Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ecological application of biotic resistance to control the invasion of an invasive plant, Ageratina altissima

Abstract Biotic resistance is the ability of species in a community to limit the invasion of other species. However, biotic resistance is not widely used to control invasive plants. Experimental, functional, and modeling approaches were combined to investigate the processes of invasion by Ageratina altissima (white snakeroot), a model invasive species in South Korea. We hypothesized that (1) functional group identity would be a good predictor of biotic resistance to A. altissima, whereas a species identity effect would be redundant within a functional group, and (2) mixtures of species would be more resistant to invasion than monocultures. We classified 37 species of native plants into three functional groups based on seven functional traits. The classification of functional groups was based primarily on differences in life longevity and woodiness. A competition experiment was conducted based on an additive competition design with A. altissima and monocultures or mixtures of resident plants. As an indicator of biotic resistance, we calculated a relative competition index (RCI avg) based on the average performance of A. altissima in a competition treatment compared with that of the control where only seeds of A. altissima were sown. To further explain the effect of diversity, we tested several diversity–interaction models. In monoculture treatments, RCI avg of resident plants was significantly different among functional groups but not within each functional group. Fast‐growing annuals (FG1) had the highest RCI avg, suggesting priority effects (niche pre‐emption). RCI avg of resident plants was significantly greater in a mixture than in a monoculture. According to the diversity–interaction models, species interaction patterns in mixtures were best described by interactions between functional groups, which implied niche partitioning. Functional group identity and diversity of resident plant communities were good indicators of biotic resistance to invasion by introduced A. altissima, with the underlying mechanisms likely niche pre‐emption and niche partitioning. This method has most potential in assisted restoration contexts, where there is a desire to reintroduce natives or boost their population size due to some previous level of degradation.
Optimized regional caching for on-demand data delivery

Systems for on-demand delivery of large, widely-shared data can use several techniques to improve cost/performance, including: multicast data delivery, segmented data delivery, and regional (or proxy) servers that cache some of the data close to the clients. This paper makes three contributions to the state-of-the-art design of such systems. First, we show how segmented multicast delivery techniques, in particular the recently proposed high-performance dynamic skyscraper scheme, can be modified to allow each object to be partially or fully cached at regional servers. The new partitioned delivery architecture supports shared delivery between the regional and remote servers and improves performance even if one server delivers the entire object. The second contribution is an analytic model that can be solved to determine the full/partial object caching strategy that minimizes delivery cost in the context of a system that has homogeneous regional servers. Finally, results in the paper illustrate the use of the model and provide insight into how the optimal caching strategy is influenced by key system and workload parameters, including client request rate, the relative severity of the disk bandwidth and storage capacity constraints at the regional servers, and the relative costs of regional and remote delivery. Two important conclusions from the results are: (1) it is often cost-effective to cache the initial segments of many data objects rather than the complete data for fewer objects, and (2) the partitioned delivery architecture and caching partial objects can each greatly reduce delivery cost.
Quotation Extraction for Portuguese

Quotation extraction consists of identifying quotations a nd their au- thors. In this work, we present a Quotation Extraction syste m for Portuguese that is based on Entropy Guided Transformation Learning, a s upervised Ma- chine Learning algorithm. This is the first system that uses aMachine Learning approach for Portuguese. In order to train and evaluate the p system, we build the GLOBOQUOTES corpus, with news extracted from theGLOBO.COM portal. Our system obtains anF�=1 score of 79.02% for the subtask of associ- ating a quotation to its author. For the whole Quotation Extr action task, the observed F�=1 score value is 66.03%. These findings indicate that the overa ll extraction quality is highly dependant on the quotation ide ntification subtask.
Dose-dependent regulation of microbial activity on sinking particles by polyunsaturated aldehydes: Implications for the carbon cycle

