Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fingerprint Liveness Detection Based on Fine-Grained Feature Fusion for Intelligent Devices

Currently, intelligent devices with fingerprint identification are widely deployed in our daily life. However, they are vulnerable to attack by fake fingerprints made of special materials. To elevate the security of these intelligent devices, many fingerprint liveness detection (FLD) algorithms have been explored. In this paper, we propose a novel detection structure to discriminate genuine or fake fingerprints. First, to describe the subtle differences between them and take advantage of texture descriptors, three types of different fine-grained texture feature extraction algorithms are used. Next, we develop a feature fusion rule, including five operations, to better integrate the above features. Finally, those fused features are fed into a support vector machine (SVM) classifier for subsequent classification. Data analysis on three standard fingerprint datasets indicates that the performance of our method outperforms other FLD methods proposed in recent literature. Moreover, data analysis results of blind materials are also reported.
The Nek2 protein kinase : its phosphorylation, activation and inhibition

Nek2 is a cell cycle-regulated protein kinase localised to the centrosome. Nek2 is involved in regulating mitotic events and centrosomal activity through phosphorylation of various substrates including C-Nap1, Rootletin and PP1. Nek2 is overexpressed in cancer cell lines and primary tumours. Overexpression of active Nek2 is characterised by the premature splitting of centrosomes and altered microtubule nucleation. Activation of Nek2 is dependent upon dimerisation and autophosphorylation. Using mass spectrometry, 13 sites of autophosphorylation have been identified in the Nek2 kinase. Individual phosphorylation sites were mutated and the effect that this had on Nek2 activity in vitro and in vivo was characterised. Phosphomimiking mutation of T170 or S171 created hyperactive Nek2A kinases. However, mutation of the C-terminal autophosphorylation sites had no effect upon Nek2A activity. The proposal that the C-terminal domain of Nek2 acts as an autoinhibitory domain was investigated although the removal of C-terminal residues did not create a hyperactive Nek2 kinase. An investigation into the role of a novel αT-helix found at the N-terminal end of the T-loop of an inactive Nek2 crystal structure, found that mutation of αT-helix residues resulted in loss of Nek2A kinase activity. Phospho specific antiserum directed against the Nek2 T175 autophosphorylation site was purified and characterised. This reagent should prove to be a valuable tool for detection of active Nek2 kinase in tumours as well as cells in culture. Furthermore, the intramolecular interactions of C-Nap1 and Nek2 were investigated to determine how centrosome cohesion is regulated. Protein binding assays revealed that C-Nap1 can form heteroand homo-dimers and that the ability of C-Nap1 to heterodimerise is compromised as a consequence of phosphorylation by Nek2. Finally, the consequences of Cdk1 inhibition upon Nek2A activity and centrosome cohesion were investigated. Inhibition of Cdk1 in cells induced a substantial G2/M arrest accompanied by premature centriole disengagement resulting in multipolar spindle formation observed in cells released from Cdk1 inhibition.
A noteworthy treatment of metastatic small‐cell lung cancer with afatinib, followed by subsequent development of rare metastatic lesions in the ascending and sigmoid colon

Small‐cell lung cancer (SCLC) represents a group of highly fatal diseases with a tendency toward fast growth, early metastasis, and easy development of chemotherapy resistance. In the past 30 years, few advances have been made in the systemic treatment of SCLC, and cisplatin/etoposide has remained the standard of care for limited‐stage SCLC and, in combination with radiotherapy, extensive‐stage SCLC. The preferred metastatic sites of SCLC include the brain, liver, adrenal glands, bone, and bone marrow. However, bowel metastasis caused by SCLC is extremely rarely proved in patients while they are still alive (although autopsy studies suggest that silent metastases to the bowel are more common), and the standard treatment for bowel metastasis has never been reported. The mean time between the identification of gastrointestinal metastasis and mortality in patients with lung cancer is 100.6 days, with a range of 21–145 days.
Hyperspectral Image Dimensionality Reduction via Graph Embedding in Core Tensor Space

