pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
A survey of dioxin-like contaminants in fish from recreational fishing.

The dioxin and dioxin-like compounds are regarded as one of the most toxic group of environmental contaminants. Food for the commercial market is regularly monitored for their dioxin levels and the concentration allowed in food is strictly regulated. Less is known about locally caught fish from recreational fishing, which is often brought home for consumption. This can be fish caught from nearby lakes or streams or fish with marine origin close to industrial areas or harbours that are not regularly monitored for their dioxin levels. In this study, we established collaboration with schools in 13 countries. We received 203 samples of 29 different fish species of which Atlantic cod was the most abundant followed by brown trout and pollock. In general, the majority of samples from the participating countries had low concentrations (between 0.1 and 0.2 pg/g chemical-activated luciferase gene expression toxic equivalency wet weight (CALUX TEQ w.w.)) of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs. Only 18 samples had concentrations above 1 pg/g CALUX TEQ w.w., and only 2 dab samples had concentration above maximum levels set by the European Commission. The Atlantic cod samples showed a significant reduction in the concentrations of dioxins with increasing latitude indicating less contamination of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds in the north of Norway. The results indicate that a moderate consumption of self-caught fish at presumed non-contaminated sites does not represent a major risk for exposure to dioxins or dioxin-like compounds at concentrations associated with adverse health effects. Recreational fishermen should, however, obtain knowledge about local fish consumption advice
Logarithmic singularities and maximally supersymmetric amplitudes

The dual formulation of planar N = 4 $$ \mathcal{N}=4 $$ super-Yang-Mills scattering amplitudes makes manifest that the integrand has only logarithmic singularities and no poles at infinity. Recently, Arkani-Hamed, Bourjaily, Cachazo and Trnka conjectured the same singularity properties hold to all loop orders in the nonplanar sector as well. Here we conjecture that to all loop orders these constraints give us the key integrand level analytic information contained in dual conformal symmetry. We also conjecture that to all loop orders, while N = 8 $$ \mathcal{N}=8 $$ supergravity has poles at infinity, at least at four points it has only logarithmic singularities at finite locations. We provide nontrivial evidence for these conjectures. For the three-loop four-point N = 4 $$ \mathcal{N}=4 $$ super-Yang-Mills amplitude, we explicitly construct a complete basis of diagram integrands that has only logarithmic singularities and no poles at infinity. We then express the complete amplitude in terms of the basis diagrams, with the coefficients determined by unitarity. We also give examples at three loops showing how to make the logarithmic singularity properties manifest via d log forms. We give additional evidence at four and five loops supporting the nonplanar logarithmic singularity conjecture. Furthermore, we present a variety of examples illustrating that these constraints are more restrictive than dual conformal symmetry. Our investigations show that the singularity structures of planar and nonplanar integrands in N = 4 $$ \mathcal{N}=4 $$ super-Yang-Mills are strikingly similar. While it is not clear how to extend either dual conformal symmetry or a dual formulation to the nonplanar sector, these results suggest that related concepts might exist and await discovery. Finally, we describe the singularity structure of N = 8 $$ \mathcal{N}=8 $$ supergravity at three loops and beyond
Computer Information Systems and Industrial Management

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Computer Information Systems and Industrial Management, CISIM 2012, held in Venice, Italy, in September 2012. The 35 revised full papers presented together with 2 keynote talks were carefully reviewed and selected from 80 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on security, access control and intrusion detection; pattern recognition and image processing; biometric applications; algorithms and data management; networking; and system models and risk assessment
Seasonal trends and spatial variations of PM10-bounded polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons in Veneto Region, Northeast Italy

