Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Classification of musical genre: a machine learning approach

In this paper, we investigate the impact of machine learning algorithms in the development of automatic music classification models aiming to capture genres distinctions. The study of genres as bodies of musical items aggregated according to subjective and local criteria requires corresponding inductive models of such a notion. This process can be thus modeled as an example-driven learning task. We investigated the impact of different musical features on the inductive accuracy by first creating a medium-sized collection of examples for widely recognized genres and then evaluating the performances of different learning algorithms. In this work, features are derived from the MIDI transcriptions of the song collection.
Cryptographic System on a Chip based on Actel ARM7 Soft-Core with Embedded True Random Number Generator

The paper introduces a cryptographic system on a chip (SoC) implementation based on recent Actel nonvolatile FPGA Fusion chip with embedded ARM7 soft-core processor. The SoC is built on three main blocks - embedded soft-core with industry standard ARM7 architecture, internal Flash and static RAM memory blocks and custom true random number generator (TRNG) design. High flexibility of the SoC is based on efficient software implementation of main cryptographic primitives (AES, ECC, RSA, SHA) in soft-core. Implemented TRNG uses PLL-based simplified architecture with optional on- chip free running RC oscillator.
Why marine phytoplankton calcify

Calcification in coccolithophores has high energy demand but brings multiple benefits enabling diversity of ecology and form. Calcifying marine phytoplankton—coccolithophores— are some of the most successful yet enigmatic organisms in the ocean and are at risk from global change. To better understand how they will be affected, we need to know “why” coccolithophores calcify. We review coccolithophorid evolutionary history and cell biology as well as insights from recent experiments to provide a critical assessment of the costs and benefits of calcification. We conclude that calcification has high energy demands and that coccolithophores might have calcified initially to reduce grazing pressure but that additional benefits such as protection from photodamage and viral/bacterial attack further explain their high diversity and broad spectrum ecology. The cost-benefit aspect of these traits is illustrated by novel ecosystem modeling, although conclusive observations remain limited. In the future ocean, the trade-off between changing ecological and physiological costs of calcification and their benefits will ultimately decide how this important group is affected by ocean acidification and global warming.
Development of a Targeted Drug Delivery System: Monoclonal Antibodies Adsorption onto Bonelike Hydroxyapatite Nanocrystal Surface

Together with cancer biomarker advance, nanotechnology could lead to a “personalized oncology”, where early tumour detection and diagnosis are more and more specific. A nanosized drug delivery system is mainly composed of three fundamental elements: i) a drug nanocarrier (1-100 nm), ii) an anti-cancer drug; iii) an active targeting molecule, recognizing a tumour associated marker expressed at the cell surface. In our study we used: i) hydroxyapatite nanocrystals (HA-NC), for its properties of large specific surface area, hydrophilicity and biodegradability with very low toxicity and ii) monoclonal antibodies (mAb), directed against CAR-3, a mucin tumour associated surface antigen, and against the Met/HGF-R, both of which are overexpressed on human carcinomas. In our study, nanosized HA-NC, poorly aggregating and biomimetic, were synthetised and characterized. After a preliminary isothermal adsorption of human polyclonal IgG, we functionalized HA-NC, coated or not with protein A (Prot A), with the two mAbs. IgG and Prot A isothermal adsorption curves were obtained; mAb absorption was achieved and prelimary Prot A coating appeared not to improve HA-NC loading capacity. IgG conformation onto HA-NC was investigated by means of Fourier Transformed InfraRed Spectroscopy, revealing a preferential binding with the constant antibody domain, and exposition of the variable domain, involved in antigen binding, on the biomaterial surface. These immunocomplexes are confirmed to be potentially used as targeted drug delivery system.
Origins of Activity Patterns in Self-Organizing Neuronal Networks in Vitro.

Nerve cell ensembles growing in culture on microelectrode arrays allow long-term, multisite monitoring of spontaneous and evoked action potential (spike) activity. These ensembles generate complex spatio-temporal spike patterns and constitute evolving non-linear and non-station-ary dynamical systems. They provide effective platforms for observations of the "internal dynamics" of neuronal networks, especially pattern generation and the evolution of network organization. Nerves cells in cultures form many small neuronal clusters (termed nacelles) in which substantial membrane contact is achieved. We propose that such morphological clusters generate subthreshold interactions that can lead to noise-induced membrane potential oscillations with frequent ignition to spiking. Recruitment of several nacelles and dispersed neurons then leads to dynamically organized circuits capable of reliably generating and maintaining a specific burst pattern. The observed coexistence of different burst patterns suggests network substructures (circuits) with autonomous activity. Entrainment of all circuits to a global pattern is thought to represent a network "decision state" with automatic fault-tolerant output. Such phenomena suggest that not only the redundancy of connections but also the form of the message are important factors in the creation of fault-tolerance.
Robust blind identification of SIMO channels: a support vector regression approach

