Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the Interactions Between Snow and Shrub Ecosystem of the Taiga in Nunavik

Many recent articles have shown that the growth of vegetation increases under a warming climate since the last 30 to 40 years in high latitudes. In particular, the shrub vegetation appears to develop itself throughout the transition zone between tundra and taiga. The feedback of the vegetation on snow could affect the properties of snow cover, notably snow albedo as clearly shown by climate models. Shrubs can also accelerate the melt of snow in spring when branches start protruding through the snow, but in return the shade effect of shrubs on snow can decrease the snow melt. Furthermore, the vegetation has the capacity to trap the snow (“trapping effect”) creating a barrier against wind. Thus what will be the final impact between these opposite effects (trapping and shadowing vs accelerated melting)? The general objective of this research is to better characterize and quantify the impact of the shrubs on the evolution of snow in this transition zone in Nunavik from satellite remote sensing and in-situ measurements. The research is focalized on the region of Umiujaq and the James Bay area. Snow depth has been measured on many transects over different land covers. These have managed to prove the existence of trapping effect in the transition zone. A total of 7 transects were done in Umiujaq over 6 km and 8 more in the James Bay area over 4km. Data analysis using PLEIADE images are in progress and should bring significant results as well. Normalized difference snow index using Landsat images have been analyzed to see the difference in melt throughout different types of land cover and a slight difference has been shown between these zones.
Symptoms of autism spectrum disorder and developmental delay in children with low mental age

Abstract Objective: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in very young children with significant cognitive impairment is difficult to diagnose, depriving them of the earliest opportunities for autism-specific intervention. This study delineated specific symptoms in this group, compared to symptoms in children with Global Developmental Delay (GDD) and in ASD with milder developmental delays.Method: Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition, Toddler Module revealed symptoms in three groups of toddlers, with mean ages of 17-20 months: (1) ASD and cognitive/language functioning below the 12-month level (ASD-MA < 12 mos; n = 28), (2) GDD (n = 27), and (3) ASD and cognitive/language functioning at or above the 12-month level (ASD–MA ≥ 12 mos; n = 29). Logistic regression models were fit to control for developmental level. Results: Items in all domains (social interaction, communication, repetitive movements) discriminated ASD-MA < 12 mos from GDD. The two ASD groups, matched for age but differing on developmental level, showed strikingly similar ASD symptomatology. Conclusion: ADOS-2 symptoms differentiated ASD-MA < 12 mos from GDD, after controlling for cognitive impairment. Symptoms in the two ASD groups were minimally related to developmental level. The ADOS-2 Toddler Module successfully captured ASD symptomatology even in children whose developmental level was below the recommended ADOS-2 cutoff of 12 months, which may increase their access to early ASD-specific intervention.
Contributions towards a monograph of Phoma (Coelomycetes) VI — 2. Section Phyllostictoides: Outline of its taxa

Thirty taxa in Phoma sect. Phyllostictoides, characterised by secondary septation of a variable number of conidia, are described in vitro. Two Phyllostictoides-like species are (re)classified in sect. Sclerophomella on account of certain pycnidial characteristics. Short notes on the ecology and distribution are added. Newly proposed taxa are: Phoma acetosellae (A. L. Sm. & Ramsb.) Aa & Boerema comb, nov., Phoma argillacea (Bres.) Aa & Boerema comb. nov. (teleomorph Didymella applanata (Niessl) Sacc. ), Phoma nepeticola (Melnik) Dorenb. & de Gruyter comb, nov. (teleomorph Didymella catariae (Cooke & Ellis) Sacc. ), Phoma destructiva var. diversispora de Gruyter & Boerema var. nov., Phoma heliopsidis (H.C. Greene) Aa & Boerema comb, nov., Phoma laundoniae Boerema & De Gruyter spec. nov. and Phoma rhei (Ellis & Everh.) Aa & Boerema comb. nov. A key is given to the cultural characteristics of all species and varieties at present recognised within the section (including the two Phywllostictoides-like species of Sclerophomella), as well as indices on host-fungus and fungus-host relations.
Detection of DNA H.pylori and distribution of CagA genotype in cancerous and precancerous tissue

