Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Alalakh cylinder seals : a new catalogue of the actual seals excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley at Tell Atchana, and from neighbouring sites on the Syrian-Turkish border

Dr. Dominique Collon published in 1975 a very serviceable and well-considered catalogue and discussion of The seal impressions from Tell Atchana/Alalakh (AOAT, XXVII) in which she collected all the seal impressions recovered during Sir Leonard Woolley's excavations. Their find spots had been confined almost entirely to Levels VII (late 18th to late 17th century B.C.) and IV (15th century), so, noting that the actual seals came from nearly all levels, and that the styles represented by them differed to a large extent from the impressions, she was inspired to make a study of these also, the result being the volume under review. In it she has catalogued all the seals (now in Antakya, London, and Oxford) of which she could gain adequate evidence, comprising 120 pieces, all but one (no. 120 from al-Mina, 9th-8th century B.C.) of pre-Ist millenium date. The precise strata from which the seals came are in many cases not clear from the records, and even if they were, the characteristic of seals to remain in use for long periods and thus present a confusing stratigraphical picture, means that Dr. Collon's decision to number them, as she says, "more or less chronologically, according to style and subject matter", is a sound one. One might argue with some of the details of the resulting arrangement nos. 102-16, for instance, seem to be rather idiosyncratically arranged but this is a quibble and does not detract from the very great value of having all this material gathered together and studied systematically with full consideration of questions of find spot and stylistic relationships. Of these seals 96 had been published by Woolley in his final report, but there has long been an obvious need for them to be re-studied in this way, and Dr. Collon has also included 20 other examples, which Woolley, in the expansive tradition of his generation, had not considered worth publishing, together with four others from neighbouring sites. This volume is reproduced from good, clear camera-ready typescript. Each catalogue entry is preceded by a 2 :1 line drawing (a very useful feature) and the drawings are repeated at natural size on five pages at the back. A 2 :1 photograph of each impression is also reproduced at the back, and though the method of reproduction cannot give top quality results, most of these are quite adequate, though there are several examples where poor quality photographs seem to have been used. The volume includes useful concordances to excavation, previous publication, and museum numbers. T. C. MITCHELL.
Characterization of an interplay between a Mycobacterium tuberculosis MazF homolog, Rv1495 and its sole DNA topoisomerase I

The MazEF systems are thought to contribute to the capacity for long-term dormancy observed in the human pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, except for their functions as mRNA interferases, little is known regarding any additional cellular functions of these systems in the pathogen. In the present study, we observed a negative interplay between MazF protein Rv1495 and the sole M. tuberculosis DNA topoisomerase I (MtbTopA) with respect to protein functions. Through its C-terminal domain, MtbTopA physically interacted with and inhibited the mRNA cleavage activity of Rv1495. Rv1495, in turn, inhibited the DNA cleavage activity of MtbTopA as well as its function of relaxation of supercoiled DNA. An N-terminus fragment of Rv1495, designated Rv1495-N(29-56), lost mRNA cleavage activity, but retained a significant physical interaction and inhibitory effect on TopA proteins from both M. tuberculosis and M. smegmatis. This fragment, although less effective than the full-length protein, was able to inhibit mycobacterial growth when expressed through a recombinant plasmid in M. smegmatis. The Rv1495 physically interacted with the M. smegmatis TopA both in vitro and in vivo. Our findings imply that MazEF systems can affect bacterial survival by a novel mechanism that allows direct modulation of M. tuberculosis topoisomerase I.
Classification of Microcalcifications Using Multi-Dimensional Genetic Association Rule Miner

Breast cancer is a most common disease diagnosed in women. The Microcalcification Clusters (MCs) in the mammograms are one of the important early sign. The accurate detection of microcalcifications is a key problem in Computer Aided Detection (CAD). In this paper, we have proposed a novel association rule mining approach for classification of microcalcifications. Initially, the shape features are extracted from the digital mammograms. With these feature values association rules are constructed to develop a rule based system for classification of microcalcifications. A novel Multi- dimensional Genetic Association Rule Miner (MGARM) is proposed for rule construction. The result shows that the proposed rule-based approach reaches the classification accuracy over 85% and also demonstrates the use and effectiveness of association rule mining in image classification.
Monte Carlo and experimental small-field dosimetry applied to spatially fractionated synchrotron radiotherapy techniques