This letter tries to effectively reduce the dimension of hyperspectral images (HSIs) by jointly considering both the spectral redundancy and spatial continuity through a multilinear transformation with graph embedding in core tensor space. The whole process is constructed in the framework of Tucker decomposition (TD). Since the distance between intraclass samples should be relatively smaller than that of the interclass samples, the reduced tensor cores should maintain this property. To achieve this goal, a graph is embedded to the core tensor space during TD. Moreover, considering the unstability of solution of the previous works, we constrain the projected matrices by orthogonality so that the results can be more stable and the extracted features can be more discriminative. We further analyze the effect of different constrains to TD methods for HSI dimensionality reduction. Finally, the experimental results show the superiority of this method to many other tensor methods.
Power of the eyes: deterring sexual harassment in Tokyo subways using images of watchful eyes

Abstract Sex crime in subways poses an ever-present threat to Japanese commuters. This paper proposes a simple and viable adjunct to the current tactics by harnessing the potential of the watching eyes effect to deter sexual harassment. It attempts to observe the human biological sensitivity to gaze and to explore its application to the specific Japanese context where powerful informal control exists. The paper also identifies the possible advantages and limitations of such measure, with the goal of stimulating more discussion over evidence-based behavioural interventions in deterring crimes. A tentative proposal is composed to summarize and demonstrate a number of behaviourally informed suggestions regarding the practical implementation and configuration of the proposed measure.
Exploring the Antibacterial, Antioxidant, and Anticancer Properties of Lichen Metabolites

Exploring the Antibacterial, Antioxidant, and Anticancer Properties of Lichen Metabolites Gajendra Shrestha Department of Biology, BYU Doctor of Philosophy Natural products have been a significant source of new drugs, especially in treating cancer, infectious diseases, hypertension, and neurological disorders. Although many natural metabolites have been screened and yielded pharmaceutically important drugs, many potential sources of natural product drug therapies still need to be investigated, including lichens. Lichens are symbiotic systems consisting of a filamentous fungus and a photosynthetic partner (an eukaryotic alga and/or cyanobacterium). Lichens produce an impressive variety of unique secondary compounds and have been used as ingredients in folk medicines for centuries. Demonstrated biological roles based on lichen chemistry include: antibiotics, anti-proliferative, antioxidants, anti-HIV, anti-cancer, immunomodulation, and anti-protozoans. Although North America is home to an impressive variety of lichen species, there is limited research to examine the biological potentials of these lichens. The core goal of this dissertation research has been to investigate some of the biological roles including, antibiotic, antioxidant, and anticancer potentials using lichen crude extracts and their metabolites collected from various locations in the United States. Antibiotic screening of crude extracts of 36 lichen species demonstrated inhibitory effects against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Methicillinresistant S. aureus (MRSA). Generally, acetone extractions were found to be more effective than methanol extractions. It has also been shown that L. vulpina extract was bacteriocidal against MRSA with a relatively slow kill rate that disrupts cell membrane integrity and cell division as possible modes of action. Antioxidant screening of extracts from 11 lichen species, using the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) assay, showed that lichen extracts inhibited the oxidative degradation of the fluorescent molecule (fluorescein-sodium salt) by the oxygen free radical initiator AAPH (2,2'-azobis(2-aminidopropane) dihydrochloride Acetone extracts as well as pure compounds from lichen species showed cytotoxic effects against Burkitt's lymphoma (Raji) cells and a colon cancer cell line (HT29 and SW620). They decreased proliferation, arrested cell cycle at various stages and force the cell to undergo apoptosis. The tested extracts or pure compounds were not toxic to normal cells. In colon cancer apoptosis took place independent of casapase-3. The results of this dissertation showed that lichen compounds merits for further investigation.
CURRENT VIEWS ON NEUROPLASTICITY: WHAT IS NEW AND WHAT IS OLD?

