Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Latitudinal Variation of the Solar Photospheric Intensity

We have examined images from the Precision Solar Photometric Telescope (PSPT) at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO) in search of latitudinal variation in the solar photospheric intensity. Along with the expected brightening of the solar activity belts, we have found a weak enhancement of the mean continuum intensity at polar latitudes (continuum intensity enhancement ~0.1%-0.2%, corresponding to a brightness temperature enhancement of ~2.5 K). This appears to be thermal in origin and not due to a polar accumulation of weak magnetic elements, with both the continuum and Ca II K intensity distributions shifted toward higher values with little change in shape from their midlatitude distributions. Since the enhancement is of low spatial frequency and of very small amplitude, it is difficult to separate from systematic instrumental and processing errors. We provide a thorough discussion of these and conclude that the measurement captures real solar latitudinal intensity variations.
Effect of brief myocardial ischemia on sympathetic coronary vasoconstriction.

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether sympathetic coronary vasoconstrictor responses are altered after brief ischemia and reperfusion. Adult mongrel dogs were anesthetized and instrumented for measurements of heart rate, arterial pressure, left ventricular pressure, left ventricular dP/dt, anterior myocardial wall thickening, and left circumflex coronary artery (LCX) and left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) blood flow velocities. Changes in coronary vascular resistance were recorded during intravenous bolus doses of norepinephrine and bilateral electrical stimulation of the stellate ganglia. After beta-adrenergic blockade and bilateral vagotomy, electrical stimulation of the stellate ganglia increased coronary vascular resistance in the LAD and LCX beds by 38 +/- 5% and 39 +/- 5%, respectively. After a 15-minute LAD occlusion, repeat electrical stimulation produced increases in coronary resistance of 16 +/- 3% and 45 +/- 8%, respectively (p less than 0.05 for the LAD before versus after the occlusion). The peak increase in coronary vascular resistance to two doses of norepinephrine was unchanged. After a shorter period of myocardial ischemia (7 minutes), similar increase in coronary resistance to stellate stimulation were observed before (27 +/- 4%) and after (26 +/- 6%) myocardial ischemia. The mechanism of this impaired sympathetic coronary vasoconstriction was further tested by examining the responses to bretylium and tyramine. Brief ischemia did not alter the coronary constrictor responses to either bretylium or tyramine, suggesting that mechanisms governing prejunctional release of norepinephrine are intact in the postischemic coronary arterial bed. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
GLADE: big data analytics made easy

We present GLADE, a scalable distributed system for large scale data analytics. GLADE takes analytical functions expressed through the User-Defined Aggregate (UDA) interface and executes them efficiently on the input data. The entire computation is encapsulated in a single class which requires the definition of four methods. The runtime takes the user code and executes it right near the data by taking full advantage of the parallelism available inside a single machine as well as across a cluster of computing nodes. The demonstration has two goals. First, it presents the architecture of GLADE and how processing is done by using a series of analytical functions. Second, it compares GLADE with two different classes of systems for data analytics: a relational database (PostgreSQL) enhanced with UDAs and Map-Reduce (Hadoop). We show how the analytical functions are coded into each of these systems (for Map-Reduce, we use both Java code as well as Pig Latin) and compare their expressiveness, scalability, and running time efficiency.
A Hybrid Neuro-Fuzzy Approach for Improvement of Natural Gas Price Forecasting in Vague and Noisy Environments : Domestic and Industrial Sectors

mathematical approach for improvement of natural gas price estimation. It is composed of artificial neural network (ANN), fuzzy linear regression (FLR), and conventional regression (CR). The preferred FLR, ANN and CR models are selected via mean absolute percentage of error (MAPE). The intelligent approach of this study is then applied to estimate natural gas price in both domestic and industrial sectors of Iran. Considering the lowest MAPE, ANN and FLR production are indentified, respectively, as the best models for domestic and industrial sectors. In addition, a complete sensitivity analysis has been performed by changing train and test data to show the superiority of the proposed approach. This shows how adopting the proposed hybrid approach could help in selecting the preferred model between FLR, ANN and CR in order to cover complexity and ambiguity.
Smoking cessation: effects on symptoms, spirometry and future trends in COPD.

