Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of segmentation quality for the geometrical active contour method

A new measure of quality is proposed for evaluating the performance of geometrical active segmentation based on level-set method's. The technique is intended for the evaluation of the segmented image and features objective assessment of discrepancy with the theoretical contours, in tandem with subjective visual evaluation using F-measure criteria. The proposed mathematical model is extremely simple, even from the perspective of computational cost. Encouraging results were obtained for a selection of test images, especially in relation to other recently proposed and/or currently employed quality measures in medical image segmentation area.
Genetics and Genomics of Physcomitrella patens

For about a century, spanning the eras of early genetics to state-of-the-art biotechnology, the moss Physcomitrella patens has been a popular object of biological research. Meanwhile it has become an established model organism in plant evolutionary and developmental biology, mainly due to a combination of two factors: its phylogenetic key position in the plant tree of life and the sum of its favorable biological features. As a member of an early diverging land plant lineage – the bryophytes – Physcomitrella fills the gap between other models of the green lineage such as aquatic algae and flowering plants. The advantages of small stature and short generation cycles, accompanied by established and reliable cultivation techniques provide researchers with a robust, relatively fast, and easy cultivation for experiments in a laboratory environment. Precise genome engineering is enabled by the moss’s haploid-dominant lifestyle and its specifically high rate of homologous recombination during DNA repair, that is routinely utilized through an extensive molecular toolkit for efficient gene targeting since 1998. Physcomitrella’s genome was sequenced about a decade ago, making it the first bryophyte and even one of the first plants to be chosen for such a wholegenome shotgun sequencing approach. Ever since, the annotation of this “flagship genome” has been subject to constant improvement by an active community through the internet resource cosmoss.org which provides a central platform for knowledge exchange as well as bioinformatics data and tools. N. van Gessel • D. Lang Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany e-mail: nico.vangessel@biologie.uni-freiburg.de; daniel.lang@helmholtz-muenchen.de R. Reski (*) Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany FRIAS – Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, Freiburg, Germany BIOSS – Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, Freiburg, Germany e-mail: ralf.reski@biologie.uni-freiburg.de # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2017 S. Assmann, B. Liu (eds.), Plant Cell Biology, The Plant Sciences, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-7881-2_22-1 1
Nitrate removal in stream ecosystems measured by 15N addition experiments: Total uptake

We measured uptake length of 15NO3− in 72 streams in eight regions across the United States and Puerto Rico to develop quantitative predictive models on controls of NO3− uptake length. As part of the Lotic Intersite Nitrogen eXperiment II project, we chose nine streams in each region corresponding to natural (reference), suburban‐urban, and agricultural land uses. Study streams spanned a range of human land use to maximize variation in NO3− concentration, geomorphology, and metabolism. We tested a causal model predicting controls on NO3− uptake length using structural equation modeling. The model included concomitant measurements of ecosystem metabolism, hydraulic parameters, and nitrogen concentration. We compared this structural equation model to multiple regression models which included additional biotic, catchment, and riparian variables. The structural equation model explained 79% of the variation in log uptake length (SWtot). Uptake length increased with specific discharge (Q/w) and increasing NO3− concentrations, showing a loss in removal efficiency in streams with high NO3− concentration. Uptake lengths shortened with increasing gross primary production, suggesting autotrophic assimilation dominated NO3− removal. The fraction of catchment area as agriculture and suburban‐urban land use weakly predicted NO3− uptake in bivariate regression, and did improve prediction in a set of multiple regression models. Adding land use to the structural equation model showed that land use indirectly affected NO3− uptake lengths via directly increasing both gross primary production and NO3− concentration. Gross primary production shortened SWtot, while increasing NO3− lengthened SWtot resulting in no net effect of land use on NO3− removal.
Strengthening family cohesion through shared participation of family members in religious activities in Croatia

ABSTRACT This article presents research results pertaining to an examination of the relation between family members’ participation in shared religious activities, perception of family cohesion, satisfaction with family life, and the level of conflict in the family. The survey of 503 parents of preschool children was conducted in Zagreb, Croatia. The findings demonstrate a significant correlation between shared participation of family members in religious activities, perception of family cohesion and satisfaction with family life, but not with perception of the level of conflict in the family. The results suggest that spiritual and religious matters are an important element necessary for understanding family functioning, and that cultivating shared religious practices in the family can contribute to the strengthening of family cohesion and greater satisfaction with family life.
A Context Model For Focused Web Search

