Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Methods of representation for kernel canonical correlation analysis

Classical canonical correlation analysis seeks the associations between two data sets, i.e. it searches for linear combinations of the original variables having maximal correlation. Our task is to maximize this correlation. This problem is equivalent to solving the generalized eigenvalue problem. The maximal correlation coefficient (being a solution of this problem) is the first canonical correlation coefficient. In this paper we construct nonlinear canonical correlation analysis in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. The new kernel generalized eigenvalue problem always has the solution equal to one, and this is a typical case of over-fitting. We present methods to solve this problem and compare the results obtained by classical and kernel canonical correlation analysis.
Second-order distributed consensus with modified probabilistic quantization

In order to improve the accuracy of distributed consensus under quantized communication, in the paper, we firstly propose a modification to the probabilistically quantized distributed (PQDA) algorithm, and we update the state of every node by its state and the probabilistically quantized information of the adjacency nodes. Moreover, based on the modification, we propose a second-order modified probabilistically quantized algorithm. We analyze the performance and the mean square errors of the second-order modified probabilistic quantization distributed consensus, by analysis and simulation, the results show the second-order distributed consensus with modified probabilistic quantization fails to reach a consensus, but the mean square error is far smaller than that of the PQDA algorithm, and the curve chart of the new algorithm is similar to that of the distributed average consensus algorithm without distortion.
Structural noise reduction using multiresolution-based spectral subtraction

In ultrasonic non destructive evaluation (UT-NDE) of highly scattering materials, detection of little flaw echoes is difficult due to the masking effect of the structural noise. Most of the proposed techniques for enhancing the flaw visibility do not exploit the spectra of the structural noise and the incoming flaw signal depth dependency. They assume homogeneous behavior of the insonified material in order to design the processing algorithms. In this work, a multiresolution-based spectral subtraction method for enhancing the flaw signal to structural noise ratio (SNR) is proposed. This method, using the wavelet transform, exploits the non-stationary characteristic of the structural noise. First step of this algorithm is the time-scale estimation of several statistics of the structural noise. On the second step, non-linear over-subtraction of the raw signal wavelet transform is applied. This strategy produces improved results in SNR compared with linear and non- over-subtraction techniques. Next, a post-processing based on exploiting additional information from the physical knowledge of the structural noise is applied and finally the inverse Wavelet Transform obtains the output processed signal. Experimental results are also included showing that the proposed method dramatically increase the visibility of the flaw echoes.
Enzymantic Conversion of Coal to Liquid Fuels

The work in this project focused on the conversion of bituminous coal to liquid hydrocarbons. The major steps in this process include mechanical pretreatment, chemical pretreatment, and finally solubilization and conversion of coal to liquid hydrocarbons. Two different types of mechanical pretreatment were considered for the process: hammer mill grinding and jet mill grinding. After research and experimentation, it was decided to use jet mill grinding, which allows for coal to be ground down to particle sizes of 5 {mu}m or less. A Fluid Energy Model 0101 JET-O-MIZER-630 size reduction mill was purchased for this purpose. This machine was completed and final testing was performed on the machine at the Fluid Energy facilities in Telford, PA. The test results from the machine show that it can indeed perform to the required specifications and is able to grind coal down to a mean particle size that is ideal for experimentation. Solubilization and conversion experiments were performed on various pretreated coal samples using 3 different approaches: (1) enzymatic - using extracellular Laccase and Manganese Peroxidase (MnP), (2) chemical - using Ammonium Tartrate and Manganese Peroxidase, and (3) enzymatic - using the live organisms Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Spectral analysis was used to determine how effective each of these methods were in decomposing bituminous coal. After analysis of the results and other considerations, such as cost and environmental impacts, it was determined that the enzymatic approaches, as opposed to the chemical approaches using chelators, were more effective in decomposing coal. The results from the laccase/MnP experiments and Phanerochaete chrysosporium experiments are presented and compared in this final report. Spectra from both enzymatic methods show absorption peaks in the 240nm to 300nm region. These peaks correspond to aromatic intermediates formed when breaking down the coal structure. The peaks then decrease in absorbance over time, corresponding to the consumption of aromatic intermediates as they undergo ring cleavage. The results show that this process happens within 1 hour when using extracellular enzymes, but takes several days when using live organisms. In addition, live organisms require specific culture conditions, control of contaminants and fungicides in order to effectively produce extracellular enzymes that degrade coal. Therefore, when comparing the two enzymatic methods, results show that the process of using extracellular lignin degrading enzymes, such as laccase and manganese peroxidase, appears to be a more efficient method of decomposing bituminous coal.
Multi-strain infections of the Lyme borreliosis pathogen in the tick vector 1 2 Short title : Frequency and abundance of Borrelia strains in the tick 3 4

