Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Policy and Economics of Managed Aquifer Recharge and Water Banking

Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) and water banking are of increasing importance to water resources management. MAR can be used to buffer against drought and changing or variable climate, as well as provide water to meet demand growth, by making use of excess surface water supplies and recycled waters. Along with hydrologic and geologic considerations, economic and policy analyses are essential to a complete analysis of MAR and water banking opportunities. The papers included in this Special Issue fill a gap in the literature by revealing the range of economic and policy considerations relevant to the development and implementation of MAR programs. They illustrate novel techniques that can be used to select MAR locations and the importance and economic viability of MAR in semi-arid to arid environments. The studies explain how MAR can be utilized to meet municipal and agricultural water demands in water-scarce regions, as well as assist in the reuse of wastewater. Some papers demonstrate how stakeholder engagement, ranging from consideration of alternatives to monitoring, and multi-disciplinary analyses to support decision-making are of high value to development and implementation of MAR programs. The approaches discussed in this collection of papers, along with the complementary and necessary hydrologic and geologic analyses, provide important inputs to water resource managers.
BRCA1/p220 loss triggers BRCA1-IRIS overexpression via mRNA stabilization in breast cancer cells

BRCA1/p220-assocaited and triple negative/basal-like (TN/BL) tumors are aggressive and incurable breast cancer diseases that share among other features the no/low BRCA1/p220 expression. Here we show that BRCA1/p220 silencing in normal human mammary epithelial (HME) cells reduces expression of two RNA-destabilizing proteins, namely AUF1 and pCBP2, both proteins bind and destabilize BRCA1-IRIS mRNA. BRCA1-IRIS overexpression in HME cells triggers expression of several TN/BL markers, e.g., cytokeratins 5 and 17, p-cadherin, EGFR and cyclin E as well as expression and activation of the pro-survival proteins; AKT and survivin. BRCA1-IRIS silencing in the TN/BL cell line, SUM149 or restoration of BRCA1/p220 expression in the mutant cell line, HCC1937 reduced expression of TN/BL markers, AKT, survivin, and induced cell death. Collectively, we propose that BRCA1/p220 loss of expression or function triggers BRCA1-IRIS overexpression through a post-transcriptional mechanism, which in turn promotes formation of aggressive and invasive breast tumors by inducing expression of TN/BL and survival proteins.
Fast mode decision for KTA software

KTA (Key Technical Area) software is developed from the H.264 reference software by ITU-T VCEG to establish a common platform for developing high efficient techniques toward next generation video coding standard. With new techniques integrated, KTA software has achieved more than 20% improvement over H.264 in average. However, these new techniques not only bring high computations but also require multipass encoding optimization. In this paper, we propose two methods to significantly reduce mode checks in KTA software. First, the big inter mode skipping method skips modes of large block sizes if modes of smaller block sizes are better in an preprocessing. Second, we analyze the multi-pass encoding and propose the fast multi-pass mode decision method, which only checks the top modes in the first pass as candidates in the remaining passes. The proposed methods have reduced the encoding time as much as 80 percents with negligible PSNR loss and little bit rate increase.
The Ultraluminous X-Ray Source Population from the Chandra Archive of Galaxies

One hundred fifty-four discrete non-nuclear ultraluminous X-ray (ULX) sources, with spectroscopically determined intrinsic X-ray luminosities greater than 1039 ergs s-1, are identified in 82 galaxies observed with Chandra's Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer. Source positions, X-ray luminosities, and spectral and timing characteristics are tabulated. Statistical comparisons between these X-ray properties and those of the weaker discrete sources in the same fields (mainly neutron star and stellar-mass black hole binaries) are made. Sources above ∼1038 ergs s-1 display similar spatial, spectral, color, and variability distributions. In particular, there is no compelling evidence in the sample for a new and distinct class of X-ray object such as the intermediate-mass black holes. Eighty-three percent of ULX candidates have spectra that can be described as absorbed power laws with index 〈Γ〉 = 1.74 and column density 〈NH〉 = 2.24 × 1021 cm-2, or ∼5 times the average Galactic column. About 20% of the ULXs have much steeper indices indicative of a soft, and likely thermal, spectrum. The locations of ULXs in their host galaxies are strongly peaked toward their galaxy centers. The deprojected radial distribution of the ULX candidates is somewhat steeper than an exponential disk, indistinguishable from that of the weaker sources. About 5%-15% of ULX candidates are variable during the Chandra observations (which average 39.5 ks). Comparison of the cumulative X-ray luminosity functions of the ULXs to Chandra Deep Field results suggests ∼25% of the sources may be background objects, including 14% of the ULX candidates in the sample of spiral galaxies and 44% of those in elliptical galaxies, implying the elliptical galaxy ULX population is severely compromised by background active galactic nuclei. Correlations with host galaxy properties confirm the number and total X-ray luminosity of the ULXs are associated with recent star formation and with galaxy merging and interactions. The preponderance of ULXs in star-forming galaxies as well as their similarities to less-luminous sources suggest they originate in a young but short-lived population such as the high-mass X-ray binaries with a smaller contribution (based on spectral slope) from recent supernovae. The number of ULXs in elliptical galaxies scales with host galaxy mass and can be explained most simply as the high-luminosity end of the low-mass X-ray binary population.
Video classification based on HMM using text and faces