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) has been recognized as the causative agent of chronic gastric inflammation, which can progress further to a variety of diseases such as peptic ulcer and adenocarcinoma. The major bacterial virulence markers of H. pylori, the cytotoxin-associated gene (CagA), may play a role in determining the clinical outcome of Helicobacter infections. Aim of this study to investigate the presence of H.pylori DNA within gastric epithelial cells in patients with H.pylori infection and to determine the prevalence of CagA among patients with cancerous and precancerous lesion. Methods: A total of 92 gastric biopsy samples, 25 H.pylori negative and 67 H.pylori positive patients. H.pylori DNA in gastric epithelial cells and CagA gene of H. pylori was assessed by using the in situ hybridization test. Results: In H. pylori positive group, the positive rates of H.pylori DNA in the gastric epithelial cells were progressively increased in chronic superficial gastritis, precancerous changes and gastric cancer groups(P>0.01); The detection of CagA positive H. pylori was significantly higher in patients with gastric cancer compared to those with chronic superficial gastritis and atrophic gastritis(P<0.01). Conclusion: The pathological progression from chronic superficial gastritis, precancerous changes to gastric cancer is associated with higher positive rates of H.pylori DNA presence in the gastric epithelial cells, and there was a significant increase in CagA-positive H.pylori among patients with gastric cancer
Fairness, Equality, and Power in Algorithmic Decision-Making

Much of the debate on the impact of algorithms is concerned with fairness, defined as the absence of discrimination for individuals with the same "merit. " Drawing on the theory of justice, we argue that leading notions of fairness suffer from three key limitations: they legitimize inequalities justified by "merit;" they are narrowly bracketed, considering only differences of treatment within the algorithm; and they consider between-group and not within-group differences. We contrast this fairness-based perspective with two alternate perspectives: the first focuses on inequality and the causal impact of algorithms and the second on the distribution of power. We formalize these perspectives drawing on techniques from causal inference and empirical economics, and characterize when they give divergent evaluations. We present theoretical results and empirical examples which demonstrate this tension. We further use these insights to present a guide for algorithmic auditing and discuss the importance of inequality- and power-centered frameworks in algorithmic decision-making.
SparseCore: An Accelerator for Structurally Sparse CNNs

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) have achieved super human accuracies in numerous machine learning tasks. Increasing model sizes have made them highly resource intensive and power hun-gry, making them unfit for embedded platforms such as wearables, hand-held devices, drones, autonomous robots etc. To address these limitations, we introduce a) A novel pruning scheme, k/m Sparsity, which enforces structured constraints among elements of weight tensors. b) An accelerator architecture called SparseCore , that achieves high energy efficiency and lowers the resource footprint by effectively exploiting k/m sparsity in weights and activations. On ILSVRC2012 dataset, k/m pruning scheme results in 50% to 75% sparsity without loss of accuracy. Our experiments show that Spar-seCore can achieve close to 90% ALU utilization, improving both performance and energy efficiency by 3.1x and 2.5x respectively, compared to dense CNN inference.
A Review on Synthesis and Characterization of Ag2O Nanoparticles for Photocatalytic Applications

Even though the photocatalytic processes are a good technology for treatment of toxic organic pollutants, the majority of current photocatalysts cannot utilize sunlight sufficiently to realize the decomposition of these organic pollutants. As stated by various researchers, metal oxide nanoparticles have a significant photocatalytic performance under visible light source. Among various chemical and physical methods used to synthesize nanostructured silver oxide, green synthetic route is a cheaper and environmental friendly method. To confirm the optimum production of Ag2O NPs, effect of pH, extract concentration, metal ion concentration, and contact time were optimized. The structure, morphology, crystallinity, size, purity, elemental composition, and optical properties of obtained Ag2O NPs were characterized by different techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and UV-visible spectrophotometer accordingly as revealed by our literature review. The photocatalytic performance of the synthesized nanocrystalline Ag2O by photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes under visible light irradiation has been discussed thoroughly in this review. Many past studies revealed that organic dyes and pollutants are decomposed completely by green synthesized Ag2O NPs under irradiation of visible light.
Mutation Screening andAssociation Study of theCandidate ProstateCancer Susceptibility GenesMSR1,PTEN, andKLF6

