Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Periodic Event-Triggered Control for Nonlinear Networked Control Systems

Periodic event-triggered control (PETC) is an appealing paradigm for the implementation of controllers on platforms with limited communication resources, a typical example being networked control systems. In PETC, transmissions over the communication channel are triggered by an event generator, which depends solely on the available plant and controller data and is only evaluated at given sampling instants to enable its digital implementation. In this paper, we consider the general scenario, where the controller communicates with the plant via multiple decoupled networks. Each network may contain multiple nodes, in which case a dedicated protocol is used to schedule transmissions among these nodes. The transmission instants over the networks are asynchronous and generated by local event generators. At given sampling instants, the local event generator evaluates a rule, which only involves the measurements and the control inputs available locally, to decide whether a transmission is needed over the considered network. Following the emulation approach, we show how to design local triggering generators to ensure input-to-state stability and $\mathcal {L}_p$ stability for the overall system based on a continuous-time output-feedback controller that robustly stabilizes the network-free system. The method is applied to a class of Lipschitz nonlinear systems, for which we formulate the design conditions as linear matrix inequalities. The effectiveness of the scheme is illustrated via simulations of a nonlinear example.
Privatisation and Financial Performance in Egypt Since 1991

This study aims to empirically examine the financial and operating performance of Egyptian privatised companies. The study compares the pre- and post-privatisation financial and operating performance of 60 companies from Egypt that have experienced privatisation through different methods during the period from 1991 and 1997. There were significant increases in the mean and median levels of profitability, operating efficiency, capital investment, output and dividends for the whole sample of companies after privatisation. There were significant decreases in the mean and median of both leverage ratios and employment levels. Further analysis was also undertaken using the three different background characteristics (i.e. size of company, type of industry and privatisation methods). No significant differences were detected in the Kruskal Wallis test analysis of privatisation methods. The Wilcoxon test, the Proportion test and the Kruskal Wallis test analyses for the company size and industry type revealed some significant results. Overall, the findings do seem to support the broad benefits of the Egyptian privatisation programme and the improvements in the financial and operating performance of the privatised companies.
Millimeter Interferometric HCN(1-0) and HCO+(1-0) Observations of Luminous Infrared Galaxies

We present the results on millimeter interferometric observations of four luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs), Arp 220, Mrk 231, IRAS 08572+3915, and VV 114, and one Wolf-Rayet galaxy, He 2-10, using the Nobeyama Millimeter Array (NMA). Both the HCN(1-0) and HCO+(1-0) molecular lines were observed simultaneously, and their brightness-temperature ratios were derived. High-quality infrared L-band (2.8-4.1 μm) spectra were also obtained for the four LIRGs to better constrain their energy sources deeply buried in dust and molecular gas. When combined with other LIRGs we have previously observed with NMA, the final sample comprised nine LIRGs (12 LIRG nuclei) with available interferometric HCN(1-0) and HCO+(1-0) data, sufficient to investigate the overall trend in comparison with known AGNs and starburst galaxies. We found that LIRGs with luminous buried AGN signatures at other wavelengths tend to show high HCN(1-0)/HCO+(1-0) brightness-temperature ratios as seen in AGN-dominated galaxies, while the Wolf-Rayet galaxy He 2-10 displays a small ratio. An enhanced HCN abundance in the interstellar gas surrounding a strongly X-ray-emitting AGN, as predicted by some chemical calculations, and/or infrared radiative pumping, are possible explanations of our results.
Mitochondrial genetic differentiation and morphological difference of Miniopterus fuliginosus and Miniopterus magnater in China and Vietnam

Because of its complicated systematics, the bent-winged bat is one of the most frequently studied bat species groups. In China, two morphologically similar bent-winged bat species, Miniopterus fuliginosus and Miniopterus magnater were identified, but their distribution range and genetic differentiation are largely unexplored. In this study, we applied DNA bar codes and two other mitochondrial DNA genes including morphological parameters to determine the phylogeny, genetic differentiation, spatial distribution, and morphological difference of the M. fuliginosus and M. magnater sampled from China and one site in Vietnam. Mitochondrial DNA gene genealogies revealed two monophyletic lineages throughout the Tropic of Cancer. According to DNA bar code divergences, one is M. fuliginosus corresponding to the Chinese mainland and the other is M. magnater corresponding to tropical regions including Hainan and Guangdong provinces of China and Vietnam. Their most recent common ancestor was dated to the early stage of the Quaternary glacial period (ca. 2.26 million years ago [Ma] on the basis of D-loop data, and ca. 1.69–2.37 Ma according to ND2). A population expansion event was inferred for populations of M. fuliginosus at 0.14 Ma. The two species probably arose in separate Pleistocene refugia under different climate zones. They significantly differed in forearm length, maxillary third molar width, and greatest length of the skull.
Extending quality metrics to full luminance range images

