Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
LoRa network performance comparison between open area and tree farm based on PHY factors

IoT(Internet of Things) applied to agriculture can be a great help to increase efficiency of growing crops. For applying IoT to agriculture industry, using a kind of devices and data obtained by sensing are essential. Furthermore, in agriculture with IoT, networking is one of the most important parts. LoRa is one of the great representative among LPWAN to implement Agriculture IoT. It has a lot of advantages, especially in terms of low costs and excellent battery performance. In addition, it can be deployed with much less costs and have rich ecosystem due to alliance with partnership companies. Unfortunately, most of these researches are about experiments which is conducted in open area, urban area or several crop farms. Researches about tree farm were not done so far before. A lot of previous works tested the performance of the LoRa network in mountainous and urban areas. In mountainous areas, the packet transmission rate is affected by the altitude of the terrain. Urban areas are affected by the location of the building. Therefore, in this paper, we did some experiments to verify LoRa network performance according to changing PHY setting in tree farm and open area. We focused on investigating performance with changing PHY factors to measure the performances such as reliability and distance. Consequently, we can find some points. First, comparison between tree farm and open area is that the variation of tree farm is bigger than the variation of open area. So, we can recognize that PDR is more sensitive to PHY factors in the tree farm. Second, it appears that PDR is higher in the open area than the tree farm. However, in the open area, only the variation of PDR according to CR is theoretically increased. In addition, as SF increases, PDR also increases like odd numbered ID 001, 003, 005 and even numbered ID 002, 004, 006 in tree farm. At last, we can only find the difference according to changing BW 120 to 250 in the comparison of 001 and 007, 002 and 008 in 150M in the tree farm. And we can also find out the difference between 001 and 007 in 100M, 002 and 008 in 150M.
Handling of user interruption to achieve timing-free utterances for spoken dialogue interface

This paper considers the spoken dialogue interface, which is the basic system for the multimodal interface by speech, and discusses the handling of the interruption that ensures the user the timing-free utterances. In the interruption by the user, if the utterance by the system is designed with the sentence as the unit, as in the conventional system, there will be produced a difference between the designed content of the utterance and the actually uttered content or the content received by the user. From such a viewpoint, the following method is proposed. The unit for the utterance planning is defined as the information to be transmitted by a sentence, and which information is received is always monitored through the management of the turn-taking between the speakers of the dialogue. As a result of experiment, the handling of smooth interruption is recognized in more than half the subjects. Using the proposed method, the difference between the utterance planned by the system and the utterance received by the user is reduced. It is verified also that the interface is made more convenient by the handling of the interruption. The time required for the user to complete the task is reduced by 7 percent, and the number of positive topic proposals is increased by 21 percent.
Bootstrapping EM via Power EM and Convergence in the Naive Bayes Model

We study the convergence properties of the Expectation-Maximization algorithm in the Naive Bayes model. We show that EM can get stuck in regions of slow convergence, even when the features are binary and i.i. d. conditioning on the class label, and even under random (i.e. non worst-case) initialization. In turn, we show that EM can be bootstrapped in a pre-training step that computes a good initialization. From this initialization we show theoretically and experimentally that EM converges exponentially fast to the true model parameters. Our bootstrapping method amounts to running the EM algorithm on appropriately centered iterates of small magnitude, which as we show corresponds to effectively performing power iteration on the covariance matrix of the mixture model, although power iteration is performed under the hood by EM itself. As such, we call our bootstrapping approach “power EM. ” Specifically for the case of two binary features, we show global exponentially fast convergence of EM, even without bootstrapping. Finally, as the Naive Bayes model is quite expressive, we show as corollaries of our convergence results that the EM algorithm globally converges to the true model parameters for mixtures of two Gaussians, recovering recent results of [XHM16, DTZ17].
Biomimicry of volatile‐based microbial control for managing emerging fungal pathogens

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are known to be produced by a wide range of micro‐organisms and for a number of purposes. Volatile‐based microbial inhibition in environments such as soil is well‐founded, with numerous antimicrobial VOCs having been identified. Inhibitory VOCs are of interest as microbial control agents, as low concentrations of gaseous VOCs can elicit significant antimicrobial effects. Volatile organic compounds are organic chemicals typically characterized as having low molecular weight, low solubility in water, and high vapour pressure. Consequently, VOCs readily evaporate to the gaseous phase at standard temperature and pressure. This contact‐independent antagonism presents unique advantages over traditional, contact‐dependent microbial control methods, including increased surface exposure and reduced environmental persistence. This approach has been the focus of our recent research, with positive results suggesting it may be particularly promising for the management of emerging fungal pathogens, such as the causative agents of white‐nose syndrome of bats and snake fungal disease, which are difficult or impossible to treat using traditional approaches. Here, we review the history of volatile‐based microbial control, discuss recent progress in formulations that mimic naturally antagonistic VOCs, outline the development of a novel treatment device, and highlight areas where further work is needed to successfully deploy VOCs against existing and emerging fungal pathogens.
Improvement in Negative Symptoms and Functioning in Cognitive-Behavioral Social Skills Training for Schizophrenia: Mediation by Defeatist Performance Attitudes and Asocial Beliefs

