Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Aerosol on Cloud Liquid Water Path : Statistical Method a Potential Source for Divergence in Past Observation Based Correlative Studies

Studies show a divergence in correlation between aerosol and cloud proxies, which has been thought of in the past as the results of varying physical mechanisms. Though modeling studies have supported this idea, from an observational standpoint it is difficult to attribute with confidence the correlations to specific physical mechanisms. We explore a methodology to assess the correlation between cloud water path and aerosol optical depth using Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua retrieved aerosol and cloud properties for absorbing and non-absorbing aerosol types over land and over the Atlantic Ocean for various meteorological conditions. The data covers a three-month period, June through August, during which different aerosol types are predominant in specific regions. Our approach eliminates outliers; sorts the data into aerosol bins; and the mean Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) value for each bin and the corresponding mean Cloud Water Path (CWP) value are determined. The mean CWP is plotted against the mean AOD. The response curve for all aerosol types shows a peak CWP value corresponding to an aerosol loading value AODpeak. The peak is used to divide the total range of aerosol loading into two sub ranges. For AOD value below AODpeak, mean CWP and mean AOD are positively correlated. The correlation between mean CWP and mean AOD is negative for aerosol loading above AODpeak. Irrespective of aerosol type, OPEN ACCESS Atmosphere 2015, 6 274 atmospheric water vapor content and lower tropospheric static stability, the peak observed for each aerosol type seems to describe a universal feature that calls for further investigation. It has been observed for a variety of geographical locations and different seasons.
A limiting free boundary problem ruled by Aronsson’s equation

We study the behavior of $p$-Dirichlet optimal design problem with volume constraint for $p$ large. As the limit as $p$ goes to infinity, we find a limiting free boundary problem governed by the infinity-Laplacian operator. We establish a necessary and sufficient condition for uniqueness of the limiting problem and, under such a condition, we determine precisely the optimal configuration for the limiting problem. Finally, we establish convergence results for the free boundaries.
To Conserve or Not to Conserve: Is Status the Question?

Previous research has demonstrated that environmentally friendly behavior is perceived as low status, which can explain why such behavior is not more widespread. However, greater awareness of environmental issues and the advent of a “green” movement may have seen a change in those attitudes. As some conservation behaviors used in past research may have been conflated with lower socioeconomic status, Study 1 identified financially neutral behaviors so that SES would not be confused for status in general. Study 2 utilized two of those behaviors to investigate whether engaging in conservation behavior per se is viewed as low status. Participants rated a target who performed either zero, one, or two conservation behaviors. Counter to earlier research, it was found that neither number nor type of environmental behaviors performed affected the perceived status of the target. These results suggest that attitudes toward conservation behavior may be improving; implications for increasing environmentally friendly behavior are discussed.
Optimal Offer Construction in Electricity Markets

In this paper we study strategies for generators making offers into electricity markets in circumstances where both the demand for electricity and the behaviour of competing generators is unknown but can be represented by a probability distribution. Given this probability distribution, we derive necessary optimality conditions for a broad class of supply offer curves. We show how these conditions can be used to construct an optimal solution for a simple example. We also consider the case in which a generator is restricted in the number of prices at which power can be offered.
On the Steady Regime Assumptions in Flows Involving Short Fiber Suspensions

The present study addresses the issue of the steady regime assumption in flows involving short fibers usually introduced for the analysis of rheometric flows or in the simulation of some kind of forming processes as is the case of the extrusion. For this purpose we analyze the solution of the Fokker-Planck equation in simple shear flows for both two-dimensional and three-dimensional systems. Despite the simplicity of that flow, it brings the possibility of comparing exact and numerical solutions. Thus, exact analytical solutions and results of numerical simulations based on the finite element technique and the method of particles are presented. The effect of diffusion on the existence of steady solutions, and more particularly on the time required to reach that steady solution, is investigated.
Lexicon Expansion System for Domain and Time Oriented Sentiment Analysis

In sentiment analysis the polarity of a text is often assessed recurring to sentiment lexicons, which usually consist of verbs and adjectives with an associated positive or negative value. However, in short informal texts like tweets or web comments, the absence of such words does not necessarily indicates that the text lacks opinion. Tweets like âFirst Paris, now Brussels. What can we do? â imply opinion in spite of not using words present in sentiment lexicons, but rather due to the general sentiment or public opinion associated with terms in a specific time and domain. In order to complement general sentiment dictionaries with those domain and time specific terms, we propose a novel system for lexicon expansion that automatically extracts the more relevant and up to date terms on several different domains and then assesses their sentiment through Twitter. Experimental results on our system show an 82% accuracy on extracting domain and time specific terms and 80% on correct polarity assessment. The achieved results provide evidence that our lexicon expansion system can extract and determined the sentiment of terms for domain and time specific corpora in a fully automatic form.
Interesses e Conflitos em uma Experiência de Produção de Biodiesel no Sul de Minas Gerais