Many quality metrics take as input gamma corrected images and assume that pixel code values are scaled perceptually uniform. Although this is a valid assumption for darker displays operating in the luminance range typical for CRT displays (from 0.1 to 80 cd/m2), it is no longer true for much brighter LCD displays (typically up to 500 cd/m2), plasma displays (small regions up to 1000 cd/m2) and HDR displays (up to 3000 cd/m2). The distortions that are barely visible on dark displays become clearly noticeable when shown on much brighter displays. To estimate quality of images shown on bright displays, we propose a straightforward extension to the popular quality metrics, such as PSNR and SSIM, that makes them capable of handling all luminance levels visible to the human eye without altering their results for typical CRT display luminance levels. Such extended quality metrics can be used to estimate quality of high dynamic range (HDR) images as well as account for display brightness.
Inversion of 3D electromagnetic data in frequency and time domain using an inexact all-at-once approach

We present a general formulation for inverting frequencyor time-domain electromagnetic data using an all-at-once approach. In this methodology, the forward modeling equations are incorporated as constraints and, thus, we need to solve a constrained optimization problem where the parameters are the electromagnetic fields, the conductivity model, and a set of Lagrange multipliers. This leads to a much larger problem than the traditional unconstrained formulation where only the conductivities are sought. Nevertheless, experience shows that the constrained problem can be solved faster than the unconstrained one. The primary reasons are that the forward problem does not have to be solved exactly until the very end of the optimization process, and that permitting the fields to be away from their constrained values in the initial stages introduces flexibility so that a stationary point of the objective function is found more quickly. In this paper, we outline the all-atonce approach and apply it to electromagnetic problems in both frequency and time domains. This is facilitated by a unified representation for forward modeling for these two types of data. The optimization problem is solved by finding a stationary point of the Lagrangian. Numerically, this leads to a nonlinear system that is solved iteratively using a Gauss-Newton strategy. At each iteration, a large, indefinite matrix is inverted, and we discuss how this can be accomplished. As a test, we invert frequency-domain synthetic data from a grounded electrode system that emulates a field CSAMT survey. For the time domain, we invert borehole data obtained from a current loop on the surface.
Study of Production Functional Beverages of Milk Permeate Fortified with Fruit and Herbs

Milk permeate is considered to be the major by product of the cheese industry, obtained from ultrafiltration technique (UF). Milk is a source of vitamins and minerals that are important to the human health. Milk permeate is considered as waste, thus it could be used for the manufacture of some food products such as beverages. The beverages product was blended with Lemon, Guava and Mint. The beverages were determined for their chemical, physical and sensory evaluation at zero time and during storage for 30 days at 4±1 ̊C. Results indicated that ascorbic acid and minerals content of all beverages were higher as compared with permeate only without fruit, also show that the addition of permeate to Lemon and Guava increased ascorbic acid content and antioxidant. Generally, permeate supplemented with Lemon, Guava and Mint contained high levels of major elements compared with permeate which improves the bioavailability of calcium. Beverages fortified with Lemon as well as Guava could be recommended as a new acceptable functional products.
A Collection of Definitions of Intelligence

This chapter is a survey of a large number of informal definitions of “intelligence” that the authors have collected over the years. Naturally, compiling a complete list would be impossible as many definitions of intelligence are buried deep inside articles and books. Nevertheless, the 70 odd definitions presented here are, to the authors' knowledge, the largest and most well referenced collection there is.
Fundamental Natural Frequency of Chromite Composite Floor System

— This paper aims to determine Fundamental Natural Frequency (FNF) of a structural composite floor system known as Chromite. To achieve this purpose, FNFs of studied panels are determined by development of Finite Element Models (FEMs) in ABAQUS program. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) code in Steel Design Guide Series 11 presents a fundamental formula to calculate FNF of a steel framed floor system. This formula has been used to verify results of the FEMs. The variability in the FNF of the studied system under various parameters such as dimensions of floor, boundary conditions, rigidity of main and secondary beams around the floor, thickness of concrete slab, height of composite joists, distance between composite joists, thickness of top and bottom flanges of the open web steel joists, and adding tie beam perpendicular on the composite joists, is determined. The results show that changing in dimensions of the system, its boundary conditions, rigidity of main beam, and also adding tie beam, significant changes the FNF of the system up to 452.9%, 50.8%, -52.2%, %52.6%, respectively. In addition, increasing thickness of concrete slab increases the FNF of the system up to 10.8%. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that variation in rigidity of secondary beam, height of composite joist, and distance between composite joists, and thickness of top and bottom flanges of open web steel joists insignificant changes the FNF of the studied system up to -0.02%, -3%, -6.1%, and 0.96%, respectively. Finally, the results of this study help designer predict occurrence of resonance, comfortableness, and design criteria of the studied system.
Transformational Leadership Style and Employee Engagement on Role-Based Performance among Selected Civil Servants in Jos

