Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
RAMAN SCATTERING AND THE CONTINOUS WAVE SILICON RAMAN LASER

Introduction Scattering of optical radiation by materials is a topic that has received much attention over the past 100 years. One particular type, Raman scattering, was first observed by C.V. Raman in 1928, and since then this inelastic scattering process has found many uses in basic and applied science. Raman scattering can be used to make spectroscopic measurements, or exploited to build Raman amplifiers and Raman lasers. The paper will discuss the theoretical aspects of Raman scattering and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and will focus on a specific application of SRS in which silicon is used as a gain medium for the silicon Raman laser.
Learning under nonstationarity: covariate shift and class‐balance change

One of the fundamental assumptions behind many supervised machine‐learning algorithms is that training and test data follow the same probability distribution. However, this important assumption is often violated in practice, for example, because of an unavoidable sample selection bias or nonstationarity of the environment. Owing to violation of the assumption, standard machine‐learning methods suffer a significant estimation bias. In this article, we consider two scenarios of such distribution change—the covariate shift where input distributions differ and class‐balance change where class‐prior probabilities vary in classification—and review semi‐supervised adaptation techniques based on importance weighting. WIREs Comput Stat 2013, 5:465–477. doi: 10.1002/wics.1275
Protecting Real-Time GPU Applications on Integrated CPU-GPU SoC Platforms

Integrated CPU-GPU architecture provides excellent acceleration capabilities for data parallel applications on embedded platforms while meeting the size, weight and power (SWaP) requirements. However, sharing of main memory between CPU applications and GPU kernels can severely affect the execution of GPU kernels and diminish the performance gain provided by GPU. For example, in the NVIDIA Tegra K1 platform which has the integrated CPU-GPU architecture, we noticed that in the worst case scenario, the GPU kernels can suffer as much as 4X slowdown in the presence of co-running memory intensive CPU applications compared to their solo execution. In this paper, we propose a software mechanism, which we call BWLOCK++, to protect the performance of GPU kernels from co-scheduled memory intensive CPU applications.
A Checkpoint-Optimized Storage System for HPC Applications

Problem Statement: Checkpointing is an indispensable fault tolerance tool, commonly used by highthroughput applications that run continuously for hours or days at a time. Applications periodically save their own state and in the event of a failure recover by rolling-back the execution state to some previous timestep. Checkpointing, however critical it may be for applications, is pure overhead from an application standpoint, as it is time spent away from useful computation. Consider a massively parallel application running on tens of thousands of computing cores (such as the Cray XT3/4 leadership computing facility, LCF, at ORNL). Thousands of processes, performing intensive I/O, simultaneously at regular intervals can create millions of files, amounting to TBs of data and huge I/O workloads. This I/O wait time required to save the checkpoint images is the key driver for the checkpoint time and can overwhelm any storage system despite high-speed interconnects. Even at the lower end, in most clusters (hundreds of nodes) or a desktop grid (loosely connected CPU cycle aggregation system), checkpointing is cumbersome. Thus, what is needed is a way to alleviate this I/O bandwidth bottleneck.
Effects of Aminoguanidine on Glomerular Basement Membrane Thickness and Anionic Charge in a Diabetic Rat Model

We investigated the effect of aminoguanidine (AG) administration on GBM thickness, glomerular heparan sulfate (HS) content, and urinary albumin and HS excretion in diabetic rats. After induction of diabetes, female Wistar rats were divided into 2 groups: Group AGDM (n=11) received 1g/L aminoguanidine bicarbonate in drinking water, group DC (n=12) was given only tap water. Control rats received AG (group AGH, n=8) or tap water (group HC, n=8). At the end of a period of 8 weeks, urinary albumin and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) excretion was detected. GBM heparan sulfate distribution and count was determined under the electron microscope. The AGDM group had lower urinary albumin and GAG excretion than diabetic controls. GBM thickness was increased in diabetic rats compared to groups of AGDM and HC. In AGDM group alcian blue stained particle distribution and count in the GBM was similar to healthy controls. In conclusion AG prevents the decrease of anionic charged molecules in the GBM and GBM thickening. This can be one of the mechanisms by which AG decreases albuminuria in diabetic rats.
First Isolation of Cytopathogenic Bovine Torovirus in Cell Culture from a Calf with Diarrhea