O tema biodiesel vem ocupando espaco nas discussoes academicas, politicas e tecnicas no Brasil nos ultimos anos. Aos poucos se tem criado uma especie de “consenso” a respeito da importância e legitimidade dessa producao como alternativa de desenvolvimento economico e social. Esse trabalho procurou analisar uma iniciativa de producao de biodiesel em municipio do sul de Minas Gerais, ocorrida no periodo de 2000 a 2010, buscando investigar as bases sobre as quais foi construida essa experiencia. O trabalho baseou-se em metodologia qualitativa, com uso de analise documental e entrevistas com os principais atores envolvidos na experiencia. Por meio dessas tecnicas foi possivel identificar diversos conflitos que se desenvolvem na tentativa de legitimar essa proposta. Tais conflitos se situam entre discursos “politica e ambientalmente corretos”, que prevalecem em nossas sociedades, e as mudancas - desorganizacao e reorganizacao social - necessarias quando se propoe uma iniciativa como a implantacao de um projeto de producao de biodiesel em um municipio.
Deletion of p66shc Gene Protects Against Age-Related Endothelial Dysfunction

Background—Enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been recognized as the major determinant of age-related endothelial dysfunction. The p66shc protein controls cellular responses to oxidative stress. Mice lacking p66shc (p66shc−/−) have increased resistance to ROS and a 30% prolonged life span. The present study investigates age-dependent changes of endothelial function in this model. Methods and Results—Aortic rings from young and old p66shc−/− or wild-type (WT) mice were suspended for isometric tension recording. Nitric oxide (NO) release was measured by a porphyrinic microsensor. Expression of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS), inducible NOS (iNOS), superoxide dismutase, and nitrotyrosine-containing proteins was assessed by Western blotting. Nitrotyrosine residues were also identified by immunohistochemistry. Superoxide (O2−) production was determined by coelenterazine-enhanced chemiluminescence. Endothelium-dependent relaxation in response to acetylcholine was age-dependently impaired in WT mice but not in p66shc−/− mice. Accordingly, an age-related decline of NO release was found in WT but not in p66shc−/− mice. The expression of eNOS and manganese superoxide dismutase was not affected by aging either in WT or in p66shc−/− mice, whereas iNOS was upregulated only in old WT mice. It is interesting that old WT mice displayed a significant increase of O2− production as well as of nitrotyrosine expression compared with young animals. Such age-dependent changes were not found in p66shc−/− mice. Conclusions—We report that inactivation of the p66shc gene protects against age-dependent, ROS-mediated endothelial dysfunction. These findings suggest that the p66shc is part of a signal transduction pathway also relevant to endothelial integrity and may represent a novel target to prevent vascular aging.
Mountain pine beetle host-range expansion threatens the boreal forest

The current epidemic of the mountain pine beetle (MPB), an indigenous pest of western North American pine, has resulted in significant losses of lodgepole pine. The leading edge has reached Alberta where forest composition shifts from lodgepole to jack pine through a hybrid zone. The susceptibility of jack pine to MPB is a major concern, but there has been no evidence of host‐range expansion, in part due to the difficulty in distinguishing the parentals and their hybrids. We tested the utility of a panel of microsatellite loci optimized for both species to classify lodgepole pine, jack pine and their hybrids using simulated data. We were able to accurately classify simulated individuals, and hence applied these markers to identify the ancestry of attacked trees. Here we show for the first time successful MPB attack in natural jack pine stands at the leading edge of the epidemic. This once unsuitable habitat is now a novel environment for MPB to exploit, a potential risk which could be exacerbated by further climate change. The consequences of host‐range expansion for the vast boreal ecosystem could be significant.
Robotics in Education & Education in Robotics : Shifting Focus from Technology to Pedagogy

In this work we highlight the role of constructivist pedagogy and consequent educational methodologies either while using robotics in school education (Robotics in Education) or while training teachers to use robotics for teaching purposes (Education in Robotics). In this framework, constructivist methodologies for integrating robotics in school physics and informatics education and in professional teacher training are suggested. Exemplary projects from each case are reported to demonstrate the learning potential of the proposed educational methodologies involving teachers and students while using robotics to study kinematics and programming concepts in physics and informatics classes of secondary education respectively.
A Practical Message ID Assignment Policy for Controller Area Network that Maximizes Extensibility

