Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Patterns of Coevolution in the Adaptive Radiation of Crossbills

Although evidence for coevolution and geographic variation in its apparent strength is increasing, we still have a relatively poor understanding of why coevolution varies among interactions. Here we review how variation in the occurrence of competitors, resource stability, habitat area, and time has affected the extent of trait escalation in coevolutionary arms races between crossbills (Loxia) and conifers. Competitors for conifer seeds, particularly tree squirrels, have limited the extent of crossbill–conifer coevolution; however, seed crop fluctuations reduce the extent to which tree squirrels limit crossbill–conifer coevolution. Crossbill densities increase with forest area, which results in greater escalation of seed defenses apparently as the result of stronger selection exerted by crossbills. The extent of trait escalation appears to increase toward lower latitudes where crossbill–conifer interactions have likely persisted locally for longer periods of time. However, because most crossbills occur at higher latitudes, much of the extant diversification of crossbills has occurred since the last glacial retreat, and the extent of trait escalation is limited. Nevertheless, coevolution has caused considerable trait evolution even in temperate regions. The conditions favoring coevolution between crossbills and conifers are widespread, and coevolution has played at least some role in at least three fourths of the taxa of crossbills. Introduction Coevolution, or the process by which reciprocal selection results in reciprocal adaptations among pairs or groups of interacting organisms, has been recognized as an important process affecting the organization and diversification of life since Darwin's time. 1–3 Recently, this view has gained support from two largely independent sets of studies. First, studies focusing on the geographic structure of contemporary interactions have repeatedly illustrated how geographically structured coevolution can drive adaptive divergence
Speech Coding Parameters and Their Influence on Speech Recognition

Speech recognition over different transmission channels will set demands on the parametric encoded/decoded speech. The effects of different types of noise have been studied a lot and the effects of the parametrization process in speech has been known to cause degradation in decoded speech when compared to the original speech. But does the encoding/decoding process modify the speech so much that it will cause degradation in the speech recognition result? If it does, what may cause the speech recognition degradation? We have studied ten different speech codec configurations with noisy data. The results indicate that the vocal tract parameters are in key role in speech information transmission and the certain residual modeling methods will reduce the effect of the noise. Key-Words: speech recognition; speech coding; quality evaluation; SNR; codec
The Explicit Formula and the conductor operator

I give a new derivation of the Explicit Formula for an arbitrary number field and abelian Dirichlet-Hecke character, which treats all primes in exactly the same way, whether they are discrete or archimedean, and also ramified or not. This is followed with a local study of a Hilbert space operator, the ``conductor operator'', which is expressed as H = log(|x|) + log(|y|) (where x and y are Fourier dual variables on a nu-adic completion of the number field). I also study the commutator operator K = i[log(|y|),log(|x|)] (which shares with H the property of complete dilation invariance, and turns out to be bounded), as well as the higher commutator operators. The generalized eigenvalues of these operators are given by the derivatives on the critical line of the Tate-Gel'fand-Graev Gamma function, which itself is in fact closely related to the additive Fourier Transform viewed in multiplicative terms. This spectral analysis is thus a natural continuation to Tate's Thesis in its local aspects. (combines my earlier papers math/9809119, math/9811040, math/9812012, one result added, new references)
Classification method study for automatic form class identification

We present three classifiers used in automatic forms class identification. The first category of classifier includes the k-nearest neighbours (kNN) and the multilayer perceptron (MLP) classifiers. The second category corresponds to a new structural classifier based on tree comparison. The low level information based on a pyramidal decomposition of the document image is used by the kNN and the MLP classifiers, while the high level information represents the form content with a hierarchical structure used by the new structural classifier. Experimental results are presented. Some strategies of classifier co-operation are proposed.
The effects of variations in the number and sequence of targeting signals on nuclear uptake

