Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Back and Forth Error Compensation and Correction Methods for Semi-Lagranging Schemes with Application to Interface Computation Using Level Set Method

Semi-Lagranging schemes have been explored by several authors recently for transport problems in particular for moving interfaces using level set method. We incorporate the backward error compensation method developed in [2] into the semi-Lagranging schemes with almost the same simplicity and three times the complexity of a first order semi-Lagranging scheme but improve the order of accuracy. When applying this simple semi-Lagranging scheme to the level set method in interface computation, we observe good improvement comparable to results computed with other more complicated methods.
Can a Recommender System Induce Serendipitous Encounters

Today recommenders are commonly used with various purposes, especially dealing with ecommerce and information filtering tools. Content-based recommenders rely on the concept of similarity between the bought/searched/visited item and all the items stored in a repository. It is a common belief that the user is interested in what is similar to what she has already bought/searched/visited. We believe that there are some contexts in which this assumption is wrong: it is the case of acquiring unsearched but still useful items or pieces of information. This is called serendipity. Our purpose is to stimulate users and facilitate these serendipitous encounters to happen. This chapter presents the design and implementation of a hybrid recommender system that joins a content-based approach and serendipitous heuristics in order to mitigate the overspecialization problem with surprising suggestions. The chapter is organized as follows: Section 2 presents background and motivation; Section 3 introduces the serendipity issue for information seeking; Section 4 covers strategies to provide serendipitous recommendations; Section 5 provides a description of our recommender system and how it discovers potentially serendipitous items in addition to content-based suggested ones; Section 6 provides the description of the experimental session carried out to evaluate the proposed ideas; finally, Section 7 draws conclusions and provides directions for future work.
Hypocholesterolemic effect of Lactobacillus gasseri SBT0270 in rats fed a cholesterol-enriched diet

The effects of administration of Lactobacillus gasseri SBT0270 on serum lipids and bile acids, faecal bile acids and microflora were estimated in hypercholesterolemic rats. An effective dose of strain SBT0270 to exert its hypocholesterolemic effect was 109 viable cells/d. The dose of 109 cells/d did not affect the faecal coliform counts, but the number of faecal lactobacilli in rats fed this dose was significantly higher than that in the control group observed at the end of feeding period. Hypocholesterolemic effect of Lb. gasseri SBT0270 was attributed to its ability to suppress the reabsorption of bile acids into the enterohepatic circulation and to enhance the excretion of acidic steroids in faeces of hypercholesterolemic rats.
Graphene field-effect transistors based on boron nitride gate dielectrics

Graphene field-effect transistors are fabricated utilizing single-crystal hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), an insulating isomorph of graphene, as the gate dielectric. The devices exhibit mobility values exceeding 10,000 cm2/V-sec and current saturation down to 500 nm channel lengths with intrinsic transconductance values above 400 mS/mm. The work demonstrates the favorable properties of using h-BNas a gate di-electric for graphene FETs.
Simulation of Electric Propulsion Thrusters (Preprint)

Abstract : Electric propulsion thrusters are replacing small chemical thrusters used for spacecraft control and orbital maneuvers. These thrusters use a variety of mechanisms to convert electrical power into thrust and in general provide superior specific impulse in comparison to chemical systems. Electric propulsion has been under development for the last fifty years, and almost all thrusters are designed based largely on experience and experimentation. The present article considers the progress made in numerical simulation of electric propulsion thrusters. Due to the wide range of such devices, attention is restricted to electric propulsion thruster types that are presently in use by orbiting spacecraft. The physical regimes created in these thrusters indicate that a variety of numerical methods are required for accurate numerical simulation ranging from continuum formulations to kinetic approaches. Successes of numerical simulation models are demonstrated through specific examples. It is concluded that numerical simulations can be expected to play a more prominent role in the design and evolution of future electric propulsion thrusters.
MRSA Transmission between Cows and Humans

