Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Radar Mappings of Attitude Analysis of Objects in Orbit

Inverse synthetic aperture radars (ISAR) are a valuable instrument for assessing the dynamic state of a large object in low Earth orbit. In particular, the images generated by these radars can reach a sufficient resolution to be used during launch support or contingency operations in low Earth orbit, i.e. for confirming the deployment of structures, determining the structural integrity, or analysing the dynamical behaviour of an object. However, the direct interpretation of ISAR images can be a difficult task due to the nature of the range-Doppler space in which these images are produced. To support the interpretation process, a tool has been developed by ESA’s Space Debris Office to generate radar mappings of a target in orbit. Such mappings are a 3D-model based simulation of how an ideal ISAR image would be generated by a ground based radar under given processing conditions. As the process for generating ISAR images assumes a scattering body, a rudimentary 3D model of the target is sufficient in order to derive information from the generated maps. Processing predefined attitude states in comparison with actual observations allows it to detect non-nominal behaviour or to determine attitude states of the target.
Spatial clumping of food and social dominance affect interference competition among ruddy turnstones

In studying the success of foraging animals, studies of interference competition have put emphasis on effects of competitor density, whereas studies of resource defense have focused on the effects of the spatial distribution of food within patches. Very few studies have looked at both factors simultaneously, that is, determined whether the effects of competitor density on foraging success depend on the spatial distribution of food. We studied the behavior and the foraging success of ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres) using an experiment in which we varied both the presence of a competitor and the food distribution. Because turnstones may differ strongly in their relative dominance status, we also experimentally varied the foragers’ relative dominance status. We found that the presence of a competitor only reduced the foraging success of subordinate birds foraging at the clumped food distribution. At this condition, dominant and subordinate birds differed markedly in their foraging success. Contrary to our expectations, we did not observe more agonistic behavior at the clumped food distribution. This indicates that the amount of agonistic behavior observed may be a bad indicator of interference effects. These findings have specific implications for models of interference competition. Most notably they show that the effects of competitor density on agonistic behavior and foraging success may well depend on the spatial distribution of food and the foragers’ relative dominance status. Additionally, our results suggest that social dominance will not be fully understood without considering long-term processes such as the formation and maintenance of social dominance hierarchies. Key words: agonistic interactions, Arenaria interpres, density dependence, foraging behavior, foraging experiment, resource defense. [Behav Ecol]
Towards a Taxonomy of Problem Solving Types

Our group's work in medical decision making has led us to formulate a framework for expert system design, in particular about how the domain knowledge may be decomposed into substructures. We propose that there exist different problem-solving types, i.e., uses of knowledge, and corresponding to each is a separate substructure specializing in that type of problem-solving. Each substructure is in turn further decomposed into a hierarchy of specialist which differ from each other not in the type of problem-solving, but in the conceptual content of their knowledge; e.g.; one of them may specialize in "heart disease," while another may do so in "liver," though both of them are doing the same type of problem solving. Thus ultimately all the knowledge in the system is distributed among problem-solvers which know how to use that knowledge. This is in contrast to the currently dominant expert system paradigm which proposes a common knowledge base accessed by knowledge-free problem-solvers of various kinds. In our framework there is no distinction between knowledge bases and problem-solvers: each knowledge source is a problem-solver. We have so far had occasion to deal with three generic problem-solving types in expert clinical reasoning: diagnosis (classification), data retrieval and organization, and reasoning about consequences of actions. In novice, these expert structures are often incomplete, and other knowledge structures and learning processes are needed to construct and complete them.
Phenotypically plastic adjustment of sex allocation in a simultaneous hermaphrodite

Sex allocation theory for simultaneous hermaphrodites predicts an influence of the mating group size on sex allocation. Mating group size may depend on the size of the group in which an individual lives, or on the density, but studies to date have not distinguished between the two factors. We performed an experiment in which we raised a transparent simultaneous hermaphrodite, the flatworm Macrostomum sp. , in different group sizes (pairs, triplets, quartets and octets) and in different enclosure sizes (small and large). This design allows us to differentiate between the effects of group size and density. After worms reached maturity we determined their reproductive allocation patterns from microscopic images taken in vivo. The results suggest that the mating group size is a function of the group size, and not of the density. They support the shift to higher male allocation in larger mating groups predicted by sex allocation theory. To our knowledge, this is the first study that unambiguously shows phenotypically plastic sex allocation in response to mating group size in a simultaneous hermaphrodite.
Next Generation Semiconductor Based Sequencing of the Donkey (Equus asinus) Genome Provided Comparative Sequence Data against the Horse Genome and a Few Millions of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms

