Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multicolour analysis and local image correlation in confocal microscopy

Multiparameter fluorescence microscopy is often used to identify cell types and subcellular organelles according to their differential labelling. For thick objects, the quantitative comparison of different multiply labelled specimens requires the three‐dimensional (3‐D) sampling capacity of confocal laser scanning microscopy, which can be used to generate pseudocolour images. To analyse such 3‐D data sets, we have created pixel fluorogram representations, which are estimates of the joint probability densities linking multiple fluorescence distributions. Such pixel fluorograms also provide a powerful means of analysing image acquisition noise, fluorescence cross‐talk, fluorescence photobleaching and cell movements. To identify true fluorescence co‐localization, we have developed a novel approach based on local image correlation maps. These maps discriminate the coincident fluorescence distributions from the superimposition of noncorrelated fluorescence profiles on a local basis, by correcting for contrast and local variations in background intensity in each fluorescence channel. We believe that the pixel fluorograms are best suited to the quality control of multifluorescence image acquisition. The local image correlation methods are more appropriate for identifying co‐localized structures at the cellular or subcellular level. The thresholding of these correlation maps can further be used to recognize and classify biological structures according to multifluorescence attributes.
Streptococcus thermophilus bacteraemia in a patient with transient bowel ischaemia secondary to polycythaemia

Introduction: The ability of Streptococcus thermophilus to convert lactose into lactic acid has long been utilised by the dairy industry. A seemingly low-pathogenicity organism, there have been no previously published reports linking the consumption of foodstuffs to bacteraemia with this bacterium. Case Presentation: Here we present a case of a regular consumer of Activia yoghurt who developed S. thermophilus bacteraemia probably due to transient bowel ischaemia secondary to polycythaemia. Conclusion: The isolation of this bacterium from blood cultures may indicate underlying large bowel pathology and should not necessarily be dismissed as contamination.
Multimodel evaluation of twenty lumped hydrological models under contrasted climate conditions

This paper investigates the temporal transposability of hydrological models under contrasted climate conditions and evaluates the added value of using an ensemble of model structures for flow simulation. This is achieved by applying the Differential Split Sample Test procedure to twenty lumped conceptual models on a catchment in the Province of Quebec (Canada) and another one in the State of Bavaria (Germany). First, a calibration/validation procedure was applied on four historical non-continuous periods with contrasted climate conditions. Then, model efficiency was quantified individually (for each model) and collectively (for the model ensemble). The individual analysis evaluated model performance and robustness. The ensemble investigation, based on the average of simulated discharges, focused on the twenty-member ensemble and all possible model subsets. Results showed that using a single model may provide hazardous results when the model is to be applied in contrasted conditions. Overall, some models turned out as a good compromise in terms of performance and robustness, but generally not as much as the twenty-model ensemble. Model subsets offered yet improved performance over the twenty-model ensemble, but at the expanse of spatial transposability (i.e. need of site-specific analysis).
Accurate Counting Bloom Filters for Large-Scale Data Processing

Bloom filters are space-efficient randomized data structures for fast membership queries, allowing false positives. Counting Bloom Filters (CBFs) perform the same operations on dynamic sets that can be updated via insertions and deletions. CBFs have been extensively used in MapReduce to accelerate large-scale data processing on large clusters by reducing the volume of datasets. The false positive probability of CBF should be made as low as possible for filtering out more redundant datasets. In this paper, we propose a multilevel optimization approach to building an Accurate Counting Bloom Filter (ACBF) for reducing the false positive probability. ACBF is constructed by partitioning the counter vector into multiple levels. We propose an optimized ACBF by maximizing the first level size, in order to minimize the false positive probability while maintaining the same functionality as CBF. Simulation results show that the optimized ACBF reduces the false positive probability by up to 98.4% at the same memory consumption compared to CBF. We also implement ACBFs in MapReduce to speed up the reduce-side join. Experiments on realistic datasets show that ACBF reduces the false positive probability by 72.3% as well as the map outputs by 33.9% and improves the join execution times by 20% compared to CBF.
Model comparisons and genetic and environmental parameter estimates of growth and the Kleiber ratio in Horro sheep

