Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hourglass: A library for incremental processing on Hadoop

Hadoop enables processing of large data sets through its relatively easy-to-use semantics. However, jobs are often written inefficiently for tasks that could be computed incrementally due to the burdensome incremental state management for the programmer. This paper introduces Hourglass, a library for developing incremental monoid computations on Hadoop. It runs on unmodified Hadoop and provides an accumulator-based interface for programmers to store and use state across successive runs; the framework ensures that only the necessary subcomputations are performed. It is successfully used at LinkedIn, one of the largest online social networks, for many use cases in dashboarding and machine learning. Hourglass is open source and freely available.
Germ plasm‐like Dot cells maintain their wound regenerative function after in vitro expansion

1. Wounds in fetal skin heal without scarring; however, the mechanism for this is unknown. We have identified a novel group of protein and nucleotides‐positive particles in fetal and adult mouse blood and in human blood, and termed them ‘Dot cells’. Freshly isolated Dot cells regenerate wounds with less scarring and can be cultured without feeder layers.
Nonmetric Multicommodity Facility Location and K-Median Problem with Service Installation Costs

We studied the multicommodity facility location and a variant K-median problem as well. For the first problem, the pure combinatory strategies are presented. We give a subtle analysis for the nonmetric uncapacitated case and an approximation algorithm for the capacitated case. For the first time, the local search technique is exploited in the variant K-median problem with service installation and an 3+ epsiv-approximation ratio (epsi : 0 < epsi les 1) is achieved. Our results of the second problem is under the assumption that there is an ordering on the facilities. If i' comes after i in this ordering, then for any commodity (also named service type) the initial service costs in i is not higher than the costs in i'.
Distribution of dissolved molybdenum in the Seto Inland Sea, the Japan Sea, the Bering Sea and the Northwest Pacific Ocean

Investigations are made to determine molybdenum species in sea-water samples collected from the Seto Inland Sea, the Japan Sea, the Bering Sea, and the western North Pacific. A large portion of the molybdenum species in sea waters exists as a hexavalent oxoacid anion (MoO2-4), but an appreciable amount of molybdenum was found as an unextractable species with an 8-quinolinol-DIBK system in the high-molecular weight species. Total dissolved molybdenum was uniformly distributed in oceanic waters at a concentration level of 8.10 to 12.0 μg/l (average, 10.2±0.90 μg/l). In coastal waters, however, great spatial and temporal variations were observed. The concentration of unextractable molybdenum was relatively high in the coastal waters (0.60±0.52 μg/l) and in the shallow waters of the open oceans (0.40±0.33 μg/l), while it was not large in the deep waters (0.28±0.27 μg/l). High molecular-weight molybdenum, which has a molecular weight over 10, 000, was sometimes observed. The molybdenum was randomly distributed and not related to the distribution of the unextractable species. The unextractable and/or high molecular-weight molybdenum, which is probably associated with organic substances, may significantly contribute to the biological cycle of molybdenum in a productive area.
Representing levels of abstraction to facilitate the secure multidimensional modeling

In most real world data warehouses (DWs) projects, security aspects are issues that usually rely on DBMS administrators. We argue that the design of security aspects should be considered together with the conceptual modeling of DWs from the early stages of a DW project, and being able to attach user security information to the basic structures of a multidimensional (MD) model (e.g. dimensions, facts, attributes, and so on). In this way, we would be able to generate this information in a semi or automatic way into a target platform and the final DW will better suit user security requirements. In this paper, we will present an extension of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) using a UML profile to represent multidimensional and security aspects of our conceptual modeling. Our approach proposes the use of UML packages in order to group classes together into higher level units creating different levels of abstraction, and therefore, simplifying the final model. In this way, when modeling complex and large DWs systems, the designer is not restricted to use flat UML class diagrams. Finally, we would show an example to illustrate the applicability of our proposal.
Maximally informative foraging by Caenorhabditis elegans

Animals have evolved intricate search strategies to find new sources of food. Here, we analyze a complex food seeking behavior in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) to derive a general theory describing different searches. We show that C. elegans, like many other animals, uses a multi-stage search for food, where they initially explore a small area intensively (‘local search’) before switching to explore a much larger area (‘global search’). We demonstrate that these search strategies as well as the transition between them can be quantitatively explained by a maximally informative search strategy, where the searcher seeks to continuously maximize information about the target. Although performing maximally informative search is computationally demanding, we show that a drift-diffusion model can approximate it successfully with just three neurons. Our study reveals how the maximally informative search strategy can be implemented and adopted to different search conditions. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.04220. 001
Performance improvement of OFDM based virtual QOSTBC