The Veneto Region extends for w18.4$103 km2 in the northeastern part of the Po Valley and includes
mountains, hills, plain and coastal environments with very different and discontinuous anthropogenic
pressures. Although many efforts have been made to mitigate air pollution, the European air quality
standards for atmospheric pollutants are frequently breached. This study investigates the levels of eight
PM10-bound PAHs collected in 21 stations categorized as rural background, urban and suburban backgrounds,
traffic and industrial hot-spots during one year (2011). Data were statistically processed to
detect the PAH seasonal trends, their relationship with other air pollutants and micro-meteorological
parameters and the space variations at a regional scale. Results show that PAHs levels are relatively
high in the largest part of the region, with 10 sites exceeding the levels of BaP targeted by the European
legislation. Two sites exhibited anomalously high PAHs concentrations and this anomaly became even
more evident when considering the population density as a surrogate for the potential anthropogenic
pressure. The PAHs levels were found directly proportional to other gaseous pollutants (CO, NO, NOx,
SO2) suggesting common polluting sources. The analysis of time trends of PAH concentrations reveals
significant coincidences throughout the region, i.e. simultaneous changes are observed in most sites as a
consequence of similar emission sources and accumulation/removal processes. In this scenario, the
control strategies currently imposed at local level (e.g. traffic limitations) have proven scarcely effective
in mitigating air pollution and a real coordination at regional or even interregional level cannot be
further postponed. Peculiar features of the PAHs pollution in the Veneto were also identified and some
measures for protecting the human health were suggested
Parametric cooling of a degenerate Fermi gas in an optical trap

We demonstrate a novel technique for cooling a degenerate Fermi gas in a
crossed-beam optical dipole trap, where high-energy atoms can be selectively
removed from the trap by modulating the stiffness of the trapping potential
with anharmonic trapping frequencies. We measure the dependence of the cooling
effect on the frequency and amplitude of the parametric modulations. It is
found that the large anharmonicity along the axial trapping potential allows to
generate a degenerate Fermi gas with anisotropic energy distribution, in which
the cloud energy in the axial direction can be reduced to the ground state
value
Green’s-function solution for a special class of master equations

We consider a one-dimensional stochastic process described by a master equation and calculate the time-dependent distribution function. The time evolution of the system is given by the conditional probability h(x,t‖x0), where x and x0 are continuous variables. Assuming a quite general dependence of the transition probability WΩ(x→x’) on a parameter Ω, we show that the backward form of the master equation can be used to calculate arbitrary conditional averages 〈f(x)‖x0⟩t up to any given power in Ω−1. This general expansion procedure will be used to construct h(x,t‖x0) itself. We show that—introducing a new stochastic variable y—the conditional probability h(x,t‖x0) can be expanded into a series of Hermite functions. The coefficients of this expansion, bn(t), which depend on the expansion parameter Ω, can be uniquely determined via a recursion relation. We show that in the limit Ω→∞ all coefficients bn(t) vanish, except b0, which is time independent. In this limit a Gaussian distribution for the conditional probability is obtained, which is in agreement with the so-called linear noise approximation
Integrated analysis of somatic mutations and focal copy-number changes identifies key genes and pathways in hepatocellular carcinoma.
 : 
Genetic landscape of hepatocellular carcinoma

International audienceHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver malignancy. Here, we performed high-resolution copy-number analysis on 125 HCC tumors and whole-exome sequencing on 24 of these tumors. We identified 135 homozygous deletions and 994 somatic mutations of genes with predicted functional consequences. We found new recurrent alterations in four genes (ARID1A, RPS6KA3, NFE2L2 and IRF2) not previously described in HCC. Functional analyses showed tumor suppressor properties for IRF2, whose inactivation, exclusively found in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related tumors, led to impaired TP53 function. In contrast, inactivation of chromatin remodelers was frequent and predominant in alcohol-related tumors. Moreover, association of mutations in specific genes (RPS6KA3-AXIN1 and NFE2L2-CTNNB1) suggested that Wnt/β-catenin signaling might cooperate in liver carcinogenesis with both oxidative stress metabolism and Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. This study provides insight into the somatic mutational landscape in HCC and identifies interactions between mutations in oncogene and tumor suppressor gene mutations related to specific risk factors
Simple pre-distortion schemes for improving the power efficiency of SOA-based IR-UWB over fiber systems

