Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cost Impacts on Information Lifecycle Management Design

Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) is a strategic concept for storage of information and documents. ILM is based on the idea that in an enterprise information have different values. Information with different values are stored on different storage hierarchies. ILM offers significant potential cost savings by tiering storage and 90% of decision makers consider implementing ILM (Linden 2006). Nonetheless, there are too few experience reports and experimenting and researching in real systems are too expensive. In addition, 66% of IT managers do not have time to put together a basic cost model or a data value model for ILM projects. (Foskett 2006). This paper addresses these issues and contributes to supporting and assisting IT managers in their decision-making process. We present a cost model for ILM in an enterprise. The model is used for ILM simulations. The simulative approach has two advantages. On the one hand it offers predictions about the dynamic behaviour of an ILM scenario and, on the other hand, it dispenses with real storage hardware. The simulated results lead to design guidelines for ILM environments which help to avoid mismanagement and poor investments in advance. The results raise the awareness of the required number of hierarchies and the choice of storage technologies.
Hybrid flexible neural tree approach for leukemia cancer classification

In this paper, a novel method for improving flexible neural tree is proposed to classify the leukemia cancer data. The hybrid flexible neural tree with pre-defined instruction sets can be created and evolved. The structure and parameter of hybrid flexible neural tree are optimized using probabilistic incremental program evolution (PIPE) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method illustrates feasible and efficient for the classifications of microarray data.
Millimeter-Wavelength Radars: New Frontier in Atmospheric Cloud and Precipitation Research

During the past 20 yr there has been substantial progress on the development and application of millimeter-wavelength (3.2 and 8.6 mm, corresponding to frequencies of 94 and 35 GHz) radars in atmospheric cloud research, boosted by continuous advancements in radar technology and the need to better understand clouds and their role in the Earth's climate. Applications of millimeter-wavelength radars range from detailed cloud and precipitation process studies to long-term monitoring activities that strive to improve our understanding of cloud processes over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. These activities are the result of a long period of successful research, starting from the 1980s, in which research tools and sophisticated retrieval techniques were developed, tested, and evaluated in field experiments. This paper presents a cohesive, chronological overview of millimeter-wavelength radar advancements during this period and describes the potential of new applications of millimeter-wavelength rad.
Anthocyanins and flavan-3-ols from grapes and wines of Vitis vinifera cv. Cesanese d’Affile

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the amount of some potential health-promoting phenols in the grape of Vitis vinifera cv. Cesanese d’Affile and in wines made from these grapes. The analyses were performed using HPLC/DAD/MS. The accumulation of anthocyanins in the skin and flavan-3-ols in the seed was determined at different stages of ripening of the grape (i.e. green, veraison, middle stage of ripening, and complete ripening). Thirteen anthocyanins were identified in the skin at all stages of ripening, except the green stage. With regard to flavan-3-ols, (+)-catechin, (−)-epicatechin, and (−)-epicatechin gallate were detected in all of the seed samples. The highest (+)-catechin content was found in the seeds of the green grape (2 mg g−1 DW), whereas in the seeds from the completely ripe grape the content was more than ten times lower. The highest catechin content in the seed was correlated with the lowest anthocyanin content in the skin. The wines produced in the years 2004 and 2005 showed, at wavelengths of 520 and 280 nm, almost identical quali-quantitative chromatographic profiles, with high concentrations of anthocyanin 3-O-glucosides, low concentrations of acylated anthocyanins, and trace amounts of (+)-catechin and (−)-epicatechin.
Galactosaminogalactan from cell walls of Aspergillus niger

A new heteropolysaccharide has been isolated by alkaline extraction of hyphal walls of Aspergillus niger NRRL 326 grown in surface culture. Its composition by weight, as determined by paper and gas chromatography and colorimetric analyses, is 70% galactose, 20% galactosamine, 6% glucose, and 1% acetyl. Two independent experiments have been used to ascertain copolymer structure: permeation chromatography in 6 M guanidinium hydrochloride, with controlled-pore glass columns of two fractionation ranges, and nitrous acid deaminative cleavage of galactosaminogalactan followed by reduction of fragments with [3H]borohydride and gel filtration chromatography. One of the tritiated fragments is tentatively identified as the disaccharide derivative galactopyranosyl 2,5-anhydrotalitol, on the basis of chromatographic properties and by kinetics of its acid hydrolysis. Smith degradation, methylation, deamination, and optical rotation studies indicate that the galactosaminogalactan consists of a linear array of hexopyranosyl units joined almost exclusively by alpha-(1 leads to 4) linkages. Hexosaminyl moieties are distributed randomly along the chains, which have an average degree of polymerization of about 100. The possible significance of this macromolecule in hyphal structure is considered.
Equilibrium Information from Nonequilibrium Measurements in an Experimental Test of Jarzynski's Equality