The main aim of the paper is to show that many previously forgotten discoveries within the field of neuroscience own their rediscovery and renaissance to the refinement of tools provided by the technological advances. Most spectacular is the advancement of brain imaging techniques, which provide hard data that support for evidence for previously neglected presumptions and ideas. Neuroplasticity is an example of such a long ignored historical discovery. One reason for that neglect is that it stood in contradiction to beliefs and theories prevailing at the first half of the twenties century. The idea of neuronal plasticity is not disputed any longer since it has found confirmation not only in a dramatic development of neuroimaging but also in the advancement of neurobiology. Most authors concentrate upon neuronal plasticity, recent studies, however, have produced a wealth of information regarding neurogenesis, in which astrocytes have proved to play a significant role. The significance of adult neurogenesis for learning and memory and for treatment of depression is outlined. Moreover, it was observed that neuroplasticity benefits patients suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who undergo effective, evidence-based treatment. Convincing examples of brain plasticity brings also clinical practice, which often unveils the appearance of hitherto hidden artistic abilities in people who have suffered from brain damage. In addition, the possibilities of altering the brain functions by mental force alone are discussed. Thus, the paper reveals that many “controversial” ideas were confirmed by contemporary studies forcing changes in a traditional view on brain works.
Kinematics and deformation of the southern Red Sea region from GPS observations

We thank Yacob Tesfamariem, Abiel Yacob and Habtom Fessehaye (all at the Eritrea Institute of Technology) for their help with the 2016 GPS campaign in Eritrea. We also thank Elias Lewi (Addis Ababa University) for GPS data from Ethiopia and Daniele Trippanera (KAUST) for useful discussions. Editor Duncan Agnew and reviewers Cynthia Ebinger and Charles DeMets provided constructive comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. This research was supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), under award number OSR-2015-CRG4-2643.
Analisis kausalitas antara neraca transaksi berjalan, pertumbuhan pdb, nilai tukar, dan investasi modal asing langsung

Sejak tahun 2011, neraca transaksi berjalan di Indonesia mengalami defisit, menimbulkan kekhawatiran para pengambil kebijakan dan investor. Jika masalah defisit transaksi berjalan terus berlanjut dalam jangka panjang, akan sulit bagi perekonomian suatu negara untuk mengatasi masalah tersebut karena impor modal yang diperlukan untuk membiayai defisit transaksi berjalan meningkatkan utang luar negeri. Tujuan utama dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengungkapkan hubungan kausalitas antara defisit neraca transaksi berjalan, pertumbuhan PDB, nilai tukar efektif riil, investasi asing langsung, dan keterbukaan perdagangan di Indonesia menggunakan data triwulanan 1994Q1-2018Q1. Pertama-tama, pengujian unit root dilakukan untuk menentukan stasioneritas dari variable-variabel yang digunakan. Hasil pengujian unit root menemukan bahwa pertumbuhan PDB, investasi asing langsung, dan keterbukaan perdagangan stasioner pada level sedangkan transaksi berjalan dan nilai tukar efektif riil mengandung unit root. Hubungan sebab akibat antara variabel dianalisis menggunakan uji kausalitas Granger. Hasil analisis menunjukkan adanya hubungan kausal searah dari nilai tukar riil efektif terhadap PDB. Kausalitas dua arah ditemukan antara defisit neraca berjalan dan PDB. Tidak ditemukan cukup bukti mengenai adanya hubungan kausalitas antara keterbukaan perdagangan, investasi asing langsung dan neraca transaksi berjalan.
Comparing Complexity in Watershed Governance: The Case of California