In this paper we present a solution for performance improvement of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based virtual quasi orthogonal space time block coding (QOSTBC). The considered scheme is used for creating virtual 4×1 multiple input-single output (MISO) channel. This scheme includes one base station (BS), one relay station (RS), both equipped with two antennas, and one mobile station (MS) with a single antenna. In this 2-hop scheme, the procedure at the RS is reduced due to omitting the decoding process. The simulation results show that the proposed solution provides evidently better bit error rate (BER) performance.
Impact of Energy Loss in Nodes in Ad Hoc Network : A Comparative Study

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are built to connect wireless nodes for the purpose of communication. The nodes in these types of networks have limited battery capacity and wireless range, so they employ multi hop communication to transfer traffic. The more nodes cooperate to transfer traffic, the more powerful a MANET gets. However, a fear in these types of networks is emerging of selfish nodes. These nodes take advantage of other ones and do not cooperate with others, making network resources unavailable for legitimate nodes. The fear in these nodes is due to the reason that if they are over used by the other nodes then they will not have sufficient power at that time when they are required to send their own traffic. The paper considers this problem and the impact of Selfishness in routing.
The Process of Test Process Improvement

Software testing is still a pain-in-the-neck for many organisations. Because it is only marginally addressed in software process improvement models like CMM, a separate Testing Process Improvement model is needed. The current authors have implemented a structured testing process guided by the “Testing Maturity Model” (TMM). An outline of this model is presented, showing how with growing maturity, testing evolves from detecting defects in software code to testing as essential product quality control instrument. The biggest strengths of TMM are: it reflects 40 years of industry-wide best test practices and it is designed as a counterpart of the popular CMM model for software development improvement. Weaknesses include the under-representation of test people and organisation related issues, and missing maturity goals for the test infrastructure. Based on practical implementation guided by TMM, the process of test process improvement is addressed and experiences are presented.
Feature-aided tracking in the urban environment

The various asymmetrical threats in the urban environment have driven the need for persistent surveillance and methods to exploit the data provided by passive sensing platforms. The primary goal is to track vehicles as they move through the urban environment. The rather large number of ambiguous tracking events requires incorporation of target features to maintain track purity. This paper will discuss a feature extraction technique that will be referred to as "feature-aided" tracking to mitigate some of the tracking issues in this environment (e.g. rotation and illumination invariance, partial occlusion, and move-stop-move transitions). The feature extraction method applied is loosely based on the SPIN histogram method of applying a two-dimensional histogram relative to the center of an object. This paper focuses on applying a simplified version of the intensity-based two-dimensional histogram and gradient-based two-dimensional histogram introduced by the works of Mikolajczyk and Schmid, and Lazebnik, Schmid, and Ponce. Instead of applying the matching technique on a still frame subjected to various image transformations, we will apply this technique to sequential frames of imagery in an urban environment. This approach is intended to be the first of several steps towards eventually integrating a feature-aided tracking option as one of multiple sources of measurement association. The preliminary results show potential signs of success especially with rotation-invariance and move-stop-move transitions; however, additional efforts are required associated with illumination invariance, partial occlusion and disambiguation of close proximity objects.
Assessing Threat Detection Scenarios through Hypothesis Generation and Testing

Abstract : The purpose of this research was to explore the decision-making processes of Soldiers with different levels of experience as they evaluated scenarios with varying levels of uncertainty. This research focused on understanding the interaction of experience and uncertainty on hypothesis generation and testing, and on the relationship between confidence and decision-making. Soldiers engaged in computer-based exercises that measured decision-making performance in a threat detection task. These exercises involved reading threat-relevant scenarios and then reporting threat decisions. We gained a better understanding as to how Soldiers select and integrate cues in uncertain decision environments involving potential threats by having them complete such exercises. Findings indicated that experienced and inexperienced Soldiers tended to focus on different priority threats (or what they perceived as the most important threats). Experienced Soldiers were likely to report more discrete threats when identifying their priority threat in each scenario. They were also more likely to search information that confirmed their initial hypotheses. Overall, changes in hypotheses appeared to be associated with lower initial confidence ratings. Across experience levels, Soldiers tended to search relevant details more often than irrelevant details. Those findings provide insight into the cognitive processes Soldiers with varying levels of experience use to make threat decisions in certain and uncertain environments.
Changes in Ankle Range of Motion and Muscle Strength in Habitual Wearers of High-Heeled Shoes

