Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative Assessment of Resilient Characteristics of Warm and Hot Mix Asphalt Concrete

The resilient characteristics is a measure to the flexibility of asphalt concrete. Asphalt concrete mixtures were prepared using the hot mix HMA and the warm mix WMA techniques. Specimens of 102 mm diameter and 63.5 mm height for hot mix were mixed and compacted using Marshal method at 150°C, while the two type of warm mixtures were mixed and compacted at 110°C using medium curing cutback and cationic emulsion. Specimens were subjected to repeated indirect tensile stresses ITS, and repeated double punch shear stress. Another group of specimens were subjected to moisture damage. A third group of specimens of 102 mm in diameter and 102 mm in height were tested under repeated compressive stress. Beam specimens 380 mm in length, 80 mm width and 50 mm height were prepared under static compaction to the same target density. The deformation (total, permanent and resilient) were monitored and the resilient modulus Mr under each testing technique was calculated. Higher Mr could be observed for HMA mixture under tensile and shear stresses when compared to the WMA mixtures, while the WMA shows higher Mr values than HMA under compressive and flexural stresses.
Internet expansion, refinement and churn

We analyze the evolution of the global Internet interdomain routing system on AS, prefix and IP address level granularities, using snapshots of Route Views BGP tables from 1997 to 2001. We introduce the notion of semiglob-ally routed prefixes, those present in the majority of backbone tables, and classify them into standalone - those which have no subsets, no supersets; root — have subsets, but no supersets; and subset, or more specific, which are subsets of other blocks. Using these distinctions we find that from 1999 to 2001 many measures of routing system complexity demonstrated stability in the form of slow growth, dynamic equilibrium, and occasional contraction. We find that many net change measures reflect contributions of opposite sign, and that true measure of variation, or chum, is the sum of their absolute magnitudes rather than the difference. Appearance and disappearance of prefixes, ASes and Route Views peers, as well as status changes (an AS changing from transit to non-transit, or a prefix shifting from a standalone prefix to a root prefix) are instances of routing system churn. One advantage of using our notion of semiglobal prefixes is that they exhibit less chum than global prefixes (those prefixes common to all backbone tables) and as such allow for derivation of more robust macroscopic statistics about the routing system. We study route prefix instability at a medium time granularity for late 2001 using 2-hour snapshots of BGP tables, and find that half of all prefix reannouncements (flips) are contributed by 1% of all ASes, with government networks, telecoms in developing countries and major backbone ISPs at the top of the list of instability contributors. Small ASes (those who originate only a few prefixes into the global routing system) do not contribute more than their fair share of either route entries or churn to the global routing system. We conclude that during 1999-2001 many Internet metrics were stable, and that the routing system's growth and instability are mostly caused by large and medium-sized ISPs.
Thermodynamic, Kinetic, and Equilibrium Parameters for the Removal of Lead and Cadmium from Aqueous Solutions with Calcium Alginate Beads

The sorption of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) by calcium alginate beads (CAB) from aqueous solutions in batch systems was investigated. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters, as well as the sorption capacities of CAB in each system at different temperatures, were evaluated. The rate of sorption for both metals was rapid in the first 10 minutes and reached a maximum in 50 minutes. Sorption kinetic data were fitted to Lagergren, pseudo-second-order and Elovich models and it was found that the second-order kinetic model describes these data for the two metals; comparing kinetic parameters for Cd and Pb sorption a higher kinetic rate (K 2) for Pb was observed, indicating that the interaction between lead cations and alginate beads was faster than for cadmium. Similarly, isotherm data were fitted to different models reported in literature and it was found that the Langmuir-Freundlich (L-F) and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) models describe the isotherms in all cases. CAB sorption capacity for cadmium was 27.4 mg/g and 150.4 mg/g for lead, at 25°C. Sorption capacities of Cd and Pb increase as temperature rises. According to the thermodynamic parameters, the cadmium and lead adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic. It was also found that pH has an important effect on the adsorption of these metals by CAB, as more were removed at pH values between 6 and 7.
Green tea catechin polyphenols attenuate behavioral and oxidative responses to intermittent hypoxia.

