Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
State of the World’s Fisheries

▪ Abstract The total world catch from marine and freshwater wild stocks has peaked and may be slightly declining. There appear to be few significant resources to be developed, and the majority of the world's fish stocks are intensively exploited. Many marine ecosystems have been profoundly changed by fishing and other human activities. Although most of the world's major fisheries continue to produce substantial sustainable yield, a number have been severely overfished, and many more stocks appear to be heading toward depletion. The world's fisheries continue to be heavily subsidized, which encourages overfishing and provides society with a small fraction of the potential economic benefits. In most of the world's fisheries there is a “race for fish” in which boats compete to catch the fish before a quota is achieved or the fish are caught by someone else. The race for fish leads to economic inefficiency, poor quality product, and pressure to extract every fish for short-term gain. A number of countries hav.
Distributed Singlehop-Multihop Switch(DSMS) Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor n? etworks (WSNs) constitute numerous microsensors that are energy limited. How to design the routing protocol to use energy with high efficiency is one of the most critical issues. In this paper, we propose a distributed singlehop-multihop switch (DSMS) routing protocol for wireless sensor networks. The main idea of DSMS is that the sensor area is divided into several rings of the same width and the nodes in the inner rings only bear forwarding task for certain percentage of network lifetime in order to guarantee energy balance. The advantage of DSMS is that the energy variance of nodes maintains at a rather low level during the network lifetime, which mean that the energy consumption is fairly balanced. The simulation results show that DSMS routing protocol could also extend network lifetime longer than either single-hop or multi-hop mode. DSMS routing protocol also has good scalability.
Construction of 3D models from single view images: A survey based on various approaches

One of the most remarkable facts of the human visual system is that it rapidly and accurately understands the characteristics of the complex visual world - the relative depth with respect to different objects in the scene, occluded objects in the scene, etc. due to prior experience and knowledge about the scene. The various types of tasks related to understanding what we see in a visual scene is called ‘visual recognition’. In the field of computer vision, visual recognition has had some great success in recent years and is still developing further. To make computers understand the various characteristics of the complex world is a challenging task in computer vision systems. New approaches came into existence which predicted depth from single images and global image features were also taken into consideration. Thus due to the accuracy of results the importance of global image features were understood. This paper deals with a discussion of a few well known approaches leading to creation of an approximate 3D model from a single still image.
Fast Newton-type Methods for Total Variation Regularization

Numerous applications in statistics, signal processing, and machine learning regularize using Total Variation (TV) penalties. We study anisotropic (l1-based) TV and also a related l2-norm variant. We consider for both variants associated (1D) proximity operators, which lead to challenging optimization problems. We solve these problems by developing Newton-type methods that outperform the state-of-the-art algorithms. More importantly, our ID-TV algorithms serve as building blocks for solving the harder task of computing 2- (and higher)-dimensional TV proximity. We illustrate the computational benefits of our methods by applying them to several applications: (i) image de-noising; (ii) image deconvolution (by plugging in our TV solvers into publicly available software); and (iii) four variants of fused-lasso. The results show large speedups—and to support our claims, we provide software accompanying this paper.
Visual Awareness in Binocular Rivalry Modulates Induced Pupil Fluctuations

When a visual stimulus oscillates in luminance, pupil size follows this oscillation. Recently, it has been demonstrated that such induced pupil oscillations can be used to tag which stimulus is covertly attended. Here we ask whether this “pupil frequency tagging” approach can be extended to visual awareness, specifically to inferring perceptual dominance in Binocular Rivalry between complex stimuli. We presented two distinct stimuli, a face and a house, to each eye and modulated their luminance at 1.7 Hz either in counter-phase (180° phase shift), with a 90° phase shift or in phase (0° control). In some conditions, we additionally asked observers to attend either of the stimuli. The luminance modulation was sufficiently subtle that rivalry dynamics did not differ among these conditions, and was also indistinguishable from unmodulated presentation of the stimuli. For the 180° and the 90° phase-shifted stimuli, we found that the phase of the pupil response relative to the stimuli was modulated by perceptual dominance; that is, the relative phase depended on the stimulus the observer was aware of. In turn, this perceptually dominant stimulus could be decoded from the phase of the pupil response significantly above chance. Neither percept dependence of the phase nor significant decoding was found for the 0° control condition. Our results show that visual awareness modulates pupil responses and provide proof of principle that dominance in rivalry for complex stimuli can be inferred from induced pupil fluctuations.
Dynamic Facts in Large Team Information Sharing (Extended Abstract)

