Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DNA Extraction from Museum Specimens of Parasitic Hymenoptera

At the same time that molecular researchers are improving techniques to extract DNA from museum specimens, this increased demand for access to museum specimens has created tension between the need to preserve specimens for maintaining collections and morphological research and the desire to conduct molecular analyses. To address these concerns, we examined the suitability of non-invasive DNA extraction techniques on three species of parasitic Hymenoptera (Braconidae), and test the effects of body size (parasitoid species), age (time since collection), and DNA concentration from each extract on the probability of amplifying meaningful fragments of two commonly used genetic loci. We found that age was a significant factor for determining the probability of success for sequencing both 28S and COI fragments. While the size of the braconid parasitoids significantly affected the total amount of extracted DNA, neither size nor DNA concentration were significant factors for the amplification of either gene region. We also tested several primer combinations of various lengths, but were unable to amplify fragments longer than ∼150 base pairs. These short fragments of 28S and COI were however sufficient for species identification, and for the discovery of within species genetic variation.
Intrusion Detection Techniques for Cooperation of Node in Mobile ad hoc network (MANET)

— Since there is no infrastructure in mobile ad hoc networks, each node must rely on other nodes for cooperation in routing and forwarding packets to the destination. Intermediate nodes might agree to forward the packets but actually drop or modify them because they are misbehaving. The simulations in show that only a few misbehaving nodes can degrade the performance of the entire system. There are several proposed techniques and protocols to detect such misbehavior in order to avoid those nodes, and some schemes also propose punishment as well. It is very difficult to design once-for-all intrusion detection techniques. Instead, an incremental enhancement strategy may be more feasible. A secure protocol should at least include mechanisms against known attack types. In addition, it should provide a scheme to easily add new security features in the future. Due to the importance of MANET routing protocols, we focus on the detection of attacks targeted at MANET routing protocols This include WatchDog and Pathrater approach. A watchdog identifies the misbehaving nodes by eavesdropping on the transmission of the next hop. A path rater then helps to find the routes that do not contain those nodes. In DSR, the routing information is defined at the source node. This routing information is passed together with the message through intermediate nodes until it reaches the destination.
The mass and heat budget in a model of the tropical Atlantic Ocean

In a general circulation model of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, the northwestward flowing Brazilian Coastal Current is fed by the westward South Equatorial Countercurrent and in turn loses water to the eastward Equatorial Undercurrent and the eastward North Equatorial Countercurrent. The transport of the Countercurrent decreases in a downstream direction primarily because of downwelling and then equatorward flow, in the thermocline, into the undercurrent. Some of the Countercurrent water penetrates into the Gulf of Guinea, where it flows into the southern hemisphere. The transport of the Equatorial Undercurrent decreases because upwelling, which is most intense in the western side of the basin, transfers fluid into the surface layers to sustain divergent Ekman drift which is swept westward by the South Equatorial Undercurrent. The model has a northward heat transport across all latitudes in the tropics. Seasonal variations in this transport are modest to the south of 5°S and to the north of 15°N. Across 8°N, however, the transport varies from 1.5 × 1015 W in January and February to −0.1 × 1015 W in August. This result implies that the zonal bands 5°S to 8°N and 8°N to 15°N act as capacitors that are out of phase. In July, August, and September the heat gained from the southern hemisphere is stored in the 5°S to 8°N band where the thermocline deepens. During this period (when the Brazilian Coastal Current turns offshore near 5°N) the thermocline between 8°N and 15°N rises as heat is lost across 15°N. When the Brazilian Coastal Current flows continuously along the coast into the Gulf of Mexico, from December into May, it transports heat from the band 5°S to 8°N to replenish the heat stored between 8°N and 15°N and to sustain the heat flux across 15°N.
Adrenalectomy Prevents the Obesity Syndrome Produced by Chronic Central Neuropeptide Y Infusion in Normal Rats

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the hypothalamus plays an important role in the regulation of food intake and body weight and seems to be implicated in the etiology of obesity. When intracerebroventricularly (ICV) infused for 6 days in normal rats, NPY resulted in hyperphagia, increased body weight gain, hyperinsulinemia, hypercorticosteronemia, and hypertriglyceridemia compared with vehicle-infused control rats. NPY infusion also resulted in an insulin-resistant state in muscles and in a state of insulin hyperresponsiveness in white adipose tissue, as assessed by the measurement of the in vivo glucose utilization index of these tissues during euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamps. All of these hormono-metabolic effects produced by chronic central NPY infusion were completely prevented when rats were adrenalectomized before NPY administration. Adrenalectomy per se had no effect on any of the parameters mentioned above. The levels of mRNA for the obese gene were increased in white adipose tissue after 6 days of ICV NPY infusion in normal rats, and white adipose tissue weight was also increased. These effects of ICV NPY infusion were markedly decreased by prior adrenalectomy, although NPY infusion was able to somewhat enhance the low white adipose tissue obese mRNA levels and tissue weight of adrenalectomized rats. In conclusion, intact adrenal glands, and probably circulating corticosterone in particular, are necessary for the establishment of most of the hormonal and metabolic effects induced by chronic ICV infusion of NPY in normal rats.
Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, a potent immunoregulator of the periodontal host defense system and alveolar bone homeostasis.