Two innovative radiotherapy (RT) approaches are under development at the ID17 Biomedical Beamline of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF): microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) and minibeam radiation therapy (MBRT). The two main distinct characteristics with respect to conventional RT are the use of submillimetric field sizes and spatial fractionation of the dose. This PhD work deals with different features related to small-field dosimetry involved in these techniques. Monte Carlo (MC) calculations and several experimental methods are used with this aim in mind. The core of this PhD Thesis consisted of the development and benchmarking of an MC-based computation engine for a treatment planning system devoted to MRT within the framework of the preparation of forthcoming MRT clinical trials. Additional achievements were the definition of safe MRT irradiation protocols, the assessment of scatter factors in MRT, the further improvement of the MRT therapeutic index by injecting a contrast agent into the tumour and the definition of a dosimetry protocol for preclinical trials in MBRT.
Soil Organic Carbon and Site Characteristics in Aspen and Evaluation of the Potential Effects of Conifer Encroachment on Soil Properties in Northern Utah

In the Intermountain West, aspen (Populus tremuloides) has declined mainly due to a combination of successional processes, fire suppression and long-term use of ungulates which has led to replacement by conifers, sagebrush or other shrub communities. Conifer encroachment is believed to cause critical changes in the ecosystem properties. In order to understand the impacts of conifer encroachment on soil properties such as soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, soil morphology, and soil chemical properties, and the implications of such changes, it is very important to assess the soil properties under the two vegetation types. The objectives of this study were to i) quantify SOC stocks and their variability in pure aspen forests; ii) evaluate the role of various biotic and abiotic site parameters as drivers of this SOC; iii) evaluate the effect of conifer encroachment on SOC storage, soil morphology, soil microclimate and soil chemical properties. The study was conducted in three catchments in Northern Utah in two phases: i) a transect study with 33 sampling points in a pure aspen community; ii) a paired plot study based on comparing six plots in to aspen and nearby conifer plots as representatives of end-member communities. Soils under aspen were mainly Mollisols, whereas the soils associated with conifers were classified as Alfisols, Inceptisols and Entisols. Even under pure aspen there was a significant SOC variability among sampling points and aspects, and SOC was negatively correlated with soil moisture index and average tree diameter and positively correlated with vegetation density. The paired plot comparison showed that SOC in the mineral soil (0-60 cm) was significantly higher under aspen, while O horizon thickness and C content was higher under conifers. The total SOC (O layer + mineral soil) was not significantly different among the vegetation types, suggesting an upward redistribution of SOC in conifer soils. The soil moisture in summer was also higher under aspen compared to conifers. Other chemical properties were not affected by vegetation types. Our study indicates that i) no differences in SOC can be detected in surface soil horizons ( cm); ii) SOC is highly variable and greatly influenced by soil moisture and forest characteristics; iii) conifer encroachment is likely to alter soil microclimatic and SOC amount and distribution.
Vestibular Schwannomas: Clinical Results and Quality of Life after Microsurgery or Gamma Knife Radiosurgery

OBJECTIVE:The aim of the present study was to evaluate the overall treatment efficacy (tumor control, facial nerve function, complications) and quality of life for patients treated primarily for unilateral vestibular schwannomas of 30 mm or less, either by microsurgery or by gamma knife (GK) radiosurgery. The results for the two treatment groups are compared with each other, with main emphasis on the long-term quality of life. METHODS:This is a retrospective study of 189 consecutive patients, 86 treated by microsurgery and 103 by gamma knife. The mean observation time was 5.9 years. All patients had a magnetic resonance imaging scan and clinical evaluation performed toward the end of the study. To evaluate the quality of life, we used two standardized questionnaires, the Glasgow Benefit Inventory and Short-Form 36. The questionnaires were sent to the 168 living patients. The reply rate was 83.3%. RESULTS:A total of 79.8% of the patients in the microsurgery group and 94.8% of the GK patients had a good facial nerve function (House-Brackmann Grade 1–2). Hearing was usually lost after microsurgery, whereas the GK patients had preserved hearing, which often became reduced over the years after the treatment. The treatment efficacy, defined as no need for additional treatment, was similar for the two treatment modalities. Quality of life was reduced compared with normative data, being most reduced in the microsurgery group. Some of the quality of life questions showed an association with facial nerve function and sex. CONCLUSION:Posttreatment facial nerve function, hearing, complication rates, and quality of life were all significantly in favor of GK radiosurgery.
A PARTICULAR BIDIMENSIONAL TIME-DEPENDENT RENEWAL RISK MODEL WITH CONSTANT INTEREST RATES

Abstract Consider a particular bidimensional risk model, in which two insurance companies divide between them in different proportions both the premium income and the aggregate claims. In practice, it can be interpreted as an insurer–reinsurer scenario, where the reinsurer takes over a proportion of the insurer's losses. Under the assumption that the claim sizes and inter-arrival times form a sequence of independent and identically distributed random pairs, with each pair obeying a dependence structure, an asymptotic expression for the ruin probability of this bidimensional risk model with constant interest rates is established.
Sampling k-partite graphs with a given degree sequence