Psychosocial interventions have significant but modest impact on negative symptoms and functioning in schizophrenia. Identifying mechanisms of change in these interventions can inform treatment targets to strengthen these interventions. A number of studies have found associations between dysfunctional attitudes negative symptoms and functioning in schizophrenia. We previously found improvement in experiential negative symptoms and functioning in cognitive-behavioral social skills training (CBSST) in participants with schizophrenia (N = 149), and the present study examined whether improvements in CBSST in that trial were mediated by the group effect on defeatist performance attitudes and asocial beliefs. In multilevel mediation analyses, the effect of treatment group on experiential negative symptoms and functioning was mediated prospectively through defeatist attitudes but asocial beliefs only mediated effects on experiential negative symptoms. The findings suggest that cognitive-behavioral therapy interventions that target dysfunctional attitudes can lead to improvement in negative symptoms and functioning in schizophrenia.
Organizational justice and disability pension from all-causes, depression and musculoskeletal diseases: A Finnish cohort study of public sector employees.

OBJECTIVES Work-related stress has been linked to increased risk of disability pensioning, but the association between perceived justice of managerial behavior and decision-making processes at the workplace (ie, organizational justice) and risk of disability pensioning remains unknown. We examined the associations of organizational justice and its relational and procedural components with all-cause and diagnosis-specific disability pensions with repeated measures of justice. METHODS Data from 24 895 employees responding to repeated surveys on organizational justice in 2000-2002 and 2004 were linked to the records of a national register for disability pensions from 2005-2011. Associations of long-term organizational justice (average score from two surveys) with disability pensions were studied with Cox proportional hazard regression adjusted for demographics, socioeconomic status, baseline health and health risk behavior, stratified by sex. RESULTS During a mean follow-up of 6.4 years, 1658 (7%) employees were granted disability pension (282 due to depression; 816 due to musculoskeletal diseases). Higher organizational justice was associated with a lower risk of disability pensioning [hazard ratio (HR) per one-unit increase in 5-point justice scale 0.87 (95% CI 0.81-0.94)]. For disability pension due to depression and musculoskeletal diseases, the corresponding HR were 0.77 (95% CI 0.65-0.91) and 0.87 (95% CI 0.79-0.97), respectively. Adjustment for job strain and effort-reward imbalance attenuated the HR by 20-80%. CONCLUSIONS Supervisors` fair treatment of employees and fair decision-making in the organizations are associated with a decreased risk of disability pensioning from all-causes, depression and musculoskeletal diseases. These associations may be attributable to a wider range of favorable work characteristics.
Pathogenic mutations in retinitis pigmentosa 2 predominantly result in loss of RP2 protein stability in humans and zebrafish

Mutations in retinitis pigmentosa 2 (RP2) account for 10–20% of X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (RP) cases. The encoded RP2 protein is implicated in ciliary trafficking of myristoylated and prenylated proteins in photoreceptor cells. To date >70 mutations in RP2 have been identified. How these mutations disrupt the function of RP2 is not fully understood. Here we report a novel in-frame 12-bp deletion (c.357_368del, p.Pro120_Gly123del) in zebrafish rp2. The mutant zebrafish shows reduced rod phototransduction proteins and progressive retinal degeneration. Interestingly, the protein level of mutant Rp2 is almost undetectable, whereas its mRNA level is near normal, indicating a possible post-translational effect of the mutation. Consistent with this hypothesis, the equivalent 12-bp deletion in human RP2 markedly impairs RP2 protein stability and reduces its protein level. Furthermore, we found that a majority of the RP2 pathogenic mutations (including missense, single-residue deletion, and C-terminal truncation mutations) severely destabilize the RP2 protein. The destabilized RP2 mutant proteins are degraded via the proteasome pathway, resulting in dramatically decreased protein levels. The remaining non-destabilizing mutations T87I, R118H/R118G/R118L/R118C, E138G, and R211H/R211L are suggested to impair the interaction between RP2 and its protein partners (such as ARL3) or with as yet unknown partners. By utilizing a combination of in silico, in vitro, and in vivo approaches, our work comprehensively indicates that loss of RP2 protein structural stability is the predominating pathogenic consequence for most RP2 mutations. Our study also reveals a role of the C-terminal domain of RP2 in maintaining the overall protein stability.
Novel P450nor Gene Detection Assay Used To Characterize the Prevalence and Diversity of Soil Fungal Denitrifiers