Recent advances in statistical mechanical theory can be used to solve a fundamental problem in experimental thermodynamics. In 1997, Jarzynski proved an equality relating the irreversible work to the equilibrium free energy difference, ΔG. This remarkable theoretical result states that it is possible to obtain equilibrium thermodynamic parameters from processes carried out arbitrarily far from equilibrium. We test Jarzynski's equality by mechanically stretching a single molecule of RNA reversibly and irreversibly between two conformations. Application of this equality to the irreversible work trajectories recovers the ΔG profile of the stretching process to withink B T/2 (half the thermal energy) of its best independent estimate, the mean work of reversible stretching. The implementation and test of Jarzynski's equality provides the first example of its use as a bridge between the statistical mechanics of equilibrium and nonequilibrium systems. This work also extends the thermodynamic analysis of single molecule manipulation data beyond the context of equilibrium experiments.
The mechanisms of the strong inhibitory modulation of long‐term potentiation in the rat dentate gyrus

The hippocampus is essential for the formation of certain types of memory, and synaptic plasticity such as long‐term potentiation (LTP) is widely accepted as a cellular basis of hippocampus‐dependent memory. Although LTP in both perforant path–dentate gyrus (DG) granule cell and CA3–CA1 pyramidal cell synapses is similarly dependent on activation of postsynaptic N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptors, several reports suggest that modulation of LTP by γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor‐mediated inhibitory inputs is stronger in perforant path–DG granule cell synapses. However, little is known about how different the mechanism and physiological relevance of the GABAergic modulation of LTP induction are among different brain regions. We confirmed that the action of GABAA receptor antagonists on LTP was more prominent in the DG, and explored the mechanism introducing such difference by examining two types of GABAA receptor‐mediated inhibition, i.e. synaptic and tonic inhibition. As synaptic inhibition, we compared inhibitory vs. excitatory monosynaptic responses and their summation during an LTP‐inducing stimulus, and found that the balance of the summated postsynaptic currents was biased toward inhibition in the DG. As tonic inhibition, or sustained activation of extrasynaptic GABAA receptors by ambient GABA, we measured the change in holding currents of the postsynaptic cells induced by GABAA receptor antagonists, and found that the tonic inhibition was significantly stronger in the DG. Furthermore, we found that tonic inhibition was associated with LTP modulation. Our results suggest that both the larger tonic inhibition and the larger inhibitory/excitatory summation balance during conditioning are involved in the stronger inhibitory modulation of LTP in the DG.
Classes of stochastically switched (blinking) systems

It is investigated to what extent the trajectories of a stochastically switched (blinking) system follow the corresponding trajectories of the averaged system. Four cases have to be distinguished, depending on whether or not the averaged system has a unique attractor and whether or not the attractor(s) is (are) invariant under the dynamics of the blinking system. The corresponding asymptotic behavior of the trajectories of the blinking system is described and illustrative examples are given
Sickle cell trait is not associated with endemic Burkitt lymphoma: An ethnicity and malaria endemicity-matched case–control study suggests factors controlling EBV may serve as a predictive biomarker for this pediatric cancer

Endemic Burkitt lymphoma (eBL) is associated with Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and Plasmodium falciparum coinfections. Malaria appears to dysregulate immunity that would otherwise control EBV, thereby contributing to eBL etiology. Juxtaposed to human genetic variants associated with protection from malaria, it has been hypothesized that such variants could decrease eBL susceptibility, historically referred to as “the protective hypothesis. ” Past studies attempting to link sickle cell trait (HbAS), which is known to be protective against malaria, with protection from eBL were contradictory and underpowered. Therefore, using a case–control study design, we examined HbAS frequency in 306 Kenyan children diagnosed with eBL compared to 537 geographically defined and ethnically matched controls. We found 23.8% HbAS for eBL patients, which was not significantly different compared to 27.0% HbAS for controls [odds ratio (OR) = 0.85; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.61–1.17; p‐value = 0.33]. Even though cellular EBV titers, indicative of the number of latently infected B cells, were significantly higher (p‐value < 0.0003) in children residing in malaria holoendemic compared to hypoendemic areas, levels were not associated with HbAS genotype. Combined, this suggests that although HbAS protects against severe malaria and hyperparasitemia, it is not associated with viral control or eBL protection. However, based on receiver operating characteristic curves factors that enable the establishment of EBV persistence, in contrast to those involved in EBV lytic reactivation, may have utility as an eBL precursor biomarker. This has implications for future human genetic association studies to consider variants influencing control over EBV in addition to malaria as risk factors for eBL.
Prevention of accomplishing synchronous multi-modal human–robot cooperation by using visual rhythms