Few studies investigated the donkey (Equus asinus) at the whole genome level so far. Here, we sequenced the genome of two male donkeys using a next generation semiconductor based sequencing platform (the Ion Proton sequencer) and compared obtained sequence information with the available donkey draft genome (and its Illumina reads from which it was originated) and with the EquCab2.0 assembly of the horse genome. Moreover, the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Analyzer was used to sequence reduced representation libraries (RRL) obtained from a DNA pool including donkeys of different breeds (Grigio Siciliano, Ragusano and Martina Franca). The number of next generation sequencing reads aligned with the EquCab2.0 horse genome was larger than those aligned with the draft donkey genome. This was due to the larger N50 for contigs and scaffolds of the horse genome. Nucleotide divergence between E. caballus and E. asinus was estimated to be ~ 0.52-0.57%. Regions with low nucleotide divergence were identified in several autosomal chromosomes and in the whole chromosome X. These regions might be evolutionally important in equids. Comparing Y-chromosome regions we identified variants that could be useful to track donkey paternal lineages. Moreover, about 4.8 million of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the donkey genome were identified and annotated combining sequencing data from Ion Proton (whole genome sequencing) and Ion Torrent (RRL) runs with Illumina reads. A higher density of SNPs was present in regions homologous to horse chromosome 12, in which several studies reported a high frequency of copy number variants. The SNPs we identified constitute a first resource useful to describe variability at the population genomic level in E. asinus and to establish monitoring systems for the conservation of donkey genetic resources.
analysis of transcription , and evolution Pseudogenes in the ENCODE regions : Consensus annotation , Material Supplemental

Open Access Open Access option. Genome Research Freely available online through the License Commons Creative . http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ described at as a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License), ). After six months, it is available under http://genome.cshlp. org/site/misc/terms.xhtml for the first six months after the full-issue publication date (see This article is distributed exclusively by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
A New Generic Taxonomy on Hybrid Malware Detection Technique

M alware is a type of malicious program that replicate from host machine and propagate through network. It has been considered as one type of computer attack and intrusion that can do a variety of malicious activity on a computer. This paper addresses the current trend of malware detection techniques and identifies the significant criteria in each technique to improve malware detection in Intrusion Detection System (IDS). Several existing techniques are analyzing from 48 various researches and the capability criteria of malware detection technique have been reviewed. From the analysis, a new generic taxonomy of malware detection technique have been proposed named Hybrid-Malware Detection Technique (Hybrid-MDT) which consists of Hybrid- Signature and Anomaly detection technique and Hybrid- Specification based and Anomaly detection technique to complement the weaknesses of the existing malware detection technique in detecting known and unknown attack as well as reducing false alert before and during the intrusion occur.
Controlled release of GDNF reduces nerve root‐mediated behavioral hypersensitivity

Nerve root compression produces persistent behavioral sensitivity in models of painful neck injury. This study utilized degradable poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels to deliver glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) to an injured nerve root. Hydrogels delivered ∼98% of encapsulated GDNF over 7 days in an in vitro release assay without the presence of neurons and produced enhanced outgrowth of processes in cortical neural cell primary cultures. The efficacy of a GDNF hydrogel placed on the root immediately after injury was assessed in a rat pain model of C7 dorsal root compression. Control groups included painful injury followed by: (1) vehicle hydrogel treatment (no GDNF), (2) a bolus injection of GDNF, or (3) no treatment. After injury, mechanical allodynia (n = 6/group) was significantly decreased with GDNF delivered by the hydrogel compared to the three injury control groups (p < 0.03). The bolus GDNF treatment did not reduce allodynia at any time point. The GDNF receptor (GFRα‐1) decreased in small, nociceptive neurons of the affected dorsal root ganglion, suggesting a decrease in receptor expression following injury. GDNF receptor immunoreactivity was significantly greater in these neurons following GDNF hydrogel treatment relative to GDNF bolus treated and untreated rats (p < 0.05). These data suggest efficacy for degradable hydrogel delivery of GDNF and support this treatment approach for nerve root‐mediated pain. © 2008 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 27:120–127, 2009
A New Variable Threshold Based Active Noise Control Systems for Improving Performance

Several approaches have been introduced in literature for active noise control (ANC) systems. Since FxLMS algorithm appears to be the best choice as a controller filter, researchers tend to improve performance of ANC systems by enhancing and modifying this algorithm. In this paper, the existing FxLMS algorithm is modified which provides a new structure for improving the tracking performance and convergence rate. The secondary signal y(n) is dynamically thresholded by wavelet transform to improve tracking. The convergence rate is improved dynamically by varying the step size of the error signal.
Unified Training of Feature Extractor and HMM Classifier for Speech Recognition

We present a new unified training scheme using a feature extractor and HMM classifiers for better speech recognition performance. Both feature extractor and classifier are trained simultaneously to minimize classification error. Multiframe features are extracted using spectro-temporal dynamics and the feature extractor is implemented as a multilayer network, which is trained by a backpropagation (BP) algorithm with the help of an HMM inversion algorithm. The initial parameter values of the feature extractor are set for Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) as well as their delta and acceleration components. The experiments for phoneme classification demonstrate the practicality of unified training.
Regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor mRNA in primary cultures of hippocampal neurons and astrocytes

