Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Artificial Fish Schools: Collective Effects of School Size, Body Size, and Body Form

Individual-based models of schooling in fish have demonstrated that, via processes of self-organization, artificial fish may school in the absence of a leader or external stimuli, using local information only. We study for the first time how body size and body form of artificial fish affect school formation in such a model. For a variety of group sizes we describe how school characteristics (i.e., group form, spread, density, polarization, turning rate, and speed) depend on body characteristics. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the nearest neighbor distance and turning rate of individuals are different for different regions in the group, although the agents are completely identical. Our approach shows the significance of both self-organization and embodiment in modeling of schools of artificial fish and, probably, in structuring schools of real fish.
Evaluating geo-social influence in location-based social networks

The emerging location-based social network (LBSN) services not only allow people to maintain cyber links with their friends, but also enable them to share the events happening on them at different locations. The geo-social correlations among event participants make it possible to quantify mutual user influence for various events. Such a quantification of influence could benefit a wide spectrum of real-life applications such as targeted advertising and viral marketing. In this paper, we perform an in-depth analysis of the geo-social correlations among LBSN users at event level, based on which we address two problems: user influence evaluation and influential events discovery. To capture the geo-social closeness between LBSN users, we propose a unified influence metric. This metric combines a novel social proximity measure named penalized hitting time, with a geographical weight function modeled by power law distribution. We propose two approximate algorithms, namely global iteration (GI) and dynamic neighborhood expansion (DNE), to efficiently evaluate user influence with tight theoretical error bounds. We then adopt the sampling technique and the threshold algorithm to support efficient retrieval of top-K influential events. Extensive experiments on both real-life and synthetic LBSN data sets confirm that the proposed algorithms are effective, efficient, and scalable.
Evaluation of microbial Bioherbicides for Eichhornia crassipes to rejuvenate water bodies of Punjab

Mycoherbicides are exclusive biotechnology products which offer a non-chemical solution to control noxious weeds on the land as well as aquatic in systems, viz a viz saving environment from hazardous impact of synthetic chemicals. The present paper highlights the mycobiota associated with Eichhornia crassipes infesting Harike wetland area of Punjab and evaluation of their pathogenic potential for futuristic application as a mycoherbicide. Of the 20 isolates tested by leaf detached assay and whole plant bioassays, only one isolate (#8 BJSSL) caused 100% damage to E. crassipes. Further, the culture filtrate of this isolate also exhibited a similar damage to the leaves in an in vitro detached leaf assay. The potential isolate was identified as Phaeoacremonium italicum using classical and modern molecular methods. This is the first report of P. italicum as a pathogen of E. crassipes and of its potential use as a biological control agent for the management of water hyacinth.
Child Maltreatment, Trauma, and Physical Health Outcomes: The Role of Abuse Type and Placement Moves on Health Conditions and Service Use for Youth in Foster Care.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study was to investigate the relations between abuse types, non-maltreatment-related trauma, and health service utilization in a sample of youth in foster care with and without chronic medical conditions. METHOD A total of 213 youth, aged 8-21 years, provided self-report of general trauma and abuse exposure. Medicaid claims for each child were collected from official state databases. RESULTS Exposure to sexual abuse, neglect, or general trauma but not exposure to physical abuse or psychological abuse increased the rates of medical visits, while only general trauma increased medical hospitalizations. CONCLUSIONS Trauma types are not equally predictive of health care utilization for youth with chronic health conditions.
On the asymptotic stability with respect to a part of variables of solutions of nonlinear systems with delay

A class of nonlinear time-delay systems is studied. With the aid of the Lyapunov direct method and the Razumikhin approach, conditions are found under which one can guarantee that the zero solutions of the considered systems are stable with respect to all variables and asymptotically stable with respect to a part of variables. An example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.
The logical disk: a new approach to improving file systems

