Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Integrated isotopic study of Early Intermediate Period camelid husbandry in the Santa Valley, Perú

ABSTRACT Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions were determined for camelid bone collagen, hair, and wool (fibre) sampled from textiles from archaeological sites in the Santa Valley (north coast of Perú) occupied during Moche III (El Castillo, A.D. 300−500) and Moche IV (Guadalupito, A.D. 500−700) phases; a small number of camelid bone collagen samples were also analysed from the Late Suchimancillo Phase (A.D. 0−300). These data suggest that localised camelid husbandry was practiced in the Santa Valley from at least the Moche III phase. The nature of camelid husbandry likely involved animals being kept spatially segregated and fed a diverse range of fodder. The isotopic compositions of the bone collagen and wool textiles were very similar, which suggests that the wool that was used to produce the textiles was derived from local camelids rather than being acquired from the highlands. The transition from Moche III to Moche IV, which saw a significant increase in Mochica presence in the Santa Valley, was not accompanied by major changes in camelid husbandry practices. Localised camelid husbandry continued through this transition with minimal change; the prolonged droughts of the sixth century A.D. had no discernable effect on camelid husbandry, probably due to the special hydraulic conditions unique to the Santa Valley.
A Deconvolution Approach Based on Multi-Tensor Model to Solve Fiber Crossing in Diffusion-MRI

A deconvolution approach, based on a multi-tensor model, is presented to solve fiber crossing in diffusion MRI. In order to provide a direct physical interpretation of the signal generation process, we re-wrote the classical multi-tensor model, identifying a significant scalar parameter alpha to characterize the deconvolution process. Simulations show that, in presence of noise, the method is able to correctly separate fiber crossing. Application on in-vivo data highlights the ability of our approach to distinguish more than two fibers within the same voxel, suggesting its application in fiber tracking or connectivity studies even of complex brain structures
Pattern Reconfigurable Antenna Array With Circular Polarization

A design for arrays with beam-steering capability in the azimuthal plane is described. The array is a four-sector antenna configuration, and each sector element can generate unidirectional radiation with circular polarization (CP). A reconfigurable 1×4 power divider with broadband operation is designed and used to excite the sector elements. By controlling PIN diodes, the divider can offer 11 states for the four outputs, and each state is corresponding to one CP radiation pattern of the array. Prototypes for the sector array and the tunable divider are, respectively, constructed, and the experimental results of the integrated structure demonstrate that, in addition to the beam-steering capability, the array can also generate bidirectional and omnidirectional radiation patterns between 1.9 and 2.3 GHz. Moreover, these steerable beams and radiation patterns have a cross polarization of less than -18 dB for all azimuthal angles.
Alkylsulphatase Activity of Fungi Isolated from Rivers Contaminated with Surfactants in Akure, Nigeria

Aims: To isolate, characterize and identify surfactant degrading fungi from selected rivers in Akure, Nigeria and also to compare and quantify the biodegrading potentials of each of the fungal isolates. Place and Duration of Study: Akure metropolis, Ondo state, Nigeria, between March and September, 2014. Methodology: Surfactant degrading fungi were isolated from the water samples by supplementing culture media with test surfactant. The fungi isolated were later subjected to the alkylsulphatase enzyme assay to quantify their various enzyme production/activity. Results: The total fungi count of the water samples was within the range of 5.00±1.15x10 sfu/ml to 11.00 ± 1.73 x10 sfu/ml. Surfactant degrading fungi count was within the range of 6.0 ± 0.11 x10 sfu/ml to 1.20 ± 0.05 x 10 sfu/ml. Penicillium italicum and Trichoderma viridae were able to produce more of the alkylsulphatase enzyme amongst the isolated surfactant degrading fungi. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the set of fungi isolated from the selected aquatic environments are capable of carrying out biodegradation of surfactants and that they are abundant Original Research Article Yusuf; MRJI, 20(3): 1-7, 2017; Article no.MRJI. 26073 2 in the selected environments. Penicillium italicum and Trichoderma viridae have higher biodegrading potentials and they can be exploited in the bioremediation of water bodies polluted with surfactants.
Multi-functional Tugboat for Monitoring and Cleaning Bottom Fouling