Full title: Multi-strain infections of the Lyme borreliosis pathogen in the tick vector 1 2 Short title: Frequency and abundance of Borrelia strains in the tick 3 4 Jonas Durand#, Coralie Herrmann, Dolores Genné, Anouk Sarr, Lise Gern, Maarten J. 5 Voordouw 6 7 a Laboratory of Ecology and Evolution of Parasites, Institute of Biology, University of 8 Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland 9 b Laboratory of Eco-Epidemiology of Parasites, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, 10 Neuchâtel, Switzerland 11 12 # Corresponding author: 13 E-mail address: jonas.durand@unine.ch (JD) 14 15 E-mail addresses: 16 Coralie Herrmann: herrmann.coralie@gmail.com 17 Dolores Genné: dolores.genne@unine.ch 18 Anouk Sarr: anouk.sarr@unine.ch 19 Lise Gern: lise.gern@unine.ch 20 Maarten J. Voordouw: maarten.voordouw@unine.ch 21 22 AEM Accepted Manuscript Posted Online 11 November 2016 Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.02552-16 Copyright © 2016, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Development of A Recombinant Xenogeneic TNF-α Protein Vaccine to Protect Mice

Development of A Recombinant Xenogeneic TNF-α Protein Vaccine to Protect Mice 1 From Experimental Colitis 2 Running title: Xenogeneic TNF-α Protein as Anti-colitis Vaccine 3 Yang Wan , Meng Li , Hailong Zhang , Xiuran Zheng , Chaoheng Yu , Gu He , 4 Yan Luo , Li Yang , Yuquan Wei b 5 Department of Geriatric Medicine, No. 4 Teaching Hospital, Sichuan University, 6 Chengdu, PR China 7 State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy / Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, 8 West China Hospital, West China Medical School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, PR 9 China 10 Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Immunology, Medical College of Henan 11 University, Kaifeng, PR China 12 Department of Immunology, Key Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, 13 Henan University, Kaifeng, PR China 14 15 #Address correspondence to Li Yang, yl.tracy73@gmail.com. 16 17 Abstract 18 Previous studies have highlighted the efficacy of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) 19 inhibitors, including monoclonal antibodies and soluble receptors, in the treatment and 20 management of the intestinal bowel disease (IBD). However, because of the 21 immunogenicity of xenogenic TNF-α inhibitors, anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) can be 22 triggered after repeated administration. An alternative way to target TNF-α is active 23 CVI Accepted Manuscript Posted Online 14 October 2015 Clin. Vaccine Immunol. doi:10.1128/CVI.00331-15 Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Assessment of 6- to 20-Grade Educators' Climate Knowledge and Perceptions: Results From the Climate Stewardship Survey