We isolated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from cows with subclinical mastitis and from a person who worked with these animals. The bovine and human strains were indistinguishable by phenotyping and genotyping methods and were of a low frequency spa type. To our knowledge, this finding indicates the first documented case of direct transmission of MRSA between cows and humans.
Aneurysm detection in 3D cerebral angiograms based on intra-vascular distance mapping and convolutional neural networks

Early and more sensitive detection of small aneurysms in 3D cerebral angiograms is required to prevent potentially fatal rupture events. Herein, we propose a novel method that entails structure enhancement filtering to highlight potential aneurysm locations, intra-vascular distance mapping for regional vascular shape encoding and dimensionality reduction and a convolutional neural network to automatically determine optimal features and classification rules for aneurysm detection. Evaluation on 15 3D digital subtraction angiograms showed better performance of the proposed method compared to enhancement filtering and random forest based methods, as it achieved a 100% detection sensitivity at a low number of false positives (2.4 per dataset). The proposed method is also applicable to other angiographic modalities.
The shifted Rayleigh filter for 3D bearings-only measurements with clutter

Bearings-only tracking concerns the estimation of the position of a moving target from noisy measurements of the direction of the target relative to the sensor platform. We present an algorithm for bearings-only tracking, in which the measurements are in 3D space and are corrupted by clutter. In common with the earlier proposed shifted Rayleigh filter (SRF), the algorithm is based on exact calculations of the updated conditional mean and covariance of the state variable, under the assumption of a Gaussian prior. The presence of clutter on bearings measurements in 3D space adds considerably to the difficulty of performing these exact calculations. We report on simulations in a challenging scenario, aimed at comparing the performance of various trackers. In these simulations, the proposed tracking algorithm consistently outperforms other moment matching filters and the mean square tracking error compares favorably with the posterior Cramér-Rao lower bound (CRLB).
One hundred years in the Norwegian Sea

At the turn of the 20th century oceanographic research in Norway became extensive and reached a peak in 1909 when Helland-Hansen & Nansen published The Norwegian Sea, a comprehensive description of the oceanographic features of the Nordic Seas. Since then, oceanographers have contributed to two main aspects that were largely inaccessible to the early pioneers, namely quantifying the exchanges of heat, salt and mass between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans through the Nordic Seas, and piecing together indication of the longer term variability of the system. During the past 100 years, six events in particular have made an impact on the physical environment of the Norwegian Sea on a timescale of decades, each seeming to involve a different mix of ocean-climate processes, and each therefore providing new insight into the varied nature of physical change and ecosystem response: 1) the Great Chill, 1900–1920; 2) the Warming in the North, 1920–1960; 3) the Great Salinity Anomaly, 1968–1982; 4) the Warming of the Abyss, 1970–present day; 5) the freshening of the subarctic seas; and 6) the warming of the Arctic.
Quadratic and Near-Quadratic Lower Bounds for the CONGEST Model

We present the first super-linear lower bounds for natural graph problems in the CONGEST model, answering a long-standing open question. Specifically, we show that any exact computation of a minimum vertex cover or a maximum independent set requires $\Omega(n^2/\log^2{n})$ rounds in the worst case in the CONGEST model, as well as any algorithm for $\chi$-coloring a graph, where $\chi$ is the chromatic number of the graph. We further show that such strong lower bounds are not limited to NP-hard problems, by showing two simple graph problems in P which require a quadratic and near-quadratic number of rounds. Finally, we address the problem of computing an exact solution to weighted all-pairs-shortest-paths (APSP), which arguably may be considered as a candidate for having a super-linear lower bound. We show a simple $\Omega(n)$ lower bound for this problem, which implies a separation between the weighted and unweighted cases, since the latter is known to have a complexity of $\Theta(n/\log{n})$. We also formally prove that the standard Alice-Bob framework is incapable of providing a super-linear lower bound for exact weighted APSP, whose complexity remains an intriguing open question.
Stable Channels with Mobile Gravel Beds