RATIONALE The intermittent hypoxia (IH) that characterizes sleep-disordered breathing impairs spatial learning and increases NADPH oxidase activity and oxidative stress in rodents. We hypothesized that green tea catechin polyphenols (GTPs) may attenuate IH-induced neurobehavioral deficits by reducing IH-induced NADPH oxidase expression, lipid peroxidation, and inflammation. OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of GTP administered in drinking water on the cognitive, inflammatory, and oxidative responses to long-term (>14 d) IH during sleep in male Sprague-Dawley rats. METHODS Cognitive assessments were conducted in the Morris water maze. We measured levels and expression of malondialdehyde (MDA), prostaglandin E(2), p47(phox) subunit of NADPH oxidase, receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), and glial fibrillary acidic protein expression in rodent brain tissue. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS GTP treatment prevented IH-induced decreases in spatial bias for the hidden platform during the Morris water maze probe trails as well as IH-induced increases in p47phox expression within the hippocampal CA1 region. In untreated animals, IH exposure was associated with doubling of cortical MDA levels in comparison to room air control animals, and GTP-treated animals exposed to IH showed a 40% reduction in MDA levels. Increases in brain RAGE and glial fibrillary acidic protein expression were observed in IH-exposed animals, and these increases were attenuated in animals treated with GTP. CONCLUSIONS Oral GTP attenuates IH-induced spatial learning deficits and mitigates IH-induced oxidative stress through multiple beneficial effects on oxidant pathways. Because oxidative processes underlie neurocognitive deficits associated with IH, the potential therapeutic role of GTP in sleep-disordered breathing deserves further exploration.
Environmental Control on Fish and Macrocrustacean Spring Community-Structure, on an Intertidal Sandy Beach

The inter-annual variability of the fish and macrocrustacean spring community on an intertidal sandy beach near the Canche estuary (North of France) was studied from 2000 to 2013 based on weekly spring sampling over an 11-year period. Twenty-eight species representing 21 families were collected during the course of the study. The community was dominated by a few abundant species accounting for > 99% of the total species densities. Most individuals caught were young-of-the-year indicating the importance of this ecosystem for juvenile fishes and macrocrustaceans. Although standard qualitative community ecology metrics (species composition, richness, diversity, evenness and similarity) indicated notable stability over the study period, community structure showed a clear change since 2009. Densities of P. platessa, P. microps and A. tobianus decreased significantly since 2009, whereas over the period 2010-2013, the contribution of S. sprattus to total species density increased 4-fold. Co-inertia and generalised linear model analyses identified winter NAO index, water temperature, salinity and suspended particular matter as the major environmental factors explaining these changes. Although the recurrent and dense spring blooms of the Prymnesiophyte Phaeocystis globosa is one of the main potential threats in shallow waters of the eastern English Channel, no negative impact of its temporal change was detected on the fish and macrocrustacean spring community structure.
Community and International Nutrition Stress During Labor and Delivery Is Associated with Delayed Onset of Lactation among Urban Guatemalan Women 1 , 2 , 3

A delayed onset of lactation (OL) is likely to have a negative influence on breast-feeding outcomes. Thus, it is important to identify risk factors for delayed OL. We examined prospectively the association between stress during labor and delivery and OL in a cohort of urban Guatemalan women. Healthy women (n 136) were recruited during the first stage of labor in the labor unit of a social security hospital in Guatemala City. Women provided salivary samples for cortisol determinations 3.2 3.2 h before birth and 1.7 1.9 h and 17.1 4.7 h after delivery. At the same time points women were asked to respond to a 17-item psychosocial stress and anxiety questionnaire. Women were called daily until OL occurred. Primiparous women had higher antepartum and early postpartum cortisol levels that were twice as high as those among multiparous women (P 0.05). The parity differential in salivary cortisol concentrations vanished with time. General linear model multivariate analysis indicate that multiparous women (n 77), irrespective of mode of delivery, had an earlier OL (P 0.05) than primiparae who underwent emergency cesarean section deliveries (n 11) (adjusted mean SEM, 2.5 0.1 vs. 3.4 0.3 d postpartum, respectively). OL took longer to occur among multiparous women with prenatal salivary cortisol levels above (vs. below) the 40th percentile [3 0.2 (n 28) vs. 2.4 0.2 d postpartum (n 38), respectively; P 0.02]. Thus, stress during labor and/or delivery is likely to be a significant risk factor for delayed OL in urban Guatemala. J. Nutr. 132: 3055–3060, 2002.
Labor Market Flows and Vacancies in the Cross Section and Over Time