Genetic and environmental parameters were estimated for pre- and post-weaning average daily gain (ADG1, ADG2) and Kleiber ratio (KR1, KR2) using the ASREML program. Twelve models, formed with inclusion or exclusion of the maternal genetic, permanent environmental and common (litter) environmental variance components and the covariance between the direct and maternal additive effect on the basic direct additive genetic model, were used. The same models were applied to birth weight (BWT), weaning weight (WWT) and bi-monthly weights to 12 months of age (WT2 to WT12), and weight at 18 months of age (WT18). Two-trait analyses were done among all traits. Maternal genetic and common environmental components were found to be important for ADG1, KR1 and weights up to six-months of age, while the common environmental component was found to be important for ADG2 and KR2. The maternal permanent environmental component was important for WT2 and WWT. Total heritability estimates for ADG1, ADG2, KR1 and KR2 were 0.13, 0.04, 0.13, and 0.01, respectively. Direct genetic correlations of ADG1 with BWT, WWT and WT6 were 0.01, 0.96 and 0.84 while with KR1 they were -0.40, 0.75 and 0.66, respectively. The relatively higher heritability in weight traits and the presence of positive and high correlations of weight traits with daily gain and Kleiber ratio tend to suggest that it would be more practical to select on the weight traits to improve gain and efficiency.
Migration and Adjustments to Shocks in Transition Economies

Does migration serve as an effective channel of regional adjustment to idiosyncratic shocks in transition economies? If so, one should find a strong relationship between regional unemployment and average wages on the one hand, and migration flows on the other. Yet, the evidence from transition economies indicates that the efficacy of migration in reducing inter-regional unemployment and wage differentials has been low. High wages appear to stimulate overall mobility rather than encourage a net immigration, and the effect of unemployment is statistically weak and not robust. In addition, the effect of unemployment and wages on net migration flows is economically insignificant and the overall level of migration has fallen during transition.
Title A new algorithm for continuous-discrete filtering with randomly delayed measurements Names of authors

The filtering of nonlinear continuous-discrete systems is widely applicable in real-life and extensive literature is available to deal with such problems. However, all of these approaches are constrained with the assumption that the current measurement is available at every time step, although delay in measurement is natural in real-life applications. To deal with this problem, we re-derive the conventional Bayesian approximation framework for solving the continuous-discrete filtering problems. In practice, the delay is often smaller than one sampling time, which is the main case considered here. During the filtering of such systems, the actual time of correspondence should be known for a measurement received at the kth time instant. In this paper, a simple and intuitively justified cost function is used to decide the time to which the measurement at kth time instant actually corresponds. The performance of the proposed filter is compared with a conventional filter based on numerical integration which ignores random delays for a continuousdiscrete tracking problem. We show that the conventional filter fails to track the target while the modification proposed in this paper successfully deals with random delays. The proposed method may be seen as a valuable addition to the tools available for continuous-discrete filtering in nonlinear systems.
Assessment of the Therapeutic Efficacy of Two Artemisinin-Based Combinations in the Treatment of Uncomplicated Falciparum Malaria among Children Under 5 Years in Four District Hospitals in Sierra Leone

Plasmodium falciparum has developed resistance to almost every class of antimalarial compounds. As a result of this, the World Health Organization has recommended artemisinin-based combination therapy as first line treatment for P. falciparum malaria. There is however need for the continuous monitoring of the efficacy of these antimalarials in order to provide timely information on trends of the emergence of resistant strains. We assessed the therapeutic efficacy of oral artesunate – amodiaquine and artemether-lumefantrine combinations in the treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in four District Hospitals in Sierra Leone. A total of 320 children under five years partiiccipated in the study sites (Kenema, Rokupa, Bo and Makeni). Oral Artesunate-amodiaquine combination was administered to participants in Kenema and Rokupa whilst Artemetherlumefantrine combination was administered to participants in Bo and Makeni. The new WHO Protocol for recruitment of participants in therapeutic efficacy trials in high transmission zones was adopted for the study with filter paper blood samples taken from each participant on days 0 and 28 to distinguish between treatment failure and new infection. When uncorrected for PCR analysis, 96% (95% CI: 902 – 989) and 100% (95% CI:63.1 – 100) responses were obtained in Kenema and Bo respectively with Artesunate-amodiaquine combination whilst 94.3% (CI 95 : 88.1 – 979) and 100% (95% CI: 96.5 – 100) were obtained with Artemether-lumefantrine combination in Bo and Makeni respectively. When corrected for PCR on the other hand, a 100% (95% CI) Adequate Clinical and Parasitological Response was obtained for the two drugs in all four study sites. Results from this study indicate that both Artesunate-amodiaquine and Artemether-lumefantrine combinations remain highly efficacious in Sierra Leone with presently no observed emergence of resistant strains to both drugs. Keywords : Artemisinin-based combination, uncomplicated falciparum malaria, children, Sierra Leone
MICROFLUIDICS IN GLASS: TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS

The paper presents technological aspects of patterning and assembling of glass wafers for microfluidic applications as well as three applica- tions of the developed technologies. Special masking layer (Cr/Au/Photoresist and a:Si/SiC/Photoresist) were design, fabricated and tested for deep wet etching of glass. As a result an 1mm-thick Pyrex glass wafer was etch-through using an a:Si/SiC/Photoresist mask. Also, a HF(49%)/HCl(37%) solution in ratio 10/1 was found to be optimal for achieving a good surface roughness of the generated surface. Experimental results regarding dry etching of Pyrex glass on ICP reactors show that vertical sidewall can be generated using C4F8/He as process gasses. The best result was achieved for silicon (single crystal) mask. Microfluidic applications require bonding over metallization deposited on silicon wafer. Adhesive bonding can be a solution for direct assembling of glass- to-glass (especially at low temperature- below 200 O C). A special adhesive bonding technique, with SU8- negative photoresist applied by contact imprint- ing, was developed for glass microfluidic applications. Design considerations, fabrication process and experimental results of microfluidic devices such as: dielectrophoretic (DEP) chip with bulk silicon elec- trodes, 3D DEP filter as well as a microfluidic chip for cell impedance spectroscopy are also presented.
Fast-Sec: an approach to secure Big Data processing in the cloud

ABSTRACT Security is an important concern in computer systems, which is especially remarkable when the system has to handle large amounts of data and some different users accessing this data with different accessing permissions. This work proposes an innovative approach for providing a security infrastructure support to Big Data Analytic in Cloud-based systems named Fast-sec. Fast-Sec handles systems with large volumes of data from heterogeneous sources, in which users may access the system by different platforms, consuming or providing data. The security infrastructure proposed in Fast-Sec provides an authentication mechanism for users, and data access control adapted to high demands from cloud-based Big Data environment. The reported results show the adequacy of the proposed safety infrastructure to the cloud-based systems processing Big Data. Graphical Abstract Fast-Sec: An Approach to Secure Big Data Processing in the Cloud.
Security Analysis and Improvements of a Biometrics-based User Authentication Scheme Using Smart Cards

Many biometrics-based user authentication schemes using smart cards have been proposed to improve the security weaknesses in user authentication system. In 2010, Chang et al. proposed an improved biometrics-based user authentication scheme without concurrency system which can withstand forgery attack, off-line password guessing attack, replay attack, etc. In this paper, we analyze the security weaknesses of Chang et al.`s scheme and we have shown that Chang et al.`s scheme is still insecure against man-in-the-middle attack, off-line biometrics guessing attack, and does not provide mutual authentication between the user and the server. And we proposed the improved scheme to overcome these security weaknesses, even if the secret information stored in the smart card is revealed. As a result, the proposed scheme is secure for the user authentication attack, the server masquerading attack, the man-in-the-middle attack, and the off-line biometrics guessing attack, does provide the mutual authentication between the user and the remote server. And, in terms of computational complexities, the proposed scheme is more effective than Chang et al.`s scheme.
The elements of seasonal adaptations in insects

The many components of seasonal adaptations in insects are reviewed, especially from the viewpoint of aspects that must be studied in order to understand the structure and purposes of the adaptations. Component responses include dispersal, habitat selection, habitat modification, resistance to cold, dryness, and food limitation, trade-offs, diapause, modifications of developmental rate, sensitivity to environmental signals, life-cycle patterns including multiple alternatives in one species, and types of variation in phenology and development. Spatial, temporal, and resource elements of the environment are also reviewed, as are environmental signals, supporting the conclusion that further understanding of all of these seasonal responses requires detailed simultaneous study of the natural environments that drive the patterns of response.
The vanishing effect of finance on growth

This paper investigates the causes of the "vanishing effect of finance" detected in recent studies. The results highlight that the negative effect of the financial system on growth is mainly driven by advanced economies, whereas finance is still beneficial for income increases in developing countries. The reason is that finance and growth are associated via a nonlinear relationship, which is due to a fundamental change in the transmission mechanism of finance across different levels of economic and financial development. In early stages of development, finance fosters entrepreneurship, education, and investment in physical capital. As the economies develop, this positive influence vanishes. The negative effect of finance is stronger in countries with sophisticated public education systems, low levels of income inequality, as well as low fertility rates, and in times with low factor productivity growth.
Relationship between phosphate affinities and cell size and shape in various bacteria and phytoplankton