Regime type equations for mobile gravel-bed rivers are presented based on data obtained from 62 stable gravel-bed river reaches in the United Kingdom. Multiple regression techniques are applied to derive equations relating reach average and riffle values of width, mean and maximum depth, slope, velocity, sinuosity and riffle spacing to bankfull discharge, bed and bank material characteristics, valley slope, bank vegetation type and an independent estimate of bankfull bed load transport rates. Although discharge has a dominant control on channel geometry, these equations indicate that bed load discharge also has a significant influence, particularly with regard to channel slope. Bank vegetation has a major control on width and velocity while depth, velocity and slope are storngly affected by bed material size. Reasons for these results are considered in terms of the physical processes controlling channel adjustment. The application of these regime equations is discussed, and particular consideration is given to the design of sinuous channels with a pool-riffle bed topograph.
Research for the Pattern Analysis of Individual Interest Using SNS Data: Focusing on Facebook

The number of global SNS users is rapidly increasing because SNS is executed by the device called Smartphone and enables the users to overcome time and space barrier with low cost. This would be a proof that the SNS is deeply involved in the communication between many people and related data is continuously increasing. Like this, data volume for SNS continues to increase due to the increasing users and the experts are doing the research considering data reusability. In particular, even though there are many researches to provide the individually customized information using the comments which exist in the SNS, there is a limitation to get the personal information due to the number of characters (approximately 150 words) which is a characteristic of SNS. However, most data which are written by the users still exist because of the characteristic of SNS and continuously stored data are considered to be the data which could sufficiently identify the characteristics of the individual users. Therefore in this paper, interested areas of the individuals are to be identified using the comments of individual users and their friends, and the patterns are to be analyzed in each interested area and finally, the analyzed data will be used for future research.
Cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity in youth with type 2 diabetes

Objective: The increased incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) among youth is hypothesized to be due, in part, to low levels of fitness and activity. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to examine whether cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity are reduced in youth with T2D compared with overweight controls.
Buried-waste integrated demonstration retrieval projects

Prior to 1970, the US Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) primary method for the disposal of transuranic mixed waste was burial in pits and trenches. As an example, between 1952 and 1970, more than 2 million ft{sup 3} of waste was buried at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory`s (INEL`s) Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC). The contaminants at the RWMC include plutonium and americium oxides, chlorides, hydroxides, volatile organics (trichloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride, etc.), and cutting oils. The waste containers are assumed to be severely deteriorated, and the waste is expected to be commingled with {approx} 6 million ft{sup 3} of fill dirt. The buried waste integrated program was designed to remove the waste and remediate the contaminated area. Current activities associated with this program are described.
Dynamics of the Current Distribution in a Discharge of the PF-3 Plasma Focus Facility

In this paper, results are presented from studies of the dynamics of the plasma-current sheath and current distribution in the PF-3 facility, one of the largest plasma focus machines in the world. The experiments were done at input energy of W = 290 kJ and discharge current of I ~ 2 MA, with the chamber being stationary filled with the working gas. The current sheath parameters were measured with absolutely calibrated magnetic probes installed at different distances from the system axis and at different heights above the anode plane. The possibility is demonstrated of the formation of closed current loops due to the development of shunting breakdowns in the insulator region. The maximum residual plasma density at which the electrode gap remains magnetically self-insulated is estimated.
Coefficients for sea surface wind stress, heat flux, and wind profiles as a function of wind speed and temperature

Surface layer coefficients for wind profiles, wind stress, and heat flux in typical open sea conditions are briefly reviewed. Businger-Dyer flux-gradient relationships and a Charnock wind stress formula fit the empirical data and are dimensionally consistent. These have been solved by an iterative method, and the results are presented in a tabular form suitable for climatological calculations from marine wind and temperature data.
Pesticide Leaching Models in a Brazilian Agricultural Field Scenario