BACKGROUND. MSR1, PTEN, and KLF6 have been implicated as candidate susceptibility genes for prostate tumorigenesis. METHODS. Three hundred Jewish prostate cancer patients were screened for alterations in these genes. RESULTS. MSR1 was conserved in all patients. PTEN screening revealed a novel missense mutation and a silent change. Five KLF6 alterations were detected in 17 patients, including Q160X, the only nonsense KLF6 germline mutation described to date in a cancer patient. The KLF6 IVS1-27G>A polymorphism, recently associated with prostate cancer risk, was detected in 11.9% of the patients and 17.3% of the controls (P1⁄4 0.043). IVS1-27A allele frequency was significantly lower in prostate cancer patients (P1⁄4 0.030), specifically in Ashkenazi patients (P1⁄4 0.047) compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS. We found no evidence that MSR1 and PTEN germline mutations are associated with prostate cancer risk in Jews. The negative association between KLF6 IVS1-27A and prostate cancer risk supports a population-specific effect of susceptibility alleles in prostate tumorigenesis. Prostate # 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Evaluation of Pixelbase and Subpixel Methods for Snow Cover Studying in Regional Scale

Monitoring snow cover changes are important to water resource researches because it supplies electricity and freshwater. Although operational snow cover mapping by optical sensors has been used for more than 4 decades in the world but In Iran, traditional data collection methods are still common. Using these methods have a lot of problems. Usually the ground observation network is not dense enough to provide required information especially in rugged regionsand also mountainous situation makes difficult accessible to ground stations. In this research, Modis satellite images after changing their PDS format to L1B, used for snow cover studying in Karaj and Latian Basins. These Basins that bounded between 51° 20' to 51° 36' longitude and 35° 52' to 36° 11' latitude supply consumption water for capital city of Iran. Two methods used in this research. NDSI used as a Pixel-base Method that determines snow/no snow pixels and linear spectral unmixing algorithm used for Pixelbase method. Results shows that subpixel method in comparison to NDSI – NDSI.0. 4 that is proposed for global scale monitoringhas better result but using NDSI after atmospheric correction and changes its threshold, has best result. In order to atmospheric correction, Bulk correction method used. For subpixel method, Endmembers determined using IRSP6 image and MNF algorithm used for decrease noises. Thereafter, spectral curves determined for each endmembers and finally spectral unmixing performed. For evaluation the accuracy of both of the pixelbase and subpixel methods, IRS-P6 Images – 23.5 m spatial resolution used.
Cryptic Kin Selection: Kin Structure in Vertebrate Populations and Opportunities for Kin‐Directed Cooperation

Animal societies of varying complexity have been the favoured testing ground for inclusive fitness theory, and there is now abundant evidence that kin selection has played a critical role in the evolution of cooperative behaviour. One of the key theoretical and empirical findings underlying this conclusion is that cooperative systems have a degree of kin structure, often the product of delayed dispersal, that facilitates interactions with relatives. However, recent population genetic studies have revealed that many non-cooperative animals also have kin-structured populations, providing more cryptic opportunities for kin selection to operate. In this article, I first review the evidence that kin structure is widespread among non-cooperative vertebrates, and then consider the various contexts in which kin selection may occur in such taxa, including: leks, brood parasitism, creches, breeding associations, territoriality and population dynamics, foraging and predator deterrence. I describe the evidence that kin-selected benefits arise from interacting with kin in each of these contexts, notwithstanding the potential costs of kin competition and inbreeding. I conclude that as the tools required to determine population genetic structure are readily available, measurement of kin structure and the potential for kin selection on a routine basis is likely to reveal that this process has been an important driver of evolutionary adaptation in many non-cooperative as well as cooperative species.
ASSIGNING MACROSEISMIC INTENSITIES OF HISTORICAL EARTHQUAKES FROM LATE 19