To determine if the number of targeting signals affects the transport of proteins into the nucleus, Xenopus oocytes were injected with colloidal gold particles, ranging in diameter from 20 to 280 A, that were coated with BSA cross-linked with synthetic peptides containing the SV-40 large T-antigen nuclear transport signal. Three BSA conjugate preparations were used; they had an average of 5, 8, and 11 signals per molecule of carrier protein. In addition, large T-antigen, which contains one signal per monomer, was used as a coating agent. The cells were fixed at various times after injection and subsequently analyzed by electron microscopy. Gold particles coated with proteins containing the SV-40 signal entered the nucleus through central channels located within the nuclear pores. Analysis of the intracellular distribution and size of the tracers that entered the nucleus indicated that the number of signals per molecule affect both the relative uptake of particles and the functional size of the channels available for translocation. In control experiments, gold particles coated with BSA or BSA conjugated with inactive peptides similar to the SV-40 transport signal were virtually excluded from the nucleus. Gold particles coated with nucleoplasmin, an endogenous karyophilic protein that contains five targeting signals per molecule, was transported through the nuclear pores more effectively than any of the BSA-peptide conjugates. Based on a correlation between the peri-envelope density of gold particles and their relative uptake, it is suggested that the differences in the activity of the two targeting signals is related to their binding affinity for envelope receptors. It was also determined, by performing coinjection experiments, that individual pores are capable of recognizing and transporting proteins that contain different nuclear targeting signals.
A maximal-information color to gray conversion method for document images: Toward an optimal grayscale representation for document image binarization

A novel method to convert color/multi-spectral images to gray-level images is introduced to increase the performance of document binarization methods. The method uses the distribution of the pixel data of the input document image in a color space to find a transformation, called the dual transform, which balances the amount of information on all color channels. Furthermore, in order to reduce the intensity variations on the gray output, a color reduction preprocessing step is applied. Then, a channel is selected as the gray value representation of the document image based on the homogeneity criterion on the text regions. In this way, the proposed method can provide a luminance-independent contrast enhancement. The performance of the method is evaluated against various images from two databases, the ICDAR'03 Robust Reading, the KAIST and the DIBCO'09 datasets, subjectively and objectively with promising results. The ground truth images for the images from the ICDAR'03 Robust Reading dataset have been created manually by the authors.
The composite starburst/AGN nature of the superwind galaxy NGC 4666

We report the discovery of a Compton-thick AGN and of intense star-formation activity in the nucleus and disk, respectively, of the nearly edge-on superwind galaxy NGC 4666. Spatially unresolved emission is detected by BeppoSAX only at energies 2 × 10 41 erg s −1 . A t energies 2) power-law (PL) component. The latter emission is likely due to unresolved sources with luminosity L ∼ 10 38 −10 39 erg s −1 that are most likely accreting binaries (with BH masses ≤8 M� ). Such binaries, which are known to dominate the X-ray point-source luminosity in nearby star-forming galaxies, have Γ ∼ 2 PL spectra in the relevant energy range. A Γ ∼ 1.8 PL contribution from Compton scattering of (the radio-emitting) relativistic electrons by the ambient FIR photons may add a truly diffuse component to the 2-10 keV emission.
Architecting the Database Access for a IT Infrastructure and Data Center Monitoring Tool

We present our experience in architecting the database access for a tool that analyzes IT infrastructure and data center utilization. We study solutions built on top of TSDB [2] and SQL Server. We provide a configuration based multi threaded approach in SQL Server based on Spring Batch [1]. Our architecture includes spring batch partitioning, JDBC-R bridge rewrite and optimized Transact-SQL procedures.
H i studies of extremely metal-deficient galaxies – II. Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope observations of SBS 1129+576