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is a perio-pathogenic bacteria that has long been associated with localized aggressive periodontitis. The mechanisms of its pathogenicity have been studied in humans and preclinical experimental models. Although different serotypes of A. actinomycetemcomitans have differential virulence factor expression, A. actinomycetemcomitans cytolethal distending toxin (CDT), leukotoxin, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) have been most extensively studied in the context of modulating the host immune response. Following colonization and attachment in the oral cavity, A. actinomycetemcomitans employs CDT, leukotoxin, and LPS to evade host innate defense mechanisms and drive a pathophysiologic inflammatory response. This supra-physiologic immune response state perturbs normal periodontal tissue remodeling/turnover and ultimately has catabolic effects on periodontal tissue homeostasis. In this review, we have divided the host response into two systems: non-hematopoietic and hematopoietic. Non-hematopoietic barriers include epithelium and fibroblasts that initiate the innate immune host response. The hematopoietic system contains lymphoid and myeloid-derived cell lineages that are responsible for expanding the immune response and driving the pathophysiologic inflammatory state in the local periodontal microenvironment. Effector systems and signaling transduction pathways activated and utilized in response to A. actinomycetemcomitans will be discussed to further delineate immune cell mechanisms during A. actinomycetemcomitans infection. Finally, we will discuss the osteo-immunomodulatory effects induced by A. actinomycetemcomitans and dissect the catabolic disruption of balanced osteoclast-osteoblast-mediated bone remodeling, which subsequently leads to net alveolar bone loss.
Approximation Algorithms for Data Placement Problems

We develop approximation algorithms for the problem of placing replicated data in arbitrary networks, where the nodes may both issue requests for data objects and have capacity for storing data objects so as to minimize the average data-access cost. We introduce the data placement problem to model this problem. We have a set of caches $\mathcal{F}$, a set of clients $\mathcal{D}$, and a set of data objects $\mathcal{O}$. Each cache $i$ can store at most $u_i$ data objects. Each client $j\in\mathcal{D}$ has demand $d_j$ for a specific data object $o(j)\in\mathcal{O}$ and has to be assigned to a cache that stores that object. Storing an object $o$ in cache $i$ incurs a storage cost of $f_i^o$, and assigning client $j$ to cache $i$ incurs an access cost of $d_jc_{ij}$. The goal is to find a placement of the data objects to caches respecting the capacity constraints, and an assignment of clients to caches so as to minimize the total storage and client access costs. We present a 10-approximation algorithm for this problem. Our algorithm is based on rounding an optimal solution to a natural linear-programming relaxation of the problem. One of the main technical challenges encountered during rounding is to preserve the cache capacities while incurring only a constant-factor increase in the solution cost. We also introduce the connected data placement problem to capture settings where write-requests are also issued for data objects, so that one requires a mechanism to maintain consistency of data. We model this by requiring that all caches containing a given object be connected by a Steiner tree to a root for that object, which issues a multicast message upon a write to (any copy of) that object. The total cost now includes the cost of these Steiner trees. We devise a 14-approximation algorithm for this problem. We show that our algorithms can be adapted to handle two variants of the problem: (a) a $k$-median variant, where there is a specified bound on the number of caches that may contain a given object, and (b) a generalization where objects have lengths and the total length of the objects stored in any cache must not exceed its capacity.
Media coverage and public reaction to a celebrity cancer diagnosis.