In the existing web search systems, the information retrieval isperformed using a single query and mapping it to a set ofdocuments. From a single query, however, the search systemscan only have very limited clue about the user‟s informationneed. The user‟s context and his environment are ignored whilesearching the information resulting in irrelevant search results.These irrelevant search results increase the cognitive overheadof the user in filtering them out and finding useful information.Therefore, the search systems must incorporate contextinformation regarding user and his environment search thehighly relevant web pages. This paper prepares an Entity-Centric model for the context and proposes a framework forcontext-aware focused web search system that considers thevarious context features and returns highly relevant searchresults to the user.
On the differences between ultra-fast NBTI measurements and Reaction-Diffusion theory

Reaction-Diffusion (R-D) theory, well-known to successfully explain most features of NBTI stress, is perceived to fail in explaining NBTI recovery. Several efforts have been made to understand differences between NBTI relaxation measured using ultra-fast methods and that predicted by R-D theory. Many alternative theories have also been proposed to explain ultra-fast NBTI relaxation, although their ability in predicting features of NBTI stress remains questionable. In this work, a hole-trap/interface-trap (NHT/NIT) separation framework (Fig. 1a) is used to demonstrate that NIT relaxes slower compared to overall NBTI and this NIT relaxation is consistent with R-D theory. The framework also explains, perhaps for the first time, the observed impacts of nitrogen, stress-time, temperature, frequency, duty cycle, etc. on NBTI degradation. In sum, together with NHT, the R-D model governing NIT is shown to explain NBTI stress and recovery features in nitrided gate oxide p-MOSFETs.
Radio Linear and Circular Polarization from M81*

We present results from archival Very Large Array (VLA) data and new VLA observations to investigate the long term behavior of the circular polarization of M81*, the nuclear radio source in the nearby galaxy M81. We also used the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) array to observe M81* at 86 and 230 GHz. M81* is unpolarized in the linear sense at a frequency as high as 86 GHz and shows variable circular polarization at a frequency as high as 15 GHz. The spectrum of the fractional circular polarization is inverted in most of our observations. The sign of circular polarization is constant over frequency and time. The absence of linear polarization sets a lower limit to the accretion rate of 10−7 M⊙y−1. The polarization properties are strikingly similar to the properties of Sgr A*, the central radio source in the Milky Way. This supports the hypothesis that M81* is a scaled up version of Sgr A*. On the other hand, the broad band total intensity spectrum declines towards milimeter wavelengths which differs from previous observations of M81* and also from Sgr A*.
Social routing: A novel routing protocol for delay tolerant network based on dynamic connectivity

There exist numerous routing protocols proposed to allow efficient routing in the network where the end-to-end paths are spontaneously unstable. Such networks are termed as Delay-tolerant-networks (DTNs). The existing famous routing protocols still remain important issues that need to be solved. For example, Epidemic quickly drains the resources of the network; PROPHET causes the unbalanced traffic load distribution between the nodes, and Fair-Route increases the delivery delay. Moreover, such protocols do not have a signal to notify the buffers to remove redundant copies of a message when the first copy of that message has been successfully delivered to the destination. We therefore propose Social Routing, a contacts history based routing protocol, resolves those problems. Simulation results show that our proposed protocol significantly obtains the balanced traffic load distribution between nodes, reduces the delivery delay, and provides better delivery ratio compared with other protocols.
Collaborative software engineering on large-scale models: requirements and experience in ModelBus

This work presents an approach for realizing Model-Driven software engineering in the distributed and multi-developers context. It particularly focuses on the scalability problems in a complex software project involving a large set of inter-connected models: (1) how to manipulate large data volume with limited computing resources, and (2) how to maintain consistency of inter-model links in a large model set, facing to concurrent model updates. As a solution, we propose the scalable copy-modify-merge mechanism, which allows each developer to copy only a model subset from the entire model set, to manipulate this subset locally, and to merge it back to the repository. This mechanism ensures the global consistency of the model set, particularly against dangling links. Our approach is generic: it is applicable to all model types (UML and Domain-Specific Models). Also, it offers interoperability with existing, heterogeneous CASE tools. Its prototype implementation in the ModelBus environment is now available on the Eclipse project "MDDi".
Statistical separability of local motions in volumetric images

Measurement of local differences in the 3D motions of dynamic body organs (captured by volumetric scanners) is of increasing interest in biomedicai imaging applications. Estimation methods of 3D optical flow in those images have been studied in recent years. However, theoretical limits of 3D optical flow-based motion estimation and segmentation are yet to be analysed. In this paper, a novel criterion is proposed to statistically predict the separability of local 3D motions. Simulation results demonstrate how the proposed approach works in principle to predict separability of two motions in terms of the amount of relative motion and the scale of noise.
Text Structure Strategies for Improving Expository Reading Comprehension.