ABSTRACT A cytopathogenic virus (designated the Aichi/2004 strain) was isolated in a human rectal adenocarcinoma cell line (HRT-18) from the ileum contents of a calf with diarrhea. Oval and elongated particles, approximately 100 to 170 nm in diameter, with club-shaped projections were seen in the infected culture supernatant, and torovirus-like (tubular and torus nucleocapsid) structures were seen in the infected cells by electron microscopy. An antiserum against bovine torovirus (BToV) reacted with the infected cells by immunofluorescence and neutralized the isolate. However, antisera against bovine coronavirus (BCV) failed to react with the infected cells by immunofluorescence or did not neutralize the isolate. Further, the isolate was positive for BToV by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) targeting fragments of the nucleocapsid (N), membrane (M), and spike (S) genes. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences of the PCR products with those of the published N, M, and S genes (476 to 497, 672, and 687 to 690 nucleotides, respectively) of toroviruses showed high sequence identities (up to 99.4%, 98.7%, and 94.9% for the N, M, and S genes, respectively) between the isolate and BToVs. In contrast, the isolate was negative for BCV by RT-PCR. In a serological survey of serum samples from 355 calves at 33 farms, 92% of calves were positive for neutralizing antibodies to the isolate. These results indicate that the isolate in this study was BToV and that BToV infection might be common in cattle in Japan. To our knowledge, this is the first isolation of BToV in tissue culture.
Mannose-Binding Lectin Gene Polymorphism, Vulvovaginal Candidiasis, and Bacterial Vaginosis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate associations between polymorphisms in the gene coding for mannose-binding lectin (MBL) and the diagnosis of acute or recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis and bacterial vaginosis METHODS: Women at two outpatient clinics in Brazil filled out a questionnaire and were examined for the presence of vulvovaginal candidiasis or bacterial vaginosis. A buccal swab was blindly tested for codons 54 and 57 MBL2 gene polymorphisms by polymerase chain reaction and endonuclease digestion. RESULTS: A total of 177 women were enrolled. Vulvovaginal candidiasis was identified in 78 (44.1%) women, 33 (18.6%) had bacterial vaginosis, and 66 (37.3%) were normal controls. Recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis was present in 50 (64.1%) of the women with vulvovaginal candidiasis; 20 (60.6%) of the bacterial vaginosis patients had recurrent disease. Vulvovaginal candidiasis was associated with white race (P=.007), bacterial vaginosis was associated with nonwhite race (P=.05), and both were associated with a history of allergy (P≤.02) and having sexual intercourse at least three times a week (P<.001). Carriage of the variant MBL2 codon 54 allele B was more frequent in women with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (25.0%) than in the women with acute vulvovaginal candidiasis (17.9%) or controls (10.6%) (P=.004). Allele B was also more prevalent in women with recurrent bacterial vaginosis (22.5%) than in those with acute bacterial vaginosis (0%) (P=.009). The MBL2 codon 57 polymorphism was infrequent and not associated with vulvovaginal candidiasis or bacterial vaginosis. CONCLUSION: The incidence of vulvovaginal candidiasis and bacterial vaginosis differs by ethnicity in Brazilian women. The MBL2 codon 54 gene polymorphism is associated with both recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis and recurrent bacterial vaginosis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III
Phylogenetic diversity of plants alters the effect of species richness on invertebrate herbivory

Long-standing ecological theory proposes that diverse communities of plants should experience a decrease in herbivory. Yet previous empirical examinations of this hypothesis have revealed that plant species richness increases herbivory in just as many systems as it decreases it. In this study, I ask whether more insight into the role of plant diversity in promoting or suppressing herbivory can be gained by incorporating information about the evolutionary history of species in a community. In an old field system in southern Ontario, I surveyed communities of plants and measured levels of leaf damage on 27 species in 38 plots. I calculated a measure of phylogenetic diversity (PSE) that encapsulates information about the amount of evolutionary history represented in each of the plots and looked for a relationship between levels of herbivory and both species richness and phylogenetic diversity using a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) that could account for variation in herbivory levels between species. I found that species richness was positively associated with herbivore damage at the plot-level, in keeping with the results from several other recent studies on this question. On the other hand, phylogenetic diversity was associated with decreased herbivory. Importantly, there was also an interaction between species richness and phylogenetic diversity, such that plots with the highest levels of herbivory were plots which had many species but only if those species tended to be closely related to one another. I propose that these results are the consequence of interactions with herbivores whose diets are phylogenetically specialized (for which I introduce the term cladophage), and how phylogenetic diversity may alter their realized host ranges. These results suggest that incorporating a phylogenetic perspective can add valuable additional insight into the role of plant diversity in explaining or predicting levels of herbivory at a whole-community scale.
Contribution of the Left Anterior Myocardium to the Body Surface Potentials in Case of Apical Ectopic Beat

The present paper describes a study where effects of anterior myocardium on body surface potentials were investigated. The study combines numerical lead field analysis combined with cardiac automata model. Electric fields are calculated with finite difference method in a 3-D model of male thorax. The cardiac activation applied in the study is an ectopic beat originating in the apex. The correlations and mean differences between signal generated by anterior segments of left ventricle and signal generated by both ventricles were analysed for 117 leads. The results show that there are leads which have high correlation (>0.9) with low the relative mean difference (<0.2) between the signals generated by anterior segments and signals generated by whole ventricles. These electrode locations would be optimal to monitor the activation of anterior segments when ectopic beats originate in apex.
Long-Term Prognosis for Childhood Constipation: Clinical Outcomes in Adulthood