Significance Phytoplankton live in the sunlit surface waters of the ocean, and through photosynthesis they convert atmospherically derived carbon dioxide into their biomass. A fraction of this biomass sinks into the darker depths where it is colonized by bacteria that turn it back into carbon dioxide through respiration. Thus, phytoplankton–bacteria interactions effectively transport carbon dioxide from the atmosphere deep into the ocean. We discovered that the biomass of some phytoplankton contains bioactive molecules that stimulate these associated bacteria, resulting in respiration of phytoplankton biomass at shallower depths. Given that the ocean mixes gradually over time, carbon dioxide released by bacteria at shallower depths returns to the surface more quickly and thereby is “sequestered” from the atmosphere for a shorter duration. Diatoms and other phytoplankton play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle, fixing CO2 into organic carbon, which may then be exported to depth via sinking particles. The molecular diversity of this organic carbon is vast and many highly bioactive molecules have been identified. Polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs) are bioactive on various levels of the marine food web, and yet the potential for these molecules to affect the fate of organic carbon produced by diatoms remains an open question. In this study, the effects of PUAs on the natural microbial assemblages associated with sinking particles were investigated. Sinking particles were collected from 150 m in the water column and exposed to varying concentrations of PUAs in dark incubations over 24 h. PUA doses ranging from 1 to 10 µM stimulated respiration, organic matter hydrolysis, and cell growth by bacteria associated with sinking particles. PUA dosages near 100 µM appeared to be toxic, resulting in decreased bacterial cell abundance and metabolism, as well as pronounced shifts in bacterial community composition. Sinking particles were hot spots for PUA production that contained concentrations within the stimulatory micromolar range in contrast to previously reported picomolar concentrations of these compounds in bulk seawater. This suggests PUAs produced in situ stimulate the remineralization of phytoplankton-derived sinking organic matter, decreasing carbon export efficiency, and shoaling the average depths of nutrient regeneration. Our results are consistent with a “bioactivity hypothesis” for explaining variations in carbon export efficiency in the oceans.
Correlation of serum levo-fucose levels as a biomarker with tumor node metastasis staging in oral cancer patients

Background: oral cancer is a result of disordered cellular behavior initiated by various stimuli which is characterized by the alteration of serum glycoproteins consisting of different monosaccharides. One of these is levo-fucose (L-fucose), a methyl pentose. Elevated levels of protein-bound fucose have been reported in various malignancies. Aim: The present study attempted to correlate levels of serum L-fucose as a biomarker with the various tumor node metastasis (TNM) stages of oral cancer. Methodology: The study was carried out on 90 subjects consisting of 30 healthy controls and 60 histopathologically proven oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cases. The serum fucose level estimation was done based on the method adopted by Winzler. Statistical analysis included independent sample's t -test, one-way ANOVA test, Karl–Pearson correlation test, and Tukey's HSD post hoc test to evaluate the significance and variability of values between groups. Results: Significant elevation in serum fucose levels was noticed among OSCC patients when compared with the controls and a progressive ascent of L-fucose levels were noted as the stage of severity increased. Serum fucose levels were independent of histopathological grading, age, and sex. Conclusion: Serum L-fucose levels were increased in OSCC patients, and a positive correlation was observed between serum L-fucose levels and TNM staging of OSCC. Thus, serum L-fucose can be used as an effective diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in OSCC patients.
Acute Toxicity of Eight Oil Spill Response Chemicals to Temperate, Boreal, and Arctic Species

The objectives of this study were to (1) determine the acute toxicity of selected shoreline washing agents (SWA) and dispersants, and (2) assess interspecies differences in sensitivity to the products. Eight shoreline washing agents (Hela saneringsvæske, Bios, Bioversal, Absorrep K212, and Corexit 9580) and chemical dispersants (Corexit 9500, Dasic NS, and Gamlen OD4000) were tested on five marine species, algae Skeletonema costatum, planktonic copepod species Acartia tonsa (temperate species), Calanus finmarchicus (boreal species) and Calanus glacialis (Arctic species), and benthic amphipod Corophium volutator. For most products, A. tonsa was the most sensitive species, whereas C. volutator was the least sensitive; however, these species were exposed through different media (water/sediment). In general, all copepod species displayed a relatively similar sensitivity to all products. However, A. tonsa was somewhat more sensitive than other copepods to most of the tested products. Thus, A. tonsa appears to be a candidate species for boreal and Arctic copepods for acute toxicity testing, and data generated on this species may be used as to provide conservative estimates. The benthic species (C. volutator) had a different sensitivity pattern relative to pelagic species, displaying higher sensitivity to solvent-based SWA than to water-based SWA. Comparing product toxicity, the dispersants were in general most toxic while the solvent-based SWA were least toxic to pelagic species.
A Learning-Classification Based Approach for Word Prediction