The seismic activity of Greece has always been present in the country’s history. Numerous earthquakes have occurred in the area of SW Peloponnese, which includes the seismically active faults of Kalamata, Pamisos and Messinian gulf, as well as the subduction zone of the Hellenic arc. In the present paper macroseismic information was collected from contemporary and recent earthquake studies and the local press for three significant earthquakes of this area, i.e. Messini (1885), Filiatra (1886) and Kyparissia (1899). These earthquakes are presented in detail, as far as the flow of information, damage reports, seismological compilations and intensity assignment and distribution are concerned, from which macroseismic parameters (i.e. epicentre, magnitude) were assessed. The macroseismic datapoints of the studied earthquakes were introduced to a database, containing the event dates (OS/NS), source of information and date, the digitized original texts containing all sorts of macroseismic information and, finally, the assigned intensities expressed in EMS98, which may also act as input to the Hellenic Macroseismic Database (http://macroseismology.geol.uoa.gr/).
Assessing Snow Accumulation from Local Data in Alpine Areas: The Response of Regression-Based Snow Interpolation Methods to Sample and Grid Size

This work analyses the response of four regression-based interpolation methods to changes in the number of cases and in the resolution of the digital elevation model (DEM). For this purpose, data obtained from an intensive random snow depth sampling (991 measurements) in a small catchment (6 km) in the Pyrenees, Spain, were used. Linear regression, classification trees, generalized additive models (GAMs), and a new method based on a correction by applying tree classification to residuals of GAMs, were used to calculate snow depth distribution from terrain characteristics under different combinations of sample size (100, 200., 991 cases) and DEM spatial resolution, (from 5x5m to 95x95m every 10m of grid size). Application of a tree classification to residuals obtained from GAMs yields the best accuracy scores. The other tested methods yield rather similar accuracy scores but different levels of robustness when a cross-validation procedure is applied. Accuracy of the model predictions declines as resolution of DEMs and sample size decreases. However, the sensitivity of the models to the number of cases used shows different thresholds, which has relevant implications to optimise the relation between the effort involved and the quality of the results, when fieldwork is planned.
-HYDROTALCITE-TYPE COMPOUND FROM THE ACID WASTEWATERS OF THE ALUMINUM-ANODIZING INDUSTRY

ÐThe synthesis of a Mg 2+ -Al 3+ -SO 2ÿ 4 -hydrotalcite-type compound from the acid wastewaters of the aluminum-anodizing industry has been studied as a possible means of recovering the unused Al resource materials as a useful mineral. The synthesis has been carried out from wastewaters of different concentrations (from 6.7 g Al/L to 134 mg Al/L) using the method of precipitation at constant pH, proving that all of them are suitable for such a process. The mineral was characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis and chemical analysis, all of which indicated characteristics typical of the desired compound. Almost 100% of the Al initially present in the wastewater solutions is recovered in the form of the Mg 2+ -Al 3+ -SO 2ÿ 4 hydrotalcite-type compound. Key WordsÐAluminum, Anodizing, Hydrotalcite, Recovery, Wastewaters.
Climatic Controls on the Dissolved Organic Carbon and Nitrate Export during Spring Snowmelt from Forested Catchments in South-Central Ontario