ABSTRACT The southeastern United States (SEUS) faces numerous potential impacts from a changing climate; however, the population has been characterized with a predominance of naysayers and few climate policies have been implemented by state governments in the region. As such, public education is an important avenue for achieving a climate literate citizenry in the region. Yet little is known about the needs of and influences on this community. We developed the Climate Stewardship Survey (CSS) to assess grades 6–20 educators' knowledge and perceptions of climate change in the SEUS (South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Florida, and Arkansas). The population sampled was an informed volunteer sample of convenience. Our findings demonstrated little misinformation among this informed group was evident and strong knowledge and perceptions of the issue were prevalent. However, some uncertainties about the impacts and causes of climate change persisted. Also, in regard to political orientation, Democratic Party and Republican Party educators had statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences in their knowledge and perceptions, and this difference was even stronger once Protestants were subdivided by political preferences. These differences indicate that the issue is polarized in the SEUS among educators and that the coupling of political and religious orientation can strongly influence this group's climate change knowledge and perceptions. As such, this population in the SEUS may be potentially more susceptible than others to cultural cognition influences, especially since relatively few SEUS state education standards address geoscience or climate change content, particularly at levels beyond middle school, with fewer than half of the states surveyed participating in the Next Generation Science Standards development process. Although this sample was limited in its distribution among states and respondent ethnicity, the findings presented are informative about potential SEUS educators' perceptions and knowledge about climate change. As such, our findings can be used to help inform future trainers in regard to what content areas might be the principal professional development opportunities and provide future researchers potential avenues for further investigation.
ambulatory oxygen The endurance shuttle walk test : An alternative to the six-minute walk test for the assessment of

UK guidelines for domiciliary oxygen have suggested the six-minute walk test or shuttle walk tests as suitable functional measures for the clinical assessment of ambulatory oxygen (AO). To date, there is limited evidence that would support the use of shuttle walk tests as assessment tools for AO. The endurance shuttle walk test (ESWT) is used increasingly as an assessment tool within pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) but its potential as an investigative test for AO has not been explored. Using the same test for both PR and AO assessment is appealing since it would improve efficiency and act to standardise outcome measures in this patient population. The aim of this study was to examine the responsiveness and repeatability of the ESWT to AO and to compare the response with that of the six-minute walk test (6MWT). Twenty-three patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) performed, in random order, the ESWT and the 6MWT on air and whilst breathing AO. Oxygen saturation and Borg ratings of breathlessness and perceived exertion were recorded. On a third day, eleven patients repeated the ESWT with AO in order to measure repeatability. There was a significantly greater change in the ESWT with oxygen than the change recorded from the 6MWT (66 [91] vs 6 [28] m respectively; P < .05). When repeated on a separate day, the mean difference (95% CI) between distances walked on the ESWT with AO was 0.91 ( 47, 49) m. The ESWT was more responsive than the 6MWT for detecting improvements in walking endurance whilst breathing AO.
Multiscale cloud system modeling

The central theme of this paper is to describe how cloud system resolving models (CRMs) of grid spacing ∼1 km have been applied to various important problems in atmospheric science across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales and how these applications relate to other modeling approaches. A long‐standing problem concerns the representation of organized precipitating convective cloud systems in weather and climate models. Since CRMs resolve the mesoscale to large scales of motion (i.e., 10 km to global) they explicitly address the cloud system problem. By explicitly representing organized convection, CRMs bypass restrictive assumptions associated with convective parameterization such as the scale gap between cumulus and large‐scale motion. Dynamical models provide insight into the physical mechanisms involved with scale interaction and convective organization. Multiscale CRMs simulate convective cloud systems in computational domains up to global and have been applied in place of contemporary convective parameterizations in global models. Multiscale CRMs pose a new challenge for model validation, which is met in an integrated approach involving CRMs, operational prediction systems, observational measurements, and dynamical models in a new international project: the Year of Tropical Convection, which has an emphasis on organized tropical convection and its global effects.
The dynamics of the vertical structure of turbulence in flood flows