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and NGF are both expressed by neurons in the hippocampus. In previous studies, it has been demonstrated that both BDNF and NGF mRNA levels are regulated by neuronal activity. Upregulation is predominantly regulated by the glutamate (NMDA and non-NMDA receptors); downregulation, predominantly by the GABA system (Zafra et al., 1990, 1991). In neuronal cultures of the rat hippocampus, potassium depolarization and kainic acid-mediated increases in BDNF and NGF mRNA were eliminated in a dose-dependent manner by the calcium channel blocker nifedipine. Conversely, calcium ionophores (Bay-K8644 and ionomycin) augmented BDNF and NGF mRNA levels by a calmodulin-mediated mechanism. In view of the fact that many potential modulators (conventional transmitters and neuropeptides) of neuronal and astrocytic BDNF and NGF mRNA synthesis may act via the adenylate cyclase system, we studied the effect of forskolin, an activator of adenylate cyclase. Indeed, forskolin enhanced the effects of calcium ionophores and kainic acid on BDNF and NGF mRNA levels. Cytokines, such as interleukin-1 and transforming growth factor-beta 1, which have previously been shown to increase NGF mRNA markedly in astrocytes, were without effect on neuronal BDNF and NGF mRNA levels. In contrast to neuronal cultures, where the regulation of BDNF and NGF mRNA was generally very similar, the regulation in astrocytes was distinctly different. All the cytokines that produce a marked increase in NGF mRNA were without effect on astrocyte BDNF mRNA levels, which under basic conditions were below the detection limit. However, norepinephrine produced a marked elevation of BDNF mRNA in astrocytes, an effect that was further enhanced by glutamate receptor agonists. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Land Taxes and Revenue Needs as Communities Grow and Decline: Evidence from New Zealand

New Zealand is unusual in that nearly 60% of local services are funded from property taxes. These are a mixture of land taxes, capital value taxes, annual rental value taxes and uniform general charges. We explore the efficiency and equity of this system at both national and local levels. We find that the national property tax base is large relative to spending needs but that the variance in per capita tax bases across territorial local authorities is probably greater than is efficient or equitable. We find that land taxes are more progressive than capital value taxes. Our research also addresses local authorities’ ability to provide services as their property tax base changes as a result of external economic shocks. We consider the occurrence of and responses to “fiscal stress” in a system of local government that is heavily dependent on property taxation. We provide some examples of the wide range of actual responses by local councils faced with similar population changes. Finally, we offer some tentative conclusions and implications both for New Zealand local public finance and for the use of property taxes, and particularly land taxes, more broadly.
MediaEval 2014: A Multimodal Approach to Drop Detection in Electronic Dance Music

We predict drops in electronic dance music (EDM), em- ploying different multimodal approaches. We combine three sources of data: noisy labels collected through crowdsourc- ing, timed comments from SoundCloud and audio content analysis. We predict the correct labels from the noisy labels using the majority vote and Dawid-Skene methods. We also employ timed comments from SoundCloud users to count the occurrence of specific terms near the potential drop event, and, finally, we conduct an acoustic analysis of the audio excerpts. The best results are obtained, when both annotations, metadata and audio, are combined, though the differences between them are not significant.
AIDS as a zoonosis? Confusion over the origin of the virus and the origin of the epidemics

Abstract: Based on findings demonstrating the simian ancestry of HIV, AIDS has been reported to be a zoonosis. However, this theory has never been proved and must seriously be questioned. Several arguments show that HIV‐AIDS is not a zoonosis. (i) If AIDS were a zoonosis, there must be evidence of AIDS being directly acquired from an animal species, as is rabies, a disease that is directly acquired from animals. (ii) Despite long‐term and frequent human exposure to SIV‐infected monkeys in Africa, only 11 cross‐species transmission events are known, and only four of these have resulted in significant human‐to‐human transmission, generating HIV‐1 groups M and O and HIV‐2 groups A and B. The closest relatives of SIVcpz (HIV‐1 group N) and of SIVsm (HIV‐2 groups C–H) are extremely rare, with only six HIV‐1 group N‐infected patients and only single individuals known to be infected by HIV‐2 groups C–H. SIV, while capable of cross‐species transmission, is thus poorly adapted for disease and epidemic spread. If AIDS were a zoonosis that is capable of significant human‐to‐human spread, there would be a plethora of founder subtypes and groups. (iii) Human exposure to SIV is thousands of years old, but AIDS emerged only in the 20th century. If AIDS were a zoonosis that spread into the human population, it would have spread to the West during slave trade. (iv) Experimental transmission of SIVs to different species of monkeys is often well controlled by the new host, showing that the virus and not the disease is transmitted. Therefore, we conclude that cross‐species transmission of SIV does not in itself constitute the basis for a zoonosis. Transmission per se is not the major requirement for the generation of the AIDS epidemic. All HIVs do derive from simian species, but AIDS does not qualify as a zoonosis and this explanation cannot in itself account for the origin of AIDS epidemic. It is important to distinguish AIDS from true zoonoses (e.g. rabies) because research is needed to understand the processes by which animal viruses cause sustained human‐to‐human transmission, epidemics and even pandemics. Much is known about emerging viruses, but almost nothing is known about emerging viral diseases.
Technology evaluations of fingerprint-based biometric systems