Many theoretical models of labor market search imply a tight link between worker flows (hires and separations), vacancies, and job flows (employer-level employment growth) at the employer level. Using establishment data from multiple sources for the U.S., we show that hiring, quit, layoff, and vacancy rates exhibit strong, highly nonlinear relationships to establishment growth in the cross section. These relationships, notably for vacancy and quit rates, vary with aggregate conditions. We also develop a framework for evaluating how well the implications of various models fit the data. Aggregate variations in hires and layoffs are well captured by models with tight links between worker and job flows. Aggregate variations in quits and vacancies are not. Specifications that allow the micro-level quit relationship to vary with aggregate conditions (consistent with models of endogenous quits) perform remarkably better. Finally, our framework provides methodology for producing a backcasted series of worker flow and vacancy rates, which we estimate over the 1990-2008 period.
Assessing the Association of Mitochondrial Genetic Variation With Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Using Gene-Set Analyses

Purpose Recent studies indicate that mitochondrial proteins may contribute to the pathogenesis of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). In this study, we examined the association between POAG and common variations in gene-encoding mitochondrial proteins. Methods We examined genetic data from 3430 POAG cases and 3108 controls derived from the combination of the GLAUGEN and NEIGHBOR studies. We constructed biological-system coherent mitochondrial nuclear-encoded protein gene-sets by intersecting the MitoCarta database with the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database. We examined the mitochondrial gene-sets for association with POAG and with normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) and high-tension glaucoma (HTG) subsets using Pathway Analysis by Randomization Incorporating Structure. Results We identified 22 KEGG pathways with significant mitochondrial protein-encoding gene enrichment, belonging to six general biological classes. Among the pathway classes, mitochondrial lipid metabolism was associated with POAG overall (P = 0.013) and with NTG (P = 0.0006), and mitochondrial carbohydrate metabolism was associated with NTG (P = 0.030). Examining the individual KEGG pathway mitochondrial gene-sets, fatty acid elongation and synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies, both lipid metabolism pathways, were significantly associated with POAG (P = 0.005 and P = 0.002, respectively) and NTG (P = 0.0004 and P < 0.0001, respectively). Butanoate metabolism, a carbohydrate metabolism pathway, was significantly associated with POAG (P = 0.004), NTG (P = 0.001), and HTG (P = 0.010). Conclusions We present an effective approach for assessing the contributions of mitochondrial genetic variation to open-angle glaucoma. Our findings support a role for mitochondria in POAG pathogenesis and specifically point to lipid and carbohydrate metabolism pathways as being important.
Versatile and Efficient Techniques for Speeding-Up Circuit Level Simulated Fault-Injection Campaigns

Fault injection in circuit level has proved to be cumbersome and time-consuming when employed to characterize the soft error sensitivity of digital circuits, hence new generation of CAD tool is required to automate the faults insertion and the validation of soft error mitigation mechanisms of the circuits. This paper outlines the characteristics of a new fault-injection platform HSECT-SPI (HIT Soft Error Characterization Toolkit-Spice Based) and its evaluation in some benchmark circuits implemented with distinct processes and soft error hardening techniques. It also details some techniques devised and implemented within the platform to automate and speed-up the circuit level fault-injection experiments. Experimental results are provided, showing that the platform is efficient, accurate and can direct the design of soft error immune circuits with at least three orders of magnitudes speed gain.
Executive directors' remuneration after fraud and lawsuits revelation