Spring snowmelt is a major period of water and nutrient flux from forested catchments; the climatic conditions during the preceding winter can determine the chemistry and magnitude of that melt. The objective of this study was to determine the climatic controls on spring snowmelt dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrate (NO3-N) export. Low DOC concentrations were observed in years with increased spring runoff due to high winter snow accumulation and heavy spring rains (p=0.01, r=0.25). Spring NO3-N concentrations were lower following winters with high maximum temperatures (p<0.001, r=0.31). Warm winters were also associated with a greater frequency of rain-on-snow events, which may successively deplete the snowpack pool of NO3-N. Changes in climate are projected to be especially dramatic during the winter in this region, and therefore a thorough understanding of controls on biogeochemical and hydrological activity are important to project impacts on downstream surface water quality and quantity.
Models for Tumour Metastasis

BIOLOGICAL BACKGROUND Metastasis is a process by which tumour cells establish new growths at sites in the body distinct from the primary tumour. The spread of the tumour cells can occur either via lymphatic drainage of the primary site leading to local lymph node metastases or via the blood vasculature leading to metastases in distant organs. Further spread of tumour cells from these sites may also occur, including spread from the lymphatic system into the blood vasculature. These processes have traditionally been divided into a number of specific stages, which include escape of the tumour cell from the primary site, survival in the circulation, arrest in the capillaries at a new location, migration from the capillary into the interstitial space, and establishment of a new growth at this new location. These stages represent potential barriers, all of which a tumour cell must be able to surmount if it is to be successful in forming a metastasis. The ability of tumour cells to complete the individual stages of this process can be studied using in vitro assays, as discussed in other chapters (see Models for Tumour Cell Adhesion and Invasion and Invasion and Metastasis), but in vitro assays do not allow an assessment of whether an individual cell is able to complete all the stages successfully. Such an assessment requires the use of an in vivo metastasis model to integrate all the various stages of the process. The stages of the metastatic process are illustrated in Figure 1. The initial stages involve detachment of cells from the primary tumour and their invasion into the lymphatic or systemic circulation. Since there appear to be few functional lymphatics in most tumours (Padera et al., 2002), cells at or near the invasive edge of the tumour are likely to be those which escape into the lymphatic system. Tumour blood vessels are often poorly formed owing to the rapid angiogenesis that can occur during tumour growth and this may provide for easier access of tumour cells into the bloodstream. Reduced expression of homotypic cell adhesion molecules such as the cadherins may enhance the detachment of cells from the tumour mass. Concurrently, increased expression or
Organizational Context on Workplace Incivility and Turnover Intention

This study aims to investigate and analyze the role of organizational context on workplace incivility and turnover intention. The research sample was 120 employees who work at the company engaged in the service industry. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the research hypotheses. The results found that organizational context influences workplace incivility, which in turn increases turnover intention. As a consequence, it is important for the organization to enhance alertness towards the occurrence of the employees’ workplace incivility. Internalization and implementation of values of the organizational context can be utilized to manage employees’ work performance
Thermal Ecology, Environments, Communities, and Global Change: Energy Intake and Expenditure in Endotherms

To survive, animals must maintain a balance between energy acquisition (foraging) and energy expenditure. This challenge is particularly great for endotherm vertebrates that require high amounts of energy to maintain homeothermy. Many of these endotherms use hibernation or daily torpor as a mechanism to reduce energy expenditure during anticipated or stochastic periods of stress. Although ecological researchers have focused extensively on energy acquisition, physiologists have largely studied thermal ecology and the mechanisms allowing endotherms to regulate energy expenditure, with little research explicitly linking ecology and thermal biology. Nevertheless, theoretical considerations and research conducted so far point to a significant ecological role for torpor in endotherms. Moreover, global-change challenges facing vertebrate endotherms are also considered in view of their ability to regulate their energy expenditure. We review the thermal ecology of endothermic vertebrates and some of its ecological.
Stylized Browsing in Space and Time

Work-in-progress is presented on rendering methods for a future system that allows ordinary users to browse a terrain database augmented with time-varying cultural and ground-cover features. An argument that line-based expressive methods have some advantages over shaded display as well as some initial results are presented. Categories and Subject Descriptors (according to ACM CCS) : I.3. 2 [Computer Graphics]: Graphics Systems