The use of Pesticide Leaching Models (PLM) for risk assessment may be an efficient and attractive way of assessing solutions to some agricultural and environmental problems. Many countries of the European Union and the USA have been using PLM for risk assessment already for a few decades. This chapter has the aim to present a successful application of two PLM (i.e. MACRO and PEARL) in a Brazilian very intensive agricultural area to simulate moisture profiles and the leaching of a water flow tracer (i.e. bromide) and the pesticides cyproconazole and thiamethoxam. Also attempts to summarize the available knowledge about the processes governing pesticide behavior in soil, types and classifications of PLM, the use of PLM for risk assessment at European Union, a theoretical description of PEARL and MACRO models and their testing in a Brazilian agricultural field scenario.
X‐Chromosome Dosage Compensation

The X and Y chromosomes of placental and marsupial mammals originated from a pair of autosomes. Ohno hypothesised nearly 50 years ago that the expression levels of X-linked genes should be doubled to compensate for the degeneration of their Y-linked homologues during sex chromosome evolution. The advent of microarray and RNA (ribonucleic acid) sequencing technologies in the past decade prompted a series of empirical tests of Ohno’s hypothesis. Surprisingly, X-chromosome dosage compensation is found to be largely absent in mammals. Studies of multiple independently evolved sex chromosome systems from a variety of species revealed a large variation in sex-chromosome dosage compensation, ranging from absence of compensation to complete compensation, although further scrutiny is required because of the high heterogeneities in expression data acquisition and analysis methods among studies. The lack of sex chromosome dosage compensation in at least some lineages has important implications for understanding gene expression evolution and sex chromosome evolution.
Historical effects of fishing on age structure and stock mixing in Northwest Atlantic bluefin tuna

Title of Document: HISTORICAL EFFECTS OF FISHING ON AGE STRUCTURE AND STOCK MIXING IN NORTHWEST ATLANTIC BLUEFIN TUNA Matthew Ryan Siskey, Master of Science, 2015 Directed By: Professor David H. Secor Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences Bluefin tuna support important fisheries in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, which have declined in yield from intense, size-selective exploitation. Age structure, size-at-age, and stock composition were investigated as principal responses to exploitation, utilizing otolith microstructural and chemical analysis. To evaluate otoliths as ageing structures, annulus formation was compared to temperature-associated oscillations in otolith strontium:calcium. Evaluation of otolith stable isotope measures used in stock composition analyses indicated significant differences in δO measurements between laboratories, but not δC values. Comparisons of age structure, size-at-age, and stock composition over three periods (1974-1978, 1996-2002, 2009-2014) coinciding with the cycle of exploitation intensity suggest size-selective fishing caused (1) age truncation, where median age declined (14 to 6 years); (2) minor changes in size-at-age; and (3) fluctuating stock composition, with peak mixing in the 1990s (48% eastern stock contribution). Size-specific reductions in fishing mortality could contribute to recovery through more frequent production of strong year-classes. HISTORICAL EFFECTS OF FISHING ON AGE STRUCTURE AND STOCK MIXING IN NORTHWEST ATLANTIC BLUEFIN TUNA
TECRL, a new life‐threatening inherited arrhythmia gene associated with overlapping clinical features of both LQTS and CPVT