OBJECTIVES: This study examines long-term prognoses for children with constipation in adulthood and identifies prognostic factors associated with clinical outcomes. METHODS: In a Dutch tertiary hospital, children (5–18 years of age) who were diagnosed as having functional constipation were eligible for inclusion. After a 6-week treatment protocol, prospective follow-up evaluations were conducted at 6 and 12 months and annually thereafter. Good clinical outcomes were defined as ≥3 bowel movements per week for ≥4 weeks, with ≤2 fecal incontinence episodes per month, irrespective of laxative use. RESULTS: A total of 401 children (260 boys; median age: 8 years [interquartile range: 6–9 years]) were included, with a median follow-up period of 11 years (interquartile range: 9–13 years). The dropout rate during follow-up was 15%. Good clinical outcomes were achieved by 80% of patients at 16 years of age. Thereafter, this proportion remained constant at 75%. Poor clinical outcomes at adult age were associated with: older age at onset (odds ratio [OR]: 1.15 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02–1.30]; P = .04), longer delay between onset and first visit to our outpatient clinic (OR: 1.24 [95% CI: 1.10–1.40]; P = .001), and lower defecation frequency at study entry (OR: 0.92 [95% CI: 0.84–1.00]; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS: One-fourth of children with functional constipation continued to experience symptoms at adult age. Certain risk factors for poor clinical outcomes in adulthood were identified. Referral to a specialized clinic should be considered at an early stage for children who are unresponsive to first-line treatment.
Structural/texture evolution of CaO/MCM‐41 nanocatalyst by doping various amounts of cerium for active and stable catalyst: Biodiesel production from waste vegetable cooking oil

In present work, the aim of producing biodiesel from waste cooking oil was pursued by doping the cerium element into the MCM‐41 framework as catalyst with various Si/Ce molar ratio (5, 10, 25, 50, and Ce = 0). The catalytic performance and stability improved by employing the ultrasound irradiation in active phase loading step of catalyst preparation. The physicochemical characteristics of synthesized samples were investigated using various techniques as follows: Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller (BET), X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transfer infrared (FTIR), energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The XRD patterns along with the results of FTIR and BET analysis revealed the MCM‐41 framework destruction while increasing the Ce content. The FESEM images of the nanocatalysts illustrated a well distribution and uniform morphology for the Ca/CeM (Si/Ce = 25). The particle size and size distribution of the Ca/CeM (Si/Ce = 25) were subsequently determined by TEM and FESEM images. The activity of fabricated nanocatalysts was evaluated by measuring the free acid methyl ester (FAME) content of produced biodiesel. The tests were carried out at constant operational conditions: T = 60°C, catalyst loading = 5 wt%, methanol/oil molar ratio = 9, and 6‐hour reaction time. A superior activity was observed for Ca/CeM (Si/Ce = 25) among other nanocatalysts with 96.8% conversion of triglycerides to biodiesel. The mentioned sample was utilized in five reaction cycles, and at the end of the fifth cycle, the conversion reached to 91.5% which demonstrated its significant stability.
On the approximability of some NP-hard minimization problems for linear systems

We investigate the computational complexity of two classes of combinatorial optimization problems related to linear systems and study the relationship between their approximability properties. In the rst class (Min ULR) one wishes, given a possibly infeasible system of linear relations, to nd a solution that violates as few relations as possible while satisfying all the others. In the second class (Min RVLS) the linear system is supposed to be feasible and one looks for a solution with as few nonzero variables as possible. For both Min ULR and Min RVLS the four basic types of relational operators =, , > and 6 = are considered. While Min RVLS with equations was known to be NP-hard in 27], we established in 2, 6] that Min ULR with equalities and inequalities are NP-hard even when restricted to homogeneous systems with bipolar coeecients. The latter problems have been shown hard to approximate in 8]. In this paper we determine strong bounds on the approximability of various variants of Min RVLS and Min ULR, including constrained ones where the variables are restricted to take bounded discrete values or where some relations are mandatory while others are optional. The various NP-hard versions turn out to have diierent approximability properties depending on the type of relations and the additional constraints, but none of them can be approximated within any constant factor, unless P=NP. Two interesting special cases of Min RVLS and Min ULR that arise in discriminant analysis and machine learning are also discussed. In particular, we disprove a conjecture presented in 57] regarding the existence of a polynomial time algorithm to design linear classiiers (or perceptrons) that use a close-to-minimum number of features.
USE OF GIS METHODOLOGY FOR ONLINE URBAN TRAFFIC MONITORING