Role-based performance covers not only the scope of job but also aspects of employee work behaviour involved in performance. Aims: The present study therefore examined influence of transformational leadership style and employee engagement on role-based performance. Study Design: The study adopted a correlational research design. Place and Duration of Study: Government Ministries and Parastatals in Jos, capital of Plateau State, Nigeria. October 2016 to June 2017. Methodology: Using survey method in which 137 civil servants were purposively drawn as participants. Their age range was from 28 to 65 years with 74 (54%) male participants and 63 (46%) female participants. This study utilised role theory and personal engagement theory, while standardised psychological scales which are role-based performance scale, multifactor leadership questionnaire and intellectual social affective engagement scale were used. Data collected were analysed using regression analysis. Results: The findings indicated that transformational leadership style significantly explained 35% variance in role-based performance. Employee engagement significantly explained 22.9% variance in role-based performance. Conclusion: There is significant influence of transformational leadership style on role-based performance of civil servants. There is significant influence of employee engagement on role-based performance of civil servants.
Hearing Cheats Touch, but Less in Congenitally Blind Than in Sighted Individuals

The principles of cross-modal integration were investigated with an auditory-tactile illusion in sighted and con-genitally blind adults. Participants had to judge the number of rapidly presented tactile stimuli, which were presented together with task-irrelevant sounds. When one tactile stimulus was accompanied by more than one tone, participants reported perceiving more than a single touch. This illusion was more pronounced in sighted than congenitally blind participants. Given that the congenitally blind were more precise in judging the number of tactile stimuli in a control condition without tones, the present data are in accordance with a modality-appropriateness account suggesting that interference by a task-irrelevant modality is reduced if processing accuracy of the task-relevant modality is high.
Detecting Land Degradation in Eastern China Grasslands with Time Series Segmentation and Residual Trend analysis (TSS-RESTREND) and GIMMS NDVI3g Data

Grassland ecosystems in China have experienced degradation caused by natural processes and human activities. Time series segmentation and residual trend analysis (TSS-RESTREND) was applied to grasslands in eastern China. TSS-RESTREND is an extended version of the residual trend (RESTREND) methodology. It considers breakpoint detection to identify pixels with abrupt ecosystem changes which violate the assumptions of RESTREND. With TSS-RESTREND, in Xilingol (111°59′–120°00′E and 42°32′–46°41′E) and Hulunbuir (115°30′–122°E and 47°10′–51°23′N) grassland, 5.5% and 3.3% of the area experienced a decrease in greenness between 1984 and 2009, 80.2% and 73.2% had no significant change, 4.9% and 2.6% increased in greenness, and 9.4% and 20.9% were undetermined, respectively. RESTREND may underestimate the greening trend in Xilingol, but both TSS-RESTREND and RESTREND revealed no significant differences in Hulunbuir. The proposed TSS-RESTREND methodology captured both the time and magnitude of vegetation changes.
Informal care provision across multiple generations in China

Abstract With increasing life expectancy, changes in family structure and, most recently, the relaxation of the hitherto strict family planning policies, understanding how mid-life individuals support multiple generations, particularly their older parents and younger grandchildren, is of increasing research and policy significance in China. This paper analyses data from the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) to examine the characteristics of Chinese mid-life individuals aged 45–64 who are potentially being ‘sandwiched’ between providing care to older parents/parents-in-law and/or younger grandchildren (under age 16). Binary logistic and multinomial regression models shed light on the factors associated with providing support to one generation or multiple generations. The results highlight that amongst the Chinese mid-life sandwich generation, 58 per cent only provide care to their young grandchildren, 23 per cent only provide care to their parents/parents-in-law, whilst 15 per cent are simultaneously supporting both generations. Rather than acting as competing demands upon the mid-lifers’ time, the multivariate analysis provides evidence that the provision of intergenerational care is complementary, with caring for grandchildren increasing the probability of also supporting one's parents/parents-in-law, and vice versa. However, an increase in the number of younger grandchildren has a negative impact on the care provided to older parents/parents-in-law, indicating that at higher care intensities there may be competing demands across the generations.
RESPONSE OF HIERACIUM IN TWO LONG TERM MANIPULATIVE AGRICULTURAL TRIALS

Summary: Hieracium, or hawkweed species, serious weeds in South Island high country, may be controlled by appropriate pastoral management. Experimental trials at Lake Tekapo, related to S and P fertiliser rates of 0-100 kg ha-l yr-l, 27 different combinations of over-drilled and resident species and different seasons or intensities of grazing treatments on Hieracium dominated fescue tussock were conducted. These were monitored for 9 years in terms of fertiliser inputs used, sheep stocking rates, and vegetation changes. Hieracium decreased or disappeared under high fertiliser and sowing inputs, but remained an increasingly important component under successively lower fertiliser inputs.
High Productivity Agricultural Techniques in Brazil: Adoption Barriers and Potential Solutions