Video content classification and retrieval is a necessary tool in the current merging of entertainment and information media. With the advent of broadband networking, every consumer will have video programs available on-line as well as in the traditional distribution channels. Systems that help in content management have to discern between different categories of video in order to provide for fast retrieval. In this paper we present a novel method for video classification based on face and text trajectories. This is based on the observation that in different TV categories there are different face and text trajectory patterns. Face and text tracking is applied to arbitrary video clips to extract faces and text trajectories. We used Hidden Markov Models (HMM) to classify a given video clip into predefined categories, e.g., commercial, news, sitcom and soap. Our preliminary experimental results show classification accuracy of over 80% for HMM method on short video clips. This paper describes continuity-based face and text detection and tracking in video for the above HMM classification method.
Efficient Offline Communication Policies for Factored Multiagent POMDPs

Factored Decentralized Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (Dec-POMDPs) form a powerful framework for multiagent planning under uncertainty, but optimal solutions require a rigid history-based policy representation. In this paper we allow inter-agent communication which turns the problem in a centralized Multiagent POMDP (MPOMDP). We map belief distributions over state factors to an agent's local actions by exploiting structure in the joint MPOMDP policy. The key point is that when sparse dependencies between the agents' decisions exist, often the belief over its local state factors is sufficient for an agent to unequivocally identify the optimal action, and communication can be avoided. We formalize these notions by casting the problem into convex optimization form, and present experimental results illustrating the savings in communication that we can obtain.
Attenuated variants of Lesch-Nyhan disease

Lesch–Nyhan disease is a neurogenetic disorder caused by deficiency of the enzyme hypoxanthine–guanine phosphoribosyltransferase. The classic form of the disease is described by a characteristic syndrome that includes overproduction of uric acid, severe generalized dystonia, cognitive disability and self-injurious behaviour. In addition to the classic disease, variant forms of the disease occur wherein some clinical features are absent or unusually mild. The current studies provide the results of a prospective and multi-centre international study focusing on neurological manifestations of the largest cohort of Lesch–Nyhan disease variants evaluated to date, with 46 patients from 3 to 65 years of age coming from 34 families. All had evidence for overproduction of uric acid. Motor abnormalities were evident in 42 (91%), ranging from subtle clumsiness to severely disabling generalized dystonia. Cognitive function was affected in 31 (67%) but it was never severe. Though none exhibited self-injurious behaviours, many exhibited behaviours that were maladaptive. Only three patients had no evidence of neurological dysfunction. Our results were compared with a comprehensive review of 78 prior reports describing a total of 127 Lesch–Nyhan disease variants. Together these results define the spectrum of clinical features associated with hypoxanthine–guanine phosphoribosyltransferase deficiency. At one end of the spectrum are patients with classic Lesch–Nyhan disease and the full clinical phenotype. At the other end of the spectrum are patients with overproduction of uric acid but no apparent neurological or behavioural deficits. Inbetween are patients with varying degrees of motor, cognitive, or behavioural abnormalities. Recognition of this spectrum is valuable for understanding the pathogenesis and diagnosis of all forms of hypoxanthine–guanine phosphoribosyltransferase deficiency.
Efficient Training Algorithm for Neuro-Fuzzy Network and its Application to Nonlinear Sensor Characteristic Linearization

An ideal linear sensor is one for which input and output values are always proportional. Typical sensors are, in general, highly nonlinear or seldom sufficiently linear enough to be useful over a wide range or span of interest. Due to the requirement of tedious effort in designing sensor circuits with sufficient linearity for some applications, the word nonlinearity has acquired a pejorative connotation. Hence, a computationally intelligent tool for extending the linear range of an arbitrary sensor is proposed. The linearization technique is carried out by a very efficiently trained neuro-fuzzy hybrid network which compensates for the sensor’s nonlinear characteristic. The training algorithm is very efficient in the sense that it can bring the performance index of the network, such as the sum squared error (SSE), down to the desired error goal much faster than any first order training algorithm. Linearization of a negative temperature coefficient thermistor sensor with an exponentially decaying characteristic function is used as an application example, which demonstrates the efficacy of the procedure. The proposed linearization technique is also applicable for any nonlinear sensor (such as J-type thermocouple or pH sensor), whose output is a monotonically increasing/decreasing function.
Lexical Features are Not Necessary for Sequence Labeling