International audienceIn this paper, we investigate the usage of SOA for reach extension of an impulse radio over fiber system. Operating in the saturated regime translates into strong nonlinearities and spectral distortions, which drops the power efficiency of the propagated pulses. After studying the SOA response versus operating conditions, we have enhanced the system performance by applying simple analog pre-distortion schemes for various derivatives of the Gaussian pulse and their combination. A novel pulse shape has also been designed by linearly combining three basic Gaussian pulses, offering a very good spectral efficiency (>55%) for a high power (0 dBm) at the amplifier input. Furthermore, the potential of our technique has been examined considering a 1.5 Gbps-OOK and 0.75 Gbps-PPM modulation schemes. Pre-distortion proved an advantage for a large extension of optical link (150 Km), with an inline amplification via SOA at 40 Km
Measuring the structural determinants of urban travel demand

International audienceTo be best prepared for tomorrow's cities we need to forecast urban travel demand. To this end, this study calibrates an urban travel demand model, which uses the principal structural variables that have been identified in the literature. It uses a robust econometric method, which has been little applied in the sphere of transportation. The results show that two variables stand out from the others: the user cost of transport - by private car and public transport - and urban density. It is surprising, but explicable with the available data, that the demand functions estimated for a given country are independent from the group of countries to which it belongs
Strong gradient of benthic biogeochemical processes along a macrotidal temperate estuary: focus on P and Si cycles

International audienceThis study aims to investigate the role of spatial and temporal physical, biological and biogeochemical gradients on sediment biogeochemistry along a macrotidal and Si-rich estuary. Scanning and biogeochemical analyses were performed in the inner, mid and outer Aulne Estuary (France) at four seasons. The inner estuary shows high diagenetic activity linked to fluid mud dynamics and river loads. The highest authigenic phosphorus (Aut-P) concentrations ever found in the literature are observed in the inner estuary (18 µmol g-1 PS sediment). This is explained by a combination of favorable factors, i.e. the high organic matter and nutrient loads, the reductive conditions, the freshwater properties (low pH, OH-, sulfate and Mg2+ concentrations), the increase of particle residence time by the upward convergence of particles due to residual currents, and allochthonous riverine Aut-P. We suggest that the high Si(OH)4 concentrations (> 400 µM) may even increase Aut-P precipitation through the increase of Fe-P formation in these low salinity conditions. In the mid estuary, erosion-deposition dynamics dominate in point bars and lead to the succession of poor and rich organic and authigenic phosphorus layers, recording thus the seasonality of matter loads and its seasonal translocation from the inner estuary. In the outer estuary, deposition rates are high and constant and biogeochemical properties are characteristic of marine environments. The precipitation of Aut-P from free phosphate (PO43-) is lower than in the inner estuary and might be limited by higher Mg2+ concentrations in saline waters. This study highlights that small macrotidal estuaries, and especially their freshwater sediments, may constitute an important phosphorus sink through the precipitation of Aut-P. This precipitation could even be enhanced in fresh or brackish environments, thus increasing long term phosphorus storage and altering benthic fluxes of PO43- to the pelagic ecosystem
Escherichia coli bacteraemia in children: age and portal of entry are the main predictors of severity

International audienceBackground: Escherichia coli bacteraemia is a major cause of severe sepsis in children. Little is known about predictors of severity.Methods:  We analysed 84 children ≤18-year-old with E. coli bacteraemia from the prospective COLIBAFI study performed in 2005-2007. Bacteraemia’s severity was defined as occurrence of death or transfer to intensive care unit. Studied characteristics included age, gender, birth weight, history of prematurity, immunodepression, nosocomial infection, portal of entry, phylogenetic group and subgroup belonging, O-type, virulence gene content and antimicrobial susceptibility. We compared bacterial characteristics in urinary- vs. digestive-source bacteraemia, in children ≤3 vs. >3-month-old, and in children vs. adults. We also searched for risk factors of severity.Results: Median age was 2.4 months, 57% males. Most frequent portals of entry were urinary and digestive tracts. Most isolates belonged to B2 phylogroup. Strains in children ≤3-month-old exhibited more virulence genes, especially neuC and fyuA/irp2, and were less resistant to antibiotics than in children >3-month-old. Comparing community-acquired urinary-source bacteraemia between children and adults, we found that bacteraemia were less severe in children, whose strains exhibited a specific virulence gene repertoire and had a higher resistance score than in adults. Seventeen children (20.2%) had a severe bacteraemia and 8 died. Non-urinary portal of entry and age ≤3-month-old were the only risk factors associated with severity.Conclusions: E. coli strains responsible for bacteraemia exhibit specific characteristics according to age of children. However, host characteristics and portal of entry are the main determinants of severity of E. coli bacteraemia in children, as observed in adults
An electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometer in the Fractional Quantum Hall effect