BACKGROUND Celebrity diagnoses can have important effects on public behaviour. UK television celebrity Jade Goody died from cervical cancer in 2009. We investigated the impact of her illness on media coverage of cervical cancer prevention, health information seeking behaviour and cervical screening coverage. METHODS National UK newspaper articles containing the words 'Jade Goody' and 'cancer' were examined for public health messages. Google Insights for Search was used to quantify Internet searches as a measure of public health information seeking. Cervical screening coverage data were examined for temporal associations with this story. RESULTS Of 1203 articles, 116 (9.6%) included a clear public health message. The majority highlighted screening (8.2%). Fewer articles provided advice about vaccination (3.0%), number of sexual partners (1.4%), smoking (0.6%) and condom use (0.4%). Key events were associated with increased Internet searches for 'cervical cancer' and 'smear test', although only weakly with searches for 'HPV'. Cervical screening coverage increased during this period. CONCLUSION Increased public interest in disease prevention can follow a celebrity diagnosis. Although media coverage sometimes included public health information, articles typically focused on secondary instead of primary prevention. There is further potential to maximize the public health benefit of future celebrity diagnoses.
E-supply chain operational and behavioural perspectives: an empirical study of Malaysian SMEs

A review of the literature suggests that much of the existing e-supply chain adoption literature is not firmly grounded in theory. Where many previous studies have identified technology as the key determinant, we argue that operational and behavioural perspectives should be duly taken into consideration while adopting e-technology. Therefore, inspired by the systems engineering principles, we propose a generic framework for evaluating business performance of e-supply chain companies. A questionnaire was designed and survey data from 208 Malaysian SMEs was collected. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to test the impact of Supply Chain Strategy, E-Business Adoption, and the interaction of these constructs, on overall Business Performance. With regards to the operational perspective the results suggest that E-Business Adoption relates more positively to Business Performance compared to Supply Chain Strategy construct. Also, Technology Capability scored relatively higher compared to Organisational Capability and Attitudinal Capability. Overall Supply Chain Relationship (behavioural perspective) demonstrates a relatively weak result. Our findings suggest that where Malaysian SMEs are technology orientated, however, they need to develop efficient logistics networks to cater for a geographically dispersed population. Also, they need to pay serious attention towards ‘softer’ issues, in that to bring about attitudinal changes that allow developing closer collaboration with their supply chain companies. We argue that operational and behavioural perspectives can be embedded within the systems engineering principles that provide necessary theoretical underpinning for conducting such a research. The empirical findings provide useful guidelines for SMEs that wish to embark upon an e-business adoption journey. Furthermore, the measures produced here can be used as a benchmarking exercise for the SMEs who have already adopted e-technology.
Characterization of monoclonal antibodies against MHC class II-associated p41 invariant chain fragment

Mouse monoclonal antibodies directed against human MHC class II-associated p41 invariant chain fragment have been generated. Mice were immunized with human recombinant Ii-isoform p26. For hybridoma production mouse splenocytes and myeloma cells were fused. Hybridoma cells were screened using ELISA and immunoblotting. Three cell lines (42B10, 42G11 and 43C8) were used for production of specific antibodies, which reacted with p41 fragment and did not bind to cathepsins L or S or their proenyzmes. As primary antibody for immunofluorescence staining of lymph node tissue sections clone 2C12 MAb was selected. Specific localization of p41 fragment in certain cells in lymph nodes was observed.
Region reaching control for robots with uncertain kinematics and dynamics

In this paper, we propose a new region reaching control scheme for robots with uncertain kinematics and dynamics. In this control method, the desired objective can be specified as a region instead of a point. Since the desired region can be specified arbitrarily small, the region control concept is also a generalization of setpoint control problem. Based on this observation, we revisit the setpoint control problem from region control point of view, to gain new insights into the robot control problem. We shall show that the approximate Jacobian setpoint controller is a special case of the proposed region reaching controller
Trade-offs and synergies between carbon storage and livelihood benefits from forest commons

Forests provide multiple benefits at local to global scales. These include the global public good of carbon sequestration and local and national level contributions to livelihoods for more than half a billion users. Forest commons are a particularly important class of forests generating these multiple benefits. Institutional arrangements to govern forest commons are believed to substantially influence carbon storage and livelihood contributions, especially when they incorporate local knowledge and decentralized decision making. However, hypothesized relationships between institutional factors and multiple benefits have never been tested on data from multiple countries. By using original data on 80 forest commons in 10 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, we show that larger forest size and greater rule-making autonomy at the local level are associated with high carbon storage and livelihood benefits; differences in ownership of forest commons are associated with trade-offs between livelihood benefits and carbon storage. We argue that local communities restrict their consumption of forest products when they own forest commons, thereby increasing carbon storage. In showing rule-making autonomy and ownership as distinct and important institutional influences on forest outcomes, our results are directly relevant to international climate change mitigation initiatives such as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and avoided deforestation. Transfer of ownership over larger forest commons patches to local communities, coupled with payments for improved carbon storage can contribute to climate change mitigation without adversely affecting local livelihoods.
Real-Time Fusion of Multimodal Tracking Data and Generalization of Motion Patterns for Trajectory Prediction