We use the technique of SVM anchoring to demonstrate that lexical features extracted from an annotated training corpus are not necessary to obtain state of the art results on tasks such as Named Entity Recognition and Chunking. While standard models require as many as 100K distinct features, we derive models with as little as 1K features that perform as well. These robust reduced models indicate that the way rare lexical features contribute to classification in NLP is not yet well understood. As a general strategy, we believe lexical features should not be directly derived from a training corpus but instead, carefully inferred and selected from other sources.
Evaluating RBAC Supported Techniques and their Validation and Verification

This paper evaluates the security specification techniques that employ Role Based Access Control (RBAC) variants. RBAC offers a special kind of access control mechanism based on the use of roles to grant permissions. Its variants include role hierarchy and separation of duty (SoD) constraints. The overall management of a RBAC supported system is made through its administrative, review and supporting system functions. In this paper, a summary of semi-formal and formal techniques employing RBAC is provided along with their benefits and limitations. Here, semi-formal techniques refer to UML+OCL while formal ones are based on Alloy. This paper may guide through the process of selecting an appropriate technique to specify security rules. This is done by analyzing the degree of coverage of RBAC including some extensions like SoD and role hierarchy. We also investigate the use of validation and verification tools in these techniques. We find that formal techniques are more amenable to automated analysis as compared to semi-formal ones. Semi-formal techniques are rich in specifying RBAC variants but have prototypic tools. Session based dynamic aspects of RBAC have been partly covered in both techniques.
Compiler Templates for V 8 or : How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love JavaScript

The performance of JavaScript virtual machines (VM) improved by several orders of magnitude in the last years, giving raise to ever more complex applications. Consequently there is a high demand for further compiler optimizations and therefore short VM development cycles. V8 the JavaScript engine of the Chrome web browser has a baseline compiler optimized for low compiler latency and an optimizing compiler called Crankshaft to compile hot functions. To achieve better maintainability and to improve robustness we aim at sharing compiler infrastructure and code generating back end between the two compilers. Our approach instruments Crankshaft to generate native code templates for the baseline compiler. We show that our method is practical, reduces complexity and maintains performance. As a case study to support our claims we ported the assembly level implementation of binary operations for baseline code to a version compiled by Crankshaft.
Mapping Crime: Principle And Practice

ion and translates this into a map that is read by the map user and transferred to the user’s mind. Choosing a crime map Chapter 1 characterized thematic maps as falling into the following broad categories: statistical, point, choropleth, isoline, surface, and linear. How do we choose the most appropriate type for mapping crime and crime-related phenomena? Some decisions jump out at us while others are open to interpretation. For example, if we want to see the precise locations of burglaries for the last month, then we use a point map of addresses of incidents. Or perhaps a city council member has asked the police department for a map summarizing the number of incidents of graffiti per structure by city neighborhoods. This calls for a choropleth map, with neighborhood boundaries making up the geographic units. Links between victim and offender residences demand a linear representation. A generalized picture of crime risk or incidents is seen best with an isoline or surface map, and census information depicting the relationship between poverty and race can be shown using either a statistical or choropleth map. Because of the infinite potential combinations of crime-related conditions that can be depicted on maps, we can combine map types to put more information on the same map. For example, we can combine nominal and ratio data, such as a choropleth map of drug-related crime by patrol beats and add the locations of drug markets on the same map. Crime mappers should be aware of the potential for combining thematic map types, provided that the result is not overloaded with information—or just plain incomprehensible. An overloaded map will have so much information that the eye is unable to take it all in. It will prevent the reader from discriminating between what is important and what is not. Examples of thematic maps Perhaps the best way to get a feel for the kinds of maps used to display crime data is to look at examples and to think about why each type of map was selected. A good place to start is the Web site of the National Institute of Justice Crime Mapping Research Center (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/cmrc), which provides links to police departments across the United States. Another useful Web site is maintained by Hunter College in New York (http://everest.hunter.cuny.edu/ capse/projects/nij/crime.html). (See the appendix for additional information.) Thematic maps using point symbols: The dot map When should point symbols be used? The first prerequisite is that you have locational detail—information specific to your points, such as street addresses or coordinates in latitude/longitude or some other system, such as State Plane (explained in chapter 1). The second prerequisite is that the audience needs locational detail. If you have point data, but the audience wants information summarized by patrol areas or neighborhoods, then the point data can be added up, or aggregated, to the areas of interest. Examples of point, or dot, maps are shown in figures 2.3 and 2.4.
Analysis of the size distributions of fetal and maternal cell-free DNA by paired-end sequencing.