Comprehending expository reading material is a challenge for many students. Research has shown that students’ expository reading comprehension can improve with the help of text structure instruction. The purpose of this article is to present teachers with a framework for effectively implementing text structure instruction in their classrooms. Within this framework, the authors suggest four possible learning objectives for text structure instruction. They then describe instructional strategies related to each objective and ways to assess whether the objectives were met. Finally, the authors discuss some issues to consider when choosing expository reading material for students and present text structure unit plans for grades 2 and 5 as examples of how teachers might construct a unit.
Spectral efficiency for massive MIMO zero-forcing receiver with low-resolution ADC

In this paper, we investigate the achievable uplink spectral efficiency (SE) and its approximate analytical expression in massive multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems, using finite precision analog-digital converters (ADCs) and zeroforcing (ZF) technique at the receivers. To analyze the system performance, we adopt the additive quantization noise model, where the quantization noise is treated as an additive and independent noise. Analytical results show that the achievable SE is related to the transmitted power of each user, the number of BS antennas and quantization bins. Numerical results validate the accuracy of our derived result and show that increasing the number of BS antennas can compensate the loss in system performance resulted from low-resolution ADCs, which corroborates the feasibility of installing finite precision ADCs in practical massive MIMO systems.
Adaptive Task Migration Policies for Thermal Control in MPSoCs

In deep submicron circuits, high temperatures have created critical issues in reliability, timing, performance, coolings costs and leakage power. Task migration techniques have been proposed to manage efficiently the thermal distribution in multi-processor systems but at the cost of important performance penalties. While traditional techniques have focused on reducing the average temperature of the chip, they have not considered the effect that temperature gradients have in system reliability. In this work, we explore the benefits of thermal-aware task migration techniques for embedded multi-processor systems. We propose several policies that are able to reduce the average temperature of the chip and the thermal gradients with a negligible performance overhead. With our techniques, hot spots and temperature gradients are decreased up to 30% with respect to state-of-the-art thermal management approaches.
A Study of Fasting in Tree Sparrows (Spizella arborea) and Dark-Eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis): Ecological Implications

ABSTm•CT. --Despite similarities in winter distribution, habitat selection, and food choice, Dark-eyed Juncos (]unco hyemalis) and Tree Sparrows (Spizella arborea) differ in the extent to which they store fat during winter, with juncos accumulating reater stores. Anticipating that Tree Sparrows might have some means of conserving energy during fasting and thus suffer no disadvantage when weather prevents feeding, we compared the species for weight loss, body temperature, and locomotor activity during fasting and noted relative fasting endurance. Because both species exhibit geographic variation in sex ratio during winter, we also made sexual comparisons, anticipating that males would be able to fast longer than females. The species responded similarly to fasting by (a) lowering body temperature, especially at night, and (b) becoming hyperactive, progressively more so as fasting time increased. Tree Sparrows did not exhibit these responses to a greater degree (although they became hyperactive sooner) and were not able to fast as long as juncos. No sexual differences in fasting ability were observed. Because the species-specific difference in tendency toward fat accumulation cannot be attributed to differences in energy expenditure while fasting, at least in the laboratory, other explanations are considered. Received 22 June 1981, accepted 21 September 1981.
An improved adaptive square root unscented Kalman filter for denoising IFOG signal

An interferometric fiber optic Gyroscope (IFOG) is a core component in the inertial navigation system (INS), and used to measure the rotation rate of an object based on Sagnac principle. The output of IFOG suffers with noise and random drift errors, due to the variation and fluctuations of the ambient temperature during the operation time. Random drift error is the main source of error and it degrades the IFOG accuracy. To improve the precision of IFOG, the stochastic drift error models and noise compensation methods are required to suppress these errors. In this paper, the residual based an adaptive square root unscented Kalman filter (ASRUKF) is developed for denoising the IFOG signal. In this algorithm, the Kalman gain is adapted by using window average method and followed by covariance matching technique based on residual sequence. The proposed algorithm is utilized for IFOG test signal under static and dynamic environment. Allan variance (AV) analysis used to analyze and quantify the noise sources of IFOG sensor. In static and maneuvering condition, the performance improvement of proposed algorithm is indicated by the minimum values of variance and root mean square error (RMSE). A simulation result reveals that the proposed algorithm is a valid solution for drift denoising the IFOG signal as compared to Unscented Kalman filter (UKF).
Hierarchical Motif Vectors for Prediction of Functional Sites in Amino Acid Sequences Using Quasi-Supervised Learning