Smoking cessation and lung function in mild-to-moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Lung Health Study P D Scanlon, J E Connett, L A Waller, M D Altose, W C Bailey, A S Buist Previous studies of lung function in relation to smoking cessation have not adequately quantified the long-term benefit of smoking cessation, nor established the predictive value of characteristics such as airway hyperresponsiveness. In a prospective randomized clinical trial at 10 North American medical centers, we studied 3926 smokers with mild-to-moderate airway obstruction (3818 with analyzable results; mean age at entry, 48.5 yr; 36% women) randomized to one of two smoking cessation groups or to a nonintervention group. We measured lung function annually for 5 years. Participants who stopped smoking experienced an improvement in FEV1 in the year after quitting (an average of 47 ml or 2%). The subsequent rate of decline in FEV1 among sustained quitters was half the rate among continuing smokers, 31 ± 48 versus 62 ± 55 ml (mean ± SD), comparable to that of never-smokers. Predictors of change in lung function included responsiveness to beta-agonist, baseline FEV1, methacholine reactivity, age, sex, race, and baseline smoking rate. Respiratory symptoms were not predictive of changes in lung function. Smokers with airflow obstruction benefit from quitting despite previous heavy smoking, advanced age, poor baseline lung function, or airway hyperresponsiveness. ( Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2000;161(2 Pt 1):381–90) This review discusses the expected results of sustained quitting smoking on subsequent lung disease, particularly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), rather than the approaches which health professionals can use to aid an individual to become an ex-smoker. The latter topic was reviewed by Campbell in last year's Thorax Year in Review 1 and updated guidelines have since been published in Thorax . 2 Health care …
REJECTION OF UNMEASUREABLE EXTENDED CONSTANT DISTURBANCES USING MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL

Abstract This paper considers the Model Predictive Control (MPC) set point tracking/regulation problem for a discrete LTI system, which is subject to a class of unbounded disturbances/tracking signals called extended constant signals. The main contribution is a formulation of the system's plant equations under which, for output regulation, no knowledge of the structure or magnitude of disturbances is needed in order to achieve set point regulation for this class of signals. The result is of interest since it implies that no disturbance observer is necessary in order to solve the set point tracking/regulation problem when full-state feedback is available. The results are experimentally verified.
The necklace-hypercube: a well scalable hypercube-based interconnection network for multiprocessors

In this paper, we introduce a new interconnection network, namely the necklace-hypercube, based on the binary cube with an array of processors (as a necklace of processors) attached to each two adjacent nodes of the hypercube network. Topological properties of the proposed network are studied. Some important basic operations such as optimal routing and VLSI layout in necklace-hypercubes are also addressed here. Moreover, a comparison between the necklace-hypercube and some other popular networks is conducted. The comparison is based on VLSI layout, scalability, and other static topological properties. Area-efficient VLSI layout and network scalability of the necklace-hypercube make it an attractive alternative to the well-known hypercube network topology, while keeping most of desirable properties of the hypercube.
Global physical conditions of the interstellar medium in nearby galaxies