ABSTRACT Denitrifying fungi produce nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, as they generally lack the ability to convert N2O to dinitrogen. Contrary to the case for bacterial denitrifiers, the prevalence and diversity of denitrifying fungi found in the environment are not well characterized. In this study, denitrifying fungi were isolated from various soil ecosystems, and novel PCR primers targeting the P450nor gene, encoding the enzyme responsible for the conversion of nitric oxide to N2O, were developed, validated, and used to study the diversity of cultivable fungal denitrifiers. This PCR assay was also used to detect P450nor genes directly from environmental soil samples. Fungal denitrification capabilities were further validated using an N2O gas detection assay and a PCR assay targeting the nirK gene. A collection of 492 facultative anaerobic fungi was isolated from 15 soil ecosystems and taxonomically identified by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer sequence. Twenty-seven fungal denitrifiers belonging to 10 genera had the P450nor and the nirK genes and produced N2O from nitrite. N2O production is reported in strains not commonly known as denitrifiers, such as Byssochlamys nivea, Volutella ciliata, Chloridium spp. , and Trichocladium spp. The prevalence of fungal denitrifiers did not follow a soil ecosystem distribution; however, a higher diversity was observed in compost and agricultural soils. The phylogenetic trees constructed using partial P450nor and nirK gene sequences revealed that both genes clustered taxonomically closely related strains together. IMPORTANCE A PCR assay targeting the P450nor gene involved in fungal denitrification was developed and validated. The newly developed P450nor primers were used on fungal DNA extracted from a collection of fungi isolated from various soil environments and on DNA directly extracted from soil. The results indicated that approximatively 25% of all isolated fungi possessed this gene and were able to convert nitrite to N2O. All soil samples from which denitrifying fungi were isolated also tested positive for the presence of P450nor. The P450nor gene detection assay was reliable in detecting a large diversity of fungal denitrifiers. Due to the lack of homology existing between P450nor and bacterial denitrification genes, it is expected that this assay will become a tool of choice for studying fungal denitrifiers.
Chronic kidney disease: Pathological and functional evaluation with intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion‐weighted imaging

Because chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide problem, accurate pathological and functional evaluation is required for planning treatment and follow‐up. Intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion‐weighted imaging (IVIM‐DWI) can assess both capillary perfusion and tissue diffusion and may be helpful in evaluating renal function and pathology.
Patients with Primary Immunodeficiencies Are a Reservoir of Poliovirus and a Risk to Polio Eradication

Immunodeficiency-associated vaccine-derived polioviruses (iVDPVs) have been isolated from primary immunodeficiency (PID) patients exposed to oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). Patients may excrete poliovirus strains for months or years; the excreted viruses are frequently highly divergent from the parental OPV and have been shown to be as neurovirulent as wild virus. Thus, these patients represent a potential reservoir for transmission of neurovirulent polioviruses in the post-eradication era. In support of WHO recommendations to better estimate the prevalence of poliovirus excreters among PIDs and characterize genetic evolution of these strains, 635 patients including 570 with primary antibody deficiencies and 65 combined immunodeficiencies were studied from 13 OPV-using countries. Two stool samples were collected over 4 days, tested for enterovirus, and the poliovirus positive samples were sequenced. Thirteen patients (2%) excreted polioviruses, most for less than 2 months following identification of infection. Five (0.8%) were classified as iVDPVs (only in combined immunodeficiencies and mostly poliovirus serotype 2). Non-polio enteroviruses were detected in 30 patients (4.7%). Patients with combined immunodeficiencies had increased risk of delayed poliovirus clearance compared to primary antibody deficiencies. Usually, iVDPV was detected in subjects with combined immunodeficiencies in a short period of time after OPV exposure, most for less than 6 months. Surveillance for poliovirus excretion among PID patients should be reinforced until polio eradication is certified and the use of OPV is stopped. Survival rates among PID patients are improving in lower and middle income countries, and iVDPV excreters are identified more frequently. Antivirals or enhanced immunotherapies presently in development represent the only potential means to manage the treatment of prolonged excreters and the risk they present to the polio endgame.
HotGraph: Efficient Asynchronous Processing for Real-World Graphs