In this paper, we extend the large team information sharing problem to consider dynamic facts, where the value of facts about the environment being observed can change over time. Dynamic facts are challenging because the team must repeatedly converge to consistent, accurate beliefs over time, without necessarily knowing if or when the fact changes values. We discover an interesting, emergent phenomenon: institutional memory, where the team as a whole becomes stuck remembering outdated beliefs. We demonstrate that controlling the trust placed in new information from neighboring agents does not adequately control belief convergence with dynamic facts, which previously was shown to benefit the team when working with static facts.
Glucuronidation Converting Methyl 1-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenyl)-3-(3-ethylvaleryl)-4-hydroxy-6,7,8-trimethoxy-2-naphthoate (S-8921) to a Potent Apical Sodium-Dependent Bile Acid Transporter Inhibitor, Resulting in a Hypocholesterolemic Action

Methyl 1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-(3-ethylvaleryl)-4-hydroxy-6,7,8-trimethoxy-2-naphthoate (S-8921) is a novel inhibitor of the ileal apical sodium-dependent bile acid transporter (ASBT/SLC10A2) developed for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. The present study investigated the hypocholesterolemic action of S-8921 glucuronide (S-8921G) in rats. The plasma concentration of S-8921G was higher than that of S-8921 after single oral administration of S-8921 in normal rats, and S-8921G was excreted into the bile (13% dose). Oral administration of either S-8921 or S-8921G reduced the serum total cholesterol, particularly nonhigh-density lipoprotein cholesterol, in hypercholesterolemic normal rats. In Gunn rats devoid of UDP glucuronosyltransferase-1A activity, S-8921G was undetectable both in the plasma and bile specimens, and only S-8921G administration significantly reduced the serum nonhigh-density lipoprotein cholesterol. An in vitro inhibition study showed that glucuronidation converts S-8921 to a 6000-fold more potent inhibitor of human ASBT (Ki = 18 nM versus 109 μM). S-8921G was detected both in the portal plasma and loop when S-8921 was administered into the loop of the rat jejunum, although the cumulative amount of S-8921G recovered in the bile was 5-fold greater than that in the loop. The uptake of S-8921G by freshly prepared rat hepatocytes was saturable, and sodium-dependent and -independent systems were involved. Organic anions, such as bromosulfophthalein, estrone 3-sulfate, and taurocholic acid, inhibited the uptake. These results suggest that UDP glucuronosyltransferase-1 isoforms play a critical role in the hypocholesterolemic action of S-8921 by converting S-8921 to a more potent ASBT inhibitor, and organic anion transporter(s) are also involved in its pharmacological action through the biliary excretion of S-8921G.
Multimodal Imaging Does Not Delay Intravenous Thrombolytic Therapy in Acute Stroke

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patients with acute ischemic stroke require immediate medical treatment, and a CT to rule out hemorrhage is required before tPA. We adapted our protocol to include multimodal CT: unenhanced CT, CTA, and PCT. The purpose of this study was to determine whether multimodal CT imaging delays initiation of IV tPA beyond 60 minutes from hospital arrival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients admitted during 3 years through the ED with a stroke alert and time from symptom onset to hospital arrival <2.5 hours were included. We examined 2 subgroups (multimodal CT versus unenhanced CT) to determine whether multimodal CT delayed tPA administration. Logistic regression was used to identify variables that predicted tPA within 60 minutes. RESULTS: There were 123 patients in the analysis, including 108 patients who were examined with multimodal CT. The median time from arrival to tPA was 56 minutes and was shorter for patients examined with multimodal CT (55 versus 78 minutes, P = .02). After adjustment, variables that were associated with tPA administration within 60 minutes included prehospital stroke alert (OR = 3.47, P = .03), time to CT (OR = 0.94, P = .01), and onset-to-arrival time (OR = 1.02, P = .04). There was no statistically significant difference in the odds of receiving timely tPA for multimodal versus unenhanced CT (OR = 3.99, P = .07). CONCLUSIONS: In our single-center experience, the use of multimodal imaging in patients with acute stroke did not delay IV tPA beyond 60 minutes. Further study is needed to assess the feasibility of the routine use of multimodal imaging in the acute stroke setting.
Why Latrines Are Not Used: Communities’ Perceptions and Practices Regarding Latrines in a Taenia solium Endemic Rural Area in Eastern Zambia