The Logical Disk (LD) defines a new interface to disk storage that separates file management and disk management by using logical block numbers and block lists. The LD interface is designed to support multiple file systems and to allow multiple implementations, both of which are important given the increasing use of kernels that support multiple operating system personalities.A log-structured implementation of LD (LLD) demonstrates that LD can be implemented efficiently. LLD adds about 5% to 10% to the purchase cost of a disk for the main memory it requires. Combining LLD with an existing file system results in a log-structured file system that exhibits the same performance characteristics as the Sprite log-structured file system.
Information Security Behavior: Factors and Research Directions

This study presents an extensive literature review on information security behavior in the context of factors affecting security behavior of users in organizational environments. The study critically analyzes articles in the information security behavior and brings forward 18 themes for security practitioners and researchers to consider in implementing information security initiatives. The findings of this review can be used by researchers and practitioners as a roadmap to guide further research in information security behavior. Also, the various factors identified in this paper can be used to improve information security programs in organizations.
Cardiovascular Mortality and Exposure to Airborne Fine Particulate Matter and Cigarette Smoke: Shape of the Exposure-Response Relationship

Background— Fine particulate matter exposure from both ambient air pollution and secondhand cigarette smoke has been associated with larger risks of cardiovascular mortality than would be expected on the basis of linear extrapolations of the relative risks from active smoking. This study directly assessed the shape of the exposure-response relationship between cardiovascular mortality and fine particulates from cigarette smoke and ambient air pollution. Methods and Results— Prospective cohort data for >1 million adults were collected by the American Cancer Society as part of the Cancer Prevention Study II in 1982. Cox proportional hazards regression models that included variables for increments of cigarette smoking and variables to control for education, marital status, body mass, alcohol consumption, occupational exposures, and diet were used to describe the mortality experience of the cohort. Adjusted relative risks of mortality were plotted against estimated average daily dose of fine particulate matter from cigarette smoke along with comparison estimates for secondhand cigarette smoke and air pollution. There were substantially increased cardiovascular mortality risks at very low levels of active cigarette smoking and smaller but significant excess risks even at the much lower exposure levels associated with secondhand cigarette smoke and ambient air pollution. Conclusions— Relatively low levels of fine particulate exposure from either air pollution or secondhand cigarette smoke are sufficient to induce adverse biological responses increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality. The exposure-response relationship between cardiovascular disease mortality and fine particulate matter is relatively steep at low levels of exposure and flattens out at higher exposures.
Pursuing the origin of electroweak symmetry breaking: a 'Bayesian Physics' argument for a 600 GeV e+e- collider

High-energy data has been accumulating over the last ten years, and it should not be ignored when making decisions about the future experimental program. In particular, we argue that the electroweak data collected at LEP, SLC and Tevatron indicate a light scalar particle with mass less than 500 GeV. This result is based on considering a wide variety of theories including the Standard Model, supersymmetry, large extra dimensions, and composite models. We argue that a high luminosity, 600 GeV e+e- collider would then be the natural choice to feel confident about finding and studying states connected to electroweak symmetry breaking. We also argue from the data that worrying about resonances at multi-TeV energies as the only signal for electroweak symmetry breaking is not as important a discovery issue for the next generation of colliders. Such concerns should perhaps be replaced with more relevant discovery issues such as a Higgs boson that decays invisibly, and ``new physics'' that could conspire with a heavier Higgs boson to accommodate precision electroweak data. An e+e- collider with energy less than about 600 GeV is ideally suited to cover these possibilities.
Horizontal advection of temperature and salinity by Rossby waves in the North Pacific