The flow of water in a tide, flood or tsunami is often turbulent. We model large scale, but shallow, turbulent flow using the well established $k$-$\omega$ model of turbulence. Vertical turbulent mixing underlies the existence of a slow manifold model. As a first step, in this article the flow is assumed laterally homogeneous. Then constructing the slow manifold discovers the evolution of the average lateral velocity and average turbulent energy. We focus upon the influence on the mathematical analysis of key physical factors affecting the dynamics: turbulent mixing, energy production due to shear, volume energy dissipation and gravitational forcing on sloping ground. Further research will incorporate large scale lateral variations in the flow in order to predict tides, floods and tsunamis.
Integrative Cancer Therapies

Many Americans use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to prevent or alleviate common illnesses, and these medicines are commonly used by individuals with cancer. These medicines or botanicals share the same metabolic and transport proteins, including cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYP), glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs), and P-glycoprotein (Pgp), with over-thecounter and prescription medicines increasing the likelihood of drug–botanical interactions. This review provides a brief description of the different proteins, such as CYPs, UGTs, and Pgp. The potential effects of drug–botanical interactions on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the drug or botanical and a summary of the more common models used to study drug metabolism are described. The remaining portion of this review summarizes the data extracted from several laboratory, animal, and clinical studies that describe the metabolism, transport, and potential interactions of 8 selected botanicals. The 8 botanicals include black cohosh, Echinacea, garlic, Gingko biloba, green tea, kava, milk thistle, and St John’s wort; these botanicals are among some of the more common botanicals taken by individuals with cancer. These examples are included to demonstrate how to interpret the different studies and how to use these data to predict the likelihood of a clinically significant drug–botanical interaction.
Conv . RRoI poolingImage Classifier Text Background Background R-anchors Proposals reg . RRPN Parameter Score Multitask loss Feature map

This paper introduces a novel rotation-based framework for arbitrary-oriented text detection in natural scene images. We present the Rotation Region Proposal Networks (RRPN), which are designed to generate inclined proposals with text orientation angle information. The angle information is then adapted for bounding box regression to make the proposals more accurately fit into the text region in terms of the orientation. The Rotation Region-of-Interest (RRoI) pooling layer is proposed to project arbitrary-oriented proposals to a feature map for a text region classifier. The whole framework is built upon a regionproposal-based architecture, which ensures the computational efficiency of the arbitrary-oriented text detection compared with previous text detection systems. We conduct experiments using the rotation-based framework on three real-world scene text detection datasets and demonstrate its superiority in terms of effectiveness and efficiency over previous approaches.
Recent Advances in Passive Air Sampling of Volatile Organic Compounds

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are not only harmful to human health, but also important precursors of ozone and PM2.5, which cause severe air pollution. Therefore, it is critical to study these compounds, and monitor them by developing reliable and effective techniques. Passive air samplers (PASs) are small and uncomplicated, with the advantages of simple operation, easy transportation, and do not require external power; therefore, they are more economical and practical to monitor VOCs compared to active sampling techniques. As an alternative method, passive sampling is particularly suitable for long-term monitoring in remote regions and wilderness areas, simultaneous large-scale measurement, and recording of individual exposure. In recent years, commercial PASs have been improved continuously, while emerging samplers have been developed for new applications. The following main trends can be distinguished: (1) many novel PASs were specifically designed to monitor only one or few VOCs also including numerous redesigned commercial PASs; (2) the improvement of sorbents is still ongoing towards high efficiency, low cost, and multiple choices for more analytes; (3) structural improvement is another important aspect of PAS development mainly focusing on both sampler performances and applications; (4) the development of new technologies provides more sampling conveniences such as using unmanned aerial vehicles and sampling robots to special monitoring sites e.g., a stack or a ventilating duct.
Efficiency of Different Selection Indices for Desired Gain in Reproduction and Production Traits in Hariana Cattle