Taenia solium cysticercosis is a neglected parasitic zoonosis occurring in many developing countries. Socio-cultural determinants related to its control remain unclear. Studies in Africa have shown that the underuse of sanitary facilities and the widespread occurrence of free-roaming pigs are the major risk factors for porcine cysticercosis. The study objective was to assess the communities’ perceptions, practices and knowledge regarding latrines in a T. solium endemic rural area in Eastern Zambia inhabited by the Nsenga ethno-linguistic group, and to identify possible barriers to their construction and use. A total of 21 focus group discussions on latrine use were organized separately with men, women and children, in seven villages of the Petauke district. The themes covered were related to perceived latrine availability (absence-presence, building obstacles) and perceived latrine use (defecation practices, latrine management, socio-cultural constraints). The findings reveal that latrines were not constructed in every household because of the convenient use of existing latrines in the neighborhood. Latrines were perceived to contribute to good hygiene mainly because they prevent pigs from eating human feces. Men expressed reluctance to abandon the open-air defecation practice mainly because of toilet-associated taboos with in-laws and grown-up children of the opposite gender. When reviewing conceptual frameworks of people’s approach to sanitation, we found that seeking privacy and taboos hindering latrine use and construction were mainly explained in our study area by the fact that the Nsenga observe a traditionally matrilineal descent. These findings indicate that in this local context latrine promotion messages should not only focus on health benefits in general. Since only men were responsible for building latrines and mostly men preferred open defecation, sanitation programs should also be directed to men and address related sanitary taboos in order to be effective.
A three-level classifier: Fuzzy C Means, Support Vector Machine and unique pixels for Arabic handwritten digits

In this study, we present a classification approach for handwritten Arabic digits (symbols). Like numbers in other languages, Arabic numbers consists of nine digits. Character images of Arabic digits are similar in the sense that one single classifier will not give a reliable classification rate. Therefore, the implementation of more levels of classification is important for the realization. We introduce Fuzzy C-Means based classifier for the lower level and Support Vector Machine SVM for the second level when more details are required and finally confirmation of classification will be through unique pixels. The unique pixel method forms the third classification level. It works on determining the pixel areas that are unique to each digit. The unique pixel method decision is compared with decision of the lower classifier (FCM) and top classifier (SVM). The algorithm is tested on 3510 images. The overall testing accuracy reported is 88%.
Motor control in children with ADHD and non-affected siblings: deficits most pronounced using the left hand.

BACKGROUND Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is strongly influenced by heritability. Identifying heritable vulnerability traits (endophenotypes) that mark a relatively high risk of developing the disorder can contribute to the identification of risk genes. A fruitful area for the search for such endophenotypes may be motor control in children with ADHD, since the disorder is frequently accompanied by motor problems. METHOD The current study used a large sample of 350 children with ADHD, 195 non-affected siblings and 271 normal controls aged 5-19 years. Children were administered two computerised motor control tasks in which they had to trace a path between two circles (Tracking task) and follow a randomly moving target (Pursuit task). Both tasks were performed with both the right and the left hand. RESULTS Children with ADHD were less precise and stable than controls. Non-affected siblings also deviated from controls, but only on the Tracking task. Group differences were modulated by the use of the right versus the left hand: no group differences emerged when the right hand was used, yet group differences did emerge when the left hand was used. Performance on both tasks was significantly familial. CONCLUSIONS Imprecision and instability of movements in children with ADHD and in their non-affected siblings as measured by the Tracking task might be suitable endophenotypic candidates: these deficits are familially present in children having ADHD as well as in their non-affected siblings. Motor performance might be best assessed in children using their left hand, because motor control deficits are most pronounced using the left hand. This might relate to right hemispheric brain pathology in children with ADHD (and possibly in their non-affected siblings) that is related to the control of the left hand and/or relate to differential effects of daily life practice on both hands, which may be smaller on the left hand.
Prognostic impact of programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and PD-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in cancer cells and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in ovarian high grade serous carcinoma

Aims Antibodies targeting the checkpoint molecules programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and its ligand PD-L1 are emerging cancer therapeutics. We systematically investigated PD-1 and PD-L1 expression patterns in the poor-prognosis tumor entity high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma. Methods PD-1 and PD-L1 protein expression was determined by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays from 215 primary cancers both in cancer cells and in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). mRNA expression was measured by quantitative reverse transcription PCR. An in silico validation of mRNA data was performed in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Results PD-1 and PD-L1 expression in cancer cells, CD3+, PD-1+, and PD-L1+ TILs densities as well as PD-1 and PD-L1 mRNA levels were positive prognostic factors for progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS), with all factors being significant for PFS (p < 0.035 each), and most being significant for OS. Most factors also had prognostic value that was independent from age, stage, and residual tumor. Moreover, high PD-1+ TILs as well as PD-L1+ TILs densities added prognostic value to CD3+TILs (PD-1+: p = 0.002,; PD-L1+: p = 0.002). The significant positive prognostic impact of PD-1 and PD-L1 mRNA expression could be reproduced in the TCGA gene expression datasets (p = 0.02 and p < 0.0001, respectively). Conclusions Despite their reported immune-modulatory function, high PD-1 and PD-L1 levels are indicators of a favorable prognosis in ovarian cancer. Our data indicate that PD-1 and PD-L1 molecules are biologically relevant regulators of the immune response in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma, which is an argument for the evaluation of immune checkpoint inhibiting drugs in this tumor entity.
A self-tuning multi-objective optimization framework for geometric programming with gate sizing applications