A novel technique for blind identification of multichannel FIR systems is derived from the learning paradigm of support vector machines (SVMs). Specifically, blind identification is formulated as a support vector regression problem and an iterative procedure, which avoids a trivial solution, is proposed to solve it. The SVM-based approach can be viewed as a regularized version of the least squares method for blind identification. We show that minimizing the complexity of the solution, as suggested by the structural risk minimization (SRM) principle, increases the robustness of the proposed SVM-based technique to channel order overestimation as well as to poor diversity channels (i.e., when a pair of subchannels have close zeros). The performance of the method is demonstrated through some simulation examples.
Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Public Health Practice: Using Adaptive Management to Increase Adaptive Capacity and Build Resilience

Background: Climate change is expected to have a range of health impacts, some of which are already apparent. Public health adaptation is imperative, but there has been little discussion of how to increase adaptive capacity and resilience in public health systems. Objectives: We explored possible explanations for the lack of work on adaptive capacity, outline climate–health challenges that may lie outside public health’s coping range, and consider changes in practice that could increase public health’s adaptive capacity. Methods: We conducted a substantive, interdisciplinary literature review focused on climate change adaptation in public health, social learning, and management of socioeconomic systems exhibiting dynamic complexity. Discussion: There are two competing views of how public health should engage climate change adaptation. Perspectives differ on whether climate change will primarily amplify existing hazards, requiring enhancement of existing public health functions, or present categorically distinct threats requiring innovative management strategies. In some contexts, distinctly climate-sensitive health threats may overwhelm public health’s adaptive capacity. Addressing these threats will require increased emphasis on institutional learning, innovative management strategies, and new and improved tools. Adaptive management, an iterative framework that embraces uncertainty, uses modeling, and integrates learning, may be a useful approach. We illustrate its application to extreme heat in an urban setting. Conclusions: Increasing public health capacity will be necessary for certain climate–health threats. Focusing efforts to increase adaptive capacity in specific areas, promoting institutional learning, embracing adaptive management, and developing tools to facilitate these processes are important priorities and can improve the resilience of local public health systems to climate change.
Challenges of Raman Amplification

Raman amplifiers are often regarded as a typical example of technologies rapidly developed in the midst of turmoil created by the so-called wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) bubble. Indeed, Raman amplifiers turned out to be technically very attractive in all the aspects of capacity, reach, and bit rate. Even though Raman amplifiers are actually being deployed into systems in commercial service, the practical issues, such as cost, reliability and safety, are yet to be further discussed, particularly for the configuration of distributed amplification. After summarizing the advantages of Raman amplification and reviewing pump laser technologies, this paper will highlight ongoing efforts on practical issues, which include reliability and safety issues of fiber under high-power operations. Finally, it is concluded that by overcoming the above-mentioned practical issues, Raman amplification will stay as a key technology for future optical communications because of its compelling unique advantages
Transgenic plastids in basic research and plant biotechnology.

Facile methods of genetic transformation are of outstanding importance for both basic and applied research. For many years, transgenic technologies for plants were restricted to manipulations of the nuclear genome. More recently, a second genome of the plant cell has become amenable to genetic engineering: the prokaryotically organized circular genome of the chloroplast. The possibility to directly manipulate chloroplast genome-encoded information has paved the way to detailed in vivo studies of virtually all aspects of plastid gene expression. Moreover, plastid transformation technologies have been intensely used in functional genomics by performing gene knockouts and site-directed mutageneses of plastid genes. These studies have contributed greatly to our understanding of the physiology and biochemistry of biogenergetic processes inside the plastid compartment. Plastid transformation technologies have also stirred considerable excitement among plant biotechnologists, since transgene expression from the plastid genome offers a number of most attractive advantages, including high-level foreign protein expression and transgene containment due to lack of pollen transmission. This review describes the generation of plants with transgenic plastids, summarizes our current understanding of the transformation process and highlights selected applications of transplastomic technologies in basic and applied research.
Municipal Solid Waste Leachate Treatment Using Microbial Fuel Cell