We present Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope H i observations of an extremely metal-deficient galaxy SBS 1129+576. SBS 1129+576 has a weighted mean oxygen abundance of 12 + log (O/H) = 7.41 ± 0.07, or 1/18 of the solar value. Our H i observations show that the galaxy is strongly interacting with a companion (projected separation ~ 27 kpc) galaxy, SBS 1129+577. HI emission from a third, smaller galaxy, SDSS J113227.68+572142.3, is also present in the data cube. We study the HI morphology and kinematics of this small group at angular resolutions ranging from ~ 40 to 8 arcsec. The low-resolution map shows a bridge of emission connecting the two larger galaxies and a large one-armed spiral distortion of the disc of SBS 1129+577. We measure HI masses of ~ 4.2 × 10 8 , ~ 2.7 × 10 9 and ~ 2.1 × 10 8 M ⊙ for SBS 1129+576, SBS 1129+577 and the gas in the bridge, respectively. Assuming that most of the bridge gas originally came from SBS 1129+576, approximately one-third of its original gas mass has been stripped off. The third smaller galaxy has an H i mass of (M HI ~ 1.1 × 10 7 M ⊙ ) and does not show any sign of interaction with the other two galaxies. The higher-resolution maps show that SBS 1129+577 has a central bar and a ring surrounding the bar; there is also a hint of an integral-shaped warp in SBS 1129+576. All these features are very likely to have been induced by the tidal interaction. In both SBS 1129+576 and SBS 1129+577, there is, in general, a good correspondence between regions with high H i column density and those with ongoing star formation. The two brightest H ii regions in SBS 1129+576 have (inclination-corrected) gas column densities of ~ 1.6 × 10 21 and ~ 1.8 × 10 21 atoms cm -2 , respectively. The inclination-corrected H i column density near the H ii regions in SBS 1129+577 is generally above ~ 2.0 × 10 21 atoms cm −2 . These values are close to the threshold density for star formation observed in other blue compact galaxies. In contrast to SBS 1129+576 and SBS 1129+577 which are very gas-rich, the third member of this group, SDSS J113227.68+572142.3, is gas-poor.
Combined speech and audio coding with bit rate and bandwidth scalability

The past two decades have witnessed a rapid expansion within the telecommunications industry. This growth has been primarily motivated by the proliferation of digital communication systems and services which have become easily available through wired and wireless systems. Current research trends involve the integration of speech, audio, video and data channels into true multimedia communications over fixed and mobile networks. However, while the available bandwidth in wired terrestrial networks is relatively cheap and expandable, it becomes a limited resource in satellite and cellular-radio systems. In order to accommodate an ever growing number of users while maintaining high quality and low operational costs, it is necessary to maximise spectral efficiency. This has given rise to the development of high rate compression techniques with the ability to adapt to a broad class of input signals and to varying network resources. The research carried out in this thesis has mainly focused on the design of a single algorithm for compressing speech and audio signals sampled at different rates. The algorithms are based on the analysis-by-synthesis linear prediction coding (AbS-LPC) scheme, which has been widely employed in various speech coding standards. However, this bit rate reduction technique is based on the speech production mechanism and as such provides a rigid structure which presents a major limitation for audio coding. In order to improve the audio quality at low rates and to compensate for the errors incurred by the linear prediction during segments of high transitions, the algorithms employ an efficient pulse excitation structure which represents the short innovation sequences with sparse unit magnitude pulses. The scheme proposed for the compression of telephone bandwidth speech and audio signals at 12kb/s achieves similar quality to the G.728 coder at 16kb/s and higher audio quality than the GSM-EFR standard at 12.2kb/s. Wideband speech and audio coding schemes have been designed using both the fullband approach at bit rates of 17 and 19kb/s and also the split band technique at a bit rate of 20kb/s. The perceptual quality is comparable to the G.722 coder operating at 48kb/s. The subband decomposition technique is also adapted to code speech and audio signals sampled at 32kHz. The quality of the coder at 28kb/s is similar to the quality achieved by the MP3 coder at 32kb/s. The algorithm also provides bandwidth and bit rate scalability ranging from 12 to 64kb/s, making it ideal for deployment in rate-adaptive communication systems.
Real time iris based robot