Background: Although cross-sectional biomechanical studies have reported that wearing high-heeled shoes can change the musculoskeletal system of the lower extremities, the long-term effects of wearing such shoes on the ankle remain unknown. The aim of this study was to reveal changes in ankle range of motion and muscle strength in habitual wearers of high-heeled shoes and to provide information for clinicians undertaking functional evaluations of the ankles of such patients. Methods: Habitual wearers of high-heeled shoes (n = 10; age, 23.9 ± 2.7 years) and wearers of flat shoes (n = 10; age, 23.8 ± 2.1 years) were selectively recruited, and the range of motion, maximal voluntary isometric force, and concentric contraction power of their ankles were measured. Results: Wearers of high-heeled shoes showed increased ankle range of motion on plantarflexion at 25 degrees and inversion at 10 degrees compared to flat shoe wearers (P < .05) but decreased dorsiflexion (about 17 degrees) and eversion (13 degrees; P < .05). Concentric contraction power in ankle eversion was also 2 times higher in wearers of high-heeled shoes (P < .05). Conclusions: These subjects had functional deformity of the ankle in a supinated direction and increased eversion power. Clinical Relevance: We cautiously recommend that habitual wearers of high-heeled shoes (those who walk in such shoes for more than 5 hours more than 6 times a week) undertake intensive ankle stretching exercises in the direction of dorsiflexion as well as eversion.
Constrained MPC algorithm for uncertain time-varying systems with state-delay

In this note, we present a model predictive control (MPC) algorithm for uncertain time-varying systems with input constraints and state-delay. Uncertainty is assumed to be polytopic, and delay is assumed to be unknown but with a known upper bound. For a memoryless state-feedback MPC law, we define an optimization problem that minimizes a cost function and relaxes it to two other optimization problems by finding an upper bound of the cost function. One is solvable and the other is not. We prove equivalence and feasibilities of the two optimization problems under a certain assumption on the weighting matrix. Based on these properties and optimality, we show that feasible MPC from the optimization problems stabilizes the closed-loop system. Then, we present an improved MPC algorithm that includes relaxation procedures of the assumption on the weighting matrix and stabilizes the closed-loop system. Finally, a numerical example illustrates the performance of the proposed algorithm.
Introduction of a Lepidopteran-Specific Insecticidal Crystal Protein Gene of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki by Conjugal Transfer into a Bacillus megaterium Strain That Persists in the Cotton Phyllosphere

A lepidopteran toxin gene of the entomopathogen Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki HD-1 was introduced into a cotton leaf-colonizing Bacillus megaterium strain, RS1, by conjugal transfer. Rifampin- and nalidixic acid-resistant colonies obtained after cell mating were screened for crystal production by microscopy. A transcipient, B. megaterium RS1-43, was selected by this procedure. Southern blot hybridization with both total DNA and HindIII-digested DNA of the transcipient showed positive signals with a cryIA-specific probe, suggesting the transfer of the lepidopteran-specific cryIA(a) gene. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblot analysis confirmed the presence of the 134-kDa toxic crystal protein specific to lepidopteran larvae in the transcipient. Survival studies with cultures of the transcipient at both vegetative and postvegetative growth stages on cotton, under field conditions, suggested that the bacterium persisted on the leaf surfaces for more than 28 days, with a gradual decline in the population level with time, while the donor, B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki, disappeared completely after 7 days following inoculation. An in situ differential crystal-staining technique indicated the production of crystals by the transcipient on cotton leaf surfaces for about 30 days. Leaf bioassays of cotton plants inoculated with a single spray of the transcipient showed 75- to 96% mortality to the first-instar larvae of Heliothis armigera up to 21 days, and this single spray conferred total protection to the plants for about 30 days by causing an antifeeding effect on the remaining larvae.
Time-interval for integration of stabilizing haptic and visual information in subjects balancing under static and dynamic conditions

Maintaining equilibrium is basically a sensorimotor integration task. The central nervous system (CNS) continually and selectively weights and rapidly integrates sensory inputs from multiple sources, and coordinates multiple outputs. The weighting process is based on the availability and accuracy of afferent signals at a given instant, on the time-period required to process each input, and possibly on the plasticity of the relevant pathways. The likelihood that sensory inflow changes while balancing under static or dynamic conditions is high, because subjects can pass from a dark to a well-lit environment or from a tactile-guided stabilization to loss of haptic inflow. This review article presents recent data on the temporal events accompanying sensory transition, on which basic information is fragmentary. The processing time from sensory shift to reaching a new steady state includes the time to (a) subtract or integrate sensory inputs; (b) move from allocentric to egocentric reference or vice versa; and (c) adjust the calibration of motor activity in time and amplitude to the new sensory set. We present examples of processes of integration of posture-stabilizing information, and of the respective sensorimotor time-intervals while allowing or occluding vision or adding or subtracting tactile information. These intervals are short, in the order of 1–2 s for different postural conditions, modalities and deliberate or passive shift. They are just longer for haptic than visual shift, just shorter on withdrawal than on addition of stabilizing input, and on deliberate than unexpected mode. The delays are the shortest (for haptic shift) in blind subjects. Since automatic balance stabilization may be vulnerable to sensory-integration delays and to interference from concurrent cognitive tasks in patients with sensorimotor problems, insight into the processing time for balance control represents a critical step in the design of new balance- and locomotion training devices.
A New Convex Hull Algorithm for Planar Sets