We propose hierarchical motif vectors to represent local amino acid sequence configurations for predicting the functional attributes of amino acid sites on a global scale in a quasi-supervised learning framework. The motif vectors are constructed via wavelet decomposition on the variations of physico-chemical amino acid properties along the sequences. We then formulate a prediction scheme for the functional attributes of amino acid sites in terms of the respective motif vectors using the quasi-supervised learning algorithm that carries out predictions for all sites in consideration using only the experimentally verified sites. We have carried out comparative performance evaluation of the proposed method on the prediction of N-glycosylation of 55,184 sites possessing the consensus N-glycosylation sequon identified over 15,104 human proteins, out of which only 1,939 were experimentally verified Nglycosylation sites. In the experiments, the proposed method achieved better predictive performance than the alternative strategies from the literature. In addition, the predicted N-glycosylation sites showed good agreement with existing potential annotations, while the novel predictions belonged to proteins known to be modified by glycosylation.
Biometric authentication by handwriting with single direction using self-organizing maps

In recent years, biometrics authentication becomes popular. No key is required in biometrics authentication while password must be remembered in password authentication. Moreover, living parts for biometrics authentication cannot be stolen with usual method. However, there is a critical problem in biometrics authentication when information for biometrics authentication is once stolen. Information for biometrics authentication cannot be changed. That is, the information never be used again to protect against the fraud use. From the above, the best way for authentication is changeable biometrics authentication. Information which is related with personal physical characteristics is required but it must be changeable. One of the examples is a sign with handwriting. In this method, personal characteristics of tracks, speed and pressure are used for personal identification and they are information in biometrics. Those characteristics cannot be change when the same sign is written by the same person, but the sign can be changed when the information for authentication is stolen. Usually, pen tablets or touch panels are used for signs in biometrics authentication. However, stylus pens for tablets bother managers in public use. Fingers for signs on touch panels are also exposed to the menace of smudge attacks. Therefore, we proposed a handwriting authentication method with Leap Motion. In the method, shapes of fingers and paths by fingers were taken by Leap Motion and they were used for personal identification. However, accuracy of identification was not stable by misdetection. Therefore, in this paper, we decompose the handwriting to simplify data for the identification with less misdetection. Moreover, we adapt a method of self-organizing maps on comparison of characteristics on handwriting to enhance the usability and to increase the accuracy.
Measurements of translation initiation from all 64 codons in E. coli

Our understanding of translation is one cornerstone of molecular biology that underpins our capacity to engineer living matter. The canonical start codon (AUG) and a few near-cognates (GUG, UUG) are typically considered as the “start codons” for translation initiation in Escherichia coli (E. coli). Translation is typically not thought to initiate from the 61 remaining codons. Here, we systematically quantified translation initiation in E. coli from all 64 triplet codons. We detected protein synthesis above background initiating from at least 46 codons. Translation initiated from these non-canonical start codons at levels ranging from 0.01% to 2% relative to AUG. Translation initiation from non-canonical start codons may contribute to the synthesis of peptides in both natural and synthetic biological systems
A domain-oriented distributed vulnerability scanning mechanism

This paper introduces a new domain-oriented distributed vulnerability scanning mechanism based on the studies of other vulnerability scanning systems, which have difficulties on dealing with network crossing, interceptor crossing and bottleneck effect, etc. After giving some description about domain-oriented distributed architecture, this paper introduces a SOA-like service providing mode. Following introduction leads to a new hierarchical strategy scheduling model that solves the problems of distributed scheduling management. A comparing experiment on the new scanning prototype and a Centralized scanner called Nessus is given at the end of this paper. At last, it comes to the conclusion that this new domain-oriented distributed vulnerability scanning mechanism has great performance on timing and accuracy.
Aging affects epidermal Langerhans cell development and function and alters their miRNA gene expression profile

Immunosenescence is a result of progressive decline in immune system function with advancing age. Epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs), belonging to the dendritic cell (DC) family, act as sentinels to play key roles in the skin immune responses. However, it has not been fully elucidated how aging affects development and function of LCs. Here, we systemically analyzed LC development and function during the aging process in C57BL/6J mice, and performed global microRNA (miRNA) gene expression profiles in aged and young LCs. We found that the frequency and maturation of epidermal LCs were significantly reduced in aged mice starting at 12 months of age, while the Langerin expression and ability to phagocytose Dextran in aged LCs were increased compared to LCs from < 6 month old mice. The migration of LCs to draining lymph nodes was comparable between aged and young mice. Functionally, aged LCs were impaired in their capacity to induce OVA-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell proliferation. Furthermore, the expression of miRNAs in aged epidermal LCs showed a distinct profile compared to young LCs. Most interestingly, aging-regulated miRNAs potentially target TGF-β-dependent and non- TGF-β-dependent signal pathways related to LCs. Overall, our data suggests that aging affects LCs development and function, and that age-regulated miRNAs may contribute to the LC developmental and functional changes in aging.