Ming at the shortcomings of the current monitoring and cleaning methods of ships, a new type of multi-functional tugboat for monitoring and cleaning bottom fouling of ships is designed. The tugboat integrates multi-color auxiliary light source fouling monitoring system and fouling removal device based on cavitation jet and ultrasonic cavitation technology, which can effectively remove bottom fouling of ships docked in ports and anchorage. The results show that the multi-function tugboat can effectively, safely and economically remove the bottom fouling of the ship.
Molecular crowding limits translation and cell growth

Significance In rapidly growing bacteria, one-third of the proteins are ribosomal proteins and another one-sixth are ternary complexes (TCs) that bring amino acids to the ribosomes, making TCs the most abundant protein species. This study reveals that this very high TC content is forced upon the cell due to the slow diffusion of the large TCs in the crowded cytoplasm. A model is presented to describe how a bacterial cell solves the problem of proteomic resource allocation, balancing the two requirements for many ribosomes and for rapid translation. The model shows that proportional or approximately proportional synthesis of ribosomal proteins and TCs, as observed in Escherichia coli cells, is a near-optimal allocation scheme. Bacterial growth is crucially dependent on protein synthesis and thus on the cellular abundance of ribosomes and related proteins. Here, we show that the slow diffusion of the bulky tRNA complexes in the crowded cytoplasm imposes a physical limit on the speed of translation, which ultimately limits the rate of cell growth. To study the required allocation of ancillary translational proteins to alleviate the effect of molecular crowding, we develop a model for cell growth based on a coarse-grained partitioning of the proteome. We find that coregulation of ribosome- and tRNA-affiliated proteins is consistent with measured growth-rate dependencies and results in near-optimal allocation over a broad range of growth rates. The analysis further resolves a long-standing controversy in bacterial growth physiology concerning the growth-rate dependence of translation speed and serves as a caution against premature identification of phenomenological parameters with mechanistic processes.
RFID-Based Exploration for Large Robot Teams

To coordinate a team of robots for exploration is a challenging problem, particularly in large areas as for example the devastated area after a disaster. This problem can generally be decomposed into task assignment and multi-robot path planning. In this paper, we address both problems jointly. This is possible because we reduce significantly the size of the search space by utilizing RFID tags as coordination points. The exploration approach consists of two parts: a stand-alone distributed local search and a global monitoring process which can be used to restart the local search in more convenient locations. Our results show that the local exploration works for large robot teams, particularly if there are limited computational resources. Experiments with the global approach showed that the number of conflicts can be reduced, and that the global coordination mechanism increases significantly the explored area.
Localization of Nogo-A and Nogo-66 Receptor Proteins at Sites of Axon–Myelin and Synaptic Contact

Axon regeneration in the adult CNS is limited by the presence of inhibitory proteins. An interaction of Nogo on the oligodendrocyte surface with Nogo-66 Receptor (NgR) on axons has been suggested to play an important role in limiting axonal growth. Here, we compare the localization of these two proteins immunohistochemically as a test of this hypothesis. Throughout much of the adult CNS, Nogo-A is detected on oligodendrocyte processes surrounding myelinated axons, including areas of axon–oligodendrocyte contact. The NgR protein is detected selectively in neurons and is present throughout axons, indicating that Nogo-A and its receptor are juxtaposed along the course of myelinated fibers. NgR protein expression is restricted to postnatal neurons and their axons. In contrast, Nogo-A is observed in myelinating oligodendrocytes, embryonic muscle, and neurons, suggesting that Nogo-A has additional physiologic roles unrelated to NgR binding. After spinal cord injury, Nogo-A is upregulated to a moderate degree, whereas NgR levels are maintained at constant levels. Taken together, these data confirm the apposition of Nogo ligand and NgR receptor in situations of limited axonal regeneration and support the hypothesis that this system regulates CNS axonal plasticity and recovery from injury.
Evaluation of Genetic Markers as Instruments for Mendelian Randomization Studies on Vitamin D