The study uses 136 firms, comprising of 68 fraud and lawsuit firms in Malaysia that experienced fraud and lawsuit revelation over the period 2001 to 2006 and 68 non-fraud and non-lawsuit firms. The results show that fraud and lawsuit firms reduced the executives' remuneration by 6% in the 2nd year after the fraud and lawsuit revelation while non-fraud and non-lawsuit firms still increased the executives' remuneration by 8.08% during the same period. The results indicate that fraud and lawsuit firms reduce their executives' remuneration to improve the firm's performance and also to discipline the executive directors' behaviour after the fraud year so that they do not deviate from the shareholders' wealth maximizing policy. Further, this study also found that fraud and lawsuit revelation enhanced further the monitoring role of the independent directors in fraud and lawsuit firms.
IMPACT OF CROP MANAGEMENT AND OPTIMIZED POTASSIUM NUTRITION ON THE PRODUCTIVITY OF OIL PALM TREE ( Elaeis guineensis Jacq ) IN TWO LOCALITIES IN SOUTHEASTERN OF CÔTE D ' IVOIRE

In Côte d’Ivoire, oil palm occupies a prominent position in agricultural production, the economy, as well as the fats consumption. The country seeks to double its production from here at the year 2020, through improving the productivity of this culture. The yield still remains low (about 18 tons/ha/year in industrial plantations and only 9 to 10 tons/ha/year in village plantations), even with the improved planting material in the course of popularization whose the productivity is estimated at over 25 tons/ha/year. Tests were installed in the localities of La Mé and Ehania to contribute to improving the productivity of oil palm through a comparative study of the efficiency of potassium fertilization applied in industrial and village plantations. The experiments were conducted in randomized complete block of Fisher including 5 treatments and 4 repetitions. Treatments include 5 doses of potash fertilizer (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5) respectively corresponding to 1; 1.5; 2; 2.5; 3 kg of KCl/tree/year. The results showed that the oil palm yields were progressively improved following types of planting and growing locality by different doses of potassium fertilizer applied. This improvement was significantly higher on industrial plantations and plantations of Ehania compared respectively to village plantations and those of La Mé. The strict adherence to farming itineraries combined with a reasoned potassium fertilization allow better expression of the potential of production of the new plant material of oil palm, in the course of popularization. To this end, it must be applied to small producers, monitoring of operating technical itineraries (cultural practices and contribution of inputs) as on industrial plantations. In this area, a priority should also be given to the supply of potassium fertilizer with optimum doses are defined by the practice of foliar diagnostics leading to profitable oil palm cultivation.
Meta-Learning an Image Editing Style

Most of the existing work which tries to learn an image editing style falls into the categories of learning in a paired or unpaired manner. The former method learns on pairs of unedited and edited images and the latter learns a style just from edited images. But almost all existing approaches, paired or unpaired, use thousands of images to learn an editing style. Our work tries to address this data inefficiency by using Meta-Learning. To this end, we evaluate the effectiveness of different Meta-Learning algorithms on the problem of learning an image editing style from a paired image database in a supervised manner. Specifically, we use an adapted U-Net architecture [1] to train on image pairs. We then combine it firstly with Model-Agnostic Meta-Learning [2] and secondly with an adaptation of RL2 [3] to the supervised domain, which we call SL2. None of the MetaLearning algorithms improves the results compared to a standard optimization with Adam [4]. Nevertheless, we provide quantitative and visual evidence showing that learning a prior image-editing style with Deep Learning models, let’s us learn a new editing style with very few images. We also show that using a prior imageediting style improves the results of training on a specific expert with a larger data set.
Electrical stimulation therapy to promote healing of chronic wounds: a review of reviews