Far-infrared spectra (43{197 m) of 34 nearby galaxies obtained by the Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) aboard the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) were analyzed to investigate the general properties of in- terstellar matter in galaxies. The present sample includes not only normal galaxies but also starbursts and ac- tive galactic nuclei (AGNs). Far-infrared forbidden lines, such as (C ii)158 m, (O i)63 m, (N ii)122 m, and (O iii)88 m, were detected in most of the sample galaxies. (O i)145 m line was detected in 13 galaxies. The line fluxes of (C ii)158 ma nd (Nii)122 m relative to the total far-infrared flux (FIR) decrease as the far-infrared color becomes bluer, while the ratio of the (O i)63 m flux to FIR does not show a systematic trend with the color. The (O iii)88 mt oFIR ratio shows a large scatter with a weak trend of increase with the color. AGNs do not show any distinguishable trend from normal and starburst galaxies in the far-infrared spectra, suggesting that the far-infrared emission is mainly driven by star-formation activities even in AGNs. We estimate the physical conditions of photodissociation regions (PDRs) in the sample galaxies, such as the far-ultraviolet radiation eld intensity G0 and the gas density n by assuming that all the observed (O i)63 m and far-infrared continuum emissions come from PDRs. Comparison with PDR models indicates that G0 ranges from 10 2 {10 4 and n 10 2 { 10 4 cm 3 . The present results also suggest that n varies proportionally with G0. The ratio of (C ii) 158 mt o CO (J = 1{0) line emission supports the linear increase in n with G0. We estimate that about a half of (C ii)158 m emission originates from PDRs and attribute the rest to the emission as coming from low-density diuse ionized gas. The estimated intensity of (C ii)158 m from the ionized gas is compatible with the observed intensity of (N ii)122 m if both lines come from the same diuse ionized gas. The present analysis suggests that the decrease in (C ii)158 m=FIR with the far-infrared color may not be accounted for by the decrease in the photoelectric heating eciency owing to the increase in positive charges of dust grains because a measure of the eciency, G0=n, is found to stay constant with the far-infrared color. Instead the decrease can be interpreted in terms of either the increase in the collisional de-excitation of the (C ii) transition due to the increase in the gas den- sity or the decrease in the ionized component relative to the far-infrared intensity suggested by the decrease in (N ii)122 m=FIR. Based on the present analysis, we derive average relations of the far-infrared color with G0 and n in galaxies, which can be applied to the investigation of interstellar matter in distant galaxies.
Cloud transcoder: bridging the format and resolution gap between internet videos and mobile devices

Despite the increasing popularity, Internet video streaming to mobile devices is still challenging. In particular, there has been a format and resolution "gap" between Internet videos and mobile devices, so mobile users have high demand on video transcoding to facilitate their specific devices. However, as a computation-intensive work, video transcoding is greatly challenged by the limited battery capacity of mobile devices. In this paper we propose and implement "Cloud Transcoder", which utilizes an intermediate cloud platform to bridge the "gap" via its special and practical designs. Specifically, Cloud Transcoder only requires the user to upload a video request rather than the video content. After getting the video request, Cloud Transcoder downloads the original video from the Internet, transcodes it on the user's demand, and transfers the transcoded video back to the user with a high data rate via the intra-cloud data transfer acceleration. Therefore, the mobile device only consumes energy in the last step - fast retrieving the transcoded video from the cloud. Running logs of our real-deployed system confirm the efficacy of Cloud Transcoder.
A Testable Stochastic Acceleration Model for Flares in Sagittarius A*

The near-IR and X-ray flares in Sagittarius A* are believed to be produced by relativistic electrons via synchrotron and synchrotron self-Comptonization, respectively. These electrons are likely energized by turbulent plasma waves through second-order Fermi acceleration that, in combination with the radiative cooling processes, produces a relativistic Maxwellian distribution in the steady state. This model has four principal parameters, namely the magnetic field B, the electron density n and temperature γcmec2, and the size of the flare region R. In the context of stochastic acceleration, the quantities Rn1/2B and γcRn should remain nearly constant in time. Therefore, simultaneous spectroscopic observations in the NIR and X-ray bands can readily test the model, which, if proven to be valid, may be used to determine the evolution of the plasma properties during an eruptive event with spectroscopic observations in either band or simultaneous flux density measurements in both bands. The formulae can be applied to other isolated or confined systems, where electrons are accelerated to relativistic energies by plasma wave turbulence and produce most of the emission via synchrotron processes.
Dirac Born Infeld (DBI) Cosmic Strings

