’ class participation in the observed graduate classroom setting. The first main difference involved the short answer/example and explanation categories, the second main difference involved the questions to the instructor/classmates for clarification/repetition and the questions to raise discussion categories, and the last main difference involved the answer/explanation assigned by the instructor category.