Disability of movement has huge impact on the life of physically disabled people. Therefore there is need to develop a robot which can be controlled using iris movement. Presently iris controlled robotic systems exist in which iris movement detection is done using MATLAB. This paper proposes a system which aims to design a robot controlled by iris movement. The system is designed using Raspberry Pi and Pi Camera Module which make the system cost effective and stand alone. An Open Source Computer Vision is integrated on Raspberry Pi for real time image processing. A general purpose higher-level language, Python is used for programming the Raspberry Pi. The main aim of the system is to recognize iris from an image of eye and find the centroid of the iris. The centroid position is further used to operate the robot in various directions.
Technical college teachers sharing their knowledge: does leadership, institutional factors or barriers predict their practices?

Abstract This study determines the preferable leadership practised by colleges’ directors, institutional factors and challenges encountered in knowledge sharing in Malaysian technical higher learning institutions (HLIs). Using a pragmatic mixed-method strand, we obtained 212 teachers and instructors’ viewpoints on knowledge sharing factors and barriers. The study also interviewed four teachers in exploring college directors’ leadership practices and issues faced while sharing their knowledge and experiences with their colleagues. The findings revealed that technical college teachers favoured enabling others to act as a preferable leadership practice that empirically supports their knowledge sharing practices. Thus, reward system and culture were antecedents and significant predictors for teachers’ knowledge sharing practices in technical HLIs compared with their colleges directors’ transformational leadership practices. Teachers also highlighted that their directors provide affirmative responses concerning the knowledge sharing activities; thus, practising their roles as a knowledge sharing catalysts. However, lack of support from the management, micro-politics and teachers’ own negative perceptions were identified as challenges and constraints teachers encountered while sharing their knowledge with their peers. The findings put forward some suggestions for improvement on technical college’s knowledge sharing practices.
Consideration of Opportunity and Human Factor: Required Paradigm Shift for Information Security Risk Management

Most of the existing Risk Analysis and Management Methods (RAMMs) focus on threat without taking account of the available opportunity to an entity. Besides, human aspects are not often given much importance in these methods. These issues create a considerable drawback as the available opportunities to an entity (organization, system, etc.) might go unnoticed which might hamper the entity from achieving its objectives. Moreover, understanding the motives of humans play an important role in guiding the risk analysis. This paper reviews several existing RAMMs to highlight the above issues and provides reasoning as to emphasize the importance of these two issues in information security management. From the analysis of the selected methods, we identified that a majority of the methods acknowledge only threat and the consideration of human factors have not been reflected. Although, the issues are not new, these still remain open and the field of risk management needs to be directed towards addressing them. The review is expected to be helpful both to the researchers and practitioners in providing relevant information to consider these issues for further improving the existing RAMMs or when developing new methods.
Visualization of Large Graphs Using GPU Computing

Graphs may be used to visualize relationships between objects. Relations are represented by edges and objects are called nodes. When graph is drawn, one can easily see and understand the basic structure of data. Many different applications can be found in social network analysis, computer networks, scientific literature analysis, etc. However drawing large graphs (thousands or a millions of nodes), is still challenging problem. There exist many different algorithms for drawing graphs. Each algorithm has specific behavior and different applications and limits. Some algorithms are focused on quality while others are more suitable for large graphs. This paper aims to speed up the computation using GPU, so larger graphs can be visualized in acceptable time, or visualization can be done even in real-time.
The Optimal Timing of Baseline Radiostereometric Analysis of Uncemented Press Fit Cups

