Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Maternal control of vertebrate dorsoventral axis formation and epiboly by the POU domain protein Spg/Pou2/Oct4

Dorsoventral (DV) axis formation of the vertebrate embryo is controlled by the maternal genome and is subsequently refined zygotically. In the zygote, repression of ventralizing Bmp activity on the dorsal side through chordin and noggin is crucial for establishment of a dorsally located organizer. This interplay generates a zygotic Bmp activity gradient that defines distinct positional values along the DV axis. The maternal processes that control expression of the zygotic genes implicated in DV patterning are largely unknown. spiel-ohne-grenzen (spg/pou2) is a maternally and zygotically expressed zebrafish gene that encodes the POU domain transcription factor Pou2, an ortholog of mammalian Oct4/Pou5f1. We show that embryos that are genetically depleted of both maternal and zygotic pou2 function (MZspg) exhibit extreme DV patterning defects and, independently, a blastoderm-specific arrest of epiboly. Dorsal tissues expand to the ventral side at the expense of ventrolateral tissue in MZspg embryos. Dorsally expressed Bmp-antagonists, such as Chd and Nog1, and Gsc are ectopically activated at ventral levels in MZspg. Lack of ventral specification is apparent very early, suggesting that maternal processes are affected in MZspg. Indeed, maternal pou2 function is necessary to initiate zygotic expression of ventrally expressed genes such as bmp2b and bmp4, and for proper activation of bmp7, vox, vent and eve1. A constitutively active Alk8-TGFβ-receptor can ectopically induce bmp2b and bmp4 and rescues the dorsalization of MZspg. This indicates that pou2 acts upstream of Alk8, a maternally provided receptor implicated in the activation of zygotic bmp2b and bmp4 transcription. Consistent with this possibility, Bmp gene misexpression can rescue MZspg embryos, indicating that TGFβ-mediated signal transduction itself is intact in absence of Pou2. Inhibition of Fgf signaling, another pathway with early dorsalizing activity, can also restore and even ventralize MZspg embryos. The requirement for pou2 to initiate bmp2b expression can therefore be bypassed by releasing the repressive function of Fgf signaling upon bmp2b transcription. In transplantation experiments, we find that dorsalized cells from prospective ventrolateral regions of MZspg embryos are non cell-autonomously respecified to a ventral fate within wild-type host embryos. Analysis of pou2 mRNA injected MZspg embryos shows that pou2 is required on the ventral side of cleavage stage embryos. Based on the maternal requirement for pou2 in ventral specification, we propose that ventral specification employs an active, pou2-dependent maternal induction step, rather than a default ventralizing program.
A Fuzzy Decision tree approach for imbalanced data classification

Recently, new Fuzzy Decision Tree (FDT) approaches have been developed for doing classification tasks. In this paper, one of these FDTs is adapted for performing the imbalanced classification tasks. First, our proposed method utilizes k-means algorithm to cluster the majority class samples into some clusters. Then, each cluster is labeled as a new class and thereby the binary imbalanced classification problem is converted to the multi-class classification problem. Eventually, FDT algorithm is employed for classifying the new data set. The obtained results show that our proposed method outperforms almost all the other fuzzy rule based approaches over highly imbalanced data sets.
Chemical Diversity and Biological Properties of Secondary Metabolites from Sea Hares of Aplysia Genus

The marine environment is an important source of structurally-diverse and biologically-active secondary metabolites. During the last two decades, thousands of compounds were discovered in marine organisms, several of them having inspired the development of new classes of therapeutic agents. Marine mollusks constitute a successful phyla in the discovery of new marine natural products (MNPs). Over a 50-year period from 1963, 116 genera of mollusks contributed innumerous compounds, Aplysia being the most studied genus by MNP chemists. This genus includes 36 valid species and should be distinguished from all mollusks as it yielded numerous new natural products. Aplysia sea hares are herbivorous mollusks, which have been proven to be a rich source of secondary metabolites, mostly of dietary origin. The majority of secondary metabolites isolated from sea hares of the genus Aplysia are halogenated terpenes; however, these animals are also a source of compounds from other chemical classes, such as macrolides, sterols and alkaloids, often exhibiting cytotoxic, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and/or antifeedant activities. This review focuses on the diverse structural classes of secondary metabolites found in Aplysia spp. , including several compounds with pronounced biological properties.
Flow-based intrusion detection

The spread of 1–10 Gbps technology has in recent years paved the way to a flourishing landscape of new, high-bandwidth Internet services. At the same time, we have also observed increasingly frequent and widely diversified attacks. To this threat, the research community has answered with a growing interest in intrusion detection, aiming to timely detect intruders and prevent damage. We believe that the detection problem is a key component in the field of intrusion detection. Our studies, however, made us realize that additional research is needed, in particular focusing on validation and automatic tuning of Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs).
Watermarking Parameters Feasible Region Model