Controller Area Network (CAN) is widely used in automotive applications. Policies for message ID and thus priority assignment have a significant impact on schedulability. In addition, they also determine extensibility; the scope to add messages required by future upgrades without compromising schedulability. In this paper we address message ID assignment, such that the system is extensible. First, we provide an assessment metric that provides an in-depth view of the extensibility of a given ID-assignment, tailored for use in automotive applications. Second, we develop a practical ID-assignment policy which maximizes extensibility. This policy provides an upgrade pathway: it is used to provide the initial ID-assignment, and also used for ID-assignments during subsequent upgrades. The policy optimizes extensibility by maintaining Deadline minus Jitter Monotonic Priority Ordering, which ensures that it does not compromise either schedulability or robustness to errors on the bus. Evaluation using a simple automotive benchmark shows the effectiveness of the policy over multiple upgrades.
Breast cancer risk assessment models

Mortality rates are higher among African‐American women with breast cancer than they are among white women. This population subset can benefit from available risk reduction strategies. Optimal public health gains from chemoprevention strategies depend on the ability to assess accurately the risk for the individual. However, it is not known if existing breast cancer prediction models are accurate predictors of the disease among African‐American women.
A novel quadratic buck-boost DC-DC converter without floating gate-driver

A novel buck-boost dc-dc converter with high voltage step-up and step-down ability has been introduced in this paper. There are two switches in this converter, of which the sources are connected together and also connected to the ground of the input voltage source. Hence, there is no need for floating gate driver. In addition, the voltage stress of one of the switches is lower than the existing quadratic buck-boost converters. Performance of the analytical results is validated using both simulation in MATLAB/SIMULINK and experimental tests where the proposed converter is evaluated in both buck and boost modes.
Long-term consequences of kidney donation.

BACKGROUND The long-term renal consequences of kidney donation by a living donor are attracting increased appropriate interest. The overall evidence suggests that living kidney donors have survival similar to that of nondonors and that their risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is not increased. Previous studies have included relatively small numbers of donors and a brief follow-up period. METHODS We ascertained the vital status and lifetime risk of ESRD in 3698 kidney donors who donated kidneys during the period from 1963 through 2007; from 2003 through 2007, we also measured the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and urinary albumin excretion and assessed the prevalence of hypertension, general health status, and quality of life in 255 donors. RESULTS The survival of kidney donors was similar to that of controls who were matched for age, sex, and race or ethnic group. ESRD developed in 11 donors, a rate of 180 cases per million persons per year, as compared with a rate of 268 per million per year in the general population. At a mean (+/-SD) of 12.2+/-9.2 years after donation, 85.5% of the subgroup of 255 donors had a GFR of 60 ml per minute per 1.73 m(2) of body-surface area or higher, 32.1% had hypertension, and 12.7% had albuminuria. Older age and higher body-mass index, but not a longer time since donation, were associated with both a GFR that was lower than 60 ml per minute per 1.73 m(2) and hypertension. A longer time since donation, however, was independently associated with albuminuria. Most donors had quality-of-life scores that were better than population norms, and the prevalence of coexisting conditions was similar to that among controls from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) who were matched for age, sex, race or ethnic group, and body-mass index. CONCLUSIONS Survival and the risk of ESRD in carefully screened kidney donors appear to be similar to those in the general population. Most donors who were studied had a preserved GFR, normal albumin excretion, and an excellent quality of life.
Molecular Dynamics Simulation Reveals Correlated Inter-Lobe Motion in Protein Lysine Methyltransferase SMYD2

SMYD proteins are an exciting field of study as they are linked to many types of cancer-related pathways. Cardiac and skeletal muscle development and function also depend on SMYD proteins opening a possible avenue for cardiac-related treatment. Previous crystal structure studies have revealed that this special class of protein lysine methyltransferases have a bilobal structure, and an open–closed motion may regulate substrate specificity. Here we use the molecular dynamics simulation to investigate the still-poorly-understood SMYD2 dynamics. Cross-correlation analysis reveals that SMYD2 exhibits a negative correlated inter-lobe motion. Principle component analysis suggests that this correlated dynamic is contributed to by a twisting motion of the C-lobe with respect to the N-lobe and a clamshell-like motion between the lobes. Dynamical network analysis defines possible allosteric paths for the correlated dynamics. There are nine communities in the dynamical network with six in the N-lobe and three in the C-lobe, and the communication between the lobes is mediated by a lobe-bridging β hairpin. This study provides insight into the dynamical nature of SMYD2 and could facilitate better understanding of SMYD2 substrate specificity.
P2P architectures for distributed online social networks