ABSTRACT The Aquarius satellite has been used for the first time to characterize Rossby waves in sea surface salinity (SSS) measurements for the North Pacific Ocean. Westward propagating wave signals are delineated by the SSS zonal salinity gradients. The phase velocities and spectral properties obtained from zonal salinity gradients are closely correlated with corresponding values obtained from the sea surface temperature (SST) zonal gradient and the altimetry-derived meridional velocity. The westward propagating SSS signals are consistent with Rossby wave advection across the strong meridional gradients of water characteristics. Following Killworth, we attempted to provide satellite-based estimates of the contribution of horizontal Rossby wave advection to the surface transfer of temperature and salinity in the North Pacific Ocean. Westward propagating signals in the SST and SSS zonal gradient fields show that the observed intensity of meridional advection by the ambient gradients of SST and SSS is less than the intensity predicted by an analytical solution of the transfer equation for Rossby waves. Our results extend the previous studies of physical mechanisms of Rossby wave manifestation at the sea surface and we demonstrate that Rossby waves are responsible for low-frequency oscillations in SST and SSS concentration in the North Pacific.
EU ESPRIT-LTR Project ( 26270 ) Verification of Hybrid Systems ( VHS ) Control of Piecewise-Linear Hybrid Systems Intermediate Report

The purpose of this report is to present research results on c ontrol of piecewise-linear hybrid systems of an investigation carried out as part of the project Verific ation of Hybrid Systems (VHS). Many engineering systems can in a first approximation be desc ribed by a piecewise-linear hybrid system. Moreover, the computational and complexity is sue of this class of systems seems comparatively simple. Therefore this class deserves atten tion for the development of control theory. E.D. Sontag has introduced the class of piecewise-linear sy stems in a paper published in 1981, see [48]. A subclass of this class forms the piecewise-linear hy brid systems as defined elsewhere in this report, see [50]. Hybrid systems have been considered since the 1980’s, see [14] for references and [55] for a definition. Piecewise-linear hybrid systems are, in regard to the geometry of the spaces, based on polyhedral sets. The fact that polyhedral sets can b e described by finite-dimensional parameters, makes these sets a suitable class of objects for control and system theory of hybrid systems. Thus the class of piecewise-linear hybrid systems seems very useful for modelling of engineering systems and because of its mathematical proper ties. About control synthesis for hybrid systems has been written by many researchers, in particular by those of the research group of Shankar Sastry at the Univer sity of California at Berkeley. Yet it is fair to say that the current status of control theory for hy brid systems is far from satisfactory. No
Low-cost satellite attitude control sensors based on integrated infrared detector arrays

This paper describes attitude control systems (ACS) for satellites and a new, static system based on an integrated infrared (IR) detector array. After a short introduction on the use and control of satellites in general, we explain the advantage of static systems, made possible by the use of integrated IR detector arrays. In particular, the static system is lighter and smaller than the previous systems, and requires less power. The electronics is updated to state-of-the art, increasing the autonomy of the system and thereby reducing its dependence upon the satellite microcontroller. The detectors are based on a bipolar silicon process for the mechanical structure (using electrochemically controlled etching-KOH etching), with an SiN membrane for thermal isolation of the pixels, which have a polymer black coating for transduction of radiation to heat and n-type versus p-type polysilicon thermopiles for heat detection. The pixel pitch is 600 /spl mu/m, the black area is approximately 495 /spl times/ 440 /spl mu/m/sup 2/, and the pixel sensitivity is approximately 55 V/W, at a thermopile resistance of 23 k/spl Omega/. Two types of detectors have been designed: a single-array type with 32 pixels in two staggered arrays, and a chip with four 32-pixel arrays integrated in a cross. This has made it possible to make a family of earth sensors for the different missions in space.
Precision Survey and Archaeological Methodology in Deep Water