In this paper, the effectiveness and the parameters space of the public watermark algorithm based on modulus of congruence are considered, and the model of the watermark effectiveness feasible region is proposed. The main contributions of the paper are as follows: (1) by distinction parameter, the relations of embedding, extracting watermark and distinction parameter are established, and the necessary and sufficient conditions of lossless watermark detecting or extracting and its parameters feasible region are presented, (2) by parameters feasible region, the control conditions of the watermark robustness and fragileness are given, and the optimality of distinction parameter of the algorithm is proved, (3) under Gaussian noises attack, the mathematical model of the relations of the lossy watermark BER (bit error rate), attack strength and embedding strength is proposed
Attitude towards E-learning Among Students: Evidence from AMalaysian Public University

The study examines students’ experience in using e-learning as a collaborative learning tool. A qualitative methodology used in this study is based on content analysis of online forums and survey among 144 undergraduate students at University of Malaya, Malaysia who have responded to online forums posted on a few course websites through Moodle. Using Rogers' (1995) diffusion of innovations model, this study attempts to understand the factors that influence the adoption of Moodle e-learning system based on users’ own experience. Although in this case the students have no choices and are required to use Moodle, the study finds that there are elements of relative advantages, compatibility and complexity for students to adopt Moodle. Furthermore, the positive experience among students using Moodle motivates them to continuously use Moodle. Overall, the results provide insights and recommendations to the government, learning institutions, lecturers and instructors to accelerate the adoption of e-learning in Malaysia.
Formal modeling and verification of DLK protocol

This paper presents a formal model for the analysis and verification of a multi-agent system based on the Distributed Lightweight Kerberos (DLK) protocol. Verifying the security protocol exposes security defects and aids in fixing them. The verification process of the DLK protocol uses the ProVerif tool. Based on this tool, the security mechanism of the protocol is clearly exposed. The results of using ProVerif indicate that DLK is secure as initially claimed.
Effect of chitosan-ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid on Enterococcus faecalis dentinal biofilm and smear layer removal

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of chitosan and chitosan-ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) (3:1,1:1,1:3) in comparison with 5.2% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) in disinfecting Enterococcus faecalis biofilm on root canal dentin and in the removal of smear layer with minimal erosion. Materials and Methods: Seventy single-rooted extracted human mandibular premolars (n = 70) were selected for the study. Forty tooth samples were biomechanically prepared, vertically sectioned, and sterilized by autoclaving. The tooth sections were artificially infected with E. faecalis (ATCC 29212 [n = 35] and clinical isolate [SBEF2, n = 35]) to form mature dentinal biofilm in vitro. The tooth samples were treated with the test solutions: chitosan and chitosan-EDTA (3:1, 1:1, 1:3), and the killing time was determined. The smear layer removal ability of the test solutions (Group A: chitosan-EDTA [1:1], Group B: EDTA, Group C: control) (n = 10 tooth/group) was assessed. Results: Chitosan and chitosan-EDTA (3:1, 1:1, 1:3) exhibited antibacterial activity against both the strains of E. faecalis. Chitosan and chitosan-EDTA caused 3 log reduction in the viable count of the sessile cells of E. faecalis at 15 min while 5.2% NaOCl exhibited 99.98% inhibition at 15 min. Chitosan-EDTA (1:1) was found to be effective in removing the smear layer and showed lesser erosion than EDTA at the coronal and middle portions. Conclusion: Chitosan-EDTA (1:1) is a potential root canal irrigant that performs a dual role – root canal disinfection and smear layer removal.
Malestar psicológico, construcción del sí mismo, estructura y conflictos cognitivos en estudiantes de psicología = Psychological distress, self-construction, structure and cognitive conflicts in psychology students