We compute the interference pattern of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer operating in the fractional quantum Hall effect. Our theoretical proposal is inspired by a remarkable experiment on edge states in the Integer Quantum Hall effect (IQHE). The Luttinger liquid model is solved via two independent methods: refermionization at nu=1/2 and the Bethe Ansatz solution available for Laughlin fractions. The current differs strongly from that of single electrons in the strong backscattering regime. The Fano factor is periodic in the flux, and it exhibits a sharp transition from sub-Poissonian (charge e/2) to Poissonian (charge e) in the neighborhood of destructive interferences
Can traditional forest management buffer forest depletion? Dynamics of Moroccan High Atlas Mountain forests using remote sensing and vegetation analysis

Onthe south shore of the western Mediterranean Basin, mountain forest ecosystems are degraded, mainly due to their overexploitation. Topographic, edaphic and climatic conditions create stressful growing conditions and sensitive ecosystems. Nonetheless, in these ecosystems, forests remain an important resource for the subsistence of local populations. Historically the vulnerability of this resource has prompted mankind to establish traditional control forms of forest and pastoral areas. These common resource management systems are still functioning in the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains under the name of agdal which refers to the territory, the resources and access rules laid down by the local population in order to manage the territory. The estimation of land cover changes was a suitable method to evaluate the effectiveness of these community-based systems for forest conservation. In this paperwehighlight the impact of this traditional management on woodland dynamics in a mountainous area (Aït Bouguemez Valley) through the use of remote sensing approaches, associated with forest structure characterisation and the analysis of social mechanisms. A diachronic analysis based on the comparison of aerial photographs (dated 1964) with a recent Spot 5 satellite image (from 2002, 2.5m resolution) was performed. Estimation of changes in canopy cover percentage was achieved using a graphic chart as a base for the photo-interpretation, and a subsequent validation by field sampling. A map of canopy cover changes between 1964 and 2002 was produced. Ecological measurements of trees were also achieved on field plots. The results indicate that in the past 38 years, forest ecosystems have been affected by a relative decrease of 20.7% of the total forest area, and 8.7% for the mean canopy cover percentage. However, strong disparities in forest dynamics arose according to the agdal or non-agdal status of the forest. Significant progression in canopy cover is noted in controlled agdal areas but large degradation has occurred outside. Regarding the stand ecological conditions,weobserved significant differences in the stand structure, according to the management mode. We suggest through this study increased recognition of customary forest regulations, which may be adapted and extrapolated to other communities. However, from an ecological point of view, the agdal system alone is not sufficient to reach a viable management mode in the long term
Benchmark solution for a three-dimensional mixed convection flow - Part 1: reference solutions

International audienceAbstract A solution to a benchmark problem for a three-dimensional mixed convection flow in a horizontal rectangular channel heated from below and cooled from above (Poiseuille-Rayleigh-Bénard flow) is proposed. This flow is a steady thermoconvective longitudinal roll flow in a large aspect ratio channel at moderate Reynolds and Rayleigh numbers (Re=50, Ra=5000) and Prandtl number Pr=0.7. The model is based on the Navier-Stokes equations with Boussinesq approximation. We propose reference solutions resulting from computations on large grids, Richardson extrapolation (RE) and cubic spline interpolations. The solutions obtained with one finite difference, one finite volume and two finite element codes are in good agreement and reference values for the flow and thermal fields and the heat and momentum fluxes are given with 4 to 5 significant digits
Modeling continuous cultures of microalgae colimited by nitrogen and phosphorus