We study the diﬀusion of a new agricultural technology in Brazil: the Direct Planting System. This system achieves higher revenue and lower cost than traditional farming; however, the adoption rate in 2006, more than thirty years after the original innovation, was very low (around 10%). While the usual deterrents to adoption (such as upfront costs or increased risk) are absent, the system needs to be adapted to speciﬁc site conditions, conﬁguring a learning barrier that makes adoption costly when geographic heterogeneity is large. We develop a model to show that the impact of heterogeneity on adoption should be non-monotonic if learning is the diﬀusion channel: zero if adoption is either too low or too high, and negative for intermediate levels. This can be used as an indirect way to test for the presence of social learning. Using data on soil characteristics and adoption rates, we apply an unconditional quantile approach to show that the model’s predictions are consistent with the empirical evidence.
Apelin Inhibits Diet-Induced Obesity by Enhancing Lymphatic and Blood Vessel Integrity

Angiogenesis is tightly associated with the outgrowth of adipose tissue, leading to obesity, which is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes and hypertension, mainly because expanding adipose tissue requires an increased nutrient supply from blood vessels. Therefore, induction of vessel abnormality by adipokines has been well-studied, whereas how altered vascular function promotes obesity is relatively unexplored. Also, surviving Prox1 heterozygous mice have shown abnormal lymphatic patterning and adult-onset obesity, indicating that accumulation of adipocytes could be closely linked with lymphatic function. Here, we propose a new antiobesity strategy based on enhancement of lymphatic and blood vessel integrity with apelin. Apelin knockout (KO) mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) showed an obese phenotype associated with abnormal lymphatic and blood vessel enlargement. Fatty acids present in the HFD induced hyperpermeability of endothelial cells, causing adipocyte differentiation, whereas apelin promoted vascular stabilization. Moreover, treatment of apelin KO mice with a selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, celecoxib, that were fed an HFD improved vascular function and also attenuated obesity. Finally, apelin transgenic mice showed decreased subcutaneous adipose tissue attributable to inhibition of HFD-induced hyperpermeability of vessels. These results indicate that apelin inhibits HFD-induced obesity by enhancing vessel integrity. Apelin could serve as a therapeutic target for treating obesity and related diseases.
FoxP2 Expression in Avian Vocal Learners and Non-Learners

Most vertebrates communicate acoustically, but few, among them humans, dolphins and whales, bats, and three orders of birds, learn this trait. FOXP2 is the first gene linked to human speech and has been the target of positive selection during recent primate evolution. To test whether the expression pattern of FOXP2 is consistent with a role in learned vocal communication, we cloned zebra finch FoxP2 and its close relative FoxP1 and compared mRNA and protein distribution in developing and adult brains of a variety of avian vocal learners and non-learners, and a crocodile. We found that the protein sequence of zebra finch FoxP2 is 98% identical with mouse and human FOXP2. In the avian and crocodilian forebrain, FoxP2 was expressed predominantly in the striatum, a basal ganglia brain region affected in patients with FOXP2 mutations. Strikingly, in zebra finches, the striatal nucleus Area X, necessary for vocal learning, expressed more FoxP2 than the surrounding tissue at post-hatch days 35 and 50, when vocal learning occurs. In adult canaries, FoxP2 expression in Area X differed seasonally; more FoxP2 expression was associated with times when song becomes unstable. In adult chickadees, strawberry finches, song sparrows, and Bengalese finches, Area X expressed FoxP2 to different degrees. Non-telencephalic regions in both vocal learning and non-learning birds, and in crocodiles, were less variable in expression and comparable with regions that express FOXP2 in human and rodent brains. We conclude that differential expression of FoxP2 in avian vocal learners might be associated with vocal plasticity.
Connected Domatic Packings in Node-capacitated Graphs

A set of vertices in a graph is a dominating set if every vertex outside the set has a neighbor in the set. A dominating set is connected if the subgraph induced by its vertices is connected. The connected domatic partition problem asks for a partition of the nodes into connected dominating sets. The connected domatic number of a graph is the size of a largest connected domatic partition and it is a well-studied graph parameter with applications in the design of wireless networks. In this note, we consider the fractional counterpart of the connected domatic partition problem in nodecapacitated graphs. Let n be the number of nodes in the graph and let k be the minimum capacity of a node separator in G. Fractionally we can pack at most k connected dominating sets subject to the capacities on the nodes, and our algorithms construct packings whose sizes are proportional to k. Some of our main contributions are the following: • An algorithm for constructing a fractional connected domatic packing of size (k) for nodecapacitated planar and minor-closed families of graphs.