El objetivo de la presente tesis doctoral es identificar las caracteristicas de malestar psicologico, construccion del si mismo, estructura y conflictos cognitivos en una muestra de estudiantes de Psicologia en comparacion con los datos ya disponibles de una muestra comunitaria y otra clinica. Asi mismo, se pretenden explorar las diferencias segun el genero y el nivel de estudios, y evaluar la estabilidad de las medidas derivadas de la tecnica de la rejilla interpersonal. Igualmente, se busca explorar la relacion entre las medidas cognitivas evaluadas, el nivel de autoestima, los sintomas depresivos y las medidas que indican malestar psicologico. En el estudio participo una muestra incidental de 430 sujetos, distribuidos en tres grupos diferentes: 183 estudiantes de la Facultad de Psicologia de la Universitat de Barcelona, 117 voluntarios de una muestra comunitaria y 131 participantes de una muestra clinica. Los resultados confirman que los estudiantes y la muestra comunitaria presentan puntuaciones similares en las medidas cognitivas, en el malestar psicologico, los sintomas depresivos y el nivel de autoestima. Comparativamente, la muestra clinica presenta puntuaciones significativamente mas elevadas en la discrepancia yo-ideal y yo-otros, el nivel de indefinicion y el porcentaje de constructos dilematicos. Se encontro una tendencia a una mayor presencia de constructos dilematicos en la muestra clinica, mientras que la presencia de dilemas implicativos fue similar entre los estudiantes y la muestra clinica. Como era esperable, se presento mas sintomatologia depresiva y un mayor nivel de psicopatologia general en la muestra clinica. No se hallaron diferencias significativas segun el genero ni la edad en ninguna de las medidas evaluadas. Con respecto al nivel de estudios, se encontraron diferencias significativas en el porcentaje de constructos dilematicos, en el funcionamiento general y los sintomas depresivos, con puntuaciones mas elevadas en los estudiantes de grado con respecto a los de posgrado. En el analisis correlacional destaca la relacion directa entre el malestar psicologico y los sintomas depresivos, y la relacion inversa entre estos ultimos y el nivel de autoestima. Finalmente se constata la estabilidad de los indices de la TRI mediante el metodo test- retest.
Cubic graphs

This paper is concerned with the subclass of graphs called cubic graphs. We survey these graphs and their history. Several classical graph theory results concerning cubic graphs are explained. Graph theory problems whose solutions on cubic graphs are particularly important or interesting are presented from both the sequential and parallel point of view. A new algorithm is presented for the maximal matching problem restricted to cubic graphs. Many miscellaneous facts about cubic graphs are also described. An extensive list of references is provided.
The role of nonverbal behavior in leadership effectiveness : a multi-method, video-observational study

This field study examines what specific nonverbal behaviors of leaders are related to expert perceptions of leadership effectiveness. In a multi-method observational study, we analyzed the nonverbal behaviors of 40 managers using three randomly selected 10-second video-segments, that were sampled from 40 regularly held staff meetings with team members. The nonverbal behaviors of these leaders, who work in one Dutch public-service organization, were meticulously code by a group of trained research assistants: using a new, self-developed coding scheme. Analysis of these video-segments revealed that leaders who gaze more towards their followers, scored higher in terms of leadership effectiveness. In contrast, leader instances of smiling behavior were negatively related to leadership effectiveness. Implications for theory and practice are discussed, as well directions for future research.
Discovering and exploiting semantics in folksonomies

Folksonomies are Web 2.0 platforms where users share resources with each other. Furthermore, they can assign keywords (called tags) to the resources for categorizing and organizing the resources. Numerous types of resources like websites (Delicious), images (Flickr), and videos (YouTube) are supported by different folksonomies. The folksonomies are easy to use and thus attract the attention of millions of users. Together with the ease they offer, there are also some problems. This thesis addresses different problems of folksonomies and proposes solutions for these problems. The first problem occurs when users search for relevant resources in folksonomies. Often, the users are not able to find all relevant resources because they don't know which tags are relevant. The second problem is assigning tags to resources. Although many folksonomies (like Delicious) recommend tags for the resources, other folksonomies (like Flickr) do not recommend any tags. Tag recommendation helps the users to easily tag their resources. The third problem is that tags and resources are lacking semantics. This leads for example to ambiguous tags. The tags are lacking semantics because they are freely chosen keywords. The automatic identification of the semantics of tags and resources helps in reducing problems that arise from this freedom of the users in choosing the tags. This thesis proposes methods which exploit semantics to address the problems of search, tag recommendation, and the identification of tag semantics. The semantics are discovered from a variety of sources. In this thesis, we exploit web search engines, online social communities and the co-occurrences of tags as sources of semantics. Using different sources for discovering semantics reduces the efforts to build systems which solve the problems mentioned earlier. This thesis evaluates the proposed methods on a large scale data set. The evaluation results suggest that it is possible to exploit the semantics for improving search, recommendation of tags, and automatic identification of the semantics of tags and resources.
Characterization of Marine Surface Slicks by Radarsat-2 Multipolarization Features

In this paper, we study surface slick characterization in polarimetric C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. The objective is to identify the most powerful multipolarization SAR descriptors for mineral oil spill versus biogenic slick discrimination. A systematic comparison of eight well-known multipolarization features is provided. The analysis is performed on data that we collected during a large-scale oil spill exercise at the Frigg field situated northwest of Stavanger, in June 2011. Controlled oil spills and simulated look-alikes were simultaneously captured within fine quad-polarization Radarsat-2 acquisitions during this experiment. Multipolarization features derived from only the copolarized complex scattering coefficients are explored. We find that the two most powerful multipolarization features extracted from this data set are the geometric intensity, measuring the combined intensity based on the determinant of the coherency matrix, and the real part of the copolarization cross product, which is related to the scattering behavior of the target. We show that these two features can distinguish between the simulated biogenic slicks and mineral oil types such as Balder and Oseberg blend, and that the discriminative power seems to be persistent with time.
High-Throughput Sequencing of MicroRNA Transcriptome and Expression Assay in the Sturgeon, Acipenser schrenckii