New technologies allow archaeologists to explore the human past in the depths of the ocean, far beyond the 50 meter depth boundary set by SCUBA diving. Using robots and advanced sensors originally developed for other applications, social scientists now are following the path of marine scientists, adapting deep submergence technologies for their own research. Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) allow archaeologists to survey the sea floor to depths of 6000 m. This brings 98% of the world’s ocean floor within reach, and increases dramatically the number of underwater sites available for archaeological study. Several projects in the past five years in the Mediterranean and Black Seas have proven the scientific merit of archaeology in deep water and trained an international cadre of archaeologists in the new technology. Experience shows it is imperative that work in deep water be collaborative. Projects are particularly fruitful when they bring together as a team technologists familiar with the systems, archaeologists trained in the methods of deep water work, and archaeologists specializing in the period, cultures, and geographical regions pertinent to the shipwrecks. A key lesson is that while technology plays a significant part in this work, it must be combined with the research designs, methodology, and insights of archaeologists to form deep water archaeology into a rigorous scientific practice. Toward this goal, underwater vehicles, precision navigation, and remote sensors designed specifically for archaeology will allow archaeologists to make fundamental discoveries about ancient cultures.
The 2017 Record Marine Heatwave in the Southwestern Atlantic Shelf

Marine heatwaves (MHWs), considered as one when temperatures warmer than the 90th percentile based on a 30‐year historical baseline period are registered for five or more consecutive days, can have devastating ecosystem and socioeconomic consequences. MHWs were studied in the Southwestern Atlantic shelf (32–38°S) using daily sea surface temperatures between 1988 and 2017. More than half of the days with MHWs occurred since 2014. The most intense event happened in austral summer 2017, reaching temperatures of 26.8 °C, 1.7 °C above previous maximum. Regionally, an unprecedented combination of persistent extremely high air temperature and low wind speed probably led to an intense loop of heat gaining and stratification in the Rio de la Plata plume water's influence. At upper levels, the atmospheric circulation had a wavenumber of 3 pattern before the event and a blocking configuration during the event. Madden‐Julian Oscillation seems to have played a leading role in setting this planetary scale configuration.
A wireless gait measuring instrument based on plantar pressure measuring

In this paper, we developed a gait measuring instrument for those who are short on walking, such as children with cerebral palsy, post-stroke, and etc… This gait measuring instrument can measure the pressure distribution under sole of a patient's feet with a pair of insoles with tactile sensors fixed on them. Then the instrument sends the information to our PC wirelessly. The pc displays information of the pressure distribution and gait information to doctors with 3d interface. Thus, doctors can map out a rehabilitation program for every patient individually according to the information, helping them recover the ability to walk.
Output synchronization of linear multi-agent systems under constant disturbances via distributed integral action

This paper solves the output synchronization problem for groups of identical linear agents subject to constant external disturbances. We propose novel distributed control laws with integral action. In a first step, we assume that each agent has access to its own state. Then, we present observer-based implementations for the cases where each agent has only access to its output or to a relative output measurement with respect to its neighbors in the graph. We show that this method can also be used in order to solve a cooperative distributed tracking problem, where each agent has a local reference signal and the group objective is to synchronize to the sum or average of all their references. Numerical examples illustrate the results.
PATHWAYS OF CARBAMAZEPINE BIOACTIVATION IN VITRO: II. THE ROLE OF HUMAN CYTOCHROME P450 ENZYMES IN THE FORMATION OF 2-HYDROXYIMINOSTILBENE