Leachate is a high concentration organic wastewater, and microbial fuel cell (MFC) is capable of decomposing and treating organic pollutants directly. Single-chamber MFC using landfill leachate as anolyte was built to get rid of BOD and ammonia-nitrogen organic pollutant in leachate. The use of MFC led to the treatment of the biodegradable organic pollutant of municipal solid waste leachate and the production of electricity. The biofilm was detected on the MFC anode carbon felt, the voltage and power output were achieved 292.7± 5 mV and 2375.1mW. m-2. The suitable running time was about 10 days, when the BOD and ammonia-nitrogen removal efficiencies were achieved about 93.0% and 84.1 %, respectively.
Creep and Creep‐Recovery Behavior in Silicon‐Carbide‐Particle‐Reinforced Alumina

Flexure creep and creep-recovery behavior were investigated for monolithic Al2O3 and 10-vol%-SiC-particle-reinforced Al2O3-matrix composites in an air atmosphere at temperatures of 1160°-1400°C. Two types of SiC particles were used: one has an average size of 2.7 µm and has an amount of SiO2 impurities per unit surface area that is one order of magnitude higher than the other, which has an average size of 0.6 µm. Compared to the creep behavior of monolithic Al2O3, the strain rate of the composites with the 0.6 µm SiC particles (denoted here as S-10) did not decrease; the composites with the 2.7 µm SiC particles (denoted here as L-10) exhibited excellent creep resistance. This difference was related to the microstructural features and the oxidation behavior of the composites: the Al2O3 grains in S-10 were mainly equiaxed, only ∼10% of the Al2O3 grains were elongated, and most of the SiC particles that resided at the grain boundaries or at triple-grain junctions were oxidized during creep, whereas the Al2O3 grains in L-10 were mostly irregularly shaped and elongated and most of the SiC particles were entrapped in the Al2O3 matrix grains, which prevented the oxidation of the SiC particles. These different microstructural features were associated with different amounts of SiO2 impurity content per unit surface area on the SiC particle surfaces. In addition, the monolithic Al2O3 showed no anelastic recovery when the load was removed; however, the composites exhibited significant anelastic recovery, especially for L-10. This phenomenon was attributed to the elongated grain morphology.
Discussion Connections and symbols : closing the gap

Ling and Marinov (L & M) have constructed an interesting symbolic alternative to current connectionist models of language acquisition. The kind of detailed comparison of connectionist and symbolic models that they are pursuing works to clarify and solidify the basis of modelling as a research tool in cognitive science. Work such as that of Shavlik, Mooney, and Towell (1991) shows that symbolic pattern associators (SPA) can rival artificial neural networks (ANN) across a wide range of tasks. Moreover, these SPA models often run more quickly and can be interpreted through a concrete set of easily summarized production rules. Together, these various properties make SPAs good competitors with ANNs, particularly when issues of psychological and neuropsychological verisimilitude are not at stake. L & M believe that their model outperforms the connectionist model presented by MacWhinney and Leinbach (1991) (M & L) "by a wide margin". This conclusion is incorrect, because many of the numbers they use to support the conclusion are incorrect. In fact the performance of the two models is remarkably similar along virtually all relevant dimensions. The actual figures that should have been included in Table 4 from L & M are as shown here in Table 1. The simulation from which the results in Table 1 are taken is a minimalized version of the simulation reported on in M & L. It only uses right-justified representations, one pool of hidden units, and no copy units. These changes were made not to improve performance, but to make it easier for others to replicate these results in their own laboratories. The complete set of files-input files, pattern files, run files, instruction files, and crucial output results in the files bpf.sum. testing and bpf.sum. training-has been available for anonymous FTP in a single tar file since early 1993 from the host poppy.psy. cmu.edu in the /pdp subdirectory. The files can be run using the PlaNet simulator, which is also retrievable over the InterNet through anonymous FTP from boulder.colorado. edu
Utilizing a closed loop medication management workflow through an engaging interactive robot for older people

We describe an engaging interactive robot and the workflow design for incorporating such service robots in health care. The research is analyzing the long term usability of automated medication support for older people as they interact with a Stationary Robotic Medication Management System (StRoMMS). It delivers timely instructions and automated guidance as people take their daily medications in their independent living quarters in a retirement village. A pilot user study evaluated the hypothesized technological requirements of the robotic system and the clinical workflow requirements in the healthcare context. The novel contributions are our interactive robot and the workflow design. Following a “system of systems” design approach we determined that robots cannot work in isolation in a complex operational space such as healthcare. The value of introducing interactive robots in healthcare can be realized when the robot has interfaces with the healthcare system, which enhance the overall outcome and experience of the patient. Our research will inform the research community of the importance of the confluence of people, workflows and tools while designing healthcare robotics technology.
Diverse Arrangement of Photosynthetic Gene Clusters in Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototrophic Bacteria