International audienceIt is well documented that the combination of low nitrogen and phosphorus resources can lead to situations where colimitation of phytoplankton growth arises, yet the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we propose a Droop-based model built on the idea that colimitation by nitrogen and phosphorus arises from the uptake of nitrogen. Indeed, since N-porters are active systems, they require energy that could be related to the phosphorus status of the cell. Therefore, we assumed that N uptake is enhanced by the P quota. Our model also accounts for the biological observations that uptake of a nutrient can be down-regulated by its own internal quota, and succeeds in describing the strong contrast for the non-limiting quotas under N-limited and P-limited conditions that was observed on continuous cultures with and with . Our analysis suggests that, regarding the colimitation concept, N and P would be better considered as biochemically dependent rather than biochemically independent nutrients
Experimental Constraints on the Origin of the 1991 Pinatubo Dacite

International audienceCrystallization (dacite) and interaction (dacite–peridotite) experiments have been performed on the 1991 Pinatubo dacite (Luzon Island, Philippines) to constrain its petrogenesis. In the dacite–H2O system at 960 MPa, magnetite and either clinopyroxene (low H2O) or amphibole (high H2O) are the liquidus phases. No garnet is observed at this pressure. Dacite– peridotite interaction at 920 MPa produces massive orthopyroxene crystallization, in addition to amphibole ± phlogopite. Amphibole crystallizing in dacite at 960 MPa has the same composition as the aluminium-rich hornblende preserved in the cores of amphibole phenocrysts in the 1991 dacite, suggesting a high-pressure stage of dacite crystallization with high melt H2O contents (>10 wt %) at relatively low temperature (<950°C). The compositions of plagioclase, amphibole and melt inclusion suggest that the Pinatubo dacite was water-rich, oxidized and not much hotter than 900°C, when emplaced into the shallow magma reservoir in which most phenocrysts precipitated before the onset of the 1991 eruption. The LREE-enriched REE pattern of the whole-rock dacite demands garnet somewhere during its petrogenesis, which in turn suggests high-pressure derivation. Partial melting of subducted oceanic crust yields melts unlike the Pinatubo dacite. Interaction of these slab melts with sub-arc peridotite is unable to produce a Pinatubo type of dacite, nor is a direct mantle origin conceivable on the basis of our peridotite–dacite interaction experimental results. Dehydration melting of underplated basalts requires unrealistically high temperatures and does not yield dacite with the low FeO/MgO, and high H2O, Ni and Cr contents typical of the Pinatubo dacite. The most plausible origin of the Pinatubo dacite is via high-pressure fractionation of a hydrous, oxidized, primitive basalt that crystallized amphibole and garnet upon cooling. Dacite melts produced in this way were directly expelled from the uppermost mantle or lower crust to shallow-level reservoirs from which they erupted occasionally. Magmas such as the Pinatubo dacite may provide evidence for the existence of particularly H2O-rich conditions in the sub-arc mantle wedge rather than the melting of the young, hot subducting oceanic plate
Weak Probabilistic Anonymity

International audienceAnonymity means that the identity of the user performing a certain action is maintained secret. The protocols for ensuring anonymity often use random mechanisms which can be described probabilistically. In this paper we propose a notion of weak probabilistic anonymity, where weak refers to the fact that some amount of probabilistic information may be revealed by the protocol. This information can be used by an observer to infer the likeliness that the action has been performed by a certain user. The aim of this work is to study the degree of anonymity that the protocol can still ensure, despite the leakage of information. We illustrate our ideas by using the example of the dining cryptographers with biased coins. We consider both the cases of nondeterministic and probabilistic users. Correspondingly, we propose two notions of weak anonymity and we investigate their respective dependencies on the biased factor of the coins