Word prediction is an important NLP problem in which we want to predict the correct word in a given context. Word completion utilities, predictive text entry systems, writing aids, and language translation are some of common word prediction applications. This paper presents a new word prediction approach based on context features and machine learning. The proposed method casts the problem as a learning-classification task by training word predictors with highly discriminating features selected by various feature selection techniques. The contribution of this work lies in the new way of presenting this problem, and the unique combination of a top performer in machine learning, svm, with various feature selection techniques MI, X 2 , and more. The method is implemented and evaluated using several datasets. The experimental results show clearly that the method is effective in predicting the correct words by utilizing small contexts. The system achieved impressive results, compared with similar work; the accuracy in some experiments approaches 91% correct predictions.
Tissue ablation with radiofrequency using multiprobe arrays.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES We studied the feasibility of increasing the volume of tissue destroyed by radiofrequency tissue coagulation using multiprobe arrays and defined parameters that determine lesion size and shape. METHODS Radiofrequency was applied to ex vivo calf liver using arrays of two to five 18-gauge probes for 6 min at 70-90 degrees C. Probe spacing (1-3 cm) and arrangement, as well as the method of radiofrequency application (simultaneous or sequential), were varied. The resulting areas of tissue coagulation were measured and compared. RESULTS Uniform tissue necrosis was observed with simultaneous radiofrequency application for probes 1.5 cm or less apart. At 1.5 cm, arrays of three equidistant probes produced spheroid lesions approximately 3.0 +/- 0.2 cm in diameter. Arrays of four equidistant probes produced cuboid lesions of 3.2 +/- 0.1 cm per side. However, probes placed 2 cm or more apart produced independent lesions 1.4 cm in diameter, with incomplete necrosis between probes. In the trials using five-probe arrays, a central region 4mm in diameter showed no visible evidence of tissue necrosis. With each array, lesion size varied less than 3 mm in any direction. Greater necrosis was accomplished when radiofrequency was applied simultaneously rather than sequentially. CONCLUSION Multiprobe radiofrequency arrays permit the destruction of more tissue in a single treatment session than is possible with multiple individual probes operating alone. Probes spaced 1.5 cm or less apart act synergistically, producing a total volume of coagulated tissue that is greater than when the individual probes are operated sequentially.
The ‘post-condom era’ or the urgent need to provide effective contraception for women living with HIV

BACKGROUND: Recent HIV prevention trials required use of effective contraceptive methods to fulfill eligibility for enrollment. We compared pregnancy rates in a subset of participants enrolled in the Microbicide Trials Network protocol (MTN-003) a randomized trial of chemoprophylaxis to prevent HIV acquisition among women aged 18-45 years who initiated depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) or combined oral contraceptives (COCs) at enrollment relative to those already using DMPA or COCs. METHODS: Data were analyzed from MTN-003 participants from Uganda. Before enrollment information on contraceptive type and initiation date was obtained. Urine pregnancy tests were performed at monthly follow-up visits. Cox proportional hazards models were used to compare pregnancy incidence among new users (initiated 60 days before enrollment). RESULTS: Of 322 women enrolled 296 were COC or DMPA users 82 (28%) were new users and 214 (72%) were established users. Pregnancy incidence was higher among new contraceptive users compared to established users (20.70% vs. 10.55%; adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.66; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.93-2.96). Among DMPA users pregnancy incidence was 10.20% in new users versus 3.48% in established users (HR = 2.56; 95% CI 0.86-7.65). Among new COC users pregnancy incidence was 42.67% in new users versus 23.67% in established COC users (adjusted HR = 1.74; 95% CI 0.87-3.48). CONCLUSIONS: New contraceptive users regardless of method at the Uganda MTN-003 site had an increased pregnancy risk compared to established users which may be due to contraceptive initiation primarily for trial eligibility. New users may benefit from intensive contraceptive counseling and additional contraceptive options including longer acting reversible contraceptives.
Numerical simulation on the deploying and recovering process for a node of underwater wireless sensor network

An underwater wireless sensor network (UWSN) has multiple functions in ocean survey. A kind of UWSN has been proposed by Zhejiang University. In this paper the CFD method is utilized to verify the ability of a node to adjust its posture in deploying and recovering process. The minimum depth and the minimum time for a node to adjust itself to vertical were obtained in different initial inclined angles and different ocean current velocities. The different initial inclined angles were chosen as 45 degree, 60 degree and 90 degree. The different ocean current velocities were chosen as 0.5m/s and 1m/s according to the actual sea conditions around the Zhoushan Island. The minimum rising height and the minimum time for the retrievable cabin to turn 180 degree were obtained in still water. The purpose of the retrievable cabin to turn 180 degree is to keep antenna upright on the ocean surface. Because the antenna was installed on the bottom of the retrievable cabin. These results show that the design of the UWSN node is reliable as to the scheme of the node to deployment and recovery.
Streamlining GPU applications on the fly: thread divergence elimination through runtime thread-data remapping

Because of their tremendous computing power and remarkable cost efficiency, GPUs (graphic processing unit) have quickly emerged as a kind of influential platform for high performance computing. However, as GPUs are designed for massive data-parallel computing, their performance is subject to the presence of condition statements in a GPU application. On a conditional branch where threads diverge in which path to take, the threads taking different paths have to run serially. Such divergences often cause serious performance degradations, impairing the adoption of GPU for many applications that contain non-trivial branches or certain types of loops. This paper presents a systematic investigation in the employment of runtime thread-data remapping for solving that problem. It introduces an abstract form of GPU applications, based on which, it describes the use of reference redirection and data layout transformation for remapping data and threads to minimize thread divergences. It discusses the major challenges for practical deployment of the remapping techniques, most notably, the conflict between the large remapping overhead and the need for the remapping to happen on the fly because of the dependence of thread divergences on runtime values. It offers a solution to the challenge by proposing a CPU-GPU pipelining scheme and a label-assign-move (LAM) algorithm to virtually hide all the remapping overhead. At the end, it reports significant performance improvement produced by the remapping for a set of GPU applications, demonstrating the potential of the techniques for streamlining GPU applications on the fly.
Fatty Infiltration of the Liver: Quantification by 1H Localized Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Comparison with Computed Tomography