An investigation was conducted on 729 Hariana cows maintained at Government Livestock Farm, Hisar, from 1973 to 1999, with an objective to compare the efficiency of various selection indices for attaining desired genetic gains in the index traits. The various traits included were age at first calving (AFC), service period (SP), calving interval (CI), days to first service (DFS), number of services per conception (NSPC), lactation milk yield (LY), peak yield (PY), dry period (DP). Except for LY, PY and AFC the heritabilities of all other traits were low. Desirable associations among reproductive traits are supportive of the fact that any one of these traits incorporated in simultaneous selection is expected to cause correlated response in other traits. Production traits (LY and PY) were positively correlated, while DP had low negative genetic correlation with LY, and high genetic correlation with PY. Thus, DP can be taken as additional criteria in selection index for better over all improvement. Almost all production traits except DP had low negative correlation with AFC, SP, DFS and CI meaning that reduction in reproduction traits up to certain level may increase production performance. While, the correlation of NSPC with LY and PY was moderate positive. Among four trait indices I23: incorporating PY, AFC, SP and NSPC and among three trait indices I1: incorporating LY, AFC and SP were the best as these required least number of generations (4.87 and 1.35, respectively) to attain desired goals. Next in order of preference were PY or LY along with DP and SP as the best indices (I20 and I16) of which, index with PY may be preferred instead of LY as it produced considerably high correlated response in LY and reduction in NSPC as well. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2003. Vol 16, No. 6 : 789-793)
Chaube in vitro oocytes cultured Reduction of nitric oxide level leads to spontaneous resumption of meiosis in diplotene-arrested rat

The present study was aimed to investigate whether a decrease of nitric oxide (NO) level is beneficial for sponateous resumptiom of meiosis in diplotene-arrested oocytes cultured in vitro. For this purpose, diplotene-arrested oocytes were collected from ovary of immature female rats after a single subcutaneous injection of 20 IU pregnant mare’s serum gonadotropins (PMSG) for 48 h. In vitro effects of S-nitroso-l-acetyl penicillamine (SNAP; an NO donor) and aminoguanidine (AG; an inducible NOS [iNOS] inhibitor), intracellular NO, cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), Cdc25B, Thr-14/Tyr-15 and Thr-161 phosphorylated cyclindependent kinase-1 (CDK1), and cyclin B1 levels were analyzed. The SNAP inhibited spontaneous meiotic resumption form diplotene arrest in a concentration-dependent manner, while AG-induced meiotic resumption form diplotene in 0.1 mmol/L 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX)-treated oocytes in a concentration-dependent manner. The intracellular NO as well as cGMP levels were decreased significantly during spontaneous meiotic resumption from diplotene arrest. The reduction of Cdc25B expression level was associated with the accumulation of Thr-14/Tyr-15 phosphorylated CDK1 level. However, Thr161 phosphorylated CDK1 as well as cyclin B1 levels were reduced significantly during meiotic resumption from diplotene arrest. Taken together, these data suggest that the inhibition of iNOS expression leads to a decrease of NO and cGMP levels thereby decreasing Cdc25B level. The reduced CDC25 B level leads to accumulation of Thr-14/Tyr-15 phosphorylated CDK1 level. As a result, Thr-161 phosphorylated CDK1 as well as cyclin B1 levels are decreased leading to maturation-promoting factor (MPF) inactivation. The inactive MPF finally induced meiotic resumption from diplotene stage in rat oocytes cultured in vitro.
A Distorted Destination Image? The Case of Turkey

Despite its Mediterranean location, Turkey has been unable to consistently achieve its tourism goals, as evidenced by fluctuating numbers in tourism earnings and a small share of the international tourism market. This discrepancy might be attributed to Turkey’s image in the minds of world travelers. The main purpose of this study was to examine the role of destination image and traveler perceptions along with other behavioral variables in destination choice decisions of potential travelers. A self-administered survey was used to collect data from 552 respondents (58.6% response rate). The findings indicate that perceptions of Turkey’s overall appeal, its safe and hospitable environment, general mood and vacation atmosphere, travel experience, relaxing effect, local attractions and hospitality, authenticity of experience, social and personal communication channels, comfort/safety, and tourist facilitation are significant predictors of the likelihood of travel to Turkey. Some destination marketing strategies are suggested.