Main goal of traffic management is the optimisation of trafic flow. This aim is based on possession of precise traffic describing data and parameters. Two dimensional traffic data acquisition becomes a research emphasis of German Aerospace Center (DLR)s Institute of Transport Research to improve these data basis. Data sources are ground based like floating car data as well as airborne remote sensing data and the developed procedures are appropriate to support trafic management effectively. A preliminary real time system for airborne traffic monitoring (ATMS) was already successful proved to collect traffic data on demand. The whole chain of the system extends from the sensor technology - including a stabilized platform and image processing, via the data transmission to the ground - to a traffic center for the further processing of images in which the information will be refined with prognosis tools. An open interface ensures a multi-facetted utilization of the information by multiple user groups. The data processing is based on a commercially available dibital map. Practical tests showed that the quality of traffic flow data extraction will increase significantly by improving the digital map basis. The aim of the work presented here is to use heterogeneous image data, especially high resolution satellite data (Quickbird, Ikonos) to extend the a priory knowledge for implementation into the monitoring system. In parallel the image data from ATMS can be evaluated in focus of problems o description and assessment of the urban space. Consequently a GIS platform seems to be an adequate tool to implement, process, analyse and visualise the actual geo-data. Special GIS data products are availble or simulations or analysis and merge of sociodemographic and socioeconomic structure data (people and pixels), and the methodology can be adopted for real-time applications like ATMS. Additionally the GIS System offers the opportunity to implement and manage the historical traffic flow data generated and derived from all data collecting systems (terrestrial, airborne and spaceborne sensors). In front of this background the paper will present the analysis of existing Satellite and ATMS data for the region of Berlin. As a first step the applicationof a vegetation detection algorithm will be shown. This results in an information layer concerning structures of trees at or near street areas and will eliminate an essential disturbance factor at real time airborne data collection and will therefore enhance the validity of the derived data. Since at the moment the digital map will not account for parking areas, high resolution remote sensing data will be analysed to extract accordant information layer for future applications. The implementation of the extended a priory knowledge into both the ATMS as well as the GIS will be presented and the improvements will be demonstrated.
Neurotoxicity and behavioral effects of thiram in rats.

Eight of 24 female rats fed 66.9 mg/kg-day of thiram developed neurotoxicity. The neurotoxic effects were characterized by ataxia and paralysis of the hind legs. There were demyelination, degeneration of the axis cylinders, and presence of macrophages in the nerve bundle of the sciatic nerve. Degeneration in the ventral horn of the lower lumbar region of the spinal cord was evidenced by chromatolysis of motorneurons, pyknosis, and satellitosis. During a second experiment, 4 of 24 females fed 65.8 mg/kg--day also developed ataxia and paralysis. An additional 9 females showed clasping of the hind feet when picked up by the tail. Nerve conduction could not be measured for one severely ataxic rat and the electromyogram indicated a loss of motor unit function. Histopathology of this rat, along with the others, suggests the peripheral nerve as the primary site of the lesion. Thiram also caused behavioral changes in apparently normal rats. The walking pattern of the hind legs was altered with decreases in stride width and the angle between contralateral steps. These rats required significantly more shock-motivations and cleared a lower height in a jump/climb ability test. An open-field study indicated that thiram caused hyperactivity in the nonataxic rats of both sexes. Three of 24 rats fed 95.8 mg/kg-day of ferbam also developed ataxia or paralysis. ImagesFIGURE 1.FIGURE 1.FIGURE 2.FIGURE 2.FIGURE 4.FIGURE 5.FIGURE 6.FIGURE 6.FIGURE 7.FIGURE 7.
Face tracking by 3-D dual-tree complex wavelet transform using support vector machine

The main objective of this research is the design of a new method for tracking special moving objects(faces), using Complex Wavelet Transform (CopfWT) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier as a suitable binary classification system. By using motion-selective properties of 3-D-CopfWT , moving objects can be separated from background in 3-D signals like video. The selected objects applied to the SVM classifier and the positive answers of the system were interpreted as special objects.
Trajectory boundary modeling of time series for anomaly detection

We address the problem of online detection of unanticipated modes of mechanical failure given a small set of time series under normal conditions, with the requirement that the anomaly detection model be manually verifiable and modifiable. We specify a set of time series features, which are linear combinations of the current and past values, and model the allowed feature values by a sequence of minimal bounding boxes containing all of the training trajectories. The model can be constructed in O(n log n) time. If there are at most three features, the model can be displayed graphically for verification, otherwise a table is used. Test time is O(n) with a guaranteed upper bound on computation time for each test point. The model compares favorably with anomaly detection algorithms based on Euclidean distance and dynamic time warping on the Space Shuttle Marrotta fuel control valve data set.