A sensor-based model of a service robot's environment is a prerequisite for interaction. Such a model should contain the positions of the robot's interaction partners. Many reasonable applications require this knowledge in realtime. It could for example be used to realize efficient path planning for delivery tasks. Additionally to the actual positions of the partners it is important for the service robot to predict their possible future positions. In this paper we propose an extensible framework that combines different sensor modalities in a general real-time tracking system. Exemplarily, a tracking system is implemented that fuses tracking algorithms in laser range scans as well as in camera images by a particle filter. Furthermore, human trajectories are predicted by deducing them from learned motion patterns. The observed trajectories are generalized to trajectory patterns by a novel method which uses self organizing maps. Those patterns are used to predict trajectories of the currently observed persons. Practical experiments show that multimodality increases the system's robustness to incorrect measurements of single sensors. It is also demonstrated that a self organizing map is suitable for learning and generalizing trajectories. Convenient predictions of future trajectories are presented which are deduced from these generalizations.
The stratigraphy, palynology, and climatic significance of pre-middle Wisconsin Pleistocene sediments, southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Palynological investigations of organic-rich sediments from the Muir Point Formation and basal Cowichan Head Formation on southernmost Vancouver Island have identified seven pollen zones. Modern pollen spectra from the extant vegetation in southwestern British Columbia aid in interpreting paleoenvironments from the fossil pollen assemblages. Six of the pollen zones (MP-1, MP-2, MP-3, MP-4, CB-3, and CB-4) are from the Muir Point Formation and are beyond the range of 14C dating. They record evidence of vegetation and climate during either the last interglacial or penultimate interglacial (or some much older interglaciation) when conditions were at first warmer and (or) drier than at present, then succeeded to cooler and (or) moister conditions. The seventh and youngest pollen zone (MP-5) provides evidence of subalpine to near tree-line vegetation growing in cool–cold conditions before 43 000 years BP, during the early Olympia nonglacial interval. These pollen zones and interpretations are in part correlati.
Structural evolution of the Suneinah Foreland, Central Oman Mountains

Abstract In the early Mesozoic, the Suneinah Foreland of the central Oman Mountains lay on the flank of a north facing Tethyan rift margin. By the end of the Middle Cretaceous, this had evolved into a carbonate dominated passive margin. Following regional uplift and erosion during the Turonian, it was downwarped, faulted and buried by a deeper water shale facies. At the beginning of the Campanian, the earlier Tethyan sea floor and continental rise prism were rapidly telescoped across the margin, loading and downflexing the crust to form the narrow Suneinah Foredeep and peripheral bulge beyond. By the end of the Cretaceous this foredeep had been filled with marls and coarse detritus shed from the adjacent allochthon, and during the Early Tertiary a transgression swept across and blanketed much of the eroded nappe surface. In the Late Oligocene-Middle Miocene the Arabian plate began to separate from Africa and move northeast towards the Eurasian crustal collage. The Musandam promontory acted as a spur or indentor on this advancing plate, focussing compression and transmitting it back along deep basement fractures in the old Tethyan rift domain. Intense transpressional deformation inverted the entire margin to form the modern Oman Mountains and a new foredeep along its western flank. Reactivated Mesozoic fault blocks fringing the inversion orogen in the Suneinah area, deformed fairly rigidly, but the more plastic Late Cretaceous and Tertiary section above was squeezed into sometimes quite spectacular high amplitude folds. With the onset of sea floor spreading in the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden and northerly movement of the Arabian plate along the Dead Sea transform during the Late Miocene-Pleistocene, tectonic intensity waned in the Oman Mountains and much of its earlier sedimentary cover was stripped off.
Sensor-Based Approach for Predicting Departure Time of Smartphone Users

While location prediction of smartphone users has made great strides in recent years, a major challenge remains. As users spend the majority of their time is several fixed locations (home, work), existing algorithms are unable to identify the exact time in which a person is likely to depart from one place to another. In this work we present a sensor-based approach designed to predict the departure time of users. By using location and accelerometer sensors we were able to train a generic classification model that is able to predict whether the user will stay put or move to a different location with true positive rate of 0.73 and false positive rate of 0.3.
An Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System Modeling for Grid-Adaptive Interpolation over Depth Images

A suitable interpolation method is essential to keep the noise level minimum along with the time-delay. In recent years, many different interpolation filters have been developed for instance H.264-6 tap filter, and AVS- 4 tap filter. The present work uses Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) technique to model and investigate the effects of a four-tap low-pass tap filter (Grid-adaptive filter) on a hole-filled depth image. The work demonstrates the general form of uniform interpolations for both integer and sub-pixel locations in terms of the sampling interval and filter length of depth-images via diverse finite impulse response filtering schemes. The demonstrated model combined modelling function of fuzzy inference with the learning ability of artificial neural network.