Background Aerobic anoxygenic photototrophic (AAP) bacteria represent an important group of marine microorganisms inhabiting the euphotic zone of the ocean. They harvest light using bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) a and are thought to be important players in carbon cycling in the ocean. Methodology/Principal Findings Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic (AAP) bacteria represent an important part of marine microbial communities. Their photosynthetic apparatus is encoded by a number of genes organized in a so-called photosynthetic gene cluster (PGC). In this study, the organization of PGCs was analyzed in ten AAP species belonging to the orders Rhodobacterales, Sphingomonadales and the NOR5/OM60 clade. Sphingomonadales contained comparatively smaller PGCs with an approximately size of 39 kb whereas the average size of PGCs in Rhodobacterales and NOR5/OM60 clade was about 45 kb. The distribution of four arrangements, based on the permutation and combination of the two conserved regions bchFNBHLM-LhaA-puhABC and crtF-bchCXYZ, does not correspond to the phylogenetic affiliation of individual AAP bacterial species. While PGCs of all analyzed species contained the same set of genes for bacteriochlorophyll synthesis and assembly of photosynthetic centers, they differed largely in the carotenoid biosynthetic genes. Spheroidenone, spirilloxanthin, and zeaxanthin biosynthetic pathways were found in each clade respectively. All of the carotenoid biosynthetic genes were found in the PGCs of Rhodobacterales, however Sphingomonadales and NOR5/OM60 strains contained some of the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway genes outside of the PGC. Conclusions/Significance Our investigations shed light on the evolution and functional implications in PGCs of marine aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs, and support the notion that AAP are a heterogenous physiological group phylogenetically scattered among Proteobacteria.
A Genome-Wide Association Study of Pulmonary Function Measures in the Framingham Heart Study

The ratio of forced expiratory volume in one second to forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) is a measure used to diagnose airflow obstruction and is highly heritable. We performed a genome-wide association study in 7,691 Framingham Heart Study participants to identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the FEV1/FVC ratio, analyzed as a percent of the predicted value. Identified SNPs were examined in an independent set of 835 Family Heart Study participants enriched for airflow obstruction. Four SNPs in tight linkage disequilibrium on chromosome 4q31 were associated with the percent predicted FEV1/FVC ratio with p-values of genome-wide significance in the Framingham sample (best p-value = 3.6e-09). One of the four chromosome 4q31 SNPs (rs13147758; p-value 2.3e-08 in Framingham) was genotyped in the Family Heart Study and produced evidence of association with the same phenotype, percent predicted FEV1/FVC (p-value = 2.0e-04). The effect estimates for association in the Framingham and Family Heart studies were in the same direction, with the minor allele (G) associated with higher FEV1/FVC ratio levels. Results from the Family Heart Study demonstrated that the association extended to FEV1 and dichotomous airflow obstruction phenotypes, particularly among smokers. The SNP rs13147758 was associated with the percent predicted FEV1/FVC ratio in independent samples from the Framingham and Family Heart Studies producing a combined p-value of 8.3e-11, and this region of chromosome 4 around 145.68 megabases was associated with COPD in three additional populations reported in the accompanying manuscript. The associated SNPs do not lie within a gene transcript but are near the hedgehog-interacting protein (HHIP) gene and several expressed sequence tags cloned from fetal lung. Though it is unclear what gene or regulatory effect explains the association, the region warrants further investigation.
Uncertainty and depression in people with Parkinson's disease: A cross‐sectional study

&NA; Adults with chronic disease may experience uncertainty and depression when coping with their illness. This study identifies degrees of uncertainty and depression, as well as factors associated with depression in people with Parkinson's disease. The 120 participants included patients who visited the neurology outpatient department of a tertiary hospital in Seoul and individuals who attended public events managed by the Korean Parkinson's Disease Association. The mean age of the sample was 65.01 and 50.8% of patients were men. The mean scores of uncertainty and depression, measured using the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale and Short Form Geriatric Depression Scale were 99.03 and 6.73, respectively. Approximately 68% of participants scored above the cut‐off score for depression. Multiple regression analyses showed that uncertainty, perceived health status, and fatigue were factors significantly associated with depression. Nurses should be aware of and address these factors and their effects in order to implement interventions to prevent depression in people with Parkinson's disease.