BACKGROUND Noninvasive prenatal diagnosis with cell-free DNA in maternal plasma is challenging because only a small portion of the DNA sample is derived from the fetus. A few previous studies provided size-range estimates of maternal and fetal DNA, but direct measurement of the size distributions is difficult because of the small quantity of cell-free DNA. METHODS We used high-throughput paired-end sequencing to directly measure the size distributions of maternal and fetal DNA in cell-free maternal plasma collected from 3 typical diploid and 4 aneuploid male pregnancies. As a control, restriction fragments of lambda DNA were also sequenced. RESULTS Cell-free DNA had a dominant peak at approximately 162 bp and a minor peak at approximately 340 bp. Chromosome Y sequences were rarely longer than 250 bp but were present in sizes of <150 bp at a larger proportion compared with the rest of the sequences. Selective analysis of the shortest fragments generally increased the fetal DNA fraction but did not necessarily increase the sensitivity of aneuploidy detection, owing to the reduction in the number of DNA molecules being counted. Restriction fragments of lambda DNA with sizes between 60 bp and 120 bp were preferentially sequenced, indicating that the shotgun sequencing work flow introduced a bias toward shorter fragments. CONCLUSIONS Our results confirm that fetal DNA is shorter than maternal DNA. The enrichment of fetal DNA by size selection, however, may not provide a dramatic increase in sensitivity for assays that rely on length measurement in situ because of a trade-off between the fetal DNA fraction and the number of molecules being counted.
The Expanding Universe of Prion Diseases

Prions cause fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative disease. These etiological infectious agents are formed in greater part from a misfolded cell-surface protein called PrPC. Several mammalian species are affected by the diseases, and in the case of “mad cow disease” (BSE) the agent has a tropism for humans, with negative consequences for agribusiness and public health. Unfortunately, the known universe of prion diseases is expanding. At least four novel prion diseases—including human diseases variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) and sporadic fatal insomnia (sFI), bovine amyloidotic spongiform encephalopathy (BASE), and Nor98 of sheep—have been identified in the last ten years, and chronic wasting disease (CWD) of North American deer (Odocoileus Specis) and Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) is undergoing a dramatic spread across North America. While amplification (BSE) and dissemination (CWD, commercial sourcing of cervids from the wild and movement of farmed elk) can be attributed to human activity, the origins of emergent prion diseases cannot always be laid at the door of humankind. Instead, the continued appearance of new outbreaks in the form of “sporadic” disease may be an inevitable outcome in a situation where the replicating pathogen is host-encoded.
On the usage of differential evolution for function optimization

Differential evolution (DE) has recently proven to be an efficient method for optimizing real-valued multi-modal objective functions. Besides its good convergence properties and suitability for parallelization, DE's main assets are its conceptual simplicity and ease of use. This paper describes several variants of DE and elaborates on the choice of DE's control parameters, which corresponds to the application of fuzzy rules. Finally, the design of a howling removal unit with DE is described to provide a real-world example for DE's applicability.
Identification of Knowledge Measurement Indicators of Faculty Members of Iran Universities

Identifying and controlling knowledge assets is essential for any organization, and proper utilization of this capital, in the presence of appropriate criteria and indicators, will affect the performance and not merely a qualitative assessment. Therefore, the researchers seek to identify the indicators of knowledge measurement of faculty members in Iran's universities. The present research, based on the objective, is a fundamental research component, based on the nature is the descriptive research component and based on the type of argument, is a component of qualitative research. The data collection method is library resources and questionnaires and the technique used is Fuzzy Delphi method. The Delphi panel was established with 17 faculty members who were selected by a judiciary. The results of the research showed that among 61 indicators extracted from theoretical literature, two index such as: guidance the undergraduate theses and the ratio of postgraduate students to total students, do not affect the knowledge measurement of human resources at universities in Iran, and there are consensus about other indicators.
Fountain Codes and Invertible Matrices

This paper deals with Fountain codes, and especially with their encoding matrices, which are required here to be invertible. A result is stated that an encoding matrix induces a permutation. Also, a result is that encoding matrices form a group with multiplication operation. An encoding is a transformation, which reduces the entropy of an initially high-entropy input vector. A special encoding matrix, with which the entropy reduction is more effective than with matrices created by the Ideal Soliton distribution is formed. Experimental results with entropy reduction are shown.