Background Mendelian randomization (MR) studies use genetic variants mimicking the influence of a modifiable exposure to assess and quantify a causal association with an outcome, with an aim to avoid problems with confounding and reverse causality affecting other types of observational studies. Aim We evaluated genetic markers that index differences in 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) as instruments for MR studies on vitamin D. Methods and Findings We used data from up-to 6,877 participants in the 1958 British birth cohort with information on genetic markers and 25(OH)D. As potential instruments, we selected 20 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) which are located in the vitamin D metabolism pathway or affect skin pigmentation/tanning, including 4 SNPs from genome-wide association (GWA) meta-analyses on 25(OH)D. We analyzed SNP associations with 25(OH)D and evaluated the use of allele scores dividing genes to those affecting 25(OH)D synthesis (DHCR7, CYP2R1) and metabolism (GC, CYP24A1, CYP27B1). In addition to the GWA SNPs, only two SNPs (CYP27B1, OCA2) showed evidence for association with 25(OH)D, with the OCA2 association abolished after lifestyle adjustment. Per allele differences varied between −0.02 and −0.08 nmol/L (P≤0.02 for all), with a 6.1 nmol/L and a 10.2 nmol/L difference in 25(OH)D between individuals with highest compared lowest number of risk alleles in synthesis and metabolism allele scores, respectively. Individual SNPs but not allele scores showed associations with lifestyle factors. An exception was geographical region which was associated with synthesis score. Illustrative power calculations (80% power, 5% alpha) suggest that approximately 80,000 participants are required to establish a causal effect of vitamin D on blood pressure using the synthesis allele score. Conclusions Combining SNPs into allele scores provides a more powerful instrument for MR analysis than a single SNP in isolation. Population stratification and the potential for pleiotropic effects need to be considered in MR studies on vitamin D.
The resonance correlation network

The resonance correlation network (RCN) is a parallel continuous-time unsupervised pattern categorization machine than can operate on binary or continuous-valued data. The architecture is motivated by adaptive resonance theory (ART). Simple modifications, however, eliminate the problems associated with learning patterns presented for arbitrary time durations. The architecture also eliminates the sequential searching through previously coded patterns that is characteristic of ART-1. The RCN also increases its discrimination sensitivity as the learning process proceeds. The architecture and categorization properties of the resonance correlation network are described. <<ETX>>
A social hypertext model for finding community in blogs

Blogging has become the newest communication medium for creating a virtual community, a set of blogs linking back and forth to one another's postings, while discussing common topics. In this paper, we examine how communities can be discovered through interconnected blogs as a form of social hypertext [14]. We propose a method and model that detects structures of community in the social network of blogs by integrating McMillan and Chavis' sense of community [26] along with network analysis [8, 11]. From the model, we measure community in the blogs by aligning centrality measures from social network analysis [17] with measures of sense of community obtained using behavioural surveys. We then illustrate the use of this approach with a case study built around an independent music blog. The strength of community measures were found to be well aligned with the network structure, based on centrality measures. Even though the sample size from the case study was small, once the structure and measure of communities are calibrated according to our social hypertext model, communities can be automatically found and measured for other blogs without the need for behavioural surveys.
LAND USE AND LAND COVER CLASSIFICATION OF MULTISPECTRAL LANDSAT-8 SATELLITE IMAGERY USING DISCRETE WAVELET TRANSFORM