Most engineering problems involve optimizing different and competing objectives. To solve multi-objective problems, normally a weighted sum of the objectives is optimized. However, how the weights are assigned can greatly affect the outcome. Therefore, many designers have to resort to producing the Pareto surface - a time-consuming procedure. In this paper, we propose a framework for solving multi-objective geometric programming problems where weights in the objective are optimally calculated during the optimization problem without having to produce the Pareto surface. It is shown that the proposed self-tuning multi-objective framework can be applied to geometric programming gate sizing problems. Then, the efficacy of the proposed framework is proven using the clock network buffer sizing problem as an application. The problem is first formulated as a geometric programming (GP) problem with the objectives of reducing power, skew, and slew. The problem is solved using ISPD09 circuits. The power, skew and slew of the optimized networks are calculated using ngspice. The results show on average 52% reduction in power and 28% reduction in skew compared to the original networks. The self-tuning multi-objective solution is shown superior to any single objective solution with no impact on runtime.
A Fully-Integrated Radio-Frequency Power Amplifier in 28nm CMOS Technology Mounted in BGA Package

In this paper, we present a fully integrated radio-frequency (RF) power amplifier (PA) using high voltage STI type DeNMOS device in standard 28nm CMOS technology. The device is fully compatible with scaled CMOS process technologies with minor cost penalties. The device prototype was fabricated in 28nm CMOS process and packaged in commercially available ball-grid-array (BGA) package to mimic real application conditions. Complete power amplifier circuit, made on low-loss laminate using this BGA package, is also presented. Packaged RF PA achieves 19dBm of output power at frequency of 1GHz with high linearity.
Pharmacotherapy with Fluoxetine Restores Functional Connectivity from the Dentate Gyrus to Field CA3 in the Ts65Dn Mouse Model of Down Syndrome

Down syndrome (DS) is a high-incidence genetic pathology characterized by severe impairment of cognitive functions, including declarative memory. Impairment of hippocampus-dependent long-term memory in DS appears to be related to anatomo-functional alterations of the hippocampal trisynaptic circuit formed by the dentate gyrus (DG) granule cells - CA3 pyramidal neurons - CA1 pyramidal neurons. No therapies exist to improve cognitive disability in individuals with DS. In previous studies we demonstrated that pharmacotherapy with fluoxetine restores neurogenesis, granule cell number and dendritic morphology in the DG of the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS. The goal of the current study was to establish whether treatment rescues the impairment of synaptic connectivity between the DG and CA3 that characterizes the trisomic condition. Euploid and Ts65Dn mice were treated with fluoxetine during the first two postnatal weeks and examined 45–60 days after treatment cessation. Untreated Ts65Dn mice had a hypotrophyc mossy fiber bundle, fewer synaptic contacts, fewer glutamatergic contacts, and fewer dendritic spines in the stratum lucidum of CA3, the terminal field of the granule cell projections. Electrophysiological recordings from CA3 pyramidal neurons showed that in Ts65Dn mice the frequency of both mEPSCs and mIPSCs was reduced, indicating an overall impairment of excitatory and inhibitory inputs to CA3 pyramidal neurons. In treated Ts65Dn mice all these aberrant features were fully normalized, indicating that fluoxetine can rescue functional connectivity between the DG and CA3. The positive effects of fluoxetine on the DG-CA3 system suggest that early treatment with this drug could be a suitable therapy, possibly usable in humans, to restore the physiology of the hippocampal networks and, hence, memory functions.
Sparse MEG inverse solutiona via hierarchical Bayesian modeling: Evaluation with a parallel fMRI study

Here we demonstrate how sparse cortically constrained MEG inverse solutions can be obtained via the hierarchical Bayesian minimum-norm estimation approach, wherein Gaussian priors with individual precisions (inverse variances) are first assumed for the distributed current amplitudes at each cortical location. A common second-level prior (hyperprior) of specific form is then imposed on the prior precisions to cause most of the current amplitudes to vanish, thus resulting in sparse inverse solutions. We validated the approach using an empirical dataset, wherein identical visual stimulation experiments were carried out in MEG and fMRI. The physiologically highly feasible fMRI statistical parametric maps were used as a reference for the MEG solutions. The results show that the hierarchical Bayesian approach is capable of producing solutions concordant with the fMRI data in a rather automated fashion, despite the characteristic complexity of the visual evoked magnetic fields. The proposed method of selecting the hyperprior to obtain sparsity provides an effective and straightforward way to regularise the solutions. We also discuss the possibility of utilising fMRI information in the MEG source reconstruction.