For large-scale graph analysis on a single PC, asynchronous processing methods are known to converge more quickly than the synchronous approach, because of more efficient propagation of vertices state. However, current asynchronous methods are still very suboptimal in propagating state across different graph partitions. This presents a bottleneck for cross-partition state update and slows down the convergence of the processing task. To tackle this problem, we propose a new method, named the HotGraph, to faster graph processing by extracting a backbone structure, called hot graph, that spans all the partitions of the original graph. With this approach, most cross-partition state propagations in traditional solutions now take place within only a few hot graph partitions, thus removing the cross-partition bottleneck. We also develop a partition scheduling algorithm to maximize the hot graph’s effectiveness by keeping it in memory and assigning it the highest priority for processing as much as possible. A forward and backward sweeping execution strategy is then proposed to further accelerate the convergence. Experimental results show that HotGraph can reduce the number of vertex state updates processed by 51.5 percent, compared with state-of-the-art schemes. Applying our optimizations further reduces this number by 72.6 percent and the execution time by 80.8 percent.
Expression of Pyridoxal 5′-Phosphate-Independent Racemases Can Reduce 2-Aminoacrylate Stress in Salmonella enterica

ABSTRACT The RidA protein (PF01042) from Salmonella enterica is a deaminase that quenches 2-aminoacrylate (2AA) and other reactive metabolites. In the absence of RidA, 2AA accumulates, damages cellular enzymes, and compromises the metabolic network. In vitro, RidA homologs from all domains of life deaminate 2AA, and RidA proteins from plants, bacteria, yeast, and humans complement the mutant phenotype of a ridA mutant strain of S. enterica. In the present study, a methanogenic archaeon, Methanococcus maripaludis S2, was used to probe alternative mechanisms to restore metabolic balance. M. maripaludis MMP0739, which is annotated as an aspartate/glutamate racemase, complemented a ridA mutant strain and reduced the intracellular 2AA burden. The aspartate/glutamate racemase YgeA from Escherichia coli or S. enterica, when provided in trans, similarly restored wild-type growth to a ridA mutant. These results uncovered a new mechanism to ameliorate metabolic stress, and they suggest that direct quenching by RidA is not the only strategy to quench 2AA. IMPORTANCE 2-Aminoacrylate is an endogenously generated reactive metabolite that can damage cellular enzymes if not directly quenched by the conserved deaminase RidA. This study used an archaeon to identify a RidA-independent mechanism to prevent metabolic stress caused by 2AA. The data suggest that a gene product annotated as an aspartate/glutamate racemase (MMP0739) produces a metabolite that can quench 2AA, expanding our understanding of strategies available to quench reactive metabolites.
Anscombe Root DCO-OFDM for SPAD-Based Visible Light Communication

For high-speed visible light communication (VLC) with weak signals such as in underwater environment, dc-biased optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (DCO-OFDM) based on single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) is viewed as a promising scheme. Since the channel noise is Poisson distributed, the maximum likelihood (ML) detection is mathematically intractable for DCO-OFDM, and the ML-detection-based minimum distance criterion originally for Gaussian channels is applied to SPAD-based DCO-OFDM. However, the error performance is degraded. For this reason, we propose an Anscombe root (AR) DCO-OFDM by using the existing AR transformation before fast Fourier transformation at the receiver side and a square operation at the transmitter. For the proposed AR-DCO-OFDM, the channel noise is well approximated to be Gaussian distributed, and thus, the asymptotically optimal detection is based on the low-complexity minimum-distance criterion. Extensive simulations indicate that our proposed AR-DCO-OFDM can substantially improve the conventional DCO-OFDM with minimum-distance detection for SPAD-based VLC systems, and the attained gain is above 5 dB at the bit error rate of $\text{10}^{-\text{4}}$ for numerous scenarios.
A personal contamination monitor using large area Geiger counters.

Organic quenched Geiger counters can be made with fillings at near atmospheric pressure which permits the use of large area (250 cm2), thin (7 mg/cm2) windows. This construction facilitates the detection of low energy (0.3 MeV maximum energy) beta emitters spread over hands and shoes. These counters have a limited life (-lo* counts) but this limitation has been overcome by biassing them only during the counting process, minimising the counting period and reducing the background with 25 mm of lead shielding. The monitor employs such counters for detecting permissible levels (0.1 nCi/cm2 over 300 cm2 for p-emitters of maximum energy 0.3 MeV or more) on hands or shoes. For contamination on other surfaces, such as the face, clothes or tools, a similar but smaller (50 cmz) counter is mounted into the probe. A simple system of indicator lamps is used to show the presence or absence of excessive contamination. When contamination is detected its level can be estimated with a digital display count rate meter (0-2000 counts/sec).
Tabu Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm Based Intelligent QoS Multicast Routing Algorithm

In this paper, a QoS multicast routing scheme based on TS (Tabu Search) and AFS (artificial fish swarm) is presented. The corresponding model and its mathematical description are introduced. By combining fast searching ability of AFS and global optimization ability of TS, it tries to find the best multicast tree with the maximum probability of meeting multiple QoS constraints under the given cost and the inaccurate QoS information. Simulation results have shown that it is effective and efficient.