Sturgeons are considered as living fossils and have very high evolutionary, economical and conservation values. The multiploidy of sturgeon that has been caused by chromosome duplication may lead to the emergence of new microRNAs (miRNAs) involved in the ploidy and physiological processes. In the present study, we performed the first sturgeon miRNAs analysis by RNA-seq high-throughput sequencing combined with expression assay of microarray and real-time PCR, and aimed to discover the sturgeon-specific miRNAs, confirm the expressed pattern of miRNAs and illustrate the potential role of miRNAs-targets on sturgeon biological processes. A total of 103 miRNAs were identified, including 58 miRNAs with strongly detected signals (signal >500 and P≤0.01), which were detected by microarray. Real-time PCR assay supported the expression pattern obtained by microarray. Moreover, co-expression of 21 miRNAs in all five tissues and tissue-specific expression of 16 miRNAs implied the crucial and particular function of them in sturgeon physiological processes. Target gene prediction, especially the enriched functional gene groups (369 GO terms) and pathways (37 KEGG) regulated by 58 miRNAs (P<0.05), illustrated the interaction of miRNAs and putative mRNAs, and also the potential mechanism involved in these biological processes. Our new findings of sturgeon miRNAs expand the public database of transcriptome information for this species, contribute to our understanding of sturgeon biology, and also provide invaluable data that may be applied in sturgeon breeding.
Scalable Mobile Core Network Architecture for All-IP Wireless Access

As a variety of wireless access technologies have emerged and 3G systems are evolving towards all-IP where both voice and data services are converged into IP core networks, IP mobility has become increasingly important. IP micro-mobility protocols have been proposed for managing local mobility. They have a hierarchical network structure, which contributes to decreased network overheads by minimizing signaling traffic for registration. In this paper, we first define a mobile core network and introduce traffic models for it. We then point out that micro-mobility protocols based on this hierarchical structure have a network bottleneck in the gateway node due to packet routing that could worsen network scalability. We then propose an architecture for the mobile core network. The architecture has a non-hierarchical flat topology and has no single gateway node routing packets, making it possible to provide fast and low-latency packet forwarding and delivery to mobile nodes.
Foreground Speech Segmentation and Enhancement Using Glottal Closure Instants and Mel Cepstral Coefficients

In this paper, the speech signal recorded from the desired speaker close to microphone in natural environment is regarded as foreground speech and rest of the interfering sources as background noise . The proposed paper exploits speech production features like glottal closure instants in time domain and vocal tract information in spectral domain to segment the desired speaker's speech and to further enhance it. The foreground speech is perceptually enhanced using the auditory perception feature in mel-frequency domain using mel-cepstral coefficients and its inversion using mel log spectrum approximation filter. The focus is on enhancing the production and perceptual features of foreground speech rather than relying on modeling the interfering sources. The speech data are collected in different natural environments from different speakers in order to evaluate the proposed method. The enhanced speech signals derived at three different stages of the proposed method are evaluated with state-of-the-art methods in terms of subjective and objective measures. The proposed method provides improved performance compared to the considered state-of-the-art methods. In terms of the proposed objective measure foreground to background Ratio, the enhancement approach presented in this paper gives an average improvement of 12 dB as opposed to existing spectral subtraction-based method which provides 3 dB. Moreover, subjective evaluation using 24 different subjects corroborates the objective test results.
Losing Touch: A Man Without his Body

Losing Touch: A Man Without his Body By Jonathan Cole. Oxford university Press. 2016. £29.99 (hb). 192pp. ISBN 9780198778875 This is a book about a rare phenomenon, acute sensory neuropathy syndrome, in which a sudden and rapidly evolving condition culminates in permanent loss of cutaneous touch
All They Know About

We address the issue of agents reasoning about other agents' nonmonotonic reasoning ability in the framework of a multi-agent autoepistemic logic (AEL). In single-agent AEL, nonmonotonic inferences are drawn based on all the agent knows. In a multi-agent context such as Jill reasoning about Jack's nonmonotonic inferences, this assumption must be abandoned since it cannot be assumed that Jill knows everything Jack knows. Given a specific subject matter like Tweety the bird, it is more realistic and sufficient if Jill only assumes to know all Jack knows about Tweety in order to arrive at Jack's nonmonotonic inferences about Tweety. This paper provides a formalization of all an agent knows about a certain subject matter based on possible-world semantics in a multi-agent AEL. Besides discussing various properties of the new notion, we use it to characterize formulas that are about a subject matter in a very strong sense. While our main focus is on subject matters that consist of atomic propositions, we also address the case where agents are the subject matter.