Conversion of the carbamazepine metabolite, 2-hydroxycarbamazepine, to the potentially reactive species, carbamazepine iminoquinone (CBZ-IQ), has been proposed as a possible bioactivation pathway in the pathogenesis of carbamazepine-induced hypersensitivity. Generation of CBZ-IQ has been proposed to proceed through the intermediate, 2-hydroxyiminostilbene (2-OHIS); however, data suggested that 2-hydroxycarbamazepine is oxidized by cytochromes P450 (P450s) directly to CBZ-IQ, followed by NADPH-mediated reduction to 2-OHIS. In vitro studies were conducted to identify the P450s responsible for converting 2-hydroxycarbamazepine to 2-OHIS and to determine functional consequences of this bioactivation pathway. Formation of 2-OHIS in human liver microsomes (HLMs) was consistent with monophasic, Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The sample-to-sample variation in the rate of 2-OHIS formation correlated significantly (r2 ≥ 0.706) with CYP3A4/5 and CYP2B6 activities in a panel of HLMs (n = 10). Studies with a panel of cDNA-expressed enzymes revealed that CYP3A4 preferentially catalyzed 2-OHIS formation; CYP3A4 formed 2-OHIS at a rate >10 times that of other enzymes capable of forming 2-OHIS (CYP1A1, CYP2C19, and CYP3A7). Inhibitors of CYP3A enzymes markedly impaired 2-OHIS formation in HLMs, whereas inhibitors of other P450s resulted in ≤20% inhibition. Although CYP3A4 was primarily responsible for converting 2-hydroxycarbamazepine to 2-OHIS, neither 2-hydroxycarbamazepine, 2-OHIS, nor CBZ-IQ caused time-dependent inactivation of CYP3A activity. No thiol adducts were formed directly from 2-hydroxycarbamazepine. However, glutathione- and N-acetylcysteine-conjugates were formed with 2-OHIS or CBZ-IQ as substrates. Thus, CYP3A4-dependent secondary oxidation of 2-hydroxycarbamazepine represents a potential carbamazepine bioactivation pathway leading to the formation of thiol-reactive metabolites, intermediates that may play a role in the etiology of idiosyncratic toxicity attributed to carbamazepine.
Volatile Compounds of Healthy and Insect-Damaged Hippophae rhamnoides sinensis in Natural and Planted Forests

Volatile compounds of healthy and insect-damaged stems of Hippophae rhamnoides sinensis were analysed using dynamic headspace and thermal-desorption cold-trap injector gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (TCT-GC/MS). Sixteen compounds, belonging to alkanes, alcohols, aldehydes, esters, ketones, and ethers, were identified in the stems of healthy H. rhamnoides sinensis; the compounds in H. rhamnoides sinensis occurring naturally or cultivated in plantations were similar, but the relative contents were significantly different. In plants damaged by Holcocerus hippophaecolus, the nature and content of the volatile compounds were greatly changed. Butanedione and butyl glyoxylate were newly generated after damage by the pest, and the relative levels of pentanal, heptanal, eucalyptol, terpineol, and camphor were sharply increased in both naturally occurring and plantation-grown plants. n-Decane, trans-2-nonen-1-ol, and n-hexadecane levels increased in plants cultivated in the plantation and decreased in natural forests, whereas the levels of other types were reduced. Thus, both the nature and the content of volatile compounds of H. rhamnoides sinensis are affected by H. hippophaecolus damage, providing a theoretical basis to identify the mechanism of pest destruction
Effects of APOE promoter polymorphism on the topological organization of brain structural connectome in nondemented elderly

The polymorphism of the Apolipoprotein E (APOE) promoter rs405509 can regulate the transcriptional activity of the APOE gene and is related to Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, its effects on cognitive performance and the underlying brain mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we performed a battery of neuropsychological tests in a large sample (837 subjects) of nondemented elderly Chinese people, and explored the related brain mechanisms via the construction of diffusion MRI‐based structural connectome and graph analysis from a subset (84 subjects) of the sample. Cognitively, the rs405509 risk allele (TT) carriers showed decreased attention and execution functions compared with noncarriers (GG/GT). Regarding the topological alterations of the brain connectome, the risk allele group exhibited reduced global and local efficiency of white matter structural networks, mainly in the left anterior and posterior cingulate cortices (PCC). Importantly, the efficiency of the left PCC is correlated with the impaired attention function and mediates the impacts of the rs405509 genotype on attention. These results demonstrated that the rs405509 polymorphism affects attention function in nondemented elderly people, possibly by modulating brain structural connectivity of the PCC. This polymorphism may help us to understand the neural mechanisms of cognitive aging and to serve as a potential marker assessing the risk of AD. Hum Brain Mapp 36:4847–4858, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.