Environmental governance scholars argue that optimal environmental performance can be achieved by matching the scale of governance to the scale of the resource being managed. In the case of water, this means managing at the scale of the watershed. However, many watersheds lack a single watershed-scale organization with authority over all water resources and instead rely on cross-jurisdiction coordination or collaboration among diverse organizations. To understand what “watershed governance” looks like fully, this paper maps organizations with rights to use, regulate, or manage water in four subwatersheds in California (the American, Cosumnes, and Kings Rivers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin watershed and the Shasta River in the Klamath watershed). We assemble datasets of water organizations, water rights holders, and water management plans and use content analysis and social network analysis to explore what water management looks like in the absence of a single basin authority. We describe the institutional complexity that exists in each watershed, compare the physical and institutional interconnections between actors in the watersheds, and then ask to what extent these connections map onto watershed boundaries. We find that the ways in which water management is complex takes very different forms across the four watersheds, despite their being located in a similar political, social, and geographic context. Each watershed has drastically different numbers of actors and uses a very different mix of water sources. We also see very different levels of coordination between actors in each watershed. Given these differences, we then discuss how the institutional reforms needed to create watershed-scale management are unique for each watershed. By building a stronger comparative understanding of what watershed governance actually entails, this work aims to build more thoughtful recommendations for building institutional fit.
Remote State Estimation in the Presence of an Active Eavesdropper

We consider remote state estimation in the presence of an active eavesdropper. A sensor forward local state estimates to a remote estimator over a network, which may be eavesdropped by an intelligent adversary. Aiming at improving the eavesdropping performance efficiently, the adversary may adaptively alternate between an eavesdropping and an active mode. In contrast to eavesdropping, the active attack enables the adversary to sabotage the data transfer to the estimator, and improve the data reception to itself at the same time. However, launching active attacks may increase the risk of being detected. As a result, a tradeoff between eavesdropping performance and stealthiness arises. We present a generalized framework for active eavesdropping and propose a criterion based on the packet reception rate at the estimator to evaluate the stealthiness of the eavesdropper. Moreover, the tradeoff is formulated as a constrained Markov decision process. After deriving a sufficient condition under which at least one stationary policy satisfies the stealthiness constraint and also bounds the eavesdropping performance, we develop an optimal attack policy for the eavesdropper and focus on the structural analysis of the optimal policy. Furthermore, numerical examples are provided to illustrate the developed results.
Birds of two worlds : the ecology and evolution of migration

For centuries biologists have tried to understand the underpinnings of avian migration: where birds go and why, why some migrate and some do not, how they adapt to a changing environment, and how migratory systems evolve. Twenty-five years ago the answers to many of these questions were addressed by a collection of migration experts in Keast and Morton's classic work Migrant Birds in the Neotropics. In 1992, Hagan and Johnston published a follow-up book, Ecology and Conservation of Neotropical Migrant Landbirds. In Birds of Two Worlds Russell Greenberg and Peter Marra bring together the world's experts on avian migration to discuss its ecology and evolution. The contributors move the discussion of migration to a global stage, looking at all avian migration systems and delving deeper into the evolutionary foundations of migratory behavior. Readers interested in the biology, behavior, ecology, and evolution of birds have waited a decade to see a worthy successor to the earlier classics. Birds of Two Worlds will complete the trilogy and become indispensable for ornithologists, evolutionary biologists, serious birders, and public and academic libraries.
Inteligência artificial e novas tecnologias em saúde: desafios e perspectivas

The development of computational tools and new methods of innovation allow new technologies to be promoted daily in all areas of knowledge. In health this could not be different, new medicines, materials, procedures and devices are often launched and incorporated into medical and dental practice, facilitating the process of diagnosis, treatment, identification and organization of daily routines of the health system. In this context, this paper presents an analysis of the innovations and technologies developed in recent years that are being incorporated into health monitoring from the point of view of information and communication technologies (ICTs), data mining tools, Artificial intelligence and optimization methods.
Pine Resin Derivatives as Sustainable Additives to Improve the Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Injected Moulded Thermoplastic Starch

Fully bio-based materials based on thermoplastic starch (TPS) were developed starting from corn starch plasticized with glycerol. The obtained TPS was further blended with five pine resin derivatives: gum rosin (GR), disproportionated gum rosin (dehydroabietic acid, RD), maleic anhydride modified gum rosin (CM), pentaerythritol ester of gum rosin (LF), and glycerol ester of gum rosin (UG). The TPS–resin blend formulations were processed by melt extrusion and further by injection moulding to simulate the industrial conditions. The obtained materials were characterized in terms of mechanical, thermal and structural properties. The results showed that all gum rosin-based additives were able to improve the thermal stability of TPS, increasing the degradation onset temperature. The carbonyl groups of gum rosin derivatives were able to interact with the hydroxyl groups of starch and glycerol by means of hydrogen bond interactions producing a significant increase of the glass transition temperature with a consequent stiffening effect, which in turn improve the overall mechanical performance of the TPS-resin injected moulded blends. The developed TPS–resin blends are of interest for rigid packaging applications.
Long-run inheritance tax and capital income tax with rational altruism