Abstract. Land use and land cover (LULC) classification of satellite imagery is an important research area and studied exclusively in remote sensing. However, accurate and appropriate land use/cover detection is still a challenge. This paper presents a wavelet transform based LULC classification using Landsat 8-OLI data. The study area for the present work is a small part of Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh, India. The atmospheric correction of the image was performed using Quick Atmospheric Correction (QUAC) method. The image was decomposed into its approximation and detail coefficients up to eight levels using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) method. The approximation images were layer stacked with the original image. The minimum distance classifier was used for classifying the image into six LULC classes namely water, agriculture, urban, fallow land, sand, and vegetation. The classification accuracy for all decomposition levels was compared with that of classified product based on original multispectral image. The classification accuracy for multi-spectral image was found to be 75.27%. Whereas, the classification accuracies were found to improve up to 85.97%, 88.87%, 93.47%, 95.03%, 93.01, 92.32% and 90.80% for second, third, fourth, fifth, six, seventh and eight level decomposition, respectively. The significantly improved accuracy was found for images decomposed at level five. Thus, the approach of DWT for LULC classification can be used to increase the classification accuracy significantly.
Design of Low-Bandwidth Spatially Distributed Feedback

The paper considers a family of linear time-invariant and spatially invariant (LTSI) systems that are both distributed and localized. The spatial responses of the distributed plant are localized in spatial neighborhoods of each location. The feedback computations are also distributed and the information flow is localized in a spatial neighborhood of each location. The feedback is aimed at controlling spatial distributions of variables in the systems with a relatively low bandwidth in the time direction. Such systems have many important applications including industrial processes, imaging systems, signal and image processing, and others. We describe a new method for designing (tuning) a certain family of low-bandwidth controllers for such plants. We consider LTSI controllers with a fixed structure, which is a PID or a similar low-bandwidth feedback in time and local in spatial coordinates. Two spatial feedback filters, symmetric and with finite spatial response, modify the local PID control signal by mixing in the error and control signals at nearby nodes. These two filters provide loop- shaping and regularization of the spatial feedback loop. Like an ordinary PID controller, this controller structure is simple, but provides adequate performance in many practical settings. We cast a variety of specifications on the steady-state spatial response of the controller and its time response as a set of linear inequalities on the design variables, and so can carry out the design of the spatial filters using linear programming. The method handles steady-state limits on actuator signals, error signals, and several constraints related to robustness to plant and controller variation. The method allows handling the effects of boundary conditions and guaranteed closed-loop spatial or time decay. It does appear to work very well for low-bandwidth controllers, and so is applicable in a variety of practical situations.
File Systems: More Cooperations - Less Integration.

Conventionally, ﬁle systems manage storage space available to user programs and provide it through the ﬁle interface. Information about the physical location of used and unused space is hidden from users. This makes the ﬁle system free space unavailable to other storage stack kernel components because of performance or layering violation reasons. This forces ﬁle systems architects to integrate additional functionality, like snapshot-ting and volume management, inside ﬁle systems increasing their complexity. We propose a simple and easy to implement ﬁle system interface that allows different software components to efﬁciently share free storage space with a ﬁle system at a block level. We demonstrate the beneﬁts of the new interface by optimizing an existing volume manager to store snapshot data in the ﬁle system free space, instead of requiring the space to be reserved in advance making it unavailable for other uses.
It really does matter how you normalize the branch distance in search‐based software testing

The use of search algorithms for test data generation has seen many successful results. For structural criteria like branch coverage, heuristics have been designed to help the search. The most common heuristic is the use of approach level (usually represented with an integer) to reward test cases whose executions get close (in the control flow graph) to the target branch. To solve the constraints of the predicates in the control flow graph, the branch distance is commonly employed. These two measures are linearly combined. Since the approach level is more important, the branch distance is normalized, often in the range [0, 1]. In this paper, different types of normalizing functions are analyzed. The analyses show that the one that is usually employed in the literature has several flaws. The paper presents a different normalizing function that is very simple and does not suffer from these limitations. Empirical and analytical analyses are carried out to compare these two functions. In particular, their effect is studied on commonly used search algorithms, such as Hill Climbing, Simulated Annealing and Genetic Algorithms. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
HPLC measurement of ocular carotenoid levels in human donor eyes in the lutein supplementation era.