Online Social Networks (OSNs) tipically exploit logically centralized infrastructure. The centralized nature of OSNs has several drawbacks including scalability, privacy, and dependence on a provider. Specifically, OSN privacy has become a major concern, particularly privacy and protection from massive data-mining and big-brotherly treatment of the users by the social networking service providers. In contrast to centralized OSNs, a distributed online social network helps to lower the cost of the provider drastically, and allows better control of user privacy. This has several consequences: in terms of privacy, no central data collection, nor any central entity that decides or changes the terms of service. In this paper we focus on the definition of P2P Distributed Online Social Network (DOSN) paradigm and propose a new approach to P2P DOSN based on Dunbar's number, which bounds the number of people one knows and keeps social contacts with.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Score in relapsed and non-relapsed addicted person

Introduction : Addiction is a physical and mental disease, causes various societal problems, including decline in public Health, mortality, social and domestic traumas, loss of educational and occupational opportunities in all aspects of life. This study aimed at comparing relapse of addiction in the personality characteristics of addicted individuals. The present study aims to examine the relationship between personality sketches with addiction relapse in addicted people. Materials and method : The research sample included addicted and former addicted person with addiction and no addiction relapse who referring to Raha Kish clinical center, Iran. Participants were selected using random sampling. The instrument was the Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory (MMPI). The hypotheses were tested using multiple analyses of variance, step by step differential analysis and between subjects effect test. Results: Results showed that there is a meaningful difference between addicted person who relapse and those who do not relapse. Also all clinical scale could predict personality sketch but 3 in those addicted who do not have relapse. Conclusion: Addicted person who do not have relapse outperform in personality sketch in compare with those addicted who have relapse because of lower personality trait.
Acquisition of a large pose-mosaic dataset

We describe the generation of a large pose-mosaic dataset: a collection of several thousand digital images, grouped by spatial position into spherical mosaics, each annotated with estimates of the acquiring camera's 6 DOF pose (3 DOF position and 3 DOF orientation) in an absolute coordinate system. The pose-mosaic dataset was generated by acquiring images, grouped by spatial position into nodes (essentially, spherical mosaics). A prototype mechanical pan-tilt head was manually deployed to acquire the data. Manual surveying provided initial position estimates for each node. A back-projecting scheme provided initial rotational estimates. Relative rotations within each node, along with internal camera parameters, were refined automatically by an optimization-correlation scheme. Relative translations and rotations among nodes were refined according to point correspondences, generated automatically and by a human operator. The resulting pose-imagery is self-consistent under a variety of evaluation metrics. Pose-mosaics are useful "first-class" data objects, for example in automatic reconstruction of textured 3D CAD models which represent urban exteriors.
Poster: styrofoam: a tightly packed coding scheme for camera-based visible light communication

Screen-to-camera visible-light communication links are fundamentally limited by inter-symbol interference, in which the camera receives multiple overlapping symbols in a single capture exposure. By determining interference constraints, we are able to decode symbols with multi-bit depth across all three color channels. We present Styrofoam, a coding scheme which optimally satisfies the constraints by inserting blank frames into the transmission pattern. The coding scheme improves upon the state-of-the-art in camera-based visible-light communication by: (1) ensuring a decode with at least half-exposure of colored multi-bit symbols, (2) limiting decode latency to two transmission frames, and (3) transmitting 0.4 bytes per grid block at the slowest camera's frame rate. In doing so, we outperform peer unsynchronized VLC transmission schemes by 2.9x. Our implementation on smartphone displays and cameras achieves 69.1 kbps.
Analysis of finite sample size quantum hypothesis testing via martingale concentration inequalities

Martingale concentration inequalities constitute a powerful mathematical tool in the analysis of problems in a wide variety of fields ranging from probability and statistics to information theory and machine learning. Here we apply such inequalities to finite sample size quantum hypothesis testing, which is the problem of discriminating quantum states belonging to two different sequences {ρn}n and {σn}n, for a finite n. We obtain upper bounds on the type II Steinand Hoeffding errors, which, for i.i. d. states, are in general tighter than the corresponding bounds obtained by Audenaert, Mosonyi and Verstrate in [4]. Moreover, our bounds are also valid for sequences of non-i.i. d. states which satisfy certain conditions. We also use a martingale concentration inequality to obtain an upper bound on the second order asymptotics of the type II error exponent in the setting of quantum Stein’s lemma, for certain classes of states.
Supporting the creation of hybrid museum experiences

This paper presents the evolution of a tool to support the rapid prototyping of hybrid museum experiences by domain professionals. The developed tool uses visual markers to associate digital resources with physical artefacts. We present the iterative development of the tool through a user centred design process and demonstrate its use by domain experts to realise two distinct hybrid exhibits. The process of design and refinement of the tool highlights the need to adopt an experience oriented approach allowing authors to think in terms of the physical and digital "things" that comprise a hybrid experience rather than in terms of the underlying technical components.