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES.The authors evaluated the degree of fatty infiltration of the liver in subjects with diffuse liver steatosis using image-guided 1H localized MR spectroscopy and correlated the magnetic resonance (MR)-determined fat fraction with the computed tomography (CT) liver/spleen density ratio and histologic evaluation. METHODS.MR measurements were performed at 1.5 T by applying a double-spin-echo localization sequence. Twenty-six patients underwent MR and CT examinations and ultrasound (US)-guided biopsy. Additionally, three healthy volunteers underwent MR examination. Steatosis severity was estimated using 1) the ratio between fat and total MR signal areas; 2) the ratio between liver and spleen CT number; and 3) histologic score. RESULTS.The linear correlation between MR fat/fat-plus-water signal ratio and CT liver/spleen density values ratio is statistically significant. Both techniques correlate well with histologic score. No significant correlation exists between water or fat T2 values and the severity of steatosis. CONCLUSIONS.1H MR spectroscopy allows a noninvasive estimate of the hepatic fat content.
Design of a simulation interface for a parallel computing environment

A user interface for simulation of contaminant transport in groundwater flow using a distributed memory parallel processor is described. The user interface is a menu-mouse driven presentation using the X-Windows software. To facilitate the division and distribution of data among processors and to develop a data structure capable of manipulation for a variety of functions, graphics, remeshing, input and retrieval of auxiliary information, an object oriented programming style is used. The parallel computational model for the update of contaminant concentrations is organized around objects and an explicit time marching algorithm implemented on an IPSC2 Hypercube multiprocessor. 6 refs.
Energy saving analysis of a 16kWp grid connected photovoltaic (PV) system at Green Energy Research Centre (GERC), UiTM Shah Alam

This paper presents analysis of energy saving made by 16kWp grid connected photovoltaic (PV) system at Green Energy Research Centre (GERC), UiTM Shah Alam. The study is based on data collected from the PV system from May 2012 until April 2013. The data consists of solar irradiance, ambient and module temperature and output power of the PV system. The research investigates the effect of the PV system on the GERC building's daily load curve and maximum demand using the concept of residual load. The energy saving based on TNB tariff is compared with the revenue if the energy from the PV system would be sold to national grid at the FiT tariff. The CO2 emission avoidance provided by the PV system is also calculated. Analysis shows that there were strong correlation between the solar irradiance, ambient temperature and module temperature with the energy from the PV The energy from the PV reduced the daily energy consumption by 28.34% during the weekday. Total energy saving by the PV over the duration considered was 20,679.28kWh and this saved RM9,827 of electricity bill. On the other hand, if the energy from the PV would be sold to the utility grid, the expected payback period on the investment is 11 year.
Imposing Structure on Linear Programming Problems: An Empirical Analysis of Expert and Novice Models

Research on expert-novice differences falls into two complementary classes. The first assumes that novice skills are a subset of those of the expert, represented by the same vocabulary of concepts. The second approach emphasizes novices' misconceptions and the different meanings they tend to attribute to concepts. Our evidence, based on observations of problem solving behavior of experts and novices in the area of mathematical programming, reveals both type of differences: while novices are to some extent underdeveloped experts, they also attribute different meanings to concepts. The research suggests that experts' concepts can be characterized as being more differentiated than those of novices, where the differentiation enables experts to categorize problem descriptions accurately into standard archetypes and facilitates attribution of correct meanings to problem features. Our results are based on twenty-five protocols obtained from experts and novices attempting to structure problem descriptions into mathematical programming models. We have developed a model of knowledge in the LP domain that accommodates a continuum of expertise ranging from that of the expert who has a highly specialized vocabulary of LP concepts to that of a novice whose vocabulary might be limited to high school algebra. We discuss the normative implications of this model for pedagogical strategies employed by instructors, textbooks and intelligent tutoring systems.
Antigen‐induced apoptosis in developing t cells: a mechanism for negative selection of the t cell receptor repertoire*

Herein we have investigated the ability of antigen to induce thymocyte death by apoptosis on the basis that this may be the mechanism for the deletion of autoreactive cells during T cell development. We show that the ability of the bacterial “superantigen” staphylococcal enterotoxin B to cause specific depletion of Vβ8+ cells when added to thymus organ cultures is accompanied by DNA degradation into oligonucleosomal fragments, indicating that depletion involves apoptosis. Our results provide the first direct evidence that antigen‐induced apoptosis can be triggered in developing T cells.