PURPOSE A substantial proportion of the population at risk for visual loss from age-related macular degeneration consumes supplements containing high doses of lutein, but clinical studies to date have shown only modest and variable increases in macular carotenoid pigments in response to supplementation. To determine whether lutein supplementation can indeed alter ocular carotenoid levels, the authors chemically measured levels of lutein, zeaxanthin, and their metabolites in the macula, peripheral retina, and lens of 228 eyes from 147 human donors and correlated these results with retrospective supplement histories from families of selected members of the study population. METHODS Lenses and circular punches of macula (4-mm diameter) and equatorial peripheral retina (8-mm diameter) were dissected from donor eyes free of ocular disease procured from the local eye bank. The amounts of lutein, zeaxanthin, meso-zeaxanthin, and 3'-oxolutein were determined by HPLC with photodiode array and mass spectral detection. RESULTS Eighteen percent of eyes from donors age 48 and older had unusually high levels (66.3 +/- 15.1 ng) of macular carotenoids that were three times the rest of the older population's mean level (23.0 + 12.1 ng; P < 0.001). Carotenoid levels in these outliers were also unusually high in the lens and in the peripheral retina. Similar outliers were not present in donors younger than 48. Most of these outliers regularly consumed high-dose lutein supplements before death. Lutein supplementation was uncommon in older donors whose macular carotenoids were in the normal range. CONCLUSIONS The presence of unusually high levels of macular carotenoids in older donors who were regularly consuming high-dose lutein supplements supports the hypothesis that long-term lutein supplementation can raise levels of macular pigment. Elevated carotenoid levels in the peripheral retina and lens in these same donors could have important implications for understanding why some clinical methods of macular pigment measurement have had difficulty detecting robust and consistent responses in carotenoid supplementation trials.
N-gram language models for massively parallel devices

For many applications, the query speed of N -gram language models is a computational bottleneck. Although massively parallel hardware like GPUs offer a potential solution to this bottleneck, exploiting this hardware requires a careful rethinking of basic algorithms and data structures. We present the first language model designed for such hardware, using B-trees to maximize data parallelism and minimize memory footprint and latency. Compared with a single-threaded instance of KenLM (Heafield, 2011), a highly optimized CPUbased language model, our GPU implementation produces identical results with a smaller memory footprint and a sixfold increase in throughput on a batch query task. When we saturate both devices, the GPU delivers nearly twice the throughput per hardware dollar even when the CPU implementation uses faster data structures. Our implementation is freely available at
Variation of the factor H-binding protein of Neisseria meningitidis

There is currently no comprehensive meningococcal vaccine, due to difficulties in immunizing against organisms expressing serogroup B capsules. To address this problem, subcapsular antigens, particularly the outer-membrane proteins (OMPs), are being investigated as candidate vaccine components. If immunogenic, however, such antigens are often antigenically variable, and knowledge of the extent and structuring of this diversity is an essential part of vaccine formulation. Factor H-binding protein (fHbp) is one such protein and is included in two vaccines under development. A survey of the diversity of the fHbp gene and the encoded protein in a representative sample of meningococcal isolates confirmed that variability in this protein is structured into two or three major groups, each with a substantial number of alleles that have some association with meningococcal clonal complexes and serogroups. A unified nomenclature scheme was devised to catalogue this diversity. Analysis of recombination and selection on the allele sequences demonstrated that parts of the gene are subject to positive selection, consistent with immune selection on the protein generating antigenic variation, particularly in the C-terminal region of the peptide sequence. The highest levels of selection were observed in regions corresponding to epitopes recognized by previously described bactericidal monoclonal antibodies.