Motivated by brane physics, we consider the non-linear Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) extension of the Abelian-Higgs model and study the corresponding cosmic string configurations. The model is defined by a potential term, assumed to be of the mexican hat form, and a DBI action for the kinetic terms. We show that it is a continuous deformation of the Abelian-Higgs model, with a single deformation DBI parameter depending on a dimensionless combination of the scalar coupling constant, the vacuum expectation value of the scalar field at infinity, and the brane tension. By means of numerical calculations, we investigate the profiles of the corresponding DBI-cosmic strings and prove that they have a core which is narrower than that of Abelian-Higgs strings. We also show that the corresponding action is smaller than in the standard case suggesting that their formation could be favoured in brane models. Moreover we show that the DBI-cosmic string solutions are non-pathological everywhere in parameter space. Finally, in the limit in which the DBI model reduces to the Bogomolnyi-Prasad-Sommerfield (BPS) Abelian-Higgs model, we find that DBI cosmic strings are no longer BPS: rather they have positive binding energy. We thus argue that, when they meet, two DBI strings will not bind with the corresponding formation of a junction, and hence that a network of DBI strings is likely to behave as a network of standard cosmic strings. On the other hand, we also find that, if the BPS condition is no longer satisfied and the coupling constant is less than twice the charge squared of the scalar field, DBI strings can change their behaviour from type I to type II depending on the DBI parameter.
A Comprehensive Evaluation of Disease Phenotype Networks for Gene Prioritization

Identification of disease-causing genes is a fundamental challenge for human health studies. The phenotypic similarity among diseases may reflect the interactions at the molecular level, and phenotype comparison can be used to predict disease candidate genes. Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) is a database of human genetic diseases and related genes that has become an authoritative source of disease phenotypes. However, disease phenotypes have been described by free text; thus, standardization of phenotypic descriptions is needed before diseases can be compared. Several disease phenotype networks have been established in OMIM using different standardization methods. Two of these networks are important for phenotypic similarity analysis: the first and most commonly used network (mimMiner) is standardized by medical subject heading, and the other network (resnikHPO) is the first to be standardized by human phenotype ontology. This paper comprehensively evaluates for the first time the accuracy of these two networks in gene prioritization based on protein–protein interactions using large-scale, leave-one-out cross-validation experiments. The results show that both networks can effectively prioritize disease-causing genes, and the approach that relates two diseases using a logistic function improves prioritization performance. Tanimoto, one of four methods for normalizing resnikHPO, generates a symmetric network and it performs similarly to mimMiner. Furthermore, an integration of these two networks outperforms either network alone in gene prioritization, indicating that these two disease networks are complementary.
Error Performance of Pulse Shape Modulation for UWB Communication with MRC and EGC RAKE Receivers

In this paper we propose an M-ary biorthogonal pulse shape modulation (BPSM) scheme for an impulse radio ultra wideband (IR-UWB) system transmitting over lognormal fading channels. Our proposed modulation scheme enables different transmission rates for a fixed number of orthogonal pulses M/2, while the symbol period Ts is constant. In our scheme information bits are mapped into N pulses (N symbols), using M/2 orthogonal pulses and their negates. The N generated pulses are superimposed to form one pulse that will be transmitted over the channel. The transmission rate provided by this scheme is N(log2 M/N)/Ts, which is significantly higher than (log2 M/N)/Ts provided by the conventional biorthogonal signaling. The RAKE receiver demodulates the N symbols. For the proposed modulation scheme we derive closed form expressions for symbol error probability, for both maximum ratio combining (MRC) and equal gain combining (EGC)-RAKE receivers, using Wilkinson's method. Furthermore, we numerically evaluate performances of the proposed transceiver, assuming perfect and imperfect channel estimation at the receiver, and compare them with our analytical expressions.
Role of Transposon-Derived Small RNAs in the Interplay between Genomes and Parasitic DNA in Rice