Genetic causes of many familial arrhythmia syndromes remain elusive. In this study, whole‐exome sequencing (WES) was carried out on patients from three different families that presented with life‐threatening arrhythmias and high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Two French Canadian probands carried identical homozygous rare variant in TECRL gene (p.Arg196Gln), which encodes the trans‐2,3‐enoyl‐CoA reductase‐like protein. Both patients had cardiac arrest, stress‐induced atrial and ventricular tachycardia, and QT prolongation on adrenergic stimulation. A third patient from a consanguineous Sudanese family diagnosed with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) had a homozygous splice site mutation (c.331+1G>A) in TECRL. Analysis of intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) dynamics in human induced pluripotent stem cell‐derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC‐CMs) generated from this individual (TECRLHom‐hiPSCs), his heterozygous but clinically asymptomatic father (TECRLHet‐hiPSCs), and a healthy individual (CTRL‐hiPSCs) from the same Sudanese family, revealed smaller [Ca2+]i transient amplitudes as well as elevated diastolic [Ca2+]i in TECRLHom‐hiPSC‐CMs compared with CTRL‐hiPSC‐CMs. The [Ca2+]i transient also rose markedly slower and contained lower sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) calcium stores, evidenced by the decreased magnitude of caffeine‐induced [Ca2+]i transients. In addition, the decay phase of the [Ca2+]i transient was slower in TECRLHom‐hiPSC‐CMs due to decreased SERCA and NCX activities. Furthermore, TECRLHom‐hiPSC‐CMs showed prolonged action potentials (APs) compared with CTRL‐hiPSC‐CMs. TECRL knockdown in control human embryonic stem cell‐derived CMs (hESC‐CMs) also resulted in significantly longer APs. Moreover, stimulation by noradrenaline (NA) significantly increased the propensity for triggered activity based on delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs) in TECRLHom‐hiPSC‐CMs and treatment with flecainide, a class Ic antiarrhythmic drug, significantly reduced the triggered activity in these cells. In summary, we report that mutations in TECRL are associated with inherited arrhythmias characterized by clinical features of both LQTS and CPVT. Patient‐specific hiPSC‐CMs recapitulated salient features of the clinical phenotype and provide a platform for drug screening evidenced by initial identification of flecainide as a potential therapeutic. These findings have implications for diagnosis and treatment of inherited cardiac arrhythmias.
Salt transport and the time‐dependent salt balance of a partially stratified estuary

[1] The transport of salt along the channel of an estuary determines the length of the saline intrusion and provides bounds on the transfer of other substances. Observations of salt transport have been hampered by a lack of long time series measurements and complexities of the sampling situation (e.g., local topography and simultaneous variations of tides, freshwater, and winds). Here we estimate salt transport at a relatively uniform section of the Hudson Estuary over a 70-day period during drought conditions. The salt balance of the estuary is also assessed by comparing salt transport at the section with surveys of total salt content in the estuary. Most salt enters the estuary in monthly pulses of estuarine salt transport (i.e., spatial variations of tidally-averaged velocity and salinity) during apogean neap tides when vertical stratification is greatest. Oscillatory salt transport (i.e., the covariance of tidally-varying velocity and salinity) is a more minor player in the salt balance and shows a surprising lack of spring-neap variation. Integrated salt transport at the section is consistent with estimates of total salt content of the estuary; however, the mismatch in magnitude of the variations indicates that the salinity intrusion is not in equilibrium within the spring-neap cycle. In contrast, the salt balance adjusts rapidly to an increase in freshwater flow at the end of the deployment. A scaling argument is derived to illustrate the adjustment of the salinity intrusion to the tides and freshwater flow. The results suggest that time dependence is an intrinsic part of the estuarine salt balance.
Healthcare Fraud Detection Based on Trustworthiness of Doctors

Big data is now rapidly expanding into various domains such as banking, insurance and e-commerce. Data analysis and related studies have attracted more attentions. In health insurance, abuse of diagnosis is one of the key fraud problems, which damages the interests of insured people. To address this issue, numbers of studies have focused on this topic. This paper develops a healthcare fraud detection approach based on the trustworthiness of doctors to distinguish fraud cases from normal records. Compared to conventional methods, our approach can detect healthcare fraud in a good accuracy by only little feature information from healthcare data without the violation of privacy. This approach combines a weighted HITS algorithm with a frequent pattern mining algorithm to calculate a rational treatment model of a certain disease. In addition, this paper also introduces the copy precision behavior in the treatment sequences of patients, which is a critical metric to learn the trustworthiness of doctors. The numerical validation with a healthcare dataset demonstrates that healthcare fraud by misdiagnosis in healthcare treatments can be successfully detected by employing the developed fraud detection approach.