Purpose: The overall objective of this study is to identify and appraise all of the existing clinical research literature that has evaluated the effect of electrical stimulation therapy (EST) on wound healing outcomes in adults with various types of chronic wounds. Methods: A systematic and comprehensive search of four electronic databases and gray literature was carried out, and references included in related review articles were checked. Prospective and controlled clinical trials, systematic reviews (SRs), and meta-analyses that assessed the effects of EST on wound healing outcomes were described and appraised. A total PRISMA score was assigned for each included SR based on criteria included in the assessment of multiple systematic reviews (AMSTAR) measurement tool. The percentage of available research that was identified in the SR was also calculated. Results: Sixty-two clinical research studies involving 2082 patients with pressure ulcers, venous leg ulcers, diabetic foot wounds, and arterial/ischemic wounds, and ulcers of mixed etiology were located. Thirty-three of the studies with 1370 patients compared wound size reduction after EST to a control group. Eighteen reviews that used a systematic approach to identify, select, and evaluate published studies on this topic have yielded conflicting results. Poorer quality SRs with a low total PRISMA score were more likely to yield negative or inconclusive findings. Most of these low-quality SRs had very vague research questions and included less than 50% of the available literature that was known to exist. Results from 22 well-designed randomized clinical trials and 10 high-quality SRs consistently support that EST can stimulate faster wound size reduction and/or produce a greater number of closed wounds compared to a group of similar patients receiving either standard wound care or sham EST. Conclusion: Pooled results from well-conducted SRs provide strong support for the use of EST on various types of chronic wounds and pressure ulcers in particular.
Regional Climatic Features of the Arabian Peninsula

The climate of the Arabian Peninsula is characterized by significant spatial and temporal variations, due to its complex topography and the large-scale atmospheric circulation. Furthermore, the role of dust in the formation of regional climate is considered to be crucial. In this work, the regional climatology for the Arabian Peninsula has been studied by employing a high resolution state of the art atmospheric model that included sophisticated physical parameterization schemes and online treatment of natural aerosol particles. The simulations covered a 30-year period (1986–2015) with a temporal resolution of 3 h and a spatial distance of 9 km. The main focus was given to the spatial and temporal variations of mean temperature and temperature extremes, wind speed and direction, and relative humidity. The results were evaluated using in situ measurements indicating a good agreement. An examination of possible climatic changes during the present climate was also performed through a comprehensive analysis of the trends of mean temperature and temperature extremes. The statistical significant trend values were overall positive and increased over the northwestern parts of the examined area. Similar spatial distributions were found for the daily minimum and maximum temperatures. Higher positive values emerged for the daily maxima.
Pre-transplant weight but not weight gain is associated with new-onset diabetes after transplantation: a multi-centre cohort Spanish study

Background. New-onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT) is associated with poorer outcomes in kidney transplantation (KT). Thus, identification of modifiable risk factors may be crucial for ameliorating the impact of this entity on transplant outcomes. We assessed the relationships between the weight, body mass index (BMI) and weight gain with NODAT. Methods. We retrospectively analysed 2168 KT performed in Spain during 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002, with a functioning graft after the first year. At 1 year after KT, three groups were considered: (i) NODAT group (n = 215); (ii) impaired fasting glucose (IFG) group (n = 389); (iii) control group (n = 1564). Results. The incidence of NODAT was 10.8%, 9.9% and 10.0% at 3, 12 and 24 months post-transplantation, respectively. Older recipient age (P < 0.0001) and greater use of tacrolimus (P < 0.0001) were observed in NODAT group. Obesity was more frequent in NODAT group (P < 0.0001), but patients with NODAT had a lower weight gain during the first year after KT (P = 0.038). On multivariate analysis, independent risk factors associated with the development of NODAT were: recipient age [odds ratio (OR): 1.060, P = 0.0001], tacrolimus (OR: 1.611, P = 0.005), triglycerides (OR: 1.511, P = 0.018), positive hepatitis C virus (HCV) status (OR: 1.969, P = 0.001) and pre-transplant body mass index (BMI) (OR: 1.135, P = 0.0001), but not the weight gain. Conclusions. BMI, but not the weight gain at 1 year after transplant, is an independent risk factor for NODAT. Tailoring clinical strategies may minimize the impact of this complication.