Effective rhythm expression (ERE) from a robot to a human performing a multi-modal physical-cooperation (MMPC) task was accomplished. During MMPC, the participant and the robot can exchange various rhythms between themselves. To accomplish ERE, it is important to appropriately select the modalities in which the robot expresses its desired rhythm. Accordingly, a hypothesis that selecting the visual rhythm for RE prevents MMPC was tested and confirmed. This hypothesis was preliminarily confirmed in regard to MMPC between two humans. Moreover, to confirm the hypothesis in regard to human–robot cooperation, an experimental system (including a rope-turning robot) was developed. This experimental system allowed experimenters to evaluate the synchronization during MMPC between a human and a robot by measuring the norm of angular velocities. The results of several experiments (namely, a comparison of norms), in which several combinations of visual and auditory rhythmic stimuli were presented to the subjects, strongly supported the hypothesis. Graphical Abstract
Cosmic-Ray Diffusion Approximation with Weak Adiabatic Focusing

Large-scale spatial variations of the guide magnetic field of interplanetary and interstellar plasmas give rise to the adiabatic focusing term in the Fokker-Planck transport equation of cosmic rays. The consequences of the adiabatic focusing term for the diffusion approximation to cosmic-ray transport are investigated in the weak focusing limit, where the focusing length L is much larger than the parallel scattering length. Whereas the cosmic-ray anisotropy is unaffected, three new transport terms arise in the diffusion-convection transport equation that represent convective transport terms parallel to the guide field, perpendicular to the guide field, and in momentum space. The convective terms perpendicular to the guide field only occur in nonaxisymmetric electromagnetic turbulence. The new convection term in momentum space represents a continuous momentum loss term or a first-order Fermi-type acceleration term depending on the product a11L of the focusing length L and the rate of adiabatic deceleration a11, which depends sensitively on the cross helicity and magnetic helicity of the magnetic field turbulence.
Broadband Wireless Access ( BWA ) Networks : A Tutorial

Explosive innovations are sweeping the telecommunications industry worldwide as appetite for bandwidth keeps growing unabated. Several reasons are contributing to this trend: (a) growth of the Internet and Internet-based applications, (b) increased dependence of digital transmission even for analog applications, and (c) a global trend toward deregulation. Nowhere is this trend more marked than in the so-called last mile local loop bottleneck. The rapid rise in the popularity of Web-based applications is driving industry to build the infrastructure needed to bring high bandwidth, or "broadband," communications to the home. A fixed broadband wireless access (BWA) system is being offered to the public as a choice for the last mile of access. This paper discusses the niche occupied by BWA systems and presents a tutorial introduction to physical and medium access control layers, and the radio link protocol requirements.
2009 Ieee 8th International Conference on Development and Learning

1 Abstract—Learning from surprises and unexpected situations is a capability that is critical for developmental learning. This paper describes a promising approach in which a learner robot engages in a cyclic learning process consisting of " prediction, action, observation, analysis (of surprise) and adaptation ". In particular, the robot always predicts the consequences of its actions, detects surprises whenever there is a significant discrepancy between the prediction and the observed reality, analyzes the surprises for causes, and uses the analyzed knowledge to adapt to the unexpected situations. We tested this approach on a modular robot learning how to navigate and recover from unexpected changes in sensors, actions, goals, and environments. The results are very encouraging.
The Role of Copy Number Variation in Susceptibility to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Genome-Wide Association Study and Comparison with Published Loci

Background The genetic contribution to sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has not been fully elucidated. There are increasing efforts to characterise the role of copy number variants (CNVs) in human diseases; two previous studies concluded that CNVs may influence risk of sporadic ALS, with multiple rare CNVs more important than common CNVs. A little-explored issue surrounding genome-wide CNV association studies is that of post-calling filtering and merging of raw CNV calls. We undertook simulations to define filter thresholds and considered optimal ways of merging overlapping CNV calls for association testing, taking into consideration possibly overlapping or nested, but distinct, CNVs and boundary estimation uncertainty. Methodology and Principal Findings In this study we screened Illumina 300K SNP genotyping data from 730 ALS cases and 789 controls for copy number variation. Following quality control filters using thresholds defined by simulation, a total of 11321 CNV calls were made across 575 cases and 621 controls. Using region-based and gene-based association analyses, we identified several loci showing nominally significant association. However, the choice of criteria for combining calls for association testing has an impact on the ranking of the results by their significance. Several loci which were previously reported as being associated with ALS were identified here. However, of another 15 genes previously reported as exhibiting ALS-specific copy number variation, only four exhibited copy number variation in this study. Potentially interesting novel loci, including EEF1D, a translation elongation factor involved in the delivery of aminoacyl tRNAs to the ribosome (a process which has previously been implicated in genetic studies of spinal muscular atrophy) were identified but must be treated with caution due to concerns surrounding genomic location and platform suitability. Conclusions and Significance Interpretation of CNV association findings must take into account the effects of filtering and combining CNV calls when based on early genome-wide genotyping platforms and modest study sizes.
Priming with tat-Deleted Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus (CAEV) Proviral DNA or Live Virus Protects Goats from Challenge with Pathogenic CAEV