Substrate affinity expresses the ability of an osmotroph organism to compete for a sub- strate at permanently low external concentrations and is thus a central parameter in conceptual and mathematical models of aquatic food webs. Assuming diffusion transport in the surrounding medium to be the limiting process at low external substrate concentrations, the theoretical maximum affinity (α max ) and its dependence on cell size and shape for a given osmotroph organism can be calculated from Fick's law of diffusion in combination with knowledge of the amount of substrate required to form a new cell. For a non-respired substrate, the actual affinity (α) can also be expressed as the bio- mass-specific turnover rate of the substrate, α = (TB) -1 . Combining a measure of biomass (B), with determination of substrate turnover time (T), the affinity can thus be determined experimentally. We used this approach to compare measured with theoretical maximum affinities for phosphate in labo- ratory cultures of osmotrophic microorganisms. For bacteria and autotrophic flagellates, we found relatively good agreement between experimental and theoretical maximum values, suggesting that diffusion limitation is actually approached in P-limited cultures. Assuming P-free vacuoles, the the- ory predicts diatom affinities to exceed that of similarly sized flagellates. This prediction is consistent with our experimental observations. Previous reports of diatoms being unsuccessful under P-limited conditions may therefore need a more complex explanation than lack of competitive ability in diatoms.
Numerical Solution of Richards' Equation: A Review of Advances and Challenges

The flow of water in partially saturated porous media is of importance in fields such as hydrology, agriculture, environment and waste management. It is also one of the most complex flows in nature. The Richards’ equation describes the flow of water in an unsaturated porous medium due to the actions of gravity and capillarity neglecting the flow of the non-wetting phase, usually air. Analytical solutions of Richards’ equation exist only for simplified cases, so most practical situations require a numerical solution in one- two- or three-dimensions, depending on the problem and complexity of the flow situation. Despite the fact that the first reasonably complete conservative numerical solution method was published in the early 1990s, the numerical solution of the Richards’ equation remains computationally expensive and in certain circumstances, unreliable. A universally robust and accurate solution methodology has not yet been identified that is applicable across the range of soils, initial and boundary conditions found in practice. Existing solution codes have been modified over years to attempt to increase robustness. Despite theoretical results on the existence of solutions given sufficiently regular data and constitutive relations, our numerical methods often fail to demonstrate reliable convergence behavior in practice, especially for higher-order methods. Because of robustness, the lack of higher-order accuracy and computational expense, alternative solution approaches or methods are needed. There is also a need for better documentation of improved solution methodologies and benchmark test problems to facilitate consistent advances and avoid re-inventing of the wheel.
Title Detecting the ITCZ in Instantaneous Satellite Data using Spatiotemporal Statistical Modeling : ITCZ Climatology in the East Pacific Permalink

A Markov random field (MRF) statistical model is introduced, developed, and validated for detecting the east Pacific intertropical convergence zone in instantaneous satellite data from May through October. The MRF statistical model uses satellite data at a given location as well as information from its neighboring points (in time and space) to decide whether the given point is classified as ITCZ or non-ITCZ. Two different labels of ITCZ occurrence are produced. IR-only labels result from running the model with 3-hourly infrared data available for a 30-yr period, 1980–2009. All-data labels result from running the model with additional satellite data (visible and total precipitable water), available from 1995 to 2008. IR-only labels detect less area of ITCZ than all-data labels, especially where the ITCZ is shallower. Yet, qualitatively, the results for the two sets of labels are similar. The seasonal distribution of the ITCZ through the summer half year is presented, showing typical location and extent. The ITCZ is mostly confined to the eastern Pacific in May, and becomes more zonally distributed toward September and October each year. Northward and westward shifts in the location of the ITCZ occur in line with the seasonal cycle and warm sea surface temperatures. The ITCZ is quite variable on interannual time scales and highly correlated with ENSO variability. When the ENSO signal was removed from labels, interannual variability remained high. The resulting IR-only labels, representing the longer time series, showed no evidence of a trend in location nor evidence of a trend in area for the 30-yr period.
Attitude theory applied to in-store and online shopping

In this study, we investigated whether our understanding of adoption of e-shopping and instore shopping could be advanced through the application of attitude theory. A shortcoming of the analytical frameworks and models featured in attitude theory is that they do not address the issue of what causes the variation in psychological constructs such as perceived behavioural control. A simplified version of the Extended Model of Goal-directed Behaviour (EMGB) (Perugini & Conner, 2000) was therefore expanded to take into account such external variables as shop accessibility. Data were collected in the centre of the Netherlands, using a questionnaire that included items about the intention to buy media products (books, music, DVDs, for example) online and in-store within the forthcoming month. Structural equation modelling was employed as the method of analysis. The findings show that shopping behaviour is reasonably well explained by the EMGB. The effects of past behaviour and perceived behavioural control on the volition to shop online and in-store were statistically significant. Additionally, the volition to shop in-store was influenced by goal desire and the volition to shop online by subjective norms. People who have media stores within twenty minutes’ cycling distance from their home have a weaker intention to buy media products online, because they experience social pressure not to buy online when stores are relatively near home. Frequent online buyers tend to perceive less control over making a shopping trip to buy media products. Thus, shop accessibility affects the volition to buy online, while online buying experience affects the volition to shop in-store. Substitution between e-shopping and in-store shopping seems likely to occur for media products