Abstract The authors in the paper [15] presented an algorithm that generates uniformly all the bipartite realizations and the other algorithm that generates uniformly all the simple bipartite realizations whenever A is a bipartite degree sequence of a simple graph. The running time of both algorithms is 𝒪(m),where m=12∑i=1nai ${\rm{m}} = {1 \over 2}\sum\nolimits_{\rm {i} = 1}^n {{ \rm{a}_\rm {i}}}$ . Let A =(A1 : A2 : . : Ak) be a k-partite degree sequence of a simple graph, where Ai has ni entries such that ∑ni=n. In the present article, we give a generalized algorithm that generates uniformly all the k-partite realizations of A and another algorithm that generates uniformly all the simple k-partite realizations of A. The running time of both algorithms is 𝒪(m), where m=12∑i=1nai $m = {1 \over 2}\sum\nolimits_{i = 1}^n {{a_i}}$ .
Supervised Classification of Fully PolSAR Images Using Active Contour Models

In this letter, we propose a supervised method for the classification of fully polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) images based on active contour models. We use an “a priori” estimation, obtained from training data, of the complex Wishart distributions of the different types of regions in the image (for instance, water, crops, grass, forest or urban). The information of the Wishart distributions is included in the active contour models to guide the level set evolution. We study the case of two classes and the case of three or more classes separately. We present some experimental results on the synthetic data and real PolSAR images to show the performance of the proposed model. The results are compared with other well-known supervised classification methods, and, for actual PolSAR data, our method shows an overall precision of 94.31% and a $\kappa $ coefficient of 0.937.
NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES THE GREAT ESCAPE? A QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF THE FED ́S LIQUIDITY FACILITIES

The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Federal Reserve System, or the National Bureau of Economic Research. The first draft of this paper (2010) circulated with the title "The Great Escape? A Quantitative Evaluation of the Fed's Non-Standard Policies. " We thank Sonia Gilbukh and Micah Smith for outstanding research assistance, and several colleagues at the FRBNY for help in obtaining and constructing financial data and for valuable suggestions (Nancy Duong, Michael Fleming, Domenico Giannone, Ernst Schaumburg, Or Shachar, Zachary Wojtowicz). We also thank for their helpful comments Pierpaolo Benigno, Luis Cespedes, Isabel Correia, Jesús Fernandez-Villaverde, James Hamilton, Thomas Laubach, Zheng Liu, John Moore, Diego Rodriguez, Cedric Tille, Oreste Tristani, Jaume Ventura, as well as participants in various seminars and conferences.
Intensification of hot extremes in the United States

Governments are currently considering policies that will limit greenhouse gas concentrations, including negotiation of an international treaty to replace the expiring Kyoto Protocol. Existing mitigation targets have arisen primarily from political negotiations, and the ability of such policies to avoid dangerous impacts is still uncertain. Using a large suite of climate model experiments, we find that substantial intensification of hot extremes could occur within the next 3 decades, below the 2°C global warming target currently being considered by policy makers. We also find that the intensification of hot extremes is associated with a shift towards more anticyclonic atmospheric circulation during the warm season, along with warm‐season drying over much of the U.S. The possibility that intensification of hot extremes could result from relatively small increases in greenhouse gas concentrations suggests that constraining global warming to 2°C may not be sufficient to avoid dangerous climate change.
Marketing higher education: the MBA experience

Given the increasing competition in higher education, including that on MBA degrees, it is surprising that more attention has not been paid to marketing issues, such as are educational institutions really “customer‐oriented”? ; do they choose the most appropriate market segments? ; the complexities of the decision processes of the “buyers”. Looks first at general issues facing educational marketers, and then examines the marketing of MBA degrees in the light of theory, of previous survey data and of evidence arising from their collective experience. Concludes that, whether the “customer” is an individual student or a company, a greater understanding of buyer behaviour is needed; business schools should improve their marketing or stand accused of not practising what they preach.
Impromptu : enabling maximum insight into capital-goods machines within available analyst time by providing reusable and flexible data analysis

In the development process of high-tech machines, it is important to verify performance and quality of the machine in the field continuously. Currently, there are opportunities to increase analysis effectiveness w.r. t machine behavior analysis. Off the shelf tools are not sufficient to solve these problems. The Impromptu project shows a proof of concept to extend the current analysis framework to be reusable, flexible, and accessible. Within this project, two business cases were explored to show the accessibility and flexibility of the framework and reusability of generic data analysis techniques in the context of Océ – A Canon Company.
Estrogenic and Anti-estrogenic Activity Present in Wastewater Effluent and Reclaimed Water