Independent and reliable evaluation of the advances in fingerprint recognition is extremely important for several reasons: 1) to give governments, organizations and to every potential user a clear panorama of the potentiality and current limits of this technology; 2) to compare and rank different solutions (academic and commercial); 3) to provide unambiguous benchmarks/protocols to researchers to track their advances. This paper discusses the fingerprint evaluation campaigns organized in the recent years, focusing on the three editions of the Fingerprint Verification Competition (FVC).
Specialization of keyword extraction approach to Persian texts

As the amount of data increases and the relations among them get more complex, access to information implicit in data appears more difficult, and the role of methods of getting data from diverse texts, and analyzing them becomes more significant. Of such methods is the highly effective technique of keyword extraction which shows the concept and content of the original text. In this article, a new approach is presented with the aim of extracting keywords with respect to combined words, and extracting key sentences in Persian documents so as to classify them efficiently. Studies performed on several Persian documents, and comparisons done between the findings of these and other methods have proven that this method extracts keywords of texts with much more accuracy and speed to represent the original concepts.
Enteric Glia Are Targets of the Sympathetic Innervation of the Myenteric Plexus in the Guinea Pig Distal Colon

Astrocytes respond to synaptic activity in the CNS. Astrocytic responses are synapse specific and precisely regulate synaptic activity. Glia in the peripheral nervous system also respond to neuronal activity, but it is unknown whether glial responses are synapse specific. We addressed this issue by examining the activation of enteric glia by distinct neuronal subpopulations in the enteric nervous system. Enteric glia are unique peripheral glia that surround enteric neurons and respond to neuronally released ATP with increases in intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i). Autonomic control of colonic function is mediated by intrinsic (enteric) and extrinsic (sympathetic, parasympathetic, primary afferent) neural pathways. Here we test the hypothesis that a defined population of neurons activates enteric glia using a variety of techniques to ablate or stimulate components of the autonomic innervation of the colon. Our findings demonstrate that, in the male guinea pig colon, activation of intrinsic neurons does not stimulate glial [Ca2+]i responses and fast enteric neurotransmission is not necessary to initiate glial responses. However, ablating extrinsic innervation significantly reduces glial responses to neuronal activation. Activation of primary afferent fibers does not activate glial [Ca2+]i responses. Selectively ablating sympathetic fibers reduces glial activation to a similar extent as total extrinsic denervation. Neuronal activation of glia follows the same frequency dependence as sympathetic neurotransmitter release, but the only sympathetic neurotransmitter that activates glial [Ca2+]i responses is ATP, suggesting that sympathetic fibers release ATP to activate enteric glia. Therefore, enteric glia discern activity in adjacent synaptic pathways and selectively respond to sympathetic activation.
The Preventive Role of Low-Dose Intravenous Ketamine on Postoperative Shivering in Children: A Placebo Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Postoperative shivering is a major problem in children undergoing general anesthesia. Objectives The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of low-dose intravenous ketamine for prevention of shivering after induction of general anesthesia in children who had undergone tonsillectomy. Patients and Methods This was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial including 80 children, of American society of anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I or II, scheduled for tonsillectomy under general anesthesia who were randomly assigned to an intravenous ketamine (0.5 mg/kg, n = 40; group K) group or matched dose placebo (n = 40; group N) group. Surgical and demographic data, unexpected side effects, and the occurrence of shivering for each child were assessed by a blinded observer at the following time points: T0, in the recovery room; T10, at 10 minutes; T20, at 20 minutes; T30, and at 30 minutes. Results With regards to the demographic and surgical data, no significant differences between the two study groups were observed (P ≥ 0.05). Shivering intensity in children who had received ketamine was significantly lower than children who had not received ketamine, at T0, T10, T20, and T30 after arrival (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in hallucination, nausea, vomiting, hemodynamic dysfunction, blurred vision, and seizure in the K group compared with the N group (P ≥ 0.05). Conclusions Administration of intravenous ketamine at a dosage of 0.5 mg/kg immediately after anesthesia induction had a preventive effect on shivering intensity without hemodynamic alterations in children undergoing general anesthesia for tonsillectomy.