We consider a two-period overlapping generation model with rational altruism a la Barro. The government finances public spending with taxes on labor income, capital income and inheritance. We show that, in the long-run, inheritance tax and capital income tax are generally different from zero, even if the optimal tax policy leads to the modified Golden-rule.
11 Meiosis and Sporulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

I. INTRODUCTION A. The Importance of Meiosis Meiosis has a central role in the sexual reproduction of nearly all eukaryotes. The major genetic events that occur during this process are critical for generating genetic diversity and producing offspring with normal chromosome numbers. The stages and transition periods in the two successive divisions that comprise the process are exquisitely regulated and differ significantly in timing and chromosome behavior from the corresponding stages of mitosis. The first division deviates most dramatically from mitotic cell division in its prolonged DNA S phase, greatly extended prophase in which homologous pairing and recombination occur, anaphase cohesion of sister chromatids, and disjunction of homologs (for review, see Baker et al. 1976). In contrast, the second meiotic division has a shortened G 1 , lacks its own S and G 2 phases, and is otherwise similar to mitosis, utilizing many of the same gene products to disjoin the previously replicated sister chromatids. These dramatic changes in chromosome behavior offer a fascinating look at the regulatory mechanisms that control both cell division and cell differentiation. For example, what triggers meiotic development? Is there a single irreversible commitment point similar to mitotic Start for all meiotic events? How does the synaptonemal complex develop and what specific role(s) does it have in meiosis? What factors regulate the assembly of meiosis I and meiosis II spindles and the pattern of chromosome segregation in each division? How is the progression of events coordinated through two meiotic divisions? Do they function on a single sequential dependent.
Differential effects of artificial lighting on flight and foraging behaviour of two sympatric bat species in a desert

Human habitation in deserts can create rich novel resources that may be used by native desert species. However, at night such resources may lose attractiveness when they are in artificially lit areas. For bats, attraction to such manmade habitats might be species specific. In an isolated village in the Negev desert that is known for its high bat activity we investigated the effects of artificial lighting on flight behaviour of two aerial insectivorous bat species: Pipistrellus kuhlii, a non-desert synanthropic bat, common in urban environments and Eptesicus bottae, a desert-dwelling species. Using an acoustic tracking system we reconstructed flight trajectories for bats that flew under artificial lights [Light treatment (L)] versus in natural darkness [Dark treatment (D)]. Under L both P. kuhlii and E. bottae flew significantly faster than under D. Under L, P. kuhlii also flew at significantly lower altitude (i.e. away from a floodlight) than under D. Whereas P. kuhlii foraged both in L and D, E. bottae only foraged in D. In L, activity of E. bottae decreased and it merely transited the illuminated area at commuting rather than foraging speed. Thus, under artificially lighted conditions the non-desert synanthropic species may have a competitive advantage over the native desert species and may outcompete it for aerial insect prey. Controlling light pollution in deserts and keeping important foraging sites unlit may reduce the synanthropic species' competitive advantage over native desert bats.
Inorganic biochemistry of iron metabolism

Solution chemistry of iron in biological media the importance of iron for biological systems microbial iron uptake and intracellular release iron assimilation in plants and fungi iron absorption in mammals with special reference to man chemistry and biology of the transferrins the transferrin receptor, the transferrin to cell cycle and intracellular iron release intracellular iron storage - ferritin, haemosiderin and the low molecular weight from pool iron homeostasis and cellular iron release iron deficiency and iron overload in man iron and oxidative damage iron and infection concluding remarks.