Water demand in the semiarid southwestern United States is approaching sustainable limits. Treated wastewater is frequently the last major untapped water resource. Secondary effluent contains traces of hormones and other endocrine disrupting contaminants. In Tucson, the vast majority of treated wastewater is either discharged to the Santa Cruz River (which would otherwise be dry for 10-11 months of the year, or infiltrated for groundwater recharge at the Sweetwater Recharge Facility (SRF). Soilaquifer treatment at the SRF is relied upon to polish effluent prior to its recovery and reuse for landscape irrigation. There were three primary venues for the study described here: (i) the Roger Road Wastewater Treatment Plant (RRWTP), (ii) the SRF, and (iii) the Santa Cruz River. Secondary treatment at the RRWTP lowered the estrogenic activity of wastewater (influent to effluent) by 35-60 percent. Residual estrogenic activity in RRWTP effluent decreased to near zero over a 24-hr detention period in the SRF infiltration basins, while anti-estrogenic activity increased over the same period. Water collected from the underlying unconfined aquifer, however, was again estrogenic, probably due to the selective removal of anti-estrogens during percolation. In the effluent-dependent Santa Cruz River, estrogenic activity decreased continuously from the plant outfalls to a point about 25 miles downstream where estrogenic activity reached the limit of detection. A corresponding increase in antiestrogenic activity was evident. Monitoring wells along the stream produced levels of
Solutions Network Formulation Report. The Potential Contributions of the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission to Estuary Management in Acadia National Park

This candidate solution suggests the use of GPM precipitation observations to enhance the Acadia National Park NLERDSS. Simulated GPM data should provide measurements that would enable analysis of how precipitation affects runoff and nutrient load in the park? s wetlands. This solution benefits society by aiding park and resource managers in making predictions based on hypothetical changes and in identifying effective mitigation scenarios. This solution supports the Coastal Management, Water Management, and Ecological Forecasting National Applications.
Acquiring (and Using) Linguistic (and World) Knowledge for Information Access

Information access tasks need flexible text understanding. While full text understanding remains a distant and possibly unattainable goal, to deliver better information access performance we must advance content analysis beyond the simple algorithms used today--and the dynamic nature of both information needs and information sources will make a flexible model or set of models a necessity. Models must either be adaptive or easily adapted by some form of low-cost intervention; and they must support incremental knowledge build-up. The first requirement involves acquisition of information from unstructured data; the second involves defining an inspectable and transparent model and developing an understanding of knowledge-intensive interaction. Text understanding needs a theory. Knowledge modeling, semantics, or ontology construction are areas marked by the absence of significant consensus either in points of theory or scope of application. Even the terminology and success criteria of the somewhat overlapping fields are fragmented. Some approaches to content modeling lay claim to psychological realism, others to inspectability; some are portable, others transparent; some are robust, others logically sound; some efficient, others scalable. Information access tasks give focus to modeling. It is too much to hope for a set of standards to emerge from the intellectually fairly volatile and fragmented area of semantics or cognitive modeling. But in our application areas -- namely, those in the general field of information access - external success criteria are better established. Compromise from theoretical underpinnings in the name of performance. Information access tasks need flexible text understanding. While full text understanding remains a distant and possibly unattainable goal, to deliver better information access performance we must advance content analysis beyond the simple algorithms used today--and the dynamic nature of both information needs and information sources will make a flexible model or set of models a necessity.
Heat-flow measurements in the vicinity of the Hayward Fault, California

In 1991 and 1992, temperature and thermal conductivity data were acquired from five borehole strainmeter exploratory pilot holes and one borehole strainmeter installation hole drilled near the southern segment of the Hayward fault. The locations of these six holes (Lake Chabot, Walpert Ridge above Niles Canyon, Coyote Hills, Garin Park, and Sunol Ridge) cover a 20 km by 30 km gap in existing heat flow data between the southern San Francisco Peninsula segment of the San Andreas fault and the northern segment of the Hayward fault. Although thermal disturbances due to locally rugged topography and shallow groundwater flow are substantial at all but the Coyote Hills site, reliable conductive heat flow measurements have been obtained from four of the six holes. Heat flow is 83.3 ± 6.6 mW/m2 at Lake Chabot, 80.0 ± 15.0 mW/m2 at Niles Canyon (two holes), and 96.3 ± 2.5 mW/m2 at Coyote Hills. Incomplete data suggest that heat flow is greater than 80 mW/m2 at Garin Park. These new values are similar to an 84 mW/m2 value measured in the Berkeley Hills to the north and an average of 89.2 mW/m2 from six sites on the southern San Francisco Peninsula. This places the Hayward fault well within the region of elevated heat flow that characterizes most of the California Coast Ranges. In addition, if these measurements reflect near steady-state thermal conditions at depth, temperatures in the crust and upper mantle beneath the Hayward fault are indistinguishable from those beneath the Peninsula segment of the San Andreas fault.