RNA silencing is a defense system against “genomic parasites” such as transposable elements (TE), which are potentially harmful to host genomes. In plants, transcripts from TEs induce production of double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) and are processed into small RNAs (small interfering RNAs, siRNAs) that suppress TEs by RNA–directed DNA methylation. Thus, the majority of TEs are epigenetically silenced. On the other hand, most of the eukaryotic genome is composed of TEs and their remnants, suggesting that TEs have evolved countermeasures against host-mediated silencing. Under some circumstances, TEs can become active and increase in copy number. Knowledge is accumulating on the mechanisms of TE silencing by the host; however, the mechanisms by which TEs counteract silencing are poorly understood. Here, we show that a class of TEs in rice produces a microRNA (miRNA) to suppress host silencing. Members of the microRNA820 (miR820) gene family are located within CACTA DNA transposons in rice and target a de novo DNA methyltransferase gene, OsDRM2, one of the components of epigenetic silencing. We confirmed that miR820 negatively regulates the expression of OsDRM2. In addition, we found that expression levels of various TEs are increased quite sensitively in response to decreased OsDRM2 expression and DNA methylation at TE loci. Furthermore, we found that the nucleotide sequence of miR820 and its recognition site within the target gene in some Oryza species have co-evolved to maintain their base-pairing ability. The co-evolution of these sequences provides evidence for the functionality of this regulation. Our results demonstrate how parasitic elements in the genome escape the host's defense machinery. Furthermore, our analysis of the regulation of OsDRM2 by miR820 sheds light on the action of transposon-derived small RNAs, not only as a defense mechanism for host genomes but also as a regulator of interactions between hosts and their parasitic elements.
Mania-like behavior induced by disruption of CLOCK

Circadian rhythms and the genes that make up the molecular clock have long been implicated in bipolar disorder. Genetic evidence in bipolar patients suggests that the central transcriptional activator of molecular rhythms, CLOCK, may be particularly important. However, the exact role of this gene in the development of this disorder remains unclear. Here we show that mice carrying a mutation in the Clock gene display an overall behavioral profile that is strikingly similar to human mania, including hyperactivity, decreased sleep, lowered depression-like behavior, lower anxiety, and an increase in the reward value for cocaine, sucrose, and medial forebrain bundle stimulation. Chronic administration of the mood stabilizer lithium returns many of these behavioral responses to wild-type levels. In addition, the Clock mutant mice have an increase in dopaminergic activity in the ventral tegmental area, and their behavioral abnormalities are rescued by expressing a functional CLOCK protein via viral-mediated gene transfer specifically in the ventral tegmental area. These findings establish the Clock mutant mice as a previously unrecognized model of human mania and reveal an important role for CLOCK in the dopaminergic system in regulating behavior and mood.
The million-year wait for macroevolutionary bursts

We lack a comprehensive understanding of evolutionary pattern and process because short-term and long-term data have rarely been combined into a single analytical framework. Here we test alternative models of phenotypic evolution using a dataset of unprecedented size and temporal span (over 8,000 data points). The data are body-size measurements taken from historical studies, the fossil record, and among-species comparative data representing mammals, squamates, and birds. By analyzing this large dataset, we identify stochastic models that can explain evolutionary patterns on both short and long timescales and reveal a remarkably consistent pattern in the timing of divergence across taxonomic groups. Even though rapid, short-term evolution often occurs in intervals shorter than 1 Myr, the changes are constrained and do not accumulate over time. Over longer intervals (1–360 Myr), this pattern of bounded evolution yields to a pattern of increasing divergence with time. The best-fitting model to explain this pattern is a model that combines rare but substantial bursts of phenotypic change with bounded fluctuations on shorter timescales. We suggest that these rare bursts reflect permanent changes in adaptive zones, whereas the short-term fluctuations represent local variations in niche optima due to restricted environmental variation within a stable adaptive zone.