A new algorithm, CONVEX, that determines which points of a planar set are vertices of the convex hull of the set is presented. It is shown that CONVEX operates in a fashion similar to the sorting algorithm QUICKERSORT. Evidence is given which indicates that in some situations CONVEX is preferable to earlier algorithms. A Fortran implementation, intended to minimize execution time, is presented and an alternative, which minimizes storage requirements, is discussed.
Adapting the Streaming Video Based on the Estimated Position of the Region of Interest

Streaming real time video over wireless networks cannot guarantee that all the frames could meet their deadlines. Wireless networks may suffer from bandwidth limitations. To reduce the streaming data over wireless networks, we propose a technique to identify, and extract the Region Of Interest (ROI), and drop the non-ROI from the frames that are between the reference frames. The Sum of Absolute Differences (SAD) will compute the consecutive video frames to identify the ROI as it considered the most motion and important region. The reconstruction mechanism to the non-ROI is performed on the mobile side by applying linear interpolation between the reference frames. We evaluate the proposed approach by using Mean Opinion Score (MOS) measurements. MOS are used to evaluate the two scenarios with equivalent encoding size, where the users observe the first scenario with a low bit rate for the original videos, while for the second scenario the users observe our proposed approach. The results show that our technique significantly reduces the amount of data, while the reconstruction mechanism provides acceptable video quality to the mobile viewers.
Placental changes in idiopathic intrauterine growth restriction

Abstract Introduction Placenta is the maternal–foetal contact zone. The placentas of ‘idiopathic’ intrauterine growth retardation babies may hold the key to the aetiology of growth restriction. It was noted by most workers that in cases of intrauterine growth retardation placentas, there were some abnormal positions of insertion of umbilical cords, placental weight and volume was significantly lower than the controls and they also had smaller diameters. The greater placental coefficient in intrauterine growth retardation indicates that though both placentas and babies in intrauterine growth retardation had less weight, placental sizes were not relatively less. This article aims to review literature to identify any morphological and structural peculiarities of placenta that might contribute to development of idiopathic intrauterine growth retardation. Discussion Light microscopy suggested that syncytiotrophoblastic lining was more degenerated and a number of syncytial knots increased in intrauterine growth retardation placentas than that of the control placentas. X cells were present in both the cases, though more in intrauterine growth retardation. Intravillous and perivillous fibrin depositions were markedly increased in intrauterine growth retardation; also there were more hypovascular/avascular villi and large areas of infarction. Conclusion Review of the literature to establish any relationship between placental histomorphometric changes and intrauterine growth retardation suggests that intrauterine growth retardation pregnancies are associated with reductions in villous tree elaboration, particularly affecting the volume and surface area of terminal and intermediate villi, thereby restricting surface area over which foetomaternal exchange may occur. Thus, placental oxygen transfer might be reduced, thereby restricting foetal growth and development.
Impact analysis of palm oil mill effluent on the aerobic bacterial density and ammonium oxidizers in a dumpsite in Anyigba, Kogi State

The effects of palm oil mill effluent (POME) on the total aerobic bacterial populations and ammonium oxidizers in the soil were assessed. This was done by culturing soil samples from an effluent dumpsite for the total aerobic bacterial counts and ammonium oxidizers. Results showed that the total aerobic bacterial populations in the POME soil samples (9.6 x 10 ± 0.3 at 20C, 1.64 x 10 ± 0.2 at 30C and 1.07 x 10 ± 0.4 at 40C) were significantly higher (P 0.05) than the counts for the non-POME soil samples (4.5 x 10 ± 0.3 at 20C, 7.6 x 10 ± 0.3 at 30C and 5.9 x 10 ± 0.3 at 40C). In addition, ammonium oxidizers were isolated from the non-POME soil samples but not from the POME soil samples.
Characterization of dark core and blue patch in Mong Hsu ruby

Mong Hsu rubies from Myanmar include typically the dark core and blue patch but most of the previous research has merely focused on the dark core. This work is aimed to understanding clearly the characteristic of the dark core and blue patch of Mong Hsu rubies. It was found from the FTIR analysis that the dark core and blue patch region showed the absorption peaks of boehmite (1986 cm ), diaspore (2115 cm ) and water (3400~3900 cm ) but the absorption peaks of O-H stretching (3309 cm and 3078 cm ) were found only in blue patch region. The UV-VIS-NIR analysis of the dark core region revealed the stronger absorption of Cr at 405 and 554 nm compared to the blue patch region. In range of 600~800 nm, the UV absorption characteristic at 659, 675 and 693 nm assigned to Cr of core group samples is distinct from that of blue patch. The SEM-EDS examinations disclosed the existence of lots of micro-cracks and pores in the core regions compared to blue patch region.