ABSTRACT We previously reported that infection of goats with caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) tat− proviral DNA or virus results in persistent infection, since the animals seroconverted and direct virus isolation from cultures of blood-derived macrophages was positive. In this study we wanted to determine whether goats injected with CAEV tat− proviral DNA or virus were protected against challenge with the pathogenic homologous virus and to investigate whether CAEV tat− was still pathogenic. All animals injected with CAEV tat− became infected as indicated by seroconversion and virus isolation. Challenge at 8 or 9 months postinfection demonstrated protection in four of four animals injected with CAEV tat− but did not in three of three mock-inoculated challenged goats. Challenge virus was undetectable in the blood macrophages of protected animals during a period of 6 or 10 months postchallenge. In two of four protected animals, however, we were able to detect the challenge wild-type virus by reverse transcriptase PCR on RNA directly extracted from synovial membrane cells surrounding the inoculation site. This result suggests that protection was achieved without complete sterilizing immunity. Animals injected with CAEV tat− and mock challenged developed inflammatory lesions in the joints, although these lesions were not as severe as those in CAEV wild-type-injected goats. These results confirm the dispensable role of Tat in CAEV replication in vivo for the establishment of infection and pathogenesis and demonstrate in another lentivirus infection model the efficacy of live attenuated viruses to induce resistance to superinfection.
Studies of Epidemiology and Seroprevalence of Bovine Noroviruses in Germany

ABSTRACT Jena virus (JV) is a bovine enteric calicivirus that causes diarrhea in calves. The virus is approximately 30 nm in diameter and has a surface morphology similar to the human Norwalk virus. The genome sequence of JV was recently described, and the virus has been assigned to the genus Norovirus of the family Caliciviridae. In the present study, the JV capsid gene encoded by open reading frame 2 was cloned into the baculovirus transfer vector pFastBac 1, and this was used to transform Escherichia coli to generate a recombinant bacmid. Transfection of insect cells with the recombinant baculovirus DNA resulted in expression of the JV capsid protein. The recombinant JV capsid protein undergoes self-assembly into virus-like particles (VLPs) similar to JV virions in size and appearance. JV VLPs were released into the cell culture supernatant, concentrated, and then purified by CsCl equilibrium gradient centrifugation. Purified JV VLPs were used to hyperimmunize laboratory animals. An antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed and characterized initially with clinical specimens containing defined human noroviruses and bovine diarrheal samples from calves experimentally infected with JV; the ELISA was specific only for JV. The ELISA was used to screen 381 diarrheal samples collected from dairy herds in Thuringia, Hesse, and Bavaria, Germany, from 1999 to 2002; 34 of these samples (8.9%) were positive for JV infection. The unexpectedly high prevalence of JV was confirmed in a seroepidemiological study using 824 serum or plasma samples screened using an anti-JV ELISA, which showed that 99.1% of cattle from Thuringia have antibodies to JV.
Real versus realistically rendered scenes for optical flow evaluation

In this paper we evaluate the effects of physically plausible renderings of ground truth sequences for optical flow estimation, as it seems to be a common belief that real world effects such as specular highlights, shadows, etc. cannot easily be reproduced synthetically while their influence on optical flow is hard to classify. Therefore, a real sequence with shadows and specular reflections was recorded and then reconstructed using raytracing renderers for varied lighting conditions and material properties. Due to the complexity of the task we limited the calculation of the optical flow to a single algorithm with a single set of parameters. The resulting endpoint errors are analyzed with respect to their mean and spatial distribution. We compare the optical flow estimates of the real scene with the synthetic scenes and find that the results are similar in mean endpoint error but not in its spatial distribution. Our results indicate the need for further studies focusing on the usefulness of synthetic ground truth sequences.
Hybrid music recommendation based on different dimensions of audio content and an entropy measure

Our music recommendation system recommends a song to a user, at a certain time, based on the listening history of the user. Based on different sets of audio features (MFCC, MPITCH, BEAT, STFT) of all available songs, different clusterings of songs are obtained. Users are given recommendations from one of these clusterings. The right clustering for a user is determined based on the Shannon entropy of the distribution of songs the user listened in each clustering. Using this content based recommendation scheme, as opposed to a static set of features resulted in upto 60 percent increase in recommendation success. In addition to the audio features (content) of songs user listened, the singers for the songs and also the most popular songs at the time of recommendation are also available. We introduce two recommendation algorithms that decide on the weight of content cluster, singer cluster and popularity adaptively for each user, based on the user history. Our experiments on user session data consisting of 2000 to 500 sessions and of length 5 to 15 indicate that these adaptive recommendation schemes give better recommendation results than using only content based recommendation.