Background and Aims: The baseline radiostereometric analysis (RSA) is usually performed during the first postoperative week. We investigated the micromotion of two uncemented press fit acetabular cups during the first week after total hip arthroplasty. Material and Methods: All study patients had unilateral osteoarthritis of the hip and received an uncemented THA combination consisting of a CLS stem and either an Allofit or an Interop acetabular cup. The study group consisted of 24 patients who underwent RSA within 1 hour after skin closure, and at 1 and 7 days after surgery. Results: The upper limit of the 95% confidence interval for micromotion was less than or close to the precision of the method for all studied directions during the first week after surgery. Mean values indicate proximal and medial translation of the uncemented cup at one week. Conclusions: We found only minimal micromotion, barely above the precision limit, measured as medial and proximal translations of these uncemented cups. This indicates that the first postoperative RSA measurement following a primary THA with an uncemented press fit acetabular cup should be made as early as possible after the first postoperative day.
Molecular Pathogenesis of Ovarian Borderline Tumors: New Insights and Old Challenges

Ovarian borderline (low malignant potential) tumors are a puzzling group of neoplasms that do not fall neatly into benign or malignant categories. Their behavior is enigmatic, their pathogenesis unclear, and their clinical management controversial, especially for serous borderline tumors (SBT), the most common type of ovarian borderline tumor. Clarifying the nature of borderline tumors and their relationship to invasive carcinoma has puzzled investigators since the category was created over 30 years ago. Much of the confusion and controversy concerning these tumors is due to a lack of understanding of their pathogenesis and an absence of a model for the development of ovarian carcinoma. This review summarizes recent molecular studies of ovarian borderline tumors with special emphasis on the role of SBT in tumor progression and its relationship to ovarian serous carcinoma.
Real-Time Discovery Services over Large, Heterogeneous and Complex Healthcare Datasets Using Schema-Less, Column-Oriented Methods

We present a service platform for schema-leess exploration of data and discovery of patient-related statistics from healthcare data sets. The architecture of this platform is motivated by the need for fast, schema-less, and flexible approaches to SQL-based exploration and discovery of information embedded in the common, heterogeneously structured healthcare data sets and supporting components (electronic health records, practice management systems, etc.) The motivating use cases described in the paper are clinical trials candidate discovery, and a treatment effectiveness analysis. Following the use cases, we discuss the key features and software architecture of the platform, the underlying core components (Apache Parquet, Drill, the web services server), and the runtime profiles and performance characteristics of the platform. We conclude by showing dramatic speedup with some approaches, and the performance tradeoffs and limitations of others.
A 7dB NF 60GHz-band millimeter-wave transconductance mixer

A 60GHz-band doubly-balanced transconductance (G<inf>m</inf>) mixer with an on-chip linear L-C combiner for RF and LO signal summation and impedance transformation is described. Class-AB biasing is employed for low quiescent DC power consumption (360µW at 1.2V). At f<inf>LO</inf>=58GHz and P<inf>LO</inf>=0dBm, the G<inf>m</inf>-mixer prototype realizes 6.9dB (50Ω) NF<inf>DSB</inf>, 6.2dB power conversion gain, −4.7dBm input-referred P<inf>−1dB</inf>, and +4.2dBm IIP3.
POWER CONSUMPTION PREDICTION IN WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

The greatest current challenge in wireless sensor networks consists in building a completely adaptive network without fixed infrastructure and with the smallest energy resources. Applications built upon such networks are various: from telemetry to medical follow-up and from intrusion detection to infrastructures maintenance. Nevertheless, their design requires a large effort to guarantee quasi unlimited lifespan of the network. In this work, we propose a model which makes possible both estimation and prediction of energy consumption in a wireless sensor network using CSMA/CA mechanism. This model is based on the Markov chains.
Towards real-time 3D region-based segmentation: B-spline explicit active surfaces

We introduce in this paper a formulation of region-based active contours using explicit surfaces. By formally relating the explicit formulation to the usual implicit formulation, we show that it allows to take advantage of the local or global region-based functionals designed in the level-set framework, while providing a fast algorithm yielding close to real-time segmentation of 3D objects. We compare the segmentation performance of the proposed method with the fast level-set based method of Shi [8]. In similar conditions, the proposed method is 26x to 46x faster. Furthermore, we show that it can handle challenging, inhomogeneous data, while keeping a low computational burden.